Thwack
“I just don’t get why some ponies think it’s okay to only come to practice when they please,” whined Lyra Heartstrings to our orchestra’s faculty adviser. “I thought ponies sitting First Chair were held to higher standards than that.”
Symphonia gave an exaggerated roll of her eyes; I simply tried not to laugh. Lyra Heartstrings was a mint-green unicorn in our year in school, also from a prominent musical family. Her father and my own were often in competition and the media liked to portray them as bitter rivals. Knowing that Lyra’s father was one of the ponies oft found in my own Father’s study painted a much different picture.
It didn’t seem like Lyra was in on the secret though, which only made it better.
Our adviser, an elderly stallion lovingly called Bent Bow by his students, turned his bespectacled eyes towards me. “Miss Philharmonica, was missing practice on Monday truly necessary?”
“Yes, sir,” I replied with a slight bow. “I had important business to handle that could not wait.”
He smiled at me briefly before turning back to Lyra. “I’m sure you did, dear. Now then, Miss Heartstrings, could you check the records and tell me how many practice sessions Miss Philharmonica has missed?”
Lyra’s gaze slid across Bent Bow to me, then over to the log book we were required to keep by the door. “Well, uh, you see…”
“You have it memorized and Octavia has only missed one day in three years?” Symphonia provided, earning a stern look from the other unicorn.
Bent Bow chuckled low in his throat. “Now now, ladies, let’s not fight. You’re all a team, remember?”
Lyra made a show of going to our log book for the year and checking the entries for every single practice. “I’ll have you know, Symphonia, she missed two this year.”
Symphonia clicked her hoof against the ground. “That’s right, I forgot, she had that emergency trip to Manehatten when her grandmother tripped down her steps, silly me.”
“That’s enough,” Bent Bow said, raising his voice for what was likely the first time in a week. “I appreciate you bringing this to my attention, Miss Hearstrings, I will make sure to start keeping a close eye on everypony’s attendance. That said, you are all adults, I hope I can continue treating you as such.”
Everypony muttered some form of agreement, and our adviser smiled. “Now that’s settled, how goes preparation for the show in two weeks?”
Every section lead, myself and Symphonia included, provided a progress report for our section, then our opinion on the readiness of the group as a whole. It seemed we would be ready, at least enough that the first live show wouldn’t be terrible. Pleased with our progress, Bent Bow bade us keep up the good work, then limped his way from the room.
As soon as he left, Lyra came to talk to me. Before she could get started I retreated to the safety of my section and quickly got everypony ready to begin warm ups. From the corner of my eye, I saw Symphonia stick her tongue out at Lyra, who returned a rude gesture of her own.
Practice went fine besides, after my section finished teasing me about missing anyway. I refused to tell them exactly why I was gone Monday, but the popular consensus was either me meeting with a lover, or being abducted by aliens. We all practiced apart for about half of our remaining time, then assembled together as a full orchestral group for the end. We sounded a little rough, but nothing that couldn’t be polished out before our show.
I had expected Lyra to attempt to speak with me again, but as soon as practice was over she left. Symphonia and I stowed our instruments and left as well, after saying goodbye to the rest of the orchestra.
“So,” she asked as we exited the auditorium. “Any word on if your parents are going to be able to make it back for our show?”
I shook my head. “No, it sounds like they will be out in Las Pegasus for the entirety of our performance. They leave at the beginning of next week.”
“At least my mom will be able to make it,” Symphonia said. “Probably.”
We walked in silence for the rest of our trip back home. It was always a peaceful walk; it was in between most class time, and after a lot of clubs had already ended their meetings as well. The few ponies out and about mostly kept to themselves, only greeting us with nods or waved hooves.
“Isn’t that Vinyl?” Symphonia asked as our building came into view, pointing out a white unicorn pacing by the door to our building.
I squinted in the direction of her hoof, then nodded. “That’s odd though, I don’t remember us having plans tonight.”
As we walked closer, it was obvious she was worried about something. Vinyl walked in a tight circle with a piece of paper clutched tight in her magic.
“Vinyl, is something wrong?” I asked as we neared her.
She jumped at the sound of my voice and looked up at us. “Hey Tavi, Symphonia,” she answered almost automatically, then locked her gaze to me. “Sort of, so I’ve got a favor to ask.”
“Ask inside, then,” Symphonia said, already moving to open the door to the lobby. “I’m hungry, and it’s Octavia’s turn to cook.”
