Octavia writes a composition for Vinyl to show her concealed love.
Octavia finds Vinyl at a party after so many years and they become regular friends again. Though, amidst their friendship, Octavia develops feelings for Vinyl. She expresses these feelings by writing a composition for her new crush. Will Vinyl return Octavia's feelings?
My Composition For You Chapter 1 - A Musical Friendship
The Grand Gala for Musicians is one of the most prestigious get-togethers in Canterlot. It is held at Hoofington Hall and only the best of the best are invited to receive awards, meet up with fellow musicians, and have fun. Octavia Philharmonica was one of those gifted musicians, and she was holding in her excitement.
It was actually her first invitation to such an event, and she felt confident that she would get an award or two.
However, when she arrived to the gala, she felt a little nervous being around some of the best musicians in Equestria. She only recognized most of them from pictures and videos but never had the chance to actually interact with them. It didn't help that Octavia didn't have the best social skills.
She speaks with music and not with words.
Octavia looked around the massive lobby in Hoofington Hall, observing all of the ponies in suits and expensive dresses. Octavia looked down at her own dress and figured that she was in appropriate attire for the event. She wore a simple, yet dazzling, purple dress to match her eyes and to contrast from her dull grey mane. Her usual pink bowtie completed the outfit.
She continued to look around the hall, not at the dresses, but at the ponies. Octavia knew that some of her friends would be attending the gala, and she hoped that they would be able to help her get into a clique. There is power in numbers, after all. Though, it didn't take long for her to notice her friends crowded in a clique of their own with a couple of other ponies that she didn't recognize. She eagerly went to join without seeming too out-of-place.
When she entered the circle of friends, Frederic Horseshoepin immediately engaged her into their conversation. "Ah Octavia, I'm glad that you made it. This is your first Grand Gala for Musicians, isn't it?"
"Yes, it is," Octavia replied with a smile. Frederic was always there for her to make sure that she felt included.
"Well, then I'm sure we can make it a good evening for you then. You remember Beauty Brass, right?"
"I do." Octavia reached out a hoof and the blue mare delightfully shook it. "It was wonderful to play alongside you at the Grand Galloping Gala last month."
"Likewise, Octavia. At that time, I only heard good things about a rising star cellist. I finally got to see what everypony had been talking about, and they were absolutely correct. I was impressed."
Octavia tried to conceal her blush. It wasn't often that a talented pony like Beauty Brass complimented her on her playing.
"Oh, Beauty Brass," Frederic interjected. "You're making Octavia blush."
Octavia tried to hide her embarrassment. "I'm not blushing."
The group chuckled to themselves. "Don't worry, Octavia. I'm just pulling your leg. Here, let me introduce you to Lyrica-" He pointed to a pale lavender pony with a cream-colored mane and moved his hoof over to a purple pony "- and Violet Melody."
Octavia smiled. "It's nice to meet the both of you."
Lyrica nodded her head and returned Octavia's smile. "As much as I do enjoy making your acquaintance, Octavia, Frederic was about to let us in on a little surprise, and I'm getting a bit curious."
Octavia eyed Frederic curiously. "Oh Frederic, do tell. It's not like we talk too much about personal stuff at rehearsals and concerts."
"Alright, fine. You know my marefriend, Sweet Sound?"
"The clarinet player?" Violet Melody replied.
"Yes, her. Well... she sadly didn't get invited to the Gala this year for some strange reason, so she's a little bit down tonight. Though, I'm going to be taking her to dinner in an hour or so to boost her spirits."
Octavia rolled her eyes after Frederic stopped talking. "Come on, Frederic. You made it sound like this is really important. Don't be afraid to tell us."
Lyrica gasped with delight after she made a small revelation. "Are you going to propose tonight, Frederic?"
Frederic looked away for a second and then turned back to the group. "Yes, I am."
The four mares looked at each other and smiled. When the three of them looked back at Frederic, Lyrica was the first to speak up. "Oh, I knew it. You two are just so precious. She really does bring out the romantic side of him. I managed to catch them Le Mañer and he gave her the most brilliant bouquet of flowers."
Frederic chuckled with a bit of embarrassment in his breath. "There's Lyrica for you. She is devoted to her music, but I believe you have a second life as a romance novelist."
Lyrica gave Frederic a small glare. "I do not." She straightened herself up professionally before saying, "The romance novels are only a small side project."
The other three ponies chuckled to themselves. Octavia cleared her throat, "Well, I think it's wonderful that you are going to propose. You will definitely be one of the few musicians in our world to actually make it this far."
Lyrica, Beauty Brass, and Violet Melody then turned and stared at Octavia. Beauty Brass then said, "Octavia, hunny, that must be a joke. Many people here have significant others. I was almost sure that you had a coltfriend that you weren't mentioning to us."
"Well, it's not like I have much time to do this relationship thing with me being so busy. If I'm not at rehearsal or a concert, I'm practicing the cello at home."
"Well, you would have to make time," Lyrica said with a bright tone. "I'm sure that it must get lonely when you come home to nothing but your cello. I love music more than the next pony, but there's more to life than just music."
"I never really thought of it that way, but it doesn't matter much. There hasn't been a colt that has captured my fancy."
Lyrica rolled her eyes. "As unbelievable as that sounds, I really think you should get yourself out there. Who knows, there are a lot of single colts out in the Gala right now. Perhaps one of them will be your first."
Octavia smiled and then chuckled a bit to herself. "Fine. I've only known you for about a good ten minutes, and you're already thinking up ways to make my life better."
Lyrica presented herself proudly. "It's my special talent. My cutie mark might as well have been a heart."
They all chuckled at Lyrica's proud stance. Frederic eyed the rest of the hall and returned his gaze to the group. "We've been secluded in this group for a bit long. Let's go mingle for a bit. I can introduce you to some more people, Octavia."
Octavia smiled, satisfied that her plan to get acquainted with more music ponies had worked. "Thanks, Frederic. I would appreciate that."
The five ponies then separated and made their way around Hoofington Hall, making friends with some of the other ponies. Some of the ponies recognized Octavia, and complimented her on her work. Although the good comments were making Octavia feel very proud of her progress, especially from highly-esteemed musicians, she still couldn't help but think back to Lyrica's comment. All of the colts that she encountered were nice and their musical talents were extensive, but she didn't have much of a connection with any of them. It made her a bit paranoid, and she thought that she was 'different' from everypony else because she didn't have a significant other. Though, she didn't let that bother her too much and sustained a fake smile as she talked with the rest of the people at the Gala.
After about an hour of talking with the rest of the musician ponies there, Frederic said that he had to go and everypony granted him luck on his proposal. Octavia was happy for Frederic's possible amazing future with Sweet Sound and hope that she says 'yes'. Though, Octavia now lost the pony who was connecting her with everypony else, and her shyness returned. She no longer had the confidence to talk to any of the ponies there, and she really just wanted to be alone for a little bit.
Across from the lobby in Hoofington Hall, there is an outdoor terrace that overlooks a large garden. She made her way through all of the ponies and went outside into the terrace. The cool breeze touched her face as she stepped out, contrasting Hoofington Hall's warm interior. There was no-pony out there, so she was able to enjoy the cool air and beautiful by herself. Just the way she liked it.
She enjoyed the lonely experience as she was able to get lost in her thoughts. Silence is truly bliss. Though, she wondered if it would be better if somepony was out there with her to comfort her slight paranoia. She didn't want any of the ponies from the Gala to comfort her, though. She wanted a friend.
"Octavia?" a quiet, feminine voice said.
Octavia turned to her right and noticed that there was a mare on the other side of the fencing surrounding Hoofington Hall. She looked at the mare's white coat and electric blue mane and tried to think of who could possibly recognize her. Though, it didn't take long for Octavia to say, "Vinyl?"
"Oh Celestia, Octy. I was just walking down the street to get back to my apartment, and then I heard what was going on in there. What is this? What are you doing here?"
Octavia approached the gated area and replied, "This is the Grand Gala for Musicians. The most prestigious and talented musicians get invited."
"Sounds fancy."
"It is. What are you doing in Canterlot, Vinyl? I thought you were living in Ponyville to further your career as a DJ."
"I still do live in Ponyville, but I have a gig in Canterlot all week. It's going to be sick. You should totally come check me out one of the days. I'm performing at the Canter Lot, and I can get you in for free."
"Oh, well, Vinyl. You know that your DJ work isn't really my style," Octavia said bluntly. She bit her lip because she knew what she said was mean, but it was the truth.
"Come on, Octavia. Ditch your whole fancy orchestra for one night to check me out. My music has definitely changed for the better, and I think you're going to like what I have for Canterlot this next week. Besides, it'll give us a chance to catch after, what... 4 years."
"5 years, I think. I don't know, Vinyl. I have a reputation to uphold here."
Vinyl sighed. "This is dumb, Octy. Talking like this. Get to the other side of this gate so that we can actually talk."
"I can't leave now. I'm still attending this party."
"Oh please, Octavia. I'm sure that you're just out here because you're too shy to even talk to any of these fancy-pants musicians. It may have been five years, but I know you better than that."
"But I can't just leave. That would be rude."
"Yes, you can. You control your own life, and you can control when you are ready to leave."
Although Octavia didn't want to admit it, she knew that Vinyl was right. She was having only an okay time at the party at this point, and even if Vinyl didn't show up, she would've left anyways. "I'll be over there in a minute."
"Alright, Octavia! I knew you would come to your senses."
Octavia turned away from the gate and re-entered the lobby where ponies were still talking amongst each other. No-pony seemed to even notice that she was all by herself out on the terrace, so she figured that she had made the right choice to leave. Though, she had Vinyl to thank for that. She left the premises without even saying good-bye to the mares that she just met and saw Vinyl standing there.
"Octavia Philharmonica, taking the big step from a small-town string player to a stuck-up cellist."
Octavia rolled her eyes. "Vinyl Scratch, taking the big step from an egotistic DJ to an egotistic DJ. It seems that we're both making strong developments in our careers."
Vinyl chuckled, giving respect to Octavia for being able to return an insult. "Hey, I'm not e-go-tis-tic. I'm just the best DJ in Equestria."
Octavia smiled. "Sure, we'll go with that."
