The Adventures of Derpy, Lyra, and Octavia

by IsabellaAmoreSirenix

Octavia's New Violin! Author Is Lazy on Late Friday Nights!

"Brilliant!" Octavia repeated for the tenth time that afternoon. "Absolutely brilliant!"

"What... What exactly did I do?" Derpy asked meekly.

At that, Lyra burst into laughter. "Oh, oh dear Celestia, that's rich! Octavia, we do not appreciate this kid nearly as much as we should. She's perfect, absolutely perfect."

"Why, what did I do?" the little pegasus persisted, tugging on Lyra's bright orange scarf as they walked.

"Haven't you heard the rumors?" Octavia asked, incredulous. "Since yesterday afternoon, everypony's been speculating about you and Roseluck being a couple!"

"What?!"

"I know, I know!" agreed Lyra with a huge grin on her face. "I could hardly believe it either, that talk could travel that fast. The beauty of words, I take it. But of course, you would know all about that beauty. Your idea was so fantastic; nopony in his or her right or left mind could have seen it coming! Nopony's going to remember Octavia and the Doctor now!"

"But, but I didn't mean to do anything!" Derpy tried to explain. "I just talked to her after class. Why would ponies think that Roseluck and I liked each other?"

"Oh Derpy," Octavia said, "anypony who can maintain a conversation with Roseluck for more than a minute or two without tearing out their hair has an inequinely close relationship with her. Honestly, I'm amazed you could keep up the ruse that long."

"But she's not like--"

"Well of course we know she's not really like that," said Lyra. "That's part of the ruse, you see. But wow, what a ruse it was!"

"Absolutely!" Octavia agreed. "Funny thing about ponies, how gossip's here today and gone tomorrow. Who knows? Maybe tomorrow the headlines will be Roseluck and the Doctor."

"Hmm, the Doctor and Rose." Lyra paused to think. "Nah, it'll never catch on."

"Hey, where are you going?" Octavia asked, stopping at the bottom landing of the stairs. "Our room is this way, dummy."

"I know, I know," answered Lyra, a twinkle gleaming in her bright green eyes. "But first, we're taking a little detour."

---

"Tada!"

Hesitantly, Octavia picked up the instrument case, weighing it in her hooves. "What's this?" she asked softly.

"I said I owed you a new violin, didn't I? Well, here you go! Open it, Octavia."

Octavia bit the end of the silky red ribbon and pulled to unravel the bow. Two quiet clicks, and the case was flipped open to reveal a violin, with fine horsehair for the bow, taunt new strings, and wood polished to a shine.

"Like it?" Lyra asked.

"Like it?" Octavia echoed, turning the violin over and over in her hooves. "Lyra, this violin... this violin is worth two thousand bits."

"What, is that bad?"

Octavia sighed. "It feels cold," she said. "Distant. Unfeeling."

"Gee, well doesn't that sound familiar?" Lyra grumbled. "You just have to break it in, like a shoe!"

Octavia just rolled her eyes.

"Come on, Octy, play for us!" said Derpy.

Octavia looked at the violin uncertainly. "Well, alright..." Then she picked up the new violin and began to play.

"You know, I've always wondered how she can do that with hooves," said Derpy dreamily as she listened to the song. "It's almost like-- eep!"

Derpy jumped as she felt a soft pair of hooves touch the back of her head. "Lyra?" she asked, craning her neck behind her to see the unicorn horn peeking out from the side. "What are you doing?"

"Braiding your mane," she replied simply while separating it into three sections. "It's relaxing whenever my mom does it for me. It relieves worries."

"What makes you think I'm worried about anything?"

"I could tell from earlier at lunch," said Lyra, now with bobby pins jutting out of her mouth. "You seem better now, though. Is everything better?"

"Yes," said Derpy. "An issue came up with Dinky, but it's better now." Her eyes fell to the ground. "I... I don't really want to talk about the details, if that's okay."

"No problem. Just know that we're here for you, okay?"

Forgetting the braid, Derpy nuzzled into Lyra's chest as she listened to Octavia play. "Yeah," she whispered contentedly. "Yeah, I know."

Author's Note:

I don't want to say I'm resting on my laurels... but with 3,000 words ahead of schedule, I'm resting on my laurels. It's been a long week, but Thanksgiving break has begun, so that means plenty more time to finish!

To make up a bit for this lackluster chapter, I'll throw this question out there, too! Next chapter, the trio's getting together for a movie night! Any recommendations on the genre they should watch?

Comments

[ConningOfficer]

I've always been a fan of murder mystery... both Lyra and Octavia would eat up something like Gosford Park - romance, class warfare, whodunit...

Welcome back! You deserve a little bit of laurel resting.

[CapetownCapitan]

An action movie! Like Pacific rim, Edge of tomorrow, or something to do with robots!

[the frank]

something meta! Like that english series where a woman finds a portal into pride and prejudice!

[Nyperold]

A film adaptation of Pride & Prejudice & Zomponies.

[IsabellaAmoreSirenix]

5298662 5298880 5299101 5301732 Okay, I heard murder, robots, meta, and zombies. Challenge accepted.