//------------------------------// // Day 13 // Story: The Royal Ponyville Orchestra // by Distaff Pope //------------------------------// To everything there is a cost, an inherent balance to the universe that makes the negative events more palatable and serves to humble us at the moments of our greatest victory. In my case, after spending a very lovely evening with Vinyl, I awoke suddenly remembering why sleeping on a hardwood floor is a very unpleasant idea. I rolled over several times, trying to find a position that wouldn’t exacerbate my sore back. Unfortunately, my tossing and turning had the side effect of waking up my roommate. Vinyl groaned. “Not now, it’s too early,” she turned to roll away from me. “I’m sorry, Vinyl, I was just trying to resituate myself, I didn’t mean to disturb you.” She turned back to face me and rubbed the sleep out of her eyes with one forehoof while the other found its way around my barrel. “Oh hey,” she planted a light kiss on my cheek, “Did you just get up?” I nodded my head, “Apparently, my body vehemently rejected the idea of sleeping on the floor amongst your records.” As if to emphasize my point, a stack of records chose that moment to fall over and bury one of my legs. “Oh really,” she smiled, “I didn’t think it was that terrible, and it seemed like you were enjoying yourself as well.” I had no choice but to return the smile, “Let me clarify then, when I was conscious, the night was wonderful. It was only when I was sleeping that any issues between my back and the floor arose.” “So then, what do you want to do today?” She asked, “Lay around a bit more?” “I would love to,” I said, “But if I have to spend another minute on this floor I think I might go insane. At the very least, I don’t think my back could ever forgive me.” “Well, we could always move over to my bed,” Vinyl said. “Did that mold monster ever grow back?” “You mean Moldy? Yeah, he was pretty upset about you almost killing him, but it was nothing that an offering of pizza wouldn’t fix.” My brow furrowed, as I was unable to tell whether or not Vinyl was joking, “Please tell me you didn’t give an offering to the mold in your room.” “What?” Vinyl said, “I didn’t want my two roommates fighting.” “Vinyl, it’s mold. It’s not sentient, and it needs to be destroyed.” “Tavi, that’s just racist, after all your talk about how earth ponies are constantly discriminated against, I can’t believe you’d be so quick to judge a giant blob of sentient mold.” I really wanted to point out that her reasoning was fallacious, but unfortunately was unable to think of any objections. “Fine, I might have been a bit hasty when it came to judging the giant blob of mold currently living in your bedroom.” “Good, now I won’t be having you two meet today because Moldy is still upset about the… you know, attempted murder.” “You aren’t telling me it can talk are you?” “Yeah, of course it can talk, I mean, how else would I know it was upset?” Nope, no, there was no giant talking mold blob in Vinyl’s room, this was just some sort of joke on Vinyl’s part. A very poor joke. Because having a sentient mold monster living in your bedroom is just… That is crossing the line of what I am willing to believe exists in a sane reality, even accepting Ponyville’s certain peculiarities. “That… let’s just go to my bedroom, shall we? We wouldn’t want to disturb Moldy.” “Whatever you say, Tavi,” Vinyl said, getting up on her hooves. I followed suit, careful not to disturb the room any more than I already had. Unfortunately, my plan to spend the morning in bed with Vinyl was interrupted be as a knocking came from downstairs before we could reach the bedroom. “I wonder who that could be,” I wondered, stopping my trot to my room. “Come on Tavi, whatever it is, I’m sure it can wait. Besides, it is too early to be dealing with other ponies.” “Now Vinyl, the start of a romance, no matter how wonderful it is, is no reason to shirk our social responsibilities. Somepony downstairs might need our assistance, and denying them our aid would be selfish.” Vinyl groaned, “Why does my marefriend have to be so fussy and particular?” “Because,” I said flatly, “You need somepony fussy and particular to keep you from cultivating sentient mold monsters in your former bedroom.” “Wait, former bedroom?” She asked as we headed downstairs. I nodded my head, “Obviously I am not about to let somepony I care about sleep in a room that is so… revolting, and since you refuse to let me clean it, you will just have to sleep in my room from now on.” It seems I learned quite a bit about making a win-win scenario from my time spent with Rarity. “Well,” Vinyl said, “When you put it like that, how can I say no.” “Glad that you see reason,” I said as we reached the downstairs landing, “Now, let’s find out who decided to bother us at…” I checked the clock mounted on the wall, “One in the afternoon.” I had stayed up far too late last night. Mentally chastising myself for my own slothfulness, I sighed and opened the door, to find a very surprised Bon Bon now knocking on thin air. “Oh, hello Octavia, I had been out here for so long I was starting to think you were out on business. Is Vinyl up yet?” I nodded, opening the door wider to reveal my roommate. “You will have to excuse me, we both slept in rather late this morning and were only just waking up when you knocked. Please, come in.” Bon Bon smiled at that, and I felt the old urge to correct her line of thinking, although in this instance, whatever she was imagining was absolutely completely correct. If I was lucky, only half of the town would have an update about on our relationship before sundown. “Thank you,” she said, accepting my invitation into the house, before turning to face