//------------------------------// // Idiot // Story: My Little Background Pony: Boasters Busted // by comicfan616 //------------------------------// Octavia walked up to Vinyl’s door and knocked. She had hoped Vinyl was in a better mood. She may not have stuck around after the DJ had left (as it turns out, Trixie’s repertoire was not all that impressive, all things considered), but it wasn’t a short walk, so perhaps she had time to calm down. “I’m not home!” Vinyl’s voice replied; there was no emotion to it. Octavia sighed, firstly because she wondered if Vinyl even thought that would actually have the desired effect, and secondly because her mood did not seem to have improved. Deciding to not heed her response, Octavia opened the door. The living room was exceptionally quiet; normally, if Vinyl was upset about something, she’d play something to drown out her sorrows. Instead, she was lying on the couch, looking very sullen. Her sunglasses were on the nearby coffee table to her side. “Tavi,” she said, her face even, “the last thing I need right now is another scolding from you, okay?” “Actually, I came by to see how you were doing,” Octavia replied. “What makes you think I’m not okay?” “Vinyl, we’ve known each other for a long time. Some have even mistaken us for sisters. If I can’t tell when you’re feeling upset about something, why are we even friends to begin with?” Vinyl sighed and sat up. “I screwed up, huh?” Octavia remained silent, not knowing what to say. “I don’t even know why I did that. Guess I was just tired of her bragging about how ‘great and powerful’ she is (sweet Celestia, did I really just say that?)… without anything to show for it.” “It is a performer’s job to sell the show, as it were,” Octavia pointed out. Vinyl just sighed. “You see, Tavi? This is where you and me differ. You’re a cellist. You don’t do anything but play your cello. And you’re not a solo act, you’re part of a symphony; ponies don’t know or even really care who you are or that you’re there.” Octavia wanted to snap back at Vinyl for her rather crass remark, but she couldn’t argue. “Trixie and me, we’re the only face onstage. We gotta let ponies know we’re worth paying attention to. But she just… All she did was, ‘Ooh, look at me, I’m a unicorn! I can do magic! What a novelty!’” she said in an unflattering, mocking tone. “I… do admit her performance after you left was rather… lacking,” Octavia admitted. “All she did was perform for herself, and I just got so sick of it. Somepony had to tell her off. I couldn’t have been the only one who was thinking that.” Vinyl looked to Octavia expectantly. “I… don’t know if I would agree with taking such a course of action…” “Doesn’t matter now,” Vinyl said. “Best thing to do is just stay out of sight for the moment and hope everypony forgets about it.” “Wait,” Octavia interjected, not liking where this was going, “you mean you…?!” “Whinnydale’s not that far. Somepony’s gonna hear about this. Face it, Tavi, who’s gonna come to a performance by a pony who tried to publicly humiliate somepony else?” “Vinyl, I will admit that what you did was rather stupid,” Octavia argued. (“Ya think?” Vinyl mumbled.) “But giving up what is probably your most important venue to date? All because you had a bad night?!” “There’s no sense in it,” Vinyl answered. “I need to give everyone a chance to forget about Vinyl Scratch, the pony who yelled at a stage magician during her act, so they can focus on DJ-PON3, the pony who’s gonna make them dance.” Octavia sighed. “Then how does that make you any different from Trixie?” Vinyl stared wild-eyed at her friend. “What?!” “You heard me. You’re doing this because you can’t live with the shame of what you just did.” “Hey, this isn’t about me! How’s the audience supposed to enjoy themselves if all they see is the pony who shouted down some dumb magician who wasn’t all that great to begin with?!” “And this counters my assertion, how?” Vinyl just sighed. “Look, Tavi, I don’t know if you’re here to encourage me or whatever it is you think you’re doing, but it’s not working. Just… go away.” She lied back down on the couch, her muzzle pressed into the cushions. “Very well,” Octavia sighed. “But we’re not finished with this conversation. I expect your head to be on straight tomorrow.” “Oh, goody,” Vinyl mumbled sarcastically as Octavia walked out the door. Vinyl didn’t feel like getting up off the couch just to go to bed. She had pretty much lost the will to move in any meaningful way. Besides, the couch was comfortable enough, and she would need as much rest as she could get before Octavia came back in the morning. She doubted she would be ready, though; arguing with Trixie had taken a lot out of her. Add the fact that Vinyl made an idiot of herself in public, and she had a losing combination on her hooves. She doesn’t understand, she thought to herself. I can’t go out there. I’d be booed off the stage faster than a circus clown at a Shakespony festival. Who wants to listen to a mare who publicly shames others? Deserved or not, this is not good for my rep. She sighed. I’m getting worked up again. I need some sleep. Maybe Tavi’s right; maybe I do need a clearer head to think things out. She was about to close her eyes and attempt to fall asleep when she heard something slap against the outside of her house. She looked up, the sudden assault waking her up. There was a piece of paper stuck to her window. Vinyl immediately noticed two things about it: the paper was held there with light pink magic, and the words she could read off it were, “You owe me a challenge.” Vinyl opened her window and let the paper flow into her house, grasping it in her blue magic, leaving the other magic to disappear. She read the note aloud, “Come to the Everfree Forest and face me like a mare, unless you truly are as cowardly as you were this evening.” That idiot! she thought as she crumpled the note. The hay is she doing in there?! Vinyl had few options, however; even if she’d rather not face Trixie again, she needed to get the showboating unicorn out of that forest as soon as possible.