Octavia sat in her apartment. She refused to move.
Even since her world had crumbled to the ground, Octavia had spent all her time in her apartment.
Most of the time she would sit in her bed, but she would sometimes get up to create music. Every song she wrote came out sadder and sadder.
By this point, she had stopped crying and was instead grieving on the inside.
The cellist would continue to check her phone to make sure that Bon Bon hadn't texted her. She was waiting for the time to explain her story.
Her ensemble, Lucky Streak, Remedy Cure, and Sassaflash would all attempt to come over. She would never let them in, nor would she respond to them. Symphony, however, continued to leave Octavia food every day, which Octavia would end up eating.
Rock bottom seemed like the time when Caramel wouldn't leave her alone when she was never able to be free and happy.
But little did she know that even that wasn't rock bottom. Rock bottom was your husband taking advantage of your kindness and destroying her last chance at love.
Her life was hopeless.
~•~•~•~•~
Caramel sat in his bed, staring up at the ceiling.
He was alone, Neon had left him just like Lucky Streak and Octavia.
Neon probably told Octavia about his plan, which is why she hasn't visited him in so long.
Maybe I can frame Vinyl for poisoning me...
But she was in prison when you got 'poisoned'.
She could have done it BEFORE she got into prison!
Genius!.... wait but they had already found the source!
It was true. The police had investigated into finding the source of the poison by looking at restaurants Caramel had been to in the past few days. One of them ended up containing the poison, however, it was not in a meal Caramel had eaten.
The police didn't know Caramel didn't eat that, but Caramel said he did in order to convince the cops he was really poisoned.
So now it was probably too late for him to frame Vinyl.
"And now I have to go to court against him," Caramel grumbled.
~•~•~•~•~
"Vinyl, isn't that dinner next week?" Bon Bon asked.
Vinyl had come over to Lyra and Bon Bon's apartment unsurprisingly. She'd been spending basically all her time there when she wasn't working on music or at her office.
"What dinner?" Vinyl asked from the couch.
"That one we were all invited to," Bon Bon commented, "You, Neon, Lyra, Oc-"
"Don't say her name," Vinyl warned.
Bon Bon sighed before entering her living room from the kitchen. Vinyl was laying down on the couch so Bon Bon forced the mare to move over in order to seat herself next to the DJ.
"You can't stay mad at her forever, Vinyl," Bon Bon explained, "you love her, don't try to deny it because we all know you love her."
"So what?" Vinyl snapped, "She doesn't love me back so why should I waste my time with her?"
"You don't even know what happened," Bon Bon pointed out.
"So what?!" Vinyl exclaimed, "What reason could there be as to why Tavi left me alone!"
Even through that anger, Bon Bon could hear Vinyl's sadness. Especially when she called Octavia Tavi.
For the past few weeks, Vinyl and Bon Bon would get into fights about what they should do about Octavia. Most of the time Vinyl would call her Octavia, however, there were times she would call her Octy or Tavi, the affectionate nicknames she almost always called the cellist.
Bon Bon sighed, it saddens her to see her friends in such a state.
"We should have let Octavia come to the courtroom," Bon Bon commented, "Like Remedy Cure said, she was our only witness. Thankfully Caramel wasn't there either so we were still even."
"I don't care!" Vinyl exclaimed, "I'm out aren't I?! Does it really matter if Octavia was there or not?"
"Honestly Vinyl, you probably only got out because of how terrible our justice system is," Bon Bon explained.
"Okay! Great! It's the fucking past, Bonnie! Just give it up!" Vinyl yelled.
Bon Bon sighed once more before leaving Vinyl alone in her living room.
I'm going to see if I can talk some sense into Lyra.
With that thought in mind, Bon Bon made her way to their bedroom.
There she found Lyra, her muzzle deep in a book.
Bon Bon smiled, feeling slightly lucky to still have her relationship intact.
She then laid down next to the lyrist, kissing her on the cheek to get her attention.
