The Music Maker

As Twilight and I walked to the Canterlot Orchestra House, I couldn’t help but feel a bit guilty for my little episode a few moments ago. I was relieved when she finally asked about what happened so I could offer an explanation. It was really hard to clarify it though; there wasn’t much research practiced on mental disorders here since barely anypony had one. So I decided to use the best analogy I could:

“Twilight, do you know what pottery is?” I asked.

“Sure I do!” she smiled. “Lots of ponies are potters here.”

“Well, try to imagine me as the clay mold. I need a steady, continuous, slow curvature to my surroundings in order to keep myself stable, or in this sense, be molded into a nice looking pot. Loud noises, sudden changes in my surroundings, or just anything unexpected just makes the pottery wheel spin violently out of control sometimes. Those small white things I put in my ears play a song that calms me down, or brings the spinning motion back to steady. Does that make sense, Twi?”

I think she understood pretty well. Her eyes were riveted on mine as she nodded deeply. That was the first time I ever explained so much about me without someone looking at me like some kind of freak. Isn’t it ironic? Back on earth I was the outcast. I had to come to Equestria, be a human among colorful talking ponies, to fit in. Fit in… Did I really? So far, the only reason anyone cared about me was for my Casio. Then again, No one back home ever cared about that either. Maybe this could at least bridge the gap. Give them a reason to look into my life. A reason to care. That sure would feel great to be cared about again… Or at least have a reason to have self-esteem.

“We’re here!” Twi announced.

I had always dreamed of auditioning for a real music performer. I would walk right into the doors, hold my instrument high like I had found Excalibur, and play a solo that would knock their socks off! But those were dreams. The reality? I was standing frozen, gaping with fear.

The doors of this building must have been crafted by God himself, or Celestia, or whatever entity Equestria worshiped. They towered at least twenty feet above my head. When we pushed them open, I felt the deep creaking of them just vibrating in my chest like a bass note at full volume. The door ominously echoed shut behind us, and we began walking down the long hallway leading to the music hall. As we passed a few armored stallion statues on our way, I couldn’t help but wonder what their use was. (I guess jousting for ponies was the equivalent of a game of chicken for humans if you think about it.) Another pair of large doors awaited us at the end of the hall, only these doors were more polished and made of stone marble. We pushed open the doors and slowly crept into the great illuminated room.

We were greeted with a bright light coming from a beautiful chandelier hanging above us, but welcomed by the pleasant resonance of string instruments filling the room. This was the very first time I had ever seen a real orchestra before. I had no idea what they were playing, but I could tell it was somewhat of a relaxed piece. However, the relaxation ended abruptly when the large doors behind us shut loudly. Everypony in the orchestra was staring. My gaze met every one of theirs. Every expression: surprised, shocked, curious, or amazed. Others were just fixated on me probably trying to figure out what I was. And then, my gaze met hers. The lead cellist twilight spoke of. She stood up and slowly trotted towards us.  She was clearly not amused.

“Hi, Octavia,” said Twilight breaking the awkward silence.

“Twilight Sparkle,” The tan-gray pony inquired, “I hope you have a reasonable excuse for interrupting the orchestra in the middle of rehearsal.”

Twilight didn’t seem as affected as I was by that remark; probably because she knew her pretty well. I on the other hand was a bit intimidated. “Well,” she began, “I brought over this human to show you what he can do. He’s a musician too. He can play the piano very well.”

“Twilight, our pianist is right over there.” She pointed to a tan stallion. “We don’t need another.” She turned to me and began sizing me up. “And we certainly don’t need a dress-up-playing ape in desperate need of a hair trim on its head.”

This time, I was offended. The whole unshaven ape thing was getting really stale and annoying for me. As Octavia argued with Twilight, I spotted a perfect opportunity to make that mare eat her words: An immense pipe organ. I walked towards it, part of me still wanting vindication, the other thrilled that I would be playing an organ for the first time. The keyboard was a bit smaller than I would have expected, but I guess ponies need that. After all, most of them are only about four feet tall. (I was a good six feet, but that was beside the point.) I gazed up at the pipes one more time, looked behind me at that cellist still arguing with Twi, and then looked down at the keyboard. With all of the anger I felt at that moment, I slammed down the C minor keys.

I had flooded the room with the most menacing chord progression I could produce. I almost felt like Sweeney Todd or the Phantom of the Opera. I had never played or practiced this piece, but the emotions I had rushing through my fingertips were good enough to keep a consistent ominous melody. The vibrating depth of this instrument was giving me chills. I had that combination of angry excitement when one’s hands begin to shake; something like an adrenaline rush, but much more powerful. That was exactly what I needed to play a quick trill to crescendo my ending: I ended the piece on a much harder C minor chord and sustained it for quite some time. Then, I pulled my hands away from the organ. I think that was enough to make my point. I angrily turned to face that stuck up pony. When I did, I saw that I had given everypony in the room the same face of astonishment. Except for one. Twilight just stood there beaming at me in a way that said ‘Even though we showed her up, that was still… incredible.’

