Fast, But Not Too Much

Don't Own My Little Pony Friendship Is Magic. It's the property of Hasbro, and Lauren Faust. All Rights Are Reserved To Them.


With a long sigh a lone gray mare took a glance at the empty room, her eyes drifted to the various instruments that sat untouched on the center stage. The music hall much like herself had seen better days, ponies just didn't enjoy classical music as much as they used too, and the band had for the most part gone their separate ways. The only one who still came here was the raven maned earth pony who would show up every morning to dust off the instruments left behind, and then play her precious cello for hours on end.

After taking a few minutes to make sure every instrument on stage was dust free and in working order, the cellist took another long look off the stage and towards the now empty seats that spanned before her. She imagined that the whole room was filled with expectant, and eager ponies all waiting with barely contained excitement for her to begin playing. Joining the imaginary crowd were all her band mates who separated from the audience so they could accompany her on the brightly lit stage. With a nod to her fellow musicians Octavia began to draw her bow across the strings of the large cello.

Once again the sound of a lone cello echoed throughout the large room, ran down the hallways, and escaped out the music hall entrance into the streets of Canterlot. A beautiful sound that most ponies in the area had grown accustomed too, all except one visitor.

Spike speculated that even in a dragon's lifespan he'd never be able to comprehend how it was possible for mares to spend so much time staring through shop windows, gawking at things they wouldn't even buy. Window shopping was probably invented just to vex dragons, and Spike wondered if perhaps all dragon greed related incidents in pony populations could be linked to the horrid activity.

His best friend, and older sister figure had been summoned by her mentor to Canterlot for a casual visit, and some how it had morphed to wandering around the many stores, and shops that dotted the capital city. Thinking back the teenage dragon wished he had chosen to stay home, and sort books instead of deciding to accompany the lavender mare on her errands. Somewhere a pony had just accidentally dropped a box full of glass figurines, and Spike covered his ears as he was forced to hear the entire ordeal.

"Are you alright Spike?" Twilight had noticed Spike's look of discomfort, and she immediately forgot about the newest issue of Daring Do that was tempting her on the other side of the glass. She had been planning on buying something for all her friends back in Ponyville while she was in Canterlot visiting princess Celestia. Watching her assistant place his hands over his ears she quickly deduced the problem and started to feel quite guilty.

Though having cleared the awkward stage of life known as draconic puberty years ago, there was still the left over side effect or two. He had grown a bit almost to the same height as when Twilight first took notice of that 'greed' episode he had undergone years before. His current discomfort could be blamed on how he wasn't in full control of his heightened hearing, things that you typically couldn't hear from across the room blared loudly into his ear drums. A crowded place like Canterlot was probably similar to being blasted point blank by one of Vinyl Scratches many sound systems to the teenage dragon.

"You know Spike, I can always pick out gifts for the girls another time. I don't want you to have to suffer just because of me." The concern in Twilight's voice struck a cord in Spike's heart, and he knew he wasn't going to allow her to postpone her task just for his sake. With a thankful smile Spike came up with a compromise in his head.

"It's alright Twi you don't have to worry over me, I'll just go for a stroll and maybe hangout somewhere a little less noisy." The lavender unicorn was about to object to the idea of Spike wondering off alone, but a determined glint in the dragon's eyes put an end to any argument she might have concocted. He had stopped being a baby a long time ago, and didn't require any coddling, end of debate. With a defeated sigh Twilight nuzzled her little brother affectionately, and had him swear to meet her back at this exact spot in three hours. With an embarrassed eye roll brought on by Twilight's mothering, Spike agreed and walked off leaving the unicorn to stand there watching him for a few moments. "They grown up so fast."

A Few Minutes Later:

Spike growled irritably as the surrounding cacophony of sounds droned into his ears unceasingly. It never had occurred to him just how much noise ponies could make just going about their daily lives, perhaps that was just because Canterlot was soo much bigger, and densely populated that Ponyville was thus leading to a higher concentration of sound. Either way he was being driven to the brink of insanity, that is until a new sound made it's presence known in his ears.

