In a Cello Mood

Dear Diary,

Today was a busy day! I mean, at uni, every day is a busy day, but this one, it seems, was longer than any other day. Yes, I’ve met Beauty and… ugh. I hate her. I hate her so much. You wouldn’t believe what she said! And Frederic, he- Ugh! And Vinyl… And this DJ!

But first things first. This half of the semester, we have a new subject: Ensemble Practice. So I was assigned to a quartet. And imagine what we were given to play...

***

“Pachelbel's Canon. Seriously.”  Octavia looked at her sheet music, eyeing the three ponies sitting around her with their respective instruments. The cellist raised her head to meet the tutor’s eyes. “Eight notes. Repeating over and over again. Seriously.”

“Yes,” the tutor, a rather pretty young earth pony mare of cyan coat and an outstanding orange mane, confirmed. “This is exactly the piece you four will be performing. The subject is called Ensemble Practice, and you all have to learn how to work in an ensemble.”

“But it’s too easy and boring!” Octavia exclaimed, looking over her new groupmates: Bon-Bon on the piano, Lyra idly plucking the strings of her lyre, and the harpist… What was his name? “Besides, this quartet doesn’t make sense. Piano and cello, I get it,” Octavia said, much to the approval of Bon-Bon, and to the concurrent disapproval of the harpist earth pony and Lyra. “But having a lyre and a harp within one ensemble? Who even makes the groups? A random number generator?” The little pony in Octavia’s head but on a scientist’s robe.

The tutor just stared at the young cellist ranting and waited till Octavia’s breath slowed to a normal pace again. “Are you done?” Octavia nodded defiantly. “Then listen. The reason why you have all been arranged into groups, which form your respective ensembles, is the same as why you were arranged partners for your winter projects.” The tutor smiled. “To teach you to work in teams. Classical musicians don’t choose whom to play with. We have to be able to get used to playing with any orchestra, in any chamber ensemble. Though,” she admitted, “when we’re talking about chamber performances, you usually choose the ensemble you play with. Anyway. Any more questions?”

“Yes.” Octavia raised her hoof. The pony in her head enquired: Why is the rum gone? “Why Pachelbel’s Canon?!” She looked around to see a wince on Bon-Bon’s face, a frown on the harpist’s face, and calm boredom on Lyra’s face.

“Because I’m evil,” the tutor replied with a grin. Only now did Octavia notice how young the mare was and how… attractive she was. Brain. This is your last warning. “All right, let’s all get acquainted.” The pretty mare walked up to the whiteboard, unusually small - but then again, the whole little practice room was dreadfully small as well: six chairs and six sheet music stands, a window that did nothing to let the light in, and the whiteboard. Not even the teacher’s desk. One would think that, with all the financing RUMMS gets…

“My name is…” The mare scribbled on the whiteboard in a blue marker. Why not Lavender? The little pony in Octavia’s head complained. “Sunlight Petition.” She turned to the class with a sheepish grin. “My parents, um, liked writing petitions. But you can call me Sunlight.” The mare’s face brightened up a little, then her brows grew stern. “If you call me Petition or Ms Petition, you will never, I repeat, never pass your exam.” Then her face brightened up again. “Clear?”

Octavia gulped and nodded, seeing similar looks on the students’ faces. Crystal clear, Ms… Sunlight.

“Now,” Sunlight suggested, “why don’t you all introduce yourselves.” She pointed at Octavia. “Ladies first.”

The grey mare shifted uneasily, feeling the cello weigh on her knees painfully, something that hadn’t happened before - apart from the times when she was nervous. Which she totally was. “My name’s Octavia Philarmonica,” she addressed basically just the tutor and the harpist. “I play the cello and I’m glad to be part of this ensemble.”

“I’m Lyra Heartstrings,” Lyra said at Sunlight’s insisting gesture, “and I know everything.”

While Harpo raised his brow questioningly (Did he skip IP Law? the little pony in Octavia’s head wondered), the cyan orange-maned mare just nodded. “So I’ve heard. Well, and this is Bon-Bon, your famous marefriend, right?”

Lyra blinked while Bon-Bon merely blushed and nodded. “Bonnie is famous? Why?” She asked obliviously, sending the tutor into a short fit of laughter.

“Ah, so you don’t really know everything!” Sunlight exclaimed victoriously and threw her hoof in the air. “Ha!” She slowly opened her eyes and, seeing the deadpan looks of the ponies in the room, coughed up and blushed. “Anyway. Bon-Bon made sweets for the whole faculty and was giving them out a while ago.”

“Really?” Lyra blinked, glancing at her marefriend. “I never got any.”

“That’s because you got something else that’s sweet, that day.” Bon-Bon blushed and averted her eyes. “Um. Anyway. I’m Bon-Bon, and I play the piano.” She took a few chords, as if to prove that indeed, she did play the piano.

“My name is Harpo Parish Nadermane,” the harpist said in a thick accent, which, for some reason, brought a smile to Octavia’s lips. The accent is cute~ “And I play the harp.” The little pony in Octavia’s head danced around. The ‘arp! The ‘arp! “I came to Equestria to study Music, and I am very eager to make new friends.”

“You will,” Octavia said suddenly, even for herself. But what was wrong? Nothing was wrong. This was just a cute guy, an exchange student who wanted to make friends. So, she and Lyra and Bon-Bon and Harpo could be friends. “Can we call you Harpo?” Octavia added, just for the sake of her sentence being complete.

