Memories of a broken mind
Author's Note
Hello readers, there's nothing much to tell about this story just to tell you how this story was created. All I needed for this was a cup of wine, and music:
"Nuvole Bianche" by Ludovico Einaudi
"In a Bar" by Tango With Lions
Hear "In a Bar" before reading the story and listen to "Nuvole Bianche" WHILE reading the story.
Have a fun time.
Memories of a broken mind
War, the short name given to suffering and agony, bringing nothing but sadness, cruelty and devastation. Towns stop existing, some cities were blown, ponies of all around equestria wondering how it all begun. Political corruption? Economy pressure? It didn't matter anymore, all what the citizens got was the gloomy horizon extending itself far beyond of what eyes can see yet, hope is the last thing a living creature lose. The one who didn't give up tried their best to do their lives all over again. And the ones who were lucky enough to still get their stuff with them were at a local bar drinking the memories away: Soldiers, mares, stallions it didn't make a difference anymore, people from all over was there.
The gloomy melodies of an old piano filled the air inside the local bar, a gray mare behind the keys playing non-stop the soft music. The door from the bar open, as there was a brief pause of the music. All eyes turned to see the white mare stading in the middle of the entrance, all except the grey mare's eyes as she was starting a new piece on the piano. The white mare walked into and directly to the counter.
"Hello there, Vinyl", said the young stallion at the sight of the white mare as he cleaned a glass. "What will you get today?"
"I don't even care... Just... Bring the same as ever" said the white mare leaning her head onto the counter over looking every bottle in front of her.
"One day you'll die from alcohol poisoning is you keep this way, D" said sternly the stallion looking over for the bottle.
"I don't care, it's the same to be death and in here, and don't call me D, my DJ days flew away with the wa-" Vinyl's eyes widened at what she thought was an illusion. It couldn't be, after all those year her friend she thought to be death was there, right infront of her eyes, "On second thought... Give me one of those fancy wine bottles"
"Are you sure? I thought you didn't like wine" said the stallion with a curious look.
"Are you blind!? There's Ocatavia, I haven't seen here in forever!" exclaimed Vinyl using her magic to fetch the bottle of wine and two glasses.
"Vinyl, I don't think that's a good idea." said the stallion, but it was to late, Vinyl was already trotting her way to front of the piano to greet her friend.
"Octy!!" shouted Vinyl once she was near the stage where her friend was playing leaving the bottle of wine and the two glasses on the empty table near them.
There was no answer, the grey mare continued to play her piece, ignoring the shouting of the white mare down the stage. The music was abruptly interrupted when the white mare jumped on top of the piano making the cover fall over the keys making the grey pony scream in surprise.
"Excuse me, madam I was in the midd-" began explaining the grey mare but was suddenly interrupted by Vinyl who was already squeezing the grey one in-between her hooves yet, the embrace didn't last long since the gray mare pushed Vinyl aside with one of her hooves glaring at her. "Just what in the name of the princesses are you doing?"
"O-Octy.. What's wrong with you?" said Vinyl looking at the grey pony with a confused, sad look on her face. "You...Don't recognize me?"
"Look, lady. I don't know who you are and who you are looking for, but I assure you I'm not that "Octy" you are looking for. My name is Nuvole Bianche" said the gray pony with a touch of an accent in her voice, an accent that Vinyl had never heard on her, "Now, if you excuse me, I need to keep playing."
Vinyl looked at her with a mix of sadness and anger in her eyes, yet Nuvole was indifferent at was just happened a few second before and keep playing those gloomy notes on the piano. Vinyl stood there for a while unable to belive what "her friend" just did to her.
"FINE! I don't need you!" shouted Vinyl with anger and tears in her eyes before trotting out of the bar.
The gray mare stop playing the music as the whole auddience stare at the scene with curiosity, Nuvole looked at the wine and glasses on the table infront of her, right next to where the grey mare was a few moments ago. Guilt was slowly consuming Nuvole and the tought of her being harsh make her mind uncomfortable.She played one last piece before leaving the bar for the day, the scene she made with that white pony was still on her mind. She took the bottle and read the label "CABERNET SAUVIGNON" one of her favorite drinks, yet she walked to the counter and gave it to the stallion. "Here, that white mare left this behind."
