If you're a Canterlot pony, you have to live up to very high standards. Everypony expects nothing but the best out of you, and if you slip up just once, you're in every paper out there. Trust me, I know the feeling. That's why you have to be careful. Act like you're being watched all the time, because you are. Always be on your guard.

~XoXo~

It was my first day at Canterlot Music Academy. I was, of course, majoring in the classical genre, though other ponies there seemed to prefer country, rock, pop, and even that underground music that was suddenly so popular. Everything was going perfectly according to plan. I was happy with where I was, and I had a full scholarship. Everything was set. Even my belongings had been sent up earlier. All I had to do was find my room.

"Hello, I'm looking for dorm 57?" I asked the RA. She was a chunky Pegasus pony, clearly from outside of Canterlot. No Canterlot pony would allow their bodies to look like that.

"Down the hall and to the left," she said. She had a Cloudsdale hint to her voice, but she couldn't have made the flight up there recently with her weight. I nodded in thanks and followed her directions. The dorm was to the right, but I found it easily.

There was a stream of music coming from the dorm; loud, ear shattering music. I pushed the door open, bracing myself for the worst.

What I got was both better and worse than what I had expected. There was a unicorn there, a white one with an untidy electric blue mane, hovering over some sort of machine. The machine is what was producing the horrible music.

"Could you perhaps turn that dreadful thing down?" I asked, wrinkling my nose as I stepped over a sticky puddle of who knows what. The unicorn either didn't hear me or didn't feel like listening, because they kept the volume where it was. She did turn around though, and on her face were the most horrid glasses, if you could call them glasses.

"You my roommate?" she asked. Her voice was raspy, almost masculine, but with a feminine air to it.

"Yes," I said politely. "My name is Octavia,"

"Vinyl Scratch," the unicorn…er…Vinyl said. She turned back to her music…thing, and pressed a button. The terrible music was suddenly made a million times worse. Loud screeching sounds and a steady 'wub wub wub' started to come from the machine and I wished I had earmuffs.

"Please shut that dreadful music off!" I yelled over the noise. Vinyl shut it off, thank Celestia, but she looked smug.

"By the middle of the year, you'll love my wubs. Everypony does," she smiled, her sunglasses glinting.

"I highly doubt that. I am a pony of great sophistication. This…wubs doesn't appeal to me. I have a specific type of music. The classical genre," I turned to my portion of the room. Thankfully, Vinyl Scratch hadn't put a single hoof in the area. Unfortunately, I had to cross the tornado-zone that was her side of the room. Honestly, you would think a unicorn would have some sense of cleanliness.

"Where are you from?" I asked, trying to make conversation. If I was to room with her for the next year at least, I could try to be civil…despite our obvious differences.

"Canterlot, but not the fancy part, you know? I'm from the edge of the city. You know that area with all the jumping clubs?"

"The dangerous part," I nodded. "I've never been there." Respectable mares like myself wouldn't even dream of going near there.

"It's not so bad when you live there." Vinyl used her magic to stack four or five albums on top of each other. "I never had any problems. The trick is knowing how to take care of yourself in a sticky situation. You have to be okay with getting your hooves dirty,"

"Well, it's certainly not for everypony," I said, stepping over something I had never seen before in my life. "Do you have any hobbies?"

"You're full of questions," Vinyl noted. "I like that." She used her magic to bring the weird item to her and she hid it in a drawer. "I'm a disk jockey. I DJ at some clubs, some of them are really shabby, but I've been to some fancy ones. You know the Grand Galloping Gala?"

"Doesn't everypony?" I felt offended that a pony on such a low social ranking would think that I didn't know of the Gala.

"I had a gig there a few years ago," She beamed widely, but I was very confused.

"That doesn't make sense," I said quickly. "I have attended every Gala since I was a filly. I've never heard of anypony by the name of Vinyl Scratch,"

"Does the name DJ-Pon3 ring a bell?" Vinyl asked. "That's my stage name." I rolled my eyes. Stage names were things that classical musicians tried to avoid. Every gig I had ever preformed had listed me on the program as 'Octavia'.

"This mess is horrible," I commented as I finally collapsed onto my own bed. Vinyl looked around and nodded.

"Yup, it's pretty bad. I've never been one for organization." She proved her point by stacking six more albums onto the already wobbly stack on her bedside table, not caring that they were lopsided or near collapsing.

"Will you be attending the fresh-pony ball?" I asked, remembering the flyer I had been mailed last week. The school was holding some sort of dance for all the new coming ponies, and as a young mare, I wanted to make sure I associated myself with the right company. A dance was the perfect way to meet ponies and decide who was to be trusted.

"You have to," Vinyl said. "If you don't go, you look antisocial, and you don't want that over your head on the first day." She tossed some clothes into the drawers on her bed table and admired her slightly cleaner portion of the room.

"I could help you," I offered, scanning the mess.

"Nah, I'll get it. You want a tour? I've been here a few days already."

"That's kind of you," I said. "Just so long as we can return before the fresh-pony ball,"

"Ah, we'll have plenty of time. C'mon,"

~XoXo~

As it turns out, we did have plenty of time. Canterlot Music Academy wasn't too big, and we even stopped for smoothies in the Academy's café.

"This was fun," I admitted as we entered the room. The cleaning staff must have felt sorry for us, because when we returned the mess was pushed away into a neat corner of the room, giving us space to at least walk through to the other side. I instantly went to the closet on my side and found the dress I had ordered. It was from a Ponyville boutique, but the designs had been seen around many Gala events.

It was very obvious that my style was much different from Vinyl's from the second we turned to face each other. She was wearing a simple blue jacket with the hood pulled up. I was wearing my hair pulled up and an elegant purple dress, tied at the front with a pink bow and a treble cleft embroidered on the flank. The dress trailed on, over my tail, and I even had matching earrings.

"Fancy," Vinyl noted. "I guess most ponies do choose to look their best, but that's not me. Gotta show them who I really am, you know?"

Well, at least she was honest.

"Shall we get going then?" Getting ready for this had taken me quite some time, and the dance was due to start soon.

"I guess so," Vinyl faced the ground. "I can understand if you don't want to be seen going there with me," she said quietly.

"Why would you think that?" I asked. Sure, she was very different from me, but that didn't mean I wanted to exclude her.

"You'll see when we get there." She sighed. "Or maybe you won't. Just…whatever you find out, remember the mare that showed you the campus."

"I'll keep that in mind," I promise. "Now let's go, or we'll be late!"

I must admit, I didn't expect too much from the Academy party. I was quite surprised, however, at the turnout. Mares in beautiful dresses, stallions in smart suits, and a wide array of music; it was like paradise for anypony at all interested in music.

Vinyl didn't seem as excited, however. She kept looking around nervously, her barely visible eyes darting around the courtyard.

"Vinyl, you must calm yourself! Enjoy the party. Listen, they're even playing those wubs you're so fond of!" It was true. There were currently loud wub-like noises pounding across the courtyard. Vinyl didn't change posture.

"I'm trying to avoid some ponies I went to high school with," she said quietly, checking over her shoulder. I opened my mouth to reply, but somepony cut me off.

"Hello, Vinyl," somepony said in a sinister yet sweet voice.

I turned around to see two mares. The unicorn was a nice aquamarine color with a lighter, white streaked mane and amber eyes. She was wearing a white dress with music notes-eighth notes to be precise-on the hem. The earth pony was blue with a white mane and pink eyes. Her dress was pink with quarter notes on the hem.

"Oh…hey, Lyra…Bee Bop," Vinyl sounded irritated, though, I suppose anypony would be irritated at such a matching pair of mares.

"Who's your new marefriend?" The unicorn asked. Her voice was that sinister-sweet one from before. She faced the earth pony and they laughed, bumping their exposed flanks together in what I assumed was some sort of hoofshake…minus the hooves. The both had lyre cutie marks, though the earth pony's was much more detailed.

"She's not my marefriend, Lyra." Vinyl grumbled. "She's my roommate."

"Roommate? Is that what you're going with this year?" the earth pony, who had to be Bee Bop, laughed. Her voice was scratchy; not at all something I had expected from a mare with such a beautiful instrument as a cutie mark.

"I assure you, Vinyl and I are just roommates." I said kindly. "I do love your dresses," I quickly tried to change topic. "Wherever did you get them?"

"We got them from a shop here in Canterlot," The unicorn, who must have been Lyra, stuck her nose in the air as though only royals shopped in a Canterlot boutique. "Where did you get yours? It's lovely," I noticed that Lyra was suddenly putting on a very fake Canterlot accent. She must have made the conclusion that I was from Canterlot, and assumed I was of high importance.

Wise mare, this Lyra.

"I ordered mine from Ponyville actually. That new stylist, Rarity, has made dresses for royalty to appear in at the Gala, so I decided to try one of her creations for this evening." I shook my flank ever so lightly so the dress would flutter behind me.

"Where did you get those earrings?" Bee Bop asked.

"I love them," Lyra noted.

"They came with the dress," I said, enjoying the attention. These mares were mares that I could include in my circle of friends. "What are you majoring in?" I asked, turning the subject towards studies.

"We're lyrist," Lyra said, bumping her flank against Bee Bop's again. "You?"

"I play the cello,"

"Isn't that hard?"

"I've been working at it since I was a filly. It gets easier with time. Classical music is just my calling, you know?" I was so focused in making friends with these ponies that I didn't notice Vinyl Scratch had gone. Or, at least I hadn't noticed.

"It must be odd for you too room with Vinyl Scratch." Lyra said. "Sure, all us other ponies love the remixes…I'll admit, they aren't so bad, even though I'm a lyrist. Even Bee here loves them, and she hates Vinyl, but you're a classical pony inside and out,"

"She says that these…wubs are very popular where she's from. I'm not fond of them. In fact, I really do wish I had gotten another roommate. Vinyl is so loud, and so messy!" I tried to stick up for her, I truly did, but my life had taught me to make sure I looked good first. As long as I was clean, I could help others.

"That's not all she is," Bee Bop said in a loud whisper. "I went to school with her all through high school. She was my best friend, but one day, she got really weird. She was all shy and quiet around me, and one day, I snapped. I asked her why she was so awkward, and she tried to kiss me!" Bee Bop made a face.

"Did she really?" I asked in surprise. Sure, Vinyl had seemed a bit…masculine, bit I would never have pegged her as a fillyfooler.

"That's right! When I told her I wasn't into her like that, she got offended. She said I was leading her on. I had to explain to her that I was into stallions, not mares and she made a huge deal out of it." Bee Bop rolled her pink eyes. I wondered for a moment if they were contacts; I'd never met a mare with pink eyes.

"Oh, I love this song!" Lyra said cheerfully as a somewhat soothing piano began to carry over the mass. "Bee, Octavia, let's go dance!" I was ready to go when the music began to sound more techno than classical.

"That's quite all right," I declined politely. "But this isn't really my style," A rapid paced voice sounded as my new friends-could I call them friends?-began to dance in time to the music. I trotted over to the refreshments table, examining the hay-fries and other high calorie treats. I carefully picked up a triangle of a daisy sandwich and ate it as neatly as possible, keeping an eye on the dance floor. The song ended and Lyra and Bee Bop joined me at the table.

"You should have joined us!" Lyra shouted, her ears clearly pounding. I shook my head.

"I couldn't have. I was unable to pick up the beat," a lie, but just a little one. I wouldn't have been able to dance in my dress anyway.

"It was so fun, Octavia!" Bee Bop said, jumping around.

