> A World I Wasn't Meant For
>  by Abstract Spectrum
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Chapter 1: Inquiry
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"And now, fillies and gentlecolts, put your hooves together for the amazing, the one, the only, OCTAVIA!" The announcer yelled, his voice bouncing off the walls of the large concert room. Clapping ponies spread standing all across the floor looked up at the stage as Octavia took her place on it. They silenced their cheers as Octavia setup her cello and lifted her bow. Taking a deep breath, she began the motion of sliding her bow across her cello's strings.

BZZZ. BZZZ. BZZZ. BZZZ.

"Huh?" Octavia said, confused.  She looked at her bow, then her cello. Noticing nothing out-of-the-norm of both of them. She began to play again.

BZZZ. BZZZ. BZZZ. BZZZ.

It was then at the 2nd sound off of her alarm clock that she emerged from her slumber. The grey pony grumbled, yanking the covers over her head, attempting to drown out the sound of the alarm.

BZZZ. BZZZ. BZZZ. BZZZ.

She groaned again, and slammed her hoof down on the off button.

The grey mare stood up on the side of her bed in a drunken morning haze, rubbing sleep out of her eyes and yawning. She leisurely slithered out of bed and made her way over to the window to open the curtains. With the flash of the sun in her eyes, she quickly shielded them, making a loud grunting noise as the sun's rays welcomed her to a new morning.

"Tavi! Are you awake up there?" shouted Vinyl who was downstairs. Octavia said nothing. She then walked downstairs from her shared bedroom with Vinyl towards the kitchen. Octavia squinted her tired eyes when entering under the kitchen lights. She opened her eyes completely when her vision was used to the light, and yawned. The grey mare then approached Vinyl to see what she was cooking. Her sudden appearance in Vinyl's blind spot made her jump.

"Oh, you are up! It would've been nice if you woulda said somethin!" The white mare insisted.

Octavia only groaned once more, sat down at the breakfast table and laid her chin down on it.

"Somethin' wrong, Tavi? You seem a bit off."

"Ugh... It's nothing, Vinyl. Just one of those mornings." she complained. 

"Well then you just sit tight there, sweetie. My pancakes can lift anypony out of their morning daze!" Vinyl boasted, pumping her hoof excitedly.

Octavia only smiled back at her, as she awaited her breakfast.

A few minutes later, Vinyl sat down at the breakfast table with Octavia and their breakfast. As Vinyl ate, she smacked her lips, and studied the sunrise outside. Octavia sighed. She stretched with another yawn, and began eating. 

"So, what'dya dream about last night? Anything fun?" Vinyl asked as she studied Octavia, who was shifting pieces of pancake around her plate with one hoof while the other provided a stand for her head.

"Well... not exactly. I only dreamed of being the only mare in a large performance. Just me and my cello, being watched by thousands of other ponies who'd come to see me." The tired grey mare said with a sigh.

"Oh." Vinyl smacked her lips again. "I was just dreamin' about... huh..." Vinyl pondered, placing a hoof on her chin and looking up at the ceiling. "You know... I can't remember now. Heh, I hate it when I can't remember dreams. How do you always seem to remember yours?" 

"Well uh... it wasn't very long. And uh... I couldn't stop thinking about it, either." Octavia said, eating more of her breakfast.

"Ah, okay."

With that, the room was quiet for several minutes. Only the sound of forks hitting plates were heard for some time. Eventually, after about ten minutes, Vinyl broke the silence.

"Hey Tavi?"

"Hm?"

"Why do you always seem to dream about being in some big symphony thing or something? Aren't you already in a lot of those?"

"Yes but... at our last show, very few ponies actually came to see us. The one before that had at least one-hundred, but this one had... about forty; maybe." Octavia's voice became a whisper at the last few words, as she looked shamefully down at her plate.

"Wow. That sucks." Vinyl burped. "Huh, 'scuse me." she finished.

Octavia giggled, handing her plate to Vinyl as she placed it and her own by the sink. Octavia stretched again for the last time that morning. She stood up out of her chair and grabbed her small brown fedora from the coat rack near the door.

"I'm going out for a walk, Vinyl."

"Ooh, can I come with?"

"Well uh... sure. Turn the kitchen light off, would you?" Octavia asked.

Vinyl did as instructed and walked out of the house after her grey marefriend, closing the door behind herself. Vinyl trotted quickly over to Octavia's side as she had already gotten a head start in front of her when they left. 

"So Octavia, I actually wanted to come with you because I wanted to talk to you about how you've been feeling lately."

"Vinyl, I told you, I've just been having a bad morning."

"Yeah, that's what you said yesterday morning, too. And the morning before that, and the morning before that, and the morning before that, and the-"

"Okay Vinyl, I get it! But... I think it's too personal to go into."

"Oh, please!" Vinyl said sarcastically. "If my favorite gal ain't feelin' good, I wanna know what's up, I don't care how personal it is!"

"Vinyl, please!"

"C'mon, Tavi! You can talk to me! I'm your best friend! I'm your marefriend!" 

"I said no!"

"Tavi, don't make me do this..."

"Do what?"

Octavia's angry and upset attitude was tranquilized when Vinyl gingerly and passionately touched lips with her grey marefriend. At first Octavia was surprised that Vinyl would do such a thing out in public, but eventually she closed her eyes and gave into the kiss. Suddenly pushing Vinyl and her seductive look away, Octavia sighed and looked towards the ground as she began to slowly walk again.

"Alright... fine. I know this may sound sappy but... here goes. The dreams I've been having lately, like you said they all have to do with me being the most famous cello player in Equestria. But when I wake up from those dreams I feel... lighter. Like something that meant something to me just... went away. And I feel that way because of..."

"Because of what?" Vinyl asked.

"Because of my parents."

"What do they have to do with this? Did they discourage you when you were young?"

"No, and that's just it! Growing up, my parents would always take me to the greatest symphonies and performances in Canterlot. My father once told me that he wanted me to be better than those performances. But he wasn't demanding, he was encouraging me to be better than the best. A few years later, when I got older; around sixteen years old or so, he made me my first cello. He taught me everything he knew about how to play it; how to make the most harmonic of sounds with such a simple instrument. It... it touched my heart the way he'd made it for me."

"Wow... so what's got you so down about that?"

"I still remember the words he said to this day.

My dearest, most precious Octavia. I want you to learn this instrument, unlock all it's secrets. I want you to play the most beautiful of masterpieces like no pony has ever heard before... for me... and for your mother, wherever she may be.

It wasn't long before those words became the ones I live by... when he passed away about a month after her search was called off."

Vinyl's eyes widened as she learned more than she'd bargained for about her marefriend. 

"How'd he die?"

"Suicide. When the search for my mother was called off after 4 months, my father went..."

"Crazy?"

"Yes. That's why there's that sealed off part of Canterlot where all of the burned and destroyed buildings are."

"Damn." Vinyl said, looking towards the ground, then back up at Octavia.

"Yes, well... the thing that's been bothering me lately is with all those dreams... it reminds me of what he said... and the fact that I've never lived up to those words after so long."

"Listen, Tavi, it's just gonna take some time! Ponies will-"

"Start coming to my shows more? As if, Vinyl. Remember what I told you this morning? There are less and less ponies coming to these orchestral concerts! NOT MORE!"

"Tavi... I-"

"NO Vinyl, people are losing interest in my music. I'll never live up to what my father wanted me to be, and I'll never keep up with all this beep-bop-wub-wub crap everyone's playing! It's just not me, Vinyl!" Octavia yelled with tears pouring from her eyes. Octavia began to run home, while Vinyl was left to stand around and look at the ponies around her giving her an awkward stare. Vinyl slowly backed away, and followed after Octavia.

> Chapter 2: It's Complicated
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Dammit Tavi, your emotional outburst caused a freakin' scene." Vinyl groaned to herself, tracing Octavia's hoofsteps back towards home. 

Ponies on the street stared her down as she ran viciously through the neighborhood, but Vinyl paid no attention to the bystanders nor their gasps and whispers as she began run faster back home.

By this time she'd already lost track of Octavia, but she'd assume she'd gone back to their house. Vinyl was in no rush, so eventually she slowed down to a walk.

When Vinyl returned home, Octavia was nowhere to be found. However, when Vinyl walked upstairs, she noticed their shared bedroom's door was closed.

*knock knock*

"Octavia? Octavia, sweetie, come out!" Vinyl said, trying to be gentle with her voice. She heard no response through the door.

"Tavi, are you in there? Say something, please!" The white mare said again.

Still no response.

Vinyl thought to herself for a moment. Perhaps she'd best try the knob, first. Not expecting it to open, Vinyl fell through the door, her grip on the knob yanking her into falling on her back. She sat up and rubbed the back of her head, then turned around to search their bedroom. She checked the closet, the bathroom, under the bed, under the covers, above the fan, below the dresser, in a decorative vase, and in a small jar. Still no sign of Octavia.

"Where could she be?" Vinyl pondered quietly. Her train of thought was interrupted by the sound of a harmonic string instrument that she could just barley hear coming from the basement. Vinyl stepped down from their bedroom and back into the living room. She perked her ears up to track the sound's location.

Vinyl proceeded to follow the gentle sound to the basement where she'd suspected it was coming from.

Vinyl slowly opened the basement door and peeked an eye through. She only saw Octavia sitting in a corner facing towards the wall, playing a slow song on a small violin.

Vinyl stepped through the door completely and trotted slowly up to Octavia, who still didn't notice her presence in the room. That is, until she touched her shoulder.

Octavia stopped playing, but didn't look up or open her eyes. She didn't move at all. Vinyl said nothing, however she began to notice the tears dripping from her grey marefriend's eyes. Octavia sniffled, and whimpered as she slowly set her violin and bow by her sides. Vinyl sat down next to Octavia, and kissed her lightly on the cheek. The sad grey mare flicked away a few tears and sniffled again, while Vinyl only wrapped her arm around her and rubbed her shoulder.

Vinyl's heart began to race as she knew this was a tender moment. For a few seconds, there was silence. Nothing but a few sniffs and small whines from Octavia until she decided to rest her head on Vinyl's chest.

"I... I just want to be good... I don't... I don't want to be left behind... I like my music..." Octavia  whimpered through her quivering lips.

"I like your music too, Tavi. I may be a hardcore dubstep mare, but that doesn't mean I don't like to calm it down every once in a while." Vinyl said lightly, still rubbing Octavia's shoulder.

"R-really?" The grey mare quivered again.

"Really." Vinyl agreed.

"T-thank you... Vinyl."

"It's okay, Tavi." Vinyl said, kissing Octavia lightly on the forehead. "Now c'mon, it's getting late, we should go to bed." The white mare suggested.

"Oh... o-okay." Octavia sniffed.

Vinyl helped her grey marefriend off the floor and directed her upstairs from the basement, as she would follow. Vinyl looked at Octavia's violin and bow on the ground from the stairs, thinking back to what'd just happened as she focused on the tear drops near them. Vinyl only glanced back one more time as she closed the basement door behind herself.

Octavia was the first to climb into bed when Vinyl got upstairs to their bedroom. Vinyl usually dive-bombed into the bed next to her, but she knew this was not the night for that. Vinyl took her signature purple sunglasses off her forehead and placed them by the clock. Climbing into bed and turning off the light, Vinyl then turned to Octavia, and brought her in to snuggle. Octavia was still lightly crying, but the warmth and care from her white marefriend brought her tears to a dry state.

ZZZZZZ....

Vinyl's eyes shot open. Sitting up, she looked at the clock. In it's bright red numbers it read 1:30AM. She felt around lightly next to her. Octavia was gone. However the spot where she'd laid was still warm, so it was not long ago that Octavia had gotten up. Vinyl panicked, and slowly but surely got out of bed. Standing up too fast, Vinyl swerved and bumped into the dresser next to their bed, making a deep thump noise through the wall. Vinyl cringed, and froze for a second to listen close to the silence of the night for any sudden sounds. After a few seconds, Vinyl gave herself the O-K and trotted lightly towards the door of her and Octavia's bedroom. 

The door creaked as the white mare lightly pushed it open to poke her head through and get a glimpse down the hallway. She saw nothing, and therefore walked down the hallway and poked her head down stairs, trying to make herself hidden. She saw Octavia playing her violin again, quietly as to not wake Vinyl. Vinyl peered over Octavia's shoulder from the stairs, and saw the sheet music she was attempting. Constantly, her hoof slipping, playing the wrong notes, not being able to keep up with the music. Vinyl saw her hoof clench the neck of the violin, as Octavia began to attempt the music on the sheet once more, but much more viciously this time. From what Vinyl could see in the dim light of the night, it looked as if Octavia was trying to play a fast-paced country hoe-down song. You know, because of all the stomping and playing incredibly fast. Only problem was, was that Octavia was not playing a fiddle. A note Octavia messed up made her cringe, as she clenched her hoof again. She squeezed the bow in her hoof, managing to snap it in half, as well as throwing the violin down at the hard kitchen floor.

