Mirror: Book I - Mind

“Before we begin, I would like to thank each and everyone of you for making a return to our meeting. It warms my heart so to see all of your bright, smiling faces.”

Not a single face within the room was neither bright, nor smiling, but a grim and glum reflection of what recent events might have hindered upon their moods. It wasn’t their fault, of course, at least not entirely, and Matilda knew this more than anypony present in the room. She even knew that her meeting members knew she was just trying to be nice and liven up the vicinity, as a hint or two of much needed mirth never hurt anypony.

The newest member of their group was the only one composing a bright, smiling face for the host, to which she quickly scowled and elbowed her sister in the ribs to break her from her snoring fit.

“Huh, what?!” Berry Punch wobbled in her chair. “Is the meeting over?”

“We’ve only just started.” Her sister growled. “Pay attention.”

“And without further ado, I would like you all to welcome our newest guest. Miss…?”

“Cherry Berry.” The blonde-maned, pink coated earth pony stood, grinning and curtsying politely to the others. “It’s nice to meet you all.”

“Hi, Cherry Berry.” The groan of a greeting sounded throughout the room.

“Say, you were at the interview for the Weather Patrol pegasi, weren’t you?” A minty unicorn bounced where she sat.

“Ah, yes.” Cherry brushed back her mane. “Yes, I was.”

“So, how did it go?” The unicorn scooted closer. “Did you get the job?”

“Please,” a snobbish scoff met their ears. “An earth pony could never land such a career.”

“Spoiled.” Filthy Rich growled. “Watch your tone.”

“What’s that? You think my sister can’t do it?” Berry Punch was as lively as ever. “Say that to my face and we’ll see how far she gets!”

“Everypony, let’s just settle down.” Matilda rubbed her temples. “This early into the meeting, too…?”

“But she didn’t get that far at all, now did she?” Spoiled sprawled out her hooves. “Just look at her, she’s an earth pony. Of course she’s not going to get that far in line for a pegasus’ job. Honestly, dear, what did you think was going to happen?”

Berry Punch was ready to catapult herself from her chair and sock this wench of a mare right across the jaw, but her sister’s hoof held her at bay. Slowly, Berry sat back down and stared at her younger sibling as the rest joined in their expectant gazes, awaiting as to how she might react. She took a deep breath and prepared her speech.

“You’re right.” Cherry admitted. “It’s all because I was born as an earth pony that I didn’t get the job. I should of thought better than to literally put caution to the wind and try to fly like the pegasi do, and in that time I was lying to myself. I lied to myself when I thought I could get the job, I lied to myself when I applied to it. As far as I’m aware, I’ve been lying to myself my entire life, dreaming up dreams as I watched the pegasi in the sky fly by without a care in the world. But at the end of the day my own nature will always be there to remind me that maybe…some dreams just aren’t meant to become true.”

Without another glance her way, all the ponies present quietly and respectfully took in her words, allowing the silence to ensue. Berry Punch stared solemnly at her sister while Spoiled Rich turned up her snout in a justice-filled manner. Matilda looked on with little struggle to a sympathetic nod, and in the monotony and glum presence of it all there sat a single earth mare, further apart from the others than anypony else there. She wished somepony would speak up with a much more cheerful or distracting tone so they could move on. Something of a “boring trip to the grocery store” or “what I found crawling on my window sill this morning” would do. Alas, nopony spoke, nopony gave sign to even move or look at one another. For reasons the cellist could not determine, Octavia opened her mouth.

“I once had a dream.” She mumbled.

All eyes perked and turned to her voice. Octavia looked up frightfully, and Matilda was quick to answer.

“Miss Melody, was there something you wanted to add?” Matilda smiled dearly.

“Oh, no, I couldn’t!” Octavia waved her hooves defensively. “Oh my, did I stupor off to sleep, again?”

“Of course not, I do believe that all you did was speak your mind.” The host reassured, continuing her talk. “Life for the most part is unfair. All of us being grown mares and stallions, I can be rest assured that we are no strangers to that fact, but it will never get us anywhere to continue estranging ourselves from the harsh realities of life. Before I had met my husband, Cranky, there was another donkey out there whom I believed was the perfect one for me. Sadly, after three years he had passed away, and for a long time it made me regret not asking for his hoof in marriage just as I had been waiting for him to do so. Instead of sulking upon the dreams I had lost, it made me realize that I should revel in the lessons I had learned. Like, cherishing the time I might spend with others…” She looked to every one of her meeting members with a bright, knowing smile, ever grateful for their presence this afternoon. Matilda quickly wiped her eyes and fixed her collar. “Ah, but listen to me go on about my own dreams lost to time. Miss Melody, I do believe you had spoken first?”

