> No Need to Hesitate
>  by Puddle Jumper
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Chapter 1
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	“Vinyl, you’re not listening,” had long lost any efficacy as a spoken phrase. Sure, Octavia thought it constantly. She thought it now as she slouched in her chair, resting her head in her hoof and staring irately away from her animated co-host. But she didn’t bother to say it anymore. It was more like a routine state of mind for Octavia – a constant of the daily grind at the K-Colt radio station, like brushing her mane in the morning, or knocking back a cup of horrible studio coffee on her way in the door. The grey mare gently swiveled her chair, registering the unicorn’s fanatical ranting as only a formless white noise.

‘Heh, “White Noise”,’ she suddenly chuckled at her own pun. ‘That should be her name. Because she’s white, and she has notes as a cutie mark. And she likes dubstep.’ Distantly, Octavia’s practiced peripheral awareness of all things Vinyl noted that the formless sound was growing in amplitude. Expecting that the unicorn would soon be concluding her insane rant, Octavia turned her attention from her razor-sharp wit back to the pony standing on her hind legs on the recording console.

“…shut me down. I’d like to see them try to shut me down. My music will live on in the flames of my glorious demise, and I will arise stronger than they can possibly imagine. That is the one true truth of rock and roll: we will never die!”

“Vinyl,” Octavia groaned, waving towards the lit telephone receiver on the recording console. “He just asked you how you highlight your hair.”

“Oh.” Vinyl paused, her stare most likely blank behind her heavily tinted sunglasses. Then she smiled, answering, “Fancy Brand hair dye, blue #65.”

“Oh, uh… thanks,” a muffled voice said through the speaker, almost immediately followed by a swift click and a dial tone. Vinyl climbed down from her expensive and allegedly not-at-all-fragile recording equipment.

Octavia slumped her head back against her hoof. “Oof,” she groaned, “why does everything always have to devolve into anarchy with you?”

“Hey, I can’t help it. It’s just my free, indomitable nature shining through. I take every chance to stick it to The Mare I can get.” She smirked and leaned into the microphone, “As a side note, I would totally stick it to The Mare, if you know what I mean. That plot, am I right listeners?”

“Vinyl!” Octavia shot up in her chair, her eyes going wide. “Y-you can’t just say that kind of thing about the princess!”

“What?” Vinyl raised an eyebrow. “Are you saying our benevolent ruler isn’t infinitely beautiful and desirable?”

“Well n-no, I…”

“So you’re saying she’s a withered old hag.”

“No! No, of course I’m not saying that.” Octavia moved very close to the microphone and spoke panicked clarity. “Those words never left my mouth, or my mind. I-I mean, they were never in my mind at all, ever, nor would they ever be. Heh heh…”

“So which is it, Tavi? Do you think our dear Princess Celestia is attractive or not?”

“I, well, uh…” Octavia glanced about frantically. She didn’t think she’d ever seen Vinyl grin wider. Finally, her eyes landed on the recording booth window, and saw her director motioning to her. “Oh, look, our guest for the day is here. Why don’t we bring her in?”

“Oh, fine,” Vinyl conceded. “I’ll get you to say it later.”

“You…”

“Bring in the subject!” Vinyl called past the recording studio walls. A moment later, the doors opened, and a technician directed a yellow-coated earth mare into the room. The guest stood between her hosts and smiled gently.

“Our guest today is a local here in Ponyville,” Vinyl announced to the microphone. “Her given name is Golden Harvest, but all of you know her as everyone’s favorite carrot farmer, Carrot Top.”

“Hello, Vinyl,” Carrot Top chimed brightly. “Hello, Octavia. Thank you both so much for having me on the show.”

“Our pleasure, Miss Harvest.” Octavia smiled.

“Oh, please, call me Carrot Top.”

“Alright,” Vinyl continued, “and Carrot Top here is going to...” she quickly scanned her cue card. “…tell us about her top ten uses for carrots. …I’m shocked,” she deadpanned.

“Oh yes,” Carrot Top informed her happily, “You can use carrots in all kinds of recipes. Why, there are soups and salads and sandwiches. And they go especially well in baked goods. Which brings me to my first three uses – carrot cake with carrot icing and carrot jam filling.”

Over the next fifteen minutes, Carrot Top proceeded to concoct her orange delicacy. It quickly dawned on her that, as a radio show, her audience was not actually able to observer her cooking, but she soldiered on, doing her best to narrate as she went. By the time she was finished, she was pulling a baked cake out of the oven cart she had brought with her.

“Well, we probably should have had another cake ready so we wouldn’t have had to wait for that one to actually bake,” Vinyl observed. “Not that it really matters, since our listeners can’t see the cake anyway.”

“Heh, right,” Carrot rubbed the back of her head sheepishly. “Sorry, I’m sort of new to this radio thing. Um…” She eyed the bowl of carefully whipped carrot icing for a moment, before dumping it haphazardly onto the cake with another sheepish grin. “I can just… spread this later.”

“Well, I think this cake looks delicious,” Octavia tried to encourage her guest while shooting Vinyl an icy glare.

“Thank you, Octavia. But now I want to go on to my next recipe. This one is a favorite of one of my good friends…” She leaned in conspiratorially towards the microphone. “…carrot muffins.” A loud “thud” shook the rather solid roof of the studio, causing Vinyl and Octavia to jump and stare upwards in confusion. Carrot Top seemed to pay it no mind, instead reclaiming her mixing bowl and depositing her ingredients into it. Soon, she had a well-mixed batter ready, and poured it into a half dozen baking cups. She placed the tray in the oven.

“Now we just have to wait ten minutes and-” Vinyl raised her hoof and pressed a button on her equipment. The console emitted a solid “click”, and the red transmitting indicator winked off, informing the trio that they were no longer on the air.

“Okay, Carrot?” Vinyl said, eliciting another concerned stare from Octavia. “I’m gonna level with you. This stuff looks and smells and probably tastes awesome. But actually watching you cook it? I’m so bored, I literally cannot feel my ears.”

“Oh, um…” Carrot Top stammered. “Well, I…”

“So, here’s what I’m thinking,” Vinyl continued, leaning forward onto the recording console and lifting a large bottle of clear liquid out from underneath it, putting it down with a meaningful thud. Both Octavia’s and Carrot’s eyes bulged. “I’m thinkin’ you and me and this bottle of vodka go find a nice private room,” she lifted her sunglasses to reveal her half-lidded eyes, “and we see how many uses for a carrot I can come up with.”

“VINYL!” Octavia nearly shrieked. “You cannot just…”

“Hmm, well, that sounds a lot more interesting than anything else I had planned for this,” Carrot Top nodded. 

“I… wha…” Octavia stammered.

Carrot Top leaned down and grabbed a carrot between her teeth. She shot Vinyl a smoldering come-hither look before turning towards the door with an exaggerated swish of her tail. She swayed her hips as she walked slowly towards the exit. Vinyl nearly pranced after her, levitating the sizable bottle of booze with her.

“Hey Tavi, get the oven when it’s done, would ya?” she called back over her shoulder. “And don’t eat all the muffins. I’m gonna need something to wash this down with. Thanks, hun.” With that, the studio door closed behind her, leaving Octavia standing alone.

The grey pony couldn’t find the mental capacity to move. Her brain simply churned in place, trying with consistent futility to make sense of seeing what she knew to be impossible actually happen. After an eternity of impenetrable daze, she finally found the presence of mind to let her jaw drop. Sound soon followed.

“WHAT?!” she screamed so loudly that, on the other side of the recording booth window, her manager and the station’s technicians recoiled, some diving for cover out of instinctive fear. “What was… did… is that even…” she struggled to form sentences to express her disbelief, but none in existence were actually sufficient.

“What the fuck just happened?” she decided was close enough. “How did that actually work? Why would that work? It takes a base, demented kind of nymphomaniac to suggest something like that in the first place, but who the fuck would actually agree to it?! My gods, that shouldn’t even…” Her increasingly indignant rant was derailed as she noticed her director waving towards her, motioning for her to get on with the show. Without a second’s hesitation, she let her simmering rage flow through her eyes straight into him. The poor pony blanched, and slowly sunk out of sight beneath the window frame.

Octavia finally regained enough composure to realize that the director was right. Her listeners had been in silence for the last five minutes, and somepony had to attend to them. Somepony who wasn’t too busy burying a carrot in her new best friend’s rabbit hole. Octavia took a deep breath, willing calmness into her mind. Then she took several more. And then a lot more. Finally, she exhaled one last time, and pressed the button to resume broadcasting.

“Sorry about that, folks,” she announced sweetly. “We ran into a few technical difficulties. While we were off the air, Vinyl and Carrot Top had some… pressing matters to attend to. They’ll probably be out for a while, so I’ll just move right along with the playlist here and try to… Actually, on second thought, screw that. We’ll be listening to my kind of music now, seeing as I’m apparently the only one who can be bothered to run this worthless station.” Octavia reached under her own side of the broadcasting console and retrieved a box of carefully stored records. She flipped through them until she retrieved one, and placed it on the turn table. Dropping the needle onto the groove, she returned to the microphone. “So, I hope you all enjoy Concerto No. 17 in G major, by Mozart. …They can’t all be puns, folks.”

Octavia pressed another button, and the recording light went out. The sounds of strings and woodwinds filled the room and flew across the airwaves across the reaches of greater Equestria. The mare left her place at her microphone, beginning to tidy the odds and ends that lay around the console. The clicking countdown of the oven timer caught her ear, reminding her that the precious muffins were still baking, just about done. Diligently, Octavia walked to the oven and turned off the heat. She took the oven mitt from atop the oven between her teeth. She then opened the door, grabbed the scalding hot tray in her mitted teeth, and hurled it unceremoniously into the garbage. 

*--------------------------*

Octavia fumed as she made her way back to her town house. She had spent the rest of the show covering for her AWOL co-host and their special guest. The considerable amount of her personal collection she’d been able to play had done little to improve her mood, as had the fairly steady stream of callers informing her that her selection was “not bad for old stuff.” She’d taken as much of it as she could stand, and then politely but oh-so-firmly excused herself to get ready for her concert in Canterlot that evening.

‘Honestly,’ she seethed internally as she walked. ‘of all the stunts she’s pulled, this has to be the most… How does she get away with these things? Walking out in the middle of work, doing such vulgar things in a public space, in her bloody work place! Not to mention boozing on the job. For pony’s sakes, where did she even get that bottle?!’ Octavia had been working with Vinyl for several months, and she’d never caught the slightest hint of such contraband.

‘Does she always have that? Maybe she just brings it in for the cheap floozies who’ll go for getting their field ploughed in a janitor’s closet.’ Her anger flared brighter at the thought. ‘I can’t believe this. And did she ever even offer me a drink? No! That’s fine, not like I like vodka or anything. I… wait, what? No!’ She shook this latest train of thought away as hard as she could. ‘No no, no amount of alcohol is worth following that mare into any kind of bed, table, or floor.’ 

Octavia’s thoughts continued as she rounded the final corner to her house. ‘I’ll admit that Vinyl’s not as bad as I thought when I met her. But I’d still have to be out of my mind to do anything like that with her. Especially with that bottle of cheap donkey piss in hoof. The carrot whore got what she deserved.’

With a final, vindictive sneer, she shoved her way into her house and slammed the door behind her. It was a respectably nice abode. Nothing like the home she’d left behind in Canterlot, of course, but for a small town like Ponyville, it wasn’t such a far cry. It was well furnished, tastefully painted, and modestly decorated. A refined house for a refined pony to refinedly hurl her collar onto the floor and collapse heavily onto her refined couch with a final grunt of refined frustration.

She lay slouched on the couch for a few minutes, surrounded by silence and her own thoughts. Her anger gradually lost form and direction, but the tension still strained the back of her mind like an insect, making it hard for her to concentrate on anything. She glanced at the clock on the wall. If she left for Canterlot now, she’d arrive hours before her concert. And as much as she missed the city and all of her favorite places, she didn’t relish the thought of having to lug her bass around while she went sightseeing.

She rolled her head back, her frustration still muddling her thoughts. She knew that playing her show would help distract her, maybe even help her get back to normal by tomorrow. But that was hours away, and right now even dragging herself upstairs to practice on her own seemed like an unfulfilling endeavor. Fortunately, she had other, perfectly healthy ways of relieving stress like this.

Finally, she shifted in her seat, letting her body go limp, finding her center of comfort. She raised a hoof and pressed it against the center of her chest before slowly dragging it down across her midriff. She repeated the motion several times, gently stroking her coat, stimulating the skin underneath. She breathed deeply as the calming strokes spread warmth through her chest. As she brought the hoof down to rest against her inner thigh, she let her eyes drift half shut, and her imagination commandeered her senses. She slowly traced across her thigh and up to her crotch and began teasing herself, drawing circles around her entrance with the edge of her hoof.

Her mind cycled through a range of erotic scenarios, seeking something desirable for her mood. A pale-coated unicorn stallion gently nibbled at her neck. A younger earth mare admired the curve of her flanks, tracing them with a nervous hoof. The two sisters at the Ponyville spa giggled to each other as they gently applied far too much rubbing oil. She sighed gently as her hoof touched the edge of her vagina’s lips, probing only slightly inside. Then she let the hoof fall to her side and her eyes opened in annoyance. None of her fantasies were able to hold her interest right now. Not one of the dozen mental images of stallions or mares or both was rubbing her the right way to rub herself the right way. She groaned in frustration as she pushed her head backwards against the couch cushion.

“Stupid Vinyl,” she muttered. “I wouldn’t even be in this situation if it wasn’t for her. Her and that tart, rutting in a closet like school fillies. …Stupid Vinyl…” The thought came unbidden into her mind, but once there, it refused to leave. The face of her coworker stuck in her mind, smiling at her with half-lidded eyes. Octavia contemplated it for a moment, feeling at once repulsed, confused, and inexplicably drawn to the idea. Somehow, she couldn’t free her mind of the thought of the annoying unicorn’s eyes and mane and lips and snout. Finally, with a self-conscious glance around, she relaxed her body and brought her hoof back to her crotch. Her eyelids once again drifted closed as she began to stimulate her nethers, and in her mind’s eye, she saw a spiky blue mane and a white, spiraling horn shifting between her legs. Octavia’s hoof simulated the imaginary mare’s rough tongue licking around her swollen lips.

“Unh…” Octavia sighed quietly as Vinyl’s tongue circled towards the center, tracing up and down the length of her slit. It alternated speed, sometimes darting across her entrance, other times licking up its length in a slow, agonizing slurp. “Oh… Oh Vinyl…” Octavia barely whispered, but it was enough to spur the unicorn onwards, and her tongue finally pressed through Octavia’s lips and began to stroke against the walls inside.

Octavia was panting slightly now. She was vaguely aware of her juices beginning to flow. She pressed her back against the couch and let the other mare work on her now-aching hole. She raised her free hoof and held it on top of Vinyl’s head, silently begging her to go deeper. Her whole body tingled as she watched that blue mane bob as Vinyl worked. The DJ’s tongue traveled deeper into her, but moved no faster or more frantically than when it had started. It deliberately slid along her walls, lighting a fire wherever it touched. Octavia’s eyes shut as her body convulsed, the mounting, burning pleasure in her lower body becoming the center of her entire world.

“Mmm!” she moaned loudly as her body spasmed under the tongue’s lashings. “Uh! Uh… oh Vinyl…” As she struggled to form words through the consuming euphoria sending shockwaves from her loins, she pressed her hoof harder against her partner’s head. “Ah!”

Her imaginary eyes flew open, and Vinyl was inches from her face. All Octavia could see was her beautiful white coat, her well-sculpted horn, her deliciously soft lips, those all-consuming pools of her crimson eyes, staring back into hers, threatening to drown her in an ocean of color and warmth and… and…

The distance between their lips vanished, and Octavia’s body convulsed like she’d grabbed a live wire. Her back arched off of the couch, trying to force her body closer to the other mare’s – against it, into it, anything to increase the contact between them. Octavia’s hoof wrapped around Vinyl’s back, desperately drawing her closer as their kiss deepened. The unicorn’s tongue snaked feverishly around her mouth while her lips sucked against Octavia’s with awesome force.

