Octavia always enjoyed the night, as well as its creator, but somehow always felt odd around the princess.
Octavia always enjoyed the night, as well as its creator, but somehow always felt a little odd around the princess. A Luna/Octavia ship, with an interesting take on both characters. I got inspired by this story and I felt curious about how this ship would turn out.
Octavia found herself in the middle of a rather dense crowd of high society ponies, which would probably soon clear, as most of them just came to congratulate Princess Mi Amore Cadenza (or Cadence, which she apparently preferred) one final time. At least, that was what the grey mare with a flowing raven mane – commonly referred to as Octavia Philharmonica – had hoped for.
She and her ensemble had been invited to play at the royal wedding, but after the bug queen's plan got revealed and later foiled, the real Princess Cadence had chosen a different sourace of musical entertainment for the party after the ceremony, and the group of highly talented musicians had been cancelled out on. Fortunately for them, they still received the promised money, and that meant they had nothing to complain about (who would complain about free money anyway?). Additionally, they had all experienced an extremely tiresome week, full of concerts and events to play at, devoid of any time to rest, and getting to end this stressful week a few hours sooner was a bliss only ponies as tired and exhausted as them could understand.
Despite their lack in social rank and connections the ponies of the quartet were still invited to the private wedding (which meant access to the wedding hall and the after-party), but none of them had the energy or the drive to join in on the celebration. All of them except one.
Octavia, while she was probably the single most exhausted member of the little band (playing her instrument – the cello – put an incredible amount of strain on a pony, due to the sheer fact that one needed to stand on their hind hooves made it one of the most strenuous instruments to play), had something she absolutely wanted to do. She was mostly just curious who they had been replaced with, who could possibly be better than their ensemble for this sort of gathering? even the gala had been profiting from their services for the last three years in a row. Besides, just taking part in a social event like this was more relaxing than playing for said event, even if it was far from the relaxation level her home could offer.
Slowly drifting back to reality, the grey earth pony realised that the crowd had mostly cleared, leaving only those who were willing to actively participate in the party – it had been a request from the princesses, they didn't want the party crowded with ponies who just weren't enjoying themselves. Speaking of princesses, her eyes spotted the third one right next to the sun sister.
Ever since Luna had been freed from the moon, the musician felt a special connection to the lunar princess. She had long wondered why, and had even managed to find some decent reasons. The night had always been an inspiration to her, even more so after the goddess came back, and the rare times when the midnight blue alicorn spoke in public, she always wore a fake smile. It was convincing to others, Octavia thought, but she knew exactly what it was like to be a different pony for the public. She, too, faked a lot of smiles, enough to make all them seem real to practically anypony.
The cellist had only seen her a few times, at public conferences, where she had only appeared for a few minutes and kept her distances. The one in front of her, however, seemed so much more real, so much less artificial. The feeling was back, stronger than before. Every time she saw the goddess of the moon there was a strong feeling in her chest, as if her heart lit up, and every time said divinity departed, she wanted her to stay longer. She had once asked a friend about this, but she only got a silly reply, so she just ended up assuming that everyone felt like this for their favourite princess, which would explain why so many ponies gathered to meet the princesses.
She stood there, silent, for the next few minutes. Luckily for her no one noticed, not that she would have acknowledged them anyway, she even forgot the main reason she attended the wedding in the first place, completely drowning out everything that wasn't Luna.
Enough staring, she realised as the song changed, she needed to talk to her.
“Good evening princess Luna.” She started, unsure of what to say next.
“Good evening.” Was the simple answer.
“Do you want to dance?” What the fuck was she doing?
“Yes. Although it is surprising, we, I mean I, would have never expected a pony to ask me for a dance.”
And so they danced. At first Octavia was nervous, but she soon found herself at peace. One question, however, kept flying through her mind. What the fuck was she doing?
Once the song ended, both ponies instinctively sat down on a bench. A few moments of comfortable silence went by before the nightly alicorn spoke up. “Well, that was fun. Twice as fun as dancing alone, if not more. By the way, I noticed your cutie mark, so you're into music, right? In what way? Do you play an instrument? Do you compose? A simple treble clef is not very informative.”
“Oh, that old thing? Well yeah, I am a composer, but that's not how I earn my bits. I play several instruments, I even have a room full of them, the view from it is simply breathtaking, but I digress. I mostly play the cello with my ensemble, which was originally scheduled to play at this party, until the princess changed her mind.”
“Oh my, you're not planning some sort of revenge, are you?”
Octavia answered with a dignified snort. “Of course not, we did get paid and there's no reason to be hateful. Although I did come here wondering who our replacement would be.” Oh wow, she had managed to forget about the only reason this marriage was of importance to her. A quick glance towards the speakers later, where a white unicorn with a two-shaded blue mane sat, she continued: “The music she's playing is good, catchy, and danceable to. Although I'm pretty sure she's just playing those records, no idea what skill is required in doing that.”
“Well, she is rather famous, and if anyone could do it I doubt she would be. Something I can think of are the perfect transitions she provides. Granted, that's actually pretty easy once you got some equipment and a minimum of musical talent, but she sometimes manages to mix up something on the spot for songs which don't have a DJ edit, and those are, for most jockeys, a no-go. She even did that tonight, Love is in Bloom was never meant to be played like that, so they never bothered to add a little intro and outro to make the song mixable, yet Pown-three's transition was as smooth as a moon crystal. You have to give her credit for that.”
“I guess, but how do you know all of that? No offence.”
“I'm actually quite fond of the nightlife provided by clubs like those she plays in. Although I have to admit, I only became curious after hearing that word, I mean, it sounded as if ponies actually enjoyed the night at least as much as the day, which actually is the case, some of those ponies sleep throughout their whole days and live in the night. I wonder what jobs they have which would let them keep such a schedule... But let's move from here, if we're only going to be talking we might as well go somewhere more quiet. What about a walk through the city?”
“Actually, why not?” The grey cellist answered, knowing fully well 'why not', but her fatigue could wait a few more hours, after all, it's not every day that she got to talk to a princess so personally.
The moon princess flashed a quick smile, one that seemed honest and that made Octavia want to know more about her. Who was she inside? “Let's get going then, I'll need to stop somewhere in the castle really quick to do something.” To that, Octavia only nodded.
And so they departed, after Luna had found a hallway where she was sure nopony could oversee her transformation, and ended up as a midnight blue unicorn with a long flowing mane of a brighter blue, leaving the earth pony before her stunned.
Before the cellist could question it, however, she explained: “I always take this form when going out. How do you think I get into nightclubs without anypony recognising me and making a big deal out of it?” she said with a wink and sticking her tongue out at her dialogist. The princess of the night had just winked at her, what was happening? Was it all a dream? That would certainly make sense. Yeah, it was a dream. The dreaming pony jumped up and flew away. Except she didn't fly away, instead she just fell right back down onto the hard stone floor. It hurt.
“Are you okay, err... Actually, and this is terribly awkward to ask now, but what's your name?”
“My name's Octavia, and I sometimes do this, I have no idea why though, I think it's a problem that runs in the family.” she lied.
“Well then, if it's nothing to worry about, let's go.”
Several hours later, long after the sun had set, the pair found themselves back in the garden. The party had obviously settled down quite a few hours ago, and now its surroundings were as quiet as always. The two ponies stopped by a small bench near an impressive fountain. They had been talking non-stop for their whole trip, only stopping when eating the giant cones of ice cream they had found when passing near the royal library.
The usual beauty of the sky still dazzled Octavia, even after so many nights of open stargazing, or just of its passive alternative. “I meant to tell you this earlier, while it was still on topic, I'm actually more of a nightly pony myself, I've always enjoyed the night, even before your return, when they were nothing but copies. I end up spending most of my free time under the moonshine. There's nothing more pleasant to me than composing during the night, it's just so inspiring, and your night sky is simply gorgeous.” Just like its creator. What?
