Chapter Four
Frederic’s early morning practice routine ended when a knock arrived at the door. Conveniently, it had ended right as he’d finished the movement. Courteous of them, he thought. He closed the piano book he was reading from and got up, moving for the door.
When he opened the door, he saw two very familiar mares standing in front of him.
“Good morning,” said Octavia.
“Yo,” said Vinyl.
“Oc...” Frederic said. “How’d you know I was here?” His eyes narrowed. “Harpo probably told you, I figured.”
“We stalked you,” Vinyl said bluntly. When Octavia’s hoof collided with the back of her head, she changed her tune. “We actually live down the hall,” she said, rubbing the back of her head.
“We saw you walking home from the Carousel Boutique, but didn’t want to bother you,” Octavia said, casting a rather unpleasant sideward glance at Vinyl.
“That explains the cello music,” Frederic mused. “Odd I didn’t pick up on that.”
“Then you must’ve heard when we-” Vinyl started, but stopped when Octavia quite literally threw her weight on Vinyl’s upper half.
“Thankfully not...” he muttered.
Once the squabble had ended, Octavia having regained her composure, she looked at Frederic. “Would it be alright if we came in? There’s something I’d like to talk to you about,” she said.
“Um,” Frederic said. “Sure, sure, of course.” He stood aside and gestured to let them inside. “By all means...” His face, however, was a little perplexed.
The two mares sat on the couch across from Frederic, who took his spot in his recliner. A few tense moments passed, and Vinyl gave a small groan.
“Look, Octy knows you–” Vinyl started, but stopped when Octavia shook her head. She read the signs, and fell silent.
“I know, Frederic,” Octavia said carefully.
“Excuse me?” asked Frederic. “I don’t understand what you–”
“I know about your... feelings for me,” she said, dropping the bomb squarely on Frederic’s lap.
Frederic sat there in silence, his expression not betraying anything. “Am I that obvious, or did Harpo tell you?”
“Harpo may or may not have opened my eyes to it...”
“Remind me to rearrange his harp strings.”
“Look, the reason we’re here is because we wanna help. While it’s cool you have the hots for Octy – I mean, she’s hot stuff – you gotta move on, buddy. She’s spoken for,” Vinyl said.
“Get to the point, Vinyl,” Octavia reminded.
“Right, right. The point is, is we’re gonna help you get over Octavia, and by ‘get over’ I mean we’re gonna take you clubbing and maybe help you mingle with some of the other mares in town,” Vinyl said.
Frederic tilted his head. “‘Clubbing’?” he asked dubiously.
Vinyl looked at Octavia. “This guy for real?”
“The three of us will go out, and we’ll introduce you to a new mare,” said Octavia. “It’ll be fun.”
“Promise me one thing, though- lighten up,” Vinyl said. “Mares like a nice smile."
Frederic tried to put on a forced smile, and both mares winced.
“N-not quite like that, but hey, it's progress...” Vinyl said. Frederic noticed that both mares had the same shocked, unsettled expressions and quickly returned to his normal expression.
I'm doomed, he thought. “Well, this is an... interesting way for the day to start,” said Frederic.
“Admittedly there was... no real easy way to say this,” confessed Octavia. “We just decided we’d best come out and say it.”
Vinyl then got up. “Sorry bud, I know it's tough,” she said, patting him on the shoulder. “Don’t you worry though, we’re gonna set you up with somepony you’ll fall head over hooves for! Like, totally hot stuff.”
“It's not all about appearances, Vinyl..." Octavia added.
“Oh, right, yeah,” Vinyl said as she made her way to the door. “C’mon Octy, we gotta get down to the sound equipment store. They just released some new bass cabs I wanna test out,” she said.
“See you later, Frederic,” said Octavia. “We can pick you up at six?”
“Seven would be more convenient...” Frederic said, his voice not giving any sense of certainty about the proceedings. “If you don’t receive an answer when you knock... try forcing the door open, as I’m probably refusing to answer,” he said sardonically.
