My Composition For You

by scorpclawFF


A Music Friendship

My Composition For You
Chapter 1 - A Musical Friendship

The Grand Gala for Musicians is one of the most prestigious get-togethers in Canterlot. It is held at Hoofington Hall and only the best of the best are invited to receive awards, meet up with fellow musicians, and have fun. Octavia Philharmonica was one of those gifted musicians, and she was holding in her excitement.
It was actually her first invitation to such an event, and she felt confident that she would get an award or two.
However, when she arrived to the gala, she felt a little nervous being around some of the best musicians in Equestria. She only recognized most of them from pictures and videos but never had the chance to actually interact with them. It didn't help that Octavia didn't have the best social skills.
She speaks with music and not with words.
Octavia looked around the massive lobby in Hoofington Hall, observing all of the ponies in suits and expensive dresses. Octavia looked down at her own dress and figured that she was in appropriate attire for the event. She wore a simple, yet dazzling, purple dress to match her eyes and to contrast from her dull grey mane. Her usual pink bowtie completed the outfit.
She continued to look around the hall, not at the dresses, but at the ponies. Octavia knew that some of her friends would be attending the gala, and she hoped that they would be able to help her get into a clique. There is power in numbers, after all. Though, it didn't take long for her to notice her friends crowded in a clique of their own with a couple of other ponies that she didn't recognize. She eagerly went to join without seeming too out-of-place.
When she entered the circle of friends, Frederic Horseshoepin immediately engaged her into their conversation. "Ah Octavia, I'm glad that you made it. This is your first Grand Gala for Musicians, isn't it?"
"Yes, it is," Octavia replied with a smile. Frederic was always there for her to make sure that she felt included.
"Well, then I'm sure we can make it a good evening for you then. You remember Beauty Brass, right?"
"I do." Octavia reached out a hoof and the blue mare delightfully shook it. "It was wonderful to play alongside you at the Grand Galloping Gala last month."
"Likewise, Octavia. At that time, I only heard good things about a rising star cellist. I finally got to see what everypony had been talking about, and they were absolutely correct. I was impressed."
Octavia tried to conceal her blush. It wasn't often that a talented pony like Beauty Brass complimented her on her playing.
"Oh, Beauty Brass," Frederic interjected. "You're making Octavia blush."
Octavia tried to hide her embarrassment. "I'm not blushing."
The group chuckled to themselves. "Don't worry, Octavia. I'm just pulling your leg. Here, let me introduce you to Lyrica-" He pointed to a pale lavender pony with a cream-colored mane and moved his hoof over to a purple pony "- and Violet Melody."
Octavia smiled. "It's nice to meet the both of you."
Lyrica nodded her head and returned Octavia's smile. "As much as I do enjoy making your acquaintance, Octavia, Frederic was about to let us in on a little surprise, and I'm getting a bit curious."
Octavia eyed Frederic curiously. "Oh Frederic, do tell. It's not like we talk too much about personal stuff at rehearsals and concerts."
"Alright, fine. You know my marefriend, Sweet Sound?"
"The clarinet player?" Violet Melody replied.
"Yes, her. Well... she sadly didn't get invited to the Gala this year for some strange reason, so she's a little bit down tonight. Though, I'm going to be taking her to dinner in an hour or so to boost her spirits."
Octavia rolled her eyes after Frederic stopped talking. "Come on, Frederic. You made it sound like this is really important. Don't be afraid to tell us."
Lyrica gasped with delight after she made a small revelation. "Are you going to propose tonight, Frederic?"
Frederic looked away for a second and then turned back to the group. "Yes, I am."
The four mares looked at each other and smiled. When the three of them looked back at Frederic, Lyrica was the first to speak up. "Oh, I knew it. You two are just so precious. She really does bring out the romantic side of him. I managed to catch them Le Mañer and he gave her the most brilliant bouquet of flowers."
Frederic chuckled with a bit of embarrassment in his breath. "There's Lyrica for you. She is devoted to her music, but I believe you have a second life as a romance novelist."
Lyrica gave Frederic a small glare. "I do not." She straightened herself up professionally before saying, "The romance novels are only a small side project."
The other three ponies chuckled to themselves. Octavia cleared her throat, "Well, I think it's wonderful that you are going to propose. You will definitely be one of the few musicians in our world to actually make it this far."
Lyrica, Beauty Brass, and Violet Melody then turned and stared at Octavia. Beauty Brass then said, "Octavia, hunny, that must be a joke. Many people here have significant others. I was almost sure that you had a coltfriend that you weren't mentioning to us."
"Well, it's not like I have much time to do this relationship thing with me being so busy. If I'm not at rehearsal or a concert, I'm practicing the cello at home."
"Well, you would have to make time," Lyrica said with a bright tone. "I'm sure that it must get lonely when you come home to nothing but your cello. I love music more than the next pony, but there's more to life than just music."
"I never really thought of it that way, but it doesn't matter much. There hasn't been a colt that has captured my fancy."
Lyrica rolled her eyes. "As unbelievable as that sounds, I really think you should get yourself out there. Who knows, there are a lot of single colts out in the Gala right now. Perhaps one of them will be your first."
Octavia smiled and then chuckled a bit to herself. "Fine. I've only known you for about a good ten minutes, and you're already thinking up ways to make my life better."
Lyrica presented herself proudly. "It's my special talent. My cutie mark might as well have been a heart."
They all chuckled at Lyrica's proud stance. Frederic eyed the rest of the hall and returned his gaze to the group. "We've been secluded in this group for a bit long. Let's go mingle for a bit. I can introduce you to some more people, Octavia."
Octavia smiled, satisfied that her plan to get acquainted with more music ponies had worked. "Thanks, Frederic. I would appreciate that."
The five ponies then separated and made their way around Hoofington Hall, making friends with some of the other ponies. Some of the ponies recognized Octavia, and complimented her on her work. Although the good comments were making Octavia feel very proud of her progress, especially from highly-esteemed musicians, she still couldn't help but think back to Lyrica's comment. All of the colts that she encountered were nice and their musical talents were extensive, but she didn't have much of a connection with any of them. It made her a bit paranoid, and she thought that she was 'different' from everypony else because she didn't have a significant other. Though, she didn't let that bother her too much and sustained a fake smile as she talked with the rest of the people at the Gala.


