As they walked, Vinyl couldn't help but notice that the Octavia's cello was weighing her down. Using her magic, she partially lifted it, lightening her load considerably. Unsurprisingly, Octavia noticed in an instant.

"Vinyl? Helping me? I thought I'd never see the day!" She turned to Vinyl and smirked slightly, but Vinyl could see the traces of gratitude in her eyes. Her beautiful, violet… Get a hold of yourself Scratch! She looked away hurriedly, smiling slightly and with a faint blush on her face.

"Well, you know, a friend in need, right?" Vinyl said, hoping her friend wouldn't notice the light shade of pink her cheeks were now shaded.

If she did, she didn't say anything. "Indeed. I just never thought you had it in you." At this, Vinyl flashed her signature smile, and risked some banter.

"Well, inside this wild and sexy exterior, lies a deep and caring soul." She said, and Octavia returned the smile.

"I'll believe that when I see it." Octavia said, clearly returning the friendly conversation.

"Good to know there's a friendly side to you underneath all that formality."

Immediately, Octavia raised her nose, and shifted to a higher, more snooty method of walking, almost strutting next to her friend. "I only behave in a friendly manner towards those that are my friends." She said, and turned away. It was a few seconds before Vinyl understood, and she laughed, accidentally breaking her spell and surprising Octavia with the weight of her own instrument.

"You're good at this, Tavi." She said, wiping a tear of mirth from her eye.

"Well, it is a shame that I never get a chance to show off my talent for bickering." She said sarcastically, smiling warmly. Vinyl let out a slight chuckle.

This was how their friendship worked. It was far from perfect, slightly unstable and not nearly as close as the ivory pony would have liked it, but it was something, and so the small flame of hope still burned faintly in her chest.

It was only a short walk back to her flat/recording studio, and Vinyl was starting to dread it already. What would she think of her messy flat? What if she happened to walk into the bedr- Oh god. I cannot let her anywhere near that room. Octavia had noticed the strange look on her face as they walked, and turned to face her.

"Are you alright Vinyl?" Octavia looked at her confusedly.

"Oh yeah, I'm fine, Tavi. I'm just not used to getting up this early." She lied. There was something odd about doing this. She'd lied before, it was part of the job, but lying to Octavia like this made her feel… odd. She hated the way she made her feel sometimes, especially because she would ever know, or at least understand. But the buzz she felt around her, the way that, no matter what, she would always come back to her, made it all worthwhile.

Almost.

She spent the rest of the journey lost in thought, before she finally reached the familiar lodge that she called home. She stopped, and for a second, Octavia continued past her. Don't look, Scratch. Don't look… The intense mental battle between Vinyl and her eyes waged for only a second or two before Octavia turned back to her, her eyes flickering between her and the house, before returning to Vinyl, a melodramatic look of disbelief on her face.

"You can't be serious."

"Hey, it's not quite your penthouse, miss royal Canterlot celloist. But it's nice, and it's cozy. If a tad untidy."

"A… tad?" Octavia said, her eyebrow raised.

"Oh, just come inside." She walked up the stairs to the front door, the mare of her dreams following close behind. She turned the key in the lock, and pushed open the door, mentally preparing herself for Octavia's shock at the pigsty that she lived in. She did not have long to wait.

Octavia gasped. "By Celestia, Vinyl, how could you let this happen?"

"It's nothing, really. You should have seen it before spring cleaning."

"What."

"No, I'm only joking. I never clean this place properly!"

Octavia shuddered. "I'm not sure if that's worse or not."

"Ah, just follow me down to the studio, it's a bit cleaner in there." Octavia is in my house! She thought as she walked to the basement stairs, and her imagination got the better of her. She could picture it, Octavia lying on the sofa, her beautiful mane spilling out over her shoulders, her stunning lavender eyes as they looked up at her as she leaned forward, closing the gap between their faces… STOP! She almost cried out loud. She's supposed to be your friend, Vinyl. If she knew half of the stuff-

"V? Are you alright?" Octavia looked at her strangely.

"Yeah, I'm… fine. Just spaced out for a second." Well, it's not a lie. Technically.

"Well, alright. But if you're going down with something, do tell me."

"Why Tavi, I didn't know you cared?"

"I just don't want to catch it, is all." Vinyl smiled, and opened the door into the basement.

"I thought you said it would be cleaner in here?"

"It is… slightly. Besides, I'm not having you mock my beautiful recording studio." Octavia was right. The entire room, although not filthy, was cluttered, every available surface covered in old records, CDs, rejected ideas, music scores, every conceivable music-related item was somewhere in the mess. Vinyl took off her shades as they entered the dimly lit room, putting them in a cup placed next to the door.

