After the story, Daisy's explanation, Vinyl had to wipe a tear from her eye. She opened the door to find the pair looking into each other's eyes, hoofs touching in an almost tender embrace.
Well, that was... enlightening" she said from the doorway, and they turned, seeing her standing there watching them, forehooves crossed as she leant on the doorway. They quickly separated and made contact with the floor, and, quick as a flash, Daisy and Noteworthy separated too and Daisy took her seat at her chair.
"I'm sorry miss, do I know you?" Noteworthy asked, and Vinyl Scratch shook her head.
"No, but I know you. And I believe we both know my mare-friend Octavia" she said, and Daisy's eyes widened.
"You're Vinyl Scratch? How long have you been standing there?" she asked, and Vinyl smiled knowingly at the pair.
"Long enough..." she said, and walked into the room proper, casting a quick glance at Daisy as she sat down just inside the room, by the door.
"I have to say, that was a very touching story. Did you mean it?" she asked, and Noteworthy nodded.
"Of course, every word!" he said and Vinyl smiled again.
"Well, I was going to come here to give you an earful, but after hearing that, I think I'll let you off the hook" she said, and Noteworthy smiled.
"Thank you miss, and tell m,e, you said you were Octavia's marefriend, right?" he asked, and Vinyl was suddenly defensive.
"Yeah, I am, got a problem?" she asked, raising an eyebrow, and Noteworthy quickly shook his head.
"No no no, I just want to know if she's happy is all" he said and Vinyl relaxed a bit. She nodded.
"Yeah, we're happy. Now, I'll take my leave, let you and Daisy rest, but, Daisy, can I just have a quick word?" she asked, and Daisy looked at Noteworthy confused.
"Uh, yeah sure" she said, and they both got up, moving towards the door. Before they went out, Noteworthy called after them.
"Does Octavia forgive me?"
Vinyl turned and smiled.
"Yeah, she forgives you" she said, and Noteworthy relaxed back onto the bedsheets. A smile on his face, reflected in Vinyl Scratch.
Vinyl didn't know just how fatal those words would be.
She closed the door and turned to Daisy.
"So, how long are you gonna play coy with him before you tell him how you feel?2 she asked imemdiately, raising an eyebrow, and Daisy was shocked, taken aback.
"I'm sorry what?" she asked, and Vinyl just stared at her, Daisy couldn't tell if she was blinking, and so looked away under the powerful stare. Vinyl allowed herself a private grin, sometimes the glasses could be a real asset.
Daisy turned back to her.
"I... I don't quite know how I feel about him. I don't know what to do" she said, and Vinyl lay a hoof upon her shoulder.
"Listen, speaking from experience, the more you leave it, the more it'll hurt, just tell him now, okay?" She gently told her, rubbing her shoulder for emphasis, Daisy nodded.
"I guess I should tell him" she murmered, and Vinyl nodded.
"Yeah, now I'll go, give you two some privacy" she said and walked away. Daisy watched her before opening the door to find Noteworthy standing in the middle of the room. She looked at him questioningly and he turned his head.
"I had to start walking, it's murder being in a hospital bed for so long" he justified and Daisy chuckled as she walked into the room proper, closing the door with a sharp *click*.
Vinyl trekked down the gravel drive that led to her house, the sun had just completed its downward arch and had lost itself upon the horizon, the stars had just winked on in the sky. The bids were still singing as the crickets began their cirping song, for a few seconds Vinyl was lost to the sounds of nature.
She sighed as she knocked on the door to her house twice. She was startled when it was thrown open and she was pulled inside suddenly, a quick flashback to how she had done the same to Octavia one cold winters day.
She was thrusted against the door, a pair of lips collided with hers, her hooves were pinned against the door as the gray maned beauty danced her tongue around her lover's mouth. Vinyl moaned and let herself go limp into the kiss. After a while Octavia broke it and hugged her tightly.
"I missed you V" Octavia said and Vinyl wiggled free, wrapping her hooves around Octavia's petite form.
"I missed you too Tavi" she whispered quitly as she buried her face in her mane and inhaled the sweet scent of Lavender she had come to associate with the gray beauty. A contented sigh broke the silence, though none could tell from whom it came.
A hoof reached to take her glasses and Vinyl did not protest as Octavia hesitated slightly before taking them and placing them on the table beside the door that held their keys.
