The Pianist

Dull was the kindest thing I could say about this day. The clouds were gray and heavy, ponies seemed to be irate and short with anything, and I woke up feeling like I made several bad decisions the night before. The best thing was thanks to the weather, renegade cameramen weren’t in my face every second trying to take a photo. As I walked the gray streets of Manehattan a pang of guilt would rise up in my gut. I could feel the disappointment in Octavia’s eyes from last night, but what could I have done? Hobbled out of her hotel the next morning looking like we had a one night stand? I was so lost in my thoughts of “what if” that I nearly stepped on a teenage filly sitting on the cold ground.

I looked down and around to see if there were any clues to how long she had been here. Then, she looked up at me, her pupils pitch black and precise. “Can I help you?” her inquiry was saturated in sass.

“Uh, no… no, but I was wondering, how old are you?”

“How old are you looking for?” she asked with slight disgust. I raised my brow in offense. I didn’t look that bad.

“This isn’t a pick-me-up. Aren’t you a little young to be out here on your own, kid?”

She frowned and spoke with fury, “One, I’m not a kid. Two, unless you’re gonna ass up some bits, you had better get to steppin’!”

“Alright, have fun starving on the street…” I walked away, but not without looking over my shoulder. I have a serious problem; I care too much. Given how much trouble my innate kindness has gotten me into you’d think I’d be able to act more harshly. I decided to press on. That ‘mare’ didn’t need anyone’s help anyway.

~^^^^^~

The next day, I walked down the same street and wouldn’t you know it, she was there sitting on the sidewalk with a frown. I walked past, not daring to utter a word to the crass filly. I glanced at her, she glanced at me, and I went on about my day. Besides, I had a meeting with an old friend that I needed to get to.

Manehattan reminded me faintly of my hometown, Clopton, only in the city aspects. The weather there was much more predictable, even though it stayed on the hot as Celestia’s wrath kind of predictable. Not a day goes by where I’m thankful I got out of that hell…

“Muffin Buttin,” I read the ridiculous sign out loud. This was where he wanted to meet. Only Celestia knows why. I looked around for anyone with a stupid tie dye mohawk and a shirt to match. In all honesty, I didn’t want to do this. I had found a pretty good movie channel back at the hotel that played the good old fashioned black and white classics. I remember when mygrandmother and I would whistle the Andy Gryphon theme song and get excited when Gallop Appeloosa Ranger would come on. Simpler times…

“Hey, bro! Over here!”

There he was. To be frank, he at least put some effort into his getup today. “Aye, man. How ya been?” he asked while giving me a handshake.

“Same old, people screaming for me to strip after a solo.”

“For real?”

“Nah, bro,” I laughed. “How about you? I haven’t seen you a good minute, man.” He told me about how he finally finished college and is now working for one of Rarity’s boutiques as an accountant. Cosign was always good with numbers. We went inside and ordered a couple of fluffy treats and joked about old times back in school. I wasn’t the most… serious student. Yeah, I was praised as the smartest in the class, but schoolwork never rubbed me the right way. Not for Cosign though. The guy is a walking calculator. He’d be able to solve logarithmic expressions in his head, lucky devil.

We joked about our times in band, in our old classes, people that we graduated with, all of that. Then, he asked something that hit me all the way from left field. “Any lucky ladies in your life?”

It made me think back to Octavia yet again. What did she want from me? She helped me greatly when I first joined the orchestra, and as I’ve said before all she would need to do is ask and I’d be on it faster than you could blink. But, what would I get from her? Love? Friendship? A little bit of fun? “Nah, man. No girls here…”

“Really? That’s a shame…”

“You?” I asked fiddling with the menu to distract my heavy mind.

“Eh, kinda. I ran into Rosemary.”

They had been like a lightswitch throughout high school. “I thought you vowed to, and I quote, ‘never give that scheming bitch the light of day ever again’.”

He stammered some and rubbed the back of his neck, “That was five years ago. I’m willing to give it another chance.” He gave me a deviously sly smile. “What about you and Tremolo?” I nearly choked on air at the mention of that harpe’s name.

“No! Not ever!” He broke down and chortled in his trademark high-pitched cackle. I would give you history on her, but we’d be here for eons and I did not want to relive the worse three years of my life.

“I love how you didn’t even take a moment to think!” he laughed.

“Because, no! Fuck that bitch…”

“You just mad cause you did!” his laughter started to gain the attention of several nearby patrons. All I did was roll my eyes and wait for him to finish. He was a funny guy even though he would get too caught up in his own jokes. “Sorry, bro, but I feel you. No one blames you for wanting to distance yourself from… that.”

