Before I Lay Silent

The gray mare trotted into the bleak hospital room, all white, seemingly made of chrome. Light reflected off of each wall from the window on the left side, a slight annoyance that she got used to. A monotone beep sounded every few seconds, emitting itself from the heart monitor in the corner. Wires dangled from every angle, it looked like a contrasting mess compared to the clean, yet dull room. One of those wires had managed to wiggle its way up to the bed in the middle of the area, attached to the heart of a white mare lying flat on the covers. Her electric blue mane had grown from the time she was first placed under bed rest, but the dye was beginning to fade away leaving a medium-sized spot of natural white hair in the middle of her head.

"Tavi, you're here..." extorted the white mare, letting out a small cough while staring into the gray pony directly in front of her.

"And why would I not be, Vinyl?” Octavia let out a small smile at the bed-ridden character in front of her, in which Vinyl responded with a grin.

"You were never good with sarcasm", Vinyl grinned as she glanced up at the ceiling fan with a worried expression.

"Something the matter, Vinyl?" Octavia stared into Vinyl's large aubergene eyes. Since Vinyl had been hospitalized 4 weeks before due to heart failure, she'd been unusually cheerful even with the condition. When the doctors told her that she had little time to live, Vinyl just brushed the comment aside and went along with her day... which was being confined to a bed. She had managed to get Octavia to bring a small tableside radio to listen to while she was stuck in the hospital, and she remained there happily... at least until today.

"Do you ever think, Tavi?” Vinyl asked with a frown. "I mean, look at me. I've been here for so long; this time has been wasted... I could be doing something amazing... something epic right now like... uh... skydiving off Canterlot with a bass-powered jetpack! And now... I'm just stuck in this hospital bed... doing nothing..."

"Vinyl, if you were to leave this bed you would surely die before taking two steps", Octavia firmly replied as she looked into Vinyl's eyes. "I certainly cannot let anything else happen to you that would jeopardize your safety and health."

"Tavi, I'm not going to die in a boring hospital room stuck on this stupid bed", Vinyl uttered, hooves crossed and laying down with a sheer look of annoyance on her face. "If I'm going to die, then I'm going to do it in style", Vinyl declared while placing on her signature shades and launching a toothy smile at Octavia.

"I wish there is something I could do for you, to get you that... excitement that you desire once more, but I cannot do so if it requires me to sneak you out of a doctor-ordered hospital room and cause you to most likely get even more injured in the process", Octavia sharply exclaimed.

Vinyl looked outside the window on the left, looking at the sun gleaming down upon the room and reflecting off the walls.

"So you don't ever wish for a surge of excitement...? You don't want to make your life as crazy and thrilling as you can?" Vinyl smirked.

"You believe I would have a desire for that?" Octavia answered, looking at the smiling mare below her. "I have lived a fine life without that much of what you call a thrill"

Vinyl solemnly stared into Octavia's violet eyes, her smile turning once again into a frown. Vinyl removed her shades, placed them on the wooden table to her side. Suddenly, an idea sparked in Vinyl's mind, as she reached over and began to turn on the radio on the wooden table next to the heart monitor.

"What about the time at the Gala those years ago... remember when that pink pony went completely mental and started to sing that kids song? You just played along and I'm pretty sure you enjoyed yourself. Everyone loved it!” Vinyl beamed.

"Not everyone loved it... that song was humiliating and almost caused me to be blacklisted in the Equestrian Music Community. However, that "mental pink pony" of yours was a bearer of the Element of Laughter, she has saved all of Equestria on a multitude of times and you cannot just simply refuse a request from one of her kind." Octavia crowed, looking uncertain with herself.

"It was still exciting and fun", Vinyl joked, her smile slowly coming back to her. "And besides, if it weren't for that song we wouldn't have met..."

"What in the name of Celestia are you talking about?” Octavia questioned with a large doubt in her voice. She began to think for a while, and started to remember as Vinyl did the same.

Octavia was running through the streets away from the Gala. Shattered, broken remains of bottles had filled the streets, most likely from the parties that people had who couldn't afford a ticket or who left the Gala in drunken rage. Stars were shining in the wake of Luna's moon, which was completely full and beaconing up above the night sky. Octavia could still hear the crowd's booing, people yelling for her to leave and play some refined music next time. She just continued to run on the hard, cold pavement, running away from the night.

"I'll never get another job... they won't even allow me to audition for the Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra..." Octavia muttered to herself, tears beginning to well up in her eyes as she shouted to herself in the empty roads. "I won't be able to pay the rent... my life is over..." she whimpered.

She continued to run, getting slightly faster and faster before she was stopped as she bumped into a white mare, very hard, and they both tumbled onto the ground. The mare stared at Octavia, who through a waterfall of tears and incomprehensible apologies, was slowly rocking back and forth. The white mare stared at Octavia's elegant Treble Clef cutie mark, perhaps for a bit too long, held Octavia by the mane and softly whispered,

"There there, Treble Clef... it'll be alright... whatever it is that's bothering ya. You don't seem very happy", she joked. "You don't seem crazy or anything, you can crash at my place tonight..."

