//------------------------------// // Second Sight // Story: Friendship in C Minor // by Cobalt Swirls //------------------------------// Each of Octavia’s steps melded one after another into the deep green grass of the late morning. Her stride went unmolested as she made her way to her humble abode with her pink friend in tow. She hummed a small tune in her head, one that made her almost regret throwing away her napkin back at the hospital. It had had a good rhythm, one that would have been nice to play, but the napkin wasn’t significant enough to make a trip back to go searching for it. She let the notes, as well as the idea, fade away with the wind where they belonged. Beside the grey mare, Pinkie Pie bounced jovially along the grassy field. Her mane and tail rhythmically followed the bounce in sequence. Residual bits of grass were kicked up, only to settle back down, cloaked amongst the grass that had avoided being disturbed. Octavia surmised that Pinkie’s legs were probably fairly powerful based on the consistent jumping she did, especially if this was how she travelled all the time. The cellist wiped some sweat from her brow and continued walking, eager to make it home and have herself a nice cold glass of ice water. “Wow Octavia you live kinda far out there don’t cha?” Pinkie chuckled. Octavia smiled. “That I do. I finally have a home that’s away from the hustle and bustle of the town, which is something I’m thankful for.” Pinkie stopped bouncing and instead, matched Octavia’s gait on the ground. “But, doesn’t it get lonely living this far out?” Octavia shook her head. “To be honest, I prefer the isolation sometimes. If I want to interact with ponies, I can just go into town, but when I’m at home, I like the silence.” “Oooooooh.” The two continued in silence until Octavia’s small home finally came into view. The mare’s house was but a foreground to the massive expanse of the forest that lay just behind it. The scene itself was something to be captured within a painting to be admired for ages. The opportunity to live in such a place was an even better proposition. Octavia quickened her pace upon drawing near to the house, prompting Pinkie to follow suit. She was only able to keep up the brisk pace for a short amount of time before the pain in her abdomen kicked back up again. She winced and slowed back down while a concerned Pinkie spun on her hooves to face the musician. “You feeling okay?” she asked, offering her hoof for support. Octavia gladly took the help and put on a strained smile. “Yes, yes I’m quite alright. Just got a little ahead of myself is all.” The two finally arrived at the doorstep which had been unaltered since her departure to the restaurant. She had locked the door, hadn’t she? The last thing she needed was to discover that the belongings that she had barely been able to unpack were now gone from her home entirely. She placed her hoof on the door and gave it a quick twist, opening it without much effort and confirming her suspicions that she had indeed left the door unlocked. It took a few seconds before the mare’s eyes adjusted to the darkness inside of the house after being in the bright sunlight for a considerable amount of time. Pinkie seemed entirely unaffected by the change in illumination. She happily and wordlessly strolled into the house without turning to give the outside world a second glance. As Octavia turned back to shut the door behind them, she noticed a small letter on the floor that had been pushed through the mail slot. She picked it up in her mouth and, with a delicate combination of teeth and hooves, opened the letter. Her eyes widened as they ran further and further down the parchment. Miss Octavia Melody: You have been cordially invited to participate in Canterlot’s annual Royal Maritime Symphony. The orchestra, and all attending musicians, will be expected to arrive at the Aesthete Hotel by no later than the 25th of this month. Participating musicians will then depart on the 26th via the Canterlot Royal Railway to the Sea of Five Lords, where the orchestra will perform. The Symphony would also like to thank Canterlot resident and 1st chair cellist Fine Tune for generously donating a grand sum of 1,000 bits to help with provisions. We eagerly await your response, and hope to see you at this luxurious event. Canterlot Orchestral Manager, Brass Buttons Out of the entire letter, there was only one line, or rather, set of words, that stood out to her: “First chair cellist Fine Tune…” Octavia had auctioned for the position of first chair for the past three years. One would think that, after performing at numerous high-end concerts, especially in the vicinity of so many royals, she would