Strangers

Chapters

Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four

Chapter One

Neon Lightswas waiting for me when I got off the train at the station. Since he knew I didn’t have a place to stay, he hooked me up with a ritzy hotel room. It was way too much, but I couldn’t really say no. After all, I didn’t know anypony in Manehattan, and I didn’t have the cash to pay for…well, anything, really.

On the way to the hotel, he was telling me about this DJ festival that would be going down at a nightclub in downtown Manehattan a few months from now. He told me that the DJ with the most gusto performance would win a cash prize of three thousand bits, a contract with a recording studio, and a VIP card to all the nightclubs around. I’d be stupid if I didn’t consider competing since this would be my best chance to get known.

When we arrived at the hotel, Neon had to pay the driver, so I went ahead to the front desk, flicked up my shades, and spoke to the receptionist. She looked like a stuck-up pony who was full of herself. “Uh, check-in for Vinyl Scratch,” I said. My voice sounded so dense.

She glanced down at a piece of paper, shook her head. “There’s nopony by the name of Vinyl Scratch here,” she said. Her voice was thick and snarky, something I hated.

“Check again,” I said dryly, leaning against the counter, my tone just as sharp.

“I hardly think you could afford this place considering how you look,” she said. “Begone, or I’ll have to call security.”

I stared her down. “Oh, really, what’s that suppose to mean? Are you such a stuck-up bitch that you believe that someone like me couldn’t be rich?”

She gasped in horror. “How dare you! I’ve never…!”

“You’ve never what? Had somepony tell you the truth or gotten laid? Whichever it is, let me tell you—”

“Hey, knock it off,” Neon said, rushing through the front door. He stood next to me, scowling me down.

“What?” I asked.

“I could hear you yelling from outside. What’s with all the commotion?”

“Well, it seems that she doesn’t know how to do her job correctly.” My teeth scrunched down, and my hooves were ready to give an ass whupping.

Neon shook his head, turned away, and faced the receptionist. “My apologies,” he said, smiling. “Check for Neon Lights on the list, please.”

The receptionist did as she was asked, and, after a minute of waiting, said, “Second floor, room 241. Here’s your keycard. I hope you enjoy your stay.”

“Thank you,” Neon said, motioning me to the elevator.

“I hate her guts,” I said to him on our way there.

“Yeah, well, get used to it. There’s a lot more where that one came from.”

⁂

The rooms here were, like, way out of my league. I’m serious. The room I was staying at was fully furnished with a mini-bar, a king-sized bed, round tables, and a fireplace. It made my old place look like a complete dump, obviously. Now I knew what it was like to be a rich snob. All of this made me wonder why Neon was so keen on helping me out, considering that we only met less than a week ago.

Right now, I was putting some of my stuff in the dresser, and Neon was at the mini-bar pouring himself a glass of rum. He was talking about something, but I was completely out of it. He whirled his head around, sipping his drink. “So, yeah…like I said, you can stay here as long as you need, and I’ll be in touch with you if I find a nightclub that needs a DJ.”

“Alright, sounds good,” I said, a smile crossing my face. After closing the drawer, I faced him. “Can I ask you something?”

He chugged the rest of his drink and placed the glass on a nearby table. “Ask away.”

“Why are you helping me? I mean, I really do appreciate it, I’m just wondering is all. You trying to buck me or something, ‘cause this is going above and beyond for something like that.”

A smile marked his face. Then he came up to me, wrapped a hoof around my neck. “I was in your place once before, Vinyl Scratch,” he said, his voice high-pitched. “I’ve heard your stuff, and something told me that this kid has so much potential, that she can truly make it big. So I thought I’d give you a chance to shine, right here in Manehattan, because I truly believe you got the talent to become the best DJ ever.”

I was honestly dumbstruck after he finished speaking. I never thought for one second that somepony would ever have this much kindness in them for a complete stranger. I guess I was wrong. Hell, even stupid enough to doubt it… but that wasn’t the point here. I was given a chance, somepony was putting their faith in me, and I wasn’t going to spit on this opportunity.

“That’s really cool of you to do this for me, honestly. How can I repay you?”

“You don’t have to repay me. For. Anything.”

“Well, at least take a thank you, then.”

“You’re very welcome,” he said, letting go of me. “Now, I best be off. Got a few nightclubs I have to check out. Later.” He left, closing the door behind him.

Before I did anything else, I had to lie down for a while; because my body ached from tiredness, and it was very difficult for me to do something while wiped out. I plopped myself on the bed, sinking in its fluffiness and closed my eyes for a short while. I pictured what my old life would still be like if I rejected Neon’s offer. It couldn't have gotten any better. I mean, living in what was practically a shack wasn’t the life I wanted to continue with, although the only reason why I’d still live my old life would be because of Swirly. I still love her. And a part of me wanted to go back to that crappy apartment and spend the rest of my days with her. But she would still insist. I guess some things must come to an end. But enough of that. It’s time for sleep…what the….

I could hear voices coming from outside my window, and whatever it was, it wasn’t nice. Curious, I went to the window and peeked outside. There were two ponies—one a grey mare with a black mane, and the other an ivory coloured stallion with a brown mane—yelling at the top of their lungs. The grey mare’s cheeks were red as a strawberry, and her chest was panting heavily, and, by the looks of it, she would collapse any moment from an anxiety attack. Eventually, she stormed off crying in the opposite direction; and I felt really bad for her, but I didn’t know why? She’s a stranger.

Never mind…I tucked myself back in bed, closed my eyes, and fell in a deep sleep.

⁂

The worst possible sound woke me up two hours later: The hacking sound of somepony knocking at my door. It was a loud thumping noise and it drove me crazy. When I opened the door, I was surprised to see who it was: Neon. “Oh, hey, Neon. I thought you had to go to a nightclub or something?”

“Change of plans,” he said. “Wanna go out to dinner? There’s a restaurant right here in the hotel. Got good stuff.”

“Are you asking me out on a date?” I asked.

“What? No, no, it’s nothing like that. I just wanna get to know you more. As a friend that is.” He cleared his throat with a hard hacking cough. “So you in?”

I rolled my eyes and sighed. “What the hell. It beats sitting in this room on an empty stomach. Besides, I’d like to learn more about you too. Just let me get my—”

“Not necessary. I’ll take care of the bill.”

“I was gonna get my shades…”

“Oh…”

“Yeah,” I said, taking them from the dresser, then motioning my way toward him. “Let’s go.”

⁂

So I’m just gonna go ahead and say it: This restaurant was kick-ass. It had everything. Literally everything. From a huge bar, filled with the finest drinks, to a musical area, where musicians and DJs could jam together. I was so tempted to go over there and rock this place out with the wubs, but, right now, Neon and I were enjoying a nice dinner: A daisy salad filled with fresh veggies, and, for once, I knew what it was like to eat properly, instead of stale cereal with milk that was almost rotten.

Neon was chewing away at his salad when he looked at me funny. His gaze, for whatever reason, gave me the sudden paranoia that everypony in the restaurant was looking at me, even though he was the only one. Like, you know that feeling when you gain a sense of tunnel vision—where you get hot flashes, sweating but not actually sweating—and your mind almost goes blank because you’re trying to deal with the horrible sense of hopeless fate that can’t be avoided because you're too embarrassed? Yeah, that’s what I felt like when he stared at me. Not exactly sure why, though. I liked him. Only as a friend, though.

As I mowed down my dinner, I looked away from him and saw something that almost made my draw drop. It was the same grey mare I laid eyes on earlier today. She was sitting at a table with that very same ivory coloured stallion.

By the looks of it, she was purposely looking away from him, and I couldn’t blame her. He chewed with his mouth open, talked with his mouth full, and burped practically in her face. What a total moron. Now that I thought about it, I had no reason to be embarrassed because Neon kept staring at me. If it’s one pony who should be embarrassed, it’s that stallion over there. I felt sorry for that grey mare, I really did. But why? She’s a stranger.

Eventually, she looked right at me, and that’s when we locked eyes. The look on her face was so…memorizing. I smiled back at her without even knowing, and it put a warm sensation in my heart—as if it erased the memories of my crappy life and filled it with her and only her. Then a smile crossed her face—though it didn’t last long because the stallion she was sitting with struck the table, startling her. That’s when she looked away from me—and that warm sensation went away.

Looking away, I saw Neon finishing his dish. He raised an eyebrow out of what seemed to be concern. “Something the matter? You’re awfully quiet.”

I pushed my salad away from me, propped both my hooves on my cheeks, and sighed out of the blues. “I just hate how some ponies can be so rude and rotten is all. And don’t worry, I’m not talking about you, Neon. You’ve been awesome to me.”

“Hmm, I see. Well, there’s always going to be morons everywhere you go, trust me. It’s part of life.”

I took a sip of water from my glass. “How do you deal with them?”

“Sometimes you gotta stand up for yourself, hell even stand up for complete strangers if you have to. I don’t tolerate insufferable asses, and neither should you.”

I smiled. “I’ll remember that from now on. Thanks for the advice.”

“Anytime,” he said.

I glanced back to the grey mare’s table, but when I laid my eyes on it, she and the stallion were gone. Where could they have gone?

“By the way, there’s a gift waiting for you at your room,” Neon said, breaking my train of thoughts.

“Huh, what did you say? Sorry, I was zoning out,” I said.

“I said there’s a gift waiting for you in your room. It’s something that has helped me become successful in my career. And I hope it does the same for you too.”

“I have a feeling it just might…” I said, looking back at the table. The grey mare never left my head. There was just something about her that I couldn’t pin down. We didn’t know each other, so what’s the big deal here? Why did I care so much about a stranger? Alas, this was impossible. “Hey, may I be excused? I need to clear my head.”

“Of course. If you ever need anything, don’t be afraid to call me, okay?” he said, smiling.

I nodded. “Will do. I’ll see you later.”

⁂

When I got to my hotel room, there was a jar and a spoon on the coffee table. It had a bow on it, along with a note. I picked up the note and read it.

“Vinyl, this is a jar of pure honey. It sounds silly and obvious, I know, but trust me when I say this: If you’re ever feeling stressed out or you’re unable to concentrate, work, or sleep, have three teaspoons of this honey, and it’ll help ease you down. If you need more, let me know.

Neon.”

Putting the note aside, I took a seat on the couch and picked up the jar, then opened it, but, before I could even taste it, I heard sobs coming from outside my door. Curious, I opened the door and saw the grey mare walking down the hall with her head low and tears were falling from her face. “Hey…” I said to her, scared shitless. I wondered what she would say to me, what she would do since I saw her in the blues. I mustered enough courage to speak up again. “Is everything okay?”

The grey mare turned around, and the sight had me even more terrified. There was no way she had a black eye. Was I high? Did I see things for what they were? It had to have been that stallion she was with. There literally couldn’t be any other explanation.

“No, I’m not, okay,” the grey mare said. “Do I look okay to you?”

“Who did this to you?” I asked, my tone hinting anger. “Was it that ivory stallion you were with?”

“Why does it matter to you? I don’t even know you.” She turned around and began walking away.

“Wait. Let me help you…please,” I said. There was something in me that told me I had to help this mare. “Don’t go.”

The grey mare turned around once more. Sighed. “Why do you want to help me? You’re a stranger to me. How do I know I can trust you? I already find it hard to trust the ponies I love most. If you give me one good reason, I’ll trust you.”