“No problem, man,” I sighed, but in truth there were too many problems. I like to think that I’m above the others of my generation who whine about being single and believe that every mare or stallion that they date will be their true love forever. Being a hopeless romantic didn’t help the fact of how incredibly yet purposefully single I was. Yet again Octavia’s proposal crossed my mind, and again I felt like a moron for saying no.

A cute lime green mare presented us with our muffins. I downed mine with gusto but Cos stared at his for quite some time. “You alright?” I asked, wiping crumbs from the corner of my mouth.

“Yeah, just feeling a little old…”

Seven years was quite some time, yet it all has gone by so quickly. This time all of those years ago I was nothing more than a seventeen year old colt, practicing endlessly so that one day I could live well within my own means. I’ve done it, but what now? I think too much….

~^^^^^~

What a day! I usually shy away from spending a whole day out shooting the breeze and spending money, but damn if it weren’t fun! I had forgotten how fun and fulfilling it was to hang out with old friends. Though the rain was cold and heavy, I walked back to my suite with a wide smile on my lips and a pep to my step. The streets had begun to quiet down, but in the city that never sleeps, that was but a miniscule amount.

As I grew closer to the hotel I noticed a familiar shape from this morning. The rude mare from the day before sat on the sidewalk shivering under the downpour. She didn’t notice me; perhaps she heard another pair of boots click by. I stopped, my mind and heart feuding over my next action. She was rude, crass, and could most likely be ungrateful or even a thief. But, she was cold and shaking violently. Nothing good can come from her, but I couldn’t let her stay out here. She could be developing the earliest stages of hypothermia.

I stood there rolling my eyes and my head, tensing my body trying fight against helping this mare. She didn’t want it at all, right? “This is gonna come back to bite me in the ass…” I turned and dropped to my knee. I shook her a little, “Hey! Hey! Are you okay?” She cut her eyes open giving me a fearful gaze.

“Y-You?” she shook and jittered.

“Yes, me. Come on!” I tried to help her to her feet but she wouldn’t budge. “Look, I’m not going to argue! You’re coming home with me!” She looked even more fearful after I said that. “Phrasing… okay. You’re obviously freezing. If you don’t come with me you could have frostbite or worse by morning.”

She looked around weighing her options as she trembled from the cold. Without uttering a word, she took my hand and followed me back to my hotel. I remember how cold her hand was. It felt as if I were escorting a corpse or a husk devoid of the warmth of life. I wondered about her name, her age, where she came from, why she was out here all alone. She didn’t say anything to me on the way back to my suite. Her long soaked hair covered her face giving her the appearance of a cliche horror movie ghost. I knew this was a bad idea, but I wouldn’t have been able to sleep knowing she was freezing to death outside.

“Here we are…” I said, opening the door to my room. She looked around, still shaking violently. “I’ll go grab you some comforters, you head to the bathroom and get out of those wet clothes.” She followed my orders without hesitation. I was having a mini panic attack. The last time I had a girl over for the night was… hell, I don't even remember, so this was all new and foreign to me. Even moreso since I have no idea who this stranger is or what her motives are. “She could stab me in my sleep!” I gasped.

Well, I decided not to leave her to her own devices. Let’s see if I walk away alive… “Are you okay in there?” I heard no reply, only a yelp followed by a loud smack. “Are you okay? What happened?”

“I’m fine!” she spat back. I raised my brow and brought every blanket I could to the door.

“So, do you want me to hand you these or-” she stood before me completely naked, “Or you can just… do that…” I wrapped her in the expensive fabrics all while she gave me a pouting frown. “What?”

“You’re some kind of stupid, aren’t you?”

“Wait, excuse me?” There was the crass little something I ran into yesterday.

“You’re not very smart.”

“And you don’t know when someone is trying to do something kind for you,” I said with a cheeky smile.

“I don’t need your kindness…”

“If so, then why did you follow me back here?” She folded her arms under the blanket and ignored my gaze. Yeah, this was going to be a lovely night. Me and some random bum lady who probably wanted to run me for my jewlery or something. I will admit, it was strange going about my business with her glaring daggers into my back. “Are you hungry?”

“No,” she answered briefly.

“Bullshit; I’ll make you something.”

“I told you I’m not hungry!”

“When was the last time you ate?” She was about to speak but realized that the last thing to fill her belly probably came more than a few days ago. “My point exactly. My cooking won’t kill you, but you won’t be starving.”

“Okay, what is your deal?” she raised her voice.

“Hmm?” I replied coyly.

