Of Contracts and Octades

Chapters

Ch1

“Octavia!”

I recognized the voice vaguely, although the name of the owner seemed to slip my mind. At first I felt like I was floating, suspended in water with no use for breathing. Then my hooves rubbed against the familiar crevices of notched wood, and I picked up on the scent of lilacs and honey. The blackness ebbed into vague lines of black and white, then blurred into a colorful image like smeared pastels.

I allowed my body to grasp the situation and settled as the scenery adjusted. My side was prodded playfully. “Octavia! Show me!”

“Show you what?” I retorted, realizing that my voice was echoing in the abyss of surreal imagery.

“How much you know!” The pony before me was nothing but a blur so the identity was mysterious, yet I knew her. She sprawled out on the ruby shag rug beneath the stool I was perched on and she propped her hooves under her chin. “You promised you’d play me a song!”

“What kind of song?”

“Anything!”

I noticed that I was also smaller in stature as well; I was a filly again. When I glanced back to observe my flank I didn’t find my cutie mark, but I did instead find a bow for my cello. Giving in to the chants of my… friend, I think, I fumbled with the bow until I familiarized my much smaller frame with its design. The cello was rested against my chair and I used the neck as a support beam as I steadied on my hind legs.

The other pony giggled, her form still blurry to me. Like a figure that had been erased from my memories.

I skimmed the bow along a set of strings and realized, suddenly, that… well… I only knew a few notes. Determined none-the-less I started up the beginning of what could have been “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star” but it was a little sharp.

“I’m not very good,” I admitted after finally giving up.

The other pony rolled over onto her back and gave me an upside-down, goofy smile. “But Tavi, that’s because you’ve only been practicing for a few months! You’re not grown yet! Trust me, you’ll just get better and better and better until there’s nopony left in aaaallll of Equestria who can play like you do!”

I smiled at the thought. “You think so?”

“I know so! And I’ll be famous too so we can travel together and stuff!” She glanced over at the door across the room. “I wonder what our parents are doing… They keep sticking us in this room. It’s kinda boring…”

“You should talk properly,” I informed her, my voice too squeaky to come off as demanding, “Kinda is not a word.”

“Don’t be so uptight,” she teased, “let loose a little, Tavi! I’ll be a proper mare when I wanna be!”

I tried my hoof again at playing the lullaby but I sadly produced the same results as before. The pony beneath me rolled over again and sat on her hunches, front hooves pressing against the base of my massive instrument. “I like your playing. You should write me a song!”

“I cannot right now… maybe when we’re older, OK?”

“OK! I just hope we’re friends until then! Let’s be best friends forever Tavi!”

My violet eyes snapped open and gazed around the room. Sun rays streamed in through the window, creating symphonic waves of light that danced across the heat floorboards. My figure was draped in dark blue sheets, fitting around my distilled form. I’ll never really get used to being here. The next thing to cross my mind was the dream. Or, rather, a distant memory of my fillyhood.

From somewhere behind me I heard the scuffle of hooves as a pony passed by. Striking silver orbs connected my calculated stare. “Morning! Did you sleep well?”

“Kind of…” I replied quietly. “Good morning, Starburst.”

The Unicorn receded towards the window. “You know, it’s quite beautiful here. I never get tired of the view.” Silver magic enveloped the star-printed curtains in a force field of power, shifting them apart so they slipped into their hooks. The filtering light momentarily blinded me.

“Starburst,” I addressed her, my voice still modest, “I had a dream… about when we were fillies.”

“Oh?” She padded away from the window and paused at the bed side. “Do tell.”

I snuggled against the lush pillow that matched the sheets. “It was stupid. You would not want to hear it.”

Starburst’s hoof-falls drifted towards the closet across the room. She shifted through the contents in search of something important (or maybe it wasn’t important at all since she genuinely liked to keep distracted). “On the contrary, I would love to hear it!”

I contemplated keeping my mouth shut until she grew bored and left. In the end, however, I exhaled a sigh of frustration and spilled my guts. “It was about… that night. You know, the night the contract was signed.”

Starburst shut the closet having come out empty hooved. “I don’t think I remember that one.”

“It’s alright,” I fibbed, “I forgot the dream anyway.”

The Unicorn glanced at me with her smile still bright on her face. “Right. You aren’t a very good liar, Tavi. But none of that matters.” I shuddered as her next words seemed to hit home with all the gracefulness of a careening elephant. “It’s time to fulfill the contract.”

I felt my heart drop into the pit of my stomach. Here we go…

~-*-~

A few weeks earlier…

~-*-~

My life fell apart the day a new Unicorn passed into Ponyville.

