Chapter 3
The rain had stopped, moved on by, from what Octavia told me, the Pegasus weather control.
I shrugged my shoulders; me being here was confusing enough with out all the differences.
Octavia had started to clean her cello, which I gladly held upright for her.
She was humming out a small tune, completely oblivious that I was listening.
I held the black book in my free hand, taking the utmost care not to drop it.
"Ah, there, finished" she smirked, taking the cello from the hand its neck was resting in.
I simply smiled, "so," I paused to think. "How long have you been playing the cello then?"
She looked at me for a moment. "Well I've been playing the cello since I was a filly… so roughly about 13 years"
My jaw dropped. "13 years? Holy hell," I chuckled "looks like your living with a rookie"
She raised an eyebrow "rookie? What ever do you mean?" I sighed in reply.
"Well, I can play a lot of instruments, but not at a professional level, however" I looked at her nervously.
"However?" she watched as I grabbed the acoustic.
"From what other humans have told me, I have a good singing voice" her eyebrow looked as though it was permanently raised.
"Prove it" she grinned slyly, I sighed.
"Okay" I chuckled nervously once more, reaching for a folder containing songs from home.
"Its called end of the line," I cleared my throat and strummed the opening riff.
"Well it's alright, riding around in the breeze
Well it's alright, if you live the life you please
Well it's alright, doing the best you can
Well it's alright, as long as you lend a hand
I had a quick change of the chord structure, luckily I was quite dextorous.
You can sit around and wait for the phone to ring
Waiting for someone to tell you everything
Sit around and wonder what tomorrow will bring
Maybe a diamond ring
I quickly switched back to the original chord structure again.
Well it's alright, even if they say you're wrong
Well it's alright, sometimes you gotta be strong
Well it's alright, As long as you got somewhere to lay
Well it's alright, everyday is just one day
The final notes rung, mirroring the opening of the song.
I looked up to see a smiling Octavia, "well, that was amazing" she trotted towards me,
I rubbed the back of my neck bashfully. "Thanks, I thinkUGGH" I was immediately yanked into a hug.
"Seriously, that was wonderful" I raised my arms in defeat, as the grey mare hugged me. In the end I returned the hug.
"ah well, naow aint this a nice sight" a Stetson wearing pony chuckled. I blushed and floundered for a moment, Eliciting a giggle from both ponies.
"Applejack, hey, what's up?" I stammered. She simply smiled.
"I could use your help down at the farm with something, you can bring your marefriend with you" she teased.
Marefriend? Oh crap I thought to myself, looking back to Octavia, her grey fur failing to hide the redness in her cheeks.
I stuttered and stammered a bit more, "relax rob, just teasing ya'll is all" Applejack chuckled.
"heh, lead on then" I smiled, unbeknownst to me, Octavia had grabbed the acoustic guitar.
As we walked up through the small town, I noticed the streets were eerily empty, save for three fillies.
"oh hey big sis!" the small yellow filly shouted with glee.
"hey mister! Thanks for helping me the other day" Scootaloo smiled up at me
"whoa what are you doing?" I ruffled her mane
"no worries," I chuckled. "enjoy the ride"
"hello sir" I looked down to the final filly, rolling my eyes at the formalities.
"please, call me rob," I smiled. "I don't really like formalities" I huffed.
"okay then Rob, I'm sweetie belle" the small unicorn beamed.
"an ahm Applebloom" the yellow earth pony smiled.
I chuckled, "come on, we're all going down to the farm" I grinned.
The three fillies sped off ahead. I heard the huffing and puffing of a pony behind us.
"had to bring it, you should share that gift you know" Octavia stated. I simply nodded.
"ah, if'n you'll pardon me, but ah… what gift?" Applejack shot me a confused look.
"well…" I wanted to shrink in size to hide, failing this, I simply shrugged. "I kinda….well…."
"He sings" Octavia chuckled, helping make the situation a tad more nerve racking.
"Tavi!" I groaned, then proceeded to chuckle. "thanks for bringing the guitar though" I smiled.
i took the guitar off of her, and carried it on my back; thank the gods for guitar straps.
The walk up to the farm was bizarrely quiet, not even applejack was saying anything.
I thought nothing of it until the orange mare redirected us to the barn,
"Jack? Why are we going into the barn?" I asked, but gained no reply. Something fishy was going on.
Applejack opened one of the smaller barn doors, as I gingerly lowered my head under the doorframe.
I walked forward into the pitch black; my eyes darted around the room in search of a light source.
I was startled by the sound of many ponies shouting in unison "SURPRISE!"
reeling back, I ended up dazed and confused. "whoa there Sugarcube, you alright?" Applejack asked, unbeknownst
to me, during my little tumble I had knocked her hat off. I picked the hat up, and placed it on her head.
"I am now," I grinned, looking around to see all of them. Octavia decided to sneak into a corner, "Don't forget about her, though, she's new here too"
Octavia stopped dead in her tracks, sighing in defeat. "lady Von Cleft? What are you doing here?" A cream coloured pony
was holding back a turquoise unicorn.
The unicorn in question had an angry look upon her face. "Ponies, please, let's just enjoy the party" I shouted in desperation,
I watched as the unicorn decided to just let it go.
