//------------------------------//
// Chapter 5 
// Story: Killing Me Softly With Her Wubs 
// by Dashofrainbow235 
//------------------------------//


Killing Me Softly With Her Wubs
Chapter 5

The three months seemed to go by really fast as before they knew it, the day for the Royal Canterlot Symphony audition came. Octavia had high hopes for the best of results. She and Vinyl woke up extra early to leave for Canterlot. Vinyl had a hard time just keeping her eyes open until she had three cups of coffee which made her very alert. At 7:00 am, they left their home for the trip.

"Octavia? Do you think those Canterlot ponies will appreciate my dubstep wubs?" Vinyl asked. Right now, the two mares were on a train going to Canterlot.
"Dubstep wubs?" Octavia shook her head and laughed. "Is that all you think about?" Vinyl shrugged her shoulders and then looked out the window. She knew how prim, proper, and narrow-minded those Canterlot ponies could be; they'd most likely find her wubs to be extremely repulsive and distasteful. Some ponies already hate on her dubstep back in Ponyville too, but she thought there would be even more haters in Canterlot. Of course Octavia being a Canterlot pony herself wasn't like that at all.

Two and a half hours later, the train had arrived. Octavia and Vinyl trotted the rest of the way to the Canterlot Musical Arts Center where the auditions were being held and where the symphony had their rehearsals. Octavia, who was in a hurry, was nearly galloping with her cello case over her shoulders like a backpack. While she was rushing, Vinyl was just moseying along with her headphones over her head, listening to music. When they got in the building, they talked to the mare at the front desk.
"Excuse me miss?" Octavia called, while putting her cello down. The mare looked up from her stack of paperwork and smiled.
"Can I help you?" She asked.
"Yes, I need to audition for the symphony." Octavia answered.
Vinyl looked around and noticed how big the place was. She spun around and circles and looked up at how high the ceiling was. A couple of Canterlot mares walked passed her and couldn't help but criticize her appearance. They also took note that her music was loud enough to be heard out of her headphones and recognized it as the dreadful dubstep.
"Well I declare! What is that disorderly mare wearing those appalling sunglasses doing in a place like this? Honey, the clubs are on the other side of Canterlot!" One mare demanded with a very posh accent similar to Rarity's. The other mare nodded.
"Indeed! And I can hardly call what she is listening to music! It's that highly offensive dubstep, I can tell!" The other pony rudely added.
Vinyl glared daggers at the both of them. "Why I oughta… Dissing my music is one thing I'm used to, but when you talk hay about my shades…" Vinyl murmured to herself.
The mare at the front desk told the two mares to go upstairs to get ready. As they walked up the stairs, they saw many of the band members trotting around, doing their own thing, while wearing their given uniforms. Octavia was too busy admiring their uniforms to notice the glares they were giving Vinyl Scratch. "If that dumb mare disses my shades one more time…" Then Octavia kept going on to the band room to get her cello ready. Vinyl stayed behind and peeked in one of the rooms where the symphony was having a rehearsal. She truly thought they sound wonderful, but she'd never admit that to Octavia.

In the band room, Octavia removed her jacket and then took her cello out of its case. She took out a rag that was in her case and well and began to clean her cello before she auditioned. Then she tuned it with a tuner they had in the room. There were several other fillies and colts in the room auditioning for the symphony as well. One mare started conversing with Octavia. She had a yellow coat and had a musical coda symbol on her flank for her cutie mark.
"Hello. Nerve wrecking, don't you think?" Octavia simply nodded. She didn't have anything she wanted to say and she didn't like to talk to other competitors. There were only ten spots left in the band and she absolutely had to get a spot. "I'm Da Capo al Coda but most people just call me D.C. or Coda. Where are you from?"
This time Octavia answered, "Ponyville." The filly nodded.

Vinyl was still watching the symphony rehearse their songs. She began to like this type of music as much as dubstep. Octavia left the band room with her clean and tuned cello and saw Vinyl watching the ensemble. She laughed but then looked at the time. "Vinyl! Vinyl! For Princess Celestia's sake! My auditions about to start!" She said in a sharp whisper. She was about to enter the audition room, but then she stopped and sighed. "I don't think I can do this."
"And why not?" Vinyl interrogated.
"What if the judges don't like me? And if I do miraculously make it, what if the band members don't like me because I'm not good enough?" Octavia panicked.
"Octavia, don't lose your nerve. Even if you were bad, none of that matters. I get hated on all the time for my music." Vinyl explained.
Octavia tilted her head perplexedly, "When do people hate on you?" She asked.
"Are you that clueless? I soon as I walked into this building, I was glared at like fifty times by those ratchet stuck-up ponies. But you get used to it." Vinyl answered while shrugging her shoulders. That didn't really help Octavia in her current situation though. "If they don't want you, that's just because you're too good for them and you'd make the rest of the band members look bad with your awesome amount of skill and expertise. But what they didn't realize is that they'd be lucky to have you." Octavia smiled.
"Thank you, Vinyl." She approved. 'If I only had some guts!'
Vinyl nodded and waited outside of the audition room as Octavia walked in with her cello. "You'll do fine, Octavia. You're the best cello player in Equestria and I mean that."

