Another flash. Another Bang. Then, poof, all three were in Luna’s Chambers.
“Go to… my… private…” Luna’s head fell downwards. It took Octavia a moment to realize that it was not out of shock or sorrow, but exasperation. Octavia herself, was in shock.
They had been there, in the court, surrounded by armed guards, at least two dozen stained glass windows, and a slightly damaged stone floor. Now they were in a darkly decorated bedroom, complete with dark blue paint, drapes, sheets, and pillows periodically dotted with stars. The room wasn't entirely shadowed, however: the drapes were pulled and the window pane was bare, allowing the still freshly raised moon to shine brightly into the room. Octavia’s mouth worked uselessly.
“Wha… huh… oahh...” While the first few jumbles of sound could be interpreted as half-spoken, single word questions, the last was far closer to a groan than a grunt. Octavia felt her hooves grow weak, her mind disoriented and her eyes dilating. Her stomach felt light. That wasn't a good thing.
“Oh, stars. Octavia,” she heard Luna say from beside her. Any more was either unspoken or unheard. The cellist felt her ears flatten across her head, one ducking behind her long mane. Another groan worked to push itself from her throat, but she swallowed it. It felt more solid than she expected air to be. Bad taste, too.
She felt a wing on her back, too soft and long to be a hoof. It guided her, gently leading her forward. Her legs only barely held her up, but she walked forward out of her trust in Luna. It had to be Luna, for Discord’s wings were too small. Then she felt the weight of the wing grow, and she relented to the force. She felt her stomach land on a pillow-- gently, at that. It felt wonderful, good enough for her ears to relax and groan to push forward from her lips.
“First time using teleportation as a means to travel,” Luna spoke from above her, the diarch’s voice more analytical than explanatory. “It will take a moment, but the uneasiness will pass. Just let your mind right itself. Now, you!” The princess’s voice took a dangerous tone. “Was it too much for you to simply walk with us here? Was it truly necessary for you to use your magic like this?” Octavia heard mumbling--giddy mumbling-- followed by a feminine groan of annoyance. The cellist, dazed as she was, recognized the sound of a zipper soon after, one being violently tugged. She hoped it hurt.
“I do apologize for the nausea, as pain is not a form of chaos I enjoy. I prefer ponies to enjoy my batch of reality, and even I would be wary of a pony that enjoyed pain.” The mirthful chuckle that followed had Octavia groan for an entirely different reason. She swallowed on balls of saliva, hoping to expedite the process. She blinked as well, hoping it would right herself in some way. Odd as it was, it appeared to be working.
“I do not care about what you believe, Discord,” Luna’s wrathful voice rang through the private chambers. “Your thoughts of disharmony and lust for the random has made more faults in our land than benefits. Do not overstep the small sanctuary we have offered you, else you face the wrath of Princess of the Night!”
“Yes, I’m well aware. You’re sister promised the same with the day and all that.” Discord dismissed the threatening words of the princess like a tree does a summer wind. Octavia hoped it was the disorientation that made her see the crooked angle of the draconequus’s lips as a smile. Again, she doubted it. “But you know what, your highness? I believe you would look much better with that frown upside down.”
The mad god snapped his paw. Luna flashed. Octavia panicked, again.
“L-Luna!” She spoke the dark alicorn’s name, no disguise to the panic in her voice. She rose from the pillow she lay on, legs gaining strength quickly with necessity. She made her way to the dark princess, swearing in her mind that if anything was wrong she would hurl the castle at Discord, multiple times. A threatening note started to ring in her mind.
But when Luna turned to Octavia, she didn’t appear any different. Not different by a quick look at least. She had the same dark coat, the same ethereal yet sparkling mane, the same light blue crystal regalia, and even the same wings on her back and horn on her head. Everything was the same.
Except she was sporting a broad smile. A rather… violent… broad smile.
Octavia stared at her, twisting her head to ensure she was not still woozy on her legs. She ignored the cackling of Discord, currently spinning through the air and ignoring gravity like a pest. It was when the gray alicorn took more careful note of the snarled teeth in Luna’s smile, the small canines along the edges, that she noticed what was wrong. They were upside down.
“Oh,” Octavia simply spoke, unsure of what else to say. Luna, upside-down scowl deepening, turned her attention back to the floating mad god.
“Discord,” she seethed out, poorly controlling her rage. “Undo this change of yours, else we shall see your permanent banishment from not only our castle, but the land entire!” The words gave Discord pause, raising his paw to his long chin, stroking the puff of hair that extended from it. His mismatched eyes looked down, in a way a philosophical pony may look up, Octavia noted.
“Oh alright, go ahead and spoil the fun already.” He complained aloud as he snapped his claw. Again, Luna flashed a quick bright light. When it was gone, her lips were righted on her face, deep scowl oriented correctly. The savageness of it still gave Octavia cold shivers down her spine; it was not a pleasant sight. “But now I would like to see what is new with you.” Discord extended his paw towards Octavia, momentarily startling the gray alicorn.
“With me?” She asked, placing a hoof to her chest. Discord nodded affirmatively. “You already know well enough what is new with me. I was rather hoping you could tell me why I am-” Her words were cut off by Discord scoffing like a heckler to a song.
“Those wings and horns of yours are far from new,” Discord cajoled, wearing a face of foolish disgust, tongue lolled out and eyes crossed. “From what I hear, you’ve had those for near a few months now, and I’ve seen plenty of ponies with those before. No no no, what I’m interested in is what you have been doing for the past few days.” Octavia wasn’t confused, but she was cautious.
“I am not aware of your meaning, Discord.” She didn’t hide the disdain in her voice. Were Vinyl here, she might have commented that she was dipping into old habits, sounding snobby and upper class. Octavia preferred poised.
“Aren’t you? You were telling me all about it before.” He noted with a chuckle, earning a groan from the alicorn of his attention. She had forgotten that she had told him, thinking the pony in the train carriage different from the mad god fidgeting above her. “You were visiting the friend of a friend, as you said. Better than just a friend if you ask me.”
