Octavia (Tier 3 Ready)

[SteelEagle]

 

RP Type: World of Equestria
Name: Octavia Trebleclef
Sex: Female
Age: Mare
Species: Earth Pony
Eye colour: Dull Purple
Coat colour: Light grey.
Mane/Tail: Dark grey streaked with a shade of lighter grey, the mane styled straight with curls at the end.
Physique: Perhaps a bit unimpressive for the usually physically inclined Earth pony, with a slight pudge around the waist.
Origin/Residence: Canterlot born and raised, though currently spends much of her time traveling.
Occupation: For-Hire Musician, Specializing in String Instruments(though by no means limited).
Cutie Mark: Purple Trebleclef. (See history for story)

Character History:
Octavia was born into a family of not so grand fortune. Her family was strong and both parents were hard-working, yet their lack of advanced education in a city such as Canterlot consigned them to a lower-middle class lifestyle. While the family never straddled poverty and Octavia would never experience the desperation associated with it, she also was denied the opportunities and lifestyle of the upper class who had seemingly all the possibilities of the world open to them. In this home, love substituted well for wealth and she grew up content with what gifts she could gamely count.

Well, on the surface anyway. Something was always a little off about the grey filly with the purple eyes, a nervous tick constantly sending snapping hairs to stand on edge as the wind deemed fit. She responded to queries a few seconds too slow, moved more cautiously than her friends(of which the affable little filly had more than a hooffull), and while nothing seemed to be alarmingly wrong everyone had the feeling that the little filly was highly unusual. This stretched even beyond what her classmates and teachers may have noticed, however. The little filly had great trouble sleeping unless the music of the Germaneic composers whispered into her ears many soothing songs. If the beat of some popular pop song struck her in a malignant fashion, Octavia was known to break down in hysterics and demand that it cease, her face stricken with the purest panic and even pain. And so she grew, friends and family worried about a life so taken in by some mysterious force. Coupled with great difficulty in expressing herself, they thanked Celestia that she somehow managed to lead a normal life with a close group of friends and a loving, supporting family. She found increasing solace in the music of the eternal greats, but even Beethoofen could ill support her at times.

The cause of this great unease that clung to Octavia like a bad odor started to come into focus when she was an older filly. Her school, Neighson Public, had a laughingstock of a band and in the grand tradition of Canterlot the Battle of the Bands Season was about to begin. Public schools did not ever fare well against the well-to do prep academies and private schools who could draw from a seeming legion of rich families who seemingly pumped out musicians as if it were a collective past time. For some, it was. Regardless, Octavia found herself drawn to the practices where she fell victim to the poor play of her supposed musical superiors. Practice after practice, time after time, she sat and stared at them. And yet, she still came, drawn towards this punishment for reasons she desperately sought but could never find. Her brain snapped as they played, the music they produced torturous and intense in their failings. The day of the first 'game' against Canterlot Prepatory, she sat in the front row. Neighson Public was slow to the stage and the buzzing continued until, nearly at the point of tears due to Prepatory's mocking rhythm, Octavia galloped backstage. She found the lead Cellist throwing up due to stage fright. While many were distraught at this, Octavia begged the coach to allow her to play. In his panic and lacking any other competent Cellists, he allowed Octavia to handle the instrument despite the protests of his peers. They had no choice with no time left.

She took the stage, heard what song they were to play, and started to play...if play is the right word. It is better to say she performed. The second she and instrument met and made music, the buzzing came to a stop and the discordant sounds that passed for the background static of life had meaning, a flow. She became entranced by the music she produced, losing herself in the vitality and power of it. Her performance was nearly flawless and when she came back to full awareness, it was all over. Neighson Public had lost, but for the first time in a generation they had come within a hair of beating Prepatory. And it was all thanks to Octavia, who came out of her stupor with a wry grin and a fierce caress of the Cello- and a trebleclef cutie mark. She was asked to stay on the team and for the next four years would be Neighson's shining star.

