Chapter 9 – Symphony of the Night
Chapter 9 – Symphony of the Night
The next day after the whole dragon incident, I volunteer to pick up the fillies from school in the afternoon so that they can begin working on their two-week long schedule of chores at Sweet Apple Acres. As the day was coming to a close, I volunteer once more to escort Scootaloo & Sweetie Belle back to their homes. After dropping off Scootaloo first at her house, I take Sweetie Belle to Rarity’s Carousel Boutique. Once I enter the establishment where the bell rings upon our arrival, Rarity approaches us with her usual greeting.
“Welcome to Carousel Boutique, where every garment is chic, unique, and magni--! Oh, Sweetie Belle! How are those chores coming along?”
“Ugh! So… tired. Must… rest.” Sweetie Belle says tiresomely.
“Don’t worry, Sweetie!” Rarity caresses her sister gently. “Only thirteen days left until your obligations have been fulfilled.” Sweet Belle groans at this reminder. Rarity and I chuckle softly at her sister’s exaggeration.
“And Ford Mustang!” the seamstress turns her attention towards me gleefully. “What a pleasant surprise! What brings you here?”
“Oh, nothing much.” I reply sincerely. “Just escorting the girls back to their homes.”
“Why, how very kind of you!” Rarity says to me.
“Sweetie!” she says sweetly to her little sister. “Why don’t you go upstairs and take a break? I’ll call you once dinner is ready.”
“Finally!” Sweetie says in relief before trotting up to her room.
“Actually, I’m glad you came over!” Rarity turns her attention back towards me. “You see, I’ve been working on some suits for an upcoming fashion line for the gentlecolts, but it will be most helpful if I can get a stallion to model for me for a bit.” She looks at me with fluttering eyes.
“I don’t know, Rarity.” I say with uncertainty. “I’ve never model for anypony before.”
“Oh please!” Rarity begs me as she kneels down while grasping my foreleg. “I don’t know that many stallions in Ponyville who would be willing to volunteer for me! You are my last hope! Ple-e-e-e-eassssse!” She continues to beg melodramatically as I become uncomfortable by her distress.
“Well…” I finally give in. “I can’t really turn down a friend in need. Sure, why not?”
“You will?” her expression changes instantly into beaming gratitude. Then, she quickly rises up and squeezes me tightly.
“GASP! Oh thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!” she kisses me repeatedly for each “thank you” she has said. Huh, I can only imagine the amount of sass Applejack would say if she sees this.
“I knew I could count on you, Ford! Now come! There’s so much work to do, and so little time!” She grabs me and we zoom across the floor to the modeling room.
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As a human, I’ve already been accustomed to dressing formally when I went to private school. So I have no problem on wearing a suit. But to try on nearly a dozen of suits for almost an hour, can have its toll on me. Especially since most of them restrict my wings underneath. Luckily, we were on the last one. This suit is much more comfortable because there are elastic holes on the sides that allow my wings to finally breathe for once.
“Rarity, I don’t mean to sound rude…” I begin to fidget. “…but are we almost done here?”
“Almost!” she says with a steady needle in hoof (well actually, she’s using levitating magic) as she works on the last adjustments for the suit. “Just need to put on the finishing touches annnnnd done! Ta-da!”
I turn around to look at myself in the mirror. There I was, wearing a navy blue suit with a light blue collared shirt and a red tie. I must say, even as a pony, I still look damn good in a suit!
“I must say, Mr. Mustang! I can’t help but notice how simply dashing you look in all of my suits!” Rarity, you must have read my mind.
“So be honest, how does it feel?” she inspects closely at my suit from different angles. “This one is tailored-made for Pegasi only, so it should be breezier for your wings compare to the other suits.”
“It feels great!” I compliment her work. “I can’t you tell how relieve I am to finally stretch my wings out! Having my wings tucked underneath the rest of the suits is quite discomforting.” I fan out my wings to have them feel the joys of freedom.
“My apologies Ford, but your physique is perfect for all of the suits I need to work on!” I blush at her comment as I look at myself on how well-developed I have become.
“Huh… I guess all that hard work at Sweet Apple Acres did pay off.”
“Indeed it has!” Rarity flirts mildly as she caresses my foreleg. Both of us blush instantly by her instinctive actions, and she quickly removes her hoof away from me.
