Melodious Desideratum

by Desideratium

I Liek Trains

You shift uncomfortably, standing a few yards away from a colorful train. It billows cloudy white smoke, which gathers around your hooves. A uniformed conductor patrols the length of the platform, with no visible purpose.

At your hooves is an overnight bag packed with a few necessities, and your saddlebag is slung across your back. You don’t know exactly how long you’re staying in Canterlot, and the thought of being underprepared is slowly creeping into you mind, adding to the mass of nervous energy that you are made up of.

Several other passengers amble aimlessly around you, fiddling with luggage or making quiet conversation. You can’t spot the pony you’re looking for, though.

No sign of Vinyl Scratch yet.

You sigh and look up at the clock hanging from an overhang— it reads 6:55. Vinyl had said that you’d be leaving at seven, and yet she apparently wouldn’t be showing up until the last second, herself.

“Hello.”

You nearly wet yourself from surprise. Vinyl materializes at your shoulder, quieter than you’ve ever heard any pony be. Luckily, your fright only showed in a small twitch of your head. “How did you do that?” you ask conversationally.

Vinyl trots up beside you. “I dunno. Maybe you’re just unobservant.”

Since you’ve been at the station, your restless mind has completely analyzed absolutely everything. From the obituaries in an elderly stallion’s newspaper to a buildup of cobwebs in a dark corner of the ticket booth. Nothing has gone unnoticed. “I like to think otherwise.”

“Okay, I’m just a magnificently sneaky ninja. Yes?”

“Sure.”

Vinyl doesn’t seem to have any luggage, but her hood is back up to hide her identity and a pair of expensive-looking headphones are slung around her neck. She’s once again head bobbing, like dubstep is constantly pounding in her brain.

A conductor lets out a loud blast on his whistle, signaling for the passengers to begin boarding. You and Vinyl melt into the flow of ponies pushing to get onto the train. You lean in and speak to Vinyl, loudly over the noise: “Where are we sitting?”

“First class!”

“Oh . . . okay.”

Vinyl grabs you by the hoof and starts dragging you through the crowd, parting the ponies like a hot knife through butter. She shoves you up onto the train before following herself. “I mean, I like crowds and all, but that’s ridiculous!”

“Vinyl, there were like a dozen ponies.”

“And they were in the way of DJ-Pon3 and a soon-to-be-Equestria-famous concert pianist. Lesser beings, my friend.” She flashes you a grin to let you know that she’s kidding. “Now let’s find a spot to crash.”

“Er . . . right here.” You point a hoof at the sign directly above the DJ’s head. First class carriages.

“Right you are!” Vinyl turns and magics one of the doors open, then trots into the luxurious room. You look down at your ticket uncertainly.

“Uh . . . Vinyl? Aren’t we supposed to be in carriage four?”

Vinyl pokes her head back out into the hallway. “Bro, we own this train. We sit where we want. Besides—” She disappears again. “I really don’t think anypony else booked first class, so we’re not taking somepony’s seats.”

You follow Vinyl into your temporary lodgings. It’s all plush seating and crystal goblets, and you feel a little out of place. Vinyl is already sprawled across two seats, pouring herself a shot of some fizzy liquid. “Make yourself at home!” she drawls.

You magic your luggage into the overhead compartment and sit uncertainly. Vinyl is in her element; the lap of luxury is more or less her constant state of existence, but for you it’s extremely alien.

Vinyl notices your discomfort. “You’d better get used to the fancy-pancy treatment, ‘cause you’re gonna be getting a lot of it now. That is . . .” She downs her drink and sets the cup down forcefully. “If you make the cut.”

You look skeptically at the DJ. “You mean to tell me that you’re dragging me all the way to Canterlot, and I might not even be in the orchestra when I get there.”

“Don’t worry, the ponies who show up to the auditions are usually just dreamers, and they can’t play an instrument to any degree. You, on the other hand, are a freaking prodigy.”

“Yeah. Right.”

“Don’t give me that. If I thought you were trash, I wouldn’t have even invited you, you dig? Anyway, you’re good. Really good. Get used to it.”

You don’t have a reply to that. This is one of the things about Vinyl that you’re starting to dislike, but at the same time you’re appreciating it greatly. The fact that she’s so blatantly honest with you about your talents.

