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Life. I had to live mine, as a second chance. I remembered everything on the day I felt my heart stop at the bottom of the crater, the warmth of the blood around me, but the coldness filling my insides as my life faded. I wish I didn’t have to deal with the nightmares every night, feeling the gripping cold squeeze my heart knowing that if I could only look up I could see the mare that I loved, but being broken as I was, that never happened. Instead, I accept my fate and keep my head down, only trying to breathe and keep my heart going, feeling it sputter and lose pressure from the lack of blood. The pain, the cold, the darkness, the loneliness, it never leaves my senses as I stare out in the darkness of my room.

It had been a two months since the incident in the Everfree, but I wasn’t one to be forgetting what had occurred in those woods. I managed to live somehow, guided by a strange entity that took on the name of an old pony nursery rhyme. Eyn Spyyr, he called himself, a mysterious and blind alicorn that held my entire body still and controlled my voice along with everything around me to insure that I, along with my friends, arrived at the base of the crater, deep in the Everfree, providing them with a theater of my death.

I don’t know why he wanted me there, or why he let me die when he knew full well that I was going to fall. I even question if he even existed, but now I am here and now, bandaged and broken, but alive and kicking.

Vinyl sleeps in my bed every night now, not out of our new found love, but because I wake every few hours, screaming out to her, panicked and afraid. She comforts me and stays by my side. Feeling her warmth and her body pressed against mine provides a degree of security that no other pony could give me. Dying felt much easier than trying to live after death. I find myself losing sleep, and although she doesn’t admit it, I know Vinyl is losing sleep as well, but she puts on a good face.

“Feeling any better, Tavi?” She asks every morning, using her pet name for me. Octavia is my real name, but she reserves it for more serious instances.

“Slightly.” I give the same lie every morning.

I can’t shake the idea that something so powerful, and so angry, could just sit in the woods, and do nothing except humor stubborn adventurers. Nothing makes sense and every night it only seems to bring more questions as my dreams tell me a different story. What did Eyn do to me when he revived me? Was it my dreams, his source of communication and power? Was my whole body still a puppet in his grand designs? I can never shake it, nor can I shake the strange sensations within me. Was it a side effect of death, or was it a fear of losing Vinyl again. Everything lost its simplicity.

“You know I will never believe that…” Vinyl says, hitting my shoulder with her hoof. I stare into those crimson eyes before I can’t bear the weight of my thoughts anymore, dragging my vision to the floor, eyes dazed, brain fuzzy.

“Have anything planned for today?” I ask, trying to mask the initial conversation behind another subject. I hope to find something for Vinyl to enjoy.

I lock eyes with her once more. The initial confusion quickly melts away from her face to that of understanding, one that tells me that she knows I am still avoiding telling her the question. It is a long shot to expect Vinyl of all mares to go with a subject change without question. She changes the subject whenever she feels the desire to change the subject. As I guessed, she grins at me and I know the subject isn’t leaving her mind. Annoyed and letting the feelings of defeat take me, I try to find a better way to approach her prying.

“You can trust me, Tavi.” She speaks with such a degree of love and kindness, soft and understanding, that I question where the spontaneous and blunt Vinyl ran off.

Hearing the white mare that I live with hold so much love behind her words makes my eyes widen as my heart swells. I wouldn’t expect any pony in Ponyville to understand the love that we share, but then again, I knew there was something amiss in my head.

“I know I just…” The thoughts are still caught in my throat as I feel the lump stop me half way. I couldn’t talk about it. What would I tell her? Did I have any good reason as to why I was acting like this? I know I can trust her, but I didn’t want her to see me as over-analyzing it. I know she will tell me to let go before dragging me out to a club, tying glow sticks around my legs and neck and getting me to dance with her. I can’t complain against such dates, but they only take my mind off of those thoughts for the duration of the party. Then I feel them return like they never left.

“…Yes?” Vinyl pries.

“I don’t know.” My words are shallow and I knew she understood it. The glint in her eyes is enough for me to know that she was aware that I knew exactly what was going on, and, with only a simple ambiguous answer, she could piece together the puzzle and figure out my dilemma.

I could only stand in front of her, feeling my knees want to kick out from under me and send me back into the bed or onto the floor so I could just relax my muscles, but I knew I would cry out of both embarrassment and pain from the dreams that haunt me. I just want her to be safe and to never cause her the grief of losing me again. I try to hold myself together right up to the point that my back legs gave out and my flank hit the floor. I am a mess as I sit on the floor, head sunk in shame as my heart opened up, letting the visions that I am seeing out into the open.

“He’s out of the forest, Vinyl." I say, tears beginning to fall from my eyes. “I think I know what he wants too.” I can only guess from the feelings that I feel.

Sometimes I think that I am inside his mind, only along for the ride. I saw him climb along the path to Canterlot, his breathing heavy, his body in more pain than anypony could imagine. The sensation of dragging a fake leg, the biting cold, the wetness of the rain, I felt all within my dreams, an un-waking nightmare. Was that how Eyn lived his entire life? Was he constantly living in his own personal nightmare? I could hear his thoughts as he continued. He had only repeated Celestia’s name sixty times before saying Luna once. The intentions were still fuzzy, but I could guess that they weren’t good.

“What do you mean? What does he want?" Vinyl asks.

Her emotions and face take on a whole new appearance as she sees that I am finally letting go after so long.

I try to take a deep breath to steady my breathing, but the bandages around my waist from where my side blew out stops the breath part way through, leaving only half the air I need. “I don’t know… I’m just afraid.” I still feel like that afraid pony in the forest, cringing and hoping her friends will save her. It makes me sick to think of how pathetic I must look in Vinyl’s eyes. Instead, I feel her head brush against mine, resting against my shoulder, our cheeks touching.

“Tavi…” Her words trail as she lets her face and her embrace tell me the rest.

I can only imagine how hard it is for her to hold herself together while I am the mess that I am. A stab of pain causes my ears to jerk as Vinyl presses my shoulder down. It isn’t her fault. I know that I am supposed to be taking it easy on my sore ribs and not to tear my stitches amid her taking me to clubs, but having that much fun normally wipes the pain I feel now off the grid.

“Now get your flank back in bed. I will bring you some soup.”

“I’m not sick, Vinyl. I’m just in pain…” I manage to coherently yell at her through the sobs and pain. “I get my stitches out tomorrow anyway…” I fade, knowing she can no longer hear me.

The cuts on my flanks had taken longer than expected to heal forcing the doctors to keep the stitches in for months. Luckily, I was able to attend the Nightmare Night Celebration as a scarecrow to hide them. It was Vinyl’s idea. At least tomorrow will hold some normalcy again. I crawl back into the soft linens on the bed and huddle in the cavity that Vinyl left behind when she jumped out of bed. It is still warm and makes me smile as I curl into it mimicking how she lays, smelling her scent on the pillow. I will never forget the smell of sweat and electronic music.

I climb back into the bed with barely another thought on the subject, using the blankets and the pillows to dry off my face. I collected myself and stared out the window of the bedroom. Snow is blanketing over the land. I heard of the play that was being given at Canterlot over the origins of Ponyville. I want to go, but Vinyl had already spouted her claims of being told the same story hundreds of times. I think she is more in my boat when I say that I now think that the history the play represents is false. The blankets provide enough support and comfort to ease my troubled mind. Seeing the scars on my body only opens up more unpleasant memories.

“Here is your soup, Tavi.” Vinyl strolls in with her usual cheer, though seeing her have her glasses dropped over her eyes only make me suspicious of if she had been crying while getting the soup. Nothing is more depressing than seeing such a strong mare as Vinyl falling under the pressure of it all, but time had slowly sealed our wounds and only the rare occasions bring back our old sadness of loss and fear. “Eat up.”

I open my mouth to try and counter her attempts to make me eat soup when I am able enough to move without her help anymore, but she jumps into the bed beside me. She places her head on my shoulder, which only sends shivers down my spine as I breathe in the warm steam from the soup that Vinyl has surprisingly not burned. I couldn’t help but slowly rub my head against hers softly, glad to have her in my life.

“Getting all affectionate now. Maybe I should bring you soup more often.” Vinyl chimes.

I can’t help but smile at her joke. “You just have to be here.” I whisper into her ear.

I never would have imagined Vinyl and I would get together. Most of Ponyville equally didn’t see it coming, though from our old prank of saying that we were together, some were only confused wondering if it was still a joke. Slowly, but surely, our coupling became known across Ponyville, though not in the regard of parades or angry mobs. It worked its way more like a whisper. The larger issue that spread through the rumor network was the causes of my life threatening injuries. Some of my fans had even arrived at the hospital while I was still under heavy sedation to give their best wishes. I can still remember each of their blurry unrecognizable faces before I passed out, free from pain.

I bet that everyone thought I look completely peaceful in the bed as I slept, but the harsh reality of it was an unending nightmare that I couldn’t escape. With the drugs to remove the pain making me feel better when I was awake, no one seemed to notice my nights. The moment when I couldn’t hold my eyes open any longer, the nightmares arrived in full force. The first nightmare I had repeated more than any other of the nightmares.

I saw what Eyn was seeing, though I don’t know if he could see out of those blind eyes like I could. The rain pelted the ground around him as he dragged himself through the mud, through the muck and the grime toward Canterlot. The scene snapped and I saw a guard approaching me, staring at me suspiciously. I could feel everything that Eyn felt including the smile across his face and the vibration of his voice as he answered the guard. In just a short moment, I knew how magic felt. The ability to feel the world around me as if there were feelers radiating off of my body, holding and caressing the world, a sensation beyond anything that I could even describe.

I brought up the sensations to Vinyl when I could speak more coherently. The pause in her actions and the look in her eyes told me that I must have been the only earth pony that could accurately describe the feeling of magic, but as she described her field of sensation, I knew there was something far more powerful within Eyn.

I watched the guard behind Eyn’s eyes, feeling the entire city of Canterlot in my field, knowing full well that if I had so desired, I could lift the entire city of Canterlot from its mountain foundations and send it toppling to the ground. The power was beyond anything that any unicorn or alicorn could hope for. As I let the sensation of the magic flood around me, almost feeling as if this was a good dream, I felt the pulse of energy grab the above cloud of the storm. As the words left my mouth, an explosion of sensation permeated through me as if power had exploded from within. When I focused on the guard in front of me, there was nothing left. Murder was something that I thought would never exist in Equestria, nor did I think I would get a front row seat to it.

When I woke up that night, I could hear the crying of babies and the sound of doctors galloping down the hallways trying to ease the hearts and minds of the other patients. Could such a disturbance be felt even from here that everyone would have known of the life lost that day? As I listened to the ponies outside converse, I learned that there had been some sort of flood of light that had exploded into the hallway, shaking the hospital. Being unable to move only provided me a chance to listen to the rumors outside of my door as the hours passed. Some witnesses had said that the light had come from my room. I didn’t believe them.

Eventually I was asked questions, though I blamed it on the medicine, saying I must have slept through the whole thing, which was a truth in my eyes. The suspicion in their eyes confirmed that it had been me, causing only more worry to course through my veins. What did Eyn do to me? Were we now connected in not just mind but body? Did he intend it that way or was it some sort of side effect? Locked to the bed behind the binds of pain and fear of ripping open the stitches, I reflected on the thoughts.

“You need to try and eat something.” Vinyl coos into my ear before she softly chews on it.

“Hey…” I try to brush her off. “I can’t eat the soup if you are trying to eat me.”

Vinyl can easily disarm any situation, though I’ve awakened at night and listened to her talk in her sleep. How she calls out to me as she lies there, kicking her legs, her face contorting. She calls out to me in only a mumble in this world, but it must be a full-blown scream in her dream. The pain and fear, the desperation is too much and I must embrace her, let her nerves calm before the soft breathing returns to her body. I am always there for her as she is there for me. Without the other, I feel that sleep would be impossible.

“Sorry, Octavia.” Vinyl’s cuddling had only increased after I escaped the cold hands of the hospital staff.

I walked out of the hospital expecting maybe a crowd or something of those that enjoyed my music and would be happy to see that I lived, but barely anypony was outside. I guessed that I was just lost in the background of everyone’s minds. In fact more ponies talked to Vinyl than me. It made me jealous slightly, but feeling the pain in my ribs at each breath, only made me want to limp back into the hospital and hook myself back to the pain medications. The doctors said that I needed to let it heal naturally now, and to clear my body of the chemicals. I guess they already had Vinyl in on their plan since she has been cooking soup, the same soup, at every moment that she could. Her cooking skills were always sub-par, somehow catching everything on fire or burning water; she wasn’t the most graceful of ponies when dealing with the patience needed to cook anything that wasn’t instant. There must be some soup guru that had his work cut out for him.

“This is pretty good.” It actually is really good this time around, surprisingly good, unnaturally good. “Who helped you?”

“What? Somepony helping me? I didn’t need any help…” She can tell I know she is bluffing. “Bonbon and Lyra are here.” She lifts her glasses up revealing excited eyes. I was wrong as to why she had them on.

“Hello, Octavia. How are you faring?” Bonbon trots into the room, Lyra close on her hooves.

“Hello Bonbon, Lyra.” I nod at them respectfully.

The few words that Lyra and I exchanged during our time in the Everfree Forest were enough for me to come and respect her. As for Bonbon, I had never met her truly face to face except whenever I stood at their wedding, playing some of the best romantic classical pieces that I knew. It felt awkward being there considering the questionable nature of the whole union, but the joys of being deft with the bow allowed me to keep my eyes closed most of the time. Strange enough, from what I saw during that time, I tried to picture myself in their place, looking into my special somepony’s eyes.

“I am improving slowly, though I don’t see why Vinyl insists on making me soup. I’m completely capable of moving without being babied.” I say, turning my attention to Vinyl to see that she is stifling a laugh, success.

“I brought some candies over just in case you were, they are in the kitchen.” Bonbon says, smiling softly at me. I manage to catch a glimpse of Lyra to see her staring at Bonbon, a smile reflecting her heart.

I question if my eyes share in the softness that shimmered brilliantly from those gold eyes. Over the months, my friendship with Lyra had blossomed into something that I never knew could exist. In instances, we sat in the windowsill harmonizing my violin to her lyre. I attempted to stand on my hind legs to play my cello a few days after that, hoping to add my signature sound to the harmony, but a sudden pop in my ribs told me that it wasn’t a bright idea, at least not right now.

“You never make me any candy…” Lyra groans playfully.

“I give you the ones that aren’t suited for sale. We have to keep our business afloat.” Bonbon takes on a more authoritative stand making me question which of the two held the power in the house, if either of them. Maybe it is mutual like Vinyl and I.

“Yes, dear.” Lyra says, defeated.

I realize that I am smiling at the whole scene. Reflexes cause my hoof to raise and cover my mouth to hide my enjoyment of the situation. I was never one for the enjoying of other pony’s love, but feeling the body beside me and causing warmth to fill every area of my body, I truly knew what it meant.

“I’m sure there is some sugar that we can find.” Bonbon teases, grabbing even my attention as I see her touch noses with Lyra, their heads turning just enough, their lips coming together for only a second.

It is one of those moments where my old life still kicks in. I am in a relationship with Vinyl, though to be honest, we only kissed once or twice and that was when I was about to die or under heavy drugs in the hospital. Seeing two mares kiss is still foreign to me, but I can still draw the memories of the warmth of Vinyl’s lips and how the warmth satiated through my body. It made me feel free and complete before I fell into the void and lost everything. Sometimes I feel myself desiring to feel her lips on mine again, but we had only just begun to officially date and our romantic amendment to our living is only in its infancy. Sleeping in the same bed has only proven to be our means of getting to sleep without the nightmares that haunt us both of an adventure gone wrong.

The soft tickling of hot breath on my neck breaks me from my thoughts as Vinyl hugs my body from the back, her head resting between my face and on my shoulder. Her eyes are closed as she enjoys my heat and I hers. Did one simple romantic act influence Vinyl to be this soft hearted? Living with Vinyl for most of my life has only proven, on almost every occasion, that Vinyl is not soft like how she is acting. Is that the power of love? Can it truly move a pony to act completely unlike their regular selves? It is only in that time that I feel that my smile has only intensified.

I open my eyes to only find that the peck of their lips lasted as long as Vinyl’s embrace. It is fleeting at best, yet in my mind, it felt like minutes of having her near me. The peace at mind, the clearing of thought, the cleansing of ruined emotions, all ailments, escaped from my body, but as she left from behind me, getting back onto the floor and walking out the door, I felt a longing to be with her again. Is this what love can do to a mare? Is that the power of love?

I look down at the bow tied comfortably around my neck, a treble cleft with Vinyl’s Cutie Mark secured to the side. It dangled by the small chain, a roommate anniversary gift. I can only look back at those days with a degree of humor. I think we both knew that we loved the other, but deep down something stopped us, and I believe it is still stopping us now. We had seen the backlash that Lyra and Bonbon received as many questioned their union and the practicality of it. They would never have little fillies and colts, but I didn’t see the issue with it. As I stared at Vinyl, I knew that children were not a possibility. I could not see it, and I don’t think that Vinyl could handle it.

“Have you two ever thought of having children?” I ask before my lips could muffle my words.

It breaks the peace of the situation and catches the couple off guard as they turn their attention on me. Lyra’s eyes widen at the thought of the question, and the answer that she wishes to give if any. Bonbon is surprised at first, but quickly controls herself.

“We have already discussed our plans for children.” She smiles coyly before continuing. “We feel it is a private matter.”

My curiosity still gets the better of me as my mouth opens again. “Who will mother the baby?”

The initial shock had already cleared the room as Bonbon continued. “I will as Lyra runs the candy store. And might I ask, have you and Vinyl thought about such?” Bonbon’s words hits both of us with such a strange force that Vinyl almost falls over. If I weren’t already lying down, I probably would have. Now I felt guilty for asking Lyra and Bonbon

“We aren’t at that level of intimacy yet.” I choke, my eyes darting to Vinyl’s. I said ‘yet’. Did I want it to be on our minds eventually? Lying in bed with her, not out of necessity, but out of love, embraced and discussing children, how we would approach such a situation. Who would the biological father be?

As she turns toward me, a flash from her glasses sets something off within me. I feel it slowly creep around my heart as if a nightmare was taking over my dreams except I was awake. Everything around me goes silent leaving only my breathing and my heart. To further the blindness, I close my eyes until a different image emerges. I can feel myself walking, a heavy limp in my leg with pain throughout. The sensation of everything fills me.

I find myself standing in Canterlot, walking through the streets at night, another time than what I left while I was in my room. I look around, not because I am curious, but because my head is moving without my permission. I manage to catch a reflection from one of the windows and observe the tattered cloak resting around my body, the metal wings glinting in the moonlight. The eyes stare back at me, white as the moon, blind as the night.

Eyn walks himself through the narrow back streets of Canterlot, avoiding the lights of windows and guards as if he is aware of all their presences, but as I feel what he feels, I know that no guard could ever catch him. He can feel every guard, every filly, colt, mare, and stallion. More disturbing is his attention on the large sensation that Eyn’s thoughts recognize as Princess Celestia with another sensation referred to as Luna. The focus that Eyn was giving to the two princesses only made me worry more, wondering what this damaged alicorn was up to.

As if to answer my questions, his voice fills my head. “She needs to remember the pain in which she caused. To both of us.” His thoughts speak with his strength and power that I felt the first time that he spoke directly into my head.

“She didn’t cause me any pain. Why are you doing this?” I ask, or rather think in this case.

“I am righting a wrong that should have never occurred. I am getting what should rightfully be mine.” I cannot read his emotion, hidden behind a wall of cold logic and thought.

I can only sit idly as his body persists through the city. He must have been limping around in the back streets for months, hiding, and barely eating, though it seems that he didn’t need to eat. Instead, I would enter his mind to see him sitting in the sun, eyes closed, the focus on the whole city of Canterlot, scanning it carefully.

We proceed through the dark streets; his intentions are completely hidden except for the reoccurring voice that spoke “Soon”, causing me to only worry more. I want to yell out to the princesses, warn the royal guards that something bad is about to happen, but how can I make them believe that an ancient alicorn that has been locked inside of the Everfree Forest has escaped. He holds some vendetta against the princesses; I can feel it though I don’t know why he feels this way. Even more troubling is the shear fact that no pony would even remember that this alicorn exists. I would sound insane. How far had he planned this? There is no way for anypony to believe me except Vinyl.

Trying to imagine him planning this in his thousand-year exile only skips off my head as things don’t add up. If Eyn planned everything before our group even entered the Everfree, why did he help is in the forest? Did he have a heart for the dismayed that would have died in the woods, or were we chess pieces in some grand design? If we were the pieces, what role were we going to play, what did he expect?

“I expect you to help me if you like it or not.” This voice is callous and unfeeling. If I had my own heart, it would be frozen amid my own cold logic.

Help him if I like it or not? The words echoed in my head as the world around me dissolved and I found myself back in the room. Nothing seems to have changed; including, it appears, that time had just picked up immediately after a blink of my eyes. My brain barely misses a beat as it states the thought I had before I lost my grip on reality and fell into the complexity of a deranged alicorn.

“Though I would very much like that.” Vinyl stares at me, a half smile cracking on her face. I didn’t know if I answering the previous question and statements or I was answering Eyn.

“Aw yeah!” She gives her usual big smile as she leaves the room, bobbing her head to some music that has filled her head at my mention of continuing our love. I figure that Vinyl has some thought that once we had each other for a few days that the feeling would fade away, maybe kiss once and know that maybe two mares loving each other isn’t our thing. I couldn’t lie to myself, I know our relationship will last as illogical as that sounds.

A bigger question that permeates my thoughts now is if Eyn would let anypony live after he has ‘righted the wrong’ that he mentioned to me. Then my thoughts snap back to my paranoia. If he is the master puppeteer then what does him telling me his plans cause? Maybe he wants me to run to her, try to warn the castle of the possible threat, but why would he want that? Maybe he knows that I am thinking this way and that showing me would cause doubt and therefore forcing me to tell no pony. My mind blanks out.

“I’m glad to see that you two are getting along so well.” Bonbon smiles as she begins to leave the room. “My best of wishes to you, Octavia. Give us a heads up when your next concert is, and we will come along to give our most heartfelt cheers.”

“I’ll be sure to bring some roses so that we can throw them on the stage after you are done.” Lyra winks.

Vinyl walks back into the room. I guess she forgot why she was even leaving in the first place and had to return seeing as there was no pony to talk to outside of this room.

“Then you should bring two roses because Vinyl will be on stage as well.” I smile as my plans are revealed. Vinyl stares at me with a confusion that brightens my day, outshining the tears of the morning.

“Say what, Tavi?” She peers over her glasses.

“For my concert in Canterlot, my masterpiece that I’ve written to play for Celestia and Luna. I want to harmonize our skills and create something that will move the crowd.” I wink.

“I get to play for the prettied up coattails of Canterlot? I’m guessing they won’t need any glow-sticks or fluorescent paint thrown on them?”

“It would be best to stay behind your turntables and equipment. This is important to me.”

“Nothing like watching a bunch of stiffs try and dance…” Vinyl lacks any enthusiasm in her tone, but I can tell a degree of excitement fills in the gaps in her eyes.

“It won’t be like the raves you take me to. This will have to have some elegance to it, however. Trance.” I nod as my expectations replay in my head.

Vinyl only smiles, letting off a half chuckle. “Then we will show them something that they’ve never heard before.”

Vinyl and I laugh at the thought. Bonbon and Lyra look between the two of us, smiling and seeing what makes our relationship function. The power of music is a strong connecting force, especially when two forces find common ground and meet in harmony. Love at first note, two hearts as one as the pin in my bow symbolized for us. I clouded out the thoughts against Eyn for now, feeling as this concert was my redeeming show, and a show that I could reveal my own secret, my own locked box sitting under my bed that I will deny the key to when I give it to Vinyl. The thought only made me grin wider to the point that I thought that even Eyn was grinning, though I couldn’t quite place why.

Chapter 1: Cascade

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The day holds no enjoyment for me as I try, once again, to stand on my hind legs to play my cello. I feel the familiar tug on my ribs and gingerly retreat. I wish they would heal faster, but the doctors had explicitly withheld magical healing from me. They would not say why, which only irritated me more. Vinyl pops in and out throughout the day, poking her head into the room, spotting me staring out the window, not out of longing, but out of annoyance. She slowly ceases checking me, which subsides my nerves, which were slowly growing short at the care that wasn’t necessary. I hold my breath and shut my eyes, feeling the rays of the sun through the window as it reflects off of the white snow. Eyn must be cold. As I blink, Eyn decides to answer the question for me.

He stands at the gates of the castle, feeling the door with his magic. Two guards are pinned against the wall, eyes shut, and their chests never rising or falling for breath. Dead. I feel my heart race, his meticulous, though foreign, thoughts working carefully at the locks on the door. His calm and pleasure in the situation frightens me more than the Everfree. With two more guards on his body count, he proceeds to commit what I assume to be less than noble intentions. Before I can even ask him a question, a faint click echoes in his acute ears. The door has been successfully opened. He smiles at it thoughtfully before he turns away from it, the lock sliding back into place, the two bodies falling to the ground limply, and their breathing resuming as if they had simply fallen asleep.

“I expected better locks, though with no memory of me, I knew security would be light at best.” He sounds amused as he vanishes around the corner, just as the guards open their eyes and look at each other embarrassed. If only they knew my plan. My plan? Eyn smiles just as my own mouth cracks into the same smile. It wasn’t forced, but my own genuine attitude though I couldn’t rightly explain the sensation.

“If you could go in and do what you want, why didn’t you just do it now? Why are you waiting?” I discover myself strangely annoyed at his decision to relock the doors and leave. A part of me senses the happiness one would expect to witness two guards live, but it never emerges.

“It isn’t the right time. I will wait a few more weeks. I wouldn’t want your concert to be canceled.” He shuts his eyes, blinding me to his world, though I can feel him walking. I lose track of time as he drags himself around, chatting to me along the way, small meaningless dribble. I wish he would stop talking and just get his plan over with. I hate him and he can sense my distaste.

“Why do you care if you ruin my concert? How does that hold you back?” I ask, exasperated at the strange logic.

“I think we will all learn a lesson about harmony when all of Equestria hears you two play.” He opens his eyes revealing a brick wall. “Time to take another step. You know you want it.”

With just a simple blink, I find myself back in my room, the sun slowly setting on the horizon. Tomorrow, I get my stitches out and these constricting bandages off. Tomorrow, I get to wallow in the knowledge that Eyn is purely capable of sneaking into the castle at night and killing everypony with just a thought. I know that I can trust him, but I don’t want to feel it. He set everything. He is the grand puppeteer. He is always in control. My body feels useless while I just sit in my chair. In a few more weeks, Vinyl and I will be showing Equestria a different form of music, one that will blow their monocles right off of their faces. It will also be the day that Eyn enacts his plans. I couldn’t cancel or move the date of this concert since it was Princess Celestia that placed it.

Then there is the concern of my own thoughts. The joy I experienced, the elated sensations of cracking the locks concerned me. What was I enjoying, and why was I enjoying it? I retrace my memory to the still fresh moment. It wasn’t me feeling it though it was my thoughts. Deep down they began to grow increasingly louder until I heard them, chilling me to the bone. “Kill Celestia… make her suffer.” I whisper, my heart constricting and freezing to the words.

“Are you ever going to stop staring out that window?” Vinyl trots into the room, happily not holding another bowl of soup.

“I’ll stop staring out of it when you give me a reason not to.” I toss a smile at Vinyl who jumps into my chair, lying behind me, her body contouring to mine. I blush instinctually. The tightness fades from my body as Eyn’s words, my words, dissolve.

“And what would you have me do?” Her breath plays on my neck. I sense her smiling when she catches me shiver slightly. No pony could help but find joy when Vinyl beamed the happiness in her heart.

Eyn’s words hit me almost instantly. “You know you want it.” I do want it as much as it frightens me. My nerves tremble. I breathe slowly to calm and ready myself for a bold leap. Repositioning myself, I softly turn to meet Vinyl’s eyes. She isn’t wearing her glasses. I lose myself in the large crimson rings of her irises; her black pupils reflecting my image back at me, stoic face Octavia, if she only knew of the battle inside of my head. As I stare, her eyelids began to drop, her face nearing mine. My heart beats faster as my mind attempts to withdraw the memories of how her kissing played on my lips, but it emerges in a garbled mess.

Our noses touch as she slowly slides across the bridge, though her lips never nearing mine as I open my mouth to receive them. I could feel the inexperience clouding my judgment as I cracked my eyes open to witness her plans, but I observed none of the sort. She pulls her nose back, her eyes now closed as my body turns toward her, our legs weaving together as we resumed our nose play. The smile that evolves from my fluttering nerves causes our cheeks to touch as our next nose rub dips further. Is this how she expressed love to her ex-lovers. My eyes shut as the play continues, her nose traces down mine, her head turning more, the angle almost perfect to connect with my lips, but I don’t open them to her teases.

We don’t kiss. Instead, we hold ourselves closer to each other, letting the other’s body envelop the other in a loving embrace. It is what every mare could ask for in terms of comfort. My mind rests, in peace after so much, no outside forces intruding. I listened to him, and now I desire my peace.

“Vinyl…” I whisper, holding her close.

“Yeah?” She whispers back, though it cracks slightly at trying to be quiet.

She stares at me, her ears perked up, waiting for my words. I look at her, my eyes shifting all around her features, and I simper and hum slightly at the heat that evolved from our close bodies. I had never shared such a loving embrace with another pony.

“What?” She asks, laughing with what I would guess to be an awkward silence.

I never speak. Instead, I feel my face move forward, my heart fluttering as my brain realizes how close I am to her. Our lips only brush briefly, but the sensation still fills me. My bravery ceases at the small touch, but Vinyl eases her face forward again, softly placing her lips on mine. Eyes closed, heart pounding, I am paralyzed at first. I consider this the first kiss that we have shared under peaceful conditions, and it makes all the difference. I softly breathe through my nose as I pull away from her lips, my eyes managing to open and gaze upon her. Her eyes are still shut, but the smile on her face is fresh.

“You’re a good kisser, Tavi” Her voice is soft. “Frederic was a lucky stallion.”

“We never kissed.” I say, waiting for her eyes to open.

They open slowly at my response. “I thought you two were going to be getting married or something.”

“This is strange to talk about after I just kissed you and meant it.” I chuckle.

She just smiles at me before her horn lights up. Soft music, trance music, began to play as she leaned in and kissed me again, but this time only a small peck before standing dramatically.

“We are breaking new boundaries, Tavi. Think about it, imagine their faces…” Vinyl preaches.

“You aren’t going to go on a philosophical tangent because I kissed you are you?” I ask with dismay, knowing I will be forced to sit through and accept it at the end.

“Music ponies… side by side, hoof in hoof…” She confirms.

“Yup… here we go…” I say.

Her revelations of kissing me keep me entertained as I lose myself in my own thoughts of the kiss. The wetness of her lips still resides on mine, unsure of if I should lick them so it’s my wetness or to wipe it off in a rag or on the side of the couch. It is a strange desire, but I discover myself just watching her bounce around, pacing the room, staring out the window, the floor, ceiling, then me. She’s attractive when she attempts to find deeper meanings in a simple subject.

“…And that is why we must be together.” She concludes.

“You figured all of that out by kissing me? I wasn’t graced with such revelations.” I joke, sticking out my tongue playfully at her.

I am happier than I normally am, finding myself acting like those few times when Vinyl manages to get more than just wine into my system at the clubs. I am not one for alcohol, but Vinyl enjoys it on occasion. Drinking should be casual and not how Vinyl drank which was to forget the night, but leave in her wake a series of events that she enjoyed rediscovering. I couldn’t complain when she distracted me enough to slip a shot into my wine. I didn’t even notice the taste and before I knew it, I couldn’t feel my cheeks or hooves.

Vinyl smiles. Before lying in front of me on the floor, her head resting on the couch, she asks me a question. “So this masterpiece you are working on includes me, eh?”

Talking business after such a light-hearted conversation disrupted my thought patterns and completely scrapped my mood, but I quickly recover with a stutter.

“W-Why are you bringing that up now?” I ask, managing to flood out the stiff response and keep it somewhat airy.

“Why not? Your concert is in only three days, and I didn’t even know that I would be sharing the spotlight with you. It doesn’t give me much notice to prepare.”

“I didn’t plan it until yesterday. It was a crazy idea that began to work in my head. All we need to do is build a nice beat and trance feel behind my work, and at the same time allow you to shine when I dim out.” I explain to the best of what the music in my head is telling me. “I can play what I have and you can fill it in with your own musical abilities. It would just be a live remix, that is what you call them right?”

“A live remixing of an original tune that no one has heard?” She seems terrified of my idea. Am I crazier than Vinyl? “Why didn’t I ever think of that?” Her terrified face instantly clicks into one of excitement. “Buck yeah!”

