At a cafe, 2 friends are hanging out, till one of them has a problem, can the other pony help his friend out?

Octavia plays a song for her beloved.

This story was written for the 2023 'A Thousand Words' contest in the 'Horror' category. If you enjoy this story and would like to receive one of your own, see here for more details.

I'm not a particularly special dude. Just a musician trying to make ends meet. But one evening I wind up meeting someone whom I thought was totally fictional. That character is Vinyl Scratch, but guess what? She's not a pony, but somehow had been turned into a human! She tells me her tale and I make it my job to help her regain her confidence as a musician.

(Marked 'teen' for language and some adult themes. I've seen plenty of 'pony becomes human'-style stories but I haven't really found any that involves everyone's favorite DJ, so I thought I'd try my hand at it. Also: A big thanks to bats for the cover art!)

Four years ago Vinyl and Octavia broke up. It was messy, painful and left scars on both of them. Four years on, now one of the most successful DJs in Equestria’s history, Vinyl receives news that Octavia has been in a terrible accident. The doctors say she may never recover from her coma, but Vinyl refuses to believe them. There are all sorts of stories about coma patients who are brought back by the voice of someone they care about, right? No matter what anypony else says, offers or threatens, and no matter what it costs her personally or professionally, she is determined to stay by Octavia’s side and do all she can to wake her.

But four years is a long time, and no matter how many fairytales end with the princess waking up, real life owes no-one a happy ending.

Featured on EQD - 3rd August 2013

Now with a fabulous dramatic reading by the even more fabulous Goombasa!
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LPJutr2gUiE&list=UU4c-khcV1wmr1l_ZRfdp9uQ]
[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ibcPvvXSn8c&list=UU4c-khcV1wmr1l_ZRfdp9uQ]

Vinyl tells Octavia why she makes her so happy.

My unicorn parents called me a worthless mud pony. They pushed me every day to overcome my lowly status. When I woke up one morning with my cutie mark, I thought they would love me. I couldn’t have been farther from the truth.

It was not destiny or enjoyment that led me to discover the cello and composing. My parents made that decision, deciding before I was born I would continue their family legacy of famous musicians.

They did not realize what that decision would cost them.

Special Thanks and Links:

Cover Art: Dreampaw. The inspiration for the story.
Dramatic reading of Act I-III by Malao567. June 2013
Reading with music by ObabScribbler. June 2014
Song: Hooks and Strings by Reverb Brony. May 2014

Style inspired by H.P. Lovecraft
TypeWriterError: Editor & Rating Board
Gage of Grandiloquence: Editor
The11thWonder: Pre-reader
Nharctic: Pre-reader
Breath of Plagues: My Pinch Editor.
ArgonMatrix: Bad Grammar Exterminator
Daemon of Decay: Advice, also inspired me to write fan fiction. Blame him!

Ponyville Mare's Excessive Pranking Leads To Zombie Outbreak

Ponyville Mare Hijacks Parade Float And Careens Into Lake

You can find headlines like this in any newspaper. Crammed somewhere in the back, bought from a smaller publication for a few bits to fill space. Most ponies laugh, if they spot them at all, and then move on. But one stallion took a particular interest in these strange stories and especially their protagonist.

After years of research and study, he's determined to track her down. One way or another, he will find this mysterious Ponyville Mare.

It has been a trying day for Octavia. Unfortunately, the sun's barely risen, Vinyl fell asleep at the kitchen table, and Octavia's coffee has the audacity to be decaf.

Rated Teen because Octavia says damn at least once in there and because I'd rather not argue about what constitutes a swear word and what doesn't.

One night, like so many others, Octavia waits up for Vinyl Scratch and contemplates her day.

Vinyl Scratch has been feeling more than a little under the weather recently. After a close brush with death however she decides that something about her life has to change, one way or another.