Cloudy writes stories. Cloudy likes it when ponies like each other maybe a little too much and sometimes end up in love. Cloudy writes stories about these things, often.
Where the world was once her stage, the stage is now her world, and Octavia feels trapped. Will the appearance of a certain pink pony stop her descent, or will she get to mope in peace? Will Octavia get to eat her cucumber roll while she's at it?
The answer to the last question is probably "no".
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My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
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I love this story! I already read it on EQD and now I can confirm its good for you FIMF readers!
Pinkie Pie is watching for the grumpie ponies! FOREEEEEEVER!
Fantastic read. A perfect example of how friendshipping fics should be. Frankly, we don't see enough and Cloudy has proven that he can do one to a very high standard.
Keep up the great work, Cloudy! I can't wait for your future works!
I love how the last ep basically supports this fic 100%. Cloudy's Pinkie is the best in the fandom. His Dash is too. Never stop writing.
A good read. Oh, wait, it's from Cloudy. That explains it.
Loved Building Bridges to bits, you know.
Spectacular. I'd love more Rarity, but given that "you can't always get what you want," this is perfect. You are an excellent writer, and this fandom is lucky to have you.
Pinkie CAN be awesome without being serious! She IS awesome, both without being serious and while being serious!
I loved your take on both Pinkie and Octavia. The use of repetition in Octavia's thoughts was very well done--it really added to the feeling that she was being worn down, slowly, day by day, by her ennui. And your characterization of Pinkie was just perfect and lovely.
Thank you for writing and sharing this story. I concur with Ponydora Prancypants completely--the fandom is very lucky to have you.
Yeeow, am I glad I finally discovered this ambitious and entirely too charming story? Yes, yes I am.
Thank you for the kind comments, everypony!
Woohoo! Another awesome fic from Cloudy Skies! Your stories make me feel like a shark. If I stop reading, I'd probably explode! Er, wait... Like, if reading is a metaphor for swimming... Cause sharks... Your stories are great and I love them!
There is only one word:
Beautiful.
504954 505732 Thank you both for your comments! I am so very happy whenever I see somepony favorite or comment on Ode, because despite its apparent lack of faves, it has a special place in my heart. I'm very glad if you like!
That was wonderful. Fantastic writing, emotion and characters. I have to admit some small amount of disappointment when Pinkie's intervention turned out to not be of her own initiative, but overall brilliant stuff and definitely one of the best fics I've read.
524366 Thank you, truly! I can't recall the exact words I used, but the intervention could of course not have happened without Pinkie - I just felt like highlighting the others' role because she was meant to be the merrymaking catalyst. Perhaps I overdid it?
I'll certainly think on it when I re-read this myself, but thank you for reading, and thank you for the comment!
For extra effect, I strongly recommend having this in the background while Octavia plays by the castle wall.
529095 That was a pretty good listen, dang - I keep forgetting how much awesome vidja' game music there is out there. Thanks for giving me a short break from my otherwise constant trance-fest!
529355 Such an awesome story about a sad cello required awesome sad cello music. And if you're not crying yet, try listening to it in the rain.
Finally got the time to slam my way through this fic thanks to Kits' journal. I remember being so critical of Octavia's characterization in the beginning, and I'm glad to see you stuck by your guns and left her (in my memory) unchanged. I'm surprised 13,000 words flew by this quickly. I could hear the Ode to Friendship developing in my head as I kept reading -- though I would've left out the part where Octavia names the song. She still could've told Fancypants the name -- just off-camera. Only a small nitpick, though, and I'm sure others will argue for its inclusion.
Also -- Pinkie, Pinkie, Pinkie. I really enjoyed our last discussion concerning how we write her and everything, and I'll have you know I think crafting a believable Pinkie, as you've done to marvelous effect in this fic, is worth deviating some from her admittedly scattered show personality. It was also nice seeing some backstory to Octavia's other quartet members -- I think I'll be very surprised if they show up in the show again and are given voices, since you beat the writers to the punch in informing my headcanon.