“So you think you can do it?” I ask, relishing in her excitement.

“Do it? Challenge accepted.” Her spunk is back in full swing as she hops up, about to jump onto the couch with me.

“Get my bow. We can start practice immediately. It’s under my bed.” I lie, knowing full well I couldn’t stand with any degree of composure.

“Why would you keep your bow under your bed that’s just strange…” She trails off as she trots out of the room chuckling. I’m sure she could see through my ruse.

I clopped my hooves together, my heart beating anxiously at the discovery of the box. The silence is deafening as I wait, the clopping hooves being my only reference to the passing time. I hear her rummaging through the few items under my bed until I am greeted with the awkward silence of discovery. I can’t help but smile to myself. The quick galloping back to my room revealing Vinyl holding the sealed bag in her teeth, her sunglasses pulled up so that she could see under my dark bed, excitement beaming in her eyes.

She mumbles, forgetting that the box is still in her mouth, I stifle my giggle as she stares at me. She places the box down before beaming.

“Another gift? You’ve already given me an awesome record, why more?” She asks, bouncing over to the side of the couch where I was resting.

I had ran these words through my head countless times, trying to find a means in which to best approach this answer, but all of them had come off corny. I had to speak and say at least something. “Because you are more to me now.” I almost cough at the corniness, but I manage to hold it back. It can’t have come off too horribly, could it?

A soft smile stretches across Vinyl’s face as her face falls into a smooth relaxation. Her eyes glitter from the gentle candlelight of the room as only her breathing could be heard. Awkwardness creeps into me from the silence and her stare, but slowly I sense my own heart melting and the muscles on my faces relaxing. Those red eyes stare at me lightly crackling embers of a warm, soothing fire.

“You mean that…?” Her voice is unbearably softhearted as if she is mocking me, though my heart told me it is completely genuine.

I forgot what I had said to even lock myself in this position. I can only stare at her, a lump in my throat preventing any of my mixed fury of thoughts to form a cohesive thought. I open my mouth as to finally say something, but she interrupts.

“Hold that thought.” The spark returns to her eyes as she gallops out of the room. She returns with two bottle shaped packages floating above her head. She stares at me with a grin that could only mean a few things.

I see two glasses float into the room as she traverses the doorway and into the room, and I know her plans.

“We can’t. Not tonight.” I dismiss.

“Please, Tavi. If this is our special night, we should have some special time together. Plus, we will be working all the way up to concert. We should take this time to enjoy our last day off before planning and practicing.” She nods vigorously as a table slides over to the couch. Two glasses, the bottles and a bucket of ice fall onto the table. I hadn’t even seen her bring in the ice.

“I just don’t think-“ I stop as the paper is removed from the bottles revealing my favorite whiskey. A whole bottle of it sitting just inches from my nose, completely sealed and fresh, untouched by any other pony. “How much was this?” I stare at the bottle more than her, taking it from the table and checking the year.

“It was in my price range.” She answers simply. It must have been a good portion of her saved money that she was saving to move out of my duplex, which I can safely say is now just our home, no more separation.

“Right…” I couldn’t help but maintain an accusatory tone, yet her appearance didn’t change. Still soft, still glittering, still Vinyl. I can’t help but smirk and feel guilty that I gave her a locked box while she was being open about her presents.

She removes the cover of the other bottle revealing it to be a much stronger concoction; one that I assumed would to be used to remove paint from a barn. Both of the corks popped, filling the room with their clashing odors. My whiskey is strong smelling with just enough flavors to give it a fragrant smell. Vinyl’s is sinus cleansing and causes my eyes to water.

“Must you drink such poison?” I ask, pressing a hoof against my nose in an ill attempt to block the wall of tear gas.

“Poison? Octavia, you always know the nicest things to say to me.” She teases as she fills her glass, pouring mine as well.

My nose twitches as the flowing whiskey catches in the air, completely nullifying the stench from the corrosive material beside it.

“Bottoms up!” She yells as she lifted her glass, tossing the foul smelling liquid into the back of her throat, swallowing heavily, hitting her hoof against the table. “Yes.” She sighs.

“How can you even enjoy the taste of that stuff?” She stares at me thoughtfully for a bit before cracking up with laughter.

“Taste? I prefer effects. We are going to have our own private party.” I am surprised to see her eyes already slightly hazing from the effects. Her horn lights up, transforming the soft trance into something heavier, the blinds being pulled, and neon in the room beginning to flicker, her own pre-made club. How long was she planning this?

Sipping softly on my own glass, my eyes pop open at the taste of it. It is probably the best Jura Whiskey in existence, or at least that I’ve tasted. Before I knew it, my glass rests empty on the table. My tongue is numb as I pour another glass. I check the year again only to shake my head at the dim lighting conditions of the room. I barely notice that I am leaning off to the side, my vision slowing as I pour another glass. The beats from the new music causes my head to sway back and forth, my head bobbing with the memories of our humble beginnings together and my introduction into the world of techno and club mixes.

“I told you that you needed to relax…” Vinyl laughs, her cheeks rosy and her eyes glassy.

I barely notice the next two glasses that I dump into my mouth. I can barely feel anything on my body anymore, but I can’t help but smile at the smells and the aftertaste, the wonderful aftertaste.

“Tafvi… I need to tell you, how shmuch you mean to me.” Vinyl’s words slur, but she never loses her beat as she bounces over to me, leaving behind a vapor trail.

Her whole form pulses with the bass as she nears me, throwing me off balance. I stare into her glittering eyes, the only thing in focus, and I can’t help but beam wider.

“Ssuch pretty eyes.” I can barely see the other two glasses vanish of liquid. I don’t even know how it is being refilled. I don’t care.

It isn’t long before I am being held down onto the couch by an unseen force. I try to fight it off, but it never lets go. I see Vinyl stumbling around on the floor, approaching me, somehow using her magic to make the room spin or something. I find that the magical force holding me to the couch is still active, but when Vinyl arrives at my side, she manages to pull me off. My body shuts down, leaving only blackness, though I know my body is still moving. When I open my eyes, I find myself pressed against, Vinyl, dancing. We aren’t together out of attraction, but out of necessity to stand on our back hooves, which is already a feat without the alcohol. My hooves slide against her back, her body turning into my cello, and I play techno through her.

I hate being this drunk, I always do stupid things, but seeing only Vinyl in the room helps. I figured that it is safe for her to see me this way, bobbing to the music, losing my vision in the blinking lights, questioning the rising fog that envelops me. I didn’t want to speak anymore as I lifted a glass to my mouth again, dumping in a much stronger alcohol. My mind tells me to quickly spit it out before it gets into my stomach, but my body is too slow. The lights, music, fog, and alcohol take me, lost in one of Vinyl’s raves. Vinyl? My eyes snap open as I look around the room for her, but the fog is too thick and the blur is too great.

“Vinyl?” I whisper, oblivious to the loud music drowning me out. Feeling a creeping fear taking my whimsical senses.

I blurry shape materializes only for a second, a screech in my ears as it cracked into the room.

“Vinyl…?” I didn’t trust what I was seeing. Vinyl’s drink must be part hallucinogenic.

“Now… now, Octavia… enjoying yourself a bit too much, aren’t we?” The familiar voice asks.

“Why are you here? Leave me alone.” I edge back into the fog, seeing the large shadow of a cloaked alicorn appearing, something off with the voice.

“I gave you a chance to fix your life and you waste it on intoxicated raving with your lover?” The voice is Eyn’s, I know that for a fact, but the tone of it is completely off. It is much harsher, colder.

“I’m sorry. I just…” The alcohol crippled me enough.

“You just what?” He bellows at me, his form being created out of the fog, his eyes cracking with red lightning, his head twitching with what appeared to be bouts of pain, but the glare remained.

I bury my head under my hooves, unable to keep my balance. “You’re not real. You’re not real.” I repeat to myself.

“I’m just beneath the surface…” The final consonant slowly fades out of the room forming into Vinyl’s voice.

“Silly you…” She laughs as she stumbles over to me. “Falling on the floor… such a clumsy filly.”

She bends over to pick me up, but quickly loses her balance and falls on me. I couldn’t experience any pain from her body and instead shiver at the sensation of her rubbing past me, trying to move to a more comfortable position, but instead, my head sits between her legs as she half stands above me, her head pressed against my flank.

“Sorry, Tavi…” I don’t know if the alcohol has finally settled in letting me speak perfect drunk. I couldn’t complain. I was cozy.

“It’s okay… I was just having a nightmare.” My mouth feels heavy.

“You’re goofy… goofy, Tavi, you.” I feel her body relax onto mine. She must have given up or is too tired to continue. I feel myself begin to drift off, still shaken from the encounter with Eyn, but too drunk to understand any of it. I promised myself that I would remember what happened. I lied…

“What did you two do last night?” I hear a voice ask.

I mumble as I try to move, but discover myself still held to the ground by the magic of alcohol, but now I am staring up at the ceiling and covered in a fine veil, a blue veil. I blow out to try to blow it off my face to see Ditsy staring down at me, grinning from ear to ear about something.

“Did you find them, Dits?” The Doctor’s voice fills the hall. He walks into view, flinching back slightly. “Oh, I’m sorry. We aren’t disrupting anything are we?”

The question rolls around in my head as I gaze at the blue veil around me. Slowly, it dawns on me. It’s hair, Vinyl’s hair, more specifically, her tail hair, to be exact. I retrain my gaze up toward my chest, only to see Vinyl’s rear end at face level. Sensation begins to permeate my body again as the pressure of her head materializes between my legs. Blushing was an understatement in that moment as I couldn’t even breathe at what position we had rolled into while we were asleep.

“I…” Words escape me. My mind collapses into a chasm of embarrassment. “Vinyl. Wake up.” I try to move her, but her head only bobbles between my legs, making the situation seem far worse. “Ditsy, can you help me up? I had a bit too much last night.” I attempt civility, but my voice is shaking with my fluttering heart, my face burning with embarrassment, my brain fried with a hangover.

“Why? You seem so comfortable.” She beams innocently.

“Ditsy.” I am stern and more forceful, the wave of embarrassment overtaking my civility.

“Oops. My bad.” She catches on to me being serious. I felt bad for being crude with her, but it had to be done for now. She seizes my hooves and manages to pull me out, causing her to lose balance and crash into my globe of Equestria. I only hear it crash to floor; happily, the noise is worse than the damage.

“I can breath again…” My lungs fill as if a weight had been slid off of my body. Surprisingly, Vinyl is still sleeping, a nice pool of drool forming on the ground. It only takes me a second to feel the same wetness between my legs. I cringe and shake with disgust as I look around the room for something to clean the drool off of my coat.

Vinyl mumbles. I faintly make it out to be my name, but I attempt to toss it into the back of my mind as my attention focuses more on Ditsy and Doctor Whooves, but it lingers.

“Why are you two here?” I ask, looking around the room to make sure nothing was out of place or embarrassing, luckily there is just the sharp aroma of alcohol both in the air and on my breath. I turn from him to hide the breath.

“Neighbors filed a noise complaint. Guards came and found you two apparently like this. They contacted us, neglecting to tell us where you were at, and we came right away.” Doctor Whooves explains. “Glad to see you both breathing.” His words are still stiff as he hides his initial shock at seeing my more unfortunate positions.

“Yes. Breathing and apparently getting ourselves in more trouble.” I shake my head. “We are fine. We just need a bath.” I try to make it short so they leave.

“We’ll wait outside. We can get some muffins at the bakery, on us.” Doctor smiles.

He always managed to be the polite pony of the group, a set of mannerisms that any mare would find attractive if given the chance. At one point, I held a liking to him, but it was never in my heart for a sense of love. Instead, we became good friends and not a moment too soon before Vinyl moved in. It was that slow sensation hiding behind a wall of contempt. Slowly her manners glimmered through, a softer side of her emerged. Looking back, I can only feel ashamed at how quick I was to judge her, but she apparently held no ill feelings, even to this day.

Vinyl grumbles again, but she manages to raise her head, her sunglasses falling over her eyes, blocking out the piercing light of the morning. “Tavi? Why am I wearing your bow?” I turn to her quickly to see my bow wrapped around her neck. I grasp at mine to touch my nude neck. I blush before yanking it off of her, trying to tie it back in its rightful place.

“What happened last night, and why am I bow-legged?” She stares at me. I stare at the floor.

“You two were laying funny.” Ditsy responds, righting the fallen globe.

“Laying funny?” She glances down where we were lying, putting her head close to the ground. I can see her squinting under her glasses. What is she looking at it?

Then I see it. Drool. Her drool was at one point and mine was at another. Awkwardness wouldn’t even begin to describe how I would feel when she connected the dots. I can only stand there as she traces out the spot and finds my drool. Realization begins to cross her mind as she turns to me, her eyes locking onto the wet area. Her mouth drops open, her glasses falling off of her face, but instinctually caught by her magic.

“We didn’t…?” She starts. I couldn’t answer it if she finished it. I barely remember what had happened that night.

“No.” I answer shortly and awkwardly.

“I’ll just let you two… catch up, eh?” Doctor walks out of the room, grabbing Ditsy’s tail and dragging her out of the room. She remained seated with the same smirk on her face. I questioned that pegasus on occasion.

The door closed before Vinyl’s eyes snapped back onto me. “Whatever I did last night, I didn’t mean it.”

“I don’t think we did anything. I think we just collapsed on each other and passed out.” I toss out as a reasonably innocent occurrence.

“I will not drink that much again.” She chuckles, regaining her carefree confidence. Her eyes migrate over to the table where they connect with the box. “I never opened your present.”

“It’s locked.” I say with a grin.

“Where’s the key?”

“I have it, of course.” I can’t help but feel the rising tease in my chest.

Vinyl begins to smile as she catches on to my ruse. “Well, can I have it?”

“Later.” I smile at her. “After the concert.”

“The concert? We need to work on that today. How should we begin?” She moves quickly, but instantly collides with the mental wall that I had been flinching at. “I’m never drinking that much again.”

I watch her stumble around, losing track of what all she wants to do when the edges of my vision move with ghostly images.

“What?” I can feel myself running, but I am standing in the middle of the room, only my peripheral vision is moving. I can only make out the fine etchings and craftsmanship of a few railings as they vanish. My center of gravity begins to lean onto the side as if I am turning.

“What?” Vinyl turns back to me, confused, but the tunnel of my vision begins to tighten around her.

“Nothing. I thought you said something.” My face must not be as convincing as I think it is.

“What’s wrong?” My vision flashes to Eyn, an electrical wall forming around him. I don’t know why until I see a few guards round the corner, yelling at him. A wave of energy erupts from him as they are thrown into the nearby building, shattering the wall. The room remerges; Vinyl is much closer to me now.

“He’s in my head, or maybe it’s me in his head. I don’t know.” I feel my heart rate beginning to pick up as it flashes back. Vinyl tries to yell something at me, but I’m too far away.

He’s in another part of town. His breathing is ragged, and the pain is almost unbearable as he falls onto his metal hoof. The guards surround him, knocking him down completely, but his eyes stay open just enough to let me see. White legs decorated in gold approach the barely awake Eyn, who struggles to rise. I can barely make out what she is saying, but I couldn’t mistake those legs. An orange energy circles around her as I feel Eyn regaining his strength and looking up at her, putting a hoof in front of his face, defenseless. Her eyes fill with orange light and her horn sparks as a wall of energy hits him. I can feel his heart weaken at the searing pain before I feel everything grow cold and black. I blink, ejecting me back to the room, crouched on one knee, Vinyl holding me up.

“He’s dead…” I can’t even believe my own words.

“Who?” She asks, flinching back as I stand to look at her.

“Princess Celestia killed Eyn Spyyr.”

Chapter 2: Resurgence

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A mixture of happiness and sadness fill me as I recount the words and stare into Vinyl’s shocked eyes. My appearance must have shown the same amount of confused puzzlement. I didn’t think it would have been so anticlimactic, but I knew what I witnessed, and I knew what I felt. I had died once before. Feeling the same encasing cold grip that seizes one’s heart and lungs, squeezing out the air tortuously only supported the improbable. The truth of the situation is staggering that it saddens me that an alicorn had lost his life in such a way. The only upside is a calming state of mind, one that isn’t fractured between my savior and my body. The more I think about the idea of his gift, the more I believe that it is his own life force.

It gives me pause and lets my mind wander to places of existence that I have never truly considered. I live in the past and the present only, always fearing the future, but now, I don’t feel the pressure of time collapsing on my shoulders. I feel free.

“Tavi? Why are you smiling?” Vinyl’s voice breaks the silence.

My eyes snap open as I slowly realize that I am, indeed, smiling and staring up at the ceiling. “I don’t know…” I can only say as my eyes lower back to the floor, a feeling of shame burning inside my chest and cheeks.

“Why would she kill him? Are you sure he died?” Vinyl’s hooves slowly clop on the wooden floor as she paces the room in thought, the weight of the questions falling down on her.

I watch her carefully, unable to speak or give any insight into the matter for I hold the same questions. Seeing as I was inside of his head when it happened would only mean that I am the best source of information for this event, but instead, I am at more of a loss than Vinyl. The threads that he has spun and the web that had formed are far too complex for such a simple death, unless his death is a part to the plan. Nothing ever made sense with Eyn, and even with his passing, the riddle persists.

What was his original plan? What was he trying achieve with storming Canterlot, killing guards and picking the lock to the castle then to just die in a pitiful mess in some back alley? When standing in front of me, he would hold himself up high and stand confidently, but being inside of his mind, the doubt and weakness were clear. Something inside of him didn’t click. It never clicked. Maybe he didn’t have a plan. Maybe he wanted her to finally kill him and end his sadness. His sadness…

It is only now, away from the fear, no other thoughts except my own careful reflection, that I notice the loneliness, the sadness, and the pain. At some point, his heart had been broken, though broken to a point of devastation. I wanted to understand why, but I could feel his passing. I couldn’t re-enter his mind, ask him questions. I felt sorry for him. I felt sorry for a murderer and an escaped convict.

“You’ve had your strange and sort of convenient mind link with Eyn, you must know what he is doing.” Vinyl turns her attention on me.

“It wasn’t quite a mind link, but more of a viewing. I only saw what he saw and listened to his thoughts, though he kept his blind blank most of the time. The last thing I felt in him was panic and fear.” I look around the room. I want to drive the thoughts out of my throbbing mind. My cello glistened in the corner. The warm shimmer warmed the room and helped my eyes relax. “We should practice and leave this behind us. One less thing to worry about.” I trot to my cello, grabbing the bow and rising to my feet.

My body is stiff, but not from my sore ribs, but from sleeping on the floor. They move slowly and deliberately as muscles stretched and creaked. Rolling my shoulders helped ease the pain as a few pops snapped from them. It has been too long, cello. I ease the bow to the side, letting the bow ease its way across the string, letting the old thing sing to the room. The low note drowns out Vinyl’s questioning and the world around me. Shutting my eyes, I am lost to the world and completely myself again, a swarm of notes swimming over me.

The vibrations ripple through the bow and into my hoof as the air shifts around my ears. The physical sensation of music inspires notes and bends. I play without worry, playing my entire written song by memory. Slowly, I feel the pounding of my heart against my chest. Smiling, my eyes open to the sight of Vinyl, mixing music on the spot. It hits at me randomly, off beat and probing of the style. Vinyl listens and adapts as I continue through the song. No ground is made except for Vinyl grumbling at her mixers.

“You’ll get it…” I speak after I finish the first movement.

“Of course I will, you’ve dropped a bombshell of a song on me. I almost wanted to just sit back and enjoy your music, throw some roses after you finished and scream for your autograph.” She chuckles.

“I’m sure fans of your music demand plenty of autographs and throw flowers for you.” I know I am wrong, but I enjoy teasing her.

“Are you kidding?” I can tell she knows that I am teasing her. “I’m thrown glow sticks and clothes. If you mean autograph as in asking if I would lick their horns, then I’m asked for autographs all the time.”

“Any pretty unicorns that have been graced with your ‘autographs’?” I tease, feeling only slightly jealous.

She smiles, making sure to stare me directly in the eyes. “Plenty of them.” She winks.

I blush, though it is completely unintentional. I guess I am more than just a little jealous of her having ‘pretty unicorns’, and now she is stuck with a plain Earth Pony. Not much in regard to interesting methods of pleasing. I don’t have a horn to lick or wings to stroke. I’m old fashioned and filled with strength and endurance, a harder mare to please than most. I saw the same comparison between Lyra and Bonbon. A few times when Vinyl worked late, Lyra and Bonbon would come over and we would chat at the table, drinking wine and apple cider, sometimes getting a bit tipsy. One night, the alcohol opened their mouths more than any other time. Sex became the subject as much as I felt uncomfortable about it. Even Lyra blushed on a number of occasions as Bonbon told stories. I felt myself blushing as well at some points. I never knew a unicorn’s horn could be sensitive at all, but how Lyra described it, in her own joking way, it felt magical.

It ran through my mind. Touching Vinyl’s horn in such a way is too much in this point in time. I couldn’t do that. We were still a fresh couple, just now kissing and hugging. Sexual intimacy was at the bottom of my list of priorities and things to do. Even after the concert, I wouldn’t be able to do anything more than just give her a small peck on the lips, maybe drink again to celebrate, simple things that I’ve always done with my past lovers. I could sense the fear within me of the next step forward, one that I never experienced. I’ve cuddled, hugged, kissed, and slept next to others, but to truly go beyond that felt too overwhelming. I shut my eyes tightly, trying to drive my thoughts out.

“I really need to get a shower…” We can practice later.

Everything is off. I let my mind wander too far and now I am retreating from my thoughts before I visibly show it. I should have showered before I even played the cello. It requires enough of my effort not to hit my hoof against my forehead.

“As do I.” She trots toward the door, matching my speed.

“I need to get a shower.” I reaffirm. “I get to go first.”

“You? But I am closer to the door?” Vinyl’s pace briefly jumps forward, but that was enough to initiate the race.

Running with the strength of my earth pony relatives, I manage to recover the distance between the two of us. The look in her eyes at how fast I can be is priceless causing me to smile as I pass her out the door and down the stairs. I can feel the warm bath, until I see a blue streak slide past me on the railing.

“Bye, Tavi.” She waves to me. The nerve…

I speed up more, jumping over the railing at the ending, cutting the distance again. The bathroom is in range and just a hop, skip, and jump away. I jump for it as I see Vinyl sliding on the ground, catching the rug with her magic, using it to surf through the door. She slides on her back looking up at me as I leap. Another look of amazed panic crosses her eyes just as it crosses mine. Judging by how close we were, it would clearly be a photo finish, but another realization emerged. I did not have time to even think it before it happens.

I land on top of Vinyl as we slide through the door, the corner of the rug slamming the door shut. The soft glow of the small window nearby cast the room in a dim lighting. I can only just see Vinyl’s eyes shimmer in the darkness, her body below me. Sweat drips down my face as I try to catch my breath through the lump in my throat.

“I guess… it’s a tie?” Vinyl asks.

Her breath hits my nose. “I guess so…”

“So…?”

“So… what?” I ask.

“I guess we share?” I wanted to smirk at the excuse.

“I guess so…” It wasn’t the first time we had bathed with the other in a room, though we never really bathed together. It scared me like the other thoughts of us becoming intimate and more of lovers than just experimenting mares. It deserves a gulp, which I give.

“I scrub your back, you scrub mine.” She continues, trying to escape me hovering over her. I stiffly move off of her, sensing the creeping awkwardness of the situation. Vinyl doesn’t seem to be as frightened about our courtships as I am. I wonder if I am worrying for nothing. Maybe I need to roll with it, but the more I think about it the more my personality disagrees. I want this relationship to work, and I want it to flourish. Rushing this will only cause it to fail.

“Sure.” I smile at her.

The water is turned on letting steam slowly satiate the room. I step in first, letting the water take my leg and massage out my muscles. I slide into the water with a heavy sigh of relaxation, closing my eyes and forgetting the world around me. Then, the water ripples as Vinyl slides herself in, slightly less graceful than my picky approach. She stays on her side of the tub.

“This feels nice.” She says.

I didn’t know exactly what she meant, the water or the fact that our back legs were touching. Either way, I had to agree. “It feels fantastic.” The water soothed every part of my body, including the area under the wrappings on my left flank. It would be nice to finally get it off and have some moments in the spa to treat myself for being alive.

We relax in the water, forgetting about the cleaning portion of the bath. The best cure to a hangover is to soak in the water, and Vinyl shares the same view. It takes only a few minutes before the water shifts again, drawing my attention to the blue-haired mare. She nears me, her horn glowing as a bottle of soap approached.

“Let’s get you cleaned up shall we?”

I move obediently, letting her get to my back. The massaging touch of her hooves rubbing my back quickly follows the cold sensation of the soap. I relax, leaning forwards and resting my head on the outside of the tub. It’s wonderful. I shiver as she moves along my sore shoulders and back. Slowly, her hooves begin to descend down my back causing my heart to race. I would have never let a stallion get this far with me after such a short time of dating, but the mere fact that we are both mares, I assumed no trouble from it. Then again, I feel as if I should cause trouble.

Her hooves stop at my flanks, slowly massaging them before they rise off of them, arriving back to my shoulders. She must be slightly nervous as her motions and presses are stiff. No pony could blame her. We had been roommates for a few years and now we kiss and have romantic encounters. I felt the same degree of confusion and nervousness from it. Instead of stopping at my shoulders, she moves further up my back, letting her front side meet my backside. I admit, it felt arousing, and I enjoy her closeness, but my mind knows it is too early in our relationship for anything more though I let my mind drift off to the dirtier of places to see how my mind would interpret it.

She leans in close, hugging me close, her head coming over my shoulder as I stare at her nervously. Her horn was only a few centimeters from my face. I wonder if she wanted me to try it. Would it be a violation to her personal space? No, I must not rush this. I will wait. Instead, I press my head against hers. The fur on her face softly brushes against my face and I feel the connection that had been slowly growing between us spark between our hairs.

“I guess you need to get on your stomach now.” Being unsure of myself and unsure of all my actions quickly began to sink in.

“Of course…” Her tone is much softer than usual, her eyes closed, and her body moving slowly, remaining close to mine. I couldn’t help, but let the heat in my cheeks transform them red. As she left my back and moved to the other side of the tub, the sensation of missing her closeness quickly evolved.

I transition slightly quicker than I desired leading to me bumping into her. Getting my hooves on the soap, I lather it on her back, the white foam and smell of wet fur filling the air. It had been one of the few times that I could touch her muscles. I never knew they were as tight and firm as they were. The idea of the short times that I’ve raved versus knowing she had to do this as a job to be paid while I am out of commission echoes in my head. She works hard, even if it’s for parties. I almost chuckle. She should have been Pinkie’s sister, not me.

“That’s the spot.” She groans.

I can feel a tough section in her muscles. Instead of bathing her, I find myself massaging out her soar muscles. I would have felt like a slave, but feeling her muscles twitch and respond to my touch along with the sounds escaping her mouth, it makes me love her more. I want to try what Vinyl did to me and hug her, closing the gap between our bodies, but my nerves cause me to hesitate. You know you want it. I could hear his voice, and he drove me further.

I massaged her shoulders as the anticipation of my body meeting hers caused my heart to pummel my chest. When we touched, I felt at home, giving her a similar embrace that she had given me. We both close our eyes at the feeling, her smile moves along my cheek, telling of her happiness. “Your heart is beating so fast, Tavi.” She sighs.

“I’m lucky that I could even do this. I have to thank him for that.” I respond, recollecting how Eyn had only helped me and had never harmed me in anyway. I felt sorrow for him.

“Who’s him?” She asks.

It is almost strange to say his name in this environment, but I say it anyway.

The room tightens slightly at the name, but Vinyl catches herself. “I wonder what he did to deserve a death sentence.”

“I don’t know…” I wish I saw him earlier, see his demise. I wonder where he went wrong. Such a meticulous planner but he did something wrong to ruin it?

His death is too unreal for me to believe though I am compelled to do such. I knew what I witnessed. His life left his body. I hold Vinyl closer, her body shifts under mine. It manages a small smile from me, but a festering curiosity prickles within my mind causing me to drive a wall between the feelings of attraction. An uneasiness results from the mixed feelings causing me to just bury my head in Vinyl’s shoulder and breath slowly. I see her smile on the side of her face. I am lucky to have such a mare as Vinyl, one that manages to smile through the thick of everything, no matter the loss.

I remember when I walked out of the woods and travelled home. She had set up a whole camping set in the living room like we used to have. The overwhelming force of happiness took over my mind as the loss of blood began to tear my consciousness away from the moment. I woke up an unknown amount of time later, laying in a hospital bed, my encrusted bow still tied around my neck, a fair helping of bandages constricting my body and a headache that could crack glass. Vinyl was asleep at my side, Eyn standing in the middle of the room, merely a ghost. He was just an illusion of my drugged my mind. I wanted to thank him, but seeing him start to cry, the tears welling in his eyes, I stared in confusion.

His form shook as he stared at me, though it wasn’t quite toward me, but more through me. Other ghostly figures joined in around him as I observe the details of him. I assumed he had his robes and metal legs and wings, but were of a much younger, still healthy Eyn. He collapsed just as a flood of images formed in the room right before I passed out again from the next does of painkillers, passing it off as a hallucination. To see him that way, my emotions plummeted, but as I slide back down into the water, the feeling of Vinyl underneath of me anchors my mind. Love held my pity from stretching out to Eyn. Love held my sadness for him as well. Selfishness ran deep, but I wouldn’t let myself fall now, not with Vinyl with me.

We exit the water as slowly as we had entered, not because of the air chilling our skin, but from our own carefulness in treating the other. Vinyl exits first, grabbing the towel before she drips on the floor, extending a second for me to take. I let it fall onto my hooves before wiping off my face and drying out my mane. My mane sits flat on my head and unspectacular though some simple grooming and combs easily mends the situation to better suit my demands to such a higher order of appearance. Being picky with my appearance wasn’t new to me though it never bothered me as well. I didn’t let it influence or change my relationships with friends or Vinyl. I am picky, not petty.

Practice proceeded as we had planned it, not even a mention of our bath together. I think the concept of it all was still fresh in our minds. I am set in a thoughtful mood while Vinyl is filled with more smiles, sticking her tongue out at me playfully as we conduct our music. We quickly harmonize into our usual sequences that we treasured when we were simply roommates. Then we hit the verse that I had imagined to be a soft build-up for Vinyl as I performed my own build, but instead I head her build the sound up immediately, forcing me to play louder. Irritation is all I that passes through my twitching eyebrow as she again pushed the bass up, ruining the harmony.

“Vinyl? You’re meant to die out there.”

“I didn’t know you were a DJ.” Something is irritating her though her biting words only crack my fragile nerves.

“I don’t want any of your stubbornness.” I retort.

“My stubbornness? What about you?” She laughs at me.

The moment she laughs, I want to storm out, but my mind quickly catches up with what is happening. Why are we fighting each other?

My composure quickly returns as I look at her softly. “Are you worried?” I ask.

“About Eyn or the concert?” She asks, turning away from me.

“Both.”

“You too?”

“Yep.”

We sit in silence at how quickly those two subjects had cracked us. I couldn’t believe I had snapped as I did at Vinyl. I wanted to apologize immediately after catching myself committing the sins, but such a noble action never escapes my lips. Instead, I jump onto the couch and lay down, staring at the setting sun. The oranges play off the sky sweeping into the fringes of purple and blue. I am always one for sunsets and sunrises. It clears my head and softly Vinyl joins my company.

“Can you believe it?” She asks, staring at the sunset, her eyes hidden behind her sunglasses.

“Believe what?” I ask.

“Us. Everything feels the same except now there is more tension between us.”

“We’ve also been a lot closer in proximity.” I chuckle, which she joins in on the observation.

“I guess.” She chortles. “Everything feels like the same, yet different, you know what I mean?” Her words play against my eardrums. The white unicorn’s words are filled with a truth that has nagged me through the day. It makes me want to smile, but I can’t do it.

“Yeah… but I like it this way.” The words cause my heart to leap and flutter. Verbally expressing myself to her is much different than simply being close and feeling her, now it’s my head speaking.

I hear her hum as she hops off of the couch and clop onto the floor. “You want to get some muffins before the bakery closes?”

I jump from the couch as well. “I need to head to the doctor’s before the sun completely sets and have these blasted stitches removed.” I wasn’t looking forward to seeing the scar that the large cut would leave behind, but I figured it would heal eventually. There are always some cosmetic magic and little visits to the spa to correct everything.

“I’ll stay here and get the right rhythm for my music to blend perfectly with your tempo. Pick up some muffins when you come back?” She worked some of the knobs on her turntables. “Let’s see if the healing prevented any gnarly scars.” She chuckles.

