On the other hoof

Octavic could not believe what he just heard. He received a letter from Fancy Pants inviting him onto Fancy Pants' cruise to perform for a week-long trip. Octavic would be able to play his beloved acoustic guitar in front of a lot of high class ponies that he would have never met otherwise. More importantly, he would finally get a chance to meet Octavia, the pony who he had been wanting to meet for years.

Unlike other ponies, Octavic got his cutie mark even before he went to school. One day he was playing in the instrument shop owned by his father, and a special object caught his attention. It was a guitar; he liked it. The smooth shape, the shiny strings, the magical notes it played as he ran his hooves across them... Noticing his strange behavior, his dad decided to teach him how to play the guitar. As soon as Octavic picked the guitar up, there was a flash and he got his cutie mark! It was a bass clef and from that point on, Octavic had decided that he was going to become a musician when he grew up.

And he did. After years of practicing, Octavic was known as the best guitarist in all of Fillydelphia. His hoof had became strong and tender, with a thin layer of fur on the tip from all the practicing. He was extremely proud of this. If anypony was to take a look at his hoof, they would be able to see that he was a hard working guitarist, and would in turn show Octavic respect.

Then he met Octavia. Well... maybe met wasn't the right word. Octavia didn't know Octavic. He first saw her when she was on stage performing while Octavic was among the crowd. He was amazed by the magical notes that were coming from what seemed like a bigger-sized guitar. The notes were tender and smooth, unlike the high-pitched, fast notes played by a guitar. And what amazed Octavic even more was her display of emotions. Usually Octavic just plays a piece through like the way it's suppose to be played. He does change the volume and pace at certain parts, but he does so to make some notes "pop out;" not to show his own thoughts and emotions. Octavia took this whole thing a step further. She had become one with her cello and her music. You could feel her emotions through the way she played, through the notes she played, through the vibrato and crescendos.

After the performance was over, Octavic had pushed through the crowd to the back stage. He felt an unusual emotion erupting in his chest; he just HAD to see this filly. By now he realized that it had been love, but back then he was way too young and immature to link this feeling with love. It took him a while, but he finally made it to the back. However, she was already gone. He had turned to the pony next to him and asked,

"Hey, do you know where the... filly... who went before you- Do you know where she is?"

"How RUDE of you, not to introduce yourself first!"

"JUST TELL ME WHERE SHE IS!" Octavic yelled, drawing some attention to himself.

The pony seem annoyed."I do not know. Octavia probably already packed up and returned to her hotel."

"Her name is Octavia?"

"The one and only. She's the most famous cello player in all of Equestria."

"That thing was called a cello?"

Octavic heard laughter. He turned around and saw a few ponies pointing to his direction and laughing. He then realized that he had been making a fool out of himself. Embarrassed, he quickly pushed his way through the crowd and exited through the back door.

From that point on, Octavic felt something special towards Octavia. Maybe it was love towards the pony. Maybe it was love towards her music. He did not know. The only thing he knew is that he wanted to see this filly as soon as possible and have a nice, long chat.

And finally, after years of yearning, he finally got the chance to meet the filly of his dreams! How could Octavic not be excited?

Long story short, a few weeks later, Octavic was at the dock carrying all his bags on his back, ready to go. He raised his neck up high so his head could be slightly above the crowd to make it easier to spot Octavia if she was there. In the process, it also made him relatively look like a giraffe. However, he didn't see her anywhere. He boarded the cruise ship with slight disappointment, but knowing that they would perform on stage TOGETHER, Octavic's heart lit up a bit.

He was exactly right. As he was preparing to rehearse with the musical group for a jazz piece, he saw Octavia carefully balancing her cello on her back, walking in from the entrance. His heart jumped, his brain froze for a second, and soon he felt like he should do something to catch her attention.

He put down his guitar and walked towards Octavia. He held out a hoof and showed a gentle smile. "Need any help?"

He thought his action was very gentlecolt-like, since Octavia looked really tired carrying that big cello. However, to his surprise, Octavia replied with a cold, "No thanks" and walked straight past him to her place.

Being rejected in his first attempt, Octavic, of course, felt a little uneasy. But he soon recovered and caught up to Octavia.

"You are Octavia, right?"

"Yes. And you?"

"My name is Octavic. Funny huh, we have such close names."

Octavia stopped in her tracks, looked Octavic up and down, and replied with a slight, "Uh huh." Her eyes filled with a mixture of surprise and curiosity.

Then Octavic realized the reason for her to act in such a way. His coat was light gray just like hers. His hair was dark-gray and jelled, just like hers. Even the bow tie he was wearing looked exactly like hers. It must be strange for Octavia to suddenly see an almost exact duplicate of herself, except male, standing in front of her. It's just that Octavic had taken her as a model in music, and it was only natural for him to try dressing up in the same way she did. And about the color of his fur coat and hair, well, that part was coincidence. Octavia probably thought that he was some kind of crazy fan boy, though, who changed his own name, coat and hair just to be like her.

Octavic felt a bit awkward so he simply said, "Excuse me" and returned to his position in the band, holding his guitar in place. He didn't notice that Octavia's vision followed him until he had picked up his guitar. She had a little smile on her face as she then started walking towards her position again.

The rehearsal  went smoothly, and the following performance was great as well. The crowd applauded them with a typical high-class pony's quiet stomp, but Octavic was a bit too caught up in his own thoughts about the party that he didn't even care how the audience reacted. After the performance, he quickly packed up his things, put them into his room, and almost sprinted to the dining room. He looked around, luckily just in time, to see Octavia walking out of the room with a cup of vodka in her hooves. Octavic quickly grabbed the same drink and followed.

