//------------------------------// // Octavia // Story: Night Out // by Emerald Sky //------------------------------// Octavia walked down the street, she had just finished an important concert and wanted to do something to relax. Even though playing her cello was relaxing enough, she found that performing at concerts and gala’s took some of that away, so she would usually do something not a lot of ponies would expect a mare of such class to do. She went clubbing. She didn’t go often, only after a big event and it wasn’t something she shared with many of her small group of friends, but it was something she liked to do. Octavia found herself nearing the club. She could already hear the pounding bass resonating from deep within the building. Although Octavia loved the emotion that was packed in classical music she found that modern genres of music made her feel something else, something more primal, a better way to release the pent up stress and energy that accumulated from having to perform in front of hundreds of high class ponies who judged your every move. The grey mare had found her way in a new part of the city. Usually she would stick to the out skirts of the club district but tonight she had been drawn deeper in. Even though she had walked past many a club which would have been suitable to let loose, she had found herself drawn to this one club. It wasn’t too popular but it certainly wasn’t lacking ponies to visit. The earth pony had realized that she had been standing outside the club for far too long so she decided that is was best to enter before she started to attract attention from the bouncers. As she approached the door she was stopped by a bouncer holding out his hoof. “Oh um, hi?” Octavia sheepishly said. “Do you have ID mam?” The gruff stallion questioned with a gravelly voice. “Yes, of course” The grey mare fondled around in her saddlebag looking for her ID. She soon found it. She hoofed it over to the stallion who took it and gave it a quick scan, giving a nod he handed it back over to Octavia. “Enjoy your night mam.” The muscle bound stallion said before turning to face the front. The grey mare muttered a quick thanks and opened the door to the club, she was instantly blasted with the pounding bass from within which brought a smile to her face. She quickly found herself swaying to the beat, some of that excess stress already being released. She admired the club, it wasn’t too big but it certainly looked a lot bigger than it had from the outside. The walls of the club were painted black with neon blue and purple lights scattered around some of the walls. Her attention was drawn to the center of the room where the light were currently strobing a rainbow of colours directed towards the dance floor, a thin layer of smoke lay across the floor with a mass of ponies dancing in it. Her attention was then drawn towards the bar which was lit up with dim blue lights. She took in a deep breath as she made her way down the stairs into the club and weaved her way through the crowd of ponies by the dance floor to get to the bar. She wriggled her way between two ponies to get to the bar so she could order a drink, she patiently waited for the bar mare to take her order. “Hey there cutie what can I getcha?” The bar mare said as she approached Octavia. Octavia blushed, turning a light shade of red. “Buck daniels whiskey please.” “Comin’ right up!” the bar mare reached underneath the bar and pulled out a bottle of whiskey, she poured it into a glass and hoofed it over. “Thanks.” Octavia said with a smile, handing over a few bits to pay for the drink and a tip. The grey mare turned around and made her way to the tables on the far side of the room. Octavia sat down at an empty table and sipped at her whiskey. She looked down at the glass and swirled it a couple times. The whiskey didn’t taste like any of the stuff she usually got. She only ordered it since it was apparently popular but compared to the whiskey she was used to drinking it tasted like swill. The grey mare sat at the table idly tapping her hoof as she finished her drink off when she was interrupted by a couple of drunk stallions. “Hey there pretty Mare, me and my friend here were wondering if you’d like to join us?” The first stallion slurred. “Yeah and then we could have a little fun afterwards” The second stallion said throwing a wink Octavias way. “No thank you I’m fine.” Octavia answered politely, starting to feel a little uncomfortable. “Come on you know you want to.” One said as he started to get closer. “I really don’t.” The grey mare said pushing the stallion away. “Come on Shade, she’s obviously not interested let’s just get back to our seat.” The first drunk stallion said pulling the one called Shade away. “She’s probably a damn fillyfooler anyway.” Shade said before following him. Octavia sent a glare in their direction. She picked up her drink and downed it in one. Octavia had noticed that the music had changed, so she looked up to the podium where the current DJ was packing up his stuff and had put on some set music for the intermission between switching DJ’s. Octavia got up and grabbed another drink from the bar. She was still angry from what the stallion had said earlier so as soon as she got the drink she had downed it. The grey mare walked away from the bar and approached the dance floor and began dancing to the fast paced beat. The grey mare was focused on ridding herself of any pent up energy and was swaying and moving to the bass ladened rhythm. She looked up toward the podium and although she couldn’t be sure she thought that she saw the current DJ watching her, she continued to dance occasionally sending a cursory glance to check where the DJ was looking and each time she could have sworn it was in her direction, although it was a lot harder to tell since she hid behind sunglasses which Octavia was baffled to whether or not the mare could actually see anything in the club. Feeling like she had released enough of her pent up stress she made her way back to the bar and ordered a margarita, since she was thirsty from dancing, she laid the bits down on the bar top and returned to the table she was sat at before. ‘I wonder who that mare is?’ Octavia thought to herself while taking a sip of her drink, she looked towards the podium to where that mare should have been but saw nopony there. Octavia suddenly felt a little sadder but she didn’t know why, she just sat there finishing her drink lost in thought when she became aware that somepony else was standing by the table, Octavia turned her head to see this pony hoping it wasn’t one of those stallions from earlier on in the night. “Oh it’s you!” Octavia said in surprise and with a smile, recognizing the mare as the DJ who was previously behind the turntable. “Is this seat taken?” The unicorn said while holding two drinks and pawing the floor with her hoof. “No, it isn’t.” Octavia gestured for the white unicorn to take a seat. The unicorn took a seat next to Octavia and placed their drinks onto the table. “M-my name’s Vinyl Scratch by the way. I saw you dancing and I thought I would come talk to you after I had finished my set.” Vinyl said with a slight blush. “Vinyl Scratch? Your name suits your talent it seems, my name Is Octavia. I noticed you looking at me from the podium, at first I thought I was just imagining it.” Octavia said, picking up her glass and taking a sip. “Well if you don’t mind me saying, you’re not the typical pony we get in these clubs, so you kinda stand out from the rest of the crowd.” “I suppose I do, and I’m surprised that you can see anything in here with those glasses on. By the way I like your music, it’s a lot better than most the stuff I hear being played in the other clubs. How long have you been into making music?” Octavia questioned. Vinyl smiled going a deeper shade of crimson. “Thanks. Well I first started getting into music from a young age but I only got into it seriously a couple years ago. I’m actually working on an album right now which should be released soon. So Tavi If you don’t mind me asking what’s up with the bow tie?” Vinyl said pointer her hoof to the bow tie around Octavia’s neck. ‘Tavi? huh that’s new. I kinda like it though.’ “Well when I was a little filly I had an audition I had to go to, so my mother took me shopping. I needed something formal but nothing too fancy, we were browsing this store and when I saw this bow tie I thought it was the perfect thing! at first I just wore it to auditions but one day I just started wearing it all the time.” Octavia said, her mind filling with pleasant memories of her past. “Auditions and concerts? You’re a musician too!?” “Yes. I play the cello for the Manehattan orchestra. I actually came here to unwind from performing earlier. I usually go to a club after a big performance so that I can release any stress and tension from my body.” Octavia explained finishing off her drink. “Wow you play for the orchestra? you must be talented to be able to get in at your age. I understand what you mean. Sometimes I just listen to music to unwind. Can’t say I’ve listened to much classical music before though.” “Do you play at this club often?” Octavia questioned. Vinyl chuckled. “Actually I own this place, I saved up enough bits from performing in clubs around Manehattan. Saw this place was going cheap so, I bought it and converted it into a club. Been going steady since then.” Vinyl said with a hint of pride. “Wow, that’s impressive. Most ponies don’t think about buying a club until later on after they have retired. I’ve got to say this is probably the best club I’ve been to so far, the atmosphere here is great.” Octavia blushed and turned bright red as Vinyl placed her hoof over the top of Octavia’s. Octavia looked towards Vinyl and lifted her spare hoof and reached towards Vinyls face, everything seemed to come to a halt as Octavia reached forward and removed Vinyl’s purple shades. Slowly lifting them away to reveal a pair of stunning ruby red eyes, Octavia was breathless at the sight of them. The two mares stared deeply into each other both lost in each others gaze, Octavia brought herself to look away but was instantly drawn down to Vinyl’s lips, they looked as soft as silk and were inviting her in, Octavia slowly leaned forward her eyes once again locking with Vinyls her eyes fluttered closed as their lips met. Vinyl brought a hoof up and ran it through Octavia’s silken mane as she pulled Vinyl into a tight embrace making her emit a small ‘Eep’ noise of surprise Neither wanted to part but both mares knew that they needed air. They separated but their eyes were still locked both mares had a goofy grin plastered on their faces while panting heavily. Octavia felt like she wanted to know every single detail about the beautiful mare that sat before her but now was not the time for talking, her and Vinyl were both just content staring into each others eyes for the rest of the night.