Chapter 19

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Vinyl woke from chilly tendrils of air brushing against her cheek. She shivered and tried to sink deeper under the covers, but the movement only brought the cold wind to the rest of her body. With an angry grunt, she threw the covers aside and sat up to find the source of her discomfort. It wasn’t difficult; all the light in the room came from the window, drawing her eyes like moths to a flame.

The window was wide open, letting all the heat escape into the atmosphere. Octavia stood in front of it, her face out of view as she peered out at the not-so-distant campus. Her charcoal mane and tail swayed gently in the light breeze, yet she didn’t seem even remotely bothered by it.

Seized by a curiosity that stifled her shivers, Vinyl slipped out of their makeshift double bed and trotted quietly over to her fillyfriend. Upon closer inspection, Octavia’s eyes were wide open in an attempt to absorb as much light as she could.

“Babe?” whispered Vinyl, placing a hoof on her cellist’s shoulder.

The mare in question giggled, a smile spreading across her face like fire in a hearth. “Look at the city, Vinyl. Isn’t it lovely?”

For the first time that morning, Vinyl looked out the window. It took a moment for her to realise what had changed, but once she did, it seemed so obvious that she felt a little silly for not noticing earlier.

“Hot damn, that’s a lot of snow.”

Everything from the trees to the rooftops was covered in glistening whiteness, fresh from a night of silent descent. Even the pegasus-exclusive buildings above were coated in snow that had fallen from clouds even higher than theirs. Some ponies were already out there pushing big plows to get the paths clear before the day truly began.

Outside the campus, the city of Manehattan grunted and groaned to life as dedicated unicorns and earth ponies set about pulling back the thick layer of snow, like taking the blanket away from an unwilling student before a day full of classes.

A few playful pegasi chased each other through the sky over the campus, their distant laughter giving the scene a cheerfulness that dispelled the usual uncomfortable nature of snowfall. The sight brought forth a few flickering memories from the back of Vinyl’s mind. She remembered playing in the street with her neighbours, using her magic to form the snow into funny shapes. Shock rippled through her as she realised those days were over ten years ago.

Swallowing back her uneasiness at the realisation, she tried to distract herself with monotony.

Right, what’s on the agenda?

Well, she thought, first they would need to get some breakf– Oh sweet Celestia, it’s Octavia’s birthday tomorrow and I don’t have a present!

Panic shot through her body and she stiffened visibly, eyes bulging. Almost immediately, the rational part of her brain (which had been growing stronger as of late) kicked in and reminded her that she still had an entire day to find a gift. Her limbs relaxed and she almost sank to the floor in tentative relief. Yes, there was still the matter of finding a suitable gift, but how hard could that be, really?

Vinyl glanced towards Octavia to see if she had noticed her little panic attack. It was difficult to tell, however, as the grey mare was no longer there. The sound of water splattering against tiles reached her ears, presenting the answer to her unasked question. It seemed Octavia had left Vinyl to enjoy the view while she got ready.

The unicorn smirked; luck seemed to be on her side today. She quickly trotted over to some school supplies and found a pen and paper. Thinking quickly, she quickly wrote a vague note explaining that she had to go out for a while. It wouldn’t hold up in court, but it would be enough to get her a few hours of present-hunting.

With the note left noticeably on the bed, Vinyl slipped on her greyish-purple boots and beanie and darted out the door. As she trotted down the hall, she wondered if Octavia was just now exiting the bathroom and reading the note. A slight panic overtook Vinyl’s motor functions, making her leap down the first short flight of stairs in the stairwell without a single glance. Thankfully, nopony was in her way this time. Her glorious escape from beneath the eyes of the Sexy Cellist Regime was complete.

She thanked the stars that their room’s window didn’t overlook the path leading back to the main campus as she shuffled down it. The boots helped, but nothing was truly safe from Manehattan weather. The cold seeped in slowly as she walked, though her body heat kept it from getting to her hooves at least.