“I did not ask you,” Octavia shot back, regretting the words as soon as she spoke them. They sounded like the words of a disgruntled foal. “And I believe I told you as well what I was doing then.”
“Of course, playing a duet,” Discord recalled easily. “But what I am more focused on is what you never answered. Why out there, why so far away from what you are used to here?” He held his paw up to his mismatched eyes, shielding them as if he were looking far across the horizon. Octavia held in a yelp of surprise when he once again pulled his head from his shoulders. “Could it be to keep a sense of privacy, that boring thing ponies are focused on more than breathing? Or could it be-”
“It was to practice my magic.” Octavia interrupted the mad god, wanting now to remove him from the room. She understood more than before the disdain and near-loathing Luna had for the creature. She thought she had an idea before, but that was not even close. “Princess Luna and I have found my… affinity for magic. Music has always been a way for me to relax and control myself, and playing with others… it was a way to stretch the limits of what I can do.”
Her answer brought an undeniable smile to the detached head of Discord.
“That’s wonderful!” He let out, tossing his head into the air like a useless lantern. It hit the ceiling, exploding into ice and then falling back upon his body. It reassembled itself as it fell, completing the copiously compiled creature in but a few moments. “Wanting to try something new. Leaving behind the safe and normal. Oh, Octavia, my only regret is not finding you sooner.”
“Mine is you finding me at all,” Octavia shot back, hoping the barb would stick. It only made the mad god chuckle with mirth. She heard Luna scoff from the side, apparently at her wits end with the creature already.
“But enough of that. I want to see.”
Both Octavia and Luna paused.
“See?” Luna repeated, staring up at Discord with screwed eyes. “For what intent? To harass her further than you already have?” Discord, probably as an act, appeared offended,trading his smile for a scowl and turning his floating body backwards and away from the pair of alicorns. Octavia couldn’t ignore the stray thought of hope that he would blink out of existence. No such luck.
“Give me some credit, moon butt,” Discord insulted the princess twice over with his words, giving Octavia a reason to widen her eyes. “I simply want to see something new. That shouldn’t be unfamiliar to you. Besides that, you never know what I may be able to contribute. After all, what are friends for?” Apparently any sense of offense he had was forgotten with his words, as he was laughing once again. With his question that preceded it, Octavia was on the fence about the implications.
Luna shook her head, probably in disgust, before looking at Octavia. The cellist gazed back, watching the ire in the Lunar Princess’s eyes slowly replace itself with concern. Octavia felt the chill in her wings warm.
“I am against entertaining any form of beast before consideration is given,” Luna spoke, the topic more than obvious to the two of them. “But Discord is a creature that enjoys giving more or less of what you expect, never the same. Though I loathe to admit it, he has been of significant help to my sister and Twilight’s companions in the past. Whether he is humored or not is a decision for you to make. I will support your choice, no matter what it is.” Octavia watched a small smile spread across the dark alicorn’s lips, warm and kind. She felt it to the heart of her soul.
“I think,” Octavia began slowly, literally thinking as she spoke. “That we may entertain him.” She watched as Discord readied himself to perform some other bizarre magical act. Octavia spoke again to stop it. “But!” She continued. “This is only out of courtesy towards what little faith Princess Luna has in you. It is not out of want, only necessity.”
“Calm the eyes!” Discord suddenly shouted, destroying any sense of control Octavia had been projecting. “Your demands are simply too much for me!” Octavia and Luna watched the draconequus begin to melt piece by piece, his mouth stretching to let out a pathetic cry. His solid limbs turning to some discolored liquid, he fell from his floating platform to spill across Luna’s dark floor. Said alicorn only scoffed in annoyance.
“Let us prepare,” she dismissively spoke of the creature. “He will right himself when he needs to.” The last few words were directed at the puddle of colors that was Discord. Octavia fully understood their meaning. “I am well aware that your cello is not present with you, but if you would not mind a compromise… I still have the other one here.” Octavia realized guiltily that she had almost forgotten about it.
With a flash of her horn, Luna removed what Octavia only passively supposed was an illusion spell-- maybe invisibility meant to keep the room looking proper. Upon its removal, two instruments flashed into existence. A cello and piano, both instruments familiar to the young alicorn.
The former was her gift from Luna, dark in color and decorated with the pattern of a starry night. Strings that glowed like the trail of falling stars and a bow that looked as if was carved from the moon itself completed the unmistakable beauty the sight of the instrument provided. The piano was little different, though far larger and likely more delicate in its creation. The lid was popped open and showing the many strings within, and the delicate keys of ivory stood in strong contract to the cool black shine of the rest of the device. The large instrument was a sight to behold, as it so often was. Imposing in shape and size, it still held the grace of the night, doubtlessly the point of its creation.
“This is it?” The pair of princesses turned to see Discord, already his cacophony-like self, standing tall above and behind them. He had his paw and claw folded across his chest, an undeniable expression of disgust upon his features. Octavia found she preferred the twisted smile.
“And what of this is disappointing to you?” Octavia asked, one part curious and two parts annoyed. If the draconequus continued speaking, it would easily become a ratio of one to four.
“Oh, come now. I want to be impressed, not bored.” Discord scoffed turning head and raising his paw as if he had seen something disgusting. It only gave Octavia more merit for despising the draconequus. “A piano and cello? They’ve only been played together for, oh, how long has it been…? ah, yes. A few thousand years or so.” Discord whirled his claw in an oval shape as he spoke. Octavia hid her surprise well, but nevertheless she was taken aback by the presence of a miniature planet appearing about his finger, twirling with the motion of his appendage.
“Then we will simply not play,” Luna spoke back in the controlled voice Octavia had heard her use only scarcely before. It was vacant of the understanding tone the gray alicorn was used to, sounding more like a mother scolding her child than a mentor with her student. She supposed when speaking to Discord, it was an appropriate tone to have. “Do not forget, this is merely a show of good faith. If you would rather not listen, then you may leave. Octavia and I have plenty more we can discuss without your presence.”
