> Child of Music > by Midori_Kuroba > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > 1: Shattered > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- The clop of hooves filled the street as several ponies went about their daily business in Canterlot. Two such ponies were Octavia and Vinyl Scratch, who were walking together down a sidewalk to avoid carriages. They both had saddlebags filled with stuff they'd bought on their outing together. "I'm having a wonderful time with you today Vinyl," Octavia began. "I've truly needed some peace in our time spent together." "I noticed after the turn out at your concert this afternoon. I still can't believe you were able to put on such a straight face with how much you were freaking out before the concert. And when you got off that stage you nearly feinted!" Vinyl's horn glowed as she lifted a juice box from her bag and stuck a straw in it, floating it before Octavia who paused at the odd obstacle. "How about some refreshing cranberry juice to cool your nerves?" With a smile Octavia happily sipped from the juice box. "Why can't you be proper and polite like this all the time Vinyl?" "Because it's not who I am." Vinyl tossed the empty box into a nearby trashcan. "But it's who I can be, when my girlfriend needs it." Octavia's ears folded back as she blushed and looked away with a soft smile. "Now that I've taken you out for a peaceful walk and some shopping, maybe you could do something for me?" Octavia's gaze squinted as she glared at Vinyl. "I knew there was a catch. What is it you want?" "I want to take you in here." Vinyl pointed upward with her hoof to a sign overhead that read 'The Crop.' When Octavia saw the sign her face flushed red and steam seemed to trail from her ears. "The owner, Velvet, is a sell mare. There's plenty we could use to spice up out time in the bedroom together." "But Vinyl, I'd rather cuddle than have sex!" "I'd rather cuddle 'then' have sex. We wouldn't need to make love though, there's plenty of things we could do. I happen to know there's some lacy things in here you'd look heavenly in. So what do you say?" Octavia felt the pressure on her as Vinyl stared into her eyes, even more so when she took off her glasses and gave her a pleading look with her ruby reds. in the end, Octavia hung her head said, "No Vinyl... I'm sorry, but I don't think I'm ready for that yet." She looked up expecting a sad and disappointed look from Vinyl, but was shocked to find the Unicorn looked furious. "Vinyl? What's wrong?" "What's wrong is that you never want to go beyond cuddling with me! We've been officially dating for over a year and you still won't even let me rub your flank unless I force it on you, and you always make me feel guilty about it! Why won't you make love to me? Why won't you let me take our relationship to the next level? What are you hiding from me?" Octavia tried to look away, but the spiky haired girl stayed in her face with tears in her eyes. "Don't avoid me! Tell me! Please! Just tell me! Is there something wrong with me? I can change Octavia, whatever the problem is!" The sophisticated mare took a deep breath and sighed. "Vinyl... I want to have a child." The blue haired unicorn looked shocked, and her expression immediately became rather hopeless. "I want to have a filly and raise it, like a mother. I can't do that with another mare. I'm sorry Vinyl, I knew when I agreed to date you that it would end up like this. Perhaps I was wrong to give this a chance." Vinyl backed up a few steps and said, "Wrong?... You think it's wrong to follow your heart and be with who you love just because you can't have children? That's not fair, Octavia! I've known you my whole life, and I've loved you for at least half of it. You gave me a chance and I've tried so hard to show you how much I love you, and perhaps earn that love back." "I do love you Vinyl!" Octavia stated with tears in her own eyes now. "But ever since I was a filly I wanted to be a mother. That's something I can't be if I stay with you." Vinyl's pupils seemed to shrink as her jaw dropped. "If?... Octavia... no... please don't break up with me! I don't need sex! W-We can just adopt a filly!" Shaking her head Octavia stated, "It's not the same Vinyl. I want the child to be a part of me. Please, try to understand." "Oh I understand! If I was a stallion then everything would be fine! Instead you're going to ruin everything we've ever had together just to conform to how society expects you to be!" "Vinyl, please! Calm down!" "Don't you tell me to calm down!" Vinyl threw her glasses