"Hey Bonnie," Lyra greeted, nuzzling the mare.
Bon Bon sighed, "Hello Lyra, may I ask you what you're reading?"
Lyra grinned, "The biology of humans, volume four!"
Bon Bon couldn't help but shake her head.
Same old Lyra.
"Would you mind if I could talk to you about something?"
Lyra, worried about her marefriend, set the book down, "Yeah sure."
"I want you to help me get Vinyl to talk to Octavia."
Lyra blinked a few times but didn't say anything.
Bon Bon sighed, "I know you're Vinyl's best friend and you also feel a little betrayed by Octavia. But she really isn't the kind of mare to suddenly leave Vinyl like that, she must have a good explanation."
"But what if she doesn't?" Lyra questioned.
"Then I was wrong," Bon Bon answered with a shrug, "And Vinyl will continue to sit heartbroken on our couch."
Lyra cringed, "She not only acting like this because she is heartbroken but okay."
Bon Bon rolled her eyes, "How about I finally go talk to Octavia, and if she has a good explanation then you can help me convince Vinyl to see her."
Lyra scratched the back of her head, "I mean, that sounds like a good idea, but like Vinyl will probably be pissed and-"
"Lyra," Bon Bon started, "Every other time something bad had happened to Vinyl you've followed her blindly. However, this time you've been questioning her actions, isn't that a sign?"
"I mean, it could just be that I liked Octavia-"
"Lyra."
"Yeah, Bonnie?"
"Help me with this or you'll be in sleeping on the couch with Vinyl for the rest of the year."
Lyra gulped, "You're really serious about this, huh?"
Bon Bon sighed, "Yes, Octavia truly cared about Vinyl, even if she did make some mistakes. I trust that she has a good reason as to why she wasn't around."
"Well, if you're going to make me choose," Lyra started until she kissed her marefriend, "Then I choose you."
Bon Bon smiled before getting up, "Get Vinyl out of the house in twenty minutes so she doesn't suspect anything."
With that said, Bon Bon left.
"Damn, Vinyl was right, romance movie lines get chicks to dig you faster," Lyra commented to herself.
~•~•~•~•~
Octavia closed her eyes as she began to play the cello. However, she didn't get very far before she broke down.
"I can't believe I feel for his mind games," Octavia cried, "I'm such an idiot."
Just then, the doorbell rang.
Octavia ignored it as she continued to weep.
The bell rang a few more times before it stopped.
Suddenly, Octavia could hear the sound of her phone buzzing.
With a sniff, the cellist grabbed the phone and looked at it.
It was a message from Bon Bon.
'Octavia, are you home? I'm finally ready to talk. I'm currently outside your apartment, please text me as soon as you read this.'
She couldn't believe it. Bon Bon actually meant it when she said would come back to listen to her story.
Without a second though, Octavia got up from the floor and quickly ran over to the front door.
She opened the door and found a surprised looking Bon Bon.
The two started at one another for quite a long period of time.
It wasn't until Bon Bon hugged Octavia that either one said anything.
"Thank you," Octavia said as she hugged the mare back.
The two stayed there for a few minutes before they broke the hug.
"Would you like to come inside?" Octavia asked.
Bon Bon nodded her head and Octavia let the mare in.
"I must apologize, the place is a bit of a mess," Octavia explained.
Bon Bon looked around. The place seemed to be almost completely near, aside from a few sheets of music here and there.
"This is a mess to you?" Bon Bon asked with a laugh.
Octavia could only smile, overjoyed that her friend was talking to her once again.
The two mares seated themselves on the couch in Octavia's living room.
"Aren't you worried Caramel may see us?" Bon Bon asked.
A few tears formed in Octavia's eyes, but she ignored them, "Not at all."
Bon Bon's eyes went wide, how was Octavia not at all worried?
Octavia sighed, "I guess I should start at the beginning?"
"That would seem like a fitting place to start," Bon Bon commented.
With one more sigh, Octavia started to tell her story.
