"Come on Octy," Vinyl smiled at me. "It will only be a year, and then I'll be back to annoy the buck out of you." My blue maned marefriend winked at me; pulling down her dark rimmed sunglasses and flashing me her brilliant cerise eyes.
"Only a year, Vinyl, you act as if it will only be a week!" I sighed. My Vinyl had been recruited recently by some big time music producer. Now, she was leaving our small home in Ponyville to travel across Equestria. Vinyl had offered to decline if it was what I wanted, but who was I to force her to turn down her dream…no matter how much it hurt to see her go.
"It's not like we'll never see each other again, Octy. I'm going to call everyday so I can hear you drone on and on about your cello." Vinyl smirked at me, bumping her shoulder to mine in a friendly way. I nodded slowly, but didn't catch her eyes. I couldn't let her see me cry. It hurt too much to see her go. I wanted her to think I was strong as she was.
"Hey," Vinyl whispered, lifting my chin with her hoof to meet my eyes. "I do, and always will, love you, Octavia. No pony in all of Equestria could change that." She kissed me, her soft lips felt like feathers against mine. I flinched at its tenderness and love as I was used to Vinyl's kisses being rough and passionate. This was slow and filled with promise. She would return. I had to believe that. She then moved to kiss away my tears. Pale cerise met deep purple as she whispered:
"I won't forget you, Octy."
"Scratch! The carriage is here! We have to move if you want to make it to Los Pegasus by midnight!" her producer, Record Blast, called. Vinyl looked at me, shifting her sunglasses back into place, and grinned.
"I call you first thing tomorrow morning, Octy." She promised me, moving in one swift motion to capture my lips once again. It was swift and chaste, but I knew I would have to carry it with me. My last kiss with her… It would be my connection to her touch. That last kiss I would have to hold onto for an entire year.
~XoXo~
Vinyl stayed true to her promise. She called the first thing next morning, four am to be exact, but who am I to complain? All it took to wake me up was Vinyl's confident voice rising above some loud wubs in the background.
"How was your flight?" I asked, casual enough, trying to sway the conversation from how my night was; alone in our bed.
"Boring! I swear those Pegasi had absolutely no taste in music! I tried playing some hot dubtrot for them, and all they said was to take that ‘blasted rubbish’ away from their ears! Stupid stuck up Canterlot ponies, think they know everything." Vinyl huffed in annoyance. I held back reminding her that I was from Canterlot.
"Well they will obviously change their minds when your dubtrot is blasting from every speaker in Canterlot." I laughed.
"Thanks, I can always have your back to contribute how amazing my music is compared to their classical shit." I could hear the smile in Vinyl's voice. So vibrant and clear, I decided against advising her that my cello was classical music.
We continued chatting back and forth till I heard a small curse at the end of the line.
"What is it?" I asked her.
"My producer only gave me half an hour to talk."
"And?" I asked.
"It's been almost two hours…" I glanced at the clocked to see it was true, it was almost six in the morning.
"Then I guess I better let you go." I sighed, disappointment evident in my voice.
"Don't worry; I'll call as soon as I can Octy." Vinyl chuckled, clearly amused at my pouting.
"Okay, I love you Vinyl." I added a slight blush to my cheeks as I spoke the words, for once glad she wasn't here to see the red on my face.
"Love you to Octavia…" Vinyl sighed, slight sadness in her voice. Then the phone clicked and she was gone once again. Gone from my side; the feel of her mane gone from my touch, the sound of her voice gone from my ears. I slowly left the phone and trotted back to bed, and curled up into the blankets of the bed that still smelled of Vinyl. Tears sprung into my eyes as I drifted off to sleep.
~XoXo~
Over the weeks we talked every day, sometimes more than once. She kept on telling me how amazing the nightlife was at some of these clubs, how her most recent gig's club made our Hoof Beats look like Sugar Cube Corner. I couldn't help but feel a flash of disappointment, was she really having so much fun without me, and how much better it was out there than it was here? But I shook it off, she said she loved me. That nothing could ever change that. Vinyl always kept her promises. I smiled at the thought while we had our most recent conversation.
"The crowd loved me Octavia! I swear I never felt anything so exhilarating… Except maybe me and you fucking like animals to some dubtrot!" Vinyl laughed. I felt my face flush.
"Vinyl, I thought I told you not to talk about… intimacies in public areas."
