Filling the Gap

by Ponysopher

Discovery

The passage of the next two months went smoothly if nothing else for both Octavia and Vinyl. While Midnight had hinted that he feared Vinyl would be too restless to stay put within the house, in truth, it was quite easy for the unicorn not to leave. There was surprisingly a great deal to do in the safe house, which boasted everything from a bowling alley and arcade to a salon and music hall, all located somewhere within its winding halls both below and above ground. This was of course not to mention the copious amounts of Germane chocolates that both mares happily consumed. Becoming bored here was almost impossible for the white mare who knew how to have the best time even under stress.

In the morning, Octavia would awake and seek out Vinyl’s room, who would sleep for a number of hours longer if it wasn’t for the cellist. Then the two discussed and debated musical theory and preferences as much as could be done before either were completely awake. This would usually end with Octavia throwing up her hooves and exclaiming, “Oh, I just don’t know what to do with you Vinyl. Why can’t you see reason?” to which Vinyl would retort almost nonchalantly, “Because your idea of reason is doing everything the way everypony else does it.”

But the exasperation of both would soon turn to a desire for adventure when the white mare would ask, “So what are we gonna do today?” If either of them happened to be particularly annoyed by anything, the two would go to the spa a few floors underground. Despite its location, the area was enchanted to resemble the tropics and was filled with exotic fauna and flora from as far away as Neighpon. So the two sat in the warm sunlight amidst the sound of the waves in the distance while getting the most relaxing massages.

On the other hoof, if both were in a good mood, there was no telling what they would do. On such mornings, they asked Crush if she could show them something worth spending their time on, and the blue unicorn always could. In these two weeks they had eaten food from all across Equestria, all sorts of flowers from Trottingham, Prance and Italey. Then they snacked on oats wherever they were hard at work, creating both classical and contemporary music on Vinyl’s computer with its fancy programs.

The two also indulged each other’s personal preferences. Sometimes they went to the library, and Octavia read poetry to Vinyl. The unicorn surprised Octavia when she seemed to find pleasure in this act. Vinyl commented frequently on the substance of certain poems, denouncing the repression of interracial love in the medieval years and even critiquing the poets’ styles when the wordings seemed a little too impractical. The DJ, on the other hoof, was astonished to find that Octavia was well versed in not only music, but also three different languages.

On other days, they went to the arcade and played through the long campaigns of the many games at their disposal. Octavia was very unfamiliar with console gaming, but she equally surprised Vinyl when she picked up the skill quickly. Very soon, they were advancing towards the mountains of the changeling capital, blasting through the ranks of shape-shifting foes in their path. This was not to say that the white pony had spent any long length of time developing this skill, but relative to Octavia, she was still more experienced and fiercer, a fact that soon became evident to her friend. Octavia seeming to understand more than Vinyl that the game was actually trivial, had the habit of charging in and ultimately failing. Vinyl, on the other hoof, picked and chose her battles. She fought when she needed to fight and ran when she needed to run. The latter was more often the case.

The best part about all of these activities that were available for the two was that the unicorns of the Machiavelli clan left them well enough alone, either because of the immense size of the safe house or because they were particularly careful about avoiding those whom they obviously considered unworthy of their presence. Whatever the case, with the exception of the occasional visit from a servant such as Crush or Love Struck, it was as if the two had a chateau to themselves. So, surrounded by impenetrable enchanted walls well-guarded by a vast array of soldiers and mercenaries while being treated to the most indulgent delights that money could offer, Vinyl and Octavia were now quite good friends considering they had only known each other for less than two months.

It was difficult to believe, but spending every waking moment with somepony can really bring out their personality. From all this quality time, Vinyl came to understand that stability was very important for Octavia. On occasion, they encountered some of the family members of the Machiavelli in the house. At these times, when they turned up their noses or made a derogatory comment, Octavia seemed to be unusually melancholy, as though their opinions determined the value of her very existence. With this and many other scenes and conversations, Vinyl discovered she wanted to live life without having to worry about ponies thinking badly of her. Furthermore, she desired to wake up in the morning, knowing that a good meal was waiting for her.

Vinyl also knew that this desire for stability made her give up chances to attain something better and fail to take risks that even had a high hope of return. In one instance, when she was actually invited to dine with one of the fine stallions whom they had passed by in the hall. The earth pony stared at the unicorn, a white muscular specimen with a blond mane, and her face drained of all color. After failing to make a coherent sentence, having stammered a few broken syllables, she turned and galloped away, leaving Vinyl to give the confused pony a disdainful look and walk away.