on the ground and gave them one firm stomp with her front hoof. Her nostrils flared with her breathing, which slowed to a stop as she stared at the shattered glasses. She slowly looked up to see Octavia was staring at them as well, heart broken. "Oh god... Octavia, I can fix them! I-I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-" Octavia placed a hoof to Vinyl's lips to cut her off. "You monster! Now I see how much you truly care about me. It's over Vinyl. Good bye." The sophisticated pony twisted around so fast her tail smacked Vinyl in the face and she stomped away down the street. Rubbing the space on her cheek the tail smacked Vinyl cried out, "No wait! Octavia I was just angry! Come back Octavia! Octavia!" Her eyes faded from red to magenta as she sat where she was and slowly floated all the pieces of her glasses into one of her bags. They had been a gift from Octavia before her first show, to help her with her stage fright, and she'd worn them every day since. When she shattered that gift, she knew she shattered Octavia's heart. She didn't return home after that. She knew Octavia wouldn't want to see her right now. Instead Vinyl made her way to a modeling agency. The guards didn't stop her, and everyone there stopped and stared as she walked in and sulked to the back. She made her way to one of the back rooms and stopped before an office door that read 'Photo Finish.' She gave the door a light knock and waited a few seconds before she got an answer. "Ach! Who is interrupting mein break? Can't you all wait for me to make ze magiks?" Photo Finish opened the door and gasped to see who was there. "Vinyl? What are you doing here? Where are your glasses? Where is the red in your eyes?" With a weak smile she replied, "Hi mom. Can I come in? I need someone to talk to." "Ja ja, come in come in!" Photo Finish stepped aside allowing her daughter in and shut the door behind her. Vinyl took off her saddlebags and dropped them in the floor, before she plopped lazily on the couch in her mom's office. Photo Finish silently removed her glasses and set them on a desk, sitting in a chair upright and crossing her hind legs, placing her hooves together before her face as she seemed to be analyzing Vinyl. A poodle jumped up on the couch and gently lapped at Vinyl's back hooves. "You never visit me unless you be having the big problems. What is wrong mein daughter?" "I had a bit of a falling out with Octavia-" "Ah yes, your filly foolery. Please, go on go on." Vinyl shot her mom a glare for interrupting, but Photo Finish didn't seem to mind it. She tried to shove her mom's affectionate poodle away gently before she continued. "She says that she wants a filly, and that's something I can't give her! When I realized that meant our time together was for not I got angry and broke the glasses she gave me! I'm so stupid, but I couldn't help it! Then she broke up with me! It's not fair mom!" She sat up in the couch and her tears from earlier were renewed. "Why shouldn't two mares be able to be together just because they can't have fillies of their own? It makes me so mad!" She pounded her hooves on the couch, and then leaped off to buck down a table with a vase on it. "It makes me so mad!" Using her magic she threw a flower pot against the wall next to her mom, splattering dirt on the wall. "So freaking mad!" The poodle rubbed against her, and in her anger she threw it with her magic. It flew with a yelp, and then shattered like glass against the wall next to Photo Finish. "I like that enchanted poodle figuring you know." Vinyl was shocked to see her mom stayed completely calm through her tantrum. "Vinyl, getting so very angry is not what you should be doing. Come, lay on mein lap." "Aw mom, I don't want to-" "LAY ON MEIN LAP!" "Yes mam!" Vinyl shot over her mother's lap, who immediately grabbed a brush from her nearby vanity mirror and began to brush her daughters hair back. "You are having such bad style. I wish you'd let me just give you ein makeover." She gently laid the brush down on her daughters back. "Now Vinyl, you are ein very intelligent mare. I'm sure there are plenty of ways for you and Octavia to be having the child, you just have to think of them. Ich habe searching for ein way for you to be having the child myself, and I have some books you could be using in mein folder on ze table over there. Do some reading, and perhaps you can be finding ein way to have ze fillies with Octavia." Vinyl stared in shock at the stack of books on the aforementioned table. "Wait a minute, you've been researching this? But why