have earned herself some recognition within Canterlot’s prestigious and rather exclusive musical society. Obviously, she had been mistaken. She had only met Fine Tune once, at her first royal ball that had effectively made her the social pariah of the bunch. Still new to the complex maze that was high society, Octavia had chosen to play things cool and stick to the comfortable camouflage of conformity rather than deviate from the crowd in any way. On the opposite end of the spectrum, Fine Tune was more than happy being the center of attention. While Blueblood still held the title for “Most Egotistical Stallion to Ever Live,” Fine Tune wasn’t exceptionally far behind. The difference between the two narcissistic and self-absorbed stallions was Fine Tune’s way of expertly manipulating someone into gradually giving him praise. He would bring you a glass of wine, compliment your dress, and then make small mentions of his established music career until you were practically drooling over his bits; and sure enough, the biddable mares and stallions he surrounded himself with hung onto his every word. Blueblood, on the other hoof, would stifle his authority as prince down your throat until you caved for the sole purpose of seeing if he actually possessed the ability to keep his trap silent for more than five minutes at any given time. “Tavi. Taaavi. Helloooo, anypony home?” Pinkie waved her hoof back and forth in front of Octavia’s face until she finally blinked and set herself free from her own trance. “Huh?” “Big time zone out,” Pinkie laughed inwardly, punctuating her laugh with a few short snorts. “I apologize, I was just deep in thought.” Octavia’s voice trailed off and her head began to tilt to the side, threatening to once again bring her into the realm of daydreams. “I’ll say! Hey, what’s the letter about?” she asked pointing with her hoof at the document that currently rested in Octavia’s own hooves. “It’s nothing,” she lied, “Just something I need to look over later. So, how's about we case the cello so we can get it moved?” Pinkie nodded excitedly and began bouncing up and down in place, her hair brushing slightly against the ceiling. “Sounds like a great idea! Let’s get shakin’!” The cellist moved over to her instrument while Pinkie prepared the case that rested on the opposite wall. With great care, Octavia prepped herself to move the cello, only to have her hoof accidentally slide across the strings. The instrument had been secured by the tail spike, so her accident had not been detrimental to the instrument, but it wasn’t the instrument she was concerned with. As the notes escaped the strings of the cello, a series of beautifully colored lights accented each individual sound. The colors were brightest at their source, and gradually faded into wispy apparitions that lifted into the air. The display was absolutely mesmerizing; it was a captivating compilation of the most vibrant colors she had ever seen in her life. She found herself once again running her hoof across the strings, allowing the lights to depart along with the musical essence. “Pinkie, do you see this?” she asked, not bothering to turn away from the light show. “I see a case that won’t open!” she said through her gnaws at the locks. "No, no! Over here! Do you see all of this?” She waved her hoof back and forth through the prismatic atmosphere. “Seeeeeee what?” Octavia temporarily dropped her fixation on the lights and glared at Pinkie. “You mean to tell me that you don’t see all of these wisps of colored lights in the air?” Her waving had become more frantic and had quickened in pace. “Tavi, I don’t see anything…” The musician dropped her hoof as the wisps quickly faded away into invisibility. Without too much thought, she instinctively grasped her bow and swiped it repeatedly across the strings until a small portion of the piece “Snowflake within the Avalanche” became recognizable. With each slow or quickly paced stroke, more and more colors of the seemingly infinite spectrum became visible. Beautiful cerulean hues were followed by alabaster tinted reds and absinthe greens that added an exciting mix of colors that she had never had the pleasure of experiencing. At the contact point between the bow and the strings, the colors remained bright and bold versions of the airy variations that had fanned further out. She found it difficult to stop playing, but once she did, the colors quickly departed soon after, leaving only the two mares and their thoughts behind. “Wow, you really are good at playing!” Octavia gave off a low sigh. “You still don’t see them do you?” “What, the colors? Nope, sorry.” The grey mare’s sat on her haunches and let her shoulders droop in defeat. She