For the most part, things returned to normal. A couple of days passed and the two returned to Octavia’s home. Albeit, with a suite of bodyguards and the like, but still the house the two had come to call home together.
And then, weeks passed. Just a couple, but the feeling of ordinary days bled back into their lives. Octavia went to work, played for rich ponies. Their dates started again - the park, out to eat, museums, even a trip up the Matterhorn mountain. All the while, the two grew closer. Soft touches become all the more sweet, lovely looks lasted seconds longer.
For Octavia, things couldn’t have gone better. Even her music had started to come easily, a new melody in her head each and every day. And the joy she found from writing it out, from playing it, and even collaborating with Vinyl? Unmatched. Quite literally nothing made her happier, nothing made her more excited about life.
Today would truly be something special. Six months. Six months since they’d met each other, and Octavia intended to make something special out of it. She’d picked up a few things, a nice hay steak in her saddlebags, wrapped tight to keep it fresh. She wanted to try cooking - she didn’t do it much, but she might as well try, right? Really, it couldn’t be that hard!
Octavia smiled widely, prepared to wave and greet the guard ponies near her gate like normal. But, where were they? Probably the change of shift. Still, that wouldn’t be enough to dampen her mood! She headed towards her house, walking on up without a care in the world. It took her a moment to fish out her key, and another second to slot it in and open her door on up.
The moment she stepped inside, Octavia knew something had gone wrong. No noise echoed through the house, not a single peep. Usually, when Octavia came home,Vinyl would be waiting for her near the entrance. Or, if she wasn’t, she’d be off somewhere in the house making music, and making it loud enough that Octavia could pinpoint her exact location. But today? Nothing.
It only took another second for the rest to start to filter in. The foyer was a wreck: chaise lounge overturned, chairs broken in twain, mirror shattered. A dripping trail of blood even painted a picture, a picture of a pony struggling and then being forcefully taken from her home.
A wave of terror erupted. Her muzzle hung open and tears started to well up in her eyes. Numbly, she stepped through the carnage. It just kept going, farther and deeper into her house. The living room? Trashed. The kitchen? A mess of thrown plates and knives. Her bedroom? Untouched. Thankfully, remarkably, untouched. “Vinyl?” she called out, as loud as her scared, trembling voice let her.
“Vinyl?” she called again. No answer. “Vinyl?” she said louder. “Vinyl?” She galloped between rooms. “Vinyl!?” Desperation rooted at her heart, but there was no answer, why was there no answer?!
Octavia felt sick. Nausea welled up in her throat, and it was nearly too much to bear. She found herself sitting against her bed, the world spinning around her. What could she do? Her breath came quick and deep, practically heaving with every gasp of air the poor thing managed to get in. She closed her eyes, the tears flowing all the more unfettered.
“She can’t be gone.” The words come out as nothing more than a hopeful whisper. Maybe she’d missed something. Maybe she had forgotten something important. If the house hadn’t been ruined, Octavia might have believed her own stupid thoughts.
Octavia didn’t know how long she sat on the edge of her bed. It could have been hours, or it could have only been minutes. So enraptured in her own thoughts, the pony didn’t know what to do with herself. Only the rumbling need in her stomach coaxed her back into the real world, and even that came slowly.
At the first sound of her tummy, Octavia looked down at it, surprised, hardly expecting the noise. She opened her muzzle, ready to make some quip, some joke to her love. She silenced herself the second she remembered the truth of the situation.
Octavia needed a plan of action. Something to do, something to keep her mind from falling apart completely. Fancy could help, Fancy could always help. But if his guards had abandoned their posts… perhaps the most generous pony in Canterlot worked with the same ne’er do wells that took her love.
Maybe paranoia kept her from going to Fancy. Maybe she knew the truth. But regardless, she needed to go further up the chain. But unlike many of her counterparts, Octavia couldn’t just walk up to a princess, or a captain of the guard, or anything like that.
But she’d given herself a chance to make that happen. The charity dinner, the same one she’d set up to play weeks ago. Anypony who was anypony would be there, and that meant precious access for Octavia.
Her hooves stopped trembling. She didn’t know when they had, but they had. They’d stopped trembling — and in fear’s place, icy resolve started to set in. No pony would take Vinyl from her. She’d burn the entire city down if she had to. Octavia had a lead.
She took a deep breath and stood to her full height, fire burning in her eyes. “Vinyl is mine,” she whispered, and she meant it. Octavia didn’t amount to much. Just a musician, a lonely earth pony who didn’t have many, if any friends. But a single mare with motivation could do a lot of damage, and damned if she didn’t intend to.
Octavia had to set some things in motion. She found herself leaving the house, trotting on a path she’d walked a thousand times - the path towards the symphony hall, the Royal Symphony’s preferred playing venue. Octavia didn’t know if other ponies walked near her, too focused, too honed in to even think about it. She walked with the purpose of a furious mare, each step clip clopping against the street, eyes dead ahead.
