Octavia stretched as she walked down the path. Rarity had finally shown her the dresses, and they had met with the cellist's approval Now she only had one more chore before she could return to her quarters and her music.
"That should be Fluttershy's house up ahead," said Pageturner. She gestured at a distant cottage. "It looks really cozy!"
The house was a quaint, wooden structure in front of a large forest. Octavia smiled to herself as she examined the surroundings; the cottage had a bucolic sort of beauty that meshed perfectly with the surrounding lawn and brook. It looked almost like one of her occasional daydreams, the one in which she bought a little house in a beautiful field and spent her time composing in solitude amidst the beauty of nature. The animals frolicking outside the house -- chickens pecking away at seed, birds tweeting, a white bunny cuddling a carrot -- completed the scene.
"Yep!" said Pageturner, pointing at a nearing sign. "That says it for sure. We're here!"
Octavia read the sign. "Fluttershy..." she paused. When she spoke again, her voice was cautious. "Town veterinarian."
"What?" asked Pageturner. "Is something wrong?"
"I was told that Fluttershy is a musician. But this sign says otherwise... perhaps there are two?"
Before Pageturner could respond, the door to the cottage opened and a yellow-coated, pink-maned pegasus trotted out of the house with a pot of tea and a few plates of crumpets balanced carefully on her back, wings, and head. "Who wants a picnic?" she chirped, smiling as a bunch of the animals raced to her and showered her in loving hugs. "Now, everyone get into a nice, neat line and you'll all get a tasty little snack!" She grinned. "Doesn't it just sound yummy?"
Octavia wasn't sure what to do next, but Pageturner walked up to the pony. "Hi, Miss Fluttershy?" she asked.
Fluttershy turned and smiled brightly at Pageturner and Octavia. "Hello! Can I help you?"
"Er, no," said Octavia. "My name is Octavia Philharmonica; I study music under Princess Cadance and am helping to organize the Vernel Equinox Celebration. I apologize; I thought you were the musician for the event. But I can see--"
"Oh, I am!" said Fluttershy. She was still smiling merrily. "Everyone, say hello to Miss Philharmonica, please!" The animals all waved or bowed at Octavia; the cellist was too unnerved to respond. "I'm so excited to meet you, Octavia. I've never performed for the Princess before, and..." Her smile flickered for a moment. "Well, I'm a little nervous..."
"...may I hear you play?" asked Octavia, wondering what was going on. Perhaps, she thought, this mare was a savant, able to perform with incredible skill despite only being a hobbyist. Or maybe her veterinary practice was a hobby, and she just didn't advertise her musical talents for some reason. There had to be a sensible explanation for why she had been chosen for such an important role."
"Of course. Everyone, I'm going to work with Miss Philharmonica for a bit. But I promise I'll come right back and we can all have more fun together!" Fluttershy chirped.
And with that, she led the two visitors inside her cottage.
***
The house was cluttered, Octavia noted, and full of homes for animals. There were birdhouses, cages, and even holes in the wall for rats and mice. There were also signs. Lots of signs.
“Manehattan Veterinary Clinic drive?” asked Octavia, carefully setting a large placard aside so she could sit down.
“Oh, yes!” said Fluttershy, pouring tea for the two visitors. “There’s a big drive right now to expand the Manehattan Veterinary Clinic. Poor animals... did you know that over three thousand pets in Manehattan might be sick or injured on any given day, but there are only enough hospital beds and wards for two thousand?” She took out a box and set it on the counter. “I’m leading the local efforts to raise money to expand one of their clinics. Any donation would be greatly appreciated.”
Pageturner nodded and withdrew a few bits from her saddlebag, which she tossed into the box. “How’s that?”
“Thank you! No amount is too small.” Fluttershy grinned. “What about you?” she asked Octavia. “All those animals would be ever so grateful.”
Octavia wasn't sure what to say. “Um... what exactly does the money go towards?”
"They want to build a new wing so they can care for more animals at once. They're also testing a whole new range of medicines that will help broken bones heal much faster. Dr. Warm Heart also wants to set aside a little park area so that animals who spend most of their lives indoors can gradually acclimate to the outside world, instead of being thrown into it." She pushed her donation box gently towards Octavia. "We would truly be honored if you were willing to assist."
Octavia put a few bits into the box, if only so they could move on. “The Princess will be here to hear you,” she said, in as calm a voice as she could manage. “I mean no disrespect, but... are you a hobbyist musician?”
“Well, music's not my job, but I think my birds and I are really good.” Fluttershy smiled sweetly. “Would you like to listen?”
Octavia nodded, pushing aside her unease. She would give Fluttershy a fair and open hearing. After all, it was entirely possible that she was good even if her actual career had nothing to do with music. As long as that possibility existed, Octavia would hear her out.
