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// Pyjamas for Ostinato 
// Story: Ostinato 
// by bobthedalek 
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Time seemed to pass quickly in Colton-on-Sea that afternoon. Soon the constant sound of the gulls squawking to each other had died out and the clear blue sky had faded to the mix of purple and deep rich navy blue of the night.

Letting his body go limp, Ostin sank back into the plush mattress and pillows on his bed, pulling the hoof stitched bed covers up to underneath his chin. Given how much travelling and unpacking he’d done that day he was completely tired out, and a great sense of relief came over him as he took all of the weight off of his hooves.

He’d left the blind up on skylight in the sloped roof above the bed, through which he could now see out to the clear night sky high above. It was only now that he realised this was his first proper chance at seeing the stars twinkling overhead. Back when he was living with Arkwrong there was no chance of that due to the heavy industrial nature of the town. The clear night sky there was always choked with the thick smog emitting from the mills and factories, mixed with the ever constant glow of the furnaces that produced the smoke, making it look like the whole area was ablaze with a dull orange light.

The beauty of the spectacle amazed Ostin. Eventually though, the hypnotising notion of the stars twinkling began to take its toll on him. His eyes lids gradually became heavier, and he soon found himself unable to keep his tongue from lolling out of his mouth. With one more desperate attempt to find some energy to stay awake with, Ostin’s head turned to its side and hit the soft pillow with a barely audible thump. And not soon after, the heavy sound of a young stallion snoring deeply filled the room.





“Ostin?” Sandy’s voice echoed through the house “Ostin?”

Ostin’s eyes shot open and he threw a glance at the clock hanging up on the wall. It was quarter to ten. A sense of panic suddenly overcoming him, he shot out of his bed like a rocket and quickly pulled on a new shirt along with a purple tank top, flinging open the door to his room afterwards. He bolted down the first flight of stairs as quickly as he could, trying his best not to trip over himself, and running up the wall slightly as he turned the sharp corner at the bottom to turn back down the corridor. Suddenly he stumbled on the thick, spongy carpet, sending him into a forward roll. Summersaulting down the second and final flight of stairs, he landed with a loud thump in a sitting position on the bottom step.

It was only then, as he looked up to see Tonnage walking past him towards the back of the house, shaking his head in a sympathetic fashion whilst carrying that morning’s post that Ostin suddenly realised, he didn’t live with his uncle anymore, and this wasn’t the house he’d grown up in. To his knowledge, there was no shop to keep which meant that there was no need to be able to rush downstairs in ten seconds flat unless there was fire.

“Oh, I thought you were still sleeping” Ostin turned his head to the right to find Sandy looking at him, wearing a rather tightly fitting red apron, tied back with a big black cord round the waist, almost looking like a karate black belt. She picked up a comb that was resting on a dresser in the narrow corridor with her magic and glided it over to Ostin, neatly styling his hair into a comb over. “Anyhow, what’s say I cook up some breakfast to help those cute little muscles of yours grown big and strong?”

Resting the comb back on the dresser she trotted off back to the kitchen as Ostin shook his mane back to its natural style. Given the feast he’d sat through the day before, he wasn’t all to keen to see the size of a regular Colton-on-Sea style breakfast. Before he had any time to dwell on it though he felt a faint aura tingling him from the back of his tank top collar as Sandy gently picked him up. Letting his body droop in the air, Ostin found himself being carried towards the kitchen at the back of the house. He had a feeling that this was going to become a habit to Sandy.

The kitchen was rather at odds with the rest of the house. Given how the house itself wasn’t very wide, all of the rooms tended to be built lengthways to maximise the space, however this one was the only room to be built width ways, making it seems much wider than it actually was. A large pantry took up all of the room space on the right hand side of the room that ran under the stairs, and the rest of the room was bordered with a light oak wood surfaced kitchen worktop, matching the large traditional wooden table and chairs in the centre of the room where Tonnage was now sat, reading that mornings paper in a silence that Ostin had now grown somewhat accustomed to.

