Chapter 1
Alone in a dingy upper class lounge, a gray Earth Pony sat silently staring into the deep red hues of her wine. She was fussing with it slightly, swirling it around and giving it a sniff. With a soft sigh she turned to face a window, looking down at the ponies on the busy streets. This truly was city that never sleeps. The Cat Strings usually has a jazz band playing on nights such as this, today however the stage was left empty, a soothing yet dull orchestrated tune playing from a phonograph on the bar counter. A small uninterested sip of the fruity alcohol entered her lips, tasting it for a moment before setting it back down with a sigh, her usual drink of choice not quite cutting it.
'Why does this bother me so?' she reflected on her internal turmoil, playing the prior days over 'What has gotten into me, I'm acting like a little school filly!'
With a slight huff she picked up her wine again, only to give it a sniff and dismiss it in frustration, pondering over whether or not she should order something stronger. Suddenly she felt someone approaching her from behind. The fur on the back of her neck stood up as she saw a strange purple glint reflecting in the window, she turned around quickly with a excitement, only for it to fade as she discovered the glint belonged to a lanky stallion wearing a particularly flashy purple broach. Her face give an awkward twist as she looked at the thing.
“Hello there, miss.” he grinned all too pleased with himself, “My name is Savant, I couldn't help but notice you were sitting all alone! What a travesty to befall such a beautiful mare! I simply had to come over and offer you.. some.. Miss?” he tilted his head, the gray mare had looked away in disinterest, now trying to flag over the waiter.
“Miss if it is a drink you desire, please allow me! I would gladly join you in partaking in spirits!” The stallion proclaimed in chipper, his smile faltering a tad as he met those glaring purple orbs that felt as if they were digging into his very soul “S-So I take it you'd like to be left alone..?”
A curt nod was all the refined cellist afforded the stallion, who coughed awkwardly and ventured back off to his table, hushing his friend who was chuckling at his misfortune. The mare cared not however, promptly ordering a glass of whiskey from the waiter as he finally arrived. She sat looking out the window again, watching the seemingly never ending flow of carriages moving along the streets.
She was quickly snapped out of her trance as her new drink was placed at the table, with a nod of thanks, she took the glass, preparing to down it in one go when suddenly she caught a purple glint in the window again. Gingerly she set down the glass and flicked her ear, nostrils flaring as she tried to contain her uncouth emotions.
“I believe I have already asked you to leave once, if you do try to harass me again I might have to ask the bartender to have you thrown out.”
The firm words left an odd silence in the air, however she refused to turn around and give the stallion the time or day.
Yet suddenly, all over her firmness and aggravation melted away in one fell swoop as it wasn't a stallions voice who answered, but a mares. A mare she was used to sounding so full of confidence, now sounding unsteady and hurt “Alright Tavi, I'll get out of your hair...”
~2 months Ago~
A pair of mares trot down the streets of Manehattan, each with a large instrument case strapped onto their backs, seemingly comical compared to the small ponies underneath. However, Earth Ponies were always known for their strength.
“I don't see why we couldn't simply call a carriage, it would have made the returning journey ever so much easier.” The soft blue mare whined, adjusting the large case on her back and blowing a treacherous tuft of brown mane out of her eyes
A giggle left the taller gray mares lips, earning herself a glower from her companion, quickly waving it off “We are merely 4 blocks from the concert hall, Beauty. It would be a waste of bits.”
Beauty Brass let out a hmph and tilted her head up “Well I wouldn't complain so much if we didn't have to take the road where all the ruffians are!” she glanced at all the bright neon signs for different bars and clubs dotted along the streets
Octavia Melody kept giggling a bit before nudging her friends shoulder a bit “Ruffian? Beauty dear, do you remember back at Canterlot High when you tried to sneak into places like these?” she dodged the blue hoof trying to shush her with a smirk.
“That was ages ago! You promised never to speak of it!”
The cellist opted to ignore her friend, looking instead at the establishment they were trotting past, a big neon pink sign spelling out the words 'Dance-O-Rama'. She let out a slight snort at the originality of what was obviously a night club, loud bass beats being heard from within even before the sunlight began to wane. The sound of electronic music was never too pleasing to her, yet she couldn't deny the looks of pure happiness on the faces of the ponies leaving, rushing off to... do whatever club ponies do, she supposed.
