More in Common

Chapters

A Night on the Town
Canterlot
Jailbird
Party Preparations
The Canterlot Garden Party
Story Time
Epilogue
The Unicorn at the Turntable

A Night on the Town

The list was hard to read because it had small font and with everypony trying to get in front of you it was a hard to get a good view. Octavia was shoved on the ground as the large crowd of ponies trampled her. She looked up. Octavia squinted. She could barely read the list.

The following ponies will be this years musical entertainment at the Canterlot Garden Party:
Baritone
Beauty Brass
Concerto
Frederic Horseshoepin
Harpo Parish Nadermane
Vinyl Scratch

Octavia felt her heart break for two reasons. The first reason was she just got kicked in the chest by an excited pony in the crowd. The second reason was she wasn’t on the list.
Octavia felt tears in her eyes as she struggled to get out of the excited crowd of ponies. She had worked so hard. Now she would have to wait about a year to have enough bits to buy a house.
“Yo, Octavia, wait up!” Octavia heard somepony call. She turned around to see Vinyl galloping towards here.
“Isn’t it exciting! I’m going to play at the party!” Vinyl said as she jumped up and down.
“Yea, exciting,” Octavia said half heartedly.
“I know! I’ve never played at a hoity-toity, shmancy-fancy party before! It’s going to be so awesome!” Seeing Vinyl so happy about playing at the party made Octavia feel even worse.
“Vinyl, I’ve played with most of the ponies who were on that list at either the Grand Galloping Gala or last year’s Garden Party. They are all so sophisticated and you are more...juvenile. Are you sure you’ll be able to play with those ponies?” Octavia asked.
“Sure! I get along with everypony, and I’m not juvenile, I think I might be a little older than you,” Vinyl said.
“No, I mean you...aren’t....you like....” Octavia couldn’t say it. What she wanted to say was: “You act like a teenager.”
“What? I can’t hear you,” Vinyl said.
“Disregard, forget I ever said anything.”
“Okay... Wow! I can’t believe it! Playing at the Garden Party is the best thing that could ever happen to any pony!” Vinyl said.
“Can you talk about anything else?!” Octavia snapped.
“Um..... Okay,” Vinyl said quietly.
“I’m sorry, it’s just I...Ugh, just forget it!” Octavia yelled as she galloped ahead of Vinyl who looked like she just found out her name being on the list was a cruel prank.
Octavia started to cry again. “Vinyl has always been so nice to me,” she thought. “And I just snapped at her because I’m...jealous.” Octavia galloped home as fast as she could.
When she got home, she wasn’t sure what to do. She felt horrible for being mean to Vinyl. While Octavia was crying, the phone rang. Octavia hoped it wasn’t Vinyl, but at the same time she hoped it was.
“Hello?” Octavia said when she picked up the phone.
“Is this Octavia?” The colt on the phone asked.
“Yes,” Octavia said.
“Hello, my name is Caesar. I help organize the Canterlot Garden Party. I would like to apologize for a mistake that was made while we picked musicians,” the colt said.
“Yes?” Octavia said as she hoped what she thought was true.
“Yes, the judge in Manehattan didn’t want you to play at the party, but you did such an extraordinary job last year,” Caesar said.
“Yes?” Octavia started to smile.
“I would be ever so grateful if you would perform again this year,” Caesar said.
“Sure, I’ll perform again,” Octavia said as she tried to stay calm even though she wanted to scream in excitement.
“Thank you, you should get a ticket for the party in the mail in a few days. Goodbye,” Caesar said before hanging up.
“Yes!” Octavia cheered. Her celebration was interrupted by a knock at the door. Octavia looked through the peephole and saw Vinyl Scratch standing there.
“Oh hey, Vinyl,” Octavia said as she opened the door.
“Um...Hi, Octavia. I’m really sorry about how I acted earlier. I didn’t mean to rub my victory in your face. If it makes you feel any better, I called the ponies who are in charge of the party and told them I wouldn’t perform at the party.... I bought you this,” Vinyl said quietly as she held up a present.
It was pink wrapping paper covering something flimsy that could only be something made of paper.
“Oh, Vinyl, you shouldn’t have,” Octavia said. She took the gift anyway and tore the wrapping paper off of it. It was book full of sheet music.
“I wasn’t sure what kind of things you like, but I knew you liked music,” Vinyl said.
“Vinyl, I really mean you shouldn’t have. You didn’t do anything wrong. I’m sorry I snapped at you. I was just jealous. I got a call from somepony who helps organize the party and he said it was a mistake and my name was supposed to be on the list,” Octavia started to panic a little. She was mean to Vinyl and now her best friend is turning up the chance of a lifetime.
“Vinyl, you have to call back; you have to play at the party,” Octavia said a little louder than necessary.
“You aren’t mad at me?” Vinyl asked.
“No, you didn’t do anything I should be mad about!” Octavia said.
“Alright!” Vinyl said.
“If you want you can come in and use my phone to call back and see if you can still perform at the party.”
“Okay,” Vinyl said as she entered Octavia’s house and picked up the phone.
While Vinyl talked, Octavia looked at her present. It was a book of cello sheet music for Vinyl’s favorite rock band. The book also came with a CD that had the band’s most popular songs so you can play along with them. Octavia wasn’t a big fan of the band, but decided not to be rude.
“Vinyl, are you sure you don’t want this?” Octavia asked when Vinyl was off the phone.
“No, it’s yours,” she replied with a smile. Octavia smiled back.
“Are they going to let you play at the party?” Octavia asked with a serious look on her face.
“Yea, they said it was no problem,” Vinyl said.
“Good, I was worried for a second,” Octavia said.
“Thanks for the book,” she added. Vinyl grinned.

Later that day, Octavia started using her gift from Vinyl. Even though rock bands weren’t really her thing, she still had fun playing along with CD. It reminded her of playing with the other ponies at the Grand Galloping Gala or the Canderlot Garden Party, but that was more like a jam session. A few times Octavia played along with the CD without looking at any music so it was like playing at the party.
Octavia was excited about playing at the party with her best friend, but there was one thing that worried her. Vinyl Scratch said she was going to play electronic music at the party, but everypony else was going to play classical music and, once Vinyl Scratch made up her mind, nopony could make her change it.
Octavia decided to practice some classical music for the party. She play a little Fur Elise but thought it was rather boring. She played some more classical music but all of it was so... boring. Even her old favorites.
Octavia wasn’t sure why she suddenly didn’t enjoy her favorite type of music., but she decided not to worry.
“Just like Vinyl said: The style of music is changing.” Octavia thought.
The next day was Saturday: The day Octavia and Vinyl Scratch planned to go on a girls night out. Octavia was so excited. Around five o’clock, Vinyl went to Octavia’s apartment. Then, the two of them left together to hit the town.
Their first stop was dinner where they had spicy chili. Octavia needed a refill at least fifteen times because Vinyl ordered the chili atomic spicy even though Octavia wanted them mild. Octavia then ordered a salad which was much better.
Their next stop was the boutique. Vinyl bought a short electric blue dress. Octavia picked out a simple dark purple dress.
Next stop: The movies. They bought tickets to see Batmare. It was about a pony named Bruce Mane who turned into Batmare. Octavia and Vinyl shared a large popcorn. They screamed when the Marecrow used her scare-powder to scare everypony. The only weird part was Bruce Mane was colt and he was Batmare.... It was still a good movie.
“So, where should we go next.?” Octavia asked.
“I don’t know....Oh, I know!” Vinyl said excitedly. Octavia laughed.
“Where?” she asked.
“The salon! It will be so totally wizard!” Vinyl exclaimed.
“Wizard?” Octavia repeated.
The two mares went to the salon. Vinyl got her mane cut first. It was just a little trim so it wouldn’t hang down like Octavia’s.
“How does it look?!” She asked Octavia.
“Great! It’s so...you!” Octavia said.
“Your turn! Your turn!” Vinyl said.
“Me? No thanks,” Octavia said sheepishly.
“Common, please?” Vinyl begged.
“Vinyl, please don’t do the sad puppy dog face. You know I hate that!” Octavia begged.
“Please?” Vinyl asked as she did a sad puppy dog face by puffing her bottom lip out and making her eyes look teary. Octavia sighed.
“Well...I guess I have some split ends,” Octavia said.
“Hooray!” Vinyl cheered.
Octavia sat in the chair while a pony started cutting. Vinyl whispered things to the stylist while she cut which made Octavia nervous. What made her really nervous was the fact that she was wearing a blindfold because Vinyl wanted it to be a “surprise.”
Snip! Snip! Snip! Every cut the scissors made on Octavias mane made her feel even more uncomfortable. Time felt like it was going very slowly but her mane felt like it was getting short very quickly.
Finally, after the longest five minutes in the world was over, Octavia could look in the mirror. She untied the blindfold, waited for her eyes to adjust to the light, and then-
“AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!”

