//------------------------------// // Teachers of Canterlot High // Story: Silent Love - Part One // by Sagami //------------------------------// As soon as Vinyl pressed the button, Octavia knew that she just made a terrible mistake. She didn’t know why, just something inside of her that felt like things were about to get… complicated. And things did get complicated. Especially for her eardrums. All of a sudden, an absurd amount of decibels flew into her ears, without any warning, shattering every fragment of the cellist’s mind on its way. The sound coming out of the black headphones was beyond any description: a violent mix of cars crashing, metal objects falling on the ground, and electric short-circuits. If Purgatory had elevator music, this was a good idea of what it would sound like. Octavia had never heard such a thing in her entire life, but right now she couldn’t think about this. She was too busy protecting her brain from possible implosion. She had lost control over her arms, making it impossible to take the headphones off her head. Suddenly she felt like she was losing power in her legs as well, and would have collapsed on the ground if it wasn’t for Vinyl. Seeing the terrified expression on her friend’s face, the DJ grabbed her under her arms and swiftly took back the instruments of chaos she had placed on Octavia’s face. If ears could gasp for air, Octavia’s most certainly would have. Being free of the headphone’s grip, she felt like she just landed on Earth after a long journey in space. “V… Vinyl… What just happened?” “Well, you just got introduced to my music girl! Dubstep, Tavi. Tavi, Dubstep.” the DJ wrote, Octavia probably unable to use her phone. “D… Dub-step? What in the heavens does that mean?” “Y’know it’s a music type..” Vinyl wrote “Like Rock or Classical.” This was her music?? This was music? Octavia certainly expected something different, after seeing her friend’s instrument, but nothing in the world could have prepared her for what had just happened. The cellist massaged her temples, her ears still suffering from the sonic wave she had just experienced. How could any object or entity in the entire world could produce such a… music? “Oh, it’s very… interesting Vinyl, I for sure wasn’t expecting this kind of experience.” The DJ took out her phone and started typing again: “Hey it’s okay, you don’t like it, I get it Tavi, I wasn’t really expecting you to. I mean, you play cello, you have rich parents, a driver and all, not really the dubstep or electro type.” “It’s not that I don’t like it Vinyl… I guess I just don’t understand how you came to study this kind of music… or how it works…” Vinyl let out a smile, and invited Octavia to come look at her strange machine. It was an astounding mix of buttons, dials, LEDs and cables. While her left hand was laid on one of the two black plates, her right hand kept texting: “I’m self taught. And this basically works like a computer. You start from nothing, and you add different sounds little by little to create awesomeness!” Awesomeness… Octavia guessed that Vinyl and her had differents standards of quality. Her friend’s work wasn’t “bad”, but she had no idea what was good or bad when talking about this kind of music. Was that what the other students liked? They all seemed pretty cheerful about Vinyl being a “DJ”, so she guessed that she was the only one who didn’t like it… Was this going to be another barrier between her and her friends? “I… I hope the fact that I am not particularly fond of your work won’t be an issue… I’m truly sorry that my tastes aren’t what you expected.” As she heard the small buzzing sound, she looked at her blue screen: “What are you talkin about Tavi? Of course I dont care! You dont like it, no biggie!” The cellist still had trouble with the text messages and with her new nickname, but she was more than relieved to read these words. Her parents had always judged her on her musical performances, she was glad to see that Vinyl didn’t. “Heyyy! What are you girls up to?!” Octavia let a small scream as two hands suddenly laid on her shoulders. She turned around, blushing, to face Lyra and Bon-Bon. “Wow chill out Tavi! Did Vinyl’s music traumatize you that much? I mean, not that I’m surprised!” Vinyl made a few unfriendly-looking signs to Lyra, as Bon-Bon sat in front of Octavia: “Tavi, right? I think it suits you well! But if you don’t like it, I can tell them to stop.” “Oh not at all, thank you Bon-Bon, how are you today?” “You know, just having fun. I was showing Lyra some of my piano skills. You ever played it?” “Um… well, I tried, but my sister was already almost mastering it when I started, and my parents told me that she was going to be the one following my father’s career…” “Uh, the more I hear about your parents, the less I want to actually meet them… Well, anyway! Lyra was about to show me her skills at the lyre! Wanna come?” “Sure!” said Octavia “I actually quite enjoy the sound of the lyre, it’s so calm and resting…” “Yeah not really like Lyra, right?” the pianist commented with a smile “Hey Lyra! When do we get this music demonstration?!” “Coming at ya!” “...” “Yeah Vinyl” Lyra said “I’m gonna show’em my skills!” “...” “Fuck