Spike met with Rarity near the school’s gardens. The situation itself was rather… romantic, actually. They were standing among the rose bushes and the petunia beds, walking together in a small circle around the the student-run garden area. Any casual observer would think that they were taking a romantic stroll during school hours. “So… what was this thing that you wanted to talk to me about?” Spike asked. “This big favor that you’d mentioned?”

“Well,” she said after a moment, glancing at him and smiling. “I have a very good friend. Octavia Melody.”

“The first chair cellist, right? In the school orchestra?”

“Oh, you know her?”

“Not personally, no. But I’ve seen her perform. She’s pretty talented.”

“She is, yes. But you see, she’s been quite stressed as of late. What with her mother pushing her to apply for a specialty school rather than attend here and having to replace her old cello and whatnot.”

“Wait, her parents don’t want her coming HERE?” Spike asked, rather flabbergasted by the idea. “This is Galaxia High though! It’s the most prestigious school there is.”

“Her family is made up of classical minded musicians. The sort who believe that if you don’t dedicate your life to your craft, you don’t deserve to call yourself a musician.”

“Sounds rough.”

“It is, yes. And so they think her time would be better spent at a school that focuses on music. Only music, nothing else.”

“But you can’t just focus on one thing, that’d get boring. She should be allowed to have interests outside of her craft.”

“Exactly. And she’s a grown mare, so it’s not like they can force her or anything, especially since she’s working to pay for her own tuition, and earning scholarships and such.” She shook her head. “But that’s just another thing that has added to her stress. And so, I told her that she needed to get out and have a bit of fun on her own for a bit. But she doesn’t like going out on her own, and when I asked her if she’d like to have a ‘girl’s night’ or something with me, she said she wasn’t interested.”

“So then…” Spike hesitated, “What… do you want me to do?”

“Well, we argued a little bit, and she finally said that if I could find her a nice boy to go out with, she’d put her schedule aside for a night and actually take some time for herself and go on a date.”

“Why a boy? What makes a boy different than going out with her friends?” Spike asked, confused.

“Between you and me? I think she’s desperate for more constant companionship. Something that her friends can’t give her. That, and from what I understand, her mother has been hounding her to find herself a man. So I’m not sure how much this is a sincere attempt at finding a partner as it is trying to placate an overbearing parent.”

“Uh, Rarity,” the dragon cleared her throat and glanced away, “I… don’t really know how comfortable I am with going through with something like this. Because I think I know what you’re gonna ask me, and I-”

“I know how it sounds, Spike, but it isn’t like I’m asking you to enter a relationship with her…” She sighed and closed her eyes. “Just… spend an afternoon with her? Show her a good time and let her know that she’s a good mare who doesn’t need to spend all her time shut in and working on nothing but music.”

Spike rubbed the back of his neck. “Well.. I suppose, but…”

“Spike,” Rarity said gently, taking his hand. “If you do this for me, I promise, I’ll do something really nice for you.” she locked eyes with him. “Please?”

Spike blushed and bit his lip. “You don’t have to. But… I will accept.” He smiled. “I’ll do what I can, Rarity.”

The unicorn let out a light sigh of relief. “Thank you, Spike. I’ll let her know.” She gave him a great big hug, making him stiffen and blush even further.

“No problem,” he said happily. He returned the hug, the two of them tightening their hold just a little bit.

The day had been a bit of a whirlwind after that. Rarity had gotten in touch with Octavia to set up the details, and she’d pretty much demanded that their ‘date’ take place that afternoon. It had been quite a shock to Spike, who had thought he’d have at least another day or so to prepare, but he managed to get everything sorted. He didn’t know a lot of good hang-outs, and knowing nothing about her, he decided to go with the safest bet he knew of.

