“Damn it let me in!!” Vinyl screamed loudly, the rain battering against her head as she thrashed against the brute of a security guard restraining her access to the symphony hall.
“Oh, no you don't” the gruff stallion retorted, holding the mare back.
“N-NO! NGHH...” The unicorn struggled, throwing all her weight to burst past him. “I GOTTA SEE HER… I…I… OCTAVIA~!” she yelled at the top of her lungs, most of the air being drained from her lungs due to struggling so hard. She collapsed exhausted from her screaming for ten minutes of yelling and crying. Now unable to tell whether tears or rain water was streaming down her face, she lay down on the hard cobblestones. She couldn't take it. The loss of her best friend felt like it was destroying her. Her mane hung in strands over her ruby eyes, as did her fur. Her glasses lay shattered to pieces a few streets behind her. The bruise along her left cheek was another mark she had received from the trip which resulted in her shades being broken in the first place. She lay on the ground and sobbed her heart out; which was what it actually felt like since she felt so distressed. She was sorry. She couldn't take the guilt. She wept loudly in the alley entrance, the low roof hanging s doing little to shelter her from the rain. The acidic scent was starting to drift to her nose as the rain pounded harder against the earth. It reminded her of all the walks she used to take at night when she didn't feel up to playing music. Music… her… vinyl burst into another fit of uncontrolled tears. She missed her already and it had only been ten minutes since Octavia had ended their friendship over a very heated phone-call. She blamed herself and rightly so she thought. She desperately wanted her back but now wasn't even sure if she deserved her friendship after the way she treated her.
Hours past, at least it felt like hours when the concert continued inside the building. It’s funny how fast the mind can work and how much one tends to think about when in a state of distress. At least this was the case for Vinyl, who had done nothing more than grieve over the cherished memories she spent with her best friend. Nothing and nopony compared to her. The way she laughed. The way she walked. Her sense of humour. Her talent… Their shared love for music…
***
A whirl of colour flew across her eyes as she struggled to her hooves, trying to regain her balance. Her head throbbed. Vinyl sat back on her haunches as she rubbed her head, feeling groggy and evidence of an oncoming migraine. Her mane was short and her shades were plain and black, simple but still contrasting sharply against her ivory white coat. Slowly, a shadow descended over her. Looking up she saw a gruff looking teenage colt, sporting a grey coat, with an equally grey short cut mane and tail along with a hoofball cutie mark.
“Well well… look what we have here” the teenager sneered and peered over her. “What’s with the shades Scratchy?” he smirked again, using his left fore-hoof to brush against his chest cockily.
Vinyl couldn't focus. Her head still ached from the fall. What was happening…? Her head spun, she looked up again at the smirking stallion.
“Boy you’re sure out of it” he sneered. “ I've always wondered why you even need glasses like that. I mean they're almost solid black!" Not like you can't see”. Vinyl winced as she remembered the stallion, Greymane. Or at least that was what all the jocks called him. Being captain of the hoofball team all the mares wanted him, all except Vinyl; which was a massive shunt to one’s cockiness when not everyone desired him. It was Vinyl’s dismissive attitude toward his stupid pick-up lines that always aggravated him, which often lead to experiences such as this.
“Hey! I'm talking to you!” the colt growled, his amber eyes almost flickering as a hoof struck the side of her head. She fell again as the lens over her left eye shattered. She looked back angrily glaring at him. The colt burst out laughing, sneering at her discomfort before noticing her eye. Vinyl gasped, noticing the same thing. “Ha!" 'Sup bloodshot?!” Greymane mocked, glaring directly back at her. Vinyl was used to it; at least she thought she was. She whimpered as the words stung even more than the blow to the head had done. Tears formed in her ruby eyes as she clambered to her hooves again, breaking into a gallop towards her dorm.
Vinyl slammed the door in fury, throwing her broken glasses against the wall with a loud crack and sinking herself down on the single bed near the dresser. She screamed into her pillow, the thick fabric muffling her cries and absorbing the tears that streamed from her eyes. She rolled over, looking through the tears in her eyes at the photo on her dresser. Her primary school graduation picture. She was just a filly, her mane actually quite long but still as vibrant as she smiled sweetly. Vinyl sobbed. She didn't have to hide her eyes then. Her thoughts rushed back to the bullies on her first day of high school. The constant abuse she just couldn't comprehend, the names, the insults, the beatings, the fights. She couldn't cope and had been suspended twice for beating a couple of mares within an inch of unconsciousness. Her parents were pretty surprised she actually made it into college. Not that she blamed them; on the contrary, Vinyl blamed her eyes. She resented them and she resented everypony that ever made fun of her.
“Stupid bucking eyes!” she screamed, picking up the framed photograph and punching it off the dresser, hearing the glass smash against the wall. “You said it would be better here!!” Vinyl sobbed louder, her eyes feeling sore from the amount of crying and turned over, forcing her eyes closed. Her chest rising and falling out of rhythm due to her irregular breathing; resonating her anger and distress.