“Of course,” the harpist replied with a tiny smile that made Octavia want to giggle. He’s like a teddy bear! ...with a harp! The little pony put on a business suit and estimated the cost of the production of such teddy bears.

“All right!” Sunlight nodded. “Now that we’re all acquainted, let’s start with something simple. You all just play the D-major scale in unison.” She turned to Lyra and Harpo. “In your case, harp one octave lower than the lyre.”

“Gotcha.” Lyra grinned. “Ready to play some real instruments, Harpo?” she addressed the harpist with an exaggerated wink. “Everypony knows it’s easy to hold a bow or press the keys, but only we know how hard it is to pluck strings in the right way.”

“I think,” Harpo replied in an amused tone, “that your marefriend has a very angry look on her face.” His expression basically shouted, Should I be concerned? Because I am concerned.

“It’s nothing, Harpo, dear,” Bon-Bon said softly, her eyes warming up as she turned to the newest addition to the group of friends. “It’s just that I want to murder her just a little.”

Octavia raised her hoof. “I second that motion. How about right now?”

“Right now,” Sunshine interrupted the musicians, “we should really stop arguing and play the scale. Come on.” She tapped the whiteboard rhythmically. “And one, and two-”

***

Octavia sighed and walked through the corridor, her cello case on her back. Granted, she’d got used to carrying it in such a fashion, but the practice session had been tiring. Yes, Pachelbel’s canon wasn’t hard - but having to play the same tempo as everypony else was. At least Harpo was nice. Very pleasant, smiling all the time, trying his best to adjust the tempo and the volume of his playing. Why, some ponies at this faculty could be nice, which is, some ponies, quite unlike-

“Do you really think I’ll do that forever?”

Beauty. Octavia stopped dead in her tracks, hearing the mare’s voice from around the corner. The cellist immediately glued to the wall, eavesdropping on the conversation. She’s my project partner, Octavia thought, trying to excuse herself. What if she’s talking about… our project? The little pony in Octavia’s head tsked and shook her head.

“But you love him, don’t you?” the second voice came from behind the corner, sounding both bored and enquiring. “I mean, you’ve been together and-”

“I only need Frederic for three reasons.” Beauty’s voice made Octavia gasp, covering her mouth with a hoof, balancing uneasily on three legs under the weight of the cello. “A, to date a Master’s student, B, to get on Octavia’s nerves, and C, because of sex and the presents he buys me.”

Octavia shoved a hoof in her mouth, her whole body trembling of realisation and anger. How dare she! The little pony in her head put on spectacles: I always knew she wasn’t sincere. Right as she was thinking about confronting her enemy, Beauty and the mare exchanged goodbyes, and the blue earth pony emerged from behind the corner. “Oh, you.”

Octavia opened her mouth to reply, to rage, to accuse, but the brown-maned mare was already walking away. “Strawberry Street, eighteen,” she dropped without looking over her shoulder. “Tomorrow evening. We’ll work on the project ‘cause the profs are so insisting.”

Octavia watched the enemy disappear, then growled and punched the wall.

It didn’t make her feel any better.

***

“And he didn’t believe me!” Octavia stomped her hoof against the floor, walking back and forth in her bedroom. “He said I was jealous! He said I was imagining things!” She turned towards Vinyl, who was trying to put a sympathetic look on her face. “I heard that with my own ears, I run to Frederic, and then I learn that he believes her and not me?!” Octavia fumed, grabbing a pillow with her teeth and tossing it against the wall.

“Tavi, you gotta relax…” Vinyl stood up and pressed her hoof against Octavia’s back. “Just lie down and let me do the thing.” The little masseuse in Vinyl’s head out some oil on her hooves. Let uz work da magiks! “You’ve just been awfully stressed the last couple of days.”

“Stressed?” Octavia hissed, freeing herself from her marefriend’s embrace. “Oh, do I look stressed?” Vinyl took a step back. “Well, excuse me! I am paired off with my enemy, my best friend doesn’t believe me, and my marefriend-!”

“What about your marefriend, Tavi?” Vinyl asked as calmly as she could, while her voice was trembling violently. “What about me?”

“And my marefriend,” Octavia concluded bitterly, “doesn’t love me anymore, instead spending time with some sexy-ass stallion!”

“What.” Vinyl froze, eyeing her cellist dumbly. Then, a frown made its way to her face. “Tavi, are you even serious? We’re just doing a project together!”

“Oh yes?” Octavia snapped, taking a step towards the mare. “Is this why you came home at midnight yesterday? Is it why Neon followed you to our place today? Is this why you look at him the way you look at him?!”

With each accusation, Octavia took a step forth, and Vinyl took a step back. “Tavi, stop,” she said finally, brushing off the mare with her hoof. “You’re talking crazy things. Neon and I just work on the same project. And you’re being jealous.” Octavia’s eye twitched. “I can kinda get why Frederic didn’t believe you.”

Octavia opened her mouth to pour some more anger onto her DJ, but Vinyl stopped her: “Tavi, stop. Let’s just stop before we say something we’re gonna regret.” With a deep, low voice, she added, “I think I’ll sleep on the couch tonight.”

***

It’s all his fault! Ugh! It’s Neon who is taking my marefriend away from me! He is a… seductive seducer! And Vinyl, poor thing, she doesn’t even know she is being seduced. I am not being jealous! I am being cautious!!

And Beauty! How does she- She-! Telling me the address and just-! UGH! Diary, would you mind if I threw you against the wall? Because I certainly feel like it.

Octavia Philarmonica, BUCK THE DATE TO THE WALL