The day consumed itself, as well as Vinyl's bottles back in her place. The only sound around was the one of the whistle a bottle makes as it fly its way to a wall before turning into tiny bits of broken glass.
"HOW COULD SHE!!" Vinyl screamed throwing another bottle to the wall, there were no more tears were left to be shed, and there was only anger built up inside her now. "My best friend... Forgot about me... Maybe... I was never important to her"
Vinyl's sorrow hit her hard enough to feel real pain in her chest, that last thought broke her wasted heart. Her best friend just forgot about her. She fell flat on the floor, the alcohol effects finally caught on her, the anger quickly turned into melancholy as she remember the old times she had with her gray friend. She was about to fell asleep when her phone rang.
"The drunk mare you are trying to reach is out of contact leave your message after the tune... *Buuurp*"
"Eww! Vinyl, this is serious!" said the stallion's voice over the phone's speaker, "Tomorrow at the bar, please, it's important"
"Sure, whatever" said Vinyl barely being able to talk at that point before hanging up and throw her phone to the other end of the room.
Meanwhile at Nuvole's place, the curiosity and the incident with the strange white mare still haunted Nuvole's mind. Who was that strange, yet familiar mare? Why did she react the way she did when she saw her? It didn't matter at all, maybe it was all a weird misunderstanding. With that settle down she proceed to lay on her bed to give her day an end, knowing that the next day would be exactly the same rutine and nothing else.
The night passed quickly, the sun rising on the horizon, and the ponies already up trying to clean the streets from war's destruction were already on duty and the ones who just wait for the first ray of light to get drunk were already on the bar drinking the firsts glasses of alcohol. Octavia, as always was early on her spot already playing some melodies on the piano and Vinyl, as always was still soaked in saliva while sleeping her hangover away.
"Dear Celestia..." said Vinyl once her biological clock waked her up, that and a headache. Soon as she was fully awake she take her phone and look at the hour before letting it fall again as she walk towards the bathroom for her daily shower.
Hours passed until Vinyl finally decided to head to the bar again to see what the bartender wanted to talk about with her. What could possibly be that important to call her at those hours of the night? It didn't matter now, all she wanted was to have her daily drink and go home, she didn't care about what the guy wanted to tell her anyway. After a few moments, Vinyl arrived to the bar and opened the door taking a few steps into it.
"Nope!" Vinyl said as she saw "Nuvole" at the back of the bar again turning around to leave when the door suddenly slammed close.
"Not so fast, Vinyl!" said the stallion behind the counter using his magic to keep the door closed.
"Ugh, why not? asked Vinyl rolling her eyes pointing at the pianist on the background "Why is she here?"
"That's what I want to talk about, Vinyl" said the stallion serving Vinyl a drink motioning her to come closer to the counter.
"Okay, what's the big deal about her?" said Vinyl taking the glass and giving it a drink.
"She IS Octavia... Or at least was before the accident" said the stallion rubbing the back of his head.
"What do you mean by "accident"? said Vinyl taking the whole glass in one drink and placing it on the counter again, "And why didn't you tell me yesterday or before yesterday or the day of the accident?"
"Because you are always drunk, D" said the stallion glaring at her "And because I didn't believe it until she came here yesterday to ask for a job as a pianist... And as you can see, she does a great job attracting people to the bar"
"What about her cello... And how in the world did you know about that accident and I didn't?" said Vinyl with an inquisitive look tapping her glass on the counter demanding for more alcohol. "Wait... What was the accident anyway?"
"a) As I told you before, you are always drunk, that's why you never get any of the news..." he said as he serves Vinyl another shot, "and b) The accident was during the last stage of the war, she got hit on her head with a stone causing her to forget about her past, she moved out of the city to a safe place until she was fully recovered. I don't know about her new name though or why she came back"
Vinyl stood there staring at her friend from the other side of the bar, her best friend in the world was there and she knew it, all she had to do was to talk her back.
"Oh, by the way..." said the stallion using his magic to place the bottle of wine on the counter, "She gave me this when she left the bar yesterday, you forgot it"
"Oh yeah... I forgot about it" Vinyl said using her magic to take the bottle walking to the table in front of the piano once more. Staring at her friend... She was exactly as she remember her, elegant, feminine yet strong.
