Octavia was gone by the following evening.
Vinyl tried repeatedly, time and time again to speak to the mare, to try and talk some sense into her, explain to her, tried anything to stop her from leaving. Vinyl hardly got the chance for such opportunities however, and when the cellist wasn't available for these conversations during the few minutes she could spare, she was either packing her things, or out of the house for reasons lost on the unicorn. Vinyl sat on the porch for most of the day, running the previous twenty four hours in her head over and over, wondering what she could have done to prevent such a catastrophe, and firmly put her belief to the front that the world must be out to get her, and that Octavia was being irrational about the whole situation.
Staring at the street, the the sun slowly dipping toward the horizon which plagued the sky with warm colors of haphazard red, orange, and yellow that had her cursing everything under the sun for mocking her with such happy looking scenes. In her grief ridden mind, the world should be falling apart, thunderstorms swamping Equestria in torrential downpours, fires riddling the neighborhood, mares, foals, and stallions alike screaming in the streets. Though the world went on, right past her, as normal as it ever had been.
A scene of alcohol bottles littered the grass to her left behind a small bush, the mare attempting to drown her sorrows in a fury of alcohol, but nothing helped, the grief clinging to her heart like a blacksmith's vice. As the sun began to sink behind the horizon, a carriage rolled in front of their lawn, pulled by a burly looking stallion with a blue work's top and baseball cap. Vinyl looked up with a sour expression on her face, before the door opened, a stiff looking mare taking a cautious step onto the sidewalk. Vinyl easily recognized the brown mane and light blue coat of Beauty Brass, one of Octavia's close friends in the classical world. She began her slow trot up the lawn, giving Vinyl a frown.
“Vinyl.” She said in acknowledgment.
Vinyl nodded in response, though the action was less friendly, and more of a curt gesture, eyes avoiding the Beauty as she walked straight up to the front door and, to agitate Vinyl even further, stepped inside their house, as though she owned the place. The thought bought tears to her eyes, which she furiously brushed away in an effort to keep the world in the dark on how she was feeling right now. It was just her house right now, as Octavia was leaving her, supposedly to stay with Beauty for a few days, before only Celestia knew what. No less than ten minutes passed when Beauty Brass stepped from the confines of the house, followed by Octavia, tugging along a sizable suitcase. She kept to the other side of the blue mare so that Vinyl couldn't see her face as the mare followed the tuba player with elegant strides that befit her well, each step a visual art the deejay could hardly break her gaze from. One detail was certainly inescapable; Octavia wouldn't even look in her direction. Beauty Brass helping her along, Octavia made her way to the carriage, before putting her luggage inside, following it in herself a second later, with Beauty right behind her.
There was no final goodbye, no lingering stares, no small verbal exchange between cellist and deejay as they pulled away. The stallion merely tugged the carriage along, the two mares in the back keeping together, Vinyl struggling to catch even a last glimpse of dark mane or gray coat. Time was no friend to her at all, the carriage soon lost around the next corner and out of sight.
Vinyl didn't move from her spot, merely staring at the solid path of paving stones in front of her that led to the street. Seconds passed to minutes, which turned into hours as darkness fell over Equestria and the full moon's rays cast a glowing blanket over the city, the chill of the night's air brought with it. In the end, she wasn't sure how long she'd just sat there, thinking about things. Well, specifically one thing. In the end, it wasn't her that broke the silence, but a hoof gently resting on her shoulder. She jumped stiffly, shock in her eyes as the moonlight reflected off of her magenta gaze, which leveled on the stallion whom was now sitting next to her.
“Hey Vinyl. You alright? You haven't spoken all day to me. Or anypony from what I can tell.” Neon said, the expression on his face supposedly reassuring as he let his hoof drop back to the edge of the porch.
