City by Arctic Inferno
Octavia held her head in one of her hooves and gazed out of the carriage window as it was pulled swiftly through the streets of the big city of Canterlot by two stallions up front. Canterlot; her home, the place where she had been born and grew up. She knew this district well from her foalhood, perhaps even better than the back of her hoof. The bakery, the nightclub where her marefriend worked. Octavia smiled at the mere thought of her marefriend; a white unicorn DJ named Vinyl Scratch. She constantly did nightshifts and this was one of those. She was possibly in there using her gizmos and gadgets to make music now, but she had promised to Octavia not to let it get too loud and disrupt her concert. A few shops and houses followed and then her destination stood towering over her.
Said destination wasn't any normal building. It was the Grand Hall, possibly the most prestigious of Canterlot's performance halls. The outside was a beautifully carved structure of archaic design and the inside was a stage surrounded by thousands and thousands of seats for the audience. Only the most gifted and worthy musicians were permitted to play there, and Octavia and her band had been honoured when the royal seal came and confirmed their place amongst the countless famous ensembles and orchestras that had performed in the past. Her fellow band members were seated alongside her and broke into an excited chatter as the carriage pulled to a stop, breaking the previously silent atmosphere.
"Ohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh! Came the silence-breaker from the harpist, an aquamarine unicorn with a grayish cyan mane and sparkling golden eyes, matching the colour of her beloved harp that lay in her lap, "I still can't believe we were selected to play here!"
"I know, dear," Came the more subtle response from the band's singer, Lyrica, an earth pony with a light violet coat and frilly yellow hair tied into an eye-catching bun. "It is quite an honour for her majesty to select us of all possibilities."
Octavia merely smiled at their ensuing conversation as the carriage door opened. Some ponies were waiting outside and clapped for them as they entered, causing her to blush and Lyra to cover her face a little in embarrassment. The trio may have been an aspiring group but had no experience at all with any kind of crowd attention, especially not at such a high-class event.
It was later that the three gave each other nervous smiles and hugs for luck before entering the main hall. Octavia carried with her her prized possession; her cello, built out of smooth, glossy mahogany, gifted to her by her mother at a young age. Lyra carried her golden harp, same as always as she seemed to be reluctant putting it down. Lyrica had an enchanted earpiece to broadcast her voice so the audience could hear properly, and she fiddled with her necklace nervously as the group were greeted with a sea of esteemed ponies, all clapping to celebrate their arrival. Octavia tried to occupy her mind with the thought of Vinyl and how she was probably cheering for her right now and sighed contently, calming down a little. The trio prepared to play on the stage as the audience made as much noise as was deemed socially acceptable, but said noise quickly died down as Octavia placed a bow against the strings of her cello, ready to play a long note.
She was interrupted in her action by a loud noise; it was deafening and reverberated through the room, long and unstable. Recognisable as music, but certainly not produced by any sort of instrument. A large amount of Canterlot ponies in the crowd looked around in confusion and distaste. Some of the mares fainted.
Octavia merely gritted her teeth and turned to Lyra, who nodded in agreement before they spoke in unison, the venom clear in both of the mares' voices.
"Vinyl."
Octavia had never left a building to enter another so quickly in her whole life, and soon a heated argument was echoing through the streets of the great city.