Faltered Notes

by Poet Knight

Play me a song...

Octavia breathed calmly as she surveyed to audience beyond the stage. She was performing tonight with the Orchestre National de Prance, and even had a small solo on the ballot. But, she was prepared for that. No, her attention was on the audience filling their seats. Will you be here tonight, my love? She raised an eyebrow as she spotted a mint-green unicorn conversing enthusiastically with another mare, one with a blue and pink bi-colored mane. Lyra and Bon Bon? She was a little surprised to see her old friends from Ponyville here. She wondered what could have happened to make Bon Bon, a hard-working earth-pony like herself, close her shop and travel all the way to Prance and take in this concert. She smirked and giggled silently as Bon Bon calmed Lyra with a small peck on the lips, then sighed as the action still caused some looks of disgust from some of the other members of the audience.

Octavia frowned in confusion as a murmur started up both in the audience and on stage, just as she saw Bon Bon point to something and Lyra turning to look with a visage of concern. Looking for the source of the commotion, Octavia felt her heart speed up as her gaze fell upon two unicorn mares entering the concert hall. The one on the left was a vivacious mare with a white coat, royal-purple mane and tail curled to perfection, and a gorgeous black mini-dress with matching purse. This, of course, was Rarity the Element of Generosity; but, Octavia's eyes were drawn to Rarity's companion. The mare supporting herself on Rarity's arm wore a dress, that from the front, one might mistake for something from Lady KaKa's collection if not for the creator's embroidered name on the left side. The dress had a bowl-neckline of loose fabric which melded into a stiff back-piece that extended in a tapering form up behind the mare's head, before seemingly to flatten out over it and project towards her horn. She also wore a very distinct pair of tinted shades. Oh Vinyl, you came!! And did you shave your mane for another wacky gig? Her expression a mix of happiness and curiosity, she quickly refocused on the performance as the conductor raised his baton.

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As the concert ended, Octavia glanced in Vinyl and Rarity's direction only to spot them walking towards the exit amid the applause. Octavia wondered as to why they were leaving when a sight nearly made her break out in filly-ish giggles. Rarity had shaped the back of the dress to resemble a cello, including sequined strands representing the strings and openings in the back resembling the f-holes. It was the sight of these that made Octavia's pulse race again. The f-holes had the peculiar counter cut that was the same as the ones on the cello Vinyl had given her on their first anniversary, the same cello she was holding now.

She quickly but carefully was stowing her beloved cello away with the intent of chasing after her DJ, when a stage hand gave her a note. "It's from the mare with Mademoiselle Rarity, she bade you to read it." Thanking him she opened the note reading:

Tavi, come meet me in our room. We need to talk. V.

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Octavia looked at the wine in her glass, wine the same hue as Vinyl's eyes, and let her thoughts wander. She had come straight here after the concert, only to find a table and chair set up on the balcony of their hotel room with a single candle lit and the single glass of wine sitting beside its bottle. Luna's moon was already a quarter through it's nightly journey, shining full. She had checked, but there was no sign of the DJ and so she had sat and waited. And waited. What did you want to talk about Vinyl? Where have you been? Especially today of all days?

Octavia had been invited to a tour of many of the great cities abroad, and Vinyl had come with her eager to sample some of the nightlife and new sounds coming from outside Equestria. She hadn't been playing that many gigs of late, and seemed to withdraw into herself when she thought Octavia wasn't aware. But, the prospects of traveling with the tour seemed to have brightened her spirits. At least they had for a little while, then she became reserved again. And to top it off, she would sometimes leave for days on end only to show up again when they needed to leave or Octavia was playing a concert like tonight. When she questioned her love, Vinyl would always say she was trying to find this or that famous artist or was trying to work on a new song using some of the local talent. Octavia had always waived her own concerns regarding the absences aside, since she was busy with her own practice and since Vinyl had always come back.

Octavia's ruminations were interrupted by the door to their suite opening and the sight of Vinyl entering. She wore the same dress as before, but this time she was carrying a long white box. Octavia watched in puzzlement as Vinyl, leaving her glasses on the table beside the door, walked slowly and awkwardly towards her.

Stopping to stand in front of Octavia, Vinyl kept her eyes on the package in her hands. "Octi, I... I know I haven't been around much, but I... Well, I got you this. Happy anniversary." Vinyl handed Octavia the box, then looked away.

