Bagpiperix in the Crystal Empire

The streets were bustling with activity as ponies trotted this way and that, heading to stores to run a few errands, some on their way to work, while others were simply out and about to enjoy the weather. Despite the newspaper’s assurances that this was a warm week, the air was still brisk and slightly chilly, though that was to be expected when the crystal empire lay so far north in Equestria. Most ponies glittered in the sun’s light as they went about their business, though a couple were conspicuous in their lack of luster.

Octavia shielded her eyes from the bright light as she and Vinyl walked down the streets, tugging a cart behind them full of various electronic musical equipment, as well as a large cello. “Goodness, I forgot just how bright it can get here,” Octavia commented. Vinyl gave a small smirk, adjusting her shades on her muzzle.

“I told ya’ I’d bring an extra pair for you, but you said they looked gaudy,” She quipped as she trotted alongside her friend. Octavia simply rolled her eyes as they turned down the street towards the small home they were renting for the time being.

“Just because they serve a function doesn’t mean they still look good. Plenty of other glasses would have worked just as well. Besides, considering how pink everything is already, I’m surprised you can still see through the tint.”

Indeed, everything was cast in a light pink glow, and at the comment Vinyl’s head tracked upwards towards the large magical dome encircling the city. “Yeah, what’s with the shield, again? Was it about that dragon attacks at Canterlot?”

"Yes, I suppose it must be," Octavia said, a little uncertainly. "I'm afraid I'm not entirely sure of all the details myself, I was as out of town as you were, but from the news-"

"Of course we were, we were on the same train ride," Vinyl interrupted.

"Yes, that," Octavia sighed slightly. "As I was saying, the news has just mentioned a dragon attack and quarantine. Something about how the dragon is highly dangerous, but nothing about how Canterlot is doing."

"Yeah, but you just know Twilight Sparkle and her girls have got it sorted," Vinyl laughed. "Ponyville ponies are just that tough, right?"

"I wouldn't put it quite that way," Octavia said. "But yes, I assume that it'll be sorted out in a day or two."

She smiled a little sadly. "I only wish I'd brought more music to practice with. The Crystal Empire style's quite different, after all..."

"Not a problem for me," Vinyl replied. "I brought most of my records!"

"Just don't play them too loudly," Octavia requested. "Or if you do, let me know when before you start..."

“I thought that was the whole point of getting a house instead of a hotel!” Vinyl complained, receiving a small sigh from Octavia.

“Exactly, and we both know just how loudly you like to play,” She responded. Vinyl flashed her teeth, too proud of that fact to bother denying it.

They continued through the streets, and were soon stepping up to the house in question. Vinyl’s horn glowed softly as she levitated the keys up to open the door, and they quickly got to unloading. As they were in the process of doing so, however, Octavia let out a whine.

“Oh no, don’t tell me I lost the music book I brought too!” She said, frantically digging through the assorted equipment as Vinyl stepped back outside. She opened a case of records in a vain hope her book had found its way inside. “I know I remember loading on the cart… it must have fallen off on our way here.” She hopped out of the cart, leaving Vinyl attempting to lug a subwoofer inside by herself. “Sorry, Vinyl, I’ll be back soon!” She called over her shoulder as she hurried down the smooth streets.

Vinyl smirked, already setting up her record deck. "That mare is way too highly strung... heh, I made a funny."

Octavia trotted briskly down the shining streets – which, she realized, sort of were Shining streets, since Shining Armor was the Prince Consort or the Emperor-by-marriage or whatever the term was.

Shaking her head – both at the woolgathering and at realizing she'd probably fail a Crystal Empire Civics class – she retraced her steps along the route back to the station.

There didn't seem to be any sign of her dropped book, and Octavia wondered if that meant it had been lost for good. Deciding to keep looking – just in case – she tried taking a different route back to their lodgings, though she was sure of the route they'd taken the first time.

Her new route took her right up against the walls of the dome for a stretch, and she stared for a moment at a large book of music – pages open, but seemingly undamaged – lying up against the wall.

"Did the wind blow this here?" she asked, picking it up. "This doesn't seem quite the right size to be mine, but..."

Octavia looked down at the music in the book. The piece was certainly not one that she recognized despite her bringing along one of the first professional collections she’d ever owned. Not to mention the music looked far too simple and… for lack of a better term bouncy to be something like Moozart or Beethoofen. She closed the book and turned it over in her hooves, only for her expression to become even more bemused at the sight of the cover.

Several plaid, piped objects, not terribly dissimilar to bagpipes, sat on a staff as if they were notes... though the number on the page was too few to form any proper rhythm or song. It looked to simply convey the fact it was a music book, as if someone couldn’t tell from the text running above the image. “Practice for Perfection: Bagpiapers. Basic to advanced techniques.”

