A Hooves-Down Better Day

Copper and I made it to the band room, after finishing our thoughts on cutie marks and how we endeavored to receive ours as soon as possible. Together, we walked in, not quite expecting the absolute pandemonium that awaited us. We were greeted by a stout stallion, his bald head boring holes into the backs of our skulls. I smiled politely, and introduced myself. "Hi, I'm Lavender, and this is Copper. We're interested in joining the music program here." All of a sudden, his eyes lit up with such intensity that it honestly frightened me a little. "That's great to hear! I'm Bass, nice to meet the two of you!" Copper and I then awkwardly slipped past him, officially crossing the threshold into the room. It may as well have been the Twilight Zone.

Ponies of all shapes and sizes were gossiping, laughing, and having a grand old time. I sat down in the trumpet section beside a chocolate brown pony with frizzy red hair. She seemed to be the sanest of the bunch, and when I'd finally caught my breath a little, she extended a hoof, offering it to me with a genuine smile. I was so taken aback at the act of kindness that I visibly froze in my seat, unsure of what action to take. She then waved her hoof around exasperatedly, looking at me with a slightly confused visage. I then shook her hoof with mine, and she appeared visibly pleased, as if I'd just given her one hundred bits. "Hi, I'm Pop Rocks! Nice to meet ya!" the strange pony said. I duly noted that there seemed to be an awful lot of earth ponies in the room, including herself, and I found myself sinking back into my old habits.

It felt nice to actually know another pony's name, so I responded with my name, and we instantly hit it off. By the time Bass had quieted down, we were basically the best of friends. We had been discussing using Bass' head as a bowling ball when he shushed the ensemble. He went on to run his pitch, stating how great an experience being in the orchestra would be and what benefits it would have to be in such a family-oriented place. He spoke of the importance of making everyone your friend and being connected to the whole group, so that we could all move as one unit. During this time, I scanned the other sections for ponies I might recognize from my morning classes. To my delight, I saw a few others that I recognized, but none that I'd really made friends with. To my horror, I spotted the navy blue unicorn from social class.

He seemed to be content sitting in the alto section. like he'd had a lot of experience with this kind of thing before. I was too nervous to confront him, so I thought it best to slink back in my seat. A little while later, I'd been enticed to join the horn section because Bass had said that he'd love it if one of the trumpets wanted to switch, so I volunteered, hoping to get into his good books early on. I wasn't exactly confident in my musical skill, as this would be my first year in an ensemble setting. I shifted awkwardly into my new seat, as the section that I was now bound to was a lot smaller and felt to be a lot more hostile. I was not even met with the time of day as I sat down. My new section leader much resembled a lumberjack with his large, stiff shoulders and his gruff beard. I struggled with my new instrument, trying to move my hoof into the correct position inside the bell. I was glad that I had magic to help me levitate the cold metal, as I would have most likely dropped the thing four or five times had I not.

When Copper and I were walking home, she discussed with me how she had broken up with Apollo-San earlier in the summer, and how dejected she felt with her decision. I tried my best to comfort her, but to no avail. Our evening was rather uneventful, save for a bit of talking about the experience we'd gotten in our respective sections. I felt that tomorrow was going to be a very good day indeed.