Moments in Time

by DragonShadow

Friendship is Magic: In Harmony (Slice of Life)

Friendship is Magic: In Harmony

It was a cold day in Canterlot, but then this high up on the mountain every day was a pretty cold day. The snow was gently falling across the streets surrounding the schoolyard, and not a single pony was to be found walking the sidewalks. Perhaps it was because of the cold that they sought shelter, or maybe it was the large crew of young fillies and colts gathered on the school ground and belting out their best interpretation of ‘Harmony In Twos’ at the top of their lungs so that they could drown out the rest of the foals around them.

Their music teacher stepped forward after a moment and waved her hoof sharply, eventually bringing the screaming singing to a halt. “Now, now, little ones, is that really what you want your parents to hear on Hearth’s Warming Eve?”

“But Miss Octavia, nopony’s going to be able to hear me in the crowd!” One of the fillies at the front of the group complained. Several other foals nodded and grunted in agreement. “How can they hear me when there’s so many of us?”

“That’s certainly an interesting question.” Octavia approached the group to sit on the snow in front of them, her blue scarf draping down across her gray chest. “Let me ask you a question of my own, though. Can you hear very well when someone screams at you? You can hear the noise, sure, but can you tell easily who it is? Or what they’re trying to say?”

The filly looked down. “Well… I guess not really.” A couple of the other foals nodded in agreement.

“Well that’s how it is in music. You can all do one of two things. You can scream and yell and try to drown one-another out. You can ensure that nopony can hear any of you.” Octavia smiled and raised her hoof, waving it gracefully in front of her like she was conducting an orchestra. “Or you can sing as one in harmonious joy, and ensure that everypony can hear every single one of you.”

“But that sounds stupid…” The filly grumped again and stamped her hoof into the snow. “They wouldn’t hear me, they would be hearing us.”

Octavia flashed a sly smile and slipped a hoof around her shoulders. “Yes, that’s right. That’s what Hearth’s Warming Eve is all about, is it not? Coming together and being ‘us’?”

The filly glanced around at her companions, who all seemed to be warming up to the idea. “I guess so…”

Octavia grinned and moved back again. “I’m glad to hear you say that. Now, class, let’s try this one more time, in harmony.”

“Hmph…” Sunset Shimmer took a deep breath, mumbling darkly, “I’ll make sure they all hear me…”

Author's Note:

This one is actually a "deleted scene" of sorts from the story "Sunset On My Heart". One of my initial ideas was to sprinkle in flashbacks to Sunset Shimmer's days as a young filly, but I decided it made a relatively short and simple story overly long and convoluted, and the flashbacks simply worked better as bookends to the main story rather than popping up throughout. I kind of liked this one, though, so here it will stay, though for reference I re-wrote it just for this. I actually deleted the actual original scene without saving it, stupid me.

Also, is it me or does everyone just naturally assume all of the mares in the show with the normal pony body type are all the same age? Considering Twilight's parents also share this body type, I think the ponies of Ponyville come in a wider range of ages than most people consider, hence Octavia being an adult in this at the time Sunset Shimmer is a younger filly. Not really a problem or anything, just something I've noticed over time.