//------------------------------//
// Ch. 50 The Response 
// Story: The Gaps in F r i e n d s h i p 
// by Arcanum -Phantasy 
//------------------------------//

Octavia calmly made her way through the seemingly endless halls of the maze, a bored expression marring her beautiful face as she took in her surroundings. When she initially found herself in her current prison she was on high alert, certain that she would be attacked at any moment by some unknown horror. When no such thing happened after an hour or so of walking, she started to wish her captor would get on with it. She was no fool. The gravity of the situation was not lost her her, but at the same time she thought her opponent had more a more horrible fate planned for her than boring her to death.
She stopped and sighed when she came to a fork in the path before her.
I can only imagine how Vinyl is taking this, she thought as she closed her eyes. It will be a small miracle if this place is still standing when she's through with it.
She took a deep breath and concentrated, her pony ears twitching as she emptied her mind of all distractions. At first, nothing happened, then a faint sound graced her ears. It was a sharp disjointed thing, like nails on a chalkboard mixed with the cry of a dying cat. She opened her eyes and leveled a disgusted look at the left path as she took it, the horrid sound gone along with her concentration. 
It is getting louder, she thought with an exasperated breath. I suppose that is one point in my favor, depending on how one chooses to see it.
A bitter grumble made its way past her lips as she stomped with a little less poise forward. One of the more unique aspects of her magic was detection, a blessing and a curse given her current predicament. By concentrating, she could pick up different types of energy outside the range of her normal senses. These would manifest as different types of songs or sounds based on the kind of magic her target wielded. While each of her friends possessed beautiful symphonies that she wished she could recreate, this monster could only give her disjointed mangled messes that she doubted even someone as talented as her sister could find a use for.
"The reasons to end this demon keep growing by the minute," she said bitterly.
Her outrage grew as she remembered just how far this monster's misdeeds reached. If it wasn't for this "Lily Bouquet", the seeds of Sunset's downfall never would've been sown. But that wasn't the only reason Octavia was so furious with the Wraith. Over and over again, the memory of a mentally destroyed Rarity sitting on a park bench flashed into her mind, dozens of empty bottles littering the ground were she sat. To see someone so full of passion be reduced to such a sorry state hurt Octavia on a level not too many things could. It reminded her of how her Vinyl looked the day her "mother" tried to break her in the hospital. The fact that she had a hand in putting Rarity into that dark hole added a hint of self-loathing to the raging inferno growing in her heart.
With a furious snarl, she swung her right hand out to her side and called upon her magic to manifest. With a faint flash, a lavender rapier appeared in her hand, dozens of different types of musical notes decorating the blade like a thin sheet of music paper. The hilt was rounded with a cage-style knuckle guard designed to look like the strings of her prized instrument. The girl's grip tightened on the blade's handle as she let her anger guide her steps through her dimly lit surroundings. 
"I need to make things right between us, " she muttered, then gritted her teeth painfully as she said, "But first, there is a demon I must slay."


***


Lily shifted her attention evenly among the different oneway portals, a bit of excitement mixing with her need to be cautious. It was rare that she found prey that truly made her have to work for a meal. With the exception of Hearths Warming, no one gave her any real challenges. Most of the people that opposed her directly failed to make it past her specially crafted seeds or died in an instant when they finally made it to her. These girls were quickly proving that they were not the pack of fat pups she thought they were. While Sunset wasn't too much of a surprise, the others were showing that she was wise to be cautious when dealing with them and not letting her apatite get the better of her. Her children on the other hand...
Sweetie let out a furious snarl as she glared at Rarity's portal, a black mist swirling around her as her magic struggled to give form to her outrage.
"Damn it! Why didn't she die?!" she snarled, slamming a soccer ball sized crater with her a bare foot. "Alura had her! She had her!"
"Sis calm down," Applebloom pleaded, her hands up in a placating manner as she approached her.
"NO!" Sweetie screamed, the dark energy flaring sharply as she aimed her anger at her sister. "NOT UNTIL SHE'S DEAD!"
Applebloom put her arms up in an ex over her face and chest as her sister's unstable energy surged towards her, only for a solid black wall of energy to come down between the two girls. Applebloom let out a relieved sigh while Sweetie's rage turned into pure terror when she realized what she almost did. That turned into guilt when she heard her mother angrily call her name. Wilting, she turned to face Lily, the Arch Wraith staring down at her with crossed arms and a stern frown on her face.
