Faded Note Blues

*****

The cork popped off of the champagne bottle, the sudden release of pressure sending the bubbling liquid running down the neck of the bottle.

“Damn it!” Faded cursed, fumbling with the nearby flutes to try and preserve every drop of the precious liquid. Finding little success, she began to run her tongue along the glass.

“Hehe, nice one there Lofty,” Technical Feats, the unicorn musical engineer, said.

*****

“Lofty?” Vinyl asked, raising an eyebrow. “How do you get Lofty from Faded?”

Jolted out of her story telling all Faded could do was splutter, before giving up and looking away.

Vinyl didn’t need to be a detective to catch the way the other mare’s lip wobbled. Nor did she need to be emotionally sensitive to know the emotions behind it were very bad for business. Besides, she needed to return the favor.

“You know what? Never mind. Pretend I didn’t even ask.”

Clearing her throat with a precise noise Faded continued as if all she had done was pause for breath, though she couldn’t bring herself to look Vinyl’s way until she was lost in the past again.

*****

Levitating the bottle out of Faded’s grip, Technical began to pour out the white wine into the glasses. He had always had an eye for details and, to Faded’s eye at least, he gave the exact same amount to each glass. Sure that meant that because of the number of ponies waiting for a taste that amount was barely a mouthful. At least, that held true for everyone’s glass but Faded’s, who got hers last and so received the generous amount left in the bottle.

Faded accepted it without complaint, raising it up for the awaiting toast, smiling brightly back at the ponies who smiled her way.

“And the very most to our dear, sweet Faded,” Tech said, offering her a wink. “So that maybe now she can stop bugging us over how much she wants to taste Prench white wine.”

The jab earned a round of chuckles from the room, Faded not even that worried about it. If it got her a little more of the bubbly nectar, she’d take a couple more with a wink and a giggle.

“Well, I guess there’s nothing more to it then,” a gruff old mare, Savvy Dealer said. She was one of the producers who’d financed the single, and was always in the background, urging recording along and searching for places to cut down on costs. Faded had hardly recognized her when Savvy had walking in the door. It was the first time ever she had been without her starched blouse and well-worn assistant. “Here’s to a job well done, ponies.” Her eyes took on a familiar gleam. “And to the spot on the Billboard that will have everyone in Equestria wanting more from the new hot husband and wife act.”

“Hear, hear to that,” Technical called out, his booming voice drowning out the others. “And here’s to Goldie, and to the writer who conjured her up.” He gestured his glass over at Silver, before drowning its contents with a motion that belied the amount of liquor it contained.

Glancing up from his own little corner of the room, Silver offered a wan smile. “Much ‘preciated.”

He hauled himself to his hooves, weaving his slender frame in-between the assembled ponies, most eyeing him curiously.

“Here,” he said, dumping his measure of champagne into Faded’s glass. “Yours, more than mine.”

Before she could react, he swooped in and deposited a kiss on her cheek, his glass clattering to the floor as it tumbled from his grip.

“But Ah gotta be gone for a bit. Paths to walk.”

Faded could feel the rest of the eyes in the room bore into her, especially Savvy’s, and in that moment she realized just how dire things were. Whatever was happening with Silver, something was wrong. But the eyes of the room were on her, waiting to judge her if she said one little thing out of line.

“Okay, sweetie. You go and do your thing, I’ll see you at home later,” she eventually decided on, hoping her smile didn’t look too thin or her words too shaky.

If Silver even heard her, he made no sign of it. After stating his intentions, he whipped around so fast his tail caught the edge of her snout, the coarse hair scraping her nostrils, making them itch.

“He gets like that sometimes,” Faded addressed the room, the lie slipping easily from her lips. “The creative mood takes him and he’s just got to be alone to write it down.”

The murmur of agreement that spread around the room soothed her fears. She didn’t hear Silver leave.

*****

“So, what happened?” Vinyl asked, sitting at the edge of her seat.

“What I said,” Faded replied, her hooves tapping out a slow beat that escaped Vinyl. “I got home that night, and all I found was a note. It confessed to me that Goldie was real, and that he was running off to pursue her.” She stared off into space, tapping her chin. “How did it go again? Faded, I love you, but Goldie is real and my heart belongs to her and to the music. Signed, Silver.”

Vinyl’s eyes widened.

“Vinyl, I love you,” Octavia said. The words were earnest, though the DJ noted Tavi’s eyes never left the buckle on her luggage she was trying to tighten. “And I know you love me.” Her voice was strained. “But it’s just not working Vinyl,and neither of us are happy.”

All the while Vinyl just stood there, on the cold tiles of the kitchen, wishing she was brave enough to cross the threshold and move into the living room with Tavi.

