Chapter 1
"Prologue..."
The darkness enveloped the streets of a magnificent city, Canterlot, the great capital of Equestria. The moon shone faintly through some clouds, giving nothing but enough light so as not to trip oneself by accident in its rocky walkways and streets; a calm and quiet night in a normally active city.
Only one area seemed to be buzzing with the usual excitement of the city.
In the palace's plaza, hundreds of ponies walked around the well-lit square space normally used to host military parades and official festivities such as the solstice sun celebration.
Chariots heavily garmented and obviously belonging to rich ponies were parked around it and everypony seemed to be going in the same direction; a large building, not as gigantic as the palace that dwarfed it, but still larger than the rest of its adjacent and old stone buildings. It's golden windows and doors seemed to shine gloriously at the light within it, lighting all the plaza.
The Canterlot Theater, home to Equestria's most prestigious orchestra, was slowly filling up as rich and important ponies began to enter. In the door, large and bulky security guards took tickets from those that could enter and made sure nopony that didn't have one could get inside.
A red carpet going from the inside of the theater went all the way through the plaza towards the palace gates, which were closed but strongly suggested what most ponies already knew:
The princess was going to go to that night's' concert.
It was something most ponies knew, even those that weren't much into the musical life of Canterlot. That specific concert was hosted once every ten years; what was special about it was that every single of Equestria's greatest players were invited by the Canterlot Orchestra's director and they all aged in honor of the princess, normally starting with Equestria's anthem sung by the Canterlot's conservatory foals' choir. The rest of the pieces were selected from Equestria's best composers from its history, and ended with a piece the princess chose at the moment.
In general, it was a one of a kind concert...
...the kind of concert Swift Hooves would like to go.
In the mass of ponies awaiting for the process stood a brown stallion with a black mane. He had a small green bow tie and a pamphlet on his right hoof.
He had an excited face as he waited beside the rest of those ponies that didn't have a ticket to enter. It was far too expensive for most of the ponies; the concert was mainly attended by royals, rich and important ponies. A normal pony, least one still in college with many debts such as himself, couldn't afford it.
No, those ponies only had one small chance of getting in...
And their only way in was just about to appear.
The gates of the palace opened, revealing a long and large line of Rita guards quickly running out and forming up around the red carpet. Cheers erupted from ponies around as she showed herself:
The princess.
Princess Celestia, ruler of Equestria, some said she was a goddess and some that she was merely a lucky mare born with both a horn and a pair of wings.
Still, her appearance was enough to start roaring cheering and stomping from the crowds as she made her way out of the palace and towards the theater. She was sporting a long yellow dress emblazoned in golden rings, her usually small crown now being another, much larger one.
Her horn was shining as a basquet flew beside her, enveloped in her magical golden aura.
Within the basket were ten golden tickets.
That was the chance Swift had in going in: a personal invitation from the princess.
It was customary for her to carry the extra tickets with her and invite with them ponies that couldn't or hadn't had the chance or the money to buy one. Those she invited also had the honor of seating in her balcony that looked across the stage from the best position, though the fact of being seated near the princess was enough to make any pony nervous and awed.
As soon as she stepped onto the plaza hooves began to raise up, ponies shouting "Me! Me!" all around. Her never fading smile remained and only seemed to grow warmer as ponies cheered for her, and asked for the tickets.
She stared advancing, not looking to her sides only to stop a few meters after that and looking down at a mare. The mare's eyes shined as a golden ticket envelope in a golden aura moved towards her. She took it delicately before the guards made a hole in their security line to let her pass. Eh passed into the red carpet with dreamy eyes, obviously still not believing her luck that it had been her.
Swift saw as eight more passed by, all of them with similar expressions of surprise, awe and gratitude.
The princess was now almost reaching the theater. Behind her the nine ponies walked cautiously, as if a wrong movement would get them off their prize.
The princess passed by Swift, not looking at him nor anypony around. He hadn't been cheering, resorting to only look and hope. He thought all that shouting probably made the princess uncomfortable, so he only wanted to hope for the best and give a nice impression, even though within that mass of ponies it was probably not very useful.
When the princess passed him he felt his heart plunder. Of course it wasn't going to be him, not within a mass of hundreds of ponies; he felt stupid for believing, even for a second, that it could have been him.
