"Hello! Welcome to..." Bonbon's voice trailed off. "Um, Octavia?"
Octavia turned her head slightly so she could see the candymare. She had just wanted to hurry upstairs as soon as she had entered the house, but even in her state she wouldn't ignore somepony who was talking to her. "Yes?" she managed.
"Are you alright? You're back early, and, uh, your mane and tail are all askew. And... are you crying?"
Octavia brought a hoof up to her eyes and quickly wiped. "I am fine," she said. "I do not mean to bother you."
"It's alright; I'm not bothered. I--"
Octavia moved past her. "If you do not mind, I wish to be alone."
She did not know why she was being so short with Bonbon, or why Bluenote's actions had hurt her so badly. She, who was still learning elementary lessons about friendship, could not rationally understand why she felt so angry and betrayed by her friend's actions. She only knew that she wanted to get into the shower, and then go to bed for about a million years.
"If you're sure," began Bonbon. "But if you want to talk to somepony--"
"I will keep you in mind," said Octavia who then galloped up the stairs.
***
"Thank you! Thank you!" cried Tootsie Flute to the audience as she hopped up and down, vibrating from sheer joy. "I'm really glad you liked it!"
Bluenote almost smiled. Tootsie Flute's performance had been spirited, if squeaky, and it seemed like the music Lyra had taught her went over well with foals. They had particularly enjoyed Tootsie's third piece, a five minute ballad for flute and voice about a brave little pegasus foal and her epic battle against homework. By the time Tootsie (on flute) and Lyra (narrating) had described how the pegasus had journeyed to Mount Doom-And-Gloom, thrown the One School Bell That Rings into its depths, and thus liberated foals everywhere from the horrors of schoolwork, the entire crowd was applauding (except for Cheerilee, for some reason.) In almost any regard, it was a wonderful evening.
But even though the foals were happy, and even though Bluenote's assistance in getting the concert set up had been instrumental to its success, the tubist didn't feel any joy. For the first time, the knowledge that she had directly brought happiness and glee to the littlest residants of Ponyville failed to move her. Furthermore, she couldn't leave to find Octavia without alerting the foals that something was seriously wrong and thus ruining their evening, and she couldn't focus on the concert while she remained because she kept seeing the pain in Octavia's face as she fled into the night. All she could do was sit in the audience, pretend to be involved in the recital, and try to figure out how she had hurt Octavia so badly with a single poorly-baked dish.
It was thus a relief when the concert finally ended and Bluenote was able to remove herself from the scene. She whispered a quick apology to Lyra, ducked behind the stage as Tootsie Flute began to climb down (and promptly fell onto Bebop), and hurried off into the streets of Ponyville. Octavia went to bed early, she knew, but the sun had only gone down a few minutes prior. Surely the cellist was still awake, and surely the issue could be settled before bed. All she had to do was figure out something that could make Octavia happy again. Then everything would be alright.
I need to fix this, she thought. She hated the naan, but if I make her something really good, something for a present, she'll listen and she'll understand. Even if the markets are closed, I'm good at improvisation. I'll work something out.
She reached her home in a few minutes and tore through the rooms, hunting for any useful ingredients. She found some apples, lemons, and oranges in a fruit bowl, and some sugar and nutmeg in her pantry; fifteen minutes later, she had simmered everything together in her oven until she had made a spectacular compote. It was refreshing, it was light, it was healthy, and most importantly, it was delicious. Bluenote even managed a slight smile as she packed up the dish. She'll like this for sure!
But after ten more minutes had passed--after she had run to Bonbon's house, brushed past the startled proprietor, run into a towel-wrapped Octavia in the upstairs hallway, and offered her the dish--she did not get the desired result. Octavia refused to eat it. "I am going to bed, Bluenote," she said. "I do not wish to speak with you." And she shut her door and would say nothing else.
Bluenote got the same reaction when she came back shortly thereafter with a fresh fruit smoothie, and again with maple-and-honey glazed carrots. When she returned a fourth time, Octavia didn't even look at her newest dessert. "Leave me alone!" she snapped.
"But--"
When she caught Octavia's gaze, though, she didn't see anger anymore--only pain. "Please," muttered Octavia. "You have done enough for one night."
"But..." Bluenote reached out a hoof and grabbed Octavia before she could disappear into her room. "Octavia, I'm sorry. I didn't know one bad dish would hurt you so badly. But I want to make you happy now! I like making ponies happy. And you're one of my best friends. If you just tell me what you want, whatever it is--"
"I don't want anything right now." Octavia looked down. "I'm sorry. If I knew, I would tell you, but I have never felt like this before. And I don't know how to fix it."
