A Grand Performance

After a long day of school, made longer by a resurgence of students trying to get the Dazzlings to leave Canterlot High for good, Adagio Dazzle decided to get a snack on her way to her house since she was unable to eat her lunch. Aria was still in Cheerilee’s after school class, which served a simple meal, and Sonata simply went straight back to the house. That left Adagio alone to find something to eat.

It took Adagio some time to determine where to go, but she did eventually remember that there was a sweet shop near Canterlot High. It took her about an hour to reach the shop, which was decorated to look like a gingerbread house or something similar. The store was called Sugarcube Corner, which sounded familiar but she couldn't quite place it. She could have gotten to Sugarcube Corner faster, but chose to delay in the hopes of missing the crowd of students.

Her plan seemed to be largely successful as when she entered the building the line was fairly short and was made mostly of people that Adagio did not recognise. It did cross Adagio’s mind as she took her place at the back of the line that she would probably already have eaten if she had just followed Sonata back to their house, but it was far too late for it to matter much anymore. She was more concerned about getting back before the rain started.

The line slowly thinned, slow enough that Adagio guessed that they were either short staffed or sold out of things people were ordering and getting backed up because of it. Regardless, it was taking much longer than Adagio had hoped to spend in the store at all.

After longer than she would have liked, Adagio was the only person in the line. However, despite that, the man behind the counter walked over to the pickup side first. Adagio did not really care who it was that had arrived, she was just vaguely annoyed that the first customer for pickup while she was in the store had come in just when she reached the counter. She had been perfectly content to simply ignore them and wait a minute or two, until she heard the customer’s name.

“Hey Vinyl, where’s Octavia?” The man behind the counter asked as he walked over to her.

Vinyl Scratch took her headphones off and put them around her neck before writing a message on her notebook and turned it towards him, and while Adagio could not guess what it said she was more concerned with the person writing it. The man, who’s name tag identified him as Carrot Cake, nodded after reading what Vinyl wrote and then walked into the kitchen.

After their lunch the week before, Adagio had not really interacted with Vinyl. She was not avoiding Vinyl, she had simply not met with her since then.

“Hello Vinyl,” Adagio said, not knowing if she should follow her greeting with anything.

For her part, Vinyl noticed Adagio and smiled cheerfully before signing ‘hello’ and ‘how are you’ to her. Mr. Cake came back to the counter carrying a small box before Adagio had a chance to respond.

“Here you are Vinyl, two chocolate muffins and two blueberry,” Mr. Cake said as he set the box in front of Vinyl. “If you're sure you still want all four, we’ll call it five dollars.”

Vinyl gave him the money and also made a sign that Adagio recognised as ‘thank you’. Then Vinyl turned to Adagio and held out her notebook. ‘Would you like to join me? I have more than I need.’

“Sure,” Adagio said after a moment. “Thank you.”

Vinyl went over to a table under one of the front windows and Adagio followed her over. They sat on opposite sides of the table and Vinyl opened her box and set it down in the centre of the table, taking a chocolate muffin from it.

She paused to decide which flavour to choose, but soon enough Adagio took a blueberry muffin. “So Octavia was supposed to be here with you?”

Responding with a nod, Vinyl took a bite from her muffin. She soon set it down for a few seconds to type out a more complete answer on her phone. Once she was done, she set her phone down between them, facing Adagio. ‘We come here every week after music practise. She was just busy because she has an audition today.’

It was a side effect of having spent the majority of her life manipulating everyone around her that Adagio paid very close attention to word choice, and since Vinyl was writing it was even easier for her to notice. If Octavia had scheduled an audition, then she would have told her best friend that she would not make their usual weekly plans and Vinyl would then not have ordered enough food for both of them. Which in turn meant that either Adagio was looking too deeply into Vinyl's words, or that Octavia had not known that she would be busy.

“Fair enough,” Adagio said, taking a bite of her muffin. She realised while chewing that she was probably supposed to ask about Octavia's audition, it struck her as the friendly thing to do.