"I would imagine so," I suddenly wanted to distance myself from them. They were beginning to draw attention. A more classical, yet still quite upbeat piece started playing and my ears perked. I knew this melody. I had spent months as a filly learning this piece, and even more months perfecting it. This was the piece that had admitted me to Canterlot Music Academy.

"Palladio," I whispered.

"You know this?" Lyra looked impressed.

"Of course…I preformed it at Canterlot Hall shortly after I got my cutie mark…I was the youngest mare to ever preform in a group." I wasn't trying to brag, but it was an honor. "The Princess herself asked my parents to let me preform," Bee Bop's eyes went wide.

"Um…Octavia?" A raspy voice came behind me. I turned around and saw Vinyl Scratch, staring down at her hooves.

"Yes, Vinyl?" I tried to ignore the fact that I had blown her off for two mares that had treated her horribly. I also tried to ignore the fact that I was rooming with a fillyfooler. Did the pony who assigns rooms know what Vinyl was? They couldn't have, or I wouldn't be rooming with her.

"I just wanted to tell you I was going back to the room…in case you came looking for me."

"I'll go up with you," I said quickly. It was late, and the music was once again upbeat, drawing Lyra and Bee Bop to the dance floor. How anypony could be on that floor for so long was beyond me. So many sweaty ponies, grinding their flanks on yours…I would rather die than be subjected to that horror.

The walk up to the room was in silence. I felt awkward, not only because we had been laughing mere hours ago, but because of the…fun fact I had learned about her.

"That was a nice piece they played before we left…even if it wasn't really my style," Bless her, trying to break the silence.

"Yes, I suppose so."

There was more silence and Vinyl used her magic to swing the door open before I could even see it. She darted inside and I followed at a nice, normal pace after her, shutting the door behind me.

"They told you, didn't they?" My, she was right to the point. I nodded, carefully removing my dress.

"They might have brought it up," I tried to be casual, but I was a terrible actress. I sounded faker than Lyra's Canterlot accent. I refused to make eye contact with Vinyl, though that would have been hard anyway considering she was still wearing those horrid glasses. I heard her sigh, followed by a drawer opening and slamming shut.

"You're acting different," Vinyl sounded hurt.

"No I'm not," I snapped. "I'm the same as I was before. I've been the same ever since I was a filly."

"I mean you're treating me different. Before that stupid dance thing, we were joking around and having an awesome time. Now you won't even look at me."

"I'll admit, we did have a nice time touring campus, but that was before I knew I was rooming with…well, with somepony like you. How would you feel in my situation? A young mare forced to room with a pony that might very well develop feelings for you? That's why they make mares and stallions room separately you know,"

"You stupid Canterlot ponies are all the same!" Vinyl cried. "You all think that just because I'm the way I am, I'm going to get some big stupid crush on every mare I see!" I actually turned to look at her now, and her glasses were on the bedside table. "News flash, Octavia, we aren't like that. We fall in love the same way ponies like you do. We find a pony we like, and we like them. We don't go after every mare we see."

There was more silence. There seemed to be a lot of that lately.

"I'm sorry…" I began, but Vinyl, being the mare she was, interrupted.

"Didn't Lyra and Bee Bop tell you the truth?" She asked. "They're fillyfoolers too,"

"Vinyl Scratch, that is a very rude accusation!"

"What did Bee tell you about me?" She asked. "That we were best friends, right?" I nodded. "Well, she was my marefriend. I wanted to go public, and she was afraid too, so we broke up. She made up that story, and everypony hated me, even Lyra. Lyra hated me because I was open about who I was. She didn't want to be a fillyfooler. Bee Bop met her at a party, they got drunk, and now they're together."

"I don't believe a word of that," I stuck my nose in the air. "Lyra and Bee Bop may not be from sophisticated families like myself, but they were certainly raised in an environment where being a fillyfooler is frowned upon. Besides, they would have told me."

"Now they never will. They'll see how quickly you changed towards me." Vinyl shot me an angry glare. "If you were going to be afraid of anypony, be afraid of them. They're the ones that try to get any mare they can."

"You're being terrible, Vinyl. I won't let you sit here and insult my friends just because you're bitter and angry at the world." I huffed. Canterlot ponies did not huff often.

"What happened to remembering the mare that showed you the campus?" Vinyl snapped at me. My eyes narrowed.

"The mare I remember wasn't set on making me hate everypony just because they didn't like her." I said as coldly as I could. I was breaking so many Canterlot rules tonight with my rudeness, but Vinyl didn't deserve kindness.

"I thought we were friends," her voice quivered. Good going, Octavia, now you've made the poor mare cry. She deserved it, what with her badmouthing my new friends.

"Friends don't insult their friend's friends," I retorted.

"Well, friends also don't go making friends with the mares that ruined their friend's life,"

"Buck you," I whispered, shocked at my language. What would Mother think if she had heard?

"Careful now," Vinyl's voice was strong again. "I might take that as an invitation,"

We both knew that was the end of the argument. Vinyl used her magic to cover herself with the blankets, and I lay there, hating myself for what I had done. Sure, Vinyl Scratch was a fillyfooler. Father always told me it was what's on the inside that counts. Her being into mares didn't change who she was.

"I'm sorry," I said. It was loud enough that I could hear it, but I knew that Vinyl could not. I would have to wait until morning to fully apologize for my unacceptable behavior. For now, I would just have to sleep, and hope my worries didn't carry into my dreams.

~XoXo~

Bee Bop is originally a G3 pony, not an OC.

I woke to what had to have been the worst music I had ever heard. I was terribly confused as to why anypony in my house would be playing such awful music. As far as I knew, we were all classical musicians.

"Turn that horrid music off!" I grumbled into my pillow. The music instead turned up, shaking the room with its beats.

"Not digging the wubs?" An angry voice asked. I blinked into full awake mode and turned to face whoever spoke. When I saw Vinyl Scratch, I remembered everything that had happened. The fighting and my very rude behavior pushed its way forth and I cringed at the memory.

"Vinyl, could you turn it down please? There's something I would like to discuss with you." There was no way she could have heard me. My Canterlot-Noble voice was far too quiet to hear over such awful music.

"I'm sorry, what?" Vinyl yelled over the music. She stretched out the vowel in 'what'; an obvious action to get on my nerves. I shook my head, wanting to throw something at her for being so obnoxious and rude, but today was supposed to make up for last night. No projectiles, not even a pillow, allowed.

"Vinyl," I repeated. "TURN IT DOWN!" My throat hurt from shouting over the ear-deafening music, but it was worth it. Vinyl just gave a roll of her eyes and turned it off. I cleared my throat and nodded in thanks.

"What's up?" Vinyl still seemed cold. I didn't blame her in the slightest.

"My behavior last night was unforgivable, and I wouldn't be surprised if you hated me for the rest of my life, but it seems only right to apologize for my actions. It was wrong of me to treat you the way I did." Vinyl stared at me, her tinted glasses gleaming in the sunlight from the window.

"Kay," she said, turning back to her machine…thing.

"Is that all you have to say?" I asked before she could start it up again.

"Yeah," Alright, Vinyl, stick to one syllable answers. I'll do all the talking.

"Well, I suppose I'm sorry for assuming that you would instantly fall for me. I was wrong to say such a thing. I'm also sorry for yelling at you for what you said about Lyra and Bee Bop. That was uncalled for, and I should not have allowed my temper to get the best of me. It would mean so much, Vinyl, if you were to forgive me." I watched the unicorn carefully, waiting for her response.

"Octavia, I'm used to this. Everypony is fine with me until they find out that I'd rather be with mares. They look away, they turn up their noses, and they pretend they don't have a problem."

"I don't have a problem," I retorted, keeping my voice calm. I refused to have a repeat of last night. "My father always told me to judge a pony on who they are, not what they are."

"That doesn't change anything. You still feel weird around me, and you're still going to hang out with Lyra and Bee. They're going to fill your head with lies, and then you'll hate me more than you do now."

"Vinyl Scratch, we are going to get one thing settled out right now." I said firmly. "I do not hate you. I have never once hated anypony in my life, and I am not going to start now. Do I make myself clear?" Hate was a strong word, and I did not want this poor mare thinking that I hated her. I may have disliked her music, and her attitude, and her personality…but I did not hate her.

"Sorry," she mumbled.

"Quite alright, Vinyl," I smiled. "So, is it safe to say we're friends?" She looked at me, or I suppose it was at me, and half-smiled.

"I dunno, I'm still pretty mad at you, but we can try hanging out again. It's our last free day before classes start up, right? I say we go back to that café and get ourselves some smoothies."

"That sounds nice," I agreed. We left the room and we were nearly to the café when Vinyl suddenly turned around and began running as fast as a pony could. I was standing there, shocked, when she returned, a pair of big bulky headphones around her neck.

"I'm workin' on somethin'," she explained when she caught me staring. I resisted the urge to ask-I would most likely get a lesson on 'wubs'- and continued to the café. I ordered a strawberry smoothie, having a secret fondness for the tangy yet sweet fruit. Vinyl told them to throw everything together and put it in a glass.

"Thank you," I said politely when the barmare gave me my drink. Vinyl simply downed it in one, belching loudly.

"Most ponies say 'excuse me'," I wrinkled my nose in disgust.

"I'm not most ponies," Vinyl replied. She slipped the headphones over her ears and used her magic to fiddle with the machine in front of her. I could hear steady, loud noises, but I could also hear a loud strings section. Perhaps I had already rubbed off on her.

"Octavia, can I talk to you?" I recognized Lyra's voice. I turned around and saw that she was alone. Her eyes were rimmed with red, as though she had been crying.

"Hello, Lyra," I said cheerfully. "Are you alright?" Vinyl snorted, and I shot her an angry look. She still had no right to treat my friends rudely.

"I just got into a fight with…with Bee. She's really upset with me right now, and I need somepony to talk to,"

"Of course," I excused myself from the table, leaving a few bits to help pay for the smoothies. "Where would you like to talk?"

"My room, if that's alright. I usually share it with Bee, but she went into town to get away from me."

"Lead the way," I said in the most comforting voice I could. There was a nagging in my head with Vinyl's voice, trying to tell me that Lyra was a fillyfooler, but I pushed that aside. Lyra would have told me. Friends don't keep secrets.

Unless they knew how you treated Vinyl.

"Here," Lyra said. She used her magic to open the door, and I followed her inside. Her room was much nicer than mine. There were no albums across the floor, and no bulky machines. There were two lyres, and the room smelled of mint.

"What happened?" I asked kindly. Lyra collapsed into tears, hugging me and burying her face into my shoulder.

"I should have told you last night, but I didn't want you to judge me!" she sobbed. I patted her back awkwardly. In Canterlot, most ponies did not start sobbing into your shoulder.

"It's alright, Lyra!" I tried to raise my voice so she could hear me. "Just tell me now!"

"I…I'm like Vinyl!" Her voice squeaked.

"You're a fillyfooler?" I breathed.

Now you know to listen to Vinyl.

"I am, and…and…"

"Vinyl already told me about Bee Bop. What happened?"

"I told her she could at least try to be nice to Vinyl, and she thought I liked Vinyl and…and…she left me! She went off last night to meet somepony," Lyra's sobs echoed across her room and I tried to be comforting. I was an only foal, so I didn't gain any experience in comforting a crying pony. All I could do was pat her back in an awkward fashion.

"You'll be fine," I couldn't really think of anything else to say. What does one tell a pony when they come crying to you that their marefriend has left them? They should really make rule books for this sort of thing. 'A Celestian Guide to Relationship Advice' or something like that.