Vinyl’s hoof quickly took over what her tongue had left unfinished, wasting no time in sliding into Octavia’s soaked pussy and rubbing firmly against her walls. Octavia’s hoof moved with Vinyl’s, guiding it deeper and faster and harder. Her hips bucked madly against the intertwined appendages, desperate to draw as much pleasure from their thrusting as possible. She felt the end approaching, and moaned loudly into Vinyl’s mouth.

Finally breaking their kiss, Octavia threw her head back and panted loudly, driving herself against the stimulating hooves.

“Vinyl, I... oh yes… Vinyl…” she struggled to form words, but ultimately surrendered in favor of moaning loudly as her euphoria reached the bursting point. The unicorn quickened her movements, pushing her closer. With a few final thrusts, Octavia tumbled over the edge. Her hips spasmed uncontrollably, and her back arched so hard that she thought it would break. She couldn’t breathe or make a noise. The air simply caught in her lungs, held in place by the waves of pleasure that washed over her whole being.

After what seemed like an eternity, the flare of pleasure began to fade into a gentle glow. Her body went limp in the couch’s embrace. She remembered how to breathe, and gulped down air hungrily. The blurred colors of her mind focused, and then faded into the darkness of the inside of her eyelids. Slowly, Octavia opened her eyes to find herself alone in her townhouse, still hoof-deep in her own tunnel. She slowly extracted her hoof, surprised by how wet the sound that accompanied its exit was. She held it aloft in front of her, coated by the evidence of her pleasure. She stared at it for a while as she slowly caught her breath.

“Well…” she muttered to herself, “that… happened.” Surfacing on the other side of its endorphin rush, her mind began to race. Important questions began to present themselves. Questions like, “What did I do? Why did I do it? Why would anyone do that, ever?” She forced herself to avoid panicking as she stood up, and made her way on three legs towards the bathroom to clean off the fourth.

“Okay,” she began rationalizing aloud, “okay, let’s not let our imagination run away with us, here.” She reached the sink and dipped her hoof into the streaming water. “I… I was just stressed. And bored. The idle mind does strange things, doesn’t it?” 

Vinyl’s eyes drifted shut, her ears drooped, and her lips parted only slightly as she leaned in…

Octavia brought her hooves together and began scrubbing the unclean limb with an almost frantic drive.

“I-it’s because of those two. Vinyl and that… that mare. Screwing around like that. I’ve just been… thinking about it all day. It was stuck in my head. Not that... I mean, not that I’d actually want her to take me into some shed and…”

Her body pressed against Vinyl’s, rolling with the pleasure of just touching her body, feeling the other mare’s heat mix with her own as the unicorn’s forearm circled behind her head, holding their mouths together as her tongue…

Octavia spun around, suddenly feeling herself covered in sweat and less pleasant fluids. She leapt towards the bath tub, practically tearing the faucet handles from the wall as she turned the shower onto full blast. She stepped inside without even checking the temperature.

“She’s the one who’s always teasing me! Always calling me ‘hun’ or ‘sweetie’, always trying to make out with me. And then she leaves me to think about her and some slut rutting all day… I mean I wasn’t thinking about it! Why the hell would I think about it?! I… 

Octavia could only moan into Vinyl’s mouth as her partner’s hoof traveled up her, into her, teasing her, playing her, fucking her…

“I had a long day and I indulged a thought. So fucking sue me!” she shouted. Gradually, the soothing cascade of hot water calmed Octavia down from her near-hyperventilation. She took a few deep breaths and stared at the shower wall.

“Okay, let’s be rational about this. So I masturbated to my friend. That’s hardly unprecedented. And it disturbed me so much that I’m now talking to myself, trying to explain it. That’s… a bit less normal, but still not unheard of. All of this is fine.”

The memory of her orgasm returned to her. Her chest tightening, her stomach going numb, her legs kicking and flailing without her command. She couldn’t remember the last time she had cum like that on her own.

“It doesn’t mean anything. It’s not like I was… like I’m…”

It wasn’t the hooves that had pushed her so high. It wasn’t the tongue against her slit or tickling her clitoris. It wasn’t any of that that had shocked her, burned her, overwhelmed her until she could only ride the feeling and pray that she’d come out the other side in one piece.

She sat in the shower for what seemed like hours, letting the water soak into her coat, hoping it would wash away her confusion as well as her sweat. Finally, she shook herself back into reality and turned off the shower. She stepped out and began to dry herself.

“On second thought, I am going to the city, baggage be damned. I’ve been cooped up in this little town too long, dealing with Vinyl and all her insanities. It’s no wonder I finally snapped a little bit. My goodness, I’m practically developing Stockholm syndrome here.” She chuckled to herself as she finished toweling off and went to retrieve her bass and a new bow tie.

“Yes, I think some time in the city sounds like a splendid idea.”

*--------------------------*

It was an awful idea. Any sense of relaxation or excitement she’d found in returning home had quickly waned as she’d walked through the city streets. Around every corner, in every queue, at every café and restaurant and crosswalk, Octavia had thought she’d seen Vinyl. She saw the grinning unicorn in another white-coated mare, from a flashy pair of spectacles on display, in an obviously empty space. She’d jumped in place too many times to count at the sound of a laugh or an almost familiar cheer. She’d come within bass-dropping distance of a dance club, music full-blast in the middle of the afternoon, and had actually had to turn around.

She’d finally become so frazzled that she stopped in at one of her favorite watering holes to calm her nerves before her show. And as she’d sat in a den of luxury and class, surrounded by well-dressed patrons and a well-mannered bartender, the sounds of smooth jazz in her ears and a glass of fine brandy in her hoof, all she’d found herself thinking about was what it would be like to share the moment with one loud, irritating, uncouth disc jockey.

By the time she made it to her show, she was practically at her wits’ end. She still played, of course, and killed at that. Grace and poise under pressure was a talent of hers. But the entire evening had felt off, somehow. In a theater with her name written in bold on the billboard, she felt out of place, like she wasn’t where she was meant to be, or how she was meant to be, or…

Octavia sighed and leaned back against the seat of the carriage that slowly carried her back to Ponyville. She’d retraced and recollected the last eight hours again and again, and so far it had earned her nothing but a novel combination of a headache and a churning stomach.

“Okay, look,” she finally tried to reason with herself. “It was just a long day. Vinyl crossed a line, I got angry, and it’s been bothering me ever since. Yes, that’s it!” She sat up, waving her hooves as if banishing the entire matter from her mind. “But I don’t care about that anymore. I’m just going to let it go, and tomorrow I’ll go back to work. Vinyl will be there, and she’ll do something, and I’ll get annoyed with her, and I’ll feel ridiculous for ever thinking this way.” She was grinning now, still miming her indifference with her forelegs. “We’ll argue, she’ll blow me off. Everything will go back to normal, and I won’t spend another second feeling…”

She deflated mid-pep speech, and her grin slipped away. “Just like the last ten times I’ve said that today,” she admitted quietly to herself. “My gods, I’m insane.” She slumped back against the seat and sighed again, covering her face with a hoof. She sat silently for a long time, trying to finally bring calm to the sickening rush of thoughts in her mind. At last, her hoof fell to her side and stared up at the ceiling.

“Okay,” she said slowly, “alternative theory: I like Vinyl Scratch.” With a shudder, her head rolled to stare out the window. “My gods, I really am insane. Why is this happening? I mean… alright, she’s not actually so bad once you get past the shouting and the compulsive criminal behavior. And we do get along, I guess. …probably better than I’d admit. …and her mane is really pretty…” Octavia groaned at herself.

“This is pointless. I’m not going to accomplish anything tonight. I just… I just have to wait until tomorrow. I’ll sort all of this out when I see her. …I hope…” She stared through the window, watching the night-time landscape roll by as her carriage slowly traveled home.

> Chapter 2
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Octavia arrived at the station early the next morning. It wasn’t unusual for her to be one of the first ponies in the building, but this was early-rising even by her standards. She’d tried her best to give herself a few more hours of sleep, but her anxiety and a few new lurid thoughts about her co-worker had finally driven her from her apartment in search of something to occupy her mind – something that didn’t involve her hoof, her vagina, and a very long and hot shower of shame afterwards.
 
And so she arrived at work, and very quickly realized that there wasn’t an abundance of distraction there, either. Most of the off-air paper pushing and busywork was somepony else’s job. Still, she did her best. She did have some papers to fill out and file. Sorting Vinyl’s work space took even longer. And by the time she was finished cleaning the bathrooms, there was only an hour until show time.
 
Finally, her co-workers began to file in. They greeted Octavia as they readied their stations, and Octavia returned the greeting brightly, deftly concealing the surges of hope and dread that accompanied every opening of the studio door. Five minutes before the start of broadcasting, the mix master finally made an appearance.
 
“Good morning, minions!” Vinyl called out as she burst through the doors. “How is my obedient crew today?” She sauntered cheerfully past the un-phased technicians. “Morning, Wooly. Star Turner, looking good. Boost, buddy, how’re we looking? Make sure you get my good side today, yea?”
 
“Vinyl, you’re needed in the broadcasting room, please,” the radio director interrupted her without looking up from his clipboard.
 
“Yessir, sir,” Vinyl flashed him a grin and headed for the booth. Octavia turned her undivided attention to a button somewhere on her recording equipment as the unicorn entered the room. “Good morning, Tavi.”
 
“Hello, Vinyl,” Octavia responded, pleading with her voice to stay cool. She willed herself to look anywhere but at the other pony as she began to consider her situation.
 
‘Oh, excellent,’ she cursed herself. ‘I spent so long thinking about this moment that I didn’t bother to make a plan for when it got here. What am I supposed to do now? Should I even bring up yesterday? Should I get mad, or forgive her? Should I just knock her down and make out with her? Wait, no! Bad thoughts, get it together. …the bathroom floor is pretty clean now. Okay, no more thinking!’
 
“How was your-,” she was startled by a shimmering blue coffee cup floating to a stop in front of her. She looked past it to see Vinyl grinning sheepishly at her, her sunglasses raised above her horn.
 
“Hey, uh, sorry about yesterday,” Vinyl said, lowering her head slightly. “The boss said you got pretty mad. Guess that wasn’t really cool of me bailing on you like that.”
 
After a moment of stunned surprise, Octavia took the cup from its magical suspension. “Oh. Well, that’s… that’s very nice of you to…”
 
‘Wait, what am I doing?’ she stopped herself. ‘I’m not seriously letting her off the hook, am I? Where’s my outrage? Where’s my indignation? She’s not going to just walk out with some bimbo and get off clean.’
 
“That’s nice of you to apologize, Vinyl,” she allowed a scowl to form, “but it definitely was not ‘cool’ to leave in the middle of work. Nor was it ‘cool’ to go off and do… things with our guest.”
 
“Heheh, ah yea. All those things.” Vinyl’s eyes glazed over as she stared into space with a dopey grin.

‘I swear to Celestia, if I ever see that mare again I will rip off her… Wait, this isn’t right. This isn’t outrage, this is… Am I actually jealous?’
 
Her mental flare-up must have caused her to glare, because Vinyl winced. “Uh, I mean… yea, that too. That was my bad. I’m sorry.”
 
Octavia felt herself deflate as she looked at Vinyl’s face. She found she couldn’t stay mad at those worried eyes and nervous smile. Finally, she looked down at the coffee cup in her hooves and took a sip from it.
 
“So, are we okay?” Vinyl asked hopefully. Octavia let the silence hold for a moment before she answered.
 
“Yes, we’re okay. No hard feelings.” Vinyl’s face instantly brightened.
 
“Great. Okay, let’s talk about the show. Now I know what you’re going to say, but I have got to talk about…”
 
Octavia’s attention was entirely focused inward, turning over the new evidence in the case of her own feelings. ‘I’m jealous. Over Vinyl. I’m… that’s… I never get jealous. It’s pointless. And why did I forgive her? She just looked at me with those beautiful crimson eyes, and – I MEAN. …okay, this doesn’t prove anything. I was worried about how this argument would play out, and it has. I just have to make it through the rest of the day, and figure out if - wait, what did she say?’
 
“Huh?” Octavia snapped to attention, suddenly aware that Vinyl was staring at her.
 
“I said, what do you think?” the unicorn said.
 
“Oh, um, sure,” she said, still only half focused on the situation. Vinyl’s eyes widened.
 
“Wait, really?!” she nearly gasped.
 
“Wait, what?” Octavia stammered. Her brain finally returned to reality long enough to realize that agreeing to anything Vinyl would suggest was generally a terrible idea. “No, no I didn’t-“
 
“Five seconds,” the director’s voice announced over the studio intercom.
 
“There’s no time!” Vinyl waved at her frantically. She appeared panicked, but she couldn’t keep the mirth from her eyes. “No takebacks!”
 
“What?! No, I didn’t-“ The console’s transmitting light blinked to life as an electric hum cut off Octavia’s protest. Vinyl dropped her sunglasses into place and took on her trademark grin as she leaned towards the microphone.
 
“Good morning, loyal listeners! At the sound of the scratch, the time will be nine-oh-one, on the eighty second day of the Age of Rock. This is The Vinyl Scratch.” Vinyl paused for a good five seconds before she pressed a button in front of her, playing a pre-recorded scratching sound. “Okay, that wasn’t exactly nine-oh-one, but I got bored. Time is an illusion, listeners. For whatever time it is, I am and shall always be the turn-table temptress, DJ Pon3.”
 
“And I’m Octavia,” the earth pony said quickly, “and Vinyl, whatever you were saying, I-“
 
“So, all ye listeners at home, guess what! Octavia has agreed-“
 
“No! No, I did not agree to that. I don’t know what it is, but I would never consent to you doing anything you could ever actually want to do.”
 
“Now now, my lovely assistant, I seem to recall that, when I asked for your opinion of my intentions, your exact response was – and I quote – ‘sure.’”
 
“That’s out of context! I-I wasn’t paying attention. You’re taking advantage of my distractedness.”

“My dearest Octavia!” Vinyl raised a hoof to her cheek, feigning shock. “Would I ever take advantage of you?”
 
“Yes!” Octavia asserted, managing to hold back the “please” that threatened to make its way from her brain to her mouth. She felt herself blushing slightly, though she wasn’t sure if it was out of exasperation with Vinyl’s taunting, or because the words “intentions”, “consent”, “lovely”, and “take advantage” had worked their way into the conversation in the last fifteen seconds.
 
“So, everypony,” Vinyl turned her attention back to the unseen audience, “without further ado, I’m going to inform Mayor Buzz-kill-“
 
“Oh dear Princesses,” Octavia buried her face in her hooves.
 
“-exactly what I think about this new ‘suggestive saddle ban’ of hers. And I’m going to do it by regaling you all with a tale from my youth. Discretionary warning: it involves copious amounts of alcohol. It all started when I was a little filly, but we’ll skip a head a bit, to when I went to college…”
 
Resigned to the inevitability of Vinyl’s story time, Octavia rested her head on her hooves. She resolved to actually pay attention this time, so as to know exactly what deviant horror she had inadvertently consented in giving rise to. Predictably enough, Vinyl’s tale wove itself with threads of alcohol, insanity, and borderline criminal behavior. But as it went on, Octavia found herself more enraptured by it than mortified. Something about the way Vinyl told the story was enthralling. Octavia wasn’t sure if it was the way her face brightened and darkened with the beats of her story, or how she punctuated and illustrated the key plot points with wild gestures, or even just the sound of her voice.
 
Whatever it was, Octavia was entranced. She hung on the unicorn’s every word, her emotions silently rising and falling in time with the ludicrous tale. Even Vinyl’s humor hit home, though she beat back every laugh, chuckle, and snicker with the ferocity of a manticore. As the story reached its climax, along with Vinyl’s energy, she didn’t even mind as the unicorn once again ascended her recording equipment and reared onto her hind legs, shouting to the ceiling as if crying to the gods themselves. Somehow, it was just… charming.
 
‘At least one pony in this room is not sane,’ she thought.
 
“…and I looked down over the non-believers and cried out, ‘Then I shall defy gravity itself!’” Finally seeming to run out of steam, Vinyl returned to all four legs before climbing off of the console. “So, long story short, I spent two weeks in a cast and they confiscated my recording equipment for a month. But the lesson is that it was awesome.”
 
Silence reigned for a few moments in the wake of Vinyl’s story. Finally, Vinyl turned to Octavia and continued. “And that, my dear assistant, is why frilly saddles are a godsend and should be cherished by society. …um, Tavi? Are you okay?”
 