The beanie, meanwhile, worked like a charm. Vinyl’s head was kept in a fuzzy warmth that brought a sheepish smile to her lips. Sheepish, mainly because she should have chosen a gift weeks ago.

Octavia’s my fillyfriend now! I can’t afford to forget this stuff!

Vinyl would never forgive herself if the relationship was hurt by something as stupid as her bad memory. She paused at the university’s main entrance to steady herself. Just thinking about what she had with Octavia being hurt in any way was enough to make her feel a little ill. Somewhere in the back of her mind, the word ‘lovesickness’ was being tossed around a lot. It was a silly thought, but part of it struck a chord with her. Namely, the first syllable.

Shaking her head violently, Vinyl refused to be side-tracked. Somewhere out in the city, the perfect gift was waiting. All she had to do was take the first steps.

---

The train rumbled along in a most undesirable way. The elegant mare shivered distastefully at the thought of her valuable luggage being tossed around by the vibrations. There was some very expensive jewellery in there. Nothing from her main collection, of course (this occasion was important, but not that important), but some tertiary pieces that would suffice if she needed to dress up. For now, she simply wore her signature silver necklace, embedded with a stunning blue gem and speckled with gold.

Another round of violent shaking set her teeth on edge. Tertiary or not, her luggage was still extremely valuable. There were some fine dresses and scarves in there as well. No gifts, of course, not yet. There was a lot of evaluation that needed to be done before she would even think about rewarding her daughter.

Sighing as the shaking ceased, she turned her attention to the window. A light flutter of snow was descending, and the landscape grew whiter by the second. She nodded in satisfaction. Manehattan was close.

---

Vinyl stepped out of the shop, feeling disheartened. It was the fifth time she’d done that in the past couple of hours. Each store was packed with baubles and trinkets of a thousand different kinds, but she still couldn’t find anything suitable. Even the more expensive gifts just didn’t seem like enough. After all, Octavia had probably grown up with gem-encrusted toys and jewellery. These things would just seem like cheap sparkly stones to her.

She rubbed her forehead in frustration. How do I buy a gift for somepony who grew up with everything? Not to mention she wasn’t exactly rolling in bits at the moment. She almost regretted all those nights they had gone out for dinner. Almost.

A childish gasp of wonder came from nearby. Vinyl turned around and saw a young filly poking at a yellow-and-pink-striped streamer wrapped around a pole. Upon closer inspection, she saw that the streamer led to a bench, then to another pole. A few more ponies were standing near it, exchanging curious theories.

Vinyl trotted to the other pole, following the streamer with her eyes. It traced a path along the street, between lights and bins and any other object that was tall enough for it to be attached to. She followed it (along with a growing number of interested ponies) much like a cat would a piece of yarn being dragged across the ground. After a few moments of this, she sheepishly chided herself for such foalish behavior. She had business to attend to!

But… as much as she wanted to get back to gift hunting, she really wanted to see where the streamer was going. So she quickly jogged after it, fully intending to return to the matter at hoof once her curiosity was satisfied.

The colourful lead reached an end at a festive-looking light pole. Tinsel and little floating pom-poms orbited around it, bathed in a faint mint-green glow. A couple of other curious commuters had stopped to investigate the odd sight.

“Is there a holiday coming up that I’ve forgotten?” asked one old mare as she balanced three shopping bags on her back.

“Not that I recall,” answered a stallion in a suit.

A little blue filly squealed in excitement. “Look over there!” Everypony followed her gaze and found another decorated pole on a nearby street corner. Immediately, regardless of age, the group gleefully bounded over to it.

Attached to the new pole was another streamer, this time leading down a different street. There was a growing hum of commotion in that direction, indicating they were on the right track. Vinyl grinned, unashamed to be enjoying the little hunt. It reminded her of old pirate stories about looking for treasure by following a special map.