Octavia raised an eyebrow in worry, Vinyl never called her 'Octi' anymore unless she flustered or mad. "Thank you, Vinyl. You know you don't have to give me gifts on our anniversary." She carefully opened the box revealing a solid white cello bow resting on blue satin. Setting the box on the table carefully, Octavia raised the bow off it's bed examining it in the moonlight. A blue flash as she turned it, caused her to look at her partner and speak up, "Vinyl? Are the hairs on this bow yours?"

Her gaze focused on the moon above them, Vinyl answered Octavia's questions with a nod. "And they're not all." she said, pointing to the satin.

Lifting the satin out of the box, Octavia barely suppressed a gasp. Laying in the bottom of the box was a great amount of horse hair, all of it long enough and well enough to fit the bow. The faint glow of a preservation spell shone on the box's sides. Octavia looked worriedly at her love, "Vinyl, the amount of hair here... how?"

Vinyl closed her eyes and answered, "Tavi I have something to tell you, but it's not easy okay? Tavi, I... I have horn-cancer." As she said the last, her hands balled up into fists.

Carefully setting the satin and bow back in the box, Octavia reached out and took her lover's hands in her own. "I know Vinyl. I read Doctor Horse's letter before we left. You left it in the trashcan in the bedroom remember?" Smiling at Vinyl, Octavia continued, "We can cut the tour short. We can go see the doctors here, and see what we can do." Octavia knew that horn-cancer was a rare disease that could affect unicorns. It meant that they would no longer be able to cast magic and could, in a few cases, render the pony incapable of practicing their Talent.

To this Vinyl shook her head slowly, "I've been doing that Tavi. Every time I've been gone for days, it was to see a new doctor or get a new treatment." Unclenching her fists, she gestured to the box. "This last round of Alchemo caused my mane and tail hairs to fall out. My tail fell of too, the bones were made into your bow's frog."

So that explains Lyra and Bon Bon. Vinyl must have asked Lyra to teach her how to walk without her tail for balance. Octavia felt glad that Lyra had gotten certified as a physical therapist, beyond just playing her lyre. "Well, that must be helping some right?" she pleaded.

Kneeling down slowly in front of Octavia. "It's malignant, and it's advanced Tavi. It's already into my skull and my brain. I'm still able to function somewhat right now, but my magic is gone. The docs don't know how much time I have left." She looked up at Octavia's face and took it in her hands, tear welling in her eyes, "But the hard part Tavi is...." As her voice trailed off, Vinyl released Octavia's face and proceeded to pulled various hidden strings in her dress.

Octavia through tearing eyes watched as Vinyl's dress changed before her. The back of the dress lifted backwards as hidden pieces of solid material slid into place, and real strings lifted out of hiding from within the sequin form faux-strings along with a hidden bridge. The piece of the dress leading forward to Vinyl's horn lefted to resemble the peg-box on a cello, but with the strings actually being routed to the unicorns horn where she saw that they were in fact strung through the horn. In the end it appeared as though Vinyl was actually melded with a cello.

Picking up the bow and passing it to Octavia, Vinyl confessed, "I can't feel the music anymore Tavi. Not any music but yours." Moving so she was pressed up against Octavia with their heads side by side, Vinyl pleaded quietly, "Please, Tavi! Please play me like your cello."

Octavia nodded and reached around her love, ignoring how awkward the placing was. Only fourteen years, Vinyl. Oh Princesses, how I wished I had an eternity more! With her eyes blinded by tears, she played the cello that was her greatest friend. Her hooves moved playing out songs she couldn't hear, the only sound she know was the beating of her love's heart.

Author's Note:

Because sometimes you have to write something, no matter how much it hurts.

I must apologize.

You have no idea how hard it has been to have this rattling around in your head, and then having to write it.

First: I'm a huge OctiScratch fan.
Second: I suffer from depression.

Writing this has been very painful, and I'm sorry for any pain I caused to you the reader.
(Anyone or anypony who thinks I'm lying can just buck off!)

Comments

[Samey90]

Octavia knows Vynal has a problem, she just didn't know how bad it was.