Canterlot

“What did you do to my mane?!” Octavia screamed.
“I told the pony cutting it to make it look like mine. Isn’t it cool?” Vinyl asked.
“No!” Octavia snapped.
“But I thought you said it looks great?” Vinyl said sadly.
“It looks great on you! That doesn’t mean I want it on me!!!” Octavia screamed.
“Oh...Sorry?” Vinyl said. Octavia gritted her teeth. Vinyl was trying to be nice. She thought I would like it. Octavia sighed.
The two mares left the salon in silence. Octavia told Vinyl that she wasn’t mad, but she was a little annoyed.
“So, do you want to go home?” Vinyl asked.
“Yes, it’s getting late,” Octavia said.
“Can we do one last thing before we go home?” Vinyl asked.
“Sure, why not? What do you want to do?” Octavia asked.
“Roller disco!” Vinyl exclaimed.
“Roller what?” Octavia was confused.
They went to a place where they could do roller disco which was when they put on roller skates and danced to disco. Octavia would never have gotten within ten feet of the roller disco place before she met Vinyl. The two went inside, got their skates, and went to have fun. The radio played a song from Octavia’s CD. Octavia and Vinyl sang along to it.

Octavia groaned as she rolled over in her bed the next morning. She got home at 11:45 PM. She got in bed half an hour later. She didn’t want to get up. After a few minutes of arguing with herself about whether or not she should get out of bed, she got up and went to take a shower.
The cold water that fell from the showerhead helped wake Octavia up. After taking a shower, brushing her odd mane, eating breakfast, brushing her teeth, and doing other normal morning procedures, she remembered what day it was. She was supposed to go to Canterlot so she could start practicing for the Garden Party with the other members of the band.
She looked at the clock. It was 10:27 AM. That gave her about an hour to pack and get to the train depot on time. She galloped to her room where she packed her things including some sheet music, her bowtie, a manebrush, a toothbrush, and some other toiletries. Then, she grabbed her cello.
It was hard for her to carry the cello on her back and pull the suitcase with her by having the handle in her mouth. She rushed out the door of her apartment and headed for the elevator. She sighed when she saw the out of order sign taped to the door. She turned around so she could look down the huge flight of stairs. She gulped.
She took one step on the stairs. Then, she fell to the bottom. She quickly opened up the case her mammoth cello was in to see if it was okay. It didn’t appear to have any damage. She plucked the strings. It wasn’t tuned, but other than that it was fine. Octavia picked up her things so she could continue making her trek to the train depot.
She was panting by the time she got there. She saw Vinyl waiting happily on a bench at the depot.
“Woah,” she said. “Ha! What happened to you.”
“I tripped down a few flights of stair,” Octavia said through gritted teeth.
“Sorry ‘bout that. The last time I was at your apartment I was jumping in the elevator. It crashed or something like that,” Vinyl said. “By the way, you are really rocking the new mane cut.”
“Vinyl, where is all of your stuff?” Octavia asked.
“My what?”
“The stuff you’re taking to Canterlot.”
“Oh, I hired a pony to get that for me.”
“Good idea,” Octavia said as the cello slid off of her back.