“After a revelation like that, I do believe it would be rather rude of me to say nothing now.” Said Octavia, fixing herself in her chair. “Well, where can I begin?”

“Where did you find your dreams?” Cherry Berry asked.

Octavia quickly looked up, acknowledging the earth mare. “Trottingham.” She answered after a beat. “It was my home, and it still is. It’s where the wildest tides of my imagination could soar and fly without a care, my childish little mind wondering upon the things I could be and the stories I could one day tell. And, well, I suppose my heart eventually fell for the love of music. The cello, it was such a grand instrument. I remember when I first saw it, when I first heard its cadenza…”

Octavia’s eyes twinkled with hope and brilliance as the light from outside shined upon the rotundus ceiling of the chamber the ponies resided within. For a heartbeat, the mare thought she had seen something from beyond the ordinary, a memory flashing her mind like a glimpse of a promise. Alas, the lights quickly faded and the cellist felt as though she were only acting within the moment. In the midst of that silence, however, something had sparked among the members of the meeting. Or rather, it seemed her words and their composition had inspired something in the others…

“Before I came up with Barnyard Bargains…” Filthy quietly said. “I wanted to be a doctor.”

A stretch of silence passed between the others, glances dancing around, and another spoke.

“I wanted to be a Wonderbolt.” Bulk Biceps admitted.

“I wanted to go back to Cloudsdale.” Fluttershy fessed.

“I wanted to be a professor, back in Canterlot.” Lyra returned.

“I wanted to be the greatest wine taste-tester in all of Equestria.” Berry belched.

The sister received another elbow to her side.

“…and, travel the country too, I suppose.” She finished with a shrug.

“I believe that the admittance of such endeavors find no better place to be told than in the presence of others.” Matilda sought. “We may have all come from different backgrounds, different experiences, but we still share our dreams within the same spectrum. And that spectrum, my dear Pony’s Front members, is the endeavor of such a dream. Our own dream.” And she turned back to the cellist. “Tell us, Miss Melody, just what exactly did you feel the first time the beloved hum of those cello strings flooded your ears?”

“Well…it’s rather difficult for me to explain.” Octavia admitted. “After all, my strong suit was always with music and not words. The music sheets always found better days than my journal.”

“And have you contributed any pieces to your dream?” Matilda asked her.

“In recent years, no, I can’t say that I have.” The earth pony rubbed her shoulder, hesitating upon her next words. “But, something of a hint of inspiration came about from our last meeting. I couldn’t quite place the feeling, but I just knew I had to write my own.”

“A poem, how wonderful!” Matilda clapped her hooves together. “Well, I won’t keep you anymore, dear. By all means, go ahead and share it with us.”

Octavia gave a slow nod of preparation as she swelled up a summon of confidence in her chest and expelled the dwellings of her mind, her thoughts and her feelings from memory.

“As I sit upon this island, in an ocean I call a maze.
To the star-filled night above do my eyes gaze.
A breath, I take, to the dreams I might forsake.
For those are the ones so close that I may see.
Yet to be in hoof’s reach is only but a dream.
Yes, the stars I see…are only but a distant, waning dream.”

She stood at her window and stared out of the slit provided by the curtains, a hazy mist running over the central residence of Ponyville as ponies outside trotted this way and that, perhaps not even aware that they were being watched upon. It was not intentional, but a simple phase that Octavia felt flowing through her, one she needed to embrace for the moment just so it might pass her by. The ponies outside, did they even know where they were going? What they were doing with their lives? Did she know what she was doing with her life anymore?

“Miss Melody?” A little voice asked. “Is something bothering you?”

The mare blinked herself back into the moment, turning to her little student at the piano.

“Of course not, my little star.” Octavia faked a smile. “Why have you stopped playing?”

“Because you weren’t listening anymore.”

“My eyes may wander, but my ears will always listen.”

“I stopped playing ten minutes ago.” Dinky fessed.

The teacher knew well by now that the child was much too persistent and observant to be played for any sort of tricks. Not that Octavia would ever do as such, not intentionally. She meant her little student well, not because she was her only student but because she was her dearest student. In response, the mare took a deep breath and invited herself to sit next to the little filly, giving her speech as she did so.

“Some days are harder than others.” Octavia told. “I’m sure you understand?”

“Did you get in another fight?” The filly’s eyes were strangely hopeful.

“Of course not! I mean-” She reconsidered. “I confess that first one was a misunderstanding, but my defense classes weren’t all for the purpose of getting me into fights. They’re supposed to get me out of them.” The earth mare justified.

“I know, Miss Melody. Mom always taught me that it’s wrong to fight other ponies, especially your friends. But…” Her little hooves danced lightly across the keys. “I guess some fights just can’t be avoided, like they have to happen for some reason or another.”