Well, maybe her problem is that her name is being consistently misspelled, but I can't be sure

[Poet Knight]

5697113
Honestly, the spelling never crossed my mind. Too much else was going on and I was just trying to finish this. It's been corrected, thanks for the catch.

[Zealot]

Hey there, it's Zealot from the 'Say Something Nice' group.

Well, I have to say this story was quite an enjoyable read. I'm not too fond of sad stories but this one was pretty good. Very emotional and there was some smart writing in there. A few clues and a few twists that kept me guessing for a while until the reveal.

Still, it was very sweet and I liked it, good solid length too for what you were writing.

Have an upvote, and keep up the good work.

[Blackguard]

Here's the thing, this isn't a bad story per se. But I had to give you thumbs down for the last bit. Seriously, up until then it kinda worked for me. Vinyl has donated her tail and hair to Octavia and through this will she now make music, in essence being able to still make music when she's no longer there.

And then you had to have her dress turn into a cello and have Octavia "play" her so she could feel the music. Yeah, sorry but that literally broke the story for me. It would have been more... touching in my opinion had this flashed forward several months or years after only to have Octavia playing her heart out in front of a packed audience while using her prized bow strung with Vinyl's hair. Have it go out on a bittersweet note that Octy now plays because during those times she feels that Vinyl is there with her in spirit. There's thunderous applause, she sheds a tear which the audience mistakes for thanks but it's actually one of loss.

And yes, I will admit that part of my distaste for this stems from the fact that a cello, or any instrument of this type unless it's electric, wouldn't sound good if it was anything other than hollow. You need that hollow space inside the instrument to give it resonance.

[Poet Knight]

5723211
Thank you at least for telling me why you downvoted it.

[Quillian Inkheart]

Let me start off by saying that I did not downvote this. I gave the story it's tenth up-vote; and I only skimmed it. Reading it might have been a bit hard on me. I've lost family members of cancer and it's a rather harsh topic for me. Despite this, you captured the emotions of that troubling situation beautifully.
I do need to agree with Blackguard about the ending, though I don't think it was enough to warrant a down-vote. Having Octavia playing in front of a crowd, years later, using Vinyl's bow would have been so powerful. I feel like you missed a great opportunity with that; showing the lasting impact of losing Vinyl would be the biggest tear-jerker of them all.
I'm a huge VinylOcti fan. I mean, really, my primary story is about them and I think Vinyl is best pony. I appreciated this story and I thank you for enduring the hardship of writing something so emotionally charged. Some people just can't understand the impact writing something like this has on the writer.

-Inkheart

[Poet Knight]

7346547 I too have lost loved ones to cancer and known others who have as well. So yeah....

I wrote it as is because that was how my muse said it had to be; and, because I was breaking down emotionally as I was typing (even had to leave work the next day because I broke down again). Even now, I'm not sure how a continuation would have gone. I could've gone with any of the five paths I could have had: Octavia committing suicide after destroying her life, Octavia in an asylum after failing to commit suicide, Octavia (as suggested) playing a concert with her new bow, Octavia giving up music altogether, Octavia reminiscing in her old age as a widow or with a new marefriend. But... I didn't since I guess that decision wasn't mine to give; rather the reader who through their own life experiences would choose.

To tell you the truth, I can't even read through it without breaking down still.

[Quillian Inkheart]

7346781
You know, I personally can't see Octavia trying to kill herself. She's often portrayed as very strong willed and in strict control of her emotions. While I've challenged that concept before, I can't see her breaking down that far. Still, if it did happen, it would've been... I don't have a word to describe the feels I would feel.
For the 'Years Later' ending, I picture her playing the song, seeing the spirit of Vinyl in the crowd. Perhaps, ever since losing her, she always leaves a front-and-center seat open, a chair for the spirit of her lover. I had her do something similar in my story, though it was instead as a reminder of the past she'd left behind; a past she eventually ran back to.
As for her moving on or reminiscing, both would be powerful. I see her as never moving on, but like I said, I'm a serious shipper.
The ending you gave this story seems too surreal, not entirely fitting the rest of the narrative. It's unusual - emotional but strange - which throws people off after the serious and straightforward nature of the previous scenes.

Regardless, my condolences and thanks for this. Even if I find the ending to be strange, the story is powerful enough to earn a lot of my respect.