Octavia trotted through the rain, her hooves splashing through the muddy puddles of the packed dirt road. It was dark; there were no lights in the park, but that didn’t matter. She’d been here so often that she didn’t need light to know where she was going. She didn’t used to trot down this path alone, however. Where there had once been joking and flirting and laughter, now there was only silence.

She didn’t cry. She used to, when she first came here by herself. Now, however, it was just part of the routine. Octavia wondered if her tears were all used up, or if she was simply getting over it. It didn’t explain the hurt that she still felt, however.

Octavia came to a stop, turning towards the hill. It had been their special place. The hill was known by many as the fireworks hill, where ponies would gather to look over the city and watch the fireworks during any big celebration. During the winter, it was the sledding hill, where ponies, colts and fillies alike, would trudge to the top and slide all the way back down, just to do it again.

During a rainstorm, however, it was their special spot. It had been Vinyl’s idea. The mare was always bubbling over with enthusiasm, almost to the point of being positively manic. Octavia had suggested a picnic in the park, but once everything had been set up, the clouds had simply opened up. Vinyl was not about to let the rain spoil their day.

“C’mon, Tavi! Let’s watch from up there!”

The rain had chilled them both, but she followed Vinyl, like she always did. They ran up the hill, Octavia feeling like a filly again. It wasn’t particularly steep, but it was high, and running up an incline like that would make any pony feel winded. When Octavia had looked, though, the sight had taken what remained of her breath away.

All of Manehatten lay before them. The dark clouds above them only made the lights of the city stand out more. Octavia could see everything; she could see the waves that the wind made through the grass below, carrying raindrops in thick sheets of water. She could see the raindrops illuminated in the streetlamps of the distant streets.

Vinyl had nuzzled her neck, and they had kissed. Then they sat and watched the storm together, leaning against one another. They were soaked, and every time the wind blew, it would chill their bodies even further, but they took comfort in the heat of their bodies. It drew them closer together.

When they couldn’t take any more, they galloped. They ran down the hill at full speed. Octavia had tripped that first time, tangled in her own legs, and found herself sliding several yards across the wet grass. When she looked up, there was Vinyl, rain water trickling down her sunglasses, her normally messy and spiky mane slicked flat against against her body. She smiled, took her hoof, helped her up, and they galloped together.

Octavia could see the trail even now, still etched in the grass. The path they had ran while running each and every rainstorm. She looked up at the summit, hoping to see a pony’s form in the shadows, but it was dark. She started trotting up the hill.

Their special place. Octavia had come here, again and again, every rainstorm, hoping to see her, to forgive her, to take her back and tell her that everything is alright now. That she can come home again. To apologize.

Vinyl never came. Octavia picked up speed, galloping like a madmare, her eyes locked on the top of the hill, hoping, praying to Celestia that she’d be there. Octavia reached the top, panting. Once again, nopony.

Octavia sat, closing her eyes. She didn’t want the view. How could it mean anything without Vinyl to share it with? She couldn’t even tell if she was crying. The water poured down her form, trickling down her hair and over her muzzle. Was it rain, or was it tears?

It had been just over three months, now. The fight that had caused them to split apart. It had been brewing for months, but neither of them had seen it coming. Vinyl’s fame was rising; she didn't need to go looking for clubs to play at. They had come to her. Octavia had been putting in so many hours practicing her cello. She was at the top of her game. The orchestra was going to be playing an exclusive concert for the Canterlot elite! Even the Princess was going to be there!

With Vinyl working the clubs at night, and Octavia practicing during the day, there hadn’t been any time to be together. Octavia would come home just in time for a kiss as Vinyl headed out for the night, and she’d be fast asleep by the time she got back.

“I didn't mean it, Vinyl.” Octavia whispered to the rain. “I’m sorry.”

Octavia had gotten fed up. Tensions grew, pulled tight like a rubber band, until the snap that had set it all off.

“I bet you’re doing this on purpose!”

It had been a terrible thing to say. Octavia knew that Vinyl loved her. To suggest that she was intentionally avoiding time with her was near blasphemy. She had been angry. She had lashed out.

Vinyl had lashed right back.

“With you practicing seven nights a week? I don’t play at clubs that often! You’re the one who never took a day off in her life! All you’re doing is preparing for the orchestra! Why? So you can be around all the other snotty little elites like yourself?”

Vinyl’s comments had rankled her, and Octavia had shot off in response.