“Huh?” The earth pony shook herself slightly, not entirely disengaged from Vinyl’s voice. “Yes. Why?”
 
“…You’re smiling.”
 
“What?! No!” Octavia thought a thousand unhappy thoughts and willed the corners of her mouth to fall. “No, don’t be ridiculous.”
 
“Yes you are!” Vinyl’s grin threatened to split her head. “You’re totally smiling. You liked my story, didn’t you?”
 
“Of course not! That was a terrible story, and you are a perfect argument for banning all saddles ever. …and prohibition.”
 
“Noooo,” Vinyl pointed teasingly, “you were smiling. You were totally-“
 
“Okay, it looks like it’s time to get on to some music! Let’s listen!” With the push of a button, the broadcast console’s needle dropped onto the first of several records waiting in rotation, and the record began to spin. Both hosts stepped back from their microphones as the recording light winked out.
 
“Hehehe,” Vinyl chuckled victoriously.
 
“Oh, shut up,” Octavia huffed, her eyes shifting sideways.
 
“Hey,” Vinyl held up a hoof, “I’m just glad to be back on your good side.” With a final “hmph” from Octavia, the two ponies sat in silence for several minutes, listening to the song. It came to an end, and the turn table spun the next record around for its time under the needle. Vinyl spoke in the pause between songs.
 
“So, my lovely assistant…”
 
“You know you don’t have to call me that when we’re not on the air, right?”
 
“…how was the rest of your day yesterday?”
 
“Oh, um… it was fine. Thank you for asking?” she stared at Vinyl, caught off guard by the unicorn’s considerate question. Vinyl grinned, encouraged.
 
“What, no rousing adventures? You didn’t get any exciting escapades without me holding you back?”

‘Something was certainly rousing,’ the back of Octavia’s mind mentally nudged and winked. If she could have inconspicuously punched her brain, she would have.
 
“Oh, no, nothing too exciting. Just a bit of relaxing and then my concert in the evening.”
 
“Whoa, whoa, hold up!” Vinyl lifted her shades. “You’re doing a show?! Why didn’t you tell me?”
 
This time, Octavia was more thoroughly taken aback. “Oh, well… I didn’t know it was a big deal. I mean, I didn’t think you’d care…”
 
                “Are you kidding? I love your shows. It’s like watching art that’s come to life, and started playing pretty music on a big log with some strings on it. You kick ass at your concerts.” Octavia could feel her ears burning as they drooped.
 
“Well… I guess I kind of do, don’t I?”
 
“Please tell me you’re playing again tonight! Are there any more tickets?” Vinyl leaned forward eagerly.
 
“Yes,” Octavia answered with growing anxiety. “I… could get you a ticket if you wanted o-“
 
“Awesome!” Vinyl pumped her hoof in the air. “Say no more, I’m there.”
 
“That… that would be lovely, Vinyl.” Octavia couldn’t help but smile. As Vinyl returned her attention to her hosting duties, she turned away before anyone could see her grin run away with her.
 
*--------------------------*
 
The rest of the day was a blur drawn out into an eternity. Octavia spent almost every free moment thinking about her concert that night. Part of her was overwhelmingly happy. Every time she thought of Vinyl attending just to see her, it felt like a balloon made of fuzzy warmth inflated inside her chest. But she was also nervous. Given how things had transpired the previous night, she questioned whether she’d be able to hold it together with Vinyl actually in the same building as her.
 
Before she knew it, she was finally backstage, watching the last five minutes before the show slip away. She tapped her hoof as she re-tuned her cello. It took all of her will power to tend to her instrument rather than poking her head through the curtains to scan the crowd.
 
‘It will be fine,’ she assured herself for the three-thousandth time. ‘I spent the whole day in a room with her, closer than I’ll be right now. Nothing bad happened then. I’m sure I won’t make a fool of myself now…’
 
The stage manager signaled her that it was time. She took her place just behind the curtains, balanced on her hind legs. The curtains raised to a darkened room. With a thundering click, the spotlights flooded the stage, blackening her view of her audience. Silence pervaded the room. Inhaling, Octavia closed her eyes and prepared to raise her bow to the strings. ‘It’ll be fine.’
 
“Yea Octavia! Do this!” a single loud, coarse voice rang out through the darkness. Octavia’s heart fluttered so much that her practiced performance façade nearly faltered. The echoes of the voice rang through the hall for a half-second more, and then all was once again silent, save for the shifting of the audience members perplexed by the unorthodox cheering. But still the voice echoed in Octavia’s mind, pure and ringing and brilliant.
 
And then it was fine. As Octavia raised her bow, she felt no apprehension, no anxiety, no fear of impending failure. She was at peace. No, more than peace. It wasn’t just calm and rigorous practice that guided her hooves across the strings as her bow drew elaborate melodies into the air. There was a confidence in her now that she had felt few times in her life. Her whole being became one with her instrument. Her passion became its own, and its vibrations became hers. Her hooves glided, finding notes and flourishes where there had been none before, each in time, each in key. She wove tapestries of sound into the air, enveloping herself in the chords as fast as she spun them. And as she released herself to the music’s whim, the echo of a single voice kept her tethered, secured and unafraid.
 
Time ceased to exist, and she played without regard for its passage. She only knew that, eventually, the music faded into echoes, and she opened her eyes. When she did, sweat stained her coat, and applause roared in her ears. She felt as though her chest, her stomach, her very blood was on fire. Her hooves hummed with the ghosts of the resonating strings, long fallen out of tune. As the house lights raised, she saw her audience stamping wildly, some rearing into the air. Above them all, a white pony and an electric blue mane shone in her eyes like the sun. The sight sent a smile breaking through Octavia’s professional demeanor. She didn’t fight it. She bowed, the applause washing over her, but Vinyl’s voice rang clear through all of it – a pure signal of joy that traveled through her ears and straight into her heart.
 
*--------------------------*
 
After the concert, Octavia walked through the hallways back stage. She’d asked Vinyl to meet her here. Though the trance had long ended, Octavia still felt like she was walking through a dream. Her head swam with vivid memories of the whole experience, perfect in every detail, as if she were watching herself experience it right then. It inflated her whole being with an unbreakable feeling of euphoria. She rounded a corner and spotted Vinyl waiting for her. Seeing her, the DJ waved, and that same voice – the voice that had sent her soaring into that wonderful, extraordinary place – filled her ears once more.
 
“Hey, Tavi!” Vinyl’s grin stretched from ear to ear. It made the whole room brighter. “You were amazing! I’ve never seen anyone play like that. A part of me thought you were going to burst into fire and ascend to the halls of the immortals, or something.”
 
Octavia felt her own smile growing to rival her friend’s. “It almost felt like that, actually,” she admitted with a sheepish chuckle. “I don’t usually play like that. I guess I just… wanted to do well tonight. Thanks for coming out to see me.”
 
“Ah, you know you couldn’t pay me enough to stay away from you,” Vinyl said, waving her hoof. “And I like sharing stuff with you, you know? Like your concerts, or my vandalizing public property. You know, gal pallin’ it. Actually, I’ve been thinking that we should totally do an album together sometime. What do you think? Like a classical-techno fusion sound. I have a friend…”
 
Some part of Octavia knew she was already gone. The utter fulfillment of her performance, of knowing that Vinyl was there for her, had taken over her mind entirely. She felt invincible, powerful, like the whole night was her waking dream, completely at her command. Being here with Vinyl now was only fuel on the fire. Everything about the other pony made her happy – her beautiful, vivacious eyes; her brilliant blue mane; the way her cheeks dimpled or her eyes clenched shut when she was excited. And that voice – gods she loved that voice. And she loved the mouth it came from. And she loved… she loved….
 
For the second time that night, time seemed to lose sway over the world. There was no moment when Octavia began kissing Vinyl – no moment when her lips met the unicorn’s, cutting her off mid-sentence. There was no fleeting grunt of surprise, no pause or trembling of confusion, no final submission and reciprocation. Those things came and went before Octavia was aware of them. All she knew was the warmth of Vinyl’s lips on hers, gently pressing hers, and the soft breath tickling hers. The taste of the other mare’s mouth gently seeped into her own, only adding to the wonderful blend of sensations that dominated her consciousness.
 
Finally, Octavia pulled away. She felt Vinyl’s lips follow hers for an instant, before she, too, drew back. Octavia’s eyes drifted open to see her friend staring at her in surprise and confusion. Though Octavia was breathing normally, Vinyl seemed breathless, on the verge of panting. In the silence that followed, seeing her friend’s bewilderment, Octavia’s perception began to catch up with her. She wasn’t dreaming. She wasn’t fantasizing. They had just kissed. She had kissed Vinyl.
 
With that, the euphoria came crashing down around her, and her own eyes widened in shock. Her mind flailed. She couldn’t have done that. She would never have. Oh gods, she had. Her chest tightened. Her mind started to race in a hundred directions at once. One part of her screamed to run. Another told her to go in for another kiss. Some part of her scolded her to apologize. A small part of her wanted to mount the unicorn’s horn and ride her head like a confused cowgirl.
 
“Wow,” Vinyl’s voice broke the silence, probably the quietest and most reserved Octavia had ever heard it. “So, umm… that…” she stuttered. Somehow, the voice jolted Octavia’s brain entirely onto the “running” part’s side. She spun in place and bolted away from Vinyl at a blind sprint. “Tavi, wait! Octavia!” she heard Vinyl cry behind her, but she didn’t slow or turn. She ran through the hallways, blowing past patrons, staff, and performers. She ran out of the hall and through the streets of Canterlot. The wind howled in her ears and whipped against her face, causing the streaks of tears that ran down her cheeks to bite with cold. She didn’t stop to wipe them, or to breathe between the sobs that caught in her throat. She just ran, prodded onward by the memories of Vinyl’s shocked face that flashed through her mind.
 
Finally, she reached the train station, and her steps slowed. She stared at the ground as her thoughts poured into her mind, as if catching up to her.
 
“Stupid, stupid!” she cursed herself. “Why did I do that? Why would I think that’s okay? I kissed her. What is she going to think? What do I even want her to think? Oh gods, what’s wrong with me?!” She clenched her eyes against the panic that began to settle over her mind, leaving cold churnings of dread in her stomach. Vinyl was nowhere to be found. On the dot, the train rolled into the station. Octavia made her way to a concealed booth and curled up inside it, alone with her fears.

> Chapter 3
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Late in the morning after her concert, Octavia still lay in bed, bundled in her covers. Somehow, she’d actually been able to fall asleep last night – mostly out of emotional exhaustion – so she was wide awake. Which, of course, meant that she got to spend time with her waking thoughts, rather than her rather haunting dreams. And that time wasn’t giving her much other than anxiety.
 
Thoughts about last night’s kiss kept glaring at her. Why had she done it? What would Vinyl think? Did she want to do it again? She could feel that the answer to that last one was “yes”, but what did that mean? She thought her way in circles for hours, alternating between demanding answers of her feelings and berating them for causing her behavior. Finally, with an ultimate groan of frustration, she willed her mind be quiet for a change. Feeling her thoughts come creeping back almost instantly, she flung aside her sheets and began digging under her bed.
 
Given that she was an ever-present co-host of the only radio station in Equestria, Octavia hadn’t been sure what she was meant to do with the radio receiver the station had given her as an employment gift. Naturally, she’d never used it before. But in this instance, she was actually glad for it. She finally located it hidden behind a number of boxes and belongings, and dusted it off. She turned it on, and the magical tubes inside it began to hum as they warmed up. Gradually, music became audible through its speakers, growing in volume. Octavia lay back into her bed and focused on the music that came to life and filled the room.
 
The set lasted for a good twenty minutes. As the last song faded out, her co-host’s voice greeted their listeners.
 
“Man I love that song,” Vinyl said, her voice as lively and full of laughter as ever. In spite of everything, Octavia found herself slightly comforted by the voice, and the fact that Vinyl must not have been too shaken up after last night.
 
“For those of you just joining us,” the voice continued, “I’m your host, DJ-Pon3, right here on the Vinyl Scratch. Sadly, our lovely Octavia isn’t here today. She’s a little under the weather. It probably doesn’t help that she’s put all her heart into an amazing concert all week. Poor thing must have worked herself sick. But I know we all wish her well, and hope she gets better soon.” Technically, Octavia had practically made herself sick with anxiety the night before… and that morning. So calling in sick in order to avoid having to face Vinyl wasn’t a complete fallacy.
 
“Anyway, we’re gonna take a short break with some words from our money-grubbing sponsors. But first, a word from your attention-grubbing host. As a reminder, I’ll be doing a show of my own this Saturday at Ponyville’s own Echo Chamber Club. So you should all come out, say hi, and dance your flanks off. Remember, that’s the Echo Chamber on Saturday. As in tomorrow. Ten o’clock. …Be there. You know who you are.”
 
Vinyl’s voice was replaced by the comforting drone of a sales pony, leaving Octavia to endure a fresh panic attack and retreat back into her blankets.
 
*--------------------------*
 
The following evening, Octavia made her way towards the Echo Chamber Club. She wasn’t sure what Vinyl’s intentions in calling her out were, but she knew she’d have to face her friend sooner or later. She’d run away from enough problems in her life to know it didn’t fix anything. With that decided, meeting on Vinyl’s chosen ground only seemed fair.
 
She left her house early, but took her time reaching the club. She took in the sights and sounds of the small town on a Saturday night, on the off chance that Vinyl saw to it that she’d never get to experience them again. Finally, she reached the Echo Chamber, only a few minutes before ten, and descended the steps to the club’s subterranean door. Inside, the party was already in full swing. Ponies filled the dance floor, stepping and writhing to the beat of very loud music. Octavia gave the crowd a brief scan. She recognized several of the attendees, but didn’t feel compelled to catch up with any of them. Instead, she made her way to the bar.
 
After several minutes, the music came to a dramatic end, and the dancing ponies cheered and stamped in applause. The DJ gave the crowd a final wave and bowed off the platform. An unseen announcer spoke over the sound system.
 
“Alright, fillies and gentlecoats, it’s time for what you’ve all been waiting for. Get on the floor and stamp your hooves for the temptress of the turn-tables, the harbinger of rock, the one and only DJ Pon-3!”
 
The patrons cheered as Vinyl stepped onto the platform to a flurry of neon lights and dry-ice smoke. She pumped her hooves into the air, rousing the crowd. Without a word, her horn began glowing, and half a dozen turn tables began to spin. A moment later, heavy beats began to pound out of the massive speakers, echoing through the excited ponies. Music poured into them, kindling a fire that sent them dancing with utter abandon.
 
Octavia watched the dancing ponies with growing fascination. She had to admit that there was a sensual allure to the whole affair – dozens of bodies moving and sweating together, rubbing against and bouncing off of each other in time with the beat. Heat poured out of them, mingling into a single energetic storm that wrapped around them and smothered their inhibitions. It was almost as intoxicating to watch them as it must have been to be them. Little by little, that line faded away, and Octavia was drawn to the dance floor, her hooves pulled forward by the pounding bass and the mesmerizing electronic trebles. Finally, she surrendered her self-consciousness to the crowd, and her body began to sway and turn with the sonic storm that thundered around her.
 
Above the din, Vinyl stood on her podium. Dials and switches flew and clicked under the influence of her magic. Octavia realized that it was the first time she’d seen Vinyl work, and it was glorious in a way she’d never expected. Vinyl reigned over the crowd, controlling their wild dance with the raising of her hooves and the instruments of her switchboard. With the flick of her horn, she could send the volume soaring or plummeting, crash one song into another, and shake the earth itself. And her ponies followed her wherever she led them. Vinyl consumed their energy. She whipped the passion and the friction into a frenzy, and it flowed into her like lightning to a rod. As Octavia danced, her muscles on fire with exhaustion and unrestrained excitement, she gazed up at the DJ. She was an angel, a dark queen, and a puppet master all in one, haloed in the glow of the stage lights. Nothing had ever looked more beautiful.
 
At last, Vinyl’s set drew towards its end. The volume and intensity flew to new levels, and drum beats tore through the air in rapid succession. With one final crash, the music faded away, leaving only the exhausted cheers of patrons in its wake. Vinyl raised herself over the crowd as the ponies below stamped their feet, and cheers of “Pon-3! Pon-3!” were raised. Octavia watched from the throng, unconsciously smiling as she watched her friend soak in the love. Finally, Vinyl bowed and disappeared from the stage with a bright blue flash. Octavia snorted at the ostentatious exit.
 
