Clink.

“Shit.”

Clink.

“Shit.”

Clank.

“Finally…”

The key made it into the lock and Vinyl flopped into her house. Her body flailed without proper guidance, practically floating on autopilot as she stumbled to her room. Luckily, the walk to her house and her respective room wasn't that far or else she probably would’ve just settled for the couch again. But, her body was lucid enough for proper movement, so she successfully made it to her bed and flopped onto the soft, inviting sheets. Using her magic, the white unicorn cocooned herself in a layer of warmth, snuggling into her pillow as she let her mind rest and sleep take over.

It felt as if she had only closed her eyes for a mere second before her alarm clock rudely interrupted her attempt at sleep. She unfurled herself from the blankets, looking at the accusing clock to make sure it was correct with the actual time. And as usual, the damned gizmo did not lie and displayed the time properly: 5:45am; the time when Vinyl wakes up to make her brother breakfast before he goes to school.

The white mare groaned. She really needed to visit Octavia during the day instead of after work—these late night excursions were going to eventually kill her. Vinyl got out of bed in a grumpy daze, yanked her alarm clock from the wall socket and tumbled down the hall.

After splashing cold water on her face, Vinyl was able to wake up enough to cook food without burning anything. After fifteen minutes of preparing, cooking, and setting the table, Neon came down the staircase and into the kitchen right on time.

“Mornin’, bro!” Vinyl said from the table. “I made breakfast without falling asleep this time!”

Neon rolled his eyes. “I’m so proud of you, sis.” He looked her over and noticed the heavy bags under her bloodshot eyes. “You were out late again, weren't you?”

Vinyl’s smile wavered. “Well… umm… a little?” She nervously chuckled.

Neon sighed, sitting down. “Why can’t you tell me what’s going on?” He paused to take a bite of his eggs. “Is it something embarrassing? Like, were you so shaken up by seeing a skeleton that you’re afraid of the dark now and it takes you a long time to get home and you’re also seeing a psychiatrist named Octavia or something like that?”

Vinyl shook her head. Neon always did tend to come up with convoluted, yet reasonable, answers. If Octavia didn’t exist, that explanation wouldn’t be too far off from the truth. “No, not like that.”

Neon drops his utensils, looking at Vinyl with a very serious expression. “Vinyl…” he said, drawing out her name to make sure he has her complete attention. He was unable to keep his gaze for long, though. He looked down, shaking his head. “Please tell me you haven't… haven’t… resorted to prostitution to provide for us…”

Vinyl’s eyes go wide. “W-wha’?! N-no! Never! Why would you even think that!”

He looks down, almost shamefully. “It’s just… I've seen those bills pile up, a-and…”

“Don't worry about that, Neon,” she butt in, cutting him off before he could continue. “Big sis has it covered.”

He eyed her nervously and unconvinced. “A-are you sure? I mean… I could get a job if it’s too much.”

His sister shook her head. “No, Neon. Focus on school and on nothing else, alright? I have everything covered. You don’t get to worry about bills till after college, alright?”

Neon looked away, mumbling, “If I even get to go to college…”

Vinyl’s hooves slam on the table, startling her younger sibling. “No! Don't you dare speak like that! I didn't drop out for you to give up, you hear?! Mom and dad wanted at least one of us to get out of this… this hellhole, and I know it ain’t gonna be me!” She then went over and wrapped her younger brother into a bone crushing hug. “Please… please don't end up like me. I’ve seen your grades. You’re a smart kid, I know it! As long as you keep those grades up, everything will be fine, you hear?”

Neon hesitated, caught off guard by his sister’s yelling then sudden hug. He returned her embrace, nodding. “Alright.” He broke the hug and look her in the eyes. “Thanks, Vinny. But… could you please tell me what you’ve been doing after work? I… I don’t want something bad to happen to you like...like... ”

The white mare hugged her brother again. “Hey, now, don’t think that way. I promise you I’m not doing anything dangerous. Look, eat up and get to school. Today, when you get home, I’ll show you what I’ve been doing, alright?”

