Tip Top silently shut the backstage door behind her, taking great care to not disturb any of the mares and stallions who were in their creative thinking process. As soon as she heard the click of the door, she let go and began feverishly trotting to the back rooms in her search. Rent Out told her if that there was anything else she could do to make Vinyl feel like quitting, then she should not hesitate to do it. Of course, he did sound a bit drunk when he told her this, but she just nudged that fact to the side.

She slowed to a trot when she came to the dressing rooms, taking her time to poke her head into every door to see who was inside. She got a few odd looks from some of the actors and musicians, but she simply dismissed them with her smile and said she was looking for someone.

Eventually, after searching through multiple empty and occupied rooms, she found the room she had been wanting to find. She opened the door and walked in without hesitation, smiling as she saw the pony she had been looking for before she spoke up.

"Excuse me, do you think we could have a little talk? I've got some things you might be interested in hearing." She said, her tone dripping with malicious intent that was masked by cheerfulness.

A grey mare looked up from a desk with a bunch of papers that were strewn about on a table, each one with various marks and scribbled out mistakes that were organized in the pattern of a lengthy song. She quickly stacked them together and tucked them off to the side before turning around to face Tip Top with her full attention.

"May I help you?" The grey mare asked, quite confused at the random mare's appearance.

Tip chuckled a bit and spotted a chair in the corner of the room, grabbed it, and sat directly across from the grey mare while eyeing her outward appearance.

'She's perfect. I'm sure Miss Vinyl out there would love to get to know the mare who's music makes her speak out. Every other performance she has been quiet about, but not this mare's playing.' Tip Top thought to herself.

"I absolutely loved your piece earlier, you seem to be quite skilled with that cello of yours and the fact you play it with no magical assistance makes your skill even more praiseworthy." Tip Top opened, flowing smoothly into her next opener.

She took note of the mare's smile when the compliment came.

"Though it seems not everyone thinks that. There's a particular mare in the audience who thought it horrible and even went as far as to voice her opinion in, dare I say, mumbles." She said with far too much drama in her actions.

The mare's smile faded and was replaced with a stern look.

"Oh?" She questioned.

"It's true, it's true. I think it cowardly to not speak your mind, but even more cowardly to not voice it loud enough for all to hear." She paused before getting down to business.

"Which is why I came here, to offer you a little deal."  She said, letting a small amount of her true intent seep into her voice.

The grey mare looked hesitant for a second, most likely determining whether or not to let this disagreement turn into something more.

"Well," The grey mare began, "I certainly can't let an insult of my passion go by without me taking some offence to it, now can I?" She said with a smile.

Tip Top's smile had grown far bigger than hers though.

Lyra sat in a booth back in the bakery, staring blankly at her hooves that were gasped around a cup of coffee that she had had been holding for the last hour in a half. She was thinking about her talk with Vinyl and about what she said; sure she didn't have to care if the elite disapproved of her actions with Bon, but that didn't mean it wouldn't hurt Bon's business if the relationship went public.

'I just don't think it'd be fair to make her pick between me and success, I mean even if she did pick me we might break up later,' She shivered at just the thought of leaving the mare.

'but success can be a once in a life time opportunity, there's plenty of fish in the se-' Her thoughts were interrupted by the sound of glass hitting her table.

It was Bon Bon.

"I don't think warming you up is gonna make a difference of whether or not you drink your coffee. That, and your cup is still full so I couldn't anyways." She said with a cute smirk, but when Lyra didn't react the smile wiped off her face and she took a seat at the booth.

"What's wrong?" She asked.

As curt as the question was, Lyra stumbled for a while to find a response; and at that point Bon knew whatever it was that came out of the green mare's mouth was going to be a cover up  for the real reason.

Lyra sighed in defeat, but still had to work up the nerve to say the truth. She felt embarrassed to ask, and she still had similar feelings about making Bon pick.

"Bon?" She finally asked.

"Hm?"

"Would you pick love, or success?" Lyra asked, her voice fairly quiet for her normal tone. She nearly shut her eyes for the answer, but it came far to quick for her to even react to.

"Easy, love." She said with small giggle, as if the question had been rhetorical.

"R-really?" Lyra stammered in shock, "but there's so many others to-"

"You said love, not a lover. I'd rather have a love filled relationship, regardless of who it's with, than just some silly old date." She said, the look on her face hinting that she knew the true purpose behind Lyra's questions, and the smile suggesting that she was confident with her choice; though it wasn't exactly very 'covered up' to begin with.