A grey mare sat alone in her dorm, polishing the expertly crafted wood of her cello, humming orchestral pieces to herself as she went about her daily routine of maintaining her instrument. A loud bang followed by a smashing sound made her jump a little, her ears picking up curiously. Octavia set her cello down safely in its case before trotting slowly to her door and stepping out into the hallway. There were only two other students on this floor, the strange pink mare who was quite shy to anyone who walked by. Octavia heard that she and her twin sister were on a beauty course together during their time at college. The other was the white unicorn. She didn't really know much about her but had often tried her best at engaging the pony in some simple conversation; which often resulted in a glum ‘hello’. Octavia had always thought better than to push an issue with somepony who didn't want to be spoken to, so instead left her alone for the most part of her daily life. She slowly walked over the unicorn’s door and flicked her ears, trying to catch a small sound from the room beyond. Soft sniffles followed by muffled sobs drifted towards the door. Concerned, Octavia tapped the door lightly with a hoof, trying to get her attention, hoping she wouldn't be cross at being disturbed.
Vinyl tried her best to stop crying as she turned to look at the door.
“W... Who is it..?” Vinyl asked between heavy breaths as a result of her state. She tried her best to rub the tears away from her eyes and control her breathing.
“Uh hello… my name’s Octavia... I live next door; I heard some loud noises and such. I just wanted to ask if you’re okay.” Octavia explained nervously, not usually being the type to engage in social interaction, not to mention helping a pony she didn't even know.
“Y… Yeah. I'm fine” Vinyl muttered, turning back to her bed and laying down resting her head on the pillow she had just sobbed into. She had always been the one to avoid sensitive subjects and preferred to not talk about her insecurities. As a consequence, Vinyl often kept herself to herself. Amidst her daydreaming the white mare didn't notice her new company edging to the smashed glass scattered around her bedroom floor. Octavia navigated her hooves around the glass carefully before spotting the upside down photo on the floor. She immediately recognised the filly as the mare near her before staring fixedly at it. Vinyl noticed it too; panic filled her mind along with all of the raging anger from her previous encounter with the bully. Vinyl shook her head, trying her best to contain her anger. The fact that Octavia wasn't saying anything only served to make Vinyl feel worse. It was how it always started, they didn't say anything. At first they never did. Then they always started laughing. Vinyl winced. She didn't want any more aggravation than she had already received. She couldn't take it.
The grey mare, also not completely lacking in the sense of what being alone feels like, stared awkwardly at the floor, not really knowing what to say to cheer somepony else up. Then again, she had ever had a friend to do so. Bullying had affected her life deeply as well, and now that she stared down at the photograph amidst the shattered frame, she could see all to well the fake smile that one would wear for the sake of looking being like everypony else. Even for just that one moment. Her own afflictions stung her memories but she couldn't feel like that now, not with the mare benaeth her. Just at that moment, staring down at her, meeting her gaze, she realized she had been holding her breath.
Those eyes... They're so...red... Almost like rubies.. they're so- Her train of thought was immediately lost when the white mare snapped again.
"Just get it over with!" Vinyl sobbed at her, her voice breaking in sorrow and partial fear of being ridiculed any longer.
"I-I'm sorry..?" Octavia replied, stammering and taken aback by her loud aggresive tone.
"I said. Get it over with!... Just say what you wanna say and get the buck out of my room! Everypony else does, why wouldn't you want a chance to get in on all the fun!?" Vinyl barks at her, immediately turning back to her pillow to suppress another sob of dismay. No more. Please. No more. her mind screams at her, dreading the onslaught of insults coming her way.
But Octavia said nothing. She just stood there. Why is she just standing there? Vinyl waits for what seems like an eternity before turning back, her eyes still welled with tears as she stares up at her.
"I...I.. I'm not here to be mean to you.." Octavia replied, still entranced by her captivating eyes So red....
"Then what the heck do you want?" Vinyl stammers between sharp breaths as a result of seizing her vocalized sobbing.
Octavia is still taken aback, trying to form the right words to at least bestow some kind of comfort onto this poor pony whilst still being mindful of the glass beneath her hooves. "I... want to make sure you're okay... I was taught that I'm to help ponies... so..." She trails off, in hope that the mare would form the meaning behind her sentence.
Vinyl soon caught on, sniffling and expelling a sigh of trying to calm herself down before she met her gaze again. She didn't know how to process this, having perceived all acts of kindness in her life to be a ruse in order to gain trust that was soon found to be misplaced in ponies whom she thought were her friends. It was the same story every time, and Vinyl had no hope for that to change.
"Thanks I guess" Vinyl replied somewhat dejectedly, despite how nice this new mare seemed to be.
Octavia sighed, not out of annoyance, but of understanding for the pain this mare was going through. Instead of deciding to leave her there on her own, she took up the photo in her hoof and retrieved a pen from the remnants of books on the floor and began to write on the back of the picture.
"wait. what're you?-" Vinyl barely got two words in before Octavia handed her the photo, the reverse side sporting 11 digits.
"I'm next door if you want to visit but if not, there's my number" Octavia smiled as reassuringly as she could and left the room.
A few more tears struck the paper before Vinyl glanced up at the doorway "Thanks... I'm Vinyl..." she manages to whisper before setting the photo aside and rolling over.