The two were silent for a moment.
"If Diamond Tiara--" began Bluenote.
"It is not just her. It... look." Octavia paused. "Suppose the foals of this village had never heard of jazz music. Suppose they were completely ignorant as to what it sounded like or was. Then suppose I purported to demonstrate to them the wonder and glory of jazz music... but my performance was a farce, complete and utter trash from start to finish. Suppose I used your art and passion to elicit a cheap grin from my students. How would you feel?"
Bluenote thought for a moment. "I wouldn't mind," she said at last. "Octavia, I love music because it makes ponies happy. If you could make ponies happy by making jazz sound silly, I would support you. I would probably join in."
"...that is your point of view. It is not mine." For another moment, nopony spoke. Then: "Bluenote, I have learned to appreciate when ponies enjoy what I have to offer them... whether that be my music or a recipe of my mother's. But those things have intrinsic value to me, above and beyond what others obtain from them. I wanted to share that value with you, because we are friends... but you showed no respect for it. For me. I shared something precious with me, and you threw it into the dirt for the sake of your students. How can I trust you now?" She looked down. "Maybe I am a bad friend. Intellectually, I know that this should not hurt as much as it does, and that it should be easy to accept your apology. But when I think of how I feel... I cannot find it within me to forgive you right now, and I cannot think of anything you could do at this moment to change that." She was silent for a long moment. "I am sorry."
"But..." began Bluenote, before trailing off. "Can we... at least talk about it in the morning? Maybe we'll feel better then."
"If you wish." Octavia nodded slightly, then returned to her room. Bluenote slowly left, steps dragging.
***
"Can we talk?"
Octavia looked up from where she lay on her bed to see Bonbon standing by her door. "There is nothing to talk about."
"You're an upset friend. That's something right there." Bonbon smiled gently and approached Octavia's bed. "I know you don't want to talk to Bluenote right now, but you can talk to me. We're friends, right?"
"Yes, but..." Octavia shook her head. "I do not understand it. I was being honest when I told Bluenote that I know I am taking this too seriously. In a week, none of those foals will even remember Bluenote's joke. She meant nothing by it. But it hurts nonetheless." She sat up from the bed. "It hurts and I cannot understand why! Others have insulted me with thoughtlessness before, many times, and I have never felt like this."
"They weren't your friends," said Bonbon.
Octavia blinked. "What?"
"You weren't ever let down by friends, were you?" Bonbon sat next to Octavia on the bed. "Because you didn't really make friends before you came to Ponyville. You never opened up to anypony, so they could never hurt you. But now that you've become friends with Bluenote, and exposed some of your vulnerabilites to her, it hurts a lot worse when something goes wrong."
Though she had been trying to be a better friend for some time, Octavia hadn't thought about what would happen during falling-outs. "Is this inevitable for friendships?" she asked. "Does it always hurt like this?"
"Nopony's perfect. Friends fight sometimes," said Bonbon. "Never heard of any pair of friends that always got along."
Octavia rolled over. "Then maybe is friendship is not as wonderful as everypony said it would be. Why would I want to bother if feeling like this is a certainty--"
"Hey! I know you don't believe that." Bonbon put a hoof on Octavia's shoulder. "Think about all the great times you're having with Bluenote, and Vinyl, and Lyra and Fluttershy and Medley and every other pony in the town that you've befriended. You'd really throw all that away because of one bad night? Trust me, that's a really bad idea."
"No, but... I don't know. I do not know what to think." Octavia was silent for a moment as a new thought worked into her head. She looked back at Bonbon and said, "That said, you seem to know a lot about this..."
Bonbon looked distant for a few seconds, but then the moment passed. "Long story," she said in a slightly strained jovial tone. "I'll tell you some other time. But for now, just trust me--I know it doesn't feel like it, but you two will be over this soon. Honest."
"I hope so." Octavia felt a wave of weariness wash over her. "How long does it take?"
"Depends. But one thing's in your favor."
"What?"
"Bluenote's a real friend. She'll find a way to make it up to you in record time." Bonbon smiled. "Believe it."
When she left a while later, Octavia rolled onto her side. She found herself missing her stuffed instruments and wishing she had a pile of them to crawl into. She wanted something to cuddle, but had nothing besides a few bow ties and her cello itself. Bluenote is a good friend. I know this, she told herself. I just... it hurts, but I have to trust her. She is a friend. She deserves that.
Fixing that thought firmly in her mind, she let herself drift into a deep, dreamless sleep.
***
Bluenote had intended to go home, but on her way she bumped into what looked like a walking pile of spare parts and random knickknacks. In the darkness of the Ponyville night, it was impossible to see who or what was carrying it. "Um, hello?"
