Harmony
It was just like old times.
Lyra played through a section of the music, with Octavia listening attentively. “What do you think of that?”
Despite Lyra’s undeniable ability, Octavia didn’t say ‘beautiful.’ The point was not to praise each other, but to identify even the smallest flaws and work to eliminate them. “The middle phrase felt extraneous. Also, in the first melody, there was too much rubato. That section should be more controlled.”
“Okay,” said Lyra, poking the offending piece of sheet music. “First things first. I think I agree that the phrase doesn’t work. The melodies I get, but the phrase…”
“It doesn’t seem to represent anything,” concurred Octavia. She frowned. “It’s just a transition phrase to get to the next melody.”
“Think you should cut it?”
“The two melodies are a minor second apart; transitioning directly from one to the other will sound discordant.”
“Just do a cadence, then, or a quick tone series.”
“There needs to be more space than that between the melodies. I think the phrase should stay, at least in some form. But you gave it too much weight in the last run-through, and that’s why it didn’t work.” She made a few notes in the margins. “If we make these notes grace notes and emphasize the notes that remain the same in both melodies…” She rose and hefted her bow. “Like this.”
She began at the end of the one melody, finishing it up on a low and somewhat ominous deceptive cadence. The transition phrase hovered around that cadence, then quietly, but swiftly, grew brighter. It was time for a sunrise in Equestria, back when that was still a good thing.
Lyra plucked a stream of notes on her lyre. Octavia swiftly adjusted her melody to accommodate them, letting Lyra take the harmonics and minor sequences while she focused on just the important progression. The piece kept brightening, the strong notes shifting into a major key, and then she was playing the equivalent of a beautiful summer sunrise.
“No,” said Octavia, upon finishing. “Again. Instead of playing in C for the whole thing, transition through the dominant key at measure eight. I think it needs a stronger cadence.”
“Wouldn’t the subdominant be better?”
Octavia shook her head. “Dominant, definitely. Again.”
They played again, and Lyra could hear the difference. “Okay, you’re right. That’s much better.”
“I agree. Three minutes, please.” Octavia began working out how she could play both her part and what Lyra had just done. She only had one instrument, and so was restricted in what she could play at once.
Lyra settled back as Octavia wrestled with the transcription. This was something the cellist was much better at than her; she could play well, but had never done well on the ‘this piece was written for piano and timpani. Transcribe it for horn violin, crumhorn, and glass harmonica’ assignments in school. Instead, she began examining the next section of the piece.
A shadow fell across the sheet music. Lyra looked up to see that the sun had gotten quite low in the sky. “Is it dinnertime already?”
“No, we aren’t done,” said Octavia, not looking up from her work. “Work before pleasure.”
Lyra grinned. “Physical condition, Octavia. We have to eat.”
“I didn’t say we won’t eat, or even that we won’t eat well, but we can’t stop now. We’re far too close!” There was a happiness in Octavia’s voice that Lyra hadn’t heard at all when she’d met the mare the previous day. “I think I almost have this movement, Lyra. At last!” She threw down her quill and returned to her cello. “Listen!”
She played the section again, this time incorporating Lyra’s part as well. The ominous melody shifted, quickly yet gracefully, into the happy, morning theme. It was a rich dawn, full of subtleties – not just a simple sun rising over a featureless landscape, but a morning with all the color and gradation of a real sunrise. Little harmonies and the shortest and lightest of grace notes rounded it out, and as she played, Lyra found that she could almost see the sun gradually lighting up the castle and chasing away the shadows.
The melody ended on a light, high trill, a birdlike call. Octavia was grinning happily – for a brief moment. And then she paused. “Wait. Measure twenty-four, I think the bowing should be changed slightly.” She hefted the bow. “Once more.”
Perfectionist, But Lyra didn’t complain. Octavia’s perfectionism was what made her as brilliant as she was, and it was a treat to listen to her like this. “In measure thirty, I think you also might want to make the C2 note an octave, if you can.”
“Of course I can,” said Octavia. She put her bow to the cello, and the morning dawned once again.
Lyra listened, eyes shut, to the first movement of the Symphony for Moon and Sun.