I really enjoyed this one. It's always a good change of pace to read a story where a good quarter of it has almost no dialogue, and yet the internal monologue and character motivations are enough to keep my crisp attention to what I'm reading.
626537 L-l-l-legendary late reply! Again!
No really though, thank you for your comment and your kind words; I must admit I don't recall exactly what we discussed regarding Octavia. What I do recall is that I suffered a huge crisis of faith regarding mood progression, and you (and the other pre-readers) helped me through that. I'm very thankful for that. Were we discussing the severity of her depression?
I like what you suggest though - omitting the song name as it's in the title? That would have been clever, and I'm realizing I'm not a very clever pony. Darnit. A bit of an opportunity missed. Heck, omit it there, mention it in epilogue perhaps? Could have been really good.
On Pinkie, I don't know what more to say except that having the word "believable" in there is all I need to sleep the sweetest sleep at night. Thank you. As you hint to, and as we discussed, I still firmly believe "my" Pinkie Pie isn't quite as canon as some - but "believable" is all one can hope for when the episodes already vary a character's behaviour so much.
667378 Thank you! I find that as much as I enjoy writing dialogue, it's harder for me than internal monologues by far. I think the start of Where Earth Meets Sky is my "element", much like bits of this fic., as far as preference goes. When it comes to effect, results - how "good" it is - I can't pretend to comment, but I know these are the things I enjoy writing the most.
Brilliant. I really liked how well you portrayed Octavia's listlessness --- it wasn't said, it was felt, and it really came through in your writing. And I think Pinkie's focus is a welcome change to the more spontaneous versions seen elsewhere, because it really shows how well she is matched to her Element. "Coolest heroine ever" indeed.
674475 Thank you for reading, and for the comment 'ere! I think hearing that the fic had the intended effect - Octavia's emotions, I mean - is among my favorite things to hear. Basically, "it worked?" Awesome!
No really, thanks - I'm glad! I sometimes wish I could write the "more spontaneous" Pinkie, hah. It's not just a conscious decision to show a different side of her, here. I'm fairly bad at over the top Pinkie. Kits writes a far more show-appropriate Pinkie than I, I think.
Very good story, it was a nice view of Octavia, I haven't seen much of her aside from some Vinyl things, so seeing her like this was an interesting treat.
754304 Oh, yay! I'm happy to hear it, so thank you for that, and for reading! I haven't read too much Octavia-focused fics except VsT, and I tried to create my own little cellist/bassist/doghouse bassist/double bassist, I guess, and if that worked for some, I'm very, very glad!
Wow, that was pretty amazing! I don't know much about Octavia but this story gave me great insight into her psyche and why she behaves the way she does in the show.
Excellent friendshipping, and your characterizations, emotional backdrop, and scene-building is top notch as always!
Silver: "Wait, we still captured this territory, right?"
Me: "Yeah, but we lost half our assault force..."
Silver: "This is why I HATE attacking writers like Cloudy Skies! Their defenses are WAY too intricate!"
Me: "I agree. But I'd like to point out that conquering high-caliber writers is our thing. Our troops are extremely tough and well-trained. Besides, how else are we going to build a powerful empire?"
Silver out!
Since you asked for a review, I thought I'd come back and have another read of this one.
I have done my best to nitpick, and here's what I've got: "tranquil,insistent" - paragraph 28, you missed the space after the comma.
Erm... sorry I can't be more critical? You just have such a way of writing for Pinkie Pie that I can't fault you. Pinkie and I share the same character traits, down to the smallest details, so I have a great empathy for her (Smile Smile Smile pretty much summed me up). Then there was what you did with Octy, you managed beautifully to compress just enough of her character and backstory into the space to make the reader really feel for her, without making it seem rushed.
All in all, this receives my love, and earns a space in my favourites.