“What’s Octavia auditioning for?” Adagio asked Vinyl after finishing her mouthful.

‘It is a secret.’ Vinyl turned her phone back towards Adagio once she had typed out another sentence. ‘Anyway, it is bad luck to talk about an audition before it is decided one way or another.’

Adagio laughed a bit at Vinyl's superstition, but immediately regretted it when she realised that Vinyl was probably being serious. Thankfully, she looked to see Vinyl smiling good-naturedly at her.

Adagio had never put much stock in luck, good or bad. Things happen as a result of actions, chance holds little weight in the equation.

“Alright, what would you normally work on with Octavia, or would that be bad luck to talk about as well?”

Rather than type her answer, Vinyl signed it. ‘Music’ and then a sign Adagio didn’t know, but guessed meant ‘practise’. Vinyl was confident that Adagio would guess her meaning, but was less so that her intention of it being a joke would be understood.

“I mean, what sort of music? I've heard you both perform and there does not seem to be much crossover in your styles or even instruments,” Adagio clarified, not concerned by Vinyl's half-answer.

Vinyl finished her muffin before giving her answer. ‘There is not much, no. But we can both enjoy more than just our favourite style, and it is not like we only know one instrument each.’

“What other instrument do you play?” Adagio asked.

‘I could play the piano before I could walk.’ Vinyl turned her phone back towards herself to add a bit more. ‘I also play the drums, but not much. What about you?’

“If you'll excuse the phrase, sirens are one trick ponies. We spend our lives singing, anything else is a distraction,” Adagio said the words easily, she had thought similar ones often enough, without her voice a siren is worthless.

For a minute or two, Vinyl watched Adagio. She ate her blueberry muffin slowly and did not seem to particularly enjoy it, but Vinyl mostly noticed how lost Adagio was in her last sentence. Maybe she had moved past in her head, but Vinyl doubted it. Her doubt was supported by Adagio reaching for where her gemstone was before it broke.

‘You could join us sometime, if you want to try an instrument.’ Vinyl added to her words after Adagio read them. ‘Not every week and you would have to give me time to convince Octavia, but if you want to learn then I would be happy to help.’

“I won't lie, learning an instrument does sound like it could be a good use of time,” Adagio said, taking a bite from her muffin. “But it doesn't matter. Vice-Principal Luna made it very clear that I am not to be involved with music.”

‘Then we could meet after school, or on the weekend. Vice-Principal Luna cannot reach you outside of Canterlot High School.’ Vinyl suggested.

“Couldn't it cause trouble for you if people found out that you were trying to help a siren in a musical pursuit? Just spending time with me has sparked quite a few rumours about you.”

‘It could. But all that I would be doing is helping my friend rekindle her passion. No one in Canterlot High can reasonably be upset with me for following the Princess’ advice of trying to be a better friend.’

“Flawless logic. Except for one thing,” Adagio said, finishing her muffin. “People are rarely very reasonable about the things they hate. A concept that keeps sirens fed.”

Vinyl shrugged as an immediate response, but also began typing. ‘People have been talking about me behind my back for as long as I can remember, I would be worried if they stopped. Besides, I would not let a few rumours stop me from spending time with my friends.’

Now that Vinyl had typed it twice, it was impossible for Adagio to ignore that Vinyl considered her a friend. It was not really a surprise, Vinyl had accepted what could only be called a date with her, but it still threw Adagio a bit to see it so plainly. It was not a foreign concept to have a friend, but it was also not something that she had ever truly cared about before.

It struck Adagio that she wanted to be close to Vinyl, she wanted to be her friend, to spend time together.

“If you’re serious, then I accept,” Adagio said, looking into Vinyl’s eyes as best she could through the girl’s coloured glasses. “I think I would enjoy learning an instrument.”

Vinyl smiled happily at that, signing ‘wonderful’ before picking her phone up. She was about to turn it back towards Adagio, but seemed to realise something and stopped to retype.