Neon nodded, smiling. “Okay.” He then finished his breakfast. As he was packing up his saddlebags, he said to Vinyl, “Oh, there’s no school tomorrow. It’s one of those days where the teachers give the students a day off so they can work on report card stuff. So you don’t have to wake up tomorrow to make breakfast.”

Vinyl blinked, her ears perking up as she rushed over to his side. “Really? No school tomorrow?” She sighed happily, visibly relieved. “Thank the Makers… sleepy times for me!

Neon nodded. “Yep! See you later, Vinny!” he called as he walked out the door.

With her brother gone for several hours, Vinyl decided to go back to sleep for said several hours. She made it up to her room, fell onto the bed, and immediately passing out.

The school bell rang and Neon made his way down the familiar hall towards his math class. Most of the other kids were talking with their friends and hanging by their lockers. The young colt waved and said ‘hi’ to some of the ponies he knew as he weaved through the hallway. Once he made it to his last class of the day, he sat down next to his friend and started some idle conversation.

“Yo’, Neon, how’s it goin'?” his friend said.

Neon shrugged. “Nothing much, Steelwing.”

The silver coated pegasus reached into his bag and pulled out a small pile of papers. “So, dude, did you get number thirty-five on the homework? Literally spent, like, twenty minutes on that thing, but I think I got it.”

Neon looked over his friend’s work. “Yeah, it took me a few tries, but I figured it out. Well, I figured out one way. I think she wanted us to use implicit differentiation, but I just put it in a series so it would be in terms of x.”

Steelwing scrunched his face in thought. “Series in terms of X…?” He smiled. “You absolute madman! That’s, like, calc two crap. Where did you learn about that?”

“The calc two book.”

“Where did you get one of those?”

“Library.”

“We have a library?”

“Alright, class! Listen up! We’re going to be learning about some real powerful stuff today; it’s called math!”

Neon rolled his eyes. And there goes the teacher again… time to sleep. Neon zoned out the teacher, having already understanding most, if not all, of what he was saying. Even if there was something he didn’t fully understand, he would figure it out rather quickly with the textbooks he stockpiled in his room.

As the class came to an end, the teacher reminded his students about the homework and upcoming test and dismissed them. Neon packed up his belongings and made his way out of school grounds and towards home.

Neon’s silver coated friend landed beside him. “Wanna hang out tomorrow?”

He nodded. “I don’t have anything planned, so yeah. Got something in mind?”

Steelwing shrugged. “I don’t know. I just wanna do something besides sitting at home on my ass playing video games.” He perked up as an idea came to mind. “Maybe we can check out that old theatre downtown, huh?”

Neon shuddered. “My sister was already there, she said there’s nothing in there but destroyed drywall and a skeleton.”

“Skeleton?” he repeated. “Yeah... fuck that, man. I ain’t goin' in there.” He shook his head, shuddering slightly. “Anyway, what’s Vinyl been up to these days anyway?”

“Same thing: working at that nightclub six days a week.”

“Damn. It’s been that rough, eh?”

Neon let out a sigh. “You don’t know the half of it. I thought I took our parents death bad, but… she seems to be obsessed with filling their shoes. I mean, she’s been through a crap ton of jobs, and most of them I can’t believe she actually tried.”

“So… no more ‘party girl’, I’m guessing?”

He shook his head. “Not anymore. The only parties she goes to is the ones she works at. And she hates it.”

“Damn.” Steelwing paused, allowing a short silence to pass by as the two colts trotted down the street. “Y’know, you’re lucky to have her as a sister.”

Neon nodded, smiling. “Yeah, I am. I don’t know what would’ve happened to us if she didn’t drop out and get a job as quickly as she did. Hell, the house would’ve probably went to foreclosure and… I don’t even want to know what, then.”

