By Grace

by averageamazingme

Rating: teen
Tags: Slice of Life, Alternate Universe, Original Character, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Romance
Length: 27105

With a varied background, Grace manages to find himself with strange friends. Some good and others not. He'll have to discern for himself; by trial, by error, and by grace. Thanks to PonyJosiah13

No longer satisfied with drifting along, Grace takes charge, working towards singing stardom in a busy city. With a background in just about every odd job a pony could do, Grace manages to find himself in strange company. Some ponies are just no good and others will be essential. He'll have to discern for himself which is which; by trial, by error, and by grace.

Cover art by: Sinsays
With help from, characters developed by, and based on an RP with: PonyJosiah13

Published 2017-01-30 18:40:01 UTC
Last updated 2018-09-15 00:10:02 UTC

Chapter 2: Good Graces

"What are you doing home so early?" Grace asked as Note walked in. The stallion in question was the picture of irritation. His flank twitched, the red coat rippling as Juri let out a low sigh. He ruffled his own brown mane with one hoof before unlatching his saddlebags, revealing his cutie mark. Grace's eyes lingered on his friend's flank, admiring the justice scales atop a pile of papers.

Juri avoided slamming his bag down by the slimmest of margins. The noise pulled Grace's attention back to the matter at hoof. "Absolutely useless day. Got nothing done. Even my teacher's assistants were restless all day. Some fool thought it would be funny to make a threat on the campus. On lockdown half the day before they decided to clear out the entire school. Sent everypony home early."

Grace's ears perked up in an instant. "A threat? Is everything okay?"

Josi waved a hoof, his fatigue apparent in the slowness of his movements. The energy of irritation was suddenly evaporating. "Yes, it's fine. Some former staff member decided to get his tail in a knot and made some uncouth suggestions about the best way to demolish the main hall with ponies still inside. Given that he taught a class on destructive magic, his friend decided to report him."

"Yikes, I'd hope so." Grace remarked, moving to gather a cup of water for Juri.

Juri accepted the cup gratefully. He drank before continuing. "It was the picture of controlled chaos. Guards scoured everywhere for him, even on campus. They ended up finding him in a bar where he repeated all of this malarkey. He's been arrested. Still, everypony was so keyed up it would have been impossible to get anything of significance done."

Grace’s eyes slowly returned to normal size from the widened stare he’d displayed from the beginning of the crazy tale. “I could only imagine. Something like this doesn’t happen every day, thank Luna.”

Juri opened his mouth, about to say something. He snapped it shut and waved a hoof around, as if to dispel the fog of that thought. “Let’s talk about something else,” he announced.

Grace cocked an ear up, but went along. “Okay. Have you eaten today?”

Juri’s forehooves crossed in front of him, he sat looking like the very picture of indignation. Ears stood straight, jaw clenched, and a deep breath that promised to be either a huffy rebuttal or a resonant defense.

Noting the look, Grace shook his head and pointed to his friend with one hoof. “Nope, you can’t give me that attitude. Who collapsed on his first day back at school just because he was too stubborn to pay for a meal at the staff cafeteria?”

Juri threw both hooves up. “It was so expensive though! I could’ve gone to a restaurant downtown and spent less on something much more filling. And I didn't collapse.”

Not to be dissuaded, Grace placed one forehoof on his side and leaned against the wall. “Sure about that? You seemed pretty wiped out on the couch the second you got back. Nope, you were too stubborn. Now answer the question like a good boy.”

“My stomach's in too many knots for a proper meal.” Juri admitted, looking away.

Grace merely shrugged at the thought. "How about a snack? I've got a few apples in the fridge if that sounds good. Might even have enough for a small pie. Maybe a few turnovers."

Juri sighed. "Thanks, I think the apple will do."

Grace nodded, turning towards the fruit bowl in the kitchen and selecting a few apples. "Sure, would you like an Envy or a Pink Lady?"

"A what?" Juri asked, cocking one ear up halfway.

Grace answered absently as he levitated a pair of the fruit in question. "Envy is a bit more solid but still very flavorful. Almost like an apple pie without the pie. A Pink Lady is a bit sweeter and slightly softer."

Juri frowned before asking, hesitantly, "These are apples?"

"Uh, yeah." Grace said as he straightened up, confused by the tone in Juri's voice.

Juri lifted up both forehooves. "Aren't all apples the same?"

Grace's eyes widened again. "Woah. No. Are you kidding? There are tons of different varieties!" Tossing one of the apples in Juri's direction, Grace helped himself to the other.

Catching it deftly, Juri cocked his head. "I didn't realize. I guess apples pretty much all look the same to me."

Grace's eyes lit up and he practically pranced into the living room. "Do you feel up for a walk? The farmer's market on the pier down the way will illustrate just how wrong you are! It's on me."

"You know you don't have to..." Juri waved with the hoof holding the apple, but was cut off by Grace grabbing his hoof insistently.

Grace's gaze was strangely intense. "Yes. Yes I do. C'mon, let's go!"

Grace and Note made the quick trip to the farmer's market. Thanks to the ships in the pier, there was always a wide assortment of just about anything from just about everywhere.

"What about these?" Juri asked as he pointed to some familiar red fruit.

Grace looked, but then snorted. "Those are the ones I'm sure you're used to. Red Delicious. The ground floor of apples. I will admit, I've had some bad apples and most of them have been Red Delicious. So, generally my rule is they only live up to half their name."

"And these?" Juri asked as they passed another display of apples.

Grace piped up promptly. "Granny Smiths. The go-to tart apple. Most pies you see are made with these because they hold up so well in an oven and their taste goes well with cinnamon and sugar."

Juri tapped his bottom lip with a hoof as he looked them over. "I think I've heard the names before. I guess I just thought of them mostly as red or green apples. What about these green apples?"

Grace looked them over and selected a few. "Golden Delicious. Usually you'll find these turned into applesauce. Very sweet. More yellow than green, but they tend to sell just a little under-ripe." Before Juri could inquire further, something caught Grace's eye and he galloped over to another stand. "Yes! There are some late-crop Galas here. Usually you get these from cold-storage or controlled-atmosphere rooms, but from midsummer until about mid-fall they are naturally fresh. Galas are my go-to apple.

Juri caught up as Grace filled a bag. "This is...a side of you I haven't really seen lately. You're so excited!

Grace looked back with a smile and levitated some more apples. "Well, let me find a Honeycrisp and we'll see if you don't agree with me. Oh! Speak of the devil. Yes, I'll take a five pounder of these. Small to medium sized, please. If you have it, at least. These are huge."

As they walked away, Juristic Note couldn't help but to snort. With a quick calculation of the bits Grace passed around like they were going out of style, Juri shook his head. "Do you have any idea how much you just spent on apples?"

Grace shrugged good-naturedly, a genuine ear-to-ear smile playing across his face for what felt like the first time since arriving in Manehatten. "Worth it. Believe me."

"I gotta admit, I was apprehensive about you joining me when I left. I knew we were friends, but..." Juri trailed off, suddenly aware of how much he was admitting.

Grace nodded. "I know. Believe me, I know how hard it is to live with a musician. Money drives ponies apart.

"Not just that, I mean." He slowed down a touch and Grace paused to stay in step. "I...I mean. Well, personality-wise, ponies don't tend to get along with me for extended periods. Generally. I have a hoof-full of friends, in spite of my best efforts to be friendly."

Grace bumped flanks with Juri softly. "Hey, I'd rather not have to share you with too many other ponies anyway. If you were too much of a pony pleaser, I'd never see you."

Juri whipped his head around so quickly Grace was surprised it didn't crack. For a moment, Grace could've sworn Juri was just a touch more red than usual. The rest of the trip home was filled mostly with more of Grace's laughter than Juri had heard in a while.

***

Grace dressed up to hit the club. Word of mouth had it that the dress code of the Lemonlight was decidedly old-school. Grace wore a black suit jacket with red pinstripes, a red silk shirt and black bowtie, red silk hoof-cuffs, and a jet black top hat for good measure. The red complimented Juri just a touch more than it did Grace. Juri's red coat fit much better than Grace's snow-white. At least the top hat covered his messy black mane. In spite of his Grace's nerves, his blue eyes were alight with excitement.

Where Juri had found such a hat was beyond Grace's care at the moment. Juri was back to pulling late nights at the school again. If it wasn't a class, it was a study into criminology and all the accompanying esoteric statistics. Grace's own career path seemed to be heading into a remarkably different direction.

The Lemonlight Club wasn't what Grace expected. This was no seedy dive, nor was it a bustling nightspot. Grace actually passed it twice while on the look for it. Of all the unlikely places to be the gold standard of evening entertainment, this small cathedral was an absurd oxymoronic statement. Grace couldn't believe his eyes. Manehatten was an older city and this site proved it. That a building once dedicated to organized religion still stood, albeit drastically re-purposed, was a testament to that history. Its sign was quite clear; the Lemonlight was here.

Uncertainty still held Grace in its grip as he walked up the pathway to the cathedral door. For a club, it was remarkably quiet. It wasn't until the door-stallion lit his horn and heaved the heavy door open that the wave of music hit him. At first, the sound was definitely a throwback to days long gone by; violin, horns, piano all played well and in a jaunty, jumpy tune. Then the drums and bass hit and the tune turned captivating. Grace found himself walking to the beat. Walking around the circular bar area, Grace looked ahead to where the altar had once stood. In its place was an altar of another sort, featuring a white-coated, blue-maned unicorn mare at an advanced-looking turntable setup.

"She makes it look effortless, doesn't she?" A voice called out above the lively din. Grace turned around to look at the speaker. A bartender stood, leaning his forehooves on the bar as he looked out over the dance floor. Walking towards the bar, Grace cast a glance back, noticing the packed dance floor. Even on a weekday, it was busier than any club he'd been to before.

"Who is she?" Grace asked as he jerked a hoof in the unicorn's direction, trying to make conversation. Unfortunately, the music cut out at the worst possible moment and his raised voice echoed off of the stone wall interior. He could practically feel the weight of attention fall on his back. Resolutely, he stiffened, intent on not turning around. The music picked back up and the atmosphere returned to normal.

The bartender was in stitches. As Grace turned his withering glare upon the employee, the stallion waved a hoof and brought himself back under control. "Sorry, that was too good. I guess you're new to this music scene."

"You could say that," Grace said drily.

The bartender got back to work, mixing a few drinks as he spoke. "Well it's not always Miss Turntables over there. We have a live band most of the time. She's a special one, though. Real popular in most circles, although she comes from Ponyville. For whatever reason, she chose here for a little impromptu engagement. Unannounced. Otherwise you'd probably never have gotten in."

Grace eyed the casual movements of the bartending stallion. As the drinks floated by, he spoke up. "Mint Julep? Seriously?"

The bartender rolled his eyes and laughed. "Old style tonight. Some ponies take it real seriously. I've even gotten into fights about how to prep it."

"Well, if you're using a frost spell as you pass it, I could see how some earth ponies would call you out on it." Grace said. "Aren't you pre-chilling the glasses?"

With a shrug, the bartender pulled out a fresh glass. "I'd love to, problem is the glass-chiller is down until tomorrow. And if I use the other freezer, I'd have to go all the way around the bar. My levitation isn't great without a line of sight."

"Use the frost spell before instead of after." Grace suggested, with a shrug.

The bartender paused, then laughed. "I don't know why I didn't think of that."

"You get busy enough, and even I would forget my own name." Grace said charitably.

Smacking his forehead, the bartender shook his head. Extending his other hoof, he piped up. "Sunrise Mixer. You can probably guess my specialty."

Grace took the hoof and shook it. "Graceful Bass. You can probably guess mine."

Sunrise nodded. "Yeah, the heart-shaped bass clefs are also a killer clue. Music. I assume you at least sing?"

With a nod, Grace tapped the bar and smiled. "Mix up a Julep and I'll tell you what else I can do."

As the Mint Julep floated over, he heard a snicker beside him. With a start, he realized that the unicorn at the turntables was now beside him. Her purple-tinted glasses caught his attention, but her cerise eyes underneath held it. She gazed at him over the rim of her glasses. "If that's what you're drinking, then it's no surprise you don't know who I am."

Taking a swig, Grace turned and addressed his bar-neighbor. "Well, what would someone who knows who you are drink?"

Setting her glasses down, the DJ met his challenging gaze with determination of her own. "Something...harder."

Chapter 3: Disgrace

"Ugh. My...head." Grace tried to open my eyes, but the meanest sliver of light sent daggers of pain ricocheting off the walls of his brain.

Even though his voice was merely a whisper, Juri's words battered into Grace's sensitized skull. "I hope whatever you did last night was worth it." His disapproval was evident in both tone and the fact that he stood across the room as he spoke. "There's water and a banana on the table next to you. I couldn't drag you into your room, so you're on the couch."

"I don't suppose 'sorry' is going to be enough for this?" Grace asked hopefully.

Juri sighed. "Just don't make this a habit, okay? You're an adult and can make your own decisions, but I don't like seeing you this bad off."

With Hercoltean effort, Grace hefted himself up on one foreleg and managed to get his eyes open. "I'll make it up to you. How about cookies?"

Grace's efforts were rewarded with a laugh, although Grace winced at the sound of it. Juri quieted down when he saw Grace's ears pin down. "How about you take a shower first and then see what you're capable of doing, eh?"

It took a further twenty minutes of coaxing to get Grace into said shower, but Juri had some painkillers and a proper hangover remedy meal ready for him afterwards.

While Grace pushed around his rice and potatoes, Juri pulled out a map and stretched it across the coffee table. Conferring with a nearby pile of paperwork, he set out a few red rounded rocks on the map. With a sigh, Grace took a heavy swig from the water glass nearby and carried his bowl over to the couch.

"You don't have to..." Juristic protested, but Grace waved a hoof as he swallowed another bite.

"What are you working on?" Grace asked after he finished.

Juri brushed a hoof through his mane and looked down at the map. While he spoke, he pointed to each rock. "There have been a series of bank robberies in the city."

Grace perked an ear. "No kidding?"

Simply shaking his head, Juri threw a newspaper over in Grace's direction. The white-coated unicorn caught it magically before it fell in his bowl, but winced at the effort it took to do so around a headache. "No kidding. There's been a rash. Broad daylight, duo, nonviolent. Weirdly polite. Well, you know, considering they're robbing a bank."

Reading off a headline, Grace grimaced. "'Polite Robbers Said to Use Magic Words.' A pair of unicorns, huh? They might actually be using magic..."

Juri nodded and waved a hoof. "Yeah, it's in the article. They're using persuasion spells to get ponies to give them the money. Everypony's happy until they leave. Then, well, I've had seasoned bank tellers handing out money like it's going out of style. Nopony is happy about it."

"I'd imagine so." Grace agreed, scanning down the article. Glancing out at the map, Grace was stunned at the number of red stones. "All of these cases are similar?" He asked, casting a hoof over the map in a circular motion.

"Yeah, and they've all taken place over the last year."

"Ten robberies over the course of a year? These guys don't know when to quit."

"There first few were small scores. Number five was big enough that the precinct thought they would stop. Then, surprise! Six and seven were practically on top of each other." Juri said, pointing at certain locations as he spoke. His hoof settled at the single stone in the Prominence District. "They got bold with their last one. Security here included unicorns with counter-charming proficiency, but they had extensive knowledge of the ponies on duty."

"Most frustrating of all," Juristic Note continued, pausing only to take a sip of water. "We can't even get a real physical description of the ponies involved."

"And here I thought that you weren't involved in current police affairs." Grace remarked drily.

Juri drew himself up. Grace could tell he was about to get a lecture from Professor Note. "The study of criminal trends can help us predict future criminal activity. A sociological survey of the city can give us clues into where and what type of crimes occur, leading to a better prepared police force. What we can't control is the when, who and how."

Grace held both hooves up in surrender. "Okay, I stand--well, sit--mildly corrected."

“I think I need to take a break. I’ve been thinking that concentrating too much on work is taking its toll on my abilities.” Juri said as he stood.

Grace grimaced and rose. “Your timing is impeccable. My headache has just eased off. Which is good, because I need to go back to that club and audition tonight."

"Audition?" Juri asked, ears flicking up in interest.

Grace nodded, arching a brow as he spoke. "I managed to impress the bartender. And the special musical guest."

"How did you manage that?" Juri asked, folding his hooves over each other in preparation.

Wiggling both eyebrows, Grace said simply. "I drank her under the table."

With a roll of his eyes, Juri noted drily. "That explains the hangover. Have you got a bit before you go?"