“Sorry! I don’t mean to get so close. Especially after that little demonstration I pulled off yesterday.” Rarity chuckles sheepishly.
“R-right. Of course.” I stammer with a soft blush.
“Sooooo… tell me something, Mr. Mustang.” Rarity inquires with a sly smile. “Do you have somepony special in your life?”
“W-w-what?!” I flabbergast nervously at her question.
“Oh come now, Ford!” Rarity continues to interrogate me slyly. “I could tell from your eyes after last night!”
“I… I don’t know what you are talking about.” At least that part is true.
“Oh, surely a handsome colt such as yourself must have earned the attention of some lucky mare!”
“Sigh… I wish that were true.” I say depressively as I reflect how lonely I was back on Earth.
“Oh, Ford. I didn’t mean to intrude your personal matters like that.” she attempts to cheer me up. “You shouldn’t be so hard on yourself. I’m certain you’ll find your special somepony one of these days.” I smile softly at her good nature.
“Well, in any case, just answer me this, and I promise I won’t bother you any further. If you can choose anypony you would want to be with right now, who would it be?”
“Well… I…” I begin to ponder to myself as I dive deep into my own inner thoughts. What kind of special somepony would that be for me? As I dive further, various attributes comes into mind. Somepony who is strong and brave…
“Yes?” Rarity says with wide, lovey-dovey eyes and a big smile.
“I-I guess…” Somepony who is loyal and will always be there for me as I would be there for her…
“Yes?!”
“If… I could choose…” Somepony who is gives me the sense of confidence I need to get through anything…
“YES?!”
“I would have to say it would be…” Maybe… could it be her--?
“HEEEEEEEY RARITY!!”
Annnnd I’ve lost my train of thought.
I look around to see who has made me lose my concentration. And of course, it had to be Vinyl Scratch, who is approaching us, bearing that cocky grin of hers, wearing her trademark shades, and carrying a purse-like saddlebag on her waist.
“‘Sup, Mustang?” Vinyl greets me.
“Hello, Vinyl.” I greet back.
“Vinyl! How nice to see you again!” Rarity chimes in. “Though I wish you could tone down your unannounced grand entrance next time.” she murmurs with a tiring sigh.
“No promises!” Vinyl chuckles. “Anyway, is my order ready?”
“Oh yes, of course!” Rarity walks to one of her racks, and using her Unicorn magic, she pulls out a fabulous, blue, silky dress.
“Here you go, Vinyl!” she says as she hands over the dress to the very pleased disc jockey, who also uses magic to retrieve it. “Though I’m still surprise that you out of all ponies want something as luxurious as this!”
“Well… I thought I should wear something more appropriate for tonight.” Vinyl says with a slight blush.
“So… are you ready to go?” Vinyl asks.
“Ready for what?” Rarity replies with a puzzled look.
Vinyl raises an eyebrow at Rarity. “You do remember what’s on tonight, right?”
Rarity stands still like a tree as she tries to recall what she has forgotten. Then, her eyes nearly bulge out of her sockets as a high-pitched scream echoes the Boutique.
“AAAAAAAAAHHH!!”
“I completely forgot about it!” Rarity panics greatly. “I won’t be able to get ready in time!”
“What’s the big deal?” Vinyl shrugs. “Just grab one of your dresses and we’ll be on our way.”
“‘The big deal?’” Rarity is shocked to hear such a phrase. “The big deal is that I can’t just simply pick out a dress. When I pick out something to wear, it has to match up perfectly… with the environment, the atmosphere, the décor, the social gathering, EVERYTHING!”
“Oh boy.” Vinyl sighs at how overdramatic Rarity is acting. “Here she goes again…”
Rarity frantically continues, “Not to mention all that time I need to apply my make-up and fix my hair! Or the fact that I need to find Sweetie Belle a babysitter! And let’s not forget I need to get my latest line of suits ready by tomorrow morning--!
Vinyl presses a hoof onto Rarity’s lips to shush her up instantly. “So, long story short, you can’t make it tonight?”
Once Vinyl removes her hoof, Rarity sheepishly admits, “Umm… yes, I’m afraid so.”
“Well what am I supposed to do with this?” Vinyl magically pulls out a ticket from her saddlebag.
