//------------------------------// // The Figure on the Chandelier // Story: Eternal Love // by Packet //------------------------------// Octavia used to be an early riser, but since she had married she’d grown more accustomed to dozing in the warmth of the morning sun, feeling the warm breath of Whooves as they snuggled each other under the covers. She slowly opened her eyelids as she roused from a deep sleep to find Whooves’ big blue eyes softly looking back at her. He gently pulled back some of her mane that had swept across her face “Morning” Whooves smiled. “Morning” Octavia yawned “And just how long have you been awake?” “Long enough to see you sleeping like a filly” Whooves gently pecked her on the end of her nuzzle. “Well, I think I’ll probably be sleeping like that for a little while longer” Octavia pulled herself closer to Whooves and rested her head on his chest as he wrapped a forehoof round her, gently rubbing her back. Both of them intending just to blink their eyelids, they fell back to sleep in their embrace. The door to Octavia & Whooves’ room was quite heavy, but with a lot of effort the tiny figure managed to force open a gap just big enough for them to squeeze through. They silently slipped through the gap and continued to stalk their victims; they could see them both now, oblivious to the figures presence as they circled round them. The figure waited till they were in a position that left them directly between the two ponies for when they approached them. Their dark blue eyes narrowed with concentration as they crouched down, ready to pounce up onto the higher level that it needed to get to its target. They counted down silently in their head. 3, 2, 1… Springing from the floor, Treble landed with a soft thud on the bed, bouncing up and down repeatedly on the sprung mattress and causing Octavia to wake with a start as he continued to jump up and down. “Mother! Dad! Wake up!” he almost squeaked “The princess’ sun is already in the sky!” Octavia yawned as she reached out with her fore-hooves and brought her son in for a tight hug, burying her muzzle in his black crop of hair and giving him a kiss on his head, before turning him to face her. “You’ve obviously gotten your knack to wake up early from me” she chuckled. “Early?” Treble tilted his head sideways “Mother, its half past nine!” Octavia immediately threw a glance to her beside clock. Treble was indeed correct; it was half past nine in the morning. She looked back at him “And it seems you’ve got the time keeping skills of your dad!” Treble just grinned at Octavia before they both turned to look at Whooves, who was sprawled out on his back with this head poking out from under the bed sheets, his mouth agape with tongue lolling at the side. “Should I wake dad up?” Treble asked. Octavia thought about this, recounting the events that she could remember of the previous night she realised she would need a private word with Whooves. “Um, no dear” she picked Treble up in her forehooves and put him in a sitting position on her belly “But I’m sure Aunt Lyra and Bon Bon aren’t up yet, I think they’d like it if you woke them” “Ok, but…” “But what Treble?” “Well…” Treble twiddled his right forehoof on the bed covers, a sign Octavia had picked up showing that he was thinking about something “Why do Aunt Lyra and Bon Bon sleep in the same bed together?” Octavia’s eyes bulged in their sockets; she certainly hadn’t expected this question from her son, especially at his age! “H-How do you know they…” Octavia began, giving him a quizzical look. Treble let out a tiny sigh, which Octavia had to hold back from chuckling at. She always found it adorable when he tried to act like a fully grown stallion. “One night when you were away I needed a glass of water after I’d gone to bed. I went to go and get Aunt Lyra or Bon Bon from their room, but when I knocked on the door they didn’t answer, so I went in to their room and they were both asleep in bed cuddling each other. Mother?” Octavia hadn’t been listening to any of this, she been racking her brain for a simple explanation that would satisfy Treble. One suddenly came to mind. “Well Treble, you know how when you used to be scared of the dark you used to climb into bed next to me” “Yes” “Well…..” Octavia stumbled as she lost her train of thought “…well Aunt Lyra’s afraid of the dark, so she sleeps in the same bed as Aunt Bon Bon so she won’t be as scared” She was mentally kicking herself at how cheesy this lie sounded in her head. “Oh” Treble smiled. Octavia pulled him in closer and whipered in his ear “In fact, why don’t you go and wake her up and tell her how big ponies aren’t scared of the dark” Treble instantly leapt of the bed and ran for the door “Ok!” Octavia chuckled to herself as she watched Treble squeeze his body back through the small gap in the doorway, before leaning over Whooves and giving him a kiss on the cheek. Whooves slowly batted his eyelids open to find Octavia looking down on him. “Still as beautiful as the day I first met you” he smiled. “I highly doubt that dear” Octavia rolled her eyes “The first time you met me I’d passed out from smoke inhalation, or so you say anyway” They both shared a kiss before Octavia rolled back onto her back, looking up at the ceiling, Whooves choosing to roll onto his side and rest his head on one