"Yeah, it's still pretty early. Well, early for those of us who don't practically live at a school."

Ignoring the jab, Juri went on. "Well, if you're feeling up to it, there's this boardwalk down the other end of the pier from the market that is supposed to be lovely. We could check it out." Juri suggested, lifting one eyebrow playfully. "I think they may even have one of those newfangled arcades."

Grace squinted at Juri before letting out a chuckle. "Aren't we a bit young to call something 'newfangled?' You're starting to sound like a stodgy old professor."

Snorting, Juri got behind Grace and pushed on his flanks. "Whatever, you whippersnapper. Let's go."

The pair made their way across the dockyard towards the boardwalk. As they crossed over the wide, busy entrance, Juri spotted a map. "Hey, there's a--"

"See it. Let's check it out." Scanning over the directory, Grace clicked his tongue. "Why would you need three Hoof Lockers?"

"One for sports, one for mares and one for foals." Juri pointed out, indicating the points with a hoof.

"Way to kill the joke, spoilsport." Grace grumbled.

"Tell a funny one, grumble-guts." Juri shot back, flicking his tail at Grace's hind end.

Grace felt the slight sting and narrowed his eyes at his assailant. "Arcade is right there." Grace indicated with a hoof as he spoke, though both stallions remained staring down each other. "You. Me. Loser buys dinner."

Juri tightened his mouth into a thin line and flared his nostrils. "It. Is. On!"

They stormed off towards the arcade, trading taunts and flicking their tails about hazardously. Only when Juri managed to snap his tail hard enough to put out a candle on the table Grace was passing by did they decide to take it easy and save the competition for their chosen battleground.

A few ponies had set up game stands of the usual fair variety, but the arcade was an entirely different beast. It took up a fair amount of space, containing a wide selection of electric-lit games. Running the arcade for an hour could probably power their houseboat for a day. The flashing lights and noises of the arcade caught their attention from across the boardwalk. Crossing the threshold, Grace and Juri's eyes met, both sparkling in determination.

"No magic." Juri noted seriously, raising a hoof to tap Grace's horn.

Grace shrugged, lifting his own hoof to polish against his coat. "No worries," Grace replied, blowing on his hoof as if to improve the shine. Their first destination was head-to-head competition.

They glared at each other across their field of battle, a plastic hoofguard upon their dominant hooves. Juri noticed Grace's chosen hoof and cocked his head, momentarily distracted. "Were you always left-hoofed?"

Glancing down, Grace picked up the puck in his other hand and set it on the table in front of his plastic-guarded left-hoof. "I don't write with my hooves a lot. This rarely comes up. Of course, if you'd noticed during any time I'd pulled out a musical instrument, I do use my left hoof as the dominant. And this southpaw is going to take you down, Mr. Observant."

Without further ado, Grace struck the puck and sent it ricocheting off the side wall of the table, directly to the open side of Juri's goal. Deftly, Juri countered, sending the puck back towards Grace's side in a full frontal assault. Grace yawned playfully as he sent it back, bouncing off both sides and getting dangerously close to the goal before Juri could react and return it. The return was clumsy, the puck lost momentum as it floated to the middle of the table. Both stallions caught glances and they tensed. Grace feinted towards the puck as Juri jumped for it, striking the puck hard towards Grace's goal. Grace's feint left him ready for the attack and he sent it back too quickly for Juri to recover from the hop to the middle. The puck sailed in unobstructed.

Grace whooped with glee, taking his hoof off the table for a crucial moment. Juri didn't bend to pick up the puck, but instead used his tail to flick it up onto the table. As Grace scrambled to get back into position, Juri sent the disk straight in, with a gleeful whoop of his own.

With that mocking whoop, the game became more intense, with a full minute going by before Grace managed to get past Juri's defense and score. Juri returned the favor after another near-full minute of trading blows. They traded points for a few rounds as they started to show signs of tiring before Juri pulled ahead by two. Grace wiped the sweat from his brow as he picked up the puck from his retrieval slot, not even bothering to glance at the scoreboard above the middle of the table.

Grace's strategy became erratic, leaving Juri to wonder if the other stallion had taken leave of his senses for a moment. Grace's moves kept sending the puck crashing into the corners on Juri's side. From what the criminologist could tell, these strikes were intentional. After not making contact with the puck for several strikes, Juri got fed up and made to interrupt the puck, leaving his goal open. Without missing a beat, Grace returned Juri's inquisitive strike with a definitive one, scoring while Juri's guard was away.

Juri shook his head as Grace merely grinned in steely, determined resolution. He struck the puck back at Grace as the air in the table went quiet. Grace returned the puck and scored as Juri looked back up in confusion. Simply shrugging, Grace explained. "This must have a timer to it. At any rate, looks like I evened it up. Next point wins."

Nodding, Juri retrieved the puck again and set it down. Taking a deep breath, he sent it across the table. Without the air the puck was sluggish, the friction making them work harder for less movement. Juri struck the puck harder than he intended, actually sending the puck up into the air after striking Grace's side of the table. As Juri's eyes widened at the suddenness of the puck's departure, Grace snatched it out of the air and slapped it back down before sending it across the table. All before Juri could even say...

"Holy Celestia!" Juri said as the puck clattered into his goal.

Head and tail high in victory, Grace pranced around to Juri and booped his nose playfully. "I like the restaurant we passed on the way in. You can settle your debt there."

***

Once again in Juri's borrowed suit, Grace entered the Lemonlight. His jangling nerves heightened before he took a moment to center himself. That he'd done so near the bar was an indicator of just how nervous he was. Sunset spotted the stallion and piped up. "Hey, iron-guts! Anypony who drinks like you do has to have drowned any butterflies in his stomach by now."

Opening his eyes serenely, Grace focused on the bartender. "And anypony who serves the harsh stuff that'd rot the gut out of a buzzard like you do should probably have been arrested on attempted murder charges."

Blowing a rather rude raspberry, Sunset shook his mane and turned away. "You say that like I haven't. But they couldn't make the charges stick. Trick is, kill the witnesses."

"Sunny, try not to kill any customers, or performers, please." A voice called from the other side of the bar area. It belonged to a peach-colored pony in a black v-neck shirt. His accent was slight, but definitely Bittish.

Sunset chuckled and turned to introduce Grace and the new pony. "Grace, this is our talent coordinator, Sighing Scowl. He's known for his...direct manner of speaking. Scowl, this is Graceful Bass."

Raising both eyebrows, Sighing Scowl did a head-to-horseshoes-and-back look over Grace. "Well, it's clear you didn't get that name for being good at baseball. Or for a graceful sense of fashion. You do smell slightly of fish but I figure that's not likely due to a career in fishing. At any rate I'm not one to judge a book by its cover. Let's hear what you've got, okay?" From his tone, it was clear Sighing Scowl didn't have high hopes for anything Grace could perform.

The nerves started jangling all over again. Grace headed up to the stage. Looking out, he was grateful that there weren't that many ponies around. Just Sunset, Scowl, and a few other bar employees going about their business and ignoring him.

Grace took up his guitar and that was the first point of contention Sighing Scowl had. "An acoustic? Are we on some farmhouse in Idahorse? There's an electric up there, yeah? Why don't you set down the silly antique and step into a new age? Yes? Good."

Fighting to keep his cool, Grace set his guitar back down and thanked the stage pony who held up the electric for him. "It's tuned up. Just did a sound check on it before you came." The stage pony whispered as Grace took it. Nodding his thanks, Grace turned back to his audience.

"Much better, welcome to the new age of music. What song will you be performing?" Sighing Scowl asked, impatiently tapping a hoof on the bar.

"Uh, this is..."

Scowl called out again, interrupting. "Into the microphone, sweetheart. That's the black thing on the skinny stand in front of you. We'll get you up to speed any day now, I'm sure. Now just go ahead. Surprise me."

Clenching his jaw, Grace started up the intro to the song he'd chosen. As he started singing, he was surprised to hear a backing band. Drums, bass, and even a saxophone. He'd picked a blues standard, Sitting on the Dock with Some Hay. Just as Grace really started to get into it, the backing band cut out. Sighing Scowl had a hoof in the air, signalling them to stop. Shocked silent, Grace stopped. Scowl took a look at Grace, looked back to Sunset and stood up to walk away.

Chapter 4: Fall From Grace

Everything seemed to move in slow motion for Grace. Scowl's sudden interruption. His scathing look. It was like watching his future go up in flames right before his very eyes. Not for the first time, Grace felt like things were wildly out of his control and he hated feeling this way. The anger bubbled up and broke the temporary paralysis that had taken hold. "W-wait! You can't just..."

Scowl turned back to face Grace, the expression on his face enough to quell whatever comment Grace was about to make. Sunset leaned over the bar and whispered something in Scowl's ear. Scowl shook his head, but Sunset persisted. Finally, Scowl held up his hooves and turned back to Grace. "Look, you've got a good voice, for what it's worth. But that kind of music is stale. Done. Worn out. That's not what we listen to here. I'll do you a favor, though. I'll give you a week to get your act together. Come here every night for the next week and figure out what it is about the performers we hire that makes them good enough to stand on that stage. Give yourself a chance to pull yourself out of the docks and onto dry land. Really soak up the culture here." And without a second thought to that confusing metaphor, Scowl exited the main floor and headed back to his office.

Dejected, Grace set the guitar down carefully on a nearby stand. Blinking, Grace could've sworn there hadn't been one there before. "Well, believe it or not that was actually one of his nicer audition reactions." The stage-pony from earlier commented by Grace's side.

Grace hadn't even heard the pony approach. "Oh. Well, I mean, I guess so. I do have another chance. But..."

Sunset was on stage and patting Grace's shoulder. "Don't worry, we'll help you get up to speed. Scowl doesn't give second-chances to just anypony."

"Thank you. I really appreciate it. I do. I just...I need to...process this a little." The heady rush of emotions threatened to swallow Grace up on the spot, but he pulled through to stay in the here and now. "I'll be back later tonight. I just don't know what I'm going to learn here."

Sunset's gripped tightened. "Don't worry about that. There are some great musicians here. Some of them started out no worse than you."

Grace looked at his lifeline and shook his head. "What did you say to Scowl to make him change his mind?"

Sunset let go of Grace's shoulder and closed his mouth firmly. Inhaling through his nose, he let it out in a short burst and replied. "That's between him and me. Suffice it to say, this isn't the first time he saw just what was on stage instead of the potential. I just...reminded him of that."

Grace eyed his benefactor and nodded. "Thank you." He wanted to say more, but his emotions threatened to burst out like water from behind a particularly fragile dam.

Sunset nodded, glancing at the stage-pony. "Set, you're running the show tonight, right?"

The stallion nodded. "Yeah, Scowl's got a party on the other side of town. Checking out a new talent and handling the competition."

"Why don't you have Grace sit in with the Back-Droppers." Sunset suggested. "Who's pulling stage duty?"

The smaller stallion tapped his chin and thought a moment. "Uh, Frankly Sinful's maining. The rest of the Scratch Batch will be around too. They don't normally decide who's opening until they get in and see who's too drunk to play." Set answered. "Which reminds me, you should hold off on serving them when they come in. At least until the have a set list together."

"Oh, you know those guys; they pregame at their apartment before they ever wander over here." Sunset said, waving a hoof in the air. Turning to Grace, he decided to make introductions. "Grace, this is Ready Set, a cousin of mine and the showrunner when Scowl's not around. Well, he runs the show when Scowl is around too, just doesn't get half the credit for it. Go home, have a good cry and be back tonight to sit with the band. You'll get a feel from them on just how these Club Colts play."

"Club Colts?" Grace asked, slightly dazed and nauseous from the speed of all these developments.

"That's the name for the performers here at the Lemonlight. The regulars, anyway." Ready Set replied, looking over Grace's face earnestly. "Um do you want some water, maybe you should sit down for a bit."

"No. Thank you, thank you both. I'll be back." Grace said, picking up his guitar as he went and heading for the door. On the other side, Grace muddled over his feelings and hailed a taxi.

***

"So you got shot down." Juri stated, trying to get a handle on the situation.

"Like a balloon in a hailstorm." Grace confirmed.

"But you're going there tonight to play with the band." Juri said, rubbing one temple idly.

"Yes," Came the reply.

"That's almost inequestrianly cruel. Dash somepony's dreams and then set them up to watch other ponies do what they want to." Juri remarked.

Grace shrugged. "It's what I gotta do to make it as a singer here. I've tried just about anyplace else I can think of. I haven't just been sitting here eating apples and working temp jobs. Most places won't even see me unless I have a manager and an established name. Cracking into music here is the hardest, and even open mic nights at dives and college bars haven't gotten me anything. What else am I going to do?"

Screwing his mouth up towards one side, Juri thought over the situation. With a sigh, he shrugged. "I guess that's that. You're gonna get the hang of it quick, I'm sure. That Scowl will regret not starting you out as a full-fledged singer."

"I hope so. I can't get stuck working as a house band player." Lifting his cup, Grace took a long swig of water and set it down.

Juri patted his friend's back. "You're taking this better than I would."

"Oh, well, you weren't here when I got home." Grace explained, setting his cheek down on his hoof. "I had myself a good cry, just like Sunset suggested. Then I took a shower. And before you came in I was stretched out on the couch, dreaming up horrible ways for Sighing Scowl to be as utterly and completely humiliated as I was."

Juri bumped Grace's shoulder lightly with his nose. "I'm sorry. You shouldn't have to change who you are just to prove to these ponies that you're good enough. You should be able to play what you like."

Grace's eyes met Juri's and their gazes held for a moment. Something in the verdant depths of Juri's eyes kept Grace's attention. Blinking rapidly, Grace realized he hadn't spoken. "Thank you, that's very kind of you." Shaking his mane out, Grace sighed. "But if I'm going to make it in this landscape, I have to make the kind of music that other ponies like."

As Grace turned to go to the kitchen, Juri couldn't help but mumble, "I like the kind of music you play."

***

Ready Set lived up to his name. Grace was ushered in quickly and guided around the colored glass facades set up behind the stage. When he'd had his audition, the glass had been black. Now on the other side, Grace could see through to the rest of the club, but the club couldn't see him. Perfect for hiding a band of noponies.

"These are the Back-Droppers. On drums, you have Metal Pedal." The mare thumped a hoof down on her namesake in greeting, banging the bottom drum of her set. "On lead guitar, you have Scratch Plate." The stallion played a few power chords and then waved. "And our masters of mouth-metals, the triplets Tenor, Alto and Soprano Sax." The trio started up a Maredi Gras-style swing, Tenor on his namesake, Alto playing a trumpet, and Soprano on trombone. "Everyone, this is Graceful Bass and he plays..." Ready trailed off as he turned back to face Grace. "Oh, I guess I never asked what you can play."

Off the top of his head, Grace started listing instruments in no particular order. "I can play electric and acoustic guitar, bass, stand-up bass, harp, violin, piano, banjo--"

"So this is our new bass player." Ready Set announced, cutting off the rest of Grace's list. "Make sure and run him through a few of the Scratch Batch's latest numbers." To Grace, Ready turned and said, "If there's anything you aren't comfortable playing, improv and if all else fails, just sit it out. Nobody expects you to do too much back here and you wouldn't attract attention with the screens up. That's part of what makes the Back-Droppers so versatile. You'll get paid per night at the end of every night, minus any drinks you pick up from the bar. Drinks aren't free, but they are half-price for Back-Droppers. Just stay sober enough to make it through the night."

With that, Ready Set went off to handle other business. Grace turned to the other Back-Droppers and smiled. The triplets eyed him with polite interest, Metal seemed intent on getting her snare set up properly (and making an appropriate amount of noise in the process). Scratch Plate levitated a stool and bass guitar over by him and looked up expectantly.

"So, played with the Back-Droppers long?" Grace asked as he sat on the stool. Running a diagnostic spell out of habit, he checked the condition of the bass guitar as Scratch responded.

"Five years. Before that, I played with the Scratch Batch. That was back when my brother lead. I played bass. Before that, I was a Club Colt. I planned events for Manehattan's Dock District. Then my bar got bought out and now, well, you could say I've fallen from grace."

Grace eyed the laughing unicorn and noted that the lighting had covered the gray hairs and wrinkles at first. Scratch Plate looked to be in his fall years. "You've been around for a while, then."

Nodding, Scratch reached out and patted Grace's shoulder. "Yeah, I have. And let me tell you, even Red Ink himself couldn't play Sitting on the Dock like what I heard earlier. You were born at the wrong time, my friend."

Grace's eyes widened. "You've heard Red Ink play?"

