Hey Diddle Diddle, A Visit From Fiddle

by Metool Bard

Same Notes, Different Tempos

As the day wore on, Octavia kept trying to keep herself busy and her mind off of her enigmatic twin sister. No matter what she tried, however, she still found herself wandering back to the living room and waiting patiently for Fiddlesticks to ask for something. Fiddlesticks didn't mind all that much at first, but after it happened a few times, she started to get annoyed.

"Sumthin' ya want, Tavia?" she asked.

"N-no, nothing," said Octavia sheepishly. "I was just, listening to you practice."

"Ah finished pracitcin' a while ago," said Fiddlesticks, raising an eyebrow.

"Oh. W-well, how's the vio— fiddle?"

"Alright, Ah suppose," said Fiddlesticks, ignoring Octavia's slip-up as she looked over the fiddle in her hooves. "Ah'm kinda not used to it bein' like brand new an' all."

"Is that so?" said Octavia. "Well, if you want to, you can keep working at it. Take as long as you need."

"Y'sure? 'Cause Ah reckon y'all haffta practice, too. Wouldn't want ya to get rusty on mah account," said Fiddlesticks.

"Oh, I can do that any time," said Octavia pleasantly.

"So can Ah," Fiddlesticks countered.

"Well, your needs come first," Octavia argued.

"Ah really don't mind, Tavia."

"Maybe you don't, but I do."

"Well, ya shouldn't."

"And why not?"

"'Cause Ah don't want ya to worry 'bout me none."

"Hey, Octy! I was wondering what you and Fiddle wanted to din..."

Vinyl Scratch emerged from her studio right in the middle of the argument. Octavia gave her a stern look, and the DJ did an immediate about-face.

"Okaaaaaaay, I'll come back later," she said, slipping back into her studio and closing the door.

Octavia turned back to Fiddlesticks and sighed. "Fiddlesticks, I know you keep saying I shouldn't worry, but I can't help it. I don't understand why your standards are so low."

"Ah don't expect ya to," said Fiddlesticks with a shrug. "But at the same time, Ah didn't come all this way jus' to get the royal treatment. Ah came here to visit you. And it upsets me that y'all keep runnin' yerself ragged tryin' to please me."

"Wh-what am I supposed to do then? Ignore your plight because you tell me to?" said Octavia, becoming quite upset herself. "I'm sorry, but I can't do that. There's a difference between living modestly and going without food or shelter, Fiddlesticks. Can't you see that?"

Fiddlesticks obscured her eyes with her hat. "Ah don't criticize yer lifestyle, Tavia. Don't criticize mine."

"I only criticize it because I don't understand it," said Octavia. "And while I'm at it, I don't understand you. We're supposed to be sisters, aren't we? So why do I feel like you're a complete stranger?"

Fiddlesticks grew quiet for a time. She got up from the couch, her eyes still hidden under the brim of her hat.

"Ah need to step out for a bit," she said. "Ah'll try not to be long."

With that, she turned and walked out the door. Octavia stood there in stone silence, trying to process what had just transpired.

"You two done?" Vinyl asked, emerging from her studio again. "Huh? Hey, where's Fiddle?"

Octavia didn't respond. She simply cast her eyes to the ground.

"Don't tell me she left already," said Vinyl, sounding disappointed. "She didn't even tell me any embarrassing stories about you."

Octavia gave Vinyl a sideways glance.

"What? I wasn't gonna ask her directly," said Vinyl with a shrug. "I was just gonna let her bring it up."

"Vinyl, in case you can't tell, I'm not in the mood," said Octavia.

"So what else is new?" said Vinyl.

"I mean it, Vinyl," said Octavia sharply.

"Hey, I think I've been doing a pretty good job keeping my promise, Tavi. Don't take this out on me," Vinyl said indignantly.

Octavia sighed. "I'm sorry, Vinyl. I-I think I just need some air."

"Before you go, I've got a quick question," said Vinyl. "What do you and Fiddle want for dinner?"

"I-it doesn't matter," said Octavia. "Just, get whatever."

"Fair enough," said Vinyl. "I'll need twenty bits."

"Vinyl, we discussed this. You're using your own money this time."

"Yeah, but you also owe me twenty bits from that bet."

"Fine, I'll just deduct it from the money you wasted last night."

Before Vinyl could retort, Octavia was already out the door. Vinyl narrowed her eyes and smirked.

"Well played, Octy. Well played," said she.

***

Octavia found Fiddlesticks sitting on the stoop outside the building and staring off into space. Octavia took a deep breath and walked over to her.

"Fiddlesticks, I-I'm sorry," she said. "I didn't mean to hurt your feelings."