"Hey, Nebula!" called Vinyl once the gray mare took a break to drink some water.
Nuvole turned her head to the white mare looking her with curiosity, "Are you talking to me, miss?"
"Yeah, come join me for a drink!" Vinyl said shaking the bottle of wine in the air.
"Well... I have a break so.. I guess it wouldn't hurt, miss..." Nuvole stopped and motiong Vinyl to tell her her name.
"Oh, my name is Vinyl, Vinyl Scratch" said the white mare taking the cork of the bottle away pouring some in both glasses motioning her gray friend to sit on the table.
Nuvole frowned as she listen to the white mare's name, something sounden familiar about that, but she couldn't tell what it was, with nothing more to think about she take a sit in front on the white mare taking the glass of whine between her hooves. "I appreciate the gesture, miss Scratch"
"Just call me, Vinyl" said Vinyl already taking a drink from her glass, "Sorry about yesterday, Nebula... It's just that you remind me of an old friend"
"It's Nuvole, miss Vinyl" said the gray mare moving her glass in small circles before taking a drink of the liquid inside the glass, "I want to apologize about my attitude yesterday"
"Oh, sorry about that, and don't worry about it... I just act out of an impulse... I didn't mean to scare you or act the way I did"
"No harm was made so I don't care at all, guess now we have the time to properly talk now that we have presented formaly to each other now"
"I guess that you are right, but nothing matter anymore... War took everything away"
"I guess it did"
"Tell me, was war tough with you?
"I guess it was... All I remember was waking up in a hospital with some bandages on my head, before that... My memory is quite unclear"
"So tell me, Nuvole. Why did you came here a barren wasteland with nothing left to offer"
Nuvole stare down at her glass thinking about a propper answer... Or at least something that made enough sense to be accepted as true... "I don't know, I just feel attracted to this place, like there was something about me here before the hospital incident"
"What about the piano? Since when you play it?" asked Vinyl intrigued by the sudden change of her friend's instrument.
"Back in my parent's house there was a piano I learned to play on my free times after I got out from the hospital" Novule sighed in melancholy at the reminder of her parents.
"Are you okay?" asked Vinyl at she notice her friends look, she knew it, it was the kind of look she made when something was bothering her.
"Oh, it's nothing... Just .. I miss my mother" said Novule still looking down.
"What about them?" Vinyl asked more then immediately regret asking that question.
"She passed away some time before the war started" said Novule taking the whole glass of wine in one drink, "Could I have another glass?"
"Sure, why not... It's the least I can do for bringing memories back" said Vinyl pouring some more wine into Novule's glass. "But ehy here, why do you play the piano in this forgoten bar?"
"It looked like ponies here needed some music to pass the time, plus I want to know how the feel, the pain they feel the sadness they carry with them" said Novule moving her glass in small circles again, "they come here to forget about life for a while, to forget about what's going on outside this walls"
"You haven't changed at all" said Vinyl drinking the rest of her wine.
"What do you mean, how could you possible tell?"
"Oh forget that... It's just that you remind me so much of my old friend that it's almost like talking to her" said Vinyl quickly thinking of something to change the subject.
"Oh... Was that friend important to you?"
"Sure she is, and who knows, maybe she is closer of me than I think!" said Vinyl looking at her friend.
"You know, you remind me of a friend also, a friend who always tried to look at the bright side of things" said Novule taking another sip from her glass. "Yet... I can't exactly remember her name... Or how she looked like exactly"
There it was, her plan was going as she planned. Slowly making the Octavia she knew to start remembering her past. "Really how do I reflect your friend?"
Well, there was that one time at that party where she blew part of the bar trying to make "Flammable shots"" said Novule with a smacking her face with her hoof, "It was a long night at the police department"
"She sound like the kind of pony who is a "blast"!" said Vinyl looking at Novule who smack her face with her hoof again.
The bottle of wine was finally consumed, and it was already time for Novule to start playing once more to keep costumers inside the bar.
"It was fun, Vinyl" said Novule taking the last drink of her glass, "care to join me again tomorrow?"
