Chapters An ashen snow fell on the carriage as it raced through the night. It's sophisticated and elegant look was so uncommon around this part of Manehattan, as the richer folk stayed uptown and away from the industrial zones. However, tonight was different. This time, it would not be returning to where it once rested.
The rickety wheels came to a grinding halt outside a small, dark apartment complex. The only light for miles around was a solitary street lamp that hung above a rusting metal picnic table. This place could literally be called the ghetto. The only hint of life in this dark and dirty rat hole was the grey filly stepping out of the carriage. She shivered as the first flakes of snow landed on her back and she quickly pulled a large instrument case from inside of the cab. They had been forced to sell almost everything, but she would not part ways with her cello.
"Is everything alright, Octavia?" An older mare stepped down from the cab, a hooded cloak hiding multiple scars and wounds on her face and body. The past few weeks have been hell on everyone in Octavia's family.
"Yes mother, just....homesick I guess." She gazed up at the sky, the moon partly visible behind the rolling clouds of the snowstorm. The snow fell silently upon her face as she nipped at bugs floating around her. She didn't like it here, the bugs annoyed her, the air was thick and hard to breath and the ground was so dirty. It was a veritable hell.
"I know but we had to leave, for your own safety. You know how....out of hand your father was getting." She knew her mother was right. For the past few months her dad has been becoming more and more violent. One night especially he raped her and nearly beat her mother to death. He was an asshole and she despised him, cursing his very existence.
"Yeah, i do." She looked down and grabbed her suitcase, dragging in to the desolate doorway of her new living space. Stepping through the doorway, she looked around. The furniture within the walls where decent, but not what she was used to. The couch was torn and was obviously worn out, but it was something none the less.
"Ok, off to bed little filly. You have school first thing tomorrow." Her mother knew that by sending her daughter to bed, she would play her cello for an hour before she passed out. Although, it has been a long last few days. Maybe she would just go straight to bed for the first time in years.
"Ugggh, fine. Goodnight mother." She walked up and pecked her mother's cheek before dragging her cello down the hall to her room, or at least what her mother had called her room. It wasn't that her room was bad, it just wasn't the same. It may have all her posters of her favorite Equestrian musicians and her many awards, but it still didn't feel like home.
She slowly unpacked her bags and sat on her bed withdrawing the bow from its case. She found comfort in the sound of the rosin gliding over the hairs, donated of course, and the cloud of dust that flung from the strings as she dragged the bow across them. She may not have had many friends and was labeled a geek even by high class society, it didn't matter. As long as she had her cello, she could care less.
She glided her bow across the strings playing her favorite piece, The Ursa Minor Orchestra's "Ode to the Moon Mare in E minor", closing her eyes. She didn't need to see the music, she could feel it as it flowed from the motions of her hooves. The sweet smell of her rosin cloud reaching her, the bow flowing over the strings with such grace that the finest hairs on her bow wouldn't even dare to break.
She has always had a talent for music, but not always how the other ponies liked. She may have fit in with the older generation, who's appreciation for classical music was the only way she could relate to them. Among the younger generation, even in the higher class citizens across Equestria, she was an outcast. They only cared about what is that hideous pop music that hurt her ears. To much bass, too much keyboard and too much noise. That kind of music disgusted her. She couldn't stand the constant repetitive beat and the utter lack of sophistication. Not to mention she would always get roped into night clubs. Those stinky, sweaty and all together nasty cesspool they call 'fun'. Disgusting!
She stopped mid-way through the prelude when a tapping at her window drew her attention away from the music. A quick flash look in the windows direction gave her the last images of a unicorn's silhouette darting from the ledge. She bolted to the window pushing the glass panes outward careful not to crack them anymore than they were.
"Hello?" She looked around in the black stillness of the night. She shook her head, " I must be hallucinating." She turned and walked back to her bed packing her instrument up in its leather case and carefully placing it in her closet. She trotted back in forth for a few moments wondering if she really saw what was hanging outside her window.
I must be going crazy, but it seemed so real. Those eyes though, did I imagine them too? She settled into her bed and nuzzled her pillow. She jumped up and ran to her backpack, withdrawing a small plush bear she had since she was a baby. She settled back in and drifted to sleep trying to rid her mind of what she thought she saw staring through the window.
The image of those two blood red eyes staring hungrily at her through the cracked glass,but as they darted away she noticed something hidding behind them.
Loneliness......
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The First Day or How I Learned to Stop Caring and Hate My Life
(Author's Note: There is a perspective change here (Octavia's POV) and will be several throughout the story. Just a heads up.)
I bolted upright in my bed in a cold sweat, my heart racing at a million miles an hour. Oh thank god it was just a dream.Just a dream. I stood up stretching as i walked to open my window. The snow fall had slowed down,which was a good thing because i never liked the snow to reach to far above my hooves.
"Octavia! Time for school!" My mother called out from downstairs.
"Alright mom! I'll be down in a minute!" I called back to her as i opened my window and stared out at the oak tree in front of it. I always loved a more natural setting, but this was probably the only tree in this city.
