Rocktavia

Chapters

Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Octavia hauled the instrument onto the stage where Lyra was sound-checking her amp. With a grunt, she laid it down on a stand next to the drum set. Lyra turned around and waved for her to come over, so she fastened the strap to the stand so that it wouldn’t fall.

“Hey Octy! How goes it with that bass?” She asked as she turned off her amp.

“Oh, I think I got it to work just fine. I’m not exactly sure what the knobs and switches do though…” Octavia rubbed the back of her neck nervously as she waited for a response from Lyra.

“Hmmm… let’s take a look,” said Lyra as she inspected the knobs. “Oh this is easy! Look here,” She pointed at the cream colored switch. “When the switch is in the upper position, you use the top knob as volume control. The one under it is tone control. The other two don’t do anything until you put the switch in the middle or lower position. In the lower position, the bottom knob is volume control and the middle knob is tone control.” She smiled at Octavia, which caused her to give a confident smile back. “See, it’s not hard. What is hard is learning when to use them to get the best tone. Oh, and don’t think you can get the best sound just by turning the tone knob. Sometimes, you have to experiment with things like pedals aaaand I’m getting carried away aren’t I?”

“No not at all! I find it pretty interesting to hear about all this. I never learned this at the University.” Lyra tsked and shook her head.

“Octy, I’m going to tell you something that will take your music career farther than ever. You can’t always go by the books! If you do that, all music will be the same! Look, if you listen to any great musicians out there, nothing ever sounds exactly the same! Be it rock, classical, blues or whatever! No music ever sounds exactly the same. It’d be pretty boring if it did right? Let’s take for example… aha! Your orchestral composer. He/she always has something new to offer right? I’m willing to bet if they went to music school, they never looked back on their notes for years.”

“Well, yes I suppose that’s true...” Said Octavia as she rubbed her chin.

“Like I was saying, experimentation. I bet you that half the songs you hear actually have a part that happened accidentally, but the artist kept it anyway because it sounded cool. If you didn’t already know, when an artist goes to record their song, they have nothing but the chords and lyrics on a small sheet of paper. Everything you hear in the booth is completely raw. Any guitar solo, or, or drum solo or mess up that sounds cool were all recorded in one take. Of course they’re edited to make it sound more official, but really they’ve all got their own special flare! Do you see what I’m trying to say, Octy?”

“I- I think so. You want me to not play my scales straight up?” Asked Octavia.

“YES! Precisely! If you play a scale the same way backwards and forwards, it begins to sound exactly the same. Mix up your notes. Experiment!” Yelled Lyra, throwing her hooves into the air.

“I see, I’ll definitely try it… I’m not sure how good I’ll be at it, though.”

“You don’t need to worry at all! Music isn’t about how much you mess up, it’s how much you enjoy playing and experimenting to make new sounds. Nopony will ever remember that one tiny mistake you made on stage. They can barely remember what they had for breakfast.”

“O-okay! I think I can do that.” Octavia exclaimed.

“That’s the spirit!” She said as she looked up at the clock between the menus above the cash register. “Oh! It’s time to play! Come on!” She grabbed Octavia and pulled her back to where Key and Rocky were.

“Oy ladies, I believe it’s time?” Said Rocky, drinking a tall milkshake. Key nodded excitedly.

“Yeppers! I’m sooo pumped!” Key was basically bouncing off the walls. “Are you pumped Octavia?” Octavia wasn’t sure how to answer. Her heart was beating really, really hard in her chest. She wasn’t sure if she was nervous or ‘pumped’ as Key had said.

“Don’t mind Key,” Interrupted Lyra. “She likes drinking a coffee before she performs.” Lyra leaned in to Octavia’s ear and whispered “Don’t tell her, but it just makes her annoyingly hyper. It doesn’t help her ‘performance’ at all.” Octavia giggled, but Key just threw her hooves in the air and blew a raspberry.

“I heard that! Why don’t you sell your face for five bits, you green gum wrapper.”

“Oh shuuuuut up!”

“You started it!”

Octavia now knew why her heart was beating so hard. She was shaking from nervousness. This isn’t normal! She’d performed at hundreds, maybe thousands of performances over the span of her life. Why was she nervous here? Why at a cafe with less than thirty ponies in it? It would make much more sense to be nervous in a coliseum full to the brim with over ten thousand ponies, but this?

What if I mess up? What will my only friends think of me? Will they shun me as a musician? Oh no! I’ll be on the streets! I’ll be the laughingstock of the town! No. Calm down, Like Lyra said, they can barely remember what they had for breakfast. I’ll be fine.

She took a deep breath and nodded to Key to tell her that she’s ready. Rocky started by tapping the drum sticks four times to grab the attention of the crowd and indicate the start of the song.

After the fourth tap, Key started up a catchy tune throwing in some flats and sharp notes to make it interesting. She played it four times, but by the second time around, Octavia had memorized the progression. She kept coming back to the E, A and B flat keys to restart the tune, so it was safe to assume that she could play in the key of E, but just to play it safe she decided to play the same standout notes that Key played. After the fourth time around, Lyra came in with a soft clean tone guitar to accompany the rest of the music. Rocky played a repetitive hi hat and bass drum rhythm as the backbone.

“Oooh baby I’d love to take you dancing,

but I’m afraid you’re outa my league

Ponies think I’m crazy, but my heart’s racing

I love to imagine your hoof in mine

But I know it’ll never be true

It’s time to face the truth

I’ll never be with you…”

Key’s voice blended perfectly with the bass and Lyra’s beautiful guitar riff. The rest of the cafe seemed to fade away as the song went on. As they hit the bridge of the song, Lyra’s guitar was more prominent. She had turned up the distortion and threw on a bit of reverb to give it an ethereal sound. She moved up an octave, putting an even more celestial feel to the song. It was almost like it was possible to reach enlightenment through music.

“Oh stars it’s hard for me to leave

but I’ll never be the same…

I’m sorry I have to go

I hope I can see you tomorrow…”

As the final lyric cut through the air, it was a cue for me to suspend one single note an octave below her voice. Lyra finished her lick and Rocky hit his crash cymbal and continued to hit it softly and then stopped, allowing Key to play the final measure.

It’s over…

Is that stomping?

It is! The ponies who were listening gave a standing ovation. Octavia had no idea what to do, so she just smiled and looked at Lyra and the others. Lyra and Key stood on top of the piano and were waving into the crowd. Rocky threw his hooves in the air and let his magic play a drum solo while Key thanked the crowd.

“Thank you guys so much!” She blew kisses into the crowd and they cheered louder. Key really is an enthusiastic one, isn’t she? “I’d like to introduce you all to my band mates. Lyra on the guitar, and Rocky on the drums!” Octavia’s smile fell and her ears drooped. Her head dropped so low that he nose almost touched the ground. Key saw this and then lifted the microphone up to her lips again. “Our guest of honor, DRUMROLL PLEASE!” She yelled at Rocky, who obliged by banging the snare as fast as he could. “Octavia on the bass!” Octavia’s ears perked up at the sound of her name and looked up. The ponies in the cafe were stomping and whistling at her. She felt her cheeks turn red and stretch into a goofy grin. Lyra chuckled at the sight and pulled Octavia into a hug.

“Nice work, Octy.” She said as she patted Octavia’s back. “Just like old times, eh?”

“Yes, thank you. Just like old times.” She replied, feeling the full warmth of Lyra’s body against hers. She hadn’t been hugged like this in years. The last time was when she performed her first cello solo. Her foster father had given her a long warm hug.

“You know Octy, I’ve been thinking… Would you possibly want to join the band? For good?” Octavia’s eyes widened once again as Lyra broke the hug. “If you’re too busy, I understand. I just have to say that your musical ear is incredible! Anything you played blended in perfectly with what we played. And- and you played the bass like a cello! That was soo cool!”

“Oh, you surely jest, right? I wasn’t as good as you. I would have never been able to write such a beautiful guitar solo. I wasn’t as good as Key. Her voice is like that of an angel. And Rocky has the best sense of rhythm I’ve ever heard. He’s like a living metronome with much, much more!”

“Octy… That’s what a drummer does. They are living metronomes in a sense. And what did you say about me writing the solo? No I didn’t write anything, Octy. I improvised the whole thing.”

“Y-you improvised all that?” Octavia asked in awe.

“Aw come on Octy, I explained this to you earlier. When you improvise, it puts your own spin on the music. Anyway, back to what I was saying before… Will you join the band?”

“Well, I don’t know. I do have orchestra practice every weekday, but I’m free on weekends.”

“That’s perfectly alright. What time do you come home?” Lyra asked, as she packed her guitar into its case.

“I get home around seven. Why do you ask?”

“Well, we like to practice at Rocky’s every monday, wednesday and thursday at around eight. If you’re not too busy after you get off practice, maybe you could swing by?” Octavia thought for a second. This was a once in a lifetime opportunity right at her hooves. Octavia really didn’t have anything else in her life that she could honestly say that she loved getting up every morning to go do. She liked her job, but it wasn’t nearly as fun as playing with Lyra and the others. Hey, she even learned some new things in the span of an hour.

“I… I’ll do it!”

“Oh, I shouldn’t ha- What? Really?” Lyra stumbled on her words after Octavia caught her off guard. “Uh! Yeah, great! Awesome! You are now officially welcome to the band. Hey, are ya free tonight? This calls for celebration!”

“Well, I didn’t have anything in particu-”

“Great!” interrupted Lyra. “I would‘ve made you come even if you weren’t free, but it’s good that you are. Hold on a sec, I gotta tell the guys.” Lyra stormed off yelling excitedly at Rocky and Key, who had just about finished putting the last of the wires and microphones into their designated boxes. They both seemed really happy with what Lyra was saying to them, Key especially. She hopped up and down with a huge smile on her face and then ran over to Octavia in the blink of an eye.