"Sure thing, old friend" said Vinyl doing the same thing with her glass.
"What was that?"
"Oh, never mind" said Vinyl looking away, "Anyway, see you tomorrow!"
Vinyl walked her way home at a slow pace, there was no hurry at all, all she had in mind was her plan. How to make her remember without melting her mind? The answer was clear, she was going to make it more and more obvious each time and she had a perfect plan for that.
At the end of her turn, Novule was walking her way home thinking about what that white mare told her. She found her so familiar like someone she knew long ago, it was actually a mirror of the friend she "never" knew of again, maybe time would settle thing down for her.
The night passed quickly for both mares, finally the both have a night without any pressure and the day before was quite the rest in the actual life Equestria was submerged in. In fact, it was a nice feeling, both mares finally found a rest to the lonely feeling they were into. Everyday with the same empty rutine:
º Vinyl: Wake up, walk to the bar, get drunk, pass out at home.
º Novule: Wake up, walk to the bar, feel lonely, watch the other ponies pain in her head, walk home, get drunk.
Now it was different, both friends were together again, yet the void between them was big enough to keep them distant to each other's past. This time, Vinyl had an idea, he took Octavia's old cello with her to the bar.
"There you are!" greeted Vinyl as the got her eyes on Novule, "I've got something you could like"
Novule looked at Vinyl intrigued as the white mare used her magic to place the cello in front of the gray pony. Novule looked at the music instrument with extreme caution, something deep inside her telling her something about it, something familiar, why couldn't she remember?
"What is this?" asked Novule
"It's Octavia's old cello" said Vinyl handing the stick to Novule, "Come on, give it a try!"
"What in the world makes you think I can play this thing?
"Cutie marks don't like, you know?
"Come on, I'll play the piano as a background melody."
"Guess trying won't harm me"
The duo start playing a soft melody, Novule's talent on the cello seemed to be innate just a few mistakes, but other than that the melody was perfect. They both keep playing for some time before they decided to take a drink.
"Wow! I never thought I could do that!" exclaimed Novule in awe. Little she know or at least, little she remembered it was her past instrument, "And how did you learn to play the piano like that?"
"Well, I once was a famous DJ here" sain Vinyl full of proud at her special talent, "I'm used at using keyboards to make my music, piano should't be so different"
"Have you ever get the feeling that you have a past life that you just can't remember?" asked Novule taking the cork out from the bottle of wine.
"No, but I guess it'd be annoying. Why do you ask?"
"Well, that friend I talked to you was a DJ.. I remember attending to every single performance she had"
"I know what you mean, I mean, you also remind me of my friend Octavia"
"Yeah, even this... You even know what my favorite drink is, is like you are the refelction of that one friend"
"Misteries in life, I guess"
Novule looked around the entire bar while some memories striked her mind, the whole bar was a memory, she always asked herself why that bar, why did she felt the urge to come back? Why did that mare was so familiar and yet so distant?
"Hey, are you okay?" asked Vinyl staring at her friend who seemed to be lost in her thoughts.
"Huh? Oh, yeah I am alright" said Nuvole taking the whole glass of wine in one drink, "It's just that... It's like I'm missing my whole past... Like there's something about me that I don't remember"
"That's because you are missing your whole life..."
"What in Equestria do you mean?"
"Your real name is Octavia, we've been friends even before the war started... The war itself make us take different paths"
"Y-You are lying! I just met you two days ago!"
"Octavia, how else do you think I know you so well?"
"Okay, miss Vinyl you are starting to scare me" said Novule as she quickly stand up from the chair.
"Wait! Where are you going?"
"Stay away from me, I don't know how you know all about my life, but I don't know you or what do you want from me"
"Tavy, please... What I'm saying is the true!"
"Stay away from me!" shouts Novule one last time before trotting out of the bar heading to her place.
"Octavia, wait!" Vinyl shouted before standing there alone before throwing the bottle of wine at the piano making it stain the whole piano and floor, "Stupid war... It made me lose my best friend"
After running away from the bar Novule ran to her place, whatever she thought was left for her in that place was forever gone she had nothing left in that place she was going to leave, the only place she remember was her parents' house, the place where she belong.
