Have you ever wondered how a sword is forged?  Well, the idea is simple, really; it all begins with a rod of iron (or whatever material you want to make the sword out of).  Said rod is heated until it is paluable, then pounded into shape.  This process continues until it obtains the shape the blacksmith desires, then dipped into a hardening agent to cool.

That whole process accurately explains how my brain is feeling right now.  It is being heated up, hammered, cooled, repeat.  And who is the blacksmith behind all of this?  Alcohol.

Anyway, celebrating is one thing, getting drunk is another, but having to deal with the consequences is the one thing that I always forget.  Alcohol is life’s guilty pleasure ーboth a blessing and a burden.  You consume the dreaded poison to feel uplifted, even if it is only for a while.  However, what ponies fail to take into consideration is when once that euphoria has died down, your body punishes you for abusing it.  An ‘eye-for-an-eye’.

Now, I lay here in my bed, groaning and stuffing a pillow over my head to keep any and all noise from reaching my eardrums.  Not only does my brain feel like my ego is declaring war against my Id for being so impulsive, my body also aches because of the fallout of said war.  

Oh and that’s not the worst part.  The worst part is I’m not in this bed alone.  And no, Vinyl isn’t beside me.  Somepony far worse than Vinyl is beside me.

“Octaviaaaaaaaa.”

Bloody.  Hell.

Another shockwave assaults my brain, forcing me to stuff my head harder into the pillow.  “What, Moondancer?!”  I whisper sharply, ignoring the symphony of hammers that is playing in my head.

“My head huuuuuuurrrrrts.”

I don’t know what happened, or why the Makers decided to condemn me with a punishment far worse than death.  Somehow, someway, I woke up in my bed with Moondancer sleeping next to me, and Vinyl hysterically laughing at me… Wait, when did Vinyl get here?!  

You know something, Life?  When I said to ‘do your worst’, I didn’t think you would stoop so low.  Mark my words: I will get back at you for this… somehow.  I just need to think of some way to get revenge on a non-sentient entity--My mental tirade is cut off as my head, once again, remind me what happens when you drink too much.  Screw thinking ー my head hurts!

“‘Tavi!  Tell it to stop!”

If it wasn’t for the aching pain in my head, I would be strangling her right about now.  “Oh my Celestia, Moondancer!  Can you please just shut the buck up!  Your whining is only making it worse!” I screamed, instantly regretting it as my headache only increased.  

There is silence.

Wow… Moondancer actually seems to have listened and shut up…

“But it hurts!”

Nevermind...

From my peripheral vision, Bluebelle slowly comes to the edge of the bed.  “Good morning, girls!”  She says in a very soft tone.  Thank you, Bluebelle, for being the only quiet one in this house.  “How are my two drunken party animals doing?”

“Paaaaaaaaiiiinnnnnnn.”  Moondancer groans.  “Unrelenting agonyyyyyyyyyyyy!”

Vinyl chuckles.  “Figures!  You two were throwing them back like a bottomless pit.  Heck!  Tavi actually did a kegstand!” I did no such thing!  I think?  Before I can try and wrack my slugging, hungover brain, Vinyl continues, “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you drink that much!  Hehe… good thing to know you’re a loving drunk…”

Oh, Celestia… what did I do?!

“Oh yeah,”  Moondancer chimes in, “I do remember us making out.  Oh!  And you practically grinded on anything that moved… and that speaker… and you pretty much violated that barstool… and that bartender will probably need therapy after that…”

My hooves start to shake in both fear and frustration.  “No, no, no, no, no!  Even while drunk I would never, ever do anything of the sort!  I know you’re just trying to get into my head!”

Moondancer shrugs.  “Believe all that you want… but you should probably break it off with that barstool.”

I give her a look.

She sighs, “Fine… but at least send it flowers.”  I growl at her.  “Alright, none of that actually happened… except the first thing… and the barstool, I’m serious about that.”

“Yeaaahhhh,” Vinyl says slowly while looking away.  “That did actually happen...”

First thing?  Was that the… Oh no.  “Wait, you’re telling me Moondancer and I… made-out?”