Lyra was in awe for a minute, her head still processing the information, but she came around eventually and smiled widely before leaning in confidently and giving Bon a kiss on the cheek.

Bon blushed, a first in the relationship, and returned the kiss quickly before getting out of the booth.

"I'd love to stay and chat with you a little more, but business calls." She sounded sad.

Lyra looked down at the claim, knowing how true the statement was, but she brightened up not to long after and a spark flew from her horn while a green tinge wrapped around the coffee pot.

"Why not make it a team effort?" She said, inwardly shocked at her own actions, but outwardly she seemed confident and determined. Even Bon was stammering for a second, though only a second, before nodding eagerly and setting to work with her new partner; a partner in more ways than one.

A blue mane bobbed up and down in an unexplained pattern, the movements seeming to follow no select rhythm all while following exactly that. It was hard to explain for most who saw it and watched long enough, though most would just think that the mare had a neck problem.

She had a smile on her face and her eyes shut gently with both of her ear buds in, the music just loud enough to be picked up if you sat in the seat next to her and listened closely. She didn't have a care in the world by now: there was only about an hour left in her theater trip today and she had managed to send Tip Top somewhere where she wasn't being annoying plus drown out most of the performances thanks to her being so into her music.

Though, it seemed like it was about to come to an end.

A tap on her shoulder got Vinyl's attention, though the only effort she put into it was cracking an eye open and peering to the side to see Tip Top staring eagerly at her with a smile a mile wide.

Vinyl sighed, taking out her ear buds and letting the mare get inside the row to get to her seat beside her. She waited for Tip to say something, but she was surprisingly silent for the first few minutes; something that threw Vinyl off track and got her on guard.

'She's up to something, I can see it through those ruthless eyes...' Vinyl thought, eyeing the deceivingly cheerful look that Tip Top was putting off.

She decided to just play along with it for now though, she'd just have to deal with the problem when it got there like she did most other problems, but that didn't mean she couldn't ponder about what it could be.

Vinyl's mind could wander, which was both a blessing and a curse to her at times. The upside to such an "active mind" as her friends called it was that she could entertain herself with literally nothing but her imagination for quite the amount of time, the bad side of that was that it usually led to her going a bit too far with some thoughts and got her assuming the worst.

She tried to snap out of it and keep it realistic, like Tip Top having scheduled one more performance than usual just to milk the torture. But of course she got a bit out of hoof and once even thought she was planning to lock the doors, break her earphones, and force her to listen to modern poetry all night, which in Vinyl's eyes was the worst possible situation.

'Thirty minutes, not that much longer left, even the performers are looking a bit tired now.' All she needed was to hold out a little while longer. Tip still hadn't made her move, a fact that frightened Vinyl a bit and left her eyes flicking over to her every now and then, but she remained outwardly calm.

'Ten. She's running out of time.' Vinyl thought, a smirk forming, 'She could be waiting for me though; yeah, that seems like what she would do.' The smile began to fade.

Five minutes were now ticking away as the last performers finished up ad Vinyl began to move.

"Oh Vinyl, do you have a minute?" Tip Top spoke in a sing song tone.

'You son of a-'

"What?" Vinyl thought, interrupting her own thoughts before they got out of a hoof.

"I talked to new friend of mine and may have brought up how you're new to the theater. Well, she was ecstatic about a new theater goer and wanted to talk to you personally after the last performance finishes up!" She sang.

'Liar.'

"Oh really?" Vinyl asked, giving off the impression of interest.

"Oh yes, and I'm sure you'll love her! She has a love for music like you, you know: being practically absorbed in it at all times." She went on, glossing over the sour sounding comment with unsettling ease.

"I'm pretty sure you're wrong..." Vinyl said, but she might as well have been talking to a wall, as the mare simply kept talking without a break in her flow.

"Oh I just know you'll like her," She leaned in and her voice dropped down to a whisper, "and I know that Rent Out would like to know you're making friends instead of listening to music all day..." She said, sickeningly sweet with her tone.

'And, checkmate. Damn.' Vinyl thought, sighing outwardly as she had to agree to the mare's offer or risk losing the bargain with Rent. She took a deep break back in before answering in her most authentically excited tone she could manage.

"Fine." It apparently didn't come out as 'authentically excited' as she had hoped, but she was sure Tip didn't care and would have gone on whether she had sounded excited or not.

"She's in the back - room 18 - waiting for you. Don't have too much fun now!" She said, pushing Vinyl towards the door, but a thought struck Vinyl just as she reached the handle.