Scratch shook his head and looked at Grace seriously. "I played with Red Ink. Oh yes, sir! Nopony could party like Red Ink. Even the ponies today don't have the same style. Old Red could knock back more brews than you'd believe and he'd still be a gentlestallion to any sweet mare he saw. And then say the raunchiest things in a conversation in the manager's office. Real character, Old Red."

Grace laughed and shook his head. "I can't believe it."

"Well, don't take my word for it, just look here." Scratch lifted the guitar strap and flipped his instrument around to show the back. The white electric guitar was covered in all sorts of names and cutie marks. At the center, in appropriate red ink, was the name of the stallion in question.

"No, I can't believe my luck at meeting somepony who knew Red Ink. Like, really knew him! This is crazy." Grace admitted, placing a hoof to his forehead to fight the light-headedness.

"Oh boy, has Scratch star-struck another one?" Metal asked obnoxiously.

Tenor chuckled and waved a hoof at her. "Oh, come on! Let him have this, Pedal. How many other ponies even remember a name that old?"

"Can't be a lot." Alto agreed.

"Less every day." Soprano added.

Scratch let out a sharp blast-like laugh. "Ha! You foals today and your Just-In Beavers and Panic! at the Broncos."

"Can we ditch the old-nag routine and get to playing something?" Pedal asked, thumping the bass drum rhythmically.

"You got a song in mind, young lady?" Scratch asked, warming up with a few low-high sweeps.

Tenor started up a keyboard, letting out a few experimental taps and trills. His sisters followed suit on their brass.

"Let's put some spice on this beat!" Scratch shouted as the rest of the band went quiet for a second. Grace was confused momentarily, disoriented by the sudden lack of sound.

"Ole!" Everypony except Grace and Scratch yelled. Then the music struck up, with a definite southern flair. Scratch looked over to Grace, who belated picked up the bass and listened for the common bass line. Nodding, Scratch started singing a flawless Mexicanter-style ballad, in the original language. The song actually seemed melded to a rock'n'roll beat, making it that much more lively. Grace followed along, improvising when he could.

With a flourish, Scratch finished off. Once again, everypony stopped playing to let out an exclamation. Grace had just enough to quiet his strings as the others yelled out. Without missing another beat, the band launched into the next song.

Some time later, the band took a break for drinks. Most of them seemed to prefer something from the bar, Metal in particular not shy about ordering from the upper shelves. Grace contented himself on a tray of water that everypony else was ignoring. Even Scratch raised an eyebrow over his fizzy drink at Grace's drink of choice.

"Well, you got a lot of good stuff, kid. Why the hay aren't you playing for some recording studio? You would be a hell of a session musician." Scratch asked after a long drag on his drink.

Grace shrugged. "I want to be a star." The other band-mates burst out into laughter. Scratch merely looked thoughtful.

As the others went on with their own conversations, Scratch seemed to decide something. Setting his jaw, Scratch pulled Grace close. "I'll tell you what I've told every wannabe I've ever met. Watch who you make friends with. The bed you jump into might not be as cozy as it looks."

Chapter 6: Faith, Work, and Grace

"Mr. Bass, what about holding this for another two count and diving into the run after a shorter rest? Doesn't that sound better?" Blue Hope asked, pointing out a spot in the sheet music.

Grace looked over the arrangement he'd written out. "It would be, but can you get yourself prepared enough for the run with such a short rest?"

For his part, Juri was sitting at the kitchen table and listening as he sipped a cup of chai. As he drew his cup to his lips Grace idly thought about reheating his magically. Grace wasn't fond of the staining effect the tea had on his teeth, but did enjoy the taste. As Blue played out the phrase with his changes, Grace decided to get a stronger toothpaste.

Remarkably, Blue did manage to nail the new arrangement...after the third try. He really was advancing through these lessons at a greater pace than Grace anticipated. His grandfather was apparently musically inclined as well, though the bulk of the family's money came from his grandmother's diamond business.

Pausing in his ruminations, Grace decided a little praise was in order. "You've advanced quickly. You're sounding much better than I expected."

"I'm going to play for her the day we get back from break." He stated, determination written in the set of his jaw and the focus in his eyes. "It has to be perfect."

"Well, no pressure then." Grace joked, feeling uneasy on Blue's behalf. He might have progressed more quickly than expected, but had he really surpassed his rivals enough to impress the filly of his dreams? Grace hoped so.

Finished with his tea, Juri stood and called over to the pair. "If you have time to take a break, the fair is starting soon at the university."

Blue looked like he would protest, then looked down at his hooves. From experience, Grace knew they had to be pretty sore after a whole morning of practice. "Come on." Grace said encouragingly. "Let me rub some ointment into your hooves and then we'll go see what there is at the fair. Your mother paid us enough that we could probably do just about anything."

Blue shrugged, waving his lion-like tail over his forehooves. “Sure. I’ve been practicing a lot since I came over. It’ll be good to give your cherry harp a rest.”

Grace noted the deflection from Blue’s hooves, but still grabbed the jar of ointment. “Come here or you’ll be walking funny all weekend.”

Juri snorted loudly over the sink.

With a flicker of thought, Grace figured out where Juri’s mind had just gone. “Not like that! Keep your mind outta the gutter with the foal around or YOU’LL be walking funny all weekend!” Grace threatened.

Juri looked decidedly unrepentant. “Maybe I’ll just keep it up and see which one of us hits harder.” He replied, shaking his rump at Grace.

“Why you rude little—“ Grace’s outrage abated as he heard peals of laughter coming from the foal close at hoof.

Blue waved a hoof at the two of them. “You guys fight just like Grandma Facet and Grandpa Welly.”

“We’re not a couple.” Grace and Juri said simultaneously. This resulted in a renewed bout of laughter, which Juri joined in on. Grace shook his head at the two of them.

***

The campus of the University of Manehatten was large. This campus included special buildings for the performing arts, legal studies, and a few other disciplines. Walking past the library made the book nerd in Grace unreasonably happy; although they didn't even take a peek inside that building. Instead, the trio headed to the field of grass unrivaled by any except for the hoof-ball field and the largest park in Manehatten; the University of Manehatten's quad.

Booths were strewn about in an orderly fashion, although the flashy bright colors collided into each other in a dizzying kaleidoscope of brilliance. Food vendors seemed to be centered down the middle, where the intersecting paved walking paths split the field into quarters. There were game vendors, performance spaces, a petting zoo and so much more than any of the stallions expected.

"Holy Celestia." Blue Hope said softly, eyes wide. "This place is huge."

"Yeah, even back when I taught here before this wasn't this...crowded." Juri said, eying the fair with some trepidation.

Grace bumped shoulders with Juri and Blue and chuckled. "Come on, guys! Focus on the little things. Like, first we need to find something to eat. Breakfast is feeling like it was yesterday."

"You're the one who said we should go right away instead of eating lunch at home." Juri reminded Grace as the trio set off down the middle of the fair.

"Yeah, because fair food is amazing! Let's take a look, then decide what we want, okay?" Grace said. The other two agreed and the hunt for good fair food was on.

"Check it out, deep-fried-chocolate-covered-apples-on-a-stick." Juri said, pointing a hoof at a stand done up to look like a big apple.

Grace cocked his head. "I can't decide if that's the worst thing ever or the best idea anypony has ever had."

"Let's move on. That isn't food; it's a freak show." Blue Hope said, deadpan. The adult pair laughed and they headed on. In the end, Juri ended up with a fry-bread veggie taco, Grace had a bowl of rice and teriyaki stir-fried vegetables, and Blue had...

"Is that fish?" Grace asked as the foal trotted up with a basket of french fries and what were definitely battered, deep-fried fish.

"Eeyup." Blue replied, his lion-like tail swishing happily. Not for the first time, Grace wondered about the foal's parentage.

"So what, are you half-lion or -griffon or something?" Juri asked in between bites of fry-bread.

Setting his meal down on the table, Blue shook his head as he hopped onto the bench seat. "Nope. Although there are rumors that griffon is somewhere down the line for ponies with tails like mine. My dad was from a kingdom south of Saddle Arabia." He replied, swishing the tail in question.

Juri and Grace nodded, both trying not to stare at the colt as he dug into his meal. "I didn't think anypony here would sell something like that." Juri said, apparently too surprised to let the matter lie.

Grace shrugged, but Blue answered. "Actually, it was a griffon. They were a bit surprised I ordered it; they kept asking me if I didn't just want fries. There were a bunch of griffons around the stand, too. Guess it's fairly popular with them. Also, they have griffon scones."

"I have my dessert picked out." Grace announced, pouncing on the ability to change the subject.

"Deep-fried-chocolate-covered-apple-on-a-stick?" Juri asked, leaning his head on one hoof.

Grace nodded emphatically. "Deep-fried-chocolate-covered-apple-on-a-stick!"

Blue Hope shook his head wonderingly. "What is with you and apples?" He asked, ignoring Juri's sudden wide-eyed look of warning. "I mean, aren't all apples pretty much the same?"

Juri slapped his forehead with enough force that Grace was sure there'd be a mark. Smiling in spite of his friend's self-inflicted pain, Grace turned his attention to the unwitting foal. "You're so wrong. And let me tell you why."

One apple-related rant later, the trio finished their food and moved on to find something entertaining. There were carnival rides, although they decided full bellies didn't belong on fast-moving machines. Which left all sorts of games.

Taking a look at one particular stall and the fillies attempting to win a prize there, Grace leaned over to Juri and spoke. "Do you think these are rigged?" His eyes flicked back to the fillies, leaving empty-hooved after missing their target.

"Well, I'm not saying it couldn't be. But the university has rules against it." Juri stated. "And this one is pretty simple, all things considered. It just takes a bit of hoof-eye coordination and some luck."

Blue Hope stretched out lazily, his posture even more reflective of his lion-like nature. "Well, why don't you give us a practical demonstration, professor?"

"All right, easy enough." Juri replied, sauntering over to the stand with an unusual amount of confidence.

Blue Hope seemed to notice it as well. "You don't think he knows the pony running the stall do you?"

Juri handed over a few silver bits. "One set of rings, my good sir."

Grace narrowed his eyes at this antique turn of phrase. "Oh yeah, I'd say they know each other. We’ve totally been set up."

They looked on as Juri spent an inordinate amount of time lining up his shot. Then, Juri stood up straight and casually tossed the ring, almost as if he had no interest in it at all. To neither of his companion's surprise, the ring landed on the neck of a bottle perfectly. Juri pumped a hoof in celebration and picked up his second ring. Grace and Blue Hope groaned and rolled their eyes as Juri repeated his antics from the first throw. Predictably, the second ring fell perfectly around the neck of another bottle.

Dropping all pretense, Juri turned around and threw the last ring over his shoulder. With a clink, the ring fell around the neck of a third bottle. Grace and Blue clapped slowly, their faces almost mirroring each other's sarcastic smirking.

Juri returned to the other two bearing a large teddy bear on his back. "Oh, and don't forget to slip the ride operator a few extra bits so you can impress your friends. Enchanted game rings. Not on the usual menu."

Shaking his head, Grace booped the bear's nose. "Yeah, real impressive."

Juri transferred the bear onto Grace's back. "I hope so, it's for you."

***

Grace's stomach wouldn't settle and there was really only so many ways to tune a bass. Sound check was over and soon the doors would open. With a sigh, he set the guitar down gently and hopped off his stool.

The Scratch Batch were talented and charismatic; the ultimate showponies. The strength of the group was that every member utilized their strengths together. Any weakness could be covered by another member in the band. Their talents and their rapport was durable and flexible enough to cover everypony. Not that this meant it was friendly. The competition between bandmates was fierce, leading to a few blow ups during sound check that still had Grace's ears ringing.

Entering the green room, Grace was reminded how much he still had to prove of himself to these ponies. The lead singer, Mic Cords, outright refused to acknowledge his presence. Lead guitarist Pick Strummer seemed content to occasionally glance at Grace, but mostly spoke to his bandmates. The pair were over by the catering table, making use of some sort of chocolate fountain. Drummer Double Kick was the most polite, breaking most drummer stereotypes Grace had ever heard. She also appeared to be the most consistently sober, although Grace saw her hitting a few drinks now. She lounged across the couch in the middle of the room, two low-set armchairs making a c with the couch on either end.

Mic had apparently had enough alcohol to deign to acknowledge Grace's presence. Carrying a plate of chocolated-dipped strawberries on one wing, Mic sauntered over. "Well, Sunny's boy, you can tune a guitar. Congratulations, you're as useless as any techie in the building."

From her place on the couch, Double Kick threw a poorly aimed glass at Mic's head that thankfully missed, smashing on the wall behind him. "Leave the newbie alone, Microphone. You know the stage is where we settle this crap."

Mic stuck his nose up. "Well what if I don't wanna, Momma Dubz? You gonna protect Sunny's baby?"

Pick pulled Mic back towards their corner of the room, plying him with something that Grace could smell even from a fair distance away. Plopping into a couch, Grace put his head in his hooves.

A frustrated sigh sounded from the couch nearby. "Look, babe. I'm going to tell you the same thing I told every burnout wannabe before you. Your talent got you here, so don’t let your head take you somewhere your heart doesn't want to be. When you're up there with us it's all on you to make you look and sound good. Scratch says you know the songs, now you gotta own the stage. Or mess up and go home. It's all the same to me." With that, she heaved herself off the couch.

She gave a flash of magic from her horn and fixed the glass she shattered. Setting the reconstituted glass on a side table, she exited the green room, entering a room with a lit mirror before closing the door and shutting out Grace's view.

The door closing seemed to draw Mic's attention. He stared daggers at Grace, who shook his head and looked away. Pick seemed to be doing his best to sidetrack Mic, but the tension in the room remained high.

"It's time." Ready Set said from the doorway.

Author's Note

That break wasn't as restful or productive as I wanted and I know I'm "coming back" a little early here, but oh well. Best laid plans and all that. No schedule in place yet, though. Let's see how this goes.

Chapter 7: Grace the Stage

"Fillies and Gentlecolts, it is time for your favorite bunch of cover crooning cohorts! It's the Scratch Batch! Featuring Mic Drop, Pick Guard, Kick Pedal and introducing Graceful Bass!" The introduction kicked off a horde of butterflies in Grace's stomach. Squishing them back down, Grace strode unto the stage with confidence behind the other band members. They all waved to the cheering crowd and took their positions.

'Come On Twily' was this Scratch Batch's show opener and they always gave it an up tempo rock/ska twist. The result was a high energy kickstart to the performance. Grace had played behind the scenes for this song enough to know it by heart. But, to his surprise that wasn't what Mic started singing.

Instead, he started on an unfamiliar vocal run. As Mic continued, Grace belatedly realized it was a new take on the cool-down song. Quickly changing his settings to fit the song, Grace watched the other members to see if they were playing tricks on him. Pick followed the change easy enough, which was suspicious, but Kick had to scramble for her whisk, chucking one of her drumsticks in apparent frustration. In the backdrop, Grace could hear the twins start on keyboards. They were late coming in, too.

Grace realized his biggest problem right after the second verse. Pick was playing over the bass line, adding in elements Grace hadn't heard before. His freestyling forced Grace to play normally to help Kick keep the song on track. Continuing this freestyling over through the song transition, Grace went silent again as he had no idea what song they were leading into. Kick kept her namesake going to keep the beat, but she seemed at a loss as to what was coming as well. It turned out to be the Scratch Batch's usual closer song.

Then something completely unexpected happened. Pick's low and high E strings snapped simultaneously, eliciting a yelp of pain and surprise as the guitar player's hoof and forelimb were struck by the strings. Mic turned to look at Pick but soldiered on, dragging Grace and Kick along as he doggedly attempted to finish the song. Pick fled the stage to grab another guitar but didn't make it back in time to finish the song. Abruptly, Mic left the stage to go after Pick. This left Grace, Kick, and a confused crowd.

Struck by a certain realization, Grace took the center stage and started up the bass line to 'A Diamond Dog Bites The Dust.' Looking back, he saw Kick smile before she started up her drums. A voice that sounded suspiciously like Sunny's yelled out, "Sing!" This drew a round of cheers from the rest of the crowd. Strutting up to the mic, Grace started singing.

***

The ceiling, and his orientation to it, confused him. But, in the haze of pain and early-waking confusion, he was decidedly fixated on it. Eventually, there would be some sort of sense. The memories might be booze-tinged, but he had faith he would remember his name, his location, and the sequence of events that led him to stare at this ceiling. It was familiar, yet still failed to ring a bell.