‘It always has to be a light show with her, doesn’t it?’ Gradually, her thoughts returned to her, and she remembered why she was here. Her anxiety began to grow anew. She made her way back to the bar, downing a glass of water while she mentally braced herself for whatever was going to happen next. Finally, she turned and pushed her way through the crowd towards the stage where Vinyl had been performing. She spotted the unicorn talking with the DJ who had been on before her. As she approached, the other DJ left with a nod, and Vinyl turned back to the crowd, spotting her instantly.
 
“Tavi!” she waved to her with a grin, walking to meet her. “You made it! Awesome. Did you enjoy the show?”
 
“Well, yes, actually,” Octavia admitted. “It was… it was a lot of fun. I’ve never really been to a dance like this before.”
 
“See? We should hang out here more often. And I know a ton of places in Canterlot that blow this joint out of the water. You’d love it.”
 
“That sounds lovely, Vinyl. But I’m mainly here because you wanted to see me, and I can take a good guess why.” Octavia began to look away, but she forced her eyes to meet the unicorn’s glasses. “Listen, I just want to sa-“
 
“Hang on,” Vinyl cut her off with a hoof. “Not here. There are some nosey neighers around here. Come with me.” She turned and headed for the door towards back stage. Octavia hesitated – a small part of her wondered if Vinyl really was trying to take her somewhere where nopony would find the body – but she quickly fell in line behind her.
 
Vinyl led her through the halls of the club until they reached the lounge. The room wasn’t lavishly decorated, but was well lit and comfortable. A plush felt couch rested against one wall, facing a coffee table with a smattering of magazines scattered across it, most related to music technology. Assorted snacks and snack-ingredients were scattered across the kitchen counter in the back. The room was currently almost deserted, save for one off-white earth mare with a shocking green mane. Vinyl nodded to the other pony as she entered.
 
“Hey Vinyl,” the earth mare greeted her with a pretty voice, rising from her seat on the couch.
 
“Close the door,” Vinyl told Octavia, glancing over her shoulder. As Octavia complied, the unicorn trotted up to the other pony and gave her a hug and an affectionate nuzzling. She turned towards Octavia as the cellist walked up to them. “Tavi, this is my good friend, White Noise.”
 
“How do you-“ Tavi began, “wait, really?”
 
“Mhmm,” White Noise nodded. “Funny world, isn’t it?”
 
Vinyl lifted her glasses, fixing Octavia with her stare. “Anyway, here’s the situation. You kissed me. Which is cool, it happens. Like, a lot. But, it kind of freaked you out.”
 
“Well, I-“ Octavia began, her eyes turning guiltily towards the ground.
 
“Tut tut, not to worry, my dear. This is hardly the first time someone has fallen in love with me.” Octavia was painfully aware that she had no retort to the self-satisfied grin Vinyl flashed her, and that she didn’t particularly want one. “But now you’re wondering what that means, and whether you even are in love with me, or if you’re just kidding yourself. So, to help you figure it out, we’re going to do a little experiment.”
 
Vinyl slung her foreleg around White Noise’s neck. “I’ve explained the situation to White, here, and she’s agreed to help you out. Like me, White is a very good kisser. She’ll be your control group.”
 
“I’m not-“ Octavia began. Before she could finish, White Noise lurched forward, stopping inches from her face. The creamy mare smiled gently as she brushed back Octavia’s mane slightly, and Octavia found herself hypnotized by the earth pony’s azure stare. Their eyes drifted shut in sync as White Noise closed the gap between them, and their lips met.
 
Octavia had to admit, White Noise was a very good kisser. Her lips were soft, yet perfectly assertive, moving only slightly against hers. A hoof cupped Octavia’s chin, pulling her closer into the kiss. As their lips became more familiar, they started pressing against each other more boldly. Octavia felt the other mare’s tongue brush against her lip, and she opened her mouth entirely in invitation. The inquiring tongue wasted no time slipping inside her and seeking out her own, which quickly awoke in response to the visitor. The other mare’s mouth tasted pleasantly of mint and soda, and Octavia enjoyed it as she licked against the interloper, occasionally venturing into the other’s mouth, but mostly just responding to White’s exploration.
 
Finally, the burning in her lungs forced Octavia to break the kiss with a gasp. White withdrew as well, slowly opening her eyes and panting slightly, her lips still puckered.
 
Vinyl nodded with detached approval. “Hmm, very nice. Well, Tavi, what do you think?”
 
Octavia regarded White Noise as she regained her breath and considered what had just happened. She had enjoyed the kiss. Even now, her lips tingled and the taste of the other mare hung gently on her tongue. It had been pleasant, and invigorating… and that was it. There was no passion, no driving need, no sense of time-blurring fulfillment like there had been last night. For all the good things she could say about White Noise’s kissing technique, there just hadn’t been any real connection.
 
“I don’t know, Vinyl. It just didn’t feel… right. I mean, you’re a very good kisser, White Noise, but I didn-mm!“
 
“Right” was a good way to describe the feeling. As Vinyl’s hooves wrapped around her head and her lips mashed onto her own, jolts of satisfaction instantly surged into Octavia’s mouth. The shock lasted for only a second as Vinyl’s lips hungrily massaged hers. Then Octavia’s forelegs wrapped around Vinyl’s neck and she returned the kiss with unmitigated lust, taking the initiative and pressing her tongue into Vinyl’s open mouth. She moaned into the unicorn’s mouth as the other tongue found hers and wrapped around it, stroking up and down its length. Vinyl tasted like beer and sweat and awful snacks. Octavia loved it.
 
After an eternity of mashing lips and wrestling tongues, they broke apart, panting loudly, eyes locked on each others’.
 
“White, give us the room please,” Vinyl commanded, never releasing Octavia from her stare or her grip. “My friend and I have to discuss some things very vocally.”
 
“Can I help?” the earth pony chimed hopefully.
 
“No!” they responded in unison. Octavia heard a disappointed whine and the clopping of hooves behind her, and then the door closing. Vinyl’s horn glowed, and she heard the door lock click into place. The sound was like a starting pistol for her. She dove at Vinyl, pushing the unicorn to the ground and pressing her body against her. Octavia dove back into Vinyl’s mouth, only to find the other’s tongue meet her half way with just as much enthusiasm. Their lips struggled to hold against each other as their tongues battled feverishly, licking and lapping at teeth, gums, lips, and each other. Their drool pooled together, spilling out and running down Vinyl’s chin.
 
Kissing Vinyl was everything Octavia had thought it would be – everything it had been last night, and much more. Even her most deeply rooted inhibitions had surrendered the instant Vinyl’s lips had touched hers, and now every fiber of her being was intent on experiencing the mare beneath her. Her lips and mouth worked to express the longing and affection she’d been trying to deny herself for the last few days. Her hooves stroked the unicorn’s coat lovingly, as if she were admiring the texture of a fine silk dress. Her lungs inhaled Vinyl’s scent, one that must have always been there, but that she’d never truly known until this moment. It intoxicated her with lust.
 
Octavia ground her body against Vinyl’s, the warmth and friction she was making with the other mare warming her entire body. The days of repressed and not-so-repressed desire rushed into her body all at once, stirring her to move more and more. Octavia needed to feel her, to taste her. She wanted to moan with her, and make her moan. She wanted to fuck her, and she felt as if she’d go crazy soon if she didn’t. The mare beneath shifting and bucking up against her told her the feeling wasn’t hers alone.
 
Vinyl finally broke away from the kiss. “I think we should take this to the couch,” she panted, giving Octavia’s neck a meaningful nip. Octavia’s head was already spinning so fast she could only comply. She staggered to her feet, reluctantly breaking contact with the warm body beneath her, and walked to the couch. She’d barely gotten her forehooves on the upholstery when she felt Vinyl push her from behind, rolling her onto her back.
 
Their bodies once again pressed against each other – this time Vinyl’s weight pinned Octavia against the cushions. That passionate electricity once more jolted through the earth mare as Vinyl’s mouth reclaimed hers. One of Vinyl’s hooves wrapped around the back of her head, while the other began traveling down her body, trailing fire wherever it went. It gently stroked her withers before moving slowly down her side, occasionally stopping to massage her skin in small circles. Finally, the hoof reached her flank, and gave it a firm press. Octavia squeaked into Vinyl’s mouth. She wrapped her forelegs tighter around Vinyl’s neck, trying to beg the unicorn to continue as she was without breaking their kiss.
 
Octavia had fantasized about the taste and the texture and the pressure of Vinyl’s tongue and lips and mouth. And she’d fantasized about the weight of her body, pinning and subduing her with its warm mass, and about the traveling hoof that lit sparks everywhere it touched. But her fantasies had never accounted for the sound of Vinyl’s voice. It moaned and groaned into her mouth as their kiss became sloppier and more feverish. Finally their lips broke apart, leaving only their tongues clashing in the open air, and the voice came in ragged, lustful rasps and pants. It was pure sex in sonic form, as if Octavia’s ears had become another pleasure center, and only Vinyl could stroke them.
 
As Vinyl’s tongue danced with Octavia’s and her hoof continued fondling the cellist’s flanks, one of the unicorn’s hind legs worked its way in between the earth pony’s thighs, spreading them open. With a lustful growl, Vinyl raised her knee to press against Octavia’s crotch.
 
“Oh gods.” Octavia’s head fell back, and she let out a moan as the building need in her nethers finally found attention. Her hips bucked and twitched subconsciously, trying to increase the contact, but Vinyl merely lowered her leg out of reach. Octavia’s eyes shot open to find Vinyl staring down at her with a mischievous smirk.
 
“Wow, Tavi, you’re really wet down there,” she taunted. “You’ve been waiting a while for this, haven’t you?” Octavia glowered at her, trying to look intimidating despite her panting.
 
“Are you going to continue making brilliant observations,” she finally managed to say, “or are you going to do something about it?”
 
“All in good time, my dear,” Vinyl’s smirk grew. She leaned down and began kissing against Octavia’s neck. She licked and kissed at the soft flesh, occasionally punctuating her oral massages with a gentle bite. As she did, the hoof that had been pressing against Octavia’s bottom began inching its way around to her front. It moved without urgency, frequently stopping to massage the abdomen underneath it, causing Octavia to groan with frustrated arousal. She squeaked and whinnied at the feeling of Vinyl’s mouth against her skin, and the building anticipation of the hoof against her. Finally, finally, it dipped down towards her crotch, tracing circles around her lower lips. It traveled ever closer to the center, slickening itself with her leaking juices as it went. Finally, it reached her lips, and gave one light stroke from back to front before it pulled away. Octavia’s head shot up.
 
“Gods damn you VinAH!” she screamed as Vinyl’s knee returned to her entrance, pressing firmly against her pussy and grinding against it. Her head fell back and her tongue rolled out of her mouth as the pressure against her lips and her clit sent waves of pleasure washing over her. Juices rushed out of her slit, coating the leg that assaulted it. Octavia rocked her body in time with Vinyl’s thrusts, the friction between their bodies serving only as a pleasant side-effect of pushing herself harder against Vinyl’s knee.
 
Vinyl straddled her leg, rubbing her own slit against the appendage. Octavia was only barely aware of the juices that trailed from Vinyl’s wanting pussy onto her leg as the unicorn began rocking her hips, stimulating them both with powerful thrusts. The unicorn’s moans mixed with Octavia’s own desperate cries, joining with the dozen other stimulations in her mind to become a single, formless veil of pleasure. Her own hips pitched and rocked counter to Vinyl’s, forcing their crotches against the assailing thighs harder. Occasionally, her leg spasmed upwards, jolting into the unicorn’s clit to her vocal approval.
 
Finally, Vinyl’s thrusting ceased. Octavia had only enough time to begin to form a question about why before Vinyl’s hoof reacquainted itself with her vagina. Rather than spending any time tracing or teasing the entrance, this time it made a beeline for her center, piercing her lips and ramming into her tunnel with one quick stroke.
 
“AH!” The feeling of Vinyl’s hoof penetrating her transcended all of Octavia’s fantasies. She could only scream and moan and hold her own hooves against her entrance as the intruder quickly began thrusting in and out, mercilessly hoof-fucking her soaking pussy. Vinyl once again ground her slit against Octavia’s leg, stimulating her own clit with her movements as her hoof went to town on her lover’s hole. With her eyes squeezed shut, Octavia didn’t see the mouth that descended onto her own, but she gladly accepted its contact even as she continued to moan into it. Her own mouth hung open limply for Vinyl’s tongue to press into.
 
Overwhelmed by the pleasure of being filled by the rampaging appendage, Octavia’s lower body began to convulse, and her forehooves fiercely rubbed against her own clit. Vinyl responded to her increasing enthusiasm, driving her hoof into Octavia so hard that the weight pressing on top of the earth pony was the only thing keeping her from scooting up the couch. Octavia felt pressure building in her loins, and knew she was approaching her climax. She tried to communicate her nearing end to her partner, but could only manage a few desperate moans.
 
Octavia wasn’t sure if Vinyl got the message when the unicorn broke the kiss with a hungry grunt, and their bodies separated. A moment later, the earth pony screamed and her entire body convulsed as she felt a warm tongue envelope her clitoris.
 
“Oh yes, Vinyl! Vinyl!” she cried, grasping onto her lover’s name as waves of pleasure threatened to send her spinning into oblivion. The hoof probed deeper and faster into her as the tongue lapped ferociously against her pleasure button. Octavia bit her hoof as Vinyl began to twist and prod with every thrust, as if she was searching for something. Suddenly, the unicorn’s hoof brushed past a sensitive spot. Octavia screamed louder than she had all night, and her lower body spasmed out of control. Vinyl must have taken this as a good sign, because her hoof zeroed in on that spot, assaulting it fast and relentlessly. Octavia could only continue to scream and grip the couch with her hooves.
 
Octavia’s world began to go fuzzy from the overwhelming stimulation. Her pleasure mounted like an ocean behind a dam, begging for it to break but unable to let go. With one final, plunging thrust of Vinyl’s hoof, the pressure became too much, and her world was sent spinning. The feeling of her body spasming wildly, and even the sound of her own orgasming scream were lost to her as her consciousness was swept away in a numbing euphoria.
 
After what must have been several minutes of utter pleasure, Octavia’s awareness slowly returned to her. She felt her hind legs give way, finally allowing her back to stop arching. Her lungs instinctively gulped down air, fighting to rush oxygen back to her addled brain. After a few moments of recovery, she opened her eyes to find Vinyl hovering over her, gazing down at her tenderly.
 
“Hey, gorgeous,” Vinyl cooed. “Welcome back.”
 
The unicorn was still panting slightly herself, and the slightly glazed over look in her eyes said that she’d been just as swept up in the intensity of the moment as Octavia had been. Vinyl’s chin and neck hair looked to be matted in some kind of thick, clear fluid. Octavia realized what it must have been, but she no longer had the presence of mind even to blush.
 
“’D I do that?” she mumbled, her speech slurred by exhaustion.
 
“Mhmm,” Vinyl nodded, raising her eyebrows. “It was pretty wild. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anypony cum that hard, mare or stallion. I must have done something right.”
 
“That’s a good way to put it,” Octavia agreed with a grin. They were silent for a moment, gazing into each others’ eyes.
 
“So, do you wanna go out some time?” Vinyl asked. Octavia couldn’t help but giggle. Grinning, Vinyl lay down next to her and nuzzled against her. Octavia managed to compose herself enough to answer.
 
“Fine,” she agreed with a last chuckle. “But only if we get to do this part again. You didn’t get your turn, and there are some unspeakable things I’ve been wanting to do to you lately.”
 
“You’ve got a deal,” Vinyl smirked. Octavia turned onto her side, looking into those wonderful red eyes. She reached out a hoof and gently stroked Vinyl’s mane.
 
“Although,” Octavia added, “there are some nice things I want to do, too.” She couldn’t quite place the look that came over Vinyl’s face when she said that. But in a flash the DJ’s smirk was back.
 
“Fine, but we have got to do the unspeakable things. That’s kind of a deal maker for me.”
 
Octavia giggled again. She leaned in and planted a gentle kiss on Vinyl’s snout.
 
“Count on it.”

