Adventures With Toshio in Ponyville

by Midnight Leaf

Routine Break

Two Weeks Later...

It was two weeks after I had met Vinyl Scratch and Octavia, and things were going great. Vinyl had somehow managed to hook me up with an electronics parts provider, and I was currently in my newly-adorned room, assembling a little device I liked to call "Toshio's Annoy-O-Matic Mk. 3". On top of that, Octavia had started to spread the word around Ponyville about my wares, and I was actually starting to make some bits by filling out orders. As I grew to know them both more, I found out that while Octavia seemed to loathe Vinyl, the two were really good friends; Vinyl just tends to take all of the attention when she's around, and her overactive, fun-poking attitude would scare away most ponies, so Octavia tends to keep new arrivals away from her. It's why Octavia had been so reluctant to share who her roommate was; she was afraid that Vinyl would scare me away, just like she had many other ponies, or that she would take up so much of my focus that I wouldn't even glance at Octavia. Rest assured, while Vinyl had originally done the latter, I soon grew to a middle ground, including both in my conversations, and being a limit-keeper to all of the jibes exchanged.
After the first set of parts from Vinyl's provider arrived, I settled into a daily routine. A normal day would go like this: I'd wake up around 8:00 to the sound of Vinyl Scratch cleaning the dishes (using a dishwasher that played dubstep so loudly that the house seemed to shake, thus waking me up every morning) and would vibrate out of my room, down the stairs, and to the kitchen table, where Octavia had laid some breakfast out for the three of us (our plates were duct taped to the table so that they, and the food on them, wouldn't vibrate to the floor). Vinyl would usually be standing on her hind legs near the dishwasher, shades off, with an apron that said "Wub the Cook" on, pumping her hoof in the air in time with her wubs. I'd finish eating with Octavia, then go up to my 'Cave of Geek' (as Vinyl had officially dubbed my room), close the door, and plop myself in the middle of my room, using my horn to levitate multiple computer parts out of various crates I had laid out, and begin to work. While I wasn't the strongest unicorn, I was still pretty adept at magic, namely telekinesis, and could levitate up to 15 small parts at once without struggle, for extended periods of time. I could usually produce about 2-3 computers a day, depending on their size and function; however, if I got a particularly tall order, for a complex computer, I would definitely be working on it for a few days. At lunchtime, which was around noon for me, I would set down my work and walk downstairs to have lunch with my friends. We tended to eat lunch in the house, or, if we were out of lunch foods, we would just go out into Ponyville for lunch. After lunch, it was basically the same thing as before: assembling computers and placing completed ones in a specific crate, ready for delivery. At about 4:00, I'd stop work for the day, and deliver any computers I had completed, showing my customers how to use them, and making sure they knew how to take care of them, which usually would take about an hour per pony. Then, at about 6:30, I would make my way back to the house to have dinner with both of my friends, one of them, or just eat by myself, if Octavia and Vinyl were both out attending a gig or anything of the sort. Then, it was a few hours of free time, which I usually spent designing new computer ideas I had, and then I would go to sleep, and repeat. Needless to say, I didn't expect a sudden shift in my routine so soon...

"So, Octavia, how was your concert yesterday?" I asked before taking another bite out of my sunflower sandwich.
"Oh, it was alright; I didn't get as much of an applause as I expected, though."
It was Saturday; we were sitting in the kitchen, enjoying the last of our lunch food. Octavia and I were both eating sunflower sandwiches, and discussing the past few days. She had been fairly busy, playing in quite a few concerts and classical restaurants the past few days, so we hadn't spoken much. Vinyl was out on business for a couple of days, getting some more parts for her and I's contraptions from her accomplice.
"Well, at least you got a good response, even if it wasn't very big." I pointed out.
"True." Octavia shrugged, then changed the subject. "How's your business coming out? Have the ponies I talked to contacted you?"
"Yeah, I've been getting quite a few orders, to be honest. Most are just for simple organization or pranking devices, though, so it hasn't been very hard." I took another bite of my sandwich. "But hey, it's bringing bits into my pocket, and giving me a chance to pay for myself, so I'm not complaining. The fact that I'm doing what I do best for a living helps too." I grinned.
"I bet." Octavia smiled in return, then took a bite out of her own sandwich.
We spent the rest of the meal making small chat, and I went back up into my room to continue working for an hour, but then I ran out of parts, and had to call it quits for the day. Good thing Vinyl's bringing back the newest shipment soon. I trotted over to Octavia's room, which had the lilting notes of a cello escaping through the door, and knocked on it.
"Hey Octavia?"
The cello stopped playing, and she opened the door, a confused look on her face. "Toshio. I thought you were working...?"
"I ran out of parts." I explained with a shrug. "What do you think I should do? I know you're practicing, but-"
"Oh, that's quite alright." Octavia said with a smile, stepping outside of her room and gently closing the door behind her, "I can stop practicing for one day; I mean, its not like I never practice, is it?"
I smirked at her response. "Yeah, guess so. Whacha wanna do, then?"
"Well, I was thinking we could stop by Sugar Cube Corner, and get some sweets."
I perked up at the thought of cupcakes. "Oh my gosh! Why haven't we done that before?!"
"Because Pinkie Pie lives there, and she still hasn't thrown you a welcome party."
My smile of good humor was immediately replaced by one of horror upon hearing the words "Pinkie" and "Pie".
Octavia noticed my sudden change of attitude, and simply said, "It's got to happen sometime, Toshio. She's probably really anxious to throw you a party, since you haven't left the house hardly at all since you got here, and our house isn't an optimal place for a party."
"But what if I don't want a party?" I said, shuddering at the thought of the overly excited ball of pure pink energy seemingly teleporting everywhere around me, yelling random things that come into her head.
"Think of it this way, Toshio: the longer you put it off, the worse it's going to be when Pinkie finally catches you."
I sighed. It's hard to imagine that pony being any worse than when I first met her. I should probably do as Octavia says...though I reallydon't want to.
"Come on, let's go get you a cupcake."
"Fine..." I followed Octavia, head lowered in defeat, mind going through all the different ways I was going to lose IQ points to Pinkie that day.

We arrived at Sugar Cube Corner, and I swallowed nervously as Octavia went in, then sucked it up and followed. Inside was a small counter, with a glass container of newly-baked cupcakes inside and a familiar pink pony, who was currently handing a box of muffins to yet another familiar pony; the same pegasus that had knocked me over at the train station when I had first arrived. I groaned. Looks likethisday just got a lot more interesting...
Right after my groan, Pinkie turned from the grey mare (I still didn't know her name) and saw me. Her eyes widened to the size of plates, and she made the biggest gasp I've ever heard anypony make in my entire life.
"OhmygoshIrememberyou! YouweretheponythatwasfollowingmethenIsaidhiandthenIsawthatyouwerenewandthen-" Her rapid fire speech suddenly turned into an even bigger gasp, and then she pulled out a pink cannon and aimed it at the lobby of Sugar Cube Corner, or, more specifically, me.
MOTHER OF CELESTIA, SHE'S GOING TO KILL ME!!!