Heartstruck

    I slumped down on my bed, weeping about my, altogether, seemingly meaningless problems. All my life I was born and raised by an honest, loving mother, and here I was bawling my eyes out because of her former occupations. So many other ponies had worse problems. There was murder, injury, death, and zebra narcotics beginning to leak over into Equestria.

    I was just me, who had a semi-normal life, acting like a foal.

    The alabaster mare beside me was running her hoof through my mane in a soothing notion, calming me down a touch. I still couldn’t grasp how such a well known celebrity was being so nice to a commoner. All the accounts I had ever heard of anyone with more than a couple hundred thousand bits in the vaults was a complete snob, and thought of themselves higher than everypony else. Nevertheless, my mind swam in despair and self-pity.

    I tried to pull myself together and managed to get down to a level where I only seemed to sniffle a bit.

    “W-why are you b-being *sniffle* s-so nice to me V-Vinyl?” I asked, trying to resolve the wandering mystery in my mind. Why did she want to hang out with me?

    “Because… You’re a really cool mare,” she said, “like, super cool. You’re an amazing drawer, and really good at guitar… and you seem utterly normal, but incredibly unique despite your past troubles. You aren’t like all the fake celebrity personalities I meet all the time. They put on a lifelong facade, and they aren’t themselves… but with an amazingly normal mare like you… I can be myself,” she poured out what seemed to be all the contents of her soul into that explanation, “Wow… I think that’s the deepest I’ve ever went”.

    “T-thank you…” I had stopped sniffling. My heart exploded from the raw emotion that was expressed. I had never had anypony else say anything like that to me… not even Lightning Dust. But she was a thing of the past, and Vinyl was a thing of the present, and I had to think of something to say that won’t be ‘squeak’ out of my moment of self-accomplishment.. “Nopony has ever been this nice to me… Thank you so much,” I mustered. she lay her hoof around my body and gave me a soft side-hug, then pulled apart in a mutual awkwardness. Friends didn’t say stuff like that to each other… I had that much knowledge. That was too touching to be from a friend. But then again, I did have a few talks like these with Molto… Small things.. But still heartfelt.

    I tried to dismiss it as just an intrusion of personal space, and hugged her back. We sat and chatted for a few more minutes before we both realized we were hungry.

    “I have enough bits to go out… and I don’t feel like cooking tonight,” I suggested.

    “That sounds great,” she replied.

    We stepped out into the evening air and strolled Manehatten for somewhere to feed. Vinyl suggested we make a stop at Bon Bon’s confectionery on our way back. It was only a few minutes out of the way from where we seemed to be headed, though we never really knew where we were going.    Some ponies stopped and stared at the famed DJ while others tossed their heads in the other direction out of disgust.

    We decided for a small cafe branded Pony Joe’s and trotted in, breathing in a whiff of fresh coffee and pastries. Shortly after we got ourselves seated a young mare came to take our order.

    “Hello and welcome to Pony Joe’s, can I take your order?”

    I ordered a strawberry danish and a peppermint tea. Vinyl requested a small hot chocolate,  but nothing more.

    We were seated, and sat in an awkward silence for a few minutes, before she brought us our order.

    I took a small bite of the dry chunk of the danish.

    “So…” I tried to make small talk. “Where do you live?”

    “In Las Pegasus,” she responded.

    “oh.. so you have to go back soon?”

    “yeah. I guess we can’t hang after next Saturday, I go back Sunday for a Monday show.”

    “You still want to hang out? Even after I cried like a little filly?

“Its alright babe, you were still pretty cool before that” she informed.

    Did she just call me Babe? My mind faltered at whether or not to dwell on the subject or let it pass. She had said something else, but I wasn’t focused on anything but my thoughts for that moment. I laid the thought to, and decided it would be better to ask later, but also in my mind i was imagining what kissing her would be like… It was a thought I felt dirty for thinking it, but it was an ever desired fantasy.

I smiled politely and tried to continue conversation. We sat quietly for a few minutes, giving each other glances, her eyes slightly exposed, just enough to see the cerise shimmer from her irises. The silence was broken by the waitress when she brought us our meals, and sat them down, telling us to enjoy ourselves. We thanked her before wolfing down our food, our stomachs aching from the anticipating wait of satiation.

Eventually we imbursed ourselves in a conversation involving out music. She told me about all of the different modifiers that can be used whilst DJing and how well she had made some rhythms flow, and how shaky others were. She had to get the tone and flow just right to be able to compose anything. What she said made my talent of guitar look like rubbing a stick on a rock.