*********

“So, this is the band?” Octavia asked when she saw the small crowd of ponies with instruments stranding on a stage in what soon will be the Canterlot Garden Party.
“What are those ruffians doing here?” a stallion whispered to the one next to him.
“They’re probably lost,” he replied. He turned to Octavia and Vinyl before clearing his throat. “Excuse me. are you two ponies lost?” he asked.
“No, isn’t this the band for the Canterlot Garden Party?” Octavia asked.
“Yes, what are you doing here?” he asked. Octavia was about to answer but Vinyl interrupted her.
“We just rolled in from Manehattan. We’re going to play at the party because we are awesome!” she said. Octavia put her head in her hoof. The stallions chuckled.
“May I asked what you are doing with that?” the first stallion who spoke asked as he motioned to the turntable Vinyl was sitting on.
“Well, I’m going to play it at the party. Duh! Some porter brought it here for me,” Vinyl said casually.
“You two?!” the stallion said as he tried to keep himself from laughing. He failed. Him and his friend laughed very loudly and mockingly at the mares. Octavia and Vinyl turned red.
“You’re kidding, right?” one of the stallions asked.
“No...” Octavia said.
“Ha! I’ll speak with Caesar about that! In the meantime, how about you play your instruments for us?” The stallions exchanged evil smiles. Octavia took out her cello and started playing In the Mood. The stallions were impressed, but didn’t show it.
“You know this is a classy party, right?” one of the stallions asked. Octavia glared at him and started playing Fur Elise.
One of the stallions interrupted in the middle of the song and said to Vinyl, “What about you?” All the other members of the band watched as Vinyl started playing music on the turntable. She scratched some records so they squeaked.
“Get out of here! This is no place for you,” one of the stallions said.
Octavia’s heart broke. “Why are they picking on me?” she thought. If Vinyl was disappointed she didn’t show it. She had her sunglasses on so you couldn’t really tell either.
“Hey, Octavia, how does this sound?” she asked. Vinyl started playing another song.
“Great,” Octavia said quietly
“Pardon me, but did she just call you ‘Octavia?” a mare with a blue coat and a brown mane on the stage asked.
“Well sure I did, that is her name, yo,” Vinyl said.
“Octavia, what happened to you?” the mare asked.
“Oh... I had a little problem at the salon,” Octavia said.
“No, not your mane. You used to be quieter; this is the most I’ve heard you talk. You used to hate all other music that wasn’t classical; now you play jazz so you can prove to us you can play. When you played Fur Elise, you played it like you didn’t seem to enjoy your old favorite song. You also hate electronic music, and now you are telling that pony it sounds great? You really let yourself go,” the mare said.
“And you know me from?’ Octavia asked as she raised an eyebrow.
“Oh, Octavia, you don’t remember? We played at the Grand Galloping Gala,” the mare said. Octavia suddenly recognized the pony with the sousaphone wrapped around her.
“Oh, whatever! This ruffian is still no pony fit to play at the Garden Party. Am I right?” the stallion asked. “You are right,” his friend said. “I remember playing with Octavia at the gala, she had class then, now she is such a ruffian!” another stallion said.
“Well, Tavi and I ain’t goin’ nowhere!” Vinyl said.
“Oh, do hush up. There’s Caesar over there. Hey, Caesar!” the rude stallion called.
“Yes, yes, what is it?I haven’t a lot of time,” the high class pony said.
“These two mares want to play at the party,” the stallion who called Caesar said.
“Oh my,” Caesar said when he looked at Vinyl. “What is your name?” he asked her.
“Vinyl Scratch,” she replied.
“Vinyl, Vinyl, Vinyl,” Caesar said to himself as he read the list of who was playing. “Ahha, you are on the list. You can play.”
“Yes!” Vinyl said.
“And you are?” Caesar said to Octavia.
“Octavia,” she said.
“Octav-wait! what?” he exclaimed.
“Octavia. O-C-T-A-” she started.
“I know how to spell!” Caesar cut her off.
“Octavia what happened to you? How did you get that giant bruise?” Caesar asked. Octavia gulped when she remembered the bruise on her face. She was going to lie when Vinyl interrupted again and said, “Oh, she fell during roller disco last night.”
Caesar looked looked at Octavia’s mane and thought about her doing roller disco. “Octavia, as much as I would like to say your little friend can’t play at the party, I can’t because a judge decided she would play. But, I can say that you can’t perform at the party since it was my mistake saying you could. I’m sorry, Octavia. I can’t have a no-class mare such as yourself ruining this party. It might be worse than when those hill-folk from Ponyville came and ruined the party last year,” Caesar said. “Please, leave now.”
“Hey, hold on! If Octavia leaves, then I leave too. So, you should rethink that decision,” Vinyl said.
“Oh, by all means, you should leave,” Caesar said.
The two mares walked away from the group of ponies. Octavia had her cello with her, but Vinyl decided to leave her turntable because she rented it. The two rude stallions laughed at Octavia and Vinyl as they left.
“I wish they would let you play at the party,” Vinyl said. “What about you?”
“You want to know what I wish?!” Octavia said loudly. “I wish I never met you! I wish you didn’t weave your way into my life and ruin my music career!” Octavia screamed at Vinyl. Vinyl was slightly offended but she didn’t really care. She knew Octavia could say some really mean things when she was upset. This was just like when Octavia's name wasn’t on the list or when she got her mane cut.
Octavia sighed. “Vinyl, I’m sorry. Why can’t I be more like you? You don’t get mad very easily.”
“I guess it’s just one thing we don’t have in common,” Vinyl said.
“What do you mean? We have next to nothing in common,” Octavia said.
“Think about it. We both like music, play cello, like jazz, rock, we even have the same manecut!” Vinyl said.
“Vinyl, the truth is we only had two of those things in common when I met you,” Octavia said. “That mare was right. I have changed.”
“So? Everything changes! Music, fashion, ponies- you name it! Change is good,” Vinyl said.
“But still, we won’t get to play in the party. That was supposed to help my career as a musician. Instead, it did the opposite,” Octavia hung her head.
“So? You don’t know that. Your music career isn’t ruined,” Vinyl said.
“Who knows, maybe something extremely lucky will happen!” she added.
“What? Vinyl, you are the most positive pony I know,” Octavia said.
“Excuse me, ladies,” a white stallion with a blue mane and tail stopped them as he passed.
“I say, aren’t you Octavia he asked?” he asked. Octavia looked at him in surprise.
“Was Vinyl right? Could this be something extremely lucky that was about to happen? This pony looks very important,” Octavia thought.

Jailbird

“Yes,” Octavia said.
“I couldn’t help but overhear your conversation. May I ask why you girls aren’t performing at the party?” the stallion asked.
“They said we weren’t lady-like,” Vinyl said.
“Have we met?” Octavia asked.
“Oh, I’m sorry. I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Fancypants. No, we haven’t met, but I saw you perform at the Canterlot Garden Party last year. You were smashing!” the stallion said.
“Thank you,” Octavia said with a smile.
“Hey, Fancypants,” Vinyl said. “I was wondering if you could maybe make the band let us in.”
“Sure, of course I can. Follow me girls,” Fancypants said.
Octavia and Vinyl exchanged excited glances. The ponies walked back to the little stage were the fancy band was practicing for the party.
“Hello,” Fancypants said.
“Oh....uh...Hi, Mr.Fancypants. What can I do for you?” a stallion in the band asked as they stopped playing.
“I was wondering if you could let these charming ponies perform with you. Would that be a problem?” Fancypants asked.
“No,” the stallion groaned. “Actually, could we talk?” the stallion asked before leading Fancypants a few feet away. They thought Octavia and Vinyl couldn’t hear them, but they could.
“I think you’re making a mistake. Those ponies don’t belong at the party,” the stallion said in a hushed voice..
“Poppycock, I know those ponies will do a smashing job.” Fancypants said.
After a few minutes of arguing, the Fancypants convinced the stallion and everypony else to let Octavia and Vinyl play. Octavia grabbed her cello and bow, Vinyl went to her turntable, and the ponies started practicing.
First, a pony started playing a tuba. Then, Octavia joined in with her cello. After a few seconds everypony started playing. Vinyl began making some kind of funky beat. Everypony stared at her as they stopped playing. Octavia played her cello. It was fun. Nopony was playing by using sheet music or playing real songs. They just played by figuring out what pitches would sound good with the other pony’s instruments. Octavia and Vinyl smiled at eachother as they made music together.
Fancypants watched. The stallion who insisted Octavia and Vinyl didn’t play, was hoping Fancypants would disapprove of the fast, catchy music the mares played. Fancypants smiled.
“Perfect! This is the exact change the party needs. Very nice,” he said.

***********

When the day of the Canterlot Garden Party came, Octavia was so excited that she leapt out of the bed in the dirty hotel she was staying at, and began jumping on it.
“Oh! The party’s today! The party’s today!” She sang. She could hardly wait. Tonight she could get her paycheck so she could buy a house. After tonight, her music career will reach new levels.
“Hey, aren’t you the pony who played at the gala and the garden party twice?” Octavia said in a high pitched voice. “Oh, why yes! Yes I am!” she said in her normal voice. “It’s so exciting! So amazing! Tonight, all my dreams come true!” Octavia continued jumping happily for several more minutes.
After a while, she got bored and went to take a shower. When she got out of the shower, she looked at her mane in the mirror. It wasn’t so bad. It was actually kind of... cute.
Octavia ran into the breakfast room where she had a blueberry muffin and orange juice. Octavia hopped into the lobby and out the door of the hotel when she finished eating. She looked at the clock on a tower across the street. It was 7:18 AM.
“Great,” Octavia muttered as she slumped. The Canterlot Garden Party stared at 9:00 PM. That gave her about eighteen hours to kill. She couldn’t wait eighteen hours.
“What to do... What to do....” she said as she considered what she should do today. “Vinyl is probably still sleeping because she stays up until 2:00 AM watching TV. I already had breakfast at the hotel... I’ll go see what there is to see in Canterlot,” Octavia decided.
Octavia went to a mall, road a rollercoaster, watched street performers be chased by owners of insane asylums, and went to a pool. Nothing that wasn’t in Manehattan. Octavia stopped at a tourist center where she got a pamphlet containing information about going on tours of the castle. That sounded interesting.
Octavia trotted back to the hotel where she saw Vinyl in the arcade. Octavia waved and said hello, but Vinyl didn’t hear her over the loud music of the game she was playing.
“HEY! VINYL!!!” Octavia yelled at her. Vinyl turned around.
“‘Sup, Octavia. What do you want to do today?” she asked.
“I was thinking we could go to the castle today. Maybe take a tour and see if we can see Princess Celestia,” Octavia explained as she held up the pamphlet.
“What time is it?” Octavia looked at the clock. “Noon. We still have nine hours before the Canterlot Garden Party. I’m so excited!” Octavia said.
“Game Over!” the game Vinyl was playing said.
“Yea, I can’t wait to go to the castle...but... I want to try this a few more times,” Vinyl said as she put another coin into the arcade machine and started a new game before Octavia had a chance to protest.
“That’s fine,” Octavia said as she perched herself on the end of an air hockey table.
“Game Over!” the game said again.
“Dang it! One more try I promise this will be last time,” Vinyl said as she inserted another coin into the arcade machine. Vinyl tried six more times.
“Game Over!”
“Hey, Octavia, I’m out of bits. You don’t happen to have any I can borrow, do you?” Vinyl asked.
“Nope, sorry. I don’t have any money you can borrow,” an impatient Octavia said. The truth was she had about 60 bits in the saddlebags she had on.
“Shoot,” Vinyl said sadly. “We can go to the castle tour thing now.”

