Rhabdophobia:
(1) A fear of being severely punished.
(2) A fear of magic.

Octavia Melody is an up-an-coming cellist, and her band has been asked to perform in Canterlot. It's a dream come true for the young mare, but a hidden past and an anger for the magically gifted that she can't conceal boil to the surface and threaten to ruin both her reputation and the chance to perform in the famous city.

It isn't her fault, though; the unicorns are such cheats. They all use their simple magic to get ahead when earth ponies have only their bare hooves.

However, when Octavia finds herself unable to escape from a rather eccentric unicorn working backstage, she finds herself questioning what has been ingrained in her for decades.
What can you do, when you have nobody but a certain enemy with you to confide in?

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Octascratch and LyraBon shipping. Written for Fac3Desk in honour of Valentine's Day, and was encouraged to post it here.