//------------------------------// // VI - Candle in the Wind // Story: The Dancer // by Yip //------------------------------// Octavia quite liked tea. She had since she was a young filly, when she stole sips of oolong tea to the side of Vinyl’s crazy soda concoctions. Once the secret was out that she wasn’t drinking her mixtures, Octavia slowed her tea drinking until it became a once-in-a-blue-moon opportunity. In recent times, however, she began drinking it once more—ever since she got the news for Manehattan. ‘You okay, Octy?’ Vivace said across their booth’s table. ‘You haven’t said a word for half an hour.’ Octavia sipped from a steaming cup of tea resting in front of her. ‘I’ve just got a lot on my mind is all. Big moment for us here.’ ‘I’ll say. Hey, since when do you drink bitter tea?’ ‘Hm?’ Vivace shrugged. ‘I wanted to mention this earlier, but I wasn’t sure if you wanted me to talk or not... I noticed you got ginseng tea instead of that sweet stuff you usually get.’ ‘You mean oolong?’ ‘Yeah, that. Isn’t ginseng bitter or something?’ Octavia sighed and took another sip of her tea. She looked out the window, paused for a few moments, but she could not find what she was looking for. ‘I don’t know. Habits change, I guess.’ Octavia lowered her eyes, and Vivace frowned. ‘Quite observant of you, though.’ Octavia felt the floor vibrate a touch—at first, she blamed it on the train’s rumbling. Then, as Vivace began humming a quiet tune, she noticed her shaking a little. A tapping sound grew louder and louder from beneath the table. ‘Are you okay, Viv?’ The tapping ceased. ‘I’m just bored,’ Vivace replied flatly, laying her head on the table. ‘What is it, a two hour ride?’ ‘A little over that. We’ve already been on the train for two hours, Viv.’ Vivace groaned. ‘Then someone tell the conductor to go faster, because clearly the two hour quota was not met.’ Octavia giggled. It was the first for quite some time, and lasted very briefly. ‘You can try that if you really want. Let me know if it works out.’ Vivace smiled. ‘It’s good to see you smile at the very least.’ ‘Staccato,’ Octavia called out, turning heads her direction, 'what's the game plan once we reach Manehattan?' As Staccato opened his mouth to speak, Star Gazer turned around from his booth next to Octavia and Vivace. ‘I need to get you all acquainted with the Manehattan Amphitheatre’s owner and your soon-to-be manager before we head to your hotel. We’ll talk more about everything else this afternoon.’ ‘Is it fine if I stay with some family in the city?’ Vivace chipped in. ‘It’s not far away from the Amphitheatre; my aunt said she went there often when I came to visit her as a filly.’ ‘I see no problem with that. You’ll all probably stay somewhere relatively permanent if things work out anyway, so you’ve got a leg up there.’ Vivace turned to Octavia and smiled. ‘Sounds like everything checks out. Come with me once everything’s done and we can ask my aunt and uncle if you can stay.’ Octavia nodded. She blew softly at her cup and took a slow sip, then turned back towards the window. Her smile faded. ‘Thanks, Vivace.’ ‘Anytime, Octy!’ A glint appeared in the distance, through the window, fronted by long plains speeding by from the train. It quickly grew into a small, silvery object drawing closer and closer into full view. Octavia squinted. ‘Ah, here it is,’ Gazer remarked. ‘Welcome to Manehattan, Players. Well, almost.’ Vivace pressed her face into the window and stared out at same spot as Octavia, now seeing a slightly larger, more discernible building. ‘Ah, that’s shiny!’ Vivace said, squinting, as she removed her face from the pane. ‘How much bigger has the city gotten in the last several years?’ ‘The amphitheatre itself is actually fairly new, amongst many other things in the city. There have been a lot of changes—more tall buildings, more attractions, the works. A lot of them are quite dull, though. Corporate headquarters and such.’ Gazer smiled. ‘But they go through the boredom so they can be entertained by ponies like you in the evening.’ ‘What’s it like there, anyway?’ Sonata said. ‘What’s what like, my dear?’ ‘The amphitheatre.’ Gazer chuckled. ‘Ah, my apologies. Imagine, if you will, your theatre in Ponyville for a brief moment. Now imagine it wider, as in a one-eighty degree coverage of the audience. A half-circle on the stage, if you will, that sends out waves of music directly out into the audience. A piece of pie cut directly in half, and you have the full stage and aud—’ ‘Thank you,’ Sonata said with a quick laugh. ‘You’re pretty funny, you know that?’ ‘People have told me this many times, but I still don’t seem to understand why. I’m not one to tell many jokes.’ ‘Ooh, what sort of stuff can we do for fun tonight?’ Vivace said, darting her head Gazer’s direction. ‘I only came here as a little filly, never really explored much.’ Staccato harrumphed. ‘There shan’t be time for any of that for the next little while, unless something special pops up tonight. I suggest you focus on more important matters, such as passing as professional musicians for our possible manager. Rest is quite important too.’ Sonata narrowed her eyes. ‘Since when were you in charge of telling grown ponies what they should and shouldn’t do in their spare time?’ ‘I’m only looking out for the best—’ No sooner had Staccato raised his hoof in protest and began speaking than Gazer’s own hoof rose and covered the pianist’s mouth. ‘Please, let’s not worry too much about all of this. If something goes wrong, I’m sure the manager will give you plenty of opportunity to make your case.’ Staccato grumbled and returned his gaze to the magazine lying on the table at his booth, illustrating a magenta-coloured mare focused intently on playing a piano. Sonata rolled her eyes, and the train fell silent. ‘...A fine choice indeed,’ Gazer said, half-sighing. The train kept silent for the remainder of the trip, save a quiet whistling coming from Waltz. Sonata kept her hooves crossed, the twins had been sleeping in the back of the car, and Vivace kept darting her eyes around, looking for something to do, something entertaining that couldn’t be found. Octavia could not stop seeing a figure in the window, an indiscernible pony that repeatedly shifted to resemble her reflection. And every time it did, she realized it really was her reflection... yet, at the same time, it was still that same pony from the theatre. Allegrezza. A fine choice indeed. ~|D|~ The town hall was the largest building in Ponyville. Yet, despite standing tall in the midst of the small town, it would have barely scratched the second window on the three-storey train station, a lowly, older building lying close to the center of Manehattan. Surrounding it were even larger buildings, towering high above the Ponyville Players in their brick and granite-laden glory as they escaped the confines of the train. 'Everything's so... tall,' one of the twins said, mouth agape. 'What's there to do around the city?' 'There's a bit of nightlife and a couple of cider joints,' Gazer replied, 'but other than that, for folks such as yourselves, not much. Mostly entertainment for older ponies... by that I mean senior citizen-type entertainment. Although there’s some of that in the city too.’ He cleared his throat. ‘Anyway, that's why the amphitheatre is so important to the city—the music is a cultural thing, too.’ The group began walking, empty-handed, to the side of the train dock and away from the station. ‘What about our stuff?’ Vivace said quizzically. ‘And don’t we have to go to the station to check in first?’ ‘Everything’s already in place, my dear. Your things will be brought up to your hotel rooms—Octavia and Vivace, they’ll be waiting in the lobby—and the station is only there to sell tickets for outgoing customers. I dealt with the ticket handling on our way here.’ ‘Impressive,’ Staccato said, nodding his head once. They came across a street going down their left and right as far as they could see. It was busy, but not terribly so, as a chariot being pulled by various earth ponies passed them by once every six or seven seconds. On the other side of the street, several varieties of shops stood tall over the passing residents, and on their side, a few more nameless buildings. Looking left, a distinct building with golden-yellow windows and two flags heralding the front entrance, and on the right down a ways, an entire block dedicated to a single two-storey building mostly unseen by the group. ‘Well, here we are. Convenient that these two are so close, eh?’ Star Gazer remarked. ‘Whereabouts will you be staying again, my dears?’ Vivace looked out for a moment. ‘I think it’s down a couple blocks from the amphitheatre,’ she said, looking far to the right. ‘I remember the hotel being a little farther away.’ ‘Alright, so I’ll let you two deal with that once we’re done with your future manager, eh?’ Star Gazer smiled and made his way to the amphitheatre, where the others soon followed. ‘You’ll be staying at that hotel we saw a moment ago—it’s called the “Mane Fair Hotel”. We’ll look for a more permanent residence for you all if the manager likes your stuff. It’s dreadfully difficult finding one when you haven’t even lived in this city before, so I’m sure you wouldn’t have to do a thing.’ ‘Who else uses the amphitheatre?’ Sonata said. ‘Some theatre troupes do shows there, various other acts both musical and play-related... not too many notable names make their home here. One group, though, has been here for a while.’ ‘Which one?’ Star smiled, and when they reached the amphitheatre double doors, stopped for a moment. ‘I think you’ll be quite pleased to know that this particular group is playing a concert tonight, and we reserved—’ ‘IS IT...’ Vivace shouted, eyes widening, ‘...IS IT THE LONELY HOOVES? I KNOW THEY’RE IN TOWN!’ ‘See for yourself.’ Star Gazer pushed open the right door, revealing the most spacious, stunning—and very, very red—room any of the Players had ever laid their eyes on. A small ticket podium was right in front of them, and down past it was a red-carpeted aisle up until it reached the stage a little further than a stone’s throw away. The stage itself formed a semicircle, as did the entire room, along with the curved rows of cushioned seats that filled the building wall-to-wall. Above the seats were about a half-dozen high-rise balconies all spread out along the amphitheatre curvature, and on the ceiling, several dozen ponies standing behind a bass drum and a small garden with the word “Rubber Soul” painted in yellow. Speaking to a cyan-coloured stallion on the stage were four formal-looking ponies, all smiling with haughty postures. ‘They're... they're here,' one of the twins said, mouth agape. The other twin dashed to catch Vivace, who fainted on the spot. The commotion was loud enough to draw the attention of one Lonely Hoof, who was soon followed by the other four stallions on the stage. 'Star Gazer, good to see you!' the cyan pony said, smiling wide. ‘I trust the journey to Ponyville and back was safe, yes?' 'Indeed it was, and I found you an excellent group to replace The Icebreakers—especially their star, the lovely Miss Octavia.' 'What does she play?' a Lonely Hoof, with small circular glasses, inquired. Octavia blushed. 'I play the cello. But we're a unit—I don't want to take the credit for what our group has accomplished.' Staccato made a vague attempt at a nod; the other Players stood silent, including Vivace who had been placed and settled into a theatre seat. 'Nonsense, your talents almost surpass your loveliness,' Gazer said with a smile. 'I'll talk with you more about it later, Cerulean. I just wanted to get the Ponyville Players briefed before they went to the hotel.' 'Ponyville Players, eh?' Cerulean said, stroking his chin gently. 'Interesting. I’ve actually got my hooves a little preoccupied for the next... oh, year or so. The Lonely Hooves are doing a year-long tour around Equestria and a few surrounding kingdoms, and they requested me as their manager.’ ‘...Manager?’ Gazer replied, to which a Lonely Hoof nodded. ‘Then who will sign and manage the Players?’ ‘You used to be quite the manager several years ago, did you not?’ Star Gazer stood silent for a few moments, then turned to the Players. They smiled back, a few of them a touch bothered by the turn of events. ‘That I did, Cerulean. That I did.’ Gazer paused. ‘I suppose I’ve already seen a little bit of their work—’ Octavia smiled sheepishly. ‘—but it’s up to them. Regardless of whether you accept me as your manager or not, I’ve got an act for you to open tomorrow.’ ‘Can we have a moment to talk things over?’ Staccato said. ‘We just want to make sure we’re all on the same page.’ ‘Certainly.’ The Players all moved to the back of the amphitheatre and huddled into a circle. Star Gazer resumed his conversation with Cerulean and the Lonely Hooves. ‘I don’t really see a problem with having him as our manager,’ Sonata said, prompting Octavia, the twins and Waltz to nod their heads. ‘He already has experience, and we don’t want to risk not having one when we open tomorrow.’ ‘He’s a mite odd, though,’ Staccato said. ‘Do you really want that kind of unpredictability as a manager?’ ‘Should we get Vivace in this?’ Octavia asked. ‘If we have a majority vote here, it shouldn’t matter,’ Sonata replied. ‘Besides, I’m sure she wouldn’t mind having someone as strange—if not stranger—than she is.’ Staccato sighed. ‘So we won’t have her vote—is anyone opposed to the idea of having Star Gazer be our manager, whether we fail to impress him tomorrow or not?’ No one made any sudden movements. ‘Alright then.’ Staccato broke away from the huddle and called out to Staccato, who turned to his direction. ‘We’ll take you up on your offer, Mister Gazer. We’d be more than happy to have you manage our group.’ ‘Great!’ Gazer said, smiling brightly. ‘Took me a moment to really grasp the fact that I’m back in the managing business for a bit, but I’m glad I’ll be doing it with ponies like you. Now, the instruments should be off the train and on their way here, so if at any time you want to practice with each other or individually, you can head to the back of the amphitheatre and grab them in the break room. For today, though, you should head back to the hotel.’ ‘You don’t need anything more from us?’ Staccato asked. ‘I just need to do some paperwork, which I’ll get you to sign tomorrow if you open for the group well enough. By the way, have you ever heard of the “Equine Principle”?’ The Players shook their heads. ‘Well, you’ll get to hear them tomorrow once you’re finished. You’ll also get to hear from—’ ‘I’m Imagine,’ the Lonely Hoof with small circular glasses interrupted. ‘Sorry Gazer, I just wanted to say it myself. We’re playing our first show of the tour here in Manehattan, and since it’ll be a couple of days before we need to be in Fillydelphia, we wanted to stay and watch you guys tomorrow. In the meantime, we would like to offer you a few spare seats in our show tonight.’ Vivace had nearly come to, and was almost standing up straight, before she heard the news, she let out a short yelp and collapsed once more into the seat. ‘Heh, it seems your friend is on board. If any of you want to come, we’ve got some seats reserved for our special guests in the back—no one else we know personally is showing up, since we aren’t from around here, so we figured fellow musicians might appreciate them.’ ‘My goodness,’ Sonata said, smiling, ‘that’s very kind of you. I’ll tell our friend about it when she wakes up—I’m sure most, if not all of us, will show up.’ ‘Splendid!’ Star Gazer said, raising a hoof. ‘Now that that’s settled, we really need to get to work. I’m sure that you can all make it here tonight and tomorrow, so if you would be so kind as to leave, that’d make things go along much quicker.’ Octavia prodded Vivace. ‘Wake up, we need to head out.’ No response. ‘Hey, Vivace, the Lonely Hooves just invited us to their show tonight.’ Vivace sprung out of her seat, looking around until she caught sight of the Lonely Hooves on the stage. She waved, and they waved back, Imagine and another of their group chuckling as they did. ‘We have to head out, Vivace. There’s no way I can get to where we’re staying unless you come with me.’ Vivace looked to Octavia and sighed. ‘I guess so. I just wanted to stay with these guys is all.’ ‘You’ll get the chance tonight and tomorrow, Viv.’ Octavia began walking to the door, along with the rest of the Players. ‘You guys all good for today?’ ‘I suppose so,’ Staccato replied. The group pushed open the door, out to the hustle and bustle of downtown Manehattan. ‘Don’t want to exhaust ourselves or anything. I’d suggest resting until tonight, when you could gather inspiration from a successful group like the Lonely Hooves.’ ‘At this point,’ Sonata said, ‘it’s really just nerves. As long as we can get enough rest and be relaxed enough for tomorrow, everything should be just fine.’ The group fell silent outside the Manehattan Amphitheatre. ‘Well, seems like we’re all on the same page. See you two tonight—or tomorrow, if for some reason you don’t want to see the greatest band of all time for free.’ Octavia and Vivace left in one direction, waving, as the rest of the group went the other way. ‘I really can’t wait for the show tonight!’ Vivace said. ‘You know, I saw them when I was a young filly, and then one of them looked at me, and he actually smiled at me, and one of them...’ Vivace’s voice trailed off as Octavia steadily tuned her out. She kept walking down the sidewalk, pausing only to wait for traffic to pass at an intersection. She nodded on occasion at Vivace’s words, who was satisfied enough to keep going. The dancer still plagued her mind—inexplicably, just one last time, she needed to see her again. ‘...Octy?’ Octavia was walking alone, several paces in front of Vivace, who had stopped in front of a two-storey light-green apartment building. She blinked, turned around and met the eyes of a concerned trumpeter. ‘This is the apartment here. Is something the matter?’ ‘No, not at all.’ Octavia smiled and followed Vivace inside. ‘Just lost in thought.’ ‘Well, I certainly hope that doesn’t happen at the show tonight. I’m sure there’s some tea in the apartment if you need to calm your mind.’ The two walked down a carpeted hallway on the first floor, stopping at a plain door numbered “12” on gold-painted metal. A note was posted right beneath the number. Vivace grabbed the note. ‘“for anyone who needs us, weve gone out to vanhoover for a few months, but well be back at the start of next winter... maybe. we rented a home there for a bit, but we might like it well enough to stay here... not a big fan of manehattan... if its some of our family needing a place to stay, the key is where youd expect us to put it... leave everything the way it is when youre done!!!”. Well, there you go. I’m sure that they’d be fine if friends of family showed up too, so you’re good, Octy.’ ‘What about the key? Do you know where it is?’ ‘No welcome mat, no nooks to hide it in... ah.’ Vivace turned the “2” and revealed a small yellow key taped down. She grabbed the key, smiled and unlocked the door. ‘Perfect.’ Vivace opened the door, giving way to a small entryway with a hat rack on the side. It led to a living room with a single couch and a coffee table with a radio sitting, dead, on it. There was a kitchen right next to the living room, complete with a fridge, sink, cabinets and a stove, as well as two doors on the right, ajar, containing a bathroom and a bedroom. ‘Where do you want to sleep, Octy?’ Octavia responded by collapsing on the sofa. ‘Great, I wanted the bedroom anyway. I’ll leave you to rest—I’ll wake you up when it’s almost time for the show, but before then, I’ll probably get some groceries. My aunt and uncle always leave a bit of money for family, and they owe me some for a favour I did them a while back. Would’ve stopped them from vacationing to the Crystal Empire!’ Octavia replied with a snore. ‘I guess you don’t want to hear the story then,’ Vivace said a little sullenly. ‘I’ll be back in a while if you can still hear me.’ Octavia dreamed of Ponyville, of the dancer, and of her lover. ~|D|~ ‘Octy, the show’s about to start.’ Octavia did not respond. ‘Come on, wake up already. It’s been a few hours.’ Octavia turned over and opened her eyes slowly. ‘I... I think I’ll stay here. I’ve got some stuff to think about.’ Vivace’s eyes widened. ‘Seriously Octavia, what’s the matter? You wouldn’t tell me on the train, I let you have a bit of time to get over it, but now I can’t let it go any longer. You’re my friend... I can’t let you be upset like this.’ Octavia rubbed her eyes and sighed. ‘We can talk about this later. You’ve been waiting to see them again for a long time, haven’t you?’ Vivace nodded slowly. ‘Then go have fun. I’m just a little homesick.’ Vivace thought for a moment, and then sighed. ‘Homesick, eh? Are you sure it’s not serious enough to be a major issue, but it’s serious enough to not come to the show?’ Octavia nodded. ‘I just don’t want to go is all. I’m not feeling it.’ ‘It wouldn’t be as fun without you.’ ‘Even if that’s true, you’ll still have a blast going with the others.’ Vivace closed her eyes, took in a deep breath and sighed once more. ‘Alright. But please, as soon as we’re both awake at the same time, we can talk about you being homesick. I’ll also get a busboy or someone to help me with getting our stuff from the hotel after the show is done.’ ‘Deal.’ Vivace opened her mouth, prepared to say something. It hung there for a while, closed, then opened again, and closed again. She left the apartment quickly, leaving a silent, groggy Octavia alone. Octavia still wondered what her fascination was with the dancer, or why it came to dominate her life so much. She didn’t sleep a minute longer that night.