Vinyl gasped, and ran back to bed when she saw Octavia beginning to stomp back upstairs to bed. Vinyl jumped into bed as quickly as possible, and pretended to be asleep as Octavia stomped in. She quickly climbed into bed, burying her face in the pillow and letting out a few whines. Her sad sound effects made Vinyl's heart cringe, but she left Octavia to her busy feelings and tried to go back to sleep. 

Vinyl thought hard to herself about whether or not she should talk to Octavia again tomorrow. But then she'll know she was spying on her that night. Will she be mad? Or is the fact that she's trying to help her... good for her? Thinking about it made Vinyl tired, so she decided to put it off and think about it later. She had to, because the (what was now becoming annoyingly sad) noises that Octavia made with her face shoved into her pillow almost made Vinyl start whimpering her own gasping cries. Eventually, Octavia stopped, so Vinyl knew she'd gone back to sleep. Octavia shivered, so Vinyl returned her to the position she'd been in her arms before she got up, to make sure the mare she held so dear to her heart had...

"Sweet dreams, Tavi." Vinyl whispered into her marefriend's ear. "It's gonna be okay, I promise." She whispered again, adjusting their snuggle and eventually dozing back off to sleep.
> Chapter 3: Have Faith In Me
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Suddenly Octavia's heart almost burst out of her chest when she woke up with a start that morning. She panicked for a moment, heavily breathing, holding her chest, and looking around her bedroom as her vision focused. Octavia rubbed her eyes, and blinked a few times before she could see, just barely, in her dimly lit bedroom. This seemed like an unfamiliar morning to her, probably because it wasn't morning. She realized this when she cocked her head towards the clock, and saw that it was 2:32PM. Cocking her head the other way, she saw that Vinyl was also gone. Since she's usually the first to wake up, Octavia thought she'd be downstairs.

However, this was not the case for this day in particular. Last year for Octavia's birthday, Vinyl let her sleep in like today, but then she'd surprise her downstairs with her latest and greatest classical remix of one of her own dance party songs. Vinyl wasn't good at playing the violin as much as her teacher, Octavia, but she was decent enough to play a legitimate song every once in a while.Octavia resumed looking around the house for her white marefriend. It slightly saddened her that she was not at home the afternoon of her birthday, but she didn't give up hope. Perhaps Vinyl just went out somewhere and didn't before Octavia woke up, which was a reasonable scenario. However she'd usually leave a note of some sort if that was the case. So instead, the grey mare searched for a note instead. She found one beside the front door. Octavia plucked it off the wall and read quietly to herself:

"Dear Tavi,

Went to the mall with some friends, left around 2:00PM, should be back by 5. 

Wub you! 
Vinyl
P.S. I didn't forget about your birthday, Tavi, don't worry!"

Octavia let out a sigh of relief when she read that her marefriend hadn't forgotten about her special day. The grey mare tossed the note in the trash bin, and began walking back upstairs to sleep in more.

But she was wide awake, and since nopony was home, she wanted to do what she always did when she was alone.

Play her violin.

Of course, before that thought, she'd forgotten that she'd broken her violin last night. She remembered this from the pieces of it still lying on the floor. Octavia sighed, and lazily slumped back into bed, for NOW she had nothing else to do. Of course, going back to sleep was a dumb idea that afternoon. Octavia plopped on her bed, rolled around a bit, then sat up and walked downstairs again. Looking around the living room, she was desperate for something to do. Read? No. Everything on the bookshelves that outline the room she'd read already, at least twice. Listen to music? In her dreams. She didn't have an MP3 player like Vinyl did. Only some old records above the bookshelves that didn't play well. Exercise? Octavia thought, looking down at her stomach. She patted it lightly, shaking her head at the thought. She began walking back upstairs again, until she glanced to the left and saw that Vinyl had left her synth keyboard out. Nervously whipping her eyes back and forth, Octavia looked around for anypony that might walk in on her. Slowly stepping up to the keyboard, she looked around again. She lifted a hoof, and lightly placed it on a key, in which it made a "ZZZZEEEE" noise. She jumped back, the noise startling her. She stepped back up to it, and pressed another key. "booop". Octavia giggled. She began pressing keys in a harmonic order and style, managing to create a small song right off the top of her head.

Suddenly the sound of the front door unlocking made her stop, and dash to the couch as if she had not been touching Vinyl's stuff. The door opened with a long creak, and Octavia quickly struck a pose on the couch that made it seem like she'd been sleeping. The grey mare cracked an eye open to see who came home. She expected Vinyl, but instead she saw Lyra, of course with Bon Bon. 

"What are these two doing here?" Octavia thought. 

"So what are we looking for again?" Lyra whispered.

"Pieces of Octavia's... ah!" Bon Bon pointed to the violin pieces on the floor. "Those!"

"Shhh! She's right there!" Lyra leisurely pointed to Octavia, nudging Bon Bon.

There was an awkward stare between Lyra and her cream colored marefriend for a few seconds, then Lyra scooped up the violin pieces and put them in Bon Bon's bag.

"That was it, right?" Bon Bon whispered. 

"Eeyup. C'mon, let's go back to the shop." The mint colored mare replied as she and Bon Bon went out the front door, closing it behind themselves.

Octavia looked out the window, and saw the two mares walk away. She sat up and looked over to where the violin pieces were. 

"Why... did they take those?" The grey mare pondered. After some hard, confused thinking, she shrugged and went back to playing Vinyl's synth keyboard. She tried several different patterns and notes, all of which turned out quite well for it being the first time she's ever played a keyboard instrument. After about 3 hours, her eyelids were suddenly getting heavy. And before she knew it, she fell asleep right on Vinyl's keyboard.

SURPRISE!!!!

Octavia nearly died at the startling sound of her friends bursting through the front door and yelling in celebration of her birthday. The grey mare sat up, and rubbed her head from the fall. 

"Oh... heh... thanks you guys." She said awkwardly, yawning.

"And guess what we got for yoooou!" Bon Bon hinted.

"W... what?"

"TA-DAAA!" Vinyl yelled, whipping out a blindingly shiny new violin for her favorite mare.

"My... my old vio-... wait... this doesn't look like my old violin..." Octavia said awkwardly again.

"Oh, yeah, your old violin was 100% F.U.B.A.R., so instead we just made you a new one!" Lyra shouted excitedly.

"Oh~... oh my gosh... it's just... lovely..." Octavia's eyes began to water.

"Well, what are you waiting for? Play us somethin'!" Vinyl suggested.

The grey mare proceeded to grab her bow off of a nearby table, and place the violin in the appropriate position for playing. She took a deep breath, lifted her bow, and smoothly dragged it over the strings. The sound brought a tear to Octavia's eye, as the gentle hum of the instrument was the most beautiful and harmonic sound she's ever heard come from a violin. Octavia placed the violin on the table, and looked over her shoulder at it's creators.

"That was amazing Tavi-HHHNNNNNNG!" Vinyl choked, as her grey marefriend nearly squeezed the living Hell out of herself and Octavia's other friends that stood next to her that night.

"I love you girls..." Octavia whimpered and sniffed.

"Oh... kay... Octavia..." Lyra gagged. "You... can... let go... now... please?"

"Yeah... Tavi... you're... wel...come." Vinyl choked, patting Octavia on the back.

Octavia released her crushing grip as her friends gasped for air.

"Phew! Okay girls, thanks for your help." Vinyl said, insisting that Lyra and Bon Bon depart their home. 

"Anytime, Vinyl! Seeya when we seeya!" Bon Bon finished, as she and Lyra walked out into the night, heading home.

Vinyl nudged the door close with a hoof, and turned around straight into Octavia's lips. The kiss lasted for several seconds, longer than usual, Vinyl could tell. When Octavia broke it, she leaned her head against Vinyl's as she snuck a "Thank you." into her ear. Vinyl only smiled back as she and her grey marefriend trotted upstairs to bed. 

The two slid under the covers, of course Vinyl bringing Octavia in close. With a glow of her horn, Vinyl shut the door. She adjusted her snuggle a bit before she kissed Octavia lightly on the forehead and whispered, "You're welcome." Octavia scooted closer, and closed her eyes. Vinyl could feel her smile, and knowing that, she drifted off to sleep with her grey marefriend.

"And now, fillies and gentlecolts, put your hooves together for the amazing, the one, the only, OCTAVIA!" The announcer yelled, his voice bouncing off the walls of the large concert room. Clapping ponies spread standing all across the floor looked up at the stage as Octavia took her place on it. They silenced their cheers as Octavia setup her cello and lifted her bow. Taking a deep breath, she began the motion of sliding her bow across her cello's strings, much more confidently this time around. 

She could tell from the crowd's expression that the hum of the strings pleased them. It felt weird to her, that ponies were actually enjoying her music again. Also the piece she was playing, she didn't even know, she'd never heard it before in her life, but by Celestia, it was beautiful. Was this a sign? Was this to be the piece to bring back the full house of ponies interested in her music that she'd once sought after long ago? Only time would tell. Hopefully she'd remember it the next night, for if the song she was playing was not "the one", as her supervisor told her, she'd never play on any stage ever again.





> Chapter 4: Better Off This Way
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Octavia's vision faded in. The first thing she noticed was her hooves were wet, with blood. She stood in an old looking, dimly-lit hallway that looked half destroyed like it'd been bombed.  She was somewhere different, and also appeared to be in a white, long-sleeve, button-up shirt with dusty brown pants and black boots over them. Though for some reason, she felt this was right, that where she was, was her life now, and always has been. Her ears perked up at a stomping noise behind her in the water. The hallway that she looked down was long enough to see that there was indeed something coming at her in the water, however she could only see the splashes it made in the water. Suddenly her heart began pounding, and her breath quickened as she began to rush through the water. There were a few cracks in the ceiling that shed light on a blockade made of wooden crates, broken dressers and shattered wardrobes. Octavia threw herself over the blockade, hoping it would stop the mysterious monster that followed her. From the continued stomping sounds behind her as she ran quicker through the long, flooded halls, she knew this wasn't the case. Her heart still pounded, nearly beating it's way out of her chest. But she ran on, and approached another blockade around the next corner she turned. Thinking quickly, she snatched up a box from the blockade and threw it at the shimmers in the water. All she heard was a very congested and scratchy hiss, and the stomping didn't stop. Neither did Octavia. Her breathing quickened, jumping back into the water with a large splash. She was slowly losing her sanity as the darkness began to creep around her as she rushed through the flooded hallways. Her head was pounding and her hooves were shaking as she ran, the water weighing her down, making the movements of her hooves slower. She felt her cheeks puff up as she could feel the cold chill of certain death behind her. She knew that if she stopped for even a slight second, she'd been torn apart, limb from limb by this terrifying creature that chased her through what seemed like and endless maze of corridors and hallways. She kept her quick pace, her motivation being the soft but deep and eerie moaning behind her that stabbed themselves into her mind. She felt a light scratch on her back; light but painful. She swore she heard the skin tear. She let out a loud groan that eased the pain, ever so slightly, but just enough for Octavia to push on. At this point she was barley conscious, her heavy breathing not making the pain in her chest hurt any less. Octavia slowly but surely inched her way to the end of the last hallway she met around a corner. The door to safety, just beyond her hoof's grasp. She could nearly taste the fresh air of hope beyond the horror she found herself in, if it wasn't for her numb tongue. Just before she could wrap her hoof around the knob to lead herself to freedom, she felt the sharpest, most quickest strike of pain in her back. And also through her chest. She turned around, wincing with her dying eyes as a black silhouette faded into view. She couldn't tell what it was, and the shaking it did with it's blade-equipped arm wasn't making it any easier. "TAAAAVIIIIIII..." it moaned, the blade on the front side of her body scraping against the door. "TAAAAVIIIIII...!"  it moaned again. 

The next thing Octavia felt was water on her face. She thought she'd been dropped onto the flooded floor that lay just before the exit door. But it was really Vinyl holding her head under the sink, trying to wake her up. Octavia gasped for air and yanked her head out from under the sink, coughing, gagging, and holding her chest, her head close to the ground like she was about to vomit. 

"TAVI!" Vinyl yelled. "What in the name of Celestia is going on with you?". Vinyl, however, failed to get Octavia's attention, as she was still in her own little panic-attack on the bathroom floor. Vinyl sighed, and simply trotted over to Octavia, giving her a swift kick in the stomach. The result being that Octavia coughed up some water, but at least she could breath now. As the grey mare caught her breath, she slowly faded back into reality. She held her throat, looking at her side to Vinyl, who stood crouched a good distance away from her grey marefriend to give her some air. Eventually, Octavia could breath. She fell on her back, and looked up at the bathroom lights in a blank gaze, her mouth hanging open. 
"What time is it?" She muttered in an almost robotic tone. 
"Three. Fourteen. In the morning." Vinyl replied, putting emphasis on each word. "You're lucky we haven't missed the train yet. This big Canterlot performance could be the life or death of your career."
"I know, Vinyl." Octavia shivered.
"C'mon, we need to get going, Ms. scream loud and pant heavily when Vinyl is trying to sleep. We have a train to catch. I already packed what we need and put it by the door, so hurry up!" Vinyl demanded, helping Octavia off of the floor and shoving her out the bathroom door.
The two mares bounced down the stairs with eachother and headed towards the front door.
"You're going to be in the front row, right?" 
"Yeah yeah, don't worry Tavi. I'll be there." Vinyl said, her sentence trailing off as she leaned her head down to pick up her bag. The two mares grabbed their things and hauled them outside, Vinyl closing the door behind her with her hind leg. Taking a giant whiff of the crisp morning air, Octavia and Vinyl trotted off to the train station.