Steelwing also nodded. “She may not be the ‘awesome party girl’ everyone knew her to be, anymore, but I still think it’s pretty fucking awesome what she does now. Wish I had a sibling like that, but my old man’s like ‘one of you is enough’.” He chuckled. “He is kinda right, there can only be one of me.”

“I agree with your dad. Sometimes even I can’t stand you.”

“Hey!”

Neon laughed. He stopped at a crossroad, the one where the two would usually part ways to go home. “Welp, see ya tomorrow then, man.”

Steelwing nodded. “See ya.” He turns to walk away, before stopping mid-stride and calling, “Oh, wait!” He looked at him and smirked. “Vinyl still is single, right?”

Neon sighed out his nostrils. “I don’t think she can afford your expensive taste.”

“Hey, I’m the stallion. I pay for the dates!”

Neon rolled his eyes. “Every time we do shit, you’re always like: ‘oi vey, goy, ten bits for a movie? Who do they think they are?!’”

“Yeah, well... you ain’t my date, so I ain’t payin’ for your shit, goy.”

“No, but it would be nice, time to time.”

Steelwing scoffed, “What, you want to be my date? Hah! I knew you were gay!”

Neon face hoofed.

Steelwing laughed. “Alright man, I’ll pick ya up tomorrow… no homo. Seriously tho, hook me up with your sister.” With that said, the pegasus colt took off, flying in the opposite direction of Neon.

“She’s the gay one, not me!” he called out, figuring his friend couldn’t hear him after he got no response. Neon shook his head, chuckling to himself as he continued his walk home. Steelwing was a good friend. Albeit a cheap one, but still good.

After a few more minutes of trotting, Neon arrived at the front door, opening it with his key and trotting inside. As expected, his sister was passed out on the couch, which was typical for her on a Thursday afternoon since today was her only day off. And, like every Thursday, it was his job to wake his sister from her borderline hibernation slumber. The colt trotted up to his sister and prodded her with his hoof.

“Yo’, sis, time to wake up,” he muttered, continuing to poke his sister.

The white unicorn stirred, mumbling to herself before eventually rolling off of the couch and onto the floor, letting out an exasperated groan. “Eh… Neon… You’re home?”

The colt rolled his eyes. “Yes, I am, now are you finally gonna tell me where you keep going to every night?”

“Eh…”

“Vinyl… you promised!”

“Eh…”

“You want coffee?”

“That would be nice…”

“Coffee then explanation?”

“Yeah, that sounds good.”

Neon sighed, heading towards the kitchen to start the coffee maker. “Y’know, I don’t think that the amount of caffeine you put into your body is good for you.”

“It’s worth it, trust me.”

After a few minutes of fiddling with buttons, the machine let out a stream of hot, rich, black salvation into a mug. Neon then put the amount of sugar Vinyl likes with her coffee, and levitated it over to her.

The white mare sat at the dining room table, slowly enjoying the heavenly liquid. Neon waited, a bit impatiently, for her to start explaining. After a few minutes, he decided he might as well start his homework while he waited.

“Ghosts are real.”

Neon looked up from his textbook. “Huh, what?”

Vinyl sipped her coffee. “Ghosts are real,” she repeated.

Neon raised an eyebrow. “Ghosts are real?” he repeated as if making sure he heard her correctly.

Vinyl nodded. “Last week, when you asked me to go check out the theatre, found a ghost.”

Neon was still confused. “Alright?” She’s still dead tired, he figured.

The white mare finished her coffee. “Come on, I’ll show you!” She got up, grabbing Neon’s hoof.

“H-huh, wait, what?!” he said, caught off guard as he was pulled out of the house.

“I know you won’t believe me… or maybe you will, but you’ll still want to see it for yourself. So I’mma take you to the ghost.”

Neon swiped his hoof away. “Hold on, hold on! So you actually did see a ghost? Not a skeleton?”

She nodded. “No skeletons.”

Neon’s mouth hung open, “Why did you lie, then?”

Vinyl sighed. “Because I didn’t believe it myself. But, trust me, the ghost is real, and I hang out with her after work every night.”