“No, it really isn’t,” I replied, but walked in anyway.
Vinyl followed close behind all the way to our room. Symphonia and I stowed our instruments. She tried to prod me to go make dinner anyway, but I refused, turning my attention to Vinyl instead. “What do you need?”
She took a deep breath to steady herself, then uncrumpled the paper I’d noticed earlier and held it in front of my muzzle so I could read it. I couldn’t help myself and quickly glanced at the signature at the bottom before pushing it aside to look Vinyl in her glasses. “Hazelblossom? What does he want?”
“Keep reading,” she replied in a small voice, holding the paper up once again.
I continued down the page quickly. The letter was written formally, but still somehow unpleasant. “So let me get this straight,” I said as I finally finished reading. “You left some stuff at Hazelblossom’s apartment, because he said you could, and now he’s threatening to throw it all out unless you get it tonight?”
Vinyl nodded.
“Well, I suppose that’s at least a good advertisement for the postal system here,” I muttered under my breath, already planning ahead. “How much is there?”
“More than I can carry…”
“More than we could carry?”
Vinyl thought for a second. “Yeah, probably.”
“How about all three of us?” Symphonia asked from the kitchen.
“I think so.”
Symphonia poked her head around the door frame. “Okay then, you two go start rounding stuff up, and I’ll scare up a carriage to take it all with. Just give me the address.”
“Are you guys sure?” Vinyl asked softly.
Symphonia and I both nodded and headed towards the door. I scratched Hazelblossom’s address down and handed it to my roommate. She left, leaving Vinyl and I alone. I walked to her and put a hoof on her shoulders. “Come on, lets go get the rest of your stuff and somehow cram it into your dorm room.”
We left then, hailed a carriage, and made our way back to the other edge of town, where Hazelblossom’s apartment clung to a group of similar buildings. It didn’t look much different than the last time I was there, an iron gate opening to a courtyard, surrounded on all sides by two tiers of apartments. It might have just been my own opinions, but the entire place gave off an unwelcoming air.
Vinyl stopped at the gate a moment to compose herself before leading me to the only apartment door bleeding electronic music into the night air. She knocked twice, then threw the door open and walked in. I hesitated a moment, having not actually been invited in, but raised voices from inside coaxed me in anyway.
The apartment was small, just three or four rooms, judging by the doors in the main room, and the distance between front doors outside. The large living room was dominated by equipment, none of which I could readily identify except speakers. A small couch was shoved in one corner, behind a small table piled high with takeout boxes. None of the three doorways had actual doors on them, just curtains hanging from tacks in the wall.
Hazelblossom stood behind his tower of takeout, glaring at Vinyl. “Would it kill you to knock, V?”
“I did,” she replied, looking around the room. “We’re here for my stuff, where is it?”
He noticed me then and turned to look back at Vinyl with unconcealed disgust. “Really? You brought her with you?”
“I brought Vinyl with me,” I replied, moving to stand next to my friend. “And she asked you a question.”
“I’m not talking to you,” he spat at me before looking back to Vinyl. “It’s all back in our room.”
“Your room,” she corrected. “Wait outside for Symphonia, Tavi, I’ll dig through his mess and grab my stuff.”
For a moment I debated refusing, but after looking around the filthy living room, I decided against it. “I’ll be right outside, shout if you need something.”
I watched Hazelblossom track Vinyl through one of the curtains before leaving the apartment. As I promised I stood right outside, keeping one eye trained on the gate and the other on the curtain Vinyl vanished through. Hazelblossom hesitated for a moment, gaze darting between the next room and me. He eventually decided on me, to my displeasure, and walked out to join me on the balcony.
“I didn’t realize you two were talking again,” he said.
“We are,” I replied. To be honest, I didn’t really want to talk with him, but it was rude to ignore ponies. “I didn’t think you were talking to me.”
To my surprise he deflated somewhat. “I”m sorry. I get a little… testy when Vinyl is around anymore.”
I studied him from the corner of my eye, trying not to draw too much attention. The unpleasant stallion from earlier was all but gone, replaced by a perfect picture of apology. “I understand that is normal when ponies live together for a while. My own roommate gets under my coat more often than not, but I love her like a sister.”
“I wish it had just been something like that,” he replied with a sigh. When I didn’t answer he scoffed. “Of course she didn’t tell you. Typical Vinyl, screws something up, then tries to sweep it under the rug.”