“Thank you, I do get a lot of compliments about it, but, to be perfectly honest, I really think I deserve them, maybe not as much as they claim it to be, but it's still my proudest creation. Speaking of creations, I would really love to hear some of your work, if that's alright with you.”
“I'd love nothing more in the world, Luna.” the cellist cooed out in an unexpected and unintended tone. This was definitely the best and weirdest day she had ever experienced. “Would sometime this weekend be alright for you? I'd go and fetch my cello now, but I am too tired to do that now. To be honest, I'm to tired to still stand right now. Goodnight.” and with that, she passed out.
The bed Octavia lay on was probably the most comfortable she ever slept on. Well, that or it was a decent bed, and she had just slept so well that it just felt like it. Not that she really cared, this was way too pleasant to do anything else than she already was.
The thought of getting up from her pleasing mattress started floating around her mind. The warmth radiating from her sheets, however, proved itself too relaxing for that idea to persist, and this caused the cellist to stay asleep. Some time later, hooves clopping on the stone floor brought her attention back to reality. Who could it be at this hour? In her flat? And her floor was made of wood, not stone. And this wasn't her bed. Nor her room.
The grey mare opened her eyes and sat up on the bed fast enough to feel slightly dizzy. She found herself in a circular neatly cleaned room. On her right she was met with a wall, with a large round window in its centre. While Octavia's position didn't let her see outside, she could clearly see light was pouring in from that opening, bright enough to reasonably assume noon had passed quite a few hours ago. In front of her she noticed two doors, one obviously leading to either a restroom or a closet, while the other one bore a note near its handle. Overwhelmed by her curiosity, the earth pony stood up from her remarkably comfortable bed and approached the intriguing note. It read:
“Dear Octavia,
After you fell asleep last night before me I took the liberty of displacing you towards somewhere more appropriate to dreaming. Naturally, I ignore your residence, therefore I was given no choice than to allocate you to a room in the castle. Please do not feel ashamed considering what happened, as it could have happened to anypony. Although we I would have preferred it had you told us me you were so tired.
Anyway, as we agreed on yesterday, I would like to hear you play. Meet me in front of my room, which is positioned one floor above yours, this evening at sunset. The guards are told to remember guests and let them into the private parts of the castle while they're on the guest list, which I have put your name on. However, they won't let anypony pass after nightfall, so please do return before any trouble can happen, once you've fetched your cello.
Oh, and feel free to use the shower in your room, I'm sure you would be more comfortable walking through Canterlot clean.
Yours truly,
Princess Luna.”
Octavia turned around, observing Canterlot once more, and estimated she had three or four hours until she needed to meet Luna. The trip home and back would take her around an hour but she still needed to stop by one of friends' home and return the accordion she had borrowed. Her friend and fellow ensemble member, Beauty Brass, lived in a building located between the royal castle and her own home, fortunately. The cellist only needed to grab both the accordion and cello and then return, but carrying both of those instruments at once would have been too strainful for her, so she needed to go back and forth once more, effectively adding thirty minutes to her full itinerary. That summed up to one hour and a half, which left her another hour and a half to spend.
She could spend this time with Beauty Brass, while she was there, if the brown maned mare wasn't too busy. They hadn't talked like this in a few weeks and Octavia had so much to tell her. First though, she needed to shower.
Several minutes later, the mare was walking down one of the city's main roads. On both sides she could see boutiques with the latest fashion. Somehow, most of it looked like Princess Cadence's wedding gown adapted into less formal formats. Some even looked appealing to her, but she had no time for shopping right then and she could always come back once everything on her list was taken care of.
Soon the earth pony found herself in a plaza was familiar to her – her ensemble had played there quite a few times. It was noticeably empty however. Admittedly, she had only been there when it was obviously at its fullest, when even the streets leading to it were full of ponies. Turning to leave, she noticed a couple kissing on a bench. She had seen couples in public before, there lay not the problem, but never had she felt so bizarre with them up close. She felt empty, as if she was missing something. She felt incomplete.
Why was her mind suddenly crowded with ideas of Luna? Was Beauty Brass being serious when long ago the cellist had explained her situation to her? The sousaphonist had just laughed and told her it was “cute” that she had developed a crush on a princess. Of course, she had been kidding, she had to be. It was impossible that Octavia was interested in the goddess in that way, after all, they were both mares. Well it was possible, just not for her. Other ponies, the ones that went out and partied all night, the ones that didn't have to keep a reputation up, the ones that weren't expected to achieve greatness, those could be that. But really, what was so wrong about it? Nothing, actually. Why couldn't somepony date somepony else because of what's between their-
“Octavia!” a voice screamed very loudly, enough to startle everypony passing on the street.
She turned around, expecting Beauty Brass, only to find out it was indeed her fellow musician. The cerulean mare was quickly catching up to her. Playing the sousaphone had really strengthened her lungs, allowing her to shout extremely loudly.
“Sorry for being so loud, but you didn't hear me the first few times I called you. I saw you walking by and decided to say hi, also to remind you to kindly return my accordion. I do need it before this evening, mind you.” she said in a neutral tone. “I stopped by your place earlier today, but you weren't there, I assumed you went out shopping or something like that, but judging by the incredible amount of bags you're carrying that's not the case.”
“Uh yeah” the cellist started, unsure of what to utter next, her brain still fazed, “I was going to get home anyway and bring it to you now. If you go with me we'd be able to move everything in one trip. I do have to move my cello to the castle for a performance, and afterwards we can just go shopping. To be honest I was planning to spend some time with you today.”
“Sounds like a plan to me, that way you'll tell me everything about this 'performance' of yours.”
Octavia Philharmonica and Beauty Brass walked side by side in the middle of Canterlot's shopping district, the latter carrying an impressive amount of bags while the former only had a few articles laid across her back.
The cellist had explained her entire situation to her friend, from the dance to how she got asked to play for the princess. Naturally, after they had accomplished their primary objective and deposited the grey musician's cello in her room, the pair took the very short trip to the sector of the capital where the most money flowed.
The black maned earth pony had decided to indulge herself and buy a few of the articles that had caught her eye earlier that day, while the brown maned one had once again chosen to shop her life savings away.
Now they were both walking in the late evening sun. Noticing this, Beauty said in a casual tone: “I think it's time for you to go on your way for your date.”
“It's not a date. You know fully well I don't tick this way.”
“Totally a date.”
“We're not even going out anywhere.”
“Whatever.”
As soon as the cellist arrived in front of her room, a dishevelled alicorn poked her head down the stairs. She yawned once before speaking up. “Good evening Octavia.” she started, looking fairly embarrassed “Please excuse my messy appearance, I woke up later than I would have hoped for, and had to make sure you wouldn't wait for nothing.” she continued, her cheeks reddening even further. “Now I'll need a few minutes to freshen myself up, after that we can start the day and I'm terribly sorry for this, but I to have to keep you waiting a few more minutes.”
“Uh okay, sure, I'll just wait in my room, I have stuff to deposit there anyway.” She nodded towards her back. “You see, I went shopping and I didn't have time to get back home.”
As the blue mare disappeared once again into her room, and the grey one did the same. Her heart was beating happily and rapidly. Why was she so excited for this? Luna hadn't even respected her own time plan, but she was so cute with that bed mane of hers. Oh great, now her brain was starting this whole thing again... She didn't love the goddess, she didn't even like her in that way. With a “shut up brain” she decided to move her mind off her denial (which wasn't denial, as there was nothing for her to deny) and look over Canterlot through her window. At this hour it would probably looked gorgeous, and watching sceneries had always been one of the cellist's favourite time killers.
