//------------------------------// // Day three - Party // Story: Happy birthday, Octi! // by Azure Ravenscroft //------------------------------// As the first light of Octavia’s birthday shone through the windows of Sugar Cube Corner, Pinkie Pie awoke, rather slowly, to find she wasn’t exactly in her bed. The front of her body was resting on the side of her bed, with her flank pressed to the floor next to her efforts of last night. She had been up into the early hours of the morning, using anything she could find to make Octavia the perfect birthday card to make up for their first encounter. It was a sky blue card, with a large pink version of Octavia’s cutie mark drawn on the front, Pinkie had always remembered ponies cutie marks from only brief meetings, with Pinkie’s full apology written on the inside of the card, as well as the usual happy birthday message with lots of hugs and kisses, and a small picture of Pinkie saying sorry. After enjoying looking at her work, Pinkie decided she could now have a comfortable nap, since her rest had been very uncomfortable and leaving her hind legs feeling numb. She cleared the leftover materials off of the bed, careful not to damage the card on the floor. Snuggling into her downy duvet, Pinkie soon found a comfortable position and dropped straight back into her dreams. --- Just as one pony was going to sleep, others were waking. Bon Bon’s house was quiet, until said mare and Lyra snuck into Octavia’s room, where the cellist was still fast asleep with a happy smile on her face. Lyra was carrying a tray with fresh green tea, toast, cereals and breakfast muffins on it in her magic, ready for Octavia’s birthday breakfast in bed. The mares looked at each other before nodding in countdown, three, two, one, “Happy birthday Octavia!” they cheered, waking the birthday mare up with a little squeal. After her rude awakening, Octavia smiled at her two friends stood in her doorway, before beckoning them over with a hoof. The three of them sat on the bed together, with Lyra setting the tray down on the pale-pink bedside table. “Thank you, you two,” Octavia said after taking a sip of her tea, ”this was a lovely, if a bit early, surprise.” She giggled a bit at how she had reacted to the wake-up. “Not a problem, dear,” Bon Bon replied as she hugged Octavia, “it is your birthday after all.” “And with a birthday,” Lyra added, before her horn began to glow, bringing in a carefully wrapped box from outside the room, “comes presents from your friends!” Octavia took the box in her hooves, which had been wrapped in stylish grey paper with a small purple bow on top. She gave it a little shake, hearing a soft rattling from inside, soon stopping so as not to damage the present. “Thank you, you shouldn’t have!” “You haven’t even opened it yet, Octi,” Lyra said snidely. “Fine, I’ll open it then tell you that you shouldn’t have.” The grey mare began to tear the wrapping off carefully, before speeding up in anticipation. Inside the present, there was a black box with the words ‘Precious Gifts of Ponyville’ on the front. Eyes going wide at what she saw as a jewellery box, Octavia tentatively opened the black box, revealing a stunning silver necklace with Octavia’s cutie mark made of amethyst hanging from it. Holding it into the path of the light breaking through her curtains, she saw the purple gem reflecting her cutie mark across the dark wall, bringing a small tear of happiness to her eye. Composing herself, Octavia looked between the two mares and said in a voice of pure happiness, “I love it, thank you so much. You shouldn’t have… bought me anything else!” a massive, silly grin crossing the usually refined mare’s muzzle. The others soon joined the silly grins before eating the rest of the breakfast. Until the party, they didn’t want to do anything, Lyra warning Octavia how wild Pinkie Pie’s parties can be. The words ‘You’ll need all your strength’ and the sly wink left Octavia a little nervous but also happily anticipating her special party. Hers. Nothing like this was ever done for her as a filly, so she was planning on making up for lost time tonight. --- Having had time to think clearly since yesterday, Rainbow Dash decided to go back and see Vinyl Scratch before the party. She wanted to apologise for how she acted, something Rainbow wasn’t too fond of doing, but if it was a choice between doing this or having forever awkwardness between her and the coolest pony – other than herself – she knew, she could apologise like a pro. Not wanting to risk waking the DJ up too early, Dash had left it until around midday before going to see her. Landing gently a few feet from Vinyl’s small garden, she took a few deep breaths and thought how this would play out. “Hey Vinyl, I’m so so so so so so so so sorry for being a total