"Ah know," said Fiddlesticks, not turning to address her sister. "Actually, Ah'm the one who should be sorry."

Octavia gave Fiddlesticks a quizzical look. "What? But you didn't do anything wrong."

Fiddlesticks breathed a deep sigh. "Tavia, Ah'm gonna tell ya a bit of a story 'bout mahself. Ah'm not gonna lie; it's probably gonna hurt ya. Do ya still wanna hear it?"

"Yes," said Octavia without hesitation.

"Alrighty then," said Fiddlesticks. "Ah guess it's best to start at the beginnin', back when we were jus' fillies. As ya probably know, Ah was born in Manehattan, same as you. But Ah didn't stay there fer long."

"What do you mean?"

Fiddlesticks turned to Octavia and raised an eyebrow. "What do y'all think Ah mean? Ah mean Ah left. See, even when Ah was jus' a filly, Ah knew city life wasn't fer me. But you, on the other hoof. Y'all felt right at home."

"Well, that's true," said Octavia. "But what does it have to do with you leaving?"

"Everythin'," said Fiddlesticks darkly, turning away from Octavia again. "Growin' up, Ah always felt like there was this expectation that because we were twins, we had to be the same. Ah didn't want that. So, Ah always avoided you."

Octavia tilted her head. "You, avoided me?"

"Jus' like Ah said," said Fiddlesticks. "Everywhere you were, Ah tried to be someplace else. Only time we were together was at supper, and even then Ah usually hid under the table."

"And all this just because you didn't want a twin sister?"

Fiddlesticks shook her head. "Don't go puttin' words in mah mouth, Tavia. Ah loved ya very much. Ah jus', didn't want to walk down the same path y'all were walkin'. It didn't help that Ah loved music as much as y'all did."

Octavia wasn't sure what to say to that. "So, what happened?"

"Well, one day Ah jus' got fed up with everythin'," said Fiddlesticks. "So, Ah packed up mah fiddle and left fer greener pastures."

"Just like that? Didn't Mother and Father try to stop you?"

Fiddlesticks sighed. "There's no nice way to say this. The day Ah left, Ah severed all ties with the Melody family."

Octavia gasped. "Y-you were disowned?!"

"Ah disowned mahself," Fiddlesticks corrected.

"And Mother and Father agreed to this?"

"Not at first, but they eventually figured that it was best to let me go. Don't know why they chose not to tell y'all 'bout me, but mah best guess is that they didn't want y'all to be upset 'bout me leavin'."

Octavia took a moment to process this. "H-how old were you? When you left, I mean."

Fiddlesticks smirked. "Ah didn't even have mah Cutie Mark, and neither did you."

"You're kidding!"

"Hey, you're actin' like Ah was the first pony to do this," said Fiddlesticks. "Lots of ponies leave home when they figure their destinies don't match their environment."

"O-oh. I-I wasn't aware of that," said Octavia. "But still, you didn't have to disown yourself!"

"Actually, Ah did," said Fiddlesticks. "It was to get out of yer shadow and become mah own pony."

"I-I see," said Octavia, still having difficulty processing this. "So, you've been traveling ever since?"

"Pretty much," said Fiddlesticks. "But that's not the end of mah story. Not yet."

"Oh? Well, what happened?"

Fiddlesticks leaned back on the stoop and sighed. "Ah traveled down the rode out of Manehattan fer a long time. Ah was tired, hungry, and many other things besides. But Ah didn't look back. Not once. Eventually, Ah ended up in Ponyville, half-starved and completely exhausted. And there, Ah met this wizened old mare collectin' an order from a bakery. Ah went up to her and asked her for a little sumthin' to eat. She asked me who Ah was, and Ah told her mah story."

"And?"

Fiddlesticks's lips curled into a whimsical smile. "She told me to come with her to a place on the edge of town called Sweet Apple Acres. Said that she was gettin' food fer a family reunion, and that Ah was welcome to join them."

"How very nice of her," said Octavia.

"Yeah, it was," said Fiddlesticks. "And because of that, Ah felt that I needed to return the favor. Ah mean, this wasn't mah family reunion. So after Ah got mah strength back from a few apple fritters, Ah did the only thing Ah knew how. Ah took out mah fiddle, roused up mah bow, and began to play."

She then sighed. "Tavia, y'all should've seen me that day. Ah played that fiddle hotter than a dragon's flame. Everypony looked at me in confusion at first, but once they heard mah melody, they cheered. Seein' all of them dancin' and hollerin' and just bein' so happy, well, it made me happy too. And Ah felt deep in mah heart that this was the music Ah wanted to play. That's how Ah got this little beauty right here." She concluded her story by pointing to her flank.