The edifice itself was situated on the highest of Canterlot's plateaus, and the tower containing her room could easily trump anything in the city (except the other great tower, the one Celestia seemingly resided in), and allowed her to see the capital in its entirety. She even spotted the building she lived in.
A knock on the door startled her back into immediate reality, caused her to jump up, nearly knocking over her cello, which she had placed next to the window. After making sure her instrument wouldn't fall over she went and opened it, finding a smiling Luna on the other side. Immediately the alicorn started talking: “I think we should go eat something before we start our musical session. I hate starting my day without breakfast. I thought of going out somewhere for once, don't really feel like getting something from the royal kitchens. You haven't eaten yet, have you?”
“Well, now that you mention it, I didn't even realise I was hungry until now... So yeah. Do you have a specific place in mind?” So much for not going out.
“Uh-huh, just follow me.”
When they came back the sky was already dark and the last shimmers of light gone. The alicorn had teleported both of them inside the castle, presumably how she got past the guards the night before. Only Luna, Celestia and that student of hers, something about dusk, had the right to bypass the runes that had been set up. Apparently some anti-flying wards had been set up too, but Octavia didn't understand much of that either. She had enough trouble with magic in its most basic forms, not that this was really surprising, she was an earth pony after all.
They soon found themselves in Luna's chamber, which the princess had deemed appropriate for her friend's small audienced recital, and, after a quick comment about her own compositions, the musician started playing.
She started by playing classics, mostly slow and majestic arias, essentially what she could play best. However, as time went on, the pace of her playing constantly kept increasing, until she found herself performing energetic and fast arrangements.
She had played those songs before, in front of a crowd as well as alone, but never had she been able to render them with such vivid emotions. She was able to feel the music, she wasn't simply repeating it, she was in sync with the melody itself. Such a perfect harmony had only been possible thus far with melancholic, wistful and sad pieces. The music she was playing, however, was none of that. It was passionate, fierce, and rapid. When her hardest piece to play came to an end, however, she decided to risk something crazy (at least for her standards). She was going to play a song she knew exactly she couldn't. She knew the notes, the tempo and every single other technical detail (she had composed it, after all), but she also knew it would sound wrong, however accurately it was executed.
Octavia, though, didn't hesitate much longer than that, and started playing a song superior to all she had so far. And she did it perfectly. She knew by the look of her goddess's face. For the entirety of her performance, the cellist had not lifted her eyes off the perfect blue mare, she had been the inspiration to all of this.
A few moments of silence went by, none of them willing to break the moment until it faded away. It was magical.
When it did fade away enough for them to regain speech, the blue mare spoke in the softest of tones “That was beautiful.” and, a few more silent seconds later “Where did you learn that last piece? I've never heard anything like it.”
“It's my own work.”
“Oh wow, that's even more impressive. However, it does seem quite weird, since it didn't sound like any of the other morceaus you said you had written, I'm not doubting you, I'm just curious about the setting that made you inspired enough for this.”
“Oh, oh... Oh...” A quick series of realisations came over Octavia. “I have no clue. I know it's mine, but this is the first time I've heard it being played. I just had the melody in my head, and I played it. I don't know what's happening.” she confessed in a low, serious and worried voice.
“Seems like it might have been a dream. This sounds insane, I know, but ponies are capable of the weirdest things in dreams. It would make sense, at least. Although it would be especially amazing.”
“You think so? Isn't there a way to find out for sure?”
“There is, but it involves looking through your subconscious, and that's something that really shouldn't be done, it's just way too intimate and private for anypony to see. Even you seeing it wouldn't be a good idea.” she paused “What I can do though, is cast a spell to enhance your ability to act and think in dreams, as well as making you more inclined to remembering them. It won't, however, automatically realise you're dreaming, you'll still have to take that step by yourself.”
“Then let's do it.”
The blue mare nodded and her horn lit up, causing the cellist to grow progressively more drowsy with each moment.
Octavia was standing in a gorgeous flower garden immersed in pleasant, nightly darkness. All around her she could see flowers of cold colours perfectly arranged to create abstract patterns. What she couldn't see, however, was an exit. The garden was indeed surrounded by hedges from everywhere she could see. There probably was a way out if she turned around, but she was too absorbed in the beauty of the view to care.
The dumbfounded cellist tilted her head upwards. The night sky looked even more dazzling than normal, much more vivid, its colour pattern practically identical to the flowers'. The serene atmosphere relaxed and amazed the musician to her core.
There was only something she needed to have the perfect setting, that elusive element she would find by simply turning around. And so she did, finding the alicorn of her dreams – quite literally in fact, as the grey mare was in the middle of one. The blue goddess stood only a few steps away from her, smiling with such charm that it left the cellist breathless.
Next thing she knew, her eyes were closed, her nose full of a wonderful smell, and her lips locked onto the princess's. She didn't understand what she was doing, but she didn't need to. It felt too good to stop. Besides, this was a dream, there were no consequences.
A few everlasting moments later, she pulled away. The look on her alicorn's expression transitioned from bliss to utter surprise. Why was she surprised? She was made up by Octavia's imagination, she was part of her dream, she wasn't supposed to act on her own. Well maybe she could, if her imagination decided that. Dreams are weird altogether. She would have to ask the real Luna about it. The goddess was in charge of dreams, after all. The thought stuck around for an instant, fracturing the sense of security the dreamer had managed to build up. The alicorn could also enter other ponies' dreams. And the pair had agreed on Luna visiting her dream. This was bad. This was very bad. She had just kissed. The actual.Princess. of Equestria.
Her panic attack caused her to wake in a shock. It was all just a dream. Obviously. However she wouldn't get away with this just because it was a dream. She needed to flee. Far away, somewhere she couldn't be sent to jail. The exile started getting on her hooves, but was quickly stopped by a voice behind her. Of course the Princess had been awake now. So much for her only chance at “freedom”.
“Octavia?” said her judge in a worried hush.
“I'm so sorry princess! I didn't mean to!”
“What are you apologising for?”
She didn't know. The criminal was saved, she just needed to find an excuse now.
“Erm... For waking you, of course. What else should I be apologising for?” She declared nervously, but not enough for the lie to become obvious.
But not enough either to convince the alicorn, whose facial expression turned into great confusion.
“What in Equestria are you talking about?” After a short-lived while of oh so awkward silence, the blue mare seemed to understand. “I was just looking for an appropriate way of telling you your feelings are okay to have.” Another pause.
“I understand why you're scared, believe me, ponies always think we will take offence in their feelings, but why would we? That's actually quite a compliment. Well, besides those occasional nobles who try to ask our hooves for marriage, those are more annoying than anything.”
“Some insightful ponies even think that neither of us alicorns likes to bond with mortals, too afraid of getting hurt by their loss. This however, simply isn't true, time doesn't pass quicker for us than for normal ponies. A normal lifetime is more than enough time to spend with somepony, especially for short-lived romances. Never talking to anypony out of fear of getting hurt is equally stupid for everypony, not just mortals.”
“I would love to say that I got used to it, and that the deaths of ponies close to me don't bother me anymore, but I would be lying. Over the centuries I realised that knowing them was by far worth the pain of losing them.”
The cellist stood there a few more moments, dumbfounded. “So you mean you're alright with my feelings towards you? And wait a second, this seems like a well prepared speech. Does that mean you knew?”
“I suspected it, yes, but it was nothing more than a hunch. So I thought this through, in case my gut was right. To answer your question, I'm more than alright with them, Tavi. I can call you that, right? It's the first time I make up a nickname for somepony other than Celly, and I don't want it to be annoying.”