Octavia had already mastered many of the technical aspects of the piece before Lyra had arrived, but Lyra had helped her to grasp the underlying themes and emotions. Part of it was her instruction, part her knowledge of lore, and part simply her presence, helping to calm Octavia and breaking through her depressive spiral. And the resulting performance was gorgeous.
“Your best work yet,” said Lyra, and she meant it.
“Thank you.” Octavia inclined her head. “I have a few thoughts I wish to record… let’s break for tonight, and resume at dawn tomorrow.”
“Dawn?” teased Lyra. “Really?”
“Work before sleep,” said Octavia, though there was no real anger or even annoyance in her voice. “Although, I suppose if you want to sleep in, I will start alone—“
“Hey, I didn’t say that!” Lyra saluted. “I’ll be in here by dawn!”
“Wonderful.” Octavia paused. “Thank you, Lyra. I have to admit, I don’t understand why you are still here, but I find—“
“Oh, stop it.” Lyra giggled. “I’m here because we’re friends. That’s all there is to it.”
She left, whistling. Things were looking up.
The next few days passed in a blur.
Lyra hadn’t played as much since she’d been a student at the Academy. She didn’t mind the increased workload, however. There was something spiritual about burying oneself in music, performing it so much that it seemed to saturate and rarify the very air around them. The tower room was cramped and perhaps a bit too hot, but to Lyra it felt like the most expansive stage in the world.
Octavia seemed to be like her old self – strict, stern, and utterly devoted to her art. She would play the same phrase dozens of times if she had to, in order to perfect it, before moving on. But Lyra didn’t mind. In fact, it sometimes took several renditions before she realized what it was that was bugging her about it. After that, a comment or a few notes from her lyre was all that was needed to fix the problem, or at least inspire Octavia into coming up with a solution.
Lyra was tangentially aware of the press coverage. The castle guards were able to prevent any of the paparazzi from breaking into the castle to ambush Octavia, and Octavia’s decision to literally camp out in the tower was seeming wiser and wiser. The media didn’t seem to have noticed Lyra yet, for which the green mare was thankful. As a result, the newspaper headlines couldn’t help but be vague. “Concert still scheduled” was about all they had. Nevertheless, Lyra could feel a sense of anticipation from the ponies reading the paper, and from the nobles she passed who were attending the concert. This was a once-in-a-lifetime event, and even if they would never speak of it later, they all wanted to hear the forbidden piece.
Of course, they can’t admit it, but it’s not exactly hard to tell.
The only part of Lyra’s work that was completely fruitless was the search for the fifth movement. Not only had its original score been lost, but none of the other versions had been saved either (granted, Luna hadn’t liked those versions, but a ‘what not to do’ list could have been useful). Literally the only thing that Lyra knew about it was that it was supposed to be about the actual confrontation between Luna and Celestia, and the immediate aftermath. And that was rather vague.
There were, what, maybe fifty total attempts at this thing in the past 900 years? I’d be surprised if any two of them had even similar endings. I don’t even know where to start.
But they still had a few days, which meant they still had time to figure things out. They were two great musicians; surely they would come up with something. Besides, it was an ending to a glorious symphony that detailed the victory of Moon over Sun, Night over Day, and Good over Evil; as long as they made it glorious and joyous, that would be a good starting point. The other performances might have just not made it glorious enough.
Only thing is, every other musician that tried it probably thought the same thing…
Well… again. They had time.
As Lyra trotted down the stairs away from the tower, she smiled. Octavia had performed a stunning rendition of movement three, and was making great progress on the fourth one as well. By noon tomorrow, they’d be able to devote time to writing a new ending. They were ahead of schedule and doing fine. Everything was going well.
And as she was thinking this, she almost walked into another pony.
“Oh! Excuse me!” Lyra had gotten used to seeing no other ponies around; though she was rising early, the castle was still usually shutting down for dawn at about the time she was entering, and only just waking up as she left. But here, at least, was one pony who seemed to still have something to do.
“Quite all right,” said the other pony. She was an earth pony, with a white mane and coat. Medium-sized and unobtrusive, she somehow seem to fade into the background when Lyra wasn’t look directly at her. “My fault.”
Lyra shrugged and left, whistling a little. Yes, things indeed were going great.
