//------------------------------// // Ch3 // Story: Of Contracts and Octades // by Nighttime Hazards //------------------------------// I awoke to the sound of hooves battering the hard-wood floor. My brain throbbed with all the potency of toxic venom and it took me several moments to comprehend my situation. I was curled up on my bed above the blanket, tucked under an unfamiliar snowflake-patterned, crimson comforter that smelled like watery orchids, and I could tell that it was late in the evening by the lack of sunlight filtering through the bedroom window. Gradually I pushed aside the comforter and slid out of bed. As my legs hit the solidness beneath me I collapsed like my entire being had been magically converted into cherry gelatin. OK, too soon, back to bed I go. My bedroom door swung open. “Octavia! You shouldn’t be up.” Starburst tucked her head under my chest and hoisted me up onto her back. “You’re sick. Don’t force yourself.” “Wh-what happened…?” I groaned through cracked lips, my voice raspy from lack of water. Starburst shuffled over to the bed. An umbra of silver magic enveloped me and laid me back down before it ensnared the comforter and spread it back out across my form. The Unicorn perched on the edge beside me. “You passed out. Vinyl Scratch and I came running when we heard the crash.” She reached over, brushing an obsidian bang out of my face. “You bumped your head. The bruise is fairly nasty now.” I inched away from her to the best of my ability. “H-how l-llong was I out ff-for?” “Only a few hours.” She smiled, but I couldn’t quite tell through my hazy vision. “I’ll go get you something to drink. Be right back!” The frost-white Unicorn practically danced out of the room, her hooves obnoxiously clopping against the floor with each prance. She returned just as I had dozed off again. “Here Tav.” The glass lifted to my lips. “Drink.” I downed the frigid liquids like I hadn’t had anything to drink in months. Starburst set the empty glass down on the edge of the nightstand beside the snow globe. “Where’s Vinyl?” I questioned, voice soothed by the hydration. “She went home after we put you in bed. You should go see her tomorrow.” I yawned. “I shall.” Suddenly, as if invited through some self-proclaimed entitlement, Starburst slipped underneath the comforter with me. My brow furrowed in obvious irritation. “What are you doing on my bed?” “Sleeping.” “I gave you your own room.” “Yeah but…” She rolled over and nuzzled against me. My back arced in immediate reaction to the foreign, unwelcome contact. “If you get thirsty again somepony will have to get you a drink. So I’ll stay here tonight!” “Then you can sleep on the floor.” She scoffed. “My fur would get so dirty on that dusty old floor. Up here is so much more comfortable.” If I had the strength to kick her I would, but my body failed to even twitch in response. “I know exactly what you are doing, Starburst, and it will not work on me.” She stared at me with an innocent expression I saw right through. “Do not deny it, either.” “Deny what?” “That you are not using my weakness as an opening for us to get close again.” I was thankful the water had quenched my throat; I was free to speak my mind, as always. A pet peeve, as my mother had dubbed it. “I do not care what the fine print says. Just because I have to marry you does not mean I have to enjoy it.” “You know Tavi, it’s late. You should get some rest. I’ll wake you up tomorrow for breakfast.” I yawned again as the darkness began to creep into my vision. “I said… stop… calling me that…” I finally lost consciousness as Starburst made an incoherent, snarky comment and curled up beside me, holding me close with her foreleg wrapped snugly around my waist. “What’s your name.” “My name?” “Yes.” She was here again, a comfortably lit room tinged with the scent of mint. As the dream always went she was a filly still, with no cutie mark, seated on a chair beside an instrument three times her size. But this time she felt even smaller than normal; her shrunken hooves could barely handle the bow, which she promptly set down after realizing that she couldn’t hold it properly. Another filly sat below her on the vermillion, cashmere rug. “Octavia,” she answered, her rosy gaze holding steady on the newcomer. The Unicorn giggled bashfully, athough Octavia knew in the back of her