Nuit Blanche: a night-time arts and culture festival to celebrate the return of Princess Luna. Octavia finds herself captivated not only by the events, but by the pony she unexpectedly finds herself sharing them with.
After a thousand years of exile, Princess Luna has returned!
As part of events to mark the occasion, for one night the palace has turned Canterlot into an open-air festival of art, music, performances and vendors, with the city's various galleries, studios, and museums offering free admittance to all who would join in the celebration of Equestria's beautiful night.
Octavia isn't normally a pony for such events, and at first would rather just stay home and practice her cello. Thankfully she has a friend who knows better, who drags her out in spite of herself, allowing Octavia to experience the many marvels the night may hold.
A Scratchtavia meet-n-greet story. Rated Teen for events towards the end.
Story was inspired in large part by personal experiences had during Winnipeg's Nuit Blanche 2016. Events and locations have been ponified for purposes of this story.
With the metronome set at a steady one-hundred beats per minute, Octavia settled her cello against her shoulder. Her foreleg, holding the bow, had a soft, comfortable grip. She took a pair of deep breaths to center herself and then drew the bow across the strings, bringing to life a short, pure note.
Each string received a set series of bows before the register was repeated at a different tempo. Four draws, then twelve, then nine. Octavia couldn’t help but smile at the warm, full vibrations of the open string bowing in her chest.
Tick-tick-tick-tick-tick.
A small adjustment of the metronome and she advanced to her next series of exercises. She focused on the tone and colour, going back and repeating a few of the sets until she was satisfied with the sound produced.
Tick-tick-tick-knock-knock-knock.
Octavia stopped half way through a draw and turned to the door. A frown pulled at her muzzle where once before a contented smile had rested. She set the cello back on its stand and trotted over to the door. There were only a few ponies who would call on her at this hour, and only one that had that distinctive a knock.
“Octavia!” Octavia was almost bowled over as the cobalt-blue unicorn burst into her apartment. “This is great, I was hoping to catch you at home.”
“Why wouldn’t I be at home, Jazzie?” Octavia grunted as she picked herself up off the ground and dusted herself off. She’d be more annoyed than she was except she had long since grown used to her friend’s... exuberance.
“Why wouldn’t you be?” Jazz Fusion stopped her prancing around the room, throwing Octavia a look of mock shock. “Oh, I don’t know, just one of the coolest arts festivals Canterlot has ever hosted happening only a couple blocks down. Nuit Blanche!”
“Can’t say I recall hearing about one,” Octavia replied, brushing a lock of dark grey mane from her forehead.
“You must have seen the signs around the neighbourhood!”
“Nope.”
“There’s one in your building’s lobby!”
“Look Jazzie, I’ve got a concert a couple days from now that I really should be practicing for.”
“And that’s all there is to you,” Jazzie scolded, tossing her curly, acid-green mane behind her. “Music, music, music; practice, practice, practice. We’re getting you out of this place tonight one way or another!”
Before Octavia could voice another objection, Jazzie was behind her, head down, pushing Octavia along.
“Are you seriously trying to push me out the door? You do realize I’m an earth pony and can just dig in to stop you.”
“Yeah, but that’s why unicorns have poky bits,” Jazzie replied, lifting her head and using her horn to give Octavia a prod right in the haunch. That earned her a satisfying yelp and jump from her friend.
Rubbing a hoof over her haunch and glaring back, Octavia was met once more by Jazz Fusion’s boundless enthusiasm. Her shoulders slumping, Octavia shook her head. “I’m not getting out of this am I—?”
“—You’re not getting out this,” Jazzie replied over her, a toothy grin on her face as she fidgeted in place. “Oh, this is going to be so fun! Though we have to get you dressed.”
“Dressed?” Octavia looked down at herself. “What’s wrong with wearing nothing?”
Jazzie was already heading towards the bedroom and called back over her shoulder, “The theme, dear! This festival is called White Night, it’s expected you wear something bright.”
Octavia shook her head and followed, the sounds of her unicorn friend rummaging her closet already reaching her ears. At least that explained the white blouse Jazzie was wearing, along with her usual necklace depicting her cutiemark, a violin with an electrified note on top. “You’re going to be rather disappointed.”
Like many typical earth ponies, Octavia’s colors were rather drab; a slate grey coat and dark grey mane. The most striking things about her were her cutiemark and eyes, both a vibrant mulberry, something ponies had often remarked to her. She tended to dress in a similar fashion when she was required to dress at all.
“Is this really the best you can do?” Jazzie asked, holding up a white collar.
“Like I said, you’re going to be disappointed,” Octavia replied, taking the collar and grabbing the most vibrant pink bow tie she had, quickly and expertly putting both around her neck. She usually preferred a more subdued pink but figured this would help mollify her friend and be a good excuse to wear it.
That seemed to do the trick and Jazzie was shortly pronking her way back to the front door. Octavia made sure to keep her and her poky bits in front this time. When they reached the streets outside, the wave of cool, fresh air that washed over Octavia made her smile. The sun had just gone down a little while ago and the streets were bathed in both street- and moonlight. Perhaps her friend was right, that she did need to get out of her apartment after all.
“So what is this fest all about anyway?” Octavia asked as they trotted down the cobblestone streets of the capital. “And why at night?”
Jazzie explained, “It’s meant to be an exploration and celebration of contemporary art, crafts, poetry, music, lights, dance. Supposedly they have the involvement of a number of Canterlot artists, galleries, museums, musicians and the like. There’s a bunch of large installations and exhibits that have been set up that I’m really looking forward to seeing. Plus vendors, food, all kinds of stuff. The whole thing runs till early in the morning, some events not finishing until dawn. The palace is putting it on as part of the celebrations of Princess Luna’s return, to show how ponies have grown to appreciate the night since her banishment. She supposedly even had a hoof in the planning and proceedings. Apparently she was an even bigger patron of the arts than her sister.”
“Ah, so that’s why you’re so excited,” said Octavia with a knowing grin. “You’re hoping to run into the new princess.”
“No! Yes. Maybe...?” Jazzie replied sheepishly, her ears canted back. Octavia just laughed and bounced her hips off her friend’s.
Shortly after they reached the main plaza. Octavia had to admit that she was rather impressed. The place was dressed much like a regular market, but instead of merely hawking their wares, the pony artisans in the booths were performing live demonstrations of their respective crafts. There was quite the turnout, she mused as she watched the throngs of ponies waiting in queues, the ones in the back either hovering or just craning their necks to get a good view of the action. Octavia would have joined in, but her ears swiveled to pick up a sound that was more up her alley.
A stage had been set up at one end to play music over the whole area. While it was playing electronic music and not proper instrumental like Octavia preferred, she had to admit that it fit the atmosphere. The pony on stage was appropriately enough a white unicorn, with a mane of shocking blue hair. She was working the station in front of her, swaying to the looping beat of the music as it flowed over the crowds. Octavia wondered how she could see anything out of those purple glasses of hers. Still, the music she was producing was ethereal, almost hypnotic. At first she thought it just a series of simplistic loops, but the more she paid attention, the more she picked up the small variations the unicorn was adding in each time. It was probably the most listenable electronic music she’d ever heard.
Her reverie was abruptly interrupted by the feeling of something being slapped over her back. She turned her head to find herself now sporting a pair of saddlebags with the logo for the festival – a stylized white owl – and the name of a sponsor, Barnyard Bargains, below it. She cocked her brow at Jazzie, wordlessly asking just what she thought she was doing.
“Free bags for our stuff. And, as you said, you’re the earth pony, that’s why.”
Octavia just rolled her eyes and followed Jazzie into the crowds. Each booth had its own lighting, with the whole plaza more softly lit by strings of colored lights interspersed with lanterns at varying intervals. Above, the occasional pegasus would fly by, adorned with glowing lights of their own. The whole effect was what Octavia might think of as under the sea at night, with the booths as islands of activity in the dark.
Around the outsides, along the perimeter of the plaza were various exhibits, many of them interactive art pieces in some way. Jazzie stopped them at one where a wall had been covered in magically-reactive sheets that allowed unicorns to make luminous, short-lived magical graffiti. A group of colts and fillies was there already competing with each other and Jazzie jumped right in on the girl’s side. The fact that drawing certainly wasn’t her special talent did nothing to stop her, Octavia noted.
