The sky was mostly clear on that afternoon, the few clouds rolled calmly by over the small town of Ponyville. Ponies were heading into their homes and relaxing, preparing dinners and smiling as they would curl up next to a fireplace. It was a sweet town, such a shame that the cellist was only staying for a short time for a concert. Octavia sighed, the concert would be tomorrow and still her bars lay blank on parchment. It was her turn to write something to play, and with the deadline, it was impossible to gain inspiration! What was their problem? Making her work like this? Masterpieces are not crafted in a single weekend!
Octavia pushed her paper and ink well off of her desk in anger as she thought. What would help her come up with something? Something to write about? Octavia looked out the window of her hotel room again and decided that a nature piece hadn't been written in a while.
"That's it!" Octavia shouted to herself as she sat up from her seat, "I could easily write a piece about nature! No need to overthink it at all!" Octavia smiled at herself as she moved from the desk and walked around the bed in her room.
The hotel room was pretty small considering others she had been in. The bed was large, and it took up a good deal of space, a small fire place was against the wall a few yards from the foot of the bed, and a TV beside it, just below the TV was Octavia's saddle bags. Octavia thought about what to bring with her, perhaps some food and drink, and some quilts, her parchment and ink as well as a quill would be a must. Octavia hurriedly packed her things, trying her best to get out of the hotel before it got too dark, although the town was safe, she still didn't want to be out later than she had to.
The clerk at the door waved as Octavia left, but she could hardly wave back as she was weighed down by the saddle bags. A tall stallion grabbed the door for Octavia, and she moved swiftly from the building, heading for the lining about the forest. Octavia kept her head up, making sure to keep an eye out for anything that would catch her fancy.
Nothing so far.
Octavia's legs began to drag and her mind wandered, oh how she wished she were a unicorn, she could levitate the bags from her back, and with how long she had been walking, that would be nice. It was dark out now, Luna's moon showering the land in a light glowing blue, winds dancing and nature fast asleep. The thoughts of peacefulness left as Octavia noticed a small drop of water on her snout.
"Well, that's odd?" Octavia whispered to herself, "It was clear today, why is it raining now?" Octavia just shook her head and carried on, planning to head back to her hotel after another few minutes of walking. There would be a clearing soon she hoped, where she would get a good view and think about what to write.
A few more steps and Octavia was happy to see a large clearing leading to a cliff that stopped suddenly, looking as if it were to lead straight into the sky. Octavia walked closer and began to drop her things until she noticed a figure sitting there as well, it seemed to be a pony, at least Octavia hoped it was a pony. The figure was white, with a frizzy tail and mane, the tail swishing every so often, they were looking up at the clouds, but their back was facing her, so Octavia couldn't make much more out of this stranger. Octavia contemplated walking up to them, and decided to be careful about it.
"H-hello? Are you okay?" Octavia asked, her voice shaking slightly. The rain began to pick up a bit as the figure's ears perked up at the sound of Octavia's sudden question. The pony was but a few yards away, but still well masked by the falling rain.
"Huh?" the stranger turned, reveling that they were a unicorn mare, large purple shades covering her eyes and her frizzy electric blue mane resisting the heavy water that clung to it.
"I was asking if you were okay..." Octavia tried to carry her voice, but it seemed difficult. Octavia was never one to talk to strangers, she wouldn't even look at one without proper introduction in most settings, but this pony seemed... different.
"Yeah..." the unicorn's voice trailed a bit, "What are you doing out here in the rain?" She made no effort to move from her spot in the grass. Octavia walked a bit closer, and to her surprise, the mare seemed to be getting slightly worried at her approach.
"I could ask the same thing," Octavia responded as she dropped her bags beside the other mare, "Ah! where are my manners! My name is Octavia Melody." Octavia did her best to share a winning smile as she held out a hoof. The other mare looked at it and stood, shaking it and giving a small smile in return.
"Uh, yeah, I'm Vinyl Scratch... I was here first, so I think you should explain why you're here."
"Well..." Octavia retracted her hoof from the brief shake and placed it back into the moist grass below, this... Vinyl Scratch character was certainly... strange, "I have a project I'm working on right now, but I need some inspiration."
"Oh cool," Vinyl said nodding her head, her mane flinging small flicks of water about.
"So... what are you doing all the way out here? In the rain?"
"Oh I come out here all the time!" Vinyl said with a grin, putting her hooves behind her head and flopping back into the grass. Her face was towards the sky as the rain fell over her muzzle and her chest. Octavia couldn't help but feel weird about this. This mare was just sitting here in the rain... for no reason?
"Alone?" Octavia asked quietly. Vinyl didn't answer right away, instead taking in a deep breath.
"...Yeah... alone..."
"You don't sound thrilled about that."
"Well, I'm not thrilled about it." Vinyl tried to suppress a sniffle as she turned her back towards Octavia, her ear flicking away rain that collected on it's tip.
"Okaayy...." Octavia had no clue how to continue this conversation, heck, she wasn't sure if she wanted to continue it. Instead she went into her bag and grabbed the two quilts she brought, one was for laying on, the other for snuggling under, but it seemed cover was needed for both of them. Octavia grabbed the thick quilt in her teeth and spread it over Vinyl's body, she visibly tensed at the sudden covering on her cold fur. Octavia only smiled to herself as Vinyl looked over the blanket.
"What's this for?" Vinyl asked turning back over. Octavia chuckled.
"Well, it's a blanket, so I guess it would be for covering oneself?"