Octavia’s raised an eyebrow. She wondered who this book belonged to, she’d never heard of bagpipes being used beyond a few cities, and certainly no musicians famous enough to be travelling and giving performances with them this far away. Not to mention the horrible misprinting of ‘bagpipers’ on the cover. Still, she paused, accidents did happen, and flipping through the book did give her the impression that the book appeared to contain all the helpful techniques for a beginner to learn. She looked around, still wondering if she could spot the pony this belonged to, but it looked as if nopony but her had been in the area all day.

She balanced the book carefully on her back as she began to retrace her steps back home. If anything, keeping the book at her house would be safer for it than out in the open if the weather ever turned foul. Perhaps she could bring it to an instrument shop later as well to find its proper owner.

Dinner was a relatively simple affair, with Octavia discovering Vinyl had crashed out on the sofa – but everything had been unpacked first, so Octavia smiled and made a meal for the two of them. It wasn't exactly fine cuisine, but it was something they both liked, and she put Vinyl's plate under a cover and put a note on her nose to inform her of it.

That done, Octavia disappeared into her room to see if she could tell anything more from the book. The end section even seemed to include a how-to-make guide for a bagpipe – though the misprinting did seem to be consistent through the entire book, oddly – but Octavia skipped that, deciding to just see how the music sounded if she actually played it on an instrument.

Checking that the door was shut, and glad of the soundproofing, Octavia began to play. It was every bit as bouncy as she'd first thought, and it did bring a bit of a smile to her muzzle – but while it was jaunty and a pleasure to play, it just didn't sound right.

Turning a few pages, Octavia tried that one instead. It was much the same, almost like a variation, but that wasn't a problem – and she could see a few somewhat more advanced techniques at play.

But, again, it didn't feel like a fit for the cello. Which was just... odd.

Octavia flipped once more through the book, moving towards the back. Perhaps the songs just sounded off because of their simplicity. They had fairly long breaks between phrases to allow a beginner to catch their breath and prepare for the next phrase, but Octavia’s expertise, combined with the simple fact she wasn’t playing a wind instrument, made the songs seem almost stilted and awkward despite their bouncy nature. She landed upon a rather difficult looking piece, allowing herself a bit of time to look it over before lifting her bow back up again. She took a few breaths before beginning to play, slowly at first to get the feel and the first notes correct before picking up speed.

This song was far more enjoyable to play than the others, even when its complexity caused Octavia to miss a few sharps or get momentarily off beat. Her smile widened as she found herself swaying a little in time to the music as her bow travelled across the strings of her cello. And yet, even as she drew to a close (with a small chuckle as she completely failed to remember the key signature and gave the last note a painfully out-of-tune tone), she still found it lacking. She looked at her cello and gave a soft sigh as her smile faded. As much as she loved her instrument, it was obvious that it was not built to play this kind of music.

Her ear twitched as she heard Vinyl beginning to move around the house, and she figured she could give some time to chat instead. Maybe Vinyl had found her music among the other things, she’d much prefer to play some music that worked on her own instrument.

The next day found Octavia at a music shop, waiting outside for it to open.

"Well, it's this or nothing..." she said to herself.

No sign of the cello music, but overnight she'd found herself just thinking about the notes she'd played for herself. Even through the clearly-imperfect medium of her cello, they'd had a real vigor to them, a bounce, a swing...

...which was why she was waiting outside a music shop, with the book in her bag.

The door clicked open, making her jump slightly, and she walked in as the shopkeeper opened the door.

"What brings you here so early?" he asked, his coat glittering in the light like everypony from the Crystal Empire.

"Well... I found this book," Octavia explained, taking it out and putting it on the counter. "Do you recognize it?"

"Goodness," the stallion said, inspecting it. "No, I don't believe I've seen a book like this... you seem to be from out of town. Is it a common one out there?"

"Not really, no," Octavia replied, feeling a little uncomfortable giving the real explanation – that it had just been lying on the ground. "I was wondering if you'd be able to help me, though – the back of the book explains how to make a set of bagpipes. I was hoping you'd be able to help, because I've tried the music on my own cello and it just doesn't seem to work."

"Well, I can do you a good deal on a book of cello music," the stallion told her, leafing through the book. "What an odd misprint... yes, I think I should be able to make this. It'll be... hm, well, I'll throw in the cello book for free..."

He named a figure, and Octavia paused a moment before nodding. Nice and reasonable – it looked like she'd come to the right place.

Octavia pulled out the appropriate number of bits and handed them over as the owner exchanged them for her book of cello music. “This should be done some time tomorrow, assuming my business stays as calm as it has been, at least,” he joked. Octavia thanked him and turned to head back home, music book tucked safely into her bag. She found herself strangely disappointed at needing to leave the book at the shop, but she quickly pushed the thought out of her mind. While fun, she really should be practicing her own music over some she only just found. Her recital might be a couple weeks away, but she needed to make sure she stayed in peak performance condition. She’d hate to disappoint the ponies planning to attend.

