//------------------------------//
// Chapter 3 
// Story: Vinyl and Octavia: University Days 
// by DawnFade 
//------------------------------//


Chapter 3



-----


The dark coldness swept over Vinyl’s body, but she didn’t feel it. Her phone floated before her eyes, wrapped in a haze of white. Red lights blinked in her peripheral vision, burning the late hour into the darkness. 

Her bed was soft but small, and the apartment was not much larger than it. But the DJ’s mind was not on her surroundings.

{[TO OCTAVIA]}

>Hey

She gritted her teeth at the words, but after a moment she sighed and tapped at the screen.

[DRAFT DELETED]

With a groan, she rolled onto her stomach and pressed her face into the pillow. The phone hovered patiently until she turned back over for another attempt.

{[TO OCTAVIA]}

>What’s up?

“It’s three in the morning, I’m asleep Vinyl. You’re an idiot,” the unicorn mumbled in a poor imitation of Octavia’s voice. A magical tendril fumbled for the delete button.

[MESSAGE SENT]

Her heart jumped with a lance of shock and she bolted upright. “No no no no no no no,” she whispered. “Not now, not at this time! Damn it!”

For a few precious seconds, Vinyl maintained the hope that perhaps Octavia didn’t sleep near her phone and thus wouldn’t hear it go off. Sweat trickled down her brow as a minute ticked by. Just before she started to relax, a soft ringing filled the air.

“Oh buck me.”

{[INCOMING CALL FROM OCTAVIA]}

“Oh, buck me!”

There was no way out of it; Octavia knew Vinyl was with her phone. She had to answer it. In her sleep-deprived state, the DJ considered not answering and leaving town so she never saw the cellist again. Saner thoughts prevailed.

Click.

“Hey,” Vinyl said nervously.

“Why in Equestria are you texting me at quarter-past-three in the morning?” replied an amused yet still very sophisticated voice.

“Er, I couldn’t sleep.”

“So you decided to inflict your misery on me as well?”

She winced. “Sorry.”

“Don’t worry, I’m joking. As it happens, I cannot get to sleep either.”

“Why?” Vinyl rolled over and curled up, a little smile replacing her fearful expression.

“My brain refuses to stop thinking.”

“Yeah, I know the feeling. What are you thinking about?”

“Silly things. I shan’t bore you with them lest they send you to sleep.”

“Actually, that sounds fantastic.” They shared a suppressed giggle. “Go on, tell me.”

“Well… I was actually thinking about you, Vinyl.”

Her heart beat a little faster. “Yeah?” she asked, hoping her voice didn’t sound hoarse.

“I… You know what I said in the tavern? About… not having friends?”

“Yeah?”

“Well, I was thinking that I was so lucky to be forced to get to know you better. It’s a strange feeling… having…” A quiet sniffle from the other side of the line made Vinyl’s chest hurt. “I’m sorry, something about being up late at night makes me more… open.”

“It’s okay. I understand that, it’s the same with me too,” replied the DJ comfortingly, followed by an almost inaudible “Please don’t cry.”

“I’m okay, I shouldn’t even be crying because this is a good thing. I suppose what I was trying to say is… thank you.”

“Hey, I should thank you too. None of my friends are very close, so it’s nice to know you’re there.”

Octavia giggled. “I’m not going anywhere, that’s for certain. My degree will take a while.”

“Heh, yeah mine too. But we’ll kick flank and take names before we’re done. You and me, got it?” She didn’t mean to sound so violent, but the thought of spending more time with her new friend got the DJ excited.

“Absolutely. Friends forever!” Octavia sounded equally excited.

Groaning, Vinyl smiled in the darkness. “That was pretty lame.”

“Oh, hush you. I’ve always wanted to say that. Now you say it too so it’s official.”

After a moment of silence, the unicorn swallowed her pride. “Friends forever.”


---


“You wouldn’t know how to mix a sub-bass if your life depended on it!” screamed Vinyl.

“And you wouldn’t be able to tune a custom cello to orchestral standards with any degree of competence!” Octavia shot back.

Psych scratched his chin with interest. “You know, I really thought you two would be fast friends. Maybe I’m losing my touch.” For a moment, the pair felt slightly guilty at making the tutor doubt himself. “Or maybe you need to hang out a couple more times!” The guilt vanished quickly.