A bit further along, somepony from the Canterlot Central Library had transported a very opulent reading room outside and set it up for ponies passing by, complete with shelves, rugs, ornate lamps, and comfortable looking lounge chairs. Most of the ponies there had a single volume with them, the exception being the purple unicorn who had gathered a small nest of books around her lounge.
Another magically reactive exhibit let ponies pose in front of a background, then a unicorn would flash their horn, leaving an image of the pony behind that would fade over time. They saw what was likely a brother and sister pair – an earth pony and pegasus – trying to see if they could make a whole line of poses of them across the background, like a cartoon where you saw the characters doing different actions across the same frame.
Turning inwards to the plaza, Jazzie and Octavia proceeded to look at vendors selling jewelry, beauty products, and various articles of clothing. As expected, Jazzie was the more enthusiastic of the two, hoofing over bits for various bobbles. Octavia settled on a couple of gourmet chocolate bars for herself but not much else really caught her eye. They did come across something that eventually did, though.
At the center of the plaza was a group of griffons doing metal work. They had set up portable forges with paw-cranked blowers and were working by the orange glow of the coals. Octavia and Jazzie joined the crowd of ponies watching them work.
Blacksmithing was something that Octavia had never seen being done before and found herself fascinated by the whole process. The griffons were working exclusively by firelight and light from the surrounding stalls, and would pull pieces of metals from the forge, bring them over to the anvils and work the metal into shape with their hammers for a minute or so, and then return it to the fire. Often the griffons would use their wings to augment the blowers. Whenever one did that, the heat of the fire wafted over the crowd, carrying with it the sharp tang of hot iron. There wasn’t any real smoke from the coal used, just heat. It was like sitting around a warm campfire in the middle of the plaza but with only small pits of flames and the quickly fading orange glow of metal being worked.
“Ohh, they have shoes!” Jazzie chirped, noticing the rack of already-worked items for sale. “I need new shoes!”
Octavia left her to happily converse with the griffoness handling that part, content herself to continue watching the smiths at work. One of the ponies near them asked what they were making, and a griffon explained that it would be a bench for the square. They were working with another group across the plaza, earth ponies who would provide the woodwork for the seat itself, but they were making the frame. It was intended to provide both a seat for those who preferred that and a perch higher up for others. Each griffon was contributing a different component to the whole thing, giving it a very unique look. Octavia watched as that griffon took an iron bar and during the course of several minutes beat and twisted it into an elaborate knot design.
Over the whole thing drifted the music from the pony on the stage. The song had switched at some point without Octavia noticing, becoming quicker, moving with a new rhythm. There was now an obvious saxophone dominating things, though she was able to pick out other instruments. There was no question the song was artificial, but the pony handling its construction could certainly create an appealing sound.
“Okay, I’m done,” said Jazzie as she trotted back to Octavia, floating several pairs of horse shoes into Octavia’s saddle bags. “Now I don’t know about you, but I am soo hungry! Let’s go get some food.”
Her stomach rumbled in ready agreement. “What’d you have in mind?”
“Let’s see what’s still staying open around here.”
The two ponies made their way to the edges of the plaza. Several food vendors had wagons set up at the edges but didn’t have anything that appealed to either pony. Then one of the restaurants caught Jazzie’s eye.
“That’s it! We’re doing crêpes. Been ages since I’ve had a good crêpe.”
“Crêpes? For dinner?” Octavia repeated as she trailed behind her prancing friend. She knew the place Jazzie was taking them, but had only ever popped in for a quick snack on the way home after practice.
“’Course for dinner! I brought you out to try new things, to have a good time. Tell you what; since you’ve been carrying around all our stuff, my little pack mule,” that earned her an half-hearted glare from Octavia, “I’ll get this for the both of us. I’ll even grab us a dessert one, too.”
The restaurant was decently crowded but the ponies behind the counter moved quickly. Like everypony else out tonight, they seemed to be getting into the spirit of things and were having a good time showing off their skills to their customers. Both Jazzie and Octavia wound up a savory crêpe for dinner and a sweet one for dessert. Part of the appeal of this crêperie Octavia had recalled was they folded their crêpes in a way to make them more portable and easier to eat without utensils or anything like wings or magic to hold them. Jazzie floated the tray with the stands holding their orders over to a pair of stools at the counter facing the outside window, practically the only seats still open in the place.
Once settled, she floated out a program guide from Octavia’s bag, opening it up on the counter between them. “Sho,” she said around a muzzleful of crêpe, “now that we’ve done the shopping part, what looks appealing to you?”
“Well,” Octavia swallowed her own muzzleful, “I was thinking one of the gallery shows maybe, and see what some of the art installations are like.”
They were in the middle of debating whether to head up or down the mountainside when they were interrupted. “Hey uh, is this seat taken?”
Octavia turned and found herself face to face with the same white unicorn she had seen on stage earlier. She still had her sunglasses, even indoors, but was now wearing a pouch on a rope around her neck. Her own crêpe floated nearby in her magic. Turning a little more Octavia verified the seat next to her was empty. “Uh, no. All yours.”
“Great, thanks,” said the unicorn as she hopped up into the seat, following with a satisfied groan as she settled down on her haunches. “I have been up there for the last two hours, so it’s nice to get off my hooves.” She began tearing into her crêpe, wolfing down whole mouthfuls.
“Hi there!” called Jazzie across Octavia and over the sounds of the rest of the restaurant. “I’m Jazzie and this is Octavia. We loved your music!”
The mare grinned around her food and swallowed. “Glad to hear it. So, Jazzie and Tavi, huh? Just call me Vinyl, though it’s DJ Pon3 when I’m up on stage.”
“Octavia, please,” Octavia countered. She shifted about, turning towards their new dinner acquaintance. “I do have to agree with my friend here, I did enjoy it quite a bit.” If nothing else, Octavia was a professional and was courteous enough to pass on praise to a fellow musician when she had the opportunity. “It seems to suit the mood outside.”
Vinyl crunched down a chunk of asparagus and licked a spot of hollandaise off the corner of her muzzle. “All part of the job, playing to the mood and the crowd. Though it was rather lighter than my usual fare.”
“Which is?”
“Dubstep. Think the electronic version of atonal or dissonant music, that’ll give you an idea you’ll be more familiar with.”
Octavia frowned. “What makes you think I’d be unfamiliar with dubstep?”
“Because you’re wearing that bow tie un-ironically,” Vinyl replied with a huge smirk before taking another bite of her crêpe, her smiling gaze never leaving Octavia.
Before she could object, Jazzie practically jumped out of her seat, slamming her forehooves against the window. “Oh my goodness! It’s them!”
Quickly looking from her wildly smiling friend and back out the window, Octavia had no problems seeing who Jazzie was talking about. Standing head and horn above the crowd was the unmistakable form of Princess Celestia, her multi-coloured pastel mane flowing on ethereal winds as always. Much to Octavia’s surprise, she was wearing a very dark indigo blue dress that covered nearly all her body from the neck down; only her tail and wings were visible. The dress itself had a series of embedded stones and subdued gold trim that under the lights of the plaza glowed almost like distant city lights in the night.
Speaking of, Octavia could also just make out the form of a smaller alicorn beside her. While not nearly as tall as Celestia, she was ever so slightly taller than all but the tallest Canterlot unicorns. Her dark coat almost matched the dress of Celestia, with her own dress a vibrant white, the accent stones brilliant sapphires and the trim silver. Her mane was a light azure, well styled but not waving like Celestia’s. Upon her head was a black onyx crown to contrast her sister’s gold.
Both princesses were surrounded by a crowd of eager ponies as they walked along, a quartet of guard ponies just behind them. They were moving along at a quick pace, but as they went by, Octavia couldn’t help but notice the slightly backed ears and rather apprehensive expression on the younger princess.
“Oh, this is perfect! I’ll catch up with you later, bye Octavia!”
Before she could object, Jazz Fusion had torn a path out of the restaurant and started mingling and bouncing along with the crowd of ponies as they continued trailing the princesses.