I glare at her. I know she is trying to make light of the situation like she always tries to do, but the thought of large scars torn across my flanks grinds at me. The street outside is beginning to dim. The streetlights are being lit with a soft breeze greeting my face. I turn back into the door and grab my scarf, wrapping it around my neck the best I could, stepping back out into the nippy air. The snow crunches beneath my hooves as I walk toward the hospital, feeling the darkness more as a safety net slowly being cast over me. I had never liked the darkness, yet now it felt relaxing and beautiful as the purples overtook the orange hues of the sky.

By the time I arrive at the hospital, it is around my appointment time at late afternoon. Entering the main lobby, I am greeted by the doctor almost immediately, ushering me into one of the rooms, not in a rush, but more out of respect or courtesy.

“Sit right here, Lady Octavia. I will be with you shortly to remove the stitches.” He trots off to a few other patients wrapped in various bandages, though most of the beds were empty.

“Lady Octavia.” It rolled off my lips as I repeated it. It had been a long time that I had been greeted with such a Canterlot greeting. Hearing the words again causes a stirring of pride that only bolsters my confidence in the concert that is planned.

I sit in the room, my flanks slightly itching from the bandages that I couldn’t wait to have removed. The silence in the room is deafening. It almost makes me wish that Vinyl could be here to keep me company or at least provide some noise that I could ignore. I try to relax and think of other things to get off the idea of time passing. The clock only increases in volume, ticking inside of my head.

“Lady Octavia?” I jump from the break in the silence. “Shall I begin?” He walks over, scissors and some gauze ready for cleaning anything left over.

I sigh. “Sure.” I lay on the doctor’s table. I rotate my body onto its side and raise my leg where the bandages resided. I felt heat intensify in my cheeks. Such a position felt revealing, though having other bodily health functions checked regularly helped null the embarrassment.

“Here we go.” The sound of the scissors crunching into the bandages helps with my lack of focus and, as the air graces my leg that had been wrapped, I sigh with relief and stretch my leg.

“Oh my…” He speaks in more of a fascination than concern. Amused?

“Is the scar bad?” I ask.

“It’s…” He loses his words. “Well look at it yourself.”

I hop from the table and walk to the full body mirror in the corner, turning to the side to see the damage. My heart sinks and jumps, squirming as my eyes widen. My breath runs away. On the side of my flank was a circular shape with a wavy line down the middle. Inside the circle were two puncture wounds on each side. One colored in by my treble cleft cutie mark. A Ying Yang had been carved into my side, a scar representation of Eyn’s cutie mark.

It’s just you making that by expecting it. It isn’t what you think it is. You are just seeing things. Focus Octavia. Breathe Octavia, breathe.

“You like it?” I heard the doctor ask.

“What the h-“ I turn around to see the doctor, his eyes glazed over with white that shined through the room. Darkness invaded the edges of my eyes as they began to tunnel vision. My heart races with fear and shock. I back up slowly, hitting the mirror unable to turn my vision away from the doctor.

“How…? But…?” I stammer.

He smiles. He stands in the center of the room smiling at me. I hate every bit of his white eyes at the same time I pity him. How can something so wretched as him deserve such pity from me?

“I’m an idea. Ideas are powerful. Ideas can move mountains. Ideas can break a monarchy and overthrow a kingdom.”

“Why? Why do you want to do that?” I manage a coherent sentence amid my wavering nerves.

He slowly advances toward me like the menacing walk that one sees in any pony horror film. The moment where everything is revealed, and a knife is lodged into his or her chest. They serve his or her purpose, whatever that is, and then the villain disposes of the dead weight. Mere inches from my face, I could feel his breath playing on my hair. I stare at him defiantly though my insides squirm with fear.

“Let me show you…” He leans forward.

I imagine the knife sinking into my chest, the feeling of life escaping my body. Maybe he wants to take his gift back. I can’t stand my own thoughts anymore and I slam my eyes shut, unable to face my murderer.

My eyes snap open in shock as his lips move around mine as he kisses me. Slowly, he pushes me backward against the mirror. My backside falling into a seated position, yet he still pushes his mouth into mine. I wanted to turn away, get the vile saliva out of my mouth when a jolt of something shot through my spine. My eyes dimmed. The room began to dissolve as his lips shifted. It felt the same way when I had kissed Vinyl. Love? It couldn’t be.

The feeling only intensifies, as I no longer feel him against me. Instead, I feel like I am moving. Eventually, I discover the courage to open my eyes again only to discover the Canterlot Palace. I am standing at the foot of the staircase.

I glance around, but there is no pony around, everything is quiet. Everything seems smaller as well. I look down and my heart, once again, stops as I see long gray slender hooves garnered in fine jewelry. I slowly realize that I am not in control of what I see, another moment of living in another’s body.

“Eyn Spyyr? I haven’t seen you in a long time.” Came the voice of a familiar alicorn.

“Luna. It is an honor to finally be graced by your castle. It is more, decorated than the one in the North Provinces.” Eyn speaks with such softness and grace that I, at first, don’t recognize him.

“How goes the North?” She asks.

“Our front is holding, but the attacks by the griffons are becoming an issue. My father wants to try and form a peace treaty, but they ask for too much. We’ve tried our best to reason with Fawkes, but diplomacy has only drug this war out longer than it had to be.” Eyn shakes his head, looking around the room.

His body is fresh and new, rising with the power of youth and strength. Both of his legs clopped on the ground as his strong wings flap with disdain. There was no damage on him, no wounds to speak of, even his eyes moved around the room, focusing on different objects, but mainly they focused on Princess Luna.

“Eyn, you made it here safely.” A younger Celestia spoke.

At the top of the stairs, Celestia stares down with a grin on her face. She flies gracefully down the ornate ascension, still larger than Luna and Eyn, but only slightly more on Eyn. Eyn stares into her eyes, smiling and holding his cordial nature.

“Yes, through the mountains and passed the dragon crater. Plenty of close calls, but the journey went adequately.” He smiles charmingly and Celestia giggles.

Mortal enemies? I don’t see it.

“Come let us show you around.” Luna responds, stepping up to his side.

“You’ve got a sweet sister.” Eyn admits to Celestia.

“She’s just two years younger than you, and mother has already said that she would be in charge of the moon whenever she finishes her magic studies.” Celestia responds, looking at her sister with a love that only two sisters could share.

“And that is why I am here? To tutor?” He doesn’t sound offended, but intrigued by the matter.

“Correct, along with enjoying the company of two lovely princesses.” Celestia winks.

“I can’t argue with that. Just let me grab the rest of my things and we can begin the tour and your studies.” Eyn pokes fun at Luna. She grumbles, but tosses him a smile. He winks in response, a gesture that Celestia misses.

The world dissolves as he turns away toward the door. It transforms itself into a door that I know all too well. I’m home.

I blink a few times as I let everything set in. My scarf is around my neck, the season is still winter, and the moon is high in the sky. I even find a box of muffins at my feet, still warm to the touch with a receipt of only a few minutes ago. Everything is normal except my memory. Eyn is still alive. Of course he is still alive, but why would he feign his death like that? What would he have gained from it? I gave up the thought as I opened the door to reveal Vinyl trying to walk quietly in her blue socks and white night cap. Her goofy way of sleeping had always entertained me, and this was no exception. Her hair is flat for once, washed clean of the gel and hairspray. It moves in the breeze from the door, something that is such a rarity that I wish that I could record it.

“How did it go?”

Chapter 3: Unity Living

View Online

I stare at her. I am not afraid, happy, or surprised. The tingling sensation on my neck hairs only confirms a numbness that had taken me. The string of the box fits in my teeth as I lift them and carry them into the house. The chaos in my thoughts is too much to form anything coherent. I wanted to tell her what had happened, show her the scar that Eyn had carved into my body. Maybe she could help protect me. I needed her help, but the more I found the desire of having her close, the more I focused on my own being. This whole concept of Eyn, the trek into the woods, and the blossoming relationship with my roommate guided my life into that of one run on fear or feeling instead of logic. I desired that class back in my life. I demanded it.

“I purchased some muffins from the bakery. I bought your favorite.” I didn’t even know what was in the box, yet I spoke those words with such clarity and confidence that, after scanning my memories of the void from point A to point B, a faint outline emerged.

My body functioned perfectly as I stared into Eyn’s eyes as he pulled his mouth off of mine. A small spider web of saliva still branched our mouths, but numbness had taken me. A million bugs skittered across my skin before it evolving into a stony cold surface. I stared at him and smiled defiantly as he did the same.

“It is time to go home, Octavia.” The soft words fluttered through the air and into my ears.

“Yes, my love…” My heart stops at the memory of those words leaving my mouth. I stand at the edge of the stairs, lungs constrict, and eyes widen slightly.

“Are you feeling okay, Tavi? Any gnarly scars?” She jumps down the stairs. I can feel her eyes piercing against my backside. I couldn’t let her see my burning face.

I twist my flank to the side, revealing the scar to her as much as I wish I could have hid it. The sudden catch in the air almost let the words déjà vu escape my lips, except she didn’t have a psychopath bearing down on her, forcing his lips onto hers. I quiver with disgust. It wasn’t just lips on lips kiss. I remembered his tongue crossing the boundary. Worst was feeling my own tongue joining with his, and I enjoyed it. My schedule before jumping into bed grows with an addition of a double amount of mouthwash.

“He didn’t do that did he?” Vinyl asks.

The answer flashes across my head, but instead I say, “I bought your favorite muffin. They are getting cold.” I walk to the kitchen, throwing the box onto the table, snapping the rope open with my teeth and pushing the box open, letting the muffins fill the room.

“What’s wrong?” Her concern grows with each second I hesitate, but I am not afraid. The situation is under control. It is under my control.

“I’m just tired and irritated that I have to get some hair implants from the spa tomorrow and I don’t have two reservations made.” I toss her a half smile, jumping up into the chair next to the table, pulling out my favorite muffin. I gather a napkin and a knife along with a fork.

Vinyl’s mood changes as the smell permeates her nose. She sniffs at it happily, her head tossing back and forth in an exaggerated fashion.

“The spa, eh? That would be quite relaxing. I do need my hooves worked on again.” She looks at them thoughtfully. From what I could see over the side of the table, they were perfect along with her sleek fur and unkempt mane. She leaps into the chair next to me and slides the box over to herself, almost stuffing her face into its contents, her sniffing growing louder. “I’m surprised Ditsy didn’t follow you home. I swear she is part ninja with that muffin smelling snout on her.”

A knock on the door breaks the silence. I jump slightly at the noise, expecting the world to end at any point with Eyn still alive and kicking. I take a few breaths as Vinyl checks the door. I only have a few seconds of reprieve before I hear the door open.

“Ditsy…?” I hear Vinyl ask in shock. “Why are you wearing that?”

“Oh, I just wanted to come visit with my bestest friends.” I hear her pause briefly. An image of her nostrils flaring flashes in my head, and I instinctually pull the muffin box closer to my chest. “Is that muffins I smell?” Clockwork.

I hear a slight scuffle though hearing two pairs of hooves walking toward the kitchen I assume the events that occurred.

“Sure, why don’t you come in…? You can come in too, Doctor.”

“Thank you. I’m sorry for us intruding so late at night, but she seemed bent on something she caught in the wind and had to investigate. I finally convinced her to wear an eye patch.”

Ditsy walks around the corner, a black eye patch tied around her head, blocking her lazy eye. It gives her an atmosphere of fierceness and resolve, though once her mouth opened it all vanished. She squeals with excitement at seeing the box of muffins.

“Can I have one?” She asks in a sigh that hushed the room.

“I don’t know if I have any of your…” Inside the box I find her favorite muffin, neatly placed next to another muffin, which one would recognize as being Doctor’s favorite. He walks into the room followed by Celestia.

Celestia? “Eyn, time to begin Luna’s lessons.”

“What?”

I blink and the world collapses into a bright Canterlot. The familiar sensations of being taller and male quickly return to my disembodied consciousness.

“I said, it is time to begin Luna’s lessons. I even brought my friend Starswirl the Bearded.” Celestia motions toward the stocky pony, clad in blue robes and a large dorky hat. It was near impossible to see his face over the brim though his beard jutted out easily from underneath.

“A pony with a beard?” Eyn asks, looking down at the pony thoughtfully.

“Hair growing spell. It backfired and hit me square in the jaw. I’ve had to keep it and frankly I like it, thank you very much.” His words were condescending and cross, though it had a bit of playfulness to it.

“It suits someone of your caliber. It is an honor to meet you.” Eyn bows respectfully, taking his time to execute it perfectly. A meticulous nagging evoked such an attention to detail, that the world faded off to focus on the intricacies of his bow. It was only brief, but strange.

“How kind of you to give this old pony some respect.” He laughs at it before tilting the brim back revealing his bright blue eyes. He didn’t look old at all.

“You don’t look like how I pictured you to look.”

“Oh, yes. I was experimenting with different spells and one burnt my vocal cords. I was trying to make a spell that could improve the Royal Canterlot Speech for when the King or Queen wish to speak to all of Equestria. It would have been marvelous… if I could figure out what went wrong.” His raspy voice almost makes me feel sad for him. I wish there was something I could do to help him.

“Is there anyway that I can help you recover?” Eyn questions.

“I don’t wish to recover anything. I’m perfectly fine. How rude of me, I must extend my hoof in equally meeting you, Mr. Spyyr. I’ve heard of your mastery in the arts of teaching and psychology. It is most satisfying to see that the Prince of the Graylands could explore such an untouched field.” He bows.

“Sir, such politeness is unnecessary. I am merely looking into something that hasn’t been touched as a means of elevating myself quickly with new discovers.” He laughs genuinely. This happiness isn’t in him anymore.

“Eyn?” A voice echoes from behind him. Eyn turns to see Luna, squinting in the sunlight, walking up to him, wearing a saddle with a small collection of books.

“Ah, Luna. We can begin our studies. Please, meet me in the hedge maze.” Eyn motions his hoof over to the entrance of the maze. “I will join you shortly.”

Eyn turns his attention back to Celestia and Starswirl. “It was a pleasure meeting, you Starswirl. I hope our friendship will blossom.”

“As you, Eyn. I feel we will get along perfectly well.”

“Celestia.” Eyn bows.

“Teach her well, Eyn.”

Eyn had turned toward the maze. “You can count on me.” He laughs joining Luna’s side. “Now, shall we have our lessons?”

“Only if you want, you are the teacher.”

“You don’t sound so enthused.” Eyn comments.

“I am doing this because my sister asked me to give you a chance with my motivation issues. I respect my sister’s opinion and I could never break my promise I made to her or myself.” She nods, smiling slightly at her words.

“Loyalty to your sister and yourself is a noble thing, Luna. Many rulers don’t have such qualities. You will make a fine ruler of the night sky.” Eyn complimented.

Luna blushes. “Thank you…”

They traverse the random pathways of the maze, finally walking into an opening where sat a collection of statues covered in balloons and confetti. From out of the side, emerged a strange creature that appeared to be a collection of many different beings. He had with him a merrily assortment of ponies, many were drunk and laughing. This creature laughed the loudest of them all as he fell on the ground, his minions jumping on him as he rolled in the grass.

“Stop it.” Discord squealed at them.

“Excuse me?” Eyn spoke.

“Watch out boys and girls, the sky is falling!” Discord hollered. A group of clouds were magically created over them. They transformed into giant raindrops before raining clouds onto the giggling group of people.

“Discord, you are one crazy pony. How do you come up with this stuff?” One pony asked.

“Well, you know, you just have to have that bit of flare and a spark on insanity.” The strange creature chuckled.

“Excuse me?” Eyn raised his voice, catching Discord’s attention.

“Oh look, more merry followers to join us in our quest of fun! Did you bring an umbrella, it might becoming freezing at this time of night.” It was the middle of the day.

“We were just planning on studying some magic here, and I was wondering if there was a chance that you could move your fun train to another section of the maze? It would be nice with some peace and quiet.

A bright flash filled his eyes before a weight landed on his back. “You sound like you aren’t a pony that has enough fun in his life.”

“Leave him alone, Discord. He has to teach the Princess.” A thick accent voice filled the maze. It took Eyn some time to catch sight of the large blue monkey standing on top of a statue.

“I just wanted to get him to at least chuckle.” Discord grunted, teleporting to his posse of people as the monkey jumped down next to Eyn.

“A pleasure to meet you.” He extended his hand out. “I am Ahuizotl, a tongue tying name, but you can trust me.” He winked coyly.

“Ahuztal?”

“Ahuizotl.” He corrected. “You aren’t the sharpest knife out there, but you make me smile. I did not catch your name.” He talked with civility.

“Eyn. Eyn Spyyr.”

“Ah, the crazy psychology pony from the Northern Fields. I heard that the griffins are giving you quite the hassle up there. Be sure not to lose that war or we might all be sorry.” He plucks an apple from one of the trees with the hand on his tail. “I must be on my way, a pleasure.” He bows before walking toward the direction that Discord had been travelling. He disappeared in the foliage.

“What strange fellows.” Eyn commented.

“They are favored friends of my sister and I. Discord is good for a nice laugh while Ahuizotl gives some good advice while being someone who you could give your secrets to and know that they are safe. Now, the lesson.” A few of the books rise out of her satchel and onto the soft green grass by the shady tree.

“Okay! First lesson: lose the books.” Eyn smiles.

“Excuse me?”

“You heard me, you are just going to listen to me, and we will get straight into practicing.”

Luna’s eyebrows rose questioningly at Eyn’s methodology, but she listened reluctantly.

“Starswirl valued books beyond anything else in study. Do you think this is wise?” She asked.

“Of course it is. Now, I want you to close your eyes and listen to my voice.” Eyn spoke softly.

The black alicorn stared at him thoughtfully, pursing her lips in thought. She seemed to think about the act of closing her eyes on what seemed to be a complete stranger in her life. Her eyes quickly shut as if it were a now or never attitude.

“Now what, Eyn?” She spoke both demandingly and confused.

“I want you to sit there and feel the moon on the other side of the planet.” Eyn said with a spark of humor in his voice.

Surprisingly, Luna kept her eyes closed though she challenged his ideology. “You’re pulling my mane aren’t you?” She asked.

“Not in the slightest. I can feel its presence through you. You have great power over the moon, born to be its protector and guiding beam in the darkness of space. The Moon courses through your veins, Luna.” I heard him say though, being within his head, I felt no such feeling. He was lying to her.

“I can feel it.” Luna’s countenance grew darker in both amazement and concentration.

The magical aura filled her horn as she stood in the garden. Eyn didn’t flinch. Instead, he approached her. Magic filled his body as he lowered his horn down toward her. A wave of magical power coursed from his body and enveloped her. A moon symbol appeared on her flank as her magical field collapsed.

“I lost it.” She was breathing hard, seemingly at a loss. “How did I lose it?”

“You didn’t lose it, my dear. You became one with it.” Eyn motioned to her flank where a crescent moon cutie mark now sat.

“I… you-“ She seemed at awe at the symbol she now possessed. “I am far too young to hold such a powerful symbol.” She tried to reason.

“You are a powerful and loyal sister. You hold the other half of the power that your sister has mastered. With you two holding our sun and moon, we will have our sunlight for crops and our moon to keep the darkness of night halted. You are valuable to this universe.” Eyn smiled.

“I can’t even raise the moon yet, and you put this responsibility into my hooves?” Luna asked, becoming slightly shaky at the prospect.

“Lesson zero, start with your namesake and apply it. You are Luna. You are one with the moon. Lesson one; we will work with the magic of lifting the moon into the right area of the sky. Celestia will be joining us to explain how it is similar to raising the sun.” Eyn winked, walking slowly around Luna.

“How could a lesson go so quick though?” She asked, shaking her head.

“Quick? It is near sunset. You’ve been thinking about the moon for hours.” Eyn smiled slyly.

I too couldn’t believe with what I was hearing, but slowly the memory retraced itself to back when Eyn cast the spell on her, granting her cutie mark. I hadn’t noticed the sun and the leaves of the maze flicker quickly as time passed quickly. Eyn could control time?

“How? I-“ Luna lost her confidence at everything just as my mind raced to try to make heads or tails of the situation. “You can control time? I thought only Starswirl found the secret to that?”

“I didn’t control time, I made you forget the passage of time. You didn’t have to deal with the nagging passing of time around your body allowing you to focus much clearer on your destiny. Most cannot let the passage time out of their mind and see what truly matters in their lives. You were like them, but like sleeping, time passed in reverse. When you dream, barely any real time passes as it feels like an eternity in your dream. Now I made your waking self fall into a longer dream, leaving only you and the moon, the last thing you had completely devoted your entire mind to. I had to lie for you to focus so intently on it, but I needed only a second for my magic to drag it on for hours.” Eyn chuckled slightly. “Shall we go to dinner?” He raised his hoof toward the wrong direction out of the maze.

“I only thought about the moon for a second?” Luna couldn’t wrap her head around what had happened, and I was right with her.

“Only for a second, but then again, when you think of something that you really enjoy, time moves a lot faster, but it makes you feel completely wonderful after you are done.”

“I lost the whole day…” Luna groaned.

“Yes, you did. Now imagine if that was on your mind throughout our lesson. It would have been quite the tedium wouldn’t it?” Eyn raised his eyebrows knowingly.

Luna smirked at him. Her fell briefly to the ground as she kicked some grass. “Thanks… I didn’t know you were so talented.” Her words became softer than anything I had ever heard in my life at working at Canterlot. Most of the time she upheld a Royal Canterlot Voice.

“I only give the inspiration for one to take. It is the power of others that can make it blossom.” Eyn winked. I could have sworn Luna blushed at his kind words. “Lesson is over for today, the walk will begin in four hours when your parents raise the moon again.”

“I, uh… would you like to come with me to the dining hall to get some food, eat with me? I would like to know more about whatever you do.” She smiled coyly.

“I am a bit drained from casting that spell…” He peered over his shoulder at Luna, seeing her lean toward him expectantly. “Of course I will come. I always enjoy your company.”

“Thank you. I appreciate it.” A soft smile spread across her face, breaking the usual fierceness of her countenance.

The memory smeared like it was wet paint being splashed with water. I felt my stomach begin to churn as my consciousness spun into the darkness falling toward a pinhole of light. It pulled me through its tiny opening, squeezing the air from my lungs. I opened my eyes to find I was sitting in the maze at night. The stiff, confining claustrophobia told me that I was still locked inside of Eyn’s head.

“You came?” Luna’s voice broke from the bushes behind him.

“Of course I came.” Eyn smiled, turning to the dark alicorn as she emerged from the shadows, her hair wrapped on her head, her eyes soft and her movement fluid.

“How do I look?” She asked.

“Like the most beautiful mare in Equestria…” Eyn’s voice had fallen into the same hushed tone. My heart tightened as I stared at Luna. Her appearance snapped back and forth between Princess Luna and Vinyl Scratch. The tightness of my love for her mimicked the same that roped itself around Eyn’s.

It was as if I saw Vinyl in one eye and Luna in the other, my mind reacted like how I had wanted it to, unaware that Eyn began moving just as my thoughts were planning on doing the same. I walked softly to my beloved, taking her in full view.

“You are so beautiful…” Eyn and I said in unison, but I paid no attention to it. Trapped in this body made me want to just escape back to her and be with her as much as she could annoy me.

She blushed slightly before turning away, returning my gaze as I neared her. Our noses were only inches apart as I stared into both Luna’s and Vinyl’s eyes, two halves in different eyes. I wanted to feel her lips on mine, but just as I closed my eyes and leaned forward as I thought she would do the same, her head slide along my face. My eyes snapped open at the missed chance. Instead, Luna and Vinyl hugged me, their ghost bodies pressed against mine.

“We can’t do this.” Luna and Vinyl speak.

“What?” Eyn and I proclaim.

“Our love… it’s forbidden and we should know better than that.” They said.

I stared at her, the knots in my heart constricting my breathing. It hurt to hear more than anything, but a few strands held on strong.

“We can make it work. No love should be forbidden.” We tried to reason.

“What would the others think?”

“This is unlike you. Where is the fighting mare that I fell in love with? The one that can scare anything away from her friends, yet still have the sweetest smile.” I began to see that I was speaking with Eyn. My words began to slow as I heard him finishing my sentences.

Tears filled my eyes as the events he was showing me began to make sense. Was this his way of telling me why he saved me? Did he see me as him and Vinyl as Luna? What happened to him to lose Luna? What broke him to the shell of the alicorn he is now? One that is filled with hollow emptiness, one shattered by sadness and grief, one that still held a cauldron of fire for someone. My mind snaps back to when he was walking to the castle repeating Celestia’s name. Oh no…

“You are far too kind, Eyn. Ever since you’ve been here, you’ve only given to everyone. I sometimes think that you are trying to get a reward out of it. A reward… like me.” Luna’s voice had fallen heavily.

“No. I just can’t seem to take anything for myself… that is until you came along. The first time I saw you, I fell in love with you. Your loyalty to your sister was admirable, your darkness, fascinating. You are a wonderful mare. While some have run from you, I am only drawn more to you. You are… simply the best thing in my life. I’ve made only five friends since I arrived here. I cherish all of them, and I could never hurt them. I don’t even want to return to the North after I finish my job. I would prefer to be here, with you.” Eyn confessed. I felt the love drip from his heart and the honesty behind his words.

Luna stared at him, hurt. “We received a message… I was hoping to end us because I know what you will do when you hear about it.” She sighed. Her eyes were fighting back tears.

“A message about what?” My heart stopped as Eyn’s story began to intoxicate my senses. My curiosity needed to be sated. I had to know what had transpired with Eyn.

“I’m sorry, Eyn. The North has been overtaken. Your parents have been slain.” She fought back her sorrow from seeing Eyn’s countenance fade to a numb shock. “I should have told you sooner. My parents have taken a group of our warriors to try another peace talk with them, try to end this war.”

“Peace?” Eyn’s words were flat as he stared blankly at the ground. “Peace for the butchers that killed my family?” A strange red spark arched across his head up to his horn. Luna took a step back.

“Eyn?” She asked softly.

“Those butchers…” Eyn’s words never broke a yell. His wings stretched out as he lifted himself into the air and began to fly quickly to the northern provinces.

“Eyn! No, wait!” Luna yelled from below, trying to catch up with him, but I listened to her frantic words try to catch him, but Eyn’s heart was beating too hard to hear her. Instead, another red spark cracked around his head. Eyn flew into a crowd, my vision blurred.

Darkness returned and the sick, spinning feeling returned. My eyes jotted around in the darkness to find the next pinhole of light. It materialized in front of me, pulling me through. When I opened my eyes, I was sitting at the table of my living room. The Doctor and Vinyl is walking around the corner and my sense of time is returning. His memories had passed through my head in a single blink of an eye. His description of cramming interesting things into a locked state so time passes without them knowing it hit my head. I was aware that time was moving, but no time at all had passed. Could he reverse his spells like that?

“They even have your favorite!” Ditsy squeals, pulling out the other muffin for Doctor. He stares at it thoughtfully.

“I didn’t think you knew we were coming.”

“I didn’t. I bought them just in case.” I muster a convincing smile.

“You are the kindest mare I know, Octavia.” Ditsy hugs me. Her words echo in my head as if it were a cave. I admit I felt hollow upon hearing those words.

“I’m not that kind. There are plenty of other mares that would give and be nice to others just as much as me.” I try more to convince myself more than Ditsy.

“You never say anything bad about your friends. You only work to help us amid your classy, and uptightedness.” Ditsy shoots her tongue out at me playfully.

“I say my mind. I am blunt.” I say.

“Says the mare who never once mentioned my eyes when we first met, even Vinyl made a comment on them.”

“I said they were pretty freaking sweet. Blew my mind with their craziness.” The unicorn pokes her hoof at Ditsy.

“It would have been rude to do such.” The pegasus hugs me tightly.

“You are kind and I am glad to call you my friend. I’m glad to see that you have such a loyal mare as Vinyl to stay close to and be with. I wouldn’t want you messing with my honest hunk of a stallion.” She jumps onto the back of Doctor’s back and hugs him. He chuckles at her though it seems highly uncomfortable.

“You’re breaking my back, muffin dear.” The brown pony heaves before the blonde pegasus jumps to his side, sticking her chest out happily at the situation. “How is the eye patch helping?” He asks.

“I don’t hit as much, but I miss seeing with both eyes. It makes me feel too normal.” Ditsy laughs.

“No eye patch could hide your muffin obsession.” The Doctor teases.

“It’s not an obsession. It’s just an acute liking of them.” Ditsy’s lips curl as she tries to hold back from laughing.

“Obsession, but that is one thing that I greatly enjoy about you. You don’t have to wear that eye patch everywhere. You can use it in case there is an emergency and you can only afford to hit a few things instead of a few more.” Doctor winked.

Ditsy laughs at his joke before turning back to me quickly. Her eyes pierce into mine. “Did you happen to buy any more of my favorite muffin?” She smirks.

“Only those four, Ditsy. We can go buy some in the morning, get some breakfast at Sugarcube Corner.” I attempt to reason.

She squeals happily, hugging me before flying over to Doctor Whooves and lifting him slightly off the ground, dragging him toward the front door.

“It’s late, muffin. We need to be getting home to Dinky. She misses us.”

“We’ve only been gone for ten minutes, I- wait not in the air! I’m afraid of hei-“ His voice drifts off, though the sound him yelling could still be heard in the night sky along with the small tune of Ditsy laughing.

The world flows strangely around as if this is the dream and the thoughts of Eyn were a much more fulfilling truth than my regular life, but one look at Vinyl and I didn’t want to leave again, at least not anytime soon.

“We should be getting to bed, Vi.” I jump from the table and trek toward the stairs to my room. I hear her words in my head and begin to feel my face burn. Would she ever think that way about me? I am so lost in my head that I don’t see the electric blue hair had stepped in my way. It takes me only a second to look up at the same time that her lips meet mine.

My thoughts were still locked on the depressing news that Eyn received that I thought her kissing me was an accident, but when she took another step forward, kissing me slightly deeper, I knew it was real. I knew her kiss was real. I kissed her back.

“Thought you could run off to bed without a goodnight kiss?” She asks.

“I had thought you’d be coming with me.” I smile coyly at her.

“I’ll be up in a second. I have to do a few things before I get to bed. You keep the bed warm for me.” She winks.

I trot up the stairs, my hooves playing a small tune up the wooden stairs. My brain tries to convert it into different beats, but just as it was creating something interesting, I had arrived at the top of the stairs. Running the routines, my room is easy to find even with no lights on. My encrusted bow is slipped from my neck before I jump into bed, pulling the covers up to my nose, enjoying the embracing warmth of its hold. I breathe thoughtfully, questioning if more of Eyn’s story would be revealed to me in my dreams, in a thousand blinks of time. Smiling at the prospect, I shut my eyes and attempt to relax. I barely hear the crack of sparks and see a flash of red before sleep takes my body. My body shuts down as my mind opens.

Chapter 4: Overthrow

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My dreams were incoherent flashes of red and screams. The distant sounds of scraping claws and breaking stone clashed against my ears as I tossed and turned like a scared, young filly. I hoped the dreams would grow into something coherent, but my beating heart and panicked brain couldn’t connect any of the images together. I sit up in the middle of the night, taking in a breath as if I had never breathed in my life. It takes me a few seconds to catch my bearings and find that I am safely in my room with a cold sweat on my face, a cold shiver roosting in my spine. A clammy sticking sensation adheres to the outside of my eyes as I blink sleepily. It is still dark outside. Off to my side, Vinyl softly lays; her hair is lying on her face, her interesting electric blue hair.

Introspection sets in as I stare at her. How did I let myself fall in love with such a mare? Even the concept of falling for a mare over a stallion had never crossed my mind. I held a high degree of pride back in the days. I told myself that I would have to pass my legacy on through a filly or colt of my own, a happy family of mushy sappiness that I loathe. My lungs inflate with another breath full of air. If only life were that simple. Love has taken me places beyond anywhere I had in my dreams. I had planned accordingly and I watched it crumble under my hooves each time. Now the largest crumble occurred, Vinyl.

I have no future of children with her. I have no way of passing my legacy or having children. Most of the time our relationship is based around our appreciation of music and our clashing interests. We argue and we kiss. The sappiness is almost non-existent as much as I pushed to create it. None of my plans were successfully executed. One plan even consisted of not letting any lover into my life, holding my standards so high that no male could ever measure up to it. I became, what Vinyl called, a snobby bitch. I hated her words, not because they were untrue, but the fact that they were true. I knew what I was creating in myself, how I pushed everypony out of my life. Even my sister hit the chopping block.

The more I hated, the more my music became famous across Equestria. Riveting, critics would declare. Emotionally driven depression in music form, they would clamor. I sat back and enjoyed the praise, the flashes of cameras, giving a fake grin to them when inside I stabbed my heart with everything I could find. Depression became the fuel for my music, and slowly, living with Vinyl, the depression faded. I was introduced to a different way of living, one that wasn’t based around connections and social standing. It was equal. It was fair. It was barbaric, and I loved it.