“Okay, I’m gonna tune out for a while. Meditation or something like that. So don’t bug me, dearie.” Vinyl slips her headphones over her head and leans back into the seat. You are left to guess whether her eyes are closed or not. Within a few seconds, you hear the dull pound of percussion emanating from her headphones.

The train begins to move. A sharp jolt at first, but quickly it settles into a rhythmic throbbing, almost exactly in time with the beat of whatever Vinyl’s listening to. The initial movement makes the unresponsive DJ to slide down in her seat, her back legs stretching across the cabin and almost kicking your shins.

You decide to take a nap yourself, since this is much earlier than you normally wake up, with your late-night work schedule. Come to think of it, your performance last night was probably less than exemplary; your distraction bred from Vinyl had most likely seeped into your work. You had had to ask several customers to repeat their orders because you’d missed it the first time, sometimes more than once.

You lean back and close your eyes, the pounding of the train beating a soothing massage on the back of your skull. You go through a system check, shutting down your various planes of consciousness one by one. Your agitated mind begins to close, allowing sleep to take you.

*****

Did you really expect not to receive a rude awakening?

The first and only thing you register is shattering bass, pounding percussion, and a good deal of wubs, all at a volume high enough to desolate your eardrums.

You yelp and jerk up in your seat, shoving the offender off your head: Vinyl’s headphones.

The DJ herself is standing, as she had just shoved the headphones over your ears; she’s wiping away tears from laughing so hard. “Good morning, sunshine!”

You heart is hammering and your breath is coming in labored spurts. “Good one, Vinyl.”

“I took it upon myself to wake you up.”

“You don’t say!”

“Yeah, you’re welcome. We’re here, by the way.”

“Here? What?” Despite Vinyl’s attempt to scare you awake, you’re still groggy.

“You’re impossible. Come on, let’s go.” Vinyl’s horn lights up like a beacon and your luggage comes shooting out of the rack and into the hallway, nearly flattening Cherry Cola, who was just passing. “Onward, sleepyhead!”

“Coming.” You drag yourself out of your comfortable chair and trudge after Vinyl, who is practically skipping. By the time you’re out of the cabin, your escort is already pushing out the door and onto the platform.

You step down onto the concrete, your first step into Canterlot.

Then you look up.

“Welcome to Canterlot,” says Royal Riff, the lead violinist of the Royal Canterlot Orchestra. “A pleasure to make your acquaintance.”

Comments

[Equestrialize]

I FOUND ONE, I F***KING FOUND A DEARIE.
i'll Edit this comment in a few minutes.

Edit: i Told you, for every Dearie, i'd nail a fruit to a tree, so here you go, couldn't find any nails, so i had to improvise.
i50.tinypic.com/2l9gtw6.jpg

About the actual chapter?
it feels and reads like you're improving, hard to put into words, but the it flowed a lot better, kinda.
Can't find anything to point out either, and you're writing fast, wasn't expecting a chapter for atleast another 2 days.
Good stuff.

[Whirring Gears]

I don't like Vinyl referring to others as 'lesser beings'. It's not that I think it's out of character or anything, but it's just a sore spot for me; whoever does it.

Liking how the story is going so far!

[Desideratium]

817322
Sorry if I hit a sore spot, but Vinyl was kidding about it, after all.

816335
Just for you!
Again, thanks for the feedback! And you sure taught that apple a lesson I now know what you are capable of. Please don't hurt me

[Nitronus Prime]

Did you purposely put liek instead of like in the title or was that a mistype? Anyway I really liked ghos chapter and can't wait to get to the next one. Also I forgot to say in the last chapter you'll the start of the second paragraph, you should be your

[Desideratium]

1156667

Liek is spelled "liek" that intentionally. If I had made a spelling error, I probably would have noticed it by now, since I'm staring at that screen for a good majority of my days. And thanks for catching my error.

[Pancakes0708]

"the clock hanging from an overhang" Wow
I have no idea why I posted this comment or what purpose it serves!

[The Writer of Fate]

[Midnight Spark]

The hello from Vinyl seriously reminded me of MyHarto on YouTube...

816335
That poor apple...

[Dusk Moonlight]

Royal Riff, the lead violinist.

Bad Riff, Bad! You stole my favorite instrument and left me with this dusty piano.

3339161 Your avatar, hold on a moment. HNNNNNNNNGGGGGGG! *Has stroke from cuteness overload.*