Chapters Well, that was certainly something.
Octavia stood in Ponyville Park as the Foal and Filly Fair disassembled itself around her. The young ponies she had been playing for waved goodbye to her as they grabbed their belongs and left, and she waved politely back as they disappeared in the distance.
Her head throbbed faintly. She was still quite disoriented by the rapid series of events she had been through. First, she had been enjoying a nice stroll through downtown Canterlot, when a bright flash of green light had blinded her. The next thing she knew, she was playing her bass for a bunch of little foals in Ponyville of all places along with her bandmates. On top of that, there had been those spontaneous transformations happening to things all around her, the streets had even turned to gold. Once it had stopped, three princesses had shown up in town to deal with cleaning up the mess.
Octavia still wasn’t sure what had caused all this, but the strange day had left her absolutely exhausted. Nothing sounded better to her than heading home, pouring herself a nice glass of chardonneigh, and curling up in her nice warm bed.
Unfortunately her bed was miles away in Canterlot, and she had a two hour train ride to look forward to before she could do any relaxing. Heaving a long, tired sigh, Octavia turned and started walking slowly toward downtown Ponyville. She wasn’t quite sure where the train station was, so she hoped that she might meet someone on the way who could direct her.
How quaint, she thought as she looked around at the small shops and cottages that lined the streets of Ponyville. She was so used to the glamour and large buildings of Canterlot, that it was rather refreshing to smell the clean air and to hear the sounds of ponies laughing together.
Time moved differently here. Days weren't just made up by a series of appointments. Ponies didn't spend all their time going between point A and point B. She saw friends sitting together in cafés, and lovers embracing each other in the street.
It wouldn’t be all that bad to live somewhere like this.
Octavia knew this was impossible though, no matter how appealing the idea was. Her bass kept her firmly rooted on Canterlot with all the orchestras and smaller ensembles she was involved in. And though she loved her music dearly, she wasn’t too attached to the other parts of Canterlot life.
She was annoyed by all the self-entitled stuck up ponies who felt as if her music was their right. She was annoyed at the way they constantly looked down on everything around them. Most of all, she was annoyed that no one in Canterlot was willing to say what was really on their mind. The high society ponies functioned as a hive mind, only ever liking things that their peers liked; basing all of their opinions on what was ‘in’.
If her orchestra performed a new piece, all of Canterlot would decide what they thought of it based on the reviews of one or two critics. Works that had negative reviews rarely had any viewers at all after the first week. Everypony was vain and insincere, and Octavia was just sick of it.
That’s not to say that everything about Canterlot bothered her. She had been raised as a high society pony, and shared some of their high society sensibilities. A nice glass of wine, tea and biscuits, or the sharing of small talk around the hors d'oeuvres table were all things she quite enjoyed.
More than anything, she just felt confused.
Looking up, she noticed a small music shop nestled in between a cafe and a flower stand.
The F Hole, read big bold letters over the door. Approaching the window, Octavia could see what looked like a large selection of CD’s and vinyls, as well as a good selection of musical instruments. She even saw a beautiful, old bass standing in the corner.
This looks like an… interesting spot, she mused. It couldn’t hurt to just take a look inside. As she pushed through the opaque glass double doors, a bell overhead heralded her arrival.
The place was quiet, dusty, and empty as far as she could tell. As she looked around, her eyes fell on the antique bass in the corner, and she walked toward it, it certainly looked like quite an instrument of quality.
“Hey, what’s happening? Can I help you with anything?” A white-coated unicorn with a shock of electric blue hair appeared from behind a towering shelf of old CD’s.
“Aahh!” Octavia started, jumping. Then, when she realized it had just been a friendly employee, she blushed lightly. “ Oh, I apologize, you startled me.”
“It’s all good. Is there anything particular in here you were looking at?” The strange pony asked.
“Well, that is a beautiful bass you have there. Might I ask where you got it?”
“That old thing? I’m not really sure. I sorta just inherited this place from my dad. I’d normally tell you to ask him, but he’s… well…”
Octavia caught on quickly. “ Oh, you poor thing. It must be hard to have to run a shop that isn’t yours.”
The employee looked downtrodden. “Yeah, it’s tough. But I’m glad I’m doing it, y’know? The shop’s always been in the family and now it’s my turn to take the lead.” She said. “It’s just hard because sometimes I don’t know everything the customers ask. I’m learning though.”
“Yes, well I’m sure you’ll catch on quickly. Do you play anything yourself?”
“Me? I’m a DJ,” The unicorn announced, some of her former enthusiasm returning. “I make electronic music. What about you? I’m guessing you play the bass.”
“However did you know?” Octavia responded sarcastically.
“You wanna check it out? You can play it if you like.” Octavia felt herself being led over to the corner. She looked at the clock on the wall.
“Oh no, that’s fine. I need to be heading out anyway.” She started walking towards the door. “Thank you for your time… what was your name?”
“I’m Vinyl. Vinyl Scratch”
“My name is Octavia Melody. Thank you for your time Vinyl, I hope all goes well with your father’s shop.”
“Thanks. Bye Octavia.”
Octavia pushed out the door and back into the streets of Ponyville. She was once again shocked by the crisp, clean air.
I do hope Vinyl does alright with her business.
She paused for a moment right outside the shop, remembering that she still had no idea where the train station was, and turned to head back inside. She saw Vinyl using her magic to move some electronic equipment around on one of the upper wall displays. She waited for her to finish before speaking, so as not to startle her and cause her to drop something.
“Miss Vinyl?” She asked, causing the white unicorn to start a bit before looking over at her.
“Just Vinyl, please. Miss just makes me feel old, and that is not cool.” She replied before starting to work on the next display.
“Very well, Vinyl, could you direct me to the nearest train station? I need to return to Canterlot as soon as possible.”
“Yeah, sure. Just keep going past this shop and take your second left, keep going and it should be off to your left once you reach the end of the street.”
“Thank you again, Vinyl.”
“No prob, laters.” She said without taking her focus off her work.
Octavia continued on towards her destination, continuing to take in the sights of small town life. Foals were running in the street, playing with their friends. She also saw a simple market place, where local farmers sold their produce. Apples, carrots, beets, all had their own little stands with lines of ponies waiting to buy the fresh goods.
Nothing like this in Canterlot.