LATER, ON THE TRAIN...

"Phew... barely made it." Octavia sighed, taking a seat near the window. Vinyl sat across from her, rather than next to her like she usually did. She took a gander out to see the mountains fly by, and the town of Ponyville get smaller and smaller. With each minute that went by, Vinyl became more and more excited. She couldn't wait to see her favorite mare play far beyond the extent of her potential.

After a few minutes of complete silence, minus the sound of the train bouncing across the tracks and other conversations in other parts of the train, the white mare turned her eye to see Octavia's face.
"So whatchya thinkin' about?" She asked.
"The symphony, of course."
"I swear that's gonna stress you out."
"What else am I supposed to think of?"
"Uh... playing... the... cello?"
"That still makes me think of the symphony." Octavia said, becoming unsettled in her seat.
Vinyl paused for a few moments, returning her attention to the window.
"I've uh... just been thinkin' Tavi..."
"Hm?"
"What if... you uh... DON'T make the cut with this performance?"
"Please Vinyl... don't... don't say that..."
The section of the train grew silent again, but this time only for a few moments before Octavia spoke up again.
"What made you think of that?" She asked, studying the white mare's expression.
"I'm just afraid that... all we've been through in the past few days will just be..."
"Just be what?"
"Well um... worthless. Like, they won't mean anything if something bad happens."
Octavia pondered the mare's words for a moment. Just the thought of losing her job made her cheeks puff like she was about to cry. Vinyl was right. The moments they've shared in the past few days would be worth nothing if it all led up to that.
"J-just... be quiet... p-please." She stuttered.
Octavia shivered slightly, noticing Vinyl peering over to her from the corner of her eye.
"It's going to be okay..." Octavia whispered to herself, her ear perking up at the train coming to a screeching stop. 
"Well, looks like we've stopped." Vinyl said, grabbing her bag that she placed beside her.
"Could you grab my bag? I need to carry this." Octavia asked, picking up her cello and hopping up from her seat.
"Alrighty, whatever you say."
"Right. This way." The grey mare directed, making her way towards the train's open doors.

LATER, AT CANTERLOT SYMPHONY HALL...
Octavia grabbed the doorknob and pushed forward, leading to the backstage area.
"Wow, it's small in here." Vinyl gasped, surprised.
"Yes well, the stage and area for the audience makes up for it." The grey mare said with a somewhat annoyed tone.
"Alright, thank you, Vinyl." Octavia smiled, thinking positive. "I want to see you in the front row, got it?" Octavia teased.    
"Pfft, alright."
Octavia peered over to the white mare with an annoyed gaze. 
"Well, anyway, good luck!" Vinyl waved, making her way outside to go around to the front entrance.
Octavia took a deep breath and looked herself in the mirror when the door closed.
"Alright, Octavia. It's make or break time. Show 'em all you've got!" She cheered.

The grey mare took her cello out of it's case and set it up on stage. A few minutes passed, and it was showtime. She took her place next to her cello and her other symphony members as the curtain opened. 
Here we go... curtains are opening! She excitedly thought to herself.
Only listening to the sound of the curtains presenting the symphony, her eyes were closed and her bow was lifted.
Suddenly, complete silence. Octavia popped an eye open, then dropped her bow and jaw along with the rest of the members as the only pony standing in the audience was their supervisor.
"Well gang, I guess this is it. We're done for."
"No, no NO! Say it ain't so!" A white haired mare preached from behind Octavia.
"It's so, it's so!" A brown stallion cried next to her.
"Now now, no need to get all dramatic on me and start a panic!" The supervisor said, pausing afterwords. "No, wait... yeah, panic. You're all out of jobs." He nervously chuckled.
Not... not even Vinyl showed up... Octavia sniffled.
As everypony began to leave the building, groaning all the while and discussing new jobs with each other, Octavia's supervisor noticed her crying on the stage.
"Aww, c'mon Octavia! No need to cry!"
"ARE YOU JOKING? THERE'S PLENTY NEED TO CRY! THIS IS ALL I HAVE!" Octavia shouted, her last word bouncing off the walls.
"Well... I'm sorry to hear that, but... it's just how it all turned out." Her supervisor said, his voice getting lighter as he stepped up onto the stage to comfort the sad grey mare. "I really am genuinely sorry, Octavia. It's been a pleasure working with you." He finished, patting her on the back as he left her to sit in her own puddle of tears.

The slam from the supervisor leaving out the back door silenced the room, only hearing the sound of Tavi's weeping. She looked up when she heard a door from the front shoot open, and rubbed her eyes as the sound of hooves clopping lightly onto the stage approached her.
"Tavi... I'm... sorry I-" 
"I can't believe this, Vinyl."
"Look Tavi, it's not the end of the world." Vinyl said again, glancing down as to try and get a look at the grey mare's face.
Octavia threw her head up at Vinyl, nearly hitting her.
"IT'S THE END OF MY WORLD!" She screamed, slamming her hoof down on the wooden planks of the stage, cracking it slightly.
"Tavi, I'm sorry about all of this-" 
"No. No no no, don't put this on yourself. You had nothing to do with this." Octavia sobbed. "I just want to go home, now."
"Well uh... okay. C'mon." Vinyl said softly, helping Octavia off of the floor.

As the two mares walked outside, Vinyl placed a hoof around Octavia's shoulder at an attempt to comfort her. This made Octavia suddenly look up, and suddenly think of a brilliant idea.
"Hey, Vinyl?"
"Hm?"
"Would it be okay if... I could learn to make the kind of music you do?
"Well uh... why?"
"I don't know, I just find it to be more... fun."
"You didn't think the cello was fun?"
"I like the sound of it, yes, but it's a very difficult instrument to play."
"I don't know about this, Tavi. Are you sure?"
"Vinyl, please. While you were gone with Lyra and Bon Bon, I actually um... made a little tune on your synth keyboard." Octavia admitted.
"Woah, you made that? Hot damn, you're well on your way!" Vinyl smiled, becoming excited.
"Wait, how did you know of the tune I made?"
"I always have my synth's record feature on, just in-case I get an idea."
"Wow. Smart." Octavia smiled.

LATER, BACK AT HOME...

Vinyl walked out of the bathroom and began trotting up the stairs to bed. Entering her bedroom, she saw Octavia already under the covers. She wasn't asleep though, maybe Vinyl woke her up with the sound of her opening the door, but Vinyl digressed. Climbing under the sheets, she turned on her side to face Octavia.
"So what are you gonna to for a job?" She whispered.
"Actually, I was hoping that I could um... accompany you in your performances?"
"Wow, really?"
"I think maybe we'd make a perfect team! You and me!"
"I guess so. I'm really glad you've decided this, Tavi."
Octavia smiled, and kissed Vinyl lightly. The two mares turned over, each facing their wall. Vinyl went to sleep almost immediately. However Octavia was so excited to start a new career, with her favorite mare nonetheless, she could barley close her eyes. Eventually, all the excitement from the thoughts of so many possibilities put her to a gentle rest. She was a little saddened, though. That she'd just abandon what she'd grown up with after so long and suddenly switching to something completely different. But somehow, she felt this was the right choice, for now at least. Someday, she'll make her comeback. But until then, it was party time.
  
> Chapter 5: Welcome To The Family
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Octavia woke up to the starling sound and blinding effect of Vinyl yanking the curtains open.
"RISE AND SHINE, MAGGOT!" She yelled.
Octavia sat up, her back acting like the consistency of jello. She rubbed her ears, and slowly creaked her eyes open to see Vinyl's silhouette next to the morning sun, her head at just the right angle so that her glasses were reflecting it's rays back at Octavia's face.
"Augh, Vinyl, could you move? I can't see!" The grey mare complained, glancing towards the clock. "Seven A.M.? Seriously?"
"Well I was afraid that if I woke you up any earlier, you'd be ticked off so seven seemed like a good time to me."
"Why so early?"
"It's what ponies in the army do in a lot of war movies! Anyway, THAT'S BESIDES THE POINT, DIRTBAG!  MEET ME DOWNSTAIRS!" Vinyl yelled, marching out of the room.
"Sir yes sir..." Octavia groaned, slumping out of bed and following Vinyl.

DOWNSTAIRS...
"SO, YOU WANNA WUB, DO YA? WELL? DO YA!?" Vinyl screamed.
"Yes sir."
"I CAN'T HEAR YOU!"
"Yes sir!"
"WHAT?"
"YES SIR!"
"THAT'S MA'AM TO YOU, YOU SACK A' SCUM!"
"YES MA'AM!"
"Good! Lemme teach ya the basics..." Vinyl said, calming down out of her alter-ego drill sergeant. She took the synth keyboard she had leaning over her shoulder like a musket, and placed it beside Octavia. She scooted onto the couch next to her, throwing her drill sergeant hat behind her. 
"Alright, so check this out!" Vinyl boasted, cracking her hooves and placing them on the keyboard. She tapped a series of keys as Octavia sat next to her to observe. Octavia's mind was blown, as the white mare's hooves moved lighting fast across the instrument. Of course, what Vinyl was playing wasn't just gibberish, it all flowed together into a harmonic masterpiece. Just as she finished her song, she flew back onto the couch, throwing her hooves up in the air and cheering. While Vinyl was catching her breath on the couch, Octavia tried to grasp what she just saw. Surprisingly, she'd never seen Vinyl play this instrument before. Or that fast, either.
"So... it's like playing a piano?" Octavia asked.
"Yeah, I guess you could say that." Vinyl sighed.
"But only faster?"
Vinyl sat up, took a deep breath, and turned to Octavia, placing a hoof on her shoulder.
"Well Octavia, you taught me something with that piece you made, it's not always about speed. Sometimes, it's just about hitting the right keys, at the right time, in the right order. Like this..." Vinyl said, preparing to play again. This time, she played much slower. She also kept her back straight, with her muzzle pointing upwards in a very snooty posture, possibly to mimic how Octavia would do it.
"See? Like that."
"Wow... oh... okay."
"Now, you know that song you made?"
"Yeah?"
"I want you to try something like that again." Vinyl said, scooting the instrument in front of Octavia, who only glared down at it as if she doubted herself. She turned towards Vinyl to see her making a pitiful little puppy-dog face, which forced Octavia to look away awkwardly. She took a deep breath, and began playing whatever popped into her head. As she played, Vinyl's jaw dropped, and she nearly fainted from Octavia's amazing performance.

When Octavia noticed that Vinyl was out-cold on the living room floor, she panicked. The grey mare rushed to the kitchen and grabbed a glass from the cupboard. Quickly filling it with water, she ran back into the living room and splashed it over Vinyl's face. She gasped, suddenly panicked.
"Vinyl! Are you alright?" She said, a worried tone in her voice.
The white mare coughed a couple times, and caught her breath. In a faint, almost zombie-like voice, Vinyl whispered,
"T... Tavi..."
"Y-yes... Vinyl?" Octavia sniffed.
Kissing Octavia gently on the lips, then leaning back into her hooves, Vinyl whispered again,
"Welcome t-to the... family." She huffed, drifting off to sleep.
Octavia knew she just fell asleep, and didn't die. Mostly because she was still breathing, but also because she knew that Vinyl came home at 5:00am and woke back up at 7:00am for this silly performance.

Octavia carried her tired body and Vinyl back upstairs to bed. Maybe she'd get in more time to learn things from Vinyl after a good night's... well... morning's rest.

(Author's Note: I apologize for the incredibly and ridiculously short chapter. I felt that I just needed to get this part out of the way.) 


