//------------------------------// // Dancing In The Dark // Story: Tangled Up In Blue // by ShotgunNeko //------------------------------// Octavia smiled politely into the crowd as she held her bow in position, waiting for the cue to begin. Her eyes scanned the rows of seats, before her gaze locked onto a dashing white unicorn in the middle row. The unicorn was smartly dressed in a white pin-striped long sleeved shirt which was covered by a dark vest. A necktie, the color of blood, completed the ensemble. She gave a smirk and quietly removed her dark glasses as the lights went low. The spotlight drifted over to the middle of the stage, illuminating four musically talented ponies. Frederick Horsehoepin scowled from his place behind the piano. Octavia had been his friend for a very long time and he not-so-secretly harboured romantic feelings for her. As Frederick continued to watch what he deemed to be subtle flirting between Octavia and the mysterious mare in the crowd, he suddenly remembered all eyes were upon him. He looked up into the concerned face of Parish Nandermane, another long time friend and band member. Parish played the Lyre. Realizing it was his cue, he quickly regained composure, bringing his hooves down in unison as he began to expertly work the piano. Octavia cast one last glance to her special guest in the middle row and then closed her eyes. Feeling the music with her entire being, she began to play her beautiful cello. Last to join the four part harmony was Beauty Brass, the sousaphone player. As the four ponies played in unison, the crowd, consisting mostly of Canterlot elite, began to applaud wildly. Vinyl Scratch couldn’t help but continue to grin through the entire performance. She had been around a very, very long time and had come to appreciate most types of music. Although classical was far from her favourite, Vinyl had to admit she enjoyed watching Octavia. She could easily become lost in the soothing sounds of the cello and the sultry sway of Octavia’s body as she played. Vinyl licked her lips hungrily. Tonight was going to be a good night. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX “Did you see the way she was looking at that mare?” Frederick ranted, slamming the door to the dressing room behind him. Parish and Beauty Brass looked up, and quickly scrambled to entangle themselves from each other and the couch. Parish ended up in a sitting position, while Beauty lay curled up beside him, her head on his lap. “You could try knocking next time.” Parish reprimanded, running a hoof through his light blue mane. “What’s got you so worked up?” Beauty asked casually. “At least I found out her name. It’s Vinyl Scratch. ” Frederick mumbled, ignoring his friends. Parish and Beauty exchanged a concerned glance. This was not lost on Frederick as he looked from one friend to the other. “Do you know who she is?” He asked. Parish and Beauty seemed to stall before Beauty elbowed her partner in the ribs lightly. The purple stallion took the hint and cleared his throat before speaking. “Well I don’t mean to be the bearer of more bad news, but we have heard of a pony named Vinyl Scratch. Now don’t get excited, but I’ve heard she is one of THEM.” Parish said, whispering the last part. “Them?” Frederick questioned. “A Vamper!” Beauty exclaimed, her eyes wide. Frederick looked shocked. “Octavia is hanging around with a vampony? I just can’t believe it!” “Maybe she’s a closet fangbanger!” Beauty exclaimed, giggling whilst Parish shot her an annoyed glare. “Now let’s not jump to conclusions.” Parish started. “These rumours are unconfirmed.” Frederick was no longer listening to his friends. The light brown stallion was beginning to panic. “What if she IS a vampony? What if she has Octavia under some sort of mind control spell?” he wondered. “I don’t know if it’s all bad. I heard vamponies make AMAZING lovers. They have incredible stamina and those fangs are kind of sexy in an erotic way.” Beauty mused, suddenly lost in her fantasy. Beauty missed the whole wave of glares that Parish was sending her way and continued on. “Just imagine a brute vampony throwing you to the bed, ripping off your clothes and dominating you in every sexual position you could possibly think of.” She said dreamily. Parish tapped his hoof loudly against the floor, interrupting Beauty’s daydream. “I mean, if you like that sort of thing.” She said quickly. “That sounds terrible.” Frederick cried out. Beauty nodded her head, although it was rather unenthusiastic. “If you really want to know, you could just ask me?” said Octavia from the doorway. The other three had been so engrossed in the topic of conversation that they had failed to hear her enter. Frederick wasted no time in rushing to her side. He lifted his hooves to her shoulders. “Tell me it’s not