“Octavia!”
I recognized the voice vaguely, although the name of the owner seemed to slip my mind. At first I felt like I was floating, suspended in water with no use for breathing. Then my hooves rubbed against the familiar crevices of notched wood, and I picked up on the scent of lilacs and honey. The blackness ebbed into vague lines of black and white, then blurred into a colorful image like smeared pastels.
I allowed my body to grasp the situation and settled as the scenery adjusted. My side was prodded playfully. “Octavia! Show me!”
“Show you what?” I retorted, realizing that my voice was echoing in the abyss of surreal imagery.
“How much you know!” The pony before me was nothing but a blur so the identity was mysterious, yet I knew her. She sprawled out on the ruby shag rug beneath the stool I was perched on and she propped her hooves under her chin. “You promised you’d play me a song!”
“What kind of song?”
“Anything!”
I noticed that I was also smaller in stature as well; I was a filly again. When I glanced back to observe my flank I didn’t find my cutie mark, but I did instead find a bow for my cello. Giving in to the chants of my… friend, I think, I fumbled with the bow until I familiarized my much smaller frame with its design. The cello was rested against my chair and I used the neck as a support beam as I steadied on my hind legs.
The other pony giggled, her form still blurry to me. Like a figure that had been erased from my memories.
I skimmed the bow along a set of strings and realized, suddenly, that… well… I only knew a few notes. Determined none-the-less I started up the beginning of what could have been “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” but it was a little sharp.
“I’m not very good,” I admitted after finally giving up.
The other pony rolled over onto her back and gave me an upside-down, goofy smile. “But Tavi, that’s because you’ve only been practicing for a few months! You’re not grown yet! Trust me, you’ll just get better and better and better until there’s nopony left in aaaallll of Equestria who can play like you do!”
I smiled at the thought. “You think so?”
“I know so! And I’ll be famous too so we can travel together and stuff!” She glanced over at the door across the room. “I wonder what our parents are doing… They keep sticking us in this room. It’s kinda boring…”
“You should talk properly,” I informed her, my voice too squeaky to come off as demanding, “Kinda is not a word.”
“Don’t be so uptight,” she teased, “let loose a little, Tavi! I’ll be a proper mare when I wanna be!”
I tried my hoof again at playing the lullaby but I sadly produced the same results as before. The pony beneath me rolled over again and sat on her hunches, front hooves pressing against the base of my massive instrument. “I like your playing. You should write me a song!”
“I cannot right now… maybe when we’re older, OK?”
“OK! I just hope we’re friends until then! Let’s be best friends forever Tavi!”
My violet eyes snapped open and gazed around the room. Sun rays streamed in through the window, creating symphonic waves of light that danced across the heat floorboards. My figure was draped in dark blue sheets, fitting around my distilled form. I’ll never really get used to being here. The next thing to cross my mind was the dream. Or, rather, a distant memory of my fillyhood.
From somewhere behind me I heard the scuffle of hooves as a pony passed by. Striking silver orbs connected my calculated stare. “Morning! Did you sleep well?”
“Kind of…” I replied quietly. “Good morning, Starburst.”
The Unicorn receded towards the window. “You know, it’s quite beautiful here. I never get tired of the view.” Silver magic enveloped the star-printed curtains in a force field of power, shifting them apart so they slipped into their hooks. The filtering light momentarily blinded me.
“Starburst,” I addressed her, my voice still modest, “I had a dream… about when we were fillies.”
“Oh?” She padded away from the window and paused at the bed side. “Do tell.”
I snuggled against the lush pillow that matched the sheets. “It was stupid. You would not want to hear it.”
Starburst’s hoof-falls drifted towards the closet across the room. She shifted through the contents in search of something important (or maybe it wasn’t important at all since she genuinely liked to keep distracted). “On the contrary, I would love to hear it!”
I contemplated keeping my mouth shut until she grew bored and left. In the end, however, I exhaled a sigh of frustration and spilled my guts. “It was about… that night. You know, the night the contract was signed.”
Starburst shut the closet having come out empty hooved. “I don’t think I remember that one.”
“It’s alright,” I fibbed, “I forgot the dream anyway.”
The Unicorn glanced at me with her smile still bright on her face. “Right. You aren’t a very good liar, Tavi. But none of that matters.” I shuddered as her next words seemed to hit home with all the gracefulness of a careening elephant. “It’s time to fulfill the contract.”
I felt my heart drop into the pit of my stomach. Here we go…
~-*-~
A few weeks earlier…
~-*-~
My life fell apart the day a new Unicorn passed into Ponyville.
You could say that I hadn’t seen it coming, or that I deserved it for letting my guard down. I had been anticipating the eventual discovery of my past for years since I first became aware of a little something known as “the contract”. The last time I had even mentioned “the contract” was with my parents while I was still a filly. Since then all I’ve been able to think about is escaping my fate.
