Octavia sat in the waiting room of Ponyville Hospital, her mind racing after the events that had transpired only a few hours ago. After Vinyl collapsed from her copious blood loss, Tavi grabbed the wounded unicorn and immediately took her to the hospital. Upon Vinyl being admitted, Octavia had no choice but to sit in the waiting room, constantly worrying about the state of her friend. Even in her sleep deprived frame of mind, the gray mare found it impossible to get any sort of rest as she continued to think about Vinyl and what she had done to herself.

One question had been lingering on the cellist's mind all night as she'd sat there, unable to do anything more than simply hope that her unicorn friend would be alright: what had caused Vinyl to do this to herself? Certainly, she had been extremely upset over the course of the last week. Who wouldn't if they had just lost the love of their life? But, even with as distraught as she had been, Vinyl had never attempted anything like this, even at her lowest of low points. It just didn't make sense to Octavia how her best friend could come up with an idea as rash as committing suicide.

Tavi's ruminating was interrupted as she heard somepony calling her name from what seemed like a great distance away. Looking around, she soon saw a nurse standing nearby, a clipboard in her magical grip.

"Could you repeat that?" Octavia asked, sitting up in her chair a little.

"You're Octavia Philharmonica, correct?" the nurse said, checking her clipboard momentarily.

"Yes, I am." Tavi replied, "You’re here about Vinyl?"

"Yes." the nurse said gently, turning and making for the nearby double doors, "If you'd like to, you can go in and see her."

Octavia nodded and slid off her chair onto the floor. Her joints ached from the way she was sitting, as did the muscles in her legs. Slowly, gingerly, the gray mare followed the nurse through the doors and into the hall beyond.

"How is she?" Octavia asked as the doors closed behind them, "Is she doing alright?"

"She lost a lot of blood." the nurse said, genuine concern in her words, "You're lucky you got her to us when you did. A few more minutes, and she... Well, let's just say it wouldn't have turned out so well."

Octavia said nothing to that, not wanting to even consider thinking about the consequences of what would have happened should she have been too late.

"She's stable now though." the nurse continued, turning a corner with Octavia in tow, "We were able to stop the bleeding just in time. She'll most likely always have those scars on her fetlocks though. The poor girl cut herself pretty deep."

"Will she be able to come home soon?" Octavia inquired as two other nurses passed her going the opposite direction in the hall.

The nurse next to her suddenly stopped, causing Octavia to do the same. As the gray mare looked to the white coated nurse, she saw a nervous look on her face.

"That could be a bit of an issue here." the nurse said tentatively, "The evidence is clear that this wasn't some sort of an accident. What she did was intentional, and it raises a lot of questions about her mental health."

"She lost her lover!" Octavia said forcefully, glaring at the nurse, "Of course she's not in her right state of mind!"

"And I understand. But... hospital policy says that she has to be placed on suicide watch for the next seventy two hours."

"Seventy two hours?!" Octavia said loudly, stamping her hoof angrily, "She can't be in the hospital for three days by herself like that!"

"Look, Ms. Philharmonica," the nurse said cautiously, "I'd love to be able to send her home. In fact, if I had my way, she'd be checking out with you right now and be on her way. But, I can't go over the heads of the doctors and psychiatrists. You have to understand that."

Octavia let out a sigh of frustration and defeat. She hated to admit it, but the nurse was right. For her to try and usurp the word of those above her would more than likely cause her to lose her job, and may even land Octavia herself in a bit of trouble that she just didn't need right now. Her concern for Vinyl was extremely strong, but there just wasn't a whole lot that could be done in this situation that wouldn't result in somepony getting put in a very bad spot.

"Tell you what," the nurse continued, placing a hoof on Octavia's shoulder, "I'll talk to somepony and see if I can't pull some strings for you. I can't make any guarantees, but maybe I can have her released early."

Octavia smiled at the nurse, who returned her look.

"Thank you very much." Tavi said.

"Not a problem, Ms. Philharmonica." the nurse said, turning to the nearby door and opening it with her magic, "She's just in here. Take all the time you need to see her."

