The Chance To Say

Octavia put the blanket over WaveMakers shoulders and sat beside him. WaveMaker had a class of whiskey in between his hooves, and it shook in his grasp.

"Are you alright now?"

WaveMaker drank the whole glass and set it down on the table in front of him.

"I'm...I-I-I'm not. I'm not. I just..."

Octavia looked at WaveMaker. At the tears in his bloodshot eyes, his tangled mane, his shaky hooves. He wasn't fine.

"Look, you're going to get through this."

"How? How? It's so fucking hard, I just can't-"

"WaveMaker."

WaveMaker looked over at Octavia with tears now rolling down his face.

"It'll be alright. You just have to move on. For your own health. Look at what almost happened. Or rather, look what did happen."

Octavia motioned towards the television that had a small hole near the center of the screen. WaveMaker let out a long sigh as he turned to face forwards again.

"You're right. You're absolutely right. Fuck, this is a nightmare."

"Don't worry, I can help you through this. I went through something similar when my agent was killed. We had worked together for years, it was a heartbreak. I know this is far worse, but I just want you to know that I know what I'm talking about."

"Thank you. You've been so helpful to me."

The two smiled at each other for a moment, then silence ensued.

"So, h-how did things go with Vinyl?"

Octavia sighed, and tears came to her eyes.

"We...I'm...she's elsewhere tonight."

"You mean?"

"Yes, I kicked her out. What the hell was I supposed to do?"

"I figured you two would work things out. You've been through so much shit together, I figured something like this wouldn't matter that much."

Octavia stared at WaveMaker for a moment, but then her glare softened, and her vision went to the floor.

"You're right. I cant just let this come between us. I gotta find her."

Octavia stood up and started towards the door.

"You'll be alright?"

"Yeah, I'll be fine. I really hope you two can figure things out."

"I just hope I can find her, the rest should be easy now."

"Good luck."

"Thanks."

Octavia closed the door behind her, quickly galloping towards the inner city. Having no concrete ideas of where Vinyl could be, Octavia aimlessly wandered through the city, occasionally calling her name again.

"Vinyl!"

And again.

"Vinyl!"

And again.

"Vinyl?"

The cry got more and more empty and dissconnected, as Octavia slowly started losing hope. Octavia stopped walking, and simply stood where we was, outside ManeHatten General. The rain was heavier now, and Octavia was hanging on her last thread of hope.

"Vinyl!"

As the cry rang out, Octavia stood motionless and waited. After what seemed like hours of waiting, the voice Octavia had been hoping for called to her.

"Octavia?"

Octavia spun around, and was then standing just meters away from Vinyl.

"Vinyl! I'm so sorry! I overreacted, it was silly of me to think that something this petty could ruin our relationship!"

Vinyl said nothing. To Octavia, it was unclear if Vinyl was truly crying or if it was just the rain.

"Please. Just come back. We can work this out, we need to work this out."

The white mares gaze went to the sidewalk upon which she stood. After a long, breathless moment, Vinyl turned, and started walking.

"Vinyl please!"

Vinyl continued walking, not responding to Octavias plea.

"Please Vinyl, I love you!"

As the words reached Vinyls ears, she stopped. A small amount of hope rose in Octavias heart as Vinyl turned her head to look back at her over her shoulder.

"You, love me?"

"Yes, yes of course I do! I don't know how you feel, but I certainly love you."

"Would, would you be surprised if I said that I loved you?"

"Honestly... yes."

Vinyl scoffed a little and turned fully around to face Octavia.

"How could you think that? I've been by your side for all the shit we've been through as much as I physically could have been! How could you think that I don't love you?"

"Well, neither of us have ever said it to each other."

Both mares froze and remained locked in each other's gazes. Vinyl took a few steps closer to Octavia, and Octavia could swear she started smiling.

"I, I guess we haven't."

"No. I actually can't think of any times we have."

"Well, I guess we gotta change that?"

Vinyl was now within hooves reach of Octavia, and their eyes remained locked onto each others.

"Octavia, I love you."

"I love you too Vinyl, with all my heart."

They both smiled at each other, and with seconds were wrapped in each other's hooves. The embrace lasted for no more than a minute, but it was almost as if time had slowed down for the two.

"Vinyl, please, let's never put ourselves through something like this again."

"Deal."

Vinyl leaned in and kissed Octavia quickly on the lips, filling Octavias heart with hope again.

"Well, suppose we should get home then, before one of us catches our death out here."

WaveMaker had at this point moved from the living room to his bedroom, and was laying on the bed staring at the ceiling. There was a half-empty bottle of whiskey in his hoof, and three empty ones on the floor.

"I tell ya. It was better that way."

He threw the bottle to the floor after draining it. He rolled over onto his stomach and buried his face in the pillow. His ears perked up when he heard a few creaks coming from elsewhere in the house.

"Who's there?"

No response came, only another series of creaks, louder this time.

"Look, the TV's broken, there's nothing good to steal here."

Again, nothing in response but louder creaks.

"Oh for for love of.."

He rolled off the bed onto his hooves and started walking towards the stairs. When he reached them, he looked down at the lower floor with a questioning look.

"What the?"