“You simply don’t understand Canterlot culture. As if a pony like yourself would be able to understand what class is! How any kind of lady can stand coming home drunk at all hours of the night is beyond me! And I need to take care of you! Celestia forbid you ever care for yourself!”

Both of them had blamed each other, their career paths, but neither of them had blamed themselves. Finally, Vinyl couldn’t take any more.

“Your orchestra is the problem! You want me to solve it?”

Vinyl’s horn had illuminated with a purple light, lifting her Cello off of it’s stand. There was a sudden crack and the wood had splintered, the neck attached to the body only by it’s strings. Vinyl threw it into the corner.

“There! Problem bucking solved!”

Octavia had responded in kind.

“Oh, you want a buck?” Octavia shouted, turning away from Vinyl. She lifted her hind legs up, and put all her strength into the kick. The box of records flew from the top of the table, filling the air with the splintering sounds of vinyl.

Vinyl had snapped her bow in two while Octavia bucked the table again, turning it over and letting her equipment spill onto the floor. There had been more screaming. More insults.

Then, Vinyl had levitated her one good turntable into the air, put her saddlebag of records over her back and walked out the door without another word.

Vinyl didn’t come back.

Octavia had waited for her. The apartment seemed emptier, colder. The bed was so much bigger than she had remembered. She was lonely. She shed tears, not at the sight of her broken cello, but of how the pony she loved had walked out of her life. How she had started it all with a thoughtless accusation.

Octavia had started looking for her, but Vinyl seemed to have vanished. She wasn’t in any of the clubs, she wasn’t at any of their mutual friends. Vinyl had become a ghost. So, Octavia had come to the one place they had shared together.

When Vinyl didn’t show, she had come again, and again, and again. Every rainstorm. What had she been expecting? For them to make up? Apologize to each other, share a kiss on the hilltop, and run down like they used to?

Octavia waited. She waited until she was soaked through, until her skin was numb, until she couldn’t feel her muzzle any longer. Finally, she accepted the truth. Vinyl wasn’t going to show. Ever again. The mare had left her life for good.

Octavia turned, walking down the hill, avoiding the path they had once cut with their hooves. She’d put Vinyl out of her mind. She’d move on with her life. She’d never come back here again.

The bright morning light from the windows woke Octavia. She didn’t open her eyes. She was almost afraid to do so. The dreams of her last trip to the hilltop lingered in her mind, yet she could feel warmth next to her. She could hear light snoring, and the gentle puffs of breath on her neck. She could smell Vinyl, and didn’t want her to suddenly vanish into her imagination.

She lay there for what felt like hours, taking in the gentle sensations. Finally, she opened her eyes.

Her gaze was filled with tangled blue mane.

Octavia looked down at Vinyl’s face, sleeping peacefully against her, her muzzle planted into the crook of her neck, her hooves holding onto her, wrapped around her waist. Octavia smiled, blinking away tears. She was really here.

The daunting task of repairing their relationship, however, was also present, as an uninvited third party on the cramped couch. They had been apart for years, and Vinyl, with nopony else to turn to, had come to her as a last resort. Now they were sharing a couch.

Octavia pushed the uncertainty out of her mind. She didn’t want to dwell on this. Not right now. She just wanted to enjoy the moment. She closed her eyes and pulled Vinyl’s body closer to her, taking in everything she could; the smell of her mane, the feel of her coat. Everything. Repairs could wait.

Vinyl had said it herself. Her soft, uncertain voice uttering “Can we fix this?” had stuck in her mind. There was a lot between them that needed to be dealt with. Octavia would cross that bridge when she came to it.

Vinyl gave a sudden stir and a grunt of discomfort as she lifted her head up. Octavia opened her eyes to meet Vinyl’s magenta ones. Vinyl stared, eyes half-lidded, her face expressionless.

“Octy?” She muttered softly.

“Yes, Vinyl?” Octavia replied, a slight smile playing over her face.

“Move please.”

Octavia blinked, but she slid off the couch. Vinyl hadn’t even seemed to notice the necklace. Or maybe she had. Octavia stepped back a few paces, watching nervously as Vinyl stood up, blinking as she looked around the room.

Then she walked into the hallway. For a half beat of her heart, Octavia thought she was going to leave again. Instead of the front door, however, Vinyl opened the closet, walked right inside, and closed it behind her.

Octavia couldn’t help it. She laughed. She had forgotten how Vinyl was after a night of heavy drinking. A groan of pain and hoofbeats on the door made Octavia stifle her laughter. How many times had she seen Vinyl climb right out of bed after a night of drinking only to lock herself in the bedroom closet?