I grinned back at her pleasant smile, then turned to Octavia, and politely said, “I am not an ape.”

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I had been in the Grand Canterlot Orchestra for about three weeks now. Octavia enlisted me right after the pipe organ event.  Although she got used to me quickly and began to develop a liking for me, the others were more… ‘snobbish’ towards me… I always felt a sting in their gaze when they looked at me... Though I eventually learned most of their names, I never really got to know them like I did Octavia. Speaking of getting to know ponies, Back in Ponyville, Twilight was so excited about me getting the position that she decided to introduce me to her friends. And within a week, I had learned the names of at least twenty other mares and colts. (And just who do you think introduced me to all these ponies? If you’re thinking pink, you’re on the right track.)

Twilight was beginning to warm up a real friendship with me as well. She gave me one of the best gifts I had ever received in Ponyville. During my constant absences, she had studied my iPod and Keyboard very carefully. And one day, as a just-because gift, she made me a Speaker for my iPod that charged it at the same time, and put a spell on my batteries that ensured they would never run out of energy. I was practically touched…

She smiled softly. “I know how much your music means to you. And, well I just thought I’d make you some substitute technology to compensate. I know it’s not much but—”

I cut her off with a hug.

I’m not one for physical contact whatsoever, and Twilight knew this. She felt how powerful of a thank-you this gesture was from me.

“Thank you… Thank you so much…” I could only say so much when my face was pressed into Twilight’s mane. “You have no idea…”

“It’s alright.” Twilight softly replied. “I wanted to make you happy.”

“Well you sure did. As a matter of fact, why don’t we listen to some songs from my world? I’ve got my music vibe back anyway. How about it?” I asked. This was probably the happiest I had been since I first accepted my brony nature.

“I’d love to!” Twi clasped her hoofs together in approval. “I’ve always wanted to hear what Rock sounds like! From what you tell me about it, it seems like a great listen.”

“Well there’s a lot more on there than just Rock. Why don’t we see what genre you like best?” Though I was ready to show her every rock tune I had, she at least deserved to see if she liked anything better. It was the least I could do.

By nightfall, we had gone through AC/DC, Rush, Aerosmith, Goldfinger, Daft Punk, Black Sabbath, Neil Diamond, Dream Theater, Johnny Cash, Michael Jackson, and Billy Idol. We finally narrowed it down and as it turns out, Twilight was a hard rocker. That was quite a surprise since I thought she’d be more into indie or pop. But that was just a minor shock as compared to the bombshell she dropped a few moments later. We were sitting on the ground listening to Dark Side of the Moon when she said it:

“You know, I think I have a favorite song out of the ones you played. I think it might even be the best song I've ever heard!”

“Really? Which one?”

“That really long one with that one part that goes, ‘If there’s a bustle in your hedgerow, don’t be alarmed now. Something, something, something May queen.’”

I was never really much of a memer, but I could only describe this as a ground-shaking, epic, Mother-of-God moment right here: Twilight Sparkle’s absolute favorite song… was Stairway to Heaven. I must have been speechless for a good while before I worked up the sense to play it cool again.

“You ok? You seem kind of shocked…”

“I kind of am,” I breathed. “That song actually rates as one of the number one rock tunes in the world.” It did for me too. I loved that song. Jimmy Paige was God-crafted for the guitar. Though it was one of the only favorite songs of mine that I couldn’t play myself, it was probably the most listened-to song on my iPod. There’s a kind of calm rush that I get from that song. Like for just eight minutes, the world and everything in it is perfect. I have always wanted to play that song for a crowd more than any other… I taught myself never to want for big things because they probably would never happen. But my mentality was much different here in Ponyville. Besides, one dream came true. Maybe one day, another would too.

After we had turned in for the night, my mind started to wander: Why was everything just so perfect here? And if there really was no catch to living here, why couldn’t I have come sooner? All of my unanswered questions were weighing down my eyelids as I slowly drifted off to one of the best sleeps I’ve ever had.

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If there’s a bustle in your hedgerow,

Don’t be alarmed now,

It’s just a spring clean for the May Queen.

Yes there are two paths you can go down,

But in the long run,

There’s still time to change the road you’re on…

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AUTHORS NOTE: Sorry this didn't publish originally. This is the real chapter 4.