So he was standing on a street corner where he and Octavia had agreed to meet, waiting for her. School had let out about an hour ago, and he’d taken the scenic route here, since Octavia had messaged him, saying that she had to return home briefly to put away her things. He glanced at his phone occasionally, waiting to hear from her, or anyone. But the only person who had messaged him since the end of school had been his mother, who just wanted to make sure that everything was going okay. He lied and let her know that it was going fine and he’d be back before sundown, and he’d send her a message if anything was going to keep him out later.

And then, at last, he received a message, from Rarity. “Sorry about the delay,” she sent. “But she’ll be there soon.”

“What kept her?” Spike sent back, raising a brow at the screen. “She said she just needed to drop off her things.”

“She tried to stay home v.v”

“Wait, what?”

“She started to get cold feet. I got her motivated though.”

“How’d you manage that?”

“Oh, you know, just some girl talk.”

“Oookay…”

“Thanks again for doing this, Spike, I really, really appreciate it.”

“I know. And it’s no problem, Rarity. I just hope this works out. I mean, I don’t exactly know her that well…”

“I’m sure it’ll be fine. Where are you taking her out to?”

“Club Canter,” he said.

There was a brief pause. Well, more than brief. He frowned gently and sent another message. “Something wrong?”

“No, not at all,” she sent back. “Have a good time!”

“Okay. Talk to you later, Rarity.”

“See you soon!”

The messages stopped after that. He sighed and leaned against the wall with his eyes closed for a moment, thinking he’d probably be waiting a while longer if she was only just now starting to leave.

She must have hurried quite a bit though, as he noticed a mare resembling the picture that Rarity had sent him starting to approach him. Her face was neutral, even a little stoic, and she carried herself with an air of regality and importance that he was used to seeing from the nobles that wandered the streets of Canterlot when they didn’t force their servants to go out for them.

Well, at least she didn’t have her nose in the air. From what Rarity had told him, she put on a noble air, but wasn’t nearly as stuck up as the nobles that wandered around the streets. He was just fine with that. He dealt with enough of the upper crust when he was at home.

“Hey there,” he greeted with a small smile. “Octavia?”

She nodded gently. “Indeed. And you must be Spike.”

“I am yeah.” He smiled and held out his hand to her. She looked it over for a moment before reaching forward and shaking it. Her grip was firm, he noticed, and quite calloused. Years of handling a string instrument had given her quite powerful fingers, it seemed. “It’s nice to meet you, Octavia.”

“Likewise,” she said, giving him a courteous smile, though not one that was infused with much emotion. “So then, I suppose you have plans for our ‘date’ then?” she asked.

“Er, yeah.” He cleared his throat. “We’ll have some fun. I promise.”

“Mhm,” she still looked dubious. “Well, some time in a nice quiet place, making some pleasant conversation with good company might do me a world of good.”

“Um, yeah, of course,” Spike said, twisting on his own smile. “A nice, quiet place…”

Club Canter made quite a statement with the youth of the city when it first sprang up. It was known as a haven for those looking to both unwind and let loose their frustrations. It wasn’t a trashy place, as the owners had taken great pains to keep the place as respectable as possible without sacrificing its appeal to younger demographics. So far it had been a success, and one reason for that had been its love of all things contemporary, and nothing was more contemporary about it than its music. Electronic music was the name of the game, and while nothing could be heard outside of it, once those doors were opened, the thumping bass and electronic twang of a DJ’s table filtered out into the open air, just barely under the limit of what one would consider noise complaint worthy.

As the two approached the doors, held wide open for the afternoon rush, Spike chanced a glance back at his guest and immediately regretted it. Octavia’s lovely face was twisted into a firm scowl as she looked up at the place, a hand placed on her hip. “Is this… really where we’re going?” she asked.

“Uh… yeah,” Spike said, shyly. “I-I’m sorry. I’m not really experienced when it comes to dating and this is really one of the only places I could think of to take you.”

She gave a sigh. “I suppose it isn’t your fault. You weren’t exactly given a lot of time to prepare for this.” She nodded. “They don’t serve alcohol or anything here, do they?”

