This story is a sequel to The Dresden Fillies: False Masks

It's been a while since the girls have seen their good friend Harry Dresden. Discord escaped, Luna attended her first Nightmare Night, the Royal Wedding was crashed by hordes of changelings, and Pinkie Pie threw a statistically improbable number of parties. They tried inviting Dresden, but between his new job and new apprentice, he always claimed to be too busy. The solution was obvious; if he couldn't come to his friends, they needed to go visit him. Besides, they say Earth is lovely this time of year. What could go wrong?

A charity concert played by the violinist star Melodia Allgrezza, and the chance meeting with the matron of the Heartstrings family leads Octavia to reunite with an old university acquaintance, Lyra Heartstrings. The two of them chat it up and it is revealed that Lyra has a friendly date with Vinyl Scratch, her friend for many years. Octavia is invited along and accepts, joining the two for a night of fun. It quickly develops, however, to something much more than that. For of all the things that Octavia had expected to see when she met up with this Vinyl, it was definitely not a near copy of Melodia Allegrezza.
Curiosity is a virtue, they say, and Octavia's drives her to one question that she will see answered no matter what: What is the relationship between Melodia and Vinyl Scratch? Who are they?

And here we go! My first (chaptered) TaviScratch story! I hope you guys like what you see so far.
I have been sitting with this idea since later summer 2013, and I finally got the chance to write it! This story isn't going to be your usual TaviScratch, I hope, and I will do what I can to mercilessly slaughter and then crush and then burn every trope I come across. I want to bring you guys something unique, and this will be it.

Hop along for a story of love, mistrust, friends and, most importantly, secrets!

Rated Teen for future sexual references, and the likes.

It was supposed to be Octavia’s first big moment in her beginning career. To her dismay a unicorn named Vinyl Scratch stole her spotlight and left an impression on the cellist she would so soon not forget.

This is my take on how two of my favorite ponies met and the stages they went through.

This story takes place about 2 years before Nightmare Moon returns, so you will not see any of the main characters here. If you are here for some Scootaloo & Rainbow Dash, I am sorry to disappoint you.

But please….stay a while and listen….err read.

Rated Teen for some slightly darker scenarios in later chapters and some crude attempted humor.

Two passengers on a train ride toward an uncertain future. One is a pony. The other only pretends to be.

Sex is tame and non-explicit. Don't be afraid to read.

Written expressly for Equestria Daily's Outside Insight Summer Fanfiction Contest.

Now with a dramatic reading by Illya Leonov!

Russian translation courtesy of Arsus.
Chinese translation courtesy of viczhn.
French translation courtesy of BroNie.

Inspired by the artwork of RubleGun and Raddjuret. Musical accompaniment by Patrick Poe.

Featured at Equestria Daily and the Royal Canterlot Library.

Reader Testimonials

"Vinyl + Octavia is one of the fandom's most cliché and mismatched pairs, and yet this is a real romance with genuine depth and emotion." - horizon
"Holy shit this is impressive. Like... Holy shit, man." - Skeeter The Lurker
"You have crafted something wonderful here, a true gem. You should be proud." - Illya Leonov
"Note that I hate this ship when I say this is far and away the best ScratchTavia I've ever read." - PresentPerfect
"Fuuuuck it's so good!" - Luminary

Are They or Aren't They? Vinyl and Octavia have been best friends and radio co-hosts for years, and despite everypony thinking they're together, Vinyl insists they aren't . . . but Vinyl may just need a good push. Good thing Derpy comes along with a game of Truth or Dare!
COMPLETE
Edit: Featured 12/17/14

When Sombra, ex-ruler of the Crystal Empire, is discovered alive and well, Twilight has her hooves full keeping the tyrannical king in check. Instead of the original plan of throwing him in a dungeon or banishing him to Tartarus, Celestia decides to go with the plan that worked out well enough for Discord.

To reform Sombra.

Pinkie takes the job, and gets right to work in helping Sombra become a better pony. Will Sombra finally change from his old, wicked ways and reform? Or will he instead strangle the annoying, pink menace known as Pinkie Pie?

Thanks to the awesomely talented Mickeymonster for letting me use his art! Check him out for even more spectacular artwork!

Vinyl Scratch and Lyra Heartstrings are vampires, creatures of the night whose civilization has lived in humanity's shadow for thousands of years. They are self-sufficient and prideful, only venturing out of their hidden cities to replenish their stock of blood. But ties to past lives are not so easily severed.

When Lyra catches wind of supernatural happenings in her hometown of Canterlot, she and Vinyl take it upon themselves to investigate the cause.

Rarity tries to find out if Applejack really does smell–and taste–like apples.

My deepest gratitude to First_Down for editing, proofreading, reviewing, and polishing the fic. Also, thanks to SerenityViewer for his suggested changes in the first few paragraphs.

This side-story takes place in-between "Apple Scratch: Onward to the Equestria Games", which is from the series, "Apple Scratch", created by Mariacheat-Brony.

At the start of the Equestria Games in Ponyville, Roseluck, one of the hometown's athletes, suffered a humilating defeat during her very first race at the 100-Meter Hurdle Qualification Rounds. Not only did she literally slipped up out there, but because of her fall, it cost the race to Fleetfoot as well. Despite their initial defeats, the two competitors became fast friends over the course of the Games. However, as they spent more time together, their growing bond brought forth new feelings for each other. Will Roseluck manage to make their relationship blossom into full bloom, or will Fleetfoot's chilling secret catch up to her and wither it away?

Sometimes being old friends is rough.

Timing is everything in the relationship, especially when it starts to deepen. A thing Jack knows too well. But she wasn't one to give up, even if she wasn't the best at describing what she felt. So when she finally had a chance to come out regarding how she feels, she jumped for it, even if what she wanted to say isn't what Rarity wants to hear.

---
Specal thanks to my awesome editor Peregrine Caged, and my fantastic prereaders Bookplayer, Jake the Ginger, and Xl9. Be sure to look at their stuff, because my write-fu is far weaker than theirs.

Artwork by Fahu, go take a look!