Yet she found that it was not so simple as that. Octavia was not hopelessly doomed to live a life of fear of risk. There were certain times when a glimmer of freedom presented itself to her, and she rode it for all it was worth. On the nights when they played video games, the blue-maned mare observed that her friend had playing-style that was out-of-character, taking the most risky pathways that brought them the highest scores. During the previous night, she had actually acted completely out of character and ignored her friend’s advice to run in a particular direction and finish the level they were on, while a battalion of enemies converged on them. Instead, she ran towards them until she found a hole in the ground that, by sheer luck, contained a game mechanic that drove away the whole mass and doubled their score.

On the other hoof, a few weeks with Vinyl was more than enough to reveal her character to Octavia. Because of how they had met, and why they were in the safehouse at the time, Octavia may have first considered Vinyl the type who only wanted to party all night long and not much else. Now left alone with the mare for an extended period of time, the white mare wasn’t much of the mysterious type with a convoluted past that she seemed. Vinyl was extremely forthright with every opinion and resolute with every decision. Every moment with her that was not spent relaxing was a rush of progression, and because there was no shortage of things to do inside the safe house, Vinyl ensured that they were spending their time well.

This energetic personality seemed at first like a red flag for the gray mare; however, as time passed, she was surprised to find that there was nothing really bad about Vinyl. True, she may have wanted to sleep in late, but after expending so much energy in the day, who could blame her? She always wanted to do something, but all of the things she wanted to do were enjoyable, and none of them were ever questionable. Surprisingly, they hadn’t even gone to the bar yet, which boasted the best drink in Fillydelphia according to the servants. This long period of sobriety, however, would not go on forever.

Midnight had remained absent for some time, and at first, they were beginning to get nervous. They had waited six days before hearing anything from him at all. Not all was going as expected, he said, but they had nothing to worry about. The same was true for the week after that and the week after that, and so on, until they weren’t expecting him back anytime soon. However, after a while, they finally received something conclusive.

Vinyl and Octavia,

Pony, it’s been crazy over here. For Octavia’s sake, I won’t get into all the details, but let’s just say that our business here isn’t uncontested. Somehow we’ve been able to keep the struggle quiet enough so that the townsponies in Ponyville haven’t noticed, but that’s only because it’s the damn Everfree, dark as Tartarus and wild as the Appaloosan desert.

In any case, it looks like things have finally gotten quiet here. I’m going to be coming back to the safe house pretty soon with most of the boys I brought with me. Unfortunately, we’ve got nothing to show for it though. The lead was a dud, and we didn’t find anything more than a bunch of indecipherable gibberish on some cave walls that’s been fading for what looks like a bloody millennium.

So, if you haven’t already done it, do me a favor and have a couple of drinks at the bar in honor of my miserable failure. I’ll tell you, I’m going to need a few after this mess. Just keep don’t do anything stupid if you decide to get tipsy. The Grand Galloping Gala is coming up and McCullen is going to be making a move sometime soon. I guess I’ll see you both then.

-Midnight

As the earth pony finished reading this, she looked up to see a sly grin on Vinyl’s face. “Vinyl,” she said, apprehensively, knowing that though she didn’t have anything to worry about, she did sometimes have to direct her friend to less possibly boisterous activities. “I don’t know if you are—”

“Are you thinking what I’m thinking?” the white mare interjected.

“Vinyl, I know that you haven’t had any alcohol since we arrived here, but I don’t think that—”

“Oh, come on, ‘Tavi, what’s the point in living if you don’t enjoy life every now and then?” Vinyl said, like she always did in this sort of situation.

Octavia could see exactly what was going to happen now. “Well, we can still enjoy it without having to get drunk.”

“We don’t have to get drunk. Come on; they have the best wine in the world here, and nopony ever gets to taste it.”

This made the cellist stop for a moment. “Wine?” she asked taken aback. “They have some of the best drink in the world and you go to wine as your best argument?”

Vinyl snickered. “Well, you don’t exactly seem like the type that has a beer too often.”

The black-maned mare facehoofed. “That’s,” she paused. “Not what I meant. All right Vinyl, we are going to go to the bar, and I’m going to show you how to drink.”