You could say that I hadn’t seen it coming, or that I deserved it for letting my guard down. I had been anticipating the eventual discovery of my past for years since I first became aware of a little something known as “the contract”. The last time I had even mentioned “the contract” was with my parents while I was still a filly. Since then all I’ve been able to think about is escaping my fate.

If anypony knew about “the contract” my life would be over. Done. Finished. End of the end. So, I made it my priority to do my job and mind my own business around Ponyville. This tactic had worked smoothly for years and I didn’t let the anxiety hold me back. I merely situated myself into the populace as an everyday, run-of-the-mill mare who played the cello, paid my dues to society and enjoyed quiet lunches at the café.

After a while I had gotten too comfortable… my mistake.

It was the common law of karma that if you wanted to bury your past you could only do so for so long, because after a while the dirt would become tender and it would claw its way up to the surface just to bite your unsuspecting flank. For me, I had spent years forcing myself to forget “the contract”.

Let’s just say that I buried my past to the best of my ability. It still bit me with the intention of never letting go.

It was a typical morning when the newcomer arrived; the sunlight teased colors into every crook and nanny that formed the quaint little town’s architecture, reflecting a radiance of monochrome colors across the landscape. This gorgeous day marked the end of my life. Ironic, isn’t it?

The ponies were already bustling about, lively and eager to enjoy such a beautiful day. There was a blast of monochrome colors overhead as a Pegasus sped by on a glorious, rainbow trail that dissipated only a split second later. The jays sang and the sun was as celestial as ever. On a normal occasion I would have participated in a stroll to the café or some inspirational practice on my cello, just not today.

My neighbor decided it would be a swell idea to throw a party that not only kept me up for the entirety of the night but also gave me a massive, throbbing headache.

At one point I had hit my breaking point and actually got up to storm over to the shaking house across the street. I promptly gave up when I slammed my forehead into the corner of my bedroom wall.

I rubbed my bruised brow, appeased that the welt was hidden beneath my mane. With a petulant sigh I approached the door. I knew Vinyl Scratch (nicknamed DJ Pon3 when performing) would be passed out at her disc station if I bothered to knock. Any attempt to reason with her would only make my brain hurt worse, almost like rubbing an open sore, but I was going to scold her while I was still angry.

I made a mental note to also berate her for the chair that had been thrown clear out the second story window. And it was such a beautiful piece, too.

My hoof rapped against the smoothed surface of the division before me. “Vinyl Scratch! Open up!”

Well, she didn’t open the door. Rather, it fell off its hinges and impacted the floor like a limp sandbag. My violet gaze traversed the room. Chairs and tables were flipped over, empty cups and mugs were strewn about, flakes of tattered, blank paper scattered the floor. A select handful of ponies were face-down on the floors and a Pegasus whom I vaguely recognized was sprawled out over the tossed sofa.

Vinyl was bent awkwardly over her station, slick rivulets of drool dripping from the corner of her mouth to the floor to form an even larger puddle. I prodded her side. “Vinyl Scratch wake up!” It took her a few moments to acknowledge my voice so I tried again. “I said wake up!”

Her head craned upwards, shades hanging off at an angle to reveal one cerise eye. “Oh, good morning Octavia.”

“Hello, Vinyl Scratch. Your incessant partying kept the whole town awake last night.”

The Unicorn smirked like my agitated statements were actually compliments. “Ha, that was a blast! Everypony passed out from exhaustion!”

I hated to admit it to even myself sometimes… but Vinyl Scratch was my best friend. We weren’t exactly peas in a pod but we still enjoyed each other’s company. I shifted discarded trash to the floor and brushed her untamed mane to the side. “You’re a wreck!”

She regained her conscious enough to slide to her feet without toppling over. “Hey… ever get that feeling that you forgot something?”

“Yes, it’s called my sanity. No pony in the right mind would be friends with a party animal like you.”

“Ha!” Vinyl whipped her tail around, slapping me across the flank. “No, but seriously, I heard there was something important going on today… Bon-Bon mentioned it last week”—she kicked a can aside—“I think.”

“You think?” I asked incredulously.

She hummed a tune as she contemplated the encounter. “My head’s still swimming so I can’t recall. You should go find Bon-Bon. She might still be home.”

I exhaled an exasperated sigh. “Alright, but you need to get this place cleaned up. I’m going to see if I can talk with her.” With a flick of my obsidian hair I paced back out the way I had entered and padded down the street.

Bon-Bon’s house was the floor over her candy shop where she worked throughout the afternoons and evenings. I wasn’t one for savoring anything sweet except dark chocolate, although Bon-Bon still liked to throw a peppermint my way every now and then.