I sighed realizing that i had to start school today, and knowing how things went at my last school, I was less than enthusiastic. Well maybe it won't be as bad as I'm making it out to be. Who knows, maybe some pony will appreciate my talents and be my friend. For once.
I turned to walk away but something caught my eyes, a few red drops within two distinct hoof prints in the snow outside on my window seal. No way, how could... Pull it together Octavia, no need to be acting like a crazy pony. I slowly walked over to my closet and grabbed my bow tie and a scarf then trotted down stairs.
"The bus is waiting Octavia." My mother said as she fitted my bow tie and wrapped my scarf around me.
I sighed." I know mother. I love you." I placed a kiss on her forehead before rushing out to the bus. This was my first time riding on a bus with more than a few students, but i bet it's the same way here that it was there. A literal hell on wheels. I climbed aboard and looked for a seat, only spying one near a dark blue pony in an outrageously tall wizards hat. No sooner had I placed a hoof onto the seat, i was floated up and slammed against the window.
And the shit begins
"You think you can just sit next to me? Don't you know who I am." Well other than a stuck up bitch I had no idea. "No random lowlife like yourself can just plant her fat flank next to the Great and Powerful Trixie!"
Ok, add showoff to my previous guess.
"I'm so sorry, I didn't know..." I said as stood up, blood dripping from my nose.
"Sorry!? Sorry doesn't cut it you little runt!" Trixie screamed as i was once again slammed against the window. "Now tell Trixie your sorry the right way."
i stood up shakily, wiping more blood from my muzzle. "I-i'm sorry, Trixie."
"No! Say it with me, 'I'm sorry Great and Powerful Trixie, for ruining your day and being a worthless and miserable runt."
"I'm sorry Trixie that you are such a stuck up bitch and love to lick your own flank at night." Some pony called out from the back of the bus, but no one dared to take claim of nor laugh at the comment. "That about sums it up, right?"
Trixie jumped up and spun around in her seat. "WHO DARES SAY SUCH THINGS ABOUT THE GREAT AND POWERFUL TRIXIE!" She demanded in an over exaggerated Royal Canterlot Voice.
"OK, all of you sit down and shut up!" The driver called out. "No talking til we get to school. Trixie, you and the new girl there are getting written up!"
"W-what did I do!?" I looked around and sat in the seat next to a small filly who's name was Twist. Easy to tell when your wearing a shirt with your name on it. The rest of the way to the school no pony said anything, but the looks I received from Trixie said it all....
Welcome to Hell, you'll be lucky if I let you survive the day....
The school itself didn't look to bad as the bus pulled into the driveway. It certainly wasn't as nice as the schools in uptown Manehattan, but at least it wasn't a rundown one room shack. The wheels on the bus screeched to a halt and the door opened up with a deafening noise, it was like Discord himself was scratching his horns against a chalkboard in my head. All the kids started to shuffle off the hunk of junk and rushed into the school building. I barely got two steeps before seeing a flash of dark blue slam into my stomach and straight over the steps of the bus i went.
"Whoops, my bad." Trixie called out with a snicker from behind me.
This is going to be a very long day
(AUTHORS NOTE: I KNOW THIS IS A VERY SHORT CHAPTER, BUT I LITERALLY COULD NOT THINK ABOUT HOW TO FINISH THIS CHAPTER :/ . THE NEXT ONE WILL BE OUT TONIGHT OR IN THE MORNING AND WILL BE A LOT LONGER THAN THIS ONE. THIS WAS JUST A CRAPPY PLACE TO DRAW A BLANK ^^" )
Wow, what a first day. Punched in the gut, singled out in class and now I have enough detentions to ruin a lifetime!
"Octavia, your mother is here to pick you up. Remember you have detention for the rest of this month!" Cheerilee called out as she entered through the door, the time was now nearly 9:00 at night.
I sighed. "Yes, Ms. Cheerilee." I gathered the few things I still had, my backpack and all of it's contents ended up floating in a toilet thanks to one certain blue bitch. Rule 1: Never go to the bathroom at recess . I walked outside, the snow piling up above my knees as i dug my way through to the carriage my mom had called. It wasn't a luxury one by any means, but at least it was better than riding the bus home.
"You are in trouble, young lady." Mother said in her harshest voice, which still kept it's soft tone throughout. I could tell right away this was the most pissed off I had seen her in years.
"I didn't do anything wrong though! It was all that bitch Trixie's fault." I pleaded
"Don't you use those kind of words, Octavia. They are very unladylike, and it is also unladylike to blame your actions on that of another." The thing was I wasn't blaming them on her. It was the truth. She used her magic at one point and took control off the chalk I was writing with. Instead of writing the answer to the problem that I was supposed to do, she made me write "Ms. Cheerilee is an 80's slut." I got 3 detentions for that alone.
I sighed as the carriage pulled up to the apartment building. "Yes mother."
Mother stepped out onto the snow. "Your grounded too. No radio or playing outside for at least a week. Now you go right upstairs and do your homework."
Dear Celestia, is there no reasoning with her! "Yes mother." I grabbed my bag from the cargo hold and walked straight upstairs. I tossed my stuff down onto my bed and locked the door behind me. I wasn't planning to look at my homework for at least a few hours. I wanted to do the one thing that brought my life joy right now....
