//------------------------------// // Woeful Cello Lows // Story: Friendship is Equal to or Greater than Magic // by Fanon Canon //------------------------------// "Invisible cellos! Invisible cellos, fun for the whole family." A certain mare was calling out to the Canterlot crowd, of which Spike was a part of. The mare in question couldn't help but draw Spike's attention, even if it was not within his nature to find and chat with as many ponies as he could, he felt that he would have been compelled to speak to this mare regardless. She had a dark grey mane over a lighter grey coat, but that wasn't what was so peculiar about her. It would have either been the fact that she was standing on her hind legs, with her front hooves arranged as if she was playing some kind of... "Invisible cellos, come on." She further exclaimed irritated. Well Spike was practically compelled to speak to this mare now, before he ran into another familiar face. "Invisible cellos? What are you on about?" He questioned her. "So sorry little dragon." The mare replied. "But dragons do not possess the necessary dexterity to handle playing an invisible cello." The mare had a very noticeable prim and proper conduct to her speech, which made it hard for Spike to determine if she was being sincere with him or not. "But there's no cello there." He pointed out. ""Well of course there's no cello here." The mare replied. "But there are invisible cellos here." "Invisible cellos?" Spike said unconvinced. "Prove it." "Very well." The mare replied. She took a deep breath, honed her gaze and corrected her posture. Taking one hoof now, she drew it across her shoulder, where the "invisible cello" would be. And to the utter surprise of Spike, one low note could be heard, like she was actually plucking a string, only if it were invisible. "Convinced?" She asked dryly. "How did you do that?" Spike asked completely baffled. "Magic." The mare answered. It must have been some strange magic then, for she was in fact an earth pony. But given the level of magic Spike had come across, this was a trivial thing. "Wow, I'm impressed." He said at a slight loss. "Oh I'm Spike." "Octavia." The mare replied. Octavia seemed like a civil mare enough. Maybe with all the eccentric manners Spike had come across, it was refreshing enough to find somepony who seemed civil enough. There was the odd thought that maybe this civilty was the result of the spell, and the real Octavia was by far a very different pony altogether. But somehow, he didn't get that impression, this was a stoic enough mare that something like a sentient spell would be a little matter for her to worry about. Yet still, he couldn't help but feel that there was something underneath all that refinement was something still pestering her nonetheless. "Hey I hope you don't mind me asking." He started. " But is there something or somepony bothering you?" "What are you some kind of physic?" Octavia asked disbelievingly. "That's exactly what's bothering me. How do you know that?" "Magic." Spike smirked back."So what is it?" "Oh, it's every pony." Octavia began. "Everypony's acting so darn out of the ordinary. First it was kind of amusing, but now it's quite insufferable. Though there's this one in particular." "Who's that?" Spike asked. Octavia eyed him with obvious suspicion. "Tell me, Spike." She began. "Do you know any other dragons?" "Well no." Spike answered. "Do you live with anypony?" She continued. "Yeah." He said. "Do you like this pony?" "Yeah." "Is she like you?" "Well." Spike stuttered. "No." "Do you appreciate her being different from you?" Octavia asked. "Well yeah I guess." Spike responded. "Not sure where you're going with this." "If, for instance." Octavia continued, heedless of his confusion. "Your pony friend were to suddenly take on your hobbies and interest, would that irritate you?" "Um, I don't think so." Spike uttered. "Why?" "Because it does me!" Octavia exclaimed suddenly, loosing her charm and elegance. "Its downright intrusive, is what it is, I can't believe how so damn uncanny she is to me now, it's utterly unbelievable..." Spike could sense how deeply Octavia could take whatever issue was on her mind right now, abs frankly, he didn't want to be a part of that. "Well that's all very interesting." He began. "But there's this thing I gotta get to, so if you don't mind." And with that he left Octavia there who looked like she was beginning to commence a mighty rant, headed instead for the palace, which was now not too far off. Elsewhere, the mare in question that Octavia was so infuriated with, would soon be coming across Twilight Sparkle, trotting in another street of Canterlot.