Vinyl stroked through Octavia's mane, messing it up a little into a beautiful disarray. She was content to stay like that for the rest of the night. Fate would have them seperate eventually.
octavia pulled away and walked into the kitchen after pressing her lips to Vinyl's cheek affectionately, she returned a few moments later with two cups of hot chcocolate.
She held one out to Vinyl as they walked into the living room.
"I made this a few minutes ago before you came in, it's still warm... ish" she said with a smirk and Vinyl chuckled, taking the beverage with the payment of a kiss, and settling down on the couch, Octavia joining her after a few seconds, Vinyl took a longing sip of the wamr drink and felt herself melt onto the couch. Octavia snuggled up beside her.
"Thanks Tavi, you're too good to me sometimes" she said with an ever so slight blush kissing against her white coat. Octavia smiled coyly.
"I know, but don't tell me you don't like it" she said and rested her head on Vinyl's shoulder, letting her hooves stroke through her gray mane. Vinyl leant further back into the plush cushions and sighed.
"So how was Melody?" she asked and Vinyl smiled widely, turning her head.
"You remember how I was before I confessed my feelings to you? Crying on this very couch and looked a mess, rigth?" she asked and Octavia nodded.
"Well, I wouldn't say you looked a mess, but I try not to remember you in tears" she said with a slight nod, and Vinyl smiled at the shrouded compliment and continued.
"Well, she was the same when I visited her, bags under her eyes, messy coat and mane, messy house, so, I confronted her, and you'll never guess who she's pining for" she said and Octavia perked up immediately at the prospect of gossip.
"Who?"
"Your brother, Tempest Strings" she said, and Octavia gasped loudly, throwing her hooves to her mouth and squealing.
"Oooh! That's so cute, my baby brother has an admirer" she said excitedly, and Vinyl shook her head.
"Not only him, but also the local stargazer Starlight, she's in love with both of them and doesn't know who to pursue" she said, and Octavia grimaced.
"Oh my" she said quietly, and Vinyl nodded.
"That's what I thought, add to that the fact that she's been signed up for a contract with ERD and, well, she's gonna need help, which is why she asked for my help" Vinyl finished, and Octavia sighed.
"Most ponies can't handle loving ONE, let alone TWO. But, anyway, enough business, I get enough of that when I play, where did you go afterwards, because you did not spend 3 hours round Melody's" she said with resolution, and Vinyl gulped.
"Well, I, uh, I actually visited the hospital" she said, and Octavia's eyes snapped open, she withdrew from her position on the couch and sat bolt upright.
"Why?" she asked immediately, and Vinyl sat up, knowing that she had to tread carefully lest she incur her wrath.
"Well, I, uh, I went to see somepony" Vinyl said, hoping that would be the end of it, but Octavia wasn't accepting that explanation.
"Who did you see?" she asked unusually calmly, but Vinyl knew this was the calm before the storm.
"I went to see Noteworthy" Vinyl admitted, and Octavia sighed angrily.
"So, you wnet against my wishes. Why? Did you chew him out? Did you vent your anger and let him have it? Did you finally get what you wanted?" Octavia asked, and Vinyl shook her head.
"No no no, admittedly that's what I was going to do, but, then, I sort of listened to his story, and he seemed genuinely sorry, so I forgave him, just like you did"
Octavia seemed to calm down a bit.
"He asked about you, whether you forgave him, so I told him you did, and I also told him we were marefriends when he asked if you were happy" she said, and Octavia turned back, a new anger ignited.
"You TOLD him? Vinyl! I didn't want him to find out! Now he knows that he got away with it and can get away with other stuff! Vinyl that's exactly the reason I didn't tell him" she nearly yelled, and Vinyl furrowed her brow in hurt and confusion.
"Why wouldn't you want him to know? Are you ashamed of me?" she asked and Octavia shrugged.
"Well, the way you went against me like that, right now I am yes!" she spat, and Vinyl recoiled.
"Okay, look, I made a mistake, it happens, and I'm sorry, but you're not above making mistakes are you? I mean, Noteworthy's cut is living proof of that!" she stated and Octavia chose her next words to specifically hit her heart.
"Well maybe falling in love with you was a mistake the way you go behind my back! And this is hardly the first of your mistakes, after all half the mares in Ponyville are living proof of that!" she yelled, and Vinyl shut down. She waited for Octavia to hear what she had just said.
She didn't.
