Octavia Melody sighed as she was ,once again, abruptly awoken by her housemate. The sound of loud electronic music reverberating throughout the house. Deciding that trying to go back to sleep would only be a waste of time she resolved to get something out of it. Standing, Octavia swiftly made her bed and grabbed her bow tie, before going to take a shower.
As the water flowed over her she relished in the silence, the sound of water overtaking that of Vinyl's practice. 'For a pony who never speaks she certainly makes a lot of noise.' Octavia pondered as she finally began to wash. This was not how she wanted to start her day off, but as she was up she might as well make the most of it.
'Perhaps I shall venture into Sugarcube Corner.' She thought smiling wryly. 'Celestia knows what I'll encounter.' If one did not live in Ponyville they may have thought she was overreacting, but anyone who had ever met Pinkie Pie ,the part-time shopkeep, would have nodded in understanding. 'I only hope she doesn't make me try one of her confections.' Octavia winced, wondering idly if anything so experimental could be called that. 'I still become ill thinking of her Habanero dark chocolate raspberry truffles.'
Octavia turned off the shower, toweled herself off, adjusted her tie, and brushed out her mane. Looking herself over in the mirror she nodded in approval. Walking though the living room Octavia turned. "I'm going to Sugarcube Corner, do you want anything?" Vinyl swiftly made two disc scratches, indicating she wanted a cherry danish. "Alright I'll be back."
As she entered the small bakery Octavia breathed a sigh of relief. Mrs.Cake was on register.
"Good morning Octavia, what can i help you with?"
"I should like one cream puff and one cherry danish." It was not often Octavia allowed herself a cream puff, though delicious they were extremely messy. It was her day off though and it would do no harm to treat herself every once in a while.
Mrs. Cake nodded placing the mentioned treats into a bag. As Octavia bit into the luscious treat Mrs. Cake spoke. "You know Pinkie Pie is looking for you."
So shocked was she that she spit out part of her pastry in an undignified manner. 'Why would she be looking for me?' It didn't make any sense, the resident party planner found classical music boring so there was no reason to seek out a cello player such as herself, and she could not remember any promises made to her by the pink mare.
"Well_" It was at his moment that door opened, Octavia had but a moment to brace herself before she was besieged by a onslaught of words.
"Oh my gosh i was just looking for you, I went over to your house but you weren't there and then I stopped by the music store, because I remembered you get your supplies there_"
"Miss.Pie." Octavia interrupted firmly. "Please tell me clearly and concisely why you are looking for me?"
Taking a deep breath Pinkie began. "Well I was at the library looking at genealogy charts, after all if Applejack might be related to me who else might be related to me? So looked over the charts and there it was." Pinkie pie beamed as if she had delivered the most exciting news.
"There was what?" Octavia asked, more confused than before was she implying they were related?
"You're Applejack's Third Cousin!"
Octavia blinked the outlandish statement taking some time to settle in. When it did she could not believe it. "Miss.Pie there must be some mistake."
The pink mare shook her head. "No your great, great, grandfather Crescendo Melody married Jazz Apple! Who was the child of Royal Gala and the original Braeburn!"
Come to think of it she didn't know her great-great grandmother's name, and the apples were quite a large family... "Even if it is true Miss. Pie i don't see what the big deal is."
Pinkie Pie looked as if she'd just said oats were disgusting. "Don't see what the big deal is?! Do you realize you're more closely related to Applejack than I might be?!"
"We are four generations apart Miss. Pie."
"I know that but the Apples consider everyone related to them family! This means you've missed out of all the family reunions and apple family traditions! Don't you want to know more about your family?!"
Octavia sighed, seeing she would not let this go. "Fine Miss.Pie I will go see the Apples but i highly doubt they will care as much as you seem to think."
When she arrived at the homestead of the apples she began to have second thoughts. 'What if it does mean that much to the Apples?" Despite being a fairly social mare Octavia had to admit, she had no idea how to socialize with country folk, and if what Miss.Pie said was true she was going to be invited to all sorts of social events.
'No it'll be fine.' She thought knocking on the door. 'Surely the won't care too much.'
The door opened and Applejack looked at her confused. "Octavia? What're you doin' here?"
Internally Octavia winced, though she knew it to be the result of her accent the poor grammar was still hard for her to hear.
"Hello Miss. Applejack I am here to ask a question of the matron of this house may i come in?"
The country mare blinked. "You what?"
"I must speak with your grandmother."
"Well why didn' you say that in the first place?"
Octavia swallowed the retort on her tongue. Now was not the time to be rude. Entering Octavia was immediately taken aback by the décor or lack there of. She did not consider herself an elitist but she had never been in a house so devoid of color and knick knacks.
"You can wait in the living room."
As Octavia took in her surrounding she began to notice the large number of family photos on the wall. From shots of one or two members, to shots of containing over forty each one told a story, and despite her trepidation she found herself taken in. It was then she noticed something that took her by surprise.
There was a mare playing a fiddle in the back of one of the pictures she had a dark blue mane, yellow coat, wore a white hat, orange kerchief, and green shirt. This was not what surprised her.
"That's Fiddly Twang, you know you look just like her 'cept with a different mane an' coat color, you even have the same cutie mark, well yours is purple an' hers is blue."
Octavia looked at Granny smith. "Miss. Smith is your grandfather Crescendo Melody?"
The old mare nodded. "Yep."
Octavia sighed. "I am Octavia Melody."
Granny smith chuckled. "I thought you looked a bit like him. 'course the melody's always had a way with high society an' after a generation or so they didn't really bother with us any more. So I'm not really surprised you didn't know.