"Come on Octy, there are only like, fifty other ponies around currently. Besides, it's none of their business how often we have amazing sex." She mock whispered, if you could call it that.
"Vinyl!"
"How we make slow and soft love under the light of the moon!" Vinyl sang, loud enough for everypony in the room to hear. Celestia, I hoped Vinyl was lying about other ponies in the room, but when I heard whistling in the background, I knew she wasn't.
"I'm going to get you for that Vinyl," I sighed.
"I look forward to it Octy! What will you use this time; hoof-cuffs or the whip?" she laughed.
"Vinyl! Stop filling those ponies' heads with such vulgar detail! You know we don't do it like that!"
"Oh! Both of them! With the dark ski mask too? You're really into punishing me aren't you Octy?" Vinyl feigned.
"Not funny Vinyl!"
"Hahahahah! Gotta go now, there are so many ponies now asking about our intimacies as you call it. Guess I better start answering them-"
"Don't you dare, Vinyl!"
"But I really do have to go, there are like, ten other ponies waiting to use the line. And they are not happy. Love you Octy!"
"Love you too…"
~XoXo~
I walked out into the cold winter breeze. Vinyl's favorite dark blue scarf was wrapped around my neck; it was old and ragged, but it was so Vinyl I just had to wear it. I found myself trotting towards a favorite spot of my and Vinyl's dates; a little patch of violets that grew under a shady oak tree, where we so childishly carved V+O forever, surrounded by a misshaped heart, due to Vinyl's impatience and lack of complete stability with her magic. I pressed a hoof to the carving, willing myself not to cry. Vinyl hadn't called in over three days, which usually wasn't like her, but lately, she had been calling less and less. Now I was lucky if I got to hear from her more than four times a week, but with every end of conversation the words 'I love you' sprang from our lips and I knew it would all turn out alright.
I remember the day we had carved this; we had just had a huge argument over a wedding. Applejack and Rainbow Dash had finally gotten married, and Vinyl and I were hired to play our music at the wedding. Watching them made me want something like this; a promise, a forever. But when I brought it up with Vinyl, she merely scoffed and said ‘a silly piece of paper didn't mean anything’. I argued that it was the meaning by the paper that I wanted. We continued fighting until Vinyl had screeched not every marriage even lasted forever, so what was the point? I had felt tears stream down my cheeks and ran to an old oak tree that I had played my cello under as a filly. Vinyl found me soon after, a sad smile on her face. She didn't say anything, but instead carved something into the tree beside me using her fluorescent blue magic. I looked up to the carving that still lay in the oak.
‘V+O forever.’ Vinyl had whispered to me, saying she was sorry. And, married or not, we were Together. Vinyl Scratch and Octavia, Forever.
~XoXo~
Vinyl finally called me again; it had been five days since I heard her voice; loud and proud, and oh so Vinyl.
"I miss you." Was the first thing I said.
"I…miss you too Octy, it's not the same here without you."
"These six months seem like a year already." I sighed.
"Halfway there." Her reply came.
"How was your latest gig? Meet any new D.J. pony I should hear about?"
"Nopony special… So how have you been?" She asked, hesitant with her answer.
"Pretty lonely without you…. I'm mostly spending my time with Lyra and Bon Bon. Did you know they adopted a little earth pony? Her name is Penny Luck; she's the sweetest little filly you've ever seen!"
"No, I didn't. Wish them luck for me."
"I will, so what city are you in now again?"
"Were taking a short break in Appleoosa for apple pies and cider, but we’re heading for Manehatten tonight.”
"Busy schedule,"
"I get the energy I need from my wubs." Vinyl laughed.
"I know that better than anypony." I smiled.
"You sure do…. How's that cello business going?"
"Amazing Vinyl! I'm playing the Grand Galloping Gala!"
"But don't you play that every year?" Vinyl asked, slightly snippy.
"Yes but… I love it. Being on stage is a feeling beyond comparison; the only thing better is being with you."
"I know you love it Octy, you’re so passionate about that stuff.”
"As are you with your wubs." I replied.
"Opposite sides of the world." She replied dryly.
"But opposites attract." I shrugged. She used that exact line when I told her we were too different after she first asked me out.
"I got to go, the other D.J.'s are already chowing down on that pie, and no way am I not getting the horse’s share!”
"O-okay." I sighed.
"Talk to you later?" I asked.
"Yeah, of course…" Came her reply. She sounded distant.