dweeb the other day.” That didn’t sound right. “Hey, we still cool?” Nah, that’s too lame, I’m not lame. “Hi Vinyl, I just wanted to say sorry for being myself, not thinking about how you felt before getting stressed out with you.” That... actually sounded good, this apologising was easy. Now knowing what she wanted to say, Rainbow confidently walked up to the front door and gave the strange wood a firm knock. She heard noise on the other side of the door, before it was opened tentatively by the strangely careful DJ. Once she saw it was Rainbow Dash, she let out a long breath before inviting her in, “Hey Dashie, what’s up?” “Listen, Vinyl,” Dash began as she walked in and saw a half wrapped box on the floor, clearly Vinyl was leaving wrapping Octavia’s present until last minute and hoped she wouldn’t come to visit, “I’m just here to say sorry.” After having gone back to her present, checking she had all the items ready to wrap the rest of the box, Vinyl replied, “Sorry for what, Rainbow?” “For being… for…” she sighed, this was harder than she thought, “I guess for being myself yesterday,” her head hung as she finally got the words out. “That’s cool, Dash, you didn’t do anything wrong,” Vinyl smiled and offered her hoof for Dash to bump, “if anypony should know not to change herself for anypony else, I would expect the Element of Loyalty to get that.” The pegasus declined the hoof with a shake of her head, wanting to finish her apology, “But I did do something wrong, Vinyl,” Dash looked into the Dj’s eye, even though hers were starting to tear up, “I didn’t think about how you might feel, then I got upset because I didn’t think, choosing to blame it on you instead of thinking that I might be wrong.” Letting out a long sigh and looking away from Vinyl, Rainbow let the tears fall freely from her eyes, no longer caring about looking cool in front of her friend. A tissue floated to her face in a light blue glow, wiping away the tears as Vinyl lifted her head with a hoof. Seeing a small smile begin to form on Rainbow Dash’s face, Vinyl decided it was her turn to speak, “I forgive you, Rainbow, but I’ve got something I need to say too.” The tears were stopping now, giving Rainbow her full vision back to see what the unshakable DJ had to say, “I need to say sorry too, I didn’t think how what I was saying might affect you,” the unicorn looked away, hoping to find the right words somewhere in her living room. She saw her purple shades on her shelf, between an award she received for her music and a picture of her and all her friends, reminding her of how so many ponies now looked up to her as an idol, but how sometimes she had to be Vinyl Scratch, not DJ-PON3. This, was one of those times, “What I’m trying to say is that you are an incredible friend and I couldn’t wish for anypony better to know what I am like as a pony rather than a DJ, even if I am mean sometimes. I might even consider letting you stay another night, and maybe we won’t fall asleep straight away,” Vinyl turned back to give Rainbow a sly wink. Rainbow’s face lit up at this. But the excitement left just as quickly as it came, giving way to a small, grateful smile. She knew that this was a once in a lifetime opportunity, but her heart and head were agreed that it wasn’t what she wanted, “I would like that, Vinyl,” Dash began, “but I already have somepony who I need to see first, being loyal and all that hay.” “Nah, I understand, Rainbow,” Vinyl sounded only a bit disappointed at this, “and that is why everypony respects you, you’re the true role model here.” Both mares felt happy after their emotional release, the air clear around them for the first time in ages. They were just glad no pony else was around to see all that. “I gotta fly, Scratch, but I’ll see ya at the party, yeah?” Dash turned to walk out the door, looking back at the DJ as she did. Vinyl opened the door for the eager pegasus with her magic and walked over to see her out, “Sure thing, I’ll be in my usual spot with the best tunes in Equestria.” “And Sapphire Shores,” Rainbow joked. “Yeah, yeah, but it is my remix,” Vinyl waved her hoof at Dash’s comment. Sapphire was an acquired taste, but Vinyl thought her music gave a good challenge when she needed a new mix; it let her bring different ponies’ tastes together in one song, or so she hoped. “Fair enough, Miss superstar DJ,” Rainbow laughed as she took off, “see you later, Vinyl!” “Bye, Rainbow!” Vinyl called back to the now-gone pegasus. She turned her attention back to the half-wrapped box on the floor, groaning at the thought of wrapping the rest of it. Sure, she had magic, but she was hopeless at wrapping. It was going to be a long wait until she needed to set up at Pinkie’s, so she might as well start now. Or after a snack. Or a nap. --- The night had arrived, and