Reality Sucks
Chapter 1 - Another Job
by BronyInDenial
Working as a musician, even professionally, usually didn’t make you enough money on its own. The events were too few and far between. Nobody wanted to hire a cellist, and especially nobody wanted to hire Octavia after the ‘Pony Pokey’ incident. Music was the only thing that she was truly good at. She had failed at getting a degree in psychology, because during a future-existential-crisis she realized that in truth, psychologists really just listened to other ponies’ problems all day long. They did make a fair bit of money though, and the only thing Octavia could think of now was how she gave up a decent job just because it didn't make her perfectly happy.
She even had to sleep on her couch because there wasn’t room in her “apartment” for a real bed. That was left at her parents house, and even if Octavia went back to get the rest of her stuff, they probably wouldn’t give it to her. Her only possessions now were her cello, a tattered couch, and her pink bowties.
Walking through the rough side of Fillydelphia, these thoughts crossed her mind over and over again. How nice it would be to get an apartment in a nicer side of town. How nice it would be for her parents to stop berating her. How nice it would be to not have to walk through the streets surrounded by clubs, ignoring the drunks, and the fights, and the dr--
“Hey, those are my bits!”
Two colts stumbled out of a bar, smelling strongly of hard cider.
“That’s not yours, it’s my money!”, one shouted, raising a forehoof.
“Well even if it is, I’m gonna take it from you!”
Yes, the drunk fights too.
Octavia quickly got out of the way before the fight got worse. Thoughts of her parents came back to her. They had been the ones that had pushed her to become a cellist, but after she lost her job,, they had shunned her and even made fun of her profession. She loved them, and she knew they loved her, but they acted like Canterlot upper-class-ponies, which was understandable, as they were. Octavia just took issue with their stiffness and lack of will to change. Pushing her parents out of her mind, she looked at her surroundings so she could find her way 'home' before she passed out.
The nightclub she found herself standing in front of was closing, and a large stream of people was leaving. Octavia thought she saw a couple hundred ponies file out. When they cleared, the ‘Help Wanted’ sign in the window was made obvious. The large blue neon sign saying 'Club PON-3' was even more obvious.
‘Well it did seem pretty popular... I could get a second job,’ she thought. Then she realized what she was doing. Thinking about getting another job. At a bar. In the worst part of town. Her thoughts were cut short when a deep rumbling sound began emanating from somewhere very close by. Octavia's first thought it was an earthquake, so she got down on the ground and put her forelegs over her head. When no buildings came crashing down, and nopony started screaming, she slowly looked up. Octavia then realized that the rumbling was actually the speakers in the nightclub, pumping out ethereal waves of bass.
‘Will it even be worth it to put up with the noise just for the extra money?’, Octavia thought. ‘More money. Noise. More money. Working at a nightclub. More money. Parents shunning her further. More money... Mmm, yeah, I’m pretty much broke right now so it couldn’t hurt that much. Except for my sanity.’
The bouncer had already left, so Octavia looked through the open door. The floor was almost completely dark, but the walls and ceiling were covered in pulsing lights. In the middle of the floor, a DJ had set up his equipment. When Octavia walked in, he- wait, no, she- it was definitely a mare. When she walked in, the mare looked up through her violet glasses and turned down the music.
“Hey! This place is closed for the night. Come back tomorrow,” she shouted, as she turned around and placed her glasses on the table.
“I- I was wondering if I could apply for a j-job.” Octavia stuttered.
Octavia and the mare looked each other up and down, failing miserably to hide their staring.
“Her mane is bright blue. Okay...” Octavia said, unknowingly out loud.
“What?” the mare asked.
“Uh, no- nothing.” Octavia turned to the side and pretended to examine a cluster of lights protruding from a wall.
“Anyway, I’m Vinyl Scratch. I own this place, and I’m also a professional DJ, but you should already know that.”
Octavia put on her best I-really-need-bits-for-food-and-I’m-gonna-try-to-be-polite smile. “Of course I know that!”
As Vinyl walked towards Octavia, it became clear that she didn’t buy her smirk for a second. “Right. Anyway, I do need some help running this place, as all I have is myself and the bartender. All that colt does is help get people drunk so I can kick them out. Good for business, but bad for customer satisfaction ratings.
Octavia snorted. “Ok then."
"You can start at 7 o'clock tomorrow."
"So I have the job then?" Octavia said. When she looked up, Vinyl was right into her face, and Octavia blushed at the stranger’s glare.
“...clearly. Anyway, I have to clean up some stuff from tonight, and if you feel like taking the job, then it's tomorrow at 7."
"7... in the morning?"
"It's a nightclub, sugarcube."
"Oh... right. Well, see you tomorrow then."
"Good night... um, what did you say your name was?"
"I didn't. But it's Octavia."
"Oh, how nice. Um, I guess that I was, uh, so happy to get more help that I completely forgot to ask what your name was. So good night, Octavia."
Octavia thought she could see Vinyl blush through her coat, and based on the nervous glances the mare kept giving her, she assumed she was. As Octavia watched, the mare trotted back to her turntables and put her sunglasses back on.
"She has red eyes. Interesting."
Octavia walked back out the doors to the club, and began pushing her way through the crowds in a futile attempt to quickly get back to her apartment. Ponies were all trotting the opposite way, trying to get to the carriage service in front of the casino at the end of the street. After stumbling into her one-room flat about one am, she wasn't even sure if she could get up in time for work at the nightclub.
Levitating her saddlebag over into a corner, Octavia flopped onto her couch. How embarrassing it would be if her parents were to visit her now. They thought that themselves and their kin were somehow above sleeping on couches, and working at nightclubs. And befriending people that did such little things like wearing tinted glasses.
Putting her parents aside, Octavia thought about her new job. When she looked in Vinyl’s eyes, she saw something, as if Vinyl were trying to peer into her soul. Octavia wasn’t sure yet how she felt about that.
Octavia was awakened by the sunlight streaming into her eyes through the window. A quick glance at her clock told her that it was already nine o'clock. As memories from the almost-all-nighter came to her, she realized that she had a job to be at. 'Sleeping in on the first day! I'm going to be fired before I even get there!' "Two whole hours late," she sighed.
As Octavia squeezed into the cramped shower, the cold water helped to further her memory. She was in the middle of washing her mane when she remembered that she still had ten hours until her first shift started. "Damn it!", she shouted. Trailing water all over the floor, Octavia dried off and put on a pink bow tie.
Flopping back into her original position on the couch, Octavia looked around for anything to hinder the impending boredom. A box of her bow ties sat on a small table next to a vase full of dead flowers. A paper sack containing half a dozen apples leaned against the wall nearby. Octavia looked out the window, and when she was sure nopony was close, she dashed to the table and quickly ate the flowers. Tears formed in her eyes as she realized just how desperate her situation was getting. ’I need to get rid of them anyway, a-and my food money isn't exactly prospering,’ her sobbing interrupting even her thoughts.
Once again lying back down on the couch (it was her only real piece of furniture), Octavia tried to calm herself. "With this new job, at least I'll have more money. Good thing this place is so cheap, otherwise I would have been kicked out a long time ago." Giggling at her own joke, the fact that this was the only place she could afford sobered her up. Thinking of the day ahead, her mind went back to Vinyl. The way the mare's eyes seemed to bore holes in your soul. Octavia found it, admitting it reluctantly, intriguing. Every time she looked at you, it was as if she knew something that you didn't.
Feedback good. Criticism okay. Being an a**hole bad.
Seriously though. I feel that my writing skills are lacking, and if you could help edit my stories, then please PM me.