Once more, the group quickly trotted after the streamer, the older members caught between curiosity and reserved dignity while the younger members disregarded any pretence of disinterest, sprinting ahead to find the next trail. Vinyl joined them, reaching the next brightly-coloured pole only seconds after the kids.

This time, rather than being tied around the middle, the streamer was attached to the top and stayed out of reach as it crossed the road and connected to the top of a two story building on a street corner. A large crowd milled about in the street before it, and Vinyl noticed that there were several other streamers leading from other streets, all drawing ponies towards this building. They must be all over Manehattan!

The DJ pushed through the crowd, something she was no stranger to doing, and managed to reach the front. A double door dominated the front of the building, constantly held open by the unending torrent of ponies gushing in and out. The walls were painted the same colour as the streamers and poles, with bright patterns and eye-catching decorations everywhere. Above the door, a sign proudly proclaimed Bonbon’s Confectionary!

Vinyl’s jaw dropped. Such a massive commotion just for a candy shop? It was ridiculous. Yet, here it was, right in front of her. Ponies were entering with inquisitive expressions and leaving with bags of candy filled to the brim, chocolate smiles on every face. Whatever Bonbon and Lyra were doing, they were doing it right. Shrugging, Vinyl let herself get carried inside by the current of customers.

The interior of the shop’s ground floor was even brighter than expected, with pale cream-green walls and a number of extravagant displays of culinary creations. There was no doubt about it: Bonbon was a candy genius. Children ran amok in wondrous ecstasy, and adults desperately tried to retain their composure as they felt emotions they had almost forgotten; the desire to once again be a kid in a candy store. Magical displays floated above it all, colourful wrappers dancing around in formation, each of them carrying a faint hint of green haze.

The source wasn’t difficult to spot. Lyra walked along the outskirts, horn pulsing occasionally to touch up or adjust one of her spells. Vinyl would never admit it, but she was a little bit impressed by how many different spells were in motion, not to mention those in the streets outside. Lyra didn’t show any signs of exertion though, just a little smile that seemed a lot more natural than the smirks she used to wear.

Turning her eyes to the counter, Vinyl stood on her hind legs to see over the crowd. She felt a little bit like a meerkat, but it worked. Strangely enough, Bonbon wasn’t at any of the registers. They were being run by several teenagers seemingly straight out of highschool plus Carrot Top, who was apparently supervising them.

With no Bonbon in sight, Vinyl reluctantly picked through the crowd in Lyra’s direction. The mint-green unicorn noticed her approach and nodded in silent greeting.

“Hey there,” Vinyl said, struggling to raise her voice over the din. “Don’t suppose you know where Bonbon is, do you? I wanted to congratulate her.”

Lyra nodded. “She’s upstairs at the moment. Here, follow me.”

Without further ado, the DJ followed her behind the counter to a flight of stairs. They trotted up quickly, the noise not fading in the slightest, and slipped through the door at the top, closing it behind them. Even after that, the sounds from the floor below remained as loud as ever.

The top floor was much less extravagant than the shop below, instead looking more like a normal flat. It was a lot bigger than Vinyl’s old place, with a couple of bedrooms leading off from the main living area as well as a fully stocked kitchen. The floor was covered in a plain yet soft carpet and the furniture looked halfway decent. It was safe to say that Bonbon and Lyra were living very differently than the rest of the university students.

Bonbon was reclining on a couch reading, ear muffs strapped tightly to her head. Upon Lyra magically poking her, she sat up and uncovered her ears, wincing at the sudden return of noise to her world.

“Hi Vinyl!” she shouted slightly too loudly. “It’s great to see you, but I’m not sure we can have much of a conversation like this!” The cream-coloured mare looked helplessly at Lyra, who shrugged as if saying ‘what do you expect me to do?’

A light bulb flickered on in Vinyl’s mind. “Hang on, I’ve got an idea.”

