> Melodies of Love and Tragedy > by HaviTheWerecat > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Prologue: Meeting You > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- It was a beautiful autumn morning, the leaves were falling, leaving the ground with a gorgeous orange and yellow glow. The sky, clear of any clouds, and Celestia's sun shined brightly over the city of Canterlot. Even though the sun was gleaming, it wasn't very warm. It wasn't too cold yet, for winter has yet to come lay a blanket of freezing snow over the metropolis. The animals were making great haste to find food before winter. The sound of laughing fillies and colts filled the school playground. It was the first day of school, and everypony played outside before it was time for class to begin. Though most of the ponies were playing and having fun, one colt sat by the school building alone. He sat there with his headphones covering his ears, filling them with music. He didn't move, he just sat there staring off in the distance, watching mournfully at the children wishing he had a friend to play with. He had been going to Canterlot Elementary for two years, and not once has he made a friend. He was too shy to talk to others, so he would normally curl up and listen to music during recess. Sighing, he looked up at the trees surrounding the playground, admiring their palette of gold and bronze. The scenery was quite enjoyable to him, the features of the land from every season stayed in his mind. He reached down to pick of his MP3 and changed the song to something that would fit into his mood of sincere loneliness. "If only I had a friend", he thought. "Why is it so difficult for me to simply walk up to somepony and start a conversation?" He looked back down and stared at the cement pavement, he felt tears struggling to escape his eyes. "Why are you crying?" A little filly ask as she sad down on her haunches in front of the colt. He quickly wiped them away, and blushed from embarrassment. "I-I'm not crying." He looked away, trying not to make eye contact. The filly stood, and a snow white hoof reached out to the colt. He looked up slowly to see the young filly offering a hug. "C'mon! A hug will make you feel better!" The alabaster filly beamed at him. "I-I-I don't really like hugs." The colt stuttered. He was shocked, not once had he ever has somepony come over and talk to him, not once. The little filly looked a bit saddened, "but everypony likes hugs." She sat back down, closer to him and reached out her arms. "I said I don't-," he looked up to see her sad eyes moist with tears. Her eyes were ruby red, glistening from the tears threatening to fall. "I...I'm sorry." The colt slowly reached out to her and embraced her, and even though he was feeling a bit uncomfortable, he was happy to see somepony actually acknowledging his existence. The filly returned the hug, smiling slightly. He sheepishly ended the hug, feeling a bit embarrassed. The little filly wiped her tears away, and smiled warmly. The colt tried to smile back, finally he conjured up a crooked smile. The filly grinned, happy to see him finally smiling, and her long blonde tail swayed back and forth. "So why are you over here crying and all alone?" Her head cocked sideways to show her growing curiosity. The colt didn't know whether or not he should answer her question, so he sat there unresponsive. The filly sat down next to him and put her arm around him and gave him a side hug. "C'mon, you can tell me. I promise I wont tell anypony else." The colt scooted away slightly, he wasn't used to all of the filly's physical contact. He wasn't very used to any physical contact. "I-I dunno..." he stuttered, "I'm not really used to talking about my feelings." The filly studied the young colt's sad expression, there was a slight twinkle in his eyes. "Well you can't ever sound as dumb as me. I say stupid things all the time! Go 'head and tell me, I wont judge. I promise!" The filly exclaimed. He sighed, he just didn't know where to start. "Well...I've been going to this school ever since kindergarten, and never have I had a friend. Since I have nopony to talk to, I just sit over here and listen to my music." He gestured towards the MP3 player, and the little filly's eyes seemed to have lit up. "Well you can be my friend! I have lots of friends, and I can introduce you to all of them!" The energetic little filly jumped up and skipped around excitedly. The colt didn't know what to do about this, he suddenly felt overwhelmed by the thought of being introduced to a bunch of strangers. It got quiet, too quiet. He looked up to see the white-furred filly standing over him with her arm reaching out to him. "Everypony heading to the classroom. Let's go before we're late!" The colt reached up and the filly pulled him up onto his hooves, and they began to walk towards the school's entrance. "So what's your name?" The little filly asked with a smile. "Neon Lights." He answered. The filly looked back at him, her eyes twinkled as she grinned. "Nice 'ta 'meetcha! I'm Vinyl Scratch!" She held out her hoof, her eyes still twinkling brightly. "What's that?" he asked, feeling a bit dumb. "It's a hoof bump! C'mon, just tap my hoof with yours!" Neon decided not to question it. He didn't want't to embarrass himself anymore than he already has. He lightly pressed his hoof against hers, feeling a sense of happiness. "I've finally made a friend." He thought smiling. DINGDINGDINGDINGDING! "Oh snap! We're late!" Vinyl called out, gripped my hoof and began dragging me inside. "Even though I was late on my first day of second grade, I couldn't be any happier. I finally have somepony to call my friend." > Chapter 1: Here For You > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- The music blared from the sub-woofers, the bass created a low vibration that everypony in the crowd could feel in their hearts, and the lights flickered and flashed across the room. Two o'clock in the morning, and everypony was having a great time at the most famous partying ground in all of Equestria: Club Canterlot. They partied there almost every single night, as long as they caught up with their work and had no other plans. It was normal for them both to show up every night, and if something were to actually come up, they would call each other to cancel. It was Saturday night, the best partying night of the entire week. The best music was being played, the best disk jockeys showed up, and after an hour of partying you'd get to look forward to a fresh mug of hard cider, or a cold beer. "Put your hooves up!" Yelled the DJ in charge of the night's music. Vinyl and Neon both raised their hooves and awaited for the new beats to begin. They never partied without each other. If one were to cancel, neither of them would show up that night. The whole room was filled with fresh beats, consuming reality, and replacing stress with adrenaline and excitement. The entire audience cheered, and soon enough the room went back to musical chaos and everypony let go and forgot all their problems. ~~~ "Tonight was awesome!" Vinyl exclaimed. She poured herself a shot glass of vodka and immediately gulped it down. "You say that every night, Vinyl." Neon chucked as he drank his own strong alcohol. Vinyl giggles, and Neon looked back at her. The white fluffy fur on her checks were covered in a red palette from both her intoxication, and her exhaustion. Her electric blue mane was matted down, unlike her usual spiky hairdo. Even though her hair was a big wild mess, the blue color gave her a sense of beauty. Her eyes were alluring, a unique ruby red color. "Well that's because every night is awesome." Vinyl poured herself another, her blue magical aura was unsteady. "Ya' know you're not supposed to use your magic when you're drinking. You might spill the vodka