My Little Investigations: The Silent Dirge

by Metool Bard

Everyone's a Critic

April 9, 9:35 AM
Lincolt Center
Main Floor
***

"All I'm saying is that if our performance was first, that 'accident' wouldn't have happened!"

It appears that there are quite a few ponies in a rather poor mood this morning. As soon as Vinyl and I arrived at Lincolt Center, we stumbled upon another argument. This one was between Slick Licks and my colleague, Symphony.

"Hey, hey. Chillax, kitten," said Slick Licks calmly. "There's no need to tell the whole world about your little grievance."

"'Little' grievance?! Are you joshing me?!" Symphony screamed. "You got some of the greatest talent in Equestria to perform at this year's Manehattan Music Festival, and your headliner is that, that noise that two-bit hacks miraculously pass off as music?!"

Oh, yes. I, neglected to mention something about Symphony. She's a real music purist. Anything that doesn't meet her standards is just considered "noise" in her book. I've lost count of how many music debates I've had with her, and sadly, not all of them were friendly.

"You really don't get it, do you, kitten?" said Slick Licks, still playing it cool. "This festival is for all types of music, not just the ones you like."

"That wasn't music, good sir," Symphony huffed. "That was a collection of beeps and clicks masquerading as such. And what's more, that climax was a pointless stunt that nearly made everypony deaf!"

"That wasn't a 'stunt,' kitten," said Slick Licks firmly.

"Sure it wasn't," Symphony scoffed. "Seriously, what kind of host are you? Don't you have a screening process for this kind of thing?! Can't you tell the difference between a true artist and a delinquent who's sick in the head?!"

"Okay, that one was uncalled for," Vinyl told me. "I mean, who says I can't be both?"

I stifled a laugh. Vinyl might have a big ego, but she doesn't mind ponies taking her down a peg (after all, I do that all the time). But even though it didn't seem to bother Vinyl, I felt that Symphony was out of line. Slick Licks appeared to share my sentiments.

"Kitten, that 'delinquent' you're talking about might be in critical condition as we speak," he said. "Show some respect."

"He has a point, Symphony."

Symphony shot a glare at her partner, Concerto, who was cowering behind her. I had to sigh and shake my head at that. Symphony really doesn't like to be proven wrong. Not that she considers herself infallible or anything; it's just that her pride won't allow it. Some ponies (mainly Vinyl) say that I'm stuck up and fussy, but at least I have the humility to acknowledge my mistakes. Sadly, Symphony doesn't have that. It doesn't help that Concerto almost never has the spine to correct her, poor fellow.

"Think we should step in, Octy?" Vinyl asked.

"I, don't think that's such a good idea, Vinyl," I said, knitting my brow. "Symphony's already in a bad mood. I wouldn't want to make it worse."

"So? She's always in a bad mood," said Vinyl with a shrug.

Just so you know, that's an exaggeration. I've talked to Symphony plenty of times before. She can be pleasant when she wants to be. At the very least, she's mature enough not to throw a temper tantrum like a spoiled foal when she doesn't get her way. Except for this particular instance, apparently.

"Vinyl, if we interfere, I have a bad feeling that it's going to end poorly," I said. "Let's just let them finish up, and then we'll let Slick Licks know you're okay."

Vinyl simply shrugged and turned her attention back to Symphony and Slick Licks.

"Look, I'm not saying that I'm happy Scratch got hurt, alright?" said Symphony. "What happened was tragic. There's no debating that. But it was also her own damn fault for thinking it was a good idea."

"I really don't think it was intentional, Symphony," said Concerto meekly.

"It was no less intentional than that first bit of garbage pretending to be a song," Symphony spat. "Seriously, Scratch has no sense of professionalism. I know she made that for the sole purpose of embarrassing Octavia."

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Vinyl's eye twitch. I swallowed. This was about to get nasty.

"You mind repeating that?" Vinyl snarled, making a beeline to Symphony.

Symphony turned, and a smug grin appeared on her face. "Oh, Scratch. What a pleasant surprise. We were just talking about you."

"I heard," said Vinyl, folding her forelegs. "Now, what's this about you thinking that first song was simply to embarrass Octy?"

"Oh, don't act like it's not true," said Symphony, her voice slick with venom. "Anypony with half a brain could figure that out."

"Actually, I kinda liked it," said Concerto. "It was..."

Symphony shot him a glare, and he immediately clammed up.

"Look, I get that you don't like my music, and that's fine," said Vinyl. "But if you think I did all that hard work just to humiliate Tavi, then you didn't really listen to it."