“Yay! Welcome to the band, Octavia! This is going to be soooo much fun.” Then she was gone as fast as she arrived. By this time, Rocky and Lyra stuffed all their things in the storage room where Octavia had gotten the bass from and came to fetch Octavia.

“Welcome to the band lass, oh and nice playin’ by the way. Yeh have a good sense of rhythm.”

“Oh, thank you very much, Rocky. I appreciate it. You’re not bad yourself.” Octavia had gotten used to the eyepatch that Rocky wore, but it still made her feel uncomfortable.

“Aye lass, I’ll buy yeh a drink tonight in celebration. Speakin’ o’ which, eh Lyra, where are we hea’ed tonight?” Lyra scratched her chin and pondered.

“Hmmm, how about that pub in downtown? What was it called? Oh! Right, Club Floyd?”

“Soun’s good to me. What about yeh, Octavia? Soun’ fine?”

“Yes, it sounds fine.” Octavia answered. She had never been to a big bar like the Floyd before, so she was actually a bit scared. Lyra saw the look on her face and put her hoof on Octavia’s shoulder.

“Hey Octy, can I talk to you for a second?” Octavia nodded and moved closer to Lyra. “Hey, I know how you feel about this whole club thing. I saw it in your face. Believe it or not, I was the same until I met Rocky. He dragged me to a club and made me drink until I was hammered enough to start this band. It’s okay if you don’t want to go. I wont force you to, but I do strongly recommend it. Years at college made the both of us just two more bricks in a wall. They just twist your mind until you’re just another zombie they push off a conveyer belt.” Lyra backed up a bit to point at Key, who was chugging a vanilla smoothie. Let me tell you about Key over there, okay?”

“Okay, what about her?”

“Key is a runaway. She ran away from home last year because her parents wanted her to go into business, but Key’s real dream was to be a rock star. Her parents took away everything from her and threw her into business school at just fifteen.”

“Oh my, that’s horrible! What happened after?” Octavia asked, covering her mouth with a hoof.

“One day she had enough and snapped. She yelled at her parents about how they should have let her follow her dream instead of forcing her into theirs. She shunned her parents and ran as hard as she could. Do you want to know how far she ran? Take a guess”

“Hmm, maybe at most ten miles?”

“Not even close. She ran all the way from Baltimare to get here.” Lyra watched Octavia’s jaw fall.

“Baltimare all the way to Canterlot? No way! That’s nearly four hundred kilometers away!”

“Yep, she ran all the way here. I found her sleeping in the alley behind my apartment, so I took her in. I got her all cleaned up, and she told me everything. That’s when the Idea for a band came to mind. Then Rocky came along and it all came together. The bassist before you was actually my neighbor, and he joined just for fun.”

“Wow, I would have never known. Her enthusiasm is through the roof. Oh, and what about Rocky?”

“Ha, Rocky will tell you EVERYTHING about himself when he’s drunk tonight. Trust me, you’ll get annoyed within five minutes. So what I was trying to say is, you need to free your soul. And I’m not just talking about this. If you free your soul, you can do anything you can imagine. Your music is celestial and you can not only feel every single note you play, but you can see them. I’ve done it, Key’s done it and Rocky’s done it. I’ll be waiting for the day that you do, Octavia, and I hope I'm there, catching some of the light coming off you that day.”

“Well thanks, Lyra, I guess I do need to lighten up a bit. You know, your speeches are really inspirational?”

“Yeah, I know. I practiced on Key a bunch.” Lyra looked at the clock on the wall. “Oh shoot! Come on, let’s go! I want to show you our practice place. AKA Rocky’s house before we head out to the club. You still comin?” Lyra tuned and gave a big smile.

“Okay. Let’s go.” Octavia gave in.

“Great, just go wait outside while I go get Key.”

“Alright”

Author's Note

Sorry my songwriting is so terrible. I'm not the best at lyrics. :twilightblush: I'm more of the lead and rhythm guitar.

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Thanks, and see you soon!

Chapter 3 Author's Note

If you enjoyed this chapter, leave a like, comment and a favorite. It helps!

Thanks, and see you soon!

Chapter 3

The sun was lower in the sky now, and the shadows on the ground stretched almost twice the size of the object casting it. Rocky was leaning against the wall of the building with a lit cigar hanging lazily out of his mouth.

“So, Octavia. Wher’d ye learn te play like tha’?” He asked

“Well, it’s not a very interesting story to be completely honest. I’m sure it’ll be a waste of time to tell you and you wouldn’t care either way.”

“Hey, I love me a good story, lass. Go ahea’ and tell ‘t. Hey, if yeh want, yeh coul’ ask me questions teh see if I listene’ or not.” He said as he put out his cigar.

“It’s alright. I won’t make you answer any questions. Well, my foster parents made me go to Canterlot’s University for the Musically inclined and that’s where I learned everything about music. I didn’t know much going in other than the fact that I loved music. I didn’t even pass the entrance exam the first two times, but my father paid a very large amount of money for me to be able to take it as many times as I needed. I ended up taking it four times, failing miserably the first two times with a 17% and a 42% and then finally passing with the lowest grade possible the third time. Before taking the exam for the fourth time, I studied like a madmare and managed to make a 87%.”

“Yeh wen’ to musical school? Do yeh min’ if I ask yeh how old yeh are?” Rock asked as he slid his sunglasses off his face and put on an eyepatch.

“Um, yeah sure. I’m twenty-four years old.”

“Tha’s it? Really? I though’ yeh’d be older considerin yeh wen’ te Uni an all. I’m twen’y-three. Yer the same age as Lyra. I was really surprised when her birthday came along. I though’ she was like sevunteen when I firs’ met er.”

“Why yes, she does always look younger than she actually is.” Octavia replied. As soon as Octavia said that, Key burst through the door with Lyra close behind. They were holding a clear plastic bag full of bits.

“Woah guys! Look at all this loot! I think that this is the most we’ve ever pulled in!” Key exclaimed, as she counted the bits. “Wait, nevermind. We made six less than the most we’ve ever made.”

“Wait, you make money here?” Octavia asked. Lyra shook her head.

“No silly, this is the tip we brought in for tonight. How much have we made, Key?”

“We made forty-two bits and one free milkshake coupon that I already used.” Key answered, showing her pearly whites again.

“Not bad, not bad.” Lyra rubbed her chin. “We usually make between twenty-five and thirty-eight bits on average. Tonight was a good haul! Dinner is on me, guys!”

“Yeah!” Rocky screamed, catching the attention of other ponies passing by. Rocky’s face turned red and he covered his eye with a hoof.

“Wooo hoo!” yelled Key, bouncing up and down in a circle around Octavia. “Are you coming too, Octavia?” She asked, leaning on her side. “It’d be sooo much fun if you came with us. We’d eat and talk and eat!”

“Um y-”

“Pleeeeaase?”

“Key?” Lyra interrupted. “What have I told you about letting ponies finish their sentences?”

“Oh, sorry Octavia.” Apologized Key.

“It’s fine. Yes of course I’ll eat dinner with you all tonight.” She leaned into Key’s ear and whispered, “But only if you let me get you another milkshake later.” Octavia smiled as she watched Key go ballistic with happiness.

Dear Celestia, this kid is on another level, Octavia thought to herself.

“Alright, alright, calm down Key. Why don’t you help Rocky with loading up the gear? I need to talk with Octy for a second.” Key nodded and dragged Rocky off to help load the band carriage.

“Alrigh’ lass. Calm down! I have legs too!” Octavia and Lyra watched them vanish behind the corner of the building.

“Okay, Octy here’s your share of the earning.” Lyra said as she pulled out ten bits and gave it to Octavia.

“No, I’m sorry Lyra. I can’t accept this. I didn’t do much to deserve it and I’m already well off-”

“NO, you played with the rest of us, so it’s only fair that you get a share. Come on, please? Just take it. For me?” Lyra pleaded. Octavia knew how these things ended. Always with her losing the argument. She sighed and then took the bits.

“Alright, thank you for your your generosity. I appreciate it.”

“No problem, Octy. Come on, let’s help out Rocky and Key so we can get some chow, eh”

“Alright. let’s go.”

“Well, this is my humble abode. Whadya think?” Rocky asked, showing off his apartment which happened to be on the very top floor of the apartment building. “It’s not much, but it’s home.” The place was clean and filled with memorabilia. The guitar from the lead guitarist of ABCD sat in a glass case in the corner of the room.

“Wow, this… this is incredible! Where did you get all this stuff?” asked Octavia in awe. She gaped at all the different items in displays and on the walls. ‘No way! You have one of the original Apple Road records? No way! It’s even signed!” As Octavia fangirled at all the memorabilia, Rocky, Key and Lyra watched with their faces all twisted into smiles.

“This is probably the happiest I’ve eve’ seen ye lass.” Rocky finally said he walked up to Octavia. “Yeh seem teh know yer stuff. Honestly, I’m pretty surprised.”

“I used to know almost everything about the artists that I liked, which was most of them. I listened to anything I could get my hooves on. Then I backed off when I got into boarding school. I had less time to do that stuff, and instead I had to focus on my schoolwork.”

“It was about the same for me, Octy.” Lyra interjected. “Except that I dropped out of Uni in the third semester. You remember that right?” Octavia blinked, trying to remember.

“You dropped out? I just thought you went to a different part of the campus, and so I assumed that’s the reason you were gone.”

“Nope, there really wasn’t any reason for me to stay. I already knew whatever I was being taught, and I didn’t want to go into classical. I mean, I can play the Lyre and play it well, but only because my parents made me. My cutie mark may be a Lyre, but I know that if I want to do something, I can do it. No tattoo on my flank can tell me what to do. I chart my own course on my own ship, and no higher power can tell me what to do.”
Octavia just stared at Lyra. She’s actually being a bit scary. She thinks she can challenge a higher power? Everypony knows that Celestia and Luna are powerful and all, but there is a higher power than them. We call them the magic beings. They never show their presence, but we know they’re there.

