22. In the Spotlight
“Here you are, dear.” Note magically floated the lovingly used wooden bow over to Melody, gently resting it on top of her hoof. Melody carefully grabbed the bow, testing its weight and balance. It was surprisingly well made, not at all what she was expecting. Giving her an encouraging smile, Note walked over, stopping directly in front of her. “Don't worry about trying to be perfect. I’m not here to judge you in the slightest, and neither are they, okay?” he softly spoke with a warm smile, lightly resting a hoof on her shoulder for a moment. “Now, are you ready?” Note asked, stepping off to the side to give her a little space.
“Yeah, I guess so,” Melody responded, an unsure look in her eyes as they darted from Note back down to where Silver and Granita were seated. “Did you want me to just play a song I know or…?”
“That would be lovely if you already have one in mind. If not, I was just going to ask you to play me a few different notes as I watch your technique. Whichever you prefer,” he casually stated.
“Hmm… Might be best if you just told me the notes, and I’ll try to play them. I'm not used to a cello this size, so I might be a little, umm, off?” Melody hesitantly remarked, her hoof tracing down the oh so aptly named fingerboard. The way the string felt was like night and day, only serving to remind her how much she missed her fingers as the four strings smoothly slid under her hard hoof. How am I supposed to do this? I can’t even press a single string down without pressing another one... or three. With a sigh, Melody closed her eyes for a moment, taking in a calming breath, slowly releasing it as she gave Note a nod, letting him know she was ready.
Note nodded as he watched the filly’s hooves and body language, ready to catch her or the cello in case of any little accidents. “Now then, can you play me an A?”
An A? Oh thank you for starting out with something easy! The bow slowly hovered over the strings in her hoof. Melody was finding it to be a little wobbly and almost impossible to hold correctly as to what she was used to, but she was going to try anyways, even if she had to learn this all over again from scratch! Goodbye twenty years of practice. Thanks brain, that wasn’t depressing in the slightest...
“Woah, hold up a minute,” Note interrupted right as Melody was about to draw the bow across the string. “Here, try holding it like this instead,” he said, moving to her other side as he gently took the bow in his magic. “Put your hoof out like this for me.” He pointed his hoof upwards so she could see the bottom of it. “Now, you want to hold the grip with this part of your hoof, letting just the very tip of your hoof rest on the camlin to help guide it,” he instructed, moving the grip of the bow to the dead center of the frog of her hoof. “Now lightly squeeze to hold on to it. But not too hard now or it will not only put extra strain on you, and the bow won't glide as freely as it should.”
Doing as he instructed, Melody squeezed the bow, slowly moving it back into a playing position, getting a feel for the way it moved and reacted in her hoof. It definitely felt better this way. “Like this,” she asked, hoping that this was the way Note wanted since a few of those words he used she didn’t quite understand.
Note nodded and took a step back. “Now try and play an A. Take it nice and slow until you get the feel for it.”
Glancing up, Melody exhaled, looking out to Granita and Silver. The older mare was patiently waiting and gave her an encouraging nod while Silver looked like he was bored out of his mind, messing picking at something in his seat. Melody lightly shook her head at the colt’s non-existent attention span, grinning for just a second and then focused her attention back on the cello. Moving the bow to the correct string, she rested the hair on the smallest of them for a heartbeat before slowly drawing it back in a single, smooth motion, filling the room with a vibrant, low hum that lasted only for a few brief seconds.
“Ohh! Very good!” Note remarked, clapping his hooves together as Melody lightly blushed from the praise. “You have excellent foreleg control, especially for somepony your age. The tone was rich, steady, and solid all the way through,” he said with an excited smile. “Can you show me how well you can play a D, then G, then E?”
“Thanks,” Melody softly replied, giving him a quick, but small, smile. That one simple note had filled her with confidence and a burning desire to keep going. Sure, this was just the very basic of basics, but she had never seen, nor heard, of a pony, or any other hooved creature, play a cello back home before, though it would have been quite the sight.