Play my cello
I procured the instrument from it's case. The gleam of the black cherry wood throwing of flecks of light as I withdrew it. The rosin dust that flew off the strings as i wiped them clean left a cloud of sparkling air floating about me as i drew my bow from the case the way a soldier would gracefully draw his sword defending his honor. I rosined my bow, paying attention to each swift stroke... not to much, not to little. The smell of the fresh rosin filled me with joy. There was only one last thing to grab, the music I had been working on for about a year.
I reached into one of the boxes I had yet to unpack and withdrew a small silver box. I grabbed the key from my case and opened it, a small cloud of dust rising from the velvet lining. I pulled out the small stack of parchment and rested them upon my stand. The paper was nearly a hundred years old, but my grandfather had given it to me just for writing my music. I grabbed the quill from the box and dipped it into the small container of ink and began to write the rest of the music. I had over 6 pages done and just had to finish it right. I grabbed my cello and drowned out the world. There was nothing but me and the music.
I dragged the bow over the strings as the sound flew out from the interior. The vibrations filled me and for the first time today, I smiled and continued to play. The notes flew from the strings in an endless stream. I was lost to the world, but the music was there to comfort me. The music flew out for what seemed like hours, but was only about five minutes before I heard a thud at the window. The sound made me jump several feet, nearly knocking over half the things in front of me.
"What the hell!" I looked over at the window and stared in horror. The same red eyes from the night before were peering in at me from the window once more. I could not make out the form of any pony, but the eyes were there, staring not at me. They seemed to be looking through me. I took a step closer to the window and they blinked and disappeared from sight.
Octavia, calm yourself. Your mind is just playing tricks on you again. I rushed to the window and looked down on the seal. Two perfect hoof prints were buried deep into the inch or so thick pack of ice. I looked all around for sign of who or whatever was just standing in my window seal. Octavia, calm yourself. It was probably just a bird or something. Your just going crazy from a long day
I began to shut the window until I saw it. There was a young filly, her coat nearly as white as the snow and her horn a glow creating a ring of light around the bench she was laying on. I was not worried about anything besides one fact. Her red eyes stood out in sharp contrast to the rest of the surroundings.
Some pony was spying on me! Well I better go give her a....calm yourself! You don't know why she was doing it. Just go down there and figure out why I stepped out on the window seal and climbed down the fire escape that hung just beyond my window. The snow was colder than it had been earlier in the day, but it still felt good beneath my sore hooves. I walked straight up to the bench and she seemed to notice, because she was sitting up starring straight at me. A pair of headphones hung loosely around her neck, the heavy electronic sounds pouring out from her music player.
"Uh...H-hi!"
She stared at me for several more moments before uttering the word I would regret ever hearing later in my life.
"Hello."
((Authors Note: Final-freaking-ly! It is finished! Hope every pony likes it!))
The Mare With The Piercing Stare
We sat in silence for a few moments, the snow falling heavier than it had been all day. I was to focused on the mare in front of me to care about the snow piling up over my knee. My eyes were locked onto hers, the two large red orbs unmoving and cold in nature. She didn't seem to mind the cold weather, the snow built up in piles around her form, but did not seem to melt when it touched her fur, which was just as white as the snow. After a few more minutes, I finally decided to break the impregnable silence.
"So.....what's your name?" I asked in a calm voice, my insides screaming obstinacies at her for spying on me.
She blinked a few times, her gaze never shift from my direction. "I'm Vinyl. Who are you?"
That's a weird way of asking for somepony's name. "My name's Octavia." I said slowly, before I finally built up the courage to ask about her habits. "Were you the one spying on me?"
She chuckled. "I wouldn't call it spying, I'd call it...being a good audience."
"A good audience doesn't stand on my window seal staring at me in the middle of the night, a stalker does."
"Well," She slid off of the bench and landed on her hooves," I can't really be a stalker if I have just met you, now can I?"
Ooooh, she is just trying to piss me off! "Well...from now on don't be watching me, ok Vinyl?"
"I cannot make any promises, Ms. Philharmonica." She said, a small grin forming on her face.
I was taken aback, having known for a fact that I had not said my last name. "How did you know that?"
"Were in the same class, Octavia." She said flatly. "It's kind of hard not to notice your name being screamed out by Cheerilee."
I couldn't help but blush with embarrassment. "It wasn't my fault, that bitch Trixie did those things!"
"And I believe you." She looked me directly in the eye again. "She did the same things to me when I moved in, but she doesn't mess with me now."
"Why is that?" I asked inquisitively, hoping to find a way to get that terrible pony off my back.
She glared at me. "It's better off if you don't know."
"Come on! Please tell me! I have already had a month of school ruined for me because of her, I don't want my entire year ruined. Tell me and I'll forgive you for being a peeping tom."
"I AM NOT A PEEPING TOM!" She snapped. "And there are some things about me that no pony needs to know. End of story. Goodnight." She turned around and walked off towards the apartment next to mine, pulled out a key and turned the lock. Within moments she was well hidden behind her door, leaving me standing out in the snow looking like an idiot.
"That......bitch!"
