Jumping up and down in excitement was not acceptable. At least, it wasn’t here, not in Canterlot. Neither was pacing back and forth with nervousness. It simply wasn’t done. Not if a pony wanted to be accepted into the elite and maintain her station among them. A true lady in Canterlot was always calm, always refined, and always in control of her emotions. She was the picture of perfection; a mare who could stand in the middle of a blistering heat wave and not sweat, or walk through a freezing day and not shiver.
And that was what Symphony was, or at least what she told herself as she waited for her turn to perform. She was completely calm on the outside, but she couldn’t deny that inside, her heart was racing. Finally, it was going to be her turn. Finally, she would get her chance to shine. Finally, she would wow Canterlot—no, all of Equestria—with her musical talent. Octavia Melody had had her turn, but now it was another pony’s turn. Octavia wasn’t the only Earth pony who could play music worthy of Canterlot, and with this show tonight, Symphony was going to prove it. The cellist hadn’t been the only one who had played for Upper Crust’s and Jet Set’s garden party, despite what everypony seemed to believe.
The yellow mare stood off to the side, watching the rest of the contestants—because that’s what they were, even if everypony said this wasn’t a competition—and sizing them up. She really wasn’t concerned about them. There were the typical magic acts, singers, dancers, and more than a few musicians. But she was the only pony there with a violin, and that was all that mattered. Once the crowd heard her beautiful music, they would forget everypony else’s performances, not matter what they were. And then, Symphony would finally prove to everypony that an Earth pony in Canterlot being a famous stringed musician was possible, not just a one-time stroke of luck.
She would make them eat those words…
“You’ll see,” the mare growled under her breath. Her teal blue eyes narrowed ever so slightly as her mind replayed the mocking laugher from the doubters, but she quickly regained control of herself. She pushed the thoughts aside with a deep breath and adjusted her purple bowtie. Her turn was next, and she couldn’t allow those thoughts to affect her now. She needed to be the icon of perfection that she knew she could be.
“Symphony, you’re up,” the stage director said as the pony before her walked off stage.
“Coming,” Symphony replied, trying hard to keep her voice from cracking. She didn’t want to give a bad impression. Calmly, she reached down and collected her violin case with her mouth, the raised her head and tilted it back just a bit—like a true Canterlot mare would—and walked out on stage. She stopped dead center and set her case down, pulled out her violin and bow, and then stood up on her hind legs, ready to play, all without opening her eyes to look at the crowd. That was the sign of a true professional. Let the crowd know that they didn’t upset you and that they couldn’t trip you up. It would make them pay attention.
After silently counting to three in her mind, Symphony opened her eyes halfway and looked out into the crowd. She couldn’t be certain because of the lights shining in her face, but she could see plenty of ponies in the seats, so she decided that it was a full house. Because after she finished her turn in the talent show, everypony would be talking about her, even if they weren’t here.
Taking one more quick breath, Symphony drew her bow across her strings. As she began playing, she wondered if Octavia was out there somewhere. She doubted it—such a famous musician wouldn’t bother coming to such a lowly event as the Canterlot Royal Talent Show—but it was a possibility. And if she was out there, what would she think of Symphony? Would she be impressed? Would she try to find her after she won and ask to play with her? Or would she be jealous, having had an early glimpse of the pony that would soon be replacing her as the talk of Canterlot? Symphony hoped it wasn’t the last one, because she did admire Octavia. She was her inspiration, after all, but she would be replaced. Symphony was going to make sure of that.
As Symphony’s glorious music filled the hall, she felt a smile come to her lips. She bobbed her head slightly as she continued to play one of her best pieces, and for a brief moment she could feel her walls lowering. She felt happy. The worries, the anger, and the shame all melted away as she played her violin. She wished she could feel this way all the time. She wished she could simply play her violin for ponies and be loved for it. She wished she could play with her idol, Octavia, and the two of them could be best friends. She wished her life could be that simple, but she knew it couldn’t. Not in Canterlot, anyway. Not if she wanted to achieve her goal.
