Third Look: Beautiful Music
The music was mesmerizing as it wafted through the concert hall, the melody and arrangement familiar to most of the concert's attendees, yet the young mare was putting so much of her heart and soul into it that even the most jaded of critics couldn't help but be touched. This was young Octavia Philharmonica's special gift to the world of music--the ability to completely lose herself in her performance. As soon as she picked up her bow and drew it across the strings of her double bass, even the potential scholarship to Canterlot University's prestigious school of music that was on the line was completely absent from her mind. There was only the music.
There was a brief moment of silence after Octavia played her last note. A brief moment where she allowed herself to bask in the peace that she only felt on a successful performance. Then the applause started, and she opened her eyes, a small, dignified smile playing on her face as she looked out into the audience. The smile faltered just ever so slightly at the pair of empty seats in the front row. But then again, it wasn't like she was expecting anything different, so why should she let it get to her?
As she began to put her instrument away and the applause began to die down, she heard something that caused her gracious smile to twist into a smirk. "You go, Octy! That was the bomb! You rock!" and so on, until the sandy, almost masculine sounding voice was the only sound in the hall. It took considerable effort for her to not laugh outright as the voice continued. "Huh? Waddya mean I gotta leave? I ain't going anywhere. Hey! Leggo, ya stinkin' narc! YourockOcty!" SLAM! And then there was silence.
It wasn't until she was backstage that Octavia let herself release a small chuckle. "Wow, that had to be embarrassing," a sudden voice spoke up. When Octavia looked up, she saw the mint green form of Lyra Heartstrings, carrying her namesake instrument in the magical grip of her unicorn horn.
Octavia smiled politely at her competitor--the young unicorn from Ponyville was the only real competition she ever had--and answered, "Embarrassing? Perhaps a little, but that's just how she is." A mock long-suffering sigh slipped from her lips. "Sometimes I wonder just why I ever invite her at all. Honestly..."
Lyra looked the refined earth pony over for a brief moment before her face split in a canny grin. "Weeeell,' she almost purred.
Octavia suddenly stood stock straight as her face became that specific shade of red that only ever-so-slightly overripe tomatoes seem to produce. "'Well?' What 'well?'" she asked anxiously. "Why did you say 'well?' There is no 'well.'"
"If you say so," Lyra responded before going out to the stage to play her piece.
Octavia stood there just past stage left for several seconds before her face returned to its normal ashen grey and she was able to trot over to the dressing room. How is it possible, she asked herself, that a simple, private conversation can be more embarrassing than that public spectacle? Shaking it off, Octavia dragged her large instrument case through the door. She did need a moment of privacy after all.
Octavia placed her double bass back at the same spot she had put it at the beginning of the competition, comfortably nestled between a cello and a viola, before heading over to one of the sinks and opening the tap full throttle. As the sink filled with ice cold water, Octavia let her mind drift to the concert, her odds of actually winning the scholarship (She had it pegged at 50/50. That Lyra was really quite the prodigy.), and who was out there in the audience rooting for her. As well as who wasn't.
At least I have a fan, she thought wryly as she shut off the valve. A loud, obnoxious, overbearing, irritating fan, but a fan nonetheless.
Octavia was just about to perform her usual post-performance routine, when a knock resounded from the back door. Octavia sighed, but with a nearly unnoticeable smile, as the pony on the other side of the door continued knocking as if they were performing a drum solo. Octavia made sure she was one step to the side of the door--the last thing she needed tonight was a concussion--and quickly pulled the door open. She smirked in satisfaction as the unicorn on the other side stumbled into the room.
Octavia chuckled softly at the sight of her friend. She had shown up in a jet black tuxedo--which actually contrasted nicely off her white coat and shocking blue mane. The night called for formal attire, after all, but even when forced to obey the rules, Vinyl Scratch made sure to do things her way. She even had those ridiculous sunglasses affixed to her face as always.
"Hey Octy," Vinyl said cheerfully. "S'up?" Octavia rolled her eyes for a moment before another, very loud knock sounded from the door. "Horseapples! It's the fuzz!" Vinyl exclaimed in a hoarse whisper.
"'It's the fuzz?' Seriously, Vinyl?" Another knock caused Octavia's trespassing friend to scramble behind the large pile of instruments.
Octavia rolled her eyes as she opened the door again, this time to find the burly but not unfriendly looking security pony. "Sorry to bother you, miss, but we believe there's a trespasser backstage. Have you seen anypony come in through here you don't recognize?"