> Chapter 6: If It Means A Lot To You
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Octavia woke up before Vinyl did, for once. Why? Well, judging from the large amount of WUB coming from downstairs depriving Vinyl of her sleep, she guessed Octavia was probably happy that Vinyl was taking her to her first gig that night. Of course, she wasn't going to just throw her on stage with a wink and a "good luck", Vinyl was going to be right there by her side. It'd been about 2 months since Octavia took up dance music with Vinyl, who wasn't surprised to see how fast she learned. Octavia was getting good, great in fact. But Vinyl thought... perhaps too great. Though the thought was minor, and nearly impossible judging by the experience Octavia had with REAL parties (which was none, mind you), Vinyl feared that Octavia might steal the show away from her. Vinyl was always the life of the party, wherever she went. She was the one to yell to across the dance floor when the crowd pumped their hooves for "another wubly experience" as she liked to call it. Still, the thought of Octavia depriving her of such was next to impossible. At least, that's what she hoped. Octavia was good, very good in fact. If a pony can make the one and only Vinyl Scratch faint, "then you've got somethin' going with that beat in your heart." Vinyl had a lot of faith in Octavia. And she knew that together, they'd be unstoppable.
Together.
Eventually, Vinyl slid out of bed. The lack of breakfast gave her a sick feeling in her stomach. The kitchen floor shaking wasn't helping that feeling, either. While the grey mare was having her own dance party in the middle of their kitchen, Vinyl looked up towards the cupboard as she opened it. Maintaining a tired look on her face, Vinyl sat back as she observed her cereal pour itself into a cracked bowl. With Octavia creating her own mini-earthquake behind Vinyl, she slumped her head into the bowl, eating tiny bits of it. Finally, Octavia stopped her wubs for a moment, and Vinyl could think. She lifted her head out of her cereal, and turned towards Octavia as she took her headphones off and shook her mane out.
"WHOO! Oh my, what a RUSH!" The grey mare said, about to fire up "The Ol' Wubinator" again.
That name. "The Ol' Wubinator". It's what made Vinyl somewhat regret getting Octavia her own DJ set. Regardless, she was glad Octavia found something just as fun for her to substitute orchestral performances.
"You know Tavi... there is a time when you have to STOP, you know?" Vinyl chuckled awkwardly.
"Oh, I know what you mean!"
"Now see, Tavi, I-... wait... what? You do?"
"Why yes! With so much bass in the ground, it really shakes up your bladder!" The grey mare said, making her way upstairs to the bathroom.
"Actually Tavi, that's not what I-"
"Ooh! Excuse me Vinyl, duty calls!" Octavia finished, rushing upstairs.
"Ugh... I'm not sure I can take much more of this. Hopefully she won't get too crazy at our gig tonight." The white mare whispered to herself. She picked up her cereal bowl and ate what was left in it that hadn't already fallen on the floor. Suddenly Vinyl's head flew back when she heard a loud thumping noise from the stairs. She rushed over to see what was the problem, noticing Octavia at the bottom of the staircase.
"Oh my God! Tavi, are you okay?" She gasped.
Octavia quickly stood up and shook her mane out, making it frizzled rather than prim & proper like it usually was.
"Oh, I'm alright! Now 'scuse me, gotta get back to wubbin'!" The grey mare said excitedly.
Vinyl peered over her shoulder at Octavia, who slapped her headphones on and returned herself to scratching vinyl. Now Vinyl was beginning to worry. The changes were started to surface, and she didn't feel comfortable with them. They make Octavia not behave like herself. Vinyl knew that HER Octavia would never say "wubbin'" in her life. She'd also never leave her mane frizzled out, it made it look a lot like... her own.
"Tavi, are you feeling alright?" The white mare asked, looking down at Octavia and her DJ set from the stairs.
"Are you joking? I've never felt better! WHOO!" The grey mare shouted, dropping a heavy bass that nearly woke up the entire neighborhood. Vinyl cringed, then sighed. She returned to her bedroom to try sleeping again, though the fact that the music was hurting her ears from upstairs, in a room, with the door shut was a bad sign. Luckily, Vinyl had a special pair of noise-cancelling headphones that she had originally worn because their neighbor's dog wouldn't shut up. She thought that maybe they'd serve this purpose just as well.

Vinyl stood behind the curtain. She eagerly awaited the announcer to call out her name as a signal for her to walk on stage and get the party started. She took deep breaths when the announcer began speaking.
"Fillies and gentlecolts, please, put your hooves together for the great, the one, the only..."
"Vinyl Scratch!" Vinyl said to herself.
"OCTAVIA!!" the announcer shouted.
"What?!" Vinyl gasped.
She peeked her head through the curtains and saw Octavia smiling and waving to the crowd as she walked out. Octavia slid behind the DJ set and slapped her headphones on. Grabbing the microphone, she announced the start of the party.
"GOOOOOOOOD EVENING PONYVILLE!" She shouted.
"Hey, that's my line!" Vinyl cringed.
"Are you ready, to DROP THIS BA-BA-BA-BASS!?" Octavia shouted again.
The crowed roared viciously as Octavia began to scratch the records. Vinyl slipped her head back behind the curtains and fell to her knees.
"This... this can't be happening! This has got to be a crazy dream!" Vinyl shouted, hitting her head repeatedly. She kept doing so until she couldn't feel her head. She began crying, begging out loud that she be pulled out of her nightmare. Suddenly she heard a familiar sound, much like... curtains opening. Vinyl slowly turned around. She noticed the music stop. She heard nothing but a high-pitched ring in her ears. Everypony in the audience began pointing and laughing at her. Even Octavia, who she noticed was wearing HER signature glasses. Vinyl looked down, quickly covered up the bow tie she was wearing, and pushed away the cello that sat next to her.
"No... NO!...
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Vinyl shouted.
Suddenly she had a very sick feeling in her stomach. Octavia was desperately trying to shake her awake.
"Vinyl? Hey, Vinyl, wake up!" she said.
"Huh... wha... what happened?" Vinyl said, rubbing her head.
"Nothing really, you were just screaming in your sleep."
"Oh... huh..." Vinyl pondered.
"Now c'mon, get up, we got a gig to get to!" Octavia cheerfully said, patting Vinyl on the back.
Vinyl shook her head, and grabbed her glasses off the nightstand, following Octavia out the door.

LATER...

It'd been a few minutes after the party, and Octavia and Vinyl were now on their way home. Except, for Vinyl, it wasn't much of a party. She spent most of her time off-stage while Octavia butted in and started dueling Vinyl, trying to beat her at her own game by playing her own beats right when Vinyl was in the middle of her's. It was quiet. The sound of hooves clopping on the ground, followed by an occasional gust of wind that rustled the trees was all that was heard. Octavia kept her head held high, facing forward, while Vinyl kept her eyes near the ground. She peered over to Octavia, who seemed overly happy about tonight's events. Vinyl returned her eyes to the ground, and slumped her neck down a bit with a sigh, remembering how competitive Octavia was tonight.
"Something wrong, Vinyl?" Octavia noticed.
"Hm? Oh... nah. I'm just... concerned." Vinyl paused.
"Concerned? About what?"
No turning back now. It was time Vinyl told her about a matter that she feared since she began teaching Octavia.
"I'm concerned... about you."
"Me? What about me?"
"Ever since I began teaching you, showing you the ropes of my talent... I've feared that you might... take that away from me." Vinyl said, her cheeks puffing up.
"What? That's crazy talk! There's no freakin' way that I would ever-"
"AND THAT! You NEVER talk like that!"
"Well listen, hon, I-"
"Don't hon me! This is what I was scared of most! That you'd change!"
"I haven't changed at all!"
"YES YOU HAVE!" Vinyl cried. "You... you're not the Octavia I used to know. You're not... prim and proper, you're not clean and tidy, you're not classy, you're not the Tavi I loved!" Vinyl yelled.
It was at this point that Vinyl was completely crying. All Octavia did was sit back and watch a once strong mare wallow in her own tears. She'd never seen Vinyl so... destroyed. Just looking at her crying on the ground made her heart cringe, and her eyes slightly begin to water.
"I never wanted it to be like this. I never wanted to see you become me. I wanted you by my side, for us to play together, as best friends."
"But... w-we did!" Octavia stuttered.
"Are you joking? Is butting me off the stage to play your own crap and steal the show your definition of playing together?" 
"I didn't steal the show!"
"Every time I got behind the DJ table, the crowd STOPPED CHEERING. DEAD FREAKIN' SILENCE. But then when you shoved your fat-flank up there you started scratchin' discs like you thought you were a professional!"
"Well Vinyl, if popularity really means THAT MUCH TO YOU..." Octavia trailed off as they approached their home. She quickly rushed inside and grabbed a few speakers from their room. "THEN MAYBE YOU'D BE BETTER OFF GETTING IT BY YOURSELF!" Octavia shouted from the window on the second story of their home, throwing out a few of Vinyl's speakers.
The very moment that the speakers shattered on the ground, Vinyl ran inside, got behind Octavia's DJ set, and waited for her to come down the stairs.
"VINYL, DON'T YOU DARE DO ANYTHING TO MY WUBINATOR!" Octavia cried.
A cocky smile emerged on Vinyl's face, when she had a plan to use an old trick she'd learned the hard way at a gig one night.
"Well, Tavi, if it means a lot to you..." Vinyl said, her cocky smile becoming bigger. She began to push the needles down on the records firmly, and rubbed the records repeatedly, faster and faster; until they ignited. "...then I guess you'd be better off without my help, then." Vinyl chuckled, leaping out from behind the burning DJ set.
"NOOOOOO!" The grey mare screamed, leaping towards her "Wubinator", which was now nothing but ash.
Octavia shook, she whipped her head around and yelled with tears in her eyes,
"GET OUT! GET THE HELL OUT OF MY HOUSE!"
"FINE! BUT WHEN YOUR CAREER COMES CRASHING DOWN, DON'T COME CRYING TO ME!" Vinyl yelled back, grabbing a group photo of themselves off the wall and throwing it on the ground. She slammed the door, and stomped down the walkway, ignoring the crying sounds she heard behind her.
"I bet Lyra and Bon Bon will take me in. I don't freakin' need Octavia." Vinyl said to herself, grinding her teeth. In her mind, it somewhat saddened her, just imagining Octavia sitting in the middle of that house, with nothing. But she digressed, Octavia had it coming.
"I'll... s-show... y-you..." Octavia sniffed, shuffling through the ashes of her gift from a mare she once loved.

Once.
> Chapter 7: My Life For Hire
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

It wasn't until a few blocks away that Vinyl realized that she was alone. Without a home, without a friend, and without a job. Where would she go? How would she live? She knew she couldn't just go back after what'd just happened. But still, the image of Octavia sitting in a pile of ashes in the middle of their living room made her speed up her walking. Vinyl squeezed a few tears out as she walked slower, occasionally whining slightly. She had an idea of where she'd stay until this whole situation between herself and Octavia blew over, if it ever will. It was nearly sunset, and Vinyl was still walking about. The clouds were gathering near the horizon, it looked like a storm was about to strike. Regardless, Vinyl didn't speed up her walking. Her mind on it's own was clouded up with thoughts of her future, and how much she knew nothing about what could happen. Eventually, it started raining. Vinyl's mane slumped down from getting soaked in the downpour, but still, she didn't even run. 

*knock knock*
"Lyra, could you get that? My hooves are full at the moment." Bon Bon called from the kitchen.
Lyra sat up and got off the couch to open the door. Upon doing so, there was a sudden clash of thunder, with a flash of lighting behind an unknown figure at the door. Lyra quickly slammed it, and held it closed.
"Who was it?"
"DON'T OPEN THIS DOOR! THERE'S EVIL OUTSIDE!"
Bon Bon rolled her eyes.
"Oh please, just open it!" She said, pushing Lyra out of the way as she hid behind the couch. Bon Bon gasped at the condition Vinyl was in. Her mane was soaked, her eyes sagging, and her nose practically glowing red. "Oh gosh, Vinyl! You look awful! Please, come inside, quickly!"
Lyra calmed herself down as she stood off of the couch, waving a hoof as an invite for Vinyl to sit down. 
"Lyra, comfort her, please. I'll go get a blanket." Bon Bon insisted, running upstairs.
Lyra nodded, and sat next to Vinyl, squinting awkwardly at her, trying to see her face behind her dripping wet mane. The white mare had her eyes locked on the floor, the drops from her mane making a slight tapping sound on Lyra and Bon Bon's wood flooring. 
"So uh... how ya doin'?" Lyra asked, to which Vinyl only responded by slowly turning her head towards Lyra, then back down at the floor.
"Here Vinyl, a nice warm blanket for you." Bon Bon said, coming down from the stairs and sitting next to Vinyl, throwing the blanket over her back. "Are you okay? What happened?" Bon Bon asked.
Suddenly Vinyl started gasping, and more drops started falling from her face.
"Oc... Octavia..." She whined, still hiding behind her mane.
"What about Octavia?" Lyra asked.
"I... d-don't wanna... t-talk about it..." Vinyl sniffed, wrapping herself tighter in the blanket.
Lyra and Bon Bon looked at eachother behind Vinyl's back as she began lightly weeping.
"O-okay, Vinyl. You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to." The light yellow mare said, patting Vinyl on the back.
"S-she... kicked me out of t-the... house..." She sniffed again.
"Well, you're always welcome to stay with us." Lyra added.
"T-thank you."
"Don't mention it. We're here for you. If you need anything, I'll be in the kitchen, okay?" Bon Bon finished, standing up from the couch. 
Lyra stood up as well, to allow Vinyl to lay her head down. Both mares walked into the kitchen to leave Vinyl alone for the time being.

