"For the last time, I don't need your stupid help!" Octavia screeched.
Lyra rolled her eyes at Octavia. "You won't be saying that after you burn the entire building down to ashes. Ooh, can we add attempted arson to the list of your villainous endeavors?"
Octavia gritted her teeth as she struck the match again, to no avail.
"You know, there's such a thing as ovens in this school," Lyra reminded her.
"There's also such a thing as putting down your typewriter and coming to the dinner hall before everypony's done," retorted Octavia. "Honestly, you're crazy, always writing nonstop about those silly hum--"
"Watch it!" Lyra shouted as the match ignited a spark that passed alarmingly close to the unicorn's face. With a yank of her magic, she snapped the match and ground it into dust. "Give me that," she demanded, looking to the blue Tupperware container that Octavia had been trying to heat up.
"Unicorns can't do everything, you know," the earth pony grumbled.
"They can perform a simple warming spell," Lyra retaliated. Her horn began to slowly fizzle a bright neon green while she levitated the container of frozen ravioli. Octavia watched unimpressed as the plastic edges turned a bright red...
And then burst into flames.
"Are you certain you applied to the correct school, Lyra?" asked Octavia, snickering. "I could see a lot of potential for you at Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns."
Just then, the door swung open, and Derpy entered the room.
"Ahem, yes, Octavia," Lyra loudly declared as she kicked Octavia's leg, "I'm so glad you were willing to cooperate with me on heating up the ravioli."
"Of course, Lyra," a disjointed, robotic Octavia answered. "Are you alright? I would be so sad if your backfired spell hurt you in any way. Yes. So sad. I think I will cry now. Wa. Wa."
"Hi, girls!" Derpy said. "I wasn't able to get any chips from the vending machine, but Moonshine was kind enough to give me one of her muf..." Her eyes widened into saucers when she saw the smoking black ashes.
For a moment, there was silence. Then, Derpy said, "You know, it's a really nice night tonight! Maybe we should go eat at a restaurant!"
Would you like me to list all the ways in which that plan can backfire? Octavia thought to herself. The Moon Festival is tomorrow; ponies all over Equestria will be crowded the streets to throw an unsightly ruckus. Ugh, just the thought of going out tonight is... "Not a bad idea," Octavia said aloud. "Many restaurants will be open for the eve of the Moon Festival."
"Lyra, what about you?" asked Derpy, bouncing up and down in her excitement.
Yes, Octavia thought, proud of herself. Negative outlook indeed, Vinyl. The evening has the potential to go well. Well, as long as we don't have...
"A chance to walk through the bustling thoroughfares of Canterlot?" Lyra said. "Count me in!"
Octavia groaned. Oh, horseapples.
"This'll be great!" Lyra cheered, twirling around in a circle with Derpy.
Why can you not hear the cries of my internal suffering?! Octavia screamed.
"And Octy's even staying quiet for once!" Lyra exclaimed. "This night gets better all the time!" Lyra stopped spinning, but she continued holding Derpy's front hooves. "Do you know what this night could mean?" Lyra asked, her eyes distant and dreamy. "After dinner, we find a quaint little cafe with chairs outside. I sit down with my notebook and begin to write. All around me, there is the atmosphere of a world drifting slowly off to sleep. The candlelights in shop windows give a warm glow to the faces of happy couples strolling along, as all of ponykind is nestled in a blanket of gently falling snow. It's going to be perfect, just perfect!"
"I hate this."
Lyra trudged behind Octavia and Derpy as they pushed their way inch by inch through the heavy crowds. She was bent down like a frail old grandmother about to be blown over by the chilly arctic winds stinging in her eyes. "Why did I ever want to leave our dorm room for this pathetic excuse of pegasi-managed weather? For Celestia's sake, at least the burnt ravioli would be warm!"
"Oh, quit whining about every little thing," Octavia called over her shoulder. For a second, her hooves lost their even rhythm. "Wow, did I just say that?" She shuddered. "Weird."
"We've been walking in this weather for over half an hour," Lyra said. "Why haven't we found a restaurant yet?"
"It's not my fault the past three have been so crowded," Octavia answered. "Be patient, and we'll find one." That is, if I don't push you down a well.
Suddenly, Derpy spun around to face her two friends. "Do you know what I love about tonight?" she asked. "More than the candy, or the snow, or the dead trees. It's the ponies. I mean, just look at them!" She made a wide, sweeping gesture to the crowd. "Everypony's seems so happy! There's that little filly running around; maybe she's playing hide-and-seek! And those two over there, making snow ponies! And that nice couple on the bench; look how nice they are, sharing that cup of hot chocolate! Oh, I wonder if that stallion is okay. He looks a little sad. Hopefully the festival will cheer him up! And it's all under the Princess's stars, and the wind is nice, and we're all like one big family, and... and..."
Octavia tilted her head so that she could see Derpy's face. "Are you crying?" she asked, incredulous.
