> That Stunning Mare
>  by Sudonym
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> That Stunning Mare
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Just who was that stunning mare?

She was the talk of the town; A master cellist from outside Canterlot who moved into the city not long ago and instantly made a name for herself. In such a short span of time, she went from being unknown, to being a celebrity. She called herself Octavia, but that was all that was known of the beautiful gray mare, other than the fact that she was almost never seen without a smile. She was not privy to sharing the details of her life.

Where did she come from? Where did an earth pony learn to play so magnificently? Whenever the question came up in interviews, she just gave a soft smile and replied ‘Perseverance.’ There was no elaboration; it was a simple, single word that only made the populace even more curious about the enigmatic filly.

Of course, the public was never satisfied with with merely being curious. At least, that was the excuse of a lone pegasus reporter. The stallion had been staking out Miss Octavia’s house on and off for a couple weeks now, hoping to catch something juicy. It was mostly uninteresting, but he did manage to figure out a sort of schedule that the cellist followed; She would always leave early in the morning at seven, and she would not return home for at least three hours. This seemed to be the only consistency in her daily routine, and it seemed the most opportune time to do some investigating.

 Its just about time.... A-ha! Perfect... 

As if on cue, the door to the celebrity’s surprisingly modest house opened, and the mare herself walked out with a slight smile on her face. She seemed... wistful, although it was hard to tell from the distance, and the pegasus didn’t want to risk being seen just to get a closer look. Octavia turned to close her door, and took out a single key tucked beneath her bowtie in order to lock it, before tucking the key back in its original location.

As Octavia began to make her way down the street and out of sight, the stallion slipped out of his hiding place and casually made his way to the front door, wincing as he plucked a single feather from his wings. Taking a quick look at the lock on the door, he inserted the quill tip and began to go to work.

He had done this before on many occasion, and his experience with this kind of thing made it relatively quick and painless as the quiet ‘click’ of the lock sounded music to his ears. He swiftly made his way inside before anyone saw him, and began to look around.

The first thing he noticed was... the house was awfully plain for such a celebrity. In fact, the snooping stallion would swear that his house had more things in it. There wasn’t much in the way of luxury. A radio, yes but.... no television? No Stereo system? A musician HAS to have a stereo system, right?

Well, there was at least a sofa. And a table. And.. what was this? There was an open envelope on the table. The stallion quickly approached the table and snatched up what he assumed to be the Celebrity’s mail. Was this...? Yes, it was! It was a letter! Adrenaline began to pump through the trespasser. It was exciting! This could be the big scoop he was looking for! Eagerly, his eyes began to scan the letter like a fine-tooth comb.


“Miss Octavia Philharmonica,

Let me be the first to say how pleased I am to see how well you have been doing these past few years. It feels like only yesterday that you first came into my office for help. You were such a shy, young thing back then, but now, look at you! You are a whole new mare, now! Practically the whole of Equestria loves you.

I think it is a good thing that you were able to manage to get out of such a toxic environment, and it seems like you’ve been able to adapt well. If you would like, I have friends in the area that I can refer you to if you ever find yourself needing support. They have all gone what you have gone through, and I am certain they would love to meet you.

If I could, I would love to attend one of your concerts sometime and catch up on how things have been, but that will have to wait until I have some vacation days to squander. Until then, I hope you have a wonderful life, and I hope Canterlot is treating you well.

Your friend,
Dr. Lifespring
Manehattan Psychological Clinic”



Staring at the page, it took a few seconds for the pegasus to parse what he just read. His mouth contorted into a grin, and he couldn’t help but giggle in excitement. Oh... THIS.... this was good. What had happened to her in the past? Abusive parents? That had to be the case, right? Theres nothing else it could be! He needed to take this to the press. Octavia had a vulnerable side. This would definitely drum up sympathy for her, so he was doing her a favor, really. It was win-win.

At least, thats what he had convinced himself.

This wasn’t quite proof, though. He’d need something more concrete. He wasn’t worried, however; There must be plenty of evidence around if she was careless enough to leave this out. Stroking his chin with his hoof, he craned his neck to sweep over the area. “Where to look next...”

At that moment, Octavia’s phone began to ring, freezing the trespasser’s blood cold. He shocked him, but he quickly remembered that no one was here except himself. He chuckled a bit, and shook his head, returning back to his thoughts.

“You’ve reached the residence of Octavia Philharmonica. Thank you for taking the time to call me, but I’m afraid I’m not around at the moment. If you’d like to leave your name and number, I will get back to you as soon as I can.” Came the sweet, melodic voice from the answering machine.

“Golden Opportunity! Your mother and I have been worried sick about you! You need to come home. You aren’t well! We love you very much, but you need help! Please pick up the phone, we need to talk!” A gruff masculine voice drowned out any other sound in the room. The pegasus stallion turned towards the phone, intrigued. Wrong number. Perhaps he didn’t hear the answering machine in his panic. With a shrug, the amusement passed and the pegasus moved on to other things.

The reporter made his way into Octavia’s room, and it was not quite as plain as her living quarters were. There were papers stacked high on her desk, all seemingly compositions of some sort, and her Cello case was leaning up against her neatly made bed. Rummaging around her desk, upon opening a desk drawer he found a pair of electric blue headphones along with a matching CD Player laying in it, and in the opposite drawer there were.... bottles of pills?

Tapping his chin, he thought back to the letter she had received. She was obviously psychologically damaged.... perhaps these would shed light as to why. There had to be at least 8 different bottles, all of different medications. It was, frankly, quite overwhelming.

Of course, he wasn’t a specialist, so he didn’t know what half of these things meant. He sighed, putting them back one by one as he looked at the labels.

…...But as he was putting up the last two bottles, something caught his eye.

“Wait.. is this...” His eyes widened, and he dropped the pill bottle. Of course! It all made sense to him now! The reason why she was smiling all the time... the letter... even the phone call! It all clicked in his head.

“This is too much..” He uttered, shocked. Quickly, he picked the pill bottles back up and swiftly put them back into her desk, before backing away, out of her room. How could he have been so stupid!

He stood there for a minute, deep in his own thoughts, before finally shaking his head. He began to walk towards the door, with nothing with him except the things he entered with. As he reached for the doorknob, however, he hesitated. He turned and walked up to the answering machine, before pressing a button.

“Message Deleted”

Everypony loved her.... And that is why she smiled. She smiled because she was loved. That she was accepted. She smiled because she was such a beautiful and stunning mare. Thats how everypony saw her, and thats all they needed to see her as. Sure, she was wrapped up in mystery, and it drove ponies wild, but...


What was life, without a little mystery?