my roommate. “Vinyl, you’ve always been… no, let me start over. You and Lyra are…” She frowned, unable to think of a coherent response. “Take your time, Bon Bon,” I said, sympathetic towards the pony’s inability to speak coherently. “It’s…” She paused again and took a deep breath, “I am going to propose to Lyra at Anthrocon and since you are her friends, I would appreciate it if you came with us to celebrate.” Vinyl was positively beaming, “You are finally going to tie the knot? Of course I will go with you to celebrate, although if you want to be alone when you pop the question, I will be more than happy to get out of your hair for a bit.” I felt obligated to come and support my friends, especially considering Lyra’s support of the orchestra, but on the other hoof, I really didn’t want to something called Anthrocon. Bon Bon turned to face me, “What about you Octavia? I know you just moved here, but we both consider you to be a dear friend and would be positively delighted if you could accompany us.” Oh, playing the friendship card, that’s just… low. How is any decent pony supposed to raise an objection? “When you put it like that,” I said, doing my best to smile magnanimously and not grimace, “How could I possibly say no?” “I’m glad to hear that,” she said, “I hope you don’t mind that I already purchased your ticket and taken care of your room reservations. We will be staying in the Maritrot next to the convention center and obviously the two of you will have your own room.” She winked conspiratorially, “Although I hope you don’t mind that you will have to share the bed.” Apparently a pony can have 90% of the blood in their body rush to their head and still survive. Vinyl noticed my discomfort and immediately moved into reassurance mode, “It’s alright Tavi, you’re among friends, there is no need to freak out.” I took a few seconds to collect myself before responding, “I am aware of that Vinyl, and I thank you for trying to calm me, but I don’t feel like I am going to have one of my panic attacks. In fact,” I said, taking another steadying breath, “I think I am fine at the moment. Don’t get me wrong, I am still slightly embarrassed, but I don’t think this will push me over the edge.” Vinyl and Bon Bon blinked in shock, “Really?” Vinyl asked after a few seconds. “Yes, Vinyl, you’re acting like I am on the verge of falling to pieces at any given second.” “Well,” Vinyl said, “I mean, I love you and all, but you do tend to freak out about like… anything.” “That… I understand I have some issues I need to work past, but I am not going to fly off the handle at the drop of a hat.” “Alright, I am sorry,” Vinyl said, moving to kiss the spot on my neck that, as we discovered last night, makes my left leg twitch slightly. If the feeling wasn’t ever so delightful, I would have been irritated at her for displaying such affection in front of Bon Bon. As it was, I was willing to let this violation of decorum slide as Bon Bon was a dear friend and the kiss was far too pleasant for me to care. I have only been in a proper relationship for two days and I am already acting like a common trollop. While I do love Vinyl, the fear that being in a relationship will start to change some fundamental aspect of my nature has been lurking in the shadows of my consciousness for quite some time. But all those thoughts were academic, at the moment, I was quite content to let my marefriend kiss me while a dear friend looked on. Finally, Vinyl ended the kiss and pulled away and I was able to regain my senses. “That… you… public…” Mostly regain my senses. “You are going to have to use sentences Tavi, I can’t understand random words.” I blinked a few times, as my brain struggled to form coherent sentences. “I… are you sure such a display of affection is appropriate in front of company?” “Oh no, you’re fine dear,” Bon Bon said, waving a hoof dismissively, “It’s nothing I haven’t seen before.” “Well then,” I said, chuckling uneasily, “Thank you for inviting us to Anthrocon, and feel free to visit us anytime you feel so inclined.” “Of course,” she said, “And thank you again for letting Lyra into the orchestra.” “I didn’t let her in,” I said, “Lyra earned her spot in the orchestra by being an absolutely amazing lyre player.” “Right, sorry, it’s just that ever since you accepted her into the orchestra she has been spending her time playing the lyre in the study as opposed to doing her research in the basement.” Bon Bon smiled at me, “Personally, I prefer the house being filled with music as opposed to Lyra’s mumbling.” I returned the smile, “Then I am happy I could help. Would you like to have breakfast with us?” She shook her head, “Sorry, I had breakfast before noon, and if I am out here too long Lyra is sure to come around wondering what happened to me, and that might lead to her asking questions and unraveling the whole surprise, so… I will see you later.” At that, she quickly walked out of the house, leaving Vinyl and I to stare at each other. “So…” I said, my brain struggling to process the events that had just happened, “Bon Bon is proposing to Lyra, I am going to something called Anthrocon, and I slept in until past noon.” I probably should have focused more on the first piece of news, but at the moment I was more concerned with what Anthrocon might entail. “Yeah, isn’t it great?” Vinyl asked, “I’ve been waiting for one of them to pop the question for years, but since Bon Bon’s parents are kind of conservative about the whole fillyfooling thing, Lyra thought it best to give Bon Bon her space and let her do the proposing and stuff. Ooh! I wonder if Bon Bon’s parents will be at the wedding, I haven’t met them yet.” “Oh yes… it’s wonderful,” I said, “Now about Anthrocon, what