Octavia was a class mare.
Her mane was always smooth and neat, a little pink bowtie always at her neck. I had a feeling that she’d been practicing the same exact routine to get ready each morning for as long as she’d been able to brush her own mane. I’d never asked her when exactly she’d started wearing her signature bowtie, but picturing an adorable little filly Octavia putting on her little bow each morning was the most adorable frickin’ thing ever. So I like to think she’s been wearing it since forever.
She may have the appearance of a stuffy Canterlot resident, but Octy was anything but rude or stuck up. She was kind. She was sweet. She was one of the most generous ponies I knew. She wasn’t ashamed to hang out with me in public even though it probably hurt her appearance, being seen with a rough-and-tumble tomboy like myself.
She was my best friend.
Though I always longed for something more, of course. I mean, how could I not? Octy was one of those mares that you take one look at and get all fuzzy inside. It definitely wasn’t love at first sight, but the more I got to know her, the more I loved everything about her. She had everything; brains, musical talent, sophisticated vocabulary and accent. Plus she was totally gorgeous, on top of all that. However, she was also oblivious to my advances. Even the most obvious flirting would go straight over her head, no pun intended.
You ever been in love? It’s great, isn’t it?
You ever been in love with somepony who you’ll probably never have? It’s a lot less-great. In fact, it sucks. It sucks a lot. You could probably fill dozens upon dozens of buckets with all the suck it creates. It was probably for the best, though.
I set the box that I was holding in my magical grip onto the kitchen counter. “CuPs and sTuff” was scrawled on the side of it in black marker. One of my boxes. So what if moving in together was my idea? I wasn’t trying to force myself on her or anything. If she wasn’t interested, she wasn’t interested. We’re friends. It’s not hurting anypony if we share a place. Yeah, it’s just sharing an apartment. No harm in that.
I went over to the door where all our boxes were stacked and used my magic to levitate one that read “Kitchen Necessities” in neat cursive. One of Octy’s boxes. No idea how an Earth pony could print neater than me, let alone write in perfect cursive. I used magic. She used her mouth. It really didn’t surprise me though cause it was Octy. Octavia was just that extraordinary of a pony. Never ceased to surprise me.
“Well, my things are unpacked,” she said officially trotting in from her bedroom. I’d only known her for half a year by then, but I swear every time she entered the room, my whole body shut down for a split second. I just melted every time. I hated and loved that she had the effect on me.
Do you hear how dumb that sounds? “I melted when she entered the room?” That’s cheesy shit, but it was absolutely true. If word got out that the mighty, the unstoppable, the invincible DJ-Pon3 had a sweet side, I could kiss my reputation as a bad ass goodbye. But I just… I just couldn’t help it.
I set the box down on the counter as she smiled and looked around at the bare cupboards in the kitchen.
“I’m pleasantly surprised, Vinyl. This is actually quite nice compared to what I thought you’d find for us!” she said running a hoof over the counter top.
“Hey, come on! Have more faith in me,” I pouted. “I may not have as high demands as your pampered flank, but I’ve got some standards!” She looked over at me.
“The first time I accompanied you to your apartment, I stepped on a pizza box in the middle of the floor,” she said raising an eyebrow. “With pizza still in it.”
“I was saving it for later! And it wouldn’t fit in the fridge! And I couldn’t put it on a counter because… well…”
“Because all your countertops were occupied with dirty dishes,” she finished for me. “Dishes which you could not place in the sink because you were soaking towels in it. And the chain goes on and on.” I could feel myself blush a little. I could give less of a buck what any other pony thought of me, but when it came to Octy, her opinion just meant the whole world. Luckily for me, a small smile crept onto her face. “Honestly, Vinyl, I’m not certain what I’ve gotten myself into, agreeing to live with you,” she sighed.
“Aahh, it won’t be so bad,” I said closing my eyes and waving a hoof dismissively in the air. “You’ll just have to get used to parties happening in here 24/7. And me blasting my music. And-“
“-Floor pizza?” she asked with a little giggle. She trotted over to me and gave my head a pat. “We’ll have a wonderful time, I’m sure.” I smiled on the outside, but a little piece inside me shattered. Patting my head? Friend-zone level 47. What, was I a kid sister or something?
“Now, what say you and I unpack some of our kitchen items, hmm?” she asked smiling at me. I swear, that smile of hers could stop my heart. Though, due to my… condition… I doubted I had much of a heartbeat left. She picked up a box cutter between her hooves and attempted to push the blade up, to no avail.
“Naw, don’t even try, Octy,” I laughed going to her and lifting the device with my magic. “Let me.”
