//------------------------------// // Aeternum et Semper - Part One // Story: Top Of The Charts // by GeodesicDragon //------------------------------// CHAPTER NINE Aeternum et Sempter - Part One - ANON'S POV - Day 591 in Equestria. So much for a six o' clock start. Agreed. You've been sitting on the steps of the palace since quarter to six. A quick glance at your watch tells you that it is now half past. The palace staff are running to and fro carrying decorations, paper, food, drinks, cutlery... pretty much all of the standard crap you'd expect to find at a party like this. You hear the clopping of hooves on the ground behind you. Thinking that one of the staff has finally realised you're here at last you stand up and turn around... to find yourself looking into the eyes of a certain Princess of the Night. "Gah!" you shout, "Er, I mean good evening, Princess Luna!" "Good evening to thee as well, Anon." she replies, "Is there a reason why thou art sitting here alone?" Seriously Anon, you need to ask her about that. Shush! "There are two reasons." you say, "First of all, I'm actually early. Turns out that everything has been set up for me and I wasn't expected for another couple of hours." You clench your fists. "Though my manager-slash-producer told me to be here early." you grumble, "He must have got his wires crossed or something." "Hmm," Luna nods, "and what is the second reason?" You look around for a moment before frowning. "I was hoping to see Vinyl." you mumble, "So I could... well, you know, talk to her about stuff." "Thou means tell her about thy feelings?" Luna offers, "Well thou art in luck. Miss Scratch dreamt of thee again last night, and the Gala was a prominent part of it. We believe that she will be attending the celebrations, so thou will have a chance to talk." "That's good to know," you reply, "thank you, Princess." "We are merely helping a friend." she says nonchalantly, "We shalt leave thee to thy business, Anon. Farewell." "Goodbye, Princess," you bow, "enjoy your evening." Luna takes a few steps away from you before turning around. "By the way," she says, "our speech pattern is the result of our banishment. It takes a while to get used to the fact that Old Equestrian is no longer used in the modern tongue." With that, she walks away and disappears around a corner. Well then. It looks like Luna can read minds. Yeah. You'd better tone down the dirty thoughts the next time she's around. I can't bear the thought of her seeing anything that could potentially be used against me. I'll try... but we both know that the first chance I get I'm going to make you picture in her a skimpy negligee. You sit back down with a groan and start tapping your foot as you watch the world and the minutes go by. *** Canterlot Palace, 8:30pm. When you were hired, you got the impression that these stuck-up snobs were finally getting into a new genre of music. Instead, they've got you changing classical music records. It turns out that having a celebrity like yourself providing the music earned the organisers a huge boost in ticket sales, as many of your fans rushed to buy them for the chance to see you. It's true that the organisers are a bunch of crafty fucks, but you have to admire their tactics. But at the end of the day you can't complain — because you're still going to be getting paid. However, the money isn't the only thing you're looking forward to seeing tonight. The crowd before you is too thick, yet you're still not giving up any chance of seeing Vinyl. That mane of hers makes her stick out like a sore thumb. Scratchie sighted! Really? Whe— wait a minute... Scratchie? What the fuck? If she's going to be your girlfriend then you'll need a cute nickname for her. I'm sure she has one for you, so it won't hurt to prepare! ... whatever, where is she? She's over at the buffet table. You look over towards the buffet table. Sure enough Vinyl is there, talking to another mare. The other one is grey with a jet black mane. Her cutie mark is a music note of some kind. You realise that this must be Vinyl's friend Octavia. Unfortunately you're not the only one to have noticed Vinyl. Tech Beat, who has developed a habit of watching you, has seen her as well. He glares at you and shakes his head. You glare back. You have to talk to her, but not when he's around. As you return to your monotonous task you see that Vinyl is looking in your direction, so you quickly smile and wave. You then begin thinking of ways to give Tech Beat the slip so that the two of you can finally talk. - VINYL'S POV - Canterlot Palace, 8:25pm. "Wow," you mutter to Octavia, "this is a lot of ponies. I don't ever recall seeing so many at a single Gala before." "I know," Octavia replies, "and what's with the music? Did they book my ensemble without telling me?!" The two of you enter the ballroom. I can see Nonny! Really? Whe— wait a minute... Nonny? What the buck? If he's going to be your coltfriend then you'll need a cute nickname for him. I'm sure he has one for you, so it won't hurt to prepare! ... whatever. Where is he? On stage, where it looks like they've got him spinning classical. You point at Anon on the stage. He's busy, so he hasn't noticed you yet. You take the time to get a good look at him. He looks like