//------------------------------// // Endings and Beginnings // Story: Truth or Dare // by Alexandrite Ward //------------------------------// Vinyl stops walking in the middle of the street outside the liquor stall, closing her eyes and willing it to be a dream. It’s a dream, she can’t really be there. This is not actually happening. She turns around. Sweet ever loving Celestia. Standing in front of her and smiling like sunshine is Cherry Spices, probably the last pony Vinyl would have wanted to see right about now. She has a shopping bag slung diagonally over her front, filled with vegetables from the market near the liquor stall. Vinyl forces her mouth into a smile, hoping it doesn’t look too sickly. None of this is Cherry Spices’ fault, after all, and she doesn’t deserve whatever lashing Vinyl's rotten mood might want to give her. “Hey Cherry Spices,” she says. “How’re things? Long time no see.” “Yes, I suppose it has been a while,” she says. “I’m well, how are you?” Vinyl shrugs. “Same old,” she says noncommittally, hoping her guilt doesn’t show on her face. I’m in love with your marefriend and she kissed me today. You know. The usual. She nods toward the cider in Vinyl's own shopping bag with a small smile. “Having a party?” She asks. Vinyl huffs a laugh. “No, just uh… stocking up. How’s work?” They exchange pleasantries, Cherry Spices telling her about her bakery and new recipes she’s trying out, and wondering if Neon Lights has had the guts to ask the mare he’s been mooning over out yet. Vinyl has to laugh at that one, and oh yeah, she remembers that she actually likes Cherry Spices, in spite of her jealousy. She feels a whole new wave of guilt wash over her. “So,” she says then, looking nervous for the first time since she’d stopped her. “How’s Octavia?” “She’s - what?” Vinyl blinks at her. “What do you mean ‘how’s Octavia?’” She shifts restlessly, her bag of vegetables rustling. “Well you know, I haven’t talked to her since the breakup. I know it’s not any of my business anymore but I still want her to be happy -” “Hang on a second.” Vinyl holds up a hoof, her mouth opening and closing like a goldfish as she tries to process what Cherry Spices is saying. Cherry Spices stares at her wide-eyed, probably wondering if she’s having an aneurysm as she watches. “Vinyl? Are you okay?” A group of ponies head down the street, some glaring at Vinyl where she stands in the way. She seizes Cherry Spices bag and guides her to the side where they can talk safely out of the way of ponies. “You and Octavia broke up.” Cherry Spices brow furrows. “Yes. She didn’t tell you?” “No she didn’t tell me!” Vinyl feels dangerously close to hysteria. “When was this?” “A few weeks ago,” she says, sounding puzzled. “We fought about the billboard that night, and then she came over the next morning and broke it off.” Vinyl remembers that night, stumbling home and sleeping it off on the couch. Octavia had cut up apples for them both that morning, and maybe that awkward ending to the conversation Vinyl thought she imagined wasn't entirely in her head after all. “Because of the fight?” Vinyl asks. Cherry Spices shakes her head, looking intently up into Vinyl's eyes. “She really hasn’t told you any of this?” “No,” Vinyl says, more forcefully than she’d intended. Why in Celestia is Octavia keeping secrets like this from her? Why didn’t she think it necessary to tell her that she’d broken up with the marefriend she’d been seeing for months? And Vinyl had been hiding and trying to avoid being home alone when she could’ve been spending all that time with Octavia. And that kiss today - “Cherry Spices,” she says, pleading. “You gotta tell me what’s going on.” She looks Vinyl right in the eye, wide green eyes sincere, maybe even a little sorry - sorry for her, which is just plain ridiculous because Cherry Spices was the one who got dumped - and says, “Vinyl, she broke up with me because she said she was in love with somepony else. And it’s okay,” she insists with a small smile. “I already knew when she told me; it’s part of why we had argued in the first place. It was the best thing for us, really.” “Who?” Vinyl asks, her voice cracking on the word, almost scared to hear the answer. Cherry Spices studies her, her wide green eyes flickering back and forth between both of hers. “I think you already know.” Vinyl jabs her hoof wordlessly at her own chest, and Cherry Spices smiles softly and nods. Vinyl’s world comes screeching to a halt around her, her heartbeat pounding raucously in her ears, drowning out everything around her. Octavia loves her. Is in love with her. It’s suddenly very, very hard to breathe, the air around her turned heavy and fluid. “And you love her too, right?” Cherry Spices asks, her voice just reaching her ears through the noise. “Yeah,” she replies breathlessly. “Good,” Cherry Spices says. “You two need each other.” And then Cherry Spices leans forward and pulls Vinyl into a hug. Vinyl stiffens in surprise, but