Vinyl turned back to the road, letting out the breath she'd been holding since he'd held her. “Sorry dude. I've just been so preoccupied with...” Her voice trailed off, as she couldn't bear to bring back the painful scene before her in such sharp relief. Neon didn't respond at first, his understanding silence speaking plenty for itself.
After a while, such silence had to be broken of course, her friend standing up slowly. “Well, I won't ask about it.” He took two steps until he was in front of her, kneeling so that he was eye level with the white mare. “But if you come with me, maybe we can take your mind off it? It's the least I can do for a friend.” He held out his hoof to her, an encouraging smile on his face. It helped to bring even the ghost of a grin back to her own, as she nodded, reaching out her own hoof to grip his.
“You're right. I need to get past this.”
“I know just the thing too.” He replied confidently, a suave tone in his voice as the stallion tugged upward, Vinyl soon back on her own four hooves with one smooth motion.
“Alright, you've got me guessing.” She muttered, forcing herself into a more positive posture, chest out, head tilted somewhat skyward as her eyes locked onto his own.
“How about a rematch?”
Less than an hour later, the familiar scene of the inside of Club Canterlot around her, surroundings fuzzy as she tried to keep her balance, the euphoric feeling growing as the 'number seven knockout' took it's effects, spreading a grin across her face. Faces danced past her as she moved deeper within the crowd, the pounding music in her ears setting her pulse on a frantic, never ending race, she wanted to dance, cheer, scream and shout as a feeling more intoxicating than a dozen bottles of vodka could ever supply. The rush. The rush that kept her alive and free. The rush that kept her going, filling the void temporarily with a feeling of pure ecstasy. Faces continued to dance by, much faster, cheerful expressions all on her, cheering with her. Liquid hit her lips, the cold glass of a bottle with it. It burnt as it went down, but it was comforting all the same. She wanted this. Anything to get her mind off of...
Everything spun around her, colors blending into one another. Vinyl felt the bile rise in her throat, a feeling of something rushing for her. Faces now devoid of happiness, only worry and fear. Voices filled with panic that drowned out the bass. She tried to speak, tried to ask what the matter was. Weren't they having fun? Was something wrong? The rushing only seemed to increase as the floor rose up to greet her. Pain. Darkness. A disgusting taste filled her mouth, the disgusting scent of her stomach's contents splattered the floor, her face pressed into it.
“Voynel yooooew awrayght?” A voice, distorted yet familiar, though she couldn't understand it. Focus deserted her, and she tried to reclaim it, a chill running down her spine. Whatever efforts left she could summon, it was far from enough, the world growing quiet, her senses going dark. What was it she was so worried about? For the life of her, she couldn't remember. She did feel tired though, very tired.
Then, somepony else.
“Are you alright?”
Movements sluggish, she opened her eyes slowly. Momentarily taken aback by the darkness, she squinted, and found it was just the outside world that was dim, rather than her own eyesight just being poor. She sat up slowly, eyes finding a pair of hooves in front of her. She followed them up to the face of a rather stiff looking guard, bending over to her as if to examine her.
“I'm fine.” She said with difficulty, pressing her front hooves against the ground and pushing up, standing up slowly as a rather agonizing pain throbbed inside of her head, the mare leaning against a nearby wall for support.
“Ma'm? I'm sure you should be heading back home.” She couldn't see, her eyes shut reflexively against the glare of a nearby streetlamp, and she wondered for a moment where her shades were, but quickly left that train of thought as concentrating on anything was painful.
“Don't worry.” She muttered, nodding in approval at his words. “I'm..going. Where am I? What time is it?” She groaned, pulling herself into the cover of a nearby shadow provided by one of the two buildings on either side of her.
“Ah, been drinking eh?” he paused, before relenting, his tone calm and placid. “Corner of Symphony and fourth street. It is four in the morning. Anything else?” The guard's louder speech was like a nail driving into her skull, but she kept her mouth shut politely, nodding as he replied.
