Backstory of Melody Song

by Melody Song

A Walk Through the Forest

Together, we entered the Everfree Forest. I had managed to catch up to Harper at the edge of the place, and convinced them to wait for the others. Once we were all there, Gallus took the lead. He strode confidently into the forest, and while we walked I heard the others talking among themselves. I heard hoofsteps and suddenly Ocellus was at my side.

"Hi." she said, a little nervously.

"Hey." I responded, equally as nervous. Despite what I told Harper, these six are pretty much heroes of the school, if not the world.

"So, um, you're a writer, right?"

"Y-Yeah. It used to just be a hobby, but since I got this..." I opened my wing to reveal my cutie mark. "I've started exploring it a bit more."

"So, why didn't you have a cuteceanera? I, uh, came across the term when looking into books on Pony culture before school. It seemed a bit weird you didn't have one-unless you did and we weren't invited...not that I expected us to be, of course, you barely know us, but-"

I cut Ocellus off with a smile as she struggled, clearly doing her best not to offend me.

"It's okay. I would have invited you six if I'd had one. See, I don't like parties much, and-"

"Heh, yeah, this girl-" Harper suddenly appeared at my side, grinning like the Cheshire Cat. I got a bile taste in my mouth. I knew exactly what incident they were going to bring up and I hated that they held onto it like a grudge. "-She once spent half the night at a party back in Flight School, sitting in the corner, reading a book. Seriously, I had to drag her onto the dance floor and even then she slipped away before we could have fun."

"I-It was a good book, I wanted to know what happened." I defended, blushing. I wish they wouldn't bring this up every time someone mentioned a party.

"Pft, yeah right. I've seen you reading that same book at least twelve times before that day. You knew what happened."

"Sh-shut up Harp..." I mumbled, and Harper just grinned.

"It's okay, I read a lot too." Ocellus said in a low voice, as Harper bounded away towards Smolder.

I sighed and looked away. "I just don't really like parties. Too many creatures. I mean...it's also probably because nopony used to show up to birthday parties-I love Harper but they can be forgetful at times."

"Love?" Ocellus asked, and I whipped around, shaking my head furiously.

"Nonono, not like that. I meant as a friend." I glanced back at the others.

"It's okay, I understood. Your love for her tasted like lemonade." Ocellus said

"Huh?"

"Oh, um..." Ocellus blushed a bit. "See, every changeling tastes love a little differently, and each type of love has different tastes. To me, friendship tastes like lemonade, familial love tastes like sour candy, and romance tastes like chocolate ice cream."

"Oh." I smiled slightly. "Alright, as long as it's clear...anyway, I didn't have a cuteceanera because I'm not really into big parties."

"Oh...that makes sense..." Ocellus looked down at my cutie mark. "You know, in the book I read, it said they used to be called 'Destiny Marks'."

"Huh. That actually sounds much cooler." I said, and we giggled

"The book said they used to be called that because it was believed that there was an alicorn goddess named Destiny who granted the ponies their marks when the discovered their true purpose in life."

My eyes widened in awe. "That sounds like an a great idea...all the possible story concepts you could get out of that...a legendary alicorn powerful enough to make a true mark appear on somepony..."

"I see why you're a writer." Ocellus whispered, and I snapped out of my daze.

"Heh, sorry...I've just never heard that legend before."

"Oh. The book was pretty old..."

"It's okay. It's cool you thought to look into our culture."

"I thought it would be nice to know a bit about the culture I was going to be living among." Ocellus explained "Though...you are a writer...I was actually going to ask if you ever wanted to be an author."

"It would be amazing to be one, yeah. Though I only ever write for myself..." I sighed and looked ahead. "I doubt anyone would want to read the stuff I write."

"I'm sure so many creatures would. Especially if you write about what's real. You're, um, bisexual, right?"

"Yes...how did-"

"Shine mentioned it."

"Oh. Yeah, I am."

"You could write about that. About the community." Ocellus blushed and glanced away. "I'm actually lesbian..."

"You are? That's cool. Harper's been questioning whether they're lesbian or bisexual."

"That's interesting..." Ocellus glanced back. "Why do you write?" she asked suddenly, and I blinked.

It was not a question I expected. Though...why did I feel like I knew the answer?

"Because it's easier than talking." the words came as quickly as if I'd been waiting to say them. I blinked in surprise at myself, but continued. "I can never take back words that I've said. Not if they're awkward, or humiliating, or angry. And I wish I could a lot. But with writing, if I don't like the way I've phrased something, I can just erase it. Make it so it never existed. No one would be the wiser."

Ocellus looked at me and I looked away.

"Sometimes I wish everything I said was pre-written...I'd never have to worry about offending anyone because they take something I said the wrong way...I'd never stumble on my own words or regret something I've said..." I whispered

"I get it. I like to pretend I'm invisible some days...it's better than pretending to be someone I'm not." she murmured.

I looked back to her. It was like I was seeing her truly for the first time. Changelings could become anything they wanted. But Ocellus just wanted to go unnoticed.

"Like I said..." I began "I only sometimes wish that. If I lived my life with a script of what to say, that wouldn't make me very real, would it?"

"I guess so. We are allowed to make mistakes..."

"Mhm." I agreed with a small smile, and she smiled back.

"So, if you write about what's real, do you think maybe you could-"

Ocellus was cut off by a low growl coming from a nearby area. We all heard it, and we all froze.

Author's Note:

And so here is another chapter. Anyone want to guess what creature the growl was coming from?

~Melody Song