Symphony sped up the strokes of her bow, picking up the pace of her music. Her happiness dimmed a little, but it was still there as she continued on toward her finale. She could feel it coming now, and she closed her eyes again, striking the final notes and listening to them echo out over the audience. She held her breath as the echo faded and remained perfectly still for six seconds, making it clear to her new fans that she had finished, and then she took a deep bow.
The sound of applause flew back at her. She set her violin and bow back in its case and she allowed the glee she felt in her chest to show on her face as a small smile. She closed her case and looked up at the audience, her smile gone but the feeling of pride still strong, and bowed again, closing her eyes as she did. Then she collected her case and walked gracefully back behind the curtain.
“Take that, mother and father,” Symphony said as she set her case down. “I told you I could do it.” Her smile returned as she continued to listen to the applause and she allowed herself a small giggle of happiness. Her time had finally come. Tomorrow, Canterlot would be abuzz with word of her beautiful performance at the talent show, and soon ponies would be talking about her instead of Octavia.
“Fiddlesticks?” the stage pony called. “Fiddlesticks, are you here? You’re up.”
“I’m here!” a pony called from somewhere in the crowd of backstage ponies. “I’m coming. One second! Excuse me, pardon me—ooaf!”
Symphony stumbled as a pony bumped into her. She nearly lost her balance, but she managed to stay standing. She whipped her head around, her eyes wide with anger, to see who had dared to bump into her so carelessly.
“Oh, I’m so, so, so sorry,” the pony said as she straightened her…was that a cowboy hat on her head? Why in Equestria was she wearing something like that in Canterlot?
“It’s…quite all right,” Symphony said, baffled. Who was this pony? She was dressed in a green…thing, because Symphony wasn’t about to call it a shirt, and she had a red piece of fabric tied around her waist and a matching bandana around her neck. Did…did she not know she was in Canterlot? Did she think she was still in the backwoods of Equestria or something?
“Ooooooh, you’re that pony that just finished playing, aren’t you?” the mare said as she looked at Symphony with wide eyes. “You were really good. I loved it.”
“Thank you,” Symphony said, pride swelling in her as she tapped her chest and closed her eyes. “My name is Symphony.”
“You’re really good, Symphony,” the pony said. “I hope I can play as good as you did just now.”
Symphony’s eyes snapped open. “Excuse me?” she said, not sure she had heard correctly.
“Fiddlesticks! You’re needed on stage. Now!”
“Coming!” the pony yelled. “Nice meeting you, Symphony. Maybe we can hang out after the show? I’d love to get some pointers from you.”
As Fiddlesticks turned toward the stage, Symphony felt a hole open in her chest. Fiddlesticks was carrying a violin case! Symphony looked down to make sure the country pony hadn’t stolen hers, but it was still down at her hooves. No! No, this couldn’t be happening! How could there be another Earth mare who played a violin? And just to add insult to injury, she was yellow, just like Symphony!
“Calm down,” Symphony said to herself, running her hoof through her purple mane to regain her composure. “You saw how she’s dressed. There’s no way she’s better than you. You have nothing to worry about. She probably doesn’t even know how to play that violin.”
The familiar sound of a violin drifted to Symphony’s ears. Okay, maybe she did know how to play it. But what were the odds she could play it as well as Symphony?
“Zero, that’s what!” Symphony said, her fur bristling as she thought about that ridiculous pony in her ridiculous outfit and her ridiculous hat. How dare she try to upstage Symphony! Her coat probably wasn’t even yellow. She had probably dyed it just so she could be like Symphony. Well, she’d show her. There was only room for one yellow mare violinist in Canterlot.
Just as Symphony’s breathing began to threaten her calm composure, Fiddlestick’s music changed. Symphony cocked her head to the side slightly and raised an ear, not sure what she was hearing. It was still a violin, of that there was no doubt, but it wasn’t like anything she had ever heard. It was too…fast. Too much twang. This wasn’t music. This…this…this was hoedown music.
