//------------------------------//
// Chapter 12 
// Story: Vinyl and Octavia: University Days 
// by DawnFade 
//------------------------------//


Chapter 12



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Vinyl had never felt more nervous in her life. Or more excited.

She hadn’t moved since Octavia left. She couldn’t move. Every muscle was frozen, each hoof rooted to the ground by thoughts.

She said she liked it.

The DJ licked her lips again, as she had been doing for the past half hour, but she tasted naught but skin.

No, she said she didn’t hate it. There’s a difference. She was just trying to spare my feelings.

But that painful thought was quickly obliterated by virtue of a simple fact.

She kissed me first.

Finally, a grin broke through her conflicted expression. As the sun finally broke through the clouds outside and shone through the window, so too did that simple reality burn away her shadowed doubts and worries. No matter what happened when Octavia got back, she would always have that knowledge.

Vinyl trudged over to the computer. She didn’t feel like making music anymore, the reason being that what had started as an escape from reality had accidentally turned into the biggest reminder in the room, so she simply saved her progress and powered down her equipment.

Without the gentle whirring of her computer, the room seemed oddly muffled. The absence of noise was just as distracting as having the volume on maximum.

“Hurry up, filly…” she said, immediately feeling stupid as soon as the words left her mouth.

Yeah, hurry up and deal with your emotional issues (which I probably caused by the way) and get back here because I’m lonely.

“Why am I such an idiot?” The unicorn whispered, smacking her face with a hoof.

Before any suitable answer could present itself, the stifling silence was broken by the turning of a handle. She held her breath as the grey mare on whom all her thoughts were focused entered the room.

The cellist was smiling, but Vinyl was too nervous to return it. Swallowing, she decided to let her roommate speak first. It was a tense few moments as Octavia closed the door and walked over to her, each second an eternity, each hoofstep a thunderclap.

But no words ever came. Instead, there was a blur of motion and the sudden feeling of warmth against her chest. Vinyl hugged her back without a second thought, finally letting a smile slip out.

“I’m guessing you feel better now?” chuckled the DJ.

Octavia squeezed even harder, pressing her cheek into the other mare’s white coat. “Mmh-hmm.”

Vinyl couldn’t help but inhale as much of the cellist’s scent as possible, trying to commit it to memory forever. There were no defining traits of the smell, and no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t think of enough words to describe it. All that came to mind was a name.

Octavia.

It encapsulated everything the scent meant, every feeling it induced within her, all the fury and want and innocent desire she had denied for weeks, in a single word.

“Octavia,” she said shakily, closing her eyes in order to reinforce the feeling of grey skin against her.

“Yes, Vinyl?” replied the mare in question.

“Please tell me this means what I think it means.”

They pulled back in unison so they could see each other’s face. The DJ slowly raised her head to meet the cellist’s gaze.

“What do you think it means?” she asked as Vinyl desperately tried not to get lost in the endless violet of her eyes.

Her heart pounding in her ears, Vinyl tried to form the words that had seemed so simple a few minutes ago. “Y-you… like…”

“I like you.”

The statement sent heat rushing over the unicorn’s body, but she had to be sure. “Like like?”

“Like like,” giggled the cellist.

And so the time for words drew to a close. Vinyl celebrated the occasion by pushing forward and kissing her roommate as hard as she could. Octavia squeaked in surprise, but didn’t try to pull away.

The room was quiet but for the sound of locked lips, heavy breathing, and the quietest vocalisations of happiness. It was a moment that they could never lose, one that would define their bond in the coming days.

Standing as they were in the dusty glass-filtered sunlight, it looked as though a new dawn had arrived, marking their beginning with its own.

It was only when a slightly less-than-refined noise escaped Octavia’s mouth did they recall their senses.

The offending mare cleared her throat as even more blood rushed to her cheeks. “L-let’s just pretend that didn’t happen.”

Vinyl leaned in to nuzzle her. “Not a chance,” she whispered through her smile.

Octavia stepped backwards out of the DJ’s reach, panting slightly. “I think we need to stop for a little while. I, um, haven’t eaten since breakfast.”

For a few seconds, Vinyl contemplated pushing forward and continuing. Something about the cellist’s body language told her such actions wouldn’t receive many objections. But wasn’t being pushy the reason Octavia got stressed out in the first place? No, this time she would do things right.

“Wanna head out and get something then?”

Grateful for the few seconds to catch her breath, the grey mare raised an eyebrow thoughtfully. “Do you have anywhere in mind?”