everywhere, and then you'll have to pay for it." Neon was a bit more rational than Vinyl. He turned from a timid young colt into a tall handsome stallion who loved to make friends. Even though Neon had a generous amount of friends, he would always cancel plans from any of them if they interfered with his plans with Vinyl. He would never give up the opportunity to see her, and she did the same for him. "Meh, whatever. Ya 'know I'm way too lazy to lift up a bottle with my hooves like some earth pony. I thought you knew me better than that, Neon." Vinyl took another shot, and her cheeks burned crimson red. "Vinyl, I know you better than anypony in Equestria. Heck, I bet I know you better than your parents do." Neon chuckles at that, mostly because it was probably true. "Everypony knows me better than my parents do. My parents don't know jack shit about me." "Yeah..that's true." Neon took his last shot for the night. Even though he loved to party, he never really drank much. It was mostly so he would be sober enough to walk Vinyl home after the party and not fall over on the way there. "Neon?" "Yeah?" "You okay, dude?" "Yeah...why? "I dunno, it's just that you just seem a bit quiet is all. Did one of the stallions in the audience turn you down after you confessed your undying love for him?" "Yeah right, stallion or mare, nopony can resist this." Neon joked. Vinyl always took him for being a colt-cuddler because he never had a fillyfriend. Neon never argued about it since her always did what he could to avoid any confrontation. He learned to laugh at Vinyl's silly colt-cuddler jokes, and he truly began to find them funny, so he just went along with it. ~~~ "3:00 AM", Neon read on the clock. The party was going to end soon, yet the crowed never died down, reason: because Club Canterlot's motto is "The party doesn't stop until it stops," meaning it would go on until they closed. Normally, Vinyl and Neon would stay until they were either kicked out, or until Vinyl started to puke which was usually the case. "I'm back." Vinyl said as her wobbly legs carried her back to her seat and her head thudded against the counter top. "You've been in there throwing up haven't you?" Neon looked in her direction, rotating the bar stool. "Have not." She denied. "Sure." Neon hopped off of the stool and began to walk to the exit. "C'mon, lets get you home now." "Hell nah." "Now." Neon made his way back to Vinyl and took her hoof. "We should really get you home. I can tell, you don't feel good." He slightly tugged on her hoof. "But I don't want to." Vinyl looked at him and conjured up her best puppy dog face. It was extremely hard to say no to that and she knew it, it working on him multiple times in the past. "Sorry Vinyl, but it's not gonna work this time." "Uuugghhh!" Vinyl groaned. "C'mon now, lets get going." Neon grabbed her hoof and tugged. "I never said I was giving up." She turned away. "Why are you being difficult?" "I'm not." "Yeah you are, Vinyl." "Am not. I'm staying here, dude." "No, You're going home. Party's over." "The party isn't over until it's over. "Lets go, Vinyl!" "Is this guy giving you a hard time, babe?" An unfamiliar voice asked. A bulky brown stallion trotted over and put his arm around Vinyl's neck. She sat there with a confused expression on her face. "Uhhh...do I know you?" Vinyl asked in her drunken confusion. She certainly didn't recognize him. "No," the large stallion began, "but I wanna know you, sexy." His hoof traveled down her back, and Neon immediately noticed. "What the hell do you think you're doing? Neon jolted out of his seat. Vinyl sat there feeling a bit uncomfortable. She's never had this happen, she mostly thought it was because most stallions took it that her and Neon were together. "Leave her alone!" Neon demanded. "Why should I listen to you? I saw you two, you were picking on her. Why don't you leave her alone?" The bulky stallion wrapped his arms around Vinyl and began to lift her off of the stool. "What the fuck do you think you're doing? Put her down!" Neon launched himself at him, trying to get a hold of Vinyl. "Let me go you douche bag!" Vinyl struggled to break free from the stranger's grasp. "Hey hey hey babe, calm down. I'm just trying to get this guy to leave you alone. You okay? He didn't hurt you did he?" "What are you talking about? He would never-" "Don't worry, babe. I'll make sure this loser gets what he deserves." The stallion sets Vinyl down on the floor and faces Neon. Neon braces himself for what's to come, what that is, he's not to sure. He's never been in a fight before, not ever. Suddenly he confident, he wouldn't ever let anything happen to his friend, not ever. The brown bulky stallion threw the first hoof, and it landed forcefully into Neon's eye. He immediately was knocked down to the floor. "Take that you little pussy. Now you leave this beautiful mare alone." The stallion turned around and made his way back to Vinyl. "There, he won't bother you anymore." He put his hooves around the unicorn and stroked the middle of her back, causing Vinyl to shudder. "Hold on! You don't understand! He was just-" "Get your hooves off her." A weak voice croaked behind them. "Neon!" Vinyl tried to push the stallion away, but he wouldn't loosen his grip on her. "Nuh-uh, you're not going anywhere little lady. You're not going anywhere but my bedroom." The stallion pushed the mare down onto the floor. Vinyl struggled to push him away, but he just wouldn't budge. She was scared. She had never felt so helpless. She felt tears beginning to build up in her eyes. "P-Please stop! Please! I beg you! I'll do anything! Just please don't-" A light greenish blue hoof made impact into the stallion's face. The brown stallion fell to the ground and Vinyl quickly escaped him and galloped over to her savior and wrapped her arms tightly around him. "Th-Thank you, Neon." Her voice cracked and her body shook, The stallion rose back onto his hooves and spat out a tooth. "You'll pay for that." The stallion trooped over to them, landing another critical punch towards Neon's face. Neon ducked swiftly, but Vinyl wasn't so quick. She was hit, and a horribly sharp pain engulfed her head. She placed a hoof to where it stung and winced when she pulled her hoof back into her sight to see a small little patch of blood staining her fur. She whimpered quietly in pain, and slowly laid herself down and closed her eyes. "Vinyl...are you okay? Vinyl? Vinyl!?" Neon peered at the stallion, and there was a fire in his eyes. A burning passion to save his best friend. He would defend her. He would defend her with his life. Neon lifted her up gently and slowly stroked her mane and eyed the large patch of blood forming in her mane, then embraced her. Holding her to make her feel safe, and now he would have to prove to her that she could trust him to be there for her. "I'm here for you." Neon buried his muzzle into her mane. "If you would have stepped down and just let me have my way with her nopony would have gotten hurt. I hope you're not her coltfriend, because if you were I'd feel so bad for her. You can't even protect her." The brown bulky pony made his way over to them and put his hoof onto Vinyl's head. "You should just give her up and give her to me. I can make her feel like a fucking goddess. She deserves it, after all, she looks like a goddess. She definitely doesn't deserve a weak loser like you. Now hand her over, punk." "She's not just some item to be handed over. And no, we are just friends, but that doesn't mean I can't keep her away from dirt bags like you." He spat. "Just friends? Where you at, the friend zone? I bet you are aren't you? It's not a surprise, a gorgeous young unicorn doesn't belong with a scrawny little baby like you. A mare like her deserves somepony like me." "No, she doesn't deserve sompony