The Last Show For My Nobles
The Last Show for My Nobles
May 25th
"Pull yourself together. This should be your average day!" Said Octavia as she finished combing her silky black hair. She was wearing her regular charcoal grey felt robe before she prepared. Her show in one of the Canterlot Bars was usually a common thing, but she had sensed that things were getting worse by the day. Every concert brought more and more drunken nobles. Some had gone as far as trying to try and grope her, but she has always managed to stay away.
"Hey Tavi how long 'till you're ready?" Said a man with black hair, jeans, black t-shirt and denim vest.
"Sorry Metal, but I can't concentrate. I don't know why it's harder."
"Don't worry m'lady, this is your last show before the contract dies, so give it your best. Think about it, tomorrow you can have a bottle of frozen beer in your penthouse in Las Pegasus!" He said as he embraced her with his large, muscular arms.
"I don't have a penthouse, and I don't like beer, I can't understand why you do." She said as shoved the arms away.
"Cuz beer is sweet! I can have as much as I want and not feel slightly guilty about it. Also, with the money you have made you could buy a penthouse. I don't see why not."
"Most of my salary goes to paying my apartment rent and feeding both of us."
"But you still have savings, as a roadie I'm not that expensive."
"It's not much. And must I remind you that you cost me twenty percent of all my pay checks."
"It could be worst, most charge twenty five percent! I'm saving you five, and I bet my wage that they are half as good as me."
"I know that, and I am grateful for it." She said with a slight tone of irritation.
"So, where do you plan on going after today? I could always suggest a few locales that will take a cellist. There's a dive in Vanhoover..." He started but was cut off by her delicate hand.
"Please get out, I need to concentrate." She said, and he disappeared immediately.
She felt somewhat guilty of cutting him off and sending him away, but today was the day she knew was going to be trouble. She had been warned by the other female musicians that these nobles liked to have more entertainment than regular music. She just hoped that violence wouldn't be necessary. But if it was, both her and Metal Riffs could handle it.
Actually, the only reason that Metal was her roadie was that he was incredibly skilled at crowd control, wether it be by hand or axe. That was something no roadie ever wanted to face. She admitted that they had become very great friends, since he was a guitarist and very keen on all things music. But still that is where everything ended. Keeping it professional was the best decision she could make.
She slipped off her bathrobe and into her dressing gown. The charcoal grey silk dress was one of her favorites, it hung lightly over her shoulders, joined at the very bottom of her cleavage and covered all they way to her feet. It parted on the left side from the hip to the end. From one of the drawers she took out a silver treble clef pendant. This belonged to her teacher, Pentagram, who taught her Cello and even self defense using it.
She took a few deep breaths and took a sip from the glass of water in front of her. Composing shelf she left her parathion room and went backstage. Metal was there, holding Marceline, his weird battle axe-guitar combo. The instrument was, as usual, perfectly tuned, and the black paint was fresh as always.
"Ready for your last gig?" He asked.
"As ready as I'll ever be, what's the crowd like?"
"Your usual, bunch of young nobles with too much alcohol and too little resistance. I would tell you what language they are using, but my mom told me not to use foul language."
"Perfect, we may even have to end it early if things turn out like last time."
"Don't worry, Marcy and me are ready to help you."
"I appreciate your sentiment Metal. But I hope it doesn't have to go down like that."
"I also hope not. Marcy hasn't had blood in three months, and I want to keep it that way."
"Wish me luck."
"Good luck, and may Ormagöden protect you." He said.
With a nod she proceeded to take her place next to Arkadius, her cello. Like most high-class bars, there were several tables around her stage. And as was becoming more common, various sharply-dressed men whistling and howling like hungry wolves.
Ignoring them she took her bow. Her first song was titled Resurrection, which was a very soft song. The song was meant to relax everyone, but it only got her more howling and booing.
She continued playing soft songs, since that was what she had been hired to do. But it seemed that every song they got more and more drunk.
By the end of her show one of them stood up and shouted: " Baby, come with me and I'll show you how to play a real instrument!"
She ignored him, he was a couple of tables away, so there was no danger imminent. He continued insisting as he approached her. "Baby, let me take you to see a real show in the castle." His breath reeked of cheap cocktails.
"Sorry, but I'm not interested in a rich buffoon." She said coldly.
"You'll be sorry for refusing me, the great Gold Ingot, you bitch!"
"I may be a bitch, but that does not mean I am a whore. Now go away!" She said. She regretted her decision seconds later as he pulled out something from his blazer. It was a small metallic thing, which had a barrel pointed at her. She knew she had screwed up, but there was no time, grabbing her cello she sprinted.
There were three bangs erupted from the pistol, one of which grazed her shoulder. She stumbled down, and felt something drill itself into her calf. With another scream she started crawling. She expected him to grab her and take her away, but she heard a large whack. Turning around made her see that Metal had cleaved his axe into the rich boy's skull. Since it was Equestrian Steel there was no permanent damage, but he still fell down like a rag doll.
After that at least a dozen drunkards pulled out their pistols at Metal, but he was smarter than that. He turned Marceline into guitar position and began playing a high-pitched solo. At the end of it his magic emitted a sonic shockwave that knocked them out.