Instead of stabbing my own heart, I head butted ponies in the mosh pit. I kicked at them and they attempted to hit back, but with the pulsing beat and flickering lights, my identity remained unknown. My wonderful DJ orchestrated my heart slowly to her side. Vinyl took me away from my heart and stood guard next to it. Little did I know, she was repairing it, and now, I sit in my bed staring down at her with eyes glittering with tears of happiness. I never wanted kids. I never wanted a stallion to listen to and to be obligated to hug and call dear and honey. I didn’t want typical mare duties. Cleaning the house, cleaning the dishes, being a pack mule for my husband, being the earth pony I was born as? Never.

I wanted to soar through the clouds like an unrestricted pegasus. I didn’t want to be held down by gravity or society. I wanted wings so that I could take any path I chose and accomplish it with grace and beauty. Being the best cellist in the world became more than just a dream it became an addiction. Everything I heard evolved into some new rhythm, every tug on my heartstrings was another note cried along the bow of my cello. My atmosphere became my music. My dreams became my chords. My memories became my time signatures. I pause to reflect on everything and grin slightly. Who needs a plan when you’ve been to bed with Vinyl Scratch? I muffle a chuckle inside of my mouth. Vinyl shifts slightly, but her eyes never open.

“Thanks, Vi.” The words were never truer.

The covers slip from my body as I slide onto the floor, softly leaving the room with barely a noise, heading to the kitchen. Escaping earshot of my room, a tune fills my head. I recognize it well; it is my new song that I am to play at the concert for the Princesses. I listened to the two variations in it. My cello spoke the soft cries of loss and heartbreak as Vinyl’s beat represented resilience. The piece would evolve, my side dying down, as Vinyl’s would rise, giving way to the rise of an unstoppable power, the power of love. The cello would return, softly and uneasily at first, questioning the resilience, striving to find harmony between the two. They clash in harmony in the center, the beat dying, and the cello fading into a mournful outro. It will be a song of love lost and forgetting loyalty, a song about betrayal of the gentleness residing in even the most grotesque of monsters. It would be the ultimate battle of good versus evil, well, in music form anyway.

Trotting into the kitchen, the dull scent of muffins still lingers in the air, pecking at my nose, reminding my grumbling belly to search for a snack. The pantry has a few packs of clover, which I quickly devour. It is in that instant where the humming tune of my song is still playing; yet, I am no longer humming it. Instead, it is coming from the study. My hooves softly clop quietly against the ground as I inch my way across the house up to the door. My ear, pressed against the door, can hear it humming loudly on the other side. I walk in slowly, keeping my eyes peeled for anything sinister.

The humming ceases. The house grows eerily silent. Even my heart stops to try to hear for anything from the unknown source. Nothing changes. Seconds begin to feel like minutes. I take another step forward and peer into the room to see the clear flowing mane and tail moving against a bookcase. All of the books are missing where his tail flows, but as it moves from it, the books are revealed once more. He turns not toward me, but toward the window that let in a sea of twilight. He stared at the bright moon outside.

“My eyes are as white as her success.” Eyn speaks aimlessly in the room. “I cannot see anymore.” He chuckles. “I can barely feel anything anymore.”

“What do you mean?” I ask, knowing he was aware of my presence.

“I apologize for lying to you, Octavia.” His voice is the same softness as the one in his memories.

“What did you lie about?” My words come off as both caring and callous as paradoxical as that sounds.

“I am not as great a wizard as Starswirl. I couldn’t stop it from happening. I couldn’t go back in time and correct where I went wrong. I can’t forget the friendship I ruined.” Tears began to stream from his face, his head falling down. “I’m the cause for it all, but…” His head rose stiffly. “I learned a great deal about the Elements of Harmony.” His voice returned to his rigidness. Logic spoke, his emotions silenced.

“What about the Elements?” I ask, take a few steps closer to him.

“They are everywhere… They are in everypony, and every pony could use them. All it takes is a strong connection of friendship, the psychological catalyst for the whole system.” The damaged alicorn mutters. “Equal elements tend to allow for easier melding of thoughts. Elements also tend to follow a pattern of love and protection. If you do not love, then you will protect the other element. I am kindness and Luna was loyalty. You are kindness and Vinyl is loyalty. Fluttershy is kindness as Rainbow Dash is loyalty. They are each rooted in a love relationship. Mine ended in sadness, Fluttershy’s friendship, and yours unconditional love. The other Elements created their own trans-elemental relationships.” His explanation continued.

“I don’t understand.”

“Friendship isn’t just a happy feeling sensation based around companionship. It is a magic power. Starswirl knew arcane. I knew illusory, Celestia light, Luna dark, and Discord chaos. Nothing matches with the unity of a bond between two. Two is always greater than one. All six creates something magical. By the fifth year that I had lived in the presence of Celestia and Luna, Starswirl and I had drawn over a thousand diagrams of this new idea. He eventually crafted six catalyst stones, placing them in different set ups to no avail. Many combinations existed. Starswirl gave up calling the theory ridiculous, though knowing him he would return. I knew of a relationship between Luna and I. I placed Loyalty and Kindness opposite from each other.”

“What are you getting at?”

“They were the only ones I knew were correct. I looked for psychological comparisons, and eventually I had a circle, each element opposite of their relaters. I drew lines out of a desire to visual see the comparison. The star it created sat before me, an intricate web. I called the others into the room.” Eyn chuckles once more. “They thought I was crazy, but as fate would have it, they stepped next to their appropriate places. I stood at kindness, Celestia at generosity, Luna at loyalty, Discord at laughter, Ahuizotl at honesty, and Starswirl at magic. Something happened that day. A new magic was born from it.” Eyn stares thoughtfully at the moon.

“You created the Elements of Harmony?” Bafflement coursed through my head as I stared at him, unbelieving. “The magic of friendship? You have got to be kidding me.” I speak skeptically.

“You saw the shockwave that rippled through the Everfree with Twilight and her friends re-activated them, sealing Discord in a statue of stone. No other power like that exists here in Equestria. It is a power that no pony, no matter how powerful could hold. It was a power that six friends had to share. It was an ultimate power that only good could possess, a truly incorruptible, pure magic.” Eyn’s voice grew into fascination.

I stare at him, my legs shaking slightly at this wave of information.

“Who knows about this?” I ask.

“Only I know of it now. I had wiped Celestia and Luna’s memory, Ahuizotl disappeared into the jungle, Discord is a stone statue, and Starswirl… I don’t know what happened to him. He vanished without a trace shortly after my supposed death. Celestia still holds an inkling as to its power. This is why she desires friendship reports from her most faithful student, Twilight Sparkle. The studies have helped her remember, but she needs the key to unlock her memories.”

I sit and listen to him talk, taking the time to look up at the moon and enjoy its brilliance.

“One key fits all of the locks, including my own. That is where I need your help, why I am using you. One cannot find the key when they are locked in their cell. The key is always outside of it. I am locked in the same cage as the others, though you are not.”

I stare at him thoughtfully. Is he trying to compliment me, or is he trying to make me feel more important. His eyes tell me nothing, which only irritates me. I stare at the moon once more.

“It is beautiful… the moon.” I comment.

“It is loyalty… we are destined to love it.”

As I stare, the red flashes and screaming cloud over my vision once more, this time gaining the coherence and clarity to visually witness Eyn’s memories. I am immediately tossed into the choking smoke of a burning city of strange architecture. Snowflakes breeze through the smoke, becoming dirty from its soot. The screams are echo around me; the clashing of weapons on weapons can be heard before a pained scream fills the night air. Eyn walked slowly toward the castle in front of him. His head held low, but high enough to still see ahead of him.

A griffin leaps from the top of one of the rooftops, slamming its weapon down, missing Eyn only slightly. A red spark shoots from Eyn’s horn and into the griffin’s head. It jerks violently before its eyes grew glassy and unfocused. Eyn stared at him menacingly.

“Which one of you killed my parents…?” Eyn asked slowly, his voice dripping with venom.

“King of the Griffins…” spoke the griffin as if he were a zombie.

“How many of my people have you killed?” Eyn stood over the helpless griffin. Tears fell from the creature’s eyes though his body never moved.

“Sixteen of your filthy race. Mares and the young ones just the same.” The griffin was forced to tell the truth.

Eyn paused. Staring at the wretched beast that lay before him, completely under his control. Another red spark cracked down his horn.

“I want you to take your weapon… and I want you to cut your own claw off…” Eyn growled.

“Please no…” The griffin cried, but his body rose without his control. It grabbed his weapon and raised it above his head. “Have mercy…” He pleaded.

“Did you show those ‘filthy’ mares and children mercy?” Eyn spat back at him.

The griffin caught his breath just as his body brought the large axe down onto his arm, cracking the bone and cutting only halfway through.

“Oh, please stop… please…” The griffin cried out, sobbing.

“I said completely off!” The body raised the axe without flinching, snapping the claw completely off. Only the griffin’s voice was free. He screamed at the pain, crying, but unable to move.

“Y-y-you m-monster!” The creature yelled.

“Coming from someone who prizes killing defenseless mares along with her fillies and colts? You make me sick.” Another red spark shot through him.

He didn’t even speak the command. The griffin’s body moved on its won, stabbing the hilt of the axe into the cobblestone. “What are y-“ He never finished his sentence before his body swung its head down and into the blade. The rigid body raised itself once more, just barely alive and slammed itself once more into the blade. This time the remaining arm went limp. A stream of blood poured from the open wounds on the griffin’s body, forming streams through the cracks of the path. Eyn barely blinked as he walked past the gory scene toward the castle.

Eyn’s mind was clouded with a numb rage. His view on griffins plummeted quickly, and each griffin warrior that got into his way was promptly shown no mercy. No blood was in the alicorn’s hooves, all of them suicides, all of them pleading for their lives before their own weapon brutally killed them. By the time Eyn arrived at the bridge to the castle, tears were streaming down his face. The confidence in his stride began to vanish quickly and the rage settled quickly. Instead, he could only see the expressions of the griffins left in his wake. He wanted to turn back and confirm that he had performed such monstrosities, but seeing a stream of blood run past him with the sickly gurgle of a limp body sliding further down a sword, Eyn’s stomach churned. His senses restored, he vomited at the smell. Screams grew around him and a wall of fear struck him.

“Why am I here?” Eyn asked aloud, retreating with slow steps from the castle.

A flash of purple snapped in front of him. A blue triangle of a hat greeted him though a gruff voice below it bellowed. “You idiot!” In a heartbeat, Eyn felt the arcane magic take him and he was standing in the center of a room, Luna and Celestia standing before him.

Luna’s eyes were still wet from tears, but her mane was still up in her beautiful bun. Eyn stared at himself in the mirror, shocked at the tangled dirty mess that he had become. Dark spots of soot had layered itself around his eyes and dulling his coat. He also saw that his mane was no longer white, but gray. His hooves were coated in a dried red substance. Eyn stared at it, still numb from his experience.

“What were you thinking, going off alone like that?” Starswirl demanded. “You could have been killed!”

“I-“ Eyn tried to speak.

“Eyn!” Luna couldn’t hold herself back. She ran to his side, hugging his dirty form, wetting his back with her tears.

“Yes, we will have to talk to you about your abandonment of this place… along with your secret courtship with my sister…” Celestia spoke, her words cold. She left without another word. Eyn noticed a crown on her head, just as Luna had one.

“Your parents? They-“

“They are fine. They are just preparing to leave this world. Celestia and I have shown our duties in controlling the Sun and the Moon of Equestria. Three years seems to be enough practice.” Luna explained, though a tension shortened some of her consonants.

“And Celestia knowing?”

“I had to tell her for her to convince Starswirl to risk his neck for you. I couldn’t imagine losing you.” She hugged him tightly.

“And I couldn’t imagine living without you.” Eyn hugged her in return, his mind replaying the terrible atrocities occurring in the Northern Fields. He could see Luna lying in a pool of blood by those merciless cretins.

A throb in his head caused him to groan slightly, grimacing at the pain. He placed a hoof against his head to try and hold back the pain, but the needles stabbed into him.

“Eyn, are you okay?” Luna questioned, approaching him.

Starswirl stepped between them, staring at Luna. “I think you two need to give each other some space. I risked my neck to grab him when he had already over stayed his welcome.” His voice dropped slightly. “As much as I don’t agree with that assessment, the law dictates such.”

“You aren’t much for the law, Starswirl.” Eyn spoke. “What if they found out about all those unorthodox experiments you’ve done in your tower?” Eyn asked through the pain.

“Is that blackmail, Mr. Spyyr?” Starswirl asked questioningly, a smile spreading across his face.

“Not at all, but I’m sure you can relate to a similar love.”

“I love magic, will and forever. I love no other mare. As long as I have my magic, I am a content pony.” The bearded pony nodded. “I consider myself a loner.” He drug out the term loner motioning toward Eyn and Luna. “I’ll let you two be, but know that there will be trouble for your… unannounced union. The fall of the North isn’t going to help moods either.” The large hat moved in a slow shake. “I can’t save you from death.” He spoke as he trotted out of the room.

Luna and Eyn stood alone in the center of the large circular room. Some of her mane had broken from the bun, but she still kept a striking form to her. Eyn turned from her, not wishing to confront his beloved, the one he had abandoned to sate his thirst for revenge. Another stab of his headache wracked his mind.

“They are being slaughtered… my people.” Eyn trailed. “They are being slaughtered, and I can’t do anything about it. I was too afraid.” He slammed his hoof on the ground.

“Not all of us are brave. You have to persevere and know that you will rise back up to the occasion and retake your people’s land. The griffins are brutal when it comes to war, but they aren’t barbaric, they wouldn’t commit genocide on our people.” Luna spoke with strength. “I’m sure my sister will understand our courtship, just as she will understand your unannounced departure.”

“With you saying that, I can already hear her saying it.” Eyn smiled happily, Luna doing the same. “Those things you said before I left.”

“I’m sorry… I just didn’t know how to handle it. I just didn’t want you to be hurt.” Luna lowered her head away from Eyn.

The gray alicorn lifted her head with his hoof so their eyes met. “It has been almost seven years since I’ve been here and I still haven’t had the honor…” His lips pressed against Luna’s. The warmth filled his heart and the headaches quickly dissipated.

At first, Luna flinched at the kiss, but slowly her mouth relaxed. She kissed him back slowly. They separated slowly, their eyes cracking only slightly to look at each other. Luna bit her lip before speaking.

“You never cease to find a way to be kind to me.” She spoke.

“There has never been a reason for me not to.”

“So there is a reason not to care?”

“I’d rather die than accept it.”

Luna hummed with satisfaction. “I’m glad to see you are safe. Come, we have to get to the palace court and see what is going on with the treaty.”

Eyn threw off a disarming grin. “You go. I’ll catch up with you.”

Luna smiled softly to him, giving him a small peck on the lips before trotting out of the room. Eyn held his smile until she left before his legs began to shake. He collapsed onto the ground. The pain coursing through his head as it hit its apex.

You should have killed them all, Eyn. You should have made them suffer.

“No. That isn’t the right way.”

You are a coward. That is why your parents died. You were too much of a coward to save them.

“Shut up…”

Coward…

“I said shut up!” The voices in Eyn’s head nagged him. I could only sit back and watch as his guilt ridden, revenge-laden mind began to collapse. I wanted to extend my hoof to comfort him, but just as quickly as the voice came, they vanished.

The sorrow-stricken alicorn lay on the ground, sobbing.

“They’re dead… Mother… Father…” The words hurt his heart as he thrust them out of his throat. Eyn slammed his hoof against the ground, breaking the tile. “It’s all my fault…”

Slowly the broken alicorn rose, walking toward the front gate. When he stood next to the glittering gold door, he saw the Element of Kindness necklace around his neck. Eyn’s vision shot down to his neck and saw that no such jewelry was on him. Instead, his mind traced back to when they had been created. He was the first to drop from the blinding light that had lifted the others in the room. Looking into the light of the Synthesis, he had seen shadows forming. With a crack of light they had vanished.

I sat in his head, wondering what it all meant. The things that Eyn had seen were almost too much to fathom. I imagined that he had seen maybe a few things in his life and then he was tossed into the Everfree to be forgotten. Instead, I find his life to be filled with mystery and adventure, which is only ruined by the breaking form in which the memories are being presented. I can only guess what had ruined his life or the other’s lives for that matter. I knew Discord was evil, along with Luna being Nightmare Moon, but I see them as friends.

I am barely aware that I had been tossed back into the darkness of Eyn’s mind, floating toward the next pinhole, which could be at any time in his life.

“Tempus.” Eyn bows to one of the most interesting looking pony I had ever seen in my life. His flowing mane was unlike anything that I had ever witnessed. The stars in the sky shimmered in it, mimicking the body of an Ursa Major, except that everything moved, speeding up, reversing, pausing, and playing. “Gaia.” Eyn bows to the other alicorn like pony in his presence.

Her green mane didn’t just look like leaves, but they were leaves. Her fur had the appearance of bark, her back legs seemingly grown into the ground. Her tail was a flowing blue, mimicking water. The majestic traits of these ponies were unknown. Who were these ponies?

“Mother. Father.” Luna entered next, taking her place beside the kneeling Eyn who watched her enter and join his side though not bowing.

“My Lovely Luna. We can now begin.” Tempus spoke, his voice burning with masculinity. As he moved I stared at the impressive muscles built around his frame. Given his apparent age, he seemed to be doing quite well for himself.

“Eyn Spyyr, ex-Prince of the Northern Fields.”

“Excuse me? Ex-Prince, sir?” Eyn asked.

“Seeing as the Northern Fields have been given to the griffins in our treaty, your kingdom and rank is no more. Seeing as you are now only a commoner, we must permit you from your courtship with our daughter, Luna. Seeing as how I hold a high amount of respect for you, I will not set any charges for your already illegal courtship. I now simply ask you to leave this court and join the populace, we have provided you with a house and will provide unlimited provisions. Our apologies for your loss.”

Eyn stared at them in shock. “I lost my family, my land, and now you are saying that I am to be stripped as Prince of the North?” An inner fire began to churn within Eyn’s mind.

“It was part of the treaty agreement. We are only upholding the order of the land.” Tempus spoke.

“We apologize for your loss, Eyn Spyyr, but this war had to find a peaceful resolution.” Gaia explained.

I felt my own heart sinking at this injustice. Eyn’s sorrow began to spark into rage. “How could you even make such an agreement without any say from me?” Eyn’s voice had broken the respectable tone, but I knew he had lost any care and respect for the King and Queen of Equestria.

“We did not make this treaty. Our eldest daughter created the treaty. If you have any qualms, address her. We feel for your loss and will try our best to help you in anyway possible.” Gaia added, stopping Tempus who had grown irate at Eyn’s defiant voice.

“Celestia?” Eyn’s eyebrows rose as his rage shifted to her. “I apologize for my outburst. I hope that you can understand and forgive my reaction.” Eyn bowed hurriedly.

“Eyn…” Luna tried to comfort him.

“Luna, stay here. We have to talk about your new responsibilities and independence. Your mother and I will-“ Eyn shut the door to the main hall of the palace. His mind set on one alicorn, one he saw immediately on the balcony.

“Eyn, I wanted to talk to you about the-“ Celestia’s worried appearance spoke volumes of how she felt about the decision made.

“I thought we were friends. I gave your family everything, but apparently that wasn’t enough. Why? Was it because of Luna and me? Did that anger you? Are you jealous of your sister and to break us apart you had to sacrifice my royalty to end your war?” Eyn demanded to her, his fire boiling just below the surface of his skin.

“I tried my best, Eyn. My parents were supposed to take this diplomatic course of action, and then it was tossed into my saddle. The griffins told me of things that you did when you went there. Those are unforgiveable crimes, Eyn.”

“And killing women and children isn’t?” Eyn snapped back. A slight tinge of red took over his eyes.

“Two wrongs don’t make a right… I would expect the Element of Kindness to understand that. I was hard-pressed to stop them. They would only stop their war if they were given the Northern Fields and that you had your power stripped.” Her words are distant. She tries her best to comfort him, but he pushes her away.

“Our friendship is on thin ice, Celestia…” He grinded through his teeth as a tear fell from his face.

Celestia’s eyes had already broken with tears, but a lump in her throat wouldn’t allow any other words escape her mouth. Eyn pivoted and trotted angrily down the steps and out of the palace, the large doors, slamming shut behind him. Eyn moved without reason or goal through the streets of the royal city.

You deserve your revenge, Eyn.

“I don’t believe in revenge.”

You should show the kindness of mercy and kill them quick. Think how they must have slowly killed the women and children. They probably enjoyed it.

“Shut up. Shut up. Shut up.” Eyn was speaking to himself, the crowd turning to him.

You know I am right.

“No.”

You know I am.

“Leave me alone.”

“It’s hard to leave yourself alone.” Eyn spoke to himself.

The alicorn’s heart stopped as he stared blankly in front of him. He couldn’t believe the words that escaped his mouth.

“What? Parasprite caught your tongue?” The ex-Prince’s voice was hoarse.

“What’s going on?” Eyn asked.

“You are finally coming to terms with who you are, a murderer.”

Eyn flew into the air to escape the earshot of the staring bystanders.

“Who are you?”

“Everything has an opposite and you were the only one to see our creation.”

“You didn’t answer my question.”

“Otherworldly entities… spawned from the light and power generated from the Elements of Harmony.”

“What do you want?” Eyn asked, his voice quivering.

“To see the world burn.”

From the height that Eyn had achieved, he looked toward the North to see rising smoke from camps being formed in a forest that held a striking appearance to the Everfree. The griffins were using the treaty as a shield so that they could attack the Capital.

I told you they needed to die.

Chapter 5: Rising Six

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Birds chirped as a ray of sunlight hit my closed eyelids. I open them to find that I had fallen asleep on the floor in the study. Eyn wasn’t in the room anymore, nor did I feel his presence in my life. I cock my head back to my flank to see the scar on my flank. I hated it before, but now it only invokes thoughts of sadness and pity for an alicorn that lost everything. Worst of all, is knowing that he was going to lose more, his eyesight, horn, and leg. I no longer feared him. I no longer wished to stop him from whatever he had planned. I looked around the room with an absentminded swivel. The first item that caught my eye was my cello, something that I needed to touch, something I needed to hear sing to me.

I lift my bow and take my stand, sliding the bow across the string. A deep tone filled the room as the notes to my song came back to me. I perform the song with the highest degree of form and expression in it, leaning into the more powerful strokes. My eyes remain shut as the images of Eyn’s friends look at him, their smiles fading to that of dismissal. He runs to Luna, the large gates closing in around him. Heart quickens, strokes increase, and intensity rises. The doors slam and the bow slips from my hoof capturing the tragic story. Managing not to drop the bow, I reset it on my hoof, letting the silence sink into the room.

A soft flitter of the high strings creates the sensation of tears falling on the strings, a heart wrenching sadness of love lost, the draining of a broken heart. My motions dissolve from fluidity to broken jerks, the mood changing once again to rage. The song flip-flops between sadness and angry, mimicking Eyn’s broken psyche or whatever was talking to him. My eyes slowly open as a realization began to creep up my hooves and into my spine. The music slowed, but it played in my mind, finishing the piece, just as Eyn had finished my sentences.

“No…” I gallop over to the sheet music and listen to the tune simply by staring at the notes.

Tones and rhythms mimicked the memories in which Eyn had showed me. More surprising is when his mind began exhibiting two different tones as if he had split into two different ponies the same time as my song splits to include Vinyl’s melodies.

“You sneaky alicorn…” I shake my head, placing both hooves on each side of the desk, shaking my head.

“You’re up early… playing too.” Vinyl yawns as she enters the room.

I can’t tell if her hair is styled or if she has bed head, but her eyes are still squinted with sleep. She jumps onto one of the beanbag chairs she had tossed into the corner a few weeks before.

“What was your inspiration for the opening of our piece?” I ask, staring at her section of the music.

Her head perks up slightly before settling back onto the side of her seat. “Rebellion. You had this classy, prim, and proper tone about you that ended strangely tragically. I wanted your tones to rise back into the fray with a bit of a rebellious build up of thought.”

Puzzle pieces clicked into place, the image of the puzzle growing into a concrete pattern. Alicorn of inspiration, of course he could make me write anything he wanted. I want to scrap it as I stare at it, but slowly a realization falls over my eyes. He didn’t write it just as he didn’t force Luna to gain a cutie mark in raising the moon. He gave them a purpose and focus to work with. Everything that those created was their own creation.

“Coincidence?” I ask, aloud, to myself.

“What?” Vinyl groaned, turning onto her back, her legs straight up in the air like a dog wanting for her belly to be scratched.

“I’ve been having visions of Eyn’s life, different moments in his life.” I start. “I can’t hate him. I can’t blame him. He lost everything.” I continue.

“Of course he lost everything. He became evil and was banished to the Everfree. Then he used us to escape from his prison so he can haunt your dreams and carve ugly scars into your body.” Vinyl’s voice grew in anger.

“He means well. He has to mean well.” I stare at her.

“Is this like Stocks-holm Syndrome?” The white unicorn caught a wave of energy as she tossed back to stare at my upright.

“He was the old holder of the Element of Kindness. He could make ponies kill themselves, but he doesn’t. Instead he gives ponies like us inspiration to keep our careers afloat. He’s planned it all.” I raise my eyebrows.

“You are thinking too much about him, Tavi. He is an old and broken alicorn. If he comes to hurt Celestia or Luna, they will quickly put him down.” She hit her hoof against the other.

“I don’t see him trying to hurt, Luna. He loved her in his youth. As for Celestia…” I nod reluctantly. “He may want her dead.”

“Exactly. The Eyn that deserved the Element of Kindness died one thousand years ago at the bottom of a crater.”

“Why are you acting this way? Eyn’s hurting and you hold him in a more contemptuous view?”

“Listen to yourself, Tavi, Eyn this, Eyn that. What about us? We had our time together only a few times. We even managed to have a night of drunken festivities and a bath together, but you seem more focused on Eyn. When you said he had died, I hoped it was true… sort of.” The last part seemed to break her character. “Listen, I’m not trying to sound cruel, but I don’t trust a pony who carves his mark into my marefriend’s flank as if it were a brand. The icing on the cake being his ability to constantly invade your head and control you.”

“Control me? He doesn’t control me.” I am offended.

“I left here early, trying to get us an early breakfast. Seeing that you weren’t in bed, I searched around and found you staring out the window, blank expression on your face, your eyes glazed over with his white blind eyes. I tried. I tried to ignore it, but when I arrive at the bakery they ask me why you were acting so weird. I questioned them and they say that you came into their bakery with the same glazed appearance. They asked about you eyes, but you left without a word. He is walking you around tone, making you stare at random things.” Vinyl’s voice evolved from anger to worry. “Eyn doesn’t mean well. If he did, he wouldn’t have to use you as a thrall.”

“He was helping me get home.” I retort.

“Did he tell you to say that? Hay, he might be indirectly controlling me. You seem to think that way with our concert now. I just don’t like feeling like I am pawn in something that isn’t our fight.” Vinyl admitted, her tone falling to a soft sigh.

After a long pause I ask. “So you don’t want to have the concert?”

She laughs. “Are you kidding me? Playing my music for the Princesses and getting top billing. You can count me in. I just want you to be safe when dealing with Eyn. I don’t want to lose you again. Now, enough with this crappy sappy stuff and lets get to harmonizing this orchestral remix.” She clops her hooves together. “Bring your stuff upstairs and lets see what we can come up with.”

We take only a few minutes to carry my cello up the stairs and into her room. Miscellaneous lights and varying inventions Vinyl had created scattered the room. Wires of varying colors littered the floor, hooked into various machines and amps. I knew she would take hours of days, locking herself in her room. I know am allowed to see her various inventions, the most notable being a collection of various large squares and a camera that had its guts ripped out and a tentacle line of wires leading into it.

“Check this.” She says, jumping over a toolbox.

She opens presses a button and the camera comes to life. I listen to the room hum with life. I also notice other cameras hooked onto different corners of the room. Vinyl smirks and looks around the room as if it were filling with her favorite form of energy. The large squares blink with light before revealing a larger image of the back of Vinyl’s head, me standing over her shoulder.

“You like?” She smirks, peering into the camera, the image being tossed onto the larger square, though it was broken, like much of the image was still missing. The other squares, like puzzle pieces held the other parts of the camera’s image. “Live feeds and an extended backdrop projector with…” She trails off, jumping toward another section of the room. The screen distorted and flashed. “…Varying effects of pure awesomeness.” Vinyl chuckles at her inventions.

“How did you make all of this?” The greatest scientists of Equestria would be jealous at Vinyl’s ingenuity.

“It all came to me in a dream…” She laughs. “If you build it, they will have their socks blown from their hooves!” She smirks.

I didn’t want to remind her that this was probably Eyn’s idea and that he had influenced her in her dreams, though no pony would have been able to piece such an idea together except Vinyl. Sometimes I felt she was borderline insane, but it was fitting to her character.

“This is impressive, Vinyl. I’m sure Canterlot will never forget this concert.” I look at my dusty cello. “I’m sure once I give the old girl a polish that she will outshine your giant… squares.” A grin cracks on the side of my mouth.

“Bring it on, snooty hooves.” She winks at me. I can’t help, but smile.

I pull out my bow and point it at her. “Then let us begin, Ms. Scratch.”

“Please, it’s DJ PON3.” Her head phones snapped over her ears as her glasses slid into place.

Our different styles clash quickly though it immediately converts into the harmonic explosion that we had grown to love. The tensions of the morning quickly faded as I played my heart out, Vinyl falling straight in key as I fell in rhythm with her. Even the most musically trained pony’s ear would not be able to pick out which of us was the leader of the piece. I admit, I couldn’t tell.

We arrive at the apex of my build. I let the bow slip as it did this morning. The seeming fault in style broke a perfection transition to the pulsing distortion that Vinyl created. Cracking an eye, Vinyl nods to me with a grin that exemplifies her approval of my improvisation, and as a means of showing me up, she blasted her own improvisation. The build of her part exploded with character, a strange rage, and a blast of rebellion. I grab the chance and hold a long, high note of fear and worry that remained overshadowed by Vinyl blaring bass.

The rest of the practice grinds out to the finish. We stop at once, the room falling in silence, though my head screamed with applause. I could feel the heat of the stage lights glaring on my brow as I hold my ground, finally opening my eyes to view the roaring crowd, bowing to their appreciation and generosity. I’d be in my rightful place as the grand cellist of Canterlot’s 8th Symphony with this blast of advertisement of my skill. I could even see Vinyl’s career gaining a large boost with enough sponsors to upgrade the house though I could see her blowing it on booze and alcohol as a means of celebrating. It was the few moments when being a strong earth pony came in handy for carrying Vinyl back to the house when she would pass out.

“Wow…” Vinyl broke the silence. “I think we have something here, Tavi.”

“Then we will have to thank our fairy tale inspiration friend.” I smirk.

“I admit he isn’t that bad of a pony, but that doesn’t make him a pal. He helped you, saved your life, and is now fast-tracking our careers.” Vinyl pauses for a second. “But he wants something out of this. He isn’t one to just do all of these good deeds without planning something.”

I didn’t want to admit that she was probably right. I had seen how Eyn would only give without any reward to himself, but the last images I had of him, he seemed to have been striving for one. The only thing he had ever wanted for himself, something that he wasn’t going to let go, or stop fighting for. His intentions felt sincere and good though something never clicked with his actions. The doorbell echoed through the house.

“I’ll get it.” I tell Vinyl, setting my cello off to the side.

Trotting to the front door, I brush my hair to be a bit more presentable. I open the door. For only brief second I see only a large blue hat, but right as I blink I find it is only Lyra. My heart skips a beat as I try to collect my thoughts. I knew I had seen a large blue hat, and I had seen that hat before.

“Sup, Octavia?” Lyra asks.

Bonbon walks into view, following Lyra as they enter my house. As I am closing the door I hear distant yelling. I poke my head out to see a gray pegasus with golden hair carrying shaking and frightened brown ball. Ditsy lands in front of the door, laughing hysterically. The brown ball unfolds into Doctor Whooves, beads of sweat resting on his brow.

“Are we back on the ground?” He turns around and faces the ground. “Oh sweet Celestia…” The earth pony begins kissing the ground. “Thank you…”

“You are such a goofy pony, Doctor.” She nuzzles his nose. “I thought you enjoyed flying when you were me and I you.”

“Where did you get that crazy thought? Was it between me yelling ‘help me’?” The Doctor questioned. “Oh, Octavia. It is a pleasure to meet you. We were down the street some ways and heard the rattling of glass. Ditsy said it had to be Vinyl trying to change the molecular structure of a muffin.” He shakes his head.