“Wow,” muttered the remaining unicorn beside Octavia. Vinyl popped the last of her crêpe in her mouth, speaking around it. “And I thought pegasi were flighty.”
“Her mother’s a pegasus,” Octavia muttered absently as she slumped down. This wasn’t the first time Jazzie had done something like this to her, taking off after some Canterlot celebrity or hot stallion. At least this time their meal had been paid for beforehoof.
She blinked and looked down at their tray and the pair of crêpes left on it. Shoot. “Hey, uh Vinyl,” she asked, looking over at the DJ, “I don’t suppose you want a free dessert? From what I know of Jazzie, I doubt she’ll be back any time soon, and I can’t eat two on my own, nor do I want to bother carrying hers around.”
“Ooh, you had me at free dessert, girl,” Vinyl replied, floating over Jazzie’s crêpe in a light blue aura of magic. “What is it anyway?”
“Chocolate hazelnut spread, banana, graham cracker crumble, topped with marshmallow fluff and caramel. Really, it’s too sweet for me. I have no idea how that mare can stand so much sugar. She has to be part humming bird.”
“Well, her mother is a pegasus,” Vinyl opined before opening her muzzle wide and biting off a huge chunk.
Octavia snorted and took a bite of her own crêpe. It was peanut butter and fruit medley, a much more palatable combination. She spared a glance over after taking a second bite, unable to help smiling at Vinyl’s constant chewing.
“How’re you liking that?” she asked after swallowing.
“Sch-ticky,” Vinyl eventually managed to reply before swallowing her own mouthful. “But good.”
Octavia smiled and returned to her own crêpe, watching the flow of ponies outside the window. It was so strange to see the night so alive like this. She idly tried to look up for the moon but wasn’t able to spot it from this angle, only finding a lighted pair of pegasi flitting among the crowds instead.
“So you got any plans?”
Octavia paused in wiping her mouth off with a napkin and looked at Vinyl, perking up her ears in question.
“Well, your friend did kinda run off on you,” Vinyl explained, one of her ears flicking back and about. “And I couldn’t help overhearing how you were wanting to go check out some other parts of the fest. Besides, I’m like a cat; you fed me so you're not getting rid of me easily.” She gave Octavia a coy grin, her tail swishing against their raised plastic seat, and shrugged. “What do you say; I got another set in a few hours and nowhere particular to go. Want to go nowhere together, Tavi?”
Octavia began to object but caught herself. Really, what else was there this evening? With Jazzie off chasing princesses, her options were to continue on her own or go home. And while practice couldn’t hurt, it really was a beautiful autumn night out and she found herself not wanting to go home. It also wasn't every night that a pony would hit on her, even as abrasively as Vinyl.
“You know what; why not? And it’s Octavia.”
“Sure thing, Tavi,” Vinyl replied with a cocky grin. She hopped off her seat. “Come on, the night’s a-wasting.”
Octavia glared at the unicorn as she followed, dropping their trash in the bin on the way out.
At least the night outside was once more cool and refreshing after being inside a full restaurant. The plaza was just as busy as when she had first arrived, and she could still hear the clinking of the blacksmith’s hammers. A new DJ was on stage, playing something very different than what Vinyl had, something more up-tempo that blended accordion, fast drums and guitar. There was really no complexity to it, the beat remaining very consistent and the overall tune being almost instantly forgettable.
Octavia re-settled the saddlebags on her back, then quickly caught up to Vinyl. Normally a white pony would stand out in a crowd, but not tonight when so many of her fellow Canterlotians were in some form of white. Still, with a mane like hers, Vinyl was a hard pony to miss.
“Hey there! Where are we going?”
“Donut Joe’s, then off to one of the other plazas, see what’s going on elsewhere in the city.”
“What are you talking about? We just had dessert.”
“Aye, lass,” Vinyl replied in an exaggerated Shetland accent. “That was first-dessert. This’ll be second-dessert.”
“I can’t believe you’re still hungry after that.”
“Hey, have you tried one of Joe’s gourmet donuts? Because I can’t believe you’d say no to one if you had.”
“Donut Joe’s,” Octavia informed Vinyl, catching the door to Joe’s shop before the unicorn could open it, “is a Canterlot institution. So yes, I have. I just hadn’t figured on stuffing myself this evening.”
“Well, I,” Vinyl replied, pulling open the door the rest of the way with her magic, “have been on my hooves for the last few hours on stage doing my set. I need something a little more to keep going for the rest of the night. Gotta keep up my strength for the crowds, you know.”
Both ponies were rather taken aback when they stepped into Joe’s. All the tables and stools had been cleared away and in their places were stands with pictures on them. The diner was still obviously open, given the line of ponies up to the counter and others milling around the pictures in small groups, all eating donuts or drinking coffee. Vinyl and Octavia took their place, looking over the nearest pictures as they waited.
The pictures were all pointillist, many of a surrealist nature. One particular one that Octavia was drawn to featured a very beautiful earth pony mare in the middle of a dense forest. The mare and her features, along with her body, were lineart, but the forest and the vines and flowers in the rest of the picture, including those that were creeping up the mare’s legs, were all stippled. Her appearance and how the forest seemed to be part of her and yet not suggested a fantasy connection as though she were a druid or possibly dryad. Octavia felt it was a very beautiful work and had to catch back up with Vinyl once she realized how far in line the unicorn had gotten while she was lost in the painting. They only had to wait for an orange earth pony and a rainbow maned cyan pegasus to order before it was their turn.
“Hey, it’s my favorite disc jockey,” said Joe as he leaned over the counter, hoof-bumping Vinyl.
“Hey, it’s my favorite donut jockey,” Vinyl replied. She waved a hoof at the pictures. “So what’s with all the pictures, Joe? Don’t tell me they’re yours.”
“Nah. The artist is Glitter Pop over there,” he explained, pointing to a carnation-pink unicorn with silver-white mane and tail talking to another pony at the opposite end of the diner. “She’s one of my oldest regulars. She heard about this thing with the Princess, we got to talking about it, she asked if she could use the shop as gallery space. Well, I was gonna be staying open for this anyway and Glitter’s really helped me out in the past when I was tight financially, so it was a no-brainer.”
“Cool, pony.” Vinyl looked over the display case. “So what’ve you got for tonight?”
“Nuit Blanche special, in honor of Princess Luna; a vanilla donut, caramel glazed, with sea-salt, and espresso drizzle.”
“Ohh, that sounds decadent. Gimmie... three.”
Joe nodded and after a quick exchange of bits for donuts, Octavia and Vinyl moved back into the diner, the donuts floating in an aura of Vinyl’s magic before them. She split one of them off the trio. “Here you go, Tavi.”
Octavia sighed, taking the donut. “There’s no way I’m getting you to call me Octavia, is there?”
“Not a chance!” Vinyl replied with a hearty laugh.
Octavia was about to take a bite of her donut when Vinyl jammed her second donut onto her horn. “Seriously?!” she exclaimed.
“Whut?” Vinyl asked around a mouth full of donut. She pointed up at the one on her head. “Itz a snack for later. I got a round horn, donut’s got a round hole, I ain’t got no saddle bag to be carrying t’ings in.” She tapped her horn. “Perfect solution.”
Rolling her eyes, Octavia just shook her head and went back to eating her donut while looking at the pictures. The question of “why not?” was suddenly getting a lot of answers.
Still, the donut was good. The cake was rich without being heavy, the caramel was thick without being gooey, there was just enough salt for a tingle, and the espresso didn’t overpower the rest of it. Without a doubt, it was one of Joe’s better creations. If she hadn’t had dessert she’d probably go back for a second one.
They left the diner, heading back out into the refreshing night air once more, choosing to turn up the street towards the edge of the city’s current tier and away from the plaza. Surprisingly, Octavia could still hear the music.
“I don’t think I ever really noticed before, but the acoustics of this place are crazy,” Vinyl commented, her ears perked and swiveling about. “Lots of tall, stone buildings, they just bounce the sound down the streets.” She smirked. “Gonna drive the nobles crazy, all the noise tonight.”
The street ended at an outer promenade. The tier they were on was one of the major ones, its promenade a large, wide park. The view from the edge opened up practically the whole of western Equestria to their view. Like the plaza they had left, the promenade was lit by strings of colored lights and lanterns. Beyond it, pegasi in glowing harnesses flew amongst some low-level clouds.
