The first thing that I noticed when I woke up was that Tranquility had moved away from my side, leaving it cold. I slowly opened my eyes and looked around. Reed had apparently fallen asleep and curled up like a cat in the middle of the floor. Cam had moved away from me and over to him, stretched out across his back. And Tranquility…

She was sitting in front of the wall that we had entered through, facing away from me and not moving. The violet and blue light playing across the wall threw an ethereal halo around her silhouette, giving her an unearthly aura. I slowly rose to my hooves and walked towards her.

She didn’t give a single glance as I walked up beside her, not even when I gave her a soft nuzzle. She just sat there with a small smile on her face, staring ahead. “Tranquility?” I whispered softly.

Instead of answering, she reached over and gently lifted my hoof up to the wall, pressing it against the smooth surface. A ring of greyscale color washed out from it and spread across the wall. As it passed over the wall, it turned transparent, like a window, looking out over the city. I gasped softly, my eyes widening.

“Beautiful, isn’t it?” Tranquility whispered quietly, leaning to rest against my shoulder.

“What?” I mumbled, turning to look at her.

“The city,” she answered, smiling softly and turning back to the window. I turned my gaze back to the window as well, my eyes taking in the sights once again. Once more, the sheer beauty of the area hit me in full force, causing me to go a little weak in the knees. The People of Song were flitting around the buildings, waving to each other and having conversations. The patterns engraved on the buildings shimmered. And for the first time, I noticed something else.

The best way I could describe it was that is was like a hum, but… not. Instead of hearing it, I felt it, not in my body, but in my mind. It evoked a subtle feeling of… contentedness in me. It seemed familiar for some reason, but I couldn’t place why.

“It is,” I whispered softly, a smile spreading across my face.

Tranquility gently pressed against my side and gave me a gentle nuzzle. “I know,” she murmured breathily, a radiant smile gracing her face. “I understand how you felt yesterday. I almost can’t believe it.”

“That it exists?” I asked.

“No, that we might get to live here,” she answered softly.

“Oh,” I said quietly.

“Wouldn’t that be wonderful?” she asked, a hint of excitement and childlike glee in her voice. “Every day, waking up and being able to fly through this amazing city… always meeting new people and making new friends…”

“I don’t know…” I murmured.

“Why?” she asked.

“I’m not disagreeing that it would be awesome,” I said. “But I don’t think I’d enjoy it as much as you would.”

“Why?” she asked.

“Because… you don’t have as much to go back to on Equis,” I said softly, my ears drooping a bit.

“I don’t follow,” she said softly.

“You only had a few friends on the weather team,” I murmured softly. “You, Gust, Lilly, and…”

“Rose,” she murmured softly. “You forgot Rose.”

“I knew almost everyone there,” I said. “They were my friends. Some of them… they felt like my family.” I let out a soft laugh. “My non-Canterlot family.” You’re one of those ponies, I added silently. “I also knew our neighbors… and now I won’t see them again.”

“Oh,” Tranquility murmured.

“And then there’s my family…”

“I’m sorry,” she murmured softly.

“Don’t be,” I responded. “I won’t enjoy it as much as you, thought, because that’s gonna wear on my mind for a while.”

“Hey,” she whispered. “You still have me, right?’

That might make it worse, I thought. She was a reminder of home, after all. But I didn’t say that. I just leaned a little more on her, resting my head on her ear, the one with the chunk missing. “Yeah,” I murmured. “I do.”

“Just KISS ALREADY!”

That shout startled me, Tranquility, and Reed. I let out a sharp yelp, Tranquility hissed and flared out her wings, catching me in the side, and Reed scrabbled backwards until he smacked his head into the wall. Cam sighed dramatically and shook her head.

“Really, this is getting annoying,” she grumbled. “You guys are so flippin’ close to each other that you could ask each other out and nothing would change. Just kiss already and be done with it! Do you have any idea how annoying this is?” She threw her arms up in the air as my cheeks turned red. “Y’know what? Why stop there? Just go all the way and-”

“CAM!” Tranquility shouted, a furious blush spreading over her face. “Remember our talk yesterday!”

“Look, if I’m not gonna say it, who will?” Cam asked flippantly, smiling innocently.

“Please never do that again,” Reed whimpered, clutching his head. “At least wake me up first.”

“Sorry…” she mumbled, turning back to us. “Speaking of which, I woke up on top of him. What’s up with that?”

“Would you have rather been left on the floor?” Tranquility asked, a little annoyed.

“You could’ve just carried me…” she said.

“Because you would have taken so well to that,” I grumbled softly.

“Excuse me!” Cam exclaimed, whirling around to glare at me. “I might be a little harsh at times, but that does not mean that I won’t appreciate a healthy dose of cuddles every now and then!” With an exaggerated hmph, she turned around and sat down, her nose turned up in the air.

“Is that so?” Tranquility asked, a hint of mischief in her eyes. “So you won’t object to this?” Lunging forward, she grabbed Cam and swept her into a tight hug.