Neon looked at her incredulously. “You hang out with a ghost?”

“Yes.”

“B-but… why would… how… how are you not dead?!”

Vinyl stopped walking to put a hoof on his shoulder. “Listen, Neon, Octavia’s not an ‘evil spirit bent on revenge’ or anything like that. She’s really nice and really lonely. She’s been stuck in the theatre for almost eighty years, completely alone, and every time a pony would come into the building, they would run screaming from her. She just wants a friend and, well, I’m that friend.”

Neon looked at her, slightly less confused, but still a little skeptical of her explanation. Neon was a smart colt, and he would always piece things together quite well. If Vinyl has been at the theatre for a week with that ghost and she’s still there, alive, it showed that what she said about her not being evil was true.

However, he still needed to see this for himself. “Alright, alright. So… ghosts, I’ll believe. I mean, necromancy and stuff exist. But… you’re friends with a ghost? Seriously? How does that even work?”

Vinyl shrugged. “Kinda like normal friendship… except, well, one of you is dead.”

Neon was speechless.

“Look, after I went there on the first day, I came back ‘cus I was curious, and one thing led to another and… yeah. She was kinda mean at first, but I think dying, being ‘resurrected’, and being trapped in an abandoned, decaying building gives her the right to be.”

Neon still said nothing.

Vinyl sighed. “Alright look, when we get there, it’ll all make sense, alright?”

“Wait! We’re actually going to meet her?!”

Vinyl nodded. “Like I said earlier, I’m gonna show you what I’ve been doing the past week. I mean, aren’t you a little bit curious to see a real ghost?”

“Well… kinda actually.” He took a deep breath. “But, you’re sure she’s not, I don’t know… dangerous?”

Vinyl scoffed. “Of course not! I mean, she’s a li’l racist against unicorns but, other than that, she won’t hurt you.”

Neon slowly nodded, still trying to take all of this information in. “Alright… alright. So, one more time, you went to the theatre last week and saw the ghost, right?”

“Yes. To be honest, I thought you were pranking me with some weird magic illusion or hologram or something, but nope, it was a real ghost.” Vinyl took her sunglasses off her head, showing them to her brother, “I dropped my shades when I screamed, and she gave ‘em back to me. After that, I was thinkin’ she wasn’t so bad.”

Neon nodded, following along. “Alright, and you went back to the theatre the next night?”

“Mhmm! It didn’t make sense that a ghost would just be so… I don’t know, polite? I mean, if she was evil, I wouldn’t be here. So I did go back ‘cus I was curious, then we started talking and I found out she was just lonely and wanted a pony to talk to.”

The young colt was piecing everything together, understanding what his sister was saying. “Got it. You’re friends with Casper the Friendly Ghost.”

Vinyl chuckled and lightly punched his shoulder. She looked up ahead, closing in on the theatre. “We’re almost there. Just… when you see her, try not to scream. She’ll get offended.”

“No promises.”

Vinyl coughed, “Baby.”

Neon swiftly turned his head to her. “Wha’? Hey!”

“Oh, look! We’re here!” Vinyl exclaimed, throwing her brother off of his chain of thought.

Neon looked up, and he can't help gulp at the daunting building in front of him. He had known about this building, it's legend, and all that surrounded it, and even the added comfort by his sister telling him what lie ahead still didn't clear the haunting feeling that fell deep within his gut.

“Uh… Is it too late to back out?”

“I will tease you about this until the day you die.”

Neon gulped once more, then trotted forwards, following his big sister. The two unicorns reach the ruined double doors, the older pushing them open. Even in the afternoon, the inside of the building was still pitch black.

“Yo!” Vinyl called out into the empty room, “Tavi you there?!”

In an instant, the ghostly earth pony materialized in front of the living duo. Neon gasped, taking a slight step back as he looked upon the supernatural sight of Octavia’s ghostly form. Her body was slightly transparent, her eyes were glowing, and the air around him was chilling.