Symphony snorted as she tried to keep her laughter in. All her worries melted away. She was safe. There was no way this crowd of Canterlot ponies was going to enjoy this. Why, she almost felt bad for Fiddlesticks now. She was going to be laughed off stage at the end of her performance. Perhaps Symphony should talk to her afterward. It would help Symphony’s reputation, that was for certain. Ponies would see her as sympathetic and understanding, willing to help another musician who was so clearly beneath her level of talent. Yes, that would—
The stage started rumbling under Symphony’s hooves and a loud noise began to bang in her ears. She winced and flattened her ears against her skull as she tried to figure out what was happening. She had suspected that poor Fiddlesticks was going to get a bad reception, but she hadn’t expected it to be this bad.
That was when Symphony’s brain finally sorted out the sounds she was hearing. The shaking wasn’t ponies rushing the stage, but stamping their hooves in applause. Harder than they had for her! And the loud roar wasn’t booing, but screams and cheers!
“They…they loved it?” the Earth pony said, her mouth hanging open in shock. “Why?” This was Canterlot! That backwater music didn’t belong here! Classical music belonged here! Symphony’s music belonged here. This was her night to shine. How dare this Fiddlesticks try to steal the spotlight from her.
Fiddlesticks came prancing backstage—She prances! Who prances at that age?—with the biggest, dumbest grin on her face. Why was she so happy? The audience didn’t love it. They just…they just felt sorry for her. Yes, that was it. They just felt sorry for her because she was so out of place here.
“Wow, Symphony, did you hear that?” Fiddlesticks asked as she walked up to Symphony. She dropped her violin case on the floor and bounced up and down on her hooves in excitement, like a little filly. “I was so worried that they wouldn’t like my music, but I guess they do.”
“Uh-huh,” Symphony said between clenched teeth. “They sure do.”
“But it wasn’t as good as yours. Yours was so beautiful, so calming. Mine was just a little tune I came up with. It was nothing special.”
That’s right! And don’t you forget it!
“It was certainly…different than mine,” Symphony said, struggling to keep her anger in check. A true Canterlot mare didn’t get upset like this. She didn’t allow her rage to be seen. She didn’t, she didn’t, she didn’t!
Symphony felt her hooves beginning to tremble. She needed to get away from this mare, or she was going to snap. She bent down and grabbed her violin case with her teeth. “If you’ll excuse me, I have an appointment I need to get to.”
“Aw, that’s too bad. I was really hoping we could talk after the show.”
Not on your life!
Symphony struggled to strap her case to her body. She decided it was because of her anger and forced the strap, pinching herself in the process. She let out a small yelp, then turned and swished her wavy tail toward Fiddlesticks as she made her way out the door.
She just needed to get home. Yes, that was all. She just needed to calm down, and then tomorrow everything would be better. Everypony would forget about Fiddlesticks and her disgusting country music. They would all see that Symphony’s music was clearly the superior choice, and then she would be back on track to her goal. Yes, that was it. This was just a small bump in her road to the top, nothing more.
That thought kept burning in her mind all the way home. As she threw open the door to her small apartment, the strap holding her violin pinched her again. She stomped her hoof and twisted around to yank the strap. She clenched it in her teeth and pulled as hard as she could. The strap snapped, part of it slapping against her face and leaving a stinging sensation. She let out a small scream of frustration and the violin case fell to the floor.
“Great,” she said as she spit the broken cord out of her mouth. “What else could go wrong?”
The Earth mare glared down at her violin case. It had popped open when it hit the floor, and she was worried the fall had damaged her precious instrument. But as she looked at it, she felt all her anger melt away. At first it was replaced with shock, and then panic, but as those emotions faded, a new emotion began to take hold of her. A grin came to her lips and she narrowed her eyes.
This wasn’t her case. This wasn’t her violin.
“Imagine that,” the Earth pony said as she continued to stare at the instrument, the beginnings of a plan forming in her mind.
Author's Note
Everypony, meet Symphony. For those of you who don't know where she comes from, she is one of four ponies playing at the garden party in Sweet and Elite. She is shown for literally a second, and thus she is often overlooked. Those of you who read Fiddlesticks answers or Ask Octavia tumblrs (sadly, neither is updating anymore), or those who read the Heartstrings comic should be more familiar with her. She has never liked Fiddlesticks, and I've always been curious as to why. Slowly, I came up with my own reason, and it made even more sense since even in the pony fandom, Fiddlesticks is more widely known than her.