“Ack!” she gasped, straining against the embrace. “Can’t breathe! Let go! Let go!” Tranquility released her, giggling softly. Cam scrambled over to me and climbed up my back, her hind paws on my wing joints and her front ones on my shoulders. It hurt a bit, but it was tolerable. “Never do that again,” she hissed, glaring at Tranquility.

“No promises,” she whispered back.

I’m fairly sure that Cam was about to jokingly launch herself off my wings and towards Tranquility, but before she could, the four panels that formed the doorway to the outdoors slid open, and Moonlight fluttered through. “You’re awake,” she observed. “You slept for twelve hours.”

“That’s a good sleep,” I remarked softly.

“Yeah,” Tranquility said, her eyes narrowing and her gaze becoming distant.

“What’s wrong?” I asked.

“I just realized that my sleep pattern that I adhered to back in Equis has been thoroughly decimated,” she said. “I’ve been sleeping at the same time as you.”

“Oh,” I said. “Truth be told, both of ours have probably been knocked off-kilter.”

“Yeah,” she admitted. “It just feels a bit strange.”

“I wouldn’t know about those sorts of things,” Moonlight interjected happily.

“And you are so fortunate that you don’t,” Reed grumbled. When we gave him a questioning look, he shrugged. “As a Mage, I usually don’t get good sleep.”

“Ouch,” I whispered.

“I understand,” Tranquility said. “I’ve been in that position before, during my foalhood and schooling.”

“That must’ve been terrible,” he said.

“It was,” Tranquility and I said at the same time.

“Both for me,” she began.

“And for anyone around her,” I finished. “And she was miserable because of it. As her friend, it was terrible to watch.” She flinched softly and nodded in agreement. “Basically, the fact that we have to sleep sucks.”

“Oh,” Moonlight said.

“So what are we gonna do today?” Cam asked, climbing down from my back.

“I spent the last few hours conversing with the other Whole songs,” Moonlight said. “They’ve agreed to give you shelter here.” Cam let out a happy squeal, I did a hoofpump, and Tranquility let out a high-pitched squeak. Reed didn’t react, not visibly at least. “I thought that we’d get you settled and set up.”

“Sweet,” I said.

“This is actually happening…” Tranquility whispered.

Moonlight brought the same platform that we rode into the city up to the doorway of her room, and we all loaded onto it once more. It didn’t rise any more, instead floating towards a different building in the center of the city. It was moving a bit more slowly this time, more like a normal flight speed. I smiled softly, letting the wind sweep through my mane.

“What’s this?”

With those two words, the hum I’d noticed earlier rose sharply in intensity. It’s the magic of music! I thought, shocked. I should have guessed it, considering where we were, but is was still a little jarring. Fortunately, it didn’t feel like Iike I had to sing, being more like an amped-up version of the sensation of being an observer to a song.

A fast paced, energetic set of chords sprung up out of thin air, sounding like a string orchestra plucking their instruments frantically. The People of Song flew up to surround the platform, curiosity written on their faces. Tranquility started tapping her hoof in rhythm with the song, Reed raised an eyebrow, Cam grinned, and I smiled softly.

“What’s this?” they sang, swirling around the platform. “These four cannot be Songs!

What’s this? And how could it go wrong?

Never before has anything else come here,

Talk of the town, these four have reached every ear,

I guess it’s true, we welcome you, but,

Forgive us if we get suspicious, it’s just that this whole thing seems a teensy little tiny bit amiss, what’s this?”

With those final two words, the singing split into chords, and the People of Song scattered away from the platform, smiles on their faces. The began to weave around each other, staying near the platform. I giggled softly at the curiosity and confusion on their faces. They looked like foals who had stumbled across something perplexingly exciting, like a caterpillar or a steam humidifier. Tranquility stood up and strode confidently to the front of the platform, taking a deep breath.

“What’s this? We’re here and mean no harm,” she sang, her voice loud and clear. A strong vibrato resonated in her notes, causing my jaw to go a little slack. “Dismiss your feelings of alarm,

I suppose you, haven’t seen others before,

Don’t run away, ourselves you’ll learn to adore

And soon you’ll see, and you’ll agree,

That we will be an asset to your community and that we won’t impede upon your ever peaceful bliss, that’s this!” She held that last note loud and clear as the Songs let out a cheer and swirled around our platform.

“This is new,” the songs with deep voices sang, holding their last note, while the high voices sang “A lot to chew,” before they came together to sing “And it’s nothing like before!”

“It’s unfamiliar, strange, exciting, tantalizingly inviting, unbelievably enticing,

It’s enough that all we can ask is- what’s this?”

The Songs broke their formation and began to fly around us randomly. The background music stayed constant though, so I knew the song wasn’t over. It did drop down to quiet staccato notes, though.

Separating into small groups, the Songs began to softly speak to each other, casting glances our way. The music swelled again, and their words took on a melodic tune. Individual phrases began to reach our ears.

