Octavia was panting as she ran, she hadn't bothered with a coat so now she was cold, with a light sweat from the exertion of running for so long, she was panting heavily, like a dog that had gone without water, her breath clouded in front of her face as her hooves clattered on the cobblestone underhoof. She passed ponies who were coming home from or going to clubs, not once did she see Vinyl. She had to find her, to apologise before she did something stupid like drink herself into a pickled state of no return.
She stopped for a split second to run her hooves through her mane in frustration, tears still flowed and a half sob escaped her throat as she twirled on the spot trying to search for her lover whom she had so wrongly slighted, if Vinyl ever forgave her it would be a miracle.
She turned and thought she saw something, but it was only Rarity the fashion unicorn returning to her boutique with an overly-hyper pink pony on her heels. They were both giggling profusely. Under any other circumstance it might have been comical. Not now though.
She continued to search, and decided that Vinyl would have gone to the bars to drink herself sry, literally in terms f money. It was her fault if anything happened to her. That thought hurt worse than the knowledge that she herself had caused whatever harm might befoul the alabaster unicorn. It was her fault. Her fault. Her. Fault.
She sobbed and ran again, this time towards the bars. If she hurried she might find her before she got into them to waste her bits and order a drink that would knock out Princess Luna on a good night.
She broke into a sprint, running at top speed, gathering looks from others, but she didn't care. She had to find Vinyl, and she had to find her now.
She ran towards where the music would be, The Bannered Mare, it was where Vinyl had drunk herself into a stupor more than once, and the bartender there, Whistle, would surely know what was eating Vinyl had she been in there, and he would tell Octavia where she went if she did. She continued t run towards the bar until she was outisde the doors to it. The door swung open and a burly pony with a clean suit threw out a unicorn who was lauging hysterically as he hit the cobblestone pavement. Octavia tried not to wince at the cracking sound as his jaw hit the floor.
Octavia sidestepped the unconscious uniorn and stepped past the bouncer who had so curtly held open the dor for her. Any other time she would have smiled and seen it as polite. Not now though. She danced through the crowd elegantly until she was at the crowded bar, several ponies were huddled around a table where two ponies were locked, eye to eye in a hoofwrestle. One was a startlingly feminine looking filly who held a personal smirk at the corners of her mouth, no visible signs of exertion on her face. The other was an Earth Pony colt who's face was red and sweat was pouring from his brow.
She walked up to the bar and the colt behind it smiled at her.
"Hello Luv, what's yer poison?" he asked in a heavy Trottingham Accet, and she opened her mouth, barely hearing her own words for the bass of the heavy dubtrot rave music.
"Have you seen a white Unicrn here, red eyes, blue mane, ususally wears shades?" Octavia asked, and the colt thought for a moment.
"Yeah, we have her in here for gigs occasionally, mare knows how to drop a bass" he commented, and Octavia waved a dissmissive hoof.
"Yeah, I know, but has she been in tonight?" She asked, and the colt rubbed the back of his head.
"Lemme get the manager, be right back, OI! WHISTLE!" He yelled over the music, and Octavia reeled back in shock at the volume the colt could exert over the throbbing music.
The colt came back after a few minutes, and Octavia saw a scratch mark on the wood. Whistle stood in front of her.
"Hello Octavia, you're looking for Vinyl aren't you" he said, not a question, but a statement. ctavia nodded. Whistle nodded too.
"She wa shere, ordered the stongest drink in the lace and was bawling her eyes out" he said, and Octavia's ears flattened, frsh tears sprung forth. Somepony crashed into her and fell on the floor, and Whistle looked at him with an arched eyebrow, shaking his head as he continued.
"She also told me what you said to her. You were seriously out of line" he said, and Octavia nodded.
"I... I knw I was... B-but I need to know where she went... please" she begged hi, and Whistle sighed, stroking hr cheek, wiping away the tears.
"Vinyl's my friend, and so are you, it hurts me to see you two like this. She walked out after one drink, mumblin' something about somepony named Melody. DO yo know her?" he asked and Octavia nodded, hope evident n her eyes now, the tears banished by a glaze of happiness.
"Melody is Vinyl's student, I need to go, if I hurry I might get there before Vinyl!" she yelled before bolting out of the bar, kocking over three ponies who were in her way. They shouted after her indignantly, but by that time she was already gone. She had to get to Melody before Vinyl did, maybe there was still hope for them...
Love is a fickle fiend, a weapon that can be misused, it can make us or break us apart, and it can be as bright as the sun, or as dark as the pitch black of night. Vinyl knew this all too well. Right now for what felt like the millionth time on what felt like the worst night of her life, she was on the verge of tears as she trudged, slightly tipsy from the bar where she had only just tried to drown her sorrows, towards the house of Melody, perhaps the only place she could find a comforting ear and a sympathetic mind.