“Sometimes you gotta stand up for strangers,” I said, remembering Neon’s words. “And besides, is it bad that I want to show you some compassion? We aren’t all heartless, you know.” Somehow my words put a smile on the grey mare’s face, even though I thought they were cheesy as hell.

“That’s one of the sweetest things anypony has said to me in a long time,” she said. “May I?”

“Of course, come in, come in.” I motioned her inside.

After the door was closed, I sat her down on the couch in silence, albeit it was the type of silence that would drive me mental because of the sheer volume of tension that floated around us. That black eye bothered the hell out of me, and I had to do something about it. Thinking quickly, I went to the bathroom to get a first-aid kit, along with a cold towel. As I sat next to the grey mare, she stared at me like one of those weird statues you’d find in a typical Daring Do novel. My gut was telling me that she didn’t really trust me at all; and it even told me that the only reason why she was here was for my help. But I didn’t believe that.

Inside the kit, there were disposable ice packs, and a cream that’d help heal the gruesome bruising. I cracked an ice pack, placed it in the towel, and, using my magic, held it on the grey mare’s eye, and she squirmed around a bit; but I held her still with magic. “You gotta stop moving if you want me to help you out,” I said to her, smiling. “It’s, okay, you can trust me.” Soon, she slackened and breathed more calmly as I put more pressure on the bruise. “There you, go, nice and easy. Say, I never did get your name. What is it?”

The grey mare kept her eyes on me, never looked away. “Octavia…and you?”

“Name’s Vinyl Scratch. It’s nice to meet you, Octavia.”

“You too, Vinyl Scratch,” she said.

“So do you care to tell me how you got this black eye? When we looked at each other in the restaurant, you were okay. But now you’re not. What bucking gives?”

“You don’t have to worry about me, I’ll be fine. This isn’t the first time this has happened to me,” Octavia said, her tone terrified. She gazed away from me.

I refused to accept that.

Taking action, I forced her to look at me, and that’s when we locked eyes once again. “Octavia, we both know that’s a load of horseapples. If this isn’t the first time you’ve gotten a black eye, it’s gonna happen again. Tell me who did this to you. Was it the stallion you were with earlier? Does he have something to do with your black eye?” She tried to ignore the question by looking away again, but I stopped her. “This is serious. Now, we may have just met, but that doesn’t mean I can’t help a total stranger through a tough time.”

I think she caved in. She shook her head and let out the loudest, miserable sigh the universe ever heard. “You’re right,” she said. “It was him, the stallion you saw me with earlier. He’s the one that gave me the black eye.”

“I knew it,” I said aloud. “Why did he do that to you? Why would anyone lay a hoof on you?”

“He’s my boyfriend. We’ve been together for five years now.”

“Why would you bother with a prick like that? Sorry, for my language. I’m just pissed off that he did this to you.”

“He was never abusive to me. At least not until he lost his job and drowned himself in alcohol. When I first met him, he was the kindest pony I’ve ever met; but then when he lost his job he kept losing his temper with everything, including me. And he would beat me to rid his anger.” Wretched sobs came from her as she spoke.

I withdrew the ice pack from her eye, took out a cotton ball, dipped it in the cream, then smothered it on her bruise. Then I said, “Why don’t you just dump him then?”

“Because it’s hard to let go of someone you love. I know it sounds cliche and ignorant, but it’s the truth. Besides, he said he’ll change. And I believe him.”

When I was done with the cotton ball, I tossed it aside, and put another ice pack near her eye. “You call this change? Octavia, he gave you a bucking black eye. How is he changing? He sounds like the same dick who takes all his anger out on you.” I held the ice pack with my magic, then I took Octavia’s hooves with my own. Squeezed them. “Listen, I’m not the smartest pony around, and I’m not afraid to admit that. But you look like the smartest pony around. I bet you’re better than this. I mean seriously. Do you really think he’ll change?”

No answer. She just sat there silently.

“Do you really think he’ll change?” I said again, this time with more gusto.

“No, I don’t,” she finally said.

“Then why stay? He’s clearly lying to you. And if there’s one thing I’ve learned about lying, it’s that some ponies lie as easily as they breathe.”

She squeezed my hooves back, and I didn’t pull them back. “That’s so true. I honestly don’t know why I’m still with him. I still love him. Could that be why?”

“Pfft. I hardly call this love. And that’s for you to figure out.” I removed the ice pack and tossed it aside. “Your bruise is getting a little better. It should be a lot better in the morning.”

“Thank you,” she said.

“For?”

“Everything. Listening. Talking. Fixing me up. If I hadn’t passed your room, I probably would’ve been stuck with him for the night. You don’t even what to know what he does to me at nights when we’re alone…”

“Wait, are you saying what I think you’re saying?”

Octavia weeped crazily in my hooves, since we hadn’t let go yet. I actually didn’t mind. “I should probably go. He’s probably angry that I’m not back from my nightly walk yet.”

Octavia got up from the couch, but I held her. “Like hell you are. You’re not going anywhere. You’re gonna stay with me tonight. I don’t want you anywhere near that scumbag.”

“But he’ll—”

“I don’t care. You’re not safe with him. Stay with me for the night. Please?” I really hoped she said yes. My heat picked up speed and beat faster with each passing second.

The hold I had on her slackened and she faced down with a sigh. “Maybe I should stay here for the night. Are you sure you don’t mind me staying here?”

“Of course not. I’ll do whatever I can to protect you from that moron,” I said.

She turned around. “But why? Why are you willing to go to harm’s way just to protect me, somepony you barely know.”

“Because when we locked eyes in the restaurant earlier tonight, something was telling me that this mare is special. Like, I had to make a move or my chance of finding out would be gone. And I’m glad I found out. There’s something about you that I can’t pin down. I know it sounds stupid, but that’s how I feel.” I glanced at the jar of honey that sat idly on the coffee table. “Say, I got an idea that’ll help you. Come sit.”

After she sat down with me, I used my magic to grab the spoon and jar, then I fully propped myself up on the couch. I scooped some honey up and tasted it. I was incredibly sweet and I loved it. “A friend of mine gave me this honey and told me that if you take three teaspoons of it, it’ll help keep you relaxed. Wanna try it? It’s really good.”

That same smile crossed Octavia’s face again, the one that made me feel all warm and fuzzy. “I guess I’ll try it.”

I scooped up another teaspoon of honey, and brought it to Octavia’s lips. I waited until she opened her mouth, that way I wasn’t jamming it in there. When she did open, I stuck it in, then felt her mouth taking on the spoon. I tilted it up so she could get all the honey, and I pulled it out. Some honey dripped from her mouth and it made me blush for whatever reason. “Oops,” I said. “Sorry about that.” I quickly snatched a napkin and wiped her lips clean.

“Oh, that’s quite all right,” she said, giggling. “That’s probably some of the best honey I’ve ever had.”

“See? Told ya. Want more?”

She nodded and I complied.

After I spoiled her with four teaspoons of honey, I got the napkin and wiped her face again. Somehow, my body moved closer to hers, and our noses were almost touching. I was so tempted to press my lips against hers, but something told me to stop, that it wouldn’t be the smoothest move to do. I pulled back, looked to the side of me, hoping that it would hide my embarrassment, but, just as I thought—it didn’t. Truthfully, I didn’t care about anything when she was in the room. But why? We only met less than two hours ago. Why was she driving me crazy?

I forced myself to look back at her. There it bucking was again. That smile. Why won’t it stop making me go insane? Was it because her smile filled the void I had in me? Was it because that smile put a match to my emotions? I felt as if her smile was turning me into a fruitcake. And that body…her body was loose, but it was also like a hunter’s: Toned and godly.

What was I talking about? That’s crazy talk. I just met her for buck sake. I gotta get my head out of the gutter; but my train of thought was interrupted by a light kiss on the cheek. What the…did she just? “Uh, Octavia…what was that for?” I asked, feeling my cheeks heating up.

“Sorry!” she said. “I acted on impulse. I never meant to—”

I kissed her on the cheek too. “You’re good,” I said. “Consider us even.”

She blushed madly and didn’t say anything for the longest time. Neither did I. We were so quiet, that you’d hear the bass drop, or, hell, even hear us breathing. For some reason, I couldn’t think of anything to say to her after I pecked her on the cheek, considering that I wanted that kiss, hoping that it’d spark into something more without the need of chatter. I had a yen for her, though not the “one-night stand” kind of thing, but rather the “I want to help the both of us because we’re in pain” kind of thing.

I mean, we were both in pain, really. I just left the pony I had planned to spend the rest of my life with since she had insisted that I go and chase my dreams without her. And Octavia—as if it weren’t obvious enough—was being abused by her boyfriend, for sometime now, so who could blame us if we got caught up in the moment to escape life for a bit? But she didn’t know I was hurting on the inside. Maybe I should tell her?

“Hey, mind if I tell you something?” I said, finally breaking the silence.

“Not at all. I’m willing to listen,” she said, her smile was giving me that crazy again.

“You’re not the only one going through a rough time. I am too.”

“Do tell.”

“Two weeks ago, after I finished my gig at a nightclub in Canterlot, a pony by the name of Neon Lights told me that I have so much potential to make it big, and where else to do it other than Manehattan? He said that he was willing to help me make it on every billboard, hell, even on the every radio station. When I told my girlfriend, Swirly, about it, she was on top of the world for me.

I paused before getting to the hard part. “But she said she couldn’t go with me since her mother was very sick and needed her help. I asked her if I’d see her in Manehattan after her mother got better, but she said no. Told me that it was time for me to chase my dreams and be happy without her. I never got that. It sounded so stupid. We both bucking loved each other to death, so why shouldn’t we still be together?” I wiped the tears that were streaking do my face and sniffled a bit.

“I mean, I was gonna spend the rest of my life with her. We were gonna grow old and die together.” A loud sniff came from me. “Damn these emotions. I hate this. I wish I could go back to her. But that’s something she wouldn’t want.” My nose began to clog up with snot, and it made breathing somewhat difficult.

One more sniffle.

And that’s when I felt her touch.

She took my hooves in her own, and it made me feel whole again, like I’d been patched up by something inexplicable. It was like she took my pain, smashed it to pieces, and filled the emptiness with something I didn’t understand.

Then she spoke to me. “That’s incredibly heartbreaking. I’m really sorry that happened to you. Nopony deserves to go through that kind of pain.” She hugged me. She bucking hugged me. But then she pulled back and look me straight in the eyes. “You still love her, don’t you?”

“Mhmm,” I said, my words slurred. “I doubt I’ll ever find somepony as special as her.”

“You will. In time.”

“You think so?”

“I know so.” She kissed me on the cheek again. “How about some sleep? I think we could all use a little rest.”

“Yeah, okay,” I said, getting up from the couch to get a glass of water. “Want me to take the couch?”

Octavia got up and gave me a cheeky smirk. “Why would you do that? There’s a bed here big enough for the both of us. Why not sleep together?”

Was she being serious? Did she seriously just ask me that. Clearly she did. Or maybe I was dreaming. Nah, this was real. And I had to ask. “Come again?”

“Why don’t we just sleep together? The bed is big enough for two.”

“Uh, I just met you? Do you really want to hop in a bed with a complete stranger? For all you know, I could be a serial killer,” I said, trying to sound scary.

“Right…I highly doubt that after you told me one of the most heartfelt story I’ve ever heard,” she said, giggling. “I mean, if you don’t want to sleep in the bed with me because you’re uncomfortable, I understand.”

