Ponies galloped frantically through the city. Cracks were in the road, roofs had fallen down, houses had collapsed in on themselves. Just looking at this disaster made Twilight regret her decision to leave the confines of her home and of her blanket fort.
Just as they left their home, two mares ran by, saying how there was a fire a few streets down, and the rising smoke from beyond the buildings on their side of the street told them it wasn't just one. Nevertheless, Twilight made herself move.
Every pony they saw was stressed and busy. Some were digging through their fallen homes, some were tending to others. Twilight even spotted some pegasi soldiers trying to organize themselves.
None of them noticed the six fillies who'd just walked out of the apartment complex and onto the road. That was a good thing, Twilight told herself as they went through the chaos in hopes of reaching the castle and its gardens. Twilight knew not where they were, but the nopony else complained about the direction she took.
And now that a few of the higher buildings had collapsed, the view of the city set itself before Twilight for the first time in her life.
Whenever a writer spoke of Canterlot, they likened her to a nest of snakes, resting by the side of the mountains. She'd heard how past the main road, if one walked long enough, there would come a steep cliff and far below it, another arm of the city would stretch along a river, and the oldest parts of the city where built on a slope to Canterlot Castle.
She could see it now, despite the smog. Past the wrecks and the broken homes, past red-tiled roofs and rising smoke the stairs rose up to what might have been the oldest ruin in Equestria, the last remnant of a golden age. She could see it well enough from here, but they clearly weren't on the main road, and they'd need to go through the maze of alleys.
Twilight moved on, glad that the blanket still hugged her, and the group followed.
"I've never gone farther than the hideout. Do we really have to go all the way to the castle?" Derpy suddenly asked. "I don't want to get lost."
"It’ll be fine, I’m sure we'll make it before nightfall, I'm sure of it," Octavia chimed in.
"I can't go farther without my parents. It's dangerous to go alone." Derpy said, "They'll be worried."
"Ha!" Laughed Lyra before declaring proudly; "I took the horsebus once, all on my own. I mean, I didn't know where I got off, but I did get back home safely. So there's nothing to worry about!"
That didn't incite much confidence in Derpy, who made a noise somewhere between neighing and squeaking after she heard that.
The desolation was pretty much around them, with lots of houses having collapsed and ponies running past them.
It was a strange thing to notice at this point of time, but Twilight just realized that she walked at the tip of their group, leading them. That, considering everything, was a weird feeling, one that scared her. Her eyes were fixated on the bleak ruins of Canterlot Castle, and she clung to the thought that they needed to get there.
With everything around her in rubble, she felt helpless. She knew the city the least of them all, since she had only ever walked a single road. She knew the way from her home to the hospital. She knew the shops and the bakery, she knew the signs and the house numbers, but that was it.
Quite honestly, Twilight had little to no idea where they even were. The thought that she was lost right off the bat didn't suit her, the smart l0eader.
Octavia trotted close by her side, trying to look dignified, although the panic around them seemed to affect her, because she grew more and more nervous, her tail flailing from one side to the other. Trixie was on the right end of the group, right beside Raindrops, who in return seemed to worry about the downtrodden, piebald filly, if only with looks. She kept a certain distance to the others.
"How do we get to the castle?“ Twilight asked Octavia as they passed the first street. She got a queer look for that question.
"You don't know?" Octavia sighed, then nodded. "Well, just follow my lead then, I know an easy way to get there.“
With that, the grey filly took the lead. The grace with which she carried herself was not lost on Twilight. Sometimes however, she would stumble over her own hooves or walk into something she hadn't noticed because she held her nose to high up. But aside from that she seemed to know where she was going.
Into another alley they moved and soon the castle vanished behind the cold stone of house walls and what little daylight pressed through the smog and the darkening clouds grew only thinner in this place.
Twilight decided to take the moment to get to know Octavia better.
"So, why were you staying at Hugh's house? Sleepover?“ she asked.
