The Spice of Life

by Alun Aleriksson

Separate Ways

Ch. 6 – Separate Ways

“At least Mr. Cat was kind enough to pay us. He didn’t have to do that,” Octavia forced herself to see a brighter side to their situation.

“Yeah, he’s a good guy,” Syncopation didn’t sound interested, and didn’t continue the conversation.

Vinyl was quiet, for the first time Octavia could remember: even when she was asleep, she was noisy and rambunctious. Now she was frowning, and grumbling under her breath.

The walk back to their adopted hall was tense and awkward. Octavia couldn’t identify what her new friends were feeling; both were silent, and their faces didn’t give her much to work with.

The trio trudged to the stage, where Syncopation unceremoniously dumped his trumpet and Octavia rested her cello. She felt she should say something.

“Well, while that didn’t go quite as planned,”

“Putting it lightly,” Syncopation interjected. Octavia ignored him.

“This doesn’t mean we should just give up. Maybe next time, we can—“

“There isn’t gonna be a ‘next time!’” Vinyl suddenly burst. “You saw them as well as I did, Tavi! They didn’t want anything to do with swing!”

“Vinyl, one bad performance does not a musician make,” the cellist argued. “I know I’ve dealt with some… adverse reactions, in the past, and I’m sure Syncopation has as well.”

“I wouldn’t mind some un-adversity, given my streak,” the pegasus groused.

Again, Octavia brushed him off. “The point is: we have to keep going. We can’t let one bad bar beat us, now can we?”

Vinyl rubbed her horn. “I dunno, Tavi. That was our only lead. Who knows when we’ll get to play again?”

“Oh, come now. Wasn’t it you who said ‘there’s always a way out, even if you can’t see it?’” Her friend pursed her lips and turned her head.

“I gotta agree with Vinyl on this, Octavia.” Syncopation cut in. “It’s not like we had a backup plan.”

Octavia made a sound between a groan and a sigh. “I know. I can’t bring myself to just throw in the towel, though.”

“I’m not saying you should, not completely,” he added. “Maybe Canterlot’s not ready yet, you know? Like I said, music ain’t somethin’ you can force.”

“You shouldn’t have to force good music,” Octavia reasoned to herself. Still, she had a sinking feeling Syncopation was right. And if Canterlot wasn’t ready now, would it ever be?

“Ah, screw ‘em!” Vinyl slammed her front hooves onto the stage. “Whadda they know about good music, anyway? Bunch ‘a freakin’ cows, if you ask me.” She hopped down to the aisles and worked her way back to the main door.

“Vinyl? Where are you going?”

“Nowhere. Anywhere, I don’t know! I’ve had enough.”

“Enough? That was only our first performance!” Octavia barely kept her voice from cracking. She couldn’t lose a member, not just after a failed concert, and especially not just after she had started to become friends with this pony.

“No, I know. It’s not that, it’s… you wouldn’t understand.” With that, the unicorn was gone.

“Understand what? Vinyl! Vinyl, come back!” The cellist’s call received no answer, and she spun to face the remaining member of her group, her eyes sparkling with moisture.

Syncopation could give no consolation. He looked weary, even beyond his advanced years. “I can’t tell you what to do, Octavia,” he offered. “But if Vinyl needs some time alone, I say we give it to her.”

“What about you?”

The stallion shrugged listlessly. “I don’t have anyplace else to go, so I’ll stay. I…” he slumped to a sitting position. “This old pony can only take so much, you know? I think it’s best if we hold off for a few days.”

Octavia nodded and swallowed, which was made difficult by the growing rock in her throat. She bade Syncopation a good night, and went on her way.

-XXX-

Octavia would remember the next morning as the first morning she had ever cursed the sun’s existence. She resented the fiery glare streaking through her eyes, and wished it would just go away.

She groaned and rubbed her temples as she sat up in her bed, somehow feeling more tired than when she had fallen asleep last night. Luckily, she didn’t have anything planned for the day. Or was that unlucky?

She stayed at home for breakfast, eating her oatmeal with raisins slowly and silently. With nowhere to go and nothing to do, the day passed lethargically. She considered writing more of Luna’s Dreamscape, but her heart wasn’t in it. To be honest, it wasn’t in anything right now. The previous night had emotionally drained her, especially after the streak of good luck she had just had.

Octavia spent the next week drowning in her thoughts. She entertained the idea of visiting and talking with Syncopation, or even going to find Vinyl, but it didn’t seem worth it: what would she say? What would she do? So she thought to herself. She thought about the state of affairs in Canterlot, she pondered why ponies couldn’t just open their minds and hearts, and she contemplated what she could do differently to change it.

-XXX-

Octavia pulled the first note out of the instrument with her bow; a low, resonant pitch that seemed to go on forever. The low note was followed by a few more just like it, changing pitch every now and then, and then a pause.

Even if somepony watching could not hear the notes from the instrument, they would have been entertained just watching Octavia play. Her eyes were closed, but her hoof and bow placement were impeccable. There was no beat supporting her, but she swayed in time with her music, her body and instrument perfectly balanced.

She played passionately, her expression unchanging even as her emotions were in flux. She poured that energy into the song, enhancing each note as they flowed forth.

Still, she couldn’t shake the sensation that it didn’t sound quite right, as if something were missing. She had gone over this intro several times, but hadn’t yet composed an adequate transition to the main body of the song. Her cello offered no suggestions, no matter how hard or long she stared at it. After another twenty minutes of soundless staring, she decided it was time for a breath of fresh air.