"Get this though," Lyra's voice quivered. "She left me for a…for a stallion!"

"I thought she was a—"

"—Fillyfooler?" Lyra sniffed. "She's into both," I looked around the room for some tissues. Lyra's nose was very runny from all her crying. When I couldn't find any, I reluctantly pulled the handkerchief from inside the pocket on my bowtie.

"Here," I offered. She took it with her magic and blew her nose loudly. Thank Celestia she didn't offer to return it.

"What do I do, Octavia?" Lyra asked in a pitiful little voice. I offered her the only clichéd advice I knew.

"There are many other ponies in Equestria. You're bound to meet somepony else. I know a mare who works at the candy shop not too far from here. We were friends in filly school, but she moved away when she told everypony she was a fillyfooler. Her name is Bon Bon, you might like her." My thoughts strayed to my old friend, and I wondered if she really did still work at the candy shop.

"Can you introduce me?" Lyra asked hopefully, a light in her amber eyes. I shrugged.

"I don't see why not. Just let me tell Vinyl where I'm off to and we can go,"

"Thank you, Octavia! You're fantastic!" Lyra glowed with excitement as she stopped leaning on me. "I'll meet you at the Academy entrance!" She dashed off and I walked at a normal pace back to my room. Vinyl was there, crouched over her machine. She seemed to be hiding something, and her glasses were perched on top of her head.

"I'm going to the candy shop with Lyra. She's upset, and I'm going to introduce her to a friend. You're welcome to come if you'd like,"

Good, Octavia. Be polite.

"I'm kind of busy with something, but thanks." Vinyl turned back to the machine and began pushing buttons.

"Suit yourself,"

"Hey, Octy?"

"Please do not refer to me as 'Octy'. My name is Octavia," I despised nicknames. Why would anypony want to butcher the name they were given? Especially when said pony's name was as sophisticated as mine.

"Alright, Octavia," Vinyl rolled her eyes. "Can you get me something?" The unicorn held out a bag of bits. "I want some hard candy. I need something to suck on while I work." I took the bits and nodded.

"I'll be back in about an hour." I said, turning away.

"Oh, and Octy?"

"Yes?" I ignored the fact that she had once again called me 'Octy'.

"I guess we can be friends…you're not as bad as I thought. I'm still mad at you though," I rolled my eyes, but smiled anyway.

"Alright, Vinyl," I left the room and shut the door behind me.

~XoXo~

My usual co-writer helped me a bit with this chapter.

"Is that her?" Lyra asked, peeking through the candy shop window. I checked and nodded. There was the mare with the blue and pink mane helping a filly with choosing candy.

"Yes, that's Bon Bon," I nodded. I walked into the candy shop and tried not to wrinkle my nose at the strong smell of sweets. Bon Bon looked up at me, clearly confused as to why I was there. Even as a filly I had never been one for candy.

"Hello, Bon Bon," I said cheerfully. "How are you today?"

"I'm doing fine. What about you?"

"I'm going just fine, thank you." There was a bell behind me and Lyra stepped up behind me. "This is my new friend, Lyra." I stepped back and let Lyra have the floor. The mint unicorn looked towards the ground shyly.

"Hello," Bon Bon said kindly, sensing Lyra's nervousness. I left the two to…whatever it is they were going to do and trotted off to find the candy Vinyl had requested. Why she wanted hard candy was beyond me. I preferred sugar cubes and occasionally a nice toffee. Much softer on the teeth, and they didn't make a horrid amount of noise.

I found the hard candy easily. It was the only section in the shop that hadn't been ruined by fillies. There was even a sale going on. One bag of hard candy was now only 5 bits. I selected a bag of electric blue candies, thinking that it would at least match Vinyl's mane, and returned to the counter. Lyra was smiling widely and Bon Bon looked pleased.

"Just this," I said, laying the bag of bits on the counter. Bon Bon counted out five and returned the bag, along with the candy.

"I never took you for the hard-candy type, Octavia." She said as I stuck the candy in my saddle bag.

"It's for a friend," I explained, not wanting to get into the whole issue.

"A coltfriend?" Bon Bon teased. I shook my head, wrinkling my nose. I had never had a coltfriend, and I was certainly not going to get one here. Stallions were just large and messy. I didn't want to waste my time with one, and Bon Bon was supposed to know that.

"You need to get one soon, Octavia." Lyra said through a mouthful of what appeared to be sugar. "There are a lot of stallions at the Academy that you might like. There's Baritone, Frederic Horseshoepin, Meadow Song, Jazz…"

"Lyra, it's very sweet of you to name all the eligible stallions, but I'm not all that into dating." I cut her off kindly. I had met Frederic when I was registering, and he had seemed nice, but I would prefer to have him as a good friend, not a coltfriend.

"Octavia, you've never had a coltfriend," It was not a question. Bon Bon knew, without asking, that I had never been in a relationship with anypony. Lyra gasped loudly when I nodded my head.

"I don't see anything wrong with that," I protested.

"Most mares have had at least one coltfriend, even if it wasn't anything serious," Lyra said.

"Did you ever think…and don't take this the wrong way, Octavia, but maybe you haven't had a coltfriend because you just don't like stallions?" Bon Bon ventured. I was ready to protest, but there was nothing I could say. It was true that I found stallions smelly and messy, but mares could be like that too. Take Vinyl Scratch for example. She was very messy.

"Octavia, it's not something bad." Lyra said quickly. "It just means you would prefer mares. Equestria has been very open-minded about coltcuddlers and fillyfoolers ever since Celestia became the ruler."

"I'm aware," I didn't have much to say to anypony. I was too busy trying to work out if I liked mares or stallions.

"Octavia, are you alright?" Bon Bon asked. I nodded slowly.

"I need to go now. Lyra, you're welcome to stay with Bon Bon, but I need to get candy her Vinyl…I mean, Vinyl her candy. See you back at campus," I walked away as dignified as I could. I was in Canterlot, after all, and I couldn't let anypony even begin to think that I might be suffering an internal debate. Over my sexuality no less!

"Watch it—oh, hey, Octavia." I shook my head to see Bee Bop, standing beside a large brown Pegasus stallion with a blonde mane and tail.

"Hello, Bee," I put on a false air of relaxation. "Who's this?" I asked, though I figured I knew who it was.

"This is my new coltfriend," Bee Bop smiled widely. "His name is Dollar, but everypony calls him Money Shot." The stallion nodded his head toward me respectively and I caught a glimpse of his cutie mark; a backwards 'S' with two lines through it.

"Why'd we stop?" A young female voice asked. I peered around Money Shot and saw a small filly with a large camera around her neck. She was light brown with a blonde mane and tail. She looked like a miniature, earth pony version of Money Shot.

"Yooess Dee," Bee explained when she saw where I was looking. "His half-sister, you see, his parents are Pegasus ponies, and his mom left his dad after she had him, and she got with an earth pony and had Yooess!"

"Fascinating," I avoided rolling my eyes. "I must get going, you see, I promised I would deliver something to a friend and I'm running late." Before I could say a formal goodbye, I was trotting at a brisk pace back towards the Academy. What was this place doing to my Canterlot manners? Ever since arriving, I had been so much ruder than usual.

"I was about to come find you!" Vinyl's voice said from across the street. I turned my head and stepped back onto the sidewalk. A taxi puller glared at me for wasting his time before galloping off as fast as he could.

"I didn't know which kind you liked," I said as she approached. I managed to get the candy out of my saddle bag and Vinyl took it with her magic. "I just got the really blue ones to match your mane."

"These are my favorite, thanks, Octy,"

"I told you not to call me that," I said, but I didn't really care anymore. Nopony had ever bothered to give me a nickname before.

"Do you wanna go back, or should we hang around Canterlot?" Vinyl asked, popping three pieces of the candy into her mouth. I thought for a moment. Going back would mean being in a dorm, possibly getting another smoothie, and being forced to think.

"I think we should walk around for a while. We could go out for lunch, do some shopping, go to the music store…"

"Sounds like a date!" Vinyl said. She nodded before she realized how it had sounded. "I meant…not a date, but…"

"I understand, Vinyl," I laughed. "Our not-a-date date,"

"Yeah, that!" Vinyl said loudly. "Awesome! Now, where are we going for lunch?"

A not-a-date date is a very good way to think without actually thinking. The thoughts that I had been avoiding had not popped into my head once that day, but when Vinyl and I returned home, I had come to a conclusion.

I was, without a doubt, not into stallions.

Every stallion I had ever met just made me sick to my stomach, and the thought of having a coltfriend made me want to die. I was simply not interested in stallions. Perhaps Bon Bon had a point. Maybe I had never had a coltfriend because I was interested in mares.

"Octy, you okay? You look kinda funny,"

"I'm just fine. Confused, but fine," I was lying on my bed, looking over sheet music for my cello.

"Confused about what?" Vinyl asked.

"Private matters," I had hoped to dismiss the issue, but Vinyl wouldn't let it go.

"We're friends, right? So you can tell me. I won't tell anypony. In case you hadn't noticed, I'm not the most popular around here," She jumped onto my bed, my sheet music falling in a messy heap to the floor. I could very easily tell Vinyl what was going through my head, but what would that mean for me? I had a reputation all planned out. Admitting that I might be a fillyfooler would change my reputation drastically.

"Vinyl, please, it's personal," I don't know why I thought I could drop the matter. Vinyl was interested, and she didn't seem the type to just let things go. She pleaded, poked, prodded, and even jabbed me with her horn a few times.

"Just tell me, Octy!" She pleaded. "Or else I'll have to kiss you," I knew she was teasing. She had to have been teasing. Nopony would threaten to kiss you unless they were teasing. Teasing or not, I decided I had to tell her.

"I might…it's possible that I could be…"

"You're a fillyfooler," Vinyl nodded once. "Took you long enough, I thought you were going to go through the whole semester and even get a coltfriend you didn't like before you realized it."

"You—you knew?" I asked. "How is that possible? I didn't even know until a few hours ago!"

"One, I'm a unicorn. I have magical powers. Two, I'm one too, and it's easier to tell if somepony is one too."

"So does this mean I'm suddenly going to know which ponies are fillyfoolers or coltcuddlers?" I asked, not expecting a real answer.

"Actually, you'll find it easier to identify because now you're looking for it. You need to know the sexuality of a pony before you can talk to them properly, or else you'll end up flirting with a mare as straight as can be." Vinyl smiled widely. "But it's great that you realized it! Now I have somepony to talk about crushes with!"

"Vinyl Scratch has a feminine side," I said in mock surprise. "I thought everything with you was just wubs?"

"I'm working on a wub-tastic project, and even us 'non-feminine' types like to talk about our feelings every once and a while. Have you seen the flank on Beauty Brass? I would go for that in a heart-beat!" I tried to ignore the fact that Vinyl was talking about a mare that I was going to see in orchestra rehearsals tomorrow.

"Is she one too?" I asked, suddenly wondering if everypony on campus was a coltcuddler or a fillyfooler.

"Nah, she's into stallions. A mare can dream though," Vinyl sighed and turned towards me. "Any mares you've taken an interest in?"

"Vinyl, that's silly," I said. "I only just realized this today, and I'm still awkward about it. I'm not going to like somepony this early on."

"You can still like somepony," Vinyl retorted. "Just please don't say Lyra or Bee Bop,"

"I can assure you, my feelings for Lyra and Bee remain at a friendly level," I shuddered at the thought of having either of the lyrists as a marefriend. They were nice, but as nothing more than friends. There were no mares that came to mind when I tried to think of which one I could possibly like in that fashion. "I don't have to like anypony," I said suddenly. "I'm sorry but, Vinyl I just don't like anypony that way."

