The Lonely Mercenary

Vinyl woke up to Octavia screaming from upstairs. "Vinyl Scratch get up! Its 3 in the afternoon, im leaving in half an hour!" Vinyl slowly got up and walked up the stairs to her shared house.

Ugh... she groaned. She walked in to the kitchen with her head down lazily. "What's for breakfast?" She asked.
She sat down and laid her head on the table only to be rudely re-awakened by Octavia slamming her hooves on it.

"You, are having a sandwich and some hay for LUNCH!" She yelled. Vinyl, now with wide eyes raised her head to look at the gray mare. "Alright, alright damn. Im sorry ok. I didn't mean to stay out that late again..." she said putting one hoof on her head.

"You were out until 5 this morning Vinyl! I... barely got any sleep. You said you would be home at 2. I was worried..." Octavia said sitting down across from vinyl. Her face had a worried look on it. Vinyl looked at her and smiled. "Im sorry Tavi, i really am. What...what do you have to do today?" Octavia smiled a bit and stood up to get Vinyl's food.

"I have to go shopping for food, we've run low and I haven't been able to get anything lately. Then im going to the theater to practice for my upcoming concert. After that im just hanging around with everypony. Why? Do you need something?"

She sat down placing the food in front of Vinyl. "No, I...I was just wondering that's all. Have fun today Octavia." She said softly with a smile as Octavia got up and left for the door.

"Ill try Vinyl. Goodbye." She walked out the house and to the road. 'She never calls me Octavia...I wonder what's wrong.' She thought as she walked down the road to the grocery store.

15 minutes went by fast. Vinyl finished her food and put her plate in the sink. 'Ill do the dishes later. When I come back.' She thought as she looked at the pile of dishes in the sink. She walked through the house wondering what to do. "I guess i can go for a walk. The Everfree should look really nice with all that snow." She grabbed her jacket and glasses and walked out the door. Leaving it unlocked for Octavia.

It was the beginning of Spring but it still had the winters chill in the air. Vinyl started walking towards the everfree forest when she was stopped by Lyra.
"Hey Vinyl!" She yelled only about 20 feet away sitting on a bench. Vinyl looked up and saw her smiling face. She quickened her pace and sat next to her unicorn friend. "What's up Lyra?"

"I was wondering how things were going between you and Octavia? Its been a while since I've seen you." Lyra was the one who got Vinyl to ask out Octavia a few months back. Vinyl's ears fell and a frown grew on her face. "We're on a break..." Lyra quickly looked a Vinyl with a shocked gaze. "Wha...what!? Why?" Vinyl looked at the ground. "Its...its my fault. I kept staying at the club later and later. Everyday i get up and she's not home. And when she is, we argue or we don't say a word to each other." A tear rolled down her face. "I...I just want things to go back to how they used to be. I try. I really do. But no matter what I do...I...I..." Vinyl started to cry.

"Vinyl..." Lyra said. She leaned over and hugged her friend who continued to cry into her shoulder. "Shhh...im sure you can fix it. Don't give up ok?" She felt Vinyl nod her head in between sobs. They sat like that for a while. Eventually Vinyl broke free and dried her tears. "Thanks Lyra. I needed to talk to somepony about this. Im going to go." She got up and gave Lyra a smile. Lyra waved as Vinyl walked off.

Vinyl reached the Everfree forest and looked at the mass of shadows hiding its secrets. She smiled and walked down the path she always took. She thought about her life. Growing up she loved music, got her cutie mark young when she tried a turn table at a school dance. She didn't really have any friends growing up, just Lyra and Bon bon. She met Octavia a few years back when she was walking home from Lyra's birthday party. She heard music coming from an abandoned building. It was music she never heard before.

I mean, she heard classical before, never really liked it though. It was to slow, or calm for her taste. But when she heard this music. She was entranced, she fallowed it and found the most beautiful mare she had ever seen playing the cello. Ever since then, they've been good friends. Vinyl moved into Octavia's soon after finishing high school and lived together for about a year before Vinyl asked her out.

Everything was good for her. Work as a Dj at the nightclub, best marefriend she could ever hope for. She sighed. But now...

She stopped and looked around, she didn't know where she was, let alone know how long she was walking. "Shit! Not again..." she got lost the last time she walked in the Everfree as well. She looked back. "Well, as long as I just turn around, I should be fine." She continued to venture further in the forest.

It was like nothing she'd ever seen before. The trees were different, the ground, the rocks, everything was different. She paused as she stumbled onto a clearing.
The grass was tall, the wind blowing its icy chill. She hesitantly walked out into the open field. "Wow." She said walking around. It was a beautiful site. She noticed a huge mountain like hill on the other side of the field. The wind blew harder sending chills down her back. "Ok...i think its time to g..." she froze..

Off in the distance she saw something shine. She was drawn to them. The distance between them became smaller as she unknowingly walked to them. They were golden in color. Two spikes, or something similar. She couldn't tell. The grass was just long enough to hide what laid a few feet in front of her.

The wind blew again, this time hard enough to push her hair behind her glasses. "Eeeehhhhh!" She yelled as she knocked off her glasses. Her eyes widened, fear struck her face.

"Wha...what is..." she was speechless. The wind bent the grass out of the way to revile what the golden spikes were attached to.
"A...a pony?" She said looking at the grey figure covered in blood. It moaned. "Hel...help m...me..." her breathing got faster and faster as she looked at the wounded pony asking for help.

She just stood there, frozen in fear. The grey pony in front of her laid still, barely breathing. 'Come on Vinyl. You got to help him.' She told herself mentally.
She got closer, not really sure what to do, she looked him up and down. She used her magic to lift him up and place him over her back. "Oh shi..." she almost collapsed from his weight.

She took a step back and heard a crunch. 'Shit' she stepped on her glasses. "No time to worry about them vinyl. You got a pony to save!" She said making her way back into the forest and back to Ponyvill.