A Canterlot Ghost Tale

by volrathxp

Chapter Four: Night Nine

“Ms. Heartstrings?  Are you alright?”

Lyra looked up at the sound of the voice, shaking her thoughts away.  Her director, Frederick Horshoepin, was looking at her expectantly.  His eyes showed concern and he wore a soft smile.

“Sorry, Frederick,” she replied, realizing she'd been staring off into space.  She grinned sheepishly.  “I'm fine.  Just... rough week at home.”

“It's quite alright, my dear.  If you could see me after we're done with practice, I'd like to talk to you in private.  Now, please play the section under verse three, the solo piece if you will,” Frederick said.  Lyra nodded and began to pluck at the strings of her lyre with her magic, following the sheet music in front of her.  Despite the fact that it sounded technically good, it wasn't up to par with her usual playstyle.  When she finished, Frederick thanked her and moved on to the next section of the orchestra to play their parts of the song.

Lyra felt a hoof nudge her side.  She turned to the second chair lyrist, a bright young unicorn mare by the name of Honey Dew.

“Lyra, you okay?  You were like, staring off for like five minutes straight there,” she said softly.

“I'm alright.  Sorry, just... after last week I haven't been getting any sleep,” Lyra whispered back.  “I'll try to not let it happen again, Honey.”  The creamy brown mare smiled.

“No worries.  I'm sure everything will be alright,” she said.  “We still on for practice tonight?”  Lyra shrugged.

“I probably shouldn't,” she said.  “Bonnie's upset enough as is.  I really think I'll stay in tonight with her, if that's alright with you.”  Honey nodded.

“That's fine, I'll see if any of the others want to come over and play,” she said.  “I hope Bon Bon feels better.”  Lyra sighed.

“Thanks,” she said, returning her attention to Frederick's instructions.  The earth pony stallion raised his baton and finally brought together the whole orchestra to play the piece they were scheduled to play the following week.  It was going to be Lyra's first performance with the orchestra.  She smiled as she led into her solo, still feeling like it was nothing more than technicality.  There was no feel to her music.  Once they finished, Lyra packed up her lyre and bid farewell to the others in the string section before making her way to Frederick's office.  She rapped softly with her hoof.

“Come in, Ms. Hearstrings,” Frederick called out.  Lyra stepped inside, setting her lyre case by the door.  The stallion was sitting neatly at his desk.  “Please, have a seat.”

“Sure,” she said, trotting over to take a seat in front of the desk.  “What's up?”

“Lyra, I am simply wondering what is going on with you as of late.  This whole week has been the same.  You've been caught staring out into space, not practicing the pieces, and your playing has quite frankly suffered for it,” Frederick said, his amber eyes glowing with concern.  “I just... I don't know what to do.  Some of the other players have questioned why I even brought you on to begin with.”

“I know things haven't been up to my usual standards,” Lyra said.  “I'm sure you remember that my wife was attacked in our home last week.”  Frederick nodded.

“You mentioned it,” he said.  “A travesty of an occurrence in Old Canterlot, no less.”

“Yes, well, that's part of why I've been kind of... out of it,” Lyra said.  “My wife was pretty upset about the whole thing, and I haven't been sleeping well because of it.”

“I don't quite understand what you mean, Lyra,” Frederick said.  Lyra sighed.

“Bon Bon seems to think that our house... well she thinks that it's haunted,” she said.  Frederick raised an eyebrow.

“Haunted?” He asked.  Lyra nodded.

“I don't know what to make of the whole thing, Frederick.  It's just an old house.  But it keeps Bon Bon up all night, which keeps me up too,” she said grimly.  “I promise that I'll be alright for the performance, Frederick.  You just need to give me a chance.”  Frederick mulled over this for several long moments before looking back at the seagreen mare.

“Alright, Lyra.  I'll give you a chance.  But just one,” he said.  “Take this weekend off, see if you can help your wife.  I expect you back on Monday bright and early for practice.”

“I won't let you down, Frederick,” Lyra said.  “Thank you for this.”  Frederick nodded.

“You are one of the most talented lyre players I've met in a long time, Lyra.  It would be a shame to lose you,” he said.  “Now go on, then.  I have a staff board meeting in an hour to prepare for.”  Lyra turned from the earth stallion, grabbing her lyre case as she opened the door.  She closed it and started off towards home.

“So you say that something attempted to open the door, and then proceeded to pound on the closet door.  But it made no attempt to open it?” The unicorn stallion said as he poured another cup of tea.  Archibald carried the cup in his magic from his kitchen into the dining room where the cream colored mare sat.  He carefully set the cup in front of Bon Bon, who frowned.

“Yeah, that's about the gist of it,” she said.  “What do you think, Archibald?”  She took a sip of her tea.

“I think that we can reasonably assume that my assumptions of the situation are correct,” Archibald said, pouring another cup for himself.  “You and I both know that there is something dreadfully wrong in that house.  Has there been any more activity since that night?”

