//------------------------------// // XIV- Awkward Avoidance // Story: To Find Purpose // by The REAL Mister Pkmn //------------------------------// Ophi gathered herself and finally managed a response. “That’s great! I think you should tell her.” Ferris scratched the back of his head. “I don’t know... It is all a bit too weird. It feels too soon. I think that I will wait on it for a little while, at least until I know her a bit better. After all, I do not think that this is something that I should rush headlong into.” A nod of understanding came from Ophi. After all… as much as she wanted to deny it, her feelings for Nate had evolved into something new. But she did not want to ruin what they had, so… She sighed. “I will not push you to do something you do not feel is right, Ferris. It is up to you to decide when you think you are ready for such a relationship.” Ferris chuckled. “Heh. You are right. I do not know what Nate might think, or if he would even care. That’s why I am glad that I decided to talk to you about this matter.” Ophi’s anger rose. “Do not you talk about Nate like that! He may be a little rough around the edges, but I think that he would care. He might not exactly like you, but Nate is not heartless. You might not be friends anymore, but I think that deep down, he still cares.” Surprise lit upon Ferris’ face. He processed that for a moment, then his demeanor shifted. “Ah, well if you insist, I suppose. I guess I will go talk to him.” He stood and was about to leave, but then he turned back to face her. “You know, I think that I am not the only one going through this. Now, it is not any of my business, but… maybe you should stop trying to deny what it is that you feel.” He left Ophi to stew upon that. It was not that easy for her to consider what he had just suggested. Sure, she did seem to like Nate a lot, but… it would pass eventually. It had to, if their friendship was to survive. But then she remembered what she saw. Nate had blushed when she did. Did that mean that in that moment, he had felt it too? This strong, unfamiliar pull? Yet, that did not seem quite right. She had not noticed it before, but when she recalled that moment, she remembered that his visage seemed to be certain and unafraid. He seemed to take it in stride, but she looked away. What did that mean? Ophi considered the options. It could mean that he had felt that way before, she supposed. But he had not said anything about something like that, so that was a bit of a leap. The logical conclusion was that he just took it openly because of how difficult his life in general had been for him. Ophi shook her head. It was not doing her very well to think about this too much. She had come out here with the intent to get a bit of fresh air, not to send her mind into an even wilder frenzy. She turned her attention back to her snack. She finished off the orange rather quickly, but still her mind was slightly addled. There was so much going on now, so much to consider… She pushed the thoughts away and stood. She needed some sort of distraction from these troubling thoughts, and virtually any would do. She decided to take a stroll. She was not sure where to, but it might help clear her head to have no clear destination. She wandered around town, greeting the ponies she saw with a smile. That turned her thoughts to how Nate would probably ignore them- and this caused her to try and focus on something else. She made her way over to a music shop and decided to go inside. She immediately noticed that she hadn’t heard the sound from outside- perhaps they had soundproofed this building. Deciding not to dwell on that, she found a pony that she recognized from the party. This one was a white unicorn mare with blue hair wearing purple shades. If she recalled right, this was the one supplying the music for that night. She recalled that Nate had danced to a song that this unicorn played, and at Ophi’s own request. That caused a bit of a smile before she shook it away. She was trying to not think about Nate so much, and yet coming here had only reminded her. She decided to try and ignore that fact and she went over to the mare. The mare grinned, and spoke. “Well now, fancy seein’ you here! You come to buy some tunes, or are you lookin’ to learn an instrument?” A bit of surprise lit upon Ophi’s face, then it turned to glee. “Well, I could use a refresher on the piano. It has been a while since I last played…” The mare grinned. “Ah, nice choice. Tavi’s the teacher for classical instruments.” She pulled out a listing with her magic, and continued. “Piano lessons are 30 bits a pop, and you can schedule as many as you like in advance. So, are you interested in scheduling your first?” Ophi took out her coin pouch and rummaged through it for a bit. After a long search, she put the bits on the counter. “When can I start?” The mare’s shades slipped down slightly in surprise before she quickly adjusted them again. She grinned. “Tavi’s gonna be ecstatic! You can go on back the door to your right, she’ll be right there.” Ophi smiled. “Thanks! See you later, um…” The mare grinned as Ophi made her way to the aforementioned door. “Vinyl Scratch. Or you can call me by my stage name, DJ PON-3 if you like.” Ophi gave a small wave. “See you around, Vinyl!” She then went through the door. She saw that this room was full of all sorts of classical instruments, from cellos to harpsichords and everything in between. It was not long before she saw a gray Earth Pony mare come in. She raised the question on her mind. “So you would be Tavi then?” The mare sighed, causing her black mane to bob. “Vinyl insists on calling me that. I’d much prefer you to call me Octavia.”  