-XXX-

Octavia prowled Canterlot with no destination in mind and nothing to find. She wandered forlornly, almost subconsciously, and her path took her to the park she and Vinyl had visited that first night Octavia had tried to branch out. She ambled along, watching ponies take walks around the paths. They traveled in groups, always talking, but never hearing. The sight depressed Octavia even further, and she picked up her pace.

The cobble paths turned to sidewalks once more as Octavia found herself on the other side of the park, in the Outer District. She didn’t even bother to wonder where she was going, and as a result found herself at the wall of Canterlot, looking out through one of the panoramic viewing spots.

‘How easy it would be,’ she thought as she touched a hoof to the rail that separated her from the void below, ‘to just leave it all behind, to never have to worry again.’

She looked out upon Equestria. The shadows of the western mountains lengthened as the sun dipped their tips in liquid gold. She could just make out Ponyville, nestled between the expanse of the Everfree Forest and White Tail Wood. Farther west she knew the town of Apploosa would be commemorating its one year anniversary soon.

This was what she had to protect. This free way of life. No walls, no high society expectations, and no philistines throwing bottles at her. She glanced down at the sheer cliff that supported the city.

‘Five seconds, and you can forget it all,’

There were ponies out there, though, both inside and outside the city, that were depending on her to not give up. She looked up at the first stars twinkling in the night sky, and again imagined her grandfather smiling down at her.

‘Why fight it? Why continue to beat your head against a wall?’

‘Because I can’t give up,’ the response sounded in her head. ‘Because I can’t let them down.’

‘Them? Surely you can’t mean the director who fired you, the friend who abandoned you, and the only one who helped you skulking in an abandoned building?’

Octavia chanced another look to the bottom of the mountain.

‘Five seconds, and I can make it all better,’

She thrust herself away from the wall and staggered backward, suddenly very frightened. What was she thinking? This wasn’t her. She shouldn’t be thinking like this. Her hooves moved to her temples and massaged gently as she lowered herself to the safe, solid ground. Holding her head, she finally let loose what she had been holding back all week.

She cried.

She cried for her lost grandfather, she cried for her lost friend, and she cried for her lost cause. She even threw some tears in there for her former director.

“If it makes you feel any better, I am glad you did not decide to jump,”

Octavia choked on her sobs as her body flinched away from the sudden voice.

“Especially before your wish was realized,”

Octavia had to blink her eyes several times to ensure they were working properly, but there was no mistaking that navy blue coat, or the flowing mane. “Princess Luna!” She awkwardly twisted herself into a seated bow. “Um, h- how long have you been there?”

“I only just arrived, my little pony. Though I was in time to see you contemplating what looked like some very questionable actions. May I ask why?”

“Oh! That, yes, well I… I’m just… going through something at the moment.” Octavia said shakily. It really wasn’t a princess’s business to know her personal issues, was it? She was just one pony, after all.

“Ah,” Luna left it at that. She could recognize somepony who didn’t want to talk. “What is ‘Luna’s Dreamscape?’”

“What?”

“Your wish upon a star, some nights ago. You wished to finish something called ‘Luna’s Dreamscape.’ What is that?”

Octavia could only stare for a minute. “Wha- how do you know that?”

Luna turned to her for the first time, a neutral expression on her face. “It is one of my duties to keep track of wishes made upon my stars, and do what I can to fulfill them,”

“I thought that was just a myth,”

“Even myths have some basis in fact,” the princess said sagely.

Octavia thought for a moment. “So, where’s my puppy?”

Luna laughed out loud at that, and had to take a breather before she responded. “I, hah… I hope you don’t think I was laughing at you; it is just that… When you made that wish, do you think you were ready to assume responsibility for the care of another creature?”

Octavia had been four when she had seen that star streak past her window. She had wished for a companion to keep her company while her father was out of town and her mother was working the shop at street level.

“I suppose not,” she conceded.

“Do you think you are ready now?”

“No; I can barely take care of myself right now.”

With a nod, Luna continued. “So you see, it is not only wishes I must keep track of, but which ones are practical and earnest. I could make a million bits appear out of thin air, or build a mansion for somepony, but then what will they have learned?”

Octavia understood. “So you think my wish was practical?”

“I believe so, but you still have not told me what it is you are trying to finish. What is it? My Dreamscape?”

Octavia felt her face grow hot. “It’s a piece I’ve been trying to write. A musical composition.”

“About the night?” At Octavia’s hesitant confirmation, Luna smiled slowly. “It has been many years since a musician has honored us in such a way. I should like to hear it, when it is complete.”

“I thought you said it was your duty to help me?”

Luna fixed the cellist with a level gaze. “I said it was my duty to do what I can to fulfill wishes. I cannot write the piece for you; I am no composer. As such, I will do what I can to make sure you have what you need.”

“And what is that?”

Luna only winked. “Keep an open mind, my subject. That is all I will tell you.” She unfurled her wings and dove off the edge of the cliff, swooping into a wide, banking turn towards the castle. Octavia watched her go, thinking about what she could possibly have in mind.

Author's Note:

Okay, so, I know my update schedule is scant (at best) but I WILL be finishing this story. It doesn't look like it, but I do have plans for this. Thanks to those who have stayed with me so far. As always, any and all criticism is appreciated.

Comments

[Daemon McRae]

Glad to see it's still alive. I was just thinking about this story yesterday.