She turned back to the door leading downstairs and jammed her eyes shut in concentration.

Now what did Leafy say?

She channelled magic into her horn, letting it drift within her shapelessly, then opened her eyes and focused on the door. The magic took form, slipping into and plugging not only the cracks at the sides of the door, but the impossibly small ones within the wood and surrounding wall itself. She looked around the room, painting the walls and floor with the spell, letting it infuse with the structure of the entire level and cutting it off from unwanted vibrations in the air.

It was a lot bigger than her home with Octavia so she was panting slightly at the end of it. The fact that she could hear herself breathing again was all she needed to know that she had succeeded.

“Better?” she grinned at the two stunned ponies.

“Much,” Bonbon whispered hoarsely.

Lyra frowned. “That was pretty good magic. I didn’t think about finding a spell to help with the noise.”

Vinyl shrugged, determined not to be a cocky jerk today. “Yeah, well, it would’ve been hard to keep it going while doing all those other fancy spells downstairs and outside. They were, uh, pretty impressive by the way.”

“…Thanks.” Lyra hesitated before continuing, but when she did she wore that little smile again. “Do you think you can teach me that spell? It could be useful for maintaining Bonbon’s sanity.”

Bonbon rolled her eyes. “We’ll look it up later, Lyra. Vinyl clearly didn’t come here to save us from the racket.” The business owner put her book down and trotted over to join them. “So what does bring you here today? I know I invited you and Octavia around here anytime, but you have the look of a mare on a mission, so it can’t be a casual visit.”

“It’s not.” Vinyl fidgeted a bit at having to explain herself in front of Lyra. This is going to take some getting used to. “Okay… well, it’s Octavia’s birthday tomorrow and I don’t have a gift. I came into town looking for one but I couldn’t find anything good enough. Then I got distracted by your streamers and found your store. At first I just wanted to congratulate you on how awesomely your shop is doing, but now that I’m here… do you two have any idea what I should get?”

Bonbon wore a thoughtful expression but Lyra was chuckling softly. “You waited until the day before to start looking for a gift?”

The DJ scratched the back of her head sheepishly. “I was… distracted.”

“Yeah, I’ll bet you were.”

Vinyl opened her mouth to reply but was cut off by Bonbon. “Oh, don’t start you two. You were doing so well. Vinyl, I’m guessing nothing in my store would really measure up to your fillyfriend, right?”

“Well… yeah, pretty much. No offense.”

“I understand. Have you considered that sometimes the best gifts aren’t ones you can buy?”

“You sound like the after-school special.”

Lyra snorted back laughter but quietened at Bonbon’s unamused gaze. “Well, they were onto something. Lyra knows what I’m talking about, why don’t you two go walking and discuss it?” Now the cream mare looked amused.

Her roommate looked as though she was about to protest before slumping and jerking her head at the door. “Come on, we might as well.”

Vinyl didn’t see this ending well, yet she followed the other unicorn downstairs regardless. Any progress was good progress… right?

The second they were outside of the spell, noise returned like a hurricane, making them both constantly wince as they pushed through the crowd and out the door. Only when they were a full block away did the sound fade enough to allow speech without shouting.

“I swear it wasn’t that loud when I first got there,” Vinyl exclaimed, rubbing at her ears as they walked.

“Probably the contrast. We went from dead silence to utter cacophony,” Lyra replied without breaking stride.

Who says ‘cacophony’?

“Uh, yeah, I guess that makes sense.”

For a while they simply walked through the cold streets, taking turns and following side streets that Vinyl had never seen before. It wasn’t technically an uncomfortable silence, just a strange one. She half-expected them to arrive back at the store and hear Lyra say ‘good chat’ or something.

Before she could voice her thoughts, they arrived at the entrance to a park. The snow wasn’t too thick yet and much of the ground was still uncovered, mainly the path. The trees were all blanketed in white and a few quiet couples took evening strolls through the pretty scenery. It was then that Vinyl noticed that time had slipped away from her yet again.