“Pardon me for asking…” I inquire. “…but what’s going on for tonight?”
Vinyl turns her head to speak to me. “Oh right, I guess you’re still new around here, huh? Tavi is having her own solo performance tonight at Canterlot’s amphitheater. A month ago, she gave me two tickets to her show, so I originally invite Rarity since she is big fan of all that fanciness and such.”
“Wow! That sounds kind of nice actually!” I say with amazement. “You know, I have an appreciation for classical music myself, so I am kind of curious about Octavia’s performance tonight.”
Vinyl smiles greatly and she approaches me swiftly with a hoof wrap around my shoulders. “Well tonight’s your lucky night, Mustang, ‘cause you’re gonna come with me to see Tavi bring the opera house down!”
“Are you sure?” I ask with great surprise. “I don’t even have my own suit to wear.”
“You do now!” Rarity points to the one I’m currently wearing. Oh yeah, I nearly forgot about that.
“Oh no!” I waved my hoof with modesty. “I can’t accept this, Rarity! I don’t have any bits on me!”
“It’s alright, Ford.” Rarity offers kindly. “You can borrow it, and bring it back to me the next morning. It’s the least I can do after what you have done for Sweetie Belle and her friends yesterday.” I smile gratefully to her for her trademark generosity.
All of a sudden, Rarity switches from a generous fashion designer to a panicky drama queen as she clasps on to my fore hooves. “Just PLEASE be careful with it!”
I chuckle to myself at Rarity’s overdramatic antics. This is why I consider Rarity as one of the funniest characters in the show. “Don’t worry, Rarity. I will guard this suit with my life!” I give a mocking salute.
“Splendid!” Rarity perks up immediately.
“Finally!” Vinyl sighs in aggravation. “Now I just need to put on this dress, and we’ll be on our way!”
As Vinyl prepares to put on her dress, Rarity gasps in horror, “VINYL! What are you doing?!”
“Umm… getting dressed. Duh.” Vinyl responds matter-of-factly.
“Well, can’t you use one the dressing rooms? You shouldn’t dress in front of others, especially colts for that matter! No offense, Ford.”
“None taken.” I shrug.
“Why does that matter?” Vinyl continues to dress in front of the flustered Rarity. “We don’t normally wear clothes in the first place. Besides, I don’t think Mustang would mind if he wants to stay and enjoy the show.” she teases me in that saucy tone as she purposefully wiggles her flank while squeezing into her dress.
“Okay… I’ll just meet you outside, Vinyl!” I say with a glowing blush as I trot immediately for the exit.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
I wait for a few minutes outside of Rarity’s home until Vinyl Scratch was finally ready. Then I hear the door swinging as Vinyl steps outside.
“I swear, Tavi better appreciate this for all the great lengths I’m going for her!” Vinyl grumbles slightly.
I turn around to see Vinyl, and I am stunned by just how beautiful she is. It isn’t the blue dress she is wearing that caught me off guard, it’s the fact that her eyes aren’t covered up by her usual pair of shades. You know, there’s been a lot of debate amongst the MLP community on what Vinyl’s eyes might be. Mostly it was either red or magenta colored eyes. Here, Vinyl’s eyes are actually red. Surprisingly enough, her eyes are so mesmerizing, they almost shine like gorgeous rubies.
“…What?” Vinyl asks firmly at my awestricken stare.
“Sorry.” I apologize sheepishly. “I got kind of distracted by your eyes.”
“Sigh... yeah, yeah.” Vinyl grumps all of a sudden. “I get it. I have a very unusual eye color, alright?”
“No no no! I actually like them like that! They go really well with your dress & mane!” I compliment hastily.
“Y-Y-You mean that?” Vinyl stammers.
“Of course! There’s no reason for you to hide them! They’re quite beautiful!”
“Thanks.” Vinyl says with a light blush. “You know, you're like the second pony to compliment my eyes like that.”
“Oh really? Who’s the first?”
“It was Octavia.” she answers with a warm, reminiscing smile. Vinyl takes a brief moment to recall that warm feeling regarding with Octavia. Eventually, she snaps out of her trance to get back on track.
“Well come on, Mustang!” she gallops merrily to lead me to the train station. “We’re gonna miss the train if we dilly-dally all day!”