then relaxes in her embrace, choking out a laugh and wrapping a hoof around Cherry Spices as best she can with their bags in the way. “Celestia, Cherry, you sure deserved better than to get mixed up with the two of us. For what it’s worth, I’m sorry.” “I’m sorry, too. I probably could have loved her.” She draws back and smiles sadly at Vinyl. “But it never would have worked. Now are you going to stay here talking to me all day or are you going to go talk to her?” Vinyl laughs a little wetly. “Yeah, okay,” she says. Impulsively, she leans in and presses a kiss to Cherry Spices cheek. “Thanks, Cherry Spices,” she whispers, then turns to make her way back home, her stomach twisted up in knots and her heart thudding frantically against her rib cage as she heads back home to Octavia. ----- Vinyl bursts through the door of her and Octavia’s house and hurriedly goes to the kitchen to set the cider from her bag onto the counter. Cherry Spices’ words are still running through her like an electric shock, adrenaline and excitement and nervousness pulsing through her and making her jittery with energy, with the need to do something. Everything makes sense now: Octavia’s failure to mention Cherry Spices for the past several weeks, the kiss at the station today. Although, really, all of this could have been made infinitely easier if Octavia had just talked to her after she broke up with Cherry Spices, but Vinyl has time to give her crap for that later. Right now, she needs to find Octavia and tell her that she knows, and hopefully they can stop dancing around each other like they’re trapped in some ridiculous romcom. She’s never been one for the dramatic irony crap. A quick glance at the couch tells her that Octavia is no longer in the living room, though the TV is still on and blaring, most of the salt lick on the table beside the couch. The downstairs bathroom is unoccupied, so Vinyl hurries through to the kitchen, only to find it empty as well. She sets most of the cider into the fridge, keeping one bottle out and hurriedly unscrewing the cap off it because she could really use some liquid courage right about now. She turns to lean against the counter, jumping when she sees Octavia standing silently in the kitchen doorway, watching her with narrowed eyes, a book clutched against her chest. “Buck Octavia, make a noise,” Vinyl snaps automatically without thinking. But then she remembers and she tenses up, her whole body shuddering to a halt - all except her frantic heart, slamming up against her rib cage. All the words die on her tongue as she stares at her friend, swallowing hard. Octavia’s eyes flicker to the bottle in her hoof. “Are you all right?” she asks suspiciously, her eyes narrowing impossibly further as she studies Vinyl’s tense posture. “Yeah, fine,” Vinyl replies gruffly, gesturing with the bottle. “Uh, I got some more cider if you still want some.” Octavia’s eyebrows slide up toward her hairline. “I can see that,” she comments mildly, and Vinyl has to suppress the familiar mixture of affection and irritation that only Octavia can incite. Octavia studies her for a moment longer before shrugging slightly and turning to go back to the living room. “Wait, Octavia!” Vinyl calls after her. Octavia stops. “I’m just getting my glass, Vinyl,” she says impatiently over her shoulder. “Hang on a second wouldja, I’m trying to tell you something.” Vinyl sets the bottle back on the counter, taking Octavia’ silence as permission to continue. “I, uh… I ran into Cherry Spices.” Octavia’s shoulders stiffen where she stands in the doorway, but she doesn’t turn around. “Oh.” “Yeah, ‘oh’.” Vinyl barks a humorless laugh. “How is she?” Octavia asks finally, turning around and rubbing at the back of her neck, her eyes darting up to meet Vinyl’s and then away again. She must know the jig is up because she looks sheepish as she gazes across the room at Vinyl. “She seemed pretty good,” Vinyl replies, trying not to follow the motion of Octavia’s tongue as it flicks out to wet her lips. They stare at each other for a few long seconds, the silence thick and tense between them. “Why didn’t you tell me you broke up with her?” Vinyl blurts finally. Octavia blinks, surprised. She studies Vinyl’s face, brow furrowing, and Vinyl can almost see the wheels turning. “It didn’t seem relevant at the time,” Octavia says finally. “Didn’t seem-” Vinyl chokes off, unable to finish the sentence. It didn't seem relevant that Octavia had been single for weeks while Vinyl pined after her like a lost puppy, thinking she had missed her chance? It didn't seem relevant that the reason Octavia had been single was that she, in turn, had been pining after Vinyl this entire time? “Octavia, you idiot,” Vinyl breathes instead. She runs a hoof roughly over her hair, staring agitatedly at Octavia who is looking more and more confused by the second, her brow furrowing adorably. Finally, Vinyl does the only thing that makes sense, the only thing her