“Oh!” Discord’s features warped from unimpressed to pained with all the time it took a mare to flick her hoof. The small curve of his crooked lips told Octavia how faux the action was. “Princess, you wound me. Here I am attempting to help, but you will not even allow me to enjoy myself. Is it too much to ask for something new to shine before me?”
As the draconequus spoke, he raised his paw and claw to his mismatched red pupils. Then, wiping them like a rag across a dusty table, he changed his eyes. The one to his left, smaller in size, changed to the starry-night cello Luna had gifted Octavia. The eye to his right, large and in charge, became the same piano that the princess sat behind. It disturbed Octavia a little how swiftly she was growing used to Discord’s antics. It was either that, or living with Vinyl had built up her tolerance better than she previously gave credit for.
“Your aide often ends with some form of chaos to plague the ponies involved,” Luna shot back. Octavia only just now noticed how her mane lacked the usual wave it always had. It seemed rather… straight, almost jagged. It still sparkled, however. “Your presence being tolerated is gift enough. Do not ask what is beyond your welcome.”
“Dear princess,” Discord responded with an amused chuckle, towering over the dark alicorn as he spoke. Octavia noted the draconequus’s size, true, but more than that, she noted how undeterred the princess appeared to be. It was admirable, in all honesty. “It’s not about what I want to have, it’s about what I want to feel. I want to be surprised, and I can hardly feel such a way if I already know all the tools involved.”
Whilst Luna and Discord debated about the piece that would be played, Octavia found herself thinking on something slightly different. Her mind was on the music, but it wasn’t on deciding between the draconequus or dark alicorn, as the choice was obvious to her. No, her mind was on a lesson that her father had taught her, following a disappointing recital at a young age. She had been shooed off the stage for not adding innovation into a classical piece; dismissed for boring the judges is what she was later told.
Her father, while comforting and understanding, told her not to dismiss their viewpoints. Rather, he said the opposite. He told her that the quickest and most assured way to silence a pony was not to show them the opposite of what they wanted. Rather, it was to show them exactly what they wanted, to impress them to the point where all arguments withered and died. It was a lesson she never forgot.
With the same determination that Octavia possessed when she played with Vinyl, the gray alicorn approached Luna.
“Discord,” the gray alicorn spoke, earning the draconequus’s attention. She put out of mind how his limbs were now various instruments and his teeth picks, likely to illustrate some intangible point about the variety in music. “Allow us to surprise you with the expected.”
The delight that filled his face could have qualified for a dictionary definition of happy.
The surprise across Luna’s visage could have qualified for just as much for shock.
“Octavia,” the elder alicorn spoke, her voice subdued as she directed it at the younger alicorn. “What is it you plan to do? You must understand that Discord is not a creature to be trifled or underestimated.”
“I understand,” Octavia honestly replied. “But I was taught on how to handle hecklers and naysayers as well.” Luna blinked at the cellist’s words, but it was soon replaced by a prideful grin. Discord, silently, watched on. Likely far too intrigued to risk spoiling the fun.
“Very well,” the Luna Princess returned. “Do you require any assistance?” Octavia smiled in return, beyond grateful.
“I do. In fact, I was hoping to borrow your piano,” Octavia’s hoof motioned towards the large instrument, lid popped open and fall board raised. Luna’s gaze turned curious, but her smile did not waver. She nodded her head, and so Octavia approached.
The gray alicorn wasted no time in standing above the far end of the piano, not above the keys but above the exposed strings. She stared inside of it, letting a moment of peace pass over her as she stared at the intricacies that made up the overly complicated but wholly beautiful tool. Her cello would always be her favorite instrument, she had no less respect for other instruments of classical design.
“My mother was a pianist,” she spoke aloud, likely directed to Luna but not even Octavia was aware to whom she was speaking. “She explained to me once the importance of maintaining the strings inside the piano, how they were the true key to playing the instrument. She showed me how, without the use of keys or chords, to play notes along the piano.”
Instead of explaining further, as the alicorn was sure the princess and mad god were expecting, Octavia chose action. Reaching to one of the many strings beneath the lid of the piano, she angled her hoof until the tip was touching one of the strings, C Sharp from what remembered of key layouts.
With a light pluck, the note rang through the room, pure and sweet. She shut her eyes for a moment, enjoying the sound. It competed well for the strength of the cello, but it was still only a close second in her heart.
“Princess,” Octavia spoke calmly, a tone she couldn’t help but feel was inviting for her to use. She opened her eyes half-lidded and focused them on the dark alicorn. Luna looked only mildly shocked, a bit flustered, but otherwise calm. “Would you like to play with me?”
The alicorn turned her gaze slightly to look at the keys of the grand instrument, white and black up and down the aisle. She looked from them back to Octavia, watching the gray alicorn hold her hooves over the strings inside the piece. It was clearly far from any normal means to play the instrument, but that seemed to be the point.
With a soft smile and twinkle in her eyes, Luna nodded and approached the instrument.
Discord made himself oddly bare and silent, but only a look towards him showed the deep curiosity he had. The Lunar Princess settled herself behind the pew of the piano, letting her fore hooves rest on the keys as her rear hooves settled on the pedals below. She released a breath, likely to calm herself before the piece. Octavia found herself mimicking the action before she spoke.
“I’ll lead,” Octavia spoke softly to the princess. “You follow.” She readied her hooves as she spoke, a sign from one player to another. Luna saw it and did not mistake.
With that, Octavia began to play.
She plucked the strings of the high notes, hearing them ring for a moment in the air. Already she felt it odd to play this way, not only away from a cello but away from the intended keys. But the music rang through the air, true as a chime, and she felt no need to be wary of her skill. The gray alicorn continued to pluck the same strings, creating a soft motif to the song already. Three notes, high and soft, but steady in pace.
Octavia continued to pull at the notes, one hoof now to the job. As she did, she reached deeper into the dark piano, seeing the taut strings clear as a night’s moon. The ones she took note of were longer in length than the strings she was plucking now, reaching deeper into the carved case of the piano. Letting her stretched hoof fall, she began to tap the deep strings.