~•~•~•~•~
"Here you go ladies," The bartender said as he handed Vinyl and Lyra their drinks.
The both of them took a sip of their drinks.
"So," Vinyl started once she finished drinking, "Why'd you want to take me here?"
"I dunno, to talk I guess? A lot of shit has gone down so, how's you been?" Lyra asked before taking another drink.
"Shitty," Vinyl replied simply.
"Okay... why?"
Vinyl glared at Lyra, "What do you think?"
Lyra just shrugged again.
Vinyl sighed, slightly annoyed before she took another drink.
"Did.... Anything happens to you while you were in prison?" Lyra asked, extremely worried.
"Well, other than getting pushed a few times and glared at a lot, not really," Vinyl explained.
"Oh, is that really it? Because you seem to act like something worse-"
"It's fricken prison Lyra!" Vinyl yelled, "How do you think I should act?!"
A few ponies started looking at the mares, making Lyra panic.
"Dude, calm down," Lyra hissed, "Look, I'm sorry. You're right, prison is a pretty shitty place. I was just worried that somepony raped you or some shit."
"No, nothing like that happened," Vinyl replied, rolling her eyes.
Lyra sighed, "Listen, me and Bonnie are worried about you. You aren't eating much again, you're always lying on the couch but not sleeping. It's just, not good for you to treat your body like that."
"So what? I didn't eat much before anyway."
"Yeah, but you were starting to eat more. And now you're back to square one. You were getting so much better after you started dating-"
Lyra shut her muzzle.
Vinyl started at Lyra for a long time. Almost like she was studying the mare.
Then, Vinyl suddenly chugged the rest of her drink.
"I need another drink," Vinyl stated groggily.
Lyra sighed once again before taking another sip.
I hope Bonnie's right.
~•~•~•~•~
Bon Bon couldn't move. She couldn't think either. She couldn't really do anything once Octavia had finished her story.
Octavia has some tear streaks on her face, as while she was telling her story she was crying a little.
"I never thought he would go that far," Bon Bon finally commented.
Octavia sighed, "Neither did I."
"But may I ask, why didn't you see both Vinyl and Caramel?"
"I think because I was so shocked about Caramel," Octavia explained, "I'll never forgive myself for how I almost completely forgot about Vinyl. But at least I can try to make it up to her."
Bon Bon looked down at the ground in thought. After a few seconds, she looked back at Octavia.
"I honestly cannot tell you if what you did was wrong or right. The only pony who can do that is Vinyl."
"I know," Octavia agreed, "But that can only happen if she agrees to see me."
"Or she's going to agree. I'm tired of having her moping on my couch all day. I was thinking we can lock you two in a room together until Vinyl finally listens to you," Bon Bon joked.
Octavia giggled slightly, "Has she really been moping on your couch?"
Bon Bon sighed, "Yes. It's sad but also a little annoying."
"I'm sorry."
"It's fine," Bon Bon replied, "I would prefer her sitting on my couch all day to her getting herself drunk."
~•~•~•~•~
"Why do I have the feeling I did something Bon Bon is going to kill me for?"
"Because you didn't put your horn in the happy hole," Vinyl commented drunkenly before she burst into a fit of giggles.
Lyra sighed as she continued to carry the DJ on her back.
"Awwww, what's wrong Lyly? You used to always laugh at meeeeee," Vinyl slurred.
"I mean, you are pretty funny when you're drunk," Lyra agreed, "But right now I just want to get you back home in once piece."
Once that was said, the conversation suddenly stopped, and they were left in an odd silence.
Lyra assumed Vinyl had passed out until she heard faintly,
"I miss Tavi."
Lyra blinked, "Huh?"
"I miss the way she used to hold me," Vinyl continued, "And how she would tell me everything was going to be okay, and how she used to nag me about everything, and how she used to get so frustrated with me, and how she would moan every time I would-"
"O-Kay, I think you should stop right there before you make it so I can never see Octavia the same again," Lyra interrupted.