Everything there was shipped in and bought from different stores where they had been wrapped up and left on a shelf for a week. As she rounded the corner, she froze mid stride, the sight before her causing her to lock up completely for a moment, before running back around the corner.
Dear Celestia, not her!
It was that horrible pink pony. The one from the Gala that had ruined her quartet’s performance. She shuddered just thinking about it. There was no way she could face her again.
I’ll just have to find another way to the train station, she thought, slowly backing away from the corner.
She turned around to search for another route, when her vision was suddenly filled with vibrant pink.
“Hi, I’m Pinkie Pie! I haven’t seen you around here before, you must be new!” The pink pony’s face suddenly lit up with recognition. “Oh, I remember you! You’re that bass player from the Gala!”
Far across town, they heard the scream of a mare who had seen something truly frightening, and wondered which of the three flower sisters had passed out this time. Only those close by would have seen the grey blur shoot by, followed by the calmly bouncing Pinkie Pie. They then would have passed it off as Pinkie being Pinkie and continued on with their business.
Octavia was not accustomed to such things though, and was surprised to see that none of the local ponies were trying to find out what was wrong with her. Looking behind her, she notice that she was no longer being followed. Slowing to a trot, she came to a halt beside the platform of the train station. Leaning against the building, she tried to catch her breath.
“Drink?” She heard as a glass of water was thrust in her direction. She eyed it briefly before snatching it up and downing it quickly. She gasped for breath and handed the glass back to the pony. When she looked back up, she saw the last pony she ever wanted to see calmly standing before her.
“What do you want from me! I just want to go home!” She exclaimed, too tired to try running again. The pink mare’s features fell. She seemed to dull a little bit, and her bright smile faded slightly.
“I’m sorry. I just wanted to give you a funerrific ‘Welcome to Ponyville’, and then when I recognized you, I wanted to apologize for ruining your playing at the gala. I kinda went a little crazy and overdid it. I didn’t mean to ruin your night.”
Octavia was speechless. This couldn’t be the same mare from the gala. That mare had acted like a hyperactive foal whose parents had left a full pot of coffee where they could get to it.
“It appears I may have misjudged you. I apologize for yelling at you Miss… ? Octavia recoiled as Pinkie jumped up into the air, her color coming back and her mane and tail going back to their usual state.
“My name’s Pinkie Pie!” She said with an impossibly wide grin.
“Yes, well it was nice meeting you Miss Pie. My name is Octavia Melody,” She said, offering a hoof shake, “and I’m terribly sorry to cut our meeting short, but I must arrange transportation back to Canterlot immediately.”
“Okie dokie lokie!”
Octavia watched as the mare bounced her way back down the street. Shaking her head, she turned and made her way up the platform to the ticket booth. Upon purchasing her ticket, she was pleased to find that she only had a ten minute wait before the next train arrived.
As she relaxed on one of the many benches, she returned to taking in the sights that the small town had to offer, letting her mind wander until her train arrived.
Night was only beginning to fall, and already it was darker than Canterlot ever got. Overhead, a sparkling tapestry became clear one shining speck at a time as Princess Luna worked her beautiful magic. She’d never seen the stars so clearly in her life.
The sight took her breath away.
Octavia’s stomach fluttered with excitement as her carriage neared the concert hall. Tonight was a big deal for her, a huge step forward in her career as a professional musician.
Tonight, the Canterlot Royal Symphony was performing a piece composed entirely by her! She could barely sit still, one of her hooves drumming nervously on the seat as she looked out the window, watching the night life of Canterlot come to life as evening fell. She lurched forward slightly as the carriage came to a halt.
The door opened a few moments later, her chauffeur ushering her outside.
“Would you like some help with that, miss?” He asked, gesturing at her bulky bass.
“No, thank you. I’ve got it under control.” She told him as she deftly slipped it onto her back, securing the strap around her barrel. He nodded and returned to the front of the carriage, pulling it away as soon as he was hooked up.
Weaving her way through the crowds of people waiting outside the hall, she made her way around back and into the staging area, where many of her fellow musicians were already waiting, preparing their instruments for the concert.
She saw the music director frantically making his way through them, handing out sheets of paper.
“We’ve had some last minute changes to our program. Everypony, make sure to look over the revised set list.” She grabbed a copy from him as he passed, glancing over the song list.
This was nothing new for her, some noble with money would pay extra to have songs that they liked added to the set list. Most of the time this wasn’t a big deal, they would simply add the song in and bump off the bottom one if they didn’t have time to fit them all in.
No! That can’t be!
Her eye twitched and she pulled on the paper hard enough to tear it half way down the page. There was only one difference on the page. Her song, the one she had spent the better part of five years writing and perfecting, had been replaced.
She immediately made her way over to the director with her ruined paper, grabbing onto his shoulder and spinning him to face her.
“What in Equestria is the meaning of this! Why was my piece taken out of the performance!” She yelled lividly. The director pushed her hoof away and straightened his tie before glaring at her.
“Miss Octavia, I will remind you that this is a professional organization and you will act appropriately or you will be removed. Your part was removed from the set because we received last minute notice that Princess Cadance and Prince Shining Armor will be attending. We didn’t want to take any chances with playing a new piece and risk something going wrong during the performance so we removed it. I’m sure you can understand why we had to make the change.”
She stood there, eye twitching as the paper fell to the floor.
“Oh yes, I understand. I understand that you sold me out and destroyed the artistic integrity of this ensemble.” She said, seething.
“Please understand,” the director begged, “pleasing the public must come first. As much as I would love to feature the works of our members, this group must focus on playing what the ponies out there want.”
By this time, Octavia was seeing red. Her eye twitch was now joined by an audible grinding of her teeth.
“Now, please get yourself ready for the concert, and quit obsessing over the small changes.”
She snapped, feeling her hoof connect with the director’s muzzle before she even realized she was swinging. She heard the crunch of cartilage breaking as blood flowed freely from the impact.
It took a few moments for her brain to catch up with her actions, around the same amount of time that it took the guards to tackle her. The director got back up, trying to wipe the blood from his muzzle.
“Oh, that is IT! I hope you feel good about yourself now, because if I have any say in it, you’ll never play in this town again!” He turned to the guards. “Get her out of here.”
The back doors to the concert hall flew open, and Octavia was tossed unceremoniously onto the sidewalk, followed shortly by her bass. She managed to catch it before it impacted with the sidewalk, preventing any damage to the instrument. The doors slammed closed and she just sat there staring at them.