“Best night of my life.”  Moondancer comments and winks at me.

I don’t even know what to think right now!  I kissed Moondancer?  For real?  I can’t believe it!  This is bad...  very bad...  Oh, what will Vinyl think of me now?!  What if this causes some rift in our relationship that ends up with us breaking up and I’m back in the slums?!  I can’t...  I can’t do it!  I can’t live without Vinyl!  I can’t lose her over something so stupid!

“Tavi...  you’re thinking out loud again….”

My mind stops reeling, and I look over at Vinyl.  She doesn’t even look too mad, if anything, she looks calm, like it didn’t matter.

A small tear runs down my cheek.  “Vinyl, I’m so sorry!!!  I was drunk a-and I know that’s no excuse but I don’t even remember it...  and Moondancer means nothing to me, okay?!  I love you!  I love you more than anything!”

"Ouch, that hurt…”  Moondancer says, her bottom lip quivering.

“Tavi, Tavi listen to me.  Stop freaking out, okay?  I’m not mad.”

I wipe tears away from my eyes.  “What?  How?”

She brushes her bangs from her eyes.  “Well, not only were you drowning in whisky, but you also moaned my name while you two were...  You know… Also, you kinda stopped after a second and said ‘Wait… you’re not Vinyl… Your horn’s too short.”

"Kind of a turn off..." Moondancer mumbles, crossing her hooves putting on a pouting face...  Then her eyes go wide as she turns to face us, “I do not have a stumpy horn!”

Ignoring the pain in my skull, I lash out on her.  “How are you so calm about this you...  You harlot!  I just did something terrible to my marefriend and, to make matters worse, I did so in front of her!  You know what?  Get out of my bed!”  I give her a hard shove, sending her flying off my bed.

“Owwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww.”  She moans from the floor.  "I thought what we had was special!"  She attempts to stand up, “Ow ow ow ow ow ow ow ow!  Yeah, ok, this hangover is getting annoying!”  Taking a deep breath, she groans one last time before a spark flew from her horn.  Instantly, she went from looking like a total mess to relatively normal.

“Wow!  Now that felt good!  Damn I’m glad I learned that spell!  It’s like...  like a dam in my brain just broke and all the pressure is pouring out!”

My left eye twitches.  “You’re telling me you could have done that this whole time?!”

“Well, yeah!” She points to her horn.  “Magic, you know?”

"How about some assistance over here, then, please?!" I growl.

She shrugs.  "I don’t know...  you did kinda insult me...  multiple times...  I don’t really feel respected around here; I think I’ll just leave."

"You do that and, when this goes away naturally, I'll skin you alive and use it for a new coat!"

Moondancer hisses like she’s been burnt.  “Ooooh… Cougar’s got some claws…

How many years is it for murder, again?  Or is it execution?  I don't care ー no jury will convict me for this!  I rev up my hoof and toss a pillow at her, only for it to land on the floor right where she was just standing.  Curses!  Unicorns and their blasted teleporting!  Next time she comes around here, I’ll make sure to get some silencing wards!

Now that the source of my rage is gone, I slink back into the bed, groaning and covering myself with the blanket.  Soon, I feel a gentle hoof caress my mane.  I know Vinyl has said she’s fine with it, but I can’t help but feel terrible.  “I’m sorry Vinyl.”

“It’s fine, Tavi.  Trust me, I know you; I know it didn’t mean anything.”  She kisses my cheek.  “I love you, and a drunken kiss ain’t gonna change that.”

I smile and relax under her affection.  “Thank you, love.  Oh, but one thing.”

“Hmmm?”

“I don’t want Moondancer in this house anymore.”

Vinyl sighs and stops petting me.  “Look, Tavi… I’ve known Moondancer for a while, and you gotta understand something about her.  She honestly doesn’t know when a joke has gone too far, and doesn’t realize that she sometimes hurts ponies.  I’ve tried to tell her to tone it down a lot, but she just doesn't understand why, when something is clearly a joke, ponies get angry at her.”  She pauses for a second.  “It’s kind of the reason why she doesn’t have many friends.”