is that usually like? I am guessing a majority of the mares and stallions there have the social graces of… well, me, but sans my impeccable hygiene, grooming, and wit.” “First of all, are you more concerned about the fact that you are going to Anthrocon than you are that our friends are getting engaged, and second of all, when did you get so full of yourself?” “To answer the first question, of course not, but the details of the engagement seem largely out of my hooves, while I am more than capable of gathering information on Anthrocon, and to answer the second question, I am not, but I do try to maintain a semblance of social poise to mitigate the rest of my social shortcoming. I might not be excellent when it comes to relating to normal ponies or maintaining healthy relationships, but I like to think that I have mastered social propriety and the art of small talk. At the very least, I know how to groom myself, unlike some of those… marefillies.” Vinyl glared at me, “Didn’t we JUST have a talk about not discriminating against ponies based on pre-existing notions.” “Yes, but…” “No buts, if you don’t want ponies to judge you for being an earth pony, you need give them a fair chance as well.” Dammit Vinyl, what is the point of me opening up to you if you will use it against me at a later date? I sighed, “Alright, but I still don’t know how I will amuse myself at the convention.” “Well,” she said, “You can follow me around while I do… DJ-ey things, maybe they will let me play at Anthropalooza again this year, it’s a little late, but DJ-Pon3 is always in demand. That reminds me, I gotta write them a letter today and see if they need any entertainment.” “And if I don’t want to be deafened?” I asked. She tapped her hoof against her chin, “Hmm, I suppose you could go to one of the lounges where ponies just sit and talk.” “About humans.” “Yeah, but… I mean… there is other stuff going on, there are a lot of cool ponies at Anthrocon.” “Fine, I will put my best hoof forwards as I have been proven wrong before. For instance, the hootenanny the other day was rather enjoyable. Besides, I can probably just go to a bar outside of the convention center if- when the talk about humans gets overwhelming.” She nodded, “All I ask is that you give it a chance.” We moved to the kitchen, and I sat down at the table while Vinyl went about preparing our breakfast, “So, what do you want? I am thinking some Trot-Tarts would really hit the spot right about now.” She levitated a box of the colorful pastries out of her kitchen cabinet and I stifled the urge to roll my eyes. Of course she had a breakfast food commonly marketed towards fillies, because my marefriend had the sensibilities of a five-year old, which said volumes of unfortunate things about me. “I will pass on the Trot-Tarts, although an apple Danish would really hit the spot right now.” “I have Danish-flavored Trot-Tarts,” Vinyl said. “Fine, I will try some of your Trot-Tarts, I suppose there is a first time for everything.” “Wait,” Vinyl said, pulling the silver wrappers, “You never had Trot-Tarts before? Like, not even when you were a little kid?” I shook my head, “My parents wouldn’t allow me to eat such common fare when I was growing up, and after they kicked me out I had no interest in a foal’s food.” “Then you absolutely need to have some today, do you want them heated up or not?” “Hmm, what would you recommend?” I asked as she opened up the silver packaging. “Gotta go with room temp then,” she said, sliding the two pastries in the package towards me, “Eat up.” I picked up the first pastry with one hoof, and took a small nibble out of one of the corners of the confection. It was far far too sweet, and the sugar overwhelmed the taste of the almost certainly artificial apple flavoring. Still, it left me wanting more for some reason, and I quickly devoured the pastries. “They are good,” I said after a moment’s deliberation, “Completely horrendous and artificial, and I feel like a worse pony for having eaten them, but they have a pleasant enough taste, I can see why you like them.” “See,” she said, elbowing me, “You try new things and they might surprise you. Maybe you will wind up liking Anthrocon.” “Maybe,” I said, in an attempt to appease her, “I doubt it, but like I said, I will at least make an effort.” “Attagirl,” she leaned in and gave me a quick peck on the cheek, “I can’t ask that you enjoy everything I like, but I do ask that you give it a chance.” “Fair enough, just remember to return the favor when I am trying to convince you to attend the opera with me.” “Ugh,” Vinyl said, with an overly dramatic sigh, “If it will get you to loosen up then I guess I can go and tighten up a bit… or whatever you want to call it.” “Who knows,” I said, “You might even find yourself enjoying life’s more… sophisticated pursuits.” “Doubtful,” she said, taking a bite out of her own Trot-Tarts, “But if you can learn to like Trot-Tarts then I might grow to like haute cuisine, those hay frites were pretty tasty.” “Vinyl, we went over this already, hay frites do not constitute haute cuisine, they are what tourists order in Prance because they are too afraid to try anything that deviates from the norm.” “So then what should I order the next time we go to eat out at a fancy restaurant?” I sighed again, “They will have something that appeals to your tastes while still being proper cuisine. The next time we are at that restaurant, I will make a recommendation.” “Alright, fine,” she said, finishing her Trot-Tarts, “But you are going to Anthrocon right?” I nodded. “And you will try to have a good time?” More nodding “And when Bon Bon proposes to Lyra we will be there to celebrate?” “Of course, the only reason I even considered going