As I approached the corner store she receded from its door; the inner CLOSED sign flapped like a flag in the wind, slapping against the transparent glass as the exit was swung shut with a gentle click.

“Good day Bon-Bon,” I remarked.

She faced me in turn. “Why hello Octavia! I was just on my way to the center of town.”

“Why so early?” I asked, padding up to her. “Shouldn’t you be setting up shop?”

At first she didn’t seem to understand where I was coming from, almost like I was trying to make a joke (don’t be fooled, I seriously cannot make a joke). Her quizzical gaze lingered on me for several moments. “You mean you don’t know? It’s been the hottest news all over Ponyville for the past two weeks!”

I frowned. “It has?”

“There’s a new Unicorn passing through town. No one really knows where she came from, but everyone is super excited!” She bumped into my side and we started off. Her voice rose in pitch the more she informed me of this newcomer. “It’s said that she’s an astronomer, or an astrologist, or one of those two. But she studies stars and constellation patterns. Pretty cool, right?”

I merely gave a feasible roll of my eyes. “Astounding.”

There was a clearing in the center of town – or, so there should have been. It was currently occupied by ponies of various kinds, forming a cesspool of vibrant colors; they crowded around somepony in a lopsided circle, effectively blocking my field of vision. “I can’t see,” I told Bon-Bon who was craning her neck up to try and get a better glance. “What’s going on?”

“We’ll have to push our way through,” she answered.

I squeezed through the crowd, careful not to step on anypony’s hooves in the process. “Excuse me,” I uttered each time, just barely audible enough for them to hear but effectively ignore. After a minute I managed to completely work my way up to the front.

The newcomer was a Unicorn about my size, maybe even a little taller. Her coat was a brilliant shade of white, her three-star cutie mark was the same silver shade as her eyes, and her mane and tail were braided into rotating shades of pale blue and lavender purple. She seemed enwrapped in a conversation with the Mayor who was making an attempt at welcoming her to Ponyville.

I studied her for several minutes. She seemed vaguely familiar, almost like a pony I had met once before. But then again, a lot of ponies shared similar styles.

“Her name is Starburst.”

I glanced to my left. Bon-Bon sauntered up to me, having finally made her way through the mass of onlookers. “Why is everyone so hyped over her?” I questioned, returning my attention to the opposing Unicorn. “I mean, not even Twilight Sparkle was this welcomed the first time around.”

Vinyl Scratch appeared to my right, bumping her flank against mine playfully. “What’d I miss?”

“Nothing,” I answered despondently. “Nothing at all.”

Bon-Bon shrugged impassively. “I guess she’s so popular because we haven’t had any astronomers in Ponyville yet. Or… astrologists? Either way, it’s a nice addition to our town, don’t you think so?” She hesitated. “Actually, Lyra did mention something to me before about a rumor… there’s some tale going around that this mare can create these awesome illusions. I doubt it; not many Unicorns can accomplish anything of the sort unless they’re magically gifted.”

Vinyl Scratch inclined her head so she could flick her hair out of her eyes. “I can’t do too much with my magic, but I’ve seen others use illusions before. It’s not a big deal. It just takes lots of practice… and you have to start as a filly, I think. My old colt once mentioned illusions.”

I cocked my head at the newcomer. Behind us the crowd began to move off as they gradually lost interest in Starburst. Yeah, she wasn’t that big of a deal… yet… “I can’t shake the feeling that I know her,” I admitted over a sigh.

Vinyl Scratch pawed the patch of dirt beneath her. “Maybe you do! We should totally say hi.”

It was within this moment I could have chosen to turn and withdraw from the commotion with my friends; I could have avoided, even if only for the time being, the end of my life as I knew it. But I wasn’t thinking straight… I was only focused on solving the riddle in my mind: I knew this mare, or so I thought. Maybe from a distant memory, maybe from a simple pass down the road prior to moving to Ponyville…

I just had to know.

Gathering my wits I stepped forward to greet her. “Starburst I presume?” She gyrated to face me, her metallic gaze gleaming in the daylight. From this angle her coat glistened like gems, or maybe even stars. She was very aptly named. “Hi, I’m Octavia.”

She gasped. “The Octavia? Oh, I’ve been searching everywhere for you!”

I was taken aback for a minute. “You… have?” I glanced back at Vinyl who gave me her ‘Serious Stalker’ look. “Uh… I am not sure whether to be flattered or disturbed.”

Starburst chortled, earning my attention again. “I’m not an obsessed fan if that’s what you’re thinking. Although, I’ve been travelling Equestria in hopes of finding you.” She stared at her bag that was hooked around her back and her horn was enveloped in a silver magic. A rolled up, worn-torn paper was telekinetically lifted from the pouch. “You should recognize this, no? I assume your family kept the copy?”