Pushing the door open, she was met with the heavy beat of Vinyl’s music, the unicorn banging her head in time with it as she fiddled with the workings of her keyboard. She looked up as Octavia entered and turned down the music slightly to allow her to shout over it. “You find the owner of that book, then?”

“Uh… no, but I did get some more cello music. It should have some of the songs from my old one,” She said, trying to divert the conversation away from the bagpipe music. Vinyl would never let her hear the end of it if she discovered she was actually going to try to learn such a silly instrument. Vinyl gave a wide grin and returned to her work, allowing Octavia to continue back to her practice room.

While not completely gone, the sound of Vinyl’s bass was at least dampened enough to allow Octavia to practice in relative peace as she set her new book down on her music stand.

After perhaps half an hour, Octavia felt ready to sigh.

There were definitely some of her old favourites in here. And there were some of the new pieces she was trying to learn, as well, and even a couple she'd never heard of but was eager to learn... but.

But.

That was the big word here, the big but.

She didn't find any of it interesting any more.

Oh, they were still sort of enjoyable, sort of good, but they didn't have the same attraction – and without that, it was hard to keep herself going. She kept going from one piece to another, hunting that spark she remembered – but to no avail.

What she really wanted was something full of life. Something bouncy, something which got her going and filled her with energy, and this cello music wasn't it.

She couldn't wait to get her bagpiaper made so she could-

Octavia blinked, realizing why she was feeling so down. She wasn't playing the new music! That had to be it!

Sighing out loud this time, she tried to remember some of the bits she'd been doing before. She got it right a few times, but every time she was starting to feel it she hit a wrong note, or misremembered something, and the cello's discordance made her lose it all again.

Octavia furrowed her brow, her frustration becoming visible as she tried to get back into the groove of the music. It didn’t seem to matter how simple the tune she was trying to play was, however, she would always slip at some point, leaving her annoyed and disappointed she wasn’t able to properly play. She finally gave another sigh of frustration, putting her cello back in its case as she rested the bow beside it. Clearly what she was doing wasn’t working, and trying to keep it up wasn’t going to end well. She closed her eyes, leaning her head back as she tried to remember the songs again.

A small smile crossed her face as her hoof tapped to the beat, her head filling with the simple, fun tunes she had played yesterday. She hummed them softly, imagining herself trying to squeeze the song out of a large set of bagpipes. The absurd image only made her chuckle as she continued to hum, only to jump a moment later as she heard the door behind her open.

“Hey, you finished practicing already? Usually I gotta drag you out!” Vinyl joked as she stepped into the room. Octavia found herself blushing a little, looking down at the cello she had barely played today.

“I… uh… s-suppose I am.”

"Well, hay, it's your choice," Vinyl said. "Just remember that next time it's my choice to do something!"

"I'll do no such thing," Octavia replied. "More to the point, you'll take no such liberties!"

"Can't blame me for trying," Vinyl chuckled, so quickly she had to have had it ready before Octavia even finished speaking. "Well, whatever, it's lunch now. You want to cook, you want me to cook, or should we go out for a meal or something?"

"Let's go out," Octavia decided. "I don't know what kind of food places they have around here, and it'd be good to have a look. In fact, we could make it a cultural thing – get to know the area in general, see if there are any museums open..."

"Ugh, museums... you're trying to make me cultured again, aren't you?" Vinyl demanded.

"It'll work eventually," Octavia riposted. "Maybe we'll find a museum of sunglasses and rock or something..."

"Not likely," Vinyl snorted. "Not here... but sure, let's see what there is."

Octavia smiled, glad Vinyl had decided to go along with her idea.

It would also while away the time before she could get the book back, of course.

The rest of the day was relatively uneventful. The pair found lunch at a relatively upscale looking restaurant, despite Vinyl’s protesting, and spent the afternoon wandering through town, with Octavia suggesting they visit the Crystal Empire Historical Society, while Vinyl insisted that the local club, Crystal Clear, was a much cooler, more interesting, and frankly, not-dumb choice. All through the day, however, Octavia couldn’t help but find her mind constantly drifting back to the book and its catchy tunes. How fun they were to play, and how much better they would sound when she finally managed to get her hooves on some bagpipes. She just hoped the soundproofing in the house was as good as advertised…

The bell above the music shop’s door jingled softly as Octavia stepped inside the next morning, her heart beating a bit faster than normal in anticipation. There was a call from the back of the shop, “Be there in a minute!”, prompting Octavia to wander over to a collection of records to busy herself. Maybe she could pick up a gift for Vinyl here anyway.