“How about we just go walking and see where we end up?” suggested Vinyl, floating her glasses over from her desk.

“That sounds perfect.” But as the unicorn made for the door, Octavia stepped in her path. “Um, do you think you could leave your glasses here?”

Huh?

“Why?”

The cellist sheepishly pawed at the ground with her right foreleg. “Because… you have very pretty eyes. They shouldn’t be hidden away.”

Vinyl’s mouth worked, but nothing came out. In her eighteen years of existence, nopony, nopony, had ever complimented her eyes. At least, not sincerely. While she had been lucky enough to escape most teasing during highschool, there had still been a few incidents.

But, at least for a moment, the DJ forgot all about those ponies from her past. Instead, she removed the glasses and set them down once more. She suddenly felt very vulnerable from the reminder of how the world looked behind tinted glass. “Really?” she asked in a small voice.

The other mare must have sensed the change in mood, for she quickly moved closer. “Vinyl, they are beautiful.” She touched Vinyl’s cheek. “You are beautiful.”

“As corny as that was… thanks.” They moved forward simultaneously for a quick peck, careful not to get carried away again.

“Well,” Octavia adjusted her mane once more, “Shall we?”


---


As expected, the streets were still cold and grey. An icy wind ripped through all who dared to venture outside, sending papers and manes alike into disarray.  Most of the stores were open, but the cafes had all moved their tables inside and closed their shutters. From behind each door, the warm glow of light beckoned.

But Vinyl was just fine where she was, walking beside a certain grey mare trying desperately to salvage her hair.

“This was an awful idea,” she called over the wind.

“Just let it go!” replied the laughing DJ.

“I’ll look ridiculous!”

“There’s nopony around, who cares?”

With a final, futile attempt to wrangle her mane, the cellist sighed in defeat and lowered her hoof. Within seconds, her charcoal hair was billowing freely behind her. “I feel ridiculous,” she sulked.

“Oh come on, my mane’s going crazy too.”

Octavia gave her a flat look. “Your mane is crazy whether the wind is blowing or not. The difference is that it suits you.”

The unicorn grinned and bumped her flank against the other mare, eliciting an amusing squeak. “You can fix everything when we get to… wherever we’re going. Until then, be free, young one!”

Though she returned the grin after a moment’s hesitation, it quickly took on a more… sinister appearance. Without thinking, Octavia darted closer and bit lightly on the DJ’s exposed ear. It took less than a second, but the results were substantial. Vinyl stumbled and fell on her chest, hind legs in the air. The treble-clef-marked mare started to giggle, but stopped abruptly as her brain caught up with her actions.

“Oh, I’m so sorry! Are you alright?” She quickly helped her roommate stand back up. Her white cheeks were red, probably from hitting the ground, but otherwise there were no visible injuries.

“That… was straight-up mean.” The unicorn tried to look angry, but she couldn’t hold back a smirk.

If the cellist was one of those ponies who had unclean thoughts, she would have wondered if Vinyl liked being bitten on the ear. Thankfully, she was not one of those ponies, and she definitely didn’t wonder anything of the sort.

Vinyl turned her attention back to the road ahead. To her relief, she saw an enticing little diner on the corner of the street. It was one of the older kinds (or made to look that way) with red seats lining little booths, a long bar in the centre from which to order, and checkered floors that gave the whole building a decidedly old-fashioned atmosphere. One that the DJ, despite her love of technology, felt instantly attracted to.

An old-fashioned date in an old-fashioned diner. I bet Octavia will love this!

“What do you think about this place?” she asked nonchalantly.

Octavia raised an eyebrow at the building in question, but soon broke into a warm smile. “It does have a certain charm about it.”

The two mares trotted quickly through the door, eager to escape the cold. As expected, it was like walking into an open room on a summer day. Octavia immediately set to work trying to restore her mane to at least a semi-presentable state, while Vinyl made a beeline for a middle booth that looked out onto the street.

Most of the tables and booths were occupied by other ponies who had also decided to take refuge from the weather. Their conversations and presence served to make the whole place feel welcoming.

The DJ sat down and scooted over so the window was right next to her, intentionally making her roommate choose between sitting beside or across from her. To her unspoken delight, Octavia sat down next to her and moved close enough that they would be muzzle-to-muzzle if they turned towards each other.