“Kick the door down. Got it,” Vinyl said.
“Just a little more... come on,” Rarity said softly, straining her eyes through her glasses as she focused intently on threading a needle, but the thread had decided that today it would not follow instruction. It was sadly just the tiniest bit frayed at the end. Sighing, she brought it up to her mouth, licked it, and then moved to line it up with the eye of the needle again. Just as she finally managed to get the thread through, the door to the Boutique swung open with all the force of a galestorm. Three young fillies barged through it, laughing and shouting as they rushed up the stairs, scaring the living daylights out of Rarity, who had jumped three feet and losing the thread and needle.
“What in Equestria-” Rarity said, breathless as she clutched her heart.
“Sorry ‘bout that, Rares. You know how excitable the girls are when they get together,” Applejack said as she walked in, careful to wipe her hooves on the mat. Rainbow Dash followed her in, looking around at some of Rarity’s new dresses.
“Well, to what do I owe the pleasure of this visit?” asked Rarity.
“We heard the girls talking,” Rainbow Dash said with a knowing smile.
“Talking about what, darling?” Rarity asked.
“Oh, you know,” Rainbow Dash said, prodding the subject a little more.
“Nooo...” said Rarity. “I really don’t think I do.”
“What Dash is tryin’ to say is, we heard Sweetie talkin’ to Bloom and Scoots about how that Frederic fella came by yesterday,” Applejack explained. “She was hootin’ and hollerin’ about how he was a real fancy fella with a nice smile and even nicer manners,” she repeated.
“Him?” asked Rarity. “He came by to try on a suit. I don’t see how that has Sweetie Belle excited. He is polite, though.”
“She’s dead-set on him being your coltfriend,” Rainbow said, her tail flicking slightly. “So? What’s the story on this guy? When are we gonna meet him? I gotta see if he’s worth his salt-lick,” she said.
“I don’t know,” said Rarity. “He’ll be playing for Sweetie Belle’s birthday party,” she said. “I guess it’s good that she likes him in that case. But aside from that I couldn’t say.”
Applejack blanched slightly. “...Y’all did remind him that Pinkie’s organizin’ the party... right?”
“I...” Rarity paused. “Oh dear...”
“He’ll be fine,” Rainbow said, waving it off. “What’s the worst that could happen? It’s a birthday party for a filly,” she said.
“Well, them Canterlot types aren’t always the sort to go with Pinkie Pie’s tastes,” said Applejack.
“He survived last time, didn’t he?” Rainbow pointed out, folding her forelegs over her chest. “If he did it once, he can do it again.”
“I’d prefer there not be a repeat incident, seeing as I’d like to have him actually come back and visit sometime,” Rarity said, catching herself a moment later. “Y-you know, to try on more suits...”
“Riiiiight, whatever you say, Rarity,” Rainbow Dash said with a smile.
“Well, we best be headin’ out,” said Applejack.
“Right behind ya,” Rainbow Dash said, following her out, leaving Rarity alone to her thoughts as the girls played upstairs.
“You owe me a new door.”
“You told us to do it!” Vinyl protested.
“I was being facetious!” Frederic huffed, looking ahead of him at the club. He wondered if he’d be able to feel the ground shaking. “You know, when I think ‘bass’ I think of opera singers who play comic relief parts, or tubas, or bassoons, or continuo parts, not…”
WUMP! WUMP! WUMP!
“Yeah,” said Frederic. “I’ll just pretend that counts as ostinato.”
“Now's not the time to make up words, Fred! I need your head in the game!” Vinyl said.
“Vinyl, ostinato is a real-” Octavia started.
"Okay Fred, I need to see if you can act cool, try and blend in with today's crowd," Vinyl said, ignoring Octavia altogether.
“Wait, wait, I can blend in,” said Frederic. He slumped against the wall. “‘Yo’ and ‘wazzup’ and all that. I’m down and stuff. Fo’ shizzle.”
