She was greeted by the shocked expressions of the two occupants. Surprised to see her up and about so soon after the battle with the giant timber wolf. “How are you feeling,” Sonorous asked as she trotted across the floor to Vinyl’s bedside. Both pen and notepad rose into the air as she began to jot down a reply.

Meanwhile, Octavia’s temper suddenly flared up. The cause wasn't just the realization of how powerful she could be but the fact that Vinyl could have easily been killed that day. Octavia’s dislike for Sonorous was quite plain from the moment they met. Her detached and blunt personality was quite off-putting. However, this new realization only fueled Octavia’s bête noire1 for the strange unicorn. Even with Vinyl trying to persuade her otherwise.

Octavia refused to alter her opinion, surmising her backstory was merely a fabrication to excuse her atrocious behavior. Maintaining an indifferent expression, several questions swirled in her head. If not for Vinyl‘s plea to give Sonorous a chance, she would be firing each one off in rapid succession.

Her thoughts were interrupted by Sonorous, “I’m relieved it was only a couple of bruised ribs and not something worse.” Vinyl smiled and retracted her notepad to write something else. As she did so, Sonorous turned to Octavia. With a smile that seemed rather odd, Sonorous expressed her relief that Octavia was safe as well. She continued by saying how lucky they were that they didn’t encounter any other timber wolves along the way.

Both ponies stared at her in horrid shock, “What do you mean?” Octavia asked in a rather harsh tone. Vinyl shot her an annoyed glance while Sonorous answered, ignoring her hostile tone completely.

“After dispatching the timber wolf, I encountered Fluttershy and her friends. While helping me to the hospital, I overheard them talk about how they dispatched some timber wolves in the area, she replied.”

“Was anypony else hurt,” Octavia blurted out as Vinyl started swiping her pen across the page. Sonorous simply shrugged which caused Octavia to contort her face into a worried expression. From her peripheral, Sonorous noticed Vinyl’s notepad floating beside her. Taking it in her magic, she noticed that a partial question about what happened was crossed out.

Below it was a question about how she was able to deal with such an imposing beast. Levitating it back, she began to inform them of what transpired after they left. Once finished, both ponies merely stared in awe. Octavia broke the silence by confessing how impressed she was that she had subdued it by herself.

She continued by expressing her gratitude for saving them. Usually, Sonorous would gloat about such a feat. However. she decided against such an action and instead asked a question. “Octavia, is there any way that you could arrange a concert in Canterlot for me?” The question was so far off topic that Octavia was momentarily dumbstruck.

“We just survived an attack from a giant timber wolf and you're worried about performing a concert in Canterlot. Vinyl had mentioned your desire to seek me out but I’d no idea this is what you wanted. Normally, I wouldn’t care to lend a hoof to a fellow performer but to ask after what just happened is simply absurd,” Octavia concluded in a disbelieving voice.

Unfazed, Sonorous asked if it was possible or not in a more stern tone. Reminded herself that this was just how Sonorous was, Octavia replied in an annoyed tone. She informed her that it would be a month, at the least, to secure an opening at the Canterlot Performing Arts Hall. As Sonorous listened attentively, Octavia began to name other locations. Yet, with each location, she explained that they were most likely booked months in advance.

She went on to tell Sonorous that countless performers, musicians, and singers all vied for a turn to perform in Equestria’s Capital City. Sonorous carefully considered Octavia’s words, once she finished her explanation. The room became silent for several minutes until Sonorous spoke up. “Hmmm, well that is disheartening but I would appreciate it if you could make the preparations Octavia.”

The genuine sincerity sounded foreign for the usually cold unicorn. Octavia gave a half-hearted sigh before reluctantly agreeing. A knock sliced through the silence that threatened to permeate the room again. The door opened moments later, to reveal Nurse Redheart pushing a cart of food. “I’m sorry but visiting hours are over, its time for Miss Vinyl’s dinner,” she stated as she approached the bed.

Glancing out the window, they noticed the sun had nearly vanished over the horizon. Both Sonorous and Octavia gave their farewells before vacating the room. As they walked toward the elevator, Sonorous spoke in a stern voice, “I know you have more questions for me.” Octavia replied, matching her tone, that the timber wolf in the theater seemed to be searching for something.

