Prelude
Octavia ran a hoof around the edge of her cup and sighed. She was was seated at a table in the back corner of the auditorium with five empty chairs for company. Most of the nearby tables were completely empty, save for a few that’d been requisitioned by couples wanting a secluded spot. Almost everypony else, including her friends, was seated near the stage in the section reserved for performers.
Tomorrow morning, she’d be graduating from the Canterlot Academy of Music; a university full of prestige, honor, and snooty professors who routinely told this to anypony within earshot. Such an institution wasn’t supposed to host performances like this. When she first heard about the so-called graduation party, a night of musical performances by groups of graduating students, she’d expected two solid hours of the usual aural agony; a long string of classical masterpieces butchered by students trying to show off. Nopony here played anything fun in their free time, not when there was ego-stroking to be done.
Why did all of that have to change tonight?
The current act on stage, a quartet consisting of a violin, tuba, mandolin, and harmonica, summed the evening up perfectly. The very concept of playing those four instruments in such close proximity was absurd, and yet they’d made it work. They were belting out a catchy, goofy tune that had the audience stomping their hooves in time with the beat. It was innovative, unexpected, and, she had to admit, fun. Fun that she wasn’t part of.
Applause filled the auditorium and the quartet took a bow. As they left the stage somepony from the faculty came up to introduce the next group. “Let’s give another round of applause to group number five!”
Her friends were in group ten. She just had to sit through five more songs to give her them the support they deserved. If only she’d listened to the them and signed up to perform as well. Even playing something boring would be better than sitting here with her hooves itching for the double bass gathering dust in her dorm room. She’d even settle for her cello.
She stared into her empty cup, catching her reflection in the base. “You’re so lazy, Octavia. So what if the double bass is as big as you are? You could’ve dragged it across campus one more time… so what if that’s what you’ve been doing for four y—”
A stallion cleared his throat nearby. He was the violin player from the last act. “H-hey. Can… can I join you?”
She couldn’t see him that clearly in the low light. From what she could recall from his time on the stage he was light brown with a dark brown mane. A violin case was balanced on his back.
“I know you, don’t I? C-something… Cantata?”
“Concerto.”
“Sorry. Aren’t you Symphony’s friend?”
“Kind of, yeah. So… could I…”
“Oh! Oh sure, you can sit here. I can’t imagine why you’d want to, though.”
He took a chair one over from hers and set the violin case on the table. “I could see you from the stage; you looked lonely.”
She pressed down on her cup until it collapsed. “It’s that obvious, huh?”
“Sorry, I didn’t mean—”
“It’s fine. I’m just waiting for my friends in group ten. Who knows, maybe Vinyl will show up and make me wait for her act too.”
His face lit up. “Vinyl Scratch? She’s performing?”
“If she wakes up on time. She sleeps so much you’d think she’s hibernating through the winter.”
“You’re her roommate, right? What’s she like?”
“Aside from the sleeping thing she’s actually a good friend. One time we…” She frowned and her gaze returned to her cup. “Oh… that’s why you’re talking to me.”
“What do you—”
“Pleased to meet you.” She held out a hoof. “My name is Vinyl’s Roommate. Just give me your stupid room number or something and I’ll give it to her. Can I interest you in a list of her top ten likes and dislikes?”
He held up his hooves defensively. “Wait, no. That’s not why I came over here.”
“Oh, really?”
“Really. Vinyl’s music is cool and all, but I swear that has nothing to do with why I’m talking to you.”
She thought this over for a moment and covered her eyes. “Sorry, I get approached by a lot of weirdo fanponies. Can we just start over?”
“Sure. Hi, my name is Concerto.”
“I’m Octavia.”
“I know. You sat one row over from me in Music Theory 402.”
She lowered a hoof just enough to look at him. “Professor Ovation’s class?”
“Yep.”
“Now I remember you.”
“You do?”
She reached out a gave him a playful punch in the shoulder. “You’re the jerk who wrecked the grading curve. I barely passed because of you.”
He grinned. “Sorry about that. I’m bad at introductions, but when it comes to obscure music terminology I’m a master.”
“You’re not half bad on the violin, either.” Low light or no, she could tell he was blushing.
“So… Why are you sitting here all by yourself?”
She stared a hole in the ponies on stage. “Because I was too lazy to sign up to perform, now I’m just sitting here waiting for my friends to play so I can clap. Ugh, if only I could play something… I’m dying back here.”
“Would… uh… would you like to play a duet?”
