//------------------------------// // I finally free us from Spoiled... and I meet a pony who’s like a male version of her?! // Story: It's A Screwed Up Life // by Autum Breeze //------------------------------// I finally free us from Spoiled... and I meet a pony who’s like a male version of her?! ___________________________________________________________ I’m drawn from slumber by the sound of a knocking on my bedroom door. Giving a loud yawn, I sit up slightly, rubbing my eyes as I mumble, “Come in.” The door opens and Randolph walks in, carrying a tray with a plate holding two omelettes, a pear and a glass of choc-orange milk. “Good morning, Miss Screwball.” I yawn again as I say, “Morning, Randy.” He places the tray on my bedside table, which is below my bed, but whatever and looks up at me in my bed, a slightly worried frown on his face. “Is everything alright, miss? You don’t normally stay in bed so late.” Late? A pocket watch appears before me and I realize it’s almost 12pm. Wow. I really did sleep in late. Poofing the watch away, I stretch, before flopping back on my bed, my forelegs spread wide. “Randy, we just spent the last several weeks wrapping up winter and, like I should, I didn’t use any magic during the whole thing? Me, not using any magic! Can you really blame me for wanting to take it easy on such a morning?” He looks up at me for a moment, slightly confused, before cocking an eyebrow and shrugging. “I suppose not, miss. Though, if you want to help out with getting the Helping Hooves Music Festival like you Pinkie Promised to our resident party pony, I’d advise you get up soon.” The room is still for a moment, before my eyes snap wide open. I’m suddenly next to Randolph, checking the calender. Aw, crap! Today’s the day of the festival?! With everything regarding the case against Spoiled, I’d totally forgotten about it. And I Pinkie Promised I’d help Pinkie out during it! She’ll gonna Cupcakes me! “OkaythankRandolph! I’llbebacklater!” I hurriedly say, grabbing my breakfast in my magic and bolt out the door.   ___________________________________________________________ “Phew,” I mumble as I walk through the apples trees of the area Applejack had agreed the festival could be held in. I’d gotten here in time to find Pinkie worried about something. When I asked, she said she’d been unable to get several bottle of water from Rainbow Falls, something about one of the acts demanding them if she was to perform at the festival. Of course, me being me, it was a simple matter of popping over to Rainbow Falls myself and getting the water and poofing right back. After that, I told Pinkie I’d be back after I went and checked on something (that something being a secret date Blueblood and Rarity were on in a small cafe here in Ponyville), before coming back. “But... I got everything you requested, Svengallop!” Pinkie’s voice says from a little ahead. I frown. She sounds... worried? I hurry a little, coming through some tree to see Pinkie with a white Earth Pony with a two-toned pink and whitish-pink mane and tail, wearing a blue business suit and red tie. Guessing this is Svengallop. Weird sounding name, even for a pony. “That was for Countess Coloratura!” Svengallop says, in a tone I definitely recognize from the nobles when they just think they can have whatever they want. “This is for me! And what I want is premium oats!” Pinkie’s smile returns as she holds up a plate of oats saying, “Oh! Well, we have lots of tasty oats right here in Ponyville!” My jaw drops when Svengallop knocks the plate away, saying, “I would not feed those to a chicken! I want top-of-the-line Appleloosan oats!” I feel my right eye twitch. Okay, who the hell does this guy think he is? Does he realize who he is talking to there?! How dare he talk down to Pinkie like that?! “Next,” he continues, “it appears that we are surrounded by apple trees. Bring me five hundred pre-peeled, pre-cored apples, and I want those things in twenty-four hours!” At once I stop in shock, before snarling, popping away from where I was and reappear right in front of him, causing the stallion to let out a rather feminine shriek. “Hey, buster!” I growl, snorting, smoke actually coming out of my snorting. “Have you gotten permission to make such a demand?” At once, his startled expression become a bored one nobles have when they’re speaking to those they see as beneath them. “I am Countess Coloratura’s manager, little pony. I am allowed to ask for what I want and do not need to explain myself to some urchin like you.” I stare at him for several moments, before frowning. “So, let me see if I got this right. You think that just because you manage some popstar, you’re allowed to demand stuff from other ponies’ property, without their consent and that it’ll just happen?” He gives a snorting chuckle. “Well, why not?” I tap a hoof. “So, if you say, if you wanted, you could just kick a family out of their home if you wanted to stay in that house whilst in the town or city your popstar’s performing in? Or a hotel room being used by somepiony else, just because you want it that way, regardless of the feelings of the ponies you kick out?” Very specific idea here, but it’s a good hypothetical scenario here. If the attitude I’m getting from this guy is right, it isn’t too big of a stretch that he’d do something like that, since this is the Apple Family’s farm and I get the feeling from his depends that he didn’t