The Ballad of Hunter Stokely

by Roy Macintosh

Vinyl y Tavi

Starring DJ Pon-3 and Octavia

By Raditz Taco and Roy Macintosh

As we start this adventure, Vinyl and Octavia arrive in Rio with their stuff packed on Octavia’s back. Huffing and complaining, Octavia asks “Why did come here of all places?” “I told ya we were going to the Casco Del Caballo to perform for all the grand foals and sweet mares!” “I don’t-ungh-think we’re upright to perform for these nati-” Vinyl quickly stops her and says “SSH! Don’t say that about the ponies or they’ll take you down.” “Oh, sorry. Well I don’t think we are capable of performing for these pony folk. Our taste in music is way different than there style.” “What are you talking about, Tavi? We can’t just stick to our own shtick all the time. I say we should go down to their level and give them a shot of our killer style.”

Therefore, they finally arrive at their motel, and Vinyl decides to head to the Casco to inform the owner. Meanwhile, Octavia decides to rest with a nice nap and a box of wine. Seven hours later, Octavia wakes and sees that Vinyl hasn’t come back. She heads down to the place and sees a riot inside.

“Oh, I know who started this…” and she heads in. As soon as she enters, it’s rampaging like gangbusters. One pony’s doing the cancan, two ponies are leg wrestling, and there was an elephant in the room, literal. An axe nearly got Octavia by the neck, and she started sweating bullets. She frightfully looked for Vinyl while avoiding the shotgun mime ponies. She finds Vinyl drunk off to her hooves yet can perfectly do hip-hop DJ with samba. Octavia was amazed and the crowd loved her. Octavia talked with the bartender. “What’s the deal with her?”

“Oh she’s a dynamo here. Let’s say she turned up the biggest night of this year. Do you know her?”

“Yes, for she is my roommate. I am Octavia Melody and we were actually performing at the Casco Del Caballo for tonight.”

“Ah, you’re Octapony! What a great partner you got there. She brought the light to the place and I bet you’ll do great too.” Smiling anxiously, she says with unlikely glee, “Well I’m sure I can put on a good show with my friend.” Octavia sits at the bar and thinks this thoroughly. “I’m not fit to do this. I know only classical music and they will boo me instantly. I’ve got nothing compared to Vinyl. I must think of something to open the audience.” She thinks up of what to perform while getting a couple drinks.

Cutting to 2 A.M., we see Octavia lying in front of the place. She gets up and the lights are dim in the place. She also sees the bartender and goes in to find out what happened while her hangover.

“Hello again, can you tell me where my friend is?”

“Oh yeah, you went loose and brightened up the stage! You were dancing like it the 70s, you and your friend were cutting loose on the turntables, and ya even fought the elephant in the room. I would also like to say nice brunette.” Octavia found a mirror and saw her hair cut to her neck. She reacted accordingly, “OOH MY GOSH!” “Yeah, you betted a tank in hoof-wrestling and won.” “What do you MEAN I WON?!”

“You betted your hair if you beat him.” “Where did Vinyl say she was going?” “Said she was heading to Carnival today. It’s happening up north.” So Octavia heads out, but first a question. “Wait. Why did you say I was good at the music? I don’t know much about your pony’s style.”

“Well good mare. We are musicians of techno, salsa, house, and hip-hop. We are masters of the urban music. All you need to know that we love the upbeat and spicy melody. Right, Ms. Melody?” “Yes, thank you.” So Octavia decides to head for the carnival.

Exploring up the ways, Octavia seeks Vinyl and then encounters a strange griffon. “Beware thee who possess the purple treble. Watch out for those who bring their white face. They can bring zaniness all over the place. So take bite of this basil and don’t tear. They will find you a curse and face proper fear.”

“I don’t know. This sounds suspicious. How do you know this will work?”

“Oh, trust me and you’ll see. Do this and you’ll do a good deed.” “Alright I’ll do it. They won’t hurt me, right?”

Yes, he says. So she eats the three leaves the griffon gives to her and she gives the griffon some change. “Bless you, miss. Go forward and rein your peace.” So Octavia continues on to a dark alley and finds a white light. Then more lights appear and one pony shows his face. Then he and other ponies come out of the shadows. “The white faces from the griffon’s tale,” she thinks.

The first pony says, “We are the Ponawockaz and you seem like a good friend.” Another tells, “You look like the kind that plays the games and knows the rules.” Octavia bears her little amount of strength and tries standing her ground.

“Please, I don’t want any trouble. I’m just looking for a friend of mine.” Then the leader says, “Well don’t be crass. We’ll just take what is yours and then we’ll just give you a show of the century.” He pulls out a knife and Octavia shrivels in fear. Octavia says with terror, “Oh please, just let go by.”

As soon as she spoke, Octavia’s breathe soothed into the noses of the Ponawockaz, and then they start to shake. “This…smells…familiar!” “BASIL!” The ponawockaz run away with one of them hit by a pass by cart. Octavia is shocked turned angered that they left him lying there. “Are you okay, sir?”

