The unknown string

by Alto Harmony

Rating: teen
Tags: Original Character, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Dark, Violence, Slice of Life, Alternate Universe, Sad
Length: 2132

A very allusive string. What does it do?

After Alto practices her viola she feels something strange. When she comes back to practice again a new string is attached to the instrument. Alto decides to test it out but will soon regret it as she will experience hallucinations and voices.

Published 2021-01-13 05:00:00 UTC
Last updated 2021-01-15 20:20:17 UTC

A new string?

Alto practices playing her viola while her mother is cooking downstairs. Alto was interrupted when she heard her mother yell from the bottom of the stairs “Alto! Breakfast is ready, try to finish practicing before it gets cold!” Alto’s mother said as she went back into the kitchen downstairs to finish up the food.

“You can’t rush music mom, music like this takes time.” Alto said mumbling knowing that she’ll probably have to heat up the food since she always took time practicing. She stopped for a moment and started to tune the viola but somehow felt odd while doing so. “That’s strange.” She said after the tuning was done. Alto got back to practicing but that feeling was still there and she didn’t know what it was. “Maybe I should go eat first. That should shake this feeling away.” Alto said as she made her way downstairs and into the kitchen.

“It’s about time dear! You’re lucky it’s still hot.” Her mother said as she looked to see her daughter. But she noticed that Alto had a frown on her face. “Is something wrong Alto?” She said taking a bite of her food. Her daughter never really talks a lot so she always tries to ask if something is ok or wrong. Alto’s mother didn’t say anything else as she was still waiting for an answer while still eating her food.

Alto looked up at her mother changing her expression to a small smile then said “say mom do you ever feel like something is out of place? Like something that is perfect but can’t tell if something has changed?” She asked with caution looking around carefully. Her mother on the other hoof had finished eating and looked at Alto curiously wondering also what she meant. Alto started getting a little nervous and said “I’m not crazy or anything! I just wanted to know if you ever felt the same way too sometimes.” She said finishing up her meal and waited for her mother to answer.

“Well I guess I do feel that way sometimes. But what makes you feel that way? You seem a little bit scared.” Her mother said as she looked at how nervous Alto looked. “You can stay with me in the kitchen if you like. Do you want some tea to help you feel a little calm?” She said as she gave her a small smile. Alto returned the smile back but already started to go back upstairs.

“No thanks mom. I appreciate the offer but I’m fine really. I’ll be upstairs practicing so yell if you need me.” Alto said as she went back upstairs. She started to feel that strange feeling again as she was in front of her door. Alto hesitated for a few minutes and was starting to get angry at herself for not opening the door to her room. “You can do this Alto, just clear your mind.” She said as she took a deep breath and cleared her mind, that strange feeling going away completely. Alto smiled to herself and said “there we go, nothing to it.” She opened the door looking around for anything strange and there wasn’t at first so she trotted inside and got to her bed. She grabbed her viola at the foot of her bed and realized that there was an extra string on it. “Huh that’s odd... I suppose I’ll make sure everything is ok.” Alto said as she counted each string.

“1. 2. 3. 4... and 5? That can’t be right.” Alto said as the strange feeling came back again. Instead of being nervous or scared she got a little angry at whatever was causing this feeling. She looked at the extra string then looked around her room and yelled “OH YOU THINK THIS IS FUNNY! WAIT UNTILL I FIND OUT WHO OR WHAT YOU ARE. I WILL FIND YOU NO MATTER HOW MANY HOURS OR DAYS IT TAKES!” She went around her room and looked for it, even though she has no idea what it looks like.

Her mother was relaxing on a sofa reading one of her favorite mystery books until she heard her daughter yelling from upstairs. Worried she went to the bottom of the stairs and shouted “IS EVERYTHING OK DEAR?” After not hearing an answer she trotted upstairs and knocked on Alto’s bedroom door. She could hear a bunch of things being moved. After a sudden silence she opened the door looking around her daughter’s room. It was a mess, there was a collection of Alto’s video games and clothes all over the place. Her mother stopped and went into Alto’s room and found her looking at one of the strings on the viola. Her mother of course saw that there was only four strings, at least in her eyes.

Alto was just standing there looking at the new string that somehow got there on her instrument. She was staring at it without blinking. “I can do this all day. Either you tell me what you’re doing here, or I’ll make you.” She said with a stern voice. Alto looked over to the side of her room and said “oh hello mom, it seems we have an intruder. And it’s right here.” She pointed to the fifth string accusingly at the viola. She gave her mother a raised eyebrow as if she expected something.

“Um Alto, I only see four strings. What are you pointing at exactly?” Her mother said looking confused. She went closer to her daughter and only saw four strings not five.

“The fifth string. Wait you don’t see it? It’s right there.” Alto said a little irritated. She pointed to it again and her mother looked closer. “See it? Right there.” Alto said. Her mother backed away and looked at Alto with a worried look. “So you don’t see it? Are you sure?” She said with a little surprised look at her mother, then went back to glare at the new string.

“No I don’t see it, I’m sorry.” Her mother said as she gave Alto a sad and worried look. She then went back downstairs to the sofa and took a seat. Instead of relaxing and reading her favorite book, she waited for Alto worrying about her.

