Chapter 1 - Audition
It was the quiet before the dawn, A silence of expectancy and anticipation.
The sky was still a deep blue, but the hints of an eternal warmth were pulling at the reigns beyond the horizon.
On a high balcony off the side of a tall tower, there was a clearing of throat, a tapping of hooves, the silhouette of a tall regal equine stepping into view.
She started nodding her head, an internal count in her mind’s eye. A slight sparkle fluttering out the end of the horn that protruded from the equine’s head.
A soothing enchanting voice proceeded after a slow whispered countdown.
Regal Equine:
One, two, three, four,
Raising the sun, that brings about the day,
With singing, or dancing, it's the pony way,
With the practiced aptitude of several thousand years of experience, the glow of magic emitted from the horn of the equine. Unseen strings stretched to the skyline, and rays of sunlight peeked out over the line separating the land from the sky. Darkness was melted away by the rising orange ball and it’s light revealed the tall equine on the balcony.
White coat and a multicolored pastel mane waving in the solar wind, the equine was none other than Princess Celestia of Equestria standing on her balcony in Canterlot Castle situated on the side of a large mountain. The motherly alicorn continued her refrain, stepping in time to the beat.
Celestia:
First I must wash up,
and regal raiment I must wear,
Then it’s off to breakfast for some coffee I will share.
Celestia, Princess of the Sun happily made her way to the royal private dining hall. She could feel the rhythm of the day through her white hooves as she trotted through the double doors into the room, catching sight of those within. Her blue alicorn sister Luna was slumped onto the table with a steaming mug of coffee next to her irritated expression. There was a yellow pony maid with a short blue mane next to the crumpled Princess of the Moon, offsetting the sour mood with a chipper smile as Celestia made her way to her seat across from Luna. The white alicorn started speaking to her ‘lovely’ sister.
“Good morning Luna, how was night court?”
“Ugh.. Dreadful”
“It wasn’t that bad was it?”
“Well..”
Luna:
Hookline wisheth tax breaks for thou yacht he never sailed,
Blueblood spoketh nothing but a long and boring tale,
Upper crust tis quite unruly and her husband such a bore,
Why can’t we use thy dungeon all this talking such a chore!
Celestia’s nonplussed expression sang volumes unspoken, but Luna was quick to reply.
“Eheh.. We are only kidding dear sister.. Oh look at the time!”
Luna:
Thy modern speaking lessons, We must be away!
To sing,
Maid:
Like ponies do!
Luna and Maid:
Tis the pony way!
Celestia’s eyes followed her sister with her attending maid. A freshly brewed cup of coffee having been set in front of her by the arrogant royal chef, a ram with thick curled horns named Gordon. She nodded in thanks but her attention was diverted by a loud “Hrrmph” from her other side.
The white alicorn turned her head, coming muzzle to muzzle with her loyal unicorn butler Kibitz. The cream furred Kibitz straightened his red chesterfield suit coat and wiggled his thick mustache before starting his usual spiel in his distinctive formal tempo.
Kibitz the Butler:
Celestia I have for you, the schedule for the day,
First there's court and then to sort, the paperwork for May.
Then openings and notes and things there's just so much to do!
But you have ponies here to help let me show you to the crew.
Celestia was suddenly whisked off on a hearty trot by a trio of servants as Kibitz took a deep breath. He started leading her along a hall through the castle, passing by a large variety of workers, departments and castle staff tending to their jobs.
Kibitz the Butler:
Maids for cleaning, Cooks for cooking,
And this one here
Timetable:
"I do the booking!"
Kibitz the Butler:
Gardeners that sow and plow,
Pegasus who mind the clouds,
Philosophers wh-
Aristrotle:
"Who speak their mind,”
Kibitz the Butler:
Librarians with books to bind,
Nobles, jesters, and civil servants,
Specialists that make me nervous,
Many helping out I say,
With song and dance the pony way!
Everypony except Celestia:
Helping out throughout the day,
With song and dance the pony way!
The rhythm of the day continued as usual or with ponies breaking into song and dance whenever it was appropriate. Equestria wasn't always in a constant serenade of song and dance, but for Celestia today just happened to start off on the right beat. She, along with everypony around, would always join in whenever the magic of the musical started tapping it's hooves.
It was actually unheard of for anypony to not be a part of the act. When a song started up, if you weren't singing, you were dancing. If you weren't dancing, you were singing. Even if your involvement in the jig was barely a second of passing by, you'd still be bobbing your head or shifting your body from side to side. Even the stoic guards, recognized for their ability in maintaining their pose under the most obscure stresses, were also known to always play their part in the scene either marching in step or nodding in rhythm.
Celestia herself was quite familiar with "the pony way" or so they say. In fact, it's been so long since she had seen a pony out of place, feigning involvement with a song or dance number, the concept was almost alien to her. But a pony not dancing, prancing, singing or swaying wasn't something she was concerned with.