She felt something hit her foreleg and she looked down to see a wet spot. It was soon joined by another, and then another. She then realized that she was crying. She started openly sobbing as the gravity of her situation finally fell upon her. Her entire musical career was officially over, all because she hadn’t been able to take her rejection with grace.
What am I going to do now?
Music was her entire life, her entire existence . Now she would never be able to do anything with her gift. The piece she had spent the last five years getting just right would never be played. She herself would never be able to play, at least in Canterlot anyway.
I’ve certainly had quite the fall from grace tonight. From playing in the Royal Canterlot Orchestra to lying on the sidewalk in a puddle of my own tears.
“Octavia?” A familiar voice asked from beside her.
She looked up, wiping the tears from her eyes. A familiar mint green mare came into focus.
“Lyra? What are you doing here?”
“Coming to see your new piece, duh.” She replied, offering a hoof to the grey mare. “Shouldn’t you be inside getting ready?”
Octavia turned away from her friend, not wanting to see the fresh tears rolling down her face.
“Hey, what’s the matter?” Lyra asked, putting a hoof around her friend. “It’s your big night!”
At that, Octavia burst into fresh sobs, wrapping her forelegs around her friend and crying into her shoulder.
“Awww, what’s the matter, Tavi? What’s wrong?” Lyra asked, returning the hug in full force.
“I… I…” She tried to explain but couldn’t get her sobs under control enough to get her words out.
“Shh. Shh. It’s okay.” Lyra said, attempting to sooth her friend while gently patting her back with a hoof. “Why don’t we head back to my place? I’ll brew us a pot of tea and you can tell me all about it once you’ve calmed down.”
Octavia just nodded her head in response. As they started walking back towards Lyra’s house, she picked up Octavia’s bass with her magic, carrying it over her head. She gently guided her friend, letting her drift in whatever thoughts were going through her head that made her so distraught.
They continued in silence to Lyra’s apartment building, and all the way up the stairs, coming to a stop in front of her door. Using her magic, she quickly unlocked the door and they went inside. She moved some boxes out of the way, and set Octavia’s bass up in the corner of the room.
“Sorry about the mess in here. I’m just about packed for the move next week.” Octavia looked around at the piles of boxes, she was no longer crying, but still remained silent.
Lyra walked into the kitchen, levitating a teapot out of one of her cabinets, filling it with water, and placing it on the stovetop. Next she placed two teacups on the counter beside the stove, placing a tea bag inside of each one.
“I take it you’ll want chamomile?” She asked. As expected, she got no response. She remained silent, waiting for the water to boil.
A few minutes passed, and a shrill whistle came from the kettle. Lyra took it off the stove and poured it into the two teacups, then sat it back on the stove. She picked up the two cups with her magic and went back into her living room. She sat them on the coffee table beside the couch and motioned for Octavia to join her.
The grey mare walked over and sat next to her on the couch. She picked up her tea, and blew on it to cool it down. She took a sip, letting the burning liquid warm her throat.
“Ready to talk about it?” Lyra asked, watching as her friend sat the cup back on the table.
Taking a deep breath, she spoke. “I was kicked out of the orchestra.”
Lyra’s eyes widened at that news. Octavia had always been so proud of her position in the orchestra. She couldn’t think of a single reason as to why they would have done so. It surely wasn’t from lack of skill, she had seen her friend play many times and she truly was a great performer.
“What? Why?” Was all she could manage to get out.
“They took my piece out of the set list because Princess Cadence was going to be making a last minute appearance, and they didn’t want to risk any mess ups due to us playing a new song.”
“They didn’t!”
“And to make matters worse, the director treated me like a tantrum throwing foal, and told me that I shouldn’t be ‘obsessing’ over it. Thats when I hit him.”
Lyra scooted closer to her friend and wrapped her forelegs around her. “Oh, Tavi, I’m so- wait, what was that last part?”
Octavia sighed before taking another drink from her cup. “I lost control of my temper and I hit the director. I couldn’t take him talking to me the way he was, and I let him have it.” She suddenly found herself on the receiving end of a bone crushing hug.
“Oh, Tavi! I’m so proud of you, standing up for yourself like that!”
“Standing up for myself is what got me kicked out of the orchestra!” She yelled, pushing Lyra away gently.
“Oh, yeah… that.” Lyra replied, rubbing the back of her head sheepishly.
Octavia let out a dejected sigh and finished off the rest of her tea.
“I don’t know what I’m going to do now. The director said he was going to do everything within his power to make sure I never performed in Canterlot again.” She hung her head, a lone tear making its way down her muzzle.
“Well, if it’s that bad, you could always move with me. You could get a fresh start in a new town.” Octavia gave a dismissive snort. “Hey! You’re always telling me how much you hate all the stuck up attitudes of the ponies in this town. This could be your big chance to get away from all of this. Silver linings and all that jazz.”
“Honestly, once my parents find out, it won’t matter much what I want. They’ll kick me out and I’ll be on my own anyway.”
“No way! They’re your parents, I’m sure they’ll be there for you when you need them.”
“My parents would disagree with you. I was the earth pony child they were ‘cursed’ with. They’ve sunk a small fortune into my music lessons and getting me the best tutors. Once they find out I’ve thrown all that away, they won’t want any more to do with me.”
“Wow… That’s… Just wow.”
“You know, I think I will take you up on that offer. Where are you moving to? Manehattan? Phillydelphia?”
“Ponyville!” Octavia’s expression dropped.
“Ponyville? Why there?”
“Oh, I got a job teaching music at the school there.” Lyra said with a beaming smile.
“Well, it didn’t seem too bad the last time I was there.”
“I’m going to be rooming with my friend, Bonnie, we were classmates back in the day. I’m sure she wouldn’t mind you tagging along, she has a pretty big house and lives all by herself.”
“Are you sure she wouldn’t mind?”
“No way, she’ll love the company, and I’m sure she’ll be excited to meet you.”
“Well then, it looks like I’m going with you.”
“You need to head home and grab anything?”
“No. Everything important is here with me.” She said, indicating the bass leaning against the corner.
“Are you sure about all this? It seems very sudden.” Lyra looked at her questioningly.
“Yes. The sooner I get out of Canterlot, the sooner I can start putting my life back together.” She hugged her friend. “Thank you so much for your help, I don’t know what I’d be doing without you.”
