It had been a long week for Vinyl and Octavia, in fact, so long that the word ‘long’ didn’t quite cover it. Despite the demands of their rather busy lives, they’d both tried to spend as much time as possible together. However, too often they found themselves cuddling somewhere in their apartment, just to be reminded by the clock that Vinyl had to be at work or that Octavia’s rehearsals would start soon.

Days passed by, bringing more and more surprises. The second day after the concert, Lyra and Bon Bon had visited them, trying to find out every single detail of their magical night. It didn’t come as a surprise that they had noticed the chariot taking Octavia to her mysterious destination.

Both mares were hesitant to tell their friends the truth, but in the end, they told them everything. From the build up and the awkward kiss that fateful morning, to how the date itself had gone. Knowing how everything started, their friends first thought that it was just a story they’d made up — that everything was just a jest. Vinyl learned something new about her marefriend during that visit; Octavia was a refined mare, who demanded to be treated with respect. That in and of itself wasn’t new; Vinyl already knew that. What she didn’t know was that treating her with respect meant not calling her a liar.

Bon Bon and Lyra left nearly as fast as they came, quickly retreating backwards out the door as Octavia fumed. Vinyl was left on her own to try and calm Tavi down — something she wasn’t quite sure she’d be able to do.

Octavia stormed around the room. “Can you believe those two had the gaul to—”

As a young mare, Vinyl had heard stories about magical kisses that’d wake up the sleeping princesses or even make ponies come back to life. Vinyl tossed caution to the wind and stood in her way. She cut off Octavia’s rant with a wet, sloppy kiss right to her lips.

“W-what was I saying?” Tavi asked.

“Something about us cuddling up on the couch together listening to classical music?”

“Yeah, that,” Tavi said with a blush.

Vinyl grinned. Classical music was definitely not her first choice of good music, or her third, or her tenth for that matter, but Octavia liked it. And when the grey mare jumped up on the couch and gestured for Vinyl to do the same, Vinyl knew she had made the right choice. It was a price she was willing to pay. Especially when Octavia made little cooes of approval as Vinyl used her magic to start the gramophone.

The next day the four of them met for coffee. Octavia, Bon Bon, and Lyra all were apologizing for any unintended offence. Vinyl just chuckled. In truth, she felt like she owed their friends for this, as she had learned a new way to help her marefriend.

What she didn't learn — or at least didn't want to accept — was the fact that it wouldn't always be that easy. Octavia did her best to keep their relationship a secret, even going as far as to not allow Vinyl to be too near her while out in the city. It was something that frustrated the white mare to no end.

Octavia wanted to be near Vinyl: to touch coats, to hold hooves, to laugh, to kiss regardless of where they were, but she knew what that could do to musicians. She had been in the business long enough to know what would happen to those that exhibited ‘uncouth’ behaviour. She was walking a razor’s edge as it was.

Vinyl tried — she tried to be patent, to be understanding, to put herself in Octavia’s horseshoes. But it was unfair in every sense of the word. When the two were alone, she could kiss her, hold her, cuddle up with her. Out in public, Octavia told her to avoid extensive eye contact, as it might lead anypony that saw them to the wrong idea.

Vinyl knew that she had to respect Octavia's wishes. She had fought too long and too hard for the mare to ruin everything now by pushing her into it too quickly. Of course, one mare’s definition of “not too quickly” was the other’s definition of “snail’s pace”.

And it largely went without saying that Vinyl’s capability for tact was doubtful, to say the least. It lead to their first real fight.

Four days into their relationship, Vinyl finally had enough. Those that knew her were amazed that she had lasted as long as she had. More than one day had passed where Vinyl would chew Neon Light’s ear off about how she couldn’t even hold Tavi’s hoof in public without getting an earful.

In the end, it was Bon Bon and Lyra that intervened. They did so on the one side they never thought they would take: Vinyl’s. That shocked Octavia, but nowhere near as much as it shocked Vinyl. They explained that while it was important to keep up her reputation, Vinyl needed to be more important than that to Octavia; that unless Tavi made that clear here and now, their relationship was doomed, and eventually such behaviour would cause her to lose Vinyl altogether.

That seemed to strike a chord in Tavi’s heart. Her eyes darted to both of the other mares, and then to Vinyl. She broke down in tears, apologizing profusely. Bon Bon and Lyra left soon after that, leaving Octavia in good hooves.

The next day saw them both walking side by side to one of Octavia’s special events. She was no longer ashamed of being seen with Vinyl, but, knowing how it had affected her, Vinyl made sure to keep any public displays of affection classy. Somehow, the two had found a balance between what they each wanted.

Of course, it made the questions from Octavia's rehearsal friends that much more awkward. Baritone quickly began to bombard the two with questions, as he really wanted to know how things were going between them. They didn't answer his questions, Octavia switching stories to the ‘good friend’ one since she was living with Vinyl now.

