//------------------------------//
// Sing 
// Story: Canterlot And Beyond 
// by Starlight Shadow 
//------------------------------//

Octavia stepped onto the gleaming wooden stage, the spotlight on her. She set her case down with the utmost care, and removed her instrument and her bow from within its silky black depths. She adjusted herself so as to comfortably saw the bow along the strings of her cello, and began.

It was a slow, steady melody, not unlike the ones she so often played for a packed concert hall, but this one was different. Special. It was the song Vinyl had helped her perfect and mold so she could play it on her cello. Her favorite song.

"Heart beats fast, colors and promises. How to be brave, how can I love when I'm afraid to fall." She quietly sang to the endless rows of empty red seats. She already knew it was performance-ready, but she wanted to finish it. Even though there was no one there to listen, she wanted to play the whole thing for herself. 

"But watching you stand alone, all of my doubt, suddenly goes away somehow."

"One step closer."

This song was different in the way she played it, too. Instead of a partnership between her and her instrument, she felt as if her and her music were one, as if her bow was merely an extension of her body. 

So this is what a real creation feels like. She thought as she continued to sing.

"I have died every day, waiting for you. Darling don't be afraid, I have loved you for a thousand years. I'll love you for a thousand more..." Her voice grew stronger with each note, the radio that aided her in the melody and lyrics gradually fading away. She didn't need any sort of help. She would sing with all her heart tomorrow, there was no doubting it.

"And all along, I believed I would find you. Time has brought your heart to me, I have loved you for a thousand years. I'll love you for a thousand more..."

As she brought the last chorus to a close, Octavia bowed for no one.