"You will," Vinyl replied. She yawned, her tongue poking out to the side.

"Shall we go to bed? We do start attending classes tomorrow," I was a bit drowsy myself, and a good night's sleep was always appreciated when you had to play the cello for an hour in the mornings and three hours in the late afternoon to early evening.

"That sounds nice. Night, Octy," Vinyl hopped from my bed and used her magic, which I was growing increasingly jealous of, to place her atrocious glasses on the bedside table.

"Good night, Vinyl Scratch," I snuggled under the covers of my bed, taking comfort in the warmth that surrounded me. It was like I was a filly again, and my mother had just warmed the sheets for me to keep cozy. Then, in the middle of the night, I would awake with nightmares and my mother would have oat cookies and warm milk to calm me down and help me sleep. If I shut my eyes and covered my nose with my hoof, I could almost imagine my mother singing a lullaby to be while I was a filly. Serenada Philharmonica was so proud of her little filly.

My mother would be furious with me today.

Filly Octavia was never rude. Music Academy Octavia had been rude on many occasions. Filly Octavia would rehearse her cello all day. Music Academy Octavia just wasted a large portion of the day frolicking around Canterlot with an irresponsible mare. Filly Octavia would talk about her dream wedding to a well-known musical stallion.

Music Academy Octavia was a fillyfooler.

~XoXo~

Shorter than usual because of NaNoWriMo. Serenada is just the musical term serenade with an 'a' at the end. Nothing special.

I walked into my first ever class, Concert Orchestra, with half smile half smirk on my face. I had to look confident today. Nopony was allowed to know that I was a fillyfooler. I had to get everypony to know the real me before I told them about my little secret. After all, they couldn't hate a pony if they already liked them…if that made sense. The other ponies in the orchestra seemed kind enough, even if it was awkward meeting them.

Beauty Brass, a blue pony with a brown mane, was very friendly. I tried to ignore what Vinyl had said about her flank, but I caught myself staring on many occasions. Her cutie mark was a purple bass cleft, and she played a sousaphone.

Frederic was quiet, but when he did speak, he was very…I suppose wise is the only way to put it. I tried to forget that Lyra had suggested him as a coltfriend. He played the piano, and was rehearsing when I first walked into the practice room. Beauty Brass was watching him, her eyes wide and shiny.

Concerto was very handsome, and he played the violin. His brown coat and mane shined from a careful washing. He spoke with the richest of Canterlot accents, and he had blue eyes that twinkled. His marefriend, Symphony, was also a violin player.

The most mysterious of the band members was Harpo. He didn't speak much…at all actually. He was just a harp player, as was his marefriend, Lyrica. They only spoke to each other, in hushed tones. The other members of the orchestra told me to ignore them.

"Are you enjoying your first day, Octavia?" Concerto asked me about half way through rehearsals. I put my cello bow down.

"It's wonderful," I smiled. "Everything I had imagined and more. Everypony here is just so talented. I hope I can keep up,"

"Octavia, darling," Symphony laughed a very bell-like laugh. "You are a part of this school, and therefore, you are talented enough to keep up with us."

"Thank you, Symphony," I nodded my head respectively towards her.

"Today is clearly just a free day," Beauty Brass said, joining us. "We're just warming up our instruments and making sure everypony is in tune. We're also trying out some things that we might want to use in our first concert around Heath's Warming Eve." She shifted her instrument slightly. "I'm working with Frederic on a piece just over there if you want to have a listen," she trotted off and Frederic began playing his piano.

"Do you know any pieces we could try, Octavia?" Concerto asked.

"I know one…a cello and violin piece."

"Let's try it!" Symphony said. "Do you have the sheet music?"

"I do," I popped open my cello case and ruffled through the music that Vinyl had disorganized last night. I finally found the music and gave the violin pieces to Concerto and Symphony. They readied their instruments and we began to play.

The music pounded through my ears and I felt at home. The violins were in perfect unison, their notes blending with my cello in a beautiful fashion. It had been a long time since I had heard classical music. All the loud beats that Vinyl was so fond of pushed their way out of my head, replaced with the sweet melody of the piece.

I was aware that the rest of the orchestra was surrounding us, listening to us play. I didn't let that distract me. Instead, I relied on it for motivation to keep myself at the proper tempo. Concerto and Symphony were swaying to the beat of their violins, their eyes never once leaving the sheet music.

"That was simply astounding," Fredric complimented. "You must perform that piece at the Heath's Warming Eve concert," Beauty Brass nodded in agreement. Symphony and Concerto bowed, and I tilted my head, unable to bow due to the size of my cello. Lyrica approached me.

"Do you mind if I play a piece?" she asked in a low whisper.

"By all means, feel free," I said kindly. She thanked me and hurried to her harp, looking to me for help. "I believe Lyrica has something she would like us to hear," I announced. Everypony turned to face her and she ran her hoof across the harp to make sure it was in tune. When she had confirmed that she was tuned, she began to play, her hooves dancing across the harp.

Her piece was beautiful, though I had never been one to know harp music. I did know that the music was wonderful.

"What did you think?" Concerto asked the group. "I say it's worthy of the concert,"

"I concur," Frederic said, standing next to Concerto. Lyrica looked down, a smile across her face.

"I loved it," Beauty Brass beamed. They all looked to me.

"I'm not the type of pony to correctly judge harp music, but I think I have just witnessed a very talented harp player, and it would be a shame if her talent was not showcased at the concert,"

"That's that then," Symphony said brightly. "Lyrica, you'll be playing that in the concert,"

"Look at the time! We only have a minute left!" Concerto exclaimed, looking at the clock perched on the wall. I collected my sheet music and placed it somewhat neatly in my cello case. I put my cello away carefully, shutting the case just as Concerto called time to go.

"Is there no teacher for this class?" I asked Beauty Brass as we left.

"Oh, there is, but he never turns up. His name is Noteworthy. He works in Ponyville a lot, so that must be where he goes instead of teaching. We don't need a teacher though, because we get a lot done. Take today for example, we chose two pieces for the concert! We never get that much done in the first day!" She smiled at me. "That piece you did with Concerto and Symphony was really good," she added.

"Thank you, Beauty Brass." I smiled back.

"Call me Brassy," she replied. "It's what my friends call me."

"Alright, Brassy," I tried the nickname out. I guess nicknames weren't so terrible. It would be much easier to address her if I just said 'Brassy'.

"Octy, there you are!" A loud voice made me cringe.

"Octy? Is that your nickname?" Brassy asked. I shook my head.

"She doesn't understand that I prefer the name 'Octavia'." I said. "Hello, Vinyl. How was class?" I asked as the unicorn joined us.

"Awesome, I got to work on that secret project and I'm almost done with it. You?"

"We chose pieces for the Heath's Warming Eve concert," Brassy said loudly. "We chose two! Come on, Octavia, I think we have Music History together."

"See you later, Vinyl," I said kindly as Brassy dragged me away. I felt terrible abandoning the poor mare like that.

"You can't be friends with her." Brassy said seriously. "She's loud, rude, obnoxious…"

"She's my roommate," I explained. "She isn't so bad once you know her," I felt that sticking up for Vinyl was the least I could do, considering how awful I had treated her the other day.

"She's so different!" Brassy said loudly.

"I'm aware, but that's no reason to judge her." I remembered my father's words. "It's what's on the inside that counts,"

"Alright, Octavia," Brassy sighed. "Let's just go to class,"

~XoXo~

I returned to my room later that evening, tired and hungry. I had spent hours in rehearsal after classes let out, and I was ready for a sandwich and bed.

"Hey, Octy, there you are. I didn't know what you liked, so I threw in a little bit of everything." Vinyl said cheerfully when I walked in the dorm.

"Threw in…pardon?"

"Soup, Octy. I made some soup."

"I didn't know you could cook," I was surprised. Vinyl had struck me as the instant-dinner type of mare.

"My mom was a great cook. She could take a bunch of ingredients, do some fancy magical thing, and wham instant meal. I'm not as great, but I can make simple things. Want some soup?" She seemed so proud in the success of her soup that I couldn't decline.

I had to admit, Vinyl's soup was very delicious. There were all sorts of vegetables mixed in, and I was surprised that I enjoyed it so much.

"Thank you, Vinyl. The soup was very good,"

"Glad you liked it, Tavi,"

"Tavi? What happened to 'Octy'?" I asked. I had just grown used to the nickname.

"I thought I would use both. You know, Octy, Tavi, Octavia," She smiled. "I can interchange them!"

"Let's just stick to 'Octy' or 'Octavia' for now," I said kindly.

"Alright, Octy!" Vinyl was in a cheerful mood tonight. It must have had something to do with the fact that she had been with other ponies that liked her music all day. "Are you going to bed?" she took my bowl with her magic and within seconds it was gone.

"I think so. I'm very tired." I left the table and collapsed on my bed, grateful that Frederic had let me keep my cello in the rehearsal room.

"Night, Octy,"

"Goodnight, Vinyl,"

"Vinyl, you promised!" I said firmly.

"I did no such thing," Vinyl protested.

"Last week, on Friday, you said that you would come with me this weekend and make things right with Lyra. Now it is this weekend, and Lyra said she would meet us for lunch at Canterlot Café at exactly one thirty. Here we are at nearly one, and you won't put on your dress." I was wearing a simple deep purple dress and my treble cleft earrings. Vinyl was going to wear a black dress…if she ever got around to putting it on that is.

"Vinyl put on the dress so we can leave."

"Nope,"

"You promised," I reminded her.

"Octy, she made my life terrible. Do you honestly expect me to go up to her and say 'hey, Lyra, we're going to be friends now'?"

"You could at least speak to her. She doesn't think of you the way she used to, and she has a marefriend now…a real one, not like Bee. She'll be civil."

"Good for her, but I never promised."

"I figured you would do this," I pulled out the recording device Concerto had issued to me to keep track of my cello playing. "So, I took the liberty of recording you making the promise." I hit play and my voice came from the speakers.

"You promise?"

"Yes, Octy, I promise,"

"Promise to what?"

"I, Vinyl Scratch, promise to go to Canterlot Café and talk to Lyra like the civilized pony I am. Can we go out for milkshakes now?"

"Alright, alright,"

There was a click and I flashed a triumphant smirk. I pointed at the dress and Vinyl reluctantly pulled it on. She muttered under her breath, but I had won this round. We left the room at a quick pace considering we were already running very late.

"Octy, wait up!" Vinyl called from behind me. "I can't run in this stupid thing!"

~XoXo~

Lyra was waiting just outside the café, her blue dress ruffling in the light wind.

"There you two are!" She said when we arrived.

"I am terribly sorry, Lyra. Vinyl here was being stubborn," I shot a glance at the white unicorn and she stuck her tongue out.

"Hey, Lyra," Vinyl muttered stubbornly.

"Shall we go inside?" I suggested. Lyra nodded and Vinyl made a sound I could only assume was a huff.

"If you act civil, I'll consider buying you that Sapphire Shores album you wanted to remix," I whispered to Vinyl. Her ears perked up and her posture changed fully.

"So, how have you been, Lyra?" She asked when we had been seated.

"I've been fine. Bon Bon and I have big plans for this next weekend when she gets back from her family reunion in Ponyville. How have you been, Vinyl?" Lyra seemed tense, and I really hoped that things would run smoothly. The waiter took our drink orders and hurried off, his wings straining against his uniform.