Octavia had picked out two records by the time the shopkeeper pony came along. One of them was a fairly nice-sounding mellow piece of classical music, and the other was exactly the kind of pulsing beats that Vinyl favoured.

Plotting absently to swap the two records in their sleeves before giving them to her friend – just as a prank, of course – Octavia looked up as the shopstallion brought out the music book – and her new instrument.

She had to do a double-take at the odd sight, now she was seeing it in reality.

It was a kind of big bag in patterned plaid, with several pipes coming out of it, just as she'd expected. But the size was larger than she'd been picturing, and it also seemed to really draw her eye... as it moved, the plaid patterns made it a little hard to track whether it was moving and in what way.

It emitted a faint aaarp sound as the stallion put it on the counter. "Right, there you are," he said. "Bit of an odd instrument if you ask me, but the customer knows what they want. Anything else while you're here?"

"Ah – yes, these two records," Octavia replied, putting them down for him to process.

As he did, she prodded the new bagpiaper with a hoof. It was unusual, but she couldn't wait to give it a good parp.

The shopkeeper rung her up, and Octavia had to pull her eyes away from the instrument to count out her bits. She wasn’t entirely sure why she was this excited, but she supposed it had been a while since she’d tried out an instrument other than her cello. It was likely just normal giddiness that had gotten to her.

She slipped her new records into her saddlebags along with the music book, only to pause as she looked at the bagpiaper. It was awfully big, she wondered if it would even fit in her bag to begin with. And despite her eagerness to play, the thought of trotting through town with such an odd thing in full view of everypony made her a bit… nervous, to say the least. The vibrant reds and purples certainly didn’t help.

She flipped open the satchel on her bags, carefully lifting the instrument up and setting it inside. The fabric bulged to accommodate the bagpiaper, another wheeze filling the air as the instrument was squeezed snugly. The pipes stuck out at odd angles, but Octavia knew there would have been no way to fit those inside to begin with. Doing her best to secure the satchel, she was left with a rather stuffed saddlebag, the instrument pressing lightly into her side as the pipes rested against her back. Well, it was better than nothing, she supposed. She thanked the owner and turned about, trying to keep a normal pace as she trotted home, her anticipation growing by the minute.

Fortunately for Octavia, Vinyl barely glanced up when she came in. Octavia was torn for a moment between giving her the records and just getting her purchase to the practice room.

The second option won out, and she released the bagpiaper from her saddlebags with a sigh of relief as soon as the door was closed. Then she put a chair in front of the door, just in case, because the whole combination of circumstances was giving her a kind of excited-embarrassed-ashamed feeling...

She couldn't really explain it, even to herself, so she watched as the bagpiaper wheezed slightly – inflating back to full size – then opened the book to the back to see how she was supposed to play it.

"Okay, huh..." she muttered, squinting slightly. "So I have to sit on it? That's odd, but I suppose there are instruments which require odd postures to play..."

She looked at her own cello, which for an Earth Pony required bipedalism, and chuckled a little before taking her seat with a faint prrp of air whistling through the pipes.

Her face turned a bright red at both the feeling of the bag of air pressed snugly into her, and at the thought of what she would look like if Vinyl were to walk in on her. She looked over her shoulder to make extra sure the door was, in fact, locked.

She looked back to the book, adjusting the height of the music stand to her new lower position, to continue with her lesson. She was surprised to see the instrument didn’t require any traditional blowing like any bagpipe she’d seen before. Not to mention the near complete lack of holes to cover with her hooves to alter the notes. How in Equestria was she supposed to play this? Her hooves wrapped around one of the pipes, trying to find a good place to rest them as she searched for coverings. Her hooves slipped over a few holes, which gave her a bit of a relief. Surely, she should be able to get some kind of sound out… whatever kind of sound that might be.

She flipped the page to see an image of a rather cartoony dragon sitting atop a bagpiaper, quite similar to how Octavia was positioned at the moment. The cartoon diagram showed the dragon lifting himself up ever so slightly, only to sit back down on the instrument as notes could be seen flowing out of one of the pipes. Octavia, more than a little confused, but eager all the same, carefully lifted herself up, and with a soft hiss of air, the bagpiaper could be heard swelling just a bit larger beneath her. She dropped down, her weight forcing the air out as a harmonious paaaarp filled the room.

Octavia’s face went red again as she froze, wondering if Vinyl had heard the sound. Nothing could be heard from beyond the door, however, and Octavia gave the bagpiaper another test, fiddling with the pipe in her hooves. A higher parp could be heard as she landed again, an embarrassed smile finding its way on to Octavia’s muzzle. She leaned forward, the instrument squeaking a little beneath her as she flipped back to the front of the book to look at the tunes to help her learn the basics.

Before very long, Octavia had at least enough down to slowly play a tune, and she got to doing that – lifting herself up and sitting down again in time with the beat she was going for, slow for now, and playing the notes in an ascending scale.

