Sweet Serenade

It was a pleasant, sunny morning in Ponyville and for the moment things were rather peaceful and quiet. But like most days this didn’t last long. Thankfully though, what broke the quiet this time was a soft melody floating out from one of the simple houses. It was a nice, soft piece that would put one at ease.

At least until it was abruptly disrupted by high pitched, screech that made anypony who heard it cringe. After a moment of silence the music started to come from the house again followed once again by the spine shivering shriek and mumbled, annoyed curse. The pattern continued itself for a few more minutes with the curses growing louder and more agitated after each round.

Inside the house, one of the residents stepped into the living room with her own annoyed look hidden mostly by her over-sized, purple tinted shades.

“Geez Tavi, what are you doing in here, choking a cat?” Vinyl Scratch asked as she walked up to her house mate.

“Oh ha ha,” Octavia returned with usual dry wit. Though it was tinged with more frustration than usual. She seemed to ignore Vinyl’s question for a second as she studied the sheet music in front of her. “If you must know I’m practicing for an upcoming concert in Manehattan.”

“What? You didn’t tell me you were going to Manehattan,” the white unicorn remarked.

“You don’t always tell me when you have a DJ job,” the grey earth pony fired back, still staring at the paper.

“That’s cause my jobs are always pretty local. And if I do have a gig that’s far awayIusually have the courtesy to tell sompony.”

Octavia sighed and brought the hoof holding her bow to her forehead.

“Vinyl can we please not do this now?” she begged. “I can’t seem to get this part down right and it’s putting me on edge.”

“Yeah I can tell,” Vinyl teased before she leaned in to look at the sheet music herself.

She used her magic to lift her shades over her horn then squinted her eyes at the paper before her. They snapped back open a second later and she could barely continue her amusement.

“Really Tavi? That’s what’s giving you trouble?” she asked, pointing to the notes with a slight smirk.

Octavia’s eyes narrowed and her nostrils flared just slightly in continued anger.

“Oh I’m sorry, does the DJ pony have something to say about classical music?!” she snapped. “I’m sure she wouldn’t know anything about how tricky this piece is to play!”

“Hey! Just cause I like to play records instead of instruments doesn’t mean I don’t know anything about music!” Vinyl shouted back. “Heck, I’m sure I could play this easier than you!”

“Is that right?!” Octavia growled, her anger finally getting the best of her. “Well then fine! Why don’t you try it?!” she challenged, shoving her cello towards the unicorn.

“Okay I will!” she accepted, pushing the other pony out of the way, snatching the bow out of her hoof as she did so. “Gimme that thing!”

Octavia barely kept herself from falling over from the sudden push, but she was able to keep her balance well enough to land on her front two hooves. She continued to glare at Vinyl and even smirked a bit at the awkward way she was balancing herself to play the cello. Her smirk quickly faded, however, when it finally dawned on her just what was about to happen.

“Wait! Wait Vinyl I changed my mind! You don’t have to do this! Just give me back my cello and it’ll be-”

Her pleas were cut off when Vinyl brought the bow across the cello’s strings. Octavia cringed I in anticipation of sounds the rocker pony was about to produce from the instrument and just what kind of damage she might do to her baby. Much to her great surprise though, not only did the music come out the way it was supposed to, came out beautifully. Much more beautifully than she would have expected from her partner. Of course the real surprise came when she reached the part that had given Octavia so much trouble and performed it flawlessly. The grey mare stared in open mouthed disbelief as Vinyl continued to effortlessly play through the piece.

When she was finished, Vinyl looked back at Octavia with a wide, triumphant smirk on her muzzle.

“See? Told ya!” she gloated.

Octavia continued to stare at her with her mouth hanging openly limply.

“Uh...you okay Tavi?”

“I....you...how...?” the usually proper pony managed to stammer out.

The white unicorn blushed a bit as she carefully rubbed the back of her head with the hoof holding the bow.

“Ah come on Tavi don’t be like that. It’s not really that big a deal,” she said.

“But it is a big deal!” Octavia reassured her. “Vinyl, how did you learn how to play like that?”

The blue haired pony sighed and slumped her shoulders a bit.

“Well...if you have to know...” she started hesitantly.

“I do! I do!” her friend cheered.

“Aright fine!” Vinyl growled then sighed again before she started her tale. “When I was a filly my mother was really into classical music. I mean, like, really into it. So much so that she wanted me to play so I could...well...honestly, be like you.”

Octavia quirked an eyebrow at that comment but said nothing.

“So of course this meant a lot of practicing. A lot of practicing. To the point where I could do it in my sleep. And I hated it!” she sneered. “That’s the major reason I got more into rock music and DJing. Well, that and some awesome concert I saw with my dad. In fact that’s right when I got my Cutie Mark and knew I was gonna play rock music for as long as I lived!” She flashed a quick smile but it soon faded as she finished up herself. “ ‘Course this created a rift between me and my mom and I haven’t talked to her in...awhile. It’s also why I wasn’t a big fan of classical music until...well...recently.”

Octavia blushed a bit at the semi confession.

“Well, I’m glad I could help you appreciate the classics again,” she said with a soft smile. “And it seems all the practicing was worth it.”

“Yeah, no kidding. To be honest, I really wasn’t sure I could do this,” Vinyl confessed with a slight blush.

“Well you could. Quite beautifully, I might add,” Octavia complimented her then looked a bit embarrassed. “Do you...do you think you could help me get over the problem I’m having with it?”

She chuckled. “Sure Tavi, no problem. You see-”

“Wait!” the earth pony cut her off then stood up and shifted some of the sheets on the stand in front of them. “Before you do that, do you think you could play this for me?”

Vinyl looked the notes over. “Yeah I think I can do that. But what is it?”

“It’s one of my favorite pieces,” she replied. “It’s one I love to play but as I’m sure you know, playing and listening are too different things. So since you can play so well I was wondering if you wouldn’t mind letting me just listen to it for once. Please?”

Vinyl gave an amused smile and shook her head a bit.

“How can I say ‘no’ to that look?” she remarked. “Just...don’t tell anypony about this, okay? I got a rep to maintain.”

Octavia returned the smile then brought a hoof across her lips in a zipper fashion. “My lips are sealed.”

“Alright then! Let’s rock this classical music!” the unicorn cheered as she levitated her shades back over her eyes.

Despite the look, though, she still managed to play the piece of soothingly and peaceful as it was intended. Octavia just smiled widely as she finally got to listen to the melody from the other side to find a new appreciation for it as well as for the very special pony in her life.

The End.