like you. Nopony deserves to be with a psychopath like you. What mare would want to be with a stallion like you? You nearly raped my best friend. I don't think any mare would want to be with some rapist. Now, everypony here is trying to have a good time, so I suggest you go home right now." "Exactly, and I'm just trying to have a good time as well, and if you're gonna keep me from it, I suggest you think about how much medical insurance you got. Because after this, you're gonna need a lot of it." The stallion hit his hooves together and mercilessly began to strike Neon in the chest. "It aches, but I just don't know what to do next. I guess...as long as Vinyl isn't the one getting hurt...it's okay." ~~~ Neon walked through the cold night, using the little strength he had left to hold Vinyl on his back. He was physically exhausted and couldn't wait to collapse on his bed. Vinyl was still unconscious, and the bleeding from her scalp stopped. He planed to take her home and lay her down on her bed and bandage her wound, then he would take her to the hospital in the morning to get her injury checked out, along with all of his injuries. His eyelid was purple and swollen from the stallion's first hit, and he had many bruises along his neck and chest from taking in so many blows. It hurt, but he would rather be beaten than to watch Vinyl be beaten. ~~~ "You know, you didn't have to do that." Vinyl poured herself a bowl of Honey Bunches of Oats. "Yes I did." "Yeah well, look where that got you. You look terrible." "Thank you. It's nice to know that that's how you feel about my physical appearance." Neon joshed and chuckled. "You're lucky that guy didn't kill you." She took a bite of her cereal and rolled her eyes at him. "Thanks for the 'thank you for saving my life Neon Lights'. Neon rolled his eyes at Vinyl mockingly. She sighed. Vinyl just didn't know what to think about last night. She nearly got raped, and her best friend saved her by being her shield and taking every punch that the stallion threw at him and barely even fought back. "You didn't have to go and be my shield. I would've kicked that douche's ass." "I don't think a mare screaming 'Help help! Please stop!' sounds like a mare that would've taken care of herself in that situation." "Shut the hell up! I would've sent that guy home crying to his mom if I don't pass out when I did! You know I'm strong! You know I would've! Don't you believe me Neon!?" She slammed her hoof against the table and her spoon flew off of the table and onto the floor. "Vinyl, there are time's in everypony's lives where they're gonna need help...just like when you helped me when we first met, remember?" The room fell silent. Vinyl thoroughly thought about it. She just didn't want to sound like she couldn't do something on her own. She wanted to be able to take care of herself. But now she's decided to swallow her pride and thank her best friend. "I-I guess you're right. There was no way that I would've handled that if you weren't there to save me. Just like you'd probably still be all shy and friendless if I hadn't helped you...thank you Neon." "It was no problem. You know what you would've done? You would've done the same for me. I know you would have, because you're my best friend, Vinyl." Neon beamed at her, slightly blushing after realizing how sappy that sounded. Vinyl only giggled, then she slipped off of her seat and tackled him giving him a noogie. "Ow! Ow! Stop! That hurts!" Yet he found himself laughing at the pain. Vinyl got off of him and giggled scratching the back of her head. "Hehehe, sorry." "N-No prob." Neon gently rubbed the bruise that hurt in particular. Even though he was in a whole lot of pain, he couldn't have been any happier. He felt a soft object rub up against under his neck. Vinyl was nuzzling him, causing Neon's face to take on a bright shade of red. "Thank you for being there for me." She said quietly in a sincere and sweet tone, much different from her usual masculine raspy voice. "Celestia her mane smells nice." > Chapter 2: Taking Care of You > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- It was silent in the white furred unicorn's apartment, but outside the birds chirped and sang to welcome the morning. Vinyl rolled around in her bed and kicked her legs in her sleep, and on her face laid a dopey grin. "What are you smiling at?" Neon whispered. Neon had been taking care of Vinyl all week long, since he's been worrying about that wound on her head. So he would come over whenever he had the chance. "What are you doing in there? Are you a friend of Vinyl's?" A feminine voice articulated. "Uhhh...y-yeah I'm her friend, Neon Lights. Didn't she tell you about last week?" Neon spun round to see the mare questioning him and saw a classy looking mare. Her mane was black like coal, her fur was grey like ashes, and her eyes as violet as a beautiful lavender. "Well, if you're here to see her, why not come back later when she's, you know, conscious?" The mare roller her eyes. "I'm surprised you didn't notice, since you are her roommate after all, but last week when we were out partying, some guy came up to us and started a fight. I'm afraid Vinyl was hit right in the head." He shifted himself to where Vinyl's roommate could get a better look at her. "Oh dear, I never noticed. Now I feel so moronic. How did I not see it? I guess I've been to wrapped up in practicing that I haven't really been paying much attention to her lately." The grey mare gave Vinyl a gentle hug trying not to wake her. "So, are you two close? You seem like good friends." He questioned. The mare almost immediately pulled away from Vinyl and turned away from them. "Yes, we're good friends...though sometimes she can be a pain." She giggled. "I can relate to that. Vinyl and I have been friends since before I can remember, she sometimes grinds my gears but it is just in her nature to mess around. I always forgive her, because when she says 'sorry', she really means it." "Yes that's true, though most of the time she doesn't even say she's sorry, usually she just makes you forget why you were so mad at her by making you laugh." The mare smiled and trotted to the doorway. "I should really get going now, Neon Lights. It was nice meeting you though. Do your best to take care of her." The mare added as she walked past the doorway, then she froze and turned back around. "Oh I was so rude. I never properly introduced myself. I am Octavia Melody." She held out her hoof and smiled. "It's nice to meet you Octavia Melody." He tapped his hoof against hers and the mare giggled. "You're just like Vinyl, you never knew how to give a simple hoof shake. And by the way, please just call me Octavia, alright?" Octavia walked back to the doorway and made her way to get her things needed for practice, such as her cello, bow, and bow tie. "Well she seemed nice enough." Neon whispered. "Mmhmm." Vinyl mumbled back as she stuffed her face into her pillow. "So you are awake now?" Neon tickled Vinyl's sides and she let out a cute little giggle. "S-Stop! The tickles!" Vinyl jolted up and moved to the other side of the bed away from Neon's reach. "That was kinda the point." He grinned. "Well I'm awake now!" She stuck her tongue out childishly and flopped back down onto her bed. "Well then why not get out of bed now? Lets go have breakfast. I'll make pancakes." Vinyl almost immediately jumped out of bed and ran for the kitchen. Pancakes were her absolute favorite breakfast food, and Neon knew it. ~~~ "So why do you insist on coming over every single day. I'm fine you know. The wound is getting scabbed now. I hardly feel it anymore. Why do I still have to wear this bandage around my head? I feel ridiculous." Vinyl took a bite of her pancake . "Vinyl, you are ridiculous." Neon joked back grinning at her. "I'm just here