you, she’s gonna appreciate my music at least!” As the DJ was furiously signing at her, Lyra grabbed the lyre she had put on one of the two giant speakers, grabbed a folding stool that was lying around, sat and crossed her legs in a very feminine pose, which didn’t match at all with her tomboyish attitude (but neither did playing the lyre anyways). Without pronouncing a single word, she started to caress the thin strings, closing her eyes as an expression of deep serenity formed on her face. The notes began to resonate in the room, gently arriving into Octavia’s ears, flowing in the air as the mint-haired girl was humming a ballad. Octavia had very rarely heard lyre before, but in her opinion, this was truly beautiful. A sentiment of tranquility flew threw her, and for a brief moment, she forgot everything: her parents, the manor, Vinyl’s music, people around her,... Everything was gone, replaced by the flow of sound, making its way into her spirit. As Octavia reopened her eyes, she realized that everybody in the room had gone quiet, listening to Lyra’s notes. Vinyl gave her a small paper with a smile on her face: “Cool right? You’ll notice this is the only moment when Lyra shuts up.” Despite Vinyl’s mockery, Octavia could see that her friend was also very admirative of Lyra’s talent. After five minutes of playing, when the lyre’s strings finally stopped moving, everyone started to applause, as Octavia, Lyra, Bon-Bon and Vinyl exchanged large smiles. }--oO0Oo--{ Even if she didn’t like to admit it, Vinyl was impressed by Lyra’s performance. That bitch really did have a gift. String instruments never were Vinyl’s thing (but on the other hand, neither were drums or aerophones), but she recognized a sweet melody when she heard one, and this was really good. Bon-Bon had left early to be on time for her P.E class. Now she was wandering in the hallways with Tavi and Lyra, looking for the biology rooms. The class was starting in ten minutes, time which Lyra mainly used to remind the DJ that “Octavia liked her music better”. Jeez. She was right, but still. Even though she was expecting that, Vinyl felt kinda disappointed by her friend’s first reaction to dubstep. She didn’t know why: how could a girl like Octavia could even remotely dig this kind of sound? The cellist didn’t seem angry at her at all! So why was she worried? The three of them eventually reached the right room. Most of their comrades were already here, and others were choosing their seats. The only place where they could find three stools side by side was the front row. Great. Hopefully the teacher won’t be as boring as the guy from history class. “To all of you, good morning! Are you ready to start learning?” “And there is the teach- Woooooooooooooo……….” The woman entering the room was… special to say the very, very least. Grey skin, blue eyes, extremely tall, she was wearing a zebra-style tube dress under her white lab coat. Golden bangle bracelets were decorating both her wrists, matching rings were piercing her ears, and dzilla necklaces were placed around her neck. On top of all that, her hair were cut in a mohawk style, almost shaved on the sides, and leaving a single lock of hair hanging before her forehead. And she thought the two principal’s styles were weird. That teacher almost beat Mr. Discord on style. “Good. Great year in perspective.” “Professor Zecora is my name, in Canterlot High I’m glad you came.” “Wait…” “I have the honor to teach biology, to educate you I make my priority!” “Wait! Is this woman speaking in rhymes? Where in the fuck did this school pick its teachers?! First Discord, then her? How could this get weirder?!” }--oO0Oo--{ “Good afternoon boys and girls, I’m your P.E teacher, Mr. Sombra.” “Oh.” }--oO0Oo--{ Vinyl needed to pause her mind for a few seconds. The biology class had been a pain, not because of the program, which was pretty normal, but because of the teacher’s obnoxious way of speaking. Sure, she seemed like a nice person and all, but the blue-haired girl hadn’t plan on living in a fucking poem for the whole biology year. The lunch had passed quickly, Octavia finally sat with them for the whole meal, and the three girls mainly talked/wrote about their new teacher’s special habit, which gave Bon-Bon a good laugh. Now they were in CHS’s gymnasium, all seating on the floor, legs crossed, listening to their new teacher introducing himself and oh boy, was this gonna be interesting. “Now let’s make something crystal clear right away students: in my class, you won’t chill out, you won’t relax or lean against a wall to take a break every five minutes! We only have two hours per week, I intend on using them! And believe me, we’re gonna use them!” Cool. Perfect. An over-motivated, sadistic sport teacher. Discord was random, Nandermane didn’t give a shit, Zecora was confusing, and now they had this. This guy was a monster: tall, not taller than Discord, but larger. His enormous quantity of muscle was covered by a plain white shirt, black track pants and matching running shoes. His skin was dark grey, and his hair had a deep obsidian color. To complete it all, his eyes were carmine red, like two drops of blood, staring at every