scattered, fevered mind can actually comprehend. She crosses the space between them in three strides, and reaching out to grab a the back of Octavia's neck, tugs her forward to slam their lips together. She’s not gentle like Octavia had been earlier at the station, and Octavia makes a soft sound of surprise at first, her body tensing under the onslaught. But she only takes a second to catch up and then she’s melting into Vinyl’s lips and responding with equal ferocity. Octavia pushes back on Vinyl’s chest and Vinyl groans in complaint but pulls back, forcing herself to stop. She studies Octavia’s eyes which are wide and confused under the haze of lust. “Explain,” Octavia demands finally and it’s so very Octavia that Vinyl has to bite back an affectionate laugh. She feels her face flush warm and her eyes dart away from Octavia’s to study the aged refrigerator behind her. She really, really doesn’t want to have this conversation, especially not now, but her conscience that suspiciously sounds like Neon Lights is saying that they really need to set all the cards out on the table before they do anything else, because wasn’t it miscommunication that got them into this mess in the first place? Vinyl really needs to remember to hit her best friend for sticking rational thoughts in her head at inconvenient times like these. Staring determinedly over Octavia’s shoulder, she takes a deep breath and says; “So I’m… in love with you, I guess,” she mumbles, finally. She risks a glance at Octavia’s face and is met with a too-wide, purple gaze. “You guess?” Octavia asks, her voice carefully neutral. Vinyl rolls her eyes. “I know,” she says gruffly. “I’ve known for a while, okay? And Cherry Spices said-” she cuts herself off, too chicken to continue because what if Cherry Spices was wrong? What if Octavia doesn’t love her after all and she’s just spilled her guts all over the floor and wrecked everything for nothing? Octavia’s expression doesn’t change as her eyes flicker back and forth between Vinyl’s, studying her carefully. Just as Vinyl’s about to force out what will probably be the fakest laugh ever and insist that it was all a big joke, Octavia nods succinctly. “Okay,” she says and steps out of Vinyl’s grasp, snagging one of Vinyl’s hooves and tugging Vinyl along after her as she moves out of the kitchen. What in Celestia just happened? Vinyl’s eyes feel like they must be bugging out of her head as she lets herself be towed along after Octavia. “‘Okay’? That’s it? I tell you I’m in love with you - probably have been for years, by the way - and you say ‘okay’?” She feels bare, exposed, laid open for Octavia’ gaze, and she wants to hear Octavia say it back, wants her to confirm what Cherry Spices had told her that had given her hope for the first time in who knows how long that she and Octavia could have something more. “Aren’t we going to talk about this?” They stop, sit on the couch, and look at each other for a while. “So,” Octavia says finally. “You’re in love with me.” “Uh huh,” Vinyl says, nodding. Octavia is silent and staring, purple eyes unblinking as she searches Vinyl’s face. “I love you too,” she says finally, in the same casual tone one uses to comment on the weather. Octavia takes a deep breathe, and continues. "I think I've been in love with you for years, to be honest, but I didn't quite realize until that game of Truth or Dare came along, and it brought up all the memories of that night that I'd been pushing down. But I didn't think you'd ever feel the same, so I did my best to ignore it." Vinyl grins Octavia's calm tone throughout the explanation and wraps her forearms around Octavia. “That’s good, because I think our friendship is pretty well screwed.” She chuckles. Octavia rolls her eyes at Vinyl which only makes Vinyl laugh harder, so she leans in to capture Octavia’s lips in a kiss. “Let’s go to bed,” she says. They get up and head to Vinyl’s bedroom, lying down on the bed. They settle in under the covers and end up cuddling and talking the night away, until both of them drift off to sleep with a smile on their faces. A couple hours later Vinyl wakes up to her stomach protesting emptily, a faceful of Octavia’s hair and all four of Octavia’s limbs wound around her like an octopus. Vinyl flips through an impressive gamut of emotions that she doesn’t really want to look too hard at because it’s venturing into way sappy territory, but if she burrows down into Octavia’s hair and strokes her hoof over Octavia’s head- well, there’s no one there to see her do it. And when Octavia finally stirs sleepily under her touch, Vinyl disentangles herself from the clingy creature that is her best friend slash co-host slash housemate (slash marefriend?) and slides down out of bed to wake Octavia up with apple slices just because he can. The horror that is Truth or Dare Tuesday shows up week after week like a bad penny. And every week Vinyl puts up her usual protest, rolling her eyes at Octavia behind Derpy’s back as