“No. I want to sleep with you,” I said. I totally just spilled the beans there. Now she’s gonna think I’m really creepy. “I didn’t mean to say it like that.”

“It’s fine. Now how about we actually go to bed now? I’m exhausted.”

Octavia hopped on the bed, pulled the covers back and slithered under them; and I did the same thing after I got a glass of water to put on my bedside. After I was snug-tight under the covers, I had a sudden urge to scoot closer to the grey mare, and I did. The closer I got to her, the more warmth I felt off her. I wondered what she would say or, more importantly, do if she felt my hoof wrap around her belly and pull her in for cuddles. My best guess was that she would freak out. But I guess I wouldn’t know until I tried.

Taking a gulp of air, I moved myself a little closer, and then, with one last breath, wrapped a hoof around her, then pulled her in. At this point, I didn’t know what to expect. She didn’t say anything as I pulled her in, but she didn’t resist it either. Then I felt something soft under my chin: It was her mane. She was backing up into me so she’d get as close to me as possible. Was this really happening? I had to know.

“Um, Octavia?” I said, my heart pounding crazily as I waited for her to say something.

“Yes?” she said, breathing aloud after I subconsciously squeezed her tightly and closely.

“You’re okay with this?”

`
“I guess not,” I said. “You really trust me this much?” I was kicking myself for even questioning it, but, with a mare like her, I didn’t want to screw it up.

She turned around and looked at me straight in the eyes. “After what we told each other tonight, I see no reason not to. Especially since you’ve gone out of your way to keep me safe tonight from that demeaning, unscrupulous, and abusive turd known as my ex-boyfriend. Did I just say that aloud? I’m sorry for using such language. I don’t know what got into me.”

“Hey, it’s cool,” I said. “And hold on. Did you just say ex-boyfriend? As in, you’re dumping his sorry ass?”

“Correction. I’ve already dumped him. He doesn’t know it yet, but he will. And it’s all thanks to you.” She gave me that smile again. Then she planted a sneaky kiss on my forehead.

“Aww, please don’t flatter me, you’re embarrassing me,” I said. “So…does that mean you’re single now?”

“I guess so,” she said. “Why do you ask?”

“No reason.”

“Well, then, shall we get some rest now? We’re well overdue. Turn off the lights too. It’s awfully bright in here,” Octavia said as she rolled back over, pressing her back against my belly.

“Can do,” I said, using my magic to flick the light switch off. Then I pulled her closer to me, whispered something in her ear. “When you tell your ex it’s through in the morning, I’ll be right by your side. We’ll confront him together.”

A coo came from her as she nodded sheepishly. “Goodnight.” She fell asleep.

And it wasn’t long till I joined her.

⁂

“Oh, Viney, that’s fantastic!” Swirly said, jumping up and down like a wild party animal, then pulling me in for a hug. A beige wing wrapped around me, squeezing me tightly. “And he said he’d cover everything you need, like expenses and all that crap, as well as find you work?”

I rubbed her face with my cheek and gave her a smile. “Yup. Dude said I have the talent to make it big in Manehattan. You know what that means?” I asked, squeezing out from under her wing.

“What?” she asked me, kissing me on the lips, then quickly pulling back.

“It means we’ll be able to move out of this crappy apartment. He told me he’d hook me up in some hotel in downtown Manehattan. Someplace fancy, I reckon. We’ll start our new life there, me and you. And we can ditch this hellhole we call home.” I pulled her in for a kiss, but she resisted so I stopped, flummoxed. “What’s wrong, babe?”

Swirly sighed, then looked down. Then she went to our crappy queen-sized bed. It was at least eight years old since we bought it used a few years ago. I sat down with her, wondered why she was suddenly unhappy with my latest news, at least that’s the vibe I was getting.

“I won’t be going with you,” Swirly said. Seconds later, tears were all up in her eyes, and they soon fell to the ground, making a low splatting noise as they hit the rickety carpet. It wasn’t long till she burst out crying.

I dragged her in close, rubbed her back. “Hey…what’s gotten into you?” I asked, clueless as to why she had such a sudden mood swing. “I thought you were happy about the news I just told you. You were bouncing around like a loony, but now you’re like the bump on a log. What gives?”

She glanced at me. Then spoke. “My mother’s condition isn’t getting any better. She had a seizure today, which put her in a coma. The doctor told me that she may never wake up again, unless she gets proper treatment. She needs me. And I can’t help her if I’m with you.”

I flinched at what she said to me. Did I hear that right? I understood what she just said, but a part of me had to ask to make sure.

“What are you saying?” I asked, my voice cracking.

“I’m saying you have to go on without me. Chase your dreams. Becoming a famous DJ has always been your lifelong dream, and you can do it. But you have to do it without me. I’ll only hold you back from reaching those dreams…that’s why I have to let you go. My Ma needs me, and your dreams need to be fulfilled.”

That’s when I began to cry with her. I cried because my heart was broken, with hers. I felt like being trapped alone in the darkest abyss with a knife piercing my already damaged heart, which was silent and hidden. My heart was still, and, for a moment, I only felt numbness. And then anger and the blues ripped right through it, stopping its beat and rhythm. My mind went black as did my heart.

Taking off my shades, I stared her right in the eyes. “But why? Why can’t we just have a long-distance relationship? I could visit you every week, and you can do the same. We’re in love for buck sake. We’ve been together for five years and you’re willing to give that all up just so I can reach my dreams? Screw that. Swirly, without you, I’m a no pony. If I can’t have my dream with you in it, I don’t want it.”

Swirly yanked me down on my back so we’d be lying on the bed and looking at each other. Our bellies were touching, and our snouts connected and our lips were only millimetres apart. “I love you, Vinyl. I always have and I always will. But sometimes we have to sacrifice the things we hold most dearest to make somepony happy. I know it sounds stupid, but one day I’m sure you’ll understand.”

She kissed me on the lips, and I soon felt her tongue slip past them; and our tongues were dancing around wildly as we got caught up in the heat of the moment. I forced myself on top of her, held her down as I continued to keep the momentum going. Eventually I drew back, then stared right in her eyes. “Please don’t do this. I love you so much, I can’t even begin to describe how much I do.”

“I love you too. But you have to realize that you’ll be better off without me. Somewhere out there is a pony who’ll make you happier than I could ever could. If you truly loved me, you’d let me go.”

Swirly was like a stranger to me. Literally. I didn’t even know who she was anymore. The Swirly I fell in love with wouldn’t pull the “if you love me card” nor would she say things like this, ever. But I guess I was wrong. “That doesn’t even make sense, babe. I hate this. All of this. But if that’s what you want…then so be it.” I got off of her and sat up. Looked away.

Swirly got up shortly after. “Can you ever forgive me?”

“I don’t know.” I forced myself to look at her again. “What happened to us? You even said that we’d grow old together. What happened to that?”

“I’m doing this for you. Not me, but for you.” She, the one I loved, put a hoof on my shoulder, and, even though she was the pony I was gonna grow old and die with, I pushed it off me, then stood up on all fours.

“Like hell you are,” I said. “You’re suppose to be with me while I chase my dreams, support me, not ditch me half-way through.”

“It’s for the better.”

“You keep saying that, but I don’t understand why. The only one who it could possibly be better for is you. ‘Cause it sure as hell ain’t better for me. Ugh, I can’t do this right now, I need to cool down, go somewhere, listen to wubs to get my mind off this nonsense.” I paced around the room, shaking my head around.

“Vinyl, calm down,” Swirly said, getting up.

“No. I’m done with all this. I’m jus’ gonna go, and don’t try to stop me, you hear?”

With that, I stormed out of the apartment, hearing Swirly call out my name over and over again. I never looked back after that.

⁂

I’m lost in a rainstorm, somewhere out there. The winds holler, blowing sheets of water into my eyes and wetting my entire body. I wobbled through the layers of water, calling for help, but the rain totally nixed my calls. I trip and fall into the water, panting on the water, lost in it, the wind never ceasing. I lay in the puddles of water, drowning away. I watch the rain erase the sight behind me. I’m a ghost now, a nopony about to drown with nothing to live for.

Then something happened. I caught a glimpse of something in the rain, a familiar shape forming right before my eyes. A hoof reached out for me to take it, and, when I do, the rain and wind are suddenly gone. We’re standing in a field of grass with wispy clouds above us. I looked up and saw a clear sky with the sun shining down on us.

⁂

I was asleep, I knew that much. But for some reason I felt somepony touching me, moving me as I was sleeping. My eyes opened and I saw Octavia looking at me like I had two heads or something.

“Huh?” I mumbled, then rubbing my eyes. “What’s going on? Why’d you get me up? And what’s with that look on your face? You look freaked out.”

“You wouldn’t stop moving in your sleep. You kept yelling ‘Swirly’ over and over again,” she said, lying back down, still looking at me. “Is everything alright?”

“I think so. I think I just had a bad dream about Swirly is all. I’ll be cool,” I said, lying back down. “What time is it?”

“Six in the morning,” she said. “I wonder what my boyfriend is doing right now. He’s gonna be so mad at me.”

“Look at me.” She looked at me. “Stop thinking about that bozo. Me and you will deal with him later today. I’ll help get you out of that relationship with him, okay? I promise.”

“Okay. I’m going to hold you to that.”

“I never make a promise I can’t keep. Now how bout we go back to sleep for a bit? Sound like a plan?”

“I’d like that.”

We curled up together, just like we had done last night, and this time when I fell asleep, there was nothing but grey in my dreams, the same grey that awaited me when I awoke.

Chapter Two

Breakfast at the hotel was super crazy; most—if not all—of the tables were already taken by ponies, all of whom stuffed their faces with freshly cooked grub. Luckily for Octavia and me, Neon had a VIP table in reserve for the morning, which meant we didn’t have to wait for a table.

Earlier this morning, Neon dropped by my room and asked me if I’d like to join him for breakfast. At the time, I was the only one up as Octavia was still sound asleep, and, at first, Neon got the wrong idea, thinking, as he told me, that I had a one night stand with somepony. He told me that he’d come back later when things weren’t as weird. But before he had a chance to leave, I told him about Octavia’s situation. A part of me felt obligated, considering that Neon was the one who put me in this hotel room in the first place. If it weren’t for him, Octavia and I would’ve never met, and if that were the case, who knew how long she’d still be with that nutcase. I made her see the light, and that’s all that mattered.

Right now, were were sitting at a round table, waiting for our food to come to us. Octavia was next to me, and we’d exchange the occasional smile.

“So, Vinyl Scratch, I have some exciting news for you,” Neon said, sipping some OJ.

“Sup?” I asked, my voice nonchalant.

“I found a nightclub that needs a DJ tonight, which means you’re in luck. It’s time to shine, my dear. The place is called ‘The Spotlight’, and it’s only four blocks from this hotel.”

“Cool. When do I start?”

“Tonight at ten. You’ll be going until one in the morning, so fuel up, cause you’re gonna need it.”

“I wouldn’t miss it for my life. Thanks, Neon.”

“Mhmm,” he muttered under his breath. “They told me that if they like your style, they’ll consider hiring you on full time. But don’t worry. That doesn’t mean you’ll only be working at that one place. I’ll find you more gigs if you’d like to change workplaces.”

“Definitely keep that in mind,” I said, smiling. Then I looked at Octavia. “I didn’t tell you what I do, did I?”

She shook her head. “I don’t believe you have, no. What do you do, Vinyl?”

“I’m a DJ. And you?”

