//------------------------------// // Part 11 // Story: Friendship is Music // by Earl Grey //------------------------------// It had been a few days since Octavia had grabbed those first few items from her old apartment. Ever since then, her room in Vinyl's apartment had begun to fill up with far too many boxes for her to stay there properly. She would have to wait until it could all be sorted out into the rest of Vinyl's living space. In the mean time, she had been sleeping in her old apartment, feeling an odd sense of catharsis as she noticed that the place had a barren, empty look about it. This was the final day however, the landlord had said that this was as long as she could stay there, so Octavia took one last look at the place before leaving it for good. Her smile was bigger than it had been for a long time as she walked away from the place, moving on from one part of her life to the next. The grey mare said a final goodbye to the security pony behind the front desk, who grunted from behind his copy of Modern Stallion. “No change there then,” Octavia remarked, rolling her eyes. It was a short journey to Vinyl's building, Octavia couldn't think straight due to her excitement. Today was the day that she would leave the past behind her and forge a new path for herself in the world. With Vinyl at her side, she was sure that it would be interesting. Taking a deep breath, Octavia stepped through the front doors and smiled at the receptionist, a magenta unicorn wearing a smart looking suit. The receptionist looked up at the sound of the doors opening and broke out into a large smile herself, “Ah, Miss Octavia. You're finally moving in today aren't you?” “Yes, my lease ran out, so I'll be working hard trying to get my room ready to use by tonight.” “That's nice,” The magenta unicorn scanned a few papers on her desk before looking up again, “Oh, I'll see about getting Flash to help you with the boxes. She should be starting her shift in about half an hour, I'll ask her then. Enjoy your stay.” The unicorn smiled again and got back to her work. Octavia chuckled, it was good to have a nice receptionist for a change, one who actually wanted to engage in polite conversation. Taking her leave, the earth pony made her way to the top floor where Vinyl's- no, her door sat awaiting her. It was closed and Octavia went to knock, but it swung open soundlessly when she made contact. “Vinyl?” Octavia called weakly, the living room was completely empty. One of the sofas was ruffled as if it had been sat on a lot lately and it's pillows were strewn across the floor nearby. It almost seemed as if a struggle had gone on there, Vinyl wasn't known for cleaning up after herself, but she wasn't a slob. The hairs on the back of Octavia's neck began to prickle and the breath was forced out of her as a shiver fell across her spine. She span around quickly and faced the kitchen, but her fears only worsened as she saw a half-finished glass of wine on the breakfast bar and a bundle of broken glass below one of the stools. The grey mare backed away until she found herself near the door that lead to the bathroom, she slipped through quickly and tried to gather her thoughts. The short corridor was empty and just as she had seen it last, which helped to calm her down a little. 'Okay, door open, broken glass, messed up sofa, no attempts to clear it up.' Octavia's breathing picked up and she could feel her heart racing, that combination of events sounded ominous at best. A rational pony would worry somewhat but get down to the problem, which may end up being a big misunderstanding. Octavia was not a rational pony at the moment however. 'What if Vinyl's been kidnapped? No, the receptionist would have seen them coming up the stairs... What if she was kidnapped by pegasus ponies? They wouldn't need stairs...' The earth pony racked her brain, she had definitely heard of pegasi kidnapping ponies from top floor apartments 'But who would want to kidnap Vinyl? What enemies has she made? An angry, fellow musician... a spurned fan... crime organisations?' Octavia shook herself, she needed to stop thinking like that. Vinyl was fine, she probably just needed to nip out and get something, yes, that was it. She took a calming breath and walked over to the bathroom door, pushing it open carefully, it was lemony fresh and looked fine, no sign of Vinyl and no sign of anything else. The earth pony backed out and braved looking into the living room again, the broken glass and messy sofa remained, but she put them out of her mind and walked quickly across the room. Her eyes moved once over the large window that covered almost the entirety of the back wall, one of the top windows was open quite wide. Octavia went through the door before she could dwell on that fact too much. Once on the other side, the grey mare's eyes moved immediately to Vinyl's door, a deeper feeling however, switched her gaze over to her door, what if they weren't just kidnappers, but also burglars? Could they have taken any of her things? Perhaps quite selfishly, given the situation, Octavia made her way over to her room and she pushed the door open quickly, she sighed happily when she saw that not a single box had been disturbed and it seemed nice and clean considering the general state of the room. Curiosity