The Things Tavi Says

by shortskirtsandexplosions

Eccentric Things

Author's Note:

"Ahhhhh—Look at all the lonely poniesssss." Sweetie Belle's body rocks from side to side as she tosses her melodic voice rapturously into the air. "Ahhhhh—Look at all the lonely poniessss!"

With intense velvet concentration etched into her brow, my roommate finishes the final strokes of her bow-string and brings the riveting ballad to an end. She allows a residual echo to fill the room, and she exhales, wiping her brow. "Hmmm... smashing."

"Heeheehee!" Sweetie bounces in a tiny circle, her eyes bright... turning brighter. Like her bold, blue voice. "I've always wanted to do that! Heehee! What a classic!"

"Yes... quite..." Octavia leans back, sighing. "Although... I don't think that Marecartney was ever as... erm... 'classic' as Marezart... but alas..." She smiles, tossing her mane back after the latest jam session's unraveling. "You were polite enough to sit through three renditions of Ave Mareia without any prior practice and..." She giggles slightly. "Well, I suppose you more than deserved it."

"Can we do Clop Together next?"

"No we shan't!" Octavia growls in a low indigo. She swiftly makes up for it by clearing her throat and smiling. "Besides, what you've done so far—you've done so swimmingly. I think a break is in order."

"Awwwwwww..."

"No now... Sweetie Belle..." Octavia waves the bowstring. "Prodigy or not, t'wouldn't be fair for us to stretch out your vocal cords too much in the first go! After all, this has been nothing more than a very merry, very impromptu experiment."

"Yeah!" Sweetie Belle grins. "But a smashing one, right?"

"The key to that word, my dear, is not to wear it out." She winks at the filly, then turns towards me. "Now... let's see how much of that our resident studio expert has captured in full clarity. Ahem... Vinyl?"

Silence.

Octavia raises an eyebrow. "Vine, love?"

That does it. I'm finally shaken out of my stupor... a near-coma caused by the nebulous cloud of spine-tingling purple and violet colors still swimming and undulating like cosmic dust in the air. Wincing, I fumble across the lengths of my wheelchair seat and slap a hoof over the recording. Stopping it quite belatedly.

"Oh dear..." Octavia face-hoofs. "Vine... Vine... Vine."

"Heehee!" More blue. "Whoops!" Sweetie Belle winks. "Guess she got some goofy up at the end there, huh?"

"Yes yes... but she's gifted enough to know when and where to cut it, right?" My best friend adds this with a burning glare.

I gulp, retreating from the indigo flame with a nervous nod and a grin.

"Mmmm... very well then." Octavia gently places her cello up against the sofa. "And if she can't, then surely Lyra can."

"Ahhhh... Lyra. Of course!" Sweetie's voice cracks. She blinks. "Wait... which one is Lyra again?"

"I'm curious, Sweetie, my dear..." Octavia trots over and squats before the little pony. "How come Rarity never told us that your voice was such pure ambrosia?"

"You really like it?"

"Absolutely, darling! Vinyl too, I would suffice to say!"

"Yeah... well..." Sweetie scuffs at the floor of our foyer, shrugging. "I guess... no matter how good or bad you sound... a distraction is still a distraction as far as Rarity is concerned."

"Oh... now that does not sound like her at all!" Octavia says with a frown.

"Oh, but it's the way she is!" Sweetie retorts, her tiny muzzle hung between a pout and a frown. "Whenever she has to work on her sewing and dressmaking, she needs absolute quiet so she can concentrate on her 'important, fabulous chic mystique'... or whatever she likes to call it. Bleahckk!"

Octavia giggles. "Oh, you adorable little bird. Even your vomitous sound effects have harmony to them."

"I know, right? Wish Rarity thought that way!" Sweetie Belle folds her forelimbs, cheeks red as she glares out the window. "You know what the funny thing is? She'll still listen to your beloved so-called 'chamber music' on a record or the radio while she's working. But she has to bite my head off when I so much as open my muzzle! And her workplace is a crazy mess and she wears measuring tape around her neck like an ugly scarf and—"

"Now now, dear..." Octavia pats Sweetie's shoulder. "Let us not put your workhardy sister before the firing range that quickly. There's something you should know about artists. They're quite precise with how they need things to be."

"They're quite stupid, you mean."

"I've seen the way Rarity dotes on you, Sweetie." Octavia smiles. "You can't pretend she doesn't love you with a good portion of her 'fabulous' heart."

"Mmmmmm..." Sweetie looks aside, blushing slightly. "Mmmmmyeahhh... but still..." She sighs with a whistling squeak. "I still don't see why she can't let me sing when I wanna."

"Well, there's a time and a place for such things, my dear." Octavia stands up, gesturing towards me with a smile. "Like just now! In our studio! Allowing us to record your dazzling performance!"

"Yeah, but you guys really like it! To Rarity... it's just a distracting bunch of noise!"

"Well, I think that Rarity has a forgivable habit of compartmentalizing what she defines as 'music,'" Octavia says. "And—if you allow my good friend Vinyl and I to extend this little 'experiment' of ours further, I think we might be able to make Rarity see the light... or in this case hear the bell... the Sweetie Belle." She covers her fuzzy muzzle to stifle a violet giggle.

"Really?" Sweetie Belle leans forward, jaw agape. "How?"

