Octavia had never felt so conflicted in her entire life or afterlife.

It wasn’t supposed to happen like that. There was a plan, a procedure, a protocol for those kinds of things. Everything was set up accordingly to happen the way it needed to happen, despite how much she wanted it to happen. It was simple, really. A simple plan to keep the natural order going as it should and always will be.

But, last night, the natural order was disturbed.

Octavia didn’t want the natural order to be tinkered with, but some outside, dark forces meddled with her and made her throw the natural order of balance. A force so powerful and seductive, that now she couldn't help but continue to rip apart the natural order thread by thread.

The spectre groaned loudly, floating around the empty theatre without a care as she phased through everything in her path. Why did she have to kiss Vinyl on the cheek, again? The first time was a mistake, a slip. She was so overwhelmed with the thought of being accepted as a fillyfooler, and accepting herself, that she couldn’t help but show how grateful she was. It was a mistake she did not want to make again and kept those feelings well in check.

Until last night, that is. She lost control of her true feelings for the white unicorn and once again ‘showed her gratitude’. What made it even worse was when Vinyl said, ‘you… me… us… you deserve every bit of that,’ Octavia knew what she meant, but she didn’t want to think of it that way. She wanted to believe Vinyl meant ‘us’ in a more intimate way. She pleaded that was the case but, alas, it could never come to light. Octavia and Vinyl would remain as only friends. That’s the way it should be. No matter how much Octavia didn’t want it to be.

That was the natural order.

What if, by some astronomical chance, Vinyl returned her feelings? As impossible as it was, it didn’t stop the thought from coming across her mind. If such a thing where possible in some alternate universe, how would they even go about ‘dating’? Octavia couldn’t leave the theatre, so there goes 90% of it. She doesn’t need to eat, so they can’t have a romantic candlelit dinner in a musty, mold-infested building.

Let’s face it… it’s impossible for Vinyl and I to be anything more, she thought grimly. If only I was still alive.

Octavia sighed. She would just repress her feelings like she’s always done during her life. It wouldn’t be so bad. Eventually, Octavia’s spirit will leave the mortal plane and, with it, her feelings. At least, she hoped. Even in whatever afterlife awaits her, it won’t matter anymore as Vinyl won’t be present anymore. Unless Vinyl’s spirit somehow ends up with Octavia, if such an afterlife exists.

Just how long will it take for her to ‘move on’? Once all of her memories are restored and her song is complete, her ‘unfinished business’ should also be complete... right? That was the current theory, at least, and it was the best one they had. Octavia had no idea how many more memories were locked away, so there’s no telling for how much longer she had to repress her feelings, or if she even can for that long.

Maybe I should just tell her. Maybe something good will come of it? But… is it worth the risk? It’s hurting me so much on the inside… but is keeping in that pain better than the pain of being rejected?

So many thoughts and scenarios played out in her head, many of them good.

If… if it works out then… then we would be… then we could… Octavia paused, floating in place. What if she said no?

That was an unsettling thought. As much as the thought of Vinyl becoming more than just a friend filled her heart with butterflies, the thought of what would happen if she said no scared her even more.

This whole situation was a gamble; high risk, high reward. Though, the odds that anything good can come out of this are astronomical. It all came down to that simple statistic: it wasn’t worth it.

So, she would keep it to herself.

Octavia stared at the clock on Vinyl’s music player, the numbers ticked forwards rapidly, the minute hand flicked by like seconds, hours like minutes. Every time she would blink, a different interval of time would pass by in an instant.

The numbers neared the time that she was all too familiar with. 3am. Vinyl was usually here a little before that, but so far the halls were not graced with her presence.

Did she… Did she forget about me? The thought filled her mind and anxiety like none other. Oh… oh, Celestia no! She desperately looked back to the clock, praying that time hadn’t advanced too far. To her relief, it didn’t skip a few hours.

But, the familiar feeling of being dragged on stage tugged at her soul. It was like a pain deep down, one that wouldn’t go away unless she played. Against her will, she floated on stage, eyes nearly tearing up as she saw no white unicorn in the seats.

She closed her eyes and began to play. The notes started off at the same spot as last night and continued in an order corresponding with each memory. There was nothing new this time. It was the same tone and same notes, up until the final verse: the one she had played for eighty years.

The song soon ended abruptly at the same spot that it always did. The same note that reminded her of her death. For the first time in what felt like forever, she was alone when she came out of her trance. Tears rolled down her cheek as she rose her head, seeing nothing but an empty theatre.

This is it… I knew it would… would happen. More tears rolled down her cheeks, her cries getting louder and louder, her cello falling from her hooves as they rose to her eyes.

“Yo’, Tavi!”

Octavia jumped in surprise, her head swiveling around the room until she came eye-to-eye with Vinyl. Her tears were shaken away as she gasped and hugged her friend. “Oh, Vinyl, you’re here! I thought… I…”

“You thought what?” Vinyl said, hugging Octavia back.