'Wait! I've got someone coming to pick me up!" Vinyl thought, remembering Lyra.

"Well I'm sure she won't mind you conquering your fear of walking home by yourself in the dark. Now, you've got a very special pony to meet." She said, her legs not missing a beat in pushing Vinyl.

"What?! No, she takes me to eat-" Vinyl had already been pushed into the door and had it slammed in her face just as she was about to finish her excuse."

"Dinner..." She said, her protest dying down as she turned to stare down the hall at the many rooms, most of them closed with cracks of light shining out from the bottom of the door.

"I guess Lyra's gonna have to wait..." Vinyl mumbled, sighing as she started her walk down the hall while looking at the door numbers, trying to find room 18.

Despite the walk being nothing serious, it was still somewhat nerve racking thanks to the slightly 'spooky' feeling the dark hall gave off. Vinyl felt like she was being watched at all moments, and even took a few nervous glances behind her every few seconds as she delved deeper and deeper into the backstage rooms.

"Room 15," Vinyl read with squinted eyes as she managed to make out the room number in the darkness, "not too much farther." She said, twisting her neck and getting a satisfying crack out of it.

'I really hope this doesn't take long, I was hoping to get back with Lyra to have today's leftovers at Bon's. What's this mare even want with me anyways? Some snoot with some poetic ideas or something that Tip probably overheard and thought that I would just love to hear them..." Vinyl mumbled sourly, trotting slowly past room number 16.

"I still don't know why I even agreed to this bet in the first place, I probably could have just asked for a different bet or smooth talked to him into it if I needed to. How'd he even know to pick something like community theater? Does he go here regularly or something?" She asked herself, approaching room 18, getting more ticked off with every passing second she thought on her situation.

"Well, here we are." She spoke, agitated as she looked at the room number and then the door, "Better get this over with..." She lifted her hoof and knocked three times.

"Come in!" A voice replied.

Vinyl pushed open the door and walked in, her eyes landing on a grey mare with a jet black mane and a pair of piercing purple eyes. A pick bow tie sat proudly on her neck, giving her appearance an even further more aura of high class; though the look was subtle over all.

'You...' Vinyl thought, seething inwardly at just the sight of the mare.

Lyra yawned a little as she came up to the outside of the theater, rubbing her eyes at the tired feeling that had snuck up on her about halfway on her trip towards the theater. The bakery had been busy ever since she started working, and she could only shiver at the thought of working the full day like Bon.

'Though I wouldn't mind working with Bon everyday....' She thought, thinking of what it would be like spending the entire day with Bon Bon in the bakery, just being close to her.

Her vision was interrupted by the sight of a mare leaving the theater, matching the details of the one that Vinyl had described as being "evil" with a big smile on her face. Lyra, seeing no immediate harm in the seemingly innocent mare, decided to approach her and see if Vinyl's ramblings checked out.

"Hello!" Lyra greeted cheerfully, waving her hoof as she approached the mare. She seemed just as confused by Lyra's late appearance, but it seemed like something went off in her head and she approached Lyra with an equally happy wave.

"So you must be Lyra? Vinyl's friend?" She asked, getting within comfortable speaking distance.

"Yep, that'd be me. Where is she by the way, we gotta get back for her din-" Lyra began, only to be rather rudely cut off by an enthusiastic reply.

"She's meeting with one of the performers that she had a particular interest in. I was honestly surprised when she said she wanted to meet her, but she said that she just had to meet a mare who loved music so much."  Her face kept its smile as she spoke.

Lyra immediately picked up on the lie, despite how well she told it. In fact, if Lyra hadn't actually half listened to Vinyl's rambles last night, she could have honestly believed the mare; but Lyra knew it was a lie, so she simply went along with it. After all, the best way to fight a lie is with another lie.

"Really, I didn't know she would get into theater so quickly. Though she was saying how she liked the music last night, but she was kind of embarrassed to show it in front of you; said that you be very 'I told you so' about it." The green unicorn lied with practiced ease.

"Well, she's inside, but like I said, she's talking to one of those musicians so it might be awhile." The mare said, smiling as she trotted past her.

"Feel free to wait inside." She said as a parting word before leaving Lyra to herself.

Lyra made sure to wait until the mare was out of earshot before speaking to herself.

"Jeez, I hate to say it but Vinyl may have been right about that mare. I mean really, just go ahead and lie to me in our first conversation. Talk about first impressions." Lyra sighed before turning and walking towards the theater, ready to wait until Vinyl came out, or magically pry her from another mare if worst comes to worst.