“Oh, little birdies!” chirped Fluttershy, fluttering up towards the top of the room. “We have a very special guest!”
Octavia sat back as the birds flew down, landing on stands and beginning to chirp a few warm-up notes. The cellist shut her eyes and focused her ears, tuning out Pageturner, noises from outside, and the other animals running around. There were only the birds, and nothing else mattered.
“Ready?” she faintly heard Fluttershy ask.
“Yes,” said Octavia.
And the birds began.
***
It wasn't bad.
The birds had chirped and tweeted three songs. Each of them were quite suitable for a Canterlot audience; they were classically inspired and elegantly performed. Octavia had heard very few wrong notes, and the vocal control of the birds was much better than she had expected. She would not be embarassed were the Princess to hear that music.
But still...
It was too simple, thought Octavia.
The first song was a formal march.The melodic and harmonic lines moved smoothly from bird to bird, each one tweeting a few notes before passing it on to the next. Beneath them, a few of the bigger birds consistently tweeted low notes in time with their companions, marking off the beats and helping structure the work. The march wound about, rising and falling at the right times and fulfilling every classical requirement, but it didn't do anything else. It lacked the sort of ornamentation that Octavia knew the Vernel Equinox Celebration, and for that matter Princess Cadance, deserved.
The second song was a slow waltz, the kind that old ponies danced to while they reminesced about their youth. The third was a simple sonata, one of the first by the foal prodigy Motezart. As with the first song, both were good... but neither was great. The music was not embarassing, Octavia thought, but it also wasn't going to stun Cadance with its virtuosity.
“What did you think?” asked Fluttershy. She had bowed her head and stepped back a few paces, as if afraid of a bad review. “Was it good? I’m sorry if I was slow; I was up all night helping Mr. Badger get better. He needs regular doses of powdered rose petal every twenty minutes to help his congestion...”
“It sounded good,” said Octavia, wondering how to say the rest of it. “It’s just..."
“I liked it!” said Pageturner.
Fluttershy caught Octavia's gaze. “Is it okay?" she asked.
Octavia thought for another few moments. “I think I understand the vocal range of your birds now. Would you mind if I tried modifying the music they’ll be singing? I think a few slight changes could really help sell your music to the Canterlot dignitaries.”
“Oh, would you do that? Thank you!” Fluttershy grinned. “I would be so grateful. I would hate to play music for the princess that she doesn’t like.”
"Of course. It will be no trouble." Octavia rose to take her leave. “In fact, I will begin as soon as I return to my quarters."
The meeting concluded, the two ponies from Canterlot turned to go. However, just as they were stepping out the door, Fluttershy called out--
“Oh! If you think any of your Canterlot friends would be interested in the clinic, just let them know! The more donations we get, the better off all those cute little animals will be!”
***
“She was nice!” said Pageturner. “She really loves those animals. Did you ever have a pet?”
“No, but my sister Viola has a cat,” said Octavia, stifling a chuckle. “Although I think it might be more accurate to say that the cat has a pet named Viola. My sister is at its beck and call. Groomings, fur-fluffings, preparing the finest cat food in all Chenneigh...”
Pageturner laughed. “Sounds like it has a pretty good life.”
“There are few creatures happier than a pampered pet.” Octavia smiled. “And speaking of happiness... all of my required visits are done. For the rest of the day, I can compose music for the festival. My own, and helping Fluttershy... and perhaps Medley too. I wonder if she could play that aeolian harp by using her wings...”
Pageturner frowned. “I’m... not sure you’re supposed to be doing that, Octavia.”
“Why not? It is my responsibility to make this Celebration a great success.”
“No... I’m pretty sure we’re just supposed to get the logistics handled. Make sure everypony knows where they’re supposed to go, help them arrive on time, that kind of thing. I don’t think you’re supposed to actually mess around with the music and--”
Octavia waved this off. “I am here to prove myself to the princess. What message would it send if I saw a problem but ignored it? If Medley or Fluttershy or any of the others need my help, I’ll be happy to assist.”
Pageturner frowned, but her next comment was forestalled by the arrival of a green-coated pegasus foal. “HI!” she yelled.
“Hi!” said Pageturner, while Octavia recovered from the noise. “I'm Pageturner, this is Octavia. What's your name?”
“I’M BEEBOP! I’M SUPPOSED TO FIND YOU TWO AND GET YOU TO SUGAR CUBE CORNER RIGHT AWAY!” yelled the foal. She was a green-coated pegasus... and, Octavia noted, a very loud one. “READY?"
“No," said Octavia. The desire to compose and practice burned within her; any more delay was almost painful. "I am very busy--"
“GREAT! FOLLOW ME!” And Beebop began running through the streets.
Octavia frowned. “I did not--” But Pageturner was pushing her along.