♫ ♫ ♫

“Bar” seemed like a very unfitting name for the magnificent place that the two mares stepped into. It was a huge area, like many of the rooms in the safe house, but this one felt particularly spacious. The ceiling and the carpet were colored a brilliant crimson that seemed to define the atmosphere, and everything seemed to gleam even through the dimmer candlelight from the silver chandeliers. All of the furniture, the actual bar, tables and chairs, were made of sleek, polished mahogany. An elegantly designed staircase led to a balcony that went around the room, where there were a few of the mansion’s guests whispering to one another. Vinyl wasn’t sure if she was supposed to think the room was moody or showy; it seemed to want to mix both.

She made her way up to the actual bar, which was lined with more bottles of alcohol and appropriate complementary liquids than she had ever seen in one place. She jumped up to one of the golden stools padded with a scarlet cushion, and the bartender greeted her, a well-dressed light brown unicorn. “Good evening, Miss Scratch, I must admit, I expected to see you here a bit sooner.” He smiled.

Vinyl excitedly took this in good spirit. “I can guess why, if you who I am. DJ Pon3’s ready to get some good stuff. I’m gonna start off slow though. Let me get a rum and coke.”

“No, no, no, Vinyl.” Octavia said calmly and lucidly, as she slowly took the seat adjacent to her. “I told you; I’m going to show you how to do this properly.” She addressed the unicorn kindly. “Would you please bring my friend and I here some of your finest Applejack Daniels?”

The stallion turned around and went to a glass case which he opened and took a moment for selection. He found Octavia’s request and brought back two black bottles as well as two shot glasses. “This is our finest bottle, distilled in the sacred mountains of the buffalo tribe.”

As impressive as his introduction was, Vinyl was a bit skeptical about this type of drink. “Uh, ‘Tavi, are you sure we should start off with this?”

“Trust me, Vinyl. I think you’ll find I more than know what I’m doing,” The cellist answered with a smirk. The bartender uncorked the bottles and then poured the two mares each a portion of the fine drink. The black-maned mare then gestured to Vinyl’s glass. “After you,” she said.

The DJ lifted the glass with her magic and took the whiskey down in one gulp. There wasn’t a lot to say about the initial taste. It was strong, but it went down surprisingly easily, and she blinked it away quickly. Shortly afterwards, she felt the familiar and pleasurable warmth that flowed down her neck to her stomach. “Luna,” she said, breathing out. “That was way smooth for 80 proof.”

The cellist then downed hers and replied, “Not everypony says so the first time, but I thought I knew you well enough to say otherwise. It’s to your taste then?”

“It’s great. How much does this usually sell for?”

Octavia smiled again. “Generally, these sell for about twenty five bits a bottle.”

“Twenty-five?” the unicorn asked, moderately stunned. “That’s a lot for a single bottle.”

Her companion shrugged. “Could we have some more please?” she asked. The stallion obliged.

Having gratefully taking her second drink, Vinyl heard the earth pony ask, “So Vinyl, Midnight is coming back?”

“That’s what it looks like; took him long enough,” the unicorn answered.

“So, what are your thoughts about it? What do you think will happen now?”

“Not much, I guess.” Vinyl replied easily. “We’ve been chilling here for a good while and him coming back probably won’t make a big difference.”

“What about the Grand Galloping Gala? It’s coming soon. We’re going to have to leave here eventually.”

The blue-maned mare looked at her friend. “Are you worried about that?”

Octavia looked at her glass. “Perhaps a little. I just have a feeling this won’t be simple.”

Vinyl smiled. She knew by now that her friend had quite a propensity for worrying. Who could blame her with the kind of astute structure she was used to for most of her life? “It’s going to be okay, ’Tavi. We’ve got a noble’s family on our side.”

“I know, Vinyl. It’s just— I’ve been having some dreams lately.”

“Yeah, but they’re just dreams, right?”

“True, but I can’t shake the feeling.”

The white mare put a hoof on her shoulder. “Whatever happens, Octavia, I’ve got your back.” Octavia looked at her. “I need to know though, do you have mine?”

Octavia, put a hoof to her mouth, apparently finding the question amusing. “I can only do my best, Vinyl.”

“That’s all I’m asking for.” A few seconds passed, as the DJ pondered the commitment. Then, pointing to her shot glass, she asked, “So, you got any more good suggestions?”

