The moon shone down brilliantly on the city of Canterlot, irritating Twilight as she navigated herself through the empty streets and back to her suite.
"Stupid Luna and her stupid drinking game! That's the last time I go to the bar with her and drink the night before the royal meeting in Maretonia!" Twilight grumbled to herself, kicking a random pebble in her path.
Luna thought it would be fun to take her out for a few drinks since she was nervous about the meeting the next day. Once they got there, a few drinks turned to many, and a bet to see who can drink the most in one hour. Luna obviously ended up winning, but Twilight ended up passed out on the bar floor. She was very grateful that the bartender woke her up before closing, but very pissed that Luna left without her, with the chariot. She couldn't be mad at Luna forever though, she wasn't thinking right, since she drunk more than her. But she was still pissed.
Twilight took a deep breath to calm herself and squinted her eyes to see what street she was on. Her head throbbed like hell and her eyesight was blurry, but at least she could walk in a straight line without doing a face plant on the cobblestone road. She was still going to kill Luna for forcing her to go out, if she doesn't wake up with a huge headache! It was a very nice night to go walking though, if she wasn't drunk!
Her ears pricked when she heard a soft, low sound coming from one of the houses just down the road. It almost sounded like a....cello playing. But who the hell would be playing a cello at....whatever time it is a night?! Twilight shook her head, her head pounding with every shake.
'I must be imagining it. Luna said delusions were one of the many side effects of drinking.' Twilight thought to herself, continuing down the road.
But, as she walked further down, the louder the music became, and the worse her headache became! It became so loud the she had to stop walking and cover her ears to get rid of the obnoxious, yet beautiful sound. Unfortunately for her, the melody continued on, making her begin to not think straight!
"Where the buck is that rambunctious music coming from?!" Twilight growled, gritting her teeth and trying to look up.
Apparently, the melody came from the abandoned music house a few blocks away from her suite. Rumor has it that precisely at midnight, a cello would begin to play a haunting melody, loud enough for ponies who would be passing by to hear. The melody was very haunting, yet so alluring that ponies couldn't stop themselves from going towards the sound, only to run out an hour later, claiming there was a monster inside, trying to possess ponies with its music. The only thing that the music was doing to Twilight was giving her a bucking headache! Twilight groaned loudly and decided to storm inside, determined to put a stop to the noise!
The music house was filled with dust and cobwebs, instruments and music sheets scattered all over the main hall. The music sounded like it was coming from the main room. She pushed the wooden doors upon with a loud squeak and stepped inside. Rows and rows of velvet chairs were covered with a thin layer of dust and the mahogany carpet held pieces of plaster and brick from the walls and ceiling. Speaking of the ceiling, the chandelier that usually hung gracefully was now hanging by a thread, ready to fall at any given moment. The lights on the stage were light up, showing a young mare playing her cello with her hooves.
The mare couldn't be any older than twenty, with her long silver mane tightened in a braid and wrapped in a bun. She had a midnight blue coat that was cover with a magenta dress that was torn at the end and lined with dust. She sported glasses that were too thick to see the color of her eyes. The only thing that seemed off was the sight of dark magic inching its way up to the mare.
.........wait a minute.........DARK MAGIC!!!!!!!!
"Look out!!!" Twilight cried out, lighting up her horn with a spell and she sprinted over towards the mare. The mare looked up with a gasp before the entire music house shook with a mighty roar. Twilight tried to keep her balance, but she ended up slipping and banging her head on one of the hoof rests of a chair. A loud and constant ring filled her ears as a blurred shot of the mare came into view. She spoke something that Twilight couldn't make out before everything went black.
......Time Skip......
A soft yet constant ring filled Twilight's ears as she opened her eyes, trying to make out her surroundings. She groaned and rubbed her head, feeling a rather large bump on the back of her head.......buck. Once her vision had cleared, she looked down to see that she was covered with a thick wool blanket and a soft pillow supporting her head. It took her a moment to realize that she was still in the music house. The young mare must've brought her over here and covered her up when she passed out. Speaking of, where was the mare?! Is she ok?! Twilight tried to stand up but a stinging pain sprung through her body, making her groan before falling back on the pillow.
"......Don't try to stand up too quickly, you might hurt yourself again...." A soft voice spoke to her left. She turned her head to see the young mare looking down on her while adjusting the strings on her cello. Twilight smiled weakly.
"Thank you for saving me. But, are you alright?? What happened??? What was that dark magic???" She exclaimed, panicked. The mare smiled at her softly.
"Don't worry about me, I'll be ok. You, on the other hoof, might not be, with the huge bump on the back of your head." She spoke, frowning while Twilight gently touched the back of her head, wincing.
"I have some cream and bandages to fix that up for you..." The mare continued as she levitated the cream and bandages from an unknown place before trotting over. When she got next to her, she wrinkled her nose before helping Twilight sit up.
"Is something wrong?" Twilight asked.