She went on to accuse Sonorous of possibly knowing why Ponyville was attacked. While pressing the call button for the elevator, Sonorous demanded that Octavia explain her accusation. Octavia recited what Applejack had conveyed in a town assembly after having saved a mother and foal a year ago. Stating that a timber wolf would pursue its target relentlessly. Furthermore, Octavia remembered a separate occasion where a timber wolf had apparently tracked Applejack to Sweet Apple Acres after saving Spike.

Although these were the only occurrences of a timber wolf straying from the Everfree, she believed it was enough to draw an assumption from. The elevator doors opened with a ding as they walked into the empty compartment. Selecting the ground floor, Sonorous answered. “Your assumption is correct, it was probably hunting me.” Octavia spun around to glare angrily at Sonorous while the elevator began its descent.

“You engaged a timber wolf in combat, did you even consider that it might want revenge!” Octavia began to chastise her but stopped when Sonorous held up a hoof for silence.

“Don’t be so condescending, it doesn’t suit you,” Sonorous dryly stated. Taking a breath, her annoyance shifted back to a more submissive tone. Octavia narrowed her eyes but remained silent. “As for our earlier encounter, it attacked me but ran off when it discovered I wasn’t an easy target.” Sonorous spoke in a prideful tone.

Octavia studied her as if trying to discover any outward sign of insincerity. As the elevator doors opened, she realized that Sonorous might be telling the truth. “If that’s true then I apologize for accusing you of being an instigator. I am curious about the spontaneous friendship between you and Vinyl though,” Octavia inquired. To which Sonorous replied that she could relate to being treated differently by others.

“How were you treated differently, you seem normal,” Octavia stated. As they walked from the hospital, Sonorous revealed that her homeland considered her and her family repugnant. Octavia went silent, trying to comprehend why anypony would shun another to such a degree. Strange hair, coat color, different outlooks on life, or different political views presented themselves as possibilities.

Yet, those reasons seemed asinine to rationalize the complete preclusion of an entire clan. As they came to a fork, Octavia gave Sonorous a brief farewell before venturing down the left path. Sonorous took the right, like Octavia, her mind was occupied as well.

This marked the second time she nearly exhausted her magic. The element bearers had unknowingly helped preserve her sanity. The irony of it all caused her mood to plummet. Adding insult to injury, her presence would be more renowned due to the day’s events. Sonorous let out a ragged breath as she trotted outside the Ponyville City Limits.

Completely distraught by the fact that her revenge had come to a jarring halt. Sonorous opened the door to her wagon and flopped face first onto the bed after securing it. Anger flared wildly within her mind until she finally succumbed to sleep. A loud rapping at her door and the voice of a well-spoken mare caused Chrysalis to bolt upright in her bed.

She didn't have a clock to check the time but it felt like she had just laid down. “Excuse me Miss Sonorous, are you awake?” came the voice again. Assuming her disguise, she unlocked the door. Taking a deep breath to alleviate her annoyance, she slowly opened it. There stood a smiling, elderly looking, beige earth mare.

She wore around her neck a plain white cravat, its fringe dyed a deep jade color. On the brim of her nose sat a pair of golden brim spectacles. Behind her glasses beamed a pair of cheery soft blue colored eyes. Her mane had a single streak of light gray flowed through dark gray, while her tail was a dark gray/light gray-streaked scheme.

Her smooth skin belied the mountain of knowledge that her hair implied. The pony’s cutie mark was a rolled-up scroll, bound in the middle by a single blue ribbon. “Hello Miss Sonorous, my name is Mayor Mare. I’m aware that you’re not a resident but we’d like to hear any ideas you might have for the restoration of our town,” she finished.

Sonorous stared at Mayor Mare as she cordially declining her invitation. Undeterred, the mayor mentioned that Sonorous, along with several others, was to receive a medal during said meeting. Adding that the princess herself would be presiding over the ceremony.

