“It’s called a coma. Well, that’s what we’re calling it,” Warmgaze explained. Vinyl’s eyes darted over to Octavia, who was deep in her slumber in the hospital bed. The IV tubes were working hard, and the monitor beeped rhythmically. Warmgaze stayed silent for a few minutes, scuffing at the ground and biting her lip. “The liver poisoning is what we think did it. We need to keep an eye on her for a little while, make sure her liver will recover. Just... be careful with her, alright?”
It took a few seconds for Vinyl to find her voice, and when she did, it was weak and meager. “Alright.”
Warmgaze placed a hoof on her shoulder, locking eyes with the crestfallen Vinyl. “I know how much this hurts. I really do. But I can make you one promise, at least. I promise that we’ll get her back to you.”
Slowly, Vinyl nodded, looking back to her still, silent, deathly marefriend. “Hey doc, is it true that ponies can hear while they’re all... y’know, like that?” she asked, pointing a hoof to Octavia.
Warmgaze rubbed her chin for a moment. “Yes, at least, from what I’m told. Why?”
“I was just wondering...”
There was a silence shared between them.
“Hey,” the doctor said, placing a hoof beneath Vinyl’s fallen chin and locking their gazes. “This isn’t your fault.”
“Actually...” Vinyl sighed and let her head fall again. A small sniffle killed the new silence.
Warmgaze gave her a light hug. “I need to go. If you need anything, you tell me, I’ll see what I can do, alright?”
Vinyl gave a muffled thank you, and the doctor left it at that, quietly shutting the door behind her as she departed. Turning around, Vinyl wiped her eyes, clearing them of their blur. She sauntered up to Octavia, and, after taking a brief look around the dark, quiet room, took a grey hoof in her own, stroking it gently.
So, she could hear? Could she feel? Vinyl found herself wondering just how a coma felt. Was it painful? Or cold? As her hoof ran down Octavia’s foreleg, she nodded. It had to be cold; Octavia was freezing. She brought the hoof to her lips and gave it a light huff, rubbing in the warmth.
What was there to do now, other than wait? As a long sigh passed her lips, she let her gaze wander again. Bland walls, bland sheets, bland pictures... wait, what was that in the corner? She squinted, leaning forward. There, by the window, was a small, old phonograph. It was unsuspecting, packed like a briefcase. The only oddity about it was the broken stand that protruded from it’s cracked opening.
Being a music mare herself, Vinyl’s mind began to wander. Tenderly setting Octavia’s hoof down, being sure to cover it with the sheets for warmths sake, she stood and headed for the case. It opened with ease, only a loud creak from its hinges proclaiming its age. With care she flicked the needle. It still swung.
A button on the side read On/Off. Pressing it, she watched the machine begin to spin, recordless. It worked, and that was impressive part. After a quick glance over her shoulder, Vinyl came to a decision. She let her marefriend end up in that bed, she’d keep her occupied while she’s there. And where better to find boring, classical music than Octavia’s Canterlot home?
It was settled. Vinyl was going to suffer with Octavia, by risking a falling into a boredom induced coma of her own. Smiling, she turned and head for the door, taking a moment to promise her return to Octavia. Then, she trotted out of the hospital, humming softly.
~Sonata~
“I admit, I’m cheesey when I fall for somepony,” Vinyl said with a huff, rubbing her neck. “Don’t worry though, my story’s almost done.”
“No no, don’t apologize,” Starlight said, flashing her a smile. “It’s interesting, really. I’m still curious, though. How did you go from, well, where you were, to being here?”
Vinyl looked up to him from her hunched posture. “What does that mean?”
“Well, no offense intended, but you were respectable, at the top of your game, and devoted to your mare. Now you’re a drunk who can’t own up to her mistakes,” he explained, staring up at Lyra, who occasionally passed them a glance. Vinyl sighed, eyes downcast and face crestfallen.
Starlight placed a hoof on her back. “I’m... sorry if I offended you.”
“No, it’s the truth,” Vinyl said with a half hearted shrug. “I was gonna jump off the ship today anyways.”
“Well then, I’d say it’s a good thing we captured you!” Starlight said with a contagious chuckle.
A slight smile on her face, Vinyl sat back up, arching her back and stretching. “I guess so. But, um... you mind if we go get a drink or something? I-I mean, just something light. I could go for a glass of...”
Starlight eyed her over with an arched eyebrow.
“A glass of wine actually sounds good,” she eventually said. A smile returned to Starlight’s face.
