A lot of ponies. Bright lights. Okay, you got this..one more note..
Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm!
The note echoed in the auditorium, filling the entire space with a beautiful low C note. Once the note had faded, all Octavia could hear was her own breathing and the rhythm of her heart.
Inhale. Exhale. They're just appreciating the music..they'll start applauding soon
Clap.
Octavia looked to find the source of the one clap and found that it belong to a young stallion who was standing upright.
Clap!
Octavia looked to the left of the stallion and found a mare 3 seats over, who had clapped louder than him.
Clap! Clap!
Octavia started smiling and continued watching as the isolated claps eventually became united with their siblings as the entire audience started to gradually clap all together. Octavia closed her eyes and listened to their claps; she could hear the varying sounds, from the soft kind of claps to the strong and aggressive.
You did it.
She opened her eyes and was surprised by the sight of every single member of the audience standing up and applauding her. She smiled again, slightly blushing and bowed respectfully, exiting the stage with as much grace as she could. Once she exited the stage with her cello and music sheet she headed towards her locker, which was located just outside of the auditorium and she quickly gathered her belongings. She then put up her cello in its case strapped it on her back as she left the lockers to outside the auditorium
So what now?
Octavia looked up to the sky and saw that it had transformed into night. She stared at the moon, expecting an answer from it. She did not receive an answer, but instead an idea.
A drink. I could drink. To what though? Oh I know. To my success!
She smiled and thought that she was right; she deserved a reward for working so hard on the solo she had just performed. She then started trotting towards a bar in the local area near the reception called The Space Dragon.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Hey bartender, can I get two more?" slurred a unicorn to a bartender.
The bartender was a middle aged stallion with a brown coat and a mane of similar color. He frowned at the pony who had asked him the question and sighed.
"Okay, but you promise this is it right?"
The pony nodded, her head catching the light from dim lights above. The pony herself was a mare who had a beautiful white coat and a mane of bi-colors- cyan and dark blue but her current demeanor gave her a ragged look.
"Yeah yeah sure." she quickly responded, flicking her hoof.
The bartender hesitantly prepared two more drinks and set them in front of her.
"Thanks." she slurred to him.
"Uh-huh." he replied sternly.
He grimaced and was about to say something but was interrupted by the arrival of another pony on the other side of the bar. The mare saw this and scoffed to herself, laughing it off.
"What a hack. Heh. HEHEH!"
The bartender heard her laughing at him but ignored her, continuing to serve the customer he had.
"Whatever. You're boring. You're boring!" she spat in his direction.
She then grabbed one of the two drinks in front of her and started to chug it down, stopping about mid-way due to a feeling in her stomach. For a second it seemed like she was going to throw up, and even warranted the attention of the others on the other side of the bar. They all rolled their eyes and turned away as a loud, obnoxious burp from her signaled it was only a false alarm.
"Okay I had enough of her stuff bartender" complained one stallion.
"Yeah kick her out! She's just been drinking non-stop! What a loser! She's just a drunk! Nothing but a dirty poor drunk!" yelled out a mare.
Several ponies started to speak, stating similar complaints as the first two but the bartender hushed them down.
"I'm not going to kick her out. Period! If you don't like it, then leave!" the bartender told the complainers. The stallion and mare who had first complained scoffed at the bartender and left the bar.
"Haha look at them leaving! PFFTT HAHA!" the white pony started laughing hysterically.
The bartender did nothing as he watched her finish her first drink and start her second one. That's when the door opened and he saw a grey mare with a black mane enter in. He greeted her, to which he received a friendly greeting back, and served her right away as she stood by the bar. The white pony looked to her left and saw the mare just standing there and scoffed, returning her gaze over to her drinks. The grey mare saw this, and saw how alone the white pony looked, and in that moment decided to sit next to her.
"Hi...is this seat taken?" she asked tentatively
The white unicorn looked at her, smiled and shook her head no.
"Nope. Just by air. So it's okay" she slurred back.
The grey mare chuckled slightly at the white mare and so did the white mare. She then sat down right next to the white mare and smiled to her.
"So, I'm Octavia Melody."
The white unicorn smiled, sloppily sticking out her hoof.
"Vinyl. Vinyl Scratch."
Octavia shook her hoof, catching Vinyl as she almost fell from her stool.