Author's Note

I apologize if I still suck at details. Hopefully you enjoyed this chapter though.

Hallucinations and voices

“Let’s get this over with string.” Alto said as she started to practice. She didn’t feel anything strange so everything seems ok.
After a few hours of practice she decided to trot to the door. She twisted it and it was locked. “This was not locked before. I guess I’ll do something else then.” Alto went to the mess of video games and thought about which one to play.

However a voice spoke to Alto and said “I think you should go to sleep and rest.” Alto turned around and was immediately scared. Alto went under her bed and looked to see a strange pony with a psychotic smile. “Oh don’t worry your mother is safe and sound asleep. You however won’t be so lucky when you go to sleep.” The voice said as it disappeared and everything went back to normal.

Alto was really scared but stayed confident and said “bring it on. I just won’t go to sleep. It’s as simple as that.” But she knew that was going to fail because she loves to sleep. Of course she stayed under the bed though even if it was going to be a problem but quickly didn’t care too much about it. “I’m going to win... I think.” Alto said trying her best to be confident.

Her mother meanwhile was fast asleep since she stopped waiting for Alto. Her dreams however were starting to turn into nightmares. One after another her dreams were getting more dangerous. “This is crazy. I know some mystery books are scary but this is ridiculous!” She said. The only thing Alto’s mother could do was hide or run in every nightmare.

Alto was getting really sleepy. Her eyes occasionally started to close and open back up. She looked at the clock and it was 11:30. “I’m not going to make it. But I have to keep trying. For me and for my mom.” Alto said as she was still under her bed. Then the fight to stay awake for Alto begins.

“You look sleepy Alto. Maybe you should go to sleep.” The voice said while Alto was doing her best to not sleep. Alto’s eyes were looking really tired but regardless stayed awake. “Oh how lovely it would be to just sleep and sleep.” The voice said trying to get Alto to sleep. But it still wasn’t enough so the voice decided to do something new.

Alto was very tired but still wide awake. Until she noticed that her body and bed were now upstairs outside her room.“What in equestria just happened?” She said puzzled at what had happened. As she was going to try to get the bed back in her room, she heard somepony going up the steps and it was her mother. “Oh mom it’s you. Do you know what’s going on? If not then could you help me with my bed? It somehow got outside my room.” Alto said. Her mother didn’t say anything but her head and neck twisted unnaturally. “Mom. Is everything ok?” Alto said to her mother.

Alto’s mother said “why of course I am.” Then she started laughing but it wasn’t a normal one. “Though I think it’s time for bed dear. Now be a good mare and go to sleep.” She said. Alto on the other hand started moving backwards. “Why are you afraid Alto? I thought you loved sleeping.” She said as Alto galloped somewhere else upstairs. “You can’t hide from me missy. When I catch you you’ll be scratched up, and I don’t want to hurt you but you aren’t giving me much of a choice.” Alto’s mother said with a hint of sadness.

“Ha! I scared her real good.” The voice said from inside of alto’s mother. “Alto’s mother has a good body and it’s very flexible. How convenient! But I’m afraid I must leave it.” The voice said putting alto’s mother back in control of her body. “You were fun but I’m going to do some more fun things.”

Alto’s mother was awake but threw up from being possessed. “Celestia I hope that doesn’t happen again. That was a very unpleasant experience.” She said hoping that it really doesn’t happen again. A broom and dustpan were next to her luckily and she started to clean up her vomit. “Now that it’s cleaned up I should make sure Alto is doing ok. But how did her bed get out here?” Alto’s mother said as she went to put back the bed in alto’s room.

Alto galloped to a room somewhere in the house. It was a guest room but she didn’t know anything about it. “Thank goodness I’m safe for now.” Alto turned the doorknob and opened it then closed it. But she was surprised to see that there was nothing in it. It didn’t have anything except a big mirror. “Hmm that’s weird.” She said looking around. As she came up to the mirror she sees her reflection. Alto’s reflection was very scary though. Her smile is a little too big, her eyes were turning red, and her glasses were gone. “Very funny voice you’ll have to do better than that. Your tricks are dull.” Alto said to her reflection in the mirror.

The voice of Alto’s reflection laughed and said “ok fine you caught me. But I have one last trick up my sleeve.” The voice destroys Alto’s reflection and turned into it’s original form. “Although you seemed pretty scared when I possessed your mother’s body.” The voice said as it laughed again.

“Whatever. So what is this last trick? Because the one you did before was terrible.” Alto said with a smug smile on her face. “Honestly it better be good than the last one.” She said.

The voice only said “as you wish.” And almost immediately Alto’s eyes finally closed. Alto woke up seeing a bunch of eyeless ponies. Their mouths were oval shaped and no background or landscape to tell where she was. “You’re finally asleep. Now you will stay with me forever and ever.”

Author's Note

Ok everypony my connection stayed on today. So yay and should I take out the violence tag? I don’t think I need it in this story anymore. What do you think? And sorry if this wasn’t scary. I guess it ended up being less scary than I imagined.