At the thought of ringing bells, the pain went his head as if it were struck by a hammer. The hangover was strong, fierce, and enduring. Grace could only groan with the waves of pain and nausea. This was no ordinary hangover, Grace realized.

When the bed moved, Grace felt like a small ship on a storm-tossed sea. Juri's voice was incredibly soft, which was nice. "I'm not judging you, just so you know. From what I heard, you had a rousing success beyond your wildest dreams last night. You came back very exuberant, which was infectious until you passed out cold on my bed."

Wait, Grace thought, his bed?

"Which makes sense, given that Blue Hope is on yours. He stayed up late to see you, but passed out just before you got home. Thank Celestia for that at least. I've heard of ponies coming back from a performance with a real high, but you dragged yourself back in, stinking of booze and clinging to this." Juri held up Grace's bottle of diet pills.

When Grace didn't speak, Juri continued. "If these are what I think they are, then you should know they're highly experimental. Griffon trials have found a risk of addiction. Take enough of these for even a brief period and you start losing your head."

"Oh, please. They're a diet pill, Juri." Grace said, sitting up in an ill-conceived attempt to reassure his roommate. He held his head with both hooves as it pounded and a wave of nausea overtook him.

"Fine. How many nights have you come home after drinking?" Juri asked, standing up to look over Grace.

"Drinking or drunk?" Grace asked.

Juri's lips tightened before he spoke. "That you even had to ask that..."

"I work at a club. A few drinks isn't going to kill me. And I was celebrating a 'rousing success' at the performance last night. Thank you so much for asking about that by the way. Mic and Pick went off and left me to run the show with Kick. Crowd ate it up and I knocked them all off their hooves." Grace bragged.

"Very impressive." Juri replied in a tone that was anything but impressed. Belatedly, Grace realized Juri said Grace had already regaled him with this story.

"Thanks." Grace countered, intentionally not taking the hint. "I'll clear out of here."

If sitting up had been ill-conceived, standing up was downright stupid. The room spun, his left side went out from underneath him and he hit Juri's bedside table on the way down, bruising his flank.

"Idiot!" Juri called out in surprise. Scurrying to Grace's side, Juri heaved him back on to the bed with considerable effort. "You're still drunk from last night. Just stay there until you sober up. Then we can talk about the future. I'm going to go check on the foal you agreed to watch." Juri headed for the door.

"I'm sorry, okay? I know I went overboard." Grace said, forlornly. "I just wasn't thinking about the consequences."

Still turned away, Juri shook his head. "Yeah, you sure didn't think. Just went ahead to drink. And now you're so drunk you stink. And you've put me on the brink."

Through the haze of pain and nausea, Grace noticed that Juri hadn't made it out the door yet. "Nice rhyming. You might leave that to a professional next time though."

When Juri didn't move or respond, Grace perked his ears in Juri's direction. "What is going on? You okay?"

Grace quieted even his own breathing and strained his addled senses. He could just barely hear Juri mumbling something, but it didn't make sense. "Juri? Juristic?" When that failed, Grace went louder. "Juristic Note!"

Juri's head perked up and the stallion turned around. His face was a mask of confusion. "Wha-?"

"You were going to go check on Blue Hope." Grace said, lifting his aching head off of his hooves in spite of the pain that came with it. "Then you started rhyming. And just now you were muttering something."

"I...I was?" Juri's eyes widened, his brow shot back. Just as quickly as the shock registered, his face took on a more concentrated look. He turned to look at his dresser drawer. Grace saw his lips move again, as if he was talking to somepony else.

"Juri! You're really starting to freak me out." Grace said, setting one forehoof down gingerly on the floor.

"No! Stay on the bed. Don't fall again. I'll be back. Gotta check on Blue. Through. Too. You. New. Crew. Dew." The stallion looked horrified, then turned around again to leave.

"Juri, focus!" Grace cautioned as the stallion ran into the door. Juri shook his head, looked back in embarrassment and exited the room. From his hoofsteps, Grace realized the other stallion had just gone into the bathroom.

***

The second time Grace woke up, he felt bad. Not just the hangover from hell, but also that he'd stressed out Juri. Getting up gingerly, Grace favored his left side as he got up and walked to the kitchen.

Poking his head into the fridge, Grace saw a jug of some sort of juice with his name on it. He reached out magically, which sent his headache into overdrive, breaking his concentration. Reaching out with a hoof, Grace brought the jug to the kitchen table. He didn't even bother to grab a glass, instead drinking straight from the jug.

After a moment, he realized he felt a little better, his headache was easing. By the time he finished the jug, he was almost back to normal.

"I picked up the strongest hangover potion I could. Dropped Blue back off with his mother. I explained the situation. Made you sound better than you deserved. Said you were sick." Juri explained, his voice devoid of emotion. Grace looked over and saw him sitting on the couch in the dark.

"Thank you. I don't deserve you, either." Grace said, hanging his head at the table.

"You're lucky. You shouldn't have been drinking with a foal around. Or you shouldn't have had a foal around while you worked nights at a club." Juri said, his stoicism holding out.

"I'll keep that in mind. Sorry again." Grace said.

Juri sighed. "You gonna keep taking those griffon pills?"

"I'm not addicted to them." Grace said, defensively.

Even in the dark, Grace could see Juri shrug. "Then give them up. Taking them with alcohol is even worse." Juri suggested. His monotonous tone started to grate on Grace's nerves.

"You're not my mother, Juri." Grace said, wincing at the immaturity.

"And yet this is my home. Boat. Home boat." Juri sounded unsure of himself.

"Houseboat." Grace corrected. "All those hours are starting to add up, Juri."

"I can handle it. I just...forgot to take care of myself. You could say we both have a bit of a problem in that department." Juri said.

"Maybe I'll just take my problems and go." Grace threatened.

Juri's head finally turned to look at Grace. "Go take a walk then. Maybe you'll find someplace better."

Grace stood, feeling quite like a teenager throwing a tantrum but unable to stop himself. "Maybe I will."

Juri shook his head as Grace grabbed his saddlebags and opened the door. "I hope you do."

His first stop was to talk to Blue and his mother. Neither were home, so Grace left a note of apology on the door and went on to see Sunny.

He found the barpony at the Lemonlight, getting some prep work done. Sunny looked up as Grace entered. "Well, you look like you've had a hell of a night."

"My roommate is pissed at me." Grace explained.

"Considering how drunk you got last night, I'm not surprised." Sunny said with a laugh. "I am surprised that you're up so early, though. Well, relatively early."

"Yeah, well, thank the roommate on that score as well." Grace replied.

"You sure this isn't just a roommate? I wouldn't judge you." Sunny said, looking at Grace with a skeptical eye.

Grace lifted an eyebrow. "I...well I don't think he even thinks that way. He's a crime statistic calculating robot with occasional pony-like tendencies."

Sunny filled a glass with ice and water and passed it across the bar. "And those pony-like tendencies include caring about you. Even just as a friend, that's pretty rare in this city."

"We're not from this city." Grace pointed out before taking a drink.

Sunny nodded. "Then I recommend you stay together. Look out for each other. Any pony that would chew you out for getting drunk is probably worth the effort. If my three previous marriages are anything to go by, you can take that as a fact."

"Thanks Sunny." Grace said, looking down again. "You ever picked up a bad habit?"

The barpony nodded. "Quite a few. Went to rehab more times than I can count before I quit my problems and got up enough money to buy an old crumbling church." Sunny said.

Grace shook his head. "Well, that worked out for you."

"I've been lucky. I nipped my problems before they nipped me. I've lost many, many friends to some seemingly harmless habits." Sunny said, wiping the same spot on the bar absent-mindedly.

Grace felt like a proper idiot. "Well, looks like I've got to nip something as well."

"You need any help, let me know." Sunny said.

"Got a place I can stay tonight?" Grace asked.

"Stallion up and go back and apologize to that 'roommate' of yours until he forgives you." Sunny said firmly.

"Yes, sir." Grace said with a teasing grumble. Finishing the glass of water, Grace hopped down from the bar and headed home.

Chapter 8: Saving Grace

With a sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach, Grace shoved his anxieties aside and opened the front door. The entire houseboat was dark, the curtains drawn and the lights out. Igniting his horn, Grace looked around for the light switch. As soon as he flipped the switch, he could hear Juri sniffling in his room. Feeling about as low as a tadpole, Grace walked over to Juri's room and tapped on the door with a hoof.

Hooves pounded on the floor in what Grace could only figure was a gallop and Juri opened the door so hard it banged off the wall and bounced back. Taking stock of the messier-than-usual brown mane and the tearstained streaks coming down from red-rimmed eyes, Grace felt like a total ass. "Juri, I'm sorry." He went to hug the other stallion. Juri returned the favor and the two held each other close. Grace opened his eyes and spotted Juri's opened top drawer. Sitting in plain view was a bottle of pills.

Anger flashed in Grace's stomach. "Juri. What the hell is that?"

Juri looked up in confusion, but then his gaze followed Grace's outstretched hoof. Immediately, Juri looked down at the floor. "I didn't want you to find out this way."

Grace took a deep breath and a step back from the earth pony. "What. The hell. Is that? You give me grief about my pills but you've got a bottle of your own right there? That's such hypocritical bull!"

Juri shook his head, fresh tears streaming down his face. "It's not like that. I swear, these aren't..."

"What the hell are they, then?" Grace yelled. Juri winced at the volume and Grace felt a flash of remorse before his eyes caught the pill bottle again. The bottle was a transparent brown. There was a label on it. It looked a bit like something you'd find--

"They're prescription. I go see a doctor every so often to keep track. Well, I'm supposed to, at least. I've been a little busy so I keep making excuses not to go. And I keep forgetting to take them." It clicked in Grace's head, they looked like something you'd find in a pharmacy. If he thought he felt like an ass before, now he felt like an ass's ass.

"What are they for? You're not sick or...dying or anything, are you?" Grace said, practically choking on the thought.

Juri shook his head. Without meeting his eyes, Juri tapped the side of his head. "They're for my head. The pills help me think normally. Without them, I forget things. Like the dinner I tried making but burned. I also...hear things that aren't there. And when I'm particularly stressed, I can't speak right. Like this morning. If I don't take them, I'm weird. If I do take them, sometimes I'm just so emotionally drained that I push ponies away without even thinking about it. When you left. After everything we said this morning...I was afraid you wouldn't come back. I knew you wouldn't. Nopony has ever...especially when I tell them..."

Grace looked back at the red-coated stallion and noticed his posture. Juri's forehooves hugged himself tightly as he sat on his hind legs. His eyes were squeezed shut tightly, tears still rolling down his face. Without thinking, Grace grabbed Juri and hugged him tightly again. "I'm not leaving you. I came back. I'm sorry. I'm so, so very sorry."

Juri pushed on Grace's chest, not ready to accept the other stallion at his word. "No. You don't understand. I'm not a well-minded pony. You shouldn't have to live with me bringing you down."

Grace snorted. "Are you kidding me? You've been supporting me this entire time! That's amazing, given how much you have to deal with at work. And on top of it all you have this...condition? I would have resigned myself to a much more mediocre life than yours. I practically have!"

"Don't say that." Juri protested feebly.

"I will!" Glancing to his left, Grace noticed Juri's full-length mirror. Juri was in perfect position to look into it, if he turned a bit and opened his eyes. "Here, turn this way." Grace got behind Juri and turned him to the mirror. "What do you see?"

Juri huffed. "I see a red-coated earth pony. Brown mane. Green eyes. Glasses. Scrawny. Nothing much to write home about."

Grace shook his head. "I see a lean stallion, with intelligence burning behind those glasses in eyes the color of finely polished emeralds. When he remembers to take care of it, his tan mane reminds me of freshly turned soil. He's as eager to soak up information as that soil would water. His coat is like shining new copper, gleaming in quite a fetching manner, if I may be so bold. I see a strong pony. I see a pony who gets a little wrapped up in understanding criminal behavior that he forgets to monitor his own. If he has a flaw, it is that he cares. And I wouldn't call that a flaw at all. Nothing like me. You don't deserve to be tied down with me, if anything."

Juri turned around and poked Grace in the nose. "No. I should have decked you when you said that earlier. You don't get to decide that you don't 'deserve' anypony. What do you see?" Juri asked as he traded places with Grace.

"Juri, I really don't..." Grace started, turning around.

This earned him a sharp bop on the head. "Shut up and do it, Gracie."

"Fine. Just never call me Gracie again." Grace grumbled. Turning towards his own reflection, Grace sighed. "I am a unicorn. Stallion. A bit moreso around the torso. White coat, black mane, blue eyes. I look like any other pony that you could run into. There are certainly a lot of white-coated ponies around."

Grace went to leave, but Juri's hooves grabbed him by the shoulders and held him in place. "I see a talented unicorn stallion with just enough around his middle to make him well worth cuddling. His brilliant white coat gleams in the sunlight, setting off his mane that shines like ebony. His eyes are a sea of understanding, in a face that radiates confidence thanks to everywhere his hooves have been. While somepony may underestimate the mind behind those blues, I know that it holds so much creativity and joy that appreciates even the small things. Like apples."

Turning around, Grace found himself in Juri's embrace again. Not having anticipated this, Grace tripped over the stallion, only barely managing to keep them both from hitting the ground by catching one hoof on the dresser. The action carried Juri out of his center of gravity. This left his body slanting backwards, supported mainly by Grace's hoof underneath him. With a smirk, Grace brought his other hoof off of the dresser and over to caress Juri's upturned, even-more-red-than-normal face. Leaning in, Grace took possession of Juri's slightly parted lips, kissing the stallion deeply.

As their lips parted, Grace's eyes bulged. "Juri, I..."

Before he could say another word, Juri went in on Grace and returned his kiss with another. By the time the stallions parted again, they were breathing quite heavily.

"Sweet, merciful Luna." Grace said, eyes wide in wonder.

"Forget her. Get me on that bed." Juri instructed.

With a laugh, Grace obliged. Setting the stallion down, Grace's hooves went up rather absent-mindedly to fix his mane. This resulted in a snort from Juri who proceeded to pull Grace down over him, embracing him around the neck to kiss him with more passion.

Coming up for air again, Grace laughed breathlessly. "I'm starting to wonder who's seducing who here?"

Juri shrugged. "Jeez, is everything a competition with you? If you're wondering about that, then maybe you should put that brainpower to solving a really hard problem that both of us seem to be having."

Grace's smirk returned. "Oh, I have a couple of things in mind already."

"Good, then come back here." Juri said, beckoning with one hoof.

***

As both stallions lay side by side in Juri's bed, Juri couldn't help but wonder aloud. "Has anypony ever called you amazing, Grace?"

Turning onto his side, Grace traced his hoof on Juri's soft underbelly. "You're pretty amazing yourself, Juri."

"I'm sorry I made such a fuss over how drunk you were." Juri started.

Grace hushed him. "No, no. You were right. I'm going to leave off on those pills and drink less. I don't need either of those things to be the best performer on the stage."

"I'm glad to hear you say that." Juri said, snuggling against Grace's side. "Just tell me one more thing. Will you still love me tomorrow?"

Grace snorted. "Of course, and the next day and so on. I'm not the kind to dip a hoof in and leave when the water's not to my liking. You're actually...my first."

Juri laid an ear against Grace's chest. "No way. Really?"

"Well, the first to go all the way. I've done kissing and just about everything except taking the, uh, plunge as it were." Grace felt his cheeks warm up as he admitted his history.

"That's really something. I'm glad I could be your first. Are you hungry?" Juri asked.

A bit taken by the change in subject, Grace decided not to pursue their previous conversation and indulged Juri instead. "Do you mean, 'Do you want to fix breakfast, Grace?'”

"I can make cereal." Juri countered.

"That's alright. I'm in the mood for waffles. I think I have some batter left over that's still good. Have you taken your medication?"

"Need to do it on a full stomach."

"Well, let's go fill it." As Grace got up, he noticed the condition they were both in. "Um, after a shower, shall we?"

"You can go first." Juri offered.

"Or we can go together." Grace replied.

"I like the way you think." Juri admitted, getting up to follow Grace to the bathroom.

***

Freshly showered and ready to eat, Juri set the table as Grace plated up breakfast. The fact they were eating it in the mid-afternoon made no difference to either stallion. "I used the last of the berries. We're going to have to head to the market tomorrow.

"Can do. Next week is going to be fun, though. My next check isn't coming until the end of the week. And I might have slightly overspent." Juri admitted, sitting at the table as Grace brought the serving plate over.