“I wish. My instruments are all the way across campus.”
“We could go to a practice room down the hall, borrow some instruments, play something, and be back in time to hear your friends.”
She broke off her staring contest with the stage to look at him. She saw sincerity, as well as nervousness, in his eyes. “You’re serious?”
“If you don’t want to it’s fine, I just thought—”
“Yes. Yes, I’d like that. Let’s go.”
---
Soon they were hearing a very different kind of music. The practice rooms were little glass booths arranged in a giant grid in one big room. There was always music here, or at least something akin to it. The glass booths did a great job of muffling sound, but there was just no silencing the screech of a trumpet or flute in the hooves of a struggling undergrad.
As always, most of the booths were occupied. Thankfully one of the bigger ones, large enough for a couple of ponies to play comfortably in, was not. Octavia pointed to it and looked at Concerto.
“Want to grab that one?”
“Sure. I’ll set up some music stands. What do you want to play?”
“Something fun. Cello or double bass?”
“Huh?”
“I can play either one, it just depends on what kind of music you’d like to hear.”
His eyes darted from the booth to his violin case. “Can you sight read? I’ve got some sheet music on me. Classical, jazz… I’ve even got the number my group was playing at the graduation party.”
“Double bass it is. Oh, and this is your last chance to run.”
“Huh?”
She stared right at him. “Last chance to admit you’re just using me to get to Vinyl.”
He pulled the violin case off his back and held it out. “Here. If I turn out to be that much of a slime ball then you can keep it.”
Her eyes traveled from his earnest expression to the violin case. Compared to her own instruments it looked like a toy. Granted, a toy that could put a dent in her student loans, or his skull, if the situation arose. She looked at the ground and sighed. “No, no that’s okay. I’m the slime ball here. Are you sure you want to play a duet with the likes of me?”
“Absolutely. I’ll set up the booth while you get an instrument.”
She couldn’t help but smile. “I’ll be right there.”
The supply office in the corner was her next stop. The walls were lined with nearly every kind of music making device, all of them very overtly labeled “School Property.” As always, Mrs. Gauge was sitting behind the desk with a pair of spectacles and earplugs within easy reach. She was old enough to be a grandmother, and yet her perpetual smile was that of a filly. “Why good evening, Octavia. Here to take ol’ Ben for a spin?”
Octavia glanced at the double bass in the corner nodded. “One last time, yeah. I’m graduating tomorrow.”
“He’s cute.”
Her gaze darted back to Mrs. Gauge. “Hmm?”
“The stallion you came in with. Here to play a little hoofsie?”
She blushed deep red. “Certainly not. It’s just a friendly duet.”
Mrs. Gauge winked at her. “Good. Just remember those booths block sound, not sight.”
“I’d just like the double bass, please.”
“Go right ahead. Congratulations on graduating, dear, I’ll miss you.”
Concerto was setting up two music stands by the time she approached the booth with double bass in tow. She wanted to wait on the outside for a moment, if only so her blush could die down. That wasn’t going to happen, of course. Especially not while she could feel Mrs. Gauge’s eyes on her.
Then there was Concerto himself. Whether she cared to admit it or not, he was kind of cute. Having a beamed eighth note for a cutie mark gave her high hopes for his musical talent too. If she could just stop waiting for him to admit he was actually after Vinyl, just like all the other stallions who bothered to talk to her, then things would be perfect.
She pushed on the booth door and it swung open. He turned around and smiled at her. “Ready?”
She nodded. “So… what are we playing?”
The answer turned out to be everything. First came a slow classical piece, then a quick bit of jazz, and then the goofy number from the graduation party. All of it felt positively electric, like a constant shiver traveling up her back. It didn’t matter that the loaner double bass was beat up and slightly out of tune, it didn’t matter that they missed notes here and there, and it didn’t matter if somepony else could see them. This was better than playing at the party. This was better than graduating.
Once the last page of sheet music flew by, only silence followed. They each took turns looking at the music, the instruments, and finally at each other.
He spoke first. “That was fun.”
“Thanks for offering.”
“Thanks for accepting.”
Reluctantly, she looked through the glass to the clock on the outer wall. “I should probably get back, my friends will be on any minute now. Want to join me?”
“Yeah! But… before we go… would you like to…”
“Yes?”
Sweat was forming on his brow. “Would you like to go out some time? We could go out to dinner, or on a walk…”
“Or play some more music?”
He smiled. “Or play some more music.”
“I’d love to.”