//------------------------------// // Chapter 10 // Story: The Taffy Tale // by yotoeman //------------------------------// Chapter 10 “In order to truly understand why Octavia is holding such a grudge on me, I have to start by telling the story of how Octavia and I first met. You see, we were both born into wealthy, noble families of Canterlot. Wealthy enough in fact, that we both attended the Royal Canterlot elementary school run by Princess Celestia herself. Oh, I remember the first day of school so clearly. There I was, a tiny unicorn filly who hardly ever left her house. I didn’t have many friends when I walked into the classroom, in fact, I don’t think I had any friends. The only people I knew were other rich kids that I knew from parties with family friends. They didn’t like me though because I was so… strange to them. They all seemed so snobby, bragging about the wealth of their family and such while I preferred to just keep to myself. I liked playing board games and cards but all the other fillies were too preoccupied with doing things that were considered more “proper” such as having tea parties and playing dress up that I never had much interest in. They just all seemed so eager… so eager to grow up and acquire wealth when all I cared for at the time was having fun and enjoying myself. But anyway…so there I was, first day of school, the teacher told us we could sit anywhere we liked. Every time I tried to sit somewhere, it seemed that it was “saved” for somepony else. But then there was the grey earth pony who was sitting in the back corner of the class. She was looking outside the class window, right elbow on table, head on hoof, with an expression I can only describe as “bored out of her mind.” There was an empty seat next to her so I tried my luck and walked towards it. “Excuse me?” I asked her as politely as possible, “May I sit here?” She turned her head to glance at me. “Sure” she said turning her attention back at the window I sat down awkwardly. “So… what’s your name?” “Octavia,” the filly told me not adjusting her posture. “Oh cool, mine’s Lyra,” I said. I leaned over and tried to see what Octavia was staring at.. “So… what’s out there?” Octavia glanced at me again and raised an eyebrow. She then turned back to the window. “Freedom,” she whispered softly. That was the last we said to each other until lunch as the teacher introduced us to the basics of school. Emergency drills and such, you know, the boring stuff. Anyhow, before I knew it, it was lunchtime. Again, I didn’t know what to do because I didn’t have any friends I could sit next to. I noticed that Octavia had the same problem in that she sat alone at her own table. So after I received my food I levitated my trey and sat down next to her. She didn’t seem to mind and continued to chew her food. “Hi there,” I said to her smiling awkwardly trying to strike some sort of conversation “Howdy…” “So… how about these apples huh? Pretty tasty!” Octavia stopped eating her food and gave out a sigh, she looked up at me. “Look Lyra… don’t you have any prissy, girlier friends to hang out with? Why do you insist on bothering me?” “Well actually… no, I don’t really have any other friends here.” Octavia was surprised at my response; I could tell that she regretted her last statement. “Well I’m sorry for that but you really shouldn’t be hanging around a pony like me.” “Why?” “Well… I guess if you like pranking people then…” “Pranking people?” I interrupted, a mischievous grin forming on my face. “Umm… yeah pulling pranks,” My grin continued to grow “Why Octavia, just last week, I spray-painted Mr. Fancy Pants ‘s carriage pink!” “No way,” Octavia said in disbelief, “Fancy Pants as in thee Mr. Fancy Pants, one of the most important ponies in all of Ponyville?” “Yup,” I said, “you should of seen the look on his face. Priceless.” Octavia seemed impressed by my feat. “Hmm… I guess that’s not bad…for a beginner. Tell you what Lyra, you’re alright. After school though, meet me at the donut shop south of the Castle. I’ll show you how a professional does a prank.” I continued my devious smile “That’d be lovely” Alright so, after the boring classes ended I walked to the Donut shop and sure enough…” --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- “Woah Woah Woah Woah Woah” Vinyl said interrupting Lyra’s story. “Let me get this straight. Octavia, as in the cello player Octavia, one of the most uppercrust ponies I know, invited you for some pranks!?” “Oh you’d be surprised Vinyl, Octavia was quite the tomboy back then.” “But… what made her change then? How come she’s so different now?” “Hold your humans there Vinyl. I’m getting to that.” Lyra said continuing her story. “So where was I, ah