She Must Never Know
Vinyl’s eyes flew open. Something was wrong. In the black of the night, her room was quiet - too quiet. She listened for the familiar rhythm of her girlfriend’s even breaths, only to be met with silence.
“Octy?” she mumbled and reached her hoof out, fumbling in the dark for the mare’s sleeping form, but there was only a cold pillow and empty sheets. She rolled onto her belly, her light blue mane flopping over her face and covering her magenta eyes. “Why now?” she groaned. Why couldn’t Octavia just get some sleep without having to go on some midnight stroll? Vinyl tapped the top of the clock that sat on her night stand with her hoof, causing the screen to light up, illuminating the time. “Three thirty-two?” she read before her head fell back onto her pillow. It was too early to deal with this. She closed her eyes. Everything would be fine. Octavia would return back to their bed before morning. There was nothing to worry about.
A faint click traveled down the hallway to the bedroom from the other end of the apartment. Vinyl’s ears twitched like radar trying to receive a clear signal as she listened closely. That click - it was so familiar, but where had she heard it from? She sat upright in her bed as realization dawned upon her. Someone was opening up the case where she stored all her records. “Thieves,” she whispered to herself. Her eyes widened. With all the expensive DJ equipment she kept in the apartment, the intruders would walk off with it all, without a doubt. Her stomach sank at the thought of her turntable, microphones, and countless records all sitting on her living room floor, helpless.
And Octavia.
The thieves could have intercepted her while she was out of bed. She could be hurt, tied up, or kidnapped. A light blue glow appeared around Vinyl’s horn as she summoned her unicorn magic, using it to throw back the door to her closet and lift up the baseball bat that Octavia always insisted on keeping in there. Before that night, Vinyl had always disagreed with her and said that it was highly unlikely for anypony to break into their little apartment – Ponyville was the safest town in Equestria. Tonight, Vinyl was grateful for Octavia’s paranoia.
With the baseball bat hovering in a blue haze over her head, Vinyl slowly snuck out of her bed, careful for her hooves to not make any sound against the floor. She crept out of the bedroom and down the hallway, stopping at each corner to peer around it. At any moment, she expected one of the thieves to jump out at her and catch her by surprise. If she was to save her lovelies – both Octavia and her prized equipment – she had to keep her position secret. Vinyl’s heart rate quickened. Any moment now, the thieves’ identities would be revealed to her.
Several hoof-widths away from the doorway to the apartment’s living room, Vinyl paused. A gentle melody flowed over to her, sounding as if someone was softly humming. That tune – she knew it. Vinyl’s eyes narrowed. The thieves had taken out her music. They were listening to her records.
Nopony touched her collection. Nopony.
She raised the baseball bat higher into the air over her head and flung herself around the corner while using her magic to swing the bat down onto the unsuspecting pony’s head. Only inches from the thief’s well-kept black mane, she diverted the direction of the bat to avoid the gray mare. It clattered to the floor.
Vinyl’s eyes grew wide in shock before she burst out laughing. “Well, well. Octavia Melody. Listening to my records? My music? I knew my good tastes would rub off on you someday.”
At the sound of Vinyl’s voice, Octavia swung her head around. At the sight of her, Vinyl collapsed into another bout of laughter, falling onto her back and kicking all four hooves in the air. It was too much for her. Preferring to stick to her classical tapes, Octavia never listened to any music from Vinyl’s collection and deemed the wubs “too uncouth for her refined tastes”. Never in Vinyl’s wildest dreams would she have imagined Octavia as she was now – wearing Vinyl’s favorite pair of headphones over her ears and lying curled up at the base of the stereo.
“I – I wasn’t listening to your music,” Octavia said with her usual sophisticated lilt in her voice. She ripped the headphones off of her head and tried to hide it under her hoof, but it was way too late for that.
“Oh yeah?” Vinyl challenged. “Then what are you doing with my headphones plugged into my speakers?”
