Second Chances

Second Chances
By Hero541
Chapter 14: Let’s Get This Over With

Josh stood outside a door which had a treble clef molded into the woodwork. He had awoken at about 4 this morning, unable to sleep because of the massive headache left from his hangover. Rarity got up about two hours later and made sure to prepare a nice breakfast for the human, knowing he’d need the energy. Thankfully, for Josh’s sanity, Sweetie Belle wasn’t too upset at him for not picking her and Scootaloo up the day before, merely disappointed that she hadn’t been able to spend some time with him on the way home from school. That was at least one bit of a silver lining to what he figured would be an awful day.

After awhile of preparing himself mentally, he sighed. There was no way around this and he knew it. Slowly, he raised his arm and knocked. No voice sounded inside, but he heard hoofsteps echo across a wooden floor. In a few minutes, the door opened, and Octavia stood there, peering up at Josh with that same pompous smile as yesterday.

“Oh good,” said the gray mare, her violet eyes shining with malice, “you’re here. Come inside. I’ll fetch Vinyl.”

Josh ducked inside and reluctantly followed the pony into the living room. Looking all around, he saw that the house was lavishly decorated. A medium-sized couch sat in the center of an ornate rug with two rather plushy chairs on either side. To the left of the overall setup was a music stand and several books of sheet music as well as what could only be Octavia’s cello.

“Come along now.” said the mare, breaking Josh away from the sight of the posh living room, “We’ve haven't any time to waste.”

Josh continued following the mare into the stairwell. She stopped suddenly, almost making him run into her rump. Turning around, she looked him in the eyes, her own violet orbs boring into his very soul.

“I’ll tell you when your time is up. Understand?” she said.

Josh nodded in agreement, “I get it. Just go get her already.”

“If you make her upset or mistreat her at all during your little lesson, I’ll see to it that Frosty beats the money you owe him out of your sorry hide.” she said, glaring at him, “Don’t even think about saying something you might regret.”

Josh said nothing, instead choosing to give the mare a heavy glare. She smiled at his lack of words, then turned back to the staircase.

“Vinyl!” she called, “Your new instructor is here! Come on down and meet him, dear.”

“Okay, Tavi. I’ll be right down.” came the reply, albeit a hesitant one.

Josh heard the sound of a bed creaking, a door open, then slow hoofsteps of a pony who really didn’t want to be up at this time.

“You’ve told her that it’s me, right?” he inquired, awaiting the sight of the unicorn.

“Of course not.” replied Octavia, not looking at Josh.

Josh felt his stomach drop, “What?! Why?!”

“There’s no way she’d have agreed to this if I’d told her it was you.” she said, turning back to the human and giving him a stern look, “It took me long enough to simply get her to agree to allow a mentor to teach her!”

Josh had no words to say to the cellist as he looked up, praying that Vinyl’s reaction wouldn’t be too bad. Absolute fear gripped his heart now. If Vinyl figured out it was him who’d be helping her, she’d probably refuse to even listen to Octavia, leaving Josh with no hope of returning home now. As his mind raced, he saw the cream colored mare round the corner. Her crimson-magenta eyes looked in his direction, then froze upon his tall form.

A long, uncomfortable silence followed for a few seconds, as human and pony exchanged glances, the former being one of nervousness, the latter one of shock. After awhile, Octavia cleared her throat loudly, breaking the silence.

“Ahem, Vinyl, dear,” she said, stepping back from her position and standing next to Josh, “this is your new instructor, Josh.”

Josh only managed a weak wave and smile as Vinyl peered down at him from her position atop the stairs. Suddenly, her eyes became angry, and tears began to form at the corners. She ran away down the hall, beginning to sob.

“Vinyl! Wait!” called Octavia, galloping up the stairs.

She turned back to Josh for a second, “Don’t move from here.”

Josh watched the gray mare run up the stairs and heard a door slam as Octavia disappeared around the corner. Soon, Josh heard Octavia stop and knock on what must be Vinyl’s door.

“Vinyl, dear. Please come out and let’s talk.”