She sighed dejectedly as she walked, consumed in her thoughts, all degrading, saying it was her fault, her fault for going too far, her fault for going to the hospital in the first place, her fault for wanting to do something nice for the sleazebag who had hurt Octavia.
Suddenly, a new thought entered her mind. It was His fault. Noteworthy, if he hadn't come to the town their life would have gone on as if nothing had happened, they would still be happy, together, making sweet music together. She couldn't help a smile, but the all-consuming self-depreciation came back all the stronger and a tear leaked from her ruby-red eyes as she walked.
She sniffed and wiped it away, refusing to allow herself to degrade to tears for the sake of her own relief. If she could, she would bottle it up like she had done the first time she met Octavia.
She shook her head.
No, no she couldn't. It had hurt, so much last time, and it would hurt more this time.
All too soon she had arrived outside the house. The light in the living room was still on, indicating that either Melody was still up, or she had fallen asleep with the light on. The latter seemed extremely unlikely as she had prided herself on being neat and organised. Most of the time.
Vinyl approached the door and knocked twice, and heard nothing but silence. She knocked again, remaining patient. It appeared to Vinyl that she had fallen asleep after all. Which would make sense seeing as how it was the middle of the night.
She knocked again, and decided to accompany her intrusion with words.
"Melody! Melody, please open up, I... I need your help!" She yelled, and the door rattled, a chain being pulled back from a lock. Melody opened the door, her mane was out of place and she seemed out of breath, as if she had just run a marathon.
"Hey V, what's up?" she asked breathlessly. Vinyl looked through the open door and saw that the lights were in fact candles, and three plates were set out on a coffee table in the middle of the now clear room.
"Oh.. You have company?" Vinyl asked, and Melody nodded sheepishly.
"Yeah, uh, Tempest and Starlight are here" she said, and Vinyl's heart stopped, swelled with joy, then fell through the floor to the point where there was no expression on her face.
"How'd it go?" she asked, and Melody blushed and a smile spread her lips. Vinyl connected the dots, unkempt mane and shortness of breath, coupled with the blush on her cheeks, gave Vinyl a strong idea of how it went.
"Oh..." Vinyl said simply, and Melody blushed.
"Well, it was a few hours ago really" Melody explained, and a slight smile came over Vinyl.
"Who did you pick?" she asked, and Melody blushed harder.
"Well, we sort of, came to an understanding, we have each other" she explained, and Vinyl forced a smile.
"Well congratulations, I wish you the best" Vinyl said rather dejectedly and turned around, walking back the way she had come.
"Wait, Vinyl, what's up?" Melody asked, and Vinyl shrugged.
"Oh, nothing, I wouldn't want to spoil your evening" she said, and Melody eaised an eyebrow at her when their eyes met.
"Vinyl, it's a bit late for that, because if you leave now I'm gonna be worrying that whatever it was might have been important, and the fact that you're here and not at home kind of gets the thought in my head that it is important, so get your flank inside before I kick it here" she idly threatened, and Vinyl gulped, walking towards the door.
As soon as she entered she was greeted with a most nexpected sight. There, sitting on the couch, staring at the door with bloodsht purple eyes, mane in tatters from rushing aound for so long, was the lithe, sleek form of the one pony Vinyl didn't want to see. Octavia.
Vinyl froze for a microsecond, half of her wanting to bolt away and never come bac, the other halfwanting to rush forward and embrace Octavia it caused conflict within, enouh so that when Octavia movedto rush and hug her, she was knocked out of her trance and had enough on the side to bolt that she stepped away, and anger filled her eyes.
Octavia saw ths and retracted, looking down sheepishly.
"Vinyl, I am so-" he began, but Vinyl broke her sentence.
"Sorry? You're sorry, were you going to say that? Sorry for what? Breaking my heart? Saying you didn't love me anymore? Or are you sorry that you told the truth?" she asked, and Octavia retracted in shock and sorrow.
"Vinyl... How could you say that? I do love you, I'll always love you, please, please forgive me" Octavia begged her, but Vinyl felt so very angry, and so sad and all of her emotions were now vented at the only ponywithin visual range. Melody had long since retreated to the adjoining bedroom with Starlight and Tempest Strings.
"No" Vinl said simply, and the silence that followed could be cut with a knife. Sould anyone have even ried to enter the room they would have run into the silence that suffocated the room. Vinyl continued to stare at Octavia until she sighed and looked away.
"Vinyl, I don't expect you to ever understand why I did what I did, I was angry, not at you, but at Noteworthy, and myself. I shouldn't have allowed him to affect me so, but he has, and I took it out on you. I understand why you did what yu did, you were trying to do what I said I would do, forgive and forget, but I said those awful things to you and I regret it so dearly, please, please forgive me, or 'll never forgive myself" she said, and Vinyl turned away.