“I saw her myself, sir. Lyra Heartstrings is here, and helping Octavia.”
Greengrass frowned. He’d been away in his home fiefdom for a few days – a corporation from a neighboring domain had been trying to undercut one of Greengrass’s own business, and the Duke had decided to deal with them personally – and had only just returned to Canterlot. “Well, it’s not totally unexpected. She is the Element of Loyalty, after all.”
“I can have her barred from the castle. She has no legitimate reason to be here.”
“It will be obvious that I’m involved, then. Above all, I can’t look like I’m trying to manipulate Luna into doing my dirty work for me.” Greengrass smiled slightly. “I understand she dislikes that.”
“You could say that, sir,” said Notary in a dry tone.
Greengrass thought. “Lyra may simply be here for moral support, but she could be trying to aid her friend in a more substantial way as well. According to her dossier,” he had compiled one for each Element, “She’s an expert on music performance, music theory, and music history. If anypony in Equestria knows how to play that piece in the ‘correct’ way, whatever that is, it’s her. She could be teaching Octavia some technique that will impress even Luna.”
“I think that’s unlikely, sir.”
“Well, my ascension to this rank was considered by many to be unlikely. As I’m sure you’re aware, that worked out rather well for me, and not as well for the many.” Greengrass chuckled. “Let’s make sure not to make the same errors as my rivals; that would just be embarrassing.”
“Duly noted, sir,” drawled Notary. “What would you like to do about Lyra?”
“I think we should make use of Luna again. She has an absolutely irrational hatred of this piece. Perhaps it will move her to such rage that she’ll squash both of them on the spot.”
“Sir, that’s not like her. Historically—“
“Ah, but it’s quite possible. Or, at least, our dear ex-employee will think so.” Greengrass began to walk towards the door. “Octavia believes that she deserves to suffer. She’s letting Lyra help her now because she’s desperate for friendship, but if Lyra were to suffer some kind of cost for doing so, Octavia would believe that the only moral thing to do would be to send Lyra away to protect her from the fallout.”
“…I see.” Notary thought. “I can have a press release at every paper by morning that announces that they are working together.”
“Yes, perfect. Get on that. Join them at the hip. Make sure everypony, especially the nobles, know that Lyra supports Octavia and will rise or fall with her. That will spook Octavia so badly that she would rather tie Lyra up and ship her to Tapira than let her friend be tarnished along with her.” He grinned. “If we succeed, we split them apart, and Lyra’s plan to save Octavia fails.”
Notary hesitated. “Sir, I think there’s something you’re forgetting.”
“Yes?” Greengrass smiled. Notary was worth more than a hundred sycophants. So few servants knew to think for themselves, and even fewer would contradict their masters, but Notary was the exception.
“Suppose we fail, and Lyra remains by Octavia’s side. The lyrist is an Element, and Luna needs her for the defense of the country. If we tell the world that Lyra and Octavia are linked, then Luna may spare Octavia so as to avoid hurting Lyra.”
“You mean, the Throne would favor a friend of an Element? Dear me, that would imply that the Elements are legitimate political entities – and can be controlled like any other.” He chuckled. “The reason we have to move in the shadows to seize the Elements, unlike every other trinket I’ve taken, is that the Elements are considered ‘out of play.’ They belong to all Equestria, defend the nation, work for Luna personally, that kind of thing. But if Luna does something political, anything political with the Elements, I can act to take them directly. What will she do, condemn me for doing what she herself did? Now, to be fair, Octavia would then escape unscathed, but I can pass up a bit of revenge for a solid political advantage. After all, if you spend more on revenge than whatever the other pony did to you in the first place, well, that’s just…”
“Pathetic?” filled in Notary.
“I was going to say ‘ironic,’ and perhaps ‘depressing,’ but that works too.” Greengrass grinned. “But I do appreciate the insight. Thank you, Notary.”
“You’re welcome, sir.” Notary straightened. “By morning, all the city will know that Lyra and Octavia are working together.”
Greengrass smiled merrily. He loved it when a plan came together. “Wonderful.”
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Looks like things are going really well for Octavia and Lyra. They're having fun, making good music, and all is well. I sure hope Greengrass's scheme doesn't work!