“You there!” a voice called out to them, drawing them away. “The earth pony and the unicorn. Yes, come here. The Great and Powerful Trixie requires your assistance!”
Vinyl and Octavia walked up to where a blue pony in a starred purple cape and hat was standing before a wagon that had been unfolded into a stage. She was surrounded by a crowd of earth ponies and pegasi.
“Tonight is a night of wonder! A night of dreams, a night — is that a donut on your horn?”
“Yeah.” Vinyl reached up and gave her horn a knock. “Horns are good for magic, holding donuts, and popping bubble wrap. Very versatile.”
Octavia facehoofed.
“Uhh...” muttered Trixie before thinking better of it. “As the Great and Powerful Trixie was saying, tonight is a night of wonder! A night of dreams, a night of magic as ponies celebrate the return of Princess Luna. Yet these ponies,” Trixie pointed an accusatory hoof at those around her, “doubt what they are seeing. They doubt true magic.”
“She’s a unicorn,” muttered a large earth stallion.
“Irrelevant!” cried Trixie as she snatched off her hat, clearly exposing her horn. “Unicorn, earth pony, pegasus, thestral, alicorn, all ponies can tap into—can appreciate—the magic of the night. What I have shown you all tonight can be done by anypony. Any that believe.” She gestured at Vinyl. “To prove my point, my fellow unicorn here will verify that Trixie is not using unicorn magic when performing any of these marvels for you.”
Vinyl looked at the crowd and then back to Trixie. She shrugged. “Yeah, I can do that.”
Trixie grinned. “Excellent.” With a flourish, she pulled out a deck of cards and turned towards Octavia, asking her name. Octavia told her. “Okay, Octavia. Tonight we’ve been working with cards.” She passed over the closed deck, instructing Octavia to open the pack and shuffle them up before turning back to her audience. “Cards are special creatures, and if you know how to talk to them, know how to read them, they can do marvelous things. Anypony can do those things, with just a little knowledge.” She turned back to Octavia who was still shuffling. “Trixie wants you to name a card for me. Any card.”
Octavia shrugged. “Ten of starbursts.”
“Excellent, now pass them back.” Trixie turned back to the rest of her audience. “Now you are all here, under this lovely night sky, provided to us by the newly returned Princess Luna, to revel in art, and music, and magic. True magic.” She turned back to Octavia. “As Trixie said, cards are magical creatures. They listen, and they respond to their names.” She began fanning out the cards, all face down. “And when you call them... they come.” There, sitting in the middle of the deck, was the ten of starbursts, face up amongst its brethren.
The ponies around her started stamping their hooves in applause only for Trixie to cut them off, and pointed her hoof at Vinyl. “Now, before any neighsayers in the audience accuse Trixie of fakery, did you see or feel the use of any unicorn magic in what you just witnessed?”
“Uh, no,” Vinyl replied, blinking. Indeed, Trixie’s horn had not so much as flickered during the trick.
This time Trixie welcomed the applause, waving her hooves in encouragement.
“Now, cards don’t just respond to our commands,” Trixie continued once the applause had died down, “they can also see into us, read us, tell us who we are.” She passed the deck back to Octavia. “You did such a good job last time, please give these another shuffle.” Once satisfied that the grey mare was doing as instructed, she turned to Vinyl. “The Great and Powerful Trixie wants you to name a card, any card.”
“Queen of hearts,” Vinyl replied after a moment.
“Queen of hearts,” Trixie repeated. “Right. Now, you have not told Trixie your name, correct? Correct. Ms. Octavia,” she said, addressing the earth pony beside Vinyl, “if you would spell out your friend’s name, turning over one card for each letter.”
Octavia looked between the two unicorns before shrugging and starting to pull off cards. “V-I-N-Y-L.” The last card turned up was a joker.
“Hah!” Vinyl laughed, poking Trixie in the chest with a hoof.
Oddly, the magician was unfazed, a cocky smirk coming to her lips instead of the expected frown. “Spell out her full name,” she instructed.
“I... don’t know it,” Octavia admitted, her ears tilting down.
“It’s, uh, Scratch. Vinyl Scratch,” said the white unicorn, one of her own ears flicking apprehensively.
“S-C-R-A-T-C,” muttered Octavia, turning over cards, “-H.” The last card was the queen of hearts.
The ponies around them ooh-ed and ahh-ed, Trixie grinning like a Cheshire cat at their center, her forelegs held wide in mock deprecation as she basked in their adoration. Even Vinyl begrudgingly applauded alongside. Trixie returned her focus to her original audience, continuing with other tricks and illusions.
After watching a few, Vinyl nudged Octavia. “Come on, let’s keep going.”
“I must admit, that was pretty good,” Octavia said once they made their way down the promenade far enough away from Trixie. “I never would have guessed you moonlighted as a magician’s assistant.”
“I have never met that mare before in my life,” Vinyl proclaimed. “I honestly have no idea how she did any of that.”
All that Octavia could say was, “Huh.”
A little further down, they passed a booth where pegasi were helping other pegasi into the lighted harnesses they had seen so many others wearing. Just beyond that was a large cloudbank that appeared to have been moored to the promenade, wrapping around from their tier of the city and up to the next level. There were colored lights pulsing throughout it and the sound of music emanating from within. Vinyl’s ears picked up at the sound of the beats.
“Head in the Clouds,” read Octavia from the placard near it. “This installation invites ponies of all tribes to take a walk amongst the clouds and experience the world as many dream pegasi do. Pulsing lights and music guide you through the maze of clouds to create an exhilarating experience.”
“It’s perfectly safe,” chimed in a linen-brown pegasus near the entrance. She had on a bright-green neon safety vest. “The clouds are all heavily reinforced with cloud-walking spells and we’ve got a team of pegasi on standby below in case anything happens.”
Octavia asked, “Why the tunnel effects and lights?”
“Because normal clouds are flat and boring.” She nodded towards the entrance. “Trust me, this is way better.”
“Well, you’ve certainly got the right music for it,” said Vinyl as she trotted forward, her backside and tail swinging to the beat.
Octavia was more reluctant to follow, testing the cloud bank with one forehoof. It was… spongy and cool to the touch. The coolness wasn’t unexpected, but it wasn’t damp like she thought it would be. Given how often she would spy pegasi napping on them in the sky off the edges of Canterlot’s various tiers, she supposed it only made sense but it still wasn’t something she had expected. After a few more experimental pokes, she decided to risk it and trotted into the cloud tunnel after Vinyl.
The music filling it was something else electronic. The sound was heavier than what Vinyl had been playing earlier. It had more layers to it, more harmony amongst all the different sounds. The clouds pulsed to the rhythm, though different groupings seemed to be responding to different aspects of the music. A heavy bassline punctuated the whole composition, seeming to percolate up through Octavia’s hooves. It was a very odd sensation for an earth pony, given how sensitive their hooves normally are.
“Vinyl?” she called out. The cloud installation was indeed a maze, the only illumination coming from glowing, pulsing patches of cloud. There were columns and twisting corridors, and ramps leading forever upwards. It was like what she imagined being trapped in a thunderstorm that had run into a pegasi rave must be like. The pulsing, looping music drove her onwards through the psychedelic cloudscape until rounding a corner suddenly brought her face to face with a field of stars.
“Hey, there you are.” Octavia turned and saw Vinyl reclining on a cloud bench a little further down the walkway that ran along the outside of the installation. “I was wondering where you got to.”
“I got a little disoriented,” said Octavia as she took a seat beside the unicorn. The cloud beneath her easily conformed to her shape and with a little poking and shuffling about she got it perfect. It was like sitting in the world’s best bean bag chair, only far softer. Perhaps pegasi were actually onto something with their cloudstruction. “The dim and flashing lights made it a bit hard to find the way some times.”
“I think it’s fantastic,” Vinyl told her, a huge grin on her muzzle as she looked over the night sky. “The idea of lighted clouds used to provide all the illumination for a venue is great. Don’t have to worry about lighting rigs and running cables, just need a pegasus or two to set them up, and a unicorn for the proper light spells if I can’t do them myself. Not to mention you can have clouds at all kinds of different heights, build up a whole three-dimensional dance floor. Synch it to the music, boom. Amazing. I am totally stealing this idea for one of my own concerts.”
