Her Magnum Opus

by Miss Marionette

There and Back Again

I don’t know how long Octavia and I just sat there, staring at her grave. Her empty grave, to be more specific. It was almost as if I was waiting for her body to just suddenly materialize in the grave. Look back at me. Something. The body, of course, never materialized. Octavia herself was quiet, just sitting there with me, staring at the empty grave. Eventually, I began to feel the world start to pick up again around me. Snow was falling again, heavily, the clouds blotting out the sun, and yet the city slowly beginning to come to life around me. I made a choice. I had to collect everything, and think it over.

It was Manehatten, so naturally it wasn’t hard at all to find a disposable camera. I bought one with the bits I always kept with me, before rushing over to the grave. Nope, still no body inside of the grave. I made sure to take a picture, to show to Lyra and Bon Bon when I finally got back to Ponyville. They would probably not believe me, otherwise. Tartarus, after the whole suicide note, they’d probably be ready to chuck me off to a sanitarium for my ‘mental health’ if I tried that. It would not be good for my investigation...Or anything, for that matter.

“So, Vinyl, tell me...What is the plan now? Now that we know that I’m...not dead. Wow. I never thought that I’d be saying that. I thought that reminding you I was dead would become commonplace. It’s...Kind of a very good thing that that won’t be my duty anymore,” Octavia said, sitting on my bed while I myself paced, mentally putting together all the bits and pieces of the whole mystery.

“Shouldn’t that slightly worry you? I mean, if I...No, when I find Octavia, alive, that means that you are probably going to vanish.” I had grown a bit fond of my mental projection of Octavia. Maybe that was because I was mentally unstable anyway, or it was simply because she was the fill-in Octavia till I find the real one. None the less, my mental projection just gave out a small laugh, rolling her eyes.

“Vinyl, please. I’m part of your subconscious. I want what you want, as long as it is to a believable degree of what Octavia would act like,” Octavia said, shrugging her shoulders. I rolled my eyes. Having to be told the details of mental projections by something you were mentally projecting was a bit like a slap in the face. “Now, do tell me...What is the plan now?” She asked, cocking an eyebrow.

“The plan now? Find you. Get the answers around your death. Just, fix things, really. I don’t know how, after you’ve been dead for a month….But, I’d find a way to return things to how they were before this whole thing. Long story short, I’m going to make sure that when I find you, wherever you are, I bring you home,” I finally said, glancing at the window and just watching the snow fall. “...I’ll bring you home, and we’ll watch the snow fall, just like we used to," I went on, closing my eyes and thinking back. “You always loved the snow…”

Octavia suddenly was next to me, wrapping me in her forelegs and tugging me close to herself. The embrace was bittersweet, really. I enjoyed the embrace, being held by Octavia like so many times before. After a rough gig, or when my manager was trying to jerk me around, Octavia would just hug me from the side and we’d sit there. No talking. No fidgeting. Nothing. Just her holding me and me resting my head against her chest.

Yet, at the very same time, this embrace hurt as well. I knew Octavia wasn’t here. That she wasn’t actually embracing me. That it was just a figment of my imagination. I had no comfort but my own. Thankfully, the room still smelt of Octavia, so it was close enough of a sensation to be a comfort and a slap in the face. I was still thankful for it though.

“Now, Vinyl...Take a moment and look over everything. We do need to be at least a hundred percent sure of this course of action before you go telling Lyra and Bon Bon of this theory of yours,” Octavia said when she finally did get to breaking up the hug. I just nodded my head because I knew that I would need to have my story straight.

“Alright. So, getting everything done and right...First, I read your suicide note and that made me think that there was something more to this whole thing. Next, I spotted the picture of the mare who looked like you in the newspaper clipping. After that, I met with Freddy and the Ensemble, and them being all screwed up really tipped me off to there being a lot more to this than just your suicide. As in, someone came in and roughed them up. After that, I got drunk and I’m not sure exactly what happened, just that I bumped a pony and picked up a flower hair clip that was just like one I got you, and the next morning...The room smelt just like you and the window was open. Not only that, but I had fallen asleep on a park bench, not in my room. After that, and this is the biggest.....I kicked open your grave, and there was no body to speak of.”