It was faint barely louder than a whisper in comparison to the other noises that berated his sense of hearing, but it held a steady rhythm that had singled it out. Spike was now stopped in his tracks as oddly enough he found himself trying to zero in on this newcomer, it was strangely soothing and the more he concentrated on it the quieter all the other racket became. His draconic ears perking up, and suddenly angling to his left Spike quickly turned and began to move.

Down several streets, and through a few alleyways Spike continued to make way toward the origin of this pleasing tone. He was close that much he could tell, he could now identify the sound as being musical in origin and it had grown louder than when he had first noticed it. He was familiar with it, but unable to name it perhaps something he had listened to years ago. His ears were finally at peace, and that drove the young dragon more to so find what was producing such a beautiful sound. Taking another turn Spike found himself in front of a large building, large font engraved into a stone sign standing beside it.

"Canterlot Music Hall"

Without any hesitation Spike made his way into the building, and down the hallways, the wonderful notes singing in his ears, and guiding him. Now that Spike was so close to the ear pleasing ground zero he started to notice that despite how beautiful it sounded, the music seemed a tad bit sad, or in better words...lonely.

At the end of the hallway Spike was walking down a large set of wooden doors stood slightly ajar, and within the end of his journey. Taking a moment to gather his courage Spike reached out and gripped the handle to the door opening it as carefully as one could to avoid making a disturbance. Peering inside the purple dragon was met with the sight of a large room filled with empty chairs, a few balconies, and in the far center a large stage.

A lone pony stood in the middle of the stage, a bow in one hoof which played masterfully across the strings of a large cello that was held by the other hoof with the utmost care. A long mane as black as coal cascaded from the ponies head down her back, the mare's greyish fur contrasting perfectly with the dark brown of the instrument. From where he stood watching Spike recognized the calm dignity that this pony held about her, even as oblivious as she was to his presence this mare played as if she was performing in front of a live audience never faltering or even opening her eyes.

Spike would have been perfectly happily just watching this unknown mare play in silence for as long as he could, but eventually the music stopped and he was overcome with the sudden desire to applaud. And much to his, and the cellist surprise he did just that.

This had been a better session than usual for Octavia, of course she and her band had been perfectly in sync as always, but oddly enough the clapping of the adoring audience seemed much more real. Octavia would have dismissed it as her imagination getting the better of her if not for the smiling dragon that greeted her when she finally lifted her eyelids. With a startled squeak she nearly dropped her beloved cello, and for a painful few seconds completely lost her usual aura of composed dignity. An awkward silence filled the room as the dragon stopped clapping, and a questioning glare grew on Octavia's face.

"S-Sorry about that, I didn't mean to scare you...er I mean startle you." With the music gone and the mare's attention now centered on him, Spike suddenly found himself losing any explanation that might have saved his scaled hide. The apology hadn't seemed to help much and the continued glaring was making him quite uncomfortable, having nothing else to use he decided to just go for broke.

"It's just...that sound you were making...It was so beautiful, I-I just had to know where it was coming from."

Octavia smiled inwardly, sure she wasn't keen on somepony or in this case some dragon watching her play without her consent, but at least he was sorry and had complimented her. Plus now that she was thinking about it, one real life spectator was better than a imaginary audience. Her glare lessened and she started tuning her instrument just for something to do as she contemplated what to do with the young dragon before her.

"Can I hear some more?" Spike's voice came out less manly than he would have appreciated, but he was already sorely missing the enchanting music the cellist made. Luckily she seemed to be thinking it over as she tuned her instrument with a thoughtful expression, Spike figured introducing himself might smooth out the awkwardness of if all, and tip the scales in his favor.

"My names Spike by the way, I promise I won't be a bother miss...umm."

Octavia raised a dubious eyebrow in the dragon's direction, and a small smile grew across her face. He was trying to make things less weird, and at least for the time being she could humor him. Tapping her left hind hoof against the stage to get his attention she pointed the bow toward her cello case to show the gold colored letters that were etched into the case.