The contract snapped outwards, revealing thick scripted lettering and several signatures beneath.

And that was when my life ended.

Realization hit me with all the gracefulness of a careening elephant. My mind was sent into a blind panic; I felt my heart slam into the cage of my chest as the adrenaline pumped into my system. The memories rushed back – fillies under the starlight, watching our parents as they signed the dotted lines. “You… Oh, Celestia, please don’t let this be happening to me! No, nonono, NO! You were the first born?!”

Sensing the distress in my voice Vinyl rushed between us. “Hey, I don’t know who you are but you came to the wrong neighborhood!”

Starburst didn’t seem intimidated in the slightest… in fact, she merely blinked. “Oh, how rude of me! My name is Starburst and I’m—”

—she strode up to me and pressed her cheek against mine—

“—Octavia’s fiancé!”

Ch2

The warmth of the sun’s rays radiated into my quiet home through the propped-open window. A gust of brisk air slipped into the kitchen, sending an acute shiver down the length of my spine.

The table was encircled by Vinyl Scratch – who was tapping her hoof against the smooth surface rather peevishly, Bon-Bon – who was sipping gradually at her mug of water to avoid making eye-contact with anypony else, myself – who was on the verge of tears and muttering incoherent comments to myself as a form of self-motivation, and finally Starburst, who wasn’t doing much, quite honestly, but she did seem interested in that bird residing just outside the window.

We had been sitting here in awkward silence for what felt like ages, which in reality was only, at most, a whole whopping hour. My mind was like a jumbled puzzle by this point; I was so emotionally conflicted I was unstable. I had never been this close to my breaking point before. And I was truly, genuinely, afraid of what was going to happen next – to me, to my reputation, to my life…

Vinyl’s tail swept across the floor in synch with the ticking of the clock above her and the tapping of her own hoof. “Alright, are you going to say it or should I?” Her question was directed at me, although her irritated gaze was fixated on Starburst.

“Don’t say anything,” I returned with a strained, almost pleading tone of voice. “Please.”

“But we should discuss this issue!”

“And what’s there to discuss?!” I slammed my hoof down on the table and everypone jumped with a start. “My life is ruined! Do you know what this marriage is going to do to my reputation, Vinyl Scratch, DO YOU?! My name will be tarnished! I will be nothing more than a disgrace, perceived by the greater society as a Lesmarian! A FILLY-FOOLER! I won’t be capable of showing my face around town – or anywhere else for that matter!”

The DJ exhaled an exasperated sigh. “So why not just make the wedding private? You don’t even have to acknowledge each other in public as anything more than friends.”

I massaged my throbbing temples. “Starburst, please read the fine print to Vinyl Scratch.”

The contract lifted from Starburst’s bag in an umbra of silver magic. It snapped outwards with a flourish that could have torn it at the seams, or so I figured (and I was thoroughly surprised when it didn’t). Starburst cleared her throat and spoke with professional clarity, “Bottom two lines state: the marriage between the firstborn of Sun Striker and Winter Eclipse and the firstborn of Maple Leaf and Tem-Tempo must be witnessed and unified by Princess Celestia. The former born must invite no less than fifty guests from their residing town, city, or district, and the latter born must invite another fifty from their residing town, city, or district.”

Bon-Bon and Vinyl Scratch exchanged glances. The Earth Pony responded first, “That’s enough to spread the word throughout all of Ponyville in a week.”

“Exactly.” I slumped in my chair and groaned, defeated and devastated, maybe even a little broken. “What am I going to do?”

“Get divorced?” Vinyl supplied.

“Can’t,” I replied, “that’s the next sentence in the contract’s fine print.”

Starburst slid off her chair with grace and clopped over to me. “Well I for one think marriage is a great thing!”

I slammed both hooves down this time, but only Starburst didn’t flinch. “HOW IS THIS A GREAT THING?! I am absolutely appalled – no, mortified – that you would even suggest such an optimistic outlook on this situation!”

The Unicorn scoffed. “Please, Tavi –”

“Don’t call me that!”

“–marriage isn’t about reputation. In fact, marriage is the joining of two souls meant to belong together! It doesn’t matter what gender, race, or age. Love is a powerful magic, and so long as the stars exist in the sky love will carry on and help two Ponies hurtle over all the challenges in life they will face…” She touched Octavia’s shoulder. “Because they’re facing their challenges together.”

I abruptly turned away from her. “Easy for you to say. We do not love each other, Starburst! This marriage means nothing!”

Her ears folded back against her head like a scolded filly. “Fine, if that’s how you wanna play… Challenge accepted.”

I felt anger flare through every fiber of my being like a wild fire. “YOU THINK THIS IS A GAME?!” I roared, shooting out of my seat.