I had to admit, saying it all out loud put things into perspective, but also into a sense of disbelief. I tugged out all the evidence and laid it down on the bed in front of me. There was the picture of the look alike in the newspaper, attending the memorial concert. The hair clip, which smelled ever so faintly of Octavia. Finally, came the photo of the empty grave, which was probably the biggest thing I had to support my whole theory: That Octavia was still alive and kicking, and that someone didn’t want her found.

“Vinyl...What if I’m the one who doesn’t want found?” Octavia suddenly asked, and I turned to stare at her now. I stared at her like she was insane, even if she was my own mental projection. Of course, at the same time, I had never once thought it could be Octavia herself trying to stay hidden. The thought, the simple idea was just completely outlandish to me.

As I was getting all of my stuff together, I happened to glance out the window and freeze. There, outside of the building and fast approaching, was a trio of ponies. Now, normally, that wouldn’t shock me. What shocked me, and made me freeze in place, was a collection of things. The first thing was that they were dressed like the ponies in the picture of the newspaper clipping; Cloaks covering most of their body, hats over their heads, and shades over their eyes.

How could I tell that they were wearing shades if I was so high up and they were down on the ground? Simple, really. The three of them snapped up to look at me before looking straight ahead again and running for the lobby of the building. I felt this sense of fear come over me. I knew one thing and that was that I had to get out of the building, fast. In all the things I had been finding recently, there was no way in buck that this was a coincidence.

“Do you think we should just take one of the elevators down to the lobby? Maybe they’ll get in the wrong one and they’ll miss us completely,” Octavia said, glancing out of the window with me.

“I would really rather not run that risk, Octavia!” I replied while swiftly gathering up all that I could. The knowledge that there seemed to be a whole group trying to keep me from Octavia, it was rather, well, frightening...But at the same time, a bit exciting too. If I didn’t know that a trio of them was rushing up to do Celestia knows what to me, well, I’d think it was bucking awesome. Like one of those old spy movies where somepony gets in over their head, but does fine in the end. Call me Double O Pony...Or something.

“Well, it’s either out the window or down the stairs. Now, Vinyl...I know you can do some impressive tricks with sound, but please don’t go jumping out the window," Octavia said, glancing to the door. I did feel that, while I could look really...Really cool jumping off of the rooftop, it would be in my best interest to follow Octavia’s suggestion to get out of Dodge and up the stairs.

I stepped out of the room, glancing down the hallways, before turning and beginning to rush for the stairs. The hallway was mostly empty. I glanced down to the elevators and I could see the numbers slowly rising to my floor. I turned tail and began to run for the stairs, to the far end of the hallway. I heard the ding of the elevator just as I went through the door into the stairwell.

I wanted to stop and take a moment to breathe, but when I looked down the stairwell, I could see that one of them was already making his way up. Well, buck me. Seems that they'd covered both elevators and the stairwell. "Only one way to go, Vinyl," Octavia said, already on the higher steps. I gave a huff before I began to run up the stairs.

I was up two flights of stairs before the door swung open, and I could hear them beginning to chase after me. Well, they'd gotten done with my room fast. I just huffed before beginning to run faster, and I could hear their hoof beats running after me. They seemed to be gaining, no matter how quickly I galloped. I was thankful that I had a higher up room, so the roof wasn't too far. Once I got there, I had no idea what I'd do, but I would rather be on an open rooftop than in some stairwell.

I saw the door to the roof, and I didn't waste any time at all. I let my horn light up, and focusing the magic in it, and unleashed a sonic boom in front of myself. The sound was uncelestial, but it blew the door open. I ran out onto the roof, into the cold winter air, the snow still coming down. I ran to the very edge, glancing over, panting, before I stared back.