“I’m a cellist right here for this hotel. I usually perform when there are big events, like formal dances or an important dinner party,” she said in a monotone expression.

“Cool,” I said, smiling. “How long you’ve been playing the cello?”

“Since I was a filly. My parents gave me my first cello when I turned five. Ever since then, I’ve been a musician trying to better my skills.”

“Gotcha. I’m barely making a living right now. Being a DJ is tough, but I have a feeling it’ll be a little easier now that I have somepony actually supporting me….” I had to stop thoughts of Swirly from coming back to me..

“I do what I can,” Neon said.

Moments later, our food was served and we ate away at them, drank our drinks, made conversion, and laughed at jokes. By the time we were done, it was ten thirty, which gave Octavia more than enough time to dump her idiot boyfriend. I just hoped that she didn’t change her mind about all this, considering the black eye she had gotten last night wasn’t the first one. On top of that, I got the hint that he did stuff to her, even though he didn’t have her go-ahead to do such business.

Right now, Neon was counting bits to pay the bill, and that gave me a moment to speak to Octavia. “So today’s the day, right?”

She turned to look at me. “I guess it is. I just need a little more time to decompress before I confront him.”

I flicked my shades up when I noticed something near the elevator. It wasn’t good, to say the least: It was Octavia’s boyfriend and he was coming toward us, though I doubt he saw us considering the amount of ponies here. I gulped a mouthful of air, then said, “I don’t think you’re gonna have a lot of time.” I pointed at him for her.

“You’re not being serious, right?” Octavia said, her voice choppy. “What if he sees me? He’s gonna hurt me. I have to get out of here. What if he—”

I took a hold of her. “Octavia, chill out. I won’t let him put a hoof on you. Got it?”

She nodded her head and mumbled ‘mhmm’.

“Good.”

“What’s going on?” Neon asked, completely lost. “By the looks of it, it looks like Octavia is about to have a heart attack.”

“Octavia’s boyfriend is coming our way. He’s the one who gave her the black eye last night. Remember me telling you this when you got the wrong idea?”

Neon nodded his head. “Want me to stay in case things go south?” Neon asked.

“I don’t mind,” I said, focusing my attention back to Octavia.

“Hey!” a voice called out.

All three of us whipped our heads around to find the source of the voice. Without a bucking doubt, Octavia’s boyfriend was closing in on us, and he had a very angry look on his face. Teeth stuck out from his mouth, and they were grinding like crazy, and his hooves stomped the ground as he walked, hassling nearby customers at their tables. When he got to our table, Octavia had backed up a bit, her breathing slowly increasing.

“Don’t you hide from me,” the ivory coloured stallion said, moving closer to Octavia.

“Hey, you take one more step, and I’ll make sure you’ll never walk again,” I said, getting up from my seat. Heat boiled my insides. If this bozo thinks he’s gonna touch her, then he’s in for a serious ass whooping. “That’s a promise, not a threat.”

The ivory coloured stallion laughed his ass off, and he probably thought I was joking, even though I wasn’t. I meant it. I would break his fat legs and set him straight.

“You’re joking right?” he said. “Who the buck do you think you are? Get out of my way so I can speak with Octavia.”

“Nuh-uh, not happening, buster. Back off.”

“You better do as she says, Wheelie,” Octavia said to him. She was moving a bit closer to him, and the look she had on her face was angry enough to strike everypony down with lightning. Then she stepped in front of me, faced him, and said, “I’m done with you. All you do is drink, hit me, tell me how worthless I am, and violate me even when I say no. I’ve had it! Pack up your stuff, and get the hay out of my life.”

Wheelie stood in front of her with a smirk. It was like he didn’t care what she had said. “Not a chance. You’re coming with me right now.” He grabbed her by the chest and started dragging her through the restaurant. Using my magic, I took a hold of Octavia and brought her back to me, leaving the stallion in confusion. Everypony in the restaurant was glaring madly at him for doing what he did.

Placing Octavia down, I then asked, “Are you okay? He didn’t hurt you again, did he?”

Octavia, shaking like a nervous little filly, shook her head. “I’m fine.”

“How dare you take her away from me! Who do you think you are taking my girlfriend from me?” Wheelie yelled, moving toward me.

“I’m the one who patched her up after you gave her a black eye last night. I’m the one who made her realize that she should dump your sorry ass. And I’m the one who’s gonna make sure she has a better life,” I said. “Now get lost. Octavia wants nothing to do with you anymore.”

“Why you little….”

Wheelie charged at me, like a wild bull, but Neon used his magic to stop him before he got any closer. “Hey, I got some free advice,” Neon said, moving toward Wheelie. Neon, the great ballsy Neon, pushed his muzzle against the fat stallion, and he said, “Nopony threatens my friends, you got it? If you remotely make one little threat, no matter how small it is, I’ll see that you’ll never see the light of day ever again. We clear?” Neon spoke with so much ferocity, it actually kind of scared me.

Wheelie didn’t say anything else, which seemed to piss Neon off more. “I said, are we clear‽”

The ivory coloured stallion nodded his head in terror as he was released from Neon’s magic. “Good. Now get out of here.” ‘’

“You better watch it, Octavia. I’ll come back for you. Mark my words,” Wheelie said.

Neon pushed him hard, making him fall face first. “What did I just say to you? Last chance. Get lost!”

He tried to get up, but he fell down once more. Everypony was laughing at him for how badly he was humiliated, and even I couldn’t help but laugh at him. He deserved this without a doubt. When he got back on all fours, he gave us a glare, and then left without saying anything else.

Neon turned to Octavia and me. “Well, that was eventful. Glad I stuck around. That guy is a total dimwit.”

“Yeah, totally,” I said. “It was only a matter of time till he got what was coming to him.”

“Mhmm. Well, I best be off now. So remember, Vinyl, tonight at ten. Don’t be late. I’ll see you there.” With that, he left.

Octavia was seated back at the table and I went to her. Said to her, “Hey, Octavia. Wanna head back to the hotel room and talk?”

“I suppose we could do that,” she said, getting up.

“Great. Lets go.”

⁂

Before I left to perform at my gig tonight, I made sure that Octavia would be all right on her own, considering the episode her ex-boyfriend made this morning. It was hard on her. The talk we had this morning wasn’t the most chirpy one, and I took it upon myself to cheer her up some. I could only do so much, though, since we barely knew each other.

I had an idea on what I wanted to do. But now wasn’t the time since she’s just getting over a breakup.

“Hey, Octavia, I’m heading out now,” I said.

Octavia put down her book on music notation, faced me, and said, “All right. You’ll be back tonight though, right?”

“Of course I would, why would you think otherwise?”

“I’d figured you’d get drunk tonight, stopping you from getting back, you know, since you’re going to a nightclub.”

“Nah, not tonight. I have to get back to you. And I won’t be able to do that if I’m tipsy now, can I?”

“I guess not,” she said, giggling.

“Right now. I’ll be back by two, okay?”

“Goodbye. Have fun.”

With that, I closed the door behind me, sighing that I won’t be seeing her for at least six hours. It was eight-thirty right now, and, even though my gig didn’t start till ten, I had to get set up and running. And I wanted to get there early to make a good impression. After all, I was here in Manehattan to become the best DJ in Equestria, which meat no slacking or crazy partying, despite both of those things being a part of me. Partying and slacking could wait. My career couldn’t.

As I made my way to the exit in the lobby, with my crate of records in my magical grab, I caught something at the corner of my eye. It was weirdly familiar to me, and I, for the life of me, couldn’t figure out what the hay it was. Curious, I swooped my head around and saw the one thing I couldn’t bear to see: Swirly. She was speaking to a male receptionist at the front desk. What the buck was she doing here? How did she find me here? As if things couldn’t get any worse.

Not wanting to stick around and talk, I left without making my presence known to her.

I felt like shit when I left.

⁂

So, there’s only one word that could describe The Spotlight: Divine. The place was rocking with the biggest dance floor I had ever seen in my entire life, and there was a ginormous bar to the left of it, along with many tables and booths, all of which, I assumed, were mainly for the wildest party animals who liked to smoke a few joints or even shots of moonshine. Speakers were placed on all four corners of the dance floor, making it so all you would only hear was music while on the dance floor. Customers better watch out, because, tonight, I was going to blast this place to oblivion.

Right now, I was getting my turntable setup, along with the selection of songs I’d be playing. As I was doing that, I thought about mixing a song right on the spot, but that would be a risky, yet enticing maneuver. I’d have to be on point with every note and, hay, even every beat. I wasn’t sure if that was the best of ideas, but I guess we’d see soon enough.

Flicking through my records, I came across a recording I had made for Swirly a few months after we’d met. I hadn’t heard it since then. And I didn’t want to anytime soon. Thinking about her was intoxicating; but, deep down, it really wasn’t. Even though I hated her for what she did to us, I still loved her. How couldn’t I? She was the first pony I ever fell in love with, of course I’d still have feelings for her.

Shaking my head, I cleared those thoughts and got back on track.

I ended up tossing Swirly’s record to the side for safekeeping and continued to flick through the array of records, until I found the ones I was going to use for my performance tonight. They were the ones I was most proud of making. Might as well go all out tonight.

I placed the ones I was going to use on the turntable, and put the crate aside, next to Swirly’s record. That’s when I heard somepony come in. Turning around, I saw Neon making a flashy entrance. He was wearing one of his suits that made him look like a million bits, and it was very superfly to say the least.

“Hey, Neon,” I said waving at him, “over here.”

“Vinyl Scratch,” he said, his voice high-pitched yet soft, walking to me. “I see you found the place, huh? Pretty cool place, isn’t it?”

I placed a vinyl record on the turntable, then looked back at Neon. “Definitely. I gotta say, I’m really looking forward to rocking this place tonight.”

“I sure hope so. This place is a raging nightclub and I’m sure you’ll be able to make it even more rocking.”

“Trust me, when I’m done this place will need new mortar, cause I’m going to rock it off it’s foundation!”

Neon was looking over his shoulder, then back over to me. “Well, you better get a move on. Ponies are starting to come. I’ll see you after the show, or maybe during the show.”

“Sounds good. Later dude,” I said, putting my attention to the set in front of me. “All right Vinyl, it’s time to work your magic…”

It didn’t take long for this place to be completely filled up. After twenty minutes of playing my set, which would make the time twenty after ten, the entire dance floor was taken over by crazy dancers who were yelling at the top of their lungs and having the time of their life. They seemed to be taking a strong liking toward my stuff, which gave me nostalgia as to why I do this sort of thing; and—even though I didn’t have the pony who should have stuck with me through everything I ever dreamed of doing—I knew I’d be fine since I was starting a new life right here in Manehattan.

Flicking up my shades and lowering my headphones, I raised my hooves in the air and cheered to the huge crowd with a smirky grin. Then I spoke in the microphone. “What’s up Spotlight‽ How we doing tonight‽” A loud cheer came from the crowd after I asked them that, and it only made me smile. “Right on! Brace yourselves, because this party is just getting started!”

I put my shades and headphones back on and went back on track. Right now, there was a remix I made from a song I heard on the radio a long time ago. It was a classic, one that wouldn’t be easily forgotten, at least by me anyway. When that track was done, I swiftly switched records, this time for a song with a heavier, deeper, and intenser bass tune to it. Cranking up the volume, all I could hear were the thumps of wubs, pumping through my body and the nightclub, something that made me feel happy and in the right place—albeit my ears didn’t agree with me.