The two mares walked to the castle where they stood in line and waited and waited and waited and waited under the boiling heat of the sun. Finally, they could purchase their tickets.
“How many are in your group?” the ticket pony asked.
“Two,” Vinyl said.
“Okay, that will be forty bits,” the mare said.
“Ouch! Really? Isn’t there a military discount?” Vinyl asked.
“Oh, are you military?” the mare asked.
“Well...no. Isn’t there some sort of discount?” Vinyl asked.
“Sorry, ma’am, only military discounts. It’s still 40 bits.” the mare said.
“Here ya’ go,” Octavia said as she handed the pony 40 bits.
“Hey, I thought you said you didn’t have any money!” Vinyl said to Octavia once they got their tickets and walked into the castle’s garden.
“No, I said I didn’t have any money you could borrow. If I lent you money, we’d be there another hour!” Octavia said.
“What-ever! Let’ just have fun. Oh, look! The tour is starting!” Vinyl said. The two ponies trotted to a small group of ponies who were ready to leave on the tour.
“Hold it! Where are your tickets?!” A guard asked.
“Right here,” Octavia and Vinyl said as they held up their tickets.
“Hmm... Looks fake! Did you know counterfeit is illegal?” the guard asked.
“They’re not fake!” Vinyl said.
“Don’t raise your voice at me! I could have you in the dungeon in ten seconds. You! Don’t give me that look!” the guard yelled at the mares. By now, everypony was watching.
“They aren’t fake! SEE!” Vinyl said as she used her magic to lift the tickets up and put them over the guard's eyes.
“That’s the last straw!” the guard said. “Hey, what are you hiding in your saddlebags?”
“Nothing,” Octavia said.
“Don’t lie to me!” the guard yelled as he grabbed Octavia’s saddlebags and emptied their contents on the ground. The guard carefully looked at the twenty bits, manebrush, and tissues that fell on the ground.
“Where did you get this money?” he asked.
“Home,” Octavia replied flatly.
“Don’t be smart with me! You’re under arrest!” the guard yelled. He whistled signaling other guards to come. About twenty did, and they all looked angry.
“Hey, whaddaya think you’re doing!” Vinyl yelled. The guards grabbed Octavia and Vinyl and dragged them into the castle. The guards were saying things like “They’ll get what’s coming for them!” or “This will teach ‘em!”
The two ponies were dragged through the castle which made everypony stare at them. They then were thrown into a mini jail inside the castle. The angry guards locked them in and left.
“It can’t get any worse,” Octavia sighed. Vinyl jumped on Octavia as she tried to stop Octavia from saying the jinx.
“Don’t say that!” Vinyl screamed. She was silent for a moment. Vinyl looked around the jail as if it she was expecting it to explode. Octavia couldn’t say anything because Vinyl’s hoof was covering her mouth.
Vinyl sighed a sigh of relief. “Maybe fate didn’t hear you,” she said.
“What’s that?” Octavia asked when she removed Vinyl’s hoof from her mouth. There was a deep rumbling sound as hundreds of guards who were holding swords in their mouths came running down the stairs leading to the jail. Once they got to the bottom of the stairs, they stood still as they watched the mare’s every move. That meant the ponies couldn’t try to escape.
“No, it heard me. It definitely heard me,” Octavia said.

Party Preparations

Octavia laid on the floor of the jail wallowing in boredom. Vinyl braided and unbraided Octavia’s tail as a failed attempt to reduce boredom. Vinyl started whistling, but one of the guards yelled at her to be quiet because he hated the song she whistled. The jail was even more torturous because it was dark, smelly, damp, and hot.
“Why- out of all the ponies- do they choose us to accuse of having fake tickets?” Vinyl asked.
“I don’t know,” Octavia sighed. “I don’t think we’ll be out of here by nine o'clock tonight.”
“Ugh! This is torture! I want to stretch my legs, but there is a suspicious yellow liquid over there which I don’t want to accidentally step in,” Vinyl complained.
Octavia sighed again as she watched a spider crawl in front of her. She sat up and looked around the jail for the first time. There were little animal skulls shoved in the corners, spiders’ egg sacs everywhere, and snake skin.
“This is almost as gross as the hotel,” Octavia joked.
“Ha! Almost as gross. Not quite though,” Vinyl said.
“By the way, what time is it?” Octavia asked.
“I don’t know. We’ve been in here for about an hour,” Vinyl answered.
The guards turned around as another pony entered. Octavia and Vinyl stood on the tips of their hooves as they tried to see through the bars of the jail and over the guards' heads in order to see the pony who just walked in. They could barely see a white unicorn stallion with a blue mane. First, they thought it was Fancypants, but then they realized he didn’t have a moustache or a monocle. It couldn’t be him.
“I don’t know who that is,” Octavia said.
“Ooooh! I know who that is! Some pink pony and I were operating a turntable at his wedding. His name is Shining Armor,” Vinyl said. Shining Armor talked to the guards for a few minutes, then he opened the door on the jail. The guards led Octavia out of the jail and into a royal courtroom.
They sat in chairs and waited for the judge to come. Princess Luna came.
“Octavia and Vinyl Scratch,” she said. “Thou are accused of treason, making counterfeit tickets, and stealing bits. How do you plead?”
Octavia and Vinyl exchanged nervous looks.
“Um... We didn’t do any of that stuff,” Octavia said quietly.
“Yea, we bought our tickets, and then we went to go on the tour, and then the guard stopped us, and then he said we had fake tickets, and then he looked in Octavia’s saddlebag, and then he saw the money she brought from home, and then he took us to jail, and then we were bored, and then-” Vinyl stopped to take a breath.
“Silence!” Luna shouted. “Thou is not permitted to speak again! How do you plead?” Luna pointed at Octavia.
“Um... Well, it’s pretty much what Vinyl said. We were accused of having fake-”
“We did not ask what happened!” Luna interrupted.
“Look, we have to be out of here by nine and it’s already-” Vinyl looked at the clock. “2:30. So, please let us go. PLEASE?”
“Very good. All I asked was to hear you plead,” Luna smiled. “Has the jury made their decision?”
“.......No,” somepony in the jury said.
“This job is boring... Thou can go because the guards have no evidence. Begone with you!” Luna said as she waved her hooved.
Octavia and Vinyl smiled. They left the royal court as they heard Celestia say, “Luna, that is not how you’re supposed to judge! I’m the judge next time.”
“The tour already left,” Vinyl said.
“When’s the next one?” Octavia asked.
“5:00,” Vinyl said as she looked at the brochure.
“Well, we can’t wait around here for an hour and a half. Even if we did, the tour would be over at about 10:00 tonight and the party starts at nine. Sorry, Vinyl, maybe we could go on the tour tomorrow. Besides, who would want to go on a five hour tour anyway?” Octavia asked. Vinyl shrugged.
“Me,” she said sadly.
“What do we do now? We already paid our 40 bits. I think the tickets will let us get in for free for the rest of the year. Do you want to go to the gift shop?” Octavia asked.
“Sure!” Vinyl said happily.
The mares went to the gift shop where they looked at the cheaply made, overpriced nick-nacks. Octavia looked at the snowglobes, Vinyl looked at the model Canterlot Castle, and they both laughed at the plush Celestias and Lunas which they fell in love with after carefully examining their cute button eyes, soft coats, and the little smiles stitched onto their faces.
“Awwww,” Octavia and Vinyl gushed as they looked at them. They were eight bits each. Obviously Octavia and Vinyl had to have them. The ponies left Canterlot Castle. Octavia was holding her plush Luna; Vinyl was holding her plush Celestia..