sated, Octavia looked towards Vinyl's door again, but she found herself unwilling to open it. The kidnappers may not have wanted to steal any of her things, but what if they were after something of Vinyl's in particular. What if she hadn't co-operated? What if they had gotten angry and... and... Octavia didn't dare finish that line of thought. Plucking up her courage, Octavia walked over and grabbed the door handle, pushing it slowly open. The door creaked, but it wasn't loud enough to mask the obvious noises coming from within, there wasn't any time to stop now though, she flung the door open. “Vinyl?” Her eyes were checking the floor on entry, hoping beyond hope that it wouldn't be a pool of blood greeting her. She looked up when she noticed it was clear, but her eyes fell upon a moving lump in the bed, far too big to be just Vinyl on her own. “V-Vinyl!?” Octavia's eyes grew to the size of saucers when the covers flew off. Her jaw was somewhere in the lobby and had no intentions of coming back any time soon. Lay on the bed, blushing profusely was Vinyl Scratch. The yellow pegasus sat astride her, wings splayed dramatically, was none other than Flash, the pegasus she had been told was due in for work any time now. Octavia could feel her eyes shutting off, it felt oddly similar to when Vinyl did the same to her ears not too long ago, but the grey mare could tell there was no magic involved this time, at least until her brain stopped along with her eyes. Then she couldn't feel anything at all. == There was a pleasant breeze wafting past her face, it both cooled and soothed her. Perhaps she was merely imagining it, but maybe she was atop a hill on a misty moor, under the shadow of a poplar tree, playing a sorrowful tune on her double bass. “Octavia, are you awake?” Vinyl appears at the bottom of the hill, she's shouting something. Octavia has her eyes closed, lost in her music, but as she hears Vinyl, she focuses harder on the music and tries to tune out the shouting. “You passed out, you seem fine though.” The unicorn begins to scale the hill, continuing her shouting as she does. Octavia gives up trying to concentrate and throws her bow to ground, eyes trained on the approaching unicorn, “What in Equestria are you shouting about?” Vinyl stops walking, now stood in front of the earth pony, “Wake up, please.” She has a deadly serious look in her eyes. “Why do you keep saying that?” Before she can think on it however, Octavia opens her eyes to see Vinyl Scratch hovering above her, relief spreading across her face. “Thank Luna, you're awake. I was starting to get worried for a moment there.” The grey mare stared speechlessly for a few seconds, slowly coming to realise that she wasn't atop a hill on a misty moor, but was being fanned by Vinyl as she lay... come to think of it... “Where am I?” Vinyl raised an eyebrow, “You're on my bed, you fainted.” Octavia's eyes flew open wide again, “You're bed!? Where you... and... and...” She tried to sit up, but Vinyl forced her back down, giving her a stern look. Instead, Octavia settled with trying not to think about what she's currently lay in. “Good, so you don't have memory loss. Also, for your information, I changed the sheets before laying you on them.” Vinyl began blushing slightly and looked over her shoulder, at what, Octavia couldn't see. “So I guess we have to talk about what you saw, which I'm sorry for by the way. I totally forgot you were officially moving in today.” Octavia moved herself into a more comfortable position, wincing slightly as she did. Vinyl saw it and gave her a 'don't try and move too much' glare. “A little context might be nice, although I could do without too many details.” “I wouldn't do that,” Vinyl smirked, “I don't want to corrupt your sweet and innocent mind.” “I'm not that innocent.” Octavia remarked. “Oh really? Sex.” Octavia tried her hardest, but the blush slowly turning her face from grey to crimson refused to stop. “I rest my case. Now, I'll just get on with the story shall I? First, background...” – The date. Yesterday. The time. Late. I was bored. More bored than a DJ unicorn in Canterlot should be, so I left the apartment and sought entertainment in the local watering hole. It may not have been the hive of scum and villainy I'd like to think it is, but it was criminal how dirty the toilets can get in there sometimes, so I let it slide. I sit at the bar, my mind on other things. The bartender leans a foreleg on the bar and gives me a sideways glance, “You look like a mare with a whole mess o' troubles.” he says, his words tainted with regrettable truth. I match his stare, knowing that I'd be unable to make him think otherwise, “You could say that. Whiskey sour... make it a double.” “Serious drink, huh? You must want to do some serious forgetting.” The bartender readies a glass and begins pouring some bourbon into a cocktail shaker, followed by some lemon juice and sugar, finally he puts in some ice and shakes for a few seconds before pouring into the glass. I stay strong, not giving into his bartender wisdom, “There's a lot I'd like to forget, today I'd just like to drink.” I take a small sip, feeling it slide down my throat, burning as it went. Taking my silence as a hint, the bartender moves away to the other end of the bar. “Don't see you