Canterlot Pianist

I heard rumors about an uncharted place in Canterlot called Little Creak Corner. I was told it was left out of the maps because the map makers didn't notice the street leading to it. It was such a tiny and odd street, it was confused for an alley and was treated as one. It has remained uncharted ever since the establishment of Canterlot. No one complained, so no one bothered. But the interesting bit of the place is about a stallion who, as I was told, lived there before vanishing overnight. The one who told me was the son of a deceased noble man. He told me his father had affairs with the ponies from Little Creak Corner. The mysterious stallion apparently resolved the affairs in a way the noble man could never forget. His son doesn't remember the story all that too well, his father passed away when he was only a colt. Today I stand on the street that leads to Little Creak Corner and I will find out who was that pony.

I could see why the alley was mistaken for a street. Dumpsters stand against the building walls and a tiny river of sewer flows in the middle. The closer you get to the hanging border, the dirtier Canterlot gets. I start walking past the dumpsters and the abandoned cardboard boxes. I didn't see a single cat or stray dog. At the end I could see a turn and the border wall. If the wall was shorter, I could probably spot the mountains of Yakyakistan. I turned the corner and suddenly it became much cleaner. No more sewage and the biggest piece of trash i could find was the plastic stick of a lollipop tucked away in the corner. Reaching the end of the road, I was taken by surprise. Little Creak Corner indeed existed.

It was a small block with two, three stories high, apartment buildings facing each other. The big border wall shrunk in size into a precarious stone fence. From that point I could see the mountains, but our own mountain covered half of it. Finally, I noticed a restaurant standing against the mountain wall. In the middle of this square was a lush green park with a single, wonderful oak tree.The tree was breathtakingly big. The leaves reached the windows of the apartments and It was just as high.

"Hey! Who're you?" A small child called me. He was sitting on a bench by the fence and he was eating a lollipop. I tried to introduce myself but I scared him away. He jumped from the bench and galloped home. When I looked at the oak tree again, I noticed something else, standing right under it. There was a blue canopy sheltering a grand piano. Indeed a curious place to put one. After that, I noticed something else. Someone was cleaning it; perhaps the owner. So I decided to investigate.

I approached the piano and saw that the pony cleaning it was an aging old mare. Maybe of the same age as Granny Smith or maybe even younger. "Hi!" I shyly greeted. The old woman didn't respond. Instead she kept cleaning on the piano legs. They were brittle and weak. Made it look like it fell from the sky. Or maybe it was standing there for a very long time. "Uhm... Hello!" I tried again.

"Miss, calling me twice wont make me work faster. Just please give me a moment to finish this leg. If i stop it could break. I don't want it to break." She replied. I could sense a bit of anguish in her voice.

I did as she asked and a couple of tedious minutes later, she stood up with a piece of cloth on her muzzle. "Hi there, Miss. My name is Cloey. Can I help you with something?" She politely introduced herself.

"I'm Twilight Sparkle, Miss Cloey. I came to your little place to find out and ask about something." I looked around the place, admiring the tiny community that lived here for years, as I spoke.

"If this is about not being with the map, we already made it sure we don't mind." She assertively reminded.

"No it's not that. Have you heard of a young stallion called Benjamin Rich?" Cloey furrowed her brows at the mention.

"Sounds like a lovely fellow with a name like that. Definitely Canterlot born like me. No other city has extraordinary names." Cloey mentioned with displeasure in her voice. "Although I his name reminds me of someone I knew who was just as lovely."

"Tricky Rich?" I guessed his fathers name. Cloey's eyes widened as she put her hoof over her mouth.

"How did you know?"

"Benjamin rich is her son. A fine nobleman. He is planning a fund raiser to build a public art school here in Canterlot. Not what i would have in mind when planning a fund raiser." I began to gossip and Cloey stared at me with a bittersweet smile.

"Are you ok, Miss Cloey?" My concern alerted her. She quickly switched to a happier mood.

"Don't you worry, Twilight Sparkle. Everything is ok. I was just remembering the atrocities Tricky Rich caused my family and the rest's." She spoke with despair and hate. I was concerned. I wanted to find out more.

"He doesn't sound as nice as his son. What did this Stallion do?" I asked. Cloey gasped and covered her mouth.

"I'm very sorry. I shouldn't have touched that subject."

"Alright. Then could you tell me about this piano? What is it doing on the middle of a park?" My questions only startled her more.

"No! I mean, It's mine. My mother won it a long time ago and since there is no space in my house, I keep it here. Sometimes I even play a song or two." I found it hard to believe. She was a terrible liar. "Now please, can I continue to wash my piano. It's very old and falling apart. I need to take good care of it."

"Of course." With a small wave, I left the old woman to do her thing.

I made my way towards the restaurant. Looking through the dark gray windows I could see it was mostly empty. Just a lonely stallion sat by a table, reading the paper. As I approached, the intimidating mountain wall seemed to stretch higher. It felt like a miracle that not a single rock has fallen down.

The restaurant sign read "John's diner". It looked more sophisticated to be a diner. I opened the door and that well known bell chime echoes inside the diner. The old pony sitting didn't even lower his newspaper to see who came in and a dark brown stallion approached to the  counter from the back room. Our eyes meet and he raised an eye brow. He didn't look very content to see a new face.

"Welcome, my lady." His voice was rough and uninviting. "Don't worry if i sound scary. I was born like this." That made me feel only a little better. "Are you hungry? Late lunch at seven in the after noon? Maybe some snacks?"