The door Octavia went through led to the deck. Octavic walked up the stairs and found Octavia sitting on the farthest end of the deck. Nearly at the edge of the ship, she was drinking by herself on a small chair. She was staring at the smooth ocean and the dark gray clouds around her, thinking about something.

Octavic cleared his throat quietly, adjusted his bow tie to make sure that it was in the right position, checked his hair to make sure it looked okay, and then slowly walked up with a smile on his face. He made little 'clop clop' noises as he walked on purpose. He didn't want to surprise Octavia by showing up on the empty deck like a pony ghost.

Octavia heard the hoofsteps and turned around. The light on the deck was kind of dim so it took Octavia a little while before she said, "Oh, it's you."

"Hi Octavia, mind if I sit here?"

Octavia hesitated and said, "Sure, why not?"

So he sat down and put his drink on the table. He then turned to the direction in which Octavia was looking, thinking about what the most appropriate thing to say in order to start a conversation would be.

"Come on Octavic, this is the chance of a LIFE TIME. She is RIGHT HERE!" Octavic thought to himself. But the pressure didn't help, so he decided to take a sip of his drink.

He had tried alcohol before, but it had been in drinks like low-proof fruit wine and beer. In fact, it was the first time in his life that he had tried anything with this amount of alcoholic concentration. The burn from the vodka was overwhelming, and Octavic immediately spit it out.

Luckily, he remembered that he was facing Octavia, so he turned to the side right before the vodka shot out of his lips. He coughed from the pain, looked up and saw Octavia. She had completely frozen in place, looking at him as if he was some kind of alien.

"Urg... wow...ahem." Octavic had completely lost it. He couldn't think of anything to say to make the situation less awkward, so he kind of just sat there looking down at the table.

"Wow, this is a disaster," he thought.

Then he heard Octavia's giggle. He looked up and saw that Octavia's giggle had turned into laughter. She tried to say something, but what came out of her lips was an incomplete sentence filled with a mixture of random sounds and giggling. She almost fell out of the chair laughing, and Octavic had no idea if he should laugh as well or not, so he just gave an awkward "hehehe". Then he face hoofed as he realized that his laughter probably sounded stupid.

When Octavia finally calmed down, she wiped the tears from her eyes with her hoof and said, "Wow, you are the biggest fool I have ever met. Why did you choose to drink vodka if you don't like it? It is such a waste."

"Well uh... I just..."

"Let me guess. You drank it because you saw me drinking it, correct?"

Octavic's brain was racing. Yes? That would be like admitting that he's a crazy fan boy who doesn't have his own ponyality. No? Then he'd just be an immature fool for pretending to be upper class and failing at it. Whichever answer he chose, he would feel like a moron and Octavia would probably never bother talking to him ever again.

"I guess that's a yes?" Octavia giggled, holding her drinking glass and then taking a little sip.

"Urg, no!"

"So you were pretending to have a classy taste?"

"Dammit," Octavic thought. Since things had come down to this, he may as well be honest.

"Yeah... I saw you drinking that and I thought it would be... good."

"Not everypony is into such a heavy taste." Octavia held up her glass and slowly swirled the liquid around. "And it's simply foolish to force yourself to like this kind of drink."

Octavic felt teased, but relieved. At least Octavia hadn't gotten upset.

"Well, I am flattered that somepony is such a big fan of mine. However, as a musician, you should know the importance of having your own style," she continued.

"Yes, I know. It's just that... you are really good and I want to be as good as you."

Octavia seem surprised. She stopped playing with the glass, sat a bit forward and asked, "How come?"

"What do you mean? You are really talented."

"But I play a cello and you play a..." she paused, "a GUITAR. There is nothing in common between these two instruments."

Octavic felt all of his emotions expanding inside of his chest. He felt like a balloon with too much air in it and his words came out before he even had time to think about it.

"BUT I JUST REALLY LOVE YOU!"

They both froze in place. The cool sea wind brushed against their manes and filled their noses with the salty smell of the sea.

"Oh..." Octavia said, with a look on her face as if she was in trouble.

Since he couldn't take back what he had said, Octavic decided to just spill the beans. He told her about that show where he saw her perform, how it changed his life, how much he admired her, and how happy he is when he listens to her music.

"I think I am in love with you, Octavia."

Octavic finished with these words and then he quieted down. He had opened his heart for her, but he was not sure if it was the right choice or not.

Octavia frowned. It looked as if she was making a huge decision. She picked up the glass, took a bigger sip, and then looked like she had made up her mind.

She put down the glass with some force and said, "I'm sorry."

Octavic was a bit too shocked to take in what Octavia meant, "Wha...?"

"I'm sorry. You are pretty sweet, but I can't. We are too different, just... too different." Octavia sighed.

"Besides, I don't have time. I am far too busy with my career. It's nice knowing that what I am doing is making a difference, but... just... I'm sorry."

Octavic was still too shocked to take in what Octavia had just said. He was just sitting there with his jaw dropped.

"I'm sorry. I have to go," Octavia said. She left as if she was escaping from something, leaving Octavic sitting there alone on the empty deck.

It took a while for Octavic to realize that he was just rejected. He sighed and looked out to the ocean. Picking up his glass, he took a sip before he realized it. However, somehow the bitterness of the liquid felt right.