10 minutes after the funeral
Octavia made her way back home to her apartment, taking the long way across the park to avoid bumping into any of Vinyl's friends or attendees from the funeral. Sad, gloomy, and depressed she just wanted all this to be a bad dream, to wake up in the morning and find vinyl alive and nearly burning the house down with her attempt's at cooking . But It wasn't a dream, this was real. Vinyl was dead she wasn't coming back and she knew it was all her fault. She continuously cursed herself for saying those hurtful words on the phone wishing that she could take them back but she knew it was far too late. No matter how many times she prayed to Celestia that this was all a bad dream, she knew it wasn't and that nothing will ever be the same again.
As she neared closer to her apartment building memories popped up in her head throughout her and Vinyl's friendship. From the first day they met each other in elementary school, offering her help with homework, Vinyl almost getting her leg broken protecting Octavia from some bullies, the two of em performing at their high school talent show, their graduation speech, the wild college parties Vinyl begged her to attend , Vinyl landing a record deal, Octavia receiving opportunities to play at orchestras, doing collaborations together, and Vinyl nearly burning the apartment down trying to cook dinner that one time.
The times she spent with her best friend were the happiest moment's in her life. whenever she was down or under the weather vinyl was always there to cheer her up, whether it was with words or music. But now there was no one to cheer her up, vinyl was gone and she wasn't coming back things will never be the same again for this young mare. Her friends hated her, Vinyls friends, family, fans, would have been husband hate her, and even her own parents wouldn't talk to her. she wished so badly that she could reverse all this, that she could have been born a unicorn so that she could use the time travel spell and fix all this. But she knew this could never be fixed. She lost everything and there was no going back from it.
At last she finally reached her apartment, she just wanted to get inside and put this day behind her . But she knew this would never go away she couldn't come back from it and this incident will haunt her dreams for the rest of her life.
"What have I done?" Octavia sighed as she unlocked the door and stepped inside her apartment sad that she was coming home alone with no Vinyl or anyone by her side.
One hour later
We find Octavia sitting gloomily on the kitchen floor with a bottle of scotch and a glass in hoof as well. Normally she wouldn't be caught dead drinking this stuff, but considering today's event's and the loss of her friend she felt this was the appropriate time to "try new thing's". She look's down to her phone after she deleted all her social media pages and blocked her number as to avoid hate messages from all of Vinyl's followers. She also looked down to the switchblade that she took out of Vinyl's room after she took out the scotch. To this day she still wonder's why in the world Vinyl would even have something like that in her possession even though the music world especially if its rock or techno can get dangerous at times.
She stared into the open blade of the knife showing her reflection of the depressed look's in her eye's. As she stared into the blade the many hurtful words that came from her mouth and the ponies at the funeral and from her text before blocking her number kept playing in her mind.
"I'm sorry Vinyl, you've broken one to many promises to me. This friendship is over"
"But it seem's some don't respect her schedule"
"You monster!"
"How could you do that?!"
"And I thought Nightmare moon was evil"
"Never talk to me again Octavia"
"Don't expect me to play along side you anymore Octavia"
"You better not say thank you"
And the list keep's going on. After a moment of hesitation and taking another sip of her drink, she slowly grabbed the switchblade off the floor and stared into the sharp blade. After another moment of hesitation she gently placed the sharp tip of the blade near her jugular as tears began to form in her eyes. She knew that thing's would never go back to normal that no one would ever forgive her for what she's done, and that her best friend was gone forever. She once again prayed that this was all a bad dream, but again Octavia knew it wasn't, this couldn't be reversed and there was no going back from it and she knew there was only one way to make it right.
" I'm sorry so, so, sorry please forgive me" She said tearfully as she slowly began to dig the tip deeper into her jugular as some blood began to drip down slowly.
"But before she could dig deeper, her only way out was interrupted by a knock at the door. Hearing and surprised that she had a guest, she dropped the knife away from her neck and began to collect herself again as small amounts of blood continued to drip down her neck. as the knocking continued Octavia finally stood up from her drunkin state , grabbed a paper towel ,and wiped off some of the blood from her neck while putting some pressure on the small cut. After managing to slowly make the bleeding stop she then opened the door and was surprised to find one of her closest friend at the door, Twilight sparkle AKA Princess Twilight Sparkle stood there with a look of sympathy.
"Twilight?" Octavia said slightly nervous"
"Hello Octavia" Twilight said with a smile. " How are you doing this evening?"
Octavia hesitated for a second knowing that she's seen better day's since discovering Vinyl, but she tried her hardest to act like shes doing fine in front of the princess of friendship.
" Uh I'm doing fine thank you for asking your highness" She said still nervous.
"Please, just call me Twilight" Twilight said slightly annoyed. " I may have descended but you can still call me Twilight Sparkle without the princess or your highness part"
" Oh my apologies Twilight" She said still nervous. " Uh Would you like to come inside?"
"Of course thank you" Twilight said as she was escorted inside the apartment building.