The things that science can’t explain is usually thrown in the magic category and the things that can’t be thrown in either are put in the nature, or ‘magic being’ categories. I don’t think anypony has really thought much of the beings other than they gave the planet the first life.

Cutie marks are something that magic can’t explain, and obviously they aren’t natural. They’re really specialized. You won’t get one until you hit your talent. If you don’t fulfill your talent, you don’t really matter to the world because you’re not doing what you do best. It’s like your destiny. You can’t change it, but you know it’s coming.

“Lyra, chill out sister!” said Key as she jumped and bumped into Lyra. “I’m hungry. Can we go pleeease?”

“Huh? Oh right, hold on Key. I need to show Octy our practice room. Then we can go.” Lyra said, waving her hoof in Octavia’s direction.

“Ugh, fiiiiiine!” Key moaned as she ran and pounced on a couch.

“Ey! Watch the furniture! Keep yer dirty flank offa dat!”

“Awww!”

“I mean it!”

“Fiiiine”

Lyra and Rocky showed Octavia around the ‘bonus’ room where Rocky’s equipment was set up. There were microphones and amplifiers and instruments galore! There were instruments that Octavia had never even seen before. Where did Rocky get all this stuff?”

“Okay you showed her, can we go now?” Key pleaded. She sank at Octavia’s and Lyra’s hooves. Oh no… the puppy eyes. Lyra sighed and held a hoof up to her face.

“Ugh. Alright, fine. Let’s go before miss hyperflank drives us all insane” Lyra muttered.

“Yay!”

“Well, woul’ yeh look at tha’ line?” Rocky exclaimed as he stared at the snake-like line of ponies extending out of club Floyd’s front door. “I don’ think we’ll be gettin in anytime soon.”

“You’re right, Rocky. I don’t feel like waiting in line right now.” Said Lyra. “Hmm, there’s gotta be somewhere else we can go. Anypony here know somewhere we can go?”

“Oooh! I know!” Key raised her hoof in the air like a schoolfilly.

“No Key, we are not going to Burger Queen.” Lyra said.

“Awww.”

“Wait.” Octavia interrupted. “I, uh. I know a place we can go. It’s called the Nightcrawler.” Lyra turned to Octavia.

“The Nightcrawler you say? Sounds interesting, Octy. Okay, The Nightcrawler, it is. Well, why don’t you lead the way?” Lyra saluted Octavia, causing her to blush.

“Um, okay. This way.”

“They have lotsa beer, right? I love me a mug ‘f some good beer.” Rocky asked.

“Yes of course, they have any drink you can think of. The menu is quite pleasant too. The food is good, and not fattening.”

“Well, tha’s good enough fer me. Go on, lea’ the way.”

Octavia decided that she liked spending time with her new friends, so to make sure she could spend as much with as she could, she decided to take the long and scenic route, also known as her daily routine route. As she went along, she explained all the things she liked to do on her walks. Feed the birds, smell the flowers, sit on the bench and just relax.

As they finally arrived at the street corner where the Nightcrawler was, Octavia decided to take a risk. “Well, here we are, The Nightcrawler. I hope I didn’t bore you all with my stories. I’m not a very interesting pony, my hobbies aren’t anything special.” Lyra smiled.

“Octy, you are interesting, and your hobbies are awesome. You haven’t heard any of our hobbies. Rocky has some interesting ones that I really hope he doesn’t share with us. Key, annoyingly but at the same time, very flattering, likes to collect things from the junkyard and make statues of me, Rocky, and herself playing together.”

“Hey! They aren’t just “statues”! They’re works of art! Oh, and I promise to put you in the next one, Octavia.” Key said, bouncing up and down.

“Well, that’s… nice… I suppose?” Octavia answered. She had absolutely no idea how to respond to that.

“Oh stop scaring her, Key, that’s probably the creepiest thing I’ve ever heard you say. That’s a new record!” Lyra said, pointing at Key. “I think it even beats the time I came home after getting groceries, and I found you having a bath in melted butter. Haha I think you said something like, “It’s good for the fur”. Well, let me tell you Octy, I couldn’t be in the same room as her for the next few days.” She held her nose. “I still can’t stand the smell of butter. I gag every time I see it.”

“Oh, that’s. What?”

“Stop it Lyra, you’ll fry the poor lass’ brain, ye will. Look at er! She looks like she just witnesse’ a spud come to life and do a jig on er plate!” Key began to laugh and roll on the ground.

“Haha I get it, cause you love potatoes! Hehe!”

“Alright, alright! Let’s actually get inside before the place fills up?” Lyra suggested.

“Oh, no you don’t need to worry about that. It’s not a very big place. Same ponies almost every week.”

“Well, that’s oddly convenient. Oh well, let’s go ahead. We have a long night of Rocky’s stories to hear.” They all followed Octavia into the Nightcrawler. She led them to a four seater table on the second floor. It seemed like today, the place actually had a few curious souls who wandered in. It seemed more full than usual. They sat down and waited for a waiter to come over and bring a menu.

“This is a pretty nice place, Octy. You said you come here every Saturday night?” Lyra asked.

“Oh, yes. Every Saturday night!” She laughed. The waiter spotted them, and swung on by with menus in her magical grip. She was a pony with a bright yellow coat and a orange mane. Her cutie mark, some eggs.

“Hello Octavia! I see you brought some friends tonight!” The waitress asked.

“Oh hello Sunny! Yes, I would like you to meet Lyra, Rocky and Key.” Octavia said proudly.

“Well, it’s very nice to meet all of you. Here’s your menus.” She said as she handed out the menus and a small drink menu along with it. “Can I get you guys something to drink?” Key was the first to respond.

“I want a milkshake please!”

“Okay, what kind?”

“Ummm.” Key tapped her chin. “Oh! I know! I want a strawberry milkshake!”

“Alrighty, one strawberry milkshake. What else?”

“Hmm, I’ll take yer fines’ beer please.” Rocky added.

“Alrighty, got it. Octavia, I’ll get your usual. and you, miss Lyra”

“Just Lyra is fine, thanks. Umm, I’ll take whatever Octy’s having.” Lyra answered.

“Great, I’ll be right back with your drinks. Sit tight!” Then she left to the the bar to make them.

“Rocky, didn’t you say you had some sort of story to tell? I’d love to hear it.” Octavia asked. Rocky rubbed his chin.

“No, not tha’ I recall… But if you insist, sure why not?”

“Oh boy, not again.” Key said, covering her ears and shaking her head.

“Well it all starte’ when I was a wee lad. My father introduce’ me to the drums. He use’ to be part of some band. I think it was called U3 or sumthin. I dunno, don’ really remember. Anyway, so when I turne’ sixteen, I started my own band and paye’ in me mum’s basement. To be hones’ we really sucked.” He gave a hearty laugh before he continued. Key had already zoned out and stared at the wall next to her. “Loo’s like Key’s out alrea’y. She’s broken two recor’s in a day. Well, so after tha’ I put down my drumsticks for a while. I though’ I sucked so I quit. Probably the dumbest decision I’ve ever made in my entire life. Well, when I was eighteen, I was drafte’ into the military and sen’ off to fight in Griffonia.”

“You went to to fight in Griffonia?” Octavia asked in awe. “That was the bloodiest war in over forty years!”

“Yeah, I know. I fough’ there after all.” He joked. “I was there for two years just loitering aroun’ and cleanin the base. Low level jobs. Then suddenly we ran low on personnel. A mission ha’ gone haywire and many good ponies were kille’. They sen’ me on recon in the forests. It wasn’ fun at all, I’ll tell ye tha’ much. It was monsoon season an’ it raine’ every day. No joke! It was probab’y the worst three months of me life! Eventually, my group got out of the forresty area an’ were in a clearin’. Well, we decided that we shoul’ set up camp there since it was the flattes’ an’ clearest area aroun’. So we set up camp and just chile’ fer a few days. Then they attacked. From above, from below. The sides, they were everywhere! We di’ the best we could, but couln’ defend the camp. They storme’ in an’ drove us backward. Right into a minefeild. Me an’ two of my buddies were draggin’ an injured soldier away, an then the mine blew.”

“Wow. Right in front of you?” Octavia asked, covering her mouth with her hoof.

“Yep, killed them all. I was left alive, but bleeding. I couldn’t see anythin’, feel anythin’, say anythin’ or hear anythin’. I could just barely taste my own blood. I remember fallin’ in some sort of mud pit before passin’ out. I woke up in a hospital be’. There were bandage’ all o’er my face an’ body. I learned that I was one o’ the only ones that survive’ the attack. I was in a bed fo wha’ seemed like forever. Almost a month later, I was release’ from the military, so I wen’ home.”

“Wow, Rocky I’m sorry about your eye.” Octavia said.

“Yeh kiddin’ lass? This eyepatch is the cooles’ thing teh ever happen to me. I love this thing.”

“Oh, uh.”

Sunny returned with everypony’s drinks and put them on the table. “Here you guys go! Are you ready to order?”

“Um, yeah! I’ll have the Daffodil special please!” Lyra stated.

“I’d like the fried Okra Bites please!” Key yelled.

“Alrighty, Daffodil Special and a plate of Okra Bites. And by the looks of it, another milkshake too.” Sunny stated, smiling. Key blushed.

“Hehe, yeah. Keep em comin!” She said excitedly.

“Okra bites eh? Tha’ soun’s just delicious. I’ll have tha’ too.” Rocky ordered.

“Okay, two Okra Bites, and Octavia, I’ll get you your favorite. Your orders will be right out!”

“Thank you!” they all said in unison as Sunny left.