"And that's the power of metal for ya!" He said as he tried to help Octavia back to her feet, but with the amount of pain she was in, she merely passed out on his shoulder. he grabbed her with both arms and began walking toward he exit.
The bar doors swung open and five Canterlot guards burst forward.
"Everyone stay where you are!" Said one of them.
"No need to panic guys, I already stunned them for you. But I need a healer right now, my friend here has been shot." Answered Metal while putting Marceline down.
"What happened here?" Asked the guard.
"My friend was playing her instrument but these assholes pulled out guns and shot her!"
"But that's not possible! There are no guns in Equestria! He is obviously lying!" Intervened another guard.
"Oh yeah and bullets flew all the way from Germaneigh and embedded themselves in my friend! Look around you and tell me if there are no guns on these guys!"
"I don't trust him Spear, just look at him, he looks like a murderous hobo." Said the second Guard.
"I don't care if he looks like a hobo, a murderer or even if he looked like Princess Celestia's buttocks. He is innocent by my standards until we finish investigating, and get me Silk Bandage right now! You with the axe-guitar, what happened here?" Said Spear.
"Just told you man, my friend Octavia was doing her gig when this bastard right here started harassing her. She insulted him and she left, as she turned her back he opened fire and lodged a bullet in her calf. Where the hell is your medic? She's bleeding!"
"Don't worry about your friend, our healer is finally here. But I am not done with you. I want you to come over to the Barracks and make a formal eyewitness statement."
"Why me?"
"Because you are the only one who is still conscious, don't worry about these idiots, my friends will arrest them and take them to the dungeon."
"What about Tavi?"
"Your friend will be Taken to the medical wing in the castle, don't worry I will guarantee her safety."
"Damn right you will. If anyone touches as much as a hair I will personally give you nightmares!"
"Is that a threat?" Asked the captain as he outed his chest.
"No, it's a warning." Said Metal as he closed him and got within breathing distance.
"Very well, follow me sir." Said Spear as he left for the door. A small-framed man wearing white leather armor and a Red Cross on his left arm which marked him as a medic. He took out his wand and muttering something under his breath he began extracting the metal projectile from the cellist. He refused to leave her in their care and carried her all the way to the medical wing in the Castle.
He refused to make a statement until he had put her in the best room. After that he was taken to the main offices, where they questioned him thoroughly. They asked him how long had he been working with her, and that was three years. How he got the axe, that was because his mother gave it to him. And also how he knew about firearms since they were extremely illegal in Equestria.
"Well, that's cuz I'm friends with Shield Heart, the Grey Warden." He answered.
"That explains a lot." Said Spearunder his breath.
"How long have you known him?"
"Oh, we're bros, real close. We met in a bar in Great Bridle, Trottingham to be exact. He told me all about a magical place where no one would discriminate you because you loved metal."
"But it says here that you were born in Baltimare."
"Yeah, but I ditched the place as soon as I could, too many assholes."
"So what was this promised land?"
"In Vanhoover. But that took us like four years to get there. We still had to go through lots of shit."
"Interesting, but I hope you can speed up to the part where you tell me how you became a roadie for the greatest cellist in Canterlot."
"Of course Spear. When I arrived in Vanhoover I went to this dive downtown, where they told me about some musician who needed help. So they told me to go to Canterlot to interview for the job. And one interview later I was hired."
"That quick? You really expect me to believe that she hired you with just one interview."
"Well, that interview might have happened during an alley fight, where I knocked down a couple of heads. And I showed her my powers at fixing instruments. I'm also good at setting stages and that sort of shit, but her stages are usually bland."
"And the events of today occurred literally as you said earlier?"
"Yeah, I don't like lying."
"Very well, that will be all. Thank you for your declarations, with this we may have enough to start a record against the Precious Family."
"Really? From just one incident?" Metal was surprised, usually there had to be like ten incidents before a record w started against a High Family.
"This reveals that the Precious have more power and greed than before. Yesterday Silver Platter and four goons were brutalized in an alley. There was some blood, but none of them had any wounds. We happened to have found bullet cases around, but they were crippled for a good time, in fact they are still in coma."
"And who's your prime suspect slash victim?"
"Shield Heart, he's the only one who has that fighting ability."
"Someone beating up five guys into a coma in an alley? Yep, sounds like him."
The Guard stretched his hand, and Metal extended his for the handshake. After shaking he immediately took off to the medical wing.
To his relief the doctors had managed to heal her calf very quick. They told him that she was done, but they wanted to keep her immobile until tomorrow, which meant six hours.
"I can't believe that you got me a room. It's so embarrassing." Said Octavia without looking at him.
"Sorry, but I was worried, Shield taught me too much about bullets and the dangers." He said with a shy smile.
"Oh, that cynical lunatic? I must have expected that."
"Yeah he's insane, but there is no better man than him in this sort of shit, I assure you." He said. Suddenly his spruce wand started twitching, and with a light nod, he released a puff of smoke which materialized into a letter.
He grazed though it, looked at Octavia and said: "The Lester's from the lunatic, he needs my help in Vanhoover."