MEANWHILE, BACK AT OCTAVIA'S HOUSE...

Octavia lay on the couch with her face deep inside a pillow. She did this instead of using 1000 tissues to sustain her tears. Her ears perked up at the phone ringing on the table beside her, however she didn't take her face out of the pillow. Octavia only let it ring out, she didn't want to talk to anypony at the moment. Eventually, the voicemail picked up the call.

"Hey there! You've reached the house of Vinyl Scratch,"
"And Octavia!"
"We're not able to answer the phone a the moment, probably because we're having too much fun being AWESOME together!"
"Please, call back later! Vinyl and I should be available momentarily, ta ta!"
"Seeya!"

*beeeep*

Octavia lifted her head off of the soaking pillow. And picked up the phone off the table. She placed it in her lap to listen to the message from the callers.

"Hello? It's The Doctor! Derpy and I were wondering what day our picnic was at the park again? Just asking, we can't wait to see you two! So if you could just get back to us on that, that'd be great! Goodbye now!" 

*click*

Octavia sat silently for several seconds. She pulled the chord out of the wall a few inches away, and threw the phone as hard as she possibly could at the wall, shattering it. Octavia slammed her head back into the pillow and resumed crying, the rain still making it's pitter-pattering sound on the windows. This calming sound effect made Octavia sit up. She wiped her cheek dry and stood up off the couch. She looked over her shoulder at the ashes of her DJ set. 
"I'll show you... I don't need your help..." Octavia whispered, clenching her hoof.

THE NEXT DAY, AT LYRA & BON BON'S HOUSE...

Vinyl woke up when the sun came through the windows and lit the room. She sat up, yawned, stretched, and reached over to the nightstand next to her bed to pick up her glasses. But wait... this wasn't her house! She wasn't in her bed, and she didn't have her glasses by her side! Oh wait, that's right, she came here last night when Octavia had-
Vinyl shook her head. She didn't want to think of that again. Vinyl's train of thought was suddenly interrupted by her runny nose. She remembered that she was in the rain last night when she came here. She smiled. It was nice of Lyra & Bon Bon to take her in. Where were they, though? The white mare picked up the blanket off her lap and wrapped it around her back as she stood up. She was dizzy, and almost fell over when standing. Re-gaining her balance, she walked into the kitchen. Still no sign of the two mares. She noticed a sticky note on the table, that read:
"Dear Vinyl,
There's an ice pack in the top shelf of the freezer. That should help with your headache and fever. Also, here's some tissues for that nose of yours.
Love, Bon Bon.
P.S. Seriously, use those tissues. Don't be wipin' your snot on that blanket, ya hear?
Love, Lyra.
Vinyl smiled and chuckled. She placed the note in a nearby trash bin, picked up the tissue box, and walked to the freezer. She grabbed the ice pack from the top shelf, like the note said, and returned to the couch. She felt much better laying down, and watched the ponies outside give their sweethearts a goodbye kiss before they flew or walked off to work. One grey, yellow-maned pegasus caught her eye, though, since she was moving towards the front door. Vinyl looked over the couch and saw a newspaper slip through the mail slot in the door. She could look for another job! But... why? Lyra & Bon Bon were sure to take care of her until she got back on her hooves, so what was the use of one? She never got fired, anyway, and chances are , Octavia will probably replace-

Oh no...

MEANWHILE, BACK AT OCTAVIA'S HOUSE...

Octavia paced back and forth in her bedroom as she held a phone in one hoof.
"Yeah... yeah, I'll be filling in for Vinyl Scratch? Octavia's the name. So you'll call me when an open show comes up? Alright, great, thanks!" Octavia confirmed, hanging up the phone. "Perfect. I'll bet everypony'll be happy to see ME again rather than that stupid milk splatter of a pony Vinyl Scratch." Octavia mocked. "I bet they won't even miss her... heheh... Octa-Scratch...

I could get used to that..."


(Author's Note: Yeah, they had to have phones. I had originally intended for Vinyl to sit back down and watch TV, but I thought that was going too far. Also, by phones, I don't mean things like smart-phones or cell phones, we're talking about the kind of phones that are embedded in the wall, hence Octavia's rage and the ability to leave voice-mail. Also, Octavia and Vinyl's house had 2 phones, one in the living room and one in their bedroom.)


> Chapter 8: What Separates Me From You
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

It was dark. Vinyl couldn't breath, feel, or even blink.

This caused her to wake up with a start and gasp for air. Her sudden and frightening awakening caught the attention of Bon Bon, who was busy in the kitchen. Bon Bon turned around and saw Vinyl clench her chest, almost like she was having a heart attack. Bon Bon quickly rushed over to Vinyl to settle her down. She quickly drenched a wash rag with hot water and kneeled  down to Vinyl, placing it on her forehead and slightly pushing her to lie down again.

Vinyl coughed. Her whole body was trembling. Bon Bon could tell from her panicked breathing that she was scared out of her mind.
"W-what's... h-h-happening t-to me?" Vinyl whimpered.
"Shh... calm down, hon. You're just in shock. Relax." Bon Bon insisted. "Take a deep breath, and lie still."
Vinyl did as she was told. To her, it felt like she was going to die. The thought of such didn't help Vinyl calm down. From her expression, Bon Bon could practically read that thought.
"You're not going to die, Vinyl. Like I said, you're just in shock. It happens sometimes after bad dreams."
Vinyl's body progressively slowed it's trembling, she appeared to only be twitching every few seconds, now. Bon Bon lightly petted her head, and tucked her blanket in more around her body.
"Try to go back to sleep." Bon Bon whispered.
"Could you... c-close the b-blinds, plea-ease?" Vinyl asked, still twitching.
Bon Bon smiled and closed the blinds as Vinyl instructed. Walking back to the kitchen, Bon Bon patted Vinyl on the head as she passed by.

Vinyl felt drowsy. Her slight twitching every few seconds kept her awake. Rather than laying on her back, she turned to lay on her side, adjusting the wet rag on her forehead accordingly. Behind her, Vinyl heard yawning, and hoofsteps. 
"Goood.... ahhhhhh.... morning, Bon Bon." Lyra sniffed, looking over to Vinyl shaking on the couch. "What's up with her?" Lyra asked, pointing a hoof towards Vinyl, who peered back at Lyra through the corner of her eye.
"She's just a little shocked. Must've been a bad dream or something." Bon Bon said, not taking her eyes away from the work she was doing in the kitchen.
"Ugh, I hate it when that crap happens." Lyra groaned.
The fact that her friends had experienced this feeling before calmed Vinyl down more. She adjusted her position and took a deep breath.
"Psst! Vinyl! You awake?" Lyra whispered.
"Lyra, leave her alone, please!" The cream colored mare insisted.
"Fine." Lyra pouted, yawning afterwards. 

As Lyra and Bon Bon's conversation slowly started to muffle, Vinyl's eyes closed slowly just the same. She began dreaming of a fun sounding little tune. It was actually nothing like she'd ever dreamed about before.
Do you believe in magic? In a young girl's heart! How the music can free her, whenever it starts, and it's magic!

Suddenly Vinyl was shaken awake by Lyra.
"Hey... hey Vinyl! Vinyllllll!" Lyra mocked, swaying Vinyl's body back and forth.
Vinyl woke up violently. Sniffing and rubbing her face furiously. "Whaaaaaaat?" She groaned.
"If you're feelin' up to it, Bon Bon and I are going out for lunch, did you wanna come?" Lyra asked, pointing at the door.
Vinyl inhaled deeply and sat up, yawning. "Nah... but could you bring me back something? Just whatever. I don't care, I'll eat it." Vinyl smiled. Rubbing her chest, then reaching for a tissue.
"You got it. I hope you feel better soon." Lyra nodded, closing the door behind her as she walked out with Bon Bon.
Vinyl cleaned up her nose a tad, then she smiled. She was happy to have friends other than Octavia who cared about her, and cared for her.

MEANWHILE, AT OCTAVIA'S HOUSE...

Octavia slumped up against a wall in the hallway, moaning.
"Oh... stupid... AH... AH... AH-CHOO!" Octavia shouted, sniffling. "Stupid colds!" She whined again, slumping onto the couch. "Viinyllll!" She whined. Suddenly she realized that she'd already kicked Vinyl out of the house. This was certainly I different feeling to Octavia. She and Vinyl had their fair share of fights, but it was usually just a lot of yelling that was forgotten the next minute. Never before had they gotten so angry enough at eachother that they'd separate. Octavia got a sudden surge of loneliness. She was sick, there was no doubt about that, but on top of that, she had no pony to take care of her. All she could do was lie on the couch and sleep. Or... at least try to. Tears grew out of Octavia's eyes. She'd never felt this lonely before. Actually, she had felt this lonely before, however Vinyl was usually the mare to come sit by her side and comfort her. But the fact that she was no longer there with her to do so, made Octavia cry even harder. Regardless, Octavia tried to push through.
"Stop it, Tavi!" She sniffled, slapping herself. "YOU. CAN. DO. THIS!" She yelled, slapping herself with each word. Though the pain only shattered her already broken heart. She began to cry into a pillow in the couch again. Eventually, Octavia fell asleep. But before she did, on her lips lied the words, "I'd sell my soul to have her back..."
However as she fell asleep, she knew very well that getting Vinyl back with her wasn't going to be easy. What had she done? Taken over her career? Check. Threw out over 5,000 bits of expensive equipment onto the pavement? Check. Yelled ear-shattering insults at her best friend? Check. Yup, she was the devil. Or at least, that's how she saw herself now. 

Octavia woke up a few minutes later, feeling uncomfortably hot. She walked upstairs to the bathroom, looking at her frizzled mane in the mirror. She looked a mess. Her mane was losing it's color, and she looked as though she was tired. The thing is, though, is that she was very tired. She was tired of putting up with being alone. She was tired of being sick. She was tired of a lot of things. Octavia started getting delusional. Where her reflection was in the mirror, faded in Vinyl, who looked happier than ever.
"I guess this is what separates me from you, huh Tavi?" Vinyl chuckled. "I have friends, you don't, I have a great life, and yours sucks! Right? Yeah, your life sucks."
"SHUT UP!" Octavia yelled (at herself), throwing a mane dryer at the mirror, shattering it. Octavia slammed her hoof down on the counter, jamming a small shard into her hoof. "AH!" Octavia gasped, quickly pulling out the shard, and rinsing her hoof in the sink.
"I can prove myself to you, Vinyl." Octavia groaned furiously. For some reason, she felt like the fact that she'd lost Vinyl meant that she'd also lost the honor and meaning in her life. Any normal mare could see that she was going crazy.

Was it the lack of power? She didn't care, all she knew is she wanted more of it. She wanted to prove to Vinyl that she could handle Vinyl's career by herself, without Vinyl's help like she'd yelled at her after she burned down her DJ set.

It was only a matter of time before Octavia snapped. And it'd only been day 2 since their separation.
> Chapter 9: This Is The House That Doubt Built
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Octavia panted heavily as she stared herself down in what was left of the bathroom mirror. She saw how angry she was, how confused she was. She saw it, but she didn't think it, nor did she feel it. The tears that feel from her eyes weren't sad tears, but instead tears of a once great and powerful artist's mind gone awry. Octavia fell to the floor, and cried for what seemed like an eternity. She held her head tight, trying to absorb the pain. She couldn't tell between wrong and right, she couldn't tell if she was angry, sad, or whatever made her heart and mind go their separate ways. She had to calm down. Octavia crawled slowly into a nearby corner, her whole body trembling. She assumed the fetal position and tried to gather her thoughts. What has she done? What kind of world has she created for herself? Where did it all go wrong? What can she do to put her life back on the right track? She didn't know, and with such a cracked mind like her's, she wasn't going to find out anytime soon.

The easy way, that is.

Octavia took a deep breath, and slowly stood up, her hooves still trembling. For the first time ever, she felt scared to be alive. Just walking through what looked to her like endless hallways was like a nightmare. Eventually she made it to her bed, where she closed the blinds, crawled under the covers and tried to sleep. She was still crying, scared of what else could possibly go wrong. Octavia didn't know it, but that's part of what was bringing her to her knees pleading; she was focusing on the negatives in her life. Why does it suck? Why am I so scared? How could this possibly get any worse? The answers to those questions of which she feared. She tried to stop thinking, just so she could get to sleep. Her head was spinning, she was becoming dizzy and more nauseated by the second. The more she tried to forget, the more she remembered. Octavia was almost at her peak, she thought she was about to throw up or go insane, when suddenly...

silence.

She laid still in her bed, and slowly took her hooves off her head. She wasn't feeling a headache anymore. She wasn't dizzy, or feeling sick, or... nothing. Nothing but numbness. She only sat peacefully in a dark room. Finally, she could close her eyes and have everything just...

stop.

MEANWHILE AT LYRA & BON BON'S HOUSE...