“I think that violates my rights as a citizen of Equestria. Namely, the prohibition of cruel and unusual punishment.”

Vinyl made a mental note to compliment that particular insult after class. “Oh yeah? Well you were so busy talking about yourself at the bar that I could’ve left and you wouldn’t notice!” It was an average comeback, and Vinyl felt her will to continue the charade weakening.

Thankfully, Psych finally decided to end it himself. “Alright, settle down you two.” A chorus of disappointed groans echoed from the rest of the class, and the exchange of bits implied some sort of gambling had taken place. “Let’s get back on track. I’ve already gone over your coursework today but we still have half an hour before this class technically ends. So how about we have some suggestions about what our favourite pair does this week?”

Bonbon raised her hoof in the air with a smirk. “How about a candlelit dinner?” she giggled with the green mare beside her, who had a lyre on her flank. Some of the other ponies also chuckled, apparently aware of a joke Vinyl couldn’t see.

Octavia glared at Bonbon, hoping the red in her cheeks would pass as fury. Some might call her a prude, but she knew very well what was being implied.

“Maybe something a little less likely to end in homicide?” Psych suggested, yet his grin clearly said he was in on the joke too. “How about a movie? You won’t have to talk to each other much then.”

Vinyl was careful not to agree too quickly, instead scowling at the tutor for a few seconds before nodding slowly. “Whatever. At least in the dark theatre I won’t have to look at her face.”

“That’s the spirit! And you, Octavia?”

The cellist sighed as if the mere thought of going to a movie with the unicorn was exhausting. “Very well, if you insist on continuing this silly exercise. But Vinyl has to pay.”

Snorting back a harsh laugh, the green unicorn beside Bonbon whispered to her loudly, “Well it is customary for the stallion to pay for his mare.” There was a moment’s pause before the students erupted into rowdy laughter, hooting and whistling at the beet-red targets of the joke.

For once, Psych didn’t join them. “Lyra, that was uncalled for. I like a good one-liner as much as anypony, but let’s try and tone it down a bit, okay?”

“Sorry chief,” she said, snapping off a salute and eliciting more giggles from Bonbon.

“Alright class, make like it’s winter and wrap it up! I’m sure you all have classes to go to.”

As they shuffled out into the sunlight, the DJ resisted the urge to walk next to Octavia too eagerly, managing a sort of irritated trudge that the grey mare matched with a more dignified equivalent. Only when they reached the safety of the busy court did they let the acts slip slightly. Their classmates had dispersed to attend to their own lives, and nopony gave the pair a second look.

“You really gave me a run for my bits with that ‘cruel and unusual punishment’ line,” remarked the grinning DJ.

“Yes, I’m quite proud of that one. I actually thought it up during a history lecture when we were talking about ancient treaties that govern the rules of war.” Octavia blew a strand of hair out of her eyes and glanced at Vinyl. The unicorn was looking around the court, unaware she was being watched. Her electric-blue mane with cyan highlights seemed so unruly that it suited her perfectly, like a mixture of fun and beauty. The cellist almost envied her.

“Y’know, that actually sounds pretty cool. Maybe I should ditch one of my classes and take that instead.”

“For every interesting ancient warfare document we study, there are a thousand boring political declarations. You would be bored out of your mind, sweetie.”

Vinyl stopped walking and looked at the grey mare. “Sweetie?” she repeated, raising an eyebrow.

“Are we not allowed to do nicknames yet? Sorry, I’m not really good at this.” Octavia shifted her hooves nervously.

“Uh, well ‘sweetie’ isn’t really a nickname, it’s more of a…” She coughed and continued in a lower voice, “Pet name.”

“Oh.” The sight of blood rushing quickly into the cellist’s cheeks made Vinyl chuckle.

In an effort to lessen the embarrassment for her friend, she resumed walking normally, flicking her tail to indicate Octavia should follow. “You want me to pretend that didn’t happen?”

“Yes please.”

“No worries. Besides, nicknames are never just chosen, they’re made. Just call me Vinyl for now though, okay?”

“Okay. So,” she cleared her throat to get back on topic, “Why don’t you leave one of your classes then? Your company might actually make the lectures bearable.”

“Well, I don’t really have any I can afford to lose. I mean, musical theory is off the table for obvious reasons, and I really like drawing so far.” The absence of her third class only drew more attention to it.

“Why not drop psychology? I’ve seen you in class when we aren’t arguing and you always look bored.”