My ears quirk up at that last comment.  “Hmm?  No other friends?”

“Well… she does have one other friend, but yea, her and I are really the only ones who can put up with her, honestly.  She used to have a lot of friends, but slowly they all abandoned her because they got fed up with her attitude.  To this day, she still doesn’t understand why.  I keep telling her that her jokes go way too far too often, but she just has this mindset that ‘jokes are jokes and are meant to not be serious, but ponies who take them seriously are idiots.’  I feel bad for her.  I think she’s depressed, really, and her crazy attitude just keeps her mind off of it.  Because, honestly, she wasn’t this crazy months ago.  Living life like a joke seems to work well for her, I guess.”

And now I’m becoming one of those ponies.  While it is true that she gets out of hoof too often, I can see now why that happens.  Apparently, she just doesn't realize when a joke goes too far.  “Wait, what was that about depression?”

“I don’t know… It might not be true, but I think she’s depressed, and making everything around her a joke is just her way of coping.  If she does things to amuse her and others around her, it keeps her mind off of the bad things in her life.”

“What bad things?” I ask curiously, “Her life seems great, from what I can see.  She just became a mage, too!”

She shakes her head.  “I don’t know.  I think part of it is between her friends leaving her, and no one at Celestia’s School respecting her because they all think she’s an egomaniac on a power trip… and maybe partly from… breaking up with me… and us not really talking for a few years after that…”

I grab hold of her hoof.  “Vinyl…”

“Yeah… yeah I know it was wrong… I was stupid to not see how much it would affect her, but it’s fine now because we’re friends again… at least I hope it’s fine.”  She pauses.  “She has a good life, honestly, stable home and family, not poor or struggling, but I think her depression comes from her alienating ponies because they don’t see past the ‘crazy egomaniac on a power trip’ side of her.  She has a gentler side to her.  A very serious and...philo...philosophetical?

“Philosophical.”  I correct.

“Yea...philosophical side to her.  She might seem tough and might brush off everything that comes her way, but deep down I think everything affects her.  She stuffs it all away, but eventually stuffing too much is gonna overload her and burst out.  And that’s what I’m afraid of.  Somepony as powerful as her having an emotional breakdown from all the bottled up crap over the years?  I try to keep her stable, but I can’t always be there.”

I remember seeing that side of her, once.  Shortly after I had that heart attack, I remember laying in bed, sore and tired, and trying to relax when Moondancer popped in out of nowhere.  At first I thought of her nothing more than… well what Vinyl had said… egocentric, crazy, degenerate.  But no, she’s so much more than that.  That conversation I had with her all those months ago was very insightful; very serious.  Since then, I have only had one, maybe two others like it.

When Moondancer gets into one of those moods, she truly is a different pony.  She’s more calm and collected, more at peace with herself.  Instead of bouncing off the walls and saying silly things, she takes her time and talks slowly and intelligently.  I remember her once telling me ‘I’m a simple mare, Octavia.  I try to make life as simple and fun as possible, because why shouldn’t it be?  Why should we complicate our lives when we could just make them… simple.  I thrive on entertainment, and when things are complicated, they’re not entertaining...  most of the time.’

“Should we talk to her?”  I ask.

Vinyl shrugs, “Knowing Moondancer, she probably assumes you’re sitting here, facehoofing, and questioning your life all the while forgetting that conversation ever happened, and moving on with your life.”

“Hmmm.”  I utter while shifting my body into a sitting position.  I look around the room and notice something off.  “Where did Bluebelle go?”

Vinyl jerks her head.  “While you were thinking out loud, she went to go make you pudding to calm you down.”

“Ooooh… pudding does seem nice right about now.”  I mumble, trying desperately not to drool.

Vinyl giggles as Bluebelle walks into the room with cups of pudding on a tray.  I don’t hesitate to devour this divine treat that the angels named: Vanilla Pudding.

Jokes aside, I still think I should talk to Moondancer.  Or, at least, find out more about what’s going on with her.  I’m truly curious, now.  No matter how infuriating Moondancer can be, she’s still a friend.  An egocentric, maniacal, overpowered, questionably sane friend, but still a friend, none the less.  