817761 I am, as always, late to the party. Glad to hear it if you liked it though, thank you very much!
I guess there's no real "Octavia" to know since she's entirely fanonized, though, so it's pretty much a tabula rasa.
836573 Oh my, haha. Seriously, I don't even know what to say to that. I'll grab my brush and fix that right now, thanks!
Really though, I am very glad if Pinkie translated. That's incredibly important to me. Thank you for reading!
Amazing.
1746469 Thank you very much!
Hello again!
After realizing I liked all stories I read from you so far, I decided I should read everything you have ever written. (On ponies, I mean. Although I'd probably read your non-pony novels as well.)
Ode to Friendship did not disappoint me in the least. It is a great one-shot, where you portray the characters brilliantly, as usual. Octavia had always been my favorite background pony, and the events of this story will be added to my headcanon.
I only have a small complaint though, and that is that the ending is a bit abrupt. You use 11k words to display a setting, and proceed to finish it with a few sentences. I know endings are not your forté (you even stated in a blog post you hate them), but maybe this is something to improve upon?
All in all, I liked this fic very much. The good qualities of this fic heavily outweigh this small little quirk.
After this story, I will proceed to read No recipe for perfection, Bonds of Earth and Sky and Pinkie Pie's Hero. After that I will probably cry in a corner, waiting for your next creation.
1947732 Your words are far kinder than I think I strictly deserve, but I will thank you for them nevertheless! I'm very happy to hear you enjoyed Ode, and twice as happy you decided to leave a comment. Writing this story was rather special for me, and I always wondered why it's far and away the least read of my stories, but eh.
The end was a little short for two reasons. One is that I planned a sequel--one that I may yet do--starting practically where this one left off. That's not the full why of it, though; I simply couldn't think of what to add without having it feel tacked-on and separate or part of something else entirely. I'm usually a fan of epilogues; the comment about me not liking endings was mostly about me hating to say "it's over", not a statement about my perceived skill at ending stories. In this case, as was the case with Rainbow Dash's Best Plan Ever, any attempts at creating a meaningful epilogue simply fell flat, and I realize the story was Over(tm).
That said, what I could have done was make the little snippet of epilogue there is, be a little less rushed. I remember in writing it that I struggled to sneak in all the facts and details I wanted jammed in there, packing every paragraph and sentence with as many implications as possible. Maybe I'll have some ideas when and if I re-read it myself.
In other words, "(happy implies smiling) does not imply (not smiling implies not happy)." 'Tavi, I can see you don't know much about formal logic. A statement always implies its contrapositive.
I'm saying this before the meeting at the castle, and I will refuse to edit it in the future: silly 'Tavi, just because Twilight pays you to bake in her kitchen doesn't mean you can only bake there. She only needs you for three hours a week, and you don't seem to be doing much with the other 165 (okay, you probably do need to allocate some of them to sleep, but that still leaves you at least 100). It's not that your job is keeping you out of your kitchen, it's that you don't know where your kitchen is.
Risked your reputation? What risk? Pinkie has got connections. You'd have to try to make it such a publicity disaster that Fancypants couldn't make most of the upper crust at least pretend to approve with a single sentence, and in that case Pinkie could just ask Celestia to drop a couple hints about hearing about the performance and approving of it. You could publicly murder orphans, and if Tia called it "a brave new frontier in performance art" and Fancypants applauded, the nobility would love it.
2031540 But if Pinkie Pie was upfront about her plans and the weight she wields (assuming for a second she is lucid enough to do that), no great lesson in friendship would be learned, and the end result wouldn't be nearly the same! Sometimes, you gotta toss the ingredients all around the kitchen and have a great big food fight to make the best muffins, you know? Besides, Pinkie doesn't cheat.
2033544 I was referring to Octavia's complaints after the performance. It's not cheating to call in some extra resources after the lesson has been learned; just because you display your cupcakes attractively doesn't mean you didn't bake them well enough to be worth buying.