There was no way Vinyl was going to accept that, nopony and no stupid illness and obviously no stupid was was going to take her best friend away from her. Years passed and she didn't do anything to make things right after she lose contact with her. Not this time, if there was something she could do then she had to do it. No excuses, no time to waste. Vinyl ran to her place to fetch the most valuable photos she had of them before making her way to look out for Octavia.
Days passed, and there were no signs of Octavia, she was gone... She lose it again, all because of her impatient mind, she should've wait until Octavia got more proves to believe her, yet she acted like a total creep. Vinyl walked around of what was left of the park she and Octavia used to walk around when a part of her the converstation she had with Octavia stroke her mind: "I returned to my parents house after the hospital" there was the answer she remembered where Octavia's parents lived, she had spent some of the holidays in there before the war.
Meanwhile Nuvole was walking around her parents house looking for answers, she wasn't going to believe some crazy pony's talk just like that, if that strange, white mare right, there should be proves, real proves. She looked all over the place writings, papers, bills, everywhere yet the only thing she found was the birth certificate:
Canterlot's Hospital
Name: Novule Bianche
Status: Alive
Coat: Gray
Mane: Black
There was no paper that told otherwise, all she knew was his original name and that's all she was. And nothing could tell the oppsite of an original document.
"What's this?" asked Nuvole to herself.
Canterlot Hospital
Name: Nuvole Bianche
Status: Collateral damage and brain trauma.
Side effects: Dissociative Amnesia.
"Impossible, this is not happening!" exclaimed Nuvole throwing the papers in the air, "Why can't I remember!"
Nuvole was about to fell asleep when there was a knock on the door.
"Nuvole, please open up!" begged Vinyl at the third time the knock on the door, "I know you are in there!"
"I told you to leave me alone!" said Novule's voice from inside the house
"I swear this is important!! I have answers..." said Vinyl at the edge of breaking down, "...please Octavia... I need you"
There was no answer for some minutes, Vinyl turned around with tears in her eyes, it really was the end, her best friend didn't even and will never remember her. Soon enough there was a sound and the door slowly opened.
"Miss Vinyl, what do you want from me?" asked Nuvole sticking her head out.
"I need you to see this...please" begged Vinyl showing Nuvole a grey folder.
"Come on in" said Nuvole opening the door completely letting Vinyl into her parents' house, "What is so important?"
"Take a look at this", said Vinyl using her magic to float the grey folder near Nuvole who opened up the folder:
Canterlot's Music Guild
Real Name: Nuvole Bianche
Artistic Name: Octavia
Instrument(s): Cello, Piano
"Wh-What is this and where did you find them!?" They were in my place, we used to stay a lot of time there after our classes in the music guild before the war" said Vinyl floating some photographs of both of them and the adventures the had together, "See, I wasn't lying... I just wanted you back..."
"Vinyl... Why did you hid this away from me?" because... You told me not to check on your personal documents... I know know I'm not smart as you are, but... Sometimes there are moments in life where promises need to be broken."
"I guess you are right, Vinyl, but what happened to me?" asked Nuvole handing Vinyl the hospital sheet.
"I don't know Tavy... All I know was that when the war began you came back to your parents' house..." said Vinyl trying to remember as much as she could "That... And what you told me a few days back, that you woke up with some bandages on your head"
"That might explain why I can't remember enything... I'm glad I have you here, "old friend"", said Octavia placing a hoof over Vinyl's back.
"I'll never let you down like this again, Tavy" said Vinyl staring into Octavia's eyes "I try my best to help you remember"
"Guess I didn't forget everything at all" said Octavia placing her hoof under her chin.
"What do you mean, Tavy?"
"Remember that "friend" I couldn't remember?" asked Octavia placing her hood on Vinyl's back once more, question that was answered by a quick nod of Vinyl's head, "Guess it was you all the time, my friend"
"I know", said Vinyl giving Octavia a warm hug, "Guess that miracles happen when you meet friends in a bar"
"Thank you, Vinyl" said Octavia with tears forming on her eyes, "Thank you for being my friend all along"
World and friendship can act in weird ways, even when it seems like the end all you need is a friend to help you stand up again, a friend that will never let you down.
The End.