For those wondering, the instruments Lyra mentions are all real. The horn violin is basically just what it sounds like, the crumhorn is a very long baroque-era pipe instrument, and the glass harmonica is... tricky to explain, but it's a bunch of partially submerged cylinders that you play by touch.
986448
I don't even know what a horn violin sounds like. For some reason I'm imagining a stringed trumpet.
upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d4/Violon_de_jazz_a_pavillon.JPG/250px-Violon_de_jazz_a_pavillon.JPG
Dear Lord I was right.
I have heard of both the crumhorn and the glass harmonica. I'm surprised the glass harmonica even exists in Equestria, as I imagine hooves are ill suited towards playing them; then again, I suppose unicorn magic could solve that problem.
Hmm.
Thinking, as I have been, of the Gala recently, I've been wondering about Greengrass and his date. For some reason I see him asking Notary, not out of any love, but rather because he's expected to have a date and he can't be bothered to pretend to flirt with some model or something. At which point I see Notary agreeing and then producing a thick contract stipulating what will and will not happen during the course of the date.
Just floating that.
Okay, I know just about enough music to know that all the styles, methodologies, and whatnot that Lyra and Octavia discus while rehearsing are real. I do not, however, know anywhere close to enough to actually make much sense of it though, but I'll give you the benefit of the doubt and assume that it's all technically sound and accurate.
Also, love the way Greengrass not only schemes to have Octavia reject further help from Lyra, but does so in a way where he believes either result should work to his favor (heads I win tails you lose is pretty much always the best strategy in any game). That said, I'm not entirely sure how Luna refusing to snub Octavia could be construed as providing a political favor to Lyra, especial as in theory at least the princess could simply pretend to like the performance.
Ah, my. This will not end well for him. He doesn't know it yet but he's already out the door.
Don't you mean 'Sun' instead of 'Night?
I think you mean 'if she had to' in the second sentence there.
987556: yes to both, thanks!
Tapira is a new one on me, but I know not quibble with Greengrass' knowledge of involuntary geography. He certainly has some exotic options in his "travel" catalog. Rainforest, anyone?
986495
Is this the contract where Greengrass has to ask Notary what some of the things mentioned are, and then is told that for sanity's sake, he is better off not knowing?
986448
Its probably shipping goggles but I see a tiny bit of sexual tension between the pair of them, Notary is one of the few people Greengrass can be himself around which is a form of intamacy. I doubt either one of them would risk taking it further but they might get a little flustered in a 'date' situation, maybe Greengrass seing Notary in a dress and thinking she cleans up well.
Ah, Notary. So competent. A shame she's working for that snake. Again, excellent musical... stuff. I don't know enough beyond that to say anything more.
Man, Greengrass is turning into such a loveable scumbag. Yes, he's a bad guy, yes I want to see his plans fail but it's just so much fun watching him work.
Aside from the fact that he's trying to ruin Octavia and potentially snag Lyra in the process, of course
Only thing I never get is why Luna doesn't disband the night court. She's an immortal god empress...what reason does she have to cater to a group of politicians.
I'll give Greengrass credit, he's a master of the Xanatos Gambit, no matter what happens, he wins, smart tactic, I like Notary, he may be working for Greengrass, but he is better then any sycopant as he actually thinks for himself and can actually help his boss. nice.
3938608
Notary's a chick. Not a dude. But yes she is more worthy than any number of sycophants. And Greengrass was best antagonist / master of Xanathos Gambits until the Grand Galloping Gala. But until then, he was the greatest Chess Master in Equestria.
Again, as "wise" as Luna is, her Night Court is the most disgusting political group in the land. She can't be so stupid as to let these jerks run amok and destroy select subjects' lives without her notice. Unless Equestria would 100% guaranteed WITHOUT A DOUBT crumble without it, she's only doing her country a dis-service.
986495
When you think about it, I think it would have been the Pegasi that made it, seeing how they could use their wingtips on the bowls.
I like Greengrass as a villain.
He surely beats Chrysalis in terms of Masterminds and rivals the chessmaster level that of Celestia's.
9300907
And he has the perfect CM for a villain. "Sensing Weakness.".