A faint blush appeared on Octavia’s cheeks. “I was… listening to my own tapes. My classical music. With your speakers. You’re right – they… they are better quality than mine.”
Vinyl snorted. “Bull,” she spat. “Don’t think you can fool me with that lame excuse. I heard you singing along just now. I’d recognize my music anywhere. That wasn’t classical.”
“I… Yes. Yes it was classical,” Octavia stuttered. She sighed and repositioned her posture, trying to pull herself together. “It’s not my fault that some of the music you play has classical influences.”
Vinyl grinned. “Yeah, right. Admit it, Octavia – you secretly enjoy my music.”
“No I don’t,” Octavia stated, starting to lose her cool again. “How many times do I have to tell you, Vinyl? I would never listen to your music.”
With hardly a moment’s notice, Vinyl’s horn lit up and before Octavia could stop her, she used her magic to unplug the headphones and crank the volume up. Wubs filled the apartment, the music’s bass rattling the windows and reverberating around the room. She stood up on her hind legs and pointed one hoof in Octavia’s direction. “Ah ha! You, Octavia Melody, have just been caught red-handed by me – the super sleuth, Vinyl Scratch!” she yelled over the music.
Octavia’s cheeks turned from a light blush to a dark red. She lowered her head toward the floor, letting her mane cover her eyes. "This is the exact reason why I never told you I was listening to your music." She rose to her hoofs and began to trudge out of the room.
Vinyl's smile fell. "Wait, Octavia," she called. "I'm sorry. I was just joking. I didn't mean to offend you - honest. It's really great that you're listening to my music." She levitated a few records into the air. “You know, you can always borrow these whenever you want. I won’t mind.”
Octavia turned towards Vinyl. “Don’t worry. That was a mistake I’ll never make again,” she said, her voice deflated and as limp as her stance.
The blue mare’s mouth fell open slowly and her disks clattered to the ground. Not that she cared anymore. She trotted up beside Octavia and tried to press her nose into her black mane, but Octavia turned her head, shying away from Vinyl’s touch. “Look, I really am sorry. What’s wrong?”
“It’s nothing,” Octavia said and continued to walk away. “I’m just going to go back to bed. Goodnight.”
“Wait, Octavia,” Vinyl called.
“Goodnight.”
“You know, I listen to your records sometimes too,” Vinyl said.
“What a cleverly fabricated lie,” Octavia said, her voice dripping with sarcasm. Without turning to glance back at Vinyl, she continued to walk down the hallway.
“No, I’m serious.” Vinyl looked down at her hooves. “Bethooven is my favorite,” she muttered.
Octavia paused. “How do you know Bethooven?”
“Because I listen to him. I told you, I’ve listened to your music.”
“And you… like this classical music? Isn’t it supposed to be ‘too mellow’ for your tastes?”
Vinyl shook her head. “He’s actually got some sick beats. Like, his fifth symphony - it’s pretty sweet.”
“I still can’t believe…”
Vinyl cut her off by humming the melody. It was out of tune, but still recognizable. Octavia’s eyes brightened.
“How long?”
“What do you mean?”
“How long have you been listening to my classical music?”
“For about a month.”
Octavia’s eyes narrowed slightly. “But why?”
Vinyl gave Octavia a sheepish grin. “I thought that if I learned to like it, I could surprise you one day.” She forced a laugh. “I don’t know what I was thinking. It’s not like I could ever tell you about it - that would ruin my image.”
“Your image as what?”
“As a hardcore, bass-dropping DJ!”
Octavia let out a laugh. “Maybe it’s time for you to have a new image - as a thoughtful musician. What you did there is the sweetest thing anypony has ever done for me, even if you didn’t mean to ever tell me about it.”
“You really think so?” To Vinyl’s surprise, Octavia walked up beside her and buried her nose in Vinyl’s blue mane.
“Vinyl, I…” Octavia trailed off and then whispered, “I love you.”
“I love you too, Octavia.”