The Background Pony Crew Goes to the Gala

Chapter Two: Huge Carrots and Deafening Wubs

Derpy didn’t know how that weeping human had moved, but once she flew out of the house and into daylight, she began to wonder if her scare was just the result of her overactive imagination, or a trick of the light. Her heart was still pounding, though, and she still gave a little shiver when she thought about the statue.

Now that she had invited Lyra, she decided to go see if Carrot Top could come. Flapping her grey wings rapidly, Derpy headed toward Carrot Top’s cottage.

After a few minutes of traversing through Ponyville, she made it to the little house on the edge of the town. A huge garden surrounded the cottage, the hundreds of plants seeming to enclose the house in a warm embrace. Some plants grew on trellises hung on the outside walls, and vines grew all over the roof. All the vegetation was perfectly trimmed, and sat in rows. The whole look of the place made Derpy feel warm and safe inside. She could understand why Carrot Top loved gardening.

Flying up to the oval-shaped oak wood door, Derpy knocked on it. Nopony answered. Derpy knocked again. Like before, nopony answered the door, nor gave a reply. Frustrated, Derpy flew upwards, over the house. Looking down, she found Carrot Top working in the part of the garden behind the cottage. Alongside the yellow mare was the biggest carrot Derpy had ever seen.

The orange carrot was gigantic, about the length of three ponies. Uprooted from the ground, Carrot Top was cleaning it with a water-soaked cloth, rubbing away dirt and other filth from the orange skin.

Derpy landed beside her. “Hey, there, Carrot Top!” she said cheerfully, looking from Carrot Top to the enormous vegetable. “What’s with this carrot? Why is it so BIG?”

Carrot Top laughed, her voice sounding like a small bell ringing. “It’s for the competition at The Grand Galloping Gala. In the Canterlot Garden every year a produce competition is hosted. I usually just watch, but this year I’m going to be part of the action! I grew this carrot specifically for the occasion, using all of my gardening knowledge to make it the biggest and the best vegetable I have EVER produced!”

“Wow,” Derpy said, looking at the carrot, the fresh smell of it wafting into her nose. “Wait, you’re going to the Gala too?”

“Why do you ask?” Carrot Top inquired, setting her cloth down in a bucket filled with water.

“Well, Lyra’s going, I’m going, the Doctor is going, and Dinky is going! I just came by to invite you to come too, but it seems you already are!”

“Oh my,” Carrot Top said, “That is quite a few ponies. It’s very rare for so many in Ponyville to go. Most of us aren’t considered ‘Canterlot material,’ if you know what I mean. But if you want me to go with you all, that’s just fine. I might separate from your group for a bit, though, so I can spend time with my coltfriend. I don’t get to see him often.”

Derpy smiled again. So many ponies were coming with her and the Doctor to the Gala! It would be like a party within a party! “That’s fine!” Derpy said, “We just want you to come with us and hang out, that’s all that matters.”

And so, with a goodbye, Derpy launched into the air.

Vinyl’s house wasn’t too far away from Carrot Top’s cottage. Though you wouldn’t think it was a house just by looking at it. Vinyl’s place looked like a stage to many ponies, but what many of them didn’t know was that Vinyl lived there as well. The front was an outdoor stage, complete with colored lights, a few turntables, control panels, mixers, microphones, speakers, woofers, anything a professional pony DJ could want. But behind the stage was a small building connected to it, which was Vinyl’s house. True, there weren’t many rooms, but all Vinyl needed to be happy was her music and the equipment to be able to make it.

As Derpy flew nearer to the stage/house, she could tell Vinyl was home, even without looking. There was a reason Vinyl lived on the bare outskirts of Ponyville, her music was LOUD.

When Derpy arrived at the place, she covered her ears with her hooves. Vinyl was behind one of the turntables on her stage, cranking up the wubs. She didn’t even notice Derpy, being so wrapped up in her music world. Derpy had to fly up to her and tap her before her existence was aknowledged by the unicorn.