> Chapter 4
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Dinner had been wonderful. Octavia had taken Vinyl to one of her favorite restaurants in Canterlot – an expensive and classy establishment that specialized in exotic cuisine. The meal had started with a soup derived from an old zebra recipe, accompanied by a salad composed of greens picked fresh from the fields at the northern foot of Canterlot Mountain. The main course was a pasta made from grains imported from Gryphonia. This went with a twelve-year-old bottle of Baltimare merlot, and was followed by a dessert of rich red velvet cake, all topped off by a spot of coffee, supposedly harvested from an ancient grove, the location of which was only known by a hoofful of ponies living and a tribe of deer. The entire meal was delicious. And, as a bonus, it made Vinyl’s mouth taste amazing.
 
Octavia lay on top of Vinyl in the cellist’s bed. She slurped greedily at Vinyl’s mouth, savoring the flavors that flowed into her own from her lover’s breath and saliva and contending tongue. The earth pony’s tongue danced around her mouth, exploring and caressing and appreciating every corner. Inhaling deeply, Octavia pulled closer, forcing herself as far into the other pony’s mouth as she could. Vinyl responded by wrapping her hooves tighter around Octavia’s back, pulling their bodies together tightly. Octavia squirmed impulsively, aroused by the friction and the heat against her belly. Vinyl moaned at the contact, sending those beautiful reverberations into Octavia’s mouth that sent joy dancing across her brain and lit a fire between her legs. Octavia’s tail swished and twitched beyond her control, and her juices began to trickle out of her nether lips and pool on Vinyl’s stomach. Octavia finally released the head in her hooves, and the two mares broke away, gasping loudly.
 
“You really like the kissing stuff, huh?” Vinyl said as she began to catch her breath. Octavia gazed down at her with a ravenous smile. She leaned in with a soft moan, angling for Vinyl’s neck.
 
“Well, you’re just so much fun to kiss, sweetie,” she crooned. Her lips latched onto Vinyl’s neck, gently massaging the tender flesh. They traveled upwards towards her jaw, nibbling and tongue licking as they went. Vinyl sighed and went slack under Octavia’s ministrations, grinning as she leaned back.
 
Octavia wasn’t lying. As much as she loved the finale of this opera that was their love-making, the opening number held just as much appeal to her. She loved the first moment when their lips touched, gently reacquainting with each other. She loved the way Vinyl stroked her mane and held her head, the way she always let the kiss bask in its own intimacy before she slipped her tongue inside the earth pony’s mouth. She loved the sensations that coursed through her from her lips into the rest of her body, priming her for what came next, and feeling as she melted from a prim and proper mare into a hot, panting mess in time with her partner. She loved the mare beneath her, so much that when their bodies came together – first as gentle touches and caresses, but soon escalating to primal grinding and groping – it always felt as though it would sweep her out to sea.
 
“Hey, I’m not one to complain about mackin’,” Vinyl interrupted her affectionate appreciation of her body. “But right now I’ve got something else for you to do.”
 
“Hmm?” Octavia hummed into Vinyl’s skin. A second later, she moaned when Vinyl shifted underneath her, and she felt pressure against her nether lips. Octavia raised her head and fixed Vinyl with a gaze of mock-reprimanding.
 
“Come on, Tavi. I didn’t get one this big just so I could have all the fun,” Vinyl smirked. “Hurry up and get up there.”
 
Octavia sighed, unable to restrain a wry smile. “Oh, alright already. No need to be in such a rush.”
 
Octavia turned her attention to the big black dildo gently prodding her crotch. One of its two ends was already deeply buried in Vinyl’s pussy, and the other end quivered slightly each time the unicorn’s muscles twitched. The earth mare rested a hoof against the tip that was angled at her head and felt up and down its length, observing its texture. She couldn’t hold back another grin as she gave the fake phallus a twist, turning the end inside the unicorn, causing her to groan loudly.
 
“No fair,” Vinyl gasped. “Not complaining, but no fair.”
 
“Aw, poor thing,” Octavia consoled her with a chuckle. She gently stroked its length a few more times, before giving it another, more deliberate twist. Vinyl’s eyes squeezed shut as she gave out a long moan. “This is kind of fun,” Octavia commented, giving the plastic piece a few more experimental thrusts. “It’s like I’ve got your control stick in my hoof.”
 
“Oh I’m gonna get you for this,” Vinyl groaned. “Come on, I’m gon-AH- give it to you so hard.”
 
Octavia chuckled again. “I certainly hope so,” she whispered. She gave Vinyl’s belly a gentle kiss, then lifted herself onto her hind legs, balancing with the effortless grace afforded by her art. She positioned herself over the sex toy and lowered herself until its tip poked against her folds. “Ready?” she asked, looking to her partner.
 
“Never readier,” Vinyl growled, grabbing her partner’s flanks in her hooves and pressing against Octavia’s cutie marks, eliciting a groan from the earth pony. Octavia smiled down at Vinyl, and bent her knees, lowering herself onto the sizable shaft. She gasped as the head pushed her walls apart, then groaned as she slowly worked her way down, supported by the hooves against her rump. Sighs and shivers accompanied her descent as her vagina stretched to accommodate the girth, and more than once her walls subconsciously clenched around it. The friction between the dildo and her tight tunnel pushed the other end even farther into Vinyl’s hole as she went, causing the unicorn to moan along with her.
 
Finally, she reached the bottom of her descent, and her half of the dildo was nestled entirely within her. Only a small segment in the middle of the toy was still visible, separating the mares’ lips. Octavia panted lightly as tremors of pleasure continued to travel up from her crotch. Vinyl was smirking up at her, still gently caressing her flanks, but her eyes were already threatening to roll back as she let out a contented sigh.
 
“Did you pick the thickest one you could find?” Octavia tried to appear serious as she chided Vinyl, but between her panting, the blush she felt in her cheeks, and the way her lower body twitched and quivered around the plastic dick, she doubted she succeeded.
 
“Only the best, my dear,” Vinyl answered with a smirk. She prodded Octavia’s flanks harder. “Come on, take it for a spin.” Octavia gulped, and leaned forward. She placed her forehooves against Vinyl’s chest to brace herself, and began to lift her rear end away from the bed. Vinyl’s hooves helped push her upwards, extracting more and more of the dildo from her tunnel. Once again, Octavia’s tightness worked its influence, and the dildo began to draw out of Vinyl’s snatch as well. Octavia paused when only the dildo’s tip remained inside her, and about half of the other end inside Vinyl. Closing her eyes, she let her weight fall, and the plastic penis forced itself back into both mares. They both moaned loudly at the sudden thrust.
 
“Do it again!” Vinyl cheered, her head falling back against the pillow. Octavia took a moment while her legs stopped shaking. Then, she once again lifted herself into the air and descended, sending another firm stroke of pleasure into both of their nethers. She began humping up and down at a slow and steady rhythm, savoring the tantalizing tension of the climb and the punctuated penetration of the fall. As she went on and both mares’ walls adjusted to the sizable instrument sliding in and out of them, she began to move faster, blending the distinct sensations into a single stroke of stimulation.
 
Although each thrust caused the dildo to shift and push against Vinyl’s pussy, the majority of the plastic cock’s rampaging occurred within Octavia’s. As such, Vinyl was having a much easier time not being swept up in pleasure than Octavia. Though the unicorn moaned along with each thrust, she continued to smirk up at Octavia, her eyes drinking in the sight of the earth mare eagerly impaling herself on her dick. Octavia was more than happy to put on a show for her lover. She sat upright, lifting herself with just her hind legs and the support of Vinyl’s groping hooves. She closed her eyes and threw her head back, letting her mane cascade behind her, and drew her forehooves across her chest. She moaned louder and lustier as she fucked herself harder for her own pleasure and her partner’s gaze. Between the feeling of the dildo splitting her and the thought of Vinyl leering at her licentious display, she was on the verge of losing herself. Then she heard the unicorn chuckle.
 
“Wow, you really are loving it, aren’t you?” The statement was accompanied by a sharp slap against her flank. Octavia shrieked in surprise and begrudging pleasure. But while she could work with the spanking, Vinyl’s words filled her with a kind of indignation, breaking her trance. She stared down at the unicorn’s lecherous grin, and was suddenly overcome by an urge to wipe it from her face. Releasing her weight, she slid back down the length of the dildo, taking it into herself with a groan. Then she reached a hoof between her legs and grabbed hold of it, bracing it into herself. When she stood next, it went with her, drawing out of Vinyl to the tip. Vinyl had only time to register a surprised and shuddering gasp at the feeling of her tunnel emptying before Octavia dropped herself again, ramming the toy into Vinyl’s wet hole. Vinyl arched her back against the bed and panted loudly as Octavia resumed her previous pace, plowing her partner again and again with her newly leveraged instrument. Octavia grinned wickedly as she fucked her lover hard, concerns for her own pleasure lost in the moans and contortions of the pony beneath her.
 
“Who’s loving it now?” Octavia jeered as she stuck the unicorn relentlessly.
 
“Me!” Vinyl admitted eagerly, weakly waving a hoof. “I am! I’m loving it!”
 
“Well then, why don’t you take it harder!” Octavia rewarded her partner’s enthusiasm by speeding up, pistoning her hips faster and faster. The dildo drew indecent sounds from Vinyl’s soaking hole as it rammed into her, which mingled beautifully with the unicorn’s increasingly desperate panting. Vinyl’s lower body began thrusting in time with her pumping, desperately trying to drive each one deeper. Octavia chuckled to herself as she watched Vinyl’s tongue roll out of her mouth and her forelegs draw together, recognizing the signs of her lover’s impending orgasm.
 
'You’re all mine now, my swe-AH' Octavia gasped as Vinyl’s horn was suddenly wrapped in a blue glow, and she felt a gentle force lift her rump into the air. A second later, it pulled her back down hard. The force of the fall was so great that it forced the dildo deeper into both mares than before, and their pussy lips met completely, swallowing the toy between them. Octavia was so lost in her own shriek of pleasure that she didn’t notice the blue glow emanating from their joined crotches. It was soon called to her attention, as she felt the dildo begin to quickly slide back and forth inside her. Gripped in Vinyl’s magic, it rocketed into one and out of the other, bouncing between their cervixes like a humming bird on a sugar rush.
 
Octavia lost herself, only able to clench the bed sheets in her hooves as the plastic cock rampaged between them, and Vinyl’s spasming body rubbed against her lips and teased her clitoris. Even above her screams, she heard Vinyl’s groans and gasps, filling her ears and pushing her to the edge even faster. Trying to cling to some form of control of the situation, she propped herself up as far as she could and reached forward, extending a hoof to rub her lover’s clit. Vinyl’s head fell back with a forceful grunt from the added stimulation. Octavia began to draw her hoof in circles around the clit, never losing contact with the sensitive button. With increasing frequency, she brushed against her own nub, causing her to shudder and buck against the plastic phallus that was drilling into her. Barely hanging on against her own pleasure, she half-smirked as she watched Vinyl being swept away by their combined efforts.
 
Suddenly, Vinyl’s horn began to glow brighter, and the pistoning penis miraculously began to speed up. At the same time, the same luminescent glow wrapped itself around both ponies’ crotches, and Octavia felt as though her clit was enveloped by pure warmth and pressure. Her will to stay upright quickly faded away, smothered by absolute pleasure. She lay in sensory saturation as Vinyl brought them both to orgasm. It felt like each impact was actually reverberating up her spine and into her brain, shaking her out of her senses. Her forelegs splayed limply on the bed, forgotten by her brain. Only her voice continued to act, crying out and rising in unison with Vinyl’s. Soon, she passed her limit, and her voice cut off as her body convulsed and arched off the bed. Judging from Vinyl’s cry and the way the other end of the dildo rose with her, she could tell her partner had climaxed as well. Octavia held herself in place, riding the waves of pleasure until they finally subsided, and she fell back down with a gasp. Vinyl’s body followed her, and they lay panting on the bed.
 
Octavia allowed her daze to last for several minutes. Finally, she planted her hooves against the bed and pulled herself back, working herself off of the plastic phallus inside her. Her movements caused the dildo to shift and twist inside Vinyl’s tunnel, making her moan softly. Finally, the cellist extracted the plastic piece from herself with an indecent noise. Exhausted, she dragged herself to Vinyl’s side and lay down. Vinyl turned to look at her.

“Well, that certainly was an enthusiastic performance, especially at the end.”
 
Vinyl’s horn glowed, and her magic aura pulled the embedded dildo from her, causing her to grunt with a goofy smile.
 
“Hey, you know me,” Vinyl said, laying back. “When I get excited I start getting creative. Also, impatient.” The shimmering glow sent the plastic instrument flying to the foot of the bed.
 
“Vinyl, don’t just throw that around!” Octavia reprimanded gently. “I have to wash that.”
 
“Is that what you’re supposed to do with those?” Vinyl grinned as she turned on her side to face Octavia.
 
“It’s generally considered hygienic, yes.” Octavia couldn’t suppress a smile of her own. Vinyl draped a hoof across her shoulder, pulling her closer.
 
“Eh, it can wait until morning.”
 
Mesmerized by the warm and tender embrace, Octavia couldn’t help but shift closer. “I guess it can,” she agreed, then leaned in and gently kissed Vinyl’s lips. The unicorn hummed happily against her mouth. They broke away, and Octavia nestled her head against Vinyl’s chest. “I love you, Vinyl,” she whispered, letting her eyes drift closed.
 
“Mmm,” came the unicorn’s response, her eyes already shut. Octavia shifted at her subdued response, her eyes opening again. She waited expectantly for several moments before she spoke.
 
“Vinyl?”
 
“Yea?” the unicorn mumbled sleepily.
 
“I said ‘I love you.’”
 
“Yep, I heard that.”
 
“Okay. And you… well, you kind of didn’t say… anything.” Octavia could tell from the change in Vinyl’s breathing that the unicorn wasn’t resting so peacefully anymore.
 
“I didn’t think anything needed to be said,” Vinyl said after a moment. Octavia drew away from Vinyl and looked into her eyes.
 
“Well, an ‘I love you, too,’ might not have gone amiss.”
 
“I thought that was implied.”
 
“In the grunt, you mean?”
 
“Well, yea,” Vinyl waved a hoof in confusion.
 
“Vinyl, saying ‘I love you’ isn’t about implying anything. It’s the kind of thing that’s nice to be explicit about.”
 
“Well,” Vinyl seemed to falter for a moment, “…so what if I didn’t say it this time? I say it all the time. Am I not allowed to let it pass just once in a while?”
 
Octavia didn’t say anything in response. She stared at Vinyl as her mind churned. She thought back to the first night they’d been together, in the Echo Chamber’s lounge. She recalled the dates they’d had – at the Spring Fair; at Vinyl’s favorite club in Canterlot; at Octavia’s favorite bar; in her own living room, curled up together on her couch, listening to her favorite records playing almost in time with the unicorn’s heartbeat. She remembered them all with a fine-toothed scrutiny.
 
“No, I don’t think you do. Vinyl… in all the time we’ve been dating – in the last four months – I don’t think you’ve ever told me you love me.”
 
“What?” Vinyl stared at her in confusion. “No, I must have. I’m sure I have.”
 
“I can’t think of a single time. Can you?”
 
“Yea! Sure! I mean… probably, if I-“
 
“Name one time. In fact, just tell me the first time you told me you loved me. I’m sure I’d remember it.”
 
“What?! I don’t know, how am I supposed to remember that?”
 
“It’s usually a pretty meaningful event,” Octavia retorted. She propped herself up in bed, staring at Vinyl. “Do you seriously not remember?”
 
“I don’t know, it must have… what, do you-“
 
“Our fourth date, ten days after we got together. We went to Canterlot to watch my friend perform. Afterwards-“
 
“Okay, yeah, I remember,” Vinyl tried to interrupt, rolling her eyes.
 
“Afterwards,” Octavia continued firmly, “we went to the after party to talk with her and some of her guests. And even though you hated most of the ponies there, you behaved yourself and got along with everyone. And when I asked you about it, you said that you could put up with any stuffy, boring, head-up-asshole pony if it meant having fun with me.” Octavia was still starring at Vinyl, but the unicorn couldn’t meet her eyes anymore. “And then we ended up at the donut shop. You made faces out of the donut pieces. I laughed and punched your shoulder, and then I said, ‘I love you.’”
 
Both ponies were silent for a moment. Octavia watched Vinyl expectantly, finally saying, “There. Your turn.” Vinyl was quiet for a while.
 
“Look, I’m tired, okay? I can’t remember these things right now. Can we please just leave this for tomorrow?”
 
