Piú Mosso 

Prologue

•••

At first glance, she wasn't much. 

Though she walked with a proud stature, and carried a twinkle in her violet-pink eyes, many never looked past these features.

And quite frankly, Octavia was plum sick of it. Why, surely a performer of classical arts as herself deserved a little more attention, did they not? At least, that's how she saw it.

Ponies nowadays... she glumly thought. With all of their... beeps, and boops, and whatnot...no appreciation for the classics.

It was one thing for the sophisticated mare to be grumbling indignantly about others' music interests, and it was another thing entirely to even think of vocalizing the protests.

Those comments wouldn't be taken lightly.

Unfortunately, she knew this by experience-often, she had to make her opinion known, good idea or not. The mare had recently learned to keep her mouth shut, but in the past, a few impromptu comments had even set her career on the line.

Speaking of career, that was the only thing on her mind as clouds slowly drifted overhead, nearly matching her mane color in hue. The lights of a small town in the distance glowed gently, but to her; it was just another rag-time village to swing through on her way to the next concert. Perhaps a time to play a quick piece or so. It didn't matter, anyways. In her mind's eye, she was above them. They were just the ones who provided sustenance to the upperclass-nothing more.

Octavia sighed, adjusting the strap that held her signature instrument onto her back. It's probably best to go right through...it's about to rain, anyways. And such a pony as myself shouldn't be caught in the rain...

It was only a few steps before she felt something come to rest on top of her head. And then around her, with a gentle plip. Plop.

It was too late to pick up the pace now, but for what reason? She'd already come to the town. Perhaps she could find a momentary shelter of sorts. It wouldn't be that hard.

It looked to be unnecessary, though. As the grey mare continued her determined, dignified trek, the rain soon let up, until it was quiet and dry once more.

"Pfft. That wasn't so bad." she mumbled to herself. "The weather here is calmer than a bunch of kittens playing with a bunch of string..."

But, of course, an easy part's an easy part...

This came to mind, as she realized she'd all but exited the tiny establishment already.The small buildings had already faded mostly into background, and a few figures as small as ants wandered around, hardly even in sight. Now comes the hard part...walking. Such a 'dignified' method of travel...oh, the things I do for my career. I have really ought to charter a carriage next time, to avoid the rai-

And, quite coincidentally, there was a low rumble from the clouds above not even 20 seconds later, and it began to pour buckets of rain, with unbridled force. It was as if something was being awfully picky about whether it was to rain or not.

Looks like I spoke too soon about the weather...Great, now my mane's getting ruined. I guess I should find a temporary-

"Oh dear! What are you doing outside? You could catch a cold!"

The earth pony stopped. She certainly hadn't said that. Was somepony following her? She whipped her head around, searching for the source of the voice. Her sodden mane followed suit, placing itself over her eyes and sticking there momentarily.

Grumbling, Octavia shook her head to dislodge her finicky mane from its unwanted position.

And soon after stopped blankly, staring straight ahead.

There was somepony there, whether they'd followed her or not. But that wasn't what surprised her so much. It really shouldn't have, anyways. Being a member of a famous quartet gave you a lot of fans, and it wasn't unusual if one followed you every now and then.

From what she could tell, however, the pegasus in front of her wasn't a fan, really. Something about her made the gray mare assume that she hadn't even seen anyone like her, from the uncertain glittering in her eye. 

The mare opposite from her had a gentle coat of yellow, and a gently dipping, curving mane, colored almost bubble-gum pink. She now hid slightly behind said mane, and the head movement drew the celloist's attention to something she was carrying, wearing, or whatever-an umbrella of sorts, apparently. Though it also seemed to be a hat, or a headband, too.

Something about her was slightly more captivating than the Fifth Sonata of Beethooven. Just...breathtakingly magnificent.

Whether it was her reluctant demeanor, or her gentle cyan eyes, perhaps even just the fact that somepony had just acknowledged Octavia was just...attention grabbing, in its own way.

"Oh, um, I'm sorry..." began the pegasus, interrupting Octavia's momentary thought lapse. "I...you can stay outside, if...if you want."

The earth pony just blinked for a few seconds, before managing to marshal her thoughts enough to reply. She just could have sworn that the heavens themselves opened, and divine beings (such as Celestia) had spoken directly to her.

"Oh, uh, it's fine." she muttered. "I suppose I really shouldn't get sick...I do have things to do tomorrow, anyways."