Vinyl jumped in surprise, turning off the music and taking off her sunglasses. “Oh! Sup’ Derpy?” She said, looking at the pegasus.

“Um, I was wondering if you wanted to go to the Grand Galloping Gala with me and my friends! We’re going as a group, and our group wouldn’t be complete without our favorite DJ!” Derpy said with a smile.

Vinyl looked surprised. “I don’t have a ticket,” she said, putting her glasses back on as if that was the end of the conversation. She turned the music back on.

Derpy blinked in surprise. “We can get you one! I’m sure the Doctor had extra tickets!” Derpy yelled over the din. “That’s why we are inviting you! We wouldn’t if we weren’t sure if you could even come!”

The DJ once again turned off the music. She smiled. “Then of course I’ll come!” She said, clapping her hooves. “Tell me, is Octavia coming?”

Derpy shrugged. “I haven’t asked her yet. Why?”

“I want to see if I can get her to play her music with me at the Gala. We could both become famous!” Vinyl said with a grin.

“Well, I’ll ask her next,” Derpy promised, flapping her wings just enough to hover above the ground.

“Thanks, you do that,” Vinyl dismissed, turning her music back on and tapping a few buttons with her hoof. As Derpy flew away, she heard her own voice coming from the stage speakers, saying “Grand-Grand-Grand-Grand Galloping Gala! Gala!” along with the music. Derpy smiled and rolled her mis-matched eyes. Typical Vinyl.

Octavia’s house was a lot like the other houses in Ponyville. With a straw roof and pale walls, it wasn’t anything special compared to the others, besides having a famous cello player living in it.

Derpy tapped on the door of the modest home, hoping Octavia wasn’t in a grumpy mood. She didn’t like Derpy when she was in a grumpy mood. She didn’t want to be friends with Derpy when she was in a grumpy mood. And as Tavi opened the door, Derpy saw she that she was in a grumpy mood.

“What is it?” Octavia said irritably, staring at Derpy with an annoyed look on her face.

“Umm, I just wanted to invite you to come along to to Grand Galloping Gala with me along with a few other friends! It’s going to be really fun-”

“I’ve already been invited by the Gala committee. I am playing my cello there,” Octavia interrupted.

“Oh... well... you could still come with us and hang out,” Derpy said with a nervous smile. “We would really really really like it if you would come.”

“We?” Octavia inquired, “Who is ‘we?’”

Derpy sighed. “Well, the Doctor, Dinky, Lyra, Carrot Top, Vinyl-”

“Vinyl? Ugh,” Octavia once again interrupted. “Just because Fiddlestick couldn’t come with me to the Gala doesn’t mean Vinyl can worm her way into playing alongside me!”

“What? You don’t want her to play with you?” Derpy inquired with a frown.

“Exactly,” Octavia said, disgusted at the very thought of her beautiful music crudely mixed into a mess of wubs.

“But your music sounds very pretty alongside hers,” Derpy said, “In fact, it’s some of my favorite of Vinyl’s mixes.”

“How would you know?” Octavia asked.

“Didn’t you know? Vinyl played a song at one of her concerts that featured music from your cello remixed with her music. Everypony loved it,” Derpy answered.

Octavia blinked, remembering when Vinyl had offered her a CD of what she had called a ‘remix of both of their best works.’ Tavi groaned. “Fine, I shall attend with you all, if only to make sure Vinyl doesn’t play that horrid song in front of hundreds of ponies...”

“Oh thank you thank you thank you!” Derpy cried enthusiastically, giving Octavia a hug.

Octavia backed away, which was hard to do while in Derpy’s firm grasp. “That’s enough. Don’t make me regret my decision,” the earth pony said as the pegasus hastily backed away. “Now good day.” And with that, Octavia shut her door.

Derpy walked away, about to fly home when she felt a cold chill at the back of her neck. Gulping and turning around, she saw the statue of a pony standing on the top of a fountain. Its hooves were covering its face, its large wings flaring up behind it. Derpy glanced behind her for a second, to see if anypony else had noticed the strange sight. When she looked back, the statue was staring at her.

It had the face of a human.