“Anytime, Tavi.” She replied, returning the hug.
The train blew its whistle as it started to slowly pull out of the station. Octavia stared out the window and watched Canterlot slowly shrink into the distance.
I’ve lived there my entire life, and this is how I end up leaving it.
She left a note for her parents explaining her situation, after much persuasion on Lyra’s part. As she’d expected, they didn’t even show up to say goodbye or even try and stop her. In their eyes, she had become a failure as soon as she was no longer playing with the orchestra. Her leaving simply saved them the time of making her go.
Enough of this negative thinking, I’m moving on with my life, and everything can only go up from here.
Canterlot was fully obscured from view as the train came around the side of the mountain and started it’s way down towards Ponyville. The scenery was absolutely breathtaking. No big buildings or billboards, just farm land for miles, and in the distance, the ominous Everfree Forest.
She’d heard the tales of how the Element Bearers had defeated Nightmare Moon at the castle located deep within. From this distance, it looked no different from any other forest, but she had read stories about all the terrible things that lay waiting among those dense trees.
Near the forest, lay the town itself. It’s quaint rural appeal still caught her eye, looking so much different than the tall stone buildings of Canterlot. There was something indescribable about the town that made it feel more alive. She actually found herself becoming excited to be calling the place her home.
Octavia followed Lyra away from the station, pulling one of the carts containing Lyra’s belongings. The station had been gracious enough to loan them the carts so they could get it all in one trip.
“Come on! Bon Bon’s house is this way.” Lyra said, leading Octavia down a narrow street. Octavia quickly realized that it was going to take her a while to learn her way around. All of the streets and alleyways looked the same. Only town hall stood up above all the other buildings, serving as a guiding point.
They continued on, making their way through the seemingly endless streets that all blended together. She zoned out for a bit and almost ran into Lyra’s cart when she stopped in front of one of the buildings. It was a large two story building, made in the same fashion as most of the other buildings around it.
“Here we are.” Lyra walked up to the door and rapped her hoof loudly against it. “Bonnie, I’m here!” She turned the knob and the door opened. Leading Octavia inside she called out again. “Hope you don’t mind, but I’ve brought a friend with me.”
“Just a second!” Bon Bon frantically yelled back.
They could hear her scrambling around in the living room, and headed that way to see what all the fuss was about. As they turned the corner, they saw the cream colored mare rushing around the room, blowing out dozens of candles in various places around the room. Octavia blushed and immediately turned away when she noticed that the mare was wearing long striped socks, Lyra’s cutie mark embroidered obviously at the top of each one.
“I’ll be in the kitchen.” She hastily said as she retreated from the room, leaving Bon Bon alone with Lyra in the living room. As hard as she tried not to listen, she couldn’t help but overhear their conversation.
“Bonnie, what is all this?” Lyra asked.
“I thought you were coming alone, I wanted to surprise you.”
“Didn’t you get my second letter?” Bon Bon stopped what she was doing and gave Lyra a nervous look.
“I may have just… glanced through it. You’ve been gone for almost three months, I was so excited that you were coming back, I guess I only read what I wanted too.”
It seems that Lyra may not have told me everything about her friendship with this Bon Bon mare, Octavia thought to herself, smiling. Making her way back through the kitchen, she headed back outside and started bringing some of the boxes in while Lyra talked with Bon Bon.
Lyra appeared in the doorway a few moments later, a nervous smile on her face.
“Sorry you had to see that.” She said, eyeing Octavia warily. It was no secret that the ponies of Canterlot had no tolerance when it came to same sex couples, which was why Lyra had pointedly avoided telling her about their relationship.
“If you’re waiting for me to shun you just because I’ve found out you’re dating a mare, I’m afraid you’ll be waiting quite a long time.”
“Buh… Wha… Huh?” Lyra stumbled over her words, too flabbergasted to form a proper sentence.
“I promise, I won’t tell anyone about you two.”
“Thanks? I think.”
“Isn’t that what you were worried about? That I’d tell somepony and you two would have to leave town?”
“Huh? No. Ponyville doesn’t really care who you’re with, so long as you’re both adults. I’m just surprised that you aren’t chewing my head off right now about how it’s wrong for two mares to be together and all that other nonsense those fools in Canterlot spew.” She noticed Octavia’s surprised look at the news that fillyfooling didn’t carry the same taboo in Ponyville that it did in Canterlot.
The grey mare looked like she wanted to say something, but hesitated, clearly nervous.
“That’s probably because I’d have to yell at myself as well.”
“Wait. You can’t mean…” Lyra looked shocked.
Octavia nodded, a blush spreading over her face at revealing something so personal.
“Wow.”
“What?” Octavia asked skeptically.
“I just never pegged you for being one of us, I guess. I figured that growing up in Canterlot they would have made you into one of their mindless zombies.”
“I’ll admit it was hard to keep it a secret. I always felt as if I couldn’t tell anyone, for fear of being ostracized or kicked out by my parents. You’re actually the first pony I’ve ever told.”
“Well, just consider that another perk to getting out of that stuck up old city. No one is going to judge you here, and there are plenty of options too, if you know what I mean.” She said, nudging Octavia’s shoulder and wiggling her eyebrows.
“Well,” She paused to clear her throat, blush returning in full force. “that’s good to know, I guess.”
They continued to unload the carts, an awkward silence hanging over them as they moved all of the boxes inside. When they finished with the first cart, a now sockless Bon Bon came out to help with the rest of it. As she made her way through the house, Octavia saw that the living room was now devoid of anything suggesting the state it had been in earlier.
Once they were all finished, they sat down in the kitchen to rest and grab something to drink. Octavia, pushed her glass around on the table for a moment or two before speaking up.
“Are you sure that I won’t be imposing?”
“Of course not.” Bon Bon said, almost immediately. “After what you’ve been through, I would be ashamed of myself if I didn’t offer you a place to stay until you got back on your hooves.”
“Thank you. Your hospitality is quite… refreshing.”
Octavia made her way through the marketplace, picking up some items to replace ones that she had left in Canterlot, as well as a couple of things that Bon Bon had asked her to pick up while she was out. She figured it was just Bon Bon finding a way to keep her out of the house longer, so that she and Lyra could have some personal time.