"Nuh-uh," Derpy murmured as she blinked furiously. "Everything's just really, really pretty." Then she turned to look at Octavia. "Octy, maybe this is a silly question, but... what do you see when you walk?"
"Umm... Let's see..." Her eyes took a brief panorama of the Canterlot street. "I see a lot of snow... it's on the tree branches, those will probably break from the weight soon.... And there's... ponies, of course... and I don't know, really. I hear things though. Ponies are whispering; they're hissing like a tea kettle. Somepony's shouting in the distance. Hoofsteps are there too, like they can shake the ground. And..." She pricked her ears up. "Laughter. I hear laughter too."
Derpy nodded. "And you, Lyra?"
Lyra, her mouth muffled by her tightly wrapped scarf, murmured. "Test subjects. No other alien demon changelings. And there's a carrotdog stand." Lyra sped up to a trot. "I don't care what either of you say, because I'm getting myself a carrotdog."
As Lyra wove through the dense crowd of ponies, Derpy shrugged, saying, "We might as well find a place to sit and eat."
Octavia nodded and followed Derpy's lead. It didn't take long for them to find an open bench once the crowd started to thin.
Octavia tilted back her head to watch her breath condense and rise up to the silvery leaves of the Moonlit Grove. Meanwhile, Derpy took out her sketchbook.
Flipping open to an empty page, Derpy tapped her pencil against her temple as scattered images from the past two weeks flashed through her mind. A first snowfall of the year. A sparkly clock. A dancing mare. A rickety tower of books. A jelly donut. And a smile, at least once, somewhere in each day.
Soon, the faint scratching sound of graphite could be heard. Curious, Octavia scooted closer to the pegasus. "And you, Derpy?" she whispered. "What do you think of when you walk through Canterlot?"
Derpy looked up and smiled. "I think of home."
"Hey," Lyra called from a little ways away. "I've got carrotdogs! One for me, one for Derpy, and one for Octavia's alien race to torture. Dig in, everypony!"
For a while, there was just the sound of quiet munching. "You know," Octavia said, dabbing her mouth with a handkerchief, "this week wasn't that bad. Still difficult, of course, but really not that bad. It's hard to believe that we're already halfway through the month."
"Lyra nodded. "I know what you mean. And with the Moon Festival tomorrow, it'll be the official beginning of winter."
"As if this wasn't enough?" Octavia said with a laugh, stretching out her hoof to catch a snowflake.
"That's what I normally think too," said Lyra, "but this year feels different. I feel like I'm about to start something new, you know?"
They did know. Both Derpy and Octavia nodded their heads before returning to watching ponies pass through the garden. The light of the moon reflected off the silver leaves illuminated their faces with a soft and mysterious glow.
Then Octavia pricked up her ears again. "I think I hear music," she said. She looked a little ways ahead, where a young stallion was setting up his instrument in the garden. Octavia decided to go up to him, with Lyra and Derpy following close behind.
He was a plain-looking stallion, with a grey coat, faded blue overalls, and thick-rimmed glasses. His mane was unkempt, and by the looks of the passerby's upturned noses, he hadn't bathed in weeks. He was one of the poorest ponies in the richest city in the country. He was homeless.
Yet Octavia stood by in quiet respect as she listened to him play. Lyra noticed the musician's head sway from side to side. When he was done, Octavia made her way over to him. "That was Humoresque, wasn't it?" she asked him, much to his surprise.
Not knowing what else to do, he nodded.
"It was quite lovely."
That brought the stallion a smile. "Not many Canterlot ponies appreciate Appleloosan music. You play the fiddle, miss?"
"Yes, in fact, I do. I've played since I was seven."
"Then perhaps you know this?" He played eight notes.
"Gavotte," Octavia said. "G Minor."
"Then you must know that it's a duet piece." The fiddler glanced down at a second closed case. "I have a friend who plays, but he's been having the most terrible sickness because of the weather. He's in a shelter now. Would you possibly...?"
Octavia smiled, as gently as the falling snow. "Ah would love ta play."
As Octavia knelt down to unlock the homeless stallion's case, Lyra noticed more than a few Canterlot ponies give her the evil eye. "Oh, shut up, all of you," Lyra grumbled. "You don't know anything, anything at all." Then she sat down on the sidewalk with Derpy and listened to Octavia play.
Derpy felt her heart skip in her chest. It's really beautiful, she thought, but sad, too. That sadness, it can't just be the song. It has to be something else. Something deeper. Octy, is everything okay?
As Octavia kept playing, the music swelled. It swelled in the air, drawing a growing ring of ponies, but it also swelled in the hearts of her friends to the point where the emotion in those note felt unbearable a pressure. And still Octavia played, her eyes closed to the world around her. She was in her own little concert hall, with only two ponies needed to fill the room with applause.
She let the last note ring into silence, then kept her eyes closed while the crowded melted away into the cold park winds. When she opened them, she felt a strange warmth all over, from her hooves to her head to her heart.
Octavia laughed. "You've gotten good with that warming spell, Lyra."
Lyra's voice was broken by a sob. "It's called a hug, you idiot."