“Oh yes, it's perfect, and although the one I'm used to – Tavia – is slightly classier, I kind of like it more. Even though it's only one letter. I can't explain it.”
“So, Tavi, would you be free next Saturday night? I thought of going somewhere I'm familiar with, and introducing you another part of my night, the so-called nightlife. DJ Pown-three will be performing at the club I wanna go to. Or we could just go to a normal restaurant, slightly more boring, but also less hectic, and we would get to know each other better.”
Under normal circumstances, Octavia would have preferred the fancy restaurant in lieu of the crowded club. Those, however, weren't normal circumstances.
“I'd love to try it. The club, that is. And we don't have to wait till Saturday, the ensemble and I decided to take a two week vacation, we could go out sometime before that.”
“I'm not on a vacation. I have royal duties to tend to, sorry.” The blue mare admitted sheepishly.
“Oh yes, that...” Great way to be an idiot, Octavia.
“I could make room in my schedule, but I'd have to move some stuff over to Thursday, and then I'd end up with a stuffed to the core day. Not a single minute to breathe.” She frowned, and so did Octavia.
“Speaking of schedule, I have paperwork to get back to.” The Princess's ears dropped and her face turned to annoyance. “I'd love to have you around, but I have a lot of it and I don't need distractions, so I can't invite you to stay with me. Goodnight Tavi.” Blushing at the sound of her newly acquired nickname, the cellist said her own goodbyes, and turned to leave. Closing the door behind her she heard a faint “I hate paperwork...”
Far from her previous levels of fatigue, Octavia had woken up only a few hours in the afternoon. She had showered and left the castle with a slight skip in her step – which would have gone unnoticed had she not met her best friend. The sousaphone player had been walking around the city visiting relatives and friends. She did that whenever she had a satisfying amount of free time, in order to “force herself to keep in touch”. The cerulean musician was definitely interested in social interactions and relationships than the grey one.
“So, how was your date?”
“Still not a date.”
“Then why do you have that skip in your step that makes you seem happier than p Cadence on her wedding? Seriously Octy, last time I saw you this happy was when you were accepted at the conservatory all those years ago.”
“I told you not to call me that. And the reason I appear so 'happy' is probably the fact that I did get asked out on a date.” the annoyed cellist blurted out, becoming aware of her mistake seconds later.
Beauty's eyes bulged in surprise. “Wait you actually have a date with Luna?” the surprised mare spat. “I knew you had feelings for her (I mean come on, it's beyond obvious), but I didn't know she had too. I guess that would make even you cheerful, being asked out by your crush.”
“Well, not exactly. You know, she's a princess, and I couldn't say no. My brain was making up a weird dream and she got inside and that's totally why she thought I had feelings for her. And I couldn't tell her otherwise, because then she'd be embarrassed and I couldn't let that happen, could I?”
The sousaphone player looked confused for a second, then, when she realised Octavia was just making up excuses – which she wasn't, she was just telling the truth – she mocked: “Oh, poor Octypuss.”
“Do not use that.” growled the cellist at the use of her other nickname.
“Well it is your fault you're not mare enough to accept your feelings.”
“She's a princess, everypony has some kind of feelings for them.”
“But not everypony goes out on a date with a princess.”
“Oh whatever, let's switch subjects, I don't wanna get into an argument you can't win but that you won't let go.”
“I don't need to win, you already know it. But you're right, it's your denial, and I'm too tired emotionally to try and help you out against your own will. So anyway, have anything planned for today?”
“To be honest, no, but I feel musically inspired and I wanna spend the day composing stuff and practising.”
“Oh yeah, forgot that miss genius can't stand having free time and has to work on music all the time. Even during her holidays.” Beauty teased, then winked. “Seriously though, while you are the reason our ensemble is so popular, you really should rest more.”
“Hey! It's not my fault I actually like what I do. Besides, I feel so inspired right now, and I just want to play. I already have a full song I just need to write down.”
“Ooooh I see, inspired by your little princess, aren't you?” the cyan mare made a knowing face (well, one that thought it knew) and smiled at Octavia.
“Shut up about it, okay?” she said, her cheeks growing uncomfortably warm, which was perfectly natural. Anypony accused of such a thing would blush. “I really don't wanna start arguing again.”
“Relax, I'm just teasing you. Anyway, we're approaching my building, mind if I join your musical session? Otherwise I'll just go back home, I'm done walking through Canterlot for this weekend.”
“I don't mind, no, but I thought you wanted to take a break from music, what about that?”
“Eh, to be honest, a bit of casual playing can't hurt. Although I'm not gonna pick up my own instrument, too tiring to play, plus it doesn't really fit into the definition of 'casual'.”
“Let's get going then, shall we?”
Wednesday night was cold and slightly rainy, a certain cellist was walking down the road that led from the train station to her home, a wistful look plastered on her face. She had visited the Ponyville music store, where she could find the best strings on the market, and she could spend some time with the owner, whom she was friends with, making it well worth the fourty minute trip in each direction. The sun had long set when she entered the train to Canterlot. She had indeed taken on a rather nocturnal sleep schedule, falling asleep by three or four, and waking up around noon. That “morning” however, had been a bit different.
Octavia had woken up from a dream about her princess. She had spent most of it with the princess, kissing and cuddling, making her feel warm and fuzzy inside. If this was love she could definitely get used to it. If this was how she felt after hardly a week of knowing the goddess, she could definitely see herself forever by the alicorn's side. All of this daydreaming had led her to stay in bed for much, much longer than needed, nearly making her miss her appointment with the doctor.
When she realised it was a dream, however, she also became aware it hadn't been the real Luna this time. That in turn made her realise how much she missed the lunar mare.
The cellist hadn't found some time in her day to think about the meaning of her dreams and feelings. Even in the train to pony she had been busy planning her schedule for the weeks to come, obviously trying to plan according to her newly acquired sleeping habits.
On the trip back, however, the thoughts from the early hours of her day came back, and she was forced to rethink her love. She did have strong feelings for the princess, didn't she?
Actually, all of this could be explained by the fact that anypony would crave some kind of royal acceptance, and the love of a goddess, she was no special for liking-
No, she needed to stop lying to herself, she definitely had some romantic feelings towards Luna, after all, she never felt this way before, and she had frequented many many ponies, and most of them longer than the nightly princess.
However, if her feelings were real, it meant she was a fillyfooler, and if that was the case, why hadn't she ever developed that crush on some other mare? Octavia had pondered that for a long time, understanding after a while that she had, she had just always dismissed it, constantly finding a new excuse for her feelings, and ending up not thinking about it at all.
The sexually confused mare turned right. At least she could still walk on autopilot, even with hundreds of identity crisis inducing thoughts running through her head. She wasn't normal anymore. She didn't fit into high society anymore. She wouldn't be loved by her parents anymore.
She would have to hide it, repress it, ignore it, until the end of her life. She turned left, entering her building, calling the elevator. She couldn't see the princess anymore, for her career, for her friends, for her integrity. She left the lift and turned right, her legs still working on their own. First she needed to go on that date, though. She unlocked the door to her apartment and pushed the door open. She couldn't just ditch a princess like that. She didn't want to abandon Luna, it would have just made both of them extremely miserable. She turned the lights on and headed towards her bathroom, grabbing her toothbrush, starting her mouth hygiene ritual.
Yeah, they would end their almost-relationship on friendly terms. No need to get love involved. If the popular cellist didn't like stallions, there was no place for such an emotion in her life. She couldn't let love into her heart. She flipped the light switch once more and lay down on her queen size bed. But she deserved love, didn't she? She thought, the first tear of many rolling down her cheek.
That night, Canterlot's prime cellist cried herself to sleep.