Moving the bow back into position, Melody played the next three notes, each with the same precision and grace as the first one, earning her more praise from Note and Granita this time as well. Silver still didn’t look like he was all that interested as he had been expecting her to actually play a song or two instead of single notes from the way she had been talking about playing earlier. Oh well, this was about her and not him.
“Excellent, excellent. I can tell that you have had a lot of practice before though you do have some questionable techniques.”
“Huh? Like what?” Melody curiously asked, turning to look at him.
“Well, for one, the way you are resting the neck, your positioning, your overall movements, and other little things here and there that caught my attention.” Note pointed out as he did a small circle around her. “I can tell you have talent, but something is blocking it from truly showing. You will need a lot of practice to make it blossom and shine, my dear.”
A slight frown appeared on Melody’s face as he pointed out many things wrong with how she was playing. Though she really shouldn't be upset about that as this was to be expected being in a new body and all. Still, she couldn’t help be feel a hit to her pride after all the years of hard work and practice she had done. Starting over sucks. “That bad, huh?”
“Oh, no no no, dear,” Note tsked, shaking his head. “You are still very young, and you did an excellent job playing so far. In fact, far better than most your age. It seems that whoever taught you before, neglected a few of the, shall we say, basic things. But you have the desire to play and make beautiful music, to show all of Equestria your wonderful talent, do you not?” he asked with a grin and a gleam in his eyes.
“I dunno about all of Equestria, but I do want to play. I enjoy playing more than almost anything else,” Melody lightly responded, grinning at how dramatic Note had been on the delivery of that question.
“Glad to hear, my dear! The world needs more musicians with drive and passion. Heart and soul~” he adamantly stated. There was fire in his words as he started to go on a rant when the bell above the front door chimed, cutting him off as he blinked. “Oh, another customer. Would you three excuse me for a moment while I attend to my clientele?” Note asked, his voice changing back to normal like someone flicking off a switch.
“Go right ahead, Mr. Note. I’ll make sure these two stay outta trouble while yer tendin’ to yer work,” Granita stated, smiling up to Melody on the stage. Note thanked her and nodded, quickly exiting the stage before slipping into the showroom.
Melody was fidgeting with the cello and moving the bow back and forth above the strings, not really paying attention to Silver or Granita. This is so awkward. I’m amazed I was even able to play what I did. How am I supposed to hold down the proper strings without pressing on the others?
“You going to play some more or just stand up there frowning at it?” Silver spoke up, cutting through Melody’s glum thoughts.
“I would like ta hear you play more too,” Granita warmly stated in an encouraging tone.. “Those few notes ya did play sounded mighty good. String a few of those ta-gether and yer in business.”
“I…” Melody paused for a moment, looking down at both of them from the stage. “Yeah,” she said as a small smile grew on her lips. “I’ll play some some more.” Straightening herself back up, Melody got into position once again and let out a small breath. She had just the song in mind too.
Slowly, her small hooves began to move, the notes lazy and long as she fraught with the fingerboard on every note change. Whereas it used to come naturally to her, she was now having to think about where and how to place her hoof. The hard edge of her hoof seemed to work the best, but it was easy to slip and miss a note or end it too soon as the strings slid out unexpectedly. Still, she played on, missed notes and all.
The song she wove was somber and slow, made even more so in her inexperienced hooves. The melody was a perfect reflection of things lost over the past few months, and uncertainty of things to come in the future. But, through all that, she kept up hope for the better. Closing her eyes, a faint smiled danced across her face as the notes smoothed out, flowing beautifully together now that she was letting her heart conduct her hooves instead of her mind, creating a wonderful, and completely improvised, harmony. As she played, there was a slow tingling buildup along her lower spine. Thinking that it was just from the awkward standing position, Melody thought nothing of it and soon, there was a slight itch on her flanks and then it simply vanished as quickly as it came.