to take care of you for a bit. I'm not bothering you or anything, right? Neon added. "Well, no. I suppose you aren't bothering me. It's actually quite nice to have a butler." She giggled "Hey, I ain't no butler." He defended. "Yeah you are, look at you, you got the tie and everything." Neon and Vinyl joked and played as usual. Neon kept her company, and Vinyl truly enjoyed it. ~~~ "What do you mean we aren't going tonight? We always go! We go every Saturday night! C'mon, please don't make me stay here!" Vinyl argued. "Didn't you see what happened last time we went? We both got beat up pretty bad, and that stallion might show up tonight again and I don't want to risk you getting hurt again!" Neon growled. "It's always about me isn't it? You're never thinking of yourself, Neon. You were injured much worse than me last Saturday, not to mention my injury is pretty much completely healed! I'm fine Neon, you don't have to be so damn overprotective! Are you just gonna make me sit here forever and not let me have any fun in life? What's life without a little risk? Lets just go out and have fun! I just want to be there! Would you let me go if I promised I wont get so hammered? Please? I don't want to just sit at home forever because you don't trust me being out there exposed to the world. Bad things are gonna happen Neon, and you just have to let them happen, because there's no way to stop it." Tears began to fall down her red cheeks. She felt like all he was doing was trapping her, keeping her from doing what she wanted to do. "You're right...I'm sorry. I was just being over protective." He whispered. "I just don't want to see you getting hurt again." "Neon, I promise that it wont happen again." She ensured him, putting her hoof on his shoulder. "B-But, what if that stallion come back for round two? What if-" He was cut off. "Stop saying what if! If he does come back, we can avoid him, or just leave. Problem solved! You shouldn't just completely run away from problems. If you did that, you wouldn't have any fun in life." She nuzzled his chest. "Life is about memories that make you smile, but first you have to make those memories." Neon nodded. He knew she was right. She was getting good at arguing. Perhaps he was losing his touch. "Sorry Vinyl. I suppose I can still take care of you at the club." He said. "Woohoo!" Vinyl cheered throwing her hooves in the air, and then bouncing around the living room. "Hey hey hey! Chill Vinyl! You might hurt yourself." "Haha! I don't care!" She continued to jump around giggling. ~~~ "See, I told you nothing bad would happen, Neon!" She said as they walked together, making their way down the street. "Yeah yeah." He yawned and walked slowly. "Lets just hurry and get you home so I can go get some sleep." Neon said groggily "I don't see why you don't just crash on our couch, you are free to do so. You practically live in my apartment now. Heck, maybe you should just move in." She laughed. "You already have a roommate though." He raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, so?" "There are only two bedrooms in your apartment." "And?" "And, therefore I can't move in." He rolled his eyes and yawned. "So what? You can sleep on the couch." "I think I'd rather sleep in a bed." Vinyl stopped to let him catch up. "Well...I have a queen sized bed." She replied in a rather suggestive tone, causing Neon to blush. "Uhhh...I'd rather not Vinyl." She just giggled and began trotting again once he caught up to her. "I was joking, dummy!" She laughed and hit him on the shoulder. "You really thought I was offering that? Jeez, you really are a clueless airhead aren't you?" "Yeah, I guess I am." A million images flooded his mind, and they made him feel a bit uncomfortable. He never thought of Vinyl in that kind of manner, but now that he has those thoughts in his mind, he suddenly realized how beautiful she really was. "Why do I feel this way all of a sudden? My stomach feels funny. I just started to feel it when I got that kind of idea in my head. I feel so nervous. What's going on?" ~~~ "Finally here. I swear your place feels like it's getting farther and farther away from the club every night." Neon complained. "It's not like I ask you to walk me home. You do that all on your own." "I'm not just gonna make you walk home alone. There are bad guys walking the streets at night." "Yeah yeah. So I'll see you tomorrow?" The white furred unicorn asked. "Of course." He replied. "Alright...goodnight." She yawned, finally showing her fatigue. "Goodnight, Vinyl. I'll see you in the morning." "And by that you mean 'I'm gonna sit by your bed and watch you sleep'. She chuckled. He hesitated. "I gotta stop watching over her more than I need to. She's not a little kid anymore, she's all grown up and she's changed so much, physically and mentally. Her mane and tail used to be blonde until she dyed it behind her parent's back, and she got so much bigger. She's smarter now too. She may still act like a kid sometimes but I know she can be serious when she needs to. She can fight her own battles...and now I need to fight my own." "No...you can take care of yourself now. It's time I stopped treating you like a filly. Just promise me you'll be okay." Vinyl's garnet eyes seemed to glow in the night. It was absolutely gorgeous. She nodded and beamed. "I promise." > Chapter 3: Proud of You > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Neon sighed, all day he sat slouching on the couch watching shows on Trotflix and eating chips. Something was missing. Even with the television on it was rather quiet in the house, and he sat alone all day long. "Maybe I should call a friend over?" He thought to himself. He hopped off the couch and picked up his telephone and skimmed through his contacts, stopping at an individual name that caught his eye. "Hey, wanna hang?" He hesitated to send the text. "No, I shouldn't. She's doing her own thing, I can't be there to watch her all the time. She needs her space." He looked through his other contacts, not seeing anypony who he would like to keep him company. "Knock knok!" He heard a knock at the door and then laughed quietly. "I didn't even have to invite anypony over, how convenient." Neon thought to himself and opened the front door. Standing there was a blue stallion earth pony with a cutie mark of two double-eighth notes. "Hey there Neon, it's been a while and I was walking by and thought I might as well come drop in. How have you been?" "Hello Note Worthy. Long time no see. C'mon in." Neon replied as Note Worthy entered the home and they both took a seat of the couch. "I've been fine. I was actually just looking for somepony to come keep me company. Today's been a very long and boring day for me. How 'bout you? And how's your little fillyfriend, hmm?" The unicorn teased. "She's not my fillyfriend...yet, and haven't really seen her lately, so I'm not sure how she's doing. How about you? What have you been up to lately?" Note asked. "Well, I got my plot kicked a few weeks ago. No biggy, I lived." Neon joked, but Note's facial expression showed that he didn't find it very funny. "You got bet up!? What happened?" He frantically said in a sincerely concerned tone. "I'm fine, Note. I had a few bruises and black eye, but I'm okay now. There's nothing to be so upset-" He was cut off from a knock on the door. "Two ponies to keep me company? This is nice." He opened the front door to find Vinyl standing there. "Uhh...h-hey Vinyl." He was sincerely grateful to see her there, but his stomach turned making it hard for him to react without making it obvious that his stomach wasn't feeling well. It's like there was a family of butterflies swarming around inside him, making him feel strange. "What? Aren't you happy to see me? Should I leave, 'cause I can just go if you want-" "No no no no, not