• Published 12th Jan 2012
  • 4,924 Views, 93 Comments

Tales from the Staff Canteen - Midnightshadow



Behind the scenes at Equestria Daily, where all is professional and above board...

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Concerto - by Siraj

She really, really wanted a drink right now. Preferably something alcoholic. No such luck today, with the heat stifling in the middle of summer and three towers of fics ready to crush her if they so much as shifted wrong. She pulled the next one off, eying the stack as it swayed dangerously, and sighed in relief as it settled. Then the front door opened, letting in a blast of night-time wet heat and a pair of ponies as disparate as their coats and styles.

“No no no no nonononononono!” she muttered as that same stack swayed from the temperature and pressure change, and promptly fell over, scattering papers everywhere. She sighed and buried her head in her hooves briefly before brushing back pumpkin mane and smiling up at the pair. “Hello Octavia. Hello Scratch. What can I do for you this evening?” she inquired.

Octavia looked nervous. Just as she opened her mouth to speak, Scratch bumped her aside gently, giving her a look. The gray pony shrugged, and Siraj worried. Scratch looked very amped on something. Probably lots of caffeine. She knew that Phoe holing up for the next training grounds with a case of Red Bison was a bad idea, but Equestria’s legendary DJ? This boded ill, or at least something relatively insane.

“We heard you play” Scratch said. Siraj blinked. That was unexpected.

“Play?” she asked, confused.

“Yeah, guitar. Heard Celestia talking about it when we had her back, during the commercials.”

“Oh, black flame...” the fic reader sighed and rubbed her eyes as the DJ waited, and Octavia looked... Interested? Oh dear. “Yes, I play. Guitar and violin. I’m stronger with the former than the latter, but I live for music, just like you two do” she admitted.

“You, Lyra, and the two of us, tomorrow on the show.” Scratch said, rather bluntly.

“What?”

“What she means, if she’d get her head on straight and stop downing so much caffeine that it’d make the Cutie Mark Crusaders lethal due to sheer velocity, is that we’d like to have you for a concert tomorrow night, live on the show.” Octavia said politely.

“Classical, or metal?” Siraj asked.

“Both, actually. Custom composition” came a new voice, and Lyra slipped in, leaving the door open no longer than was necessary, and she sighed at the coolness of the office.

“Sounds interesting. I’m in. Just... Hope you can bear with me. I don’t do well around others. Makes me nervous. Social deficiency, I suppose you could say.” she replied. Octavia produced a ticket.

“6 tomorrow night, on the dot. Be ready to play for an extended period, we’re looking for an entire musical episode, save for commercial breaks.” she said, handing it over. Siraj took it, and tucked it into her mane with a nod.

“I’ll be there, never fear” she said. The three other performers smiled, and left. Siraj slumped back into her chair and groaned. “What have I gotten myself into?”

-The next night-

Siraj gulped, staring up at the radio station’s windows on the third floor. She had a particular slow dirge playing in her mind at the moment, and her nervousness only amplified that.
“I’m so doomed” she said as she steeled herself. She went inside, heading up the stairs to the third floor, looking for the studio. It wasn’t that hard to find, being the second door on the right, with a large plate glass window, which looked brand-new. She knocked on the glass lightly with a hoof and the trio inside stopped chatting, looked up, and smiled. Octavia got up and opened the door for her.

She adjusted her dual cases carefully on her back and went inside, finding a fourth chair already set up. It looked rather plush, and after the weight of her instruments, it was a divine relief to take a load off.

“Ready to go?” Lyra asked as she passed over sheet music. Siraj looked it over, withdrew her guitar, tuned it, and sighed heavily. “I... suppose so.”

Scratch turned to the console, hit a few buttons, and the ‘On Air’ sign lit up. She gave Octavia a grin and yielded the microphone.
“Hello everyone, Octavia here for the special performance we promised. An hour of composed music, except for commercials, for all of you that asked for it. Here tonight is Lyra on her lyre, Scratch with a saxophone that I didn’t know she played, myself with my cello of course, and our surprise fourth chair, Siraj of the Equestria Daily newspaper, on guitar for the moment and violin later on. We hope you enjoy yourselves, you’re listening to K-COLT!” she said clearly, then turned back in her chair. She smiled and raised her bow, conducting the time signature, and Siraj strummed the first C flat with a prolonged E emitting from Vinyl’s sax. Lyra and Octavia both closed their eyes, waited, and jumped in after a two measure and three measure rest, respectively. From there on out, they lost themselves in the music.

Siraj snapped out of it twenty minutes later as they quickly went to a commercial break, her eyes wide and horn glowing right along with Scratch’s and Lyra’s, everypony else’s eyes wide in surprise.
“W-what is it?” she asked, noticing she was breathing hard, as if she galloped from Canterlot clear to Ponyville in one go. Octavia pointed a hoof at her horn, wordless. Siraj rolled her eyes up, and noticed the swirling colors of neon green and pink. “Oh... That. Heh. I never did mention that, did I? I met a pony years ago named Tripp, he unlocked my passion for music... ever since then this has been happening. Those are actually his colors at raves. I think you’d like him, actually, Scratch, his style’s right up your alley. Anyway, he took me out, and I got lost in the Music... Ever since then, when I really get into a song, sometimes it just grabs ahold of me and on occasion it takes somepony or someponies with it, reveling in the song for the song’s sake. I play my best when it’s got me. Tripp once said that the Music, that which draws us to compose, to play, to sing... is identical to magic in its purest form, just a bit more natural, more instinct-based than what we use as magic in this day and age.” was the long explanation given, a blush suffusing her face the whole time.

Lyra blinked, shared a look with Octavia and Vinyl, then rose from her chair to hug her softly, “Thank you” she whispered, “I haven’t played like that in years. I felt something special during that... And we’re not done yet. Let’s play, and really give all of Equestria something to talk about for years” she said. Siraj blushed further and nodded. Lyra smiled at her, Octavia nodded at her, and Scratch smiled wickedly as befit her. Siraj smiled back shyly. Everypony’s attention was grabbed as there was a knock on the glass, the quartet looking up to see three figures there: Lyra’s girlfriend Bon Bon, with tears of joy in her eyes, and a smiling Luna and Celestia.

“Keep playing. There’s a flood of calls killing switchboards all over Equestria begging for more!” Celestia said clearly through the pane, and Octavia sighed happily, readying herself along with the rest as she brought them back from the break.

Siraj’s horn lit up again, a smile on her face, and the Music took them once more.