He opens the bag over back. A young unicorn head poked out, jumping down to the ground.

“Hello Lady Octavia.” Dinky spoke.

“You can just call me Octavia. No lady required.”

“I thought you were a special somepony with DJ PON3.”

My face grows in heat. “What does that have to do with anything?” I ask, chuckling defensively.

“You said ‘no lady required, yet you have Vinyl.” Dinky smirks.

“My, what a clever pony you have.” I found such a statement to be adorable and appealing. I figured since I wouldn’t be having a filly or colt of my own, or at least, not with Vinyl, that I would have to settle with Dinky. I would be able to keep up with my busy lifestyle and maintain a decent sanity level without having a kid here permanently.

“She is quite the bundle of joy. She gets in all kinds of trouble just like her mother.” As if on cue, I hear something fall inside of the house.

“My bad…” Ditsy says.

“Lyra and Bonbon are already here so come on in. It is nice to be with friends.” With the knowledge that Eyn had shown me, I could feel the strange sensations that began to fill my as what apparently were the other elements in my presence. I didn’t know which Elements the others were, I just knew that I was kindness, Vinyl was loyalty, and Ditsy was laughter. Bonbon, Lyra, and Doctor were still questionable, though I assumed Lyra would be magic.

The ponies enter my house and crowd into the living area. Vinyl had jumped down the stairs and joined the turmoil of the small crowd. We didn’t have any food to cook up or hoof out. I stare at Lyra thoughtfully. The blink of the blue hat had me questioning if Eyn had tried to push another blink of memory back into my head or if he was trying to tell me something about Lyra. I didn’t know much about her life. I had never asked her about it, nor how Bonbon and Lyra even met.

“This is like a party.” Lyra exclaimed, looking around the room. “The gang is all here.”

“Yeah, but why are you here? The concert isn’t for two days.” Vinyl questioned.

“We came to wish you luck, of course. Hang out for a bit. We don’t get to hang out much, and Bonbon’s Bonbon Shop is closed for a few days so work has ended.” Lyra beams.

“You barely work as it is.” Bonbon chimes.

“I play the waiting music and help transfer your cookie sheets. I even clean up at closing.”

“I know you do.” She smiles and flips her tail onto Lyra’s back causing her to blush.

“So you want to go do something as you wait for the concert?” I ask.

“We just wanted to have a nice day with out friends. We don’t hang out enough as it is.” Lyra explains.

“Woo-hoo!” Ditsy hoof pumps the sky. “Muffin eating contest, loser pays.”

“Yeah! None of you can beat mother.” Dinky giggles.

Ditsy picked her daughter up and laughed with her, spinning into the air.

Imagining the Elements of Harmony in each of us unsettles me. I had witness to Rarity and her friends activating the power of friendship, six friends with the power to stop disharmony, the same as us, six friends.

“What a horrible scar.” Bonbon points out.

I had hoped that no pony would have noticed it. I should have covered it up, but it would have only drawn more attention to it.

“Yeah…” I sigh.

“Have you been to the spa to have it worked on?”

“No.” I could see where the conversation was going.

“Spa group date?” Bonbon giggles.

The room roared with approval except for me. The scar is an embarrassment, something where the attention to my character vanishes and attention on my body becomes prevalent. I dislike such a trait. It was the main reason I dumped the countless suitors that showed up back stage after my performances. Turns out that my stance as I hold my cello gives a nice contour of my fit body. The dirtiest ponies I have found have been from the ritzy shows in the upper crust concerts of various cities. When I sit in at Vinyl’s DJ concerts, I had my fair share of what the high class would refer to as dirt. Instead of commenting on my ‘rocking body’ most would talk about the music and learn about my tastes. It was one of the first instances that made me appreciate the underground more than the upper crowd, though my music wasn’t popular among the lower ponies.

I held myself high in the realm of self-image. I know I am attractive. I know that I have a series of stallions see me as a challenge to conquer. I enjoy their futile efforts and find their hopeless attraction to be a boost to my ego. Recently, I have found an appreciation for watching their faces when I say that I am already seeing a pony, one that can sate my taste for action. Their minds carry them into the gutter while I see the club scene.

“You want to go, Octavia?” Bonbon asks.

“Of course. I might as well try to get this mark removed from my body. Best to look my best on our big day.” I wink to Vinyl. She grins and chuckles slightly.

Our trip to the spa is short with random chatter from Lyra and Bonbon. Dinky hums a tune as her mother joins her. Doctor joins eventually. I walk beside Vinyl, but we do not talk to each other, there wasn’t much to talk about. Vinyl is okay with the spa, even envious of some of the hairstyles that the owners can concoct like Cloudchaser’s new hairstyle.

“Do you think they could give me that hairstyle?” Vinyl asks me.

“Wouldn’t you be then following Cloudchaser?”

Vinyl walks in silence. “Yeah…”

“Then she would be cooler than you and we wouldn’t want that now would we?” I explain.

“My hair is cooler anyway. Nothing can beat this!” Vinyl’s tone changes quickly as she shakes her head, her mane moving as if lightning were coursing through it.

The corners of my mouth lift at her change of heart. The spa workers are quick to get us into the back. Lyra and Bonbon immediately ease their way into the hot tub. Some of the staff guide Ditsy to a table and begin giving her a hooficure. Dinky jumps into the table beside her and wiggles her small hooves at the working ponies. Doctor looks around at the spa. From my knowledge, this had been the first time he had been inside of the spa. Two workers pushed him along, closing the door to the sauna.

Vinyl and I trot to the curative therapies where a lone unicorn sits staring at a magazine. The glasses rest precariously on her nose as she dozes in and out of consciousness.

“Excuse me?” I try to catch her as she is awake, but she doesn’t respond off-hand. “Excuse me, miss?” I try to keep my temper under control.

“Oh, yes.” She nearly knocks the glasses from her face as her attention clicks onto me. “What can I do for you?”

“Yes I have these nasty scars that I would like removed as quickly as you can manage. I have a very important concert to give to the Princesses in two days.”

“Let’s see it, deary.” Her mood lightens instantly. I question if it is part of their contract to remain cheery.

I walk to the side, lifting my hind leg to show her the yin yang carving. Her eyes widen slightly at the damage, but she takes it in strife. “This one will be difficult. Please come into the back.” She walks behind the curtains to the spa. It is a room that I have never been inside.

“I’ll be out here having my hair smoothed and electrified. I need to get these highlights improved on and a hooficure. Relax, Tavi.” She smiles and trots off to hot tub to soak first.

“Thanks, Vinyl.” I whisper under my breath before turning to the curtain. “Here we go…”

The curtain slides past my flanks as I enter the dark room. Inside a few curtains were burning as a large pool of pink liquid bubbled in the middle.

“Step inside. We will have to begin immediately to get these buffed out before your concert.” Her back was facing me, but I did what I was told and stepped slowly into the soothing liquid.

The muscles in my body relax quickly at the same time it felt as it constricted my breathing. I stare at the therapist and she mixes a few more herbs, hitting it with some magic before tossing it into the pool. The color changed to a pleasant blue. I instantly began to feel the scars burn and tingle.

“Now you just have to relax and those nasty scars wi-“ her voice stopped mid sentence.

I turn back to her and saw her mouth hung open, but she didn’t move. Her mouth slowly closes and her head falls down to meet my eyes.

“You can remove the physical scars, but my mark will remain.” Eyn’s voice spoke in unison with the unlucky therapist’s.

“Then it won’t matter if I have them healed up… Why go through the trouble of possessing another pony just to tell me something like that?” I question.

“I didn’t want any loose ends, or witnesses. A trained therapist such as this pony would catch on to my plan immediately.”

“What are you doing?” I no longer fear the strange alicorn.

“Fixing a wrong that I have committed against you.” The ghostly image of Eyn traces itself around the controlled therapist.

He lowers his horn into the pool, just touching the liquid causing it to turn a pure white. I instantly feel my flank sear with pain. I hoof at the exit steps, but a magical force grips me and pulls me further into the liquid. I try to scream out, but a vice holds my mouth down. I squirm with my legs, but I can’t feel any escape. Tears fill my eyes as the constricting magic tightens my lungs. I try to look around the room, but an intense amount of airflow filled the room, extinguishing the candles.

“I am so sorry… Please forgive me.” Eyn says.

The pain becomes too much. Even with my mouth roped shut, I scream and try to squirm harder. Tears of pain fall from my face. Pins and needles stabbed into my flank followed closely by knives, swords, pikes, and spears. My heart raced from the pain. I try to find solace in the last good memory I had.

“Relax, Tavi.” I hear Vinyl repeat in my head.

I try my best to relax given the pain in hopes that I would forget about it. It is a long shot idea, but there is nothing else at my disposal. My legs slowly stop kicking before I feel the pain disappear. I open my eyes to find the liquid had turned back into the pink foam. The therapist was laying on the edge of the pool, her head draped over the edge. Her chest still moved with breath, sending a wave of relief through my body at the same that I can finally breathe.

I climb out of the pool, my flank soar from the pain. I limp out until I am free from the warm grasp of the pool. I look at my flank and see that the skin had restored along with all the fur returning. The scars are completely gone.

I breathe slowly, trying to slow my heart so that I could question Eyn’s counter-intuitive actions. He carves the symbol in me only to heal it instantly here? Was it a lesson in pain? Was it a lesson about the pain he felt? He sounded genuinely sorry for my suffering. I try to toss all of the questions into the back of my mind and stretch out my leg so as not to show the limp. I try not to think about it. I take what I got.

Walking through the curtains, I squint at the brighter lights of the main room. As my vision adjusts, I see that I am outside, standing at the gates of the castle.

“Open up! I have to speak with the King and Queen!” Eyn yells up at the guards.

“Under royal order you are now considered a commoner. All requests must be delivered through magic letters addressed to Princess Celestia or Princess Luna.” The guard yelled back. “I’m sorry, Eyn. I wish I could give you some sort of leniency…”

“Can you tell the King and Queen that the griffins are coming? This is urgent.” Eyn yells back.

A pause breaks from the guard who stares down at Eyn. “If I lose my job…” He gallops off toward the castle.

Eyn stood at the bottom of the gate, staring at the intricate designs on it. Seconds evolved into minutes before the gate creaked open, only slightly. The guard poked his head out, looking around before stepping aside, letting Eyn into the castle courtyard.

“They will see you.” The guard bowed his head.

“Thank you. You are a kind friend. I would not ask this of you if it wasn’t important.” Eyn bowed to him. The guard stiffened and shifted his legs uneasily.

“Now, now. I am just a guard. Someone of your stature shouldn’t be bowing to me. It should be me bowing to you.” The guard spoke stiffly.

“I am only a commoner because of the agreement Celestia made. You are of higher rank than me.” Eyn and the guard walked together to the stairs leading to the main hall.

“I think that such a distinction was poorly agreed upon. My Princesses gave in too much in that agreement.” His voice hushed.

“Such words are treasonous in nature. Best to keep such opinions to yourself… no matter how true they are.” Eyn’s countenance tightened as they climbed the last flight of decorative stairs. Their hooves clopped off of the fine white marble floors. Nothing felt different with his gait as he approached the main chamber in a comfortable stride. The doors opened without fault, a flowing rainbow mane walked out.

“Eyn Spyyr, back already?” her voice shook slightly.

“Am I inconveniencing you?” He asked genuinely with a hint of bitter resentment.

“No. I was just bidding farewell to my parents.” It was the first moment that Eyn saw her eyes was wet with tears.

Eyn’s bitterness evaporated. “Farewell? I thought they…?” Eyn watched her eyes fall away as he spoke. His heart snagged his lungs. “How?”

“It was just their time… I felt them evaporate in my hooves. They’ve passed on.” Celestia spoke.

Part of Eyn smiled with the just desserts. If his family had to die, then it would have been fair for the one who condemned him to a life of common, removing the last bit of power he had. No control in their loss and forced to accept it, but this part wasn’t content with her just losing her parents, he wanted her to have her power stripped and see how she felt. Another side of Eyn rose up and drove the thoughts from his head.

“I’m so sorry, Celestia… I know how you feel. I give my greatest condolences.” Eyn bowed his head to her.

“You are too kind as an alicorn to bow to me. I’ve only shown myself to make poor decisions, but that will change.” Her stance tightened and she stood tall. “I will make my parents proud of me.”

“Eyn?” The gray alicorn heard Luna’s voice from within the castle with her hooves clopping to the door.

“Luna, this isn’t your business.” The doors shut behind her. Eyn raised his hoof to the door and stared at Celestia in shock. “Now explain yourself.”

“I…” Eyn dragged out feeling the rage returning. “The griffins are approaching for a sneak attack. They have taken refuge within the blinding barrier of the Everfree’s Canopy.”

“This doesn’t have to deal with your discrimination or revenge against the griffin race does it?” Celestia asked.

“What? No. Yes, I don’t trust them, but it’s rooted in truth. They are going to attack while we believe peace has been won, maybe even taking the death of your parents as a distracting factor.” Eyn explained.

Celestia listened and nodded before turning to him. “During my meeting with the King of the Griffins he told me what his troops saw you doing to their people. I should toss you in the dungeon for such barbaric behavior. I couldn’t believe it when I heard that you had been the one committing these atrocities, but only one pony in Equestria can make any other living creature do that, and that is you and your psychological magic. I let you off easy, sparing your life and giving you freedom, but this only puts into question your reliability of your element. You were not kind to those griffins. You were brutal, mean, and cruel. If you are trying to cause another war between the griffins so that you can get revenge for your parents, then I may reconsider my generosity in sparing you. I will trust you as a friend and send out a scouting party to check. If they find nothing, you will hear from my guards.” Celestia turned and opened the door.

“Eyn!” Luna yelled from the door opening.

“Luna, I l-“ The door shut quickly. Eyn pressed his head against the door. “Love you…”

No rage remained. Instead, heartbreak only existed. A harsh reality of the barrier built between the two ground itself into his lungs as he tried to hold back tears. Nodding with a sense of accomplishment. He left the castle grounds without another word, the gate dissolving into darkness as I was tossed back into Eyn’s empty mind. I awaited the pinhole of the next section to his story. I hummed my song, trying to ignore the constriction of not having a body. I hummed it loudly. Loud enough that I barely realized that Eyn was humming it with me, his heart thumping with fear. Locked with constricting chains hanging in a room of pure darkness. I could feel dry tears on his cheek and a tightened feeling around the horn on his head. A bright light filled the room, blinding Eyn as he turned away from it.

“You shouldn’t have created those Elements, Eyn. You should have been the first to realize that with every action there is an equal and opposite reaction.” The blurry form of a griffin enters the room, but something is off.

Eyn had spoke to the King before, but this wasn’t the dialect or words of the King. It was far darker and crueler than the more intelligent words of the King.

“You should have listened to me. You should have stopped resisting me. Then again, I have to thank you for getting me close to this power griffin.

Eyn’s head jerked up quickly. “You…”

“Is it hard to recognize your own voice or your own thoughts when they are being projected through another?” The voice cracked with laughter. “He came to me and promised me more than just the Northern Fields. I couldn’t argue with such a deal, and now he helped me get you.” The King’s voice returned before the darkness returned to his eyes. “I am King Cruel. You and that brilliant scientist created all six of us.”

“Six?” Eyn’s voice stammered.

“Six good and six bad, the ultimate universal harmony. Then again, my colleagues and I believe that such a balance can be broken. All it takes is the death of the other holders. Discord should be taking care of the city’s defenses now.” His laughter dripped with venom. “I’m sure you would like to have your beloved Luna’s body given to you after we are done.”

Chapter 6: Depravity

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Just as the last memory flashed in front of my eyes, another rises out in quick succession, pulling the breath out of my non-existent lungs. Living two lives, seeing two different areas of time through two different eyes were taking its toll on me. I just wanted to sleep instead of being dragged into these memories. Equally as they annoyed me, they enthralled me. Eyn’s actions in the present only caused me to know what he was planning. It had to be one of the most intricate revenge plots if he started it one thousand years ago. Even the fact that he was still supportive of the royal princesses despite having everything taken from him, seemed odd, but the strange clicks in his personality were growing more frequent.

Eyn walked through the dismal streets of the lower city, apparently the slums. The rain cast a heavy shroud over his surroundings as the dark brown cloak protected his fur from it. He turned just enough to the side small trinket shop’s glass window, showing me his reflection. The brown cloak was the one that I saw him wearing in the woods, though this appeared far newer and didn’t have any holes in it. He stared at the glass, his breath heavy with tears or exhaustion. He turned slowly pulling his flank into view.

I quickly began to feel the searing pain coursing through his body as he stared at his cutie mark, one that wasn’t the yin yang of the present, but two concentric circles. Focus rings, some of the girls down at the spa would draw them and try to push a meditative relaxation method to calm me before my concerts. I preferred to just slide the bow across each individual strings, letting their voices resonate with my nerves, softly bringing them down to a calm.

His cutie mark pulsed and glowed with a white light. Eyn cringed and swayed as he tried to hold his balance amid the growing pain. Tears filled his eyes. he cringed and lost his footing on his front legs. He fell into a puddle. The cold rainwater soothed his body only briefly before he rolled onto his back and kicked into the air. His pain was unbearable, stealing my breath and making my heart cringe and cry out. He screamed as I screamed at the pain. Through the tears I saw the center circle pulse and begin to split, one white and the other black.

“Eyn… If you can’t do what needs to be done then I will do it for you.” A voice within Eyn’s head growled.

“No. I won’t hurt anyone.” Eyn cringed and cried as he watched two sides of the small circles change colors.

The white circle was surrounded by darkness just as the dark circle was encircled by white. His head fell into the puddle, obscuring his view from his changing cutie mark.

“You have to fight for your power.” The voice spoke.

“No fighting. I’ll fix it. It’ll work out.” Eyn spoke.

“Celestia took her away from you.”

“No.”

“She’s a princess and you are commoner. She took her away.”

“Shut up!” Eyn looked back at his flank as it turned and pulsed between light and dark.

“Your beloved Luna…” It spoke in a soft whisper against his ear.

“Shut up!” An explosion of power pulsed from Eyn, dissolving the hanging sign and part of the wall.

Red sparks began to shoot from his horn and eyes.

“You want to kill her…” The voice continued.

“Never!” Another wave of force hit him.

“Let me in…”

Eyn shot a wall of force all around him, halting the sound of water around him and rattling the walls of the abandoned buildings around him. He fell to his knees just as a crash of rain fell onto his shoulders, his head slumped and his breathing heavy. Small red sparks cracked on the outside edges of his cloak before they fizzled out in a small pop. The fallen prince raised his head as he coughed as if he had been drowning. He stared down into the puddle, tears falling from his face as a darker liquid began to drip into the water.

A flash of lightning lit the water just enough to see the red tint of blood and his reflection. Lines of blood had started to run from the base of his horn. Equally, I saw the blood draining from his eyes as he fell into the puddle, a wave of sickness filling him. Dark shadows danced in front of his face as he turned his attention up to their source. A dark shape stood over him, yellow glowing eyes glaring down at him. A menacing force emanated from the darkness swirling around the strange shape.

“Impressive…” Came a soft mare’s voice from the dark shape above him.

“Wh… who are you?” Eyn mustered through his bouts of weakness and sickness.

“Quorra. You may know me as the Element of Corruption, for you were the one who saw my creation when you unlocked the secrets of Friendship magic. A potent force not meant for no single pony, no. Instead it is split between harmonic fields of six subsections. You were Kindness my fallen princess.” The dark pony explained.

“Why are you telling me this?” Eyn whispered.

“I have a great deal of respect for you Eyn Spyyr of the Northern Fields, though you are not my topic of interest. I am interested in the one called Starswirl the Bearded.” Quorra responded, not menacingly, but curiously.

“You sound like him…” Eyn breathed heavily, coughing up more blood.

“And you sound quite the opposite of Cruel.” Quorra turned away, but looked back toward Eyn, her eyes rising in curiosity. “Far better looking as well.” She looked around the alleyway at the damage created before walking up to Eyn, a soft glow of black magic forming around her and lifting Eyn up to his feet. She stared into his eyes, inches from his face. “I wonder…” Before Eyn could question her motives, her lips pressed against his. It felt as if the life was draining from him, but at the same time he saw the darkness moving away from the strange creature’s face revealing a soft blue-green shade of color before she snapped back, retreating back into the darkness.

“What do you look like under that darkness?” Eyn questioned.

“A mystery that even this mare will never know.” She nodded as she stepped back into the darkness. “But maybe an alicorn like yourself will one day know. Starswirl will know more than any other.” She faded from view just as the voices of others filled the alleyway. Eyn fell back from the puddle as the magic vanished around him. He collapsed and tried to stand, but the lights in his eyes flickered and faded before falling dim.

I woke up with the view of the spa coming into view. My hoof hits the ground just on the other side of the curtain from the back as the others wave me over. I throw them a disarming smile as I flash my completely healed flank at them. I am greeted with cheers and Vinyl waving me over to the hot tub.

“Wow! That fast, eh?” She speaks, kicking her hooves in the water as foil is wrapped into her hair.

“Yeah… She whipped up a strange concoction like bath thing, did some strange unicorn magic and this was the result.” I say.

“Dang, impressive. I get to have metal put into my hair before I get the good ol’ electro hair treatment.” Vinyl smiles from behind her sunglasses.

“Are you ready, Ms. Scratch?” The spa girl asks.

“As ready as I always am.” She smiles.

The spa worker’s horn glows as she hits Vinyl’s head with bolt of electrical magic, the edges standing up on end before the foil fell off. The blue and light blue had reached a brighter apex of glory, and the familiar electrical spike returned.

“Ah… That feels so much better.” Ten bits rises from the water and is exchanged to the spa worker. “Your usual tip. I will put in a good word for you to management.”

“You are the greatest, Ms. Scratch.” She smiles as she moves onto the next client.

“I always wondered how you got that electric flow into your hair.” I mention, easing my way into the soothing waters of the hot tub. “This feels wonderful.” I didn’t want to admit that my flanks were burning and the hot water had soothed the pain from them.

“I don’t think Eyn wants to murder the princesses.” I hush my voice.

“Why is that?” She asks, leaning in toward me.

“I don’t know. He had a struggle back when he was young with some strange forces. One of them is Quorra and she called another Cruel. Something is going on with Eyn and that cutie mark of his.”

“The yin yang? I thought it had to do with his power to give and take inspiration.”

“I now believe it has to do with something more, something to do with like an anti-force to the Elements of Harmony.” I say.

“You are sounding like a class a detective, Tavi. You learned all of this when you do that… memory viewing thing?” She asks, thinking about it briefly though she doesn’t appear too interested in my ideas.

“This is important, Vinyl.”

“Will this help thwart his evil plans or is it more of a reason for us to feel sorry for him.” Vinyl passes off gruffly. “I think he is trying to trick you just as he tried to trick you with that fake death. He is feeding you information, Octavia. He is manipulative and tricky. I’ve already sent a letter to Celestia asking for more security for our concert. She has promised to increase the guard.”

“How did you manage that?” More is flying through my head at her strange ability to request things of from Celestia.

“I mentioned that my special effects can get a bit crazy and I might need to guards to contain any fires that might form from electrical overflow and the pyrotechnics. It managed to nail me a few more guards just in case Eyn decides to pull some of his crap with Celestia. I won’t let him ruin my concert.”

“Isn’t it our concert?” I ask, almost hurt by her selfishness.

“Yes. Our concert. I’m sorry, Octavia… It was a bad slip of the tongue. Won’t happen again.” She wipes her hoof across the air above her as if she is spelling it out.

Eyn’s voice fills my head as he speaks. “Don’t you see, Octavia, she is already being taken over by the Element of Selfishness, the Element that took Luna away from me. This is the evil that I want to stop. This is the evil I want to annihilate during your concert. I just want to redeem myself after all of these years in exile.”

I stare at Vinyl. She still held a place in my heart, but her disregard had driven a small wedge between us. I don’t think that my love for her would have been thwarted by a little distrust for the truth of both of their words rang true. How can I trust Eyn? Is the Element of Selfishness controlling Vinyl? It appears that both sides are true, both sides of a complicated spinning coin with no surface to land on.

I am lost in a world of questions and no answers to them. Eyn has only grown more mysterious with his strange ways of harming me, yet apologizing for it. Equally the act of harming me and then curing me only made my head throb with annoyance and consternation. How could he do all of this with a sane mind? He is doing things at random, from testing the locks on the castle door, to carving his symbol into my side only to heal it later on. I want to shove my hooves into my eyes and groan myself to a calmer state and just enjoy the soothing heat of the water around me. I hum my song, no; I hum Eyn’s song.

Equally as I have been viewing his memories like an unwanted witness, other memories had slipped through giving me the insight into the origins of the song. It isn’t necessarily Eyn’s song, but it is The Song of the North, an anthem played among only the northern ponies. Given the information of the war, many if not all of the northern ponies were killed during the war, save for Eyn Spyyr. Those that did live had forgotten the song, slipping the northern culture behind a veil, lost to the modern age I live in today. He wants to bring back the song, tell Equestria that the north isn’t lost, or something like that. My thoughts churn and try to draw connections, but none are made. I groan in my discontent.

He only gives more questions, but barely provides any answers. I know he is secretive, and I know he is planning something big at my concert, but there wasn’t enough to go by. I couldn’t rightly cancel it, considering it wasn’t even I who set it up. The princess, Princess Celestia at that, obligated me to perform this concert. I even questioned the occasion in which this concert was celebrating. In the grand scheme of this event, my participation was minor. Music would be my contribution, possibly some side conversation and social gossiping, but I didn’t hold importance to the royal sisters. The guards have a more important role than this brown mare.

Sighing, I lean back more, letting the sounds of fire and explosions fill my head as I descended once more into Eyn’s mind.

Eyn frantically looked around as the collection of fires crackled beside him. His heart raced as overhead fireballs crashed and exploded into the buildings. With various flashes, the sky was lit just enough to reveal formation of griffin warriors, flying over the walls. Equally the clash of the royal pegasus guard struck into them. Small dark spots fell from the sky, sometimes causing a dull thud heard amid the din of war. Bodies striking the ground, the last bit of air falling from their chests when they only had broken wings, but their heart still beat. Those sickening thuds filled Eyn’s heart as he closed his eyes, tears forming and quickly falling to the ground. The sound of the falling bodies was the noise his tears made. His eyes snapped open as the sound of screaming mares and fillies filled his ears. It was just like the north.

His heart fluttered briefly before a pack of griffins landed in front of him, sneering and laughing as they pulled their barbed axes and swords into position.

“There’s the fallen royal colt. Wandering the streets after your so called friend betrayed you?” The group laughed. “You’ve been summoned by the King of the Griffins to partake in a peace treaty where he promises your kingdom to be returned to you at the price of this kingdom.” He sneered.

Eyn stared at them blankly, his heart aching and his mind racing with blank random thoughts. The thought of getting his kingdom back filled his heart. It filled his heart until the realization of the cruelty enacted by the griffins returned.

“You killed all of my people…” Eyn whispered. The thought of his kingdom returning slowly gave way to a wall of rage and desires for revenge.

“What?” The apparent leader asked, leaning his ear in closer, raising his hand to it mockingly.

A magical field surrounded Eyn for only a second before his gaze broke from the ground and locked immediately onto the griffin in the front.

“How can one ever trust his friends?” Eyn asked.

“That’s the spirit!” The griffin hacked. “Chain him up boys.”

No sound emerged from behind him. Eyn’s gaze never broke from the lead griffin, never blinking.

“Boys?” He turned just to feel the chains wrap around his neck. The other griffins lunged on to him, wrapping the chains meant for Eyn around his body. The griffin struggled to fight free, but his comrades held him without flinching, their eyes dull and lifeless just as how they were when Eyn forced the ones in the north to kill themselves.

They finished by clipping the lock. They stood stiffly, some bleeding from the leader thrashing, but that didn’t matter as Eyn blinked. The surrounding griffins collapsed, brain dead. He walked slowly to the leader, lifting him to eye level with his magic. Fear filled his feathery face as he cringed with the expectation of being next.

“W-What did you do to my men?” He stuttered.

“Your men? They appeared to be my men until they served their purpose…” Eyn growled.

The griffin began to shake in the chains. His eyes widened with fear. “What do you want?” He whimpered.

“I want to speak to your king.” Eyn growled.

A snap of a teleportation spell cracked from behind him. “Your wish is my command.” Came the voice of Quorra.

Before Eyn could respond, he felt the sudden tug on his heart. His body fell through a tiny hole in the universe, reemerging in a dark room lit only by a few torches. The dim light was enough to illuminate the dark molded cobblestone walls. The sounds of soft hoofs made their way around Eyn until he was face to face with Quorra. Her piercing yellow, glowing eyes stared at him for only a second before she turned to the corner, sitting casually on the floor.

Eyn tried to take a step forward, but quickly found that he was in chains. He struggled to move them, but they held fast. He warmed up a spell to break the chains, but a sudden tightness and pain filled his horn and head. He ceased immediately and glanced up to see an intricate contraption bolted to his horn.

“Every time you try to cast magic that device will remind you to quit trying.” Quorra answered.

“Let me out.” Eyn demanded.

“Why so you can just kill all of us? I will hold you here until I deem it necessary.”

The door to the room creaked open. The silhouette of a griffin with a crown seated firmly on his head walked into the room. He turned toward Eyn and smiled.

“Eyn Spyyr. It is a pleasure to finally meet you face to face.” His voice sounded disgustingly familiar.

“I know that voice.” Eyn whispered.

“I bet you do…” The king growled.

“It can’t be, griffins don’t possess magic, nor could they ever have enough to influence my mind from that far away.”

“You are exactly right, which means a griffin wasn’t behind it.” He smirked.

“Celestia? Luna?” Eyn turned to Quorra. “Or her?”

The king laughed. “None. It was I who spoke into your mind.”

“But you are a griffin and couldn’t possibly-“ Eyn’s words stopped part way through. “Unless…”

“Unless you’ve just met another Element of Disharmony that has taken over this body. I am King Cruel.”

Eyn’s heart sank. He slowly realized he was inside of a torture chamber with the Element of Cruelty. He didn’t have any power to stop anything that they would do to him. I could only sit at the mercy of Eyn holding me inside of his memory. I wanted to leave before the pain, escape the anguish of torture since I would feel the same pain. I tried to throw messages or whatever at Eyn to let me escape and to just start after the pain or something, but the memory never faded. I began to panic inside of his head.

“I have a lot planned for us to do. Mainly, I want you to show me how you do that mind control attacks.” King Cruel spoke.

“Never. It is an abomination.”

“So says the alicorn that has used it countless times on my soldiers.” Cruel roared. It wasn’t out of anger, but more of annoyance.

Eyn began to wallow in his memories of how many griffins he had killed. Celestia had been right about him having a bias against them. The northern alicorn had ceased all liking of griffins. Instead, he viewed them as animals, barbarians, and brutes. He saw them tied up and tossed in dungeons like animals. He hated them. He hated all of them. The hate quickly evolved into sadness. He had never properly grieved over his family. Getting caught up in revenge and rage, the fallen prince had never tried to hold a funeral or try to create a plaque or mural in the cemetery for them. Now he was trapped in a dungeon, preparing to be tortured, possibly to death.

“I will never show you anything.” Eyn lowered his head, looking away from King Cruel.

He could feel the rage building in the king from his actions. “You will give it to me at some point, but now we will just have a little fun. The voice in your head is now your master.” He spit at Eyn.

“I’m sorry…” Eyn whispered. His tone, pitch, and volume matched to the time he apologized to me before turning the water in the spa a pure white causing the burning sensation to surround my body, wracking me with pain.

I felt only the entrance of a blade into Eyn’s leg, but the pain quickly grew numb. At the second stab, I realized that Eyn removed me from his senses, but I still was forced to watch helplessly as the blade entered Eyn’s leg, his only response being tears as his body moved from the force of the stab. A stream of blood fell from his leg, falling into the cracks on the floor. Eyn didn’t make a noise. He kept his gaze in the same area of the room as I listened to his thoughts, as ambiguous and vague they were.

“Ready yourself, Eyn. If you don’t get out of here they will kill you. Focus and relax. Focus and relax. Remember Luna’s bedroom, find solace, hold it, deep breath, release, find solace, and hold it deep breath…” He repeated, his words increasing with strength and volume before he head snapped up, filling with magical energy. The contraption above his head tightened around his horn. He only strengthened the magic around him as I heard the cracking from his horn breaking. I could feel a pain that broke through the numbing that Eyn had given me. A pain that grew just inches from my forehead. It was a dull sickening pain.

Eyn’s eyes filled with light as he lifted from the ground, the contraption tightening more. Quorra stared at him in shock.

“Eyn, are you crazy?” She yelled through the din that was filling the room.