Deeper notes rolled from the strings, matching the harmony of the higher strings. They did not suddenly sing from the notes, as her the strings she plucked did. They rolled, increasing with volume the deeper her hoof suppressed them. Singing high notes, octaves above the scale, and rolling deep notes, comfortable in the Bass Clef. They went together beautifully.
Octavia felt her lids roll close, enjoying the sound she was creating; her cello and bow no where to be found as she created the music.
Suddenly then, the notes began to play. Octavia didn’t need to open her eyes to know it was Luna, taking over and joining the song. She was still sitting at the pew, one hoof on the keys as she started to play a small melody, carried by the harmony of Octavia’s raw strings. It sounded as if there were many more than simply to two mares playing together, and it sounded far different than a single piano being used. But it was a beautiful sound, and that was all Octavia needed.
The notes from the keys changed suddenly, duller and less pronounced that Octavia expected them to be. She spared a glance downwards, eyes only half-lidded as her mind still savored the music. She saw a dark hoof extended beneath the lid of the piano, reaching over the keys and holding down the strings by their base. Octavia recognized the effect immediately. Like any stringed instrument, changing where they were held changed their sound.
A light pounding rocked the piano, a vibration that carried through the dark wood. It took the cellist a moment to realize that it was Luna who made the sound, pounding her hoof on an open portion of the piano. It was dull, heavy, but carried the rest of notes like a raft over water. It suited the piece well.
It suited it well for not only making the sound only so much more enjoyable, but also because the cellist and pianist were playing as they never had before. It still felt as natural as walking through a park in the twilight of the day. Octavia felt her head shake left and right, her long dark mane flowing over her back and through the space between her wings. It was a song she had never heard before, as all of her ‘sessions’ had been. But it was still a song she felt deserved to be remembered.
Quick as she could, changed the notes she plucked and strum. She started to lightly beat a full chords worth of notes, beating the hollow exterior of the piano to match them. It was far louder in volume than before, but it felt appropriate for the rise in the music. Luna must have agreed, for in perfect harmony with Octavia, the dark alicorn had lifted her hoof from the interior of the piano and began to play with true vigor.
It was only a few chords, a couple of whole measures, but the notes Luna played danced over the beat and rhythm Octavia set perfectly. It sounded not as if it were their first time attempting such a ballad, or even the foolish attempt at experimenting with music, as it was. It sounded like a piece of music that was millennia in the making. It made Octavia grin, eyes still shut and savoring every note they played.
As Luna lifted her hooves from the keys, Octavia wasted no time in briefly taking over. Down the exterior of the piano, beating the wood with her forehooves, she played eight hollow notes on the carved wood, free of any strung strings or tuned keys. It was the perfect bridge for what came next.
Luna began to play the full notes to a grand piece.
Octavia felt the strings dance to the notes the Lunar Princess played, jumping with each fall of the action, echoing across the bridge, and filling the room with a sound that made Octavia wish to dance. And she did dance, but across the piano, rather than a ballroom floor. She felt her hoof rise and fall in an even temp on the lower strings, carrying the piece that dark alicorn played. Her other hoof continued to beat on the side of the piano, setting a dull but constant beat to the piece.
The cellist, currently a modified pianist, could hear, could feel the energy that Luna played with. It didn’t simply echo in her notes, it followed her movements. She played each chord with purpose, free of worry or embarrassment. She crafted the music as Octavia would, the two making a harmony unlike what near any stallion or mare would have ever expected. It was beyond entertainment; it was wonderful.
Octavia let her hoofs beat down on the chords, quick in pace just as they had before this chorus began. And as she finished, Luna upped her energy. She raised the notes in pitch, doubtlessly dancing on her pew the same way Octavia did above the strings. Both were lost to the music they played.
And though her eyes were shut, Octavia began to see again.
She could see the abnormal becoming reality, the strange becoming the accepted, and even the odd being welcomed as the new. She saw an eager foal strumming on the strings of a cello, no bow in his hooves but loving the sound all the while. She saw a happy pony, hopping about and throwing parties in a farm of rocks, dancing to a sound that no others heard. She saw a young sister, alone in the night, playing with her elder in the dusk and dawn, playing the piano as her sister sang to the notes. They all bridged their worlds with music.
Then the piece dropped. It didn’t end, and certainly didn’t stop, but the energy of Octavia and Luna fell in an instant. They were back to the beginning, back to where they started.
Octavia was plucking the strings as she lightly beat on others, setting the tempo and rhythm as she had before. Luna was just beside her, lightly tapping on the notes like a curious foal, though her wonder was left more for the music they made together and less for the sound she conjured. Octavia had yet to open her eyes, yet to see the workings of the piano she continued to use like a harp. But still, she continued to see.
She saw the mad god watching the ponies, from within a hollow tree. She watched as he wished, stared as he muttered, and gazed as he plotted. She could see his every idea for change, thinking on all his curious machinations of disorder, some filled with deceit. It was not a thing she was happy to watch. It was… inappropriate.
She lifted her hooves from the piano for a moment, unsure of how she wanted to play. Octavia kept her hooves beneath the lid, above the piano, and ready to pluck, strum, or beat any of the strings, but she didn’t know how. She didn’t know where. Thankfully, Luna did.
Like the solo to a symphony, the dark alicorn played on.
The notes were far from different to anything they had already played, the same energetic notes that had ruled the sound of the duet, but to Octavia, it was more. It was an alluring sound, an extension of a hoof from one mare to another. It was the soft inviting melody of the symphony, beckoning a curious foal to listen. It was the invitation of a lifetime. It was one Octavia couldn’t allow herself to miss.
Luna continued to play the same notes, the same appealing sound Octavia had already accepted. She joined in with tapping on a mid C, hardly but still gently adding to the energy that Luna carried. Octavia was no longer the rhythm to Luna’s music. For this moment, she was the lead. She felt a pleasured sigh leave her lips, wondering why she ever stumbled.
Her mind wished to remind her, showing her the same copious creature as before, thinking of deeds far from joyous. But this time, Octavia was prepared.