And I still can’t cope with the fact that I actually kissed her!  I know that Vinyl forgave me, but what if it happens again?  What if I get drunk again and accidentally sleep with her?  Could I live with myself then?  Could Vinyl forgive me then?  I honestly think the only safe thing to do is to quit drinking period… No, I don’t think I could pull that off.

“Tavi!”

I stop my mental processes momentarily.  “Yes?”

She pats my head and motions to the desert, “Eat your pudding, you’ll feel better.”

I also need to stop this habit of thinking out loud.

(\/);,,;(\/)

A couple hours past, and my hangover finally wore off.  Now I can get out of bed without killing my brain every time I move.  The pudding helped, a lot.  Vanilla never disappoints me, even in my most taxing hours.

Off to more important matters, now.  My old ensemble and I are getting together later today to practice for the Gala.  Oooh, I’m so excited… and very nervous!  The last time I saw my bandmates was nearly two years ago!  And what a comeback we will make!  After being in the dark for two years, we will break through and tell everypony that we are back, and what better place than at the Gala?

I have about ten minutes to kill before I have to go, what to do?  I guess television is always good to kill ti─

A swift knock at the door interrupts my thoughts.  I investigate, and find the culprit to be none other than my father.  I smile and hug him.  “Father!  How nice to see you!”  As I pull away I notice something odd.  “New jacket?  And is that… cologne?  Is there a special occasion going on?”

He clears his throat, “Oh, I was just at a meeting with Fancy Pants, that’s all.  He asked me for advice regarding the Council and if he should run or not.  I simply told him to do what you think is right, and to remember that his father did not expect him to follow in his hoofsteps.”

Ah, yes.  Goldmane was the Grand Magistrix for the Council of the Three Hooves, the recently formed parliament that equally represents the three pony races.  Ever since Princess Luna’s banishment some thousand years ago, Celestia needed help to rebuild and run the damaged Kingdom from the ruins of the Discordian Era.  To do this, she created the House of Lords, noble ponies who ran parts of the government and represented the common ponies.  This method worked up until recently, a few years before Princess Luna returned.  The House of Lords was disbanded for a more easier council that is elected, rather than given power from birthright.

This made a lot of the nobility very upset, but the princesses promised them they’d get to do something.  I’m not sure of all the details, but hey, I’m not of nobility, so I’m not concerned.

Each of the three races elects their representative, who have their own titles.  The Earth Pony is called the Earthmother or Earthfather, Pegasi call their representative Wing-Commander, and Unicorns have the Grand Magistrix.  These names come from each of the races personal history.

“Ah, alright...  Oh, and speaking of Fancy Pants.”  I give him an evil glare.  “What’s with all this secrecy with you and Goldmane?!”

“What do you mean?”

I huff, “Daddy, don’t you even think about deflecting away from this!  I never even knew you were friends with Goldmane until yesterday!  And why did he want to speak to you alone in his will?”

He sighs and takes a moment to answer.  “Tavia, my darling daughter, please don’t get too worked up over this, it’s not a big deal really.”

I scoff, “‘Not a big deal’?  Then why is it so kept under lock and key?”

“Tavia, my darling daughter, back when this all happened, you were too young to understand.  Over the years, I simply forgot to mention it.  I wasn’t trying to keep you in the dark, I just forgot to turn on the light.”

“And what’s that supposed to mean?”

He shrugs, “Goldmane and I were close friends.  When he was accepted into the Council of Three Hooves, things got a little… hectic.  At the time, I just got my position on the school board for Celestia’s School for Gifted Unicorns.  And, unfortunately, I was under investigation for ‘foul play’.”

I blink.  “Huh?”

“Being as young as I was, and newly at the school on top of that, ponies started to question how I got onto the board so quickly.  They started pointing hooves at my friendship with Goldmane, who had gotten elected as Grand Magistrix and was, coincidently, writing up laws having to do with the education system.  Believe me, the connection there was purely coincidence, and Goldmane had nothing to do with me getting on the school board.