"S-Sorry," she stammered. "I-It w-w-was an a-accident. I-I didn't mean-"
Lily stopped her with a raised hand, the young girl quickly closed her mouth and looked sheepishly at the ground. Lily's features softened as she gently brought a hand to her daughter's chin and guided her face back up to her own.
"I understand that you are frustrated my dear," she said softly, lightly stroking the young Wraith's hair out of her face. "But you need to stay in control of yourself. Otherwise, you could become feral."
"Feral? What's that?" Sweetie asked.
Lily sighed, then kneeled down to her daughter's level as she said, "Going feral is when a Wraith lets their powers go out of control in a blind rage. It can also happen if a Wraith goes hungry for too long. When that happens, they will attack everything around them until they regain control."
"How long does that take?" Applebloom asked nervously as she gave her scared sister worried looks.
"It depends on the Wraith," she said evenly. "It could be a day, a month, even a year if they're especially powerful. One time, The Queen went feral for ten years. It was the last time anyone ever saw Atlantis and all of the fifty islands that surrounded it."
Applebloom and Sweetie gawked at her before the latter ran crying into her mother's arms.
"I don't want to do that! I don't want to hurt you or my sisters like that!"
"I know, I know," Lily cooed, gently rubbing her daughter's back as she let her cry. "That's why you need to pay careful attention to what I teach you."
Applebloom watched the exchange with a relieved sigh as all of the tension in the air faded away. While she wasn't happy to see her sister so scared, it was definitely an improvement over her being furious. It was then that she noticed that her other sister was nowhere to be seen. Panicking, she scanned the throne room for Scootaloo, only to let out an other relieved sigh when she spotted her watching one of the portals. Chuckling to herself, she walked to the sister's side to see what had her attention. 
"What'cha watchin'?" she asked.
"This girl's getting really close to one of the seeds," she said, pointing at the girl in question.
"And tha' means what?" Applebloom shrugged. "All o' them have been gettin' close to them."
"But she's going straight towards him," Scootaloo insisted. "The others are trying to figure out the maze, but she's taking every route perfectly to get to Galen! It's like she knows exactly where he is and how to get to him!"
"Huh," Applebloom hummed, the prim girl holding her attention a bit tighter now. 
To her surprise, Scootaloo was right! No matter how many forks the girl came to, she didn't even blink as she picked the correct path. The young Wraith nodded, impressed by the girl's abilities as she gradually closed in on her portion of the maze's guardian. It was around that time that she noticed that the girl was holding something in her right hand. 
"What's that in her hand?" she asked, pointing at the portal.
"I think it's a sword," Scootaloo said, squinting as she stared at the girl's hand. "Doesn't look all that big though. Do you think it has something to do with her magic?"
"Probably," Applebloom shrugged. "Guess we'll find out soon. She's comin' up to Galen's room now."


***


Octavia stepped into the arena with purpose, her sword gripped tightly in her hand and the shadow of her bangs hiding all but the frown that marred her beautiful face. She stopped five steps into the room when a figure sitting at the chamber's heart caught her attention. The figure held the general shape of a man with long flowing hair draped across his shoulders. He was as black as night with his shining white irisless eyes and silver hair his only defining features. He wore no discernible clothing on his detailless body, but that barely registered in Octavia's mind as she studied him. He sat cross-legged at the chamber's heart with his arms resting casually on his knees as he observed her in turn. 
"You are not Lily," Octavia said coldly.
"No," the figure said, his voice deep and echoing. "I am one of the mistress' seeds. I go by Galen."
Octavia's frown deepened as she stared at the seed, then with a voice filled with forced patience said, "I suppose that means asking you nicely to stand aside is out of the question then."
"Indeed," he nodded. "Though I hold no grudge against you myself, Lady Lily's word is absolute."
"I see," she nodded. "If that is how it must be, then I have just one thing to say."
"And that is?" Galen asked.