“Thank you, Vinyl,” she said warmly. The blade pushed up and I sliced open the “Kitchen Necessities” box. “Though I do wish I could pull my own weight with the move-in. I haven’t done much of anything other than watch you levitate boxes up the stairs all day.”
“Yeah, well,” I said glancing over at her, “You don’t have anything else to prove to the world; you’re an Earth pony that plays cello. We get it; you’re awesome. You can chill.”
“Oh, shush you,” she giggled as I set down the box cutter and she opened the flaps of the box carefully. “Now let’s see. The knife block can go over here… and next to that, we can hang the spatula and other…”
She muttered to herself placing things where they needed to go, but I wasn’t really hearing her anymore. The clouds that were apparently occupying the sky had moved and now the sun was peaking through the window, hitting her just right. She looked like an angel.
No, Vinyl, don’t think those things. You can’t have her. You might never have her.
And that’s when I realized it would be hurting somepony if Octy and I lived together: me.
What has she gotten herself into? More like, “What have I gotten myself into?”
“Umm… Vinyl… what is this?” she asked, pointing a hoof to a square machine in the corner. “Is this… a washing machine with some sort of... speaker on it?”
“Oh, that? Something of my own creation. Oh and, uh, how light of a sleeper are you?” I smiled nervously remembering how much my last neighbors “loved” my dish washer. Part of the reason why I moved out. Octy appeared as amused as they were.
_________________________________________________________________________
Nightmare Night was an awesome holiday; my kind could hide in plain sight and no one would be the wiser. I would never go out in public with my fangs extended, of course. My mom had taught me better than that. Just the fact that I could do it if I wanted to was kick ass. It was a holiday that celebrated dressing up in costumes, the supernatural, and free candy. And I loved it.
“Nightmare Night! What a fright! Give me something sweet to bite!” I chanted along with the music pounding through my headphones, putting up decorations around the apartment. I hung a string of little plastic skulls on the wall over the fireplace, a common decoration used to celebrate the holiday in Ponyville.
I heard a muffled “Vinyl!” and took off my headphones, resting them on the back of my neck.
“Yeah?”
“Please. I’m trying to read,” she said, gesturing to the book she was holding in her hooves. I rolled my eyes. The one thing about Octy that I wished I could change was that she never knew when to just chill. Life wasn’t all about drinking tea and attending cello practice and reading every book ever written ever.
I was about to reply snarkily when I turned around to notice her looking quite intently at my flank.
Could it be… naw, no way. She... but... I mean, it wouldn’t hurt to… well… Just test the waters, Vinyl.
“Octy?” I asked smoothly, flashing a little smile and wiggling my hips. “See something you like?” She flushed adorably.
“I was looking at your cutie mark.”
You’ve seen my cutie mark a jillion times, Octy. We’ve had hour long conversations on how we both got ours and their significance.
I’d let it go, though. If she was into mares, she definitely wasn’t out of the shed yet. No need to drag her out kicking and screaming.
“Sure,” I snickered. I would’ve left to put more decorations up, but I saw what a thick book Octy held in her hooves. She’s one to read, but this book was huge and had fancy binding and all that jazz.
I was genuinely curious. Plus it was an opportunity to get close to her, which I always took, given the chance.
“Watcha readin’?” I plopped onto the couch next to her and lay on my stomach. Seeing there was more space to close, I inched towards her, earning an unamused look from Octy. I smiled back. “Lemme see.” She sighed, closing the book and flipping the cover towards me so I could see it: “The History of Vampires.” My blood ran cold.
Well… nothing to worry about. It’s just a coincidence. It has to be. I’m sure she doesn’t suspect anything! I mean, Nightmare Night’s coming up. Maybe she’s reading up on vampires cause… she wants to dress up as one or something. Yeah, that sounds right. Relax, Vinyl.
Holy Celestia, she knows she knows she knows what have I done I've endangered everypony what am I gonna-
It's nothing, Vinyl. She doesn't know. Chill.
Had to play it cool. I snorted.
“Vampires? I never knew you into that sort of thing.”
Might as well have a little fun with this.
“Nightmare Night…” I heard her sigh. “What a fright! Give me something sweet to bite!”
"Gah!"
I pushed her against the couch and pretended to bite her neck, making “nomming” sounds.
“Get off of me!"
"I vant to suck your blood, my dear!" I said spookily in a terrible accent. For growing up around my mom, I couldn’t imitate her accent worth crap. She did fake her accent, but still. I should be able to do a decent one! Octy made the most adorable noises as she struggled against me. Finally, she put her hooves on my chest and pushed me off the couch.
“Oomph!” I said as the air pushed out of me as I landed on the carpet.
Aaaawww, she’s no fun.
