Concerto Dodici
It would be understandable for Octavia to note that she found the experience of a ‘time-out’ rather humiliating. It had cut through her fourth tirade about how Lyra’s method of play was akin to a llama castrating a cat in a most irritating manner. It worried her deeply, however, that Hoofz Zimmer had decided to split the pair from the group and deposit them outside the performance hall in a somewhat embarrassing tirade. Thankfully, he hadn’t decided to simply fire Octavia and Lyra from the quartet, they were instead simply left to cool down.
However, while Octavia enjoyed the idea of Lyra suffering at the same time as her, she didn’t enjoy the current situation of having been deposited in the same side-room as her. This had caused the last twenty minutes to be an uncomfortable broth of awkward silence and snide whispering battles with each other. Inevitably, and in Octavia’s eyes, mercifully, the silence had persisted over the argument, smothering the conversation in a blanket of noiselessness that made the nearby ticking clock thud like a hammer.
Octavia and Lyra were sitting next to each other anyway. While Octavia had found fascination in her own forehooves, Lyra was positively riveted with the sensation of idly toying with her mane.
If Vinyl and Bonbon hadn’t entered the room the room when they did, Octavia and Lyra would most likely have suffocated on the dense, tension-soaked air between them. Or fought again.
Bonbon entered first, smiling to the pair as she held the door for Vinyl.
“Hi, Octavia. You two been having fun? I brought your special friend through.”
“Bonbon, I don’t know what you’re trying to implicate here, but myself and Vinyl are simply close friends.”
“Yes, very close, if I hear correctly.”
Octavia’s barely suppressed temper flared to the surface.
“You didn’t, Vinyl!”
“I didn’t, Octy!”
“But you just did, Octavia!” Bonbon grinned as she closed the door behind her. “That worked better than I expected.”
Lyra smiled, not so subtly shunting Octavia from the seat beside her so Bonbon could take it.
“Hey, while I’d love to congratulate you, Gumdrop Cheeks, Octavia isn’t hard to outsmart, nor her ‘friend.’”
Octavia snickered into her hoof. “Gumdrop Cheeks? And you claim that I am infanti-.”
“Shut up, ‘Octy’.’”
“Honestly, can you not simply shut up and play the Celestia-damned notes, Lyra? Then we can all go home.”
“I would if you weren’t trying to smother them in that droning dross you call spicatto!”
“I’m not the pony trying to turn everypony else deaf with that shrill pizzicato stammering you choose to ‘play’ in!”
“Oh, you can’t talk! The way you were playing that last piece was simply atrocious!”
Vinyl had been trying to find interest in the old magazines scattered on coffee tables around the room. Failing that, she felt it necessary to silence the others so she could prevent the migraine, gained from trying to understand quantum string theory in the Scientific Weekly copy she had found, from getting any worse.
“Okay fillies, seriously? Why not just both play, then go home?”
“Well, Vinyl, I would if Lyra here would play alongside me properly.”
“And I would if Octavia knew how to play.”
Bonbon stretched, standing up and walking over to the door. “Well, I can see that Lyra’s in one of her moods. I’d like to go home at some point, y’know. I’m sure you would too, Lyra, it’s Thursday, remember?”
“What do you mean it’s...ohhh, ‘Thursday.’ Yeh, I wouldn’t want to ruin Thursday nights at all.”
Lyra and Bonbon burst into a fit of giggles, before noticing the expressions of the other two in the room. It is interesting in times like these to look into a pony’s mind, as it ends up rather like a mental-cleanliness litmus test. While Octavia’s had ground to a halt trying to consider what social engagements a pony may have on Thursdays, Vinyl had already generated a visceral and worryingly accurate depiction of Lyra and Bonbon’s Thursday nights in her head, with full-HD clarity. Some artists could argue that such imagination could have resulted in excellent works of art, but what was playing out in Vinyl’s head would have been rejected from most esteemed galleries anyway.
As a result, it was the look on Vinyl’s face more than Octavia’s that hurried Lyra and Bonbon’s laughter to an awkward, light giggle. Lyra cast around for a less embarrassing subject to move on to. Luckily, Bonbon was a step ahead of her.
“Look, ladies, I think we all need to grow up a little here. Obviously, if you both got picked, you’re both good at what you do. Maybe you just need to stop being at each other’s throats.”
“I’d be more than happy to make a truce with Lyra, were she so willing.”