true! There’s no way you would associate with the likes of a disgusting vampony? You realize they only see us earth ponies as feedbags.” Octavia sighed and removed his hooves. “I have known Vinyl Scratch for a long time. I appreciate all of your concerns, but I am a big mare and it is really none of your business who I see.” Frederick’s face fell. “Rainbow Dash has it right.” He muttered. “Vamponies are a plague on us all. We must unite with the pegasi and rid ourselves of these demons.” Octavia rolled her eyes at his melodramatic speech. Although once only an old mare’s tale, many of the ponies in Equestria had become affected with the vampiric disease. It seemed to only affect the unicorns, uniting with their magical abilities and giving them great power. Although Princess Celestia, the ruler of the land, had decreed that vamponies be treated as regular denizens, there was still much mistrust towards the entire unicorn race by the pegasi and the earth ponies. Rainbow Dash was the charismatic leader of a rebel group of pegasi who wished to unite with earth ponies and eliminate every vampony in Equestria. Frederick felt a cool breeze of air gust past him and then felt a light tap on his shoulder. As he turned around, he realized too late that he was face to face with the snow white unicorn in question. Vinyl’s eyes gleamed bright red and Frederick felt his blood run cold. His knees began to wobble and before he knew it, he had fallen to the floor. Vinyl leaned in quickly, baring her long sharp fangs. If the brown stallion’s mane had not already been white, it surely would have turned from fear. Instinctively he lifted his hooves to shield himself. “Hi!” Vinyl exclaimed cheerfully. Had Frederick not emptied his bladder beforehand, he may have had an issue. Vinyl chuckled as she moved away from him and closer to Octavia. “Vinyl...”Octavia murmured, gently scolding the unicorn for scaring her friend. “Aww c’mon Tavi, he started it.” Vinyl grinned. “Well you know that doesn’t mean you have to finish it.” Octavia said, a smile playing upon her lips. “Now shall we go?” “Oh, I see how it is.” Vinyl said, a lecherous tone creeping into her voice. “You’re in a rush to get to the good part?” Frederick stayed frozen on the ground, his mouth agape. Was she really insinuating what he thought she was?” Octavia smacked Vinyl playfully with a rolled up music sheet. “Ohhh save that for the bedroom!” Vinyl joked, before bowing to Beauty and Parish. “Forgive my bad manners, I would have liked to get to know you better, but it seems Tavi just wants to use me for my body.” She said, stepping over Frederick as she moved to the door. As Vinyl reached for Octavia’s outstretched hoof, she stopped and leaned down, placing a soft kiss on the grey mare’s cheek. Octavia’s cheeks burned red and Beauty could be heard in the background gasping. “Shall we?” Vinyl asked, taking her sunglasses out of her pocket and placing them on her face. Octavia only nodded as she linked forelegs with Vinyl and they exited the room, leaving the two stallions in shock while Beauty stared at the doorway, secretly envious. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX Octavia rested her head against Vinyl’s shoulder as they walked down the dark streets of Canterlot. She couldn’t help but think how different the city was during the dead of night as compared to the noisy activity in the day. She looked up at Vinyl. Her partner’s dark glasses concealed her eyes, leaving Octavia to wonder what the unicorn was thinking. “I’m thinking, that I’m lucky to be walking hoof and hoof with the most beautiful mare in all of Equestria.” Vinyl stated. “What?” Octavia asked, wrinkling her muzzle. “You were wondering what I was thinking weren’t you?” “Vinyl! What have I said about using your magic to read my mind?” Octavia pouted. “Silly, I didn’t have to read your mind to know what you were thinking.” Vinyl whispered, once again causing Octavia to blush. They stayed silent, enjoying each other’s company until they reached Octavia’s penthouse suite. Vinyl looked up and whistled. “Stop that.” Octavia said, looking up as well. “You will come in won’t you?” She asked, her heart beating faster. Although they had joked about sexual innuendo back in her dressing room, the truth was that they had agreed to take things slowly. Octavia was not sure how much slower she could go. She wanted Vinyl Scratch, and bad. Vinyl was the one holding back, afraid that somehow she would hurt her new marefriend. Vinyl checked the time and stepped up to the door. “I suppose there are still a few good hours until I turn into a pumpkin.” She joked. Octavia’s heart soared. Maybe tonight would be the night that she would finally be able to, pardon the pun, scratch the itch between her legs. She felt herself grow warmer as they rode the