Vinyl's eye twitched. "You know what? Mares like it when stallions be themselves," she said.
“Just be yourself and you'll be the talk of the town,” Octavia reassured.
"You got this, Fred, now let's knock 'em dead!" Vinyl said with a smile, and with that marched the way forward to the door.
Frederic and Octavia followed, the heavy beat overwhelming their ears before they even stepped inside. Frederic felt himself tense when the heavy bass allowed him to feel where exactly in his chest his heart sat, wondering for a moment if he was about to die. When he didn’t, he shook away his concerns and focused on the task at hand- to find a mare that was more beautiful than Octavia, more suave than Octavia… more desirable than Octavia… He then shook his head violently to clear his head, and waited for Vinyl to guide his next move.
Vinyl looked back, seeing that Frederic was still among them. "Look at you, you're already inside and you haven't panicked! Bonus points!"
“WHAT?” shouted Frederic over the noise.
“SHE SAID SOMETHING ABOUT STAYING INSIDE!” Octavia said, yelling as well.
“WHAT ABOUT GETTING A RIDE? I THOUGHT I WAS WITH YOU TWO!”
“NOW'S NOT THE TIME TO HIDE, YOU NEED TO JUST KEEP CALM!”
Vinyl rolled her eyes, having been reminded that while she loved Octavia dearly, she only had a minimal amount more experience in clubs than Frederic did. “Alright,” she said, moving on. “Where to go from here?”
“HOW CAN YOU SEE?” shouted Frederic. “IT’S ALL BLACK WITH SPOTS OF COLORS!”
“I THINK THE SECRET IS CARROTS,” shouted Octavia. “AND GLOWSTICKS.”
“Y’know what? Just stay here—as in ‘don’t move.’ I’m going to get us some drinks,” Vinyl said.
How can anypony survive in an environment like this? Frederic asked himself as he looked around. All around him, ponies were moving and dancing and drinking and talking to themselves in loud voices that melded together into a single constant blob of sound over which the club music blasted at top volume. Frederic found himself feeling sorry for the speakers. But mostly he was sorry for himself. What am I doing here…? Can I really find another mare here?’ he asked himself. I am so far out of my element, I can barely hear myself think, and the mare I want but can’t have is standing so close to me my heart is ready to explode! Whatever zany scheme Vinyl has in mind…
Vinyl, meanwhile, had approached the counter. The bartender, a skinny goth of a stallion, turned and greeted her.
“Well, lookie who’s here!” he said. “Was great to have you here last week!”
“The feeling’s mutual,” Vinyl said with a smirk. “I keep coming back here ‘cause the booze alone is worth the price of admission,” she said. “I’ll have a sour apple martini, extra cherries, my marefriend will take scotch on the rocks…” she then looked back at Frederic. “...a cherry soda for him,” she said.
The stallion looked over. “Ohhh,” he said. “Maestro Killjoy?”
“Hey, he's not such a bad guy,” she said, defending Frederic. “Poor guy's trying to get over some other filly and we’re helping him out by having him mingle a bit,” she said.
“If anything, he may get preyed on here, not hit on. The mares here are pretty vicious. Somepony like him’ll be a prime target,” he warned.
“We've just gotta keep a close eye on him,” said Vinyl. "Thanks for the drinks," she said.
"No prob, come on back when you're ready for the next round," he said.
She carried the drinks back to the group. Octavia was relatively composed, though Frederic seemed to keep looking over his shoulder as though frightened somepony was about to shank him.
“Alright, everypony,” said Vinyl. “Drink up!”
“Thank you,” said Frederic, raising his glass of cherry soda, taking a sip. He paused. “Cherry soda?”
“Yeah, I didn't really know what you liked," Vinyl said.
"I'm no child, Vinyl, I do know how to drink," Frederic said, brushing past her and making his way to the bar.
"Should we be letting him drink?" Vinyl asked.
"I've never seen him drink before in my life," Octavia admitted.
