//------------------------------//
// Chapter 3 
// Story: Nevermore 
// by CinnamonSticks 
//------------------------------//

	"Owwww...," muttered Fluttershy. She rubbed her head with one foreleg and hovered in midair as she used the other to retrieve the projectile. It appeared to be a small, velvet covered box. Her curiosity getting the better of her, she popped open the lid. Out fell a thin piece of paper and a necklace-she had opened the box upside down. She let her wings come to a halt and dropped to the ground to inspect the necklace. It was beautiful, made from a simple cloth string and a stone pendant in the shape of a music note. Replacing the necklace in the box, she picked up the note. In swirling hoofwriting, it read;
My dearest Vinyl,
I cannot express my thanks for the friendship you have given me over the past few years. You have shown nothing but loyalty, kindness, and honesty to me over the course of our relationship, and I know you will continue to. I know I can always rely on you to be there for me, no matter what the case. No words exist for the level of love you have shown me, Vinyl. You are my everything.
Love,
Octavia.
Fluttershy let out a 'awww' before she realized that she had to return this to Octavia Melody RIGHT AWAY before she got worried. She yelped and attempted to fly like Rainbow did, but only succeeded with a speed a little slower than her walking. Sighing, she touched down and ran at a gallop to the arts side of Ponyville, where she figured the cellist lived. Upon reaching the street, which was still crawling with ponies, even at night, she scanned the faces of the river of artists flowing by her, trying to see someone who might know Octavia. A mare with a pen and ink cutie mark...no...a stallion with a guitar cutie mark...no...a filly toting an easel...no, no, no, no! Fluttershy collapsed to the ground in dismay. She was about to resort to knocking on doors when a mare with a vividly orange coat passed by talking to a stallion with a drumset for a cutie mark.
"-yeah, can you believe it? One of my clients played for Photo Finish's shows! At the Braided Bridle! And-" here she paused, having said the previous in one breath. "Now Vinyl's playing at the Silver Stable with Octavia Melody! The famous cellist herself!" Fluttershy jumped to her feet as if she had stuck a fork in the toaster. 
"Uh...Miss! Miss! Could you wait up for a second, please?" she said, galloping to catch up. The mare stopped and turned. 
"See you later, Drumstick," she said to the stallion, who slipped into an apartment. "What's up, kiddddddd-" She trailed off upon seeing Fluttershy's cutie mark. "Celestia! You're Kindness! Awesome!" she gasped. She sounded to Fluttershy like a distant relative of Rainbow Dash. 
"Uhmmm....d-d-do you know where I c-c-c-could find O-O-Octavia?" Fluttershy stuttered out. The orange mare scrunched her eyebrows together in the exact way Rainbow Dash did. 
"Hmmm...Go this way-" she pointed along a side street "-turn that way-" she jabbed her hoof right "and it's the first building. Townhouse 5," Fluttershy thanked her profusely and then sped away to a modern-looking segment of townhouses. One...two...three...four...eep! Five! She ran to the door and then tentatively knocked. A harried looking grey mare opened the door. She had to sweep her matted dark grey mane off her face before Fluttershy could confirm who she was.
"How can I-" she yawned- "help you?" 
"Uhm...Uhmm...," Fluttershy had spent so much time obsessing about getting to Octavia that she forgot to think about what she would say when she got there.
"I-I-I have something of yours. I-I-I think?" She pulled the box out of her saddlebags. It took Octavia a few seconds to realize what it was. Once the full realization hit her, she turned red.
"I," she swallowed a scream, "am going to kill Vinyl Scratch."