Chapter 6 - The cellist

I trotted through the door way, forcing my way through the crowds of people who were still flowing in despite the time. Once I finally got out I began to scour the parking lot and outside of the building for her, but unfortunately with no success. I had almost given up when as I was turning a corner I heard muffled cries coming from behind a bush. I crept around to get a better view and sure enough, the musical woman was there sitting on the floor. She was curled up, her legs brought up and her knees pressed against her mouth as she hugged her legs. As I drew closer, her weeping become more apparent and I saw hot tears streaming down from what little of her face I could see.

This was second time so far I’ve had to see her cry and honestly, though I didn’t know her all too well; it broke my heart. All I could do was sit next to her with a heavy sigh as she wept. After some time, I wrapped an arm around her to console her much like I did earlier in the dorm, though this time in a more sincere manner, even I have principles. I wouldn’t take advantage of an intoxicated woman. Eventually, her tears had stopped and she began to question aloud though I presumed the questions were more alcohol induced than anything.

“I do not undershtand, I do not know why I am here in thish…plache! I do not know what I am or for that matter how I keep getting myself into theshe shituations.” She cried as the effect of the alcohol showed its face in her speech pattern as well as making her cheeks a light shade of crimson.

By this time she was looking at me, her purple eyes locked on mine while continuing to hug her legs tightly. I honestly didn’t have an answer for any of that; since she got here I would hardly call her experiences the best humans had to offer. I closed my eyes as I laid my head back, letting out a long drawn out sigh.

“I don’t know. But sitting out here in the night isn’t the way to find the answer. I think there’s been enough excitement for one night, it’s time to go.” I said solemnly as I looked back to her as reassuringly as I could.

It seemed to work, I suppose as she began to wipe her tears with the jacket sleeve as I stood, offering my hand to help her. She took it and began to rise in a wobbly fashion.

I placed a hand on her shoulder. “It’s fine. Now, let me see a smile.” I cooed to her in an attempt to cheer her up.
At first she only looked away, but once she saw that I was intent on getting one out of her she kicked at the ground shyly and then began to attempt to smile. When I saw her attempts at smiling I recoiled a bit.

“Umm…” I began with a nervous chuckle. “Never mind, that’s a bit creepy.”

She smacked my shoulder lightly and let out a small giggle. “Quiet, you.”

That was the first time I actually heard her laugh, it was like the gentle, refined pitch of a violin and the fact that I was the one who made her laugh made me feel a bit fuzzy inside. We began walking back to the front, since I had to go find Adrian. As we walked I thought it appropriate to finally question her.

“Okay, it’s about time I start asking. How exactly did you get here from Equestria?” I asked as I kept looking forward.
She glanced at me and then responded, doing her best to keep the inebriation out of her speech. “To be honest, I do not know. I was preparing for an instrumental escapade with my ensemble. We were to depart for Manehattan to play at a prestigious gathering that only occurs once every three years. There were ensembles around all of Equestria that were in fierce competition with one another to be chosen and as fate would have it, it was us.” She explained as we rounded the corner of the building, she had been looking down in despair the entire time as she walked beside me.

“Do you reca-” I began, only to be cut off by the sound of some commotion near the entrance of the building.

I looked over to see the building doors fly open, flooding the night air with the bass filled beats and a pair of muscular men wearing black uniforms toss a man out.

“And stay out!” snarled both men in unison as they quickly shut the door.

Adrian was face first in the concrete of the lot, just laying there still. Fearing the worst I broke out into a run over to him, Octavia close behind. But as we neared I saw him begin to rise, making me sigh with relief. As he got into a push up position he vomited on the floor, leaving a puddle of vile things I was sure humans weren’t meant to ingest. He stood up finally, swaying side to side and stumbling back a few times. His eyes seemed almost bloodshot and his clothes were all messy. He turned back to the rave doors not even bothering to acknowledge us and screamed at the door.

