Chapter 3
-----
The dark coldness swept over Vinyl’s body, but she didn’t feel it. Her phone floated before her eyes, wrapped in a haze of white. Red lights blinked in her peripheral vision, burning the late hour into the darkness.
Her bed was soft but small, and the apartment was not much larger than it. But the DJ’s mind was not on her surroundings.
{[TO OCTAVIA]}
>Hey
She gritted her teeth at the words, but after a moment she sighed and tapped at the screen.
[DRAFT DELETED]
With a groan, she rolled onto her stomach and pressed her face into the pillow. The phone hovered patiently until she turned back over for another attempt.
{[TO OCTAVIA]}
>What’s up?
“It’s three in the morning, I’m asleep Vinyl. You’re an idiot,” the unicorn mumbled in a poor imitation of Octavia’s voice. A magical tendril fumbled for the delete button.
[MESSAGE SENT]
Her heart jumped with a lance of shock and she bolted upright. “No no no no no no no,” she whispered. “Not now, not at this time! Damn it!”
For a few precious seconds, Vinyl maintained the hope that perhaps Octavia didn’t sleep near her phone and thus wouldn’t hear it go off. Sweat trickled down her brow as a minute ticked by. Just before she started to relax, a soft ringing filled the air.
“Oh buck me.”
{[INCOMING CALL FROM OCTAVIA]}
“Oh, buck me!”
There was no way out of it; Octavia knew Vinyl was with her phone. She had to answer it. In her sleep-deprived state, the DJ considered not answering and leaving town so she never saw the cellist again. Saner thoughts prevailed.
Click.
“Hey,” Vinyl said nervously.
“Why in Equestria are you texting me at quarter-past-three in the morning?” replied an amused yet still very sophisticated voice.
“Er, I couldn’t sleep.”
“So you decided to inflict your misery on me as well?”
She winced. “Sorry.”
“Don’t worry, I’m joking. As it happens, I cannot get to sleep either.”
“Why?” Vinyl rolled over and curled up, a little smile replacing her fearful expression.
“My brain refuses to stop thinking.”
“Yeah, I know the feeling. What are you thinking about?”
“Silly things. I shan’t bore you with them lest they send you to sleep.”
“Actually, that sounds fantastic.” They shared a suppressed giggle. “Go on, tell me.”
“Well… I was actually thinking about you, Vinyl.”
Her heart beat a little faster. “Yeah?” she asked, hoping her voice didn’t sound hoarse.
“I… You know what I said in the tavern? About… not having friends?”
“Yeah?”
“Well, I was thinking that I was so lucky to be forced to get to know you better. It’s a strange feeling… having…” A quiet sniffle from the other side of the line made Vinyl’s chest hurt. “I’m sorry, something about being up late at night makes me more… open.”
“It’s okay. I understand that, it’s the same with me too,” replied the DJ comfortingly, followed by an almost inaudible “Please don’t cry.”
“I’m okay, I shouldn’t even be crying because this is a good thing. I suppose what I was trying to say is… thank you.”
“Hey, I should thank you too. None of my friends are very close, so it’s nice to know you’re there.”
Octavia giggled. “I’m not going anywhere, that’s for certain. My degree will take a while.”
“Heh, yeah mine too. But we’ll kick flank and take names before we’re done. You and me, got it?” She didn’t mean to sound so violent, but the thought of spending more time with her new friend got the DJ excited.
“Absolutely. Friends forever!” Octavia sounded equally excited.
Groaning, Vinyl smiled in the darkness. “That was pretty lame.”
“Oh, hush you. I’ve always wanted to say that. Now you say it too so it’s official.”
After a moment of silence, the unicorn swallowed her pride. “Friends forever.”
---
“You wouldn’t know how to mix a sub-bass if your life depended on it!” screamed Vinyl.
“And you wouldn’t be able to tune a custom cello to orchestral standards with any degree of competence!” Octavia shot back.
Psych scratched his chin with interest. “You know, I really thought you two would be fast friends. Maybe I’m losing my touch.” For a moment, the pair felt slightly guilty at making the tutor doubt himself. “Or maybe you need to hang out a couple more times!” The guilt vanished quickly.
