Requiem For A Nightmare

by Hopeful_Ink_Hoof

The Reviews Are Not In

Octavia woke up later than she usually did. In retrospect, perhaps she should have stayed in Canterlot instead of catching a train back to Ponyville. More so since she would have to go back for tonight's performance. However, it was cheaper to pay for the train than a hotel room, and sleeping in ones own bed was always nice.

After a stretching of her back and legs, she made her way to the kitchen.

In the dining room sat Vinyl Scratch. She had a large bowl in front of her that could fit an entire box of cereal into it. Knowing Vinyl, it probably did. In the mare's magic was the spoon that was moving between the bowl and her mouth, and the comic section. The rest of the day's newspaper was scattered across the table.

Octavia sighed and gave a shake of her head as she made her way to the kitchen. Grabbing a blueberry bagel, she cut it in half and stuck it in the toaster to warm up. After starting the coffee maker, she made her way back toward the dining room.

"Vinyl, how many times have I told you: you don't need to use such a large bowl. You can simply use a smaller one, and refill it as you eat."

"I don't know," Vinyl answered as she took another big spoonful of her bright colored, marshmallow filled cereal. "I don't really keep track of that."

"Yet you are still going to complain when your cereal gets, quote, 'soggy and gross.'" Octavia started shifting through the portions of the newspaper. "The very reason I began to tell you in the first place." Her eyes narrowed. "Also, why must you always leave the newspaper in such a disarray simply so you can get to your 'comics?'"

"Comics are awesome," Vinyl declared. "The rest of the paper sucks."

Octavia let out a snort, but chose not to comment further. Instead she chose to focus on the newspaper, searching for the Entertainment section. A search that was cut short by the toaster declaring it was finished.

"Could you find the entertainment section for me? I want to see if there is a review of my show from last night."

As she got the bagel and the strawberry cream cheese, the sound of paper rustling reached her ears. It sounded to her more like papers were being moved back and forth against each other instead of actually searched through.

"I can't seem to find it," Vinyl called out. "Maybe they forgot to include it or something."

That gave Octavia pause. There were times that Octavia would ask Vinyl to do something that she did not want to. When that happened, Vinyl either said no, or ignored the request. Octavia could not recall a time hat Vinyl would pretend to do something and make up an excuse. Something odd was happening, and she thought she knew how to find out.

Grabbing the plate with her bagel and her cup of coffee, Octavia made her way to the dining area. After setting them down, she took her seat across the table from Vinyl. Instead of immediately eating or drinking, however, she instead folded her forehooves in front of her, and stared at the other mare.

Several seconds passed in silence at Octavia sat there, staring.

Vinyl Scratch shifted in her seat. Her eye glanced at Octavia before looking at her breakfast.

The comics snapped audibly in the magical aura.

Vinyl's eyes flicked to Octavia, then back to the comic.

"You're coffee's getting cold," Vinyl blurted out.

Pulling the paper up more to block Octavia, Vinyl slouched down in her seat.

Her ears pulled back.

"Why do you care about it anyways?" Vinyl snapped as she slammed the paper to the table (and Octavia noted that it was new personal record for Vinyl). "The show was awesome. There wasn't a dry eye in the house. I know it was great, you know it was great. Hey, even Princess Luna herself told you it was great."

That last part had actually been very surprising to Octavia. After the show, the princess had shown up backstage, saying that she had enjoyed the show very much. It was the highest praise that the musician could have expected. Even the memory of it made Octavia feel lightheaded and giddy.

A reaction that was short lived as the memory was pushed aside by Vinyl's words.

"Vinyl," Octavia said calmly, "where is the entertainment section?"

Vinyl grimaced.

"Listen. We're friends. Good friends. So believe me when I say that it doesn't matter, and you don't want to read it. Trust me on this, Octavia, forget about it."

"We both know I cannot do that," Octavia responded. "Now, please give me the Entertainment section."

"Fine," Vinyl huffed, rolling her eyes. Her horn lit up as she grabbed the cereal box and pulled out a wadded up piece of newspaper.

Octavia raised an eyebrow.

"I had to stash it fast when I heard you were coming," Vinyl stated as she passed the balled up paper over.

Taking the ball, Octavia set it onto the table. Her hooves went to work unwrapping and smoothing it while looking for the review. As she found it, she started scanning through it.

One word stuck out above all the rest: "abomination."

It was also essentially a summary of the review. The critic quite adamantly opposed the addition of either non-traditional instruments or melodies in what was supposed to be classical music.

With a sigh, Octavia crumpled it back up. Setting it aside, she turned her attention to her coffee and bagel.

"Like I said," Vinyl said, "you shouldn't care what that stupid critic says. Princess Luna came and told you herself that she loved it, for crying out loud. Who cares what some stuffy, stuck-up critic says?"

"The ponies that read the Entertainment section of the newspaper," Octavia replied, "and potential audience members. Possibly future patrons and so forth."