Nodding absently, Octavia let her gaze drift over the landscape in front of them. The view from the higher tiers of Canterlot was one that had always impressed her, but tonight was particularly breathtaking.
Above them the moon was full and almost supernaturally bright, its purple-white light washing over the whole of the steppes below. The various forests stood out as patches of darkness in the ocean of lighter swaths of fields and meadows. Octavia could even make out the roads below, a single light from a lone carriage coming into the city, and the empty train tracks snaking off to the west.
The stars shone with equal fervor, not wanting their own contribution to be eclipsed. Astronomy had never been Octavia’s thing, but she could appreciate a mostly clear night sky, even if she couldn’t name more than two of the constellations.
From above her head came the sound of rapid giggling. Just as she looked up, a lavender pegasus with a blonde mane and tail shot by overhead, adorned in one of the elaborate light harnesses. She was followed by another pegasus, this one with a white coat, and cerise and green mane, also giggling merrily and festooned with lights of her own. The two chased each other across the night sky, darting over and around the sparse clouds.
There must have been some enchantment at work on the lights on their harnesses, for the patterns changed in colour and intensity as the two pegasi got nearer or further from each other. The further away they were, the more muted the colors and slower the flashes. If one got closer to the other, brighter colors strobed into existence, dancing across both harnesses.
Octavia wondered what a whole swarm of them would look like flying together, how the patterns might change and spread as the ponies flew around each other. It was something she’d never really thought of before. Sparing the moon — this new, nearly featureless moon — a glance, she realized that she’d never given the sky of Equestria much thought at all. Maybe it was because she was an earth pony and not a pegasus.
Maybe that realization was the whole point of the festival tonight.
The white pegasus finally managed to outmaneuver her lavender target, tackling the leading mare into a small cloudbank. Like the installation behind them, it lit up with pulsing, strobing lights, but for a whole other reason. Neither pegasus came out to continue the chase.
“Heh, lucky girl,” Vinyl muttered.
Octavia looked over to her companion, only to snort and shake her head, looking away again. “Vinyl, would you please get rid of that silly donut? It makes you look absolutely ridiculous.” She couldn’t help the laugh that escaped her lips.
“If it so offends thy sensibilities, m’lady,” Vinyl replied in a mocking, posh accent. Octavia rolled her eyes and grunted, though she could just make out the blue glow of unicorn magic from the corner of her eye.
Her vision was suddenly blocked by a piece of donut floating before her in an aura of magic. She backed up a little and looked questioningly at Vinyl.
“I was saving you half of it,” Vinyl explained, wiggling the suspended pastry.
Octavia raised her eyebrows. “Are you seriously expecting me to eat something that’s been sitting on your face for the last twenty minutes?”
“Come on, Tavi,” Vinyl teased, giving the donut another wiggle. “You know you want it.”
“Pass,” she replied firmly, turning back to the stars and studiously ignoring Vinyl. The donut vanished from her sight and then vanished entirely under the sounds of intentionally obnoxious noshing. With a belch at the end.
“Your loss.”
Octavia rolled her eyes once more, though part of her couldn’t disagree. They were really good donuts.
“Hey, would you mind if I checked that program, see what else there is around here?”
Octavia obliged and rolled to the side a bit, allowing Vinyl’s prodding magic to pull open her saddlebags and fish out the booklet. Once she had it in hoof, the magic on her horn switched from the typical aura Octavia was used to seeing to a beam of light much like a flashlight. “Much better,” Vinyl commented as she started to go through the pages.
Too far away to read the pages herself, Octavia settled back into the cloudbank once more. The two pegasi were still busy making their own light display in the cloud from earlier and there weren’t any more of them in this part of the sky to keep her attention. She looked back up at the stars for a bit. They were beautiful. Were they always this wonderful, or only since Princess Luna had returned? She really had never paid the night much attention. Closing her eyes, she shifted about on the cloud to get even a little more comfortable and just let the deep pulses of the music behind her come through the cloud and wash through her.
After a few minutes Octavia commented absently, “I must admit, I am liking tonight’s music. All of it, surprisingly. What they’re playing here complements things quite nicely.”
“It’s called ambient dub,” Vinyl answered her unspoken question, “just so you know. And yeah, for an exhibit like this, it does work well. Ambient is all about creating an atmosphere more than a song, to allow the listener to lose themselves in an ocean of sensation.” She waved a hoof back at the cloudbank. “Head in the Clouds, a perfect metaphor for that. Actually, this is musically closer to what I play normally. It has a bassline you can feel, but the drop-outs aren’t as hard and it works in more psychedelics.”
“So what were you playing back at the plaza?”
Vinyl extinguished her hornlight. “That was house. It’s lighter, more audience friendly. It’s a more minimalistic form of music, the whole idea being to vary the rhythms while maintaining a consistent beat. There’s still a classic intro, chorus, mid, and outro structure, but you gotta work more to figure where each is as the songs typically run long. I can still play with bass there but, uh,” a wide grin had crept its way onto her muzzle, “it’s nothing like true dubstep. That’s heavy, that’s powerful when you can put together a good piece. Not for every pony mind you, but if you let the wubs really speak to you, you’d be surprised what you can get out of it.”
Octavia turned back, admiring the white mare beside her. “So what’d you find? Anything strike your fancy?”
“A few things,” Vinyl replied, the grin never having left her muzzle. “In terms of the festival, there are a couple events and installations along this level that sounded interesting.”
“I was thinking perhaps one of the galleries.”
“Nah. Well okay, maybe. Depends what we find. Could be some good stuff around.” She rolled herself over and off the cloud, shaking out her mane and tail. Octavia followed suit.
On the way out they passed a few other groups and couples. Most were unicorns and earth ponies, marveling at the clouds around them. A few had pegasi that, while not quite as impressed, at least seemed to appreciate the cloud engineering required to get it all working with the lights and sounds.
Vinyl and Octavia didn’t even make it past the edge of the promenade's grassy park before stopping again. Under a street light, a barbershop quartet decked out in green and gold sweaters and bowties was serenading a couple of older unicorns. A grey mare with a purple and white mane was being embraced from behind by a blue stallion with an even darker blue mane. The two were swaying gently back and forth to the harmonious tone of the four singers.
♫Tonight, tonight I'll see my love tonight And for us, stars will stop where they are.
Today The minutes seem like hours, The hours go so slowly, And still the sky is li-ight Oh moon, grow bright, And make the endless day, endless nii-ight!
Endless nii-ight!♫
The couple before them stamped their hooves in applause. “Wonderful, just wonderful,” the mare told them.
“You’re quite welcome, Mrs. Sparkle,” the leader singer, a white unicorn mare herself, replied.
The ears of Mrs. and presumably Mr. sparkle pricked up at that. “I’m sorry, do we know each other?”
The white mare had a musical laugh to match her voice. “No, we’ve never met, darling, but I recognize you from pictures your daughter has shown me. I’m Rarity, one of Twilight’s friends from Ponyville.” She gestured to her companions. “This is Toe-Tapper, Big McIntosh, and Torch Song.”
The group quickly fell to introductions and casual conversation, causing the small crowd they had gathered to disperse. Vinyl and Octavia continued their largely aimless journey. The tier they were on now was noticeably quieter than the one lower down, the only real noise coming from the odd gallery, studio, restaurant, or club that had its doors still open, and the clop of their own hooves on the pavement.
“I never had a voice for music,” Octavia mused. “Performances like those always make me wish I did.”
“What do you play?”
“Cello.”
“Nice. I could never do that myself, don’t have the legs or the balance for it.”
“Earth pony stamina certainly does help. I just wish I had unicorn magic for some of the more fiddly pieces of music. The fingering can be quite a challenge when all you can use are hooves.”
Vinyl snickered. “Fiddly pieces, that some sort of classical music technical term? Like needing a fiddle?”
Octavia rolled her eyes. “Har har. What about you, do you actually play anything?”