elevator up to her suite. As she fiddled for the keys in her bag, she felt Vinyl come up from behind. Octavia could not get the door open fast enough, as Vinyl’s lips made their way across the nape of her sensitive neck. Finally Octavia managed to push the door open, turning to face Vinyl. She reached up to grab Vinyl’s tie, leading her to the bedroom. Octavia fell backwards on the bed, pulling Vinyl on top of her, moaning as she felt Vinyl’s leg brush against her thigh. Vinyl knew that she should somehow stop Octavia, but her marefriend’s scent was intoxicating. She felt the familiar pain in her mouth as her fangs pierced her gums, poking out from beneath her upper lip. Octavia shivered in delight. Vinyl’s reaction made it clear that she liked what she saw. Octavia wrapped her hooves around Vinyl and brought her down so their faces were inches apart. It was taking every ounce of Vinyl’s willpower not to bite down on the luscious jugular vein that pulsed from Octavia’s neck. Vinyl could feel herself slowly losing control as Octavia’s mouth moved against her. Vinyl moaned as Octavia’s tongue brushed up against her fangs. Octavia rolled her tongue gently into Vinyl’s mouth and Vinyl closed her eyes. She felt a surge of adrenaline run through her body as she held Octavia down, pinning her at the waist. Vinyl could smell Octavia’s arousal and her muzzle moved downwards, poking between her marefriend’s thighs. Octavia gasped, reaching down to hold Vinyl’s head between her hooves, encouraging her. “T-Tavi...” Vinyl managed to choke out as she momentarily regained control of her senses. “It’s okay Vinyl. We can take this slowly. Trust me.” Octavia whispered, stroking Vinyl’s electric blue mane. As Vinyl’s muzzle was pushed further between Octavia’s gorgeous legs, she happened to turn and her fangs gently grazed the soft flesh just above her marefriend’s femoral vein. Vinyl’s eyes widened as she sensed the flow of warm, sensual blood underneath Octavia’s skin. She couldn’t help herself. She bit down. Octavia let out a surprised yelp as Vinyl’s teeth sunk into her hind leg. Not so much because it hurt, she was just taken off guard. After the momentary pain of the bite, she began to relax, allowing Vinyl to suck happily, her tongue lapping up every ounce of blood. Octavia lay back, letting out a low moan. This was all new to her and yet she was completely turned on. She reached down, resting her hooves on both sides of Vinyl’s face, forcing the unicorn to look up. Vinyl continued to roughly suck, still keeping Octavia pinned down with her own body weight. As Octavia forced Vinyl to look at her, Vinyl slowly became aware of what she was doing. Her head snapped up quickly and she covered her blood drenched mouth with a hoof. “Tavi!” She shouted and rolled off the grey mare. “Vinyl wait!” Octavia cried out, reaching for her marefriend. But Vinyl had already backed up off the bed. Her eyes zoned in on the twin gaping fang marks between Octavia’s legs. “No...” She whispered. Before Octavia could stop her, she jumped up and ran out of the bedroom. As Octavia called out to her again, Vinyl realized she had no idea where she was running to. She ended up in her marefriend’s bathroom, grabbing the first towel she saw, furiously cleaning her muzzle. As she scrubbed her face with the towel, she looked up into the large mirror on the wall. The mare looking back at her was disturbing. Her eyes were bloodshot, her fangs were still protruding and although she was scrubbing vigorously, it was damn hard to get red blood out of her snow white fur. Vinyl sighed as she backed up against the door. “Vinyl...” Octavia called from the other side. “Please don’t shut me out. Let’s talk about this. I’m not upset with you.” Vinyl looked down. “I’m upset with me.” Octavia bit her lip. “Please come out and talk to me.” “No. Can you just move away from the door? I have to go now.” Vinyl said coldly, gritting her teeth. She hated to hurt Octavia but this was for her own good. “Vinyl please don’t leave me like this.” “I could have killed you!” Vinyl snarled, banging her hoof on the door. “But you didn’t! I’m alive and well and I need you to come out so we can talk. Are you going to give up on me that easily? I know I am not giving up on you.” Octavia said softly, tears beginning to fill her eyes. Vinyl cringed and let out a sigh. She couldn’t fathom how she had managed to overcome wooden stakes, garlic and silver but Octavia’s tears seemed to do her in so easily. The door opened slowly and Octavia turned around. Vinyl slowly poked her head out. Octavia immediately threw herself into Vinyl’s arms. Vinyl caught her easily, keeping her tucked into a tight embrace as she kissed Octavia’s forehead. Octavia gently wept into Vinyl’s chest, matting the unicorn’s fur with her tears. “Hey