A snort from her companion broke her out of her thoughts “How can anypony enjoy music that loud?”
Again the gray mare tried to hold back a giggle, remembering how many times she would find Beauty stumbling out of establishments such as this. Before she could respond however, something crashed into her side, making both her and her friend stumble and struggle to keep their instruments on their backs. Quickly she started looking for what hit her, those aggravated purple eyes falling upon a sprawled out white unicorn, face down on the sidewalk, groaning and rubbing blue mane.
“Please, watch where you are going, ma'am.” Octavia let out a bit of a tut, then offered a hoof to the unicorn who obviously ended up worse than her.
The mare frantically felt around before pulling up a purple pair of sunglasses, pulling them over her eyes before accepting the hoof and getting back up into a standing position.
“Woah, a... Sorry about that dudes! Er... mares!” She dusted herself off, looking nervously over her shoulder
Beauty let out a disgusted noise and tilted her chin up “See Octavia? Ruffians!”
Shushing her friend, the gray mare took a few looks over the obviously nervous unicorn “Is everything alright, ma'am?”
“Ma'am?! What do I look, 40?” that got surprised blinks from both the musicians, “Ugh... Sorry, I just got done with my set, you see, I was the DJ at this club, and there were these two fillies...”
As if on cue, there was an ear screeching squeal as two earth ponies who looked barely out of high school came galloping down the street “DJ-PON3!”
With a gasp the mare quickly started trying to scamper away “You gotta hide me!”
“What? Where?” Octavia questioned
“Yeah, and we got these heavy instruments.” Beauty added, watching as the DJ looked between the two of them one last time before turning a corner and bolting off, the two fillies quickly making pursuit.
The two musicians simply blinked at each other before laughing at the situations “I'm glad our line of music doesn't bring those kinds of fans.”
“You're telling me!”
The two of them fell back in line and quietly trotted the last two blocks before entering a more residential area, approaching an apartment complex. The building was newer compared to the ones around it, but still quite aged compared to the more lush buildings downtown. The doorpony greeted both mares with a nod before opening the door for them, Octavia giving him a bit as they entered the building. Their room was on the seventh floor for the complex. The pair had hoped that it would bring them luck someday. A quick fumbling of keys led them into the slightly larger than average entryway, flicking on the lights and enjoying the scent of the cinnamon potpourri they had agreed to leave around the the living areas. Inside was a modest living room with a couch and two chairs, music stands and different instruments neatly lined against one of the walls. A small kitchen and dining area attached, with a shared bathroom and two decently sized bedrooms on the other end. It wasn't much, but the mares agreed together after graduating from university together that they wanted to start from the ground up, putting aside the luxuries of Canterlot to get their own place after being accepted into the Manehattan Symphony Orchestra.
The two of them as if synchronized slung off their instrument cases and gently removed the instruments, checking them for any damage before placing them on their appropriate stands, the large cello standing beautifully next to Beauty's pristinely polished tuba.
With a nod, both mares split up, Octavia went to take a shower while Beauty started popping some popcorn. After drying off, the gray mare slipped into a plush robe and rejoined her companion on the couch, taking a few bites of the offered snack.
“Can you imagine what our parents would say?” she giggled a bit “Octavia! That is commoner food! Only commoners eat commoner food!” She couldn't help but chortle more at her own impression, especially after Beauty joined in.
“Oh posh posh, that couch is so drab!” The blue mare started snickering, but Octavia grinned teasingly
“Beauty dear, you're giving an impression of yourself!” She grinned and dodged a flicked piece of popcorn at her.
With a roll of her eyes, the mare stretched her limbs out and suppressed a yawn “That concert went on for too long. I appreciate that the new conductor likes pushing us, but even the audience was starting to get sore from how long it went on!”
Octavia let out a soft hum, thinking over the events of the day and the pain she was feeling in her haunches “At least you don't have to stand on your hind legs while performing. It becomes so tiring.” she thought to herself for a moment, the silence lingering for a bit before she decided to continue “At least we get a few weeks off. Do you have any plans with Frederick?”
