The Target Audience
Standing with her fellow orchestra members, Octavia surveyed the crowd before her with a reserved smile plastered to her face. The dull applause filled the room before the members of the audience, mostly elderly and all upper class, quickly found whatever excuses they needed to take their leave. Another successful performance, and another satisfied crowd. Not that that meant much anymore.
The gray mare wasted no time in vacating the premises. As soon as she was able, she gathered up her cello, stuffed it along with her sheet music into its case, and slung it heavily across her back. She wove through the labyrinth of chairs and music stands, ignoring (and in turn being ignored by) her fellow musicians, eager to put the theater behind her. She shoved her way through the stage door, exiting into the cool night air in the alley behind the theater. It was certainly a step down in terms of quality, but it was by far the quickest way to escape the crowd, as none of the huffy mares and stallions inside would ever care to find themselves in such a dingy place. Celestia forbid they be seen in the presence of something as ghastly and uncouth as a dumpster.
Octavia grit her teeth and walked quickly forwards as she tried to forget the performance. An ironically difficult feat, considering it had been anything but memorable. She had played perfectly, as always, just like everypony else. Yet the extent of emotions she seemed capable of invoking in her audience nowadays seemed to span nothing further than 'tired' and 'bored'. Mounting frustrations over increasing disinterest in the kind of music she provided had her thoroughly fed up. What good was trying to share the joy of music if the only appreciation anypony had was because of its effect on their social standing? Nobody visited the orchestra because they liked the music. Not anymore.
So frustrated was Octavia that she never saw the flash of yellow fur before her until it was too late. Colliding heavily with the obstruction in her path headfirst and at full stride, Octavia bounced backwards, landing squarely on her flank.
Feeling the familiar weight of her cello thankfully still pressing into her back, she rubbed the sore spot on her forehead in an attempt to clear the stars from her vision before hearing a surprised shout.
"Octavia?"
Forcing her eyes open, she saw two large sapphire blue irises peering towards her with concern.
"Oh my gosh, Octavia! Are you alright? I'm so, so sorry!”
Octavia’s swimming vision gradually settled on a yellow earth pony mare with a spring green mane, sitting on her haunches with her front hooves held in front of her. Her hair had been roughly brushed into what Octavia guessed was an approximation of a ponytail, although given its resemblance to similar attempts by Vinyl, Octavia was willing to bet that it was not a natural look for the mare. Upon closer inspection of the terrified looking pony, she began to recognize her. Octavia knew she had seen this mare before. One of Vinyl’s friends, she thought. Vinyl was always having wild gatherings of her fellow party ponies, and this pony in particular had frequented their Canterlot apartment more often than most. Octavia was fairly certain this was the same pony, but couldn't quite recall her name. Neon something, she was pretty sure.
“Ugh, yes, I’m alright miss...Neon was it? ”
Nodding tersely, the mare was visibly relieved to see Octavia get up, although her head was still hung low, and she looked rather guilty.
“Uh, y-yeah, Neon Lights. Listen, I’m really sorry for running into you. I was just...in a hurry. Wasn't really looking where I was going.”
“It’s alright, I’m fine. But just where in Equestria were you…” Octavia’s voice trailed off as she realized where Neon had been coming from. Her eyes now locking on the alternate entrance further down the alley, she realized that Neon had come from the same building she had. “Were you...were you attending the orchestra’s performance?”
Octavia looked at the yellow mare inquisitively. Surely such a crass pony would have no reason to be in such an upscale establishment. However, upon realizing she had been caught, Neon's face fell tremendously. She turned to look away, but not before Octavia caught sight of her blushing slightly as she did so.
“Uh...yeah. I saw the show.”
The pause in conversation that followed as Octavia worked furiously to organize her thoughts only served to amplify the awkward silence that was taking place. Shortly, however, Octavia managed to gather her thoughts enough to ask the question that was at the forefront of her mind.
“But...why?”
Octavia’s blunt words did nothing to ease the tension visible in the yellow earth pony, who bit her lip and donned what Octavia almost suspected was a look of embarrassment. Striving to prevent another awkward silence, Octavia did her best to clarify her statement.
“I mean, surely your preference for music lies, erm, elsewhere? Why bother coming to listen to something so...well, boring?” Octavia didn’t bother trying to disguise how she felt most ponies thought of her music. Neon continued to shuffle and look away for a few moments, but seeing that she had been caught, managed to mumble out a reply.
“I don’t wanna say. You’ll just laugh…”
If she wasn’t curious enough before, now Octavia was genuinely intrigued. She tried to reassure the other mare, attempting to coax out an explanation.
“Please, you can tell me. I promise I won’t laugh.” Octavia said softly, urging the mare in front of her not to fear reproach. After another small pause, Neon lights rubbed one foreleg against her arm, and answered quietly.
“...I like the music.”
Silence fell upon the alleyway. Octavia sat blinking in stunned silence, trying to process this new information. Of all the explanations she had been expecting to hear, this was not among them. Almost automatically she replied in order to confirm what she had just heard.
“You...like the music?”
“Y-yeah…”
“But...why?”
It was a stupid question, Octavia knew, but she was so shocked by the idea that someone liked her music, especially somepony like Neon Lights, that she didn’t know how else to respond.
“I just kinda do I guess. I mean, I know I’m not all fancy like the rest of the ponies that go to see the show, and I don’t know much about it, but I just really like to listen to the music. I think it’s really beautiful.”
Octavia was shocked to say the least. Earlier that very evening she had been complaining about a lack of enthusiasm she saw in her performances, yet here was a mare she never would have dreamed would attend one of her shows, expressing a shared love for music. Finding her voice once more, Octavia once again sought to clarify what she had heard.
“I must say this is...well, frankly I never would have expected that you would show an appreciation for classical music. Most of my...fans...are rather elderly, and even they only show a fleeting interest in the orchestra’s performances.” Octavia hoped Neon would not sense the hesitation with which she used the word ‘fans’, and awaited an answer.
“Yeah, that’s kinda why I was trying to sneak out the back.” Neon rubbed the back of her neck with her hoof at the admission. “Most ponies who know me probably wouldn’t think so highly of me if they knew I liked listening to old-pony music. No offense.” Neon Lights raised her hooves in front of her, hoping she had not made a mistake in being so frank with her thoughts.
“None taken.” Octavia assured her. “In all honesty I can’t say many ponies seem to share your attitude nowadays. Sometimes it just seems that no one out there really appreciates the music we play…”
“I do!” Neon hastily interjected. “I mean, I know I’m not the best of fans, seeing as I couldn’t even tell you the names of what you guys were playing, but I really thought it was good! When I listen to the music you guys play, it really moves me. I feel almost like I’m listening to a story or something. I know my opinion doesn’t really matter much, since I’m not what you’d call your ‘target audience’, but I guess that’s what I like most. I don’t have to worry about what other ponies think of my opinion. I can just enjoy it.”
As Neon trailed off, her blue eyes slowly rose to meet Octavia’s amethyst gaze. A soft smile graced the cellists lips, and a subtle wetness was gathering in the corner of her eyes.
“Neon...thank you. You may not think highly of your own worth, but as far as I’m concerned, your opinion of my music matters more than all those stuffy old ponies’ opinions combined.” Neon perked up, eyes wide as Octavia continued speaking. “I was just on my way to grab some coffee. Would you care to join me?”
Neon hesitantly matched Octavia’s smile. “Sure.” as the pair walked down the alley together, not as two ponies fleeing the harsh atmosphere of the orchestra, but two new friends brought together by a love of music.