The spirit released Vinyl, looking away in shame. “I thought you weren’t going to come…”

Vinyl’s usually happy expression fell. “Oh… I’m sorry, Tavi. I just… my boss was being a dick… then I kinda got hungry on the way here and thought, ‘It won’t take that long’... I didn’t know you… aww man, Tavi, I’m sorry.”

The spectral mare shook her head. “No, don’t beat yourself up about this. I’m just being paranoid and, well… yeah.” She continued to look away in shame. “You’re here now, and that’s all that matters.”

“Right!” Vinyl said, levitating her saddlebags off of her back. “So, I got somethin’ real cool for us to do tonight.” She unbuckled the bag and pulled out another one of those ‘electronic’ devices, this one being significantly bigger than the music player Octavia still had. She set the object down in front of the two, propping it up on a stand in the back. “Movies existed back in your day, right?”

Octavia raised a brow to the question. “Movies? Films? Yes, we had those. Well, the unicorns had those. They would all get together in a theatre much like this one and watch films.” She looked at the device, blinking. “Don’t tell me this little thing can project a film?”

Vinyl nodded. “Sure can!”

“B-but… where are the reels?”

“Don’t need ‘em.”

“How does a projector fit in such a small case?!”

“It doesn’t project, it displays it on this screen. All the fancy lightings and stuff are behind the screen real flat-like.”

The spirit gave up on trying to understand the future in favor of being intrigued on what cinema culture has become in the modern day. “So... what are we watching, then?”

With a cheeky smile, Vinyl dug back into her saddlebags, pulling out multiple rectangular cases. “I got a few choices. Watcha wanna watch? An action packed cool-guys-don’t-look-at-explosions, sci-fi thriller? How about a comedy?” Vinyl’s eyelids fell just a bit. “Or maybe you’re in the mood for a rrrromance?”

Even though her slightly transparent face adopted a reddish hue, Octavia’s expression did not falter. “If ‘romance’ is anything like that… that horrid book, I don’t want any part of it!”

“You keep telling yourself that, Tavinova.”

At that remark, Octavia began to wane. “W-what are you talking about?! I hated that obscene piece of literature!”

“Oh, yeah? Then why’d you finish it?”

The spirit nearly fell over. “W-w-what makes you say that?!”

“I saw the bookmark.”

Octavia’s eyes went wide, her body somehow going paler. “It was… uh… th-there was nothing else to read!”

“Mhmm?”

“I was bored!”

“Mhmm?”

“I didn’t! It wasn’t! Aaaah!” the flustered spirit threw her hooves up, covering her tomato red face. “Don’t judge me!” she wailed.

Vinyl couldn’t help but giggle, the sight of the fiercely blushing ghost was just too hilarious and adorable. After watching the mare try and recover for a little bit longer, Vinyl finally decided to take pity on her. “It’s okay, Tavi. I don’t judge you for reading porn. I mean, it’s…” Her eyes went wide, a thought popping into her mind that she would soon regret to blurt out. “Wait, are you a virgin?!”

Silence… then more silence as a flustered, embarrassed, and hysterical spirit sunk herself as close as she could to the floor, trying to become as small as possible. Vinyl stared at her, trying to find something to say to maybe change the subject. She quickly shuffled through her DVDs and picked one out at random to slide into the movie player. “H-here, why don’t we watch this one!”

The screen flickered on. Displaying the opening credits to an all familiar movie. An Equestrian classic that held a spot in Neon’s favorite movies, next to Star Wars, of course. Octavia looked up at the screen, still pouting, but curious. It started off with a stallion sitting on a bench. He wore a cream-colored suit, and a small box was sitting on his lap.  

Vinyl smiled, looking at her spectral friend. “How about we watch a movie that has action, drama, comedy, and romance all in one!” She points dramatically at the device. “Behold, one of the greatest movies of all time… Forrest Gump!”

“How does a nature film have all of those genres in one?”

Vinyl blinked. “What? No! The dude’s name is Forrest Gump! Just watch.”

And so, Octavia did. The stallion sat at a bench at the park. A mare soon sat on the bench too, and the stallion engaged in conversation with her. Even though the mare clearly didn’t want to talk, she seemed to listen as the slow speaking stallion began his conversation.

“Life is like a box of chocolates... You never know what you’re gonna get.”

Octavia furrowed her brow. “I don’t get it. In a box of chocolates, you’re going to get chocolate… that’s what it is, right?”

“Shhh!”

By the end of the movie, Vinyl had a hoof clasped over her mouth to stop herself from giggling at Octavia, who currently had her face glued to the screen, eyes wide and slightly moist.

“You understand this is the bus to the school, now, don'tcha?”

“Of course; you're Dorothy Harris, and I'm Forrest Gump.”

Octavia gave a shaky smile as the end credits rolled past her eyes. She leaned back into a normal sitting position, rubbing her eyes. “That was… that was beautiful.”