As the two friends walked inside, Twilight took a chance to survey Octavia's place. She looked around the messy looking living room which look's as if it hasn't been touched in a few weeks, but considering Octavia just lost a friend she couldn't blame her for barely taking care of her place. She then noticed Octavia's state with her hair messed up a little and the smell of alcohol coming from her. She also noticed the bottle of Scotch on the kitchen floor along with the switchbade that had a few hints of blood on it.
"Thank god I showed up in time" Twilight said in her head thanking Celestia that she prevented yet another possible suicide attempt.
" Please take a seat on the couch, I'll go get us some refreshment's" Octavia said trying to act happy.
"Thank you Octavia" Twilight said politely, she then got a chance to take a glimpse of the wound on Octavia's neck. luckily the knife tip didn't dig too deep into her jugular so there wasn't any permanent damage. after a few minutes Octavia came back with a cup of tea and another glass of scotch for herself. After placing the tray on the mini table she took a seat next to the princess of magic.
"You know I wasn't expecting visitor's tonight" Octavia said. " This was quite a surprise, It's been quite a while since you and I hung out and had a friendly conversation"
"Well I figured you were feeling a bit down after losing Vinyl so I thought I'd drop by to see how you were holding up" Twilight replied.
"Well I appreciate it my friend thank you" Octavia replied back with a small smile.
Twilight then takes a sip of her tea as Octavia took a sip of her scotch as well causing Twilight to raise an eyebrow.
"I thought you didn't like Scotch?" Twilight questioned.
" Well I figured it was about time to get out of my comfort zone and give new thing's a try" Octavia said slightly gloomy. " Plus after losing a loved one it's only fair to pour one out in their honor, kind of a traditional thing wouldn't ya agree?"
"Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight" Twilight questionably replied. She then placed her cup of tea on the table before speaking again.
"Octavia are you alright?" She asked.
"Of course, why wouldn't I be?" Octavia answered still nervously.
"Come on Octavia" Twilight corrected. " I'm the princess of friendship I can tell if a ponies dealing with some hardship's. You forgot that I helped Mayor Mare to organize the funeral, and judging by all the look's the attendees gave you and how upset and silent you've been during the entire eulogy. I instantly knew you were dealing with a lot of stuff, and also I seen the bloodied switchblade on the floor in the kitchen and the visible wound on your neck. It's probably non of my business Octavia even with me being a princess but I don't wanna see one of my closest friends go down that path, so please tell me how you feel I wanna try to help you, please Octavia"
As Twilight finished her statement Octavia looked down at the table with her expression hidden in the bangs of her hair. She had a feeling Twilight would catch on soon, especially since she was quite a mess from the smell of alcohol and the knife wound on the center of her neck. Yet she couldn't help but feel slightly impressed, no doubt Twilight was crowned a princess for a good reason. While she wasn't willing to poor down her feelings, fearing that twilight would abandon her as well and she couldn't risk losing another one of her closest friends especially since her other ones don't want anything to do with her. Feeling defeated she felt there was no turning back from this and finally broke.
"You cant" She said with a sad sigh.
"What?" Twilight asked.
"You can't help me Twilight" Octavia continued. " Nothing you can do or say can erase the damage that I have caused"
"You caused?" Twilight asked. " What are you talking about?"
"Oh come on Twilight!" Octavia snapped." You were there to organize the funeral, honestly you should have seen Vinyl's suicide note and read EVERYTHING on it"
After a moment of questioning Twilight look's back at the suicide note that she indeed read while helping to organize the eulogy, she then looks back at the last thing Vinyl wrote exclusively to Octavia so it's pretty obvious to the young alicorn as to why her friend is saying the suicide was her fault.
"Octavia listen to me. I know you feel bad about what you've said to Vinyl over the phone but you can't blame yourself for her suicide it wasn't your fault" Twilight said.
"ARE YOU KIDDING ME SPARKLE!!!!!!???????" Octavia snapped." Of course it's my fault! I told Vinyl on the phone that I didn't wanna be friend's anymore all because I threw a stupid tantrum over her not making it to my concert!"
" Calm down Octavia" Twilight jumped in. " Vinyl know's you didn't mean all that you cant keep blaming yourself for all this, no one is judging you"
"Tell that to all of Vinyl's supporters" She retorted with tears beginning to form." EVERYBODY hates me for what I did Twilight. My friend's hate me, Vinyl's friend's and fans hate me, the whole town hates me, my band mates wont play with me anymore, Vinyl's family want's to tear me limb from limb, no orchestra will allow me to play there, I had to delete my social media pages, and to top it off my own parent's haven't spoken to me since!"
As she made her statement Twilight watched her friends sad state but said nothing as she continued her rant.
