It was 2:00 in the afternoon, when I returned to work at the Cloudsdale Weather Factory from my lunch break. As usual, I immediately walked back into my office, and got back to work on my new weather inventions. That day however, as I had just picked up one of my tools, my supervisor walked into my office and decided to start chatting with me.
"You know, all I ever see you do is work. Don't you ever do anything fun?" She said to me.
I wasn't about to be the one to mention that we "were" at work, and were "supposed" to be working, but I knew what she meant.
"Making new inventions is fun." I told her.
I didn't need to turn to look at her, to know that she was rolling her eyes at me.
"I mean, don't you do something on your off time?" She asked me.
Typically, my off time consisted of: eating, sleeping, and more work, not necessarily in the same order every time. My goal to make an invention to make weather control easier was, in itself, fun to me, even if it just looked like work to everypony else.
"Not really, no." I replied. "I'm usually too busy to waste my time on something that doesn't forward my goal."
"You know, for somepony who literally has their head in the clouds all day, you don't really do much of anything do you?" She retorted back.
While the whole conversation wasn't really a distraction for me, I knew that she wasn't going to leave me alone until I gave her some kind of answer that would satisfy her.
"So then what kind of fun do you do on your off time?" I asked her, while turning to face her.
"Well now that you mention it, I did just go see a play in Ponyville the other night. It was really fun!" She told me, a smile on her face.
Ponyville. Almost directly beneath Cloudsdale, and now home to a new Princess; Princess Twilight Sparkle if I remember correctly. It's name and reputation had become a big thing in the past years, but despite it all, I never really went there much. I only occasionally stopped by there if I needed to pick up supplies that I couldn't get in Cloudsdale, or if I was asked to help oversee some weather job in the area. It wasn't that I disliked going there, but I just never saw much need to.
"Ponyville huh?" I responded to her. "Sounds like it must've been a "fun" time you had." I added a bit of sarcasm at the end, but she probably would've interpreted that from me anyway.
"Well when was the last time you did anything cultural?" She asked me.
I honestly didn't put much thought into it, but I did at least try to think of what part of my work had any cultural meaning to it.
"Do fireworks count?" I asked her.
"No fireworks do not count." She told me. "I'm talking about getting away from the mundane of work, and just having fun enjoying something that isn't in the sky."
I had a feeling I knew where she was going with this, and it only made me try to tune her out a bit.
"Seeing new things, meeting new ponies, and not just other cloud formations or Pegasi." She continued.
I knew almost every Pegasus in Cloudsdale, and some others in other nearby areas, but anypony outside of them, I didn't really socialize with much.
"Do you even have a marefriend?" She asked me.
That one almost tuned me out completely. I'll admit, I've put so much of my focus into my work, that I've never really made any time to make a relationship. Despite that though, I still didn't enjoy hearing somepony ask me that. I gave an annoyed sigh, before answering her.
"No, I don't have a marefriend, and no, I haven't been outside of Cloudsdale that much. Happy?" I told her.
"What about friends that aren't Pegasi? Are you really that much of a shut-in?" She asked.
"I have friends that aren't in Cloudsdale." I told her.
"That's not what I asked." She told me. "Name one friend you have that isn't a Pegasus."
"There's..." I started to say, but I knew I didn't really know anypony.
I tried to think if I ever caught any of the names of the ponies that I bought supplies from outside of Cloudsdale, but nothing came to mind. I knew she'd be looking for any name that wasn't related to some kind of weather, so I did my best to come up with the most land pony name I could.
"Rural...Rural Tanner?" I made up.
That glare she gave me could cut diamonds. I'm not surprised though, I doubt I could've come up with a better name, but she probably still wouldn't have believed me, even if I did.
"That's it." She told me. "You need to get your head out of work for once, and get a bit more culture and friendship in your life. I want you to go out tonight and do something different, and actually try to make a friend that isn't a Pegasus. Otherwise, I'll take you out of your office and put you on snowflake inspection."
I wore glasses because my vision wasn't perfect, but if I got put on snowflake inspection, I'd go blind in a week. Also, if I couldn't keep working on my inventions, then I'd be bored out of my mind, and wouldn't get anywhere.
"Alright, fine." I admitted defeat. "Where would you have me go then?" I asked.
