Tuesday, March 8, 2016

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Today's Horoscope (Virgo): You are no more important than anybody else. Your life has no more meaning than a butterfly's, and when it's over, the world won't even care.

After School

I'm on my way to Music Club when Vinyl and Octavia intercept me.

"Hey, Flash-man," Vinyl says. "I, uhh...I wanna talk to you. Mind bailin' on music club, goin' somewhere with me an' Tavi?"

I nod. "Sure. What's up?"

"I'll tell you when we get there," Vinyl says.

We end up at Vinyl's house. Vinyl's car is parked out front, covered with a tarp Vinyl must have picked out back when she could still see.

"What's gonna happen to your car?" I ask as we walk up the front walk.

Vinyl sighs. "That...depends on what goes down tonight," she says.

Octavia takes Vinyl's keys and unlocks the front door, then turns on the lights inside. The three of us head inside; Vinyl makes it to the living room sofa on her own with minimal effort, and Octavia goes to the kitchen to get us all something to drink.

Once we're all seated, Vinyl leans back on the sofa. "I...wanted to thank you," she says. "You've really done a lot for me this year...drivin' me around, helpin' me get together with Tavi..." She squeezes Octavia's hand. "Bein' there for me the day I..."

"You don't need to thank me," I say. "I was happy to help. You're one of the coolest people I know, and...and what happened to you blows."

"Yeah, it does, but..." Vinyl shrugs. "I'll deal. We'll deal." She sips her drink, then reaches onto the table behind the sofa, fumbling around. With minimal assistance from Octavia, she picks up a pair of seafoam green headphones—the same ones she was wearing when we first met. Now that I think about it, I haven't seen her wearing them much lately...

"I want you to have my lucky phones," Vinyl says. Octavia takes them from her and hands them to me. "I can't shut the world out anymore...and I don't really want to."

"Thank you," I say. "I'll take good care of them."

"You'd better," Vinyl says with a smirk. She stretches, then puts an arm around Octavia. "You know, if you hadn't helped me, I...I'd never have gotten up the nerve to talk to Tavi..." She swallows. "Tonight, we're gonna go to her place, and..."

"I'm introducing her to my mother," Octavia says. "Mother...doesn't know yet. That I...well..." She fidgets with her hands. "She doesn't know about Vinyl. It's been hard enough to convince her to...to ease up on me."

I wince.

"But it's time," Octavia says. "Vinyl is too important a part of my life now. Mother needs to respect that."

"You've helped both of us so much," Vinyl says. "I can't imagine what goin' through all this would be like if I hadn't met you...if you hadn't helped me." She gets up, with Octavia's help, makes her way over to me, runs her hands over my face, leans forward, and kisses me on the cheek. "Thank you," she whispers.

---

I decide to give the girls some privacy as I call a cab to take me back to the dorm.

Evening

After dinner, I spend the evening helping Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle with their homework while I do my own.

When I return to my room, I find Twilight and Sonata waiting there. "We should decide when to go to Zodiac for Sonata's first training session," Twilight says.

"We should probably wait until Sunday," I say. "We don't even have the upgrade to Fluttershy's app yet, and we'll need time to figure out how to work it."

Twilight nods. "You're right."

Fluttershy leans in. "Just letting you guys know, I'll be finished with the app tomorrow. I'll send it out through Canterbook." She retreats into the hall.

The girls go back to their own rooms, and I get ready for bed.