However, she really didn’t need Vinyl to finish that sentence for Lyra to realize what she was going to say.
Put the horn in the ‘happy hole’, great….
Vinyl again burst into another fit of giggles. Once it died down, she continued again.
"Everyday I would sit alone in my cell, wishing I could see her face again. I just wanted to see her, not in my head but actually her. It was so weird to be alone without her. I just wanted my Octy," Vinyl confessed.
Lyra didn't say anything. She didn't really know what to say. Normally Vinyl wasn't this open unless she was drunk.
Which obviously, she is.
After what seemed like an endless amount of time, Lyra finally made it back to her apartment.
Once she was finally inside, she shoved Vinyl off of her back onto the couch. Thankfully, the mare was now actually passed out.
Lyra, finally able to relax, went into the kitchen to get a glass of water.
When she was starting to enjoy her refreshment her phone started to ring.
Lyra groaned, before picking up the phone.
"Hello?"
"Hey Lyra," Bon Bon greeted, "Octavia and I are talking about our apartment now, do you think you can get Vinyl into a place where we can lock them in?"
Lyra blinked, "Wait, you want to lock them in?"
"I thought she was joking too, Lyra," Lyra could hear Octavia comment into the phone.
"Well, okay but we have one problem," Lyra cringed, "Vinyl is kinda... passed out drunk."
"LYRA!" Bon Bon screamed into the phone, "The whole reason I let her stay at our house was so she WOULDN'T DRINK!"
Lyra held the phone far away from her face in order to not go deaf, "Yeah, yeah I know. Don't worry, she'll wake up sooner or later."
Lyra heard Bon Bon groan in annoyance before she hung up the phone.
She then turned around to face the living room, where she could still see Vinyl passed out on the couch.
Lyra sighed, "This is going to be painful."
~•~•~•~•~
Bon Bon unlocked the door where she found Lyra chugging a ton of water.
"Where's Vinyl?" Bon Bon questioned.
Lyra breathed in as soon as she finished her water. After breathing hard for a few seconds she answered.
"She's in the bathroom. Luna does that mare move in her sleep"
Octavia looked at Bon Bon questioningly, "Why does the bathroom lock from the outside?"
"They put our door on backward," Bon Bon explained.
"So," Lyra started, "Do I get to hear this story?"
"That depends," Octavia replied, "Is Vinyl awake yet?"
"Nope!" Lyra answered, "And by the looks of it, she won't be up for awhile."
Octavia sighed, "Then I guess I shall tell you the story before I tell Vinyl it."
With that said, Octavia repeated her story to Lyra.
Once she was finished, Lyra headed straight for the front door.
"Lyra, where are you going?!" Bon Bon exclaimed.
"To go talk to Caramel," Lyra replied simply.
"Lyra don't you-"
Bon Bon was interrupted by the slam of a door.
Bon Bon sighed, "I better go after her."
"But what about-"
Octavia was interrupted by another slam of the door.
"Vinyl," Octavia finished.
Well, I may as well get ready to talk to Vinyl.
With that thought in mind, Octavia started to grab some food and water for the hangover Vinyl would most likely have once she wakes up.
With everything done, she entered the bathroom where Vinyl was asleep on the cold floor.
Octavia frowned at Vinyl's current state.
The cellist put down the snacks before picking Vinyl up and laying her down onto the bathmat.
She then left the room again, only to come back with a blanket. She placed it over the unicorn and kissed her below the horn.
Octavia swears she saw a faint smile on the DJ's face.
With a sigh, she sat down on top of the toilet and waited for Vinyl to awake.
~•~•~•~•~
Lyra stormed down the hallways of the hospital, completely filled with rage.
Caramel had gone way too far.
Bon Bon quickly followed after the unicorn as she continued to try and get Lyra's attention.
However, the lyrist has completely blocked out all sound while she was under this rage.
Then, sound quickly returned to her when she slammed the door to Caramel's room open.
Caramel almost jumped out of his bed.