"I destroyed so many lives because of my stupid mistake" Octavia continued with tears." I can never go back from it no matter how many times I pray to Celestia that this is all a bad dream. Vinyl's always had a busy schedule throughout her career like her dad said but I didn't respect it and instead just threw a hissy fit over her missing one FREAKIN CONCERT!!!!!! And now look what's happened I have no one, everybody hates me now because I took away their beloved friend, daughter, and positive icon. I'll never be forgiven for this Twilight, everyone's right I'm just as evil as Nightmare moon . My best friend is gone forever, she's never coming back, and its all...........my.............................FAULT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Octavia then collapsed on the couch crying loudly as Twilight continued to watch her sad state. Seeing one of her closest friend's in this state was too much for the young Alicorn to handle. She could feel all the negative emotions that clouded her friend's mind. Vinyl's suicide, the hurtful word's she said to her on the phone, the cold glares she received during the funeral eulogy's, her friends and family abandoning her, and the sad reality that her friend is never coming back and blaming herself for it. Seeing a friend in this state broke her heart, and the worst part Octavia felt that she would never be forgiven for this and thought about doing the whole world a favor and just end it as well. After a moment Twilight collected her friend into a warm and loving embrace which she quickly returned and soon cried on her friend's shoulder. Octavia continues to cry on Twilight's shoulder as the young alicorn gently rubbed her friends back in an effort to calm her down, after a few minutes Twilight then spoke again as Octavia's crying soon turned to quiet weeping.
" Octavia it's ok" Twilight said in a motherly tone. " Listen to me, yes what you said to Vinyl on the phone, ending your friendship all for missing your concert was too far and quite cruel. But deep down she knows you didn't mean it and so do you. You regret what you've said to her and wish you could take it back which show's that you do care for her and regret everything that's happened, but you cant spend the rest of your life blaming yourself for all this. Your not evil Octavia your a good person who just made one big mistake, no one hates you. Not me, not your parent's, friends, or your bandmates. Deep down they know your truly sorry for all this and they still care about you"
Octavia then sniffed and slowly wiped the tear's from her eyes before making her statement.
"How can you say that Twilight?" She sniffed." Did you not see how I was treated during the whole eulogy? Hell Frederic was this close to attacking me, how do you expect any of them to forgive me for what I've done?"
"That is true old friend" Twilight answered." But listen while they are upset at you, they know your sorry for what you've done they're just not ready to show it yet. Again nobody hates you Octavia and I guarantee, everybody will forgive you. It'll take time but I assure you everyone will forgive you. Take a look at me and my friends, TBH I got betrayed by them a few times when i first moved to ponyville but we always try our hardest to make amends and move past our problem's cause we cherish our friendship more than anything int he world. And I promise you, you will be forgiven Octavia but until then you have to learn to forgive yourself first"
After a moment Octavia finally collected herself and thought over her friends word's. Deep down she thought it was almost impossible to be forgiven for what she's done and that thing's will never be the same again. But another part of her knew that it was never to late for second chances, it was gonna be a long road ahead for the young mare but she knew Vinyl wouldn't want her to give up on her life so easily. She had to be strong for Vinyl and that as a major must.
"I'll try Twilight" She said. " I'll try"
"Thank you my friend" Twilight replied before bringing her friend back into a hug which she quickly returned.
After a moment Octavia finally calmed down and a hopeful smile appeared on her face. Knowing that she still had a friend there to comfort her gave her hope that it isn't too late for second chances. After a few minutes both friends got out of the embrace and Octavia spoke again.
"Thank you Twilight, that's just what I needed" Octavia said with a smile.
"It's no problem old friend" Twilight replied. " I always have my friends back's whenever they're sad or feeling left out"
"Hehe and that's why Celestia crowned you the Princess of Friendship" Octavia chuckled earning a chuckle from Twilight as well.
"Thank's Octy" Twilight replied earning a small look from Octavia from being called her nickname that only Twilight and Vinyl know.
"Say uh, my friends and I are gonna grab some dinner at hayburger, wanna come along?" Twilight asked
" I don't know Twilight" Octavia said nervously." Your friend's were at the funeral as well, plus Pinkie and Dash are fans of Vinyl as well. I don't think I'll be welcomed at any restaurant without then tainting my food"
"Don't worry I'll have your back all the way" Twilight said with a smile. " The one thing about my friend's is that they're quick to give second chances and to not hold a grudge, just trust me I'll put in a good word for you with them, the customers, and the owner of the establishment. And if anything goes wrong me and my friend's will back you up, I promise"
Octavia then thought for a moment, touched that her friend would defend her from everyone who hated her for what she's done and said to Vinyl. But she knew that no one would dare to mess with a princess especially the prized student of Princess Celestia herself. After a few seconds she made her decision.
"Well, ok what the hell I'll come along" Octavia said with a smile.
"Awesome, thanks Octy" Twilight replied with a smile of her own.
"No thank YOU for being here with me old friend" Octavia replied. " Just let me go upstairs and fix up my hair and I'll be down shortly"
"Sound's good buddy, I'll be down hear waiting" Twilight said.
With that Octavia then went upstairs to fix up her hair before heading out to dinner with her friend. This day's events have been rather dark and gloomy for herself and everyone of Vinyl's loved ones and while it seemed nearly impossible for everything to go back to normal at first, but she knew it was never too late try and make things right no matter how long it takes she knew everyone will eventually forgive her and hopefully she will learn to forgive herself.