I saw the three of them, staring at me from inside the door. Just inside of the shadows as to be untouched by the sun. For a moment, I thought that they would just remain there and do nothing. For a few long moments, that is exactly what we did. Finally, one stuck an uncovered hoof out into the light. It winced slightly, but when nothing happened, they smiled. I looked on, my panic growing as the three of them stepped out into the light and just grinned at me. All I could see was their teeth, and they were topped with razor sharp fangs. Something that did not belong in the mouth of a pony.

I blinked, and one of them was suddenly right in front of me. I had one of them in front of me, and the open air of the fall back behind me. I felt that I deserved an answer before I was punted off of the roof top. So, steeling myself, I took a deep breath and looked the creature right in the face. "Where is Octavia?" I asked, narrowing my eyes at the creature. It seemed to be slightly surprised, before smirking.

"With us." The pony seemed to be about to say something else, before another one was suddenly right next to me. I felt a strong hoof suddenly pressed to my side, before I was shoved off of the roof top.

I would like to say that I took hurtling towards my death with complete and total dignity and grace. That I looked to the ground, closed my eyes, and smiled. I, alas, am not a liar. I screeched like a banshee as I hurtled towards the ground. My mind was running through all the spells I knew, but sadly they were all sound based. I was about to become a splatter on the pavement, but I still found my mind drifting. Drifting to thoughts of Octavia. What did the thing mean, 'with us'? Could he have been any more cryptic? Why had the second one shoved me off? I almost wanted to laugh; In my final moments, I was thinking of my wife's death. It was almost poetic, others would simply believe I wanted to go out the same way.

The ponies of Equestria would be denied the ironic humor of me dying by splattering onto the pavement. I suddenly felt something slam into me from the side, making me give a loud grunt, the wind knocked out of me. I blinked a few times, suddenly seeing the ground hurtling away from me. I heard the flap of wings, and turned my head to spot my savior. Cyan coat, rainbow mane. Well, that scratched off Derpy and about every other Pegasus.

"Uh...Heya Dashie," I said with a nervous chuckle, glancing to the rainbow mare hurtling me through the air. Rainbow Dash looked at me, a frown on her features.

"Vinyl...Why were you falling off of a building?" Rainbow Dash asked, looking at me with a bit of an accusing look. Oh yeah, all of Equestria would of been just fine thinking that I’d ended my own life. I didn’t know whether to hate them all, or pity myself for setting myself up like that. I decided that neither was a good option at the moment. I had much bigger fish to fry.

"I tripped while sight seeing. The snow can get slippery, after all...Hey, think I could hitch a ride back to Ponyville?" I asked, giving the Pegasus a nervous chuckle. She narrowed her eyes at me for a few moments, before letting out a bit of a sigh.

"I'll take you to the train station...but I'm still going to call Bon Bon and Lyra," Rainbow Dash said, and I just smiled, nodding my head. She could tell all of Ponyville for all I cared. I was alive, but more importantly...So was Octavia.

Rainbow Dash dropped me off at the train station, with just enough bits to buy a ticket. I smiled and gave her a small wave while she flew off. After that, I purchased a ticket for Ponyville, and boarded the train. I found my seat quickly, sitting down and glancing about. Thankfully, the train car was filled with only a few stray souls. I was thankful for that, before looking in front of myself at the seat in front of me.

"I must say, that was rather exciting," Octavia breathed, fanning at herself a bit with her forehoof. I nodded my head, looking out the window as the train lurched to life.

"Yep...But this proves literally everything. You're alive. You are alive and someone has you...That is, till I find you." I smirked, looking at the snowy landscape speeding by. I felt invigorated, really. Octavia, the love of my life, was alive. I felt that she was speeding closer to me by the second. I knew she wouldn't be at Ponyville when I got back, it couldn't be that easy...But still. She was a lot closer now than she'd been the past month.