Octavia was on the way to Canterlot castle. She had been able to calm herself down and think about her options. The most reasonable course of action was to at least try a relationship with the blue mare. She just wanted to know whether or not it was worth it to give up her career for this “love” she wanted so hard to experience.
The potential couple had agreed to meet before the castle's gate after sunset, but when Octavia arrived the only ponies present were the two guards closing it. A few minutes passed before she spotted a blue unicorn on the other side of the fence. The cellist hadn't dressed up in any special manner, and seeing her date as bare as herself made her satisfied with her own choice of clothing. Or rather, of non-clothing.
An audible “pop” later, the mare in question was by her side, grinning widely. “Good evening, Tavi.” she started, her smile turning slightly sheepish. “Sorry for the wait, I'm not the punctual type of pony. Never really was, though it's only gotten worse since my exile. A thousand years alone on the moon makes your inner clock go numb.”
“Good evening to you, Luna. Shall we get going?” she replied with a warm smile of her own.
The princess just nodded and started trotting off in a seemingly random direction. Octavia followed her in a pleasant silence. The atmosphere in Canterlot was cool and refreshing, even at this time of the year, because of the city's alpine elevation. This didn't last long, however, as the unicorn interrupted it. “Before we get there I'd like to tell you something. The name I'm known as is Sky Sight, so if you're talking to someone, use this name. Even use it when talking to me in public, I don't want rumours or anything to start running. Now onto less awkward matters, how was your week?”
Octavia was tempted to admit her moment of weakness midweek, but decided instead to 'forget' that event, instead opting for a more cheerful approach. Nopony needed to know she was weak. “Apart from my visit at the doctor's it was relaxing. Just needed to get my yearly general check-up. I got to visit some ponies I hadn't seen in quite a while, and simply just relax. I even went to the spa two days ago. Had some emotional stress to loosen up.” Damn it, why did she push the conversation into that direction? Hopefully Luna wouldn't dwell on it.
“Really? What happened?” Fuck.
“Oh, nothing worth talking about.” was the cellist's reply, followed by a nervous laugh. Regaining her composure she resumed “Now, where is that club located? Are we getting close to it?”
“Uh-huh, it's just around the corner.”
Silence reigned once again for a few moments, before they found themselves in a street full of lights. Thumping bass – not the kind Octavia was familiar with, though – could be heard from almost every building. The only exception to that were bars, littered somewhat regularly throughout the district.
“You see, the noise and general agitation a single nightclub brings to its surroundings is immense. So it was decided long ago that they would only be built in certain designated areas, where they wouldn't bother residents. Especially in a city like Canterlot.” she pointed to a building not much different from the others. “This is where I'm planning for us to go. We'll first head to the private parts of the club. They have a mini-bar and we could just sit around there and wait until the nightlife really starts. It won't be long.”
“Wait a second, private bar? If it's private why are we allowed in?” the cellist asked in utter confusion.
“Isn't it obvious? Well I suppose not... I'm a friend of theirs. Ever since my first nightmare night after returning, I decided to socialise more, as you know, and this is the club I've started with. At first I didn't know what to do, and was completely lost, but the DJ who had been playing there bought me a drink and started chatting with me once she was done with her gig. Her name's Vinyl Scratch, or 'DJ Pown-Three'. A while later she introduced me to her friends and colleagues and that's how we all became friends. Soon after I was given a VIP pass so that I could come and hang out with them while they were on breaks, and so that I could invite someone to a really good night out.” after a thoughtful break she added: “They do have a weird way of doing business, yet they're far from bankruptcy according to what I've been told.”
They approached an entrance blocked by a gate and a very large white pegasus, with very small wings, causing the grey mare to wonder if he could even fly. “Hey Snowflake, how's the family?” the blue unicorn addressed the bumper, whom Octavia was honestly quite scared of. Shortly after, the dark blue unicorn pulled out a card from her mane and showed it to him.
“Good evening, Sky.” the behemoth half shouted at his interlocutor, opening the gate behind him. “Family's doing just fine, especially the little one, his condition has improved so much during the last month.” He pointed towards Octavia. “She with you?”
“I'm glad to hear that, and yeah, Tavi is my date.” Octavia knew she had started blushing. Her cheeks were blazing hot, almost enough to light her coat on fire. This, however, did nothing to stop her from following her 'date' inside the building.
“He used to live in Ponyville, but was forced to move to Canterlot when his son was diagnosed with wing cancer. He's been working here ever since.” Luna explained, while they walked down a rather narrow hallway. Oddly enough, the deeper they advanced into the building, the quieter it became, the only sound coming from behind them. Her curiosity getting the better of her, the cellist asked: “Is this soundproofed? When I was outside I could clearly hear the music coming from inside, but now that we are inside, it's almost inaudible.”
“It is, as most staff members come here to take a break, or simply relax with their friends. The more you know about it, the weirder this club becomes... I mean, not many workplaces offer a place for their employees to just hang out.” A few more steps and a door later, the maybe couple emerged into a moderately big room with counter, two couches, an armchair, and a white unicorn sitting in it.
“Hey Vinyl.”
“Yo Sky!”
The midnight blue unicorn turned towards Octavia, then to Vinyl again. “Make yourselves acquainted, I'll be right back. Need to use the restroom for a sec.” she said, heading towards a door on the other side of the room.
“Heyo! What's your name?”
“Erm, hello. My name's Octavia, and yours is Vinyl, if I haven't misheard.”
“Yupedy dup! So, dating the princess, huh, Octy?”
“This is actually our very first date, and I'm not sure if I'm comfortable calling it a 'date' yet. Oh and please, if you could avoid that nickname it'd be great.” Her thoughts had started drifting back towards their state midweek when a realisation hit. “Wait what? What princess? There is no princess here. My date is totally just Sky Sight.” She blurted out, trying to hide her screw up.
“Relax Octy, we're all aware Sky Sight is just a disguise for Luna. We taught her how to speak modern Equestrian, after al, and I'm positive that she's the only pony in the whole world who would need to learn that.”
“Oh, she doesn't seem know, she did warn me to call her Sky in presence of ponies she knew.”
“Well she doesn't. We've never really told her. From time to time we even call her Luna accidentally, and she doesn't even notice when we do. That's pretty much how we confirmed that Sky Sight equals Princess Luna from the Equestrian diarchy. Plus, I saw you two dancing at the wedding, and now you're on a date.” The wedding? Oh yeah, that wedding – not that she had attended many wedding lately. The jockey had performed there.
“Oh yeah... You were at the wedding... To be honest I was there only to find out who I'd been replaced with. Needless to say, I got distracted and didn't even pay that much attention to your music.”
“So wait. You were scheduled to play originally instead of me? Or did I get something wrong?”
“Well yes, but then Bug Queen showed her ugly face, and it turned out she had done all the preparations. Then the real Cadence changed plans, informing us quite late, although we still got paid, so it wasn't nearly as bad for us as it could have.”
“To me it was as sudden too. Some dude came to my house super early and woke me and told there was a wedding I was invited to play at in like, three hours hours. I suspect Luna had something to do with it, but I'm not sure.”
“Normally I would have been surprised at your sleep schedule, but I've been following a similar one for the last week. Partly because I've always loved the night, and partly because I got thrown into it by a very specific pony.” The cellist said, unaware of any second meanings to her sentence until she heard her white companion snicker. Feeling the increasingly familiar warmth on her cheeks, the flustered mare added: “N-not like that!” That, however, did nothing to stop the overly amused unicorn. In fact, her guffaw doubled in intensity shortly after.
Octavia trying to explain herself and Vinyl laughing her flank off lasted a few more moments, before the DJ managed to contain herself, and went off for her show.