He quickly fumbled down the stairs and wobbled into the living room. That image was back. His limp, lifeless body sitting on the couch, blood streaked through his mane and onto the couch. The ghostly version of his late wife standing beside the couch staring at the corpse showed no emotion at all. A glimmer from the table caught WaveMakers eye, and his heart sank when he saw what it was. The pistol was sitting on top of a CD case, aiming towards the couch. He put a hoof to his head as the pace of his breathing quickened.

"No, I'm not gonna!"

He picked up the gun and ran up to the attic. When he found the safe, he threw the gun into it, and ran downstairs with it. Outside, in the pouring rain, he found the shovel that Skyline Breezer had used for gardening and threw the safe down. He breathed heavily as he dug the hole as deep as his quickly draining strength would let him. When he hit a patch that he couldn't dig through, he tossed the shovel aside and threw the safe into the hole. Using the last of his strength, he tossed the dirt back into the hole, then collapsed against the house. The rain still poured, mixing with the tears that ran down his face.

"Well, that was a good movie."

"Yeah, I've always liked it."

Vinyl stood up and started walking towards the kitchen to empty the kernels from the dish of popcorn I to the garbage. Octavia stood up with a serious face and looked at Vinyl.

"Vinyl, we need to talk."

Vinyl put the bowl down and walked back to the couch.

"Alright, what is it?"

"Sit."

Both mares sat down, and Octavia sighed.

"So, we need to talk...about..."

"About what?"

"About...uh.. WaveMaker!"

"WaveMaker? O...k, what about him?"

"He's been acting strange recently."

"That's not what you wanted to tell me is it?"

Octavias face started turning red, and she was about to start speaking the truth when the phone started singing. Vinyl gave Octavia a suspicious look as she went to answer the phone.

"Hello?"

"V-Vinyl?"

"WaveMaker? Hi, what's up?"

"Can you two come over for a minute? I think we should all talk."

"Uh..y-yeah. We'll be right over."

"Thanks."

Vinyl hung up the phone and shrugged as she looked at Octavia.

"Ok, fair enough."

"What?"

"He was acting weird, he wants us to go over so we can talk."

"Strange, that's not really like him. Oh well, must be something important."

"Thank you both for coming."

"Its no trouble, what seems to be the matter?"

WaveMaker continued pacing and looking at the floor, but sighed and spoke.

"Octavia, you know what happened. I have since discarded the item, and I thought I could move on. I don't know why, but it's still happening, but nothing's there. I feel as if, I only have one reasonable solution before I decide which therapist to go to."

"What's that?"

WaveMaker sighed and stopped pacing. As he turned face forwards, he looked up.

"I think I need to move."

Vinyl and Octavia both gasped at the statement.

"Wh-what? Move? Where?"

"Vanhoover."

"Vanhoover!?"

"That's across the map man, why there of all places?"

"I got a good group of friends over there, little bit of disconnected family. Look, I'm not sure yet, it's just a thought."

Nothing was said for a while after WaveMakers statement. After another heavy sigh, WaveMaker started walking towards the staircase.

"Look, things sure as hell haven't been easy lately. As much as I'd love to stay here, I don't think I can. So much just...reminds me. It would be a relief to get away from it all, even just for a bit. No matter what happens, I'll always remember how much you did for me."

Without saying a word, not even one asking the mares to leave. They took upon themselves to leave a few awkwardly silent moments after they heard a door slam. When they were back in their own house, both mares flopped down on separate pieces of furniture, as they were used to doing at this point.

"You think he'll actually move?"

"I don't know Vinyl, I just don't know."

Vinyl sighed and closed her eyes, but had little time to settle in before the phone rang.

"Really? What now?"

"We need to unplug that phone Vinyl."

Vinyl practically fell off the couch and levitated the phone to her ear.

"Hello?"

"Vinyl?"

"Hail Toss, hey, what's up?"

"Is, is Octavia there?"

"Y-yeah she is, why?"

"Great, could you put me on speaker please?"

"Uh, sure."

Vinyl walked over to the machine and pressed the speaker button. She set the phone down and motioned for Octavia to come over.

"Alright, we're here, what's going on?"

"First off, Octavia, I'm so so sorry about what happened, it was a huge mistake that never should've happened."

"Well, I guess Vinyl and I have made peace with it. Sure, apology accepted."

"Aw, that's such a relief to hear. Alright, second. Vinyl?"

"Yeah?"

"How'd you like to go to Vanhoover with me?"

"What?"

"Don't worry, it's just for a couple days. There's some stuff I need to get back from a couple old friends of mine, I sure would appreciate the company."

Vinyl looked at the phone for a moment without saying a word, then suddenly, she perked up.

"Actually Hail, I don't think I can."

"Oh? Why not?"

"Well, y'know, with the wedding being so soon, we got a lot to do, I actually think we'll be in Ponyville."

"Oh, th-that's understandable."

"But you know, I think I know somepony who would want to come with."

"Really? Who?"

"Just come over whenever you're heading outg tomorrow, we'll all ride to Ponyville, then you two can go do what you need to."

"Alright, that sounds fine. Thanks Vinyl, bye you two."

"Bye."

"Bye."

As Vinyl hung up the phone and started walking to the bedroom, Octavia noticed the smirk on her face.

"Did, did you just?"

"Kill two birds with one stone? Yep. But we can let them figure that out themselves."