I’ve learned over the years, that you have to be careful with how you treat your ears. It’s not really all that obvious, considering that your job as a DJ is to blast a place out with loud music—but you have to do it in a way that won’t make you deaf, trust me. Sure the crowd was hearing the same thing I was, but it wasn’t anywhere near as bad as being right in front of the source. Luckily for me, the track that I just put in was reasonably long, which gave me time to go backstage and take a small breather, and maybe see Neon.

Heading off stage for the meantime, I pushed through the door and walked into the VIP lounge, the place where the ponies who run the show go to sit back and relax for a bit, before going back out there. There was a minibar to the left, four sofas surrounding a coffee in the centre, and a poker table to the right. Neon was sitting on one of the sofas having a drink, though I don’t think he noticed me come in.

Wanting to surprise him, I walked up to him, abreast, then, in an arrogant tone, said, “One helluva show out there, ain’t it?”

Neon was startled by me as he was reading a magazine, and, by the looks of it, completely zoned out. “Whoa. Didn’t expect to see you back here. What about the—”

“No need to worry. I put on a rather long track. Still has another six minutes till it’s done. Figured it would be a good time to give my ears a rest. Boy, I tell ya, even with earplugs and headphones on, they still take a beating.”

Neon bobbed his head, listening to me speak, but didn’t say anything until I asked him something. “So…what do you think so far?”

“Want my honest opinion?” he finally asked, placing his drink and the magazine on the table.

“Mhmm,” I said, taking a seat next to him.

“You’re one of the best DJs I’ve ever seen.” He got closer to me, our faces were only centimetres apart. “Ponies have been talking about you already. Your first night performing at a Manehattan nightclub, and ponies are already talking. Hell, the manager of the Spotlight here is considering on hiring you to be the lead DJ for his club.” He pulled back. “I’d say that’s a helluva way to make an entrance to your new career.”

“Man, I don’t know what to say. Everything is going so fast. But let’s remember that this is only my first gig here, so I won’t get my hopes up or anything like that…at least for now.”

“Nonsense. You gotta shoot for the stars.”

I nodded. “I guess so. Hey, I gotta get back out there. Song’s about to end. I’ll catch up with you later.”

“Have fun,” Neon said, picking up the magazine with his magic.

When I got back on stage, the crowd was still dancing like a bunch of wild party animals, and none of them seemed to realize that I had been gone for a minute, though there were the odd ones in the crowd that gave me glances from afar. One of them in particular, looked rather familiar to me, but I couldn’t quite pinpoint any features in the hectic crowed.

Going back to work, I quickly switched the song and put on a remixed track that I had never played publicly. It was a remix of the popular song, 1, 2 step; and I figured that since it was a popular song—considering it peaked at number one on the billboard for best track—why not remix it with wubs and make it awesome ten times over?

About mid-way into the song, I flipped my headphones on and added remixed sound effects to make it more grand, but, while I was doing that, the memory of Swirly came into my mind, putting me off base, and none of them sounded the way I intended, messing everything up. But it wasn’t anything I couldn’t recover from.

Shaking my head to clear the memories, I backtracked and quickly improvised the sounds I meant to remix, and, after I did that, everypony started to clap and sing-along to the lyrics that were in the track. It wasn’t long till the track finished. At the end, I added a heavy bass drop for effect, then it became silent for a few moments.

I spoke in the microphone afterward, saying, “Is everypony having a smashin’ time?”

Everypony cheered at the top of their lungs. Somepony even yelled out, “Vinyl Scratch is the best DJ ever!”

“Well, the show isn’t over yet, folks. We still got three more tracks! I hope you’re ready!”

Ponies in the crowd yelled out, “You bet your ass we are!”

Smiling, I put another track on, and continued through the night, living my dream of becoming an awesome DJ, loving the fact that ponies were enjoying the talent I was born with, and the prospect that I might have found a very special somepony to be with was simply icing on the cake. But that all changed when I looked at the thunderous crowd, yelling the night away, and saw one pony still as ever. She was right in front of the dance floor, looking right at me. Worse…I knew exactly who it was.

I looked away from her, turned my back, then whispered, to myself, “Son of a bitch…what’s she doing here? First the hotel, now my first gig?”

Turning around and focusing on the crowd, I slipped on my headphones again, and used the music to block out every single thought that tried to worm its way in my head. I practically lost myself in it, concentration only on these ponies a time of their life: I cranked up the volume and bass, though not to distorted levels, and improvised a sick remix to go with the track that was playing; and it worked out to say the least. Somehow it worked, I managed to give it my all on concentrate only on what I did best: Being a DJ.

Rocking it all to smithereens, I gave one final, slow beat when the song ended, and, during it, dimmed the spotlights to make it completely dark, only to dim them back up again. That’s when everypony clapped and cheered, even whistling at me for the grand performance. I stood up on my hindhooves and put my hooves up in the air with a legit smile.

It wasn’t long until everypony started walking off the dance floor, looking back at me with a smile of appreciation, or something like that. When the dance floor was mostly cleared, I began to pack up my set, and go see Neon before I headed back to my hotel. But I knew it wouldn’t be that simple. I knew something would come up and I wouldn’t be back at the room by two, just as I had promised Octavia. It would be way later than that promise.

A voice from the dance floor spoke to me. “Vinyl…? Can we talk?”

I paused, dead. My eyes shut at hearing those words from that…that mare. Why? Why did she seriously just ask me that? Oh, Celestia, I better not say or do anything that I’d regret.

I looked at her; and when I did, it was as if everything that had happened between Octavia and me meant nothing—that it was only a moment of rebound, something that I need to help me get through my breakup; but that couldn’t have been true. Or maybe it was. Alas, I can’t do this right now.

“What do you want, Swirly?” I finally said, my tone purposely harsh and lowdown.

“I just wanted to talk. How’ve you been?”

“Well, the love of my life, the mare I loved for years, forced me to leave her and go chase my dream without her. Other than that I’d say I was doing just fine. What’s it to you?”

Swirly got up off the ground and flew to me. When she landed, she said, “Look, I know you hate me, and I totally get that, I do, it’s just—”

“Can you blame me? You ended what we had. We were together for almost six bucking years, and you threw that out the window? And for what? Some lame excuse that I had to go chase my dreams without you?” My chest panted heavily, and my teeth were scrunched up, grinding against each other.

“You were going to be a long way away. Can you blame me if I didn’t want to go on with us?”

“It’s not about how far away you are from the pony you love, it’s about how close you are to the pony you love.”

“I didn’t know it would be like that,” Swirly said, her voice soft, and putting a hoof on me, only to have it shoved off. “I said I was sorry.”

“Yeah, well you made the choice for both of us, ‘sorry’ ain’t gonna cut it.”

“Are you so different? You walked out on me, and I haven’t seen you since then. If anything, you should blame yourself.”

I slammed a hoof against the stage. “You chose for us both. I didn’t get a say, remember? Are you really that dumb to blame me for doing the only thing you let me do? ” My tone was furious, and anger flooded my entire body.

Swirly jerked back. Then she took a seat. “My mother she, um, passed away three weeks after you left me. I was barely there a month. I didn’t even get to say goodbye to her because she died in a coma, and that’s when I realized it was a mistake to let you go.”

“Does that mean I’m supposed to feel sorry for you because you lost your mother and had second thoughts after ending what we had?”

“The Vinyl Scratch I got to know and love would never be so heartless.”

I finished putting my records in my crate, folded my table, and put it in my black carrying case. Then I looked at her. “The Vinyl Scratch you loved never had her heart ripped out of her chest and stomped on by the mare she loved. That pony’s gone. You should know that now. Now if you’ll excuse me, I gotta go. Oh, and thanks for nothing.” I made a beeline to the VIP lounge.

“Vinyl, wait,” Swirly said, chasing after me.

I rolled my eyes and dropped my stuff from my magical grab, then turned around. “What?”

“Let me make it up to us. Let me show you that what we had is still there. C’mon, Vinyl. You and I both damn well know that you still love me. If you didn’t, you wouldn’t have said half the things you just said to me.” She stepped closer to me, and my insides began to tingle with butterflies. One more step…and that’s when I felt her touch….

Oh, for Celestia’s sake, why’s this happening to me? Why now? I had to say something.

“Give me one good reason why I should even let you back in my life,” I said. “If you even convince me, maybe I’ll give us another shot.”

I was figuratively killing myself as I said that. If there was one thing that I had learned in life, so far, it’s that if something doesn’t work, it’s usually not meant to be. Sure things can be restored to how things were before, but it’ll never have the same original feeling or nostalgia; mainly because, at that point, it’s more forced than real. Yet, right now, as I stood in front of Swirly, it somehow felt right that I was willing to hear her out, despite the crazy, unsettled anger that was in me.

Swirly moved closer to me, then whispered something in my ear. “Why tell you when I can just show you?”

That’s when I felt her lips against my own.

I panicked, I shrieked, I loved.

Was this really happening? Or was this all a dream? I couldn’t tell at this point. Nonetheless, I kissed her back and put a hoof on her neck, pulling her in more, getting all caught up in the moment. I eventually pinned her down right on the stage, after which I pulled back and stared at her.

There was a cheeky smile on her face, one that made me smile for some reason. “Ha, made you smile,” Swirly said to me, her voice filled with confidence.

“Shut up, already,” I said.

Before I knew it, Swirly used her wings and rolled me over pinning me to the stage; and they were stupidly strong since she not only went to the gym to keep in shape, but also because she was the captain of Baltimare’s weather patrol team. After all, that’s probably why she had a wing overtop a dumbbell for a cutie mark.

“Now is that anyway to talk to me?” Swirly asked.

“No, but I hate that you’re doing this to me.”

“Doing what exactly? Oh, you mean this?”

I felt her lips against mine again, but, this time, it was more heated and intense. Our tongues were circling around, and they didn’t stop for a second, till we pulled back for a second or two for air, but, after that, we went right back in.

My stupid emotions were like fireworks: Blowing up and going all over the place. This felt incredibly wrong, yet so incredibly right. She’s the one that broke my heart for buck sake. No…this was perfect. This was how it was supposed to be for all those missed nights.

Swirly lowered herself, putting her entire body overtop mine, and boy was she ever warm. Our nether regions were only millimetres apart, and the heat coming off hers made me wet. I started grinding myself against her, causing a quiet moan from her as our lower regions rubbed together.

I was lost in the feeling of the mare under me, the grinding of our privates together. I wanted to cum, I wanted to cum by forcing myself against her, by using her in the same way she used me. I didn’t care about anything, anyone else. I couldn’t even see anyone else, all that mattered was the feeling of ecstasy running through my body and her cries of pleasure at every single push.

It must have been Celestia herself that caused me to hear what I heard next. A loud ‘Eh emm’, somehow, someway, caught my attention. I looked up to see a small crowd of ponies starting to gather around us, watching us go at each other like we were in heat, and Neon staring at me, a disappointed look in his eyes that all but said, ‘If you do this, you’ll ruin everything you’ve ever wanted’.

I no longer felt hot, no longer felt horny, I just felt…dirty. Pulling back, I said, “Swirly, we can’t…I’m getting—”

“Wet? Yeah, I am too. Maybe we should go somewhere more private?”

“Swirly.”

“You haven’t even given me a chance yet.”

“It’s not that, it’s just that…a few days ago I met this really great pony, and we hit it off pretty well. I promised her that I’d be back before two.”