"I see you're already getting better from the 'incurable poison'," Lyra commented with a glare. Bon Bon stood behind her, slightly afraid of what would happen.
Caramel quickly returned the glare, "You."
Lyra smiled tightly, "Glad to see you remember me so fondly."
"L-listen, Lyra let's just go-"
"So," Lyra interrupted, "How were you going to explain to the doctors that you suddenly just healed miraculously?"
"I don't know, how about through Octavia's love? You've seen what the power of friendship has done, why not the love of a mare and stallion?" Caramel questioned.
"And if Octavia didn't love you by the time you were gone?" Lyra asked.
"Then my love for Octavia brought me back or some shit," Caramel waved off.
"Honestly ponies would probably still be susp-"
"Shut up!" Caramel yelled, interrupting Bon Bon again.
"Don't tell her to shut up!" Lyra yelled as she charged forward, only for Bon Bon to grab her tail and stop her.
"Lyra," Bon Bon hissed, "We should go. Now."
"But he hurt our friends!" Lyra argued, "And he-"
"I don't care Lyra!" Bon Bon exclaimed, "Yes, he did something horrible because he thought it was right. But if you try to get some sort of revenge on him, then you're being just like him!"
Bon Bon looked over at Caramel, "Listen to me. I don't hate you. I don't even dislike you. I just feel sorry for you-"
"Thank you! Finally somepony-"
"No," Bon In interrupted, "I don't feel sorry because Octavia is leaving you. I feel sorry because you don't understand it when somepony wants to leave you, that means they aren't happy. Octavia didn't hate you, she just didn't want to be married to you. And honestly, I don't think you love her because if you did you would know when to let her go."
With that said, Bon Bon pulled Lyra out of the hospital and left.
~•~•~•~•~
"Shit, my head," Vinyl groaned as she rubbed her throbbing head. She looked around the room, however, everything was blurry.
The DJ blinked a few times until her vision was clear again.
"Why am I in the bathroom?" Vinyl asked herself as she noticed the tiled floor.
She looked up, to find herself face to face with Octavia.
Vinyl had her glasses on, effectively hiding her emotions from Octavia, however, underneath them her eyes were wide.
Octavia shared the same look as Vinyl, however, her face wasn't shielded by anything.
"What are you doing here?" Vinyl finally spat.
Octavia suddenly started to hyperventilate slightly as she realized she hadn't been breathing.
Octavia gulped once before her face went completely serious, "I'm here to talk to you."
"Great, well I'm not here to listen."
With that said, Vinyl stood up and opened the door.
Or that was her plan until she found the door to be locked.
"What the hell?!" Vinyl yelled.
"I locked it when I came in."
Vinyl's head snapped to Octavia who was looking down at the floor.
Vinyl glared at the mare for a few seconds before she started yelling, "LYRA! BONNIE! OPEN THE FUCKING DOOR!"
No response.
"They aren't home," Octavia explained, "They left to go talk to-"
"I don't care," Vinyl interrupted, "Didn't you hear me the last time we spoke? I don't care. Now could you please just stop talking-"
"No," Octavia said simply, finally having the courage to look at her once lover, "No, I will not stop talking until I explain my side of the story."
Vinyl laughed, "Okay, well have fun explaining your story to nopony, as I'm not going to listen."
"You are," Octavia replied, "Because I know you want to."
"No, I don-"
"What if I was locked up by Caramel. And I had no control over whether I could see you or not? Hm? And then we both leave heartbroken because you didn't want to hear the truth."
Vinyl blinked.
That shut her up.
"While that is not what happened," Octavia sighed, "what happened was still out of my control... partially."
Vinyl didn't say anything, so Octavia continued.
"After the last time I visited you, I decided to go to the spa with Beauty. Once we were done, we went back to my apartment to find Caramel passed out on the couch. He has blood all over his chest. We called an ambulance which thankfully came immediately. I went to the hospital as soon as I could, where I learned Caramel only had a few months to live. So, I decided to spend my time with this dying stallion. I thought I should at least give him what he wanted," Octavia sighed, "However, there was a cost, and that cost was I didn't have time to see you. And because of this, I forgot about...."