“I’m alright, madam. Just get out of here. I’ll just join the group later.” “No, you need help and I got the supplements. Just please let me help.”

“Okay, just stop talking. Your basil breathe is strong.” “Sorry.” So Octavia uses some herbs from her collar and she feeds him a basil leaf. “Well I apologize for what my colleagues have done to you. I only follow orders.”

“I see. But what is wrong with ponies having basil around Ponawockez?” “The boss, Rainblood, is allergic to basil and the slightest touch can paralyze him. Nobody knew the secret since those who hinted would be silenced.” While helping the brown colt, she uses this to her advantage. “Do you know where Carnival is being held? My friend is supposedly there.”

“Who is this friend?” “I won’t give you the name, but she’s a white mare, with red eyes under glasses and mixed blue hair.” “You mean the ultimately awesome DJ-pon3.” “Yeah, that’s her.” The colt agreed, “Oh, she was great and her drunk run with the bartender was extraordinary!” “When did that happen?”

“Last night and we were there. She was a riot and she said something about impressing a friend of hers.” Octavia has a shock of relevance, “For a friend of hers,” she thought, “What is Vinyl thinking now?” This made Octavia go into a forceful yet resourceful mode. “Where did ‘the ultimately awesome DJ Pon-3’ say she was going?” “I can’t tell you, missy,” says the Ponawocky. “Oh, so you don’t want me to tell your boss that you had basil?”

“Oh, please no. He’ll make me suffer a seven-staged torture including something from a video.” “Then tell me where she is. Please.” “Sh- she just said she was going to Carnival, that’s all.” “Thank you.” As Octavia gave the pony a little pack of herbs and starts to head off to carnival, but first a question. “I’m sorry, but I completely forgot about your name.”

“It’s-um-it’s Cyan Tora, or just Tora.” “Well, I’m Octavia and thanks for your time,” and she walks away. “No problem,” says Tora.

As carnival is about to start, Octavia continues her search for Vinyl. “Pardon me, mistresses, can you help me find a mixed blue haired pony?” Oh, you mean DJ Pon-3. Yeah, she asked someone to get under the stage.” Octavia questions, “Under the stage? Why und- oh course, special entrance!”

Octavia searches for the biggest stage and finds the largest stage at the end of the line. She rushes over there and slides under the stage, where she finally finds Vinyl at her silver turntables. “YO, Tavi! You’ve been gone for the whole day. Where have you been?”

“WHERE have you been? I got a hangover. I nearly got mugged and I was looking for you!” Vinyl scratched her head saying, “Didn’t you get my message? I was heading out to Carnival for another gig. I gave it to the bartender since I knew you’d investigate stuff after waking.”

Octavia starts to question, “Did you encounter the Ponawockaz?” “Yeah, and someone said those guys were awesome! Then again, they never showed themselves until that night.”

“Wait, didn’t you say to someone that you were trying to impress someone?” “Uh yeah, the audience.” “No, someone that is special.” “Yeah, I know the audience is special. You don’t have to nag me on it, Tavi.” Octavia loses her tiny smile, “Oh, sorry for bothering about that. Good luck, Vinyl.” “Thanks, Tavi.” “No problem. Sigh.” She leaves from the stage with a face as dry as cauliflower. “I knew this wasn’t for me,” Octavia says with depression.

As carnival begins, the clowns party through the streets, lively floats glide through the air, and Pinkie Pie roams with the big top performers. Octavia, instead of having enjoyment, sits in the sidelines. Then, the sound stands still until a good beat arises. Steadily and lifting, the beat rises and rises until POW! The tempo boosts, the volume grows, the treble flows along with the bass, and all is going as planned. Vinyl starts scratching those records and the people are reveling in the music. Then after a couple songs, Vinyl makes an announcement.

“HEEEY everybody! Your DJ in da house and I gotta new song for ya. This goes out for a special type of people. A friend of mine. Give a shot-out to my bestie, OCTAVIA!” Octavia looks up in shock, “Vinyl, for me?” There is a cello beside the mike. Vinyl points her hoof out, and Octavia takes it up. They start to sing together. They strike a grand finale and the ponies cheer. As soon as they finish, the platform descends and the Ponawockaz are waiting for them.

“I see you’ve found your friend, and we found you.” Rainblood says with a smirk. The two stood in shock, well Octavia mostly and Vinyl going heh. “Hey, Rainblood! How are things with the gang?” Then Rainblood’s smirk turns to disgust, “Enough of your games, Vinyl! Where is the money?! Stop stalling.”

Octavia looks solely at Vinyl with concern, “What money is he talking about and how much?” Vinyl tries remembering and looks calmly serious, “Well, I made a bet with Rainblood to go on a cider run and get to twelve taverns without collapsing and I failed. How much is giving $700 for every tavern I didn’t get. I got to the 2nd place before losing, so that’s $7000.” Octavia was so outraged, on the inside. Gritting her teeth she said, “I’ll deal with you later. As for you, Rainblood, we can compromise about this situation if you just don’t do anything uncouth.”