“Come on,” her assistant urged her. “What harm could there be in checking it out?”
“But my music...”
“It can wait a few minutes. Come on.”
Octavia sighed, but she did reluctantly follow.
***
Sugar Cube Corner was dark. Octavia couldn’t even see Beebop, who had run in ahead of her and Pageturner. “What now?” the cellist muttered.
Pageturner called, “Hello? Anypony home?”
“SURPRISE!”
And the lights flashed on.
Octavia winced at the bright light. Once she recovered, she saw about half the town crammed into the seating area of the bakery. "What is--"
“It’s a ‘welcome to Ponyville’ party!” chirped one pony -- the pink one from earlier, Octavia saw. “We’ve gots lots and lots of awesome food and drink and games! Have fun!”
Octavia looked around, noting that some ponies had moved between her and the door. “This... this really is not necessary,” she said. “I have a lot of music--”
“Now, the games are over there, and the cake is over there, and the drinks are here!” yelled Pinkie, as if she wasn’t paying the slightest bit of attention. “And -- oh! I know what would be fun! Let’s play pin the tail on the pony!”
Octavia turned to Pageturner. “Help me,” she insisted.
Pageturner grinned. “Sure,” she said. “I’ll help you... have some fun with the games!” And she and Pinkie began leading Octavia to the drinks table.
Octavia sighed as she let herself be dragged along. When Pageturner got like this, there was no talking to her. I suppose I can spare a few minutes, drink one glass of punch, and then leave. “Alright,” she said. “I will have a--”
“Oh!” said Pinkie Pie. “I almost forgot! We know you love music, so we brought the awesomest musician in Ponyville here to play some super-duper music for you!”
Octavia did perk up her ears at that. “Oh,” she said. “Well... thank you. Who is this musician? What does she play?”
Pinkie Pie grinned. “Everypony, give a big hoof to... DJ PON-3!” She swept her hoof at an empty spot of wall... which suddenly flashed and rippled to reveal a white-coated, blue-maned unicorn in gigantic sunglasses who was standing by a record table, drumkit, and set of gigantic speakers.
“DJ PON-3 IS IN THE HOUSE!” screamed the unicorn, to the cheers of the crowd. “And my latest composition -- Wubstep All the Way!”
Octavia blinked. “Wubstep?” She was not familiar with that genre.
And then Vinyl began to play.
***
It was the worst music Octavia had ever heard.
There was no pitch, no harmony, and barely any rhythm. Octavia only heard blasts of energy from the speakers, smashes from Vinyl thumping on some noisy drums, and scratching from the turntable.
It was terrible.
Octavia felt that she had demonstrated almost supernatural forbearance in not running, screaming, from the bakery seconds after the pony began. Instead -- after giving the DJ a death-glare that she didn’t seem to notice, she carefully turned around, took her one drink of punch, and began to calmly walk towards the door.
“WAIT!” screamed Pinkie, running between her and the exit. “You can’t leave yet! We just started!”
Octavia glared at her. “I am sure you can get along without me.”
“But -- but what’s wrong? Maybe you just haven’t had enough punch yet!” And Pinkie suddenly grabbed Octavia’s muzzle, opened it, and poured a glass of punch in.
Coughing, Octavia pushed her away and glared at her. “No! It -- this is not music! This is just noise! Music is supposed to be elegant, and beautiful, and--”
“What?” yelled Pinkie. “I can’t hear you!”
“I SAID, MUSIC IS--”
“AWESOME? I AGREE! YAY!” Pinkie grinned and dragged Octavia back towards the center of the room. “Everypony, dance time!” she screamed.
Octavia tried as hard as she could, without actually screaming and forsaking off her dignity, to get out, but Pinkie seemed to have some preternatural ability to locate her when she was trying to sneak away so that she could drag her back into the center of the bakery. It didn’t help that Pageturner seemed to be on the pink pony’s side, dragging her back to the games, or the cake (which Octavia couldn’t eat, due to her diet), or some other diversion. In the end, Octavia was still at the party when the DJ's first set -- a full hour of music that made Octavia want to stuff up her own ears with mud -- finished.
“DJ PON-3 IS TAKING A BREAK!” the DJ yelled. “But she’ll be back in FIFTEEN MINUTES, so don’t go anywhere!” And, with one last drumbeat, the pony stopped playing. And Octavia could hear herself think again.
“There,” said Octavia. She was aware that she was sweating and looked a mess, but she was past the point of caring. “That was the conclusion of the set. Now, I really must be leaving.”
“But you can’t go now!” said Pinkie Pie. “Vinnie wants to meet you!”
“Vinnie?”
“Vinyl Scratch. That’s the DJ’s real name,” explained Pinkie Pie. “I told her there was a super-special awesome musician coming in from Canterlot, and she was all, ‘I gotta meet her!’ And I promised her I’d try to get you two to meet! I Pinkie-Promised!”
