Prologue: A Cello Singing Softly in the Silence
Prologue: A Cello Singing Softly in the Silence
~The Vampirization of Octavia Melody~
Silence hung in the hall like spiderwebs from trees as her final note soon ended, the soft song fading away into silence while she slowly slid her bow across the strings of her cello. It felt like ages that the note was hanging there, a small, beautiful note at the end of a series of turmoil and discord among the other instruments. Like a flower sprouting in an old battlefield, she had always liked to think. All eyes were practically glued to her as she slowly lifted and then lowered the slender piece of wood strung with her own tail hairs. Then, as if some small pin was dropped onto the floor, a single pony’s hooves clapped together and tore apart the blanket of awe that was smothering the crowd, giving way to a huge uproar of applause that was by far the loudest that the group had ever gotten. The entire ensemble stood, bowing before the crowd to gratefully accept the clapping and even the whistles that a few ponies were blowing their way.
“That was amazing, Octy!” She flashed a glare at one of her companions, a earth pony stallion by the name of Six Strings and one she had the unfortunate pleasure of knowing for the past two years. He shut his mouth, thankfully, but she knew that more was to come once they had filed off of the stage. She couldn’t help but roll her eyes as she turned away to follow the front row of musicians off, mentally bracing herself for the stallion’s annoying praise and casualness that was unbefitting of a pony addressing one of her caliber.
As she walked over to her cello’s case she glanced about the darkened back room, giving a small smile to her fellow performers who played admirably tonight, noting in the back of her mind how they only timidly acknowledged her in return. And as well the should, she thought to herself, it’s not every day you get to work with one who has played for the princess. A few moments of peace was all she had, within which she had pulled her cello’s case down from its spot against the wall and had only just placed her instrument into the custom-made lining, before Six Strings had reappeared by her side. “What is it you want, Strings?”
The small scoff that the stallion had made was enough to make her roll her eyes again, but instead she contented herself to glaring at the dark green stallion who had so annoyingly approached her. “Aw come on, Octy, don’t be like that!” The flash of anger in her eyes was enough to stop the repeating of that ridiculous nickname that he had given her shortly after they had had their first performance together. “I just wanted to say that you played wonderfully tonight, Octavia!”
Of course, Octavia didn’t stop her glaring as she slammed the top of her case down a little harder than was absolutely necessary, but instead she hardened her look of scorn for the stallion in the hopes that he would leave her alone, even though she knew it would do next to nothing to get rid of him. “I appreciate the compliment, Strings, however, I am not an idiot.” She held up a hoof to stop his response to that and, for once, he had actually remained silent. “Just simply tell me what you want, so that I may say no and continue on my way home where there is a nice book and a chair waiting for me to return.”
“Well, first off I believe I am a good deal more interesting tha—” Octavia’s snort soon cut off that line of conversation while her glare made sure that the talk did not return to it, but just as easily as he managed to annoy her, Six Strings jumped to a new track. “I really wanted to just say that it was a wonderful perf—” Another glare soon cut that sentence off short as well, and with a defeated sigh the persistent stallion finally accepted defeat. “Fine. I wanted to ask if you would be interested in coming with me to the Prancing Hoof tonight to celebrate the show going off so well tonight.”
Octavia’s eyes blinked once and then widened before she could stop them, her surprise apparently evident on her face because the stallion simply chuckled some and smiled triumphantly down at her. She stood up with an angry huff, directed to both herself and to the pony before her, hooking her hoof under the handle of her cello and hoisting it up some as she raised an eyebrow at Six Strings. “Oh? And have you invited the rest of our ensemble, or will they not be included in the celebration of the performance that they also performed in?” She had grown louder towards the end of her accusation so that the rest of the group could hear of the stallion’s disregard for their parts. After years in the performing arts, Octavia had learned that the worst thing you could do is not acknowledge a pony for their part in the show, and much to her glee the others all began to glare right at the stallion, no doubt causing the hairs on his neck to rise.
Much to his credit, Six Strings managed to keep a straight face as he continued to smile at Octavia, though some of the cheerfulness in his eyes was replaced with a hint of frustration. “Well, I had planned to take you to dinner alone, as, well, your part in the performance was much bette— Hey! Where are you going!?” All it had taken was his hoof on her shoulder to light the anger that was welling up inside Octavia’s chest.
She spun around, knocking away the stallion’s hoof while at the same time pushing herself up into his face, slamming her instrument case down onto the floor as she brought her hoof into his chest forcefully. “Six Strings, you of all ponies should know how I loathe being forced to converse with you, a pony of lower place than I.” While her voice was simply a low growl, the anger underneath the words spoke of an ocean of rage just waiting to swallow anything in its path. “It is something that one does not do in our community, yet you continually refuse to understand that. Every time we meet you harass me with praise and try to take me out to dinner with you, but some part of your thick-headed skull refuses to take no for an answer.” She leaned in even closer so that her nose was pressing against his. “So, for the last time, I will not have dinner with one such as you, for you are not worth my evening nor my attention any longer.” And then, just as suddenly as she had spun to face the stallion, Octavia turned angrily back towards the exit and snatched up her instrument case before stomping her way out into the lobby where a crowd of audience members were waiting to converse with her, though in her anger she simply pushed past them with a few mumbled apologies and half-uttered reasons as to why she simply couldn’t stay any longer.
