The Ponyville theater was packed to the brim tonight, but that was to be expected by this point as it seems the orchestra concert was putting on one hell of a show tonight, one that most of the ponies wouldn’t expect the group to do before in all the years that Ponyville had been alive ever since Granny Smith and the rest of the Apple family had founded the town with their ever famous Zap Apple jam. The bottom, middle and top row seats of the theater itself that were top quality, comfy and nice on the ass that would be hella expensive in the fanciest furniture stores of Canterlot, were packed to the brim with almost all of the Ponyville citizens, far more than one would expect, almost like the entire town of Ponyville had dropped everything they were doing just for this night.
Some were talking among themselves, their voices echoing from their lips to float freely before they filled the room that had once been left in an uncomfortable silence one would expect a theater to have whether they weren’t being used for plays or concerts like this one. Others, however, were moving from seat to seat like little Parasprites, well they almost looked like Parasprites since they nearly became nothing but little blurs in the eyes of the ones backstage. Some were trying to find another seat to plant their ass on or simply making a last minute trip to the bathroom to do I don’t give a fuck about what they do in the bathroom, I’m not that kind of asshole, before the show was said to start.
From backstage, the orchestra performers were getting themselves ready before they headed onstage, readjusting or cleaning their instruments or little pieces of clothing they had chosen to wear tonight. And that included one gray mare off to the side getting out her signature instrument she had managed to buy in a surprisingly great condition from an old instrument store in Canterlot, her old one broke when she accidentally tripped on a stage and fell on top of it. They checked themselves out in the few mirrors the theater had brought or rather, they had brought or rather though less likely, they had brought in themselves.
They all looked great, not perfect but still presentable for the citizens of Ponyville and they needed to be, I mean why the hell would you want to look like a mess in front of your audience for crying out loud! The mare set down her new cello and ran her brow over the strings, they still worked like new despite its age and the amount of neglect it must’ve taken while it sat in the store. She took in a relieved sigh through her nose, raising a forehoof to her forehead to wipe a layer of sweat off her brow before letting that breath out through her mouth. The nervousness that had been previously sitting in the pit of her stomach slowly vanished though there was still a hint of anxiety and the mare swore it had probably had something to do with both the concert and the condition of her cello. Actually, scratch that, it was definitely connected.
The mare took a look through the crack in the red fabric of the curtains, seeing nearly the entirety of Ponyville, feeling very nervous about the concert. But she took a deep breath, placing a front hoof up to her neck as she tried to calm her anxiety. She had nothing to worry about, she had gotten a replacement cello and had practiced with it several times while her roommate, Vinyl Scratch/Valentino was off work, and it had worked despite everything it’s been through. It was a bit strange for the cello to still be in perfect condition despite it sitting in a music store with no one taking care of it, but the mare needed a new cello and the thing worked when she tried it, so that was what mattered to the mare.
When the performers were up and ready, they walked over to their instruments, walked out onto the stage and got into position. The lights in the theater went off, turning the entire theater into a dark world, startling many ponies who weren’t expecting it and causing them to gasp in surprise. That didn’t last long as in seconds, the main stage lights turned on and when they did, the entire orchestra was now on stage, all in position and ready to play. And play they did. The orchestra concert went like one would expect, where the band would perform one song then one or two ponies would go backstage to let the others left on stage to perform without them.
It went on like this for some time till there was only one pony left on stage, the light gray mare named Octavia, one of the best cello players in all of Ponyville, maybe all of Equestria. She took in a deep breath and prepared herself for this moment, remembering all the practice she had done for this concert. With her cello in hoof, she stood upright on the stage with her bow in her other hoof, admittedly feeling a little nervous about this solo performance despite having performed in front of crowds before. She heaved a deep breath to relax her nerves as much as she could then moved her bow to caress the strings of her cello and then began to play her song.
The melody that came out sounded haunting, mournful, sorrowful and almost like a song that one would hear from a violin, not from a cello. It was quite unusual to hear a song like that from Octavia who never seemed like the type who would be that mournful or anything near it despite her having played haunting or sad songs in previous concerts. But nevertheless, the audience stayed in their seats, listening to the beautiful, if sad, song. But as the song went on, the melody began to change, not becoming more beautiful but starting to sound off. First it was the pitch, then the melody itself, bit by bit till the entire song itself began to decay.
The decaying effect wasn’t too noticeable to the ponies in the crowd at first, but as the song continued, the melody continued to decay faster and faster almost like the song itself was a living creature, till the entire theater was filled with the haunting melody. The only sound it would ever hear tonight. When the song ended, the theater had now gone dead silent, much too quiet for comfort. Octavia sighed heavily, set down her bow and cello and opened her eyes to face the audience, only to be met with nothing but a crowd of skeletons left in the chairs, a decaying theater and a creaking cello.
Octavia’s eyes widened, her gaze turning to the cello still in her hooves. The wood began to creak more, the strings snapped, the tops fell off to the ground. The souls of the crowd it had taken had finally given it enough power to repair itself after it was damaged and now, it was time to make its appearance. Octavia’s horror went up to eleven as the cello break apart and vanished, in its place was a wooden pony like creature wearing a faded and torn cloak and a leather mask covering what remained of its face, it’s purple eyes being the only thing the mare could see. That and the broken stump that remained on its head held together by stitches and the smile that was once warm crossing its face.
One Octavia unfortunately knew from long ago, but thought was lost forever was now here in physical form.
