“Who’s there?” Tranquility hissed, baring her teeth. The singing, a soft, lilting voice, humming a slightly mysterious tune, didn’t answer. My ears folded back against my head and my heart started to race.

“W-what’s going on?” I whispered shakily.

“I don’t know,” Cam growled. “Reed says he doesn’t either.”

“I don’t,” Reed whispered. “No life has ever been reported in the Crystal Mists.”

“Is that where we are?” Tranquility asked.

“Yeah…” Reed said. “It’s a place for contemplation and reflection, because of how soothing and quiet it is.”

“This isn’t soothing, it’s really creepy,” I whispered, scooting out from under Tranquility and pressing against her side. She pressed back, a reassuring gesture that I was quite thankful for.

As soon as I said that, the singing stopped. The others had a moment to glance around in confusion before the voice floated through the mist again.

“Sorry…”

That was the single most terrifying apology I’d ever heard in my life. The voice sounded female, and yet, it didn’t sound equine at all! It sounded more like a breeze winding through a weeping willow tree, or an entire school choir speaking at the same time. It just wasn’t natural. My poor heart started beating at an unhealthy pace, and I actually started to feel pain in my chest.

At least I got the general impression that the voice was issuing a sincere apology. That was a plus.

A silver glow became distinct to my eyes in the swirling mist. It was a soft light, with an appearance similar to that of a streetlamp in a heavy fog. It wasn’t really all that strange. However, I didn’t know what it was.

That fact made the silver glow absolutely terrifying.

Tranquility started to hyperventilate as the glow began to get brighter. It’s getting closer! I thought, my pupils contracting and my legs starting to shake. Reed got behind the two of us, almost like we were living shields. Cam rushed to get between us and the light, her paws lighting up and a shield flaring into existence to cover us, which was a small comfort.

The light started to take shape as it got closer. It looked like it stood on two legs, but it didn’t actually appear to touch the ground. It looked sorta like a minotaur, except… frailer. Cam’s eyes narrowed, and lightning began to crackle around her paws and up her forearms.

The shape paused in its advance. Cam grinned at that. “You have three seconds,” she declared. At the same time, she levitated a white sphere out of her box.

“What?” the voice asked, confusion evident in its tone. “I don’t follow. Three seconds until wha-”

“Too late!” Cam yelled, tossing the sphere towards it. It let out a sharp exclamation that sounded oddly like a badly played flute before an explosion rocked the world around us. Oddly enough, it didn’t affect me at all, or Tranquility as far as I could tell, but I still screwed my eyes shut. Cam’s shield didn’t even bend a little from the force. However, it left a scorch mark on the white crystal beneath us and blew all of the mist away from us. Strangely, it didn’t come back to fill the area we were in. “Oh, and it was three seconds to identify yourself, dearie,” Cam said teasingly. I opened my eyes and gasped.

The thing appeared to be some sort of specter. It floated a few inches above the ground in a bipedal stance, with no distinct hooves, talons, or feet that I could see. It did, however, have transparent hands, each with four long and spindly fingers. I couldn’t fully see its body. It had covered it in swirling black and white light, similar to the aurora borealis. However, the most striking feature about it was its face.

It was beautiful and sad, perfect, yet flawed. I felt a strong sensation of heartbreak and hopefulness just by looking at it. Tranquility gasped, and I felt her go limp against me. I broke the eye contact and caught her before she hit the ground. Cam and Reed had similar reactions, with Reed grunting and looking away from it with a troubled expression on his face Cam gasping and shutting her eyes.

“Are you okay?” the creature asked. “What’s- Oh!” The sound of a musical chord echoed through the air. “Okay, you can look now,” it said, its voice losing the layered quality and soundind normal.

I opened my eyes and gasped. The creature now looked like… “You’re a pony?” I asked softly, eyes wide. It had a long, unstyled curly pink mane and a coat with a color similar to waffle batter. Curiously, it had no cutie mark.

“What?” Cam gasped. “I see a Wolf!”