Octavia nodded. "So is Fiddly Twang..."
"A Melody? Well she might be, if ya wanna see her i believe she's competing in the festival tomorrow."
Octavia nodded the Ponyville music festival. Ponies from around the world came to compete in fierce competition Octavia herself had never been able to compete before as there was always some other venue she was booked at. This year she'd signed up for the string competition ahead of time so she tell anyone who wanted her that day she was already booked.
Octavia turned to the old mare. "Thank you." She smiled.
"Its no problem always good ta remind ponies of their heritage."
Octavia walked through the orchard letting the idea of the apple family wash over her. Octavia was not a country mare. She wasn't sure how she felt about being related to them. She supposed she liked the idea but wasn't sure of how it would play out.
'Are they resentful of my family?' Octavia wondered from what Granny Smith had said they had basically brushed them off. 'Like me.' Octavia sighed. She had to admit it had been unfair of her to just assume Miss. Pie had been lying. She thought about her reaction to Applejack's poor grammar. 'I suppose I was a bit harsh.'
Did she really want to get to know the apples? The only pony who even knew she knew of their connection was Granny Smith. 'And Miss. Pie' She reminded herself. It would be quite easy to simply forget about the whole incident and move on with her life.
'Why are you so against the idea of getting to know the apples?' Octavia pondered the question. She wasn't quite sure. Perhaps she didn't like country folk? She bushed off the idea. She liked the apples just fine she just didn't understand how to interact with them. She thought of ponies who had met her before. How they had been so nervous about doing or saying the wrong thing. They weren't high society ponies after all.
It occurred to Octavia that perhaps it was just as nerve wracking to go from high society to low society and that it was this transition that had made her unwilling to accept she was an apple. Octavia knew one thing she didn't want that to prevent her from discovering all her relatives had to offer.
As the sun rose the next day Octavia found herself worried. What if she didn't know how to properly introduce herself to Fiddly and she ruined her first impression. Octavia wasn't sure why the opinion of a mare she'd only heard of yesterday matter to her so much but the thought of messing this up sent waves of anxiety through her body.
'Perhaps i shouldn't speak with her..." To Octavia's surprise the idea of missing the chance to get to know Fiddly made her feel even worse. As Octavia went about her morning routine she pondered her feeling. After all even if Fiddly was related to her she hadn't even met the mare yet. If she didn't talk to her surely she wouldn't be missing out on much.
' You'd be missing out on the chance to get to know her.' It was as she thought this realization struck. She wanted to get to know Fiddly. Even though she hadn't known of her until yesterday she wanted the chance to learn more. As she left Octavia steeled her resolve. She was going to talk to Fiddly even if she messed it up.
Octavia entered the backstage as looked around she saw many familiar faces but not the one she was looking for. Sighing Octavia turned, it was then she saw her. Octavia found herself staring, it was one thing to see a pony who looked almost exactly like you in a picture, and quite another to actually be in the presence of one. She was practicing her eyes closed and Octavia could clearly see her name was quite accurate as she instrument in question was indeed a fiddle a fact made quite obvious by the inclusion of a fifth string.
Octavia took a deep breath and approached the mare. "Pardon me Miss Twang?"
The mare looked at her, her eyes widening. "Well I'll be! yer the spitting image of me!"
"Yes yesterday I found out I was related to the apple family and when I saw you I thought..." Octavia trailed off not sure how to put it.
"Ya thought I might be the easiest one ta get ta know?" Fiddly nodded. "Ya don't need to be too nervous the apple clan is an open one. We're not gonna shun ya jus' cus' yer a bit different."
A wave of relief ran over her. She had not realized how much that had been bothering her until now. "Thank you Miss Twang."
Octavia was surprised as she felt a hoof on her shoulder. "Now there's no need ta be so formal. you can jus' call me Fiddly."
Octavia smiled. "Alright Miss. Tw- I mean Fiddly.
Shortly after the competition began. Octavia went against a number of talented ponies including the buff spa pony on the violin and to her surprise Applejack on an acoustic guitar. She actually had a decently hard time against her. Eventually it came down to the semi-finals and who should she be against but Fiddly!
"Now don't think jus' because yer family I'm gonna go easy on ya!" Fiddly winked.
With a smirk Octavia retorted. "Who says i need you to."
As the round started Octavia produced a relatively simple series of notes. The competition was just as much about putting on a show as it was competing. no need to go all out at the start. It seemed Fiddly was of similar mind and she produced a tune only slightly more complicated. Deciding to up the ante she played something closer to her usual style. Fiddly responded in kind. as the round went on their melodies became increasingly more complex, getting faster all the time until soon it was hard for the audience to keep up. Finally the judges called time and began to discuss the winner.
Exhausted Octavia looked at her sparring partner. "You're really good Fiddly!" she gasped.
"Yer not so bad yourself cos'."
"The judges have decided." Octavia held her breath. "the winner of this round is-" He paused for dramatic effect. "Octavia Melody." The crowd cheered and Octavia smiled. But the gesture that meant the most was that of Fiddly removing her hat and nodding. Octavia went on to the finals only to lose to ,of all ponies, Rarity, who was surprisingly good at the guitar.
Afterward she was approached by Fiddly and the apples. "We were wonderin' if you'd like ta join us for dinner?"
Octavia declined. "I wouldn't want to intrude on a family gathering."
It was then Applebloom looked at her. "But Octavia you are part of our family, Aren'tcha?"
Octavia felt a warm sensation in her chest. "Yes I am.