Day 2 - Nightmare in Ponyville
Morning came far too quickly for my tastes. But then, if I had had my way, I would have thrown Equestria into eternal night as opposed to ever going to Ponyville. Unfortunately, I doubt Princess Luna would be receptive to that idea. When the sun had finally risen, Princess Luna came to my apartment to banish all hopes of a last minute reprieve and make sure I wasn't about to flee. I had seriously considered the idea last night, but the only plan I came up with that allowed me to stay in Canterlot involved me hiding in the city's seedy underbelly and forging as a for-hire cellist who plays for anypony if the price is right. At least in Ponyville, I could maintain my standards.
“I know I said this before, but you should enjoy your time in Ponyville, it might not be as refined as Canterlot, but there are good ponies there, and the town has more to offer than most ponies would initially believe,” the Princess said as we left my old apartment for the final time.
“Please, you make it sound like I am missing something in Canterlot. I enjoy the city, go out to socialize when I feel so inclined, I have plenty of lovely acquaintances in Canterlot who are more than happy to see me on the occasions I feel compelled to visit them.”
“You said acquaintances, not friends,” Luna said as we walked down the streets of Canterlot, heading towards the royal castle.
“And? The words are synonyms,” I said, “What in Equestria does my word choice have to do with anything? And I really don't see why it's important that I socialize and make friends, my work is all I need”
Luna laughed at that, “I suppose you will have to discover the difference between a friend and an acquaintance for yourself Octavia. And as for the latter, it is my experience that friends can make the absolute darkest of days endurable.”
We walked in silence for this rest of the trip as I thought on her words. Did I spend most of my days in my apartment practicing? Yes. Was it possible that my tireless pursuit of perfection had isolated me from most of my peers? Certainly, but it was precisely that dedication that had allowed me to become the respectable musician I was today. I had spent almost my entire life alone and was quite happy that way. On the other hoof, if a close social network did make terrible situations slightly more tolerable then I might need to cultivate them after I arrive in Ponyville. Finally, we reached the castle courtyard, and I realized we had walked right past the train station. “I don’t understand; why are we over here when the train is on the other side of Canterlot?” I asked.
“Oh, I have arranged for you to take one of the flying chariots into Ponyville, it won’t do for the Princess’s emissary to take the train,” Luna said, winking. If I had to go to Ponyville, arriving by flying chariot would at least take away some of the sting.
Luna flew with me to Ponyville, still thought I would run for the hills at the first possible chance despite my insistence to the contrary. “Octavia, I have taken the liberty of securing your lodgings once we reach Ponyville. You will be staying with a roommate and living next door to Lyra Heartstrings, I believe you have heard of her.”
I nodded my head. The mare had graduated from Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns around the time I first moved to Canterlot and quickly developed a reputation as one of the best lyre players in Equestria. Nobility from across the land asked her to play at their functions but she had never accepted their invitations. Recently she had completely faded from view in Canterlot and most ponies assumed she had cracked under the pressure.
The princess continued, “Your roommate is one Vinyl Scratch, a fellow musician and good friend of Miss Heartstrings. I expect the two of you to get along famously.”
I groaned, "This is beginning to sound like the entire situation was orchestrate to get me to make friends. Please tell me the Royal Princesses of Equestria have more important things to do than insure ponies make friends."
"We would ne- I mean, I would never do that," she paused and tilted her head, "Although... I hope you will forgive me for heading back to Canterlot early.
Before I could respond, Luna flapped her wings and headed back off towards Canterlot, leaving me alone on a flying chariot with a sinking feeling in my stomach. I laughed and shook my head, recalling what my psychologist, Doctor Whooves, told me about my fears that ponies were out to get me.
Some time later, the chariot landed, and I stepped hoof in Ponyville, strapped my my cello to my back, and trotted off to the town center to find my lodgings as the Princess forgot to give me the address before she took off. I walked around the town and found myself pleasantly surprised by the town's quiet rustic aesthetic. I could easily see a tortured genius coming here to write or compose in the hopes of getting away from the busy city life. Perhaps the fresh country air will help me clear my head and compose a brilliant symphony so that when I finally make my triumphant return to Canterlot I will be hailed as a visionary genius and Mister Pianissimo will be exposed as a bigoted fraud. The thought was surprisingly comforting.