The two musical mares went back to Octavia’s hotel room where they watched the small TV. They kept having to readjust the rabbit ears. TVs were fairly new to Equestria and they weren’t very good ones.
“Hey, Octavia,” Vinyl said during a commercial.
“Yea, Vinyl?”
“Why do you call me ‘Vinyl?”
“Because that’s your name.”
“Yeah, but aren’t you my friend?”
“Of course I’m your friend.”
“Then, why don’t you call me ‘DJ Pon-3?”
“Call you what?”
“DJ Pon-3. It’s what everypony calls me. Remember the first day I met you? I said, ‘my name is Vinyl Scratch, but you can call me DJ Pon-3.”
“I guess I can call you DJ Pon-3.”
“Hooray!......Shh! Shh! The shows back.”

5:00, 6:00, and 7:00 were spent watching TV. When 8:00 came, the two mares turned off the TV and jumped off the bed. Vinyl trotted back to her hotel room where she prepared for the Canterlot Garden Party. They were the most excited mares in the world.

“Tavi! It’s 8:00! The Garden Party starts in an hour,” Vinyl exclaimed.
“Oh my Celestia, you’re right. How could I have forgotten? You should go back to your room to get ready and we’ll meet in the lobby when we’re done,” Octavia said. Vinyl trotted back to her room.

“This is so exciting!” she exclaimed as she jumped on her bed. “Wait, what did Octavia mean when she said ‘get ready?” Vinyl went into the bathroom where she looked in the mirror.
“I should wear something cool,” she said to herself. She put on the short, electric blue dress that she bought when she went shopping with Octavia. She then put on her make-up and trotted to the lobby.
Octavia wasn’t there yet. So, Vinyl waited for her.

Octavia watched Vinyl as she ran out of the room. Octavia ran around her room in an excited circle. She wasn't sure how to get ready for the party. Should she wear the dress she got on her shopping trip with Vinyl? Should she put her mane in a bun? That was probably a "no" because it was too short. Octavia put her bowtie on, brushed her mane so it wasn't sticking out, took a deep breath and headed out the door.
"This is SO exciting!" she said to herself. "The moment I've been waiting for! I'm going to perform at this year's Canterlot Garden Party with my best friend!" Octavia saw Vinyl in the lobby of the hotel. Octavia's mouth dropped.
"V-V-Vinyl, WHAT are you wearing?" Octavia asked. Vinyl looked at her hooves and tail as if she didn't realize she was wearing anything.
"Clothes," Vinyl said. "and I thought we agreed you would call me DJ Pon-3."
"Vinyl- I mean DJ Pon-3- you can't wear that to the Canterlot Garden Party. It’s not the...the...theme of the party,” Octavia said.
“What is the theme?” Vinyl asked .
“Well... Classy and sophisticated.” Octavia said.
“Uh huh, and wasn’t that the music for the party? Oh, wait! Now I remember. Fancypants said this was the change that the party needed.”
“Yeah, but that was about music. This is about fashion.”
“So, now you’re a fashionista?”
“No, I just think you should wear something sophisticated.”
“Whatever.”
“Vinyl, please don’t wear that. No offense- but you’ll embarrass me.”
“I’ll embarrass you?” Vinyl raised and eyebrow.
“You’ve embarrassed me several time but you are worried about me embarrassing you?”
“What? When have I ever embarrassed you?”
“When you started yelling at me at the salon. Everypony was staring! What about when we were at the the restaurant and the chili was too spicy so you started screaming for a waiter to get you a drink and then you were panting? Oh, and we can’t forget about the time when-”
“Vinyl, I don’t want to hear it!............ I mean we shouldn’t fight. We should just go to the party and have fun. I’m sorry I insulted your fashion. You’re right about the theme for the party. I’m sorry,” Octavia said with a small smile.
“Okay! Let’s go! Oh, by the way,” Vinyl said as she jumped up and down. “You said ‘Vinyl’ again!”
The two walked out of the hotel lobby. They left their instruments and things at the place where the party would start. That was a relief because it was really hard carrying the giant things around. (Well for Octavia it was. Vinyl just paid a little colt to take her turntable wherever it needed to be.)
When Octavia and Vinyl Scratch got to the place where the party would soon start, they hopped around in little circles. They were so excited! The party wouldn’t start for another ten minutes. This was going to be the longest ten minutes ever!