now...” Vinyl said, trying to break the tension. “Please don’t cry.” Octavia smiled as she looked up at her lover. “I’m not crying because I’m sad, I’m crying because you stayed. I thought for a moment I’d lost you for good. It was scary Vinyl. Please promise me that no matter what you won’t run away from me.” Vinyl knew when she was beat. “Forgive me.” Octavia grabbed a towel from the bathroom and dried her eyes. The two ponies headed back towards the bedroom. Octavia made herself comfortable as she lay beside Vinyl. They stayed like that for a few moments until Vinyl broke the silence. “Tavi, I have to feed.” “I have some TruBlood in the fridge. O negative I think.” Vinyl made a face. “I don’t mind drinking that stuff when I’m with you Tavi but the truth is if I want to stay strong I need fresh blood from the source.” Octavia nodded. She wondered if Vinyl wanted to feed off her. She felt a small blush creep upon her face as she envisioned what may have happened had Vinyl not stopped earlier. The thought of “feeding” her marefriend made Octavia hot in so many ways. She was beginning to believe everything Beauty Brass had said may be true. Vinyl looked uncomfortable. She sat up slowly and kissed the tip of Octavia’s hoof. “There’s a nightclub downtown called Fangtasia. It’s a club for ponies who like to...uhm...associate with vamponies.” She said softly. “A fangbanger club?” Octavia asked, her interest piqued. “Uh...” Vinyl looked away. “Something like that.” Octavia nodded her head. Vinyl cleared her throat. “It’s a good place for me to feed and I just want to be honest with you about this part of my life.” Octavia’s eyes narrowed. “Vinyl Scratch! Are you trying to tell me that you go to this club to pick up and feed off of other mares?” Vinyl gulped. “It’s not like that Tavi. They come to me.” Oops. Octavia balled her hoof into a fist and angrily slammed it against Vinyl’s chest. “No!No!No!” She said, her anger rising. “Tavi, please don’t be like that. These mares mean nothing.” Octavia could feel the tears brimming around her eyes for the second time that night. She continued to pound Vinyl’s chest, as the unicorn pulled her into a hug. “Aren’t I good enough Vinyl?” Octavia whimpered. “Hey now...” Vinyl said, trying to wipe the tears from her eyes. “Octavia, my feelings for you are so strong. Do you know how much I care for you? How good you smell? I have to use every ounce of my will to stop from feasting on you.” Octavia looked up through her tears and Vinyl continued on. “I can’t chance hurting you. What if I can’t stop myself? What if I drain you? I can’t risk it.” Octavia continued to pout as she leaned into Vinyl’s embrace. Vinyl thought for a moment and then an idea began to form. “Do you want to see for yourself?” Vinyl asked, slowly rifling through her pockets. Octavia shot up quickly. “You would let me go with you?” Vinyl smiled at her eagerness. She handed a small black business card to her marefriend. “Miss Rarity presents Fangtasia-The Bar with a Bite.” Octavia read out loud. “Tavi, I have to warn you...” Vinyl said, cupping her marefriend’s cheeks. “You are going to see a VERY different side of me. I may be almost unrecognizable.” Octavia should have been paying attention to what Vinyl was saying, but she was so excited that her marefriend had invited her to be part of this side of her life that she was slightly zoned out. “It won’t make sense to you now, but when you get to the club ask for Lyra Hearstrings. She will tell you all you need to know. Again I must warn you about what you may be walking into. Stick with Lyra and you will be safe.” Octavia cocked her head to the side. “You won’t be coming with me?” Vinyl shook her head. “It will all be explained when you get there.” Octavia wanted to ask Vinyl for more but the look in her eyes told her that she shouldn’t press her luck. She placed the business card on the night stand by her bed and turned once more to face Vinyl. Vinyl leaned in, not wasting any more time as she softly pressed her lips against the musician’s. She knew the sun would be rising soon and she needed to get back home before she resembled a burnt marshmallow. “I don’t want to, but I should probably get going.” Vinyl murmured between kisses. Octavia panted slowly as their mouths separated. “I know.” She conceded. “When will I see you again?” This was the part that Octavia hated. She didn’t want to say goodbye because it always seemed too long until their next meeting. “Please come tomorrow to the club. And please heed my warnings. I don’t want you to be scared so stick with Lyra and do as she says.” Vinyl warned. Octavia nodded. She was sure Vinyl was just being overprotective. If other earth ponies and pegasi came to the club to have sexy time with the vamponies than what did she have to worry about? Vinyl