“Yes, actually,” she answered happily, looking to the stallion again. “Sir, do you have any Tiara Royal?”

He turned around and quickly brought back another bottle. “I believe this has been a favorite of nobleponies as of late.” He commented, pouring two more shots.

“And with good reason,” Octavia commented, taking up and emptying her glass gracefully for an earth pony.

Vinyl followed suite. This drink was stronger than the last, and surprisingly, she had taken neither of these before. “Wow,” she said, shaking her head. “That’s new.”

“It should be,” said the gray mare. “Up until recently it was quite difficult to come by this brand.”

Another few moments passed as the two enjoyed the warmth and aftertaste. Then Vinyl said, “So, ’Tavi, I’m a bit surprised. I wouldn’t think you knew anything about drinking.”

“Well, where I come from, ponies do it much less, but when they do, they are certainly pickier.”

Vinyl postponed her reply and asked for another shot of the Tiara Royal. It was strong, but had an alluring effect to it. After its feeling set in again, she asked her friend. “Oh, so you only drink the good stuff then?”

“More or less,” the earth pony responded. “My parents didn’t drink too much, but they let me know about it when I was older, so if I did, I could do it responsibly.”

Vinyl laughed. “Mine didn’t either, but I found that out on my own. My dad wouldn’t tell me a thing about drinking.”

“I’m surprised with how active you are. My parents’ knowledge has helped quite a bit, especially since I have to watch myself at all the sophisticated parties I play at. When you got older, didn’t they ever talk with you?”

The unicorn chuckled again. “I wasn’t around long enough, I guess.” As she said this, she felt the alcohol start to take effect. She was already a little warm from the first couple, but now with the potent ones following it, she began to feel a bit lighter. It was a familiar sensation indeed; one that would become even more familiar soon enough.

“You left home early?” Octavia asked.

“Well, yeah. You know that much, I think. I got to the wrong places and got on McCullen’s good side for a while.”

“Really?” Octavia looked at her straight in the eyes.

“Yeah. He put me back on my hooves and I did a few odd jobs for him. Then he had to start acting all dad-ish when I was a few days late on some things, and then things got crazy.”

The gray mare seemed a little worried. “Vinyl, are you drunk? It seems strange that you’re telling me this now.”

“I’m fine. I’ve done way more than this before,” the unicorn said dismissively.

“Are you sure? This isn’t like beer.”

Vinyl was sure she could last a lot longer than this. “Really, I’m good. In fact, do you think they have scotch here? I haven’t had that in a while.”

In hindsight, Vinyl couldn’t really remember much after that. She remembered having a few more drinks, though Octavia remained reservedly dry. Little bits and pieces of the conversation were faintly memorable, but even they were hard to fit all together. She remembered hugging Octavia at some point and telling her about how she did some kind of jobs at some point. A tear might have even come to her eye, though that was probably because she was getting unwarrantedly overemotional. Then she was walking to bed awkwardly against the wall with somepony at her side. Then there was just the blackness of deep sleep.

♦ ♦ ♦

A gentle breeze smoothed across Octavia’s nose, bringing her from the land of wonders, Luna’s secure kingdom onto the very edge of consciousness. It was cool and relaxing, not even tickling. Its evanescent presence heralded her awareness to Celestia’s cheerful, warm sunlight serenely pouring upon her closed eyelids and welcoming her into the land of wakefulness, where her phantasmal dreams could become reality. As she lay there, enjoying the slow easing into this new world, she could now also hear the sounds of nature drifting like the breeze into the open window, the birds, robin and blue jays calling to each other in the shade of the great trees of the forest.

A male, she fancied, sounded strong and boatsful, not afraid of those fools that might be so audacious as to critique his song-voice; for his call was not for her or for them, the gray mare realized. It was for his lover, whom he held most dear. She would hear his summons from afar and return to the nest to admire his work. This female had been hunting all morning, rising just as the sun rose. She returned with food for her lover and was greeted with the sight of a beautiful nest, decorated while she left. Then she too sung for him, a song of love and appreciation.