to Anthrocon was so I could support my friends. How can you think I wouldn’t?” “Well,” she shrugged, “You are Tavi. Sometimes, you do stupid things in the name of propriety.” “That’s hardly fair,” I said, “Yes, I have a habit of doing stupid things in social situations but I would never do anything to disappoint one of my friends. I hold the preservation of those few relationships I have to be paramount on my list of priorities, and I would appreciate it if you would stop reminding me of all my past social failures. It hardly seems like the proper thing to do in a relationship.” “Yeah, I guess,” Vinyl said, “I mean, I don’t mean to chastise you, but at the same time, you’ve made such amazing progress, I don’t want to see you backslide.” “Vinyl, you are beginning to describe me like I am some sort of project. Please tell me that’s not the case.” “No, of course you aren’t just a project to me, you are this mare who is super uptight and kind of crazy but really absolutely beautiful once you get past all of that, I just want the rest of Equestria to see it too. I smiled and kissed the cheek that wasn’t obscured by her electric blue hair, “I thank you for trying to keep me in check, but my obsessive formality and even a bit of my madness are very much a core to my identity. You’re right that they shouldn’t be used to drive other ponies away, but they will always be a part of me, and I hope you accept them.” She nodded and let out a small sigh, “I know, I mean, you wouldn’t be Tavi if you weren’t like… crazy uptight, I just want you to be able to try new things and not assume that everything that isn’t high-class is bad.” I thought over her statement for a few seconds, trying to sort out whether she had used a double or triple-negative and decode her meaning before I responded, “That sounds acceptable, and you know what, when do you have your next concert?” “If by concert, you mean gig, then tonight at 8:00.” “Alright then,” I said, “I will join you at the festivities. Assuming you won’t mind having a mare of refined taste in attendance.” Vinyl laughed, “Sure, and I promise I won’t go around telling the ponies in Canterlot that you secretly listen to DJ-Pon3 in your spare time.” I smiled as I got to my hooves, “Then I am very much obliged, now if I am not mistaken, I need to go and help Rarity at her shop, I am sure she is quite busy designing costumes for fillies and colts.” “Yeah,” Vinyl said, moving to follow me, “And the rest of Ponyville.” I must admit, my knowledge of Nightmare Night customs is rather limited. Spending your youth in the only city in Equestria where Nightmare Night is banned will do that to most anypony. Then, when I finally did get out of Manehattan, I decided I was much too old to be dealing with such foalish frivolities, and so I generally ignored Nightmare Night, choosing to stay in my apartment and practice while the foals had their fun. Although, I did make the smallest of concessions towards the holiday by leaving a bowl of candy outside my door. So the very notion that grown mares and stallions would celebrate a holiday I had previously assumed was only for children was quite jarring, but I managed to take the news with grace and decorum, and I certainly didn’t burst out laughing uncontrollably for several minutes. “Are you done yet?” Vinyl asked after my fit of laughter had subsided. “Hold on a second,” I said, raising one forehoof up in the air, “It’s just… I never really imagined or expected grown adults to celebrate a foal’s holiday.” “Well,” she said, as we headed out on to the street towards Rarity’s shop, “It’s not a foal’s holiday, it’s a holiday for everypony to gather around and be terrorized by Nightmare Moon, or the old idea of her at least.” “Wait a minute,” I said, finally conquering my laughter, “How exactly does Princess Luna feel about this. I can’t imagine she would be too thrilled about everypony being terrified of her because of one mistake she made a millennium ago.” Vinyl nodded, “Yeah, she wasn’t that wild about it when she came to visit two years ago, but she eventually got into the spirit of the holiday?” “The spirit of the holiday?” I asked. “You know, enjoying being scared and letting all the craziness just taking you where it will. I mean, it’s Nightmare Night, are you sure you never did anything to celebrate.” I nodded my head, “I’m absolutely positive, Manehattan doesn’t celebrate Nightmare Night and when I left the city, I felt I was far too old to celebrate the holiday.” “Wow, why doesn’t Manehattan celebrate Nightmare Night?” Vinyl asked as we walked to Rarity’s. “It’s a rather long story,” I started, “But to summarize, the city was attacked by Luna at the start of the rebellion before Celestia could adequately martial her forces. When Celestia’s forces had arrived, the entire city was purged. The few survivors had fled to the harbor during the attack, and spent centuries rebuilding. However, we never allowed ourselves to forget the Lunar Rebellion, and any celebration of Nightmare Night was deemed disrespectful to our ancestors who gave their lives fighting her.” “Wow,” Vinyl said, “That is kind of… I am guessing Luna still isn’t that popular in Manehattan then?” I shrugged, “I am not particularly sure as I haven’t returned to the city since I left, although I hope Manehattanites will forgive her. Nightmare Moon is not the same as Princess Luna, and we can’t hold the actions of the one against the other.” Of course, that calm and reasoned assessment had nothing to do with my general affection and adoration for the Princess of the Night, nor did it have anything to do with the fact that she was my current employer. “Stil—” I was interrupted as a familiar pink pony suddenly bounced into