After about an hour of talking with the rest of the musician ponies there, Frederic said that he had to go and everypony granted him luck on his proposal. Octavia was happy for Frederic's possible amazing future with Sweet Sound and hope that she says 'yes'. Though, Octavia now lost the pony who was connecting her with everypony else, and her shyness returned. She no longer had the confidence to talk to any of the ponies there, and she really just wanted to be alone for a little bit.
Across from the lobby in Hoofington Hall, there is an outdoor terrace that overlooks a large garden. She made her way through all of the ponies and went outside into the terrace. The cool breeze touched her face as she stepped out, contrasting Hoofington Hall's warm interior. There was no-pony out there, so she was able to enjoy the cool air and beautiful by herself. Just the way she liked it.
She enjoyed the lonely experience as she was able to get lost in her thoughts. Silence is truly bliss. Though, she wondered if it would be better if somepony was out there with her to comfort her slight paranoia. She didn't want any of the ponies from the Gala to comfort her, though. She wanted a friend.
"Octavia?" a quiet, feminine voice said.
Octavia turned to her right and noticed that there was a mare on the other side of the fencing surrounding Hoofington Hall. She looked at the mare's white coat and electric blue mane and tried to think of who could possibly recognize her. Though, it didn't take long for Octavia to say, "Vinyl?"
"Oh Celestia, Octy. I was just walking down the street to get back to my apartment, and then I heard what was going on in there. What is this? What are you doing here?"
Octavia approached the gated area and replied, "This is the Grand Gala for Musicians. The most prestigious and talented musicians get invited."
"Sounds fancy."
"It is. What are you doing in Canterlot, Vinyl? I thought you were living in Ponyville to further your career as a DJ."
"I still do live in Ponyville, but I have a gig in Canterlot all week. It's going to be sick. You should totally come check me out one of the days. I'm performing at the Canter Lot, and I can get you in for free."
"Oh, well, Vinyl. You know that your DJ work isn't really my style," Octavia said bluntly. She bit her lip because she knew what she said was mean, but it was the truth.
"Come on, Octavia. Ditch your whole fancy orchestra for one night to check me out. My music has definitely changed for the better, and I think you're going to like what I have for Canterlot this next week. Besides, it'll give us a chance to catch after, what... 4 years."
"5 years, I think. I don't know, Vinyl. I have a reputation to uphold here."
Vinyl sighed. "This is dumb, Octy. Talking like this. Get to the other side of this gate so that we can actually talk."
"I can't leave now. I'm still attending this party."
"Oh please, Octavia. I'm sure that you're just out here because you're too shy to even talk to any of these fancy-pants musicians. It may have been five years, but I know you better than that."
"But I can't just leave. That would be rude."
"Yes, you can. You control your own life, and you can control when you are ready to leave."
Although Octavia didn't want to admit it, she knew that Vinyl was right. She was having only an okay time at the party at this point, and even if Vinyl didn't show up, she would've left anyways. "I'll be over there in a minute."
"Alright, Octavia! I knew you would come to your senses."
Octavia turned away from the gate and re-entered the lobby where ponies were still talking amongst each other. No-pony seemed to even notice that she was all by herself out on the terrace, so she figured that she had made the right choice to leave. Though, she had Vinyl to thank for that. She left the premises without even saying good-bye to the mares that she just met and saw Vinyl standing there.
"Octavia Philharmonica, taking the big step from a small-town string player to a stuck-up cellist."
Octavia rolled her eyes. "Vinyl Scratch, taking the big step from an egotistic DJ to an egotistic DJ. It seems that we're both making strong developments in our careers."