If anypony knew about “the contract” my life would be over. Done. Finished. End of the end. So, I made it my priority to do my job and mind my own business around Ponyville. This tactic had worked smoothly for years and I didn’t let the anxiety hold me back. I merely situated myself into the populace as an everyday, run-of-the-mill mare who played the cello, paid my dues to society and enjoyed quiet lunches at the café.
After a while I had gotten too comfortable… my mistake.
It was the common law of karma that if you wanted to bury your past you could only do so for so long, because after a while the dirt would become tender and it would claw its way up to the surface just to bite your unsuspecting flank. For me, I had spent years forcing myself to forget “the contract”.
Let’s just say that I buried my past to the best of my ability. It still bit me with the intention of never letting go.
It was a typical morning when the newcomer arrived; the sunlight teased colors into every crook and nanny that formed the quaint little town’s architecture, reflecting a radiance of monochrome colors across the landscape. This gorgeous day marked the end of my life. Ironic, isn’t it?
The ponies were already bustling about, lively and eager to enjoy such a beautiful day. There was a blast of monochrome colors overhead as a Pegasus sped by on a glorious, rainbow trail that dissipated only a split second later. The jays sang and the sun was as celestial as ever. On a normal occasion I would have participated in a stroll to the café or some inspirational practice on my cello, just not today.
My neighbor decided it would be a swell idea to throw a party that not only kept me up for the entirety of the night but also gave me a massive, throbbing headache.
At one point I had hit my breaking point and actually got up to storm over to the shaking house across the street. I promptly gave up when I slammed my forehead into the corner of my bedroom wall.
I rubbed my bruised brow, appeased that the welt was hidden beneath my mane. With a petulant sigh I approached the door. I knew Vinyl Scratch (nicknamed DJ Pon3 when performing) would be passed out at her disc station if I bothered to knock. Any attempt to reason with her would only make my brain hurt worse, almost like rubbing an open sore, but I was going to scold her while I was still angry.
I made a mental note to also berate her for the chair that had been thrown clear out the second story window. And it was such a beautiful piece, too.
My hoof rapped against the smoothed surface of the division before me. “Vinyl Scratch! Open up!”
Well, she didn’t open the door. Rather, it fell off its hinges and impacted the floor like a limp sandbag. My violet gaze traversed the room. Chairs and tables were flipped over, empty cups and mugs were strewn about, flakes of tattered, blank paper scattered the floor. A select handful of ponies were face-down on the floors and a Pegasus whom I vaguely recognized was sprawled out over the tossed sofa.
Vinyl was bent awkwardly over her station, slick rivulets of drool dripping from the corner of her mouth to the floor to form an even larger puddle. I prodded her side. “Vinyl Scratch wake up!” It took her a few moments to acknowledge my voice so I tried again. “I said wake up!”
Her head craned upwards, shades hanging off at an angle to reveal one cerise eye. “Oh, good morning Octavia.”
“Hello, Vinyl Scratch. Your incessant partying kept the whole town awake last night.”
The Unicorn smirked like my agitated statements were actually compliments. “Ha, that was a blast! Everypony passed out from exhaustion!”
I hated to admit it to even myself sometimes… but Vinyl Scratch was my best friend. We weren’t exactly peas in a pod but we still enjoyed each other’s company. I shifted discarded trash to the floor and brushed her untamed mane to the side. “You’re a wreck!”
She regained her conscious enough to slide to her feet without toppling over. “Hey… ever get that feeling that you forgot something?”
“Yes, it’s called my sanity. No pony in the right mind would be friends with a party animal like you.”
“Ha!” Vinyl whipped her tail around, slapping me across the flank. “No, but seriously, I heard there was something important going on today… Bon-Bon mentioned it last week”—she kicked a can aside—“I think.”
“You think?” I asked incredulously.
She hummed a tune as she contemplated the encounter. “My head’s still swimming so I can’t recall. You should go find Bon-Bon. She might still be home.”
I exhaled an exasperated sigh. “Alright, but you need to get this place cleaned up. I’m going to see if I can talk with her.” With a flick of my obsidian hair I paced back out the way I had entered and padded down the street.
Bon-Bon’s house was the floor over her candy shop where she worked throughout the afternoons and evenings. I wasn’t one for savoring anything sweet except dark chocolate, although Bon-Bon still liked to throw a peppermint my way every now and then.
As I approached the corner store she receded from its door; the inner CLOSED sign flapped like a flag in the wind, slapping against the transparent glass as the exit was swung shut with a gentle click.
“Good day Bon-Bon,” I remarked.
She faced me in turn. “Why hello Octavia! I was just on my way to the center of town.”
“Why so early?” I asked, padding up to her. “Shouldn’t you be setting up shop?”
At first she didn’t seem to understand where I was coming from, almost like I was trying to make a joke (don’t be fooled, I seriously cannot make a joke). Her quizzical gaze lingered on me for several moments. “You mean you don’t know? It’s been the hottest news all over Ponyville for the past two weeks!”