She smiled to herself at the fact that they were able to freely express their love here. She pondered over whether or not she would find a special somepony for herself. As her mind wandered, imagining different ideal ponies for herself, she collided with something soft in front of her, falling to the ground.
“Hey! What’s the big idea!”
“Oh, dear, I’m so sorry! I wasn’t paying attention where I was going.”
“Obviously.” She heard the other mare’s tone change to an almost playful one. “Oh hey, I remember you. Octavia, right? I didn’t figure I’d see you again so soon.”
Turning around, she saw that she had ran into none other than Vinyl Scratch.
“Ah, Miss Vinyl! A pleasure seeing you again.”
“Just Vinyl, and pretty good. How about yourself?”
“I’ve been better.” She said dejectedly.
“Oh? Anything I could help with?”
“Not unless you can go back in time and stop me from making a stupid mistake.”
“One of those problems, huh? Well, if you ever need an ear or a shoulder to lean on, I’ll be there for ya.”
“Actually, it’s not all that bad.” This caused Vinyl to cock an eyebrow. “I may have… punched my music director for removing a piece of music I wrote from our setlist for no good reason.”
“I take it there’s more to it? Doesn’t sound all that bad so far.” Vinyl said with a smirk.
“He kicked me out of the orchestra, and promised to have me blacklisted from ever performing in Canterlot again.”
“Ouch.”
“My friend Lyra offered to let me move down here with her. Music is my life, and if I couldn’t perform in Canterlot anymore, then there wasn’t any reason to stay.”
“Sounds like you’re lucky to have a good friend like that. Canterlot can be rough if you’re on your own.”
“Yes, the big city can be quite unfriendly, especially if you don’t have connections.”
“So, how are you enjoying Ponyville so far?” Vinyl asked, leading her over to a bench so the two could sit. “Pretty big change for a city mare like yourself.”
“Yes, it’s a change alright. Although a welcome one I must admit. The ponies in this town are so much friendlier than those stuck up mules in Canterlot.”
“Well it’s not all sunshine and rainbows around here either. A lot of crazy stuff happens around here all the time. I know it doesn’t look like it, but we’ve had more than our share of disasters and just plain strange things going on around here.”
“I expect that it’s largely due to the Everfree Forest being so close?”
“Yeah that’s part of it, but mostly it comes from having Twilight Sparkle and her friends living here. They’re all great ponies, but they sure attract their fair share of trouble.” Vinyl leaned over, whispering conspiratorially. “And just between us, I don’t think those ponies are all there, if you catch my meaning.” Octavia’s eyes widened.
“Twilight Sparkle? As in Princess Twilight Sparkle?”
“The one and only.”
Octavia’s eyes rapidly scanned the surrounding area, making sure that she hadn’t missed the princess as she had wandered through town.
“Where does Princess Twilight live? I didn’t see any place set up for her.” This got a laugh out of Vinyl, which caused Octavia to stare at her curiously.
“Funny thing, that is. Princess Twilight actually lives above the public library.”
Octavia’s jaw dropped.
“You mean there’s a princess living here and the best you all could do was a LIBRARY!”
Vinyl just stared at her, wondering what she was getting at. Several ponies cast a glance in their direction, before continuing on with their business.
“The best we could do? No she lives there by her own choice. She’s a bit of a book worm, you see. When she first moved to Ponyville she almost never left the place.”
Octavia could scarcely believe what she was hearing. A princess of Equestria, willingly living inside of a public library. Her brain refused to accept this information, and promptly performed a reboot, leaving her with a blank look and one eye twitching.
Vinyl looked over at the clock tower to check the time before turning back to Octavia.
“Well my lunch break is about over, I gotta be heading back to the shop.” She said as she stood back up. When she got no reply, she shrugged and started to walk away. She stopped after a few steps and turned back around. “Say if you need a job till you can get back on your hooves, I could always use some help around the store.” Still receiving no reply, she turned and headed back to her shop.
“Stop by later if you make a decision.” Vinyl called, as she turned a corner and disappeared from view.
It took Octavia’s frazzled brain a few seconds to process what Vinyl had just said, but the more she thought about it, the more she liked the idea of helping Vinyl out in her shop.
I am going to need a way to support myself while I’m here. Even if Bon Bon is providing a room, I’ll still have expenses.
The prospect of working for the energetic white mare wasn’t so bad either. She was so open, unlike anyone she had ever met before.
I’m going to have to stop by her store when I’ve got some free time .
She checked her bags over, making sure she hadn’t lost anything when she ran into Vinyl, she got up and started making her way to pick up the final items from her list.
Author's Note
Thanks for all the constructive criticism you guys have been putting in, we really tried to apply it in this chapter.
Hope this chapter turned out better!
Chapter Four
Octavia finished emptying the last box, placing the items on the counter and tossing the box towards the pile of other boxes laying in the corner. She had spend the last couple of days helping Lyra unpack, since she had been gracious enough to invite her along.
“Vinyl Scratch?” Bon Bon looked at Octavia, mouth agape. “You’re gonna take a job with Vinyl Scratch?
“Yes. Is there something wrong with that?”
“Nothing at all, she’s a great mare. It’s just…” She paused as she stretched to put something on one of the top shelves. “you guys are about as opposite as two ponies can be.”
“I’ll admit that she is a bit eccentric, but we seemed to get along well enough. Besides, what better place for me to work at than a music shop?”
“I suppose,” Bon Bon conceded, “just don’t come complaining to me if she starts getting on your nerves.”
“Aw, lighten up Bonnie.” Lyra said, walking into the kitchen. “I’m sure they’ll be fine.”
“If you say so.” Bon Bon said doubtfully. “Either way, I hope you can help her out. I’ve heard that the shop hasn’t been doing too well lately.”
“Oh dear, her business is in trouble.” Octavia suddenly looked very worried. “Do you know what’s wrong?”
“Rumor has it, she spends all of her time partying and is too hungover to actually open the shop the next day.” Lyra said as she started to break down the boxes with her magic. “Guess you’d have to ask her what the issue is, that way you get the real story. Gossip does tend to run wild in this town.”
“Well I certainly hope that isn’t true. If this mare’s gonna be my employer she’ll have to be more responsible than that.” Octavia said, ducking low to place something underneath the sink. “If she is staying out all night partying I’m going to have to knock some good business sense into her.”
“When were you planning on going to go see her?” Bon Bon asked.
“I planned on going over sometime this afternoon.” She replied, closing the cabinet with a gentle kick.