of his forehooves. Octavia let out a sigh “Whooves, about last night…” Whooves put a hoof to her lips “I don’t want you to go into it to much if you don’t want to, but there’s one thing that played on my mind all night. Who or what could cause you to have a nervous breakdown like you did last night” Octavia became very quiet, staring off into space towards the French Windows on the other side of the room “I know this is going to sound crazy, but it was a mare…and looked exactly like Vinyl” Whooves scoffed “Now you know as well as I do that there is no way that it could have been. It’s now been just over five years since the fire at the Symphony Hall, and since then I’ve haven’t heard of any unicorn mastering a resurrection spell!” “Whooves!” Octavia narrowed her eyes as she crossed her forehooves. Whooves backed down, and wrapped one of his forehooves round Octavia’s waist, pulling her closer to him “I’m sorry” he gently began to rub her belly with one of his hooves “I know how closer friend she was to you. You’ve kept telling me recently how tired you’re tending to get, perhaps you mistokk the figure of some common thief pony hoping the room would be empty so they could steal a few items” Octavia relaxed her muscles as Whooves’ rubbing continued, her head sinking back into the pillow slightly more and unfolding her forehooves as she felt at peace once more. “So what did you have planned for today?” Whooves asked, changing the subject to fit the more calmer mood. “Well, I’m booked in at the Symphony Hall for a practice session to get used to the acoustics of the hall this afternoon, so how about me, you and Treble go and take a slow walk along the old Canterlot Canal towards the hall and grab some brunch on the way. No doubt Treble will want to see the exterior of the Symphony Hall before I go and practice” she grinned “I think that shows he’s going to make a fine musician of himself” Whooves sniffed, getting the hint that she was teasing him “That’s the strangest pronunciation of the word ‘Doctor’ I’ve ever heard!” “How about we just meet halfway and say he’ll be a doctor of music?” Whooves pondered on this “Sounds reasonable. Where is he anyway, knowing him he should be wide awake by now” As if on queue Treble’s high pitched scream was heard from down the hallway. Not two seconds had passed before he frantically squeezed his way through the doorway and pounced onto the bed once more, his eyes widened in panic. Before either Whooves or Octavia could ask him what had happened the door to the room was flung open, revealing the imposing figure of Lyra framed in the doorway, a large brown fluffy dressing gown clinging to her body. “Afraid of the dark my flank, Octavia!” Completely dumbfounded by the situation Whooves turned to look at Octavia, who just grinned as her cheeks blushed a deep red. “Wow” Treble’s jaw dropped as he gazed upon the façade of the Symphony Hall. The white marble used in its construction almost glowing in the afternoon sunlight as the golden statures of pegasi, unicorns and earth ponies positioned round the roof shined like mirrors, reflecting the suns rays down onto the open market square just outside its entrance. Octavia, Whooves and Treble were standing just a few yards back from the steps leading up to the oak doors of the Hall, it towering impressively over them and dwarfing them. Octavia sat down on the ground, resting her heavy cello case she had been carrying on the ground next to her, with it’s strap still wrapped round her. She glanced at the clock tower at the other end of the square “Well, it’s almost time for me to begin with my practice” She leant down on her forhooves and gave Treble one last hug, before standing up to look at Whooves “I’ll see you both later then” “I would say good luck” chuckled Whooves “But I know for a fact you won’t need it” They rubbed noses with each other, and with one final smile Whooves and Treble set out into the town. Octavia clambered up the stairs to the foyer of the hall with her cello case, turning round to catch on last glimpse of her husband and son. Spotting in them in the small crowd, Treble had now climbed up onto Whooves back and was standing on his hind legs, drooping his body and forelegs over the top of his head. She smiled to herself as she turned and opened one of the large wooden doors with one of her forehooves. As much as she knew he never liked to show it in public, Whooves was certainly overjoyed at being a father. Treble clung onto Whooves mane as he walked down one of the streets branching off the market square. “So Treble” Whooves stopped walking in order to gain a greater sense of balance “Mother’s going to be an hour in the Symphony Hall at least, so where do you want to go first?” “The park” Treble clung onto Whooves mane tighter, causing him to wince. “The park it is then” Having realised that making his balance perfect was now out of the question, Whooves set off down the street once more with Treble. Neither of them noticing the unicorn leant up against a lamppost and reading a newspaper near to where they had been stood. The mare’s faded blue mane was tied back into a small but neat ponytail, making it take on a sleek appearance, but the most noticeable thing about her was the white porcelain ballroom mask, however it wasn’t noticeable until up close