"I must ask you, why do you always hide your lovely eyes in public?" Octavia looked at her with curiosity. Vinyl almost melted under her gaze.

"Well, uh, I was always bullied because of them when I was a little filly, so it just became… habit, I guess." Her voice was quieter than she would have liked, and she was feeling more nervous by the minute.

Octavia took a step forward, her head tilted slightly to one side. "Now why would they do that?"

"I-I dunno, I guess they just hated them I guess." She stammered, falling apart with the mare's proximity. "Said they looked evil."

"That's just not right." Octavia said. "You're eyes are beautiful, and you shouldn't be afraid to show them."

Vinyl could feel the blood flowing to her face, and she knew her pale coat would be displaying an impressive blush.

"Are you sure you're alright, Vinyl? You've been acting out of sorts a lot, and you're looking quite red." Octavia had taken another step closer, so close that Vinyl could smell her perfume, she could see every feature on Octavia's flawless form, feel the soft sensation of Octavia's eyes running over her. Her head spinning with the mare's proximity, she looked away.

"Yeah, I'm just… peachy. Think I'm going down with something." Octavia clearly wasn't convinced, but didn't press the issue. Freeing herself from the situation, she slipped out of her gaze and over to her twin decks, which she had named after her two best friends, Lyra on the left, and Octavia on the right. She lifted the cleanest set of sheets from the top, and brought them over to her.

"This is the finished piece." She said slightly awkwardly, as the expert cello player scanned over the piece.

"Are you sure I am the mare for this job? I'm not much of a… fan of your style."

"No, this stuff is different! I wanted something a little closer to your style for this song, with a whole bunch of stuff on top. But I really need the cello part, it's the backbone."

"This looks a little, haunting, if I'm not mistaken. I'm a concert celloist, not a soloist."

"Who cares? You're like the best cello player ever! You play for Celestia and stuff!"

Now it was Octavia's turn to blush. "Well, if you're sure."

"Too right I am. Now, whenever you're ready, Just step into the recording room there."

"Okay." She unzipped the case on her cello, and carried it inside, propping the case up just outside. Vinyl couldn't help herself from catching a glimpse of her flank as she went inside. Shaking her head furiously as the mare in the other room set up, she flipped on the microphones, and spoke into the mini-intercom installed in the soundproof room.

"You good in there?" She asked, as she saw her reading the pages of sheet music over and over.

"Yes, I'm just getting myself ready."

"Okay then, just tell me when you're gonna start."

Vinyl saw her nod through the glass wall, and sat back on her chair, content to watch her read the music, and prepared herself for the music to begin.

After a while, Octavia gave her another nod, and set the music down, raising her bow to her instrument.

Vinyl turned the equipment up to full. She returned the nod to Octavia.

There was a moment or two of silence, and then Octavia played the first few notes. In an instant, Vinyl's mouth fell open. She knew what she'd written was good, it was arguably one of the best things she had ever written. But the perfect mare standing in the recording room had brought the melody to life in a way that she had never dreamt possible. Every time Octavia drew the bow across the instrument, she created another magical note. Before long, Octavia's eyes were shut, using her prestigious sight-reading abilities to memorise the tune perfectly. Vinyl could feel her eyes moistening, but made no attempt to wipe them as she sat transfixed by her friend. Sure, she shad heard her play before, but she was a concert player at heart, and so the only times she was usually heard alone was when she tuned her instrument, and when she practiced, although she almost never did so when another pony might hear.

The moment only lasted about five minutes, but to Vinyl it felt like a lifetime. Octavia turned, opening her eyes and giving Vinyl the signal. She turned off the microphone. Octavia let out a sigh, and exited the small room into the slightly larger studio.

"How… how was that?"

"That was incredible! I've never heard music like that!" She ran straight over to the grey mare and hugged her, burying her face in the soft mane. "Thank you so much! You have no idea how much that means to me!"

Octavia laughed in her melodic way, and patted her blue maned friend on the back warmly, if a tad awkwardly. "Any time, Vinyl. Just promise me you won't spoil my workmanship too much."

"I promise Tavi! It won't be edited at all, it'll just have some other stuff woven into it. I've got the best beat sorted out already! How can I ever repay you?" She said, holding her out at arm's length.

"Well, what do you say to cleaning your flat before my next visit?" Vinyl considered it for a second.

"Done."

A bit longer this time, eh? Still not perfect, I know. Please, tell me what you think, and what you want to happen. Who knows, it might come true!