their boss lopes out of the studio like an overgrown stork, and Octavia determinedly avoids her eyes, her lips pressed together in a firm line to fend off her laughter. It’s possible that Vinyl owes this whole new relationship with Octavia to Derpy and her dumb ideas but Vinyl would eat her own leg before she’d ever admit it. They haven’t even broken the news to anypony yet. It’s not because they’re ashamed of it, although Vinyl really isn’t looking forward to the “I told you so” she’s going to get from her best friend and she can only imagine the billboard that Derpy and the PR team will come up with next, once the news breaks. It’ll come out sooner or later… they just haven’t exactly gotten around to it yet. It’s been a few weeks since they finally fell into bed together and laid all their feelings out on the table and – unlike the last time they slept together – things between them remain comfortably the same. Octavia still nags her to pick up after herself and looks at her like she can’t believe half the things that come out of her mouth, and Vinyl still loses it when Octavia forgets to buy juice or gets the crappy cider. Except now, Vinyl’s allowed to stare when Octavia stretches or when she eats apple slices. She’s allowed to lean up against Octavia on purpose when they watch TV together on the couch and mess up her hair just ‘cause Octavia has great hair and because it makes her scowl in that adorable way of her. And now, when Vinyl’s having obnoxiously loud, enthusiastic sex, somehow, Octavia doesn’t seem to mind. This week on Truth or Dare Tuesday, the usual assortment of terrible dares and awkward questions ensues. Vinyl can’t help but marvel at the creativity of their listeners and how they still manage to come up with things to ask them and do to them that can only fall under the category of cruel and unusual punishment. She does begrudgingly admit that some of them are fun occasionally. Vinyl flicks on her mic as the last commercial winds up. “We’re back folks, and it’s-“ she grimaces comically at Octavia, who laughs – “Truth or Dare Tuesday! Octavia, you got somepony on the line?” Octavia nods at her and hits a button to pick up the call. “Hello, The Pon3 Mix?” “Hey sugar,” a sultry female voice says through the speaker. “Hello, who am I speaking to?” Octavia asks, taking a sip of her coffee. “My name’s Fleur,” the mare replies. “Hey Fleur,” Vinyl says in between bites of her donut. “What’s the word?” “Well, I got a question for you both.” Vinyl leans back in her chair, crossing her forearms together behind her head. “Do your worst,” she challenges with a wink at Octavia who huffs a laugh and knocks her hoof against Vinyl’s side affectionately. “You might want to be careful throwing that challenge around, Vinyl,” Octavia warns her, grinning. “Remember last time?” “Oh, you mean the time that mare dared me to kiss you and I tried to do the good thing and you ambushed me? That time?” Octavia grins widely. “Yes, that time.” A low chuckle filters through the speakers. “Now now,” the caller chides them teasingly, “you gonna flirt all day or do you wanna play Truth or Dare?” “All right, Fleur,” Vinyl says, laughing. “What’s it gonna be?” “Truth,” Fleur says immediately. “When was the last time you got laid?” Vinyl barks a laugh. “Forward; I like it. But too bad for you, sweetheart, I never kiss and tell.” She leers in Octavia’s direction. “Spoilsport,” Fleur replies good-naturedly. “How about you, Octavia? You wanna admit the last time you had sex?” Octavia shoots Vinyl a familiar sidelong glance, considering. Vinyl has just enough time to think that she really should have seen this one coming before Octavia leans into the microphone and answers without even batting an eyelash: “This morning before Vinyl and I got up for work.” Vinyl’s mouth drops open automatically on a protest, a disturbingly high-pitched squawk forcing its way out of her chest. Fleur’s husky laugh rings out over the line and she says “Congratulations,” and she doesn’t sound the least bit surprised. Octavia gets the next song in the rotation playing, ignoring Colgate who is screaming at them both through the glass from outside the studio. Derpy’s out there too, standing behind Colgate and beaming like a kid at Hearth's Warming Eve. Vinyl’s phone is already lighting up like a strobe light and vibrating so steadily she has to snag it off the desk before it falls right off the edge. She sees Neon Lights’ name flash on the screen. “Seriously, Octavia?” Vinyl finally manages to choke out, but her mouth curls into a crooked smile, a laugh bursting out of her without her say-so. And Octavia smirks, reaching out to seize Vinyl around the neck. “Truth, Vinyl,” Octavia says with a wink, and drags her forward for a kiss. Derpy's standing behind the glass, watching and listening to everything that's happening with a large grin on her lips. Finally. Thank Celestia her plan worked, those two idiots would have never managed without her.