Ponywatching

by ThunderTempest

Prompt #527-Now It's Personal

It had almost been a complete accident. Almost. It certainly looked like it to any onlookers. The childish stallion had been so dismissive of her friends’ music, and was actively working to have her closest, oldest friend expelled from the ‘Noble’ city of Canterlot, and a message needed to be sent to the ponies who shared the stallion’s narrow views. True, she may not have been as fond of her friends’ style of music as other ponies, but she could see the appeal of that music. There was energy within, a deep, primal thing that sparked and flickered within her.

And Octavia supposed that that was what had sparked the impulse idea. Naturally, she had not told Vinyl about her idea. Vinyl was many things, but she was not a vengeful pony. And truth be told, neither was Octavia, but this stallion had been harassing Vinyl for years now, being obtuse to her for the sheer sake of it. She had followed the stallion home one night after a performance-not so unusual to the members of the Philharmonic, or Vinyl, as both knew that Octavia liked to take long walks at night, when the moon rested high in the sky. Only on this night, the moon was absent, and clouds blanketed the sky and Octavia knocked on the stallion’s door. When he answered, Octavia had invited him to take a walk with her, out to what she described as ‘her favourite spot in all of Canterlot,’ and the stallion had eagerly agreed, as Octavia knew he would. She knew that more than a few of her fans were more than simply admiring of her, and this stallion had been one of them.

Octavia’s favourite spot in Canterlot actually turned out to be right at the edge of the mountain side city, overlooking the plains, and Ponyville below. Not many ponies ever came close to the edges of the city, fearing falling off. But because it was Octavia, the stallion had gone right up to the edge of the city with her, and from there, it had been almost ridiculously ease for Octavia to feign a slip in exactly the right way to knock the stallion off the edge of the city’s platforms.

As he hung by his forelegs, looking up to Octavia and pleading with unrepentant eyes, she turned away, and gave each of his forelegs a kick with her hind legs. The stallion screamed as he fell, but it was cut off a few moments later with the crunch of bone hitting rock far too quickly echoing up the mountain side, and Octavia turned away from the edge, and began her trek back to the concert hall. She needed to pick up her cello.

****

Light and sound pulsed and pounded, and hooves waved and stomped. In here, she was God. She controlled it all. Glowsticks encircled her neck, tinging her white coat with bright colours as she moved and danced herself. Nopony could dethrone her from her position right here, and right now. She loved this, the energy and the sweat in the air. The bodies in motion, like a writhing mass.

Vinyl Scratch was not a vengeful pony, and it took a great deal to make the DJ angry. Unfortunately for one mare in the crowd, insulting Octavia, her oldest friend, and a brilliant musician in her own right, was enough to do it. Fortunately, Octavia was appreciated enough by the nobles that she didn’t get too many ponies who hated her for the sheer sake of it.

[Time]

But some of the ponies in Vinyl’s circles were not as kind, and thought that Octavia’s style of music was boring and useless. Vinyl may have agreed with the boring part, but useless was going too far. Fortunately, she had the means to educate the most vocal mare on that topic on her mistake in picking on Octavia.

Vinyl knew that a great many of her regulars often used the ‘Party Pills’-a slightly illicit recreational drug. The Guard overlooked its use most of the time, as in appropriate doses, it was perfectly fine, only giving the pony ingesting it a pleasant high, not unlike a sugar rush, but much longer lasting. The Party Pills weren’t even addictive, but even so, overdoses did happen from time to time. The only trick had been getting the mare drunk enough that she wouldn’t care how many of the pills she had taken, and then having somepony offer her the ‘ultimate’ high.

It had worked perfectly, and several hour later, Vinyl caught sight of the mare on the dance floor, looking for all the world looking like she was having the greatest time of her life, her mane and tail poofed out in a manner not unlike Pinkie Pies’. And then, the mare just stopped, and Vinyl halted the music, and watched with a morbid fascination. The mare fell over, still occasionally twitching, and then went limp and finally stopped breathing. After calling on the first aid pony who also doubled as the clubs bartender to confirm that the mare had indeed overdosed, Vinyl closed up the club, and called the Guard.

Author's Note:

Written for Prompt #527-“Life Fading From Their Eyes”
The prompt: Her first kill

Comments

[Themaskedferret]

This felt a bit off. It was a solid piece and well done but the idea of them murdering simply because someone was obnoxious or disparaged their friend's music felt off. As well the idea that the murder was so clean and efficient. It implies a sort of personality they've not displayed thus far.

[Malandy]

I agree with the ferret above...

The way it just happens, out of the blue... makes it really creepy... If it keeps happening... I'd be wondering what's wrong with that universe, or what's wrong with Canterlot in that universe... and either of those make me afraid of what the Princesses of that universe are like, 'cause the Princesses are IN Canterlot... like 24/7... for longer than any mortal pony... so if just living there for... 20 years or so, causes sudden murder... imagine living there for 200 years... and more....

Also, typo: "veiws"