at all Vinyl! Come right in!" He opened the door wide for her and took his place back on the couch and left Vinyl a space next to him. As soon as Vinyl walked through the door Note Worthy's face seemed to turn beat red, and Neon noticed quickly. Vinyl plopped down on her spot on the couch and noticed Note. "Hey, I know you. You're the guy that bumped into me a while back when I was on my way home from Veggie Burger King. You knocked all of my burgers on the ground and you helped me out. And then you ran away. I thought that was pretty funny!" Vinyl laughed. Note Worthy's face seemed to get even redder. He looked away and Neon seemed to feel a bit of tension on Note's side. "Hey dude, what's going on with you? Ever since Vinyl walking in you've seemed to get very nervous. What's up with that?" He whispered to his friend. Note didn't answer, he just sat there staring at the television. "Note, tell me what's going on with you." "What are you guys whispering about," Vinyl's face appeared between them, and her face being at such a close proximity to Notes cause him to jump off of the couch. "Hehehe, this was nice Neon, but I need to get going. See 'ya later!" He rushed out the front door. "...That guy's weird." Vinyl said. "Yeah." Neon agreed. "So guess why I came over here!" Vinyl looked up at him, her eyes shimmering beautifully. "Uhhh...what? Did you get a coltfriend? If so, excuse me while I go bash a skull." He started to get up chuckling. "No no no! That's not it at all Neon, I promise! It's much more exiting than that. It something that will make you so proud of me!" Vinyl held onto Neon right forearm holding him back. He stopped pulling and sat back down. "Alright, what's the big news?" He raised an eyebrow. "I've been hired for my first gig!" She yelled loud and proud before tackle-hugging Neon, causing them both to fall over on the couch. "What?! That's great! When is it?" "This Saturday night! Man, I'm so ridiculously nervous. This is my first step into become the famous DJ that I've wanted to be since I was just a little filly. My dreams are coming true!" "Y-Yeah...that's great and all Vinyl...b-but...you're kind choking me." His face became a dark shade of purple and Vinyl immediately let go and his original color came back. "Hehe, sorry Neon. This is just so exiting!" Vinyl bounced up and down on her haunches and her electric blue tail wagged excitedly. "She's so adorable when she gets all exited like this. Wait, what am I thinking? "So you ARE gonna be there right?" Vinyl glared. "Duh! Why would you even have to ask!?" He laughed and Vinyl hopped off the couch and jumped all around. "This is gonna be so AWESOME!" > Chapter 4: Why is Note Worthy Staring at You? > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- It was Saturday night, and Vinyl was nervous and shaking in the dressing room. She stared at the reflection in the mirror going over ever little detail on her face, eyes, and mane. "I can't go out there looking dumb, I gotta leave a good impression." She thought to herself. She looked down at the pair of thick sun glasses laying on her vanity, then looked back up staring into her ruby irises. "Vinyl, you're on in five." The club owner informed. Vinyl took a deep breath, trying to calm herself. "I'll be right there." The door closed and the sun glasses were engulfed in Vinyl's magic aura as she placed them over her eyes and stared back in the mirror. "I got this." ~~~ The music of Vinyl's choice blared loudly throughout the room. The audience of ponies danced wildly, and so was Vinyl. She finally was able to get comfortable being in front of hundreds of ponies, she played and mixed the music with one hoof, and pumped in the air with her other showing that she too was having fun. Neon danced in the very front of the audience admiring the new DJ's enthusiasm. It was almost hard for him to believe that this was her very first gig, Vinyl's mixing was flawless, and even though she seemed scared about the gig earlier, she seemed to be having fun now. She loosened up, and felt like what she was doing was right. She played until Club Canterlot closed for the day. ~~~ "Vinyl, you did awesome! I'm so proud of you!" Neon pulled her into a tight side-hug and rubbing his cheek against hers. "Hehe, thanks Neon. It was awesome that you came to my first performance for moral support. It means a lot to me." Vinyl said bashfully and blushed lightly. "Of course I would come to your first performance! What kind of friend would I be if I didn't? Oh yeah, I took a picture. You should frame it and put it in your house somewhere. It came out really good too." Neon took a digital camera out of his saddlebag and showed it to Vinyl. In the picture Vinyl was wearing the big purple shades and smiling behind the turntable. The sides of the picture were a bit blurry from the lights giving it a rather cool effect. "Wow...I look bad ass." Vinyl grinned. "Yeah, tomorrow I'll print two of them out on my computer, I can keep one for the memory, and then I can give you the other." "Thanks." "H-Hey!" There was a voice behind the two and they both looked back to see who it came from. "Hey Note Worthy. I didn't know you were in there. You don't really seem like the kind that would go to a club. I haven't seen you there before." Neon raised an eyebrow. "O-Oh, I was just taking a walk and I happened to pass by so I decided I would go check it out." Note chuckled nervously and scratched the back of his head. "Well we're on our way home and we should get going. See you later Note." Vinyl said as they resumed walking. Vinyl and Neon were at a great distance away from Note Worthy. He watched the two ponies until they disappeared into the night. "...Sh-She knows my name!" ~~~ Neon sat at home the next morning in thought. "Note Worthy has been acting rather strange lately." Neon looked down at his phone. "That's it...I need answers! Neon picked up his cell finding Note Worthy's number in his contacts, pressed the call button, and waited for him to pick up. "Hello?" Note finally picked up. "Hey Note. Is something bothering you?" Neon asked. "Uhh...n-no not really." "You've been acting very strange lately. I know that's something's up." There was a short sigh on Note's end. "It's that mare." Note said quietly. "You mean Vinyl? What about her?" "Well you see...promise you wont tell her?" "Sure. Now what's going on with you? I wont tell anypony." Note stayed quiet, trying to gather up the courage. "Th-the truth is..." Note Worthy stuttered, "I think I'm in love with her." > Chapter 5: Do I Love You? > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- There was a very long awkward silence. The silence was deafening, making it difficult for Neon to hear his own thoughts. He just didn't know what to think of it. Should he be happy for him and try to hook them up? Should he support him? "Well," Neon finally broke the silence, "I think you should talk to her and tell her how you feel." "WHAT? THAT'S A TERRIBLE IDEA!" Neon held the phone away from this ear and winced. "So what, you just want to keep quiet about it? Nothing will happen between you two if you don't come out and confess. What if she gets a coltfriend before you have the chance to tell her?" Neon began to put aside all of his unknown feelings. He still felt that sick feeling whenever his best friend was mentioned, and a new feeling was beginning to build up, a feeling he understood, yet he denied it. "Neon, I just dunno what to do. What if she rejects me? She would reject me, she barely knows me, heck I barely know her. All I know...all I know is that she's the most beautiful mare I've ever seen." There was tension building up, Note Worthy was oblivious to it, though it would be hard to feel it over the phone. Neon hung up, suddenly having the urge to chuck the phone at the wall