Autumn's Embrace

It was a brisk morning for the residents of Ponyville, the streets were lively, the air was filled with the smells of fall, and the world was peaceful. I was sitting in the park, listen to my music as the Running of the Leaves was about to start. I had my headphones on, drowning out the sounds of everypony's overwhelming excitement. Not that I minded it, it was just a little bit too much excitement for just making the leaves fall off the trees. I looked as everypony was lining up at the starting line, ready to take charge and run their hearts out. The one thing that rad really caught my eye was Rainbow Dash with her wings tied to her side. I tilted my head in confusion, but didn't really think anything of it.

I giggled to myself as I remembered talking to Applejack yesterday. She had mentioned that she and Rainbow Dash had made a bet that required Dash to have her wings tied down. Though, I don't really remember the rest of it, but it didn't matter. I was just glad to see that Dash was taking this more seriously than she takes a lot of other things. I looked around at the rest of the ponies, soon being caught off guard by Twilight standing at the starting line with a book.

Same old Twilight, always with her books. I thought to myself.

My thoughts were soon interrupted as another came and sat down next to me. I looked over at her for a second and then looked back at the finish line, taking off one of my headphones in case of small talk.

The mare looked over at me and smiled, "You having fun?"

I shrugged my shoulders, "Not really. I just think that this is a bit too much for just knocking leaves off of trees."

"Yeah, but they really seem to enjoy it."

"Are you gonna be running?"

"No, I just think that they should try to start using magic to change the seasons like they do in Canterlot."

I turned to look at her, "You're from Canterlot too?"

"Well, not originally. I was born in Baltimare, but I had moved to Canterlot three years ago."

"What brings you to Ponyville?"

"I'm here on vacation. I'm working as an entertainer for one of Canterlot's finest concert halls. Though, things have been slowing down every since ponies started listening to this new, DJ Pon-3, character. From what I hear, she's a really talented artist."

I began to blush deeply, "T-Thank you."

She gasped in shock, her body nearly flying off of the bench, "Y-You mean...y-you're..."

"Yep. I am the one and only, DJ Pon-3."

Her eyes began to light up like a start struck filly, "Well, it's a pleasure to meet you. I'm, Octavia Melody."

"It's nice to meet you Octy."

She tilted her head in confusion, "Octy?"

"A bit of a nickname I came up with. Though, DJ Pon-3 is my stage name. My real name is, Vinyl Scratch."

Her smile broadened to the point that it was touching her ears, "I never thought I'd be sitting here with the famous, DJ...I mean, Vinyl Scratch."

I looked back to the starting line and quickly took notice that all of the ponies had long began their running, "Looks like we missed the start."

Octy looked back at the starting line as well, "I guess so."

"Well...Do you have any plans for this afternoon? We could go get some lunch if you're hungry."

She gave me a small, enthusiastic nod before getting up from her seat, "That would be lovely."

I got up from where I was sitting and began to lead her to my all time favorite restaurants. We continued our small talk along the way there, I found out that she has been traveling all across Equestria, performing for thousands of ponies every night. She even played one of her original solo pieces for Princess Celestia and Princess Luna. I was surprised by how much that she had accomplished. She was awarded Equestria's best solo cello player twice, she had performed at some of the biggest events in Equestrian history, including the Grand Galloping Gala. She was amazing.

Before long, we had finally made it to the restaurant. I opened the door and let her in first before quickly following behind her. We found ourselves a small booth near the back of the restaurant and began to look over our menus.

Octy looked up at me and smiled, "So, why don't you tell me a little bit about yourself?"

"Well, I was born in Manehatten. My mom was a seamstress for a major fashion designer, and my father was a guitar player who constantly toured around Equestria. I hardly got to know him, but my mom told me all kinds of stories about him."

"What kind of stories? If you don't mind me asking."

"She would tell about how my dad would always be really nervous around her, and how he tried so hard to win my mom's heart. She told me that they first met when he was playing at a bar. Mom was always a sucker for the rockstar type. My dad offered to buy her a drink, but he had forgotten that he didn't have any bits that night. Though, my mom didn't really mind, she was more than happy to pay for the drinks."

"Then what happened?"

I giggled softly and smiled, "You're looking at the results of that night."

Octy's face began to grow really red, "W-Well...t-that is very interesting. What about you? What got you into the music scene?"

"Well, I remember one Hearth's Warming Eve, my father bought me a DJ set as a gift before he went on tour again. I remember trying my best to figure it out at first. But, once I managed to turn it on, my dad handed me a record that he'd been saving for that day. The record had never been opened before, and I was excited to hear what it was. He opened it up and put it on the table and soon the music started playing. I looked at my dad with wide eyes, giving him a major hug. He smiled and reached his hoof over to the table and began to scratch it. He told me to try it out and then that's when I found that I had a talent for mixing music."

"Wow. You're father sounds like a big inspiration for you."

"He was, that's why it's been really hard for me to get over loosing him."

"What happened?"

"He was performing at the same bar that he and my mom met at. There were two stallions that we about to start fighting. Dad, being a natural voice of reason, tried to get them to stop. But, one of them pulled out a knife and stabbed him in the throat," a tear began to roll down my cheek as I thought about what happened.

"I'm sorry to hear that."

"That's way every song I make is made in his memory. He was the one who got me started, and I'm not gonna let anypony forget that."

I looked up to see the waitress standing at our table, tears running down her face, "That's so beautiful."

I handed her a napkin to dry her eyes with, "How long have you been standing there?"

"Five minutes."

"I'm sorry to make you wait."

"It's alright," she crumpled up the napkin and stuffed it into her apron pocket. "What can I get y'all to drink?"

Octy looked up and smiled, "I'll have some sweet tea please."

The waitress looked over at me, "And for you hun?"

"I'll have a root beer."

She wrote down our drink order and walked off to the soda machine, quickly returning with our drinks in hoof. She gently set them on the table and pulled out her pen and pad, "What can I get for y'all to eat?"

"I'll have the hay burger with extra crispy hay fries."

The waitress looked over at Octy, "And for you?"

"I'll have the chief salad."

"I'll get these orders in right away. Let me know if you need anything else," she walked off into the kitchen, the door swinging behind her.