“Do you know what you’re going to do when you find me, Vinyl?” Octavia asked, looking at me. I finally turned back to her, tapping my hooves on the tabletop between us. Well, if that wasn’t the million bit question.

“Well...First off, I’m going to make sweet, sweet, music with you. After that, I am going to marry you before anything else can come up to screw things up. Finally? We’ll just live happily ever after.” I smiled, and Octavia couldn’t help but give a small smile.

“Now, if isn’t that a delightfully romantic idea…” Octavia sighed, just smiling at me. I glanced around to ensure that no one was watching, before I leaned forward and gave her a small kiss on the lips. Looking crazy now once the news of my little fall in Manehatten got around, well, it would not be good. At least Rainbow Dash would get some positive cred from rescuing me from hitting the pavement.

“Um, excuse me, may I sit there?” A voice suddenly asked me, jolting me from my conversation with my hallucination. I turned my head to spot a pegasus mare looking at me, her face the definition of sweet. A pretty little thing, almost reminded me of Fluttershy, if she got a mane cut, dyed her mane light green and had a grey coat.

“Oh, sure. Go ahead.” I smiled now, before glancing to Octavia, who scooted over to make room for the other mare. Not that it mattered, but having my wife sticking out of another pony would just be strange. She smiled, giving a small nod of her head and tugging out a rather large book.

I spent a bit of the train ride watching the landscape go by. I wanted to keep discussing battle plans with Octavia, but I really didn't want to seem crazy. Finally, though, I did look at my seat mate once again. It was a rather impressive sized book. Twilight Sparkle probably read those kinds of tomes for breakfast, but to see an average pony with it? Plus, the hum of the train was beginning to get aggravating. "So, what's that book about?" I finally asked. The mare looked up at me, blinking a few times in surprise.

"Oh, this? It's a big book of ancient legends from old Equestria. Nightmare Moon age. I'm actually reading one of the more interesting legends," the mare said, and I nodded my head. I could use a bit of fantasy.

"Well, what's it about? The interesting legend and all?" I asked, before a dolly came by. I ordered an iced tea, and was able to resist the urge to buy Octavia something. The other mare just got a soda pop.

"Oh, um...You ever hear of a Vampony? You know, the sun warriors cursed by Nightmare Moon? Feed on life force, too much direct sunlight makes them burst to ash? Well, I'm reading the legend about their rulers...Or, ruler. The Countess and The Servant," the mare said, and for some strange reason, that struck some chord with me. I got a brief flash of those dreams I'd had, but they were gone just as quickly.

“...Do tell," I said, taking a few sips of my tea. I had gone from a passing fancy to a legitimate interest. I'd never been big on vamponies or weretimberwolves, but when a pony says something that makes you remember your weird dreams, you listen.

"Well...Legend says that a thousand years ago, during the brief battle with Nightmare Moon, Nightmare Moon was able to enact a curse on a royal house. This house was a group of ponies whose special talents was to gain power from the sun. Stronger, faster, more agile. They even got a boost from the light reflected off of the moon! That was, until Nightmare Moon’s curse took hold. It cursed the house to become monsters of the night, so that not only could they no longer procreate through natural means, but now direct contact to the sun would overload and kill them. The time after Nightmare Moon was chaos, trying to fix what she’d done...Celestia pitied the house, tried to find a work around, but Nightmare Moon’s magic had been absolute, and the Harmony was broken, so Celestia couldn’t use that either.”

“So...Where does the Countess and Servant come into all this?” I asked, cocking my head. I had never quite heard this retelling of Vamponies. Sure, thestrals gone mad, Discord magic, even a different type of changeling. Some did blame Nightmare Moon, but this was still my first time hearing this legend. The mare I had interrupted waved her hooves a bit, and I quieted down again.

