Vinyl trotted over to the quiet condo and knocked on the front door.
“Um… Octavia, it’s me, you in there?” No response, not surprising. “Um, I know we just had a big fight, but… can we talk about it?”
THAT WAS HER MOVING OPENING STATEMENT? Vinyl drove her hoof into her face in frustration. CELESTIA! This was harder than she thought.
“Ah…” Another brilliant statement on her part, how could she have thought about nothing but this conversation for three days and still have nothing to say? Suddenly she felt something fall of from the door and land gently on her forehoof. She picked it up, a piece of paper, probably a note that Octavia had left.
“Back already?” her father asked when she strode into the front room of her condo.
“Can you read this to me?” she asked handing him the paper. He took it and clearing his throat he read:
“Gone for a walk, out all evening. –Octavia.” Vinyl moaned, great! Now she would never be able to find her! Who takes an all-night walk?
Once her father had left to return home she decided to go up to her room and work on her music. As she did she kept thinking about Octavia and what she should say.
“Hey what’s wrong, what’s the matter with you? Why have you suddenly disappeared? Why are you blocking me out!?”
Eventually her eyelids began to droop, her breathing slowed and she fell asleep in her chair.
***
Vinyl was roused from her sleep by a shake on her shoulder.
“nmmm… what? Who’s there?”
“It’s me,” a very familiar voice replied. Vinyl near jumped out of her seat in response to her friend’s sudden appearance.
“Octavia! What? Where have you-?”
Octavia quickly hushed Vinyl and place her hoof over her mouth to keep her from talking.
“I’ll explain later, come with me.”
She grabbed her foreleg and dragged the unicorn down the stairs and out the front door. From her internal clock she could tell that she hadn’t been asleep more than an hour. Where on earth was Octavia taking her so late in the day? She led her through the streets for a long while, until Vinyl felt a change in the air and guessed that they had entered the forest.
“Octavia what are you-?”
“Shh! We’re almost there!”
Finally, Octavia stopped and let go of Vinyl’s hand. Vinyl perked up her ears; below her she heard a waterfall. She felt sturdy rock underneath her hooves and cool mist beat against her face.
“Where are we?”
“A waterfall in Everfree, I found this place when I was a kid,” Octavia replied.
“Ok, why are we here?” Vinyl asked siting down next to the cellist.
“Isn’t it beautiful?”
“Well… I wouldn’t be the best judge of that now would I?”
“But can’t you just feel it?”
“Octavia, where have you been? I’ve bee trying to contact you for days! I must have left like twelve gazillion messages on your phone!”
Octavia sat down and let her head fall onto Vinyl’s side.
“I’ve been thinking some stuff over.”
“Like what?” Vinyl shifted and rested her back against Octavia’s.
“My father wants me to get married!” Octavia laughed. “I’m only 19! And I have to already think about marriage!”
“Plus isn’t it the colt’s job to propose? I’m all for equal rights, but you seem like more of a traditionalist.”
“That isn’t my main problem either,” she said with a sigh.
Vinyl smiled this was how it should be, how it should always be. Her and her Octopus, talking, just talking nothing in the world to keep them from it.
“Vinyl, I… are you listening?”
“Hmm? Sorry my mind wandered.”
“This is very hard for me to say so please pay attention.”
Vinyl rolled her head and ‘looked’ at Octavia.
“Shoot then,” she said.
Vinyl felt Octavia’s whole body tense up against hers.
“Vinyl, I… believe I have developed feelings for you!”
The earth pony had let it out all so quickly that Vinyl almost missed it.
“Well… maybe you’re not as much of a traditionalist as I expected.”
“Vinyl please this is serious! My father is coming down from Canterlot with a young colt in tow! Oh I Just know he’s going to be some dry old bore!”
“Whoa, language!”
“What should I do? I don’t even know if I like colts anymore!”
“Calm down we’ll think of something.”
The two of them spent the evening discussing plans, talking about what to do if her dad forced her to marry, what to do if they somehow couldn’t meet up. Vinyl enjoyed every second of it.
***
The next day, Vinyl waited at the top of the stairs listening as Octavia paced around the front room.
“y’allright?” she called to her. No response. The two of them had spent almost all of last night discussing what to do and had finally come up with a plan so complex and intricate that Vinyl didn’t know if she could remember it all.
The front door creaked open and a Stallion’s voice boomed from the front hall.
“Octavia? Where are you my child?”
Vinyl skittered up the stairs and hid herself behind the wall listening to the conversation below.
“Daddy! It’s wonderful to see you again.”
“The same to you my dear, this young gentlecolt is Noteworthy, the son of a wealthy pianist friend of mine.”
“How do you do?” a third voice asked.
Now the plan would begin, Octavia would put a sleeping draft in their tea, and then she would escape leaving a fake ransom note. Vinyl felt around looking for where she had left her katana.
“Daddy I’m not going to marry this stallion.”
Vinyl had to cover he mouth to keep from crying out. What in the name of Molestia’s fat ass was she doing?
“Don’t be ridiculous child, of course you are!”
“Wait what?” Noteworthy interjected. “You said you just wanted to introduce us!”
“Quiet!”