everypony had gathered at Sugar Cube Corner. Everypony that is, except for Octavia and her two hostesses, Bon Bon and Lyra. Pinkie had told them to bring Octavia a little later than the other guests, but not let Octavia know that, of course. All the lights were out, allowing the rest of the guests to hide around the party room, all ready for the big surprise. With only their boots for protection from the cool night air, the three mares shivered as they approached the party, their breaths hanging heavy in the frozen air. Seeing the dark outline of the colourful shop caused Lyra and Bon Bon to speed up their approach, but Octavia still maintained her dignified trot in an attempt to keep her mane looking its best. Lyra had curled the front part of Octavia’s charcoal locks with her magic, leaving most of her mane wavy with the bottom parts in full curls, making her look more playful than usual but just as beautiful. As she had said before, she was hoping on making up for lost partying tonight, wearing her new necklace with pride. The door was left unlocked, allowing the mares to walk in on their own, Lyra holding it open for the others in a green hue, bringing some much-needed light to the darkness. Leaving her horn glowing, Lyra led the way until she saw glowing arrows on the floor, showing them the way. “Octavia, would you like to lead?” Lyra asked, giving the birthday-mare room to pass. “Thank you, Lyra,” Octavia said as she passed, “but tell me, why is it so dark? Have they no lighting here?” “Not quite,” Bon Bon replied, barely containing her giggles as they continued to follow the arrows. They were only walking for a few more seconds before the arrows just stopped, this darkness seeming no different to the rest of it. “Are you mares sure thi-“ Octavia started to ask before… “SURPRISE!” The dark room exploded with colour and light as everypony cheered for Octavia, balloons falling from the ceiling in a variety of shapes and colours. Octavia was at a loss for words at this unfamiliar sensation washing over her. Her instincts weren’t sure what to make of it, but her heart told her this was a very happy feeling. In the middle of the large, colourfully decorated room stood a familiar pink earth pony, Octavia’s eyes unable to leave the jumping form for even a second. She came back to her senses when the two ponies she arrived with hugged her from both sides and a party-hat was put in between her splayed back ears. Pinkie Pie hopped excitedly over to Octavia and gave her a big Pinkie-Pie-hug, but Octavia didn’t hug her back. That’s okay, Pinkie thought, she must still be getting over the awesome surprise. Letting go of the grey earth pony, Pinkie decided to formerly welcome her to the party, “Hey Octavia, I’m Pinkie Pie and welcome to your very own Pinkie-style birthday party,” Pinkie cheered, even though she was only inches from Octavia’s face, “is everypony ready to PAR-TAY!?” All the other ponies gathered cheered and stomped their hooves at this, Vinyl seeing this as her cue to start the music. Getting over the original shock, Octavia let a big smile cross her face as her, Bon Bon and Lyra made their way over to the rest of the guests, the music guiding their steps. However, before Octavia had the chance to start socialising, she felt a hoof grab the back of her shoulder, forcing her to turn around. Pinkie was stood behind her with a strangely approachable expression on her face. “Hey, Miss Octavia, can I speak to you? In private?” Pinkie began to blush at the innocent question. “Of course, dear, but please don’t call me that,” Octavia gently shook her head at the use of the honorific, looking over her shoulder to talk to the others, “I’ll be back in a minute, girls, Pinkie just wants to talk outside.” “Okay, see you in a minute,” Bon Bon replied, “we’ll be over with Derpy and Carrot Top.” Bon Bon pointed over to the food table where most of the ponies were gathered. And with that, Octavia found herself being dragged off the same way she had come in. Whatever she wanted to say, it seemed Pinkie couldn’t wait to say. It wasn’t as dark as it had been, but the hallway wasn’t exactly bathed in light. Pinkie shifted nervously in the low glow coming from the party room, the music just a quiet hum in the background by now. “So, Octavia,” began the party pony, “first of all I wanted you to have this.” She dug a hoof into her pink, puffy mane and pulled out a hand-made birthday card which Octavia noticed had her cutie mark plastered across the front. Pinkie passed it into the birthday mare’s grip before she continued talking, “I-I’d like you to… to open it please,” she struggled with her words but held her happy composure. Just as she had been asked, Octavia opened the rather beautiful card in front of her; Pinkie had clearly put lots