“Light stuff, but you need an ID to even get in,” he said.

“I see.” She shrugged. “Well, at least a drink or two would be nice.”

Spike didn’t drink, but he wasn’t going to say no to her if she wanted a sip or two. This was for her anyway, and he’d already screwed up once. He should have known better than to take a fancy pony like her to an establishment like this, but… at the same time, he’d seen plenty of ponies of all different sorts go in here. Even the more snobbish ponies tended to come here once or twice.

“Maybe it was just the music,” Spike mused to himself as they approached the door. He flashed his ID to the two hulking bodyguards standing at the front, and Octavia did the same. The entryway was quite brightly lit, and the inside of the club was similar, with plenty of large windows along its roof and its sides to let in as much natural light as possible, as opposed to a typical club bar that was often portrayed as being dark and lit with neon. Club Canter did have those neon lights at night, but during its day, the club was bright and inviting, making it much more appealing to those looking for a place to hang out during all hours of the day, rather than just at night.

“This wasn’t what I was expecting,” Octavia mused as they walked into the main room of the club. She spoke a little loud to be heard over the music, which was blairing, but not uncomfortably so. It was still possible to hear each other by talking at a decently normal volume, but whispering was out of the question. At the far end of the room was a small, descended dance floor in front of a large stage that took up a good chunk of the back wall. Upon the stage was a DJ booth, flanked by some impressively large speakers, a couple of microphones on either side of the booth, as well as enough tech to make a live show amazing for anyone listening. The right side of the club had both a snack bar and an alcohol bar (though they did offer non-alcoholic drinks as well). The left side had several old arcade cabinets sitting there in a neat, little row. Sitting in the center of all of this was a large array of circular and square tables where ponies could sit and enjoy their drinks and snacks and of course the company of other ponies.

“What were you expecting?” Spike asked with a light smirk. “A mosh pit?”

“Well, yes,” she admitted. “Places like this are not really known for being… respectable.”

“How many clubs have you been to before?” Spike asked.

“Er…” she cleared her throat. “N-none,” she admitted.

Spike nodded. “I know this place might be a bit louder than you’re used to, but I promise, it’s not like those night clubs that you see in movies all the time. I’d really like to know how that got started, the idea of a seedy nightclub bar. I’ve never actually seen one of those in real life,” he mused.

“Have you been in many clubs?” she asked.

“More than this one, yeah,” Spike said. “Wouldn’t say I’ve been in a lot, but, none as nice as this place.” He motioned around them. “So, what’d you wanna do?” he asked.

“I thought you said you had a plan,” she said, her frown returning.

“Well, uh, the plan didn’t really extend to much beyond ‘have some fun at Club Canter’ or something like that.”

“Mhm…” she mused, her frown deepening. “Most men I know would have had a bit more in mind than that.”

‘Ouch,’ Spike thought. “W-well… for a start, how about we get something to eat and drink, huh?”

“Drink, yes. Eat, no. I’m not hungry at the moment.”

“Ah, sure,” he said with a nod, leading her over to the bar and raising a hand towards the mare on the other side. “Fruit smoothie for me please.”

The mare nodded. “And for the mare?” she asked.

Octavia said, “Your smoothest, please.”

“Smoothest, eh? Coming up.” She disappeared behind the counter, bending over.

“So, Spike,” Octavia said, giving him a polite smile, drumming her fingers against the bar. “Care to tell me a bit about yourself? Even if this is a one-time arrangement, I’d like to know a bit more about the dragon that Rarity spoke about so highly.”

Spike blinked. “She spoke highly of me?”

“Oh yes, nothing but praise for you,” she stated with a nod. “And you do seem like a sweet man, going out of your way to go out with me.”

“Even if it’s not exactly going well at the moment,” Spike mumbled.