Having imagined this from the pleasant sounds beyond the window, she came back to herself, and eased yet a little more out of her sleepiness. Gradually, she became aware that she was very warm, warmer than she usually felt on mornings like this. It was a tranquil feeling, one that told her perhaps she would not awake to a day of busy stress. But the warmth was accompanied by an unfamiliar sensation as well. It was soft, she found. Seeking to discover the source of this, she lifted her mind further into this world, and found her forelegs. She moved her hooves and observed the curves of the soft object against her. It was as big as her. The softness, she now understood was its fur intermingling with hers. Moreover, its upper body expanded and contracted in unison with her own, the rise and fall of a chest.

Finding the power to open her eyelids with not effort, the light of morning greeted her in her bed inside the Fillydelphian chateau, and it illuminated the figure lying just in front of her. It was white and blue, and had a hint of black, the white face of Vinyl, with her blue mane and eyelashes visible by her lack of eyewear that usually covered part of her face. Octavia saw she was sleeping soundly, not awoken by her inquiring caresses or the bright sun. Octavia was cuddling her, and had likely been embracing her friend throughout the night.

It occurred to her that she possibly should have been a little embarrassed at this scene of intimacy, but she certainly didn’t feel so at the time. Hugging Vinyl like this was nice and comforting. There was nothing wrong with it in the slightest, and she suspected that her friend might say the same thing if she were awake. Yet Octavia didn’t want to disturb her slumber; she probably was recuperating. This brought her back to the events of last night. To put it lightly, Vinyl had got absolutely hammered. It was likely that Vinyl would have a hard time after waking up. The gray mare would bet that Vinyl would lay off the drink for a while after consuming the best stuff, which, unfortunately for her, was also the hardest stuff.

She remembered finally taking the unicorn mumbling incoherently to bed, and she herself must have been too tired to find a separate room. This was of course only after the white mare had spilled practically her entire life story to her friend when Octavia was only moderately affected by her intake. The cellist studied the face of her sleeping friend as she pondered what Vinyl had told her. The memories pouring back were surprising indeed. She had run away from home after being duped by some rough colt that claimed he loved her but was really just after her dad’s credit card. Afraid that her father would deal with her too harshly for this, Vinyl lived life, trying and failing to survive selling music until McCullen found her during winter in an aleyway and made her into a runner.

If nothing else, Vinyl had a gift for slipping out of tight spots that made her an ideal employee for a moneylender like him, as he also turned out to be affiliated with drug trafficking, forgery, fraud and grand theft. Vinyl wanted to borrow enough money to get onto her hooves initially, but when he introduced her to the world of luxury living and night clubs at such a young age, she soon grew irresponsible and couldn’t pay back the enormous sums she owed. Sometimes she paid him back by doing extra-dangerous jobs for him, but she was always in debt. Soon it was just a matter of grabbing what she needed and skipping to the next town.

She still partied like she used to and claimed to have a good enough time, but to Octavia, it sounded like she was tired of living this way. Yet she was unable to do anything about it. She couldn’t trust anyone except Midnight and always lived in a mass of stress and fear. The gray mare was surprised to hear of all this at the time and still was now, but she didn’t think badly of Vinyl as she may have done earlier. The time she had spent with her told the earth pony what she was like, and now she knew why that was. Octavia had the most sympathy for her, because now they were friends.

The sunlight, though, told her that this was a new day, and this moment covered up the hardening discovery from the previous evening. She leaned in closer and nuzzled the unicorn. As far as she knew, Vinyl hadn’t washed her shorter mane since yesterday morning, but somehow it still smelled fresh. She ran her hoof through it and was not surprised to find it smooth and well kept on the side that her friend hadn’t slept on. With these sensations, her friend’s warm and soft fur and her silky mane, she felt like she didn’t want to move from this spot for the whole day.

The gray mare had never been this close before with anypony except her parents, and she found there was something about this act that was special. It was a beautiful feeling, because she saw that her friend looked and felt beautiful, but Octavia knew now that she was beautiful on the inside too. She wasn’t completely selfish as she might have believed herself to be. If anything, she did not betray her friends even when it was convenient. She knew this from experience before just living with her, and now she knew it from Vinyl’s tales.

Still lying peacefully in bed, she tried to find words to describe this situation. For a while, nothing came, but then “love” entered into her mind. Its invocation caused her to recoil mentally, to throw up a wall and step back. Did she really love Vinyl? She had spent a while with her, but did she really love her, or was this a momentary fancy? She thought back over the past couple of months and thought about all the time she had spent with Vinyl. These were some of the best times she had ever had.