“I think that violates my rights as a citizen of Equestria. Namely, the prohibition of cruel and unusual punishment.”
Vinyl made a mental note to compliment that particular insult after class. “Oh yeah? Well you were so busy talking about yourself at the bar that I could’ve left and you wouldn’t notice!” It was an average comeback, and Vinyl felt her will to continue the charade weakening.
Thankfully, Psych finally decided to end it himself. “Alright, settle down you two.” A chorus of disappointed groans echoed from the rest of the class, and the exchange of bits implied some sort of gambling had taken place. “Let’s get back on track. I’ve already gone over your coursework today but we still have half an hour before this class technically ends. So how about we have some suggestions about what our favourite pair does this week?”
Bonbon raised her hoof in the air with a smirk. “How about a candlelit dinner?” she giggled with the green mare beside her, who had a lyre on her flank. Some of the other ponies also chuckled, apparently aware of a joke Vinyl couldn’t see.
Octavia glared at Bonbon, hoping the red in her cheeks would pass as fury. Some might call her a prude, but she knew very well what was being implied.
“Maybe something a little less likely to end in homicide?” Psych suggested, yet his grin clearly said he was in on the joke too. “How about a movie? You won’t have to talk to each other much then.”
Vinyl was careful not to agree too quickly, instead scowling at the tutor for a few seconds before nodding slowly. “Whatever. At least in the dark theatre I won’t have to look at her face.”
“That’s the spirit! And you, Octavia?”
The cellist sighed as if the mere thought of going to a movie with the unicorn was exhausting. “Very well, if you insist on continuing this silly exercise. But Vinyl has to pay.”
Snorting back a harsh laugh, the green unicorn beside Bonbon whispered to her loudly, “Well it is customary for the stallion to pay for his mare.” There was a moment’s pause before the students erupted into rowdy laughter, hooting and whistling at the beet-red targets of the joke.
For once, Psych didn’t join them. “Lyra, that was uncalled for. I like a good one-liner as much as anypony, but let’s try and tone it down a bit, okay?”
“Sorry chief,” she said, snapping off a salute and eliciting more giggles from Bonbon.
“Alright class, make like it’s winter and wrap it up! I’m sure you all have classes to go to.”
As they shuffled out into the sunlight, the DJ resisted the urge to walk next to Octavia too eagerly, managing a sort of irritated trudge that the grey mare matched with a more dignified equivalent. Only when they reached the safety of the busy court did they let the acts slip slightly. Their classmates had dispersed to attend to their own lives, and nopony gave the pair a second look.
“You really gave me a run for my bits with that ‘cruel and unusual punishment’ line,” remarked the grinning DJ.
“Yes, I’m quite proud of that one. I actually thought it up during a history lecture when we were talking about ancient treaties that govern the rules of war.” Octavia blew a strand of hair out of her eyes and glanced at Vinyl. The unicorn was looking around the court, unaware she was being watched. Her electric-blue mane with cyan highlights seemed so unruly that it suited her perfectly, like a mixture of fun and beauty. The cellist almost envied her.
“Y’know, that actually sounds pretty cool. Maybe I should ditch one of my classes and take that instead.”
“For every interesting ancient warfare document we study, there are a thousand boring political declarations. You would be bored out of your mind, sweetie.”
Vinyl stopped walking and looked at the grey mare. “Sweetie?” she repeated, raising an eyebrow.
“Are we not allowed to do nicknames yet? Sorry, I’m not really good at this.” Octavia shifted her hooves nervously.
“Uh, well ‘sweetie’ isn’t really a nickname, it’s more of a…” She coughed and continued in a lower voice, “Pet name.”
“Oh.” The sight of blood rushing quickly into the cellist’s cheeks made Vinyl chuckle.
In an effort to lessen the embarrassment for her friend, she resumed walking normally, flicking her tail to indicate Octavia should follow. “You want me to pretend that didn’t happen?”
“Yes please.”
“No worries. Besides, nicknames are never just chosen, they’re made. Just call me Vinyl for now though, okay?”
“Okay. So,” she cleared her throat to get back on topic, “Why don’t you leave one of your classes then? Your company might actually make the lectures bearable.”