“Oh…I see how it is. I’m trying to make things right between us, and all you care about is some broad you just met a few days ago?”

“Hey, that’s not true,” I said defensively.

“Then give me the chance I deserve. Let me show you that what we had is still there. C’mon, I’ll take you to my hotel room.” Swirly got up and flew to the exit, and I…reluctantly…followed her.

⁂

Just as I had suspected: Swirly had a suite in the same hotel Neon hooked me up with. I had no clue how Swirly could afford a place like this, considering that it was a hefty bill to pay for every night. Nonetheless, I didn’t question it as…well, it was none of my business.

By the time we got to Swirly’s room, it was already past two. I wondered what Octavia was doing right now, but my thoughts were interrupted when Swirly opened the door and kissed me, then dragged me in the room. It was an exact mirror of the room I was in, though the bed was slightly smaller.

Slamming the door shut, Swirly pressed her lips against mine and pushed me toward the bed, her weight making me tumble on it. I felt her warm tongue slip past my lips and make contact with my own; and that’s when I shoved mine into her mouth, intensifying the movement ten-fold. Moans were coming from the both of us, and it only turned me on even more. I started to stroke her back as we made out, my hoof finding its way across her fur coaxed some giggles at my touch. My nether regions were getting wetter the more we kissed.

Eventually, Swirly drew back and stared me down. “I love it when we kiss. Remember the time when we—”

“Are you gonna give me a history lesson, or are you gonna shut up and fuck me?” I said. “I’m getting very eager you know.”

“Already?”

“What can I say? You’re driving me crazy.”

I never saw myself in this position since I left Swirly. For the longest time, I always thought she would never be a part of my life again, at least not after what she did to us. I swore that I would never look back, but I guess that was a lie. It was so stupid. The moment I saw her in the hotel lobby, I knew that she would try and use her charm to convince me that we still had a chance, even though she broke my heart. Still, I do wonder how she found me at the Spotlight. I guess she had a way of knowing where I was.

Soon I felt Swirly’s beige hooves against my temples and she brought me in for another kiss, though a short one. Then she said, “Somepony’s getting wet. Really wet.”

“Can’t help it.”

Swirly giggled, then whispered in my ear, “I know. Let me show you how much I love you.”

Before I had a chance to say anything else, Swirly was trailing down my body, planting kisses along the way, until, at last she got to my wet slit. It was dying to feel Swirly’s touch again, wait no, I was dying to feel her touch again. Swirly’s breath made me shiver and it was only a few seconds until I felt her warm tongue brush over it. My head jerked back at the spike of pleasure, and a moan escaped my mouth as I continued to feel her tongue eat me out.

I felt like a cheap whore for doing this, I felt like I was betraying myself for doing this, I felt like I gave up all too easily for doing this. But this somehow felt right. Maybe I could forgive Swirly for hurting me? Maybe she really did love me and wanted to make things right between us. But I couldn’t really tell; as I was too lost in pleasure as she ate me out.

It didn’t take Swirly long to pierce my slit with that helluva tongue she had, and boy did she ever do a damn good job. Within seconds, she circled around in there, pressing it against my walls; all of which made me scream aloud. Soon I felt something electrifying and awesome: Swirly was using a wing to fondle my clit while she was using her tongue to tease my G-spot all at the same time. It was all so much, causing my body to feel like it was paralysed in pleasure. I could barely speak, or breathe for that matter.

The walls in my lower body started to clench down and I felt a surge of pleasure course through me. I was getting close, really close.

“Hey, Swirls,” I said, my words slurred. “I’m about to…you know…”

“Cum?” she said, looking at me, but keeping her moments going.

“Yeah, that.”

As Swirly continued eating me out, I closed my eyes and thought about everything that had gone wrong in my life, and how things could quickly patch up between two ponies. But then I thought…what if Octavia had the idea of making things right between her and her ex-boyfriend? No…she’d never. Not after what he did…

My thoughts were interrupted when I felt the most insane thing ever: I felt my clit swell up as it was being brushed by Swirly’s tongue over and over again. And that’s when I came harder than I ever have. Juices flowed out from me, right into Swirly’s mouth. The mare was a pro, she simply lapped up every drop that came out of me. My entire body shook as tingling went through me, and I couldn’t do or say anything.

After Swirly was done ‘showing how much she cared’, she looked at me, smiling, then gave me a hug. “I care so much about you. I never meant to hurt you like I did. And I promise I won’t do it again, never again.”

“That was amazing,” I said, kinda flabbergasted at what she said. “Do you really mean that? Or is that a cheap way of you getting back with me? Because if it is, there’s no way in hell we’re going to be together.”

“I promise you, I meant every word of it. No more lies. I’ve turned over a new leaf, and I want nothing more than for us to go back to how things were.”

I was actually having a hard time deciding what I should do. In front of me was Swirly, one of the hottest and smartest ponies I had ever met, and we both loved each other. We were going to grow and die old together, and we still had that chance—hell we even have an excuse to run off and get married, all because of the recent events.

But in another room, in this very hotel, was a grey mare by the name of Octavia, and there was something about her that I still couldn’t pin down. It was like she and I were meant to meet, grow our friendship, and turn it into something grand, something that would stick with me until the day I die, almost as if she was the one I was supposed to move on after dealing with my breakup.

“I love you, and I still want to be with you,” Swirly suddenly said.

“If only it were that simple, Swirls,” I said, my voice hinting the blues. “I love you too, there’s no denying that. But do you really think we can make it work after what happened?”

“I’d like to think so,” Swirly said, pulling me in more, then kissing me on the lips. “Do you have your doubts about us trying again?”

“I do have my doubts. I can’t see us being together later on in life.”

“Why’s that?”

“Because you broke what he had. We can’t just magically get back everything we lost. Sure, we love each other to death, but that’s only a small part of it. You lost my trust, my respect, and my loyalty. How do I know I can trust you, that you won’t hurt me again? Because without trust, we got nothing.”

“You just gotta trust me.”

“That’s easier said than done, Swirls. It’s hard to trust the pony you love after they smash your heart into a million pieces.”

I sighed, pulled away from her.

Why was I putting myself in harm’s way, only to get hurt again? Was it because I stupidly believed in second chances, was it because my heart truly belonged to Swirly, or was it because I was afraid that I’d never love somepony else as much as I did Swirly? I mean, Octavia’s been on my mind a lot, especially since she’s single now, and it wouldn’t be that far off base if I asked her out on a date unless she didn’t swing that way, which I highly doubt considering the cuddling we did last night.

All these thoughts swimming in my head went unsettled, driving me nuts. After several minutes of silence and thinking, I said, “I don’t know if I can trust you ever again. Not after what you pulled. You hurt me. Do you have any idea what it was like living without you? A bucking nightmare. I can’t go through that again, and I don’t wanna take that risk. I’m sorry, Swirls. But I can’t be with you.”

I looked at Swirly. She cried, she sniffled, she shook, and then she looked at me. “Bu-bu-but, Vinyl…I can’t lose you again. No-no-not after tonight. You and I still love each other. Why shouldn’t we b-be together? You’re my first, and nopony can replace the love I have for you. Look, I know I screwed up, but that doesn’t mean we can’t start a clean slate. We can forget a-a-about every bad thing that has happened with us. Please, don’t go, I’m begging you.”

I didn’t say anything to her.

Swirly opened her hooves, begging me to come close so we could hug it out, but this wasn’t something that could be hugged out; and although I told her that I couldn’t be with her, I accepted the hug and fell in her hooves. Even I couldn’t help but pull her closer, feel her touch, and have her cry on me. It all felt right.

Looking up at her face, I saw the amount of tears she had, saw the same face I had laid eyes on everyday for almost six years. It killed me to say the least. But I had to do this. Or did I?

Without saying a word, I reached up to her, then smooched her on the lips. She didn’t hesitate to do the same, but was iffy to let go when I pulled back. “You know, Swirls, this shouldn’t have happened. But it did. And nothing can change the way I feel about this. Not even wubs.” I looked away.

I might as well be dead. I just told the pony I was supposed to love for the rest of my life to eff off, albeit in more gentle way. The anger that had built up in me tonight was gone after I told Swirly I was done with her; but then I began to feel even worse than ever: I felt like a cold-hearted son of a bitch, and I loathed myself for it.

A part of me wanted to take back everything I just said and go back to the life I once had with her; but that was all a pie in the sky. Our lives were different now, and they would never be the same; even if we were to be together again.

“Vinyl?”

“What?”

“Can you ever forgive me?”

Good question. I knew what I had to say. And I did. “Yes…yes I can. I forgive you, Swirly McCloud.”

Swirly smiled at me and kissed me on the forehead after she heard me say that. “Could you do me one last thing before we never see each other again?” Swirly asked, her voice clearly in the deep blues.

It felt right to say yes, especially since we both might as well enjoy each other’s company before we never see each other again. “Anything.”

“I wanna sleep with you tonight one last time, if that’s okay with you. It might be the only way for me to make it through the night.”

“Uh…sure thing,” I said, falling back into her hooves. “I don’t hate you, you know that, right?”

“You don’t?” Swirly asked, stroking my mane.

“No. I’m just really upset that you and I aren’t a thing anymore.”

“I am too…I am too.”

We both rested on each other through the night, and I either felt the occasional stroke on my mane, or the occasional kiss on the lips; and I welcomed all of them because it felt right.

“I’m sorry, for everything, Vinyl, I really am,” Swirly said, her voice clearer. “Never meant for any of this to happen. I know I can’t change what has happened, but I can change what will happen. You may not see me in the morning, or possibly ever again. But…maybe you will in your dreams. I know you’ll be in mine.”

“Swirls, I—”

“Shh, no talking. Just sleep. With. Me. That’s all you have to do.” Her voice was so soft and alluring.

I ignored her, despite her yen for me to keep quiet. “I just wanted to say, it’s been a helluva ride being with you for all those years. And I’ll never forget them. Ever. I love you.”

I never saw her again when I woke up the next morning.

Chapter Three

The night was totally still and chill. Two hours must had passed since I passed out in Swirly’s hooves. I got up, lightly pushing her hoof aside. She was still asleep. I kinda wondered what she was dreaming about, if she was dreaming at all.

There was a feeling that went through me when I looked at her sleeping there. I just…I just couldn’t explain it. When I looked at her, the first thing I saw was the mare that I had planned to spend the rest of my life with. A warmth spread throughout, going to all parts of my body. I couldn’t control it; and it made my body tingle, making me feel like I was asleep far longer than I was. And then I felt pain, knowing that Swirly would no longer be a part of my life after tonight.

At times, during that night, I tried to forget about it all by closing my eyes and nuzzling my face into her black mane, breathing in her scent; but it did no good.

I remembered the time Swirly and I met. It was, like, totally wild and awesome.

I remembered our first Hearth’s Warming Eve. What a smashing time that was. I had taken her out into the snow, and we made snowponies together. After that, she’d make snowballs and chuck them at me—laughing at me when I stumbled face first in the snow. I’d get myself up and hide behind a tree, and, using my magic, I’d annihilate her with so many snowballs. And when I stopped, she tackled me down into the cold ground, and, of course, our mouths would meet and we’d kiss with snow falling on us.

I wondered if she still remembered that. I sure as hell did.

This might sound cheesy as hell, but I’m gonna say it anyway.