"Are you gonna stand there like an idiot and not even try to defend yourself?" she asked, and Vinyl gasped, a tear rolling out of her eyes. She ran out the room and out the house. Octavia stood there for a few more minutes until she gasped. What have I done? she asked herself, and ran to the door, screaming Viny's name. She went to the cabinet and grabbed her keys, before noticing something, there, next to a second pair, was opaque blue glasses.
Vinyl had forgotten to put them on.
Noteworthy sighed as the door was closed, a smile on his face. Octavia was happy, that's all that mattered to him at the moment. And the fact that he had been bedridden for the past three days. He looked around, sure that no one was around and threw the covers off of him. He put one hoof gingerly on the floor them got out of the bed. It felt good to walk again.
The door opened and he turned to see Daisy walking back in, she stopped with a questioning look when she saw him, but said nothing for a few seconds. behind her he could see Vinyl Scratch walking away. He looked at Daisy.
"I had to start walking, it's murder being in a hospital bed for so long" he justified and Daisy chuckled as she walked into the room proper, closing the door with a sharp *click*.
Noteworthy strolled towards the window and opened it, breathing deeply of the air outside. Spring was just around the corner, and the trees now had the beginnings of pink buds on the branches.
He smiled to himself and felt the warmth of Daisy as she walked up next to him. Noteworthy turned his attention to the sky, where the stars had only just begun to peek from the night time blue. He sighed. Daisy could feel he was content.
"You like the stars?" Diasy asked, and Noteworthy nodded.
"Not just the stars, it's been so long since I've been somewhere that has this much open space" he explained as he took a deep breath of air. It was true he had always enjoyed the countryside, and the rustic smells of the land that came with it, whether being crackling and cold within the throes of winter, soft and repugnant with leaf-molds of autumn, floral and sweltering with the summer tides, or gentle and breezy bringing with it the soft aroma of the falling blossoms.
but what he liked most about the countryside was the lack of unnatural light, his gaze drifted up and he saw the millions upon millions of Luna's stars as they twinkled in the night sky. He sighed and Daisy smiled as he felt his content.
"But, you like the stars most of all?" she asked, and Noteworthy nodded.
"Yeah, they were a source of inspiration for me more than once, there's something so surreal about gazing up into Luna's night and just stargazing" he said, and Daisy giggled a little.
"You sound like Starlight" she said, and he smiled, a confused expression overcoming him. She waved a hoof.
"She's the local astronomer. Every night she goes up onto the roof and looks at the stars" she explained, and Noteworthy smiled and chuckled slightly.
"Sounds like somepony else is as obsessed with stars as I am" he said, leaning on Daisy slightly, she tensed then relaxed and leant into him as well, resting her head on his shoulders as they stood at the window and gazed out at the countryside. A shooting star left a blazing contrail against the night sky and Daisy sighed.
Noteworthy looked at her, she looked so much like the first night he had seen her, bathed in silver moonlight, it washed over her gracefully and shaped her, she seemed to be made of the moonlight. In the future, Noteworthy would look back at this moment as the defining moment he realised he had fallen for her, if only because in that moment he saw more than a comforting friend, he saw a listening ear, a pair of golden, compassionate eyes and a warm heart. He saw something he hadn't seen since Octavia.
He saw Love.
He wasn't going to give it up, nor would he lose it this time.
He turned back to the stars and felt his heart swell with the new emotion, and Daisy felt the change, it caused a smile to break out on her face at the sincerity of whatever Noteworthy was feeling, she couldn't quite place it however, so she turned and saw him smiling, with a few tears in his eyes. He sighed.
"Notes? What's up?" she asked, and he shook his head.
"Nothing. Just... just realising something" he said as he turned towards Diasy. She quizzically regarded him as he smiled wider.
"What?" she asked, and he smiled again.
"You actually look really beautiful in the moonlight" he said, and she blushed profusely.
"Uh, well... what?" she asked, and he laughed, stepping closer than they were already.
"You heard me. Diasy, I was wondering, when I get out of here, would you like to accompany me to dinner sometime?" he asked and she smiled widely.
"Yes Noteworthy, of course I would" She said, and he smiled, leaning his head on hers, contentment running through him as they stood for a while longer.
A pony behind them cleared their throat, gathering their full attention. they looked behind them and there was Nurse Redheart with a smug smile on her face. The couple saw her expression and both blushed, so she decided not to embarrass them any further.
"Hello Notes, Daisy, I'm here to tell you both that you're free to go. We can't do much more in here, if you want to recover fully, what you need is a nice rest in your own bed and maybe a nice home cooked meal. I'll have to look into getting a new cook here" she said laughing, and the other two shared their laugh. Redheart handed them a form and Noteworthy signed it, signalling his official discharge from the hospital.