“Were it so easy, Octavia. You constantly start the arguments anyway.”
“I remember the last one being entirely of your design.”
“In your warped little world where you can actually command an instrument, yes. But here in Equestria we-.”
“Lyra Heartstrings! Honestly, sometimes I wonder why I put up with you, you like to run your mouth around too much sometimes.”
“Hey, you don’t hate it on Thursday nights.”
Vinyl had slowly sidled over to Octavia during the attempted and subsequently broken truce. She leaned in towards her in an attempt to subtly whisper in her ear. She was fully audible to everypony in the room, but the polite company endeavoured to ignore it anyway.
“I like it when you run your mouth off too.”
“Shut up, Vinyl.”
“What? You’re cute when you get all angry and use long words.”
“Vinyl, I swear to Celestia, I will eviscerate you!”
“Getting cuter.”
“Will you just be quiet, you’re exacerbating things here.”
“Hhngh, I think my heart just popped.”
Octavia shook her head, opting for the silent treatment before Vinyl attempted to infuriate her any further. She still spied her out of the corner of her eye, benign smile and gleaming shades awaiting her whenever she deigned to look in that direction.
“Hey, Octy.”
“What now?!”
“You’re even cuter when you go all quiet and sulky.”
* * * * * *
Lyra and Bonbon stared at the subtle wisps of smoke diffusing from Octavia’s heated temperament. Ironically, the closer Vinyl was to danger, the more she pushed herself towards it by taunting Octavia. Thus, Darwhinny’s Theory of Natural Selection was given a beautiful demonstration as Octavia shunted Vinyl in the ribs, causing her to collapse onto a seat. Vinyl rearranged her legs after landing to make it seem as it if were purposeful, rather than having her rump kicked.
Bonbon lightly clapped her hooves as Octavia finally cooled down, offering an apologetic hoof to help Vinyl back onto her own.
“Wow, Octavia, you sure do have a temper. Better be careful, Lyra.”
Lyra snorted through her snout. “Of course, she can bring down a rugged street waif like that, but hardly somepony as capable as me.”
“Vinyl is not a street waif!”
“Yeh, I’m not her wife, fillies!”
“No...you...” Octavia sighed into her hoof. “She’s a...DJ. Besides what business is it of yours anyway?”
Lyra reclined casually in her seat, getting comfortable for the forthcoming show.
“Nothing much. Just admiring the intense hypocrisy you’re exhibiting at the moment, Octavia.”
“In what manner do you mean, Lyra?”
“Oh, vilifying me for marrying a filly. Yet here you are, with one of your own. A unicorn, too. Very intriguing!”
“I swear that I am not in a relationship with Vinyl. We’re just...friends.”
“Of course, of course. Hey, Vinyl?”
Vinyl leaned around Octavia, getting a clear view of Lyra.
“Yeh, what’s up?”
“Think fast!”
Lyra caught a particularly weighty hardback copy of Kazoo Weekly in her magic, and lobbed it at high velocity towards Vinyl’s head. An instinctive pulse of the horn saved Vinyl’s shades from being shattered by a fascinating article on kazoo case designs, enveloping it in a grey aura of magic and slowing it to a halt as it brushed her snout.
Bonbon cracked up as she fell back down into her chair, pointing a hoof at a now very confused Vinyl Scratch and Octavia.
“I knew it! I knew you two were together!”
Octavia’s brain rolled into action first, as usual.
“What? How does throwing books at Vinyl prove anything?”
“I dunno, Octavia. Perhaps...her magic? Something a little different there, Vinyl?”
It was only now that Vinyl noticed the absence of her native pearly-white aura, now replaced by a more slate-grey one. She focused her horn, but it only increased in its grey intensity, rather than diminishing.
“You’ve got Octavia all over your horn! You dirty, little scoundrels, you two!”
“What...but I...”
“Ha! Can’t hide unicorn magic, all in the subconscious!”
“Why is that happening?!”
Lyra sat up properly, looking Vinyl and Octavia in the eyes while she grinned like a Cheshire cat.
“You see, a unicorn derives its power from intense concentration...yes, even her. Most concentrate on themselves, inner power, et cetera. Occasionally...” Lyra picked up a book from the coffee table, enveloping it in a beige aura, rather than the expected mint green. “ A unicorn finds a pony that they concentrate on instead, without even thinking about them...or her.”