Drifting Ostin towards the table Sandy used her magic to pull out a chair for him and placed him down on it, using her magic to tuck his chair in. Underneath him a shiny black and white patchwork lino covered the floor. The small pieces of wall that were visible amongst the many white kitchen cupboards were painted a pale duck egg blue.  On the back wall of the kitchen two large windows let the morning sunshine flood into the room, and the opened door let the fresh clean costal air sweep away all the imaginary cobwebs in Ostin’s groggy head. Out through the door Ostin could see a lush green lawn stretching out towards a single mighty oak tree at the bottom of the garden, a dark red and cream coloured sun lounger hanging from one of its thick branches swinging gently in the breeze. The whole garden itself was framed with terracotta plant pots of different shapes and sizes adorned with many flowers of different colours and patterns.

“So, how did you sleep?” Sandy asked, busying herself at the cooker.
“Well, it was comfortable” Ostin began, stumbling “But, um…it was rather cold”

Stopping what she was doing, Sandy craned her head round and glared at Tonnage, who promptly tried to bury his head back into his newspaper. Ostin was quite sure he wasn’t meant to have seen that.

“Well, let’s not worry about that just now” Sandy clearly seemed to be bottling up some frustration “First, we eat”

Ostin’s eyes bulged in their sockets and his ears folded back in fear as Sandy promptly plated up a tall tower of pancakes, almost swimming in syrup, and used her magic to place them down on the table in front of him. He stared down at his belly, then back at the pancakes, quickly realising that the tower was probably more than twice the size of his stomach. He gulped. Just how many of Sandy’s mammoth sized pancakes could he get through before he’d have to be rushed to A&E in an ambulance to have his stomach pumped?

“So, Ostin” Sandy turned off the stove and put the frying pan in the sink “Your uncle said that you don’t start working till tomorrow, right?”

Ostin had always been taught not to talk during eating, and as such was unprepared for speaking; causing him to choke on the pancake he was trying to wolf down. Tonnage leant over and gave him a quick but heavy pat on the back with one of his forehooves, ceasing his choking instantly.

“Yes” Ostin finally replied, taken by surprise at how Tonnage hadn’t snapped his spine like a twig.
“So, what did you have planned for today, your last day of freedom?”
“I don’t know” Ostin pondered “Probably go into the town, take a look at some of the scenery, maybe go down to the beach…”
“That sounds nice…” Sandy put her own plate of pancakes down on the table “But tell me Ostin, do you actually know the direction to the town centre?”
Ostin raised his hoof to speak, but quickly realised “N-No…”
“Well then” Sandy sat down at the table “I’m heading into town this morning as well. So you can come along with me, I’ll show you around the place, and then I can also get you some nice pyjamas for you to wear to bed”
“PYJAMAS!” Ostin was quite taken aback by the word “Why?”
“Well, I know that your room isn’t going to get any warmer” Sandy took a bite of her pancakes “Isn’t that right, Tonnage?”
Tonnage buried his head in his newspaper once again.
“I don’t quite follow…” Ostin trailed off.
“Well Ostin” Sandy flicked her mane back “A month ago we had the house inspected, where it was revealed that the insulation in the loft room needed replacing. Tonnage here was quite certain he could do just as good of a job as any insulation company. I told him we should have hired out somepony, but he assured me he’d done a perfect job, it seems not”
Again, Tonnage dared to reveal his face.
“So, because he won’t be able to correct it for quite some time, I think it’d be best to get you some nice pyjamas to keep out the cold”
“But…” Ostin started.
“No buts Ostin!” Sandy was quite firm “You’re coming shopping with me whether you like it or not” 

Having finished her own share of breakfast and quickly realising that Ostin clearly wasn’t going to be able to eat any more than just under a quarter of the pancakes she’d given him, Sandy grabbed him by the scruff of his tank top collar with her magic once again, lifting him up and out of his chair and carrying him towards the front door.





Ostin was quite surprised to find that at the bottom of the street where Sandy and Tonnage lived was a tram stop. Even more surprising to him was the fact that the trams that ran on it were one hundred year old double decker tramcars. He’d seen photographs of the similar tramway that used to run outside his uncle’s shop, but that system had been ripped up several years ago due to how congested the streets became at times, so it was quite odd to see something that he had only ever seen in history books working in the flesh. He and Sandy took seats on the upper deck of the tramcar, allowing Ostin to take a rather scenic view of the streets they coasted down as they went further towards the centre of Colton-on-Sea. 