“I will not marry some on I don’t love.”
“You’ve been reading too many romance novels Octavia, It is your responsibility as a young mare of the Melody family to marry into a good name. If Noteworthy does not tickle your fancy, there are a few other young stallions I have in mind.”
“Um, might we take my opinion into account?” Noteworthy asked.
“Don’t you start!” Octavia’s father yelled.
“Vinyl, could you come down please?” Octavia called up the stairs.
Slowly Vinyl pealed herself from the wall and slowly plodded down the stairs. She stood next to Octavia and gave her a ‘this had better bucking work’ look. Octavia threw her foreleg around Vinyl and turned to her father.
“If there is anyone I am to marry it would be Vinyl!”
“I can’t believe you Octavia!” her father blustered. “You, my own daughter living in sin with a-a-a RAVER!”
“Hey, where I come from, that’s a complement,” said Vinyl.
“Well you can crawl right back into the hell hole that spawned you and leave my daughter alone!”
“Daddy, Vinyl hasn’t done anything, and we haven’t been ‘living in sin’ we only got together last night.”
“At one of those wretched clubs no doubt.”
“No, I’m just her neighbor…though that would have been much cooler.”
Octavia’s father stepped forward and pealed Octavia off of Vinyl.
“Look her you harlot!” he said, judging by the puff of breath that hit her face like a stinking summer breeze, Octavia’s father’s face was right next to hers. “There is a word in our civilized tongue called, Responsibility. Now this word can mean a great many things from needing to clean one’s room to marring into a good family.”
“And down here we have a word called, No,” Vinyl replied. “Your daughter’s been saying it for quite a while I can translate it if you like, it means, ‘Buck off and let me live my own life!’”
Octavia’s father growled and turned.
“You will regret this decision, Octavia, and don’t come crying to me when your life goes down the drain.”
With that, he left dragging the bewildered Noteworthy behind him.
Octavia collapsed onto Vinyl.
“We did it!” she said, shocked. The she started laughing. “I was so scared… But we did it.”
“You did most of it, I just stood here and looked pretty.”
The two of them laughed together for a while.
“I am sad I didn’t get to use my katana though,” Vinyl said.
***
“What should we do with this melody?” Vinyl asked. Octavia took off he head phones and put her bow to the stings of her cello.
“Well I think a gentle vibrato to heighten the melodic tension would be good, but we also might try a dip into g minor at the downbeat, which would be better for blending the vocal harmonies.”
“I love it when you talk dirty to me.”
Octavia blushed and began to play, Vinyl popped on her head phones and began recording. The melody flowed like water as Octavia’s cello sung its little wooden heart out. The low tones of the cello blended perfectly to the buzzing frequencies of the synthesizer. Vinyl looked up at the clock.
“Time to close up shop,” she said sliding her chair back from the desk. “Got a party I need to get to.”
“Don’t be out to late,” Octavia asked gently.
“Don’t worry, it’s a kid’s party, I’ll be back before its dark.”
She gave Octavia a quick kiss then began packing up her things.
The two of them together had set up a small DJ business and were doing quite well for themselves. They had not heard from Octavia’s father in a while, and life was peaceful, if somewhat uneventful. Vinyl trotted out the front door, horn primed with locating magic to guide her to her location.
The rest of the afternoon came and went and vinyl eventually made her way back home. Forgetting to check around the corner she slammed into someone coming around the corner of the building.
“Watch it!” she yelled.
“Don’t speak to me that way young mare,” a chuckling voice replied.
Vinyl groaned.
“Hey dad…” she sighed.
She led her father into the house and the two of them sat down together on the sofa.
“It’s been a while since I last checked up on you.” Her father said adjusting himself into a more comfortable siting position.
“yeah,” Vinyl replied “like a whole week!”
He laughed and turned back to his daughter smiling.
“I’ve heard from Mr. Neighdolf that you’ve started up your DJ Company.”
“It’s not so much a company as it is two mares dicking a computer.”
“TWO mares?” Her father said, eyebrow raised.
“Vinyl, dearest is that you? Who are you talking to- OH!”
The two of them turned to look as Octavia trotted down the stairs.
“Hello there.” Vinyl’s father rose from the couch and introduced himself. “I’m Vinyl’s old stallion; you must be the other mare.”
“Other mare?”
“No worries,” Vinyl said rising from the couch to join the two. “Just one of his jokes.”
Vinyl stepped over to Octavia and slung her foreleg around her.
“Dad, this is my Octavia, she a cellist and all around bad ass.”
“It’s a pleasure to meet you,” said Octavia looking at her lover blankly.
“Pleasure’s all mine.”
***
“She seems like a wonderful mare,” he father said as Vinyl walked with him to his cart. “You two make an adorable couple.”
Vinyl snorted with laughter and bumped her father with her flank.
“Get out‘a here old man, don’t you have some crazy old nag to get back to?”
“And you you’re old porcelain doll,” he laughed. “Well I guess she’s not old… yet.”
He stepped into his cart and turned to Vinyl.
“You be careful now,” he said in a serious tone. “You’re not one to think before saying things, and porcelain breaks easily.”
“That happened once,” Vinyl replied. “We found out I’m the glue.”