Octavia crossed her forelegs, defiantly standing in front of Lyra.
“Still doesn’t prove any of my involvement.”
“It only happens after you...get quite close with the other pony.”
“I...well...um..you see.”
“Oh wow, Octavia. You are too easy to trap.”
If Bonbon was cradling a warm feeling of mirth in her gut before, it was now an inferno as she bent over in laughter, falling off the chair but continuing on the floor nonetheless.
“You two...you’re just...it’s adorable how they...try to hide it...so badly! Reminds me of me and you, Lyra.”
“Well, Octavia. I must rescind my previous insults, we appear to have more in common than I expected. Even before I received that magazine through my door.”
“Wha-what magazine?”
“Tuba.”
Octavia could have happily died there and then. At least, were it not for Vinyl’s intervention. In a somewhat misguided sense of bravado, she wrapped a foreleg around Octavia’s shoulders and brought her in tight against herself. Octavia was happy that she at least had somepony to hide behind for the moment.
“C’mon, leave Octy alone. What have we done to you two anyway?”
“Vinyl, please. They read the magazine.”
“What, the ice-cream pony one?”
“Yes, they did.”
Vinyl paused for a long moment as her albino cheeks drained of what little blood they held normally. She stared into the distance as she tried to work out some means of escape, while Octavia used her as cover for the next mud-slinging match.
Lyra was already standing, although to Vinyl’s surprise Lyra’s smile was friendly, not intimidating. Bonbon stood beside her, leaning her head against Lyra’s shoulder with a contented expression across her face.
“Well, Vinyl. I have to say I’m glad Octavia found somepony to help her edge that stick out of her rump, even if you went and stuck brass instruments elsewhere.”
“Look, that didn’t actually ha-.”
“Yes, I know. I was joking.”
“Oh, okay. How did you get it anyway?”
“Junk mail. Came with two injury lawyers letters, and an offer for a horn extension kit.”
“They do those?!”
“You creep me out.”
Octavia emerged from Vinyl’s side, though she kept Vinyl’s foreleg around her shoulder, and mirrored the action with her own.
“So what now, Lyra? Tell the world, and watch me fall? I wouldn’t blame you. In hindsight, I hardly said a word when you were put under the microscope.”
“Well. As tempting as it would be to see your bitter rump get its just desserts, I can’t help but feel that since Bonbon has made me a better pony...revenge is such a silly thing anyway.”
“So all is forgiven?”
“But not forgotten. Besides, a lesbian calling out another lesbian would hardly make headlines, would it? There’s Equestrian Warming for everypony to worry about instead. Besides, you two remind me too much of Bonbon and I. Hay, you have some good times ahead.”
Octavia tentatively unwrapped her foreleg from Vinyl, stepping forward and raising a hoof to Lyra’s attention. Lyra eyed it with abject suspicion, before extending her own and taking it in a firm shake.
“Just remember, Octavia; I’m okay with it, other ponies probably won’t be.”
“I’m fully aware.” Octavia turned back towards Vinyl, before grabbing her in a crushing hug. “But I suppose together, we can ignore their catcalls. Now, I remember there being a certain quartet we were forming half of?”
“Indeed, Miss Philharmonica. Are you ready to join me in the performance?”
“Miss Heartstrings, it would be my pleasure.”
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D'awww
Are these built on EQD chapter size, or your DeviantArt chapter sizes?
33472 eqd
of deviantart they are like parts, and i believe there are over 20 of them.
btw coffee. i made this pic as part of an idea i had of what i looked like in the FILLY FOOLS BAR just wanted to let you know what you inspire
\
btw its not done, although i decided to take a different route and am now drawing a synth behind vinyl which im going to have octy playing.
i figured it was like a panio, but still somethin vinyl would listen to.
ill send it to you when im done
in the mean time, let me know what you think!
YES YES YES
I've been waiting for lyra and octavia to become friends
Kudos 
ever since I started reading this story
to you dear artist. I certainly hope you keep writing when all of
this is over, the community needs people like you
Brony powers deactivate!
When I read your stories, only this comes to my mind.
I love how you make the words seem so... natural. I often try to make my stories seem as fluid as this one.
I'm working on a chapter now... I'm REALLY putting a lot of effort in it. I can just hope for it to be as half as good as yours is.
Thanks for the inspiration and a great story.
