Chapters Chapter 1 The Grand Galloping Gala
Rarity had never dreamed that she would go back to the Gala in all her life, not since the last time where all of her friends had almost destroyed the entire palace. To her surprise, Twilight had given her a ticket and none of the others, and Princess Celestia even checked to confirm that she would be attending. She caught up with some of her old friends from her last visit to Canterlot and even noted that Fancy Pants was wearing one of her designer suits that had just come off of her new line. A smile went across her face as she realized that she didn’t have to lie about who she was to be accepted by the upper class ponies that lived here or anywhere.
But Rarity’s main goal here had not changed; she still felt deep in her heart that she would find her prince who would take her away to a wonderful life, not to say she disliked the one she had. She walked around the castle and the gardens outside the palace. Roses were blooming; a brilliant shade of crimson lined them as water dripped off of their petals after a light rain that had just passed in a few minutes. She looked up and thought about how wonderful it would be to have a high society life like living in Canterlot, but at this point she had no reasons for moving there except for her own good, and that would betray her friends.
Music came from the ballroom, a slightly baritone pitch was ringing out; Rarity could tell that it was off metal strings and a wooden body that filled the air with music. She hadn’t heard such wondrous music as the last time she was here Pinky had taken control of those affairs and made it more of a party. She wished Pinky had not done so, because she was sure that if Pinky hadn’t changed the music, she would have heard the beautiful sound before. Rarity began to prance to hear it for all of its true glory and hoped she wouldn’t be too late to hear it in the ballroom.
“Oh, Celestia, please don’t tell me I’m too late.”
She used her magic to open the doors and as she did, she saw a grey pony putting away a cello into a soft case along with the bow. She ran up to the pony and began to speak, completely forgetting her manners and not introducing herself at all.
“Unfortunately, my set is over and I have to clear the stage for the next act, some accordion playing unicorn-“
“And why shouldn’t I be able to?” the grey pony had a slight tone of anger in her voice at this point. “You think that only unicorns can do beautiful things like this, we’ll you’re wrong.” She closed her eyes and pointed her nose away from Rarity, continuing to clear off the stage for the next act.
“I didn’t mean to offend you, I’ve just never met an Earth Pony with such refined tastes and such a spectacular talent.” Rarity said, hoping that her apology would be accepted. The grey pony stopped and looked back at her for a second, but went back to straightening up the stage.
“If you wanted to hear me play, you should have come here sooner.” The grey pony said. Rarity started to bite back her sorrow that the pony no longer wanted to play for her and thought of what to say to her.
“Perhaps, if you are playing again sometime, I could come see you then? I’d be right on time, I promise.” Rarity said, putting on a huge smile but before the grey pony could answer; the according began to play and drowned out most the sound in the ballroom. The grey pony picked up the cello case, standing on her hind hooves and putting it on her back with the
Nothing at the party could possibly cheer Rarity up at that point. She always loved her drinks, but the only ones offered at the party were cheap box wines that were poured back into nicer wine bottles, along with some beers and cheaper strong drinks. Rarity would never even touch such a thing as cheap hard liquor, and left the castle. She walked around the streets of Canterlot, wrapping her scarf around her neck to keep her warm as night grew darker and darker. She neared a bar that she had become familiar with when she had spent time with Fancy Pants up in Canterlot and went in.
“Rarity, long time no see. I didn’t even think that I’d see you here again.” A younger colt said looking at her. His mane was combed back rather well, even though it was worn in a rather boring manner.
“Yes, yes, I know. Can you just give me some of the good stuff?” she asked him. He gave her a strange look, using his magic to take a bottle of vodka from the top shelf and pour it into a rather large glass.
“Night not going so well?” he asked, Rarity shaking her head no as she sat down at the bar. “How could you say that? I heard that Princess Celestia herself wanted you alone at the Gala this time, that’s quite an honor.” Rarity took the glass after he was done pouring and drank a rather large sip putting it back down in front of her.
“There was a filly at the Gala, and she played the most beautiful music. I offended her and she wouldn’t play for me, I forgot to even ask her name…” Rarity trailed off thinking about it. The barcolt looked at her then his face lit up with an idea.