“W-well, as you said, we’ve only just begun.” She cleared her throat. “And I don’t want to seem ungrateful for your efforts. I’m just… a bit of a ball of stress right now.”

Spike smiled softly. “Nothing to be stressed about right now. Anyway, about me… not really sure what to say. I don’t really have a major at school right now. I’m still working through my required credits, but after that? I really don’t know what I want to do with the rest of my time here.” He glanced at her. “I guess there’s no points for guessing what you’re studying.”

“Heh, yes, I suppose,” she said with a weak smile. “Classical music and composition, basically everything that has to do with that. Just like my mother before me. And her mother. And her mother’s mother too.”

Spike frowned. “Pretty big family tradition, huh? How are you enjoying it?”

“Oh… it’s fine. Really.” She gave a soft shrug and grabbed her drink as it was set in front of her almost as if on instinct. She took a sip of it and gave a soft exhale. “Mmm… vanilla,” she mumbled.

“Are you sure? It doesn’t sound like it’s fine.”

Sighing, the mare slid a straw into her drink and toyed with the ice cubes in its center for a moment. “I suppose Rarity told you about my situation, yes?”

“Yeah, she did say that you were under a lot of pressure.”

“I like music. Don’t get me wrong. Especially classical music. And I love performing it, I’d never want to imagine life without it. But the fact that it is forced upon me. The fact that my family insists that it must be my life, it is very exhausting. When I am not studying, I am practicing. If I’m not practicing, then I am reading. And if I’m not reading, I’m either eating or sleeping.”

“Yeesh,” he muttered. “And here I thought my mom was unreasonable when she went through the whole ‘find my son’s secret talent’ phase when I was in elementary school.”

“What was that like?”

“Oh, it was overwhelming. It was a new activity every single day. Karate, swimming, running, a dozen different sports, two dozen different instruments… uff.”

She gave another sigh, and took another sip as Spike slurped at his smoothie. “I’d give anything to have the opportunity to try all that, if only for just a little bit.”

He smiled softly. “You could, you know.”

Her ear perked. “Sorry? The music must be getting to me, I don’t think I heard you right.”

“Well… I mean, you’re a grown woman, right? You can do both. You could just-”

She raised a hand. “I see where you’re going, Spike, and appreciate the effort, but you are not the first one to make this sort of speech to me. In fact, Rarity attempted very much the same thing not long before convincing me to go on this day out.”

Spike frowned, hanging his head. He indulged in his smoothie a little more, and Octavia worked on her weird vanilla drink for a moment. Neither spoke, the music winding down as it started to shift to a more atmospheric, moody piece. Smiling, in an attempt to salvage the mood, Spike slowly stood up, downing a bit more of his smoothie before offering his hand to her. “Would you like to dance?”

“Dance?” she asked, slowly glancing over at the dance floor. “I… no, no thank you.”

“Oh come on, it’s a slow song, it’s not like you have to make a fool of yourself. Just a bit of shuffling. Maybe it’ll help loosen you up a bit?”

Octavia frowned at him and then at the dance floor. But again, she sighed, downed the rest of her drink, slid it away, and got up, nodding. “All right. I suppose there’s no harm in it.”

The two of them turned and made their way down to the dance floor, being vacated by a good number of its occupants, either bored with the slower pace of the music, or completely exhausted from their time swaying and bopping and bobbing to the thumping beat. Those that remained on the dance floor were mostly couples who enjoyed being up close and personal, or the odd single pony that seemed to enjoy slow dancing with themselves.

Spike smiled as he stepped onto the hard tiles that marked the start of the dance floor. He motioned to Octavia, offering his hand to her. She smiled back at him, but ignored his hand as she stepped onto the hard surface. He shrugged and started to sway gently to the music in front of her. She didn’t move. Spike started to feel more than a little bit awkward as she just looked at him. His swaying started to reduce until he was merely shuffling back and forth, giving little awkward half steps that couldn’t really be called dancing so much as just nervous standing. Octavia seemed to be having a similar problem as she shifted her weight from foot to foot in some approximation of movement, but nothing that got her to move from the spot she was rooted on. Spike cleared his throat. “Is everything all right?” he asked.