"Well then, have fun!"
"I will."
"I love you." I added, only meeting a dead line. She had already hung up. That should have been the first sign.
~XoXo~
"So are how you holding up darling?" Bon Bon asked, sitting across from me. She had come over to visit Sugar Cube Corner to visit my friends and their new adopted filly; Penny Luck.
"Vinyl told me to wish you luck." I smiled glancing down at the little light brown filly, her curly honey mane wrapped around her face, highlighting her bright green eyes.
"Thanks, we need all the help we can get!" Lyra replied trotting into the room carrying a bottle with her mint green magic.
"She's beautiful." I smiled down at the little filly, who was busy trying to swallow her own hoof.
"No no no, little Luck," Lyra scolded; using her magic she forced the hoof out of the filly's mouth and placed the bottle instead. “This is what you eat." Lyra sighed as Penny Luck sucked down the milk.
"So how have you been?" Bon Bon asked, concern edging her features.
"What do you mean?" I asked the couple.
"Well, without Vinyl around you seem…." Lyra trailed off, looking for help from her marefriend, well fiancé now by the looks of the diamond wrapped around her horn.
"You seem a little down sweetheart.” Bon Bon finished.
"I'm fine!" I insisted. "We still talk every once in awhile, and her tour is only another year." I sighed, remembering Vinyl had told me her tour was extended another six months the last time we talked.
Six days ago.
"Besides," I added. "Absence makes the heart grow fonder."
"But you must feel some-"
"Well of course I'm upset! My marefriend is halfway around the world, and we rarely ever get the time to talk! But I'm okay with that because I know Vinyl will be back."
"But what if she isn't?" Lyra asked, getting a glare from Bon Bon.
"Lyra! I thought I told you we had to be gentle about this!"
"What are you two talking about?" I asked.
"Lyra sweetie... Why don't you take Penny Luck upstairs for her nap..." Bon Bon smiled at her fiance.
"Are you trying to get rid of me?" Lyra asked in mock outrage.
"I'll make it up to you later." Bon Bon teased, a loving twinkle in her eyes. Lyra rolled her eyes and muttered.
"You better." Then, lifting up Penny Luck in a magic carrier, she headed up the stairs.
"As I was saying… You and Vinyl never have time to talk. It must be hard living like that…" Bon Bon frowned.
"Of course it is. But I love her. A year is nothing next to forever." I reminded her.
"Okay. Well, why don't you explain your relationship? I never really got to know Vinyl personally, so why don't you tell me how you two got together?"
I blushed slightly at the memory.
"We were in our first year of college…"
~XoXo~
I had been selected to lead my group to play an opening for the Grand Galloping Gala. I was ecstatic, but then our teacher announced that, due to low school funds, we had to combine our classical music program with our…creative music program.
The dubtrot ponies.
I was furious. The Grand Galloping Gala was not a place for such distasteful music.
The selected leader of the dubtrotters was a pony called Vinyl Scratch. Her blue mane lit up like liquid fire in the sun, her dark rimmed glasses hid her eyes from the world, but you could see her confidence was evident in her proud trot. Her mouth was always a superior smirk. I hated her.
Her kind didn't belong at the Gala. They belonged in the clubs getting drunk of their flanks. Only true dignified ponies, who made art with music, not garbage with it, belonged at the palace.
"What's with the glare, Princess?" Vinyl smirked at me. It was after our class had let out, leaving only me and Vinyl behind.
"Don't call me that, Ogre." I snipped back.
"I've been called worse." Vinyl rolled her eyes.
"I've heard." I frowned. Everypony had heard the vicious rumors about the white mare. The words dyke and fillyfooler followed her around like a shadow.
"Like you're any different."
"Please…" I muttered.
"At least I'm honest with myself." Vinyl suddenly sneered.
"What's that supposed to mean?" I frowned at her.
"At least I'm open about who I am. Why do you hide your nature in the closet like a scared little filly?"
"I have no idea what you're talking about." I grimaced.
"You know exactly what I'm talking about. You act all high and mighty, better than everypony else, well in all in all your exactly the same; a fillyfooler!"
"I most certainly am not!"
"Don't try to buck your way out of this! I know what you are! You go around, dating stallions like Note Worthy in public, but it's in the arms of a filly you wish to end up in every night!" Vinyl countered. I pictured rage in her eyes, hidden behind her dark rims.
"You have no proof!"