After a few moments of chaos and noise, she found herself looking out onto the abandoned street ahead, only partially lit by the warm light from the performance hall behind her, though the cold of the particularly cold winter wasn’t heated at all by the yellows and oranges that were thrown onto the surfaces of the slowly falling snow. With a small, shaky breath, Octavia set out into the cold of the night in the hopes that she could make it back to her warm fireplace quickly enough so that she could be free from further harassment by that incorrigible stallion. Octavia found her breath coming on a little easier with each breath as she got further away from the hall, though her instrument was beginning to grow quite heavy with each passing city block. Normally she would have the help of her personal aide to carry the thing home, but she had taken a day to rest herself after she had been nearly stampeded by Octavia’s admirers at their last event together, one that Octavia had given somewhat reluctantly. Normally she would have hired another to assist her, but tonight’s event was suddenly thrust into her notice by way of a last-minute reminder that she had been invited, as the first letter had been lost in the depths of the Equestrian Mail Service.
Her cello thudded against the ground heavily, having slipped out of her slightly-shaking hooves. She had brought along a fleece coat to wear against the biting cold outside, though right now it was still hanging forgotten on the coat hook backstage where she had set it aside. “St-st-stupid st-stallion... Always p-pestering me.” Octavia bent down to grab her instrument again, her numb hooves scrabbling against its smooth case for a few moments before finally managing to grab hold of the handle. Snorting away the snowflakes that had lighted on her nose, she continued to push her way through the snow that had piled up to the point of being halfway up her legs, her thin dress providing very little protection from the chill.
It was when she turned down the all-too-familiar street that her home was on that her cello fell down again, this time just a minute or two of walking away from her front door. As she bent down to snatch it back up a sound from her right sent a small shiver down her spine that the cold had very little to do with. When she jerked up and spun to face whoever or whatever was there, however, there was nothing but a small can rolling over the relatively clear alleyway. “H-hello? Is anypony there?”
What she heard next was something she would never expect to hear in a neighborhood like the one she lived in, where the scum who lived in the street were dealt with swiftly and efficiently. A low gravely voice, as if the pony it had belonged to had swallowed shards of glass, answered her question from somewhere behind her. “No, there is no pony here besides you, my dear.”
Chapter 1: A Night of Agony in the Falling Snow
Chapter 1: A Night of Agony in the Falling Snow
~The Vampirization of Octavia Melody~
She jerked upright in an instant, another shiver of fear jolting down her back as she stood there like a deer caught in the lantern light of an approaching carriage, ears perking up all the way as her muscles locked themselves down in panic. Only a few seconds passed by before she turned around, though they each felt longer than the last as she slowly spun in place to gaze at the one who had snuck up behind her. The sight that greeted her was enough to allow her muscles to relax some and her superior attitude to come back in an instant. “And who do you think you are, sneaking up on a lady in the dark of the night?” She haughtily stamped her hoof down onto the ground, advancing on the shrouded and huddled figure now that she saw it was just an old stallion who had no business being there.
Her mouth opened to reprimand the pony even further, but her voice faltered in the wake of his grinding chuckle. “Who do I think I am?” Octavia found herself backing away from his advances now, her entire body trembling now from the fear of his rumbling voice. “Who do I think I am?” The voice had been getting louder as he got closer and closer, ending off in an angry shriek of rage that left a ringing in Octavia’s ears. “Well, little stuck up mare, I am something that you should be very afraid of.” His hooves sink down into the snow as if it wasn’t even there, the frozen particles almost seeming to bend to his will as he got closer to the musician. “Perhaps you might have heard of me in your darkest nightmares.”
Octavia jerked backwards from the stallion as he leaned close to her neck and sniffed at her, repulsed that a pony like him would dare to act so vulgar towards somepony of higher stature. She didn’t get very far, however, as the second she lifted her hoof the snow that surrounded it suddenly froze into ice that held her there near the pony’s greedily sniffing nose. “G-Get away from me!” Quick as a flash, Octavia brought her head down into the nose that was almost perversely taking in her scent, causing a great roar of pain to fill the air as the stallion recoiled violently with a hoof held up to his nose.
