Octi... Where are You?

Octavia was reading, "A Scarlet Hoofband" by Sir Arthur Clover Doyle when Vynil walked in the door. She jumped up and looked for her cello. The book hit the floor heavily, breaking the silence. Vynil smiled slightly as she presented the new cello. She was slightly dissapointed when she saw the shiny new cello. But, it was intact and playable. She was pretty sure it was tuned up too.

"Vynil, you didn't have to get me a new cello. Oh, and where is my cello?"

"Uhm... I had to trade it in for the new one, Octi. This was the only way."

"Thanks, Vynil. Do you think that I could take it upstairs and practice? Then, we can talk."

Octavia smiled, but she was secretly very sad that she couldn't have her special cello. She had already figured out that today was a bad day already, and just decided that she would roll with it. She went up and practiced uneventfully. The music soothed her a bit, knowing that she was prepared helped as well. The events of the day had unnerved her. Instead of going back down to talk to Vynil about the strange happenings that day, she decided to get some more of her reading done. She just sat and read until a knock sounded on her door.

"Come in."

The door creaked open and Vynil stepped in. She was carrying a tray of cookies in her magic and had a small smile on her face. She set the tray down on the bed and sat down next to Octavia.

"It is 4pm, and I thought you could use a pick-me-up before the concert. You have been down all day. Something on your mind?"

"Yeah. The bad things happening today. Don't they seem like they are related? And they all happen by shadows and with a purple-blue shimmer. Isn't that weird?"

"Yea, sure. I haven't noticed anything except for my horn going crazy. And I did feel a weird presence in the room before it happened."

"Do you think that it is the Mare of Shadows is messing with us?" Octavia shuddered. The Mare of Shadows, or Nightmare Moon, hadn't been around for many years and was waiting for her time to rise again, or so the legend said. Octavia had feared since the nightmare that the Mare on the Moon had returned. But why would she be messing with them? Was it because of their friendship? She wasn't sure.

"Maybe, but if she was back, why would she be affecting us? Why not Celestia or the Elements?"

"I'm not sure. I think it might be because of our friendship. You know, to make her more powerful by destroying our happiness."

"Now your talking crazy, Octi. Just go to your concert. There are only your fans there."

Octavia nodded and grabbed her cello. She took it out to the road and hailed a taxi. She climbed in and waited the short wait until the driver called out that it was her stop and to get out. She pushed the cello onto the street, and the concert hall was nowhere in view. It was foggy out, the mist being blue tinted. She walked towards the edge of the fog, when a laugh echoed through the street.

"I look forward to your concert, Octavia." A mysterious voice echoed, and the fog cleared a path to the doors. She looked around for the mare, or stallion, but the fog around the path was too thick. She just walked twoards the doors and pushed them open.

Fans awaited her entrance. They were all over her, asking for autographs and the opportunity to tell her how she had affected their lives with her playing. She smiled and waved, but mostly pushed her way to the backstage door, pushed it open, and locked out the clamoring fans. She took a deep breath. Taking out the cello, she looked all over for damages. There didn't seem to be any. She took out her music and bow and warmed up. After the intro music sounded, she walked onstage to the joy of many fans. They were seated on the velvet seats, anticipating the first melodic note. It was perfect. Octavia played with confidence, locking the day's many misfortunes away and focusing on the music. She looked intently at the music, as if to keep the music from falling off the page like in her dream. Not even glancing at the audience, she finished the piece with a flourish.

After the piece was done, she received a standing ovation and bowed. She went offstage, and exhaled. She could go home and sleep after just one hour of autographs. She packed up her cello, and prepared to go out, when the voice from before the concert said,

"Why didn't you smile for the audience? I thought you loved to play the cello?"