Sonorous’ ears perked up at the last part, observing her reaction, Mayor Mare surmised that she had reconsidered. Informing Sonorous that the meeting would commence at noon, she turned to leave but stopped as Sonorous called out. “You wouldn’t have the time would you?” she asked while opening a bottle of water. Glimpsing quickly at her shadow, Mayor Mare stated that it was a quarter past eleven.

A stream of water spewed from her mouth as the door slammed shut. I’ll see you there, she thought while trotting away. Twenty minutes later, Sonorous burst from her wagon and galloped toward city hall. Partially out of breath, she arrived a couple of minutes later. Several ponies were patiently standing on the stage as she slowed to a trot. The line was fairly long, comprised mainly of emergency responders, guards, and a few good-willed citizens. Surprisingly, Twilight and company were absent from the stage.

Tracing the line to the podium, her eyes fell upon the princess. There, before the entirety of Ponyville stood an alicorn with a pink coat and tri-color hair of gold, pink, and purple. It’s the wrong princess, Sonorous mentally screeched. Either the mayor purposely omitted which princess would be there or something prevented Celestia from attending.

The reason hardly mattered, if Celestia wasn’t there she wouldn't be either. Turning to leave, She was startled by Mayor Mare, who was standing behind her. “I’m glad that you made it, now we can celebrate all the heroes of yesterday,” she spoke with a hint of excitement in her voice.

Mayor Mare made her way toward the stage, followed by a reluctant Sonorous. As they ascended the stairs to the left, Sonorous couldn’t help but wonder how an ordinary pony had snuck up on her from apparently nowhere. Mayor Mare took her place to the left of Princess Cadance, who stood at the podium.

“Good afternoon, I’m glad to see everypony here. As you all know, Ponyville was attacked by a large number of timber wolves. Although the town didn’t emerge unscathed, we are relieved to inform you that there were no casualties, thanks to these brave ponies.”

The alicorn finished before waving her hoof at the ponies to her right. The crowd exploded into a roar of cheers, honoring the aforementioned ponies. After several moments, Cadance’s dignified voice rung out, instantly quieting the crowd. “It is with great honor that I present these medals of courage to them for safeguarding the residence of this fair town.”

With her speech concluded, she flipped open a box that had sat on the podium. Levitated a medal up high for all to see, she turned to face an earth pony to her right. The pony took a few steps toward her, stopped, and bow his head several inches. The princess spoke once again, “for protecting those who were unable to, I bestow you this Medal of Courage.”

The pony raised his head and walked down the stairs on the opposite end of the stage. Meanwhile, the line shuffled forward, the pegasus followed the previous pony’s etiquette behavior. “For assisting the guards in the evacuation of the town regardless of the potential danger, I award you this Medal of Courage,” she stated. This continued for several minutes as each recipient received their award.

Finally, Sonorous approached Cadance and bowed although not as low as the others had. She didn’t seem to mind or take notice as she slipped the medal over her head. “For safeguarding it’s citizens, despite not being a resident yourself, I award you the Medal of Courage.” she finished.

Sonorous raised her head and their eyes met. A horrid sense of fear gripped Cadance’s mind. Sonorous strolled past her and off the stage to join the rest of the crowd. Pushing aside the unnerving feeling that had overcome her, she turned to address the crowd again. “Before I relinquish the stage to your mayor, how about another round of applause for these brave ponies.”

Nopony seemed to notice but her voice had taken on a slight quiver. Numerous hooves sounded off for several moments before falling silent. The alicorn took several steps back as Mayor Mare approached the podium. “Thank you for that lovely ceremony and without further ado, I now call this meeting to order.”

“As mentioned before, our town has suffered some collateral damage. We at city hall want to hear any ideas that you may have to help facilitate the town’s restoration.” As soon as she finished, several murmurs erupted throughout the crowd. Sonorous ignored their chatter as she quickly began to think of a different way to get at Celestia.

While she schemed, the mayor was calling on several ponies to discuss their idea. A chocolate coated unicorn with mint green hair had suggested a charity festival. Another suggestion was given by a pegasus with a taffy pink coat and strawberry colored hair. Their suggestion was to set up an anonymous donation chest in city hall.

