21. Philharmonic Hall (Octavia)
I stared at the schedule I’d spent the last several days working on. Whoever had been administering the hall over the past few months had been completely and utterly incompetent. While I could understand a few popular modern bands playing there to boost numbers, the hall had been built as a bastion of classical music. While I was all for greater accessibility, I wasn’t about to open the gates to purveyors of party music, even if doing so would probably make my wife happy. The thought of my wife made me groan, the last few days she had been rather–
“Hey, Tavi, I’m bored, can you help me book the DJ shows? Or we can do something else, it’s up to you.” Vinyl asked from her spot on the sofa. She had taken to flopping haphazardly on a couch that could very well be considered an antique, her hooves sprawled over the backrest and headrest. She seemed absolutely intent on making sure I got zero work done these past few days, and much to my shame, I’d gone along with her. Right now, she was trying to distract me by making certain parts of her anatomy very visible. I struggled to focus on the schedule in front of me.
“We can have Mocart’s Symphony No. 9 on August 23rd, but if we do that…” I muttered to myself, trying to rearrange the schedule and excise as many undesirable elements as possible. Maybe Sweetie Belle could do a few recitals to help bolster the schedule.
“Come on,” Vinyl said, rolling her head so it was no longer supported by the couch, “I saw the schedule, it looks fine, I don’t see what’s so important about ‘fixing’ it. Most of the musicians playing there are pretty good.”
“That’s the problem,” I said, crossing another name off the schedule. “You think they are good.” She opened her mouth to say something but I cut her off. “I’m not saying the type of music you like is bad, it certainly has its place, but that place is not Philharmonic Hall. How would you like it if I put on a performance at… one of those clubs you want to play at?”
“Alright,” she said, lifting up her head in a close approximation of a nod, “I guess it would be weird if you played at Beats or something, but I mean, those musicians you have playing are some of the hippest and coolest in Equestria right now.”
“And I have no problem with some of Equestria’s more popular musical groups playing at Philharmonic Hall on occasion, but the schedule they gave me had far too many of those and not enough classical musicians. Thankfully, I should be able to convince Royal and Fiddlesticks to bring the orchestra to Manehattan for a few showings, and Sweetie’s moved to Manehattan after graduating, I’m sure she could be amenable to doing a few performances. In fact, considering she’d have the chance to play at one of Equestria’s most prestigious music halls, I think she’d be more than amenable.”
“That’s why you invited Royal and Fiddle to come and visit?” Vinyl asked, rolling off the couch and sauntering up behind me. I knew what was about to happen and sighed. I had so much I wanted to do, but when biology took the reins, I was utterly powerless. Certainly, the time with her was enjoyable, but at this point, it felt more like an addiction than anything else, and if it was an addiction, then Vinyl was my dealer.
She brought her hooves up to massage my shoulders and I felt stress I didn’t even know I had drain from my body. Her touch was absolutely exquisite, and I stifled a moan of pleasure. “I’d love to, Vinyl, I really would, but I have to finish this revised schedule today see if it’s agreeable to the board. I should be going in to talk about it, but I’m on maternity leave.” I laughed. “I’m on maternity leave for the job I just started a few days ago and…” I groaned. “I still have my job at the academy, and I don’t think I can do both at once. Certainly not if I’m in two different cities.”
Vinyl kissed my neck and I felt my cheeks suddenly burn; the whole thing had gotten rather annoying these past few days, and yet Vinyl acted like I was some sort of prude for not constantly wanting sex. “You’ve been worrying like… non-stop the last few days, I thought this was supposed to be a vacation. Come on, you should take your mind off things.”
“I’ve been taking my mind off things since before we got to Manehattan, that’s why I’m struggling so much today, and I would appreciate it if you gave me some time to work today.” I turned around and kissed her neck, causing one of her back legs to twitch. “I promise I will make it up to you tonight.”
“Fine,” she said, “I guess I should get ready for my show tomorrow. Thanks again for setting it up.” She kissed the back of my neck before turning to head out of the room. I heard her stop at the threshold and knew she was turning to look at me, waiting for me to crack. I wanted to put the papers away and turn to her. I wanted to pounce on top of her and do all manner of sordid things, but right now, I couldn’t. I gripped on to the table with all my might and worked to suppress those thoughts. After this, I could perhaps spend time with Vinyl and play the cello. At least I’d have some time to relax when she was performing tomorrow.
“Oh!” Vinyl said, calling my thoughts back to her. “You want to come to my show tomorrow? It would really mean a lot to me if you were there.”
Dammit.
“Of course,” I said, turning and smiling back at her. “I wouldn’t miss it for the world.” Well, there went one free evening, hopefully I could skip some – or most – of her future shows.
“Cool,” she said, nodding her head as she walked out of the room and I tried to turn my attention back to my work and not towards the mare who was currently heading towards our bedroom. I made a mental note to write Lyra and ask how her work with the potion analysis was going, and looked back down at the schedule. I wanted to get a rough version finished before Royal Riff and Fiddlesticks arrived so I could ask for their thoughts.
***
“Octavia, it’s a pleasure to see you again,” the dark-blue stallion and my former employer, Royal Riff said. “It’s been too long since we’ve been able to properly catch up. How did you come to Manehattan? Also...” He blinked. “Why do you appear several years younger than you were when we last spoke?”
I smiled and recounted the circumstances that led to me heading back to my birth city. It had been a while since we last spoke, as the orchestra was quite busy getting ready for its next tour while I had been distracted with my own issues. “It’s never something simple with you, is it?” he laughed after I finished my story.