and watch it shatter. He was enraged, yet he didn't know why. Was he being overly possessive of Vinyl? Was it like how close siblings always feel the need to butt into each other's love lives and ruin them? "Yeah, that's it, I'm just being an overly protective brother figure. I'm always being overly protective of her, like when I wouldn't let her go out while she was injured because I was afraid she'd get hurt again. I've gotta stop doing this. If Vinyl wants to date, I shouldn't keep her from doing so." Neon sighed and rubbed his temples. There was a few short knocks at the door before it opened without being invited in. Neon immediately jumped off of the couch to see who was intruding. He sighed again when he saw it was just Vinyl, and she was levitating two boxes of pizza. "Hey Neon! I ordered one box of cheese pizza and they got my order wrong and gave me two instead, so I thought I'd bring it all over here and we can have dinner together." She smiled her beautiful pearly white smile that made Neon blush slightly. "That's great, I'm starved." Neon began to clear off the glass covered living room table to make room for the pizza. "Awesome, you can keep the leftovers if you want." Vinyl offered, setting the pizza boxes on the table. "Alright. I'll be right back with some paper plates." Neon walked to the kitchen and opened the cupboard that contained the paper plate, using his telekinesis to lift two. He let his forearms touch back down to the kitchen tile and he turned to make his way back to the living room, but he was stopped. Blood filled his cheek once he realized that he was muzzle to muzzle with Vinyl. She just smiled innocently and giggled after looking at his embarrassed facial expression. "You done gettin' those plates?" She backed up slightly, right before booping Neon's muzzle lightly. More and more thoughts began to flood every inch of Neon Light's mind. Every thought being denied. "Y-Yeah." He stuttered, losing his cool. He knew it showed, but hoped that it would fly over Vinyl's head. "Great, 'cause I'm starvin'!" She trotted back the the living room, Neon sighed in relief that she didn't notice. ~~~ They both sat facing each other on the living room floor, Vinyl happily eating her pizza, and Neon taking small nibbles. "Ya'know, I thought you said you were starved. You sure aren't acting like it." She mumbled with food in her mouth. "I-I am!" Neon took a much larger bite, and then chuckled when he realized that he was now taking bigger bites than her. He jumped when her front hooves suddenly hit the top of the table as she jumped up on her hind legs and Neon found himself being stared at by a pair of sharp red eyes, "Alright, what's wrong? You've been acting really strange lately. I know I asked you before at Club Canterlot, but you never gave me a straight answer." She sounded slightly irritated, meaning she wasn't gonna let him get out of this one with a "nothing" for an answer. Vinyl's front hoof met Neon's shoulder and her sharp glaring gaze became calm and full of worry. "You can tell me anything, Neon. You're my best friend, I'd never do anything that might hurt you. I care about you, that's the only reason why I'm asking. I'm worried about you and I just wanna know if there's anything I can do to help, but I can't help you if you can't tell me what it is." Vinyl's forearms wrapped around his neck comfortingly and almost lovingly, causing Neon to blush, he quickly tried to brush it off. "But I can't tell her. I shouldn't tell her something that I don't know for myself. I'm not one-hundred percent sure. How am I even supposed to tell that this feeling is what I think it could be? What if I'm wrong about this feeling, what if I tell her and then find out later that this is different? Or what if...what if she feel uncomfortable near me if I tell her. What if telling her ruins everything?" Thousands of doubts surged throughout Neon's mind, so many questions asked, but none answered. "I," Neon finally began to rely. "I don't know Vinyl. I don't even know myself." Neon stared at the ground, or at least tried to. Vinyl having her arms wrapped around him sitting right in front of him made it hard for him to concentrate on his thoughts, and the place on her body that his eyes wandered off to only made him question himself more. Neon suddenly felt a hoof make impact into his head, and he immediately held it in pain. "N-Neon, what the literal buck was that all about!?" He looked up at her, her face was as scarlet as her eyes, then he realized that she must have noticed where his eyes were. "W-What!? I was looking at the floor! Honest!" He yelled in protest, his face now as red as hers. "Yeah right!" She smacked him upside the head again. "I was! Now please stop hitting me, it hurts." He rubbed the new bump in his head. Vinyl sighed, her face still beat red in embarrassment. "And I thought you were a homosexual. I bet you meant to do that just to dodge the question." She crossed her arms. "No, I WAS trying to look down at the floor, you just so happened to be sitting right in front of me." Neon was just as embarrassed as Vinyl. He never looked at Vinyl THAT way before. It was an accident after all, it wasn't like he meant to look there. A thought, a brilliant and sensible thought made its way to Neon's mind. "Most brother figure would ever look at his sister figure in that kind of matter. If I'm now looking at her like that, maybe I am attracted to her. But now there is the thought of maybe it's not love, but lust. But I still do love to be around her just her being beside me. She doesn't have to be making physical contact with me for me to enjoy being with her. Can somepony lust for someone they truly enjoy to be with? But lovers can lust for each other. Lust is just one of the little things that keeps a couple together. Maybe it's one of the pieces to the puzzle that is love...wow that sounded cheesy as buck. But still, maybe...I do love her." "Vinyl," Neon spoke quietly in a sincere tone. "You remember Note Worthy? The stallion that stopped us for a minute when we left Club Canterlot no too long ago?" The rest of the blush left on her cheeks finally faded. "Nooo, I completely forgot about him." She said sarcastically, making Neon chuckle. "Well, what do you think of him?" Vinyl cocked her head to the side questioningly. "Uuhh...odd question." She scratched the back of her head. "Actually he seemed like a real nut job to me. I don't really know him so I can't say anything for sure, but that was my first impression of him." She stood and sat down on one of the couch cushions and patted the other with her front hoof, gesturing for him to sit beside her. "Sooo, why ask such a random question?" So that was it. He confirmed her feelings without telling a secret that he promised to keep from her. "That wasn't to hard." Neon thought as he sat down next to his friend, who he was now sure he was in love with. "So that's it? That's all that was bothering you? Kind of a silly thing to be bother by." She used her magic to take another slice of pizza out of its box and took a bite. Neon took that question as an option to gallop away from the conversation. "Yep, that's it." He smiled. Vinyl smiled back and grabbed the TV remote from the side-table. "Alright, lets finish our pizza and watch a movie!" She said as she pressed the power button eagerly. "Okay." "What do you want to watch?" "Surprise me." > Chapter 6: "Go After Her" > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- "So it has been confirmed. Vinyl doesn't see anything in Noteworthy, so I might as well tell him. I hope he's not too upset. I'll have to break it to him as gently as I possibly can." Neon picked up his phone and telekinetically pressed the buttons that lead him to his contacts, finding Noteworthy's name and hitting the call