Octavia had no idea what that was, but she figured that the DJ might at least let her leave the bakery, unlike the pink party pony. “Alright... I will talk to her.”
“Yay!”
Within moments, Pinkie had left, returned with the blue-maned unicorn, and vanished off again to help Pageturner eat a cake the size of Octavia’s head. Octavia looked at the DJ. “Hello. I am Octavia Philharmonica.”
“Yo. Vinyl Scratch, at your service.” Vinyl grinned. “Pretty sick beats, huh?”
“Yes,” said Octavia, choosing to use the more literal sense of that phrase. The music had certainly sounded sick -- like it had the pony pox. “Quite an... unusual set of pieces.”
“Yeah. Well, it’s just what spoke to me, y’know?” Vinyl grinned. “When I was a foal, I looked at all those old styles with all those old rules, and it was just stuffy and boring. Didn’t make me wanna get up and dance. So I made my own! I call it wubstep.” She winked. “What do you think?”
“Very... different.” Octavia was reluctant to lie, even in a situation like this. “I can honestly say I have never heard anything like it.”
“Hey, if you want to incorporate a few of those beats into your own stuff, feel free.” Vinyl smirked and playfully nudged Octavia’s shoulder. “I don’t mind. Just give credit where credit’s due, y’know? Tell everypony where you got your latest awesome themes from.”
Octavia had a brief fantasy about throwing Vinyl into her own speakers, but she just said, “If I use your themes, I will credit you. Now -- I’m sorry, but I really must return to my quarters. I have some music of my own to work on.”
She had expected Vinyl to protest, but to her surprise, the DJ nodded. “Totally understand. Hope I didn’t keep you.” She chuckled. “Guess I'll see you at the Equinox thingie?"
"...yes." Vernal Equinox Celebration... one of the two most important holidays in the nation, you...
"Well, lookin' forward to it. I gotta get some punch before that Pinkie drinks it all -- take it from me, she's a real party animal." Vinyl flashed a smile. "See you there!"
Octavia watched her go, then marched to the door, eyes narrowed. Yes. Yes, you will. And I will make it worth all of our whiles... you, me, and everypony in this music-forsaken town...
***
“Didn’t like the music?”
Octavia turned to see Pageturner entering their room. “I’m sorry?”
“You left right after the first set.”
“I had to work on this.” Octavia nodded at the sheet music in front of her. “You know, I was worried that the town might not be ready for my music... but I was thinking about that in the wrong way.”
Pageturner paused. “You mean, you’ll adapt your music to the local styles?”
“What, wubstep? Of course not.” Octavia shook her head. “Why does this town not have good music? It isn't their fault, Pageturner -- they simply don't know what good music is. The best classical musician they know of in the town is Bluenote, who got drummed out of the orchestras because she wouldn't practice enough. No wonder they think some pony like Vinyl is the best musical wonder since Beethoofven, and say that Fluttershy, a hobbyist, is fit to perform for the Princess... while they let Medley languish in a dying shop” She paused, a smile starting to slide over her face. “But imagine if this town were shown what great music really was. Imagine if they learned to properly appreciate it. Medley would receive the recognition she deserves, instead of being surrounded by ponies who cannot appreciate her ability. Fluttershy would be able to hear what her birds should sound like, so she could take them to that level. They could sound truly glorious if she just knew more of music than foal marches. Maybe even Bluenote would be inspired to try harder, make something more of herself. And all the others, all the ponies in this town who know nothing of the great musicians... why, it could be like a local renaissance.” She grinned.
Pageturner stared. “What?”
“I will play so beautifully tomorrow that they won’t be able to help but hear what real music should sound like. They’ll hear in an instant the difference between quality music and ‘wubs.’ With Fluttershy’s birds singing sophisticated music, Medley’s harp, my own cello compositions... I will show this town what it has been missing. Cadance will see me leading a whole town forward, into a grand new era of lovely music. What better way could I demonstrate my skills to her, than to teach others as well as she has taught me?” Octavia turned back to her music. “I’ll work all night if I have to, but this music will change the village.”
“Octavia.”
The cellist blinked. Pageturner sounded unusually serious. “Yes?”
“I really think you’re making a mistake. This isn’t what you’re supposed to be doing! You'll get in trouble!"
"From who?"
“The town could get mad at you. And the Princess could become upset.”
“Upset? At trying to help others understand music, her favorite art? I doubt that. Even if I fail, and the town learns nothing, Princess Cadance will be impressed that I made the attempt.” Octavia shook her head. “You worry too much. Let me handle the composition. I guarantee, tomorrow, after the Equinox... the whole town will never be the same.”
And with that, Octavia began writing her score again. She had only a few hours, and there was so much music she needed to create.