Grief

Octavia sat up in bed. It was a dark yet tranquil night. The rest of Ponyville were asleep, but she couldn't. She seemed to be in a world of her own, left only with her thoughts. Of all her thoughts, one stuck out; the painful memory of the accident. Tears formed in the corners of her eyes and rolled down her cheeks. If she'd helped, things wouldn't be like this. The world...would be better. The world...would still have Vinyl.

THE NIGHT BEFORE

Vinyl and Octavia had just arrived at the Ponyville Music Celebration, a celebration held a month after Hearts and Hooves Day in order for musically talented ponies to come together and share their creations. It was set outside, with a small stage opposite the Town Hall. The place was decorated with blue and red banners and streamers with musical notes similar to Vinyl and Octavia's cutie marks along with confetti cannons on the balcony of the Town Hall (which wasn't very surprising as Pinkie Pie was in charge of setting up the decorations) and flags of various shapes, sizes and colours were pinned to the town hall. One or two ponies started to gather in the streets, full of enthusiasm.

Vinyl was setting up her equipment, plugging a large subwoofer into her keyboard. Octavia, meanwhile, was practicing on her cello. She was getting into the swing of the song when somepony tapped her on her back. It was Vinyl. The unicorn pointed a hoof at her fellow musician, then at herself, before turning around and pointing at a towering speaker on its side at the back of the stage. She then pushed her glasses down her muzzle, her red eyes looking hopeful, and smiled.

"Ok," The grey earthpony replied, understanding the gestures her friend was making. " Just let me finish rehearsing this piece first, then I'll help."

The DJ nodded understandingly, her electric blue mane brushing against her face. She moved her glasses back over her eyes and walked off.

After finishing her rehearsal, Octavia was going to assist Vinyl, but on her way, she was blocked by a guitarist.

"Hello there, Octavia," the earth brown unicorn said. "I need to talk with you about what songs we are going to be performing."

Octavia sank her head slightly. "Well, I was just on my way to help a friend move a speaker..." she twitched her head to Vinyl, who was loitering by the grey cuboid at the back.

"This is rather urgent," the musician said sternly.

Octavia bit her lip. She told her friend she'd help, and the last thing she'd want to do was let her down. But on the other hoof, surely clarifying what music they were going to play was the more important matter. Right? She bit her lip. She glanced at the pony standing before her, then at her friend. Music, friend; music, friend; music, friend; music, friend. Her eyes darted between both ponies. The guitarist glared at her. She needed to decide, but which one would she pick?

After what felt like an eternity, Octavia spoke up.

"Right," she declared. "What songs are we playing?"

"...and that is what we'll end with," the guitarist pony handed Octavia a music sheet. The two of them were sitting in the Town Hall, reviewing music sheets. "Good ol' bit of Beethoofen. If the crowd want an encore - which they will..." He looked very smug at this point. "...we'll play-" He was suddenly cut off by a massive crash and the screeching sound of a speaker, followed shortly by a scream.

The two ponies darted out from the Town Hall to see something jaw-droppingly awful.  The huge speaker that had been on the side of the stage had been moved and then must have fallen over. Octavia pushed past a group of ponies to get a better view. To her horror, she saw a puddle of blood running out from a white, blood-stained figure. The 'figure' was that of a unicorn with electric blue hair only just visible, red in areas from the blood. This was undoubtedly Vinyl. A pair of glasses with pink lenses lay smashed on the ground inches away. Lyra, Bon Bon and Derpy were trying frantically to move the speaker off the poor unicorn trapped underneath, struggling to survive; that was, if she wan't already gone. When they finally lifted the speaker up (Derpy had been inadvertently delaying the process), they found the lifeless body of a unicorn covered in blood, electric blue mane and tail also stained red. That was the last thing Octavia remembered before she had passed out.

WHERE WE STARTED

Octavia had a stiff back from leaning against the wall, gazing at the silent other half of the house. She looked at Vinyl's empty bed beside hers. As she got out of bed, she nearly fell over a pair of blue and white headphones with Vinyl's cutie mark on the sides. She then gazed at the equipment that belonged to the mare she used to live with. Turntables, panels and speakers cast reflections that stood out from the silver light the moon was projecting through the window. The pony , tears still pouring down her cheeks like rivers, gazed out of the window, resting her chin on the window sill. She didn't know how long she had stared into the night for: it could have been minutes; it could have been hours. But Octavia didn't care. Nothing ran through her mind except memories of Vinyl Scratch.

As she wiped her eyes, she looked out at the stars. Her eyes widened when she noticed something odd about them. They seemed to roughly resemble a silhouette of a familiar looking unicorn. The stars seemed to mimic a mane similar to Vinyl's. Octavia then saw a dark blue and black shape that resembled an alicorn fly from close to the moon to behind a hill and out of sight. This made her feel a lot better.

Octavia smiled. She knew that Vinyl was gone physically, and she'd never be able to see the mare again, but Octavia knew that, not only did she not need to blame herself for her friend's passing, but that Vinyl would always live on in one special place: her heart.

THE END.