I frowned. “It has?”
“There’s a new Unicorn passing through town. No one really knows where she came from, but everyone is super excited!” She bumped into my side and we started off. Her voice rose in pitch the more she informed me of this newcomer. “It’s said that she’s an astronomer, or an astrologist, or one of those two. But she studies stars and constellation patterns. Pretty cool, right?”
I merely gave a feasible roll of my eyes. “Astounding.”
There was a clearing in the center of town – or, so there should have been. It was currently occupied by ponies of various kinds, forming a cesspool of vibrant colors; they crowded around somepony in a lopsided circle, effectively blocking my field of vision. “I can’t see,” I told Bon-Bon who was craning her neck up to try and get a better glance. “What’s going on?”
“We’ll have to push our way through,” she answered.
I squeezed through the crowd, careful not to step on anypony’s hooves in the process. “Excuse me,” I uttered each time, just barely audible enough for them to hear but effectively ignore. After a minute I managed to completely work my way up to the front.
The newcomer was a Unicorn about my size, maybe even a little taller. Her coat was a brilliant shade of white, her three-star cutie mark was the same silver shade as her eyes, and her mane and tail were braided into rotating shades of pale blue and lavender purple. She seemed enwrapped in a conversation with the Mayor who was making an attempt at welcoming her to Ponyville.
I studied her for several minutes. She seemed vaguely familiar, almost like a pony I had met once before. But then again, a lot of ponies shared similar styles.
“Her name is Starburst.”
I glanced to my left. Bon-Bon sauntered up to me, having finally made her way through the mass of onlookers. “Why is everyone so hyped over her?” I questioned, returning my attention to the opposing Unicorn. “I mean, not even Twilight Sparkle was this welcomed the first time around.”
Vinyl Scratch appeared to my right, bumping her flank against mine playfully. “What’d I miss?”
“Nothing,” I answered despondently. “Nothing at all.”
Bon-Bon shrugged impassively. “I guess she’s so popular because we haven’t had any astronomers in Ponyville yet. Or… astrologists? Either way, it’s a nice addition to our town, don’t you think so?” She hesitated. “Actually, Lyra did mention something to me before about a rumor… there’s some tale going around that this mare can create these awesome illusions. I doubt it; not many Unicorns can accomplish anything of the sort unless they’re magically gifted.”
Vinyl Scratch inclined her head so she could flick her hair out of her eyes. “I can’t do too much with my magic, but I’ve seen others use illusions before. It’s not a big deal. It just takes lots of practice… and you have to start as a filly, I think. My old colt once mentioned illusions.”
I cocked my head at the newcomer. Behind us the crowd began to move off as they gradually lost interest in Starburst. Yeah, she wasn’t that big of a deal… yet… “I can’t shake the feeling that I know her,” I admitted over a sigh.
Vinyl Scratch pawed the patch of dirt beneath her. “Maybe you do! We should totally say hi.”
It was within this moment I could have chosen to turn and withdraw from the commotion with my friends; I could have avoided, even if only for the time being, the end of my life as I knew it. But I wasn’t thinking straight… I was only focused on solving the riddle in my mind: I knew this mare, or so I thought. Maybe from a distant memory, maybe from a simple pass down the road prior to moving to Ponyville…
I just had to know.
Gathering my wits I stepped forward to greet her. “Starburst I presume?” She gyrated to face me, her metallic gaze gleaming in the daylight. From this angle her coat glistened like gems, or maybe even stars. She was very aptly named. “Hi, I’m Octavia.”
She gasped. “The Octavia? Oh, I’ve been searching everywhere for you!”
I was taken aback for a minute. “You… have?” I glanced back at Vinyl who gave me her ‘Serious Stalker’ look. “Uh… I am not sure whether to be flattered or disturbed.”
Starburst chortled, earning my attention again. “I’m not an obsessed fan if that’s what you’re thinking. Although, I’ve been travelling Equestria in hopes of finding you.” She stared at her bag that was hooked around her back and her horn was enveloped in a silver magic. A rolled up, worn-torn paper was telekinetically lifted from the pouch. “You should recognize this, no? I assume your family kept the copy?”
The contract snapped outwards, revealing thick scripted lettering and several signatures beneath.
And that was when my life ended.
Realization hit me with all the gracefulness of a careening elephant. My mind was sent into a blind panic; I felt my heart slam into the cage of my chest as the adrenaline pumped into my system. The memories rushed back – fillies under the starlight, watching our parents as they signed the dotted lines. “You… Oh, Celestia, please don’t let this be happening to me! No, nonono, NO! You were the first born?!”
Sensing the distress in my voice Vinyl rushed between us. “Hey, I don’t know who you are but you came to the wrong neighborhood!”
Starburst didn’t seem intimidated in the slightest… in fact, she merely blinked. “Oh, how rude of me! My name is Starburst and I’m—”
—she strode up to me and pressed her cheek against mine—
“—Octavia’s fiancé!”