“Oh crap, the stores have all closed!” The orange setting sun seemed to taunt her for losing track of time.

“Relax. Do you remember what Bonbon said? Some things can’t be bought.” Lyra seemed perfectly comfortable even without any warm clothes on. After finding a deserted area, she suddenly stopped under a big white oak tree and turned to face the DJ. “So what do you see in her?”

“Huh?” Vinyl raised an eyebrow.

“Octavia. What do you see in her?”

“Come on, do you really want me to get all mushy in front of you?”

Lyra squared her shoulders. “Just say what you feel. I’ll endure.”

“Alright… well…” A gust of wind blew past, carrying the scent of wood fires. “I see… nothing in her. I’m not crazy about her because of any one trait or quirk. Those are like the individual notes in a song; alone, they are meaningless. But together, they make up her perfect melody. So it’s not what I see in her, it’s that I simply see her.” The DJ blushed.

After a moment of silence, Lyra cocked her head. “Her eloquence has rubbed off on you, I think.”

Vinyl grinned in pride, her cheeks still red from embarrassment. “Yeah, well, there was a lot of rubbing involved.”

Finally, Lyra cracked a smirk. “I’ll bet.” But her job wasn’t over, so she sobered up quickly. “You’ve confirmed something for me. I know what you can give to Octavia. I was worried at first that you had already given it, but now I know otherwise.”

“What are you talking about?”

“You love her, don’t you?”

“I…” Vinyl’s brain faltered for a moment before roaring back to life. “…I do.” She knew she was wearing the dumbest ‘deer caught in headlights’ expression, yet there was no escaping the shock. The word that had been trying to catch her attention all day had finally revealed itself.

“Have you told her that?” Lyra hinted with a smile.

“Not yet.” Vinyl was grinning so hard her cheeks ached. She desperately wanted to sprint back to the university, but there was one thing left to do. “Y’know Lyra, you’re alright.”

“You aren’t bad yourself, Vinyl.”

That was it. There was no need for anything more than that. Vinyl nodded once more, then ran.

The wind rushing through her mane, a perpetual grin on her lips, and the perfect confession of love brewing in the back of her mind.

Can’t buy that in a candy store.

---

The elegant mare held her head high against the cold breeze. The train station wasn’t exactly warm but anything was better than being outside on a day like this. Her luggage had already been loaded up and was on its way to the hotel, leaving her waiting for one of the notoriously unreliable Manehattan carriages to arrive. She had ordered one to arrive almost an hour ago, and there was still no sign of it. She would have to have a serious talk with the leader of the Transportation Committee.

After an eternity of waiting, a carriage finally pulled up to the pavement. It was a pathetic two-pony model pulled by a single brown-coated stallion. He seemed like he was about to nod respectfully to her. A flash of recognition glinted in his eyes, and he turned back to face the road without saying a word.

Her upper lip twitched distastefully. Such rudeness from the common folk was unacceptable. Clearly, Manehattan was going down the drain. After a moment of annoyed hesitation, she climbed aboard. “West Manehattan University. Don’t spare yourself.”

He snorted and began pulling. The pace was painfully slow, even for carriage travel. It seemed the driver was in no hurry, despite her instructions to the contrary. The sun had set and she was in some stupid tiny carriage being pulled around downtown Manehattan by an infuriating buffoon. He hadn’t said a word, yet she knew everything he was thinking. He probably hated her for being well groomed or some other little nicety they clearly didn’t have in this city. Celestia, she could smell the sweat on this stallion!

She was grateful for exactly one thing: that she had asked to go straight to the university instead of her hotel. The university was much closer to the train station, even with the driver taking a very creative route. The plan was initially to pick up her daughter and take her to the hotel to ‘reward’ her for such ‘good’ work. In actual fact, any true reward would have to wait until she had visited some contacts within the university and determined whether Octavia was deserving of a reward at all. That would all take place tomorrow, however. Tonight she simply intended to lightly question her daughter, nothing too serious, just in case she had done well.