“I just…” she groaned. “This was a mistake. I’m sorry, Spike. I don’t think this would have worked out regardless of where you took me. Thank you for the effort though.” She turned and started to walk off.

Before Spike could make an effort to stop her, a voice rang out over the low drone of the slow music. “Yo! Tavi! Octavia, is that you?”

The voice was far louder than necessary to get anyone’s attention, but it definitely succeeded in that regard as Spike, Octavia, and several over nearby club patrons twisted to see what was going on.

A white unicorn with a short, spiky, electric blue mane was approaching them. She wore a tight, white T-shirt with a black collar and sleeves, and a pair of form fitting black shorts. A pair of teal and white headphones with a purple eighth note symbol on the silver ear cups sat around her neck. Upon her face was a pair of purple lens sunglasses. “I thought that was you! Man, never thought I’d ever see a mare like you here in Club Canter. Color me surprised!”

“Erm... “ Octavia blinked and cleared her throat a little bit. “I-I’m sorry miss, you seem to have me at a disadvantage. I-I don’t… I mean…”

Spike frowned. She obviously seemed flustered at having been recognized by someone that she hadn’t met herself.

The mare smiled and raised a hand. “Heh, guess I should’ve expected that. You aren’t exactly the most talkative mare in class. The name’s Vinyl. Vinyl Scratch. The two of us have Musical Theory and Song Writing classes together.

“Oh...OH!” Octavia’s eyes lit up with recognition as she pointed a finger at her. ‘You’re the mare who’s always sitting behind me, trying not to let the teacher see that you’re falling asleep.”

“Guilty as charged. I mean, I love music, but I’d be a lot more into that stuff if they presented it a lot more interestingly.” She glanced at Spike. “Yo, Spike my man.”

“Hey there, Vinyl. No set tonight?”

“Eh, I did mine a while ago. Got another one lined up later, but Neon needed a time to shine, you know?” She indicated a messy-maned stallion standing up behind the DJ booth, working the controls back there.

“You know her?” Octavia asked.

“Not well,” Spike admitted. “We have a couple of basic classes together, and I come here every now and then. Vinyl works as one of the main DJs here.

“Yeah. It’s helping to pay off my tuition actually,” she said with a thumbs-up. “I’d like to start working with some of the bigger music production companies in Canterlot, but they’re still hyper focused on the whole, ‘Electronic music isn’t real music’ stuff, so I figure if I can show them that I have a proper musical education, maybe they’ll be more inclined to listen to what I have to say.”

“Well… honestly, it kind of-”

“Gonna stop you right there,” Vinyl said with a small smile. “This ain’t the place for that sort of conversation. Sides, I didn’t come down here to try and legitimize my music with you. I just wanted to say ‘hi’. I don’t ever see you around town, and you barely talk during class.”

“How would you know?” Octavia asked, a smirk forming. “You’re always asleep.”

“I’m conscious often enough to know some pony always has her head buried in her text book, or is always hugging her Cello close to herself.” Vinyl grinned and lowered her shades a little bit. “Nice smile, by the way.” The earth mare blushed and looked away as the unicorn chuckled. “But you’re still pretty stiff. I saw that dance of yours just then.”

Octavia’s face turned red. “I-I was just… not feeling it. I thought it might be best if I left-”

“No way,” Vinyl said with cheerfully, a hand on her hip. “You gotta learn to loosen up, sweetheart. When I can tell that every single muscle in your body is so tense you could pass for Frankenstein’s wife, you need something to get you to relax.”

“I-I’m fine. This whole trip here was an attempt to get me to relax, but I just…”

“Can’t?” Vinyl asked.