due to how it blended with her white coat, which was mostly covered up in a black cloak, draping down to the ground. Watching them walk off, the figure folded up their paper and began to walk in the direction of the Symphony Hall. “Once again, may I say what an honour this is, Mrs Whooves” Octavia rolled her eyes as one of the managers complimented her for the umpteenth time as he held open the door for her. He was a rather young cream coloured pony with a rather untidy cut of golden hair. A red cotton waistcoat tightly encased his white shirt and black bowtie, whilst a rather ill fitting grey overcoat hung off his thin body. Stepping through into the stalls the mass cavern of the auditorium enveloped them, almost making the interior of the building look bigger on the inside. Craning her neck to look around the lavish interior took Octavia’s breath away. Every red felt cushion on the seats was still plump and padded, every brass railing gleamed from hours of rigorous polishing and all the bulbs in the light fixtures were still glowing at the same level of brightness. “They certainly spared no level of detail when they rebult the hall” Octavia remarked as they ascended a small wooden staircase up onto the stage. “No Mrs Whooves” the manager replied “Truth be told this whole redesign of the hal was inevitable though, as it turns out after the last performance that was given in the old hall the building was to be gutted internally and rebuilt” “And why was that?” “Well, apparently there was to much timber used in the construction of the old hall. Several ponies feared that with the heat of the lamps it could cause the place to turn into an inferno should a fire arise. There’s no doubt the fire that destroyed the old hall proved that theory correct” Taking her cello case off her back and setting it down on the stage Octavia clicked back the catches and lifted the lid to reveal her highly polished instrument, taking a few moments to admire it. Oh, if only it could retell the musical journey it had been on with her, she thought, thinking back to when she had first received it from her parents on Hearth’s Warming several years ago up until this point in time. Her thoughts were interrupted by a cough from the stage manager. “If there’s anything you require, I’ll just be out in my ticket office in the foyer” “Thank you” Octavia smiled, lugging her cello out of its case and positioning herself on her hind legs as she prepared to practice. The manager walked out into the gleaming foyer, looking down at the polished marble floor and grinning at his reflection in its shine before continuing to walk onwards. He was surprised though when he came across a red notebook thrown on the floor just outside the booking office. Picking up and examining it he found it was the log for who was going to be practising in the auditorium at what time and date, left open on todays date. He looked about the empty foyer, finding it devoid of any life. Casually shrugging it off he carried the notebook back to the booking office, not noticing the cloaked figure slipping through the auditorium doors. With one final sweep of the bow across the strings, Octavia finished playing. Allowing herself to reflect on her playing, she rested against her cello and closed her eyes as she began to gather her thoughts, until… Clap. Clap. Clap. Octavia snapped out of her thoughts and looked out into the stalls where the sound had come from from. There was no one there. “Bravo Madam!” The voice of a mare came from the domed roof and echoed throughout the auditorium “Just as good as when I last heard you play” Octavia could feel the fear beginning to well inside her, she turned round and found herself looking at the back wall of the stage, with several stepladders and stage pulleys in front of it. She turned round and clung onto her cello ever more tightly as the mare spoke again “It’s funny isn’t it, this isn’t the first time we’ve met recently yet you still can’t tell who it is. I would have thought you would have recognised a voice like mine, you always commented on how nice it could sound when I spoke softly” Octavia simply stood in the silence, still resting up against her Cello, looking around and trying to pin point where the voice was coming from. She looked out into the mass cavern of the concert hall; just in time to see an indistinguishable cloaked figure sitting atop of the chandelier disappear in a red flash of magic. She could still sense somepony was there though, watching her from the shadows. Nervously, she flicked her hair back as she prepared to begin playing again. Her bow was about to touch the strings of her cello when she felt a hoof tap her back. She froze, not knowing if she should turn to look round or not. The only noise that now echoed through the auditorium was the sounds of Octavia and the mystery pony breathing. Slowly Octavia stepped down off of her hind legs onto all fours and laid her cello down on the stage floor, taking extra care to make sure it was firmly on the ground. Resting the bow on top she took a deep breath as she prepared to face her mystery stalker. The pony tapped her back once more “Octy?” “Octy?” Octavia swung round sharply. She found herself staring straight into the eyes of Vinyl Scratch, framed in the eye holes of her white porcelain ballroom mask.