She listened to Luna’s music, listened to the dark alicorn guide her through the music, through the beat, and through the dream. Now, Octavia saw as she had before, in the hollow tree with dark intentions. But there was something new to the image, to the vision. The small addition was enough to turn the unwelcome oddity into an embraced variation.
A young pegasus, canary in coat and with a pink mane nearly as long as the cellist’s, stood behind the mad god, smiling up at him. He turned to her, smiling down at her. The two carried a silent conversation, one that Octavia listened to with her mind and soul. She listened to the acceptance of what the mad god was, the cajoling of what he wanted to do, but the welcome embrace of desire to change.
The music began to pick up again, with a new addition to the melody.
Octavia could hear the soft vocals of a stallion, singing along wordlessly to the beat. The strums in his voice matching the beats of the piano, moving perfectly with the notes Luna continued to play. It turned the melody form a unique duet to an unforgettable trio. It reminded Octavia of the reason she loved music.
Then the music reached its apex.
Octavia dashed to the front of the piano, eyes shut and guided by the sounds Luna continued to make, her hooves gliding down the keys like a wave through water. When she reached the far end of the piano, she began to beat on the deep strings with a controlled vigor, with a joy that made her lips turn up and shut eyes alight with glee.
The voice that sang with them picked up the energy with as much thirst as a dry beach. It “ummed”, it “ahed”, it sang high “ooes” that carried over the music as perfectly as the clouds above an ocean. It was more than a single voice, it was a chorus, a chorus that lacked nothing in enthusiasm, that gained everything with the music being played with it.
And Octavia continued to see with her shut eyes.
She saw the reformation of a villain lost to chaos. She saw the acceptance of a bully, changed from spite to sympathy. She saw a dragon being raised by a pony, a pony being brought up by a buffalo, and a rabbit being kept by a bear. She saw a unicorn with a white coat playing music that had never been heard before, a crippled pegasus playing to a passionate crowd, a lonely pegasus singing to her small animal friends.
She saw a filly raised by a pair of mares. She saw a colt being raised by a couple of stallions. She saw filly and dragon, holding claw and hoof as they walked through a garden. She saw a phoenix hatchling following a young alicorn, warming the alabaster coat. She saw love.
She saw a stallion kissing a tombstone goodbye. She saw a young mare waving her parents as she boarded a train. She saw a pair of foals saying goodbye as they galloped into a school. She saw a stallion kissing a mare, the same mare kissing him back. She saw acceptance. She saw what made them all so beautiful.
Octavia saw so much change, and she deeply, truly loved it all.
Then, with an odd seven notes from Luna, the song ended.
END
“Wonderful! Wonderful!” Cheers erupted from behind her and the princess, complete with a cacophony of clapping hooves and praise. It was odd only because there was but a single listener to her and the princess’s piece.
Octavia turned to see not one Discord, but several dozen, all clapping paw and claw together. Some had tears of ice falling down their mismatched red eyes. Others were waving handkerchiefs in the air, a form of praise that Octavia had seen only a few mares do during the symphony. Then a few others were whistling through their crooked teeth and grins, placing the edges of their claws between their lips as they blew. The gray alicorn could just make out the sound of the whistle coming from their ears and not their mouths.
But if there was one similarity they all had, it was praise. All the various copies of Discord were praising the pair of alicorns. Octavia grinned despite herself.
She looked to Luna, who was looking back at her. The Lunar Princess had donned her own expression of surprise, though subdued and tame. It contained only a slight part in her lips and widening of her eyes. Other than that, the regal alicorn looked as composed as near every other meeting Octavia had had with her.
But then, she saw the mare began to smile. It was subtle, like the surprise she wore, but it slowly grew. It changed from being the faint grin of her lips, the twinkle in her eye, into an unmistakable smile across her cheeks. It showed her pearly whites, stretched the princess’s features, and made her eyes practically shine like the stars in her mane. It was almost enough to take Octavia’s breath away.
It was only when the gray alicorn diverted her gaze from the Lunar Princess that she saw the afterglow of her magic at work.
The effects reminded Octavia of her sessions with Fiddlesticks on her porch, always ending with bringing new life and light to the ponies and orchard around them. Except now, in Luna’s private chambers and with nay to eat, the glow was upon one of the most important objects in the room.
The piano beneath their hooves shined, but in a way that was unmistakably unique. It wasn’t simply a reflection of light, and illumination of the instrument, it was a specific shine to each of its parts. The keys glowed like a night bug’s tale, going on and off as if signaling for them to be played. The exposed strings glimmered like stars, twinkling in and out in a dazzling yet subdued manner. Even the hard oak of the piano’s structure had an illumination to it, like ripples in an otherwise calm pond.
It took the cellist a moment, and a long one at that with Discord still cheering, crying, waving, and begging with his collective of clones, but Octavia recognized a pattern to the glow. She noted before that each appeared to signal a need to be played, strung, or in some cases even beaten, but it was not because the instrument was alive. No, what the glow as doing was far more interesting.
It was repeating the song the cellist and princess had just played.
But then, like the magic had done in all of her other sessions, it slowly began to fade, letting the lights die out, twinkle subdue, and illumination cease. Soon, it was just another piano. Still a marvelous one, crafted for the princess of the night and caring no less than a masterful level of craft, but hardly as eye-catching as the effects of Octavia’s magic had made it before. It was almost disappointing, in a way.
“Oh my dear Octavia!” The gray alicorn felt her attention diverted as Discord wrapped his paw around her waist. A moment later, she found herself being lifted into the air, held in a tight hug by the tall draconequus. She could imagine his twisted grin above her, but all she could see was his slytherin body. “You know how to make an old spirit choke, don’t you? Oh my, that was so beautiful! So predictable in sound by so unique in play! Making the old new again, oh why I might just start to cry!” Octavia did her best to ignore the hail like droplets of water landing into her long mane. She didn’t have the heart to remind herself what they were.
“That’s enough, Discord,” Luna’s commanding voice spoke from aside the two. “I believe we both understand your joy for the abnormal method to playing the piece.” To Octavia’s unspoken delight, Discord did release her, letting her fall near unceremoniously to the ground.