The spirit frowned at Vinyl. “Vinyl your taste in music is appalling! I’ve listened to so many of those so-called ‘songs’ that, if I was still alive, I’m pretty sure my ears would be bleeding! And furthermore… oh… is this your brother?” She floated over the trembling colt, extending a spectral hoof. “Hello there, I am Octavia Melody."

“Uh… Uh…” Neon mumbled, standing stock still.

Octavia’s cheerful expression fell at the look of fear in his eyes. She turned her attention to Vinyl. “Vinyl, I thought you would’ve warned him or something.”

The white mare batted a hoof at her brother. “I did! He’s just a big baby!”

Neon’s eyes went wide, and he screwed up his nose and tried to grab Octavia’s spectral hoof. “N-n-nice to m-meet you!” However, his hoof merely phased through Octavia’s, causing him to plunge further into his panic attack.

“Oops!” Octavia squeaked, making her hoof momentarily corporeal and grasping his. “My apologies.”

Neon’s sweat was freely rolling down his face. “O-okay, Vinyl… y-you showed me t-the g-ghost… c-can I go home n-now… please?”

The spectre smiled warmly. “There’s no need to be scared, I promise I won’t hurt you.”

Vinyl slapped her brother on the back. “C’mon! Just pretend she’s not see through!”

Neon gulped. “I-I have h-homework to d-do…”

Vinyl groaned. “Fine, you big baby.” Neon wasted no time in rushing out the door. As soon as he got outside, he fell to his haunches, breathing heavily as if he had run a marathon.

She wasn’t kidding, he thought. The ghost is real. The young colt’s mind was swimming. Ghosts weren’t too hard to believe; necromancy was a thing, but actually seeing one for yourself was on a whole different level. He saw her transparent form, felt the chill of death around him. It all seemed so fake, yet felt so real.

Neon jumped as he felt something touch his back. He turned around, coming face to face with his sister. “Hey,” she started, “You gonna be okay?”

Neon took a moment to collect his thoughts. “Uh… yeah… maybe… I think? Sweet Celestia, Vinyl, I just met a ghost.”

“Yeah, you did!” Her gaze softened, and her tone grew more serious. “So, this is what I’ve been doing the past week. No psychiatrist, no prostitution, no nothing.”

The colt nodded. “Alright… just hanging out with a ghost. And you’re positive nothing bad’s gonna happen to you?”

Viny reached out to hug him. “I promise, Neon.”

Neon returned the hug, trusting his sister’s words. “Alright, Vinyl. Just, don’t stay out too late, okay? You still have to make me breakfast.”

Vinyl playfully slapped Neon on the back of his head. “Get outta here!

Neon laughed, waving goodbye to his sister and returning home to finish his homework.

“So, Tavi, what’s on the agenda tonight?” Vinyl asked her spectral friend, taking a seat in one of the middle rows of the main concert hall.

Octavia floated a short distance away, rubbing her chin with an opaque hoof. “I don’t know, Vinyl. I’ve already read the books you’ve brought me, and, well, there isn’t much else to do here.”

That was going to be a problem. Considering that her ghostly friend was confined to the theatre, their options for entertainment were quite limited, along with Vinyl’s limited timeframe she could even hang out with her friend. The white mare put a hoof to her chin, deep in thought. “Well, what exactly did you do before the, well… before your ghostification?”

“Well I, uh…” Octavia stopped floating, slowly lowering to floor level and sitting down. “I don’t really know. Everything before is still quite fuzzy, and the only real detail or memory that’s still in my mind is of my prom and of that… night.”

“Hmmm…” Vinyl mumbled, putting a hoof to her temple in deep thought. A few, scrambled ideas came to mind before they pieced themselves slowly together. “Y’know… every time you play your song, something happens to me. Like, I see part of your life. And last time that happened, you remembered that part that I saw. Maybe… maybe your song is your life…. or somethin’. But, how come you only played more of the song when I was around and not before?”

