I spent the next few weeks just catching up with Octy. She had a lot to say about how her father was doing, but I could tell she was still upset about her mother. I sat there and listened to her talk, nodding and agreeing in all the right places, and making sounds of protest when she talked about things her mother had said. It was pretty much exactly the same as it had been before I flipped out on her. Neither of us brought up the fight, or the fact that we had technically confessed our undying love to each other. It was like nothing had ever really happened. Except the fact that there were now two cellos taking up space in our room.

"I quit," I said for what felt like the millionth time. "You make this look easy."

"It's called practice, Vinyl. Do you think I got where I am today by quitting every time things got hard? No, I kept going, and now, everypony is convinced that I'm going to be invited to join the Canterlot Orchestra."

That smile. Those eyes. That everything. It encouraged me to play more, but at the same time, all I wanted to do was yell at her - and in a positive sort of way. I groaned inwardly. My head made no sense sometimes.

"Come on now," Tavi encouraged. "How about we try something a bit more simple?"

"I'll practice later. I kinda wanna talk right now. I mean, like, actual talking."

"Is there something concerning you?" Her pretty light purple eyes made it so hard to say anything, so instead, I avoided looking at her. I turned my gaze back to the cello, thinking up the right way to word what I had to say.

"I've been thinking a lot. Like, some serious thinking, y'know? And I think I've sorta realized something."

"Oh?"

"I just don't know where to start," I continued.

"At the beginning would make the most sense," she said, in her cute half sarcastic tone.

I can't help but smile at her witty remark, and I nodded, but tried to keep focused. "Yeah, it's a really long beginning, though, and none of that matters. Just the little tidbits in between, I guess." The question raced through my mind.

I found the courage to look at her straight in the eye once again, and I stared at her perfection for a minute before beginning my little speech.

"Octavia," my heart pounded. My blood raced through my veins. I forgot how to talk for a second. "I-I need to know something. About the other night, the whole confessing our love thing..."

"What about it?"

"We haven't done anything with it. In all those sappy movies you and Lyra used to watch, the lead ponies would confess their love, make out, and they'd end like that. Together, because they were in love with each other. I realize this isn't some sort of scripted, planned out storyline. Our life isn't something set up for hundreds of ponies to enjoy, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't have that sort of...closer?"

"Closure, Vinyl. The word you're looking for is closure."

"Right, closure. We need that. You love me, I love you. Are we just not going anywhere with that?" There was silence for a moment, and Octy just stared. For a second, I thought that maybe, she was going to leave again. Instead, she kissed me.

She kissed me. For thirty whole seconds, she was mine, and mine alone. It was like a scene right out of a sappy love movie. I could hear the dramatic music swelling in my ears. Octavia Philharmonica, hottest mare I had ever met, was kissing me, Vinyl Scratch. On the mouth.

And damn, was she good.

She pulled away far too quickly for my liking, but it didn't matter. It was the first of many. It had to be.

"So are we cool?" I stammered, trying not to seem fazed. I figured I wasn't doing a very good job though. Octavia giggled and kissed the tip of my nose. Obviously, she was experiencing the same type of high that I was.

"I suppose cool is one way to describe it, if you want to put a label on it."

"If we're labeling things now, can I suggest something?" I didn't know what I was doing. The feelings the kiss spread through my body were now taking over. They had control of the hooves I wrapped around Octy. They had control of the kisses I planted along the side of her neck. They took over my mouth, formed words for me. "Be my marefriend, Octy. Officially, I mean."

"That would be very...cool," Octavia smiled. I laughed and we kissed again. The second of many.

~XoXo~

"Vinyl, I'm really not sure this is a good idea."

"My dad loves you, Octy. This'll be fine."

"Yes, but just because he loves me doesn't mean that he's going to assist-"

"He'll totally help out! Just give it a shot, Octy!" I rapped on Dad's office door loudly, and Octy backed away from the door. Dad swung the door open, a huge grin on his face.

"Vi! Great to see you. How's the cello playing going?"

"Goin' great, Dad. I've got a pretty awesome teacher. I might be getting good enough to start recording some stuff. That's not why I'm here though." I glanced at Octy and nodded my head, ushering her inside. She stayed close to me, following me into my dad's office.