my field of vision, her eyes locked with mine. “Hey Tavi, did you hear the news? Huh, did ya?” While I do count Miss Pie as a friend, I prefer having time to mentally prepare myself for any dealings with her. “Why, I have no idea what you refer to Miss Pie, could you be slightly more specific?” “Yeppoorooni,” she said, “You see, I was talking to Applejack today, and we were talking about family reunions, and she got to talking about her Auntie Apple Pie, that is Granny Smith’s sister, and I thought, ‘that’s funny, I had a Granny named Apple Pie,’ so we got to talking more about her, and it turns out her Auntie Apple pie is my Granny Pie, which means I am a cousin to one of my best friends—” If she and Applejack were cousins then that would mean… oh no. “Then she said, ‘well ain’t that just a hoot, Fiddlesticks was talkin’ to me just the other day and it turns out that fancy new cellist lady is a kin to us by way of the Oranges,’ so I took in this big gasp of air, like this,” she repeated the action, “Because that would mean—” Oh no. Please dear, sweet, merciful Celestia please don’t let this play out like I think it will. “That I am not related to just one of my best friends, but two—” Absolutely not. “Because the two of us are—” Please… no. “Cousins! But we are practically like sisters, we are sister cousins! Isn’t that exciting?” I let out a piteous whimper. “That’s great, Pinkie,” Vinyl said while patting me on the back reassuringly, “I think Tavi needs some time to process this news.” “Okey dokey lokey,” the pink pony said before bouncing off, while I sputtered and stammered ineffectively. “You alright, Tavi?” She asked, still patting me on the back. “I… guh… family?” “Yeah, but I mean, you are pretty distantly related, you probably don’t have any of her… crazier traits.” “Yay,” I muttered under my breath. “Anyways, you still want to go to Rarity’s or do you want to go back to our house to cope?” “No,” I said, finally regaining my voice, “I think spending time at Rarity’s will serve as the best therapy. Besides, I am a mare of my word.” “Well then, if you’re sure, let’s keep going, and hey, if Pinkie is in your family tree then she will probably get you just… a super awesome birthday present, I mean, she gets everypony awesome birthday presents so…” I nodded my head, happy to listen to my roommate talk as we walked before finally arriving at Carousel Boutique. The place was positively swarmed with ponies, milling about and looking through the costumes Rarity had put on display. “Ah, you made it,” Rarity said, moving over to embrace Vinyl and I, “And just in time, the shop has been absolutely packed all day, and I haven’t had a moment to work on the few commissioned costumes I haven’t yet managed to put the finishing touches on. I was planning on taking care of it tonight, but if you can help mind the selling floor, I might be able to get some sleep tonight.” “Hey, speaking of costumes,” Vinyl said, before Rarity cut her off. “You requested the spacemare costume, correct?” Vinyl nodded as the fashionista levitated a suit over towards my roommate, “Is this about what you had in mind?” “Yeah,” she said, appraising the incredibly shiny outfit, “Looks great, gonna be a real scream this Nightmare Night.” “Glad to hear it, darling,” Rarity said, “And thank you for paying in advances, your twenty bits were greatly appreciated.” “Wait, twenty bits?” I asked, “That seems rather cheap considering the quality of materials you used.” “Yes, the twenty bits barely covers the cost of materials, but I always say that everypony deserves to have a wonderful Nightmare Night costume. Do you have a costume planned out yet, or will I have another last minute commission?” “I actually don’t celebrate Nightmare Night,” I said as Rarity gasped dramatically. “Yeah, she is kind of weird about it, apparently Manehattan doesn’t celebrate the holiday, and then she figured she was too old to celebrate it when she got to Canterlot.” “But my dear, one is never too old to celebrate Nightmare Night. The holiday has something for mares and stallions of all ages, and of course, it doesn’t hurt that the days leading up to the holiday are some of the busiest days I have in the shop.” “Well, that’s wonderful,” I said, “But even if I wanted to celebrate the holiday this year,” I wasn’t, “I am much too busy working to prepare the orchestra to take time off to celebrate the holiday. The next few weeks are going to be rather trying.” Although I could take time off to help friends and need and go all the way to Anthrocon. My reluctance certainly had nothing to do with the fact that I really didn’t want to break my twenty year streak of not celebrating Nightmare Night. Besides, I would most likely be too preoccupied doing whatever I had to do to deal with Discord to properly celebrate the holiday (Assuming his earlier statements weren’t just some joke). Rarity let out another one of her laughs, “Of course darling, now I must be getting back to work, you can work the register right?” I nodded my head and moved towards the register, with Vinyl following along behind me. “Hey Tavi,” she said, after I reached the register, “I am going to go get ready for my show tonight, I’ll see you later?” “Of course,” I said, smiling at her. “Great, see you at the show.” Before I could form a suitable response, she had swooped in and planted a kiss on my neck, while I worked to keep my back leg from involuntarily kicking. Yes, I should have objected to her kissing me in public, but again, my brain was unable to marshal an objection. I mentally chastised myself for acting like such a harlot in public. “Alright, I will see you there,” I said as my roommate pulled away and trotted towards the door. Around