• Published 26th Jul 2015
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The Things Tavi Says - shortskirtsandexplosions



Let me tell you a few things about my roommate, Octavia. After all, she saved my life.

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Fruitful Things

Author's Note:

"Oh my..." Rarity coos, leaning closer towards the spinning record in the corner of her Boutique. "Oh my... oh my." She smiles. She beams. "Why..." Turns and glances over at us. "This is positively delicious, darlings!"

Octavia and I exchange glances from where we stand. We smirk at one another, then glance at the squirmy little fluffball situated between us and the table.

"What do you like about it the best, Rarity?" Sweetie Belle asks, her voice notably playful and melodic. "Hmmm? Well?"

"Oh, is this turning into a critique on the spot?" Rarity bats her eyelashes coyly. "Why, I should have known." A dainty laugh, and then she clears her throat. She leans her ear to the crackling speakers once more, inhaling the lavender scents of her fabulous studio as she meditates on the sounds wafting around her... around us. "Well, as you would guess—Miss Melody—I am absolutely in love with the deep bass strings. Like little pieces of Marezart's suites floating out of the speakers and caressing my pretty pony ears."

Octavia giggles slightly, her violet mirth mixing with the artificial purple recreation. "Naturally..."

"And although I... am not initially a fan of the synthesized rendition—which I do believe is courtesy of our beloved Vinyl—I must admit..." Rarity's lips curve as she taps a hoof to the beat. "...I do find it quite invigorating."

"So what do you like the m-most? Huh?" Sweetie bounce again. Octavia steadies her with a stealthy hoof placed on the filly's shoulder.

"Well... to be perfectly honest—and without wishing to detract from the marvelous talents evident in both Octavia's cello and Vinyl's expert mixing... I must declare..." Rarity leans back, daintily fanning herself. "Those vocals are... positively rapturous!"

"Eeeeeeeee—!" Sweetie Belle has to clamp her smiling muzzle shut, all the while her tail flicks... wagging like a little fuzzy pooch's. I watch as a crackling voice bounces between the two siblings in a noticeable blue haze.

"Although, I am... having a hard time putting my hoof on the lyrics," Rarity says, blinking. "Is... is that ancient Equestrian Equine?"

"Mmmm... indeed." Octavia nods. "It was my idea when Vinyl and I wrote this... this piece." She smoothes her bangs back and smiles elegantly. "I feel that the utilization of the dead language carries with it a certain refinery. I've always respected lyrical antiquity. It carries... almost a religious significance."

"Oh, I most certainly agree!" Rarity exclaims. "And yet—the beat to which your charming roommate has put it to makes the whole composition positively contemporary!" She looks up at us, muzzle agape. "I swear—these vocals are the hook! Is that what you're expecting me to declare from all of this?" She giggles. "Because you've certainly won me over. Well done. Well done, girls, indeed!"

"Phweeeeeee!" Sweetie bounces in a gay circle, smiling from ear to ear. "She likes it she likes it she likes ittttt!"

"I..." Rarity winces slightly. "I-I seem to be at a loss..." She arches an eyebrow, smiling delicately. "There's some sort of catch here, isn't there?"

I nod, smirking.

"I suppose you could say that. Yes," Octavia remarks.

"Well, would you terribly mind coming out with it?" Rarity fluffs her mane and leans back in her chair. "I do relish the thought of being in on your scrumptious secret before you unleash this veritable masterpiece to the masses."

"A masterpiece?!" Sweetie Belle's jaw drops. "Reallllly?"

Octavia places her hoof on the filly's shoulder again. She smiles at Rarity. "How old would you say the vocalist is in those samples, Rarity?"

"Oh... I'd say rather young! A choir colt, if it's a male... although—with those high notes—I highly doubt even that is possible." The fashionista taps her chin, pale muzzle scrunched in deep thought. "No... I'm thinking a filly... a very young one. Perhaps pre-cutie mark, even... with a youthful vigor, a penchant for avant-garde expression, and yet a certain layer of... refinement... ... ..." Her words trail off. Her head tilts down. At last, the mare's gaze falls over Sweetie Belle's ridiculously grinning face. "... ... ...no..."

Octavia and I nod.

Rarity grins, blushing. "Noooooooo..." She leans forward. "Sweetie Belle? Is... is it truly you?"

"Squeee-eee-eee..." Sweetie Belle's chest puffs up until she resembles a marshmallow sea-urchin. "...maybe."