“You know that fried food destroys the point of being healthy right? Octavia asked.

“Psshh Octy, you have a lot to learn.”

After they had finished their dinner, Key had downed thirteen milkshakes and two plates of Okra Bites. Rocky drank an excessive amount of beer and then Lyra tried to have a drinking contest with Rocky. It turned out as well as you would imagine, with Lyra clutching her head on the ground.

This night, Octavia had laughed, she’d cried and just been a much more fun pony. Her boringness seemed to vanish the more she spent time with her new friends. All of which had their own hilarious issues. Turns out that Key and Lyra are notorious for their pranks… on each other.

When the clock struck midnight and the three older friends heads ached with excessive amounts of alcohol, it was time to go. Key was fast asleep while Lyra carried her around on her back. Rocky hiccuped and stumbled around, constantly hitting poles and calling them “ma’am”.

They all said their goodbyes and went off to their respective homes. This was probably the best night in Octavia’s life.

Chapter 4

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Chapter 5 Author's Note

Short chapter, but enjoy anyway! :pinkiehappy:

Leave a like, comment and a favorite. It helps!

Thanks, and see ya soon!

Chapter 5

“Wait a second. We haven’t practiced any songs for this. In fact, we haven’t practiced at all! How am I supposed to know what to play here?” Octavia whispered to Lyra, minutes before their gig started. It had never occurred to her that she’d never seen them really practice. Were they just lucky? Or was this something completely different?

Were these ponies better than she had originally thought?

“Well, yeah. I should’ve explained better. Um…” Lyra pushed her mane out of her eyes and faced Octavia. “Well, Acoustic Sunday is more of a jam day. You know, just instrumentals.” She pointed out over the stage. “Look, have you noticed that the most ponies come to cafes like this one just to chill on days like this? Or, in this case, warm up.”

“Well, yes that does make plenty of sense, but you’re avoiding my question.” Octavia shot back. “We are unprepared for this, and this is going to turn out badly.” Lyra groaned.

“See? This is the problem! Stop overthinking things. It’s a jam, Octy. Do what you did yesterday and you’ll be fine! Got it? We’re all prepared. Just chill out.” Octavia’s pupils shrunk and she advanced towards Lyra slowly. Her voice, quiet but piercing.

“You are not hearing what I’m trying to say. I will mess up in front of all those ponies if I don’t know what I’m playing. Do you not understand? You, Rocky and Key may be prodigies, but I’m not. I’m not even close to being one, Lyra. You three might be prepared, but I’m not.” She fell to her haunches and let her head sit low. “I’m a boring old pony who everypony will laugh at if I mess up.”

“And so what?”

“Huh?”

“You mess up and what? Are you that type of pony that gives up after they make a single mistake?” Lyra’s tone matched Octavia’s perfectly. “Well, go on! Answer me. Why are you scared of messing up?”

“B-because that’s how I was raised.”

“Bullshit.” Lyra jumped forward and forced Octavia to look her straight in the eyes. “You say we’re prodigies? That’s a total joke. I’m not naturally good at this, Octy. You are. Do you realize how incredibly hard I had to work to get even a fraction as good as you? You’re the most talented of the bunch. Except maybe Key. That filly is insane. But besides that, you are much better than me and Rocky combined!”

“What?”

“Yeah, that’s right. I failed most of my college courses other than the ones I shared with you. I worked day and night. DAY AND NIGHT to match you. I wanted to show that I was capable of doing something as well as you. Although I may have matched you, that still didn’t sit well for me. I mean, you barely had to try to get a good grade. I had to work for days on end.”

“I would have weekends where I didn’t sleep in order to study enough to match you. Then I realized, no matter how much I try, I can never be as good as you.” She let go of Octavia and looked at a speck of dirt on the floor. “I’m incredibly jealous of you, Octy. You cannot fathom how jealous I am of you. Music just comes to you naturally, and you have the nerve to tell me that you’re no good?”

“B-but that’s… no! You’re still better than I am. All I can do is do what you tell me.” Octavia stuttered.

“Yea! With NO prior experience whatsoever! You did it well the first time you did it! You’d never done it before, yet you manage to better even me after having years of experience with this stuff. You don’t have the right to say that I’m better than you.”

“No, but I-”

“Shut up and listen to me. Okay? This is NOT a royal performance, understand? You won’t get laughed at or executed if you miss a note or something. I mess up so much every performance that when I go to bed at night, I think about them. Yesterday, when you played with us, I made a bunch of mistakes because I was nervous.”

“Nervous of what?” Octavia asked

“I was nervous because I was playing with the mare that had completely destroyed me through college. I was scared of you.”

Lyra tried to look at Octavia, but ended up pulling her face away again. “To tell you the truth, ninety-five percent of these ponies won’t even remember what we look like after they go to bed tonight.” Lyra pulled her back on all fours and continues her talk. “If you mess up, don’t panic. Just keep going. If you make it look like you did it on purpose, sometimes the audience goes with it.”

“O-okay.” Octavia sputtered.

“Just remember one thing. Do not panic if you mess up. It’s no big deal. Even the best make mistakes.”

“Okay. Thanks… I guess.” There was a certain silence around the room for a bit until Lyra spoke up again.

“Sorry for getting angry at you. I… I’m sorry. I think I’m pushing you past your limits. You don’t have to play if you don’t want to.”

“No! I do! I really do want to play with you guys!” Octavia nearly yelled. “I’m just… not a very confident pony. See, I’m usually in an Orchestra which has a bunch of ponies that constantly practice over and over again until it is physically impossible to make a mistake.” Lyra listened carefully to every single word that flew out of her mouth.

“I’m just not used to this, but I hope I will be soon. I’m sorry, Lyra. Really. I really want to play with you guys. Forgive me?”

“Forgive you for what?” Lyra asked with a strange look on her face. “Shut up and get ready. We’re about to start!” Octavia’s eyes lit up as she dashed to her new instrument and picked it up in an upright position.

“Ready? Three! Two! ONE!”

Link

The performance had gone without any issues. Octavia had again, destroyed any expectation of Lyra’s. She didn’t show it, but Lyra’s heart had a big hole in it. She’s a headstrong mare who will do everything in her power to do what she can’t. She isn’t afraid of breaking her limits again and again to do what she needs to, but even then, Lyra has her own weakness. Her own ego gets the best of her. Whenever she isn’t able to pass the impossible limit she sets for herself, she sulks and thinks she’s the worst.

You can tell when she goes through one of those phases. Her big golden eyes, usually twinkling with life, left lackluster. Her brilliant smile that always lights up the room, vanished. Her decently kept hair's a rat’s nest and her beautiful mint green coat also loses its own shine. This is when she’s at her lowest. She drinks and drinks and drinks until she either passes out, or cries herself to sleep. Occasionally, she has violent fits when she’s drunk, so she flips the lock on the door and locks herself in her room. She gives the key to Key to hold on to until she’s done. She’d learned her lesson about not locking herself in. She’d never been able to forgive herself after what she did to Key.

Lyra sat curled up in a ball in the very corner of her room. Empty shot glasses littered the room, along with bottles of hard liquor and beer. She’d shattered her dresser mirror after she threw an empty bottle at it. The bed was unkempt and dirty, mirroring Lyra’s own look. Boxes of pizza, some empty, some full, sat in a sad stack on the opposite corner of her room. The day was overcast and wet, so Lyra simply shut out the outside world with her unusually thick curtains. A single stream of light let through the gap where the curtains didn’t meet perfectly.

“Why?” Lyra whispered to herself. “How does she do it?” She wiped her runny nose with a tissue before continuing. “I try so hard to be good, I really do. Then why can I not do ANYTHING right!?” She screamed, throwing an empty beer bottle across the room. The rewarding shatter was heard, causing Lyra to breath out and calm down a little. She sighed and picked herself up off of the floor.

She heard the knocks on her door, but she ignored them completely. She continued to walk into her bathroom and stare in the mirror. She didn’t recognize the mar that stood in her place. This wasn’t who Lyra wanted to be. Usually on a tuesday afternoon like this one, Lyra would be out and about with Key. Teaching her all about the great things of life. Being a big sister to her. Protecting her. “I’m not supposed to be like this.” Lyra said to herself. She opened her now bloodshot eyes and stared into the mirror at the demon that she created.

Lyra’s anger raged through her, but she kept it inside. The muscles in her face ached as she scowled into the mirror with all her might. Her clenched teeth pained as the grinded against each other. Her horn sparked dangerously and the mirror began to vibrate. Slowly at first, but then faster and faster until it looked like ripples in a pond.

CRACK!

The mirror shattered in a spiderweb formation. A big crack split Lyra’s face in two diagonally and large pieces of the mirror fell off. One side was Lyra’s red, crying eye and the other was still full of pent up rage. When she saw that, she stopped.

“N-no. Not again.” She said as she slowly backed up from the mirror. “I-I-I can’t do this again.” She took a deep breath in and let it out slowly. She continued to do it until her heartbeat was back to normal. Her head ached and her stomach growled, but she ignored it in this moment. She had to fix this.

Lyra stared back into the shattered mirror as if she was facing an old foe. “Okay Lyra. keep it cool. Keep it together. For Key.” She continued her slow breathing as she spoke. “Deep breaths. Stay calm. It’ll all be okay.” She assured herself. Her reflection seemed less psychotic and now, more relaxed. More like she was having a bad hair day than an emotional episode. She looked away from the mirror and stepped into her shower. She let the cold water run down her face, lifting off the dirt and grime of the past two days. When she finally stepped out of the shower, she felt lighter. Like a weight was lifted off her back. She felt her natural happy energy flowing back to her. Lyra’s mane flowed like it normally does, and her eyes once again twinkled like the brightest star in the sky.