me, none of the ponies that witnessed our public display of affection seemed to have reacted negatively or even noticed. Perhaps such displays were tolerated in Ponyville, or perhaps they were whispering about Vinyl and I already. They had already taken bets about when the two of us would start dating, the idea that they would discuss the more intimate details of our romantic life did not strike me as inconceivable. Thankfully, I had never had the distinct… pleasure of working a retail job before. Most of my minutes behind the counter blurred together, one interminable minute following the other, as I contemplated the idea of bashing my head against the nearest solid surface until all conscious thought left me. Occasionally, we would break from the tedium so that I could deal with a truly unbearable customer. “Excuse me,” an unfamiliar turquoise earth pony said, “I ordered the princess costume for my daughter, the order is under Spring Bloom.” I checked the records and found the order, “Of course,” I said, “Just give me a second and I will go get your costume.” “Well, my daughter changed her mind, she doesn’t want to be a princess anymore.” This… this probably would not end well. I had only been working in retail for about an hour, but I had already learned to despise any customers who wished to change their order. Still, I smiled and kept my voice even, “Well, Miss Rarity has designed a wide assortment of non-commissioned costumes for last minute purchases, I am sure she will find something that catches her fancy.” The mare shook her head, “My little darling wants to be Daring Do, and we can’t find a single one in stock. So Rarity’ll just have to make a new one.” Huh, that was funny; my eye was beginning to twitch, “You do understand that we are just two days from Nightmare Night, and Rarity is already busy enough designing costumes that were commissioned in advance? There simply isn’t enough time for her to craft a Daring Do costume before Friday.” “Oh, so you speak for Rarity now? Does she know her hired help is speaking to the customer with such a condescending tone?” Ah righteous fury, it has been so long since I had a suitable target to bear the brunt of my ire. Still, I would hate to damage Rarity’s business even if the customer very much deserved everything I could throw at them. “I understand your frustration miss, but I am sure we can reach a suitable compromise.” “You want to tell a paying customer what they can and can’t have? Who the hay do you think you are? My baby wants to be Daring Do this Nightmare Night and I am not going to tell her that some snobby little clerk with a stupid Hoofington accent ruined her dreams.” There was a time for diplomacy and a time for verbal annihilation, I smiled, “Miss Bloom, it seems you are laboring under a few misconceptions, misconceptions I hope to clear up for you. The first one is that I am a simple clerk. A perfectly understandable mistake as I am standing behind a cash register and taking orders like a clerk, however, I am only helping Rarity out because she is a very dear friend of mine who would move Equestria to help a pony in need. The rest of my time I am employed by Princess Luna to form the Royal Ponyville Orchestra, and have regular correspondences with both Luna and Princess Twilight Sparkle.” The sight of the blood draining from her face was ever so satisfying, and I pressed on, “The second misconception of yours is that you think it is okay to talk to anypony like you were speaking to me. I don’t care how well off you are, but you really should treat everypony with a basic modicum of respect. Not only is it the proper and polite thing to do, but the way you treat ponies you see as beneath you speaks volumes about your character. Finally, you seem to believe that everypony is obligated to cater to your whims and that Rarity is somehow obligated to design a new costume for your daughter just two days before Nightmare Night. Now, I am more than happy to call Rarity down here, explain everything that has transpired, and then let her decide whether or not she will work on your daughter’s new costume, or you can take the princess costume, pay your twenty bits, and teach your daughter some valuable lesson about how the world works. The choice is yours.” To my great shock, Miss Bloom decided to pay her twenty bits and sheepishly walk out of the boutique. I permitted myself to smile until the next customer, a pink unicorn filly who walked around wearing a diamond tiara, approached. “Are you looking to finish off your princess costume?” I asked. “Puh-lease, everypony is dressing up as a princess, my daddy commissioned a cyborg costume for me.” I tried to smile, “I am sorry, the tiara just led me to believe that…” I noticed her cutie mark was also a diamond tiara. “You know what, never mind.” “Whatever,” she said, “Anyways, I don’t know why Daddy is shopping here, this shop is owned by that stupid blank flank’s sister.” That, okay, yes, she was rude, but she was still a paying customer. Perhaps a minor reprimand would be suitable. “There’s nothing wrong with not having discovered your special talent. It took me quite some time to discover the cello.” She snorted, “Those dumb ponies are probably going to spend their entire lives without a talent, just messing up everything they do.” “Well,” I said, still smiling, “Perhaps you could enlighten them by telling them how you earned your cutie mark in… what is your special talent?” “It… my talent is…” “Wearing a diamond tiara?” I asked, filling in for her. “No! It’s… my talent is…” I smiled at her patiently, waiting for her to come up with a response. “Take your time.” She reached into her saddlebag and tossed her bits at me, “Just… give me my