“N… no. I just can’t stop thinking about… everything,” she admitted. She glanced at Spike. “Despite my friend’s best attempts. N-no offense.”

Spike shook his head. “None taken.” In all honesty, he’d been winging it for most of their interaction, and his own social ineptitude had kept him from getting her to open up at all. But in the presence of someone who was one of the most extroverted girls in school? Heh, he hadn’t known anyone who wasn’t able to open up at least a little bit to Vinyl. Especially when she started getting strange.

“So what technique would you- H-hey!” Octavia gasped as an arm was wrapped around her and she was led over to one of the free tables. “I-I didn’t say you could touch me!”

“And that’s one of your issues. Afraid of contact, afraid of conversation, you are way, WAY to insular. So I’m gonna help you loosen up! Whether you like it or not!” She smirked.

Spike blinked, following after them. “Uh, what exactly are you-” he was cut off when Vinyl sat down and pulled Octavia onto her lap, bending her over so that she was straddling one of her legs.

“Hey! What do you think you’re doing?! Vinyl Scratch, if you do not unhand me right now, I-I’ll… eeep!” she gasped as Vinyl’s hand gently rubbed against the seat of her pants. “S-stoppit!” she squeaked, her face reddening.

“Hey, um… don’t you think this is going a l-little far?” Spike asked, flushing deeply. He glanced around, noting that no one around them was paying any sort of attention despite the volume of Octavia’s protests. Maybe it was the music?

“Just relax,” Vinyl said. She gave her butt a few small pats.

“H-how am I supposed to relax when you’re… you’re… mmmph…” she squirmed and slowly started to relax against Vinyl’s knee.

“Heh, I figured.” She rubbed her bottom and gave it a few light, quick swats here and there. “Not the first time I’ve done something like this. I’m an ass expert,” she snickered. “It’s a sensitive area. You apply the right sort of pressure to it, you can actually cause someone to de-stress a bit. Now, Tavi, I want you to just relax and think of music for a bit.Your favorite music, not something that you’re being forced to play. Something that you would want to hear. To listen to, something that would make you happy and help you relax, okay?”

“Wh-what would… you think of?” she asked, squeaking as she felt her pants being shuffled down. Spike lit up and looked away for a moment before his eye was eventually drawn back to her lovely white panties, decorated with a music staff pattern. He couldn’t help but notice that the only notes on it were the sort used to indicate beats for percussion instruments…

“Me?” the DJ asked with a smile. “Dvorak’s String Quartet, #12.”

Both Octavia and Spike blinked and glanced at her. “You mean ‘The Amare'ican’?” she asked.

“Yep, that’s the one. Never fails to calm me down when I’m feeling super stressed out.” She began to gently pap Octavia’s rear over her underwear, just enough to put a little bit of wobble in her rump.

Octavia visibly deflated, and let out a deep breath, her body going limp, her cheeks bouncing a bit more now that she wasn’t trying to tense them up. Every now and then, her body gave a soft twitch, but other than that, she stayed where she was. Vinyl’s swats and pats and rubs were gentle and stimulating, but they weren’t necessarily erotic. She didn’t attempt to swat at her sit spots at all, nor did she go near the crack. She kept her focus on the cheeks themselves, never going near any area that would have been more inappropriate, and she didn’t make any attempt to bare her completely.

While this was going on, Spike remained a captivated audience, taking in all the details that he could. He could see Vinyl’s eyes behind the purple shades. She was laser focused on her target. Her wrist was rigid. There was no loose flicking or powerful swings. Her movements were slow and deliberate, carefully aimed with a patience and practice that convinced Spike that she had done this many times before. Probably not just for relaxation either, and she did look just as relaxed as Octavia.