"Hey, Bluey!" Vinyl's voice bounded out from within the pile. "Help me carry some of this? It'd be an awesome help."
"Bluey! Bluey!" called out Titchy Scratch from somewhere slightly to the left of Vinyl.
Bluenote took a large part of the load, which somehow included Titchy. As the foal settled into his new perch on top of the parts Bluenote was carrying, the tubist asked, "What's this for? A new song?"
"My latest and greatest special effect!" Vinyl laughed. "When this baby gets onstage, nopony in Equestria'll be able to stop me from sweeping the charts! I gotta bake Tavi a cake or something to thank her. That oven of hers gave me an awesome idea, and now I just gotta finish it up."
The mention of baking wiped the smile from Bluenote's face. "Good idea," she murmured. "Yay."
"Something wrong?" asked Vinyl.
Bluenote sighed, then told her friend the whole story, from messing up the naan to being asked to leave Bonbon's house. "...I really want to make it better," she said. "I hate the thought that somepony might be upset from something I did. But I had no idea she'd get so upset, and I don't know what to do about it."
Vinyl shrugged, moving the parts up and down. "Want my advice?"
"Sure."
"She said she's mad that you didn't respect her or her family recipe, right? Show her that you do. Make it right this time, and she'll get it."
"But I tried to figure it out all day," said Bluenote. "And all I got was burned goop."
Vinyl giggled. "I don't mean improvise it. Make it to her recipe. You were paying attention, right?"
"But..." Bluenote paused. "That's not fair, though. I mean, I don't like baking that way. Why should I have to do something I don't like when she's probably overreacting?"
"It's not about liking it. It's about..." Vinyl paused. "Look at it like this. When Octavia plays your music, jazz, she's trying to play it your way, right? Free and open, not bound to a score?"
"I guess."
"So, when you try to make her food, maybe you should try making it her way." Vinyl playfully nudged Bluenote, almost dislodging their piles of junk, though they somehow stayed balanced, with Titchy giggling as he bounced from one to the other like it was the world's greatest jungle gym. "I think that's one of the things frustrating her, even if she doesn't understand it 'cause she's knew to the whole 'friends' thing. She's been trying to learn from you, but you made it look like you don't care what she has to teach you. If you can show her that you can do things her way, she won't be upset about putting so much effort into playing things yours, right?"
"I guess..." Bluenote didn't like following recipes--it was boring, as boring as taxes, or census forms, or anything else involving mindlessly following steps some other pony worked out for you. If it was for her friend Octavia, though, she could handle it. "But I don't have her special ingredients, the kalonji and fennel seeds. She had to get them shipped here."
"I'll bet she didn't use all of them. Hey, Titchy!" The foal bounded down and looked at his sister with cheerful, bright eyes. "Run on down to Bonbon's and see if you can borrow the naan ingredients, okay? She'll know what they are and why you want them; she's a pretty sharp mare. Then come back here and we'll take 'em to Bluey's together." She floated a few bits to Titchy and dropped them into her saddlebag. "That sound fun?"
"Hmm..." Titchy put a hoof to his chin in a gesture of exaggerated thought.
Vinyl grinned. "Alright, fine. You can buy some candy while you're at--"
"Yay! Yay!" Titchy took off like a shot, leaving a small trail of dust behind him.
Bluenote couldn't help but laugh at the foal's antics, but another thought brought her up short. "I also don't have an oven like hers, though. And mine... I mean, it didn't work for naan when I tried it before. It's not as hot as that tandoor, so the bread was either undercooked, or--when I left it in longer to make up for the temperature difference--burned on the outisde."
They had reached Vinyl's house and stopped at the front door. The DJ opened the door with magic, put down her things, and then gave Bluenote a massive grin. "Oh, DJ-PON3 can help with that. In fact, forget going home. I've got flour and stuff, so you can get started right away. When you're done... I'll show you and Tavi both what a real oven is like. Tandoor-shmandoor, you've never seen anything like what I've got."
And so Bluenote found herself in Vinyl's small kitchen, which wasn't exactly well-equipped--it had more empty hay pizza boxes and oat sodas than it did actual ingredients--but did contain flour and a few other staples. She began to mix the dough, using the ingredients on hoof and the ones Titchy brought back. Let's see... I need to proof the yeast for exactly this long, and kneed it like this... And when done, she moved to the next step. Mix just the right amount of flour with...