“Yeah, her name is Octavia, she lives in Canterlot, here is her address.” The barcolt wrote it down for Rarity as she ran out with it in her mouth. The barcolt was calling out to Rarity as she had completely forgotten to pay him even for the drink. He shook his head as she ran out of the bar towards the train to Ponyville. Rarity knew that she could not possibly just show up at this filly’s house and ask her more questions, so she would make a peace offering. She decided that when she got back to Ponyville, she would make Octavia a beautiful dress for her next performance.
As the train neared, Rarity’s excitement grew exponentially. She hopped into the car that she was riding in and asked the conductor on the way if he could give another trip to her. He explained he’d have to ask Princess Celestia if it was okay, but Rarity had hope that it would be. And so she set out for Ponyville, yet again.
Chapter 2 After the Grand Galloping Gala
Chapter 2 After the Grand Galloping Gala
Chapter 3 A Dress Fit for a Queen
Chapter 3 A Dress Fit for a Queen
Chapter 4: The Concert
Chapter 5 Some Drinks With a New Friend
Chapter 5: Some Drinks With a New Friend
Rarity opened the door with a hoof and slightly poked her head into the doorway walking in.
"Octavia, are you o-!" Rarity cut off as she was pounced on by Octavia who gave her a very strong hug. Rarity was shocked to see Octavia do anything out of the ordinary, and had only expected her to be putting her cello away at this point.
"Rarity, thank you so much for the dress!" Octavia said delightedly, "It's the most amazing dress in all of Equestria, even Celestia herself will envy it!" she smiled as she hugged tighter. Rarity was happy that Octavia had liked her dress and even happier at the comment she had given her. Rarity blushed softly at Octavia’s sweet words and thanked her for the compliment.
“Listen, Octavia,” Rarity said slowly, “If you’re not too busy tonight, maybe we could go have a drink?” Octavia’s ears pricked up as she started to put her cello away. Rarity worried for a moment, fearing that she had overstepped her bounds and started moving her hoof on the floor side to side as she watched it, “That is, if you want to at least.” She said more softly. When Rarity looked up, Octavia had moved much closer to her than where she was when she was putting her cello away.
“Why would you think I wouldn’t want to have a drink with you Rarity?” she asked, completely forgetting the first time they had met. After the concert and getting a beautiful dress, who could remember anything as trivial as a little bit of unintentional anger? “Of course I’d love to have a drink with you, and I’m not too busy tonight, did you have any place in mind?” Octavia asked her. Rarity stood shocked at Octavia’s response, she could do nothing for a long while other than stare into Octavia’s beautiful eyes. She shook her head swiftly, trying to regain control of her vocal cords so that she could speak to her again.
“Well, the first time I came to Canterlot for a designer contest, I found a quaint little bar down near the Palace District’s entrance.” Rarity said. It brought back the memories of that first night Octavia had met Rarity, and she remembered the glass that was sitting on the table when she had arrived.
Rarity stood outside the theatre as ponies slowly started to filter out. She was amazed at all of the beautiful ponies who had come in to watch the concert. She noted nice dress designs that she had never used before, and looked easy enough to incorporate, but she wondered if she could even remember them with all her thoughts spiraling around. She looked around, seeing that everypony had exited the theatre at this point, and cleaning ponies took their places cleaning up the messes that some ponies left behind. Not too long after those ponies showed up, Octavia emerged from the theatre behind Rarity tapping her right flank with her tail as she came up on her left side, playfully bumping flanks with her.
“Calm down Rarity.” She smiled a beautiful white smile. “No need to be worried, it’s just a few drinks between friends.” She winked at her. Rarity blushed slightly, hiding behind her lush purple mane. Octavia couldn’t help but giggle at Rarity when she did this, and began to lead Rarity out the doors. “I hope you don’t mind, I need to drop off my cello back home, but it’s on the way.” Octavia said. Rarity was actually delighted that she would see where such an eloquent pony lived, but couldn’t find the words to tell Octavia how excited it made her. She decided it was probably better that way; she obviously didn’t want to freak her new friend out.
They neared a rather large house that seemed very regal. It had golden trim along the walls and the door also had gold trim and was made of red mahogany, a wood only found deep in the Everfree forest, dangerous for any pony to find, and expensive too. Octavia took out some keys from one of the other pockets in the cello case and put it into the door. She twisted it, pulling back on the door so that the bolt could click out of the wall. When she had turned the key all the way, there was no sound.