"I don't need proof! I know, and the longer you try to hide it, the more it will hurt you in the long run."
"I don't need your advice!"
"Fine! But when you crash and burn and your secret comes tumbling down around you, don't come crying to me!"
With a huff Vinyl stormed out, leaving me in a panic. How had she found out? I never told anypony about my… preferences. I never dated any mare publicly, in fact, I had only dated one mare ever, and that was a short fling over the summer when I visited Baltimare. Nopony here knew anything about that. I even dated stallions here and there to keep ponies away from guessing my secret. It would ruin everything! Fillyfoolers were looked at like trash around here, I saw that from watching how Vinyl was treated.
Yet, she took it in stride. Every bad name, every insult thrown at her. She didn't care. She was proud to be a fillyfooler, where I acted like it was a curse. I felt a sudden unknown pang for the confident young mare. I felt… jealousy. This secret had kept me down for years, while she walks around with her heart on her sleeve. I wish it was that easy….
A few days later, Vinyl and I had decided to call a peace treaty. Both our classes were performing, and both our classes needed to work together, so we decided to meet at Club Canterlot to talk things over and settle an agreement. When I sat down to see Vinyl chugging down a beer, I knew I was in for a heap of trouble.
"If it isn't Princess. Thought you wouldn't show up tonight. This doesn't seem like your scene."
"I'm here to settle this treaty we both agreed on."
"We can get to that later, come on! We’re in Club Canterlot have a little fun!" Vinyl smirked, shoving a drink my way. While I was never shy of drinking, I never had purposely gotten myself drunk. I could smell the burning alcohol in this beverage, and knew this stuff was much stronger than anything I've ever dared to drink before.
"What, scared of a little drink, Princess?" Vinyl challenged, and maybe it was the fact I never backed away from a challenge, or that her sunglasses had lowered, leaving me hypnotized by her cerise eyes, but I gulped down the beverage, asking the bartender for more.
The black mare had a choppy black mane with purple streaks, and violet eyes that seemed indifferent to the world. On her flank was paintbrush.
"If your talent is painting, why are you serving as a bartender here?" I asked her. She merely glared at me before trotting away while carrying empty beer bottles with her dark purple magic. Vinyl laughed at my confused expression.
"You don't wanna bring that up with Violet Splash, or she might add a little something special to your drink." Vinyl winked at me.
"You know her?" I asked.
"Ya, we had a few one night flings now and then." She shrugged; I was once again abashed how open she was about her fillyfooler lifestyle.
"But she's…" I began, glancing to the black mare whose tongue was currently lost in the mouth of black and blue stallion.
"She swings both ways," Vinyl replied with a shrug. I nodded numbly. My second drink was gone, and by the third, my brain had begun to feel fuzzy. "So what about you?" Vinyl asked, raising an eyebrow.
"What about me?"
"Why do you hide who you are?"
I sighed. No longer able to argue do to my intoxicated state. I merely whispered.
"It makes life easier if ponies believe I am what they want me to be."
"Easier for you, or easier for them?"
"Does it matter?" I snapped. She nodded seriously.
"It's your life, do you really want to live it in a shadow?"
I ignored her as I downed another drink. I wanted her words to not affect me; I wanted to continue living the way I was, but her words had already imprinted in my brain like a new melody, unwilling to be forgotten.
I tried to stand to go, but I collapsed to the ground. That drink was worse than I thought.
"Come on." Vinyl huffed, picking me up. Causing me to lean into her shoulder for support, getting a good curtain of her electric mane in my face, it smelt of rain on a fresh breeze.
"Where are we going?" I slurred.
"The college to too far on hoof, you can come say at my place."
"B-but I c-can't! If I don't show u-up to the d-dorm-"
"Look, either you come to my place or you're getting back to your dorm on your own. I'm not walking your drunken flank for four miles, to trudge back to my apartment which is just around the block." I didn't argue further.
~XoXo~
I woke up tangled in Vinyl's arms, a dull throbbing in my lower regions. I had slept with Vinyl Scratch...