_________________________________________________________________________
“Seriously?” I stared at the plate of food in front of me, scrunching up my mouth in disgust. Octy ate from her dish and dabbed her lips with a napkin.
Always so proper, Octy. We’re at home. Nopony else can see us. Celestia knows you don’t have to work to impress me; you do it just by existing.
“Just eat the pasta, Vinyl. You act as if you’re allergic to pasta,” she scoffed.
“I’m not allergic to the stupid pasta. It’s the garlic!”
“What’s wrong with the garlic?” I looked away from her, staring down at the ground.
The thing that’s wrong with garlic is that it’ll burn my tongue if I eat it, Octy. Doesn’t sound super appetizing to me.
Obviously I couldn’t let her know that though.
“I hate garlic,” I muttered still not looking up at her.
“Just try it!”
“Forget it!”
“Vinyl, eat the garlic.”
Ooooh, so assertive, Octavia. Well now I don’t really have a choice, do I? She could make me do anything with that tone.
I scowled a little and then levitated a forkful of food up to me. Ugh, I knew I should’ve checked what she was making for dinner beforehand. I could’ve told her I was allergic or something, but noooooo.
The things I do for love.
I took a bite and chewed slowly.
Hey, this isn’t so bad. Not bad at all. It actually tastes kinda- OH NO OH NO OW OUCHIES OW OW
I heard Octy call my name as I bolted from the table to the bathroom and spit out the pasta into the sink.
“Ugh! Gross, gross!” I moaned, making sure that she would think it was the taste that was the problem. Not the horrible burning sensation on my tongue. I pressed it to the roof of my mouth and felt how scalding it was.
No kissing for you for a bit, Vinyl. Not that you’d get any anytime soon.
“Hey, are you alright?” Octy called from the table.
I looked over at her and gave a little smile, waving my hoof at her to let her know I’d be fine. I probably looked like hell. Really didn’t wanna talk with my tongue in that condition. I just wanted to get some ice cubes on it and just relax for a bit. Maybe mom would know if there’s some home remedy for this sorta thing. There had to be some vampires before me whose sweetheart’s had made them garlic bread and failed to mention the “garlic” part.
_________________________________________________________________________
Whether it was an opera house or a fancy restaurant or visiting a greenhouse, Tavi was always trying to drag me places.
Come on, Vinyl! Let’s go have a trot through Canterlot Gardens! No thanks, Octy. I’ll stay here were my fur doesn’t feel like it’s going to burst into flames. Yes siree! You go and do things normal ponies can do. Pfft.
Of course I wanted to go with her. I would’ve killed to be able to… smell flowers with her or whatever you’re supposed to do at a greenhouse. I just couldn’t. It’d be too painful. Both physically and mentally. So I’d stay in the apartment when she went out, closing the blinds and sulking about the fact that this was my life and I just had to deal with it. I often wondered what suntanning was like, seeing as if I was in direct sunlight like that for more than 10 seconds… well, it wouldn’t be good. I didn’t like to think of it.
Being a vampire is sweet and all, but sometimes I just wished I could be a normal pony. That I could go walk on the beach with her. That I could eat her awesome garlic pasta. That I could tell her everything about me without fear of revealing too much. What would she do if she ever found out about me? Would she hate me? Cast me out and call me a freak? … No. Naw, that doesn’t sound like Tavi at all. What are you thinking, you silly filly?
Occasionally, though, I’d give in and we’d go outside somewhere.
“You’re coming with me and that’s final.”
“But the sun is still out!” I groaned at her. She pointed a hoof at our window. Turning my head to look outside, I could see that the moon was out.
Damn it. Don’t have much of an excuse now.
“You’re getting fat. Look at this,” I heard her say behind me. Just then, I felt a slap on my flank, which definitely got my attention. I smiled and turned back at her. Octy turned bright red and shook her head furiously.
“I’m sorry! I wasn’t thinking!” she apologized. My smile widened as I leaned close to her. It was terrible to embarrass her, I know, but she just looked so cute when she blushed.
Alright, Tavi, you win.
I pulled her towards the door so we could take her silly walk.
_________________________________________________________________________
It was nighttime so it really wasn’t that bad. Just wasn’t a fan of being outside at night with Octy. I had made a lot of enemies over the years and trouble was more likely to go down at night than in daylight. I could totally handle it if I were by myself… but with Octy here… I didn’t like it. If anything were to happen to her because of me, I don’t think I could forgive myself. But Octy wanted to go on a walk, so there we were. The Fall season was starting and the trees were bare. Easier to see enemies in trees without leaves anyway. I felt Octy bump against me as we walked. I laughed and threw an arm around her neck, pulling her closer to me.
