//------------------------------//
// Chapter eleven: Happy birthday, Melody, part six 
// Story: Photo of A Melody 
// by Applejack224 
//------------------------------//

That night

Melody trotted down the road, feeling better and happier than he had in years. He had done it, and even got the best case scenario out of the deal. After 15 minutes of a brisk trot, he arrived at his home.  Opening the door, he was somewhat surprised to see his parents weren't in the living room, though it was reasonable that they had went to bed.  Careful so as to not wake them up, Melody closed the door and hung up his scarf and coat.  Normally, he would practice music at night, but decided against it, due to him having guests. So instead, he chose to go straight to bed after a quick shower.  However, Melody found it impossible to go to sleep, as the excitement from the day was still fresh in his mind.  I did it, and wow... Camera sincerely likes me back, awwwwwww, he thought, giggling slightly.

The next day

"You seem to be in a really good mood this morning," said Neon, chuckling slightly.

"W--well y-yeah, wh-why woul-wouldn't I?" Melody replied, smiling widely.

Melody, you're normally not this excited, not even on birthday, Vinyl signed.

Melody chuckled and rubbed the back of his neck.  "Y-yeah, I g-guess I'm us-usually n-not," he replied.

Neon smiled at this, sipping his black coffee as he did so. Whatever what or who it was that caused Melody to be in such a good mood, Neon hoped it would be around for a long time.

"S-So, to-today, I-I wan-want to intro-introduce you to m-my"_ Melody suddenly realized he didn't know if he should refer to Camera as his coltfriend or just his friend, as the two didn't exactly made their relationship official. 

"M-my f-friend," he finished.

Neon and Vinyl raised an eyebrow and, leaning forward, Neon asked, "Melody, are you sure he's just your friend?"

Melody felt his face heat up and his ears fold back. "W-well, n-not ex-exactly. W-we s-sorta j-just, ya kn-know, st-started," he replied, smiling shyly.

Neon's eyes lit up and he grinned. "Our boy's finally in love and I think we all know who that pony is," he said, grinning.

Melody chuckled and smiled sheepishly. Well, at least his parents would stop asking about why he was so happy, that was a relief.

.....

"AWWWWWWW! I'M SO HAPPY FOR YOU COUS," Baker exclaimed, hugging Camera tightly.

Feeling like he was about to be squashed, he gasped, "B-Baker, I can't breathe."

She let him go, grinning. "I'm sorry, I'm just so happy for you. It was about time you and Melody confessed to each other," she said, levitating the cake to the counter.

Looking the cake over, Camera saw that it was a blue and white cake with the phrase Happy Birthday Melody written on it in blue icing.

The cake was decorated with tiny versions of stereo systems and looked very delicious.

"This cake is perfect, Baker, thanks", Camera said, satisfied with how the cake turned out.

"I'm glad you approve, and, oh, by the way, that'll be 1000 bits", Baker replied, grinning.

Camera's jaw dropped and he stared in shock, only to have Baker giggle and say, "I'm just messing with ya, Cous, it's actually 100 bits."

Feeling a sense of normality return to him, Camera chuckled and gave her the correct amount of bits. "Thanks, Baker, and I'll get you back for that joke, I hope you know," he said with a hint of playfulness.

"Oh, I would be sorely disappointed if you didn't. Anyway, have fun with your coltfriend," she replied, grinning.

... 

That afternoon,  Camera walked up to Melody's house, carrying both the gift and cake in his mouth.  Knocking on the door, Camera found himself greeted by Vinyl Scratch, who at first seemed a bit confused as to who he was. To make matters worse, she signed something to him with her hooves which he couldn't understand. Suddenly, Melody appeared and a huge smile appeared on his face. "Cam-Camera, y-you ma-made it," the unicorn exclaimed, ushering him in.

Camera set the present and the cake on the kitchen table, and finally able to speak, turned to Melody and said, "Happy birthday, Melody.".

Melody smiled and turned to his parents.  "M-Mom, D-Dad, th-this is m-my... coltfriend, Cam-Camera Fl-Flash," he said.

Camera then proceeded to kiss Melody on the cheek, causing him to giggle and prompting him to kiss Camera back.

"Oh, I don't think there's any doubt about it, you two are definitely a couple," Neon said, smiling.

Melody and Camera looked at each other and there was an unspoken, but very noticeable exchange: yeah, we're definitely a couple.

For the next few hours, the small group partied, playing games, ate cake and opened presents.  Of course, there was the occasional kiss between Camera and Melody as well.  At the end of the party, the four ponies got together for pictures. At one point, Vinyl suggested Camera and Melody got a photo together with just the two of them.  Camera, who had been taking some photos anyway, nodded and went for it. Wrapping his foreleg around Melody's shoulder, and Melody leaning his head against him, Camera turned his camera around and took the picture. When he later put it in his album, he decided to title the picture, Photo of a Melody. 


To be Continued.......