‘Do you have a phone?’ Vinyl looked questioningly at Adagio.

“Yeah, of course I do,” Adagio took the device out of her pocket and held it up. “I just don’t use it much. Why?”

‘We should exchange numbers. It would make it much easier to plan a meeting for your first lesson. If you give me your phone I can add them.’

Adagio unlocked her phone and gave it to Vinyl, trusting her.

After a few seconds, Vinyl gave Adagio’s phone back. Just in time for it to receive a text from Sonata. Adagio read it and looked at the store’s clock.

“It's later than I thought, I need to get going,” Adagio stood up. “Sorry to leave so abruptly, but I really meant to be at my house by half an hour ago at the latest.” And her walk back was not likely to be great given that the rain decided to start.

‘No problem. See you later.’ Vinyl signed.

Adagio smiled before signing back. ‘See you later.’

From the outside, Vinyl Scratch's house was about the same as every other house on the street. It had the same two story shape, the same lawn, and the same single tree to the left of the driveway. The only notable differences on the outside were the door and the windows. The windows had the standard planters but the flowers were much more varied between each window. They also had shutters, which were unique and were deep blue.

Adagio approached the door, which was the same deep blue as the shutters, and knocked.

After exchanging numbers with Vinyl, it only took a few days for Vinyl to set up a day for them to meet. That day was about two weeks after their meeting, but Adagio had been looking forward to trying an instrument and was willing to wait.

Walking to Vinyl's house was not the best experience Adagio had ever had, but even a two and a half hour walk before noon did little to temper her excitement.

Although learning an instrument had initially just seemed like an especially fun way to defeat boredom, once Adagio had put serious thought into it, it started to seem like it could be more than that. She had not been dramatising when she said that music was a part of a siren, and she felt the loss even more deeply since seeing Vinyl perform. Perhaps being able to create music once more could lessen the pain.

The door opened to reveal Vinyl, who signed hello before gesturing to invite Adagio in.

The inside of Vinyl's house was not what Adagio had expected. The first thing that jumped out at her was that it was very clean, and the second was that it was a bit boring. The walls were a light tan, the floors were covered with grey carpet, and there was not much adding any colour. Adagio guessed that Octavia did the decorating.

They were in what appeared to be a dining room, and from it she could see into a living room and a kitchen. There was also a set of stairs, which Vinyl was standing next to.

‘Our music room is upstairs. We can go straight there or have an early lunch first, whichever you prefer.’

“Let's start with the music,” Adagio said. “I'm looking forward to learning to play.”

‘Just do not expect to be great immediately, it takes time.’ Once Adagio read her warning, Vinyl led her to the music room.

The inside of the music room felt much more like it was Vinyl’s to Adagio. It was a large room and the walls were white but also painted with a vibrant, flowing pattern mixed with music notes. The walls themselves appeared to be sound proofed. One side of the room was dominated by electronic instruments, such as Vinyl's turntables, while the other had more traditional instruments such as a cello. Set up in a corner was a drum kit, the instrument that Adagio was there to learn.

‘First I will teach you the fundamentals, and then if we have time then we can start with simple songs.’ Vinyl paused so that Adagio could read, and then put her phone into her pocket.

Adagio walked towards the drums while Vinyl grabbed something from off a shelf near her turntables. Vinyl tapped Adagio's shoulder and gestured for her to sit. Once Adagio had done so, Vinyl started putting sticky-notes on the various parts of the drums.

“What's this?” Adagio asked, leaning forward to read the notes.

In response, Vinyl handed her another sticky-note. ‘The fundamentals. The first step is knowing what it is and how you are meant to use it.’

“So you want me to memorise these names?”

Vinyl wrote something on her pocket notebook and showed it to Adagio. ‘Eventually, but the names are the least important part of knowing them. Before you can start actually performing songs, you need to know how each part of the drums sounds and what they feel like. But first, posture.’

“Posture?”

Vinyl nodded. ‘Drums are a very active instrument, it is not hard to hurt yourself if you learn to play with an improper stance or grip. Ask me how I know.’