“Well good luck with that. Anyone else hungry?” Lyra asked as she finished with the last box, stacking it in a neat pile with the rest of them.
“I’m starving, how do hay burgers sound?” Bon Bon said as she headed for the doorway.
“That sounds delicious!” Lyra exclaimed, heading towards the door.
Octavia hesitated for a few moments, unsure whether she should follow them. Lyra spoke up before she could respond.
“You can come too, we’ll get ya.” Octavia smiled and followed the mint colored mare out the door.
Following their meal, the trio had returned home and continued with the unpacking. Having finally finished with the massive undertaking, the three now sat around the kitchen table, enjoying their cool beverages.
“Lyra, where on equis did you ever manage to accumulate so much stuff?” Bon Bon asked.
Lyra shrugged. “Guess it kinda just built up over time. Didn’t feel like I had spent this long getting it all packed though.” She said rubbing her chin in thought.
“Well, wherever it came from, I’m just glad it’s all put away now.” Octavia said, taking a sip of her drink.
“Speaking of all put away, do you have everything you need?” Bon Bon asked Octavia.
“Oh yes, thank you for asking. Thank you for allowing me to stay here as well.”
Bon Bon dismissed her with the wave of a hoof. “Oh it’s fine. You certainly aren’t a bad house guest, unlike some of the ponies she’s brought home before.” She finished with a glare towards Lyra, who suddenly found the bottom of her glass very interesting.
“Well if there isn’t anything you need help with, I think I’ll take my leave now.” Octavia said, as she got up and put her glass in the sink.
“Nah, we’re good. Tell us how it goes.” Lyra replied. Octavia nodded before heading for the front door.
Stepping out into the fresh air of Ponyville was an invigorating experience for the grey mare. It was still a shock after being exposed to the congested city of Canterlot for her entire life. Looking overhead, she saw the weather team setting up what looked to be a rainstorm. She’d have to see if her house mates kept a copy of the local weather schedule or not.
Figuring it to be in her best interest, she hastened her pace towards Vinyl’s shop. If she was lucky, she would be able to make it back before the rain started. She silently hoped that the weather team here worked the same way as the one in Canterlot, and scheduled their rainstorms to happen overnight.
As she rounded a corner, the familiar storefront of The F Holecame into view. It looked just as run down as it had before, and as she approached, she saw that the interior of the store was still coated in a thick layer of dust.
Well, it could be worse.
She headed inside, looking around to see if Vinyl was anywhere in sight. After a few moments, she came out from the back of the store, carrying a box of… something out with her. As she turned the corner, she finally noticed that there was another occupant in her store.
“Hey! You came back I see. You here to take me up on my offer?” Vinyl asked with a cheerful tone.
“Well yes, I was considering it.”
“Thank Celestia. I could use the help around here.” Vinyl said, setting the box on the counter.
“What exactly do you need help with?”
“Pretty much everything really. When my dad left me this store, I’d never even thought of owning a business before. I was always too caught up in my music to help out around this place. Guess I should have payed a little more attention, huh?” She turned and started rummaging through the box.
“That does seem to be a lot of responsibility to have dropped on you all at once, I can imagine it’s pretty hard to pick up so quickly.”
“Tell me about it. I’m having trouble just getting ponies in here. Ponyville has never been a very musical town, but I was hoping getting another musician like you in here might help.”
“I’ll do what I can. I’d hate to see a beautiful music shop like this go out of business”
“Yeah, me too.” Vinyl said, wandering around to the behind the checkout desk. “What do you think this place needs?”
Octavia glanced around the inside of the store as she listened to Vinyl. She took note that aside from bad cleaning habits, the prices on some of the instruments were high, even for Canterlot standards.
“Well this place could definitely use a good cleaning, thats for sure. Also some of these prices are outrageous. Maybe the issue isn’t that ponies don’t want to buy, but they can’t.” She ran a hoof along the top of a nearby instrument, knocking off a thick clump of dust. “Or are afraid to.”
“Heh, yeah I’ve been meaning to get around to cleaning up the place a bit. And most of the stuff in here still has the original prices my dad put on em. Haven’t really bothered to change any of them, since I’m not even sure what most of this stuff is.”
“Well, Vinyl, it appears to be your lucky day. I accept your offer and I think that I can help you get this place back in working order. Classical music is my forte, so I’m familiar with most of these instruments, although I will admit I don’t know much about the electronic parts you have here.”
“Leave that to me.” Vinyl replied. “Most of the electronics in here I added once I got ahold of the place. Figured I’d attract more business having a wider variety of stuff to buy. It worked a little, but not enough.”
"You said your biggest trouble was getting ponies in here?" Octavia asked, thinking. "Have you tried any advertisement?"
"No, not really. To be honest, I don't have a clue how the actual business end of owning a shop works." She said, crestfallen.
"Well have you ever thought of asking somepony for help?" A sheepish smile was the only response she got. Octavia sighed and rubbed the bridge of her nose.
"For now, let's get this place cleaned up and get these prices fixed. Bon Bon owns a candy store so I'll ask her if she can help you in the business department." Spotting a duster in the corner, she moved to get it, only to be stopped by a white hoof.
"Thanks." The white mare said with a heartfelt look. "I really appreciate you trying to save this place."
"You're welcome. Consider it my thanks for the employment opportunity." Vinyl gave her a smile before turning back to her box.
A couple of hours later, she finally had the dust removed from the display cases, instruments and the front window displays. She thanked Celestia that she was born with a grey coat, because it hid the dust that was now covering her entire body.
Vinyl had been sorting out the back room, pulling out various boxes and bringing them to the front. She put the contents into various display cases or throwing their contents in the trash when there was nothing of value inside.
Octavia made her way to the back room to tell her she was done. The white mare could be heard rummaging through various items. As she turned the corner, she saw that what she had thought was a store room was actually an office. It was still partially hidden under various boxes, but Vinyl had made substantial headway.
“You’ve sure made a lot of progress.” Octavia said, smiling.
“Yeah, I’ve been finding stuff back here I didn’t even know we had.” Vinyl said, heaving a large box from a towering shelf. “I hadn’t even realized there was a desk back here till I uncovered it.”
“Well I’m sure it will be helpful to set up some sort of office space back here. We need a place for filing papers and managing all that other mundane sort of business.”
