Canterlot And Beyond

by Starlight Shadow

Gala

Octavia finished her performance with a whisper of strings. The audience was silent for a few brief seconds, then erupted into applause for the humble gray earth pony on stage. She bowed deeply and eased her cello onto her back with practiced ease, walking a little quicker than normal to the wings. Once she was safe behind the deep blue curtains, she darted into her temporary dressing room, then turned to her cello case. She slowly lowered herself to the ground, opened the empty case, and eased her cello into its bed, ready for her next performance. She then slumped against the wall, spent but happy.

Her "gig" as her manager Vinyl Scratch called it at the Winter Gala was a success. She sighed again, a relieved laugh punctuating it this time. The Winter Gala was a huge event. A few missed notes would ruin the whole thing in the eyes of the endless music critics that would be writing about it for Musicians Monthly and various other magazines. Including Jewel.

Her heart skipped a beat. Jewel was the music critic. She was famously cutthroat and it took months of grueling practice to even get close to a perfect score. It was every musician's dream to earn that ten out of ten in Musicians Monthly. Including Octavia.

She heard the crowd slowly disperse, going back to milling around and talking. Octavia groaned inwardly, knowing that they would all be watching with keen eyes to see when she would come out of her dressing room. The second she stepped out, there would be conversation after conversation without a second to breath. She heaved a sigh for the third time that night and steeled herself, then she got up and opened the door.

"Hello, miss..." She trailed off. This particular pony was unfamiliar to her. Curly purple mane and tail, marshmallow-white coat, three diamonds for a cutie mark, and proudly sporting a rather lovely amethyst horn ring that matched her silky purple dress with a flared skirt.

"Rarity." The pony supplied. "I know you must think I'm a fanfilly, waiting outside your dressing room door to talk to you, but the truth is...I am!" She giggled. "A huge fan of yours, that is. I absolutely adored your EP, the music was beautiful. I'll be quite surprised if you don't have rave reviews this time tomorrow." As Rarity giggled again, Octavia blushed. Nopony had ever given her such upfront praise except Vinyl. With everypony else in Canterlot, even a single word that was more congratulatory than "good job" was hard-earned.

"Thank you." Octavia peeked over Rarity's shoulder. A couple eyes turned to the dressing room door, and Octavia cringed.

"Oh! Incredibly sorry, you probably want to get out." Rarity stepped aside, clearing the way. No! No, you fool!

"Actually it would be really helpful if you stayed in front of the door." Octavia said in a hurry. "I really don't want to deal with everypony tonight."

Rarity gave an understanding nod. Then a crafty smile graced her features. "In that case, I have a plan. You get your cello case and go, I'll do my best to distract everypony."

Octavia hugged her. "Thank you." Then she grabbed her cello and slipped out, power walking as fast as she could to the door. True to her word, Rarity was distracting everypony who even glanced at Octavia the wrong way. They met at the door.

"Thank you, Rarity."

"Anything for a friend."