“It’s better that we end things now,Vinyl. We both know it.”

No answer but the ticking of the clock.

Octavia sighed, abandoning her bags and gingerly stepping over to Vinyl.

“I’m… sorry Vinyl, I truly am,” she said with a shake of her head. “But our hearts belong to the music.”

She leaned forward and planted a quick kiss on her ex-marefriend’s cheek. Then she was gone.

Vinyl hadn’t even said goodbye.

“That’s cold blooded,” Vinyl cut in, her words dripping with venom, her horn pulsing as her magic mimicked her emotions. She was so angry she could barely speak, yet she couldn’t even say why. “To… to… just, leave. To up and bail, and not even have the guts to tell it to your face.”

The pretty little porcelain cup sprung up into the air, it spinning so fast it appeared circular, Vinyl’s magic gripping it so tight her horn ached. Then, all at once, the strength of the cup was exhausted, it collapsing in on itself until it was nothing but a fine white powder.

“Vinyl, calm down!” Faded cried out, she launching herself across the gap in-between the two. With a steady hoof she gripped Vinyl’s arm, while Faded’s other hoof bumped gently against Vinyl’s horn, dissipating her magic. “Stop it.”

“Why?” Vinyl hissed out, her captured arm writhing like a snake, trying to pull free.

Summoning all of her strength Faded hung on for dear life, her other hoof soon joining the other. Gradually, the DJ’s shaking subsided, though her breaths still came in gasps. With one final pull she retrieved her arm, though Faded’s grip had already relaxed.

“Look at me,” Faded ordered, and Vinyl complied. The older mare’s eyes were wet with tears. “It was my fault anyway. All those ponies in that room… I was too scared about what they thought to do anything. Something was so obviously wrong but I just let him walk out of my life.” She dragged her hoof over her cheek, the fur there left mussed and spiky from the moisture.

Lost for words, Vinyl just put her foreleg on top of Faded’s, giving it a few awkward pats in her best emulation of how her mother comforted her when she was a foal.

“You know, I’ve never told this to anyone,” Faded said softly, her withered hoof giving Vinyl’s a gentle squeeze. “But I think a part of me let him go; let him walk out that door and into that cold river.”

The way Faded said it, a dull droning monotone, made Vinyl shiver. She hadn’t know Faded for long but to hear her without any emotions, it just wasn’t right.

“After all, isn’t that the dream of any good blue’s singer, to live a life filled with tragedy and loss? That's the thing about the blues," Faded Note said, her eyes fixed firmly on the downturned photo frame. "You give it your heart and soul and in return you make something beautiful. You take all that pain inside of you and help it to make others strong." She reached out for it, though all she did was knock her hoof against the side of the record player.

With a faint hum, Vinyl’s magic encircled the frame and brought it over to the pair, Faded plucking it out of the air. She looked down, all the while keeping hold of the DJ’s hoof.

It drove Vinyl mad that Faded held the frame at an angle, just enough to keep her from seeing the picture. Though she stretched her back until it popped loudly, it did nothing to help.

Glancing up, Faded just smirked. “Well well, I can see that somepony just can’t behave herself.” She held the picture out to Vinyl, shaking it a little. When she spoke again her voice was pensive. “But you can take a look Vinyl, I don’t mind.”

Eagerly the DJ snatched it up in her magic, glancing over the top of her glasses to get a better look.

It was black and white, and featured a mare and stallion that she guessed were Silver and Faded. The couple were wrapped up in each other’s embrace, snuggled up in the crook of a tree, napping. Silver’s wing wrapped around his then wife, while she snuggled in close to his side, a tiny smile on her face. The grass looked cool and inviting, and Vinyl noticed that a pile of music paper sat off to one side, weighed down by a rock. They looked happy, the kind of couple that showed up in dorky romcoms that had no place in the real world.

Somehow, that was the worst thing it could have been.

“You know, all that stuff you said about you and Silver, it was a fucking lie.” Vinyl didn’t yell, though she wanted to, and she was shaking with the effort to keep it in. Instead it came out cold and clear. “I might have neglected Tavi, put her second to the beat, but she was always enough mare for me. The dick Silver, all he wanted was another mare because he couldn’t fucking realize what he had. I let mine get away, he wasn’t even man enough to try to fix things.”

Unable to keep looking at the picture, Vinyl shoved it face down against the arm of her chair, one of the corners digging into her side.

“You’re… too kind Vinyl,” Faded said, her eyes focused down at the picture. With a sigh she picked it up and ran a hoof over it to get rid of any spots of dust. She gave it one last look, before hauling herself to her hooves with a grunt. “But a few curse words won’t change the truth.”

