Octavia was in a black mood. She had spent the rest of her classes struggling to keep her mind off of Vinyl. She had also failed miserably at that task, sitting in class with a blank look in her eyes and her quill rhythmically dripping ink onto her notebook, desk, and self. Octavia found herself turning around any time she saw a white pony or a blue mane, only to be disappointed. Vinyl Scratch had disappeared for the day.
And so, Octavia had made the trek to her dormitory, promptly locking herself in her room. She paced the length of the room, straddling the invisible line between her sparsely decorated side and Beauty Brass' pastel portion.
She'd spoken without thinking; a simple slip of the tongue. Vinyl would understand that. Of course Octavia cared about her! She liked Vinyl!
Mostly.
No, she couldn't think like that! Of course she liked Vinyl; they'd been friends since they were fillies! Or, they had been friends when they were fillies. They hadn't spoken in years, hadn't even sent letters!
Octavia winced. That wasn't true. Vinyl had sent a letter, a few weeks after Gramma Phone's funeral. Written in sloppy writing, even for a filly of Vinyl's age, asking whether Octavia and Harmonia wanted to visit. Vinyl Scratch had gotten her mother's "permish permission and everything", the letter had said. Octavia hadn't answered. And Vinyl hadn't sent any other letters.
Her mood blackening further, Octavia stomped towards the corner of her room. She deftly unzipped her cello's bag, standing and balancing herself against her instrument with practiced ease, poising her bow just above the strings. There was something calming about her cello, the way the bow balanced in her grip or how the strings bit slightly into her hooves or the way everything balanced on Octavia and the endpin or... or something. Octavia had never really thought about it; it was just something her cello did, a side effect of the music. Her breathing lightened. She touched her bow to the strings and began to play.
Johann Sebastian Beak's Cello Suite No.5 in C minor. The first piece Octavia had ever performed solo. She was in her second year of middle school, the last performance of the night, playing to an auditorium full of parents who wanted nothing more than to gather their children and go home. Octavia had tuned her cello just a few minutes prior to her performance, had rosined her bow and poured over the sheet music until the very moment she had been called to take the stage. She wasn't performing the whole suite, only the first two parts: the Prelude and the Allemande, but had committed the entire half hour of music to memory out of some childish fear. Octavia had practiced the piece for months. There was a full minute of stunned silence when Octavia finished the Allemande. Then the applause began.
The notes squeaked out of Octavia's untuned cello, her unrosined bow slipping against the strings as she stood in her dorm room. The music filled her head, filtering out unwanted thoughts, making her wince every time her bow didn't quite find purchase on the strings or her stiff hooves failed to land where they should have. Octavia played through her mistakes, allowing the music to flow through and past every flubbed note. By the time she reached the Allemande there was no room for extraneous thoughts. The Conservatory didn't matter. Octavia's unthinking words didn't matter. Not even Vinyl Scratch mattered. The only important thing in the world was Octavia, her cello, and the quick, demanding notes of the Allemande.
Octavia let the final note fade away, allowing herself a short rest before jumping into the third part of the suite, the Courante.
There was a knock at the door. Octavia stared at it incredulously, almost surprised to hear something besides her cello. There was another knock, then the door opened hesitantly and a mare poked her head into the room.
"Forgive me," Beauty Brass said, "I didn't mean to interrupt."
Octavia released a breath she didn't know she was holding. "It's fine. I was just practicing."
"May I come in?"
"It's as much your room as it is mine."
Beauty Brass smiled, slowing walking into the room and taking a seat on her colorful and pillow-covered bed. Octavia, meanwhile, carefully disentangled herself from her cello and walked it over to its case.
"You don't have to stop on my behalf," Beauty said. "I'll be quiet."
"I was just finishing up," Octavia lied, stowing her cello in its case.
"You're very talented."
Octavia shrugged. "I've been playing ever since I was a filly. I doubt I'm much better than any of the other students in the Conservatory. What instrument do you play, Beauty?"
"Sousaphone, mainly, though I can get a few notes out of most brass instruments."
Octavia raised her eyebrows slightly. "Really?"
Beauty laughed lightly. "Yes, most ponies have that reaction. I guess I'm not really the type."
"I didn't mean it that way!" Octavia protested, shaking her head. "Vinyl isn't the—" She blanched, cutting off her words.
"Are you okay, Octavia?"
"Yes. Yes, I'm fine. What I meant to say was that it's not really surprising, considering your name."
Beauty Brass smiled. "You'd be surprised how much pastel colors and heart-shaped pillows can cover. First impressions and all that."
Octavia chuckled. "Yes. First impressions..."