Ophi chuckled. “Ah. Sorry, Octavia.” A small smile rose on Octavia’s face. “It’s quite alright. Now. Vinyl helped you sign up for a piano lesson.” She guided Ophi towards the grand piano. “It’s come to my attention that this isn’t your first crack at it. So, why don’t you go on and let me hear what you know.” A nod later, and Ophi sat herself at the piano. It was a bit more awkward than the ones back home, but it would do nicely. Her fingers naturally gravitated towards the base positions known by every pianist. She proceeded to play what she could remember, starting with the chords. From A chord to G chord, she played them all with little trouble. She did hit the odd wrong key here or there, but she always went through the chord to the end. After doing the chords, she turned to face Octavia, who had held her piece throughout the display. “So? How was that?” Octavia gave a small nod. “I can tell that you’re only slightly out of practice. A bit of polish here and there, and you should be good enough to perform if you so choose.” Scratching her head, Ophi blushed. “Really? I don’t know if I’d go that far… I just play to help soothe my mind. I do think that I will continue the lessons, if that’s alright.” A smile grew upon Octavia’s face. “It’s more than alright. Now, I want to see if your music reading is up to snuff.” She placed a music sheet in the prompter, and nodded. “Try your best with this one. It’s not too difficult, not too easy. I think that it is a good gauge of skill.” Ophi took a moment to work it out in her head first as she read the music. Her hands hovered slightly above the piano as she had them go through the motions, to help get a feel for the piece. After several minutes, she had read and re-read the piece a few times. She then gave a nod, and began to play. The piece was unlike anything she had played back home. She usually stayed away from the ones that needed use of the pedals to change notes, but here was one before her. She played as best she could, following the spirit of the piece. She did manage to play the piece without mistake, something she hardly ever managed before. Once she finished the piece, she turned to see Octavia smiling. “I did well, I take it?” A small chuckle escaped before Octavia caught herself. “Yes, you did well. I am pretty surprised, to be honest. Your handling of that piece was nothing like I would’ve expected based on what you missed with the chords…” Ophi gave a nervous chuckle. “Ehe. Well, I do better when I can get a feel for the piece first. The chords aren’t actual songs, so I tend to mess them up a bit without trying. I know that it must seem a bit weird…” Octavia shook her head. “Nonsense! Each artist has their own approach to their craft. So what if you struggle a bit with the chords? You play proper pieces pretty well. Every artist has some area that they struggle with, unless they have a talent for it.” A smile graced Ophi’s face. “Thanks for the lesson. I’ll stop by again sometime!” Ophi rose from the bench, and proceeded to leave. Though, the last thing that Octavia had said was still bothering her. “Unless they have talent, huh? That’s why Nate nevers struggles with his drawings…” She shook the thought away as she left the music shop. She couldn’t afford to think about him, not now. She wasn’t even sure how or why, but over the last few days her feelings towards him had grown complicated. It all started when he got himself lost in the Everfree. She remembered how worried she was about him then. She also recalled her relief and anger when he came back. Even though she had insisted that it was because he was her best friend at the time, it was then that everything started to change. She dismissed the stray thoughts again. Not even playing the piano had helped keep her mind off of him for very long. There had to be something that could keep her mind occupied… She nodded. Maybe a trip to the library would do her some good. It’d be interesting to at least check out some of the books that they had in print here. With a new goal in mind, she went off towards the library. She walked in silence for a while until she came upon the front door of the Golden Oaks library. She took a reassuring breath, and made her way inside. The first thing that she noticed was that Twilight wasn’t around. The second was that a small purple dragon was at the counter. He brightened. “Oh! You’re one of the humans that fell into Ponyville! What can I do for you, Miss Jakson?” She blinked a bit before shaking it off. “Where’s the fiction section?” The dragon stepped down from the counter, and beckoned with a claw. “Right this way.” Ophi followed him for a few minutes until they found the section in question. “Here you are. Peruse as