That was, if the damn carriage got there before morning. She drew her phone out from within her mane, a childish yet effective storage system. With a sigh, she decided to make sure Octavia wasn’t out wasting time with her ‘friend’. A couple of contacts placed at the door to her dormitory should do the trick…

---

Octavia felt lost. She’d spent the entire day in their dorm room sitting around, reading and studying. Vinyl still wasn’t back. She checked the news on Vinyl’s computer a number of times out of worry, wondering if perhaps something horrible had happened–

Stop it shut up stop it!

It was only in Vinyl’s absence that she realised how much she had come to depend on her fillyfriend for everyday life. It was the first day in weeks that they hadn’t spent together. She simply didn’t know what to do.

The sun had set a couple of hours ago. Octavia thought about going to bed even though she knew she would be unable to sleep. Anything was better than just standing there waiting for the door to open.

She felt angry at herself. She felt pathetic. One day. I can’t make it one day without her. What does that say about my strength of character?

Her hind legs wobbled and she sunk down to a sitting position. Was there a word for complete emotional dependence on another pony? Perhaps I’m a parasite?

A clattering noise came from the window. Her ears pricked up and she glanced at the frosted glass, wondering if she had imagined it. A second clatter brought a hesitant smile to her face as she got up to investigate. She forced open the window with a little effort, watching little ice scrapings drop down to the snow. A weak yet impossibly cold wind sheared straight through her, sucking all the heat out in moments.

Until she noticed a unicorn wearing a greyish-purple beanie below, that was. Her heart beat faster at the mere sight of Vinyl, warmth returning to her limbs within seconds. “What are you doing down there?” she called with a half-giggle, her previous ponderings forgotten as things returned to normal – or at least as normal as they could be with Vinyl.

“Shh!” the DJ hushed her quickly. “Get your boots and scarf and stuff! Quick!” Vinyl seemed to be a little on edge, looking in every direction as if she was committing a crime.

Octavia frowned in confusion but followed her instructions, stuffing her hooves into her warm boots and wrapping a scarf around her neck before rushing back to the window. “What’s going on?” she said as quietly as she could while still making her voice reach Vinyl.

“There are some ponies at the entrance to the dorm who won’t let anypony in or out. They must be from campus security or something. Anyway, I’m busting you out!” The unicorn grinned.

Octavia wondered if they were on the same page. “Um, why?”

“I have a present for you. It’s almost midnight, so we need to hurry!”

Midnight? What does midnight have to do–

She relaxed slightly. My birthday. Oh, my sweet Vinyl.

“What do you want me to do?” she asked, utterly convinced to go along with whatever insane scheme her DJ had planned.

“Well, uh, I kinda need you to jump out the window.”

Alright, maybe not utterly convinced. “Are you serious?!” She was having a hard time keeping her voice quiet now.

“I’ll catch you! It’s just, I can’t get you out the front door, and this is the quickest way.”

Sweet Celestia, she’s serious!

“This… I don’t know, Vinyl, this might be a bit too much. I appreciate that you have something planned… but I… I don’t…”

“Do you trust me?”

She looked down from the window at the little red eyes staring straight back up at her. Octavia bit her lip and swallowed nervously.

The damn dating guides didn’t mention jumping out of a window!

Her legs tensed.

“With everything.”

She leapt straight out the window and jammed her eyes shut, waiting for gravity to tear her down to the ground and break every bone in her… Huh? Gravity was taking an awfully long time.

She opened an eye one millimetre and found a red one right in front of it, twinkling with amusement. With a start, she realised she was already on the ground below the window, completely unharmed.

“Come on, babe. Do you really think I’d ask you to do something like that if there was even the slightest chance it would go wrong?”