“So, to make our lives less complicated, we went into the dark, so to say.  Eventually, ponies calmed down, but Goldmane, being as cautious as he was, insisted on keeping our friendship a secret so no more scandals would blow out of proportion again.  I’m sorry for keeping this from you, Tavia, but it needed to be done.”

I take a moment to allow all of this to sink in.  “Alright, that makes sense....  but you didn’t have to keep it from me!  Do you not trust me?”

He raises his hooves up defensively.  “No, no!  Of course I trust you, my darling daughter.  It’s just that...  it was easier to not tell you, then to explain all of this.  It’s just something that you didn’t need in your life.  Blissful ignorance, am I right?”

I groan.  Even though I agree with him that I didn’t need to know, I still would have liked for him to inform me about it.  “I guess so, father.”  I guess I got the explanation I needed, even though it was kind of silly.

“Anyway, what are you up to, Tavia?”

I smile, surges of excitement coursing through my veins.  “My ensemble and I are rehearsing for the Gala!”

He, too, smiles with pride.  “Oh, that’s right!  Fantastic news, sweetheart!  Having the honor to play at the Gala once is one thing, but twice?  I may be the luckiest father in the world to have a daughter of such capability!”

I blush from embarrassment.  “Well… it was really Goldmane’s doing.”

He pokes my chest.  “Buuuut!  He would have never recommended you if it weren’t for your talent!”

My inner pride is starting to surface,  “Well… true.”  I take a quick glance over at a nearby clock.  I have a few more minutes to spare before I need to leave.  While he’s here, I might as well start my ‘research’ on Moondancer.  “Father… can I ask you about something?”

“Of course.”

“How is Moondancer when she’s in your class?”

Father cocks an eyebrow at me, momentarily confused.  “What do you mean?”

I clear my throat, “Moondancer.  How does she act in school?  Is she just as crazy there when she’s here, too?”

“Hmmm… not exactly.  The way she uses her magic here would not be allowed on campus grounds.  However, she does do a lot of silly, random things to, well...  to try to make ponies laugh, with varying amounts of success.  I honestly think she’s just an attention whore.  She’s a good filly and all, but sometimes she can get out of hoof.”

Interesting… I nod, signaling him to continue.

“She does her work and gets good grades.  When she’s not doing something silly she always looks like she’s in deep thought.  She’s so solemn, too… so quiet, but as soon as the opportunity arises, she springs into crazy mode.  I would tell you more, but this little tic called ‘student teacher confidentiality’ prevents me from saying much else…”  He pauses for a second.  “Why are you asking this, anyways?  Don’t you already know this, since she is your friend?  Or has something happened?”

I shake my head.  “No, I don’t believe that there is anything is wrong, but I want to make sure first.”

Father shrugs.  “Alrighty, then.  Do what you must do--I’m sorry I can’t help you further, though.”

“No worries, father.”  Another quick glance at the clock shows that my time is up.  “I have to get going anyway.”  I give him a loving hug, and utter a “Bye, daddy!” before swiftly leaving the house.  

From behind me, he yells, “Good luck, my darling daughter!”

(\/);,,;(\/)

Well, I haven't been here for a while.  When was the last time?  Two years ago, roughly?  However the amount of time it was, it feels good to be back.  The lush, green fields and polished marble steps of the Royal Amphitheatre, beautifully reflect the afternoon sun down on me as I trot past them to the main stage down below.

And there, on the oak stage, my old ensemble awaits for me.  Not only am I excited to once again play with them, I’m also terribly nervous.  We didn’t really part on that good of terms… There were some harsh words flung around, but that was years ago, and we were all stressed out from being out of work for a while.  I’m sure everything will go along just fine… as soon as I apologize.

At least that’s the plan.  But, if it goes as well as my usual plans go… Oh, Celestia, I’m screwed!

As I approach the stage, I notice them all turn their attention to me.  The intensity of their gazes is enough to make me slightly stagger, but I retain my composure.  Once I’m onstage, I get a few mixed reactions from the other three ponies around me.