"Disgusting," I muttered to myself. Vinyl was talking about the secret project she had been working on, and I found myself drawn to the conversation. Vinyl wouldn't tell me a thing about this project, claiming that I would love it when I heard it.

"Are you working tonight?" I asked Vinyl, trying to get a conversation going that we could all be part of. There was a club not too far away and I had heard that a young DJ was going to be working there this very night.

"Yeah, you guys wanna come and see the famous DJ-Pon3 in action?"

"I'm afraid I can't," Lyra seemed truly sorry. I figured that was a good sign. "I have so much work to…did you see that?" She looked out the window, her head tilted in confusion.

"See what?" Vinyl stuck her head past me and peered outside.

"A flash of light…perhaps I'm imagining things," She gave her head a light shake. "Too much schoolwork I guess."

"It's too bad you can't come, Lyra. You would have an awesome time at the club. What about you, Octy?"

"I suppose I could come. I have nothing else to do," It could be fun. I had never been to any clubs other than Club Canterlot. It would be a nice experience.

"Awesome, we'll leave at eight!"

~XoXo~

Turns out the dinky little club Vinyl was playing at was more well-known than I thought. Hundreds of ponies were dancing…I suppose it could be called dancing. I cringed at the loud music, waiting for Vinyl to start her set. The current DJ, a stallion called MC W1SH, but I was certain that was a stage name.

"Thank you, everypony!" He said loudly when the song ended. "I gotta hit the hay for tonight, but don't you worry, I've got another pony taking my place. You know her, you love her, it's DJ-PON3!" The club roared its approval and stamped their hooves. I sat at the bar, sipping at my drink lightly. Vinyl, wanting to make an entrance, waited until the last second to approach her machine.

"Hey, everypony, I would introduce myself, but you already know me. How you all doing tonight?" She screamed into the microphone. The crowd cheered, but Vinyl held a hoof cupped around her ear. "I can't hear you! I said, how you all doing tonight?" This was answered by an even louder chorus of cheers and hoof-stomps. She pressed a button and began using magic to keep the sound steady. I took a large, unlady-like gulp of my drink. It burned as it went down, but it helped to deafen the sound.

"She's quite good," a male voice said. I turned my head and smiled to see the familiar face of Concerto. Symphony was with him, a smile across her face.

"Concerto, Symphony, what a surprise! I wouldn't expect to see you in such a noisy place,"

"The same holds true for you," Symphony pointed out. I bowed my head.

"I'm here as a guest of Vinyl's," I held out my hoof to show them the DJ stamp that I had been given. My friends had stamps as well, but their stamps showed that they paid to get into the bar. Mine showed that I was allowed free drinks as long as I was still capable of comprehensible speech.

"You two seem to be very close lately," Concerto noted. I nodded slowly, picking my words carefully.

"We spend a lot of time together as roommates, and she was my first friend here, so I suppose we would be close." The two ponies shared a smile as a barstallion placed two drinks in front of them.

"Octavia, you don't have to lie to us. We won't judge you," Symphony said kindly. "Concerto and I have noticed you eyeing Brassy's flank in class and in rehearsals. Nopony else has seen it, but we have. It's alright if you confide in us for now. We won't tell anypony,"

"Is it that obvious?" I admit, I had been looking at Brassy's flank often, but only because Vinyl would comment on it so often. I had no romantic interest in the mare whatsoever.

"It's alright you know. Many ponies on campus are very accepting, except Bee Bop, but she's a dreadful mare." Concerto wrinkled his nose. "She's terrible to everypony and now she's dating that paparazzi pony…what was his name?"

"Money Shot," I said.

"Oh, not that one!" Symphony groaned. "I've heard rumors that he only dates mares that pay him to create awful stories about others." She shook her head sadly. "Even I wouldn't wish that misfortune on Bee,"

"I've met Bee, and she wasn't very kind to Lyra,"

"Lyra Heartstrings?" Concerto asked. "A sort of blue mare, correct?"

"Yes, that's her. Do you know her?"

"He knows her," Symphony answered. "He had to…dismiss Lyra from our orchestra. Lyra and Lyrica didn't get along very well at all. Lyra felt Lyrica was too snobbish, and Lyrica said that Lyra had no talent. They had a harp-off, and Lyrica won. We replaced Lyra with Harpo and now she's given up the harp and chosen to play the lyre instead,"

"I'm glad to hear you're on good terms with her," Concerto said with a smile.

"Alright, everypony, I've got to head out pretty soon. There are these things called test coming up and, knowing my roommate, I'll get my flank kicked if I don't study." Vinyl's voice replaced the music and Octavia turned her head. "I'm gonna end things tonight with something I've been working on. I'm warning you, it's way different than what I usually do!"

"She's been working on something?" Symphony asked. "I haven't heard about that,"

"It's been a secret," I replied.

"This is for my roommate, and my best friend, Octavia! She's a pretty happening pony, even if she's into classical stuff, and she inspired this baby. Hope you all love this as much as me!" She pressed a button on her machine and I instantly recognized the music that boomed across the club.

"Is this…?" Symphony's eyes widened.

"I believe so!" Concerto seemed excited.

"She remixed Palladio," I breathed. As much as I loathed Vinyl's type of music, I had to admit that this combination of music was beautiful…in its own way of course. Everypony on the dance floor was moving in time to the quick-yet-classical piece. Concerto and Symphony joined the crowd, and I stared at Vinyl. She looked so serious up there, but her mane was shaking wildly as she managed the music. An electric blue light flashed over her as the song neared its end, splashing her white coat in blue. She tossed her head back, her glasses perching on top of her head neatly. She was, to sum it up into a word, beautiful.

Octavia, don't you dare start. You shouldn't even like mares in the first place. Developing a crush on Vinyl will only make things worse for you.

How ironic that my biggest fear on the first day had been Vinyl falling for me, yet I was the one falling for her.

The piece ended and received much positive response from the crowd. Vinyl thanked them again before introducing another DJ. Once the new DJ had taken his place, Vinyl joined me at the bar.

"Did you like it?" She asked, looking at her hooves.

"It was a nice set," I complimented.

"Not the set…the remix," she shuffled slightly, not wanting to make eye contact. Her glasses now covered her eyes again, so I couldn't attempt to read her emotions.

"It was wonderful, Vinyl. I loved it," She looked up, beaming.

"Did you really? I wasn't sure you would like it because you're always dissing on my wubs, and I almost gave up a few times because I didn't want you to hate me for it. I think we should do a collab sometime in the future. Classical and dubtrot sound pretty good together, don't you think?"

"A collaboration would be lovely, Vinyl. Shall we return to the school now? I'm quite tired and this DJ is playing such awful music compared to the Palladio remix." Vinyl gave me a lopsided smile and nodded. We left the club and I walked behind Vinyl on the narrow streets, only half listening as she rambled about the collaboration ideas she had. She turned around suddenly and wrapped her hooves around me in a hug.

"Thanks, Octy."

"For what?" I asked, surprised by the hug.

"For being my best friend,"

For most ponies, tests are a way to better comprehend what you've been learning. To Vinyl Scratch, however, it was time for friends to study while she sat on her flank watching some movie about a spy pony or something of the sort.

"Vinyl, you really should study," Lyra said one morning when we were all looking over notes for Musical History.

"The name's Scratch…Vinyl Scratch. I take my cider shaken, not stirred," she quoted her film again, bursting into laughter and I rolled my eyes. The line had stopped being funny ages ago.

"Vinyl Scratch, Lyra was kind enough to come and study with us today. The least you can do is start going over some notes."

"No thanks, Octy, I've got some Sapphire Shores to remix," I ground my teeth, regretting buying her that CD in the first place. With a flick of her tail, she went to her remixing machine. Thankfully, she used a soundproofing spell that Lyra had taught her, keeping her wubs to herself.

"So when did you get together?" Lyra asked when Vinyl's earphones were secured.

"When did who get together?"

"You know," Lyra giggled. "You and Vinyl," Realization hit me and I backed away, stammering.

"I…I'm afraid I don't understand what you mean. Vinyl is a dear friend, but we aren't together. Why, what would my mother think?"

"My mother kicked me out when I got my first marefriend," Lyra said proudly. "To this day, I'm glad she did. It made me realize which ponies I could trust." She held her head high and smiled widely.

"That's wonderful, Lyra, but you're from Manehatten if I'm not mistaken. There are different styles of life where I'm from,"

"You mean you can't live a fully original life?" Lyra asked sarcastically. I shook my head and went back to my Musical History notes.

"My mother is very strict. She lives a very organized life, and she can't stand anything that might be slightly out of the Canterlot norms."

"What about your father? Mine is supportive," Lyra shuffled her lyre sheet music around and began scanning a sheet of tuning notes.

"My father judges personality, not sexuality." I stated clearly. "I'm assuming that he'll be alright with…what I am as long as I remain the same mare I was before learning about my interest in mares. My mother, however, won't approve at all. I'm holding off explaining things to her as long as possible, but I seem to be running out of time with the holiday season fast approaching."

"Is she coming to see the school concerts?" Lyra asked excitedly. "Me and a few lyre playing friends managed to reserve the second slot of the show!" I had never seen Lyra so excited about something, and now I realized why she had a lyre as her cutie mark. It brought her so much joy to say she was a lyrist.

"My parents will both be attending the concerts next week," I informed her. "I do feel bad for them. Vinyl and her techno friends are going to be playing first. They're going to 'wake up the audience' as she claims,"

"But their music isn't bad at all!" Lyra said. "It's really good once you get used to it."

"My mother plays a variety of classical instruments, favoring the violin. My father is a lawyer with very specific taste in music. It wouldn't surprise me at all if they left the auditorium for the first portion. They wouldn't want to sit through all of that noise." The dorm phone began to ring, and I assumed Vinyl couldn't hear it due to her soundproofing spell.

"I'll wait in the hall if you'd like," Lyra offered when she saw me staring. I shook my head and went to answer the phone, slightly confused. The only time that phone was used was when there was something in the front school offices that was to be delivered to you.

"Hello?"

"Octavia, darling, it's me, your mother!" Serenada Philharmonica's shrill tone made my ear ring.

"Mother, how unexpected of you to call," I said as my eyes went wide. The only phones that could connect to dorm phones were on campus.

"Octavia, dear, I'm in the front building now and they won't tell me how to get to your dorm. I'm a tad concerned, Octavia. They're here telling me that you share a dorm with somepony else, and unless I have direct permission from both of you, I can't enter."

"Oh, yes, I am currently sharing a dorm, but it's quite alright if you enter. I'm in dorm 57. Tell the administrator that you're allowed to come in."

"Thank you, Octavia. At least somepony around here knows what they're talking about." The line went dead and I turned to Lyra.

"You're free to stay, but my mother is on her way to my dorm as we speak."

"Stay in the same room as somepony who would hate me in an instant if they knew what I was? No thank you, but I'll be sure to return later." Lyra used her magic to shove her notes into her bag as she left, galloping down the hall to her own room.

"Vinyl, I need you to..." I remembered her spell and groaned. I would have to run inside the barrier if I wanted any hope of getting her attention. Bracing my ears for the pounding they were about to endure, I charged at her. I ended up tackling her to the ground, her head banging against her wub-making machine.

"Ouch, Octy, that hurt," Vinyl whined. "I think you broke my laptop,"

"Is that what it's called?" I asked in amazement. The machine looked so complex, and yet its name was so simple.

"That's what you're worried about?" Vinyl rolled her eyes. "I could be suffering from head trauma, and you're concerned about the correct term for my laptop. Great friend you are, Octy,"

"I'm terribly sorry, but I needed to get your attention and the only way to do that once you cast that spell is to charge into the barrier."