It was slow, and boring, and Bluenote found her mind wandering in very short order. But it was for a friend, so she made herself stick with it. And--as she began to roll out the required teardrop shapes--she felt a bit of sympathy for how Octavia must feel when she was playing freeform jazz. Don't worry, Octavia, she thought. I get it now. And I'll prove it to you. She smiled. Besides, this isn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be.
When she was done, she returned to Vinyl's main room. She hadn't noticed it before, but things that looked like parts of pony skeletons were scattered around the floor, making it difficult to navigate. "Uh, what are those?"
"Oh, those are the beginnings of my golem experiments. I've decided that, if I ever win a Grammane, I'm riding into that theatre on a golem with flamethrowers and lasers, and I want to be ready" said Vinyl, speaking in a matter-of fact-tone. She was working on what looked like a large speaker with a massive pipe extending outwards from its front. Her mane glowed as a few wires within the speakers twisted and reconnected themselves, and her hooves were busy trying to insert another component--Vinyl recognized it as one of the ones the DJ had been carrying when they had run into each other--into the base of the device. Titchy was 'helping' by holding tightly onto the pipe with his mouth, which bent it down a bit so that it was better aligned. "What do you think?"
Bluenote carefully lifted up one of the golem sections, a metal frame containing the front half of a barrel, two legs, a neck, and most of a head. "Well, you're all set for Nightmare Night."
Vinyl laughed, and Bluenote found herself chuckling too.
"Can you really make a golem?" asked Bluenote once she had worked her way over to where Vinyl was sitting. "I mean, I thought the princesses made the only ones known."
"Yeah, but I'm as awesome as any princess. 'Sides, I played with one of these guys before." She laughed as she secured the bent pipe with a thin metal wire, then lifted up one of the golem heads with her telekinesis and rotated it around. "Took one apart in that old castle. Bet I can build one just as easy."
"Boom! Boom!" cried out Titchy, dropping from the pipe.
"Boom's right," said Vinyl, patting her brother on the head. "Your sister made the mean old golem go boom!"
"BOOM!" Titchy waved his hooves around, then fell on his rump and burst into giggles.
Bluenote laughed at the scene, then showed Vinyl her dough. "Anyways, I think this is right. I made it just like Octavia showed us."
"Looks okay," said Vinyl. "Ready for baking, then?"
"Sure, but your kitchen oven isn't--"
"Forget ovens. Ovens are so yesterday." A slow grin spread over Vinyl's face. "See, when I saw the naan cook so quickly in the tandoor, I realized--you don't always need fireworks and chemicals and things like that to make a nice little blaze. Sometimes all you need is heat. You get something hot enough, it goes up, just like that."
Bluenote nodded, lost.
"So fire is heat. But heat is just energy, right? And you know what else is made of energy? Sound! So fire is heat is energy is sound. And you know what that means?"
Bluenote kept nodding, then paused. "No."
Vinyl chuckled. "Long story short, I realized I could use sound to make pyrotechnics. Other DJs have to add them in later and set off fireworks by hoof. Me? I'll play them off. With this!" She gestured to the speaker with the pipe on the end. "I call it a thermoacoustic heater and refrigerator! Or--for short--a WUBSTEP FLAMETHROWER!"
She turned to the speaker and hit a button. It began to thump, its sound quickly growing louder and louder. "I just prepped it with some dry leaves!" called Vinyl over the noise. "Now stand back! This'll be great!"
"What?" yell Bluenote, backing away from the pipe. She noticed the machine quivering, like it was going to explode. "Stand where?"
"Just stand back! I'm going to try--"
"Science?" guessed Bluenote. She had to holler to be heard over the speaker.
"Better! I'm going to try WUBS!"
At that moment, the pipe blasted a jet of fire that scorched two of the golem components, incinerated a wooden chair, and singed Vinyl's mane. Bluenote's mouth dropped as the flame drew in and out with the pounding of the wubs, as if fire itself was dancing to Vinyl's beat. The blaze only vanished when Vinyl turned the speaker off. "...wow."
Titchy was, however, not quite as lost for words. "YAY! AWESOMEST BIG SIS EVER!" He hugged Vinyl as fiercely as he could.
"Sure am!" said Vinyl, tousling Titchy's mane. "Sure am."
Bluenote grinned. "Can I try it with the naan?"
"You bet! One piece of naan bread, properly mixed and baked in a wubstep flamethrower-cum-tandoor, coming up!"
The bread was inserted into the pipe. Vinyl played the speaker again, a bit more softly, for about a minute. Then she removed the steaming naan, they each took a bite...
And grinned.
"Perfect," said Bluenote, with obvious relief. "Vinyl, this is absolutely perfect."
Vinyl blushed. "Hey. What are friends for?"