The Snow on Her Cheek

Chapter Thirty-Two

In a Cello Mood

***

A loud banging at the door made Vinyl and Octavia jerk up in bed simultaneously, rubbing their sleepy eyes.

"Rise and shine, neighbours!" Lyra's voice reached their ears from behind the door. "We have work to do!"

Octavia groaned and got up, stumbling, wondering why it was she who always got to answer the door. She trotted towards the door sleepily, while Vinyl yawned, drifting off into the blissful abode of dreams once more.

As the cellist opened the door, she was greeted by the mint unicorn, who was already wearing her grey hat and smoking a cigarette. Octavia frowned at the smoke, but decided not to offend the new neighbour and just keep silent.

"So, are you ready? Have you packed your cello? Ooh, a Les Colt! I thought Vinyl played the piano? Or is it yours? Which of you plays the guitar?" Lyra bombarded the grey mare with questions, each one making Octavia take a step back.

"Um... We've just woken up..." Octavia began replying, not mentioning the fact that it was Lyra who had been the harbinger of their awakening. "Vinyl plays both the piano and the guitar, but since we had to move so quickly, we weren't able to take Vinyl's piano with us." A white lie can't hurt, the cellist thought, hiding the real reason behind their leaving the piano in Alexandro's house - she simply couldn't stay there any longer. The very walls were haunting her, threatening to crush her, evoking painful memories and thoughts...

Meanwhile, just as Octavia was trying to drive into what was going on, Lyra trotted towards the sofa, levitating Vinyl and shaking her in the air.

"THE SEAPONIES! THEY'RE HERE! RUN AWAY!!!" Vinyl yelled, waking up abruptly, falling onto the floor.

Octavia blinked in lack of understanding, while Lyra burst into laughter, falling onto her back. Vinyl mumbled something angrily, getting onto her hooves. She yawned  and stretched her limbs. Who the hay wakes up so damn early? she thought, glaring at Lyra, who, by this point, had got up.

"Oh, that was rich!" the mint unicorn exclaimed, regaining her breath gradually. "Now get ready! We've got half an hour till my working day begins!" she urged the two mares, who, sharing disapproving grunts, began packing the cello.

In a while, the instrument was ready to be transported, and the sleepy mares were ready to set off.

"Come on! Don't be so gloomy!" Lyra exclaimed, pushing the musical ponies towards the door. "It's not my fault you didn't catch much sleep last night!" She grinned. "You were rather...invested in each other." Lyra winked at Vinyl, who opened her mouth to protest, but no sounds came out.

The pianist looked at her blushing mare, who just sighed. "Let's go," the cellist said, and with that they trotted off, closing the door behind them, the cello case held firm in Vinyl's magical grip.

***

"This is your studio."

Vinyl's tone was not enquiring; if anything, she was just stating the fact, eyeing the tall skyscraper in awe and disbelief. A golden lyre sign - Lyra's cutie mark - hung above the large glass door, shining brightly with artificial light, even though the sun had already risen and was luxuriating in the morning sky.

Lyra shrugged and opened the door, letting the mares in. "So you see."

"So I see," Vinyl repeated dumbly, while Octavia tried to suppress an urge to squee in delight upon seeing the magnificent building.

The musical mares followed Lyra through several corridors, various ponies greeting them cheerfully, portraits of musicians unknown to either Vinyl or Octavia adorning the walls. They trotted into a small comfortable room, a whole wall of which was instead replaced by thick glass - or was it plastic?

The room itself was filled by stacks of recording equipment and a large panel with buttons and knobs - a typical studio, of which both Vinyl and Octavia had seen many.

"Well," Lyra said, rubbing her hooves together. "You know the drill; get into the recording room and play."

Octavia raised her brow quizzically, exchanging a confused look with her marefriend. "But... What exactly should we play?" she wondered, eyeing the already excited Lyra with a hint of fear. That pony is sure unpredictable... she thought.

"Whatever you want." Lyra waved her hoof in the air with a smirk. "It's just a rehearsal, to see how well the two of you play along. Though..." The mint unicorn couldn't suppress a grin. "I already know that your voices are veeeeery fitting~"

"Aaand off to the recording room we go!" Octavia exclaimed, grabbing her mare by the hoof and rushed through the door, leaving the laughing Lyra behind.

***

"Okay, I'm ready!" Lyra's voice echoed through the speakers a few moments after Octavia had finished unpacking her cello and Vinyl had stopped geeking out at the sight of the grand piano, "totally white as snow, Tavi!", that she was to play.

"Dammit, Lyra, can we live here?" Vinyl asked jokingly, running her hoof across the beautiful pristine keys of the piano.

"Nope, sorry," came the reply. "I don't want my grand to be stained."

"How would it..." Vinyl began, but then a realisation dawned upon her. Oh. Ooooooooh. That's how.

Octavia's face flushed as she tried to reach her mare with a hoof in an attempt to hit her.

"Hey, Tavi, calm down!" the pianist whispered, avoiding the striking hoof of justice. "She may have a point, you know..."

"The studio has perfect acoustics~" Lyra cooed through the speakers.

"Let's begin!" Octavia exclaimed impatiently, blood rushing to her cheeks. Okay, Tavi, you can do this, she told herself. Hours, no- days of practice had to kick in now. Every free hour when Vinyl had been in hospital; every free minute back at Alexandro's mansion, when Vinyl had gone off to the bathroom with her toy submarine and a figure of Captain Colt Pigeon (although Octavia had told her that pirate ponies and submarines don't mix); every free second of her life she had spent practicing jazz.

And now she was ready to show it.

"What are we playing, love?" she addressed her mare, who, by now, had put on her goggles and turned her head towards the grey cellist.

"Jazz, baby."

Without further hesitation, the mares began to play. Their movements were perfect, their rhythm matching each other's playing. Octavia soon took the dominating role, her bow lying at her hooves unneeded, her hooves plucking the strings in a fast, rhythmic bebop manner. Vinyl was accompanying her mare with chords; but at some point she allowed herself to play a solo, which Octavia immediately copied, in her own, unique way, adding some personal touch to it. Vinyl grinned and played another solo, this time more elaborate. The cellist smiled in return and replied to it with a solo of her own. Then came the repeat, and the theme flowed perfectly, with slight variations.

Ending the song in a rather distasteful manner, from the viewpoint of classical music theory, the mares smiled at each other in content. If this was practice, then they were ready for the recording.

"Lyra?" Vinyl called out, voicing their mutual thoughts. "We're ready for recording!"

"What recording?" Lyra replied through the speakers, and Octavia could swear she could see the grin on her face, feel the sly, yet, very proud, grin. "I've just recorded this song of yours."

In a moment, the door opened and Lyra trotted inside, a grin plastered on her face, just as Octavia had expected, holding a vinyl record in her magical grip. The unicorn waved it in the air.

"And it is perfect."