"Why did you need my attention?"

"Because my mother is…"

"Octavia Philharmonica, what in Celestia's good name is going on here?" I turned to face the door. My mother stood there, her face furious and her eyes wide. I realized too late that I was still sitting on top of Vinyl.

"We were just…having some fun," Vinyl said quickly, only to wince when she realized how bad it sounded out loud. "You know…um…"

"Playing some old fillyhood games," I finished. "We felt rather stressed from all our studying and rehearsing, so we decided to let off some stress and play tackle-tag." It was a horrible excuse, but my mother ate it up. Anything sounded better than 'having some fun'.

"Aren't you going to introduce me to your…friend?" The way my mother said 'friend' was the way most ponies would say 'sewer rat'. She clearly disapproved of the electric blue mane and the round sunglasses that Vinyl wore with pride.

"Vinyl Scratch," Vinyl stuck out a hoof, but my mother just crinkled her nose.

"Pleasure," she sneered. "I am Serenada Philharmonica, Octavia's mother. I have no doubts that she has told you about me,"

"Actually, Octy's pretty quiet about her home life. I don't blame her, because I never talk about my parents either," I kept myself from planting a hoof in my face. First impressions are very important to my mother, and Vinyl was doing a wonderful job of making a very bad one.

"Octy?" My mother turned to me. "I wasn't aware you had a nickname, Octavia,"

"It's a recent thing," I said quickly. "I've been trying to make her stop, but it's something she does with most of her friends."

"I like the nickname!" Vinyl said loudly. "It's so much easier to say than Octavia. That's such a mouthful."

"Octavia is a very dignified name that fits my daughter's level of sophistication. You may learn a lot about a pony just based off of their names, Vinyl." This was getting bad very quickly. I felt that if I didn't say anything soon, my mother would experience Vinyl's hoof to her face.

"So what brings you all the way here?" I asked quickly, pushing Vinyl aside.

"I saw something in the school paper that made me worry about the safety of my only daughter,"

"I didn't know you got the school paper," I had thought that the paper was only delivered to the subscribed ponies on campus.

"It costs a lot, but I have a paper on my door step every week. This week gave me quite a start, Octavia, but I'm certain that you will be able to explain it to me," My mother placed the mentioned copy on the table on top of my notes and straightened it with her hoof. There was a large photo of a booth in a café window with three mares sitting around the table. One of the mares was Lyra, a confused look on her face as she stared out the window. The other two mares were Vinyl and I. I was sitting close to Vinyl and the unicorn's hoof lay close to mine on the table. Confused, I read the story that followed.

Octavia Philharmonica was seen not too long ago enjoying a nice meal with two fellow musicians, Lyra Heartstrings and Vinyl Scratch. To most ponies, this seems like three friends taking a break from university life and having a laugh. However, this is not what it seems at all. Vinyl Scratch is openly a fillyfooler, and it appears that Lyra Heartstrings is one as well.

"I was really good friends with Lyra,"Says Bee Bop, a student studying lyre history and performance arts. "That was until she told me that she was a fillyfooler. I wouldn't have minded so much, but I was friends with Vinyl too, and we all know what happened there." For those who aren't aware, Bee Bop faced an incident not too long ago where Vinyl Scratch attempted to form a relationship with Bee Bop, despite Bee's obvious interest in stallions.

While it is clear that both Vinyl Scratch and Lyra Heartstrings are indeed fillyfoolers, what about Octavia Philharmonica? All we know about the mare is that she plays cello in the school orchestra. We also know that, in her time at the Academy, she has shown no interest in any stallions at our school. Is there a secret that Octavia is keeping from us? If so, is that secret that she is joining the ever growing group of fillyfoolers and coltcuddlers at this school? Keep reading everypony, because this paper won't rest until we have answers.

My blood boiled as I read the article. The flash Lyra had seen that day suddenly made sense. The mare had not been going crazy from the stress. Somepony—and I would bet every last bit to the Philharmonica name that I knew which one—had taken a photo of us in that booth. I had very little time to come up with a story for my mother. Racking my brains, I blurted out the first thing that came to my mind.

"There's a mare here called Bee Bop. She's dating a stallion named Money Shot. Neither of them came from respectable families, so I assume this is their way of showing envy towards everything I have in my life," I could hear Vinyl snort quietly in the background. Sure, it was a very weak story, but my mother would have to believe it. Any story that kept her daughter straight was a passable story in her eyes.

"I assume you will have a talk with this…Bee Bop?" Mother asked, her head held high. "There is no doubt in my mind that you will regain the dignity that comes with the Philharmonica bloodline."

"Of course I'll be speaking with her." I lied. I had no intention of speaking to Bee Bop. My mind was more set on injuring the mare.

"What about you, Vinyl? Do you intend on speaking with Bee Bop? I'm sure your mother wouldn't want rumors like this spread around the school. You said your last name was Scratch, correct? I've seen 'Cooking with Cookie' aired around town. Your mother is very talented, and I would hate for you to tarnish that name on a rumor," The false sweetness dripping from my mother's voice made me want to plant my hooves right in her teeth.

"It's not a rumor, and my mother doesn't care." Vinyl muttered. "She's been dead for a few years now."

"I'm terribly sorry," my mother lied. "When did it happen? If you don't mind me asking,"

"I do mind, actually. It's not something I talk about. Oct…Octavia, I'll be working. Come get me when your mom leaves," Vinyl returned to her 'laptop' and cast the soundproofing spell before returning to her work.

"I'm sorry about the school's choice of roommate, Octavia. I imagine you can request to be moved. I don't want my daughter being around such a disgusting creature. I'll speak to the administration and see what I can do," My mother tossed her mane back in a dignified manner that made me sick.

"Vinyl is my best friend. All the bits in the world would not persuade me to switch roommates. I don't care what you think about her, but she's the most wonderful mare I've ever had the pleasure to meet, and I refuse to let you control my life any longer. If you would please leave my room this instant, Mother, or I'm afraid I may do something I'll regret later," I glared at my mother, surprised at the hatred that pulsed through me. Never had I felt like this towards any adult, much less my own parent. It was as though a part of me had awoken and seen the monster my mother was.

"Octavia, I know you don't mean those terrible words. I am your mother, and I refuse to be spoken to in that manner. Now come with me. We're going to see about getting you a proper roommate."

"No," I said strongly.

"What did you say?"

"I said no. I will not be switching roommates. I care too much about Vinyl to just leave her."

"Are you telling me that your feelings for this mare are so strong that you are ignoring the fact that she is unnatural?"

"The only pony that is unnatural here, Mother, is you."

"I'm afraid I don't understand. You are going against your own mother's wishes to continue to room with this diseased pony?" What happened next was so fast that I almost thought I had imagined it. Vinyl's hind-legs shot out in a powerful buck, smashing angrily into my mother's chest.

"Vinyl!" I gasped.

"Listen to me," Vinyl removed her glasses and stared into my mother's eyes. Usually, Vinyl had very pretty purple-pink eyes. Currently, they glowed red. "I don't care what you call me. Fillyfooler, unnatural, strange, abnormal…things like that slide right off my back, but if you say that this is a disease, then you're just asking for a fight."

I watched in awe as my mother trembled in fear. Yes, you heard correctly. Serenada Philharmonica, the most dignified pony in Canterlot, was trembling in the shadow of a simple mare from the outskirts of town. I knew I should have stepped in and had Vinyl leave, but I was enjoying watching my mother squirm.

"It's not normal," my mother squeaked. "It's an illness, a terrible one. Perhaps we can find a cure one day…"

"Even if it was a sickness, I don't need a cure. I'm happy with who I am." Vinyl snapped. She turned away from my mother as the older mare scrambled to the door.

"By the way, mother," I figured now was as good a time as any. "I'm one too. Have a nice day," I put on the fakest smile I could as her world tore apart. She let out a shriek and bolted from the room, screaming about how 'the disease was catching'. I turned to face Vinyl and we stared at each other for exactly three seconds before we exploded with unexplainable laughter.

~XoXo~

News spread around the campus like wildfire and, to be honest, it seemed as if nopony cared. Unlike my mother, they accepted me. I had actually found out that, aside from my friends, there were many other fillyfoolers and even coltcuddlers among the school.

Frederic had congratulated me on handling things and told me he was proud that I wasn't ashamed. Turns out, he was one of the many coltcuddlers in the school. Concerto, however, was a mystery. He had seemed so accepting when he and Symphony had confronted me at the bar. Now he just seemed distant. Even Symphony had noticed.

"He's just stressed," she tried to comfort me in rehearsals one day. There were only three days until our big concert.

"He could at least be civil," I replied curtly.

"He'll come around. Look, he's coming over here now," Symphony lowered her violin and I carefully stood my cello on the stand I was provided with.

"Symphony, darling, could you go and check my violin? It's in tune, but it doesn't seem to be playing the proper notes."

"Of course," Symphony trotted over to where Concerto's violin and began fiddling with the knobs.

"Octavia, I hear you have made your sexuality public," Concerto smiled.

"I have, and it seems to be going quite well."

"I was wondering, if you're not busy this weekend after the concert, if we could go out for a nice dinner. It wouldn't be a date, of course, but it would be nice if I got to know you better. It would be nothing more than friendly." He seemed sincere on his offer to keep things on a friendly level. I glanced at Symphony, who was staring at her coltfriend's violin curiously.

"That sounds fun," I agreed. "But only if we both agree this it is two friends having a nice dinner. It is not a date, considering what I have come to accept. It is also not a date due to you having a wonderful marefriend."

"I agree to the terms set for the night out," Concerto held out a hoof and I shook it, trying to find deceit in his eyes. They were as honest as a pony could get, and I smiled.

"I'll be looking forward to it," I said cheerfully.

"As will I, Octavia." Concerto turned and joined Symphony at his violin and Brassy approached me.

"What was that about?" she asked, eyeing the brown stallion.

"He was being friendly," I said with a half shrug. "Come on; let's practice the fifth measure in the third number,"

"Be careful with him," Brassy warned. "I've heard things. I don't know how true they are, but I've heard rumors,"

"Brassy, don't be a silly filly. Not every rumor you hear is true," I didn't believe the words that left my mouth. When Brassy wasn't looking, I glanced at Concerto. He was nuzzling Symphony, but there was something in his eyes that I hadn't seen before. A glint of something I had seen once before, when I was in High School. I couldn't place it now, but I knew that it couldn't be good.

These next few days were going to be the longest three days of my life.

~XoXo~

Got some help from my cowriter on this one.

I sat in the isolated booth, tapping my hooves lightly on the table. Concerto sat across from me, his cider bubbling.

"Come now, Octavia, I would expect some conversation from a pony such as yourself."

"There's not much to say," I lied. I had done an awful lot of lying lately. It was such a bad habit. "I'm simply a young mare hoping to be the best cello player I can be,"

"You're already the best cello player in all of Equestria," Concerto said kindly.

"Thank you," I nodded. "Your violin playing is very beautiful,"

"So I've been told," neither of us said a word after that. Our food arrived shortly before the silence could officially be considered 'awkward'.

"This restaurant is said to have the best daisy salad in all of Canterlot," I noted. Concerto eyed my salad and smiled, but said nothing. We ate in silence, but something felt wrong. Concerto was not eating. Instead, he kept his eyes locked on me.

"How is Symphony?" I asked. My voice cracked. I didn't like the way Concerto was staring.

