Chapter 6
"Inner Demons"
For the next several days, Octavia continued to spend more and more time at the home she now shared with Vinyl Scratch. For Octavia, this was a chance to finally spread her wings, while at the same time, she had to prepare herself for a concert that would show Equestria that she was much more than just your average cello player.
However, Twilight had been visiting the house frequently, continuously refreshing Octavia's mind on how to show her moves that she had taught her. On the day that Twilight visited, Octavia was having difficulty doing the moves.
"I just can't do it, Twilight," she sighed, removing herself from her cello. "I can't get the thought of my parents out of my head."
Octavia walked past the purple unicorn and sat in a chair on her side of the house. Vinyl Scratch also walked over and could see the agony Octavia was feeling.
"Dudette, why so low?" remarked Vinyl in a smooth talking voice. "You are bumming me out."
"I agree," added Twilight, walking over to Octavia a little further. "This is the first time I have seen you so sad since the tea party. Maybe you are just overreacting to your parents coming over to your concert."
"You don't understand," cried Octavia. "I know that everything I am doing is only going to anger them. They expect me to be like them, playing with style and grace. What am I going to do?"
Octavia sighed and lowered her head in despair and Twilight could easily sympathize with her idol. Twilight herself was known to break down whenever something stressful came into her life. It wasn't that long ago that she had caused chaos in Ponyville because of an overdue friendship letter to Princess Celestia.
"Octavia, remember," said Twilight, placing a hoof on Octavia's shoulder. "You just have to be yourself. I know you want to do this and you are probably just a little nervous right now. But, don't let your parents dictate your life."
Octavia silently nodded at these words of encouragement, but she still wasn't sure about how things were going to turn out. In her mind, she thought maybe she was overreacting to a sense.
"If you say so, Twilight," she sighed. "But, I can't be sure unless they see me perform. I'm just scared, that's all."
"It's all right to be scared, babe," said Vinyl. "But, you can't let bad vibes get you down, marefriend."
Octavia then got up and walked towards her cello and began playing her composition while trying to do her dance moves that Twilight had taught her. Doing her moves again, Octavia was slightly better, but she was not perfect and the performance was still a few days away. It was at that moment that Twilight had gotten an idea.
"I've got an idea, Vinyl," she whispered to the disc jockey. "Do you have any remixes that you could play to accompany whatever Octavia is playing?"
"Boy, do I ever, dudette," said Vinyl, excitedly and raced over to a shelf that held some of her best recordings. Selecting a record that was to her liking, Vinyl activated her machine and began to play the remix loudly.
As soon as the machine started, Octavia stopped and looked back to the music that Vinyl was playing.
"Do you mind, Ms. Scratch?" she huffed, indignantly as the music was amped. "I know that you are trying to get me fired up with your music again, but I am trying to---."
Suddenly, Octavia began to once again feel the vibes that she had maintained earlier and started to dance once again. It seemed that whatever fears she had was banished in an instant and was now free to express herself. However, once the music was off, Octavia returned to her jittery nervous self again.
"You have a long way to go, Octavia," sighed Twilight, who was starting to grow exasperated. "If you are going to conquer the fears about your parents, then you have to get a hold of yourself. If you let your fears get to you, then I don't know what else to do."
For the first time in her life, Octavia felt that her actions were futile. She could only think of her parents and how they would react to her new style of performing. For the rest of day, Octavia continued to try and perform the same way as Twilight, but her actions were futile and the cello player had run out of steam and her energy was failing.
"I just don't know what to do about her, Spike," sighed Twilight as she went to bed that night. "It is like she is being haunted by something about her parents and its letting her be eaten up by it."
"Perhaps maybe she just isn't cut out to be a footloose cello player," replied Spike, as he stretched out in his bed basket. "Why don't you give it a rest, Twilight? Just be happy you had fun at the Canterlot Garden Party on your birthday."
Twilight decided to ignore the remark that the baby dragon had made. In her mind, there was only one way for Octavia to confront her fears.
"Spike, I think I know what to do about Octavia," said Twilight, excitedly. "I will have Octavia face her parents and she would tell them what she thinks of them criticizing her performances."
Spike didn't think this was a good idea on Twilight's part, since getting in on somepony's business was not what he had in mind.
"Are you sure that's a good idea, Twilight?" asked Spike. "I mean, I know its silly, but going to Octavia's parents and saying, 'Hello, I'm Twilight Sparkle and I think you need to face your daughter and let her tell you that you refuse to let her live her dream of playing loose cello songs.' It just doesn't seem right to me."
Twilight gave Spike a glare and let him know that she knew what she was talking about. Octavia needed to get these thoughts out of her head. After all, Twilight was the one who started this whole story to begin with, with her strange dancing at the Canterlot Garden Party on her birthday and all.
The next morning in Canterlot was going to be interesting…