Just then, another unicorn, this one dark blue, entered the room. “Vinyl's gone already? Guess that leaves some time for us, or do you want to get to the actual club now already?”
“Uh yeah, why not, I'm curious. Vinyl said something about last minute preparations and changes she needed to do, and it seemed interesting enough...”
“Okay then, let's go.”
The public part was, to Octavia's ears' misery, louder. A lot louder.
The entire room was dark, lit only by a few coloured lamps and other lighting effects. The brightest part contained the bar and its tender, and of course the exit, which still had normal lighting.
“Luna?” the confused cellist started, yelling over the music, slightly embarrassed by the question she was about to ask. “What do I do? I see ponies dancing, and I have no idea how to dance to this sort of music. It's just not like anything I usually listen to. And I thought the wedding's music was 'new age'...”
“Relax, it doesn't matter, just watch some ponies. Those who seem to be flowing with the music are the ones doing it right. Heck, even I'm experienced enough as a dancer for you to learn from. Besides, in the middle of this crowd, no one is going to care about your dancing. No one is going to judge you, and if somepony is, they're an asshole and their opinion doesn't matter.” Eliciting a slight inaudible chuckle from her date. “But first, let's get something to drink. I'm pretty thirsty, and a little alcohol should help you loosen up a bit.” She paused. “Although let's not get too drunk, we don't need alcohol to have fun, right?” the lunar princess grimly added. Quickly cheering up again, she asked the barcolt for two glasses of a drink whose name the cellist didn't catch.
“Well, I'm going to dance now, Tavi. I'd love you to join me, but I can't force you, especially since this is your first time on the dancefloor. When you feel like it though, don't hesitate.” said Luna in a chirp. Somehow managing to keep a natural sounding voice albeit the roaring music. After being stuck a few seconds on the “love you” part, Octavia snapped back to reality, shouting over the noise “Oh yeah I'll sit here and watch you!”
As she watched her date become the princess of the dancefloor (the dark mare was amazing at this, despite her modesty), she realised how glad she was nopony had picked up on her little freeze moments earlier. As the princess flowed swiftly with the melody (said music, despite being very fast and somewhat chaotic, and unlike what she had predicted outside, had indeed a very pronounced melody), the cellist eyed her every movement in awe, following her curves down to... No not there, she wouldn't learn much about dancing by watching that part.
With a decided jump off her stool she stepped back onto the floor. She wasn't there for the music – although she didn't dislike it. She wasn't there to watch ponies dance – although she could watch Luna for hours. She was there to spend time with the pony who made her heart flutter, and she was going to enjoy it.
“Joining me already?”
“Well, I'm trying out new things, so might as well stop trying restraining myself.” admitted the newbie with a smile. She was on a date. In a nightclub. With a mare. And she was dancing to new age music. That was one long chain of new experiences.
As the song approached an end, multicoloured lights slowly illuminated the stage, where a certain white unicorn was standing. Above her head could be read the words “DJ Pon3”, which Octavia quickly realised to be the “Pown-three” Luna had mentioned a few times. Before any other thoughts could cross the grey mare's mind though, the DJ exclaimed: “Heeeeeeeeeeeelloooo ponies! Are you ready to rave? Of course you are so let's get started!”
She put on a record and killed the silence before it settled in, filling the room once again with club music. The cellist turned back towards her own raver, resuming their dance.
Octavia lost track of time. She was just having too much fun, and coupled with the fact her date was stealing her full attention, she just forgot about everything. They had been alternating between dancing and sitting at the bar relaxing their legs since the beginning of the show. When they had been resting, her lovely companion would complimented the musician's dancing quite fondly, especially the progress she made.
The music had had time to change, progressively becoming more aggressive, with sharper tones and faster tempo. It was, as Luna had called it, “Happy Hardcore”, and while the cellist still enjoyed it, it was much harder and exhausting to dance to.
Her date, however, didn't seem to mind. She had probably only ever paused her own dancing out of worry for the cellist. Alicorns did have all attributes of the three pony races, insanely amplified. Extreme earth pony stamina was just one of those traits which made alicorns so “over powered” (according to a magazine Beauty had made her read).
Next moment, Luna shone her a grin, causing the grey mare to snap out of her thoughts. The princess of the dancefloor nodded towards Vinyl's stage, where the lights now read “The night belongs to lovers!”. Just then, the alabaster unicorn spoke up, voice over the music. “This next song is for two of my friends who are having a wonderful date tonight.”
Wasn't she in the middle of a song already? Why announce the next track when the current one wasn't even finished? Although, apparently, it had finished, as a different voice was singing now. The transitions she had managed to do were smooth, but there always was a point where both songs were playing at once, overlapping each other in a good wa-
The confused musician didn't get to finish that thought, as a midnight blue hoof grabbed her. “Come on! We gotta dance to this one, it's for us after all!” She was positively beaming, and soon so was Octavia. The song was about lovers and the night, of course it was for them!
The pair danced, entranced by each other and the music. They were moving in perfect harmony, yet not mirroring one another at all. The track came close to an end, so did their dance.
The crowd roared and stomped. How long had they been watching them?
“Oh I see you've found them, aren't they just adorable? Well anyway, I'm done here for the night! Neon will be playing here the rest of tonight! Pon3 out!” shouted the insane mare before putting on another song and getting off stage.
“Tavi, let's go back to the private area, congratulate Vinyl on her performance and then go outside.”
After a short walk through the crowd and a few hallways, they found themselves back in the quiet, calm room. The DJ was splayed out on a couch, talking to another staff member.
“Yeah thanks, although I did kinda cheat. Both songs I used had a very similar lead melody in the instrumental chorus, so I just tuned the sound a bit and bam, the perfectest transition in the history of perfect! Like, I literally just played one song in the middle of the other, and it felt like the song had not changed at all! I had this planned out for quite some time already, to be honest, but Lulu and Octy coming on their date tonight was just the best possible occasion to test it out. Especially after she told me she loved the night as much as the princess. Speaki-” the cellist didn't hear the end of that sentence when she was forcibly dragged out of the break room. “You told her? How could you? You didn't even know her until now! Now that they all know I'm a princess I won't be able to talk normally to them anymore, they'll just be super awkward and trying to act all 'royal subjects'! It'll be a miracle if I get them to stop bowing after several months! Oh, what do I do? What do I do?”
“Luna, calm down-”
“And I can't really blame it on you either, I mean, who wouldn't boast about dating a princess?”
Octavia, then, possibly under the slight influence of alcohol, panic-induced adrenaline, or both, did yet another new thing. She stepped closer to the stellar unicorn (she had noticed her cutie mark in this form was a representation of Ursa Minor) and pressed her lips up against her lover's, instantly silencing her.
The moment lasted forever. Or it could have, the cellist wouldn't have cared if the world stopped while she was locked in a kiss with her goddess. However, as Luna started pulling away from the embrace, Octavia quickly reacted, and cut her off before she even opened her muzzle. “It'll be fine. I haven't told Vinyl, she already knew. In fact, everypony here knows, they've witnessed your first moments in this form, when it was quite obvious who you actually were.”
“Yeah,” Vinyl suddenly interrupted “We've heard you talk in your ancient Equestrian, and on top of that you actually used the Royal Canterlot Voice once or twice. We've been calling you Luna for a long time already, and you just somehow didn't notice until I actually used the word 'princess'. We weren't sure whether to talk to you about it.” the white mare stopped for a moment, before adding: “Also, that was hella cute.”
Luna rubbed the back of her left foreleg with the other, a blushing creeping over her cheeks. Why did she have to be so adorable? Then she finally spoke up:
“We both loved your show tonight, Scratch, it was amazing. That last transition was just wow, and thanks a ton for dedicating a song to us, it means a lot.”