“Y-Yeah...” She grumbled, leaning heavily onto the wall of the alley. “I uh..have you seen a unicorn? Stallion. Black mane. Bit spiky and short?” She asked with a tone of mild concern, using the wall to hold herself up as her other three legs made their way to the street at a sluggish pace.
“No, I haven't.” He replied matter-of-factly. “However, If you need assistance, I can see if there's a carriage nearby willing to take you home. Wouldn't need you wandering around in the dark.”
Vinyl replied with her thanks, the guard soon having hailed down a cab and with plenty of effort on his part, helped the deejay struggle her way into one of the seats. As she managed to sit upright, she looked outside the window, offering him her best impersonation of a smile, which seemed to express anything but joy in her words. “Thanks. I really uh- Appreciate it an all.”
The guard nodded stiffly, offering her a small grin of his own.
“Just make it home safe will you? And try and lay off the alcohol. Some problems are too big for it.”
Vinyl found this statement a bit disconcerting, the statement giving her the perception that he likely knew more than she was comfortable to explain. Or was it just that obvious she was trying to drink away the love that burned in her chest so painfully, she felt she might die? The guilty expression on her face was as easy to read as an open book, the guard eyeing her for several moments, before turning the opposite direction to continue his rounds. Losing sight of him to the darkness, the gruff cough of the chariot driver got her attention, the mare sluggishly turning her head in response.
“Well?” He asked.
“Uh..right. Just drop me off on Mage's and Court. My house is pretty close to there.” She replied vaguely, the back of her head hitting the seat.
It was at this point she was left in her thoughts again, the drinks bringing that dreaded sensation of depression that threatened to have her bawling in the back of this carriage like some pathetic little filly. Though tears flooded her eyes, sadness was overtaken by anger, pressing her face into the glass window. She tried to forget it all, and focus more on the recent events. Where was Neon? What had happened over the night? With no answers to satisfy these questions, and her destination unlikely to provide her with them, she was unable to hold her attention to the subject. Octavia was still on her mind.
Curse whatever sadistic deity that pulled the strings behind such horrible actions against her, letting her hit dead end after dead end until she not only hurt her marefriend, but pushed the cellist from her life unintentionally. The carriage hit a sudden bump, the mare falling on her left side with a quiet groan, the rattle of metal on metal grabbing her attention. She felt her side, a small bag of what seemed to be bits tied down to her midsection. Well, at least she knew one thing, she'd certainly won that rematch, the hefty feel of it putting that observation beyond the shadow of a doubt.
Lights glaring into the carriage, she squinted to her left, a neon sign passing by slowly as the carriage moved along. The sign proudly bore the name of the building behind it 'Riski's Tail' , from which bright warm lights lit up the nearby parking lot. She stared at it, her expression of longing from earlier replaced with a rather lewd grin.
“Hey..hey dude! Stop here” She muttered, tapping the seat roughly.
The driver turned to look at her, then the building. “Ya know, we've still got ten blocks 'til Mage street. Unless you plan on-”
Vinyl didn't want to hear what he had to say, climbing out of the carriage hastily, nearly tripping face first into the curb, before she grabbed a nearby street sign, pulling herself upright, grinning for the first time that day, but the familiar cough of the driver brought her attention back to him.
“Whatever gal, your money. Twelve bits for the ride.” He told her, holding out his hoof with an cocked brow.
She reached into the bag, drawing out a small hoof full of coins. She tried counting them out, but as her head throbbed, she slapped the whole hoof full into his awaiting hoof, not wanting to bother with the struggle of basic math. “W-Whatever..keep the change.”
The driver eyed her uncertainly, but she didn't have time for him. She turned, moving for the door to the establishment, an eager expression painted on her face. The pain burning in her heart, she may have sought comfort, but the cellist was too painful a hole in her heart to ignore. She had to fill it; with a bag full of bits on her, how hard could it be to find that in this place?
II||♫♫||II II||♫||II II||♫♫||II
“Well hun'~? Going to tell me more, or are you just going to gawk?”