It felt very silly, and she was blushing all the way through, but at the same time it felt... oddly pleasant. Unlike her cello, which was never really comfortable no matter how long she spent practicing, the bagpiaper was soft enough (and fun enough to use) that she could see herself doing it for quite a long time without having any untoward aches or pains.

More importantly, however, the sound produced by the instrument was just... wonderful.

It was like nothing she'd ever heard before – oh, it was certainly the right notes, sounding out more and more quickly and smoothly as she got used to the instrument – but the embarrassing paaaarp sound she'd initially blushed about was one she now realized hid a whole world of richness. There were subtle harmonics, there were minor notes, and it seemed like every piece of music in the book must have been designed specifically to make full use of them.

The cheerful plaid-coloured dragon – some kind of mascot? - was, now she looked, on every page. Usually giving a helpful hint, or doing something silly to add a splash of colour to the songsheet, and it gave Octavia a smile as she started the second beginner's piece of the silly, energetic music.

The tune was one of the songs she had tried before on her cello, and while the general theme and feeling it had attempted to convey could be seen then, it didn’t hold a candle to what Octavia was hearing now. She found her grin widening as she bounced on the bagpiaper, the plaid pattern distending and folding in on itself in reaction to her weight. She giggled, her hooves moving along the pipe a bit to produce the correct notes, never seeming to miss a single one. She might have been surprised at her skill with this new instrument, but she was having far too much fun for a thought like that to bother crossing her mind. She pointed the pipe inwards a bit, letting the paaarp wash over her, blowing her mane about as she excitedly bounced again and again.

It was almost a disappointment as she reached the end of the song, the final note resonating in the air. She wished it could have gone on just a bit longer, it had been so much fun to play! Octavia just shook her head, chastising herself for being so silly. She could always play the song again, silly! But there were so many other pieces to try out first! She turned the page, preparing to play another song when a knock at the door made her jump and fall to the ground.

“You alright in there, Tavi? You’ve been in there almost all day!” Vinyl could be heard from the other side of the door. The knob jiggled, but the chair kept it from opening. “Hey, what gives?”

Octavia jumped up, hurrying over to sit on the chair to make sure Vinyl couldn’t enter. “N-no, I’m fine! Just… getting back into things, I think I was having an off day yesterday! I’ll be out in a minute!” She responded, a bit more panic in her voice than she had wanted.

Vinyl gave the vocal equivalent of a shrug before trotting off, leaving Octavia to slump in her chair and let out a sigh. Her eyes tracked across the floor back to the bagpiaper, and her blush returned. Goodness… had it always been that puffy?

Octavia tried to think back, remembering how big the instrument was when she'd picked it up.

It had definitely been at least a little smaller... but how much smaller? Had it grown just as a natural result of being used as an instrument, now that it was being used for the first time?

It was a little hard to remember when it had gotten bigger and puffier, not least because Octavia's mind had been on the music rather than the size of the instrument, and she shook her head before deciding to just put it in a corner and not worry about it. She slid it across the room, a few little paarps coming from the pipes, then frowned for a moment and put a sheet over the top. It would at least attract less attention than the plaid.

Taking the chair away from the door, she headed out to have... wait, had she really played for so long she'd missed lunch? Dinner, then, and she was suddenly starving.

She needed more energy to bounce up and down on her bagpiaper next session, after all...

Octavia headed out into the kitchen where DJ was pulling a pizza out of the oven with her magic. “Sheesh, I know you can get lost in your music, Tavi, but this is probably a new record for you.” She joked, slicing up the pizza as Octavia sat down at the table. “What were you practicing, anyway? I can’t really hear you outside the room.”

Octavia’s mind raced for an answer, only for it to land on a perfectly reasonable one a moment later. “Oh, I, uh, just picked up some new music at the shop when I went to drop off that book I found.” She responded, trying not to let her nerves get the better of her. It wasn’t really that weird to like playing such a puffy, plaid instrument, was it? Vinyl was just not cultured enough to appreciate it if she were to find out. “Speaking of which, I picked you up a new record, you really ought to give it a listen.” She said with a smile as Vinyl slid a plate in front of her.

Vinyl grinned, looking over her shoulder. “Ooh, so you think you’ve got good taste in dance music now, do you? Maybe we should spend some time at the club, give you a taste of some real stuff.” She smirked, sitting beside Octavia. The earth pony just rolled her eyes as she bit into the food.

“Don’t make me regret getting this for you, Vinyl. Think of it as a vacation gift.” She said.

“I thought those don’t count if you come on the vacation too?” Vinyl retorted, still grinning.

Octavia chuckled as she ate, relaxing after a long day of practice…

Going out. Eating. Sleeping. Talking.

