Octavia’s Diary: Holiday Solo
“Dear Diary
It’s Hearth’s Warming once again with the snow falling from the sky, landing on the ground. This month is one of my favorite months of the year for so many reasons but if I tell all of them, I would take up more pages than less. So to keep this short, I’m only going to say one reason, Hearth’s Warming music.
For each month I come across, I use different kinds of music to practice on my cello, particularly during Hearts And Hooves Day and Nightmare Night. But the holiday I adore the most in music terms is Hearth’s Warming. There is a variety of instrumental solos I love showing off in Ponyville and Canterlot. It not only makes the ponies who love my music happy, but me as well.
Whenever I study the clefs from each music piece of Hearth’s Warming, it helps me make the cheer I’m preparing to spread. Ponies who spread cheer during this holiday have their own ways, while for me, I prefer to spread musical cheer outside of my home.
I spend so many hours memorizing all the music I can play on my cello do to my performances in Ponyville and Canterlot. It’s a way to get families together to listen the wonderful music I play. It makes them calm enough to listen to the sounds from my cello, as my talent always improved over the years.
Unlike the other times I play in front of an audience inside of a theater, I love performing during the Hearth’s Warming season. It’s like I’m creating magical clefs from my cello, so they float inside the ears of the ponies who listen to my solo. It makes the feel of Hearth’s Warming so much better which puts a smile on my face. It makes me proud to be a cello player.
After I’m done with my performances in the theaters of Ponyville and Canterlot, I use the bits I earned to buy gifts for my friends which I trust the most. It’s the only way for me to show my friends how much I care about them, not to mention I also perform my music to them. However I’m not done yet, once I leave the theater for the last time in the days before Hearth’s Warming Eve.
On the day before Hearth’s Warming, I put on my white scarf and white earmuffs on so I can perform my solo outside in Ponyville. I’ve been waiting for this moment all year long because fillies who never get the chance to listen to my performance, can watch me for free. I no longer need the bits for my friends since I took care of that after I wrapped their presents days ago.
Unlike the brown cello which I use all the time, I have a different cello that I keep in my basement. I only use it for this one day only. The color is snow white. I prefer white over brown because it makes me feel special. I don’t want my white cello to get scratched, while my brown cello did whenever an accident happens. Granted, I always take good care of my instruments, I still want my white cello to stay perfect on its sides and edges.
When I make my way by the Town’s Hall with my white cello, I spend almost the whole day performing in front of my neighbors, even if I took my lunch break. When I see all my friends and neighbors watching me when I grow a small, but charming audience, it makes the holiday more memorable for them and me. Year after year doing the same thing, yet it never ever gets old. I’m one of the ponies who either play instruments or sing songs, spreading the magic of the holiday by the sounds of the music I perform.
Everytime I finished the music piece I chose, all of my friends clap their hooves. They gave me the gift I always wanted on Hearth’s Warming. Respect and support. While I did get those acclaims in the past, I’ve grown an audience on my own without a theater. Ponies who gave me permission to do my job in their buildings, I always expect feedback at the end of the day. When the ponies give me the gift I always receive, it makes me lucky, charming and proud as a cello player.
After I’m done for tonight, I go to a restaurant to have dinner for myself since I still have left over bits. Then afterwards, I headed back to my place to return my white cello and sleep till morning. Most of myself is sad that this day is over until next year, but the other self in me is happy that it happened again. While I’m looking forward to what my friends gave me, nothing will ever make me feel so proud after what I did in Ponyville. Next year, I’m going to Canterlot to spread my cheer of holiday music there. On every Hearth’s Warming Eve, I call it a Holiday Solo. The day where I’m always prepared with my white cello, is the day Hearth’s Warming makes me feel special as a cello player and I will continue to do so until I retire.
Octavia Melody”
“Dear Diary,
When I woke up on Hearth’s Warming morning, I received a gift from my best friend who’s also interested in music. Vinyl Scratch. I didn’t expect her to arrive at my house so early, but she wants me to go out for breakfast. I accepted her offer, but before we left, she gave me her gift to me. She told me it took her a long time to find something that will make me happy until the end of time, which is sweet from somepony I played music with.
When I unwrapped my gift, it’s another cello but in green and red, the colors of the holiday. Even the strings are in white, something my white cello didn’t have. These cellos are one of the rarest things to find in this holiday and I burst into tears of joy. I may have a gift for Vinyl, but it’s not a good as the one she gave me.
I gave Vinyl a hug to which she accepted. For all this time, next year, I should give her a big gift that would easily please her. I may have to wait a full year, but on the next Hearth’s Warming, I will do anything to give Vinyl the love I made by myself.
Octavia Melody”
Author's Note
I wasn’t going to do this mini chapter but since the last chapter didn’t make it to 1,000 words, I had no choice. If anyone is going to say that you should find ways to make a story reach 1,000 words, you need to get the impression that not every one shot can make it to that amount of words.