To hide her ear-to-ear grin, the unicorn looked out the window into the darkening street. Unaware of her friend’s joy as she was, Octavia cleared her throat nervously and whispered, “Am I too close?”

The high walls between each booth would prevent the other patrons from seeing, so Vinyl turned back and daringly snaked her hoof around the grey mare’s waist, pulling her close for a quick side-hug. “Filly, you can never be too close to me.”

Octavia giggled and risked a quick peck on Vinyl’s cheek, causing them both to break out in barely-stifled laughter. Only the sudden proximity of a waiter broke them out of their mirth. “What can I get the two of you?” he asked, wearing a smirk that said he hadn’t missed a thing.

“Uh, I’ll have… y’know, I don’t actually know what’s on the menu. Any recommendations?” Vinyl tried to remain nonchalant as she subtly removed her hoof from the other mare’s waist.

“Well, our dinner menu has everything from carrot roast to pumpkin soup. Or,” he added slyly, “We have a ‘couple’s special’ that might interest you.” Octavia’s ears folded back and she looked around as though somepony else would be hiding in the booth. Vinyl just gave him a flat, unamused stare. He raised an eyebrow, then blinked in understanding. “Oh, my apologies. Still… er… undercover, are you? Not that it’s any of my business, of course.” The stallion lowered his voice. “But would you like the couple’s special?”

Since the cellist couldn’t quite bring herself to look him in the eyes, Vinyl answered for her in the form of a slight nod. The waiter winked and quickly trotted out of sight.

“I’m sorry, Vinyl,” Octavia said guiltily. “I’m being rather… obvious, aren’t I?” She slid away slightly so they weren’t quite as close.

“Hey, I’m not exactly keeping things on the down-low either. We just gotta be careful.” The unicorn shuddered. “Can you imagine what it would be like if Psych found out?”

“Awful, I’d imagine.” Octavia hid her small smile under the pretence of looking out of the booth for the tutor.

“Yeah, and that Lyra chick too. She’s such a b-“

“Language! We’re in public.”

“Oh, right.” Scratching the back of her head, Vinyl grinned sheepishly. “Well, she is.”

The cellist shrugged, deciding not to take a side until she knew the results of her last encounter with the (admittedly uncivilised) mint-green mare. After all, Octavia knew what it was like to be judged without question. The least she could do was try and prevent the cycle from continuing.

By the time their meal arrived, the sun had completely vanished from view, cloaking the street outside in pitch black fog punctuated by the occasional streetlamp. But their attention was far from the miserable weather.

Two bowls of soup had been placed before them, bringing an intense, spicy aroma to the booth. Octavia had been cautious, but upon tasting it she found it was barely classable as hot. Confused as she was by the contrast between taste and scent, she was unable to name a single ingredient in it. The taste was odd, but far from unpleasant, strangely similar to her first kiss with Vinyl. The thought sent a wave of heat up her neck, which the DJ noticed.

“Spice finally kicking in, huh? Lucky, mine is pathetic.” She spooned another helping into her mouth. “Still pretty good though.”

“Ah, yes. The spice.” The cellist dabbed at her mouth with a napkin. “Well, perhaps it will keep us warm when we walk home.”

Vinyl winced, looking outside. “Oh jeez, I forgot about that. I think we’ll need something a lot stronger in our stomachs.” A thought struck her and she turned to her roommate. “Hey, when’s your birthday again?”

“Oh… soon.”

“Come on, tell me. You said it was a couple of weeks away when we first went to Blues, and that was like three months ago.”

“Well we had only just met, I wasn’t about to tell you when my birthday was,” replied Octavia indignantly, as though birthdays were somehow sacred knowledge.

Vinyl rolled her eyes. “I think we’ve gotten to know each other pretty well by now.”

The cellist reddened once more and told herself it was the soup. “Alright then, if you insist. My birthday is in three weeks, just after the exams.”

“Sweet! I’ll throw a party for you!” The DJ began to get excited at the prospect, which made Octavia feel even more ashamed of her next words.

“Um, Vinyl… who would I invite?”

After a moment, her roommate visibly slumped, only to perk back up seconds later. “It can just be the two of us! We’ll have our own party, with card games and booze.”

“A whole day with you? Why Vinyl, it’s just what I wanted,” the grey mare covered her mouth with her hooves in mock excitement.

“Hey, don’t knock it till you’ve tried it. Trust me, it’ll be awesome.”

As their bowls ran dry and the diner began to empty, the pair decided to begin the long walk home. The grey pony looked into the darkness and shivered. “W-we need to buy boots,” she whispered.