33514
Yeah... FimFiction has some problems with links....
Damn, Lyra and Bonbon are good, I bet the can get Pinkie to spill her guts on anything! LOL
I can see it now, at Octavia/s and Vinyl's Wedding Lyra will say a toast with only one word "Tuba" That Tuba will hunt them for the rest of there days LOL!!!!
God I love this fic, so much haha :)
I noticed the language you used for the chapter names is Italian: Are you Italian?
33958 I don't believe so. It's just: it is a story about musicians and the most common language used in classical music is italian.
Lovely story that is both well written and entertaining, sadly that is exceedingly rare. Executed with excellent pacing that gave the reader time to get a hold of the ponies characterization and the characters themselves time to grow. You've even managed to make me curious about other background ponies where as I was not before. I do look forward to anything else you may post in the future! Cheers. You receive five stars from this reader.
Wow, you are a very talented writer. Not only the humour, and the references but also outstanding attention to detail. This is a very good fic, you should be proud.
I LOVE THIS STORY!
I must confess,
This story's great,
So I shall profess,
My love - not hate.
This fic well written,
The charcater's smitten,
I've been bitten,
By a reading bug, sittin'.
Vinyl's portayal
is far from bad,
But with no emminent Betrayal,
I'm extremely Glad.
Keep writing this Fic,
Please, Mr/s Coffee!
It's funnier than a floor that's slick
And sweeter than my favorite Toffee!
Wait... In Season one Twilight's magic was purple, but Season two's changed it to pink
. Something for TwiPinkie supporters at least. This is a great story by the way.
“Vinyl is not a street waif!”
Vinyl
“Yeh, I’m not her wife!"
I
They wouldn't have gone on time out if somepony thought to bring a roll of duct tape with them.
So the colour of magic is octyrine?
Tuba.
and this...this fillies and gentlecolts....is the magic of friendship at work.
Even though, they have come to an agreement, Lyra was ticking me off right there.
I have been playing the cello for 4 years.
And yet, of all the things, this "quantum string theory" was what eventually set my pedanticism ablaze.
Curse you, ill-defined fields of science!
btw, this story is absolutely fantastic.
I feel the mystery of the tuba is closer to being solved.
And they all lived happily ever after...the end?
But wait there's more !
Maybe if I keep clicking the Like button multiple times it will keep going up.
I'm not sure whats more amazing....The fact that Lyra and Tavi finally buried the hatchet or the fact that....I GOT THE 700TH COMMENT!
lol umm grammer check.... just one dont worry it just buggs me a little..
it's in the very last paragraph ---->
“Just remember, Octavia; I’m okay with it, other ponies probably won’t be.”
“I’m fully aware.” Octavia turned back towards Vinyl, before grabbing her in a crushing hug. “But I suppose together, we can ignore their catcalls. Now, I remember there being a certain quartet we were forming half of?”
“Indeed, Miss Philharmonica. Are you ready to join me in the performance?”
“( Miss ) Heartstrings, it would be my pleasure.”
IF she is MARRIED to bon bon then SHOULDN'T it read Mrs. HeartStrings
I hate you.
SO MUCH.
You made me look like a loon, laughing and cantering (yes, cantering) around my room after every paragraph of this story.
I hate you.
But dont you DARE stop.
So true this story just gets soo much more interesting.
There is so much detail that I cant help but be drawn to the unique realism of the situations the author puts the characters into. <<<CoffeeGrunt>>> I salute you! 
Now, Vinyl being my favorite character in anything, I got a little heated reading this. But Vinyl kept completely calm. Very nice.
Well, they stopped bickering. And all it took was having orientation in common. lol
Anyway.
“Wha-what magazine?”
“Tuba.”
Dear goddamn holy hell, anything previous in this story is nothing. THIS killed me. Daaaaaamn...
I am in love.
In a mental cleanliness litmus test, which would be acidic, and which would be alkaline?
I'm guessing Tavi is alkaline, and Vinyl is acidic.
Oh, and I am guessing that soon, I will never be able to hear the word "Tuba" without getting an acidic result, every bloody time.
3423470 Well..... alkaline substances are also called bases, and, if I do recall, Octy called Vinyl 'base and vulgar'.
Godammit, I'm never gonna look at Tubas the same way ever again, am I?
688764 In soviet union, cello plays YOU
5698776 nnnnoooooope