The Death of a Friend

by Lonepone

Alone on Valentines

The steady beep of the cardiograph and the machine that measures her brainwaves. After being here for so long, I should've remembered what it's called. That and her breathing are the only sounds I hear.

"Hey, you there?" she asks me.

"Yeah, right here. What's up?" I ask. I take her hoof, and hold it.

"You know what day it is?"

"I don't know... Wednesday, right? I've been here with you for about two weeks now, I think" I falter, genuinely unsure which day of the week it is. These last two weeks have been hell, watching the most important person in the world to me slowly fade away.

"No, silly" she says, and fakes a smile. "It's Valentine's day"

"It is? Oh. Uhm. I don't have any flowers. I should've paid attention"-

"Shh. It's fine. You've stayed in here with me for so long, it's fine. Remember out first V-Day?"

"Yeah. Man, that was a good weekend" I can almost smell the pines by the cabin we rented.

She almost giggles a little. "I definitely agree with that"

"So what's that machine called again?" I ask, pointing to the one monitoring her brainwaves.

"No clue. Let's call it the brain scanner"

We sit in silence for a while.

"So how are you feeling?"

She sighs, and doesn't answer.

"Vinyl, tell me. Should I get a nurse?"

"No, Alt. They aren't miracle workers. The migraine is worse then ever, the lights are burning my retinas, I'm paralyzed so I can't itch this itch on my neck, and every little bit of contact my skin makes nearly kills me" I let go of her hoof, not wanting to cause her any discomfort. "Please don't" she says pleadingly. "Knowing that your here with me is worth all the discomfort. Please hold on to me"

I take her hoof again. Unbidden, the memories of the accident come back to me.

We were on the way home from a movie. She was running ahead, laughing, telling me to keep up. She ran around a corner. Abruptly, the laughing stops, and is replaced by a short scream of pain, and a hollow thud.

I rounded the corner, and saw her limp and broken body laying on the cement. A truck speeds off further up the street. It might have been my imagination, but I could've sworn I saw the dent she made when it hit her.

I turn my attention to her. She appears to be dead. I gently shake her shoulder, saying her name. She doesn't respond.

The ambulance arrived. The immediately get to work on her. Through out the entire process, she's unresponsive. I can't handle it. I collapse on the sidewalk next to her. If it wasn't for her limbs splayed at an awkward angle, it would've been impossible to tell who was the one hurt.

One of the paramedics helps me up, and gets me into the ambulance.

Three hours later, I'm let into her hospital ward. Her brain is swelling due to trauma. They can slow it, but they give her two weeks tops.

"Hey" Vinyl says, snapping me out of my memories.

"Huh?"

"You had that look on your face. That dark, moody face. Don't think of how it happened, alright?"

"Sorry. I should've been paying more attention to you? Thirsty?"

"No, I'm fine" she smiles a little. "Your not my maid. Normally I'm the maid. After all, I'm the one with the outfit"

"Sorry, I'm just"-

"Oh my god, do I have to go to my deathbed hearing you apologize for everything?"

I almost say sorry again. "Alright"

The newly named brain scanner starts to beep irregularly. At almost the same time, Vinyl flicks her ears in annoyance. "Oh god, that's a strong one"

"What is?"

"The headache. It's"- she grits her teeth. "Fucking bad"

The beeping starts missing beats.

"It's gone. Well, not really. It's changed. But, I don't have long. I can feel myself mentally falling apart. You'll stay with me and talk, right?"

I cover her hoof with two of mine. "Yeah, of course. What does it feel like?"

"It's indescribable. The pain is muted, but the mental feeling is..." Her eyes become unfocused for a moment. "What where we talking about?"

"Just how your head feels. Just keep talking to me"

"No, I don't want to talk about how I feel. Can you tell me about our friends? I'm having such a hard time remembering them"

A sinking pit of dread fills my stomach. Not today. "Well, what do you remember?"

"I- I can't. It's all fading" her voice becomes weak. "Help me, I'm scared. I don't want to go" There's a note of fear and desperation that I've never heard in her voice. We both know what's coming.

"It's okay. I'm right here. I'll stay with you until the end"

She locks her eyes on me. "Hug me one last time. Don't let go"

I pull the sheet off of her. I pick her up off her bed a little, ad wrap my arms around her. She seems so small and fragile.

I can feel her shaking, afraid for what's on the other side, and for having to face it alone. She grips me tightly. "I love you" she whispers to me.

"I love you more" I respond.

We stay locked like this for over five minutes. But then her grip loosens. I set her down fearing the worst. But she's still breathing.

She makes eye contact with me. Her face doesn't light up like it normally does when she sees me. "Who are you?" She asks me.

I sit on the edge of her bed. Not breathing. I've just been shot in the heart, hit with a sledgehammer, ran over by a truck. The effect would still be the same. I hold back the tears. I should leave now, before I see her go. "I'm a friend of yours" is all I manage to say.

"Oh. Why am I here? And why does my head hurt so much?"

"It's" my voice catches. My vision blurs. "It's nothing. You'll be fine"

"Oh. Okay. So what was your name?"

I can hardly respond. "Alternate Rock" is all I manage to choke out.

"Do you have an Advil? This headache is killing me"

That phrase nearly finishes me right then and there. There's a sedative on the bedside table that the doctor left for when the time came. I pick it up and hand it to her.

"Thanks. I know this is stupid, but what's my name again?"

"Vinyl. You're Vinyl Scratch, but your more then a name. Your a very special and unique person. You're caring and compassionate, despite, or maybe because of the hate you get. You are a generous friend, going without so those few who have accepted you have what they need. You love sleeping in until it's noon, and you like staying up after midnight. You love your music as loud as it will go. Your favorite color is blue. You like salads, but not bananas. Your a deejay, your stage name is DJ-PON3. We live together. You're important to me. I'm important to you. We promised never to forget each other. We promised..." I single tear slips free. A second one follows, but then they stop.