"Oh, OK..." The pegasus was now almost whispering, her voice barely audible over the surrounding raindrops. "You can come with me...if it's OK with you, I mean..."

Octavia half-raised a hoof to reply, but stopped, uncertain. Something told her it was best to accept this pony's offer-there wouldn't be another town for roughly 40 kilometers, or possibly more.

"Yeah. Sure." she agreed, nonchalantly waving the hoof that she'd raised just seconds ago. "If you really want me to."

"Oh, um...alright."

With that, the yellow coated mare gently tilted her head off to the side, and began to slowly walk off, leaving Octavia to follow shortly behind, as she tried to comprehend what had made her just agree to the pegasus's offer.

It was very unusual for her. In the past, any offer of help, or of kindness was brushed aside with a look of disinterest, and a facade of 'not needing it'. If she could help it, she'd do it alone, and if she had the chance to say so, she'd officially declare that she would take no favors. Octavia was just that type of pony. A hardened soul who disliked the frilly 'kindness' of the world.

The two ponies walked slowly and silently, towards an unknown destination. The pegasus tried to make a little conversation, but Octavia just shut her out, completely. It was bad enough that she'd agreed to this, anyways. She didn't have any need to get attached to a pony she just met.

No matter how eye-catching they were.

Eventually, a tiny cottage of sorts came into view. It was surrounded by a fence, as though animals were meant to be kept in, or intruders to be kept out.

The cottage was rather low-settled, but nevertheless, it was a sight. Tiny patches of flowers, flora, and even exotic grasses peppered the sides, giving it a generally 'homely' look. They looked young, recently grown.

Even through the rain, it looked to be a nice place.

Without a word, both pegasus and earth pony both approached the abode, and Octavia waited patiently as the pegasus fumbled slightly with the door.

As the door eventually opened, the musician once again found her thoughts drifting lazily to the pegasus, but she slapped the thoughts aside. Now wasn't the time.

With a quiet, "We're here", the pegasus stepped to the side to allow her in, and she grudgingly obliged, brushing past her quickly in a determined strut.

The interior of the home was not all that different. There was exactly what you might expect-a gentle color scheme, those few furniture pieces that finished up the homely look. It was a pretty nice touch, in Octavia's opinion. The various bird houses and such were hardly even noticed, because they fit in so well.

And as she turned, what really caught her attention was a small rabbit. As she watched, it ran up to the yellow furred pony, who responded with an eager, slightly laughing greeting.

"What's that doing in there?" Octavia asked uncertainly. She wasn't used to seeing animals in houses-it didn't seem to be the correct habitat for them, anyways.

She watched as the creature turned to look at her with a look of sardonic seriousness. Then it looked back at the mare, who spoke.

"Oh, this is Angel! Say hello, Angel!" she implored.

Angel just stared, unimpressed at the grey mare.

"...I suppose that'll do," she mumbled.

"So, wait." began Octavia, offhandedly eyeing the bunny. "You can talk to animals?"

The pegasus's face brightened with a smile. "Yes, I can! Ever since I was a little filly, I found that I can understand them, and they can understand me! They always have something interesting to say, isn't that right, Angel?"

Angel, still glaring sullen daggers at the dignified mare, nodded.

"That's...interesting, to say the least." remarked Octavia. "I do always wonder what goes on in their tiny minds."

She watched as the small rabbit now hopped up to her, and the two locked gazes. The look was the same as it had been, but now it said, "I'm watching you". She found it best to stay off that subject. She was almost grateful when the other mare asked a question.

"So, um, why were you outside in that dreadful weather?"

Octavia treated this question differently as she had in the past- "Not like I had a choice. I always walk between concerts. Part of the job. I hate it, but...it's necessary."

She treated it differently, as in she actually told the truth. She still didn't know why.

"Oh." mumbled the timid pony. She kicked at the floor a bit, before finally speaking again. "Well, I'm sorry to have bothered you. Just make yourself at home until the rain stops, OK?"

The earth pony nodded wordlessly. Eventually, she swallowed her pride enough for one word: "Sure."

As she watched the pegasus(who was preceded by the stern rabbit) move off after a brief pause, she had to ask. 

"So, what's your name?" That’s odd...why did I put a little spike on ‘your’? She never asked me for mine...

The timid pony stopped in her tracks.

"Oh, I suppose I forgot...I'm...I'm Fluttershy."

Octavia tapped her chin thoughtfully.

"Fluttershy, huh? I'll remember that one..."

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