Octavia slipped her hooves around her lover’s neck and kissed her cheek. “How could you be sure?”

“I carried everything in my apartment across half of Manehattan the day I moved in, remember? Compared to that, you’re a feather.” Vinyl returned the hug happily.

Suddenly Octavia felt very silly. “Well… I forgot about that,” she admitted. “To be fair, you surprised me.”

“I surprise myself sometimes. Anyway, that’s not the only surprise of the night. Or at least I hope it will be a surprise. Although I guess it would make sense if it wasn’t.” Vinyl pulled away and scratched her chin thoughtfully. “Now I’m not sure what to hope for.”

“I’m hoping this surprise of yours ends with both of us in front of a large fire or under a million blankets.” The cellist shivered.

“Baby, for you, I’ll get both.”

“That’s a fire hazard.”

“There’s just no pleasing you, is there?” Vinyl pulled her under a hoof and led the way through the campus.

By the time they stepped out into the streets of Manehattan, they were practically doing the drunk-herder shuffle just to share body heat. Vinyl seemed to know exactly where they were heading, even if she refused to share it.

“It’ll ruin the surprise. Well, actually, it’s not really part of the surprise, it’s just the setting,” Vinyl explained.

“If it won’t ruin the surprise, then what’s the harm in telling me?”

“Because it’s part of the whole package. Like individual notes in a song.” The unicorn giggled inexplicably for a few minutes after that.

The trek continued past a couple of oddly festive poles that Vinyl refused to explain. “That’s for a different night. It’s a pretty interesting story though, trust me.”

Just as Octavia was beginning to really question her decision to leave her blanket behind, Vinyl nudged her out of the walking coma she’d self-induced.

“Hey, sweet-butt. We’re here.”

She looked up to see a gigantic white oak tree. Snow-covered grass surrounded it, and trees dotted the landscape. She rubbed at her eyes. “How did we get here?”

“We walked, remember? The uni student’s pastime. This is a park somewhere on the other side of the city. Pretty cool, huh?”

Octavia glanced around and grudgingly decided it was rather pretty. “Yes, it’s very nice, but couldn’t we have just caught a carriage here in the morning?”

“It took me a while to figure out what your gift would be. This is the place where I realised it, so I figured it would be the best place to give it to you.”

“Realised what?” she asked quietly, stepping closer to her DJ. Something serious was happening, of that much she was sure.

“I…” Vinyl looked down as if unable to meet her eyes. “I had this whole thing planned out in my head. A huge speech. I would’ve won awards for it.”

Octavia smiled. “You don’t have to do a speech just to give me a present, Vinyl.”

The unicorn shook her head. “The speech is the present. Well, what comes after is.” She chuckled softly. “But I realised as we were walking here that the gift says everything for me.” Vinyl moved closer to her fillyfriend. “It’s not expensive.”

“I don’t care,” whispered Octavia.

Vinyl inched towards her. “It’s not fancy.”

“Doesn’t matter.” She was utterly mesmerised now.

“It’s just words.”

“Your words.”

Vinyl looked her in the eyes, breath shaking. “Octavia… I love you.”

The cellist felt like her heart was going to burst. For some reason, her eyes were watering and her mouth was opening and closing. Vinyl leaned in close and nuzzled her.

“You don’t have to say it if you don’t want to,” the unicorn whispered.

Octavia regained control of her mouth. “Iloveyoutoonowkissmeyouidiot,” she blurted out, already moving to tackle her fillyfriend.

---

“What do you mean she’s not here?” the elegant mare made her extreme displeasure known.

The stallion in front of her swallowed in fear. “W-we checked the room, i-it was empty.”

He was just a middle-management lackey she had scooped up for the convenience. Many ponies thought that controlling the top echelon was all that was needed to control a company, or in this case a university. Such thinking was exceedingly limited. Having a few of the middle workers in her pocket was very useful for doing work on the ground. That kind of pony was used to seeing success in the ranks above him, but tired of never reaching them. It was never hard to tempt them to perform some after-work activities.