As I walked down the town’s streets, I felt the feeling of eyes on the back of my neck. The other denizens were going about their daily business and most paid me no special attention other than the cursory glance, but the more I walked the more the feeling of being watched grew. I shook my head, I was just being paranoid. The new environment must have gotten my imagination running, I had to repeat what the doctor told me, there was no pink pony plotting to ruin my life. There was no pink pony who served as a portent of doom. If there was, I would have seen her by now, I thought, laughing at my paranoia. “Excuse me” I said, approaching a magenta colored pony with three smiling flowers as her cutie mark, “I am looking for a Miss Vinyl Scratch, I am to be her new roommate, but was not told where I would be living.”
The pony eyed me suspiciously, apparently she didn’t believe a pony could be stupid enough to pack up her belongings and move across Equestria without first learning where exactly she would be living. To be fair, I didn’t either before today. I certainly didn't think I would be capable of it, “You mean you moved all across Equestria and all you brought with you was that case?”
“Oh! Uh… no. The rest of my possessions are being delivered by moving pegasi, I just wanted to make sure that my cello arrived safely.”
Her look of suspicion quickly melted into one of concern. “Tell me, did you happen to see the moving pony who packed up all your things?”
I explained to her that I was forced to move on short notice, and that I had been out of the house when my things were being packed.
“Oh, well tell me,” she said, “did the moving boxes happen to have a muffin on them?”
I nodded as I recalled the peculiar logo on the cardboard boxes.
“Oh dear, you should probably head home as quickly as possible, just go to Chestnut Street, it is your first right after crossing the south bridge," she said, pointing at a nearby bridge, "And it should be the third house on your left, the messy one, and it would be for the best if you were there to check on the moving mare when she arrived.”
“Why, what is the problem?” I asked, wanting to know why muffins could inspire such a reaction from a pony.
“Well, let’s just say that the moving pony, she means well, but she has a bad habit of losing, misplacing, or otherwise destroying packages.”
I nodded my head at the helpful pony and trotted off in the direction she pointed at. With each step, the feeling of eyes boring into the back of my skull intensified, and I soon broke into a trot, sprinting across the bridge in the hopes of evading my shadowy pursuer. After clearing the bridge, I turned my head over my shoulder to check for whatever had spooked me and suddenly found myself staring into the icy blue eyes of infinity. It spoke in its ancient cursed tongue and I fell over. From the ground I stared up at the sky as the… thing moved to stare down at me. A deranged smile threatened to consume it's whole face, and its body was coated in a violently unnatural shade of pink (One that is completely different from the shade of pink on my cutie mark and bow tie). It spoke again.
It was the mare from my nightmares. The mare from the Gala.
“Ooh! Miss, are you alright? All I did was say hello… Or is that how they say hello where you are from, by rolling over and pretending to be dead,” She, for this monstrosity was definitely female, quickly knocked herself over and mimicked my pose, before jumping back up. “Have we met?” It continued, “You look familiar, I know I have seen you before-” she stopped speaking and let out a loud gasp. “You worked at the Grand Galloping Gala, which means you live in Canterlot, but you are here now, which means-” She ran off before she could finish the sentence, and I shuttered. The creature spawned from Tartarus remembered me.
I have already alluded to my past experiences with the mare. It was she who ruined the Gala. Ruined the Garden Party. Drove me to the brink of madness. For years I convinced myself that she wasn't real, that she was a figment of my imagination but now... I shook my head, this could just be another one of my outbursts, another episode brought on by severe stress. Or at least, that is what I told myself as I picked myself up off of the ground and continued the sprint to my new home, desperately ignoring all the evidence that said she was real and lived in Ponyville.
I reached the house the magenta pony described and knocked on the door, gasping for breath. There was no answer. Knocking again, I heard movement coming from the house and a minute later the door swung open. A mare with a coat that was either white or a very light yellow looked out at me with eyes that were a vibrant shade of purple, she blinked, “Yes?”