I wanted to make her a very selfish and arrogant pony, but I wanted to show that she's that way because of some baggage she's carrying.
As for the dark tag, well...you'll just have to wait until the final (next?) chapter. Since this is written for the Writer's Training Grounds, that final chapter will be up by Thursday at the latest.
Symphony sat at the small outdoor table with a cup of tea and glared at the violin in front of her. She had planned to smash the thing back at her apartment. She had wanted to slam it against her wall and watch it crack. She had wanted to stomp on it with her hooves and feel it splinter beneath her. She had wanted to listen to the strings snap and relish that lovely sound as she crushed Fiddlesticks’ instrument, and thus her dreams.
It wouldn’t have even been a great loss. The violin wasn’t in the best condition. It was worn in many places, and several strings were already starting to wear thin. The bow showed signs of having been constantly restrung, and several strands had been hanging off of it when she had opened the case. It wasn’t like Symphony’s violin at all. She kept hers in pristine condition, whereas it looked like Fiddlesticks left hers out in the rain and sun for days on end.
She had fully intended to destroy the thing, and then dump the shattered pieces at the mare’s hooves, when she had had a moment of clarity.
Symphony had no idea where Fiddlesticks lived. She was positive that the mare didn’t live in Canterlot, not with her appearance. She was probably just visiting, but if that was the case, she could have already left since the talent show was over. And there was no way she would have stuck around to try to find her violin. Not when she had Symphony’s clearly superior one. She was probably on a train back wherever she had come from with a grin on her face, laughing at Symphony.
The yellow mare growled as she continued to stare at the worthless violin. She was stuck with it, and as much as she wanted to smash it, she couldn’t. She didn’t have another one, and bits were a little tight at the moment. As much as it pained her, she was going to have to use this thing until she could afford a new one.
How humiliating.
“Would you like anything to eat, ma’am?” the waiter asked as he walked over to Symphony’s table.
“No thank you,” Symphony said, still glaring at the violin.
“You favor the musical arts I take it?” he asked as he glanced at the violin.
“Yes.” Why was this waiter bothering her? Couldn’t he see that she wanted to be left along? Unless…he had seen her play yesterday. That would be fantastic! Maybe he was working his way up to ask her for an autograph. “I play the violin.”
“I see,” the waiter said, using his magic to refill Symphony’s teacup. “Perchance, do you know Octavia Melody?”
Symphony’s mood plunged. “No. I don’t.”
“Oh, my mistake,” the waiter said. “I thought you might because—”
“Well I don’t!” Symphony yelled. She slammed her front hoof on the table and the tea spilled. The waiter didn’t move to clean up the mess, but instead backed away quickly, finding something else to do that was nowhere near Symphony.
Symphony sat at her table in silence, watching the tea slowly drip off the edge. It wasn’t fair. It just wasn’t fair. Her night to shine had been stolen from her, and now her violin had been stolen from her. Her life was falling apart, despite her best efforts to make something out of it.
Her anger still simmering close to the surface, the Earth pony used a napkin to clean up the spill, collected the violin, and left the patio table. She wasn’t sure where she was going, but she couldn’t stand sitting still and staring at the violin any longer.
Canterlot was its typical busy self. Ponies, many of them Unicorns in fancy outfits, walked up and down the streets, going about their lives. None of them paid her any mind, and that only soured Symphony’s mood more. They were supposed to be walking up to her now, asking for her autograph, or begging her to come play at a private party, or just telling her how astonishing she was.
But none of that happened. She continued to walk down the street and ponies continued to ignore her. It was infuriating. What else did she have to do? How had Octavia gotten so popular? What was her secret? Symphony was certain she could play just as well—no, better—than the cellist, so what was she missing? Did she need to just drop everything and start playing in the street? That would get ponies talking about her at least.
Symphony froze as the idea took hold in her mind. It would get ponies talking about her. More and more would gather as she continued to play on a street corner. Why, word of the violinist playing in Canterlot’s streets might even reach Princess Celestia, and she would come down herself to see what all the fuss was about. After that, she would be so impressed with Symphony’s music that she would ask her to come preform at this year’s Grand Galloping Gala. That had been Octavia’s big breakthrough, and it would be Symphony’s too!
