Choose Your Own Adventure: Lyra’s Quest

by Wanderer D

Babylon 5

Intermission:

“And here we are,” Zack said, stepping out of the way so that Octavia could gaze at the gardens. She gasped. When Twilight had mentioned they were inside of a station she hadn’t truly believed it, until she had been forced to see that everything was inside some sort of huge structure.

It was even more impressive to find a place like this in the station. The gardens expanded all around her and it almost reminded her of the mazes in Canterlot Castle.

“This... it’s beautiful,” Octavia whispered.

Zack scratched the back of his head as he looked around. “Yeeah, I guess it is... it’s not really my thing...”

“I think I’ll be okay here,” Octavia said after a moment. “Am I allowed to play my instrument?”

Zack looked at her with a befuddled expression. “Uh, sure... I’ll issue you a permit.” He shifted from leg to leg. “Uh, listen, Octavia, will you be okay here? I have work to do and-”

Octavia nodded as she walked away. “I think I’ll be fine, thank you Zack.”

“Okay,” Zack sighed as he turned around. “Good... then, good luck and I’ll alert security to help you if you need anything.”

Octavia walked through the gardens until she found a slightly secluded section. She sighed as she carefully put down her Cello. Then she sat down next to it and buried her face in her hooves. “What am I doing here?” she moaned. Taking a deep breath she looked up and around.

“This is crazy, completely and utterly crazy,” she muttered. “I knew Lyra was into something with the humans and hands but...” she shook her head. “I let myself get carried away by her enthusiasm and now I’m here...” She looked up at the distant end of the station and shuddered. “Okay, okay, time to distract myself before I go crazy.”

She slowly pulled out her Cello and strummed it slowly, testing the sound of the strings before slowly sliding the bow across. She had carefully tuned it before they had left home, so she knew it would be perfect, but she still needed to turn a couple of her fine-tuners for the exact sound she was looking for. Somehow she had left them a bit flat, or maybe interdimensional travel messed up acoustics. Soon enough she was ready. With a deep breath she stood on her hind legs, and started playing.

At first she just let her strings create a soothing sound, but soon her worries came back to haunt her. She closed her eyes and frowned as images of hands came to her mind. She had somehow imagined them... different. Less knobbly for one. She shook her head, she needed something more involved. Slowly the notes became clearer as the melody unfurled.

As she played, the music seemed to wash away everything that made her tense. She smiled a little but didn’t allow herself to lose the melody. This was why she played.

She let the music play and her thoughts became less heavy, her worries less pressing. The vibrations of the bow in her hoof brought her comfort; the steady notes gave her confidence.

When she finally stopped, she reveled in the sudden and deep silence that followed- until it was interrupted by clapping.

Octavia blinked in surprise and looked at the creature that was sitting on a bench. It was human-shaped, but it had a different complexion, clearly it wasn’t human. She had seen some like it around, red eyes, brown, leathery skin with darker spots on it. This one was taller than the average and had a look of profound amusement in his eyes.

“That was beautiful!” The alien said eagerly. “Seldom have I heard such a masterful portrayal. Johann Sebastian Bach, wasn’t it?”

“Sea Bastion...” Octavia murmured under her breath.

“What was that?”

“Oh, nothing. I’m glad you liked my portrayal, Mr...”

“G’kar, Citizen G’Kar, of the Narn Regime,” the narn introduced himself with a short bow. “And I must say it’s a pleasure to meet a musician of your talents, miss...”

“Octavia...” she replied, bowing a bit and flushing slightly at the praise.

“Octavia,” G’kar repeated, mulling over the name. “Strangely appropriate, tell me miss Octavia, did you choose your name after you found your skills with the cello, or has it always been your name?”

“It has always been so,” Octavia blinked. “I didn’t find my talent until I was in school and I would have needed a name by then.”

G’kar chuckled. “Quite true, quite true. Another question, if you don’t mind my prying; you seemed rather preoccupied while you were playing, is something bothering you?”

Octavia looked at G’kar with an arched eyebrow. “That’s a bit personal, Mr. G’kar.”

The narn laughed. “Fair enough, I only asked in case I could help.”

Octavia chuckled. “Thank you but, my worries seem so small right now,” she looked around her. “I have never seen a place like this... it’s amazing... and the thought of war...” she frowned. “We ponies understand the concept of what it is but, never in our lifetimes have we actually faced something like that...”