“I do as well,” Reed said, squinting.

“Thestral?” Tranquility offered. “I see a thestral.”

“I conform to your species in this form,” the creature explained, walking towards us.

Cam raised the shield again, halting the thing’s advance. “Who and what are you?” she asked. “I’m not letting you get closer until I know you don’t pose a threat.”

“My name is Moonlight,” it said softly.

“Okay…” Cam said. “Go on…”

“I’m a song,” she said, smiling softly.

Instantly, suspicion filled my mind. This was soon followed by confusion. A SONG?! I thought. How does that make sense?

“I’m not joking,” Moonlight said, smiling softly. “I am the personification of a piece of music. Everything that went into it, everything that it is, and everything that it tries to convey is expressed through my very existence. That’s part of why you were so overwhelmed when you gazed upon me; everything that the musician meant with that song was impressed upon your very soul.”

“Poor heartbroken musician,” I murmured softly.

“How?” Reed asked, raising an eyebrow. “That seems rather unlikely to me.”

“Do you think we know?” she responded. “Whenever a new song is created, a new one of us appears.”

“So there are more of you,” Reed murmured. “Do you just… mingle through the multiverse?”

“No, there’s a city,” Moonlight answered. “Here, in fact.”

“That’s a lie,” Reed said, with conviction in his voice. Cam’s arms began to crackle with electricity once more. “We’ve been jumping into the Crystal Mists for millennia, and we’ve never seen any sign of a city.”

“Tell me, are you aware of how large the ‘Crystal Mists’ actually are?” Moonlight asked. “It’s an infinite expanse of white crystal and water vapor.” I groaned softly. “You Mages- yes, I know what you are- have never come near the city of Symphony.”

“Not one?” Reed asked.

“Never,” Moonlight said. “I’m not lying to you, believe it or not.”

“Does that mean we can hide here and… not be found?” Tranquility asked, eyes widening. My heart skipped a beat. The possibility that we might have a place to hide, where we could maybe start a new life, gave me a sense of hope that I hadn’t had since before we left Equis. Granted, we wouldn’t ever get back to our previous life, but it would at least let us have a semi-normal existence.

“Yes- wait, hide?” Moonlight said, whirling around to face her. “Why would you need to hide?”

“Because the Mages are after me for trying to live my own life,” Cam said. “They don’t like my non-conformist tendencies. So they’re out to get me and kill them.” She pointed at us. “It kinda sucks.”

“That seems a bit far-fetched,” Moonlight said, raising an eyebrow.

“It’s not,” Reed said. “I was chasing after her before she captured me.”

“You’re… captured,” Moonlight asked, her eyebrow creeping a little higher.

“Yeah,” Reed said. “It’s fine. They treat me well.” A guilty expression came over his face, and he muttered something too quiet for me to hear. Moonlight, however, apparently did.

“I understand,” she said softly. “I suppose it is possible for you to seek asylum in Symphony.”

“What would we have to do?” I whispered.

“Nothing,” Moonlight answered softly, smiling. “Music runs strong in you.”

“It does?” Tranquility asked. “What does that mean?”

“Magic of music,” I explained. “At least, that’s what I think it means.”

She giggled softly. “Oh yeah, it definitely runs strong is us,” she said. “Especially him.” She pointed at me.

“Shut up,” I grumbled, looking away from her. In spite of my reaction, a small smile crawled across my face. That lighthearted teasing about my tone-deafness was something I’d gotten used to and grown to like. It was one of the ways that Tranquility showed she liked me. Yes, it was teasing, but it never got cruel.

“Anyway,” Moonlight continued, seemingly oblivious to the exchange between us. “Symphony is just a little ways away. Only a few hundred yards, actually.”

“Really?” Reed asked. “How have we never discovered this before?”

“We thicken the mist,” Moonlight said. “We don’t want the Discordant to find us, after all.” She started to walk away from us, motion for us to follow her.

We did, starting to trot after her. “The Discordant?” I asked. “What’s that?”