Beauty Brass, the sousaphonist of the group, stares at me with a look of shock and surprise, almost like she wasn’t expecting me to show up.  She blinks rapidly and tilts her head to the left, almost questioning why I showed up in the first place.  

Harpo Parish Nandermane, the harpist, didn’t even give me a second glance before ignoring me and returning to tuning his instrument.  He seems unamused by my presence, but doesn’t look hostile.  I’ll have to keep my guard up around him.

And lastly, our pianist, Frederic Horseshoepin.  He seems like the only one who’s happy with my presence.  He graces me with a welcoming smile, telling me that all is good on his end.  He hops down from his chair and approaches me.  “Octavia… it’s been a while.  How have you been?”

I clear my throat and nod.  “So it has, and quite alright.  There were some… bumps in the road, but here I am, back on stage.”

I hear a scoff from behind Frederic.  “Don’t get your hopes up, we’re not there yet.”  Harpo mutters.

“Oh, don’t mind him.”  Beauty says, “He’s ‘ad a stick up his rump for a while now.”

My ears flatten against my head.  That might partly be my fault.  Harpo and I have never seen eye-to-eye, and when I could no longer be a part of this ensemble, we didn’t really part on good terms.  I guess he still holds a grudge after this long.  Well, two out of three is good enough.

Beauty turns her full attention to me.  “Nevermind that, now, look at you!  You look so… different!  You’re so thin!  Have you been eating well?  Did those slums give ye a good ol’ beatin’?”

I subconsciously look over my body, “Umm...kind of.”

“Seriously, where have ye been all this time?  We thought ye ‘ad hit rock bottom by now an’ given up!  But look at ye now, look at us all now, playin’ together once again.”

“Yes, quite.”  Harpo pipes in.  “Oh and I don’t mean to be rude, but could you lot hurry up with this little reunion?  We are on a time crunch here.”

“Oh, quit your bickering, Harpo.” Frederic says, “We’ve got plenty of time.”

He glares at Frederic out of the corner of his eye.  “Maybe you do, but other ponies here don’t.  Now, are you going to continue mucking about, or can we could get some work done?”

Beauty flails a hoof at him in a mocking gesture, “Alright ye crybaby, we’ll have it yer way.”  She proceeds to position her instrument around her torso and making sure the mouthpiece aligns just right.  Frederic sits down on a chair in front of a piano and cracks his neck in preparation.  

I gently slide my cello off my back and open the case.  I make sure that my cello’s tuned properly, and my bow is rosined just so that it doesn’t stick, but also doesn’t slip.  I stand on my hind-legs and rest the bow on the strings.  Being an earth-pony, playing the cello has been quite… interesting.  Unicorns can just use their magic to hold and play, while I have to use my stubby hooves to play.  And do you know what?  Unicorns still get more credit because they can usually play better than us earth-ponies!  It takes ten times more skill for me to play then those… Screwheads!  But, I digress.  I get into my stance and hook my bow in my fetlock, applying just enough pressure to make contact.  I pull it back gently, hearing the reverberation of the strings fill the air with music.  I close my eyes, feeling the instrument vibrate against my hooves.  

This is it… I am in the “zone”, as Vinyl would say.  The area where reality has no boundary, where my imagination can run wild, limited by only my desire to explore its depths.  Time and space have no laws here.  Life and death are only whispers.  It is a place that can give unimaginable joy, or unyielding sorrow.  And right now, that place is occupied by me and my music.

The notes and chords dance around the air, one by one, in perfect harmony.  Their individuality slowly fades as they all merge into one, beautiful song.  The song takes the form of a light swirling overhead.  It condenses with every passing second until the light forms a streamlined down to earth.  There, it takes a physical form, looking a lot like Vinyl.  

The light grabs my hoof, and together we dance to the song.  My body swings to the rhythm, not missing a beat.  The two of us are lost in eternity with only a song and each other to keep us company.  The dance continues forever, never faltering, never fading.  

I really should teach Vinyl how to dance.

The song soon came to an end, as did my wonderful daydream.  I open my eyes to find everypony seemingly beaming with pride.  I smirk, I still got it.  After all this time, I still have my touch.