Vinyl chuckled again, noticing the clear signs of sarcasm in Octavia's voice. "Yeah, whatever. I've missed you so much, Octy. I can't believe it has been five years since we've seen each other. A lot of things must've have changed and everything. I'm sure you have this totally awesome coltfriend or something that can play the violin and piano with his back hooves."
"And his tongue," Octavia added, making a joke out of it.
Vinyl gave Octavia a wide-eyed look. "Are you being serious with me right now? He must be completely amazing at french kissing."
"Of course not, Vinyl. I still haven't had a coltfriend of my own."
Vinyl sighed. "Dang. I was really hoping you could show me how he could play the piano with his tongue. That would be amazing. But I guess that's something that the two of us have in common."
"What, that we both want to see a colt run his tongue down a piano? I don't know if you like that, but I'm not as much of a fan."
"No, I'm talking about how I have never been in a relationship with anypony, either. It would just conflict with my music life anyway. I'm just too busy."
Octavia went wide-eyed, because she realized that Vinyl was in the same situation that she was in. After Lyrica made her feel that she was the only one who has never been in a relationship, it's nice to know that Octavia could share her feelings with somepony else. "I'm in the same boat as you. Music is too much apart of my life at the moment."
Their conversation would've gone on for longer, but the mares began to hear bells tolling in the distance. Octavia knew that it was from the bell tower in Hoofington Hall. It went off every hour, so Octavia was able to check the time and noticed that it was already midnight. "Oh, I've been at this party longer than I thought I would be."
"What, it's only midnight. I stay up all-night almost every night."
"Well, that's where we're different. I have to get up early in the morning to practice the cello. Since there is no rehearsal tomorrow, I need to get as much practicing in as I can."
"Octavia, you're crazy with this whole 'music is my life' thing. Why don't we head our separate ways now, and we go grab some breakfast tomorrow? We can catch up then, and you can go get your precious beauty sleep."
Octavia smiled. She knew that music wasn't her entire life, but sometimes she just needed to be reminded. "Alright, Vinyl. We'll go your way this time."
"Good. And I have one more proposal. You won't touch your cello or really any other instrument all of tomorrow. Alright? I can already tell you need a break from all of this."
"Come on, Vinyl. We'll have the breakfast tomorrow, but I need to practice too."
"No, you don't, Octy. You're amazing enough to be invited a fancy-pants event like the Grand Gala for Musicians that only invites the best of the best. You can take ONE day off to take your mind off of things."
Octavia thought about it for a moment, and knew that Vinyl was right again. Octavia regretfully said, "Alright, I won't touch my cello tomorrow."
"Awesome. There's this awesome-looking place across from where I'm staying called Le Mañer. We should go there for breakfast."
Octavia smiled, Le Mañer reminding her of Frederic, who probably is a fiancée by now. "Sure that sounds like a lovely plan."
"Oh, this is going to be awesome. Catching up with my best friend after all of these years. I'll see you at 11:00."
Octavia wasn't fond of the idea of having breakfast as late as 11, but she knew that Vinyl was a night owl and that she probably had a later meal schedule. "Alright, that sounds good. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm tired and I need to get some rest."
"Yes, you rest your beautiful head, Octy," Vinyl said as an unusual remark.
Octavia didn't even come up with a sizable response as she walked off back to her house. She had a lot to think on. The long night gave her a lot to think about.
My Composition For You Chapter 2 - Me and my Cello
It didn't take Octavia long to return to her home since she lived fairly close to Hoofington Hall. Though, she actually wished that her house was a little bit farther, because she wanted to take the opportunity to think about the previous evening.
Octavia didn't want to leave Vinyl after talking to her only for a few minutes, though she felt like she had to. They had a good friendship when they were younger, and seeing her after so many years actually made her more excited than she portrayed. She remembered moments when they both lived in Ponyville, trying very hard to excel in their individual music talents... and their friendship.
"Do you have to play that dang cello all day?" Vinyl would ask her daily.
Octavia knew that she should stop practicing 24/7 so she could play with her friends and make new friends. Her parents constantly reminded her of the importance of friendship, even if they were music ponies themselves. Though, the minute that she picked up that stringed instrument, she never wanted to put it down. "No, I guess not. But if I don't practice now, then I won't make it to the philharmonic in Canterlot. I will be stuck in Ponyville for the rest of my life."
Vinyl sighed. "Octavia, music is our passion and all, but music doesn't have to make up 100% of our lives. So here's what we're going to do." Vinyl grabbed Octavia's cello from her hoof. Octavia tried to grab at her beloved instrument, but Vinyl made sure that it stayed away from her. "I'm going to put your cello back in it's case, and we're going to check out Lyra's new place. I heard she has a pool, and it would be totally awesome if we can going swimming in it."
"Yes, but it would be easier to swim if you actually knew how to do it. I know you, Vinyl."
Vinyl frowned. "Yes, well... I can learn while I do it! Actually, you can teach me! You can swim, right?"
"Yes, but I'm not the best teacher. I would hate to see you drown while I'm watching you."
Vinyl smiled. "I have faith in you to not let me drown, Octavia. Besides, if I drown, you get to be the one to save me. You'll be my knight in shining armor." Vinyl then looked down at Octavia's cello and attempted to fit it into the case.
Octavia watched as Vinyl uncomfortably hit her cello against the case, making her teeth clench in internal pain. "Okay, fine. I'll go to Lyra's house to teach you to swim. Just stop mingling with my cello. You're chipping the wood."
Vinyl chuckled as she gave Octavia her cello so she could put it away properly.
Octavia was fond of this memory. It was the first time that someone was able to get her to put down her cello when she wasn't finished. "Music doesn't have to make up 100% of our lives" stuck with Octavia for a long time. Though, when she moved to Canterlot to further her musical career, she had forgotten all about it. Now, Vinyl was back to remind her to put down the cello, and Octavia was gracious to have her back.
A few minutes later, Octavia returned to her home towards the outer ends of Canterlot. The house wasn't the largest home in Equestria, but it can definitely support a family of four ponies. This was helpful for Octavia when she had guests spend the night, but that didn't happen very often. Otherwise, the large home felt empty, and in this particular night, it felt especially lonely.
Octavia entered her room and flicked on the light. Her walls had a few posters of famous composers and performers, while the rest of the wall was littered with fancy paintings, most of which had something to do with music. In fact, many of the things in Octavia's room had something to do with music. 'Yeah, music doesn't have to make up 100% of our lives,' Octavia thought to herself. 'But it seems that it already has.'
She got out of her dress, making sure that she didn't scuff it up too much. The dress was a rental, and it had to be returned back to the designer in Ponyville in a couple days. After she gently put it away in her closet, she went to grab a glass of water before heading to bed. It was a long night, and she needed a lot of sleep.
The next morning, Octavia stepped out of bed as the sun trickled over the horizon, the light flooding in through her bedroom window. She looked at the clock and saw that it was only 7:00, making her sigh. 'Why does Vinyl have to wake up so late to have breakfast?' Octavia asked herself. 'I guess I'll have a light breakfast for now.'
Octavia went out of her room and headed into the kitchen. It was actually a very modern kitchen with up-to-date cooking utensils, but she didn't really use all of the features. She wasn't the best cook, so she normally just ate something that was pre-prepared for her or she went out to eat... by herself. In this case, most mornings consisted of cereal or oatmeal with some toast. If she was feeling extra crafty, she would make some eggs for herself, but she decided to stick with the cereal and toast for now.
Today's menu consisted of Frosted Horseshoes. It is a kid's cereal and is filled with sugar, but Octavia allowed herself to have a treat from time-to-time.
The rest of her morning was like any average morning. She finished her breakfast, took a shower, and then... went into her music room. It was a small room that was empty other than a piano and a large cello case in the corner. She used to have a bunch of music posters in this room too, but she even thought that was too distracting for her. On any normal day, she would close the door behind her and simply play her heart out until she felt that she had enough. She practically locked herself from the world for several hours, only coming out for food or the bathroom, or maybe even get a phone call... when she got one.
Though, Octavia thought back to her promise to Vinyl. Back when she made it, she thought it would be easy to let the cello go for an entire day, but she figured out hard it would be.
She entered the small, cramped space and went over to her cello. She pressed her hoof against the smooth case and was almost tempted to unzip it, but stopped herself. "You used to be so easy to put down," Octavia said to herself. "But now, I can't be away from you for more than a few hours without me going nuts ... ... Now, I'm talking to myself like a crazy pony."
Octavia sighed and stepped out of the room, closing the door behind her. "I guess I can actually use this time to check out the news for once. Perhaps something new is has happened in Equestria while I've had my head under a rock." She went over to the final room of her house: a small living room with a couple of comfortable chairs and a moderate TV. She usually came in here in the evenings to unwind after a long day.
Octavia grabbed the remote control and turned on the TV before sitting down on a chair. She flipped to a channel with a global news currently going. It was going through a generic weather report at the moment and then went on to talk about the results of the Wonderbolts' last race.
Then, Octavia couldn't help but smile when she saw Vinyl's face appear on the top-right of the screen. She listened intently to the news broadcast.
"One of Ponyville's famous DJs, Vinyl Scratch, is paying Canterlot a visit to play at the Canter Lot all 7 days of the week. With her skills as a musician, many ponies from all over Equestria are coming to Canterlot to watch this talented mare perform. The Canter Lot would like me to remind you that tickets are selling out fast, and you should buy one before the entire show is booked."
The mare then continued to talk about some other topic that Octavia didn't pay too much attention to. 'I didn't realize that Vinyl was so popular,' Octavia thought sullenly to herself. 'So much of a friend I am. I don't even realize it when Vinyl became a big-shot DJ.' Octavia shook off the grief and continued to watch TV for a couple of hours. It's not like she had anything better to do.
A few hours later, the clock finally struck 10:45, and Octavia figured that it was time to go. She put on her pink bowtie like she normally did and headed out of the door to La Mañer. She didn't mind being too early, because she was used to waiting. She just couldn't stand being home any longer with nothing to do.
In only ten minutes, Octavia arrived at the restaurant and waited outside the door for Vinyl. While she waited, she looked up at the building in front of the restaurant. It was a large hotel with several elegant touches to it. That's when she remembered that Vinyl's hotel was across from La Mañer and that this was probably where she was staying.
"It must cost a fortune to stay here," Octavia whispered to herself. "Hopefully she isn't ruining her. That would be so like her."