Vinyl laid asleep on the couch. It was nearly morning, but Lyra and Bon Bon knew she liked to sleep in, so they left her alone.
"It's hard to believe she and Octavia separated." Bon Bon whispered, trying not to wake Vinyl.
"Sometimes these things don't last, I guess." Lyra added.
"Vinyl didn't seem to take it too hard, though. She was only sad for about 2 days. After that, she kinda just like... forgot about Tavi."
"Speakin' of Tavi, you think maybe we should check up on her? See how she's taking it?" Lyra insisted.
Bon Bon gave a small nod to Lyra, as the two mares walked out the door and Lyra slowly shutting it behind her. Lyra caught up with her cream-colored marefriend and walked with her to Octavia's home.
"I hope she's okay." Bon Bon began.
"I wouldn't worry about it. She should be fine. Besides, she's the more sophisticated one, right?"
"Yeah, I guess you're right. Come to think of it, we've been giving Vinyl lots of support since their break up, maybe she handled it better because of us." Bon Bon thought.
"What are you getting at?"
"Maybe... maybe Octavia didn't handle it so well."
Lyra stopped, which made Bon Bon do the same. Lyra's eyes widened. The two mares nodded to eachother, and began sprinting towards Octavia's residence.

LATER, AT OCTAVIA'S HOUSE...
"HEEEEEEEE-YA!" Lyra shouted, kicking the front door open. She landed on her front hooves and walked forward to let Bon Bon through.
"Shh! Lyra, be quiet!"
"Sorry!" She whispered. 
When they had stopped talking, they noticed that the house looked abandoned. Things were broken, the lights were off, everything in the room just looked... grey, old and dull.
"Is she even here?" Lyra asked.
"I don't know, let's check it out. You go upstairs, and I'll look around here."
Lyra nodded and went upstairs as Bon Bon looked around the ground floor. Bon Bon looked everywhere, in the kitchen, in the basement, in the dining room, but no sign of Octavia. Meanwhile, Lyra was searching through every door upstairs, walking into a lot of empty storage closets where Vinyl once kept her musical possessions. 
Eventually, Lyra noticed a still figure laying on the bed in the bedroom. She double-checked to make sure that it was Octavia, which indeed it was, but something was wrong. Lyra's heartbeat accelerated, and she rushed down the stairs to alert Bon Bon.
"Bon Bon! Come here! She's up here!" Lyra shouted. 
Bon Bon dropped whatever she was doing and followed Lyra upstairs and into the bedroom. Lyra had setup the covers so that it covered Octavia's body like a crime-scene. Bon Bon slowly lifted the covers to reveal Octavia.
"Okay, so she looks fine-"
"No! Look! She's grey!"
"Lyra... really? She's always been grey." Bon Bon rolled her eyes.
"Yeah but feel her!" Lyra said, shaking one of Octavia's legs.
Bon Bon did the same, and retracted her hoof quickly.
"Oh my... she's very stiff..."
"Do you think she's... dead?"
Bon Bon placed an ear on Octavia's chest.
THUMP THUMP. THUMP THUMP. THUMP THUMP.
"No, she has a steady heartbeat." Bon Bon said, returning to Lyra's side.
"So what's the diagnosis, doc?" Lyra joked.
"I think... I think she might be in a coma."
"Bon Bon, she's a pony, not a comb." 
"No Lyra, a COMA. She asleep, but she can't wake up."
"Why not?"
"I don't know. But I do know that we need to get her to the hospital, and fast." Bon Bon insisted.
"Shouldn't we tell Vinyl first?"
Bon Bon shook her head, and Lyra just accepted it. The two mares grabbed an end of Octavia and slowly made their way out of the house.

When the two mares got outside, Bon Bon noticed a grey mare and a brown stallion walking on the sidewalk.
"What happened to her?" Doctor Whooves asked.
"She's in a coma, we need to get her to a hospital!" Lyra said.
"Oh no! Here, lemme help!" Derpy cried, throwing Octavia onto her back. "Where to?"
"Ponyville Hospital, stat!" Lyra declared.
Derpy nodded and flew towards the hospital, as the others followed below her.
"How'd she get like this?" Lyra asked, running next to Bon Bon.
"We should know when we get to the hospital, just keep running." Bon Bon insisted.
Lyra nodded and resumed following Derpy and Doctor Whooves to the nearest hospital.

LATER, AT PONYVILLE HOSPITAL...
Lyra, Bon Bon, Doctor Whooves, and Derpy all sat in the lobby, waiting for the nurse to let them into Octavia's room. Lyra turned to Bon Bon and asked,
"What are we gonna tell Vinyl?"
Bon Bon paused for a moment, and stared and the floor.
"I... I just don't know, Lyra." Bon Bon whispered, still staring at the floor.
"We've been waiting here a long time, what if she really is dead?"
Bon Bon rolled her eyes and tried to tune out Lyra. An awkward silence fell over the room, the 4 friends only sat in the lobby for several minutes, just waiting. And waiting. And even more waiting. Lyra began kicking her hooves in boredom, which didn't help with Bon Bon's sanity levels. She took a deep breath, and relaxed in her chair.

Several minutes later, Derpy's wings sprung up at the sight of Nurse Redheart approaching around the corner.
"Octavia's friends?" She asked.
They all nodded.
"May we see her?" Doctor asked.
Nurse Redheart nodded. "Follow me, please."
The 4 friends sat up and followed the nurse upstairs to Octavia's room.
"Come in quietly, please." Nurse Redheart insisted, leading the 4 into the room.
Bon Bon was the first to gasp at Octavia's appearance in the bed.
"How is she, doc?" Lyra asked.
"Who, me?" Doctor Whooves asked.
"No, the doctor."
"Right, me."
Lyra rolled her eyes.
"No, the dude BEHIND you." Lyra pointed.
The doctor stepped out from behind The Doctor and walked up to Octavia.
"She is, in fact, in a coma."
Doctor and Derpy gasped.
"But what caused it?" Bon Bon asked.
"From the information we gathered, she had a panic attack, and fell asleep. She hasn't woken up since, correct?"
Lyra and Bon Bon nodded.
"Does Octavia have any other close friends that aren't here?" The doctor asked.
"Only this mare named 'Vinyl Scratch'. She's asleep at home." Bon Bon said.
"Okay." The doctor said, placing a clipboard at the foot of the bed. "I can assure you, she'll be just fine."
Everypony in the room sighed in relief.
"You'll have to leave, now. She needs to rest. We'll call you if anything happens."
The 4 friends turned around to leave, as the doctor instructed the nurse to keep a close eye on Octavia in-case anything happens.
"So how are we gonna break this to Vinyl?" Lyra asked, catching up with Bon Bon.
"We won't. I think it's best if she doesn't know."
"Why?"
"Do you want her to freak out? She's best the way she is now, quiet and tranquil."
"Oh... kay... whatever you say, Bon Bon."
Lyra looked down at the ground in disappointment. And thought to herself, 

"I'm just afraid what'll happen when she finds out on her own..."


  
> Chapter 10: If I Leave
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

When Lyra & Bon Bon came home, they found Vinyl awake in the kitchen. She looked away from inside the fridge and noticed Lyra & Bon Bon come in.
"Oh, hey guys. Where'd you go?" Vinyl said, taking out a milk carton from the fridge.
While she retrieved a glass from the cupboard above the sink, she didn't notice Lyra & Bon Bon's nervous sweating. Vinyl poured herself some milk and put the carton away, giving an awkward look to Lyra & Bon Bon.
"You two alright? Is it hot out there?"
Lyra jumped up, "Oh! Um... yeah! It's pretty hot out there now. Bon Bon and I just went for a short walk." Lyra explained, clearing her throat.
"That's nice." Vinyl nodded, returning to the couch. She placed the glass on the table and laid back. "I remember when Tavi and I used to go out on walks. We walked all the way to Canterlot and back once when we got lost in an argument. It was really cold that day, which really sucked because we didn't wear proper clothing. Heh, I had to carry Tavi on my back walking home. Good work-out if you ask me." Vinyl continued.
"Well uh... that's great Vinyl! We're just gonna go upstairs now so..." Lyra sweated.
"Meh, whatever." Vinyl digressed, taking another sip of her milk.
Lyra & Bon Bon rushed upstairs, Vinyl giving them a dirty look from the corner of her eye. 
"Wonder what's goin' on between those two..." Vinyl whispered to herself.
Upstairs, Lyra & Bon Bon ran rambunctiously around their room, trying to gather their thoughts.
"Okay okay okay okay, that was WAAAAAY too close." Bon Bon shrieked.
"Hey, you're lucky I came up with such a legitimate excuse!" Lyra argued.
"Okay, we need to be careful about our conversations with Vinyl, don't hint at Octavia at all!"
"Agreed, let's go down there and talk to her."
Bon Bon nodded and followed Lyra out of the room.
Downstairs, Vinyl heard the door open, and put down whatever she had in her hooves on the table. Vinyl scooted to one side of the couch, inviting Lyra & Bon Bon to sit with her. They did just that, and sat beside her, staring at her. It was clear that Vinyl was uncomfortable. She looked awkwardly back and forth as the two mares stared smiling at her.
"Are you guys... feeling okay?" Vinyl asked.
"DO YOU MISS OCTAVIA?" Lyra blurted out. Bon Bon only gave her an "are you **cking kidding me" face.
Vinyl's ears perked up, then back down.
"Well... of course I do." Vinyl said.
Lyra & Bon Bon stopped giving each other dirty looks and payed attention to Vinyl.
"Wait... you do? I thought you hated her?" Bon Bon asked.
"When I left her, I didn't plan on leaving her forever. I thought... maybe this could be good for us. Sometimes, it's not safe for couples to be together forever. Believe me, this situation could've been a lot worse."
"But weren't you the one who lashed out at Octavia?" Lyra asked.
"Yeah but... she wasn't going the right way. Can you imagine Octavia becoming a DJ?"
Lyra & Bon Bon looked at eachother, and shook their heads.
"Granted, I was very angry that she was almost stealing my job. I just wanted her to stay safe, keep her in a job she liked; and that she was GOOD at."
"So why'd you teach her your music, then?" Bon Bon asked.
"Because I was hoping that we'd be a DJ DUO, not split up and have her think 'I'm better off without you'. I know Octavia, and I was hoping that she'd be smart with what I taught her, and use it so that we could be famous together." Vinyl continued.
"Do you know why Octavia abused her power, then?" Lyra asked.
Vinyl thought for a moment. She had almost completely forgotten Octavia's situation.
"It was because she was in trouble. Ponies stopped coming to her shows and listening to her music, then eventually... she lost her job. She became desperate for fame. She was used to it, so it was unsettling for her not to feel it, and she wanted it back. I guess the only way to do that was to get with the times." Vinyl sighed. 
Up until now, Lyra & Bon Bon hadn't gotten this much information on their separation. The two mares looked at each other, Lyra nudging her head in Vinyl's direction, insisting that they tell her some bad news. Bon Bon shook her head, however. She felt this wasn't the time.

During their conversation, they didn't notice the dark rain-clouds forming outside until the rain began hitting the windows. Vinyl drank the last of her milk and set the empty glass on the table, grabbing her blanket and throwing it over herself. Lyra & Bon Bon shrugged, and decided they would go off to bed too. As Bon Bon went upstairs, Lyra stopped for a moment, and glanced back at Vinyl. Lyra sighed, and followed Bon Bon to their bedroom.

*RIIIIIIIIIIIIIIING*... *RIIIIIIIIIIIIING*.... *RIIIIIIIIIIING...
Vinyl groaned. She rubbed her eyes and yawned. Looking around for the ringing sound, she saw it was coming from the telephone. 'Who could be calling this late?' Vinyl thought. It'd still been raining outside; quite harshly by now. Vinyl picked up the phone on the 5th ring.
"Ugh... hello?" She asked.
"Yes um... who am I speaking to?" A stallion's voice asked.
"Vinyl Scratch. Did you need Lyra or Bon Bon?"
There was a small pause in the conversation.
"Uh... no, I think it's best you knew."
"Knew what?"
"About your friend, Octavia."
Vinyl paused for a moment. She swore her heart skipped a beat.
"What about her?"
"She fell into a coma, remember? Did Lyra nor Bon Bon tell you?"
Vinyl paused again, looking angrily upstairs from the couch.
"Go on."
"Yes, she had a panic attack about a day ago, and she hasn't woken up since."
"WHAT!?"
Lyra and Bon Bon jumped.
"What was that noise?" Bon Bon asked, frightened.
Their heads turned when they heard yelling downstairs.
"Yes well... I have good news, and bad news."
"TELL ME THE GOOD NEWS." Vinyl demanded.
"Your friend, Octavia, she's awake." The doctor said in a positive tone.
Meanwhile, Bon Bon and Lyra were coming downstairs; Vinyl paying no attention to them.
"WHAT'S THE BAD NEWS?" She demanded once more.
"Well... uh... um..." The doctor stuttered.
"SPIT IT OUT!" Vinyl cried, her eyes beginning to water.
"She's gone." The doctor sighed.
Vinyl's heart sank. Only for a few seconds; as she was also confused about what she was just told.
"Wait... what do you mean she's awake, but she's gone?"
"Well... I came into her room this morning to check on her and... she... wasn't um... she wasn't there. The window was open, she must've run off somewhere."
Vinyl dropped the phone, her eyes watering even more. Bon Bon and Lyra cringed, and Lyra stepped over to the phone to pick it up.
"What'd you tell her, doc?" Lyra asked.
"Octavia has gone missing." The doctor replied.
"Oh you've got to be shitting me."
"LYRA!Watch your language!"
Lyra placed the phone on her chest and turned towards Bon Bon.
"Bon Bon, Octavia's missing. She escaped from the hospital." Lyra responded in a dull tone.
"Oh... oh no... OH NO! SHE'S OUT THERE IN THE RAIN!" Bon Bon cried
"Yes, that's what I was afraid of. The terrible weather can worsen her condition. We need to find her as soon as possible." The doctor replied.