“Fine, forget the first time. Forget all the other times it did or didn’t happen. Just tell me now.” It was slight, but something changed in Vinyl’s face. Something she’d seen before. The unicorn’s crimson eyes wavered, and finally looked away.
 
“So now you’re telling me what to say? I don’t think a relationship’s supposed to work that way.”
 
“Fine, then I won’t tell you, I’ll just ask. Please tell me?”
 
“Doesn’t really mean much if you have to manipulate me into saying it, does it?”
 
“Vinyl, I just want to hear you say it,” Octavia felt herself becoming almost desperate now. “Why are you making such a fuss about it?”
 
“Hey, you’re the one making it into a big deal all of a sudden. I hadn’t said it five minutes ago, and you were fine then.”
 
“Well, I guess I wasn’t thinking about it then. But I-“
 
“Oh, okay, great,” Vinyl rolled her eyes again. “Guess I have to watch out for your thinking. Anything else you feel like thinking about I should be ready for?”
 
Octavia stared in disbelief at Vinyl. In all the time they’d known each other, been friends, and been lovers, Vinyl had never spoken to her this way.
 
“Are you seriously fighting me over this?” she asked. “You’d rather have a fight than tell me you love me?”
 
Vinyl rolled onto her side, facing away from Octavia. “I just don’t think I should have to say something just because you decided you wanted to hear it. Why do you even care so much?” she dismissed.
 
“I’m sorry, but having my girlfriend tell me she loves me is kind of important to me.” Did Vinyl flinch at the word “girlfriend?” She could have sworn… It didn’t matter now. She was angry, and in no mood for Vinyl’s quirks.
 
“Look, honey, I do my relationships my way, okay? Sorry if you don’t like it, but I’m not gonna change myself just to tell you what you want to hear.”
 
Silence pervaded the room. Octavia computed her responses in her head, mentally following each conversation to its most likely outcome. And the longer she followed them, the more and more they all arrived at the same conclusion. That conclusion terrified her the moment it entered her mind, but once it did, she knew she couldn’t back away from it. When she spoke next, she dreaded the response.
 
“Do you?”
 
“What?” Vinyl asked, looking over her shoulder slightly.
 
“Do you love me?” Octavia definitely saw Vinyl tense up this time. The silence that followed was painful, but she endured it, waiting silently for Vinyl’s answer. Finally, the unicorn turned over and fixed her with a rueful stare.
 
“That’s a pretty shitty way to win a fight, Tavi.”
 
“I don’t give a damn about the fight,” Octavia insisted loudly. “I just want you to answer the question. Do you love me or not?”
 
“Well, pfft… how the hell should I know?”
 
“We’ve been together for months now!” Octavia yelled. “I’d think you’d have gotten some feeling about that by now. Are you telling me you honestly don’t have any feelings about us, after everything we’ve done together?”
 
“Well,” Vinyl said as she turned away again. “Right now I’m feeling like ‘us’ is a little bitchier than I’d like to deal with tonight.” Octavia sat, speechless. She felt the sting of tears threatening to form at the corners of her eyes.
 
“I think you’d better go,” she finally said, more evenly than she’d realized she’d be able to.
 
“Kinda be late to try to punish me after sex, isn’t it?” Vinyl snorted.
 
“I didn’t realize sex was the only thing in this relationship that mattered to you,” Octavia growled, her composure starting to fail her.
 
“I didn’t… I just meant…” Vinyl stuttered, stumbling over her own retort. Finally she rolled out of bed and onto her hooves. “Fine, screw this. I’m outta here.”
 
“Fine, go.” Octavia leapt to her feet, standing on the bed. She reached down to the foot of the bed and picked up the discarded dildo. She chucked it towards Vinyl’s retreating head, shouting, “And take your stupid toy with you.” It sailed within an inch of Vinyl’s head and thudded against the wall in front of her. Vinyl glared over her shoulder at her, but said nothing. The unicorn picked it up with her magic and stormed out of the room, slamming the door behind her.
 
Octavia listened to the heavy hoofsteps of the unicorn stomping down stairs, punctuated by the opening and slamming of the front door. Octavia finally fell back onto her bed with an angry yell. She gripped a pillow against her head and flailed her hind legs in frustration. She growled and yelled repeatedly, until the sharpness of anger began to give way to the ache in her chest. She lay still, and finally turned on her side, back to the door through which Vinyl had left, determined to sleep and forget. She didn’t accomplish either very well.
 
*--------------------------*
 
“Man, I love that song,” Vinyl chirped as the set list finished its last entry. “That’s the latest from Fallout Colt, who have apparently learned how to make decent music in the last three years. Who knew, huh?”
 
‘She certainly doesn’t have trouble saying it to a song,’ Octavia thought bitterly as she watched her co-host remove the record from the turntable. ‘Good to know where I fall in the “Things Important to Vinyl Scratch” hierarchy in relation to nonsensical pop songs from whiny goth boy bands of fading relevance.’ Octavia’s face remained the picture of pleasant neutrality as she seethed internally. Her eyes stayed glued to the program in front of her as she steadfastly refused to roll them. The only thing she could be proud of in the situation was that she’d kept that under disciplined control. Leaning towards the microphone, she spoke in a pleasant tone.
 
“We hope you at home enjoyed this last music set. As a reminder, our program today is brought to you by Head and Withers Total Moisturizing Solution. We’ll be right back after a quick word from our sponsors.”
 
“Don’t touch that dial, ponies!” Vinyl added enthusiastically. The “On Air” sign went dim, and both ponies’ energetic joviality shut off just as fast. Octavia was vaguely aware of Vinyl lifting her glasses and rubbing her eyes, but she was trying her best to keep her attention anywhere but the other mare. Her eyes fell to the papers she took in her hooves. She began studying her script, though she’d already memorized most of it the night before. It wasn’t very complicated, especially without any spontaneous banter to throw hosts off track. But it was a distraction to fill the void of another desperately long and silent commercial break. She’d only been reading for several seconds when the station manager called to them through the studio speakers.
 
“Vinyl, Octavia, would you come in here please?” Octavia glanced towards the control booth curiously. She replaced her notes and headed for the door, Vinyl following her at a distance. When they arrived, their manager turned to face them and immediately held up a hoof, cutting off anything either of them might have tried to say.
 
“Okay,” he said with a voice of thinning patience. “I don’t know what’s going on with you two, but I need you to get it sorted out one way or another, and fast.”
 
Octavia tried to feign confusion as she spoke. “Sir, I’m not sure-“
 
“Whatever’s happening in there needs to stop,” the manager interrupted. “You two have not spoken directly to each other in three days. All either of you do is read your scripts and play your songs. And you,” he pointed at Octavia, “won’t stop rolling your eyes at everything she says.”
 
“Wha-!” Octavia’s shock was genuine this time. “I am… not rolling my-“
 
“You’re doing it constantly,” the manager insited.
 
“Almost non-stop,” agreed one technician.
 
“At first I thought you were trying to hypnotize us all,” an assistant chimed in.
 
“I… I wasn’t…”
 
“And it’s not the ‘There she goes again’ kind of eye roll you used to do,” the manager continued. “It’s more of a ‘Someone give me a knife and walk away’ kind of eye roll. It’s honestly scary.”
 
“I don’t… I don’t want to… stab Vinyl… It’s pretty low on the list at least!”
 
“Really diggin’ this ‘Stuck in a room with you’ situation right now,” Vinyl snorted.
 
“And you,” the manager pointed at Vinyl this time, “keep tapping – no, stomping your hoof every time she’s talking on air.”
 
“What?!” It was Vinyl’s turn to be indignant. “I’m not… I was never… No one can hear that!”
 
“It vibrates up through the console to the mic, Vinyl. We’ve gotten a dozen calls asking if Octavia’s mic is broken, because she starts clicking every time she talks.” Vinyl looked away, blushing slightly. Their manager sighed, lifting a hoof to his forehead.
 
“Look, for better or for worse, whatever happens between you two is none of my business. What is my business is this radio station, and whatever’s going on is putting the whole show at risk. There’s no banter, no back and forth, not even civilized conversation. Vinyl hasn’t even threatened to commit a felony in seventy two hours. It’s boring, it’s awkward, and it’s cutting into our ratings. But worse than that, it’s making everyone worried. Do you know how many letters we’ve gotten just asking if you two are okay?” He sighed, his scowl softening. “And to be perfectly honest, I don’t know how to answer that if I were to try.”
 
The two ponies stared at the ground in silence. Octavia was the first to look up. “We understand, sir. We’ll get everything sorted out after the show. It won’t happen again.”
 
*--------------------------*
 
Octavia was surprised by a knocking on her door, causing her to glance at her clock. She already knew from the few dozen other glances that it was still five minutes before Vinyl had agreed to be at her house. It wasn’t like the unicorn to be early. She paused in front of her bedroom mirror to adjust her tie and brush a hoof through her mane. Then, remembering that she was upset with Vinyl, she checked her scowl. Satisfied with her unamused demeanor, her attention was called back by a second round of knocks. She crossed the living room and threw open the door, only to find herself staring at a pony who was not Vinyl.
 
“Hello, Miss,” a lanky stallion greeted her, holding out a book and a clipboard. “I’m here on behalf of Ponies for the Crystal Princess celebration. As you may know, our fair princess Cadance is the ruler of the Crystal Kingdom, and an equal in princesshood of Princesses Celestia and Luna. But in spite of this, Equestria has no celebration honoring her. Our organization aims to-“
 
“Excuse me,” Octavia cut him off, “I’m afraid I have no interest in joining your club tonight. If you’ll excuse me, I’m expecting someone. Have a lovely evening.” She closed the door before he could utter another word, and turned to pace across the room. She’d made it half way to the kitchen before there was another knock at the door. She returned and opened it to see the same stallion still standing there.
 
“Pardon me, Miss,” he said, oblivious to the annoyance in Octavia’s stare, “but I’m sure you’ll agree that our princess Cadance is more than deserving of a festival to celebrate her-“
 
“Sir, I told you I am not interested. Please stop bothering me with your inane causes and remove yourself from my doorstep. Goodnight.” She closed the door with a huff. A moment later, another knock on the door made her growl in frustration. She threw open the door and shouted, “I told you, I don’t want anything more to do with you!”
 
Vinyl stood in front of her, blinking in stunned confusion at her anger.
 
“Well,” she said slowly after a moment, “that seemed kinda conclusive.”
 
Octavia leveled an unimpressed stare at the unicorn. “Who was your friend, Vinyl?” she asked after a moment in a sardonic tone.
 
“Some guy I grabbed off the street,” Vinyl rolled her eyes. Her grin did nothing to feign her innocence or hide her mirth. “Best five bits I ever spent.”
 
“Hilarious,” Octavia deadpanned. “Thank you so much for taking this seriously. This night is off to a great start.”
 
“Hey, come on, don’t be like that,” Vinyl coaxed. “It was just a joke. Look, I come bearing gifts.” She levitated a box off the top of her back and floated it in front of Octavia. The earth pony took it and pulled off the lid, beholding a bottle of fine brandy.
 
“Oh,” she said, her expression softening as she read the label. “Dioneighsus Metaxa…”
 
“Your favorite brand,” Vinyl looked pleased with herself.
 
“Thank you, Vinyl, that’s thoughtful.”
 
“That gets me some points, right?”
 
“Some,” Octavia replied sternly. She replaced the box lid and balanced the package on her back. “Come inside, please. We should talk.” She turned and walked towards the kitchen.
 
“Yes ma’am,” Vinyl trotted in behind her, closing the door. Two flashes of teleportation magic later, she was in the kitchen, already reaching for the cupboards. “You open the bottle, and I’ll get us some glasses.”
 
“Later, Vinyl,” Octavia’s tone was still serious. She deposited the gift on the dining table and turning to face the unicorn fully. “We have some very important things to discuss, and I’d rather we be sober when we do, lest things get out of hoof again.”
 
“What?” Vinyl paused mid-reach, turning to look at Octavia. “I thought we were supposed to be making up.”
 
“Well, I’d certainly like to. But we can’t just do that by ignoring our problems. We have to talk about this.”
 
“Tavi, things are fine, aren’t they? What’s to talk about?”
 
“Well, the fact that you won’t tell me you love me would be a good place to start.”
 
“Oh come on, are you still on that?” Vinyl paced out of the kitchen. “Gods, Tavi, let it go.”
 
“I’m not going to just ‘let it go,’ Vinyl,” Octavia said, her voice rising in frustration. “I don’t care if you think it’s whiny or clingy or whatever you want to call it. I need some kind of emotional acknowledgement from a relationship partner. This isn’t something I’m willing to just give up because you don’t feel like it.”
 
“I thought my actions throughout this whole thing would have told you something.”
 
“But I need the words, too, Vinyl. Those words mean something to me.”
 
“Okay, well,” Vinyl retorted angrily, “maybe I don’t feel like saying it. And I don’t feel comfortable in a relationship where I have to say and do everything that you tell me to. And I’m not willing to give up my independence just because you feel like-“
 
“Fine, then you have to tell me why,” Octavia cut her off, stamping her hoof. “If you want to negotiate it that way, then you have to give me a good reason why you can’t tell me that you love me. This can’t just be because you didn’t feel like it.”
 
“I… well, that’s…” Vinyl stammered, caught off guard.
 
“Is it because you don’t love me? Did you ever? Have you just been leading me on this entire time?”
 
“What? No! Tavi, that isn’t… I just…”
 
“Then why, Vinyl? Why can you not just give me a straight answer about why you can’t-“
 
“Dammit, Tavi, will you just stop?!” Vinyl shouted, finally managing to bring a pause in the argument. She looked at Octavia pleadingly, something bordering on fear clouding her eyes. “Look, we have a good thing, don’t we? Can’t we just be happy with that?”
 
“That’s what I want.” Octavia’s expression finally broke. Seeing Vinyl so distraught practically filled her with grief. At that moment, she felt she would have given anything just to end this stupid fight. Almost anything. “Vinyl, I love you. I want to go back to us, to being happy together. But I need this. I can’t just be in a relationship and not know why that pony can’t tell me that she loves me. Please, Vinyl, just answer me.”
 
Both ponies were silent for a long time, searching in each other’s eyes. Finally, Vinyl blinked. She lowered her head and stretched her eyelids. When she opened her eyes, they were hard, the light of joy that normally danced in them nowhere to be found.
 
“Alright,” she announced, “I think I know how this goes, so I think I’ll save both our time and just skip to the end.” She turned and began walking towards the door.
 
“Are you walking out on me again?!” Octavia demanded, the agitation back in her voice. Vinyl turned and stared at her in grimly.
 
“No, Tavi, I’m ending this. It’s over. I’ll see you at work.” She turned away again.
 
All of Octavia’s anger and indignation vanished in an instant. The thousand arguments and retorts and threads of reason in her brain went silent. All that was left was confusion and a sudden, cold dread that gripped her heart. Vinyl was dumping her. Only that thought remained.
 
“You… you’re breaking up with me?” she whispered, unable to say the words louder. She felt the tears stinging her eyes long before her brain was even able to comprehend it.
 
“You don’t have to say it like I’m hurting you or something,” Vinyl joked, not turning to face her, “I’m just saving us trouble down the road. You know how I hate it when things get drawn out. It’s easier this way.” Octavia was still too stunned to notice the way the unicorn’s voice cracked at the end. Everything was confusion inside. One by one, questions began to form in the back of her mind, blending together in a haze.
 
She didn’t move until Vinyl was most of the way across the room. “Wait,” she finally whispered holding out a hoof. The word sparked a panic inside her. The questions burst through to the forefront of her mind, pumping with the adrenaline into her heart. She leapt to her feet and sprinted after Vinyl. “Wait, Vinyl, please!” she shouted, skidding to a stop in front of her.
 
“I don’t understand,” she said as the tears flowed down her cheeks. “I thought we were happy. I thought you wanted to be with me. Why are you doing this?”
 
Vinyl stared at her stoically. “Yea, it was fun for a while. But all good things come to an end, right? It was bound to happen sooner or later.”
 
“What?! No! Vinyl, I care about you so much. We can fix this, I promise. Please, just talk to me.”
 
Vinyl rolled her eyes, annoyance growing on her face. “Jeeze, Tavi, it’s over. Let’s move on already. Clean break, okay?” With that, the unicorn moved past her and towards the door. Octavia fell to her rump, staring disbelievingly into space.
 
