//------------------------------// // Chapter 17 // Story: The Nerd and the Cellist // by HAKDurbin //------------------------------// For the next fifteen minutes, Big Mac, Applejack, Caramel, Fluttershy, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Starlight Glimmer, Octavia, and I waited until Coriander Cumin and Saffron Masala finished making dinner for us to take home. Applejack and Soarin had to wake up Caramel and Rainbow Dash respectively when their food was ready. Rainbow Dash and Soarin volunteered to help the Apples and Caramel carry the sound equipment back to Sweet Apple Acres before the two of them went to their respective homes. I called my parents to let them know that I would be coming home after I walk Octavia, and I'll be bringing dinner for myself, so my mom wouldn't have to worry about that. Fluttershy, Rarity, Octavia, and I got our meals last, so the four of us left the Tasty Treat together. The girls chatted away as we walked while I carried Octavia's cello and both of our dinners. Eventually, we came across an intersection where Octavia and I had to split up from our friends. After we said our goodbyes, the journey home became quieter, with Octavia and I not knowing what to say to strike a conversation. Octavia frequently glanced at me while we were walking. I was exhausted and pretended carrying our food, and her cello case wasn’t a problem. Octavia admired my determination to show that I could carry everything for her, but she worried about me coming home alone on an empty stomach after walking her to her house. Fortunately, when we were only a few blocks away from Octavia's house, we passed by a park, and Octavia noticed a table bench. She glanced between me and the table and thought of a solution. Octavia felt her cheeks heat up from her idea before she shook it off, cleared her throat, and stopped walking. "Rough Draft, let's stop here," she said. "Huh? Why?" I asked, stopping a couple of feet ahead of her. "Because you need rest," Octavia answered. "Oh, don't worry about me, Octavia. I'm fine," I said with a smile. "No, you're not," Octavia said. "You've been working all evening and need to eat and rest. I don't want you fainting after you take me home." "Really, Octavia, I'm fine," I claimed. "Besides, won't our parents worry about us coming home later than we said we would?" "I think they will understand a need to rest along the way given the circumstances," Octavia said before adding with a smile. "Besides, I like the idea of us on a little picnic out in the park at night." My eyes widened, and my cheeks heated up at the sound of "us" and picnic" in the same sentence. Octavia made it almost sound like we were out on a date, and for a moment, I began to think she really wanted it to be a date. I quickly ruled it out, resigning to believing she meant it as just friends, and said, "Well, if that's what you want." "I would really appreciate it," Octavia said. "It would make me feel comfortable with letting you walk home alone." "Is that so?" I asked with a smile. "Then a picnic we shall have." With that, I carried Octavia's cello and the food to the table bench, with Octavia following me with a smile. What I didn't know was that Octavia saw my blush and felt a glimpse of hope that I would like for the picnic to be a date. She considered that I was blushing because a girl said that, but she refused to believe that was the case this time. Rarity told Octavia she had competition for my affections, and the cellist chose to think that she had a better chance than anyone to get it. As far she was concerned, this picnic was a date whether I viewed it be or not. I placed the food on the table bench and laid Octavia's cello beside it. Octavia and I sat next to each other, and I handed her fish curry and a plastic fork before taking my chicken out of the bag. We took a moment to give thanks to the Lord before opening the containers and started eating. We ate in silence for the next few minutes, with me taking big bites of my food. I didn't want to admit it, but I was hungrier than I thought, and Octavia was glad that she convinced me to stop and eat. She took a spoonful of her fish curry and looked up at the sky as she ate. "Look at the stars," she said with a smile. "There's so many of them." I looked up from my chicken and said, "There's actually a lot more. You can't tell because of all of the town lights." "I'm sure," Octavia said. "It's still more than I would see in Manehattan, though." I let out a chuckle and said, "Now that I think about it, this is actually less than what I would see in Appleloosa." "Really?" Octavia asked. "Yeah, Appleloosa is not exactly a place that shines brightly at night unlike here or a place like Manehattan, being a place in the middle of the desert and all," I said. "My family's house was far enough from the center of town that we could see all of the stars from our backyard." Octavia smirked at me and said, "My word. I think you just said something good about Appleloosa." "What? No way," I said. "Seeing a bunch of stars at night is no reason to go back there." "Perhaps, but that's still the nicest thing you have ever said about the place," Octavia said. I thought about it before I playfully pouted and said, "I guess so, but you better not tell that to anyone. I have a reputation to uphold." Octavia snickered and patted my shoulder, saying, "My lips are sealed." My pout turned into a smile, and the two of us stared at each other in silence, lost in each other's eyes. It took half a minute before I realized what I was doing, and I cleared my throat and went back to my