//------------------------------//
// 65 Gatekeeper by bahatumay  
// Story: Rhythm and Harmony: The Octascratch Prompt Collab 
// by lyra_lover777 
//------------------------------//

	
Gatekeeper by bahatumay 



Vinyl exhaled in relief as the red and black brick wall came into view. She had been hiking through this desert for days now, and she had finally arrived at her destination.
The gates of Tartarus.
She began the descent down the sand dune towards the metal gates. Thick, twisted metal spiraled around itself, forming the bars. It was truly a foreboding sight.
Then again, Vinyl had been desperate enough to come this far. It wouldn't do any good to back down now.
She peeked inside, but saw nothing. The shadowy gates made it impossible to see past five paces.
"Hey!" Vinyl shouted, looking around for movement of some kind. "Anypony home?"
"If I didn't know what you were here for..."
Vinyl spun back. There behind the gates stood a filly. Something was off about her, but Vinyl wasn't sure what.
"...I'd wonder if you were trying to wake the dead." A tiny smile played across her lips.
Vinyl squinted. "Did you just crack a joke?"
The filly grinned. "The dead laugh, too, you know."
Vinyl stared. "So... you're dead?" she asked. She seemed quite chipper for a dead pony.
The filly giggled. "I'm not sure I can answer that, as I've never technically lived," she said.
Vinyl glared. "You're messing with me, aren't you?" she demanded. She had trekked through the desert for all this time and she was not about to put up with this nonsense.
The filly looked up and met Vinyl's eyes. Her eyes... they seemed older, more weathered, than her actual body looked. She stared unblinkingly back at Vinyl. "I will not lie to you."
A chill ran up Vinyl's back, and somehow she knew this to be true. She licked her lips and spoke. "Is Octavia here?"
The filly nodded. "Yes."
"Can I speak with her?"
The filly shook her head.
"May I speak with her?" Vinyl tried.
"I cannot allow you to reunite with your dead," she said sadly. "Not while you are on opposite sides of the gates."
This wasn't entirely unexpected. But Vinyl wasn't about to give up that easily. "But I could come on that side, right?"
The filly exhaled, but dutifully replied, "That is an option."
"And the only way to get there is what I'm thinking of, right?"
The filly hesitated, and then nodded.
Vinyl pondered this. "I wonder what Octavia would say," she murmured.
"She'd say you're an absolute idiot."
Vinyl's ears pricked straight up.
Octavia stood there in the shadows. Though she didn't have on her bow tie, it was definitely her.
"Octi?"
Octavia nodded and took a step forward, but hit an impassable barrier and had to remain where she was. Vinyl reached her hoof through the gates, but she was too far away.
"Rules are rules," the filly said simply. "No reuniting."
Octavia continued, "You weren't actually thinking what I think you were thinking, did you?" she asked.
"No," Vinyl said quickly.
Octavia cracked a smile. "Good," she said. "What was the first thing I said to you when we first started going out?"
Vinyl paused to think. "Was it about my mane?" she asked.
Octavia's smile grew a bit wider. "After that," she said.
"You said..." Vinyl struggled to remember. "You said there was a symphony in me. Music inside of me. Beautiful music."
"And I still believe it," Octavia said. "There's music in there, still. Don't quench it before its time. Don't you dare."
Vinyl nodded. "I won't. I just... I just wanted to see you again," she said.
"But Vinyl," Octavia said with a smile as she turned away, "I'm always with you. Always." Her voice seemed to echo slightly as she walked away, her body dissolving into the shadows.
Vinyl exhaled and brusquely ran a hoof over her eyes. That was all she needed. She was at peace again.
"We shall meet again," the filly said.
"Yeah," Vinyl said, turning herself, "but that'll be a long time coming."