Lyra waltzed out of the bathroom after toweling herself off and opened the curtains. She hadn’t noticed, but the sun was out again, letting a gorgeous stream of light in through the window. She looked around and saw the giant mess. She was used to having her room a little messy, but this was overkill. the next ten minutes were spent tidying up the broken glass and boxes of pizza. As soon as she finished, Lyra realized that Key was knocking on the door.

“Lyra! Can I open the door now please?” She yelled through the door.

“Yeah, come on in!”

The lock on the door shook for a second and then the click was heard. The doorknob twisted and then the door pushed open. “Hey Lyr-AH!”

Key was interrupted when Lyra tackled her to the ground in a bear hug. She buried her face into her neck before yelling, “I’m so sorry. I’m so sorry” Over and over again. Key patted Lyra’s back.

“There, there. It’s alright. We’re together now. Don’t you dare say sorry to me again. I forgave you a long time ago. Just let it be please? It’ll be alright. I promise.”

“Key?” Lyra sniffled.

“Yes?”

“Thanks.”

“No need thank me either. We’re family. Family helps each other because they love each other.”

“In that case, I love you, Key.”

“Love you too, Lyra.”

Chapter 6

“Why?”

“Why do I do it?”

“Do I do it fer me?”

“Do I do it fer the band?”

“I wan’ed t’be the bes’ I c’d be, but now I jus’ wanna be th’ bes’.”

Rocky drilled on his drumset. The faint smell of alcohol and blood hung in the apartment. Sweat ran down his face as he thumped the bass pedal over and over again. His excessive use of magic caused the base of Rocky’s horn to bleed. It ran down under his eyepatch, into his eye. He ignored it. Gritting his teeth he continued to bat away at the drumset, increasing his tempo until he’d reached the limits of his abilities.

Drops of blood fell from his horn onto the drum kit, the droplets bouncing up and back every time his stick hit the drum head. Rocky’s heart pumped.

Thu-dump!

The cymbals crashed and rang, the bass drum boomed and shook the floor beneath him. The drum shells shuddered violently with every unrelenting blow. This was the height of the solo. An unforgiving four hundred beats per minute.

Thu-dump!

Finally, the crash of the high hat, dropping his tempo slower and slower until his tapping matched his own heartbeat.

tish

Rocky shut his eye and steadily increased the tempo until he was again at his limits. His horn bled profusely, mixing with the sweat that poured down his face. The last measure came up. Rocky smashed the snare as hard as he could, once again at his limits. Completing the snare part, Rocky dropped his sticks and thumped the bass twice more before falling to the floor, gasping and gulping air.

As Rocky lay there, a small pool of blood formed on the floor in front of his face; strands of hair hanging in his eyes were soaked with it. Still gasping, he shut his eyes and felt warmed by a satisfying sense of accomplishment. He usually spent every night practicing the song over and over again, but always ended up dragging or rushing the tempo. This time he’d done it perfectly. He knew he’d sleep well that night, but a question plagued him: Would he be able to do that again?

“Is it passion? Or is it vanity? Why do I wor’ m’self so har’?” Rocky whispered to himself as he caught his breath. It took a few minutes for Rocky to be able to get up again. When he finally stabilized, Rocky dragged himself into the bathroom to get cleaned up.

Rocky finished his usual routine. Drink, smoke, eat, read, eat, drink, smoke, shower and then finally get ready for bed after smoking one more cigarette. As he lay in bed, his eyelid slowly closing, he had one final thought before he drifted away into the land of sleep.

I did it. There’s nothing to worry about tonight.

Rocky watched something falling outside the window as he shut his eye. A tear forming on the edge.

“Sleep easy.”

The first snowflakes collected on Key’s windowsill. When it would get too heavy, it would tumble off and back into the steady snowfall. The moonlight bounced playfully off of the mounds of snow, asking for somepony to come out and play. The subtle breeze brushed against the shutters and through a set of windchimes, letting a warming hum resonate into the cold of the night.

Key loved watching the snow fall. She could never get enough of it. Twirling, swinging in the darkness without a care in the world. She sipped on a slightly bitter cup of coffee, wrapped in a thick and cozy comforter. She had just finished her cinnamon roll and a special batch of snickerdoodles baked by Lyra earlier.

At this moment, Lyra walked in the front door with grocery bags. She wore a simple grey scarf with a matching hat. There was a goofy smile on her face as she put down her bags.

“What’s with the creepy face?” Key asked as she downed the last of her coffee.

“I ran into Octavia at the grocery store,” Lyra replied. Her eyes wide and

“And?”

“That’s it.”

“That’s it?”

“Oh! She looked at me and waved too! She had a really pretty scarf too, and it looked terrific on her!”

“So what?”

“Er- are you hungry?”

“No, why did you change the subject?”

“Subject? What subject?” Lyra countered

Key gave an amused look as she saw the beads of sweat running down her face.

“You like Octavia don’t you, Lyra?” Key smiled fiendishly

“N-no! I-I-I… No!” The same devilish smile remained on Key’s face as she slowly rose and walked in her room and shut the door.

“Uh oh.”

Octavia shut the door to her apartment with some difficulty. Sometimes, she wished she had a horn and magic to make her life easier, but whatever. The table rattled slightly as she placed her bags on top. The melted snow formed a small puddle around Octavia’s hooves as she took off her scarf and hung it up on a rack.

She sighed and collapsed on her couch, thinking about her busy schedule. First thing tomorrow, she had orchestra practice that would hopefully be cancelled due to the weather, then her usual lunch. After that, she could finally go to her first actual “Practice Gig” as Lyra put it.

She estimated to be home by around nine o’clock and be in bed at ten and be well rested for a well deserved day-off.

“What to do?” she said to herself, staring at the ceiling. “I don’t have practice with Lyra and the rest that day, and I don’t have orchestra practice either, so what shall I do?”

Octavia always had difficulty planning things on empty days like this. She usually didn’t have any friends to spend time with, and her only hobby was the cello and now, the bass guitar. She had attempted to ask some of the ponies in her strings group to hang out, but after a few “no’s” and a couple “I simply don’t have the time’s”, she gave up. She usually spent it just moping around her home, but this time she didn’t want that to happen.

“Wait!” she yelled, falling off of the couch. Jumping to her hooves, Octavia said, “Lyra! She’s a friend, so maybe if I ask, she’ll hang out with me.” Octavia had it locked in her mind. Tomorrow, she would ask Lyra if she wanted to hang out.

As Lyra lay in bed, she thought to herself.

Should I ask her on a date?

No, I can’t just go up and ask that. It’s too soon. Maybe ask if she wants to go shopping?

Nah, she doesn’t seem like the type to enjoy that.

I GOT IT! I’ll ask her to a movie! A horror movie! A classic move. Nice work, Lyra!

And with that final thought, she fell asleep.

Octavia read and re-read the letter she had just received. A spark ignited in Octavia’s chest once she read it for the fourth time. Tearing the small blue slip to shreds, Octavia laughed and practically ripped open the door to her closet to grab her scarf and hat. Her heart pumping practically out of her chest, she ran in no particular direction as soon as she exited her home.

“... I have no idea where Lyra lives… but I DO know where Rocky lives!” Octavia smirked as she pulled a one-eighty around a lamp post and jogged towards the drummer’s home.

Lyra knocked on Rocky’s door to return a vinyl disk she had borrowed about six months ago, but just kept forgetting to return it. Rocky opened the door with a cigarette lazily hanging out of his mouth. His eye was barely half open as he invited her inside.

“Wat do ye wan’, Lyra?” he said, smothering the cigarette. “It’s too ear’y for yer shite.” he muttered with a grin on his face.

“Okay, let me give you two useful pieces of information. One, it’s past noon. And two, I came to give you this record back,” the mint unicorn said as she handed it over to Rocky.

“Nice! tha’s a new recor’! Six months an’ twelve days. Keep it up lass!”

“Oh shut your trap, Rocky. You owe me some coffee now, nerd.”

“Huh? I owe you?? Tha’ mus’ be a joke! No, betta be a joke!”

“Okay, I suppose I’ll jus borrow another vinyl and go home!”

“You li’l… Ugh fine. I’ll make yeh some coffee.”

Octavia arrived at the tall apartment building a few minutes later and boarded the elevator. She excitedly counted the floors as the elevator rose.

“Twenty-four, twenty-five, twenty-six!”

The elevator stopped at twenty-six and let Octavia off. There was only one apartment on this floor because it was a penthouse. She could only dream of being this rich. Her blood warmed up again from being out in the cold as she tapped her hoof against the door.

“Huh? Octavia? Wha’re yeh doin’ here?” Rocky said as he opened the door.

“I needed to know where Lyra’s house is,” she said.

“Well yeh can ask ‘er yerself. Come on in,” Rocky said, stepping to the side. Octavia entered, and to her surprise, she saw Lyra drinking from a cup of steaming coffee. Lyra turned and spit her coffee all over herself, the coffee table and the wooden floor. Mere seconds later, she realized that she had spilt extremely hot coffee on herself.

“EeeEEeee!” she yelled as she bounced up and down in a pointless manner.

“U-uh are you okay, Lyra?” Octavia asked, walking over.

“Oh! Octavia! You, uh… surprised me. heh. Yeah, I’m doing just dandy.” Lyra tried to hide the fact that she was being burned by piping hot coffee.

“Uh, doesn’t that burn?”

“Very much so.”

“Well, let me help you clean up then,” Octavia offered.

“Thanks! That’d be t-terrific!”

“Well then, I’ll get some paper towels.”

“Okay.”

“Is this a normal thing for you, Rocky?”

“Wha’?”

“Lyra spitting her coffee out?”

“Ah, yea. She’s terrible ‘bout tha’”

“So it is normal?”