"Care to take a seat?" The grey mare asked, her smile nervous as she gestured to another seat across from her that was meant for Vinyl. Vinyl had a bored expression on her face as she moved over and took a seat, she tried to keep her hate towards the mare suppressed by looking at her with a blank expression while taking in her rather annoyed looking one without care. It nearly made Vinyl snicker, her snooty looking face, but she was too worn to even laugh at the serious looking mare.

Vinyl settled in with a sigh, much to the distaste of the mare.

"So the mare from earlier said you had something to say about my music." She huffed, her demeanor similar to that of a mother just before scolding a child.

Vinyl's lips curled ever so slightly at the mention of the statement.

'Tip Top...' Vinyl inwardly whispered before sighing outwardly. She was given a perfect opportunity to express her feelings about the music, which was probably what Tip Top had wanted her to do so she could get a kick out of it.

"I guess so." Vinyl said simply.

"Well let's hear it then." She snapped.

Something about her attitude told Vinyl that Tip Top had given her a little bit of a spoiler as to what Vinyl was going to say. Vinyl could only sigh, fidgeting in her seat until she found the most comfortable spot in the chair, and adjusted her sunglasses so that they were say firmly in place.

"I don't like it." Vinyl said simply.

"A bit more if you could, like what part of it you didn't like." The mare said with little amusment.

"Any of it. It sounded like you were just sitting up there scratching a chalkboard." Vinyl said again, her voice still monotone. The mare's reaction was a bit more active; her eye twitching and her left shoulder as well.

Vinyl smiled a little at that.

"Really? Well, since have no real argument against my music, your comment doesn't bother me too much. Somepony's just don't get music." She said smugly.

Vinyl felt a single chain that was holding her anger break a little.

"Don't get it?" Vinyl asked, prompting her to exaggerate.

"I mean, some more simple minded ponies can't really get music and it's purpose. But it's clear that you don't have the gift of music, and so I'm not offended by your ignorant comments." She said with a smug smile, recognizing Vinyl's anger surfacing.

Vinyl's face scrunched in distaste, turning into a foul looking one with her eyes narrowed in behind her sunglasses.

"A gift?" Vinyl began, the chains beginning to unravel in tandem as a small chuckle escaped her lips, "you call your little 'performance' up there the use of a 'gift'?"

The mare took a bit more interest in the mare now, a hint of regret visible in her eyes, but for the most part still disgusted in Vinyl in general.

"Like I said, not everyone gets it." Her eyes looked determined, a purple blockade.

Vinyl managed to stop herself from simply insulting the mare in general, but thought on it briefly.

'She thinks her playing a gift, and claimed I had no gift in music. Well let's just show her how great her little gift is...' Vinyl thought before putting her various high school music courses to good use.

"Want some real feedback?" Vinyl asked, not waiting for a valid answer and actually interrupting the mare as she opened her mouth to speak. Probably just more shameless bragging and slandering.

"I think your song is a piece of emotionless, half-assed slop that I could have pulled out of my trash. You could make a deaf horse's ears bleed and you're nothing but an ignorant, high society, piece of crap that goes to community theater to try and make something of themselves to a crowd of ponies who have a vision of reality more offset than that stupid looking bow tie you're wearing." The anger poured out of her as the grey mare looked shocked; something that only fueled Vinyl more.

"You made even me dislike it, and I had a pair of earphones in, yet you somehow managed to make that garbage reach my ears and then have the nerve to say I don't have the 'gift' of music. Please, your just an immature, spoiled brat trying to sound like your older than the year all of those classics you must adore came out. So yeah, you can take your little 'gift' and go home cause I've got a newsflash." Vinyl had gotten out of her chair and slowly made her way over to the mare, leaning in and whispering with a venomous tone.

"Your music means nothing and so does your opinion." Her voice was a hate riddled whisper by the end of her rant that was bound to have hit home for the grey mare.

And it did, the sound of sniffling soon filled the air as Vinyl continued to hover near the mare's ear, a sickly smile of satisfaction coming to her face at the sight and sound of the high and mighty mare being brought down to a trembling wreck.

"I hope you learned something from my review, cause it was an example of how a real one goes; not one of the held back and refrained suggestions you're probably so used to by now." And with that, Vinyl began her to take her leave, pausing only to look back at the sobbing mare before walking out of the door.

Next Chapter: Lowly times these are. Estimated time remaining: 1 Hour, 5 Minutes