Octavia Philharmonica was not having a good day. Her alarm clock had woken her up late, the shower wasn’t working so she was blasted by cold water, and her mother’s car was still in the repair shop. That left her with taking the bus which itself was a disaster. She hated the crowded, smelly, and disgusting looking public transportation and wished, for the tenth time this year alone, her family was back in the city. But no, Mother and Father want to live in the town where their roots were. Want me to experience life of the common folk instead of the high class.

It wasn’t that she hated the town, it had its charms, but she missed all her old friends and favorite places to be such as the Grand Concert Hall her parents always took her to. She made some friends, particularly musicians, but the school was—for lack of a better word—insane. Before she moved here, she learned one of the students, an infamous bully, turned into a demon and nearly enslaved the school before some magic princess from another world saved them. While Octavia didn’t believe in the whole demon and magic thing, she did believe that Sunset Shimmer was a bad egg from the horror stories they told about her. It wasn’t until the whole Siren episode that she believed the rest. Surprisingly, not only was it the same six who saved the day, but Sunset as well, earning her forgiveness from the entire school. While Octavia was grateful for being saved, she still didn’t want to associate with Sunset.

After all, she questioned her taste in music. Octavia hugged her cello closer to her to avoid a fat and smelly guy with anime figures in his hand from bumping into her precious baby as his stop came. She had always believed that music was one of the best ways one could surmise another’s personality. People who liked classical, orchestra, opera, blues and jazz she found herself best associating herself with. They were smart, upright, and well mannered people. Those who preferred reggae, R&B, rock and roll, and pop music were okay to associate with, but were not the best to be friends with. Nice, but too wild. The worst was the rappers, metal heads, and disco lovers. The first two was just noise and a culture that was barbaric.

And the last was simply because disco was terrible. Plain and simple.

Yet there was even a type of music she utterly despised so much that words were not enough to share her hatred for it. Just thinking about it made her teeth grind. She could almost hear it’s insane beats and mixes and—Wait a minute.

She could hear the music. It was soft, but noticeable. Turning to her left she saw a girl her age, bouncing her head to the techno music coming out of her headphones. Her blue hair with lesser shades of blue flapped in the air back and forth while a pair of shades hid her eyes from view. The strange girl’s pale skin made Octavia wonder if this was her natural skin tone, or if was she locked in a dark room most of her life. As if the music wasn’t annoying enough, the girl was also pumping her fists a bit nearby, completely lost in her own little world.

Just ignore it, Octavia. Just ignore it, was all she thought in her head, but music soon began to override every other noise in her ears. The screaming baby who lost her pacifier. The drunk hobo snoring across from her. The religious nut preaching about hellfire and satan having walked the earth just a few months ago. All of it she would have preferred except for that. Damn. Techno. Music.

Unable to take anymore, Octavia turned towards the bleach white girl and slapped her shoulder. The surprised girl turned around, tilting her head. “Could you please turn that off? Or at least lower it? It’s annoying, and I would prefer not to listen to that trash you call ‘music’,” hissed Octavia.

The headphone wearing girl stared at her for a bit before she raised her hands again. Octavia’s eyes widen as she began to worry. Oh no, she’s gonna hit me! I know what these types of techno lovers are like! Violent and alway high on something! Maybe she’s this pale because she’s into drugs and she hides her bloodshot eyes!

Instead, the headphones wearing girl used her hands to do some weird motions such as pointing at herself, then Octavia, made a few shapes with them and so on. It took Octavia a minute to realize that she was watching sign language. At first, she relaxed when she realized she wasn’t going to be hurt, but then growled when a thought came to her. So that’s her game, huh?!

“How dare you!” shouted Octavia, standing forward. She pointed at the so called “deaf” girl, who was leaning back, and continued. “You dare try to imitate actual deaf people?! Do you think I’m stupid?! What kind of ‘deaf’ person would be listening to music?! People like you who pretend to actually have a disability are disgusting!”

Her rant earned a few sets of eyes focusing in on her, but Octavia didn’t care. She was about to rant some more when the bus finally arrived at Canterlot High. Whipping her back towards the girl, Octavia made her way towards the exit of the bus, her hand making a fist so tight she felt like she was going to start drawing blood.

She didn’t know who that girl was, but Octavia didn’t care. She was just glad to be away from her.

Despite it being a Saturday, the school was still open for clubs and sports teams who needed to practice, and Music Club was no different. It was the only club, next to the literature one, that Octavia had any time for between her own practice and studies. It was also part of the only group of students that she felt any close connection to. Sure, the school was openly into cliche mixing, but Octavia had only one love in her life, and that was music.