mom?" "Because ich been wanting ze fillies too. Now, one last thing." Photo Finish picked the hairbrush back up and gave her daughter a spank on the flank with it causing her to jump a little and cry out. "Zat was for breaking your glasses and your girlfriends heart. I'll get them repaired, but don't be doing this again." With a pout she responded, "Okay okay! I'm sorry! Sheesh." Vinyl was shocked to receive a second smack from the flat end of the hairbrush. "OWW! What was that one for?!" "Zat was for breaking mein poodle. Now off with you, mein lunch break is over and I must make... ze magiks!" Vinyl climbed off her mother's lap, rubbing her flank with a grumble, while Photo Finish put back on her glasses, as well as the shattered remains of her daughters, and left the room. There were all kinds of books in the stack: Spell books, encyclopedias, and even ones on ancient mythology. Being a unicorn she started with the spell books of course, but the closest thing she could find was a gender changing spell. The problem is it's magic far beyond her own skill level, and she didn't want to change her gender anyways. The encyclopedias spoke of several studies on the matter, and while there were scientific ways to accomplish what she wanted, she wasn't comfortable with any of them. In the end if she was going to help Octavia get her child, she wanted it to be a part of her as well. She finally gave up and just flipped through the books on stories of legend and fantasy from times of the past. She skimmed through a few finding them a little interesting, but nothing even remotely relative to her situation. Then one title caught her eye: "The Child of Music." She didn't have any other leads so far, so she decided to give it a look. One part she read caught her eye: ...Even though Honey Interlude had been discovered to be infertile, Accelerando refused to accept that they could not have a child. He prayed to the goddess of Harmony Grove for a way to have a child, and she spoke to him. He was a musician, as was his wife, so if they played a duet before her that showed their love for each other strong enough, then their music would give birth to the child of their dreams. Accelerando rushed home to tell his wife, but Honey Interlude was skeptical at first. Eventually he convinced her to come with him with her instrument of choice to the grove, and it was there that they played a private song for the goddess herself. It was the most heartfelt performance they ever made, simply due to their love for each other, and the first time they'd done a full song together. And when the beauty of their music flowed through Harmony Grove, they were shocked to see a child born from the Serenade Tree... That was all Vinyl had to read. It sounded like a fairy tale, but many stories had turned out to be true. Theirs was a magical world they lived in, and anything was possible. She searched for a atlas to see if Harmony Grove was a real place, and much to her surprise it was! In fact it was only a few miles East of Canterlot, near a small village she knew to be Serenade, which she assumed the tree was named after in the story. Or the other way around, either way she knew it to be a village of bards. It was a peaceful place where people played music and sought inspiration. Vinyl stashed the book in one of her saddlebags and quickly put them back on, rushing out of the room. As she approached her mom she held out her glasses and said, "vinyl, I have had your glasses repaired by-" She snatched the glasses with her magic and slipped them on, cutting off her mom. "Thanks mom, gotta go, bye!" She used her magic to change her eyes back to their red shade, and quickly made her way home. When she got there she had trouble mustering the will to open the front door. The lights were out throughout the house, except for one faintly visible to their bedroom. She slowly made her way to the light, her footsteps obvious, as she entered her bedroom to see Octavia on their bed. Her eyes were red and puffy and she looked like she was expecting her. Vinyl assumed she heard her coming down the hall. "Well, look who decided to finally come home. It's almost dark outside. I suppose you think that because you got your glasses fixed that I'll forgive you for breaking them?" Her tone was harsh and hurt at the same time and it made Vinyl Cringe having to listen to it. She folded the glasses with her magic and set them on the nightstand by their bed. "Octavia I-" "I'm sorry." Vinyl looked up shocked, not expecting to hear those words from Octavia. "Getting mad just because