I ran out of that apartment as fast as I could. It wouldn't have been the first time I've been with a mare, but I've never let myself have a one night stand on a drunken whim! How would I ever let myself look at Vinyl again? Not only was I supposed to hate her, but she was co-captain in our class! We were performing the Gala opening in two weeks! Not only that but she knew about me being a fillyfooler, what if she told anypony I eagerly climbed into bed with her…
I shook my head. Of all the things Vinyl was…. She wouldn't do that. I felt a flash of guilt for ever thinking she would. When she came into class the next day, I had refused to look at her. I forced myself to not acknowledge her existence until a crumpled paper hit the back of my head. I turned to see a note, signed with a VS beside me on the floor. I glanced up at Vinyl who pretended to not notice me as she continued slacking off, subtly listening to dubtrot through her earphones instead of the teacher.
I fought myself to open the note before conceding to the fact Vinyl would get what she wanted either way.
'We need to talk.'
I stared crossly at the note before hastily replying.
‘There's nothing to talk about!’
Vinyl rolled her eyes before sliding the paper back towards me.
‘We still have that treaty you desperately wanted.’
I sighed, imagining the smirk on her face when she got my reply.
'My dorm, after school, don't be late.'
~XoXo~
I waited in my dorm for what seemed like hours when the mare finally decided to make her appearance.
"You’re late." I muttered crossly.
"What am I? Your wife?" She smirked, causing my cheeks to flush red with...embarrassment? Rage? I didn't know.
"We're here to negotiate! Nothing else."
"So you want to pretend like last night never happened?"
"In a way yes. I can't go around sleeping with other mares over a drunken fling. That's not who I am."
"But you think that's who I am!"
"No… But you made it clear you fool around."
"I never made that clear. You just assumed." I didn’t reply.
"You think I took advantage of you in a drunken state? You think I prey on little lost fillies who are lost and hiding in their sexuality? You think I planned for last night to happen? Well let me get something straight, It was you who kissed me! It was you who pushed me into bed and startled me! It was you who-"
"Shut up!" I screamed.
“Why? Don’t want to hear what you did? You begged me to fuck you! You moaned my name and went along with everything! I asked you every damn minute if this was okay! You said yes every time! Now you decided your too good for mares, too good for me? Did you once stop to think what I must be feeling through all of this!?” Vinyl screeched, causing me to pause. She was right. I never stopped to think what she must be feeling. What was I doing? This entire I felt like the victim. When in reality, she was just affected by this as I was.
“No, I didn’t,” I sighed. Vinyl stopped and looked at me. “I’m so sorry Vinyl….” I cried. I hugged her then.
“Octavia?” She gasped. I pulled back, smiling, even with tears streaming down my face.
“You actually called me by my name….”
“Yeah, and it was a mouthful. How bout we stick with Octy?” She smirked at me. I nodded.
“Octy it is.”
~XoXo~
We worked so much better after that. We even became friends. We had spats here and there over music, but we would always laugh about it afterwards. We became inseparable. I had many ponies come up to me, usually when I was alone, and they’d always ask:
“Why are you with her? Haven’t you heard she has the disease? She’s a dyke!”
I would simply roll my eyes and say:
“So? It’s not a disease, and it’s not contagious, so why should I avoid her?”
They obviously didn’t like my answer, but they didn’t question it either. I had started feeling other things for Vinyl, and even though we never spoke of that night, I had started wishing that we had. It started to scare me how my heart would race around her, how my eyes always sought her dark glasses, how I would always accidently-on-purpose touch her, her mane, her hoof.
Never before had another pony affected me in such a way. Not even Beauty Brass back in Baltimare. Even though I thought I loved her, I would never tell her. She would want to have our relationship public, but I could never handle that, knowing what everypony would think of me. That’s why, a few nights before our performance, when she showed up at my door, I felt myself begin to panic.
“Hey Octy.” Vinyl smiled causally, waltzing into my dorm shrugging her blue scarf onto the floor before making herself at home and plopping herself on my couch.
“Vinyl? What are you doing?”
“I wanted to talk to you.”
“W-what about?” I asked. Vinyl started at me before lifting herself of the couch, and trotting over to me. We were face to face, mere inches apart.
“I like you Octy.”
“O-okay, I like you too…” I said, playing dumb.
“No… I like you like you.” She emphasized.
“Were’ complete opposites... It would never work!” I argued half heartedly.
“Opposites attract.” She shrugged, smiling.
“Vinyl…” She leaned towards me. Oh sweet Celestia did I want to kiss her, but I couldn’t. I leaned away.
“I’m sorry Vinyl, but I only see you as a friend.” She shrank back, shocked.
“No you don’t.” She snorted.
“I’m sorry, but I do.”