She stroked the unicorn’s coat as she thought about those days. Vinyl was a great friend. When they talked, the DJ seemed to listen sincerely even though her informal attitude made her look standoffish. Vinyl humored her in doing the things she wanted to do. Yet she was also loyal. Once, when the earth pony had accidentally knocked over a priceless vase from Neighpon, Vinyl claimed responsibility. Nothing bad ever happened to her for it, but it meant a lot, because they both certainly feared some great punishment to be levied.

Therefore, although this had been such a short time, because they spent almost every moment of every day together, Octavia was starting to feel that she was attracted to her friend. She remembered that as the days went on, she began to think about a life where she couldn’t spend time with Vinyl anymore. This time in the mansion was fun and games, but she had to go back to work eventually, and then she would hardly see her friend anymore. Furthermore, the idea of being with Vinyl in the first place was all dependent on McCullen not getting ahold of her. She knew that if something bad happened to Vinyl, she would be devastated. Yet she also knew that even if McCullen was out of the way, Vinyl might continue to make problems for herself.

She looked at her friend, sleeping still, although it was growing towards the afternoon. The sight of her face made her smile. Octavia wanted her to be able to wake up to a day without ponies trying to collect from her. She wanted to help Vinyl out of the position she was in now, but even more importantly, she realized she wanted her friend’s life to get better more than she wanted hers to stay the same. I don’t even care if I’m happy, she thought. I just want Vinyl to be happy because of how happy she’s made me.

That statement made something click. She paused. I do love Vinyl, she thought. With this, the words of her father echoed in her mind clearly. “Love, Octavia, is not an emotion. You don’t fall into love. You choose to love someone. That’s what your mother taught me. Love is patience and kindness when your lover exasperates you. Love is selflessness when all they want is their own happiness. And love is standing up for them when they keep making mistakes. Money and nice things, beauty and handsomeness, they are going to disappear, but love never fails. It will never go away.”

The earth pony sat there for a little while longer, not wanting this moment to pass. She was in love with Vinyl though, and that meant she had to eventually. So after a few more moments of warm comfort, she eased her hoof free from under her friend’s neck and got out of bed as quietly as she could. Then carefully making her way to the door and pushing it open, she made her way down the hall until Crush appeared, just when Octavia thought she was nowhere to be found.

“Crush,” she said. “Could you get me an aspirin?”

“Of course,” the blue pony responded. “Are you feeling alright Miss Octavia?”

“Oh, I’m fine, though Vinyl drank quite a lot last night. I think she will appreciate it if I helped her with the headache.”

The pony smiled and turned slowly, “I shall return shortly.”

♫ ♫ ♫

Vinyl’s dreamless slumber was finally interrupted by her circadian rhythm. She had to wake up some time, and when she did, she felt it immediately. Her head was throbbing; she felt like she could drink a few gallons of water; and she had to pee like nopony’s business. Her drowsiness didn’t impair her from making the conclusion for very long: She had gotten drunk last night— very drunk.

Her eyes opened to the white ceiling of the room. Her vision was a tad blurry until she blinked away the sleep. With a grunt, she sat up on her rear, propping herself against the back of the bed. She reached up both hooves, one to rub her eyes and the other to massage her aching head. It was strangely quiet. Usually when she woke up with a hangover like this, she had to deal with some bartender telling her it was time to go home, or some creditor with an obligation aggravate her into insanity. She sighed and put her head back, hoping this would be over soon.

A soft whisper came from her left. “Good morning, Vinyl.”

The white mare opened her eyes and looked over to see her friend, sitting in a wooden chair. Groggily, she mustered the courtesy to respond, “Morning,” with a groan.

“How are you feeling?” she asked.

She breathed out, rubbing her head again. “I’ve got the worst hangover right now. How much did I drink last night?”

There was a short pause, and then Octavia answered quietly. “Two shots of Applejack Daniels, two of Tiara Royal, two scotch and some Prench wine.”

“Urrg … Luna.”

Vinyl heard Octavia get up. “Would you like some water and something for the headache?”

The unicorn smiled weakly. “That’d be great.”

“I assume that using magic like this is a little uncomfortable though.”

She caught herself before she laughed. “You got that right.” She opened her eyes again and looked to her left where her friend had moved. The pony held a pill in one hoof and balanced a glass of water in the other.

“Then I’ll just give them to you myself,” the earth pony said, smiling.