“Now, we were planning to get out for a walk, maybe go into a bar or two, so we'll leave now. Bye V.”
“Yeah, bye Lulu. Actually, can I follow you two into a bar? Us three haven't really had the chance to talk, and I don't feel like staying here. It's nice and all, but I can't always hang out here. Ponies would think I'm some sort of diva, always avoiding the public, and only drinking at her own private bar. I ain't like that.”
“I see no reason against it. Do you, Tavi?”
“Apart from the fact that she's slightly insane, no. And I'm used to dealing with insane ponies. My best friend is one.”
“Well then, let's go.”
The time with Vinyl had been a very wild one, unsurprisingly. They had drunk, talked, and laughed, only coming to an end when the DJ told them she needed to go sleep “very early” (four AM) because she was meeting somepony the day after.
Of course, neither the princess nor the cellist tried to stop her (both had admitted having had very negative experiences with sleep deprivement).
After that, they resumed walking through Canterlot, quite a lot more inebriated than in the club, but still far from actually drunk. At least she didn't feel like it. Her sense of balance was still normal, so she wasn't flat out drunk. No, she was almost sober!
“Erm, Octavia? I think we should split up now, it's getting quite late, and I have to take court tomorrow for Celly.”
“Well we are pretty close to my place, it's only a few blocks from here, so you could just join me.” As she spotted the bright blush on Luna's face, the grey mare immediately realised her mistake. Okay, maybe she was little drunk. “I have a guest room! That's what I meant!” Good, catastrophe aborted.
“Aww, what a shame, I actually wanted to join you.” winked the blue mare, instantly regretting her tongue, as she pressed both her forehooves into her muzzle. Octavia would have been massively more embarrassed, had the scene before her not been so hilarious. The astral mare had lost balance and crashed face first into the ground. As hard as the cellist tried, she still couldn't hold in a giggle.
Quickly regaining her calm, the amused earth pony helped her hurt companion up. Then, memories hit her, and her mood darkened.
“Actually, Luna, there's something I need to tell you.” She paused, gathering her thoughts. “I'm not sure about this relationship. I do like you, and I feel very weird inside when, a good weird. I believe it's what other ponies have been referring to as 'love', and I would love nothing more than being with you. But I'm not sure I want to throw my life away for it... I mean, nopony would hire a gay musician, at least not in high society. Not to mention my parents, I don't want them to be disappointed.”
“With every second I spend with you I start believing that it might be worth it, to taste love at least once in my life. It was always such a strange concept, never once in my life did I think 'I think I like him', and I thought it was because the right one just hadn't come yet. In fact, I have experienced a lot of crushes on other mares, I just avoided them, pretending my feelings towards them were those of jealousy. Thanks to you I've come to realise it, you're really an amazing pony, and I've never felt this strongly towards anyone.”
“To be honest, my brain tells me to just drop it, and be content with what I have, but my heart needs love. No, it doesn't need love, it needs you right now.” By the time Octavia had finished pouring her soul out, she was staring at her hooves, ashamed of her being. A hoof found its place under her chin, lifting it and causing her to look into magnificent teal eyes. Soon, blue lips met grey, as they kissed deeply for the second time of the night.
“Oh Octavia, you don't need to worry about society. When word will spread of a princess being a lesbian, trust me, those stupid nobles won't consider homosexuality 'sin', but 'in'. To be honest, when I came back I was really surprised at the way love had evolved.”
“Back in my time ponies had this really stupid mentality that true love could only exist between two mares, and that stallions were to be used only for reproductive purposes. Whatever sister or I said, it was mostly just shrugged off as 'politically correct bullshit'.” a deep sigh escaped her before she resumed. “I think it's because of our parents' generation, and alicorn culture in general.” She chuckled lightly before explaining. “The other day in the street I overheard a stallion complaining how 'gay' alicorns are because of our exaggerated powers, if only he knew how right he was.” By this point the astral unicorn was almost in tears from laughter. After a few minutes she managed to fairly regain her composure, and spoke up again. “But seriously, what nopony besides Discord knows is that Celly and I have been raised by two mares.”
“Anyway, as I was saying before I strayed off the subject (well not really, but whatever), high society will adapt its standards because of us. Especially if I tell them I'm exclusively lesbian. As much as nobles seem to try to do anything to make our lives difficult, we are still role models to society.”
“Also, I'm pretty sure society will freak the fuck out for a short while. The way I understand it, most ponies think we're not even attracted to mortals. Oddly enough, this is true for Celestia, as I'm convinced she's asexual. She never once mentioned love, let alone had a crush or a relationship. Even when I directly asked her if she had made any progress with that while I was exiled her answer was negative.”
“But, to be honest, it really hurts, everypony seems to alienate us. We're treated as perfect beings, adored even, and nopony ever even tries to understand us. Even my sister's student has trouble with this, and she's known her on a personal level for years.”
“So when you asked me at the wedding, I could see you wanting to dance with Luna, not the princess. I could have been wrong, but now I can see that I wasn't.” she said, punctuating the last part with a kiss on the cellist's forehead.
“So trust me, you'll be fine. And for your parents, I really doubt they would stop loving you just because you like mares, and if they do, it means they're not worthy of you.”
“The choice, however, is yours to make.” added the princess somewhat wistfully.
A short and awkward break later, the now blushing cellist admitted: “Actually, I've already made my choice.” A quick peck on the blue cheek. “You didn't even need to say anything else after that first kiss.”
Then, they went to Octavia's apartment, and spent the rest of the night there. The guest room, however, was left unused.
Well, they didn't do anything like that. While Octavia had accepted her sexual orientation, she was still far from actually doing it, and was way too tired and drunk to desire anything else than sleep. Besides, who does that on the first date? Octavia certainly not. No, they just cuddled each other to sleep. Perfectly innocent.
Octavia woke up in the early afternoon. It had been four months since her first date with her marefriend, and they had only grown closer. So close even, that one week earlier they decided, on Octavia's request, to visit the earth pony's parents. She then sent a letter informing them of her visit to “introduce them to somepony”.
Now, the cellist kept pacing through the hallways of Canterlot Castle, obviously stressed out of her mind by her “announcement” later that day. She really needed to calm down.
She really needed to calm down, it was going to be a long day, and tired as she was, it wasn't going to be easy, she really didn't need stress to make it even harder. The cellist hadn't slept much, actually sleeping was too hard while in the same bed as Luna, and while she did manage to fall asleep eventually, a loud noise from outside their room had woken her far too early.
With consciousness came back stress, and with stress came back her inability to sleep. Normally, burying her face in her Lunar Plushie helped her calm down and fall asleep (at least when she wasn't busy burying her face in her), but that had only served to remind her of the reason behind her stress.
After roughly half an hour of aimless walking around the castle, the cellist's eyes got caught on a pony near the end of the hallway. Was that Vinyl? What was she doing he- A loud pop interrupted her train of thought, and the supposed DJ disappeared in a flash of light. Weird.
Octavia needed a coffee.
One cup of coffee later, she was finally alive. The cellist didn't usually need coffee to start her day, but sleep deprivation affected her harder than anyone she knew. That hallucination from earlier didn't really surprise her, but it wasn't going to happen again, at least not that day.
Just as Octavia stood up, a deep blue alicorn entered her view.
“Morning, Luna. I'm surprised you're up already.”
“Couldn't sleep after I woke up without you. How long have you been awake?”
“Err, around thirty minutes? I don't know. What time is it, anyway?”
“Early.” responded Luna, her expression turning to disgust. Her face returning to normal she resumed. “And that means we still have a lot of time before meeting your parents. What are we gonna do? After I'm done with my coffee, of course.”