Octavia didn't want to say the next word, as what she was about to tell Vinyl was probably her biggest regret.
"You," She finally finished, "I was so caught up with this sudden change I didn't have time to think at all about you. And I soon learned that this was a mistake, as it turns out Caramel faked his poison with a potion, and he's fine."
"You forgot about me," Vinyl stated coldly.
"Yes, but Vinyl please understand, it is my greatest regret and I was so wrapped up with Caramel. It was like if Lyra was in the hospital-"
"That's different!" Vinyl yelled, "Because I actually care about Lyra!"
Octavia jumped off her seat and started backing away into a corner in fear.
"I thought you said you didn't want to be married to him, that you were done with him-"
Vinyl started to straddle the cellist, who was now laying in the corner.
"I am! Vinyl please-"
"Maybe you've just been lying to me."
"Vinyl, no!"
"Maybe this whole time you've just seen me as your fuck buddy-"
"Vinyl!"
"Maybe YOU STILL LOVE HIM."
"VINYL STOP!"
Vinyl froze as she finally realized her position.
Her hoof was held up in the air, directed towards Octavia's face.
Speaking of Octavia, she was completely on top of the mare.
And that's when she saw her.
Octavia was staring up at Vinyl with fearful eyes. She'd never seen the mare so afraid before. She was crying.
The cellist was hyperventilating once again, sweat was rolling down her face along with the tears.
Vinyl slowly put her hoof down, her eyes still on Octavia.
Then she sat there. She didn't make a sound.
Octavia continued to hyperventilate with a mix of crying, however, her eyes didn't leave the DJ as well.
The two stayed like that for what seemed like hours before Vinyl suddenly started to cry.
Octavia reflexively wrapped her hooves around the unicorn. And the two sobbed into each other's shoulders.
"I don't know if I can forgive you," Vinyl explained through her tears.
"I know," Octavia replied through her own tears, "I don't know if I can forgive myself."
"I-I thought about you, every day," Vinyl confessed, "I felt so alone there, I just wanted to be with you."
"I missed you too, Vinyl. Even when I wasn't thinking about you, I felt like there was something missing in my life. Something annoying me, or comforting me."
Vinyl just continued to cry.
They sat there for a few more minutes before Octavia finally spoke again.
"Maybe we should take a break."
"What?" Vinyl asked, finally breaking away from the hug.
Octavia sighed, "Maybe we should stop dating for awhile. We'll be friends, but I think we need some time to recover."
Vinyl nodded her head, "Y-yeah that sounds like a good idea. B-but we'll still be there for each other, right?"
Octavia smiled, tears still in her eyes, "Of course. And whenever we're ready, we'll go right back to dating."
"Okay," Vinyl agreed, finally taking off her glasses.
The two just smiled at one another for what seemed like a long time. It wasn't until they heard the door unlocking that they finally stopped smiling.
"Ready to get out of here?" Octavia asked.
"Whenever you are, Tavi," Vinyl grinned.
~•~•~•~•~
"I can't believe you did that!" Lyra exclaimed, "It was so freaking hot!"
Bon Bon blushed, "Well, somepony had to tell them off so I thought why not me-"
"LYRA, BONNIE, YOU BETTER LET US OUT OF HERE OR ELSE I AM GOING TO DEMOTE BOTH OF YOU!"
Lyra looked over and Bon Bon who sighed, "Just ignore her."
"Please excuse Vinyl, but yes, could you please let us out of here?" Octavia asked.
Lyra smiled, "Aw shit it worked!"
Bon Bon gladly returned the smile.
"YOU HAVE FIVE SECONDS TO LET ME OUT OR I'M LOWERING YOUR PAY!"
Lyra and Bon Bon looked at one another before they ran towards the bathroom.