Yet as much as her musical talents were recognized on the stage, her cutie mark's vast importance off the stage became apparent almost as swiftly. Octavia realized that the supposed curse which had afflicted her all these years, made her view the world in a kilter slightly different, was in all actuality a stunning gift. She came to realize that life itself is music, from the chorus of ponies in speech to the symphony of a city in life, the biorhythm's of her fellows coming as the beating drums and the bass line of existence. She came to know that music existed not on paper or through instruments, but in literally everything that existed. And she could see it, feel it, taste it, hear it, know it.

Art has sound to those with the capability to hear it, the beauty of it's visuals matched by the stirring chorus in the soul that behald it. Language, every language, is equal parts performance and magical as the words flow like a river to those that know. Love has sound. Hate has sound. The earth, the trees, the streams and flowers, griffons and ponies, life and even death all have music that flows around them. Connected, this world is a never ending symphony. Octavia finally realized that what she had been missing all those years was the most vital piece of the puzzle in her relations with others: the understanding of music and, therefore, her understanding of others. Her attitude improved dramatically, the awkward pauses and responses that marked her younger years vanishing and her inability to express herself at times completely discarded. A filly once lost to the world become a mare utterly consumed in it's delights.

Because her school was not considered one of the best in the city, her vast talents were lost in the shuffle of those whose high upbringing afforded them lessons and equipment far beyond her caliber. She did not get an offer to attend one of the fancy music institutes in the city, but that did not stop her. Her parents poured much of their admittedly shaky finances into sending her to the Canterlot Institute of the Arts, where she excelled in all of her studies. Graduating near the top of her class, Octavia found herself strapped for any financial support and tossed out into a world where without a band to back her up, she takes any and all musical offers to pay her school back, pay her family back, and make her own living. She now travels Equestria and abroad seeking to make a living off of her music.

 

Character Personality:

 

Can you describe the unseen power and majesty of music, the magic of composition and the artistry of performance? Few can and Octavia is one of them and the mastery of music she expresses through both deed and thought was ingrained in her from a young age. She has many talents. While her first love is the cello, her cutie mark represents music itself and not something as specific as an instrument. She plays an excellent fiddle and a mean piano, the double bass holds no mysteries and she can even whip out the french horn. Anything with a string she can play and outside of that class she has competency in many others across the board. This has allowed her to keep up a consistent performing schedule, either leading or filling in almost every night of every week. Some gigs are small, such as a Nightmare Night celebration playing the fiddle in costume. Others are huge, such as being the lead cellist at the Grand Galloping Gala. She is paying the bills, so to speak, and saving some money on the side. Her expenses are relatively minor and her travel means she often has paid hotels and train carriages instead of a permanent residence.

She is currently traveling the world doing smaller shows, but of course this is not her long-term plan. She is almost constantly writing musical pieces, from stand alone solos to huge symphonies. Not one has sounded right to ears once put to the test, but for every broken remain of a former masterpiece there is a new lesson to be learned. One day she will finally hit her groove and her name will live amongst the greatest composers of all time and her symphonies will have an impact not just on the world of music, but will subtly change for the better all who lend to her their ears for just a few hours. For this she will need her own instruments rather than the instruments she is given by those whom hire her. She will need a stable of talented musicians. She is willing to wait, for all she needs is that one performance with her instruments, her music, her musicians, to forever mark her legacy.

In her travels, Octavia has had to visit many a foreign land and can thus speak many languages(after all, what is language if not music?), with fantastic proficiency in Germaneic and Itailian. While she is extremely focused and serious while performing or composing, she is known to have a sly sense of humor and an enjoyment of a wide range of activities, including but not limited to any card game on the planet, drawing, reading, and when she is among the younger ponies, playing. She keeps in regular contact with her family, always seeing them when she is in Canterlot and spends a good deal of her money left over after making payments on them. She has grown to absorb many musical genres into her taste, and while she is no fan of some, there are now truly few songs that can brink her to the brink of tears. True, some of those tend to be incredibly popular, but such is the life of a pony with an ear and soul for the music of life. Contrary to the image she portrays commonly while performing, she is an affable sort who gravitates towards likeminded ponies. She is friendly and outgoing now as a mare in the prime of her life, a far cry from the near-shut who struggled with her understanding of the world as a filly.

There is, after all, little room for discordant humming in the world of Octavia.

 

 

[RarityDash]