you got mad wasn't going to fix the situation. I over reacted in breaking up with you and it was wrong of me to do it. I didn't mean it Vinyl, and I shouldn't of said those things. As much as I want a child I want you more, and it's about time that I treated you with the love you deserve." When Octavia opened her arms as if expecting an embrace, Vinyl was driven to tears before she rushed over and tackled her mate onto the bed. They cuddled silently for a what felt like hours to Vinyl, before she finally said, "I may have a way for you to have both." Taken aback by this statement, Octavia asked, "What do you mean?" Vinyl took out the book she'd gotten from her mother and opened it to the story of 'The Child of Music.' She tapped it and said, "Read this story." Octavia did as she was asked, taking out a pair of reading glasses and going over it carefully. She finished blinking and lowered her glasses a bit looking at Vinyl as if she didn't believe she was serious. "Hear me out Octavia. This is the only way we might be able to have a genuine child together. Harmony Grove is real, it's not far from Serenade. Please, give it a chance before you dismiss it. What do we have to lose anyways? If it doesn't work then all we did was take a break from Canterlot to play some music together in the forest, but if it does work... we could have a child born of you and me together. Our music is our soul, and we'd be making a child together with our very souls! So what do you say?" Octavia chewed on her glasses a little, thinking it over for a minute. "You make it sound so poetic, which honestly impresses me coming from the wild one of the two of us." "It helps to have such a poetic, melodious, and not to mention beautiful-" "AH!" Octavia booped her lover on the nose with her glasses. "Save the flattery. I'll do it. To be honest, I'm desperate, and this could be our only hope. I'll do my best to believe in a fairy tale long enough to play beautiful music in this enchanted grove. But it's late, so we should wait until tomorrow." This earned an extra tight snuggle from Vinyl. "Thank you love! And I promise we'll figure something out even if it doesn't work. One way or another you're having a kid, even if I have to get my buddy Neon Lights to-" "Vinyl!" Octavia's blush had reached a record red. "What? I work with the guy, he's cool. I'm sure he'd be willing to donate to a charitable cause." Vinyl nudged Octavia, obviously teasing her and reveling in her reaction. Octavia's brow furrowed, but then something caught her attention and a smirk grew across her lips. "So I can see you visited your mother today." This shocked the unicorn of course. "Yeah I did. How did you kno-OWWW!" A sharp pain shot through her flank, and she looked back to see there were a couple of red prints where her mother her smacked her with the hairbrush earlier. Octavia was pressing her hoof into one. Vinyl blushed and said, "Cut that out!" Octavia stuck out her tongue, something Vinyl found adorable despite how teasing it was, and smacked her hoof against the mark. "OW! That's it, if you get to touch my flank like that I get to touch yours!" "Wait, what?!" Octavia finally let go and tried to squirm from under Vinyl, squealing when the wild pony blew a raspberry on her tummy. "You know I hate that! It tickles!" "Oh I got your tickles!" Both girls laughed their heads off as they playfully wrestled for a while, soon running out of energy. After that they just cuddled until sleep consumed them both for the night. > 2: Harmony Grove > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Vinyl, is all this really necessary?" Octavia gazed worriedly at all the electronics Vinyl was packing into their wooden cart. "I can understand your turn table. That's technically your instrument, and I'm bringing my Cello. What in Equestria is all this other junk though?" The unicorn burst from said pile of junk and said, "This is all necessary for the best performance! We gotta wow that goddess of love! I'm talking speakers, lights, energy output, the works!" "And don't you be thinking this is too much mein liebchen?" They both turned to see Photo Finish make her way to the cart. "If you want it to be a duet, you must be balancing yourself with Octavia's level of ze magiks." Vinyl hopped down from the two wheeled transport. "You made it to see us off! So you're saying that I've got to tone it down so that my music doesn't overshadow Octavia's?" Photo Finish nodded so fast they were surprised her head didn't fling off. "Ja, precisely! You need to take less. Ein paar speakers