Only a Quarter

Eighth's house (or rather, Silver's House since she owned it) was in the nicer parts of Manehattan, where the houses were bigger, not as squished together and the crime in the area was almost non-existent. In her opinion, it was the perfect place for foals and several from her school also lived close by. It gave Quarter a nice opportunity to socialize and acquainted even before she even stepped inside her class. All in all, it was the perfect place for young Quarter to live for the time being until Octavia was ready to take care of her full time.

Sweetie patted herself on the back for finding such good accommodations as she rang the bell to one of the new houses.

Silver Sway was the one that opened the door with a gentle smile. "Sweetie!" She greeted excitedly before nuzzling the mare.

"Silver!" She greeted back with a smile. "I didn't know you'd be so excited to see me, we saw each other a few days ago."

Silver Sway pulled back with a huge grin. "Don't give me that. Why didn't you tell me Eighth Note was going to propose."

Sweetie giggled. "You know she would have chopped my head off if I even hinted."

Silver giggled along for a bit before looking down at the other pony at her door. "And Am I to guess this cute little filly is Quarter Note?"

Quarter nodded with a smile. "Yep. That's me."

Sweetie could practically see Silver's heart melt. "Well, I think you're going to have a great time here. Won't you come in?"

Quarter nodded enthusiastically before taking a measured step inside. Her little head swiveled around, before turning to face the grey pegasus. "You have a very nice house ma'm." The filly grinned.

Silver's face split into a grin before she turned to look at Sweetie. "D'awwww." She gushed quietly.

Sweetie laughed. Good accommodations indeed. Another point for Sweetie Bell. She thought before walking past the pair. "So where's Eighth Note?"

Already Silver Sway was doting on the little filly, who seemed to be enjoying the attention, but she paused to sigh. "Well, she's probably still upstairs fixing the guest room. As you can probably guess, she waited 'till the last minute again."

"Guest room?" Quarter asked as she allowed her hair to be mused by a grey hoof.

"Yep." Silver smiled apologetically. "Though usually it's called the practice room."

Sweetie rolled her eyes. "More like a disaster room."

Silver raised a brow at her and Sweetie shrugged.

"Are you a musician too?" Quarter asked.

"No hon, I'm actually an actress."

"Ohh." Quarter nodded before falling silent.

Silver looked at Sweetie Bell, wondering if she'd said something strange but Sweetie just shook her head.

"Hey, Quarter, why don't you go check out the guest room. It's upstairs and there should be a white unicorn inside. Do you think you can find it yourself?" Sweetie asked, interrupting the strange silence.

Quarter reached a hoof behind her neck. "I guess so." She replied uncertainly. She looked up at Silver who nodded encouragingly. The grey filly bit her lip before slowly trotting up the stairs.

When the sound of small hooves receded, Silver leaned close to Sweetie. "Does she have something against theatre?"

Sweetie sighed. "No, it's not that. She's just had a bit of a stunted foalhood. I don't think she can have a conversation about anything that isn't about music."

"Oh? Is there a story behind that?"

Sweetie frowned. "You might want to sit down for it."

.

.

.

.

.

Quarter heard the unicorn before she saw her. The door to what must have been the guest room was flung open and a series of screeches echoed down the hall.

Quarter approached the door cautiously, afraid that something might fly out and hit her if she wasn't careful. Peeking her head past the door, she spotted a pony with a pretty alabaster coat and a smooth cobalt mane. She was cursing a storm that probably would have given Quarter a lot of trouble if she even repeated even just one of the sentences.

She was shoving a worn stand-up piano across the room, trying to make room for what seemed like a desk near a partly cleared section by the bed.

"Who doesn't put a piano on wheels?" The unicorn asked no one in particular as the feet of the piano made another long scratch on the floor.