"Doesn't matter to me." She replied. "As long as I don't see you anywhere near Cloudsdale tonight, you can go anywhere in Equestria."
Oh the joys of having to work under somepony. You get the benefits of learning new things, but you also have to listen to what they tell you to do, otherwise you might find yourself sitting on/under a cloud somewhere.
"Fine, deal. Now, at least until tonight, may I please continue my work?" I asked.
"You may." She told me, a smile on her face. An ever evil smile that I knew held my fate in it's grasp. One that could forever determine my fate and life as we know it.
...I really am cynical aren't I?
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That evening I locked up my office, and made my way outside of the weather factory. Normally I'd be one of the last ponies to leave for the night, but I decided that I may as well clock out a little early for this excursion of mine. Besides, at least according to my supervisor, it's not like anypony would mind me leaving work early for once.
I stood on the edge of the cloud, and looked down and around at my choices. I could fly down to Ponyville and try my luck finding something to occupy my time there, or I could make a flight over to Canterlot, which was the next closest location. Canterlot would definitely have more cultural related things, so I decided that I would make my way there instead. Besides, Canterlot was mainly full of Unicorns, of whom I had an easier time talking to, as opposed to regular Earth ponies.
Now when I said that Canterlot was the next closet location, I meant that loosely, since the flight there took a little while. By the time I arrived, the sun was almost fully set, and I could see the moon start to peek out in the opposite direction. I started to make my way along the streets of Canterlot, and decided that I may as well try to get the name of somepony, so I could say that I at least met someone new. I tried to find a passerby that didn't have their nose high up in the air, but I kind of expected to find a lot of ponies like that here.
Eventually, I made my way by a local bookstore, and saw what looked like a purple Pegasus looking into the window. The way she was looking, and her mane, blocked her face, but I could clearly see the wings at her sides. Her mane and tail were a dark blue, with streaks of pink and purple in them. Her cutie mark was a pink star, surrounded by smaller white stars, which I assumed meant that she must be a star gazer. If she was a local, then I could put her name off as a Unicorn or something to my supervisor, as I figured she didn't come to Canterlot much herself anyways.
"Excuse me, what book are you looking at?" I asked the mare.
She turned her head to look at me, and I received the shock of my life.
"Oh, I'm looking to see if the new "Star Swirl the Bearded" memoir is out yet." Princess Twilight Sparkle told me.
Princess. Twilight. Sparkle. Of all the ponies that I could have possibly met on my excursion to Canterlot, I met THE Princess Twilight Sparkle. I immediately bowed to her, feeling embarrassed that I didn't recognize her sooner.
"My apologizes Princess. I didn't realize I was addressing you." I told her.
"Oh shucks, no need to be so formal. I'm just here on visit." She told me. "What brings you here? Are you looking for a new book as well?" She asked.
I stood back up, before answering her.
"Oh no, I'm just here on visit too I guess. I was told I needed to get more culture in my life, so I decided; 'Why not come to Canterlot, the most cultural place in Equestria?'" I told her, trying to put on a good smile.
"Well I suppose this would be a good place to visit if you wanted to experience more culture, but really, you can find culture anywhere in Equestria. It doesn't have to just be Canterlot." She told me.
"I...suppose you're right Princess." I responded.
"Please, just call me Twilight. Like I said, I'm not here on formal duties, so I don't mind just being called my regular name. What's your name?" She replied.
"Alright then...Twilight. My name is Cloudy Airy." I responded.
"Nice to meet you Cloudy." She said with a smile.
I still couldn't believe that I was actually having a conversation with a Princess, and she even wanted me to address her informally! How amazing is that!? Talking to an Earth pony would've been a chore, and finding a non-snooty Unicorn here would've been a challenge, but to talk to an Alicorn Princess!? It saddened me to think that there was no way my supervisor would ever believe this.
"Well I suppose I should get going then. I was just curious as to what you were looking at before, so I won't bother you anymore." I told her, before starting to turn away.
"Hey, wait a minute!" She told me.
I froze in place, wondering what I had done wrong. Even though she was being so informal with me, did I forget some important farewell procedure when addressing a Princess, or did I make myself sound as if I was above her time? A chill ran up my spine, as I waited for her to speak again.
"You said you were here to try and immerse yourself in some culture right?" She asked me.