"I can't forgive somepony for telling me what they really thought of me, so-" she began, turning around, but this time it was Vinyl's turnto be cut off by a pair of hooves wrapping around her and pulling her close, at the same time a pair of lips collided with her own and locked them in their own emrace. It was beautifull, and for a moment Vinyl could't remember why she was angry. Until the tears started to fall. She broke the kiss.
"Octavia, get off me! Get off me!" Vinyl yelled, struggling to free herself from Octava's vice-like grip.
"NO!" Octavia shouted, holding on like a foal would its mother.
Octavia tightened her hold until their chests touched, Vinyl was then aware of a simple fact; she could feel Octavia's heart. It was in synch with her own.
"Listen, listen Vinyl. We're meant for each other. Our hearts beat together, we fit like pieces of the same soul, you tell me we don't!" she said, and for a few minutes Vinyl stood there, lost in the sensation of their hearts beating as one. Vinyl finally wrapped her hooves around Octavia and held her close, sobbing into her mane. Both of them were crying, tears of joy running down their cheeks.
"Tavi, I am so sorry, I am so, so sorry" she sobbed, stroking through her gray mane, and Octavia sobbed as well, muttering the same words. They sealed their reunion with a passionate kiss.
Noteworthy could not take his eyes off of Daisy the whole night, from when her lithe, gracefull form was framed perfectly by the candles, to where the moonlight washed over her and framed her perfectly against the night.
In the restaurant, the waiter was a true gentlecolt, and Daisy was perfect, witty and humerous with a slight edge of sarcasm. Not a lot though, she seemed to be too nice to be overly snide about anything. Of course, if you were to ask Daisy, she would say Noteworthy was a true Gentlecolt, and though the waiter was indeed the eitome of civility and politenss, Noteworthy went above and beyond in some way, even going as far as to listen intetly to everythng, even if Daisy werto interrupt him, which she did twice just to gauge his reaction, he was everything she had imagined a Canerot Stallion o be.
Yet, somewhere deep inside her, Daisy felt this night was somehow incomplete, even when Noteworthy was walking her home, rather, Daisy was giving him directions because he did not know where she actually lived, Daisy did not want the night to end. Noteworthy felt the same way, so he made a pledge; as soon as he got her back to her house, he would hope to steal a kiss, that is, if she was willing to part with one. He swallowed tightly, hopefully he wouldn't lose his courage.
He looked over at Daisy and smiled for the umpteenth time that night, and she looked back and caught his gaze an d smiled. Noteworthy resisted the urge to look away and blush, instead opting to smile wider before looking away. What he ddn't expect was a contented sigh from beside him and a head to rest on his shoulder.
"Thanks for tonight Notes. I really enjoyed it" Daisy said, nuzzling his cheek affectionately.
"So did I Daisy. I'm glad ou enjoyed it" he said, resting his head on hers as they walked. Soon, a house came into view, with thatched roof and quaint windows, beautiful flowers hanging in front of the door, and a brilliantly vibrant garden.
"Well, this is home" she said, almost sullenly, and Noteworthy felt sadness inside him. He had nowhere to go, but he wouldn't say anything.
"Thank you for tonight Noteworthy" Daisy said, and Noteworthy smiled.
"It was the least I could do for you, after you saved me and stayed by my side for two days... or was it three?" he asked himself, somewhat like an afterthought.
Daisy laughed and smiled, stepping closer. Noteworthy didn't notice.
"It was three, and I wouldnt have left even if they tried to force me to" she said, and Noteworthy smiled.
"Why?" he ased, and Daisy shrugged.
"When you save somepony's life you don't abandon them at the hospital" she said and Noteworthy smiled wider.
"I really am gratefull. You've been a great... friend" he said, choking on his words slightly. He made to walk away, his courage failing him as he had feared it would. Suddenly, a hoof clasped over his and Daisy plled him bac.
"Wait, if you think I'm going to let you leave without a place to go, you must be crazy" she said, and his eyes widened.
"No, I wouldn't want to be a nuisance..."
"You wouldn't be, besides, don't think I didn't pick up on your emotional shift earlier. You were hoping to steal something from me, something that you wanted all night, correct?" she asked, and he blushed hotly, looking away and rubbing his neck absently.
"Well... Maybe..." he shrugged sheepishly and pawed the ground. She gigled and lifted his head.
"Then hat are you waiting for?" she asked, and he swallowed. They leant in together and their lips connected, a soul searng kiss, passionate yet gentle. His hooves raked through her hair and she melted into the embrace as they fought each other for dominancein the kiss. He wo with his tantalising scalp massage. They broke the kiss after what felt like a few seconds, or an eternity, neither knew, and neither cares enoug to do anything about it.
Daisy smiled and opened her eyes with a slight flutter to the lids.
"Now, how about you stay the night so we can do that again?" she asked dhesmiled at her.
"That sounds wonderful" he said, and Daisy turned, opening the door and walking inside, followed by Noteworth. The door swung close, with anpony looking at that moment only seeing the scant form of two ponies kissing in the foyer...