and your turn table at ze most." Looking between her mother, Octavia, and all her equipment, Vinyl sighed and nodded in agreement. "You're right mom. And besides, this child is more for Octavia than me. She deserves to be the star when we perform." She was shocked when Octavia gave her a kiss on the lips, causing her glasses to unbalance exposing one of her eyes as she blushed. "L-Love, what was that for?" Octavia giggled and responded, "Because you can be so dense, dear. This isn't just about me. It's about both of us. This is a duet that we have to do together, and even if it doesn't give us our child, I think it's a wonderful way for us to bond." After a quick nuzzle, Octavia made her way to the front of the cart and began to strap herself in. When she realized what Octavia was doing, Vinyl rushed over tried to push her aside. "Octavia, no! You shouldn't have to carry our instruments there!" "Zat's right, Octavia!" Photo Finish added in. "Mein daughter will gladly pull ze cart! Besides, she is ze boy in ze relationship, nein?" She lowered her glasses shooting Vinyl a sarcastic gaze and grin, earning a blush and a grumble from her daughter. Octavia quickly shook her head and waved her hoof dismissively. "It's no trouble at all. Me and Vinyl switch it up a little every now and then, and besides, I'm an Earth Pony. I'm stronger and far more suited for the job. I won't even break a sweat dragging all our stuff to Serenade." Vinyl sighed reluctantly before letting Octavia do as she pleased. She used her magic to lift all her musical equipment she'd no longer be bringing with her, and floated it back into their house. "I'll clean all that up when we get back." She locked the door and quickly leapt into the back of the cart. In it she found her turn table, Octavia's cello, a box of records, two speakers, a generator, gas canisters for it, and a small bag of food for the trip. "Okay, got everything we need! Let's go make a baby! Mush!" "Don't push it," Octavia stated with a quick glare over her shoulder. The walk began as Octavia dragged the cart away, Vinyl in the back banging her head to whatever music was playing in her head. Photo Finish waved them off, and then lifted her glasses to wipe a tear from her eye. "Ach, mein baby is finally growing up. Ich liebe dich, Vinyl, and hope that you learn ein lesson from this." ***** While out on the road, Vinyl decided to activate the generator so that she could play music on her turn table. She used a spell to create a sound barrier around the generator, so that the sound of it wouldn't overshadow her music. Of course, she had a few classy records that she played for her marefriend. Octavia's mane and tail frizzed and she skid to a halt when she suddenly heard country music. "What in Celestia's name is that?!" Admiring Octavia's glare, Vinyl had a smug look leaning on her electronic device. "I just thought you might like a little shout out to your roots, Octavia 'Applebottom'." "I told you to never use my full name! I should've never told you that I'm a member of the Apple Family!" Vinyl giggled, achieving a blush from the classy pony. "You shouldn't be ashamed of your heritage. The Apple Family may be farm ponies, but they're a big part of Equestrian history." Octavia hung her head a little and said, "It's not that I'm ashamed of my heritage. I love my family. Me and my twin sister Fiddlesticks have always gotten along great, despite our different interests. I just... get a little homesick I suppose. Being a famous musician is nice, but I'd like to see my family more." The record stopped, and Vinyl removed it with a soft smile. "That's great to hear Tavi. Maybe after this, we can pay your family a visit. They live near Ponyville right?" "Yes, on the opposite side of Sweet Apple Acres and a couple miles on the outskirts." Octavia started walking again. "You know, I packed a surprise record in there myself, 'punk'." Vinyl raised her eyebrow at the emphasis on 'punk', and flipped through the records. She gasped and yanked out a particular one she hadn't noticed before. "Oh Tavi, you didn't!" The cover said "Dash Punk" and had an image of her and Rainbow Dash with goofy robot-like helmets on. "Come on, I thought I left this in the past! I don't make music like this anymore, and heck Rainbow Dash doesn't make music period anymore! Why would you taunt me with this piece of crud?" "It's not a piece of crud!" Octavia looked back with hurt in her eyes, making Vinyl cringe and blush from how cute Octavia looked with those puppy eyes. "I know I have a heard time listening to your