Choice

by AnOrdinaryWriter

41

You head over to Vinyl Scratch, and she gives you an appreciative grin.

“Heh, thanks for picking me,” she says, offering you a hoof bump. You lift a foreleg and with a clop of both your hooves, you start walking down the path. Out of the corner of your eye, you see Pinkie Pie watching you with a blank look before walking away.

“I wouldn’t have minded if you went with Pinkie,” Vinyl continues, stealing your attention away from Pinkie. “But we haven’t hung out in a while, so this is cool.”

Vinyl starts leading you down a road that borders the town. You know you two are not far from Princess Twilight Sparkle’s castle, but you don’t think she intends to take you that far.

“Anyways, so like I said, my friend Octavia--I call her Octy cause, y’know, we’re a thing.” She blushes slightly before continuing. “She’s trying to make it in the music industry. She’s known by a lot of ponies but she isn’t like… big, or anything. But not long ago, she was offered an opportunity to play in front of a big crowd of over a thousand ponies. She’s been rehearsing and playing smaller live shows to prepare, but… she’s pretty nervous about it. You following so far?”

You nod your head. Vinyl then hangs her head regretfully. “Thing is, I’ve been touring and playing live shows of my own since I’m a pretty well known DJ, maybe you've heard or... I dunno, besides the point. Because I’ve been so busy, I haven’t been around to give her the support she needs.” She then raises her head and smiles at you. “But I figured that to give her some extra support she could use a second opinion. I’m sure she’ll do amazing and all, but having you around to give her some good feedback would help a whole bunch.”

You two walk down the road for a little longer until you see a building large in height and width approaching from the distance: the Ponyville theater, which had been built very recently from what you’ve heard. Its a large brick building with a billboard above the front doors displaying the names of musicians and bands coming to Ponyville to play.

She leads you through the front entrance of the theater, where you end up in a small, dimly lit room with a staircase and a table carrying merchandise of a band that would soon be performing here. What catches your attention mainly, however, is the soothing sound of a cello playing a beautiful succession of notes coming from another room.

“Hey, she’s already started!” Vinyl says excitedly, rushing toward a hallway where the music comes from. You follow her with haste, eager to find out who is playing that magnificent tune. The music becomes louder as you enter the hallway and upon reaching the end of it, you feast your eyes upon the sight in front of you.

The room you’ve entered is large and spatial, rows and rows of empty red seats filling the theater all the way up to the stage, where white spotlights are trained on a gray mare with an elegant, black mane. She stands on her hind legs with a cello in her left foreleg whilst holding a bow in her other hoof, and gracefully sweeps it across the strings to produce a soft melody that eases your mind into a tranquil calmness. The mare is focused, and at peace when she plays, and it seems to be contagious as it helps put you in a similar state of mind.

Vinyl has already taken a seat at the center of the theater, so you head down the ramp and down one of the aisles before taking a seat next to Vinyl.

You two watch as Octavia performs, Vinyl bobbing her head gently to the tune with a proud smile and you enjoying it just as much. You wonder if you should give the mare some encouragement as she plays since you remember that Vinyl had brought you here to give Octavia some confidence for her big show. Then again, you don’t think it would hurt to boo her as a little joke.

Encourage Her___________________________________________________________________________________________Boo Her