"Pah! As if I would listen to any of your dreck," Symphony scoffed. "Oh sure, you put up a nice little illusion with those strings, but that can only do so much to cover up the fact that it was nothing but noise with some humiliating dialogue sprinkled in for good measure."

Wow, way to miss the point, Symphony. I almost had to wonder if we were listening to the same song last night. I mean, it was embarrassing at the beginning, but that introduction is what made the rest of the piece so powerful in its true message.

"I'll have you know that I composed that song with Octy in mind," said Vinyl, standing her ground.

"Yes, and I'm sure she appreciates it," said Symphony sarcastically.

That was about all I could take. Symphony's entitled to her opinion, but she's not entitled to mine. I stepped forward.

"As a matter of fact, I did appreciate it," I said firmly. "It was one of the most beautiful songs I ever heard from Vinyl, and I couldn't picture a better opening song for this year's festival."

Symphony's jaw dropped. "Y-you actually liked that?!" she squeaked.

"Yes," I said with a firm nod. "And I'm not ashamed to admit it, either."

That put Symphony in her place. After staring at me like an idiot for a few seconds, she cleared her throat and straightened out her bow-tie.

"W-well, maybe you think that now," she said. "But once you hear our performance, you'll be eating those words. Isn't that right, Concerto?"

Concerto swallowed. "Um, actually, I think that song's a tough act to..."

"Isn't that right, Concerto~?" Symphony repeated forcefully.

Concerto swallowed again. "Um, yes. Th-that's right," he stammered.

None of us were buying it. Slick Licks raised an eyebrow.

"You'd better be ready to put your music where your mouth is, kitten," he said. "But I should also tell you that this ain't a competition."

"I never said it was," said Symphony. "All I'm saying is that you'll regret putting noise before art. Concerto and I should've been first on the docket, and we're gonna prove it. Come along, Concerto. We have a lot of practicing to do."

With that, she marched off in a huff.

"I-I'm terribly sorry about this," said Concerto with a bow before hurrying after his partner. Slick Licks sighed and shook his head.

"That pony's so square she's almost a box," he muttered.

"Tell me about it," said Vinyl. "She actually makes Octy look like me in comparison."

I'm actually not going to dispute that, because in truth, I think she's right.

"Well, that's the way it goes, I guess," said Slick Licks with a shrug. "Good to see you're still swinging, Scratch. That was a pretty nasty accident last night."

"Yeah, well. I don't go down that easy, Slick," said Vinyl. "And for the record, I have no idea what happened."

"Didn't figure that you did, kitten," said Slick Licks, furrowing his brow. "I'm having the tech boys look over your equipment to find out what the problem was. Hope you don't mind."

"Not at all. I'd like to know that myself," said Vinyl. "Did you talk to Neon?"

"Haven't heard from him since last night," said Slick Licks with a shrug.

"Let me know when you see him, alright? I've got a few words to say to him," said Vinyl.

"Will do," Slick Licks said with a nod. "If you want, you can give the tech boys a hoof while you're waiting for Neon."

"I can't think of anything better to do right now," said Vinyl with a shrug. "You wanna come with, Tavi?"

"Thank you, but I don't know if I'd be of much help," I said. "Besides, I still have to practice with my ensemble."

Slick Licks tilted his head. "If that's so, then where's your cello, kitten?"

I quickly checked myself, and found that I had indeed left my cello in my hotel room. I smacked my forehead.

"Ugh, Celestia dammit," I muttered.

Slick Licks chuckled. "Eh, don't worry about it, kitten. I'm sure we've got a spare or something floating around. If you want, I'll look into it for you."

"Thanks, but you don't have to do that on my account," I said. "I can always just go back to my room and fetch it."

"Your call, kitten," said Slick Licks with a shrug. "But just so you know, the offer's still on the table. In the meantime, just head on upstairs and enjoy the festival. I think we all need time to unwind after what happened."

Well, he couldn't be more right about that.

"Well, thank you all the same," I said. "And if I may say so, I'm glad the festival's still up and running."

Slick Licks smiled. "You're not alone there, kitten. Catch ya on the flip side."

"Right," I said. "See you around."

With that, Vinyl and I left Slick Licks and took the elevator upstairs.

Comments

[Daemon McRae]

Symphony can eat me.

Great chapter.

[Ri2]

Symphony's a bitch.
Vinyl and Octavia's 'friendship' is very sweet. Yes. Friendship. That's all it is.

[ninja35]

Suspects for sabotage/death threats
Circumstantial evidence:
Neon
Ponies with a motive:
Symphony
Talent Scout

[mylittleponyfan12345]

Symphony is a jerk. It's pretty much in her name. SymPHONY