//------------------------------// // Interlude // Story: The Royal Ponyville Orchestra // by Distaff Pope //------------------------------// 1 Canterlot Castle, Canterlot November 2, 1588 Vinyl Scratch 138 Chestnut Street, Ponyville Dear Vinyl Scratch, We wish to write to inquire about the well-being of our friend and employee Octavia Melody while also keeping you abreast of updates in the realm. After several correspondences with the mayors of various towns across Equestria, we have determined that every city in Equestria (save Manehattan) was affected by Discord’s spell, and we are currently dispatching crisis counseling teams to help those who need it. On that note, we have arranged things so that Octavia’s old therapist Doctor Whooves will be arriving to serve as Ponyville's crisis counselor for the next several months, although if the spell worked as Discord claimed, the number of ponies negatively impacted should be minimal, meaning he will have plenty of time to focus on the few cases that do need his attention. Speaking of Discord, we feel we should write to inform you that after speaking with Fluttershy, Discord has now offered to make amends to Octavia by whatever methods she requests. However, we thought it best to keep him away from her until she has had some chance to recover. We eagerly await your reply concerning the well-being of our friend. Sincerely, Princess Luna Royal Diarch of Equestria, Princess of the Night, and Warden of the Dreamlands   138 Chestnut Street, Ponyville November 4, 1588 Princess Luna 1 Canterlot Castle, Canterlot Dear Princess Luna, What gives? You said you would be watching over Tavi’s dreams to prevent nightmares and stuff, well last night, she woke up at like three in the morning and wouldn’t stop crying. I mean, I tried to help her out, but she hasn’t been responding but I don’t know how to fix this. Before it was easy, I’d just remind her that everything was okay and eventually she’d calm back down, but not now. I mean, it’s not okay is it? She felt things that nopony should feel, and then she felt them again and again and again. You and I both saw what she went through, and it’s tough to come out of that okay, but you know, she was handling it pretty well because she thought her friends needed her help, but now that we don't, she's just kind of shutdown. She doesn’t inquire about how her friends are doing or display any interest in the outside world, she just lays in bed staring at the ceiling and occasionally rolling over to look at her cello longingly. When I try to talk to her she responds, and she is still kind of affectionate, but when she looks at me, it’s like neither of us are really there if that makes sense. We are supposed to go to AnthroCon this weekend, but I don’t know if we can now. Tavi certainly isn’t up to it, and I don’t think leaving her alone for too long would be a good idea. So I ask you again, what can I do? I want to fix this, to make things better somehow, but I don’t know what to say or do. I am doing everything I can think of to make things better, but none of it is working. At this point, I’m open to any suggestions you might have. Sincerely, Vinyl Scratch DJ 1 Canterlot Castle, Canterlot November 4, 1588 Vinyl Scratch 138 Chestnut Street, Ponyville Dear Vinyl Scratch, First let me say that I am terribly sorry about being unable to protect Octavia’s dreams during every moment of the night. Since Nightmare Night, I have been busy working to protect the Dreamlands from a Nightwalker incursion, and as such, have not been able to devote as much time protecting the dreams of individual subjects as I would like. Still, I have done my best to check up on her and end any nightmares that I come across. We hope you understand that as much as we I would like to, I cannot neglect my royal duties for the well-being of one pony, no matter how dear she is to us. Perhaps the only remedy to Octavia’s current plight is time and the company of her true friends. In the hopes of facilitating that, I have taken the liberty of booking two rooms aboard the HMS Triumphant to be leaving from Manehattan Tuesday of this next week. You may bring any friends you wish with you, if they can find the time to come with you. As for the orchestra, if I must choose between it being ready by the Winter Moon Celebration and ensuring that Octavia has been able to sufficiently recover, I will choose the latter, although I must admit that I still wish for both, and I hope you can find somepony to lead the orchestra during Octavia’s convalescence. If you can find any suitable replacements for Octavia on such short notice, please inform me promptly and I will send them a letter informing me of the situation. Sincerely, Princess Luna Royal Diarch of Equestria, Princess of the Night, and Warden of the Dreamlands 138 Chestnut Street, Ponyville November 5, 1588 Princess Luna 1 Canterlot Castle, Canterlot Dear Princess Luna, Great news! Tavi finally started writing in her journal thingy yesterday, it’s the first Tavi-like thing she’s done all week. I mean, she’s still not all normal, she woke up last night and just kind of started sobbing/screaming, but it’s something right? Although to be fair, today when she was writing stuff, she would just kind of occasionally stop, tear out the last few pages she had written, curl up in a ball for a few minutes, and then go back to writing. She must have rewritten the part where she died twenty times like... well, twenty times. I took a peak at a few of the rejected drafts, and they… they weren’t pleasant to read at all. Thank you for the reservations aboard the Triumphant, hopefully it will cheer her up a bit. At the very least, it might do her some good to get out of Ponyville, and since we are going to Baltimare this weekend, we can go to Manehattan after the convention, maybe meet up with Tavi’s parents Monday, and then Tuesday we can go to our cruise, so that actually works out pretty well. Even Bon Bon is looking forward to the cruise, and she almost never takes time off from her sweets shop. Anyways, as much as it pains me to say this, RR can probably take care of things while we are gone. Ever since Tavi and him had their showdown in the park, he has been a lot nicer… well, actually, he’s still a jerk, but he’s less of one. Apparently he was at the old castle when we showed up there, and saw what Tavi went through, and he’s been pretty sympathetic since then. Like, he feels bad for her I guess or something, or maybe he respects her for continuing to endure and stuff. I don’t know, he didn't want to talk about it, I guess he still doesn't like thinking about what happened that night and I can understand that. Anyways, thanks again for the tickets, I will keep you updated on Tavi as things to progress. Sincerely, Vinyl Scratch Still just a DJ