“I’m getting to that. Celestia pitied the house, and her inability to help them. It was soon found that their only method of procreation was taking the lifeblood of another pony, and giving back some of their taint. So, Celestia sat up three distinct rules to try and protect her ponies. Rule one, never feed to kill. Rule two, don’t turn a pony with a happy life and many friends. Rule three, don’t reveal yourself to Ponykind at large. The house accepted the rules, but they needed someone to enforce them. That is where the countess and her servant came in. They weren’t the strongest, but they were the heads of the house. The countess would decide who was guilty, and the servant would deal out the required punishment.”

“Sounds pretty brutal. If they weren’t the strongest, why did people listen?” I interrupted again. I really couldn’t help it. I wanted to know about these two. How in the world was I linked to them, or Tavi if she was. The mare I was speaking with lit up like a stage light.

“That’s the best part, really. The servant, the one who got her hands dirty...She was smart. Smart, and good with a sword too. She’d set these big, elaborate traps that would span whole buildings. Flooding, sun stones, fires, and anywho survived that, she would be waiting to personally take them out. It was brutal," the mare said, totally delighted at the thought of it. I blinked a few times, before sipping my drink, mulling over my next question very carefully.

“So...Are they still around today? Like, immortals lurking among us or anything?” I asked, and oddly that seemed to make the door mare deflate more than anything else. It didn’t give me much hope for the ending of this story.

“Sadly, no...While the vampony is theorized to be immortal from the power of the sun, the countess and servant didn’t die of natural means. Eventually, the vampony secret got out. Celestia’s hooves were tied, and the guards descended upon their estate. Many escaped, but at the same time….Many didn’t. The servant stayed behind to cover the countess’s escape, and fell in battle. They say that this sent the countess into a depression, and after casting a powerful spell, she died of grief.”
“What was the spell?” I cut in, leaning in towards the girl. I felt so close to a final piece of something. Right within my reach, and this girl had the key. She smiled, and opened her mouth to inform me...Before her eyes grew wide. Without a word, she got up and hastily began to make her exit, not even bringing her book with her. I stared after her, about to call out, before Tavi pointed behind me.

I turned, and my eyes grew wide. Those ponies, with the hats, coats, and glasses, were silently making their way down the car ahead of this one, making their way towards me. “Oh buck me…” I hissed, before lifting the book up and placing it into my saddle bag. Magical bags were really useful for storage at times like this. I instantly got up and began to make my way towards the end of the train, trying to look as unsuspicious as ever.

That lasted all of about ten seconds before I heard the door open behind me, and a yell for me to stop. I instantly took off into a gallop to get somewhere. Off of this train, maybe. Not like I had many other options. I was instantly thankful that I’d been seated near the caboose, and just picked up the pace. I could hear them running after me, trying to get me to stop. “Vinyl! We just want to talk!” One of them shouted. I was almost panicked that he knew my name, but I was kind of famous. Maybe it was just a thing like that.

I heard their hoof beats growing closer, but I just pressed on. I finally got to the caboose, running through, not even taking a moment to observe my surroundings. I barely heard a hissing noise, before I jumped out of the door. We’d been nearing Ponyville, so I found myself tumbling on some heavier snow. It hurt, of course, but the snow mostly broke my fall. I turned to see the train slowly chugging away. Strangely enough, nothing came out after me.

“What now…?” Octavia asked, watching the train get smaller and smaller into the distance. I slowly turned my head to look at my bag, the large book still inside of it.

“We get walking….This mess is just getting started," I said, before beginning to trudge forward through the snow. At least things were getting interesting. Not only that, but Octavia was getting closer to my grasp.

Author's Note:

Fixed

Comments

[Shadow_Wolf]

Awesome Chapter

[TheOriginalSS]

I Like s route the Story is taking. Defiantly a very decent story that I enjoy. I might recommend using a symbol to change sections, such as ~ or ***. Otherwise, AMAZING still, in my favorites, and liked.

[Midnight_Songbird]

Seems you have caught my attention. The chapter has a nice turn to it. I'll be watching with great interest.

[WubsAndCellos]

Amazing story