Vinyl shot Tavi a look that said she was all but happy with that reply. However, she didn’t say a word about it; instead she took the front seat to watch the group rehearse. The rehearsal itself went poorly. Vinyl couldn’t help but feel bad as Octavia missed several transitions that she knew she should have easily made.

It was two more days before Baritone caught them on a date at a rather large restaurant in the city. It was a spot Octavia had chosen because no pony in her rehearsal group ate in big, mid-priced restaurants like that one, but of course that day she was unlucky in that regard.

Octavia was the biggest star in their group. While every member of the orchestra contributed to the success of the group, Octavia's name was the one that brought ponies to see them. When she had dodged all his questions and then played that poorly at the last rehearsal, Baritone had been worried — more than worried — and he suspected it was somehow Vinyl’s fault; he knew Vinyl’s past better than most ponies.

His jaw almost hit the floor when he walked up and saw Vinyl levitating up a strawberry for Octavia to enjoy. The mare took it in her mouth and then leaned over and let Vinyl take a bite as well. Their shared treat soon became a kiss, followed by a second, and then a third.

She’s… kissing… like that… in the middle of…

His thoughts played in his head over and over again. His eyes darted around, noting with some relief that the two mares were not being gawked at. However, such behaviour had to be contained! Yes, they may be safe doing things like that there, but if they got too comfortable… he had a bad feeling about what would happen if somepony else found out. He doubted that Octavia had told her father about this, and he bet that Vinyl didn't know him at all.

Walking up to the two with destain written across his face, he cleared his throat and said, “Octavia Philharmonica.”

The grey mare almost jumped out of her grey coat at the sound of his voice. Her eyes widened and she knocked over her glass of water. Vinyl growled as she used her magic to prevent Tavi from getting wet. “B-Baritone, w-what are you doing here?”

“I think the real question is; what are you doing here? Both of you?”

“We were just… I mean, just going for drinks, you know, as friends.”

“Oh, for Celestia’s sake, Tavi… we’re busted! Just tell him the truth,” Vinyl sighed.

Tavi shot Vinyl a look of betrayal as Baritone sighed. “I saw you two sharing strawberries, Octavia. ‘Friends’ don’t do things like that.”

“Best friends?” she asked. The look on Baritone’s face told her he didn’t buy that one bit. Tavi shook her head and cleared her throat, “Fine, you’re right: we’re not just best friends; we’re marefriends.”

“Why didn’t you just say that?” Baritone asked.

The question caught Tavi completely by surprise. So much so that she had to ask, “Come again?”

“I’ve known you both for a long time, and I also know how much you care for her, Octavia. I'm okay with it, but you should watch out for the others.”

“Really?” Octavia asked with wide eyes.

“What do you mean, watch out for? Somepony going to try and start something?” Vinyl asked, pissed.

Baritone looked at Octavia, before sighing. “I'm sorry, but that’s something Octavia has to tell you.”

Vinyl looked at her marefriend. “What does he mean?”

“Vi, trust me when I say that we don't have to worry about that at the moment,” Octavia answered with a smile.

“Um, BS. If somepony’s going to hurt you, I want to know about it now.”

“He can't hurt me because he is not here and not directing my life!” Octavia scowled now, shooting Baritone an ugly glance.

Baritone blushed. “I think I might have said too much.”

“You think?” Octavia asked sarcastically.

“You haven’t said enough!” Vinyl objected. “Who is ‘he’ and where can I find him?!”

“You should go, Baritone.”

The stallion nodded to Octavia, an apologetic look on his face as he turned to leave. It really hadn’t been his intention to stir up those old wounds.

“Tavi,” Vinyl glared.

Octavia sighed, “Vi, there are things that happened, I’m not ready to discuss just yet. Can you respect that?”

“Are you really trying to turn this back around on me?”

“No, I’m not. I’m just asking you to let me tell you when I’m ready, and not to force out painful memories when I’m not.”

Vinyl glared at her, then sighed when she saw a small tear fall from the mare’s face. She knew if she forced it, Tavi would tell her. But it would cause even more tears to fall. She closed her eyes, “Fine. But you’ll tell me one day?”

“Promise,” Octavia smiled.

Somehow, in spite of the awkward conversation, and being busted by one of her colleagues, things actually became more relaxed between the two. So much so that Vinyl quickly found her head laid back on Octavia’s lap. The mare was picking up grapes in her mouth and feeding them to Vinyl. She realized that that might have been too much when a waitress asked them to stop. However, instead of being embarrassed, they both just giggled.

Little did they know what surprises would await them in the future.

Author's Notes:

There it is. Finally my OctaScratch continues