"Octavia," a familiar voice said to her right. Before Octavia could turn her head, the same pony said, "Are you talking to yourself?"
Octavia finally turned to see Vinyl standing next to her with a bright smile on her face. "No, I wasn't talking to myself," Octavia lied.
Vinyl chuckled to herself and replied, "Okay, then I'm guessing we're being joined by your imaginary friend that you enjoy talking to."
Octavia smiled. "Very funny, Vinyl. Can we just go inside already?"
Vinyl smirked, "Well, I try. Yeah, let's go in. I'm starving. Hopefully this place serves something big."
Octavia rolled her eyes and opened the door for Vinyl. They got seated and they placed their orders after a brief moment looking over the menu. After doing this, though, the two of them just sat in silence. They've been apart for so long, that having a simple conversation is a bit of a challenge.
"Soooo... Tavi."
"You can call me Octavia," she said moderately.
"I like Tavi better. I'm the only one who really is allowed to call you that. So I think I'll just call you Tavi."
Octavia smiled. "Alright, that seems fair."
Vinyl Scratch nodded, glad that she's getting a little bit more confident. "So Tavi, I know that music basically consumes most of your life, so what's it like to be a big cellist in a big orchestra."
"Well, it's nothing special. I just get to play fancy music on the cello in front of large crowds. I'm sure it's nothing that you would listen to."
"You'd be surprised, Octavia. I actually passed by one of your concerts in the park last year. I wasn't really into the music, but I have to say that I was impressed with what you guys could do. I actually incorporated a few orchestrated things into my works."
"Really, Vinyl Scratch puts orchestral elements into her music? What a shock."
"Not too much, but definitely enough to make it stand out."
"Hmm, interesting."
Vinyl nodded her head. "Yeah, it is."
The two of them then continued to talk about their present lives and even wandered back to their past memories. The more that they talked, the more that they got comfortable in each other's presence. It was a meeting that they needed to have after so many years.
During their time together, there was barely any silence between Octavia and Vinyl. They managed to keep the conversation interesting and fresh, and they both were enjoying each other's company. Though, Octavia was definitely benefiting the most from this meet-up. The more that she talked with Vinyl, the more she realized that she was laughing and smiling more than she had in her entire life. She tried to think of moments where she enjoyed herself this much, but always came up short.
It was actually weird for Octavia to feel this way, though, because nopony had ever made her this happy. This is when Octavia began to notice certain things. Vinyl's smile was always bright and assuring, and it perfectly complemented her bright personality. Octavia also like the liveliness of Vinyl's electric blue mane, contrasting with her own grey mane.
All of these things where "aesthetically appealing" as Octavia would say it. Though, she didn't like that Vinyl was constantly wearing her glasses to cover her eyes. So, Octavia decided to try something.
"So, Vinyl... why do you always were those glasses?"
"My reputation kind of depends on these glasses. These glasses are basically my advertising piece as DJ Pon-3."
"Well, it doesn't look like anyone recognizes you here, and you look a little silly with those on."
Vinyl scoffed and left her mouth hanging open. "Silly? These glasses are all the rage! People have offered hundreds of bits for these babies."
"Fine, fine. But it looks like you're hiding behind them."
Vinyl gave Octavia a straight face. "Wow, you really want me to take off the glasses... Fine, but on one condition."
"What's that?"
Vinyl pointed to Octavia's collar. "You need to lose the bowtie. It's too classy."
Octavia rolled her eyes. "Well... this bowtie actually shows my professionalism as a cellist, but if I need to get rid of it for you to take off those glasses, I guess it's a little worth it."
While Octavia took off her pink bowtie, Vinyl said, I don't even see what the big deal is about my glasses. They are perfectly fine."
Octavia properly folded her bowtie and placed it on the table. "I just like to talk to my friends eye-to-eye and not through a pair of glasses. Now, I did my part. Your turn."
"Fine." Vinyl then took a hoof to her glasses and gently took them off and placed them on the table. She then opened her eyes and showed off her purple eyes.
Octavia was mesmerized for a quick moment when Vinyl revealed her eyes. It had been a long time since she had the chance to look her friend in the eyes, and now it seemed so special. Though, Octavia was made a little uncomfortable by the way she felt about them. They were... beautiful to say in the least. She didn't think it would be reasonable to say that to her best friend, though.
"There, was that so hard?" Octavia asked with a hint of snarkiness.
"No, but the light is killing my eyes now." Vinyl demonstrated by shielding her eyes with hooves.
"You'll be fine, Vinyl. Besides, your eyes are nice. You should show them off more often."
"Thanks, Octavia. But I'll stick with the glasses."
"I was just trying to prove my point, but you can do whatever you want with your life."
"I will. Let's get off this. How if the music life for you?"
"Oh, it's good. As you know, I have moved up in the line of cellists and I'm actually becoming very well-known amongst all of the other orchestral musicians."
"That's basically what is happening with me, except with the DJ business. I've made so many friends, and I love to work with them make some serious jams."
"Yeah, I don't really do much with my friends. They tend to always be busy."
Vinyl shot Octavia a strange look. "hat are you talking about? As far as I know, you're the one who is always busy. You should make more time with your friends. It's totally worth it, trust me. If you hang out with a... violinist, then you can totally be awesome friends at rehearsals and shows."
"Well, I guess it would make things less awkward during breaks."
"Exactly!"
"Alright, I have a question for you."
Vinyl smiled. "Fire away."
"You talked about how you were somewhat impressed by the orchestral music and that you incorporated some of the elements into your work. Does that mean you compose some of your shows?"
"Not when I first started. But as I became more well-known, I started making my own music with a buddy of mine, Psych Delic. It's actually pretty friggin' amazing to go on-stage to play your music for hundreds of ponies. I'm sure you know exactly what that's like."
"Actually, I wouldn't know the first thing of what that's like. I've never composed a song before, and I've certainly never played my own composition in front of a crowd."
"Never? Oh, Octavia! You don't know what you're missing. It's like the best feeling to get great feedback from other pones about how much they like your work. It's one thing to be complimented on something that you played, and a whole 'nother thing to be complimented on something that you made."
Octavia gave Vinyl an interested look. "Really, it's all that great?"
"Yeah, and if anypony hates what you wrote, then all you have to do is change it. Because you're the who owns it!"
"That actually sounds kind of... cool."
"Oh, yeah. I will show you some of my stuff while I'm up here in Canterlot."
Octavia gave Vinyl a nice smile. "I look forward to it."
"But that's only if you don't decide to come to any of my shows," Vinyl said, a little more sullenly than she was speaking earlier. "No point in me showing you my music if you've already heard it."
"I'll think about it, Vinyl," Octavia responded. "I am kind of busy." After saying that, she knew that Vinyl was probably sick of her using her schedule as a constant excuse to not see her show. To make up for it, Octavia honestly said, "But with what you've told me, I might have to change my schedule. Your show and your music sounds really... intriguing."
Vinyl's ears perked up and she smiled brightly. "Really?!" Vinyl got up from her seat and hugged Octavia, much to Octavia's surprise. "That would mean so much to me if you saw my show. I could get you the best seats in the house and you can meet all of my friends."
Octavia blushed a little from Vinyl's show of affection. She assumed that Vinyl was always fond of her friends, but she knew that Vinyl wasn't hug type. She let the thought loose and brought herself into the hug a bit more and said, "Of course, Vinyl. What would I be if I missed my best friend's show?"
"I don't know, but I'm still super happy that you're coming." Vinyl kept Octavia in her arms for a few more moments until she realized it was getting awkward. "Now, let's separate before people start getting the wrong idea." Vinyl retracted her arms and took a step back to give Octavia some room.
Octavia gave Vinyl a smile, but she ended up getting a curious look in return. "What's wrong, Vinyl?"
Vinyl got rid of the curious look and replaced it with a smile. "Oh, nothing. I just... here."
Vinyl's head slowly inched forward to Octavia's, which made Octavia blush a bit. She was glad that she was born with a dark coat, or else ponies would see her blush from a few hundred miles away. She thought that Vinyl was inching closer to kiss her, and that wasn't even the thing that worried Octavia the most. What worried her the most was the fact that she was actually kind of okay with it. Almost... yearning for it.
The thought of it creeped her out, and the feelings that came with it made it worse. Octavia knew that these were the effects of having affection for somepony, but she didn't think she would be getting the feelings for her best friend.
Vinyl got a little closer, but then stopped at a comfortable distance. "Yo, Octy. You have some hay in your teeth. I didn't want to be the one to tell you, but I didn't want you to just have it in your teeth for somepony else to find it."
The heat in Octavia's cheek slowly dispersed and went away after Vinyl said that. She didn't want to admit it to herself, but she was disappointed that she didn't end up with what she wanted. "Oh. Uh... thanks, Vinyl. I did eat that sandwich a little savagely, and it to have left me with some hay in my teeth."
Vinyl chuckled. "When compared to how I ate my sandwich, you ate like a regal princess in front a huge crowd."
"Heh... you weren't that bad. Besides, you aren't the one with food stuck in your teeth." Octavia closed her mouth and began running her tongue against the back of her teeth and managed to feel the piece of hay. She got it unhinged from the center of her teeth and swallowed it. She opened her mouth again, revealing her teeth, and said, "Did I get it all, Vinyl?"
"Yeah, you did."
"Oh, that's good," Octavia said with a smile. "You know... I was wondering if you would like to come back to my place. We could continue our little chat."
"Octavia, I would really like to, but I have a thing with Deep Bass at a studio in Canterlot. We're supposed to do some jamming to come up with sick twists for our shows this week. Maybe another time."
Octavia frowned, but she didn't want to make it obvious to Vinyl of her sadness (and herself). "That's fine. I need to go home... and do stuff, also," Octavia lied. She didn't want to make Vinyl feel bad.
"We'll find another time to hang out, alright. Also, if you want to get yourself some tickets from me, I'm staying at the hotel across the way. Let me tell you, it is the best place that anypony has ever booked for me."
"I'll be sure to do that," Octavia said, forcing another smile.
The two of them briefly talked for another few moments, paid the bills, and began to say their good-byes. Before they parted way, Vinyl made sure to remind Octavia that she is not allowed to play her cello for the rest of the day, as part of their deal. Octavia playfully rolled her eyes and then set off for home.