“Well, I don’t really have any I can afford to lose. I mean, musical theory is off the table for obvious reasons, and I really like drawing so far.” The absence of her third class only drew more attention to it.
“Why not drop psychology? I’ve seen you in class when we aren’t arguing and you always look bored.”
“Well, because…” Vinyl trailed off mumbling.
“Pardon?”
“Because it gives us a reason to hang out,” she quickly finished, flushing as she looked away to scan the groups of ponies scattered on the court for any observers.
“I like spending time with you as well, Vinyl.” A mutual smile passed between them as the DJ turned back.
It soon became apparent that each pony was trying to lead the other in a different direction.
“Uh, Octavia? Don’t you wanna go to the food court?”
“My history tutorial starts in a few minutes… I thought you were walking me there?”
Vinyl chuckled. “Oh yeah, my bad. Where is it again?”
Sighing, the cellist turned and led the way.
---
There were two main reasons why Vinyl didn’t hang around after Octavia joined her class.
One, it would be awkward as hay if the grey mare looked out the window and saw her waiting.
And two, she totally had her own stuff to take care of. She wasn’t so lonely that she needed to hang around waiting for her friend to finish school. The DJ had her own friends and activities to do. Yep.
Half an hour later, her friends and activities stared back up at her from the bottom of a mug. The university tavern wasn’t as run-down as her usual bars, but it was definitely showing its age. A plaque above the door helpfully informed her that this was one of the first buildings erected when the university was being built. As amusing as it was to know that one of the priorities when building an educational campus was a place to serve alcohol, it wasn’t enough to distract her from the problem at hoof.
“Come on, Vinyl. Get it together,” she muttered before licking a final droplet of hard cider from the rim. “You’ve got plenty of friends to hang out with. Don’t get so attached to one of them.”
The words rang hollow in her ears. A little voice piped up from the back of her mind.
But she’s so interesting!
“No she’s not! I’m just bored and she helps me burn time.”
Is that why I hang on every word she speaks?
“Leave me alone.” Pushing the mug away, she rested her head in her hooves on the table.
A snort came from behind her. “I haven’t even said anything yet,” said Psych, taking the seat beside Vinyl.
She snapped to attention, looking at the teacher with wide eyes. “Uh… hey…”
“Relax. I’m not here to torture you. I come here for a drink after class sometimes.”
“Cool.” It felt so awkward talking to a teacher in this setting, like two different areas of her life were colliding.
The tutor sighed and seemed to lose some of his cheer. “You know I’m just having a bit of fun in class, right? I didn’t realise it bothered you so much that you’d spend the afternoon grumbling into a cup of cider.”
“Huh?” Quickly realising how she must look, the DJ sat up straighter and cleared her throat. “I’m not drinking about that... but you should still feel pretty damn bad though.”
Psych chuckled and raised his hooves defensively. “Hey, teaching can be pretty boring. I think it’s lucky that you and Octavia happened to take the same class. No matter how much crappy paperwork is on my desk, I can always look forward to the next showdown. I think she won today, by the way.”
“Yeah, laugh it up.” Vinyl suddenly wished she hadn’t pushed the mug away so she could splash a few drops in his face.
“Ah, don’t worry. I’m sure you’ll get her next time. Maybe try something about her hair; she seems to be sensitive about it,” suggested the stallion helpfully.
She raised an eyebrow. “Really?”
“Definitely. Or, if you want to get on her good side, maybe try complimenting it instead.”
“She has a good side?” Vinyl quipped on reflex, but her thoughts were very far from malicious.
The tutor barked a laugh. “Nice one. I guess there’s not much chance of reconciliation between the two of you then?”
“Any hope for our friendship died when she said being a DJ doesn’t take skill.” Her voice was as firm and convincing as she could muster.
“Yeah, figured as much. Ah well, good entertainment’s hard to come by anyway.”
The white unicorn slipped off the seat and stretched her hooves. “Thanks for the chat, but I gotta bail. Parties to go to, basslines to drop. Later.”
Psych just nodded and half-raised a hoof in a farewell gesture that doubled as a signal to the bartender, who began mixing the usual.
The second Vinyl was outside, her phone floated out of a pouch in her saddlebags and drifted before the purple lens of her shades. After some quick tapping, it returned there safely. As the white pony trotted away, she began to whistle.