I felt relived as I slumped onto one of the seats. The party atmosphere had finally embraced me.
Grinning from ear to ear, I felt the beat of the music. It felt like a key in the ignition of an engine.
It felt like it was going to kick-start my heart. I looked around for a moment, taking note that the DJ was having a wail of a time her self.
Walking over to the DJ booth, a lot of the ponies watched in awe. "hey, it's the creature of the
shindig, how ya doin? The names DJ PON-3" I couldn't help but chuckle at the strange name choice
"fine dude, I'm rob, heh, when the next songs over, lemme take over" the white mare raised an eyebrow as I tapped my guitar.
"that's a headphone jack lead isn't it?" I indicated, she nodded, the song had finished. I plugged the phone in.
the microphone was sitting there awaiting my command. "fuck it, you only live once right?" I thought out loud.
"hey, anybody else no how to play an instrument?" I spoke through the microphone, several ponies came trotting up.
pinkie pie had once again some how broken the laws of physics, knowing what was coming next.
All the instruments needed were pulled out of a magic satchel. Each pony approached an instrument.
Octavia was standing right next to me with her cello, using it as a double bass. I flashed her a grin. "ready?" she nodded
"this one is an old favourite of mine, HIT IT!" I shouted. The pianist pony began playing.
We reached the second verse.
lift your other foot up (other foot up)
Fall on your ass (fall on your ass)
Get back up (get back up)
Put your teeth in a glass (teeth in a glass)
Ain't ever been nothin' quite like this
It's a magical thing called the Wilbury Twist
the ponies were loving it, dancing around the room. As the looming sounds of
the guitar solo spewed fourth from my guitar, my face contorted strangely.
The ponies chuckled at my face pulling. Hell, even pinkie pie was pulling faces.
We finished the song, bringing a smile to the faces of everypony was worth it.
As the night drew to a close, I slumped to into one of the seats.
My six stringed music maker rested next to the seat, stained with hard cider
and blood from my fingertips. I winced as I ran my fingers over the steel strings once more.
Taking another swig of the glorious cider, I smiled. "Octavia, you were amazing up there"
She was a tad more plastered than I was, slurring her speech slightly "why thank you, I must say, the Wilbury twists
now one of my favourites too" she grinned with a slight hiccup"
As we stumbled over to the barn door, I looked back, "heh, you tidying now?" I chuckled
The party pony nodded "sure am!" she beamed. the party pony had turned cleaning the barn into a game.
I could only chuckle as the pink blur sped around the room. All that sugar seemed to just fuel the
madness that was Pinkie Pie. She bounced around, carrying streamers and placing them back into a small box,
but the streamers numbered in the hundreds, maybe even thousands.
My mind spun for a while, trying to process the events happening before my very eyes.
In the end, I had to admit defeat. Not even I could find the answer to the ultimate question where does she get all those wonderful toys?
As I lent against Octavia for support, she trotted off. I landed on my face.
"oh, um, sorry" she chuckled nervously, I shook it off.
"no worries" I walked up beside her.
The rest of the walk remained silent. Most of the party goers had bone home before us.
I let out a deep sigh as I wearily took the keys out of my pocket, fumbling around trying to find the right key.
Upon finally getting the door unlocked, I walked straight to the living room.
I plonked myself down on the sofa, not wanting to crawl up those uneasy steps to the warm comfort of a bed.
I fell asleep as I heard the gentle hoof-steps aimlessly wandering up the stairs.
The cold sweat dripped off me as I shook like a frightened child.
I gingerly got to my feet, my head throbbing like a jackhammer.
I crawled on my hands and knees in a shoddy attempt to not wake the sleeping mare up.
Finding solitude in my old room, I wept silently.
The moonlight shone through the curtains, illuminating the room.
Why am I here?
What is my purpose?
My brain metaphorically kicked me in the balls.
Two nights sleep, and my usual routine had returned.
I snuck back down stairs, looking to the back door.
The sounds of the lock and the symphony of the night sky were all that was heard.
I sighed deeply, grabbing my guitar once more.
The six-string had never been used so much in one day.
I shut my eyes as I made the guitar sing for me, its melodic cries merging with echoes of insects chirping.
The dried blood and cider stains glimmered in the moonlight.
A small smile crept across my face, turning into a grimace and then finally a look of pain.
The thin E string had found its way through my index finger. I swore and cursed under my breath for a few minutes.
I walked back inside. Once again, I had to reach for the first aid kit.
I slid the string out of my finger, hissing grumpily muttering under my breath.
Octavia must have heard my grumbling, galloping down the steps to shout at me.
But the shouting never came; she looked at me with a small sense of pity in her eyes.
"Oh, look at you, you're a mess" she smiled slightly, glancing at my bleeding finger, and then moving her gaze to my bedraggled hair.
She noted my bloodshot eyes; the bags underneath them seemed to echo the worlds old and grumpy.
But what came next was completely unexpected. "They're gone Tavi," I choked on my own words. "My whole family is gone" I said weakly.
I crumbled to my knees, holding my head in my hands once again. The blood from my finger slowly began to seep onto my forehead.
It was going to be a long night.