“Nope.” She really wasn’t fazed my outbursts, was she? “I’ll just make you fall in love with me.”

That statement caught me off guard. I settled and sat back on my hunches, toying with my bristled hair that had ruffled up during my fit of rage. “What makes you think I am stupid enough to fall in love with you?” I internally winced at the harshness lining my tone like a sheet of ice.

“Because you have no choice,” Bon-Bon answered for her, getting up from the table. “You have to Octavia. Unless you can find some way to break this contract you’re going to get unified by Princess Celestia.”

“I’ll try to make this process as least painful as possible!” Starburst exclaimed, seemingly pleased with herself that she had ended this argument in all favor of herself. “And, I’ll set the wedding ceremony for this autumn. That’ll give me two months to win you over! Here, we can start now!”

I instantly didn’t like the sound of that. “Why are you smirking?”

The box was much heavier to move than I had expected, even with assistance from Vinyl Scratch helping me push it up the steps. I wasn’t very sure what resided inside the cardboard casing, but it was very, very dense, too much for Vinyl and Star to lift with their magic. Starburst lifted a crate of her personal belonging with telekinesis in our wake, and every time I briefly glanced back a smirk was still plastered on her face. Of course my childhood friend had to grow into her mother’s all-sass-and-business genes, because that was exactly what I needed right now.

“Why can’t you get your own place again?” Vinyl asked after we reached the top of the stair case to catch a breather.

“Can’t afford it.” The opposing Unicorn responded matter-of-factly, trotting by us with her braided tail swinging to her pace.

“But your parents were royalty!” I admonished, pushing against the box again. “Shouldn’t you have more money than the Princesses combined right now?”

“Not me. I work for my earnings!” Starburst headed instinctively to her new room beside mine and entered, lowering the crate onto the bed. “As a matter of fact, I get my income from Princess Celestia herself, through my boss of course. But because I’m not needed that often, my account tends to deplete to a minimum between each work period.”

Vinyl and I pushed the box into the center of the floor before I backed away and questioned, almost cautiously, “Does the Princess know about this contract?”

“Nope.” She proceeded to remove some of the items contained in the crate and place them haphazardly on the bed. “I did tell my boss, though, although he’s not sure who I’m supposed to be marrying.” Suddenly, a snow globe dropped over the edge – “oh no!” – but I snapped it up first, catching it easily in one hoof. “Nice save, Tavi! Hey, you remember this, don’t you?”

She clasped the object with her own hooves and turned the dial. Soothing, orchestrated music produced in the form of Twinkle Twinkle Little Star filled the brims of the room. The flurries of fake star-shaped snow danced around inside the glass orb, covering the forest landscape in white. The snowman inside caught some flakes in the folds of his top hat. “I remember,” I uttered, allowing the memory to slither out from the forgotten corners of my mind. “You got it for me for my birthday all those years ago. And here I thought I had just lost it.”

“You can keep it,” she remarked, “I don’t have any use for it, obviously.”

Bon-Bon poked her head in the door, a quill tipped with obsidian ink in one hoof and a sheet of paper in the other. There was a smudge on the edge of her nose. “Was Berry Punch on the guest list or on the avoidance list? Or am I thinking of Roseluck?”

“Berry Punch was guest, Roseluck was avoidance. How did you mix those two up?” I excused myself and headed back downstairs with the other Earth Pony who was tasked with making a guest list for my fifty Ponies.

“Apple Family?”

“All of them.”

“Rainbow Dash?”

We descended the stairs and trotted over to the kitchen table before I answered her. “So long as she does not break anything, I do not want that petulant annoyance causing another Grand Galloping Gala fiasco on my wedding day, not that this whole situation isn’t already heading in that direction…”

Bon-Bon sighed and jotted down the cerulean Pegasus’s name. “Alright, that’s eight so far if I include myself and Vinyl Scratch. Should I just jot down a bunch of names and get back to you tomorrow so you can cross off whoever you don’t want?”

“That sounds like a much better idea.”

“I’ll be heading home then.” With a quick farewell she took her few items and exited without a single glance back over her shoulder.

I returned upstairs to find Starburst and Vinyl Scratch moving around objects to fill Star’s new room, and, noticing that they were chatting up a storm and getting along just fine, I snuck by, slipping into my room. “OK Octavia,” I stated boldly to my reflection in the oval mirror suspended on the wall, flexing my facial muscles in an attempt to scowl. “Be brave! This is just some stupid little contract! You are bigger than this!”