of effort into it. Inside, on the left side of the card, she saw a little pink pony with out-stretched arms, reminding her of when Pinkie had given her a hug when she arrived. Looking to the right of the card, the card read, To Octavia, Hope you have the greatest birthday ever! Now, I want to apologise. You might not remember me, but I was at the Grand Galloping Gala when you played and I messed up your evening. Your music was so beautiful and it felt like you were inside my soul, so I wanted to get as close to you as I could. Then, I couldn’t help myself. It was like nothing else mattered except your music and that I was having fun. I saw you leave the Gala looking all upset, and I wanted to find out what happened but I couldn’t find you. I’m just sorry that it took so long for me to apologise. I hope you can forgive me, but even if you don’t I hope you have a super-duper fantastic birthday. Lots of love from Pinkie xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo The truth was, Octavia did remember. She had been meaning to see Pinkie, too, but for a different reason. “Pinkie, that was a wonderful card,” the grey mare said as she looked into Pinkie’s teary eyes, “I do remember you, but I had long forgotten the bad part of the evening.” Pinkie was stunned. That definitely wasn’t what she was expecting. If anything, she was expecting a hoof to the face. But, Octavia continued to calmly talk, “Once I left, I was mortified! I thought my career in classical performance would be over, and that I would be shunned by all higher society ponies. I wanted to scream, cry and at one point, hurt you,” she let her head hang at this, “but, somepony came up to me the following day, congratulating me on how my music had got even the younger ponies to enjoy themselves. She told me you had allowed the other ponies to have fun, even the Princesses joined in. If anything, I should be thanking you, you made my quartet more popular than ever!” Octavia had become increasingly animated through her short speech, finishing with an over-the-top jump for joy. Pinkie’s tears had mostly cleared, a small blush rose to her cheeks in their place. But Octavia wasn’t finished, “If you will let me, I would like to apologise for making you feel the way you did, and since you enjoyed my music so much, I would love to give you a private performance.” Pinkie’s eyes were tearing up again, but this time filled with tears of joy, and they were accompanied by a small but bright smile, which brought a smile to Octavia’s muzzle. The two earth ponies just stared at each other for what felt like a blissful eternity before Octavia plucked up some courage and returned Pinkie’s hug from earlier, both of them sharing the warm embrace. It was at least a minute before the friendly hug was broken by Pinkie, causing a small annoyed groan to come from Octavia, “Your mane’s really soft, Pinkie.” “Aww, thanks Octavia, I like yours too,” Pinkie returning the compliment, “it’s just sooo shiny.” The party pony was right, even in the low light the grey mane seemed sleek and glossy, enticing Pinkie to stroke it slowly. Octavia didn’t mind. It was a long time since anypony had taken notice of her grooming, so she let herself lean in to the affection. As her head suddenly jolted downwards and her necklace swung against her coat after relaxing more than she had expected, she pulled away from Pinkie’s gentle stroking, much to the pink mare’s disappointment. “Shall we re-join the others now?” Octavia asked, “They might start to wonder where we’ve gone.” Pinkie giggled at how her foalish mind reacted to that but she nodded her approval. They set off back towards the sound of blaring bass and happy cheering, but also back to the bountiful light of many colours. After allowing their eyes to adjust, the now-friends trotted briskly over to the food table where most of the ponies were still gathered, happily chatting amongst themselves. Lyra noticed their approach and nudged Bon Bon in the side, who turned around with an annoyed look in her youthful eyes until she saw Octavia in the corner of her vision, her face getting happier instantly. She beckoned the two over to the table, Lyra readying a mug of cider for each of them in her magic. The mares accepted the mugs as they arrived, looping their hooves into the holes on the side of the mugs. “So, what did you two get up to?” Bon Bon questioned the rather happy mares in front of her, “You were gone for quite a while.” Her and her marefriend exchanged sly smiles with each other and a few suppressed giggles. “Just into the hallway, dear,” Octavia replied, “we merely had a friendly chat, getting a few things off our chests and clear up a little… confusion.” “Yeah, and Octavia said she’d give me a private performance!” Pinkie shouted excitedly, “Isn’t that