Eyn didn’t speak. His mind had already completely fallen on Luna’s room. Dull sickening cracks filled the room as the contraption shattered his horn. Eyn faltered slightly as tears fell from his face, but a rage filled him and pushed him the last leg of the journey. A dull snap falled by the most piercing pain filled my head. Eyn yelled out as the chains disintegrated around his hooves and a purple teleportation field surrounded him. He stumbled a few steps forward, his eyes pouring tears as blood ran down from his head and leg. He breathed hard as a candle was lit revealing Luna in her nightclothes rising from her bed.

“Luna…” He spoke extending his hoof before collapsing in front of her, a pool of blood forming around his body. “I just… I needed to tell you… I love…” I felt his consciousness slip and he fell unconscious at her feet.

He slowly came to, his vision blurred as the searing pain remained on his head. As his consciousness returned so did my memory that I was experiencing a much duller pain. It answered itself as he began screaming in pain, twisting and thrashing. He became aware that he was strapped into the bed. He tried to break the restraints, but they were tighter and stronger than he imagined. He tried to open them with his magic, but he quickly regained his memory. He had seen it the broken fragments fall in front of his face.

“Oh no… No… No! No!” Eyn shook the bed as he thrashed in it, trying to fight the pain in his head, knowing that he had sacrificed his ability to use magic to get back to Luna, his Luna and warn her of what was happening. He thrashed just to try to make the pain go away, but it never left.

“Eyn. Eyn, listen to me. Calm down and listen to my voice. You are safe, Eyn.” Eyn cocked his head to see a pony with a white coat standing over him.

“I have to warn them!” He yelled, the pain distorting his volume.

“You’ve received a crippling injury. You have to relax and be calm.” The doctor tried to soothe him with soft words.

“No. You have to warn them. I created something other than the Elements of Harmony. I created the Elements of Disharmony. Corruption. Cruelty. They are alive and breathing.” Eyn hollered at them.

“The trauma made you delusional. You have to relax and tell us what happened.”

“I was being tortured by King Cruel. He’s taken over the King of the Griffins. Quorra, the Element of Corruption was with him.”

“Let me stop you there.” The doctor used his magic to lift a pad and write down a few things. “I am going to prescribe you some stronger pain medication. We aren’t getting anywhere.”

“What! I’m telling you the truth. I have to warn the princesses. I am a good friend of theirs, and I have to protect them.”

“Please try to rest.” A needle hit the side of Eyn’s leg, but the needle bent against his skin.

“You have to believe me!” Energy filled the room randomly.

“Eyn, you don’t have your horn anymore. You can’t focus that energy. I need you to relax, you are only going to hurt yourself more.” The doctor yelled at him.

“I’d die to protect them you hear me! I have to warn them. I have to warn them…” Eyn’s voice lowered as the energy subsided. The pain throbbed against his head. “I apologize, doctor. I’m just on edge…” Eyn breathed slowly.

“Just try to rest. I will tell Luna that you want to see her.”

“I also need to talk to Starswirl. He might know more of what is going on.” Eyn spoke.

“Starswirl has been missing a for a few days now. I mean, you’ve been in this bed for three days under heavy sedation to keep your pain down.”

“Three days?” Eyn could barely speak.

“Almost four, but you seem to have broken your sedative.” The doctor nodded at his words. “Which is a bit odd…”

Luna’s voice filled the room. “Eyn?” She asked, approaching the hospital bed. She stared at a point above his head. Eyn could feel the tightness of bandages around where his horn was. From the slight movements he could tell that it was still cracked and jagged, something that would permanently be that way. It wouldn’t be able to be chiseled down like a nail, not in the extremes that Eyn would need it. His horn had almost been broken at the base, meaning that only nerve endings existed with only a thin band of bone that could be ground off. Slowly the nerve endings would die on the edges and different surgeries could be used to add a prosthetic horn to smooth out the rough edges, but this damage was too recent.

“Luna…” He raspy voice cracked, getting tired from the pain and the yelling.

She hugged him without hesitance. Her warm body felt better than anything that he had felt in a long time. Even I had to admit that I enjoyed the comfort she gave him. I could feel her warm wet tears falling down the back of his neck.

“Why are you crying?” Eyn asked.

“I’ve been so worried about you.” She hugged him tighter. “And seeing you like this… I shouldn’t have let my sister take you away from me.” Her voice cracked with her tears. Eyn returned her hug, cringing at the pain, but fighting through it to put on a good face for her.

“I won’t let go. We can get through this.” Eyn spoke, his voice soft and comforting.

Luna pulled away from his embrace. Smiling at him with a softness that I had never seen break across her more rugged face.

“You are always so beautiful, as beautiful as the moon.” Eyn smiled. “I would stare at you every night until I die…” His heart spoke. “I have to warn you about what is coming, what took my horn. They are coming to kill us all, the holders of the Elements of Harmony.” Eyn took a strong in. “An opposite force has grown from it. They are the one’s pushing the war to our gates. They took control of the King of the Griffins and are going to stop at nothing until they have spread their ilk across Equestria. You have to believe me.”

“Eyn…” Her voice shook as she rested her head against him.

“Don’t cry.” Eyn spoke. “Don’t cry.” He repeated.

The dark mare pulled back from him, tears misting her eyes as she composed herself. “You sound crazy.”

“Luna, no. Luna, please no.” Eyn shook his head slowly.

“What did you do to your horn and leg? Did you restart the war?” She asked.

“What?” Eyn’s voice shook in disbelief.

“I was told that they were helping us, strengthening our borders from the northern creatures. Then they were attacked, unprovoked. Guards reported that it was you. You’ve been attacking their ranks as we defended our city. I don’t know if I can believe you.” Luna’s voice shook with uncertainty.

“Luna…” Eyn stared at her, the pain quickly fading away. A lump within his throat held back any other words. “I-“ He tried to swallow to speak, but the pressure began to fill in his rage. “Who told you those lies?” He asked.

“My sister has been trying to renegotiate a peace treaty with their king. This was their evidence for their retaliation. They are asking for your head.” She held her composure, staring at him

“You can’t believe them. I-I-I-“ Eyn stuttered.

“You’ve changed, Eyn. I don’t know anymore. I thought you were kind, but…” She paused and broke her gaze slightly before recollecting herself and glaring at him. “I was shown what you did when you left me in the hedge maze. They managed to replay some of the memories of some of the griffins found dead. What you did to them…” Her voice began to quiver. “You…”

“It wasn’t me. I wasn’t in control.” Eyn tried to defend, hating the words just as they left his mouth.

“Then how can I ever trust you?” She turned and left as the words piled up in Eyn’s throat. She galloped the last few steps, breaking into tears.

Eyn stood, staring blankly straight ahead. His final anchor holding his sanity in check began to slip. In only a few weeks, the alicorn from the north had lost everything. He lost his family, his position, his kingdom, his friends, and the trust of his loved one. Everything piled back in on itself leaving only an empty husk of a pony left. He managed to swallow hard as a single painful tear broke from his eyes and dripped onto the bed sheet in front of him.

The wet spot on his sheets felt closer than anything in the room. The warmth of his tears, the only source of heat found anywhere in the world. The pain disappeared from his horn and descended into his heart. He began to feel more like his present self, empty and angry. He barely noticed the pin entering his leg or his focus fading as he collapsed under a sedative.

He awoke slowly, the same dull feeling greeting him. A sliver of hope had formed during his sleep, imagining that it was a nightmare that he would wake up against, but he knew it all to well. He lifted his hooves and found chains now decorated his hooves apart from the last lone gold royal bracelet. Turning his attention back up, he saw a mirror across from him. Dark lines had formed around his eyes, dull and angry at everything in the world. The kindness and soothing nature had left even the attractiveness had vanished. He stared menacingly at his reflection. The door opened to his room and he turned to see Celestia and Luna enter.

Luna averted her gaze from him, just standing with her sister as a formality.

“Eyn Spyyr, you have been found guilty for war crimes against the griffins.” Celestia spoke, looking over the paper that she magically unfolded in front of her.

“And what about the war crimes committed against my people by the griffins?” Eyn growled his voice dragged down to a heavy state. Luna flinched at it. Eyn’s gaze remained locked on her.

“We have received no indication that any crimes have been committed.” Celestia spoke, devoid of familiarization, and I couldn’t blame her. Eyn had lost his grip on his sanity.

“Tell me, where are my people if there hasn’t been any crimes committed, have they sent a post card?” Eyn growled.

“You will be returned to the custody of the griffins and await your execution date.” Celestia read without acknowledging Eyn’s question. Luna’s eyes flashed wide as she turned to her sister.

“I thought you said we would hold him and pass judgment?” Luna demanded.

“I’m sorry Luna, but we the griffins wouldn’t accept any other treaty. I have to think for our people, Luna. Eyn made his choices and now he has lost his kingdom. He is unfit for power.”

“And you are unfit for friends!” Eyn snapped forward, pulling the chains taut. Celestia flinched ever slightly, as Eyn chuckled to himself as he dropped back down onto his pillow.

Celestia stared at him, hurt and angry. “You take that back.”

“I can’t take the truth back. You will have no one left at this rate. I promise you, Celestia, you will have your peace ad your people, but you will be all alone. Discord has already betrayed you, Starswirl is missing, and Ahuizotl is missing.” Eyn spoke without emotion.

“How do you know this?” She asked.

“I can read your mind like a book, Celestia. Who do you have left, your loyal sister, Luna? She will soon follow when my warnings aren’t heeded. They will get her, Celestia, and you’ll prevent me from protecting her when you need me the most.”

Celestia took a step closer to him. “You will not threaten my sister and me. Guards, take him away.”

“We will meet again, Celestia…” Eyn’s vision dropped as he made eye contact with Luna. A single aching pain filled his heart. “I’m sorry, Luna.”

The guards pushed his bed toward the end of the room and the door out. Eyn only smiled as the princesses vanished from view. He only had plans now. He only had his thoughts and all of them spoke of his hate for Celestia. All of them demanded revenge against all that wronged him.

“I’m sorry, Luna.” Eyn turned to each of the guards. “You know these guards.”

“Yes, she knows us.” The first one spoke in a blank speech.

“I’m sorry for what I must do then.” Eyn spoke.

“We know, Eyn.” They spoke together in unison.

“Fight well.”

“We’ll do as you wish.” A transparent field slightly distorted the air around him and the heads of the two guards.

Chapter 7: Old Eyn's End

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“Tavi? Tavi?” The voices echoed in the dark void of despair that Eyn had me experience. I opened my eyes to the new day. We had been practicing and getting the final preparations of the concert sealed.

“I’m up.” I speak, waking up from the nap on the train ride to Canterlot, the day before the concert. I took a long breath, letting my lungs stretch my chest as they filled with a soothing air.

I hadn’t had any visions about Eyn since my time at the spa. I could only try to envision what happened, a pony waiting for a new book to be released after a cliffhanger end to a story. I lift from my chair, grabbing my bag and slinging my cello onto my back. I missed the weight of it, the security of holding it on my back instead of sitting away from me, even though it was just inches from my hooves.

“I wonder if they’ve finished the concert hall with all of my electronics.” Vinyl nods.

My eyes fixate onto her. The only residual influence of Eyn in my mind had been the doubt that Vinyl was still pure. After seeing the power that the Elements of Disharmony could cause, I didn’t want her to be just another number in their plans. Each day, I worried about her though there was no signs of her being controlled her influenced by any outside force. Instead, I reminisced about myself and how I had changed. Was it I who had been taken control of? I knew not the answer, but the concert stood just one day from me. I would be redeemed from the Gala.

It has been too long since that night. I tried to retrace my steps of failure, but as what Eyn taught me, everything is forgotten with time, well, some things stay. I smile at the memory of how I first met Vinyl, a memory that I think I could never let go. Uptight didn’t even begin to describe how tight I was back in those days. My hooves clack against the cobblestone streets of Canterlot, Vinyl walks beside me, her hooves off from mine.

The air is fresh with the scents of the higher class cooking and perfumes used by the gentlemares and gentlecolts of the streets. I longed to pick up those scents again for it to be a sign of progress, the scent of redemption. I shut my eyes, trying to envision Canterlot from memory. The streets around the train station are easy to pull out and place, but it quickly fades to the rest of the streets. It has been a long time since I rejoined the sophisticated society.

“Here is our apartment.” Vinyl speaks.

I open my eyes to see a white pillar with gold trim sitting before me. One of many it would seem, holding a large building, which only read ‘The Royal Stables’ up. We enter the building only to have the wind taken from our chests by the high ceiling of glass that let the sparkling rays of the sun bounce and glitter off of the clean surfaces.

“Pompous ponies…” Vinyl jokes under her breath.

I agree at the same time that I found it to be rude, but such blunt things are Vinyl’s forte. The pony at the desk gave us our keys and ushered us into an elevator with golden bars and buttons. I admit the hotel was exceptionally eccentric. We arrived at the room number. I stared at Vinyl who held the keys to the door in front of her with her magic. She seemed to think about something for longer than it should have. Turning to me, she smiles and takes the keys into her mouth. Before I understood that it wasn’t her wanting to open the door without magic, her lips are pressed against mine, the keys slipping into my mouth. Instinctually, my cheeks blush and I find myself in a frozen stance with the keys loosely in my mouth.

“I’ve always wanted to do that to somepony.” Vinyl smiles and steps to the side to let me open the door.

Packing for the concert had driven most instances of intimacy out of our thoughts. Also the thoughts and doubt Eyn had built inside of my mind had left a bad taste in my mouth leaving me salty. This case of Vinyl kissing me, standing in Canterlot, and being only a few hours from the biggest concert of my life, left my knees shaky and weak, but I held firm until the lock had been undone. The weight of my cello doesn’t help my weak knees.

I step into the dark room. As my hoof hits the end of the hall, the magic activates, showering the room with light. Blinds open to let the afternoon sun refract in the glass and crystal surfaces on the table. Fruit and fresh grass were in the bowls in the kitchen. Everything feels welcoming and soothing to my senses as I walk to the couch. Vinyl leaps from the side, landing on the couch and curling up, leaving a spot for me beside her. I climb onto the couch with her, letting the strain finally fade of the temporary move.

“This is it, Octavia.” Vinyl speaks. “We are moving up in the world.”

“I just can’t believe that I was allowed to give a solo performance for the royal princesses. This honor is welcomed…” I nod and turn to Vinyl.

Her glasses are off, sitting on the nearby table next to a few bowls of Bonbons and muffins, two little signs tied around their containers. I smile at the gifts and at Vinyl.

“You deserve this, Tavi.” Vinyl whispers to me.

Her nose comes up under my mouth, nestling against my chin. I am caught off guard by her gesture that I stare in shock for a few seconds before turning my head down to her. Any form of doubt or distrust in my mind. Eyn was wrong about her. Our bodies ease toward each other, slowly falling into each other’s hooves in a hug. The last few days had left me on edge and with Vinyl holding me close, I felt a wave of relief. The sun began to drop beneath the horizon as we held each other. Vinyl pops her head up slightly during our embrace and stares at me in the eyes before smiling and shaking her head.

“We are quite the strange pair aren’t we?” Vinyl asks.

“Just because we like two different types of music?” I ask in response.

“Everything, personality and interest.” She responds. "Maybe there is some truth to what Eyn said about the relationship among Elements." She drifts off slightly, enjoying the moment.

I had to admit that Vinyl hugged against me left me more at ease. I could agree with Eyn more than any other pony in Equestria. I’ve seen everything that he experienced and my respect for Celestia had wavered. Thoughts swim through my head like the salmon spawning season. The world around me ascended into a world of serenity, and I felt the calming swath of coolness from nearby open window. The sunlight sparkled and reflected from the nearby aquarium, sending dancing light onto the ceiling. The calming atmosphere set the last few days of my life into perspective.

With the mysterious disappearance of Eyn, his faked death in my head, him apologizing before sending terrible pain through me while at the same time healing the scar that he had carved into my side, everything felt out of place and counter productive. It was almost as if he was two different ponies. I stare out from the couch. Vinyl had fallen asleep next to me. I don’t know when she dozed off, but her slight snore cracks a smile on my face. Maybe there are two sides to every coin just like Eyn. Vinyl may be loyal and trustworthy, at least when she is sober, but how could every pony be an element completely. What if the Elements of Harmony and the Elements of Disharmony aren’t just balanced between good and evil ponies and griffins, but also inside of each individual? I am kind as much as I am cold. I can be cruel at times, and I don’t enjoy it, but it was necessary at the moment.

My thoughts trace back to when Eyn was cringing in the alleyway, his Cutie Mark changing into a yin yang. He removed King Cruel from his head, yet the Cutie Mark remained. Why didn’t it change back if there was no longer a conflict? Equally why didn’t the balanced sides show a sign of light conquering dark or dark over light? Cutie Marks didn’t translate to the entire universe around an individual; it is a personal mark, a sign of realization of what lies within a pony. Eyn discovered the balance within him and knew he was equal parts cruel and equal parts kind.

I remain in thought, staring at the fading dancing light as the sun sinks below the horizon. If he is equal parts of both elements then what does that make King Cruel, an equal? Can he be kind or does he truly embody a pure cruelty? The balance of power would most logically fall to the dark side since all good is balanced with evil while evil remains pure.

“But evil can’t do what good can do, Octavia.” Eyn’s voice fills the room.

My heart flicks as my head snaps up to see him standing in the corner of the dark room. His hood is pulled over his broken horn. The metal thud of his metal leg and the clink of metal on metal echoes from his metallic wings resonate through the room as he limps toward me.

“What do we have?” I ask in a whisper.

“Friendship, love, and companionship. Will you ever see an Element of Harmony lying like you two are, intertwined in body and mind? No. They will not work together because distrust fills their hearts. As they are more powerful than us, if we stand together, good can beat parts of evil.” He stops. “I’m sure it is hard to believe that balance exists, but there is good everywhere.”

“It doesn’t add up.” I speak.

“If all evil and all good were to clash on the battlefield, there would be a perfect conversion of life to death. They are balanced more than anypony could imagine. More than Starswirl could have guessed, more than Quorra anticipated, and they paid the price for it. Even during the primordial creation of the magical powers of good and evil, of harmony and disharmony, the balance existed. I made it physical. I made it a super power. I made it something for war.” Eyn lowered his head. “Evil will one day see that they have the power to come together and use Disharmony Magic.”

I glare at the alicorn in front of me, wishing he were gone. “Why me?” I ask.

“You will see in time.” Eyn spoke turning back toward the corner.

“How much time?”

Eyn cocks his head back to me. “Tomorrow.”

He limps back towards the dark corner. I watch as questions burn inside of my head, a heat that I couldn’t let fester.

“Wait.” I speak, causing him to stop in his tracks and turn back to me.

“What do you require, Octavia?” His voice drops to solemn tone.

“Do you still love her?”

His eyes narrow before he turns away and continues walking. “I never stopped… and I never will.” He vanishes without a trace before the sensation of the world beginning to move around me resumes.

“Did you say something, Tavi?” Vinyl asks, turning onto her back playfully.

“I hummed. Tomorrow will be quite the adventurous time won’t it?”

“It is going to be so awesome. You, me, and a giant laser light show for these stuff- I mean gentlecolts.”

“Did you finish all of the panels?” I ask.

“I made enough to cover the entire main concert hall. The whole back will be a light show that would make the spectra of Celestia to pale in comparison.”

“This will be the first time I’ve seen a meshing of classical style with techno style.”

“Don’t worry about it. They will be blown away and we’ll get a standing ovation. You will have your roses thrown at you and I will have my collection of underwear and glow sticks.” Vinyl laughs at her own joke.

“It will be nice to get my career back on track. This lull in performances has been grinding at my hooves.” I grind my hooves together as I say it.

“How radical would it be if we were to dress you up in a ton of bandages and then they fall off as you pay, a rebirth of your skin and a rebirth of your career?” She mentions. “Like a mummy pony from the ancient times. Think about it. It would blow their minds.” She laughs with her idea.

I review her idea in my mind, fumbling it through the realm of possibility, but it felt off and it didn’t feel like me. I want it to be me, the old me. The lights dance on the ceiling from a nearby aquarium that I had missed when we had entered. I enjoy their silhouettes and the closeness of Vinyl. I needed her with me, as a friend and more when I needed it. Selfish tendencies still arose and commanded me to act in the ways of old, but I have been opening up thanks to Vinyl’s pestering. I tolerated her until I saw that those things that I disliked about her, those things that annoyed me the most were complete fabrications. I had built myself up. I worked under assumptions. I had made her more annoying.

The most vivid memory of my past would always return, her defending my cello because I had asked her to. A pony, a mare of hedonism and selfish acts, a mare that didn’t understand volume control, became one of my greatest friends. While my other friends from Canterlot vanished, forgotten because of my lack of presence among their fancy dress parties. Instead, Vinyl introduced me to Ditsy, Lyra, and Bonbon. I had already known of Doctor. She was a mare of her word, protecting her friends while at the same time enjoying life to the sound of a bass cannon.

I envied her on certain days, mainly during a bad gig or the lost appreciation of the classical tones, an ever-growing disease in this day and age. I considered her music popular, but I considered it mainstream and just riding the gravy train while real artists struggled, having to deal with the high expectations of higher living. Then I listened to her trance songs. The rhythmic overlays of piano harmonies with strings built on soft, soothing electric pads. She didn’t have a symphony behind her, but she had records and creativity.

I drift off to sleep before I could answer her, more absorbed in my own thoughts. Eyn’s thoughts overtake mine with his voice preaching to my brain.

“This is the end of my life. This is the part where I die.” His voice echoed.

Familiar blackness to the glittering pinhole, the smell of smoke and fire fill my nostrils as I feel the familiar sensation of claustrophobia. Eyn’s head lifts as destruction crashes around him. He lifts his head as the feeling of his restraints fall loosely around from him. Looking around slowly, Eyn’s heart burned with hatred and vengeance as he hopped off of the gurney.

“The gates are open for you, sir.” One of the guards said.

“Yes sir, and no injuries were sustained.” The other spoke.

“Everything is going,” One started.

“To plan…” The other finished.

Eyn smiled to himself as he let those words ring in his ears to the beat of crackling fire.

“Fight without consequence. We will not make it out of here alive; then again, we no longer exist in the hearts and minds of those of this realm. You are traitors, and I am a war criminal, both punishable by death, best to go out with a bang.” Eyn spoke. “I apologize for what I am doing.”

“We support you, Eyn. You weren’t the only one who lost family from the North. We just ask that you let us be free from pain.” One of the guards spoke.

Eyn’s heart snapped slightly at what the stallion had said. “Don’t worry… I have shut your pain receptors off.” Deep down I knew he was lying, but I couldn’t quite place a hoof on what the truth was.

One of the guards placed his hoof above a fire to make sure and the truth burned quickly into my mind. Eyn hadn’t shut their receptors off, but instead he transferred any and all pain to himself. His hoof dug into the dirt before he pushed the guards hoof from the fire.

“Physical damage will still stay and burnt skin can be bothersome to move.” Eyn reasoned, hiding the true reason to his actions.

Distant screams were heard inside of the wooden palisades of a forest fortress within the Everfree. He looked back on briefly and I recognized the sight of the mountains in the distance. It couldn’t be here. As he turned back toward the fortress, the surrounding scenery of mountains began to fit. He was standing where the crater was where I had fallen, where Eyn had been abandoned. This is where it happens. My heart stood still as he entered the encampment.

Instantly, through the blankets of black billowing smoke from the burning battlements, a battalion of Griffins lunged out and attacked the group. The two guards in the group jumped quickly out of the way of the first attack, pulling their weapons from their sheaths and quickly dispatching of two griffins as Eyn covered the area in illusions that appeared at random. The illusions took the form of zombified ponies wearing the common garb of the Northern Fields. Eyn stared at his random creation, knowing he couldn’t pin point any of his magic except if they were right next to him. The illusions managed to frighten a few of the griffins that had been at the slaughter. They swing frantically at the illusions, which faded from view as their heads fell from their shoulders. These griffins quickly met the cold steal of the royal guards that worked in unison and with utmost efficiency.

The griffins tried to fight back, but I watched as Eyn walked forward, the griffins would cringe and block their eyes, dropping their guard just as a smear of blood would erupt from where their heads used to be. I could feel the magical effort taking its toll quickly on Eyn as he stumbled, the bandages on his leg beginning to unravel as pain coursed through his broken horn. With his current amount of effort being drained he would only make it barely thirty steps into the complex before collapsing from exhaustion.

A pain filled his flank as he turned to one of the royal guards. He had an arrow in his flank from a nearby archer. Eyn’s limited magic left him only a simple choice. He grabbed what he could around him and shot it towards the archer in more of a shotgun like spray, hoping to score at least something on the archer. A metal disc managed to slam into the griffin’s beak, sending him toppling over the wall, landing on the other side in a dull thud.

The two guards danced around them in their unison of attacks, finishing off the griffins that the other had just left wounded. Slowly but surely I saw their faces, identical.

“For the Northern Fields, brother!” One yelled as he kicked a griffin with his metal boot, the other stabbing his sword into the beast’s skull, turning it sharply as its claw twitched from the brain firing off the last of the neurons.

It sickened me, but I was forced to watch Eyn’s advance through the encampment before I voice broke from the darkness.

“How did I know that you wouldn’t come quietly?” Cracked the voice of King Cruel.

Eyn turned to see the dreaded Element of Cruelty jumping from the burning palisades onto the ground, joined by his own royal guards.

“Where is your witch Quorra, Cruel?” Eyn asked.

His countenance tightened from his words. “She has her own interests in the one called Starswirl. They have both vanished from my view, but it is of no interest to me. I have you.” He smirked with a dark satisfaction.

“At least it makes it fair.” Eyn commented.

“Fair? Oh how wrong you are, Eyn Spyyr. Fire!” He bellowed.

A wall of fire arrows shot forth from the smoke. Eyn tried to erect a field, but it came out broken and wavy, knocking only a few completely away, but leaving plenty to rain down on them. A collection of pain covered Eyn’s body, yet no arrow had hit him. The royal guards stepped in front of Eyn with arrows sticking out of their bodies. They stared angrily at King Cruel before raising their weapons and charging. Eyn’s heart leapt from his chest to try and stop them in their suicide run, but they had already managed to strike down the two royal guards on Cruel’s sides.

A dark energy fell out of Cruel’s claws as he tore them across the air, grabbing the closest of the royal guard’s necks tearing him around in a circle pinning him to the ground, the claw gripping around his throat. The other brother attacked quickly to save his brother, but Cruel’s other claw rose up and a dark cloud shot from it, hitting him square in the face. Eyn screamed out in pain as he fell onto his front legs, trying to see the battle through the tears running down his burning face and shoulders.

The other brother broke from the cloud, his helmet and some of his skin falling from his face as he let out a roar of defiance, sending a blade through King Cruel’s front claw. The griffin bellowed with pain before pulling his claw sideways, dragging the weak brother to the side, throwing him into a nearby collection of wooden weapon racks. The other brother kicked his assailant’s ribs, loosening his grip just enough to escape the cold clutches, a large burnt spot on his throat.

“Marks!” The burnt neck brother yelled.

Three weapons shot from the rack toward the Fallen King who managed to deftly dodge them.

“Get him, Kicks!” Roared the raspy voice of a pony on the verge of death. He threw a circle blade at him as his final act before crumbling to the ground, gasping for breath.

Cruel caught the blade in his claws just as Kicks arrived in front of him, delivering a powerful kick to his chest. A small drip of blood slipped from his lip, the powerful kick doing more damage than what could be seen on the surface.

“Weak griffin body!” King Cruel yelled as he lunged quickly at kicks, looping his head around the blade and pulling it slowly, staring into Eyn’s eyes as he did so.

Eyn quivered with pain as he felt a sharp pain cut along his neck. Kicks tried to kick Cruel as he cut him, but his legs turned limp as his body hit the ground, the head followed soon after.

“I have to give you that one. You hired quite the welcoming party.” He coughed up blood before wiping it off onto his claw, pulling the blade out from his claw with his beak. “But two ponies can’t stop an army…”

Cruel lunged quickly at Eyn, using Eyn’s weakness to his advantage, pushing him to the ground, kicking his back foot against the broken remnants of his horn. Eyn fell with a pain that I only felt a minute amount of. In his disoriented state he tried to flap his wings to regain his footing and to escape Cruel’s grasp, but a sharp grip quickly wrapped around his feathers and pulled them sharply together.

“You are basically a pegasus, but let’s make you an Earth Pony…” Cruel growled as he pulled the ring blade back on the bottom stalks on his wings.

At first they only cut into him, but a sudden jerk and the dull sickening crack of the bones in his wing cracking wracked his body.

“You had me going for a second there. I could have sworn you had me beat with your collection of vengeance hungry royal guards, but seeing you cringe at each of their injuries only left you weaker in the end.” He cackled before he pulled the blade once more, the right wing falling to the ground beside him.

Eyn’s body twitched with pain as he yelled out, trying to roll away from the blade, but his left wing slowly joined the other as Cruel chuckled to himself, jumping from Eyn’s back.

“Truly pitiful. Look at you. A proper prince, one that wanted revenge and you attacked my complex with only two guards. What did you hope to achieve?”

“Oversight.” Eyn whispered through the pain.

“Wha-“ Cruel began to ask before a dull sickening tearing of flesh filled the air. A metal sword broke from his chest, spraying Eyn’s face with black blood, but the shocked expression on Cruel’s face said it all. The griffin turned to see the nearly faceless and dying royal guard fall slowly backward from him.

Marks managed to speak one last word before his head fell limply to the side. “Thanks…” Marks fell limply to the side as the side of his face collapsed into a black dust.

“You think this is the end of me!” He turned back to Eyn. The skin on Cruel began to burn with red flames revealing a black body underneath of the griffin. The shape was unfamiliar, a species that was not of this world. Red eyes pierced into Eyn’s as he approached him with a gruelingly slow pace. The sword that had been stabbed through his back remained.

A strange set of magic filled the area around Eyn, but I couldn’t quite place what he was creating amid the pain and the fury of anger coursing through him. A wall of light began to emerge around him as he slowly managed to climb to his feet.

“This is the end of you and all of your cruelty.” Eyn closed his eyes. “I will be joining you my brothers.” A wall of concentrated heat began to circular around Eyn.

“Don’t you dar-“ Were the last words I heard of King Cruel as a deafening explosion surrounded me, but I felt no pain on Eyn’s behalf. Instead, I felt him sigh with relief as he was lifted from the ground, the explosion growing larger, louder, and brighter.

Blackness and peace filled Eyn’s heart as I felt him begin to drift from this world, but a sudden image of Luna appeared and his eyes snapped open. He lay on the end of a giant crater made in the center of the woods, the entire forest encampment gone along with King Cruel. Eyn stared at the spot for a few seconds before he pulled the bandage off of his back, the charred remains of his Element of Kindness. He stared at it as he repeated the same line to himself over and over again.

“Don’t come back… don’t come back… don’t come back.” The corner of the necklace began to guild over again.

Eyn’s legs buckled as he fell onto his knees, the dust cloud filling the sky from where he had destroyed the encampment. I listened to his thoughts as he answered the whys and the hows. His plan of stimulating the Element of Kindness, breaking its prison and letting forth the full magical force within its confined necklace state, a magical release that had only spared a single survivor who stood on its precipice.

“What have you done?” Celestia’s voice broke the new windswept wasteland left over from the explosion.

Eyn turned slowly toward her, barely able to speak. He turned back to the giant crater where his necklace said. The old King Cruel was somehow still alive.

“How is he still alive?” Eyn asked in dull amazement.

“What did you do?” Celestia yelled louder as she emerged out of the dust. Eyn turned back just to see another form emerge as well.

“Luna…”

“Are you even listening to me?” Celestia’s face changed to shock as Eyn’s condition came into view.

Blood had dried against his white coat as he limped toward the two sisters in a blind stupor. The bandage on his leg had fallen off, opening the old torture wound on his leg causing fresh blood to drip onto the ground at each step. His eyes were glazed with dizziness from blood loss, but he pressed forward, snapping onto Luna as he continued to press forward despite the rising pain where his horn used to be. A shattered mirror was enough to show Eyn what I could see, my own apparition outside of his body and looking down at the scene. It was the only sight he could have seen to stop his advance.

His eyes flashed with shock as he stared at the dirty and scared body. His hair was caked with blood and dirt that had flown into it leaving it clumped into dirty patches sprouting from his head. His horn, still cracked had a fresh coat of blood dripping from around the base from when he had used it to activate the Element of Kindness necklace, causing its magic to directly touch King Cruel. The result was the blinding explosion leaving only the holder of the element left alive. The resulting explosion leveled a large section of the forest leaving a high-lipped crater in its wake. The resulting dust cloud still hung heavily over the landscape leaving only Celestia, Luna, and Eyn.

“Aren’t I a mess?” Eyn coughed jokingly, trying to smile after not for so long. “Now… I’d like my kingdom back.” He breathed a heavy sigh of relief.