“Well, because…” Vinyl trailed off mumbling.

“Pardon?”

“Because it gives us a reason to hang out,” she quickly finished, flushing as she looked away to scan the groups of ponies scattered on the court for any observers.

“I like spending time with you as well, Vinyl.” A mutual smile passed between them as the DJ turned back.

It soon became apparent that each pony was trying to lead the other in a different direction. 

“Uh, Octavia? Don’t you wanna go to the food court?”

“My history tutorial starts in a few minutes… I thought you were walking me there?”

Vinyl chuckled. “Oh yeah, my bad. Where is it again?”

Sighing, the cellist turned and led the way.


---


There were two main reasons why Vinyl didn’t hang around after Octavia joined her class.

One, it would be awkward as hay if the grey mare looked out the window and saw her waiting.

And two, she totally had her own stuff to take care of. She wasn’t so lonely that she needed to hang around waiting for her friend to finish school. The DJ had her own friends and activities to do. Yep.

Half an hour later, her friends and activities stared back up at her from the bottom of a mug. The university tavern wasn’t as run-down as her usual bars, but it was definitely showing its age. A plaque above the door helpfully informed her that this was one of the first buildings erected when the university was being built. As amusing as it was to know that one of the priorities when building an educational campus was a place to serve alcohol, it wasn’t enough to distract her from the problem at hoof.

“Come on, Vinyl. Get it together,” she muttered before licking a final droplet of hard cider from the rim. “You’ve got plenty of friends to hang out with. Don’t get so attached to one of them.”

The words rang hollow in her ears. A little voice piped up from the back of her mind.

But she’s so interesting!

“No she’s not! I’m just bored and she helps me burn time.”

Is that why I hang on every word she speaks?

“Leave me alone.” Pushing the mug away, she rested her head in her hooves on the table. 

A snort came from behind her. “I haven’t even said anything yet,” said Psych, taking the seat beside Vinyl.

She snapped to attention, looking at the teacher with wide eyes. “Uh… hey…”

“Relax. I’m not here to torture you. I come here for a drink after class sometimes.”

“Cool.” It felt so awkward talking to a teacher in this setting, like two different areas of her life were colliding.

The tutor sighed and seemed to lose some of his cheer. “You know I’m just having a bit of fun in class, right? I didn’t realise it bothered you so much that you’d spend the afternoon grumbling into a cup of cider.”

“Huh?” Quickly realising how she must look, the DJ sat up straighter and cleared her throat. “I’m not drinking about that... but you should still feel pretty damn bad though.”

Psych chuckled and raised his hooves defensively. “Hey, teaching can be pretty boring. I think it’s lucky that you and Octavia happened to take the same class. No matter how much crappy paperwork is on my desk, I can always look forward to the next showdown. I think she won today, by the way.”

“Yeah, laugh it up.” Vinyl suddenly wished she hadn’t pushed the mug away so she could splash a few drops in his face.

“Ah, don’t worry. I’m sure you’ll get her next time. Maybe try something about her hair; she seems to be sensitive about it,” suggested the stallion helpfully.

She raised an eyebrow. “Really?”

“Definitely. Or, if you want to get on her good side, maybe try complimenting it instead.”

“She has a good side?” Vinyl quipped on reflex, but her thoughts were very far from malicious.

The tutor barked a laugh. “Nice one. I guess there’s not much chance of reconciliation between the two of you then?”

“Any hope for our friendship died when she said being a DJ doesn’t take skill.” Her voice was as firm and convincing as she could muster.

“Yeah, figured as much. Ah well, good entertainment’s hard to come by anyway.”

The white unicorn slipped off the seat and stretched her hooves. “Thanks for the chat, but I gotta bail. Parties to go to, basslines to drop. Later.”

Psych just nodded and half-raised a hoof in a farewell gesture that doubled as a signal to the bartender, who began mixing the usual.

The second Vinyl was outside, her phone floated out of a pouch in her saddlebags and drifted before the purple lens of her shades. After some quick tapping, it returned there safely. As the white pony trotted away, she began to whistle.


---


Octavia heard a faint rumble in her bags as they lay beside her seat. The old tutor droned in the background as she subtly slid the offending object, her phone, out and checked it below the table, well out of the tutor’s line of sight.

{[VINYL]}

>Your mane is pretty cool :)