The mare walked to a street corner and looked around. This place looked like a good spot to start. It was a high traffic area and there were already plenty of ponies around. She stopped and took a deep breath.
“Now don’t worry about the looks,” she told herself. “Just focus on playing.” She pulled out Fiddlesticks’ violin and stood up. As she raised it to her chin, she had to adjust her stance slightly. Fiddlestick’s instrument didn’t feel right in her hooves, but she would make do. She had to.
Besides, after she was invited to play for Princess Celestia, she could afford to buy the best violin in all of Canterlot if she wanted.
Symphony drew the worn bow across the strings and winced slightly. She adjusted the bow in her hoof and tightened a few strings on the violin, then tried again. This time the violin sang out with beautiful music, must to Symphony’s surprise. She hadn’t expected the music to sound so clean coming from such a poorly kept instrument. Perhaps this wouldn’t be as difficult as she feared.
Symphony began playing a tune as she closed her eyes. She waited a few seconds, and then carefully opened one of her teal eyes to look around. A few ponies were watching her, their expressions masks of indifference. But at least they were paying attention to her, and that was what mattered. She’d get them to change their expressions in a matter of moments.
She closed her eye again and continued playing. The music flooded the air around her and she began to sway along with it like she always did. A smile crept onto her face as the music began to stream into her body, and once again the feeling of happiness began to blossom in her soul. The smile spread even further and she opened her eyes.
Ponies had gathered around her now, some of them bobbing along with her music while others were tapping their hooves on the ground. And all of them were looking at her with smiles on their faces. Yes! This was what she was waiting for. Soon the crowd would grow bigger, and then word would get back to the castle. Until that happened, she needed to keep playing, so she pour her heart into playing the instrument, and it wasn’t long before she heard ponies cheering for her or whistling their approvable. She was doing it. She was going to finally reach her goal, and this time no upstart backwater country bumpkin was going to steal it from her.
“Didn’t she play at the talent show last night?” Symphony heard a pony ask. She quickly looked in the direction of the voice and saw two Unicorns talking together. She smiled at them and winked.
“Yeah, she was,” the other said. “She was fantastic. I’d never heard anything like it before.”
“I know.” Symphony’s heart felt like it was going to burst. “So…why isn’t she playing it now?”
Symphony nearly missed a note. No. It wasn’t possible. They couldn’t possibly mean her!
“I don’t know,” the other pony said. “Maybe she’s not in the mood? I mean, she’s not wearing the outfit she wore last night either.”
This time Symphony did miss a note and the crowd around her winced when she did.
“That’s too bad.” The Unicorn waved his hoof to get Symphony’s attention. “Hey! Do you think you could play that tune you played last night at the talent show?”
Symphony stopped playing. How was this possible? They remembered Fiddlesticks’ performance, but not hers? Hers was the music of Canterlot. How come they didn’t remember it? And how were they mixing her up with that bumpkin? She was in a completely different class than that wannabe. She didn’t wear rags that barely passed as clothes, and her mane was a completely different color.
“Don’t be rude. Maybe she doesn’t want to play it.”
“Or maybe she can’t remember.”
Symphony screamed. “That wasn’t me! How…how dare you mistake that stupid country hick for me!” She glared at the two ponies, her eyes so wide that they were starting to hurt. They both froze, too shocked by her outburst to move. “I play beautiful music. I make violins sing. You should have been moved to tears by my performance last night, but all any of you can talk about is that…thing she played. It wasn’t even music. It was just…noise. And did you see the way she dressed? If I had come on like that, you all would have laughed me off stage. But noooo, you all accepted her. The only reason you all think her music is great is because you’re all so love with the novelty of it that you can’t see how terrible it really was!”
Symphony stopped, her chest heaving as she regained her breath. She looked at the stunned ponies around her. All of their eyes were wide open and none of them dared to move.
“What?” she spat at them. “You…you all stand there and think you’re better than me, don’t you? You think Fiddlesticks is better than me too, huh? Well, she’s not! I’m the best violin player in Equestria! But since you all think she’s sooo great, then fine!” Symphony raised Fiddlesticks’ violin above her head.