The Canterlot Garden Party

“Up, down, up, down, up, down, up, up,” Octavia quietly whispered to herself as she moved the bow on the strings of her mammoth cello. She let the music control her movement. She made up the notes as she played. She looked over at Vinyl who was leaned way back in a chair while she spun the records with her back hooves.
A few hoitytoity ponies made faces at Vinyl to show how much they loathed her style of music and clothing. They quickly stopped when they saw how much Fancy Pants was enjoying the music.
“This is fun,” Vinyl said to Octavia. “But too slow. We need to pick up pace a little.”
“Wait! Don’t-” Octavia quickly said. She was too late. Vinyl started playing fast disco music. She then used her magic to make colorful lights shine all over the party.
Everypony stared at Vinyl. The band, including Octavia, stopped playing. Even Fancy Pants looked disapprovingly at Vinyl.
Vinyl didn’t notice. She just sat in her chair and nodded her head to the beat of the music. Nopony could tell what she was thinking because it was impossible to see her eyes behind her dark sunglasses.
“What is that animal doing?!” Prince Blueblood shouted. That was the on button that made everypony start talking.
“Look at her clothe!” “What kind of music is that?” “She should be Tartarus!” “I did not spend all that money to get tickets for this!” “Somepony should be fired!” “BOO!” “BOO!” “BOO!”
Octavia watched all the ponies scream and yell. Vinyl still didn’t seem to notice anypony was there.
“EVERYPONY, SETTLE DOWN!” Caesar yelled. Everypony settled down.
“The Garden Party is going to be moved to the castle grounds. Let’s go!” He said. Everypony followed Caesar out of the garden leaving a shocked Octavia and a Vinyl who was still completely unaware anything happened.
Octavia shook her head to snap out of her shock.
“What did you DO?!?!” She screamed.
“Huh?” Vinyl quickly stopped the music and lights and lifted up her glasses. “Did you say something?”
Octavia felt her eyes tear up. Her big chance was ruined. Everypony hated her and her best friend. Fancy Pants, Ceasar, Prince Blueblood, and every last high society pony were gone. Octavia pictured herself a homeless bum living on the streets. Or even worse: having to work at a club because she lost all her class. She shivered.
Vinyl cleared her throat loudly to try make Octavia stop staring into space, it worked. Octavia started breathing very fast, loud, deep as if she was about to start yelling at Vinyl. Vinyl prepared herself.
“What did you do that for?” Octavia asked very calmly.
“I-uh... Wanted the party to be funner...” Vinyl looked down in an ashamed manner.
“First of all, it’s ‘more fun;’ not ‘funner.’ Second of all, in your attempt to make the party more fun, you ruined it. Everypony hates us and you ruined my chance to be a famous, class, sophisticated, cellist. I hope you're happy.” Octavia clenched her teeth and tightened her lips. She walked out of the garden and went to see if she really was excluded from the sophisticated group.
Vinyl started to cry. “I ruin everything. Her mane, her class, that bank I accidently set on fire a few years ago,” she mumbled. “I shouldn’t be allowed to even be around ponies. I’m a menace to society.”
Vinyl looked at her turntable. She kicked it and then walked back to the hotel. Once she was at the hotel, she trotted to her room where she laid on her bed and sobbed.
“I wish I never was born! I wish Celestia didn’t pardon me when I burned down that bank! I wish.... I wish.... I wish I had a cherry soda.” Vinyl dried her tears and left her hotel room and went down to the soda machine in the lobby.
“Out of order,” Vinyl read the sign on it outloud. “Ugh!” She trotted to the game room where she remembered seeing a soda machine. She was happy to see it wasn’t out of order.
“Aww! All they have is extra-sugar diet cherry. How can something be extra-sugar and diet? Maybe they put the sugar in and then take it out and then put more sugar in... Ah, I’ll try it.” Vinyl put in some money and waited for her soda.
Vinyl looked over at the game she was trying to beat that morning. It was so tempting to run over there, insert a coin into it and play all night long. Vinyl’s extra-sugar diet cherry soda came out of the machine. She snatched it out of the soda machine and quickly opened it. It made a loud hiss. A bubble came out of it a popped in Vinyl’s eye.
“AHH!” She screamed and quickly pulled her sunglasses sitting on her forehead down to covering her eyes. “Owowowowowowowow!” she said.
“This better be good for all the eye pain it caused me,” Vinyl said. She drank down a big gulp of soda. She was frozen. She dropped the can of soda. Her eyes bulged. Vinyl spit out the soda as hard as she could for two reasons. The first was she enjoyed spitting for distance. The second was she wanted the repulsive, abominable, loathsome taste out of her mouth as soon as possible.
“Okay, note to self: never buy extra-sugar diet cherry soda. Blech!” Vinyl smiled when she decided what she was going to do next. She looked around to make sure nopony was watching her. Then, she dumped the soda on the floor infront of her and smashed the can on her head. Then, she threw the empty can on the ground. Vinyl was about to step on it, but then she got a very uneasy feeling like she was being watched.
“H-Hello?” She called. No response. “Anypony there?” There was still no response.
“Common, Vinyl, you’re losing it,” Vinyl said to herself. She was about to step on the smashed can again, but then she froze. She got goosebumps all over. She could have sworn she heard breathing.
“Hey, common! Stop hiding!” Vinyl said loudling. Vinyl listened but didn’t hear anypony.
Vinyl couldn’t help herself. She sat down at the game machine and inserted a coin.
“Here we go,” she said. She played for a few minutes but then got a game over.
“What?! I totally hit the right button! This game is rigged!” Vinyl said as she kicked it.
“It helps if you hit the button twice,” somepony said. Vinyl whipped around. She saw Octavia standing in the doorway of the game room.
“Oh, hey Octavia. How’d you know I was her?” Vinyl asked.
“I don’t know. You just love it here,” Octavia said.
“Yeah....... Hey, look, I’m really sorry about the ruining your ‘big chance’ at the party. Can you ever forgive me?”
“I talked to Caesar; you didn’t ruin my music career. He doesn’t blame me. DJ Pon-3, I just wanted to say you’re the best friend a mare could have! I get mad easily and I over react. I’m sorry,” Octavia said with a weak smiling. Vinyl gave her friend a tight hug.
“Now, what?” Vinyl asked.
“Now we have to go back to the Canterlot Garden Party and play the grand finale!” Octavia said.
“Let’s go!”

Story Time

“Do they recognize you?” Octavia asked.
“I don’t think so,” Vinyl said.
Before leaving the hotel, Vinyl got a makeover. Her mane and tail were curled, all the scary black make up was taken off of her eyes, she wasn’t wearing her blue dress and was wearing a long red one instead. Even though Vinyl complained and whined, she finally allowed Octavia to take off her sunglasses and leave them in the hotel. For Vinyl, it was torture.
“Where’s the band?” Vinyl asked.
“Hmmmm..... Over there,” Octavia said as she looked at a small stage with the band on it.
“Okay, let’s do this!” Vinyl said.
“No, let’s not do this!” Octavia said. “This is ridiculous!”
“Don’t worry, I already ruined the party once. This’ll help you get back in the game, dude.” Vinyl said.
“Fine,” Octavia said.
“Yes!”
Octavia walked away from Vinyl and went to talk to some other ponies. Vinyl had a cello case with her. She casually walked toward the little band of ponies.
“G’day, mates!” Vinyl said in an accent. The ponies stared at her. Ugh! The kangaroo accent isn’t the fancy one! It was the accent Fancy Pants has! Vinyl thought as the white fur on her face turned into a dark pink.
“Pardon me, might I accompany you in your pilgrimage to spawn sterling harmonisation?” Vinyl asked in her best Fancy Pants accent. The band stopped playing and just stared at her now.
Why do you keep staring at me? I know I’m a freak. You don’t need to rub it it! Vinyl wanted to scream. Instead she said, “Oh my Celestia! Can I play music with you. I have my cello.” She forgot to say it in her fancy accent, but it didn’t matter because the ponies knew it was fake anyway. She showed them the case she was carrying on her back.
“Eh, why not,” a pony said. “We’re missing two ponies anyway.”
Vinyl smiled as she unpacked her case. The ponies looked over her head to see what was in the case. This pony, who none of them recognized, seemed to be hiding something. They all gasped when Vinyl took the instrument out of the case. They were shocked to see her unpack a real cello.
“What?” Vinyl asked.
“Uh... Nothing, nothing. We just thought we saw something else in the case. We were wrong. Just.... Forget it,” one of the ponies said.
“Okay,” Vinyl said.
“Lets, start playing,” another pony said.

Octavia watched the scene from the orderves table. She knew something bad was going to happen. It worried her that Vinyl might do something bad to the ponies here. Although she didn’t know exactly what Vinyl was going to do for the grand finale, she knew it wouldn’t be good. Vinyl didn’t fit in very well with fancy ponies.
Octavia turned around when she heard ponies behind her snickering and gossiping about her mane. Octavia learned to like it, even though she would give it up in a heartbeat to geet her old mane back as soon as possible.
“Something the matter, ladies?” Octavia asked.
“Nope... Nothing at all. We were just admiring your fabulous mane,” one of the mares said.
“I’m sure you were,” Octavia said sweetly, but there was still an edge to her voice.
“Uh-huh! It looks just like that party pooper mare’s mane,” the other mare said. Her friend stepped on her hoof and cleared her throat.
“Oh, but yours is much more couth,” the pony with sore hoof said. Both mares put on really big, fakes, smiles.
“Thanks,” Octavia said. She walked away shortly before the mares started snickering again.
Some of these ponies can be real snobs, Octavia thought.
Forget about earlier. DJ Pon-3, feel free to do anything you want to these ponies, Octavia began thinking with an evil smile.