“I thought of practising my cello for a while, but I don't know about that that now. Any ideas?”
“Why not do that? You know I love your playing, and I believe it'll help us both stay calm.”
“Are you sure about this?”
“Not really, but it's not like I have a choice, really. I've already told them I'd be bringing somepony home for tea. I can't just ditch them like that.”
“Well, you could just go there alone and say your special somepony couldn't make it because of some emergency at work – I could make something up really quick, there's always something to do as the ruler of Equestria.”
“That would work, but what's the point? Postponing something that has to happen will only make the situation more awkward. They're my parents, they deserve to know what happens in my life.”
Luna replied with a grunt that faintly resembled “okay”.
After five more minutes of walking through the streets of Canterlot, the earth pony mare suddenly turned right, stopping in front of a tall freshly renovated building, whose light blue colour made it stick out in the middle of the Classic Canterlot. It also had two doors, one made out of solid oak, the other made of glass, leading into a staircase.
“We're here. My parents own the building. They bought the whole thing just a few months before I was born. Their flat takes up the entire ground floor, while the other storeys are made available for a relatively low rent. They've basically retired at a young age and are now living off their fortune.
“I'm gonna go and knock now. Just follow the plan.”
Octavia approached the wooden door and knocked three times. Soon after, Octavia's mother, a middle aged golden unicorn mare with a light brown mane opened the door, an honest smile adorning her face.
“Oh hello Octavia, you're early.”
“Oh, I am? Haha funny. Must've underestimated the time needed to get here.” She wasn't nervous, she was perfectly calm, her breathing wasn't faster than that one time she had accidentally had an adrenalin injection. She could still speak. She was perfectly fine.
“Err, wouldn't it be overestimated in that case? Anyway, I don't see your coltfriend anywhere, did he get impeded by something?” Alright, maybe she was a little nervous, but she couldn't let that get to her. She needed to follow the plan.
“Actually, mum...” Having guessed her cue, the hiding alicorn stepped into view. “This is my marefriend, Luna.”
The older mare kept smiling for a few seconds, before passing out.
After a few moments of silence, the grey mare spoke up again. “Well, that went better than expected.”
Just then, a large light grey stallion who looked younger than was stepped into the hallway and spotted his wife by the door. After running up to where she laid, he looked up, opening his mouth, as if to question Octavia about what had happened. However when he spotted the mare standing next to his daughter, an understanding grin spread on his lips.
“Oh, hello Octavia, I see you've brought your marefriend. Come in, we'll do introductions in just a sec, I just need to lay down Golden on the couch.”
As they entered the living room, the couple sat down on a couch, while Octavia's father lay down the unconscious mare on the couch across the table from them. He moved to the armchair on the side of said table as if to sit down, then turned towards the kitchen. “I had better make some tea. I'll be right back.”
Just as he said, after a few moments he returned to the living room. “Alright, now that I've set the water to cook, let's get started. I don't suppose I need an introduction from you, Princess, but I'm Paperstack, Octavia's father. I used to be a simple bureaucrat, but I stumbled onto an interesting investment, which ended up making me rich. Not wealthy, just rich. Enough to retire very early with my wife.” He glanced over at the unconscious mare. “And this is, quite obviously, her. She's where Octavia got her musical talent. She used to play professionally, and now she plays for smaller audiences at charity auctions, for example.”
This apparently spiked Luna's curiosity, her ears turning towards her interlocutor “Oh? What instrument does she play?”
Paperstack beamed proudly. “Oooh, many, and all of them perfectly, too many to just go through them mentally. She does have a personal favourite, though. The violin.”
“Oh wow, that's pretty impressive.”
“It is. Albeit unlike her daughter she doesn't compose.” After a short silence he added “I do feel bad for talking in her stead, but what can we do? Have an awkward conversation about the weather until she wakes up?”
And so the three of them chatted for the better part of an hour – the princess and former bureaucrat doing most of the talking, and Octavia chiding in from time to time to comment on or correct something that was said. Ironically, the topic of weather did come up.
“... Yeah, my big sister does that all the time too. I guess that's big sisters for you. Oh perfect, you're awake honey, and you owe me hundred bits.” The musician only groaned in response, then proceeded to greet her guests with more enthusiasm.
A debt, though, what could that mean? Just before Octavia could try to satisfy her curiosity, her lover asked a question of her own. “How can she owe you hundred bits? Don't you two share your funds?”
“Well, we made a bet.” He paused a moment, thoughtful. “You see, while we possess a rather satisfying amount of money, it's by far not infinite. We have to give ourselves allowances in order to avoid spending all of our money and ending up having to work again. Next month I shall get hundred more bits to spend, at her expense.” Octavia's parents were both very organised, one due to his former job, and the other just by nature, and their finances were perfectly planned out over about fifty years. They had even admitted to their daughter she would get around a fifth of their current wealth after their death, not that this was the happiest topic. Forty percent would go to charity purposes.
“Dad, what was the bet about? Did you bet on me?”
“Yes, your mum and I got curious about why you never expressed a crush or had a coltfriend before. I ended up betting you liked mares, and she bet you were straight but you just hadn't found 'the right one' yet.”
“Huh, okay then. Now that I think of it, it doesn't really surprise me, neither your bet, or the fact that you bet.”
“Oh and honey,” Golden Note said “you should know that I'm not shunning you, I just want you to be happy. I just wasn't expecting it. Neither that nor Princess Luna appearing on my doorstep. I am curious though, how did it happen?”
“Well, it was about four months ago, at the royal wedding...”
Luna had just set the moon when the couple decided to leave for the castle. They had a date planned later that night and preparations needed to be done, after all.
“There's just something I don't understand Octavia. How the hell did you think they were going to shun you for being into mares? They really didn't seem like ponies who would do that... Well, I don't know, I've only met them a few hours ago.”
“To be honest, I don't know either how I could think that. My father is pretty much the most relaxed pony in Equestria, and my mum hates high society and their antics so much that I've seen her change her opinion on something just because it was the same as most important ponies. I swear I still don't know how she's so popular with all the ponies she insulted – directly or indirectly – throughout her life.”
“And I still don't know how your father can sound so uptight, but still be the most relaxed stallion I've ever met, at least during my life in this hectic and stressful modern society. Before my banishment there were those ponies that called themselves oracles. They were basically stoners. Oh, that reminds me, Celestia wanted to talk to me when we get back, said you could come too.”
“Wait a second, how do stoners remind you of Princess Celestia?”
“It's a long story.”
“Where is she? She should be in here.” said Luna as they entered her sister's cabinet. “I doubt she's already asleep, especially since I told her we would likely be here after nightfall. I think I should go check her chambers, instead of staying here and hoping she'll turn up before morning...”
Turning to the door, the alicorn was suddenly startled by a loud “pop”, followed by a scroll appearing out of nowhere. She swiftly picked it up and read it. “Says she'll be here in a moment.”
A companionable silence soon settled in, only to be broken by the princess of the night: “Actually, while we wait, there's something I wanted to talk to you about. There's a spell called Alicorn Marriage. While it's still way too early to think about that, I want you to know about it. It essentially allows the caster – an alicorn – to give up a tiny fragment of their power in order to make their partner immortal. It's fairly complicated though and I won't go into details, it's also said to only work for true love, but I'm not entirely sure about that.” she hesitated a while before resuming her speech. “The reason I'm telling you this is because the last time I felt this way, the mare left me. It turned out she only did it to avoid hurting me by dying on me. So know this, if it turns out we're, as they call it, 'made for each other', we can work around that problem.” By the end of her sentence, the lunar princess was slightly blushing – enough to be visible through her dark blue coat.