he hasn't slept properly for days, evidenced by the bags under his eyes, but at the same time he looks peaceful. Octavia snorts with laughter as she takes in the spectacle before her. You raise an eyebrow at her. "Oh my," she says, "I bet he wasn't expecting to be doing this." You jab her in the side with a forehoof as the track comes to an end. As it does, Anon starts looking over the crowd. You zip over to the nearby buffet table and stand with your back to him. Octavia stands in front of you. "That mane of yours makes you stick out like a sore thumb," she says, "so it shouldn't come as a shock when I tell you that Anon has seen you." You groan. "What's he doing?" you ask, "I don't think I'm ready to face him." Octavia glances over your shoulder towards the stage. A look of surprise comes over her and she glances at you. "He's smiling." she says quietly, "He must be happy to see you. Maybe he does want to t— wait... he's glaring at something." You turn around a little and see that Anon is indeed glaring at something off stage. He turns around and sees that you are looking at him, to which he smiles and waves. He's either happy to see you, or he's just being polite because he's working. You smile and wave back. If he's being civil you might as well be civil back. As you finish waving you catch the faintest trace of green behind the curtain. It's Tech Beat, and he's watching you. You make a rude gesture at him and turn back to Octavia. "Tech Beat, that's Anon's manager-slash-producer, is here," you tell her, "and he doesn't look too happy to see me. If I'm going to get a chance to talk to Anon, then that plothead needs to be removed from the picture. Any ideas, Octy?" Octavia puts a hoof to her chin in thought, rubbing it back and forth while the gears in her head get to work. After a while she has a moment of clarity and clops her forehooves together. "I don't think he's seen me yet," she says, "so how about I distract him while you're talking to Anon?" "You'd do that for me?" you gasp, "But, Octy, what if something goes wrong? I don't want anything to happen to you as well." "You and Anon clearly want to be together," she replies, "but that jerk is the only thing standing in your way. I am offering to do this because you're my friend... even if you do drive me to the very brink of insanity sometimes." You smile and lay a forehoof on her shoulder. "Thank you, Octy," you whisper, "this means a lot to me." "No problem, Vinyl." she says, "Now make it look like you're leaving. If Tech Beat sees you leave he might relax a little. Then I will make my move. Once I have him distracted, sneak back in." You look at the stage. Anon is now sitting in a chair tapping his foot in time to the music while the assorted guests dance. Tech Beat is still there, though he seems more interested in watching you. You sigh and walk away, leaving the ballroom in your wake. - TECH BEAT'S POV - You smile triumphantly as you watch Vinyl Scratch leave the room. That no-good hussy always was a problem for you. Anon is the biggest thing that's ever happened in your career, and you're not about to let some piece of tail ruin it. Ever since the day he signed that contract, Vinyl has always been by Anon's side. Her presence irritated you to no end. She enjoyed living the high life, despite not actually contributing anything to Anon's continued success. But over time you noticed her acting stranger around Anon — well, stranger than usual. She became increasingly inattentive to things going on around her, preferring instead to focus on Anon. Whenever anypony spoke to her, they would have to say her name three or four times before she finally realised she was being addressed. She loved him, and you knew it. All the signs were there. You knew that if Anon and Vinyl got together it would mess things up, as he blew off gigs to be with her. Hell, he might even go so far as to make her his new manager-slash-producer! So you planned. And you plotted. Eventually you came up with a sure-fire way of putting Anon off mares. Which was, of course, to show him how bad they could be. Time and again, at every venue Anon played at, you would buy a group of mares lots of drinks. Once they were sufficiently drunk would you recommend that they talk to Anon, and then sit back and watch as he became more and more uncomfortable. It was a dick move, yes, but by Celestia did it work. Within months Anon was sick of the attention he was getting, and Vinyl's little stunt at the Empire seemed to push him over the edge. Yet, that look on his face when the blue-maned menace caught his eye earlier... you did not like that at all. You made it clear to Anon that he was not to give Vinyl the time of day. He glared at you but seems to acknowledge your request. You turn your attention back to the fact that Vinyl has left. You can't help but feel a little happy. Perhaps now the stupid bitch will realise that there is no chance for her and Anon to be to— well well well, what do we have here? A mare is approaching you with a small grin on her face. She's an Earth pony with a flowing jet black mane and a purple treble clef as a cutie mark. Not only that, but she's got one hell of a sway in her step as she walks. You could bounce bits off that flank. As