"And who might you be?" The judge in the middle asked.
Octavia gulped, "Octavia, from Ponyville." She answered apprehensively. The judges nodded and wrote her name on their sheets of paper.
Octavia took a deep breath and put her music on the music stand. It fell down a couple times because of the breeze in the room which made her even more anxious. The anxiety she was feeling was absolute purgatory. Then she sat with her cello. D.C. was right. This was nerve wrecking. Octavia took a strand of hair behind her ear and took another deep breath. The judges took note of her posture and discussed that factor amongst each other. Apparently, they were judging on posture as well. Octavia looked at the ground and took more deep breaths.
Outside of the audition room, Vinyl was pacing back and forth waiting for the, hopefully, positive results to arrive.
"Okay, whenever you're ready." The judge in the middle said. Octavia nodded.
'Come on, Octavia. This is your only chance to wow the judges. Don't ruin it!' Octavia thought to herself.

First Octavia played her tuning note which was a G. The judges took note on if she was in tune or not. Then Octavia cleared her throat. She began to play her song, Friendship, Fear, and the Moon. The judges were looking for three things: Correct notes and rhythm, great tone, and interpretation. Octavia was so nervous she felt like she would pass out right on the floor in front of them.
Soon enough the song was over and the judges wrote down the last few observations on her score sheets. Octavia knew she wouldn't get in because of how bad she had played it. She had played a sharp instead of a natural three times. That probably hurt her score a lot. Then the judges gave her the sheet. After taking the result sheet, Octavia nodded and opened the door to leave the audition room.

Vinyl Scratch and Colsart were waiting outside. Finally the moment had arrived for them to hear the good news. Octavia completely disregarded them and walked right past them to a couch. She took a pillow and held it over her chest and took deep breaths. Octavia carefully read over her score sheet. The she knew the results and whether she had made it in or not. Octavia still didn't say anything though. She just held the pillow to her chest and stared into space with a sad facial expression. Vinyl Scratch and Colsart looked at each other and then went over to Octavia. "Well?" Colsart asked.
"Yeah! Spill the beans!" Vinyl exclaimed.
Octavia sighed and then replied slowly, "I… I got in."
Vinyl cheered loudly and hugged Octavia tightly; again, a little too tight. Octavia received a small hug from Colsart too. "You're the man, Octavia! I knew you could do it! You're the best around!" Octavia smiled.
"Good job, Octavia." Colsart acknowledged politely. She blushed bright red and shrugged her shoulders.
"Oh yes, did you make it in?" Octavia asked.
Colsart's smile turned into a frown and then he cleared throat. He lowered his head in disappointment. "I didn't make the cut." He replied. Octavia was crushed, and Vinyl frowned. "But it's quite alright though."
"Pardon my English but that must suck." Octavia remarked. Colsart nodded.
"Well, it most certainly isn't at all good." Colsart stated as-a-matter-of-factly. "Anyways I got the paper with the information you should know." Colsart hooved it over to Octavia and she began to read it.
"'There will be a provided meal after every required rehearsal which if you skip without a legit reason; we will hunt you down—'" Octavia read. Vinyl interjected.
"For skipping a meal or rehearsal?" Vinyl asked.
Octavia looked the paragraph over, "Both." She said. Vinyl nodded. "'You will be staying at the Grand Canterlot Hotel for free and you will be moving there by next month.' Now we should probably return so I can make some preparations for my move to Canterlot."
"Suh-weet! It'll be just the three of us chilling in a totally sick five star hotel! How awesome!" Vinyl remarked. She wrapped her forelegs around both Colsart's and Octavia's necks. They both escaped her grasp.
"I believe there is a misconception here." Octavia pointed out. Vinyl looked at her and raised an eyebrow. Mostly because she didn't know what 'misconception' meant.
"What sort? Colsart can't come? That's too bad." Vinyl though. "We're sure gonna miss you Coltsart. I promise we'll write to you everyday." Vinyl said, jokingly. Coltsart rolled his eyes.
"That was so funny I forgot to laugh."
"Only I can move into the hotel. Only band members can stay and I presume that it's much too late for you to audition now, there were only 10 spots left in ensemble so it's most likely already filled." Octavia clarified.
Behind her sunglasses, Vinyl's eyes widened in shock. "WHAT! Whoa, hold your horses there, partner. Little red flag going up!" Vinyl exclaimed. She shook Octavia's shoulders. "You can't move to Canterlot without us! I would buy a house in Canterlot, but the houses there are much too expensive and you how I feel about those poo-brain Canterlot ponies… So you've got to stay! Don't go away!" Vinyl argued. Octavia looked at Vinyl sadly. Even though joining the symphony was her biggest dream since forever, she has been Vinyl's best friend since before forever.
Vinyl tried to reason with her, "Either you can stay with your friends who you've know your whole life, or you can move along to Canterlot and leave us behind."
Colsart claimed, "Vinyl, it is her decision you know." Vinyl crossed her forelegs.
"I just want her to make the right decision." Vinyl retorted.
"I realize that you care a lot about Octavia, I do too. But it's been her lifelong dream to join the symphony. So even though she wants something that is different from what you want, you should just accept that. Now let her decide." Colsart proclaimed. Vinyl Scratch nodded solemnly; she had already heard that before from Twilight Sparkle.

Octavia looked at both of her two favorite ponies in Equestria. She was happy that she had friends who cared for her that much and wanted her to live dream, but if she left them, it would be hard to find friends as good as them. So she could be a famous cellist if she left, but then she'd be alone if; she may make friends with some of the band member, but it would not be the same. If she stayed with her friends, Octavia would be able to hang out with them whenever, but then she could only dream of being section leader cellist. 'I wasn't expecting this decision to be so problematic at all.' Octavia thought.
Vinyl decided that it was necessary to break the fourth wall at this time, "Well it's a good job we're ending this chapter here and then going onto the next. This is getting too long." Vinyl said.