costume.” “Of course,” I said, turning to grab the cyborg costume, and noting it was commissioned for one “Diamond Tiara.” So her name, cutie mark, and favored article of clothing were the same thing and she complained about other ponies lacking a special talent? Did I detect the faint whiff of insecurity? Miss Tiara grabbed her cyborg costume and ran off, “Please have a wonderful day.” After that, things went back to being far less interesting, or at least I stopped caring so much about the few terrible customers I had to deal with. Mostly respectable ponies asked me for a costume, they gave me bits, I gave them their costume, and then went back to contemplating how terrible it would be to do this job every day. Worse yet, some ponies had a special talent in retail sales. While I suppose it might be possible for an extroverted pony to enjoy helping the very worst of equinity every day, the job was not for me, and I made a mental note to generously tip the next waiter or waitress I met. Several hours, or lifetimes later, the shop finally closed and I was alone with Rarity. “So,” I said as she moved switched the sign in her shop from open to closed, “I feel that went… slightly better than last time.” “What are you talking about, dear? Today was marvelous, I finished off all of my costumes and might actually be able to celebrate Nightmare Night this year. I really can’t find anything to complain about.” I laughed, “That’s because you didn’t have to work retail.” She returned the laugh, “I suppose you’re right, darling. Are you sure I can’t interest you in a Nightmare Night costume. It would be my gift to you.” Her eyes twinkled. “I am absolutely certain, Rarity, but I thank you for the offer.” “Well then,” she said, “I simply must have you and Vinyl over sometime. I will get out my best bottle of wine and you can tell me how you are finding Ponyville.” “That sounds lovely,” I said, “I am sure Vinyl will be more than happy to join me, but I’m afraid it can’t be tonight as I promised I would go to one of her… ‘gigs.’” Rarity laughed at that, “Oh dear, that sounds like it will be quite the… experience for you.” I nodded, “It’s not exactly my idea of a wonderful evening, but I hear that it’s important to support the ponies who are dear to you, so I thought I might as well make an effort. Besides, it can’t be that horrible compared to the other things I have faced in this down. It certainly won’t be worse than what happened last week.” We both agreed with that sentiment, and I felt a tingle of dread run down my spine. “At least, it shouldn’t be.” I hastily added, “Of course, there is still a very outside possibility that something terrible will happen.” Her eyes narrowed as she appraised me, “Octavia, darling, are you all right?” “Yes, I’m fine,” I said, “I just hate tempting fate, especially while still inside Ponyville.” “I understand your concern dear, Vinyl explained it to me the other day, but don’t you feel you are overreacting a touch?” I glared at her. “No.” “Of course, would you like me to accompany you to Vinyl’s party?” “I’m fine,” I said, shaking my head, “But I thank you for offering.” “Well then,” she said, “I look forward to seeing you tomorrow. I believe wine will be a wonderful way to celebrate the orchestra’s first performance.” “Yes, and if things go poorly,” which they will, I mentally added, “I can drown my sorrows.” Rarity laughed, “Octavia dear, you really do need to think positive. The world isn’t out to get you.” Although I had twelve diary entries that spoke to the contrary, I nodded my head and told Rarity that I would work on it. To her credit, the last few days had been rather wonderful even if it was in spite of this town’s best efforts. After a few more minutes of conversation, I nodded my head at her and trotted out the door before realizing that I had absolutely no idea where I was going. “Shit,” I muttered under my breath as I looked around the town. The streets were empty and a chill wind was blowing through the air. A list of possible party locations ran through my mind, I knew the party was being hosted by Pinkie Pie, but that didn’t help me deduce WHERE she was throwing the party. As I wandered Ponyville’s desolate streets, an idea entered my mind. While I might not be able to find the location of the party, I could find somepony who knew where the party was but was unlikely to attend herself. Unfortunately, that other pony was one of Equestria’s ruling Princesses, and might take issue with my using her as a glorified map. Still, I would rather risk earning her ire than disappointing Vinyl (Because supporting my marefriend is well worth the risk of upsetting one of the four rulers of Equestria… somehow). I knocked on the door of Twilight’s palace/library/tree, and her dragon opened the door. “Oh, hey Tavi, are you looking for Twilight?” I nodded. “Sorry, she’s not here at the moment, she’s off at Pinkie’s block party. I’m kind of surprised you’re not there right now, like the entire town is there.” I sighed, “I am aware of that, and am trying to find out where the block party is. Is there any chance you can point me in the right direction?” “Yeah, sure, just head on the apartment complex on the east side of town.” “Apartment complex?” He nodded, “I know, Ponyville doesn’t look like the type of town that would have an apartment complex, and I guess they aren’t REALLY apartments, but they are the closest thing Ponyville has.” I thanked the dragon for his help and walked towards the east side of town. Strangely enough, although I lived on the east side of town and was somewhat familiar with the towns environs, I had never noticed any buildings that even remotely resembled an apartment. Most of the town’s east side