//------------------------------// // Chapter Thirteen- More to Life Than Riches // Story: The Strings Of Life // by MLPxMaestro //------------------------------// The Strings Of Life: Chapter 13- More to Life Than Riches: As Vinyl could now officially meet her friend’s lover for a change, she figured they would take a train back down to where she lived…Ponyville. “Might I ask why we are taking a train? To what location are we heading off to?” “Ponyville of course, why ya ask?” “P-Ponyville?” Maestro had never even set hoof in that little quiet town. He had seen it from that one place him and Octavia were when they first met, but never would he have expected to actually go there as long as he lived. “You sure it’s fine if we-” “Heck yeah man, come on, it’ll be fun. Here, I’ll even pay for your ticket.” Vinyl then approached the ticket booth to purchase their tickets. “Here you go, now then, shall we be off as you would say?” she chuckled. “Are you insulting the way I talk? I don’t always talk proper you know?” “Yeah, but I still like to just tease them on the way they talk up here, always so proper and formal of themselves. They’re too self-conscience of themselves up here, why can’t they ever just take it easy and enjoy life?” she stated. What she said just then got him to stop and think. Maybe she was right? Maybe life in this city isn’t all it has to be? “All aboard! Next stop, Ponyville! Thirty seconds!” the conductor shouted out. “Come on Maestro, let’s book it!” Vinyl gave him a little shove in the direction of where the train was, then galloped her way over there. “Hey! Come on man, we’re out of here in like five seconds!” She shouted out to him again, as she was already giving the conductor her ticket. “I’ll even save a spot for you! Get mo-” Her voice was then muted as the whistle started to blow, which meant…it was leaving. “Oh crap!” Maestro then gallops his way over to the train cart she was heading into. “Wait, conductor!” he shouted out, but the conductor didn’t hear him from the hissing of the pistons in the train coming to life and taking off. Maestro was now almost running as fast as he could to catch up to the cart Vinyl was sitting in waiting for him. Only way he could make it now was to jump as far as he could. “No you don’t! Not this time, not ever!” he then gives it all he has into his rear legs, as he propels himself just feet away from the moving cart. He just manages to get half of his body onto the cart, as he now struggles to contain his hold of the cart, in addition with the shakiness and bumpiness of the track. “What are you doing sir? You’ll kill yourself!” the conductor walking to the other cart shouts, as he notices him struggling to get himself up. Maestro then gets lifted up by the help of the conductor, with him now wanting to meet up with Vinyl like it was nothing. “There you are! Ya get lost on here?” she laughed. “No, let’s just say…there was difficulties getting on here.” “What kind of difficulties?” “Nothing, it’s fine really.” “Okay, I’ll take your word for it, you’re a ninja.” She grinned. “Why not…I am a ninja.” He replied. “Really? That is so cool, I’m friends with a real life ninja!” “I’m not a real ninja, you know that right?” “Of course I do ha ha! I’m not an idiot you know, I was just teasing you that’s all.” “Oh, right…of course…teasing me.” he chuckled awkwardly. “Just relax man, take it easy while we’re on our way over to my place.” Vinyl then brings up her rear legs and reclines the chair to relax. “Y-your place?” “Shoot yeah, it’s gonna be cool!” Maestro didn’t know where she was getting at on this? She had plans of some kind? After a good while of kicking it back on the Friendship Express, they finally arrive in Ponyville, a town with the hustle and bustle of urban with a touch of rural. “Okay, we’ve arrived at our destination passengers…Ponyville!” the conductor exclaimed. Maestro and Vinyl make themselves into the town, and he was amazed at how much life it seemed to have. “What?” “What is it dude?” Vinyl turned her head. “I never knew this little town had such life, it…it feels different than Canterlot. It feels different in a good way?” “That’s because it is different in a good way. Everypony knows everypony down here, that’s not exaggerating either.” “But why does this place seem so happy and jubilant? I’ve honestly never seen such ponies that seem so happy with their lives?” “Because it’s not about fame and fortune up where you live, it’s about life and enjoying it down here. Sure yeah, you need a job down here, so what it teaches you discipline too that you need to work to get ahead in life. This is how life should be, not being dependent on somepony else’s riches.” She stated. Maestro knew then she had a point. Perhaps there really was in fact more to life than those Canterlot streets filled with moneybags and seemingly fake laughter and smiles. “So…this is life down here.” “Shoot yeah it is, how is it up there? You never told me how it is up there for yourself. Octy’s told me how she feels about it, it doesn’t bother her, but I want to know from somepony like you.” said Vinyl. “Well…do you have a-” “Place to chill at? You know I do. Come on, I’ll show ya.” Vinyl then takes his hoof once again by her hoof and leads him in the direction of her house. But why exactly for one did she want to know from him, about a subject she heard from Octavia already? Why was she taking only him along too? Another thing, why was she grabbing a hold of his hoof so many times? Could there be something going on here?” “Alrighty then, here she is…check it out.” Vinyl flips the lights on in her living room, and there was music equipment scattered in the middle of the room. “Oh yeah, that, I was just recording a song or two last night when I was bored, nothing much.” “You’re a music artist?” “You know it! I’m Vinyl Scratch for my actual name, but my DJ name is DJ-Pon-3.” She then brings out her shades and puts them on. “You know, the word pony, but I decided to give it a little more flare by giving it a number three in place of the letter “y” you see? Still making the “e” sound.” “Yes, I understand.” Maestro was still looking around, noticing a bunch of lighting equipment in one corner, and speakers in another. “You seem to take your work pretty seriously.” “Yeah, this is my passion, I love doing this stuff. Mixing songs and putting them out there for the whole world to listen to.” “Wow…that’s amazing!” “Would you like to hear some of my work?” “I don’t