“Your kingdom? You have no kingdom. You assassinated the griffin king when we were assured peace. You blew a hole our forest. You get nothing!” Celestia yells as she walks past him and stares at the gigantic crater left over.

Eyn stares blankly as she passes him, devoid of the happiness he had just felt, yet a smile cracked on his face. Slowly he began chuckling before it evolved into a harder and harder laugh. It only wracked him with more pain as he laughed harder and harder. He turned quickly to her as tears fell from his eyes.

“Why not? I destroyed a great evil of this land, one that would have dethroned you and your sister. They would have cut off your head and stuck it up on a pole as they raped Luna. Their king was a monster that didn’t want anything to do with peace. He wanted power and you stood in his way. I saved you and I want my kingdom back, that is all.” Eyn smiled at her, less in the sense of being happy, and more in the sense of losing his grip on his psyche.

“You deserve only the execution you were sent here to have. You have wrecked our relations with the griffins with this act. We could have had peace, but you ruined it.” Celestia turned angrily at Eyn. “How could you do this? Why couldn’t you let your hatred for griffins die down, let it fade away before you went off and did this? What will they think of us?” Celestia continued to stammer off as she stared at Eyn.

“Sister, I-“ Luna began.

“Will you defend this heathen that courted you without the knowledge of our parents. We are restricted to having any affiliations with the common folk.” Celestia sneered as she focused her attention back on Eyn.

“You made him that way. He was a prince, until you made that backroom deal with the griffins.” Luna defended Eyn.

“So are you on his side now? I have to deal with all of the inner workings of this kingdom now that Mom and Dad are dead. Do you know what that means? Everyone expects me to raise the sun every morning and to cast my healing and beneficial light on everyone as I try to keep our borders safe.”

“I have to raise the moon. I have the same problems as you.” Luna retorted.

“Same problems? You have nothing of the sort. What do you have to deal with, sleeping ponies? You bring the night when no ponies are active. You bring the night to give everypony a break from my light so they can wake up early to my light and grow their crops in my light. I bring life to this land. I keep the order.” Celestia stammers, annoyed.

“What are you saying, Celestia? I thought we had harmony.” Luna’s eyes began to crack with tears. “Are you saying I only bring death since you bring life?” Luna asked.

“Luna, I didn’t mean-“ Celestia’s words caught up to her as she tried to hustle back on what she said.

“Listen to her Luna. Listen to her lie to you.” Eyn spoke, staring blankly off to space.

“Shut up, Eyn.” Celestia’s attention snapped quickly to Eyn.

“Just listen to her trying to silence the truth from us. I wonder how much more ill feelings she has for you. Maybe she wants to eventually take over your job, hold all the power and give all the life and happiness to everyone.”

“She wouldn’t…” Luna’s cheeks were moistened as tears fell from her eyes.

“Just look how she threw me under the train. Look at how she tossed her good friend away. I was getting in the way. I was making you too powerful so that you would be on par with her power quickly. She didn’t like our love and she knew she couldn’t have me. Look at me now; I’m broken and hideous. I’m completely useless, but you are still strong and I am still alive. We can still live together without the evils of corruption and power.” Eyn reasoned.

“Eyn, don’t make me.” Celestia’s horn shimmered brilliantly.

“Still trying to silence me. She’s infected with an Element of Disharmony, Luna. Greedy, Luna. She is being greedy.” Eyn cried out to her, limping forward to Luna, past Celestia.

“Don’t touch my sister… I’m warning you.” Celestia’s voice shook as her own tears began to fall.

“You believe me, Luna. You have to believe me. I’ve seen what these Elements can do to ponies. I know they are in her. I also know they are-“ Eyn’s speech is broken off as a yell from Celestia is heard.

Eyn turns to her just as a wall of light envelops him. A blast of stone and rock fills the air in the already dusty scene. As it heavier particles settle a smear of blood along with Eyn’s lifeless body rested on the ground, his right front leg blown off. Blood pooled quickly around him from his wounds. His face was badly burned, his eyes still open, white with blindness from the light. No breath escaped his lungs, but his magic could still play the scene for me.

Luna stared at the scene in shock, the sky quickly turning dark as the moon rose over the land. Metal armor began to materialize as a dark energy crept up from the land and around her as she began to shake with anger. Turning to Celestia, her eyes had narrowed into tiny slits.

“Why did you kill him?” She asked.

“I just-“ Celestia stared in shock at the scene.

“You wanted to hold me back. You wanted him for yourself. I loved him, Celestia!” Her voice began to rise as her hair whipped into a longer mane of stars and space as she shot her own blast of energy at Celestia, ripping the ground away from where she was standing. The force was enough to cause the white alicorn to scuff her face as she fell sideways, sliding along the loose dirt.

“Luna! Listen to me.” Celestia pleaded.

“My name is Nightmare Moon…” She growled as she shot another wall of force at Celestia. “Every day will be night and I will have all the power to myself.”

“Luna… don’t make me-“

“Kill me? You’ll kill me just as you killed Eyn?”

“No… I couldn’t kill my own sister.” Celestia cried.

“Yet you could kill one of your friends!”

“He wasn’t himself anymore. He wanted to hurt us.”

“He still spoke like Eyn, and looked like Eyn. He even sounded like Eyn. Only you seem to be the one who is talking differently.”

“Listen to yourself, Luna.”

“The name is Nightmare Moon!” She screamed as a blast of concentrated energy erupted from her horn. A dark shadow crept around her form and easily passed through her barrier and climbed up her hooves, casting her body in a pure darkness, narrowing her eyes.

“He was right… He-“ Celestia stuttered in disbelief turning to the broken and dead body of her friend, Eyn Spyyr. “Why didn’t I listen to him?”

In a fit of rage, Nightmare Moon lunged at Celestia, locking horns as her magic exploded off of a nearby tree. Their horns locked as Celestia gritted her teeth, trying to defend herself against the corrupted Luna.

“I’m sorry, Luna, but it must be done.” Celestia’s horn exploded with light as Nightmare Moon leaped backward defensively, blocking her eyes from the blinding light.

“What are you doing?” Luna groaned as she turned into the light, a wall of darkness dividing the light around her, protecting her eyes.

Before she could attack again, a purple blast of light exploded toward her, ripping up the ground and compressing Luna into a tiny point, her screams dwindling along with her size until she snapped from existence.

“I banish you to the moon for one thousand years…” Celestia spoke to herself as she collapsed to the ground. “I’m sorry…” Tears streamed off of her face as she turned to the lifeless body of Eyn. Her eyes scanned out to the empty wind swept fields of the destruction of the crater. “I’m all alone…” Tears fell from her face as she rose to her head to the moon, her mouth falling open as she realized all that had happened. “I had no choice, Luna… no choice…” She cried.

She walks slowly to Eyn’s body, a few strands on his head blowing in the quiet, unsettling breeze of the scene. A large burn stretched across his face along both of his eyes. She stood over him. She wasn’t angry. Instead, she appeared to grieve. “What happened to us, Eyn? Why did I…?” She stuttered with the word, unable to say it as her voice cracked and fresh tears cleaned the collecting dirt from her cheeks. I watch, as a dark shadow that I had assumed was Celestia’s shadow dissolve from view in the ground.

Eyn’s leg twitched before his horn cracked with a spark and a wall of magic exploded from him, his body fell apart into ashes. Celestia flinched at the sight before the wall of magic exploded toward her. Eyn’s disembodied laughter filled the air as it touched her nose. A blank expression flashed through her eyes before she snapped out of view through a teleport, a large shield exploded from the distance before it vanished from view. The ash swirled in the wind, creating a basic outline of a pony mimicking Eyn. His body re-emerged on the ground before it was lifted and placed inside of the crater by his own magic. The shadowy form of Eyn’s head rotated slowly until it stared directly at me. Its mouth cracked open as a loud horn erupted from it.

I sit up quickly in my bed, the alarm beside my bed blaring with the same horn that erupted from Eyn’s shadowy mouth. The separation of dream world fantasy and real history of Eyn’s death clouded together. My body is covered in a cold sweat as I jump out of the bed and walked over to the window. The feelings of being watched, the feeling of having a second party within my head, vanished as I stared out the window, the morning sun rising. I watch the scenery in front of me for an amount of time I cared nothing for. The mere act of living gained an insurmountable degree of value. Breath entered my lungs, fresher than ever. The smells of the flowers in the room, delivered while I slept filled the room. Another deep breath and I catch another smell.

I turn back to the bed and see the other side harboring a white unicorn with electric blue hair. A small smile cracks my cheeks as I stare at her softly. “They will all remember me soon enough.” I spoke. I imagined Eyn saying it with me. I wouldn’t back down from my concert, and I knew Eyn had planned on it. Could all of it be prevented with a simple word of disappointment? I could just walk away, ruin his plans, and keep the princess’s safe by my sudden and rude departure of the biggest show that any pony could wish for. No pony except Vinyl would know of my sacrifice, but even then she would be annoyed at my decision. The other’s who don’t know about it would enjoy feasting upon my corpse for years to come, my career forever ruined.

I trot to my cello and straighten my back. After all that I have seen, I had to step over the line and join Eyn. I’m sure that was his plan by forcing me to watch his memories. I’m sure I am only a pawn in his plans, no matter how degrading it is. I do this for the lost Northern Fields. I think Eyn is right. Everyone needs to remember. Nothing felt right anymore; then again I am only the entertainment for tonight.

Chapter 8: Preparation

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A refreshing breath of air fills my lungs as I stare at myself in front of the bathroom mirror of my high-class, borderline penthouse of a room. It had been only a few moments since I had awoken from my uncomfortable slumber, witnessing the final hours of Eyn’s life before his life came to an end, yet at the same time, not. I witnessed his chest cease to rise and I could feel his heart stop, but his brain and senses remained to tear the pain through him as he witnessed his love embrace the corruption. It left a sour taste in my mouth as I picture Vinyl turning on me or more so her friends because of me.

Vinyl enters the nearest room to the bathroom, her voice locked behind her lips as she sang one of her own pieces of music. The hum calms my nerves ever so slightly, but the cold sweat on my forehead told me that something was terribly wrong. Staring in the mirror only provided a solace that was fleeting at best. My countenance remained adamant about the night. Only the sweat said otherwise. My heart thrust inside of my chest. Was this some form of pre-concert jitters? Was this stage fright?

“Get a hold of yourself, Octavia.” I press my hooves against the sink as I try to will myself to be better.

Leaning toward the mirror I saw my eyes dim slightly white before quickly returning to my pleasant purple. My breath is torn from my lungs as I step back slowly from the mirror and sink staring at the mirror. I knew he wouldn’t just leave me alone.

“What happened to you?” I whisper into the room. “What changed you to what you are now?”

My memory flashes my own death, the moment I re-awoke from it, the scene around me and where Eyn had stood. I hadn’t noticed where he was standing. On the ground beneath his feet were what I viewed as white stones, but as the memory was restored in my head, I could see the shape of a skull and ribs, his shallow grave I assumed.

Silence enveloped the room. Only my heart beat and the blood thumping in my ears broke it. I slapped my dry tongue inside of my mouth before returning to the sink and turning on the water, taking delicate sips to sate my thirst. The water calms me more than my talking to ghosts of long dead ponies.

“I have faked my death more than once, Octavia. I wished to teach you that lesson with faking my death at the hands of my true murderer, Celestia.” Eyn’s voice growled within my head.

“But if you are alive, she didn’t murder you. It was an accident.” I think knowing he would hear it as my voice.

“The old Eyn is dead.” His presence quickly vanishes from the room.

My expectation of what Eyn is planning descends to chaos and death. He desires revenge against Celestia and to win back Luna and possibly his kingdom. A Fallen Prince demanding what he still believes is righty his, the right to rule. His gravely and pained voice still echoes within my head as I quickly splash water onto my face and embrace the refreshing coolness that washes over my hot and strained face. Facing the mirror once more, I push out a confident posture and expression.

“Eyes focused, back straight, eye lids relaxed.” Raising my nose up to regain my high-class brought with it normalcy.

“Hey, Tavi!” Vinyl yelled through the door, causing me to jump and lose all of my hard work.

“Yes, what is it, Vinyl?” My voice held the proper tone, at least that wasn’t lost.

She chuckles slightly. “Already regained that preppy tone about you?” She chuckles again to prove her point. “Anyway, I just want your opinion on my outfit. Oh, Ditsy and Doctor are here.” She informs me; her hooves vanishing from the closest room, the muffled crack of voices through the door are heard.

Staring into the mirror, I see myself. It is the mere observation of my own vanity, but one of selfless details. Eyn has lived most of his life blind, unknowing of what his appearance has become over the years. His vision is masked in perpetual darkness, a life of living in a state of everlasting shadows. Not only shadows, but torture and fear. Lost in the Everfree on the brink of death as every nerve fiber screams into his soul in pain, Eyn had to have stifled his cries of pain and loneliness. I wonder if he yelled out to her in the confines of that crater, his crater, and the crater that was to end it all and restore his position and show he was to be trusted. Instead, it would have been his grave.

I wrap the soft fabric of my ribbon around my neck, tying it perfectly into place. I turn the center jewelry piece to keep the treble cleft and quarter notes visible. A union of music, minds, and hearts will be given to these ponies, and I would show them that. Another refreshing breath of cool air fills my lungs before I open the door and exit, keeping my stance straight and my posture perfect.

Vinyl had no appearance of suavity to her usual appearance. Instead, he kept her glasses adding only a minor hairpin in one of her blue spikes. It was emblazoned with not just her cutie mark, but also mine. The style and material was exactly like the one that hung from my bow. Amid the spikes still standing randomly on her head, the hairpin managed to pull her mane back over her other ear. She hugs me heartily when I near her.

“This is the big day, Tavi.” Her hug dies to a soft embrace. “Are you ready to show these posh ponies what you are made of.”

I chuckle at her enthusiasm. “Are you?” I ask.

“I’ll blow these ponies out of the water. What if I get them to dance? I bet twenty-five bits that I can get a few ponies to dance.” Vinyl chimes.

“Define a few.” I pull her away from the embrace and look her in the eyes.

“At least two?” She shrugs and smiles.

“Make it four and you have yourself a challenge, Miss Victoria.”

“Don’t call me that.” She snickers. “You know I hate it.”

“That is why I said it.” I let off my own snickers.

The air still hangs heavily in the air as the time of the show began to approach. There was still the general eating and social gathering before the show would start, giving me more time to wallow in my thoughts and fears for the evenings. I question when Eyn will crash my party. Staring into Vinyl’s eyes, my head nods as I bite my lip.

“Can you handle being civilized in the social before the concert?”

Her eyebrows furrow. “Of course I can. I’ll probably just hang around Doctor and Ditsy. I’m sure they will cause more problems than me.”

“Look at you two.” The voice causes me to turn to the doorway and spot the brown earth pony.

His form had been somehow fashioned into a suave form with a perfectly cut and styled mane that still maintained his usual messy nature, but it worked to bring out a sophistication I had not known of him. His eyelids were even relaxed and his posture promoted perfection. The welcoming sight of a friend calms my nerves just as quickly as it created new ones.

“Muffin? Is she out yet?” Ditsy walks in backwards, luckily not hitting anything. I can only assume that something caught her eye and she had transfixed her sights on it. She turns to reveal that she was no longer wearing her eye patch that Doctor had fashioned for her. In its place sat a wonderful sapphire necklace.

As she turned, her blue flowing dress flared in the air before softly resting on the ground. The bottom fringe was decorated in bubble like designs, bringing out Ditsy’s Cutie Mark from under the dress. My vision hastily snapped up to her combed and styled hair. Her hoof interlocking the Doctor created a scene that one could only admit to be darling. I had never seen Ditsy as happy as she was with Doctor.

“Octavia!” Her contagious smile spread quickly across her face. “You look nervous.”

Cracking out a half chuckle at her acute observation. “You look wonderful, yourself, Ditsy.”

“Doctor said the same thing.” Her cheeks blushed as she smirked happily again. “I’ve never been to one of these things to be honest. Never had a dress or someone to help me get into one the right way.” She chortles at herself. “Why must dresses have two ends, it is terribly confusing.”

“We decided to swing by and walk with you two up to the castle courtyard. You’ve gained quite the crowd for your return to the classical crowd. Many are interested in this new style to be presented. You should have seen their faces when I mentioned that the one and only DJ PON-3 would be joining you on the stage for your, what they would be a solo, performance.” Doctor explains.

“And what of Lyra and Bon Bon. Did they make it?” I ask.

Doctor continues. “They’ve already made their way to the castle and will be waiting on us at the door, that is unless Lyra’s stomach doesn’t cause her to find her way to the appetizers within. Some times I think that girl only thinks with her stomach.”

“Best to get this shindig on the way, ya think?” Vinyl asks, pointing toward the door and smiling.

The door stood before me like a barrier, the last wall of security. Deep down, a fearful shiver filled my body as I approached it, but with the others around me, it made it much easier to open the door. Leaving turned out to be much more difficult as I took only a few steps before pausing and grabbing my cello from beside the door. Walking through the threshold of the door felt like a wall of suspense. Only my room felt like the escape from Eyn’s plans with anything in the direction of the castle loomed before me like a dark void.

A plethora of ponies had filled the streets, many of them heading toward the castle for the concert. A few stop and notice my presence. Being used to Vinyl’s crowd, I expect them to plead for an autograph or throw personal items my way, but they smile and nod.

“Miss Octavia, it is a pleasure to meet you before the show. We are truly ecstatic to be able to listen to your exquisite music again. You have been missed dearly by at least my wife and I.” The rich pony spoke.

“See, Tavi. They still love you like always.” Vinyl sneers happily. “I’ve never had a crowd like this before.”

“This is your crowd too, Vinyl.” I add.

“It doesn’t feel like my crowd. Far too few fights and clothes.” She observes. “Oh well, we will be sitting like queens after this payment. How much was it again?” Vinyl questions.

“About five.” I mention.

“Five hundred bits?” Doctor asks. “That is quite the hefty sum of bits.”

I smile at him and hum. “Five thousand bits.”

“What?” Doctor almost trips at my words.

Vinyl laughs as she shakes her head. “What are we going to do with all of that money?”

“Why don’t we buy a studio and actually get a proper radio going?” I suggest.

“I’ll have to think about that. I always wanted a solid gold DJ table…” Vinyl drifts as she cocks her head toward me. “I’m sure everyone would love our new radio station.”

“So you both are going into the radio business then after this?” Ditsy asks.

“I plan on it though that doesn’t mean that I won’t do anymore concerts. It will just be a side job to keep the money flowing for the two of us.”

“We’ll need to get a radio then!” Ditsy exclaims happily.

“We have three radios.” Doctor answers.

“But we need a new one for them.” She adds

“Two of them are new.”

“Either way.”

Many of the ponies in the streets don’t recognize me. A solace and ease fills me at such, hoping that no pony would recognize me during the appetizers and social before the concert. I humored the idea of Eyn stopping me in a private corner or hallway or just invading my mind again to wish me luck. Such a pleasure would be a lucky shot at best given that Eyn wasn’t here for my concert or me.

The entrance to the castle was just as beautiful during the Gala. The colors glimmered in the sunlight as the herd of ponies flocked to the doors to gain entrance into the concert. I couldn’t even call it my concert. I was only serving the Princesses and playing a song for them. There were just a couple hundred ponies coming as well. Closing my eyes and taking a breath, my body descends into a calm state. Only the nudge from Vinyl’s hoof snaps my eyes open to reveal the large dining room with windows looking out upon a glorious garden and courtyard.

Another breath yields the strong odors of fresh food being baked and fried. Many of the spices tickled my senses as I peered around the room at the class of the event. Many ponies were chatting with each other, but the din in the room was minor as if they all spoke in only a whisper.

“Quite the place they got here.” Vinyl comments.

“Only the finest.” I mumbled.

I barely notice the turquoise pony making her way up to me. Her appearance evolved tremendously with her mane combed and wrapped up in a bun. Her dress sparkles with its own glitter and a few gems on the side, accentuating her own natural hair color. Bon Bon dressed much the same with her own flaring brilliance. Her dual colored hair complimented her dark blue dress with pink fringes. With her mane and dress, she came off as balanced and reserved; her expression sealed the goal of such.

“Miss Octavia, it is a pleasure to finally be allowed to watch one of your shows.” Bon Bon bows her head respectfully.

Such treatment had been lost to me since my last gig with The Grand Galloping Gala. I strangely wished that she wouldn’t address me as such. I didn’t want any of my friends talking to me as if I was royalty or not their close friend. It made them feel distant and like acquaintances instead of friends. Shrugging off the uncomfortable tightness forming in my shoulders, I try to ignore it the best I can.

“Bon Bon, Lyra, you look lovely this evening.” I mention curtly.

“It took Bon Bon at least an hour to get my mane done. I thought I’d never be free from the pulling and twisting of my mane.” Lyra speaks, her voice still as beautiful as the lyre that she plays. The innocence and charm were impossible to ignore.

“I’m lucky that I get to keep my mane as it is now.” Vinyl adds.

Small talk continues without a hitch, our small group making its way toward the hors d’oeuvres. The smells of them were truly intoxicating as we approach them. Not eating breakfast was enough to make my mouth water and my stomach to growl. The urges were easily thrown to the side as I avoided the food and instead grabbed a glass of wine. I looked around the bar for any form of whiskey, but asking for it in the middle of the day would have been especially uncouth of me.

“Two whiskey’s, barkeep.” Vinyl’s voice fills my ears.

“Ma’am, it is in the middle of the day.” The barkeep answers her.

“Of course it is in the middle of the day. I will be busy all tonight as the entertainment so I’ll take what time I can to get my nerves clear.”

“Ma’am, I-“

“Only these two. I won’t drink both, the other is for a friend who is equally high strung and nervous, and she would greatly appreciate it.”

My face burns with embarrassment, more so when I heard the glass slide towards me. “Drink up, Tavi. You’re tighter than a coil in a record player.”

“That obvious?” I ask.

“I’ve never seen you so stiff and robotic. I thought you’d be comfortable with these ponies. They seem like your type of ponies.” She adds.

“They are, but you can see that everyone is stiff. Social embarrassment is worse than being stabbed in the back alley after a rough concert. Injury would grant some pity. Embarrassing yourself in front of the upper brow is pure suicide.”

“I didn’t know that these push-ups were so brutal.” Vinyl whispers to me as she sips her whisky slowly.

I chuckle. “Now you know why I can relax at your clubs instead of with ponies like me. I do enjoy them, the class, the prestige, the recognition, and the beauty of Canterlot.” I nod with a degree of class and sophistication. Taking a drink of the whisky, relaxation quickly follows.

“That is quite the price to pay. I’d pull my mane out.” She laughs drawing slight attention to her. I see many of their eyes look up to her hair and their eyes piercing through it as if to ignite it with the heat of their glares.

“You eventually get used to it. You’ve been sipping your whisky like quite the proper mare, Vinyl. I was expecting you to chug it.” I down the last of my whisky and jump from my stool and enter the crowd. I look back just as she looks down at her half filled glass, and back at me. I can only laugh.

Working my way through the crowd, the bathroom sits only a few trots away from me. Entering the private mare’s bathroom and locking the door, I turn to the bright white interior and take a deep breath of the clean air. Not a scent of unmentionables. I had no need of using the actual toilet, but I needed to sink and the feel of cool water to splash in my face.

My reflection showed me as being completely together, but inside, I could feel the tensions rising. I replayed the songs inside of my head. All of the opener songs where Vinyl would have time to prepare her work and to wet the appetites of the viewers would be easily executed since I had played such songs before. Only the last song, Eyn’s song, made me nervous. Calling it my song was no longer a reality, it was clearly Eyn’s plan for that song to be played to both win my career back along with giving Eyn his revenge or whatever he was going for.

Staring into my own eyes, I tried to find a truth and the rhythm of the song so that I could replay it in my head once more. As the tune filled my head, my eyes slowly began to cloud and the sensation of claustrophobia took over.

“You will do fine, Octavia Pie.” Eyn spoke through my mouth, smiling.

“I know I will.” I speak through the same mouth.

“Good girl…” I speak before the white fades away and I can catch my breath.

Another splash of water on my face helps calm my nerves again. My mind changed from trying to ignore the plans that Eyn was going to enact. I had to tell a guard, the princesses, somepony. I leave the bathroom and quickly look about the room, quickly noticing a guard only a few trots away. I calm my nerves and prepare the story in my head, trying to get as much details and evidence so that he will believe me enough to warn the captain of the guards or the princesses of this coming danger.

I take only two steps toward the guard when my hooves quickly fill with weights and I stop in my tracks.

“No…” I manage to whisper before claustrophobia takes over.

Surprisingly, I find my body resume its course and approach the guard.

“Miss Octavia, it is a pleasure to see you.” The guard mentions, bowing slightly toward me.

“Good evening. Will you have the honor of guarding during the concert to see my show?” Eyn uses my voice to ask.

“Sadly, no. I am assigned to the wall at such time.”

“That is such a shame. It will truly be a concert to remember. I’m sure you’ll hear about it.” I feel him smile with my mouth.

“I’m sure I will. Now if you excuse me.” He turns his attention back to the crowd.

“Yes, of course. Have a great night.”

The guard bows to me, and smiles before turning back to the crowd before I turn around and regain control of my body. I look around and notice the gazes of the nearby ponies had focused my conversation. To turn around now and reveal the story would be crippling. I walked forward slowly, holding my composure. I scan the room and quickly see the bright blue hair of Vinyl amidst all of the ponies. I make my way to her, feeling a tightness in my chest as I try to think of how I can talk to her, maybe get her to tell a guard for me.

I jump slightly when I see her pop through the crowd staring right at me.

“Come on, we have to start practicing and setting up.” She hooks her hoof into mine and drags me toward the concert hall.

“How do you know where it is?” I ask.

“I talked to a guard before spotting you in the crowd, duh.”

She pushes me through the door to the hallway and counts the doors carefully before pulling me toward a door.

“I’m quite capable of walking on my own, Vinyl.”

“I got this.”

She enters the door, opening up to a large concert hall, a wall of wires hanging in various spots on the stage as panels were slid into place.

“Are those your panels?” I ask.

“You bet they are. They were easier to make after the prototype. It is sure to let everyone in this massive room see every emotion on your face as you play.” Her excitement is simply bubbling.

The dull clop of wood from the stairs rings in my ears as my hooves make their way up the stares and onto the large stage. A single cord unlike the rest of the smaller ones that were being raised into the ceiling and behind the large black screens that Vinyl had built sat on the stage for me. Working quickly, my cello case opened and I held the smooth wood in my hooves, caressing its form slowly. I grab the plug and snap it into the side of my cello.

The crackles of amps coming to life fill my ears. I don’t even turn, but instead I lift my bow to my strings. With just a slide of the bow across the strings the melodious vibrations permeated the room with impressive volume. I struck a few more notes in the practice realm of tuning and found Vinyl had already tuned the amps to pitch perfect adjustments.

“Try the opening to the song. I want to hear how your part sounds with mine.” Vinyl asks, pulling one headphone from her ear and turning a few knobs.

Nodding and sighing, my hoof holds its position. My eyes close as I embrace the solemn nature of the opening. Placing the key within the confines of the song, the lock opens revealing the intricate emotions of the ancient Northern Hymn. The sounds were completely undisturbed by Vinyl’s section and as I played the acoustics of the room clicked open a lock I hadn’t known existed. The room itself served as its own amplifier and equalizer. Everything was perfect even though I was now forced to be the obedient instrument to a troubled alicorn prince. Help never felt so far away even though she was standing behind me. I barely notice that I stared at the Princess’s box seat the entire time I was practicing. I could feel Eyn smile at the situation. Everything was in place for him and no pony would even know it besides Vinyl and me. Then again, I no longer hold the ability to warn her to get the guards, or warn the princesses since I am unable to react past Eyn’s mental prison. I would be a spectator to my own show and my own ruin.

Chapter 9: Agoraphobia

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The sounds of voices and hooves echo through the acoustic chamber of the royal concert hall. My heart beat furiously inside my chest, but such wasn’t new, as my composure remained straight and perfect. I performed a multitude of these shows though for an audience with both Princesses present, one couldn’t help but feel apprehensive. More so was the looming veil of a mind controlling alicorn that I’ve witnessed cause griffins to commit suicide. His presence encircles me, as I am helpless to call for help. I am trapped to serve Eyn Spyyr if I like it or not. I try to remain realistic, keeping in mind that the entire royal guard will be at the Princess’s disposal along with their own power. A smile stretches across my face. His plans were sure to fail.

My smile faded as I questioned if I would be included on this coup. Would they arrest me? Would they kill me? I barely notice the bead of sweat running down my forehead before I blow upwards, moving my mane from my eyes.

“Are you going to be alright?” Vinyl asks.

I turn far too quickly to her and answer too stiffly. “Yes, I’m fine.”

She peers over her glasses at me. “Uh huh… What’s up” Are you nervous?”

“No, I just have a lot on my mind right now.”

“Anything you need to get off your chest before the show starts?” She asks.

“No, it is fine Vinyl. I am just having some pre-concert jitters, nothing new.” I throw a weak smirk at her.

I barely have time to blink before the white unicorn had me embraced in tight warm hug. I barely noticed my own hooves rising up and sharing the hug with her. The soft friendly and romantic nature of a hug calmed every sense I had. Vinyl was the best friend a mare could ask for along with being a great mare friend. At times I wonder if this is the real Vinyl or if this is some show she puts on just for me. The ideas are quickly abandoned as the stage pony came up behind me.

“You are on in two minutes.” He says.

The lack of time causes my heart to beat as I let go of Vinyl and scan over my instrument, the wires, and my bow. Everything was in order; at least I hoped it was. The bustle of the two-minute preparation nearly wiped the memories of Eyn’s plan away, but sadly they returned. I question if I should try to get help again, but just as I was about to put down my bow to tell Vinyl, the curtain opened.

The searing stage lights barreled down on my face as I slow walk forwards to my position on the stage. I place the cello at the correct angle and rise to its neck, placing my hooves on the strings. The crowd had already grown silent leaving an awkward void of faceless ponies. I scan the crowd slowly and amid the sea of facelessness, in a single row, sat all of my friends, smiling and waving at me. I couldn’t help, but smile as turn my attention down to my cello and let the bow sweep across the strings slowly and solemnly. Emotions from within slowly echoed outwards as not only my sadness but Eyn’s as well. Every muscle in my body tightened as the soft playing grows into a powerful crescendo of loss and grief. The backup ponies added in the soft undertones of piano and drums, barely audible of my crying cello, but nonetheless added a brilliant effect.

The first song of many ends with a final flick of my wrist. The clopping and cheering of the crowd deafens the room. I peer up again to the crowd, but this time I turn to the side booth and see the two faces and flowing manes of the Princesses. I see their smiles and their hooves clapping, relief floods over me. Placing the bow back on the strings silences the crowd. Solemn led to happiness, my own jubilation of the successes in my life flow out of me. It rises and falls, but the tone remains the same cheerful tone. My hooves move lightly over the strings as I make them sing like songbirds. The consonance evolved to my hug with Vinyl before the show. I can’t help but smile as my memories play to my own soundtrack. I add my own additions and elaboration to the notes as I play, straying from my original written work. The notes were straight from head as the happiness continued to flow and descend straight into the next song without the approval of the audience.

A lullaby breaks forth from me, keeping the cheery tone, but taking a dreamy air instead of an airy one. The scale drops heavily and only long-winded notes and sweeping chords acoustically aroused the interest of the audience. I don’t look at them. My eyes remain shut as I continue through the dream state, playing my time inside of Eyn’s memories. A hint of horror mark the second half of it. My playing intensifies as the mood shifts quickly to fear. The nightmares surround me as Eyn’s life crumbles before my eyes. The notes continue to rise and speed up. I watch as his world burns around him, his kingdom falling apart. The notes pound inside my head reaching a climax. The love of his life betrays him as her sister kills him. I practically throw the bow from my hands as I rip it off the strings and hold it out to the side. My breathing is heavy and sweat has formed on my brow, but I wasn’t finished. The small calm left the audience in silent amazement, no pony clapped, but everypony listened to the next part in my story.

The playing is sad again, but with a rising anger. It is the anger of loss and betrayal. The anger in which betrayed lovers feel, the anger in which broken friendships create, the anger in which Eyn had lived most of his life. It breaks upon realization of truth. The tone changes into a more sinister tone. My playing evolves into a meticulous and planned style as each note led to another in perfect order. The back-ups had all but given up trying to add their own spice to my mixture. Luckily, the crowd doesn’t seem to care. Once the music resorts back to the planned rhythms and the back-ups had caught up to me, the introduced the smashing crashes at each explosion of notes. The final crash ends the song as I bow. The crowd roars with life with an applause that drove worry from my mind. I peer up to the Princesses’ box and see their nods of approval.

