//------------------------------// // Bowstrings // Story: A Velvet-lined Case // by biasedeyes //------------------------------// Octavia opened her cello case and stroked the velvet lining inside with a hoof, smoothing the fabric before delicately setting her cello and bow inside and latching it shut. She stepped off the stage and began to search for a seat. After standing upright all night, she wanted to rest her hooves a bit. She looked wearily around at the full crowd, hearing some errors in the piano part. To be fair, Frederic had been playing the whole night too, and he was still playing. Finally, she spotted another gray pony like herself absentmindedly sitting at a table alone, a unicorn mare with streaked purple and white hair. She walked over and sat down, shoving her cello under the table. After a few moments, the mare turned to look at her. “I love listening to the music at these functions. It’s really good!” Octavia wasn’t sure Frederic’s current butchering of Shoepin qualified, but in general… “I know.” she replied. The mare seemed to look at her more closely, studying her cutiemark. “Oh! You’re one of the performers!” Already tired of the conversation, Octavia answered curtly, indicating the cello case sticking out from under the table “Yes. The cellist.” The mare, however, wasn’t done “Oh! Nice to meet you! I’m Twilight Velvet!” Octavia made a quick calculation. On the one hand, she was tired and not particularly interested in conversation. On the other hand, connections were invaluable in Canterlot. This mare looked nice enough, and might be able to drop a good word or two for her. It was dishonest, using another for personal gain, but so was calling the rank improvisation currently ringing from the piano Classical music. She smiled as best she could. “Oh, of course! Octavia. Glad to know you enjoyed my music.” Her ears began to ring. Was Frederic playing jazz now? Classical-inspired jazz? "I play frequently at public and private venues around Canterlot." There. That was fairly balanced, not too blatant, but hopefully enough to cause her to come to mind in case the mare across from her ever had a hoof in organizing such events. Currently, said mare was smiling expectantly at her, which prompted her to continue. "Ah, what do you do? Do you come to these sorts of events a lot?" If the answer was no, maybe Octavia could abandon her attempt at self-advertisement and... "Oh yes. I do it for family, you know. I used to work as a librarian, but now I’m just sort of around…" Twilight gestured vaguely, sweeping a hoof at the surrounding room. Octavia found this attitude mildly interesting, in that it didn't contain any of the emotions she'd come to expect from fancy partygoers. No pride, distaste, or satisfaction... In any case, even if she did go to a lot of parties, Octavia wasn't sure that this mare would be able to push her any gigs. She didn't seem all there, especially since she'd started staring off into space after her last comment. “Well, I... I’d love to get to know you a bit more, but I'm afraid I need a drink and a bite to eat...” Maybe she should go to Hayworthy’s as a reward for a job well done? It was a bit of trouble to lug her cello down there, but… Twilight Velvet piped up immediately “Oh! Of course! I’ll accompany you to the refreshment table!” Octavia thought fast. “Well, shouldn’t someone stay to watch my cello?” Not good enough, Octavia, she chided herself. Hayworthy’s was out of the question now. She could hardly say that and then cart it off. Still, maybe the mare would recognize her rather transparent plea to be left alone. She looked up into the already standing unicorn’s face, only to see her beaming obliviously. “Oh, don’t worry about it. The security here is excellent. I left my daughter in their hooves for her foalhood, you know!” Twilight Velvet laughed, turning her eyes to the floor. "Your daughter?" asked Octavia in surprise. "I… well, I’m the mother of Twilight Sparkle? She defeated Nightmare Moon?” she trailed off and laughed uncertainly. Octavia's mind froze. This was no longer a normal, vaguely promotional encounter. Twilight Sparkle was Princess Celestia’s personal protégé. The mare in front of her was two degrees removed from Celestia herself. This could make or break her career. More likely break, to hear the horror stories told in bars by colleagues. She'd been there when Dulcet Tone ran into Blueblood while taking a break from performing on the clarinet. Not only did he never get back on stage, he never played in Canterlot again. As far as Octavia knew, after several painful months unable to get a gig, he ended up moving away and performing with a travelling show on