yes…” --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- “I trotted over to the donut shop after school to meet Octavia for some pranking. When I got there, she had with her a hot glue gun and a whoppy cushion. As I approached her, Octavia turned her head side to side to make sure that staff members were around. “Alright Lyra, here’s the plan. Our teacher has two chairs that he sits in and we’re gonna make him regret sitting in both tomorrow. Before school starts, meet up at seven O’clock at the school park got it?” I nodded my head, “We’ll then sneak inside our classroom.” She continued, “Place this whoppy cushion on our teacher’s rolly chair. I’ll place hot glue onto his sitting stool so that he gets his flank stuck there!” “Oh… this outta be good.” I said smirking in anticipation. We hoofbumped each other and exited the shop with our weapons eagerly awaiting for the next day to come. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The next day I arrived at the school park as planned to see Octavia waiting under the big slide. She motioned me to come to her and I did. “Alright you remember the plan?” I nodded “Okay good,” She handed me the whoppy cushion from yesterday. “Alright, let’s do this.” We sneaked through the back door of the school and began Tiphoofing through the halls when Octavia suddenly put a hoof against my mouth and pulled me behind some lockers. “Shhhh....” We stayed motionless as we heard the whistling of a janitor pony trotting across the hallway. After a few minutes, we heard the whistling disappear out of range as we continued at fast pace towards our target. After turning a few more corners we arrived at the correct room. Octavia peaked through the door window to see if anypony was inside. After she confirmed our safety she took out a lock pick and picked the door open. We went inside and did as we planned. After we giggled at each other’s mischievous deeds, we quickly escaped out once again through the back door maneuvering pass the school janitors. We hid at the school park until school started at 8:30 and went eagerly in class to see the results of our prank. “Alright class,” the teacher said trotting in with a stack of papers, “Is everypony ready for a pop quiz?” Everypony groaned at the remark. Octavia and I however, were just sitting in the back eyeing to see if our teacher would notice the “surprises” that was left for him. “Now I know what you all are thinking and I know I just gave a pop quiz last week. But the truth is, some of you have really fallen behind on your studies as of late and…” The teacher had just sat onto his rolly chair when suddenly a loud farting noise came from her flank as Octavia and I high hooved each other in our first success. The whole class burst out in laughter as the now red faced teacher grabbed the object that had caused his embarrassment. “Hahaha, very funny… You know what? When I find out who did this, they are getting sent straight to the principal’s office. Anyways… as I was saying, we are going to have a pop quiz today due to the lack of effort from some of you.” The teacher got up and began trotting towards his other chair. “Now, Moondancer, please pass out these… wait what the?” Octavia hoof pumped whispering a quiet “yes” to herself as I giggled watching our teacher suffer from our prank. Despite his best efforts, he could not get off his chair. “What in Equestria is this!? I’m…I’m stuck!” The whole class again burst out into hysterical laughter as we saw the teacher get back on his hoofs as he tried fruitlessly to shake his high stool off his rear knocking over several papers on his desk in doing so. Finally, the teacher gave up and began walking awkwardly out the door to the school nurse chair still stuck onto his flank. “This isn’t over I tell you! When I come back, you’ll be sorry. Oh… you’ll all be sorry! Whoever did this isn’t just getting a detention. They’re getting at least a suspension you hear!” After the teacher left, the class started to chatter amongst each other. “That… was awesome!” I said as Octavia nodded in approval. “Yeah I have to say I’m impressed.” Octavia said with a smirk, “You executed that prank much better than I expected. You know… for a first timer.” After about 15 minutes, the school principal walked in and informed us that the teacher would be taking the day off. She gave the whole lecture about discipline and how our behavior has to change and all that boring stuff. After that, she said that we were off for the day, but that if any more shenanigans occurred, the whole class would be serving detention.” -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Lyra gave out a long sigh. “And that, Vinyl and Bon Bon, is how Octavia and I first became friends. It was the first real friendship