Eternal Love

by Packet

Carnival of Screams

Once again Vinyl was sat on an Organ stool in the dark, though not in the sewers which she had grown to call home. The organ she was in front of was also vastly different from her own hoofbuilt one. The sparkling white ivory keys were set into a dark varnished case, there were no long metal pipes attached to the organ, they were stored just in front of the small platform on which the instrument sat, ready to burst into life. Vinyl squirmed in the long black topcoat she was wearing, it was far too big on her thin body, but it hid most of her appearance from view. Sweeping a hoof through her hair she pulled it back and tied all the strands together, making her faded hair take on a sleek new appearance. She reached into the pocket of the coat and brought out the finishing touch to her look, a simple black ballroom mask. She stared at it in her hoof, wishing she didn't always have to hide, but she knew what the consequences would be if she didn't.

A noise like thunder erupted from above her interrupting her thoughts. Looking upwards at the thin wooden roof above she sighed slightly, it was noise she had heard far too often over the past two years, an applause. Being presumed dead had had its advantages for Vinyl in some cases. She’d been able to reinvent herself to a certain degree, and with a little help from the only two mares who still knew of her existence, had found a new way of making her musical soul speak to the crowds. Overhead she could hear the booming voice of a stallion,

“Fillies and Gentlecolts! Welcome to The Carnival of Screams!”

A freak show. That was where she worked. She heaved a heavy sigh as she attached the mask to her face and placed her hooves gently on the ivory keys, ready to push down and play the first notes as the stallion above finished his speech. The thought of earlier that day entered her head. Octavia? Back in Canterlot? It couldn’t be? But it had to be, no one else could look as naturally beautiful as that she thought to herself. Her thoughts were interrupted as the stallion above addressed the audience again.

“Coming up next, a pony who remains as mysterious as her ability to produce sweet sounding music with bass notes. May I present to you all, Miss Linyv Scrape”

How some ponies couldn’t see past a simple false name amused her greatly, and a great smirk appeared across her face. She pressed down on the organ keys as the roof above her opened up and the platform began to rise up and out onto the stage.

---

The darkness of the night had taken Canterlot in its grasp as Octavia, Lyra and Bon Bon sat in the small living room of the apartment. Despite its size Lyra and Bon Bon had still managed to fit two reasonably sized sofas into the room, along with the other necessities such as a coffee table and book shelves. All three were sipping the contents of one of Bon Bon’s wine bottles.

"So" Lyra swirled the contents of her glass "I take it that the latest concert went well?"

“Far better than expected” Octavia smiled “But now it’s just nice to be ble to have a small rest before the next one. Having to many concerts in a short space of time sure does take it out of you”

“Tell me about it” Bon Bon chuckled “There are times when I’ve come downstairs in the morning to find Lyra asleep on the sofa; she doesn’t even have the energy to climb the stairs!”

Lyra rolled her eyes disapprovingly as Whooves came down the stairs and took a seat next to Octavia.

“Trebles sound asleep now” he smiled “I doubt we’ll here from him again tonight”

Octavia yawned “Speaking of sleeping, I think I might just turn in for night myself, I’ve hardly got any energy left”

“You’ll need it for tomorrow, what with the masked ball in the evening” Whooves chuckled.

Octavia gave him a quick kiss on the cheek “Goodnight dear”

Whooves waited until she was at the top of the stairs before turning to Lyra and Bon Bon, seeming to produce a pack of cards out of nowhere.

“Could I interest either of you two ladies in a game?”

---

Vinyl had finished her set piece for the show, and was now having a few minutes of peace to herself backstage, sat on one of the many packing cases that were stacked up underneath the tiered seating, dimly illuminated by the faint light of an antique oil lamp. She’d still kept her hair tied back and her mask on. She was actually beginning to like it in that style and did consider keeping it like that. The sound of hoof steps approaching caused her to let out a heavy sigh, and she frowned and closed her eyelids as she saw one of the young stage-hands approaching her. He was a youngish stallion with a cream coat and golden brown man and tail. Vinyl had distaste for how eager this particular stage-hand was. His thirst for knowledge on how to play the organ like her was all he seemed to talk about whenever he was near her, and no doubt tonight wouldn't be any different.

“That was another amazing performance Miss Scrape”

Vinyl just tensed her lips slightly to show that she acknowledged him.

“I-If you don't mind me asking” the stage-hand stuttered, cautiously taking another step closer to her "Why exactly do you wear that mask?"

Vinyl’s eyes shot open, the sharpness of her pupils causing the stage-hand to freeze on the spot "To retain a little mystery? Show business isn't what it used to be" She paused slightly, before pointing to her mask, still on her face “Do you think that you could get one of these masks in white?”