She had not considered the physical issues with learning an instrument, but it made sense to Adagio that it would take some practise to be able to start learning the drums in earnest. Not unlike learning to dance.

Adagio let Vinyl lead her through a series of stretches and then they began to work on Adagio’s posture and her grip on the drumsticks. Vinyl would demonstrate her preferred option as well as an alternative, and then Adagio would attempt to copy them. Once Adagio found a seating position and grip that worked for her, Vinyl corrected them until they would serve her well. It would take Adagio some time to learn her stance to the point of it feeling perfectly natural, but she was adapting quickly.

After a fair amount of time focused on posture, Vinyl instructed Adagio to see how it felt to play each part of the drums individually. It all sounded about like what Adagio had expected, but just one sound at a time did not feel much like music. Vinyl assured her that it was better to learn what sound is produced by striking any given part of the drums, that it would make her a better player in the long run.

They practised in such a manner for hours, losing track of time. By the time that they took a break for lunch, Adagio felt that she might be able to perform music again some day. It would take a lot of serious effort, by it was within her reach, it was no longer lost to her forever.

It had been a deliberate choice by both Vinyl and Octavia to not put a clock in their music room because they did not want the distraction, but sometimes it did result in them losing track of time when they did not want to. At around two o’clock, Adagio and Vinyl decided to break for lunch.

Vinyl had made sure to buy ingredients for a vegetarian meal, and they each made and ate their sandwiches. They were nothing special, but were also much better than anything Canterlot High would offer them.

After their meal, they returned to the music room. Rather than return to practise, they simply talked to each other about music. They spoke for a while before Adagio decided that it was time to ask the question she had wanted an answer for a long time.

"I wanted to ask, but I don't want you to think that you have to answer," Adagio stumbled a bit over her words, but was more worried about making sure Vinyl understood her than she was about how she sounded. "I have been wondering about it since before we spoke, but I'm not sure if I should ask."

Vinyl smiled reassuringly and showed Adagio her phone. 'I trust you. Ask me whatever you need to.'

Adagio took a breath to steady herself. "Why were you unaffected by our magic?"

Vinyl tilted her head, but soon smiled in understanding. She turned to her turntable and messed with it for a few seconds before connecting her headphones to it, then she faced Adagio again and held out her headphones without touching the volume switch on their side.

Adagio took the offered headphones and put them on. Vinyl pressed the play button.

"By the sun and moon!" Adagio cried as she ripped the headphones off. "How do you wear these things all d-"

Vinyl Scratch always wore either her headphones or her earbuds, and anyone that sat next to her in class or even just passed her in the hall could testify that they were not just for show. Adagio remembered seeing Vinyl in the cafeteria when the Dazzlings first came to Canterlot High, she remembered her wearing headphones and bobbing along to something that -in retrospect -was clearly not the Dazzlings' song.

While Adagio was realising the implications of what she was saying, Vinyl took the headphones back and turned off the music. She also prepared a message for Adagio.

"You... you never fell under our spell, because you never heard us sing?" Adagio could hardly believe that the answer was so simple.

‘In the cafeteria I was listening to a live performance and did not want to miss it, and it was pretty easy to see that something was wrong after that. I just figured I would not support your competition, so I kept not listening when you sang.’

Adagio stared at Vinyl for a few seconds before breaking into laughter. It was a genuine laugh born from her realisation of just how silly it was that she had been expecting some grand magical answer, but the truth was as simple as it was obvious.

As Vinyl watched Adagio laugh, she found herself in the familiar position of wishing she could join in. However, her usual desire was overshadowed by the realisation that Adagio had never looked more beautiful.

Knowing that Adagio would not know what it meant, Vinyl signed to her while she was distracted. ‘I think I might be falling for you.’

Adagio regained her composure enough to ask about Vinyl's signing. “What's that one mean?”

Vinyl smiled and quickly typed a response. ‘Do not worry about it.’