//------------------------------// // Dear Diary // Story: Octavia's Fairy Tale // by Psicosis //------------------------------// Dear diary, Today was miserable just like always, nothing ever changes. I woke up, got dressed for school while listening to my parents bicker about me and them. About how they believe I’ll never get far with my violin, but its sweet sympathy of noise is the only thing I feel connected to in this world of unoriginality. Even the ponies at my school dislike me; I can never fathom a reason why. Is it because they’re jealous of me or am I just really unlikable? Every day they tease me, push me around, and laugh at everything I do... But I won’t give up just yet! I’ll find a friend... one day. That was pretty much my day, same as usual, but now I’m going to go downstairs, get something to eat, and then sleep.... Rinse and repeat is all this is becoming now. Octavia The small filly dropped the pen out of her mouth and closed a small leather book shut. It said on the front “Octavia’s Diary”. She looked around her room; all the walls had the same mundane grey color just like her coat. There was a small wooden bed sitting in the corner alongside some drawers, but her most prized possession sat in the right side corner. A small wooden violin that looked polished and well cared for. She opened her bedroom door and walked downstairs slowly, she entered the kitchen and in the middle of the kitchen was a wooden table with three chairs around it. Across the room an earth pony stallion was at the kitchen counter, pouring something into a bowl. He was tall with a tired looking face and dark green eyes that look like all hope had been sucked from them. His coat was the color red, his mane and tail were blonde, his cutie mark a steam pump. Octavia sat down at the table in between the two other chairs; she turned to an earth pony mare on the other side of the table. She was very different from the stallion; she had a long silk dark mane and tail. Her eyes were a light blue, her coat a light brown and her cutie mark resembled a sewing needle. The filly was about to try and engage in conversation, decided against it. The stallion walked to the table, carrying three bowls full of food. He placed one at his chair, another in front of the Mare and the last one in front of Octavia then sat down. “Eat.” The stallion grunted in a deep voice. The filly and mare took their bowls in silence and began eating. “So... Lever honey, good day at the factory?” The mare asked. “Nope, people are still getting fired. The factory is near bust and nobody seems to care.” “Oh... I’m sorry to hear that.” “Oh really? You’re sorry! Being sorry isn’t going to fix anything!” Lever shouted, slamming his hoof down on the table causing the bowls and table to shake. “Lever! not now, not in front of little Octavia!” Octavia sat quietly, lowering her head and continuing to eat. The two ponies at her sides frustration increasing. “It’s not like she hasn’t seen this all before! It’s all we ever do, I work and come home to you two moan, nothing ever changes and that little unsocial thing never helps!” The stallion screamed, pointing at the filly. “How dare you talk about our daughter lik-” The mare shouted, but got interrupted. Octavia pushed her bowl away from her and a lump in her throat down. “It’s alright mother... He’s right nothing ever changes.” Octavia whispered while getting off her chair and heading towards her room. Her head hanging limply as she heard the fury of her parents behind her. She walked into her room and grabbed the mp3 player that was sitting on her bed. She put the headphones on and pressed play on the first song, she could hear a cello playing beautiful melody. ‘Oh how I dream for one...’ The filly closed her door to avoid the noise coming from downstairs, she flipped open her diary to a new page and began writing. Fame... and.... love... just a small filly’s dream in a cruel reality... Octavia She closed the book shut, a small tear dropping onto its cover. She climbed into bed and pulled the covers over her head, imagining a different world. ************ The sound of applause and admiration rang through the theater, all directed at a mare on a grand stage. A grey mare stood there, holding a cello with the biggest smile on her face and bowing. She looked around the theater; taking in all her fans applauds until she noticed something in the back. She noticed something leave through the exit and it was the distinct color of blue. Her eyes opened to reveal darkness around her. She was still in her bed and under the covers. “Octavia, wake up darling. It’s time for school,” A voice whispered in her