seemed to consist of the town homes similar to my current dwelling. There were several very long two story buildings, and they were divided into individual units that ponies called home. The houses were certainly close together, but I wouldn’t consider them apartments. Perhaps the complex was on the outskirts of town. As I walked to the eastern side of town, I caught myself shivering. I decided that Vinyl probably wouldn’t be too terribly upset if I stopped by the house to put on a light coat to better shield myself from the mid-autumn weather, especially since Spike (That was the dragon’s name, correct?) indicated that the party would be outside. Walking back to the house, I detected a faint throbbing noise in the air that increased in intensity the closer I got to my street. As the house came into view, I could also see a thronging mass of ponies gathered on the street, swarming around a stage with Vinyl at the center of it. “So, my house is apparently considered part of an apartment complex,” I said to nopony in particular. Sighing, I headed into the dancing masses in the hopes of making my way back to the apartment. Approximately halfway through the horde, I found myself unable to progress any further as I reached what seemed to be a solid mass of ponies. Now that I was closer to the center of the maelstrom, the faint throbbing had become absolutely unbearable, and I could feel the very ground shaking with each beat of whatever song Vinyl was playing. I was strongly tempted to cover my ears as the windows around me shook and ponies bobbed their heads in time with the beat, but decided against it as I was unable to move my forehooves up past my barrel. I sighed and turned to face the pony near me. She was magenta colored and had smiling flowers for a cutie mark. I vaguely recalled seeing her during my first day in Ponyville. “So,” I said, “How are you liking the party?” “What?!” She yelled, “I can’t hear you.” “I said, are you enjoying yourself?!” I asked, raising my voice. “Oh yeah, Pinkie sure knows how to throw a party, and Vinyl can always keep the music going until dawn.” Until dawn, did these things actually go on until the early morning? I couldn’t conceive of anypony wanting to listen to that obnoxious booming noise until dawn, but then, I couldn’t imagine anypony wanting to listen to that obnoxious booming at all. Still, Vinyl’s music was important to her, and it seemed a great many ponies enjoyed it, I thought as I elbowed my way over to what I assumed to be the refreshment table, where I poured myself a glass of punch. My first sip verified that it had been spiked. I took another. I stood for some time, listening to the deafening music, watching ponies jump up and down and write in what could charitably be described as dancing. As I listened, I found myself focusing more and more on Vinyl’s (admittedly simplistic) beats, and was horrified to discover that my body had started moving in time with the music, my flank was swaying back and forth, and I noticed at least a few mares and stallions glancing at me. I quickly stopped and took another sip of my drink while pondering how Vinyl’s music could make my body move without my consent. My best theory was that the deep bass was somehow able to override the conscious mind and tap into some primal instinctual urge to dance. The longer the night wore on, the more I caught myself dancing to the music, until I eventually decided that stopping myself from dancing wasn’t a battle I could win and let the music take me where it would. This decision certainly wasn’t influenced by the copious number of drinks I had consumed by that point. This went fairly well, at first. I danced in the fashion that seemed to be so popular at the party, although a more accurate descriptor would be that I flailed around like a pony having an epileptic fit, and slowly found myself moving towards the stage, allowing for a better look at my marefriend. She was positively resplendent. Her goggles obscured her eyes, and she focused on her turntables with a dagger like intensity. Sweat beaded her brow as the stage lights shone down upon her beautiful white coat, and her electric blue mane was matted down to her head. Vinyl’s horn was glowing the same color as her mane, and my hesitations about her music vanished. I loved her, and at that moment, I loved her music, as it was merely an extension of her, but not just that, it was her. Her passion, her joy, her efforts all focused on this work, and one could not love one without loving the other, and her love for her craft eventually infected everypony listening to her. The love filled the crowd, and I could feel it weighing down on and crushing me. No, on second thought, that wasn’t love that was crushing me. It was the ponies that surrounded me, moving closer to the sound system, and in doing so, constricting my ability to breathe. I opened my mouth to try to scream, but was unable to find the air. My limbs flailed around as I desperately tried to push the other ponies away, but they pushed back, thinking I was merely dancing. As my vision blackened, my eyes drifted to the night sky, allowing me to see Luna’s night one last time before I died as Vinyl’s music filled my ears. There was even a rainbow, streaking across the sky and growing larger with every second, which should have been impossible, but then, this town doesn’t know the meaning of the word. Considering all the other ways this town had attempted to end my life, this had to be one of the better ones, and as I felt my corporeal body ascending to the heavens, I looked down and saw Vinyl staring at me. With my last ounce of strength, I waved down at her and wished her luck before finally falling into oblivion.