“Sadly not,” I said as Woodhoof brought in tea. “How is the orchestra?”
“Very good. Everypony is ready for the tour in a few weeks, although I’m a little surprised we don’t have a show in Manehattan.”
“Doesn’t bother me too much,” the yellow pony with blue mane and rather… memorable hat sitting next to him said. “No offense to you, Tavi, but this city’s always so… there’re no trees here. Except in that park of yours I suppose.” It was amazing just how much her speech had been refined since she married Royal Riff. Her accent was still very noticeable, but when compared to her distant cousin Applejack, her speech was practically impeccable. Not that there was anything wrong with Applejack’s speech, it was just… a noticable difference.
“Actually, that’s what I wished to speak with you about.” I nodded at Fiddlesticks. “During the Apple family’s feud with my parents, they gained control of Philharmonic Hall. Unfortunately, whoever they found to manage it had absolutely no idea what they were doing, and the schedule they made was something of a mess.” I showed the original schedule Mr. Orange had sent me a few days ago, and Royal Riff looked absolutely mortified.
“They were going to have deadpon3 play at Philharmonic Hall?” he said, recoiling away from the schedule.
“You can see my problem,” I said, pulling the original away from him. “I’ve been tasked with properly managing the property, and right now that means undoing the damage the previous manager did. It’s why I asked if you could visit me in Manehattan on such short notice.”
Royal nodded in understanding. “You want the orchestra to play at Philharmonic Hall.”
“Exactly, I actually think it was a terrible oversight you weren’t already scheduled to do so, but I want to make sure we can find a date that works. Thank you again for being able to get here in less than a week.”
“It’s perfectly fine,” Royal said. “Like I said, it’s been a while since we could catch up, and Fiddle and I have been wanting to take in the sights of Manehattan for a while, so when you said there was some urgent business you wished to speak with us about, we decided to take a three-day weekend and visit you. The orchestra can function without us for a day.”
“I’ve actually been wantin’ to talk to you for a while, we were so busy with the orchestra, I haven’t had a chance to talk to you about your pregnancy,” Fiddlesticks said, fiddling with her shirt. For some reason, she was quite fond of her garish, brightly-colored outfit, and the only time I’d seen her without it was when she was performing in the orchestra, where such excesses were frowned upon. She’d not been happy when I forced her to take her clothes off for our practices. Thankfully, that was Royal’s problem now, and I’d assume he had no problem convincing her to disrobe.
“What did you want to talk about?” I asked, recalling a talk we had almost a year ago about how she hoped to have a child soon. It was actually when I was asking for her advice when Vinyl and I were talking about having a daughter that she brought up her own hopes on the topic. Now I suppose she was wanting to know what to expect when she got pregnant.
“Just wanted to know how it was,” she said, giving me a small smile. “Royal and I have been talking about having a foal of our own, and I suppose now that it might be happening soon, I’m getting a little worried, so I thought I’d see how it was for you.”
“You’ll get sick every day, pee multiple times an hour, move at a pace slightly faster than glacial, your hooves will swell to just… unbelievable proportions, you won’t be able to drink even though you will desperately need to after experiencing some of pregnancy’s less pleasant symptoms, and I find myself looking forward to the day my daughter bursts out of me so I can reclaim my body. Beyond that, I suppose it’s nice.”
“Uhmm… thanks,” Fiddle said, frowning. “Ya know, when you put it like that, I’m kind of wishing Royal could do it.”
“Believe me, I’ve wished I’d made Vinyl do it multiple times. At least I can have her do the second one,” I said, nodding at her in agreement.
“Speaking of,” Royal said, “where is your wife? I’m looking forward to her arguing with Fiddle about whether rock or country is better.”
“Technically, Vinyl usually argues for electro’s supremacy during their arguments, but right now she is getting ready for a show tomorrow. Hopefully she will be down soon, but ever since she regressed, she’s been rather… temperamental I suppose.” I decided not to make my point by talking about the Canterlot incident. In fact, the less I had to remember that, the happier I was.
Royal frowned. “Yes, I suppose that would come with being a teenager. When put in that context, it’s incredible that you are able to stay so much like your regular self.”
I gave him a small smile. “Thank you. I suppose I have more experience controlling myself than most adolescents. Unlike Vinyl, I’m able to control myself to a degree, although sometimes... I don’t even think she tries. I swear, she’s using this whole thing as an excuse to do whatever she wants.” The two of them exchanged glances while I continued to smile at them. “Anyways, enough about her. If she doesn’t wish to spend time with us, that’s her loss. Now, how was your trip here?”
The three of us managed to talk for several hours, Woodhoof popping in on occasion to see if we needed anything. During that entire time, my wife didn’t even bother to come down and say hello.
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I've been enjoying this so far! You're a great writer and I know you can keep up the amazing work until you reach your goal.
Loving the story and looking forward to what will happen next. Keep up the great work
Also im kindaof curious what is going on with octi's parents, her dad seems cool and all but her mom is a total bitch. i kinda wanna see more with them
You so close! I wonder how Vinyl's show is going to go. Things have to been moving smoothly.... too smoothly.
4729902 Don't worry, tomorrow the bottom drops out and the few chapters of breather come to an end.
The bottom drops? Aw crap.
Is this still being written as if they are journals?
4736535 Not particularly, I prefer just keeping it to a first-person perspective for these stories.