Dark Town

by Michael Hudson

Ch. 1: The Ball

Author's Note:

Option C was the vote. Voting will end this time at midnight on August 21.

Octavia giggled as her hair was tousled by the black stallion. “Don’t worry little one, nothing’s happening. However, do you want to pretend there is something going on?”

She gave him a puzzled look. “But it’s bedtime?”

“Yes, but with all of this excitement, do you really think you’ll be able to get to bed?” He glanced over his shoulder as the clamor on the stairs grew louder. “Why don’t you be a cop, and I be a robber? You’ll go into your bedroom, count to ten, and then come find me. Afterwards, you can go to sleep.”

Octavia nodded as she smiled up at the strange colt and trotted back into her room. At about seven her door burst open with a guard coming in yelling, “Octavia, Octavia,”

======+++++======

”Octavia!”

She almost jumped out of her coat as her mother shook her awake. “You don’t have much time before we go. Now get dressed. Tonight is too important to be ruined by something as stupid as a lazy teenager.”

Octavia mumbled, “woman,” as she crawled out of bed and went to her dresser. She gave herself a small smile before giving out a small yawn. I suppose it makes sense that I would dream of that night on the ten year anniversary of it.” Of course it hadn’t been the first time she had dreamt of it, especially after she was finally told that the man was thought to have been after her or her father’s life. She gave a small shiver as she finished brushing her hair.

Octavia slipped into a loose black satin dress. It had a split up the side to make sure her cello cutie mark could still be seen for all to admire. Coming out of her room she nodded at the two guards and swiftly trotted down to the foyer. Her father, a white coated and yellow maned stallion, glanced up as she came down the stairs and beamed at her.

“I can’t believe my daughter was invited to play at the Rogue’s Ball. I am so proud of you.”

Octavia hugged her father before stepping back and smirking at him. “And I’m certain your connection to Queen Luna had nothing to do with that?”

Her father sighed. “I wish it had. I only mentioned that I had a daughter who played the cello during our latest yearly meeting. It doesn’t matter though. What does is that you play your best tonight and do your family proud.”

“And that you make sure to stay you. Those rouges will probably be after a beautiful mare like you who is new to being full grown. Don’t let them take advantage of you.”

Octavia watched as her mother’s eyes darted to her father and then went down. She put a hoof against her mother’s chest with a confident smile. “I understand mom. I promise to do my best.” The two hugged just as the doorbell rang.

Octavia watched as the door swung open and revealed an old bearded brown stallion in a patched together tuxedo. “Hello, I am here to pick up a miss Octavia.” He didn’t wait for anyone to respond before walking up to her. “I hope you are ready.”

Octavia glanced over and thanked a servant as her cello was brought to her. “Thank you, and I am ready sir.”

He nodded and sighed. “I am sorry I can’t help you with that. How do you plan on.” He became silent as Octavia tipped the cello and allowed it to fall onto her back while her knees bent slightly. “I suppose we can go then.”

Once within the carriage that the stallion had brought, he said, “My name is Alert. I am one of Queen Luna’s principle advisors and you should be honored to find yourself playing tonight. I have no idea who it was that requested you play, but you will follow the rules of the Rogue’s ball even if it was the Queen herself. Understood?”

Octavia cleared her throat before nodding slightly.

“Good. Now, you will not discuss the ball with anyone who was not there, including your parents. If you are invited to next year’s, you will not divulge the location, time, and date even upon penalty of death. Finally, you are to commit no crimes to one another. This is an event for the underground’s best to get together and trade secrets and create their fragile partnerships. We will not be having any trouble during this, or else.”

Octavia nodded again before asking, “What do you mean by ‘or else’?”

The stallion waited for a few moments before responding in a grim tone. “Luna is in attendance. If someone breaks the rules, she will punish the offender personally.”

