The First Chapter: The Cellist Named Octavia
Friendship. It's the one thing that I took for granted, when I should've taken it more seriously. I treated a friend of mine as if she were nothing but a puppet, and because of my ignorance, I lost her in more ways than just one. Her name was Octavia, and she was my most loyal friend I ever had. I met Octavia when she first started playing the cello. She was young, bold, and very persistent in her goal to become the best cellist that Equestria had ever seen.
I was fifteen at that time, and not the smartest mare around. I normally kept to myself most of the time, usually coming up with beats. I didn't have any friends, due to my stubborn attitude. I was one of those ponies who thought I could do anything with nopony's help, and refused to get into any friendships with any of the students of the academy. The reason for my attitude mainly had to do with my past. I grew up in a home with no brothers or sisters. My parents were never supportive of me, nor my dreams.
I always dreamed of mastering the topic of music, and eventually working in Canterlot's top music industries. My parents hated music and everything about it, so for them to have a daughter dreaming of nothing but the topic they hated most, was nothing but pure disgrace to them. To make a long story short, I was basically kicked out of my own home and left to fend for myself in the streets of Canterlot. Even though times were tough, I still never gave up on reaching my dream.
I eventually ended up being adopted by a music teacher, even though at that time, I had no idea she was a music teacher. She always told me to address her as "Ms. Lilly," and even to this day, that name sticks. Ms. Lilly was my only instructor in the topic of music, teaching me step-by-step about the subject. When I was twelve, I knew pretty much anything to do with music, and after much debate, decided to try playing a musical instrument.
The instrument I took most interest in, was the piano, especially after hearing Ms. Lilly play it. The sound of it was relaxing and beautiful, and only grew more beautiful when Ms. Lilly sung along with the piano's sound. Her voice was smooth and delicate, which inspired me to take lessons in singing as well. I wanted to be just like Ms. Lilly; my first real guardian able to understand me and my dreams. She taught me everything she knew, but as much as I appreciated all she had taught me, I wanted to go beyond what I knew. I wanted to be the best.
To do so, Ms. Lilly enrolled me into a music academy of the highest education. That's when I met Octavia, but not in a way you'd expect. My first day in the academy, I ran into a group of mean mares that harassed me, all over the fact that I was smarter than any of them. Octavia was one of those mean mares, and the leader of the group. The tactics of the harassment were never violent, at least not at first, lucky for me. I never took offense from the harassment, and stuck to my goals, which I managed to accomplish within two months time at the academy.
I already knew most of anything to do with music, so learning the concept was simple. As for the piano, I had the opportunity to enroll into a master class, seeing I didn't have much else to learn about the subject of music. I was so excited, until I came to a difficult decision that was probably the hardest thing I ever did. The day before I was enrolled into the class, I found Octavia in distress along the steps of the entrance to the academy.
As much as I didn't want to, I decided to accompany Octavia, seeing just because Octavia was cruel, didn't mean I had to be. I wasn't one to leave others alone when they needed help. Ms. Lilly always had told me to help anypony, even if they didn't deserve any sort of sympathy. Even though I didn't know it at that time, that decision was probably the best decision I had ever made in my life.
Turns out the reason Octavia was so distressed, was because her so-called "friends" had betrayed her, intentionally making Octavia fail the exam that had been given earlier that day. They had given her an answer sheet with all the wrong answers, and I guess you know what happened afterwards. The reason she was distressed, was because of the punishment that would follow. Octavia's father was somepony who expected only the best from his daughter, so for her to fail a critical exam would make him a laughingstock.
Unlike me, Octavia lived a wealthy lifestyle, seeing her father was a famous orchestrator that was widely known throughout Equestria. It only made since that she was afraid to confront her father, likely ending in violent manners. Now that I knew why Octavia was mean to others, I could connect to her on an equal level. Her life story was much like my own, with only a few differences. To be honest, I actually felt sorry for Octavia, and to help her understand she wasn't alone, I told her about my past.
Octavia wondered why I had actually stopped to help her, after all that she had done to me. Why somepony she had harassed would share such personal information with her, but that wasn't what mattered. All that mattered was Octavia's situation with her father and her friends betraying her. There was a small window of hope, and if Octavia had been willing to do it, she might have been able to get into the master class she was aiming for.
She had very little time, but she managed to do it. Octavia re-took the exam, and managed to pass it with flying colors. Even if Octavia was a brute most of her life, she was surprisingly very smart. She had just taken the wrong route in choosing her friends, but from then on, Octavia had been more wise with her choices in every little thing she did. We both had accomplished our goals at long last, but that isn't to say that our lives went easy from then on. If anything, things were harder from those days forward.
The master classes were ridiculously hard, but somehow, Octavia and I managed to survive. We were in different classes, but eventually we ended up working together on everything we ever did in music. Octavia was part of a master class focused around the cello, while I was part of a piano master class. I had never heard Octavia play her cello, nor had she ever heard me play the piano. We mainly help each other in writing our sheet music. Both of us would trade our musical pieces, and look over every single note, scale, and octave, until we were sure that the pieces sounded perfect.
