“Nervous, Harmony?” Blue Jay asked as they rode up one of the elevators in the high rise suites that was located within the more upper, elite class part of Canterlot.

“I’d be lying if I saw I wasn’t a little nervous.” Harmonious Flash replied as she held the covered record close to her. “I mean, you girls are my friends so I didn’t mind sharing the music with you. Octavia on the other hoof is pretty much a stranger to me.”

“From what I’ve heard, she’s a fair mare.” Paige said as the elevator came to a halt and the doors opened. They stepped out into the beige color walls and onto a plush red carpet before heading down the hallway and seeing Octavia standing in the doorway to hers and Vinyl’s room.

“Good day to you.” Octavia greeted them politely. “Please, come on in.” The four entered the suite followed by Octavia and the first thing they all noticed was that the lights were dimmed. Into a short hallway, there was a closet before it split off to a kitchen and straight to the living room. Between the two rooms there was a small island where ponies could sit and talk while cooking was going on. Vinyl waved as they came into the living room, which was divided in half between each of the mares’ different taste. On one end stood a cello and a music stand along with some other instruments while on the other side there was a slightly smaller setup of turntables and bass speakers for Vinyl to play with.

“Please make yourself at home.” Octavia said as she walked over and kissed Vinyl’s lips, and taking a moment to look into her eyes. Octavia turned to face their guest. “I apologize for the low lighting. I love seeing Vinyl’s eyes but bright lights tend to give her a headache, which is why she wears her glasses all the time.” She explained. “If you want, we can turn them back up.”

“No, please.” Harmonious Flash said. “We don’t mind it at all.”

“Plus we’re the guest here, we wouldn’t have any right to ask you to put yourself out for our convenience.” Paige added.

Vinyl stood up before pointing to each of their guest, then she mimicked drinking.

“I wouldn’t mind having some water.” Lyla Firecracker said once she realized what Vinyl was getting at.

“Anypony else?” Octavia asked and Blue Jay raised her hoof asking for water as well. “I’ll be right back.” As she headed towards the kitchen, the others realized there was a hallway leading off to a couple other rooms, the hallway filled with pictures of memorable moments for the two. Octavia came back with the two glasses and looked at Harmonious Flash. “You’re the music writer I take it?”

“Was…” Harmonious Flash replied, slightly downcast. “Thank you for agreeing to listen to it.” She held out the record as Octavia walked over and carefully held it before walking over to her phonograph.

“I’m glad to do it. The only way we musicians will ever survive in the world is if we help each other out.” Octavia replied happily before letting the music fill the room. Nopony spoke the entire time the song was playing and while Octavia kept a neutral expression, Vinyl picked up a couple times her marefriend winced at a certain part but kept quiet about it. The song finished and Octavia removed the needle before looking back at Harmonious Flash. “Who was your instructor?”

“Nopony. That was what I was feeling at that moment.” Harmonious Flash admitted with a smile, missing Vinyl’s thoughtful frown. “I’ve composed other ones, but that was the first piece I felt brave enough to publish.”

“I see. There are some spots that could use a little work, but that’s something you learn with experience.” Octavia told her. “But for somepony to write that without an instructor, that’s impressive.”

“Thanks. Too bad the rest of the world didn’t think so.” Harmonious Flash said and while her thanks were genuine, the rest of that had a bitter tint to it.

“If you don’t mind me asking, what instruments is it written for?” Octavia asked, hearing the bitterness.

“It’s meant for a full orchestra, plus harmonica and ocarina. It doesn’t sound like a full orchestra only because I could get one of each instrument at the time.”

“Do you still have the original music sheet?”

Harmonious Flash shook her head. “No, I threw it out. But now I regret it.”

“Understandable. You wouldn’t be the first and you’re definitely not going to be the last pony.” Octavia was going to ask another question but the needle touched the record and it started playing Harmonious Flash’s music but this time it was accompanied by a techno beat as Vinyl expertly played the settings on her equipment starting loud but not overpowering the phonograph.

“Aren’t you worried the neighbors will complain?” Lyla Firecracker asked over the music while Octavia shook her head.

“This entire place is sound proof. Things can get… quite loud in here at times.”

Vinyl pointed to Octavia and nodded her head while using her magic to keep the techno beat going.

“Yes, Vinyl, I know. I was talking about our music.” Octavia stated and looked away to hide her blush.

Vinyl rolled her eyes that clearly said ‘oh sure honey, that’s exactly what you were talking about.’ She moved over to Octavia’s side and gave her a teasing smile before kissing her.

Octavia smiled back and nuzzled Vinyl before looking back to the others. “It’s safe to say Vinyl like the song as well. She only adds her flare to songs she likes.” She looked at her marefriend in time to get kissed on the muzzle. “Love you too babe.”

The rest of the song passed in relative quiet with Vinyl finding a good point for letting the techno beat fade and let Harmonious Flash’s song finish on its own. Blue Jay kept watching Octavia and Vinyl wanting to ask several questions about their relationship but kept quiet since she didn’t want her friends to know what she was thinking without realizing that Paige was watching her having a similar train of thoughts.

“Harmony, why don’t you four come by the Equestrian Symphony Orchestra? We’re putting on our last concert before taking a break for a few months.” Octavia asked. “And your friends are more than welcome to join.”

“Really?” Blue Jay asked at the same time that Lyla Firecracker asked her question.

“Are there any tickets left at this point for the ESO?” Lyla Firecracker asked.

“I have a few strings I can pull. Pun fully intended.” Octavia replied and looked at Harmonious Flash. “Could you let us borrow the record for a few days please? It’ll help me to figure out how you can improve on your composing.”

“Um… well… sure.” Harmonious Flash agreed hesitantly. “It’s my only copy.”