Vinyl just sat dumbfounded, and stared as Octavia laid out another blanket and sat on it, pulling out a few bags of trail mix and turning to look at her.
"Would you like some?" She asked. Vinyl nodded, although her jaw stayed slack, she couldn't help but feel a little happy. "So... why are you out here alone again?" Vinyl took the trail mix into her hooves and stared down at them for a moment before answering.
"I..." Vinyl sighed, there was no way she could tell this mare about her problems and not scare her away, but she was being so nice, it couldn't hurt to try? What was the worse that could happen? She would leave, and Vinyl would be at square one? That was fine... "I'm a DJ, so... I make a lot of music ponies like."
Octavia nodded, still munching on trail mix as she waited for Vinyl to continue.
"Well, ponies are always happy when I make music, and it makes me happy to see them happy, but they don't... you know... stick around after..." Vinyl took another break to see Octavia's reaction. She didn't say anything, but the way she looked at Vinyl said she knew what she felt, so she continued. "Sometimes ponies call on me to make music they want to hear, and then they're gone, no more making ponies happy, so that means I'm not happy, so then... you know... I get sad, or lonely I guess..."
"So you're saying you're without friends?" Octavia asked quieter than she intended. Vinyl nodded and turned over again.
"Yeah... Nopony understands me though." Vinyl forced a sigh that was building in her chest, "It's okay if you don't, you know the upper class types don't have to worry about that, you guys always have a pose of friends around you."
"It would look that way, but it's all fake," Octavia put her now empty bag of trail mix in her saddle bag and laid down on her quilt. It wasn't protecting her from the rain, but it was better than laying in the mud.
"What do you mean?"
"Those ponies only hang around if you're famous or rich, more often if you're both, but I'm neither of those as far as Canterlot class goes. Here in Ponyville I'm a celebrity, but up there, well, I'm about as well off as a farmer in their eyes." Octavia kept her eyes forward, staring into the grey clouds, Vinyl however, kept her eyes on the grey mare beside her.
"Wow, that must suck..."
"Yes it does indeed... ahem... suck, as you say, and it is very lonely. Trying my best with what I do only to be snubbed by my peers, and hated by everyone once I get big. There are no true friends there. Unless you count status, money, and a big empty house a friendship." Octavia shivered a bit as she finished speaking, the icy rain soaking into her coat.
Vinyl looked down at her hooves, she was still holding her bag of trail mix, and the blanket sat warmly on her back. Well, Octavia was nice enough to share, why shouldn't Vinyl? Vinyl scooted closer and threw the blanket over Octavia's body as well, the two snuggled closely, and Vinyl's fur shook as she came in contact with Octavia's own soaked and cold fur. Octavia gave a mild blush, but her eyes stayed forward, although not without them shaking a bit.
"It sounds like neither of us have any friends..." Vinyl said quietly.
"Well..." Octavia began in a more sweet tone, "I wouldn't go so far as to say that..." Octavia turned quickly and gave Vinyl a small smile. Vinyl's eyes seemed to grow big behind her shades, a blush forming over her white muzzle.
"I... uh... w-what do you mean?"
"What I mean, miss Scratch, that I'm offering my friendship, and asking for yours in return." Octavia said playfully. Vinyl's ears twitched, and a wide grin found it's way over her dripping muzzle.
"You really mean it?" Vinyl squeaked, she tried to slow down a bit as she thought about her concerns, there were a lot of them, what would they do? How often would they see each other? Do friends go out places? "You'd be my first friend... and I don't really know... you know.. what friends do."
"Well, I think a start would be that friends don't let friends get soaked in the rain alone." Octavia chuckled standing up from her spot on the blanket, "You can stay with me for the night, I mean, unless you would rather stay in the cold?" Octavia raised a playful brow as she packed her things, Vinyl standing up to help and her smiled growing until it hurt, but she didn't mind it one bit. It felt good to smile like this, she hadn't done it in so long. It was strange to her, almost foreign.
"I-uh.. I mean... sure! T-that sounds nice." Vinyl was beside herself. What a nice mare to just come and comfort her, and to befriend her. Perhaps things were looking up. Vinyl shook her head, that was pessimistic thinking, things were looking up, there was no doubt.
Octavia and Vinyl finished packing, the young grey earth mare smiling at a job well done and reached to lift the bags until a pinkish aura enveloped them and lifted them above her.
"No need for you to break your back, Tavi," Vinyl said, taking a small note that based on Octavia's slightly amused look, she seemed to like the shorted name, "I can carry it." That made Octavia's cute amused look turn to one of shy worry.
"Are you sure, Vinyl? I wouldn't want to be a bother..."
"Are you kidding? After all you did for me?" Vinyl tried a winning smile, only to notice Octavia thinking it over longer than she needed to.
"Besides," added Vinyl as she walked up to Octavia, taking her chin into her hoof so that she could make contact with Octavia's still shaking purple eyes, "what are friends for?" It didn't take any further convincing than that to make Octavia smile and nod, giving Vinyl a quick peck on the cheek. A 'friendly' action done by nobles who were familiar with each other, and an honor only a close friend would get. Vinyl, however was not a noble, and was not familiar with their customs, and was nothing less than slightly confused, but not the least bit upset. Vinyl let the small blush she was sporting grow over to her cheeks and the tip of her nose as Octavia turned trotting through the woods towards her hotel, none the wiser to Vinyl's bright display.
"Well, Vinyl? Are you coming or no?" Octavia called back, only having slowed her pace. Vinyl shook free the euphoria and smiled, trotting happily behind her new found friend.
It was a wish come true.