Just before Grace could take his seat, there was a knock at the door. Bouncing up, Grace waved a hoof at Juri to stay put as he headed to answer.

Sunset waved a hoof as the door opened. "Sorry. Never knocked on a houseboat before. Wasn't sure if I should board and knock or yell or... Anyway," Sunset shook his head to gather his thoughts and continued, "I forgot to give you your pay from last night when you stopped by earlier."

Sunny handed over an envelope. Grace accepted it, then his eyes widened as he felt its weight. "Sunny, wait."

Sunset shook his head, smiling widely. "Nope. No mistake. You and Kick basically headlined last night. And you impressed Scowl. Although he will most definitely not admit it."

"Sweet Luna, Sunny. This is...amazing. Thank you." Grace said, laughing in relief.

Sunny smirked. "So, the 'roommate' let you back in, eh?"

Grace's white cheeks went red. Coughing into a hoof, Grace looked away and smiled. "Yeah. He did."

"And I take it he was happy to see you?" Sunny said, a single eyebrow rising slowly.

Grace shook his head. "You might have been right about a few things."

"Well, take care of each other. I'll see you next week. We have a special act coming in this weekend. The Duke has released a new album and is touring nightclubs to promote it." Sunny explained.

"That sounds exciting!" Grace exclaimed.

Sunset nodded. "It should be. He packed the first club he did last weekend. I still haven't let Scowl forget about it. Well, take care!" Sunny said, turning to head back down the dock ramp.

"You too!" Grace said as he closed the door. Returning to the table, Grace caught Juri's gaze.

"So...should we have the 'what are we to each other' talk?" Juri asked, cutting into his waffle with a butter knife.

Grace nodded as he sat down. "Yes. Yes we should. I think we've gone beyond roommates or friends."

"I should hope so." Juri said with a smile.

"So...a couple? I'm yours and your mine; that sort of thing?" Grace offered.

Juri nodded. "Exclusively, I don't want you sleeping around with groupies."

Grace laughed. "Well, I don't think I will have to worry about groupies just yet. I've only had one public performance. And I am still stuck with a name that doesn't exactly roll off the tongue. Graceful Bass."

Juri cocked his head in thought, then smiled. "What about Amazing Grace?"

Chapter 9: Grace is Enough Part 1

Their limbs were still tangled together with the sheets, leading Grace to briefly wonder how he was going to get up without waking the other stallion. Sunlight had crept in through the curtains to illuminate Juri's jawline. Grace watched the motes floating in the ray of light above Juri's face and his imagination turned to faeries and sprites dancing over his sleeping special somepony. Juri's slow breathing drew Grace's attention next and the stallion laid his head against Juri's chest to hear the steady beating of his heart. Grace couldn't help but marvel that such a peacefully slumbering, near-angelic wonder of a pony was really his. All his.

"I have to pee. Are you done being sappy?" Juri asked, blearily. "Don't think I didn't notice you staring at me for, like, ever."

"Way to ruin the mood. And I'm first." Grace said impudently, fighting the sheets to escape the bed first and claim the bathroom.

"Like tartarus!" Juri snarled, doing his best to hinder Grace's efforts to reach the bathroom first.

"I was awake first!" Grace complained as he got all fours on the ground, only to have Juri jump on his back. Grace sprawled out on the floor, not having anticipated the other stallions' weight.

"I had more water than you did last night! I'm gonna burst!" Juri replied as he crawled over Grace. Grace flipped onto his back and grabbed Juri's sides.

"Stop or I tickle you!" Grace threatened.

"Tickle me and I pee on you!" Juri warned.

"Eww, I didn't know you were into that." Grace said snarkily, earning himself a light tap on the nose. Grace released Juri, who walked over him and bolted into the bathroom.

"Keep those thoughts to yourself, weirdo." Juri said as he closed the door.

Finishing their normal morning routine without further rough-horsing, the pair made their way to the kitchen and chatted amicably as they prepared breakfast together.

"Not that I'm eager to never see you, but when does the next phase of your criminology study begin?" Grace asked as he sliced fresh bread for thick toast.

Juri sighed as he studied the silverware. "Next week. The statisticians are really eager to continue. They're especially keen on going into survey certain...incarcerated individuals. They want to see which variables they can manipulate to have the broadest impact as far as prevention."

"You sound less-than-enthused about the prospect." Grace commented as he mixed together eggs, cinnamon, melted butter and milk.

"Oh no, why wouldn't I be thrilled to visit a prison and talk to the roughest ponies around? Especially when..." Juri drifted off. The meaning was clear; Juri still wasn't back to normal. Grace hadn't spent a year on the sea without learning to spot the warning signs of an impending storm. He felt confident that he was well-braced for any weather.

"Juristic," Grace began carefully, "I know you really haven't felt up to it since our fight, but maybe you need to introduce yourself more slowly back into pony society. Keeping cooped up here won't do you any favors in the long run."

Juri took a breath and held it a moment before letting it out slowly. "I'm just not ready right now."

Grace brought breakfast over to the table, setting the serving plate down gently in his magic as he wrapped his hooves around Juri's neck from behind. "It doesn't have to be today. But soon, my love."

"Soon." Juri agreed. "Just let me get there in my own time, okay?"

"Okay. I promise." Grace replied as Juri kissed the place where Grace's hooves crossed. Juri was so wrapped up in the sweetness of the moment, he didn't quite realize the significance of the hooves crossed in front of him. Grace hadn't specifically meant to be dishonest, but the thought was in the back of his mind. The gears were already working on a plan of his own to help his lover.

"Stallions and Gentlemares! Warming the stage before our headliner, please welcome Kick Petal and Amazing Grace!"

To really sell the 'Amazing' bit, Grace used part of his pay on buying a new instrument; a double-neck guitar. Kick came out first, starting up a drum solo that really got everypony's attention. As she made the final rimshot, Grace slid across the stage and grabbed the double-neck sitting at center. Spinning around, he got the strap over himself and started a run up the bass neck, transitioning to the regular neck flawlessly. Kick answered the challenge by rattling off a complicated drum sequence. Grace's hooves slid over the strings as he responded. They continued their game of one-upping each other until they made the transition into their first song.

Grace kept an eye out on a particular member of this crowd. Juri had finally finished the first part of his criminology study and was looking fine in his suit. Another portion of Grace's money had been spent on the outfit he had on, a deep blue jacket with white shirt and matching hat. The song ended with Grace holding the last note with exuberance. Juri rushed the stage, forgetting propriety for a moment to share a passionate kiss...

...at which point Grace woke up from the dream he was having and groaned softly. In truth, he'd been trying to get Juri to come to a show, or even go outside for more than just a little walk once a day. Juri blamed his skittishness on returning to a proper routine with his medication, but Grace had his doubts. Although he'd studied the criminal mind, Grace had studied the average pony, albeit in a less formal setting. And all his experience led Grace to believe that Juri was afraid.

To his credit, Grace lasted another three days before attempting to broach the subject. In the time between, Grace made preparations for a special surprise for Juri and worked out some time with Sunny to plan around a little vacation. On the fourth morning after Grace last tried to get Juri out of the boathouse, Grace awoke early. Keeping as quiet as possible, Grace made breakfast in bed for his special somepony.

"Juri..." Grace practically purred in Juri's ear. Given how the stallion had been trying in vain to pretend he wasn't awake, the irritated flick of his ear was to be expected. Cracking open one lid, Juri took a deep breath through his nostrils. Wafting on the slight breeze in the room, the scent of pancakes and syrup hit his senses with all the subtlety of a careening carriage. All of the alarm bells in Juri's head went off.

Sitting upright, Juri stared at Grace with unusual intensity. "What did you do?"

Grace's ears flicked forward in surprise. "What? What are you talking about?"

Juri looked pointedly at the tray of breakfast floating in the hold of Grace's magic. "It's not my birthday. It's not any sort of anniversary. So why are you trying to butter me up for breakfast in bed?"

Chuckling, Grace set the tray down over Juri's lap. "Can't fool you, huh? I suppose I should just be direct. Go ahead and eat, I made enough for both of us."

Turning his gaze back down at the food, Juri realized Grace wasn't kidding. The stack of pancakes, the bowl of berries, and even the glass of orange juice was enough for both of them. The juice even had two straws!

Picking up a fork, Juri began to start on his pancakes. Not to be distracted, he looked back at Grace and prompted him. "Well, go ahead and try to talk me into whatever hare-brained scheme you have planned."

Grace sighed, a smile overtaking his features in spite of the concerted effort to ruin the atmosphere. "Well, since you insist. I went out yesterday and got everything ready for a little date."

Juri set his fork down. "What part of 'in my own time' did you not get? Grace, I can't handle..."

Holding a hoof up, Grace interjected. "I know, which hasn't made this easy. Luckily, there's a beach north of here that doesn't get much traffic, even in summer. Sunny owns a little beach house up there and so the strip of shoreline is only ever used by the neighbors. Should be quiet enough to not set you off."

Picking his fork back up warily, Juri stabbed the stack of pancakes and brought a forkload up. "Not that I'm saying yes, but, how would we be getting up there?"

"Hired a carriage. Enclosed, so it won't be over-stimulating." Grace answered readily.

"Wait you already hired the carriage? Confident much?" Juri asked.

"My pancakes are just that good, love." Grace replied, kissing Juri's forehead.

Frowning in mock severity, Juri picked his fork back up and huffed. "Well, I will be the judge of that. Now stop stealing all the blueberries!"

The sound of the sea against the shore by now was almost as natural and unnoticeable to the pair of stallions as their own breathing. Even so, there was something innately special about that same sound as they stood on an unfamiliar shore. Grace's heart felt open and free; he could only hope that Juri felt the same. Juri's face was peaceful, his eyes closed as if he were asleep standing up. His ears were the only clue that he wasn't; Juri's ears flicked to and fro occasionally to catch one sound or another.

At length, Juri opened his eyes slowly. "I suppose a beach date and a night on solid ground will be good. Won't have the same feel when we try to sleep, but I trust your hooves will feel the same."

"We can test that out." Grace said playfully, nipping at Juri's ear.

A smirk spread across Juri's features. "Later. First things first, did you bring the sunscreen?"

Grace huffed slightly. "I did."

After a beat, Juri let out a short laugh. "Well, unless you want to look like me, except in pain, then I suggest you apply some sunscreen. Honestly, with your nighttime tendencies and pale coat, I'm surprised you don't burn more often."

Grace pouted. "That's what my coat is supposed to be for. But no, I had to take after my mother and have a white, short coat. Although I'd probably overheat more if I'd taken after dad. His was shaggy and tan."

"Well, taking after your mother certainly explains a few of your behaviors." Juri joked. At Grace's sour expression, Juri nudged him with his nose. "No, I'm not serious about all that gender role nonsense. I like a stallion who can cook, sing, and occasionally take his head out of his own plot long enough to do other more pleasurable things with it."

Grace mulled the last bit over. "Wait. Do you mean doing pleasurable things with my head or my..."

Before Grace could finish his question, Juri put a hoof over his mouth and smiled. "Tell you what, why don't I spread the sunscreen on you myself. Help you get all those hard-to-reach places?"

With a speed that surprised his partner, Grace retrieved the sunscreen bottle. Knowingly, Juri looked at Grace from the tips of his perked ears to the swish in his tail. "Well, somepony looks suddenly excited. It hasn't been that longs since my hooves were caressing your coat."

"Less talking, more touching." Grace demanded playfully.

Juri rolled his eyes as he took possession of the bottle. Grace quickly set out the large beach blanket, umbrella, and cooler. Flopping down on the blanket, Grace craned his neck around to look at Juri like an eager puppy. Juri laughed, taking this excitement in good humor, and set to putting his hooves to work. "No moaning, okay? Let's not make this weird."

Grace sighed gustily. "Okay."

In a fit of orneriness, Juri squirted a generous amount directly onto Grace's back. Crying out in dismay, Grace protested. "Hey! You could warm it up a little first!"

"I could, but you need to cool down a bit first." Juri bantered.

Grace would have argued further, but Juri set to spreading the sunscreen. Rubbing in the lotion, Juri took it a bit further to give Grace a little massage. "That good?"

"You'd know it was if I was allowed to moan. I've actually had a knot right there in my back. Stress, probably." Grace replied.

"No moaning. Use your words." Juri warned. "What's stressing you out?"

Grace sighed as Juri applied more pressure to the problem area. "Well, just all the little things adding up, I guess. I have a tendency to blow things out of proportion sometimes. Especially when all the information I have leads me to a worst case scenario. Which I then prepare for."

"And in that preparation, you psyche yourself out. Yeah, I can see that being stressful. New ventures are tough, but ultimately, I have confidence in your ability to cope with different situations." Juri said, reassuringly.

Stopping to add some more lotion (as well as warming it up in his hooves first), Juri turned his attention to Grace's flanks. In black, the familiar facing bass clefs stood in stark contrast to the white coat around it. It was a bold symbol, not unlike the boldness that Grace showed on the odd occasion. Grace smiled and settled his head onto his forehooves as Juri traced the mark on both sides gently.

"Um, hi?" A higher tenor voice called out. Grace and Juri both whipped their heads to their right, where a pair of stallions stood just a few yards away. The one who called out gave a timid wave. He was a red unicorn with black points on all four legs and his muzzle. His mane was mostly black, save for a shock of white just to one side of his horn. His partner stood a few inches taller; his coat was a sky blue with a mane as white as clouds. The sky-blue stallion was an earth pony, his white muzzle held a big toothy smile. "Sorry to bother you, but my husband and I are getting a little bored playing with ourselves."

"Life meant by ourselves." The blue earther corrected.

Life, the unicorn, got impossibly redder around the cheeks. "Yes. By ourselves. Would you care to join us for a little volley ball?"

Juri spoke up first. "I'm not particularly sporty."

"Oh good, you can be on Div's side. He's a Royal Guard, so he needs someone less sporty to keep it fair." Life said, good-naturedly. He turned his head to address Grace. "What do you say, Bass of Hearts?"

"You just want to have a game of unicorns vs earth ponies." Div said in mock accusation.

"Don't whine just because you'd lose to the unicorn master race." Life said, challengingly.

"Oh, that's just asking for it! C'mon, Book Weigher, let's show these unicorns what Earth ponies can do." Div called out to Juri.

"Are we really going to get involved in this couple's taunt battle?" Juri asked as Grace stood up.

"Oh, it'll be fun. The banter between these two alone would make it well worth the effort. Besides, we have to tell them our real names sometime. Although Bass of Hearts sounds like a great name." Grace replied.

Juri shook his head and led the way to the volleyball net. "Book Weigher is decidedly less cool."

"So what are your real names?" Life asked, falling in step with the pair. Div followed close behind.

"I'm Grace and this is Juri." Grace said.

"How do you end up with a name like Grace?" Life asked.

Grace rolled his eyes. "How do you end up with a name like Div?"

Div smiled and leaned in. "Sogni DiVolare. It's Bitalian. It means..."

Life cut him off and stepped between Div and Grace. "You're married."

"This was your idea." Div pouted.

"Yeah, don't make me regret it." Life said.

To cut the awkward tension, Grace piped up. "Graceful Bass. That's the full name. My mother named me while my father was snowed in the house. By the time he thawed his way out, the name was stuck."

"That is the most hillbillygoat thing I've heard." Div said, to Life's indignant frustrated moan. Juri didn't look particularly thrilled with the comment either.

Grace took it in good humor. "I grew up in the mountains north of Vanhoover. I've got quite a few 'hillbillygoat' stories."

"Well, let's see what a country-fried hick knows about beach volleyball." Div said as he took his place. Life lightly punched Div's shoulder on his way past.

"Be nice, Div." Life said, warningly.

"You sure about this?" Juri asked.

"They seem nice enough. We'll play a little and then do our own thing. Okay?" Grace gave Juri a quick hug as the stallion nodded.

Grace took a look around as the other stallions got into position. Life levitated the beach ball over from a nearby umbrella. Div tensed, waiting to spring while Juri looked on, unsure of himself. Grace tried to give Juri a reassuring smile before the game got underway.

Author's Note

Ready, set, SPIKE :moustache:

No, not that Spike!

Chapter 11: Grace Insufficient

They ambled along the road a short distance to the boardwalk. The afternoon sun hung over the waves, casting shadows that grew steadily longer. Grace was in no hurry, and Juri decided to let his colt-friend take the lead. Their pace allowed for the occasional casual remark about this, that, or another thing. Neither stallion wanted to face the questions they refused to ask.