“Amazing job, everypony.”  Frederic starts.  “Simple, but elegant.  A few notes were missed here and there, but for a first time all together again?  Absolutely fantastic.”

“Frederic, have you got a horseshoe in your ear?!”  Harpo suddenly yells, startling all of us.  “That was terrible!”

“Woah there, calm yerself, Harpo.”  Beauty says.  “What are ye talkin’ about?  I t'ink it sounded good.”

“Oh of course it sounded good,” he replies sarcastically, “for amateurs playing at a middle school play perhaps!  Did you forget already that we will be playing at the Grand Galloping Gala?”

“Did you forget we already played at the Gala once before?  If we were good enough then, we’re good enough now.”  Frederic replies.  

Harpo looks appalled, “We were nowhere near how we were then as we are now!  We sound like children trying to imitate us from three years ago.”  He sighs.  “This is why I said we were on a time crunch!  The four of us haven't played together in quite a while.  We’ve gotten rusty; forgotten how to properly communicate with ourselves and each other’s instruments.  We need as much practice as possible!  Because, quite frankly, you,” he points to Frederic, “sound like a five year old with a toy keyboard!”

Frederic flinches, like he’s been struck.  He looks more surprised at Harpo’s insult rather than angry.  “Excuse me?”

“And you,” he points to Beauty, ignoring Frederic, “did that child of yours drain all of your talent while he was still in the womb?”

“Oi!”  She states in protest, “Leave me boy out o’ this!”

Harpo then rounds on me with fire in his eyes and hatred in his tone.  “And you.  Octavia Harmonious.  The Octavia Harmonious.  Foal prodigy, youngest pony to ever play in the Royal Symphony, and an earth pony at that!  But now… now you’re nothing more than a talentless has-been!  All this time you’ve spent in the ghetto, broken, unwanted, angry, it’s all showing.  You sound nothing like the old Octavia!”  He pauses, clenching his hooves in anger and breathing heavily.  “You better get your act together… all of you better get your acts together.  We may have a few months until the gala, but even then is cutting it close.”

I blink a few times and allow everything to sink in.  Good heavens, I know Harpo is a very grumpy man, but this… I’m struggling to keep myself from lashing back at him.  I want to yell at him, pummel him to the ground, but I know Harpo, and I know arguing with him further is no use.  Just let it go, Octavia.  I only have to put up with him for a few hours a day.  Hopefully that’s short enough to keep me from murdering him.  

I am able to keep my temper under control, but I can’t say the same for Beauty.  “Oi, I’m not through wit’ you jus’ yet!  Don’ you ever, ever insult me son like that in front o’ me face again unless ye want me to knock yer brain right out o’ yer skull!”

“Easy there, Beauty.”  Frederic says.  “Just let it go, you know how he gets.”  He leans in close to her to whisper something in her ear.  Beauty gives Harpo one last glare, then turns away.

Harpo clears his throat.  “Now that I’ve got that off my chest, let’s try again.  And we will keep trying until we get it right, understood?”  Frederic tries to be optimistic by enthusiastically saying ‘Got it!’ while Beauty and I grumble to ourselves and ready our instruments.  

What happens next is what I can accurately describe as Tartarus.  It’s almost like Harpo has been replaced by an avatar of Hades.  Hours past by of nothing but music and verbal abuse.  How on earth Frederic is still staying positive through all this is beyond me, but if it weren’t for him keeping check on Beauty and I, we would probably be thrown in prison by now for the murder of Harpo.

It will all be over soon.  Then I can go home, away from Harpo, spend the rest of the evening relaxing with Vinyl on the couch with a good movie.  Yes, that thought it honestly the only thing keeping me from going berserk.

At long last, practice finally ended with Harpo declaring us all to be ‘incompetent’ and saying that he is ‘giving up for the night’.  Honestly, I was still holding back the urge to give him a hoof full of righteous fury on his pompous ass, but… I held my tongue-er… hoof, for the time being.

