For most ponies, tests are a way to better comprehend what you’ve been learning. To Vinyl Scratch, however, it was time for friends to study while she sat on her flank watching some movie about a spy pony or something of the sort.

“Vinyl, you really should study,” Lyra said one morning when we were all looking over notes for Musical History.

“The name’s Scratch…Vinyl Scratch. I take my cider shaken, not stirred,” she quoted her film again, bursting into laughter and I rolled my eyes. The line had stopped being funny ages ago.

“Vinyl Scratch, Lyra was kind enough to come and study with us today. The least you can do is start going over some notes.”

“No thanks, Octy, I’ve got some Sapphire Shores to remix,” I ground my teeth, regretting buying her that CD in the first place. With a flick of her tail, she went to her remixing machine. Thankfully, she used a soundproofing spell that Lyra had taught her, keeping her wubs to herself.

“So when did you get together?” Lyra asked when Vinyl’s earphones were secured.

“When did who get together?”

“You know,” Lyra giggled. “You and Vinyl,” Realization hit me and I backed away, stammering.

“I…I’m afraid I don’t understand what you mean. Vinyl is a dear friend, but we aren’t together. Why, what would my mother think?”

“My mother kicked me out when I got my first marefriend,” Lyra said proudly. “To this day, I’m glad she did. It made me realize which ponies I could trust.” She held her head high and smiled widely.

“That’s wonderful, Lyra, but you’re from Manehatten if I’m not mistaken. There are different styles of life where I’m from,”

“You mean you can’t live a fully original life?” Lyra asked sarcastically. I shook my head and went back to my Musical History notes.

“My mother is very strict. She lives a very organized life, and she can’t stand anything that might be slightly out of the Canterlot norms.”

“What about your father? Mine is supportive,” Lyra shuffled her lyre sheet music around and began scanning a sheet of tuning notes.

“My father judges personality, not sexuality.” I stated clearly. “I’m assuming that he’ll be alright with…what I am as long as I remain the same mare I was before learning about my...interest. My mother, however, won’t approve at all. I’m holding off explaining things to her as long as possible, but I seem to be running out of time with the holiday season fast approaching.”

“Is she coming to see the school concerts?” Lyra asked excitedly. “Me and a few lyre playing friends managed to reserve the second slot of the show!” I had never seen Lyra so excited about something, and now I realized why she had a lyre as her cutie mark. It brought her so much joy to say she was a lyrist.

“My parents will both be attending the concerts next week,” I informed her. “I do feel bad for them. Vinyl and her techno friends are going to be playing first. They’re going to ‘wake up the audience’ as she claims,”

“But their music isn’t bad at all!” Lyra said. “It’s really good once you get used to it.”

“My mother plays a variety of classical instruments, favoring the violin. My father is a lawyer with very specific taste in music. It wouldn’t surprise me at all if they left the auditorium for the first portion. They wouldn’t want to sit through all of that noise.” The dorm phone began to ring, and I assumed Vinyl couldn’t hear it due to her soundproofing spell.

“I’ll wait in the hall if you’d like,” Lyra offered when she saw me staring at the phone. I shook my head and went to answer it, slightly confused. The only time that phone was used was when there was something in the front school offices that was to be delivered to you.

“Hello?”
“Octavia, darling, it’s me, your mother!” Serenada Philharmonica’s shrill tone made my ear ring.

“Mother, how unexpected of you to call,” I said as my eyes went wide. The only phones that could connect to dorm phones were on campus.

“Octavia, dear, I’m in the front building now and they won’t tell me how to get to your dorm. I’m a tad concerned, Octavia. They’re here telling me that you share a dorm with somepony else, and unless I have direct permission from both of you, I can’t enter.”

“Oh, yes, I am currently sharing a dorm, but it’s quite alright if you enter. I’m in dorm 57. Tell the administrator that you’re allowed to come in.”

“Thank you, Octavia. At least somepony around here knows what they’re talking about.” The line went dead and I turned to Lyra.

“You’re free to stay, but my mother is on her way to my dorm as we speak.”

“Stay in the same room as somepony who would hate me in an instant if they knew what I was? No thank you, but I’ll be sure to return later.” Lyra used her magic to shove her notes into her bag as she left, galloping down the hall to her own room.

“Vinyl, I need you to...” I remembered her spell and groaned. I would have to run inside the barrier if I wanted any hope of getting her attention. Bracing my ears for the pounding they were about to endure, I charged at her. I ended up tackling her to the ground, her head banging against her wub-making machine.