Vinyl shuddered, that sultry tone in her ear getting her warm in very familiar places. Amber locks of mane fell over her shoulder as the mare pressed her chest against the deejay's back, charcoal colored hooves running down her forelegs. Vinyl wanted to lunge at her, pinning her to the floor and giving her everything the party mare had. That however, would bring down the proverbial hammer on the nail, earning her a one way ticket out of the club in no time. Fighting her urges, she gripped the shot of Haymaker's Whiskey that she'd ordered at the club's bar, and downed it in a single, burning gulp that was meant to keep her occupied long enough to reclaim her voice around this succubus of a stripper.
“I don't really want to talk...'bout her. You know?” Vinyl finally mutters, quietly shifting her hooves together, she tries to put on a casual grin for the mare. “I just want to forget about all that.”
The mare whines in her ear quietly, rubbing her shoulders gently as she continues to whisper. “And for forty more bits, I'm sure we can keep that going for the next, oh I don't know” She pauses coyly, before finishing. “Fifteen minutes?”
It hardly took Vinyl much time to think before money exchanged hooves, before Vinyl was graced with the pleased purring of her, for a lack of a better word, 'entertainer'. The charcoal mare planted her plot firmly in the Deejay's lap, grinding her ass into the mare's crotch as she slid further back into the chair with Vinyl, leaning back to rest against the unicorn. Vinyl, relaxing back into the chair herself now, raised a hoof to grip the mare's shoulder, who quickly slapped it away. Vinyl gave her a puzzled expression, as if she'd done nothing wrong, and earned a cocked brow from her.
“No touching dear, that's my job.” She replied sweetly, one of the bouncers across the room, a gruff looking stallion donning the stereotypical black shirt and shades, was now eyeing Vinyl as though she were a problem waiting to happen. Vinyl dropped her hooves quickly, a nervous grin spreading over her lips in the attempt to assume a more natural look. 'Stay calm.' she thought to herself casually. 'Just don't. Do anything stupid.' After a few moments of this, the bouncer broke his gaze and satisfied himself with watching one of the other mare's whom was on her way to giving a private show for one of the other patrons. Vinyl breathed a quiet sigh of relief, before shifting uncomfortably in her seat. That heat was beginning to grow, and damn she felt needy right now. Devious thoughts were burning in her mind, and the need to satisfy them was intensifying right along with that.
Enjoying the mere contact and suggestive grinding her money was now earning her, Vinyl shut her eyes, letting her imagination creep into reality. Her back pressed into soft sheets, she grinned widely at the ceiling, rolling over to her left. A picture of beauty, a snoozing Octavia pressing her face into the pillows, mane spilling all over, giving the impression of her form floating over a lake as calm as glass. Vinyl felt her breath catch at the sight. She felt her heart thump, her chest aching horribly as she tried to look away. Her wish quickly becoming a nightmare, she suddenly lurched away, swearing loudly. Torn between the need to hold onto her marefriend, and scream in agony at the thought of it all, it just seemed like a sick joke to her, and she wanted out and away from it all before reality caved in on her.
The chair crashed to the side, the mare in Vinyl's lap screaming loudly as the two tumbled to the floor, Vinyl scrambling to get back onto her hooves like the devil himself was in on the game. Face contorted into an ugly glare, she fought back the tears that were trying to overcome her. It wasn't fair! She couldn't even try to enjoy herself now, that image of her heartache burned into her mind like a fiery brand mark. She then stopped dead, everyone was staring at her, the mare groaning quietly as she tried to get back onto her hooves. Vinyl's frown deepened, regret building up inside of her. She hadn't even known the mare's name and she'd just done this. Without even really thinking, all because of...
“I'm. I'm so sorry!” She cried out gently, disbelief strong in her voice as her hoof struggled to wrench the bag of bits from her side. “I didn't mean it.”
