The Grounded Musician

by SilasSilversti

Treble & Bass

Chapter 7

Ponyville was now wide awake and everypony was up and about. Silas and Octavia had just left the cafe and were on their way back to her place. Silas was real excited, but at the same time really nervous. He hasn't really been this close to somepony since he had his own house, which was a good five months ago. He didn't want to screw up, or make a bad first impression on Vinyl Scratch. If she didn't like him, Octavia would probably have her doubts about him as well.

Silas kicked those bad thoughts away quickly, he didn't want to get stressed out. Octavia was leading him through town, her house was near Twilight's. Silas felt happy, he could probably see Tavi everyday. "I need to find some stallion pals too though." He thought to himself, the majority of Ponyville's population were mares. Silas needs sometime with his bros, it's the only time he can smoke and not be judged. Yes Silas does smoke, but not always, he knew it was bad for him. He had picked up the bad habit from the military. Silas only smoked when he was stressed. He got stressed rarely since he came to Ponyville.

Then he remembered the cig behind his ear, Oh damn. He thought to himself. Silas kept following Octavia closely, she wasn't very talkative at the time. Which was good for his sake, Silas needed some time to think. He brushed his hair to cover his good ear, he didn't want Tavi to know about his bad habits. "Here we are!" Tavi said, pointing a hoof to a mid sized two story house just past Twilight's Library. Octavia opened the door, "Come on in." She said, Silas trotted in after her and closed the door, mares first.

"Home sweet home, do you like it?" Octavia asked, Silas nodded his head, "I just had the place re-furnished," She said. Silas smiled, "It looks real nice, much nicer than my old house." He let out a slight chuckle, Octavia looked at him funny, "What was your old house like?" She asked. Silas laughed, "Well, it was a run down apartment, all I could afford, it had a small bed, a nightstand, a couch and a small table. I had a desk at one point, but then I sold it to pay rent, it was a nasty sight anyway." He grinned, Octavia frowned, "That must have been hard living there. I apologize." She said, looking down at the floor. Silas sighed, "You have nothing to be sorry for, it wasn't your fault." He said.

Tavi sat on the couch, "Would you like to sit down?" She asked the orange stallion. "Yes please." He replied as he sat down next to her. "Vinyl must be napping, usually she's making lots of noise.....erm....music upstairs," Octavia stated. Silas looked around, "You must have a lot of money to finance this place. Do you do anything else?" He asked. The classy mare put on a serious face, "Yes actually, I am a writer as well." Silas looked surprised, "That's cool, I wrote in a journal during my military service." Octavia gasped.

"You were in the military? Oh my gosh, you didn't kill anyone did you?" Tavi asked in a frightened tone. Silas hesitated, "Well ehhh....I had to, it was part of my service, but I only served for three years, only a couple months on the front. My service ended after the last war." Octavia was shocked, "You were forced to kill, that must have been awful!" She looked awkwardly at Silas, he seemed completely harmless, she couldn't believe he actually killed before.

"Never mind about that, I hate talking about it. I'm not a soldier anymore, I am a simple musician. Before I moved to Filly, I joined the army. End of story." Silas said, he was irritated. Octavia moved closer to him, "Silas, life must have been so hard for a stallion like yourself." Silas frowned, "But I would like you to know, I like you just the way you are." She said to him. Silas looked up, then moved a little closer to her. "I like you just the way you are too Octavia."

Thoughts were racing through Silas' head, Oh shit, do I kiss her or no? Is she waiting for me to make a move? What am I suppose to do? God damn, I'm just gonna go with my gut feeling. Octavia blushed, Silas moved closer and closed his eyes, she did the same. The two ponies kissed, it was quick, but it meant a lot. The two pulled away from each other with faces of confusion. Octavia looked away, Silas hung his head low thinking he screwed up. "Octavia I'm sorry, I didn't mean to get out of hand like that." He said as he got up and went to the door slowly.

Octavia trotted up to him quickly, "Don't leave!" She said anxiously, "Please call me Tavi, you don't need to be sorry." They smiled at each other and hugged. Just as they were finished hugging Vinyl was at the base of the stairs with another stallion. "Woah woah woah, what's going on here?" Vinyl said in a stern voice. Tavi and Silas faced her, "Umm, nothing. Vinyl, this is Silas, the guy from the party." Silas recognized the other stallion as Baritone. Vinyl grinned, "Oh yeah, I remember you, nice seeing you again." Silas smiled, Baritone chuckled, "Were we interrupting?" Silas assumed him and Vinyl were together. "No, not at all." Silas and Tavi said together.