Though, Octavia's way home left her with more thoughts than before, most of which she didn't want to be thinking about. Vinyl was her best friend, and all Octavia could think about was being with her until eternity. She never wanted to give up her friendship when she moved to Canterlot.
"Octavia, I can't believe you're moving to Canterlot!" Vinyl exclaimed, helping Octavia onto an air balloon. "This is such a huge step in your life."
"Yeah, I can't believe I'm going to be a cellist in a big orchestra," Octavia said excitedly. "Though, I can't believe that we won't be able to see each other as much anymore. I've known you all my life, and now we're just parting like this. It's almost like an... end of a chapter."
Vinyl shook her head. "Don't be ridiculous, Octy. We're going to still keep in touch with letters and all that jazz. You can tell me about how glamorous Canterlot, and I can tell you all about my sick gigs here in Ponyville. It'll be just like old times."
"Yeah, except we won't be able to actually see each other," Octavia said sullenly, a tear threatening to form in her eye.
"Oh, don't be like that, Octavia. I'll come visit you whenever I can, and whenever you're not too busy being a superstar, you can visit me. It'll be fun, I promise."
A tear finally fled Octavia's eye, rolling down her cheek. "I hope so."
Vinyl wiped away Octavia's tear and brought her in for a hug. "I know so."
While the two of them hugged, the balloon conductor turned to Octavia and said, "Are you ready to go, Miss Philharmonica?"
Octavia slowly got out of the hug. "I guess it's time for me to go."
"Yeah. Knock the crowds dead, Octy."
Octavia smiled before getting all the way onto the air balloon. The conductor closed the door and got the balloon to fly up into the sky. Octavia looked down from the edge and noticed that Vinyl was waving to her. She waved back with a smile. She knew that Vinyl was right and that their friendship would continue.
But, Vinyl and Octavia didn't write much. Octavia became overwhelmed with her schedule and Vinyl got gigs left-and-right, making new acquaintances along the way. Their visits were non-existent since neither of them found the time to invite the other. On random days, both of them became upset for not communicating with the other more.
Though, Octavia got the chance of her lifetime to finally continue her friendship with Vinyl and she wasn't going to let that slip out of her hooves.
My Composition For You Chapter 4 - A Loving Melody
Octavia entered her home shortly after... and it seemed even emptier than before. Octavia was obviously happy that Vinyl was happy after all of these years, but she just wished that she could have more than this week to spend time with her. She closed the front door behind her and walked into her private playing room, seeing her cello leaning against the wall. Just the sight of it always seemed to make her smile.
Octavia rubbed her hoof against the recently polished wood of her precious instrument and went to reach for her bow. She retracted her hoof shortly after, remembering Vinyl's request for her not to play all day. Though, she decided to grab the bow, anyways.
A little bit of playing can't hurt, Octavia whispered to herself. How would Vinyl know?
Octavia grabbed her cello and gripped the bow in her right hoof. She pressed the bow into the strings and began playing one of the symphonies that she had to prepare for next week's concert. Though, as she played, her mind began to drift away from the music and settled onto thoughts of Vinyl. One thought that she particularly caught onto was her conversation with Vinyl about composing music.
That thought stuck with her for a few more moments, and her music began to deviate from the symphony and went into something entirely new. Octavia smiled when she heard the soothing melody from her imagination begin to bellow out from her cello. It was just a slight variation of some songs that she had heard before, but she then put in her own little twists. After only a bit of playing around, the melody became entirely her own.
Octavia smiled brighter every moment that she played. Not just because she was creating something of her own, but because she was creating it through her thoughts of Vinyl. Though, after a moment of messing around with the cello, she realized that she needed to write some of these melodies down. She grabbed some blank manuscript paper off of the shelves and got to work.
After about an hour of playing and writing down her thoughts onto the manuscript paper, three and a half pages of the cello music were complete. Octavia expected it to be difficult, but once she had the music in her head, it didn't take her long for her to put it down on paper.
She put her name on the top-left corner of the first page. She was satisfied with her work, but her eyes went over to the empty title slot at the top of the page. Octavia didn't know what she should call her piece. She thought it would be too formal to call it a symphony with an opus or anything, and she didn't have a story or driving force connected to the piece.
Well... I do have one bit of motivation for this piece, Octavia whispered to herself. It was mostly obvious for her, since the whole time, she was thinking of… Vinyl. This piece of work was based off of a suggestion that Vinyl had made. The one special thing that Octavia could do in return was dedicate the song to her.
Octavia went into the inner sanctums of her mind to find a title to fit this “dedication”, but she couldn’t find one that was just right. After a few minutes of thinking of a name, Octavia ended up writing ‘My Composition For You’ as the title. Octavia immediately thought that the title wasn’t much, but she felt that it served its purpose nicely. It was her composition to Vinyl.
Octavia smiled at her accomplishment of creating a portion of music. In fact, as soon as she was done with it, she picked up all of the scattered papers and placed them in order on the stand. She grabbed her cello and began playing her piece, feeling every emotion that she had put into it.
After a couple minutes of playing it all the way through, Octavia felt completely satisfied with herself that she would create such a piece. She didn’t know that she had the capability of doing so, but she was glad that she finally went and did it. She was about to play it again when something struck her.
“Vinyl isn’t going to want to listen to this,” Octavia said to herself. “It has too many ‘boring’ classical aspects and not any, what would Vinyl call it, ‘dropping the bass’.” Octavia put a hoof to her mouth and tried to think of a way to try and make this sound more interesting, experimenting with different sounds that the cello could make. Despite her efforts, she didn’t find anything that satisfied her, so she gave up quickly.
Octavia, frustrated with herself for going through all the trouble for a song that her friend won’t even listen to, decided to go in the kitchen to clear her mind. She grabbed herself a glass of water and a leftover sandwich from the fridge. She leaned against the counter, eating and drinking away. She didn’t normally let herself become so irritated, but sometimes things don’t go her way.
However, when Octavia went through the cupboards to find herself another snack, she noticed something on the counter that stood out to her. It was the large ‘PonyBook’ which contained the contact information of several companies and ponies, specifically in Canterlot. Octavia put a hoof to her face again and thought about what she could do with it and a thought hit her.
She grabbed the book and flipped to a page with ponies whose names started with the letter ‘N’. When she finally found the number she was looking for, she immediately grabbed a phone and made a call.
A couple of hours later, Octavia was standing outside of a studio, owned by a pony named Neon Lights. Octavia remembered Vinyl extensively talking about how Neon Lights was her partner and that they did just about everything together. Octavia called and they agreed to meet at his studio.
Octavia entered and was amazed by the amount of technology that surrounded her at the entrance. Everything seemed so complicated to her, but she thought it was interesting that some ponies might know what’s exactly going on in this area. She kept moving forward and her eye finally caught onto three ponies who were crowded around a mixing board, a piece of pizza in each of their hooves. Octavia went in to introduce herself.
“Hello,” Octavia said politely.
One of the ponies raised his head and smiled. “Ah, you must be Octavia Philharmonica, the one I spoke to on the phone earlier.”
Octavia smiled and went over to the three colts. “That’s me.”
Neon Lights shook Octavia’s hoof with his own greasy hoof, making Octavia cringe slightly. “It’s great to meet you. I heard you were good friends with our Vinyl before we even met. That makes you special.”
“Yes, well. I used to live in Ponyville, but I moved to Canterlot to join the symphony.”
Neon Lights nodded his head. “Interesting. Oh… and meet my friends Psych Delic and Fire Cracker. They’re going to be helping us out today with your little composition.”
Octavia waved to the two colts as they waved back to her. “That’s great. I could use all the help I could get.”
“Well, that’s what we’re best at. So… I guess we can get down to business. I heard you already have yourself started with a cello solo, and I like what you’re going with that. So we won’t get rid of it. Instead, we’ll just infuse the theme that you have already with some of our own beats.”
“Alright, that’s sounding good. Hopefully one won’t overpower the other, though.”
Neon Lights shook his head. “Don’t you worry about that. Electronic classical compositions nowadays are really cool, and I want to show off both aspects. Besides, I know what Vinyl likes, so I’ll definitely see to it that she gets something that she likes.”
Octavia smiled even brighter. “Oh, thank you so much. Vinyl and I haven’t seen each other in ages and I wanted to do something special for her.”
“That’s what we’re hoping for. So you brought your cello with you, correct?”
Octavia nodded, indicating with the heavy cello case in her left hoof.
“Great. We have a chair, stand, and microphone set up for you in the recording area. Why don’t you get yourself set and we’ll start recording.”
Octavia gladly nodded and set off for the indicated ‘recording area’. She closed the door behind her, leaving the three colts to themselves.
Fire Cracker smiled. “Neon, man. I think we’ve done it.”
Neon Lights looked over to Fire Cracker and smiled back. “If by done it, you mean we’ve found Vinyl a marefriend, then I agree with you.”
Psych Delic shook in his chair with mild excitement. “Oh, we are most definitely going to bring those two together. Vinyl has been alone for much too long.”
Neon Lights put his right hoof up. “One step at a time, guys.” Neon Lights went to the sound controls and looked through the window to see Octavia warming up. “We have to make sure that Octavia makes this very special song for her future love first.”
Psych Delic and Fire Cracker accompanied Neon Lights at the sound board. Fire Cracker tapped on the microphone to make sure it was on, and said, “Alright, Octavia. Are you all warmed-up?”
Octavia stopped her bow and looked up to the window to see that the three colts were looking at her. She nodded her head in their direction, and said, “Yeah. Do I just start whenever?”
Neon Lights nodded his head. “Whenever you’re comfortable, go for it.”
The recording session lasted a good 45 minutes with Octavia constantly starting and stopping. Neon Lights gave several comments about changing Octavia’s technique to make the piece feel more alive. Octavia didn’t really get it, but after several minutes of trying different things, Neon smiled when she finally grasped the concept. He called her back into the other room.
“You’re definitely one of the better ponies that I’ve worked with, Octavia. You actually pay attention to what I’m telling you and you don’t get offended when I tell you something is off.”
“Do you get ponies that don’t pay attention or get offended?” Octavia curiously asked, not used to such behavior in an orchestral sense.