After greeting a few other members, she had taken out her cello and began tuning the strings in an effort to ease her mind of that girl she met on the bus. Honestly, what kind of person pretends they are deaf?

When she heard the door open, she quickly saw one of her close friends of the club enter with her lyre in hands. “Lyra, over here!”

The green girl waved back and sat down next to her friend. “Hey, Octavia. Didn’t sleep so well?”

“How could you tell?”

“You got a little bit of your hair standing up at the end.”

Octavia grunted in frustration as she licked her hand and tried to put it down. Unable to keep it down—or keep Lyra from laughing—she sighed and just sat back in her chair. “Today’s just keeps getting worse.”

“What’s been so bad about today?” asked Lyra, looking at today’s music sheets.

“There was this girl who was playing that techno junk on her headphones so loud I could hear it. I asked her to lower it, and all of a sudden she starts acting like she’s deaf by using sign language. How horrible can a person be to pretend to be disabled instead of just lowering their damn music,” huffed Octavia, crossing her arms. She waited for Lyra to agree with her, but instead her friend was looking at her with narrow and analyzing eyes.

“Was this girl pale skinned and had blue and white hair? White dress with a music note on it and purple shades?” asked Lyra.

Octavia raised an eyebrow. “Yeah, do you know her?”

“Oh boy,” sighed Lyra, shaking her head. “First off, yeah I know her. Her name is Vinyl Scratch, we’ve been friends since we were babies. Second, she comes to our school and pretty much is now famous for helping Sunset and her friends stop the Sirens.”

Octavia’s eyes widen. I heard that there was a DJ that helped them, but was that really her?

“And third, she really is deaf.”

Jaw dropping to its lowest level, Octavia felt her mind shut down when she heard that. The things she said to Vinyl Scratch echoed in her head. The accusation and insults. But... she was really deaf?!

“H-how?! The music...” Octavia whispered.

“She can’t hear it, but according to her she can still ‘feel’ it I guess. She’s quite good at mixing sounds and making her own track. Most people don’t think she’s deaf, so you're not the first to get it wrong, but she really wasn’t faking. I guess she’s just gifted,” explained Lyra.

Suddenly, the eggs and bacon she had eaten for breakfast was getting ready to come right out of her mouth. Octavia closed her eyes and covered her face, wishing she could kick herself to the moon. She had accused a real deaf person for lying about their disability. She didn’t even think of the possibility that she was telling the truth. It seemed too hard to believe, but if Lyra was right, then she made a grave mistake.

“I was so rude to her... those things I said,” whispered Octavia, feeling her heart sink further as the weight of guilt crushed it. “I have to apologize. I have to make things right!”

With a sympathetic smile, Lyra put her hand on Octavia’s shoulder. “Relax, I’ll text her to come meet us after practice. You can apologize then.”

“Thank you, Lyra,” said Octavia just as their club president arrived.

“What are friends for? Now let’s play some music.”

Unfortunately, Octavia didn’t play much during the whole practice. All she could think about was Vinyl Scratch and how she was going to apologize..

After practice, the two friends walked over to the back of the school where Lyra texted Vinyl to come meet with them. The two currently waited as Octavia rubbed her hands together while trying to think of what she was going to say. I literally just insulted her and accused her like such an... idiot I guess is the best word to describe me. Mother does always say I assume things much too quickly. I just hope she forgives me.

“There she is,” said Lyra, nearly making Octavia jump. She turned around and sure enough it was the same girl she met on the bus, her headphones still on as she bounced her head to the beat. She didn’t appear to be upset which was a good thing in Octavia’s mind. In fact, she seemed to be happy and without a care in the world.

Vinyl’s music was still playing that remixing techno stuff, but Octavia was baffled by how she seemed to be enjoying it so much. Especially, since she was suppose to be deaf. Then she remembered that Beethoven was deaf as well, yet was famous all over the world for his music. Is she just like Beethoven? Can she really ‘feel’ music instead of listening to it?

When Vinyl finally arrived, she and Lyra bumped fists before they began using sign language to talk. Octavia wished she knew what they were talking about, but she soon froze up when they stopped and the two of them were staring at her.

“Ok, Octavia, go ahead and say it,” encouraged Lyra.

Taking a deep breath, Octavia said, “Vinyl Scratch, I apologize for what I said to you on the bus. It was both wrong and rude of me to say those things and assume you weren’t deaf. I ask that you accept my apology and if there is anyway I can make it up to you, please let me know.”

