Hot tears poured down her cheeks. Her limbs ached from the exertion, and still Octavia played on. Drawing on all her hurt, heartache, sorrow, betrayal and grief, she poured her soul into her bow and her cello regaled her tears to the audience before her. When the final note faded from the air, the entire auditorium stayed silent for an entire minute before exploding. Cheers, whistles and thunderous applause reverberated in Octavia’s ears pulling forth another bout of tears. Her eyes swept the audience, searching for a particular face, but she was not there. Turning to leave the stage, she paused when something in the boxseats caught her eye. For the briefest moment she had seen a golden mane with a stripe of royal purple in it. A mane she had not seen since she was a blank flank. Bowing once more she hurried backstage, ignoring the gushing from the various stagehoofs, her manager, her mother; she brushed them off dismissively. She had to find that pony and fast before she got lost in the crowds.
Emerging into the lobby, Octavia bullied her way through the crowds ignoring her various admirers, searching desperately. The crowds began thinning and she began to despair of ever seeing if that was her friend or not. A flash of inspiration hit and Octavia angled towards the stairs leading to the upper tiers. Mocha hates crowds, she reflected, makes it difficult to navigate. Finally reaching the box seats level, she trotted towards the appropriate door. Fear and guilt rooted her to her spot just outside the door. Octavia had abandoned Mocha Fizz to pursue her dreams of being a musician. She had never once returned to Trottingham to check on the friend she had left behind. Raising a trembling hoof, she rapped tentatively on the door.
The stately mare, with orange fur and a green mane, that opened the door let out a startled oh! Octavia withered under the mare’s disapproving glare. “That was very cruel what you did Octavia Melody.” She huffed softly. “Quite frankly I've a good mind to have the ushers toss you out of here.” Octavia winced, but the matron’s gaze softened. “But Mocha is far more forgiving than I and she would be most cross if I forbad you from seeing her.” Giving an imperious toss of her head she called out: “Mocha darling, you have a visitor!”
“Okay momma! Send them in!” Like birds singing in spring, Octavia thought. The mother nodded for Octavia to enter and the young cellist entered timidly.
Mocha Fizz sat on an elegant cushion, facing towards the stage. Octavia’s heart stopped and she just stared at her foalhood friend. The soft brown fur that reminded Octavia of cocoa, the honey coloured mane with the strip of royal purple, and the Cutie Mark Octavia had never seen; a root beer float with a red and white striped straw. The sight of the grown mare threatened to overwhelm her. Mocha’s head turned and her ears swiveled. “Hello?” she chirped. “Is somepony there?”
Clearing her throat, Octavia stepped closer. “Hello Mochie!” Octavia whispered, using the nickname she had given her friend. “It's Tavi!”
A painfully silent moment passed then Mocha’s ears perked up. “Tavi? Octavia Melody? Oh my Luna!!” She scrambled to her hooves. “It's so wonderful to; well I'd say see you but you know how that goes.” She tapped the strips of cloth covering her eyes. She let out a musical laugh and held out a foreleg. “Fancy running into you here though, did you come to see the concert? That cellist at the end was amazing. I cried! My mom had to change the clothes, they were saturated.” Another adorable giggle.
New tears streamed down Tavi’s cheeks and she stepped into her friend’s embrace and broke down sobbing. “Th...Th...That was m...m...me! Oh M...Mo...Mocha I’m so sorry!”
Another giggle pierced through her tears and Mocha hugged her tighter. “For what silly filly? For being such a good musician?” Octavia nuzzled Mocha, desperately starved for even a morsel of affection.
“For leaving you behind, and never writing or visiting.” Tavi sobbed. Mocha remind silent for a time, just holding her friend and returning her nuzzles. When she finally spoke again her gentle voice held only tenderness.
“Tavi, I forgave you for that a long time ago. I'm so happy you found your destiny and truly I hope you're happy and living your own dream. But, what's past is past and I don't think it's my forgiveness you need. You need to forgive yourself.”
Octavia suddenly realized all the fights she had with Vinyl, her nearly perpetual grumpy state all stemmed from her lack of forgiving herself and holding in her resentment towards herself. The realization made her relax suddenly and Mocha chuckled. “Seen the light did you?”
Octavia joined Mocha on her pillow and the two mares lay comfortably together. “Mocha?” Tavia began with a hopeful tone.
“I'm sorry, but no Tavi. I know what you're going to ask and the answer is no. I'm guessing you recently broke up with somepony. Tavi, I remember those fillyhood promises. I remember the night you slept over and we spent half the night snogging, but not long after you left I realized that I preferred stallions. I've been married for about five years now. Paint Splatter is at home with our foal tonight so I could get out for awhile. I'm expecting our second foal soon.” Said foal chose that moment to move and kick and Octavia gasped in blissful delight while Mocha let out a groan. Turning her head towards Octavia she gave a tired smile. “Now, I must be going I'm very tired. Give me a good kiss and promise me you'll keep in touch.”
Touching her mouth to Mocha's, Tavi’s heart broke, again. The warmth and tenderness still held true, but the fiery passion was gone. Yet in the midst of her hurt, she felt a glimmer of hope, perhaps she could rekindle what she had violently extinguished with Vinyl. “I promise Mocha Fizz. I'll come and see your family in a few days. I have some time off and I'd love to spend time with you and your family, and meet your husband.”
Mocha beamed warmly. “I'd like that a lot Octavia. Until then.”
Rising and heading towards the exist, Octavia called over her shoulder. “Until then!”
Author's Note
This story is part of a personal writing challenge to improve my writing skills. If you're interested in helping out, please comment two characters and a one word writing prompt. Any story suggestion I use will receive due credit and a sneak preview of the story before it is posted. Stories will be about 1K-2K words in length.
PS Feel free to say hello. I enjoy chatting.