“NO! Go away, Tavi!”

“Vinyl, you agreed to this, remember?”

“You never told me that it was him! I’m not working with him!”

Josh felt a pang of guilt hit him hard. He thought Vinyl had just sent Octavia to pick on him for doing what he did that night. He had no clue that she was actually this upset by it. Remembering Octavia’s threat, he remained downstairs, but still called up to the mare.

“Uh… Octavia?”

“What?! What could you possibly need, Josh?!”

“Is there anything I can do to help?”

“Yes. Just stay down there. You’ll only make matters worse.”

Josh didn’t reply to that, simply choosing to ignore Octavia and quietly make his way upstairs. As he reached the top, he heard Vinyl’s door open, and saw Octavia’s black tail disappear through it before it slammed shut once more.

As quietly as he could, he made his way towards the small door. Upon reaching it, he stood close and listened to what they were saying. He heard Vinyl sobbing, which almost broke his resolve.

“How could you, Tavi?! Do you have any idea what he did to me that night?!”

“Vinyl, I’m well aware, but-“

“I can’t even go into town without hearing how much of a failure I am compared to him! He absolutely humiliated me! I’m the laughing stock in Ponyville!”

“Vinyl, I know some ponies have been less than forgiving, but you need to be able to move on from that and continue doing what you love. Who cares what they think?”

“That’s easy for you to say! Did you ever have anypony come and completely upstage you, make a fool out of you, then insult you to everypony they talk to?!”

“Well… no.”

“Then you have no bucking clue what I’m going through, and don’t try to pretend like you know what’s best for me.”

Vinyl broke into fresh sobs, making Josh lose what little restrain he still had on his mind. As he raised his hand to knock on the door, it opened, and Octavia walked out, stopping once she saw the human standing there.

“I told you to stay down there!” she shouted, glaring at him as he stepped back from the misty-eyed mare.

“I know you did. But, I need to talk to Vinyl.”

“What makes you think you’ll be able to make her listen to you if she wouldn’t listen to me?” said Octavia, her voice shaking slightly.

“Just give me a chance.”

Octavia wiped her eyes with a hoof, stopping a tear from rolling down her cheek.

“You’ve got five minutes. Use it wisely.”

She stepped aside and allowed him to enter the small room. Vinyl lay on her bed clutching a pillow, her eyes puffy and red and her blue mane disheveled. She looked over to see Josh duck in, and threw her pillow at him.

“Get out of here, asshole!” she yelled.

In a year, he’d become quite used to pillows being thrown at him by angry women. He expertly dodged it, making for a small chair in the corner. Vinyl threw another pillow, this one meeting its mark and hitting him in the head. He didn’t even flinch as it hit him, instead grabbing the chair, turning it around and sitting down. He fixed his gaze on the still crying mare, trying his best to look sympathetic and caring.

“I said get out!” she screamed, fresh tears rolling down her cheeks, matting the fur on her face.

“Listen, Vinyl-“

“Fuck off! I don’t wanna hear anything you have to say!”

The unicorn slid off her bed onto the floor and made for the door. As she reached the threshold, it slammed shut.

“TAVI!” she wailed, pounding on it’s surface and trying to force it open with her magic, “Let me out now!”

“Not a chance, Vinyl.” replied Octavia, who was obviously keeping the door shut with her body.

Vinyl pounded on the door for a few more minutes before slumping to the floor. She began to sob once more, her hooves over her eyes and her ears pressed flat against her skull. The sight broke Josh’s heart, and he rose from the chair to join Vinyl on the floor. As he sat down, Vinyl turned away from him, tears still trailing down her face.

Carefully, Josh reached out his hand and placed it on her shoulder, not expecting to comfort her at all with this gesture. She batted his hand away.

“Don’t touch me.”

“I’m trying to be a little comforting here.”

“Comforting?”

Vinyl stood, turning back to Josh, an angry look painting her face. She glared daggers at the human.

“What could you possibly do to comfort me?!” she yelled, stepping forward a little, “You r-r-ruined me! I c-can’t even show my face around town anymore! All I hear about is how you’re the best DJ ever, how I’m a f-failure and I s-shouldn’t even have my c-cutie mark.”