Neon Lights and turned back to Fire Cracker and Psych Delic. “We probably run into those “kinds” about once or twice a day. Just a bunch of musicians who think they know best, when they clearly don’t. We have to kick a pony or two out a week just because they were stubborn to work with us.”
Octavia gave Neon Lights a shocked look. “I guess I don’t know that much about this DJ world. We don’t encounter this behavior all that much with the symphony. Whenever we do, our director tends to shut them up right away.”
“You’ve entered a completely different world, Octavia,” Fire Cracker said.
“Yeah, I know. But… I kind of like it. I feel adventurous when I explore different types of music.”
Fire Cracker and Psych Delic looked at each other and smiled. Amongst all of the “fancy talk”, they thought they heard a little bit of Vinyl Scratch in Octavia’s voice. It was a bit of a positive revelation for the both of them.
“That’s the spirit, Octavia. I almost thought that this business may be too much for a cellist, but you are definitely a mare with taste.”
Octavia blushed slightly. “Heh, thanks.”
“So what we’re going to do now is the techno part. You’re going to tell Psych Delic what key we’re in and we can go from there. By the end of today, even you are going to be jamming to your little cello composition.”
Octavia nodded. “That’s what I’m hoping for.”
The four ponies spent several hours getting the music the way they wanted it to be. Octavia cringed a few times, since some of the DJs’ styles were drastically than her own, but after a while, she began to get accustomed to it. By the end, she actually got into the different style.
Neon Lights yawned. “Alright, good job, gentlecolts.” He then looked to Octavia. “And mare. This is sounding pretty good. I can give you the CD of it right now and you can show it to Vinyl, alright?”
Octavia shook her head. “Actually, I was wondering if any one of you would like to accompany me at a concert with some of this equipment.”
Neon Lights gave Octavia a confused look. “What are you saying? You want to play this live?”
“Well, yeah. I can play the cello parts while you play the DJ stuff on the speakers. Is that a problem?”
Neon Lights smiled. “No problem at all. In fact, it’s better. Just give us a time and a date and we’ll hook you up.”
“Great! Well… I have your number, so I’ll call you soon.” Octavia brought her left hoof forward. “Thanks for helping me out today.”
Neon shook her hoof. “It is my pleasure.”
“Goodbye.” Octavia left the studio with a wave to the three colts. She was clearly satisfied with the work that she did with them.
Neon Lights sighed happily. “This can’t be any more amazing.”
Fire Cracker snickered. “Vinyl Scratch is getting a concert. Pure bliss.”
Psych Delic nodded his head. “I’m going to get the champagne for their wedding.”
The next couple of days were some of the happiest in Octavia’s life. She was actively engaged in her friendship, growing the bond further every day. Octavia even set up a time with Neon Lights so that she can perform a day before Vinyl leaves for Ponyville. Everything was going pretty well for Octavia at this point.
Three days after Octavia’s encounter with Neon Lights, she was at a park with Vinyl, watching as some of the ponies passed by on the laid-out paths.
“So, Octavia… when are you going to see my show?”
Octavia turned to face Vinyl, broken out of her daydream. “Hm?”
“When are you going to see my show? Two gigs have already passed and you haven’t even asked for a ticket yet.”
Octavia frowned. Even though she was too busy working with Neon Lights and the symphony to even go to her past two events, she had actually forgotten about the concert altogether. “Oh, sorry. I guess I’ve been a bit busy.” Octavia paused and looked up at Vinyl. “Do you have a ‘gig’ tomorrow night? I would really like to go and see you perform. I’ll even get out of one of my rehearsals so I can get there early.”
“Tomorrow night? That’s great! It’s my last show, and all of my finales are the best. I’ll call my tickets manager and make sure that he saves a nice area in the front just for you. Oh, this is so great!”
Octavia smiled, encouraged by Vinyl’s enthusiasm. “I’m glad that you’re happy.” Octavia paused for a moment and finally said, “Hey, Vinyl. I was wondering if you can attend one of my concerts. It’s the day after your final show.” Octavia had set-up her song as the finale of her next concert, but she wasn’t going to tell Vinyl that.
“Oh, of course, Octy! I might be a little tired because of my long week, but I would love to go see your concert.”
“That’s great! I’ll get you a good seat, too. Front row seats are hard to get, but I can get you one for free.”
“Awesome!”
The two continued to talk through their lunch as if their friendship hadn’t “ended” for several years. It was something that Octavia secretly dreamed of, but never mentioned to any of her colleagues when she moved to Canterlot.
Two nights later, Octavia stood waiting in line to get her ‘pre-ordered’ tickets. Vinyl guaranteed the good tickets, but she couldn’t get them to Octavia, so she had to wait in a long line for them.
As Octavia made her way forward through the line, she grew more and more uncomfortable by the mixed amount of character in the crowd. Everybody’s tone was rough, and they used so many curse words that Octavia wondered if their vocabulary included any normal words. She sighed and tried to get through this… for Vinyl.
After a half hour of waiting, Octavia finally made it to the booth.
“Hi…” Octavia uncomfortably said to the colt behind the ticket booth with ragged fire-like hair. “I should have a ticket reserved for me.”
The pony looked down to a notebook and asked, “Name?”
“Octavia Philharmonica.”
The colt looked up to Octavia, looked at her for a moment, and smiled. “Ah yes, Vinyl has talked about you.” The pony grabbed a ticket that was slightly flashier than the rest and handed it to Octavia. “There’s a huge spot in the front for ponies like you. You can’t miss it.”
Octavia grabbed the ticket and said, “Alright, thanks.”
“Have an awesome time, Octavia,” the colt said as Octavia left to finally go to the concert.
Octavia approached the concert area, and finally noticed the massive amount of people who actually went to see Vinyl’s show. She couldn’t help but leave her mouth hanging. She hadn’t realized that Vinyl had become so popular in such a short amount of time. Octavia knew the she could never get a crowd half this size to attend her concerts, even if she went down on her front hooves and begged.
She went down the sides, having a lot of issues getting through the crowds without running into several ponies. The whole thing was on a huge lawn with a large stage in the front. It was similar to when she saw a show featuring Trixie with Vinyl back in Ponyville, except on a MUCH bigger scale.
Octavia finally made it to the front and stood there to bring the whole environment in. To her left was a moderately-sized barred off area with several crazed Vinyl fans. Octavia approached, assuming it was the place that she was supposed to go. When she got there, she recognized the person who was asking for ponies’ tickets to enter the VIP area.
“Hey, Octavia!” Fire Cracker shouted to her. “I didn’t expect you to be here.”
Octavia smiled, glad to finally see a familiar face. “Well, Vinyl invited me to come here… so I guess I couldn’t say no.”
“Awesome. Vinyl hasn’t had a show this good since, well… ever. She just keeps getting better.”
“Well, she was already pretty amazing, so I’m sure I can expect something good.”
Fire Cracker chuckled, swaying his head back and forth as if it were an actual flame. “Oh, you most certainly can. Why don’t you go backstage and wish her good luck?”
“I don’t think that should be necessary. Besides, I don’t want to throw her off or anything.”
Fire Cracker chuckled and turned Octavia around. “Don’t be ridiculous. Listen, my buddy Locks is Vinyl’s bodyguard for the night, so just let him know that Fire Cracker sent you.”
“Uh… okay. I guess I could say a few words of encouragement.”
“Alright! Then just come back here and I’ll let you in.”
Octavia walked off and went behind the curtains. She kept going through when she was stopped by a grey pony with a guard’s uniform on. “May I help you, miss?”
“I’m assuming you’re Locks. Fire Cracker sent me to go visit Vinyl.”
“I see. Are you a friend or family?”
“Friend. Really close friend.”
Locks smiled and stepped aside to let Octavia through. “I see. I think I recognize you. I’m sure Vinyl has a picture or two of you in her room.”
Octavia smiled and passed through, but thought about why Vinyl would keep a picture of her in her room. I know that Vinyl and I are best friends, but I didn’t know that I left that much of an impact on her. Octavia, being her paranoid self, continued to have these thoughts, but didn’t allow them to make her uncomfortable.
Octavia kept going until she finally noticed a door with the name ‘DJ Pon-3’ on it. Octavia hesitated for a moment, but then knocked on the door a few times. She waited a few moments, and the door came open with a bright and happy Vinyl standing in the doorway.
“Octavia!” Vinyl shouted before throwing onto Octavia with a hug. “Oh, you actually came backstage to come check me out. How did you get past Locks?”
Octavia laughed, getting comfortable in her hug with Vinyl. “Fire Cracker helped me get in.”
“Oh, you know Fire Cracker?” Vinyl asked with a smile. “Oh, you’re already being friends with my friends.”
“Heh, yeah.” Octavia loosened the hug so that she could look Vinyl in the eyes. “So, how are you, Vinyl? You nervous at all.”
“Pssht, of course not,” Vinyl said with a slightly less convincing tone. “It’s only my last show, which is supposed to be the best show, in a place where there’s twice as many ponies than usual, most of which are extremely critical of my work. I have nothing to worry about.”
Octavia caught the worry in every word of that statement. “Well… just do your best. And… even if you do your worst, you’re still the best to me.”
Vinyl finally brought out a genuine smile, letting Octavia know that she was actually okay. “Thanks, Octavia.” Vinyl looked up at the clock in her room and said, “The show starts in a couple of minutes. You should get back out there.”
“Alright. Good luck, Vinyl.”
“Don’t even need it.”
Octavia chuckled as she got out the same way that she got in. She went over to the VIP area, and Fire Cracker without even needing to see her ticket. Although there was a good group of ponies in the VIP area, there was still plenty of room for Octavia to move and even stretch her hooves if she needed to. Octavia would’ve preferred sitting down, but she appreciated what she got.
She waited for a few minutes, then finally brightly smiled when the curtains parted, revealing Vinyl surrounded by several flashing colored lights. Vinyl was behind her turntables and she raised her left hoof in the air, shouting, “Are you all ready to listen to some music?”
The crowd responded with extremely loud cheers. Octavia tried to cheer as loud as possible, but she ended up choking from screaming louder than she was used to. She just resorted to smiling and clapping in order to avoid more embarrassing choking.
“That’s what I like to hear. Let’s hear some wubs!” Vinyl dropped her hooves onto the turntables, and the music began blasting, nearly blowing Octavia away.