“I’m… your new… roommate… Have… the moving ponies… arrived yet?” I said, gasping for breath.
She gestured for me to come inside, “No, no ponies have come by yet,” she said before stifling a yawn, “Didn’t expect you’d get here before I had a chance to have my morning coffee.”
I stepped inside the house as she shut the door. “It’s one in the afternoon.”
“Yeah, I know, can’t believe you got here this early. You must have gotten up at like… nine in the morning.”
“Actually,” I said, following the pony into the kitchen as she started brewing her coffee, “My chariot left Canterlot at precisely 6:30. I was up an hour before that.”
My new roommate stared at me, eyes widening as she let out a shocked gasp, “Woah, I think I was just getting to bed around that time. You must be like… crazy tired.”
I groaned, my roommate was one of those ponies who didn't think they day began before noon. Then again, perhaps parties in Ponyville tended to run late, and her odd hours were nothing more than a necessity of the job. If I am going to follow the princess's request to make friends (though I still don't see the need), I will have to wait before passing judgment. After all, she might be a perfectly fine mare despite her odd hours.
“Actually,” I said, “I managed to get to sleep around ten, so I don’t feel too terrible, but I would love a cup of coffee if it’s not too much of a bother.
“Oh yeah, sure,” Vinyl said, levitating another cup out of the cupboard. “I hope you don’t want anything particularly fancy, because I just have this coffee maker.”
I nodded my head, “Whatever you have will be fine,” I said, smiling graciously, “I have had quite a few cups of coffee at Pony Joe’s when I have to stay up practicing for a recital. Even we musicians at the top have to save our bits now and then.” There, putting myself down on her level should assuage any anxiety she might have about a Canterlot pony coming to live with her and go a long way towards making us friends.
Vinyl blinked as her smile slowly turned into a frown, apparently she didn’t feel the same way, “Sorry, what are you trying to say?"
"All I meant to say was that I know what it's like to struggle to get by. There were some very lean years before I got accepted into the orchestra."
"Uhh... yeah, I'm not exactly a broke musician struggling to get by, I make a decent living."
My mind raced, this situation didn’t go as well as I had hoped, and I needed to think of something that would remedy this situation, “Oh, of course, I… I just meant that a pony playing for Equestria's premier orchestra would make a bit more than a pony playing in Ponyville. I never meant to insinuate that you were poor, you probably make a decent living wage.”
Vinyl Scratch went back to smiling, “Never mind then. I don’t particularly care if a pony makes a few bits more than me as long as I get to go out and do what I love,” she said as she put both cups of coffee down on the table, “Although I gotta ask, how much does a fancy Canterlot musician make anyways?”
I let out a small sigh of relief, the crisis was seemingly averted, “Truthfully, I only made about 240,000 bits last year. Enough to live on, but I won’t be moving into Canterlot castle anytime soon.” There, I had demonstrated humility while answering the question honestly and not flaunting my wealth.
Vinyl Scratch burst out laughing.
“I didn’t think my joke was that funny,” I said, amused at how easily my new roommate, and, dare I say it, future friend was entertained.
“Oh no, it’s not that,” she said after regaining her composure, “it’s just that I made twice as much as you last year,” she looked down at the floor for a second, “And that was probably really rude of me to say, I just found it funny that you were acting so elite and what-not, and then it turns out I am making way more money.” She shrugged, “Guess the rich and powerful didn’t get that way by being big tippers.”
I blinked. This… I have spent my entire adult life practicing on the cello in the hopes of being the best, and then it turns out a… some mare from Ponyville makes twice what I do? Where is the justice in that? I was chosen to lead the Royal Ponyville Orchestra (Granted, that task might very well be impossible) and a performer in some tiny little backwater makes twice as much as me. "I.. I just have a salary, those of us playing in the Canterlot orchestra don’t get tips,” I said as I worked to steady my heart rate.
“Oh, well if it makes you feel any better, I don’t really make a salary. I just make tips and a small fee whenever Pinkie has a party that she thinks needs a musician. Which is just about every day,” Vinyl said, trying to placate me as she took
another sip from her coffee.