So, Harpo ended up storming off, yelling to the air and leaving the rest of us here.  We really need to get a different harpist.  But, as much of an ass as he is, he’s good at what he does, so we all have to deal with him for the time being.  

Beauty quickly packs her instrument up and leaves the stage, saying she needs to get home to her son.  I secure my cello while Frederic places a tarp over the grand piano so keep dust and debris off of it until the next practice.  Whilst Frederic and I were getting ready to depart, we had a pleasant conversation detailing our mutual hatred of our harpist.

“I still don’t know how you can keep so calm around him.”  I say to him.  “I’d go mad after being alone with him for thirty seconds.”

He shrugs, “I just have a high tolerance, I guess.  As infuriating as he is, he does have a point.  We’re a lot out of practice, and we do need to get better before the Gala arrives.”  

“I won’t argue with you there.” I say, nodding my head in agreement.

Frederic sighs and cracks his neck, “However, I did notice your style has changed dramatically.”

I shrug.  “It all depends on the mood I’m in.  Truth be told, I was a bit nervous coming here in the first place, so that could’ve had an effect.”

“Ahh, I see.”  He takes one last glance at the covered piano, then at the setting sun on the horizon.  “Octavia, do you have any plans for tonight?”

“Hmm?  Plans?  Not in particular, other than relaxing with some tea and television.  Why do you ask?”

“I just thought we could go to a local diner and catch up.  It’s been such a long time since we last met.”

True.  It has been a while.  What?  Nearly two years?  After that long, spending some time with Frederic sounds like a good idea.  I’m sure Vinyl won’t mind if I’m home an hour or so later.  I smile at him, “I’d be delighted to, Frederic.”

(\/);,,;(\/)

“And that’s when I said, ‘Since when do fish wear pants!” Frederic concludes his joke, bursting into laughs.

I chuckle.  Although the joke was childish, it was still funny.  I punch Frederic gently on the shoulder.  “That was just as bad as the last one, Frederic.”

He shrugs.  “Well, I try.”

Me and Frederic had just left the diner and were heading home.  I had actually had a good time.  Not sure why I doubted that fact, to be honest.  Anyways, Fredric had insisted that he walk me home, and I really didn’t see a problem with that.  He had tried to pass the time by telling jokes, but… they stunk.  Same old Frederic, I suppose.  Great musician, optimist, but terrible joker.  I guess some things just never change.

“And here we are.”  I say to him, “Thank you for your company, Frederic.  It made up for having to put up with Harpo.”

He chuckles.  “Not a problem, Octavia.”  He leans in and kisses my cheek on both sides.  “See you at practice on Thursday.” He called out as he began to walk away.

I wave at him and I turn around, only to be muzzle to muzzle with Vinyl.  I jump slightly, startled at her sudden appearance.  I put a hoof over my chest.  “Dear heavens, Vinyl!  Don’t scare me like thatーyou know I have a heart condition!”

“What the hell was that?!”  She hollers at me.

“Wh-I-What do you mean?”

“Don’t play dumb with me, Octavia!” Vinyl begins, poking my cheek with a hoof, “You know damn well what I mean!”

“Vinyl stop yelling!  Now, calmly, explain what you’re talking about.”

“You should be the one doing the explaining around here!  You come home two hours late with some guy and you kiss him right in front of my own home!”

I facehoof.  “Vinyl, first off, he kissed me and it was a ‘goodbye’ kind of kiss!  Did you forget about the customs I told you about?  That was one of them!  You kiss both cheeks as a greeting gesture or a farewell gesture!  On top of that, it wasn’t even on the lips!”

She opens her mouth to talk, but all then comes out is an ‘Ohhhh’ of realization.  “Yeaaahhh….  I think I remember now.”

“Mmmhmm.  Are you done being paranoid now?”

She puts her head down.  “Yes…”

“Good, now let’s go inside.  Oh and Vinyl?”

“Hmmm?”

“If you ever accuse me of cheating on you again, your new bedroom will be the couch.”

“O-ok,” she begins, before mumbling, “Better than yours being at someone else's house...”

“What was that, dear?”

“Uhhh… I love you?”

I smile, “That’s what I thought I heard.”