Epilogue
Vinyl fumbled with her keys as she tried picking out the one that would open her door, the jingling easy to hear in the empty echoing corridor. Before she could insert the metal device, the door opened, almost causing Vinyl to fall inwards onto the occupant of the room. Instead, Vinyl was greeted with Octavia's smiling face.
"Right. I forgot you were here." Vinyl said, as Octavia pulled her in.
"Your memory is like a sieve, Vinyl. How was your show?"
"Pretty cool... now that we actually have a manager that's worth a damn we're getting better ratings. Imagine that."
Octavia briefly froze before resuming the conversation.
"Also when you don't spend all your bits on salt, you can invest more in the radio."
"I really like the new guy. He's... nice, I guess."
Octavia pouted.
"Do I have to deal with competition, now?" she asked. Vinyl grinned, leaning in to her marefriend.
"Never." she said, kissing her.
The room had been accommodated to fit another pony inside: some of the stuff had been taken down to storage to make space for some of Octavia's clothes and cello... an item Octavia would often play for Vinyl late in the evening. As much as the DJ loved her own brand of music and showing it to Octavia, she also loved the face on Octavia's face as she played even more. Octavia, on her side, was beginning to warm to Vinyl's own remixes. She found it strange to consider her old tastes in music somewhat shallow compared to Vinyl's. Then again, there was a lot she could have improved back then.
Their kiss lasted a long time: both mares enjoyed drawing it out as they basked in the solitude.
Octavia smiled as she pulled away: these past weeks had been like living in paradise: she had Vinyl for a wonderful marefriend, her workplace had gotten so much better, both business wise and as a place to be and work... the streets were brighter and Shining Armour's new regime of tolerance, assisted by none other than the Princess of the night herself, had made their neighbourhood much safer. Vinyl had joked that she wouldn't need the baseball bat for much longer. Octavia half agreed.
"Did you get some sleep? You're hardly getting a lot of shut-eye, 'Tavi." Vinyl asked.
Ah yes, the nightmares. Vinyl found them alarming beyond belief: almost every night, without fail, Octavia would wake up, screaming and crying for help. It had only gotten worse, and Vinyl was considering asking for professional help, but Octavia wouldn't have any of it: she insisted that so long as she was with Vinyl, she'd be fine.
"Yes, I took a quick nap before you got in... it was nice."
A lie: Vinyl knew that Octavia would never sleep on her own, not to mention there was no sign of having just woken up in her eyes: no croaky voice, no bleary eyes, no nothing.
"...'Tavi..."
"Vinyl, I'm sorry I can't sleep... I really am. But I'm fine... they're just a few bad dreams."
They're bodies were close, and Octavia's eyes were pleading Vinyl to stop questioning her.
"What are they about?" Vinyl persisted cruelly. Octavia swallowed.
"They're about... they're about you."
Vinyl stroked Octavia.
"I'm not leaving."
"I-I know."
"Well, can you tell me what's wrong then?"
Octavia didn't reply. Vinyl kept on staring into Octavia's shifting face, desperate to figure out what was tormenting her, what had been tormenting her for quite some time now.
Octavia's eyes darted to the side. What could she tell Vinyl? What would make sense? That she had been a wild filly years ago, and that she had learned how to do things like scale walls, and force windows open from the outside? That she had learned how to forge signatures to get away from domineering parents, and could copy other ponies hoofwriting perfectly? That she made a point of listening at open windows to hear what the police were saying as they left an apartment?
How could she tell Vinyl that she had once inherited a dagger from her uncle, and had only ever used it once? How could she tell anypony that, one day, she had brought the dagger with her to work, hoping to scare off a terrifying and aggressive employer?
That she had used the blade against him, and then, in a fit of panic, framed the only other pony likely to have done the deed?
There was no way to tell Vinyl that. Even though she had changed her mind and desperately tried shifting the evidence on another, crueller culprit, there was no way she could expect Vinyl to continue loving her, or for the authorities to not find out.
"I... I dream of me hurting you, Vinyl. And it scares me."
Vinyl held her close, doing her best to dispel the fear in Octavia. It didn't seem to work in the same way Octavia had managed it before: instead Octavia looked more alone than ever.
"I'm not afraid of you, 'Tavi. I never, ever will be. Okay?"
Octavia sometimes wished Vinyl was. All she does now is let herself be held by her, and prepare herself for tonight's nightmares.
The end
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- HapHazred · 12k words · 44 3 · 870 views
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Godamnit Yankee.
Assassin Octavia?
5343091 I hope the end was at least a little surprising.
WUT
That. Was. Twisting!
5435637 I sell twists and
accessories
I think the subplot about the Chief being corrupt could have been handled a bit better. Shining, Private Eye, and Red Tape seem to jump from "This guy claims he's pals with our boss," to "Holy carp, our boss is totally corrupt," a little too quickly.
I like that big twist at the end. I sorta saw it coming, in that when the cops found the bloody knife and blackmail letter, I thought "That's a little too convenient. I wonder if someone framed Sodium?" But the identity of the real murderer still took me by surprise.
Great twist - I didn't saw it coming. (Maybe it could be tagged Thriller/Mystery?)
7938409 It probably should. It came out before those tags were available: I'll fix that right away.
7938436 Really looking forward to see more mystery stories from you (I wonder one with Derpy as a Columbo-like detective
)
7938472 There's been a mystery story I've had bouncing around my head for well over a year now, but I've never been able to make it work.
That said, if ever I do write another, I'll have had a lot of time to think about it.