“Can they not look at our true selves? Is that why we’re hidden?” one female voice sang.

“Who was briefed about these four? Did you get told? I didn’t,” a gruff male voice grumbed.

“Could they be the Discordant?” a child-like voice asked.

“No! Didn’t you hear her sing?” someone responded.

“Do you think we’re being used? Forgive me if I’m not enthused,” a smooth male voice sang.

“You never are!” the other songs yelled, turning to face the one who sung that, who grinned sheepishly.

Cam strode to the front of our platform and climbed onto Tranquility’s back. “Please hold off your judgements and your worries,” she sang in a surprisingly clear voice for someone her age. “I know that we are new.

But though I can be a tad abrasive, the four of us are good.

Accept us like you should… I would!”

“This is new,” the songs sang again. “A lot to chew, and it’s nothing like before!”

“It’s unfamiliar, strange, exciting, tantalizingly inviting, unbelievably enticing,

It’s enough that all we can ask is- what’s this?”

It was then that the platform stopped suddenly, just as the music ended with a staccato chord. I blinked, shaking my head. I had been so focused on the music that I hadn’t noticed we had reached the building that we were heading towards. Just like with Moonlight’s room, four panels slid open to reveal an entryway. However, the interior of the room was different.

Instead of being a two-story open space, it was divided into several rooms, with stairs leading to the second level. Just like our house back in Mareland, the bedrooms appeared to be on the second floor, with an eating space and family room on the first. There were two light blue couches in the family room, and a table with some oddly shaped chairs in the kitchen. A twinge of homesickness hit me, but it was quickly drowned out by excitement.

Cam squealed and bounded off Tranquility’s back, running up the stairs. “This one’s mine!” she shouted, presumably about her bedroom. I chuckled and walked in after her, with Reed following at a more sedate pace. Tranquility followed last, in a slow, trance-like walk. The panels slid closed after she passed, and I watched the songs disperse through the clear surface.

“I’m gonna go see what she’s up to,” Reed said, walking up the stairs and leaving Tranquility and I alone.

We sat in silence for a moment before I felt a familiar pull inside of me, one which I had hoped not to feel. Guess the song wasn’t over after all, I thought wryly as a soft piano began to plink in the background.

“Weh pourehasti du quri surai, weh pourehasti du zhaigai,” Tranquility murmured softly. “Konturo un parouh, ka vuroh.” She took a deep breath and began to sing.

“Konturo un parouh, we were lost and alone,

Tuareh un ceireh, far away from our home.

But now that is over, we’re settling down,

Konturo, ka vuroh, ka vuroh parouh.”

I smiled softly and took a deep breath, sensing that my time to sing was coming. Normally, I would have been scared to sing, but there was no one else around besides Tranquility, and I knew I wasn’t going to be belting my lyrics. This was something private, intimate even, with Tranquility and I, and that made my fear vanish.

“I thought we were done for, we’d run ‘till we died,

But now things are different, I feel warm inside,

We’ve been hidden away, the Mages won’t find,

Our new home where we’ll live, we’ll leave them behind.”

It was about as off-tune and mangled as song could be, which was only to be expected from me, but I didn’t mind, and neither did Tranquility. We turned towards each other and pressed our foreheads together. What came out of our mouths next was one of the closest moments we ever shared.

“Konturo un parouh, we were lost and alone,

Tuareh un ceireh, far away from our home.

But now that is over, we’re settling down,

Konturo, ka vuroh, ka vuroh parouh.”

Our little duet was quiet and hushed, but it was ours, and that was what mattered. I mangled the harmony, of course, but it didn’t matter. We were so enraptured that we didn’t notice that the panels that formed the doorway slid open and closed about halfway through the verse.

The music faded away to the sound of soft, pained gasping. A rush of panic filled the two of us, and we broke away from each other and turned to the door. Moonlight was lying on the floor, agony written all over her face.

“Paraituswa feirote!" Tranquility shouted, her eyes going wide and her ears folding back.

“What happened?!” I yelled, rushing towards her. We locked eyes, and to my surprise, she scrambled away from me, pressing herself against the wall. Confusion filled my mind, and I froze. “Moonlight? Wha-”

Before I could answer, a flash of black and white consumed her as she transformed back to her original, bipedal form. I dropped my eyes down to the floor before I could look at her face, but I could still see her through the reflection. She rushed over to the wall and slammed her hands into it, causing the four panels to burst open. A second later, a black seam opened up on her face where her mouth should be.

I had just enough time to feel a spike of primal fear before an ear-shattering note blasted out from it, causing me to cry out in pain and fall to the floor.

Author's Note

So yeah, new chapter, with a song, and all that...

If you want an explanation as to why this was so late, check my blog. I'm too lazy to retype anything. I have a feeling I was gonna say something clever in this, but I'm blanking right now. By the way, Google Docs upload is still broken. I went through and reformatted everything.

Thestral Language Guide

Comment if I screwed up grammar-wise.

~Pyrepinna