"She's fine; she thinks I'm spending some time with Harpo tonight,"

"I thought we were only here as friends,"

"We are, but Symphony would never allow me going to dinner with a mare by myself, especially not a mare as beautiful as you." My face got hot at the compliment. Part of me told me to run as fast as I could, quit orchestra, and leave the Academy. The rest of me said I was overreacting.

"Perhaps we should leave," I suggested. I would feel safer out in public. Concerto left more than enough bits on the table and we left the restaurant.

The night wind bit at my face and I instantly regretted not taking a scarf when I left the Academy. I walked alongside Concerto in silence, glancing at him when I dared. His eyes never left me, and I suddenly remembered where I had seen the look in his eyes before.

~XoXo~

"He's staring at you,"

"Bon Bon, no he is not."

"Octavia, I'm telling you. That stallion is staring at you. A college stallion is staring at you." The mare gushed. I rolled my eyes.

"I'll look, but he's not staring at me,"

"You're right, he's not staring. He's coming over here."

"What?" I spun my head and sure enough, the college aged stallion was approaching me.

"Hello ladies," his accent screamed Cloudsdale and Ponyville, and sure enough, the wings on his back stretched out in an annoying flirtatious way. "The name's Thunderlane,"

"I'm Bon Bon, and this is Octavia!"

"Bon Bon, be quiet!" I hissed. Thunderlane looked at me, his eyes glinting.

"Hey, Bonnie, mind if I talk to your friend alone?" Bon Bon winked at me before trotting off to the benches.

"Can I help you?" I asked. The stallion was handsome. His black pelt shone and his blue mane swayed in the wind. It didn't hurt that he wasn't a simple Earth Pony like I was.

"You're kinda pretty for a High School mare," Thunderlane smiled.

"I'll have you know that I am a senior," I saw the gleam in his eyes again.

"I'm a freshpony in flight school up in Cloudsdale. It's a pretty big campus, but not a single mare there is as good looking as you,"

"I'm not interested," I turned to leave, but Thunderlane was in front of me with one flap of his wings.

"I wasn't asking," he said harshly. "You're coming with me." He pushed against me, forcing me backwards. I screamed.

~XoXo~

"Octavia, are you alright?" Concerto's voice broke my thoughts. I backed away in fear

"Get away from me!" I cried. The gleam in his eyes was gone, but I was still terrified.

"Octavia, please, calm yourself. We can go to my apartment. I refuse to live on campus, but the apartment is nice,"

"No, I do not want to go to your apartment. I want to go back to my dorm at the Academy and I don't want to ever come into contact with you again. Now please leave me alone so I can go back to the Academy."

"Octavia," Concerto's voice was scratchy. I cocked my head to one side. Concerto had a very elegant voice, and I had never heard him speak with such a raspy tone.

"I want to go home," I repeated.

"Octavia," his voice was urgent, and it was lowering to a harsh whisper. I was preparing myself to slam my hoof into his nose as he started inching towards me. I didn't want him near me, and he leaned closer, whispering my name with each inch closer.

"Stop it! I'm warning you," my voice shook and I readied my hoof. "Stay back,"

"Oh for the love of Celestia, Octy, are you honestly going to hit me?" I stared at Concerto in confusion.

"Did you just call me Octy?" I asked.

"Uh, yeah, that's your nickname, remember?"

"But that's what Vinyl calls me,"

"Well duh," Concerto's voice was suddenly feminine, and he gave a slight giggle. "You need to wake up, Octavia. You're still half asleep!" My eyes fluttered and I found myself staring into Vinyl's eyes. For the first time, I was looking directly at them. There were no glasses, flashing club lights, or angry mothers to distract me from their true color. Pure magenta stared back at me and I found myself lost for words.

"What day is it?" I asked. Vinyl stared at me quizzically.

"It's Thursday night. You got back about three hours ago and pretty much passed out from rehearsing so much. Just because the concert is tomorrow doesn't mean you have to overwork yourself. Now you're getting nightmares."

"It's only Thursday?" I asked in shock. "But I thought…I mean I assumed…" I tried to remember what had happened before I got back to my dorm. I remembered talking to Concerto…that was just a dream.

"How long have I been asleep?"

"I told you, about three hours. Are you alright, Octy? You've been doing a lot of screaming."

"I was having a nightmare, but I'm alright now." I sighed and shook my head. I needed to get over Concerto. Just because Thunderlane had tried to hurt me last year did not mean that Concerto would do the same. I could have misread the look in his eyes the other day. I had to believe that he truly wanted to spend an evening as nothing more than friends.

"You know what you need?" Vinyl grinned. "A day off,"

"I can't take a day off. That would be wrong." I protested.

"No, you need the relaxation. Tomorrow, you aren't going to classes. Instead, we're going to a club."

"Which club would be open all day to two college mares?"

"Easy," Vinyl gave me a look. "Club Canterlot,"

"You need to have an invitation to get into Club Canterlot," I reminded her. I had been there once, in the summer between high school and the Academy, because my mother had been invited. She refused to go, and I wanted the experience.

"Trust me, we'll be fine." Vinyl assured me.

"Unless you can forge the handwriting of the Club's owner, I don't think we'll be fine."

"I don't need to forge his handwriting, silly filly. Haven't I told you yet? My dad owns the place!"

"He…you…your father is…I should have realized! Record Scratch is your father!"

"Yeah, I've got a pretty cool dad. So, still think we can't get into the club tomorrow?" I threw myself around Vinyl, wrapping her in a hug. I did need the break, and here was a perfect excuse right in front of me.

"Vinyl, you're the best friend anypony could ask for," I said cheerfully.

"I know, Octy. I know."

Pounding club music deafened me as Vinyl nudged the doors open with her flank.

"Proof of invitation please," the stallion at the door said in a low voice.

"The name's Vinyl Scratch." Vinyl beamed. "I think you know my dad,"

"Mr. Record Scratch never mentioned a daughter, but you look just like him. This one…"

"She's my best friend." Vinyl grabbed me in a hug and I smiled sheepishly. The stallion glanced at me and I shrunk back into Vinyl. A nod of the stallion's head and Vinyl was pulling me into the crowd. The music was louder and I could hear my friend scoff.

"They have a newbie on the DJ kiosk!" She cried, pointing a hoof at the DJ stand. "This isn't cool!"

"Well, Vinyl, not everypony goes to school." I replied. "The DJ might just need a job to get the money,"

"Speaking of school," A raspy voice said behind them. "Shouldn't you mares be there now?" I turned my head and found myself staring into the bright red eyes of a white unicorn stallion. His mane was wild and electric blue. The cutie mark on his flank was a record disk.

"Mr. Record Scratch!" I cried. "How lovely to see you again!" When he looked confused, I straightened my posture. "Octavia Philharmonica…I played here about a year or two ago, when I was just starting out,"

"Octavia, that's it! I knew I'd seen you somewhere before." Record Scratch turned his red eyes to Vinyl. "You have some explaining to do. I know I didn't work my flank off getting you into that school so you could come down to the club when you should be in class."

"I do go to class!" Vinyl protested. "Octy here just needed a break, so I brought her down. Though now I see I should've taken her somewhere else. The DJ here sucks!"

"She's not that bad," I commented, though I knew nothing of DJs.

"She came in from Ponyville," Record Scratch glanced up at the mare. "She's called 'Pinkie', and she said she loved a good party, so I hired her for the day. My original DJ is with his wife today. That isn't the point, Vinyl. Why are you here?"

"I told you!" Vinyl shook her head. "Octy needed a break,"

"Who's Octy?" Vinyl wrapped me in another hug and I pushed her off. It was one thing to receive a hug in front of a pushy stallion, but Record Scratch was on a whole new level.

"Octavia's your marefriend?" Record Scratch asked in surprise. I felt my face grow hot.

"No, sir, you don't understand," I started, but Vinyl cut me off.

"Nah, Octy's just a friend. She's too classy for me, but with a little luck I could bring her to adore the Vinyl Charm," Vinyl lowered her glasses and shot me a wink. I opened my mouth to respond, but Record Scratch's low laugh stopped me.

"If you say so," Vinyl's father turned his attention to me. "Keep an eye on my daughter. She's a full grown mare with the heart of a filly," I glanced at Vinyl, who was currently trying to use magic to sabotage the DJ, and nodded in agreement.

"Oh my gosh, Octy! It's my best friend from forever ago!" Vinyl suddenly whisked me away to the bar. While I tried to get my head on straight, Vinyl began talking to a light grey Pegasus with a wild dirty blonde mane.

"Octy, this is Twisted Feather! She's a writer from Cloudsdale," The Pegasus gave me a nod and sloshed half her current drink over me in the process.

"She's very…" I tried to think of the least offensive way to describe the mare that had just ruined my neatly washed pelt.

"She's amazing!" Vinyl beamed.

"Nice ta meet cha!" Twisted Feather slurred. "Got some writer's block…ya know how it…hic! Goes, right?" The Pegasus downed what remained of her drink.

"Um…yes, I suppose so." My eyes darted around the club and I found refuge. "Pardon me," I excused myself from the bar and began making my way to the toilets, dodging sweaty bodies as best I could. I slammed into a strong stallion and prepared to excuse myself when the stallion turned to face me.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't…Octavia, right?" The stallion smiled and looked up at his friends. "Cloudchaser, Flitter, meet me on the dance floor in twenty minutes. I have some catching up to do,"

"Leave me alone," I said strongly. My hooves shook beneath me, but I had to remain strong. This stallion had almost done terrible things to me once before, and I was not about to let that happen again.

"Come on, Octavia, I'm not a bad guy," Thunderlane's voice came in a whisper, and his eyes glinted in the club lights.

"Tell that to security," I made to run and find a guard-pony, but Thunderlane stuck a wing out.

"I've changed," he smirked. I didn't believe a word of it. I heard he had transferred to a new university, but I knew he couldn't have changed in just a year.

"Thunderlane, I would like to enter the little filly's room. If you would please retract your wing and let me pass, there will be no need for me to inform security." I said reasonably. Thunderlane looked at me and chuckled.

"You think I'm letting you go? You got me arrested, and let me tell you, jail isn't that fun."

"Should've thought about that before taking advantage of an innocent High School mare," I shot back. "I'm fully prepared to watch you go to jail again if that's what it takes to get it through your head," I inhaled deeply, looking around for any form of security. Just my luck, they were all hovering closer to the middle of the dance floor, watching for any fights. Vinyl had disappeared from the bar, but her drunken friend was still there. Thunderlane's eyes pierced me as though he was daring me to let out a scream. My lungs filled with air as Thunderlane made his advances, his muzzle inching closer to mine at an alarming rate.

An ear splitting scream filled the club as I let the air escape. Thunderlane's wings batted in shock as he stepped backwards. Ponies stopped dancing and looked over. I cowered as Thunderlane's front hooves raised and slammed against the floor. Security began pushing through the crowd, trying to reach me and Thunderlane.

"Octy!" I could hear Vinyl shoving through ponies, trying to get to me.

"I didn't touch her!" Thunderlane protested as onlookers began to figure out what was going on. "She's crazy! The mare is crazy!" Vinyl pushed through the crowd and began to charge Thunderlane.

"Vinyl!" I cried. "That won't solve anything!" I grabbed her stump of a tail in my teeth and pulled her backwards.

"He hurt you, Octy!" Vinyl whined. Her glasses lay askew on her face and I let out a giggle as I went to straighten them.

