Fortepiano

by Aevus

A Trying Failure and a Flustered Waiter

You are currently siting on the stage, in the lone chair located there, and you are speechless. Dozens of ponies are clapping their hooves together. They're not stomping, which shows some appreciation, bit clapping, which shows great appreciation. You are now standing, but not by your own will but rather the will of the grey mare that now raises your hoof.

"Mares and Gentlestallions, the judges have made their decisions and we would like to officially welcome our new violinist..." She turns to you and you notice she wants your name.

"Allegro," You say. "Allegro Fortepiano." With that you two take a bow and start to leave the stage, but not before one unicorn interrupts. He is dressed in a nice suit has a brown coat and a sharp yellow mane, and is standing next to a violin case. You recognize him as one of the judges.

"I for one do not approve of him!" He announces, gasps and murmurs ripple through the room. "If this ruffian can not even remember to wear a suit or at least some kind of formal dress, he can not be trusted to remember rehearsals and performances!"

"Rococo calm down, even if you don't approve he scored perfectly otherwise." Octavia responded with a confident stride forward. "And besides, he's ten times better than the others." At that some of the more up-tight competitors take offence while the others are humble enough to accept defeat.

"Oh is that so?" He takes a step and is now only about 2 hoofs in front of you. "Then you won't mind if I pick one contestant and pin him against Allegro, will you?" He enfisized the last two words.

"Fine but only if we have to play a duet with our contestant!" That takes a second to process, but when you do you freak out. A duet with Octavia! This is amazing, you think, but it also makes you extremely nervous.

"Fine then I chose her!" He shouts, pointing at a mare that has a cello sitting next to her, she perks up and her eyes go wide as he points at her. "That will make it even."

"Fine then," Octavia replies as you and her walk to the stage. You both get out and tune your instruments as your challengers do the same. As you finish Octavia speaks, "You can go first Rococo." The stallion mearly nods and him and his partner play! The song is slow and heartfelt, defiantly not your style, though as it goes on it escalates. The violin players takes the lead.

"This is usually how Rococo plays," Octavia whispers in your ear. "As his name implies his music is mostly, but not always, excessive, ornamental, and trivial." They finish and the crowed gives a polite applause. Rococo gives you a smirk as he leaves, and you two get ready.

You both start to play! The music is enchanting, flowing freely and reverberating through the room. It's one of the few songs you actually fully know by memory, and it's as if you silently agreed before the performance to play it. The music is starting to grow and the audience can here it. Rococo and his partner are staring in awe with the rest of the crowd.

Your music draws to a close.

Hoofs instantaneously meet their matches as the concert hall fills with the sound of cheering ponies. You close your eyes then open them again, you are once again standing with Octavia, hoofs raised. You two take your bow and the walk off stage, when you get to the bottom you are greeted by Rococo.

"I'm sorry for judging you earlier, welcome to the Royal Canterlot Symphony." He extends a hoof and you shake it. It's then that you see a white mare approach. Though your parents may have tried to keep you separate from the outside world, you still recognize her. Her electric blue mane layered in seemingly random layers, yet it still looked good.

"Hey, you," She waves to you as she walks over. "Good job out there." She turns to Octavia. "You to, Tavi." You chuckle a little at the nickname.

"Thanks Vinyl," Octavia replies. "And I thought I told you not to call me that!"

"I for one think it fits you." You reply and she puts on a fake frown. You can't help but laugh at the frown, it's the worst fake frown you've ever seen. Vinyl joins you in laughter and soon both of you are one the ground holding your sides. You soon recover and stand up.

"Fine, then I guess I just won't take you two to dinner like I was going to." She says in the most fake sad voice you've ever heard. Note to self, Octavia is terrible at faking emotions. Like really terrible.

"Ah, come on Tavi," Octavia cringes at the nickname. "It's just a joke and anyways," She leans closer to Octavia's ear. "You know you want to go." Vinyl finishes in a very seductive voice.

"Vinyl not here!" Octavia shouts and you and Vinyl once again burst into laughter. Wait a second, not here does that mean..... Celestia dammit! Octavia's with Vinyl.

"Whatever so where are we going?" You ask.

"Oh, I have reservations for three at Osteria Francescana, I was going to bring the winner along with me and Vinyl when we went. If you don't want to come with you don't have to." You quickly nod.

"Of course I want to eat with you guys, plus I haven't eaten all day." You say that last part under your breath. Octavia and Vinyl glance over at you with a quizzical look, but then turn back to Rococo. Everyone says their goodbyes and you three leave for the restaurant.

On the way out you are congratulated and complimented on your performance. You feel proud of yourself, If only my parents can see me now, wait they probably will. Crap.

---

When you arrive at the restaurant you are greeted by a black stallion with a red mane that was cut short. He looks up and cringes as he sees you, probably because you lack formal dress.

"Good evening miss Octavia, do you have a reservation?" Octavia nods and the waiter shows you to your seat. Your near a stage were a few ponies are preforming, you also notice that the ponies aren't exactly doing the best job on the song they're playing.

Octavia and Vinyl notice this too and when the waiter comes over to get your order you decide to mention it. After you order you get the waiters attention.

"Sorry sir but could I please help the ponies playing the music? They are simply not doing the song justice." He looks you up and down.

"Like you could even come close to the skill required to play the music they play." He retorts with a small smirk. You, being the brave pony you are, accept his challenge.

"Challenge accepted," You pull out your violin case and pull out your violin. You start walking towards the stage and the ponies on the stage look at you with puzzled glances. When you walk onto the stage the leader of the group cuts them off.

"What the hay are you doing?" He asks in a threatening voice, by now almost all the ponies are facing you and the others on the stage. In answer you lift your bow and say one thing.

"Making the music better!" You shout as you draw your bow across the strings, a beautiful solo. Almost instantly all the eyes in the room are on you. You feel slightly nervous and the waiter that had criticized you earlier is just standing there, dumbfound.

You feel the song coming to a close as you draw your bow across the strings one last time. You take a bow and proceed to walk off the stage, heading strait for the waiter.

"Was that good enough?"

---

Authors note: Yay! Chapter today cause I got school off for labor day!