He smiled at the Nurse who gave him a wink then shot a very quick look to Daisy. Notes felt himself blushing. Daisy felt jealousy flare in her chest before she kept it in check.
Noteworthy watched the Nurse leave and close the door before he turned to the clock on the far wall. It read 7:30. Noteworthy turned back to Daisy.
"Mi'lady, would'st thou care to accompany me to a most pleasant luncheon?" he asked in his best Shakeshooves impression, even going as far as to kneel down and extend a hoof towards her, keeping his head slightly bowed.
Daisy giggled a little before taking his hoof with hers.
"You're such a gentlecolt when you want to be, I would be delighted good sir" she said, and Noteworthy smiled as he got back up and they walked towards the door. Noteworthy opened it for her and let her go first, she nodded her thanks to him as he followed her. The Nurse gave them a knowing look, but Noteworthy ignored them as they walked towards the entrance to the hospital. As the door slid open the pair walked through ina comfortable silence.
Noteworthy cast a furtive glance back at the hospital and allowed a grin to form on his face. He was out of the hospital, Octavia had forgiven him, and he was going on a date with who he believed to be the most beautiful pony in ponyville. Life was exceedingly good...
Vinyl Scratch, easily the most confident pony in ponyville, whom anypony could tell you would be at the height of every party scene on the block, even a few in the more questioning areas, was cowering in an alleyway. Where else could she go? She couldn't go home. Octavia didn't want her there.
She couldn't go out in public. Not without her shades. She wouldn't want to curse ponies with the burden of seeing her eyes.
She was crouched low on the hard cobbled floor and was wailing profusely. Her eyes were covered with her forelegs, she couldn't bear to see the world, for everytime she did, she saw it. Everywhere.
Tears travelled down her white coat matting it and leaving trails down her cheeks.
She wiped her eyes on her hooves and chanced a glance up out of the alleyway. Immediately she saw a couple, Lyra and Bon Bon, holding hooves as they sat on a bench, gazing upwards at the night sky. Bon Bon rested her head against Lyra and Lyra gave her an affectionate kiss. Vinyl buried her head in her hooves again and wailed. Tears began to stream down her face again.
Octavia didn't Love her anymore. And it was because she had tried to do something nice to Noteworthy. That colt was destroying relationships even now.
Vinyl sighed to herself and huddled up closer as the chill bit into her. She shoudln't stay out, and she knew exactly where to go. She walked out of the alleyway and surprised Lyra and Bon Bon who waved to her, then stopped when they noticed her red eyes, even redder now from excessive crying. They knew something was wrong.
Vinyl glared at them and walked away, keeping her head down. Many ponies gave her offhand looks, but the rare few saw her eyes. Those that did gasped in shock and started to walk away briskly. Vinyl took this in stride. Took it like a physical blow. By the time she got to the bar she wanted, the tears had started anew, she wiped them off and took a look up at the bar's name. The Bannered Mare. It was quaint if slightly too rustic, with dark mahogany beams interlacing across the front, and an old signpost held aloft by a metal support of a mare standing on one hoof with a banner tied to her mane flitting about in the wind.
Vinyl had played here once or twice, but mostly she had drunk there when she was single. How very prudent she should return then on the worst night of her life.
She sniffed and wiped away the residual tears, the doors opened and she heard the throbbing bass of the music. The pony who exited was laughing with his friend, Vinyl could smell the alcohol on him already. But when he saw Vinyl he shrieked and fell back onto the floor. The other pony took a step back.
"Whoa, dude, those are some freaky eyes, man" he commented and Vinyl shot him a look that could have frozen hoim to the spot. Which it did, until she started walking forward. He backed up again and she walked to the door, staring at him the whole time. She heard his friend grumble slightly and the last thing she heard before the door closed, besides the pump of the music, was a comment.
"She was a real freaky bi-" the door closed, cutting off the remainder of his sentence, but she knew what he was going to say . She blinked back tears for the millionth time that night and smoke made Vinyl feel claustraphobic, add to the fact that every other step she collided with somepony who was either too drunk or dancing way too flamboyantly. She had missed this place. Like the fish misses the fire! she thought bitterly to herself.
She sighed dejectedly, the first time since forever. She began her trudge to the bar, sat down at an empty stool and waited for one of the waitors to be free so she could order her famous Consciouss Killer, three shots of straight vodka mixed together with a half glass of bourbon. It tasted horrible, but it was just what she needed.
