//------------------------------// // -(5)- Friendship // Story: Midnight Melody // by Caffeine Junkie //------------------------------// Did you ever fight a monster that knew all your weaknesses and was willing to exploit them? Yes? Well that’s funny…and here I was thinking that I was the only pony who has troubles with her mother. It was a beautiful day in Canterlot as beautiful as the typical cold autumn day could possibly get. The sun shined, the wind brushed through the last leafs and there wasn’t even the trace of a cloud in the sky. Oh, it would have been such a great day if there wasn’t that funeral today. To tell you the truth, I really loved my grandmother but I’d rather not see her off. I knew everything would turn out like a farce with my family around. I already had enough problems in my life without an annoying mother that would only make my life worse. How happy I’d be if this day comes to an end. After the funeral I would go straight home and take a long nap…oh sweet nothingness, how much do I enjoy your grasp… Oh, wait…the newest addition to my household would move in…so much for my happy time. I really hope that she would act a lot calmer today, if not she was dead meat. There was no way the encounter with my beloved mother would not put a strain on me, so Vinyl would be better off hiding… Then something strange happened. The doorbell rang…at 8:00AM…oh the nerve. And guess who it was…yes…CAPTAIN OBVIOUS and she rang again. I already wore my mourning dress and she looked really startled when I opened the door. “Oh, sorry I just…” she started. I sighed deeply and just told her to come in. I still had some coffee left which I offered her. She sat down and she told me that she had a night performance that ended four hours ago and thought it was a good idea to drop in. Originally she wanted to have some fun with me because she wrongly assumed that the funeral story was just made up. She thought I only created it so that I can clean up some embarrassing stuff or do some other boring things. I was somehow hurt by this distrust…however from her point of view it must have truly looked that way. As bad as her appearance that morning was…it at least distracted me from the things which were still to come. She told me a lot of gossip which was not really that interesting to me but I let her talk. Suddenly she had undivided attention. She mentioned that she had been fired already a week ago and that today was her last paid performance she had at that club. She did not like the club anyway and the best thing that happened to her was that she met me there. I was honestly surprised. So she does see me like a close friend already. I felt a little ashamed that I only thought about her as an annoying inconvenience until now. I told her that I also lost my job just recently and had a hard time to pay the rent but I was happy that it was specifically her that wants to move in and help me out of my pitch. She took a deep breath and told me what she was thinking right now, all of it. She told me that she was really “pissed” at the first part of my sentence because it seemed that I didn’t care whoever pony it was who moves in as long as they paid the rent. She then went on that the second part however made up for that and she seemed to blush a little… Wait she…she blushed…did I…what exactly did I say? Did I say some cheesy line like: ” I’m so happy that you came into my life?” I don’t think I did. No…it was just my imagination and by the way…we were both mares…there was no way that she could seriously be into… Well, to continue her small talk; she told me that she had been kicked out because her payment was too high for the club owner. When I asked her how much it was she simply replied that it wasn’t that much and the owner just couldn’t afford her and Neon. The audience consists majorly of young mares and they rather had their sexy colt DJ. All the colts however would have voted for her she tried to insure me. I just couldn’t hold it any longer and let out a loud laugh. “So you really can laugh if you do not drink…I am really happy…so you are not just a dull mare afterall…” “Me, dull? I am in no way dull. I merely try to hold up to the standards given by society and…” “Oh…so you are just as dull as your environment, I get it…” “No…that…” “Hey Tavi, you heard that noise two minutes ago...” “Pardon?” I asked slightly confused. “There must have been a bore-o-meter explosion somewhere two minutes…you know…cause you just laughed and stuff…” “Ha ha…very funny” I said sarcastically and rolled my eyes. She asked me if there was still something left in the fridge. She wanted to “grab a bite” because she still felt kind of hungry after her job. She didn’t even sleep before she visited me. She did walk around Canterlot waiting until it was more timely to drop in...so in her view she tried to be considerate showing up at 8:00 AM. I took mercy on her and told her she could take what she wanted. She decided on a sandwich and some cold cocoa. On the way back to the living room she suddenly realised that I had a cello. Dumbfounded she looked at me and the cello. I waited for her to get her composure back…well she never had some…so it would take her a bit longer I thought. Somehow it took that long that I couldn’t stop myself from letting a loud “WHAT?” escape. She sat down and asked me if I played it as a job or if it is more like a hobby. I asked her if she ever attended some high class parties. I told her that even if she had, she would probably never notice me because I just played in the background at those parties. She was kind of impressed. She told me that she thought my drunken performance at the club was already awesome as it was but now she finally knew why what made it so special. I never received much praise. People always tend to ignore me at work or act if whatever I did was the thing I was supposed to do…it was the saddest part of my job. It didn’t matter to those nobles if I played something easy or something hard…they did never comprehend the difference. This mare most certainly could…even though I probably wasn’t at my peak playing in a state of drunken frenzy she saw it. I wanted to show her how it was when I played seriously...I simply had to... So I took a big breath and started to play my cello for real…for her. I began with something easy, switched to something hard and watched how her expression changed whenever I changed the way how and what I played. The first time after some years I truly felt happy for myself. to play, She then asked me something strange. I should either play something I had composed myself or at least the work of an unknown artist. She wanted to hear something different from all these classics pieces. The thing that nearly made me drop my chin was when she started to compare all of the works and their componists. She explained in which way they thought and what she particularly liked about every single piece. That mare certainly wasn’t uncultivated…she just chose to appear a lot simpler than she truly was. I thought a little bit and then I started to play the lullaby I heard at Victors place. Vinyl seemed to like it but she probably thought the same thing I did. The glory was missing…the original was so glorious and I did not understand what I did wrong. Well, it didn’t matter, Vinyl applauded. She then said something that really made me finally understand her being. Well, you can't really understand VInyl Scratch but what she said gives you a rough sketch of her point of life. “Every piece you played was grace- and beautiful but this music is nothing new. It belongs to the past. I hate to try and copy others. I want to be myself. I want to be a different me every day and so I also strife to make different music, new music. I also do not want to do it for others but for myself. The last piece you played was not as great as the works of old but it had the beauty of something unheard...” She was truly unique. All the old classics she knew them, even respected them to some point but in the end she decided against them, against tradition. All of her life seemed like a rebellion against old…a rebellion against society. Maybe that was the difference between us. I tried to cope with society she did not. I chose order, she chose chaos. It all made sense now. So she is not crazy, just creative. I guess we were on par all along we just utilized what was given to us differently. I giggled after my realisation and she gave me a weird look. “I was serious! I know it is hard to understand but I really think that way Tavi so you shouldn’t make fun of me…” “Oh I know…I just…think it is funny how similar we are and yet so different.” She looked at me and a smile was forming. I guess it was also the first time for her that somepony accepted her flawed existence, accepted her the way she was. It seems as if our fates became connected…because I as well managed to get my first true friend at the same moment as her. Finally when I found someone I wanted to talk to all day long, I had to leave. The funeral was still at hand had to fulfil my duty. Vinyl asked if she could sleep at my apartment while I was away. Her furniture would come later that day anyhow so I didn’t see a reason to refuse. She fell asleep before I even left the room. Can you believe that? I still had to face my mother but at least I had a friend now who would get my back, no matter what happened. I was happier than ever before but how long would this happiness last?