"Nothing really. You just wreak of alcohol, not a very pleasant smell if I might add." The mare said while Twilight blushed while mumbling an apology.
"I'm going to warn you now, this might sting for a bit, but it will help you with your bump, I promise." She continued once more as she lightly dabbed the cream on Twilight's bump, earning a hiss from Twilight. The mare quickly finished applying the cream and bandaged the bump, then helped Twilight lay back down on the pillow.
"Thank you again, miss....." Twilight began but stopped, not knowing her name. The mare spoke up.
"Poetic Dusk, but please, call me Dusk." Twilight smiled before restarting her sentence.
"Thank you again Dusk, I really appreciate it." Dusk bobbed again before speaking up.
"You should stay here for a little while longer, before heading back home. But don't worry, I won't keep you from your meeting with Maretonia." Dusk said, winking.
"How did you know that I-"Twilight began before stopping herself and shaking her head gently. She was an alicorn, duh. And she was pretty sure that almost all of Canterlot knew about the meeting. Dusk began to giggle, as if reading her mind and Twilight smiled faintly again.
"Are you sure you're ok Dusk? The dark magic didn't get you?" Twilight vented, scanning her to make sure she didn't have any scars.
"I'm ok, really I am. As for the dark magic, I don't know where it came from. It just happens whenever I play my music." Dusk said, shrugging. Twilight raised an eyebrow, she never heard that before, not even in her books. She placed that thought in the back of her mind before focusing on her thick glasses.
"What about your glasses, why do you wear them?" Twilight asked. Dusk froze before turning towards her.
"You don't want to know, just drop it please." Dusk spoke quietly before turning back around and headed to her cello.
"But I want to know, Dusk. Please." Twilight said just as silently, looking up at Dusk with pleading eyes. But Dusk shook her head decisively.
"Didn't anypony tell you that curiosity killed the cat?" Dusk asked with a raised eyebrow. Twilight flushed lightly before nodded, embarrassed. Dusk only nodded before picking up her bow and began to play once more.
The soft music sung across the room, making Twilight feel a bit drowsy. Twilight lowered her eyes while watching Dusk play. Suddenly, a dark mist began to form around Dusk, but it didn't seem to harm her. Instead it seemed to help her. Twilight wanted to call out to Dusk, to warn her about the mist, but she couldn't find the voice to. The mist began to lift itself off the floor and began to take form above her. But Dusk didn't notice it, she just continued playing her cello. Twilight's eyes began to blur, and she began to feel herself shut down. Before everything turned black, however, she saw the mist transform into a flaming black heart that looked so much like the Crystal Heart. The world around her grew black and the music began to fade after that.
".....Goodnight.....Princess Twilight....."
......Time Skip Again......
The bright morning sun bore onto Twilight, making her groan as she sat up from her bed and tried to focus her eyes on her surroundings. She soon realized that she was no longer in the music hall, in fact, she was back in her suite!
'How in the world did I end up back here?! Was it all a dream?!' She thought reaching over to feel the bump on her head, but found none. The bedroom door suddenly burst open to reveal the night princess with a worried look on her face. She rushed over to Twilight and wrapped her forelegs over her.
"Thank goodness you're ok Twilight! I'm so sorry I left you alone at the bar! I just wasn't in my right mind back then! And by the time I realized what I had done, you were already gone!" Luna blubbered out, tears pouring down her eyes as she stroked Twilight's mane like a concerned mother. 'So it was all real...'
"It's ok, Luna, I understand." Twilight spoke tenderly, wrapping her forelegs around the night princess for a little bit.
"Lulu!! Is Twilight ok?!?!" She heard the sun princess call out from downstairs.
"Yes Tia! She's ok!" Luna called back before releasing her hug. She looked over at Twilight before smiling softly.
"You should get some rest today Twilight, take it easy. We'll tell the king of Maretonia that you weren't feeling well, he'll understand." Luna spoke before nuzzling Twilight's cheek and began to walk towards the bedroom door.
"Princess Luna!" Twilight called out, causing Luna to look back at her. Twilight hesitated before speaking.
"Do you know anyone named Poetic Dusk?" Luna smiled as an all too familiar melody began to play softly in Twilights ears.
"Ah yes, Princess Poetic Dusk. She used to play the cello back at the old music house before it got destroyed. She was very good, as a matter of fact, Tia and I often invited her over to the castle to play for us. It'll probably be hard to believe, but her father was actually King Sombra, before he turned. Rumor has that he struck her during his state, and she now has the same dark eyes as him that she hides behind a thick pair of glasses. It's a shame though, she committed suicide a long time ago, in the old music hall. Apparently, ponies can hear her music play from the music hall the midnight, the time she died on her 1600th birthday. The music everypony hears is one of her masterpieces, Behind Those Dark Eyes"
Author's Note
This took forever!!!!!! Please comment down below of what you thought of the story and if there's anything I should edit or fix. I'm also thinking of making a sequel surrounding Poetic Dusk and King Sombra. Let me know what you think!!