She broke down in fresh sobs, her entire body quivering. Josh leaned forward, wrapping his arms around the crying mare, pulling her close and gently rubbing her back. Vinyl continued to cry, hitting his back with her hooves and trying to push him away, to no avail.

“I-I s-s-said don’t t-touch me!”

“I’m sorry.” he said simply, squeezing the mare softly, “I’m so so sorry.”

“You’re sorry d-doesn’t do a thing for m-me!” she shouted, still trying to escape his grip.

“I know. I just… want you to at least know that I’m sorry. If there was any way I could take back what happened, I would. I can’t stand the thought that I hurt anyone in this town, especially someone just trying to live out their passion.”

After a few minutes, Vinyl stopped trying to get Josh to let go, and simply collapsed, laying her head on his shoulder and continuing her sobs. Josh just held the mare close, unable to believe that she’d finally submitted to his embrace, which was good, because he didn’t know how much more of her assault his back could’ve taken.

“I promise, Vinyl,” he said, letting go and looking the mare in her puffy, watery eyes, “I’ll never do anything like that to you or anyone again. I was way out of line in my actions. What I thought was best for you, was just my selfishness shining through. I’m more sorry than you could ever know.”

Vinyl stared at Josh with pained, watery eyes.

“You really really hurt me, you know that?”

“I know, Vinyl. That’s why I’m so sorry.”

Vinyl wiped her eyes with a hoof. She peered back at Josh, pushing part of her matted mane out of her eyes.

“So, you’re gonna help me now? Why?”

Josh paused before replying. He couldn’t tell her the truth, that if he helped her, Octavia would pay off his debt so he could return home. Then she’d never listen to him.

“I owe you for what I did. It wasn’t right, and I wanna make it up to you. I’ll do my best to teach you everything I know.”

Vinyl stared at Josh, a little hope shining through her gaze.

“However,” he continued, “I’ll need your word that you’ll trust me, no matter what. It won’t be easy, and there’ll be some things I can’t teach you. But, I’m still gonna give it my all, till you’re the best producer in all of Equestria.”

Vinyl smiled a little at his words.

“Okay.” she said after awhile, peering into Josh’s eyes, “I give you my word. There’s just one question I have.”

Josh said nothing, prompting her to continue.

“What’s your name? Your real name?”

Josh smiled at the unicorn, “It’s Josh. Josh Daniels.”

“Okay then, Josh.” she replied, holding out her hoof, “I can’t wait to get started tomorrow.”

Josh shook her hoof, then rose and knocked on the door.

“Octavia,” he called to the mare on the other side, “We’re good in here. You can open up the door.”

It swung open and Octavia looked between the two of them. Her face held a relieved look.

“We’re gonna get started tomorrow. I think if there’s one thing Vinyl needs before we get down to business, it’s some rest.” he said to Octavia, walking out the door and facing the cellist.

Vinyl smiled at Josh, then carefully shut her door once more.

“That’s not part of our agreement, Josh.” said Octavia, following the human as he headed for the stairwell, “I’ll tell you when you’re done for the day.”

“She’s in no shape to get started right now. Even if I had any clue what I was gonna start with to teach her, there’s no way she’d be able to pay attention.”

Octavia huffed, “Ugh. Fine. However, don’t think you’re off the hook. You’re still in my employ.”

“How could I forget?”

Octavia opened the front door and allowed Josh to walk out into the bright Equestrian sun.

“Be back here, same time tomorrow. Got it?” she said, watching Josh walk away.

Josh simply nodded, then headed for the boutique. As he walked away, he heard the door close to Octavia’s house, and reached into his pocket. He pulled out the baggie of coke he’d managed to make last all this time. It was empty now. He’d run out of blow, and he knew that soon, the symptoms of withdrawal would begin to manifest themselves.

He cursed a little. One time, he’d tried to get clean, only to get hit hard by the effects of withdrawal. He just hoped the dreams this time would be less haunting and vivid…