A Duet of Hearts

“Is Vinyl going to be alright, doctor?”

Octavia had been pacing nervously ever since she’d managed - with the help of a friendly cabbie - to haul Vinyl back to her apartment and call for help. By the time the doctor had arrived, she’d been almost frantic with worry.

Using his magic to adjust his tweed jacket a slight, he turned to the panicking mare after a quick examination of the dishevelled-looking Vinyl who had been unceremoniously dropped onto the sofa.

“You’ve nothing to worry about, Ms. Melody; it’s nothing serious.”

“Do you have any idea of what the problem is?”

“Well, based on a quick examination, she’s obviously malnourished. But that’s not what’s caused her to faint. No, it’s not advanced that far yet,” the beige unicorn began, before resting his muzzle on his hoof pensively for a few moments. “Based on the weather today, though, I’m willing to bet that it’s heatstroke that caused her to pass out. No way to know for sure, of course. The sooner we treat her, the better; we don’t know how long she’s been unconscious.”

“And how do we go about doing that?” Octavia asked nervously, desperately trying to remember which medicines she had on hoof.

“Fortunately, it’s a simple treatment. We just need to cool her off and allow her to come back to consciousness on her own terms. Have you got a bathtub?”

“Cold water?” Octavia queried, trying to consider how else one might cool down in a bathtub.

The doctor nodded. “Go run the bath, I’ll stay here in case she wakes up.”

Glad to at last be able to do something, Octavia rushed from the living room of her apartment into the hallway, and entered the first door on the right. Her hooves clicked on the pristine tiled floor as she went to the far end of the bathtub and twisted both sides of the mixer tap, balancing the hot and cold and testing the temperature of both the pooled water in the bath and the tap’s output periodically with her hoof.

“It’s ready!” she shouted out to the doctor in the living room.

But how do we get Vinyl in the bath if she is unconscious?

“Wonderful! Make sure the bathroom door is open wide, Ms. Melody!” came the doctor’s reply.

What? Why does the door need to be open wide? Octavia wondered. She wasn’t wondering for long, however, because a few moments later, Vinyl came drifting in through the door, enveloped in a sparkling yellow aura.

“Uh, doctor, is that not unsafe?”

“Not if I keep her perfectly still when I lift her,” he grunted back. Levitating Vinyl over the tub, the doctor began to gently lower her in. Once she was safely laid in the water, the doctor let go. Her shades appeared to have been adjusted to their proper location. .

“There we are. That should have her back to consciousness in a short while, but until she’s lucid again, I’d advise that you stay with her.”

******

Huh? Music? Vinyl thought to herself.

The dulcet tones of a cello reverberated through the bathroom, a relatively upbeat tune that made the instrument seem to sing and warble. Somehow, it managed to be soothing, yet dramatic at the same time; truly a wonder. Then, it stopped, as though changing songs, before jumping into a new melody. A somewhat more lively one this time. At one point, it seemed almost as though there were more than only one cello in the room.

Half expecting to be dead and wake up in the Aether, Vinyl slowly opened her eyes. She could see over the top of her glasses that the walls and ceiling were painted white. Vinyl looked to her side. It was only then she realised she was in a bath - a refreshing, cool one, to be sure, but that didn’t make it less puzzling.

A bathtub? Whose bath am I in?!

Looking to her right, Vinyl raised her head cautiously, and was presented with the striking answer to her question; a paragon of elegance, Octavia Melody stood a few paces away. She swayed as she played, eyes closed, allowing the music and instinct to guide her gliding bow and dancing hooves. Vinyl found herself unable to move, almost unable to think. A window placed high in the wall cast the sun’s dying rays upon her, a golden spotlight. All too soon, Vinyl was snatched from her awestricken daze when Octavia finished the piece with a graceful flourish of her bow. There were so many questions Vinyl wanted to ask; she wanted to know how Octavia had found her, why she was in a bath and why Octavia was playing in the bathroom, how Octavia had the unearthly ability to play something so upbeat and yet hauntingly beautiful. She tried to manipulate her open mouth to ask, but no words came. The grey mare slowly raised her head from her dramatic finale and opened her eyes. She placed her bow and cello leaning against the wall and looked to the bathtub.

“Oh! Vinyl, you’re awake! I’m so glad you’re alright!” The relief was clear in Octavia’s voice.Vinyl attempted to enquire as to what was going on, but her words became a dry croak; her mouth was utterly parched. Octavia appeared to notice this.