“But it’s so much more than that!” The draconequus let out, seemingly melting with joy. No, Octavia realized, just melting. The multicolored puddle shouted enthusiastically, “I’ve never seen something so predictable yet so surprising! I still can’t tell if it was the fact that it was obvious that it was surprising, or if the surprise was that it was obvious.”
“You are not making any sense,” Luna sighed shortly after she spoke the words. “I suppose that is the point, is it not?”
“Only partially.” A now-familiar bang of white filled the room, returning Discord to his tall and copiously compiled form. It took Octavia another full moment to realize that she had shifted as well. Specifically, to just beside Luna. The two shared a glance before looking back at Discord.
The draconequus was standing in front of the two, letting the digits of his paw and claw drum together in an almost menacing manner. Though Octavia had not yet let her disdain for the creature disappear, she knew enough now to know he was no threat, her patience aside.
“The better part of your little performance were the questions it raised. So many individual and whole separate things, a thousand and one indecipherable questions that each beg to be answered.” He laughed jovially at his own words, clearly seeing a joke that both alicorns missed.
“I would much rather hear answers than questions,” Octavia spoke honestly to the mad god. He turned to her with his mismatched gaze, his crooked smile leaning sideways.
“Oh I know you silly ponies love your answers. Single use, one way, unchanging facts, but I think questions are so much more useful.” Discord snapped his paw, forcing a road of pavement to suddenly appear behind him, through Luna’s chambers. Either the alicorn was well aware of the intention to remove it at a later date, or she was long used to his invasion of boundaries. Octavia hoped it was the former. “For example, why did the chicken cross the road?”
“To get to the other side,” Octavia responded with little hesitation. She had heard the question before, specifically from Vinyl. The unicorn had said it was for breaking the ice, but it had only succeeded in cementing the idea of the unicorn’s simplicity into the alicorn.
“Ah, but that is only one answer.” Discord snapped his claw this time, making a chalkboard hover behind him. A copy of himself was standing on top of the green board, holding a piece of white chalk in its extended tail. Both of the creatures were grinning broadly as the larger of the two spoke on. “Maybe it wanted to get to the other side, but what about for food? Or perhaps water? Maybe it wanted a sense of adventure, a bit of danger. Who’s to say it wasn’t even looking at the road? Maybe it was just trying to go for a walk.” With every answer, Discord wrote down one of the answers.
So many different answers to the same question. If there was not a glaring problem with the logic of the draconequus, his mindset aside, Octavia may have seen his point.
“Questions only contain one answer, Discord,” Luna spoke before Octavia could, addressing the fallacy of the draconequus’s logic before the gray alicorn could. The cellist smiled regardless. It made her happy to know that Luna was in line with her thinking.
“Really?” Discord questions, his face clearly showing no sign of believing the Night Princess’s words. “Then I suppose spells only have one use, pegasi fly in only one direction, the sun and moon move only one way, and you only become an alicorn when you plan on it.” The last example struck a chord.
“What are you saying?” Octavia heard the disdain clear in her voice. She could feel her features pulled in a frown. She heard the thought that he would turn her lips upside down as he had done to Luna before, but she remembered his hesitance to repeat performance. “If you know something about how I became like… this.” The Octavia motioned over her body with her hoof. “Then I implore you to-”
Octavia’s words ceased as she found herself gasping instead.
In an instant, a literal instant, Octavia found herself being swung across the room. Her body hunched downwards, attempting to grab the floor beneath her, but instead only found a long board. She looked down at the platform she was suddenly resting on, noticing her height raised from the floor. Her wings extended instinctively, attempting to balance herself.
She fell and wrapped her legs about the platform when the ground beneath her disappeared.
True was it was her wings were now strong and steady, she had little confidence that she could suspend herself in a void, which was apparently where she was now. No lights, no stars, nothing to stand on but the platform beneath her. Her head swiveled to see Princess Luna, thankfully. The only disappointment was that she was at the other end of the platform, wearing a face of anger. Octavia knew who it was reserved for.
Her thoughts, however, were interrupted as a popping sound echoed from behind her. She turned to see not Discord, as she had assumed, but a pair of princesses. One she knew very well, having spoken with her on many of correspondence. The other Octavia had only ever seen in ceremony or name. She addressed the first.
“Twilight?” Octavia spoke the lavender alicorn’s name. Said alicorn, however, didn’t respond. In fact, it looked rather… lifeless. It unnerved Octavia greatly. That is, until she lightly poked the mare, hoping to feel some resistance to her hoof. Instead, it bent inwards, like it would if she was fluffing her pillow before bed. With a sigh of annoyance, Octavia pieced together the rest rather easily.
She turned back across the new void to see Luna near mimicking her, but with a large doll of Celestia instead. Octaiva turned back towards her own pair of princess plushies, eyeing both Twilight and Princess Cadance. She didn’t know if she should be thankful or regretful that they were not real.
“Amazing, isn’t it?” Discord’s voice echoed about the void. Octavia’s eyes strained to find him, but had no such luck. That was, until, she looked down. Not simply on the platform beneath her, but beneath the long board itself.
At the center of the platform, like the fulcrum to a swing, Discord was there, holding up the board with one of his horns, grinning all the while.
“This precious thing called harmony, balance even, always easily swung with just the smallest of change.” With his words, Octavia felt something shift in the platform. Specifically, it was sinking, bending towards her side as Luna’s rose. The dark alicorn across from her wore a similar expression of realization. “But always changing again to not lose that boring sense of balance.”
As the mad god finished, the platform changed again. Octavia watched, silently, as the platform on Luna’s side extended. Specifically, it grew sideways, as if another platform was growing perpendicular to the one they were on. Luna extended one way, hunched over and her wings extended for added balance, and the life-size doll of Celestia the other. Octavia did not miss the color of the platforms, darkness to light, Luna to Celestia. The platform began to shift again, this time bending towards Luna.