Well, okay, maybe not quite as relaxed as Octavia. The grey mare’s face was totally obscured by her mane, hiding her expression, but she was taking deep, even breaths, suggesting a state of calm. He hadn’t seen her this loose or relaxed since meeting her. Of course, the star of his attention was her backside, pressed against its fabric prison. The panties were not exceptionally tight, but just tight enough to give him an idea of the detail and definition in her rear. Perhaps they were loose because she’d lost some weight recently? No, he shouldn’t speculate about something like that, it would be rude. Even if it was the case, her bottom was still full and plump and reacted to Vinyl’s palm in a most delightful way.

And it was here that Spike couldn’t help but reflect on just how many spankings he had seen and given in such a short amount of time.

He decided that fate had been quite kind to him for that.

And as the beats of the song from the booth started to fade again to a low hum, signaling a light transition from one track to another, Vinyl brought her palm to rest atop Octavia’s rear. “How do you feel?” she asked, her normally boisterous voice low, maybe a little husky.

“Amazing,” Octavia mumbled softly.

“Loose? Relaxed?”

“Like I could be rolled up into a ball.”

“Sorry about being so forward about it,” Vinyl said, carefully helping her to sit up, sitting her on her knee. “But you really needed it.”

“I agree. On both fronts,” Octavia huffed. “I should be scandalized by what you just did, but I… can’t be.”

Vinyl chuckled. “Yeah? Well I just wanted to help out a bit.”

“I… think you did,” Spike said, clearing his throat.

Octavia squeaked, as if realizing that he was there for the first time. “S-Spike, you had best not tell ANYONE about what you just witnessed, do you understand me?”

Spike nodded quickly, crossing a finger over his heart. “Not a word to anyone, Octavia, I swear.”

“Least he could do for getting a free show,” Vinyl snickered. “So, I’m curious,” she said, returning her attention to Octavia. “I told you what music I think about-”

“And I’m quite surprised you would choose such a piece,” Octavia interrupted. “String Quartet No. 12 is a beautiful bit of music. No offense, but I never would have expected someone like you to enjoy it.”

“Hey, it might not be my medium of choice, Tavi, but I do like classical. You gotta appreciate where music’s come from before you can make it modern, at least that’s always been my philosophy on the matter. It’s one of the reasons I show up to every one of your shows.”

“Every one of… MY shows?”

“Yep. You and the orchestra always know how to pick out the best pieces to play. And your solos are always out of this world.”

“I-I’m flattered.” She blushed, smiling wide, looking away from the mare for a moment. Spike couldn’t help feel a light pang of jealousy at how easily Vinyl had coaxed such a huge smile out of her like that.

“Anyway, like I was saying, I was curious what the music you thought of was.”

“Oh… it’s nothing, really,” she mumbled.

“Aw, c’mon, fair is fair, I told you what mine was.” She smirked. “So what was it? Bet it was something like Ein Klein Nachtmusik, right? Or maybe something softer and more sombre? Du bist die ruh, maybe? Nah, gotta be something like The Tender Land.”

“You… are far more knowledgeable than I expected,” Octavia said, sounding rather impressed.

“Like I said, I appreciate classical. Not my favorite, but that’s because everyone’s always talking about it in this dry, snobby way, rather than focusing on how it feels or sounds. I like classical, but I don’t really like classical culture.” She shook her head. “Anyway, c’mon! Was I warm?”

“Er… rather cold, actually. In fact, you were probably all the way at the south pole.”

“Seriously?” she asked, raising a brow. “Well, shit, now I’m super curious.”

“It was um… uh…” she glanced between Vinyl and the still silent Spike. “Ahem… Lone Digger.”

Silence for a moment. Spike tilted his head. “The… caravan palace song?”

She nodded gently, her face flushing more. “Yes”

Vinyl slowly lifted up her glasses, showing off her bright, red irises. “Really?”

“Y-yes,” she said again. “It’s one of the few songs I’ve really been exposed to outside of my classical studies and I… really latched onto it. The lyrics are a touch gruff, but they do make me feel quite good…” she trailed off softly.