“Yeah? Well fuck you too! I’ll make my own rave…with booze…and bitchesh…and...bitchesh!” He hollered into the night as he swiveled around back to us as wobbly as ever with a mischievous grin. “I shure showed them!” he stated proudly before making like a tree and going timber.

I only sighed at the wasted mess of a man out cold on the floor before picking him up by the arms and beginning to drag him to the car.

“Ish he okay?” asked Octavia with an expression that was mix of disgust and worry despite her own drunkenness.

“I don’t think so, but we’ll find out for sure tomorrow.” I mumbled.

We walked to the car where I then stuffed Adrian into the back seat and allowed Octavia to sit in the front and began to trip back to Jansford. It had been quite the night indeed. When we finally arrived, we snuck in the same way we snuck out with a bit more difficulty due to the unconscious man but we managed. Once we got to his room which was on the first floor of my building we put him on his bed, when I put him down he threw a few unconscious swings at me but luckily he missed so we left.

“Would you be up for a walk? It’s nice out at night.” I inquired sweetly to my companion.

She had sobered up just a bit to talk normal now and accepted my suggestion. “I would be delighted.”

We began to walk through the garden portion of the campus, careful not to be seen by anyone lest we get in trouble. As we walked through the dimly lit path I brought up the same topic I had at the rave before we left.

“So you and your group managed to get a spot in Manehattan then? I asked, a bit eager to bring up the topic again.

Her expression shifted to a gloomy one again as she was reminded. “Yes, it was the most joyful of days as my ensemble and I were invited to play at the gathering. But as we were about to board the train for Manehattan, something went horribly wrong.” She whimpered barely above a whisper as her purple eyes filled with fright at the remembrance.
I walked beside her listening intently with a completely stoic expression. “What happened?”

She took a short breath to calm herself and proceeded. “The sky had begun to flash an odd pink and it was horrifying as that never happens, we instantly scattered. From that point I lost sight of my ensemble when we began to run through the crowds of frightened Canterlot ponies then the smell of pastries began to flood the area…then all I remember is-” she cut off as her face flushed a bit of red and she tried to hide her cheeks with her hands as she looked away. “Being…woken up by you.”

My cheeks turned a bit rosy themselves, I could feel it but I just ignored it. As we continued on we passed a building that seemed to catch Octavia’s eye.

“What is in there?” She asked with curiosity.

“That’s just the band room. Not really anyth-” was all I could get out before she took off toward it. “H-hey!” I hissed a bit above a whisper. “Come back!”

But she was already gone so I figured I’d go get her. When I arrived, I pushed open the door to see Octavia had already gotten busy. She had something rather long in her hand, though it was hard to tell in the dark. She was sitting in a chair and I could just make out her silhouette as she placed the long object between her legs. My face instantly exploded into a deep crimson yet again.

‘Is she doing what I think she’s doing…with the…b-band equipment?!’ was what raced through my mind as I saw the silhouette of her arm rise and fall rhythmically from between her legs.

Though, instead of my ears meeting the sound of expected moans it was met with the angelic tone of…an instrument! Indeed, as my eyes adjusted to the dark of the band room I confirmed that she was holding a cello. I have such a dirty mind, I should be ashamed of myself. I only stood in the door way as she began to rub the angel hair strings of the instrument with the bow as I was enticed by a piece that was near indescribable in beauty.

Its epic dramatic rises and then slow almost eerie declines all perfectly timed and with just the right amount of emotion that it could bring even the most impassive of people to drop to their knees and weep in joy. That is just what happened to me, as I felt my eyes well up and the image of the room become blurry as the dam that was my eyes broke open and over flowed letting hot tears stream down my face. It was by far the best thing I’ve heard, I dare say in my entire life. Though I wanted to stop my tears, I felt frozen in place as the music pressed on, meeting her melodic strokes with the bow.
Then finally, her music began to fade as she struck her last tone with a long slide and then concluded.

To be continued…