Everypony laughed, Vinyl trotted over, "Like I said, great seeing you again. From what I've heard, Octavia says you're quite the Stallion." Tavi glared at her, Baritone smiled, "Well we're glad she's found a good guy like you." Silas was impressed, he felt like he could stay here forever. Vinyl went into the kitchen with Tavi and left Baritone and Silas talking.

Baritone looked like a tough stallion, he was pretty large. But even Silas could see that he had a big heart. "So how long have you and Vinyl been together?" Silas asked the gray stallion. He chuckled in his deep voice, "It's been about two years now." He really did fit his name well. "So where are you staying?" He asked Silas. "Right now at Twilight's, hopefully my wing gets better soon." Baritone looked at his bandaged up wing, "Well you're in good hands, Twilight is the best with magic and is the most organized mare in Ponyville." The two musicians laughed together.

Tavi and Vinyl came back into the living room, Vinyl had cider in hand and Tavi was drinking a glass of wine. So apparently the two drink, then they probably wouldn't mind if I smoked. Silas thought, "Hey mind if I step outside for a moment?" Silas asked. Everypony nodded, "I'll go with him." Baritone said, and he followed Silas out the door. The two walked along side the house. Silas pulled out the cig and lit up. He blew smoke up into the air, then looked at Baritone, who surprisingly, was doing the same. "We all need to have a break once and a while." He said.

As they went back into the house Tavi and Vinyl were sitting on the couch. "So are you and Tavi together now or what?" Vinyl asked. Silas blushed a little and looked at Octavia, who also blushed. Baritone chuckled, "I'll take that as a yes." Silas hadn't been with somepony for quite some time, in fact it has been almost a year and a half since he had a marefriend. Tavi spoke up, "So Silas, would you be considering looking for a job while you're here?" Silas pondered for a bit, "I guess I could, so I can save up to buy my old apartment back in Filly." Vinyl glared at him, "Might as well live with your own kind."

Silas returned the glare, "What's that suppose to mean?" He was getting defensive, Octavia looked worried, Vinyl pissed him off. "It means I don't like you, you're probably like all those other losers." She said, Silas snarled, "What do you have against Filly? Besides, I wasn't born there." He snapped at the white unicorn who had now taken off her glasses, revealing her angry red eyes. "All the stallions there are nasty drug addicted thieves, the mares are prostitutes, the mayor is even a criminal, lets face it, your town is terrible. You're probably a nasty criminal yourself"

Baritone was off to the side, his feeling was neutral, Silas seemed like a nice enough guy and as far as he knew, Silas only smoked once in a while and had never stolen. Poor Octavia was right in the middle of the fight, "Please you two, stop!" Silas didn't listen, nor did Vinyl, "That's bullshit, you're just being a selfish bitch, I know almost everypony in town there, they happen to be kind folk, my friends never steal, and not everyone does drugs there!" Tavi was taken back by his language, Vinyl raised her voice, "How dare you call me that! You're lying, I've heard all about your folk down there, you're scum!"

The orange stallion was now twitching in anger, "You've just heard! But you've never seen! That's all bullshit!" Silas yelled. Vinyl pointed to his left ear, "There's the proof!" She was pointing to a half empty box of cigarettes behind his ear. "Get out of my house!" The disk jockey yelled, she used her magic to open the door fiercely. The orange Pegasus attempted to spread his wings in a defensive stance, a sharp pain shivered up his spine and made him twitch, he fell to the floor.

"AGGH!" He yelled, Octavia rushed down to his side to help him up. "Damn! I'm out of here, you have no respect for those less fortunate than you!" He stumbled to his feet and stormed out the door, Vinyl slammed it behind him. Octavia was in tears, Baritone was even taken back by Vinyl's selfishness. "Hmph, good riddance." Vinyl mumbled. Baritone spoke up, "Wonder what he meant by those less fortunate." Octavia snapped at him, "HE'S HOMELESS! He doesn't have one bit of money left," she pointed a hoof to Vinyl, "To top it all off you spoke awful things of his town, and his friends!" Then without another word Octavia rushed out the door.