G’kar smiled. “No war... that is a foreign concept to me and my people... we’ve all lead lives full of struggle and death. To live a life free of it... it's an option we have sadly been deprived of.” he shook his head. “You ponies are truly blessed.”

Octavia was looking down. “I... I would like to understand... just a little... I don’t know where our travels will take us, but... I’m just a musician.” She shuddered. “G’kar... I’m afraid... for myself and for my friends... I fear that being nothing more than an Earth Pony I will only put us in danger... I don’t think any of us really understands what we are getting into... and I can’t let my friends take even more risks than we’re taking because none of us understand what a world or worse, a universe in conflict is.”

G’kar sighed and moved aside to let Octavia sit down next to him. “The things you want to know...” he said after a moment. “Are things I wish you will never understand, but... I am far too experienced to truly believe you will always be safe from them.”

“Is there no hope then?” Octavia asked. “Will we all just... get into a war at some point and die?”

G’kar shook his head. “Oddly enough I was recently meditating on this, when we thought all hope lost...” he paused for a second, pulling a book from his pouch. “The Book of G’Quan...” he explained as he showed it to her. “Which is sacred to my people... he wrote many things during the last Shadow War which help us even today, he lived during a bleak time... but his messages are always of hope...

“G'Quan wrote, ‘There is a greater darkness than the one we fight. It is the darkness of the soul that has lost its way. The war we fight is not against powers and principalities, it is against chaos and despair.

“‘Greater than the death of flesh is the death of hope, the death of dreams. Against this peril we can never surrender. The future is all around us, waiting, in moments of transition, to be born in moments of revelation. No one knows the shape of that future or where it will take us. We know only that it is always born in pain.’"

Octavia was silent, looking down at the bow in her hoof. “So there is no escape from pain?”

G’kar’s smile was sad. “I’m afraid pain will come to us all in one way or another, but the point is not that we have to face something that pains or scares us, it’s the fact that something greater and good will emerge from that based on our choices.”

Octavia nodded slowly. “When I started playing the Cello... I was told not to. ‘It’s an instrument for pegasi, who can fly and won’t break their backs, or for unicorns who can use their magic to play it.’ My mom would say...” she smiled with a little amusement. “But I knew my call was there. I stood on my hind-legs for hours, I did exercises that left me sore for days... but I always knew... I hoped... that I would surmount those challenges and become more...” she chuckled and shook her head. “And listen to me, I’m comparing my struggles to become a musician with war on an interplanetary level.”

G’kar chuckled as well. “Don’t put yourself down, Octavia. While it may be true that your struggles do not involve mortal combat and blood, they are the struggles you had to face, the pain you had to conquer. One that has never been in a war cannot truly comprehend what a soldier feels, but that doesn’t mean they cannot understand suffering, even if its on a different scale.”

Octavia smiled a bit at that. “Tell me more?”

G’kar sighed and nodded. “I do hope, Octavia, that by preparing you a little against what you might encounter, I don’t cause you more damage than you are ready to handle.”

“I know... but I cannot not know.”

o.0.o

A/N:

Despair not! The choice-making will continue soon!

I’d like to dedicate this little chapter to the memory of Andreas Katsulas. Some of you might remember him for his role in “The Fugitive” but to me and many, many others, he brought to life one of the most amazing characters to ever grace Sci-fi: G’kar. It’s an odd homage, for sure, especially after 6 years, but I hope he would have at least found it amusing if he ever read it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SjX7xDEWGSY

~WD

Comments

[Mister Morden]

Oh G'Kar... always the voice of hope in the darkest of times.

Andreas Katsulas, you will be be missed but you left behind great works.

Wanderer D, I most heartily approve of this dedication!

[Ariel Schnee]

WHAT?! Andreas Katsulas is dead?!

I never heard of this!

Arrrggghhh! Now I'm sad.

How come I am always the last one to know these things?

[UseFistNotMouth]

One that has never been in a war cannot truly comprehend what a soldier feels, but that doesn’t mean they can understand suffering, even if its on a different scale.”

"can" should be "cannot"

[Law]

I really like where this is going, keep up the good work. I'm just sad I didn't catch it in time to vote more. Aw well, that's what updates are for right.

[Skeeter The Lurker]

Seems Octavia found a kindred spirit of sorts.

Also, this bit's a homage? Not bad... Not bad at all.

~Skeeter The Lurker