It was pretty pathetic of me to even try. Lest I forget that Vinyl was a vampire gifted with super strength, she was right there to remind me, holding me away with one hoof as I attempted to whack her to no avail. I instead resorted to flailing my arms like a madmare.

"You done?"

"Whatdowedowhatdowedo?!" I screeched, shaking Vinyl.

She pushed me off and slapped me. "First off, calm down," she commanded.

I gawked, touching my cheek.

"Now just...hear me out for a sec." When I tried to speak she pressed her hoof to my mouth. "Listen. Your mom only saw us making out." She fell silent for a second.

"How is that a good thi—"

She shoved a hoof in my mouth, hushing me, her ears twitching, craning her head toward the door. "You hear that?"

I shook my head.

"Nopony heard her screaming. That's good. Now listen, we've got about three minutes before your dad starts asking questions."

I blinked. This was certainly not the Vinyl Scratch I had been talking to a few seconds earlier, vulnerable and succumbing to her blood lust. And she was most certainly not the loud and proud disc jockey either. This was another side of Vinyl Scratch, calm and collected and cool. It was...unnerving, seeing her like this. In a way I was frightened. She was emotionless, pragmatic, almost methodical now.

"She didn't see your fangs," I stated. "Or your eyes."

It was as if a huge load had been taken off my back.

Vinyl shook her head, grateful as well. And for a second I thought to myself that things were going to be alright. Then reality came crashing down upon me like an anvil out of some cartoon. Reality was a cruel mistress.

"But now she knows I'm a fillyfooler," I gasped. "I'm doomed! She'll disown me!"

Vinyl rumbled, rubbing her forehead. "Look, either we tell her the truth..." She trailed off.

"Not a chance."  

Her expression darkened. "Then we're going to have to cover this up. Help me move her body."

The more I thought about it, it dawned upon me that there was more to her than meets the eye. It was almost as if I was looking through the iridescent lenses of Vinyl's sunglasses, putting on a different pair and looking at her from a different angle each time.

"Hey!" Vinyl's stern voice shook me from my thoughts. "I can't move your mom's fat flank all by my self." Even as she said this I could see her smiling.

"What are you doing?"

"Hiding the body, of course."

I gaped.

"Kidding." Her eyes were lit with amusement. "I'm kidding. Your mom'll be fine."

I sighed with relief.

"Mostly fine. I think."

I glared at her as I helped position her in a way that suggested that she had collapsed near the sink. I cringed as I held my mother's limp body, dragging her over.

"Are you alright?"

"Me?" I cracked an unstable grin, quaking. "I'm fine."

"You're shaking," she stated.

"What are you talking about?" I laughed nervously, rubbing one leg against the other.

"Just sit down." When I refused to oblige, she forced me down onto my haunches. "Relax. Breathe. Okay okay okay," Vinyl muttered to herself. "I uh...I get queasy at the sight of blood. Yeah yeah, that'll work."

"Vinyl?"

She ignored me. "Your mom came in here just as you were helping me out and, and...one of the employees had..."

Her eyes wandered and she spotted a vase of flowers. Using her magic, she yanked the wilting lilies out and dumped the water all over the tiles.

"...had mopped the floor and forgotten to put out a wet floor sign. And she slipped, bumping her head against the edge of the sink..."

"Vinyl, I don't want anypony getting fired over this!"

"Do you want to do this or not?" she asked coldly.

I was shocked. "Y-Yes!"  

"Then work with me. Now how do explain what she saw? Aha. She was drunk."

"Something tells me this isn't your first time doing this."

I received a grunt in response. "Drunk, under the influence of alcohol..."

I interrupted. "One problem with that, Vinyl. She wasn't drinking."

"We're going to have to roll with it."

Before I had any time to even inquire as to how she was going to convince everypony including my mother that she had been drinking enough to have been hallucinating, she continued.

"Now here's what's going to happen. You're going to scream as loud as you can. In fifteen seconds, ponies are going to come flooding in here asking questions."

I nodded. There was no point in asking, and I wasn't going to get a straight answer if I did, so I was just wasting my breath. I realized a long time ago that Vinyl was as sly as a fox.

"Keep your mouth shut. Not a word. Let me do all the talking. Look scared." She counted down for me. "Three, two, one..."

I let out the most terrified, bloodcurdling scream I could possibly muster, my mind flashing back to when Vinyl had lost control and attacked me.  

Vinyl mouthed, "Very nice."

I was surprised to see tears running down her face, until she winked. Perhaps she should have gotten a cutie mark in theater arts! And lo and behold, in fifteen seconds, several ponies came rushing in, including the manager and my father. I was crouched down by my mother's side. Vinyl tearfully explained to them what had allegedly happened, including a dramatic recreation of how my mother slipped and bumped her head, and they ate it up, hook, line, and sinker. I would have been so impressed, if I wasn't worried for my mother. Don't get me wrong, just because she was my mother didn't change the fact that she was a pompous overbearing wretch of a mare. But...

She grabbed my hoof, jerking her head towards the exit, mouthing, "Come on."

They say blood is thicker than water.

"Thank you," I said. "For everything."

We moved like shadows through the night. I clung onto Vinyl as she led us back home, her sharp eyes accustomed to the darkness. We stopped. Vinyl stared at me for a bit, probably wondering why I was in such a wistful mood. I smiled back at her earnestly.

"No problem," she said slowly.

"I don't know what I would have done," I stammered.

She kissed me. "Don't mention it. Really. And uh, sorry for decking your mom in the face."

