Author's Note
A short story inspired by Brad Paisley and Alison Krauss' song "Whiskey Lullaby." Even if you aren't a country lover, I highly suggest listening to it after or before reading this short fic, as it gives quite a bit of context to this story.
Anyway, I hope you enjoy!
Bottoms Up
With a deep sigh, she put the whiskey bottle to her lips.
Vinyl Scratch, once known as the great DJ Pon3, was now nothing more than a sobbing, drunken wreck. The reason for this? Octavia.
Vinyl's lover--no, former lover now--had said the final good-bye several weeks ago. She had lost count of how many exactly; she had been in no condition to keep track of anything, much less the date her life had begun to spiral out of control.
All she knew for sure was that the dive bomb had started that day; the day the beautiful gray earth pony from Canterlot finally left the DJ's life.
She couldn't totally remember what had finally made her snap, but it must have been building for awhile. That day had been full of yelling, arguing, and even at one point, physical blows. She regretted that last one the most.
She had once told Octavia she'd never do anything to hurt her. She figured that bruise she left on the poor mare's face had proved that wrong. It had also proven a lot of other things, in Vinyl's mind at least.
For one thing, it proved she was a no good, dirty scumbag who didn't deserve to have even known Octavia. She couldn't remember what had made Octavia say yes to being her marefriend in the first place; she wasn't sure if it was the whiskey or the self-loathing that blocked that out. Either one would work.
She took another swig of the fire water, making sure to gulp it hard and burn her throat. She sputtered and coughed, choking on the liquid. When she stopped, she took another drink and made sure it all went down before coughing again. She deserved this; the burning in her throat, the cuts on her hooves and legs from all the dozens of busted and shattered bottles laying around her "home"; the loss of the only mare she could ever truly love.
She also deserved to lose her job. Why did she deserve to be a famous DJ at all? She was an awful pony; she knew. The day after Octavia had gone, she trashed the recording studio. She thought she remembered getting into another shouting match with Neon Lights, and that was reason enough to put her windpipe through another round of "scorch the soul."
She coughed again as she finished that particular bottle, and the magical aura enveloping it dissipated as it dropped to the tile floor of the kitchen and shattered like the others. Vinyl immediately replaced it with a new one. It was pretty much all she had in her fridge anymore. What was the point of buying anything else? Rewarding herself for driving away Octavia was not what she wanted to ever do. In fact, she didn't think she had eaten for a few days either.
She really did deserve this. How could she do what she did to that amazing pony? How could she treat such an angel like such a piece of donkey dung? She didn't much care if that was racist. Guess that in itself deserved some punishment.
As she took another forceful drink of the whiskey in her magical grip, she thought she could feel her heart beat slowing. She felt cold; like someone had shoved her in a freezer and locked the heavy door with a titanium padlock. Funny; the whiskey felt so hot going down.
Her breathing seemed to slow, and she saw the world go hazy. As she sat down to try and clear her head, her ruby eyes happened upon a small picture sitting upright on the end table by the couch. She could just make out Octavia in the frame; her cello resting against her proud and elegant frame. She grasped at the photo with her shaking hooves, but her legs had gone numb, and she could barely move them.
Her world went black, and before she gave up and let the darkness take her, her only thought was: "I deserve this..."
* * *
The report had come in a few days ago, and only because Octavia had requested it to be so after seeing the news.
"Famous DJ PON3 Found Dead of Alchohol Poisoning In Her Home at 6:30 a.m. This Morning" The headline had read.
At first, Octavia couldn't believe it. She knew Vinyl had taken it hard, but to drink to the extent that she killed herself...it drove a stake through her heart.
As she sat there, staring at the medical report laying before her on her coffee table, she couldn't help but think one thing; "This is all my fault..."
She couldn't deny that. She should have tried to stay and fix things with Vinyl, but instead she had left, thinking that would fix everything for both of them. Now, the only mare she had ever loved was going to be buried underneath the big willow tree near Fluttershy's cottage in Ponyville.
"This...really is all my fault...Vinyl..I'm so...so sorry.." She whispered to nopony in particular.
She didn't think she could make the funeral service; it would be far too painful. But maybe she deserved that pain after what she had caused by leaving. Now the death of her former lover was on her hooves. In essence, she had killed Vinyl Scratch; and in turn, she had killed her love.
She leaned back on her couch, a few tears of guilt and regret forming in her eyes. How could se ever forgive herself for this? She could only imagine that that was probably what Vinyl was thinking. Perhaps, but it didn't matter now. She was gone, and there was nothing Octavia could do to make amends now. That last good-bye truly had been THE last good-bye.
With a deep sigh, she put the whiskey bottle to her lips...