in here often.” A familiar voice greets me, I recognise it instantly. “We must just come at different times.” I take another sip, feeling the seat beside me get filled. “What are you drinking?” “Whiskey sour,” I reply, turning to see Flash giving me a strange glance, “I hear pegasi aren't great at holding their drink.” I smirk and see that she does the same. “I'd love to prove you wrong.” She shakes her cyan mane out of her face and whistles for the bartender, slamming some bits onto the table, “Two whiskey sours and keep 'em coming.” When Flash said 'keep 'em coming' she really meant it, I finished my drink, waiting eagerly for my second. The bartender gives us a glass each and we look at each other, nodding before downing the lot. Our glasses are instantly refilled and we go again. My stomach starts burning and I shake my head to try and clear my thoughts but Flash pushes another drink on me, her smile unfaltering. I couldn't back down now, Flash had already finished her third drink and I was lagging behind. “Who can't handle their drink?” She jabs at me, grinning bigger than before. That did it, now I was determined to beat her. My magic flares, her features thrown into sharp relief. The image lingers in my mind as we both take another drink. “So what brings you out here tonight?” I asked, my words slightly slurred. She downs another drink, “Just lookin' for some fun, the drinks were a bonus.” “Did you find any? Fun, I mean?” “That depends on whether my fun says yes.” Flash winks, the smile she was giving me seemed more than just a friendly gesture, it seemed almost inviting. I may be many things, but dense was not one of them, “I have an unopened bottle of wine back at my place, how about we continue our fun up there?” I throw a few more bits onto the bar and get up, feeling the floor sway beneath my hooves. I lean on Flash and she leans back, we laugh uncontrollably and walk out of the bar together. It wasn't far to the building, we got there quickly enough, the receptionist gives us a stern glare as we stumble in, but we just laugh some more. We were barely up the stairs before Flash started kissing me, I kissed back just as hard. We were barely aware of our surroundings, making our way up the stairs and into my apartment seemingly on instinct. We collapse onto a sofa, bodies entangled, hooves exploring, I felt wings caressing my sides, the downy softness sending me into paroxysms of laughter. I roll off of her onto the floor, “That's not fair!” “You're a unicorn aren't you? Level the playing field.” She kicks her wings up, flying a quick loop before landing near the kitchen, “Let's open that wine shall we?” I bite my lip, watching her walk over to the kitchen, she sways her hips back and forth, her grinning face looking over her shoulder to gauge my reaction, “Like what you see?” She croons, her eyes flashing lazily at me. I climb back up onto sofa and watch her pour the wine, as soon as she fills the first glass, I use my magic to bring it over to me. Flash laughs and pours herself a glass, zipping back over with a lazy flap of her wings. We sit quietly for a few moments, sipping the wine and trying to out-seduce the other in the process, my bedroom eyes aren't quite as effective as hers, but levitating the glass with my magic left my hooves free to do... other things. Flash stared, eyes wide. She finished her wine and flung the glass across the room, diving on me again, she's like a wild animal, kissing every part of me she can reach, moving slowly downwards, her lips lingering longer and longer on my stomach. “Save that for the bedroom.” I smirk as I see the small look of disappointment on her face, “I don't want to make a mess on the sofa.” Her smile returns, a mischievous grin. She kisses my stomach one last time before getting up, her eyes never leaving mine. I realise that I still have a hold of the glass, I didn't finish it, but there was something sweeter waiting for me, so I set it down on the breakfast bar. I give Flash my best 'come hither' look and she follows obediently into the bedroom. We didn't get much sleep, but when we did, it was mainly due to exhaustion. When we woke up the next day, we just started again... – “That's when you walked in.” “Ruining a perfectly good pre-shift romp!” Octavia recognised the voice, it seemed Flash hadn't left. “It's hardly my fault.” Octavia complained. She turned her attention to Vinyl, giving the unicorn an odd stare, “So what's going to happen now, with you two?” Vinyl furrowed her brow, “What do you mean? Why does anything have to happen?” Octavia craned her neck, looking at the pegasus sat in the corner, “She's still here, if it was just fun as you said, why would she stick around to watch me wake up?” “You make a good point, Tavi.” Vinyl turned to the pegasus, an accusatory glint in her eyes, “Why did you stick around? You didn't have to and I get the feeling that you didn't really want to either.” Flash squirmed uncomfortably, she got to her hooves for something to do but she couldn't escape Vinyl's question, “Is it so bad to want the fun to last a little longer?” The DJ got to her hooves, moving away from the bed and standing next to Flash, “Of course not. Last night was really awesome and if you told me that I couldn't have that again, I'd be a liar if I said