“That is so awesome,” Vinyl said.

“I-it is?”

“Of course it is! I mean, yeah, I was way off the mark with my guess, but wow, you’re a Caravan Palace fan. That’s super cool.”

“I-I guess…”

“Don’t guess, Tavi,” Vinyl said, seriously. “Don’t be ashamed to like what you like, don’t feel like you gotta defend your choices, to me or anyone else. It might not be what you PLAY, but if you enjoy it? Don’t pretend you don’t. Nothing bothers me more than someone trying to put on airs around someone else.”

Her blush throbbed as she slowly stood up, sliding her pants up, wiggling a bit. “Th-thank you, Vinyl. Even more than the whole… butt rubbing that you gave me, those were words that I really needed to hear.”

Vinyl got up with her, chuckling. “Anything for a friend and fellow music lover.” She gave a mock salute. “Anyway, I’ll let you two get back to your day out. I think I’ve done my job.” She started to turn and walk away, when a very strong, calloused hand grabbed her arm.

“Wait a moment,” Octavia said. She blinked and quickly released her. “Sorry, that was rude of me. Um… I actually wanted to know if you’d like to get a drink with me?” she asked, motioning to the bar where she and Spike had been sitting a moment before.

Vinyl smirked. “Get a drink?”

“And maybe talk a bit more?” she offered that same wide, shy smile she had before. “Maybe… get something to eat as well?”

“Depends. Is your date into that sort of thing.”

Octavia gasped and glanced at Spike. “O-oh, spike, I’m so so-”

“I’m not her date, Vinyl,” Spike said with a light smile. “Just a guy who was trying to help her loosen up a little bit more, and I’d say you were a lot better at it than I was.” He shrugged a little bit.

“A-are you sure you’re all right with this?” Octavia asked.

“I am.” Spike pat her shoulder. “I’d love it if we could stay friends in the future, but for right now, I think hanging out with Vinyl would be more fun for you anyway.

“W-well… all the same, thank you, Spike. I know it didn’t really work out for us, but I’m glad you brought me here.”

“I am too,” he said with a nod. He gave her a quick, gentle hug. “Have a good time, Octavia. I hope you can stay loosened up for a while longer.”

She smiled warmly. “I’ll see what I can do.”

“So will I,” Vinyl said with a smirk. “See you at school tomorrow, Spike?”

“Yeah, sure Vinyl.” He waved to her. “Have a nice day.”

“Oh, my day just got better,” she said, motioning over to the bar. Octavia nodded and followed her.

Spike turned and started to walk out, pulling out his phone and bringing up his text conversation with Rarity. “Well, I think we can call this a success,” he sent to her.

“Really? What happened?”

“Not really anything having to do with me. But I’ll tell you about it later. Just wanted to let you know she’s definitely loosened up and enjoying herself. Just not with me.”

“Aww, I’m sorry Spike…”

“It’s fine. Like I said, everything worked out. And I think she’s with someone who’s definitely going to make her happy from here on out.”

“All right then. Thanks again, Spike. I owe you big for this.”

“I know,” he sent back with a smirk. “We’ll talk about it later.”

“Actually,” she responded almost instantly. “I was thinking we could talk about it right now? Perhaps at my place?”

Spike was taken aback from that response, and it took him a moment to regain enough sense to type coherently. “Are you sure about that?”

“My family won't mind some company. Mother might even bake some cookies before you arrive. Please?”

Well, she did use the magic word. “Okay, Rarity. I'll gladly stop by on my way home.”

“Great! See you soon.” She ended with a purple heart emoji.

Spike pocketed his phone and stretched his arms out a little bit as he walked to the exit. And as he started to walk out of Club Canter, he couldn’t help but grin as a familiar song began to play in the background.

“Hey brother, what you thinkin’?
Leave that ol’ record spinnin’,
You feel the rhythm goin’
(They call it lonely diggin’!)