Symphony

"And the winners of the Canterlot Young Musicians' Competiton are...the Cappricioso Quartet!"

The crowd exploded as the quartet climbed up onstage. Frederic, Beauty Brass, Harpo, and Octavia stood proudly, front and center. Soon the crowd was on their hooves, cheering like sports fans in Las Pegasus would for a hoofball game.

Frederic gazed at the audience, very faintly smiling. Beauty Brass wore a grin from ear to ear, her face shining. Harpo looked at his hooves, blushing as if embarrassed from the attention. Tears of joy were streaming down Octavia's face.

At last the roar of the crowd died down, and the announcer, a tall stallion named Crescendo, addressed Frederic, hoofing him a microphone. "How does this feel, Frederic, to have just accomplished this at your age?"

Frederic beamed. "Well, I think I speak for all four of us when I say that we couldn't have gotten this far without our constant dedication and hard work to doing what we love." He swallowed and took a breath before continuing, "Now that the work is over, I feel like a weight's been lifted off our shoulders. It's a lot of stress to go through, especially for high school students like us, and I feel like we all handled it well." Various ponies in the crowd applauded and whistled in approval.

"Well said, Frederic," said Crescendo. Now he met eyes with Beauty Brass. "Tell me the story of how you all met, Ms. Beauty Brass."

"Oh! That's a great story, Mr. Crescendo!" exclaimed Beauty Brass excitedly, taking Frederic's microphone. "To tell the truth, it started way back in grade school, specifically when Harpo and I became friends. He was really quiet, and I was starting to worry about him around fourth grade. He never said a single word, ever! Imagine!

"Anyways, one day I decided to talk to him, so I went all up in his face and said, 'Hey.' And he just kinda stared at me, so I kept talking. 'How's life?' I asked, and he thought he could get away with just body language, so he nodded. I knew he was trying to get a rise out of me - "

" - I wasn't!" cried Harpo suddenly. The audience laughed, and even Octavia giggled a little.

" - so I handed him a pencil and paper and said, 'Write'," Beauty Brass continued. "And boy, did he ever! He started writing down bits of dialogue that he wanted to say right then and showed them to me. He told me he played the harp and the fiddle, and I told him I played the French horn and the sousaphone sometimes, and we bonded over that later. I asked him if he could talk one time and he just sorta glared at me and wrote, 'My voice sounds horrible.' I said, 'Then let's go to speech therapy!'

"And he was all like, 'No, I don't wanna!' But he actually said that part! And his voice sounded really clear and nice, and I was like, 'Your voice sounds great, man!' He kinda glared at me again, only this time he stuffed the paper and pencil in the trash and we had a great conversation and became great friends!" Beauty Brass paused. "Hey, Harpo, you wanna talk now?"

The stallion in question shrugged and said, "Sure." Beauty Brass handed him the microphone. "When we graduated to middle school, we met Frederic and Octavia, who were already well known. They were in our music class when the teacher assigned us our first project, which was to write out a piece for four musicians and then perform it. We were allowed to pick our groups, and Beauty Brass introduced me to Frederic and Octavia. I guess we were a little tense at first, but then when we had to figure out who was going to write the arrangement, we all started volunteering. Since we couldn't decided, Beauty Brass invited us over for the afternoon for a 'jam session', as she called it.

"As it turned out, Frederic was already a competent composer, and Beauty Brass had some spare staff paper, so he started writing out a quartet for horn, violin, cello, and piano. While he did that, the rest of us talked. Octavia told us about how she got her start in cello-playing, Beauty Brass shared funny stories about her summer vacation to Stalliongrad, where she met Octavia and Frederic performing at another competion, and I talked about why I didn't want to talk until fourth grade.

"When Frederic finished writing the score and parts, we rehearsed once or twice. After the second time we played, we already knew we were destined as a quartet," finished Harpo.

"How profound. Thank you, Harpo," said Crescendo. "Now we come to you, Ms. Octavia. Do you have anyone whom you wish to thank?"

The tears had stopped long ago, but Octavia's voice was still raw as she managed, "Beauty Brass, for forming our little quartet and being a great friend. Harpo, for being a great listener and smiler. Frederic, for promising to go on a date with me after this - "

"Awww, shucks," murmured Frederic, blushing deeply. Someone in the audience burst into sobs.

" - and for being our fearless leader and resident composer." Octavia paused, shedding a tear as she went on, "The ponies who ran this competition, for giving us this opportunity. And all of our parents, who encouraged us to become what we are."

The crowd applauded again. The rest of the Cappricioso Quartet was grinning wildly.

"Thank you, Octavia, and thank you, Cappricioso Quartet, for inspiring us all today." The crowd kept applauding, on their hooves once more as the quartet bowed and left the high-energy hall, relieved that it was finally over.