It was late afternoon, there was some rain coming down and there were puddles among the streets. Silas was sitting up against a tree outside of town. His head was hung low, he was holding the pack of Equestrian Spirits and staring at it. "I can't help it if I'm like this." He said to himself. Silas felt lonely, just like he used to always be, having no one to talk to. "Not everypony there is bad, it's just a rumor that Fillydelphia is the worst town in Equestria next to Manehattan. Half the ponies in Equestria haven't even been there before!" He was yelling at nothing, there was nothing to yell at, nopony was there.

He threw the pack of cigarettes, they landed in a small puddle. Silas got up and looked at his reflection in the water, his mane was soaked, his eye scar was clearly visible, he had some facial scruff and was a little muddy. He stomped on the pack of cigs fiercely, and shut his eyes. "I want to fly again, and leave this place, I don't belong here, I just don't belong. I hail from Cloudsdale, but have the heart of a Fillydelphian. I just don't belong."

When he opened his eyes he noticed another pony's reflection next to him, It was Octavia. She was teary eyed and her mane was soaked along with her bow, her mascara was running a little. Silas looked at her for a brief moment then turned away. "You may as well hit me, I guess I deserve it." He shut his eyes bracing for a hard hoof to the face. He felt a hoof, but it wasn't hard, but gentle. Silas opened his eyes to see Octavia wiping the mud from his face, she was smiling with big teary eyes. Silas got an unexpected embrace, she hugged him, He returned the loving embrace.

Her wet hair covered her left eye, Silas brushed it back and kissed her on the cheek. She blushed and then spoke softly, "Silas, you have nothing to be sorry for, it wasn't your fault." The moment seemed to be perfect, the rain gave it character. Just then the two lovers heard hoofsteps approaching. Silas turned around to see Applejack approaching them. He then realized they were at the edge of Sweet Apple Acres, AJ had a confused look as she trotted towards him and Tavi.

"What in tar-nation are y'all doin' out here in the rain?" The light orange mare asked, she then noticed Octavia next to him. "Oh, heh heh, ah' didn't mean to inerupt." Octavia replied softly, "Oh it's quite alright we've just had some trouble at home, I found him out here all alone and we're without a place to stay tonight." Applejack grinned, "Well y'all are mighty welcome to stay in the extra barn, may not be perfect but It'll shelter you from the rain." Silas looked down, then up at AJ, "Thank you Applejack, very much." The country pony replied kindly with a "Don't mention it."

The trio didn't have far to go, the extra barn was closer than AJ's. She opened the two front doors and showed the soaked couple in. It was just an ordinary barn, except for the upper level. Applejack pointed her hoof up to the second level, "Y'all can stay here tonight, the second floor has a small bed, couch, and table. Big Macintosh stays up ther' every once in a while." There was a small ladder that led up to the second floor, Silas let Octavia go first, ladies always go first. Then he followed her up, "Sleep tight you two, I'll be back in the morning, storm'll probably be over by then." Applejack said as she closed the barn doors.

There was one window next to the bed, it was raining even harder now. Silas turned on the only light, which was a small bulb just above the table. "Well, home sweet home for now." He said. Octavia looked over at him, "I suppose so." She replied. Silas trotted over to the couch, he assumed Tavi wanted the bed, she deserved it, after all she was a lady. Just as he laid down Tavi spoke, "Wait, Silas don't you want the bed?" Silas chuckled a little, "Tavi I've slept on hardwood floor and concrete before, the couch is perfectly fine."

Octavia got into bed slowly, it was a long day. "Goodnight Silas." She said, Silas was almost asleep already, "Goodnight Tavi." He replied, then Silas drifted off to sleep. Octavia climbed into bed, she tried to go to sleep but she couldn't. The bed was rather lumpy and the sound of rain batting the windows was like hammers hitting nails to her. She took the bed sheet and trotted over to the couch, Silas was fast asleep only taking up half of it. Tavi put the bed sheet over her and Silas and laid down next to him. She got in a comfortable position and rested her head on his shoulder. "Now, I can rest." She thought to herself, then drifted off into a deep sleep.

Author's Note:

Weird chapter eh? I had a lot of fun writing this, hope you guys like it. I personally don't smoke, but I know many people who do. I figured adding a bad habit made for a more interesting character.