There had to be some way to get rid of this binding contract. I needed to break this agreement one way or another – my reputation depended on it! If I wanted to keep my perfect life I had to resolve this issue before it got any worse.
No real ideas hit me, so I settled in my musician’s corner, picked up my cello, and started to play. Music had always calmed my agitated nerves, even as a filly (even though I, admittedly, didn’t value such a beautiful instrument back then. To me it was the most sinister thing to have been invented since high heeled boots. Those, in particular, were especially evil). The strings vibrated motion into my bones.

Memories flooded back to me.

“You should always ask for help, Octavia,” my mother avowed as she lifted me onto a stool to reach the counter. “Sometimes it’s much easier to accomplish a difficult task by working with somepony, rather than by yourself.”

“But I like doing things myself,” I challenged, “that way I do not have to worry about anypony dragging me down!”

I bit my tongue and shook the flashback from my head. The opposing force was far too overwhelming for me to handle; I found myself fighting a losing battle against the fragments residing within my own mind.

“Who says anypony will drag you down?” Tem-Tempo tapped her hind hoof to the beat of the music flowing throughout our urban home from the living room. The record player still worked like a charm, even after all the years of wear and abused it had endured. “Sometimes, in order to understand something greater than yourself you must listen to its music – the tempo of its soul.”

“How am I supposed to hear somepony’s soul?” I touched my chest as if expecting to feel my soul, rather than the steady rhythm of my heart. “You mean their heart?”

“No, their soul. The heart is a doorway to the soul, however, but in order to comprehend the heart you need to coincide with that pony’s tempo.” She swung her obsidian tail to the music’s tune as it picked up its pace.

“None of this makes sense to me, Mother.”

“One day you will understand my love.” She leaned down and pressed a kiss against my brow before returning to the counter to prepare dinner. “You will need to seek the help of another to fully see the picture. Or, in this case, hear the complete song.”

“Like what kind of other?”

“One day, Octavia, somepony will understand your heart better than you could possibly fathom. And that’s when you find your other.”

I snapped out of my daze. And several moments later the floor rushed up to me.

Then it was dark.

Author's Note

Next chapter will be much longer. Sorry if it's not that great, I'm really bad at understanding how to write a romance. It's outside my comfort zone. But hey, practice makes perfect!

Ch3

I awoke to the sound of hooves battering the hard-wood floor.

My brain throbbed with all the potency of toxic venom and it took me several moments to comprehend my situation. I was curled up on my bed above the blanket, tucked under an unfamiliar snowflake-patterned, crimson comforter that smelled like watery orchids, and I could tell that it was late in the evening by the lack of sunlight filtering through the bedroom window.

Gradually I pushed aside the comforter and slid out of bed. As my legs hit the solidness beneath me I collapsed like my entire being had been magically converted into cherry gelatin. OK, too soon, back to bed I go.

My bedroom door swung open. “Octavia! You shouldn’t be up.” Starburst tucked her head under my chest and hoisted me up onto her back. “You’re sick. Don’t force yourself.”

“Wh-what happened…?” I groaned through cracked lips, my voice raspy from lack of water.

Starburst shuffled over to the bed. An umbra of silver magic enveloped me and laid me back down before it ensnared the comforter and spread it back out across my form. The Unicorn perched on the edge beside me. “You passed out. Vinyl Scratch and I came running when we heard the crash.” She reached over, brushing an obsidian bang out of my face. “You bumped your head. The bruise is fairly nasty now.”

I inched away from her to the best of my ability. “H-how l-llong was I out ff-for?”

“Only a few hours.” She smiled, but I couldn’t quite tell through my hazy vision. “I’ll go get you something to drink. Be right back!” The frost-white Unicorn practically danced out of the room, her hooves obnoxiously clopping against the floor with each prance.

She returned just as I had dozed off again.

“Here Tav.” The glass lifted to my lips. “Drink.” I downed the frigid liquids like I hadn’t had anything to drink in months. Starburst set the empty glass down on the edge of the nightstand beside the snow globe.

“Where’s Vinyl?” I questioned, voice soothed by the hydration.

“She went home after we put you in bed. You should go see her tomorrow.”

I yawned. “I shall.” Suddenly, as if invited through some self-proclaimed entitlement, Starburst slipped underneath the comforter with me. My brow furrowed in obvious irritation. “What are you doing on my bed?”

“Sleeping.”

“I gave you your own room.”

“Yeah but…” She rolled over and nuzzled against me. My back arced in immediate reaction to the foreign, unwelcome contact. “If you get thirsty again somepony will have to get you a drink. So I’ll stay here tonight!”

“Then you can sleep on the floor.”

She scoffed. “My fur would get so dirty on that dusty old floor. Up here is so much more comfortable.”