“I think that can be arranged.”
~~~
Bonbon had spent the night with Octavia. Today, they were supposed to head out and search for Lyra, but with the storm rocking the ship, they decided--Bonbon decided, for the sake of Octavia--that, after breakfast, they return to the, at least until lunch.
And that did well for them both, it seemed. Rain pounded against the deck doors as the sea stirred and shook beneath the boat. Bonbon ran a hoof down Octavia’s back as the cellist leaned on her, sighing softly.
“That was one heck of a story,” she said. Octavia looked up at her, then back to the windows and the rain. Silence reclaimed the room, cut only by the dull thuds of the pounding storm.
Eventually, Octavia took a deep breath, letting it out in a light sigh and saying, “We should go find Lyra. Who know’s what kind of trouble she’s gotten into?”
Bonbon was about to respond, when a knock at the door set her heart aflutter. Both she and Octavia jerked to their hooves. Shakily, they trotted through their swaying cabin to the door. On the other side was a tall blue mare, they found, in a blue uniform. She cleared her throat and looked to them with vibrant green eyes.
“Are you... Octavia?” she asked, as if lost in thought.
Octavia stepped forward and nodded. “Yes, that’s me.”
“Ah, yes. Your ticket is tied to one Vinyl Scratch, correct?”
The mention of her name sent a burst of adrenaline through Octavia’s spine. She frowned, but nodded. “What has she done now?”
The mare chewed on her lip for a moment. “Yesterday she was taken to the brig for drunken disorderly conduct. She was in tears, babbling something about you. Being tied to her ticket, we’re supposed to let you know.”
Octavia cursed and stomped her hoof down, her face turning visibly red. Bonbon was quick to act, gently pushing her back and stepping forward. “Where is she now?”
“I don’t know. The captain removed her personally, and right now, I’m unaware of their whereabouts. But, um, Miss Octavia?” Octavia peered over Bonbon’s rump, scowling at the security mare. She only sighed. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen somepony as distraught as Vinyl. Just wanted to let you know.”
With that, she took her leave, trotting down the silent hallway and disappearing behind the bend. Bonbon glanced over her shoulder, only to see Octavia trotting to the deck windows, silent, staring.
~~~
Vinyl sipped idly on a tall glass of burgundy liquid. The simple act made it surprisingly easy for her muscles to relax. She breathed out a content sigh, closing her eyes and letting the music drift through her ears. Lyra’s tune was significantly more... somber, now. Slow, simple, low. Vinyl wondered if she had been eavesdropping on her while she spilled her problems.
Starlight took a sip of his own wine, his eyes flicking back and forth between the two silent musicians he had in his company. “So, Miss Vinyl, you were saying?”
“Oh yeah.” She finished off her wine and set the glass down on the floor. “When I came back, I couldn’t get into the room. I remember shouting, screaming that I would go back there. Eh, it didn’t work, but hey, it was worth a shot.”
“Well what happened?” he asked, a caution in his tone.
Vinyl sighed. “The doctors had to operate on her. Plain and simple. I got to see her about three days later, and...”
~Sonata~
A hoof traced the long scar along Octavia’s belly. Vinyl was sure it was sensitive, and she hoped it didn’t hurt her marefriend. In fact, she was stroking it in an attempt to make things better. Warmgaze’s words were still fresh on her mind, the psuedo warning she had given just before Vinyl was allowed in echoing in her ears.
I’m supposed to tell you not to touch her, but that never helps. A tip? Light pressure does wonders to dull pain. Now I’ll be leaving, but before I go... what’s in the box?
Vinyl’s eyes wandered to the ragged white box that sat beside the corner, beside the old phonogram. Sunlight skittered through the curtains, casting warm rays of sun over the box. After planting a kiss on Octavia’s cheek, Vinyl pushed herself away from the bed. The box and phonogram hovered, surrounded by a glowing aura, and floated to Octavia’s bedside.
The setup was quick. She cracked the top open, holding it up with a hoof as she threw off the lid of the box. Her magic came to use again, shifting through lines upon lines of files, until she gave up and yanked out a manila sleeve. In it was a large, black record, on which she had no idea what song it would be. She quickly slid it into the phonogram’s holder, set the needle on a random track, and pushed the button.
And nothing happened.
Vinyl stared at the machine, a frown on her face. She smacked it once. Twice. Thrice. The disc did not revolve, and the speaker was silent. A sneer on her face, she kicked it aside, grunting and turning back to Octavia.