Recoiling in mock horror, Vinyl pressed a hoof to her chest: “What, you don’t think DJing is a legitimate craft, something that requires actual musical talent? ”
This time it was Octavia with the sarcastic smirk. “You mean it’s not just putting on records and pressing buttons?”
“Maybe you should try it sometime,” Vinyl replied, leering closer, her muzzle twisted in a challenging grin. “But to answer your previous question, I started with piano. We couldn’t afford a real one, so I had a synthesizer keyboard. I was never very good at it, kept over-hoofing the keys. Still, it’s what got me interested in electronic music. I found the almost freeform structure that a lot of it has much more appealing to the strict regimentation of classical works.”
Octavia shrugged, her ears backing self-consciously. “I don’t know, I always found composed structure more comforting. Like, I always knew what would be coming up. Freeform stuff like that was always Jazzie’s forte, she’s good at that kind of thing.” She was about to go on with more when she realized that Vinyl had stopped several steps back and turned around.
“Hey, this place looks crazy retro, let’s check it out!”
Before Octavia could say anything one way or the other, Vinyl had taken off through the door from which poured the bright purple of ultra-violet lights and the drums and guitars of rock music. Shaking her head, she followed.
As it turned out, Vinyl had ducked into not a nightclub as Octavia had first surmised, but rather an artist’s studio. Andy Warhoof was well enough renowned – even in her own circles – and she recognized several of his pieces glowing on the wall. His famous studio, The Stable, was lit entirely by blacklight for the evening. There were ponies lounging on couches, admiring various sculptures and paintings, dancing on a small dance floor, and even dancing on what were probably some of the sculptures, too. If the artist in question minded, he didn’t seem to be showing it or was too engrossed in showing off his skills with a brush on the wings of a cute pegasus filly to the group of ponies gathered around them.
At least finding Vinyl proved to be an easy task.
“You look like an enormous glowing light bulb!” Octavia exclaimed as she walked up to the pool table Vinyl was in the process of setting up. It was true; under blacklight, the unicorn’s white coat was a radiant shade of violet, the blues of her mane and tail throwing off their own vibrant glows. “I don’t think we even need the overheads for this.”
“Oh, very funny,” Vinyl grumbled. She looked over her shoulders, giving Octavia a once over. Unlike the DJ, Octavia’s drab coat and mane were practically a void in the rest of the sea of fluorescence that was The Stable. “At least the glow from your collar picks up your eyes nicely.” She turned back to the table, arranging the last of the balls into the rack. “And just for that crack,” Vinyl said, floating them over a pair of pool cues, “I break.”
Octavia just nodded, thankful that the light and her coat would both help hide her deep blush.
The first game went quickly, Octavia coming back from a three ball deficit once she was able to properly get her head in the game. The two spent it discussing the game or ponywatching as the other tried to figure out how best to take their shot. Over it all, the sounds of rock music played, the age and aesthetic of the songs befitting the rest of the studio.
Octavia was going around the table retrieving the balls for another game when she heard Vinyl rumble, “Argh, what is this?” The unicorn was standing up on her hind legs and holding her cue in front of her, head cocked to one side and ears perked as she listened to the song playing. She stamped the cue. “I should know this!”
Taking a few seconds herself, Octavia paused to listen. This song was more piano heavy than the last one, with a distinct drumline supporting it, one very military in flavor. A smile came to her muzzle as she heard the singer start. “That’s Empire of the Clouds by Stormrider. They were a pegasus prog-rock band out of Cloudsdale from about… gotta be forty years now.”
“Yes, that was it!” Vinyl exclaimed happily, adding another stamp of her queue for good measure. She watched Octavia take the first shot, the break scattering balls across the table, sinking one. “My mother loved music like this and they were one of her favourite bands. I remember her listening to them all the time when I was growing up. She loved music, all kinds of it, and would always have a record on especially when alone in the house. Whenever I got home from school I could tell what kind of mood she was in – how her day went – by whatever was playing. Stormrider, with all their pulp-horror and pulp-fantasy imagery meant she was in a good mood, and we’d usually end up playing games together that night.”
Octavia leaned down and took her second shot, doing nothing but scattering the balls further. “For me it was my aunt, Silver Cord. She was the, uh, cool aunt of the family.” She smiled happily, watching Vinyl try and figure out how to get the cue ball out of the mess Octavia had left for her. “She had a music shop when I was growing up and I’d often go there after school so she could foalsit me. She usually had on something unique and different, usually from when she was growing up. A lot of it was like this. She loved Stomrider, Queen Crimson, bands with a symphonic influence like that because they just weren’t your typical, disposable pop garbage. She loved groups that wanted to do something different, to push the boundaries, to mesh and merge different styles of music.”
Vinyl finally settled on a shot, using her magic to drop the cue almost vertically down against the cue ball, bouncing it over one of Octavia’s and narrowly failing to knock one of her own into the side pocket.
“That does sound pretty cool,” said Vinyl.
“Yeah, it was,” Octavia replied as she carefully lined up a shot. “Unfortunately the shop didn’t last. The building was sold out from under her, the new landlord wanted some exclusive boutique or some other crock in that space, and so muscled her out.” A quick jab sunk that ball and she began hunting for another target. “She ended up moving to Fillydelphia about eight, nine years ago now. The shop’s doing pretty good, but I just wish I could stop by anytime like the old days.” Octavia failed to sink her shot, in turn giving Vinyl a perfect one. “Now that I know so much more about music than I did when I was just a filly, I think I could finally truly appreciate what she had on offer.”
Vinyl quickly sunk that shot, missing after that. “I’ll have to mention it to mom, the next time she’s out that way. She always complains there’s never anything like the old stuff nowadays, and she can’t stand my music.”
“Actually, that’s not true,” said Octavia as she leaned over the table again. “You just have to know where to look. Some of the new progressive rock stuff is pretty interesting. Instead of pulling from orchestral influence, it’s more folk oriented, though there’s certainly a legacy metal influence coming more to the fore as well…”
That was the time Empire of the Clouds’ first guitar solo kicked in and Octavia missed her shot from laughing too hard at Vinyl. The unicorn was rocking right along, playing air guitar on her pool cue, shaking her mane like a proper headbanger. How her glasses stayed on was anypony’s guess.
“Heh, sorry about that,” Vinyl said after playing through enough of the solo. “Just that you were starting to sound like some of my old music teachers and I just couldn’t let that happen.” She sunk three balls in rapid succession before missing her fourth.
“Eh, it’s fine,” replied Octavia. “I can go off on music theory and structure sometimes. I just… understand it more than feel it, as aunt Silver always used to tell me.” She shot and missed. “Though it does occur to me that I haven’t really heard any folk music out there tonight and I don’t think there was anything particularly folksy listed in the guide booklet. Your music, the Head in the Clouds stuff; I just realized how odd that is considering who is behind this fest.”
“Well, maybe that’s part of the point,” Vinyl mused, lining up her shot. “This festival is meant to celebrate what’s new in the night after all.” She missed.
“Yet it’s also to remember the old, given who it’s meant to honour.”
The game ended soon after, Octavia again with a decisive victory and Vinyl declining to be beaten again. The two wandered the studio briefly. On their way out they were stopped by an earth pony, her mane in pigtails, who gave them a pair of neon markers and directed them to the studios windows. She explained that ponies who stopped in that night were encouraged to draw their cutie marks on the window, an autograph to show they were out at the fest.
As Octavia looked for a good place to draw hers, she noticed that some pony had gotten a little more artistic and drawn in a pair of chibi ponies having a running pastry fight amongst the cutie marks. One was a neon pink earth pony, the other a neon yellow pegasus with neon pink mane and tail. She smiled and scrawled her mark with a practiced flourish of her muzzle before heading out again with Vinyl.
They peeked into various galleries and studios along the street that had their doors thrown open to the night’s festival goers. Most were smaller than The Stable, typically with just the artist or a curator to guide the guests amongst the drawings, paintings, or sculptures.
Winding their way back down the mountain they came across an exhibit that dubbed itself The New Horrorism. The placard outside described it as “A collection of spectral works that transmogrify, inner and outer-selves, dabbling in hauntology, transcendental mime and landscapes incinerated, by heavenly forces far beyond our control.”