“So” Ostin began, striking up a conversation “Just how much has my uncle told you about me?”
“Enough for me to know that it’s not just Tonnage’s shabby handy work that’s causing you to feel the cold so much at night” Sandy flicked back part of her mane that had fallen across her face “He also told me how nervous you get because of it. It’s nothing to be embarrassed about Ostin, Tonnage used to catch the cold easily when I first met him”
“Really?” Ostin’s ears perked up a bit, surprised that such a great stallion could have the same problem as him “How did he overcome it?”
“Oh, well that was easy; I’d take hold of his great muscly body with both my hooves, feel his body pressed against mine and…” Sandy trailed off as she suddenly realised that what she was about to say probably wasn’t the best thing to declare in the middle of a packed tramcar. She looked back at Ostin, who was still looking at her with wide eyes, oblivious as to the turn that the conversation could have just taken “…and…err, made him wear his pyjamas that I brought him” Sandy lied through her teeth.
“…Oh…” Ostin resumed looking at the scenery passing by his window as an awkward silence ensued “Tonnage doesn’t talk much, does he?”
“No” Sandy pushed her wire framed glasses back up her nuzzle “He may seem tough because of it, but he’s a big soppy softy at heart”

Ostin rolled his eyes; he was still finding this hard to believe.





With two rings of the old fashioned bell, the tramcar lurched forward and went off down the road, leaving Sandy and Ostin on the pavement. The faint musty smell of static electricity sparks from the pickup on top of the tram touching the electricity cables still lingered in the air for a good few seconds after it had left.

“And this Ostin…” Sandy put a hoof round his neck whilst outstretching her over forehoof to point forward “…is Colton-on-Sea”

Looking around him, Ostin was quite surprised at how much the scenery had changed given they’d only travelled for ten minutes. Gone were the tall, pastel coloured buildings and tiled mosaic floors from where his new home was, and instead all the buildings were now built from sandstone, which over the course of time had become aged and weathered, adding much character. 

They were both stood in the middle of a large town square. The ground underneath was cobblestone, save for the tram tracks cutting through it, that had been clearly worn down over hundreds of years since it was first laid down. In the centre of the square was a large fountain, the centrepiece of which was a large bronze statue of an earth pony in a full suit of armour, standing proudly atop of a large, jagged slab of rock, holding a lance with the banner of the celestial flag attached to it tightly against their body. Behind the fountain were the large steps leading up towards the town hall. Its tall columns rose high into the air supporting the vast roof, decorated with carvings of ponies of every lifestyle and class coming together to form one large group. One top of the hall itself was the great clock tower, again ornately carved from sandstone rock with sweeping curves and patterns. With an almighty low chime the bell inside signalled 11AM.

To their left was a row of houses, built in the signature style of Colton-on-Sea, being incredibly slim, but with an extra floor below ground and in the attic space to compensate for the width space lost, though this batch were built in sandstone to  match the surrounding architecture. On the right were the great iron railings that surrounded the public park. Though it was bordered with great oak trees behind the railings, obscuring most of the view, Ostin could just make out an old fashioned boating lake beyond the park entrance way, again ornately fashioned in black painted steel bars.

Sandy turned round to look behind “…and this Ostin, is where you’re going to be working” 

Ostin turned round to follow Sandy’s gaze, but there was no real need to with how big the building was. His jaw dropped. When he’d applied as an intern for the music department of the theatre he’d expected a rather small, run down theatre that was falling to bits. Instead, before him was a rather large box shaped building, decorated with columns, sandstone brickwork, a great window archway halfway up the building that lead onto a small balcony, and a giant stone celestial crest built onto the front of the roof. Either side of the building were two imposing towers, both topped with giant domes fashioned from lead sheet, making them look sleek and smooth. At the front of the building a stained glass façade offered shelter to theatre goers, whilst also directing them to the appropriate parts of the theatres that their tickets corresponded to. Private box tickets were signposted for the right hand side, ponies for the cheaply priced upper circle entered through the left and those who were to sit in the stalls and dress circle entered through a great set of mighty oak doors in the middle. What shocked Ostin most off all was the great golden letters affixed to the top of the building just below the crest, letters that read ‘Opera House’. If it had been possible, Ostin’s jaw would have probably dropped further when he realised that he wasn’t seeing things.