As she drew out the final note, there was a sudden stomping of hooves that made her eyes snap open in surprise. The rhythmic beating reminded her of a low frequency applause against the wooden floor that she could feel through the stool, making her gasp. Back by the exit to the showroom was Note along with three others, presumably the customers he had went to take care of earlier. They were all lightly cheering and stomping their hooves along with Silver and Granita. Time had little meaning while she had been playing, drowning the outside world out as she was sucked into the music. The only thing she could do was to stand there on top of the stool and slightly bow, if only to hide her growing blush. Why are they all cheering for me? That was... It was slow and sloppy at best is what it was. I don’t get it.
“You got your cutie mark!” Silver stated, rushing the stage alongside Granita as the applause died down.
“My what?” Melody remarked, caught completely off guard as Granita picked her up into a big, warm hug. “Hey, what gives?”
Setting the filly back down, Granita pointed to Melody’s flank. “I’m so proud of you! You earned your cutie mark,” she enthusiastically stated, fighting the urge to pick her up and squeeze her little filly again.
“It looks awesome too!” Silver interjected, softly poking Melody in the flank.
Quickly spinning in a circle, and ignoring Silver's invasion of personal space, Melody craned her neck to see. I actually got a cutie mark?! I’m a human, how could I get…? Her train of thought ground to a halt, leaving the passengers inside the Melody Express confused, bewildered, and overwhelmingly elated at what they saw. Adorning her grey flank was a prominently displayed lilac colored coda.
"I GOT MY CUTIE MARK!"
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She has a coda as a Cutie Mark... I guess that means that it is the end of any possibility of her becoming human again.
7834062
Such a spoiler in your comment~
Also, I loved reading your stories.
7834077 LeGasp! You should have kept silent, so people will counter it and state that it was an asinine statement!
Thanks, I like your story too, hence why I was first post
Update~
7834115 LOL! You blacked out the wrong part, haha.
I'm not saying whether she will ever get to be human again.
7834139 Hence why I say people might call my comments asinine at times
I swear I thought that was just called a music note I didn't know it actually had a name. Hmm the more you know.
What a great way to start off the new year,
And have a good one by the way,
7834247 Glad I could brighten the start of your year!
Yay she got her cutie mark, nice chapter to the start of a new year
Looking forward for more! 
I had to work last night, about all the celebration I could do was pop open a can of soda, open a bag of chips and make a toast to myself for surviving another year.
Love this story, and glad to see it alive again!
"Oh story that dwells in long forgotten ages, rise up again and walk the front pages!"
'Waves voodoo stick in a whimsical way'
7836431
img.memecdn.com/zecora-shes-good_o_616714.jpg
7834182 The thing is, if this is supposed to be Octavia, then her cutie mark is a treble clef, which is not the same as a coda.
You updated!
And went straight to something plot relevant!
7838402
I see what you did there.
7837068 Maybe she's her mom or something.
7839050
7834062
Oh no doubt it would be mean, especially if it happened years later after she makes strong friendships and whatnot because no one wants to feel like the ball inside a pinball machine.
But then again, not everyone wishes to be a pony living in a vastly inferior technological place away from her friends and family, so who knows how Chloe would feel about it. She might be glad to go back home.
It's something interesting to think about though, but we will just have to wait and see if the opportunity ever presents itself to actually find out.
7838604 I have NO idea what you are talking about.
great to see more of this story again.
7837068
Considering this happens DECADES before the show, she is not Octavia.
7850542 We don't know how old Octavia is in canon, other than she is not elderly or a foal. In season 1 she played at one of the most prestigious events in Equestria, implying an amount of experience.
Considering that other than the cutie mark, these two have the same physical characteristics, it remains possible (but only if the cutie mark design was a mistake). Octavia Melody even shares part of her name.
7850628
She is not Granny Smith old and the town does look quite new. As in just recently got a school new, plus the fact she is an adopted member of the Apple family and that her big sis might be either Granny Smith or Granny Smith mother...
Yeah, unless time travel happens, she will be a tad old by the time canon starts, if she lives that long.