“I-I-I'm sure that we've probably got one somewhere” The stallion trembled.

Vinyl gave a smirk in the golden light and leant over to the lamp, quickly blowing out the flame. Darkness swallowed both of them up, causing the stage-hand to panic even more. He could sense Vinyl was still there, but couldn't work out where. Then without any warning, he could feel her breathing into his ear.

“Then get to it” she whispered, teasingly.

The stallion jumped, banging into one of the seating supports in the darkness “Miss Scrape? Miss Scrape?”

He fumbled about in the darkness, trying to make out objects with his sense of touch. A packing case, a packaging label, the lamp! Ah, the lamp! Now he felt as if he was getting somewhere. Unsure as to whether or not she was still there, he called out again.

“Miss Scrape?”

Nothing. More fumbling in the darkness led him to find a box of matches. He struck one, producing a tiny flame. Carefully lighting the lamp back up he slowly brought the flame to a greater size. Satisfied that he could now see properly the stage-hand picked up the lamp with one of his hooves and turned round to the great expanse of the wooden supports and packing cases.

“Miss Scrape?”

But Vinyl had fled long ago in the darkness, simply leaving her black mask on the floor in front of the stallion. He picked it up and looked at it, before looking off to where she had disappeared.

“How does she do that?”

---

Bon Bon gently placed the tray of empty wine glasses down on top of her kitchen counter next to the sink and turned on the water. She rested her head on her front hooves as she looked out of the kitchen window at the stars lighting the night sky. She closed her eyes as she turned off the tap, opening them again her eyes widened in shock and she jumped backwards, knocking the tray on the counter but preventing it from falling. There on the other side of the glass, with her face pressed up against the window, was Vinyl. The light reflecting through the glass making her scarred face look more menacing.

“Careful Bon Bon, You’ve not even had a quarter of a bottle!” Lyra shouted from the lounge.

Bon Bon poked her head round the doorway “Very funny Lyra” she paused awkwardly “Excuse me for one moment”

Shutting the door to the lounge Bon Bon quickly went to the back door on the other side of the kitchen and began to open it, no sooner was there a tiny gap Vinyl darted through the door.

“Bon Bon, I…”

“Shhh” Bon Bon’s tone of voice was now one of slight frustration “Quiet, we have company in the next room”

“Is she here?”

“Is who here?”

“Dammit Bon Bon, you know who I mean! Is Octavia here?” The veins in Vinyl’s head seemed to bulge slightly.

Taking a moment to imagine what the consequences of her telling Vinyl might be, Bon Bon slowly nodded.

“I’ve got to see her” Vinyl advanced towards the door, but Bon Bon blocked her path.

“Vinyl, please, hear me out. Me and Lyra have helped you out as best we could over the past few years that you’ve been living in the dark, even managing to get you that small job”

Vinyl shot her a glare “I don’t know how you can class playing music in a freak show as a job!” She spat “And either way, what little pay I get from it goes straight to you and Lyra. It’s not as if I could spend it in person”

“Vinyl, that’s only because you're paranoid that you'd be caught. Everypony thinks that you died when the Symphony Hall burnt down, so it's not as if they'd be looking out for you. And even if they were, you've changed so much over the past few years, you've begun to take for granted what you had. You’ve changed so much from what you once were"

Vinyl almost spoke a response, but when she opened her mouth no words came out as she thought over what Bon Bon had just said, long and hard. She simply looked down at ground and began to faintly sob. The tears running down her cheeks and dripping onto the polished wood floor. She felt the warmth of Bon Bon's body as she embraced her and after a slight pause Vinyl did likewise, continuing to sob into Bon Bon's shoulder.

“I need to see her Bon Bon”

Bon Bon drew back “As much as it pains me to say this Vinyl, I can’t let you. Octavia is one of the ones who still believe you died. Can you imagine what she would think if you just simply waltzed up to her?”

Vinyl eyes pierced Bon Bon’s “Well it’s going to happen anyway” she freed herself from the embrace “So why not get it over with!”

Bon Bon could see the anger swelling up inside of Vinyl “Don’t make me use force Vinyl”

“You’ve got all the strength of a week filly Bon Bon!” Vinyl scoffed “Fine then, have it your way!”

Vinyl turned and flung the outside door open, running back out into the night as the rain began to fall and the distant lightning flashed. The door behind Bon Bon creaked open slightly.

“Bon Bon?” Lyra asked “Are you going to join us for some….” She paused when she saw her staring out of the open door “Bon Bon?”

When Bon Bon slowly turned her head round Lyra could see the terror in her eyes, it could only mean one thing.