After another lull in the mindless conversation, Grace noted that there were more ponies around them. He glanced at Juri, who seemed to be faring well. The closer they got to the boardwalk, the less sure Grace felt about the whole idea. "We could just grab a few ingredients and head home," Grace offered.

Juri snorted. "I'm fine, Grace. Look, there's a concert about to start."

Grace turned to look where Juri was looking. There was a stage set up in the middle of the boardwalk. As he watched, the band struck up a very familiar tune.

"It's The Duke!" Grace exclaimed as a well dressed stallion took to the stage.

Sidling up to the edge of the fence that circled the crowd, Juri tapped Grace. "I thought The Duke retired from performing a while ago?"

Grace practically vibrated with excitement. "Remember Sunny said that he was making a comeback? I thought it was just clubs he was performing at. It doesn't look like a tribute act, though."

"Mr. Grace?" A familiar voice called beside him. "It is you! I didn't know you'd be in town right now!" Blue Hope swished his lion-like tail excitedly.

"Hi Blue! Are you here with your mom?" Grace asked, scanning the crowd.

"Yeah, and my grandpa." He pointed towards the front of the stage.

"Oh that's cool." Grace said as he tried to see where Blue was pointing. "At the front row?"

"Uh, not exactly." Blue pushed Grace's head up and pointed higher. Three backup singers were dancing in sync and in the middle of the trio was...

"Your mom can sing?" Grace asked, astonished at her energy.

Blue's eye twitched. "Yeah, okay, yes. But she learned it from my grandpa." The hoof turned to The Duke, unmistakable given how few ponies were front and center on the stage.

"Come on up, I can get you backstage." Blue Hope led the way, his lion-tail swishing happily.

Grace looked at Juri, who shrugged and followed the colt. "Who'd've thought?"

The security guard took a moment to get passes brought up, but then they were in. From the right wing, they had quite a view of the show.

"Blue, I swear to Luna that if you walk off like that again, your grandpa is going to kill me." A bookish-looking forest-green pegasus mare flapped her wings irritably. "What were you out in the crowd for?"

"I saw my music teacher! Mr. Story, this is Per Diem, my grandfather's manager," Blue Hope said by way of introduction.

"Pleasure to meet you." Grace held out a hoof.

"Likewise." Per Diem took his hoof in hers. "Would you like to stand in the wings and watch? He's really going strong today! I haven't seen him this excited in years." Per Diem led us to the wings at stage right and Grace couldn't believe he was standing scant feet away from one of his idols performing.

He couldn't help himself, Grace tapped a hoof, shook his tail and egged Juri and Blue to dance along. Juri contentedly tapped a hoof, Blue was a better dancer than Grace expected and even Per Diem couldn't help but rustle her wings. It was one of The Duke's barn-burning funky songs. The horns were playing strong and loud; the guitars were laying down a groove that'd knock you over.

Grace could feel it coming, and he slowed down to watch as The Duke set up for a vocal run. Then it happened. Grace knew the song by heart, the run was iconic and memorable. The band cut out, The Duke took a breath and...

Grace sang the vocal run to a high crescendo.

Alone.

Off stage.

The Duke stopped and looked directly at Grace. His expression was inscrutable. Grace's eyes widened as he realized he'd just stepped on the hooves of one of the most popular entertainers of all time. The band was confused, some kept playing until they realize the others weren't. The Duke looked around.

Then he laughed. "Well buck my head off! Get out here you crazy unicorn!"

Grace looked at Juri, who was equal parts amused and horrified. He turned to Blue, who shrugged and pointed out to his grandfather. In desperation, Grace looked for Per Diem. It was when he felt her hooves on his flanks that Grace realized she's pushing him on stage.

His hooves caught up with the rest of him and he staggered a bit awkwardly before ascending the stairs and walking out on stage with The Duke.

"Now, mind you mares and gentlecolts, I could have done the same thing he just did, but at my age it takes an extra beat and an extra breath." The Duke patted his shoulder. The crowd whooped and hollered. "Now what is your name?"

A microphone instantly popped up in front of him. "A-amazing," He cleared his throat and tried again. "Amazing Grace, sir."

"Amazing Grace? Well you know that's right, ain't it everypony?" The crowd roared. "Well, let's see that Amazingness in action in front of this group of fine fillies and colts! Players! Gimme that last verse again! Grace, you know what to do!"

The band struck up with vigor once more, and Grace found himself singing and dancing with The Duke on stage in front of hundreds of ponies. The song hits that place again and the band drops out once more. He looked to The Duke to see him just wave him ahead, microphone at his side, and Grace let go with a vocal run just like his, but with a higher end note.

The Duke leaned away backwards, his eyes widening. He shook his head and looked out to the crowd. The song went to the final phrase and The Duke walked over to stage left as Grace finished up. The Duke bowed to him as the band finished. The crowd went deafening. As Grace bowed, The Duke came up and hugged Grace.

As he did, he whispered in Grace's ear, "Now get the hell off my stage and keep your mouth shut!" Pulling back, he smiled at Grace to let him know he was only mock-serious before he turned back to the audience. "Amazing Grace everypony! You're gonna have to look out for this cat the next time you're in Manehatten's Lemonlight Club!"

His ears perked up at that last bit as Grace exited the stage. He looked at Per Diem as she applauded me. She leaned in as Grace got close.

"Sunny can't stop talking about you. Big Red too. Don't worry, Sunny will pay us for that little plug just now. And since he's smart, he'll only deduct it out of the increased cut from The Duke marketing it himself. Don't be surprised when your club is packed for the next few weeks." Per Diem walked away, fluffing her wings as she went.

Grace couldn't stop the music in his head, though, and he sang a few bars as they made their way through the pier. Juri followed, and it took nearly a full song before Grace realized Juri wasn't beside him.

"Juri?" Grace asked, wheeling around. "Are you doing okay?"

"I'm, um, fine. Line. Sign. No!" Closing his eyes, Juri stepped to the side and leaned against a wall. "Overstimulated. I guess."

Looking around at the increased crowd after the performance, Grace realized just how much trouble they were in. "Let's get back to the condo then. Just give me your hoof and keep your eyes closed."

"Quiet, I'm trying my best!" Juri suddenly snapped. "I'm not weak!"

"I didn't say you were...Juri look at me." Grace held either side of Juri's face and resisted the urge to shake his boyfriend. Juri opened one eye, but wouldn't look at Grace.

"Juristic!" Grace said loudly.

"Shh! I'm trying. Tying. Spying. Crying. Ugh!" Juri's eyes screwed shut again. With a gasp, Juri snapped both eyes open and locked onto Grace's gaze. "Get me out of here."

Grace nodded, grabbing one of Juri's hooves. "Come on, keep your eyes closed and stay close."

"Closed. Close. Closed. Close." Juri repeated, seemingly unable to stop himself. Grace worried, but then the crowd thinned out and they were able to exit the boardwalk. Grace shoved Juri into a taxi and held him as he rocked all the way to the beach house. Paying the driver, Grace half-carried, half-levitated Juri into the house.

Leaving Juri on the couch, Grace rushed into the bedroom and started searching through Juri's things for the pills. When the dresser failed, he turned to Juri's luggage. Poring through every pocket, Grace could hear Juri talking to himself in the next room. While he couldn't understand what the stallion was saying, he could hear him getting louder.

Grace left the luggage and went back to the living room. Juri was rocking on the edge of his seat on the couch. His eyes were screwed shut and he was whispering something.

"Juri, where's your pills?" Grace asked, his voice taking on an edge he hadn't intended.

"I just missed a dose. I didn't think it would be this bad." Juri put his head in his hooves and kept rocking.

"Where are they, Juri?" Grace repeated. He walked around the coffee table and stopped short. Taking a deep breath, he counted to ten and tried again. "Juri. Juristic. Talk to me."

"You think I can't take care of myself. You're wrong!" Juri suddenly shouted, head still buried in his hooves. "It was just a little mistake!"

Grace reached a hoof out to try and comfort Juri, but Juri shrank away. Taking a step back, he took a second and thought of an old standby from his college days. A little cantrip spell that allowed a pony to find what they'd lost. Picturing the bottle in his mind, Grace cast the spell. He felt the sphere of energy flow out in all directions, searching for his lost item. It extended the full length and breadth of the condo and didn't come up with any results. Changing his mental image to the pills themselves, Grace tried again and got a ping.

"I know where they are. I'll get them. Stay here and just take deep breaths, Juri." Grace turned to go, and nearly lost his footing as Juri grabbed his hind legs.

Juri was sobbing uncontrollably. Grace took a deep breath of his own and tried to get Juri off his rear and into his front hooves.

"I thought I took them this morning, I'm sorry. I'm sorry." Juri broke off into sobs again.

Grace smoothed Juri's mane with a hoof. "Juri, it's fine. Just let me get them for you and you can rest until you feel better."

Juri's breathing slowed. He seemed to be doing better, as far as Grace could tell. Graceful ran to the spot the spell indicated and unzipped the hidden pocket in Juri's luggage that Grace had missed in his frenzy. Returning to the living room, Grace stopped dead. Juri wasn't on the couch.

Spinning around, he found Juri at the dining room table with a file in his hooves.

"Juri, I have your pill." Grace came forward as he spoke. Juri didn't give any indication of hearing him. "Juri?"

"Professor is the more proper title. Thanks Chalk Dust, I don't mean to be rude, but I'm kind of in the zone. I should have these reports done before I leave the office." Juristic didn't look up from the file in his hooves. Grace came around the table, set down the bottle in front of Juri and lowered the file.

"Chalk, I- oh, excuse me. I thought you were my TA. My mistake. This file doesn't seem to have all the information I need anyway. What can I do for you?" Juristic asked.

Stunned, Grace pointed a hoof at his chest. "Juri, it's me. It's Grace."

"Of course you are." Juristic seemed to be caught off guard and merely feigning understanding. "What I don't understand is how I can help you at the moment."

"Juri, take your medicine please. You're really starting to freak me out." Grace nudged the bottle closer and put his face in his hooves.

"You seem fairly stressed. I'm sorry to ask but as I am unfamiliar with this kitchen, would you mind giving me a glass of water?" Juristic asked.

Nodding, Grace lit his horn and secured the glass and water. Pouring it half-full, Grace passed it over, feeling distinctly half-empty.

"Thank you." Juristic said with detached politeness. He took the pill and the water and returned to his file.

Resolving to address this when they were safely back at home, Grace went to bed.

Chapter 12: Grace Period

Every day for a week, Juri left the house and came back with loads of work from the college. On every one of those nights, ‘Professor Juri,’ as Grace had started calling this facet of Juri’s personality, came home and overstayed his welcome.

After three tense conversations with this unpleasant facet of Juri’s personality, Grace started leaving for work early. Four days of coming into the Lemonlight before sunset, Grace found himself in Sunset’s office.

“Trouble at home?” Sunset asked, passing a glass of tea over to Grace’s side of the desk.

“You could say that.” Grace picked up the glass and took a sip.

“I didn’t bring you in here to hear what I could say.” Sunset sighed.

Grace shook his head. “I’ll find something else to do before I come in if that’s the problem, sir.”

Sunset shrugged. “It’s not a problem, Grace. I’m not worried about you as your boss, I’m worried about you as a friend.”

“It’s not my issue to share, Sunny,” Grace admitted.

Sunset stared at him intently. “Then whose issue is it?”

Grace threw up his hooves and snorted. “It’s just something I’m trying to figure out about... somepony I thought I knew well.”

A knock at Sunset’s door interrupted our conversation. “Grace? One of the guys said you’d be in here.”

Sunset lifted an eyebrow and walked to the door. Ushering Juri in, he excused himself to give us some space.

“You haven’t been home the last few nights.” Juri fidgeted with his front hooves as he sat in the chair next to me.

“Neither have you,” Grace said pointedly. “Do you even remember what our last few conversations have been like?”

Juri shook his head. “Look, I’m just under a lot of stress and it’s been getting to me. Can’t you take me and my problems?”

Grace sighed. “I thought I could. Back when your problems made sense. I don’t understand how you can come home with such a different personality.”

Juri looked down at his hooves. “I haven’t changed, Grace.”

Grace scooted his chair back. “How can you even say that? Are you seriously going to deny you even have a problem?”

Juri looked up sharply. “I am taking my medicine, I’m seeing a doctor once a month. I’m doing everything I can to address my problems.”

Grace jerked his head back. “What, really? Why haven’t you told me any of this?”

Juri glared into Grace’s eyes. “Because this is my problem. Not yours.” He stood up and headed for the door.

“Your personality changes. Have you told your doctor that?” Grace asked.

Juri whipped around. “As far as I can tell the only personality changes around here have been from you!”

“If you can’t even admit that, then how are you actually taking care of it? Do you think I’m making it up?” Grace asked, incredulously.

Juri’s expression turned cold. “Maybe you are.” With that, he turned and stormed out of the office.

Sunset came in a moment after Juri left. “He didn’t seem very happy.”

Grace put his face in his hooves and groaned.

“I’m not a couple’s therapist, Grace,” Sunny pointed out. “You’re going to need one of those. That kind of emotional roller coaster can’t be good. He’s never acted like that before?”

Grace shook his head. “No. We’ve lived together at the palace and on that houseboat. He’s never done anything like that before. At least, not in front of me. I guess we’ve only been dating for a short amount of that time, so I could’ve missed the earlier signs.”

“I can refer you to a few I know personally,” Sunset offered. “I’ve had to call on some ponies before.”

Grace skipped the show and went back home. He hadn’t expected Juri to not be there, so he did some stress-baking. After the second cake and third sheet of cookies, Grace realized he was out of butter and gave up for the night. Just as he was about to turn in, Juri walked in.

“Hi, Juri,” Grace said evenly.

“Grace.” Juri closed the door behind him and walked into the living room. “I think I owe you an explanation for my behavior.”

Grace patted the couch seat next to him, but Juri shook his head. “I think I’m overstimulated. Between work, the prison evaluations, that vacation, and the medication, there is a lot going on in my life right now. I’m not the strongest pony, mentally. If I’m really acting like somepony else and not remembering it, then maybe it’s time I take some things off of my plate.”

Grace smiled. “That’s a good idea, I think. And if you are really seeing somepony about your issues, then I should back off and let you handle things your way. I’m just worried about you.”

“About backing off.” Juri hesitated before continuing. “Maybe we should take a break on...us.”

Grace felt struck. “Are...are you serious? You want to break up?”

Juri came around the coffee table and sat next to Grace. “No, I don’t. I just want to tone it down on everything stressing me out.”

Grace pulled away. “And our relationship stresses you out? We can go see someone, you know. Sunset even recommended a few therapists when I spoke to him.”

Juri jumped up. “What did you say to Sunset?”

Grace lifted up his hooves. “Nothing about your...condition. Just that I was worried about our relationship. And for good reason, as it turns out!”

“I can’t believe you.” Juri’s voice was dangerously calm as he walked around the coffee table towards the kitchen. “You have no right to talk about me like that to somepony I don’t even know!”

Grace looked across the table, surprised at Juri’s vehemence. “Juristic, I’m just trying...”

“Well, so am I. I’m trying to understand how I’ll ever be able to walk into that club again. If you wanted me to stay out of your work life, I’d have respected that more than I do this.” Juri grabbed a bottle of cider out of the cupboard in the kitchen.

Grace wondered for a moment if alcohol was a good idea himself. “What am I supposed to do? You’re not getting better, you’re getting worse. These personality shifts are jarring. And you don’t even seem to notice them.” Juri snorted and grabbed a glass and ice.

Grace stood. “You need more help than taking a prescription you got from a doctor you’re seeing once a month and not telling everything to! This isn’t managing your health this is taking unnecessary risks!”

“Listen to yourself! My health! As in: my choice!” Juri started walking towards the hall. “I can’t even talk to you right now.”

Grace stood in front of Juri, blocking his way to his room. “Juri, please. I’m at my wit’s end worrying about you and all you can think about—“

“All I can think about is how you shared private information about me with somepony else. All you can think about is yourself! I didn’t ask you to be my caretaker. I didn’t ask you to go get your boss’s opinion.” Juri stood up straighter, his expression hardening. “But hey, if I’m worrying you so much, just leave.”

“That’s your answer every time I don’t do something you like!” Grace protested. “I started on diet pills and you kicked me out. Now I’m trying to give you some perspective on your pills and you’re kicking me out again!”

Juri kept his chin up. “All you did is give me another perspective on the kind of pony you are. I’m not suggesting anymore, I’m telling you. Get out, Grace!”

With that, he turned and entered his room, slamming the door behind him and locking it with an audible click.