Octavia was about to speak a demand, finding her voice to tell Discord to stop. That was, until, she felt herself being lifted up. Not with magic, not with the draconequus’s mad art, but rather by his own claw.
She looked up to see him above her, towering over as he near always did. But she also saw him beneath the platform, holding it at the center. Octavia found her voice again, ready to demand her release, but then the platform now beneath her changed again.
On her side, or what was her side, the platform began to extend the same way as Luna’s had, taking the plush doll of Twilight and Cadance with it. Octavia watched, looking back and forth across the platform, wondering what was going on. It was more than obvious that balance was the exercise, but she couldn’t imagine for what.
“But as precious as balance is, just the smallest, random detail can throw it all off course.”
Octavia finally found her voice when Discord released her. She let out a frightened scream as she fell downwards. Her wings flapped madly, slowing her fall and pushing against whatever filled the void they were in. It wasn’t enough for her to fly, as she had hoped, but it was enough for her to land easily on the platform. When she did, she shook her long dark mane out of her eyes, looking around at what had changed.
As far as she could tell, she had only landed in a different place. At equal distances from her were Luna and all the dolls. Only the Princess of the Night was offering her an expression of worry. But, Octavia noticed something else, specifically what was missing. There was worry, no small amount of irritation, but no fear. Princess Luna was not afraid. Octavia sorely hoped that meant she had nothing to fear as well.
“Between the sun and the moon,” Discord spoke. As he did, the end that Luna was on started to light up. Octavia watched as the dark alicorn tiptoed with her hooves, startled by the sudden illumination of the board they were on. “Between friendship and love,” the draconequus spoke on. Octavia felt a light shine across her back, on her wings. She turned to see the end of the platform she was once on now lit up like Luna’s side. There were no alicorns to react to the sudden glow, however. “There exists something that cannot be seen.”
Octavia felt Discord loom over her, the same one of the two that had picked her up. She gazed upwards, thankful that her aggravation at the mad god was still present. It kept her from shaking in fear at the sheer size of the draconequus. His crooked smile and mismatched eyes only infuriated her further. But with his next words, all of that was put aside.
“What is it?”
The question stunned the gray mare silent.
Octavia felt her wings fall, limp at her sides, as her eyes widened at the mad god. She could feel the smaller furs of her coat standing up, either surprised by the expression or suddenly realizing the importance of the answer she gave. An answer she had no idea how to reach.
Her gaze looked over to Luna, still standing on the far off end of the blue colored and illuminated platform. She was gazing back at her, dark cerulean eyes focused and in control. Her wings were strong and tucked into her sides, long starry many billowing in a wind Octavia could not feel.
She looked at the platform she stood on, plain and dark, unlike the platforms that Luna and the plushies stood on. Theirs were bright and colorful, mimicking the magical aura that each of the princesses had. Dark, light, pink, lavender, they were all there, but they also bled together. Where the moon and sun met, it became gray. Where the pink and lavender intersected, it became a dull red.
Though Discord spoke of what she could not see, there was something very real and very much connecting these ponies of opposites right now.
“A bridge.” Octavia spoke the words as she looked at the long platform she stood on. “A bridge connects them.”
Discord’s smile grew joyful at her words. But though his smile grew and red eyes shone, nothing about the void changed. Not the draconequus, not the platform, not either alicorn, and not even the life-sized plushies of the princesses.
There was something she was missing, some small word that Discord was waiting on her to speak. Maybe he didn’t know it himself, maybe it was for Octavia herself to figure.
Then she remembered the chalkboard Discord had used earlier. Filled with a dozen different answers, each to the same question. None of them were wrong as he had said, all of them an answer that worked for the question asked.
None of them were wrong… because all of them were the same.
They were all the same.
So many different answers to the same question.
A bridge connected the sun and the moon, but what was the bridge? A bridge was between friendship and love, but what was that bridge? Were they the same? Where they two different things with the same meaning? Were they opposite in name but he same in use? What did that even mean?
Octavia hummed lightly to herself, trying to control her thoughts as she thought of now not one question, but a hundred. She heard the cellos in her mind rising in pace, the violins going higher in pitch. The trumpets were not far behind, the sound of their brass horns becoming louder and louder as the thoughts continued on.
But as her music continued to play, the platform beneath her changed. It didn’t sway or tumble, as it had before with balance. It did suddenly shift or grow any extra sides. It only did what the opposite ends of the balanced beam had already done.
The center of her long platform began to glow.
It was dull at first, like the subtlety of her note, but as her thoughts became louder, so too did the illumination become brighter. The gray began to shine like a light through a mist, a guide for those lost of the shore. It passed through the darkness and ignored the light, shining in a way only the mixture of gray could do. It was odd; it was wonderful. Discord’s twisted grin above showed his agreement.
But why was it glowing now? Because of her thoughts? Because of her distractions? That didn’t make any sense, and she suspected Discord wanted some piece of this to make sense, though a small one at that. There had to be something that made the path glow, something obvious that she was missing. Something that had to do with her thoughts, with her instrument….
… With her magic…
… Her magic of the soul.
Octavia felt her stomach do flips and her wings shiver at the realization. Luna had said it before, and the past few weeks had been filled with exploring those words. She was using magic of the soul, connecting ponies of opposite ways to find what they both enjoyed. From the classical arts to modern music. From the most rural of areas to the most populated cities. From humble beginnings to royal introductions. They were all so opposite, so clearly unfit for one another.
By to the eye… she could not see what made each of the ponies she had met get along with her. She could not tell by sight why she enjoyed Vinyl’s company, why Twilight Sparkle was pleasant conversation, why Fiddlesticks made her feel alive, why Ditzy Doo made her smile, or why Princess Luna spoke to her as an equal. Conjectures and theories, but nothing that could be seen with her eyes.
“Music,” Octavia whispered the word, but then shook her head. Music itself was a path, a link, to what truly connected them. “The soul. The soul of a pony bridges any gap between them.”
Discord exploded above her.