Octavia nodded, the weight of the night threatening to crush her. She felt questions race through her mind, but dismissed them all, afraid now to get the answers. She was silent as she was escorted out of the carriage and sent through a backdoor that led underground. The corridor was silent, and lit only by dim red lights. Finally, they reached a door and it swung open as she reached the bottom step.

“Hi there!”

Octavia took a step back as the pair of giant yellow eyes came in close. “My name is Lyra, and I’ll be playing with you on stage tonight.”

Octavia recovered and held her hoof out. “Octavia, and it is a pleasure to meet you.” After pausing she added, “Have you done this before?”

Lyra shook her head. “No, but one of the others told me that for the most part it’s peaceful. The rules don’t allow much horseplay, and a lot of these colts relish in the chance to relax. However, I would keep your bow nearby. I hear not all of the stallions here are very polite when it comes to treating hotties like us.”

Octavia rolled her eyes at the compliment. “We should be getting ready. How long do we have to practice?”

“An hour. We play for the first five hours, and then a second set of musicians will be taking our place.”

Octavia glanced at her cello and felt her heart begin to race. Her cello wasn’t of poor quality, but she had never performed for that long before. I haven’t even practiced that long at once. She shook the worry out of her head and went to where the pianist and singer were waiting.

Octavia fell into the practice, but could never shake the fear in herself that something was going to go wrong. However, the practice went well, and they organized themselves for the performance, confident each was ready for this. That was before the curtain was pulled away and standing on the stage was Queen Luna.

She stood tall with her long dark blue legs. Her starry mane almost drifted back to where their singer was standing, and the mare must have been experience as she didn’t flinch as the tail tickled her leg. She glanced back, the light blue armor she wore under her purple dress shined in the spotlight. In the middle of the chest plate was the element of magic which glowed with a soft purple light. She gave them a small smile before spreading her wings and flying to a balcony high above.

Octavia turned as Lyra tapped her and gave her a shaky smile. She returned the gesture and raised her bow. She looked out at the crowd, before closing her eyes and beginning the music. She lost herself to it, dismissing her fears and worries to the beauty of the sounds that surrounded her. The five hours passed in a blur, and she panted as the new band relieved them.

“You were fantastic! I would love some tips on how you didn’t let this get to you.” Lyra gave out a large yawn and giggled slightly as she covered her mouth. “Sorry. I’m a little tired, so if you want, we can talk in the break room they have for us. Well, at least as long as I’m not passed out before you get there.”

Octavia nodded as Lyra slowly trotted away. She glanced at her cello and bit into her lip. Regardless of Lyra’s compliment, she had heard the strings coming out of tune in the last half-hour. Before she could give too much thought to how long the tuning process would take, a spindly dirty orange colt raced up to her.

“Er, are you Octavia?”

She smiled at the awkward young messenger. “Yes I am. What is it?”

“You have been requested for a private show with the mare that insisted you play tonight. She won’t reveal her identity now, but she will if you say yes.”

Octavia hesitated before answering. She was exhausted, and her strings might break if she didn’t treat them. She groaned at the thought of how long repairing her strings might take. Maybe Lyra has the right idea of just relaxing?

Do you think Lyra is right? Or should Octavia further her career with this private performance for a stranger? And if she does, what of her cello?

A: Go relax with Lyra
B: Tune her strings and treat her cello
C: Perform for her mysterious benefactor

Comments

[Frission]

4816977 That avatar picture.

[NobleValor]

I'd have to go with 'B' (possibly followed by 'C,' depending how long it takes to tune and treat a cello.) Octavia strikes me as the kind of girl to take care of her equipment, because without it she'd have no career. (Besides, if I had to guess, she probably cares more about her cello than anything else she owns in the world. It is on her cutie mark. )

[Down with Chrysalis]

I'd say C.

[Brown Books]

B

[Kersey475]

B. Need to keep your equipment in shape so politely say your instrument is unusable at the moment

If Queen Luna is a despot then laziness would probably get you into trouble which rules out A, and as for C... STRANGER DANGER!!!

[Robipony]

Is there a chance this story will be uncancelled?