"Mmmm... with a bit of expertise... in places only few can hear... or see." Octavia glances my way. "How about it, love?"

I'm drifting back and forth... a limp smile hanging off my muzzle. The blue and violets have merged together in the center of my skull... melting into a thin sliver and caressing its way down my spine, creating goosebumps and—

"Vine!"

I wince, adjust my shades, and nod in agreement.

"Eeuughhh..." Octavia rolls her eyes, adjusts her bow-tie, and smiles over at Sweetie Belle. "...granted, true talent does come with a modicum of... eccentricity."

"Heehee!" Sweetie Belle cheers. "I love light bulbs!"

Comments

[Rhino]

Oh dear... seems this new combination is a bit potent for Vinyl.

[RoboRed]

"Yes... quite..." Octavia leans back, sighing. "Although... I don't think that Marecartney was ever as... erm... 'classic' as Marezart... but alas..."

I prefer Marecartney's work from Wings, myself...

"Ahhhh... Lyra. Of course!" Sweetie's voice cracks. She blinks. "Wait... which one is Lyra again?"

Who?

[remnants]

Oh, please let Sweetie get a cutie mark while performing in front of the Mane 6.

6476599 I wonder, will Skirts ever be able to make another fic without somebody mentioning Background Pony.

I mean, I don't even see the hype. It was just 20 chapters with no words in them, like some sort of weird postmodern art that is just the blank canvas.

[Dustchu]

"Can we do Clop Together next?"

Clop Together

s2.quickmeme.com/img/f8/f8b27de1c41e3776380552d96fb746b3528d7ab727225b1a2e365f91de71ac19.jpg

HAHAHA!
Nice chapter SKirts, legit awesome saucy.

[The Ponytail]

Great, you had her say smashing once and now I'll never be able to unsee Octavia as Nigel Thornberry. Thanks.

[Tchernobog]

6476599 "Dig the swell hoodie!"

[AppleTank]

6476815
derpicdn.net/img/view/2013/5/6/317877__safe_twilight+sparkle_spoilered+image+joke_nigel+thornberry_smashing.png
6476596
She high, man.
6476599
Hello? Help? My name is Appletank. Please remember me...

[StardustSurvivor]

"Eeuughhh..." Octavia rolls her eyes, adjusts her bow-tie, and smiles over at Sweetie Belle. "...granted, true talent does come with a modicum of... eccentricity."

"Heehee!" Sweetie Belle cheers. "I love light bulbs!"

Oh my god I think my heart just stopped.

[arancaytar]

"Ahhhhh—Look at all the lonely poniesssss." Sweetie Belle's body rocks from side to side as she tosses her melodic voice rapturously into the air. "Ahhhhh—Look at all the lonely poniessss!"

I like MareCartney, but now I can't stop looking for a horsepun on Beatles. Bridles? No, that sounds completely different. Just give up on the horse and go with Beetles? Nah.

"...granted, true talent does come with a modicum of... eccentricity."

"Heehee!" Sweetie Belle cheers. "I love light bulbs!"

I was pondering this for a good minute.

[TwilightUCrazy]

"Can we do Clop Together next?"

[bobbananaville]

Did a light bulb appear over Vinyl's head? Is that what happened?

[Noble Cause]

Okay, Sweetie gets more adorkable with each chapter. And Octy seems to be right in line with Vinyl's train of thought... when she isn't blissed out by their tones, anyway.

[BenRG]

Vinyl knows a pony, I'm sure. A pony who would see to it that Sweetie's educational fee needs are met for years from the royalties of Eleanor Rigby (cover by DJ-PON3 feat. Octavia and Sweetie). I'm not sure what Rarity would think of it though.

Maybe this is what Sweetie needs though: Two adults who understand her talent, are willing to work to nurture it and are willing to give her the time that Rarity, with her job and her calling as one of the Guardians of Harmony, simply can't give her.

[Aurora Dimmet]

6476599

Sing her song!

[Hobbestc]

Damn Sweetie Bell, lol!!! That last set of lines had me laughing pretty hard.

[reader238]

omg vinyl got high off of their combined melodies

[Fetch]

I think this is what should have been in the author's notes at the start of this chapter.

[dragonjek]

I was right. Vinyl can't take that much concentrated musical awesomesauce in one sitting.

6477032 Beatails?

[Inertial]

6477162
She thought Octavia said Electricity.

6477151
Now I get it

[way2dawn]

it may just be me, but it seems as if Vine gets either high or buzzed from those 'colors' of sound.

[Seraphimus]

6479535 its already come up that she associates the colors with emotions and stuff. Like laughter/joy is yellow I believe, so its entire possible. Not a high like people think but like an emotional overload that leaves her feeling blissful.

[DJPurple3]

Eleanor Rigby!!

Ermegersh.
Gorgeous song. This soothes my inner Beatlemania. (OR SHOULD I CALL IT BEATLEMAINIA (okay shoot me now))
I can't think of this song without seeing a cartoon Ringo playing the cello.
Just don't question it, 'kay?

[ShadowLDrago]

"Eeuughhh..." Octavia rolls her eyes, adjusts her bow-tie, and smiles over at Sweetie Belle. "...granted, true talent does come with a modicum of... eccentricity."

"Heehee!" Sweetie Belle cheers. "I love light bulbs!"

... Kid, you're lucky you're cute.