“Pretty much”

“Oh”

Lyra emerged from the bathroom looking much cleaner than before. Her mane was wet, but the rest of her was pretty dry. She flipped her hair to the side, looking like some sort of Manehattan model.

“How do I look?’

Octavia stood up from the couch and smiled. “Terrific.”

“What are you doing here anyway?”

“I could ask the same for you.”

Rocky yelled from the kitchen, “I don’ know why you two are in me house!” Ignoring Rocky, Lyra continued.

“Anyway, I had something to ask you.”

“Really? Well, I had to ask you something too.” Octavia countered

“Oh, I guess it’s fate that brought us together, eh?”

“I suppose.”

“Well, you can go first, Octavia.”

“No, no, I insist. You go ahead.

“Nah, you!”

“Fine, how about the same time?”

“Okay. Three…”

“Two..”

“ONE!”

“WILL YOU HANG OUT WITH ME TODAY?”

Chapter 7

Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter.

Chapter 8

The girls waltzed through the wintry bliss towards Octavia’s apartment; another moment of pure happiness for Octavia. She wasn’t sure why, but every time she was with Lyra, her entire world flipped upside down. All her worries were gone the second she was around. Any past regrets or any feeling of sadness disappeared.

They took their time walking back, and to even extend the moment, Octavia suggested a detour through the park. Her mint friend agreed by tossing a ball of snow right onto her forehead. Only seconds later, snow flew through the air and the beautiful sound of laughter was heard, echoing through the trees and buildings.

Many lights lit up the trees in a rainbow of color. Red, blue, yellow and more, but there was a certain color that Lyra caught in Octavia’s eyes. She wasn’t sure what it was, but it was like clockwork when that huge smile was plastered on her face.

There’s my Octy. The REAL Octy.

Eventually they grew tired of lobbing snowballs across the streets at each other, so they collapsed on a nearby park bench, their chests heaving from laughter and all the exertion. A silence passed not too long after, not an awkward one, but more of rest between a flurry of notes in a piece. Their breaths crystallized in the air and dispersed with every breath. Octavia finally looked over to Lyra, who was already looking back at her.

“Ready to go home?”

“I’m ready.”

Lyra pulled the covers over herself with her magic. She had opted to take the couch, no matter how many times she was offered the bed. Lyra had slept on the bed before, and it was too tough for her liking. The couch, on the other hoof, was really plush and soft. It even turned into a bed, but when you do that, some of the plushness gets lost somehow. After about twenty minutes of convincing, Octavia finally gave up and went to go brush her teeth. Once again, Lyra felt really comfortable. Wait… Something wasn’t right. A low rumble was heard through the room. “Hmm, maybe just eating popcorn for dinner wasn’t such a good idea,” she said to herself. A messy-maned Octavia walked into the living room.

“I heard that. Are you hungry? I am.” The second Lyra heard that, the unicorn ripped off the maroon blanket and did some stretches. She let out a yawn and entered the kitchen. Messy-maned Octavia decided to make some macaroni. She pulled open the pantry door and pulled a box of Insta-Mak and set it down on her counter. A pot of boiling water had already been put on the stove for some tea.

“What’s for… uh… our midnight snack, Octy?” Lyra inquired, leaning onto the marble table top.

“I mean, it’s pretty apparent that it’s macaroni,” Octavia joked.

“Oh, haha. Right.”

“Well, it’ll take just a few minutes. Why don’t you go ahead and sit down while I finish up here?”

“Okay, I’ll set the table for our fancy mac n’ cheese snack.”

“Go for it.”

“This is bit more “fancy” than I thought it’d be,” Octavia said as she set down two bowls of macaroni. To be honest, the table wasn’t anything close to fancy-looking; it was more like a bunch of silverware dumped around a few plates and napkins. She tried hard to hold back her laughter, while Lyra hoped she’d set the table correctly. She finally managed to take her seat while Octavia returned with the freshly brewed tea.

“Looks good, Octy.”

“Thank you very much, Lyra. Let’s dig in!”

“Yay!” Lyra exclaimed. Suddenly, the light flickered and then went out. The sound of the heater/air conditioner unit powering off hung in the air for a bit. The only light was from the two tall candles that she had lit just a couple minutes ago. “Great. Power’s out. Who knows how long it’ll be out.”

“Alright, if you say so, Octy.” Lyra smiled, taking a bite of her own food. The next ten minutes passed in silence, but the kind of silence that was relaxing. The mares had their eyes locked on each other in a dreamy way as they ate. Once the Insta-Mak was all gone, they spent another ten minutes drinking their hot tea. Ice and snow smacked occasionally against the window, causing one or the other to look at the window. The temperature of the apartment was falling quickly at a very noticeable rate. The only thing keeping the two friends warm was the tea, and because of that, the tea didn’t last too long.

“H-hey Octy, It’s um, getting a bit cold, dontcha think?” she asked, her teeth chattering.

“Yeah, it’s getting quite cold. Wait here. I’m going to go ask my neighbor if they know what’s going on,” Octavia confirmed.

“Okay.”

“Be right ba-” A knocking on the front door was heard. “ck.” She trotted over and pulled the door open.

“Octavia! I just got news that the weather is getting really bad tonight,” a sky blue-colored stallion said through the doorway. It’s Octavia’s neighbor that she rarely ever saw. He was always out at some concert or music festival.

“Oh hello, Blue. Thanks for telling me.” He nodded. “So, the weather is going to get worse?”

“Well, as long as you stay in the building until morning, you should be fine, but it will get VERY, VERY cold. It’s already almost negative eight degrees Celsius, and it’ll hit about negative thirteen by two in the morning.” He blinked and then continued. “Pretty much; the building’s heating is out because no power. It won’t be nearly as bad as negative twelve, but it’ll probably be around seven or eight degrees in the building.”

“Alright, thank you for the information, Blue,” Octavia said.

“No problem! Stay warm!” he sang as he stormed off into his own room. Octavia shut her door and sat back down.

“So, long story short, it’s gonna be really cold?”

“Yep.”

“Well, Celestia damn it.”

“Yeah, this rarely happens, but it does happen. Sorry that this all happened. I want my guests to feel as comfortable as possible.”

“Ah, Octy! You’re trying too hard to make me feel comfortable. I AM comfortable,” Lyra explained. Her eyes showed a bit of concern, but then it was gone.

“Oh, alright then. Well, I guess we should prepare for the night.” Octavia scratched her ear.

“Yeah, so how are we gonna do this?”

“I only really have one blanket. I never saw the need to have more than one. I live alone… but I think you should have it for tonight, Lyra.”

“... What?”

“You’re gonna have the blanket,” Octavia insisted. Her giant puppy dog eyes were hard for Lyra to ignore, but the offer was ridiculous.

“No way, Octy. No way. It’s freezing, you’ll get Hypothermia or something,” she insisted.

“Oh, I’ll be alright as long as you’re comfortable.”

“This again,” Lyra thought. “Fine, I can play at that game too, Octy. Just watch this!”

“Well, Octy… I guess we’re at an impasse. I feel comfortable only when you’re comfortable.”

“Uhh…”

“Gotcha! I got an idea though.” Octavia raised her eyebrow in interest.

“Hmm? What is it?”

“We can SHARE the blanket!” Octavia did a quick double-take.

“Share? Are you serious?” she managed to sputter. “Like in the same bed? Using the same blanket?”

“Does that make you uncomfortable?” Lyra asked, genuinely worried that she had surpassed her boundaries.

“No, not particularly. Just that… I’ve never shared a bed before. What if I’m somepony that kicks in her sleep?” Lyra was dumbfounded. Is THAT what she was worried about?”

“Don’t worry about that. I’m a tough mare,” Lyra answered, puffing out her chest in a comical manner. Octavia giggled and then eventually gave in.

“Okay, fine. We can share the blanket and a bed.”

“Yesss!”

“Alright, you big green baby. Let’s get to bed.”

The two mares lay on the single Queen-sized mattress back to back. This was much better than before. Lyra enjoyed the heat of Octavia’s body while she enjoyed Lyra’s. There was another pretty silence like before. The only thing that could be heard was each other’s faint breathing and the light taps of snow against the glass window. The fuzzy blanket was large enough to wrap them both into a giant pony burrito.

Lyra couldn’t keep a smile off of her face. This was officially her favorite day ever, compared to any day in college, or high school. On the other end, Octavia pondered how she herself felt on the inside. A warmth, a different kind of warmth was felt in her chest. Her cheeks blushed and she felt an irresistible urge to kick her leg.
What is this? Then it suddenly struck. She was in love. With Lyra. How could she be so naive? It all made sense. The feeling she felt whenever Lyra was around. The feeling of being at home, the feeling of being loved… the feeling of Love.

For another half hour, Lyra had some trouble getting to sleep. but then she felt some movement. Looking over, Lyra noticed that Octavia was asleep. “Hmm, she is adorable.” A thought popped into Lyra’s brain, which she took full advantage of. She pulled Octavia close to her chest and hugged her like a filly would a stuffed animal or a pillow.

It only took minutes for Lyra to start nodding off. Then the entirety of the beautiful snowy night all blended together into a single darkness.

On the other side of town, in a fairly large pillow fort, sat Key. A pencil lie perched in her mouth, a determined look shined in her eye, and balled up paper was strewn everywhere. Multiple plates of cookie crumbs littered the floor around the fort, and the air smelled vaguely like a mixture of cinnamon and vanilla coffee.

The power was still on and going strong where Lyra and Key’s apartment was. By what she had heard, this area shouldn’t have any issues with the storm. The lights didn’t even seem to falter as the snow storm raged on just a few meters away from where Key sat. Many empty bags of marshmallows and soda bottles littered the kitchen. If Lyra walked in that very second, she’d probably get pretty pissed at the mess she’d made.