“I-I-I…” Ostin stuttered, shaking his head slowly in disbelief.
“Well…” Sandy was anticipating his reaction.
“I didn’t realise it was an Opera House!”
“Oh Ostin, there hasn’t been an opera performed here in years” Sandy shook her head “They just keep the ‘Opera House’ sign up there to make it more appealing to the tourists”
“Huh” Ostin finally found he was able to look away from the awe inspiring building “Do you go to the theatre with Tonnage often?”
“Oh gosh, no” Sandy replied “Tonnage often gets complained about for being so tall when he sits down, and he finds it impossible to see from the back” she chuckled to herself “He refuses to use the opera glasses they supply as he feels they make him look feminine!”

Ostin looked back at the building; the thought of Tonnage sitting amongst the tiny figures of high society ponies amused him greatly.

“But anyway” Sandy brought him out of his day dream “It’s time for us to go shopping!”

Ostin wasn’t looking forward to this…





Sandy’s main port of call for her shopping was a grand department store located a couple of streets away from the square. Gone was the sandstone brickwork that seemed to be a staple for this area of the town, and instead was a modern looking building stretching down the entire street. Above the ground floor was much more antiquated structure constructed from black wooden beams and white plastered walls, stretching over the edge of the ground floor and offering a large shady veranda for the pavement outside, edged with large columns made from Sandstone blocks. Having walked past the giant glass windows that lined the store’s exterior Ostin had been given a glimpse of the variety of wares available inside. There were silks from Saddle Arabia, the latest fashions from Manehattan, Strawberry Jam from the Westbeach coast and wines and cheeses from Trottingham but to name a few.

Everything that happened in the first half hour from when Ostin stepped through the great entrance doors was pretty much a blur. He’d never been exposed to such an array of rich colours, items and appliances. Amongst all of this though certain things did imprint themselves in his memory, such as the silk smoking jacket and cap in a shop display, the brass plating and iron grate styled doors inside the elevators and the lobster isle in the food court.

It was then that Ostin suddenly snapped out of his beautiful, kaleidoscope style daydream to find himself in the stallions clothing section of the department store. Gone were the wild and varied colours, and instead the walls of the room were painted a bright matt white, with tiles on the floor and ceiling to match. He quickly became aware of a great weight pulling down on his bottom jaw and looked down to find he was holding a shopping basket handle with his teeth, the basket itself being loaded up with pens, paper and other writing supplies.

Sandy picked out a tartan styled set of pyjamas and held it up to Ostin’s chest, briefly admiring it against him “No, no that doesn’t look right”

She put them back and then took out another set fashioned with a brown, ochre and black patchwork pattern, admiring them against him for what felt like an eternity before replacing them. Ostin was sure she was dragging this out as long as she could.

“Oh, these look perfect” Sandy took another pair from the rail with her magic.

Ostin let out a heavy sigh, looking down to find a white pair of pyjamas with blue stripes being held against his chest. “They actually do look quite nice” He held up a sleeve and looked at it closer.

“They’re a little large I’ll admit” Sandy went on, still in a total world of her own where she was a fashion expert “However I’m sure I can pin back the sleeves and legs to fit you, and then I can let them out when you get some big muscles like Tonnage”

Ostin’s eyebrows dropped, he knew he could never achieve that. Content with her days work, Sandy neatly folded the pyjamas into the shopping basket and taking it out of Ostin’s mouth with her magic she trotted over towards the counter for the department. She was clearly making sure she brought them before Ostin could take back his words. Ostin just shook his head as he saw her full of happiness.





Once again, the sound of the seagulls had stopped for the day and the great sky above Colton-on-Sea had faded to night. Ostin was in his room in the attic, sat on his haunches in front of the full length mirror in his room as he finished buttoning up the shirt of his pyjamas. The blind for the skylight was once again left up, displaying the constellations of the Equestrian sky, tonight illuminated further by the new moon cycle that had emerged. Popping the last button through its appropriate hole, he smoothed out the shirt with his hooves before casting his eyes upwards at his reflection. 