The mayor pointed a hoof at a blue mare that desired to speak. The earth pony wore an apron, her hair was a striped pink/light pink color. Her mane looked as if somepony styled it to resemble a descending line of wavy icing. She wore a pair of pink pearled earrings. Her cutie mark was three pink frosted cupcakes with cherries on top.

“Well it’s not really an idea, per se but we’d be willing to allocate the next two weeks of profit to Ponyville’s restoration,” the mare stated. “That’s very generous Mrs. Cake, and if any other business would like to do the same, please see me afterward,” Mayor Mare exclaimed. An alabaster hoof shot into the air, “What’s your idea Miss Sonorous,” the mayor called out.

As with the other ponies that voiced their idea, the entire crowd turned to her idea. “I was thinking that we could hold a music festival where any practitioner of music could perform, be that singing, performing, or instrumental. However, since we don’t have a stage or a concert hall, I’m not sure if we could,” Sonorous solemnly spoke. The crowd buzzed with whispered opinions, the few that reached her ears seemed to favor her suggestion.

This caused her to smile inwardly, perhaps she’d be able to rekindle her stalled revenge. Meanwhile, Cadance was beginning to doubt her intuition. Comparing Twilight’s description of her encounters with Chrysalis, this mare didn’t seem anything like her. Perhaps it was just a coincidence that they shared the same colored eyes. However, Chrysalis could easily alter her personality to throw any off her trail.

Flaring her wings out, she shot into the air to pass over the crowd, landing in front of Sonorous. The crowd was deftly silent as Cadance spoke. “You mentioned that Ponyville no longer had a place to perform at, might you have a solution in mind?” Smiling, Sonorous suggested that the event could take place in Canterlot.

“That’s an interesting proposal, why Canterlot though, certainly there are more suitable locations to host such a festival,” a scrutinizing Cadance inquired.

Taking a deep breath, Sonorous locked eyes with the inquiring alicorn. “As you’ve suggested there are other places that would be a better location. Manehattan, Fillydelphia, or even Vanhoover would be a splendid location but Canterlot is a more centralized location.” Sonorous countered.

“Canterlot is indeed the center of Equestria but its performing centers are usually booked months in advance. Ponyville needs to raise money as soon as possible not eventually,” Cadance retorted.

By now the crowd was watching the two mares. Entranced by their verbal jousting, they listened as they attempted to outmaneuver the other. “I don’t think that’ll be a problem, especially when everypony hears that its to raise money to rebuild the hometown of The Bearers of Harmony.”

“Furthermore, performers that might not be able to afford it otherwise are given a chance to showcase their talent in Canterlot,” Sonorous countered. Murmurs of approval cascaded throughout the crowd, even Cadance appeared to favor the idea. “Lastly, it would allow all four princesses to once again congregate in Canterlot, which is a momentous occasion on its own.

That is if you're able to attend Princess Cadance,” Sonorous quickly added. Cadance thought it over but couldn’t detect any ulterior motive.

“You’ve made some excellent points, so let's assume that we could procure you a location. Do you have an idea on how much admission would cost?” Cadance asked. Numerous heads shifted toward Sonorous, waiting for her reply.

“Of course I do, I propose a small admission fee of three bits, as to allow as many ponies the opportunity to attend. With the chance to aid Equestria, possibly meeting the princesses, and experience numerous performances for a reduced cost. I expect a huge turnout for this event,” Sonorous confidently stated.

“I’ll see what I can do but I make no promises,” Cadance replied before flying back to rejoin the mayor.

After several more hours of listening to ideas, Mayor Mare brought the meeting to a close. Expressing both the princess and her gratitude for the abundant amount of support, they left the stage and entered city hall. Mr. and Mrs. Cake, along with several other ponies, soon entered city hall as well.

With the crowd dispersing, Sonorous made her way back to her wagon. Absolutely giddy at the fact that her entrance into Canterlot was practically assured. Despite all the snags so far, it felt like things were starting to go her way.

Author's Note

1. Bête noire: someone or something which is particularly disliked or avoided.