"You do have a point, Vinyl. If it weren't for that then we would have never met. However, not all moments are based off of insane mishaps like ours." Octavia professed as she began to attempt to think over Vinyl's chuckling. "But still, I don't believe that crazy stunts, your definition of "style", as you've mentioned before are going to get either of us anywhere."

"You've pulled your fair share of crazed acts before", Vinyl stated with a grin starting to overcome her face.

"Like what?" Octavia sternly asked, wondering what exactly Vinyl was talking about.

"Aw, come on", Vinyl mocked, trying to hold back giggles. "You remember the time we went to Las Pegasus together, don't ya? At first you wouldn't even step into the casino, "too run-down" for your tastes? Heh, after a few shots you got so wasted that you threw me under the cov-"

"VINYL!", Octavia shrieked. "That is not even REMOTELY close to what happened. First off, I did not even get close to those alcoholic materials, that was you. Secondly, do you remember what happened before that incident?"

"How could I forget?", Vinyl replied with a hint of nostalgia in her expression.

"Come on, Vinyl, do you really want to miss the sunrise over the Hooves Dam?

"Tavi, do you really think that I want to go see the sun over some stupid bridge", Vinyl tiredly asked as she hurried after Octavia on the bridge's sidewalk. "What's so special about this thing anyway, it's not like I don't see the sun every day..."

The darkness in the skies danced away as a multitude of colors began to paint its way onto the canvas above. Slowly, subtly, a large yellow sphere began to overpower the orange tint above and began to beautifully shine above the two mares.

"Wow..." Vinyl stared upward into the sight above, looking into where minutes ago it was completely black. "You were right, Tavi. The view here is incredible! It's actually... beautiful..."

"You know, Vinyl, that is not the only thing that is beautiful here..." Octavia quickly reached under a cracked cement platform on the sidewalk, pulling out a velvet case with platinum edges. Flipping open the case, Octavia pulled out a silver ring encrested with a stunning blue diamond that matched perfectly with the colors of Vinyl's electric-blue mane. The light of the sun and the plastered sky shone on the ring, and on Vinyl. Octavia looked into Vinyl's eyes, not covered by purple shades for once.

"Will you marry me?"

"You hid the wedding ring under a loose crack in the sidewalk, dragged me out to watch the sunrise as a "mood-setter" and proposed to me the night after my DJing tour of Las Pegasus ended, and you call what I want to do crazy?" Vinyl teased, fiddling with the radio stations as the monotone beeps of the heart monitor continued in their pulse.

"While you make a good point," Octavia blushed, remembering the day remarkably clearly, "it doesn't change the fact that you're hooked up to an electronic cardiovascular monitor and I cannot let you leave it."

"An electrocarnioviscuawhatsit?" Vinyl confusingly asked as she continued fiddling and tuning the radio.

"Never mind. The point is that you cannot leave this room with that heart monitor", Octavia sternly replied.

"Fine then. I won't." Vinyl hinted, with a goofy look in her eyes. "That doesn't mean we can't have any exciting fun." She had stopped tuning the radio, and a certain piece of music started playing.

"Come on Tavi, I love this song. Dance with me!" Vinyl started to slowly get out of bed and stagger down to the floor.

"Vinyl, last I remember you despised this song with all your heart." Octavia replied with a look of shock on her face. "Get back into bed... you're not going anywhere."

Vinyl stared into Octavia's eyes with a cheerful grin, but with a hint of sadness in her eyes.

"We're not going anywhere. We're staying here. Besides, there's something my heart loves more then it hates this song", Vinyl exclaimed cheesily.

Octavia smiled as a small blush hit her on the cheeks and simply agreed to Vinyl's wish.

The two came together and began to dance, both smiling and losing themselves in the moment. The subtle beep of the heart monitor was in rhythm with the music as the strings of the music played. The sun began to disappear behind a few clouds in the sky, reducing the light in the room and setting a perfect backdrop for the time.

Both mares began to get closer, hooves together, merely swaying with the beat of congas and the tune of the strings.

The song was reaching its conclusion, but both mares didn't even come close to realizing it.

Vinyl whispered into Octavia's ear,

"No matter how dull you can be, no matter how annoying I can be, through all times we've been together nothing has stopped us from being together. I won't just let life and death separate us with a blink of an eye. We've been together forever, and we'll stay like that. If I were to die right now, Tavi, I would die in happiness, because nothing is more exciting than being with the best pony I've ever met."

Octavia said nothing, just leaned in and kissed Vinyl.

Time stopped as they embraced, as they poured all of their emotion into the moment. The tenderness of the mouth, their manes touching, it was perfection. After what seemed like an eternity of joy, Octavia slowly pulled away, staring into Vinyl's lavender eyes as the song came to a conclusion.

Vinyl closed her eyes, and smiled in peace, being held by her lover in a time of peace and fulfillment.

The room went silent.