She slowly leveled her blade in the seed's direction and threw back her bangs with a sharp upward nod to show her fiery glare as she shouted, "En garde!"
www.youtube.com/watch?v=c6vwXSfYMa8
In response to her challenge, Galen nodded and twelve large black hands appeared around him, each the size of trucks seemingly made of the same light-eating material he was made from as they floated around him. She could sense a smile coming from him as the floating hands rocketed towards her. Her glare intensified as her threats closed in on her, then, a light melodious sound filled the air as she swung her sword at the nearest hand. The hand stopped for half a second before it split cleanly apart down the middle and fell to the ground. If Galen had eyebrows, they would've shot to the top of his head at that moment. Before his eyes, the girl quickly made short work of his opening attack. Her arm was a blur as she sliced the hands to pieces, her movements almost dance-like as she effortlessly alternated between offense and evasion. Adding to the performative nature of her attacks, each swing and thrust of her blade filled the chamber with a light cadence not dissimilar to a harp or cello.
When the last hand fell, she leveled a sharp glare at her opponent and said, "It will take much more than that to stop me, love."
"Indeed," he nodded.
More hands appeared a second later, only now they were about the size of soccer balls and there were twice as many as before. The hands curled into fists as they flew towards her with the speed of a ravenous murder of crows. Octavia charged towards the attack, blade literally singing as she leveled it with a lavender shimmer surrounding it. Galen's eyes widened as his shadow hands were sliced to pieces, their remains disintegrating as they fell to the ground. With eyes filled with hate, Octavia quickly closed the gap between herself and her opponent and thrusted her rapier at him. Galen pointed his right palm at her and a translucent black barrier surrounded him at the last second. A sharp note came out of the sword as half of the blade ran through the barrier, stoping just short of running through the seed's head. For a moment, the two combatants glared back at each other before Galen shattered the moment by knocking her back with a shadow tentacle.
"You are a lot stronger than I thought you would be," he intoned, a hint of respect coloring his voice. "What is your name, young warrior?"
"Octavia Melody," she said with a light curtsy as she stared coldly at him. 
"Octavia," he mused. "A fine name for a skilled warrior. It is almost a shame that one of us must die. You could've been one of the few mortals I could stomach being near."
"As much as I hate to admit it, I feel the same," she frowned as she resumed her stance. "You do not seem all that hostile compared to your mistress."
The two stared each other down, respect and reluctance mixing with their sense of duty as they studied each other. Galen took note of how Octavia's weapon operated, how easily it sliced through his shadow limbs and the admittedly beautiful sound it made as it went to work.  More specifically, he noticed that he felt no pain as she sliced through his attacks. As he mulled over what this meant, Octavia was taking her own notes of how her opponent's powers functioned. What she quickly noticed was how solid the hands were. At first glance, she thought they would have a more etherial feel to them like slashing through water or tar. Instead, it felt eerily like cutting through a stake or some other form of meat with a knife. Even the tendril that struck her felt more organic than it initially looked. At nearly the same time, the two warriors seemed to come to an understanding about how their opponent's powers worked.
"You can control sound," Galen chuckled. "If I had to guess, the blade has the power to focus sound into a slicing edge and allows the sword to cut through most things."
"Correct," Octavia nodded. "Oiseau Chanteur has the power to convert my magic to a slicing sound attack. A fairly simple power, but one that will always carry truly devastating results."
"Indeed," he nodded.
"As for you," Octavia continued. "Am I correct in thinking that you can make shadows part of your body?"
He nodded, then said, "It was what helped me understand how your sword worked."
"I see," she nodded. "Shall we continue?"
"You say that as if either of us can yield," he sighed.
"A hopeful thought I suppose," she frowned.
A heavy silence filled the room as the two warriors locked eyes. Neither wanted this, but be it destiny or some other cruel force, they had to fight and one of them had to die. Octavia let a sad smile grace her face as she carefully picked her words.
"Your name is Galen, correct?"
He nodded.
"Well then, Galen, if I survive this battle, then I promise to dedicate a song to you. It will be a calm and soothing melody that others will listen to for generations to come."
He blinked, then chuckled at that as he said, "You will, will you? Then should I survive, I will craft a shadow of your weapon to wield at my side in your memory."
"Quite the honor I'd surmise," she said with a small titter.
"Indeed," he chuckled.
