Epilogue

Morning found the two musician ponies waking cuddled next to each other in bed. Over a normal breakfast (Oats for Octavia, leftover pizza for Vinyl), the two planned their day. Octavia was off to a rehearsal session with Pezzo to review certain cello pieces for the upcoming concert under Bright Baton, nothing too unusual. Vinyl was preparing to take a copy of her master recording of the new mix to Neon, who would listen to it, provide his own plans for lighting it, and the two of them would plan the piece’s club debut. At the end of the day, the two would meet at home for an evening together. Vinyl had no distinct plans for exactly what they would do, but she was looking forward to a nice cold beer with Octavia then, that much was certain.

The dishes cleared, Octavia went to the bedroom and emerged shortly after with her mane fully brushed and styled and her familiar pink bow tie perfectly tied. “Looking like a million bits, babe!” Vinyl grinned as she tossed her portable storage drive into her saddle bag.

Octavia smiled with a slight blush as she shouldered her cello. “Thank you, Vinyl. I shall see you tonight.” Octavia opened the door, then turned back to look at Vinyl, who was still busying herself for her own errands of the day. “I love you, Vinyl.”

Vinyl looked up, albeit briefly. “Love you too, babe.” she said absentmindedly before turning her attention back to her saddlebag. She missed the quiet sigh from Octavia as the door closed. Ten minutes later, Vinyl finished her packing and her horn glowed as she levitated the saddlebag across her back. Next, her headphones floated to her and around her neck from behind Lastly, her music player was plugged in and settled in the bag. The DJ stepped outside to the morning sun and closed the door behind her. She was about to snap the headphones over her ears when she heard the voice from behind her.

“Vinyl Scratch?”

Vinyl came to a stop and saw a pony approaching her. She didn’t recognize the mare, but noted the bow cutie mark on her flank and surmised that she was a musician, classical from the look of it. Hard to imagine that somepony like her was a fan of her work, but it was about all she could assume. “Yeah? What can I do for you?” she answered.

“I need to talk to you.” the mare replied tersely. Vinyl shifted, unnerved. This pony was not at all like the average fan who just recognized her and approached her in a starstruck way.

“Do I know you?” Vinyl asked.

“No.”

Vinyl chuckled nervously. “Uh, would you like an autograph?”

Now the mare glared openly at her. A disgusted snort escaped her. “An autograph? Buck, no.”

Vinyl’s stomach fluttered. Who was this mare? “Well, what-”

“You just shut up and listen. Listen good.” The mare growled.

“I- uh- yeah?” Vinyl replied, feeling her mouth going dry.

“You think you deserve Octavia? You don’t. Just because she doesn’t see you for the discourteous, uncultured mule you are today doesn’t mean she never will.”

Vinyl’s eyes opened wide. Her sunglasses levitated up to look at the mare with no obstruction. “Who are you?” She asked in disbelief.

“Not important.” came Starlight’s reply. “But I want you to know something. One day, Octavia will see you for what you are. One day, your neglect will be enough to push her away. One day… she’ll understand what I already know is true. When that day comes, I WILL be there to take care of her.” Vinyl was at a loss for words as the mysterious mare continued. “Mark my words, mule. It will happen.” With that, the other pony turned and trotted away.

Vinyl stood there, utterly in shock. What had that pony been talking about? Her mind thought back to just how wrapped up she had been in her mix, how many late nights she had stumbled in to find Octavia asleep. Guilt overtook her as she wondered how many dinners she had messed up, only to try to make it up with cheap beer and greasy pizza.

Her headphones levitated off her neck as her phone floated to her ear, already dialing Neon’s number. Their plans would have to wait. She would drop the mix off, but she wasn’t sticking around. She was going to borrow some bits from Neon, call it a loan against what the mix would bring in if he insisted, and then she was off to shop. What was that expensive wine Octavia liked? Oh yeah, Black Rose Wine...

THE END