Outside there was a mint-green unicorn begging a beige earth pony to go in with her. Octavia had to credit the unicorn’s enthusiasm, with her pronking around her friend as she went on and on about how cool the exhibit sounded and how much she wanted to go in. Her eyes rolling and hoofs dragging, said friend eventually let herself be pulled inside to the sound of happy squees from the unicorn.
Octavia turned to Vinyl, cocked her brow, and nodded towards the open door. “Hauntology?”
Vinyl returned an equally deadpan look. “Transcendental mime?”
Both ponies burst into laughter and continued along their way.
They finally found themselves back at the plaza they started at, albeit on the other side. One of the restaurants along the perimeter had curtained off one of their main windows and hired an earth pony artist to transform it into a full mural. Across from it, conveniently, was a display from a company dubbing itself Quills and Sofas. They’d set up a number of their products, signs on them inviting ponies to take a load off their hooves and relax a few minutes on one of their sofas.
Vinyl climbed up the platform nearest and flopped down on a sofa, Octavia choosing to curl up on the opposite end. Reaching back into her saddlebags, Octavia nosed around until finding one of her chocolate bars. She bit off a piece of the rich, dark chocolate to find almonds, the taste of cinnamon, and hot peppers exploding across her tongue. It wasn’t often she treated herself to something like this, but tonight was a special night. For many reasons. She passed Vinyl a chunk of it.
The mural they were watching was undeniably that of Princess Luna. The artist had chosen to portray her resting beside the lake of a fantastical dreamscape. That did make sense to Octavia, as she’d heard stories that Luna had been in charge of dreams and the dreamland before her banishment. The landscape slowly taking place was one of contrasts, with cliffs and shadows, the waters of the lake still and dark around the Princess. Yet she was cast in light, from the glowing lily pads dotting the shore, to the psychedelically glowing mushrooms on the ground and cliffs, to the glimmering, feathery fronds of the tree she slept beneath.
The artist had finished the outlines to the whole piece and was working on filling in the areas that needed it. Octavia watched the charcoal-grey pony brush a lock of vibrant blue mane from her eyes and go back to working on one of the mushrooms along the cliff. She had chosen to leave the glass untouched to highly areas of black, only painting what was needed to show the dreamscape and the Princess at its centre. A good four-fifths was probably done, most notably the main subject.
Octavia looked back up at the blank moon and then back down to the painting. “It’s so strange, to suddenly have a second princess like this. I wonder what she’s like.”
“She’s nice enough,” Vinyl commented, much to Octavia’s surprise. “A little awkward, but given the thousand year gap in things, that’s understandable.” Her muzzle curled up in a smirk. “A bit of a temper, too, when she feels that ponies are patronizing her.”
“Heh, you sound like you know her. I’ve only seen her in the papers.”
“Well, I did meet her once. All the exhibitors here did, actually. While the palace had their usual army of professionals arranging everything, she apparently insisted on meeting all the artists personally. She was nice enough, but had this weird combination of eagerness and… I don’t know, insecurity about her. Like, she wanted to do this on her own, but still had to have her sister help her out. Then there was the whole language barrier. She sounded like a character right out of a William Flankspeare play, especially when she got flustered.” Vinyl laughed. “Heck of a voice, too! Wow! Puts some stadium speaker systems I've seen to shame. You’d probably get along with her better.”
Octavia grinned back, sliding over along the sofa. Teasingly, she asked, “What, you mean my antiquated posh accent would put her at ease?”
Vinyl laughed again. “Nah. She just strikes me more as a pony more comfortable discussing music out of the romantic period — ballets and concertos and stuff — as opposed to what I play. I don't think she really got what I meant by samples and synths, and when it’s a good time to drop the bass.”
“I can just imagine what she thought actually hearing your stuff!” Octavia said with a snort.
Again, another laugh from the DJ. “Why do you think I was out here earlier playing house instead of my usual dubstep?”
Octavia looked back at the mural, and at the face of the sleeping Princess in it. She tried to reconcile the image it showed with that of the agitated young alicorn she had glimpsed earlier that evening, and the out-of-time princess that Vinyl had described. Again, she was struck by the strangeness of it all; to all of a sudden have a second alicorn on the throne, one that had been nothing more than stories and fables all her life, and the lives of virtually every pony for generations. To have a pony who had been little more than a name in history step off the page and into real life was both disconcerting and wondrous.
“Well, I do have a booking at the Grand Galloping Gala in a few months,” Octavia commented as she dusted off her hooves. “Maybe I’ll get lucky and meet her there.”
“Sure, you never know. After all, what’s the worst that could happen?”
This time it was Octavia’s turn to laugh. “A bunch of stuffy royals demanding stuffy music to go with their stuffy party. That’s usually the way of things.”
Vinyl couldn’t help joining in. “Sounds right. At least that’s not something I have to worry about. Not like the nobility would let a DJ like me anywhere near a royal event.”
Vinyl and Octavia looked over just as Jazzie bounced up. “I’ve been looking all over for you, Octavia! I’m so glad that I finally found you.”
“Hey Jazzie,” said Octavia with a slight smile. “Have a good time princess watching?”
“Oh yeah! Yeah!” Jazzie sat down on the edge of the platform below them. “It was really cool, actually. The two of them went all around the market and talked to a whole bunch of the ponies. Well, Princess Celestia did a lot of the talking. Princess Luna just looked at stuff mostly. And poked at it.” Jazzie’s ears folded back. “She uh, has a real thing about her personal space. Gets very shouty about it.” Octavia and Vinyl, too, couldn’t help laughing at the deep blush that bloomed on Jazzie’s cheeks.
“She actually really liked the blacksmith stuff, though. Started talking in that old-timey way they said she has to one of the griffons, asked if he was an armorer and such. He seemed surprised at the question but was able to tell her that his great grandsire had been one for the last great griffon king, Guto, before his family came here. He actually offered to let her have a few swings with his hammer. Heh, I think she might actually have done it too if it wasn’t for everypony around her. Said something about it being ‘improper for a princess’, though I could totally tell that her sister would have loved to see her do it.”
“That does sound like an interesting time.”
“Totally was, yeah. Hey, you remember how you said Princess Celestia was when she visited the orchestra a few months back, all formal and reserved? Tonight she was like a totally different pony. Smiling and laughing, just really friendly with everypony around her. Kinda reminded me of how Golden Cantabile will tease her little sister, Mezzo. It was just so odd seeing Princess Celestia acting like a big sister and not… well, a princess. I do feel a bit sorry for Princess Luna, though. She seems a rather awkward, and there’s the whole thing with her banishment and suddenly being back again. Most ponies seemed good around here but a few just didn’t seem to know how to act, you know?”
“I think that was probably the point for tonight,” Octavia said after a little thought. “We all grew up knowing her as the Mare in the Moon, the banished Nightmare Moon. I think that might be why the palace put it on, to show her that ponies really do appreciate her night now. And to show ponies that she’s not some monster who’d want to bring about endless night, that with her back, there will be a light in the darkness and we don’t have anything to fear from it.”
“Well, I for one certainly couldn’t do my job if it wasn’t for the night,” commented Vinyl. “I’ve tried outdoor concerts and stuff during the day, but it just never looks as good as what I can do with a dark background to work with. Speaking of, I’ve got a second set I should start prepping for soon.”
“Oh, don’t let me keep you!” Jazzie exclaimed. “I was planning on heading out myself, but I wanted to catch up with Octavia first. I ran into a bunch of friends from work and we’re heading down to The Mocking Horse Tavern. They’re doing this whole drunken mural thing where they open a barrel of cider for the room, and then try and paint as you drink. It only ends when the barrel is empty. Fermata already tried it, said it was a blast!”
“If it’s alright with you, Jazzie, I’m going to have to pass,” said Octavia as she started undoing the saddlebags. She fished out her last chocolate bar. “I’m gonna hang around here for a bit, check out the music and probably head home after.” She knew she had Vinyl’s attention by the way the unicorn shifted about at that last part.
“Aw, okay, Octavia.” Jazzie looked disappointed as she strapped on the bags, but like so many things with her, it was fleeting. “At least it looks like you had a good time. Glad that I dragged you out of your apartment after all! Good night, you two!”