Nicely done on this one. It's always good to see a good pure Element of Laughter story, and while I'm fine with the whole Octavia / Vinyl Scratch duo, it's nice to see Tavi getting a little screen time on her own and away from the standard Odd Couple groove that TaviScratch stories always seem to slot into.
2187842 It's always dicey to try to use a BG pony who's been typecast by the fandom, but hey, one more person whose gag reflex wasn't triggered by my use of her is great!
And yes. Pinkie Pie.
I am too tired to nitpick or anything like that. Suffice to say this is well written, and characterizes both pinky and Octavia accurately in the former, and believably in the latter.
A few of my friends are close to being in Octavia's situation. It's not exactly the same, but decorum, etc, is ludicrously overemphasized in places and monotony is basically all a classical contrabass knows in concert (aside from the occasional concerto written specifically for the bass).
I am so glad chrome has a spell checker.
Good night!
2216604 I would leave this at appreciating your comment and thanking you for reading and all that jazz - and it would be sincere, make no mistake! I am really really thrilled when people read Ode in particular.
But no, that's not enough. You get cookies too. You get a whole freakin' heap of cookies for making the distinction between accuracy and believability in a canon character and a BG/fanon character. You just made my day. Thank you.
(Yes, I'm a little annoyed by even the thought of anyone getting flak for getting a BG character "wrong")
I remember reading this quite a while back. Still good though.
2300514 I'm very glad you think so! I hope it doesn't cause uncontrollable vomiting when I decide to re-read it for myself. It happens sometimes when one views older works, I think.
I absolutely love this story.
The portrayal of your Octavia's character and inner conflict was beautifully done and Pinkie's characterization and interaction with Octavia was exceptional. 
Other than the exceptional writing, I have a selfish reason for loving this. It hit very close to home.
Like Octy, I found myself in doubt and frustration in where I was in my life. I became depressed, isolated myself, followed a lonely routine which wore me down. I began to accept this as my life but luckily my closest friends didn't give up on me and eventually I found my way back.
Thank you for writing this story.
It was great to read and reminded me that you can find happiness and that there are people that are willing to lend a hand (hoof) when you're down. I wish you luck in your other writing endeavors. 
Maybe someday I will read a Cloudy Skies fic that doesn't make me get misty-eyed. I hope not, though
Excellent, as always.
Man, this is making me feel guilty for not being in better contact with my bassist friend. What the hell is wrong with me?
2598046 Pardon the ridiculously late reply, but thank you for your kind comment, and thank you for reading! It was really interesting to write something non-shippy for once.
Depression is an icky subject because it can be so very different for everyone. It was one of my greatest fears that I would offend someone in writing this, but I'm glad to see that it doesn't seem to be the case. I don't think Ode is suited to try to "handle" the subject, but I tried to make Octavia relatable in a number of ways. I'm very, very glad you found your way back!
2608518 I hope I deserve this faith, and to not disappoint; thank you for reading!
2660891 Cellist! Or wait, was it bassist? Now I forget.
Thank you for reading, thank you for commenting, and I hope all is well with you and your friend!
Loved it. I've said it before and I'll say it again, you write such an awesome Pinkie Pie.
This made me all fuzzy inside. I loved it.
And the way you write Pinkie Pie is fantastic.
Very good story. Loved and favorited.
This fic has the same intensity that made me a fan of the franchise. Whereas S1E1E2 made me think of all the friends I've had throughout my life, and what the heck happened now that I'm not with them anymore (simple answer: I grew up. We all did.), this fic has that same intensity in making me think that I've, to a good extent, become a recluse.
Oh! The dialogues are perfectly on-character. If this was animation, the characters would be super on-model and in-character!
Awesome job Mr./Ms. Author. And awesome job to your friends who worked with you in polishing the fic. They did a great job.
May I have you as my dialogue consultant?