“No!” somepony called out from the crowd. “Symphony, wait!”
Symphony brought the violin down as hard as she could on the pavement. It snapped at the neck and pieces of it scattered across the sidewalk. She took several deep breaths and then slammed it against the sidewalk again, sending even more pieces flying across the sidewalk.
“There! No more music for any of you,” she said as tears began to fill her eyes. “You all like her music so much, go listen to her play.”
Symphony continued to stare at the shattered violin on the ground as her breathing slowly returned to normal. It felt good seeing it in pieces, but at the same time it broke her heart. Now she didn’t even have a violin to practice with. Music was her life, and it was how she paid her bills. What was she supposed to do now?
A pair of sky-blue hooves appeared at the top of Symphony’s vision. Great. Now some high and mighty Canterlot Unicorn was going to scold her for her outburst. Or worse, take pity on her in front off all these other ponies. That was the last thing she needed.
“Go away,” the mare mumbled without raising her head.
“Look at me,” the pony said.
Symphony raised her head. She was surprised to see an Earth pony standing in front of her. She had expected it to be a Uni—
The Earth pony’s hoof slammed into Symphony’s face. She staggered backward and fell. She gasped for breath and blinked several times to clear the shock and pain. She rubbed her cheek and winced. What was this mare’s problem?
“B.B.!” a familiar voice said and Symphony’s blood ran cold.
“If you ever talk about my marefriend that way again, you’re going to get more than a black eye,” the mare said as she loomed over Symphony. Marefriend? How did a pony like Fiddlesticks have a marefriend? “Do you understand me?
“Beauty Brass, please stop it.” Symphony raised her head and saw a familiar yellow pony looking down at her. “Hello, Symphony.”
“Come to show me up again?” Symphony said as she glared at Fiddlesticks. “Didn’t you ruin my life enough last night?”
The sky blue mare, Beauty Brass, lunged and Symphony braced herself for another punch, but Fiddlesticks stopped her.
“I’m…I’m sorry, Symphony,” she said. “I…I didn’t mean to. I just…wanted to play in the show. And um…I wanted to give this back to you.” Fiddlesticks pulled off a case that she had strapped to her side and set it gently down in front of Symphony. She undid the latch and revealed Symphony’s violin.
“We heard there was a pony playing a violin on the street corner, so Fiddle thought it might be you,” Beauty Brass said darkly. “We were coming to return yours. And even after you said all of that, and broke hers, she still wants to give it back to you.”
“Well, it is mine,” Symphony spat as she got back up on her hooves.
“What is your problem?” Beauty Brass yelled. “You are literally the worst pony I have ever met!”
“Symphony, please don’t be mad with me. I…I really did mean it when I said I wanted to get some pointers from you after the show. Your music was really good. I really liked it.”
Symphony whipped her head toward Fiddlesticks, ready to tear into the pony, but she stopped. Tears were falling from the mare’s blue eyes, but she still had a smile on her face. She blinked a few times, releasing more tears, but the smile remained. She held out her hoof in an offer of peace, and for a moment, Symphony considered taking it. She began to reach her own hoof out, her anger fading as she did.
“Fiddlesticks? Beauty Brass?” a new voice said, and Symphony froze. “What is happening here?
“Whoa. Fiddles, what happened to your violin?” another voice asked.
Two ponies walked out from the crowd. One of them was a white Unicorn with a crazy blue mane and sunglasses, and the other was…
“Octavia,” Symphony whispered, her blood running cold. Fiddlesticks knew Octavia? How? Why?
A frightening thought suddenly sprang into Symphony’s mind. What would Octavia think of her once Fiddlesticks told her how she’d behaved?
“This mare was just about to apologize,” Beauty Brass said, never taking her eyes off of Symphony. “She’s apparently not a big fan of Fiddlesticks.”
“Really,” Octavia said, looking at the broken violin and then up at Symphony. Her amethyst eyes narrowed slightly and Symphony suddenly found it hard to breathe. “Care to explain?”