"I'll be just fine, Vinyl," I watched the security ponies in the reflection off Vinyl's lenses. They had temporarily clipped Thunderlane's wings and the lead guard was using magic to keep Thunderlane walking in a straight line. "See, they're taking him already,"

"Are you okay? I left Twisted Feather to follow you because…never mind that, but are you okay?" Vinyl's voice cracked with worry and I felt my heart skip a beat.

"I'm just fine, Vinyl," I pressed my muzzle to her cheek quickly and wrapped her in a hug. She hugged me back and I opened my mouth but before I could speak, a raspy male voice cut through the crowd.

"Alright, everypony, nothing to see here, get back to your usual activity please," There was a flash of magic and the music started up again. Everypony in the club returned to the bar or the dance floor and the volume kicked back up.

"Are you alright, Octavia? I take full responsibility for what could have happened here today,"

"I'm just fine, Mr. Record Scratch," I bowed my head and the stallion laughed.

"Please, call me 'Rec'. Mr. Record Scratch is far too formal for a club owner,"

"Thank you…Rec," I tried out the nickname and wondered for what had to have been the billionth time the use of a nickname.

"That could have been worse," Vinyl pointed out.

"How so?" I asked, tilting my head sideways.

"I saw Bee Bop on my way to follow you. I don't think she knows we're here, but I would leave now before she writes a story on how we left school to hang out at a club…alone," The thought of Bee Bop made my blood boil. I still wanted to buck the mare's teeth in for writing that article, even if I received positive response from it. The thought that anypony would be so nosy just disgusted me.

"Thank you Mr…er…Rec, for allowing us to stay, but I think Vinyl and I will return to school now," I bowed slightly again and Rec smiled at me.

"You two are welcome here whenever you feel the need, but try to keep your visits limited to outside of school hours,"

"Of course," I turned to Vinyl. "Let's get out of here. We can have a late breakfast and go back to school."

"Aw, do we have to?"

"We can get pancakes with that Neightella stuff you like," I bribed. Vinyl's ears perked and she galloped to the door.

"Last one to the café is a rotten egg!" she cried.

Somehow, Vinyl and I had managed to keep what had happened at the club a secret. Nopony knew about Thunderlane, not even Bee Bop, and I preferred it to stay that way.

"Are you sure you still wanna go out with Concerto after the whole Thunderlane thing?" Vinyl asked me as we were preparing for the concert. I adjusted my bowtie and checked the mirror to make sure it was straight.

"Concerto and I are just friends, and I'm certain that he won't do anything to me." I wasn't entirely sure that was true, but I couldn't cancel without telling Concerto about Thunderlane, and I wasn't going to do that anytime soon.

"If you say so," Vinyl shrugged. Her glasses were perched on her head and her laptop was making the occasional beeping noise. "Want me to go with you and chill in the booth behind you guys? If he bothers you, I can turn around and give him a good kick to the jaw."

"As kind as that is, Vinyl, I don't think that it would be a very good idea. It's just two friends having dinner. If things go wrong…" I trailed off. I didn't want to think about what I would do if things went wrong. "Let's just get down to the auditorium for final rehearsals." I checked my bowtie one last time and Vinyl shut her laptop and put it in a case.

"Let's go," She lowered her glasses and we made our way to the auditorium.

~XoXo~

I shut my cello case and trotted into the makeup room, dying to wipe the sweat that was threatening to appear on my brow. Vinyl was already there, talking to one of her classmates.

"—totally dropped the bass too early!" Vinyl was complaining. "The most famous DJ in Canterlot and I ruined everything!"

"Vinyl, you did fine," a stallion with black sunglasses said kindly. "You're the only girl in the class, you're famous, and I swear, nopony noticed that you dropped the bass too early. They loved it!"

"Not the classical nuts," Vinyl muttered.

"I found it quite enjoyable," I said, approaching Vinyl. "My father quite liked it too, though he would never admit it. I'm sure my mother would have liked it had she decided to come to the concert." I smiled. Vinyl raised her glasses up.

"You really liked it, Octy?" she asked, her raspy voice cracking on my name. I nodded and she let out a cry, wrapping me in a hug.

"I didn't pin you as the emotional type," I half-laughed as I awkwardly returned the hug. The stallion gave me a half-smile.

"She's really serious about her work. You should have seen her the first week of classes. She was a wreck! She accidently reversed the notes and she was actually dragged to tears,"

"Vinyl Scratch, crying?" I looked to the unicorn that was now looking at her hooves.

"I didn't cry," she muttered. "I had something in my eye. The room was really dusty."

"Sure there was, Vinyl. Sure there was." the stallion laughed, adjusting his black sunglasses.

"It was!" Vinyl defended. "Don't make me beat you up, Lights, because, girl or not, I still know how to." I laughed as I noticed the stallion look quite frightened at her threat. I wasn't going to say anything, but whatever Vinyl had up her sleeve must've been powerful to frighten him.

"Too bad you have your date Octy; you could watch me beat this wimp." Vinyl smirked.

"It's not a date." I sighed, shaking my head. "You seriously can't just leave it alone, can you? It's just friends having dinner together."

"And then you wake up in his bed!" Vinyl chuckled, pushing her glasses back down over her eyes. "Trust me, it's happened before." She raised her glasses and shot me a wink, turning her head towards her stallion friend. "Before I came to accept the filly fooling thing of course," she added.

I facehoofed and rolled my eyes. Every time with her…the mare was a mess. A crazy, confusing, beautiful mess that I couldn't help but love.

~XoXo~

Concerto and I picked at our plates, not speaking. The night was going by slowly, neither of us trying to make the air less awkward. My mind wandered to my dorm room, where Vinyl and I could be sharing instant-noodle dinners and watching a children's show that we secretly adored. I felt a smile cross my face as I thought of the game Vinyl and I would play where we tried to spot our favorite background characters in the show.

"Something amusing?" Concerto asked, bringing me back to the dinner table.

"I was just thinking of something Vinyl and I usually do about this time," I said, taking a small nibble of my salad. Concerto raised his eyebrows and my face flushed. "I meant we would watch a television show about this time. Nothing like…"

"I know, Octavia, I was just messing with you. Symphony was right; you need to learn to lighten up,"

"She said that?" I asked, slightly offended. I had always considered Symphony a friend of mine.

"Not in those words. She said that Vinyl was good for you, because you're set on being a pure Canterlot mare. It's good that you're friends with such an easy going mare."

"Well…thank you…I think," I turned my attention back to my salad and ate a leaf of lettuce, chewing slowly to avoid conversation.

"Freshly brewed cider?" A waiter asked, holding a bottle by our table.

"I don't drink," I declined politely. Concerto sent the waiter away, slipping a ten bit bill into the stallion's apron.

"How long are you going to wait before you tell Vinyl you love her?" Concerto asked. I nearly choked on my salad.

"I don't know what you're talking about," I snapped. "I assure you, despite my interest in mares, I do not love Vinyl."

"Everypony on campus knows it. Vinyl, being as oblivious as a disk jockey can be, has no idea. The rest of us know. There are bets going around seeing how long it will take you to admit it. Right now, the highest bid is eight hundred bits that it'll take until the end of the year."

"I don't love Vinyl," I said again, but I found it impossible to believe. As much as I hated to admit it, I did love Vinyl. She had been the first pony that I ever found attractive in the slightest. I barely knew her, but I knew that I loved her more than I should.

"So when do you plan on telling her?" Concerto asked. I stirred my salad around, trying to avoid the question. There was no use.

"Tonight," I whispered. "I'm going to tell her tonight,"

Alright, Octavia, you can do this. It's not that hard. Just go inside and tell Vinyl how you feel. If she doesn't feel the same way, you'll be okay. If she does…well, let's cross that bridge if we come to it.

I repeated the same thought over and over, trying to convince myself that it would be okay. The door to the dorm room was all that stood between me and Vinyl. The fact that the room behind the door was silent told me that Vinyl was just sitting there, waiting for me to get home.

You can do this, Octavia. Open the door.

I pushed on the door and it swung open. I had to go inside now. My heart began to race as I walked in, and I scanned the room, looking for Vinyl. It was only ten thirty. There was no way Vinyl was in bed right now.

"Octy, is that you?" A voice called. Before I could answer, Vinyl was in front of me. She didn't have her glasses on and I could see her magenta eyes perfectly. They were wide, as though she had been worrying about something all night.

"I'm home," I bit my tongue. Of course I was home. Where else would I be?

"Are you okay? Did Concerto try anything? Was it like Thunderlane all over again? Do you need me to kick some serious flank?"

"Yes, no, no, and no," I sighed. "Honestly, Vinyl, you are not my mother. I'm a full grown mare and I am perfectly capable of taking care of myself when we go out." Vinyl's eyes relaxed and I got wind of their full beauty. The sparkling color that flashed between magenta and red made me forget what I was doing.

"Earth to Octy, come in Octy," Vinyl's voice pulled me back to the dorm room. I still had something to tell her. It had to be tonight.

"I need to talk to you about something, Vinyl. I would prefer if we talked tonight, but if it isn't a good time…"

"Octy, you know I'm always up for talking to you! As long as we don't talk about the history of cellos again, because that conversation sucked,"

"It isn't about cellos. I'll just take a quick shower and I'll be right out." I dashed into the bathroom and turned the water on. So far, this was going well. All I had to do now was tell Vinyl. That would be the hard part.

The hot water poured over my back and soaked my mane. There was shampoo scrubbed into my mane and tail, and conditioner over the rest of my pelt. I felt it washing away, making my hooves a soapy mess. I heard a knock at the door and nearly slipped.

"Octy, it's been like, half an hour. Did you fall or something?"

"I'm on my way out," I called to her. I let the rest of the soap wash off and down the drain and shut off the shower. A quick dry-off with my towel and I no longer had an excuse to avoid the conversation with Vinyl. It had to be now. There was no more reason to delay.

The dorm room was dark, except for the lamp that lit up Vinyl's face. She was sitting on the couch, watching our show.

"There you are," she said when she saw me standing in the doorway. "I've found our backgrounder six times already. She's right there," Vinyl pointed a hoof and I nodded, not really caring how many times she found the backgrounder.

"We should talk now," I shut my eyes and heard the television click off.

"What are we talking about?" Vinyl asked. Her eyes had returned to their worried state. "Did Concerto do something to you?"

"I already told you, he was a perfect gentlecolt. This has nothing to do with Concerto. It has nothing to do with Thunderlane either," I added when Vinyl opened her mouth. "I just think we need to talk about something." I inhaled deeply, trying to gather up the courage to say what I wanted to say.

"I'm in love with you, Vinyl Scratch. I love the way your mane is never neat, no matter how often we comb it. I love the way your laugh has that raspy quality to it. I'm in love with the way you dance when you're working on your music. I love how you claim to hate singing, but when you're here, you sing when you think I can't hear you. I love your eyes, and how they flicker between magenta and red. Most of all, Vinyl, I love you."

"Octy, are you still here?" Vinyl's voice pulled me out of my thoughts. I opened my mouth to tell her how I felt, but something stopped me. What if she didn't feel the same way? What if I poured my heart out to her, only to learn that she was in love with somepony else? What if my confession drove her away from even being friends with me?

"Octavia, are we talking or not?" Vinyl sounded impatient now. I looked at her. Her white coat was bright beneath the lamp light. Her electric blue mane stuck out everywhere. Her beautiful eyes showed hints of annoyance and humor. A half smile crossed my face and I shook my head.

"Never mind,"

~XoXo~

This isn't the end. It's the end of this story, but I'm writing a sequel in Vinyl's POV. It'll be called 'The Cellist', so watch out for it!