I walked into my first ever class, Concert Orchestra, with half smile half smirk on my face. I had to look confident today. Nopony was allowed to know that I was a fillyfooler. I had to get everypony to know the real me before I told them about my little secret. After all, they couldn’t hate a pony if they already liked them…if that made sense. The other ponies in the orchestra seemed kind enough, even if it was awkward meeting them.

Beauty Brass, a blue pony with a brown mane, was very friendly. I tried to ignore what Vinyl had said about her flank, but I caught myself staring on many occasions. Her cutie mark was a purple bass cleft, and she played a sousaphone.

Frederic was quiet, but when he did speak, he was very…I suppose wise is the only way to put it. I tried to forget that Lyra had suggested him as a coltfriend. He played the piano, and was rehearsing when I first walked into the practice room. Beauty Brass was watching him, her eyes wide and shiny.

Concerto was very handsome, and he played the violin. His brown coat and mane shined from a careful washing. He spoke with the richest of Canterlot accents, and he had blue eyes that twinkled. His marefriend, Symphony, was also a violin player.

The most mysterious of the band members was Harpo. He didn’t speak much…at all actually. He was just a harp player, as was his marefriend, Lyrica. They only spoke to each other, in hushed tones. The other members of the orchestra told me to ignore them.

“Are you enjoying your first day, Octavia?” Concerto asked me about half way through rehearsals. I put my cello bow down.

“It’s wonderful,” I smiled. “Everything I had imagined and more. Everypony here is just so talented. I hope I can keep up,”

“Octavia, darling,” Symphony laughed a very bell-like laugh. “You are a part of this school, and therefore, you are talented enough to keep up with us.”

“Thank you, Symphony,” I nodded my head respectively towards her.

“Today is clearly just a free day,” Beauty Brass said, joining us. “We’re just warming up our instruments and making sure everypony is in tune. We’re also trying out some things that we might want to use in our first concert around Heath’s Warming Eve.” She shifted her instrument slightly. “I’m working with Frederic on a piece just over there if you want to have a listen,” she trotted off and Frederic began playing his piano.

“Do you know any pieces we could try, Octavia?” Concerto asked.

“I know one…a cello and violin piece.”

“Let’s try it!” Symphony said. “Do you have the sheet music?”

“I do,” I popped open my cello case and ruffled through the music that Vinyl had disorganized last night. I finally found the music and gave the violin pieces to Concerto and Symphony. They readied their instruments and we began to play.

The music pounded through my ears and I felt at home. The violins were in perfect unison, their notes blending with my cello in a beautiful fashion. It had been a long time since I had heard classical music. All the loud beats that Vinyl was so fond of pushed their way out of my head, replaced with the sweet melody of the piece.

I was aware that the rest of the orchestra was surrounding us, listening to us play. I didn’t let that distract me. Instead, I relied on it for motivation to keep myself at the proper tempo. Concerto and Symphony were swaying to the beat of their violins, their eyes never once leaving the sheet music.

“That was simply astounding,” Fredric complimented. “You must perform that piece at the Heath’s Warming Eve concert,” Beauty Brass nodded in agreement. Symphony and Concerto bowed, and I tilted my head, unable to bow due to the size of my cello. Lyrica approached me.

“Do you mind if I play a piece?” she asked in a low whisper.

“By all means, feel free,” I said kindly. She thanked me and hurried to her harp, looking to me for help. “I believe Lyrica has something she would like us to hear,” I announced. Everypony turned to face her and she ran her hoof across the harp to make sure it was in tune. When she had confirmed that she was tuned, she began to play, her hooves dancing across the harp.
Her piece was beautiful, though I had never been one to know harp music. I did know that the music was wonderful.

“What did you think?” Concerto asked the group. “I say it’s worthy of the concert,”

“I concur,” Frederic said, standing next to Concerto. Lyrica looked down, a smile across her face.

“I loved it,” Beauty Brass beamed. They all looked to me.