***
Vinyl hadn't expected much of Canterlot Conservatory. Once, many years ago, Long Play had walked her onto campus, pointing out the tallest buildings and the biggest trees with faux enthusiasm until they found their way into a tour group. Neither of the siblings had listened to a word the tour guide said and, as Vinyl walked through the Conservatory campus as a student, she found herself drawn more towards the tallest buildings and biggest trees than any of the history-rich areas described by the tour guide.
No, Vinyl had never really cared for the Conservatory. She understood that it was a very good school, probably the best in all of Equestria for a music student, but, somehow, Vinyl didn't really care. Maybe it was the way Long Play talked about the school; he was a fantastic musician but a terrible actor and quickly gave up on trying to sell the Conservatory to Vinyl. His heart just wasn't in it and Vinyl, impressionable filly that she was, adopted Long Play's view of the Canterlot Conservatory.
The only thing that mattered to Vinyl was that Tavi would be at the Conservatory. A shallow reason, perhaps, but a valid one in Vinyl's mind.
Vinyl walked through Meadowbrooks Court, a long rectangle of grass dotted with trees and surrounded on three sides by the Conservatory's class buildings. She took a seat beneath one of the taller trees, carefully positioning herself so that the tree covered the sun. Vinyl took off her shades, folding them up and placing them in her saddlebags. The world, little more than shades of purple before, erupted into bright colors that hurt Vinyl's eyes and forced them shut. Somepony was in one the practice rooms, playing piano. The muffled piece carried through a slightly open window and into Meadowbrooks Court.
It was a nice day, Vinyl decided, when she'd managed to open her eyes again. The pegasi were working Summer out of Equestria, slowly bringing about Autumn, but it was pleasantly warm at the moment. Long Play had always said that Canterlot was warmer than Manehattan which confused Vinyl since Canterlot was built on a mountain, but it was definitely true. There wasn't a cloud in Canterlot's sky, but Vinyl knew that Manehattan would already be covered in a grey layer.
Well, it was only going to get colder from here on out. Vinyl wasn't looking forward to it.
"Vinyl?" came a voice from somewhere behind her.
Vinyl turned around. "LP?"
Long Play grinned, trotting over towards Vinyl. "Hey, filly! I thought it was you." He shoved a paper bag towards her. "I heard you did really well on a test or something so I bought you a cupcake. You still like cupcakes, yeah?"
Vinyl floated the cupcake out with her magic, holding it in the air as she hugged the life out of her brother. "I didn't know you'd be coming! When'd you get back?!"
"Few... days ago," Long Play choked out, tapping his sister's back for mercy. "Lungs... failing me."
Vinyl squeezed tighter, then acquiesced, sparing Long Play for the moment. "You should have sent a letter or something."
"We both hate writing letters," LP responded, rubbing at his neck. "And I didn't have any time to write. The only downtime I had was on the train back to Canterlot."
"Sure, whatever," Vinyl responded flippantly. "I bet you had time to write Harmonia."
"Only to talk about you and Octavia."
"Uh-huh."
"Speaking of which," said Long Play, looking around the court, "where is Octavia? I figured you two would be together all the time."
Vinyl masked a frown. "She's just back at the dorm. We have different classes."
"Huh. You two aren't sharing a room, are you?"
"No," Vinyl replied with genuine disappointment.
"Good." Long Play gave a very parental nod.
"What, you don't trust Tavi around me?"
"No, I don't trust you around Octavia," replied Long Play with a smile.
Vinyl laughed.
A pause. Vinyl took a bite of her cupcake. "So, did you come all the way out here just to bring me a sweet?"
"Nah, you're not that important. I'm supposed to talk to Harmonia."
"Planning a Spring wedding?"
"I swear, Vinyl, you're lucky you're a filly."
"Come at me, bro."
Long Play smiled, shaking his head. "Harmonia got me a job interview."
Vinyl slowly chewed on her cupcake.
"Don't give me that look."
"Are you gonna take the interview?"
LP shrugged. "I thought I'd come up with an answer by the time I got to Harmonia."
"Do you wanna take the interview?"
"I don't know if I should, yet."
"Do you wanna take the interview?" Vinyl repeated.
Long Play let out a sigh, scratching at the back of his head. "It's not often you're asked to work at Canterlot Conservatory."
"Yeah, but do you wanna take the interview?"
"I don't know!" Long Play snapped. "Damn it, filly, I brought you a cupcake, you shouldn't be so mean to me."
Vinyl made short work of what remained of the cupcake. "I don't see a cupcake anywhere. Thanks for the cupcake, by the way."
"Don't mention it," LP said sullenly.
A pause. "Well, do you have to answer her today?" Vinyl asked.
"She's been hounding me for months now. Harmonia convinced whoever decides to give out interviews because you're so damn smart." Long Play scowled. "Technically, this is all your fault."
"No it's not."
Long Play sighed again. "Sure, you're right. I'm just gonna head up to Harmonia's office, then."