"Uh...yes." I responded, nervously turning my head to her.
"Why don't you join me then for the orchestra tonight? I have an extra ticket since none of my friends could come join me, and it would be a great cultural experience for you!" She told me.
My heart stopped. Princess Twilight was asking me to join her at an orchestra...tonight!? I was either the luckiest pony in Equestria, or I had somehow fallen asleep while flying earlier and hit my head on something. There was no way I could refuse an offer like this, but an orchestra?
"That...that would be very nice Prin...I mean Twilight. Thank you." I responded.
"No problem. I was actually going to make my way over to the amphitheater after I stopped by the book store, so it's great timing as well. Let's head over there now, shall we?" She told me.
"Alright." I replied, not knowing what more I could say.
My mind began to drift away from my plan to fabricate as much of this as I could, to more of actually having an enjoyable time, even if the circumstances thus far were truly amazing. Me, a Princess, and a show? It really must be everypony's dream.
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As we walked, we began trading questions back and forth with each other. I would ask her about her adventures and friends back in Ponyville, and she would ask me about myself and my inventions. On an intellectual level, we both seemed to be pretty in sync, with our interests in technology and how we both hoped to help ponykind. In fact, the more we talked, the more I found myself taking a liking to Twilight, but I kept reminding myself that since she was a Princess, that ideas like that would probably never happen. Although, she was the best of multiple worlds.
She was a Unicorn by birth; of which I've always enjoyed talking with Unicorns due to their use and ability of magic.
She had wings; which meant that she may as well be an honorary Pegasus, and could very well visit Cloudsdale whenever she wanted.
She was a Princess; nuff said.
And she was really intelligent; I've always felt like I was more on the smarter side of all the ponies I've worked with, so it was nice to finally find somepony else that I could have an intellectual conversation with.
She also seemed very interested in my idea of trying to manipulate the weather through means other than manual interaction, and wished me the best of luck at it. If only I could get my supervisor to hear that, then I would never have to worry about leaving my work and office for anything else ever! Official Princess stamp of approval please!
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We finally arrived at the amphitheater, and I took a second to look at the poster that was displayed at the entrance. It was adorned with musical notes, and read; "Four-pony musical ensemble." Underneath the title were the names of the ponies performing: Frederick Horseshoepin, Octavia Melody, Beauty Brass, and Parish Nandermane.
I'd never been to an orchestra before, so I decided to ask Twilight what she could tell me about one, and the musicians.
"So what all is in an orchestra? I'm assuming all the Unicorns play instruments, but is there anything else?" I asked Twilight.
"Not really. It's just an event where you get to sit and listen to ponies play wonderful classical music. Also, all the musicians tonight are Earth ponies, not Unicorns." She replied.
"Huh, I see...wait...Earth ponies?" I asked, repeating the same thing in my head.
I could see a Unicorn playing an instrument, since you would need magic to both hold the instrument(s) and play certain notes...but an Earth pony?
"Well yes. All of the musicians at the orchestra tonight are Earth ponies. In fact, most of the musicians I've ever seen in Equestria are all Earth ponies. Why do you ask?" Twilight told me.
I'd done it now. I had opened myself up to be bombarded with negative comments. In my life, I've never really expected that much from Earth ponies. I'd always thought most of them to just be manual workers, without much intelligence, while thinking the exact opposite of Unicorns and thereby thinking more highly of them. I bit my tongue, trying to think of a way to avoid answering her question.
"I...uh..." I spoke. Real smooth, I know.
Twilight was starting to give me a puzzling look, and the fear of lying to her, especially since she was a Princess, left me in an even tighter bind.
"I'd just...always figured that it would be Unicorns performing here, since we're in Canterlot after all." I told her, squeezing out an innocent smile.
"Well it's not really that uncommon. Like I said, I don't know of many Unicorn musicians, so perhaps wherever you heard about orchestras before was a little off on their information." She replied.
She bought it. She actually bought it. I just lied to a Princess, and she believed me. I felt the ground open up beneath me, and could feel the burn from the flames of Tartarus already.
We walked inside and quickly found our seats. Since Twilight was a Princess, she had been given box seats above the rest of the ponies below, giving us a perfectly clear view of the entire stage. The curtains on the stage were still closed, as the lights began to dim inside the amphitheater. Once the entire room was dark, I saw a light come on from behind the curtain, and music began to play as the curtain slowly started to raise.