food, beet red. Octavia pulled a face, wishing we kept staring at each other, but her pout soon turned into a smile, and she went back to her food, feeling her cheeks heating up. "So, I saw a lot of people really enjoyed your music," I said, not looking at Octavia. "Yeah, they did," Octavia said, playing with her curry. "I've never played in front of an audience for so many hours before. To be honest, I was worried I was going to run out of songs to play. Sometimes I had to wing it to keep it fresh." "Could have fooled me," I said, smirking. "You looked like you could go on for days." "Oh, stop it," Octavia chortled. "Believe it or not, I'm not capable of playing my cello forever." "But I bet you'd like to. You did say you feel like you're in a world that you can control when you play," I said. Octavia turned to look at me, surprised for a moment, before giving me a sweet smile. "You remembered," she said. "Of course, I did," I said. "You compared playing your cello to me writing fanfiction of all things, and that made me feel more comfortable with who I am. I would never forget something like that." Octavia's smile grew, and we found ourselves staring into each other's eyes again. Eventually, I cleared my throat and decided to change the subject while going back to my food. "You know, speaking of music and stories, I've been a little curious," I said. "When we went to see Rarity to have her make your dress for the wedding, you two were talking about a musical you really like." "The Tale of Flaming Arrow and Silver Gleam?" Octavia asked. "That's the one," I said. "I wanted to ask; what is it about?" "You really want to know?" Octavia asked. "Yes, please," I said. "It sounds like a pretty special musical to you, and I wonder why." Octavia raised her eyebrow for a moment before she smiled, accepting that I was sincere. She pushed her curry away and rested her head with both hands, looking at the sky with a dreamy smile. "Well, you're not wrong about it being very special," Octavia said. "To be straightforward with you, I consider it to be the most romantic story there is." "Really? Now that's interesting. Please, tell me more," I said. "You see, it takes place in a fantasy land where people live in a kingdom that's surrounded by evil creatures led by an evil sorceress," Octavia said. "The people are always at war with the sorceress, and she possesses a powerful jewel that gives her monsters power." I tilted my head in confusion and asked, "Wait, are you actually talking about a fantasy world? I thought I'm the nerd between us." Octavia giggled and said, "I suppose what I said sounds more up your alley than mine, but the musical doesn't focus so much on the fantasy stuff. It's more focused on the main characters and their relationship." "Meaning Flaming Arrow and Silver Gleam?" I asked. "Correct," Octavia said. "Flaming Arrow is a hunter who lives on the outskirts of the kingdom, and Silver Gleam is the princess and heir to the throne. One day, Flaming Arrow and his mother take a journey to the capital on a special business with the king because his mother represents the villages in the outskirts. While Flaming Arrow's mother discusses matters with the king, Flaming Arrow goes on a walk in the castle gardens, and that's when he meets Silver Gleam. She doesn’t wear a crown or any other accessories or clothing fitting for a woman of royalty. She’s just in a plain dress that no one would think a person of high class, much less a princess, would wear. Flaming Arrow thought she was a citizen whose family also has business with the king, so he thought it would be fine if they strike a conversation." "And they develop feelings for each other at the gardens?" I asked. "Yes, they do," Octavia said, still looking at the sky with a smile. "They meet regularly at the garden while Flaming Arrow's mother still has business with the king, and the way that they fall in love with each other and express it through music is wonderful to watch. What I love most about it is neither of them knows what the other is. They just know the person." "How would Flaming Arrow not know what Silver Gleam is if she's the heir to the throne?" I asked. "Because he lives on the outskirts of the country, where there's little concern for things like that," Octavia explained. "He says in a solo song that she could be the daughter of a lowly baker or innkeeper in the capital, and he would do anything for her no matter what." "Ah, I like the way Flaming Arrow thinks," I said. "That doesn't surprise me," Octavia said. "Anyway, they eventually are found out, and the king is displeased with their relationship, to say the least. He wanted to punish Flaming Arrow despite not knowing who Silver Gleam is, but instead of begging to spare his life, Flaming Arrow begs for a chance to prove that he is worthy of being with Silver Gleam. The king thought about it and decided that to prove himself, Flaming Arrow had to travel to the lands of the sorceress and steal her jewel of power." "Sounds like a ploy to get rid of Flaming Arrow," I said. "Obviously," Octavia said. "Regardless, Flaming Arrow agrees, and he takes a few companions to the land of the sorceress. They get captured, and his companions are tortured to death, but instead of having him killed, the sorceress took a liking to Flaming Arrow and spent every day visiting his prison, attempting to woo him to become her submissive husband. Through means of magic, Silver Gleam found out about Flaming Arrow's capture and decided to sneak out from the castle and attempt to save her beloved and steal the jewel herself to save her kingdom and