(Author's Notes: Sorry if this chapter was a bit quick, but there's probably going to be a lot of stuff in the next one.)
> Chapter 11: The Downfall Of Us All
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

  Octavia ran as fast as she possibly could in her fragile state. Vicious thunder clashed and roared, left and right, dampening both her vision, and her hearing. Rain poured in sheets, in addition to the cold air making the grey mare's hooves tremble as she ran through thick walls of sleet. Octavia sped up her pace, clenching her teeth as she fought through the harsh weather. Despite it looking as if Octavia was only running rambunctiously around the town, she was going in a specific direction. She was running towards something, what exactly that something was, she had no idea. All she knew was that her legs were taking her there, whilst her mind clouded with words like "I'm sorry" and "I failed". During what seemed like an endless sprint, she instinctively jump across small creaks, and bridges, whilst dodging trees and rocks that were dug into the ground. The only relief she got from the pain in her head and chest was from the wind in her mane. Octavia grasped her chest hard, and coughed roughly, drying her throat to where she couldn't stop. She quickened her pace more, her constant coughing weakening her legs and throat. Evidently, the sick warm-grey mare trembled. The mud build up around her body as she slid through it, the rain making a puddle in the pool that the mud formed. Between coughs, Octavia manage to yelp out in desperation,
"I'M SORRY!" she wined. "I CAN'T DO IT, I CAN'T! IT'S ALL TOO HARD AND CONFUSING! IT HURTS!" she yelled again, coughing viciously afterwards. Her head sank into the mud, as she uttered, "I've... I've failed you. I've failed you all." 
As her hearing faded out, she barely heard familiar voices in the distance, let alone recognize them. Before long, Octavia was back on her hooves. She felt deadly scared at the ponies chasing her through the town. The grey mare forced her legs to work harder, as the splashing she heard behind her was getting quicker and closer.
"Tavi! TAVI! STOP!" Vinyl yelled.
"WE JUST WANT TO HELP YOU!" Lyra screamed, trying to project her voice over the clashing elements.

There was that word, help.

The 3 mares slid on the mud as they noticed Octavia stop suddenly.
"Tavi, what's going on?" Bon Bon yelled over the storm.
"We're here to help!" Lyra insisted.
Octavia didn't budge, she just stood there, motionless, lifeless. It wasn't until she collapsed on the ground that the 3 mares rushed over to help her.
"TAVI!" Vinyl yelled.
"Wow, right into the mud!" Lyra joked.
While Lyra and Bon Bon hauled Octavia on their backs, Vinyl took a moment to notice what exactly Octavia had collapsed in front of.
"Hey-hey guys! Look at this!" Vinyl yelled behind her.
Bon Bon and Lyra crouched down to see the object Octavia was running towards.
"Here lies Annabelle Treble, beloved wife and mother. R.I.P." Bon Bon read aloud. "What about this one next to it?" She pointed out.
Vinyl didn't notice this one. She rubbed the mud off of the stone and focused on the lettering engraved in it.
"Here lies Benson Treble, faithful husband and father. R.I.P." Vinyl sighed, her sentence trailing off. "These... these are her parents..." Vinyl trailed off, shocked.
"Wasn't Octavia's mother missing?" Bon Bon said. "Oh please, it's been like... 30 years since she went missing. If you ask me, she's six feet under, right there." Lyra pointed. She started feeling slight movement on her back. Octavia was nearly awake, and just barely uttered "Ifuuledyuu..." as she fell back into her unconscious state.
"We need to get back to the hospital." Lyra digressed. The other 2 mares nodded, and ran out of Ponyville Cemetery back to the hospital.

LATER, BACK AT THE HOSPITAL...
The grey mare's eyes creaked open. It was still cloudy outside, only it was nighttime as well. Octavia held her chest tightly as it cringed, grunting slightly as she clenched. She took a deep breath, and looked around the room. To her right, sat Lyra and Bon Bon, sleeping. To her left, was the doctor, awake, and looking out the window. Octavia adjusted her position, the sound of the sheets rustling getting her doctor's attention.
"Oh, you're awake. Wonderful." The doctor said with a slight whisper. "How are you feeling?" He continued, touching Octavia's neck and looking down at his watch. He backed away from the grey mare and waited for a response. Octavia only rubbed her head and looked around the room more.
"Where am I?"
"You're in the hospital, Octavia. You're here because of a terrible panic attack you had in your home not more than 2 days ago."
"What? But I was just there a minute ago!" She whined.
"Actually, a minute ago you were running around in the rain heading towards the cemetery, before collapsing in front of your parents' tombstones. Or at least, that's what you're friends told me."
Octavia rubbed her head more, trying to remember. 
"What's... what's happening?" Octavia began to pant, the heart meter next to her bed accelerating. The doctor rushed towards Octavia's side.
"Octavia, I need you to listen to me. Calm down, control your breathing, and relax. You're just a little confused, that's all."
The grey mare took a deep breath, and slid under her bed sheets.
"Okay, now listen, I need you to... Octavia? Miss Treble, are you okay?" The doctor panicked, waving a hoof in front of the black-maned mare. No response. The doctor sighed, grabbed his clipboard off the bed, and left the room.

Octavia stood in complete darkness. She couldn't feel her body, nor could she move. A light turned on above her, and another one just a few feet away, it shining on her cello. She began to walk towards it, lifting a bow she didn't know she had and leading a hoof towards the instrument. Before she could even touch a single string, her DJ set smashed down on it, the wooden pieces of her cello flying in several directions. Octavia was then blasted a few feet back when her DJ set began to play incredibly loudly. As she slid on the floor from the blast, she felt a bump on her haunches. Standing up and turning around, she saw both her parents. Octavia smiled gingerly, but frowned when they suddenly morphed into Vinyl. Octavia became angry. As she lifted her front legs to smash away her once great friend, she saw the reflection of her parents in Vinyl's eyes. The black-maned mare placed her hooves down slowly, and stared deeply into Vinyl's eyes, focusing on her parents.

"This isn't right, Octavia. You failed us. You failed us. You failed us." They repeated.
Octavia covered her ears and ran away, getting no further from the possessed Vinyl, but getting closer to a bright light.

"Oc... Octavia... please don't go... please, come... come back."

Octavia stopped. She recognized Vinyl's voice behind her, and turned around, walking closer to Vinyl. The white mare stood motionless, only her mouth moving.

"I was just trying to keep you safe... I didn't mean for you to get in all this t-trouble..." The Vinyl statue sniffled. "W-we can start over, okay? I... I..."

Octavia's heart meter hummed a low-pitched beep noise.

Vinyl gasped. The statue began crying.
"N-no... this... can't h-happen..." Vinyl whined, squeezing Octavia's hoof that she held at her bedside. "IT CAN'T!" She yelled, more tears pouring out, soaking the bed sheets as she squeezed her love's hoof harder.
"Oh my gosh... Vinyl... I'm so sorry." Lyra whispered, choking up. 
Bon Bon sniffled, her eyes bloodshot. "I think... I think we should go." She sniffled again.
"You guys go... I need... I need a moment." Vinyl looked down. The 2 other mares nodded and held eachother as they walked out the door.
Vinyl took off her saddlebags and opened a flap. Her hooves trembled as she took out a CD player, and 2 pairs of headphones. Placing a pair on Octavia's ears and her own, she inserted a CD titled "Orchestral Astonishment - Octavia Treble". It'd been Octavia's best selling collection of her best songs. Vinyl tapped the play button, and sat on the cold hospital floor as she listened to the greatest music she'd ever heard. Rubbing Octavia's arm, she hummed the theme to herself, her voice occasionally cracking when whines tried to push through it.

Suddenly, Octavia's cello appeared again in a different spotlight next to Vinyl. The bow floated in mid-air, and played the song she was hearing in her head. 
"Man... this is some sick stuff right here!" Octavia said, bobbing her head. She slapped herself. "By Celestia, did... did I just say that? What have I..." Octavia paused. "Oh my..."

As the song ended, Vinyl slipped her hoof off of Octavia's.

Then Octavia grabbed it back.

Vinyl gasped, and looked up. She saw Octavia's eyes open, and her heart meter start back up. Vinyl stood up, and stared blankly at Octavia, who did the same.
"Oh my Celestia, Tavi you're-" Vinyl was cut off when Octavia planted her lips in the middle of hers. Octavia began rubbing the back of Vinyl's head, engaging her in the most passionate kiss they both of them have ever experienced. The two mares ignored the sound of the door opening, and Lyra and Bon Bon walking in.
"Hey Vinyl-" Lyra froze in the middle of the door.
"What is it Ly-" Bon Bon froze behind her.
It was at this point that Octavia had forced Vinyl against the wall, Vinyl now ruffling up Octavia's mane just as Octavia was hers. Meanwhile, Lyra and Bon Bon leisurely and quietly closed the door and walked away from the room. 
"What was that?" Bon Bon said in surprise.
"What was what? I didn't see anything. Why are we in a hospital? Let's get out of here." Lyra panicked.

Octavia and Vinyl's lips parted, both mares breathing heavily.
"What was that for?" Vinyl asked, trying to catch her breath.
Octavia unpinned Vinyl from the wall, remaining close to Vinyl.
"I'm... I'm terribly sorry." Octavia sighed. 
"Are you joking? That was amazing!"
"No, not what we just did; I'm sorry for not listening to you before. You were right, I was becoming so desperate for fame that... well I guess I seemed to have forgotten who I really was."
"Wow. I can't believe it took you so much to figure that out. But I'm wondering... what finally set your head straight?"
Octavia paused, and looked nervously at the ground.
"I... I had a dream. M-my parents, they were... so disappointed." 
"And what did we learn?" Vinyl joked.
"I think... I think I should quit music."
Vinyl's eyes widened. She couldn't believe her ears.
"WHAT?! But... but Tavi! You can't do that!"
"It's for the best, Vinyl. I don't want my parents to be-"
"Okay, that needs to stop."
"What?"
"You need to stop doing everything for your parents! THEY'RE DEAD! BOTH OF THEM! WHO CARES WHAT THEY THINK?" Vinyl yelled.
Octavia's eyes began to puff up. Vinyl panted heavily, anger still in her expression. Then, she'd just realized what she'd done.
"Oh my gosh... Tavi I... I didn't mean that! I'm so sorry!" Vinyl panicked, trying to comfort Octavia.
"GET YOUR DIRTY HOOVES OFF ME!"  Octavia cried, running out of the room.
Vinyl froze. Things escalated so quickly and yet, they crashed just as fast.
"Why... WHY DID I SAY IT LIKE THAT?" Vinyl yelled, bashing her head against the wall. Having one last chance to catch up with Octavia, she took it.

Vinyl turned around and rushed out of the room after Octavia. 

LATER, AT OCTAVIA'S RESIDENCE...

Vinyl slowly opened the front door, which surprisingly was unlocked. Shutting the door, she paused for a moment. Planting her head in her hoof, she let out an annoyed growl. They'd ended up right back where they started.

Vinyl walked down into the basement, where she thought the sound of a violin was coming from. Finding nothing downstairs, she followed the sound much more clearly the 2nd time. She found Octavia upstairs in their bedroom, with her cello.
"Tavi? You're... you're playing your cello?"
Octavia stopped, and opened her eyes, still bloodshot from crying. She laid her bow on the bedside, and shyly walked up to Vinyl.
"That was um... ignorant of me." Octavia sighed.
"Yeah, it was. You scared the living Hell outta me."
"Okay, from now on, heh..." Octavia chuckled. "You're right." She admitted. "I should listen to you. When I was running home, I realized, yes, you are right; I shouldn't have to think about what my parents would think of me today."
"I'm sure they'd be proud of whatever you do with your life."
"And that, Vinyl my dear, is music."
"Exactly." Vinyl nodded. "So, when's your next show?"
Octavia rolled her eyes nervously.
"Eheh... that's um... the problem, Vinyl. Um... ponies and their opinions of my type of music still haven't changed their minds, I'm still outdated..."
"Oh... um..."
Vinyl's ears perked up, she heard the phone downstairs ringing.