"Octavia, it's been a while."

"Yes, indeed it has Mr. Scratch,"

"I've told you before, call me Rec," Dad fiddled with the liquor cabinet, pouring himself a drink and then mixing two more, sliding them to me and Octy. "To what do I owe the pleasure?" Octy didn't say anything. She took a sip of her drink and I rolled my eyes.

"She needs money, to help her dad out. He just moved out and got a new place because Octy's mom is a terrible pony who hates her own daughter for being gay. Her dad, well, Octy's dad is totally cool with the whole fillyfooler thing, so he moved out, because it wasn't worth kicking his wife out of their mansion."

"We don't have a mansion, Vinyl." Octy cut in. I ignored her and continued on.

"Octy's mom just took her dad's, her being Octy here, name off all the bank stuff, so he's broke until he can get himself a stable job. Octy here wants to send him money, and I tried giving her some, but she won't take charity, and nopony in this city is hiring. Do you have any spare jobs she can take over until her dad gets back on his hooves?"

"It's perfectly understandable if you don't, Sir." Octy added. Dad looked at her for a bit, his gaze darting between me and Octy. Me and Octy. Me. Octy.

"There is one position open,"

"I'll gladly take it,"

"It requires two ponies. Vi, you could do well with a real job, instead of occasional gigs here and there. You and Octavia can do a duet thing, every Saturday night, from ten to one. I'll pay well, and you get free drinks. I'll pretend I don't know you're both underage." Dad winked and I nudged Octy's shoulder. She smiled at me, and then at Dad.

"I"m very grateful," she said, beaming.

"Not as grateful as me, Kiddo. You have any idea how long I've been waiting for Vi here to get herself a decent marefriend?" Octavia's face turned pink, and she looked down at her hooves.

"H-how did you know about that? I wasn't aware Vinyl had said anything."

"She didn't have to. I can tell when my kid's happy, and she's ecstatic." It was my turn to turn pink. Dad ruffled my mane up a bit and downed the last of his drink. "You guys start next week. Don't be late."

"Thanks, Dad."

"Yes, thank you, Mr...I mean, thank you, Rec." Dad opened up the door and I skipped out, waiting for Octy and throwing a hoof around her shoulders.

"You've done pretty great for yourself, Octy. You've got the best marefriend in the world, you've got a job at the best Club in the world, and you're probably going to get the best grades in the world at the best Music School in the world, which makes you the best pony in the world. And since I'm dating the best pony in the world, I'm the luckiest mare in the world." I liked the sound of that. We headed outside, where the hustle and bustle of Canterlot consumed us.

"I'M THE LUCKIEST MARE IN THE WORLD!" I shouted, tilting my head back and facing the sky.

"Vinyl!" Octy cried, looking around to see if anypony had noticed us. Of course they hadn't. They were all caught up in their own boring lives. How anypony could live without an Octy was beyond me.

A warm beginning-of-summer breeze rolled across the streets and I smiled. It had almost been a full year since I met Octy, and things were looking up. I'd gone into school with no friends, no interest in dating, and a slight annoyance that my roommate was some preppy classical musician. Now, I had Octy, Lyra, BonBon, and, on occasion, Bee. Even most of the ponies that had hated me were mostly friendly. I had the greatest marefriend a pony could have. I was playing a cello for Celestia's sake (and pretty damn good at it too).

There were still issues, of course. Lights still wouldn't talk to me, no matter how much I apologized. Octy said he needed time if he was ever going to forgive me. It made sense, but it still sucked. Neon Lights had been a pretty cool pony, and a kickass friend. Even without Lights around, I was still doing okay. The block I'd suffered with my DJing had gone away when Octy had come back into my life. I was still determined to be a better cello player than Octy, like that would ever happen. But there was time. There would always be time. We were young, we were at peace, and we only had a few more years left of school before we could take the music world by storm. We would Octy Pon-3, a classical dubtrot duo. Everypony would know our names. They'd all be dying to catch a glimpse of us as we walked by, swarmed with paparazzi. We would be famous, me and Octy.

Me, and My Cellist.