you like.” He then left, and Ophi went over to one of the bookshelves. She scanned the titles until she found one that sounded good. She picked it up and brought it to the reading area to begin letting her mind wander. After finishing with my shift at the stall that day, I ran off to the barn. I couldn’t get her out of my head all the rest of my shift, and there was only one remedy. I needed to draw something, anything but her. I gave a nod and went into the barn. I unzipped my backpack and grabbed my large sketchbook and a pencil. I sat down cross-legged and began to draw. My hand flowed across the page on its own as the picture began to form. Minutes flew by as I drew. Page after page filled my sketchbook as I tried to force my hand to draw anything but Ophi. It wasn’t working very well. Every time that I went to a new page and tried to draw something else, it would always form into her without trying. I sighed as I finally gave in. Once my hand started to draw, it drew what was on my mind, and what was on my mind right now was Ophi. Each page I drew on replicated her in an outfit I had seen her wear within the past few months. After finishing the one for today’s outfit, I closed the sketchbook. I had a problem. Sure, each of the drawings was perfect down to the last detail, but… I wanted to draw something else to help get my mind off of her. I shook my head. It seemed that I would have to find something else to get my thoughts off of Ophi. Just as I was putting away my sketchbook, a knock came from the barn doors. I zipped up my backpack, and went to answer. Out front was Ferris, and he was looking a bit awkward. I raised an eyebrow. “Ferris? What’s goin on?” I was honestly a bit surprised that he had come to find me, given my disdain for him. Yet here he was, and he confided in me much like he would as if we were still friends. “Well… I think that I’m starting to like Miara as more than a friend. I talked to Ophelia about it, seeing as she’s Miara’s friend too. She suggested that I tell Miara, but… I don’t think I’m ready for that. What do you think I should do?” I blinked as my troubles seemed to be blown away. I started to chuckle. At his look, I stopped myself, and gave an apologetic look. “Sorry about that, Ferris. It’s just… you think that I have advice for that? I’m not exactly an expert, you know.” I calmed down a bit and shook my head. “Regardless, It doesn’t matter. If you think you should wait, you should wait. Don’t want to go doing something you might regret. Though, don’t wait too long. I know that I’m not one to talk, but…” I sighed. “Listen, what I’m trying to say is… trust your gut.” A smile slowly grew on Ferris’ face. “There’s my old buddy!” I harrumphed. “Don’t call me that. This doesn’t make us friends again, alright?” Ferris rolled his eyes. “If you insist. I’ll be on my way. See ya!” He left, and I pinched my brows together. “Good gracious. He is so… infuriating.” I shook my head. Even though he’d stopped by, I hadn’t forgotten about my issue entirely. As to be expected, really. I decided that maybe what I needed was a good book. With a nod to myself, I rummaged through my backpack to see if I had brought any along. The only books in there were my scriptures and my school books. I hadn’t touched those since we got here…. I shrugged. Some other time. I closed my backpack once more, and stood. I took a deep breath, and exited the barn. I wasn’t very keen on going to Twilight’s library, but what choice did I have? I walked for a bit before I noticed a music shop. It was a quaint little thing. Maybe a quick peek inside before I went on my way. I took a look inside and whistled. This place had everything! I then notice the DJ from the party at the counter. If I recalled right… “Hey, it’s Vinyl Scratch, right? I didn’t know that you ran a music shop.” She turned to face me, and was surprised for a small bit before gaining her composure. “Well, if it isn’t Nathan! Loved your dancing to my music. Your friend Ophelia was in here earlier. Did she send you over here?” At the mention of Ophi, my eyes widened for a split second. She’d been in here today? What were the odds that I’d come to the same place that she did? I calmed myself as I shook my head. “Nah, I just noticed it on my way to Twilight’s. Nice place. Got a saxophone?” She gave a grin. “Ah. So you wanna learn that? Lessons are 20 bits a pop. You interested?” I gave a grin of my own. “Sure. I always did like Jazz.” I pulled out the bits and placed them on the counter. “So. When can I start?” Her grin grew. “You two are so alike. Ophelia asked the same question about her piano lesson.” She jerked her head towards the door on the left. “I’ll be with you in a moment. Gotta tell Tavi to cover while I do lessons.” I made my way to the door she had said, my mind racing. Ophi was taking piano? This was the first I'd heard of it. Then again, we hadn’t told each other everything. After all… she didn’t know that I’d first seen her back in fourth grade. I shook the stray thought away as I went into the room and made my way over to the saxophone. I waited until Vinyl came in before grabbing it, though. She gave a bit of a chuckle at my enthusiasm. “Have you even played