Right away, Octavia was nearly off of her feet by the blaring music, not understanding the melody at all. Though, as her ears got used to the immense amount of bass, she began to hear the other “colors” blend in with the music. Octavia couldn’t explain it, but the effect was almost magical.
The techno, melodic line mixed in with some percussive sounds and a few harmonies. Octavia almost felt that the worlds of orchestra and techno had just met for the first time… and they actually got along with each other. She looked up to the player and composer and saw that she was having a great time doing what she loved.
Octavia kept looking up to Vinyl, and after a few moments, Vinyl’s head shifted downward. Despite Vinyl’s eyes being blocked by her glasses, Octavia could tell that she was looking straight at her. This connection evoked an emotion in Octavia, causing to yell out an immense “Woo” to Vinyl, this time without even choking.
It was an immense feeling for Octavia, and she could tell that that immense feeling was being reflected onto Vinyl. Octavia could even see Vinyl laughing as they stared at each other. It was almost as if Octavia was on stage with Vinyl, playing side-by-side with her.
Though, such a connection could not go on for so long. At least… for a pony who should be paying attention to her concert rather than her best friend in the audience.
Octavia’s smile immediately faded when she heard a loud, high-pitched screech come out of the speakers. She looked up to see Vinyl freaking out, trying deeply to solve the problem, since she is now deafening several thousands of ponies on Canterlot television.
Vinyl grabbed the CD off of her turntable, immediately ending the music and the screeching noise. Out of instinct, she took the damaged CD and tossed it to the side so that it wouldn’t bother her anymore.
Though, the dominoes of misfortune were already falling onto Vinyl’s performance.
The CD launched perfectly into the center of the light, shattering the glass casing. At first, it wasn’t a big deal since she would be able to just pay for it and be on her way. Though, after a few moments, the exposed light began to light into a thunderous fire.
Octavia saw the colors of the flames being flashed onto Vinyl’s white fur. Vinyl ran over to put out the fire, though despite her efforts, the fire started to get worse and worse.
Octavia watched as Vinyl ran back to the microphone and yelled, “Please don’t leave! Help me out here!” Octavia turned around to notice that half of the audience had already booked it out of the lot, leaving her and a few dedicated fans to watch as the flames got bigger. Knowing that no one else was probably going to help her out, even Vinyl’s bodyguards who were nowhere to be found, Octavia decided to take the initiative.
She ran up to Fire Cracker, who was trying to control the chaos as ponies ran rampantly into each other. “Fire Cracker!”
“Octavia!”
“Do you have any water anywhere to put out the fire? That should be the first thing to get done, don’t you think?”
Fire Cracker looked to his left, then to his right. “I believe there’s a hose in the maintenance room backstage.”
“Do you think you can find that and get that started? I need to help Vinyl.”
“I can’t do that, Octavia! If ponies get hurt while they’re running this rampantly, then we can have a lawsuit on our hands.”
Octavia started getting frustrated, not understanding Fire Cracker’s ignorance. “If you let this place burn down to the ground, a few small lawsuits will seem minuscule. Let the rest of your team deal with the crowds, and you can put out that fire, alright?”
Fire Cracker sighed. “Someone not in the profession is thinking a lot smarter than I am. I respect you for that, Octavia.” Fire Cracker ran off and went backstage.
Octavia ran up onto the stage where Vinyl was still combating the flames with hooves. Octavia wrapped her hooves around Vinyl’s center and began dragging her back.
“What are you doing? Let me go!”
“There’s nothing you can do, Vinyl. Fire Cracker’s on his way with a hose to stop the fire.”
Vinyl continued to squirm, though Octavia’s grip was too powerful. “But I can still try to save the show, Octavia. I am not letting my last show end this way.”
Octavia managed to turn Vinyl around to face her. This revealed Vinyl’s unexpected tears running down her face. “I don’t know what I’m doing, Octavia! This kind of stuff doesn’t happen in Ponyville.”
Octavia frowned and almost started crying due to Vinyl’s trepidation. “It’s okay. We’ll get this fire out and we’ll deal with whatever comes after. Together, alright? I’m with you until the end.”
Vinyl let go of Octavia and wiped away a few tears. “Alright. Thanks, Octy.” Vinyl turned around to face the fire, which is still small, but is getting larger every moment. “What do we do?”
“Nothing,” Octavia said, pointing to an approaching pony. “There’s our hero for the day.” Octavia was referring to Fire Cracker, who was holding a heavy hose in his hands.
“Let’s get this thing going!” Fire Cracker yelled before pulling a nozzle on the hose, releasing a bunch of water onto the fire. It was interesting how the fire danced around the water before putting itself out. After only a few moments of spraying, the fire was finally completely out, leaving behind a charred light and curtain.
Fire Cracker turned off the flowing water and dropped the hose to the ground. He turned to face Vinyl and Octavia, and went to comfort the pained performer. “Are you alright?”
Vinyl nodded her head. “Yeah, I’m good. You can go now, Fire Cracker. I’ll clean this up.”
Fire Cracker gave Vinyl a stern look. “Are you kidding, Vinyl? You just had a show like that and you expect me to leave you to do all the work.” Fire Cracker put a hoof to his face. “Octavia, can you please take Vinyl home?”
Octavia looked at Vinyl, then back to Fire Cracker. “Alright. Let’s go, Vinyl.”
Before Octavia was able to grab Vinyl to help her out of the lot, Vinyl quickly stated, “Wait, I can at least help you.”
Fire Cracker shook his head. “Get some rest, Vinyl.” He then went off to tear down the entire charred curtain, with the help of a few maintenance ponies.
Vinyl was left in awe that she wasn’t even allowed to help clean up her own mess. She turned to Octavia and said, “Well… I guess I have to go home.”
“Yeah… I’ll walk you to your hotel room.”
Octavia did just that and accompanied Vinyl all the way through Canterlot to get back to her hotel room. It was a quiet walk, mainly since they both needed time to think about such a crazy event. Eventually, they got back to Vinyl’s room.
“Thanks for walking me here, Octy. I… just needed time to think.”
“You’re welcome, Vinyl.”
Vinyl started to open the door to her room when Octavia stopped her. “You know when you told me that I wasn’t allowed to play my cello for an entire day.”
“Yeah, why?”
“I’m going to do the same for you. You aren’t allowed to check the news at all tomorrow… or for the rest of the week. No newspapers, no newscasts, no nothing.”
“Yeah… I get it. I probably don’t even want to see what they have to say about that.”
“Exactly.” Vinyl made another step into her room more Octavia stopped her again. “Also, and this may seem selfish, but are you still coming to my concert tomorrow?”
“Uh… I don’t know, Octavia. After what happened tonight, I don’t even want to leave my room for at least a few days.”
“Please? It’s a good concert. It’ll make you feel better, I promise. There’ll also be free food.”
Vinyl chuckled, knowing that she can’t pass up free food. “I… guess I can make it. When is it?”
“6 in the evening. We can have dinner after.”
“Uh… sure. That sounds fine.” Vinyl finally stepped all of the way into her room and turned to Octavia. “Thank you so much for what you’ve done, Octavia. I don’t know what I would be going through right now if you weren’t there to comfort me.”
“You’re welcome, Vinyl.”
Vinyl closed the door, leaving Octavia with her thoughts.
She almost felt worse than Vinyl did, mainly because it pained her to see Vinyl as hurt as she was. It was a terrible feeling.
Octavia tossed and turned in her bed. She didn’t want to admit it to herself, but her thoughts were corrupted with sad thoughts of Vinyl
“Or perhaps my thoughts are blessed with thoughts of Vinyl,” Octavia whispered to herself a few times in the night. This time, Octavia didn’t try to hide from her despaired feelings about Vinyl and simply accepted them.
Though, Octavia constantly tried to get the thoughts out of her head, because she knew that she needed plenty of sleep for her concert the next morning. The hours passed, though, and Octavia would’ve been happy if she had any sleep at all.
Finally, at around 3:45, Octavia finally released all of the thoughts and drifted off to sleep. It was a wonderful feeling, but she knew they would come flocking back as soon as she woke up.
The next morning at 7:00, Octavia’s daily alarm clock woke her up. She slowly got up from her bed, stretching her front hooves and shaking the 3 hours of sleep from her drooping eyes. She reached over to her adjacent desk and shut off the obnoxious alarm clock and slowly got out of bed, prepared to do her normal routine.
She first stepped into the bathroom and looked in the mirror, completely expecting the rat on her head that was her hair. It was much worse than it had ever been before, hairs sticking up in every direction, but she knew that tossing and turning in bed for several hours would do that.
Octavia shook herself awake another time before grabbing her comb to make her hair look at least reasonable. She then exited the bathroom, grabbed herself some coffee, and drank it in. After downing a whole cup of coffee, Octavia considered getting another cup, or five, but she knew that she needed to get off her addiction of caffeine, no matter how much she needed it.
Instead, Octavia decided to exit her house without much thought to it. She wanted to go for a short stroll so she could wipe out the sleeplessness in her eyes. In most of her walks, she didn’t have much of a prescribed path to go on, but this time, she felt her hooves take her to one specific place.
Vinyl’s hotel.
Octavia had already been there a few times in the past week, so it wasn’t difficult for her to get there quickly, especially since she had just been there last night. Her hooves subconsciously moved faster and faster until Octavia was going at a brisk walk rather than a stroll. She eventually made it to the large and fancy hotel. She still admired the design of it and imagined how lucky Vinyl was that her career brought her here.
Octavia, again without much thought, entered the luxurious lobby and went up to the fifth floor. As soon as the elevator doors popped open, Octavia slowly went down the hall and made it to room 534. She really didn’t want to disturb Vinyl, since she knew that Vinyl probably had less sleep than she had, if any. Though, she equally wanted to figure out if Vinyl was okay.
She knocked on the door, louder than she wanted to, and waited for an answer. It took a few moment, but eventually, the door opened, revealing a disheveled Vinyl Scratch.
“Hey, Octy,” Vinyl said, rubbing her eyes. “What are you doing here? I thought you said your concert is at night.”
“Well… I had a pretty sleepless night, and I wanted to check up on you.”
“Oh… well that makes two of us. I finally gave up on sleeping an hour ago and had been watching some dumb soap opera that I don’t even understand.”
“Why are you watching that?”
