Fluttershy whined as she followed Angel Bunny into the woods. Fluttershy sighed, following her pet as he showed no signs of slowing. She had been wallowing in self-pity back at her cottage but then Angel pestered her until she got up and followed him. This was actually normally the time he disappeared anyway so she had no idea where he was taking her. Normally she would be ecstatic to find out where he went but right now she just wanted to be alone in her own sadness. She was about to protest again when her ears perked up at a sound, looking about as she heard music echoing about the trees. She followed Angel a little faster, her sadness suppressed by her new curiosity on who was playing music in the woods?
Fluttershy walked out into a small clearing in the middle of which sat standing Octavia with her cello. She was surrounded by a small army of animals listening to her play her wonderful music. Fluttershy silently wondered at the fact that she'd never known about this. Many of her animal friends would disappear around this time regularly, and she realized that they must have been coming here, but she hadn't heard of this happening. She closed her eyes as she listened to the music. She was by no means an expert in classical music, Octavia's specialty but she was fairly familiar with it as it was Rarity's favorite and one of Twilight's. She had never heard this specific song before, but it was extremely beautiful. She smiled as she let the music lead her mind away from her troubles and back towards the simple pleasures of life.
Fluttershy was so caught up in the music it took her a few moments to realize that the song had ended. Fluttershy opened her eyes to see that Octavia had also opened her eyes, that had been closed during her performance but they weren't happy. Octavia was glaring daggers at Fluttershy like she had broken some sacred trust between the two. Fluttershy whimpered and started to back out of the circle her ears down when she felt her hoof caught, Angel Bunny was holding onto her left and shaking his head. Fluttershy whimpered a little and looked back at Octavia, who was still looking unhappy but did seem to have her anger directed at Angel instead of Fluttershy. Angel Bunny for his part hopped up to Octavia and beat one of his big feet on the ground, staring up at her defiantly, crossing his little arms.
A few moments later Octavia broke her staring contest with the defiant bunny to look at Fluttershy again. Fluttershy took a nervous step back but this time Octavia just gave her a long assessing look before closing her eyes and starting to play again. Fluttershy sighed in relief but still had every intention to leave whether or not Angel protested or not. But then Octavia started playing. She started off this song low and slow, Fluttershy would say that it sounded almost mournful as Octavia teased out the sounds from her cello. Fluttershy felt herself almost compelled to sit back down at the sound curled up around her, almost caressing her ears with its slow melody. She shivered slightly as she listened to this strange song that Octavia was playing for her.
Fluttershy couldn't say why but she knew that, for some reason, Octavia was playing this song for her, and her alone. It wasn't for the animals here, they were just bystanders at the moment. It wasn't Octavia practicing, she obviously had this song perfected to the point where she could play it in her sleep. No, Octavia had looked into Fluttershy's eyes, seen into her very soul and chosen this song out of her large repertoire to play for Fluttershy at that moment in time. And while Fluttershy didn't know how, Octavia had chosen perfectly. Fluttershy tried to stop the tears by closing her eyes tight but she couldn't help it. The sad, mournful music coaxed them out of her. She couldn't help but let the tears flow for what she had lost.
Fluttershy had had a crush on Muffins for a long time now but she hadn't ever had the courage to say anything. She had been trying over and over to no avail then the final kick in the flank came when she found out Coco and Applejack weren't only getting engaged but had set a date for the wedding already! And while she didn't actually blame them for her own disappointment she did curse the way it had made her feel, the need it put inside of her. Of her closest friends only she and Twilight weren't in a relationship and everyone was going well. Though Fluttershy didn't know much about Zecora and Pinkie Pie's relationships Pinkie Pie had kept it a secret for six months, that was a huge sign of devotion, especially for Pinkie Pie. Applejack and Coco were getting married, that was self-explanatory. Though Flitter wouldn't openly admit it she was extremely enamored with Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy could tell Rainbow Dash was equally pleased with her new marefriend. Minuette and Rarity were hitting it off well, Minuette seemed to be a different pony when Rarity was around, which made Fluttershy a little concerned about her changing for Rarity but that wasn't really her business.
All this love around her and she didn't have anyone. That had been the catalyst for her to approach Muffins and tell her about her feelings. Unfortunately for Fluttershy, Muffins wasn't into mares. Thankfully Fluttershy had still been shy enough to ask Muffins off to the side to broach the subject, and Muffins, being one of the kindest ponies that Fluttershy knew had let her down easy, but it was still a terrible memory for Fluttershy. She knew that Muffins wouldn't tell anyone and Fluttershy wasn't intending to but it still felt terrible. She felt like everyone knew, even though that had been impossible. She sighed as she continued to silently let her tears flow, not sure what she should be doing with her life. She knew that she had a good life, lots of friends and animals. But she knew she wanted a pony to share it with. Some ponies were fine with being alone and she envied those ponies. Fluttershy needed someone to love and to love her, and more than just friends.
Fluttershy again was so wrapped up in the song, then her thoughts with the song only becoming the background catalyst she again took a few moments to realize the song had ended. She opened one eye to see that Octavia was watching her again, thought his time she didn't show any of the anger or annoyance that had shown on her face earlier. Looking around Fluttershy realized that the two of them were now alone, all the animals had left the clearing to them. She licked her muzzle looking nervously at Octavia, but unwilling to break the silence she simply pointed at Octavia's cello with a hoof, hoping for another song. After a few moments, Octavia took up her bow again and started to play another sad, slow song for Fluttershy to experience.