The snowflakes that fell on us—during all those winter days—were like lives, our lives. By not watching them, they’d go by in a blink of an eye; and they’d go unseen. However, even when we looked at them, under the moonlight or whatever light source there was nearby, we’d only see them for a second; and they’d be gone with the flow of another zillion more in mere seconds, and I’d wonder if the short glimpses were worth it.

I worried about Swirly ever since she came into my life. She was the best thing that had ever happened to me, and I couldn’t lose it—no way in hell. At times, I would be a clingy bitch and hold her way too close, not wanting her to ever leave my side, simply because I loved her.

Some winter mornings, I’d complain that it was way too cold to go out and do anything, and I’d snuggle close to her—feeling a wing wrap around me—right up against her chest; and we would stay there for the entire day without saying a single word to one another. Hell, some mornings, she’d be the the one complaining about the weather being too cold, and I’d be the one to pull her close. I’d feel her muzzle bury into my chest, and it would make me giggle and wiggle around because of how funny it felt; and it would feel like our bodies were two snowflakes glued together, boogieing around like a bunch of crazies, until the end of time.

I just can’t pin this all down. Why did she have to be stupidly cruel?

She was perfect for me damn it! Why couldn’t this have worked out another way?

Over time, when we decided to take the next step by moving into a place together, I never even asked her about what we would do together while we grow old. The question was hers; and it went from a simple question at first—but then we had a buttload of ideas on what we could do together. One of them was to visit the Crystal Empire together. She would’ve been so stoked if that actually happened with us.

I just…I just couldn’t believe we made it this far, only for us end. We had so much planned. Sure we did some of it, but we barely scratched the surface of everything we wanted to do.

I never expected that—on the first day of us moving in together, planning events that we would do while we got older, knowing that I’d see her divine beige coat and black mane everyday—day to turn out the way it did. I never thought I’d see her face or smile again after the day I walked out on her. But I did.

Yet now, I didn’t have that anymore.

How far apart were we? I mean, really?

I knew where she was: Right next to me, sleeping. So easy on the eye, so perfect.

…!

She moved, but didn’t wake up.

I wanted to run my hooves along her body, letting myself feel her once more. Sometimes, back in the old days with her, I’d stroke her face while she was asleep, going around her fine cheekbones, blocking any tears that I hoped to never see there.

And then come her wings. Her wings always drove me crazy. I’m serious. They were so toned and soft, and I’d rub them for her after she came home from a day of weather patrol. I’d feel her tense muscles and feathers pulse under my hooves, and she’d moan loudly. It was hard to stay there, but it was the only time I got to watch her like that.

I’m sure as hell gonna miss those days….

I lay back down, pulling her closer to me, wrapping my hoof around her. She felt perfect; so perfect that it made me curious as to why she even existed; after all, perfection doesn’t exist. She was so effing perfect that, when I wake up the next day, I’d lose her for good; and that was the truth of it all.

I looked back at her, sleeping by my side. She was a tiny part of my life, and that was the best wrong I could have ever done right—for once in my miserable, little life.

I kissed her on the lips one last time, and said, “You’ll always be a part of me, Swirly. No matter what.”

Just like the old days. Back then, most of the time, I’d snatch a kiss from her while she was asleep; even now her lips still tasted like those winter days we spent together.

She really was an angel at rest, one that only wanted me to be with her forever; and I’d never ask her when she wakes up.

Because we were never going to see one another again…after tonight.

Chapter Four

The start of my morning was pretty shitty to say the least. Waking up alone in a big bed sucked, like really sucked. I had to start my day off knowing that I’d never see Swirly again—something I was both okay and not okay with; and to make matters worse, I had some explaining to do to Neon and Octavia, who had no idea where I was last night—obviously.

It was so stupid. I almost put everything on the line, and for what? A taste of vengeance? A destroyed heart? Loss? Pfft, if I had known I was gonna get all that, I would’ve stayed with Octavia last night instead of going to the club and comforting her—which would have essentially destroyed my dreams and wrecked my heart completely—and try and have my way with her, and that would’ve been one helluva night if it had turned out that way.

Getting my ass out of bed, I headed to the restroom to wash my face and fix my mane since it was an utter mess. I looked at myself in the mirror, seeing the one thing I hated most: Myself. After washing up, I grabbed my shades from the nightstand and made a beeline to the door. There wasn’t anything else for me here, aside from memories that would haunt me for the rest of my stupid life; from the last moments I had spent with Swirly, that I knew regardless how much I may want or not want, would never be unforgotten.

I closed the door, and, this time, I really didn’t look back.

⁂

By the time I got to my hotel room, it must have been close to noon. I wondered what Octavia was doing, what she was thinking, and, most importantly, what shit Neon was going to give me. Either way, I had to face the music some day. So why not do it now?

Inserting my key card into the door, I pushed my way in and saw Octavia on the bed. She was reading the newspaper, but she quickly looked away from it when she saw me come in.

“Vinyl!” she said, leaping off the bed and coming toward me. “Where in Celestia have you been? I’ve been worried sick. I even asked Neon if he knew where you were, but he said he didn’t. Where were you?”

“I was…” I sighed, looking away from Octavia and sitting on the bed. If I wanted to actually be with Octavia, I had to tell her the truth. No lies. Just honesty. “I was with Swirly last night. She dropped by during my gig, and we talked for a bit after I was done. Then that’s when one thing lead to another and…we kinda almost did it on stage, and Neon caught me.”

As of right now, I had a feeling that Octavia would hate me for telling her the type of pony I really was: An easy mare that would do it anywhere if it moment was right. But that wasn’t the case. At. All. Instead, she said, “And then?”

Was she asking me what happened next? I thought she would…never mind that. “Well. if you really want to know, she took me to her hotel room, and that’s when it all happened. She made love to me, and we held each other close. We talked about us and if there was a chance of us being together again. But I told her it wouldn’t work out because I could never trust her again.”

I paused to gage her reaction, to my shock there was none, nothing given anyway. “After that, I pretty much told her that we’re done. I never saw her in the morning when I woke up. Nor do I ever expect to see her again. So, yeah, that was my night.”

“I, um…I don’t know what to say.”

“Then don’t.” My voice was unintentionally harsh and snarky. “What’s done is done. Swirly is in my past now. And now I gotta start thinking of my new life, and—”

Before I had the chance to finish, the room to the hotel barged open with Neon standing in the doorway with a look of outrage on his face. “Vinyl Scratch! Do you have any idea how close you were to ruining everything last night?” he asked, his voice loud and hinting anger. “You could’ve lost everything! You mind telling me what the hell that was all about, hmm?”

“It’s complicated, Neon,” I said, my voice as direct as I could possibly make it. “I’d rather not fill you in on the details. Last night was…painful for me, and I don’t wanna think about it.”

“Why’s that? What could possibly be so bad that you can’t tell me?” he asked.

“Don’t press the issue,” I said, getting up and scrunching my face down in anger.

“Alright, fine, I won’t press the issue, but you should seriously count yourself lucky that it was only me and two other ponies who caught you. you could’ve really pissed off the manager had the wrong ponies gotten word.”

“I’m sorry, alright? Can we just forget about this?”

“Not unless you promise me that you won’t pull shit like that again, this is something that can very well give the wrong impression of you.”

No doubt about it. This wasn’tsomething that could be swept under the rug. I was careless, stupid, and incompetent of holding back from Swirly. And for what? Makeup sex? Closure? Or was it just me being a desperate pony that wanted it right there on the stage? I didn’t have the answer to any of those questions. Nonetheless, if I wanted to keep my dreams—and, maybe, get with Octavia—I owed it to myself, and to Neon to never do something like that ever again.

Getting out of my thoughts, I said, “I know, I bucked up really badly and—”

“If I’m going to help you live your dream, you can’t go around and pull shit like that again. We clear?” Neon said simply, his tone directing no bullshit.

“Yes, Neon.”

“Good. I hate sounding like a nagging mother or something, but I had to drill this into your thick skull, otherwise we might have a dreamless pony. And nopony wants that.”

“I get it, I get it, can we stop talking about this now?”

“We can. Anyways, I have to head out now. I’ll see you two later.” At that, he left.

I plopped myself onto the bed, buried my face in a pillow, and hollered into it, letting out my frustration.

“How about we go outside for a bit and get some air? It might do you some good,” Octavia said to me.

I turned to her. “Am I an embarrassment to you?”

She came up to me. “What kind of question is that?”

“A legitimate one.”

“You’re not an embarrassment. You just made an honest mistake. I’d say you’re noble for admitting your faults rather than trying to deny them.”

“You really mean it?”

“Of course I do. I never say anything I don’t mean.”

When I heard that, I smiled. “Is that offer to go out for a walk still a go?”

“If you want it to be.”

“Let’s go then. I need to get outta this place for a bit.”

⁂

The Manehattan park was totally something I’ve always wanted to check out. Not so much for the sightseeing of the ocean and beyond, which was to the the east, but for the kick-ass stage that was right in the dead centre of the park. The stage was often taken by various bands and DJs that would perform during special events like New Year’s Eve or the play of Heart’s Warming Eve. I remember telling Swirly once that I always dreamed of rocking out on that stage with the fans cheering for me below.

But that didn’t happen. And it wouldn’t, not with Swirly at least.

Trailing along the outskirts of the park looking over the ocean, Octavia and I glanced at each other, but didn’t say anything worthwhile. There was something bugging the living crap out of me, yet I couldn’t figure out what it was. Maybe it was the aftermath of sleeping with Swirly—all the while knowing that I’d never be the one to do it again with her? Or maybe it was because I hated myself for letting her go for good? But that couldn’t be it. I ended this with her because it was the ending that we both needed.

Now that I thought about it, the only bad thing about all of this—and probably the thing that was bothering me—would be if Octavia was no longer interested in me. If that was true, I couldn’t blame her. Who’d want to be with a loser like me? I couldn’t even get my head on straight when Swirly came back into my life, even if it was only for a night. Hell, I even did it on stage with her last night, only to be caught by the same pony who helped put me there in the first place. That didn’t seem like a pony Octavia would want to be with, let alone be friends with. Plus, when I put myself in her horseshoes, if we were just starting out, and she slept with her old boyfriend that day….

The only thing I could do now, rather than making stupid assumptions—like I always do—was ask her if she and I could be a thing.

I stopped about mid-way in our walk at a park bench that was on a patch of grass which lead off to an open field. I hopped on the bench and Octavia soon joined me. Two friends on a bench. Could this get any better?

“Look, Octavia,” I said, hoping I didn’t sound like a jackass, “the past few days have been crazy for me, and probably for you too. Finding out that your ex was abusing you, starting my career here in Manehattan, running into Swirly and sleeping with her…it’s a lot for me and you to take in, I know. But since you and I became friends that night, I can’t help but think you’re the one, my one.”

Celestia, I sound like a jackass.

“And I’ve been meaning to ask you something since I got back to my hotel room this morning, but I couldn’t since Neon barged in.”

“What is it?” Octavia asked, her voice sounding unconcerned and incurious.

Hearing her tone of voice scared me to the core. But I spoke up anyway. “I’ve wanted to ask you if you’d like to go out with me…on a date? And before you say anything, yes, I know we’ve both just been dumped, and no you’re not a rebound, I jus—”

“Vinyl…” Octavia trailed off, after which she picked up my forehooves with her own. “I’ve really enjoyed the friendship you’ve given me so far. Sure it’s only been three or so days, but I can tell you’re loyal and protective to your friends. Especially to me. At least from what I can tell…”

Why did her voice—the same one I loved a second ago—make me want to run for the hills?