“This is about you still being ashamed to be a fillyfooler! You don’t want to be seen with me?”
“No!” I cried. “It's just I don’t feel the same way...”
“Is that why you take every opportunity to touch me?” Vinyl asked.
“I-I don’t know what you mean...”
“Don’t buck with me Octy! You're afraid! Afraid to be judged who you really are!”
“Stop it! You don’t know me!” I yelled.
“You’re right! I obviously don’t, because I would never would have asked out a coward like you, Octavia!” With that Vinyl left the room, slamming the door with her magic. It hurt to hear those words. Oh Tartarus did it hurt, but it was for the best. At least...that’s what I told myself.
~XoXo~
Vinyl avoided me the next few days, only agreeing to be in the same room with me on practice days. It hurt to not see her everyday. I wanted her to be with me.... I wanted to be her marefriend, but I cared too much what everypony thought of me. Vinyl was right. I am a coward.
The day we were to perform, Vinyl came up to me. A shy smile on her face. She nodded to me and stuck out her hoof.
“Haven't you ever bro-hoofed before?” She teased. I rolled my eyes before pounding my hoof against hers.
“Let’s do this, Octy.”
We played. We combined our classes strengths and did a remixed Palladio. A mixture of dubtrot and classical. Two totally different styles in music, ones that would never naturally go together-formed in perfect harmony.
I felt the music lighten my heart as I played, me on my cello, Vinyl on her records. It seemed too perfect to be real. A dream. A dream I never wanted to end. When we finished the crowd applauded, but I hardly heard them as I galloped in front of Vinyl.
“Octavia? What are you doing”
“What I was afraid to do...” I kissed her. I heard gasps and cheers around me, but I didn’t bother. This kiss with Vinyl was all I cared about. All I ever wanted to care about. By the way she kissed me back, I knew she felt the same. And we've been dating ever since.
~XoXo~
I felt a tear roll down my face as I finished my story; our story.
“I fell in love with her, Bon Bon. She’s the one who made me realize it was okay to be who I was, no matter what anypony thought of me. She made me not care-”
“She was your first real marefriend, and she had many before you. Are you sure Vinyl is mature enough to handle a relationship like this? When was the last time she even told you she loved you?”
I felt my chest clench in pain. I couldn’t answer that question. I couldn’t remember the last time I heard those words…or even when I spoke them into a dead line at the end of every one of our conversations.
“She’s coming back!” I snapped, trying to convince myself more than Bon Bon.
“You can’t be sure of that, honey bun.” Bon Bon sighed.
“But I have to be, without knowing the fact she’s coming back…” My heart broke at the thought. Vinyl promised to love me, forever and always.
“I was going to propose to her when she got back.” I confessed. I knew Vinyl acted repulsed by the idea of marriage, but I was hoping after such a long separation she’d realize how important a commitment like this was. “Are you saying I should return the ring? Forget me and Vinyl ever happened? Move on when she might return, hoping to crash into my open arms only to find me with another mare? I refuse to give up on her Bon Bon! I know she’s coming back!”
“I’m not saying to give up on her, Octavia. All I’m saying don’t put everything into one thought. There’s always the possibility she’s…just, hope, Octavia.”
No longer wanting to fight, I merely nodded my head. They were wrong. Vinyl was coming back. I knew she would. I knew every time I walked by our oak tree with our initials carved into it. Every time I heard a remix of Palladio, every time I crawled into our bed. Even though her scent had long faded from it, I knew she would come back and crawl into it and fill it back up with her essence again. She had to.
“Bon Bon! Penny Luck’s getting fussy again; she keeps throwing the stuffed giraffe back at me when I try to put her down to sleep!” Lyra’s voice ranged from upstairs, obvious irritation echoing in it.
“She doesn’t like sleeping with the giraffe Lyra-Pop. She plays with the giraffe and sleeps with the stuffed otter. How many times do we have to go through this?”
“Until she can learn to sleep with the giraffe!” Her voice shouted from upstairs.
“I better help with this little mess. Do you mind waiting down here?” Bon Bon asked with a slight tinge of regret.