“Oh! The doctor mentioned you would want a drink. I’ll get some water!” Octavia said, trotting from the bathroom and heading to the kitchen, leaving Vinyl to her thoughts.

Why was I passed out in Octavia’s bath? She desperately tried to recall the events of the day prior to waking up. I remember waking up in the storage locker like normal… Then what? I wandered around Manehattan looking for a job, right? But… That still doesn’t explain why I was out cold in the bath of some mare I’ve only met once.

Vinyl was snapped out of her reverie when Octavia returned, a large glass of fresh water on a tray balanced on her back. “Here! Drink this.”

Drink. Of course… The coaster. I found it in my saddlebag, didn’t I? Did I get here and faint?

Vinyl reached out with her magic to try to drink, but a shudder ran down her spine and she recoiled in agony, wincing. She tried to yell, but nothing came. She threw her hooves to her forehead, shuddering.

“Oh my! Are you okay?!”

Vinyl tapped her horn.

“Can you not lift it?”

She shook her head and reached for the handle, slipping her hoof through it, and drank. The entire glass was gone in one gulp.

“That’s better,” Vinyl gasped. The moisture had begun to return to her throat. “I don’t think I can use my magic, which is weird. What happened to me?”

“I was hoping you would be able to tell me, actually. All I know is that you were unconscious in an alleyway near my agent’s office. You were in really rough shape. I managed to get you back here and called a doctor. He seems to think you got heatstroke.”

Oh. I remember now. Wait, did Octavia carry me?

“I’ve been in kind of a bad way since the night we met; that would make sense.”

“Have you eaten at all since we last spoke?” Octavia asked, having taken stock of Vinyl’s deteriorated figure.

Vinyl’s face flushed red.

“You’ve been going hungry for two weeks?!” Octavia was clearly mortified.

“Well, no, not really; it’s not like I haven’t eaten at all, I mean I’ve taken what I could f-”

“Okay, here’s the plan. You are going to take a bath, clean yourself up. I am going to cook us both some dinner. Got it?” As much as it hurt Vinyl’s pride, she once again found herself ill inclined to object to Octavia’s hospitality, much as she had two weeks prior when the two had first met.

“Got it.”

******

There are few things which can make one feel as if they have been cured of all ailments without any actual cures being in force. A hot, relaxing bath after two weeks of roughing it in a storage locker is one of them. For the first time in an entire fortnight, Vinyl was able to completely relax. She thought of very little; only of how fortunate she had been that day. Octavia may well have just saved her life. Any actual cleaning by this point was already accomplished without event now Vinyl was less dehydrated and had the use of her horn again. It was difficult to lift things as she was still weak, but possible at least.

Steam billowed around the room, and pleasant, sweet smells floated on the vapour from the soaps Vinyl had added to the water once Octavia had left. It was really rather an elegant room, and the orange light from the windows shining upon the marble tiles set on the walls caused the water droplets in the air to shimmer like gold dust, giving it a warm and almost regal atmosphere; as though it were an ensuite in Celestia’s chambers. The bath was on a slightly raised floor, and near the foot of the bath was a striking dark marble pillar; just the right accent for such a pure white space.

After having bathed for around half an hour, the water began to cool down and Vinyl decided it was time she got out. She sat up on her rump and then went to stand, before her right foreleg buckled and a searing pain shot up it.

Vinyl yelled. Loudly.

******

It was a little known fact that most nobles in Equestria couldn’t tell a spatula from a saucepan; they’ve got ponies to do that for them. Octavia, however, was not one such a noble. When she was a foal, her mother had been insistent that she learn to cook in a traditional style that stayed true to her heritage. She stood in her kitchen and leafed through the cookbook her mother had given her; one hoof-written by her great-grandmother.

Oh! SeaponyPie is always filling… Do I have any seaweed?

She set about gathering the ingredients necessary from their various locations around the kitchen, checking them off in a mental list as she went. It took her all of about twenty-five minutes all told, to have the pie ready to bake. She set it in the oven, glanced at the clock, and made a note of the time. She looked over the top of her kitchen counter’s backboard into her living room at her reading nook in the corner. Upon moving in, she’d placed two bookshelves in the corner as well as a cushion and a low table for drinks; somewhere she could go to zone out and read. It was not uncommon for her to bring a duvet and spend most of her day there during the winter months.

Hm. I’ve got time for a chapter or two.

She walked over and browsed the shelf.