He turned and prepared to head home. His parents would probably just smile at him and say how unlikely the chance he had was and say he'd probably go to the concert next week, which was something he already knew.
There was a sudden silence as he noticed everypony stopped shouting. The princess had probably already found the last pony, that tended to happen...
He was going to keep on walking when he felt a soft tap on his back. He turned and almost fainted, feeling his heart start pumping at hundreds of miles per hour.
The princess stood there, smiling at him and handing him over a ticket with her magic.
He slowly took it and contemplated a it for a few seconds before looking back up. The princess winked at him before walking back unto the red carpet, closely followed by Swift Wind. They made way towards the enormous pillars that supported the entrance to the theater, all the while Swift smiling as he realized what was happening.
He had been chosen...
The princess passed the doors with the ponies bowing, and looked at the ten behind her with a serious face; it was obvious they disliked the idea of the princess being with them.
Still, the princess smiled as she walked around the hall, greeting many ponies she knew and royals that wanted to speak with her. The ten ponies that had been with the princess stood near the entrance, feeling entirely out of place within the canterlot... No, not just the Canterlot, but the Equestrian elite. It wasn't something they normally would have imagined, and none of them had really believed that it was going to be them, standing in there that night.
Swift Wind was the first to move away from the group, getting nervous glances from them as he delved deeper into the mass of rich ponies.
He started looking around the theater, trying to identify who the ponies in the entrance hall were. He didn't stopped much to marvel at the structure of the building much since he had been in it a few times for normal concerts, obviously never for something near as grand as what he was at the moment.
He spotted Manehattan's mayor, as well as Phillidelfias'. Both spoke happily, as if they were old pals.
Near them was the princess speaking to a pony Swift couldn't recognize and on another side was a pony that was said to own equestria through the largest company in operation, 'Apple seed co.' He made sure to stay well clear from him, since of all the ponies in that room, he had only met that one and be wasn't a pleasant one.
He was about to turn, returning towards the nine lucky ponies when he accidentally crashed into somepony. The impact sent both of them on their backs, him bumping his head against the wall and getting a confused and soft shout from whoever he had crashed into.
He rubbed his head and groaned. "Ouch..." he muttered. He blinked a few times, feeling a little dizzy.
Moving up his head, he saw a light grey mare with a black mane. She was rubbing her neck as well and proceeded to groan once, just as he had.
He quickly stood up ignoring the dizziness and gave her his hoof to help her get up.
"Oh sweet Celestia..." His voice sounded worried. "I'm sorry ma'am! I wasn't looking where I was going, forgive me," he said apologetically. He had his cheeks lit red in embarrassment, though thankfully they hadn't created a scene, most of the rich ponies seemed to be too busy with their talks. He'd normally consider that rude, but somehow he felt grateful none had noticed.
The mare slowly looked at him with grey eyes, then back at his hoof. She took it and stood up, letting swift feel relieved. She seemed fine.
"Don't be," she said. "I was also not looking and, in my haste, I forgot how easy it is to crash against somepony before a concert." She rubbed her neck again and muttered ouch.
Swift felt worried again. "Ma'am, are you alright? Should I call a medic?" he said hurriedly, taking a look at her neck. The mare chuckled.
"It's quite alright, gentle sir. I'm only thankful I didn't hurt my front hooves; if I had then I wouldn't be able to play tonight, now would I?"
That sentence caught him off guard.
"Wait..." he said. "What do you mean by play tonight?"
He wasn't allowed an answer. The mare suddenly looked at the clock in the room and her blood drained from her face, turning white for a second. "Oh dear! I won't make it in time!" she exclaimed. She shook his hoof rapidly. "It was nice meeting you, I gotta go or the maestro will be angry!"
With a quick movement of her hooves, she was off and through a small door, leaving a confused Swift Wind behind.
The pegasus stallion simply shook his head in surprise, but didn't dwell on what had happened for much longer, since a very well dressed stallion opened the doors to the concert.
"Mares and gentlecolts, please go ahead and move to your seats; the concert will begin."
Every pony in the room went inside, leaving only the princess, the pony she had been talking to before and the ten invited ones in the room.
The same stallion that had opened the door walked over to the princess and made a small bow with his head.