just the most amazingest thing in all Equestria!?” Everypony was now listening to the conversation, all of them perking their ears at what Pinkie had just said, except Derpy who kept her eyes focused on the large plate of muffins on the table in front of her. Octavia was getting embarrassed at all the attention and decided to clear up the confusion, “My cello. I promised her a performance of my cello tomorrow.” A collective ‘ahh’ left the listeners’ mouths. --- It had been a couple of hours since the party started and everypony was enjoying the night, but Rainbow Dash still hadn’t talked to Twilight. It wasn’t like she didn’t want to, she needed to, but she just couldn't do it. Thankfully, the cider was starting to have an effect and Dash felt her confidence boost after chugging yet another mug with Lyra, who she had found to be quite the drinking buddy. Staggering over to the not-so-tipsy Twilight who was enjoying a dance with Rarity, Bon Bon and Derpy over by Vinyl’s stage, Dash tapped her on the back after thinking about what she wanted to talk to her about. Safe to say, it didn’t go like she wanted it to. “Hey Twilight!” the pegasus’ speech was slurred but she managed to shout over the music, “Can I talk wit- *hic* with you?” “Sure thing, Rainbow!” Twilight shouted back, “Shall we go somewhere a bit quieter?” “Sounds good.” The two walked unsteadily over to the food table, seemingly a quieter place for a chat. Nopony else was around at the moment, each smaller group finding something to do in the large room, which the nervous Rainbow Dash was thankful for. “So, what’s up Dashie?” Twilight giggled to herself, seems like she was more drunk than Dash thought. “Um, y’see,” Dash’s words were lost in her mind, so not how she wanted this to go, “do you remember your birthday?” She couldn’t bring herself to look straight at Twilight’s face, instead focusing on her own hooves. The alicorn thought on this for a second, humming to herself quietly. A moment of thinking later, Twilight remembered she was still talking to Rainbow, giving her a slurred answer, “Most of it, I was a bit dwunk that night,” Dash couldn’t help but giggle at her friend’s uncharacteristic childish voice, “why, did you do something to me?” Twilight took a questioning look at Dash, bringing a fresh blush to her already warm cheeks. “N-not at all,” Dash lied, “well, sort of.” This received a quirked eyebrow from Twilight, urging the struggling pegasus to continue, “We kinda… kinda… kissed.” The last word was almost a whisper. “A lot.” Twilight giggled into her hoof again, “Oh Rainbow Dash, of course I remember that bit,” Rainbow’s jaw dropped, “that was the best part!” Now she definitely didn’t expect that! “Y-you… you liked it?” if she could blush anymore, she would have. “Yep, why not?” Twilight tilted her head to the side, looking even cuter than usual in Dash’s drunken eyes, “Did you like it, Dashie?” “Yes,” Rainbow blurted out a little too quickly, looking straight into Twilight’s eyes. “Well then, what’s the problem?” “P-problem?” “Yeah, if I liked it, and you liked it, then what’s wrong?” Rainbow hadn’t thought about that, she thought the kiss was the problem. But now, she wasn’t sure, and the alcohol in her system wasn’t helping her to think. It did, however, help her body make its decision. She leaned in and kissed Twilight on her muzzle, but only quickly, leaving behind a shocked expression on Twilight’s face and a very visible wing boner. “Nothing’s wrong, Twi,” Rainbow said softly, but before she could continue, the young alicorn had pressed her muzzle back into Dash’s face for round two, savouring the taste of alcohol and sweets on the pegasus’ tongue. Pulling away shortly after, panting for air in the now much hotter room, the two mares simply looked at each other, Dash now the shocked one with Twilight looking pleased with her work. After a few more moments of gazing listlessly, Twilight broke the silence, seeing Dash’s tongue still exploring the inside of her mouth, “Shall we go back to the others?” Dash just nodded, a smile now breaking across her petite muzzle. The two trotted back over to their friends on the dance floor, where everypony had now gathered for the finale of the music, but that was still more than an hour of songs. Before getting back to their dancing, Rainbow looked over to Vinyl, who shot her a knowing look, one which said ‘I saw that’ and ‘good job’, before putting on one of the slower, more romantic songs. Dash groaned but she wasn’t going to complain, especially since everypony seemed to be focused on the pony next to themselves. Bon Bon had Lyra, Rarity was teaching Spike some slow steps, Fluttershy had found a stallion who seemed even shyer than she was and now Pinkie was dancing with Octavia. Heck, Dash and Twilight might as