actually asks any of the Apples if that was okay. He chuckles. “Of course. I’d deserve staying there more than those common ponies.” He then turns away from me, glaring at Pinkie. “Now, get what I asked for!” “But that’s impossible!” Pinkie rightfully cries out. He pushes his face right up against Pinkie’s, glaring at her. “Do you want me to pull Countess Coloratura from your little podunk charity show?! Because I will!” He then turns to walk off, but I’m standing in his path, my eyebrows narrowed. “Are you not going to asked Applejack, ya know, the farmer who owns these trees, first?” He just snorts and walks off. I’m about to teleport after him, when I hear Applejack and turn to see her and Pinkie talking. I join in and we agree that AJ should talk to the popstar known as Countess Coloratura and she’ll fix everything. Apparently the two knew each other when they were younger and AJ’s calls her Rara. Gotta say, I think that sounds better. I hang back a bit to give Pinkie a little extra comfort, as well as assure her she won’t need to take any of Applejack’s family’s apples without permission (one, I know they’d have happily given some and, two, once Rara sorts this all out, it won’t even need to be thought about), and head over. “Alright now,” Applejack’s saying to her sister and the other CMC, “you’d best get along, little ponies.” The CMC go, but they keep their heads turned to the Countess the whole time, with amazed smiles on their faces, even walking backwards. Coloratura laughs at this and I can’t help giggling along with her. it is pretty funny. “Uh... Hey, Rara, you mind if I talk to you about your manager?” Applejack asks, pulling my mind back to the task at hoof. The mare looks to AJ, smiling. “Sure, what about him?” Applejack rubs her neck. “Well, while you were meetin’ with the schoolponies, he was demandin’ all sorts of stuff from Pinkie Pie.” Coloratura shakes her head. “Svengallop works very hard as my manager, AJ, so if he needs some things when we’re on the road, I don’t see anything wrong with that.” “What about demanding Pinkie give him a large number of AJ’s family’s apples, without asking Applejack about it first?” I ask, sitting on my haunches and folding my forelegs.  She looks to me in confusion. “Huh?” I nod. “Yep. Demanded Pinkie give him exactly five hundred pre-peeled, pre-cored apples, and he wants them in twenty-four hours.” She blinks at me, confused. “I’m sure he didn’t mean to not ask AJ if it was fine first. Maybe he assumed your friend Pinkie Pie was allowed that many anyway.” “Well, she is family, so we’d be fine giving them to her if she asked,” Applejack said, her frown returning, “ but, even if that’s okay, do you see somethin’ wrong with him tellin’ Pinkie that if she doesn’t get those things by tomorrow, he’d pull you from our charity festival?” Coloratura frowns. “What? But he knows how important charity is to me, and leaving the festival would completely ruin my image!” Applejack waves a hoof.  “I’m afraid Svengallop doesn’t give a pickled pippin about your charity work.” Coloratura glares at Applejack. “That’s not true! Svengallop has always supported me in all my interests. You’re just saying those things because you’re jealous!” Applejack laughs. “Jealous of what? A pony who hides behind a veil so thick she can’t see when somepony’s usin’ her? No, I’m not jealous of that, Rara!” Uh oh. This is getting out of hoof really fast. “Okay, before either of you say anything else in the heat of anger you would regret later,” I say, popping up hovering next to Coloratura’s head and wrapping a foreleg around her, “I think I’ll handle this.” Before either of them can respond, the mare and I are standing a little away, another me walking close by. “Huh?” Coloratura says, looking from myself to the other me in confusion. “What’s going on?” “We’re in my memories,” I say, indicating to the past me. “Specifically, my memories from a couple minutes ago before AJ and I came over to you to talk about your manager.” So, we watch my memories play out, Coloratura becoming more shocked with each word that spills out of her manager’s mout. Once the memory gets to myself turning to AJ comforting Pinkie, I teleport us right back. Applejack looks from myself to her fillyhood friend, an eyebrow raised. “If you want, we can prove it even further,” I say, ingoring the farm mare for a moment. “Just tell Svenny that you’re cancelling the schoolpony contest. If he reacts badly about it, he cares about you. If he’s happy about it, it’s because he only cares about his wants and not yours.” “I... well, I guess it couldn’t hurt...” she says, turning towards the stage. Applejack taps me on the shoulder and I look back to see her giving me an odd look. “What’d you do?” I shrug. “Just showed her my memories. No big.” “Svengallop?” Rara calls out. “Svengallop! Where are you, Svengallop?” Svengallop comes over. “Here I am! Did you need something? I frown. The way he asked her made it sound like he was annoyed she called him. Rara looks down, making circle with her forehoof against the stage floor. “Yes, I was... considering... m-maybe cancelling the contest with the schoolponies...?” At once, Svengallop’s face lights up. “Countess, this is wonderful! I've been waiting forever for you to cancel that pointless schoolpony contest.” Her eyes widen and her mouth opens in shock. “You... have?” He nods. “You do it at every charity event, and it does