It was nighttime at the ever bustling city of Manehattan, and many ponies were now at the Broadhay Theater to watch the play of The Three Musketeers. Among those ponies were Twilight Sparkle and her friends who had been invited by Octavia, who would be performing in the orchestra, to come and watch. Twilight's assistant, Spike, had also received an invitation to come. When the unicorn noticed his joy over it, he claimed that he was excited to see the fight scenes he had heard about from street gossip. Twilight smiled knowingly, obviously aware of his crush on the cellist but kept silent about that. They did not need to wait at the long line to receive their tickets, for they have reserved seats upon one of the balconies.
Twilight and Spike were right now outside of the theater, waiting for their friends to arrive. Orange Sherbet, along with Mosley Orange and Tangerine, and Blossomforth were already waiting for them when they arrived, but Daring Do and Trixie were yet to be seen by any of them. And since Twilight was an organized mare, she was losing her patience and began to, as Spike would say, freak out.
"Where are they!? They should've been here minutes ago!" Twilight asked desperately.
"So they're ten minutes late, big whoop." Spike rolled his eyes. "Seriously Twi, the play hasn't even started yet, and you're already pulling your mane apart."
"What I believe that Spike is trying to say Twilight dear, is that it should not matter if they arrive late. They certainly have seen Octavia's invitation, and they will definitely arrive." Sherbet assured the unicorn.
"But what if they don't!? What if I gave their invitations to the wrong address!? What if they get lost!? What if they never make it here!? WHAT IF-!?"
Twilight's outburst drew some attention from the line to the ticket booth, so Mosley gently but quickly put his hoof over Twilight's mouth to silence her.
"Twilight, please calm down!" he said in concern. "Remember to take deep, slow breaths now..."
After Mosley removed his hoof, Twilight did as she was told, breathing slowly and gently, and seemed somewhat calmer than before.
"Okay, I...I think I'm all right now..." the unicorn sighed.
After a few moments of waiting, a familiar voice called out to them.
"Hey! Over here!"
Everyone looked to where the voice had come from. Blossomforth smiled upon recognizing the pegasus.
"It's Dar...um, I mean, Honey Do!" she corrected herself, knowing that Daring preferred to be called by her real name, Honey Do, when in public.
"Okay, looks like I made it in time." she noted as she landed.
Twilight's eye twitched. "...what? 'Made it in time!?'"
"Oh no..." Spike groaned. "Here we go again..."
"Do you have any idea how much you kept us waiting!? You were supposed to be here ten minutes ago! What took you so long!?"
"Look, it's not my fault! Some colts thought it'd be funny to make their own graffiti art in the restroom, and I had to clean that mess by myself, so cut me some slack!" Daring protested.
"I...I understand..." Twilight sighed. "Now where could Trixie-?"
The unicorn was interrupted as purple smoke suddenly exploded in front of the group.
"Behold everypony, for the Great and Powerful Trixie has come!" declared the showmare.
Needless to say, Twilight was less than pleased by this sort of arrival for she could tell that Trixie had actually wanted to come late.
"And what's your excuse!? Why did you decide to come only now!?" Twilight demanded, pointing an accusing hoof at the blue unicorn.
"This is how Trixie does things, Twilight Sparkle. For one to make a grand entrance, one must arrive fashionably late!"
"Well, be fashionably on time! Or better yet, earlier! Do I have to drag you here myself next time?"
"Twilight, I hate to interrupt, but the play will start soon. We should be getting to our seats." Sherbet reminded her.
Twilight's eyes widened when she checked the time. "Yes, you're absolutely right! We need to get going!"
Twilight led everyone inside upstairs to their reserved seats upon the balcony. The Grand Hall of the theater was stunning and incredible. Its big red curtains were closed, yet to reveal what was behind it. The chandelier above sparkled each time light was shined upon it. The theater has seats for everyone to sit on, and were very comfortable. The ponies from the orchestra were standing in front of the stage, preparing and tuning their instruments, and it was hard to find Octavia among the orchestra.
"Thanks for the help back there, Auntie." Spike said. "If we kept Twilight talking out there, we'd really miss the show and we wouldn't hear the end of it."
"Does Miss Twilight often act like this?" Tangerine curiously asked from her seat.
"You have no idea..."
"Look! There's Octavia right down there!" Blossomforth told everyone.
Everyone looked to where the cream coated pegasus was motioning, and they did indeed saw Octavia. She, among with everyone else in the orchestra, was dressed properly for the event, with her sporting an elegant, red dress. Upon seeing her friends waving to her from the balcony, Octavia smiled and nodded in acknowledgement.
"Wow, she looks so pretty!" Tangerine smiled.
"Yeah..." Spike agreed with a goofy smile.
"Spike, what was that you were saying about wanting to go to the theater?" asked an amused Twilight.
The dragon blinked in confusion until he jumped in realization. "Oh yeah! I'm really looking forward to see those awesome sword fights! I bet that the musketeers are gonna beat up the bad guys big time!"
Blossomforth shivered. "I don't know...I don't really like violence..."
