Your head snaps to attention. What is that? What is that sound? Is that… Music? You look around at your environment, trying to find the source of the noise. Music is rare in Ponyville. Sure, ponies sing and hum from time to time but this is different. This is real, carefully composed music. Rising from your seat outside Sugarcube Corner, you follow your ears toward the source.
After a few short moments, you find what you’ve been looking for. Standing on the corner, playing for tips, is a gray earth pony with a long dark mane playing a large stand up instrument. Her eyes are closed and her expression is stern. She’s lost in the art of her craft.
You take a moment to wonder to yourself if that is a bass or a cello? You've never known anything about music; just what you like and don't like. This, by far, was the most relaxing and peaceful you've ever heard.
With one gentle held note, she brings her song to a close and you clap. She turns her attention to the one-man audience in a mild shock
"That... was amazing," you say, your voice enthusiastic
"Thank you," she says flatly, turning her head away. She flips her sheet music to another page and brings her bow to the strings once more. You bite your lip and take another step closer.
"Uh, my name is Anon,” you say, introducing yourself.
She turns her head to you, her expression stoic.
"A pleasure.”
The earth pony continues to play her soul into the instrument. To be fair, you didn’t really have anything planned for today, so you decide to find a park bench nearby, sit down, and watch.
To your surprise, the other ponies in town don’t share the same sense of wonder towards the mare’s music. A few ponies listen as they pass by, and a few children ask their parents if they can toss a few bits into the mare’s case. However, for you, the hours pass like seconds. You're taken on a rollercoaster of a journey as her music swells in strength, or falls to a whisper. The music speeds up and slows down, becomes a flurry of notes or decides to stay simple, calm. You’ve never seen music performed like this before. And you can’t help but notice… well… how beautiful her eyes are.
You begin to feel a slight tickle rise up in your chest. There's something, different, about this mare... She has a passion in her eyes that holds you captive in her song. A grace in her movement that hypnotizes you. And a way she sighs, especially right after a particularly melancholy song, a song that grabs the inside of your chest like a soldier around his sword and forces you to feel every bittersweet misfortune that the song told. You want to hold her. And tell her she doesn’t have to hurt anymore.
Slowly the sun begins to creep lower in the sky and she finishes her final song. You clap and rise to your feet. She casts you another glance and returns to packing her things up without a word.
"That was some of the most beautiful music I've ever heard," you say, putting it lightly.
"Thanks."
"Do you play professionally? You have an amazing talent."
"Yeah. I play with a traveling symphony," she says, locking her case and rising to her hooves.
"Well that's cool. I didn't get your name earlier," you say as she begins to trot away.
She turns to face you, an eyebrow raised.
"Why do you want to know?"
"Well, maybe I could take you out to dinner... and we can get to know each other better?"
Then, for just a second, you see a lonely expression carved into her face. Then her features contort. She turns to away and releases that painful sigh one more time.
"I'm sorry... I just don't date when I'm on the road. I don't want to get weighed down or too attached."
Your heart clenches.
"Oh... I see, well."
Before you can finish, she walks off, taking away the beauty of music with her.
"I wish I at least knew your name..."