• Published 28th Jul 2017
  • 1,942 Views, 263 Comments

Roll for Initiative - David Silver



The girls are out of town, again. Spike and Big Mac are left behind. All the farm chores are handled, but there's little to do. Spike has an idea that he's willing to try, if Big Mac is up for it.

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23 - Firm Kindness

"Ah have a delivery t'make," spoke Big Mac, a large wagon of apples behind him.

Applejack nodded at the pile. "Whodathunk the ponies of Starlight's old town would be such good customers now that they're free to do their own thin's?" She patted the side of the wagon. "Be safe."

"Ayup." Big Mac took his first ponderous step of many, visions of the lovely mare that would be part of his reward at the end. She would be so happy to receive the apples. The bits were good, but her smiling face...


Fluttershy seemed to notice Spike's nervousness. "Oh, Spike. What's wrong? Whatever it is, I'm here to help." Her eyes darted about. "Unless it's really scary."

Spike waved his hands quickly as he sat up. "Nothing like that. It's just that Discord..."

"Yes?"

"He's a little..."

"Mmhmm?"

"He likes the spotlight."

"Oh." Fluttershy's ears perked up. "He does, doesn't he? Is he being a bother?"

Spike held up his pointer and thumb close together. "Most of the time, he's become a real blast to have around, sometimes literally, but last game, he brought Rarity into the game without warning me, and had her play the part of the mare we were rescuing."

Fluttershy suddenly broke into titter. "Oh, my. I should imagine she could play that role very well if she wanted to. Did she have fun?"

Spike blinked owlishly. "I never asked." He had never even thought to ask that. "We're getting off-topic though. The damsel was... supposed to be kinda... like Rarity, but not, you know, actually Rarity. She was my little fantasy for fun. Suddenly I had to deal with the real thing and... maybe I freaked out a little."

Fluttershy raised a hoof over her mouth. "Oh dear... I could imagine that being surprising," she spoke in sympathetic tones. "That wasn't a nice thing. I will speak to Discord." Her tone hardened a little as she spoke. "Has he been good other than that?"

Spike's earfins lifted a little. That had been easier than he would have guessed. "Mostly, yeah. We've had fun, you know, minus a few things... He's, uh, kinda making things way more real in a lot of ways, but he likes to jump the gun. I mean, I didn't mean for the step of the story to be done yet. I thought we'd be fighting the squizzard and his goons for a long time, and now he's gone, poof." He clapped his hands together for emphasis, making Fluttershy jump.

Fluttershy looked at Spike with wide eyes. "Oh my... Who is the squizzard?"

"He was the main bad guy of the adventure." He wriggled his claws. "He was a no good squid that raised armies of undead ponies and he kidnapped Princess Schmarity!"

"That's not very nice at all," agreed Fluttershy. "And you won?"

"I mean, yeah, we did, but not the way I'd have liked it." Spike crossed his arms. "It's hard to explain. I mean, it's a story, so it should have a dramatic finish. Not just a chaotic brawl in the middle of the woods."

A new voice spoke from behind Spike, prompting him to jump from his seat and see Discord, "that's because real battles are like that." He snapped his fingers, conjuring an image of a row of gleaming pony knights marching side-by-side. "We tell tales of noble soldiers following grand plans to success, but it rarely works out that way."

The phantom ponies became tired and dirty with travel, marching as more of a loose mob. "When they encounter the enemy, order is attempted, surely, but something has to give. They are ponies, afterall, not machines." The images stopped suddenly as another set of images arrayed against them, opposing knights. They fell upon one another in a great melee, punching and kicking. The once-proud knights reduced to tackling one another when they could, trying to secure victory. "War is rarely as glamorous as the tales spin."

Fluttershy waved a hoof through the image, dispersing it back into the mist it had formed in. "Discord, I'm glad to see you. I hear you've been making quite an impression at the games you play with Spike."

"I should hope so." He was suddenly in the unoccupied seat in the room. "Do tell."


Lyra looked aside at the nervous Pinkie that accompanied her. "Relax. Octavia is a classy mare. So long as you're polite, she will be too. Oh! No bouncing."

"No bouncing?"

Lyra shook her head. "No bouncing. Keep your hooves on the floor unless they're busy with your lute. Slow and smooth will get you farther with her. Let's see if she's home." She raised a hoof and gave the door three sharp knocks.

The door swung inwards to reveal a mare, but not the one they expected. DJ-Pon3 was bobbing her head softly to the tune of whatever was playing on her large earphones. She regarded them silently, the specific angle of her eyes hidden behind rosey glasses.

"Heya Scratch!" greeted Lyra, unbothered. "Is your roomie around?"

DJ raised a hoof, then turned around and looked around with sweeps of her head before walking away from the door, leaving it open.

Lyra leaned over towards Pinkie. "This is normal. If she finds Octavia, she'll bring her back."

"Twilight's told me a little about her." Pinkie bobbed her head. "I admit I was a little surprised that Twilight liked that kinda music, but there ya go."

"Must you continue pushing me?" came a refined voice from within the house before Octavia came into view, pushed along by DJ-Pon3. Vinyl gave a hoofs up before wandering back off to whatever she had been doing.

Octavia cleared her throat as she looked over the two ponies in front of the house. "Yes, well, hello?" Her eyes settled on Pinkie and she tensed. "How may I be of... assistance?"