“…You really don’t love me, do you?” she whispered. Vinyl paused mid-stride.
 
“That doesn’t really matter now, does it?” the unicorn answered after a moment, and walked on. The response brought Octavia back to her feet, and she scrambled after Vinyl. She stopped her just shy of the door.
 
“Tell me why,” Octavia begged her. “Please, just tell me why you don’t love me.”
 
“Look, I told you, it doesn’t matter,” Vinyl growled. “Don’t make this a scene.”
 
“Was it something I did? Was it my cooking? Was it because I made you socialize with my friends?”
 
“What?! No!” Vinyl faltered. “You didn’t-“
 
“Then what was it? When did it start? Were you just leading me on this entire time?”
 
“No, I didn’t… I just… I wasn’t trying to…”
 
“Vinyl, please, just tell me why.” Octavia’s hooves where on Vinyl’s withers now. “If it’s because of me, we can work it out. I don’t want to lose you.
 
“It’s not… I just can’t-“
 
“Then you don’t have to. I won’t make you ever again. Just tell me why, please. Help me understand.”
 
“You can’t… Dammit, Octavia, just let it go.”
 
“I can’t let it go! I need to know why I lost you. Why can’t you just tell me?”
 
“Octavia, stop!”
 
“I deserve to know why. You owe me that. You can’t just cut me out and not tell me why. Please just answer m-”
 
“So that it won’t hurt so bad when you kick me to the curb!” Vinyl screamed.
 
Octavia was so stunned that it took her a long moment to process what Vinyl had said. “What?” she finally whispered. Vinyl looked at the ground angrily. After a moment, she forced herself to meet Octavia’s gaze.
 
“Look, I told you: you’re not the first pony to fall in love with me. And it’s always the same. At first everything’s great – all dinners and roses and sex. It’s all perfect. But soon enough, the first rush wears off, and then… then they have to spend time with me. And then it’s all ‘Why are you so loud, Vinyl?’ and ‘Stop embarrassing me in front of my friends, Vinyl’ and ‘You’re such a psychotic bitch, Vinyl’. Every godsdamned time, they get a look under the veneer, and suddenly the crazy, spontaneous life of the party is just an annoyance. A liability. I’m a love-her-and-leave-her pony. A great story to tell your friends about how you banged the DJ, but gods forbid you spend any time around her or you’ll go out of your mind.”
 
“And you? Gods, Tavi, look at you. You light up a room just by walking into it. You’re brilliant and talented and sophisticated, and yet you’re still one of the most down to earth, sincere, gentle ponies I’ve ever met. You should have ponies lying at your feet everywhere you walk. How long could somepony like me honestly hope to keep somepony like you interested? I knew from the moment I fell for you how it would end. But I couldn’t help myself. I’m too much of an idiot to just walk away, to forget how you made me feel when you looked at me, and talked to me, and smiled at me. I couldn’t stop myself.”
 
“So I lied to myself. I never admitted how I felt. Because if I didn’t say it, if I never let myself realize it, then maybe, just maybe, when you did get tired of me and throw me away, I’d be able to handle it. Maybe I’d be able to forget that I’d been with the pony who makes me feel more special, more loved than I’ve ever felt any club, or concert, or bed, and that now she’s just another pony who wants nothing to do with me. Maybe I could survive it.”
 
Vinyl finally ran out of steam. With nothing more to say, she seemed to find it hard to meet Octavia’s gaze. The earth pony stared at Vinyl, speechless. She realized she’d been holding her breath the entire time the unicorn had been speaking, and she slowly let it out. She tried to find her words as she did.
 
“Vinyl…” she began, but the unicorn turned away from her.
 
“I know how this show ends, Tavi,” she muttered. “I don’t need to stick around to watch it again. I’d rather rip the bandage off myself than wait for you to do it.” Vinyl pulled the door open.
 
“Vinyl,” Octavia tried to stop her, “please, wait. That’s not-“ But the unicorn leapt out the door and sprinted into the night. Octavia shouted after her. “Vinyl! Vinyl, come back! Vinyl!” Octavia leapt into the doorway just in time to see a magenta bubble envelop the unicorn’s retreating form, and then flash away. Octavia sat in her doorway, staring into the empty night. She wrapped her forelegs around her body as her eyes once again burned with tears. With no more words to speak, she couldn’t have stopped the sobs that finally came if she’d tried.

> Chapter 5
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

	Vinyl didn’t come into work on Thursday. In a way, Octavia was relieved. She wouldn’t have known what to say to the unicorn if she had. She was thankful that the station manager didn’t ask her about Vinyl’s whereabouts, but simply told her to start the show. But as Octavia greeted and attempted to entertain her listeners, she was suddenly confronted by an inescapable sense of hollowness. It wasn’t the stabbing, rending pain that had gripped her the night before as she watched Vinyl disappear into the dark. But it was more pervasive, insidious. She felt it in her every movement and every word, in everything that surrounded her. Every time she spoke, she was surprised not to hear her co-host’s ringing laughter interrupting her, or her crude jokes derailing her monologue. She kept thinking of jokes and stories to offer the crowd. But without Vinyl, they all fell flat. It was worse, even: deep down, she didn’t even feel like saying them. In the end, she could think of nothing to do but play her way through Vinyl’s favorite sets, waiting in silence for the gaps between them when she would have to struggle for words to say to the unseen masses, without another voice beside hers.
 
Octavia sincerely felt it was the worst day of her life, and it didn’t end when her job did. The oppressive emptiness followed her home. It smothered her as she sat alone, the soft tones of her records offering none of their usual comfort. It wasn’t the loneliness that burdened her as she stared blankly at the ceiling. Loneliness had been her companion for days while she and Vinyl had been fighting. It was different now. Her mind kept returning to that moment, replaying Vinyl’s confession again and again.
 
“I know from the moment I fell for you how that would end,” the words echoed inside her. “How long could somepony like me honestly hope to keep somepony like you interested? Gods forbid you spend any time around her or you’ll go out of your mind.”
 
“Oh Vinyl,” Octavia sighed as her eyes slowly drifted shut. Later, she retired to her bed, but rest was difficult to find.
 
When Vinyl didn’t show up for work the next day, Octavia knew that she had to do something. Whatever Vinyl believed, Octavia did love her. She had for longer than she had admitted it to herself. As she set the first record spinning, she began to work through her plans. She didn’t know if she’d be able to reach Vinyl. She’d heard the hurt in the unicorn’s words, and she’d been on the wrong end of rejection more than once. Maybe Vinyl never would allow herself to believe that the earth pony loved her.
 
‘I can’t just leave her alone without trying,’ she told herself as she planned and rehearsed her words in her head. ‘If there’s any chance I can make her understand… A doomed effort is better than no effort.’
 
She spent the rest of the day rehearsing like this, repeating her lines again and again in her head during songs and commercial breaks. So, when she approached Vinyl’s house that night, she had a pretty good idea of what she was going to say, even if she didn’t know what Vinyl would say back. Taking a moment to try and prepare herself for anything, she knocked on the door. After a moment of silence, she knocked again.
 
“Vinyl?” she called through the door. “Vinyl, it’s Octavia. Are you in there?” She thought she heard sounds from inside. Pressing her ear to the door, she heard somepony scrambling and muttering curses inside. A moment later, the door swung inward, and Vinyl stood in the doorway, her tinted sunglasses resting on her face.
 
“Hey, Tavi,” the unicorn greeted her cheerfully with a smile. “Figured you’d come around here eventually. I kinda thought it might be tomorrow, but the sooner the better.”
 
“I had the same thought,” Octavia said softly. She liked to believe that she knew Vinyl well enough to recognize the signs of emotional strain in her no matter how well the unicorn hid them. That said, the signs weren’t hard to spot. The mare’s mane was a frazzled mess of knots and stray hairs. Her coat was completely ungroomed, sticking up in tufts and lacking any of the luster it usually bore. Her back arched and her whole body slouched, as if she was completely exhausted. Octavia called on every ounce of self-control she had to resist throwing her forelegs around her love and hugging her close. She knew that the only chance she had was to be cautious.
 
“Well, come on in,” Vinyl motioned, turning and leading the way into the darkened house. “I’d offer you a drink, but I think I’m actually out.”
 
“You’re out of all of it?” Octavia asked in surprise, more than a bit of concern reasserting itself in her mind.
 
“Eh, I kinda spilled some of it. Clumsy accident, but you know me, right?” She added quickly, “Come to think of it, you should probably stay out of the kitchen entirely. No big deal, just steer clear.”
 
Octavia squinted her eyes and peered around the darkened apartment. “Vinyl, it’s pitch black in here. Why are you wearing your sunglasses in the dark like this?”
 
“Oh come on, Tavi,” Vinyl replied with a smirk. “All the cool kids are doing it. Ow! Mother f-“ she cursed as she collided with some unseen obstacle. “Of course, all the cool kids have skin injuries, but if that’s the price of being cool, sign me up.”
 
“I see. Listen, Vinyl, I wanted to-“
 
“Yea, yea, hang on a second,” Vinyl’s voice hushed her from the darkness. A moment later, there was the sound of a switch flipping, and several lamps lit up the room with a dim glow. The far side of the room was still cloaked in darkness, but she could still see the deplorable state much of the apartment was in. Chairs were tipped over and scattered across the room. A half-finished bagel and a carton of take-out were left on the dining table, the latter having tipped over, slowly dribbling its contents onto the surface. Several bottles of very high-proof alcohol lay empty around the table and the floor, and she thought she could see shards of broken glass leading off into the darkness towards the kitchen. The urge to go to Vinyl’s side immediately arose stronger than ever, and it took all of her resolve to beat it down.
 
“There we go,” Vinyl said as she turned back towards Octavia. She made no acknowledgement of the room’s appearance. She waved towards a wall to her right, and Octavia followed her gaze to see a shoebox resting on the floor. “I put all of your stuff in there. There, uh, wasn’t that much of it. Guess you didn’t really leave much lying around, being so tidy and all.”
 
“I see,” Octavia whispered, turning her attention back to the unicorn. “That’s…”
 
“I know, I probably left a lot more stuff at your place,” Vinyl said, putting a hoof to her forehead. “I’ll come by tomorrow and pick it all up if you want. Or you can just bring it here. I mean, assuming you haven’t thrown it all in the creek by now, or given it to orphans or something…”
 
“Vinyl…” Octavia said softly, trying to interject.
 
“Which would be cool, you know, cause orphans don’t really get many nice things, and I’m sure the stuff I left behind was nice. And they could really use some better music-“
 
“Vinyl,” Octavia interrupted her more firmly. Vinyl finally fell silent, still staring at the small box against the wall.
 
“Sorry,” she muttered. Octavia shook her head slowly.
 
“Vinyl, I didn’t come here to pick up my stuff. I came here to talk to you.” That got Vinyl to turn back towards her. The hardness of the unicorn’s stare was palpable even through her glasses.
 
“I think we’ve talked enough, Tavi. I’m good on that, thanks.”
 
“Okay!” Octavia assured her quickly. “Okay, you don’t have to say anything. I won’t ask you to say or do anything. I’m done with that. I just want you to hear what I have to say. And then I’ll go, if you still want me to.”
 
Vinyl didn’t say anything. After a long pause, she sat on her haunches. Octavia took a deep breath, and let it out slowly, remembering the words she’d prepared.
 
“Listen, what you said to me the other night: I understand. I know that ponies have hurt you. They didn’t respect you, and they didn’t care about you like you deserve. And I’m sorry. I wish I could change any of that, but I can’t. All I can do is tell you that I love you. Really and truly love you.”
 
Vinyl gave a quiet snort. “If I had a bit for every time I heard that, I’d be buying some way better booze.”
 
“I know. But I promise you, this is different. I’m different. Vinyl I care about you, about who you really are.”
 
“You won’t. You’ll spend too much time around me and then one day you’ll just get sick of it.”
 
“No, Vinyl, that’s not true-“
 
“It’s always true!” Vinyl cried. “It always happens, Octavia. Once you figure out who I am, it’ll just be the same thing all over again. I can’t… not from you. I just can’t take that from you.”
 
Octavia let the silence settle before she pressed on. “Vinyl, I already know you. I’ve known the real you ever since we started working together. I knew immediately that the pony you acted like was exactly the pony you wanted to be. That’s when you were at your happiest.”
 
“Then it’s already happened, huh?”
 
Octavia tried to speak her next words delicately. “When we first met, yes, at the time you annoyed me. You know that. But the more time I spent with you, and the more I got to know you, the more I realized that I was happy to be around you. I liked your insane stories, and the way you’d go off on tirades, or go running drunk through the park at night. I didn’t admit it to myself at first, because I always thought that kind of behavior shouldn’t be encouraged. That it was bad for your health. But when I was finally honest with myself, I realized that those things made me happy. I liked watching you be the way you are, and I liked- I loved sharing those experiences with you. And I loved you for it.”
 
Vinyl was silent this time, still staring at the floor. Octavia could practically feel her cracking. She was so close. She closed her eyes and spoke slowly.
 
“Do you remember the night we went to see my friend in Canterlot? After we spoke with her and her ensemble for a few minutes, I said we should get going, and we left. Do you know why I wanted us to leave, even though we’d just met up?”
 
“You probably didn’t want me to break down and make a scene in front of your sophisticated chums, right?”
 
“No,” Octavia gently rejected the predicted response. “I wanted us to leave, because I knew that you were trying very hard to be well behaved for my sake. And I knew that a part of you hated being that way – hiding who you are for the sake of appearances. And I didn’t like seeing you that way. As much as I wanted to see my friend, what I wanted even more than that was for you to be on your terms. I just wanted to eat donuts with you, and watch you make smiley faces at me with the pieces. I wanted to be with the pony who always made me laugh, even when I didn’t think I needed it. Who I could drink with, and shout with, and conspire with. Who I could always trust with my darkest, most secret feelings.”
 
“Vinyl, I didn’t fall in love with you in spite of who you are. I love you because of it.” She paused, hoping that the words would sink in before she finished. “And I’m sorry if you can’t believe that, but I understand. I only hope that one day you’ll be able to see yourself the way I see you.”
 
Her words spoken, Octavia stepped back. She watched Vinyl in silence, waiting for any sign of response. But Vinyl only turned her back and faced the floor leading into the shadows. Octavia hung her head. Recognizing she could say no more, she crossed the room and retrieved the box of her possessions, balancing it on her back. She gave Vinyl one more glance, but the unicorn hadn’t moved. With defeat settling into her stomach, she turned towards the door and walked, hoofsteps echoing in the silence. She had reached the door mat, seconds from the precipice, when Vinyl finally spoke.
 
“Wait.” Her voice was small, but still it spoke. Octavia froze in place, and slowly turned back to face Vinyl. The unicorn held her sunglasses in her hoof. Her eyes were red and swollen, and dark circles were etched underneath them. They stared at her, shrunken in panic and wavering in uncertainty. Octavia spun in place towards her. She once again resisted the urge to rush to her side and hold her, but she couldn’t stop herself from slowly moving closer.
 
“Do you mean it?” Vinyl whispered, her voice cracking. “Do you promise?”
 
“Yes,” Octavia tried to stay steady, but she felt on the verge of begging. “Yes, Vinyl, I promise. I swear to you I’m telling you the truth.”
 
Vinyl’s gaze broke and fell to the floor. She shook her head slowly as she wrestled with her feelings. “I want to believe you,” she mumbled. “I wish I could just trust you. But I… I don’t know…”
 
“I know, Vinyl. It’s alright.” Octavia drew closer to the unicorn, walking slowly.
 
“I’ve been through this too many times. I can’t do it again. I don’t want to lose you.”
 
“You won’t. It won’t be the same this time.” She finally placed a hoof on Vinyl’s shoulder. The unicorn finally looked up, into her eyes. She could see the desperation in her eyes. It begged her for a reason to believe. “I love you, Vinyl Scratch. All of you.”
 
At last, something changed in the unicorn’s eyes. They stared deep into her own, and finally seemed to settle as they drifted shut. Vinyl’s head moved towards hers as her own eyes closed, and a moment later their lips met softly. They stayed for several seconds, barely touching, remembering a tenderness that it seemed like they hadn’t shared in an eternity. Then Vinyl’s last restraints broke, and she threw herself around Octavia in a crushing embrace, surrendering her defenses to the earth pony. Octavia responded in kind, wrapping her forelegs around Vinyl’s back and pulling her as close as she could while their lips pressed madly together. Bottles were sent spinning and Octavia’s box tumbled to the floor as they pulled each other back and forth, spinning around the room, their mouths and bodies refusing to reduce contact even the slightest bit.
 