“A little,” Bon Bon said.  “But nothing like a week ago.  Small stuff.”

“Like what?” Archibald said.

“Well... things like cooking supplies disappearing for one.  I'll use something one moment and it'll be gone the next,” the mare explained.  “Sometimes, when I'm alone I'll hear thumps upstairs.  I'm... I'm too scared to go up and see what they are.  I usually just leave the house if they start happening.”

“I see,” Archibald replied.  “And do any of these things ever happen when Lyra is home?”

“No,” Bon Bon said.  “Other than what happened that first night we stayed in the house, everything has been happening when Lyra's off at practice.  Does that mean anything?”

“You said on the first night that you had a photo fall off a wall in your hallway.  It smashed your face in the picture.  Based on that reasoning, I can only guess that whatever is in your house has targeted you,” Archibald said, sighing.  “You shouldn't stay there, Bon Bon.  It's only going to get worse, and it won't stop just because Lyra is home.”  Bon Bon looked away briefly.

“I can't... I can't leave,” she said.  “Lyra doesn't believe me.  She thinks you're... well, she thinks you're crazy.  I love my wife, Archibald, but I know I'm not making these things up.”

“Yes... well, I can see that my reputation has gotten around to her,” the unicorn said.  “I taught several of the students that are now in that orchestra.  My reputation and obsession with that house are well known.”

“Your reputation?  What does it have to do with the house?” Bon Bon asked.  Archibald sighed.

“It's a long story from a long time ago,” he said finally after several long moments of silence.  “I had just started as a professor for Celestia's school.  I taught an obscure field called auramancy, otherwise known as the ability to see magical auras.  It's a rare skill to learn, and difficult to teach, but it is useful in determining certain things about the thing it is used upon, whether it is a magical object or even another pony.”

“Interesting,” Bon Bon interrupted.  Archibald raised an eyebrow, causing the mare to avert her gaze.  “Sorry, continue.”

“Yes... well, I was new, well learned in the magical arts, but still new.  One of my students... a young unicorn mare much like your Lyra, came to me after a class one day.  She wanted my help studying the aura of something she'd seen in her dorm,” Archibald said.  “I arrived there later that night to the most horrendous of stories.  The young mare said that something in the house had been attacking her roommates, slamming doors in the middle of the night, and had even heavily bruised the legs of one mare.  She believed it had something to do with one of the mares had brought back from an expeditionary field trip.  She was... an anthropology student.”

“I see,” Bon Bon said.  “What does this have to do with what's going on with my house again?”  Archibald waved a hoof.

“I'm getting to that,” he said.  “Now... the other mare, the anthropology student, she disappeared shortly after she returned from her trip, but not before a delivery had been made to the student's dorm.  A package containing a very ancient statuette.  The young mare who'd reached out for my help believed the statue was the cause of all the problems.”

“Was it?” Bon Bon said.  Archibald frowned.

“No.  The statue was only an enabler.  Whatever power it had, it had been used up a long time ago.  But there was enough left there to wake something up,” he replied.  “When I used auramancy on the statue, it yielded nothing.  The young mare was... disappointed.  I advised her that if there was somepony getting into the dorm, that she should contact campus security to come out and watch the place.”

“You didn't believe her,” Bon Bon said, narrowing her gaze.

“I didn't,” Archibald said.  “As I was leaving, I must have forgotten to cancel my auramancy spells, because I saw something following the mare down the hallway.  I shrugged it off because I thought it might have been her aura, but it wasn't.  Something else that I simply couldn't perceive was floating behind her.”

“What... what happened after that?” The cream mare asked.

“I left.  I was tired and I chalked it up to overuse of my magic,” he said.  “But then the young mare and the rest of her roommates failed to show up for classes the next few days.  I went back to the dorm to find out if she was alright.  As I was walking up to the house, I prepared my auramancy, and stopped dead cold when I saw the entire house was covered in one giant aura.”

“It was already strong enough to take over the whole house,” Bon Bon said, her eyes widening.  Archibald nodded silently.

“In my stupefied nature, I failed to realize that the house was also on fire,” he said.  “I heard the mare's in the house screaming for help.  By the time the fire ponies got there, it was too late.  I couldn't do anything but watch the entire dorm burn to the ground.”

“But then...” Bon Bon said, realization dawning on her face.  “It can't be.  That's where... where our house is built?”  Archibald nodded.

“The land was sold to an independent contractor by the name of Fancy Pants,” he said.  “A wealthy philantropist of a sorts, he turned it into upscale living.  I bear no shame in admitting that I had him build my house near yours because I felt I was responsible for what happened.  I began to research, formulating theories on what had caused the fire and the attacks.  The only logical conclusion that I kept reaching was malevolent spirits inside the house.”

“Ponies didn't quite like that idea, did they?” Bon Bon said, taking another sip of tea.

“I was branded as a crazy pony.  They called me mad.  Celestia herself had to intervene in the school board's attempt to fire me. Even she looked at me with disdain, but she allowed me to keep my job as long as I kept teaching the younger generation magical talent,” Archibald said.

