Up the Octave
Brass Button was hard at work cleaning up his store. Normally, he wouldn't mind the fact that the place was a little untidy, but today was different. Renowned musician Octavia Philharmonic was performing a concert today, and he wanted to make a good impression if she came to his store.
He had been a fan of Octavia for a few months, following her in the newspapers and listening to recordings of her whenever he could. The tones that resonated from her bass were awe-inspiring to almost everyone who heard it. When he heard that she was coming to Ponyville, he immediately went out to buy a ticket to the concert.
He did a quick final check of the store to make sure everything was in order. When he was satisfied with his work, he went up to his bedroom to get dressed for the concert. He had nearly made it to the top of the stairs when he heard someone walk in the door. Curious, he walked back down the stairs to see who it was.
Brass Button couldn't believe his eyes when he saw who it was. Standing across the room from him was Octavia herself, with her large instrument case strapped to her back. He stood nervously for a few seconds, then asked, "H-hello. I'm Brass Button, o-owner of this s-store. C-can I help you?"
"Ah, yes. You see, I was practicing earlier when one of the strings snapped. Normally, I would just have my assistant Rosewood string it back up, but I gave her a week's vacation while I toured Canterlot and Suburbs. Since I didn't appear to have any other options, I figured this little thrift shop would have to do."
Brass was astonished by her response. Here was Octavia, one of his greatest heroes, and she called his store a 'thrift shop'? The indignity made him tense up; he may have respected her earlier, but this was pushing his limits.
He gave her an irritated look, but said he could have it fixed in a jiffy. He took the instrument out of its case, and carefully levitated it back toward his workshop.
She gave him him one last pompous comment before he reached the workshops. "And be careful! I don't want a ruffian like you scratching the finish on her. If you do-"
Brass Button closed the door behind him before she could finish. 'Really? She thinks I out of all people would scratch the finish? That's like saying that Cheerilee would hurt a child.' He propped the bass up on a padded stand, taking extra care not to scratch the finish.
He went over to his supply shelf and found the correct string he needed. This would be a fairly easy job; he had been fixing strings on instruments since the day he got his cutie mark. He carefully removed the broken string, discarding it to the side.
The new string fit snugly in the place where the old one had snapped. A quick flash of light, and the whole thing was fixed. He didn't see what Octavia was so worried about; a job like this could be managed by any unicorn who had an idea what they were doing.
He levitated the bass back to the showroom. Octavia was still there, pacing across the room impatiently. She looked up and saw the bass, then said, "took you long enough."
Brass Button tried to hold his frustration with her in, barely managing to repress a few choice words as he brought up the fee for his services. "That will be ten bits."
She looked disgusted as she heard him announce the cost. "Ten bits? My dear, I would hardly pay you two bits for this amateurish job. I could've hired a filly to do this job and have it done just as well at a quarter the price."
Brass Button finally snapped. All she had done since she came in was treat him like a village idiot, despite what he had just done for her. He angrily stomped his hooves on the ground, and started to rant.
"Really? You think a filly could have done this quality of a job? Fine then! Take your stupid bass and go bug somepony else. But I'm telling you right here and right now: you won't find a better instrument mender around these parts."
Octavia gave a huff, then picked up her bass and trotted angrily out the door. Brass Button breathed heavily for a few seconds, then attempted to figure out what he had been doing beforehand.
It only took a few seconds to recollect what he had been doing. The ticket to Octavia's concert was still lying on his desk. After his run in just moments before, he did not want to see her for a good long while. He took the ticket and threw it into his trash can, relishing in the joy it brought him.
Realizing he had just opened up a huge slot of time in his afternoon, Brass Button decided that he would get to work on something more productive. Plus, he had just lost ten bits to a huffy customer; he needed to do something to make up for that loss.
He headed back to his workshop. Skimming his pile of order forms, he found something that looked like it could keep him busy throughout the afternoon. A mare from Manehattan named Trap Set had sent in an order for a drum set. It was too far away to get it delivered today, but he certainly could get it mostly completed.
All afternoon, he diligently worked at making the drum set take shape. By the time he actually stopped to check the clock, he found he had been at work for nearly seven hours. Sitting before him was a completed drum set, along with a small block of steel to the side. ‘Not bad for an afternoon,’ He thought exhaustedly.
Happy with his work for the day, Brass Button headed upstairs to his room. Tired from a long stretch of work, he fell down in bed and started to doze off before he saw an Octavia poster hanging on the wall. In one decisive action, he tore it from the wall, ripping the corner in the process. Not that he cared. For all he cared, he never wanted to see that mare again.
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Well, I wasn't expecting a new chapter out this soon!
I mean wow! You must be a monster at typing!
There were a few errors I noticed: It should be a 'I don't want a ruffian...' and I'm not certain what exactly you were trying to make out of this sentence, '...heavily for area seconds, then...', but it seems like you were trying to say '...for a number of seconds...'
Can't say I enjoyed this portrayal of Octavia (sure she strikes me as a bit of a stiff, but it seems that she would be at least somewhat pleasant. Oh well, everyone to their taste I suppose.)
What was up with Octavia? Did she have a bad day or is this her personality in this chapter?
4958594 I wanted to create a semi realistic story about meeting celebrities. They more often than not act differently than you would imagine. I don't mean to offend any Octavia fans out there.
4958684 I don't suppose Vinyl would do the same thing or would that raise more controversy?
4958691 it wouldn't be in good taste. Not forr your reasoning, though; two chapters with similar plots would be lazy writing.
4957478 Fixed. Thanks! I know it might not be what you were expecting, but I may or may not have some character development in store for both of them.
4958684
I see what you mean by that, almost like Rarity meeting Blueblood for the first time in the sense that he too was a jerk the entire time to her.