“Thought you’d like it.”

“His whole life he just… stumbled into these situations and just… went with it!”

“Uh-huh.”

“And the war and… the civil rights protest. He just went through all that without fully knowing what was going on!”

“Yyyyyyep.”

“And the part where he ran across the Kingdom for three years! Why?”

Vinyl shrugged. “He just felt like it.”

“And then he just went home?”

“Yep. He got tried.”

“And then… and then…” She began to bawl. “He spent all that time looking for Jenny, and when he finally got to be with her she goes and di-i-ies!”

Vinyl nodded, trying, and failing, to run her hoof through her friend’s mane. “There, there… it was just a movie, remember?”

“I-I know, but…” She sniffs. “But it’s still saaaad!”

Vinyl rolls her eyes. “There, there. You’ll get over it… I hope?”

The spectral mare sniffs again, wiping the ghostly tears from her eyes. “Y-yea, I will,” she began, before picking up Vinyl’s music device, which she had yet to remember its name, and looked at the time, frowning. “It’s getting pretty late… looks like you’re going to be heading home, soon,” she sighs, dejected.

Vinyl nods. “Yeah… it’s gettin’ to be that time, again. Gotta take care of the bro, bruh.”

Octavia nodded as well, even though she still didn’t fully understand Vinyl’s dialogue. The white filly strapped on her saddlebags, leaving the movie player to Octavia after telling her how to work it, and waved goodbye. Before Vinyl could leave and enter the empty void that rests beyond the double doors, Octavia called out, “Vinyl, wait!”

She stopped and turned around. “Hmm?”

Everything told her to just say ‘nevermind’ and let her go. All the logical parts of her brain argued that what she wanted to say would be in vain. But even though logic was the best choice in this situation, it didn’t stop her heart from speaking out. “Would you, um… maybe one day… spend the night with me?” she said, before adding, “if it’s not too much to ask, that is!”

She instantly regretted asking once she saw the blank look on Vinyl’s face. Her incorporeal form began to shake and shimmer.

Vinyl stared at Octavia. “Uhhhhhh.”

Good job, Octavia! Now you’ve done it! You couldn’t just keep your mouth shut!

“N-never mind!” Octavia blurted out. “I was just kidding, it was a stupid idea, anyways–”

“Sure.”

“–I mean how would—w-what did you say?!”

Vinyl smiled. “Sure. I can spend the night.”

Octavia was speechless.

Vinyl ran a hoof through her mane. “My dad used to go camping with Neon, so I got a sleeping bag somewhere. It’ll help make this place less… disgusting. No offence, but it is.” She paused, looking at Octavia inquisitively. “Do you even sleep?”

The spirit dug at the floor. “No.”

Vinyl chuckled. “Then why do you want me to spend the night? Just wanna hang with me more, eh?”

“Well...”

“Admit it: you just want me all to yourself don’t you?” she said, smirking.

Octavia was cornered. “I-in a way, yes.”

Vinyl playfully rolled her eyes. “I’m off on Thursdays, so we can have our little sleepover then, alright?”

Octavia, who was overwhelmed with excitement, could only nod rapidly. Vinyl waved at her, saying one last ‘goodbye’ before exiting her domain. For the most part, the spectre could not contain her excitement. She giggled while flying in circles. She imagined what the two of them could do with Vinyl spending most of the day and all night with her. Perhaps they could watch more movies, or maybe play a few board games? Maybe Vinyl could tell her more hilarious stories from work.

Octavia looked at the clock on Vinyl’s music player. The day was Tuesday. Dammit… I have to wait two days. She groaned. Time would pass at large intervals with the blink of an eye to her, but now when she’s actually able to pay attention to time, it goes far too slowly than she would like when she needed it to go by faster.

The excitement soon died down as she had to focus on a more serious situation. She had to control her feelings when Vinyl would stay the night. In hindsight, the sleepover was a bad idea. Octavia didn’t want to say it, but her heart did. She wanted to spend more time with the unicorn than they already do. And even though Octavia doesn’t sleep, it still feels better knowing Vinyl is there in the first place.

Octavia shook her head and floated up to the rafters. She needed a distraction from all of these emotions. Another movie would do perfectly. Ruffling through the DVD cases, Octavia picked out one at random and slid it in the device. It was a foreign concept to her, but the basic idea of the device was like a record player, just much smaller and with an auto-setting needle.

The movie title flickered on the screen, reading ‘Equestrian Pie’. The title seemed strange, but Octavia didn’t question as it was still a distraction.

After ten minutes, Octavia had turned red, and by an hour, she could pass as a fully ripe tomato. When the movie finally ended, Octavia didn’t know how to respond, only that she had enough movies for a while… or a little longer than a while. But, one thing still stuck in the mare’s mind, a question of morals and of sanity.

“Why would she shove her flute up there?!” Next Chapter: Chapter: 11 Estimated time remaining: 1 Hour, 53 Minutes