the outskirts of Equestria. She looked down at her freshly laundered and ironed pink bow tie, resisting an urge to straighten it. She couldn't let herself be thrown out. Which meant, why was she looking down at her collar?! Her head snapped up, and she desperately regarded the mare holding her fate in her hooves, who was smiling uncertainly at her. "Ah. Of course!" she ad libbed. Smile, Octavia! She gave a smile that was just about as wide as it could be while still possibly genuine, hoping to smooth over her moment of awkwardness. "Everypony knows about... Twilight. Sparkle." Octavia added the second name to clarify, since the mare she was talking to was also Twilight. Unfortunately, Twilight Velvet didn't really react or respond to her pronouncement, and just kept smiling at her mildly. In the silence that followed, Octavia's thoughts raced from realizing that it might make sense for her to be sensitive about names to wondering how difficult it might be to start a career in Manehatten or Fillydelphia. Finally Twilight Velvet gave a little, slightly nervous laugh. "Well, she'll always be my little bookworm filly in my eyes. When you get down to it, we're all just ponies." Twilight paused. "So... refreshments?" “Oh, of course!” They'd stopped out in the hall just beyond the orchestra. Once they got moving again, everything should be less awkward. Octavia had probably been overreacting, this mare seemed nice. They made their way across the hall and to a table set with a punch bowl and h’ouderves. Octavia grabbed a plate and tried to strike a good balance between eating fast enough to sate her hunger and eating politely. Once she'd eaten enough so that attending the velvet gray mare was again at the top of her list of priorities, she turned back to her, but noticed something odd. Instead of staring at her impatiently, expectantly, or, Celestia forbid, disapprovingly, Twilight Velvet was staring into the space between the punch fountain and the desserts. There didn't seem to be anything there. Octavia considered just leaving for an instant, but there was really nothing preventing this mare from forming a bad opinion of her after the fact, not to mention that she would feel strangely bad abandoning her, at least so easily. Instead, she decided to strike up a conversation. “So, you go to a lot of these functions then?” That was right, a nice exchange of pleasantries, this mare became indifferent or vaguely positive, and they could go their separate ways, her career saved or even boosted in the process. “Oh, absolutely! You have no idea.” Twilight Velvet's head popped towards Octavia, giving her a smile. "Ever since my daughter moved to Ponyville I've been attending not only the functions I used to, but events in Canterlot in her stead. Last week I was at the Coltilla Premier, this week the Gala, next week the Canterlot Library Charity Drive. That's one of Twilight's, and I wouldn't necessarily go to the Premier if Twilight was here. Later on this week I'm attending the opera with Princess Luna, which, I have to admit, I'm looking forward to..." Looking attentive, Octavia had somewhat zoned out listening to Twilight, filling a glass of punch from the fountain and wincing at a series of wrong notes from Shoepin. His rag at the Coltilla Premier had been much cleaner, and that was harder to play. He was a perfect pianist when fresh, but his stamina was a tad lackluster. Hopefully he was prepared for a full opera next week... wait. Realizing that she was participating in a parallel conversation, Octavia asked a relevant question, choosing to ignore what she thought she'd heard about more royalty. "Did you say you're attending the opera next week?" To be fair, Octavia wasn't the only one who seemed somewhat surprised to be participating in a conversation. Twilight Velvet stopped, as if surprised to even be talking to somepony, and her eyes went glassy for a moment before she replied. "Yes, that's right! Luna's living in Canterlot, but since Twilight's living in Ponyville, it's up to me to help get to know her and represent my daughter in the process of reinte..." As soon as Twilight began talking again, Octavia occupied herself by filling another glass of punch, which she hooved over to her companion when she was done. Twilight stopped talking when she took the punch and stared at the glass instead, allowing Octavia to get another word in. "What a coincidence! My band will be filling out the orchestra!" It might not have been the most amazing coincidence, as many of the musicians in Canterlot ended up in the bandpit on opera nights, but it was worth a remark. Twilight Velvet, however, was still staring into her punch glass. Recognizing