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After the train ride to Canterlot, Vinyl and I arrive at the majestic city’s amphitheater. Once we have presented our tickets, we spend some time looking around the shops setup in the lobby. Strangely enough, Vinyl is looking around for something amidst the mini-shopping district.
“Oh, Mustang! Do you wanna go ahead and save us some seats? I… just want to look around the shops for a bit. Be right back!” She waves to me as she gallops away.
I look at the clock on the wall to see what time is it. There’s thirty minutes left until the show starts. I decide now is a good time to claim our seats.
Nearly half-an-hour later, Vinyl meets up with me where I was seating up front, right next to the stage. With her magic, Vinyl is carrying something quite large and wrapped in some paper. Once she takes her seat, she places her purchase underneath her chair.
“Oh good, I made it just in time! Thanks, Mustang!”
“No problem, Vinyl! So… what did you get?” I inquire.
“Can’t tell ya!” she responds with a grin. “It’s a surprise!”
At last, curtain rises, and the audience claps for the arrival of Octavia. She approaches with such grace as she carries her precious cello. Calm as always, she sets up her cello on its proper stance in front of thousands of quiet spectators. Once she is ready as she lays her bow on the cello’s stings, she takes a look down as she meets Vinyl’s gaze. Right next to me, Vinyl energetically waves to her stoic friend as she tries to so hard to contain her excitement without make a single noise. With a small, satisfying smile on her face, Octavia closes her eyes, and begins her piece.
Since the beginning of her solo performance, I was captivated by how much energy Octavia has put into her cello. I may not know much when it comes to music in general, but I can certainly enjoy how classical music can transport you into another world with its dreamy, rhythmic notes. As Octavia continues to play her piece, I can feel the music’s emotions playing at my heartstrings. Her work is so moving, so energetic, and so passionate, it almost makes me want to cry.
As I take a moment to compose myself, I look at Vinyl to see her reaction. Strangely enough, she is very quiet, but I can tell just by her expression that she is enjoying every single second of it. In fact, she has this dreamy look on her as she continues to watch Octavia play.
After one final stroke of her bow, Octavia has finished her performance in about half-an-hour. It is only silent for a second or two, but eventually, the amphitheater is filled with thunderous, well-deserved applause. Standing ovation and everything. Octavia bows graciously to the applauding audience.
As Octavia continues to bow, I see Vinyl reaching for her “surprise.” After unwrapping it a bit, she levitates it over to Octavia. In the cellist’s hooves is a bouquet of crimson roses. As Octavia looks at her gift, small joyful tears begin to leak from her eyes. While Octavia smiles broadly at Vinyl with gratifying tears in her eyes, the grinning Unicorn winks back at her. Truly, this must have be a wonderful evening for Miss Octavia.
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Once a majority of the audience has left the theater, Vinyl and I are able to go backstage in hopes to meet up with Octavia after the show. Soon enough, Octavia steps out of her dressing room while still carrying the bouquet of roses in one of her fore hooves. Her eyes grew wide as she spots Vinyl.
“Hey, Tavi! Congratula--!” But before Vinyl could finish her sentence, Octavia quickly rushes to her friend and gives her a gratifying hug.
“Oh, thank you, Vinyl!” Octavia says to the surprised Vinyl. “Thank you so much for these roses! They’re beautiful!”
“Hey. It’s no big deal, Tavi. Really.” Vinyl says sheepishly while rubbing the back of her head. “It’s like… tradition to award a talented musician with roses or something like that.”
Octavia blushes a bit after hearing Vinyl’s improvising source of trivia. They break from the hug as they gaze into each other warmly. Then, Octavia looks closely at what Vinyl is wearing.
“Is that… a new dress?” Octavia asks in surprise.
“Uh… yeah.” Vinyl blushes a bit. “Since this place does call for formal attirement, I thought I should wear something fancy for a change, so Rarity helped patch one up for me.”
“It looks quite lovely on you. But you know what? It’s missing something…” Octavia contemplates with a smile.
“Really? What?” Vinyl asks with a raised eyebrow.
With a crafty smile, Octavia grabs one rose from her bouquet with her teeth. And just by adjusting her head, Octavia inserts a rose through Vinyl’s mane.