“No...It’s fine. Go ahead; I was heading out anyway. Vinyl might have called…or she may call soon. I don’t want her to think I forgot about her.” I sighed, heading for the door; I could tell by Bon Bon’s eyes that she felt sorry for me, which I didn’t appreciate at all. As I headed out the door I could swear I heard her huff-
“If anypony if forgetting anypony, it’s her.” I ignored her as the door slammed behind me. I pulled down a pair of sunglasses to block the new spring sunlight from my eyes. They were Vinyl’s, of course, an extra pair she kept around the house in case she lost hers. I hoped she wouldn’t mind me using them, maybe she’d never notice the misplacement when she gets back. I didn’t care what Bon Bon and Lyra thought. They would always be my friends, but they didn’t understand Vinyl like I did. They only ever met her personally a few times. Vinyl would come back. I knew she would.
~XoXo~
“I had a little fight with Bon Bon a few days ago.” I sighed into the phone.
“That sucks. I know how good friends you guys are.” Vinyl replied.
“I’m sure we’ll get over it.”
“What was the fight about?”
“Nothing important…” I lied. I didn’t want Vinyl knowing my best friends doubted her.
“I’m sure it will work out then, Octavia.” I felt a small pang at her reply, there was a time when Vinyl would listen to all my problems and pick at me until I told them what they were. Now she just seemed so dismissive about them. I told myself it was just stress from the tour.
“Were you heading to next?”
“Cloudsdale, we rented a blimp and everything. We’ll be performing Pegasus style!”
“Cloudsdale is pretty close to Ponyville...you think that maybe you could-“
“Sorry Octavia. Wish I could but we’re there only for one night, then we’re packing it up and heading to Hoofington for a few days, then we’re off to Fillydelphia.”
“I see...” I sighed. I thought It would make me feel better if I heard her voice, but all it did was remind me all that connects us is a phone.
“It’s a busy life being a D.J., Octavia. It’s not like going to the Gala once a year and playing a few Hoity Toity parties every now and then.” Vinyl scoffed. I flinched. She wasn’t usually so cruel. She must be more stressed out than I thought.
“Sorry, Octavia... I didn’t mean it. I’m just not getting much sleep while working almost every night.”
“It’s fine. I understand, Vinyl.”
“I’m glad you do, but I have to go. We’re about get on the blimp, and we have to rehearse before our performance, talk to you later.”
“I love you.” I whispered, as usual, into a dead line, only just realizing that in that entire conversation, she hadn’t called me Octy once, only Octavia.
~XoXo~
I received no more calls after that. From then on it was just texts here and there. She told me she didn’t have much time to make calls and that this way, she could contact me more easily.
‘Hey’ Her message came.
‘How’s the clubbing?’ I asked.
‘Great. We stopped by Canterlot again and you will never guess who I saw?’
‘Who?” I asked, curious on what has gotten my marefriend in such an excitement.
‘Violet Splash! She’s not a bartender anymore; she finally made it in the art business, she has this big old gallery and everything’ Vinyl texted.
I briefly remembered the scoffing black unicorn at the club that Vinyl and I had gone to. We shared many dates there after we first got together. It took a long time for the artistic pony to warm up to me. Usually, she would just scoff when I asked a question, or rolled her eyes if I asked if she was working on any art projects. But eventually, with some egging on by Vinyl, she had started talking to me. I never grew as close to her as Vinyl did, but she was nice enough once you got past her biting comments and sarcasm.
‘That’s great’ I texted back, genuinely happy for the black unicorn. She had been working so long at that club when she truly belonged in the world of art, as her cutie mark of a paint brush clearly showed.
‘Isn’t it? She had this great picture of a broken record disk surrounded by mixtures of dull grays and blacks. She later explained how it meant that music is what brought color and life into the world and how dull life would be without it, it was epic!’
‘Tell her I’m happy for her’ I texted back, feeling a flash of jealousy. I shook it off though, remembering how such good friends Vinyl and Violet were. I tried not to remember however, how much they hooked up before me and Vinyl got together.
‘Sure thing’ She responded a few minutes later.
‘I’ll have to see her gallery when I go back to Canterlot for the Grand Galloping Gala’
‘I’m sure she’d love that’
‘I wrote a new song today on my cello, I worked on it all night’
‘Productive as ever aren’t we ;)’
‘More than normal, that’s for sure’
‘ttyl, I have to get ready for a gig’
‘ok… I love you’
She didn’t respond.