Since both of us were majors in music, the end product of the music pieces were never imperfect. However, the master classes had certain conditions that seemed unfair, one of those conditions being that students outside of any other class could not hear or see another student's masterpiece. It was unfair, but Octavia and I followed, and was one of the main reasons why we never heard each others music. As much as I wanted to hear Octavia's music, I didn't want to get kicked out of the academy, so for years, both of us continued to help each other.
After three years in the academy, our biggest test had finally come. One last music piece that would determine if we were ready to graduate from the master classes. This last test was hard for both Octavia and I, but we pushed all of our efforts into our last music pieces. For weeks we both worked our hooves to the bone, until finally the pieces were done and we exchanged the pieces to determine if they truly were "masterpieces." After hours and hours of looking over the music pieces, we finally agreed that both pieces were perfect, and it was perfect timing. The final performance was that night.
Everything seemed perfect. That was... until... I received the news. That night, Ms. Lilly... passed away while playing her piano. Unfortunately, at the time that I received the news of her passing, I was at the academy waiting to perform my musical piece. The news devastated me, and I felt as if I had lost a part of myself. As much as I didn't want to, I felt like leaving the academy, but Octavia managed to keep me there. She encouraged me to continue, otherwise I'd be failing Ms. Lilly, and she was right. Ms. Lilly had gotten me to that point, and all that was left was one last performance.
I managed to continue onward, but when it came to my performance, I was an absolute mess. I was unable to focus on anything I was doing. Every note I hit was the wrong one, and I felt like I was completely alone. Sure, you might be thinking that the masters of the classes would've understood, but the masters were completely strict and emotionless. I was being called a complete failure, while some of the other masters were laughing at my failure.
Just when I was about to give up, something happened that I did not expect to happen. Out of nowhere, Octavia rushed out, onto the stage, and grabbed her cello from the case she carried it in. Immediately, the master's objected to her sudden appearance, along with her father that was in the audience, but Octavia didn't care the least about what her father or the master's thought about her actions. Out of the commotion, she spoke out against her father and the masters.
"I will be joining Vinyl, and if any of you selfish brutes have a problem with that, too bad! You especially, father!"
I couldn't believe that she actually said that, but I could tell that Octavia had gotten stronger, and to object against the ponies that had taught her everything she knew was completely bold. Even though I knew it was against the academy's rules, I followed Octavia's actions. In that moment, I felt safe. I didn't feel alone here, and knew I could perform my musical piece. I may not graduate, but at this point I didn't care. I didn't need some fancy diploma to determine my destiny. I was clearly a major in my dream as a musician, and Octavia was as well. Little did I know that the performance was going to do more than show the master's we were more than majors in music.
Octavia started with a slow note progression played on the minor scale, allowing me to catch onto where I needed to start. After Octavia played the opening scale, I filled in with a minor piano scale composed of three chords that matched Octavia's opening notes. Octavia continued to play the scale over and over, until it lead into a slightly faster note scale, while I continued the same piano scale. The first opening of the music piece was mostly slow on my part, while Octavia's was a little more faster, while the second part was more slow for the cello, and more progressive for the piano.
The second part of the piece for my part was a piano major note scale played at a faster pace leading into a chord mixture. That was the part that was hardest for me, seeing I had one hoof playing the chords while another was continuing the note scale, but I managed to master it after practicing it on Ms. Lilly's grand piano. The tone of the music piece was not a high one, but a more mild tone, sounding like a sad song. Being played on a minor scale, that was only obvious.
As the song went on, the mood of the masters changed from angry to impressed. I had even managed to catch sight of a tear rolling down one of the master's cheeks, but it was quickly wiped away. The performance went on for over four minutes, but when it finally ended with both my piano and Octavia's cello in sync, the auditorium erupted with applause. Both Octavia and I took a small bow amongst the crowd's applause, and seeing the rules were clear, Octavia and I just took our leave, knowing that we were not getting our diplomas. Not that we needed them.
We were both surprised when we heard the masters call out to us just before we were off the stage. Turns out that our performance had impressed them so much that Octavia and I received special diplomas that only certain students get. The diplomas we received could only be earned if you REALLY impressed a master, due to these diplomas being a basic free ticket to perform on Canterlot's biggest stages. Believe it or not, Octavia and I were asked to perform that same song in front of Canterlot's biggest names at the Grand Galloping Gala that year by Princess Celestia herself. It was in that moment that both Octavia and I earned our cutie marks.
We couldn't believe our eyes, and from that day forward, Octavia and I became inseparable. We performed at the Grand Galloping Gala that same year, and on many MANY other famous venues throughout Equestria. Octi and I were a team, but that doesn't go to say that everything went smooth from there on. Sure, we may have performed at some of the biggest stages, but like every song, eventually the music piece grew old, and Octavia and I had to come up with another piece. This is where life became hard, and we learned that life in the spotlight isn't all it's cracked up to be.
After just one year out of the academy, Octavia and I left Canterlot, and moved to Ponyville, where we hoped we could start fresh. Thus, begins the next chapter of my life. When life grew harder for both of us.