“What happened after that?” Bon Bon said.

“Ponies moved into the house.  After a time, they disappeared and the house was put back up on the market.  More ponies moved in and disappeared.  This cycle repeated itself.  It baffled everypony, but no one would believe me that the house was haunted,” Archibald said.  “You're the first one, actually.”

“I don't know exactly what to think,” the cream mare replied.  “Still, I'd better get home.  Lyra's going to be wondering where I'm at.”  She stood, pushing the cup of tea in.  “Thank you for the tea, Professor.”

“Bon Bon,” Archibald said, placing his hoof on her shoulder.  “Please think about convincing Lyra to leave that place.  I like you.  I don't want to see another...”  Bon Bon nodded.

“I understand.  I'll try,” she said.

“Bonnie?  Are you alright?” Lyra asked.  The seagreen unicorn was laying next to her wife in bed.  Bon Bon's eyes were rooted firmly on the door, watching for any sign of anything.  Bon Bon grunted.

“I'm fine, Lyra.  Go back to sleep,” she said softly.  Lyra sighed loudly.

“Bonnie, you need to sleep more than I do,” she said.  “Now you barely ate your dinner, and you haven't slept well all week.  What in the world is going on?  Is this still about last week?”

“You wouldn't understand, Lyra.  I tried telling you at dinner why we need to leave this place, but you wouldn't listen,” Bon Bon replied.

“Because that Archibald pony is crazy?  Seriously, Bonnie.  There's no such thing as ghosts.  Didn't you say that already?” Lyra said.  Bon Bon grumbled under her breath, digging her head into her pillow.  Lyra rolled her eyes.  “Fine.  If you don't want to talk about it tonight, we don't have to.  But we will talk about this tomorrow.  Good night.”

Lyra lowered her head, closing her eyes.

*THUD*

Lyra's eyes snapped open at the sound.  The mare looked over at Bon Bon.  She was huddling, shivering in fear.

*THUD*

The sound came from beyond the closed bedroom door again.  It was muffled.  Lyra sat up.

“What was that?” She whispered.  Bon Bon pushed herself up next to her.

“Be quiet,” she replied softly.  Lyra narrowed her gaze at her wife.

“Bonnie, look... I'm sorry,” Lyra started to say.  Another loud noise sounded from the hallway, cutting her off.

*THUD*

“Quiet,” Bon Bon hissed.  “I'm not kidding, Lyra.”

*THUD*

The sound was closer.  Bon Bon shivered visibly.  Lyra place a hoof on her shoulder.

“I'm going to go check it out,” she said.  Bon Bon shook her head fiercely.

“No!” She said sharply.

“Bonnie, if somepony is messing with us, I'm gonna set them straight,” she said.  Lyra shuffled off the bed and strode towards the door.  Bon Bon's eyes widened as Lyra opened the door.  Lyra peeked down the hall, sighing.  “There's nothing there.”

“Then come back to bed, I'm sure it was nothing,” Bon Bon said.  Lyra grimaced.

“I'm going to go check the stairs,” Lyra said.  Before Bon Bon could protest, Lyra began moving down the hallway.  She stopped at the head of the stairs.  Nothing but the noises of the old house.  She turned around to head back to the bedroom.

*SLAM*

The bedroom door slammed shut hard.  Lyra's eyes went wide as she rushed down the hall.  She pushed on the door.  It wouldn't budge.

“Bonnie!” She shouted, bracing herself against the door.  It still wouldn't budge.

“Lyra!” She heard Bon Bon call out.  “Lyra!!!”

“Bonnie!!!” Lyra shouted again, slamming on the door with her front hooves.  The seagreen mare turned around, kicking out in a buck.  Her rear hooves hit the door, breaking it off at the hinges.  She charged into the room, panting.  Bon Bon was curled up on the bed, shivering.  The door creaked loudly as it swung back and forth.

“Bonnie... are you alright?” Lyra said softly, pulling her close.  Bon Bon pulled away.

“Don't you see, Lyra?” She said.  “There's something in this house.  It's not going to stop.”  Lyra narrowed her gaze at her wife.

“Bonnie, you're stressed.  The door just got caught on the jamb,” she said.  “There is nothing in this house.”

“I'm not crazy, Lyra,” Bon Bon said angrily.  “I just... I don't want to argue about this right now.  I'm going back to sleep.  I suggest you do the same.”

“Bonnie...” Lyra said pleadingly.  Bon Bon glared at her venomously.

“Lyra... fix the door,” she said.  “And good night.  We'll talk about this more tomorrow.”  Lyra grimaced, but nodded.  She stood and ignited her horn, putting the bits of broken door back into place.  She sighed as she went to go back to the bed.  Bon Bon's eyes never left the door, even though she was supposed to be sleeping.  Lyra sighed, sliding into bed next to her.

“I never said you were crazy,” she said, rolling to her side.  “I'm... I'm sorry.”

“Good night, Lyra,” Bon Bon said.