The security pony let her in just from looking at her. She’d certainly come here enough that anypony would know she belonged. The symphony hall itself didn’t just have a single auditorium. The greatest, largest part of it opened up onto a stage big enough for a full orchestra, or a play full of ponies. Plenty of seats ringed around the stage, boxes around the second floor to provide access to VIPs.
But Octavia didn’t head towards her familiar home. Instead, she hung a left from the foyer, towards a grand ballroom. Inside, a smaller stage hugged the far end, a white marble floor expanse stretching across the space. Columns supported the side, going for a neo classical look with the typical stained glass style on the side. The stained glass scenes painted all sorts of different scenes - some of the princesses, some of the arts, and some of just life. Great drapes hung on each side of the windows, kept to the side and a striking violet in color.
As expected, the space had already started to get decorated. A long table, covered in a white tablecloth stayed off to one side, one surely that would be filled with snacks and drinks of all sorts soon. A group of ponies gathered around a small table in the middle, papers strewn out on the desk. The planning committee.
The rest of the ballroom fell out of her attention, the mare instead stepping across the hall with all the confidence of a woman who owned the space. Each step rang out through the room, clip clopping loud enough to even draw the attention of a few of the committee. Most, she didn’t know, but a few she recognized. One, a white pegasus mare with purple ballon cutie marks and a striking blonde mane, in particular. Surprise had been her… acquaintance for a while. The two helped each other out in different ways. They couldn’t be called friends, but they were close.
Close enough that the mare smiled a bright, happy smile as she closed the distance between them, meeting her half way. “Tavi!” she squealed out, throwing both arms and wings around the mare’s shoulders. “It’s been so long! I thought you were- hey, why aren’t you smiling?” the mare complained, instantly releasing her friend. “What’s wrong?”
She tried to smile, Octavia really had, but it wouldn’t come out. Not with what went on in her mind and all the feelings swirling inside of her. “I’m here mostly on business, Surprise. I’m sorry, we really must hang out sometime, but I’m afraid I have a very pressing matter to discuss with you. Could we, perhaps, talk without others around?”
Surprise inspected her for a second, but quickly nodded. “Okay!” she chirped. Without another word, the pegasus mare put a wing around Octavia, leading her to the far corner of the ballroom, far, far away from the rest of the planners. “So is there some secret surprise party you’re planning?” she asked, leaning in and speaking in a conspiratorial whisper.
That pegasus always could see the best in things, couldn’t she? “No, no, nothing like that. I know it’s taboo and against the rules, but is there, perhaps, any way I could see the guest list for the gala this weekend? Or, if not that, ask if a few select ponies are going to be there?” she asked. At the same time, Octavia glanced over her shoulder, looking back towards the other ponies. They seemed engrossed in their own conversation, good enough.
A frown wrinkled Surprise’s muzzle and she shook her head back and forth. “I’m sorry, but I can’t disclose party guests! Doing that would make my surprise party promise (patent pending) forever! But, hmm…” Her brow furrowed in thought, muzzle twisting in a shape that Octavia swore no other mare could quite get right.
A sigh escaped the gray mare. She’d expected that, if nothing else, Surprise always had her honor, even if it made absolutely no sense half the time. At least Octavia could count on the consistency. “I understand,” she answered, trying to keep the frustration from her voice. “How about a guessing game? I name a name, and you tell me if they’re not coming.”
Again, this took Surprise a few seconds to contemplate before nodding. “Okay! Sure, I love guessing games!” she squeaked out.
“Princess Celestia?” She’d be the best. She’d listen to Octavia, she’d help her- a shake of Surprise’s head shut that down. “Princess Luna?” Another shake. Octavia sighed, top two candidates ruled out entirely. “The Royal Guard Captain, Shining Armor?” He still did that, didn’t he? His wedding wouldn’t be for months!
Not that it mattered, because Surprise denied that one too. Octavia picked at her brain, going down the list. Fancy couldn’t be trusted. He may be innocent, but Octavia couldn’t risk it. “Twilight Sparkle?” she blurted out. “I mean, Princess Twilight Sparkle?” Everypony knew the recently ascended alicorn, and Octavia had even met her before.
A nod. Oh! A nod! Octavia could work with that. “Okay!” Octavia sucked in a breath, steeling herself. She had a plan, one she could execute. “Is there any way you could schedule an hour long break in the middle of our set? I believe I could get somepony to cover me.” Her second. Much as she loathed her, she’d do an adequate job.
At least that got the quickest of nods from Surprise. “Of course!” she chirped. “You bet! Did you need anything else? Hey, did you wanna get dinner?”
Oh, tempting. Really tempting. “I must decline this time, my dear. I have somewhere to be, I’m afraid,” she excused herself. “Next time. Speak to me at the gala too, I’d love to have some more time to talk. I do wish we spoke more.”
Surprise gave a small shrug as a response. “I get it! You’re busy, and I heard about your little girlfriend!” she teased, letting out a chittering giggle.
A pang went through Octavia’s heart. Her girlfriend. “Yes…” she said, but her words were hollow, empty. “Good evening, Surprise. I’ll see you soon.”
To the gala.