I ever had. Oh how I wish it could have lasted forever…” Lyra began to break down in tears again. Bon Bon wrapped her arms around Lyra gently whispering a soft, “There there little filly.” “I don’t get it though,” Vinyl Scratch said after Lyra composed herself, “If back in the day, Octavia was so… so… so much like me! Why did she change into such a…you know…formal pony? It’s like she was a completely different person than she was back then.” “Well... that was a gradual change actually.” Lyra said beginning her story again. “It started though when we were in 4th grade. That was the year that Octavia’s parents forced her to practice cello. I remember those days so very clearly as well. She was a prodigy at the instrument, making first chair at the top local orchestra only three months after she first picked up her bow. Within four, she received the treble clef cutie mark. I too, became an excellent lyrist as my parents hoped for. The difference however… was that unlike Octavia, my personality never changed. I still felt a sort of carefreeness towards the world, hanging on to things other people might deem childish. Meanwhile, Octavia slowly evolved into a much more serious pony, always busy at her craft, never having time for things that were more… fun. In turn, because of my weird attitude towards the world, I began to feel lonely again. Sure I would make a friend here or there that would help me get through the rest of grade school, but I never really felt that special bond that Octavia and I shared when we first met. Because of this, I lacked a lot of motivation throughout the rest of grade school and always needed help on a lot of things. In my loneliness I often times turned to my lyre composing pieces that reflected my emotion. I might even say that my loneliness made me a better musician and helped me earn my cutie mark. Octavia was always sympathetic towards me in my time of need even though she no longer hung out with me. She would take me home from parties that I had gotten too drunk from, or tutor me the day before on tests I had slacked off on. She even offered me my first job as lyrist for the orchestra she had formed. It was good pay, as her concerts were very popular among the ponies. I met a lot of friends in that orchestra, but again, none of them were especially close. Still though, I was contempt as I attended the Canterlot fine arts college. I thought everything in life would be alright after all. Well… that is of course until what happened that night. That night…Bon Bon and Vinyl… at Los Pegasus, where the orchestra was performing an important concert in front of one of the most important music critics, Mr. von Bagel. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- It had been five years since I joined Octavia’s orchestra when we went on this trip to please von Bagel. I remember actually Vinyl, that it had only been a week since you and Octavia starting dating. I was so happy for Octavia too, I thought that she would finally start to lighten up a bit again and be like the old Octavia. I thought that maybe… we could become friends again. But of course… I knew that it would take time… which makes the timing of what I did only worse.” Lyra gave out a long sigh in regret. “Anyway… as I was saying, it was only hours before our big concert that we were supposed to perform on the Los Pegasus grand Griffinhead Hall. There was a designated practicing room just across the main stage where we would perform. During a particular piece, Tchoovesky’s second symphony, I was given the part of a lyre solo. It was a fantastic solo that was supposed to bring tears to the audience due to its raw emotion. I was nervous but excited about the part. In the room, it was the only thing I was practicing, making sure that I wouldn’t screw up. Sweat dripped out of every part of my body even hitting my lyre, something I would regret much later. Anyway… I was so nervous in fact, that when Octavia told the orchestra we were going to go on stage, I didn’t hear her the first time. I was still practicing my part when everyone else at the orchestra left. Octavia had to go back and get me personally to get onto stage. That’s when I probably made the biggest mistake of my life. I grabbed my lyre and took all of my sheet music as I prepared to leave except… I took all my sheet music except for one page… the solo part” Lyra paused for a moment as she noticed the looks on Vinyl and Bon Bon as they listened intently to her story. “So then… what happened next?” Vinyl said after the short delay “Well you can probably imagine what happened at that part. Throughout the entire song, I couldn’t help but notice that Mr. Von Bagel was staring at us. Just sitting there, staring, judging our