"What are you gonna tell her?"
"Vinyl, I swear to Celestia!"
***
Harmonia sat at her desk, going over her notes for her next class. A quill, held in Harmonia's mouth, dripped ink onto the wooden floor and a mug of coffee sat precariously close to her notes. She sat motionlessly, staring blankly at the words on her notes. She felt like she should change something, but she had no idea what she needed to do. The other option was not making any kind of change and sticking to what she'd thought out months ago, but that didn't seem right either.
Harmonia stuck her quill into the inkwell and took a sip of her coffee.
What was missing?
Her thoughts were interrupted by a knock on her office door.
"Enter," Harmonia called, turning in her chair and pushing her notes away.
There was a slight pause, followed closely by a pair of muffled voices. The door opened hesitantly, and Long Play poked his head in. "Hey, Harmonia."
"Long Play. I hadn't expected to see you so soon. I was sure you'd hold off your decision for as long as possible."
"Yeah, well, I ran into Vinyl on the way here and... yeah." Long Play staggered into the office, physically being pushed forward by his sister.
"Hey Harmonia," Vinyl greeted.
"Professor Philharmonica," Harmonia insisted.
"You're serious about that?"
Harmonia rolled her eyes, shifting her attention towards LP. "Do you have an answer, Long Play?"
"Well..." He scratched the back of his head.
"He's being an idiot," Vinyl said.
"When isn't he?" Harmonia asked.
"All of the mares in my life hate me," Long Play muttered.
"What was that?"
"I said that all of the mares in my life hate me."
"Just making sure," Harmonia said. "So are you accepting the interview or not?"
"I'm not sure if I'm ready to just drop everything and come to the Conservatory."
"Long Play, we've already talked about this."
LP nodded. "Yes we did. And you told me that I'd still be able to write music even if I was a full-time professor, which I probably won't be."
"At first," Vinyl added.
Long Play rolled his eyes. "Sure, whatever. I'm fine with that. Making money by teaching and still being able to do music, that's awesome."
"The problem is the Conservatory itself," Harmonia said.
"Exactly!" LP agreed. "Harmonia, I don't know if you've noticed this, but I'm not exactly classically trained. I can read music, but that's about it."
"We've been through this as well, Long Play. You were Vinyl's teacher; there were plenty of students who took the same test Vinyl and Octavia took who had been tutored by classically trained musicians, but didn't even come close to the score Vinyl got."
Long Play shook his head. "That's not what I'm saying. Let's say that I really am this awesome teacher you think I am. That's fine, no problem. But can you imagine me behind a desk or—or grading papers or something? I don't fit in with the aesthetics here, Harmonia."
Harmonia arched an eyebrow. "Is that it?"
"What do you mean 'is that it'?!"
"Honestly, is that what you're worried about? Fitting the aesthetics? Looking the part?"
"It's not just looks, it's everything about me. I'm as far from Conservatory as you can get."
Harmonia glanced towards Vinyl. Vinyl shrugged.
"Alright," said Harmonia. "Alright. Then you'd never fit in at the Conservatory, right?"
Long Play nodded resolutely. "Right."
"So you'd never get the job even if you went through the interview, right?"
"Right."
"But you wouldn't mind a steady paycheck, right?"
"Right—" Long Play faltered. "I mean..."
Harmonia got up from her seat, marching over towards Long Play and slowly herding him towards the exit. "So you might as well go through the interview, right?"
"Wait up, that do—"
"Yes, you'll go through the interview and, on the off-chance that the panel conducting the interview likes you and you get the job, then there's no problem!"
"Harmonia, that doesn't—Stop pushing me!"
"Fantastic!" Harmonia smiled brightly, giving Long Play the final push out of her office. "Then I'll arrange the interview for two days from now. Don't worry, I already have a copy of your résumé. Good-bye, Long Play." She slammed the door in his face.
Long Play hammered on the door, his muffled voice carrying through the wood. "I never agreed to this!"
"Then don't show up to the interview!" Harmonia shouted back.
"You still have my sister in there!"
Harmonia turned, rather surprised to see a grinning Vinyl Scratch still standing in the office.
"You're scary, Professor Philharmonica."
"Yes, well, sometimes your brother doesn't know what he wants. Or how stupid he's being. There's more to somepony than the way they look. Once everypony gets past his first impression, I'm sure they'll love Long Play."
Vinyl shrugged. "If you say so." She walked out of the office, dragging Long Play along as she passed him.
"Vinyl!" Long Play protested. "I've gotta go stop Harmonia!"
"Give it up, LP," Vinyl responded. "This is literally the only way Harmonia would let this end."
Long Play, still being dragged by his sister, glanced back and forth between Vinyl and Harmonia's office. He had a sinking feeling in his stomach that Vinyl was right.