"Relax, Blossomforth. They're just acting. Nopony's going to get hurt." Daring comforted her.
"But they make it look so real...I'm not sure if I can stand watching any of it..."
"Take it from a pony who performs onstage herself. They just act to make the play look good. Besides, do you think that any play will be entertaining without at least some bit of action?" Trixie pointed out.
Blossomforth thought over what she had said. "...No, I don't think so."
"See? The actors, like Trixie, are professionals. Trixie is sure that they know what they are doing."
Blossomforth smiled in thanks, feeling better by her friends' comforts. Twilight frowned in thought over what Trixie had said to Blossomforth.
"Hey wait a minute, there actually are plays that have no..." she began before the lights dimmed.
"Quiet now. It's about to start." Mosley told everyone in the balcony. Everyone waited eagerly to watch the play and listen to the orchestra as the old unicorn maestro tapped the baton on the music stand to get everyone's attention. With everyone ready, including Octavia with her cello, the maestro levitated his baton and the play began.
My Little Pony, My Little Pony
Ahh, ahh, ahh, ahhh…
(My Little Pony)
I used to wonder what friendship could be
(My Little Pony)
Until you all shared its magic with me
Great discoveries!
Tricks galore!
A rich slice of life,
And a heartfelt score.
Budding courage
It's an easy feat
And magic makes it all complete!
You have my little ponies
Do you know you're all my very best friends?
After two hours or so, the play ended on a fantastic performance by both the actors and the orchestra. Overall, Octavia was glad that she got this opportunity not only to perform, but to also be able to invite her friends to come and watch.
"Whew, that was some play, huh Octavia?" said Staccato, the pianist from the orchestra.
"Yes, quite indeed." she agreed, putting her cello away in its case.
"Mare of a few words, huh Octavia?" chuckled Bluenote, one of the trumpet players. "Quite different from Harpsichord over there."
"Hey, I resent that!" said the harpist. "That's just my personality!"
Everyone got some good chuckles out of that. For Octavia, it felt good to play alongside these wonderful musicians. Not only did they make music from their hearts, they also enjoy to play it for anyone else to listen to them. And with the accompaniment of a theatrical play, that makes the feeling even better.
With her cello in in tow, Octavia left the backstage to meet up with her friends in the lobby. Gently making her way through the crowd, she managed to spot them waiting for her on one of the benches.
"Octavia! You made it right on time!" Twilight smiled before looking at the cornflower-blue unicorn. "Unlike a certain somepony we know..."
"Trixie already told you that she had arrived fashionably! To enter the theater with finesse!" Trixie proclaimed defensively.
"Now, now girls. Settle down..." Sherbet said to them.
"Please you two, we're in public..." Mosley joined his wife.
Daring led the others away from the arguing unicorns as Orange Sherbet and Mosley Orange tried to calm them down. "Don't mind those two over there, they've got some...complications to work out."
"You were wonderful at the orchestra, miss Octavia!" Tangerine smiled.
"Yeah, you played so well with your cello! And so did everypony else with their instruments!" Blossomforth agreed.
"Not surprising you'd know that, since you mostly paid attention to the orchestra instead of the play." Daring teased the pegasus.
"I...I couldn't help it! Everypony did really good down there! And I love music!" she blushed.
"The music was cool, but so were the musketeers!" Spike cheered. "Did you see how they beat the bad guys but good!? They were like shing! Clang! Pow Pow Pow! Take that! And...that!" Spike kept play fighting around with a wooden toy sword until he accidentally poked one of the orchestra players in the flank, making the stallion yelp in pain and turned his head to glare at the sheepish dragon.
"Oops...sorry..." the baby dragon apologized. The stallion huffed and left with a scowl. Spike was worried that he had made a new enemy. "He won't try to get back at me, right?"
Octavia put a comforting hoof on Spike's head, making him blush. "'Anger at lies lasts forever. Anger at truth can't last.' You were honest when you apologized, correct?"
"Y-Yeah, I was..."
"Then his anger shall pass away soon. After all, anger is not something that lasts forever." She motioned to Twilight and Trixie, both now calm and apologizing to one another, to set a good example.
"I guess you're right...thanks..." Spike fawned.
"I must say, it feels nice to go to the theaters every now and then." Mosley said he rejoined the others along with his wife and the unicorns.
"Yes, it was a wonderful evening." Sherbet agreed. "Now it's time for us to-"
"Yo dude! My homegirl is in here, right?"
"Homegirl?" Blossomforth asked in confusion from the voice outside.
"Mommy, Daddy, what's a homegirl?" Tangerine asked in curiosity.
"She is? OK, thanks for the tip, man!"
"Wait! That voice..." Octavia said in realization.
"You know who that is, Octavia?" Daring Do asked the cellist.
Before she could answer, the front door opened wide to reveal a white, unicorn mare with electrifying blue mane and tail and a mirror image of two bridged eighth notes for a cutie mark. But her most defining feature were her purple sunglasses covering her eyes. Upon seeing Octavia, she grinned.
"Yo! Octi! Long time, no see!"
Octavia's eyes widened when she recognized the mare.
"Vinyl!?"