well join them! --- It was late into the night, or early in the morning, nopony was too sure at this point. Vinyl was still active, playing out the last of her encores and special requests, but even she needed rest eventually. A couple of ponies were still on the dance floor, but dancing had been replaced by swaying and leaning on each other a long time ago. Most of the guests had already left, leaving only Pinkie, Octavia, Bon Bon and Lyra left to finish the last of the snacks, with Rainbow and Twilight leaving with a very sleepy Spike a few minutes ago. As the music faded to silence and Vinyl announced her departure, the remaining ponies gave a faint cheer as the DJ waved out through the door. She always left her equipment behind, Pinkie’s place being safer than carrying it home alone and it meant she didn’t have to use any extra energy. The swaying stallions followed behind her, trotting quickly to catch up and walk with her, leaving the last four ponies to decide on what to do now. “Do you guys wanna leave yet?” Pinkie chirped, still managing to look full of energy next to her sleepy friends, “There’s still some cakes and cupcakes and punch and cider and…” she wanted to continue but was stopped by Octavia’s hoof in her mouth. “If you don’t mind dear, we are all so full and awfully tired,” Octavia half yawned as she lazily looked at Pinkie through her ruffled mane, a hard night of first-time partying taking its toll. Pinkie sighed, but she nodded, the other two seemingly sharing Octavia’s thoughts. Lyra and Bon Bon were leaning on each other, looking as though they could fall asleep there and then, but then a plan burst into Pinkie’s overactive head, breathing in deeply before she practically screamed in the almost empty house, “Why don’t we all sleep here tonight?!” The others were, understandably, shocked by this. It seemed sensible, even though the idea came from the embodiment of crazy, since the three mares would have to walk for ages before they could sleep back at Bon Bon’s house. Looking at each other to check they all wanted to stay, they all nodded together, bringing a huge smile to Pinkie’s face as she gathered the others up into a hug, squashing their faces together lovingly – or was it painfully? Either way, they were staying, but none of them had beds. Ha! This was Pinkie’s house, her domain, and if she needed four beds appearing from seemingly nowhere, then four beds would definitely appear. Sleeping bags that is. “SLUMBER PAR-TAY!!!” as if one party a night wasn’t enough for the pink bundle of giggles, she now had a second. The sleeping bags were set up next to each other, the girls snuggling in deeply; Octavia was next to Pinkie and Bon Bon, Lyra being on the other side of Bon Bon. The lights were still on but none of them wanted to sleep just yet, except Lyra who was drunk out of her skull and sleeping as soon as her head hit the floor. “So, what do you think Octavia?” Pinkie inquired, “Did you like your party? I tried to make it super extra special for you.” “I loved it, Pinkie,” Octavia replied through yet another yawn, trying not to fall asleep mid-conversation, “and please, you don’t need to call me Octavia all the time.” Pinkie tilted her head towards the grey mare. “But that is your name, silly,” Pinkie rolled her eyes, Bon Bon sighing in the background. “Yes dear, it is, but… you can call me Octi if you like,” she blushed as she spoke, feeling silly at saying her own nickname out loud. “Octi, Octi…” Pinkie tested the name slowly, nodding as she did, smiling as she finished, “I like that.” She looked at Octi for a while, and Octi looked back, seemingly for an eternity. Then Lyra snored, loudly. All three mares looked over at the unicorn and giggled, before Pinkie slipped out of her sleeping bag to turn the lights off, still giggling as she bounded back over to the others in total darkness. She was like a giggle-phantom, her sound sneaking up on Octavia and Bon Bon from all angles until she booped both waking mares on their muzzles, causing a small squeal from each of them. Sliding back into her sleeping bag, still giggling faintly to herself, Pinkie shuffled around trying to find a comfortable position while the mares next to her calmed their breathing back to near-normal. Once everypony was comfy and calm, Pinkie spoke up, quietly this time, “Happy birthday… Octi. Nighty night girls.” “Night night Pinkie, and thank you,” Octavia replied, smiling in the darkness. “Night you two,” came Bon Bon’s ever-sweet voice. Now, it was definitely time for sleep. That was an incredible, amazing perfect night, thought Pinkie, the others having fallen asleep a while ago, and I still have a private performance with Octi to look forward too. We are going to be the best of friends. Oh! Celestia will love hearing about this.