“So, you went to the ancient ruin, then you joined the space program after escaping the wedding where your cousin married the mare who killed your father, but what happened next?” A stallion asked Vinyl.
“If you stop interrupting me, I’ll tell you,” Vinyl said.
“Sorry, ma’am,” the stallion said.
“Where was I?.... Oh yeah! After I jumped out of the command module to get away from the rabid monkey that was in it, I fell right into the deep, shark-infested waters, of the Mareiterranean Sea,” Vinyl said. She was telling the members of the band her fake lifestory based on one of the few books she read.
“Whoa! What did...Wait a minute! There aren’t any sharks in the Mareiterranean!” a Mare said.
“Oh, there are sharks all right! I know too much about them. They’re extinct now, but they were vicious!” Vinyl said. “I dived under the water a few yards, but I swam into a submarine that was hidden within the murky water!”
A stallion walked toward the little group of ponies who were in the middle of storytime. He looked at them. Their instruments were on the stage, but their owners were relaxing on the grass listening to the DJ’s story.
“Excuse me, but I was wondering why the band isn’t playing any music,” the stallion said.
“Sorry,” Vinyl said. “I’ll tell you the story some other time,” she added to the band.
“No!” They all exclaimed.
“Tell the part about when you saved everypony when the highschool was on fire!” A mare said.
“Again? Fine! I walked down the halls when I smelt smoke!” Vinyl exclaimed. Everypony gasped.
“Wait a second!” The stallion who interrupted the band said. “I know you! We went to highschool together. It never caught on fire.” Vinyl turned about twenty different shades of red.
“You must be thinking of somepony else,” Vinyl squeaked.
“Don’t play coy with me. You’re talking about that book!”
“I have to go,” Vinyl said. She jumped up to gallop away, but then a mare grabbed her leg.
“Please! I don’t care if you’re making up! I want to hear the rest!” She begged.
“Yes, please!” Everypony else said.
“Alright, alright. Sit down everypony,” Vinyl said. She told the rest of the story. She kept her eye on Octavia the whole time. When Octavia looked at her, she started playing an imaginary cello. Octavia got the hint.
“Why are you pretending to play a bass?” A pony asked.
“Oh...I... When Dr. Chrome Shadow hooked his mind control thing up to me, it made me play bass. Even after I escaped I still get seizure of playing it.”
“You what?” A stallion asked.

Octavia looked over at Vinyl who had a small group of ponies gathered around her. Vinyl noticed Octavia and started playing an invisible cello. Octavia knew what she meant. She galloped to the stage the band was supposed to be on. She picked up the cello Vinyl brought with her since Octavia left hers at the hotel.
She started playing the song she played at tryouts. Everypony at the party cheered. The lack of music from the band was getting on their nerves.
“Hey!” Some ponys in the band exclaimed. They jumped up to run to the stage.
Noticing their move, Vinyl quickly said, “Then, I was shot!” The ponies who stood up sat back down to hear the rest of the story.

Vinyl’s plan worked. Everypony loved Octavia now. She saved the party. Although the band members wanted to perform too, they couldn’t risk never hearing the rest of the story. Octavia caught Vinyl’s eye.
“Thank you,” she mouthed. Vinyl couldn’t respond due to her having to continue the never ending story. She nodded to Octavia as a silent, “sure thing.”

Epilogue

Octavia held the pencil in her mouth. She waited for the pony standing in front of her to give her another paper to sign. She did. Octavia wrote her name on the little dotted line.
“Okay, Miss Octavia, this is your new house!” The pony said. Octavia couldn’t believe how easy it was to find a house she liked.
After she got her check from the Canterlot Garden Party, Octavia went back to Manehattan where she bought a house. Her house. It wasn’t very big, but Octavia still loved. It had white walls and blue shingles. Nothing was inside of it when she bought it, but that would soon change.
Octavia’s mane grew back to its normal length, and Vinyl was punishing herself for cutting Octavia’s mane by making her's grow out to look like Octavia’s. Octavia got several more job offerings to play at different parties and events. Vinyl stuck with her steady job at the record store and being a DJ at a club.
After a few days, Octavia finished moving all her stuff from her old apartment to her new house. The best part about her new house was it was across the street from Vinyl’s house.
The future was looking bright for the two ponies, and it was. Octavia said that meeting Vinyl was the most “wizard” thing that ever happened to her.