ear. She got out from under the covers to see the face of her mother staring at her. “Good you’re awake, now come on. It’s time to get ready or you’re gonna be late.” Octavia looked at her with an annoyed expression. “Mother... You know I’m old enough to get myself up, I don’t need you to do this every school night.” Octavia groaned. “Yeah, yeah. Better to be safe than sorry.” The mare said almost in a sing song voice while leaving the room. Octavia got out of bed and began getting her stuff together. She got her stuff together, but didn’t go downstairs. She sat on her bed, waiting on the time passing. She watched the clock on her wall nervously tick until eventually 08:30 rolled round. She sighed and began walking downstairs. Dragging her hooves into the kitchen, she quickly said goodbye to her mother and father. Lever grunted “Bye” and her mother smiled and waved farewell. She walked outside, her saddlebag swinging at her side. She started walking slowly to school, avoiding the busy early crowd, but at the same time not really paying attention to what she was doing. ‘Time for another day of despair... Maybe today a miracle will happen and I’ll get through this day without any bother. I doubt it; most of the ponies in this town don’t know how to keep to themselves.’ She arrived at her school gates with five minutes to spare; she pushed the gate open, shuddering as she did. Continuing her walk to the main doors she could hear voices shouting behind her. “Well if it isn’t blank flank! Wait up!” The voice shouted behind her. Octavia lowered her head and sighed. “Here we go again...” She could hear the sound of hooves slamming against the ground behind her and eventually they caught up. “Hey Octi, I see you still look pathetic as usual. You ever gonna change?” The Stallion mocked. He was a bit taller than Octavia, same race with a short brown mane and tail, dark green eyes, his coat was the color of sandy yellow and his cutie mark was a punching bag. Octavia looked at him, still walking down the corridor to her class. “Pump... Can we not do this today? I mean do you honestly have to be such a bully?” Octavia said. “I’m not being a bully. To be a bully you have to be nasty to another pony. You aren’t even worth that title.” Pump laughed in her face. Octavia lowered her head and moved her mane in front of her face; she didn’t want him to see her expression. ‘He’s probably right...’ They reached their class and took their seats. Unfortunately for Octavia, Pump sat right behind her. The class was about ten minutes in and throughout those ten minutes Pump had been constantly throwing small projectiles at the back of Octavia’s head. Octavia tried to ignore him and focus on her teacher. She was a unicorn, her coat as a dark purple, her mane and tail was dark blue and her cutie mark was a cane. “Okay class settle down, we’re late already, we should really begin today lesson,” The teacher spoke in a no nonsense tone. The class shuffled back to their desks quickly and the room became silent. All eyes staring at the teacher. “Okay class today we will be learning about multiplication, you all know how to multiply sums under times twelve, but today we’re going beyond that. So please open you-” CRASH The teacher stopped talking and the whole class looked towards the door. A small filly unicorn lay on the floor, her eyes swirling around in her sockets. “Well... Thank you for joining us Miss Scratch” The teacher said, irritation in her voice. The young filly got up from the floor and began dusting herself down, her eyes still swirling a little in her head. “I’m-I’m sorry, but is this math class?” The unicorn stammered. The class were staring at her, trying their best not to laugh. Octavia lost attention and stared out the window, daydreaming. “It is and it’s also your first day here and you have the nerve to show up late,” The teacher said, raising an eyebrow. “For holding this lesson behind even more you must write out a hundred lines saying I shall not be tardy, hand it in tomorrow.” The small unicorn was about to argue back, but held her tongue, frustration apparent on her face. “Take a seat beside young Octavia please, the filly daydreaming out the window!” The teacher raised her voice. Octavia swung round and stared at her teacher, her cheeks blushing. The white mare took her seat and the class proceeded without another interruption. ****** “Okay class pack up, the bell is about to ring for recess.” The teacher said and right on cue the bell rung. Everypony started putting their books back into their saddlebags in a rush. All except Octavia, everypony sprinted outside leaving Octavia to slowly put her books away. She packed her books up and walked outside into the glistening sun. All the other fillies were playing with their friends, Octavia walked over to a tree on the other side of area, trying not to attract attention to herself. She lay down in the shade under the tree and took a book out of her saddlebag. On the front cover it read “Violin for the advanced” she started reading the book, it showed how to properly look after a violin and songs to learn among many other things. ‘So that’s how my string keeps coming loose...’ “Hey Octi. you reading rubbish again? Why don’t you read something like normal fillies; something like “Spider-mare”. A voice said. Octavia swore under her breath, closed the book and looked up to see the owner of that voice. “Pump... Do you honestly have nothing better to do than harass me? Can you not just go play hoofball or something?” Octavia asked him with resentment in her voice. “Why would I do something lame like that when I can just annoy you? Pump laughed. He leaned down to stare Octavia in the face. “Get out of my face pump.” Octavia said, her voice quivering. “Have we got a problem here?” A voice said behind pump. Pump turned around, ignoring Octavia to see who spoke. He was staring at a white unicorn mare. He started laughing out loud at her. “Oh wow... Do we have a problem? Oh no, but there will be one if you don’t walk the other way now.” Pump said, staring menacingly at her. The unicorn walked around him and extended her hoof out to Octavia. Octavia looked at her puzzled. She grabbed her hoof and helped herself up. The unicorn put her hoof around Octavia and looked at Pump. “Okay... You see we don’t have a problem, but you will if you don’t leave my friend here alone.” The filly said. Octavia’s ears perked up when she heard the word “friend”. Pump backed away slowly, not taking his eyes of the two fillies. “What are you gonna do if I don’t leave!?” Pump shouted at them, and in response the unicorn’s horn began to glow. “5...4...3....2..” The unicorn whispered. Pump expression became horrified and he started running towards the school building. The two fillies fell to the floor laughing at him running away, they continued to laugh until the unicorn asked a question. “So... What’s your name?” Octavia stopped laughing and turned to face her. “My name is Octavia, what is yours?” Octavia asked. “Mines is Scratch... Vinyl Scratch.” “That’s a nice name.” “It’s alright, but Octavia is really beautiful.” “Thanks.” Vinyl stood up and retrieved the book laying on the grass. “Is this yours? Violin for the advanced... You play violin?” Vinyl asked, handing the book back to her. “Yeah, but I really want a cello, there so beautiful, but sadly I’m too small to play one.” Octavia said the last words in a fading tone. She put the book back into her saddlebag and the bell rung once more. “Class... What a drag, ready to go Octavia?” Vinyl asked with a smile on her face. Octavia looked at her and felt the biggest grin creeping up on her face. “Yeah let’s go... Together.” They started walking to class together, chatting idly about their interests, but in Octavia’s mind she couldn’t fully understand what happened. ‘A friend... Do I really have a friend? Vinyl Scratch... My first ever friend and she doesn’t even seem to care that I have no cutie mark! Wait... She has one.’ “Vinyl you have a cutie mark? And it’s a musical note, to be precise it’s an eighth note. Do you play anything?” Octavia asked, her voice nearly crackling with excitement. Vinyl stopped walking and looked at her cutie mark. “Oh yeah, I dropped some sick beats! I like to think of myself as an amateur DJ, but nowhere near good as the likes of Deadm4re. Oh she has some amazing beats!” Vinyl stopped talking now lost in her own little fantasy. Octavia’s ears dropped when she heard the word “wubs”. “Wubs... You like ponystep? I myself have more of a classical taste in music. I enjoy the works of Tchicoltski, that stallion is a gift from the heavens.” Octavia said, lost in her own fantasy now. The two of them continued their walk to class, debating about who was the better artist. They smiled the whole way there, laughing and playing along the way. They reached their class and got shouted at by their teacher, each of them trying their hardest not to laugh. They took seats right beside each other continuing their conversation. They got shouted at multiple times before the class ended and each got punishment; a hundred lines each, but for Vinyl that now meant two hundred. Octavia didn’t care about her punishment because for the first time ever she had fun at school and she wouldn’t change it for the Equestria.