mind that shy charm would quickly diminish and manifest again as a sassy quirk. “That’s a pretty name.” “Oh, uhm… Thank you. What is yours?” “Starburst.” She twiddled her fore hooves. “My Mommy and Daddy said they were good friends with your Mommy and Daddy, and they wanted me to be friends with you.” “Friends?” Octavia mused. “Why?” “Oh, uhm, we don’t have to be friends if you don’t want.” Starburst swallowed dryly. “Nopony at school ever wants to be my friend, either. They think I’m a weirdo. I’d understand if you didn’t want to be friends because you find me weird, too.” “Weird?” Octavia inquired, perplexed. “Why would they say that?” “I don’t know… I guess I’m just one of those unlucky ponies, y’know?” The silver filly raised her chin. “I think you are perfect the way you are; I would love to be friends.” I trotted down the road with my cello case balanced on my back, my stomach sloshing with water (Starburst wouldn’t let me leave the house without an over excess of fluids to keep me hydrated) and the aftertaste of roasted chestnuts lingering on my tongue (Starburst also wouldn’t let me leave the house unless I ate what she had made for breakfast… let’s just say, I’ll be doing the cooking from now on). My legs led me up to Vinyl’s now fixed front door. I rapped on the hard wood and waited patiently for her to answer. “Yo-yo!” She chirped, slamming the door open. “Can I help – Octavia! You’re not dead!” she enveloped me in a bone-crushing hug. “Surprisingly not,” I answered, backing away. “I thought for a moment Starburst’s cooking would certainly finish me off.” My best friend invited me in but I declined her offer. “No thank you, I have somewhere I must be. Starburst had asked me to pay you a brief visit.” She seemed to appreciate that. “Yeah, I was worried about you, but I also didn’t want to wake you up with a visit in case you really were sick.” An uncomfortable silence settled around us, which we hadn’t had since we first met all those many years ago. “Anyway, I have a party I have to attend tonight. You wanna come? You can bring Star along. It might offer you two some time to bond.” I frowned. “Wonderful. That is exactly what I need at this point.” “Hey, don’t get sassy with me. You’re allowed to say no.” I wagged my head as apologetically as possible. “No, in fact, that might be a great idea. I do hate parties, but the goal is to make this marriage as least painful as possible. Bonding would help me get there.” I glanced down the road to where Bon-Bon’s shop sat nuzzled between two other homes. “I should go check in on Bon-Bon and see if my list is ready. I will see you later, my dear Vinyl Scratch.” She grinned. “See ya! The party’s at the Iron Hoof, if you wanna go.” “I will think about it.” I bid my last farewell and trekked down the street. Bon-Bon’s store was open so I let myself in. “Bon-Bon! I’ve come for the list!” I approached the front counter where she was setting up a display of candy. “Bon-Bon, list.” She shot up like she had just noticed me standing across from her, slamming her head into the glass display top in the process. “OW! Oh, uh, Octavia! Hey there.” She shook the dizziness from her mind. “I was wrapped up in my work. How are you?” “I’m well.” “What’s with the cello?” “I have class today with my group.” I tapped my hoof impatiently against the glass. “How’s the list?” Bon-Bon rolled her eyes. “Screw the list. I got you this.” She reached under to where I couldn’t see and lifted up a fairly recent book. “This is every pony in town! I highlighted a bunch of Ponies I know. You can add or take away as you please.” I blinked. “Uh-huh…” “So let’s start with the A’s!” She abruptly pulled up a chair. “Get comfortable, this is gonna take a while.” An exasperated sigh escaped my lips. I really hope Starburst is having a better time than me right now… Massive, jewel-encrusted doors swung open on a grand arc, scraping against the translucent tile of the floor that glistened rainbow in the sunlight. The throne several paces in front of Starburst twinkled with emeralds and rubies almost as majestic as the Princesses, both of whom sat perched on their seats like true royalty. Not that I expected any less, Starburst told herself, approaching them casually with the contract bound in her telekinetic grasp. If they’re half as reserved as the rest of the ponies in