"Oh so your name is Octavia, well then it's nice to meet you miss Octavia." Feeling more comfortable Spike walked closer to the stage until Octavia nodded her head in the direction of the first row. Getting the hint he quickly took a seat, and stared up towards the mare with an expectant smile. Octavia couldn't help but feel a tingle of giddiness it had been too long for her liking since the last time she had someone to perform for, and she wondered if things were finally going to start looking up.

Deciding to play the first thing that popped in her head Octavia set into her playing position, and began the first few notes to an old favorite of hers. The cello strings immediately began to sing as the bow ran along them in slow but professional movements, and Spike's eyelids drooped dreamily as his hearing was once again lost in the sea of music. With a goofy smile on his face Spike let out a content sigh as he continued to listen, even the spines along his back seemed to droop into a relaxed state.

Octavia having noticed Spike's obvious enjoyment glowed with pride, no pony that she had ever known could have boasted about playing well enough to appease a dragon's taste in music. She closed her eyes and briefly wondered if perhaps there might be some untapped fan base for classical music in the dragon population. As she thought about the possibilities, and continued playing her sole spectator was suddenly brought out of his music induced dream state. He couldn't help but notice that the notes she played seemed to fit perfectly with something he had heard before, but it was missing something. With a glance around the stage Spike's eyes came across a instrument he knew well, and he suddenly came up with a interesting idea.

A sound of movement caused Octavia's ears to perk up, but she paid the noise no mind as she was to far into her playing to pay the rest of the world any mind. A moment later a alarming thought flashed through her mind, and instantly Octavia looked to where the dragon was sitting happily just a minute ago. Her pupils shrank as she realized that the spot was now very vacant, and the dragon no where else to be seen among the audience seats. A heart that had been swelling with pride now stopped for a whole second, and purple eyes turned glassy and downcast. Her first audience in months had already grown bored and left.

Then suddenly a new sound came to life just a few paces beside her, as it filled the room, and echoed from one equine ear to the other Octavia swiveled her head around to set her eyes on something she'd never forget for the rest of her days. A dragon was playing the piano, no not just hitting keys like a first timer, but actually playing it like somepony who had been practicing for as long as she had with her cello.

Spike turned his head away from the brown grand piano to smirk at the now dumbstruck mare beside him. "You know this piece sounds much better with a piano and a cello instead of just one of the two. Should have figured you played a little Neighthoven, he's one of my favorite composers."  

Years of practice in keeping her expressions in check, and making sure she always kept a calm demeanor about herself was suddenly equivalent to nothing as Octavia's mouth hung open in shock. In front of her was a DRAGON that PLAYED PIANO, and apparently LISTENED TO NEIGHTHOVEN. All of the sudden thoughts and questions swirled around in her head like a tornado beating against the inside of her skull repeatedly, until they merged into a single sound that escaped with ease from her open mouth.

"Meep!"

And with that all of Octavia's thoughts were brought back to order, and her mind reverted from that momentarily unhinged state. After a few eerily long seconds had passed the earth pony came to realize just how non composed she probably looked at that moment. In a desperate attempt to save what tiny fragments of dignity she still had Octavia closed her mouth, and turned around abruptly to hide the crimson blush that was spreading across her face.

"If it's any consolation, I'm the only piano playing dragon that I know too." Spike played a few more keys absentmindedly slightly wishing that he had just stayed seated instead of acting on the sudden idea to play along. "Just kinda figured you might like having some pony or in my case some dragon to play with. Sorry." Out of the corner of his eyes Spike noticed the gray mare nod her head slightly, whether she was nodding to the first statement, or the second he wasn't sure though. This whole situation would probably be easier if she talked more, but he was getting the feeling that she wasn't a words kind of pony.

Meanwhile Octavia was currently regaining her preferred sense of self, with the blush now fading away she could at least look in his direction without feeling ridiculous. What he had said had actually made her feel a bit better, and now that she was done being awestruck by a the sight of an instrument playing dragon the gray mare actually wanted to take him up on that offer to play a duet instead of a solo. Taking in a quiet breath of air Octavia turned to the purple dragon and tapped her bow against the cello.