“Because I was too lazy to change the channel. I’m actually glad you knocked on the door, or else I would probably be still watching it for the next few hours.”
Octavia chuckled, trying dearly to lighten the mood. “Oh, okay.”
“Why don’t you come in, Octavia?” Vinyl asked, moving aside so that Octavia would be able to enter.
“Oh, are you sure? I don’t want to interrupt your soap opera.”
Vinyl laughed. “Nah, I could use some company.”
Octavia smiled. “Okay.” She stepped into the large hotel room, and noticed something about it. “Hey… I thought there was no maid service in this building. Did you clean up in here?”
Vinyl nodded her head. “Yeah, I guess when you have a terrible concert and you have no way to get to sleep, then you get really productive with your time.” Vinyl walked over to her kitchen area and opened her refrigerator. “I don’t have coffee, so you won’t be able to down fifty cups of it like you normally do, but I have water and juice and stuff like that.”
Octavia chuckled. “I don’t drink fifty cups of coffee every day, Vinyl.”
Vinyl gave Octavia a straight face. “Oh, so did you finally increase your intake to 60. Ugh… I never thought I’d see the day.”
Octavia rolled her eyes. “No, I’ve actually been cutting back. My parents have been telling me that my caffeine intake is a bit unhealthy.”
Vinyl grabbed orange juice out of the fridge and filled two cups with it before putting it back. “You think? I remember when you first had more than one cup in a single hour. You couldn’t stay in one place for more than a second. I thought it was hilarious.” Vinyl chuckled again before offering a cup to Octavia. “You like orange juice, right?”
Octavia grabbed the cup and smiled. “Yeah, thanks.”
Vinyl went over to her table and sat down. “So, you have a concert tonight? What’s going to be in it?”
Octavia opened her mouth, knowing exactly which songs were going to be played, but she knew that she couldn’t discuss the final song. Instead, Octavia said, “It’s a surprise. Looks like you’re going to have to attend to find out.”
Vinyl gave a heavy sigh. “Aw, come on, Octy. Help a tired mare out. I just want to know what songs you’re playing.”
Octavia rolled her eyes. “Why does it matter to you anyways? The second that I tell you, you’re going to ask me questions, like ‘What’s an opus?’ or ‘What in the world is a piano concerto?’”
“Ah-ha!” Vinyl said, louder than Octavia expected. “So that means you’re playing a piano concerto with an opus in it!”
Octavia tried to keep a straight face, but a smile slowly faded in. “Sure, Vinyl. And it’s the best piano concerto with an opus in it ever.” Octavia tried to keep in a slight giggle, but wasn’t doing a really good job of doing it. “I think you’re going to love it.”
Vinyl laughed along with Octavia, seeing right through Octavia’s sarcasm. “Yeah, yeah. Whatever. I’ll go to your show and be totally confused about what’s going on like I always have.”
Octavia raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean ‘like you always have’? You’ve never been to one of my shows before now.”
Vinyl’s smile faded. “Oh yeah… that’s right.” Vinyl put a hoof behind her neck. “I guess I’ve been pretty busy lately and haven’t had the time to see you perform.”
Octavia finally sat down at the table with Vinyl and took a sip of her orange juice. “Oh, don’t worry about that, Vinyl. You’re going to this one, and that’s all that matters to me right now.”
Vinyl smiled. “Okay.”
The two of them continued to chat for another couple of hours. Octavia was just trying to make sure that Vinyl forgets about her incident the night before, and the ploy was successful, since Vinyl seemed to be smiling and laughing more than ever. Octavia couldn’t have been any happier because of it.
Several hours later, Octavia arrived at the Beethoofen Hall. She went onto the stage with her cello and set it up at a chair next to her friend, May, a peach colored mare with a similar-colored mane.
“Hello, Octavia. Are you ready for the concert?”
Octavia nodded her head, timidly saying, “Yeah, I think I’m ready.”
May raised an eyebrow. “You don’t sound like you’re ready. Why are you nervous? You’re one of our best players.”
“Heh, thanks. It’s not the normal music, though. It’s the surprise solo that I have at the end.”
“Oh, you have a solo? That might explain the three… interesting stallions that we have backstage setting up all of this equipment. Do you know them?”
Octavia smiled, glad that she could rely on Neon Lights to show up early to set up. “Yes, I do know them. I asked them to help me out with my piece. You said they were backstage?”
May nodded. “Yeah, just behind the curtains.”
“Good to know. Thanks, May. Have a good concert.”
“You, too.”
Octavia left her cello at her seat and went behind the curtains to find three familiar colts setting up a complex sound system. Octavia smiled and approached the three. “Neon Lights, Fire Cracker, Psych Delic, good to see the three of you again.”
They stopped working and waved to Octavia. Neon Lights approached the grey mare, smiling. “It’s good to see you, Octavia. Did you enjoy the concert last night?”
Octavia sighed. “Oh, I really wish I could have. Poor Vinyl…”
Neon Lights shook his head. “It wasn’t that bad. Vinyl called me a couple of hours ago telling me that you paid her a visit. It’s nice that you can care for our Vinyl when she has a show like that.”
“Yeah, well, she’s my friend, and I’ve known her for a really long time.”
“And we’re going to blow her away with a fantastic song. We just finished up with the sound system, so all you have to do is take center stage, play that cello of yours, and we’ll do the rest.”
“I really appreciate it. I’ll admit that I’m actually surprised that you’re being so unbelievably helpful.”
“We just want what’s best for Vinyl. So… what better way to do it than help her best friend?”
“Perhaps you’re right.” Octavia turned her head back to the curtains, and back to Neon. “I should probably finish getting prepared out there. The concert is going to start in 15 minutes.”
“Alright. Knock ‘em dead, Octavia.” Neon Lights turned back and continued wiring some speakers. Octavia returned to the stage where several ponies were already sitting in their seats, preparing for the concert to start. She went back to her own area, grabbing her music and placing it on the stand in front of her. She then grabbed her cello and bow, formally standing up with it.
As she waited for the concert to start, Octavia scanned the audience to see who was attending. Like always, she didn’t recognize most of the ponies, even if some of them were regular attendants to her concerts. Though, she was only looking for a white coat and an electric blue mane.
Octavia looked around for a good minute and nearly lost hope until she looked at the entrance to find Vinyl walking in. Octavia gave herself a sigh of relief as Vinyl took a reserved seat in the front row. She gave Vinyl a smile, recognizing that she saw her. Vinyl looked up to the stage and returned the smile when she saw Octavia.
The concert started soon after. In their repertoire, there were three songs, each done by a different composer in a different a musical era. The director of Octavia’s ensemble was always fond of putting songs from different times into the same concert, sometimes including modern pieces to create a sense of variety. She always liked her repertoire and agreed that it kept the concert interesting to listen to.
As each song came and went, Octavia thought of her upcoming solo more and more. Though, she also thought of Neon Lights’ words, that she needs to relax and only focus on her cello while they did the rest. For the most part, this seemed to calm her down, but it was technically still her solo, something she had never done in the past. At least, not to an audience of such a large size… and a really amazing mare in the front row.
She managed to shake the thoughts away throughout the third and final song. As it ended, though, the frightening thoughts inevitably returned. She didn’t want to admit it to herself, but Octavia was becoming extremely nervous.
Within her nervousness, Octavia watched as the conductor turned to bow to the audience. After a short burst of applause, the colt approached the microphone in front of him and spoke into it.
“Tonight, you have listened to a variety of music just within these three pieces. One from the Baroque period, one from the Classical period, and even one piece that included some modern textures. This is a normal repertoire for this orchestra.”
He cleared his throat. “However, I would like to take you out of the past for the next several minutes and bring you into the present. One of our fabled cellists, Octavia Philharmonica, came into my office a couple of days ago and requested that she perform one of her own works. I had a listen, and I must commend Miss Philharmonica, because she managed to blend older ideas with some new modern ideas.”
The conductor raised a hoof and pointed to Octavia. “Without further ado, I would like to turn the microphone over to Octavia Philharmonica.”
The crowd began to cheer as Octavia nervously brought her cello to the front of the stage. She nearly tripped over someone’s chair, but managed to keep herself balanced. When she made it to the microphone, she said thank you to her conductor for such a genuine introduction.
She approached the microphone and finally said, “This is a pretty special piece to me. Mainly because it is inspired by a very special pony that is sitting here in this audience right now.” Octavia didn’t want to look down at Vinyl. She was too nervous to even look at her reaction. “She inspired me to put my thoughts into my music, and I couldn’t be any happier that she did.”
Octavia paused to remember her pre-prepared speech. “This piece is called ‘My Composition for You.’ It’s perhaps the most original I have ever thought of.” The audience giggled and chuckled. “It starts with a cello solo, then I have a bit of a surprise backstage that will mix the present with the past. I hope you enjoy.”
Octavia didn’t say everything that she wanted to you, but the crowd’s applause still showed her that they were interested in her piece. Octavia looked down to the front row for a brief second, and she was glad that she did. Vinyl was smiling, cheering along with the rest of the crowd.
Soon after the applause died down, Octavia raised her bow, and began rubbing it against the strings. The beginning brought back ideas from the Baroque age, which is hundreds of years old. Though, as the music went on, Octavia incorporated elements of emotion into the piece, giving it a bit of depth.
The song then became reminiscent of the Romantic age of music, shifting happiness and sadness. In Octavia’s mind, this represents the shift from when she and Vinyl were best friends to when she had to leave Ponyville.
Finally, Octavia’s playing began to slow down and everything began to fade. Though, as she got quieter, a techno beat began to fade in. The beat was catchy and it was something you could bob your head to. The audience, despite their formal backgrounds, began to feel the beat as the music was finally taken to the modern age.
The techno beat was constantly rising and when it finally hit its high point, it stopped, leaving everything in silence for a second. Then, Octavia played a pick-up into the next section. At this point, Octavia was no longer playing like a cellist, but more like an electric guitarist.
Her mood and technique immediately intensified, showing a side of her that nopony had ever seen before. The guitar-like cello played hand-in-hand with the new intense sounds coming from the speakers back-stage. The curtains began to open up, revealing the three DJs at work. They were all smiling greatly as the crowd began to cheer louder than a normal cheer at these type of concerts.