I listened with interest before I almost gasped as I noticed the sun had fallen deep beyond the horizon.

“Crap! My mom hates it Im out late. Especially alone.. but i am with you... Honestly I don’t care but she gets mad because of the ‘risks of late night Manehatten’ might catch up to me”.

“Its fine, you can crash with me, My place isn’t far anyway. Im staying in some fancy hotel a few blocks over. I can walk you home and maybe hang for a while tomorrow. I think we should try and get together as much as we can before I leave, build our friendship or something. Octavia taught me this kind of way to getting to know somepony while she went on tour. Know so much about them…. It leaves you without questions or something. I think it’d just be cool to chill for a while”

    “Thanks, I appreciate the offer,” I replied with another short, friendly smile.

“Well, lets go, its gonna be cold out there, and we don’t need to get jumped by an alleyway stallion,” muttered Vinyl. And so the two mares paid for their dinners, and left the small Diner. Vinyl’s was in the opposite direction from Bon Bon’s Confectionery so they decided that they would go in the morning, as it would be closing about now anyway.

They were trotting together down the street, and they could see the massive hotel Vinyl was staying in from a block down.

    Vinyl’s tail seemed to have a mind of it’s own as it brushed against my flanks frequently as her hips swayed while she walked. There seemed to be no intention of this movement, so I just resumed at my pace.

We reached the Hotel as the stars started to sparkle in the midnight blue sky, making a beautiful mosaic I knew oh so well.

    The lobby of the stone carved building was dressed in astonishing colors and decorated with wondrous intricacy. The stallion working the lobby desk took one look at Vinyl and allowed us to continue to the elevators.

    we rode the mechanism that was the elevator to the top of the tower that was Vinyl’s temporary home. She had gotten the suite at the top of the building, which was fully fitted with a swimming pool, a hot tub balcony, and a hundred other luxuries I could name with ease. It was the most expensive room I had ever been in.

    “Make yourself comfortable,” Vinyl said, “There is more than enough room”

    I sat down in awe, marveling at the product that was the work of architectural minds.

    “How do they expect anypony to have enough bits to pay for this…” I gawked, still not able to fully comprehend the room i was now standing in.

    “My record company took care of the cost. ‘Anything for our prized DJ’ they said”

    I wanted to run and jump into the pool and swim and splash around, but It was late and I was getting tired, so I motioned for her to follow me over to the hot tub, and I submerged myself in the serenade of bubbles and steaming water.

    “Ahhh~” I moaned quietly. She retreated to the fridge and grabbed a drink, before following suit and sliding into the hot tub with me.

    I swished my hooves round the tub and breathed in the steam, letting it flow through my nostrils. I was in my most relaxed state ever. I was in a hot tub with the one mare I never thought I’d meet. It was a haven.

    Vinyl’s coat was almost blotted out by the steam, but her cobalt mane stuck out indefinitely until she moved closer to my side of the tub. She offered me a sip of the drink, and I proceeded to take a small swig. It was a tangy, sugary tasting grape soda. It was nice and sweet, but the taste of the title ingredient was still eminent.

    I gave the bottle back to her and resumed my low, near submerged position in the tub.

    “That used to be Octavia’s spot. I mean when I came to Manehattan...,” Vinyl said reminiscently, “She and I used to sit there and cuddle”.

    I felt like I was intruding. “I’m sorry, I can move” I told her apologetically.

    “No, no, it’s fine,” she said, “sorry, I was just thinking aloud”.

    I felt I had to somehow provide at least a little solace for her. I imagined that not even a refound DJ like herself could hide her pain of her loss behind a facade. She was probably crying deep down, and wanted comfort. At least that's what my mind thought.

    I rested a hoof upon hers and looked at her twinkling eyes with an empathetic smile.

     She looked back, thankful for the support.

    After about twenty minutes of conjoined relaxation, we both stepped out of the tub and dried off with fluffy towels before entering the bedroom. The bed wasn’t as big as I had expected, but just as soft. I layed down and rested my head upon my pillow, melting into the fabric of the bed.

    Vinyl climbed in and curled up beside me. Our tails were resting against each other, but there was more than enough room for the both of us. Eventually, I could hear a cute, quiet snore coming from a few feet behind me. I smiled. I was literally living my dream.

    I soon fell asleep myself.

///***\\

    Late in the night, I heard something that creeped me out at first, but then made me incredibly sad. It was Vinyl, and she was crying. She was still sleeping, but there were streams of tears falling from her eyes.