The sound of tapping gaining his attention Spike smiled softly as he noticed that Octavia's calm collected expression had returned, and that she pointed one hoof toward the piano. Oddly enough he felt like he understood some strange unspoken message, they would dismiss the incident that had occurred moments ago, and now they were going to continue playing where she had left off. As his claws swiftly yet gently danced across the piano keys Spike's smile broadened, it had been a while since he had enjoyed playing the piano this much.

If the young draconian had turned his head away from the piano, he might have noticed that Octavia's smile was just as large as his own. It had been a long time since she had played with an pianist, and she would have to admit that Spike was playing his part just as well as she was. It felt real nice not having to play alone, and before either one knew it they had whittled hours away just playing together.

"Alright now that was fun!" Octavia nodded in agreement flashing a small smile that had been on her face since they had first started playing. "Ok so stop me if this sounds ridiculous, but how about we try doing Brohemian Rhapony." Spike laughed as the cellist raised her eyebrow dubiously in reply, some how not talking at all made her funnier than half the ponies he knew.  

Despite his mirth Spike couldn't help but feel like he was forgetting something. He scratched his head in frustration, whatever it was it must have been pretty important. Octavia watched with mild interest as she began tuning the strings to her cello again until finally Spike recalled something Twilight had told him a bit ago, he was supposed to meet up with her in a few hours.

"Oh Horseapples!" The outburst was so loud, and sudden that Octavia almost broke one of her strings. She turned to glare at the dragon when she found her personal space being invaded, and her ears bombarded with questions. "HOW LONG HAVE WE BEEN PLAYING?! WHAT TIME IS IT?!! PLEASE TELL ME YOU HAVE A CLOCK! Ouch!"

Spike's frantic shouting was cut off by a sudden whacking on his scaled snout, after rubbing the sore spot for a moment his eyes looked to Octavia who stood glaring at him with one hoof on her hip, and the other holding her bow with a dangerous aura. Message received, no breaching of the personal bubble even in times of crisis.

"Ok I deserved that, but is there any chance you have a clock around here?" Octavia rolled her eyes and continued to leer at the dragon for a moment more before finally pointing a hoof toward the door that Spike had first entered through. Right above the door hung a clock, and much to his horror Spike took notice that he was officially ten minutes late.

"Manure! Dang Octavia I gotta go, I was supposed to meet up with Twilight ten minutes ago." In a flash Spike was off the stage, and racing toward the doors. Right as he was halfway out the door, a sudden sound stopped him in his tracks.

"W-Wait!"

For a brief moment Spike was about to blame his imagination, but as he turned around back toward the stage he immediately knew what he had heard was real. Standing at the edge of the stage with large eyes, and a hoof covering her mouth as if she too had a hard time believing she had said anything stood Octavia. No more words escaped her lips, but Spike instantly understood. Everything from her stance, the worried look that formed on her face, and even the slight wavering in that composed air she kept about herself said the same thing to him without sound. She was worried that he wouldn't come back, and that she might have to go back to playing alone.

"It's ok you don't have to say anything, I promise I'll be back." Spike turned back around, but right before he walked out into the hallway he said one more thing. "Same time next week, and next time lets play a love song."

And with that Spike sped down the hallways, and out of the building making a mad dash back to where he was sure a worried sick Twilight was waiting for him.

Back in the music hall Octavia stared at the doorway for a few minutes, with no one else there she was able to let out a long sigh of relief. She couldn't believe that she had been terrified by the prospect of never seeing that dragon again, in just a few short hours he had filled a void that had been dogging her for some time. Trotting back to her cello Octavia began packing her things, true she was cutting her practice a bit short today but she could let it pass. As she moved the cello case off the stage she couldn't help but think back to what Spike had said right before leaving. He had said that they would play a love song.

Octavia snorted to herself trying to play it off as him just wanting something cheesy to say before exiting. Course it didn't help that she remembered that the very song she was playing when he had wondered in to begin with was in fact a bit of a love song. Romance had always been one of her favorite Aclopalyptica songs.