The room is cold all of a sudden. I have a feeling I'm the only living thing left in this room. Not only the room, but as if I'm the only living thing left on this planet.

I look at her. She appears to be sleeping. But she's not breathing. Her cardiograph has flatlined. Her hoof has gone limp in my two.

It's unfair. I can hear people in the other rooms, celebrating V-Day with their loved ones. Most of them are on their way to recovery. So much laughter, in a place so cold. It's unfair.

And now I truly am alone in this universe. As much as I supported her, she supported me.

I hang onto her hoof, as if it's a lifeline. But it's just the opposite.

I let go of the tears I've been holding back. They come down in a flood, leaving little wet spots on her bed spread. I grip her hoof tighter.

My chest feels as if it's made of steal, thick and unmovable. It's an effort to force the stale air out, and even harder to pull fresh air in. Every beat of my seems impossible.

"You alright, sir?"

I look up. The nurse is in the doorway. "She's gone"

Three years later

I walk into the bar. I come here frequently, although I only know the bartender.

"The normal" I tell the tender, not looking at him.

"And what would that be?" A new voice says. I look up at him. A tall, but thin black Pegasus.

"Cider, in the bottle. Who are you?"

"Mah name's Lonepone. Yours?"

"Just call me Alt"

"Alright, Alt. Why you looking so glum? Girl problems?" He asks with a cocky smile.

"Third year anniversary of her death" I say gruffly, wiping that smirk off of her face.

"Ouch. Who was she?" He asks, handing me my drink.

"Vinyl Scratch. She was a DJ and a composer"

He stands there, mouth hanging open, a look of pure shock on his face. "White coat, blue striped hair, eighth note for a cutie mark?"

"How do you know her?"

"If I told you, you wouldn't believe me. Follow me, your story has just begun"

He gets up and walks away. I take a drink from my bottle, and follow him.

Author's Note:

So, this obviously is the start of something. But I might not be working on that something for a while. Points to anyone who can guess what it is.

Comments

[Jman796]

Their souls are in a state of purgatory. Forced to relive each other's death over and over.

[Chapter 13]

One word...Magic!

Unicorns are overpowered as it is, might as well allow them to come back from the dead.

~ Michael

[Chapter 13]

This story needs more views...

[Lonepone]

3379514>>3368404Oh-ho! You both are wrong. I know shadowblades has read my other story, and there is one similarity that isn't that obvious. They both contain a certain character that seems to be omniscient, and as you'll find out in the later chapters in the formative years, is very well connected. And, since simple plotlines are for weaklings, he's friends with the doctor, and because of that, has access to time travel. And yet, he doesn't worry about creating time paradoxes. This will sound really familiar if anyone has read my way earlier stuff. Yes, I'm returning to my old style of writing:Multiple in story universes, time travel, having one particular character who's timeline is messed up, killing characters often and randomly , and generally making it really complex. but I'm also focusing more on the characters then the action.

[Lonepone]

In short, It's going to be alot like three of my stories: A sequal to My Little Dashie, A Glitch in the program, and My Perfect Life.

[Chapter 13]

3383000 Huh... An overpowered OC who steps out randomly and "saves te day." This is hard to pull off, especialy considering that thi is an OC we are talking about. My advice is to stay away from complete overpowering and have some weakness, somethings that even he can't solve.

Here are some of my theories on how this would go down.

Theory 1: lonepone showing Alt some sort of alternative, some way that vinyl would be alive, but he wouldn't be in her life. I they wern't dating, she wouldn't have died. Something like "it's a beautiful mind" kind of plot.

Theory 2: Lonepone shows him that love doesn't die, that it shall live on. Maybe some sort of ritual or lonepone grants a wish or something like that. There will be a moment where even lonelone doesn't know what to do.

~ Michael

[Lonepone]

3385785the critical piece: Alternate universes. Where else has he appeared? And, it's the fact that he is overpowered that will cause the problems. Im not sure if that's how I'm going to keep it, however. this idea is only about four days old, so I'm spending my spare time brainstorming it. I'm thinking of involving the doctor in it, and some conflict between the two. However, if this idea doesn't work out how I'd like it to, I'm going to do something similar to your first idea. but, just to make it a little dramatic, I'm going to make it directly Alt's fault that she died in the first place.

This is a very rough idea, and I probably shouldn't have revealed it so quickly without thinking it through. My main problem i'm thinking out is how to explain the fact that he's overpowered, with out actually making him overpowered when I actually start this story. It will be it's own story, however.

And he isn't necessarily saving the day. Your giving him to much heart. He sees something useful, and has a way to acquire the useful piece of hardware. He doesn't actually care about Alt as a person.

[Metalflare1523]

lonepone dude you need to write more on to this im the one you sent the link to the formative years as you was still writing it i must have more of the story bro /)

[Lonepone]

3666288 You ask, I write. Although It won't be as sad as the first two chapters. It will be more of a tie-in to my current project.

Oh, and nice profile picture, by the way. /)

[Metalflare1523]

3670853 thanx dude im just glad u remember me from over the summer well i cant wait to read more

[Lonepone]

3671280Hehe... Yeah, I kinda did. I have remember you, but only barely. Who are you again?

[Metalflare1523]

3671678 i was metal152 on kik over the summer

[Lonepone]

3685037You see, I have slight memory loss. I have a problem with poeple, but I'm pretty sure i remember you now. Hows it going?

[Metalflare1523]

3700198 i cant complain javascript:smilie('');

[Lonepone]

3700306 oh. Where you the one that introduced me to pinkemenia on kik? If not, where you in a group chat with me or a single chat? I'm really trying to place you.