“Ouch, Octy, that hurt,” Vinyl whined. “I think you broke my laptop,”

“Is that what it’s called?” I asked in amazement. The machine looked so complex, and yet its name was so simple.

“That’s what you’re worried about?” Vinyl rolled her eyes. “I could be suffering from head trauma, and you’re concerned about the correct term for my laptop. Great friend you are, Octy,”

“I’m terribly sorry, but I needed to get your attention and the only way to do that once you cast that spell is to charge into the barrier.”

“Why did you need my attention?”

“Because my mother is…”

“Octavia Philharmonica, what in Celestia’s good name is going on here?” I turned to face the door. My mother stood there, her face furious and her eyes wide. I realized too late that I was still sitting on top of Vinyl.

“We were just…having some fun,” Vinyl said quickly, only to wince when she realized how bad it sounded out loud. “You know…um…”

“Playing some old fillyhood games,” I finished. “We felt rather stressed from all our studying and rehearsing, so we decided to let off some stress and play tackle-tag.” It was a horrible excuse, but my mother ate it up. Anything sounded better than ‘having some fun’.

“Aren’t you going to introduce me to your…friend?” The way my mother said ‘friend’ was the way most ponies would say ‘sewer rat’. She clearly disapproved of the electric blue mane and the round sunglasses that Vinyl wore with pride.

“Vinyl Scratch,” Vinyl stuck out a hoof, but my mother just crinkled her nose.

“Pleasure,” she sneered. “I am Serenada Philharmonica, Octavia’s mother. I have no doubts that she has told you about me,”

“Actually, Octy’s pretty quiet about her home life. I don’t blame her, because I never talk about my parents either,” I kept myself from planting a hoof in my face. First impressions are very important to my mother, and Vinyl was doing a wonderful job of making a very bad one.

“Octy?” My mother turned to me. “I wasn’t aware you had a nickname, Octavia,”

“It’s a recent thing,” I said quickly. “I’ve been trying to make her stop, but it’s something she does with most of her friends.”

“I like the nickname!” Vinyl said loudly. “It’s so much easier to say than Octavia. That’s such a mouthful.”

“Octavia is a very dignified name that fits my daughter’s level of sophistication. You may learn a lot about a pony just based off of their names, Vinyl.” This was getting bad very quickly. I felt that if I didn’t say anything soon, my mother would experience Vinyl’s hoof to her face.

“So what brings you all the way here?” I asked quickly, pushing Vinyl aside.

“I saw something very...interesting in the school paper that made me worry about my only daughter,”

“I didn’t know you got the school paper,” I had thought that the paper was only delivered to the subscribed ponies on campus.

“It costs a lot, but I have a paper on my door step every week. This week gave me quite a start, Octavia, but I’m certain that you will be able to explain it to me,” My mother placed the mentioned copy on the table on top of my notes and straightened it with her hoof.

There was a large photo of a booth in a café window with three mares sitting around the table. One of the mares was Lyra, a confused look on her face as she stared out the window. The other two mares were Vinyl and I. I was sitting close to Vinyl and the unicorn’s hoof lay close to mine on the table. Confused, I read the story that followed.

Octavia Philharmonica was seen not too long ago enjoying a nice meal with two fellow musicians, Lyra Heartstrings and Vinyl Scratch. To most ponies, this seems like three friends taking a break from university life and having a laugh. However, this is not what it seems at all. Vinyl Scratch is openly a fillyfooler, and it appears that Lyra Heartstrings is one as well.

“I was really good friends with Lyra,” Says Bee Bop, a student studying lyre history and performance arts. “That was until she told me that she was a fillyfooler. I wouldn’t have minded so much, but I was friends with Vinyl too, and we all know what happened there.” For those who aren’t aware, Bee Bop faced an incident not too long ago where Vinyl Scratch attempted to form a relationship with Bee Bop, despite Bee’s obvious interest in stallions.

While it is clear that both Vinyl Scratch and Lyra Heartstrings are indeed fillyfoolers, what about Octavia Philharmonica? All we know about the mare is that she plays cello in the school orchestra. We also know that, in her time at the Academy, she has shown no interest in any stallions at our school. Is there a secret that Octavia is keeping from us? If so, is that secret that she is joining the ever growing group of fillyfoolers and coltcuddlers at this school? Keep reading everypony, because this paper won’t rest until we have answers.