And there it was, that aching feeling in the pit of Octavia’s stomach that told her she was in no way, shape or form qualified to teach these sort of things to a pony whom belonged to another mare. Had the applicant not read the fine print? “PIANO LESSONS” for Celestia’s sake, not send your child for crackers and a lecture on social etiquette! Come to think of it, the one who had signed up her daughter for these lessons was in fact cross-eyed. Somehow that pegasus manages to mix up both Octavia’s and Vinyl’s mail in spite of the fact that they live under the same roof.

The instructor halted her critical thought and decided it best not to play on the child’s emotional strings too much. She was a growing pony going through some minor inconveniences in her life, that’s all. All the remedy really required was a nudge in the right direction.

“Come now, there’s no need to pout.” Octavia reassured. “Just because you might have had a fight doesn’t mean your friendship has ended. My roommate and dearest friend, Vinyl, her and I have our quarrels almost regularly, but we’ve learned time and time again to never let them get in the way of what values we still hold for each other.”

“So you’re saying that even though Silver-” Dinky halted, and started again. “I mean…you’re saying that even though my friend has done nothing but make some pretty stupid decisions, I should still value what we have together? Or at least, what we did have?”

“You should always value your friends, no matter what.” Her teacher nodded confidentially. “You’ll never know when one day, you might never see or hear from them ever again.”

Dinky’s eyes grew wide with both mixtures of realization and worry. Slowly, she began to interpret the true value of what she might have lost. Surely there had to be another way, something that both she and Silver could negotiate to get what they both wanted. At the end of it all, Dinky almost didn’t care whether or not she might come out of it with a friend after all. What she truly valued now was to see genuine happiness return to that little earth pony’s life.

“That’s it!” Dinky leapt and slammed her hooves down on the piano keys, eliciting a loud boom of disorganized notes as her teacher’s ears flopped downwards in annoyance. “Whoops, sorry Miss Melody!” The little unicorn recoiled, bolted for her saddle bag and swung it over her barrel. “I’ve got something I need to do. Thanks for the lesson!”

Octavia wasn’t sure whether she should acknowledge her gratitude or ask her exactly which lesson she meant. Without a second of time to answer, the little filly was already well on her way out the door and down the road, bolting across the same street her teacher had been staring out at prior. The cellist gave a calm, quiet sigh of relief and turned to gaze over the set of keys in front of her. Soon enough it came to her attention that even though her student had been playing the songs without missing a single note, the music sheets had never been laid out for her to read from.

The little unicorn raced across the Town Hall plaza and cleared a set of earth ponies hoisting a stream of decor for the upcoming Nightmare Night festivities. Blurting an apology to one mare she ran into and another to a stallion whom nearly fumbled his stack of crates, Dinky opted for the short cut into the high-end residential zone to decrease her chances of causing a pileup. Soon after clearing the brush, her destination was in sight. Silver Spoon’s house. The glamour of the streets second in line to the Rich’s mansion. After a short pause she bounded past the front lawn and rapped her hoof against the front door. It only took a moment’s passing for their butler to answer.

“Ah, Miss Hooves, was it?” The stallion fixed his monocle.

“Good afternoon, Mr. Kibitz.” Dinky stood proper. “Is Silver Spoon home?”

“I’m afraid now is not the best time. You see…” His speech trailed away.

Dinky looked on with a curious glance, peering around the old colt’s legs to get a better view.

“Kibitz…?” A mournful drawl sounded from within. “Who is it?”

“Dinky Hooves, my mistress.” He called over his shoulder.

There was another pause, a stroke of uncertainty swelling within the little unicorn.

“Send her in.” Silver replied.

Kibitz only delivered a short stare and a curt nod as he stepped aside and granted the little pony entrance. Once again Dinky took a second or two to marvel at the grand décor of the main foyer and beyond, but quickly shook herself from her gandering and reminded herself that she was on a mission. This mission, however, suddenly seemed to turn at a change of plans. The objective lying just up the steps to which the familiar scarlet carpet led, each and every step the little unicorn strode upwards was as heavy and tiring as ever. Strangely so, the halls seemed much more gloomy. Much more quiet than usual…

Dinky strode to her right this time, trotting over to the lone open door in the hallway and peering inside. Her gray hide was the first thing she spotted, her back facing the door as she was hunched over something laying at the end of her bed. A cold dread washed over the little unicorn as she gave a little knock, and Silver Spoon answered with a glance over her shoulder. Her glasses were removed, her eyes a deep red, puffy and exhausted. Without another word, Dinky strode past the door, sauntered across the room and came to Silver’s side.

It was Pearl, her little dog, laying uncomfortably and dreadfully still.