absolutely nothing to promote the Countess Coloratura image that I built!” Rara’s eyes narrow. “So, AJ and that filly were right!” His expression quickly becomes uncertain and confused. “Say what now?” She steps closer, before jabbing his chest with a hoof. “All you care about is what you want, and not me! Did you really demand three hundred apples from a pony who isn’t even the owner of the farm you demanded they come from?” Svengallop gives a confused look, before frowning. “Yeah, so? What's the problem?” Rara stomps a hoof. “The problem is, is you've been using my name to intimidate ponies to get what you want!” Svengallop snorts. “But I work incredibly hard for you! I deserve everything I get!” Rara shakes her head. “But not because you scare ponies into thinking I won't perform for their charities otherwise! I would never do that to my fans! Which is why you should have known that I would never cancel the schoolponies' contest! Svengallop huffs, walking past her, before looking back. “Hmph. All this charity and schoolpony contest nonsense is just remnants of that boring little Rara I met back in Manehattan!” Rara looks hurt for a moment, before glaring. “You clearly don't understand the real me!” Svengallop laughs. “Ha, that's a joke! I made you somepony! What can you even do without me?” “You say you work hard for Rara,” Applejack walks up to the stallion, her eyes narrowed. “But that’s only because you go out of your way to promote Rara in ways she doesn’t need to be. Ah garantee, if you just promote Rara for who she is instead of what you want her to be, you’d have far less work and still get plenty of rewards for it, from ponies willing to give you what you ask for without need of threats at all!” He looks at Applejack as if she’s a bug he wants to shoo away, before turning back to Rara. “Good luck, Countess Coloratura! Good luck.” And with that, he stomps off, nose in the air. Applejack walks over to her friend. “Oh, Rara, I'm so sorry. Are you gonna be okay for the concert tonight?” Rara looks up, a sad smile on her face. “Of course. After all, the show must go on!” I turn in the direction her now ex manger went, a sinister grin slowly spreading across my face. Indeed, the show must go on... and what a fun show it will be... for me. ___________________________________________________________ Svengallop growl under his breath as he walked toward the train station. How dare that ungrateful mare do that to him, after evertything he’d done for her! He’d made her a star; everypony only loved her because of him. Without him, she’d fall by the wayside in no time. She’d be begging for him to come back in no time. Well, too bad for her. After that stunt, she could become homeless for all he cared. There were plenty of desperate young mares and stallions who wanted fame. He’d just have to find one and mould them to fit an image he preferred. They’d never question it if it gets them the fame and fortune they want. “You will regret treating my friends so badly.” He yelped, before looking around, only to relax. It was just that worthless pink filly from earlier. She probably thought she could get one up on him right after losing his job. “You’re just like a mare I got rid of, you know.” He blinked, confused by that statement, before he felt an unexplainable chill run down his spine as he looked at the filly. That smile of hers... there was something wrong about it. Something... unsettling. She took a step forward and he found himself taking a step back. “You two are a lot alike,” she continued casually, yet the smile made him concerned. “You both took a pony unable to fight against you and tried moulding her into what you wanted, instead of what they wanted to be and cared nothing for their personal feelings. And, when you get called out, act like you’re the victim.” She continued walking towards him, Svengallop finding himself walking back, a deep feeling within him, some primal instinct, telling him he had to keep the distance. “Well, she got what she deserved and you?” the filly gave a chuckle that made his blood run cold. “You think Rara deserves to and will be homeless without you?” His heart skipped a beat. How... how had she known what he was thinking? Who was this filly?! The filly giggled, the sound like causing his body to scream at him to run. “Well, somepony will be homeless, alright. but, I can assure you, it won’t be Rara. You see, ponies love her, not for what she is, but who she is. they know she cares. They know she’s kind. You? All anypony knows about you is you threaten to take your client out of important events, which would result in disaster for the hosts, just to get whatever you want. Chances you’ll find those willing to work for you or give sympathy are as likely as Cinch keeping her job after Friendships Games is over.” He frowned in slight confusion. Cinch? Friendship Games? What was she talking about? “Good luck, Svenny!” He yelped in fright. Somehow she was right in front of his face, floating off of the ground, giving him that unsettling, cold grin. “Good luck.” With that, she was gone. He looked around, his adrenaline still pumping from the fear he still couldn’t understand that filly had instilled into him. After several moments, he hurried into the station, his anxiety about the last minute of so making him not care about having to pay for the ticket. The sooner he got out of here, the better. This town was insane!