The shadows between the glowing streetlights moved slowly in the night, revealing a patch of colour amidst the grey semi-dark. I sighed with relief; she’d come. The swirling white and blue coalesced into a vibrant mare, swaying catlike in the dark as she grinned at me, pushing her shades up over her ears. It could only be one pony trotting up to me, the one and only Vinyl Scratch.
“Heya, Lyra!”
She somehow managed to bob in time to the heartbeat of the city, that certain excitement that this mare could project and control across a dance floor that had drawn me to her in the first place. She was using it as much as she could right then, sheer confidence radiating across the street that belied the apprehension in her eyes.
“So, uhh…is Frederick here?”
“Of course, Vinyl, he’ll be right inside!” I chirped happily. Call me a romantic, but I’d been looking forward to this since Vinyl had pulled me aside one night, quietly asking after my Orchestra’s Maestro. Why a DJ would fall for a classical artist was not my place to question, and I was too taken with the idea to bother. But now I couldn’t quite ignore my misgivings, even as I spun to push open the grand doors against the cool mustiness of the reception.
“Yeh Lye-Lye, okay.” There was something in her tone, sounding almost wistful...reminiscent, maybe? I took a closer look at her then. I’d met Vinyl at a club where the atmosphere’s energy had only been matched by her charisma; Vinyl was the life of every party, hell, she started most of them herself. But now, in the dull light reflecting off the gold leaf of the doors, glittering candles at her back and the emptiness before her, she looked reserved, almost fatalistic, ears laid back against the silence. I may not be an expert, but normally a girl should be excited to meet her crush, not look like she’s being lead to the gallows.
“Hey, Vinyl…”
She didn’t hear me. Her eyes were already looking into the concert hall, rapt. The seating was splayed out across the terraces like the petals of some lush flower, burgundy framed in dark wood marking each chair designed for rich bodies. The pathways between the sections took long curves though the staggered arrangement, meandering towards the lowest point in the hall. The ceiling lights lit the stage, and drew the eye ever forward. When my parents and friends had visited the first time from out of town, they had been awed to a stop at the sheer opulence of the place.
Vinyl just started walking.
She looked determined now, the way she kept her head down, tapping each wooden armrest of every chair with a measured pace as she passed. It took me seconds to realize she was leaving me behind, and was well on her way to getting lost amongst the seating. I followed to help her along. The pathways could be quite confusing to some…
But not her. If anything, she was leaving me behind. In frustration, I vaulted a few of the chairs and landed in time right behind my friend.
“Vinyl, hey, come on, it’ll be…”
She was moving again.
Clearly I was missing something. I’d tried not noticing this earlier, but even when Vinyl had asked me to set this up it had seemed strange. A progressive DJ asking to be set up with a famous pianist? I knew Vinyl could play many instruments, but the way she’d shivered in the warmth of the reception and ignored the overwhelming concert hall?
She’d been here before.
We were already at the foot of the stage. We hadn’t seen him, but I could hear him working.
The stage was alight. From wing to wing spanned bronze stands, each holding up an instrument. The spotlights bathed the area in honey and illuminated the slightly wiggling stand of a saxophone.
The set of Vinyl’s shoulders made me uncomfortable; something was definitely wrong. “Vinyl, maybe we should just leave…”
She turned to me, hair neon blue , skin of pearl and eyes on fire. “Thank you, Lyra, for letting me in. Now, I need to talk to an old friend.”
I never even got to stammer a reply.
“Frederick Horseshoepin!” She called. No nervous stutter, just a resigned lilt to her completely different voice, without its rough accent. If anything, she sounded just like…an Orchestra girl…
My eyes widened in realization.
Up on the stage, the instruments parted and Frederick rose up, blonde mane perfectly set as ever against his chocolate coat, his sharp-as-glass suit throwing his coattails out as he turned to us. His trademark polite smile was already faltering when I saw him look down on us.
By the time he spoke, his expression was cold as ice. “A pleasure, Veronique. Enjoying your visit?”
Vinyl would have laughed him off with a witty retort, but this new pony, Veronique, nodded. “It could be less…intimidating, but so far yes. You’ve done a great job with the old girl, Fred.”
He hated that nickname. With a hiss, he leapt down from the stage. “If you came back to see the results of your handiwork, you will be sorely disappointed.”
I couldn’t take this. This would be one of these stupid high-class tit-for-tats, but not on my watch; “Will someone please tell me what’s going on?!”
I don’t think Frederick had even seen me til I shouted. You’d think a green unicorn waving her hooves around would be hard to miss. Still, Veronique was the one who answered. “Of course, Lyra. You see, I used to work here.” Well, yeah, I’d worked that out, “But you know I’m too free a spirit to be caged up in this…” She gestured loosely at everything, searching for the right word, “This.”
“So on the debut of the Royal Orchestra you stand up and laugh when every instrument breaks and the lights all go out except yours,” Frederick sneered. I’d never seen him so much as flinch before. The embarrassment had yet to fade, clearly, “It was masterfully done, Veronique, a prankster’s final huzzah, fit for the ages. You were so proud to have ruined us. But I rose above that! I found another Second Seat, and we played anyway. You did not ruin us.”
Veronique flinched at that, shaking her head sadly, “I never meant to ruin the Orchestra, Frederick. I only meant to show myself for what I am. You knew I couldn’t do it, even though my family forced me. You know what I am, and I’m not like you. But I certainly never meant to ruin you.”
He stopped bristling. He whispered, “I don’t forgive you.”
I was still trying to process the rough and ready Vinyl Scratch being a Second Seat.
She leant forward and looked up at Frederick, so much taller than her. Then she winked, Vinyl once again, “I know, but it is an apology, and that’s a start. I miss you Fred, and I’m sorry for how what I did hurt you. I...I know I don’t fit your Orchestra life, but...Well, you know where to find me if you’d like to try.”
And with that, she left, humming Beethoven’s Fifth as she spiraled up through the terraces, a white sprite in the dark, leaving us staring awkwardly after her as she disappeared back into her own world, out of ours..
Well, I thought to myself, standing there at Frederick’s side as he choked on his goodbye, that was not what I expected at all…