Vinyl was nothing if not predictable. She’d come home drunk, then sleep, and if she had a hangover, she’d go straight into the darkest corner she could find.Octavia had spent so many years trying to put Vinyl out of her mind, that she had almost forgotten the finer points of her personality. Finally subduing the last of her laughter, she gently tapped the closet door with her hoof. She heard a grunt from behind the door.

“Vinyl? Can I come in?” Octavia asked, unable to keep the amusement out of her voice, the irony of needing to ask to enter her own closet.

Vinyl didn’t say anything. Octavia tapped the door with her hoof again.

“Vinyl, I’m coming in.”

There was no response, so Octavia carefully opened the door. Vinyl had her face crammed into the corner of the closet. Her boots and shoes had been shoved all to one side, with Vinyl curled up against herself. Octavia gently pushed her shoes out of the way and took a seat, closing the door behind her.

“You can’t drink two bottles of alcohol and not have anything to show for it.” Octavia said, watching as Vinyl stuffed a coat against the line of light at the bottom of the door.

Vinyl gave a mutter and leaned back against her corner of the closet with a groan.

“Do you remember last night?” Octavia asked softly.

“I don’t black out, Tavi.” Vinyl said, a hint of embarrassment in her voice. “You know that.”

Octavia shifted in the closet. Her eyes were beginning to adjust to the darkness, being able to make out Vinyl’s form.

“Do you want to try again, Vinyl?” Octavia asked, a hint of uncertainty to her voice. “Were you being honest? Wanting to fix us?”

Vinyl remained quiet in the darkness. There was a thump as she stretched out her hoof against the opposite wall.

“After....After we fought...I wanted to come back. I was angry. I just booked a room at a hotel and...I wanted to go back in the morning.” Vinyl spoke softly.

Octavia remained silent. She could feel the tension lifting, bit by bit, as Vinyl continued.

“You loved that cello. When I calmed down...when I realized that I had broken it...” Vinyl gave a sniff. “I just...I couldn’t go back. I was sure...sure that you hated me for it.”

Octavia reached out in the darkness, hesitating, before taking Vinyl’s hoof in her own.

“It was a cello, Vinyl. It wasn’t you. What did my cello matter compared to the pony I loved?” She said, feeling Vinyl’s grip tighten against her hoof.

“I couldn’t play.” Vinyl said. “My music, I mean. I...I didn’t want to. For months afterwards. I was just....”

“Depressed?” Octavia offered. Vinyl nodded in the darkness.

“So I blew all of my savings on a small apartment. Sold some of my vintage records while I did a whole lot of not working. Finally, I managed to play again...I was such an idiot.”

Octavia reached out, pulling Vinyl’s hoof towards her. She pressed it against her throat, letting her feel the chain, trailing it down to the necklace. Vinyl gave a sudden, short gasp when she realized what it was.

“Your...Your necklace.”

“Yes. I kept it. I had tried to push you out of my mind. I wanted to move on, to forget about you. But I couldn’t bear to part with this.” Octavia released her hoof. Vinyl lowered it to her side once more.

“I want to fix this, Octy. I want to fix us.” Vinyl slid boots out of the way, sliding over to sit next to Octavia. “I don’t want to leave you again.”

Octavia couldn’t help but voice her fear. “We might not be able to fix it. What if we-”

Vinyl leaned in to nuzzle her neck. She didn’t kiss her. Not just yet. Vinyl tried to communicate everything she could with that nuzzle. Affection. Hope. A desire to try.

“Together, Octy?” she asked, whispering against her neck.

Octavia rested her head against Vinyl’s mane. She couldn’t help but smile in the darkness. “Together, Vinyl. We’ll try together.”

Octavia closed the closet door gently to minimize any sound it’d make. Once it was closed, she heard the coat shove up against the underside of the door once more, and she couldn’t help but grin. A hungover Vinyl was somewhat familiar to her, a nostalgic thought that brought with it pleasant memories.

For better or for worse, Vinyl was back in her life. Neither of them knew what was going to happen, but by Celestia, they’d try.

Vinyl would be staying in the closet for a while. Octavia headed towards the front door.

“Alright, Vinyl,” Octavia said to herself as she walked out onto the front steps, taking in the fresh air. “Let’s get you some coffee.”

Author's Note

Move along, nothing to see here. Just a fuck-all long dream sequence and two ponies in a closet.*

*EDIT: I mean that in the literal sense.