fulfill the deal that would earn the right to marry Flaming Arrow." "Does she have any magical abilities or weapons?" I asked. "No, she doesn't. She's walking into a land of darkness with nothing but her will to keep her going," Octavia said. "Whoa, that's pretty brave. What happens next?" I asked. Octavia was silent for a moment before she finally turned back to me with a smirk. "I'm not saying," she said. "What? Why not?" I asked. "You went this far, so you may as well finish it." "I may, but I won't," Octavia said. "If you want to know how it ends, you'll just have to see the musical together with me and find out." Octavia playfully stuck her tongue out at me, and I pouted again, feeling let down after so much build-up. After a few seconds, the two of us laughed at the way the other was looking, and I said, “Alright, we’ll see it together someday, and I’ll find out how it ends.” “Sounds like a plan to me,” Octavia said. “And don’t even think about finding out how it ends on the internet or something. That’s a command as your sort of employer.” “Wow. Two orders from you in one day. Lucky me,” I said. “Regardless, I wouldn’t dream of looking it up online. That’s a sure way to spoil the fun.” “Exactly,” Octavia said. “Plus, you technically disobeyed my first order, so consider this a chance for redemption.” “Works for me,” I said. “Anyway, we better finish our dinner and get home.” Octavia smiled and nodded, and we finally finished the rest of the food. I threw the containers into the park trash can and picked up Octavia’s cello before we went back to walking to her house. I walked with more energy in my body after eating, which made Octavia smile. As we got closer to her house, however, her smile turned into a look of regret. I wondered what was on her mind until we made it to the front porch, and she turned to face me. “Can I tell you something?” She asked. “Of course,” I said right away. Octavia bit her lip before looking away and playing with her fingers as she said, “For as long as we have been in a serious relationship, I thought for sure that Blueblood is the Flaming Arrow to my Silver Gleam. The way he made time for me and treated me like he would do anything to make me happy... I don’t know. I felt so sure that he is someone I would do anything for and spend the rest of my life with.” Her eyes began to water, and her mouth quivered as she continued. “And then he started putting other things before me and treating people like you and Coriander Cumin and Saffron Masala horribly. On the outside, I just show that I’m annoyed, but on the inside, I feel so disillusioned. Now, we’re on a break, and I’m starting to doubt that he’s ever going to change.” Octavia wiped a tear from her eye before looking at me seriously. “Answer me honestly, Rough Draft. Do you think it was wrong to put my boyfriend up to the standards of a fictional character?” “No,” I said without missing a beat. “Why not?” Octavia asked. I hesitated and looked away, scratching the back of my head before I said, “Er, well, I mean, I've never been in a relationship, but I don't think you have to want the guy you like to be just like Flaming Arrow to know that something's wrong. I mean, the things I've seen and the things you’ve told me about you and Blueblood don’t exactly sound like a healthy relationship, romantic or otherwise.” I chuckled before I scratched my chin and said, “Besides, if I ever have a girlfriend, I’ll consider her as the love interest from some of the franchises I'm into while I’m her special someone. The Princess Leia to my Han Solo, the Arwen to my Aragorn, the Catwoman to my Batman, the list goes on. So, you’re not exactly the only one who brings fiction into their ideas of love, and if it’s a foolish thing to do, then you’re not the only fool.” The two of us were silent for a moment, and I grew nervous that she was going to hate my answer. Thankfully, she smiled and wiped away the rest of her tears before saying, “Thank you, Rough Draft. I needed to hear that. It’s good to know I won’t be alone.” I mentally sighed in relief and said with a smirk, “That’s right. You won’t be. It’s a promise.” Octavia gave me another sweet look that showed she felt better. Just then, before I had a second to realize what was happening, she took a step forward and lightly pressed her lips against my left cheek. The kiss only lasted a second, but the feeling of her soft gray lips left me so stunned that I didn’t notice her taking her cello case from my hand. Octavia felt her face heat up like mine, but I stared too deep into space to notice. “Good night, Rough Draft,” she said as she patted the cheek she kissed. “I’ll see you at school.” I responded by speaking gibberish, and she covered her mouth to hide a giggle. She opened the front door and turned back to give me one more sweet look while I was still looking away before she went in and closed the door behind her. The sound of the door closing snapped me out of my daze, and I looked around to find that Octavia was inside. I shook my head and slapped myself to bring myself back together, and began heading back home. As I walked, though, I placed my hand on the cheek Octavia kissed and wondered what to make of it. Was it just my imagination? Did she mean it in a friendly way, or was there something more to it? What would our friends say if I told them about this? I did not know what to make of it, but I thought that if I asked Rarity, she might know what to make of it. Either way, the Tasty Treat was saved, I got to have a little picnic with Octavia Melody, and I was going to sleep well for the rest of the night.