Vinyl dropped the bag of bits on the floor in front of the mare as though for compensation in some way, before hastily taking backward steps for the door. The bouncer was on his way, but the threat of being violently thrown out wasn't necessary. Feeling sick to her stomach once more, the deejay flung herself out of the front door and into the early morning light, short sobs echoing into the streets. Early birds of all types were already out and about, some for morning trots, some for work, some for one reason or another. All abruptly stopped to watch the unicorn as she bolted through the street, ragged breaths ripping through her chest as though the blade of a knife were twisting her insides like some horrifying blender.
It seemed to last forever, her body begging for her to stop this mad dash down the street, but she kept on going. It made her feel better. Running from her problems, whether wrong or right, certainly staved off the need to feel like she deserved it all. It was crazy to think that before this, she'd never felt sad. Well, excluding the post drunk hangovers that usually plagued her every other night, that was the truest thing she could have ever said to anypony. It just wasn't her to feel unhappy like this; she was the heart and soul of Canterlot's night life for Celestia's sake!
Stopping several blocks down the road, she broke into a short coughing fit as she tried to breathe, air filling her lungs in hasty gulps like a fish above water. Celestia damn it, she felt so pathetic right now, crying like a foal in the streets, practically throwing a fit at Riski's, drinking herself to unconsciousness at Club Canterlot. Another pang of guilt flooded her as she realized she still had no clue where Neon was, and he was the one who had invited her out to forget all of this mess. He was probably having a cow right about now trying to find her. All in all, it was going to be a long walk back home without the bits for a cab, which she'd left back at the strip club. Cheeks burning red at the indignity of it all, she made her way home slowly, her headache from this morning only growing fiercer, growing claws and fangs that raked the inside of her skull with every passing moment in this outside word of blinding light and ear shattering noise. The irony of that particular fact only nauseated her further.
After a long and painful trot home, it was unsurprising that Neon had been waiting for her on the front steps, a look of worry etched onto his face at the sight of her. She made her way over, intent on apologizing to her friend for having ditched him last night, even though she couldn't remember for the life of her why she'd even done it in the first place. Instead he closed the distance halfway, gripping her gently. For that she was thankful, as she felt like she'd fall over at any moment after her ordeal of making her way through Canterlot's heavy morning traffic.
“Vinyl! What the heck, you ran off last night and didn't come back!” He rambled off quickly, giving her a more stern look than she was normally accustomed to seeing on his face. “You weren't even making sense, what happened-” He stopped mid-sentence, watching Vinyl with a nervous expression. For all of her reservations about not having any issues to really speak of, she couldn't help but blame him.
“Neon. I'm sorry. I just can't talk about this right now. I just want to go inside.” said Vinyl flatly, finally breaking the silence between the two. Neon gave her a look that screamed frustration, but the mare wasn't having any of it at all. She was tired, she was in pain, and she wanted to sleep.
“Fine. But I'm staying over until we talk about this.” He replied begrudgingly, as though Vinyl had obviously made the wrong choice in the matter. 'Add it to the list' She thought, shrugging indifferently, then stepped around him politely to make her way to the front door. She wasn't looking forward to the coming conversation with him, but she knew she owed him that at least. He was worried, and who wouldn't be?
Getting up the stairs was a struggle. Her legs were heavy, her resolve was moot, apathy growing. What was the point of going all the way to her room? She'd climb under cold sheets, lay beneath a blanket of darkness, and be constantly reminded of what was supposed to be there. What should have been there. Was it really her fault? She'd admitted to herself she wasn't the most respectable of mares at times, and certainly not that big of a role model, but she tried her best. Or she thought she did. Entering her room, these thoughts only threw more on the burden pressing down on her mind, threatening to crush what little drive she was struggling to muster just to keep going. Laying down in her bed, sleep was a swift release from the ugly reality that had slapped her in the face so suddenly in these past two days.
Buck it, she thought. Just buck it all.