Octavia sighed and took a bite, swallowing before continuing.

"As wonderful as it is that Princess Luna loved it, unfortunately, that" -- she pointed a hoof at the crumpled up newspaper -- "is primarily what ponies shall be reading. It is what they shall use to judge whether or not they shall attend a performance, commission me to write a piece, or even hire me to perform for them." She sighed again. "And I highly doubt that Princess Luna will have the time to write her own review and have it printed in the paper."

"How cool would that be though?" Vinyl asked.

"Yes," Octavia agreed. "It would be a rather impressive. Still, she has more pressing matters to deal with." She picked up her coffee and looked at it. "I suppose I shall just have to wait and see the full extent of the consequences before deciding what to do next."

"Hey. Come on. You'll be fine."

"I certainly hope so."

"If you're really worried, you can set up auditions for your jazz band," Vinyl suggested, getting a laugh from the other mare.

"Perhaps I shall," Octavia replied. "Depending how tonight and tomorrow's performances go."

The two sat in silence for a moment, Vinyl stirring her bowl while Octavia ate her bagel.

"My cereal's all soggy and gross," Vinyl declared.

Octavia looked at her and raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, yeah," Vinyl huffed. "I know, I know."

There was a knock at the door.

"I'll get it," Vinyl said as she got up. "You can finish your breakfast... and your not gloating."

A snicker escaped Octavia as she took a drink of her coffee. She watched Vinyl leave before turning her attention to the rest of the newspaper. Maybe she could find an uplifting story, like something about a puppy or kitten, or and advertisement for a sale she might enjoy.

"Are you Octavia Melody?" a deep voice asked, loud enough to carry all the way to Octavia.

"Octaviaaaaaaaa!" Vinyl called out. "You want to come see this."

Finishing her bagel and coffee, Octavia got up and made her way to the front door. What could be at the door that got such a reaction from Vinyl?

As soon as she saw, Octavia understood.

Standing in the doorway was Discord. As soon as she came up, his yellow eyes turned to her and a smile spread across his goat-like face.

He suddenly disappeared from the doorway and appeared directly in front of Octavia.

"Octavia Melody," Discord said, grabbing one of her hooves and shaking it rapidly. "How delightful to meet you."

Octavia shook her hoof being held in a lion paw and eagle talon, still staring up at strange hodge-podge creature. She was familiar with Discord, both from his attack on Ponyville and from having seen him around since his "reformation." However, it had always been at a distance. Perhaps not what could be considered a "safe" distance considering he could alter the world around him with a literal snap of his paw, but a distance all the same. Seeing him in all his mismatched glory up close was... odd. Octavia was not sure how else to describe.

"Yes," she finally said, pulling her hoof away. "Now, how may I help you, Mister Discord?"

A dress suit appeared on Discord as he stood up, adjusting his monocle.

"Well, it's simple," he said. "I read the review of your performance, and I just had to commission you to write a piece about my favorite subject: Me."

"You... you want me to write a song about you?"

"Yes," Discord confirmed, the suit vanishing as he floated in the air. "Something much more than those silly drums you have near the start of that Requiem thing to signify me."

"Okay," Vinyl jumped in as she shut the door and turned to face them. "I gotta ask. What are you up to?"

A wide grin spread on Discord's face as he turned to Vinyl.

"That's the best part," he said. "I'm not actually up to anything else."

"...Seriously?" Vinyl asked, tilting her head and raising an eyebrow.

"In this case, yes, because it's so wonderful on its own." He clapped his forelimbs together. "I mean I get a song, a bunch of boring old ponies get annoyed, and I can't possibly get in trouble for it. A nice little bit of chaos and I don't have to do anything."

"That last part is not quite accurate," Octavia stated. "You do have to pay for the song."

Discord suddenly dropped from the air, shattering like glass as he hit the floor.

He then popped back up, reassembling himself.

"What?" Discord shouted as he landed in front of Octavia. "But... you didn't charge Princess Luna's for her song, did you?"

Straightening up, Octavia looked him in the eye as best she could.

"'Requiem for a Nightmare,'" she stated, "was a passion piece which I wrote at my own volition, as an attempt to create an original composition for a full orchestra, and which was my own idea to begin with." She poked him in the nose. "You are asking me to write a song on your behalf. That means it is a commission piece, and thus, needs to be paid for." Her eyes narrowed. "With a down payment up front."

Straightening up, Discord let out a huff and crossed his arms.

"A down payment?" he asked. "Up front?" With another huff he turned his back to Octavia. "Really, do you think I'm untrustworthy or something?"

Octavia stared at him, saying nothing.

With a roll of his eyes, Discord reached into his coat and pulled out a black rectangle. He flipped it open to reveal it was filled with paper and pulled out a quill.

"Will you take a check?"

Octavia continued to stare.

"Fine!" Discord cried out, the checkbook disappearing as he threw up his forelimbs. "Tell me how much the stupid down payment is, and I'll be come back with the dumb bits."