Evening fell as Octavia returned home. Luna's Moon shone in silver tandem with her glittering stars, which speckled the midnight blue sky. Crickets, off in the distance, played their own melancholic song.
She sighed. After a day of long performances like today, Octavia desired nothing more than to relax with her beloved.
She unlocked the front door, pushing it open. Inside was pitch black, a darkness that swallowed all light which filtered through.
Even after this long, Octavia's equine instincts kicked in. Her heart raced, but slowed after a moment of calm, still breaths.
These days, Vinyl liked the darkness. Octavia was willing to pay the price of a little fright if it meant her marefriend's comfort.
Shutting the door, she waited for her eyes to adjust. Slowly, the faint silhouettes of furniture and the dark gray of the walls came into focus. Still, to be safe, she used her hoof along the wall as guidance.
"Vinyl!" she called. "I'm home!"
She waited for a response. Some moments later, a thud sounded from their bedroom.
Into the kitchen, she set her bow and cello upon the dining table. She had no desire for some big, extravagant meal, but she needed something to eat.
Light blinded her momentarily as she opened the fridge. She fished for her leftover sandwich, but found it missing. Had she eaten it the other day? Or maybe Vinyl had gotten to it while she was gone. She always did have problems with boundaries.
She decided instead on a glass of milk and some assorted fruits. That sated her hunger and thirst well enough. After washing up, she gathered her instruments and went to the hallway.
The air grew thicker here. Colder. Musty. Almost stale.
It had been a while since she'd done a real, proper cleaning. She ought to do that this weekend.
Before they'd begun properly dating, they'd separated their house into two halves. Vinyl owned the left, Octavia the right. But after being together for so long, the notion struck them as foolish, so they'd integrated the two halves together. Now, they shared a bedroom, and had for several years.
Yawning, she turned right. At the end of the hallway sat their bedroom door, closed shut. She knocked, since Vinyl always appreciated the heads up. When she got no reply, she took it as permission granted and entered.
The stench hit her like a wave. She wrinkled her nostrils, coughing, as her ears were filled with the buzz of swarming flies. Shooing them away, she peered into the room.
Somehow, it seemed far darker in this room than the rest of the house. Yet oddly, she could see better.
She made out the shadow of their bed and, slumped onto the floor - Vinyl.
"Ah, there you are. Lazy today, are we?"
Vinyl said nothing, as usual. She'd been a mute for as long as Octavia remembered. Funny, given the unicorn's penchant for wild parties and raves. Though, as of late, Vinyl liked to stay inside.
Octavia didn't mind. It meant more time they could spend together.
She chuckled. Laying her instruments against the wall, she went to Vinyl and scooped her up. Vinyl offered no resistance, though moving around a pony's body took effort. Luckily, Octavia had earth pony strength on her side.
"There we go," she said, grunting, as she sat Vinyl against the headboard. Vinyl's head fell askew, so Octavia helped set it straight. "You really are a gorgeous mare. Have I ever told you that?"
Vinyl said nothing.
"Oh, I know, I know. I tell you all the time. But really, you are."
In the darkness, it was hard to make out the details. But it was clear from a glance Vinyl hadn't been 'fresh' for a while. Patches of her fur browned in some spots, peeling away or barren in others. The skin beneath, black and oozing with decay, squirmed with parasitic life.
Her ribs protruded from her body, stomach concave. The skin had pulled back from her horn and lips, making it appear as though she were always grinning at some unheard joke. Her hair, thin and tangled, had started to fall out.
She was gorgeous.
"You know," Octavia said. "I was originally planning on going right to sleep, but looking at you... Oh, Vinyl." Her breath hitched. "I'm getting all choked up. Would you mind if I played for you? That one song you really liked."
She waited for an answer.
A single, viscous trail of black ooze dribbled beneath Vinyl's shades.
Octavia bowed. "Thank you."
Taking her bow and cello in hoof, Octavia stood on her hindlegs. She brought the bow to the strings, closed her eyes, and played from memory.
The song lasted some fifteen minutes. Exhausted as the day had made her, Octavia couldn't let herself falter. Vinyl deserved to be shown appreciation.
When she finished, she breathed a sigh of relief. The bow and cello slid from her hooves, too strained to place them down directly.
"I hope you liked it," she said, smiling.
The singular trickle of black ooze became many, streaking Vinyl's patchy, rotted fur.
Tears ran down Octavia's cheeks. "I know. It's a beautiful piece, even were it not for the memories of you. Thank you, for letting me play."
Vinyl said nothing.
Octavia, yawning once more, crawled into bed. She missed having Vinyl's magic to pull the sheets up and over, but she managed on her own well enough.
Once she got herself settled in, she pulled Vinyl under the blankets with her. In the process her shades slid off, exposing her eyes.
Or lack thereof. Instead, what had been eyes were now two deep, empty sockets.
Octavia could stare into them all night.
With a final yawn and satisfying pop of her spine, she prepared for sleep. She closed her eyes, switching onto her side so she and Vinyl could face one another.
"Goodnight, dear," she said. "I love you."
Vinyl said nothing.
Octavia kissed her.
Vinyl kissed back.