hadn’t noticed it before, but her midsection was ablaze with sharp pains. Her convalesce and healing in general was being repeatedly halted by her inability to control her little bursts of energy. She took the opportunity to lie down on her couch and reflect over the very recent events. Her mind was in a scramble. A pleasantly interesting scramble, but a scramble nonetheless. “Perhaps I should go back to the doctor…” “W-wait! My friend Twilight knows all kinds of stuff! If anypony can help, it’s definitely her.” Octavia took a moment to ponder over Pinkie’s offer. It would save her from having to spend more time in the hospital than she wanted to. The doctors would undoubtedly want to run numerous tests on her to either diagnose her with some sort of illness, or to send her right back home. As curious as she was, the prospect of staying in the hospital for a few more days was not an attractive one. With a labored sigh, she turned to Pinkie and nodded. “Alright, I’ll go. It’ll save me a few bits in the long run anyway.” “Great! Why don’t we bring the cello? Just in case Twilight can see the lights too.” “I agree. Here, push up on the locks like this while I get the cello.” “Okie dokie loki!” the pink mare exclaimed, performing a crisp salute. The degeneration of Octavia’s strength was all too evident upon trying hoist the instrument from its position on the floor. Within seconds of pulling the cello into her hooves, her sides emitted rapid bursts of pain, causing her to yelp not unlike that of a young pup. The tail spike on the cello’s underside prevented it from slipping out of her grasp, but it didn’t lesson the agony in her abdomen that surely could have only been the result of a palisade puncturing deep within her gut. Sibilant sounds escaped the slender parting of her lips. Stupid. Stupid. Stupid! Pinkie was over to help within a moment’s notice of hearing Octavia’s initial yelp. She quickly took the weight of the cello and allowed her friend to regain some of her composure. When she gave the all clear, they carefully placed the instrument within its tomb of a case. The locks sounded off one after the other as Pinkie pushed them back down. “Are we all set?” she asked as she secured the final lock. “Almost. I need to grab my bow and then we can put the cello on my moving dolly. That’ll save us both a massive backache.” Octavia trotted over and picked up the slender bow with her mouth, filling her taste buds with the flavor of polished wood. They were able to set the cello on the dolly with little difficulty; the musical mare’s hooves began to move in a seemingly automatic fashion, repeating motions that they had performed no less than hundred times prior to that day. Within the course of a minute, her instrument was secured and ready to be transported. She replaced her saddle bag on her back and filled it with a few personal accessories. Pinkie led the dolly out of the front door, while Octavia made sure the door was locked before shutting it behind them. The walk to Twilight’s was not an eventful one. Pinkie, unable to bounce as gaily as she always did, took it upon herself to whistle while she pushed. Octavia, on the other hoof, was too busy admiring the resplendent streams of amethyst colored wisps of light meandering their way from the tune to notice much else. Neither the power of a sforzando nor the gentle pull of a pianissimo could have stolen her attention from the mind-consuming display in front of her. She found herself rather surprised when she nearly collided with the broad side of Ponyville’s massive tree-library. It towered over her, sporting several large balconies which provided a beautiful panoramic view of the immediate area. Octavia could feel a hint of envy slithering its way up her throat, but she quickly disregarded the feeling and took the dolly so Pinkie could have free access to the door. A few unnecessarily powerful knocks and shouts later, a lavender coated unicorn revealed herself from the innards of the library. “Pinkie, believe me when I say that there is really no reason for such abrasive knocking,” she looked to her left and around the dolly, allowing her to acknowledge Octavia’s presence. “Oh, hello there. Might there be something I can assist you with?” she inquired. “Well, yes,” Octavia began, pressing her flank against the front of the dolly to prevent it from tipping. “I’ve heard from Pinkie Pie here that you’re quite a knowledgeable mare, and that you may be able to assist me with, a rather interesting…” she weighed her words carefully, “Anomaly.” “Well, I do like to think of myself as well-read,” she said as she lifted her head pridefully. “Here, please, come inside. We’ll discuss your