she approaches you a grin comes to your own face. This looks like it could get interesting. - OCTAVIA'S POV - You have no idea what in Tartarus you are doing but judging by the way Tech Beat is checking you out, you think you're doing it right. You shudder internally as his eyes rove all over your body, mostly towards your rear. Reminding yourself that this is for Vinyl's sake you continue. Her chances with Anon now rest firmly on you distracting Tech Beat. You come to a stop in front of him and he speaks. "Well hello there Miss," he says, "I don't believe we've met." You extend a hoof. "My name is Octavia," you say sweetly, "and you must be Tech Beat, am I correct?" "I am indeed." he takes your hoof in his own and kisses it, "I guess my reputation precedes me." You fight back the urge to vomit and instead giggle. "It's not hard to spot the manager-slash-producer of the biggest DJ in Equestria," you reply, "especially when you're standing so close to him like this." "What can I say?" Tech Beat shrugs, "I'm the kind of stallion who likes to keep an eye on his investments." "I assume that investment is paying off?" you ask, "After all, I heard about what happened in the Crystal Empire." Tech Beat groans. "Are you familiar with Vinyl Scratch?" he grumbles, "The mare who often hung around with Anon?" You nod slightly. You don't like where this is heading, but you've got no choice but to carry on with the charade. "I've heard of her," you say, "and how obnoxious she can be." Tech Beat laughs. "Finally," he says cheerfully, "somepony who shares my opinion on that stuck-up, self-centred, arrogant tart." You stifle a growl, managing to disguise it as a cough. "Oh yes," you say nonchalantly, "she is quite an atrocious pony. I met her at the Royal Wedding, after the incident there, and she had the nerve to tell me that I was 'holding my double bass wrong'. I play the cello, for Celestia's sake!" You groan internally, remembering that this actually happened. "Yeah," Tech Beat replies, "bitch ain't got no class. So, you play the cello do you? What's that like? Do you need a manager?" "No," you reply, "I've already got one. Contract is locked for the rest of the year, so I'd be sued if I tried to get out of it. I was wondering if you could tell me what appears to be the problem with Anon over there? He seems to be giving you murderous looks." Tech Beat glances over at Anon, who is now glaring at the two of you talking. It's understandable, given that he's never met you, but it still makes you feel uncomfortable. "Ahh, don't mind him." Tech Beat shrugs, "He's just pissed at me because I won't let him talk to Vinyl. Would you believe me if I told you that they quite clearly love each other?" "I would," you reply, "and quite frankly I find the idea abhorrent. If those two got together it would jeopardise everything you've worked so hard for, could it not?" Tech Beat nods so fast you could have sworn that you heard his neck creaking. "My thoughts exactly!" he exclaims, "I went to a lot of trouble to make Anon think that mares were bad news, no offence, and I'm not about to let some loose unicorn ruin that!" Listening to him talk about Vinyl in this manner has your blood reaching boiling point. You calm yourself, wondering if Vinyl has made her move yet. You glance behind you to see a glimpse of her cutie mark as she moves through the crowd. The clever mare even had the common sense to cover her mane. You turn back to Tech Beat, ever keen to keep him busy. "No offence taken," you reply, "though I am keen to hear about how you did it. I like a stallion who can actually use his brain." Tech Beat grins from ear to ear and starts walking, draping a hoof over your shoulder and dragging you with him. "Sure thing, Octavia," he says, "but not where there's a risk of Anon hearing us. So hows about you and I both get a drink and go somewhere more private?" You nod and allow him to steer you towards the bar. - ANON'S POV - You don't know what Octavia is up to, but at least she's managed to drag Tech Beat away from you for the time being. Sticking on another record you slip backstage. This is your only chance to find Vinyl, and you intend to use it. She could be anywhere, Anon. This could take a while. I don't care if it takes me all fucking night, I'm still going to find her and tell her how I feel. You poke your head through the backstage door and look over the crowd. Tech Beat is engrossed in conversation with that mare at the bar, and seems oblivious to your absence. What strikes you as odd, however, is the pony approaching the door. They're wearing a covering over their entire body. "Whoa there buddy," you say as you hold up a hand, "this area is off-limits to guests. Performers and staff only." The pony drops their covering, revealing it to be Vinyl. She looks up at you as your jaw drops in shock. "And what about old friends?" she asks, "Are they allowed in?" You quickly nod and she trots inside. You close the door and face her. She's not wearing her goggles and you once again find yourself being lost in her eyes. "I'm glad I found you," she says, "because we need to talk." "We do," you reply, "but we also need to listen." With those words you both sit on the floor. This is going to be a long night.