She had read about sleepovers and slumber parties, but since she didn't have any friends, it would be wonderful to hear somepony being to them.
Octavia looked over to her for a second, trying to figure out how to answer that. "I live there,“ she finally said and added after a pause; "My parents are ministerial agents and we lived with the other ones near the town hall.“
"I've never seen that part of Town,“ Twilight admitted.
"It's beautiful, they have gardeners that tend to the parks there and the houses are old and wonderful.“
Even though she said that, Twilight noticed that Octavia wasn't exactly swooning, there wasn't even a longing in her voice.
"It looks best during winter, when the snows covers the roofs and streets and the lanterns. The ponies go about in their fancy clothes, and when Hearth's Warming Eve approaches and the richest families homes smell of garrapinyades they acquired from griffon traders. I always got good inspiration for music during those times. The cello I have belongs to my own grandfather, one of the greatest musicians that ever walked into the Celestial Hall.“
"That's where the orchestras, operas and all that stuff play, right?“
"Yeah, the biggest musical house in all of Equestria." Now she was definitely swooning. "It's quite grand and since it's from the time of the princesses, even the simpler ponies could go there and enjoy the masterworks of music.“
As they made a turn into another alley, the end was covered in rubble, but the sight revealed the far horizon, dyeing itself in the brownish grey of the city's smog. Octavia faintly smiled as she looked at it.
"I've been there myself, you know, the last time grandfather played. I remember the name of the piece, too: The Seapalace. A canon dedicated to some kind of water ponyfolk," she said, her voice drifting, dreamy.
"Seaponies,“ Twilight interjected, "They're part of our folklore, right?“
Octavia nodded and even though Twilight knew nothing of music, the appraisal made her feel smart. It was a good balance to those weakening legs of hers.
"The piece was quite wonderful and it was grandfather who introduced me to playing the cello. My parents tolerated it as a passing hobby but after he died I wanted to become a musician just like him. Little Octavia Quarternote, the neighbours said, dreaming foalish dreams.“
Musician wasn't exactly dream job, as far as Twilight knew. The Celestial Hall had seen its second golden age during the time of the Princess of Love, and of course, it had wilted away with the princess. Nopony cared much about music anymore, even she'd never heard a song in her life, even though ponies had talked about some in her presence.
They walked farther into the alleys, through the maze and the shadows. Yet Octavia walked on single-minded and Twilight was glad to follow.
She took the chance to observe how the city had changed from the moment she and Trixie had stepped out of the hospital. Back then she wouldn't have called Canterlot a good looking city but it hadn't been a complete wreckage either. Now, that seemed like an appropriate appellation.
The walls they passed looked like they were about to crumble and what windows they spotted were either cracked or shattered. That made them all extra careful as to not step into any glass shards.
They trailed through the narrow passages in a line, with Trixie on the far-off end and Raindrops trying to hover above them, only to fail miserably at it. Meanwhile, Derpy made a hobby out of accidentally knocking everything over that could be knocked over. In and of itself, that was just her being clumsy, but the thing was, on most occasions, it set off a string of events. This led at one point to the fall of a pony from the sixth floor into the dump and another time in the furthering of a small crack, which Twilight figured would probably somehow end in a disaster in the long run. At least the first time the pony had been unharmed, he hadn't even known that Derpy had somehow been responsible for his fall.
Either way, that filly had a hand for accidents, as it seemed.
Then, after a while, they left the maze of alleys and stepped on another street. Unlike the busywork everywhere else, however, this one was utterly deserted. There were no ponies in the street and whichever houses still stood appeared to be abandoned, the doors and windows barred. Twilight had to stop for a moment to take it all in.
Lyra laughed. "Don't worry, it's just the local ghost town."
Not knowing whether to take it as a joke, Twilight asked in return; "How do you know that?“
"Grew up here,“ the white pony laughed and creeped closer to Twilight. "Sometimes at night you can hear the screams of the damned. Woooo. Woooo. I mean, it's either ghosts or drunk university students, but both are scary."