Some specifics:
“Hi again!” the impossibly cheery voice chirped. Had Octavia been holding her cello, it might have gone terribly wrong...
- LOL!!! A cello across Pinkie's face?
“No, I just asked Princess Celestia if she could tell them to let me in, of course!” Pinkie Pie chirped before going to work on her meal. Whatever effort the chefs had put into making the donuts look like they belonged in a high-class restaurant was ruined by the gluttonous pony’s attentions in a second, savaged in a cacophony of glomps and snarfs.
- LOL!!!!
It seemed as if her poofy mane had lost some of its lustre, and the sparkle in her eye seemed dangerously dim.
- Wow. Nice use of words. Actually, you use a lot of words that are "bull's eye right on target" of what exactly, precisely what you mean...which I only find out after googling the words.
- I'm at awe.
“Mean Meaniepants McMeanington the third.”
- I gotta remember this one
“That’s not a problem,” Octavia said, trying her very best to sound reasonable. If the pink pony was indeed a few cellos short of a symphony, then she would do this note by note. “That’s- that’s a personality trait. Just because most everypony smiles a lot doesn’t mean I should have to.”
- "...a few cellos short of a symphony..." I gotta remember this one too.
“And it’s a cravat, not a ‘collar’!”
- LOL!
Pinkie giggled. “I told you they were super good! Sometimes, the best parties are surprise parties, and I bet that goes for music, too!”
- I'm...just wow.
“I think we would like that very much,” Octavia replied. It was useless to hold back; she smiled, and it felt good. A full smile from ear to ear that was mirrored on the faces of all those who were present. Pinkie Pie especially was beaming brightly, hopping over to hug Octavia around the neck.
- Pinkie's just reward.
All eyes turned on her once again, Fréderic visibly nervous. Octavia let him sweat for a little while longer, grinning. “The song does have a name. It’s called ‘Ode to Friendship’.”
- BOOM! Just like a bomb!
Potential errors:
1. It wasn’t her first visit to the Eight Plates. She would come her once in a great while, but she was equally disappointed every time. The white-and-gold décor, the spacious, exclusive locales and the five-star food and service was excellent, of course. Just as exquisite as it had been on the day her family had taken her here to celebrate her acceptance into the quartet. Perhaps they were the missing element. Perhaps the place had just gone flat.
2. “Madame? Are you quite all right?” the impeccably groomed mare asked as Octavia sat back up. When she got no reply, the waitress followed her eyes to the pink pony sat outside. “Ah. That’s... unfortunate. I will go *and* ask her to leave,” she muttered, heading for the door.
3. Quality trumped quantity, though. Living proof of this, Pinkie Pie stood out against the pristine white stone like a flat note in a C major scale. The riotously loud mare was bouncing on the spot when she saw Octavia approaching, heedless of Equestrian etiquette and public propriety. She earned more than a couple of glances from those few passers-by who weren’t stone-faced guardsponies.
- sounds awkward when you say it with your mouth.
4. Before they could say anything, the delicate sound of a dainty set of hooves pierced the susurrus. Looking up, Octavia saw a beautiful, important-looking white mare applauding them from the front of the crowd. At her sides stood Pinkie Pie and a posh unicorn stallion whose monocle alone was no doubt worth more than the opera house. At the mare’s hoof- clops, the crowd fell quiet more quickly and surely than had the royal sisters themselves pranced by naked.
“Sir Fancypants! Madam Fleur!” Fréderic breathed, sketching a low bow. The stallion waved a hoof before the others could follow suit
- This is Fancypants with Madam Fleur. Fleur's coat is indeed white, but she has a pink outline. It tends to make her white coat absorb the pinkness. This caused a bit of confusion as I tried to imagine it. I thought at first it was Princess Celestia with Blueblood. Thank goodness my confusion only lasted a few seconds. This could perhaps use a bit more clarity.
Thumbs upping, and shelving.
Character development.
AKA what more fics need, and this one has it.
thanks for the ride!