She even bowed her head a bit as she finished. She kept her eyes open as she awaited some sort of response from the deaf DJ. A smile and a thumbs up was all she got from Vinyl and Octavia soon felt relief. I’m glad that worked out.

Then Vinyl turned to Lyra and began using sign language again but this time Lyra was blushing and stepped back in shock. “You want to what?! Are you sure?!”

Vinyl nodded which made Lyra sigh and shake her head. Turning to Octavia, she said, “Um, Octavia? Vinyl says she has a way you can make it up to her.”

“What is it?” asked Octavia.

“Well... she wants to take you on a date.”

There was a long silence as a wide eyed Octavia slowly turned to a grinning Vinyl.

“What?!”

Octavia looked at her dress in the mirror one last time before deciding it was the best “casual-yet-nice” clothing she had. A simple black dress with a small pink heart in the center along with her favorite symbol, the treble clef. After confirming that she was indeed a lesbian, Vinyl had “told” her to dress up in something nice but not fancy, and she would pick her up. For the hundredth time, Octavia had to be wondering what she was thinking by accepting this proposal to date a complete stranger she didn’t even know for an hour.

She was only grateful that her parents were out of town or else they would be asking questions. Not about her sexuality, they had long talked about that years ago and accepted it easily. No, it was the fact that she was even dating in the first place. Octavia had proclaimed many times she would not seek any dates until she was well structured in the music world, but apparently that was out of the window. Her parents would just tease her about it endlessly if they knew. She could have said no, Octavia wanted to say no, but she still had wronged somebody, and if this was the only way to correct it, then so be it. It was a matter of principle after all.

What Octavia was dreading was the place Vinyl was going to take them. She could already imagine some high risk club with drugs, drinking, and teenagers having sex in the bathrooms. Octavia swore that if things got way too intense she was leaving, apology or not.

A honk outside her door alerted her of her date’s arrival, and she sighed. “Time to get this over with.”

Opening the door, Octavia was met with the most... insanely customized car she had ever seen. It was white without a hood for a cover, and had a streak of light blue in the lower area of the car, similar to Vinyl’s hair. Music notes in white could be seen on the sides, and on the wheels were purple harp logos with butterflies. Finally, there was a statue of a purple unicorn wearing the same shades as it’s owner at the front, like the design on the front of a Jaguar car.

Vinyl, still in the same clothes this afternoon, but without her headphones, waved hello and opened the passenger's seat for Octavia to get in. She took one more look at the car before sighing. This is gonna be wild. I just know it.

She got in, but just as the car turned on, another thought occurred to Octavia.

Wait, can deaf people drive?!

Like she accurately predicted, Octavia found herself heading toward a club after they found a parking spot. It looked clean at the very least with the purple and light blue neon lights, but the sound of the techno and rave music was so loud she could hear it from outside. Octavia bit her tongue as she heard the sounds that made her feel like her brain was scrambling.

She followed Vinyl, but to her surprise they were skipping the entire line which earned them a few glares. The bouncer, a grey looking guy with a light blue spike hair smiled when he saw them. “Well, if it isn’t DJ Pon-3 herself. What’s up, Vinyl. I thought you weren’t scheduled to DJ here until Tuesday?”

Vinyl did some sign language, some of which pointed to Octavia, and the bouncer whistled. “A date, huh? She’s not bad looking either. Head on in; your usual table is free. I’ll radio the boss that you’re in.”

Vinyl gave a thumbs up before grabbing Octavia’s hand and dragged her inside. Octavia managed to give a thankful nod before she saw the place for herself. She had to admit, it did look very colorful. The dance floor had a multi-colored floor that changed colors every so often as the ceiling lights did their work and electrified the place. There were stages for people who wanted to show their moves as crowds of various sizes cheered them all. On the sides were tables and booths for those wanting to eat or drink. Naturally, there was also a bar, but it had another bouncer there to keep the ones under twenty-one from entering.

Octavia, feeling like she wasn’t in Kansas anymore, let Vinyl guide them to a nearby booth. The two sat down as Octavia finally took a moment to breathe and relax. So far the place hadn’t disgusted or weirded her out, so that was a plus. Curious, Octavia turned to her date and asked, “So how did that bouncer know you so well?”

Vinyl smiled and took out a notepad and pen from her pocket. After she was done writing, she handed it back to Octavia to read:

I do gigs here. Manager loves my stuff, so he lets me in for free.

“I’m surprised that someone as young as you could get a job here,” said Octavia, nodding.

Not just here. I work at several clubs. It’s tough when you have to deal with schedules and school, but I manage.