They were all still important, but Octavia couldn't help but find her practicing with her new instrument... more important.

She'd kind of rushed through the rest of the day, and the night, and breakfast, just to go back to playing her bagpiaper.

Intellectually, she knew she was just in the first flush of playing a new instrument, that it would wear off eventually... but she didn't really let that bother her, and the first thing she did after blocking the door was to make sure she was on the right page of the music book.

The second thing she did was to move her bagpiaper back into place and get on, and start playing away – producing sweet paarps which just made her stress all melt away.

It was easy to fall into a rhythm, and once she did she barely missed a note – finding the bagpiaper intuitive and easy and just a joy to use. The energy of the notes flowed through her, making her fizz with energy, and the plaid dragon on the page seemed to be bouncing along with her – but that had to just be her imagination.

Right?

Octavia eagerly flipped to the next page of the book, taking a moment to read through the first few bars of the piece before starting to play. The plaid pattern of her bagpiaper bent and folded under her weight, her bouncing seeming to get just a bit higher as she continued through the song. She grinned widely as she played along, giving the thing a squeeze to elicit a paarp in time with the tune as she played. The piece seemed to be building to something, and while other songs had certainly done this too, none seemed to be building as much as this one did!

Louder and higher the notes climbed, Octavia not even thinking about how loud she was getting as she bounced and played and even hummed along to the tune. Her hooves moved across the pipes, though as her practicing continued, she felt like she needed to use the pipes less and less. She had gotten so used to the proper ways to shift her balance atop the strange instrument that even the notes seemed to be the right ones!

Louder and higher, louder and higher, the song built to a grand climax, Octavia practically jumping into the air before she landed on her rump with a loud paaaarrp!, sinking into the plaid material as she let out a sigh. She flopped back as she rested for a bit, a big dopey grin on her face from her own personal performance. She meant to roll forward and off of the instrument to get a better reach at her music, when all she managed to do was slip sideways, the plaid material seemingly caught around her rump.

Octavia blinked several times, examining the result, and wondered how that had come about. She lifted one hind leg, then the other, and confirmed that there was definitely some kind of firm or semi-firm strap on each leg – hugging them tightly to her flanks, and keeping the instrument tightly in place.

Confused, she flipped to the end, and noticed to her surprise that the design for the Bagpiaper did include those straps – labelled as a way to ensure that the player didn't slip off during a long performance. She could have sworn they weren't there, but they manifestly were in the book and they were equally clearly on her sides.

Doing an experimental bounce, a par-aaarp tune sounded, and a grin spread across her muzzle. She didn't really need to worry about this, did she?

Paaaarp! No she didn't! She could just concentrate on playing, now she didn't need to worry about the little details!

Octavia just hummed to herself as she flipped back to the song she had just finished, giving her bagpiaper another experimental squish. The straps were at least awfully comfy, looking more like the material had folded around her and secured itself to her front. The shape reminded her of… something, but she couldn’t quite put her hoof on what. Besides, she still had plenty of practicing to do, so she didn’t mind at all!

Landing once again on her rump, she began to play, and the wave of music washed over her. She wiggled her rear about as she performed, bouncing in place, blushing a little at the feeling of that cushion of air between her legs. Her tail swished back and forth, Octavia hardly even registering that it too was now wrapped up in the puffy plaid material. She was having far too much fun to worry about such nonsense~

That is, until she heard another knock at the door and Vinyl call out. “Tavi, dinner! Don’t make me come in there and get you!”

Octavia’s face went a little pale as she looked down at her bagpiaper. How exactly was she supposed to take this off…?

A few seconds of examination, and nothing came to her attention. She blushed, looking closer, the thought of being found out making her suddenly embarrassed about the whole situation.

Ah, it looked like there were sort of tapes there! So she could take one off... like this!

"Tavi, I'm coming in!" Vinyl called, over the sound of an easy-reuse fastener coming undone, and before Octavia could get the second one off as well her friend came in through the door.

Octavia stared at Vinyl, frozen, and Vinyl's head slowly tilted to one side.

"...that's really odd," Vinyl said, her voice absent the usual playfulness. "What the heck?"

"Uh, that is..." Octavia began. "It's – it's an instrument! I got it recently, thought I'd branch out a bit. It has pipes, see?"

She shifted her weight a little to produce a tune. "Like that!"

Vinyl nodded slowly. "Yeah, that... does seem to be an instrument to me."

The unicorn took a few steps back, out of the door. "Tell you what, you come get dinner when you're ready, and we'll forget about this. Okay?"

"Yeah, sure," Octavia agreed, blushing, and took the other strap off with a few more paarp notes resounding from the pipes.