“You know, I really like you!” I smiled, hugging her neck. This turned out to be a good idea. Life was good. This was nice.
“I like you too?” Octy said slowly. It was a question. Like she was trying to decide how she felt. I felt my heart go numb.
Don’t make her feel awkward, Vinyl. Just smile and smile some more and keep smiling like nothing’s wrong.
And so that’s what I did. I grinned as I pulled her forward, laughing to myself. I couldn’t blame her. I’d set myself up for this.
For some reason, I felt like I wanted to apologize to her.
_________________________________________________________________________
I hated sunlight. Burned my skin like crazy. But Tavi needed eggs to cook dinner with, so there I was walking home from the store, a carton of eggs in a saddlebag on my back. I wore my black hoody to help protect me from the sun, earning many odd looks from passing ponies. The sun was still beating down on me and I wished I could run home as fast as I could to get away from it.
But there were eggs in my saddlebag and I’m pretty sure she didn’t want them to arrive scrambled.
Ugh. Why couldn’t she have asked me to get her some paper or a feather or… a bag of air.
“I’m back!” I called opening the door to our apartment.
“Gah!” I heard metal hit the floor.
Octy!
I set the saddlebag on the ground and bolted into the kitchen to see her holding her bleeding hoof, a knife stained with a bit of red on the ground in front of her.
"Octy! Are you alright? Are you feeling woozy? A little dizzy? Do you need to sit do—"
"I'm fine, Vinyl. It's just a paper cut."
"You call that a paper cut? It looks like you got tangled up with a manticore!"
"You're exaggerating, just get me a banda-" I took hold of her hoof.
"Here. Let me see."
"Vinyl?"
I inched my face down to inspect the injury, the scent of something wonderful filling my nostrils. I could hear the killer in me start to speak up.
Go on. Try some. She smells so delicious.
Shut up. I’m not going to do that.
Just a taste. It’s a shame to let all that blood go to waste. You know you want it. It won’t hurt anypony.
Just a taste. It wouldn’t hurt to just have a taste. I put my mouth to her hoof sucked up the blood that was flowing from her cut.
"Ew! Vinyl! That's unsanitary!"
Sanitary, schmanitary. It tasted amazing. I’d drank blood from rabbits, elk, squirrels, pretty much any wildlife you could think of, but fresh pony blood satisfied my thirst like nothing I could ever dream of. Not out of a bag. Straight from the source. Couldn't get fresher than this. No wonder some vamps get addicted to this stuff!
I could feel it powering my body, pumping through my veins. I felt incredible, like I could fight anypony in the world and win by a landslide. I couldn’t stop now. I needed more. I needed all of it. It would make me stronger. It-
Stop! That’s enough! You have to stop now!
That other voice inside me snapped me out of whatever trance I was in and I pulled away. The wound was dry now. Octy was giving me a puzzled look.
Get out of here, Vinyl. You’re gonna regret it if you don’t get away right now.
"All better now?" I asked smiling.
"Yes." She blinked once and pulled her hoof away. "Thanks, I guess."
I’m so thirsty I need more-
Get out, Vinyl. Get out.
"I'll go get some bandages,” I offered as I left the room. I went straight to the bathroom, shut the door behind me, pulled my shades and hoody off, and splashed my face with cold water. I grabbed hold of the sink with both hooves and felt myself shaking. Looking at myself in the mirror, I could see that my eyes were beginning to fade to red. I was losing it.
Get a hold of yourself. This isn’t you. You need to chill.
I shut my eyes and took a deep breath.
One… two… three.
I let the air out and felt a calm wash over me. I slowly opened my eyes; they’d returned to their usual magenta.
That was close. Way too close.
I pulled at the mirror to reveal the medicine cabinet behind it. Taking a roll of bandages out, I promised myself I’d never lose control like that again. I’d do whatever it took to keep Octavia safe.
Whatever it took to never lose her.
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Author's Notes:
Hey there. Hope you're all doing wonderfully :)
This is my very first story, so I'm not totally sure what I'm doing yet. I apologize if it appears that way haha I'm really just writing this for myself as lately I'd been thinking "Ughhhh it'd be so cool if there was a version of 'My Roomate Is A Vampire' told from Vinyl's perspective. That'd be so awesoooooome." Then I pondered what that'd be like and after a few days I thought "Well, I mean, if no one else is gonna do it..." and wrote up this first chapter. Never written anything before, (other than for school,) so this should be an interesting experience. Bare with me!
Also, in case you weren't aware, this story comes after "My Roommate Is A Vampire" by Dennis The Menace, so please go read that first. Major props to him for writing it!
~AGhost