“What is wrong with you? Any other pony would have let me be. Why did you bring me back here?”

“You said it yourself, ‘I’m some kind of stupid’.”

“Well unless you’re looking to give me a few dollars for a service, I’m out of here!” She stormed towards the door.

“Hold on, Cinnamon.” she wrinkled her nose at the obvious stage name, “You’re planning to go out into Manehattan at…” I glanced at my watch. It read at eleven thirty-three, “Luna’s tea time buck naked? You’d get your cheeks ran faster than a new inmate in a cell block.” By the look she gave me, she knew that I was right. “You may hate me, but for the time being staying here is the best option for you.” She frowned even harder then backed away from the door. I let loose a sigh, still wondering what I had gotten myself into.

She sat down on the loveseat and stared at a wall. I suppose some sauteed apples with a side of fried hay couldn’t hurt. I sliced the apples nice and thin then coated a medium saucepan in extra virgin olive oil. Never understood why they couldn’t say innocent and curious olive oil. As the grease started to crackle and pop I looked over my shoulder at the statuesque girl dampening my blankets. “So, do you have a name?”

“Yes, but you don’t need to know it…”

Like I expected any other answer… “How about I call you, Aqua?”

“Aqua?” she scoffed.

“Yeah. You’re blue, you dripping wet, and you’re as cold as the depths of the ocean, Aqua.” I could feel her roll her eyes from here. “You may already know my name,” I said, stroking my suffering ego.

“Nope…” And she shattered it.

“You don’t know who I am?”

“Should I know?” she snorted.

“Well, most of your age wouldn’t know, kid. But I am the famous virtuoso, Glissandi Fortepiano.” Her only response was a blank confused stare. “Then again I don’t blame you. Kids these days have lost touch on what real music is.”

“Would you stop calling me a kid!” she erupted with anger.

“Well, you look like you’re ten,” I cleverly shot back.

“You don’t know a damn thing about me!”

“I never claimed that I did. I’m only trying to get to know the stranger I brought into my rented home.”

“You know, that’s a good question; why did you bring me here? Every other pony in Manehattan didn’t bat an eyelash and here you go acting like a ‘savior’!” She was standing on the couch, her hair inky and wet, and the blankets barely clinging to her damp fur.

“Since you asked. Unlike the other ponies in this town, I have a heart or conscious enough to see when someone needs help, even when they think they don’t. I could have left your loud, whiny, disrespectful ass on the sidewalk and let the cold rain slowly kill you. Yeah, I’m some kind of stupid for taking in such a dirty nagging bitchy hobo as yourself, but I did it because I’m a nice kind of stupid.”

I set her food on the table in between us. My words did something to her. She seemed to deflate as she stared at me from across the room. I’ll admit, it was cute how she thought she was so intimidating. “I’m gonna go and practice. Enjoy your meal.” As I was leaving I noticed that she was giving me a confused raise of her brow. “Oh, and, by the by. Good luck trying to steal anything. Everything in here is tagged down to the silverware. They’ll hunt you down faster than a pack of Timberwolves. Night!”

I know she started at me while I went into my room. I needed some of my own soothing music to calm my nerves. I have always been of the impulsive kind, and this was taking it to the next level. Perhaps something tragically soothing could sooth my nerves. I thought back through years of my repertoire. That’s it!
It was a calm love ballad that I onced used as an alibi, simple yet the emotions it amplified were more complex than any equation. This song drew on my fear, love, and acceptance. While I was playing I imagined the singer, whose voice rivaled angelic, lamenting her loss on my fingers. She sung of one day flying to heaven to see the face of her one true lover. I have always been more than a sucker for romance.

It is amazing how the most subdued and simplest of things can pull the most energy from your soul. Not a day has passed where I can play that sorrowful ballad to a love long lost without a single tear staining my cheeks.
I rose from my piano and walked to the door, and as itt would seem I had an audience in my unexpected guest. Once I reached the main room, she sat in front of her food, unmoving. I simply shrugged and went back to my practice.

~^^^^~

It was late at night. Luna’s moon infiltrated the small hotel room where I was held captive by my own curiosity. This Glissandi guy had to have some kind of ulterior motive. I was completely naked in his hotel room! And he didn’t try anything! I know he was thinking about it. He had to be… this was odd. He was sleeping in his room. My clothes were still a little damp, but nothing I am opposed to doing. Something held me in place though. I do have to admit, this was a very nice suite. This sofa was heaps more comfy than anywhere I had ever laid on my life. I was more than exhausted. A night’s stay on a stranger's couch couldn't be too bad, then, when the sun rises I’ll be gone and out of his hair....