A Heartfelt Symphony

by Star_Streak

Chapter Two

Chapter Two

Vinyl smiled as the deep, resonating tone of the cello echoed through the nightclub. She stepped out of her office onto soft carpet floor of the VIP area. Her gaze shifted around the room, looking at the surprising amount of ponies that actually showed up to listen to the cellist play before falling on the grey mare herself who was currently on the stage that was normally reserverd for live bands. It had been nearly two weeks since the incident with the former accountant and her profits were at an all-time high so, in reward for doing so well with the financial details, she finally agreed to let Octavia preform on one of the less busy nights.

Octavia had her eyes closed as she guided the bow along the strings of her instrument, lost in the music. It had been so long since she had played in front of an audience and she had forgotten how much she enjoyed preforming. She smiled and opened her eyes as she finished the song, blushing a bit as she saw a white mare watching and smiling at her from the VIP area.

As the applause faded, Octavia stepped down the stages stairs, leaving her cello on stage to put away later, after the audience had gone. Vinyl approached her as she reached the floor below, a smile on her face.

“Oh, hey Vinyl”

“That was great Octy!” Vinyl pulled the surprised grey mare into a hug, making Octavia blush a little.

“It wasn’t that great; I haven’t practiced in a while so I-”

“Nope! None of that! You were awesome. It’s not easy to get an entire club of ponies to actually enjoy any music other than dubstep. And you even got a standing ovation!” Vinyl interrupted, tightening the hug briefly before pulling back.

Octavia looked at the DJ pony and smiled. “Thanks Vinyl. That means a lot.”

“You’re welcome. Now I have a question for ya…” She said.

“Okay, what is it Vinyl?”

“The other day, you mentioned that you had to move out of your old apartment so I was wondering…where are you staying now?” Vinyl asked.

“Oh I’ve just been staying in a hotel. Don’t worry about it.”

“You could come stay with me if you wanted to. That way you wouldn’t have to pay for rent”

Octavia shook her head slightly, “No, no. I wouldn’t want to be a burden”

“You wouldn’t be a burden Octy. I promise”

“Are you sure Vinyl?”

“Yup!” Vinyl grinned at her. “I insist”

Octavia pulled Vinyl into another hug and smiled. “Thank you Vinyl, I don’t know how I’ll ever repay you”

The pair stepped into Vinyl’s small apartment, both of them exhausted from the last night’s events. Later into the evening, there had been an unexpected amount of ponies show up and, since Wednesdays were usually slower, they had been completely understaffed. Vinyl had been able to put some of her music on the DJ table but had to quickly rush back to help work at the bar after she had put on the new song but she also had to rush back to put on a new song whenever the old one ended.

Octavia, being new to the job, had been mixing drinks for the customers when the new crowd had come in. She was only able to keep up once Vinyl had come to help her and even then it was difficult.

Vinyl took a deep breath and smiled at Octavia, “Quite a night, huh?”

“Yea, I am utterly exhausted,” she dropped her small bag of stuff onto the floor next to the couch.

Vinyl raised her eyebrow at her, “What are you doing?”

“I am about to go to sleep. Is it not obvious?”

“On the couch?”

“Of course, unless you have a bedroom other than your own that is.”

Vinyl shook her head, “No, I don’t but you can have my bedroom, I’ll sleep on the couch. You’re my guest.”

“That will not be necessary Vinyl, I will be perfectly content here,” She sat down.

“Maybe you will but I’ll feel weird with you sleeping here”.

“Well what do you suggest we do?” the cellist asked, bringing a faint blush from Vinyl. “What? Why are you blushing?”

“Oh, um…no reason…” Vinyl turned her head a little to hide her face. “I just had a stupid idea.”

“Well what was it?” Octavia asked.

“Nothing, it’s dumb. Please just take the bed Octavia,” The white mare replied.

“I hate to intrude but if you insist, I shall take the bed,” Octavia relented. She picked up her bags again and walked into the bedroom where she dropped them onto the dresser. She unpacked a few small items such as her brush and bowties before returning to the living room where vinyl was laying a blanket out onto the couch. “We should probably go to sleep. It’s been a long night and we have to be back at the club tonight”.

“Yea, you’re probably right. I guess I’ll see you when you get up,” Vinyl said as she sat down on the end of the couch. “I’ll probably be up before you anyway.”

“Okay. I’ll see you later then,” Octavia said before trotting back into the bedroom and lying down.

Why is that mare so nervous around me? She doesn’t act that way when she’s with anypony else. I’ll have to ask her later I suppose, Octavia thought to herself as she pulled the covers over her. A few minutes later, all that could be heard was her breath as she slept.

Even after Octavia had fallen asleep, Vinyl Scratch was still wide awake on the couch. She was on her back staring at the ceiling, her thoughts always drifting back to a certain grey mare.

Finally, she sat up, “Ugghh! Why can’t I stop thinking about her?!”

She buried her face in her hooves, letting out a soft sigh, “I can’t like her! She’s so preppy and neat and...and cute and different and…” She stopped, realized where this was going.

Okay...maybe I like her a little bit but theres no way she’d like me. She’s probably gonna marry some rich stallion or something, She laid back on the couch, running a hoof through her mane and letting out a long breath. Okay Vinyl...just close your eyes and go to sleep. Just don’t think about her. Or do. Whatever works. Her eyes slowly close and she takes another deep breath. Just relax...and go to…

Her thoughts trailed off as she finally fell asleep.

Author's Note:

Okay...Finally fixed it. I never liked how this chapter ended so I decided to change it.

Comments

[Star_Streak]

Thank you to everyone who has enjoyed the story so far. This is my first attempt at a romance story so I'd appreciate any feedback. Chapter Three should be out either this weekend or early next week. It just depends on when I have time to edit it.

[Air Heart]

Pretty good, seams a bit rushed though and jumps forward a lot. I suggest padding it out with more scenes to establish their personalities a bit more. Scenes of them hanging out, or Octavia's first night on the job, or Octavia deciding to apply for the job, etc etc
Also to develop reasons for growing attractions instead of the standard argue with inner voice.

A little too much 'tell' instead of 'show'. Right now the story is just skipping to parts where things happen but its important to show what the characters are like.

The scene's that are written are paced appropriately, its just the story itself is rushed

Unless its intentional, in that case keep going like this.

EDIT: I hope I don't come off as too pretentiousness and lecturery. Its not what my intended tone is

[Star_Streak]

4217682
Thank you for the advice, I was trying to write it this way a little bit but I feel like I'm advancing too quickly as you said. I was planning on having the majority of the story take place outside of the club and develop their charachters more that way. The club was more of a way to introduce them both to each other but it will definetly be used more later in the story.

[corvusbray]

4217740 Air Heart took the words right out of my mouth. Completely right.

[Dragonfist]

4461179 Ditto, I was actually going to reply to that comment with the exact same thing you said... Weird...