Octavia shrugged. “You are the only one to stick around. Perhaps the more you are exposed to it, the more I remember. That seems to be the only thing that makes sense.”

Suddenly, Vinyl clapped her hooves together. “Magic of Friendship!”

Octavia tilted her head. “Come again?”

“I mean, it makes sense! Kinda! I think?”

“That is the most idiotic thing I have ever heard, Vinyl. That sounds like the premise behind some sort of stupid play for foals.”

“No, no. Hear me out! Okay, so Princess Twilight is always spouting about the ‘Magic of Friendship’ and all that, but–”

“Princess who now?”

Vinyl waved her off. “Twilight, she’s new. Her and her friends are like… superheroes or something. They use ‘the Magic of Friendship’ and literally saved the world like… four times. I always thought it was just some dumb, sappy shit and that the real power comes from those super magic artifacts they have, but I think I may be onto something here.

“So, you’ve played the same part of that song since you became a ghost, right? Never changed. But now since I’m here, you learned a new part of the song. A part that comes before the old part. And I’ve seen a vision of you at prom, which, obviously, came before your death. So, I’m thinking that song is connected to your life! You only remembered one part of the song, and one part of your life. Now, you remember two parts of the song, and two parts of your life!

“And that all happened when I came around. At first, your song kinda dazed me a bit. Maybe we established some kind of, I don’t know, connection there! And now, since we’ve bonded a bit more, our friendship grew stronger, and so did that connection between your song and me! So I’m thinking, every time you play, I’m gonna see another part of your life, and you’re gonna remember it until all your memories are back and the song is complete!” Vinyl took a moment to breathe from her rampant explanation. “Whoo! Holy shit! I don’t think I’ve ever thought that hard before in my life!”

Octavia opened her mouth, but then immediately closed it again. This continued until the mare realized that she was, in fact, speechless. “Could it… is it… really that simple?” she inquired, more to herself then her guest.

Vinyl shrugged. “Maybe. Who knows, maybe all you have to do is remember a decent amount of your life and you’ll be able to move on.”

“This is the most feasible theory that I have heard thus far. So, all I have to do is keep playing, you see a part of my life, tell me about it, and that’s it? It seems too… easy.”

“Well,” Vinyl began, readjusting her position in her seat. “Maybe? Like I said, I think it also has to do with our friendship. Like, the more we connect, the more your memory unlocks. I mean, when I found out you were gay, and you accepted yourself, that was probably a big connection-y step in the Magic of Friendship thing.”

Octavia shuffled nervously on the floor at the mention of her sexuality, still a little hesitant about it. She quickly collected herself. “So, what now then?”

Vinyl shrugged. “I don’t think we should force it. Just do what we normally do. I hang out here after work, talk about shit, play your song, hope for the best! I mean, if the song is connected through our friendship, I don’t think we can force it.”

Octavia nodded. “I agree.” She looked down at her ghostly form. “I’ve wanted this curse to end for so long,” she looked to Vinyl, smiling, “but, now that you’re here, I don’t mind sticking around for a bit longer.”

Vinyl smiled, and goes to pat her friend on the back, only to land face first as she passed straight through the mare, a chill running up her spine. “T-that’s the s-spirit!” she said, her words shuttering at the influx of cold.

The ghost giggled, floating in circles before helping her friend back up. “I still can't believe you haven't gotten used to that, yet.”

“M-me neither,” she began, shaking off the last of her shivers. “I should probably head back home and actually get some sleep tonight. It is my only day off. See ya’ around, ‘Tavi!” she exclaimed, turning around and heading out of the concert hall.

Octavia waited patiently for her friend to leave, listening as the hoof steps slowly faded, stopping once the large oak doors closed with a ‘thunk’. The ghost’s smile then turns to a frown, her spectral form rising as she floats over to her little corner of the stage, waiting for her only friend to return.

Next Chapter: Chapter: 7 Estimated time remaining: 3 Hours, 3 Minutes