“Nothing important,” Moonlight dismissed. “An old superstition that turned into a tradition. Certainly nothing to worry about.”

“Oh-kay,” I said, curiosity rising within me. I ignored it for the time being, though. We continued onwards.

After a few more seconds, the mist started to noticeably condense around us, and it became harder to breathe. Moonlight smiled softly. “Hold your breath,” she said, her voice sounding muted. “We’re reaching the divide. Crystal shards are scattered in the mist, and if you breath them in, it’ll wreak havoc on your lungs.” I sucked in a big gulp of air and started to trot faster.

The mist continued to thicken to the point where I actually couldn’t see anything in front of my muzzle. Tranquility seemed to have the same problem, and she wrapped her tail around mine. I assumed it was because she didn’t want to get lost, but it didn’t stop a blush from spreading across my face. I became thankful for the fact we couldn’t see, because I didn’t want her to notice that.

After about twenty seconds, the mist lightened up, and Tranquility untwined our tails. “We’re past it,” Moonlight said. I drew in a gasp of air.

“Didn’t get enough air?” Tranquility asked.

“What?” I said, confused.

“Your face is red,” she explained.

I glanced away from her. “Yeah, that’s it,” I muttered as we continued to walk. Cam giggled softly, and Reed shot me a knowing glance. I stuck my tongue out at him and gave him a glare. If you tell her, I’ll kill you, I thought. He nodded softly and looked away.

The mist continued to lighten. “Close your eyes,” Moonlight instructed. “Keep walking in a straight line.” We all did. I wondered why we had do, but didn’t question it. I didn’t know how Moonlight would react if I questioned her, and she was our best hope for peace, so I decided that going along with what she said was the best choice.

We walked for a few more seconds before I felt something stop me in my tracks. “Open your eyes,” Moonlight said softly. I did, and as soon as my eyes registered what was in front of me, my jaw dropped.

“Welcome to Symphony,” Moonlight proclaimed, sweeping a hoof in front of her.

The first thing I noticed was how unbelievably big the city was. It didn’t cover a sprawling expanse of land. The area of crystal it covered was actually that of a small town. Rather, it was how tall it was. The crystal had been dug out some several thousand feet, and the buildings were built on that base. Not only that, but they were so tall that I couldn’t actually see the tops of then.

The second thing I noticed was the futuristic quality of the city. The entire thing was made of a shiny, silvery metal, the crystal, and a pitch-black substance that I didn’t recognise. It was arranged in twisting black-and-white stripes, with dots of the silver metal placed seemingly at random throughout both. It lent the entire area a surreal atmosphere that would have been at home in a comic book.

The third thing that became apparent was the sheer amount of people there. They flitted through the air like a swarm of flies, to the point where they all blended together in a sort of haze. As I watched, they all started to transform into ponies, probably having noticed Moonlight’s transformed state. Soon, it wasn’t a bunch of floating specters floating through the city, but a bunch of ponies, lending to the comic book atmosphere even more.

“I hope you like it,” Moonlight said, a small smile playing across her face. She started to walk away from us, not even waiting for me to pick my jaw up off the floor.

Author's Note

What, you expect me to make everything in the multiverse against those four? Nah. I can be nice...ish.

So yeah, the singing isn't evil! In fact, it's a friendly spirit! This should be a nice little break from the horrors of the multiverse, right? I mean, Symphony is a pretty awesome place!

So yeah, another late(r) update. I feel like my furious writing pace from last month is fading away, so the three-four day updates might become weekly. I'm sorry, but it's just reality.
Besides, when I force myself to write, the quality is really bad. I don't want to turn out badly-written chapters. You guys deserve better than that.

Anyway, as always, let me know if I made some conventions mistakes in the comments and I'll fix them. Or just leave a comment regardless. I love getting comments from you guys.

~Pyrepinna

(P.S: I might try to get a chapter out by Christmas. I'll depend on what my day looks like tomorrow.)