the pause in conversation, she looked up to see Octavia staring at her. At a loss, she gave a nervous laugh, then took a big gulp of punch, before coughing on the sugary beverage. Octavia raised an eyebrow. "Are you okay?" Giving another restrained laugh, Twilight Velvet looked away. "To be honest, I find the drinks here terrible. I generally prefer a good dry wine." This captured Octavia's full attention, and her reply was instinctive. "Red or white?" "Huh?" Twilight Velvet still didn't seem quite in tune as far as conversation. "Which type of wine do you prefer, red or white?" "Oh, both are good. It depends on the situation. A fuller-bodied red is the best thing for a meal, while for something lighter, such as late at night, I go for white. Canterneigh Sauvignon is is my go-to red, while for white I generally have a Pinto Grigo or Rhenishling. As far as years go, there were a couple great crops six years back..." As Twilight continued, Octavia felt her knees weaken, and she fell down into a sitting position. She had considered herself knowledgable about wine, but the mare in front of her was a powerhouse of practical knowledge. She found herself checking the grey mare's flank, making sure her cutiemark wasn't somehow a bunch of grapes or wineglass in disguise. Twilight Velvet, for her part, didn't even seem to notice that her audience was now sitting, and simply continued her wine-centric monologue. She took Octavia through a history lesson of recent vintages stretching from the Canterlot native to the furthest reaches of Equestria. Octavia was astonished to learn that there was such a tension between some vintages, wines from the same producer which would fluctuate wildly. She even learned about a lost vintage that Twilight mourned, a once popular Ponyville red from a vineyard which had stopped operation after weather mismanagement involving a few harsh frosts, as well as competition from the cheaper, more popular cider sold in the area. As she finished that thought, she seemed to come back to herself and look at Octavia once more. Realizing that she was still sitting, Octavia shot back to her hooves. She had to get somewhere where she could drink something at least resembling the glory this mare had described, and she was running out of time before she crashed. Still, she felt she owed her something more than an abrupt departure. "To celebrate my successful set, given the... relative quality of the refreshments here, I was going to go elsewhere to drink and dine. Care to join me?" "Oh! I know the perfect place, just around the corner on Rockheart Way." Twilight Velvet stepped toward Octavia, clearly inclined to join her. Octavia was surprised by the other mare's acceptance, but even more surprised by the smile she felt creep onto her face. "Excellent! Let's go then!" The two mares left the Gala and headed out of the castle, still trading wine preferences. The table was filled with empty glasses and even in her fairly inebriated state Octavia had noticed the bartender glancing at the clock. Either Twilight Velvet was extremely generous with her bits when drinking with a fellow wine connoisseur or Octavia was in for a financial catastrophe after splitting the bill. Either way, they'd both enjoyed several glasses of very good wine. "Twilight, I think we should..." Octavia tried to put into words her feeling that the evening was about to cave in upon itself. "No, no, I tol' you... told you. I'm not Twilight anymore, that's my daughter. I'm just... I don't know, Velvet or somethi..." the grey mare was hunched over her own empty glass of what used to be a twenty-year old red. She'd drunk more than Octavia, who'd bowed out of some of the really expensive stuff she wasn't sure would fit her tastes. Octavia did vaguely remember from a conversation about Twilight Velvet's family earlier in the night that she felt she needed to take lengths to avoid being confused with her daughter. "Alright then, 'Velvet', I think it's time we started..." Octavia acerbically quoted the name, trying not to let it show too much how she enjoyed the title the other mare had chosen for herself. Unsure of exactly how to describe what they should do, Octavia decided instead to demonstrate by action, using a hoof against the table to push her chair away and stand up. Unfortunately, as soon as she was on her hooves, she regretted it. The world span headily, and Octavia realized belatedly that even though she'd meant to eat something here, she hadn't so much as looked at the food menu. Octavia buried her head in a hoof, both to stop the spinning and in exasperation with herself. She had a feeling like she was forgetting something else, too...