“Was it Vinyl?” Lyra whispered.

Bon Bon nodded “And she knows Octavia’s here”

“What? How?!”

“I sort of…told her without really thinking what could happen” Bon Bon bit her lower lip as Lyra shut the door with her magic.

“Then one thing’s for certain” Lyra said “We’ll need to keep closer tabs on Vinyl”

They both moved back into the living room where Whooves was finishing shuffling the cards “So, what game will it be?”

A tiny high pitched scream sounded from above them, quickly followed by Octavia calling down.

“Don’t worry, I’ve got it”

Whooves chuckled slightly “Treble and his nightmares again!”

---

Treble was pulling down his bed covers over his eyes.

“Treble?” Octavia asked, sitting down on the end of his bed “Treble, what is it?”

Treble peaked out from under his covers as Octavia put a hoof round him and hugged him “T-T-There was somepony a-at the window. It was a unicorn, and they looked horrible!”

Despite only being four years old Treble could speak quite fluently, it was one of the things Octavia was most proud of her son for, his ability to learn quickly. She knew it was only a matter of time before he began learning music by heart and hoped of the possibility that it could be in the Cello.

Octavia looked down on him “Do you want me to look for you and make sure they’ve gone?”

Treble nodded, and clung to Octavia, hiding his face in her hair as she picked him up in one of her forehooves and walked over to the window.

She chuckled slightly “There’s no one out there Treble” she looked at him, pulling the individual stands of hair apart in front of his eyes so he could peer out.

“B-but there was someone there mother, I know there was” Treble protested as Octavia began to tuck him back into bed “They were a sort of whitish colour and had lots of cuts down their face"

Octavia yawned. As much as she loved her son there were times when he could tire her out with little effort, this was one of them “Maybe it was just a shadow Treble, darling. You’ve mistaken shadows for ponies before”

Treble thought about this quickly, pulling a thinking expression that Octavia found adorable, before letting out a tiny sigh “I guess you’re right”

He snuggled down underneath his bed as Octavia put his rag pony doll under the covers with him.

“Goodnight Treble”

“Goodnight mother”

She kissed him on the forehead and left the room. In the darkness Treble looked up at the window, tensing in fear as a black shadow swept across the light coming in. He clung tighter to his rag pony as he tried to get to sleep.

---

Octavia gently opened the music box she had placed on her dressing table in her bedroom, it clicked into life and began playing its simple repetitive melody as she picked up a brush and started brushing her mane. On the inside of the lid of the box was one of her most prized photographs. It had been taken only a few hours after she had given birth to Treble Clef, and was of her holding him from her hospital bed, with Whooves stood behind them. Their first family photo. Refilled with happy memories of that day she finished her brushing and picked up her white porcelain ballroom mask, putting it to her face and admiring herself in the mirror before standing up and pirouetting a couple of times into the middle of the room, stopping to admire herself in her mask in the large mirror that hung above the small, ornate fireplace. Satisfied with her appearance she walked towards the closed French doors that lead onto the small balcony, ready to shut the curtains to her room.

The lightning flashed outside her window, causing Octavia to pause and squint her eyes, staring deep into the darkness beyond her window. She was sure she could have seen a figure standing out there in the darkness. The heavy raindrops continued to pelt down from the sky, hitting the glass like a round of bullets before slowly trickling down to the balcony floor.

Octavia rubbed her eyes and yawned “It’s been a long day” she muttered to herself, walking back towards the double bed on the other side of the room.

In her slightly blurred vision the bed looked more inviting than ever. The quilt looked so thick and luxurious; the pillows looked as if your head would sink into them. Octavia pulled back the covers and gave her body one last stretch as she prepared to put down her ballroom mask. The lightning flashed outside again and this time, she was certain she could have made out a faint silhouette projected through the curtains in the corner of her eye. She stared at them, trying to work out if it was her imagination. When the lighting ceased to flash she decided to cautiously take a step over towards the windows, edging ever closer, and closer, still clutching her mask. She was just within five hoofsteps of the windows when, CRASH! The windows blew open inwards, sweeping the curtains aside as they did so. Stumbling backwards in shock and bumping into the end of the bed, Octavia's eyes were immediately drawn to the figure now stood impressive on the balcony outside, the pelting rain seeming to have no effect on them. The lightning crashed once more, lighting the figure up like the explosion of a firework, making their appearance instantly recognisable to Octavia. It was the Vinyl, a much shabbier, rugged, scarred, and demonic Vinyl, but there was no doubt that it was her.