Octavia managed to pin Vinyl against the wall, using the unyielding surface to press herself against the unicorn with all her might. Hooves ran through manes and over backs and withers as the two devoured each other desperately. Octavia began grinding her whole body against Vinyl’s. The friction only compounded her emotions, and it all focused and culminated in that wonderfully warm, delicious mouth that clamped around hers. Vinyl’s legs began to give out, and she slowly slid to the floor. Octavia followed in time, rolling her away from the wall and onto her back so that she lay on top of the unicorn. Her lungs suddenly burned for air, and she broke the kiss with a giant gasp, which Vinyl echoed. Her body continued to gyrate against Vinyl’s, the heat of the friction filling her and driving her to moan. She looked down at Vinyl. The unicorn’s eyes slowly drifted open, glazed by the same warmth and pleasure that filled her. Traces of the uncertainty that had shrouded those eyes before still lingered now, and exhaustion was heavy on their lids. But the life was seeping back into them none the less, filling them with the sparkle of vivacity that she knew them for. Octavia had almost forgotten how captivating and pure those crimson eyes could be.
 
“Bedroom?” Octavia suggested as she was still catching her breath.
 
“Yea,” Vinyl agreed. It wasn’t as immediate or enthusiastic as her normal agreements to sex, but she was resolute as Octavia helped her to her hooves. She turned slowly and led the way to her bedroom.
 
Octavia’s body was far beyond reluctant to lose contact with Vinyl’s. The earth pony kept as close to her partner as she could and still walk, but with each of the few dozen steps to the bedroom her pent up need grew. By the time they reached the bedroom, she felt like a compressed spring, ready to snap forward. And when Vinyl climbed onto the bed and looked over her shoulder, doing her best to muster the cocky, inviting grin she was always so quick with, that’s just what she did. Octavia pounced onto the bed and tackled Vinyl in a single fluid motion, pinning the unicorn to her back. Her body pressed hard against the warm softness underneath her, and her lips fell to ravishing that beautiful face. She kissed Vinyl’s lips, her snout, her cheeks, anything her mouth came near.
 
“Oh Vinyl, I love you,” she crooned. She said the words freely, not expecting them in return, only happy to give them. “I love you,” she repeated with each kiss. “I love you. I love you. I love you.” Vinyl’s mouth silently roamed over her face, returning the kisses and licks and nibbles in turn. Finally, Octavia grabbed Vinyl’s head in her hooves and planted her lips firmly on the other mare’s. She moaned loudly into her partner’s mouth, and licked her lower lip. She felt the unicorn’s mouth part, and in an instant her tongue was inside it, seeking out the hers’. She found it, and they quickly intertwined, embracing like long-lost friends.
 
Octavia’s tongue was like an untamed animal, running circles around Vinyl’s tongue and gums and everywhere else. She held the unicorn’s lips tight against her own as she explored her open mouth like she’d never been. She hadn’t realized how bad her need for Vinyl’s kiss had become. But even greater was her need to show Vinyl her true feelings. She poured every ounce of regret and sympathy and love she’d felt over the last two days into her mouth, desperate to impart even a fraction of her emotion.
 
Finally, Octavia released Vinyl, and the two broke apart again, their bodies coming to a rest. Octavia looked down into Vinyl’s eyes, and she felt her breath catch when she saw the tears pooling in the unicorn’s eyes. Vinyl offered a faint smile, but it did nothing to keep her voice from breaking when she quietly said, “I like the way you kiss me.”
 
Octavia smiled gently at her. “Me too,” she said.
 
“And, I like the way you hold me.” Vinyl took a breath before she continued. “I like the way your voice sounds when you talk to me, and when you say my name. The way you laugh, and moan, and yell at me when you’re not really mad. And the way your hoof feels, when it’s holding mine. I like the way you press against me when we’re walking together, or lying together. And I like…” Vinyl squeezed her eyes shut for a moment. “I…love… the way you look at me. Like I’m the only pony in the room.”
 
Octavia felt her own eyes gently burning as her heart fluttered in her chest. She leaned down and whispered, “When I look at you, you are.” She kissed Vinyl again, more gently, absorbing the unicorn’s emotions as much as she dished out her own. As their mouths pressed together, Octavia’s hooves slid over Vinyl’s cheeks, slowly trailed down her neck, and began to rub in circles against her back. As their kiss began to heat up, Octavia’s body began to grind against Vinyl’s again, and she was pleased that her partner immediately responded in kind. Octavia’s grip around Vinyl tightened, and one of her hooves slipped down to hook around Vinyl’s rump. The unicorn gasped as her leg was lifted up, and her hips were pulled forward.
 
It felt like ages since Octavia had felt Vinyl’s body like this: the pulsating warmth, the sweat seeping through her coat, the lustful moans reverberating in her mouth and her ears and her whole head. But it was as good as she remembered it. It was even better, somehow. Something had changed, if not in Vinyl’s voice and movements, then in her own mind. The friction between them alone had her feeling as though she was floating. She didn’t know what it was, but she loved it, and she wanted more of it. Octavia fondled her flanks as she used them as leverage to push her pelvis against the other’s. Traces of wetness dampened the fur above her crotch, and she suspected she was doing the same on Vinyl’s coat. Slowly, she moved her hoof from Vinyl’s flanks towards her crotch, causing the unicorn to moan with increasing volume as she went. Finally, she slid her hoof against Vinyl’s entrance, and was surprised by how soaked she was. Vinyl’s lips fell away from hers as she moaned.
 
“Looks like you missed me in more ways than one,” Octavia said sweetly, smirking down at Vinyl as she held her hoof in place at her entrance.
 
“Ooooh you have no idea,” Vinyl panted as she regained control of her gaping mouth. “In my defense, it’s really hard to masturbate when you’re heartbroken and blind drunk.”
 
“Mm, I’m well aware,” Octavia agreed gently. She released Vinyl from foreleg’s embrace and kissed at the base of her neck. She smiled up from Vinyl’s chest and said, “Don’t worry, sweetie. I’ll take care of you.” She returned her lips to the unicorn’s chest, and began kissing a trail down her body. With their embrace broken, her other foreleg joined its partner near Vinyl’s crotch, and began rubbing her inner thigh. As Octavia worked her way down, her hooves occasionally travelled inward to press firmly against Vinyl’s entrance, never quite entering her. It made Vinyl moan loudly, and Octavia’s ears perked at the sound of her voice every time. She smiled.
 
“Gods, I love the way you moan,” she said to her unicorn partner. “I love your voice. It’s like…” She pressed against the wet slit again, eliciting another groan. “…music.”
 
Vinyl tried to grin, still breathing heavily. “As long as you keep doing what you’re doing, I’m happy to keep singing.
 
Octavia smiled into a mouthful of Vinyl’s flesh. Her trail of kisses reached Vinyl’s teats, and pressed her lips between them. Vinyl’s hips lurched at the contact. Approving of this reaction, she planted a firm kiss on the left nipple, and moaned softly as Vinyl squirmed and groaned under the treatment.
 
“Hey, go easy!” Vinyl pleaded, though her tone betrayed her pleasure. “Those are -ah- sensitive!” She jerked again as Octavia switched to her other nipple.
 
“Hmm, really?” Octavia mused teasingly, eyeing the small mounds. “Then I’ve clearly never spent enough time on these.” With that, her mouth descended around Vinyl’s teat, sucking it gently. She worked her tongue over the nipples, sliding around her mounds, and poking and flicking the tips. She moved her mouth from one teat to the other, alternating between sucking and puffing on them. She grazed the nipples lightly with her teeth, smiling as the sensation elicited deep-throated groans from Vinyl. And as she took one of them in her mouth and gave it a good, hard pull, she pushed her hoof firmly against Vinyl’s vagina, just enough to push past her labia and barely into her slick tunnel. Vinyl’s thighs clenched around Octavia’s leg, trying to push her hoof deeper, but Octavia resisted and pulled her hoof away. She wanted to save the deeper exploration for something special.
 
Satisfied by her treatment of Vinyl’s tits, she planted a kiss below them, just above her vagina. Then her eyes lowered, and she stared at Vinyl’s beautiful slit, dripping with her juices and winking in invitation. She glanced up and caught Vinyl’s eyes, smiling warmly up at her. Then she leaned in and planted a firm, sucking kiss on Vinyl’s nether lips. Her lips pulled against Vinyl’s crotch, and it followed. She broke the kiss only to repeat it a second time, and a third. On the fourth kiss, her lips parted, and her eager tongue licked Vinyl’s slit from bottom to top. She moaned at the tantalizing taste of Vinyl’s sweet juices, but even to her, her moans were lost under Vinyl’s groans as the unicorn’s back arched off of the bed. Octavia released her from her tongue’s control, and Vinyl’s rump fell back to earth. As she watched her white pussy quivering for more, the taste of her juices hot on her tongue, any interest Octavia may have had in restraint was utterly lost.
 
The earth pony dove into her lover until her snout was buried in the unicorn’s lips, and her tongue probed deep into the moist tunnel in front of her. Her tongue lashed and licked furiously, trying to coax more and more of Vinyl’s fluids out of her. She felt Vinyl’s hooves holding her head, and heard her voice moaning and panting. It fueled Octavia’s passion, pushing her deeper and wilder. Even though Vinyl’s hole was leaking a steady stream, Octavia wanted more. She wanted to give her more pleasure. Even as her tongue eagerly licked at the streams of delicious fluids, her foreleg moved up to Vinyl’s entrance.  With a firm and sudden push, she shoved her hoof inside, sliding past her tongue and forcing those slick walls apart. Vinyl’s moaning doubled, and she felt the unicorn’s back arch against the bed as she began thrusting her hoof in and out of Vinyl’s sensitive pussy. As her hoof took over plundering her hole, Octavia’s tongue moved north to Vinyl’s swollen clit, and lavished her oral affections on it. She swirled her tongue around it and cradled it in her lips, kissing and sucking it again and again. Each time she released it, Vinyl’s fevered moans were punctuated by a yelp of pleasure. Those yelps spurred her on more than anything she could remember. She’d never felt so validated by such a simple sound. She had to have more of it.
 
Octavia’s hoof quickened inside Vinyl, determined to drive her louder. Vinyl’s body responded, twisting in pleasure and bucking against her hoof. But the unicorn’s voice remained frustratingly reserved, restricted to moans and the occasional gasp or yelp. As her hoof fully took over pleasuring Vinyl’s crotch, Octavia’s lips moved upwards, across her teats and stomach and barrel, trying to find something to drive her partner truly wild. She was half way up Vinyl’s chest, angling for her neck, when she looked up, and her eyes widened in inspiration. Without missing a beat on Vinyl’s hole, she shimmied up and kissed Vinyl’s lips briefly, before planting a long kiss on her forehead. Octavia’s hoof came to a stop, still as deep inside Vinyl as she could reach, idly rubbing around. Octavia looked down at Vinyl, waiting until the unicorn looked up at her, confused about why she’d stopped doing those wonderful things. Octavia smiled silently at her, then slowly stuck out her tongue, and licked Vinyl’s horn from base to tip.
 
The sound of the air catching in Vinyl’s throat was somewhere between shock and disbelief. Octavia imagined that her eyes went wide, but her own eyes were already closed as her mouth clamped down around her horn, and she began bobbing her head up and down along its length. Her tongue swirled around the fluted shaft, tracing the ridge that spiraled along it. She moaned enthusiastically as she sucked on Vinyl’s horn, and almost immediately was rewarded with Vinyl’s moan in response. That was all she was waiting for to kick her hoof back into gear pounding away at Vinyl’s hole. It was difficult to get a good angle with her body so far up Vinyl’s, but Octavia found a rhythm of bobbing and thrusting that let her alternate between probing her hole and rubbing her slit and clitoris.
 
Vinyl’s body was a writhing mass under her. The unicorn twisted and arched her back under the double dose of pleasure Octavia rained down on her. Octavia redoubled her efforts on Vinyl’s horn, sucking harder and running her lips and tongue along it faster and faster. Her lips parted occasionally, and her drool trickled down the horn onto Vinyl’s head. She could tell that her treatment was having the intended effect on Vinyl. And yet, she still couldn’t make Vinyl’s voice rise. If anything, her partner was quieter than before. She wanted to hear her scream, she could feel it building, waiting, but it seemed to be trapped, like it had caught in her chest with Vinyl’s gasp and couldn’t escape in more than frequent gasps and groans. Enough was enough. Octavia finally released Vinyl’s horn from her mouth and looked down at her partner.
 
“Sweetie,” she chided her gently, “stop being so quiet.” Without waiting for a response, she clamped down around Vinyl’s horn and resumed her work.
 
Vinyl must have only been waiting for her permission, because the second her tongue touched her horn, Octavia got her scream. Vinyl’s whole body spasmed and her head fell back as she released it, shattering the relative silence. It rolled on and on, rising with every thrust inside her pussy and lick against her horn, but never falling. Vinyl screamed until Octavia wondered how she was still able to breathe, but she didn’t care. It was the most beautiful sound she’d ever heard. It was better than music – a symphony of one instrument. And she played that instrument with the same feeling with which she’d played her cello the first night she’d kissed Vinyl. She knew no time, no exhaustion, no goal. All that remained was passion and beauty, a euphoric sound echoing in her ears, and a wondrous sense of something greater than herself.
 
On and on she played, bringing Vinyl to a crescendo. And as the unicorn’s back arched against the bed and she cried out her loudest, Octavia returned to reality enough to notice a gentle warmth filling her mouth. It pulsed and hummed, and as Vinyl’s pussy contracted around her hoof, flooding it with mare cum, it grew warmer, and the lights around them dimmed nearly to black with an indignant electric hum. Octavia released Vinyl’s horn from her mouth and watched it glow on climactic impulse.
 
She waited until Vinyl’s body fell limply back to Earth before removing her hoof from her passage. She brought it to her mouth and licked at the ample coating of fluid, cradling the sweet nectar on her tongue. She turned back to Vinyl and bent over. The unicorn’s eyes didn’t focus on her as she leaned close, but her mouth accepted Octavia’s as the earth pony passionately kissed her. Amidst her still fading orgasm, the soft lips and gentle tongue and the taste of her own flavor was too much for Vinyl, and her eyes drifted closed as she lost herself in the hedonism of it all.
 
Octavia eventually broke the kiss and sat up, watching Vinyl breathe deeply as her mind worked its way through the euphoric haze. Gradually, the unicorn opened her eyes, looking up at her groggily. Octavia couldn’t help but chuckle.
 
“Why does it always have to be a light show with you?” she asked, smiling down at her partner. Vinyl closed her eyes as she willed herself enough energy to speak.
 
“You’re one to talk,” she said slowly, barely more than a whisper. “You’re the one making me see stars.”
 
“You sure know how to make a mood sappy, don’t you?” Octavia smiled
 
“Hey, I’m good at what I do.” Vinyl began wiggling a forehoof, which Octavia watched in confusion. “C’mere,” Vinyl slurred tiredly, “I’mma do you now.” Octavia giggled as she leaned down, and rested her hoof on Vinyl’s to still its squirming.
 
“Sweetie, I think you’re done for the night,” she said, lying on her side next to Vinyl.
 
“Mm,” Vinyl responded, too tired and comfortable to argue as Octavia snuggled closer. “Fine, next time, then.”
 
“Hmm, definitely. I plan to give you a lot more chances.” The two lay in silence, and Octavia listened to Vinyl’s breathing until she thought the unicorn had fallen asleep. Her own eyes were drifting closed when Vinyl spoke again.
 
“I love you,” Vinyl said without moving. It was barely more than a whisper, and afterwards she didn’t even breathe at first. But then Octavia saw her smile faintly, staring up at the ceiling. “Heh, guess it’s not so hard to say after all.”
 
Octavia was too stunned to respond. She could only watch Vinyl’s eyes drift shut as she lay next to her. But slowly her surprise was replaced by an absolute joy. Warmth spread from her heart through her entire body, until it spilled into a wide, gentle smile. She nuzzled against Vinyl’s cheek and barely whispered back.
 
“No, it’s not.”