Love and Music

by slade8283


Chapter Six

Chapter Six

Octavia was met by a wall of sound coming from the gala; thousands of musicians were scattered across the ballroom, conversing, singing, and some were even playing instruments. Octavia felt at home with the musicians, like she finally found a place where she fit in.

Vinyl stood next to her in awe, "Wow Tavia, this is amazing. I can't believe we're actually here."

"Hey, you actually called me Tavia for once. You haven't done that for months." Octavia replied with a smile. Vinyl was the only one who was allowed to call her Tavia, she wouldn't even let her parents do it. She wasn't exactly sure why, but it just felt right having Vinyl call her Tavia.

"Well yeah," Vinyl said, "it kind of slipped my mind over the past week. We've been in such a hard routine that I've barely even had a chance to talk to you." It was true, and Octavia hated it. There hadn't been a great time to actually talk with Vinyl since she had first showed up at Octavia's apartment.

"It's alright Vinyl, you've been really busy over the past week." she replied.

"No it's not alright," Vinyl said abruptly. "You're my best friend in the world Octavia, and I shouldn't treat you like that. Don't ever let me do it again. Okay?" Octavia reluctantly agreed; she wasn't comfortable being forced into the verbal contract, but it pleased Vinyl, which meant the most to her.

An upbeat swing song started to play, one of Octavia's favorites. She turned and smiled at Vinyl, "You want to dance?"

"No. You've seen me dance, I'll just end up embarrassing myself in front of Equestria's best musicians."

"Oh come on," she pleaded, "It'll be fun, I promise."

Vinyl reluctantly agreed as Octavia dragged her to the dance floor. Now all I need is for a slow song to start, she thought, maybe to night something will finally happen between us. The two danced through the entire song, which made Octavia extremely happy. She rarely danced, mostly to swing music, and it was even rarer for Vinyl to dance. Octavia cherished the moment, even if it wasn't exactly the way she always imagined it.

Once the song ended, the two mares laughed and walked to one of the outlying tables. Vinyl was sweating profusely, and she was doing a very poor job of covering it up. Octavia didn't care, part of her actually liked seeing Vinyl formally dressed, but still out of her element. She loved seeing Vinyl out of her element; it was just one of those strange little things she loved about Vinyl.

"Alright Octavia," Vinyl said, laughing, "I gotta say, that was definitely worth it."

"Well come on then," she said as the next song started, "let's get back out there!"

Octavia was so wrapped up in dancing that she didn't even notice how hard Vinyl was breathing, "I would love to Tavia, but I never do this. You gotta give me some time here."

"Oh," Octavia said, trying to hide her disappointment, "alright then. Well, I guess that just gives us time to really talk for the first time in a while." So they talked. They talked about everything: Octavia's music, the orchestra, Vinyls music, the gala. Octavia loved it. She always enjoyed her conversations with Vinyl, all the way back to when she had first moved in. Octavia was so happy she forgot that she was at the gala, she forgot Vinyl was a famous singer, she even forgot there were other ponies around her.


It had been close to an hour when there was a break in the conversation, at which point an idea struck Octavia, "Hey Vinyl," she started, "I totally forgot, you're here to meet and converse with other musicians. Come on let's go meet Equestria's best." She didn't tell Vinyl that she secretly wanted to meet all of the pop stars, but concluded it didn't matter. She knew it was good for Vinyl for her to meet her peers too, so she avoided the topic.

Whereas Octavia felt comfortable being a room full of the musicians, she quickly discovered she disliked actually talking to them. She hid her feelings from Vinyl: it would only hurt her if Octavia disliked her peers. While Vinyl chatted to a very popular guitarist, Octavia noticed Sapphire Shores quickly approaching her group. She felt a pang of danger in her stomach, but pushed the idea aside, This is Sapphire Shores we're talking about here, she thought, there's no way she would do anything wrong. But still Octavia couldn't help but feel pressured as Sapphire approached in her way-to-long dress that followed at least three feet behind her.

"Oh hey there Vinyl," Sapphire said as she approached the group.

Vinyl broke off her conversation with the guitarist, who had already found an interest in the buffet that was being brought out, "Hey Sapphire. How's it going?"

"Good," she replied, "Are you and your guest enjoying the gala?" Octavia couldn't help taking offense to being labeled as "your guest". She was starting to nurture a growing hatred for Sapphire, who almost had an evil aura about her at this point.

"Yes it's great. Octavia and I are really enjoying it."

"I'm sorry Octavia," she said, addressing Octavia this time, "I'm not really that good with names." Yeah, that's what it was. Octavia thought sarcastically.

"Oh it's not a problem," Octavia said. Just as she finished, a slow song began to play. Not only was it a slow song, it was the slow song; the song Octavia had listened to everyday since Vinyl had left. It was the song where every lyric reminded her of her best friend. She did her best to gather her courage, to finally do what she had been waiting a year to do. She had planned exactly how she was going to ask Vinyl for the past hour, but now that the time came she found it hard to gather the words. After what felt like hours, Octavia finally opened her mouth-

"Vinyl, would you like to dance?" Sapphire said. Octavia's heart sank. Wait, she thought, I know Vinyl would never do it; she knows I'm going to ask her...right?

Vinyl's eyes darted between Sapphire and Octavia, "Umm..." Octavia's heart rate doubled. She was sure there was no way it would happen, Vinyl had to know by then. "Uh..." It wasn't possible for Sapphire to just walk up and take Vinyl from Octavia like that; she had worked too hard for everything to be lost now. Vinyl took a long look at Octavia, "Yes."

Octavia had to resist the compulsion of falling into the chair behind her. It felt like the room was spinning; it felt like part of her heart had been pulled from her chest. She was so shocked by Vinyl's answer she was at a loss for words. She did her best to conceal her feelings, but she wasn't sure how long she could last.

"Are you sure you're okay with me slipping away for a couple minutes?" Vinyl whispered to her.

Octavia put on her best fake smile, trying to appear unaffected, "Yeah, of course I'm fine with it." She managed to get out. Vinyl replied with a smile, and walked away with Sapphire.

Octavia fought back tears as she walked towards the exit. She passed everypony she could've ever wished to see, brushing off her feelings of admiration for every star she had ever met. She made her way through the doors to the ballroom, still maintaining her fake expression of happiness. She turned around the first corner she could find and sunk to the ground, finally allowing the tears to stream from her eyes. One question, she though, one question was all it took to destroy what I worked for.

She was there for less than a minute before Princess Celestia joined her. At first she just sat down next to Octavia and placed a wing around her. Octavia took comfort in the gesture; it felt good to have somepony else to be with her. After a few minutes, the princess finally spoke up, "I know what's troubling you Octavia, and I'm very sorry for what has happened." Octavia didn't responded, hoping Celestia would continue. "Just remember one thing Octavia," she said, pulling her closer, "Your feelings for Vinyl are much like our city of Canterlot. Canterlot was not built in a day, nor a week, nor a month. It took many years to build a city such as Canterlot. This city has had its fair share of destruction too. At times the walls fell, and at others the whole city was destroyed. We rebuilt our beloved city back each time, no matter the damage that was brought to it. I want you to remember this in the coming time."

Princess Celestia left, leaving Octavia to her thoughts. The princess's words had been so vague and Octavia had been in such deep thought that she didn't even try comprehending the princess's words. She just stood up, wiped the tears from her eyes, and retired to her room.