Rainblood becomes tempered, “No more stalling! You got a job so you must give me something! Or do you want a new stereo with your grave?” Octavia pulls herself together and grabs some basil from her satchel. Rainblood looks in sudden fear, and then smiles quaintly. “I knew it would come to this, so I came prepared.” He pulls a trigger out. “Look up and you’ll see some weird looking bricks. These bricks are full of nitrogen and gunpowder, a good recipe. If you don’t have the best excuse for why you can’t provide just 7000 dollars right now when you clearly have a job, I can’t do anything else but blow you up. Boom!”

Octavia starts to sweat, but then she sees Cyan and gains a little confidence. “Listen Ponawockaz, you got to understand that Rainblood won’t help you succeed in life. This colt is willing to kill for less annual minimum wage for a potion maker. Is that what you want?”

One of the henchpony steps up, “Rainblood helped out when we had nothing to live. You have no power over him.” “He’s afraid of basil! Does that tell you how ridiculous that sounds? He’s no leader as much leading all of you to doom. You don’t have to follow us, but find your own path to self-production.”

Rainblood gives doubt and mocks, but the members start to think. One by one, they walk over to the two musicians, leaving Rainblood alone. “Are you kidding me? You’re not seriously taking their side after ALL I’ve done?!”

Vinyl steps up to him, “You’re kidding? You are putting them in danger for a desperate move. Is that how you want to help them, chance their lives?”

Rainblood, still remaining calm, “It’s not taking a chance, we were gonna leave before we’d blow you up and no one would die. C’mon guys, am I right? Why would I try to destroy our team?” One henchpony stands up to him and says, “Whether or not we are on your “team”. There is a limit to our loyalty, and this is so pushing it. I speak for all of us when we say that we quit!”

“AGREED!”

Astonished by the final decision, Rainblood starts to sweats even more and takes a few steps back. “We-Well it seems you’ve won that round. B-but I haven’t lost yet, u-you know.”

The rest begin to fear, but Octavia starts to question. “Hold up, now. The bombing is a fake. Those bricks are just cement and concrete. You have no threats on us, do you?”

Rainblood is stunned still, and drops the trigger. “How did you-”

“No pony with a killer device should ever have low confidence in going along with his plans.”

Rainblood grits his teeth and pulls out his knife. He tries to attack Octavia, but Cyan dashes forward and kicks Rainblood straight to the face. Rainblood howls, “It’ll take more than your love taps to harm ME!” Rainblood goes for Cyan, and Cyan tries dodging as best as he can. Octavia then grabs the basil and spits it right into Blood’s throat.

Rainblood stops at first, a rash rings up his throat, and he starts to choke. Vinyl goes up to the choking fool and clops him right in the neck. He spits the herb out and gains his breath.

Rainblood weakly speaks, “Please *KACK* *COUGH* *COUGH* *HACK* accept my thanks and I-” Vinyl scoffs, “Yeah, yeah. We get that cliché already. Gentlemen, would you mind taking him away from here.” “Yes, maim.”

The five henchponies grab Rainblood and take him out from downstage. “Please, let me go! I promise I’ll be more compassionate with my friends.” “YEAH, RIGHT!”

Octavia goes over to Cyan, where she sees a wound on his chest. “Oh my. Do you need some medicine?”

Cyan takes a deep breath, “No, I’m good. It’s not deep so some bandaging is all I need. I do thank you for helping us escape Rainblood’s control. We would have done something, but he always found a threat against us. Whether it is blackmail or death, we couldn’t take him on easily.”

Octavia had a sigh of relief, “Well, I do hope you have a future here in Rio.” Vinyl snickers at her thought, “Hey Tavi, this is Rio. Anypony can make a dream real in this type of town. If not, there’s also Canterlot and Ponyville.”

Tora smiles a bit, “Thanks, Vinyl. Coming from you, I think I might become a busker for now. I always was intrigued in music and I can play a sax like Coltrane.”

“There you go, and let nothing stand in your path. Peace with you, dude.”

Octavia blushes a bit as she says, “Well Cyan, this is goodbye. I hope you make a good living with the others.” Cyan shrugs his“We’ll be fine. We haven’t done anything too criminal, so we can lie into earning decent jobs. Enough about us, you two enjoy your vacation. You can find me in Manehattan for a visit.” The two lastly says, “We’ll keep in touch, Cyan." Cyan gives the two a hug, and he walks out the stage with a tiny smile.

Finally, Octavia pulls out a black bottle from her satchel. “You might like this drink. Special with its tanginess.” The DJ grinned heavily, “Ms. Melody, you’ve read my mind.”

“Not hard to do, I suppose.” Octavia really just wanted a simple night, so she threw the risks under the rug. Therefore, after all this craziness, the two head back to the bar. When all is said and done, the two go one big drinking run. As the two raced through the streets, they sang a chant after leaving the bars. They sang this throughout the whole night.

“For the flow of RIO!”

Author's Note:

It's a first, so it's not perfect. Hope you liked it. It's cliched, but hey.