Mane Eyre... Of Mice and Mares… The Old Mare and The Sea… I really need some new books.

There was a yell from the bathroom.

Oh no… Octavia thought. “Vinyl? Are you alright?”

Silence. That was all she needed; she trotted over to the bathroom door and knocked; once, twice, thrice. The latch slid across from inside and the door opened.

At least she’s conscious this time. Octavia walked cautiously into the bathroom and stepped up onto the platform on which the bathtub stood. Vinyl appeared to be kneeling. “What happened?”

“I- I don’t know! I can’t stand on my leg!”

“Are you able to move it?”

“Yeah, looks like I just can’t put any weight on it,” Vinyl said, experimentally raising her right forehoof.

“Well, that is helpful,” Octavia said dryly. “Drain the bathtub; this will be easier if the floor does not become a small lake.” Vinyl obeyed, pulling the plug to let the water drain. Once the tub was relatively dry, Octavia opened the door in the side of the tub and shuffled to the opening.

“Put your hoof around my neck; let’s get you somewhere you can sit down and keep the weight off it.”

The two of them had haphazardly and awkwardly shuffled out of the bathroom and into the living room. Vinyl staggered over the the sofa and sat, still favouring her injured leg. Octavia walked to the phone, picked up the receiver and hit the call button. She asked the operator for a doctor’s office and in around twenty minutes, the same beige unicorn from earlier that day had arrived with his suitcase.

“Ah! Good to see you’re up and about,” he said to Vinyl, having seen her sat on the sofa. He turned to Octavia and set down his case. “She looks fine, Ms. Melody; what seems to be the problem?”

Vinyl spoke up, “I can’t use my front right hoof.”

“Oh, that’s unfortunate…” he said, stepping closer to Vinyl. “Can you move it?”

“Nah, not really. It’s really painful.”

“Hm. When did you notice it?”

“When I tried to stand on it.”

The doctor appeared pensive for a moment, then began to tap Vinyl’s leg in various places and move it around in various ways. He went on like this for some time, Vinyl occasionally letting out a yelp of pain or twisting her face into a grimace. After a few minutes, the doctor seemed satisfied and stepped back, flaring his horn. The sparkling yellow aura enveloped Vinyl’s leg for a few seconds, then the doctor went to his case and took out a sling. He proceeded to wrap Vinyl’s leg with it, his tongue sticking out ever so slightly to one side. “There we are. I cast a pair of spells; one was a spell which allowed me to see through your leg, the other was a spell to speed up the recovery.”

“Wait, what’s up with it?”

“It appears that you sprained it quite seriously when you fell. You won’t be able to walk on it for around a fortnight. During that time, I recommend you take over-the-counter painkillers as needed. Avoid heat, alcohol, running - or other exercise - and massage for the next seventy-two hours.”

Vinyl swallowed. That bath earlier might’ve been a bad idea.

“Thank you, doctor,” Octavia said. The doctor gave Vinyl some painkillers and left, leaving the two mares alone. After a few moments of silence, Vinyl spoke up.

“Octavia?”

“Hm?”

“Thank you. For bringing me back, I mean.”

“Don’t mention it. I only did what any friend would, Vinyl. I just wish you’d told me.”

“Yeah… I would’ve told you, but I don’t like mooching off other ponies.”

“It is not ‘mooching’ if you end up in the sorry state in which I found you for not doing it.” A moment of silence passed between the two. Not a tense one, but not really awkward either. “Where have you been living these past two weeks, Vinyl? Answer honestly.”

Vinyl blushed. “Uh… A storage locker.”

“Well, it is better than an underpass or an alleyway, I suppose. Even so, I am sure you would like a more proper place to live, would you not?”

“Well, yeah, but I don’t really have much choice.”

“I have a spare bedroom, Vinyl.” Silence. Vinyl appeared to be pondering what Octavia had said. “I could use the company, anyway. I haven’t really got many friends since… Since the Gala. I’ve been feeling really rather isolated.” A little more silence.

“Octavia?”

“Yes?”

“I’m starving. Can we have dinner first?”

Octavia giggled; the first time that day. “Alright, Vinyl; we can eat first. The pie is probably ready by now.”

“Oh, what’s in it?”

Octavia grinned as wickedly as she could. “Well, I shall give you a hint; let’s see if you can guess. It’s called ‘Seapony Pie’.”

Vinyl’s eyes widened. I really hope that’s not how it sounds.