Taking her hoof, she paused, staring at the calm, grey face of her marefriend that rested on the fluffy pillow. It was calm, and a smile came to Vinyl. At least she could take solace in the fact that Octavia was probably comfortable. “Hey,” she said.
It felt silly, talking to somepony that couldn’t talk back. But if she could hear, Vinyl would talk. “You know, when you wake up, you owe me,” she said with a light giggle. “I’m stressing so much, I haven’t slept at least a day. And look at you, sleeping all day, every day. I don’t ever want to hear about oversleeping again.”
There was no response. It made sense, ponies don’t talk when they’re unconscious. Vinyl sighed and rested her head on the bed, listening to the heart monitor proclaim that Octavia was, in fact, alive.
That only lasted about an hour, before the beep began to echo in her skull. Each beep made her frown, deeper and deeper, until she felt her hooves heading for the electrodes from Octavia’s chest. She groaned and stood heading back to the phonogram, beating on it.
Hollow thuds bounced through the room as her hooves slammed down on this thing.
And to her surprise, the disc began to spin. There was static at first, but it was enough to light up her face with a smile. A girlish giggle escaped her lips, which she quickly stifled with a hoof. It worked. And now that infernal beep would stop, and Octavia would finally have something to listen to.
As the needle tried to find its first track, Vinyl, with a smile on her lips, took Octavia’s hoof one last time. “Hey, you hear me? I’m gonna make you a promise, no, a deal. You come back to me, come home, then I’ll drop the booze. I’ll drop it completely. You hear me? That’s our deal. Because...” She took in a deep breath, holding it, listening, waiting. Octavia’s slow, rhythmic breaths stopped, and the monitor sped up, beeping quickly.
Then, Octavia coughed. “You promise?”
There was a stiff silence. Vinyl’s eyes grew wide, and she froze. Not even a breath could enter her lungs. A tear formed in her eye, rolling down her cheek and dripping to the floor.
It was then the record began to play. And when it did, it played the Moonlight Sonata.
“I promise.”
~Sonata~
“Well that’s absolutely heartfelt,” Starlight said, reclining in his chair.
Vinyl felt a tear roll down her cheek, but she quickly swatted it away. The music that had once filled the hall had died, Lyra wordlessly sauntering offstage, her head heavy on her shoulders.
“Then what happened? I still don’t see how you got here from there,” he said rubbing his chin. “In fact, I daresay I’m more confused.”
Vinyl sank low, lower than she had before. “I, uh... I started drinking. But wouldn’t you!” she snapped, pointing a hoof.
Starlight raised his hooves and gave her a smile. “I don’t blame you. I can’t say I agree with you, but I don’t blame you. But now that that’s all out...”
Vinyl snorted and turned away, hiding her face in her mane. Starlight caught another tear rolling down her cheek, leaving a trail of matted fur in its wake. He sighed and rubbed his neck, looking down.
“Listen, we’ve burnt through the day, you and I. And that leaves you two days on this cruise.” He eyed her over. “Now you listen to me, and listen closely. If you let Octavia get off this ship, if you let your friends walk away as they are now, you’ll never get them back. Never.”
Vinyl looked up to him with watery ruby eyes. “Well what am I supposed to do? Lyra blames me, Octavia hates me, and Bonbon’s just gonna side with them...”
“I’ll admit, I don’t know what I would do,” Starlight said, leaning back and tilting his head up. “But... every captain has a trick up his sleeve, and he may or may not know it at the time. When we started on this cruise, I had a friend aboard. I won’t say much about him, but I’d recommend you meet with him. Listen, tomorrow at noon, I’ll have him be on the bow, lounging by the pool. You... may want to meet him. Now, ah, I must be headed back to the bridge. I’m honestly surprised that we’ve stayed afloat this long.”
He stood and straightened his captain’s cap, before helping Vinyl out of her chair. She smiled to him, despite the tears in her eyes. “I’d say you feel like the ship does right now,” he said. “Rocky, unstable, pounded by something out of your control. But this ship’ll get out of the storm, you’ll see.”
With a wink, he trotted away, up the ramps and out of the concert hall altogether. Vinyl was alone now. For now.
“Tomorrow, bow deck, pool lounge,” she repeated. Who was this stallion? She frowned at being left in the dark. But the captain was right; she had two days to fix this, and if she didn’t, then Octavia would be gone forever, and she might as well have jumped today.