dubstep, but I actually loved your old music when I discovered it! It wasn't about the bass and dropping it, and I feel like you changed just to meet modern ponies popular opinions! Sure it was still electronic, but you sang, and you played the instruments that you recorded, and had beautiful lyrics and rhythms! What happened to that Vinyl?" The unicorn removed her glasses and stared at the record for a long moment. "She's still here Octavia. She's just... hiding. You're right. Even though I'm embarrassed by my style back then, I miss making music like this. Dubstep is fun, don't get me wrong! It makes me pumped, and a party animal! Though, maybe I could try making music like this again sometime. Instead of Rainbow Dash, maybe you could help me." Octavia's eyes shimmered and her lip quivered. "Let's go make beautiful music together right now, Vinyl." She picked up her pace as they approached the village of Serenade. Serenade was a peaceful and tranquil place, littered with pine trees and old houses. It seemed as if every pony had an instrument on that at all times in this village, hence why it was known as the village of bards. They earned many looks as they trotted into town. A classy pony with a cart in tow, filled with musical equipment and a rather wild looking unicorn with shades. In fact, it was such a rare image, that many of the locals that took notice gathered around them. One pony stepped before them and said, "Hello there strangers! My name is Acapella, and I'm happy to welcome you two to Serenade! So, what brings you to our small village? Is it the alluring sense of peace, and the desire to be surrounded by fellow musicians?" Octavia shook her head and said, "Actually, we're here to see Harmony Grove. We wish to play our music there." A lot of muttering was exchanged between the surrounding ponies. Acapella rubbed his head and said, "Harmony Grove is a lovely place in all, but it seems like you've gone a long way just to play your music there." "We have a good reason." Vinyl jumped from the cart and trotted to Octavia's side. "We heard a legendary story about the goddess of the grove, and how two ponies that couldn't have fillies and colts of their own played a duet for the goddess. She blessed them with a child! We wanted to see if the legends were true. Oh! My name is Vinyl Scratch, and this," she hugged and nuzzled her marefriend. "This is my life partner, Octavia." The surrounding ponies were in an uproar of shock and awe. Acapella raised his hooves and said, "Splendid! Only have I heard of such a legend, but never seen anypony try to test it! And for you two to have such faith in it, so that even with a beautiful bond like yours, you may have a young pony of your own!" He sniffled a wiped a tear from his eye. "It's... beautiful. Truly, this story will inspire many here today, whether you prove the legend true or not. Please, allow me to lead you to the grove!" Octavia and Vinyl exchanged joyous glances, and quickly followed him, several of the local bards following and spreading the word. When they arrived at the grove, it was truly a spectacle. The entrance sank beneath ground level, into a rounded area with smooth walls and an open ceiling. Directly to the opposite wall from the entryway was a large beautiful tree, who's roots flowed through the earth around the grove. Within the rounded area was a small island of land covered in flowers surrounded by shallow water. A dirt road led to the island, so the two ponies left their cart in the entryway and carried their instruments to the island, setting them up. Acappella joined the crown of bards that were gathering around the upper cliffs of the grove, staring in curiously at the romantic duet. Octavia stood before Vinyl's turn table and removed her glasses to look her in her bright red eyes. "Vinyl, if this truly works-" She was cut off with a kiss from Vinyl, who smirked and said, "When it 'does' work." Octavia smiled softly and nodded in response. "When this works... if it's a earth pony, I wish to name it. And if it's a unicorn, I'd like you to name it." With a giggle, Vinyl nodded her agreement. "Right then. Shall we?" She placed her bow on her Cello, while Vinyl activated her own instrument after silencing the generator again. A soft, long note filled the air as all was silent when Octavia first slid her bow across the strings of her cello, Vinyl activating a deep elongated sound to go with it. Octavia pushed her bow back across the strings for a higher note, and Vinyl imitated the sound change with the sound from her own device. The