“Wait,” I said, focusing on just one word Vinyl said, “Pinkie? Is that the pink pony that is very high energy and has three balloons for a cutie mark?” I left out the fact that I thought she might have spawned in the deepest pits of Tartarus. That would have been rude.
Vinyl nodded and any hope I had that she was some figment of my imagination vanished, “Yeah, have you met her already? She can come off kind of strong, but she is super friendly and she will probably be your main source of work when you aren’t trying to, how did Princess Luna describe it in her letter, found the first Royal Ponyville Orchestra,” she rolled her eyes, “by the way, good luck with that.” Great, even she knew my job was impossible. Why even bother trying at this point?
I sat in silence, brooding over recent revelations as I finished off my coffee, which was burnt by the way. “So anyways,” Vinyl said, trying to break the silence, “I guess I should show you to your-”
Before she could finish her sentence, a grey-coated pegasus flew through our wall (Note: Find out why it is so easy for a pony to fly through our walls). “Oh hey,” she said, shaking the plaster and drywall off of her coat, “Are you the ponies whose stuff I am moving? ‘Cause I’ve got some good news and some slightly less good news.” She gestured to the cart that was hitched to her as she spoke.
I sighed, “What is the good news then?”
“Oh,” she said, her ears perking up at my question, “the good news is that I managed to save one of your boxes.”
I rested my head against my hoof, “Is the bad news that the rest of my belongings were lost or otherwise destroyed?”
The pony moved a hoof up to scratch her head, and I finally noticed that her yellow eyes were unfocused, with one eye looking at me while the other one just kind of stared off into space. It was unnerving. “How did you know?” she asked, “Are you psychic?”
“No,” I said, “just a very good guesser. Now what happened to the rest of my stuff.”
“Well, I was flying all of your stuff over here from Canterlot, and since Princess Luna said it was a rush job I thought I would fly over the Everfree Forest. Anyways, I was flying over the Everfree and there was this big storm, I flew around it, but I forgot that the back of the cart wasn’t secured, so most of your stuff is now scattered around the forest. Sorry.”
As I felt the weight of the cello strapped securely to my back, I thanked Celestia that I had had the foresight to bring my livelihood with me, “So what did you manage to save then?”
“Well,” she said, “you will be pleased to know that your box of muffins survived the long and perilous journey.”
I sighed and pinched the bridge of my nose, “I don’t own a box of muffins.”
“Oh right,” she said, as she unstrapped herself from the moving wagon to claim the box of muffins, “In that case want to have some muffins with me? I will let you have first pick.
“Get out.”
“Wait!” She said, “Don’t you want me to help you unpack all of your stuff?”
“No, I don’t want your help, and I don’t have any possessions to unpack thanks to you. What else could you possibly do for me? I would joke and say that any further assistance might destroy my house, but you already beat me to that,” I said, gesturing to the hole she knocked in the wall, “The only thing you can do to help me is get out of my house.”
The grey pegasus’s eyes watered as she turned around and flew away, I grabbed the box of muffins and threw them at her as she left, “And take these with you.”
I stared at her as she flew away, positively fuming. A few seconds later I felt a hoof tapping me on the shoulder, “Hey, I know you are upset, but you really shouldn’t take it out on Ditzy Doo, she tries her best,” Vinyl said.
I fear that at this point I had lost my temper, “Her best? Her best just led to me losing a lifetime of possessions. Yearbooks, scrapbooks, pictures of family and friends, years of journals and notes, and Miss Minor, but apparently all that doesn’t matter because the moving mare did her best. Well her best just ruined me."
“Okay, who the hay is Miss Minor?” Vinyl said as I stormed past her.
“She was the only thing I had to remind me of my grandmother," for a second, my anger wavered and I felt the sting of tears in my eyes, if I lost my anger now I would be absolutely useless for the rest of the day. With as much poise and decorum as I could muster, I walked out of the house and closed (possibly slammed) the door.
I had been in the town for less than two hours, and already things were worse than I had expected. The pink nightmare was real and she lived here, all of my possessions were lost and presumably destroyed, and the stupid roads in this town weren’t even paved properly. Ponyville made the moon seem positively inviting by comparison, although I probably shouldn’t mention that to Princess Luna whenever I speak to her next unless I want to test that theory out first hand.