Quarter watched with fascination. It was true, what Sweetie Bell had murmured about a disaster area. Rivalled only by Mrs. Rarity's "inspiration room", all around her were instruments and chords mixed with plastic toys and costumes. Random microphone stands and sound equipment seemed to sprout from the ground as a tangle of wires connected them together. There were also some exercise equipment and sheets of paper everywhere, some with lines of dialogue and others with musical notes and lyrics. Besides the small section already cleared, there wasn't a place where a pony could safely place their hoof. The mess also seemed have been quadrupled by the mirrors that lined the walls.

"Ummm…" She began, uncertain with how to continue.

Thankfully, she was spared from answering by magenta eyes rounding on her. The unicorn halted her efforts and turned to her with a surprised stare. The surprise turned into a grin after a second. "Oh, hey there. You Quarter Note?"

The filly nodded enthusiastically and smiled.

Eighth Note returned the smile before scratching her head sheepishly. "Well, then kid, welcome to your room. Sorry about the mess. I know it doesn't look like it right now but this is one pretty cool room. It use to be mine before."

Quarter nodded, her eyes catching sight of the mare's cutie mark. Two connected and inverted eighth notes. She tilted her head questioningly. Eighth was a bit confused at first but she followed the filly's gaze to her flank.

"Something up with my cutie mark?" She asked with a smile.

Quarter turned her attention back to the mare before blushing. "Sorry. I didn't mean to stare. It's just that, my mom has the same cutie mark." She began nervously.

Eighth Note cut her off before she could ramble. She placed a hoof on her chin in thought. "Same mark huh? That's pretty rare for two ponies to have the same mark but it's not unheard of. What does she do?"

"Sh-she was a DJ." Quarter stuttered nervously as she turned to look at anything but the unicorn. In her house in Canterlot, it had always felt like taboo to talk about her mom. Even now, her Omi still had a hard time with the topic.

Still relating the filly's nervousness as an effect of getting caught staring, she pressed forward. "A DJ. That's an interesting profession. I'd like to meet her someday."

Quarter flinched. "I'm not sure that's possible, M'am. She…died a bit after I was born."

Eighth blinked. "Oh…" She stated lamely before flinching at herself. "I'm so sorry."

Quarter looked up, forcing a smile. "I never knew her so I'm okay. I always had Omi, my grandma."

"I'm glad for you kid."

There was a long stretch of silence between them where they exchanged awkward glances, each trying to find a way to dissipate the tension. Quarter took another glance at the cutie mark before asking. "How did you get your cutie mark?" She asked.

It was Eighth's turn to look around nervously. "Oh, well. Sorry kid, I wouldn't be able to tell you. I lost a chunk of my memories a few years back."

Quarter grimaced. "Oh…that's…bad." She stated.

Eighth forced a nervous chuckle. "Yeah. Well, it's not so bad."

The two ponies shuffled around in silence before Eighth decided to try at a conversation again. "Soooo…" Eighth began again, leaning against the giant stand-up. "Where's Sweetie Bell? I thought she was bringing you over."

Quarter responded quickly and a little too fast. "Oh, she'd downstairs with Mrs. Silver Sway. I think they're talking about grown up things. I don't think they want me around to hear." The filly's ears flattened on her head. Eighth frowned but before she was able to address it, the ears shot back up. Quarter had a smile slapped on her face again. "Would you like some help?"

Eighth bit her lip. In all honesty, after the landmine of a conversation they just had, the last thing she wanted was to be with the filly. She had the suspicion that the filly felt the same way but just didn't have anywhere else to go. So, with a sigh, Eighth summoned up some magic to clear a path=. "Umm…Sure kid. Why don't you tidy up the place already cleared. It's kinda dusty."

Quarter took a glowing duster into her mouth and nodded. She sauntered over with graceful coordination as she maneuvered among the scattered objects.

A slight twinge passed through Eighth's head. It wasn't necessarily pain but it was enough of a jolt for her to reach a hoof up and rub at her temples. It subsided quickly enough but, as she turned to continue pushing the piano to the other side of the room, she resolved to visit Cranium. Maybe she would make an appointment after they met Quarter Note's mother tomorrow.

What was her name? She thought. Another twinge, stronger this time.

She decided to set up an appointment a little sooner than that.