Right now, Celestia was finishing up her day, tapping her hooves to the beat through the hall towards her private chambers. Approaching the doors to her room where one royal guard pony stood sentry, ready for his evening shift of protecting the Princess of the Sun.
Celestia herself was glad to have a local lookout of the pony protection persuasion nearby. She could hear the resonant voices of the pony recruits from the barracks nearing the end of a rigorous military jaunt, setting her up for a perfect transition that they probably weren't even aware of.
As she approached the armored watcher, the melodious Princess took her cue, adding a bit more swat to her trot while the far off recruits finished their chorus.
Drill Sergeant:
Training hard to do our best!
Canterlot, our regal crest!
We don’t give up! It’s what we do!
Pony Recruits:
Royal Guard! Proud and true!
Celestia:
Rain or snow, or sky of blue
You’re here for me, I’m here for you
Who are they? My loyal crew?
Sentry Pony:
...
*silence*
Celestia had paused in mid trot in front of the stoic guard pony in front of her private chambers, one of her forehooves held still in the air as she smiled and waited for the appropriately rhymed response.
The guard continued standing still, gaze straight ahead and body still as stone. Celestia’s smile was still present on her face, but the sentry in front of her still sustained his mute stance. The white alicorn lowered her hanging forehoof to the floor while her smile turned into more of a smirk. She lowered her head to be closer, a bit to the right side of the unmoving royal guard, thinking that perhaps he didn't hear her clearly enough the first time, Or that maybe the soldier was having trouble with the next implied line.
Celestia:
Who are they? My loyal crew?
Rrr..
Sentry Pony:
...
Had anypony been watching the sight of the Princess sounding out the word ‘Royal’, they might have thought that she was just growling at the guard located in front of her private chambers. A few seconds of ‘Rrrr.. Rrrr.. Rrrrooyy-..’, was followed by a raised eyebrow on the pastel maned alicorn. She stood up straight with her mane covering part of the right side of her face, her expression formed into confusion.
She wondered if this was an actual guard in front of her. Did she order someone to place an impeccably realistic guard statue in front of her chambers? Was Luna attempting to prank her again? Did she steal too much cake without Gordon’s consent? No of course not.
Celestia just stared for a moment at the stately sentinel. He was a pegasus with the usual gold armor, masculine build, white coat, and blue mane. Those colors were probably due to the enchanted armor, and he lacked any defining features that would otherwise make him identifiable. Even his eyes were the default light blue hue as expected, complete with the bit of shine that one would expect when staring at a very realistic statue.
No wait, he was real, for a brief moment his eyes made contact with her own gaze then he returned to staring straight ahead and let out a quiet snort.
Celestia almost jerked back in surprise, but instead her eyes opened wider and she asked the guard a question.
“Ahem, Lieutenant?”
“Yes Princess?” the watchpony replied.
Well he wasn’t deaf, or mute. Celestia bit her lip, holding in her next question due to her disbelief on the situation.
“Uhm.. Are you.. Do you not.. How do I put this..”
“No your majesty, I do not sing. Or dance.” the Royal sentinel said with certainty, his eyes still staring straight ahead.
“Oh..”
Celestia had to process this, a pony that wasn't going to sing or dance. It wasn’t necessarily impossible, just incredibly unusual. But she had to make sure she was hearing this correctly.
“Is that, or is it you cannot..”
The alicorn slowed her speaking, she was having trouble even forming the words of this concept.
“I chose not to. Your majesty.”
“Oh.”
It has been so long, Celestia couldn't even remember the last pony that willfully chose to ‘opt out’ of any song and dance. Of course there were other races that weren't fans of it, Griffins even had it outlawed in many of their roosts and communities, but for a pony that decided on their own to just keep out of the usual harmonies of pony life?
Celestia was still staring at the guard, her stance straight but head slightly tilted downward from her gaze. She walked forward whilst continuing rubbernecking her stare. The alicorn looked forward to put a hoof on her room’s doorknob, but turned her head around for one last glance at the guard watching her door for the rest of the evening.
She spoke with an uncertain cheerfulness, “I’ll just.. be in my chambers then.”
The guard nodded and said, “Of course, Your majesty.”, still maintaining his dutiful stance.
Celestia entered her room with a quiet click of her door closing. She couldn't just possibly leave the conversation like that. Was there a reason this guard opted out? Did he not know the magic of song and dance? The benefits? The exercise, social interaction, teamwork? Celestia could admit it was a bit silly sometimes but everypony always needed a little bit of lyrical laughter in their life.
She made up her mind, quickly trotting over to her desk. The Princess took out the Royal Guard schedule to make a few quick adjustments, and to check on one name. A smug smile crossed her lips.
“Stoic Sentry, By the end of this week I'm going to have you singing and dancing like a pink, poofy party pony.”
Author's Note
I had the concept of this one for awhile, but I finally took the time to start it!
I'll try to respond to comments more on this one, specifically because the formatting might be confusing but because it is also less 'socially complicated' than my last story and I don't have secrets to hide in this one.
Have pone music now.