Twilight looked around once more. This didn't seem like a good place to live at. Half the buildings, as it appeared, had collapsed some time ago and the sudden earthquakes had done a number on the rest. The six moved on through the abandoned part of the city and Twilight was left wondering how ponies could forget an entire district. She wondered if it was a lie Lyra told, but what reason would she have for that? Just like with the ghosts, now that she thought about it.
And since magic was real ...
"Uhm, Octavia?" She asked.
"Yeah?"
"Can you hold my hoof?"
The other filly nodded and Twilight grabbed on to her new friend's appendage, immediately feeling a bit safer. Tavi was smaller than she was, sure, but she braved this scary place much better than she did.
A few moments later, Octavia looked across the street and stopped right dead in the middle of it. Everypony came to a sudden halt, wondering what was up. So they went and looked at the same building that had caught the grey filly's attention.
This one stood apart from all the other houses around it, and it captivated Twilight pretty much immediately. A house that must've once had white walls stood before them, it looked huge compared to the apartment buildings around it and its entrance, even though broken down, still had remnants of a red carpet coming out of it and the entrance was guarded by stone statues of the solar guard, the first army that had served Equestria.
"What building is that?“ Twilight asked, in her amazement not even able to produce her voice properly.
"The Celestial Hall,“ Octavia answered, "It burned down after my grandfather died. It must've been a year or two. The rest of the district was already falling apart and with the fire, everypony left to the other parts of the town. Father and Mother even told me to forget about it. Funny thing. I always wanted to play there and now I can't, not ever.“
So Lyra did lie, at least about one thing. I wonder if there's ghosts in there.
Twilight looked at the sad little pony that held her hoof, but she was also intrigued by how that building would look from the inside. "Can we go in?“
"I– my parents ... No, it's dangerous.“
That's when they heard Lyra's voice from across the street; "Are you coming or not?“
She waved at them from before the house and Twilight had to giggle. Lyra's energy and enthusiasm was something to behold. It even made everypony else move into that general direction, Derpy first, Raindrops following her. Trixie shook her head, before she put on her head and started walking, too. Octavia was the last to move, and Twilight was with her. Now they both benefited from holding hooves, Twilight figured.
It was dark inside of the building. So dark, that Twilight could barely make anything out. The sun was already moving down outside, so only small rays of light reached this place. The few things she did notice when they came in were the old counters and burned pictures on the walls. They probably had depicted the princesses. Oh, how she would've loved to see them.
Other than that there was a stairway up and hallways leading to the bathrooms. They decided to take the stairs.
Old wood creaked beneath them and Twilight held herself close to Octavia, who tried to stay close to Derpy who tried to stay close to Raindrop who tried to stay close to Trixie who tried to stay as close as possible to Lyra. Still, they somehow managed to not trample on each others hooves. Twilight deemed their teamwork excellent as of that moment.
Then they entered the biggest door they saw and came into the biggest room Twilight had ever seen. The roof had given up long ago and fallen down, leaving only a ring on the edges of the walls. The large stage stood empty and desolate, its curtains had become ashes and were scattered in the wind.
The filly noticed the rows and rows of chairs. So many chairs, she figured that the entire city had to fit in here.
She was in deep amazement as she walked through the gate into this weird new world. The others followed her suite, as amazed at the size of it all as much as she was. It was Octavia, though, who suddenly started into a trot, letting go of Twilight and moving through all the rubble and past the chairs.
Twilight followed her slower, feeling so tiny against this place. What a sight it must've been during its golden age. She looked back at Octavia, who walked up the stairs to the stage. The grey foal walked to the middle of it and then stared at the far world before her, with the other five scattering across the hall and exploring it to their heart's content.
