//------------------------------//
// Chapter 1 
// Story: Between My Pride and My Promise 
// by BronyAlex 
//------------------------------//


Between My Pride and My Promise


      It was dark in Octavia's apartment, the only sound that could be heard was Octavia's muffled crying. She was a generally strong person, she could keep calm and collected under any circumstance, but not this.
        Octavia had first learned about Vinyl’s decision to join the army three years ago. It had been brought up and ignored by Octavia. She had hoped Vinyl would change her mind. Over time, Octavia had realized that nothing she could do would or say would change Vinyl’s mind  All Octavia could do was make her love promise to spend Vinyl’s last day together. The months rolled by, they both went about living their lives, Octavia trying not to think about that fateful day, growing ever closer. Mixed feelings came over Octavia when her final year of High school came around. she was free now, and she could finally pursue her future as a cellist, a future she had planned to share with that lovely young woman holding her hand. After the graduation, the couple drove to Octavia’s apartment. They both collapsed on the sofa, Vinyl resting her head on Octavia’s lap. 
“Tavi?” she said, her face lacking the usual smile. 
“Yes Vinyl?” asked Octavia with uncertainty. 
“I’ve decided to leave, end of the week, Sunday.” The grief that had been kept hidden away inside of Octavia was released, and she broke into tears. Deep inside, the girl had hoped that somehow, for whatever reason, those words would never come. They sat there in each other's arms Octavia’s face pressed into Vinyl’s shoulder. Vinyl knew the remaining days would be difficult for them both. Only she was willing and ready to face the challenge. “Hey” whispered Vinyl, as Octavia's sobs reduced to the occasional sniffle. “You know I wanted to leave without causing too much of a fuss right?” Octavia nodded in response, “Well I’ve been thinking, and I think it would be better, for both of us if we spent my last day here together.” 
“Oh Vinyl, you have no clue how much I was hoping you’d say that,” said Octavia, wiping tears away.
        Come Saturday, Vinyl rented a motel room for them both to stay at. Octavia drove in silence to the motel, reminding herself that she should try to enjoy herself. Parking outside, she took a moment to collect herself. She then grabbed a small black box from the glove box and walked to the room. As soon as Octavia rang the doorbell, the door swung open and she was crushed by a loving hug.
They spent the next few hours laying in bed talking about their plans for the following day. Soon after, they were in bed, holding each other close and tight. Octavia for once slept soundly, no doubt the presence of Vinyl helped. Octavia dreamed of the two of them on a beach. The moon was reflecting off of the calm ocean. Vinyl had Octavia in her arms. She gave her girl a romantic kiss and slowly moved down. She unbuttoned her lover’s shirt as they fell upon the sand, holding each other as close as possible. Suddenly, however, Octavia was woken from her fantasy by a kiss on her forehead. 
“Wake up sleepy head,” said Vinyl, already fully dressed. 
Octavia sat up and rubbed her eyes, she then remembered: “Oh shit, I was supposed to make our breakfast!” 
Vinyl put her hand on Octavia’s shoulder and smiled. “You were having such a nice dream, it seemed a shame to wake you.” 
“How did you know I was having such a nice dream?” Octavia had woken up from her joyous castle in the sky by a kiss on the cheek. 
“Well...” said Vinyl blushing slightly. “You tend to talk in your sleep.” Octavia blushed, recalling her romantic dream.
“No matter,” said the black haired girl, collecting herself. “I’ll take my shower and then we can go.”
        Octavia and Vinyl drove to a near by diner to eat. The diner looked exactly as it had when Vinyl had last been there. The grey paint covering the building was chipping, a few windows were broken, and the “diner” sign had seen better days. As the couple walked in and sat down, fond memories came to them both. Octavia, slowly eating her fruit salad watched Vinyl as she put fork full after fork full into her mouth. “Honestly Vinyl, must you eat so much?” asked Octavia distastefully. 
“Well, I’m trying to enjoy the having enough food while I can,” responded Vinyl.
“Oh right...” said Octavia. 
Vinyl saw Octavia’s mood darken and went on to say: “Lets not think about that now. This is meant to be a joyful day after all.”
After paying for the food, they walked around the town they had grown up in. Pointing out building and laughing about previous adventures...
As the sun began to fade, they got back in their car to return to the motel. “Their is one more place I’d like to visit” requested Octavia. 
“Fine by me” responded Vinyl. As Octavia drove, Vinyl looked around trying to figure out where they were going. When Octavia finally drove into a parking lot, Vinyl realized where they were. “Tavi, why are we at our high school?”
“You’ll see,” responded Octavia with a smile as  they got out of the car. “Come on, just tell me, you know I hate secrets!” pleaded Vinyl. 
“Fine...” responded Octavia. “I drove here because aside from all the crap that went on here, this is still a very important place to me.” 
“Why?” questioned Vinyl, not following exactly what Octavia was talking about.
“Because without this place, I never would have met the most important person in my life,” said Octavia putting her hand on her sweetheart’s shoulder. 
“And who might that be?” teased Vinyl.” 
“I seem to have forgotten, can you remind me?” Octavia played along as she brought Vinyl into a loving embrace. They stood together holding each other close, after a while, Vinyl began to shiver. “We should be getting back into the car,” said Octavia. 
As Vinyl opened her door, she saw a small black box on her seat with her name on it. “What’s this?” asked Vinyl looking at Octavia. 
“Open it,” responded the smiling girl. As Vinyl opened it, a gasp escaped her mouth. Vinyl slowly removed a silver ring lined with tiny rubies that matched Vinyl’s eyes. She looked at Octavia, mouth hanging open. 
“Vinyl Scratch” said Octavia as tears began to form in Vinyl’s eyes. “Will you marry m-,” before she could finish her question, she was tackled by her girlfriend, tears streaming down her face. 
“Yes, yes, yes, oh yes! Of course I will without a doubt in my mind!” said Vinyl as she pushed her lips against those of her Fiancee.