With all of that said, the two warriors smiled as they prepared their next strikes. Oisaeu Chanteur sang as Octavia filled it with magic and charged towards Galen. Seeing little point in using the same attack a third time, the seed conjured a dozen shadow tentacles out of the ground around him and lashed out at her. She halted her charge and alternated between attacking and dodging the tentacles. Galen watched with no small amount of mirth as she fought her way towards him, his respect for her spirit growing more and more by the second. It was as he watched her slash away his last tentacle that guilt filled his heart. In his left hand, a dark violet crystal shined and pulsed with dark energy. He summoned shadow spikes out of the ground as his second strike against the girl only for her to nimbly move out of the way and continue her advance. His pride cried out in shame as he watched the girl close in on him a second time, the crystal's power coursing through his hand like a second heartbeat.
The Mistress' word is absolute.
With that thought echoing through his head, Galen reluctantly stabbed the crystal into his leg. A massive surge of dark energy burst around him, knocking Octavia back a foot away from the opening she used to get into the chamber. As she staggered back onto her feet, she watched the mass of dark energy rise up towards the chamber's ceiling like a geyser before it exploded out. When it cleared, a towering figure took its place. The monster was easily twenty feet tall and carried a human like form with thick rippling muscles. Its skin was as black as night, with a pair of burning red eyes open wide like a pair of full blood moons and large bull-like horns curving out of its head. It's wild silver locks added to the creature's fierce presence, along with its shining silver fangs that glinted brightly in its long jaws. It's lower body was decorated by a simple torn loincloth that served as the monster's only article of clothing. It gripped a massive iron club made from the blackest shadows in its left hand, said weapon covered with jagged curved spikes that seemed to eat all of the light surrounding it.
Most would've been terrified of Galen's new form, but that was a privilege Octavia couldn't be given as the beast raised its club to strike. She didn't have time to be afraid, but she had time to move. Galen roared furiously as his prey dodged his strikes, the club leaving deep craters in the arena with each strike as Octavia barely avoided certain death. At the same time, Octavia landed whatever strikes she could against her much larger opponent.
Roars and music filled the room as the two warriors traded blows, the impact waves of Galen's club doing almost as much damage to the girl as her blade cut into his lower legs.  Galen roared as he channeled some of his power into the ground, summoning more shadow spikes in an attempt to impale Octavia only for her to dance out of the way and land a few quick stabs into his leg. 
"This isn't working," she muttered, dodging yet another deadly blow from Galen's club. "I'm going to have to use my strongest attack to kill him, but if I do that..."
She shook her head, knowing all to well how pointless an argument it would be to hold back at this point. What good would saving her magic be if she died before she got a chance to use it against Lily. If there was ever a time to pull a Vinyl, now was that time.
Sister would be so proud of me, she thought with a snicker as she poured all of her remaining magic into her blade. Galen seemed to sense what was coming if his furious roar was anything to go by as he doubled his efforts to crush her. As she dodged his attacks as best she could, Oisaeu Chanteur's body started to shine and vibrate in her hand with her accumulated magical might. Slowly, she felt the pressure start to build in her palm as she stayed on the move. When it felt as if the blade would explode from the pressure, she stood her ground and poised herself for a one final thrust. Not seeing the danger, Galen roared in triumph before bringing his weapon down on her. At the last second, Octavia thrusted her blade into the monster's weapon and released her magic.
A sharp cry, like the call of an eagle filled the room as the club shattered, a narrow beam of lavender light shooting out of the tip of Oisaeu Chanteur's blade and through Galen's chest and heart. A brief look of shock showed on the monster's face, before a look of calm resignation took its place. Tears ran down Octavia's face as she struggled to make peace with what she had just done, her weapon slowly fading away in her hand as the magic needed to maintain it ran out. Slowly, Galen's form started to crumble away as his life came to an end, but instead of meeting death with sorrow or fear, he did it with a smile.
"Well done Octavia Melody. May you live with pride as a true warrior."
Octavia wiped her eyes and with a small smile said, "I am no warrior, but I will make good on my promise as a musician. The world is my stage and it was an honor to share it with you Galen."
As he nodded in thanks, the last of his body crumbled away. Octavia stayed still for a moment in respect to her opponent, her heart heavy as she let an equally dense silence fill the room. Then, she gave a polite bow and made her way towards the chamber's exit. Their would be time later to make good on her promise to Galen. She still had important business to attend to and her name was Lily Bouquet.