“There! It matches your eyes perfectly!” Octavia says with a satisfying smile.
Vinyl is shocked for a bit, but she smiles greatly by this gesture as her cheeks turn almost as red as her eyes. “T-Thanks, Octavia.” she stammers gingerly.
They stand there with affectionate smiles for each other for about a minute, but Octavia snaps out this moment when she realizes somepony is missing.
“By the way, where is Rarity?” Octavia asks.
“Oh! Well… she couldn’t make it.” Vinyl replies. “You know Rarity! Busy busy busy!”
“Of course!” Octavia chuckles to herself.
“So I invited Ford Mustang to come along.” Vinyl pushes me toward Octavia.
“Octavia, that was amazing!” I praise her ecstatically. “I can’t express in words on how much I have truly enjoyed your musical performance!”
“Why thank you, Mr. Mustang!” Octavia responds kindly. “I’m glad to hear that you like it!”
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After awhile, we finally get some fresh air as we exit the amphitheater to stroll around the nightly streets of Canterlot. While I insist on carry Octavia’s cello for her, she is definitely more capable to carrying it herself as she hardly struggles lugging that instrument on her back with such perfect grace. At least I could carry her bouquet of flowers for her, but it did hurt my pride as a gentleman (or in this case, gentlecolt) a bit for carrying something so light compare to her. Maybe an Earth Pony’s special ability is their superpony strength.
“You know what this calls for, right?” Vinyl suggests slyly.
“A… drink?” I guess.
“Nope. Lots of drinks!” she grins enthusiastically.
“Alright.” Octavia smiles. “But I get to choose where we’re going for tonight.”
“Fair enough.” Vinyl approves. “What do you have in mine?”
“Hmm…” Octavia ponders for a bit. “How about that jazzy club we always like to go to?”
“Perfect!” Vinyl glees in delight. “Mustang, you up for some swinging jazz tonight?”
It didn’t take long for me to answer. Because if there one kind of music I truly enjoy besides classical, it would definitely be jazz!
“Sounds like my kind of place!” I beam with enthusiasm.
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Great as always, dude.
Hey! Comment # 42. I am the answer, lol.
Use Library computer at school.....
New chapter came up!
2669145 I don't know. I know that one of the main characters is named Ford, but I've never read the books before. I only read a graphic novel version, and I think that only covered the first book though.
When you described the theater as majestic:
24.media.tumblr.com/5843344cb0200cdb54ef3ea3c2d62c20/tumblr_mfaj64nfjI1qavreso1_r4_500.gif
Castlevania, anyone?
3094300 I was thinking the same thing.
3147298Ditto
dam i love it
Rule #1 of being friends with a musician: Never carry their instrument. I mean, just don't. Don't carry it, Don't touch it, don't even go near it, except in the rae circumstance that they ask you. a musicians instrument is worth more to them that their own life. don't do it. i'm serious bro.
Octavia Philharmonica s best cellist
3474590 Heh, I agree, with first-hand experience.
In other unrelated stuff, my brother and I created the world's first Trumpinet (Clarinet + Trumpet). When you play into the Trumpet , it comes out sounding like a Clarinet, and when you play into the Clarinet, it sounds like a Trumpet. IT'S THE MOST AMAZING INVENTION, EVER!!!
P.S. Just switch the mouthpieces.
Volunteering to go to the performance, rather than volunteering to babysit Sweetie Belle? What a gentleman.
3677952 Exactly! I personally would've offered to foalsit Sweetie and help get Rarity out the door for a night out.
Then again I don't much like social events with so many others present. I'd much rather play with the filly with board games, videogames, TV or even just tell her stories.
Hey Ford!
You went to the play and forgot to babysit Sweetie Belle!
And so did Rarity!
..........I have no words for how sad that was.
I saw the title of this chapter and the only thing I could think of was Castlevania aka this game:
i.ytimg.com/vi/H-LR-9OvfHk/maxresdefault.jpg
Twisted Code: déjà vu
: Tell me about it
I THOUGHT THIS WAS GOING TO BE A RELATIONSHIP WITH RAINBOW DASH! I WANT MY MONEY BACK!!!
Duh!!
9118748
My friend. Your my childhood me's hero xD
5714031
What money