She idly traced a droplet of liquid with her hoof, blurring the spherical outline into a shape she could not discern. Octavia didn't love her. The thought kept playing in her mind, much like it had before they were together. Soon, it turned into a moking motif that played over and over.
Octavia doesn't love you! Octavia doesn't love you! Octavia doesn't love you! Octavia doesn't love you!
"Shut Up!" she nearly yelled, gathering the attention of several ponies nearby. They regarded her questioningly. Vinyl was blind to a pain in her hoof, so when she looked down she was surprised to see her hoof had dug into the wooden bar, leaving a deep gash in the wood. There was no trace of the clear liquid she had been idly toying with. She withdrew her hoof, but kept her eyes on the table.
"Vinyl? Vinyl Scratch! What are you doing here!" somepony said joyously, and Vinyl looked up to see the bar's kind owner Mr Whistle. Aptly named because of his business, but also for the fact he could whistle any tune you asked him too. He always had a few kind words and a smile on his face, his moustache giving him an air of authority, but his eyes giving him away as the party pony everypony knew he really was.
This time however, his smile waned and disappeared when he saw Vinyl's eyes. He, however, looked past the colour and deep into her soul. He saw her hurt.
"Vinyl, what's wrong? Where are your shades?" he asked, and Vinyl let out a tear.
"What happened?" he asked, but Vinyl ignored him, instead ordering her drink.
"Give me a Conscious Killer, Whistle. I need to forget today, and just pass out" she said, "And hopefully not wake up" she added softly, and Whistle blinked before smiling ruefully and sighing, moving away to prepare the drink, and leaving Vinyl to her thoughts.
Vinyl put the bits to pay for her drink on the bar and waited as the bartender/owner mixed the required paraphernalia to mix what would be hell for her liver and head in the morning.
"Hey pretty mare, how about you and I go have some fun?" she heard a voice and clenched her jaw. The voice came from her left, so she turned and fixed the colt her best death glare. He was shocked, the smug grin gone from his face in seconds as he scrambled away, now looking much sober then he had sounded.
The bartender set the drink on the bar.
"Vinyl, I would appreciate it if you didn't scare away my customers" he said as Vinyl turned back to him and picked up the glass, downing the entire contents in one swift gulp. Whistle's eyes widened, his jaw dropped, Vinyl's throat burned as the alcohol burned down to her stomach. She set the glass on the bar and tried to remain conscious for a few more seconds. She succeeded, at a cost. Her grip on the glass tightened from the momentary pain in her throat, and the glass shattered. Whistle jumped back, and Vinyl felt a new pain in her hoof. Glass shards sliced into her skin through the coat.
"Jesus Vinyl, are you trying to kill yourself?" he asked, and Vinyl looked up through her tear-stained eyes.
"Well, right now that doesn't sssound like a bad idea" she said hoarsely.
"Another please" she asked and Whistle cocked an eyebrow.
"No Vinyl, not until you tell me why you're trying to drink yourself into a walking fire-hazard" he said, and she sioghed, scooping the glass shards together in one pile. Whistle brushed them into a duspan and into a bin.
"Octavia and I had a fight. She... She said that falling in love with me was a mistake. I don't... I don't know what I'm gonna do Whistle" she said, degrading into tears at the end of her story. She buried her head into her hooves on the desk. She had never been a chipper drunk before. Whistle scratched his moustache in thought.
"Well, what you should do is go home, apologize, and wait for her to apologize too. I'm guessing you said some things too?" he asked and recieved a nod from Vinyl. That made things worse. She realised she somewhat deserved the berating she got from her lover.
"Then you're both in the wrong. What you shouldn't do is stay here wasting your bits on alcohol that you're probably going to chuck away, rather, upchuck it away" he said. She knew he was right, but why would Octavia apologize? She'd likely just accuse her of bringing it upon herself, which of course she did.
Vinyl sighed and sat back up, looking around the bar. She shouldn't be there, but right now it was the only place she could go besides...
A thought struck her like a tonne of bricks. Melody! SHe could crash there for tonight until she worked up the courage to speak to Octavia.
She got off of her chair and walked towards the door, casting a thankful glance towards Whistle and waving goodbye. Her walking was a little off, but that could be exected after downing an entire glass full of vodka and bourbon.
She opened the door and shut it behind her, walking in the general direction towards Melody's house.