Sandy had been true to her word and shortened the sleeves and legs as soon as they had gotten home, with almost too much enthusiasm for both Ostin and Tonnage’s liking, the outcome had been one that was very smart with the extra stitching blending in perfectly. Ostin wondered whether or not she had ever considered becoming a seamstress at some point in her life. He gave a gentle pull on his tail, making sure that it was comfortably through the hole at the back of the top of the pyjama bottoms. He had to admit that, they did actually look very fitting for him, and the thick felt like material they were made out of made them incredibly warm. 

Walking over to the other side of the room he opened the door and made his way downstairs to the living room.





The living room was a small box room at the front of the house, and like all the other rooms apart from Ostin’s it had ceilings much higher than a normal house. Deep green wallpaper hung from the walls; edged with white skirting boards save for the wall of the room that faced the street outside, where a big bay window took up almost all of the wall space. Tonnage was sat with his back to the long velvet curtains that now hung in front of the window whilst reading a newspaper, making a black two pony sofa look like an armchair. Sandy was sat on the larger, three pony sofa across from him, wearing some different glasses with thick black frames and prism style lenses, sat on her haunches and using the armrest as a desk, scribbling down notes on scraps of paper that she kept in a small wooden box on a shelf besides the chimney breast which stuck out of the wall opposite the door. A small coal fire was burning behind the metal matt black grill of the fireplace, keeping the room comfortably warm.

With a faint click of the door handle, Ostin pushed the door open and walked into the room, stopping with every other step and pulling the forehoof sleeves up due to Sandy not stitching them back far enough.

Sandy looked up from her writing “Well, come on Ostin, give us a twirl”

Letting out a sigh, Ostin walked round on the spot on the thick Persian carpet that lay on the floor.

“Aww” Sandy pulled him back onto the sofa for a hug and ruffled his mane “You look just like a cute little teddy bear, don’t you agree Tonnage?”

Tonnage didn’t say a word. He just cast his eyes upwards for a split second, let out a heavy sigh and went back to reading his newspaper.

For a short while, the room was plunged into silence as Ostin still sat there on the sofa as Sandy continued to hug him, gently stroking the back of his mane of his mane as she did so. He didn’t make any attempt to move. He’d never experienced something like this before when he lived with his uncle, and as simple as it was it felt…nice, reassuring. It was actually starting to make him slightly sleepy. There was only one question going through Ostin’s mind now.

“Sandy?” He asked “Why are you doing all of this for me?” 
Sandy paused for a short moment, glancing up at a small photograph of a young stallion in armour of the royal guard, before continuing to stroke his blonde mane “My little colt flew the nest a good few years back…quite literally” She chuckled slightly at that thought, looking over at Tonnage and silently cursing the fact that his Pegasus genes had been more prominent between them both “And I want you to have the best possible time whilst you stay here with us”

Ostin wasn’t sure just how long Sandy continued to stroke his mane after that, though he had a feeling that he must have been in her hooves for at least fifteen minutes. His eyelids began to feel much heavier with every second that went by. He began focusing on the sound of the grandfather clock in the hallway ticking rather loudly against the sound of the fire crackling. He felt sleepy, very sleepy. 

“Well” Sandy stopped stroking Ostin’s mane and put her put her pen and paper scraps back in their box with her magic aura, yawning “I think it’s time that we were all going to bed”

As if on cue, Ostin’s head drooped and lolled against Sandy’s mane as he dropped off to sleep, snoring ever so faintly as his breathing blew a few strands of hair out place. Feeling his weight gradually increasing as he drifted further into the land of nod, Sandy realised she had to move quickly. She gently used her magic to pick up Ostin (she was becoming more skilled at this than she wanted to admit at it now) and began to smoothly float him out of the door to the living room and towards the stairs. She walked over to Tonnage, pulling down his newspaper with one forehoof and using the other to raise herself up so her head up to just level with his.

“Don’t be too long Tonnage, or I’ll take up all the covers” She gently rubbed her nuzzle against his as they both chuckled to each other, Tonnage letting slip a rare smile.