Octavia felt herself yelp in surprise as the mad god became nothing but confetti, showing her like rain from a freshly bucked storm cloud. The bang that came with the sudden blast didn’t help her nerves. It really didn’t help that the confetti was copious enough in amount to nearly blind her.
Indeed, the void around became near impossible to see as the colorful and copiously spread confetti nearly choked the gray alicorn. She beat her wings in hopes to push the flittering paper aside, but only succeeded in drawing more in towards her. She batted them away with her hooves, doing even less than her wings. Octavia shut her eyes, for fear that they would fall into her gaze.
But then, stealing a peek, she saw that they were all gone. Everything was gone, in fact.
The platform was gone, the confetti was gone, even the void was gone. She was back in Luna’s chambers, complete with her darkly decorated curtains, bedspread, and pillows strewn about the room. Said princess was just beside her, as if they had never moved a step away. She was blinking wildly as well, head swiveling left and right in confusion. Where her gaze settled on the younger alicorn, she spoke.
“Are you alright?” She questioned earnestly, to which Octavia nodded her head. She was okay, simply started and a bit confused. She had since concluded such things were common in Discord’s company.
“Well done! Well done!” Discord cheered behind the pair. Both alicorns whirled to see the mad god floating in the air, as if lying on a hammock they couldn’t see. He was clapping his paw and claw together, wearing a cheerful expression that made Octavia’s mind snarl. “Using two answers to a single question to reach a conclusion. Oh, my dearest Octavia, I knew I could count on you to make things interesting.” He chuckled at his own words and Octavia heard Luna scoff at him, clearly not entertained.
“Discord,” Octavia began, reeling in any disdain she might have to ask another question. He had helped her just now, even if in his own chaotically melded way. “I have… another question I wish to ask you.”
“Oh and you do know how I love questions, but I prefer to be on the giving end.” He held his claw to his slytherin body, grinning in a much more subdued but still twisted manner. Octavia could not gather if his thoughts were malicious or simply convoluted. “It’s much more fun to hear your answers. I’m not very skilled in returning balance and all that.”
“Yes, that much I have gathered,” Octavia let a small amount of bite into her voice, hoping to show her teeth. It only made Discord chuckle. “But if it is all the same, I would still like to try. You may even enjoy the question yourself.” That earned a rise from the draconequus.
“Oh Octavia, I was right about you.” His claw detached itself from his arm with a small flash of white, appearing above the gray mare. It poked her with one of its long digits, like an elder complimenting their grandchild. “Well, please go on.”
“Octavia.” Said cellist turned to see Luna gazing at her, her expression far from neutral or annoyed. There was a shimmer to her eyes, a moisture that was not common for the sclera to hold. Her lips were not turned down, but neither were they lifted in a cheerful grin. Even her ears, it seemed, were pulled against her head, though partially hidden by her long ethereal mane and crown. She seemed to have a clear idea what the question was.
It took Octavia a full moment to realize the reason for the princess’s expression. Worry. That… oddly to the mare herself, made Octavia smile.
“Thank you, Luna,” Octavia spoke to the dark mare, her smile kind and hopefully just. “But I don’t believe any harm can come from asking.” She pretended not to notice the slight blush that ran across the princess’s cheeks.
Looking back at Discord, arm detached and grin just as crooked with eyes equally mismatched, Octavia spoke her simple, concise, but wholly unknown inquiry.
“Why me?”
Octavia felt Luna gaze at her, either out of pity or equal parts curiosity. She did not feel awkward or ashamed under such a gaze from the princess, not now at least. She suspected that any answer she reached would satisfy them both. And… Luna was a very understanding mare.
Discord grinned down at her. The alicorn was glad to see only a gleeful kind of curiosity in his eyes, no malicious sparkle in his mismatched red pupils.
“Another interesting question, why indeed?” He offered in return. “So many little things that no pony would dare to comprehend, and so many wonderful whys and who’s to complicate matters.” Discord chuckled at the thought of it. “I daresay that the greatest surprise in a good long while may come out of this. But, that does mean that this is not the end.”
In another flash of white, Discord vanished from the pair, claw included. A loud bang later, he was just beside Octavia, opposite Luna. He had his paw wrapped around her neck, holding her close like cider-drinking buddies after a day’s hard work. Long face close to her ear, grinning all the while, Discord spoke his question in return.
“So, my dear Octavia, who do you plan on asking that question next?” It was a simple question, too simple for the draconequus. Octavia waited only a moment, and sure enough, Discord spoke on. “But may I make a small suggestion for your plans. Advice from an age-old god.”
“Hm?” Octavia attempted to ask in a somber manner, trying to betray the hope she had in Discord. She couldn’t help the wandering idea that he had planned on her feelings for him to turn from disdain to guidance. Judging by this twisted grin, the idea was not impossible.
“Don’t ask just one pony, as a few, or a dozen!” He threw up his arms as he spoke, rising in teh opposite direction of Octavia’s gut. “I know you’ve already played a few duets with a few stray mares. Charming, I’m sure, but if there is one place harmony and chaos can agree, it’s that everything is better when the company is larger.”
“He may be right.” Octavia wasn’t sure how to feel when she heard those words come for Luna. The dark alicorn didn’t appear to be any happier with herself, head hanging low and waving side-to-side. “We do know now that your music is a connection, but we have yet to see the extent to which it reaches.”
It was odd, but Octavia was not panicking.
Truthfully, the gray alicorn thought she should be feeling parched, with a dry throat or mouth, maybe feel as if her legs would give out. She had been so nervous before by the mere thought of another pony seeing her… as she was now. It took the insistence of Vinyl to remove her from her room, the guidance of Luna to invite to her new mentors, and even Fiddle to allow her to relax in stressful times.
Maybe that was why she wasn’t nervous. She was just… used to it. Octavia smiled.
“Oh! So do we have an answer?” Discord asked from above her. The cellist looked up to see the mad god standing on the ceiling, looking down… up… at her. Her smile didn’t falter as she looked at his miss-matched, red eyes.
“Not an answer,” Octavia spoke, voice clear and fluid. “We have a question.”
She could see the stars dance in the draconequus eyes.