student like a predator looking for a prey. Vinyl wasn’t easily scared, but this man wasn’t reassuring. At all. “Ok class, you have fifteen minutes to get changed. Left door boys, right door girls. After that, lemme tell you that we are not going to sit and discover the year program: we will start serious business! You’ll discover the program along the way! Now go! Fifteen minutes starting now!” “Oh boy this is gonna be good…” said Lyra as everyone got up and started walking towards the two doors “All I needed was a psychotic macho to drain every energy from me for two straight hours! But hey, heads up Vinyl! We’ll get to see some interesting stuff in the locker room, right?!” “What the absolute goddam shit Lyra?! I know you like to mess with me, but we’re in the middle of like, thirty people!” Vinyl threateningly signed at her friend to let her know what she thought of her comments. “Hey chill out girl! I stop if that’s what you want, but don’t say you’d complain!” Ignoring Lyra’s mocking, the DJ turned to Octavia. The young girl was looking truly frightened: Vinyl didn’t know if it was because of the teacher, the fact that she probably never had an intense physical activity in her life, or the perspective of being in a locker room with the rest of the girls. Probably all of the above. That was kinda cute. The girls entered the room filled with blue metal lockers and beige benches. CHS had a big proportion of girls in their students: out of the thirty students in Vinyl’s class, eighteen or so were girls. The locker room was filled with conversations, Pinkie Pie’s voice covering most of the sound. “Hey Vinyl!” Talking about the devil. “I’m throwing a big “beginning of school year” party at my place this weekend! Wouldn’t it be super-duper awesome if you were the one taking care of the music! I’ve heard great things from this Techie guy!” This was unexpected. Already, someone was asking for her skills in a party? It wasn’t rare, but people usually waited to know her better before making this kind of demand. Although considering Pinkie Pie’s personality, or at least what the DJ had seen of it, it wasn’t really surprising. Vinyl took out her phone. She had registered all of the names and cell numbers people gave her on the first day, and quickly found the one she was looking for. “Well why not! :)” she texted “Just a question tho: do u think i could bring along 2-3 friends?” “Who? Lyra, Octavia and Bon-Bon? Don’t worry about that! They’re all invited!” Oh. “Ok then, I’ll bring my stuff at ur place, send me the adress. I’ll talk to Micro Chips for the speakers ^^” “Cooooooool!!! This is gonna be so much fun!!” the party planner shouted “Ok I’m going to talk to Trixie for the magic show, see you around Vinyl!” And, like last time, she disappeared. It was cool of Pinkie to invite the others, Lyra and Bon-Bon sure would have fun. “And Octavia well… let’s just hope her parents won’t be too much trouble.” Speaking of Octavia, she was apparently in a difficult situation: most of the girls were already getting undressed without any problem, but the cellist was standing still in a corner, blushing as hard as one could, trying her best to look away from the naked skins of her fellow students. The scene was almost funny, if it wasn’t for the fact that if she wasn’t ready in ten minutes, her first impression to Mr. Sombra wasn’t going to be very positive. As Vinyl was taking off her hoodie and tank top, she decided to come to her friend, still stuck in a corner. As Octavia saw the blue-haired girl coming towards her, she turned her head in the opposite direction, and begged in an ashamed voice: “P… Please Vinyl, cover yourself, I… I can’t look at you in this outfit!” Vinyl took the small notepad out of her pocket, removed her pen’s cap, and wrote in amusement: “Hey Tavi, you need to chill girl! You’ve never seen other girls wearing nothing but bras before? I thought you were in boarding school or something… Wouldn’t that be the kind of place where you get to… know each others better?” “V… Vinyl! I don’t understand your insinuations! This… is way too vulgar, I couldn’t possibly expose myself this way!” Vinyl smirked and wrote: “Yeah ok. But you know, you’re not bad…” “Excuse me?” “What I’m trying to say in your own innocent way is that there are girls here who just wished they had boobs as big as yours.” Vinyl wasn’t a painter: she didn’t know all the possibles shades of red. But if she had to pick the one corresponding to “most embarrassed ever”, that would be a good way to describe Octavia’s face right now. The cellist didn’t say a word, but stopped looking at Vinyl altogether, turning her body to face the blue wall. “Shit, did I go too far? Nah, she’s just being herself, such a cute doll.” Vinyl grabbed the blue fluffy towel she had brought, and handed it to Octavia along with another note: “Here. Use this to cover yourself and change. But seriously Tavi, you’ll have to be a tad more open-minded about… these sort of stuff.” Octavia took the towel without a word, using it to clumsily change into her sport outfit: grey running pants and white shirt and shoes. As she gave the towel back to Vinyl, the DJ heard a whisper: “Thanks, Vinyl.”