If I had the strength to kick her I would, but my body failed to even twitch in response. “I know exactly what you are doing, Starburst, and it will not work on me.” She stared at me with an innocent expression I saw right through. “Do not deny it, either.”

“Deny what?”

“That you are not using my weakness as an opening for us to get close again.” I was thankful the water had quenched my throat; I was free to speak my mind, as always. A pet peeve, as my mother had dubbed it. “I do not care what the fine print says. Just because I have to marry you does not mean I have to enjoy it.”

“You know Tavi, it’s late. You should get some rest. I’ll wake you up tomorrow for breakfast.”

I yawned again as the darkness began to creep into my vision. “I said… stop… calling me that…” I finally lost consciousness as Starburst made an incoherent, snarky comment and curled up beside me, holding me close with her foreleg wrapped snugly around my waist.

“What’s your name.”

“My name?”

“Yes.”

She was here again, a comfortably lit room tinged with the scent of mint. As the dream always went she was a filly still, with no cutie mark, seated on a chair beside an instrument three times her size. But this time she felt even smaller than normal; her shrunken hooves could barely handle the bow, which she promptly set down after realizing that she couldn’t hold it properly. Another filly sat below her on the vermillion, cashmere rug.

“Octavia,” she answered, her rosy gaze holding steady on the newcomer.

The Unicorn giggled bashfully, athough Octavia knew in the back of her mind that shy charm would quickly diminish and manifest again as a sassy quirk. “That’s a pretty name.”

“Oh, uhm… Thank you. What is yours?”

“Starburst.” She twiddled her fore hooves. “My Mommy and Daddy said they were good friends with your Mommy and Daddy, and they wanted me to be friends with you.”

“Friends?” Octavia mused. “Why?”

“Oh, uhm, we don’t have to be friends if you don’t want.” Starburst swallowed dryly. “Nopony at school ever wants to be my friend, either. They think I’m a weirdo. I’d understand if you didn’t want to be friends because you find me weird, too.”

“Weird?” Octavia inquired, perplexed. “Why would they say that?”

“I don’t know… I guess I’m just one of those unlucky ponies, y’know?”

The silver filly raised her chin. “I think you are perfect the way you are; I would love to be friends.”

I trotted down the road with my cello case balanced on my back, my stomach sloshing with water (Starburst wouldn’t let me leave the house without an over excess of fluids to keep me hydrated) and the aftertaste of roasted chestnuts lingering on my tongue (Starburst also wouldn’t let me leave the house unless I ate what she had made for breakfast… let’s just say, I’ll be doing the cooking from now on).

My legs led me up to Vinyl’s now fixed front door. I rapped on the hard wood and waited patiently for her to answer.
“Yo-yo!” She chirped, slamming the door open. “Can I help – Octavia! You’re not dead!” she enveloped me in a bone-crushing hug.

“Surprisingly not,” I answered, backing away. “I thought for a moment Starburst’s cooking would certainly finish me off.” My best friend invited me in but I declined her offer. “No thank you, I have somewhere I must be. Starburst had asked me to pay you a brief visit.”

She seemed to appreciate that. “Yeah, I was worried about you, but I also didn’t want to wake you up with a visit in case you really were sick.” An uncomfortable silence settled around us, which we hadn’t had since we first met all those many years ago. “Anyway, I have a party I have to attend tonight. You wanna come? You can bring Star along. It might offer you two some time to bond.”

I frowned. “Wonderful. That is exactly what I need at this point.”

“Hey, don’t get sassy with me. You’re allowed to say no.”

I wagged my head as apologetically as possible. “No, in fact, that might be a great idea. I do hate parties, but the goal is to make this marriage as least painful as possible. Bonding would help me get there.” I glanced down the road to where Bon-Bon’s shop sat nuzzled between two other homes. “I should go check in on Bon-Bon and see if my list is ready. I will see you later, my dear Vinyl Scratch.”

She grinned. “See ya! The party’s at the Iron Hoof, if you wanna go.”

“I will think about it.” I bid my last farewell and trekked down the street. Bon-Bon’s store was open so I let myself in. “Bon-Bon! I’ve come for the list!” I approached the front counter where she was setting up a display of candy. “Bon-Bon, list.”
She shot up like she had just noticed me standing across from her, slamming her head into the glass display top in the process. “OW! Oh, uh, Octavia! Hey there.” She shook the dizziness from her mind. “I was wrapped up in my work. How are you?”

“I’m well.”

“What’s with the cello?”

“I have class today with my group.” I tapped my hoof impatiently against the glass. “How’s the list?”
Bon-Bon rolled her eyes. “Screw the list. I got you this.” She reached under to where I couldn’t see and lifted up a fairly recent book. “This is every pony in town! I highlighted a bunch of Ponies I know. You can add or take away as you please.”
I blinked. “Uh-huh…”

“So let’s start with the A’s!” She abruptly pulled up a chair. “Get comfortable, this is gonna take a while.”