Canterlot I’m gonna have a hard time resisting taunting them. And that won’t end well for me. The thought of her previous home city had Starburst shiver with delight. Now, however, was no time for reliving her past, and her regrets of leaving it were certainly uncalled for. “Starburst,” Princess Celestia addressed, rising gracefully from her position. “You’ve come to talk about the contract, I presume.” “Yes, princess.” Starburst bowed deeply and rose again at the majestic Alicorn’s accepting nod. “I was hoping you would be willing to unite Octavia and myself, as per the contract regulations.” Celestia nodded curtly. “Of course. I gave your parents my word that I would wed you and Octavia when the time fell upon you.” “Sister,” Princess Luna interjected, rising up to her hooves and trotting over to them. “We haven’t had a single mare-and-mare wedding yet to date. This marriage could potentially cause an uproar throughout all of Equestria and-!” “I know,” Celestia responded blatantly, “but we don’t have a choice.” “Why not?” The elder sibling shuffled over to closest stain glass window which was adorned with gold trimming and formed images of a nighttime sky with a suspended, crescent moon. “You felt it, didn’t you little sister?” Luna’s weary gaze narrowed. “Felt what?” “Remember how you mentioned to me that during your time in the moon you tracked the meteors that hurtled around our planet?” Luna didn’t answer Celestia; she merely waited for her to continue. “Well, one passed relatively close to Equestria about three hundred years ago. It unnerved everypony – you know, the thought of a space rock the size of Canterlot slamming into our planet – but thankfully it came as soon as it went. Since then it’s been soaring by at random intervals.” “I’ve been tracking it,” Starburst noted, puffing at her chest as if she had just announced the greatest accomplishment to date. Luna allowed a frowned to replace her previously stoic features. “Are you trying to tell me that the meteor and the contract are related?” “Yes,” the smaller unicorn answered with a dip of her head. “The day it last passed around Equestria was the day this contract was signed.” The massive sheet of parchment paper was still hovering before her, and with a telekinetic shove it was passed towards Luna so she could skim it over. “It stated that the first born of my parents and Octavia’s parents would be forced into marriage, and that they must be wed during the next night the meteor passes.” “Otherwise?” “Otherwise it obliterates us.” Luna felt rage boil in the pit of her chest. Indigo aura exploded outwards from beneath her hooves and her star-speckled mane flared up. She rushed up to Celestia so suddenly Starburst was sure a fight would ensue (she also inched towards the exit, just in case). “Why was I not informed of this?!” Celestia was unfazed, although her eyes were noticeably narrowed. “There was no guarantee that this meteor would ever come around again. Starburst, however, is linked to this meteor by the contract, and her repressed ability to track it has proven otherwise.” Luna abruptly settled, pleased with her sister’s answer. “You still should have told me.” The younger princess flexed her night blue wings and wandered back over to her throne, agitated but now as stoic as ever. “I have a feeling this contract comes with a fine line that doesn’t involve the marriage directly… and by your lack of an immediate answer, I’m going to assume it isn’t good.” Celestia concluded that Luna already knew where this was going and instead turned back to Starburst. “You understand what needs to be done, yes?” “I’ve come to terms with this a long time ago,” the silver-eyed Unicorn uttered, furling the contract back up. “I’m ready.” The Alicorn forced a smile, although she knew full well that it wasn’t going to make Starburst any less anxious. “When do you want your wedding”—end of the world—“to take place? I’ll arrange for you to use the Palace Gardens.” “Two months.” “Have you told Octavia?” Starburst lowered her gaze to the evenly tiled floor. “I wanted to wait until the time was right.” There was a sudden, bone-chilling silence that lingered for several minutes. Celestia flexed her wings and lowered her head to Starburst’s height, giving her physical permission that she would join them on the alter. “Two months it is.”