every note. Even the slightest off-pitch intonation would cause Von Bagel to write down a comment on the clipboard he was holding. It’s sad really, I was playing my part quite well at the time. It might have even been the best performance of my life in fact until… until I turned to page 3. I couldn’t believe what I saw or rather… what I didn’t see. Page 3, the solo page, was completely missing from my musical binder. At this point, the orchestra had completely stopped playing and the whole audience was staring at me. I flipped rapidly through my binder hoping that I simply misplaced it. It was a fruitless attempt I realized after flipping for a few minutes. The sound of Mr. Von Bagel’s writing only made matters worse. I tried to recall what I learned from memory, a mistake due to two reasons. The first was that it completely failed. I don’t even think I got a single note right let alone any of the other things such as dynamics and rhythm. I could even see it on the faces of the people in the crowd as well as Von Bagel shaking his head as he continued to write notes down. The second reason was that, there was already sweat on my lyre like I previously mentioned. The embarrassment that was gathering within me only added to my lyre being completely drenched. This is a problem because sweat as it just leaves the body is at a very low temperature in order to keep one’s body from overheating. Cold temperature also makes the strings of my lyre very lose. You can probably see where the problem might come in. It all happened so quickly too. I think I was trying to remember a very high part on my lyre when suddenly I heard a loud “Snap” sound. The next thing I knew, my string struck our guess conductor at the time, Mr. Mozre, knocking him not only off balance, but also off his podium and then off the stage. The crowd gasped as the old stallion hit the floor. Some ponies started screaming and already, ponies were leaving the stage. We all had to pack up as the ambulance soon arrived 20 minutes later to assist Mozre into the hospital. At this point, I was already crying hoping that this was a bad nightmare or something. I thought that at any moment, I could just pinch myself and just wake up as if all of this never happened. It didn’t work. What made matters worse was that…the worst part… the worst part was yet to come. As I was exiting the stage, I took a glance at Octavia and noticed she was glaring with the most terrifying look I’ve ever seen. I stood almost motionless until I could finally see her mouth move as I made out the words, “Grab your lyre and, meet me at the west parking lot.” --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I did as I was told as I packed my lyre. I’m not sure what I was thinking at that time but it couldn’t have been anything joyful. Time seemed to move in slow motion, but yet went by all too fast as I came to the parking lot. It was quiet there when I went in as the west parking lot was a private parking lot reserved for only the vehicles for those performing in the concert. In this case, the only vehicle was the bus we had taken here. Every other performer was instructed to stay put inside the building. That was probably the worst part, that it was just Octavia and I, alone. I found Octavia sitting behind the bus looking up at the stars. I was almost too scared to approach, but I knew I had to face her. I knew I had to face the worse scolding of my life. I knew that she’d probably even smack me for what I did but I didn’t care. I still considered Octavia my friend. So I put a hoof on her shoulder and began, “Octavia I’m…I’m…” She turned around and her expression was not one I expected. It was not an expression of anger, or rage. Oh no, it was much worse than that. When Octavia turned around, her whole front side was wet. Wet, from the tears flooding out of her eyes. I was lost for words. I didn’t know how to even respond to that. I began crying myself as I tried to hug her but she shoved me away. I could have dealt with rage, I’ve been yelled at before. But this… I’ve never seen anyone so broken before. And it was… it was all my fault too. After sitting there for 10 minutes, I had stopped crying, but Octavia had not. Tears were still drenching from her eyes like no other. “Octavia…” I tried to begin again but this time I met the back of Octavia’s hoof as she knocked me onto the ground. I got up and began to gather myself as I saw Octavia begin to walk away. “Octavia wait…” She didn’t stop walking “Octavia please! Wait…” Again she didn’t stop walking “Octavia!!!” “SHUT UP” she said finally stopping in her tracks. “Just…Just Shut up!” She turned around and looked at me again eyes once again filling with tears. “Just… just leave Lyra Heartstrings, before