Hearthswarming Eve at Canterlot Café
Sweetie Belle looked down once more at the folded piece of paper in her hooves. After glancing around to make sure no one was watching, she unfolded it, read it for the hundredth time, winced for a moment, and then stuffed the paper back inside her saddle bag.
The wind howled and shook the window beside her. She jumped a little, looking out at the steadily-mounting blizzard just beyond the window pane. I've never seen snow like THAT before, she thought. And neither, apparently, had anypony else.
Across the room the front door suddenly opened, and the wind's howl grew much worse. Patrons everywhere huddled into their hats and mittens and held each other closer for a moment as as a living, breathing snowpony hurried through the door, slammed it shut against the wind, and then began brushing snow off of himself, revealing a dark gray coat and a green uniform.
He was one of the workers, of course. He had a shovel. And if the expression on his face said anything, it was that they wouldn't be boarding the train anytime soon.
The sun had set hours ago. Sweetie Belle looked up at the clock and winced. Please, please PLEASE let me get home tonight.
A timid voice piped up from her right. "Oh, um, try not to worry I'msureit'llbefine."
Sweetie Belle glanced at Fluttershy, and her anxiety slowly began to rise. For a moment she wondered who, exactly, was supposed to be watching whom. You might think a pegasus wouldn't worry about the weather, but Fluttershy was no ordinary pegasus, and this was no ordinary weather. Bunnies were lovely, bears could be friendly and even a full-size dragon could be put in its place. But you couldn't say anything to a blizzard, and the window was shaking almost as much as Fluttershy herself.
"I'mgonnagetsomehotcocoa," Fluttershy mumbled as she got off the bench. "Do you want any?"
"Yes, please" Sweetie Belle replied, trying to sound as cheery as possible. Fluttershy dashed off through the crowd (with plenty of mumbled "excuse me"s and "pardon me"s) and Sweetie Belle remained on the bench by the wall, taking in her surroundings.
The sign above the door said Canterlot Café, and Rarity had once explained to her (in another one of her random monologues about the sophistication of Canterlot) that the owner had named it that way as an act of ambition. It was meant to be so charming, so unique, so very Canterlot that it wouldn't need any real name at all. If you went to a café in Canterlot, the thinking went, then of course you went to the one and only Canterlot Café.
The thought of it made her lonely. She missed Rarity.
It had been an early Hearthswarming gift: a chance to see the Royal Choir performing live at the palace. But Rarity could only manage to find two tickets, and then Rarity came down with the flu and wasn't fit to travel, and in the end it was Fluttershy who volunteered as Sweetie Belle's chaperone. Sweetie Belle had felt bad about leaving Rarity behind, but Rarity had insisted. "Darling, I'll be quite all right," she'd said, "and it would break my heart for you to miss the performance. It's my gift to you!"
So Sweetie Belle and Fluttershy had seen the Royal Choir perform, and Sweetie Belle had to admit it was magical. The harmonies had been so subtle, and yet so grand. You'd think that a room with an echo would be bad for the music, but something about the palace simply magnified the sound, making it stronger, more glorious, as if ten thousand ponies were singing all around them. Sweetie Belle wondered if her gift could possibly measure up.
Assuming she got to give it at all, that is.
The train had been delayed for over six hours now, and since the café was right across the street from the station, everypony had packed themselves into it. Ponies at the large front windows kept looking across at the motionless train and the snow-packed tracks just in front of it. Other ponies murmured among themselves, drinking coffee or trying to get warm by one of the fireplaces. Sweetie Belle looked around, but she couldn't find a single smile.
"Can't those pegasi do something already?!" barked a large, gruff stallion to her left. "They made the weather, after all!"
"I heard there was a problem in the weather factory," said a yellow unicorn mare. "They made some bad clouds without realizing it."
"It's the Windigos!" said a brown foal about Sweetie's age.
"No it's not! Don't even say that!"
The foal and the mare kept arguing and Sweetie Belle tried to ignore them. She spotted Fluttershy some distance beyond them, waiting patiently-but-anxiously for her turn to order hot chocolate. The mare in front of Fluttershy was evidently having an argument of her own with the barista pony behind the counter, and even though Sweetie Belle couldn't hear him she could well imagine it was some variation of "I'm sorry, ma'am, but the weather ponies are doing all they can. I'll let you know as soon as we have an update."
"I'm sorry, is this seat taken?"
Sweetie Belle turned to see a gray earth pony mare motioning to Fluttershy's empty seat on the bench. As they made eye contact, both Sweetie Belle and the stranger took on a look of surprise. Do I know you?
After a moment, the mare spoke. "Are you from Ponyville, by any chance?"
Sweetie gasped a little. "I do know you! I mean, yes, um...I'm Sweetie Belle. You're that uh...um..."
"Octavia," said the mare.
"Right, right! But you play music, right? You came to our class last-"
"Miss Cheerliee's class! That's right. I knew I knew you from somewhere. Well, may I -?" she said gesturing at the bench again.
"Oh. Well it was Fluttershy's spot, but uh..."
Sweetie Belle glanced at Fluttershy by the counter. Fluttershy was bobbing her head repeatedly around the angry mare in front of her, doubtless muttering "Excuse me" and "Pardon me" in a vain attempt to actually order some hot chocolate. Sweetie turned back to Octavia. "I don't think she'll be back for awhile."