“You idiotic mare! Have you still not realized what I am?” The ragged voice was even more ragged now that there was blood dripping down from its owner’s now-ruined nose. “I was going to make it quick, but now...” Octavia’s skin crawled as she stared obstinately into the cruel topaz eyes of her attacker. There was nothing but a fiery anger there now, instead of the hunger that was lingering before. “Now I shall enjoy your cries of pain.” The stallion slowly smiled a chilling smile, his teeth glinting in the light from the partially obscured moon. Octavia tried once more to pull free from the ice, a few whinnies leaving her mouth as her mind whirled around in a panic. She watched with wide eyes as those bright teeth got even closer to her, terror now her only thought as the pointed tips spread apart slightly. “Ah, I see now that you finally understand how stupid you were to provoke me.” The pointed tips of enamel clicked together menacingly as the pony kept them bared, their glinting only adding to their menacing presence. “Too late, I’m afraid.”
A hot pain flashed from her neck, just above her chest but it soon spread along her body in scalding tendrils of agony. “N-No...” Her body shook violently as her mind urged her to gallop away, but her struggles grew weaker with every passing second as she felt the blood slowly leaving her body through the molten bite in her neck. “H-Help... Me...” The world around her grew darker as she futilely tried to push herself away from the vampony who had sunk his fangs into her, though even freed from the ice, her hooves were simply too weak to push him away.
Just when she thought that she might finally be done with the searing pain and pass on into the next world, the teeth suddenly pulled out of her skin and let her collapse onto the white snow, which was now stained with spots of crimson red that shone dully in the dim light. “Now now, you can’t quit on me now.” The stallion’s voice was barely audible as Octavia slowly slid between the line of consciousness and the black void that was reaching out to her with open arms; arms that, given the choice, she would leap into gratefully. “The fun has only just started, my dear mare, and I haven’t even had half my meal yet.” A hoof kicked into her side, eliciting a weak yelp from her as she tried to shuffle away from the pain, the snow only slightly relieving the fiery pain that was throbbing at the holes in her neck.
Another cry of pain left her throat as those terrifying teeth sunk back into her, this time sending the throbbing pain up her leg and into her flanks as the stallion held her down with a firm hoof on her back. She dragged herself away slowly only to be yanked back painfully by her leg, barely able to muster up any strength at this point now as her mind screamed for it all to end. “P-Please...” Just when her world had almost faded to black, a dark figure shot across her narrow vision accompanied by a shout that she couldn’t quite comprehend. Seconds ticked past as she slowly regained a sense of self about her, her mind darting about frantically in an attempt to get her legs moving while her ears kept picking up fragments of sound.
“Get away...her!”
“Stupid...How dare...interrupt my meal!”
After what felt like forever and a half, Octavia finally managed to force herself into a standing position, though her violently trembling legs wouldn’t carry her far until she fell back down into the cold snow. One step was all it took for her vision to swim and sway with the throbbing pain that kept coming back stronger with each beat of her heart. Her ears swiveled along with her head as another sound behind her rang out into the air, a harsh shout of pain followed by a loud crack that echoed back to her from the stone walls of the seemingly empty houses that lined the street. Her eyes widened slightly as she stared at the vampony bending down over another who lay with his motionless limbs at odd angles. As she traced up the still figure, Octavia’s heart seemed to fall out of her chest as she got to the face of her momentary savior. “S-Six Strings...?” Almost as if he could hear her, the stallion she thought she had left behind at the performance hall turned to look directly into her eyes, pain evident in his own as he slowly mouthed one word.
Run.
Her hooves dragged through the snow as she stumbled backwards, trying to get away while the predator was busy with his unexpected meal. The icy cold particles clung to her coat, though the chills that trembled down her spine had nothing to do with the cold as she kept her eyes locked on the haunched figure that was slowly draining the life out of a pony that had just saved her life, for now at least; a pony that she had scorned just an hour before. It took all of her willpower to keep moving away at her slow, painful pace, but in her hazy mind she knew that if she didn’t get away she wouldn’t see another sunrise again. The sound of flesh being ripped away rose up from the two figures that were now a good distance away, followed by a cruel, harsh laughter that echoed to and fro. “Ah, what a delicious meal... But now I am quite ready for my dessert.” Octavia froze for just a moment as the stallion turned to face her, blood now coating his muzzle and face as he smiled at her with bloodred fangs. “And that is you, my dear.”
She spun around and started to hobble away as fast as her damaged body could take her, crying out in pain as her leg and neck throbbed painfully with the sudden motions. Her breath came in ragged gasps as she slogged her way towards an alley, her glances only revealing that the stallion had been walking ever so closer with every second, that same cruel smile still on his face. Octavia wanted to hurl insult after insult at him, to scream into his face and kick out in retaliation, but she knew that even if she had the energy for it,she would just end up like Six Strings with her bloodied and battered body laying in the snow. No sooner than she had entered the alleyways somewhat comforting darkness did she collapse against one of its walls and slump to the ground, having completely exhausted herself.
The last thing she saw before descending into darkness were those fangs glinting in the moonlight.