Lyra thrust a hoof at Pinkie. "She just told me what a heel she was at the GGG, and I gave her an earful of how difficult it is to play an instrument and how amazingly rude it is to interrupt a pony when she's playing. She didn't believe me."

Octavia's eyes narrowed slightly. "I should imagine she did not."

Pinkie gasped. "But I'm ready to learn!" She pulled the lute off her back and held it in front of herself. "I wanna learn how to do it."

Lyra rolled her eyes dramatically. "I bet she thinks she'll learn it in a day. Can you believe this?"

Octavia's eyes closed a little more. "I can only imagine..." She turned to Pinkie fully. "You do understand that learning to play an instrument requires time, diligence, and practice? It may look 'fun' when you see an already skilled craftspony at work, but it is a long and hard road to reach the point that you'll be playing a single song." She shook her head. "If you're expecting instant results, you may as well return that instrument from wherever you purchased it."

Pinkie trembled with worry. She had thought Lyra would be there to help her, but she was dismissing her just as bad as Octavia was. What had gone wrong?! "P-please, I'm ready!" She ran her hoof over the strings, giving a little artless strum. "I like music, really. I'm more of a singer than a player, but I'm willing to learn, really! I'm super mega ultimate sorry for being a patoot when you were playing."

Octavia sat on her haunches, her expression easing towards a gentle half-lidded state. "Yes, you were. Did you come to say that?"

Lyra scooted over to Octavia's side. "When I heard she wanted to play an instrument, I told her it was silly, but she kept insisting. I bet that poor thing's not even tuned."

Octavia rose and took the two steps to reach Pinkie. "Let me see that." Pinkie didn't resist when Octavia took the lute and began plucking the cords with her hooves with a skilled touch. "Mmm, no..." She began fiddling with the knobs at the end, changing the sound of each string subtly. "An instrument is like a foal. You have to treat them right and raise them properly, and they will amaze you, and you will love them, or they will misbehave." She thrust the tuned lute at Pinkie. "You really haven't the slightest idea what you're doing, do you?"

Pinkie accepted the lute and slung it over her neck. She brought a hoof down across the strings, listening to the difference the tuning made to it. "That sounds better! I can't even exactly say why, but it does." She let her hoof wander back and forth, strumming aimlessly.

Lyra moved with Octavia, snickering softly. "I bet even you couldn't get her playing properly."

Octavia wheeled on Lyra. "I've had worse students."

Lyra reached out and poked the refined mare in the chest. "Oh yeah? Worse than Pinkamena Diane Pie? Color me doubtful."

"H-hey! I'm not that bad!" protested Pinkie with her ears pinned down. When had Lyra become such a sudden meanie?!

Octavia brushed past Lyra. "Miss Pie."

"Yes?"

"Do you truly wish to learn to play?" She raised a brow faintly. "Speak the truth. This is no task to be taken as a passing fancy."

Lyra smirked, unseen by Octavia. Pinkie hugged her lute. "Please show me how to play. I'll practice every day if I have to."

"You do have to," agreed Octavia. "Every day. There will be times you will curse your chosen path, but you will push past them. You will learn how to play, and you will be thankful when you have succeeded."

Pinkie almost bounced to her hooves but remembered Lyra's warning. She clambered up to all fours instead. "Does that mean you'll show me?"

"Be here just as the sun rises." Octavia pointed in the direction the sun usually rose in. "I will give you an hour's instruction every day. You will practice for two hours in your own dwelling. There will be a weekly measuring of your progress to ascertain what needs the most work. I would normally suggest a slower pace, but I feel certain you would lose interest if we didn't keep this intensive. Do you accept?"

Pinkie snapped up to two legs and brought up a hoof in a crisp salute. "Yes, ma'am."

Octavia turned to Lyra. "I've had worse," she repeated and moved back towards her house. "If it pleases you both, I will take my leave. Even experienced players need their practice, and I am behind on my daily regimen. Good day." The door shut behind her gently, barely making a click as it fully closed.

Lyra burst into giggles. "Told you I'd make it happen."

Pinkie pounced on Lyra, driving her to the ground in a fierce hug. "Thank you thank you! Now I can make up and learn how to play at the same time." She sat up on the pinned Lyra. "Oooo, this means I can go back to celebrating Octavia's birthdays! Oooo, this is the bestest day in forever!"

"Forever?" Lyra looked skeptically up at her ecstatic friend.

"Well, at least a week?" Pinkie giggled as she hopped free of Lyra. "You had me super scared. Where'd you learn to act so mean like that?"

Lyra sat up as her lyre appeared with a pop of sparkles, floating over her head and beginning to play under the glow of her magic. "Practice, and I know her buttons. Don't worry, many of us music types share them, so don't go using them on me, I'll know it!" She stuck out her tongue at Pinkie before giggling. "Glad it did work out though. You'll play for me once you learn a song, right? I totally want to hear a Pinkie song from a Pinkie lute." She clapped her hooves in time to the lively tune she was playing on her lyre.

Pinkie pulled down her lute and softly played it, trying to match Lyra's song with very little success. "Promise, though it sounds like that'll be a little while."

"I can wait if you keep at it." She stood up, her lyre still playing. "Keep at it! You owe me a concert."

Author's Note:

Even as Spike laments the end of his adventure, two others get started. Life is like that, one adventure after another.

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