Octavia smiled. "Well, I won't refuse a kindness," she said, climbing onto the bench, "but I'll give her seat back as soon as she needs it."
"You can try."
They both giggled a bit, and Sweetie Belle noticed the large black case that Octavia had brought along with her, which was now perched carefully on the side of the bench.
"Hey, is that your, um-"
"My cello? Oh yes, I take it everywhere. Though I'm afraid I won't actually be able to play it today."
"Why not?"
"Well I did have a small recital scheduled for the holiday, but," she gestured to the window, "it was meant to be an outdoor performance."
Sweetie Belle's ears dropped. "Oh. That's too bad."
Octavia sighed. "Yes, well I had been prepared to cancel if the weather was inclement. But I didn't expect this."
"Me neither. I really wanna get home. Rarity got me a super great present this year, and my present's not even that good, but I wanna get back so I can least give her something!" said Sweetie Belle a little too loudly, and a few ponies turned to look at her for a moment. Sweetie cleared her throat and looked away.
Octavia paid no mind. "Ah, that's right. Rarity is your sister, isn't she? What she did give you?"
"I got to see the Royal Choir."
"Splendid! And what are you giving her?"
Sweetie Belle glanced at her saddle bag. "Oh...it's not that great."
"I'm sure she'll be happy, whatever it is."
Sweetie looked up at the clock again; it was nearly 10PM. "I was supposed to be home already. She's probably worried."
Octavia looked out toward the front windows. "I know what you mean. I have somepony waiting for me too."
"Who?"
"My marefriend. She tries to act all confident, but between you and me, she does fret sometimes."
"Just like Rarity."
They both smiled.
They sat in silence for a long moment, gazing out at the crowd. Sweetie Belle wondered what Applebloom or Scootaloo would do, if they were here. Maybe they'd try getting their cutie marks in...what, exactly? "Waiting for trains"? Could cutie marks even be that lame? She certainly hoped not.
"Can I ask you a question?" Sweetie said.
"Certainly."
"How did you get yours? Your cutie mark, I mean?"
Octavia smiled. "As you might expect, I was playing cello at the time."
"Was it...your first time?"
"No, actually. I practiced on my own for awhile. I played a few school recitals. It was over a year before I got my cutie mark."
Sweetie Belle cocked her head in puzzlement. "What changed?"
Octavia paused. "I think...I think it happened when I wasn't afraid anymore. I used to be worried that I wasn't good enough, you see. Even when ponies applauded me, I thought...well, I thought perhaps they were just being polite, I suppose. I always doubted myself. But one day...one day I was on my own, and without even thinking I picked up the cello and I started improvising, just like that. And before I knew it, I had my cutie mark. That's all there is to it, I suppose."
Sweetie Belle looked over at Fluttershy, who had finally caught the barista's attention. She stared down at her saddle bag and thought. She took a few slow breaths before she spoke again.
"It's...it's a song..." she mumbled.
"Pardon?"
"I wrote a song. For Rarity. But...it might not be good enough..."
She opened the bag, took out the paper, and held it out for Octavia. Octavia took the paper gingerly, unfolded it, and read it in silence.
"You wrote this? The tune and everything?"
"Well, uh, yeah, after the concert I just thought-"
"It's lovely."
Sweetie Belle jumped a little. The wind was howling again outside but she could hardly hear it. A blush crept into her cheeks and she found herself smiling.
"Would you like to try it out?" whispered Octavia.
"Well, when I get home I thought-"
"Why wait?" said Octavia, undoing the latches on her cello case. "We'll make a little concert out of it."
She took the cello out of its case and waited expectantly, with a gentle smile.
"But I...really?"
Octavia leaned in. "I wouldn't mind getting a chance to play, personally. And sometimes the best concerts are the ones you don't prepare for. Unless you're saving it for Rarity alone?"
Sweetie Belle thought for a moment. Of course it was meant for Rarity, but...she could always sing it again after she got home and...well.... if Rarity had heard that she'd performed a concert at the one and only Canterlot Café....that would be something special, wouldn't it? She would love that.
More importantly, so would Sweetie Belle.
"Ok," she whispered.
A long, slow note sounded on a cello, and everypony heard it. A few more slow notes followed, loud and clear, and it was as if the rest of the world had suddenly faded into silence. The wind and rattling windows seemed far away now. Arguments and conversations came to a gentle halt, and everypony glanced over to see a gray earth pony mare and a young white unicorn filly beside her. Fluttershy turned towards the noise with two cups of hot chocolate in her hooves. Sweetie Belle?
Octavia glanced down at her companion with a smile. "Don't be afraid," she whispered.
Sweetie Belle looked out at the crowd. And then, after just a moment of silence, she began to sing. The wind grew quieter still as the cellist and the singer, bound together in easy harmony, expressed with slow and heartfelt music the innermost thoughts of everypony there.
"Oh there's no place like home for the holidays.
'cause no matter how far away you roam
If you long for the sunshine of a friendly gaze
For the holidays you can't beat home sweet home!
For the holidays you can't beat home sweet home!"
Author's Note
Written for Pascoite for Jinglemass 2021