before?” I gave a shrug. “No. But I would really like to learn how to. It seems like the kind of challenge that I’d be up for.” Vinyl gave a grin as she adjusted her shades. “Alrighty! Let’s go over the basics. How about you do an octave for me? Let me hear how you sound.” I took a deep breath and took up the proper position I’d seen a few hundred times. I started to play finding the octave quite naturally. It I then proceeded to do a few more that went in reverse and started at different points to mix it up a little. After a few minutes of that, I pulled the saxophone away and caught my breath. I’d have to work on my air retention, but I think I did pretty good for my first try. I spoke once I had caught my breath. “So? How was my first attempt?” Vinyl closed her wide jaw. Her shades lowered slightly as she looked at me. “You must have a pretty good ear for music. Are you sure that was your first time playing, though?” I nodded firmly. “Yes. I’ve only seen one played in shows back home. Never had a feel for it myself until now.” I felt a smile grow on my face. “Feels good.” After adjusting her shades again, Vinyl chuckled. “You really are something, Nathan. A talented dancer and saxophonist? What can’t you do?” I blinked, looked her in the face, and spoke. “Magic. Aside from that, breathe underwater.” I cracked a grin. “I’m messing with ya. There’s plenty that I can’t do. If I gave you a list, it might circle this room.” Vinyl shook her head. “We’re getting side-tracked. Alright, Mr. Talent.” She floated over a music prompter stand with her magic and set it in front of me. She opened the page on the music book that was on it. I could feel her eyes staring at me in challenge behind her shades. “Play.” I took a look at the piece, and it was a bit complicated. I gulped. I’d seen sheet music before, of course. But nothing like this. I read it a few times so that I knew somewhat what I was getting myself into here. I took a breath and took my best stab at it. I wasn’t perfect at it, no. I missed a few notes, but I didn’t absolutely mangle the piece either. I didn’t double back when a mistake was made, instead just charging forward through the piece. Once finished with the challenge set before me, I grinned. “That satisfy you?” She gave a nod. “Pretty good, for an ametuer. Though, this is only a mediumly difficult piece in comparison to some of the others in the book…” She chuckled. “I knew you were something else.” I stood and brushed that aside. “Please. I’m just a gifted ametuer. A real saxophonist wouldn’t slip up on such a middling piece.” I made my way to the exit. “I’ll be back next week. See ya.” I left the music store quite promptly. My thoughts stormed as I walked off. What was getting into me? Was I actually… enjoying spending time with the ponies? I hadn’t thought it possible, but… I shook myself. I had to get out of here as soon as possible. This place… the longer we stayed, the more potential threats to us leaving I noticed. I had to get these troubling thoughts under control, no matter what. So instead of going to the library as planned, I decided to go the complete opposite direction. The Everfree. The ponies might be a bit afraid of it, but I found it quite quaint, despite the monsters. I turned around and broke off in a run. I kept going, ignoring all the ponies that were trying to get my attention. It wasn’t long after I started running that I came upon the edge of the forest. I paused as I took a moment to catch my breath. It was then that Somebody unexpected came up from behind me. I felt a tap on the shoulder and swiveled to see that it was Miara. I raised an eyebrow. “What do you want? If you’re looking for Ophi, I wouldn’t know where she is.” She shook her head. “No, I need to talk to you for a bit. There’s something that’s been on my mind…” I sighed. I knew that I might regret it, but… I motioned for her to continue. She nodded, and did so. “Well, I know that it’s odd, but… I think that I’m starting to see Ferris as more than a friend… what should I do?” I blinked. This was quite unexpected. Ferris had come to me about her not long ago, and that was only after talking to Ophi. but Miara had come to me first. I questioned her logic. “Why come to me? Why not consult Ophi? She’s your friend, not me.” She twirled her index fingers together. “Well, I thought that you might have a bit of advice?” I shrugged. “Trust your gut. If it says go for it, go for it. If it says wait, wait. It’s what I’d do. At least, in most cases.” After all… it wasn’t being very logical right now. Miara sighed. “Thanks for that, I guess. I suppose I should wait. It doesn’t quite feel right, yet.” She gave a smile. “Well, I’ll be off!” I gave a noncommittal wave as she walked off. I looked up to see that night had fallen. Was it really that late already? I sighed as I turned around again. I walked back to Applejack’s farm and had a bit of dinner before going into the barn. I braced the doors as I changed into my pajamas. I put my day clothes into the dirty clothes drawer, and laid down. I pulled the blanket around me and sighed as I stared at the ceiling. It was too awkward to try and contact Ophi tonight, so I tried my best to fall asleep on my own.