The Unicorn at the Turntable

Octavia walked down the streets of Manehattan recalling the notes of the song she was planning to play at tryouts for this years Canterlot Garden Party. If Octavia was able to get the job as one of the musicians at the party, it would really help her career as a musician. She also would be paid enough bits to finally buy her own house rather than renting an apartment or having roommates. She’d been saving up for awhile now, and the paycheck for playing at the party would give her just enough to buy a house.
Octavia was sure she would play at the Garden Party again. It was a classy party and needed classy music which was Octavia’s favorite and only kind of music. Octavia played for the party last year. She was positive she could do it again.
Octavia was so busy thinking about her solo and what would happen when she played at the party, she didn’t notice she arrived at the music hall until she almost ran into it.
“Remember, it’s pizzicato on the second line, repeat on the eighth, and then another bow lift,” she told herself before entering. She took a deep breath. “Here I go.”
When Octavia walked through the doors, she was greeted by the sound of a saxophone playing somewhere. Octavia walked through the same hallways she walked through since she was a little filly going to perform her first concert. As Octavia entered the auditorium, she saw a mare on stage playing a saxophone with a judge sitting at a table in front of the rows and rows of chairs. There were many ponies sitting in the rows of chairs waiting for their turn to play.
Octavia took a seat in the back row where she unpacked her cello and took her sheet music out from inside her case. looked at the music again. She was ready.
Only about five to ten ponies would be allowed to play at the party and there were tryouts in only the most popular cities in Equestria: Manehattan and Canterlot. Octavia knew that chances of her getting into the party were very slim, but she still felt confident with her playing.
The pony with the saxophone finished her solo and exited the stage as Octavia and the other musicians applauded. The pony was slightly nervous as she stepped off the stage, and she had good reason to be. Nopony would find out if he or she were accepted until a week from tryouts.
The judge called another pony onto stage and began listening to the colt’s fiddle. Octavia waited about twenty minutes before it was her turn to play. She picked up her cello, bow, and sheet music and walked to the stage. There were no chairs or stools on the stage which wasn’t a problem. Octavia never sat down while she played her cello because hers was rather large and was easier to play while standing. Nevertheless, it was a cello- not a bass. Octavia adjusted her bowtie before she began playing a song she wrote herself. The judge scribbled down some notes on his paper.
When Octavia finished, she took her stuff back up to her seat where she packed up her cello and stuffed her sheet music into the case with it.
Octavia was heading towards the door when she was startled by a repulsive screeching sound. She dropped her cello as she quickly turned around to see what made the horrible noise. She was shocked to see a yellowish-white unicorn with a mane and tail that were striped with two shades of blue and sunglasses on even though it was quite dark in the room due to the dim lights. The part that surprised Octavia was the unicorn was sitting at a turntable which- in Octavia’s mind- didn’t qualify as an instrument.
The judge also jumped at the screech.
“Oops...uh, sorry about that. I’m still setting it up,” the unicorn at the turntable said. The unicorn set up the turntable and began playing some kind of rap music which Octavia hated.
The unicorn played for awhile but the judge didn’t seem to mind the very long song. In fact, the judge seemed to enjoy the music even more than he had any song that was played today. Octavia, on the other hoof, stood by door staring at the scene with her mouth open.
Octavia finally snapped out of her stun when the song finished. Octavia picked up her cello and quickly ran out the door.
“I can’t believe it!” Octavia muttered to herself as she walked home. “The things that pass for music these days. And the judge enjoyed it better than any other song that was played. He almost fell asleep when that one pony played the lyre but enjoyed listening to that pony make noise on a turntable?!” Octavia wasn’t sure why she was mad. Was it that fact that the judge might put the unicorn in the garden party and not her? Was it that the judge didn’t know what good music was and somepony put him in charge of deciding who would play at the party?
Octavia sighed. “It doesn’t matter. I may not get to get enough bits to get my own house, but at least I have an apartment,” she said. “And good taste in music,” she added when she remembered the turntable.
Octavia arrived at her apartment. When she went inside, she put her cello in her bedroom, put her bowtie on her dresser, and took a nap.
The next morning, she made some cereal for breakfast, took a shower, then left her apartment and went to the store. While she was walking down the street, she saw the unicorn from the turntable leave her house and start walking down the opposite side of the street. Sorry, I typed that wrong. She didn’t start walking down the street, she started dancing down the street.
Octavia rolled her eyes. When the unicorn noticed Octavia walking on the opposite side of the street, she started running towards Octavia. When she reached Octavia, the unicorn greeted her with a big smile as if the two of them were best friends who haven’t seen each other in years.
“Hey, dude!” the unicorn said.
Octavia paid little attention to the unicorn. “Uh...Hi,” she said.
The unicorn frowned as if she expected a more excited response. Then the unicorn smiled happily.
“I know who you are!” the unicorn exclaimed. This made Octavia kind of nervous. But, she just decide to play it cool.
“Do you now,” was all she said. The unicorn realized Octavia was playing it cool so she decided to too.
“Yea, I’m a pretty popular pony around here. I know a lot of ponies,” the unicorn said. “HI LYRA!!!” she screamed at the unicorn across the street as she waved like a maniac.
“I can tell,” Octavia said in an annoyed tone. The unicorn didn’t seem to notice the annoyed part.
“Just ignore her. She’ll go away. Just be patient,” Octavia thought.
“Where you going, dude?” the unicorn asked.
“..........The store,” Octavie finally said. She tried the ignoring but she just felt so mean. After all, the unicorn was just trying to make friends.
“Something about this pony reminds me of a pink pony I met at the Grand Galloping Gala last year,” Octavia thought.
“Okay....” the unicorn said.
“Yes! It’s working! She’s running out of things to say! Just wait a little longer and she’ll leave,” Octavia thought happily.
“Oh, sorry, how rude of me. My name is Vinyl Scratch, but you can call me DJ Pon-3. What’s your name?” the unicorn asked.
“Octavia,” Octavia said.
“When you’re done shopping, do you want to come over to my house?” Vinyl asked.
Octavia sighed. “Listen, Miss.Vinyl, I don’t mean to be rude, but we don’t know each other and we’re not friends.”
“But I know who you are!”
“Do you?” Octavia asked as she raised an eyebrow.
“Yes, you’re that really talented pony who played the cello at the tryouts.” That caught Octavia’s attention.
“How did you know it was a cello and not a bass?” Octavia asked. “Everypony thinks it’s a bass.” She looked into the unicorn’s red eyes for the first time.
“Oh, well I play cello and bass, so I can tell the difference,” Vinyl said.
“You play cello and bass?” Octavia was surprised. Maybe she could learn to like this pony. Vinyl nodded.
“Um... You do know the Canterlot Garden Party is a classy party, don’t you?” Octavia asked.
“Yep!”
“Then if you play cello and bass (which sound really nice playing classical music,) how come you played rap on a turntable for a tryout for a sophisticated party?” Octavia asked.
“Well, because the style music is changing. Most ponies like rap and rock and hip-hop and stuff like that. And I like the turntable a million times better than a cello or bass,” Vinyl said
“Oh no, classical music is timeless,” Octavia said.
“Whatever, it’s just my opinion, dude,” Vinyl said. Octavia rolled her eyes at the “dude.”
“Oh, we’re already here,” Octavia said as she looked up at the front of the store.
The two ponies shopped together and had many musical conversations. Octavia told Vinyl about how playing at last year's Canterlot Garden Party was and Vinyl told Octavia about how operating the turntable at the Royal Wedding was. When the ponies finished their shopping, they walked out of the store together.
“So, you still never answered my question,” Vinyl said. “Do you want to come over to my house?”
“Now?”
“Well, you can go home first if you want to. Or, you don’t even have to come at all.”
“No, I’ll go right now if that’s okay.”
“That’s more than okay, that’s awesome!”
The two ponies went to Vinyl's house where she showed Octavia how to operate the turntable. Octavia didn’t hate it as much anymore. Then Vinyl showed Octavia her bass and cello. Octavia thought the cello was really small because she got used to her freakishly large one.
“This is my favorite song,” Vinyl said as she showed Octavia some sheet music. “It’s for cello, so you can have it.”
“Oh, I couldn’t take your favorite song,” Octavia said.
“I have it memorized,” Vinyl said as she seated herself on a stool, grabbed her cello and began playing the song. The song sounded jazzy. Another form of music Octavia didn’t care for.
“Wow, that was incredible! You didn’t miss a single note!” Octavia exclaimed when Vinyl finished the song. Octavia was looking at the music while Vinyl played. Vinyl shrugged.
“Do you want to try?” she asked.
“Sure, but I might not sound so good. I’m used to playing cello while standing,” Octavia said. She tried her hoof at the song and found it really fun to play. She started to like jazz.
A few hours later, Octavia decided to go home. She left with a bag of groceries she got at the store and three or four songs on sheet music.
Before going home, she went to the music store a few blocks away from Vinyl’s house. The bell rang as she opened the door. The colt behind the counter smiled when he saw her come in.
“Hello, Octavia. We haven’t gotten any new classical records or sheet music since your last visit,” he said.
“Actually, I was looking for some jazz sheet music,” Octavia said.
“Really?” the colt looked surprised. “Oh, okay. Jazz is over there,” he said as he pointed to a table which had books with jazz sheet music in them on it.
Octavia looked through books and chose one which was titled “Jazz for Cello.” She paid for the book and trotted home. She was so excited to play her new music.

All week she practiced her new music and didn’t once practice the song she planned to play at the party. Her new favorite piece was “In the Mood.” She considered learning how to play the saxaphone because “In the Mood” was traditionally played on a saxaphone.
The week came and went very quickly. One day, while digging through some sheet music, she found the song she wrote herself. This reminded her of something.
“Oh My Gosh! Today they’re posting the list of names of who will play at the garden party!” Octavia exclaimed. She galloped to the music hall faster than lightning. She saw a large crowd of ponies standing outside all trying to see the piece of paper hanging on the door.
After pushing and shoving through the crowd and being pushed and shoved by the crowd, Octavia could finally see the list.