“Oh, silly me, I must have forgotten to lock the house again.” Octavia grumbled to herself for not remembering. From how she spoke, Rarity could tell that she had done this quite a few times and always promised herself not to let it happen again. She sighed at her forgetfulness and pushed open the door. “Feel free to come in, Rarity, it’ll take a little bit to hang up this dress and put my cello up, but I’ll be right down.” Octavia took up the red stairs to her room, and allowed Rarity to walk in.
Rarity stood in awe at this house. Her dress shop was one of the most luxurious places in all of Ponyville, but compared to this place, it seemed like a rundown shack in the ghetto. She tried to take it all in, the chandeliers, carpet, everything.
“Do I look okay?” Octavia asked in her usual voice as she came back down the stairs, her hair slightly styled like Twilight's, except on both sides of her neck. Her black mane hung beautifully down to the tops of her legs. Rarity could not speak as she stood with her mouth slightly opened at the beautiful pony that stood before her. She nodded, trying to close her mouth as she didn't want to seem rude. Octavia giggled at Rarity and walked up next to her, "You won't be able to drink anything if you keep your mouth open." she said smiling at Rarity as she helped turn her around towards the door. "Are you ready to go?" She asked.
"Y-yes!" Rarity said excitedly after her brain started to function again as she followed Octavia out the door. Octavia giggled again as she closed the door behind her and began to walk towards the bar. "Um, Octavia?" Rarity said questioningly, Octavia turned around to see what was wrong. "Don't you think you should lock the door behind us?" Rarity asked her. Octavia cocked her head to the side, thinking she had already locked the door behind them, and as she started to remember what had happened only seconds before, she slammed her hoof to her forehead.
"Thank you Rarity." She said smiling as she locked her door. As she passed Rarity to lead her to the bar, she bumped flanks with her. "What would I do without you?" she smiled at her. Rarity was extremely happy and somewhat surprised at the behavior that she was witnessing. Was this really the same mare she had met at the Gala? She started to question if this were just an elaborate prank, knowing Rainbow Dash, that guess may not be very far off. But after seeing the performance, Rarity knew that this Octavia was no imposter. She shook the thoughts away and followed the grey mare to a small bar.
Rarity remembered this bar from the night she had first talked to Octavia, it was a small little place near the edge of the Palace District and didn't really stick out amongst the other buildings. If a pony didn't know better, they may even think it was just another house among the shops that dotted the circle around the fountain. This had been the fountain that Octavia had played at encouraging Rarity to continue on the beautiful dress. Rarity's eyes glimmered at the water that was being shot out of the fountain and into the night sky. She ran over to it, which drew Octavia's attention.
"Octavia, look how beautiful the stars are tonight." she said as Octavia came over to stand beside her. "I've never seen such a beautiful night sky." Her eyes were bursting with excitement and awe at the sky, Octavia smiled at her and leaned against her softly.
"It sure is a beautiful night." Octavia replied. "It makes me sad that Princess Luna doesn't get as much credit as her sister, but I suppose being gone for a thousand years makes some ponies question what your role is anymore." Octavia said, noticing she had changed their conversation to a political matter, which was not befitting of sharing drinks. She quickly changed the subject. "We should probably head inside, it is rather cold tonight after all. And we wouldn't want you catching a cold now would we?" She smiled as she turned and drug her tail against Rarity's side. Rarity smiled at her and followed.
"Octavia, it's nice to see you, how did the performance go?" he asked a hypothetical question as he looked over at Rarity and began to greet her, making sure he got the name right as he waited to see if Octavia would answer. "And Rari- Rarity?! What are you doing here with Octavia?" He asked confused and shocked at the coincidence. Rarity looked confused at first, do we really look like we're coming here together that much? She asked herself, happy that it seemed that way. Octavia answered for her.
"I was rude one night to Rarity at the Gala, and she made me a dress thinking that I was still mad." She smiled as she indirectly told Rarity that she had forgiven her even before the dress was done. "She came to tonight's concert and I asked her if she would like to get a few drinks." Octavia smiled at the barcolt.
"Well, no arguing there I suppose, what'll the two of you have?" Octavia looked at Rarity as she slightly blushed.