Octavia thanked the nurse once more and made her way into the room, looking to the bed at the front and seeing Vinyl sitting up. The unicorn looked towards the entryway, flattening her ears and growing a concerned look once she saw her cellist friend make her way in. Tavi smiled sweetly as she entered further into the room, slowly heading towards her friend in the bed.

Vinyl's body had been draped in the typical teal garb of a hospital patient, an IV dangling from a nearby stand placed into her foreleg. Both of her fetlocks had thick bandages all around them, light spots of crimson showing through the deeper layers. As Octavia entered the room, Vinyl seemed to shrink in fear, clearly not wanting to confront her friend about what happened the night before that landed her in the hospital.

"Hello, Vinyl." Tavi said gently, walking up next to her friend's bed, "Are you alright?"

Vinyl peered into Octavia's eyes as her own began to fill with tears.

"Tavi..." she said lightly, her tone uneven and her voice shaking, "I... I'm so sorry..."

Vinyl heaved and began to sob openly, tears flowing from her brilliant crimson-magenta eyes as she covered them with her hooves. Octavia reached her own hoof up and gently placed it on the unicorn's leg, feeling her own tears making their journey towards freedom.

"Vinyl, sweetheart..." Tavi said, trying to maintain a steady and calm tone as she comforted her friend, "It's... I don't understand why you did what you did, but I'm not angry at you for it."

Vinyl removed her hooves from her eyes and looked up to Tavi, droplets trailing down her face and matting her fur. Octavia tried her best to give the unicorn a reassuring smile, despite her own tears beginning to fall from her violet eyes. The gray mare reached up and hugged her friend tightly, allowing Vinyl to cry into her shoulder as she did the same to the cream colored mare. Together, the two of them sat there, openly crying, but relishing the fact that they still had one another in the moments when they needed support the most.

"Vinyl..." Tavi said after some time, breaking the embrace and wiping her eyes, "I need to know... what happened?"

Vinyl sniffled hard and tried to control her breathing once more, with little luck. After a few minutes, however, she managed to steady herself and swallowed hard.

"I... I was at home. I didn't know when you'd get back, so I just waited around for you." Vinyl began, her voice still trembling hard as she spoke, "The doorbell rang and w-when I went to go answer it, all I saw was that vase of flowers. At first I thought they were just sympathy flowers from Roseluck... but when I brought them inside and saw the card attached..."

Vinyl broke down once more, trembling harder than ever as she tried to continue speaking. Tavi rested a hoof on her leg in an attempt to help comfort her.

"Who were they from?" Octavia asked gently.

"Oh Tavi... They... They w-were from him!" Vinyl wailed, "He g-got them for our anniversary!"

Octavia felt her heart plummet as Vinyl broke down heavily, rocking back and forth in her bed as sadness overwhelmed her. Tavi jumped up further on the bed, placing her knees on the edge and wrapping both her forelegs around her best friend as she wailed and sobbed more and more. Tears flowed from the gray mare's eyes once more, hot and stinging tears that fell into Vinyl's mane as she held her close.

"I m-miss him s-so much!" Vinyl wailed, still rocking back and forth, "I w-want him to come home..."

"Vinyl, I want him to come home, too..." Octavia said, unable to maintain any sort of stability as she spoke, "And I'm sure he wants to as much as any of us, but... I don't want to lose you, Vinyl..."

As Tavi released Vinyl, the unicorn locked eyes with her friend once more.

"We all miss him more than anything in this world." Tavi continued, finally able to get her voice under control, "We lost one of the greatest friends any of us has ever had. There's nothing wrong with you being sad about him being gone, dear, but... but I don't want to lose my best friend."

It was Tavi's turn to break down. She covered her eyes and softly cried, her body heaving as she thought about what could have happened had she been too late.

"I... I'm so sorry, Tavi..." Vinyl said, looking upon her distraught friend, "I didn't mean to do it... Once I saw the card, I... I couldn't control myself. I don't even remember doing it... I just remember you coming home and finding me..."

Octavia regained her composure after some time and placed her hoof on Vinyl's, looking into her friend's eyes again.

"Vinyl... I... I don't know what I would do if I lost you." Octavia said, "I love you so much... You're my best friend, and... if he were to ever come back... I don't think I could even begin to explain to him..."

