June 17
I started to feel alone. Each day I waited, and yet nothing came in the mail. I became afraid to ask Soothing Tone about it, because he himself I started to fear. He acted differently than when I first arrived in Ponyville. So did everypony else. Most of the ponies I used to know despised me, but they adored Soothing Tone as if he was everyone's best friend. The only pony I had left here was Fluttershy. I had made plans to meet her today, and I was getting to the bottom of this mystery. Finishing yet another glorious breakfast coming from seemingly thin air, I informed Soothing Tone I would be gone for most of the day.
"Ah, so you will leave me as well now?" he said.
"Er, uh, just for the day my good friend." I tried to reassure him.
"No, that's fine, just go. Leave and perish like all the others."
I couldn't hold in my surprise, "Should I be one to perish on such a wondrous day?!"
He smiled an evil smile, "No, perhaps not." He moved his face to a very uncomfortable distance from mine. "But know this, you're not leaving until I get what I want."
With that he left me wanting nothing more than to leave. And that's just what I did, advancing right to Fluttershy's abode.
She was waiting for me on the path in front. She waved to me and spoke, "Hi Noteworthy, I promised my friend Rainbow Dash I would watch her practice a new trick she's been working on. Is that okay with you?"
"Hello Fluttershy, yes that's fine. I just wish to speak with you now." We started walking down the path. "Fluttershy, what do you know about Soothing Tone?"
At his name Fluttershy donned a large smile and said, "Oh, he is a very good friend of mine. I've known him as long as I can remember."
I thought this was strange considering she had never mentioned him and he had never mentioned her. I asked, "Who is the person who is letting Soothing Tone stay in their tree house?"
"Twilight Sparkle lived there, but don't worry about her. She's not here anymore." She said.
Confused, I asked, "But I thought he was only staying there momentarily...where did this Twilight Sparkle go exactly?"
Her forehead wrinkled and she said, "I hadn't thought about that I guess..."
"Hadn't thought about it? What do you mea-"
"Oh look, there's Rainbow Dash!" She exclaimed.
Flustered, I observed Fluttershy converse with her colorful friend. Then Rainbow Dash ascended and sped through the air with great speed. Fluttershy tried unsuccessfully to cheer on Rainbow Dash, but she was magnificent anyhow. I opened my mouth to question Fluttershy once more, when suddenly Rainbow Dash suddenly vanished into thin air when going a certain distance away from us. I gaped at the nothingness that used to be Fluttershy's friend. Fluttershy herself stopped cheering immediately and looked, confused, in the same direction. Her face then appeared to be distracted with other thoughts.
"I have to get going," She said whilst turning to leave.
"Wait," I said, "What about Rainbow Dash, where did she go?"
She replied, "It doesn't matter, she's gone now." With that she left.
I turned again to the place where Rainbow Dash had disappeared. I approached it. As I drew near I suddenly realized I needed to get out of Ponyville as fast as possible.
I started to run. I ran away from Ponyville and all of it's false characters. I ran until my lungs gave out, and I was forced to stop and rest. Catching my breath I noticed a building in front of me. Behind that building was another, and yet another. And beyond that was Ponyville. I stood flabbergasted. My thoughts were scrambled. As I walked closer I realized it was the opposite side of Ponyville, where the train station was. I stopped near the tracks trying to figure out what was going on. Then it hit me, this was what Soothing Tone was talking about when he said I couldn't leave. But how could he be behind this? As I wondered I noticed a train approaching from the distance. The ground started to vibrate as it got closer, its speed seemed to increase rather than decrease as it neared the station. As it got closer to my location, I noticed movement in my peripheral vision. I turned my head and was surprised to see Soothing Tone standing on the other side of the tracks.
His lips moved but it was hard to hear his words over the increasingly deafening sound of the train. Then, to my utter horror, just before the train reached us he jumped onto the tracks. I closed my eyes just before he was hit, and just like that everything was silent. I opened my eyes to find that I was in a bed, and it was night. But I did not recognize the room in which I slept. I turned to see the smiling and terrifyingly beautiful Octavia, my old lover.
"What is this nightmare," I moaned, "I left you so long ago, Octavia."
She looked at me sympathetically and said, "Oh Noteworthy, you fool. You never left me, it was I who left you. Love stood in the way of my career, I had to make a choice Noteworthy. But...I never stopped loving you. And now, we can be together again. Now come here."
She came closer and I could not resist her. Her lips touched mine, and from there it became increasingly intimate. I couldn't gather my thoughts. Everything was happening so fast. Then realization hit. This was all impossible, all lies, a farce. It was I that left her. I could never have given myself to someone, I would be too vulnerable. I could be hurt...I could...
Suddenly I pushed her away and shouted, "No! This isn't happening! Tell me, what is the meaning of all of this?!"
Octavia's surprised expression turned into disappointment and she sighed. "You have to go now Noteworthy, Soothing Tone needs your help. But even more so does Twilight Sparkle, she can't do this on her own."
The next second Octavia's head turned grey, a horn protruded from her head and one tooth became much longer and sharper. She put her mouth to my ear and whispered, "And by the way, that was fantastic."
I then found myself in a carriage, light coming in from the cracks of the doors. I sat, once again failing to collect my thoughts. The carriage stopped abruptly and I realized what was going on. I bursted into the sunlight and sprinted right over to Fluttershy while she was helping some ducks cross the road. I quickly asked her, "Fluttershy, who is Soothing Tone? Where is Twilight Sparkle?!"
She floated astonished for a few seconds and then responded hesitantly, "I, um, don't know who Soothing Tone is but, uh, if you want to talk to Twilight she should be in her tree house."
I turned and ran once more in the direction of Ponyville as fast as I could bear. By the time I was knocking on the door of the tree house I was completely out of breath. I waited some time and when the door started to open my anticipation turned into hopelessness as I stared at the face of Soothing Tone.
Wearing a positively genuine smile, he said, "Noteworthy you cheeky bastard you! Come in, come in!"