I wasn't knowledgeable on all musical instruments, but the first to start playing sounded like some kind of string instrument. It was then followed by a harp, then a piano, and finally a deep horn instrument. All four ponies on stage were still slightly obscured by the rising curtain, but their music was as clear as could be. It was unlike anything I had ever heard before. Calm, soothing, and enchanting.
Then, finally, the curtain revealed the rest of the ponies on stage, and my jaw dropped. There were four ponies that I couldn't believe were capable of making such wonderful music, and they were all Earth ponies! However, that wasn't what made my jaw drop. There, in the center, next to the blue pony on the horn instrument, was the mare that made me react the way I did. Such beauty, such sophistication, such everything that defied everything I ever thought I knew about Earth ponies.
She had a light grey coat, with a flowing black mane and tail. Her cutie mark appeared to be a purple musical note, and she wore a pink bow tie. I stared in awe at her for what felt like an eternity, until Twilight snapped me back to reality.
"Enjoying yourself?" She asked me, giving a slight chuckle.
I quickly snapped my jaw shut, and tried to regain my composure, before answering.
"Uh, yes...thanks." I told her, unable to keep my eyes off the mare on stage for long.
I assumed Twilight took another look on stage, to see who I was staring so intensely at, before she spoke to me again.
"Somepony on stage catch your eye?" She asked.
"Not just somepony..." I responded, but was unable to finish my sentence.
In a brief moment, the mare on stage opened her eyes, and I could see that they were a delicate shade of purple. I took off my glasses to wipe them off, hoping to get a clearer look, but by the time I put them back on, she had closed her eyes again.
"Who...who is that Twilight?" I asked.
"Which one?" She responded.
"That one." I told her, pointing my hoof dumbstruck at the mare on stage.
If it wasn't obvious to Twilight that whichever mare I was pointing at had gotten to me, my actions and words were making it pretty clear.
"I think the one on the middle-left is named Octavia, but I'm..." She began to say, before I cut her off.
"Octavia." I repeated, cutting Twilight off.
I thought back to the names on the poster, and remembered one of them was "Octavia Melody." That was the pony that had me so captivated right then and there. I was fixated on her the rest of the performance, nearly missing all of the music that she and her partners were playing. I don't remember if Twilight tried to get my attention anymore after that, but I think I can assume that she let me stay as I was, mesmerized by Octavia on stage.
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Once the music stopped, the ponies on stage each took a bow, as all the ponies in the audience stomped their hooves in cheer. The curtain then began to fall, and soon the musicians were covered behind it once more. I was still in a bit of a trance, when Twilight nudged me a little.
"Hey Cloudy. Hello?" She said to me.
"Huh, what!?" I responded. Again, really smooth right?
"I said, do you want to go meet her?" She told me.
Meet her? Was I even capable of doing that? Should I have even been allowed to do that? Especially after all the things I thought and said about Earth ponies in the past.
"I...uh...I'd like to...but..." I responded.
"But what?" She asked.
Better time than never to come clean I suppose. I might still lose some brownie points, but at least I could try and clear my conscious with the Princess a bit.
"I'll be honest Twilight. I've never really thought that much about Earth ponies before. I always thought that they were just brutes that couldn't do much of anything, let alone play wonderful music like that. I've only ever socialized with them before when I had to, but I never went out of my way to actually talk with one before. And after a night like tonight, where I finally see the error of my ways, I don't feel like I even deserve to talk to one of them, especially her. I guess I'm not much of a good subject huh?"
I don't know what I expected Twilight to do or say at that point, so I just hung my head and waited for whatever was going to happen to happen. I felt her place her hoof on my shoulder, and I prepared myself for the onslaught of whatever she was about to say.
"Cloudy, there's no reason to be ashamed of yourself." She said.
My eyes opened wide, as I turned to look at Twilight, and saw a sincere smile on her face.
"While it may be a little wrong to think about Earth ponies the way you did, you just never had the opportunity to really get to know them. When I saw you watching Octavia playing tonight, I didn't see resentment or spite, I saw care and admiration. I think what you really needed was to be here tonight, and I'm glad that you came. Everypony makes mistakes, and it takes a lot of courage to own up to those mistake, and overcome them. So don't feel too bad, okay?" She told me.