At least an hour of playing passes, most of my songs gaining powerful inspiration from my time inside Eyn’s mind. Each song ends with a powerful applause. As my songs dwindle down to the final song, the apprehension returns. I finish the last solo song and place my cello on the ground carefully. I bow my head before trotting to the back of the stage and grabbing a cup of water. The glass shakes in my hoof forcing me to steady it with the other.

“Time to rock this place.” Vinyl whispers to me as she walks past me and behind her wall of knobs, gears, and records.

She places a few on the tracks and flips a few switches challenging the concert lights with her own impressive displays. Returning to my cello, I find the faceless crowd to have detail once more. They were no longer cast in darkness as the large screens behind me display larger images of Vinyl and myself. The audience shifts uncomfortably in the light, like they feared the world knowing that they had come to one of my concerts. The music begins to rumble around me as the sound of synthesizers crackled with their electronic tones. The opening of the song gave me enough time to arrive back at my cello and lift it. Two breaths and my bow began to glide over the strings once again in perfect harmony with the synthesizers.

I pause at the break in the beat adding, having a battle with the synthesizer as it repeated everything I played. Vinyl’s own flare of lasers were kept at a minimum and the strobes were only minor. Our harmonics were pitch perfect as we played the North Kingdom Anthem. I manage to glance up at the Princesses’ box again to see their faces more in thought. Smoke begins to surround me as I play. I think it is a nice touch by Vinyl until I remember she had abandoned all of her smoke machines. The shock causes my hoof to slip and scrape the string wrong. The smoke circles quickly before it encased me. I am unable to see anything outside of the bubble. The fear coursing in my blood causes my hoof to let go of my cello, causing it to fall along with my bow. The dull sickening crack of the cello hitting something at an awkward angle and slipping off of the stage and breaking off the ground hurts.

The smoke immediately begins to push itself into my nostrils and my mouth as I cough and try to escape the sinister embrace. My cutie mark begins to burn just as it had in the pool of strange white liquid. The smell of the smoke was exactly like that of the pool. I begin to panic as I feel the searing pain return to me. I cry out in pain as my body convulses at it. I still try to escape, but I feel the weight of the world fall onto my shoulders.

“Octavia!” I only faintly hear Vinyl’s voice screaming through my own heavy breathing, smashing heart, and screams.

A sickening crack of my ribs along with a multitude of pops from my muscles sends me helplessly to the ground. My own tears have blinded me from what is happening around me, but I notice the pool of blood coming out of my mouth, along with the shadow of a metal leg with all of its gears. The smoke slowly dissipates, and I see Vinyl was only a few hooves away from me, her eyes locked onto the new form standing before her.

“I’m sorry that I am late…” The voice says coolly.

“What is the meaning of this?” Celestia asks.

“I wanted a public audience with you, of course.” Eyn bows. “There is much that we need to catch up on.”

“Guards! Seize this intruder.” Celestia commands.

My consciousness rises out of my body, letting me see the whole room as an invisible force just as I had experienced when Eyn had fought with Celestia the first time. Looking down, I find my body rising to a standing position. Magical armor and weapons appeared around it as she stood next to Eyn, my eyes completely white and devoid of whom I was. My consciousness had been physically removed from my body. I scream, but no pony turns to me. Nothing. The guards in room jump onto the stage just as the audience began running toward the exit.

“Now, now. Leaving part way through a show is rude.” He smiles as the guards surround him. The crowd hits the doors only to find all of the locks were engaged and broken shut. All are trapped in this room.

The first two guards walk toward Eyn without weapons. “Come with us quietly and peacefully.” One of them states.

“If I did that then one thousand years of planning would just go down the drain. I’m here to say my part. Octavia?” He speaks. My body steps in front of them, holding the sword, blankly staring into a void.

“Step aside, Octavia.” The guards command as they continue to advance.

“How about you step aside?” Eyn asks.

Their faces going blank and like obedient dogs, they step to the side. The rest of the guards dropped their weapons and stepped back, all blank expressions. My own body lowered the sword and bowed to Eyn.

“You know, I thought you would have recognized your old and faithful friend.” His words are biting through the formality and grace.

“A friend wouldn’t do this.” Celestia answers back.

“Oh, quite right, but I am guessing that a friend is allowed to kill another. Is a friend allowed to ruin another friend’s life? Is a friend allowed to break his heart to the mare that he loved? I’m sure you remember what you did to me. Don’t you remember my name?” He asks.

Her face becomes thoughtful once more until it suddenly breaks. She doesn’t even manage to say the name that was on the tip of her tongue as Luna spoke.

“It can’t be you.” Her voice is shaky.

Eyn shuts his eyes and genuinely smiles. “It is so nice to hear your voice again, my lovely Luna.” His tone changes, “Just as unpleasant it is to hear your sister’s voice.”

Vinyl stares at my body and slowly makes her way next to it.

“Octavia, what are you doing?” She whispers to me.

I try to yell to her, warn her that that isn’t me, but to no avail. The gears inside her head turn and she quickly looks at Eyn. “Let her go.” She commands, tears falling from her face as malice dripped from her words.

Eyn turned to her and smiled. “No…” My own body turns to Vinyl and brings a hoof across her face, sending her to the ground. He turns back to Luna and Celestia. “I came back for two things. I wanted you remember me, and I wanted you to understand.”

“Octavia?” Vinyl whispers as she wipes the blood from her lip. “Why are you following this mad pony? Eyn has lost his mind. I don’t know what he showed you, but it’s a lie.” I watch as my body steps toward her and place the sword against her neck.

“But you were dead. You died at the crater when I-“ Celestia broke away.

“When you tried to murder me? Maybe next time you should check on your old friend before you just toss him into a crater. I don’t appreciate that you could just throw your good friend away without even grieving about me. Frankly, I find it insulting, but one thousand years is enough to forgive and forget right?” He asks.

“Snap out of it, Octavia.” Vinyl strains to speak as the blade presses against her throat. Every ounce of my being, of my heart poured into my attempt to call out to her, to retake command of my body.

The dull white eyes that had formed in my eyes vanished, coming back to black for a second, pulling the sword away from her just as the shock of regaining control broke. The staunch muscles returned as the sword was lifted quickly and brought down toward Vinyl. My eyes closed as I heard the sword crash through wood. I opened to find Vinyl rolling out of the way and quickly running away from my body. It didn’t pursue.

The room hung in a heavy silence. “I’m sorry.” Celestia spoke.

“Yes, I bet you are sorry. You lost all of your friends and for one thousand years you wallowed in your kingdom. Killed your sister’s fiancé, turned your first friend, Discord, into stone, drove out Ahuizotl, paid no attention to Starswirl as he vanished, and you banished Luna to the moon. How could you live with yourself? That’s right, you looked for a pupil, one that could teach you where you went wrong with your friendships. Is that why you ask her for friendship letters? Are you truly sorry? I don’t think you are sorry enough.” His metal wings click together as he blankly stares in the general area of the Princesses. “I came to remind everypony of who I am. And as your true main act, your freak show entertainment, I hope to dazzle and amaze you all with magic never before seen in Equestria.” His words are mixed with comedy and scorn. A wall of magic explodes forth from his horn, growing in random directions, hitting the room in a large spread. It hit Vinyl and the rest of the crowd, but nothing changed in their countenance.

As it hit the Princess’s, their eyes widened as they fell back. “Like a waking nightmare isn’t it?” Eyn asks. “I’ve lived that for one thousand years. I’ve lived one thousand years with a broken heart, Luna.” His voice wavers only slightly. “I never forgot you,” his voice evolves into a growl, “nor did I forget your sister.”

“Eyn, I-“

Celestia cuts Luna off. “You were the one who caused the war. You caused my sister to become Nightmare Moon. You did all of that to yourself.” Celestia flies down onto the stage. “You forced my hoof back then as you are forcing it now.”

Eyn smirks. “I’ve only returned your memories to you and I am forcing your hoof? Why don’t you tell every pony here what you are trying to hide? Why don’t you tell them all how you murdered me when I only helped this kingdom as you ripped mine out from under me?” He begins laughing as a vortex begins to form. “You won’t tell them until you’ve been beaten will you? You won’t admit your follies until you are on your knees begging for your life!”

The area immediately around Eyn begins to churn and pulsate as the red sparks began cracking along his head. At first, I believed my vision was blurring, but after a few seconds to Eyn’s broke apart as my body moved to the side with the guards. Vinyl slides in front of the swirling vortex and grabs my body, pushing me off of the stage. I feel her strike it.

“You have to listen to me, Octavia. Snap out of it. We have to get out of here.” My body served as a microphone for her voice. She smacks me across the face before turning back to the swirling vortex on the stage. Tightness grips around my neck, squeezing the air from me. I look down to see Vinyl dragging me through the aisles as I thrashed against her.

The vortex amplified as Shadow Eyn stepped forward, a large black circle with a white center to it, the dark side of Ying Yang completely taking over as the lighter Eyn stood in the back, Eyn’s old focus concentric circles sketched on his flank. A white light surrounded him as he stepped back as the darker stepped forward. The strange distorted field connected the white and the dark, rotating in the air, the two forces recreating the Ying Yang in the air.

The wind inside of the concert hall explodes with life as it roars and whistles, ripping apart the curtains and knocking over anything that isn’t tied down. The sparks arced from the dark Eyn to the light Eyn. Shadow Eyn slowly walks toward Celestia, the metal wings opening out around his body as the sparks concentrated around his head before a bright red crack of light broke forth from it tearing the boards and walls as it traveled up the wall apart. Celestia teleports just as it explodes through the ground of the once beautiful concert hall.

“Celestia? Where are you?” Both Eyns ask.

I saw her next to Luna, trying to make her sister move, but she seemed frozen in shock, staring at the two alicorns tearing the building apart.

“Luna, you have to leave. He is after you. I will buy you some time, and I will join you shortly. We have to get outside, away from the other ponies.” Celestia’s voice fills my ears.

“You never understood what he… and you tried to kill him for it.” Luna stutters in shock. “I thought that I wanted your kingdom when all I wanted was what you took away from me.” Her voice is weak and cast in disbelief as her eyes look aimlessly at the floor.

“Luna don’t, please Luna, don’t listen to him.”

“Why won’t you listen to him?” Luna asks loudly. “When did he ever wrong you?”

“There you are…” Dark Eyn’s voice cracks as another blast attack rips upwards into the box. The attacks were highly erratic and blind. Inside of Eyn’s mane, the concert hall burned though outside it was still mostly intact. “There is a time to create and a time to destroy.” Another beam rips around the wall as pieces of the scenic ceiling falls apart.

The wind intensifies as fog began to fill the room. Shadows of panicked ponies reflected and blurred in the chaos it created as the red sparks crackling along dark Eyn’s eyes filled the air amid the screams and cries from the other ponies.

“Tavi, put the sword down and look at who you attacking. You are stronger than his mind tricks!” Vinyl screams. Trying to look through the fog to find her, to maybe save her from myself, I catch a glimpse of her slowly backing away from another shadow, holding the sword. My body lunges toward her just as a yellow white lightning bolt cracked from a unicorn’s horn from the corner sending it toppling through the air, but landing on her feet, just barely as she lifts herself back up with the sword.

Lyra walks out from the corner, her eyes wide as she peers around the room. “Vinyl, are you okay?”

“What did you do to her?” Vinyl shakes Lyra.

“I-I don’t know. I’ve never… I remember things.” Her speech breaks off as my voice yells as I charge them with the sword again. Lyra’s eyes glow a soft yellow. The magic rips the sword out of my body’s mouth and trips her. Tears are pouring from my body’s eyes as she tries to stand again, her breathing heavy.

“Just stay down, Tavi.” Lyra pleads.

Instead, she grabs a broken, sharp piece of wood and charged again.

“Now you are blind as me, Celestia. Face me like the leader that you are.” Eyn growls.
Celestia appears quietly from behind one of the curtains that were still hanging. A bright light emits from her horn as a heated pulse of raw sun energy cracks from it, straight at Eyn’s direction. The blast broke the fog from around Eyn leaving a wall of debris, dust, and smoke from the explosion, blocking the view. Some that witnesses the attack cheered, but as the dust lifted, the metal wings, steaming from the energy whirred and clicked back closed onto his back. A low chuckle began to fill the room. The untouched form of Eyn rises from the fog.

“One must always learn from one’s mistakes. My mistake was trusting you, and the other was letting you hit me with that attack. Luckily, I’ve learned, and adapted.” A series of sharp metal whizzed through the air, ripping the curtains apart as they buzzed through the air. Eyn’s metal feathers had jettisoned themselves off of his back and were flying around him.

“Don’t drag the other ponies into this. If you want this to be between you and me then let us leave this concert hall.” Celestia speaks as she teleports to another location.

“Everypony did this to me. Everypony should see their princess, their leader, for who she truly is, a liar and a cheat that ignored me when the griffin armies were ransacking my kingdom of old. I watched my ponies, women and children struck down in the streets leaving no survivors while I was dragged back into safety to see the rest of my people be shipped to the slaughterhouse that used to be my home. You lost your friends and thought that you could task one of your subjects to figure out what you did wrong? I can tell you what you did wrong.” He blasts a laser randomly into the concert hall. “You didn’t trust me.” He blasted another round. “You didn’t listen to me.” Another. “You let your self image outweigh your friends!” Another round, and light Eyn stumbles slightly. He coughs, a small stream of blood drips from his mouth as the dark Eyn continues his attacks. He breathes heavily.

“And you think you can teach me a lesson by trying to kill me?” Celestia asks. “I learned my lesson all those years ago. I regretted everything that I did to you, what I did to Luna, and Discord. I let all of you grow distant to me. It was my fault, Eyn, but what you are doing now isn’t going to change anything.”

“Your thinking has already changed? If that can change than a change of power shouldn’t be that much more difficult.” The floor of the stage erupts in a blinding white light as Celestia’s attack rips through the air and hits Eyn’s darker form directly in the side. His body is thrown to the ground as the fog begins to clear as the charred body hits the ground limply.

“I didn’t want to, Eyn, but I had-“ Her talking stops as the charred body rises, laughing as it did so. I turn back to the light Eyn and see him smiling, almost on the verge of laughing as he too rises to his feet after coughing.

“You think- you could- kill me?” Eyn asks pausing to breathe at each word, shaking with pain. “How many times is this now? You can’t kill me, Celestia. You can’t kill your past. You can’t kill a nightmare.” Eyn’s burnt side slowly begins to disappear as fresh skin is revealed. “Pain is much like death, I’ve discovered. It just takes a little mind and magic over matter.” He laughs as another super-heated ray of magic blasts from his broken horn.

That was when I notice the small flash of light between the two Eyns. I watch him more closely as another shot is fired and I notice it isn’t dark Eyn that is shooting the laser, but light Eyn. The fog also moved through the other Eyn like he wasn’t truly there. Maybe it is just the effects of the magic fog?

“Eyn?” Luna’s voice echoes from behind the light Eyn, catching him by surprise as he turns around.

“Luna?” He asks.

She emerges from the fog directly in front of the light version of his body. Her eyes are locked onto his as she stares at him. “I thought you died at that crater.” Her voice is weak. “I couldn’t remember you, but I always had that feeling, that pain that I couldn’t remember the reason for. I truly thought you died at that terrible place.”

“I did…”His voice remains cool and collected though the words came off awkwardly. “Old Eyn met his end one thousand years ago in that crater. I knew I couldn’t be him again. I needed to evolve to survive. One thousand years in the Everfree where every living thing wants to eat you alive changes you. Being lost in the Everfree, unable to see anything. Lost in darkness surrounded in fear, left for dead. I can only imagine the loneliness of the moon.” He speaks as the other Eyn continues to hard press Celestia.

Luna keeps her eyes locked on him as she jumps forward, pressing her head against the side of his face. She stepped forward and sighed as she held him in an embrace. The Princess of the Moon breaks from the embrace and stares him in his eyes as her horn lights up.

“You look terrible…” She gives him a weak smile.

Eyn laughs just as an explosion rips across behind him as the pops of Celestia teleporting quickly, making sure the attacks remain pointed away from the cowering ponies at the doors. “I wish I could say how you look, but sadly that escapes me. One thousand years is quite the time to mature into the proper princess. Your beauty must be unmatched.”

A constricting force rises through my body as I turn sharply to see a yellow field surrounding my body and holding it to the ground. Vinyl gallops over to me and stares me in the eyes before slapping me across the face. I feel the sharp pain of her slap hit my face as she slaps me again with the same effect. “You have to still be in there, Tavi.”

The stage explodes as a shadow flies through the air and slides across the ground of what was left of the wooden platform. The gold crown rolls off the side as the fog clears inside of the room. Celestia, covered in cuts, dirt, and soot tries to rise to her hooves as Eyn she had been fighting steps up next to her. A large cut along the side of his face seals itself returning him to a perfect condition.

“It is difficult to fight a nightmare, Celestia.” Shadow Eyn grows before he fades into the dissipating fog, leaving only Luna, one Eyn, and Celestia on the stage.

“If you can excuse me, I have something that I need to deal with.” Eyn speaks to Luna before turning from her and limping toward the fallen Celestia. She tries to stand, but he grabs her with his magic, lifts her into the air and brings her hard against the ground, breaking the stage, toppling Celestia into a hole.

He drags Celestia’s body out of the dirty hole in the ground. He lifts her head up just as she was gaining consciousness, helping her up to her hooves, but just as quickly as she regained herself, Eyn brought his good hoof across her face sending her back onto the ground.

“I’ve dreamed of doing that for over a thousand years.” Eyn laughs as he the roaring wind tunnel that had encircled him dies quickly leaving only a few pieces of broken wood floating strangely through the air.

“Eyn, quit. You’ve made your point. Leave her be.” Luna speaks staring at her sister and Eyn. “I know your pain, but I too felt the same pain when I came back, but she’s changed, Eyn. She knows the wrong that she has done.”

“I want her to apologize to me and mean it. I want to hear her to beg.” Eyn growls.

“Eyn…” Celestia starts. “I’m sorry, but you have to see what I saw. I lost my friends. I lost everything that I held dear in my heart. I lost Luna and you on the same day. No pony is perfect, Eyn. I made too many mistakes in my life to count.” Celestia breathes as she rises to her hooves shakily, looking Eyn in his pale white eyes. “If I remembered you existed, that you were still alive, I would have come to save you.”

Eyn stared at her thoughtfully, his eyes devoid of emotion from her speech. “That would have been a lovely funeral speech. Too bad I can’t say the same at yours. You took my life away from me. You led my people to slaughter. You kept your life and power. You don’t live in agonizing pain every day. I protected Equestria from ultimate evil. I tried to protect our northern lands, my kingdom. My reward was everything I held dear, ripped from my hooves and my life. My magic is erratic. I can’t fly. I can’t run. I can’t see. I couldn’t be with the one I loved. Why do you deserve life?”

Celestia shook her head slowly. “Nothing compares to your life. I’ve kept this kingdom together and gave happiness to my subjects. I sacrificed all of my friends for that. I can never take those choices back.” She breathes deeply as she raises her head, the scuff from the punch still on her cheek. Eyn steps to the side, dragging his metal prosthetic on the wood and leaning on it heavily.

“Every day my own magic is killing me. Tearing me apart from the inside as light and dark clash. I know you’re better than this, Celestia. You can fight much harder than that.” Eyn growls at her.

Celestia shakes her head. “I can’t fight a friend anymore.”

Eyn laughs heavily. “Did you just call me your friend?” He laughs harder. “You seriously think that all of what you did and amid all my plans that I am still your friend.” He shakes his head. “Sometimes your friends are your greatest enemies. You betrayed me, Celestia, and for that you dissolved our friendship. I tried to forgive you, and I tried to warn you. For what I am about to do, I apologize for the grief it will bring.” The red sparks snap across his eyes again as his horn lights up with energy.

The stage cracks with energy as the Ying Yang symbol emerges back on Eyn’s flank.

“Goodbye, Celestia.” He speaks, lowering his broken horn to where Celestia stood.

A dark shadow eclipses the light from Eyn’s form. The light lowers quickly to reveal Eyn staring down at Celestia before turning to put his cheek against Luna’s neck. She pulls her head back from his chest and presses her cheek against his, the blood from her horn dripping from her head and against his cheek. Eyn stumbles to the side to reveal the hole in his chest. Blood poured from it as he smiled and fell onto the ground, the blood pooling around him. He pushes himself back to his hooves, his side covered in blood as he stares at Luna.

Blood pours from Eyn’s stab wound in his chest as he collapses onto his knees once more. He lunges and grasps onto the shoulders of Luna, pulling himself partially up as his back legs fell over. He pressed his head against hers and smiled peacefully. “T-thank you, Luna.” He struggles to breathe. “You know that I- always…” He drifts off before coughing and trying to focus on her again.

“Eyn, I never stopped loving you.” Luna sighs into his ear. “And I-“

“Never will.” Eyn finishes her sentence. “You remember.”

Luna’s voice shakes as her eyes mist quickly. “Goodbye, Eyn. I’m sorry that I-“

Eyn presses his hoof up to her mouth. “You did what you had to.” He takes a deep breath. “You did what I had hoped you would.” He tries to chuckle, but ends up coughing. “You never have to say goodbye to me. I’ll always be with you.” He raises his hoof to her head. “In here and,” He lowers his shaky hoof down to her chest. “And here.” He slips from her hold and collapses onto the ground. He manages a few more breaths before his eyes shut and his chest stops rising.

Like a vortex, I am sucked back into my body. I travel through the pinhole feeling for the last time, as I cough and wake up in Vinyl’s arms, back in my body. The doors magically open as if they were never broken and the ponies flood out. Vinyl motions toward the exit, but I turn back to the destroyed stage and walk slowly to it. Amid the wreckage, I spot the neck of my first cello. I grasp it and pull slowly only to pull out the neck from the rubble. I drop it quietly and look about the room. The weeping of a despairing mare fills the room. I knew who it was. I didn’t want to look at her, but I turn anyway.

Luna knelt beside Eyn’s body and pushed her nose against his face as the tears fell from her eyes. All the pain Eyn had been in, I had thought he wanted revenge. Maybe he wanted it partially, and his dark side almost had it, but now I see what Eyn had wanted. Celestia would never forget this moment as Eyn held her life in his hoof. She would always remember him as he had intended. He had been looking for freedom from his pain, both physical and emotional. With Luna with him, he had learned she still loved him, but such didn’t help him. One thousand years had changed him and he knew it. He saw himself as a monster and being blind, he slowly built an image that he was hideous and deformed.

Now his lifeless body rested completely at peace. Even though he was dead, it didn’t feel like he was gone. Maybe that was also part of his plan. Maybe he released his consciousness and is floating among us right now, glad to see that he was finally missed. I trace back to what he had said. “I did…” I repeat slowly to myself. I understood before Eyn’s body began to flake into ashes leaving behind no bones or sign of his existence. My memories flash back to the crater, at the wall that Eyn was standing beside and the bones half buried in the sand. Was a memory powerful enough to rise from the dust and retake his form. Was love strong enough for it to weather one thousand years in the Everfree? Was his second death at the horn of Luna symbolic of their love finally fading and for the time of healing to begin?

I remember how he had shown me a false memory of being afraid and running from Celestia and being killed. I felt the strongest amount of pity for him at that moment. Pity enough to never question his motives and to let myself into that pool so that he could use my cells to create a half living force to create physical attacks with. The memories of him killing the guard to get into Canterlot cleared up, revealing him simply controlling the guard off to the side with a teleport just as the lightning struck so that I would fear him enough to not want to cross him. Everything he did served its purpose and everyone followed his plans. He had beaten Celestia. He had shown himself to the Canterlot Elite including the most prestigious journalists and press owners in Equestria. The Anthem of the North and the mere mention of the kingdom would assuredly cause research to be done in both the Canterlot Libraries and excavations to be sent to the griffin kingdom. I question what they will find.

Celestia rises from the dirt around her, her head bent down as her eyes stared straight down. “Why?” She asks, as she turns to her sister, tears falling from her face. “Why did you ask for this?”

Ashes fall from above and I look up to see red letters carved into the ceiling. “Goodbye.” I say to myself as I smile.

Vinyl’s hoof makes its way over my shoulder and turns me away from the scene.

“Come on, let them deal with it.” We make our way back toward the exit. “I’m glad to see you are back to yourself, and that psycho is dead.” She tries a half chuckle. “Do you think we’ll still be paid?”

I hum to myself as I turn to her. “I only want a good night’s sleep.” I follow her into the night air. “You didn’t have to hit me that hard.” I try to chuckle, but it hurts, and I stop quickly.

As I left the doors, the cool breeze causes shivers to run down my back. The last few days felt too much like a dream for me to focus. Everything is half-focused and broken, but Eyn, the young smiling Eyn, is looking back at me. He nods and vanishes inside of my memories, disappearing into the void of forgetfulness, yet he never disappears. He stands on the edge, just barely in view. I barely notice the paramedics galloping to my side or the pain where my ribs had broken and where I was still bleeding being pressed with gauze.

“Everything is going to okay.” They confirm to me as they wheel me away from the wreckage of the concert hall. Vinyl trots next to me with a smile on her face, her glasses missing, but the pendant in her hair remains. I place my hoof on my bow where the other pendant rested. I smile.

“Yeah, I guess everything is…” I turn back to the destroyed concert hall and the crying within, “I guess everything is…”

Epilogue

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Months passed before any degree of normalcy returned to Canterlot, Ponyville, or Equestria. Seeing as it was my return to fame, many journalists had been a part of the crowd. Most if not all of them later went on and published stories about the return of Eyn Spyyr. Investigations were eventually drawn from the publications and the mass graves of the North were discovered. Remains of women and children piled together with the rest of the ancient skeletons of the time. It was only a matter of time before the griffins built a monument. Vinyl and I decided to visit it. A large statue of a wingless, missing leg alicorn stood on the top of a large platform, his face heavily burned with the written inscription.

“Here lie the poor souls of the Northern Kingdom Massacre, a war crime committed by the Fourth King of the Fifth Dynasty Griffins. This Monument lies in memory of those lost and for the soul who sacrificed his life for his story to be heard, Eyn Spyyr, True Prince of the Northern Kingdom.”

As I stared at his statue, I couldn’t help but smile and nod at it.

“I’m glad you got what you wanted, Eyn, even if you aren’t here to enjoy it.” I spoke to the base of the statue. A breeze blew through the trees, tossing my mane around. I enjoyed humoring myself that it was Eyn’s way of saying thanks.

Celestia eventually came out, with a few cuts still on her lip as she recounted the tales of the days of Eyn’s life. Controversy was inevitable as ponies and griffins looked at Eyn as a villain and an evil force, one that had attempted to take over the kingdom through force. Amid all the opposition a large support group still existed, though most were silent. I stood among them. The events were talked about heavily at first like any major event, but as the days rolled by and the investigations dwindled, it became history like the rest of the events, managing to get a day for everypony to remember his life and sacrifice.

Amid Vinyl’s joking, we did in fact receive the funds for the concert. We bought out a nearby warehouse as Vinyl constructed a large antenna and all of the machinery inside to broadcast our station out to Equestria. It started rocky with plenty of short circuits, but eventually Vinyl had the electronics figured out with a far more electrified hairstyle. I kept the building clean and cooked for her, helping where I could. I hoped the radio station would give enough funds to buy a new cello since the funds we had went for the radio. Vinyl promised me she would help with buying it. I couldn’t help but smile.

I walk around the newly designed radio station. Some of the wires still hung out of the ceiling, but for the most part, the building is finished. Vinyl even sent out the first signals, playing some of her old music to draw in fans and listeners so we could begin receiving royalty checks for our services. The money would be slow at first, but I was patient.

I wake up the next morning and jump out of my new bed in the loft of the radio station. It was much larger than that of the duplex that we had owned before. I trot slowly out of the room and down the stairs to check the mail for the royalty checks this week. Opening the door, a package greets my eye. It is wrapped in brown paper and has a shape that makes my heart jump. I look around the vicinity in hopes that the mail mare was still around, but no pony is visible. I turn to the gift, lift it onto my back and take it inside before looking around it. A single tag existed.

“From: A friend. To: Octavia.
Thank you for your assistance. I’m sorry for the delay.”

I tear the paper from the smooth and reflective wood of the cello underneath. A fresh bow with white string sits to the side of it. The quality of the wood staggers many cellos in even the largest of orchestras. I smell it and find the natural perform heart stopping and aromatic. I pluck one of the strings to find it terribly out of tune. I sigh to myself. Fairy tale endings didn’t seem to be on the menu today.

I take my time in the morning, tuning the new instrument until it sang with a resonant beauty that always warms my heart. The days of its noise being away had been painful, but the spare had served its purpose, letting me at least compose a few new songs. It was only as I placed the cello on my old stand that I notice a piece of paper inside of the body. I pull it out and notice the writing on the back of it.

“Read the newspaper today.” I read.

Turning to the side table, I pick up the paper I had blindly tossed to the side before tuning my cello and look at the front page. Sitting on the front page was a picture of Luna and an armored pony smiling and standing close to each other. I look closer at the picture and at the guard standing next to her. I read the title of the picture: “Princess Luna being courted by Captain of the Night Guard, Rael Ize”.

I stare at the Captain of the Night Guard and notice his eyes and smile. I had seen it before, but it couldn’t be the same pony. This pony was a unicorn and he didn’t have large metal wings or a missing leg. I shook my head, but I scrutinized the gift, the note, and the planning involved.

“It can’t be.” I pull the paper closer to my face, but after some time of looking, I can only smile. How could I know what couldn’t and could be. Eyn had proven to me that anything and everything was possible. I shared the smile of the young Eyn Spyyr standing on the front page in a new body.

“What can’t be?” Vinyl’s groggy voice emerges from the stairs to the loft as she trots down the stairs.

“A gift from a friend.” I nod toward the new cello sitting in the corner and smile.

“Dang, Octavia. Some pony must really dig you. Would make me jealous if they had a chance.” She winks before kissing me on the cheek and jumping on the table next to me, pulling the newspaper over to her side and looking at the front page. “Would you look at that, Luna seems happy.”

“She deserves it. Everypony deserves to find their special somepony at some point.” Even if she was only being reunited with him, or at least somepony that looked like him. I couldn’t be sure, but the thought of him somehow surviving death made me smile more as I leaned back in the chair.

“You’re happy this morning. Is it because the cello?” Vinyl asks, sticking her tongue out.

“Partially.” I chuckle. “I just feel really good about myself, maybe a little less,” I pause as I try to find the right words, “Serious.” I chuckle warmly.

“We can send out our first harmonic song tonight, live.” Vinyl smirks. “Should we play through your masterpiece all the way through since no pony heard the ending to it?”

I think about it for a few before I nod in agreement. “I think everypony deserves an ending.”

---

Meanwhile in another part of Ponyville, a green blue pony stares out her window toward the Everfree.

“Are you just going to keep staring out that window or are you going to help me. You’ve been acting so weird since that crazy concert Octavia had.” Bonbon mentions.

“Yeah, I’ll help when I get back. I need to check something.” Lyra speaks slowly.

“Make it quick I guess. I really need your help with this order.”

“Yes, hon.” Lyra wraps a scarf around her neck as she walks out in the cool September air.

She walks along the path to the Everfree. Her face is focused and stern as her pace is quick and precise. Breaking the tree line, the unicorn trots off the beaten path and emerges on the alcove where Bonbon had first found her.

“I remember.” Lyra turns to a bunch of trees, her memory racing. “I came from there…” She walks toward it and pushes through the tight trees until a collection of boulders emerged.

Lyra walks around it a few times before pushing one of the rocks to the side revealing a dark passageway that carved into the ground below her. Without hesitation she climbs through it, generating light with her horn until the tight passageway opened to a larger cavern. The walls glittered with gems and gold, but the large cracks along the wall made her move quietly and cautiously through the cavern’s innards. A small passage way led to another cavern where two forms came into view.

Two ponies locked in time stood with spells both being launched from their horns and colliding in the center. Lyra gazed at both of them with a smile on her face as all of her lost memories flooded back into her head. One of the ponies in the room wore a large hat with a long white beard growing off of his chin while the other was cast in a dark shroud with yellow glowing eyes.

“Mom. Dad. It is good to see you. I'm sorry that I'm late.” Lyra nuzzles her nose against Starswirl before walking to Quorra and doing the same.

“It’s been a long time hasn’t it, but it is time to wake up.”

Everything Ends...

by Harold_Genhi

Opening

Chapter 1: Cascade

Chapter 2: Resurgence

Chapter 3: Unity Living

Chapter 4: Overthrow

Chapter 5: Rising Six

Chapter 6: Depravity

Chapter 7: Old Eyn's End

Chapter 8: Preparation

Chapter 9: Agoraphobia

Epilogue