    “No Octavia, p-please don’t l-leave me” she pleaded in her slumber. “I need you”.

    She rolled over so her face was towards me. Her pained expression was heartbreaking. I tried to think of something to do or say, but there only seemed to be one option.

    “I won’t leave you Vinyl, I Love you with all of my heart” I whispered in my best Octavia impression.

    “R-really?” her groggy mouth asked me, and Dream Octavia.

    “I promise” I whispered.

    I was surprised when one poorly guided hoof stretched around me and hugged me. I didn’t want to wake her, but felt incredibly awkward about the situation. I pushed past it and fell back asleep anyway.

    ///***\\

    I stirred at an unknown time, the sun was shining brightly in my eyes. I was tired, but only from just re-emerging from my deep sleep.

    “Oh curse Celestia and her early mornings to Oblivion,” I mumbled.

    Vinyl was gone from the bed, and I could smell something delicious, like syrup or another sweet scent, coming from somewhere in the suite. I heard a cart rattle and the door close as I got to my hooves and walked out of the room.

    There was a gargantuan breakfast lain out on the counter. Trays full of pancakes, fruit, whipped cream, berry pies, and about anything else delicious one might consider breakfast food.

    I stopped and my jaw dropped. Vinyl was standing behind the counter with two plates full of food. She noticed me and smiled, levitating a fork of Pineapple topped waffles over and into my mouth. The taste snapped me out of my initial shock, and I closed my jaw, chewing the food.

    It was one of the most amazing things I’d ever tasted. The waffle was fluffy, but not an overpowering. Tangy pineapple and syrup filled my mouth and fondled my taste buds. I closed my eyes in bliss and opened them to a smiling Vinyl holding our plates of food in front of her with her magic.

    “G’morning!” she chimed happily.

    “G’mogig” I tried to say through a muffled mouth of delicious edibles.

I took mine into my telekinetic grasp and we trotted together over to a table situated on the balcony.

We ate our amazing breakfast in silence, as we couldn’t wait to get another bite into our mouths.

When Vinyl had finished I asked why she was smiling so much.

    “I actually had a great sleep. Since me and Tavi separated I’ve had nightmares and woken up crying, but last night I slept all the way through the night and woke up feeling great,” she explained. I felt myself blush warmly, but didn’t mention anything.

    Soon, we had made the bed again, and set out our dirty dishes neatly to be picked up and were heading back to my house. The confectionery was closed, due to it being Sunday, so we just headed back to my small apartment.

    We walked up the stairs and walked in the door. My mother was home, and smiled, looking up from her research notes.She brought them home frequently, bringing work back to demonstrate her dedication to her boss, which had gotten her higher up than she expected.

    “Hi mom!” I cooed and walked towards her.

    She was about to say something before frowning, showing pain. She tried to stand up, but fell over limp on the floor.

    “M-mom?” my voice trembled. She was twitching slightly and hadn’t said anything. “MOM?” I yelled.

    I ran over and lifted her face up to look at me.

    “I l-love you…” she whispered to me, and then closed her eyes. I was weeping.

    “Mom, no…” I cried. “We need to get her to a hospital!” I hoisted her onto my back, as my magic wasn’t strong enough to carry her. My legs felt weak and they wobbled as I trudged down the stairs.

    The nearest Hospital was four blocks away, but I ran. I ran as fast as the dying pony on my back would let me without falling. She moaned a few times and drooled on my back.

    Vinyl was following, a pained expression on her face as she trotted beside me muttering things like ‘It’ll be okay’ or ‘She’s gonna live’ to me as I pressed on, my face flowing with tears.

    A few ongoers stopped and looked at me, and a few backed away leaving a clear path for me in their wake.

    I was out of luck though as there was nopony stronger than me that had the courage to help me carry my mom to the hospital.

    By the time we were at the hospital door, a nurse outside ran in and grabbed a gourney, a worried look on her face.

    I had fallen over, my endurance had run out. Vinyl sat down and ran her hoof through my mane, trying to soothe my crying as they came and took my mom away. Her tears soon mixed with mine on the ground in a small puddle. I felt as weak and hurt as I ever had.

Vinyl helped me move, and we lay down outside of the hospital, my face wet and my eyes sore and puffy.

    After a few hours a nervous buck walked out of the hospital and faced us.

    “We… we did all we could. Your mother has had a heart attack, and a pretty severe one at that. I’m incredibly sorry I have to tell you this, but you mother isn’t with us anymore.