Octavia opened her mouth to scream, but no words came out as she frantically clawed at her surroundings with her hooves, trying to get as far away from her as she could as Vinyl strode into the room out of the rain, the marks on her face appearing now more predominately before Octavia's eyes. Overcome with emotion and fear, Octavia fainted into a heap on the floor, Vinyl running over to her and immediately cradled her body in her forehooves. She simply sat there, holding her for a few moments as she gazed upon Octavia's face. So simple, yet so beautiful, even more so with her eyes closed.

“Oh Octavia” a weak smile came to Vinyl’s face as tears began to form in her eyes “I’ve missed you so much”

Vinyl picked up the mask that Octavia had dropped on the floor besides her, admiring the craftsman ship of it. It was the type of mask Vinyl longed for to hide her hideous face. Beginning to come round, Octavia’s eyelids slowly fluttered open. It took a while for her eyes to focus on the figure holding her. When at last they did focus, her eyes almost popped out of their sockets at who she saw looking down on her. What she had seen hadn’t been a dream. This time she didn’t hold back, she screamed at the top of her lungs.

Octavia’s scream had echoed throughout the house, and the sound of rapid hoof steps coming towards the room could be heard almost instantly. Realising there was little time to escape Vinyl instantly darted from the room through the French windows and slid down the drain pipe at the side of the balcony. Once firmly on the ground she quickly glanced up at the balcony to make sure she wasn't being watched. Seeing the coast was clear she ran off into the darkness of the night, still clutching Octavia’s porcelain ballroom mask.

---

Whooves had ran to the bedroom as soon as he heard the scream. He burst into the room, almost taking the door off of its hinges.

“Octavia?!” He ran over to her, cradling her shaking body in his forehooves “Octavia? Darling? What happened?”

Octavia stared up at him, still trembling, before breaking down into tears and burying her head in his neck, sobbing loudly as Lyra and Bon Bon appeared in the doorway. Drained of all the energy in her body, Octavia soon fell asleep in Whoove’s hooves.

“What is it?” Bon Bon asked curiously.

Whooves shook his head “She won’t say. Though I’ve hardly ever seen her like this. Whatever it is that’s spooked her, it must have been something pretty disturbing”

“Is there anything we can do?” Lyra asked, shutting the French windows with her magic.

Whooves shook his head again “Thank you, but no. It’s been a long day, I think its best we try and get some sleep, then talk about it in the morning”

Bon Bon nodded in agreement.

“Bon Bon?” Lyra asked, taking her hoof in her own “Can I talk with you for a minute?” she dragged her out into the corridor.

Octavia squirmed slightly. Convinced she was probably having a small flashback to what had scared her in her sleep Whooves began rocking her gently and stroking her long black hair, slowly making her calm down and sleep peacefully once more. Whooves sat there, staring out of the open window into the night, trying to work out what exactly had caused Octavia to be like this. Then he saw it. Damp patches on the carpet running from the windows to just in front of where he and Octavia were. Someone had been there.

---

Lyra pressed Bon Bon up against the wall of the hallway “You just had to do it, didn’t you?”

“Do what?” Bon Bon asked.

“Tell Vinyl that Octavia was staying here with us, I told you she’d try to get at her. There’s no way that Vinyl would give up that easily”

“But she was convincing when I talked to her earlier” Bon Bon paused “It’s not as she’s going to be coming back here to see Octavia though, is it?”

“But she could try and see her again out on the streets, even though that would be far too dangerous. Even though everypony thinks she’s dead, half of them still talk badly of her”

“Yes” protested Bon Bon “But what about the other half, the half that see her as a hero? The evidence that proved that was overwhelming”

Lyra shook her head “Most ponies ignore the evidence if it contradicts their opinions. But mark my words Bon Bon, she’ll try to contact Octavia again. We haven’t heard the last of this”

Author's Note:

You wouldn't believe how long it took me to get my ideas together for this chapter, what with suffering a small nervous breakdown in the past month. But thankfully, slowly chipping away at this chapter for half an hour, night after night, has actually helped to relax and calm my mind somewhat.

Slowly but surely, I'm beginning to add more and more themes from the story of "Love Never Dies" into this. Sure there are going to be some obvious changes, but as long as I try and get the atmosphere of the piece right, I'd be pretty happy with that.

Fun Fact: There are two references to Gerry Anderson's "The Secret Service" in this chapter. The first is Vinyl switching the first and last letter of her name round to create her alter ego, in the style of Herr Sakov in episode 8 'The Cure', and the second is that Vinyl and the stage-hand's conversation references one between two characters in episode 4 'The Feathered Spies':

"Why do you choose to have these meetings at such an ungodly hour?"
"To retain a little mystery? Espionage isn't what it used to be!"