Vinyl & Octavia: University Days

Chapter 4

"You know, I've never been to this cinema before," remarked Octavia.

The lobby was large, but still held the atmosphere of a small business: cosy and warm, lacking the cold commercialism of most theatre chains. It was a delightful discovery, and she couldn't be happier about it.

"Duh, this is affordable," giggled the DJ, floating two boxes of popcorn above them.

The cellist shoved her playfully. "You know I was joking when I said you have to pay, right? It's only fair that I take care of the tickets since you got the food."

For a moment, Vinyl felt the urge to insist on paying for her friend, until a mint-green unicorn's comment from their last tutorial swam to the forefront of her mind. "Sure, I guess that makes sense," she replied, feeling somewhat cheap.

Octavia just smiled and trotted up to the counter. "Two tickets to... um, Vinyl, what are we seeing?"

"Oh." The unicorn quickly glanced up at the displayed titles. "Flanksplosions Three." Her answer was greeted with a flat stare. "What? It's directed by Cleveland Bay! He's always good for a laugh."

Sighing, the grey mare turned back to the bored-looking cashier. "Two tickets to... that, please."

Now armed with a couple of little pieces of paper, the pair made their way past the ticket-checker and into a short, dark hallway. After emerging into the decently-sized theatre, they quickly climbed the stairs and claimed two seats in the middle of a back row.

Since there were barely any other ponies nearby, Octavia took the opportunity to pose a few simple queries to her popcorn-guzzling friend. "Flanksplosions? Really?"

Vinyl coughed a piece of popped corn forward a few rows and painfully swallowed the rest so she could answer. "Ow. You got something against exploding flanks?"

"I have something against bad movies."

"You haven't even seen it yet! Don't judge a book by its... flank...?"

The cellist giggled at that and delicately ate a single piece of her own popcorn. "That sentence trailed off a bit at the end."

"Yeah, it got away from me. Anyway, don't judge it till you watch it."

"It's hard not to judge when it has a name like that."

Vinyl closed her eyes and rubbed her temples. "Open your mind, little one."

"I'm only a couple of months younger than you!"

"Shh, the movie's starting."

And so began a hundred and fifty-four minutes of violence and improper camera angles.

In the midst of a particularly loud action scene, as unicorns riding pegasus ponies raked the ground with spellfire and a giant robotic Luna tried to buck Canterlot off its mountain perch, Octavia glanced at her company. The reflection played over her blue hair, making the light streaks glow and enriching dark strands with deep colour. Her eyes were still hidden behind purple glasses, but it was easy to tell that they were wide open, eagerly absorbing the sensorial bombardment.

A thunder-crack made the cellist jump, and a look towards the screen revealed that the monstrous Princess of the Night had erupted into a mess of scrap metal and fire. The dirt-and-grime splattered soldiers cheered triumphantly, and Vinyl punched the air with one hoof as the other shoved more popcorn into her mouth.

The grey pony couldn't help but giggle at the DJ's enthusiasm. Vinyl noticed and tossed her a grin, thinking she was enjoying the movie just as much. "I told you it'd be a laugh!" she said, leaning closer to be heard.