I wouldn't mind. Plus, I like you, that always helps.” Vinyl nudged her affectionately with a hoof. Octavia felt good enough to sit up and watched the scene from her place on the bed. The grey mare liked to think that she had a pretty good handle on Vinyl Scratch, how to decipher her mannerisms and what not. In her honest opinion, she felt that Vinyl was telling the truth and that she was pleased to hear that her time with Flash wasn't going to be a one time thing. The two were a lot alike, both scared and thrilled by their feelings, both outgoing and both sharing a fierce competitive streak with the other. “Don't you have a job to get to?” Vinyl asks suddenly. Flash stopped what she was doing, which was holding her head up against Vinyl's neck and she rushed over to the door of the bedroom. “If anypony asks, I was flying by the building and you guys let me in.” She disappeared quickly, the sound of slamming doors in her wake. “I can't believe I get to say this for a change, but you guys make a cute couple.” Octavia gave an honest smile, one which Vinyl couldn't help returning. “Jealous?” Octavia groaned, “You always have the perfect words to ruin my intentions, don't you?” She climbed off of Vinyl's bed and stretched her legs, making sure they were in working order. “I'm genuinely happy for you and you have to turn it into a competition.” “All you had to say was yes.” Vinyl didn't try to be smarmy, instead she took an admittedly less travelled path and tried to be serious about it. “I know it must be hard for you, the way you were raised, how socially awkward you are... I get it, ponies just don't gravitate towards those kinds of personalities. Instead of standing there and waiting for them to come to you, try reaching out yourself. You'll find that ponies are more receptive to that.” “One night of wild passion and suddenly you're a fortune cookie. What exactly did Flash do to you?” Vinyl merely took a deep breath, “Now that I'm potentially in a relationship, I feel calmer, I no longer hate other ponies for merely existing. It allows me to dwell on the positives in life.” Octavia rolled her eyes, she couldn't believe what she was hearing, “All this in the space of five minutes? Impressive.” “Sarcasm isn't becoming of you, Tavi, be positive and I'm sure you'll find somepony soon. You're cute, you're talented, you just need to fix your attitude a little and you'll be fighting them off.” The grey mare left the room without another word, leaving the unicorn with a confused look on her face. Octavia didn't know what annoyed her more, Vinyl's new preachy attitude or the fact that she was probably right. Either way, she walked into her own room and took her frustration out on the first stack of boxes she could find, emptying it's contents and arranging them into a series of neat piles. 'That's right Octavia, avoid your problems. You have no control over your social life so you retreat into your room where you can control the only thing you have left. Things.' She worked obsessively, taking care to empty each box completely and put the contents into the ordered piles at her hooves. She still had a long way to go, something that suited her just fine, as long as she had to concentrate on this, she couldn't dwell on her problems. – Vinyl thought about following Octavia and trying to cheer her up, she looked awful mad. The DJ couldn't help but feel that she was partially responsible for the earth pony's mood. She walked into the living room and decided to begin making something to eat, if Octavia got hungry, then she could always come out and have something then. It might make her feel better at least. Knock knock. “Door's open!” Vinyl shouted. The front door swung open and Flash appeared from behind it, looking around for the unicorn. “I got told to come up here and help unpack some boxes.” Vinyl couldn't help but smile, “I wouldn't bother Tavi at the moment, I think she's mad at me. You wanna help me make some dinner instead? I'm not that great for obvious reasons.” The pegasus wandered over into the kitchen, staring at the bare worktops, “What do you want to make? I know the general cooking basics and some intermediate stuff but I'm no gourmet.” “Simple but effective will do, I want it to be good enough that Tavi stops being angry.” Flash nodded slowly before realising that she had another reason for coming back, she had to relay the message the receptionist had given her, “You have a visitor by the way, she's waiting downstairs.” -- I had this finished the other day, but I wanted to give it one last look over before posting it. I also read over it outloud (well, in a hushed whisper because there were other people in the house) I read it in a rather posh English accent, it works. Keep in mind that just because Flash technically is a character from the show, that doesn't mean this is shipping. I'd class it just as romance, because in my head, shipping and romance are different. I've wanted to write that scene of Octavia walking in on Vinyl doing it with someone pretty much since this fic began. Fun hint, it was originally going to be Rainbow Dash, but I swapped it because overall, this doesn't upset as many plotlines. Plotlines such as, why is Octavia so mad? Who is this mysterious visitor? And many more that I haven't thought of yet!