Before Octavia could say anything, one of the waitresses came up and greeted them. “Hey, Scratch. You’re usual bacon mushroom cheeseburger deluxe with a chocolate shake?” Vinyl nodded her head while licking her lips. The waitress turned to Octavia.

“Oh, um. I’ll have what she’s having but with a strawberry shake,” answered Octavia.

After their server left, the two of them went back to talking. During that time, Octavia found herself growing more used to the music, to the point where her foot even tapped a few times to some songs while learning more about Vinyl. She learned of her dream of becoming famous like a guy called Skrillex, how she had an older brother who DJ’d with his girlfriend in Europe, and how her mother raised both of them after her father left them for his mistress. Octavia even got to learn how the Vinyl helped the Rainbooms beat the Dazzlings.

All in all, Octavia lowered her barriers and found herself trading information of herself to Vinyl. She was quite a nice girl and seemed to have a philosophy of living for the moment. Soon enough, their burgers and shakes arrived and Octavia’s mouth couldn’t help but water upon the smell. The two enjoyed their meals, shared jokes, and even talked about school.

In other words, much to Octavia’s own shock, she was enjoying herself.

Still, there was one question that Octavia had to ask. “Lyra said that you ‘feel’ music. How do you do that?”

Vinyl rubbed her chin for a bit before snapping her fingers. She waved her hand for their waitress to come by and wrote something for her on the notepad. After reading it, she gave Vinyl a nod before making her way down to the DJ booth. Before Octavia could question what that was about, Vinyl wrote again on her notepad and showed it to Octavia.

This is the closest way I can show you. I want you to close your eyes, ignore everything, even the music, and just spread your awareness around you. Trust me.

Vinyl then held out her hand for Octavia to grab, but she hesitated. “I don’t know...”

With a sigh, Vinyl then took off her shades and Octavia blushed immediately upon seeing the most lovely dark purple shade of eyes she had ever seen. Despite no sound coming out, Vinyl mouth out two words. “Trust. Me.”

Before she knew it, Octavia was being dragged to the dance square, holding hands with Vinyl. The two of them stood close to the center as a new song began to play, one that sounded very familiar to Octavia. “Für Elise...”

Vinyl motioned for Octavia to close her eyes, so she did. She could see nothing but darkness, but she could still hear the sounds of the club, the feet dancing to the new beat, the music bursting through the speakers. She tried to drown it out as much as she could, first the club attendees, then the club itself until only the music remained. Spread your awareness... feel it...

And suddenly, it was there. A pounding in her heart. She nearly gasped upon feeling it, but focused again. Bump. Bump. Bump. It was her heart. It went by the rhythm and the music. She could slowly hear it drowning out, yet she could still hear it somehow in every portion of her body. It was... she had never thought to listen to music like this before. Before she knew it, she was moving: first her legs, then her arms, and finally her head. The music was speaking to her like wind with no sound. It was like every nerve in her body was pulsing faster and faster.

The music was all around her, and she was now moving with it. It was like knowing each part to dance or play with without hearing the sound or seeing the notes. It was instinct. It was music through feeling.

Octavia opened her eyes and saw Vinyl dancing right beside her. In an instant, the music, the club, the sound of people dancing. It all hit her like a freight train at full speed. It had only been a few seconds, maybe half a minute. But what she experienced for a brief moment was the world Vinyl lived in every day. She... feels that all the time. And from that she makes music... from that she explores it... from that she understands it in a way we can’t. That I can’t.

The smile on Vinyl’s face, pleasantness in her eyes, also brought one to Octavia as she added a new type of music on the list of those that she liked. Not that she would ever admit it to her peers.

The car drove up to her house and Vinyl unlocked the doors. Octavia couldn’t believe it had been four hours since she left her house. All the music, lights, dancing, food, and fun. It was all so much that she felt like it had been a summer dream. She turned to Vinyl, shades back on, saluted her farewell. Octavia didn’t know what to do. A part of her didn’t want to leave, yet she had a lot to think about.

So she instead gave a smile. “Thank you for the evening... It was great, and I mean it.”

Vinyl nodded to her before Octavia got out. They waved goodbye just before Vinyl drove off, playing another techno sound that Octavia swore was played in the club. She was about to go inside when she felt something in her pocket and took it out. It was a note.

Second Date?
555-555-7213
-Vinyl

Octavia giggled and took out her cellphone before adding a new contact and sending it a message.

Yes

Author's Notes:

Yup, my first Equestria Girls fic. I actually liked how this turned out.

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