Groaning in distaste, Key balled up another sheet of paper and tossed it to the side. She really ought to be doing this on her piano, the one in her room, instead of trying to come up with meaningful lyrics to her latest song without any real sense of tempo, or feeling of the music.

“Why is this so difficult!” she complained, stuffing her face with a couple more marshmallows. “Ugh, I know what Lyra would say…” She stood up and waved a hoof in the air in no particular direction.

“Blah, blah, you gotta feel the music, Key! You can’t do blah blah blah without blah blah blah!” Suddenly, she turned towards a tall mirror on the wall and continued.

“Then a split second later, she’d be like... “

“Hey! What’re you doing Key? You gotta let the music feel you! And then I’d be like…”

“But… you just told me…”

“Forget what I told you. Just do what you need to, then she’d just leave without another word.” Key huffed and fell onto her back. “I’ve been doing this garbage for seven hours! Why can’t I think of any lyrics?” She paused. “Well, including all three hundred thousand breaks I took in between.” For a few minutes, she lay in the center of the living room, but then dragged herself into her own room. “Maybe I’ll be able to come up with something in my ‘dojo’.”

The snow had stopped sometime during the night. Clouds moved away from the city area and moved over to some town called Ponyville, allowing the sun to shine once again. Little beams of golden light trickled through the cracks in Octavia’s blinds. The first to wake was Lyra, who had found that sometime during the night she had pulled Octavia right beside her; one hoof was still wrapped over the top of her body and the other sitting somewhat uncomfortably under her.

Stunned, Lyra tried to move away without waking Octavia, but with her hoof trapped under her, it would be near impossible. It was worth the try, though. She wouldn’t want her to assume anything negative about this situation. With a breath and a mental count to three, she tried to pull her hoof away, but to her horror, Octavia moved with it.

“Hmm?” Octavia said, half asleep. “Hold me again, Lyra…” Lyra couldn’t tell if she was actually talking to her, or if she was talking in her sleep. She decided to be safe and not comply. The sleepy voice spoke again. “Hoooold meee.”

“No!” she whispered.

“Whyyyyy?” Octavia complained.

“She is definitely sleeptalking,” Lyra thought. “But maybe, I can just put my hoof on top of her again... “ And with that thought, she slowly moved her hoof back onto Octavia. She seemed to calm back down and then push herself back towards her, pressing her back against the unicorn’s chest. The sudden movement caused Lyra to make a loud squeak from surprise.

“Huh? What?”

“Uh-oh,” Lyra thought as Octavia turned towards her. All Lyra could do was keep an awkward smile on her face as she slowly removed her hoof from Octavia’s back.

“What were you doing?” she asked with a serious tone.

“I, uh, I was holding you,” Lyra admitted. Her ears flopped down as the awkward silence raged on. There really were no upsides to lying at this point.

“Did I give permission to do that?” she asked after a minute of thinking to herself. Her brain took some time to process things, since she just woke up.

“Well, yeah. You did.” Octavia blushed and moved her face away from Lyra.

“I-I’m sorry. I’m going to have to ask you to leave.”

“What?! Why?” Lyra questioned. She could feel her eyes getting watery in the corners.

“I’m not sure yet, but I have this strange feeling in my chest and I don’t really know what to make of it. It’s like my insides are burning every time I’m near you, like you’re a magnet that I can’t separate from…” she paused. “Please, just go.” Lyra looked up at the ceiling before moving.

“Alright, I’m gonna go home.” With a heavy heart, she lifted herself off of the mattress and towards the door. She stopped before exiting the bedroom and looked back at Octavia, who was watching through the corner of her eye. “Hey Octy… that feeling you’re talking about? It’s love. You talk about me in your sleep. You feel more comfortable around me, and I can see that, but if you really do want to get away from me, I’ll respect that.” Octavia turned head away again and hid under the covers like a child would. “See you around…”

The sound of the bedroom door shutting was heard, so Octavia slowly pulled the covers off her head. Her heart beat like crazy and her own tears rolled down the side of her face. She felt so weak… so confused. What was she feeling? What was she thinking?

“Lyra…” Was what she said true? She did feel more comfortable around Lyra. She did think about Lyra often. She enjoyed her company, and enjoyed her smile. She loved the way she talked and the way she handled situations. Her musical ability, her friends, her voice, her mane. Just everything! Why did she ask her to leave?

Octavia threw herself off of the bed, and tumbled onto her wooden floor. It hurt, but something else would hurt more if she didn’t fix it. “Lyra! Wait!” she screamed in her morning voice. “Lyra!”

Lyra had just exited the apartment and didn’t hear Octavia’s screams. She wiped a tear with her scarf and sniffed hard. “It’s okay…” she told herself as she dragged herself to the elevator doors. Her ears remained down and she hit the button on the side of the wall.

Octavia trotted to the door and tried to stop, but the carpet caused her to slide straight into the door with all her weight. She groaned, but she had no time for pain. She had to get to Lyra! No concern for the door was considered when she practically ripped it off the hinges and sprinted down the hall. “The elevator!” she exclaimed as she pulled to a sudden stop in front of it. A quick glance showed that an elevator just stopped at the lobby. She smashed the button, but to no avail.

“I don’t have time for this garbage! I’ll take the stairs!”

Door after door nearly ripped off of its hinges if it stood in Octavia’s wake. She skipped every possible stair she could. She needed to get down seven floors, and fast. Paying no attention to her safety, she tripped and tumbled down the stairs as fast as possible. Finally. The door to the lobby!

Again, Octavia burst through the door and out the glass double door leading outside. She was a mess. Her mane a complete disaster, her nose bleeding from running into her door earlier and various bruises on her body from falling down the stairs. Almost instantly, she was hit with a wall of freezing cold air and a beam of sunshine. She fell face-first into a mound of snow, but didn’t waste any time on getting back up.

A barely visible streak of mint green could be seen through Octavia’s faded vision. Half-blind, Octavia trudged on towards her until she was stopped. A hoof gently wiped the snow and stream of blood off of her face.

“Lyra… I… Please come back. I’m sorry I told you to leave. I wasn’t thinking straight.” Octavia said. She didn’t look up, but she could feel Lyra’s angry eyes piercing her body. Finally, she decided to look up, just for a second with her puppy dog eyes so Lyra would go easy on her. She quickly stole a look, but stopped in her tracks.

Lyra looked lost. almost as if she was just told to put down her guitar, set it on fire and watch it turn to ashes. Then on top of that, told to leave music forever. Her eyes were slightly damp and her nose was running.

“Lyra, I think you were right. Forgive me, please. I still think you’re right. When you’re around me, I feel at home. When you’re not around, I spend my time thinking about you, and… I think I’d like to date you.” Lyra’s eyes regained their luster as Octavia said that. Her golden eyes filled up with her own personality again. She stood on the edge of desire. She opened her mouth to speak, but she was cut off.

“Don’t say a word, just come home and lie down with me.”

Suddenly, a crazy idea popped into Octavia’s mind. An idea that could fix everything. It was now or never to do it. Lyra was less than a step away from her, and the only thing that could fix this was to close that gap. The next second felt slower than normal. The rest of the world seemed to freeze in place as they stared each-other in the eyes.

Octavia popped forward and locked lips with Lyra.

Author's Note

Look! It's Key and Rocky!

Chapter 1

Octavia sat at her usual table in the Sparrow cafe in Canterlot. She sipped on a cup of herbal tea as she watched the sun rise over the horizon. This is just another normal day in Octavia’s life. It may seem bland to others, but not to her. This was as exciting as it got for her. Every day she got up at five thirty in the morning, took a shower, and took a stroll down to the Sparrow for a pastry and some tea. After breakfast, she headed to orchestra practice and played until exactly noon. After finishing practice, she went back to the Sparrow for lunch. The usual hayburger and fries were accompanied by a soda or milkshake.

She may not seem like a pony who enjoys junk food, but it’s her guilty pleasure. After lunch, she headed back to practice and played until six. Once she’s done putting away her cello in its designated locker, she leaves and takes a scenic stroll through Canterlot Central Park. In the middle of her stroll, she takes a break for exactly ten minutes to sit on her favorite bench and feed the pigeons. After she’s fed the pigeons, she finishes her stroll and heads to her favorite pizza place for dinner.

After dinner, she goes home and listens to some of her classical records until eight o clock. After that, she takes another quick shower to wash away the grime and stress the day had put on her, and then goes to bed at exactly nine every night. Lather, rinse and repeat. She’s had the same routine for the last six years, and frankly, she doesn’t give a damn. Her life is exactly the way she wants it. She lives in a nice apartment and gets a decent wage by performing one Friday a month at the Canterlot Theatre. She spends very little on pointless things and focuses on three things. Eating three meals a day, paying her bills, and getting to practice on time.

On Saturdays she does the same routine, but instead of going to practice, she sits and listens to the local bands play in the cafe. Most of the time, she enjoys the music even though it isn’t really her style. The only change that Octavia really ever sees in her daily life is the new band that comes to play every two weeks. Sometimes the bands are outstanding enough for Octavia to go and personally congratulate them (and even tip if they’re good enough). Other times the bands are so bad, she leaves early to take her routine stroll. Instead of going back to the cafe after her stroll, she goes to a small pub on the corner of two busy streets called the Nightcrawler. She usually sits in the same spot every time, and even the regulars know to save that seat for her.

Octavia’s drink choice, however is interesting. The first year she came to the bar, she only ordered a single glass of fine wine to complement a custom dinner the chef made for her. Over time, she began to order harder drinks much more often and even started to eat the regular hay sandwich and fries, or the daffodil special soup.