“It wasn’t her fault, cousin,” Fiddlesticks said. “She just—”
Symphony began chuckling. She shook her head as the chuckling turned into laughter. Cousin? Fiddlesticks was Octavia’s cousin?
“Of course you’re related to her,” she said as she continued to laugh. She closed her eyes and was surprised to feel tears fall down her cheeks. “Life’s not fair, you know that?” she said as she continued to laugh. “I practiced every day, despite being told time and time again that I was wasting my time. I put everything I had into my music. I…I…” Symphony’s voice caught in her throat and she stopped laughing.
“Symphony, correct?” Octavia asked. “I remember you from the garden party last—”
“Oh, that’s just great!” Symphony spat. “You remember me, do you? At least somepony does. Well, what do you think now? You know, I looked up to you. You were my inspiration. Every time I was told I couldn’t do it, I thought of you. I was going to be you. I was going to be better than you. Last night was supposed to be the start of my career. But then she came along and…and…”
“Symphony, I didn’t mean to upset you, honest,” Fiddlesticks said as she reached out and gently put a hoof on Symphony’s shoulder.
“Don’t touch me!” Symphony shouted, slapping the hoof away and stepping back. Tears ran from her teal eyes and she was finding it hard to focus on the ponies in front of her. “They all love you instead of me. All my hard work, all the practice, and for what? For some…country bumpkin to come in and take it all away from me in a single night. Ha! Guess my parents were right about me. Everypony was right about me. Since you’re so much better than me Fiddlesticks, you keep my violin. It’s better than yours anyway.”
“Symphony, I don’t—”
“Leave me alone!” Symphony screeched. “You ruined me life! You stole everything I worked for, everything I wanted.” She turned on her hind legs and took off in a sprint. Ponies scrambled to get out of her way as she plowed through the crowd. She ignored the pleas and calls that came from behind her, and after a while they faded away into the distance, but she continued to run. She ran as fast as she could, tearing through the streets of Canterlot as her vision continued to blur from tears. She ran until her legs hurt and her chest burned. She ran until the buildings of Canterlot began to diminish around her. She ran until her hooves were hitting dirt instead of stone. She didn’t stop running until the ground disappeared in front of her.
Symphony stood at the edge of one of the many cliffs around Canterlot. Her breath came in ragged gasps and for a long time she simply stood at the edge of the cliff, not thinking about anything and simply letting her body quake in grief and rage. It was too much for her, and after a few moments she collapsed. She buried her face in her hooves and allowed her purple mane to fall over her face.
“I tried. I tried so hard.” She flicked a stone over the cliff and waited to hear it fall. The sound never came. She stood up and looked over the edge. It was a long way down, and at the bottom she could see a body of water. It looked so peaceful.
“What is the point?” she asked. “No pony even knows who I am.” The only thing anypony would remember about her now was that terrible outburst she had thrown back in the city. They would gossip about it for weeks now, whispering about how undignified she had been.
Oh, but they remember Fiddlesticks, she thought bitterly. Who wanted to listen to Symphony play when they could hear some country pony making noise?
“She even found a special somepony before me,” she said with a harsh laugh. Of course she had. Fiddlesticks had everything. She had a pony that cared about her. She had friends. And she was related to Octavia.
Octavia. Celestia, how much did Octavia hate her now? She had said such terrible things about the cellist’s cousin, and she had smashed Fiddlesticks’ violin. Her idol probably hated her guts now. And Symphony couldn’t blame her for it. She’d hate somepony too if they smashed her violin right in front of her.
The yellow mare edged closer to the cliff. It was such a long way down, but it was getting hard to see the pool at the bottom. She blinked a few times and saw tears fall from her face and begin their long decent.
Fiddlesticks was just better than her at everything. She had a better life and she played the violin better. There wasn’t room in Canterlot for two violinists. Symphony firmly believed that. And since Canterlot had clearly cast its vote as to whom that pony should be, Symphony couldn’t stand in the way.
The yellow mare undid her purple bow tie and dropped it off the cliff, and then she stepped off after it. She closed her eyes as the air began to whip through her mane and tear at her fur as she fell.
“I’m…useless.”
She hit the water several seconds later and her mind went dark.
Author's Note
I said this story was not going to have a happy ending.