After leaving my new house, I headed around Ponyville looking for a shop that might possibly sell a journal and a few other necessities, which I finally found it in the store “Journals and Toiletries.” The proprietor’s cutie mark consisted of a quill and a tube of toothpaste, making me question both how one discovers that their special talent is selling specifically journals and toiletries and how one can make a sustainable business just by selling two completely unrelated items, especially when you give them away for free because a pony looks “new in town” (Although I was grateful for his generosity even if it was an incredibly bad business move). At the very least, Luna was right when she said the town was exceedingly friendly.
As soon as I opened the door, a chorus of ponies screamed “Surprise!” as confetti rained down from the ceiling. Before I could fully comprehend my what was happening, the pink one had popped up from nowhere, blotting out my field of vision, “Did we surprise you? Huh? Did we?” She asked, “Cause when I saw you entering into town today, I thought, now there’s a pony that looks like she could use some cheering up, and then I find out that you are new here and will be living with my FAVORITE DJ in Equestria, unless you are a DJ too, then I guess you are both my favorites. So anyways, I decided to get all my friends together, which is everypony, because everypony is my friend, and throw a 'Welcome to Ponyville Party' at DJ P0N3’s place, and…”
While she was speaking, I noticed that Vinyl Scratch was in the corner surrounded by speakers and a turntable thingey, blasting out some of the loudest techno “music” I had ever heard. Of course my roommate was a DJ as opposed to being an actual musician, and of course the pink one had decided to throw a giant party in my house. And not just any party, but a big loud obnoxious celebration, with lots of drinking, lots of cake, lots of yelling, lots of dancing, and lots of very loud noises (I hesitate to call the sounds Vinyl was making actual music, because music doesn’t offend the senses), while possessing absolutely zero good taste. And to top it all off, I was being subjected to one of the longest and least coherent rants to ever blight the ears of ponies.
“… So anyways, I am sure we will be the very best of friends, don’t you think buddy?”
She had finally finished speaking, and had moved to staring at me expectantly. Did she actually think I would so easily forgive her after she ruined my career and paved the path for my exile to Ponyville? Or did she not even notice how she had upstaged me at the Gala and garden party before ruining both events? In either case, I thought it was the proper time to tell the jubilant pony exactly how I felt,
“No, we are not best friends, we're not even friends. In fact I would go so far as to say we are enemies. You ruined the Gala. You ruined the garden party. You ruined two of the biggest performances in my career,” I said, punctuating every “you” by jabbing a hoof at the pony as her smile evaporated before my eyes, “My entire career has been ruined thanks to you, and now you want to be my friend? We will never be friends, and do you want to know why? Because I hate you. I hate you more I hate this stupid backwater town, and believe me, that is saying quite a bit.”
When I finished, the pony’s puffy hair had deflated and straightened itself out, and she ran out of my house crying. I would have laughed, but by that point, the music had cut out and everypony had turned to stare at me. Based on their very angry looking faces, Pinkie (was that what Vinyl had called her?) might not have been lying when she said everypony in town was her friend. Purple wings flared up from near Vinyl’s booth, and the ponies backed away to clear a path for… an alicorn.
Of course Equestria's newest princess saw me verbally eviscerate a pony, and based on the look she was giving me, she counted Pinkie as a friend of hers as well. “I have to check on Pinkie, but when I am done, we are going to have a nice talk Miss Melody," she said before she and four other mares stormed out of my house.
I’d like to say that I kept my calm under the angry stares of everypony in Ponyville, but that would be a lie. I lasted about a tenth of a second before bolting up the stairs and running into my room, which it turns out is not actually my room but is instead the room Vinyl stores all of her DJ equipment in. My room is presumably the last door on the left, but I fear that if I go outside I will be swarmed by enraged mob, so instead I think I am going to hide in here for the rest of the night, or quite possibly stay in here until I starve to death, as it would be less painful than facing the angry scowls of the entire town.
On the upside, after upsetting an entire town and royalty, I don't think I can reasonably expect things to get worse and things can only go up from here.
