Prelude to Romance
Chapter 1: Prelude to Romance
Princess Celestia was the most wonderful pony ever. Everypony in Equestria agreed on this. She was kind, humble, wise, and cheerful. Just being around her made a pony feel better about themselves and the world in general. Everypony was indebted to her for the one thousand years she spent bearing the burden of governing this country alone.
Twilight Sparkle, the most recently crowned princess of Equestria, felt especially indebted to the sun monarch for all the ways she vastly improved her life. Celestia had not only made her personal protégé, but also sent her to Ponyville, where she met the five mares she would call her very best friends. At on top of that, Celestia made her a princess, giving Twilight the opportunity to share what she has learned under her mentor’s tutelage with the ponies of Equestria and help make her country, and the world, a better place.
But right now, surrounded by all these hypocritical, selfish, bigoted, two-faced, boastful idiots that dared to call themselves “Canterlot’s elite,” Twilight Sparkle couldn’t help but feel just the tiniest little bit of outrage towards her lovely teacher for thrusting her into this world of arrogant socialites. Everything these ponies said was nice, but that was only because they thought piling on insincere compliments would persuade the fledgling princess to grant them a ridiculous amount of bits to fund their businesses.
Of course, Twilight was more than happy to donate money to a business that actually needed it, but most of the ponies she talked to simply wanted to increase their social standing by earning her favor. And the fact that they thought she was so superficial as to be won over by their sycophantic compliments was insulting!
As Twilight tried desperately to pay attention to…whomever this was begging for her attention now, Princess Luna approached her. “Ivory Tower,” the night princess began, “I do believe my sister is more well-versed in the matters of foreign business deals than her student. If anypony can convince the griffons to let you expand your gold mining into their territory, it’s her. Besides, I need a word with the young princess out in the garden.”
“Of course, your majesty,” the cobalt unicorn said as he gave a deep bow, “Do excuse me.” And with that, he headed off in Princess Celestia’s direction.
“Thank you, Luna,” Twilight said when Ivory Tower was out of earshot, “I couldn’t even remember what he was talking about!”
“I could tell,” Luna replied as she lead Twilight out of the ballroom, “My sister have worn that false smile many times in the past. I know it well.”
“Speaking of smiling,” Twilight groaned as she rubbed her left cheek with her forehoof, “I think my cheeks are going to split in half if I have to keep it up for all these pompous…” but she was cut off my the moon princess.
“Now, Twilight, you should be more patient. The nobles (whether they deserve the title or not) threw this party for you.”
“Only so they kiss up to me.” The younger monarch grumbled dejectedly.
“True,” Luna answered, “But even if they are primarily motived by fame and money, some of their ideas do have some merit. Take Ivory Tower, for instance. While at first his plan to expand his gold mining business beyond Equestria’s borders may seem to be merely a ploy to increase his on wealth, it does have a few benefits. Tell me, how many griffons have you ever seen?”
“Well, two, if memory serves,” Twilight answered.
“Exactly. We are no longer enemies with the griffons, but some grudges can last ages. Any interaction between our nations could improve relations. An increase in gold would benefit both our economies, which could make the Griffon Kingdom very grateful to use and increase trade.”
“I understand that, Luna,” the young alicorn sighed, “I just wish I could have one conversation with somepony here that didn’t involve so much insincere flattery. I’d actually prefer it if somepony just said, ‘I want you to give me money!’ At least that would be honest! I never had to put with this in Ponyville.” Twilight paused at this. She and Luna were in the center of the garden now, the place Fluttershy once dreamed of visiting. As she looked around at all the animals scurrying about, Twilight’s mind drifted back to the yellow pegasus’ home and all the time she spent there just talking, having tea, helping with the animals every now and again. Tears slowly formed in her eyes.
“Twilight,” Luna said softly, nuzzling her companion, “I know this is all very sudden for you, and I understand the pain of separation, but things change. That’s how life is. Things are rough right now, but you’ll adapt to it, I know you will.”
“I know,” Twilight responded, fighting back her tears, “It’s just, I’ve barely seen them at all this month, and this is probably how things are going to be for a while. A few years ago, that wouldn’t have meant anything to me, but now…now they’re all I can think about.” At this point Twilight could fight it back no longer, and cried softly into the elder alicorn’s neck.
After a few minutes, Twilight pulled away and dried her eyes with her hoof. “Sorry about that. That’s been building up for a while.”
“No need to apologize, Twilight. I know a few things about separation anxiety myself.” Luna consoled her, “Now come, I do believe that the band is about to play their final song.”
And sure enough, Twilight could hear the band warming up to play the last song of the night. The two princesses arrived back in the ballroom just in time to hear the conductor say, “And now, if you will all please gather around, we would like to close tonight’s festivities with our rendition of the first movement of César Foutanké’s ‘Symphony in D Minor.’” Twilight’s ears perked up at this. This was one of favorite pieces of classical music! She could remember several afternoons and evenings back in her school days when she’d relax and put one of Foutanké’s records on. And to say that the band wasn’t preforming it perfectly would be a gross exaggeration. But this was to be expected. The musicians were all the highest seated members of their respective sections in the Canterlot Philharmonic Orchestra.
Now that Twilight was watching the band more intently, she noticed something, or rather somepony that she hadn’t before. ‘How did I not notice her?’ The lavender mare thought incredulously. ‘Has he been here the entire night? Pony feathers! I could’ve gotten an autograph!’ There were three strings performing in the band that night: a violinist, a bassist, and the mare Twilight currently had her sights her on: their cellist, Octavia Melody.