Picking it up, she brought it to her ear.
"Hello?"
"Viinyllll, babyyyyy! Guess what? I got a SWEET gig for you! You, Canterlot, biggest performance of the year, right here, right now."
Vinyl dropped the phone. 

Neither she nor Octavia had written any new material in weeks, Vinyl's speakers were broken on the front lawn, and Vinyl's only two DJ sets were burned to ash.

> Chapter 12: A Day To Remember
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

  "Vinyl. Vinyl. Vinyl! VINYL!" Octavia yelled, vigorously shaking her stunned partner.
"Yeah... okay..." Vinyl responded in a monotone, hanging up.
There was a short silence in the room before Vinyl pounced on Octavia, their foreheads touching.
"TAVI! WE'RE GONNA DIE! WE HAVE A BIG FREAKIN' SHOW IN CANTERLOT THAT WE'RE NOT READY FOR!"
Octavia's body shook.
"Now Vinyl, calm down, darling!"
"DON'T 'CALM DOWN DARLING' ME! BOTH OF MY DJ SETS ARE BURNED TO SHIT AND PONIES HATE YOUR CELLO! WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO?"
Octavia looked around the room nervously.
"I... I don't know..."
Vinyl sighed. "Exactly... this is it Tavi, we're done for."
The grey mare rubbed her chin, looking up.
"Actually..." she began.
"WHAT?" Vinyl's eyes sparked.
"I did actually... um... have a new DJ set on layaway for your birthday..."
Vinyl grabbed Octavia, hugging her tightly.
"Oh Tavi! You shouldn't have! Actually, you should have, because it'll save our careers, anyway, c'mon! Let's go get it!" 
Octavia sighed and looked down. "Unfortunately, I don't have the money to pay the rest of the bill in time."
"Well I'm sure we can manage, how much was left?"
Octavia rubbed her shoulder nervously. "Well uh... just a little, teeny tiny... um... four thousand bits..."
Vinyl's jaw dropped. "How in the wide world of Equestria did you expect to make all that money by next month?"
"Vinyl, darling, you wouldn't believe how much my performances payed in Canterlot."
"Maybe we can... ask for help?" Vinyl suggested.
Octavia looked behind Vinyl when she heard the doorbell ring. Behind the door stood a familiar brown stallion on his blonde-maned marefriend, along with a particular pair of mares consisting of a mint colored one and a cream colored one.
"Got four thousand bits?" Vinyl leisurely asked the group outside.
"Uh... not exactly Vinyl but-"  Bon Bon responded, the door being slammed in her face.
"Well this is just great." Vinyl sighed, slouching against the door. Her ears perked up when she felt a knock on the door through her back. Opening the door to the same group of ponies, she asked again more sarcastically,
"Four thousand bits?"
"No but-" Lyra stuck her hoof in the door frame, Vinyl slamming against it trying to cut her off in mid-sentence. Lyra cringed in pain, as Vinyl opened the door again, this time to actually listen to her friends.
"No but what?" She groaned.
"We've got something cheaper." The Doctor insisted.
"What are you talking about?" Vinyl rubbed her chin, perplexed.
"We overheard you guys through the door. Lyra and Bon Bon told us that you two had gotten back together..."
"We won't say how we know that..." Lyra added.
"So we were coming over here to show you something!" Derpy finished. "C'mon! Hurry!"
Vinyl shrugged and called over to Octavia to follow her and the gang.

LATER, AT THE HOOVES' RESIDENCE...
The Doctor unlocked the door and invited everypony inside, leading them to a room in the back of their house.
"Come take a look!" The Doctor insisted, pointing Octavia and Vinyl to go into the room first.
Stepping inside the room, they saw a large square-shaped structure under a blue cloak. Lyra, Bon Bon, Derpy, and Doctor grouped behind the structure.
"Vinyl, we know you've got an important show, so we'd all just like to say that we know how important this is to the both of you." Bon Bon started.
"Yes, and hopefully-Vinyl, Octavia-you'll know what to do with the tools that we're giving you."
Vinyl and Octavia stared at eachother, perplexed. Turning back to their friends, Vinyl asked, "What do you mean?"
The four ponies behind the cloaked object grabbed hold of the cloak, biting down on it's cloth. Throwing their heads back, revealing what was underneath the cloak.

Octavia's jaw dropped to the floor, while Vinyl fell over on the ground with an over-dramatic faint. 
"I-it's... beautiful..." she uttered. Vinyl crawled over to her newly revealed gem, caressing it lovingly.
"How did... you all do this?" Octavia stuttered.
"When you two broke up, we thought that maybe someday, when you got back together, you could use a fresh start!"
"I polished your cello, too!" Derpy added, unveiling it from behind Vinyl's new DJ set.
Octavia followed Vinyl in caressing her new instrument lovingly. Before Octavia and Vinyl both got... dirty... Octavia shook her head out of her trance.
"Vinyl! We have a show to do!" She remembered.
Vinyl stood up shook her head and nodded, "Right! C'mon, let's get going!"
"But wait..." the grey mare pointed out. "How are we going to get these instruments out the door? Especially your DJ set! It's huge!"
Vinyl sat down to conjure up a plan, rubbing her chin. A spark struck in her mind with an "AH HA!".
"What is it, Vinyl?" Lyra questioned, the white mare positioning herself next to her.
"Lyra, you and I need to use our magic to teleport these to Canterlot!" The white mare declared.
"What? That sounds impossible! That's too great of a distance!" Lyra debated.
"For ONE mare, maybe. But two horns are always better than one!"
"Hmm... you may just have something... I'll give it my best, then." Lyra nodded.
The two mares charged their horns, the rest of the group standing back from the force-field their magic created around their instruments. Both mares made struggling grunts as they pushed their magical prowess over the threshold, sweating violently.
"Just... a little... more..." Vinyl squeezed out of her throat.
A loud burst of energy scorched the room's interior wallpaper and carpeting. Vinyl sprung up when she saw the instruments weren't in the room.
"It worked!" She cheered.
"I hope so. Do you have any idea where it went?"
"Let's hope Canterlot, but there's no time to confirm! We need to go now!" Vinyl rushed.
Octavia nodded as she and Vinyl ran out the front door, waving thank you and goodbye to their friends.

LATER, IN CANTERLOT...

Neither Octavia nor Vinyl wasted anytime sight-seeing. The very symphony hall Octavia fell apart in was where they needed to go. Only this time, a full house. At the entrance of the symphony building, Octavia blocked her marefriend with her leg.
"What gives, Tavi? We need to get in there!"
"I know, but listen to me for a sec. When we go in there, we really need to give more than our best. We need to improvise, since we haven't written anything new, but it needs to be our best instinct at heart. This could either make or break us both, Vinyl. And if it breaks us, there's no piecing us back together."
Vinyl looked down doubtfully at the ground. Raising her chin, she confidently nodded at Octavia, both mares facing towards the double-doors as they stepped in.

The quiet crowd cheered viciously as they stepped in, making their way to the stage. Vinyl leaned in close to Tavi, pointing out that their instruments arrived safely. 

The two musicians made their way down the isle, waving a blowing kisses to the crowd, as they continued to cheer them on.
"Does it feel good, Tavi?"
"Does what feel good?"
"The fame, the attention, isn't it just like it used to be?"
Octavia looked around and observed the fans all around her, jumping out of their seats just to get a glance at their beloved performers.
"No... it's nothing like it used to be...."
Vinyl looked confused over to her grey marefriend, Octavia returning the look with a more cheerful expression.
"It's so much more." She smiled.
Vinyl returned the smile as she jumped on stage, lending a hoof to help Octavia on as well. As Octavia setup her cello, Vinyl grabbed the microphone at the front of the stage. About to announce their arrival, she stopped for a moment, a turned to Octavia. She gave Octavia a sly look, pointing at the microphone, and nudging her head at the crowd. Octavia lit up, excited to be the mare to address the crowd.
"HOW'S EVERYPONY DOING TONIIIIIIIGHT?" Octavia yelled, pepping up the crowd. "Well that's just marvelous! Because we sure have a HUGE PERFORMANCE READY FOR YOU!" she yelled again, the crowd responding accordingly. Octavia stepped away from the microphone, Vinyl quickly taking the position.
"Alright everypony, settle down for a second..."
Octavia looked confused over at her white marefriend, wondering what she was doing. The crowd simmered down, allowing Vinyl to speak.
"I want to say a couple things before we get started. A couple things about... the amazing experiences I learned throughout the last few months."
The crowd sat patiently, allowing Vinyl to continue.
"I've learned... that there's something that all artists fear the most, the new generation. Some can't keep up with it, other just adjust to it and live on through their artistry. I know... one mare in particular that couldn't keep up, she didn't want to. She loved the music she played and she didn't want that to change. I noticed that as time went on, her time in the spotlight slowly faded away. Time went by, time brought changes, and the ponies around us changed, too. Myself, along with a few other ponies were the only ones that still believed in her. But, just like the old genres and generations of yesteryear, those thoughts and beliefs faded away. But did Octavia give up? No. Granted, she went through some tough times to climb back up the ladder to super-stardom, but she made it, didn't she? Look at her now, she's here to give you all a show, but not alone. What I'm trying to say is, just as it all may seem hopeless, you don't let go of your dreams. You've got to carry the weight, as the strength such gives you, helps you make your way to the top."
Octavia stared with her jaw dropped and eyes wide open at what Vinyl was saying. She was surprised that she understood it, she understood what her life was like, and it seemed so apparent to Vinyl that if it hadn't had been for the crowd, she would've tackled her and got busy right there. But such a thought flew out of her mind quickly, there were more important matters at hoof.
As the crowd stood up and cheered as Vinyl nodded her head and waved, she looked back at Octavia.
"You ready to give 'em more than what they came for?" She said, turning and walking up to her grey marefriend.
"I can carry the weight." Octavia nodded, standing up and trotting towards her cello. Vinyl trotted to her designated instrument as well, grabbing the microphone and placing it by her side.
"NOW ARE YOU ALL READY FOR THIS SHOW OR WHAT!?"  Vinyl's voice boomed through the building.
The crowd cheered viciously, Vinyl and Octavia nodded at eachother. Tavi lifted her bow, and Vinyl readied her hooves to spin her sick beats.

Silence fell over the crowd,

and jaws dropped.

> Epilogue: Right Where You Want Me To Be
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

  Vast waves of what was now considered the greatest genre of all time spread all across Equestria. It's ear-pleasuring beats topped with harmonic hums touched the hearts and held the souls of the many who opened their ears to the music. For it was on that day, when the quakes of bass and winds of strings shook the land, made it think, made it feel, never again would the shining stars of the night that made it all happen, ever fade again. For it was from then on, they lived the high life. Or more so, the higher life. Vinyl and Octavia, the duo that brought forth the standards expected of music in the new generation, the one they'd created. Those names were to be forever remembered and embroidered in the hearts and minds of many, much like it had been on the walls of the symphony hall, where it had begun. The words Vinyl said the night of their uprising performance, became the ones that Octavia lived by.

There was something that she'd once feared, the new generation. Most can't keep up with hit, other just adjust and live on. One mare in particular couldn't keep up; she didn't want to. She loved the music she played, and she didn't want to change it. So what'd she do? She didn't adjust, but instead, laid the foundation for the new generation. Octavia was right where she wanted to be; on the top. Above all other genres, she was glad that her best friend and love was by her side at every performance. Together, they were unstoppable, inseparable. And together, they created a world they were meant for.

"Vinyl?"
"Hm?"
"Can I ask you something?"
"Anything."
Octavia nodded, swallowed and looked at the ground.
"When you came through for me on the night we first performed this... music... did you ever stop to think of... how it was exactly that we could have had such of a big impact on the world like this? I mean... it's just... music..."
Octavia looked up to see Vinyl's expression. Her eyes wide open, looking somewhat disappointed at Octavia.
"It's more than just music, Tavi." Vinyl said, placing a hoof on Octavia's shoulder. "It's what's kept not just us, but the world itself alive for years, with many still to come."
Vinyl paused, taking a deep breath.
"And I'm not talking about the money, or the fame that's kept us alive, I'm talking about the hard work, and heart we put into our songs."
Vinyl picked up Octavia's chin, lightly kissing her on the lips.
"And you... you're the biggest part of what makes it all special. What was considered the support for your life; what you did before all of this was just a world you weren't meant for. For long, anyways. What I want you to see is... you've got it good out here, Tavi. The music we make should mean more to you than just what pays the bills, it should be what keeps us together." Vinyl faded to a whisper. 
Octavia kissed Vinyl while her face was next to hers. Octavia rubbed her cheek with a hoof, bringing her mouth in closer. Their heads leaned on one another's, the fireplace setting the mood for the moment.

"That's just what I wanted to hear."