"It's quite alright. I think any sane pony would have done that a long time ago. Although I'm not so sure if it was such a good idea."

"But you know, you can't always run from your problems, y' know."

"Sorry?"

"It's not like you can keep it a secret forever. That you're a fillyfooler, I mean. Your folks are gonna find out eventually, one way or another."

I studied my hoof contemplatively. Did I really care if my parents knew? Would it change anything between us? Was it worth keeping all the secrets and lies just to hide something so...trivial as our relationship? I shook my head. Like it or not, nearly all of my employers were Canterlot nobility. And it wasn't fair to the rest of our quartet for me to ruin our jobs.

I huffed, "We all have our secrets. I guess I'll have to learn to keep one too."

Vinyl paused. "See, the thing about secrets is that they don't stay a secret for long. I mean look at me." She laughed wearily, her eyes red and her fangs extended.

"Even if that is true, I can still try."

We climbed the stairs, tired, burnt out from the evening's events.

"Vinyl? Would it be okay if I asked...how did you get this way?"

Vinyl laughed bitterly. "A vampire, huh?" She turned to me. "Maybe you'll get your answer someday."

I felt compelled to comfort her. I hugged her, as tight as I could, whispering sweet nothings in her ear, promising to never let go...

"Octy," Vinyl gasped, "could you let go?"

We both stirred in each others' arms, our coats and manes messy and unkempt and disheveled.

Ding dong.

"You get it," I grumbled, pushing Vinyl with my hoof, not bothering to open my eyes.

"Meh."

DING DONG DING DONG DING DONG—

"Vinyl. Get the door," I demanded.  

"No you."

Without warning, I shoved Vinyl with my hoof, watching her tumble and roll over the edge of the bed with the sheets. I had overlooked one slight problem with my solution to our more pressing issue of who was at the door. I found myself being pulled along for the ride, tangled up in the blankets, yelping as I landed right next to Vinyl on the floor.

She stuck out her tongue. "Ha. Owned."

"Shut up."

We untangled ourselves, giggling. I squealed even louder when I felt Vinyl nip at my ear and I shoved her away. I smoothed out my mane and cleared my throat as I went down the hall, with Vinyl standing behind me as I opened the door.

"Hell—"

I was sent flying, bowled over by our rude guests with a bright flash.

"I, Photo Finish, have arrived!" cried a voice with a thick accent.

I craned my head up from my vantage point on the ground, feeling the onset of a splitting headache. "Photo Finish?" I gasped.

"It's a travesty, it's what it is!" Hoity Toity remarked as he looked around the room.

"Hoity Toity?"

For most ponies, meeting these two fashion magnates would have been a prestigious honor, and would have included a reaction of screaming, squealing, and jumping up and down. In a way, we were all celebrities. My name had meaning, at least, it used to, in music. DJ-Pon3 was a household name nowadays. Hoity Toity had his own line of designer suits, and Photo Finish her own magazine! I was hardly impressed, nor starstruck at their appearance, merely surprised as to why they would come make such a personal visit. I had met both of them before on numerous occasions at many of the venues I had performed at. They were both eccentric and rather unconventional in how they conducted business and went about with their public image.

"Hey mom." Vinyl laughed nervously. "Hey dad."

My eyes bulged and my jaw dropped.

Mom? Dad?

As they all had their little family reunion, I couldn't help but stare. It all made sense now! I stared at all three of them, my eyes growing more and more aware the longer I stared as I could see the uncanny resemblance.

"Come, come, sit! Make yourselves at home. Vinyl, can I talk to you?" I asked cheerily. Dragging her by her mane into the kitchen, I hissed at her. "You never told me your parents were Hoity Toity and Photo Finish," I said through gritted teeth.

"You never asked," she shrugged.

Never before had I wanted to hit her so badly. My eye twitched.

"Weren't you paying attention last night?"

I took a slow, deep breath to regain my composure. "Do they know?"

She gazed at me, her purple eyes flashing red for a brief moment. "Yes. They do," she admitted.

"Really?"

"Try not to call us vampires. Dad thinks of it more like a condition than anything."

"You mean your parents are?" I gasped.

She nodded.

Photo Finish was a vampire! Hoity Toity too! Sweet Celestia, they were all vampires! It was like they were all one big happy bloodsucking family! So that explained why Photo Finish was always covered up in some gaudy dress wherever she went, and the sunglasses! The room was spinning. I felt confused. Deceived. A week ago I could barely comprehend the existence of vampires and now, it seemed that they had been able to infiltrate the top echelons of Equestria's society! I was in over my head. This was crazy! Nonstop insanity since I'd gotten involved with that insufferable DJ!

What a fool I was to get involved in all this madness.

"You know we wouldn't hurt you, Octavia," Vinyl said honestly.

Right. Of course. Where did I put the silver?

The first thing that came out of the fashion photographer's mouth when she saw us together was, "Oh, you two make such a wonderful couple!"

I paled. "I assure you that Vinyl and I are nothing of the sort!"

"Give it a rest, Octy. They already know," Vinyl sighed.

I blinked. It was a strange feeling. Being accepted, not being judged. Being allowed to be myself. I relaxed visibly, no longer feeling the need to put up false pretenses for the sake of appearance.

"So, you are the filly who has stolen my daughter's heart!" Hoity Toity proclaimed dramatically. "Very classy. Quite the catch, dearie!" He winked, tilting his shades.

"Thanks dad!" Vinyl beamed.

"So very nice...to meet you both..."