see why not?” “Awesome. I’ll be right back then!” Vinyl then rushes upstairs to get some equipment, as Maestro continues looking around her intriguing home. He had never seen such an eye-catching place; it was unlike anything he had ever seen before in his life. First off from this trip, he learned that there was more to life than money and living off of somebody else. If you get out there and work, you’ll make it in life, but if you don’t then you won’t become successful, and get to do what you really want to do in life. He also realized that this town was not as bad as it seemed. In the back of his mind, he was even thinking about living here whenever he had the money to, which hopefully shouldn’t be a problem getting the money he needed. “Um, hey Maestro, could you help me up here for a minute? I need to get this speaker down there, but I can’t do it by myself?” she yelled out to him from upstairs. “Oh uh sure, I’m on my way up as we speak.” He makes his way up, to the sight of her trying to move a large speaker downstairs to where the rest of the equipment was. “Uh yeah, just grip on wherever, and I’ll push my way down there.” Said Vinyl, as she proceeds to push it, but then knowing after that she didn’t want to damage the bottom of it. So she told him to stop and leave it where it was so she could situate it right to push down her stairs. “Just put…not there Maestro, put your hoof there.” “Right here?” “No, right there.” She then grabbed his hoof right in front of him once again, and placed it over her other hoof by accident as she was designating it with both hoofs. “Um…okay now, sooo…” Vinyl drew away her hoof feeling kind of weird now, but quickly looking back at him, then the speaker. “Vinyl.” “So yeah, we could probably do that I would think.” “Vinyl…” As he kept on babbling about moving the blasted thing like and idiot to cover up the awkwardness she felt. “Vinyl Scratch.” He called out to her a third time. “Uh…yeah?” she then looked away, pretending to look for something she acted like she was missing. “May I ask why you did that?” “Did what? I…I don’t know what you’re talking about. Here, let’s just get this thing down there okay?” she replied. Maestro then sighed, and then went on managing to lift it down to where she needed it hooked up in the wall. “Okay, phew, we did it finally, bout time am I right?” she elbowed him in the side. “You still didn’t answer my question.” “What question?” Vinyl was trying to dodge it, making it seem to him like something had or had bothered her in the past. “I can tell something’s on your mind, Vinyl.” “What? You hardly even know me? How could you possibly-” “Vinyl Scratch…why don’t you just have a seat there okay? I’d rather hear you out than plug in a speaker at the moment.” Vinyl then stopped herself and sighed. “Well…okay I guess.” The two of them sat down on her couch as she takes off her glasses once again. “Okay now, you’re right Vinyl, you and I hardly know each other, but I am a stallion of my word. Anything you tell me will not leave the premises of this house, understand? I am willing to be that open-minded to your thoughts.” He assures her. “Okay, well…it does have something to do…with…” “Yes?” “Octavia…for one, she always gets the guys, always gets the love, always gets…or well…used to get all the fame.” “What are you getting at here?” “I just…” she then looks away from him. “You’re fine Vinyl, being raised in an orphanage does have its ways of understanding people.” “You were raised in an orphanage? What?” “That will be for another time, now continue.” “Oh right, sorry. Well…it’s just well…” “You can tell me.” “I’ve never really known what it’s like to…well…having somepony love me.” she replied, as her ears went down a bit, and she looked away from him again. Maestro figured she must have been jealous that Octavia has gotten all of these good things happen to her in her life, and Vinyl felt like she was always the one left out it seemed in their distant friendship…distant literally. They lived in two different places. Maestro had never been in a relationship in his life either, neither did he have experience of course, so he didn’t have a full solution to it…but only one perhaps. He looked back at her, then to another part of the room, as they sat there silent between each other. “I’m sorry you feel that way. I never knew that you had to deal with all of that?” “It’s fine, really it is. I don’t care anymore. But if only I could’ve ever wondered what it would be like to even have someone like one of her boyfriends? I figured she would’ve maybe even referred some stallions that are her fans about me, and maybe they would like to get to know me better. She had Silver Strings, and I had to help her get that jerk out of her life. That was hard enough trying to then pick up the pieces for her.” She continued on for another five minutes or so, explaining her entire point of view on this and other subjects appropriately branched off of the topic. He could see her jealousy she has to conceal from one of her best friends, and she does an awfully good job at it too Maestro would admit. But his mind however thought of something crazy…very, very crazy indeed to possibly make Vinyl have her problem solved somewhat. “Ya know? That’s what I feel about the subject, and I’m glad that you were willing to hear me out Maestro, that means a lot. But heck, she’s the one to always end up kissing her lovers, what do I get? I don’t see the-” Maestro then interrupted her, and then leaned in closer, kissing her on the mouth. He then drew away from her, seeing her face red as can be. She was speechless, and just looked at him, but it’s all he thought to do to perhaps give her a taste of what it felt like to be kissed, since she never had a boyfriend which he found to be a shocker to him. “I…um…M-Maestro?” “Now you know how it feels.” She merely nodded her head, as she then smiled and off of the couch, now hooking up her music equipment, still not wanting to say a word. One thing’s for sure now, she now had grown infatuated over him, but she knew she needed to stay true to one of her closest friends. Maestro now had a feeling of guilt float over him like a cloud, but leaving Vinyl smiling with her back facing him. “I…I can’t believe I did that? Octavia…I’m…I’m so…sorry. What have I done for this?” his mind then had a flurry of thoughts come to him as to what would happen now between him, a delicate relationship, and the gorgeous Cello player of Canterlot, Octavia.