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.