---
Octavia heard a faint rumble in her bags as they lay beside her seat. The old tutor droned in the background as she subtly slid the offending object, her phone, out and checked it below the table, well out of the tutor’s line of sight.
{[VINYL]}
>Your mane is pretty cool :)
This has got to be one of the cutest fics I've read! Thank you so much, and keep it up
This is so adorable! I love it! I must has more!!!
I like how you turned it around in this chapter, Vinyl being confused and suddenly the one without friends.
I LOL'd at the awkward compliment at the end xD
No comment about any super obscure references I might have missed? Surely there is one?! I shall find it!
I really like your... mane?
XD, awesome chapter man. keep it up!
Many D'awws were made. MOARRR
Don't you dare get lazy with this!
Cool story though!
Love it so far, keep 'em coming and coming. :D
Really enjoying this
The text messaging is a great addition and also the Lyra & BonBon cameos are fun to read.
My heart broke somewhat when they both admitted they were lonely and had no proper friends to turn to.
Nice touch also how Vinyl was all 'things to do and people to see' attitude and then we see her drinking alone and struggling with her feelings.
Now write moar!
I really like this fic, especially because I can relate to some crap in here. Vinyl, being all happy-go-lucky, even though she has a hard time. That is me, wrapped up in a nutshell.
Anyways, enough sadness.
Were there any references in this chapter? I couldn't find any. Of course, I couldn't find any in the others either. Also, I love how Lyra (my favorite background pony) and Bon-Bon are in here.
Awesome chapter, I love how you're developing their relationship.
403281
No, thank you! :)
403384
Then you shall has more!
403397
No references this time... probably...
403649
Cheers man :D
403783
Moar soon, I swear!
404109
How could I get lazy with my OTP? So much is planned, never fear.
404247
Glad you like it! More soon.
404826
Thanks, I wasn't sure what kind of reaction the texting thing would have, so you've helped to reassure me :)
405367
It seems you can't have Vinyl and Octavia without Lyra and Bonbon these days.
And there maaay have been references..... or not...
Thanks for reading :)
405408
Thank you. Plenty more to come :D
405462 Your driving me crazy! WERE THERE OR WERE THERE NOT REFERENCES TO STUFF?
And I guess you're right. I haven't seen any fics with Vinyl and Tavi without at least Lyra. And where there is Lyra, there is Bon-Bon. And where there is Bon-Bon, there is... something. My brain didn't think that far.
405745
There might not have been a lack of no references.
:)
I love this story it is one of my favorite stories I'm reading.
Nice, I can't wait for the moment when they realize they love each other, I wonder who will be the first one to realize it. I'm looking forward to the drama that will come from it.
406491
It's going to be a fun ride, that's for certain. I'm glad you're enjoying it!
I NEED MOAR!11!!!!11
407205
I'm writing the next chapter RIGHT NOW! My fingers can only move so fast!
407259
not enough finger movement speed
FFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU
nah I can be patient
such a cute fic
405794 ahhh.. Double negatives, we meet again for the last time.
Okay, I get it. There was a lack of references.
405462 ^^
LOL
"Better Cover image wanted"
412107
Hee hee, yeah. I should clarify that I'm not insulting somebody else's work. I made that crappy cover image because I submitted this to EQD :P
412122
Hahaha it's still pretty good!
Psych nominated for best oc teacher pony. Is he based off of Shaun in the tv show or a professor from your experiences? Anyways I really love this fic, octascratch is the best non mane 6 shipping pair and I do have a soft spot for them. Can't wait for the next installment.
Cheers,
jangledorf
413724
He's based loosely off one of my tutors, but with each scene I notice he becomes slightly more of his own character. Which I'm pretty sure is a good thing.
Glad you like him and this fic! The next chapter is almost ready for posting, I try to keep 4-5 days between them. :)
Love how this one's shaping up - OctaScratch is relevant to all of my interests Can't wait to see your next chapter
416414
Woo! OctaScratch is relevant to all my everything! More soon :)
Congrats on EQD.
420114
Comments like that are why you're one of my favourite people on the internet.
Fixed that typo.
And holy crap, finally someone catches it!
Oooh, new cover art? Yes please!