An exasperated sigh escaped my lips. I really hope Starburst is having a better time than me right now…

Massive, jewel-encrusted doors swung open on a grand arc, scraping against the translucent tile of the floor that glistened rainbow in the sunlight. The throne several paces in front of Starburst twinkled with emeralds and rubies almost as majestic as the Princesses, both of whom sat perched on their seats like true royalty. Not that I expected any less, Starburst told herself, approaching them casually with the contract bound in her telekinetic grasp. If they’re half as reserved as the rest of the ponies in Canterlot I’m gonna have a hard time resisting taunting them. And that won’t end well for me.

The thought of her previous home city had Starburst shiver with delight. Now, however, was no time for reliving her past, and her regrets of leaving it were certainly uncalled for.

“Starburst,” Princess Celestia addressed, rising gracefully from her position. “You’ve come to talk about the contract, I presume.”

“Yes, princess.” Starburst bowed deeply and rose again at the majestic Alicorn’s accepting nod. “I was hoping you would be willing to unite Octavia and myself, as per the contract regulations.”

Celestia nodded curtly. “Of course. I gave your parents my word that I would wed you and Octavia when the time fell upon you.”

“Sister,” Princess Luna interjected, rising up to her hooves and trotting over to them. “We haven’t had a single mare-and-mare wedding yet to date. This marriage could potentially cause an uproar throughout all of Equestria and-!”

“I know,” Celestia responded blatantly, “but we don’t have a choice.”

“Why not?”

The elder sibling shuffled over to closest stain glass window which was adorned with gold trimming and formed images of a nighttime sky with a suspended, crescent moon. “You felt it, didn’t you little sister?”

Luna’s weary gaze narrowed. “Felt what?”

“Remember how you mentioned to me that during your time in the moon you tracked the meteors that hurtled around our planet?” Luna didn’t answer Celestia; she merely waited for her to continue. “Well, one passed relatively close to Equestria about three hundred years ago. It unnerved everypony – you know, the thought of a space rock the size of Canterlot slamming into our planet – but thankfully it came as soon as it went. Since then it’s been soaring by at random intervals.”

“I’ve been tracking it,” Starburst noted, puffing at her chest as if she had just announced the greatest accomplishment to date.

Luna allowed a frowned to replace her previously stoic features. “Are you trying to tell me that the meteor and the contract are related?”

“Yes,” the smaller unicorn answered with a dip of her head. “The day it last passed around Equestria was the day this contract was signed.” The massive sheet of parchment paper was still hovering before her, and with a telekinetic shove it was passed towards Luna so she could skim it over. “It stated that the first born of my parents and Octavia’s parents would be forced into marriage, and that they must be wed during the next night the meteor passes.”

“Otherwise?”

“Otherwise it obliterates us.”

Luna felt rage boil in the pit of her chest. Indigo aura exploded outwards from beneath her hooves and her star-speckled mane flared up. She rushed up to Celestia so suddenly Starburst was sure a fight would ensue (she also inched towards the exit, just in case). “Why was I not informed of this?!”

Celestia was unfazed, although her eyes were noticeably narrowed. “There was no guarantee that this meteor would ever come around again. Starburst, however, is linked to this meteor by the contract, and her repressed ability to track it has proven otherwise.”

Luna abruptly settled, pleased with her sister’s answer. “You still should have told me.” The younger princess flexed her night blue wings and wandered back over to her throne, agitated but now as stoic as ever. “I have a feeling this contract comes with a fine line that doesn’t involve the marriage directly… and by your lack of an immediate answer, I’m going to assume it isn’t good.”

Celestia concluded that Luna already knew where this was going and instead turned back to Starburst. “You understand what needs to be done, yes?”

“I’ve come to terms with this a long time ago,” the silver-eyed Unicorn uttered, furling the contract back up. “I’m ready.”
The Alicorn forced a smile, although she knew full well that it wasn’t going to make Starburst any less anxious. “When do you want your wedding”—end of the world—“to take place? I’ll arrange for you to use the Palace Gardens.”

“Two months.”

“Have you told Octavia?”

Starburst lowered her gaze to the evenly tiled floor. “I wanted to wait until the time was right.”

There was a sudden, bone-chilling silence that lingered for several minutes. Celestia flexed her wings and lowered her head to Starburst’s height, giving her physical permission that she would join them on the alter.

“Two months it is.”

Author's Note

Surprised you, didn't I? I'm sorry, I couldn't do a romance without some kind of crazy conflict...