Octavia just smiled at the stallion. "I do apologize, sir. But I'm the only pony who's been in the dressing room the last several minutes. I do hope you find her... or him."
The security pony regarded the young mare for a second or so longer than she would have liked, but he smiled at her and nodded his head. "Sorry for the intrusion. Guess I'll have to look elsewhere." As he turned to leave, he stopped. "Oh, and I saw your act. Good going, kid."
She smiled diplomatically and thanked him as she shut the door. She was unsurprised to see Vinyl already standing behind her grinning. Octavia leveled her best glare at her. "You know you're going to end up in prison by the time you're twenty, right?"
"And you're my adorable little accomplice," Vinyl cooed teasingly. She raised an eyebrow when she saw one of Octavia's eyes twitch. "You haven't done the post performance cooldown yet, have you?"
Octavia's whole body began to subtly shake as she replied "No..." Vinyl stepped aside to let Octavia dash to the sink, dunk her head in the ice water, and release a scream that would have been very loud indeed in the open air. When she came up for air, there was a towel waiting for her, courtesy of one grinning white unicorn.
"Feel better?" Vinyl asked.
"Much," was the reply as Octavia dried herself off. "Now what, may I ask, are you doing here?"
"Well, you did invite me, y'know, and I thought you could use a fan in the audience."
"No, no, no," Octavia responded even as a slight flush came to her cheeks. "I mean, what are you doing here in the dressing room?"
"Oh, that. Well, once I got the obligatory mushy gushy best friends stuff out of the way, I thought I'd drive you crazy."
Octavia smirked wryly. "'Obligatory.' That's a big word for you."
"It was on my word of the day calendar," Vinyl responded completely without irony. "Oh, and I'm also here to foalnap you and bring you to my place, where my parents, my brother, and the little anklebiters have a quote-unquote surprise party waiting for you."
Octavia blinked in surprise, for once lacking a snarky comeback. "Wha... why?"
Even behind her sunglasses it was easy to tell that Vinyl rolled her eyes at the question. "Uh, because tonight was your biggest competition ever? Duh? 'Sides, I knew you were gonna need cheering up tonight."
"I do not need 'cheering up!' I gave the best performance I ever gave and am perfectly content, I'll have you know."
Vinyl pushed her glasses up above her horn and levied a serious magenta colored glare at her friend. "You're doing that thing again. That I-can't-let-other-ponies-know-I-have-feelings thing. I know the parents didn't show up. Again."
Octavia snorted. "It's not like it was unexpected. They haven't been to any of my performances all year."
"Because they're idiots who don't know how awesome you are," Vinyl responded heatedly, which caused another blink of surprise from her friend. "Now come on,' she continued, completely back to her normal self. "My family is loud and obnoxious maybe a little embarrassing, and that's exactly what you need right now."
"And knowing you doesn't provide me with enough of all that?" Octavia asked.
Vinyl laughed. "Aw hay, no. Now let's scram."
"What, now? But...but I'm expected to stay the whole event. It's only the proper thing to..." Octavia yelped as Vinyl chomped down on her tail and the surprisingly strong unicorn began to drag her out the back entrance. "You let go of me right now, Vinyl Scratch! This is entirely improper, unnecessary, and, I think, illegal. Let..."
Both Octavia's protests and Vinyl's pulling stopped as Lyra stepped into the dressing room and the three ponies simply stared wide eyed for a moment. "Uh," Vinyl said through a mouthful of tail. "Thith ith exthacltly what it lookths like."
"Help me," Octavia pleaded.
Lyra simply grinned and waved them off. "Oh, don't mind me. Have fun you two."
Octavia gave her musical rival a glare that should have vaporized her on the spot. "I will kill you," she said an instant before disappearing out the door.
Vinyl was right of course. What awaited Octavia was a night of bad ready-made five-bits-for-a-large pizza, an embarrassing amount of mothering from Vinyl's mom, a few accidental bruises from the twins, a belching contest between Vinyl, her brother, and her dad, and board games and other such completely pedestrian pursuits. Octavia's mother would have been appalled. And yet, Octavia couldn't stop smiling. She later learned that she did in fact win the scholarship, but that was not why she always remembered that night, and the many others like it that followed, with such fondness. In fact, as the years passed and Octavia and Vinyl's musical careers took off and eventually sent them in different directions, Octavia Philharmonica always made it a point to return to that house and it's loud, sometimes embarrassing inhabitants at least once a year. After all, they were her family.