“I promise we’ll take excellent care of it.” Octavia said warmly with Vinyl nodding, both mares knowing just how irreplaceable some things were. “Unless you want to try and recreate it from memory?”

“I probably could, but I don’t think it’d be the same given the time that passed.” Harmonious Flash stood up and stretched. They spent a few hours talking after that until Vinyl needed to get ready for work so they all bided their good byes and headed for the door… except for Blue Jay, who was just sitting on the couch with a thoughtful look on her face.

“Blue Jay?” Paige asked after coming back and tapping her shoulder, causing Blue Jay to jump. “Vinyl needs to get ready for work so we’re heading out. Are you okay?”

“Huh? Oh yeah. Yeah, I’m fine.” Blue Jay said as she jumped up. “Sorry, must have spaced out for a bit.” She waved to Octavia and Vinyl before following her friends out.

Octavia gave them one last wave before she closed the door. “Love. We have work to do. Get the paper and quills”

Rainbow Dash finally had enough with waiting due to there being an extremely important meeting going on when she arrived. She wasn’t sure if the guards were new at their job or Celestia herself forgot to add that the Element of Harmony bearers were exception to that rule. She had tried getting Twilight Sparkle to help, but every place Rainbow Dash looked, Twilight Sparkle was not there and so she gave up searching for her friend which led to standing outside the throne room with the guards. Faking out the guards, she was able to push one door open and get a few feet into the throne room before they could successfully stop her. “Princess Celestia! It’s an emergency!”

“We’re sorry, your Majesty, we told her you were busy.” The two guards and Rainbow Dash looked up at the throne room, –with Rainbow Dash’s jaw dropping– while a pair of pale, light grey magenta and a pair of moderate violet eyes looked at them. “Your majesty?”

“Twilight?” Rainbow Dash asked at the same time the guards asked their question. She blinked to make sure her eyes weren’t playing tricks on her but found that Twilight Sparkle was indeed leaning against Celestia, both slightly out of breath and blushing bright red as Twilight Sparkle scrambled to put a respectable distance between them.

“Did you see anything?” Celestia asked, hoping her guards would take a hint.

“No, your Majesty, we did not see you and Princess Twilight kissing!” They shouted before beating a hasty retreat and slamming the door behind them.

“What can I do for you, Rainbow?” Twilight asked and refused to look at her friend.

“Huh, what?” Rainbow Dash muttered and closed her jaw.

“You had an emergency, my little pony?” Celestia asked and gave a warm smile to Rainbow Dash while wondering if she should ask the guards if they like bananas before sending them to the moon.

“Oh… right… um…” Rainbow Dash said as she tried to recall what had led her here in the first place. She then recalled the conversation and she retold everything to Celestia and Twilight Sparkle.

“Twilight, can you please summon Spike?” Celestia said with a frown and began writing a letter.

“Sure thing, Celestia.” Twilight Sparkle said as she regained control of her emotions and teleported Spike besides her.

“It’s not much, but I have always felt dragon fire was a quicker way to send letters over sending them via magic.” Celestia explained and when she was finished, she affixed the Royal Seal on it. “Spike, if you’d be so kind.” She levitated it over to him, who promptly sent the letter on its merry way. A couple seconds later, a letter appeared above Celestia’s head and dropped straight down before bouncing to the floor. “There’s no way she could reply that quickly.”

“Is there a return to sender on it?” Twilight Sparkle asked as Rainbow Dash tried not to laugh while Celestia sighed.

“No, I forgot about the spell. Spike, hold still for a moment please.” Celestia surrounded him with her magic and quickly reworked the spell before letting it fade. “There, Spike, you’ll now be able to send letters to any of the princesses. Just make sure to concentrate on the name you want, otherwise the letter may never arrive.”

“You can count on me.” Spike said proudly before thinking of Princess Cadance and sent the letter.

“Twilight, I would like you, Spike, and your friends to remain in Canterlot for now. But I may send you to the Crystal Empire to help if they need it.” Celestia told Twilight Sparkle. “But for now, relax and have fun. Also, remember I’m here to talk.”

“Err, I can let you two be alone.” Rainbow Dash said as Twilight Sparkle started walking towards her.

“Mood’s kind of ruin, Rainbow.” Twilight Sparkle said with a slight groan. She then surprised Rainbow Dash by turning her around and pushing her towards the door. She got them to the door and opened it before pushing Rainbow Dash out.

“Wait, Twilight! One question!”

“What?”

“How did we not hear the nothing you were doing?”

“Soundproof barrier.” Twilight Sparkle growled and slammed the door shut. She turned, held her hoof to her chest and exhaled at the same time she pushed the hoof away from her. “This sucks.”

“Fear not, Twilight, at least if was Rainbow Dash that discovered us. She’ll stay by your side no matter what happens.”

“Yeah, but I’m going to get teased by it for a long time.” Twilight Sparkle said as she sat next to Celestia and felt her wing warp around protectively.

“But I can always send her to the moon.”

“You wouldn’t!”

“Of course not, but she doesn’t need to know that right?” Celestia winked as Twilight Sparkle smiled. “So, still say the mood is ruined?” She leaned in and kissed her student, who kissed back eagerly.

“Not at all.”

Author's Notes:

Disclaimer: I don't own My Little Pony, Hasbro does.

Honestly, I'm not a Celestia/Twilight shipper. If anypony, it's Rainbow/Twilight but I was having a hard time trying to come up with a way to get Twilight into the throne room.

However, I'm pleased to say I do own Blue Jay, Paige, Harmonious Flash, Kitsune/Feral Lupus, Lyla Firecracker, Minako, and Shadow.

Also, the Shadowbolts named here are mine as well.
Fainthoof is used with permission from Damien, a good friend of mine.

As always, constructive criticism is welcome. It'll help me to improve my writing and seeing what people liked.