"The first rounds on the house seeing as you must have done such a great performance again." The barcolt smiled at both of them. Both Rarity and Octavia smiled back, thanking him for the kind gesture and then looking at one another, smiling competitively but in a way only friends could. They both gulped down the strong vodka and slammed their shot glasses down for another at the same moment. They both knew they would be here quite a while before one of them one. After they had almost too much to drink, the barcolt told them they'd have to leave and come back tomorrow night if they wanted more. So the two mares walked through the night swaying back and forth catching each other.
Chapter 6 The Next Morning
Chapter 6 The Next Morning
The next morning, Octavia awoke as she had every morning before. The sun peeked through her window as it blurred her vision. She felt the warmth of her blankets that smelled faintly of rose petals and felt something else. Another warmth emanating from her bed next to her, a heat from a single source. She turned around, expecting to see her cello in the bed under the covers, which had also been a common occurrence. What she found was none other than Rarity, laying there with the covers wrapped around her holding them up to her eyes sound asleep. Octavia bit back the thought to scream at what she saw, as she knew that would only make things worse. She got up and went to the bathroom and looked in her mirror.
What happened last night? She thought as the worst case scenarios played out in her head time and again. She couldn't remember much after the first few shots and after about four, she was done for the night. Come to think of it.... Rarity seemed pretty far gone after only a few shots, she couldn't have taken advantage of me at that rate. She thought, assuring herself that nothing terrible had happened last night. It was still unnerving to not know what had been happening last night, but she felt a bit better knowing that not too much could have gone on, and if it did, neither of them would have remembered it. She washed her face and looked at her somewhat tangled mane with disappointment.
"It's going to take me all morning to fix my mane now...” she thought sadly to herself.
"Where am I!?!?!?!" A scream came from the other room, making Octavia jump as she was trying to pull a tangle out. She slipped on the wet floor where a tiny puddle of water was. After she heard the scream, a groaning sound came from the same direction. She peaked through the door and looked at Rarity as she massaged her head, still half under the covers.
"Look who decided to wake up." She said happily and excitedly. "Have a nice night's sleep?" she asked Rarity. Rarity took her hooves from her face and opened her eyes to see Octavia. At first she looked at her confused, a few seconds passed as her brain processed the information, and then her eyes shot open as she gasped. Octavia smiled at Rarity's fear/excitement and giggled at her.
"What happened last night?! I hope I didn't offend you in any way. If I did I really didn't mean to offe-" Octavia's giggling had grown so loud that Rarity stopped speaking. "What is it? Is there something wrong with my mane?" she asked Octavia. She noticed that Rarity's mane was flat and hanging down to the bed.
"No, Rarity, and don't worry, I had a wonderful time last night." She winked, "At least what I remember of last night."
"I think after we had a few too many shots, we walked out of the bar and must have ended up here. It looks like you took a shower, and then we went to bed." Octavia explained. Rarity put a hoof to check her mane and realized that it was down as she gathered it up in her hooves. She obviously never wore it down around other ponies, which surprised Octavia, as it was a rather cute style for the white unicorn. It was easy to see her blush with her white coat and blue eyes, and could see Rarity knew this as she grew even redder with embarrassment. Neither of them said anything for some time as they just looked at each. Rarity pulled the covers over her head and hid under them from Octavia.
"Oh, Rarity, you don't need to hide from me." Octavia smiled as she put a hoof on the bed.
"Yes I do!" She screamed into the pillow, "I'm so ugly!" Octavia could see Rarity rolling around under the covers with the pillow pressed against her face. Rarity seemed to get even cuter by the minute now.
"Rarity, you look fine, in fact, I really like your mane down. It's not quite as beautiful as your normal mane style, but it really does work for you." Octavia could see that her words had reached Rarity as she lay on her back letting the pillow lay softly on her head without force.
"You really mean it?" Rarity asked, now hugging the pillow still hiding under the covers.
"Yes, I really do mean it." Octavia smiled as she pulled the covers down so she could see Rarity's face again. What happened next shocked both of them. Rarity jolted up, kissing Octavia with her eyes closed. Their kiss lasted what seemed like hours to Rarity, and after the initial shock, Octavia embraced the kiss and closed her eyes as well. Some time had passed since Rarity had started, but after she began to think clearly her eyes opened. Slowly at first, and then when she started to comprehend what she had done, they shot open as she pulled away and scrambled out of the bed. Octavia fell over as her weight was no longer being supported by Rarity.