Vinyl held her head back as Octavia dropped the pill onto her tongue and then hoofed to her the glass of water. She grasped it awkwardly as she didn’t hold things like this too often, but she chugged the contents quickly. The relief, though, not completely remedial was instant. “Thanks,” she said.

Having regained enough resolve to take care of business and returning, she asked her friend, “So, did I give you a rough time last night?”

“Not too much,” she said gently. “Your language was a little inappropriate but nothing a mare isn’t used to.”

Getting back in bed, and half hoping she would fall back asleep, she asked “Did I tell you anything you didn’t want to hear?”

Octavia seemed a bit uncomfortable in answering this question. She cleared her throat. “Well … um, you did happen to tell me more than I think you would have sober.”

Vinyl became very uneasy at this. Although she had been with Octavia for some time, she still wasn’t sure that she could accept her. Though the mare was a good friend, the white pony did her best to keep her past silent. There were many times in the past when she felt she had finally found somepony that would help her through life, though the one’s that accepted her couldn’t help themselves. The ones that could help themselves, when they found out what she had done, immediately had nothing to do with her. “What exactly did I say?”

“You told me about your life before meeting me.”

The white mare’s eyes shot open. “Octavia,” she said hurriedly. “Whatever I said, it’s probably not true. I get really full of myself when I’m drunk. I promise nothing I said’ll be a problem. I’ve done a lot of crazy stuff, but I don’t have to keep doing it around you.” She continued on in a torrent of excuses. She had lost the trust of people like her before, but she couldn’t lose her friend like this.

“Vinyl,” the earth pony said, stopping her. She reached out a hoof. “It’s alright. You are my friend, and whatever you’ve done before can’t change that. I’m willing to help you through anything.”

Those words came to the unicorn so unexpectedly, yet she heard their sincerity. All along, she had to deal with ponies who didn’t trust her, but Octavia was somepony different. If Octavia would accept her with both her past and her present circumstances, maybe there was hope for her. Octavia was somepony who had it together after all. So Vinyl could show her how to have a good time, and Octavia could show her how to not have too much off a good time.

She sighed in relief one last time. “Thanks ’Tavi. You’re the best.”

“Anytime Vinyl.”

She shifted around and paused before asking, “So, I didn’t tell you about that time I was in Stalliongrad, did I?”

“When you ran a kilo of pixie dust past a plethora of guards?”

Vinyl deadpanned. Ponyfeathers.

Comments

[Night Runner 01]

Hehehehehehahah. Good chapter. Nice to see the aft sides of things. Also, Tavi's the first one to think about love this time. I approve.

[I love ponys]

Good story mate

[Ormus Von Orbulon]

Your story sometimes seems too heavy on the details to flow properly, but it's definitely still interesting enough to power through, square wheels aside. Excellent character development and buildup! I look forward to more.

~OvO

[Ponysopher]

2778622
Thanks for the comment. As for my over-attention to detail, I'm sorry about that. My only guess is that I always want to answer every question people might have on the spot and not leave much for later. I'm working on that. Background stories and theories behind actions are just a big part of what I deal with, so it tends to come out in my writing, though I guess it might be a little obtrusive. Thanks for the input again.

[Bjorn Aleswiller]

Not trying to cause a head explosion for mixed messages but I like all the detail you put in... it paints a better picture in my mind and makes the characters seem more realistic because real life is just as, or maybe more complex than what is in most stories so I say "good job mate, have a spike"

[Bjorn Aleswiller]

Oh and I am addicted to the words in a good story... seem to have run out if you would kindly supply me with MOAR!!!!!!!!!!!

[Fury of the Tempest]

Interesting how you have the story of Vinyl's life told, before telling us what exactly it was. This leads on to pretty much the image on the cover, and Tavi's realization that she did love Vinyl, through she didn't announce this, and its doubtful that Vinyl feels the same way... or if she is, she's afraid to admit it. Either way, this relationship development will be interesting to see.

I am surprised to see another lull in tension after the peak from the last one, but I suppose that is to set up to the bigger peak when Steel Dash eventually gets round to breaking into the mansion. Oh and might want to try and migrate you details a bit more, so your showing us and allowing us to see for ourselves instead of simply being told it.

[Skeeter The Lurker]

And that is why I don't drink.

Too much of a chance to get ahold of juicy blackmail.

~Skeeter The Lurker