next note was the same as the first, but the fourth note was much higher and rang through the area, and when Vinyl synchronized her own music with the sound, the walls of the grove lit up, covered in symbols, and the entryway rose creating a wall around them. They didn't seem to notice, as the unicorn activated a beat, electronic noise starting up gently as Octavia began to play a tune of her own on the Cello. The earth ponies bass sounded beautiful along with Vinyl's electronic beat. They played peacefully for a moment, and then Vinyl did a base drop, which Octavia used as a signal to begin playing faster and harder. Every wub from her lover's speaker guided Octavia's hooves back and fourth with the bow, and every bass drop was a long beautiful note from her cello. The speakers were softer than Vinyl normally played them, so that over her own music, everyone could hear the beautiful rhythm from Octavia, which Vinyl gladly played with. They switched back and fourth constantly in who led, both playing to the others beats, completely in sync, as if they were in each other's heads. The water surrounding them vibrated and twisted, beginning to spike with the musical notes. It washed away the dirt road as it swirled around them like a vortex, balls of the water floating into the air and flowing around them. The orbs of water reflected sunlight, creating random rainbows here and there as they floated about. Veins glowed along the roots of the tree and up its trunk as the entire grove became a sight to behold. None of the bards had ever seen anything like it, or heard anything like the music these two mares were performing before them all. And then, Octavia shocked even Vinyl as she began to sing: Goddess, we sing unto thee here in the grove, of Harmony. Goddess, will you hear us play as to you, with our music we pray. Lately love, has been filled with tears for that which couldn't be in a million years, so we play our duet for the child we can't create, and hope that you'll take pity on our miserable state. I wish to be a mother and my marefriend does as well, we both love each other, and by this song, can't you tell? I love Vinyl Scratch "(Vinyl:) And Octavia, I love you too." Please grant us a child, we don't know what else to do! Vinyl felt hot tears dripping down her cheeks as her lover's sad song, and the notes she played to go with them. She didn't stop for a single second, despite her surprise and being entranced by her mate's beautiful singing. She played with even more enthusiasm than she ever had before. She wasn't alone with the waterworks, for Octavia had a single tear trailing from each eye, and the majority of the bards watching were sniffling trying to hold back their own, and failing miserably. They played the final note of their duet, and they they looked up they were shocked to see a large flower bud had grown on the front of the tree trunk. A stem extended from the base of the flower, and lowered it down into the grove to rest before the island. Vinyl ran around to Octavia's side as she dropped her cello, both ponies approaching the pod cautiously. They could hear their hearts beating faster and faster as they both peeled open the petals, and there within was an adorable young filly curled up and asleep. She wasn't a newborn baby exactly, but she couldn't of been older than four. She was a unicorn with long smooth dark blue mane that spiked up at her crow's nest, and her fur was a warm gray like Octavia's. She opened her mauve eyes and smiled, reaching out to them as she said, "Mommies?" The two mares burst into tears and hugged their daughter, filled with joy, the surrounding bards cheering. Vinyl blinked and said, "But wait, why wasn't she born as a newborn baby?" Octavia giggled and said, "Who can say how this magic works? Perhaps it sensed we were worried about how well we could look after a baby with no true experience, and skipped that stage in our child's development for us. Do you really want to question how it works?" Vinyl looked to the entryway as it sank back down for them, and the dirt road re-emerged. She smiled and shook her head. "No, I really don't care, now that we have a child of our own." The filly giggled cutely as her first mother, Octavia, nuzzled her tummy. "Speaking of which, she is a unicorn VInyl. So what would you like to name her." "I don't know. There's so much that I could name her." She bite her lip, thinking hard. "Wait, I got it! A unique and wonderful name for her." She removed her glasses, and gazed down upon her daughter. "Your name is going to be, Chip Tune."