Grace called to Juri through the door. “If you won’t take care of yourself. If you’ll take any excuse not to address your issues. I’m done.”

“Good,” Juri called back, angrily. “Go!”

“Fine.”

Juri didn’t come home the next day. After returning from the show, Grace instead found cardboard boxes and packing tape. No note.

Grace angrily stormed into Juri’s room, but Juri wasn’t there. As he turned to leave, a pile of letters on Juri’s sideboard stood out to him. On an urge, Grace picked one up and read it, ignoring the twinge of guilt at invading Juri’s privacy. It was from Juri’s psychiatrist’s office. He’d missed his last three appointments and hadn’t refilled his latest prescription.

The finality of this discovery floored him. It was really over. Juri was lying and kicking him out.

It was a depressing reality that hit Grace as he realized all of his possessions didn’t even fill half of the boxes Juri gave him. His chef knife set and assorted cooking implements fit in one box. Bedding and what few outfits he owned in another. Some small personal effects and toiletries in his last box. The instruments all had their own cases.

Sunset arranged to have Grace move in to a small studio place just down the street from the club. It apparently belonged to Sunset and he kept it just in case his employees needed it. Grace resolved to find his own place as soon as possible.

The rental cart fit his stuff in with room to spare. Juri hadn’t been around for any of the moving. Grace slid his key under the mat and walked off the ship.

Author's Note

Been stuck on this chapter for a while. It was supposed to be the last one, but it looks like I have enough material for another chapter or maybe even two.

Chapter 1: Graced with His Presence

Suspended in the air with their points directed at Note's defiant form, the swords quivered as if they were eager for the Analyst's blood. The unicorn responsible for summoning them stood tall; his very aura rippled with the threat of death. Note was unafraid, almost foolishly brave in the face of such a show of force.

"I don't like bullies," he said simply.

With fear slowing his responses, Grace finally ignited his horn. "This is my mess hall! You will lower your swords, armorer! This is unacceptable!"

Stepping forward, Grace's magic called to every bladed instrument in the kitchens. The doors between mess hall and kitchen flew open, the space within the doorframe full of blue-lit steel. Stepping in front of the Analyst, Grace stood with an arch of knives behind him. "Stand down!"

The Armorer's eyes were locked on Note. "This isn't over. You don't get to just say whatever you want about ponies like the Advisor." Grace bristled as the Armorer ignored him, but eased as the pony turned around and his swords disappeared. He didn't truly relax his body until the Armorer was gone.

"That's it for the both of us, then. We will be marked as enemies of the Advisor." Grace murmured in the silence of the hall.

Note tapped a knife, still suspended in air. "Mind lowering these? Your assistant is going to be quite peeved at you for this, you know."

Grace snorted. "Let him be peeved. We have bigger problems."

"The Advisor is in the hospital. Who knows when or if he'll return to the court and what he'll be like when he does." Note said dismissively. Grace noticed the tension in his friend's pose. Juristic Note stood with three out of four legs stock-still, His fourth, a foreleg, rubbed up and down at the elbow joint of his ramrod-straight foreleg.

Grace turned to face his friend, his magical hold beginning to move the knives away carefully. When Juri had a path to an empty chair, he took it, with stiff slowness. With that much accomplished, Grace realized he would be in for a big headache if he didn't get the knives down safely. As he set about directing the cutlery down, he still felt nettled by Juri's reasoning. "There are still ponies loyal to him. Ponies who won't like hearing a bad word about him or what he represents." Grace reminded him.

Juristic Note was haggard, but unapologetic. "He represents the kind of bullies that make me sick."

"He's only ever used his power and influence on those he felt presented a risk to the kingdom." Grace responded, carefully setting down each knife on an empty table. This required him to turn his back on his friend. Grace did so deliberately, to hide the shaking in his front hooves. Juri would understand the shaking, of course, but life taught Grace to hide such displays of emotion.

"And me." Note replied with unfeigned disgust. "He had somepony following me after I told him to leave me alone. He didn't need to come at me like that and yet, I'm still the bad guy who's 'threatening the kingdom.'"

Grace sighed as he finished piling the cutlery, letting the air hiss through clenched teeth. "I didn't come here to be a baker. I didn't come here to use my magic to protect my friends like this. All I've ever wanted to do was perform. And all I've ever been is ignored."

Note paused, then walked around to face his friend squarely. "I'm tired of these games too, Grace. Let's leave the castle together?"

Looking up with his mouth twisted, Grace met Juristic's gaze. He relaxed his posture immediately in response to the hard line of Juri's jaw. There was determination in Juri's eyes. This close, Grace could see the after-effects of adrenaline in Juri's movements as well. "You think they'll just let us?" Grace asked quietly, afraid to break whatever ephemeral dream this was.

Juri's hoof on his shoulder dispelled any notion of dreaming. He wasn't as unshaken as he'd been in the heat of the moment. The same fear that Grace felt so deeply was etched into the care and gentility with which he displayed now. Whatever this was; this was real. "Who's going to stop us? I still have that ship in the harbor. It's big enough to live in." His face lit up as he continued. "We'll head to Manehatten in Equestria. I can get my old job back as a professor and we can leave the kingdom behind us."

Grace surveyed the mess hall around them. He took deep breaths through his nose and let them blow out of his mouth as he took a look around. Finally, after a pause that had Juri more than a little worried, Grace nodded.

"Let's do it."

***

“Already up? You haven’t been up this early since we moved here.” Juristic Note observed as he came down the hall from his cabin.

Graceful Bass smirked over the pancakes still cooking on the stove. “I’m surprised I didn’t wake you sooner. I think I must have burned half of these so far.”

Note lifted an eyebrow. “Aren’t you supposed to be a cooking whiz?”

The unicorn sighed, pouting his lips as he gave an exaggerated whine. “Baking whiz, maybe. I think I got the hang of this, though. I just had the burner set too high."

"Careful about that, I know we're at a dock, but water and gas fires don't mix." Note noted, idly swishing his tail as he passed by. Grace flicked his tail at Note’s flank sharply. In return, Note aimed a withering glance directly at Grace. "Watch it." He warned, though his word lacked any bite.

Grace smirked at him and flipped the pancake. "Would you like some pancakes?"

Note opened the hall closet and rummaged around for something warm. "I think I'll have to grab something on the way. There's a new set of cases we're studying. There isn't a lot linking them, but I have a TA that is convinced they're related. It doesn't help that they're cold as yak dung."

Grace leaned on the counter and gave Juri's rear a hard glare. "You've been away a lot this whole week."

Note turned around wearing a deep brown scarf and paused at the door leading out to the deck. "I'm..." His tone started out louder than he intended, alarming himself. Taking a breath, he tried again. "I'm sorry Grace. I guess I did drag you out to Manehatten. This place can make a pony very lonely if they're not careful."

Removing the pan from the heat, Grace turned off the stove. Exhaling slowly, he turned a happier face to his friend. "You didn't drag anypony; I decided to leave the castle to pursue my passion too. It just doesn't help that you have settled back into your passion and I have to go chasing after mine."

"I understand, I just wish there was something...hey!" His ears perked up at a sudden thought. Grace's own ears swiveled around in response to the exclamation. "How about teaching music?"

Grace cocked his head, one ear perked and the other flat. "I never earned a degree though. And hasn't the school year already started?"

Juristic Note shook his head. "No, not as a professor. More like a tutor. You know mandolin, harp, and vocal disciplines just fine. You could do one-on-one lessons with some of the music students. I'll get a flyer done up and approved at the campus. You'll probably be swimming in students before the end of the week."

The smile became genuine. Grace's few auditions so far were less than promising and although Juri made enough to pay their dock fees and provide for the two of them, Grace didn't want to become a burden. "Well, that sounds great! Just make it clear that the lessons will be at the student's location of choice. I'm not about to deal with students trying to play here."

Juristic Note smiled in return, his lips parting to show his pearly whites. "Yeah, that's probably a good idea. I'll have it taken care of, so you have a good day!"

"Thanks! You too!" Grace called out as Note left for the day. The prospect was exciting. Music students would also be trying to break into the music industry. A few might even be well-connected. Who knew what would happen?

***

"I didn't know this would happen." Grace muttered under his breath. Only Hope, or just Hope for short, was on her second try at college. Her first time was interrupted by the arrival of a foal. She'd given birth and raised him in her parent's home until they decided it was time for her to try again. She seemed to be making an earnest effort, for the most part. It was difficult to live the kind of life at college that she had before her son arrived. They lived together in a neat, but cluttered, two bedroom in the modest part of the college district.

The door closed behind Only Hope as she left, off for a study-group meeting that she assured would only be a few hours. Blue Hope swished his unusual, lion-like tail idly. The lessons he'd been hired to give were for Blue Hope. The foal.

Unsure of where to begin, Grace coughed into a hoof politely. This drew Blue's full attention. He lifted his chin proudly and puffed up his chest as he spoke. "I already know how to read music. I've performed in my school's music program every year. I even had a solo last year."

Grace couldn't help but raise an eyebrow. "Oh. So where does the harp come into this?" He asked.

Blue hesitated for a moment, then shrugged. "I just started middle school. There's a filly...a friend, I mean. She's in the orchestra. I...can't play any instruments. She's nice, but she only really notices colts in the orchestra. Well, only a few colts in the orchestra." His posture changed as he spoke. Now his chin was lower, his eyes distant. Grace resisted a sigh. The poor colt was smitten.

Grace had a feeling he knew where this was going, but as he was being paid for a few hours of lessons (or foal-sitting) he shrugged and prompted the colt to continue. "What kind of colts in the orchestra?"

Blue's tone was instantly dismissive. "Two harpists and a bass player. They can't play very well, but they've improved slightly since the start of the semester. I need to catch up. And then surpass them."

Grace let out a breath slowly. "That's a tall order. Can they read music too?"

"Not as quick as me." Blue Hope replied, chest up and chin high again.

Grace patted the colt's shoulder. "Well, there's that in your favor then. How did you talk your mother into getting you a harp? She's a student and a single mother. Harps are a lot of bits."

Blue Hope turned to the instrument, still covered by a rather worn case. "Grandma Facet gave it to me. She has all sorts of instruments. Mom says she practically grew up picking up one instrument or another."

Grace opened the canvas and held his breath. Inspecting the harp, his immediate fears turned out to be unfounded. The instrument in question certainly had a passed-down look. It was well-cared-for, but showing its age. It would do for a first-timer though. "Well, should we start then?"

"Yes, please sir." Blue Hope nodded eagerly.

Grace cast his magic over the harp to gauge its playability. "It's in better shape than it looks. The strings need replacing soon, but it still has some life in it. Well, no time like the present."

The time passed, but Hope's mother hadn't returned. As the colt got ready for bed, she stumbled in with another mare. They were giggling but didn't smell of alcohol as far as Grace could detect it. She paid Grace what they'd agreed on and a little extra for being late. He watched her as she went to tuck her son into bed and bid Grace goodnight. Before he could hit the door, her friend stopped him.

"So you're some sort of musician, eh?" The giggly earth mare asked.

Grace shrugged. "Some sort. I teach it."

"Well you know what they say about those who can't do." She said, shrugging her shoulders as she let out another giggle.

Grace's eyes narrowed. "I can do better than most. Problem is getting in. Most acts around here seem to be as well-established as they are territorial."

A different laugh greeted him then, Only Hope was back. "That's for sure. But I got a friend who started up a new place. Lemonlight. Ever heard of it?"

Shaking his head, Grace opened his mouth as he lifted his hoof to gesticulate. Before he could speak, she set a matchbook down on his extended hoof.

"If you got anything worthwhile, give it a shot Mr. Bass." She said, one eyebrow up in a challenge.

***

"How did your first lesson go?" Note asked. Grace closed the door and leaned against it. Cocking his head over to Juri, Grace took in the scene before him. Juristic had a pile of papers on the end table near where he sat. Folders were strewn in an order that Grace could only assume made sense to Note.

"Well, you were home before me, what does that tell you?" Grace replied, somewhat crossly. Heaving a sigh, Grace shook his head. "No, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to say it like that. It just was a little different than I expected. You helped me even get the gig, so I shouldn't complain."

Note smiled, clearing a place and waving a hoof to the seat next to him. "No, by all means, complain! What happened?"

Grace crossed over to take a seat. He grimaced. leaning over to free a missed sheaf of papers. Now settled, Grace sighed and gave him the overview.

Juristic stood and began picking up folders. Once again, Grace was mystified at the seemingly random order to his collection. "The club sounds fun. I think I've heard some of my students talk about it. Kind of a crazy place, some of the ponies there are really out there. Kind of a jazz, bluesy, electro-swing place. Maybe you should audition there!"

Grace crossed his hooves and thought about it. "I just might go. You in?"

Now encumbered slightly by the pile of papers, Juri turned around. Grace caught a few folders in his magic before they hit the floor. "Ah, no. Still have classes to handle, cases to look through. Studies to review. All that boring crime stuff."

His eyes fell to one folder as he stood to replace them on the pile Note held. "I have a feeling it's not all as boring as you like to make it sound."

Note accepted the folders gratefully. "It really is."

Lifting a hoof to poke Note's nose, Grace teased his friend. "And yet, you left a position of influence in the royal court to come back and do it again."

Note snorted. "It says more about the royal court, if you ask me. Not that I have to remind you."

The image of a showdown involving swords, the castle mess hall and all of the knives Grace could hold in his magic came to mind. Grace nodded. "Well, when you put it that way."

Chapter 5: Coup De Grace

Grace practically dragged himself out of bed, the light blue sky outside reminding him of just how early the hour was. The noises and smell from the kitchen triggered this response. Worry kept him from merely going back to sleep. If Juri was intent on making breakfast, the stallion really needed to learn how to cook.

In the hallway, Grace could hear Juri's voice. The stallion seemed to be talking to somepony. Or monologuing, as Grace couldn't hear any replies. Entering the kitchen, Juri sat with his back to the stove, muttering to himself over some notes spread in front of him.

Eying the smoking pan on the stove, Grace called out as he started an extinguishing spell. "Hey, Juri! Maybe finish cooking before getting lost in the case notes?"

Juri turned around, his eyes unfocused and uncertain for a moment. Clarity came across the stallion's features soon enough as Grace managed to turn off the stove and cool the pan. Juri stumbled over himself for a moment before reaching over to open the nearby window. Grace sighed, turning to do the same to the living room window and front door.

"Sorry, sorry, I just got lost in what I was doing. Now I don't even remember what it was." Juri admitted, rubbing the back of his neck with a hoof.

Taking a look at the pan, Grace shook his head. "Well, it smells like you were just warming up some oil, so no big loss there." Tossing the pan into the sink, Grace flinched at the sound of steel on porcelain and flattened his ears down. In a dark mood, he walked around the kitchen counter and grabbed a bottle of ointment in his magic as he made his way to the couch.

"Sooo, it's spring break." Juristic Note interjected as Grace sat on the couch, massaging some ointment into his own sore hooves.

Glancing up, Grace smiled and looked back down. Juri's expression was priceless, but Grace couldn't look at it for too long without wanting to laugh. The sudden change in topic was starting to become a regular thing with Juristic, Grace noticed. "Yes, I suppose so. Even the foal I tutor has it off."

"Well, I have decided to take a few days away from grading papers to clear my head. No statistical analysis, no teaching, no worries." Juri's smile drew Grace out of his initial bad mood at being woken up so early.

Quelling his fast-beating heart, Grace answered in what he hoped was a cool tone. "Oh? That's so unlike you."

Juri blew an ungentlecoltly raspberry. "I have made plenty of time for you lately, oh-poor-put-upon stage pony!"

"Yes, you have. You're a great friend." Grace noted the slight twinge in Juri's lips as he said the word 'friend.' Curious, he decided to continue. "Did you have something in mind?"

Juri walked around the armchair and plopped down in it. "Well, my dear friend," Grace rolled his eyes at this, "What if I did?"

Grace thought about his schedule and cringed. "I'm still doing lessons with that foal. And my evenings are booked as well, with the Back-Droppers. And I still have to come up with something new to show Scowl." Each sentence seemed to have an effect on Juri. By the end, his ears were pinned back and he had his head propped up on a hoof. Grace's ears went flat in response. "Sorry."

Juri's ears popped back up. "No, it's okay. We can work with this. The lessons aren't every day, right? And maybe I can help you with finding something new. And there's going to be a fair at the college campus. The rowdier students will all have gone south to the warmer beaches, so this will be more family-friendly."

