The Performance

by ScarletRibbon

Coda

It was such a lovely memory. Octavia smiled to herself as she performed the very same song that Vinyl had written on those pages—the same song she had improvised nearly a decade prior. Octavia's song was now found amongst the melodies and harmonies of much larger piece, composed by Vinyl's mother. The very same pony who, though blind, was now standing before a full orchestra, conducting a performance in front of a live audience for the first time in twenty years.

With that thought in her heart, Octavia poured her entire soul into her instrument. Her solo performance—transcribed entirely from memory by the unicorn who had been listening that day—was now played with the same passion and heart that Octavia had played it originally, because now she played for a much bigger purpose: To make an old mare's dreams come true.

The strings sang a song that touched the hearts and minds of every pony in the amphitheatre that night—a wordless story that no one truly know, yet every pony could feel. Octavia took them on a journey of self-discovery, of family, and of holiday cheer.

And then her solo was over. The rest of the orchestra slowly returned as the spotlight on Octavia faded away, giving her a reprieve from the heat. Her part continued, now backed by the rest of the ensemble as the final few phrases of the song played out, and then Octavia's part came to an end.

She looked over at the front of the orchestra, where Aeolian Mode's magenta magic waved her baton about with pride, gesturing for different parts to play louder and softer, until the final chord played, sustained— and the baton circled about to cut it off. The hall echoed briefly with the final overtones of the horns.

The audience sat in awed silence.

Several beats later, there was an explosive applause. The spotlight came on again, focused on the conductor's podium. Octavia smiled as Aeolian turned and took a bow, not quite managing to face the right direction until the oboeist stood up to turn her.

A second spotlight came on, focused on Octavia, and she took a bow of her own. The applause doubled. Octavia's heart swelled with pride. She straightened up and glanced over at her mother-in-law's tear-streaked face. But her pride was not for herself. Even though the world saw this as Octavia's moment, she knew otherwise. There was another pony who had worked for years to make this moment happen, and now she was finally able to live her dream again.

Author's Note:

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Comments

[Greatazuredragon]

Loved it. The relationship between them and how you developed it was really sweet.
Thanks for the great jinglemas present.

[ScarletRibbon]

11782792
Would you believe that five hours ago I scrapped the whole story and re-wrote it? My original attempt tried to write the whole story with a huge emphasis on the music and attempt to make it work with no dialogue and just Octavia's internal thoughts.

It was... not great.

Glad that you enjoyed the results of my last-minute course-correction.

[Greatazuredragon]

11782796
That is impressive.
Well done.