"I-I know, Tavi..." Vinyl said, her voice beginning to steady once more, "I love you too..."

"Josh... he's still out there, and he loves us more than anything in the world." Octavia continued, grasping Vinyl's other hoof in her own free one, "Wherever he goes, whatever he does, he's always thinking about us. I know for a fact that he wouldn't ever want any of us to take measures as drastic as suicide because of him. Especially you, Vinyl. He'd want you to live your life the best you can, even if he’s not there to live it with you."

"It's so hard, Tavi..." Vinyl said somberly, sniffling a little, "I've never loved anypony like that before. We were gonna spend the rest of our lives together, I know we were."

"I thought so, too, dear." Octavia said, leaning in closer to her friend, "But, you never know... Maybe he'll come back, one day. If the love between the two of you is as strong and deep as I know it to be, then he'll never stay away. He'll always come back to you."

Vinyl smiled a little at that. Octavia returned that smile and leaned in to embrace her friend once more, hugging her tightly and gently rubbing her back. The events of the night before had been a shock for both mares, to say the least, and it very easily could have ended in tragedy. But, with Celestia's sun now rising up to grace the skies with its presence, a new day was here, and that day promised hope and healing for the future, for both of them.

"Am I interrupting anything here?" came a voice from the nearby doorway.

Octavia and Vinyl broke apart and looked over to see a tall, unicorn stallion standing there, a clipboard floating next to his head.

"Oh... no." Octavia said, settling herself next to Vinyl on the bed again, "We were just... catching up is all."

"I see."

"Do you need something?" Vinyl asked.

"Well... I need to talk to you, Ms. Scratch." he replied.

"About what?" Vinyl inquired.

"When ponies are brought in, we are required to run certain tests to make sure they are healthy."

"What are you saying? Were there any problems?" Octavia asked, now a little worried that there may be something else going on with her friend.

"No, nothing other than the obvious." the doctor reassured, taking a seat in next to the bed where the two mares were.

"Then what's the issue?" Vinyl asked.

"Well... Ms. Scratch, have you been experiencing any nausea or, perhaps, morning sickness?"

"She has recently." Octavia answered, glancing at her friend, "But, I thought that was just from grief."

"Grief?"

"Yeah." Vinyl replied in affirmation, "I've been really upset and that made me sick. I've had it happen before."

"You really think that your illness has been caused by some sort of sadness?" the doctor asked disbelievingly.

"It's fairly common, isn't it?" Tavi asked.

The doctor looked between Octavia and Vinyl, concern painting his face and causing them both to worry about what he might say next.

"It has been known to happen, yes, but... Do you really not know?"

"What's there to know?" Vinyl asked, now becoming slightly annoyed at the doctor's manner.

"All the signs are there." he said matter of factly, "I'd have thought you'd have picked up on it. I mean, most mares know right away."

"Doctor, please." Octavia said, now pleading with the stallion, "Just tell us what's going on."

The doctor set his clipboard down and placed a hoof on the bridge of his snout, clearly trying to find the words to say what he needed to next.

"Ms. Scratch," he began, lowering his hoof and peering back up at Vinyl, "though you may have had a history of sadness related illness, I can assure you that has nothing to do with this."

"Well, then, what is it?! Just tell me already!"

Octavia reached up her hoof and gently placed it on Vinyl's, causing the unicorn to start and look down at her friend. Octavia gave her the most comforting smile she could muster, hoping to ease Vinyl's fears. Both mares turned their attention back to the doctor, awaiting whatever it was he had to say.

“For all intents and purposes, it shouldn’t even be possible.” the doctor began, keeping his eye trained on his clipboard as he spoke, “From what I could gather, human physiology is very, very different from a pony’s, especially from a... reproductive standpoint.”

Octavia sat in silence for a moment, allowing the doctor’s words to sink in. What could he mean by... The gray mare gasped and covered her mouth with her free hoof as realization hit her. She looked to Vinyl once more to see a shocked expression paint her cream colored face. She slumped in her bed a little as the truth washed over her, causing her to tear up once again.

“D-do you mean that I’m...”

“Yes, Ms. Scratch, you’re pregnant.”