Octavia and Vinyl couldn’t believe their eyes. Frederic was on his fourth drink and had loosened up considerably, to the point he had caught the attention of two rather attractive mares who were now clinging to his sides like wings on a pegasus.
“I LOVE YOUR MANE!” one of them shouted. “IT’S LIKE RETRO!”
“YOU’RE SO SUAVE,” the other added. “I LOVE GUITAR-”
“Piano, dear…” said Frederic, slurring through a confident grin.
“-PIANO PLAYERS!” she giggled, pushing up against him.
"Vinyl, we should step in, those mares don't look very... wholesome," Octavia said
"No no, he needs to learn," Vinyl said with a small smile.
"Vinyl!" Octavia said forcefully.
"Fine, fine, we'll go save him," Vinyl said.
Before they could intervene, something amazing then occurred—Frederic drunkenly clambered up onto the table, undoing his tie and ruffling his mane. “I LOVE TO PARTAAAAAAY!” The crowd erupted and the DJ kicked up the beat, the normally-reserved stallion proceeding to dance on the table with his new consorts.
“Celestia?” asked Octavia, standing in numb shock. “Please forgive me. For everything.”
“Oh sweet Celestia, somepony take a picture, a video, anything!” Vinyl gasped, laughing herself nearly to the point of tears. She herself was already a few shades to the wind, so she was of no help to Octavia. The bartender from before, who had recently gotten off-shift, watched the scene as he made his way to the exit.
“Wow, I didn't think the guy had it in him," the stallion said, turning and leaving.
"I never knew Frederic was such a party animal when he gets drunk!" Vinyl said with a smile.
"This can't end well..." Octavia said.
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My god, an update, YESS!!!
My sentiments exactly. When most writers do Vinyl, they make her charming in her way of life. However, she has only come off as a total bitch during this entire story. So much so, that I'm hoping that Octavia leaves her by the end of all this. She's nasty, rude, spiteful and just mean spirited. You haven't convinced me, as the reader, that this pairing is working out. They've either insulted or hit each other through out. Worst of all, Tavi/Scratch is my favourite ship. So the fact that you have accomplished a feat of me turning against it is almost impressive. I doubt making her this unlikeable was your intention, and I'm sorry to say you've greatly failed as a writer in this respect.
The rest is interesting though, the way your building up Rarity and Fredrick is cool and that's what's keeping me here, but only just. I'm not writing this to be mean, I'm writing this in the hope this improves. So far, this story is sub-par, but it can be so much more. Also, try and explain things a bit more. Put some detail into room and appearance because I'm having difficulty visualising any place we haven't seen in the show.
3602628
Thank you for pointing it out, and after reviewing what we've written, we do see where you're coming from. There was never any intention to write her off as bitchy and just generally unpleasant. We've taken your comment very seriously and will do our best to rectify the issue.
3602628
Co-author here.
Thank you for bringing this to our attention. We take feedback seriously, and we'll take steps to correct it.
3602723 Well that is a very good to hear. i would recommend rewriting the scene where Tavi and her are talking about Fredrick being a stalker. She comes to the conclusion way to fast and it doesn't make any sense since Tavi and him work together.
Hmh, yes, a definite improvement. The small tweaks to her dialogue makes her come off as crude, but honest with good intentions. I like it
static1.fjcdn.com/thumbnails/comments/THIS+PICTURE+I+LIKE+IT+_373f6fe15c9ec81ba71b577993c3e14b.jpg
3602628 I agree with most of what you said, I would love to see Octavia and Vinyl spilt up. It might would be interesting if the table have been reversed. I mean what if Fredrick and Rarity starts to get it going (their feeling building up and such and Octavia now realizes that she likes Fredrick in that way). Bam, she gets put into his old position.
Would be good plot twist, probably.
Good chapter!
-Morfonious
3620384 Yeah, wouldn't that be different? I mean I reread what they did with Vinyl, an they made her a little more likeable, but for originalities sake, I'd be tempted to go down that route.
Which is why it's so funny!
Which is why it's so funny!