“I’d thank you to not speak of my friend that way,” I replied firmly.
Hazelblossom simply raised his voice to drown mine out. “You grew up with her, you should know as well as I do. All Vinyl does is use ponies to get something, then moves on to something else. She used you and your family, then me, and now that I’m done dealing with her she’s gone crying back to you.”
Something flew from inside Hazelblossom’s apartment, striking him in the side of the head. Crying out in pain, he jumped back. I only watched him long enough to make sure he wasn’t going to fall over the balcony railing before turning to look into the apartment. Vinyl stalked towards us, a small cloud of other potential weapons whipping around her head.
“I thought you were smart enough to not talk trash about ponies in earshot,” she said, exiting the apartment to stand between Hazelblossom and I. “Seriously, Hazelblossom, you know exactly why I moved out. If anything, you’re the one who used me.”
No matter how hard I stared at the back of Vinyl’s head, she didn’t turn around. She instead took some time to look at Hazelblossom’s expression, a curious mixture of pain and anger, then went back inside. I made a mental note to ask later and turned my attention back to watching the gate for Symphonia. She arrived some ten minutes or so later, and we were able to get all of Vinyl’s things out without another incident.
I sat with Vinyl an hour or so later in her dorm room, now even messier than ever. Symphonia had left shortly before citing the need to eat something, leaving the two of us alone.
“Sorry about ruining your night,” Vinyl said, staring into the box she was pretending to unpack. She hadn’t looked directly at me for more than a few seconds since we left Hazelblossom’s apartment. “He’s such an ass…”
“It’s not a big deal,” I replied. I moved some things around on her bed so I could lie down comfortably. “About what he said…”
“It’s all a lie. I never used you, or your parents, or him. I’ve never used anypony.”
I could hear her voice slowly rising, so I quickly cut her off. “I know.”
“Oh.” She was quiet for a few minutes, only rustling through the box in front of her. “You want to know what happened.”
It wasn’t a question. “Only if you want to tell me,” I replied.
She removed the glasses from her eyes and rubbed them. It was the first time I’d seen her eyes since we’d met again. “He basically just wanted me close so he could use my music in his sets instead of making his own. He never credited me as the artist, said it was ‘better for a new artist.’ When I confronted him about it, he said it was my way of paying rent since I’d basically been living off him for months.”
The glasses went back on. Vinyl tipped the current box upside down, mixing it’s contents with the stuff all over the floor. “There was some other stuff, but that was basically it. I called him out after talking to some other ponies in The Underground and with Legatus. When Hazelblossom didn’t back down, I started school here and left.”
Vinyl appeared to be in better spirits so I dropped it. Between the two of us we had Vinyl’s few boxes from her old apartment, and most of the ones that she’d never unpacked her first year, more or less taken care of in another hour. Before I could leave for the night, she stuck a flier in my face.
“There’s a new club opening up next weekend,” she said as I tried to fight the paper out of my face. “You’re coming with me on opening night.”
“I’m doing what now? I didn’t agree to anything,” I replied, finally knocking the paper out of her grip and to the floor. I peered at it in the dim light of Vinyl’s doorway. It looked exactly as I’d expected an advertisement for a nightclub to be, random colored lines and letters splashed about a black background. The flier named it Night-Glo, which even I thought was kind of dumb.
“Yeah, we’re totally going to go opening night and network.”
I tried really hard to ignore her wide grin, so full of excitement. The last time we’d gone out like that together, Mother had yelled at us. I wasn’t expecting parental intervention now that we were older, but I hadn’t had much fun back then besides.
Vinyl knew I was hesitating. She cranked up the grin to eleven and removed what little personal space I had left. “Please?” she begged.
It was too much. With a defeated sigh, I acquiesced.
Vinyl whooped and pulled me into a big hug. “Awesome! We’re going to have so much fun! Do you have anything to wear?”
“I’m sure I can… find something,” I replied, voice muffled by her neck. I forcibly separated us. “And you should as well. If I’m coming to that club, you’re coming to the opening night of the Student Orchestra’s next show the week after.”
“Alright, sure.”
I narrowed my eyes suspiciously. She’d given in with next to no argument. “You’d better not try to worm your way out of this, Vinyl Scratch, or I’ll sic Symphonia on you.”
“I won’t, I promise,” she answered, and pulled the door open for me. “Night, Tavi. And thanks for the help today, again.”
“It was no problem. Goodnight, Vinyl.”