"I'm so sorry, I- I- I. I'm sorry!" Rarity ran out the door.
"No wait Rarity! I don't mind if you want to stay-...." Octavia was left alone on her bed. She determined that Rarity would probably return to Ponyville yet again. She didn't quite understand her own feelings on what had just happened. She felt somewhat relieved, as if a huge weight had been lifted from her flank, but now she had strange feelings. They were feelings she had never had for any colt or mare before, and feelings she thought she would never feel. She decided that there was no use in sitting up looking at the door hoping that Rarity would come back at this point, so she gathered up the pillow Rarity had been yelling into and held it against her chest as she lay on her back. She kept staring at the white ceiling, unable to think of anything but the white unicorns body.
Octavia let out a big sigh as she pulled the pillow over her face to block the sunlight and hope that she would stop thinking about it for now. This attempt ended in failure and only seemed to make things worse as all she could smell was Rarity's scent and see the whiteness of the pillow. She groaned, knowing that no matter what she tried she would keep thinking about it. She didn't quite know what she should do, as she had never experienced something like this. She contemplated running after Rarity, but that may just scare her away even more. It was a tricky business, trying to get back with Rarity, but she knew if she put her mind to it, she could pull it off.
"That's what I'll do!" Octavia exclaimed as she sat up quickly in the bed, letting the pillow fall from her face. She jumped out of bed and ran over to a stack of staff paper that was laying on a desk in the corner with lots of pencils lying around. To unicorns and pegasi, the capability of and Earth pony to pick up a pencil was nothing short of a miracle, but to Octavia it was as natural as playing the cello. She got out her cello after thinking up something to write on the top of the page, and began to pick out notes. She played a few scales, questioning which one would get a point across like this, and found the key signature. G flat Major, one of the more difficult keys to play in on the cello, but it was the one for the job.
She wrote the key signature down on the paper and decided on a 3/4 time signature, a Waltz. Octavia had always loved dancing, especially ballroom dancing that she had played for at the royal palace, but lacked the physical ability to even two step. She knew more about the idea of Waltzing that those that were actually in the ballroom. How each step went on each beat of each measure, how the spin took place on exactly the second and a half beat of each measure, unless the tempo exceeded one hundred and twenty notes a minute, in which case the quarter turn would take place on the first and a half beat. She shook her head to clear her mind. She had gotten so wrapped up in thinking of ponies dancing that she had forgotten what she was supposed to be doing.
As was written by many professors of music before her, the first note was inevitably a G flat, as would be the last note of the piece. She looked at the paper, and chose the lowest G flat she could, on the C string. It embodied the tone of the heavens, and she could picture that the note was the same note that played when Princess Celestia lifted the sun into the world for everypony to see. She smiled as she played the note, closing her eyes and remembering the kiss she had shared with Rarity. Music began to flow out of her cello, quickly, as if the song had written itself, been memorized, and was ready to perform for an entire ballroom. When she concluded the song, she took her pencil and put it against the paper.
She stared at it for a second, hoping that the pencil would move much like her bow and just show her what notes she had played. Sadly, the pencil refused her offer and sat there unmoving. She began to think back at what she had just played, or at least what it had sounded like so she could reconstruct it. Octavia sighed at the outcome. She had forgotten everything she had just played, except what she had planned out before hoof. She slammed her head against the desk as she thought of how stupid she was to think that she would memorize and write down a song if she had just played it. She looked back at her cello.
"What do we do now then?" she asked it, as she thought of the answer. "Yes, I suppose that is the only real way to do this, after all, starting again wouldn't be quite the same as what I just played." She looked at the cello happily. "You always have the best advice." At this point, other than Rarity, Octavia had never made friends, even when she was just a little filly, and the only companion she had ever known was her cello, until now.
"I'll just have to rewrite the song again, until I get it right I'll stay here and keep working on it." she promised herself. "So next time I see Rarity, I can explain to her how I feel." Speaking for musicians was a tricky business, especially for string players. It was hard to get words out to show emotions, to prove a point. It was easy for them to make a song and play it to show how they felt, what they felt, and could even be directed at one pony in particular. Octavia smiled as she remembered the first two measures, playing them and writing them down.
"That's a start." she said, smiling as she looked at the two measures.