Beauty suddenly looked lovestruck, looking up at the ceiling and sighing softly “Oh yes, we have many plans. Unfortunately not until later in the week.” she seemed to break out of her trance for a moment to grin at the pony next to her “What about you, Octavia? Do you have a special stallion yet?”
Her cheeks turned a soft shade of pink as she felt heat rise in them, “No, you would be the first to know if I did.” she finished with a soft sigh, looking over at her friend as she felt a hoof rest on her shoulder
“Just give it time, Octavia. You'll find someone great!”
“Not at this rate...” she slumped a bit before taking a deep breath and straightening her back, giving her companion nod “But, there's still hope yet!”
“That's the spirit!” the blue mare gave her friend a pat on the back before yawning and getting up, slowly loosening her bowtie “I believe it is time for me to 'hit the hay', as the ruffians say!”
Octavia watched as she giggled proud of herself and said goodnight before retreating to her room, leaving her alone in the quiet room. With another sigh she got up and tossed what was left of the popcorn, getting herself a glass of wine and heading for her own room. Inside was a bit less organized than the rest of the dwelling, but still neat. A desk for her to work on and an old cello in the corner. She grabbed a beat up sketch pad and climbed into bed, curling up and swirling her wine, taking in the deep complicated scent before take a sip, a smile crossing her face.
“Prance, I can smell the fresh orchards and a slight hint of cedar...”
With another sip she cracked open her sketchbook, looking out the window at the city around her. No pony would consider her a fine artist, at least not in the form of drawing, but she still liked to dabble secretly, sketching out the lines of the buildings and the ponies below. She worked on it til her wine was finished, then with a yawn she set the glass and the book aside, adjusting herself under the covers and looking up at the stars.
“Maybe someday, it is quite lonely with just one true friend...”
The next morning she woke up early as ever, stretching and wincing as her hooves cracked a bit, still sore from the long performance the night before. Gracefully getting out of bed, she went to her desk and plopped down, pulling out a brush and fixing up her bed head, straightening it out in a pristine matter, tying it up before going to do her tail in the same matter. She sarted humming a sweet melody as she worked on a particularly hard knot, smiling at her appearance in the mirror, then pulling out a bowtie and effortlessly tying it on, so used to it that she could do it with her eyes closed. Once she was freshened up and ready for the day, she made her way for the kitchen. As she made her way past hear room mates closed door, she could hear muffled snores coming from within. With a chuckle at the expense of her long time friend, she took the few steps from the living room to the kitchen, starting up some coffee and oats. It wasn't long before the smell of fresh java brought the still half asleep blue mare stirring out of her room, in her bathrobe and not even brushed up. Octavia resisted the urge to tease her on the matter, instead just offering a cup of coffee, two creams and three sugars.
“Well good morning, sunshine.” She said with a yawn, rubbing her eyes “Why does everything still hurt?”
“Good morning.” She replied, smirking at her later comment, leaving it alone otherwise. Sitting down at their small table with her own cup of coffee, black, and two bowls of oats, sugar and cinnamon mixed in.
Beauty sniffed the aroma and gladly started digging in, nodding her thanks “You and your cinnamon.”
The two enjoyed their breakfast together chatting about the night before, the late riser offering to do the dishes while Octavia rested on the couch, looking over sheets of music she was working on. Soon after, Beauty came around and sat on one of the chairs in the room.
“Do you have any plans for today? There is an art gallery that just opened up, I was hoping to go see it! “
Octavia smiled at the offer and nodded “I'm free all day, and that sounds lovely. We can head over whenever you would like.”
This got a gleeful clap out of Brass, the pony bolting up to go finish getting freshened up, coming back moments later with a bonnet and simple yellow dress on “Lets go!”
With a sigh and a smile at her eager friend, Octavia stood up and grabbed her saddle bags, looking at the time to see it was almost ten in the morning “Alright, let's. But it's your turn to get lunch.”
Beauty nodded in agreement and hurried her friend out the door, excited for the day ahead.
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