Octavia slipped down from the bagpiaper, trying not to think about how she must have looked sitting on such a large ball of puffy plaid. She nudged it a little, about to move it back to the corner, when it let out another paarp, causing her to blush. Vinyl had seen it already, it really wasn’t worth trying to put back now… She instead turned around and shut the door behind her, hoping that Vinyl was willing to forget about this little incident as much as she was.

As embarrassed as she was, though, Octavia couldn’t help but feel a little disappointed too. She had been practicing so much, she was sure she had sounded lovely! If Vinyl had only heard what she had been playing, she surely would have understood…

She shook her head, trying to get the nagging thoughts out. No, no, Vinyl was right, it was an odd instrument, to put it lightly. And there was certainly no way to really explain why Octavia was feeling so elated with it. She sat down as Vinyl passed over her meal, mulling things over. Perhaps all she needed was a little break to go back to her cello. At least Vinyl wouldn’t joke about that. Well, no more than she already did.

Despite her very specific thought about going back to the cello as she sat down to dinner, Octavia wasn't thinking about her cello as she ate. She was instead thinking about the regrettable necessity of giving up her bagpiaper, and how much time practicing with it she could schedule over the next week.

From starting with one session a week, Octavia gradually altered her prospective schedule – after all, just one session a week wasn't enough to stay in practice, so two was better, but then again two in a row would leave a gap of five days without it while two apart would mean she didn't really get in the groove. So she rethought to two days on and two days off... or maybe three days on and two off... but the most important thing, of course, was that her first day really hadn't counted, so she deserved another day tomorrow. Or at least, she deserved an afternoon tomorrow, especially if she spent the morning playing her cello.

She nodded to herself, glad to have managed to reschedule things, and not at all aware of how totally contradictory her new plan was with what she'd been thinking earlier.

It just seemed logical.

The next morning, Octavia pulled her cello out of its case, dusting the bow off after a few days without use. It was a late start, 11:30, but she said she would practice her cello this morning, so that was what she was going to do. She looked around for the classical music book she had purchased, sure that she had left it in here. Her eyes passed over the bagpiaper sitting in the corner, its pipes resting against the wall as it looked partially deflated from yesterday. Octavia’s eyes wandered downward, spotting the book underneath the instrument. How it got there was beyond her, but she simply trotted over to retrieve it. She pressed her hooves into the plaid fabric, feeling them sink into it as it wheezed. She leaned a little further into the fabric, trying to push it aside enough to retrieve the book.

The bagpiaper let out a few more paarps as it puffed, Octavia pressing herself into it. Her face turned a little red as she nudged the book out of the way, freeing it from under the instrument, but finding herself unable to pull herself away. She let out a soft sigh as she leaned into the puffy garment, finding its cushiness irresistible. She gave it a small squeeze and giggled at its paarps, imagining what it would be like if it were even larger. The material sprang back, pushing her away a bit as it regained its shape. Octavia shook her head, her face still a little blushy as she looked back at it. Goodness, but she was excited to get back to playing. But… she really ought to practice more of her cello… She whined as she looked over her shoulder at the other instrument. As much as she had loved to play it in the past it seemed so… boring compared to her new one!

Fidgeting a little, Octavia took her position at the stand – ready to play. She had everything she needed for a nice, long session – including her lunch, which she'd made earlier – and she was going to do cello practice! That was exactly what she'd said she'd do, so she'd do it.

Placing the bow on the strings, she drew it to the left, then the right. Four notes sounded out, one after another, and she put the cello back down – suppressing a shudder at the really very dull-sounding notes – before going back to get strapped onto (into?) the bagpiaper. After all, she hadn't said how much practice she'd do that morning, and that had been quite enough really...

Octavia couldn't really remember doing up the fasteners last time, but she must have done – and she had a bit of careful work to manage it this time, feeling the snug fabric pressing comfortingly against her legs and squeezing her tightly. Each movement was rewarded with a lovely wheeze, and she blushed slightly before continnuing.

Once done, Octavia bounced her way to the middle of the room – sighing in happiness as the instrument produced a wonderful sequence of enjoyable paarps full of life and vigor. Now, what was the next lesson in the book?

For some reason, Octavia's excitement was so great she didn't notice her cello book had slid off the stand – ending up underneath her bagpiaper, repeatedly squeezed and crushed by the snug plaid fabric.

Octavia turned to the next song, grinning as she saw the little cartoon dragon mascot doodled next to it. The dragon looked like it was taking a deep breath as it squeezed its plaid belly, with the words “Sustained Notes” written across the top of the page beside it. Octavia nodded as she read the short instructional blurb. It made sense to learn how to play for quite a long time, all the songs she’d been playing so far had rather short notes in comparison. This kind of song needed her to slow her bouncing down a bit, to sink into the bagpiaper instead of flop into it. Octavia grinned as she settled herself into her instrument, starting to play through the song.