Octavia had risen to fame shortly before Twilight moved to Ponyville. She came from a long line of musicians and her family was one of the few earth pony families that were not only members of the upper class but also were nobility, as her father was a member of the royal court. But it wasn’t her family’s status that had propelled her; it was her outrageous talent. Octavia first gained recognition when she performed at a local talent show when she was 19. She had wowed the judges with her rendition of Friesian Chopin’s “Cello Sonata in G Minor.” After that, she got an audition with the orchestra and became the youngest pony in history to join.
And now, here she was, less than fifty feet away. As the band went on, Twilight focused more and more on the gray mare to point where she could no longer hear the other instruments. The first movement of the symphony lasted nearly twenty minutes, but to Twilight it seemed to pass by in an instant. In the blink of an eye, Octavia and her band mates were all taking their bows.
Ivory Tower then took the stage and pronounced, “My partners and I would like to thank everypony for coming tonight, and we would especially like to extend a hardy congratulations to our newest princess – Twilight Sparkle!” At that, the other nobles began to stomp their hooves in applause. “Princess,” the tycoon continued, “we do hope you enjoyed your evening, and we all wish you a wonderful reign!” Everypony turned toward Twilight as they continued to applaud, so Twilight just put on her best smile and waved her right hoof casually.
“Thank you all so much!” she said as sincerely as she could manage. ‘And thank heaven this night is almost over!’
______
Octavia was trotting slowly across the courtyard, her cello slung across her shoulders, towards the taxi carriage that would take her and her fellow performers back to their apartments, when suddenly a voice calling from the sky stopped her in her tracks.
“Miss Melody, wait a moment!” Turning around and shifting her gaze upward, Octavia spotted one of Princess Luna’s night guards flying towards her. “Princess Twilight has asked me to inform you that if you could spare a moment, she would love the opportunity to speak with you.” The thestral said as he landed.
“Oh!” Octavia replied somewhat surprised, “Well, I’d love to, really, but I the carriage won’t wait for very long and…”
“The princess would also like it to be made known that she will arrange for a private carriage to take you home if you wish.” He added.
“…Well, never mind then.” The musician replied. She was looking forward to turning in early for the night, but she knew her parents would never let her hear the end of it if she passed up a chance to win the favor of a princess, especially since her excuse was just shot down. The guard led her back into the castle and into the royal library. Once inside, Octavia saw purple princess seated at a table to her immediate right. The cellist wasn’t entirely sure what to make of her situation now. To be quite frank, she was… confused. Not by the fact that a princess wanted to talk to her, though that had certainly caught off guard, but more by said princess’s expression.
Princess Twilight was staring at her wide-eyed, much like a child would upon seeing a shiny new toy on display in a store window. Her wings were spread wide in excitement and she bore a grin that threatened to swallow her face. It was actually kind of disturbing, really. Not to mention unprofessional. “Um, hello princess. It is a pleasure to meet you.”
“The pleasure’s all mine, Miss Melody! I’m a big fan! Please, sit down!” the young princess said excitedly.
Octavia was a bit taken aback at being called “Miss Melody” by someone who must’ve been younger than herself, princess or not. “You may simply call me ‘Octavia,’ Princess Twilight. I’ve never much liked being called ‘miss.’” She said as she propped her cello against the table.
“And while we’re alone,” Twilight answered, “you can just call me ‘Twilight'.”
“Oh, no. I couldn’t! It wouldn’t be…”
“Proper, I know.” Twilight finished for her. “Normally I’m something of a stickler myself, but to be honest, I’m still getting used to being treated like royalty. Besides, it’s just the two of us right now. I won’t tell if you won’t!” She said with a giggle.
Octavia couldn’t help but giggle herself. Now that the initial shock had worn off, she found herself surprisingly relaxed. She had heard that Twilight Sparkle came from a very well respected family. They were not nobles, but most of the men in her family, and more than a few of the women, had served the government in some capacity for generations. And yet the princess before her was so normal. She was absolutely nothing like any other pony from Canterlot she had ever met. It was quite refreshing, actually.
“So, was there something I can do you, er, Twilight?” Octavia asked.
“Well, I know this will sound kind of silly,” Twilight began, “but I was wondering…”
“Let me guess,” Octavia ventured, “Would you like an autograph?”
“Oh, that’d be great! I mean, no! Well, yes, actually, but night right now!” the young princess sputtered out, causing Octavia to smirk involuntarily at her fangirlish behavior. “What I mean to say,” she managed, “is that I spend most of my time these days either studying magic or history all day with Princess Celestia, or sitting in court discussing bills and whatnot. I’ve been looking to find a new hobby to help me relax. I was wondering if you wouldn’t mind being my cello tutor.”
Octavia’s eyes were as wide as dinner plates. “M-m-me? Tutor a p-p-p-princess?” she stuttered.
“Of course!” Twilight answered, “I’ve been meaning to learn ever since I first heard you play, but I never made the time. If you’d like to…”
“Like to?” Octavia exclaimed, “I’d love to!”
“Wonderful!” Twilight said as she clapped her forelegs. “Come by tomorrow morning at nine. We can compare schedules and work something out!”
And with that, the two mares shook hooves, and Octavia grabbed her cello and trotted excitedly to the private carriage waiting for her outside.