Well written and amusing. Keep it up!
Well darn. And here I though I was original! Nevertheless, this is going onto my read-later once I have the time...
420296
Don't worry, you're not alone :D
420320
Thank you, I will!
420541
Ah, good ol' parallel inspiration. It seems you've taken a much darker route than I have, though, so that's original.
420853
To be fair, most of these references are god mode obscure.
When I started reading, I noticed there were only 3 chapters so far. When I went to the next chapter, still only 3 chapters. When I moved on to the third chapter, I noted that it was the most recent one. When I finished chapter 3, I looked for the next chapter button only to find it not there.
My reaction was something like - FFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUU.....
So in conclusion, more please. This story has been a great read so far.
Also, ponies with phones. BRILLIANT!
420968
I really want to post the next chapter now, believe me. It's actually uploaded and sitting there right now, I just like to be consistent so I'm waiting a day or two.
420983
You know, some people would call that evil or at least really really really really really really mean.
Seriously though, you're channeling trollestia.
Screw consistency, being consistent only matters if you take forever to update >.<
407259
Type Faster.
In unrelated news. Am enjoying this immensely. Also. I thought Stirling was the only Uni that was as concerned with the supply and consumption of alcohol as it was with proper learning and tuition...
Keep Up The Good Work!
420993
Tee hee.
Alright, just because of you, I'll publish it at midnight WST. That's just under 3 hours away.
420996
Yessir. And yeah, my uni also has a tavern (albeit a lot better looking than the one described in this story), and it surprised me how important they considered it.
"Our policy is to provide students with a safe environment that is conducive to learning and improving themselves, and getting fucking wasted bro! Wooo!"
421110
Woot!
This is very good news, a new chapter to read followed by the new episode!! x 2
Wow, 12 hour time difference. It'll be noon for me in less than 3 hours.
And, an actual question regarding the story, do you have a clear ending point in mind? Like the end of their freshman year? Or end of college? Or when they are old and in rocking chairs? Hehe... Vinyl would probably have speakers and a massive subwoofer built into her rocking chair.
Oh also, any plans for txts gone wrong? Auto-correct can be very silly (or not work at all >.<) After all, I'm sure I'm spelling subwoofer wrong because my phone refuses to acknowledge it as a word.
421168
HA HA! Take that spelling! I spelled subwoofer right! Thank you Google. The score is me- 56, spelling and grammar- *too big to count*
421168
I'd rather not go into detail about when the ending will be, but yes, it is planned.
I will say that this is called University Days, so if the story continued further into their lives, it would need to be in a sequel.
Texts gone wrong, you say? Hmm... That is a possibility. For the moment, I'm just glad that nobody has asked how the heck Octavia uses a mobile.
421191
University Days? Hmmm... I just thought it was called "Really Good Story" Yeah I miss things sometimes when I haven't slept in a while.
I always assumed Octavia used magic. DA MAGICKS!
421110
Clearly it is because the consumption of copious quantities of alcohol is conducive to high academic achievement, particularly in such a high-pressure environment as University level tuition. Honest.
Also. A Tavern? I'm Jealous. Stirling had to make do with more modern variations of the theme. Quantity, if you will, over quality.
421212
Heh, you should get some sleep then! You'll wake up to a new episode and chapter.
And yes, she uses secret earth pony magic shhh
421219
"And that's why I showed up drunk at the lecture, professor!"
The quality isn't that great, it seems to be more of an impression of a tavern than an actual one.
Personally, I think they could have achieved the same thing at less cost by replacing the water fountains with... slightly less innocent liquids. But that's just me.
421239
I would if it wasn't just easier to stay up.
Besides I work at night so I go to bed around or after noon anyway >.<
I swear to Celestia, Luna, Discord, and Nightmare Moon...
No update = No legs for you.
421239
See, Now, I never did that... Might have been drinking in a few lectures, but hey, I passed that module... See! Correlation!
421283
I-I'm posting it in about an hour and a h-half...
421288
Well, that's all the proof I need. I'm going to show up wasted to every single class. I'll see you at NASA, dude.
421298
No you won't. But only 'cause I'm specialising in Marine stuff...
I am so glad I found this on EQD, I'm already hooked and demand updates!!