Vinyl made a face. “Blegh, filing? Do we really need to do that kind of crap?”
Octavia giggled. “Of course, organization is an essential part of running a shop, we’ll need to keep all those kind of things in order.”
She walked over to the desk and stroked her hoof over it, making a thick line in the dust that coated it.
She let out a long tired sigh. “It looks like this room is going to need as much work as the front, isn’t it?”
“Yeah I haven’t done the best job with this place recently, have I?” Vinyl smiled apologetically.
“No, not really.” Octavia quipped with a smirk. “I’ll help you finish sorting all of this. It’ll go faster if we’re both working on it.”
“Alright, that sounds good.” Vinyl said with a smile as she turned back to the box she had just pulled down.
Octavia went back out to the front and retrieved the duster she had used earlier. She began to clean off the desk, gently sweeping around the objects that were sitting on it. A feather caught under one of the picture frames, causing it to fall over. Setting the duster down, she gently picked it up, making sure that it wasn’t damaged.
As she straightened the frame, the dust slid off of the glass revealing the picture that had been hidden beneath it. She glanced over at Vinyl, who was still rummaging through the box. Making her way over, she gently tapped Vinyl to get her attention. She spoke up when Vinyl looked at her.
“I think you may want to look at this.” She said, handing over the picture.
Vinyl gasped when she took in the photo. As she stood there, staring at the picture, wetness could be seen forming in her eyes. She blinked a few times, trying to clear her vision, and eventually resolved to rub her eyes with a fetlock.
“It’s my dad.” She said quietly. “It was the first time he ever let me mess with his music stuff.”
The picture showed a young Vinyl sitting on top of a turntable. Behind her, a tall red-maned stallion with an alabaster coat, perfectly matching his daughter’s, was adjusting some of the dials. The filly in the picture was riveted to whatever he was doing with them, eagerness shone in her eyes.
“My mom took this picture. It was just a few months before she passed.” Octavia instantly regretted showing her the picture.
“Vinyl, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to reopen any old wounds.”
“Sorry? I’m so glad you showed me this again. Honestly it’s nice to have. I don’t have many pictures of my dad, and none with us together. I still remember when he finally told me I was old enough to learn what he did. It was the most exciting day of my life.” She smiled a genuine smile at the fond memories.
“I had always loved the music my dad made, but he never let me in his booth while he was working, he was afraid I’d hit something and ruin whatever he was working on. He didn’t do it to be mean, he just wanted to keep any accidents from happening. I really owe my music career to him.”
She sat the picture on top of the filing cabinet, but continued to stare at it for a few moments.
“I think I’m gonna put this up behind the front desk. Sure, I’m the one that’s running the place now, but this was his shop. He’s the one that started it.”
She picked up the heavy frame with her magic, and walked out to the front of the shop. Selecting a prominent place on the wall behind the register, she levitated it up and stuck it there.
“Now at least ponies are gonna know who’s shop this really is.” She said, smiling broadly.
Octavia followed her out of the back office, happy to see Vinyl doing her father’s memory justice, a small smile forming on her face. It quickly fell as she thought back to her own parents, silently wishing they’d have been as close to her as Vinyl and her father were.
“I’m glad you’re putting him out here, it’s a great way to remember him and what he means to this shop.”
“Thanks-”
A bright flash suddenly lit up the room, followed by a massive BOOM. It shook the entire shop, leaving the windows rattling gently.
“Oh no!” Octavia said, rushing over to the big pane glass window. She looked out the window at the sudden massive downpour of rain. Another flash of light was seen, followed closely by another thunderclap.
“I’ll never make it home in this!” She said dejectedly, sitting down with a sigh. She had been looking forward to getting back to Bon Bon, and proving the cream mare wrong about Vinyl Scratch.
“Hey, no worries, Octavia. You can just stay here with me while this thing blows over. My apartment is upstairs, I’m sure we can find something to eat up there.” Vinyl said, walking over to a closed door near the back of the shop.
“Are you sure? I would hate to impose.”
“Nah, it’s cool. I don’t get much company as it is. Follow me.”
Octavia followed hesitantly as Vinyl led her up the staircase. At the top, they reached another door, which Vinyl pushed through to reveal her apartment.
The doorway opened into a small living room, a couple couches and a television rested in one corner of it, a small table that was covered in magazines was the only other furniture in the room. There was a short hallway to the side that led to a kitchen and another doorway which she presumed would lead to Vinyl’s bedroom. An open door on the opposite side of the room from the hallway showed her where the bathroom was located.
“Wow, this is very nice.” Octavia said, turning to look at the furnishings.
“Thanks. It’s nothing much, I like to keep it simple, you know?” Vinyl said, walking into the kitchen. “I’m not sure how much I have in my fridge, but I’m sure I’ll be able to get something going for us.”
As she opened the door to the refrigerator, Octavia appeared in the kitchen behind her, curious to see what kind of ingredients they had to work with.
As she peered inside, she noticed that almost all the shelves were empty, and only a few meager ingredients, inhabited the rest of them. She saw a bit of lettuce, two carrots, a tomato, and a few eggs.
“Heh, guess its a little more empty than I thought.” Vinyl said, rubbing the back of her head.
“Well, it does look you have enough to make an omelet or two.” Octavia said hopefully. “If you don’t mind having breakfast for dinner.”
“Sounds good to me.” Vinyl replied, pulling the ingredients from the fridge with her magic and set them on the counter. “You can wait in the living room while I work on this.” She said, placing a skillet on the stovetop. “Consider it my thanks for helping me get the store cleaned up.”
Octavia simply nodded and walked back to the living room, the sound of something sizzling reached her ears as she entered. Moving over to the table, she hoofed through the pile of magazines that were mostly music oriented. Finding one that looked interesting, she took it over to one of the couches and sat down before beginning to look through it.
As she leafed through the pages, one headline in particular caught her attention.
Oh Celestia, this is bad news.
In bold letters at the top of the page was printed, Royal Bassist Throws Royal Tantrum. Below was a picture of her right as her fist connected with her music director’s face.
How did they even get that? She pondered.
She didn’t remember there being anypony with a camera backstage. Then again she wasn’t thinking clearly at the time, and had been focused on one pony in particular. As she continued to read the article, she found that they had blow things completely out of proportion to the point where they had her storming into the concert hall like a rampaging bull, all because of some made up vendetta she apparently had against the director.