I'd thought the worst about Earth ponies, put my work above all others, even my own life, and even lied to a Princess, but Twilight forgave me and understood. I still don't know how somepony could possibly forgive all of that and still smile at me, but one thing was for sure, I definitely made a friend tonight, and what a friend she was.
"Alright, thanks Twilight." I told her. "So, do you really think I could meet her?" I asked.
"Of course! I'll ask if we can get backstage for you to talk to her. I'm sure I could use my Princess title like this just this once." She replied, giving me a wink.
"Oh thank you Princess Twilight!" I told her, wrapping my hooves around her. "Uh, I mean...thanks Twilight." I said, letting go of her. "It really means a lot to me that you'd do this."
"It's no problem. Let's go." She responded.
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We were able to make our way backstage, just in time to find the musicians putting their instruments away. Twilight told me that she'd stay behind, so as not to make a scene with the musicians backstage as well. I had been given a little V.I.P badge to wear, so none of the ponies backstage gave me a second thought after seeing it.
I saw Octavia putting away her instrument, which Twilight told me was called a cello, and made my way over to her.
"Um, excuse me. Miss Octavia?" I spoke to her.
"Yes?" She replied, looking up at me.
Her voice was so calm and regal, and being this close to her, I couldn't believe it. I wasn't sure whether to ask to shake her hoof, or ask her for an autograph, or anything, I just stood there. I had to give myself a mental kick, just to say something else.
"Uh...I was wondering if...uh..." I said to her, trying to keep myself from blushing.
She gave a little giggle, before she spoke to me again.
"Ah, I suppose you'd like an autograph. Hmm?" She replied.
"Uh...I..." I responded. The epitome of smooth I know.
She gave another giggle, before going into her music case and pulling out a picture and pen. She then scribbled something on it, before giving it to me.
"Here you go. Thank you so much for attending the performance." She told me, giving me a smile.
"Th...thank you." I replied.
Octavia then went back to putting away her instrument, as I slowly turned around and began to walk away.
I met Twilight back outside the curtain, where she asked me if I got to meet Octavia.
"So, how did it go?" She asked.
"Th...thank you. Thank you." I repeated again, still stuck in the trance of speaking with Octavia.
I remember walking out of the amphitheater, but everything after that was a blur. I'm sure Twilight understood, but I'll probably send a letter thanking her again.
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The next day, I returned once again to my office at the weather factory, and continued working on my inventions as always. I was just about to make the final wrench turn on my latest invention, when my supervisor walked in on me again.
"Well, how did it go Cloudy? Did you actually have some fun last night?" She asked.
Not missing a beat, I finished making the wrench turn, and responded to her in the same manner I always did.
"Yeah, I went somewhere for once." I told her.
"And?" She asked.
"I went to Canterlot and joined Princess Twilight for an orchestra." I replied, looking over my invention.
I could hear the sound of her facehoofing herself, before she let out a groan.
"Seriously? That's the best you could come up with? I mean, I know I shouldn't have expected you to have gone out and done something amazing, but to come up with something like that?" She told me.
"Hey, believe what you want." I told her.
She gave me a sigh, which I assume meant she accepted it.
"Well I guess since I didn't see you at all around Cloudsdale last night, then that should be enough. Of course you could've just held yourself up at your home all night." She replied.
"Again, believe what you want." I responded.
"Fine, have a good day then Cloudy, but next time, try to come up with something more believable." She told me, before walking out of my office.
After she left, I took a quick look to make sure she was gone, before reaching into my jacket pocket, and pulling out my memento from last night. I smiled at it dearly, before placing it on my wall. I then grabbed my invention and wheeled it out of the office to go test it.
Sitting there on my wall, was a picture of Octavia brushing her hair in her dressing room, with the words: "For my biggest Fan! -XOXO"
Author's Note
Thanks for reading everyone! This was another story idea inspired by SmileHDFan, from my blog post; "I want to hear from you!"
I had a lot of fun writing this, and I hope you all enjoyed reading it. I know it's not that much of a romance story, but it still had a couple moments. I was thinking about Bach's "Pachelbel's Canon" when I imagined what the ensemble would be playing as the curtain rose.
Leave a like/comment and let me know what you think!