Each bounce and note seemed to fill the bagpiaper up with a bit more air than it had before, Octavia’s legs spreading slowly wider, her cello smothered even further and more air acting as a comfortable pillow between her butt and the floor. She’d need quite a lot of air for this note, so she bounced a bit higher, trying to fill her bagpiaper up as much as she could. She had only a few more bars before the final note, and her bagpiaper was already large enough that it nearly reached the tip of her hooves! She bounced and bounced, before she came to the last note, slowing her bouncing down as much as she could. She wiggled her rear, trying to slowly lower herself and roll back onto her bagpiaper so her weight would push the air out as the plaid folded around her.

The note was probably the longest she'd ever played, sounding on and on and echoing in the practice room – building up a resonance, so her bagpiaper and her ears and her mind all resonated in the same paaaaaaaaaarp which went on and on and on.

It seemed as though there'd never been any other sound, or perhaps as though this sound would never end, a continuous resonant paaaaaarp that would always echo – faintly, but still there – for the rest of her life.

That was such an odd thought, but it sounded so right at the same time, and Octavia bounced up and down a little to add a bit of a resonance to the paaaaaarp before it finally reached the end of the note.

Octavia had sunk most of the way to the floor, and she didn't really wonder how that was at all possible – especially when to be like this there had to be a lot more fabric than she'd seen on it when it started, no matter how much inflation had taken place. But she didn't especially care about that, so she just began bouncing up and down to pump the bagpiaper up again for her next piece – feeling proud as the cartoon dragon sketch congratulated anyone with the skill to make it all the way to the end!

Octavia rolled forward, her cello book's pages fluttering slightly from the shifting weight as she looked to see the next lesson. Dynamics? That certainly didn’t seem like something she reallyreally needed to practice since she’d played music for so long…

But an unexpectedly loud paarp from her bagpiaper as she shifted made her blush and consider she probably should look through it, just to be sure. Octavia’s eyes scanned the page as she read the instructions and watched the small dragon cartoon give mini demonstrations how to properly perform her plaid parpy posterior. She might have wondered why there didn’t seem to be any dynamics below a mezzo forte, but considering how enjoyable she found this music to be, she figured the louder the better anyway. After all, everypony should be able to hear these lovely songs, shouldn’t they?

She bounced in place, squeezing the bagpiaper between her legs as her tail struggled to swish back and forth when it was wrapped up in so much puffiness. Octavia reached behind her, giving her rear a squeeze to elicit an especially loud paaarp!, which made her giggle and blush brightly once again. As she played, she noticed a rather odd marking not too much further down the page.

Pffp?

What kind of a dynamic was that? It looked almost more like a suggestion for what kind of sound should come out of her bagpiaper than the volume of it!

Octavia puzzled over the dynamics examples for a little longer, then decided she probably had a fairly good understanding of what the book wanted her to do. She bounced a few times, a little more strongly each time than the last, then really went for it.

Each instruction meant a specific kind of bagpiaper butt bounce, and oddly enough it became clear quite quickly that the amount of air left by any one bounce didn't actually influence how she needed to bounce for the next one. It was much simpler than her other instrument in that regard, and she soon fell into the habit of just bouncing away according to the dynamic instructions and letting everything else more-or-less take care of itself.

After one particularly silly cartoon involving the mascot dragon bouncing along the bars of music, Octavia began to imagine herself bouncing along like that – alone, or behind him, or ahead of him, doing each instruction as she reached it. It seemed to make most sense when she imagined bouncing behind him, letting him lead the way so all she had to do was bounce where he bounced, play what he played and watch his rump carefully for any tricks of the trade.

Octavia started to become so lost in her daydream she didn’t even notice she wasn’t reading the music anymore. The songs just seemed to come to her as she played and imagined that puffy dragon bouncing along to show her how to become the best at bouncing on her bagpiaper! She squeezed the instrument again, loving the way the plaid pattern folded around every indent and squish. The songs flowed through the air, notes almost seeming to whirl around her, to toss her mane about as she wiggled her rump left and right.

The bagpiaper was starting to approach absurdly big as she played. Her hind legs no longer reached the floor as she bounced, and the bulge was creeping up her belly approaching her lower chest. Octavia didn’t mind in the slightest, though. It just meant she had more of that lovely puffiness to surround her as she played and paarped and bounced in place. Perhaps she should give Vinyl a second chance. When she sees just how much Octavia enjoys playing her puffy instrument, she’d be more than willing to learn with her! And then she could teach her all kinds of bouncy puffy tricks too! How to puff up your bagpiaper just right until it’s creaking as it plays, how that paarp resonates all around, echoing and filling your mind all day with thoughts of plaid cushiness.

And, as chance would have it, Octavia was so lost in her playing, she was giving Vinyl quite the performance already as the unicorn trotted in to see what was taking her friend so long….