She knew there was nothing she could do to dispel these rumors now. She realized that nearly everyone in Canterlot had read this article by now, but somehow, she no longer cared. There was a time when the opinions of those snobs would have her crawling back, begging for forgiveness, but she was done dealing with them.
“Um Tavi? We may have a problem in here.” Vinyl called out, breaking her from her thoughts.
Octavia turned towards the kitchen, and saw smoke billowing from the doorway. She immediately got up and ran to the kitchen. “What in Equestria happened in here?”
A blue glow suddenly covered the upper part of the room. The glow shrunk down, containing the smoke within a magical bubble. Vinyl went over to the window and opened it, floating the blue ball out the window, before cancelling the spell and letting its foul contents out into the storm. She turned back to see Octavia standing beside the stove, a grimace on her face as she eyed the contents of the skillet.
Inside the pan were the charred and shriveled remains of what could only be assumed at one time was an omelet.
“I might have gone a little overboard.” Vinyl smiled sheepishly.
“How did this even happen? It’s only been five minutes!”
“I may have tried to use my magic to accelerate the process. And well, it didn’t turn out so good.”
Octavia facehoofed hard enough for Vinyl to hear it from across the room. “Well what can we eat now?”
Vinyl returned to the fridge, which was pretty much barren at this point. Closing the door, she opened the freezer. After pulling out a few bags of unknown substances, which were promptly tossed into the trashcan, a triumphant look grew on her face as she pulled two boxes out with her magic.
“There’s a couple of these frozen dinner things.” She said with an apologetic smile.
“Well thats better than nothing, I suppose.” Vinyl started to head towards the stove again. “But I’m cooking this time.”
Vinyl pouted, but relinquished cooking duties to Octavia. She made her way out to the living room, flopping down in her usual spot on the couch. Noticing the magazine that was laying open, she picked it up in her magic and held it up in front of her so she could read it.
Something boring about Canterlot, go figure, Vinyl thought as she read the title of the article on the page.
She was about to flip the page when a name stuck out to her.
Woah. Wait this can’t be her.
Vinyl started from the top and read the article all the way through, her eyes widening as she read the article, her gaze occasionally flicking towards the kitchen. About halfway down the page, her jaw had come open and hung loosely. When she finished, she gently set the magazine back down on the sofa, her head slowly turning towards the kitchen.
Getting up off the couch, she slowly made her way back into the kitchen, where Octavia was just putting the dinners into the oven. Vinyl came to a stop behind her just as she leaned down to close the oven door. When she stood back up she noticed Vinyl standing behind her and turned with a start.
“Vinyl! Don’t sneak up on me like that!” She chastised.
Vinyl just stared at her for a few moments as her features slowly changed from neutral to that creepy level of happy. Octavia began to wonder if she should be fearing for her safety, when Vinyl suddenly rushed forward and hugged her.
“You are so awesome!” Vinyl released her and danced on her hooves in front of her like a foal on Hearth’s Warming looking at a pile of presents.
“Vinyl, what’s gotten into you?”
“I just read that article about all that stuff you did in Canterlot!”
Octavia sighed and sat down.
“It’s not that amazing.” She said calmly
“Are you kidding? The way they described it, you really worked that music director over!”
“It didn’t happen like that. That article has the whole situation blown completely out of proportion.” Vinyl’s happy mood dropped a little at this news.
“What do you mean?” She asked hesitantly.
“What I mean is, all that really happened was that the music director and myself got into a screaming match and then I lost my temper and hit him. Once.”
“Aww.” Vinyl said dejectedly.
“It’s bad enough as it is without them having to add in all the details! That one stupid mistake is why I had to leave Canterlot in the first place.” She huffed, looking away.
“Is it really all that bad?” The change of tone in Vinyl’s voice made Octavia look back. “Is coming to Ponyville such a bad thing? I know you haven’t been here long, but ponies in this town actually care about each other. Not like those snobby upper class ponies in Canterlot, who only care about helping somepony else if it will give them some kind of edge against the rest of them.” Vinyl actually looked hurt.
“I didn’t say it was a bad thing that I had to move here. I’m still just mad at myself for doing something stupid like that. I was raised better than that, I should have had more self control.” She looked at the floor, gently pawing it. “But something about the way the music director just threw out my piece like I was some schoolfilly who had just written her first scores of music…”
She choked back the emotion that she felt in the back of her throat. Her head snapped up, years of pain flowing out of her as she told her story to Vinyl.
“I spent five YEARS of my life working on that piece. Making sure everything was perfect, going over every score with a fine toothed comb to make sure that all the harmonies worked together. Then the music director just goes and throws it out because some Princess Cadence just happened to be attending and they didn’t want to risk the performance being absolutely perfect by having a new piece in it.”
She dropped her head again, she could feel a few tears roll down her muzzle before landing on the floor with a soft pat sound. Vinyl raised a hoof to comfort the mare, but pulled it back when her head suddenly popped back up.
“It was just like dealing with my parents!” She shouted. “Nothing I ever did was good enough for them! Just because I was born an earth pony instead of a unicorn, it was like I had personally decided to be that way just to spite them. The only time they even paid me any attention is when I started being successful in my music career.”
She started pacing in the small kitchen.
“Even then, they never gave me any kind of praise above ‘Well it’s good to see those bits we spent on music tutors didn’t go to waste’.” A small hiccup broke her rant for a moment. “I mean, what kind of parents barely acknowledge the existence of their child, let alone treat their child like she did something wrong just by being born?”
She sat down and cried openly now. Vinyl was unsure if she should comfort the distraught mare that was currently crying on her kitchen floor, or just give her space. She opted for the first choice and crept closer Octavia. Gently placing a foreleg around the mares back, she awkwardly hugged her, whispering “there, there”.
Honestly she did feel bad for her. Octavia had worked her entire life to gain the adoration of a couple of ponies who’d just as soon leave her on the street corner as look at her. She couldn’t imagine having gone through something like that. Her parents were always so cheerful and loving. A life where they resented her and wanted nothing to do with her was beyond fathoming.
“I’m just so done with them,” Octavia continued through her tears. “I’m so ready to move on with my life, even if that means leaving the orchestra and Canterlot behind.”
She sat there, sobbing against Vinyl’s shoulder as the storm raged on outside and their second dinner of the night began to burn.
“I think I’m going to be happy here.”
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