“Where could she have gone?” she demanded. The sound of her carriage speeding away became very noticeable. She told that damn driver to wait!

“I-I don’t know, maybe out to dinner?” he suggested, still sweating icicles.

“On a night like this? After midnight?”

“Well… uh…”

“Go and call me another carriage. Tell the others to move from the dormitory entrance to here, at the campus entrance. Let me know when she gets back and who’s with her. I will not tolerate any more surprises.”

---

“It was surprising, Vinyl, honest!” Octavia giggled as they strolled down a street.

“Really? Are you sure? ‘Cause I wondered if you were expecting me to say it or something.”

“I was surprised. Trust me. It was the best start to any birthday I’ve ever had. Does that make you feel better?”

Vinyl skipped along beside her, wearing the same smile she’d had since they left the park. “Yup!”

“Oh Celestia, we have to walk all the way back now, don’t we?” The cellist could feel her muscles aching just at the thought of such a journey.

Her fillyfriend snorted. “Screw that, let’s just crash at Bonbon’s place.”

“Are you sure they won’t mind?”

“Hey, we’re all buddy-buddy friend-friends now aren’t we? They’ll be fine.”

Not for the first time, Octavia wished she shared her lover’s optimism. “If you say so.”

Vinyl led the way once more, displaying an inexplicably accurate sense of direction as she brought them to a huge dark store within twenty minutes. The festive poles increased in number as they neared it, and Octavia found herself wishing for better lighting so she could get a good look at the shop. Even at night, it looked rather impressive on the outside.

The DJ knocked on the door loudly before cursing and muttering something about ‘stupid magic’. She took a step back and launched a stone from the curb straight up and into the chimney on the roof. Octavia watched with fascination as Vinyl made a bunch of silly faces while concentrating. Eventually, a window on the second floor opened and a very tired-looking Bonbon poked her head out.

“Whoever is down there making a rock fly around my room knocking stuff over, go away or I’ll call the guards!”

“Hi Bonbon!” Vinyl greeted her cheerfully.

The cream mare’s eyes widened as she woke up a little more. “Vinyl? What are you doing here this late? Oh, and hello Octavia.” The cellist gave her an ‘I’m sorry about this’ smile.

“We had a late night and kiiiiiinda need a place to crash since uni is so far away.” Vinyl put on her most winning smile.

Bonbon rolled her eyes and disappeared from view, closing the window behind her.

Octavia sighed irritably. Lack of sleep didn’t treat her well. “Well done, Vinyl.”

“Hey, I thought she’d let us in. Hang on, let me find another rock.” Before she could even turn around, the main double doors of the shop opened to admit them.

Bonbon yawned as she waved them in. “Come on, come on, you’re letting the heat out.”

As they passed her, Octavia gave the mare a quick hug. “Thank you for this. I hope it’s not too much of a problem.”

The shop owner closed and locked the doors again. “Don’t worry about it, I can sleep when I’m dead...” she paused, then muttered, “from lack of sleep.”

There were some dark cases and things in the darkness on the ground floor, and as curious as she was, Octavia decided now wasn’t the time. Bonbon led the way upstairs and into a dimly-lit living area.

Yawning once more, the tired mare gestured at two couches. “Bunk one and two. Kitchen is there, bathroom is somewhere else, I’m going back to bed.”

Octavia couldn’t blame her for the abrupt exit. She was feeling the call of the couch pretty strongly as well, and apparently so was Vinyl, who had already collapsed on one of them. She would have preferred to spend such an important night in the same bed, but it’s not like either of them was coherent enough to say much of importance anyway.

She settled down on the comfy, sweet-smelling couch and let her breathing slow.

From the darkness, Vinyl’s voice mumbled, “Love you, sleep tight.”

Octavia closed her eyes and smiled. “Love you too.”