Noteshade was walking home. The storm was raging, but she didn't mind. The thunder and lightning and rain were loud around her. She still didn't care. She took the same route she had taken to get to the recording studio. On the way, she looked for her scarf. It was nowhere to be seen. "That bastard took my scarf!!" She yelled. The stranger she'd bumped into, Soma, had stolen her prized scarf! She walked home, her blood pressure rising as she got angrier and angrier. She walked to her apartment complex, thoroughly soaked by the time she walked into her home. She took off her saddlebags and threw them at the wall, eliciting a large thud and a crack from inside the bag. She picked it up and looked inside to find that her music player had a cracked screen and and had lost the back of it, along with the batteries. Her headphones were fine, but the player was gonna cost more to fix than to replace. She set the player down on her kitchen counter, and thought about her day. She'd been on a roller coaster of emotion. She'd woken up to a storm, gotten called in, lost all of her songs along with her scarf, scored a record deal with a big time mare, and then broke her music player. She sighed. It was an overall good day, but she still had some bad parts.
*tic*
She looked around, looking for the source of the noise.
*tic*
It was like the dropping of a coin.
*tic*
She took a walk around her apartment, looking for the source of the sound. She checked everywhere, but no clues could be found. Then.. it stopped. She smiled.
*thud*
She groaned. A knock on the door. There wasn't supposed to be anypony knocking! She wanted the rest of the night to draw and listen to music on her laptop!
Noteshade opened the door. Standing in front of her was the stallion from this morning, holding her precious scarf. He had his head hanging down, with his mane hiding his face. She was shocked. This stranger she had barely known for a day had found where she lived! She looked at him. He looked back.
"I found your scarf, miss.." He said in his deep, rumbling voice.
She looked to him, a face of confusion. "How did you find me here?.." She asked him.
"I saw you run to that music studio, so I went there and asked about a mare with your looks, and they gave me your information.." He said quietly.
She took the scarf from his hooves. It was a deep blue and dark green striped scarf that she'd made herself. She looked at the stallion again, to notice he was soaking wet, and had protected the scarf instead of himself. He was wearing his own saddlebags, marked with his name, Soma. The bags were soaked as well. She looked to him and asked him, "Would you like to come in? You look cold!"
He nodded, and stepped back.
"I'd recommend shutting the door so I can shake myself off.." He said. And she followed directions. As soon as the door was shut, she could hear droplets hitting the door, like a rain noise, or a continuous rattling sound. She opened the door once the sound stopped to see the stallion frantically trying to pat his mane down, hiding a few streaks of a soft lily pink. She smiled.
"Are those dyed streaks?" She asked him. He looked up, surprised that she had seen the pink strands.
"N-No.. I get the pink from my mother.. The blue is from my dad.." He said quietly. She nodded.
"I like the pink! It gives you character!" She said to him, eyes glimmering. He looked down, cheeks a slight tint of pink.
She stepped aside. "Aren't you coming in?" She asked him. He nodded and walked in slowly. She shut the door and looked to the stallion. She thought for a moment before asking, "Why isn't my scarf wet? Didn't it fall into a puddle?"
"It did.. But I washed it for you.. It wasn't a pleasant sight.." He said slowly. She smiled at him.
"Well, Soma, thank you for returning it so clean! I appreciate it!" She laughed. "For a while I'd thought you'd stolen it!"
"No, ma'am! I would never steal anything from anypony!.." He said, taken aback by her words. She nodded. He didn't seem to be a stallion that would have the courage to steal anything. He looked like a stallion who lived with upper class ponies. He walked slowly, and his voice was a deep rumble. His muscles rippled whenever he moved. His coat and mane looked well groomed, and his eyes were beautiful. They were a deep green, with specks of gold. He practically screamed royalty! But.. He had stopped whatever he was doing in order to return her scarf. She smiled and snapped back to reality. She looked around to see her messy apartment. She had a pile of blankets and laundry in the corner, and her laptop lying open on her table. She had dirty plates lying around due to her laziness when it came to cleaning. All in all, her apartment was a pigsty. She looked to Soma to see that he was looking at her with a weak smile. She smiled at him.
"Sorry about the mess! I had a rough morning!" She said with a chuckle. She picked up her blanket and folded it, and put her dirty dishes into the dishwasher. She smiled at Soma, who was now standing in the middle of her living room.
"Would you like some lemonade?" She asked. He shook his head. "Is there anything I can get you in return for my scarf?" He nodded. "What is it?"
He looked up at her. "C-Could you sing the s-song you were singing this morning?.." He asked her; she smiled and nodded.
"Did you really like it?" She asked. He nodded. "Your voice really carries the message.. I like it.." She could feel herself blush at his compliment. She nodded. And she began to sing. She watched as he smiled. He seemed to relax at the sound of her voice. She subtly changed the lyrics, and it became a beautiful love song. She sat down at her keyboard, and began to experiment with the notes and her song. Soma watched as she poured out the song, and worked with the keyboard. Her hooves flew from key to key, seemingly of their own accord. She ended the song with a loud fading note. She looked to Soma, who was now directly in front of her, his mane no longer hiding his face. He was wearing a bright smile.
"Do you have any more songs??" He asked, now showing excitement. His shyness seemed to have faded when she sang. She smiled.
"Well, I do, but none of them are any good. The only good one is a duet, and I don't have anypony to sing it with." She said. He looked at her, and smiled. "Could you show it to me?" He asked. She looked at him. "You sing?" She asked with a voice full of confusion.
"Not really, but I guess I could try.." He said. He was back to looking down, with his mane hiding his face. She smiled at him and went to her room. She'd kept a spare notebook of songs in there in case she lost her others. She hadn't copied down anything, but she had a lot of extra songs that she'd written late at night when she had insomnia. A few were duets that she had written after a rough day at the bakery. They were all love songs, but they were all beautiful. At least, in her opinion. So she flipped through the notebook to find her favorite two-pony song. She ripped the two pages out, and smiled. Maybe Soma would have a good voice! She walked back to the living room, where Soma was waiting by the keyboard. She smiled at the tall muscular stallion. "I got the song!" She said. Then she stopped. "Why am I singing a song with a Stallion I hardly know?.. I don't even think he knows my name.." She thought to herself. "Yes, he took my scarf and washed it, but I hardly know him.. But why do I feel like we've known each-"
She froze in place. She looked to Soma, eyes wide in shock. He was looking back at her, with those all-too-familiar eyes. "S-Soma.." She said. "I remember you.."
He smiled. "I knew you would.."