Love and Music

by slade8283


Chapter Ten

Chapter Ten

Octavia sat on her sofa, carefully replacing the strings on her cello. Ordinarily she would take it to a unicorn who specialized in the craft of musical instruments, but decided it would be nice to finally learn for herself. Ever since her recovery from the initial heartbreak, Octavia had found that she had a lot of time on her hooves. She filled her time, primarily, with the cello. Of course, she also watched Doctor Whooves, and even enjoyed the occasional shopping trip on Mane Street, but the cello was her main source of time-filling.

A string snapped off of a tuning peg as Octavia's hoof slipped. She cursed herself for being born without magical powers, and being forced to live with her big clumsy hooves. She wasn't exactly sure how she managed to become a first chair cellist with them, let alone play the instrument.

Octavia set the cello aside, planning on finishing the replacement when she wasn't as angry with herself. She turned on the TV and flipped through the channels, trying to find something interesting to watch. Despite having over three hundred channels, Octavia still had trouble finding something that sparked an interest.

The flipping stopped when Octavia saw the words "Vinyl Scratch" on the screen. Her heart skipped a beat as she turned her full attention to the story.

"...the album is scheduled to release in one week, and is expected to top the charts within one hour. Back to you in the studio, Herald." The headline Vinyl Scratch to debut new album still burned in Octavia's mind as she turned the channel again.

Wow, she thought, I really have been out of touch. Since her meltdown with Canone one month prior, Octavia had all but locked herself in her apartment. She went out for work everyday, and the occasional trip to downtown Canterlot, but other than her few trips she spent almost all her time in her apartment. I really do need to get out more.

Octavia stood and began to pack her cello. A sharp knock came from the door, startling Octavia. She took a quick glance at the clock. 8:30 P.M. Octavia frowned. Who could possibly be here at this hour?

Octavia set her cello in its case and silently moved towards the door. She very carefully leaned in and peered through the peep-hole in her door, still suspicious of who would be bothering her. She cursed under her breath when she saw the pony who stood at her door.

The door opened and Octavia let out a sigh. "What do you want?" she said bitterly.

Sapphire Shores stood before her, looking very tired and very un-kept. "Hi Octavia. I think we need to talk."

Octavia glared at the mare, hatred filling her heart. "Okay. Talk."

"It's kind of personal. Do you think I can come in?"

"I know you're Sapphire Shores, but that doesn't give you the right to come to my apartment and invite yourself-"

Sapphire held up her hoof to cut of Octavia. "It's about Vinyl."

Despite her mental warning, Octavia motioned for Sapphire to enter the apartment. The door slammed behind her; it was the most Octavia could to do display her hatred for the mare that stood in her apartment.

Octavia advanced towards Sapphire. "Okay Sapphire," she said with hostility in her voice, "what's so important that it couldn't wait until morning?"

Sapphire sat down on Octavia's couch and buried her face in her hooves. Octavia thought she saw tears coming from her eyes. "Well, like I said, it's about Vinyl."

"Eeyup."

"I know that..." her voice quivered. A tear ran down Sapphire cheek as she continued. "I know you think that I stole Vinyl from you, but you need to know that that's not true. I didn't intended on causing any problems between you two. Honestly. I feel terrible for what I did. I really hate making other ponies sad. You and Vinyl are perfect together and-"

"Stop." Octavia said in a commanding voice. "I don't need to hear it, okay? I totally get it. You feel soooo bad because of what you did." A tone of sarcasm made its way into her voice as she continued. "You want me to be with Vinyl. Yeah, sure, that's believable. If you wanted us to be together then why did you take her from me at the gala."

Sapphire's eyes showed concern at Octavia's words. "No, no, no, you don't understand. I only asked her to dance because I wanted to talk to her. Vinyl has been the first musician to treat me as an equal. You don't know what it's like to have everypony treat you like a god. Vinyl actually wanted to talk to me about everyday stuff, not just stare at me with their mouths agape because of my status. I had to get away from the world of posers and jerks for a minute and talk to somepony normal. I'm sorry if I tore you two apart."

Octavia tried to maintain her hardened look, but it was slipping fast, and she knew it would be easy to see through. "Then tell me this," she said quizzically, "why did she go with you? I'm guessing that's not your fault either?"

Sapphire sat in silence for a minute, searching for an answer. "I hope that's not my fault..." she said slowly.

They sat in silence again, neither mare having words for the other. Octavia studied Sapphire. She hadn't noticed earlier, but Sapphire was a complete wreck. Her mane was a mess, tangled and unwashed, her coat was the same way. The clothes she wore were not the normal "Sapphire Shores" design. They were very plain, a simple shirt and sweatpants. Octavia's heart softened: anytime Sapphire Shores wasn't wearing exquisite clothing, something was definitely wrong.

Sapphire finally decided to break the silence. "Octavia, did you ever think that it could have been your fault?"

Octavia smiled at what she assumed was a joke. "Really?" she asked sarcastically, "How could this be my fault?"

"Did you ever actually tell Vinyl you had feelings for her? You can imply it with as many looks and gentle touches as you want, but nothing will happen until you go out there and make it happen. Vinyl may have liked you, but if you never gave her those feelings back...well...it makes sense that she would give up on you."

Octavia's eyes widened at the thought. No, she thought, no, no, no. There's no way it was me. It slowly started to dawn on her that maybe, just maybe, it was her.

Octavia cursed again, something she had been making a habit of, "I was me..." she said distantly. She buried her face in her hooves as she joined Sapphire on the couch. "It was all my fault. How could I have missed that?"

Sapphire reached her foreleg around Octavia. "Don't beat yourself up over it Octavia."

"Oh I shouldn't beat myself up?" she replied, "I shouldn't beat myself up over losing the love of my life? For losing the only pony I truly care about in the world? I blew it Sapphire. Now Vinyl's off Celestia-knows-where, probably loving somepony I don't even know." She shook her head, disappointed in herself.

Sapphire pulled her in closer. Ordinarily Octavia would've shied away at the contact, but having somepony there to comfort her kept her from moving. "Wait one week Octavia. That's when you will know if you've lost her. Listen to what the music says, that's where Vinyl will put her response to you. Just remember," she said as she removed her leg from Octavia's shoulder, "those two things go hoof-and-hoof: love and music." She stood and made a move for the door. "I'm sorry Octavia, but I have to go: it's late and I have to be somewhere tomorrow morning." Sapphire began to walk out the door, but stopped halfway through. She turned and faced Octavia one last time. "Good luck. I want you to invite me to your wedding when you and Vinyl get married. Okay?"

The door closed and Octavia was left by herself. Her head spun as she tried to grasp the words that Sapphire had left with her. Vinyl's newest album, love and music, her marriage. My marriage, she thought, surely she can't believe that we're going to get married still. Not after this.

A sudden sense of urgency took over as Octavia stood and walked over to her cello. She removed it from its case and sat down to play it, completely ignoring the missing string. The notes to her and Vinyl's song poured from the strings as she mixed the two greatest things in her life: love and music.

Even though she wasn't much of a singer she opened her mouth and sang the words, not caring who heard her:

I fight you off
And pull you in,
Under the lights
Where we begin.

I take your hoof
And pull you in,
Here with me
We start again.

The words poured from Octavia's soul as she fought back tears. The weight of the words fell onto her shoulders, almost to where she couldn't continue.

Never mind.
Ignore the time.
Look in my eye,
And say "Your mine."

Octavia dropped her bow at the words "You're mine". She didn't even bother picking it back up; she knew she couldn't continue to play. She gently set her cello back in its case and walked into her bedroom, deciding that all she could was sleep.