Taming Strange. Or: How I learned to stop worrying and make love in public

A Charcoal grey mare walked with an elegant gait through the front hall of the Royal Canterlot Fillyharmonic. Cello case gently swaying on her back. She was clad in naught but a small pink bowtie with white collar. Her long black mane and tail swished lightly against her cello case. Though it was the first time she had ever set hoof in this particular concert hall she did not seem out of place. She made her way almost without thinking to the concert hall proper without stopping and saw what she was after. Important looking ponies.

At the main stage was a portly light green unicorn who just so happened to be the conductor of the Royal Canterlot Fillyharmonic, and court composer to the princess herself. Lord Arpeggio Fortissimo was working with the brass section on an upcoming piece. The assembled brass ponies, though the best of the best in Equestria, still sweated and squirmed under Lord Fortissimo's stern countenance. None of them even noticed Octavia until she had walked right up to him and said. "Good Morning"

Lord Arpeggio Fortissimo's head snapped around and locked eyes on the placid cellist. In his best booming operatic tenor he burst out with. "Who is this pony that interrrrupts my work?!" He rolled his R's hard for dramatic effect.

"Hello my name is Octavia." She responded without even blinking at the volume of his voice. "I should like to play for you and your fine orchestra."

Lord Arpeggio Fortissimo, court composer to the princess herself, and finest operatic tenor in all of Equestria for thirty years before that was floored by this little pony's impertinence. "Young Lady, I find the grrrreatest talent in Equestrrria from only the finest conserrrrvatories it has to offerrrrr. One does not simply walk in and, WHERRRRE DO YOU THINK YOU'RE GOING?!"

Octavia had walked away during the conductor's tirade, and was making herself comfortable on stage. Cello in hoof and tuned to perfection. In her sweetest tone and with a small smile to match she simply said. "I beg you to reconsider."

She then without another word started to play an odd series of notes that Lord Fortissimo for his long life in music and all his experience could not place. It was agonizingly familiar but matched nothing in classical history. This both enthralled and maddened the composer. As if this impertinent little pony was challenging him to place the piece only to be left guessing as it was one of her own.

He tried analyzing the music to see if it would give him a clue. Alright G major that was without question. But that was it. This music, so painfully familiar, yet so alien. He could stand it no longer. He inhaled to snap at the cellist, but just as he was going to give her the dressing down of her life, she played the last note.

"That was Buck's prelude in G major." This absurdity caused the roar built up in his throat to turn into a sighing chuckle. Everypony in the room laughed audibly. Lord Fortissimo knew Buck's suites. He had written variations for Buck's suites. This. Was. Not. Buck's prelude in G! Before he could tell her this though the presumptive mare simply quipped. "Backwards."

The silence was deafening. Neither Lord Fortissimo, nor the assembled brass ponies who had been held hostage by this impromptu audition could believe it. It suddenly clicked in all of their minds. The silence hung there until a trumpeter pony's two thousand bit instrument fell lifelessly from his hooves with a clatter, shocking the composer back to reality. He glared at the offending pony. He had started to say something but Octavia interrupted. "You name it, I'll play it. Backwards."

The conductor was incredulous. Nopony could know every piece backwards. His voice roared out. " PIIIAAAANIIISIIIIMOOOO!!" The timid light blue pegasus stallion who had the misfortune to be Lord Fortissimo's personal assistant sprinted over dropping the revised baritone sheet music he had just finished copying. "Yes m~"

"GET ME EVERRRY SCRRRAP OF CELLO MUSIC I OWN!" He screamed at the poor pegasus.

The assistant knew better than to ask why. He darted out of the main hall and just as quickly darted back in holding a massive filing cabinet full of cello music, straining under its weight. Arpeggio snatched three pages at random from three different drawers with his magic. Now he would show her. He would expose this fraudulent blaggard. "Alrrright then, play Shostacoltvich's fifth, thirrrd movement from stanza." The conductor's aging eyes narrowed. "One thirrrty eight to ninety fourrr!" He bellowed.

Octavia looked up and away to remember the piece for a moment. "First or second part?" The cellist asked in that same infuriatingly polite tone. The Conductor's eyes blazed. He muttered between tightly clenched teeth. "Second." And then she did. Lord Fortissimo followed along with his hoof up the page as she played the piece. From memory. From an arbitrary point. Backwards.

It was like nothing the assembled ponies had ever seen. The sheet music fell limply to the floor followed in short order by their holder. Lord Arpeggio Fortissimo, court composer to the princess herself, slumped to the floor sitting on his haunches. The pony who had crushed pony's dreams of playing in the very highest position in the land for things as simple as not holding out a flourish quite long enough, was utterly speechless.

The charcoal grey mare silently put away her cello, slung it on her back, and walked over to the flabbergasted pony sitting dumbly on the floor. She reached out a hoof to help him up and said without a hint of arrogance or sarcasm. "May I please play for you in your fine orchestra?"