> The Curtain Falls > by Silent Guardian > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > The Curtain Falls > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Alister Caress, a tall individual with light blue eyes and messy black hair. was a  quiet but serious person despite being an introvert.and was also known for being an exceptional piano player. His talents for the piano were so great that he had been asked to participate in a competition where the first place prize was a college scholarship, an entire free trip through college, something most college kids dream of. This interested him greatly so he decided to compete.  However, on the day before the competition, he was invited to a gathering to meet the other competitors. During this party, Alister met a competitor whose name was Octavia Melody, and had the fortune to talk to her throughout the party The both of them found much in common and even discussed  about writing their own music and how satisfying it was to make a good piece, but were interrupted in their conversation when two people got into a very loud and heated argument. It seemed to settle itself over time, but  Alister noticed  towards the end of the party one of the competitors who had been in the heated argument before was clearly still angry. Alister didn’t let it bother him and neither did Octavia and the two of them continued their delightful  conversation however pretty soon both Alister and Octavia grew tired. . The next morning Alister was ready for the competition. He walked into the theatre and signed in, which at that point he was given a number and was told to go backstage to await his turn to perform. When he walked backstage he found a place to sit in the corner so he wouldn't be the center of attention., something he has always dreaded. Suddenly , he saw a familiar face heads towards him and who else could it be but Octavia Melody, whom spoke to him first. For a long time the duo talked with one another while waiting for their chance to perform but in the end it  turned out they went  one after the other. Because of this, the two of them had plenty of time to talk and in this span of time, Alister learned a lot about Octavia Melody and even started liking her despite her being a possible nemesis.They both performed and advanced to the next round. Alister looked around during the intermission and realized that the same person who had gotten into the fight had not been advanced to the second round. She looked angry and upset that she hadn't won. He didn't think anything of it and went back to his conversation with Octavia she was telling him how piano wasn’t her instrument of choice and how she was mostly known for her ability to play the cello. when all of a sudden they heard a loud crash. They both sprinted to the stage where they saw one of the stage lights had crushed the piano. The person who had been performing was uninjured but very shaken up.The judges stopped the competition until they could get another piano. Alister couldn't’ help but wonder what had caused the light to fall. It did not appear to have been an accident. The light had fallen to close to the competitor. Alister and Octavia decided to investigate the lighting area. What they found only confirmed Alisters’ fears the light that had fallen the wire had been cleanly cut through. This concerned him greatly. There was someone in this building who was willing to injure or even attempt to kill the competitors. This concerned him greatly for it put him and the other competitors in grave danger. They needed to find the culprit and fast because if they didn't people might start getting injured or worse killed. Even though he was a shy and not very social person he had come to like Octavia Melody and he did not  want anything to happen to her, so he decided that he would find the culprit before she had to next perform. She was the second to last person to perform so he still had a good hour to an hour and a half a total of about 40 competitors. Alister set about investigating the competitors to see who would want to sabotage the competition. He noticed the girl from earlier was gone. He asked around and found out her name was Lyra Heartstrings he looked around for her and realized that she was sitting in the crowd and was talking with someone. She was still a suspect but not quite as much as before considering she wasn't backstage. He would keep a close eye on her though. He went around and listened to hear if any other competitors werent happy about how the competition was going. He heard a few but they were all people who had already been eliminated from the competition he decided to watch the people who had been eliminated to see if any of them acted suspiciously. If they did then he would keep track of them and investigate further. One of the people he was watching walked back towards the levers controlling the trap doors and lifts on and above the stage area. Alister followed this person and found a place to hide. Turns out this person was just taking a phone call and needed someplace quiet to talk. So he returned back to his spot on the far wall next to Octavia. Suddenly one of the contestants started shouting that the catwalks were loose and about to fall. Alister looked up and saw that a section of the catwalk was in fact loose and beginning to collapse. he ran out onto the stage and shoved the pianist out of the way and diving backwards at the last second before the catwalk section crashed through the stage where they had just been.  He ran backstage to see if he could catch the culprit. When he got backstage he saw someone running into the front entryway he sprinted after that person. When He reached the foyer he saw a girl with red hair that had orange and yellow streaks running through it. She ran out the door and he followed her. He chased her for about thirty yards before he caught up to her he grabbed her from behind. She was kicking and screaming as he walked back to the theatre with her over his shoulder in a firemans’’carry. When he entered the foyer, two police officers and the three judges approached him. He dropped the girl onto a couch, where police arrested her and put her into handcuffs. He learned the girl’s name was Sunset Shimmer. Alister walked back to the stage of the theatre and was greeted by everyone standing and clapping for him. Octavia ran up to him and told him that after he had saved the competitor’s life everyone else had forfeited. He was so surprised that he could do nothing but stand in shock. Later that day Alister and Octavia were walking through the halls of Canterlot High when she offered to show him her skills with the cello. He decided it would be an interesting experience, so he followed her into the music room. She walked over and grabbed a cello from the rack of instruments. She pulled her backpack off and pulled out some sheet music. When she started playing everything seemed to get silent as if the whole world was listening to her song. The song lasted only three minutes but  to Alister , he could have listened to it for the rest of his life.