"Princess, if you wish I can lead you to your usual spot." Celestia nodded and the twelve of them went behind the stallion. They walked up some stairs and finally inside a room completely decorated with golden things, having fourteen seats arranged so that everypony that sat there could watch the concert with no problem. Swift Wind had to admit that that those were the best seats he had ever seen in the hall. He could see the usual spots the room when he went to see a concert; they were always the least expensive ones.
"Anything else you need, princess?" the stallion asked. Princess Celestia simply shook her head and reviewed shortly a bow from him again, before the gates of the balcony closed behind them and the lights dimmed. The curtain opened, revealing the largest orchestra Swift had ever seen; he had never seen an orchestra with so many instruments, yet it wasn't saturated. In fact, it occupied the floor of the stage perfectly. In the front, the empty spot for the director was taken as the most important pony in the musical world of the era appeared.
Director Key Note.
A simple and obvious name for the most prestigious director and composer that lived at the moment. Still, Swift Admired that stallion a lot, as did many of the rest of the ponies gathered that night.
In his side vision, he recognized somepony within the orchestra; a mare...
Yes, a violinist, and the first one nonetheless! The mare he had crashed into!
He smiled and felt even more embarrassed. Maybe the worst that could happen was that he wasn't going to be admitted to concerts in which she appeared? He had never seen her before, so she probably had been invited from other place, probably Manehattan.
The director bowed as applause lessened. He turned and lifted with magic his baton. A short silence followed and was cut harshly yet melodiously with a strong D major chord as the director began.
The concert started.
Every piece passed, which Swift enjoyed at his full self. The Equestrian anthem had been a strong piece, marking the intensity of its patriotism with the choir behind singing beautifully. The next pieces passed by as well, all special and beautifully played; every single one of them, Swift looked at her, the mare of the entrance hall. Something in her didn't let him look at the rest.
She played with a deep passion, her hooves moving across her violin with a professionalism never seen by him. Her eyes closed for long whiles as she seemed to take in the music, never letting her attention off the director or the piece.
Swift found himself enthralled into looking at her. Something within him told him the obvious, stated him what he knew:
She was out of his reach.
Suddenly, he saw the lights turn on as the last part of the last piece played; a single violin.
Her; she was playing the last part of the piece. Nopony else played, leaving her part. She played gracefully and giving feeling and life to every single note...
Up to the very end.
With a long, harmonious note she finished the piece. Thunderous applause followed as the director turned around and bowed, then turned again and gestured for the rest of the orchestra to stand up and now as well.
Everything after that passed like a blur.
Celestia thanking the ten she had invited for giving her company that night, their invitation for a dinner with the director, leaving the theater...
That was, until he stopped and spotted a mare going out through a side exit of the theater. He recognized in her a violin case.
He hurried and managed to catch her before she made a turn.
"Ma'am!" he exclaimed, earning a confused glare. Both stared at each other for a few seconds before the mare recognized him.
"Ah! You're the stallion I ran into before the concert!" she said with a slight chuckle. Swift nodded, embarrassed. He rubbed his head slightly where he had hit himself.
"Yes," he said, "about that... I wanted to apologize again and also wanted to ask if, as payment, I could invite you a drink." He said it fast and with a nervous voice, but he tried his best to appear normal, though the chuckle from the mare gave him the fe lining results.
The mare rubbed her chin, changing her expression to one that seemed unsure.
"Well, I'm not sure. After all, I've never seen you before," she said cautiously. "Yet again, you don't seem like a bad stallion," she remarked. After a few more seconds of indecision that seemed like an eternity to swift, she smiled and nodded. "Very well, kind sir. I accept. But first, you'll need to tell me your name. I do need to know the identity of the mysterious stallion with white I am going to go for a 'drink'" she said, adding a strange tone in her voice at the word drink.
Swift extended his hoof for a hoofshake. "Names' Swift Wind." The mare took his hoofshake. "Now, can I have yours?"
"Melody, just Melody," she said after a few seconds.
Swift smiled. "We'll miss Melody, shall we go?" The violinist mare slowly nodded.
Maybe she wasn't that out of his reach after all...
The two walked away, unaware that that night their life was going to change their lives... For good or for Ill, it was...
