//------------------------------// // Walk // Story: Stroll // by re- Yamsmos //------------------------------// Sometimes, all you need to do is just take a walk. No matter the reason, no matter the issue, the one thing—the one, true healing spell—is a simple walk around your current residence. Depressing break-up with a loved one? Did your dog die? Feeling down? Lonely? All of it, healed, if you just open your door, smell the roses, and take a long, relaxing walk. Traverse that wooded area, climb that mountain, run down the side of that stream! On your way, perhaps you could find hidden treasure! Or maybe an amazing hiding spot to 'wow' your friends in your weekly game of Hide-And-Go-Seek! Maybe... you could even find love! Adventure! Pride! All of it can be achieved and received if you just take a simple walk! Outside! The wilderness! The vast frontier of Equestria, all of it just waiting for you to discover! Octavia didn't like adventure. So she wasn't really walking for any of that now, was she? Truth be told, Octavia just wanted to walk. She wasn't usually one to just abandon her daily practice of playing music, but after a hooful of back aches, a collection of neck stretches, and a few select words addressed to the nearby ficus sitting in the corner of her room, Octavia furrowed her brow, placed her double bass in its holding rack, opened her door, and would you believe it? She took a walk. And, as she began that walk, Miss Octavia Philharmonica realized how gorgeous of a day it was outside. With the birds chirping a sweet melody, the clouds above providing no shade in their obvious absence, the wind playing no rude tricks, and the sun shining brightly on her gray fur, Octavia deduced that today would be a good day, one that she would be able to enjoy inside of her house with the windows shut, the curtains closed, and the ceiling fan ignored like a sick puppy that recently took a whiz on your carpet. Today was a good day to stay inside and play her bass. Why she was instead taking a walk in the presence of all these ponies was beyond her, and she quite honestly began to wonder why she was doing it. It troubled her to no end, but she wasn't really one to question it. She questioned a lot of things, and though the exact reason for her walk was high up on the list, there were other problems that kept her outside and on her walk. For example, if she went back home, what would she do? Stand around, playing her double bass inside the comfort of her home while the sun shined outside with such radiance that Celestia herself would feel guilt for overplaying and cursing at plants while complaining of back aches and neck stretches and clammy hooves and annoying songs and screwing up on notes? Yeah. Yeah probably. Octavia didn't like adventure. But sometimes all you need to do is take a walk. And so she did so, and Octavia found herself taking a quick stroll through Ponyville with absolutely nothing intended apart from experimentation. Perhaps it could be a new form of stress relieving, or maybe just some other way to get food apart from standing in front of her fridge and picking whatever she thought interesting enough. Octavia wasn't one for the outside when it came down to it, and she really couldn't blame it on herself. When almost ninety-percent of your days was spent indoors playing music, the outside wasn't a place normally spent roaming around, unless it was to or from a concert. And that's exactly where the last ten-percent of her days was. Outside, going to some dumb concert she had to be present at or at some ball or at some dinner party. Always playing. Always there. She didn't hate it to be honest, but it wasn't something she thoroughly enjoyed in the end. The train was loud and cramped. The roads were always bumpy and hated her state of living. The hotel food was clumsily-made and suited for prisons. The concerts themselves were basically like school days, in that she would steal glances at the clock whenever she could to resume her count down for the event's finish. She could multi-task. These days, her hooves made the music almost sub-consciously, and Octavia could look at anything, think about anything, and even do anything that she wanted while playing her music at her concerts. She hadn't tried, but she constantly thought about bringing a book or two and placing them on her stand to read. It definitely would have helped with the long ones that lasted for hours but felt like they lasted for years. The fatigue in her step and the tiredness in her eyes sure told the latter's tale after it was over. To be honest, it was boring. Borderline normal. And being the Lead Bassist for the Canterlot Symphony wasn't a qualification for 'normal'. But enough about that. Octavia was taking a walk. And what a walk it was. For, as Octavia walked past the Jolly Roger Grocery Store, her life was about to be suddenly changed. The mare froze on the spot as the shop's two front doors slammed open with a deafening thud, a trio of masked ponies practically flying out the entrance with bags of stolen goods hoisted over their shoulders. As their eyes swept about the area, they caught a glimpse of Octavia, who looked at them with a wide-eyed expression. Her mind raced at a mile a second, thinking up thousands of responses simultaneously. As for the rest of her brain, they thought up one simple line. Oh buck. The one in front, a Unicorn, pointed a green hoof at her like a general in the Royal Guard, shouting to his companions with the voice of a weathered sailor. The accent on his lips reminded her of potato farmers. Octavia hated potatoes. "Buck, somepony saw! Quick, grab her!" Octavia was in too much of a stupor to notice the two other henchstallions approach at what she thought to be the speed of light. It was only when they began to drag her along the grass that Octavia realized that she was currently being kidnapped. Trying to shout at the top of her lungs for some ponies, any ponies to come and rescue her from her predicament, she suddenly saw the leader—pulling the rear—light his horn and magick her mouth shut. Her words were unspoken and not cared for by the robbers, who moved quickly as their leader spoke in a hissing tone. "Move it, move it!" Octavia worked hard to move her limbs, but immediately knew her efforts were worthless when she noticed the yellow glow around her entire body. Left with only one option, she screamed through her shut mouth in a vain attempt at a last second recovery. Though there were a few ponies here and there, they were not at that moment looking at the crime scene, and it was also at that moment that Octavia realized it was Sunday and some ponies were at church. A groan tried to escape her lips but failed miserably. She gave a growl instead, then halted as she found herself flying in the air. She landed a second later in what she assumed to be the back of a wagon, a large tan tarp atop it ensuring that nopony would be able to look inside as easily. Octavia would have thought it a good idea if she wasn't the thing to be looked inside for. Turning her head, she watched as three burlap sacks touched down onto the wood next to her. Growling, she threw all of her available weight into jumping out the back and onto the grass below. Her head connected with more wood, however, as the back end of the wagon raised up and completely shrouded her and the bags in total darkness. Blinking, Octavia sighed heavily, almost losing her balance as the cart began to move. Though muffled by the tarp, Octavia caught word of the ponies talking with each other. They were soon shut up by a loud yell, which continued to speak as the other two kept quiet. She heard the word Everfree, clear as day, emerge from what she very reasonably assumed to be the director's mouth. Though one voice stuttered and the other tried to reply, they were cut off by their boss shouting once more, and so the wagon picked up speed and quite possibly hit every single bump in the road on its way. Octavia narrowed her eyes and glared. She guessed that the ponies themselves hated her state of living as well. As the wagon sped out of Ponyville, Octavia sighed heavily. And so it was that Octavia took a walk. And so it was that Octavia began a walk of complete, forced magnificence, one that would take her to the ends of Equestria and all it had to offer. The mare's eyes widened, and she suddenly dropped her head onto the bottom of her new prison cell as she grumbled to the sacks sitting near her. "Buck. I left the oven on, didn't I?"