She is used to her lifestyle, and you may look at her and see that she’s happy, but on the inside, she’s cracking like an egg. She wasn’t this way when she was a filly. Octavia was an orphan until two ponies adopted her when she was nine. Believe it or not, she was actually a troublemaking and roughhousing filly. She listened to rock music and vandalized with her older friends. Once she was adopted, her new parents took years to teach her to be proper and live a simple but steady life. On the sideline, they made her take music lessons and learn classical stuff, but secretly she listened to all the cool rock bands you see on magazine covers and billboards. She got her cutie mark in music while playing the cello, so everypony assumed it was for her cello skill. No denying she was good at what she did, but Octavia believed that that treble clef was meant for her understanding of music and not for simply playing the stupid cello.

Don’t get her wrong, she loved the cello, but Octavia wanted more out of her cutie mark than just playing classical music. She knew that and she felt it. It was her destiny to understand music and play it, but to be happy, she needed to do her own thing. She needed to play the kind of music she liked. Sadly, she never chased that dream. When she turned fifteen, Octavia was completely bland. Everything that made her Octavia was gone. The only thing that remained that made her the same pony was her cutie mark, her name, and her cello.

Octavia no longer stayed a chatty, social, fun pony, but instead turned into a quiet, cello playing zombie. She finished her schooling days quietly and orderly, and went to a musical university where she spent her time trying to graduate top of her class. She did eventually, but looking back, she wished she’d made even a single friend. She’d lived alone in an apartment pretty close to campus, so there was no point in staying in a dorm. She never had a roommate, and hadn’t had a single friend other than the employees at the Sparrow and the regular customers and staff at the bar. Even then, it was a rarity if she said more than “hello” or “the usual please”.

Now being in her mid twenties, her heart longed for change, but everything she had been taught told her to restrict it. It’s like she’s trying to climb out of a room with no windows and no doors, a single lightbulb hanging by the ceiling illuminating the small cramped room, slowly becoming dimmer over time.

The time to change is now or never. Time slowly ticks away for all of us, but some have it spent better than others. Some may think having money is everything in life. To Octavia however, it is the exact opposite. She’d rather give away all her money and job to do something she legitimately enjoyed. Even if she’s dirt poor, she’d be happy doing something she loves.

Today is the day that Octavia’s mask finally cracks.

Octavia finished her tea and pastry and put her cup and plate back on the tray. Today is Saturday, and a new band is supposed to show up for the next two weeks. She sat at her table and waited for the band to show up. Once they finally did, they looked frustrated. Wait… Octavia knew some of these ponies! Well, one of them anyway. Lyra Heartstrings had attended college with her, and was her biggest opponent in her Musical Theory class. They both tied with the highest scores in the class and haven’t seen each other since. So that’s what she’s been doing!

“You know what? I think I’m going to go talk to her. Maybe I can discuss music with her!” Octavia thought as she got up from her table to go meet her old rival.

“Hello Lyra! Do you remember me?” She asked, putting on the best smile she could muster. Lyra’s frown instantly vanished, and she returned the smile.

“Oh, hello Octavia! I didn’t think I’d see you here. It’s been a while! How have you been?” This was going better than Octavia had originally thought it would be. Wow. Lyra is actually really nice.

“Oh, I‘ve been just splendid! How have you been?”

“Just, you know, enjoying music as always. Have you come to listen to my band?” Lyra asked, a bit of uneasiness washed over her face.

“In fact, I am! I come every weekend to listen to the different bands play. This is your band? That’s amazing!”

“Haha, yeah thanks! It formed a few months ago when me and a couple of my friends decided to do a bit of a jam together. A couple covers later, we decided to make it official and try our own songs. We do have a bit of a problem, though.”

“Oh really? What is it?” Octavia questioned.

“Our bass guitarist got a job in Manehattan, so he had to leave. Now all we have is our drummer, me, the guitarist, and the pianist, who is also our main vocalist. I mean, we can pull it off, but it just won’t be the same without that bassline, you know?”

Octavia saw a chance. A slim one, but it was still there. Could she finally be the pony she once wanted to be? She does play the cello, which is much like the bass guitar, but with slightly different tuning. She was an experienced musician, so it wouldn’t be a problem for her, but the only thing she’d need to get used to is not using a bow.

“I can play the bass!” Octavia blurted.

“R-really?” Lyra asked, curious.

“Well, cello, but it’s basically the same thing. The different tuning won’t be a problem for me.”

“Oh… Alright then! You don’t know the songs, though, so I’ll just tell you the key and you can just jam over it. Sound good?“

“Uh… Yeah! Sounds great!” Octavia understood jamming, but had never really done it before. Especially not live.

“Awesome! Our bassist left his guitar with us when he left, so you can use it for now. I know how talented of a musician you are, so I don’t think a tryout is necessary. Besides, we’re running out of time. Come on, I’ll show you the other members!“

“Uh, sure! Great! Thanks!”

“Welcome to Rhythm Guardian, Octavia.”

Octavia felt a twinge in her chest, but couldn’t place what it was. Her mind was blank as Lyra led her through the cafe. She was saying various things about how excited she was to see, or rather hear Octavia play. A small group of ponies sat around the cafe talking to each other in anticipation of the band. Their lively chatter fitting in well with the well lit an overall happy place. Octavia followed Lyra to the back corner where two ponies nervously fiddled with their instruments. They walked up to a pretty mare who sat behind a piano. Her eyes, wide open and lively, seemed inviting to Octavia

“This is Key! She plays the piano. Key, she’s going to be taking over the bass today.” Lyra introduced a pearl white pony with bright green eyes. Her mane was much like Lyra’s but it was jet black instead of mint. Her tail shot and curly. She smiled and showed her pearly whites. Honestly, a dentist would be jealous of those teeth.

“Hi! Nice to meet you… uh-”

“Octavia.”

“Octavia, that’s a nice name! Well, nice to meet you Octavia. It’ll be a BLAST playing with you.” She bumped hooves with Octavia before saying, “If you’ll excuse me, I need to set up my piano a bit and warm up my voice.” Key’s voice was sweet and as melodious as any instrument. There are monotonous ponies who sing well, but she’s the exact opposite. It seemed like she could hit any note she tried. As she left, Lyra dragged Octavia to the drum set which sat on a slightly elevated platform. A somewhat short pony wearing a pair of sunglasses was sound checking the various drum parts.

“Hey Rocky! This is Octavia! She’ll be playing the bass with us today. He took off his sunglasses to reveal that he was missing an eye. His other eye, which was an electric blue, was open wide, staring at Octavia.

“Nice to meet yeh lassie,” he said as he stuck out a hoof. Octavia hesitated for a few seconds before bumping his hoof. “Feelin uncomfortable? That’s quite alright. I get that a lot. So yeh play the bass eh?” He asked, changing the subject.

“Why yes, well… No… It’s complicated. I play the cello, but it’s essentially the same thing becau-”

“Aye, I get it. There’s no need to explain music theory to me. I get enough already from Lyra.” He pointed to the mint unicorn in question with his hoof. Lyra had a bit of red in her cheeks, but it vanished when she thought of something to shoot back.

“Well, at least I don’t speak in an annoying accent all day” She said with a smug grin. Rocky’s grey coat seemed to turn completely red.

“Why, I outta-”

Octavia thought it’d be a good time to stop the fight right here before it turned ugly. “Please! Friends, no need to fight! We can all get along right?” Both Lyra and Rocky couldn’t keep a straight face. They fell on their sides with laughter.

“Oh Octy, we’re not serious! We joke around like this all the time. It’s part of being in a band!” As Rocky and Lyra recollected themselves Octavia thought. So band members are all close friends? I never needed to talk with any of the other orchestral ponies, so I never made any friends there.

“Oh snap! We still need to get you hooked up with a bass! Come on, this way Octy. Can I call you Octy?” Asked Lyra. A nickname… Octavia never had a nickname before.

“Octy, I love it! Sure!” She said as Lyra once again led her around the cafe. The musicians had their own special instrument storage room to keep their instruments during break hours or until their shift started. It was about the size of a small living room with two small rectangular windows. It almost looked like a garage.

“Aha! Here it is.” Lyra pulled out a long, brown rectangular case labeled ‘ROSE.’ “Go ahead, check it out.” Octavia slowly opened the case to reveal a beautiful bass guitar. It was a three color sunburst with an outside of black, brown in the center and a layer of red between those two. There were two F shaped sound holes. One on the top, above the strings and one under the strings. The lower one was half covered by a pickguard. Four knobs and a small chrome switch were around the lover sound hole. The silver pick ups glittered in the light as Octavia picked it up. This was much larger than she had thought it’d be. It was the same size as her cello. How was she to play this?

“Um, excuse me Lyra, but how did the previous owner play this instrument?” asked Octavia, plucking one of the strings with her hoof.

“Well, he uh... only used it once before he quit. I have no idea how to use it. Maybe you could just mess with it in here for a couple minutes to see if you can figure it out? I have a small amp here you can use.” She nudged a small cube amp that sat next to the nearest wall. “I need to go set up my own stuff right now, so I’ll be back in a few. Good luck!” As Lyra walked out and shut the door, Octavia plugged the bass into the small amp and tried to hold it like a regular guitar.

“Oof, no this is way too heavy to hold. Maybe if I stand it up like a cello?” Within a few seconds, the bass stood up and Octavia gripped it like her own instrument. “Let’s see… Let's try a basic blues scale, maybe?” She turned up the amp to where it was loud enough for her to hear, but not enough to disturb the outside.

Octavia plucked the low E string and let the amp put out a faint hum. She followed with a few octave E notes and played a short melody she had learned from an old Van Haylen record. This wasn’t nearly as difficult as she had originally thought.

“I think I’m ready! I’m going to play in a rock band!” Octavia shook with excitement as she unplugged from the amp and dragged the instrument out the door to the stage. It’s time to put on a real show.

Author's Note

Welcome to Rocktavia! I hope you all enjoy.

If you did, make sure to leave a like and a favorite. It helps out a lot!

Have a terrific day! :raritywink: