Octavia found herself in the middle of a rather dense crowd of high society ponies, which would probably soon clear, as most of them just came to congratulate Princess Mi Amore Cadenza (or Cadence, which she apparently preferred) one final time. At least, that was what the grey mare with a flowing raven mane – commonly referred to as Octavia Philharmonica – had hoped for.
She and her ensemble had been invited to play at the royal wedding, but after the bug queen's plan got revealed and later foiled, the real Princess Cadence had chosen a different sourace of musical entertainment for the party after the ceremony, and the group of highly talented musicians had been cancelled out on. Fortunately for them, they still received the promised money, and that meant they had nothing to complain about (who would complain about free money anyway?). Additionally, they had all experienced an extremely tiresome week, full of concerts and events to play at, devoid of any time to rest, and getting to end this stressful week a few hours sooner was a bliss only ponies as tired and exhausted as them could understand.
Despite their lack in social rank and connections the ponies of the quartet were still invited to the private wedding (which meant access to the wedding hall and the after-party), but none of them had the energy or the drive to join in on the celebration. All of them except one.
Octavia, while she was probably the single most exhausted member of the little band (playing her instrument – the cello – put an incredible amount of strain on a pony, due to the sheer fact that one needed to stand on their hind hooves made it one of the most strenuous instruments to play), had something she absolutely wanted to do. She was mostly just curious who they had been replaced with, who could possibly be better than their ensemble for this sort of gathering? even the gala had been profiting from their services for the last three years in a row. Besides, just taking part in a social event like this was more relaxing than playing for said event, even if it was far from the relaxation level her home could offer.
Slowly drifting back to reality, the grey earth pony realised that the crowd had mostly cleared, leaving only those who were willing to actively participate in the party – it had been a request from the princesses, they didn't want the party crowded with ponies who just weren't enjoying themselves. Speaking of princesses, her eyes spotted the third one right next to the sun sister.
Ever since Luna had been freed from the moon, the musician felt a special connection to the lunar princess. She had long wondered why, and had even managed to find some decent reasons. The night had always been an inspiration to her, even more so after the goddess came back, and the rare times when the midnight blue alicorn spoke in public, she always wore a fake smile. It was convincing to others, Octavia thought, but she knew exactly what it was like to be a different pony for the public. She, too, faked a lot of smiles, enough to make all them seem real to practically anypony.
The cellist had only seen her a few times, at public conferences, where she had only appeared for a few minutes and kept her distances. The one in front of her, however, seemed so much more real, so much less artificial. The feeling was back, stronger than before. Every time she saw the goddess of the moon there was a strong feeling in her chest, as if her heart lit up, and every time said divinity departed, she wanted her to stay longer. She had once asked a friend about this, but she only got a silly reply, so she just ended up assuming that everyone felt like this for their favourite princess, which would explain why so many ponies gathered to meet the princesses.
She stood there, silent, for the next few minutes. Luckily for her no one noticed, not that she would have acknowledged them anyway, she even forgot the main reason she attended the wedding in the first place, completely drowning out everything that wasn't Luna.
Enough staring, she realised as the song changed, she needed to talk to her.
“Good evening princess Luna.” She started, unsure of what to say next.
“Good evening.” Was the simple answer.
“Do you want to dance?” What the fuck was she doing?
“Yes. Although it is surprising, we, I mean I, would have never expected a pony to ask me for a dance.”
And so they danced. At first Octavia was nervous, but she soon found herself at peace. One question, however, kept flying through her mind. What the fuck was she doing?
Once the song ended, both ponies instinctively sat down on a bench. A few moments of comfortable silence went by before the nightly alicorn spoke up. “Well, that was fun. Twice as fun as dancing alone, if not more. By the way, I noticed your cutie mark, so you're into music, right? In what way? Do you play an instrument? Do you compose? A simple treble clef is not very informative.”
“Oh, that old thing? Well yeah, I am a composer, but that's not how I earn my bits. I play several instruments, I even have a room full of them, the view from it is simply breathtaking, but I digress. I mostly play the cello with my ensemble, which was originally scheduled to play at this party, until the princess changed her mind.”
“Oh my, you're not planning some sort of revenge, are you?”
Octavia answered with a dignified snort. “Of course not, we did get paid and there's no reason to be hateful. Although I did come here wondering who our replacement would be.” Oh wow, she had managed to forget about the only reason this marriage was of importance to her. A quick glance towards the speakers later, where a white unicorn with a two-shaded blue mane sat, she continued: “The music she's playing is good, catchy, and danceable to. Although I'm pretty sure she's just playing those records, no idea what skill is required in doing that.”
“Well, she is rather famous, and if anyone could do it I doubt she would be. Something I can think of are the perfect transitions she provides. Granted, that's actually pretty easy once you got some equipment and a minimum of musical talent, but she sometimes manages to mix up something on the spot for songs which don't have a DJ edit, and those are, for most jockeys, a no-go. She even did that tonight, Love is in Bloom was never meant to be played like that, so they never bothered to add a little intro and outro to make the song mixable, yet Pown-three's transition was as smooth as a moon crystal. You have to give her credit for that.”
“I guess, but how do you know all of that? No offence.”
“I'm actually quite fond of the nightlife provided by clubs like those she plays in. Although I have to admit, I only became curious after hearing that word, I mean, it sounded as if ponies actually enjoyed the night at least as much as the day, which actually is the case, some of those ponies sleep throughout their whole days and live in the night. I wonder what jobs they have which would let them keep such a schedule... But let's move from here, if we're only going to be talking we might as well go somewhere more quiet. What about a walk through the city?”
“Actually, why not?” The grey cellist answered, knowing fully well 'why not', but her fatigue could wait a few more hours, after all, it's not every day that she got to talk to a princess so personally.
The moon princess flashed a quick smile, one that seemed honest and that made Octavia want to know more about her. Who was she inside? “Let's get going then, I'll need to stop somewhere in the castle really quick to do something.” To that, Octavia only nodded.
And so they departed, after Luna had found a hallway where she was sure nopony could oversee her transformation, and ended up as a midnight blue unicorn with a long flowing mane of a brighter blue, leaving the earth pony before her stunned.
Before the cellist could question it, however, she explained: “I always take this form when going out. How do you think I get into nightclubs without anypony recognising me and making a big deal out of it?” she said with a wink and sticking her tongue out at her dialogist. The princess of the night had just winked at her, what was happening? Was it all a dream? That would certainly make sense. Yeah, it was a dream. The dreaming pony jumped up and flew away. Except she didn't fly away, instead she just fell right back down onto the hard stone floor. It hurt.
“Are you okay, err... Actually, and this is terribly awkward to ask now, but what's your name?”
“My name's Octavia, and I sometimes do this, I have no idea why though, I think it's a problem that runs in the family.” she lied.
“Well then, if it's nothing to worry about, let's go.”
Several hours later, long after the sun had set, the pair found themselves back in the garden. The party had obviously settled down quite a few hours ago, and now its surroundings were as quiet as always. The two ponies stopped by a small bench near an impressive fountain. They had been talking non-stop for their whole trip, only stopping when eating the giant cones of ice cream they had found when passing near the royal library.
The usual beauty of the sky still dazzled Octavia, even after so many nights of open stargazing, or just of its passive alternative. “I meant to tell you this earlier, while it was still on topic, I'm actually more of a nightly pony myself, I've always enjoyed the night, even before your return, when they were nothing but copies. I end up spending most of my free time under the moonshine. There's nothing more pleasant to me than composing during the night, it's just so inspiring, and your night sky is simply gorgeous.” Just like its creator. What?
“Thank you, I do get a lot of compliments about it, but, to be perfectly honest, I really think I deserve them, maybe not as much as they claim it to be, but it's still my proudest creation. Speaking of creations, I would really love to hear some of your work, if that's alright with you.”
“I'd love nothing more in the world, Luna.” the cellist cooed out in an unexpected and unintended tone. This was definitely the best and weirdest day she had ever experienced. “Would sometime this weekend be alright for you? I'd go and fetch my cello now, but I am too tired to do that now. To be honest, I'm to tired to still stand right now. Goodnight.” and with that, she passed out.