my anger overcomes my sadness and I hurt you…” I was too stunned to move a muscle. All at once, all the memories I had with Octavia since we were fillies; pranking teachers, watching movies, even getting our cutie marks. All those memories seemed so clear at that moment. “Did you hear me Lyra Heartstrings! I said leave!” “But I…” “No you dumbflank! Shut up and leave! And… and never come back. No, never come back to Canterlot Lyra Heartstrings. Because…” Octavia was beginning to cry again, “Because if you do… you’ll get much more than just a smack in the face.” “But…” “GO!” I levitated my lyre case and began to trot away. As I had gone just a couple of steps, I turned back for one last look at Octavia. She was gone, closing the door shut behind her. A single tear fell down my cheek as I turned around again to leave. I uttered three words under my breath as I did so. “Good-bye, old friend” --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- I went to the nearest bank in Los Pegasus and took out all my bits stuffing them into my Lyre case. That night, I ran further than I ever ran before. I didn’t know where I was going, I just knew I had to get as far away from Los Pegasus as possible. It must have been Four A.M by the time I stopped, dropping to the ground from exhaustion. The next day I woke up and walked for a bit before finding a small town named Hayverstown. I located a pay phone and called my parents. I wanted them to make sure that I was okay. I thought that they might comfort me for what I did… maybe even offer me an apartment somewhere else in Equestria. They didn’t. They too were disappointed that I ruined their good name. “You outta be ashamed of yourself,” was the only thing I heard from them before they hung up. They didn’t want me back, they too had shunned me from Canterlot. I would later find out that Mr. Mozre had become paralyzed from the waist down because of the incident. I stayed there, in Hayvertown, often going out and getting drunk. I even considered suicide as a possible option those days… but I could never bring myself to do it. I didn’t know what to do with myself. I didn’t have a job, although luckily, I had 50,000 bits saved up from my previous well-paid position. Still though, I spent the days just wasting away in the cheap apartment I was renting. I probably would have stayed there too if not for my salvation that came from a very unlikely source. You see, at the time, a new show began playing on television called My Little Human. It was supposed to be a show for little fillies but for some reason… for some reason it drew my attention. I didn’t know why but… every human on that show just seemed so… so happy. As I began watching this show I soon discovered that there was a whole online community of older ponies who also liked the show. I began to slowly engage in conversations with the ponies on the human websites and soon… I started to once again find meaning in my life. It sounds weird but… online… online I could be who I wanted. Nobody knew that I was Lyra Heartstrings, the unicorn who ruined Octavia’s cello career. No… online I was just another anonymous pony. Sharing the love for humans with everypony else. Finally, after 2 months, I decided something. I decided after a particular episode where the humans discover that everyhuman’s contribution matters no matter how small that I knew… I knew then that I too could once again contribute to society. By that time I only had about 10000 bits but I knew that that was enough to travel for at least a few years. I learned a spell that would allow me to shrink items at will although it was very exhausting and my magic only allowed me to do it twice a day. After about a week of just shrinking all my belongings, I left my apartment and set out into the world. I thought that I could play my Lyre wherever I go, spreading music to the common ponies who couldn’t afford it. I thought I could do the world some good, and maybe even… maybe even make some friends along the way. I traveled everywhere in those couple of years on the road, Fillydelphia, Baltimare, Canada. I was quite lonely those couple of years too, never traveling with anyone or staying anywhere for an extended amount of time. Well… that was of course until destiny took me to the small town of Ponyville. That’s when destiny took me to you Bon Bon Taffy. My life… my life’s never been the same ever since.” So, here it is. After a one year hiatus, at least 6 months of not doing anything pony related, getting into college. (UIUC if you're wondering), and writing most of a novel. I'm finally back. And hopefully, this time, i'm going to be staying in the fandom for good. So enjoy this long intense chapter. You guys truly deserved it.