“But I have to be honest with you, we can’t be together. The other night when we cuddled, I like it, and I did feel safe in your hooves, but…”

“But?”

“How would you feel if I went and had sex with him the very next day?” Octavia asked, her voice sincere, but direct. “Look, Vinyl, you’re very sweet, but I never really saw myself with a mare, and not one that would have sex with her ex the day after cuddling with someone new.”

I didn’t freaking believe it. I blew it, and I thought…you know what, never mind. I spoke up. “So, you're saying we’ll never be more than friends, huh?”

“Quite so, I’m afraid.” Octavia pulled me closer so our noses would almost touching, despite everything she just said. “I’m more than happy to be your friend, though if that counts for anything now.”

“Of course it does.” I lied; because it felt like my heart was being squashed on. “I just hoped that maybe we had something…. But I guess I thought wrong.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Nah, don’t apologize. It’s my fault for stupidly thinking we could be together. Forget we even had this conversation,” I said, my voice unintentionally harsh.

“Vinyl, I didn—”

“Hey, you two.” A familiar voice called out from the distance.

Our heads whirled around, and we both shirked when we saw Wheelie making his way to us.

“Wheelie? What the buck does he want? If he tries anything again—”

“Don’t bother wasting your energy on him. He won’t listen to you,” Octavia said. “Let me deal with him.”

“Hey, I’m talking to you,” Wheelie said, only a few hoof steps away.

“What do you want, Wheelie? I already told you we’re done,” Octavia said.

“Yeah, and I’m telling you we’re not.” He took a step closer to her.

“If you take another step, shithead, you won’t know what hit you,” I said, jumping in front of Octavia. “I’m serious. You hurt her, and I’ll make sure you’re dealt with properly.” I really hoped he would, I really needed something to hit right now.

The idiot laughed. “Is that a threat?”

“Nope, it’s a promise. And I never make a promise I can’t keep.”

“Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. Do you hear yourself? You’re nothing but an annoyance. And you know what I do to ponies that get in my way? I put them in their place.”

I wasn’t scared. At. All. The only thing Wheelie was to me was a maggot at the bottom of a trash can; because that’s where he belonged. “Are you stupid? Wait, don’t answer that. I already know the answer to that.”

The expression Wheelie had on his face was nothing but an ambitious one, though it quickly faded away, then back up again. His eyes were glued on us like some creep you’d see in a sketchy old bar, and the smirk on his face only grew wider and wider as time went by. I was ready for anything that he would try—at least I thought I was.

Suddenly, he took a swing at me with a hoof—right on my left cheek—and Celestia did I ever feel it: The amount of force that struck me, right there and then, hurt worse than any pain I’ve ever felt in my life. At that point in time, I thought my jaw had shattered. I wished he had knocked it off; losing it wouldn’t have hurt this badly. “You m-ucking m-ocmucker!” I rambled, unable to form a coherent sentence.

I had heard about an earth pony’s strength, but I had never experienced it before. Well, before that day anyway.

“What was that? I can’t understand you from your rightful spot on the ground. Don’t worry though, I’ll teach you to always know your place.”

The next second happened in a blur of grey. Before I could even blink, I heard a loud crack and then, in the next instant, Wheelie was on the ground with me. I could see the look of utter pain he was in, pain that could only be caused by another earth pony.

“Don’t you lay one more effing hoof on her again!” Octavia was standing over his limp body. She had just bucked him square in the chest as hard as she could. “I’m so sick of you’re abusive ways, and I won’t have you hurt her.”

She spat in his face before saying, “I am so done with you, Wheelie. I’ve put up with your nonsense long enough, and now you can feel what you put me through everyday.” She bucked him in the chest again, causing him to cough hard.

Damn, what a mare.

She kept hitting him, getting him back for all the shit he pulled. I managed to get back to my hooves in that time and walk up to her. Part of me, a rather large part, took a shit-ton of enjoyment from this. The condescending ass deserved every hit, every broken rib he got and more, much more. However, I also didn’t want Octavia to overdo it. If she did, he could actually wipe out. “Octavia, t-that’s enough.”

To my amazement, she actually stopped.

Then I noticed there was a decent size group of ponies surrounding us, and most of them were whispering things amongst themselves. I turned back to Octavia and said, “I never thought you’d have it in you to do something like that, Octavia.”

She didn’t say anything. Instead, she rushed over to me and helped balance me. “Are you alright? He hit you pretty hard. Earth ponies are known for their strength so that had to hurt, a lot.”

I rubbed my cheek again, feeling bolts of pain go through me as I touched it. “Yeah, it hurts like hell. It’s gonna bruise that’s for sure, and—”

“Manehattan Guard here! We got a report of a violent fight breaking out and…oh…”

The guard was a large unicorn stallion, outfitted with light armour covering his chest, small metal bracers around his hooves, and a metal helmet that only left his nose, eyes, ears, and mouth exposed. He was looking down at Wheelie squawking in pain. “Is this the stallion that was causing problems?”

“Yes! He’s the one that hit the white unicorn over there!” somepony shouted out from the crowd.

The guard came up to me and noticed the bruise that was swelling on my face. “Were you assaulted by him?”

“Yeah I was. My friend and I were minding our own business, and then he suddenly showed up. He’s my friend’s ex. I told him to back off, but he didn’t listen. Then he hit me on my cheek. That’s when she knocked his ass on the ground, and then bucked him right in the chest, a few times. That’s why he’s on the ground crying like a foal.”

“I see,” the guard said. “Very well. He’s coming with me. He won’t be hurting anypony else, that’s for sure. Oh, and before I go, what’s your name?”

“My name is Vinyl Scratch, and this is Octavia,” I said.

“I’ll remember that if I ever have to contact you for questioning. Also, let me help you with that bruise.”

I nodded.

The guard lit up his horn, and a pale blue aura enveloped my jaw. The feeling was odd, prickly, and strange, causing me to almost break out in laughter. What really shocked me though, he wasn’t straining at all. That was weird; healing spells normally take a lot of unicorns.

Eventually, I felt the swelling in my chin die down, until it stopped pulsing under my skin. Pain was no longer present in my cheek, almost like it never got hit to begin with. After rubbing my chin for few seconds, I said, “Thanks.”

“No need to thank me, ma’am. It’s my job.” He paused to help Wheelie up to his hooves. “All right, come along you. We’ve got a nice cold cell with your name on it.” The guard lifted Wheelie up with his magic to prevent him from running off. “C’mon, get moving. And don’t try anything funny. I have backup in my favour if I need it.”

Before I knew it, they were gone, and so were the crowd of ponies.

“So much for our little walk, huh, Octavia?” I said to her, my voice a little downcast.

“It was rather eventful…but I have to tell you something,” she said.

“What is it?”

“Promise me we won’t stop being friends.”

“I promise,” I said. In truth, it was going to be hard for me to accept the reality that Octavia didn’t want to be with me.

“You’re one of a kind friend, you know that?”

“I thought I was the ace of spades?”

“That you are…that you are.”

⁂

Later on in the day, right after sunset, I met up with Neon in the VIP lounge at The Spotlight. We were the only ones there for the time being, so it gave me a chance to tell him everything that went down at the park earlier today, as well as what would be happening later on. He grinned while I told him how Wheelie had his ass handed to him by Octavia, and how the guard dragged the pathetic excuse for a pony out of our sights; hopefully putting an end to his relentlessness once and for all.

It felt good to be a part of his arrest; even if my role had been a punching bag.

“So what you gonna do now?” Neon asked.

“For now, I’m gonna focus on my career, and my friendship with Octavia. We aren’t together if you’re wondering.”

“Oh? Why’s that?”

“Swirly.” He nodded, fully understanding how that event had messed up any chances I might have had with Octavia.

“Hmm…well, for what it’s worth, it’s a shame. You two are complete opposites, but in a good way. It’s like you two were meant to be together.”

“I guess not,” I said, slightly depressed that even he noticed. “I just hope can get past my ex, you know, now that we’ve officially ended it.”

“I think you will. I know it messed things up with you and Octavia, but, if you ask me, that was the ending you both needed. You know, one last going away fuck with your ex.”

“I thought you were pissed we almost did it on stage?”

Neon hugged me, catching me by surprise. “I see now why you did what you did on stage.” He pulled back. “I take back what I said earlier to you this morning, back at the hotel.”

“I wouldn’t have expected you to know.”

“So, listen. I hate to end our conversation so abruptly, but it’s almost eight. Didn’t you say you were meeting up with Octavia for dinner or something?”

“Wait, it’s eight already? I told Octavia I’d be there at seven thirty! Shit. I gotta go. See ya, Neon,” I said making a break for the door, only to poke me head inside on last time. “Oh, and, Neon.”

“Yes?”

“Thanks for everything.”

He looked confused. “It’s the least I can do for you.”

I paused. “What do you mean?”

He laughed. “You really don’t remember do you?”

“What?”

“Let’s just say, I owe my cutie mark to a spunky little white filly that showed me the power of wubs one day.”

“Wait…what?”

“A story for another time. Don’t you have a certain friend waiting on you?”

“Right, later, Neon.”

⁂

By the time I had gotten back to the hotel’s restaurant, it must had been twenty-five after eight, meaning I was almost one hour late. With a huge sigh of relief, I saw that she was still waiting on me.

I took a seat at our table; there weren’t an exchange of words, at least not yet. I expected anger to come from her, but, instead, a smile greeted me; a smile that I would see for a very long time.

“Hello, Vinyl,” Octavia said, her voice calm, “I’m glad you could make it.”

I didn’t know if she was being sarcastic or honest.

“But I’m late. Like really late.”

“I don’t care if you’re late. What matters is that you’re here now. I wouldn’t be much of a friend if I scorched you for making an honest mistake.”

“Hehe, yeah. I guess you’re right. To hell with time! Vinyl Scratch is in the house,” I said, unintentionally disturbing the high-class atmosphere of music and chatter. “Sorry.”

Octavia giggled. “You’re adorable when you're embarrassed.”

“Am not.”

“I think you are.”

Sound logic.

“Okay, then I am.”

“All right then.”

“You know, I might be throwing around the word friend a lot, but you really are a good one.”

How can I both love and hate that word?

“So are you.”

I smiled at her.

I’d love to say we had this great awesome night, one in which I convinced her I was all that and a bag of chips, but that wasn’t the case; the evening was largely idle nonsense and chatter with me making a fool of myself more often than I cared to admit; not that it was too bad because it always seemed to make her laugh; but, when the night was done, I went back to my hotel room, alone.

Octavia told me she’d be staying five doors down from her original room—not able to sleep in the same room she had suffered years of abuse in. When she asked if I’d be alright, I told her that, somehow, even if I was forced to live in this big ass hotel room all by myself, completely free, I’d manage to make it through.

It’s so tough roughing it.

I lay on my bed, flipping to my left side, only to see that seventy percent of it was vacant. I wondered who’d fill that spot from here on out, or if anypony would. I didn’t know for sure, but I was certain that it would be somepony else very soon, if not that, then not at all.

Looking up at the ceiling, my mind dug up the memories of today, specifically at the park. Tears pooled in my eyes, and my body jerked around as I felt all the pain—tearing through me, as if I were a cheap rag doll being ripped apart by a dog—I endured over the last while. Today, when Octavia had told me she and I couldn’t be a thing, there was only anger and another broken heart that would go unsettled and unfixed.

And because of that, I never loved anypony else ever again.

And that was good.