"Oh, darling, that's most magnificent!" Rarity scoops up the filly and nuzzles her close. "That... that just puts the icing on the cake! Celestia alive, I feel positively foolish for not realizing!"

"Yeah, it's a real surprise, huh?" Sweetie Belle sticks her tongue out.

"Only because I simply didn't comprehend the possibility, dear!" Rarity caresses Sweetie Belle's cheek. "I always knew that you had the talent to make gorgeous music, dear!"

"Yeah, that's—" Sweetie's eyes bulge. "Wait. You did?"

"Oh, darling, of course!" Rarity giggles elegantly. "It's one of the most charming qualities you hold!" She fluffed the little filly's mane. "Aside from a knack for immaculate presentation. But we... ahem... both know where you got that from. Eheehee..."

"But... b-but..." Sweetie Belle fidgeted, her squeaking voice struggling to carry itself higher than the blue vocals rippling towards her and her older sister. "...every time I practice singing... you're always barking at me to knock it off or take it elsewhere."

"Simply because there is a time and a place for things, darling," Rarity said, her eyes glossy. "It so happens that whenever you're visiting me here on this side of town, I'm usually set in the Boutique, working hard on one commission or another. I need my concentration, dear. You could be singing the most beautiful ballad ever, or simply hammering nails into the floorboard—and in either case I would still get distracted. My work is that delicate, after all." She sighed, patting the filly's shoulder. "I am so... so terribly sorry if I haven't explained myself better to you."

"So... so you mean all this time... you've actually felt my singing was good?"

"Sweetie Belle, it's more than good!" Rarity beamed. "It's fantastic! And I'm quite pleased that Miss Melody and Miss Scratch here have found a way to utilize your gift!"

"Oh wow..." Sweetie Belle trotted a few steps back, breathing heavily. "That just... wow!" She grins wide... and wider. "I... I always thought that I was just being a nuisance! But to actually think I'm good at singing! And in your eyes too?" She squeals again. "I... I've never felt so warm and toasty inside! Almost as if! As if..." Her right rear leg twitches, and she shivers all over. A deep gasp escapes her lungs. "Oh my goodness! My... my flank!" She turns to gawk at her rear end. "Is that... is that my—?!"

"Oh dear." Rarity rolls her eyes. "I swear, I'll be picking lint off the walls of this room for a week." With a glowing horn, she peels off a long string of fabric that had settled on Sweetie Belle's blank flank. "That's what I get for agreeing to sew five sweaters in a row. Still... they do look absolutely adorable on Fluttershy's pet bunny." Rarity giggles, then gets up from the chair. "Excuse me, for a moment." She trots off towards a wastebasket on the opposite end of the room, carrying the string of lint. "Let me just tidy up a bit, and then I propose some tea and cookies are in order."

"Tea and cookies?" Sweetie Belle blinks.

"Well, certainly! We must celebrate this occasion!" Rarity chimes merrily. "Octavia and Vinyl have made the most fabulous composition using your voice! If you ask me, that's a glorious trifecta that must not be ignored! Oh... what a lovely day! Heehee!"

Nevertheless, Sweetie Belle sighs. She looks bashfully up at us. "Well... I guess tea and cookies are almost as good as a cutie mark." She sighs, ears drooping. "Almost..."

"Cheer up, love," Octavia says.

I glance at her, blinking slightly. I watch as she kneels before the filly.

"It's best to celebrate what you know you're good at, regardless of what a cutie mark tells you," my roommate says. She pats the filly's little head with a smile. "Don't ever let anyone or anything force a talent on you. Go with where your heart leads you. I expect that you'll soon find yourself being rewarded with great fruit." She takes a deep breath. "And in the company of good ponies."

Sweetie Belle gulps. "You really know a thing or two about being talented."

"Yes." Octavia exhales. An indigo cloud, matching her briefly sullen expression. "All too well." She summons a smile. "And believe me, talent only goes so far. There's something that goes even further."

"Oh yeah? What?"

"I do believe you'll discover in due time," Octavia says, standing back up. "When you're much older."

"Awwwwwwwwwww..." Sweetie Belle pouts. "That's always the worse explanation."

"Heehee... I know..." Octavia turns to wink my way. "You'll absolutely adore the right to use it when the time comes."

"Pffft! Yeah... maybe."

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