“And s-s-scarves,” agreed the white pony.

For a couple of minutes, they walked in silence save for the chattering of teeth and the slow trudging of hooves on pavement. Vinyl couldn’t help but chuckle at the silliness of their situation. “If we freeze to death in the middle of Manehattan, I’m gonna be so angry.” Octavia didn’t reply, instead moving closer to her roommate, enjoying the warmth radiating off her. “Heh, good idea. Nice old-fashioned body heat. Always good to fall back on. Can’t go wrong with it, that’s for sure.” The DJ realised she was babbling and swallowed nervously. After that weird taste-defying soup, she was starting to have some very interesting thoughts, and it wasn’t helping that the subject of many of them was practically pressed up against her.

Apparently the other mare was feeling something similar, for she moved closer and rubbed her cheek against Vinyl’s neck. Her eyes were closed and a silly smile made it clear that she wasn’t thinking quite as logically as normal.

Oh Celestia she’s so soft…

“You alright there, Octavia?” As much as she hated to interrupt, this wasn’t the way she wanted… whatever was happening.

The charcoal-maned mare seemed to snap out of her daze, quickly halting her happy nuzzling. “Hm? Oh, I’m sorry. I… lost track of my thoughts for a second.”

“Yeah, me too. I think that dude wasn’t kidding when he said ‘couple’s special’.” Vinyl forced a laugh to keep her thoughts from straying.

“What do you mean?” Octavia decided to play dumb, hoping her blush wasn’t visible in the night.

“Well… don’t you feel… y’know…” She raked her mind for the right word. “Frisky?”

“I… was blaming that on being in close proximity to you,” she admitted.

A triumphant grin split Vinyl’s lips and she puffed her chest out. “Yeah, I have that effect on ponies.”

“Oh, shush you.” Octavia lightly shoved the unicorn away.

The campus was far better lit than the city, for which they were grateful. The only sounds were from a few drunken revellers stumbling from the direction of the university tavern. Octavia shook her head and sighed. Some students just didn’t know how to spend an evening.

By the time they stumbled through the doorway into their room, most of the weird feelings had subsided. All that was left was a sleepy feeling of contentedness. This time, as she leaned against Vinyl, she yawned and tried to move closer.

The DJ chuckled and spoke so softly that it was hard to tell if she meant for her to hear. “You’re so cute.” Vinyl led her over to a bed, not really caring about who it belonged to. “Come on, I’m feeling pretty tired too.”

Octavia did as she was directed, crawling beneath the covers and curling up. Even after the blanket was pulled up, she shivered slightly.

She frowned in thought for a moment, but the solution quickly presented itself. With a pulse of tired magic, the unicorn lifted the blanket from the other bed and brought it over, giving the cellist another layer. Apparently, she wasn’t completely checked out yet, as she raised her neck in concern. “But you’ll be cold,” she said softly.

Vinyl shrugged. “Hey, I’ve slept on the street before. This is fine.”

“No. Get in.”

It took an entire millisecond before the DJ gave in to her roommate’s demand. “Well, if you insist.” She struggled to suppress her grin as she slid in beside Octavia, loving the warmth of both the blankets and the mare.

Her own questionable feelings had fled as well, but what remained was no less powerful. Here she was, cuddling with the pony who had plagued her dreams for so long. How many of those dreams had ended like this, only for her to awake and find her bed empty? She squeezed harder, refusing to let go. If this was a dream, then she never wanted to wake up.

“Do you know what the strangest thing about this is?” whispered Octavia.

Vinyl shook her head slightly. “What?”

The cellist snuggled closer to her DJ.

“It doesn’t feel strange at all.”





Super-paraphrased Futurama reference in this one!

A little note on names: In many stories, writers give surnames to ponies who only have a first name, such as Octavia or (for a canon example) Rarity. While some characters do have full names like that (Pinkamena Diane Pie), I think it’s wrong to assume that all of Equestria follows the same naming conventions.

EDIT: This chapter was written waaaay before Octavia was given a canon last name, but I stand by these notes. Her last name still doesn't exist in this story.

In University Days, Octavia does not have a last name, and neither does Psych. I actually wrote an essay-length document explaining why, as well as tackling the issues of identification and individuality in Equestria, but then I realised that people don’t read this story for the tired ramblings at the end of each chapter.

They read it for the tired ramblings that make up each chapter.

Hope you enjoyed!