Vinyl chuckled, giving respect to Octavia for being able to return an insult. "Hey, I'm not e-go-tis-tic. I'm just the best DJ in Equestria."
Octavia smiled. "Sure, we'll go with that."
Vinyl chuckled again, noticing the clear signs of sarcasm in Octavia's voice. "Yeah, whatever. I've missed you so much, Octy. I can't believe it has been five years since we've seen each other. A lot of things must've have changed and everything. I'm sure you have this totally awesome coltfriend or something that can play the violin and piano with his back hooves."
"And his tongue," Octavia added, making a joke out of it.
Vinyl gave Octavia a wide-eyed look. "Are you being serious with me right now? He must be completely amazing at french kissing."
"Of course not, Vinyl. I still haven't had a coltfriend of my own."
Vinyl sighed. "Dang. I was really hoping you could show me how he could play the piano with his tongue. That would be amazing. But I guess that's something that the two of us have in common."
"What, that we both want to see a colt run his tongue down a piano? I don't know if you like that, but I'm not as much of a fan."
"No, I'm talking about how I have never been in a relationship with anypony, either. It would just conflict with my music life anyway. I'm just too busy."
Octavia went wide-eyed, because she realized that Vinyl was in the same situation that she was in. After Lyrica made her feel that she was the only one who has never been in a relationship, it's nice to know that Octavia could share her feelings with somepony else. "I'm in the same boat as you. Music is too much apart of my life at the moment."
Their conversation would've gone on for longer, but the mares began to hear bells tolling in the distance. Octavia knew that it was from the bell tower in Hoofington Hall. It went off every hour, so Octavia was able to check the time and noticed that it was already midnight. "Oh, I've been at this party longer than I thought I would be."
"What, it's only midnight. I stay up all-night almost every night."
"Well, that's where we're different. I have to get up early in the morning to practice the cello. Since there is no rehearsal tomorrow, I need to get as much practicing in as I can."
"Octavia, you're crazy with this whole 'music is my life' thing. Why don't we head our separate ways now, and we go grab some breakfast tomorrow? We can catch up then, and you can go get your precious beauty sleep."
Octavia smiled. She knew that music wasn't her entire life, but sometimes she just needed to be reminded. "Alright, Vinyl. We'll go your way this time."
"Good. And I have one more proposal. You won't touch your cello or really any other instrument all of tomorrow. Alright? I can already tell you need a break from all of this."
"Come on, Vinyl. We'll have the breakfast tomorrow, but I need to practice too."
"No, you don't, Octy. You're amazing enough to be invited a fancy-pants event like the Grand Gala for Musicians that only invites the best of the best. You can take ONE day off to take your mind off of things."
Octavia thought about it for a moment, and knew that Vinyl was right again. Octavia regretfully said, "Alright, I won't touch my cello tomorrow."
"Awesome. There's this awesome-looking place across from where I'm staying called Le Mañer. We should go there for breakfast."
Octavia smiled, Le Mañer reminding her of Frederic, who probably is a fiancée by now. "Sure that sounds like a lovely plan."
"Oh, this is going to be awesome. Catching up with my best friend after all of these years. I'll see you at 11:00."
Octavia wasn't fond of the idea of having breakfast as late as 11, but she knew that Vinyl was a night owl and that she probably had a later meal schedule. "Alright, that sounds good. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm tired and I need to get some rest."
"Yes, you rest your beautiful head, Octy," Vinyl said as an unusual remark.
Octavia didn't even come up with a sizable response as she walked off back to her house. She had a lot to think on. The long night gave her a lot to think about.