~XoXo~
Over the next few months I noticed even her texts came hard to come by. Texting every couple days soon turned to a couple texts over the weekend. I tried to act indifferent but it still hurt, a
I had made a point to walk to our oak tree everyday. I’d sit under it and play Palladio for hours on end, until my hooves screamed in protest and my eyelids drooped with exhaustion. I started seeing less and less of Lyra and Bon Bon. I missed my friends greatly, but they just didn’t understand the depth of mine and Vinyl’s relationship. I needed that from them, especially since I hadn’t heard from Vinyl in a few weeks.
I silently trotted home, feeling another tear slide down my face. Vinyl hadn’t bothered to get a hold of me in nearly a week. My marefriend, who had promised to love me forever, couldn’t even bother to text me. I spent less time outside and more time watching television, hoping that she would on the news with reports on her gigs. Nothing ever came up. Her name was barely ever mentioned...at least, not that I knew of. I eventually gave up and fell asleep curled in the old dusty blankets on the couch.
~XoXo~
It had been nearly a year. Not a single call or text from Vinyl. Nothing. I had never been so hurt in my life. I kept telling myself there was a reason, disconnected phone lines, lost the number. I hoped it was that simple. That one day I’d come home to Vinyl’s arms spread open waiting for me. She’d smirk and ask-
“Don’t tell me you didn’t plan me a welcome home party?” I would rush into her arms, crying. She’d kiss me like there was no tomorrow, apologizing for not keeping in contact. I’d forgive her and we kiss again. She’s promise to be with me forever and never to leave again. She’d take me to our room and we would prove that we were meant to be together forever. We would forget the long year that had kept us apart, and we would confirm our feelings.
But that day never came. She never came home. She never kissed me, never held me close, never called me Octy again. Sweet Celestia, what I’d give to have her call me Octy again. Maybe if I had been a better marefriend. Maybe If I listened to her problems more, or let her be more affectionate in public. But all these what ifs now wouldn’t change anything. She wasn’t here... All I could hope that her promise of forever would come through. That we would meet again.
~XoXo~
She never came back to ponyville. Three years later, her blue scarf had dulled in color and torn. Our bed had long ago lost any trace of her scent. Her sunglasses had long since faded and cracked. She was famous. Everypony knew her as DJ Pon-3. But I still held onto the memories I had of Vinyl Scratch. She had said forever. I remembered forever. We were forever. Vinyl and Octavia. I had to hold onto that. Otherwise I had nothing. I was flipping through every music channel know to ponykind, looking for any sight of my marefriend. What I saw killed me. A reporter pony, Ink Blot or something, was interviewing Vinyl Scratch and... Violet Splash.
“So how long have you two fillies been engaged?” Ink Blood? Ink Blank? Asked the two mares. I felt my entire life crash around me. Vinyl smiled, lifting her sunglasses revealing her cerise eyes that still haunt my dreams to this day.
“About three months, but we've been dating for a few years.
No. No. No. NO! NO! NO!
“How did you two meet?” Ink Blink? Ink Brew? Smiled. I hated her smile.
“Well, we knew each other for years, but were reacquainted when she came to my art gallery a few years back. We went out for drinks after that and now here were are!” Violet shrugged indifferently, as if she wasn’t engaged to he most amazing pony on earth. As if she wasn't stealing my forever.
“I've been in love ever since.” Vinyl added.
I let the tears fall, wet and salty down my face. This was supposed to be my engagement, my fiance, my forever. Then it was gone like a whisper...
“Is there anypony back at home in Ponyville you’d like to give a shout out to, Vinyl?” Ink Boo? Ink Blade? Questioned.
“Nopony that I can recall important enough!” Vinyl laughed.
I was shattered.
I ran, not knowing where my hooves were taking me. Soon I found myself at our oak tree. V+O forever was still carved into its ancient bark. It was raining. I could feel my whole body was soaked to the bone. My mane fell across my face in a ragged way. The entire world was gray around me. I gently placed my hoof over the old carved heart and whispered tearfully...
“You promised me a forever.”
Author's Note
Please don't hate me... I can only ever write sad fanfics and this was an idea I had I just couldn't pass up. I have never in my life written a one-shot this long and am deeply proud of this fic. So I won't give a shit about any flames. I like this story and that's all that counts. If you think I should continue this... Please put it in the reviews. My friend already threatened to eat me if I left it like this (thanks RushingAutumnLeaves for the threat) She also helped edit my story for all the grammar mistakes an such. So she deserves a spot light too :3
If I do continue this though... It will be called 'Forever doesn't mean anything' So tell me if I should leave it like this. Or make a sequel. Please review