“More like you prodded me out,” Octavia laughingly replied. “Good night, Jazzie!”
The two ponies on the sofa watched the cobalt-blue unicorn get lost in the crowds.
“Heh, where did you ever find her?” Vinyl asked. Catching something out of the corner of her eye, she looked down to see half a chocolate bar in Octavia’s hooves being offered to her.
“School, actually,” replied Octavia as she bit into her half. This bar was laced with crushed cacao nibs throughout that gave it a pleasant crunch. “We met in 8th year music. Our instructor, Common Time, insisted on broadening our horizons. He knew what styles of music we were comfortable with, which we preferred. So he partnered us with ponies of completely different styles and made it our major assignment that we were to learn what they played.” She snapped off another chunk of chocolate.
“Jazzie made herself my friend, regardless of what I may have thought at the time. We’re still friends for the same reason that Time put us together; she keeps me from getting too comfortable, from getting stuck in a rut.” Octavia looked over at Vinyl and smiled. “If it wasn’t for her, I wouldn’t have bothered with this fest at all.”
“Well… I think we can all agree that would have been a mistake.” Vinyl moved a bit closer, and Octavia could see herself reflected purple in the DJ’s sunglasses. “Now, I believe you also said something about checking out the music before heading home.”
“I believe you said something about having to get ready for a set soon.”
“And I believe you said something about DJ-ing being nothing more than putting on records and pressing buttons.”
Having seen similar looks during her years of playing for the nobility, Octavia put on her best haughty expression, complete with raised eyebrow. “Don’t tell me you’re going to try and prove me wrong.” She pressed a hoof to her chest. “I am never wrong about things in which I am always right.”
“Alright, lil’miss always-right,” said Vinyl with a chuckle before hopping off the sofa. “Follow me and I’ll show you how it’s really done.”
The two ponies made their way through the plaza towards the stage. Despite how late it had grown, the crowd was still a pretty good size and all the merchants were still there. As they passed by, Octavia managed to spot the progress that the blacksmiths had made on their bench project, the perch now secured to the base. Vinyl flashed her artist’s badge at the security pony handling the stage and trotted around back, Octavia still in tow. The timing proved good as the DJ on stage just finished wrapping up his set and told the crowd that DJ Pon3 would be replacing him shortly. Octavia could swear she heard hooting and clapping from the audience at that.
The two DJs greeted each other when he got backstage, exchanging the typical smalltalk Octavia was familiar with amongst professional musicians. He quickly packed up his kit while Vinyl worked to unpack hers, and headed out.
“If you wouldn’t mind giving me a helping hoof with these cables, that’d be great,” said Vinyl as she pushed past Octavia. There wasn’t much to it, but she was glad to help.
“Okay, now hop up here. I want to show you what being a DJ is all about.”
The stage that had been set up for the DJs to use during the fest wasn’t the largest, with just enough room for Vinyl, Octavia, and Vinyl’s equipment. Vinyl had Octavia stand in front of the whole thing as though she were the one the crowd down front was here for.
“Now what you have here,” Vinyl explained as she slid up behind Octavia, “are the instruments you use to reach out and wub your audience.”
Octavia barked a laugh, staggering back a bit. Her back bumped against Vinyl’s barrel, the unicorn’s forehooves wrapping around her own to keep them both steady. “You’re awful,” she admonished softly.
“Sorry, couldn’t resist,” Vinyl replied softly next to her ear. Octavia could tell she was smiling. Leaning her head away, Vinyl continued, pointing to the different parts as she went. “As I was saying. This is a deck. You’ve got turntables on either side and the heart of the whole thing, the mixer, in the middle. That’s where the magic happens.”
“It still looks like putting on records and pushing buttons.”
Vinyl snorted, her breath ruffling Octavia’s mane. “I’d like to see how good you are at pushing buttons lil’miss always-right.”
Octavia’s muzzle spread in a grin as she barely repressed a shiver. “Oh, you want me to push your buttons, do you?”
Vinyl squeezed her with her forehooves, nuzzling along her neck from her shoulder to the base of her ear. “You’ve been doing that all evening already.”
This time Octavia couldn’t help the shiver, her tail dancing about behind her. A bit of a thrill went through her as she looked out over the ponies gathered before them. “You know… I don’t think this is quite the show they were expecting here.”
Vinyl lifted her head away from Octavia, though still keeping her forehooves firmly in place, as she looked over the audience. “No, I suppose not.”
From the corner of her eye, Octavia caught the blue glow of Vinyl’s unicorn magic as a pair of headphones settled over her head, though only the housing away from Vinyl settled over her ear. She felt a pair of cords snake by them and into the mixer, a reassuring “thunk” coming from the headphones as the plug made contact.
“Good night, Canterlot!” Vinyl called out. Turning a little, Octavia could see the DJ had on a pair of headphones as well, though only using one side. Hers had a microphone on them. As Octavia moved, Vinyl kept a comfortable grip on her, her rear hooves planted just outside Octavia’s own. “Are we all having a good time at the festival tonight?”
The crowd cheered loudly in answer.
“That’s what I like to hear! No, actually I like to hear it louder!”
The crowd obliged, roaring louder.
“That’s better! I’m DJ Pon3, with a special guest tonight,” she squeezed Octavia, “and we’ll be making sure that things are kept lively for the next few hours. For now, let’s make enough noise that ponies on the next tier won’t be able to sleep through it!”
The crowd seemed to really like that idea.
“Here, give me your hooves,” Vinyl instructed, the mic off, and Octavia obliged. Vinyl laid her own on top and threw a quick band of magic around them. She used Octavia’s hooves to press several buttons on the mixer, starting up a pulsing beat. “We’ll start with something old school simple, Drum and Bass, and then move into more proper techno.” Her forehooves held Octavia firmly around the barrel, her hips swaying and pressing forward along with the rhythm of the music, all while dancing her hooves over the mixer before them. “After that…” She nuzzled along Octavia’s neck and over her ear again. “We’ll see what you’re capable of handling.”
Octavia couldn’t help her smile. She’d already picked up the rhythm of the main bassline and was getting an idea of the mixer’s different effects based on what Vinyl pressed, twisted, or slid about. She pressed back against the DJ’s embrace, rolling her hips in time with Vinyl’s.
There was light and there was noise, something akin to running water. Those were Octavia’s first impressions of the morning. The water stopped quickly enough that it might very well have been an illusion, but the light didn’t go away.
A groan escaped the lips of the grey earth pony as she dared open her eyes. Quickly regretting that mistake, she hid her face behind her forelegs.
Still, she couldn’t hide from the day forever. Slowly peeking out from behind her legs, she squinted and sought the clock in the room, groaning and hiding again when she saw the time.
Yes, it was well after eleven, but to be fair, she had been up on stage DJ-ing—such as it were—until three in the morning, and didn’t actually get to sleep until just after four. It had been a long night out, but she couldn’t argue with Jazzie; the results were certainly worth it. Still though, she really… really should get up and practice.
A yawn stretched her muzzle and then worked its way down to the rest of her body, causing her to writhe and twist amongst the tangled sheets as she stretched out all her limbs. She turned over and settled down on top of a pillow, pulling it close underneath her.
On second though, the bed was nice and warm from the sunlight. Maybe a little more.
“Hey, you’re awake,” came a surprisingly cheery voice. Octavia opened her eyes to the sight of a white unicorn standing in her bathroom doorway, toweling off her vibrant blue mane.
Red. Her eyes, no longer hidden behind her sunglasses, were red.
“So I managed to find the bathroom and the shower,” said Vinyl. She got the last bit of water out of her forelock and hung the towel around her neck. Her mane was maybe only a little messier than last night. “But I wasn’t able to find the coffee yet.”
Octavia yawned hugely again. “Kitchen’s down the hall to your left,” she croaked, her voice still heavy from sleep.
Vinyl sauntered over and rubbed her nose against Octavia’s. “Yeah, but it’s your kitchen. How about getting up and giving me a helping hoof with that?”
Looking deeply into the red eyes in front of her, their corners crinkled up in a smile, Octavia asked, “But if I feed you, how will I ever get rid of you?”
“You say that as if it’s a bad thing.” Vinyl pressed forward in a light kiss.