situation in the lounge area.” She extended the door’s opening to accommodate for the size of the cello as well as the two mares. Once inside, Octavia wheeled the dolly over to a small area consisting of a couch as well as a small love seat and a fireplace. Littered on either side of the sofa were mounds of books, some of them series, others with no correlation to the books around them whatsoever. She couldn’t help but feel at peace in the room, as it reminded her of her small cozy sanctuary on the edge of the forest. “Alright,” Twilight began, taking a seat on the couch, “What specifically seems to be the issue?” Let’s hope this mare is as reliable as Pinkie makes her out to be. “Ms. Sparkle-” “Please, call me Twilight.” The musician nodded and offered her hoof, which Twilight shook. “Octavia. Right then, Ms. Twilight. Shortly after Pinkie and I arrived at my home, I discovered that upon hearing certain sounds, I am able to see vibrantly bright colors, often in the forms of little wisps. I noticed them when my hoof accidently slid across my cello.” She took a moment to glance at Twilight, who seemed both slightly confused and highly interested. “I wanted to go back to the doctor, but Pinkie suggested that we come talk to you first. I was wondering if you may have a clue as to what this might be and if it is dangerous or not.” Twilight put her hoof to her chin and gently scratched it before using her magic to pull a book off of one of the many shelves labeled “medical” around the library. With no luck, she grabbed an entirely new book from the “psychology” section. She briskly scanned through the pages until she came across the one she had been searching for. “Ah, here it is! According to what it says here, it seems you’ve developed a condition known as synesthsia, or a combination of the senses, such as being able to taste shapes or, as in your case, see sounds. Now you say you just noticed this condition today, but synesthsia itself isn’t something to just develop overnight. Do you believe that there is something that could have triggered this and set it off?” Octavia didn’t have to think too hard for her answer. “I was attacked yesterday outside of Sugarcube Corner. My assailant struck me fairly hard in the back of the head and it knocked me unconscious. That is the only thing that I can think of that has happened recently to have even remotely caused this, and I had not seen any lights prior to that night.” “Hmm.” The bookworm ran through the tome as if she had read it a thousand times, which in all reality, she probably had. “I’ve never heard of synesthsia developing from blunt force trauma, but then again I haven’t had the luxury of knowing a mare with it at all,” she chuckled. “It isn’t harmful, is it?” The cellist asked uneasily. “I don’t believe so, but just to be safe, I’d like to run a few quick tests to make sure that everything is alright while you play your cello. If everything checks out, you’ll be good to go. If not, I can see about getting ahold of a fellow researcher and doctor from Canterlot to come take a look at you. Seeing as how rare your condition is, you’re basically a walking treasure trove of information right now!” The lavender mare took a moment to bring her excitement down to a reasonable level before continuing. “I’m going to go get a few items, and when I return, we’ll discuss the procedures as well as what you’ll be doing specifically.” Octavia nodded and Twilight disappeared into the depths of the library. She took the moment to seat herself on the couch and get off of her hooves. At that moment, nopony was more appreciative of furniture than she was. It would have been a nice place to catch up on some rest, but a certain pink mare had other ideas in mind. “See! I told you she could help!” Pinkie exclaimed. Octavia’s body one again shot into full alert. Pinkie was leaning over the edge of the couch and right into the cellist’s face. It took a bit of self control to prevent herself from screaming a cacophony of swears and curses, but she managed to contain them. “Pinkie, I must asked that you refrain from frightening me like that,” she cleared her throat and continued, “She does seem rather intuitive, and it’s certainly a better alternative to the doctor…I hope.” “Ah don’t worry! Twilight’s really good with stuff like this. Oh, here she comes!” Sure enough Twilight had reemerged with a rather startling amount of equipment. A great deal of it contained contraptions that Octavia could have never dreamed existed. And yet there they were, complete with an array of overcomplicated and somewhat intimidating mechanisms. Maybe going to the doctor’s wasn’t such a bad idea after all. “Alright, ready to begin?”