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I feel a lot more for Octavia than I do for Pinkie, here.
holy crap, i dont think pinkie has had that happen before, even cranky did'nt tell her off that bad. but considering the source i think its almost warrented but probably not the right timing
sweet chapter moving on to the nextone
Vinyl's eyes.....not red.......or even magenta......but........purple?
Oh God...can't....go..non
3487857 exactly, and vinyl always has the shades on, being an albino and what not.
or something is punishable by very long, very painful torture to them and if ditzy forgives
But the story is good. And Octavia would do that, but as for making everypony hate me, sounds like Tuesday to me. Oh and in my book, making ditzy cry
I'll be nice and kill them
3487857 I apologize, I am bad with colors at times and just lumped magenta in with a shade of purple. I always hold that her eyes are the same color as her goggles as I believe that is what the show went with.
4356743 no, the shades and her eyes are very different. I'm sorry, but that's kind of been established by now.
This story is making me mad no one yell at derpy or make pinkie pie cry and lives to tell about it.
And this is why I'm beginning to hate Pinkie Pie more and more.
First off, nice work so far. I like the pacing and writing style. Although, there are a few mistakes here or there.
Second, the plot is interesting as any episode of Doctor Who (and that says a lot. nothing is that interesting). At first, I just read this so I could read Luna's Academy of the Arts and Sciences (or whatever it's called), but I actually want to read as much as possible.
The only problem is the characters. Vinyl and Octavia are definitely in character (at least, I think), and Derpy is awesome, but the Mane Six. Uh...
Yeah, Pinkie Pie is way too hyperactive, Twilight is too vicious, and the others seem to have less character so far than Flash Sentry.
Besides that, good job. And that was a fucking awesome "reasons you suck" speech!
4969759 I can agree with Twilight being a touch too vicious, but I also feel that it's very different seeing the Mane 6 from inside the circle and outside (I would justify Twilight getting pissy when one of her friends is getting attacked as being in character). Also, I'm going to cheat and say that because all this is from Tavi's perspective, she might see Twilight as being harsher than she actually was, and more importantly, I think it's very clear she has a different version of Pinkie in her head.
Also, the member of the Mane 6 who gets the most characterization in this fic, in my opinion, is Rarity, but that doesn't happen for a few more chapters.
Finally, I agree this chapter is kind of rough. A part of me constantly wants to rework it and make it better, but another much larger part of me wants to just keep writing new stuff. (Also, I did go back and revise the first four chapters to make them less bad. They are the ones I added subheadings to.)
Also, did I start enough sentences with "also"?
You said, "I meet need to cultivate them after I arrive in Ponyville." I think you meant 'might need to cultivate them"
There are a few more typos, but this one needed addressing, you say, "the bring of madness" I believe you meant 'brink of madness'. It always pays to check your posts every once and a while, helps find errors you were blind to.
Another error, you say, "I hate you more than I hate this stupid backwater town, and believe me, that is saying quite a bit.” I believe you meant to say, 'I hate you more I hate this stupid backwater town,'
5052256 Fixed it. Thanks for pointing it out for me.
5052256
Okay, to me, the first version of that sounds way better than the second, but I might be missing something here.
It seems Octavia really dug herself into a ditch. Let's see if she can come out of it.
I spent 3 minutes to stop and think about why she is being stupid, with Ditzy, fine, maybe a bit, but Pinkie? She dug her own grave.
5052572 I have to agree with the author here, the first version was correct and flows better.
Because I hate you. I hate you more than I hate this stupid backwater town, and believe me, that is saying quite a bit.”
Why is the print so small?
By far my favorite quote from a fan fiction ever. Best possible conclusion for this chapter. I was in pain cringing at how horribly adjusted Octavia was the whole time. It fits her as a character. 10/10 would cringe again!
If you try to understand Octavia's situation and I mean fully understand it. You will realise Octavia has every right to be upset
Twilight Sparkle would have told you that they don't
Woah, why is the text here so tiny?
this is turning point of this story, it will get instant dislike if octavia somehow accept doctrine of friendship after all this fucked up.