Octavia looked on it all, and for a moment, Twilight heard a whisper in the wind. A melody playing in the distance, and then a long, empty quiet following.
The hall was quiet.
Arpeggio Quarternote looked at them all, all the nervousness he had expressed to his family beforehand gone. He smiled so sure at the audience, so completely without fear, he couldn't believe it himself.
He took a deep breath and his gaze went over to his family. His own child and that air-headed wife of his, together with their own little one, his granddaughter. While his son seemed distant and disinterested and the wife was unusually busy with her purse, the little grey filly stared at him with wide eyes. No, rather she was looking at his instrument. That old wonderful cello he had once bought at an auction in Manehatten. She looked so excited, it filled him with joy.
Most ponies hadn't had a sense for music. True musicians were slowly dying out, just like unicorns. Writers and artists persisted through sheer stubbornness but magic was long since gone and with it the colors and the words and the music. The notes could still be played but few ponies could get the heart of the piece right. Nopony sang anymore and when they tried they would get angry because they didn't 'get' the music.
Arpeggio Quarternote lifted the bow to the strings of his instrument. He was well aware that there were few ponies who could still create magic and just as few who could feel it. The magic of music, the rarest thing. Like writing or drawing, anypony could do it, but his long studies had brought him to but one conclusion. The magic of harmony was needed to create real music. Harmony was gone though.
He pulled the bow and the melody began to resonate throughout the Celestial Hall. A song, a prayer, a ray of hope. The magic was still there, in his bow. He was a musician and nothing else. Right at this moment, his world was in the notes, his heart was with his instrument and he had lived his entire life just like this. Playing the cello for everypony, he closed his eyes and let his heart do the work for him.
Through the song's guidance, the seaponies woke from their slumber, in the blackest depths of the cold dark sea, and looked up to the sky, taken in by curiosity. They would start their journey to the air and then they would chase the sun until they reached the land. Across rivers and seas their journey would carry them, and all with the help of a bow dancing across the strings.
He asked himself if he'd find Celestia's palace if he kept playing like this? The bow hovered across the cello, the sounds came out so fluidly and the magic worked, even if only this once. He didn't open his eyes, he pictured it.
The little seaponies, they reached out from the darkness and came into the light. They ran from sharks and whales, needed to solve the eight riddles of a squid and needed to help a lost frogfish. In the end, he heard the orchestra entering his play, playing a glorious fanfare as, at long last, the group reached the palace of seashells and pearls and met a pony with a mane glistening in the sun, and a smile like summer.
The bow went off the cello and he opened his eyes, although they were a bit watery.
He was happy for the seaponies, so happy, because with this, they'd reached their goal. But then the applause set in and it made him that much happier that he'd reached everypony around him.
They all stomped their hooves on the ground and cheered like foals. Everytime he played they were so giddy afterward. The magic had gotten to them and they all felt the harmony. All but his son who had never forgiven him.
He looked at his family, but his son and his wife had left. A despair came up within him, but then his eyes caught those of a little grey filly who had remained in her seat. Her eyes glittered with tears she herself hadn't noticed, so intoxicated she had been by the music. She wasn't even aware it had ended, she was just happy that they had reached their goal. Like him. Arpeggio smiled a smile reserved for her.
"Octavia,“ he would later tell her, "you know there's magic in these strings and few are talented enough to unleash it. I think you can do it, though. You're a Quarternote and the most musical pony in all of Equestria. Our family's produced geniuses like you since the dawn of the earth ponies. Never forget who you are, Octavia and do what your heart tells you to.“
Octavia took a deep breath and looked down at the other five ponies. They were all good friends of hers and they would need her. She was sure of it. The filly stepped down from the stage and moved towards her friends, ready to continue their journey.
So you're done then, my little champion? Remember, you are the only pony that matters, only you can bring magic back. No matter what this journey will bring, I trust you completely.
It was strange how the Wise Goat talked to her, but he'd been her companion from the beginning.