The rock-techno beat continued for another two minutes, changing his volume and pattern to keep things interesting. It was successful, because the audience kept showing the performers that they were engaged in the music, keeping with the beat. Eventually, the electronic music began to die away, and Octavia’s “rock style” playing returned to her original technique.
Octavia ended the piece with the motif that she started off with, representing that after all these years, her relationship with Vinyl has not changed. The music finally began to slow down and fade, ending on a soft, happy note.
Despite the serenity of the ending of the piece, the crowd began to burst into cheers, something that Octavia had never experienced before. She bowed for them as she instructed them to do, which only seemed to make them cheer louder. As she went back up from her bow, she looked back down to the front row.
What she saw nearly took her breath away. Vinyl was yelling her name at the top of her lungs, cheering louder than her row and the row behind her combined. Octavia smiled and tried to stop the tears that were threatening to well up in her eyes. She truly thought that it was a perfect experience, and that nothing could beat it.
After the concert, Octavia walked with May to an after-party that was being held in a nearby courtyard.
“I don’t think I could say this enough, Octavia. That performance was really amazing.”
“Oh, thanks May,” Octavia said shyly.
“And you said that this piece was based on one of your friends. May I ask who?”
“Oh, it’s no one that you would know. I have this friend, Vinyl. I knew her back when I lived in Ponyville.”
“Oh. Must be a pretty special mare. I would be unbelievably happy if someone were to dedicate a song like that to me.”
Octavia blushed, but it wasn’t entirely visible in the night. “Yeah, Vinyl is a really special friend.”
“Is she coming to the afterparty?”
“Yeah, I invited her and everything. Hopefully she knows how to get there.” Octavia stopped. “I should probably go back and help her with directions.”
“Ah, come on, Octavia. She’ll find it. We shouldn’t break from the orchestra, anyways. The party starts in 5 minutes and our star soloist should probably be there on-time.”
Octavia thought about it and continued on her way. “I guess you’re right. Though, I don’t know if I like the idea of people crowding around me to praise something that I did in my pastime.”
“It comes with the job, Octavia. You just have to learn to get used to it. Especially if you were to create such an intricate masterpiece like that one.”
Octavia rolled her eyes. “How could you say that? You’re just as shy as I am.”
“I’m not shier than you.”
“Oh, really?” Octavia said with a smile. “So your disappearances from every conversation with more than 2 ponies is just a coincidence.”
“Oh, hush. At least I go into conversations. You like to find yourself a nice corner to be alone.”
“It is my life. I shall do what I want with it.”
May chuckled. “Yeah, I guess it is your life. Just a word of advice. Make the most of it. We’re going to go to this party, we’re going to have a good time, and you’re going to introduce this Vinyl.” May paused and laughed again. “It would be a pleasure to meet Octavia’s special somepony.”
Octavia blushed and said softly, “Oh, don’t even go there.”
May laughed again. “Oh, well I was just joking about it. But with the way you said that, something tells me that I’m right.”
“No, no, no. She’s just a close friend.”
May rolled her eyes. “Alright, Octavia. I’ll take your word for it.”
May pulled ahead of Octavia and joined the rest of her friends in the ensemble, leaving Octavia with her thoughts. As soon as they separated, Octavia stopping, making sure that there was a good distance between her and the group. After a few moments, Octavia turned herself around and went back in the direction of the Beethoofen Concert Hall.
Since she had not walked too far, it didn’t take long for her to make it back to the concert hall to find that ponies were still piling out of it. Octavia approached the crowd, hoping that she would find Vinyl after a short amount of searching.
“Hey, Octy!” Octavia heard to her right. She didn’t even get a chance to turn to see who it was, because a pair of hooves went around the back of her head. Even though it was dark, Octavia could clearly see the whiteness in Vinyl’s fur.
“Octavia, that show was unbelievably sick. The way that you played your cello just completely blew my mind. And you had Neon Lights and the gang help you with all of the electronics. I didn’t even know you knew them! Oh Celestia, that was crazy.”
Octavia blushed madly, glad that the darkness hid it from Vinyl’s view. “Heh, thanks Vinyl.”
Vinyl finally released Octavia from her grip. Vinyl rubbed her mane, suddenly talking softer. “And… you did it because of me. None of my friends have ever done that for me in my life. Even the friends that I have seen every day for the past year.”
“Well… you’re my best friend, Vinyl.” Octavia tried to stop herself from crying. “We’ve been through so much together. We had such a great friendship back in Ponyville, and then that all ended when I had to move.” A tear finally left Octavia’s eye. “I don’t think I’ve realized how much you have changed my life until you finally came back.”
“Octy, chill. I’m going to start tearing up if you keep talking like that.”
Octavia chuckled. “Is that a bad thing?”
“Yeah! I have to keep my reputation up.”
Octavia rolled her eyes. “Yes. I can’t be ruining Vinyl Scratch’s reputation by making her cry.” Octavia paused for a second. “It doesn’t matter, though. Do you want to go to the after party now? It’s not too far from here.”
“Well, yeah. But can we stay here and talk while a hundred of ponies aren’t rubbing up against us in a small room.”
Octavia smiled. “We can talk on the way, though. It’s about five minutes.”
“But… I have to say something pretty important, Octavia. It’s about you and the concert that you just performed, and let me tell you, it’s going to take more than five minutes.”
“Oh, uh… well, if it’s important, then I guess we can stick around for a little bit. Though, can we go into a light or something? I’d rather be able to see who I’m talking to.”
“Yeah, sure. That’s fine, Octavia.”
The two of them found a nearby street lamp and stood under its light. Octavia smiled, feeling better that she could actually see Vinyl. “That’s better. So… you had something to say?”
Vinyl gave Octavia a faint smile before saying, “Uh, yeah… it’s about you. You know how you were just talking about us having a great friendship and how everything changed when you moved to Canterlot.” Octavia nodded her head. “Well… take your depression and multiply that by twenty, and you then know how I felt back at Ponyville.”
Octavia frowned. “Oh, Vinyl. Really? I’m sorry. I had no idea you felt that way.”
Vinyl shook her head. “No, don’t feel sorry for me. That’s not the point of this story. So… it took me some time to pull myself together, and while I was doing that, I met Neon Lights. We became friends and he brought me into the professional DJ world.”
“And even though I got a bit happier, I still thought of you a lot. Then, I finally got the chance to see you at Canterlot. Like, when I saw you earlier this week, my heart leapt twenty stories. You should’ve seen it, it was like a circus show.”
Octavia chuckled, waiting for Vinyl to make her point. Vinyl continued. “So I wanted to make this week the best week ever.”
Octavia smiled. “And you’ve done a great job so far.”
Vinyl shook her head. “No, I haven’t, Octavia. Not yet, anyway. You see… there’s a reason that I’ve been begging you to see my show. I wanted you to see my work so that you know what I’ve been doing for the past year. I wanted you to see that I matured. And even then, I didn’t tell you… what I’m about to tell you.”
“Then I saw your show, and… you blew my mind. Like, it’s crazy… I totally ruin my show, but your show was like, fifty times better than I thought it was going to be. And it was so unbelievably flattering that you dedicated it to me. I don’t think I could express that enough right now.”
Octavia chuckled, blushing a bit. “Vinyl, you’ve basically summarized our week together, and added how you were doing in Ponyville. It is quite lovely and I’m glad that you’re happy, but what’s your point?”
“My point is… it is… I’m trying to say… oh Celestia, Octavia. I suck at these things, so I’ll just…” Vinyl didn’t waste any time and she pressed her lips against Octavia’s.
It was an amazing kiss, but a million thoughts were going through Octavia’s head. Is this really happening? Vinyl had feelings for me this whole time? Am I dreaming? However, one thought seemed to stand out amongst the rest. Do I actually like this? I’m not stopping, nor do I want to stop it anytime soon. So… I must like this! I actually like Vinyl Scratch. And she likes me back!
Octavia continued the kiss and then leaned her head forward a bit to deepen the kiss a bit more. She could tell that Vinyl was enjoying this as much as she was… and that made her happy. After an entire minute of kissing, Octavia finally separated to catch her breath.
Vinyl breathed deeply for a moment and finally said, “Oh, Celestia! You kissed back! And you’re a good kisser.”
Octavia chuckled, rolling her eyes. “Oh, Vinyl.”
“No, no, no. I totally thought that you were going to freak out and run for the hills. I was acting on a total impulse, but then you liked it too.” Vinyl stopped herself and then thought for a second. “You did like it, didn’t you?”
Octavia nodded her head. “Yes, Vinyl. I didn’t really know my feelings, because well… I don’t know what feelings are, I guess. I’ve never had a crush on anypony before, so this is entirely new to me. But… everything you said in your little… speech… it was the same for me. And I’d rather not see you leave right away.”
“Oh trust me, Octy! I’m not going anywhere. Like… I don’t care what Neon Lights or any of my producers say. I am moving my work to Canterlot whether they like it or not!”
Octavia smiled. “Well, you don’t have to do it so suddenly. I mean… we can take our time on this. I mean… we’ve just started being marefriends.” Octavia quickly covered her mouth. “Oh, I probably shouldn’t put a definition on the relationship yet.”
Vinyl shook her head. “Don’t worry about it, Octy.” Vinyl gently kissed Octavia on the cheek. “I think I would rather have you as a marefriend than anybody else.”
Octavia tried to hide her blush, but it was too obvious. “Heh, me too.”
Vinyl briefly kissed Octavia on the lips again. “Why don’t we go to this after party and show Canterlot who’s running the place?”
Octavia chuckled. “Or… we could go back to my house, make some popcorn, and put on a good movie.”
Vinyl thought about it for a second and smiled. “Yeah, that sounds better.”
Octavia laughed and led the way back to her house. They talked a lot on the way there, about how their music careers might change after this. Vinyl offered to do more of the electronic stuff for Octavia’s compositions. Octavia graciously accepted.
“So there’s going to be a ‘My Composition for You 2’?” Vinyl asked.
“And 3, and 4, and 5.”
Vinyl smiled. “Music to my ears.”
They both laughed at the comment. Music like this can almost be considered magical, especially when it brings two ponies together. Two friends together. It is ironic that the thing that Octavia was running away from (her feelings for Vinyl) turned out to be the thing that made her feel the best. And she couldn’t have been any happier how it turned out.
