Second Chances

Second Chances
By Hero541
Chapter 13: I Don’t Wanna Do This

Cold and wet. That’s what Josh was when he was jolted awake by Rarity.

“What the hell?!” he shouted as Rarity levitated the bucket down to the ground and glared at Josh.

“You are an idiot!” she shouted as the soaked human slowly sat up on her couch.

“How long was I out?” he asked, rubbing his temples and closing his eyes from the now unbelievably bright lights.

“Do you remember what I asked you to do when you left here?” she inquired, not taking her eyes off Josh, “Do you?!”

Josh thought through his headache, trying to remember back to anything Rarity might have said before he left for the bar. Then, realization hit him, and he felt his heart shoot down into his stomach.

“I was supposed to get Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo from school, wasn’t I?” he asked, shrinking down from the enraged glare of Rarity.

“Yes! You were! And because you didn’t show up to grab them like you promised me, they stood out there for three hours waiting for you! Cheerilee and Big Macintosh had to cancel their date until Twilight arrived to pick up the children!”

Josh felt horrible. Not only was the headache he had developed from this hangover killing him, he’d let down his favorite little filly. Again.

“I’m sorry, Rares.” he said, his head drooping, “I wasn’t really planning on getting drunk when I went to the bar. By the way, how’s Rainbow?”

“She’s no worse for the wear, but that’s not what’s important.” Rarity pulled out a large piece if paper from out of nowhere, “Frosty gave me your bill. How’d you manage to rack up fifteen-hundred bits on your tab?!”

Josh felt like his body might implode from how much he was slumping now. In hindsight, it probably wasn’t a great idea for him to go to the bar every day like that. Especially when I couldn’t get drunk off the alcohol there…

“It’s a long story. One that I don’t really have time to explain.”

“Well, I’m afraid I don’t have that much to cover you, nor do I plan on covering you for this.” said the mare sternly, “You’ll have to find a way to get that money, otherwise you’ll never be able to go home.”

Josh looked to his right and saw Twilight standing there, a fearful look on her face. She avoided eye contact with the hungover human at all costs, not wanting him to become enraged again.

“F-Frosty told me to k-k-keep you here till y-you’ve paid him back.” she stammered, beginning to crouch down, awaiting Josh’s anger.

However, it never came. Josh simply sighed, and patted Twilight on the head, trying his best to be comforting.

“It’s not your fault, Twi.” he said, looking away from both mares, “I kinda dug my own grave on this one…”

“How do you intend to pay for all this?” asked Rarity, her voice becoming more steady as she calmed down, “I can’t imagine too many places around here would want to give you a job.”

“I’ll think of something.”

As the words left his lips, the front door opened and Octavia sauntered in. She wore a smug smile on her face as she looked towards Josh.

“What’re you doing here?” he asked, anger starting to build in his words as the mare walked up and stood in front of him, “Don’t you have someone to go beat up because Vinyl’s upset?”

“I’m going to pretend I didn’t hear that.” she replied, her violet eyes boring into his blue ones.

“Can I help you, Octavia?” asked Rarity, not able to disguise her annoyance at the sudden appearance of the gray mare.

“No,” she said, not looking at Rarity, “I’m here to help him.”

Josh, Twilight, And Rarity all exchanged confused glances at those words. Octavia never broke her gaze off the human, nor did her smug smile falter.

“And how do you intend to do that, if you don’t mind my asking?” inquired Josh.

“I’ll be more than willing to pay for your rather large expenditures at the pub.” she said, walking back and forth in front of Josh, Rarity, and Twilight, “if you’ll do a little work for me.”

“Don’t plan on it.” said Josh, glaring at the mare.

“I think you may want to reconsider that offer.” she replied, stopping and smiling at him once more, “You’ll be hard pressed to find a job for yourself here, no matter how famous you may think yourself to be.”

Josh had to fight the urge to wrap his hands around the gray mare’s throat and squeeze.

“Your fame here amounts to nothing, and, despite the fact that everypony seems to know you, that doesn’t mean they’ll hire you to work for them. For all I know, they may not even pay you for your time! However, I’m not like them. I’d be more than willing to pay your debts, as long as you work for me for awhile.”

Josh was about to retort, when he thought about her words. True, he was very well known around here. However, that was more for his size and difference in species than any of his music. As far as he knew, there wasn’t too much of a calling for a music producer in this town, and his size would probably intimidate ponies too much for him to be able to get a job anywhere. If Octavia was offering him a job, he’d probably better take it, no matter how demoralizing it might seem.

“What did you have in mind, if you don’t mind my asking?” he said slowly, staring at the mare.

Octavia’s smile widened, “You say you’re a great music producer. ‘Millions of fans all over the world’ and whatnot. I’d like to see you put your money where your mouth is, if you had any money.”

“What’re you saying, Tavi?” asked Twilight.

“If he’s so good at making music, then he should have no problem spreading that ability to others, right? Teach Vinyl how to be as good as you.”

Josh’s eyes widened at her words, “No! No fuckin' way! I’m not gonna do that! I refuse to do that! Make me eat dirt, or drink my own piss, but don’t make me do that!”

“What’re you so afraid of, ‘Xploshun?” she snickered at his stage name, “Don’t think you’re up for the challenge?”

“I’m not afraid of shit!” he yelled, making sure Sweetie Belle wasn’t around, “But I refuse to help her!”

“Why? What would it hurt?” asked Octavia, sitting on her haunches and glaring at Josh

“It’s not as simple as teaching someone how to be good. The most important things, like personal style and general understanding of the genre, have to be learned all on your own! I can’t just teach Vinyl how to be a good producer! It’s something she needs to discover for herself.”

“Well,” said Octavia, standing up and walking closer to Josh, “after that little incident where you showed her up and ruined her show, she hasn’t even wanted to think about music. She’s so afraid of her own failure that she’s almost completely given up on the one thing she wanted to do more than anything.”

Josh looked away from Octavia. Tears were starting to well up in the corners of her eyes, and he didn’t want to see that.

“It’s either this, or you’d better start job hunting. Frosty’s a good stallion, but he’s been known to find… alternative ways to get his payment.”

Octavia turned and began to walk away, leaving Josh to contemplate her words. Teach Vinyl… he thought, going over his choices in his mind. The problem was, there weren’t many choices….

“Fine.” he finally relented, making Octavia turn back around and look at him, “I’ll help Vinyl.”

“Excellent!” said Octavia, clapping her hooves together, “I’ll let her know she’ll have a new mentor. Show up bright and early tomorrow. Oh, and Josh?”

Josh peered at the mare, unable to disguise the malice in his eyes.

“Don’t cross me or Vinyl again, understood?”

With that, Octavia strode out the door, leaving the room eerily silent. After a few minutes, Josh stood and headed for the stairs.

“Where’re you going, darling?” asked Rarity apprehensively.

“To bed.” he replied over his shoulder, “If I’m gonna get up early in the morning, I’ll need to sleep off this hangover.”

With that, he headed to his room, leaving the two unicorns downstairs to glance nervously at each other. Tomorrow was gonna be a long day. He could feel it.