"Sure." Grace said, feeling slightly guilty that he was bringing down Juri's mood with his own. "Who knows, maybe I'll find some inspiration there."

***

Every aching muscle in Grace's body protested as he walked into the Lemonlight Club. If it weren't for the fact that he had to make a good impression, he would have walked right back on out and buried himself in his blankets back home.

Scratch Plate seemed to pick up on Grace's mood before the stallion could utter a word. "You look like you're dragging yourself in here. Not every pony gets an opportunity like yours, you know." Scratch reminded Grace.

Suppressing a yawn, Grace shrugged. "Sorry, Scratch. Between the practice here and playing every night, and I'm even tutoring a foal..."

"Didn't ask for your life from birth to breakfast, kiddo." Plate said crossly. "I'm going to see what is taking the twins so long to get the last of the gear. Wake yourself up, all right?"

After Scratch Plate left, Grace turned to the drummer. "What's up with Scratch?"

Pedal shrugged. "Who knows? Grumpy old stallion has his days, I guess. You okay?"

Grace finally allowed himself a full yawn. "Yeah, just didn't sleep well last night. Room-mate decided to try a new recipe at four in the morning."

Pedal cocked her head sideways. "That's weird."

Grace shrugged. "He's up early a lot. I think he’s got a class to teach first thing in the morning three days a week.”

“Well, you’d like to think he’d be more considerate of his roommate. Some ponies.” Metal Pedal shook her head. “If you need something to wake you up, I have something that could help.”

Leaning over backwards on her stool, Metal rummaged through her duffle bag and pulled out a bottle of pills. Casually, she tossed them at Grace's face. He caught it in his magic before it could hit and looked for a label. There wasn’t one.

“Diet pills. They help you lose weight and give you a boost of energy. A friend of mine actually developed these back in griffon country.” Metal explained.

“You think I need to lose weight?” Grace asked, immediately looking down at his barrel. Sure, he didn't look like a model off of the cover of Celerity, but he wasn't a big squishy blob either.

Pedal rolled her eyes. “Well, do you exercise? And! Energy boost. That was the main thing I thought you’d pick up on. Considering…”

Grace almost frowned, and would have, were it not for the fact that he was yawning again. “I see your point.”

Pedal shook her head. “One a day. They’re pretty strong, so…” Grace had already opened the bottle and removed a pill. “So go easy on them.”

“Will do.” Grace agreed, swallowing the pill with a drink of water.

Returning with the rest of the gear and the twins, Scratch clapped his hooves together. Grace and Metal headed over to help finish setting up.

Scratch stopped Grace and pulled him into an empty office. "Are you ready for your re-audition? What have you put together so far?"

"I've got a few ideas..." Grace said, trailing off as Scratch's glare intensified. "What is your deal?"

Scratch Plate reared his head back, eyes flashing with anger for a moment before he took a deep breath. "Sunset is on my case. Keeps asking about you. What have you learned, how are you playing, will you be ready. I guess I'm just irritated with him. I didn't decide to stick my neck out for you. That was all Sunny and now he's coming down on me like I'm the answer to his problems."

"Why does Sunset care so much?" Grace wondered out loud.

Scratch looked him up and down. "The fact that you have to ask that is exactly why you're in this situation. Sunset wants you on stage tomorrow. You'll be singing back-up for the Scratch Batch. I'll be introducing you all. I'm enough of a celebrity around here that it'll give you a boost. You've heard the Batch sing, you know the songs. Now you'll get a taste of what it's like to be one of them. Learn from them, and you'll be closer to being a Club Colt."

Grace decided to ask the most pressing question in his head. "What is the difference between Scratch Batch and Club Colt?"

"The Scratch Batch is a group where you either show off or are shown up. Do well and you become a headliner, a Club Colt. Do poorly and you'll be stuck behind the backdrop forever. The last one to join them burned out in a single night. The Batch doesn't take care of each other. You might play together, but don't be fooled. They're not your friends. They'll trample over you if they think you're weak. So get your head together and get ready. The re-audition would be a cakewalk compared to the hell you've got waiting for you tomorrow."

"What the hay is Sunset thinking!" Grace asked, alarmed.

Scratch threw his forehooves in the air. "I wish I knew. I thought he'd wait for Scowl to okay you before ever bringing you on the other side of the curtain. I guess Scowl's on the other side of Equestria right now, so Sunset is exerting every bit of influence he can."

"So he's told Ready Set?"

"Yup, Ready Set is a go. He's on board for it, excited even. Somehow Sunny convinced him that it would be to his benefit to debut a rising star. And Ready is ready to actually get some credit for what he does around here." Scratch replied, turning to exit the office. His eyes caught on a songbook on top of the filing cabinet by the door. Turning around, Scratch's face went from resigned to determined. "You know the Scratch Batch's songs by now. But you don't know what the Batch doesn't know; the old Batch songs. You'll have to put a new spin on it, but somewhere in here could be your very own coup de grace"

***

"You want me to do what?" Grace asked, ears pointed straight up and chest out.

"Well, you're the only one of two ponies I know who isn't already planning on being out of the city. And his grandmother is down with a cold, so I have to ask you." Only Hope replied, fiddling with the strap of Blue Hope's overnight duffel. "So, will you do me a solid? You'll be paid up front. Daddy made sure to give me enough for that."

Wondering for a moment exactly what Only Hope's father could possibly do that allowed him to splurge on his flighty daughter, Grace sighed and shrugged. "He's well-behaved enough, I guess. But my room-mate will be the one watching him at night while I work."

Only Hope waved a hoof dismissively. "The professor? Yeah, I think I'll be okay with that. Any funny business and I could go straight to the school board. And if Blue is too much of a hoof-full, I'll embarrass him in front of his little filly-friend--"

"Mooom!" Blue moaned, swishing his lion-like tail irritably. "Can we go now? I'll be good. I promise!"

"Did you remember your toothbrush?" Only asked, arching an eyebrow.

Rolling his eyes, Blue headed to the bathroom.

"I guess that was a 'no.'" Only said with a snort. "I did hear there was some sort of fair at the school campus this weekend. You know, what with all us real party animals off on our spring break trips."

Grace nodded. "Yeah, I heard about that. Juri mentioned it."

"Yeah. So, you might wander over there to keep Blue...occupied." Only turned her head towards the bathroom. "How could one colt take so long grabbing a toothbrush?"

Grace shrugged. Foals were a bit of a mystery to him at the best of times.

The silence hit new heights of awkward as Grace's brain screamed at him to say anything. Only seemed content to stand there, albeit with a hint of irritation creasing her brow as the silence stretched on. Finally, Only Hope rolled her eyes and yelled. "Toothbrush Blue! Stop fixing your mane in the mirror and get going!"

"I've got it! I just wanted to grab a few books to take over to Mr. Bass's place." Blue yelled back as he bounded back down the hall and into the living room.

The pair bid Only Hope good-bye and took a cab back in relative silence, broken only by the occasional remark on the weather.

When they walked up to docks, Blue cocked his head and poked Grace's shoulder. "You live on a boat?"

"Yeah, welcome aboard The Amazing Note. Juri inherited this ship from some relative. He kept it maintained when he worked for...when he worked at his last job." Grace said, changing his mind about whether to talk about the kingdom they'd worked for. "And we sailed here, back to Manehatten, a few months ago."

"Where did you live before this?" Blue Hope asked, oblivious to Grace's unease.

Grace decided to be vague. "A small island kingdom a few hundred miles off the coast. Nice enough by itself, but ponies there weren't always very nice."

As they entered, Juri's head poked out of the kitchen. "Uh, the foal followed you home." Juri observed.

"Yeah, don't worry, we're getting paid for this."

Juri's eyes narrowed. "Why do I feel like 'we' means you and 'paid' means not enough to cover the stress of having a foal around?"

Grace shrugged. "He's actually a decent enough colt, as far as colts go."

"There's a ringing endorsement." Juri replied drily.

"It'll just be a few nights." Grace offered, widening his eyes to appear innocent.

Juri snorted. "Yeah, and who gets to watch the foal while somepony goes off and plays at the Lemonlight?"

"The best, most amazing, kind, wonderful, and selfless pony I could ever hope to know?" Grace answered, more hoping than certain.

Juri's eyes slid back to where Blue stood. Except the foal had already made himself at home, laying stretched across the couch, his bag set down on the coffee table. The colt licked his hoof-tip and flicked a page over as the pair watched him. Juri's gaze returned to Grace, who held up both forehooves.

"See? Pretty easy to handle. Just don't set the kitchen on fire while I'm gone and we'll be fine!" Grace said.

Juri shook his head. "I forget about the pan on the stove one time..."

Chapter 10: Grace is Enough Part 2

As the game got underway, it soon became clear just who really were the most competitive of the two couples. Life and Div had talked a good game, but Grace and Juri unexpectedly ended up making the riskier plays. Grace became a total dive master, saving a number of shots from hitting the sand or going out of bounds. Juri somehow found himself in the right place nearly every time.

"Oh, and it's Juri with another astounding save!" Div said, chortling as the ball landed just beyond Life's reach. "Tell you what, we'll give you guys the serve this time. Maybe you can get some points now."

Life grabbed the ball in his magic and floated it over to Grace. "Well, the score is evened up nicely. The back and forth action has been non-stop but this is the final point. Whichever team makes it wins the game. And it's up to Grace to grace us with an amazing serve!" Life replied, using his best commentator voice.

Grace took the ball in hoof. Inhaling deeply, he opened his eyes and stared down the earth ponies on the other team. He served the ball up and towards the back corner of the opposing field. Div was on it quickly, knocking it just over the net. Life had him scouted and popped the ball up for Grace to spike over. Juri was just in the right place again, he deflected the shot and knocked it just back over too far for either Life or Grace to reach.

Caught up in victory, Div hugged Juri tightly. For his part, Juri stiffened up like a board. Sensing his overreach, Div quickly released the other earth pony and made his way around the net to gloat to Life. Grace walked calmly around the net and set his hoof on Juri's shoulder, who tensed but then relaxed.

"Well, you guys are certainly impressive!" Div admitted, finally.

"Yeah, definitely. I hope you don't think us rude, but we've got a lunch reservation up on the boardwalk. Hope to see you around; you guys are great!" Life said as he turned tail and grabbed the beach ball in his green aura. Div waved and followed Life up the beach.

"I'm sorry, was that too much?" Grace asked, worried for his coltfriend.

Juri closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "It was just a little over-stimulating. I need to breathe and slow down. Maybe I could dip a hoof in the water. The waves would help with the breathing exercises."

They stood on the shoreline, the water just lapping over their hooves.

"You, uh. You are taking your medication, right?" Grace asked, suddenly struck by the realization he hadn't actually seen Juri take care of himself.

"I'm handling it, Grace. I don't want to have another episode. And I won't with you around." Juri said, smiling wider than Grace had seen him do so far. Opening his eyes, Juri pranced around to face Grace, his back to the sea and his hooves in deeper water. "So, are we going to have fun on this vacation or what?"

Without waiting for an answer, Juri kicked up a spray of water that caught Grace full on the face. Spluttering, Grace shook his head and then locked eyes with Juri. "Oh, it's going to be like that, eh?" Grace asked, challengingly.

Turning away, Juri feigned a retreat for a second before bucking a wave over Grace's head. "Catch me if you can!"

The two played and roughhorsed around in the surf until they started to tire. Returning to their towels to sprawl out, Grace turned to Juri just to watch the other stallion. After a moment, Juri's red face reddened more. "You're staring at me."

Grace shrugged before answering. "That I am."

Juri lifted a hoof and lightly poked Grace's snout. "Any particular reason why?"

Scooting closer, Grace kissed Juri's nose. "Can't I just look at the most attractive stallion to ever teach Criminology?"

With a smirk, Juri leaned in closer to Grace. Their lips nearly touched before Juri's head turned and he reached past his partner to pull the picnic lunch they'd brought along with their towels and umbrellas. "Let's see what you made. This attractive stallion is getting hungry."

"I'd pout at you leading me on just to get at my food, but I'm hungry too," Grace admitted, shaking his head as Juri opened the picnic basket.

Juri's head popped over the top of the basket lid to look at Grace. "Did you make these sandwiches with real home-made bread?"

"What did you think I was doing this morning?" Grace asked.

"Uh, making breakfast," Juri answered.

"Grilled cheese sandwiches don't take quite as long as all that. I did a lot of the prep work at home, but I brought along some dough for a few dishes." Igniting his horn, Grace brought out the sandwiches and the various fixings that went along with making the perfect sandwich. "How would you like yours?"

"I can do that myself, thank you," Juri insisted. Grace acquiesced, setting it all out between them.

As they settled into making their own sandwiches, Grace piped up. "So there's grilled pineapple, but if you want to be adventurous, I managed to ask Blue Hope what his favorite type of fish was. And after a bit of a run-around with a griffon chef, I got a recipe that went with it."

"Fish?" Juri scrunched his nose up at the thought. "I don't think so, but feel free to try it and tell me what it's like."

Nodding, Grace set to putting his sandwich together. Juri quickly took a few bites of his in case he lost his appetite watching somepony eat fish. Most varieties were just dumb animals, but stories of talking fish kept most ponies away from that particular food source.

Apprehensive at the thought himself, Grace took a steadying breath and unintentionally inhaled the scent of freshly caught and cooked fish. The battered cod fillet was a fun cooking experiment and Grace was looking forward to battering other vegetables in the future. In reality, the scent was unfamiliar and slightly off-putting. Before he could continue to doubt Blue Hope's taste, he took a bite. Chewing slowly, Grace looked up to see Juri staring.

"Well?" Juri asked, wincing at the sight of Grace's continued chewing. It wasn't a great sign that Grace was taking so long to swallow.

Finally gathering his wits, Grace swallowed and took a sip of water. "Well, it's not the weirdest thing I've eaten. But it certainly is up there." Juri flinched as Grace took another bite.

Flabbergasted, Juri followed up on the first part of Grace's statement. "What's the weirdest thing you've eaten?"

Swallowing again, Grace shrugged. "This is probably something we should talk about after eating. Don't want to put you off your feed."

Resolving to stop watching Grace eat fish, Juri looked out to the ocean. "Agreed."

They sat and listened to the waves as they ate. There was a silent Joy shared between the two as they sat. Every once in a while, one or the other would look over to see that yes, they were both still smiling like idiots.

Juri sprawled out, using Grace's hind legs as a pillow. Grace was mostly concerned with not getting bread crumbs in Juri's hair as he finished eating. When he'd finally had his fill, he used his magic to clean and pack things up. Juristic was asleep; his face relaxed and carefree in a way that he seldom was awake. Tracing his hoof lightly over Juri's face, Grace took the calm moment and made the most of it.

As the sun started over to the afternoon side of the sky, Grace nudged Juri back to wakefulness. "It's afternoon, sweetie."

"Sweetie yourself." Juri replied, still a little groggy and crabby from his nap.

"We can go back to the house if you want to spend more time in bed," Grace offered.

Cracking an eye open, Juri looked at Grace with an arched brow. "And just what exactly do you think we'll be doing in bed?"

Grace laughed, shrugging as a blush came over his face. "I didn't mean it like that!"

"I'm so sure," Juri remarked with dry humor.

Grace started to get up, but Juri grabbed a foreleg. He ended up oddly cuddled against Juri on his side. "Well, I'm definitely not doing anything on the beach. Sand is tons of fun until it's up your bum."

Juri laughed, a short bark-like blast that caught them both off guard. "Sorry, I just heard 'up your bum' and had some thoughts about that."

Grace's blush intensified. "Now who's head is in the gutter? I thought I was bad." Grace tried to get up again, but failed. "Come on, we at least need to put some of this stuff away. I wasn't planning on spending the whole day on the beach."

"Fine. We'll go home and put these things away. But then we can go for a walk. The boardwalk sounds nice," Juri suggested.

Gathering up their few things in his magic, Grace tilted his head. "Are you sure? It'll probably be fairly crowded. Well, certainly more crowded than this beach."

"I'll be fine as long as I have you." Juri's nonchalance caught Grace off guard, but there wasn't much he could say without hurting Juri's feelings. Instead, he resolved to be there for Juristic when he inevitably pushed himself too far.

"C'mon. Let's go." Grace led the way back to the beach house.

Author's Note

I've been trying and failing to find the motivation to develop this chapter out to the length I'm used to. And while that and a plethora of personal issues have been going on, two months have passed since my last update. So, sorry if this seems a bit short, but I'd rather put something out than nothing, and I do believe I've done the best that I can with the chapter as is.