When she reached the record player she placed the picture down at the spot it had come from, making sure to line it up perfectly with the dusty outline. That done, she pulled a record out from the cupboard, exchanging it with Goldie Goodnight with quick motions.

She paused as the needle hovered above the spinning record. “This one’s my song, the one I wrote when I found out Silver was gone, before Goldie had found her conscience and told him no. A week after it hit number one, he was dead.”

The needle landed and Vinyl listened, but the words just didn’t make sense to her.

The earnest voice filling the room broke the dam and words started to spill out of her. “I let her get away. I let her get away.” The words were heavy, but she knew that they were true. A feeling welled up in her belly, choking her, squeezing her tight like she was in a crowded room. Her breath sped up and as she spoke again, it came out between each panicked gasp,  “Every night it was the same. I had a gig, she wanted a dinner date. I wanted to chill, she had some fancy rubbish to go to. We tried, Celestia did we try. But it just kept happening and happening, and then the next thing I knew we were talking, and then Tavi was just gone.”

“Oh Vinyl,” Faded said, making the DJ start. She had forgotten anypony else was even there, only to find the old mare standing right in front of her.

A song played in the background, the voice bearing only a passing resemblance to the girl from Goldie Goodnight. This time it was sung with such heartbreak, Vinyl would have sworn that the singer was going to burst into tears at any moment. A piano was also part of the piece, but it was only background noise to that haunting voice.

Now won’t you listen dearie, while I say,

How can you tell me that you’re going away?

Don’t say that we must part.

Don’t break my aching heart.

Vinyl found herself being pulled into a tight hug, the unexpected contact making her body tense. Her vision swam and she was breathing so fast, she’d started hyperventilating. Though she squirmed and tried to get away, Faded held on tight.

“Sshh, sshh. It’s okay Vinyl, just let it out.” Faded whispered, stroking Vinyl’s mane. Her hoof came back sticky from all the gel in it, but she never stopped brushing. “There’s still time and there’s still hope. Just let it out.”

She didn’t cry, she refused to cry, but her struggling receded as she relaxed into Faded’s embrace. Gradually, her breathing came under control and the world stopped spinning. Not sure what else to do Vinyl encircled her forelegs around Faded and hugged back.

You know I've loved you truly, many years,

I’ve loved you night and day,

How can you leave me? Can't you see my tears?

Listen while I say.

If she closed her eyes and tried real hard then maybe, just maybe, she could trick herself into believing it was Tavi who she was holding on to. She burrowed into the crook of Tavi’s neck and held on tight, her marefriend doing the same. A few stray tears pattered against her coat, but she didn’t complain. A deep sigh escaped her body and she sagged against Tavi.

Just then she breathed in and the scent of the other pony shattered her illusion. Tavi always smelt like fancy perfume, undercut by a hint of her cello varnish. Faded smelt like all old people, or at least she guessed that’s what old people smelt like.

After you’ve gone, and left me crying

After you’ve gone, there’s no denying

You’ll feel blue, you’ll feel sad

You’ll miss the dearest pal that you’ve ever had

At the cusp of the hug growing uncomfortable, Faded pulled herself away. As she spoke she stuttered, her cheeks flushed from embarrassment. “I’m sorry about that Vinyl. I got a little carried away.”

“Nah, it’s cool, really,” Vinyl replied, her voice thick. She looked down, before mumbling, “but thanks.”

The older mare nodded, the corners of her mouth turning up a fraction. “I meant what I said too. You must love her a lot.”

Vinyl nodded, her eyes fixed down at her lap. “Uh, yeah. I really do.”

It felt freeing to say that, to admit it after trying to deny it for so long. She wanted to shout it from the rooftops, but she’d settle for dedicating it to the beat when her next creative mood took her. Or, better yet, trade it all in if it only meant Tavi could come back right that second. That was kind of a downer, now that she thought of it, any lingering triumph she felt soon lost.

And there’ll come a time, now don’t forget it

There’ll come a time when you’ll regret it

Some day, when you grow lonely

Your heart will break like mine, and you’ll want me only

“And will you promise me that you’ll try, with all your heart and soul, to get her back.”

Vinyl nodded, shooting Faded a wan smile. At some point, her glasses had been knocked off and gotten wedged down the side of her seat’s cushion. She left them there. They were plenty safe.

After you’ve gone, after you’ve gone away

Faded coughed into her hoof, giving a guilty look that didn’t make the DJ feel any better.

“Oh you… you wanna finish, don’t cha,” Vinyl said. For a moment she almost demanded the older mare stop, but she bit her tongue. “Then go ahead, I won’t argue.”

“You just sit there and calm down Vinyl,” Faded said, easing back into her chair. “No need to comment, no need to think. Just listen, that’s all you need to do now. The worst part is over with.”