Octavia climbed into the bed, the sheets still warm from her sleep. She was feeling awful, her face puffed and red. To think that this day would have been good after all. She sighed, and closed her eyes, head on the pillow. She was surprised for a brief moment when she was falling fast asleep.

Her eyes opened and she saw a crowd of ponies sitting in velvet chairs. The golden molding at the top of the ceiling was unmistakable, as well as the well worn stage. She was standing in Carneighie Hall, in Manehattan. The most famous critics were sitting in the front row, their steely eyes watching her every move. When she looked at her music, the staffs were filled with a song she had never heard or seen before. There were high notes that made her shift around more than ever, and fast sections that she couldn't manage in a sightread. The audiences' eyes looked on as she bit her lower lip and put the bow to the string. A high pitched A resounded around the room. She looked to her cello, and let out a yelp of surprise. A violin was in her hooves! A violin! She didn't know how to play the violin! She began to awkwardly move the bow around the instrument. Squeals and shrieks were let out from the instrument as the crowd turned their faces away. She looked out and saw Vynil, walking out with another pony.

"No! I... I..." Octavia couldn't speak. She could just watch as her fans left the hall, and her best friend abandoned her.

"No! Don't leave me! NO!" Octavia's eyes snapped open. Her breathing was light and quick. She felt the pillow, she had been sweating into it. She felt her face, and for the third time that day, there were tears running down it. She looked around and called out in despair. Her cello was gone, and Vynil hadn't come for her! That nightmare was true! As she was about to break down and give up to the darkness and despair inside her, she looked at the clock. It read 10am. The concert wasn't until 6pm and not in Manehattan. She took a deep breath and smiled. Vynil was out with her cello. But how did the cello become broken? It had been in perfect condition beforehoof. Also, with Vynil's magic going nuts, she was very wary of what was going on.

Also, why was she having nightmares again? She hadn't had those since her beginning days, which were years ago. This couldn't have something to do with the odd happenings this morning? Octavia pondered the coincidences, and decided to shrug it off until the evening. She couldn't afford to lose her focus on the concert and living in the moment. She got up and went to the library. She went to pick out a music book to practice reading the notes, and to shake off some of the nerves. When she put her hoof on a book, it would give her a shock. Not an electric shock, but one where she was struck by fear and saw the nightmare flash before her eyes. She pulled her hoof, expecting pain. The only pain she had at the moment was the pain in her brain, and of course the fear.

Vynil opened the door to the store.

"Hello?" Vynil raised her shades. Looking into the darkness, there was a pony's shilloutte. It was taller and more slim than what she expected, but she assumed it was a new employee.

"I have a cello that needs repairs. Can you help me out?"

The mysterious pony didn't speak but lit a horn. Vynil thought she could hear a light cackle before she blacked out.

Vynil was standing at the deejay stand at a Grand Galloping Gala. All of the ponies were enjoying the mix she had picked out and was dancing to the beat. Then, Princess Celestia came up to her and held out some papers. They read ' Authorized Arrest of DJ-Pon3 for Stealing and Ignoring Copyright.' She gasped, and began to protest,

"Princess! I didn't steal anything! The music isn't mine, and I never said it was! Why?"

"This is your pony," Celestia told the guards, "Take her away."

The two guards took her by the front hooves and dragged her out of the ballroom. Everypony was staring at her and whispering. They glared at her, and women clutched their jewelry and purses. Stallions catcalled at her and booed. She protested against the guards, but they used their magic to chain the mare's hooves. She looked back to see Neon Lights waving a mocking hoof and mouthing 'Good-bye' as he spun new music. She began to cry, letting her signature shades fall to the marble floor and hearing the huge doors slam shut behind her.

"NOOOOOOO!"

Her eyes flicked open. She wasn't in the shop. She was out in the street, behind a table at the cafe nest door. The cello sat next to her, in worse condition than it was before. The neck had been snapped off and a burn mark on the back. She crumpled under the weight of the nightmare and the cello. She couldn't take it back to Octavia like this. It would only make her lose hope. She had to figure out something and get another cello. She forced herself to her hooves and levitated the cello. Her hooves resisted movement past the length of the chains from her nightmare. She hobbled down the street and pushed open the music store's door and set the cello on the floor. A mare with a light blue mane and fur smiled.

"Welcome to Hoofington Music! What can I help you with?"

"Can you help me find a replacement for this? My friend is playing tonight and she needs a cello."

"Sure, let me see." The clerk closed her eyes and thought. "Yes, we have a cello. Would you like it? Its new."

Vynil sighed in relief.

"Yes, i'll take it. How much?"

"The broken cello will be cost enough." The clerck smiled, her green eyes shining.

"Okay!" Vynil and the clerk traded cellos and she turned to the door and ran home.

Author's Note

I have been making this on the fly, and I hope that you like it!