button. "....Hello? Hey Neon, what's up?" It's not like you to be calling this late. Something wrong?" Neon quickly began thinking of how he was gonna say it. "W-Well, Noteworthy, something is wrong." "What is it?" "Well..." Neon collected his thoughts. "I didn't tell Vinyl about your feelings for her, but I asked her what she thought of you. What she said wasn't so promising. Sorry dude." The other side of the line stayed quiet, and Neon felt a sliver of empathy for his friend. "I-It's okay, Neon." Noteworthy finally replied, his voice sounded a bit shaky. "She's too good for me anyway. She'd deserve better than me." "Noteworthy, you're a good guy, so don't go putting yourself down like that. Yeah, it sucks to not be loved by the one that you love, I get it. But don't let your self-esteem drop because of that. It's not because you aren't good enough, it's because maybe you too just aren't right for each other. If it's not her, it's somepony else, so don't stop looking, okay?" "....You're right Neon. I'll find somepony eventually. I can't let this get me down. Now, how about you? Is there someone that's caught your eye?" Neon gulped. "Might as well tell someone. Maybe he'll give me some good advice." "W-Well....truth is I have a bit of a crush on Vinyl too. Well, maybe a bit more than just a simple crush. I'm not sure really." Neon grew nervous as the other side of the phone continued to stay silent. "Go after her, Neon." He nearly dropped the phone in shock. "Did I hear him right? He's just gonna forget just like that and encourage me to hook up with Vinyl?" "I know you're stronger than me, Neon. You have the guts to tell her." "But what am I supposed to say?" Neon sighed. "Tell her you like her, duh." "Note, that's much harder than it sounds, I know you understand because you never told her how you felt either. You can't just tell me to do something that you could never do, you know how difficult it truly is." "I understand. Sorry, I didn't mean to sound pushy. Take your time, just don't take too long. Somepony else might have their eye on her. Don't let anypony beat you to her." He laughed. "Hehe, yeah. But you're right about that. I should tell her ASAP." Neon nodded. "Alright dude. Well, I'm gonna hit the hay. Call me again after you tell her, I wanna know how it went." "Okay. G'night Note." "Night Neon. Good luck." *~* "You can do this Neon. You can do this. Just say: Vinyl Scratch, I'm in love with you. Please be my marefriend? C'mon. Don't wuss out now. You've already told her that you're on your way to come over, so there's no more backing out of this." Neon Lights built up the confidence to knock on the door, then quickly made sure his necktie was on straight. He waited a few seconds after before the door was swung open by a red aura, and there stood the mare of his dreams, the mare he was going to confess his love to. "Hey Neon! Was'sup?" She invited him in and sat down on the couch, he immediately noticed her roommate already sitting. Vinyl glanced between the two of them and her ears suddenly perked up, she jumped up off the couch and pulled Neon over to were the two mares were sitting. "Now, I'll understand if you're gonna be mad at me for waiting so long to tell you this, Neon, but I was just kinda nervous about telling you. Neon, I'd like to introduce you to my marefriend, Octavia." > Chapter 7: The Spiral > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- "So this is how it ends up? This is what happens when I finally fall in love. I was too late. It took me too long to notice that I loved her. What am I supposed to do now? Do I keep acting like I'm happy for her? I never expected this. She would always tease me calling me a homosexual, but then she turns around and falls for another mare. She's so unpredictable. So...what do I do now?" ~~~ The bar was loud, full of yelling and giggling drunk ponies. Neon sat in the seat at the far left side, drinking away his sorrows, trying to at least. He just couldn't believe it. Vinyl was a fillyfooler, there was nothing he could do about it. "What do I do?" Neon repeated himself for the tenth time. "More vodka please." He pushed his shot glass towards the bartender. "I think you've had more than enough,sir. One more shot and I might have to call an ambulance." "Just one more? I'll pay double for it. Please, just one more?" Neon pleaded. "Sorry sir, but no means no." Neon sighed and stood the best he could without falling over and made his way out of the bar. "That was probably the first time I've been to a bar without Vinyl with me." Neon whispered to himself as he slowly walked down the street, trying to stay at a steady pace where he wont get dizzy. "We would drink until the Celestia rose the run. We would joke and laugh, every night was a party with her. I'm so stupid for realizing how important she was to me so late. I'm too late. Now she's in love with somepony else, and there's nothing I can do about it." As soon ad Neon made his way through his front door, he collapsed to the ground and cried. It was like he had lost his meaning to live. He loved Vinyl more than anything in Equestria, and he was too late to realize it. *~* One Month Later "Neon! Neon, c'mon! Answer the door! You've only came out to go to the store to buy more alcohol! Are you okay? Please come talk to me! What happened between you and Vinyl Scratch?" Noteworthy knocked for the thirty-fourth time. "Neon...did she hurt you?" To Noteworthy's surprise, Neon finally reacted. "Yes...she did hurt me....but she didn't mean to." He whispered from behind the door, barley audible enough for Noteworthy to understand. "Let me in, we can talk about it. Maybe I can help." Neon once again ignored. "Fine, you want to do this the hard way? We'll do this the hard way!" Noteworthy opened the door. The stench of alcohol filled Noteworthy's nostrils immediately. There were dozens of bottles spread throughout the living room floor, large blotches of whiskey stained the carpet. Neon laid sprawled out on the couch, his mane disheveled, large bags under his eyes, and a horrid stench radiated off his coat. "Neon! You're an absolute mess! What happened?" Neon just sat there completely unresponsive and gulped down the rest of what was left of the bottle of rum. "Hey, we're friends. You can talk to-" "Ring ring ring" Neon ignored his phone's ringing and picked up another bottle. Noteworthy took a look at who was calling. It was Vinyl. "Neon, Vinyl's trying to call you." "I know." He sighed. "She's been calling me every hour, everyday for the passed month, and not once have I gotten the courage to pick up the phone." Noteworthy brought the phone over to the couch where the mess of a unicorn sat and hit the call button. "Neon! What the hell is going on with you!? I've been calling and calling and you haven't picked up! I've been coming over too, and you wont answer the door? What the hell dude!?" Noteworthy held the phone to Neon's ear, and the disheveled unicorn didn't respond. "Explain yourself! Why are you avoiding me? Did I do something? Do you not want to be my friend anymore? Please, tell me if I did something, I want to know!" Vinyl's voice began to shake. "If I did something to hurt you Neon, I'm sorry. I'm so so sorry. I wish I knew what I did. Please Neon...please?" She sobbed. "Talk to her." Noteworthy mouthed. "It makes me feel terrible to know that the mare I was once in love with is crying her beautiful eyes out on the other side of this phone, and I didn't even do anything, Please, say something, anything." "What can I say? "Fine...be that way. I guess you don't want to be friends anymore, even after all the times we had together. I never wanted our friendship to end. Whatever it is that I did to upset you, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry...goodbye Neon." Beep "What the hell!? Why wouldn't you say anything?" Noteworthy yelled in frustration. "What else was I supposed to do?" Neon grumbled. "You could have told her what was wrong! That's what you could have done! What the hell is wrong with you!? You just broke her heart! I could hear it in her voice! You made her cry! You took away her best friend! You lost a great friend! So many ponies would probably kill to be in such a great friendship like what you two had, but then you had to go and ruin it! What's your problem!?" "I had to...I can't be friends with her now. It would hurt to much to see her, especially to see her with the pony she already loves." "So...this is all because you found out she was in love?" "Not only that, but because now I know she'd never love somepony like me." "What do you mean by that?" "Vinyl's...a fillyfooler." "...Oh." "Yeah. Unless I went out and got a sex change, Vinyl and I will never happen." "Why don't you just get a sex change?" Noteworthy suggested. "First of all, I could never afford the surgery, second of all, what if Vinyl and her marefriend never break up?" "True. So what are you gonna do now?" "Give up." > Chapter 8: Venting > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- "So, I've given up. Not on life of course, but I've given up on Vinyl. I'm still having a difficult time accepting all of this, and I know it'll take some time. For now, I guess the smartest thing to do would be to tell her. I know it won't change anything and that she'll still just be a friend, but I don't want her being left in the dark. She's been there long enough." Neon shook as he stood in front of the door, the door to Vinyl's apartment room. The words that he was going to tell her playing in his mind over and over again. He was trying to figure out how to say it. Could he just say it bluntly? Just "I love you"? No, he wanted to explain. He tried to put the words he wanted to say in the right order, he had to plan everything that he was going to say, he only has one chance to say it, because he wasn't sure if he was strong enough to say it again. "So...uh...Vinyl" He began to try to imagine how it would go in his head. "The thing is...I love you. No no no. That sounds stupid." Neon began to pace back and forth in front of the door. "What's the point in planning? There's no way I'm gonna say what I'm thinking. I always mess up my words and everything just comes out wrong." Neon though out loud. His light bluish grey hoof met the door, knocking very quietly. Neon stood stiffly, his heart racing in his chest. He knew he needed to relax, or he was gonna pass out in front of the door. Neon's heart jumped when the door opened slightly. "Hello? Who is there?" A soft voice spoke. There stood Octavia Melody, Vinyl's roommate and marefriend. "I-It's Neon Lights." Neon stuttered. She opened the door completely, she rubbed her eyes with a yawn and her mane was slightly disheveled. "So sorry, Neon. Vinyl is sleeping at the moment. Perhaps you should come back later? I wouldn't want to wake her, I'm afraid she might snap at me." Octavia said. "Why would she snap at you? She isn't usually that cranky after being woken up." Octavia sighed and looked down. "Lately Vinyl's been acting so distressed lately, and she won't answer me when I ask her why." Neon stood there as the feeling of guilt struck him. I feel like such a bad person for making her feel this way, I had no idea she'd end up as depressed as I am. I promised myself long ago that I'd never hurt her, but I have. I broke my own promise, and the only was to make myself feel better about this is to make things right, and the only way I can make things right...is to talk to her. "I-I see." Was all he could reply. "But if you need to," Octavia began, "I could leave a message." "N-No, that's okay. It's kind of personal, besides, I would want to drag you into this mess." "I don't mind, will it help Vinyl?" "I.." Neon looked down at his hooves, "I'm not sure." Octavia stepped back and let the door open wider as she made room in the doorway. "Come in." She offered. Though Neon wasn't sure about this, he was going to end up telling Octavia, and he won't know how that will end up. Will she get mad at me for being in love with her marefriend? I don't know Octavia all that well, so I'm not sure how well she's going to take this. Neon stepped into the small apartment, taking in the smell of lavender. Smells like she just got done cleaning in here. Octavia made her way over to the couches. "Sit down and relax for a bit, I'll be back with some tea." Octavia brought back a tray, on top of it sat two tea cups, a tea pot, two small spoons, and a small bowl that contained sugar cubes. The set looked rather expensive. Octavia sat down on the couch on the opposite side and gently sat the tray onto the long-table. Then she poured Neon and herself a cup of tea, and proceeded to put two sugar cubes into her cup. The aroma coming from the tea was very relaxing and it had a hint of sweetness to it, after Neon took his first sip he knew it wasn't just a lovely smell. "Now," Octavia began, "would you like to talk? I can tell that something is up between you and Vinyl." Neon simply looked down at his tea, staring into his reflection. He didn't even know where to start. "Vinyl tells me you two have been close friends since childhood." She sipped her tea and sighed. "She said that...you were her muse. You gave her musical inspiration, and you kept her going even when she wanted to give up." Where is her inspiration coming from now? Neon thought. "Lately she's been depressed, I haven't seen her do any of her work all week, and if she keeps this up it could be bad for her job. I believe that she has lost her motivation, her inspiration is gone. And that's why I know that you have something to do with this. Vinyl really is just as depressed about this as I am. "Neon Lights," Octavia began as she sat down her tea. "Tell me what happened. Maybe there's some way I can help?" She looked at Neon with worried eyes. She really does love Vinyl, she's worried about her, and if I mess this up, I could lose them both as friends. I need to chose my words wisely. How do I even begin to explain? Will she even understand? Maybe she won't understand, even if I were to explain everything with sugar coating the whole thing. "I-I love Vinyl." Octavia's eyes widened, nearly spitting out her tea. "I beg your pardon, could you repeat that?" "I...I love Vinyl. I've loved her for a long time, but I only just realized my feelings for her until just recently." Neon sighed and took a sip of his tea. Octavia sat in confusion and she continued to sip her tea as well. "When Vinyl introduced me to you, my heart shattered. I was too late, and should have realized my feelings sooner." Octavia simply sat there, sipping at her tea and nodding as Neon explained. She didn't know how to feel about all of this, and as Neon kept talking, she couldn't help but start feeling...guilty. Neon sat down his empty tea cup onto the saucer, and Octavia was still trying to wrap her brain around everything that was just explained to her. Neon could feel all of the tension in the room and he didn't know what to do to break it. The room grew silent, nothing could be heard, until the light sound of hoofsteps came from the other room, and soon afterwards the slow squeak of an opening door. Neon tensed up, he didn't want to move, he could feel her eyes on him. He could feel the daggers digging into the back of his head. Ignoring almost all of his being telling himself not to turn around, he looked back to see her standing behind him, her beautiful crimson red irises looking right at him, they were filled with anger, but more importantly they were filled with beauty and emotion. A single tear fell and glided along her cheek. "W-What the hell are you doing here?"