Octavia felt like she was starting to understand. "So, when you said there are a lot of ponies willing to help you, you were talking about..."

"You got it," said Fiddlesticks with a grin. "Most of those ponies are from that same family, the Apples. And ever since that first reunion, Ah've been dubbed an honorary member of the Apple family. Heh, they even joke with me sayin' that Ah should make it official and get mahself hitched. But, that ain't gonna happen. Ain't nopony gonna tame this mare."

There was a pause as Octavia finished mulling over Fiddlesticks's tale. "I, think I understand now. I just have one question."

"Shoot."

"Why did you come visit me?"

Fiddlesticks smiled sadly. "'Cause Ah missed ya, Tavia. And when Ah thought about it, Ah felt kinda bad about avoidin' ya and leavin' without saying goodbye." She then gave a self-mocking chuckle. "Alright, not jus' kinda bad. Ah felt like a regular jackass."

She then noticed a mule passing by and blushed. "Uh, no offense!" she called out.

"None taken," said the mule as he went on his way.

Fiddlesticks cleared her throat. "Anyway, Ah thought about ya from time to time, but Ah was more focused on gettin' from place to place and, well, survivin'. Only after a recent performance at a particular Apple Family reunion did Ah start to give it some more thought."

Tears then began to mar her vision, but she still wore a soft smile. "That reunion was pretty special, 'cause pretty much every pony carryin' the Apple name was there. It got me to thinkin' 'bout you, and how unfair and selfish Ah was. Ah wanted us to finally connect, like proper sisters. It's mah way of sayin' sorry fer bein' such a terrible sister."

Octavia got misty-eyed as well. "Oh, Fiddlesticks. I-I don't blame you for being frustrated. I-I understand now why I don't remember you. Not only did you avoid me, but I was focused on pursuing my own dreams to even look for you." She then giggled. "Although I always wondered who Father was yelling at when he went under the table at dinner."

Fiddlesticks sniggered herself. "Yeah, that was pretty stupid of me."

"It wasn't the only thing," said Octavia, regaining her composure. "While I understand your frustration, what you did, well, it wasn't the best solution."

"Ah know," said Fiddlesticks with a sigh. "But Ah was young and reckless. Ah didn't really think it through, y'know?"

"I'll say," said Octavia. "Actually, you want to know the really ironic thing?"

"What's that?"

"Even though you went through all that trouble to be separate from me, we still have the same Cutie Mark."

Fiddlesticks laughed. "Yeah, you're right. But, Ah'm not upset 'bout that."

"You're not?"

"Nope. 'Cause Ah earned mah Cutie Mark mah way, and you earned it yours. If anythin' it proves that no matter how far apart we are, we got a connection right in here." She then tapped her chest with her hoof.

"Indeed we do," said Octavia. She then gave Fiddlesticks a hug. "Thank you for telling me all this, Fiddlesticks."

"Y'mean ya ain't mad at me?"

"Not at all. I'm actually happy now that I understand you better, and I'm proud to call you my sister."

Fiddlesticks smiled and hugged her sister back. "Thanks, Tavia. Ah really needed t'hear that."

When the two sister released each other, Fiddlesticks looked out over the horizon. The sun had begun to set.

"Hey, Tavia. Y'know anyplace we can get a drink?" she asked.

"Well, a few," said Octavia. "Why?"

"How 'bout we have ourselves a bit of a night on the town, jus' the two of us? Ah reckon it'll help make up fer lost time."

Octavia smiled. "I'd like that."

Comments

[Baree]

* Raises eyebrow* Really? "You don't know you're own twin sister cause she was always hiding under the table" ?
Oh well.

[The Princess Rarity]

D'awwww.

[GespenstKAF]

Ah, the mule gag. Love it.

[derpyhooves15]

Tell Vinyl to get dinner, then go out for a night on the town? I'm sure Vinyl will be using the word "Hypocrite" a lot.

[CWi]

I've been gone since Wednesday of last week, so I get back and read this chapter... The feels...

[i_am_the_jam]

You DO know Fiddlesticks played on Nightmare Night, right?

[reader238]

reading that ending i realized that vinyl probably got dinner and is waiting for the two of them

[Metool Bard]

2426552 Yes, I do. What does that have to do with anything?

[lazyreader19]

Ah felt like a regular jackass."

She then noticed a mule passing by and blushed. "Uh, no offense!" she called out.

"None taken," said the mule as he went on his way.

In the world of Equestria there are plenty of badasses. But this mule? He's one of the good asses