The Alicorn of Music

"Ugh, just running?", I said

"Hmm... This late at night?", she replied.

"Is it bad to do that?"

"Well, no, but it's weird. Why are you out here, anyway?"

"I was just... I was using the evening breeze as inspiration for my next song."

"Oh really? Well what do you play then, hmm? I bet you're one of those rock n' roll stallions, playing your guitar all night when other ponies are trying to sleep."

"Actually-"

"I mean quite honestly, who DO you think you are? Running around like a maniac in the middle of the night, causing ruckus in the streets. You should be ash-"

"What I was saying is that I play the piano... Mostly Classical music."

"Oh... So you mean piece?"

"Piece?"

"Yes, songs have a main melody and pieces have several. Classical piano music generally falls under the category of "pieces.""

"I apologize for doing whatever I did to offend you."

"Oh no, your quite fine. Us musicians do what we can to get inspired these days."

"So you play as well?"

"Yes indeed. I was just heading over to my former roommate's house to see if she had any staff paper, only for her to not be home. Such a shame too, I had the most wonderful idea."

"And you don't have any paper of your own?"

"I just ran out, so I suppose I'll have another evening without getting any work done."

"I apologize."

"No you're fine... I was just a little upset. Say, do you live here? I don't remember you from before."

"No I don't, how about you?"

"I currently live in Canterlot, and I'm staying here because I'm composing a soundtrack for a play in the area. However, I did live here a few years ago... Where is your residence?"

"I uh, travel... I'm actually here for that play."

"Oh really? Wonderful! I take it you're playing the piano?"

"Indeed."

"How coincidental, you and I meeting up like this! Would you like to come back to my hotel and familiarize me with your playing techniques?"

"Umm..."

"I'm sure you'll have a pleasant time, haven't you ever wanted a professional composer to personalize music for you?"

"I suppose."

"Fantastic! Follow me! By the way, my name is Octavia."

She practically dragged me about a half mile towards a large building that seemed to be a little out of place in the pony city. We went inside and walked up way too many flights of stairs for this world to not have elevators. I was exhausted by the time we finally made it to her room, which was obviously the penthouse of the hotel.

"I simply love living fancy!", she said.

"That's for sure.", I said slightly slack-jawed.

The hotel room had a beautiful grand piano in the center of it, complimented by  a view of the entire city and what appeared to be an even larger city hanging off the side of a mountain in the distance.

"So... Show me what you can do!", she said as she pointed towards the piano.

"Okay.", I responded, praying under my breath that I wouldn't make a fool of myself.

I walked up to the piano and pulled out the bench, sat down, and stared at the keys. I waited for something to happen, and waited, and waited.

"Are you quite all right?", Octavia said with a concerned look on her face.

"Fine, I'm just... Trying to figure out what I should play.", I replied.

"Well, I wouldn't mind hearing something relaxing, yet full of emotion."

"Okay, I'll see what I can do."

So I continued trying everything I could to get my horn to light up, but nothing happened. I saw Octavia growing disappointed.

"Do you even play?", Octavia said in a half-serious tone.

"Look... I'm sorry, it's just that I-"

As I said the word "I", I had put a hoof on one of the higher keys. This seemed to do the trick. I got the feeling of stress over making a better sound come from the piano again, but instead of fighting it, I let it flow out of me.

Once again, my horn lit up and enveloped the entire piano in a bright blue aura. Octavia stood back in shock.

"I've never seen the piano played with magic before.", she said.

"Neither had I until I started doing it.", I stated.

I closed my eyes as the keys began to move on their own. One by one, note by note, each sound floated through the air in magnificent waves of brilliance that I had never heard before in my entire life.

The piece started out slow, but began to build gradually until there was a definite peak in the piece's melody. The following notes worked together to gently bring back down the tone of the music until it silenced all together. However, the piece continued to pick up and drop off with no specific pattern... It was almost as if the notes were purposely ordered in a way that left the listener unsatisfied with the unjoined rythm that the piece was built around. But finally, the notes built up to a definate climax followed by a slow and steady come down. All these things would have sounded just fine on the old, clunky piano back in the cafeteria, but they sounded almost Godly on the perfectly tuned, grand piano I used in the hotel.

I turned around to find that Octavia had torn blank pages from a book and was writing notes down on a hand drawn staff.

"This... Changes things.", she said.