"Are you okay Vinyl?" Octavia laughed to Vinyl while she helped her to her seat.
However Vinyl didn't think it was funny and shrugged off Octavia.
"Yeah. I'm fine. I'm fine!" she said, stubbornly helping herself onto her seat.
Vinyl looked away from Octavia and stared down at her drink.
"Vinyl? Are you sure you're alright?" Octavia asked, her tone now becoming a worried one.
Vinyl's eyes drifted to Octavia then back to her drink.
"Yeah. Why wouldn't I be?" she gruffed.
She picked up her drink and started drinking it and drinking it until the drink itself started splashing all over the counter and over her face.
"Vinyl. Vinyl. Vinyl! Hey Vinyl I think that's enough!" Octavia told her.
Octavia reached over to take the drink away from Vinyl and Vinyl stubbornly held on to it, turning away from Octavia.
"LEAVE ME ALONE! LEAVE ME ALONE! LEAVE ME ALONE! THAT'S WHAT ALL OF YOU DO ANYWAYS! YOU ALWAYS LEAVE ME ALONE! I'M ALWAYS ALONE! WHO CARES ABOUT ME! WHO CARES ABOUT VINYL SCRATCH? I'LL TELL YOU WHO. NO ONE! NO ONE CARES ABOUT ME! NO ONE..no one..no...one..." Vinyl's screaming trailed off into sad whimpering as she hunched over her drink.
She then continued whimpering as she hugged her drink.
"You all left me..you left me..all of you..I screamed for help..I yelled for safety..but you left me..all of you..I don't want to be alone..I don't want to be alone again..it's scary...I don't want to go back! I don't want to be alone again! I don't want to! I don't want to!" Vinyl kept whimpering, rocking back and forth on her stool.
She kept rocking until Octavia reached over and touched her shoulder
"You don't want to do that." Vinyl said to Octavia.
Octavia grimaced and kept her hoof on Vinyl's shoulder.
"You don't know what you're getting into!" Vinyl warned Octavia again.
"It's okay, I'll take my chances." Octavia replied, smiling at Vinyl.
Vinyl turned around and looked at Octavia with eyes stained red and tears still flowing down her eyes.
"You don't understand. I'm not always stable. I sometimes have flashbacks. Horrible flashbacks. Sometimes I feel like I'm back again and when that happens, I'm not me anymore. I'm just trying to survive. That's what I did when I was over there. I survived. But.."
"But it's okay. It's okay Vinyl. I do understand. I'm just like you. I have them too. You don't have to be alone anymore. You won't ever be alone anymore. I'll be here okay?" Octavia said back, tears starting to form in her eyes.
"I-I won't be alone?" Vinyl hesistantly asked.
"You won't ever be alone again. I promise." Octavia said, smiling at Vinyl.
Vinyl straightened up, her gaze no longer focused on her drink but on the pony beside her
"I thought I was the only one. Thank you Octavia" Vinyl said, smiling at Octavia as tears flowed down her face.
She then hugged her, and Octavia comforted her while tears flowed down her own face as well.
"I know how tough it is. I really do. To have that guilt of being the only one who made it. The need to stay strong. But it's okay if you aren't always strong. You don't always have to be strong. We're not over there right now. The war is already over. It's okay soldier. It's okay. Everything's going to be okay."
Octavia continued to comfort Vinyl as Vinyl cried into her loving embrace and Octavia herself continued crying as well.
"I'm so glad I'm not alone anymore. I really am." Vinyl sniffled.
"Me too" Octavia replied, smiling at Vinyl.
The two of them then stopped hugging and wiped their tears, smiling at one another.
"For a long time I felt like I was the only one like me..It's soo good to know there's another pony just like me." Vinyl said with a smile.
Octavia smiled back at Vinyl and spoke.
"If you want, you can spend the night at my place."
Vinyl nodded her head.
"That would be nice" she replied, smiling at her.
Octavia smiled back again and got up, paying the bartender for her drinks and Vinyl's drinks as well.
"Let's go home then." Octavia said to Vinyl.
They held hooves as they trotted over to Octavia's home, each sparing the other the odd glimpse and smile along the way. Octavia couldn't help notice how the moonlight twinkled in Vinyl's eyes, and how much more at peace the unicorn seemed now. Vinyl couldn't help notice the moonlight twinkle in Octavia's eyes, and how lovely it made them look.