gave Octavia one last kiss before she got up and moved to the sliding glass door that led to the penthouse balcony. The grey mare smiled and lay back, suddenly feeling more tired than she had previously. She watched intently as Vinyl slipped onto the balcony, turning to blow her a kiss, and then jumping from the railing into the street below. The first time Octavia had witnessed this she had ran to the railing, only to find Vinyl had landed without a scratch. She sighed contentedly as she felt sleep begin to overtake her. She curled up into her warm comforter and looked down. She blinked as she moved her hoof to the large red stain that adorned the sheets. She then looked at her hind leg. Blood was now caked and crusted to the open wound. She knew she should probably clean it and dress it so it didn’t become infected. Octavia wondered if that would leave a scar. The thought of having Vinyl’s fang marks embedded in her skin forever made her absolutely giddy. She wanted Vinyl to own her in every single way that the vampony could. Her mind drifted to the club Vinyl wanted her to check out. “Vinyl, I’m sorry, I can handle you being a vampony. I can handle not seeing you during the day. I can handle the stares and the whispers we get when we’re out. But I cannot and WILL not stand to share you with any other mares.” She solemnly swore, hugging her pillow tightly. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX As Vinyl made her way home quickly she silently cursed herself. Why had she brought up the club? Was Octavia really ready to handle the things she was about to witness? What if she completely changed her mind and refused to see the vampony anymore. Vinyl shook her head. If there was anything she had learned in the last thousand years it was that honesty was always the best policy. If she really truly wanted to make this work then Octavia needed to know the real Vinyl Scratch. Or rather DJ PON-3. After all it was better to be rejected for knowing the truth than accepted under the false pretenses of a lie. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX Octavia approached the club nervously. There was quite a long lineup outside but she remembered what Vinyl had told her and decided she would ask about Lyra Heartstrings. The club was protected by tight security, all of them wearing black suits, ties and sunglasses. Octavia was unsure if they were vamps or not. She slowly approached a red stallion that was ushering ponies into the building. “Excuse me sir?” Octavia asked, tapping him on the shoulder. The stallion looked rather annoyed but answered her anyways. “Eeyup?” “Would you happen to know a pony named Lyra Heartstrings?” She asked. “Eeyup.” “Wonderful. Do you know where I might find her?” “Eeyup.” Octavia was beginning to lose her cool. Was this colt just toying with her? “Macintosh!” yelled a voice from behind him, belonging to an orange earth pony mare. She was dressed in the same ensemble as the other security ponies but she was wearing a black headset. She seemed to be the one in charge as she directed Macintosh to his new post. “We got some trouble brewin’ near the DJ stand big brother.” She said. “Ahm gonna’ get Braeburn to switch ya places so y’all can go and take care of that disturbance.” “Eeyup.” MacIntosh replied, switching out with Braeburn. Octavia took this opportunity to speak with the mare that seemed to know what was going on. “Excuse me miss?” “Applejack’s the name sugarcube.” The mare drawled. “Miss Applejack ,would you know where I could find Lyra Hearstrings?” As if on cue, a mint green unicorn appeared before her. “You must be Octavia.” She said, pulling Octavia past the lineup and security and into the club. Octavia could only nod as she let Lyra lead her. “I have heard so much about you from Vinyl Scratch. It’s nice to finally meet the one responsible for making her so happy. Octavia blushed as they rounded a corner and then she gasped. In the middle of the dance floor was Vinyl Scratch. Except there was something quite different about her. She no longer wore the clothes Octavia was used to seeing her in. Her usually slicked back hair was wild and unruly. She sported a pair of purple wraparound shades on her face. The sign above the DJ booth read DJ PON-3. Who was DJ PON-3? “You should probably sit down.” Lyra grinned, leading her to a seat. “We have much to tell you.” “We?” Octavia managed, feeling her throat tighten. “Hey Bon Bon, hoof me a couple of shots would ya?” Lyra called to the cream colored bartender with the curled pink and lavender mane. Bon Bon smiled and quickly whipped up the drinks, placing them both in front of Octavia before sliding into the booth beside Lyra. Octavia looked down at the drinks. “Both for me?” “We have a feeling after this you’re going to need them.” TO BE CONTINUED...