“I’m not the type of pony to correctly judge harp music, but I think I have just witnessed a very talented harp player, and it would be a shame if her talent was not showcased at the concert,”

“That’s that then,” Symphony said brightly. “Lyrica, you’ll be playing that in the concert,”

“Look at the time! We only have a minute left!” Concerto exclaimed, looking at the clock perched on the wall. I collected my sheet music and placed it somewhat neatly in my cello case. I put my cello away carefully, shutting the case just as Concerto called time to go.

“Is there no teacher for this class?” I asked Beauty Brass as we left.

“Oh, there is, but he never turns up. His name is Noteworthy. He works in Ponyville a lot, so that must be where he goes instead of teaching. We don’t need a teacher though, because we get a lot done. Take today for example, we chose two pieces for the concert! We never get that much done in the first day!” She smiled at me. “That piece you did with Concerto and Symphony was really good,” she added.

“Thank you, Beauty Brass.” I smiled back.

“Call me Brassy,” she replied. “It’s what my friends call me.”

“Alright, Brassy,” I tried the nickname out. I guess nicknames weren’t so terrible. It would be much easier to address her if I just said ‘Brassy’.

“Octy, there you are!” A loud voice made me cringe.

“Octy? Is that your nickname?” Brassy asked. I shook my head.

“She doesn’t understand that I prefer the name ‘Octavia’.” I said. “Hello, Vinyl. How was class?” I asked as the unicorn joined us.

“Awesome, I got to work on that secret project and I’m almost done with it. You?”

“We chose pieces for the Heath’s Warming Eve concert,” Brassy said loudly. “We chose two! Come on, Octavia, I think we have Music History together.”

“See you later, Vinyl,” I said kindly as Brassy dragged me away. I felt terrible abandoning the poor mare like that.

“You can’t be friends with her.” Brassy said seriously. “She’s loud, rude, obnoxious…”

“She’s my roommate,” I explained. “She isn’t so bad once you know her,” I felt that sticking up for Vinyl was the least I could do, considering how awful I had treated her the other day.

“She’s so different!” Brassy said loudly.

“I’m aware, but that’s no reason to judge her.” I remembered my father’s words. “It’s what’s on the inside that counts,”

“Alright, Octavia,” Brassy sighed. “Let’s just go to class,”

~XoXo~

I returned to my room later that evening, tired and hungry. I had spent hours in rehearsal after classes let out, and I was ready for a sandwich and bed.

“Hey, Octy, there you are. I didn’t know what you liked, so I threw in a little bit of everything.” Vinyl said cheerfully when I walked in the dorm.

“Threw in…pardon?”

“Soup, Octy. I made some soup.”

“I didn’t know you could cook,” I was surprised. Vinyl had struck me as the instant-dinner type of mare.

“My mom was a great cook. She could take a bunch of ingredients, do some fancy magical thing, and wham instant meal. I’m not as great, but I can make simple things. Want some soup?” She seemed so proud in the success of her soup that I couldn’t decline.

I had to admit, Vinyl’s soup was very delicious. There were all sorts of vegetables mixed in, and I was surprised that I enjoyed it so much.

“Thank you, Vinyl. The soup was very good,”
“Glad you liked it, Tavi,”

“Tavi? What happened to ‘Octy’?” I asked. I had just grown used to the nickname.

“I thought I would use both. You know, Octy, Tavi, Octavia,” She smiled. “I can interchange them!”
“Let’s just stick to ‘Octy’ or ‘Octavia’ for now,” I said kindly.

“Alright, Octy!” Vinyl was in a cheerful mood tonight. It must have had something to do with the fact that she had been with other ponies that liked her music all day. “Are you going to bed?” she took my bowl with her magic and within seconds it was gone.

“I think so. I’m very tired.” I left the table and collapsed on my bed, grateful that Frederic had let me keep my cello in the rehearsal room.

“Night, Octy,”

“Goodnight, Vinyl,”