Chapters Celestia found retirement most gratifying. After barely keeping Equestria together since Discord's Reign of Chaos, she enjoyed her well earned off-time at Silver Shoals. Sometimes, when she found the hours too long and activities too few, she could be found conversing with the local ponies and helping out in local businesses. Raising the sun, once the first chore on her daily routine, was pawned off to her lavender student, and she happily let the sun creep high in the sky before kicking her covers off.
She wouldn't have minded living like this for at least a decade or more before exploring the world, and she mused over the thought of flying over the unknown north as she munched on on a sugar coated doughnut. Perhaps she would find Santa Pony....
Celestia had spent her afternoon helping out the woefully understaffed local bakery, and the treats she received were more than worth the time (in her opinion). She finished her doughnut and pulled out another one from her bag with her magic.
Twilight gently guided the sun over the horizon, and it settled down in the general direction of Vanhoover. Street lamps flickered to life, and Celestia looked around. The town was still mostly unfamiliar to her, and the ex-princess was in an adventurous mood. She shrugged and decided to explore the outskirts of the town.
Nearer to the outskirts of Silver Shoals, the roads were dirt rather than laid bricks, and she savored the feeling of soft ground under her hooves. It was far more open out there, with scattered buildings and barns dotted along huge swaths of farmland. The moon lit the scene up in a ghostly grey light. Luna is probably wondering where I am.
Celestia was about to head back to the main road when a crash stopped her right in her tracks. She looked back and saw a knocked over trash can. Something was rustling inside, throwing out empty bottles and banana peels and heaven knows what else. Celestia approached the mess and sifted through the remaining trash. Her magic picked out a small racoon by the tail, it's limbs flailing about and screeching bloody murder. She gently set it down and let it scurry off into a bush.
After uprighting the can, she was just about to put the trash back in when she peered in and saw another set of eyes looking back up at her. The great alicorn let out a small squeal and fell onto her rump. Frowning she looked back in more carefully and could see it was a small pegasus looking worse for wear, her grey coat and two-tone green mane tattered and a mess. She was also covered in little scratches, presumably from the raccoon. Celestia asked (trying to give the much smaller pony a reassuring smile), "What are you doing in there, little one?"
The filly shook it's head, shuddering. Celestia wasn't sure if it was a refusal of answer or bewilderment. Not that it mattered at that moment; the pegasus clearly needed help.
Taking care to not hurt the filly, Celestia gently tugged away until she freed the filly, and replaced the garbage into the can. The lid dropped with a clang back in place, and the larger mare winced. Her little friend looked ready to bolt. "It's ok." Celestia whispered, lowering herself to the filly's level. "I'll get you cleaned up, alright? We can look for your parents after..."
The filly nodded at the first question, but after mentioning her parents, she seemed even more scared.
"Or we can just get you cleaned up." Celestia quickly added on. She nudged the filly onto her back with her magic. "I live rather close from here. Don't get too comfy." But the filly was fast asleep.
Celestia and Luna shared a medium sized one story house down by the waterfront. The two ponies had purchased the plot of land months in advance and spent time building everything from the bright red bricks to the dark grey roof tiles. They settled on reflective windows to prevent curious ponies from spying on them, but other than that, the house gave off a warm and welcoming energy.
On this particular evening, one could see from a distance that there was a very miffed looking Luna was waiting at the big front door, tapping her hoof impatiently.
"Good evening, sister." Celestia smiled innocently, trotting up the pathway.
"Don't 'good evening' me, Celestia." Luna huffed, closing the door after her sister intently. "Every night, you go wandering off somewhere leaving me to sit here alone, letting supper freeze over! If you're going to spend more time out then you ought to say so! Now I have to reheat everything..."
Celestia let her sister chastise her some more before holding up a hoof. "I have a good excuse this time."
"Did a group of timberwolves attack you again?" Luna asked sarcastically and looked over Celestia's pristine coat with a flat, disbelieving expression. "Sister, why are your wings folded in such an awkward manner?"
Celestia beamed at the question. "Look." She unfurled her wings and there lay a small grey filly.
"A foal? What-Sister, you aren't thinking of raising her, are you? We can take care of her for a short while but we'll have to set her up for adop...." Luna stopped talking as she watched the filly yawn and stretch her little wings, then settle in a new position. Her expression changed significantly.
"When you say 'we,' do you mean 'we' plural or do you have a fond attachment to the royal pronoun?" Celestia joked. Luna shook her head and trotted away.
Celestia carried the filly over to the bathroom and turned on the bath's faucet. A small ear twitched as the sound of rushing water filled the room. She must be really tired. Celestia giggled to herself. While she hated to disturb the foal's nap, she also knew that the scratches from the racoon could easily get infected. "Come on. We're going to clean you up." She tickled the pegasus awake with a feather. It was longer than one of the peagsus' whole wing.
The filly woke up and took in the new surroundings, before looking up to Celestia, eyes glazed over.
"Go on. Water's warm." Celestia encouraged, and she was very pleased when it slipped into the water, albeit tentatively. After spashing around a bit, the alicorn brought her foal back towards her and began scrubbing her down, making sure to avoid touching the cuts. Celestia was doing a good job; the filly's expression was one of pure ecstacy. The larger pony found herself slightly jealous.
As the filly got cleaner, Celestia could get a better look. Her fur was trimmed just above the hooves much like a young stallion, and her cutie mark was a treble clef on several wavy bars. Celestia was rather impressed; this was one of the youngest ponies she ever saw with one. "Good filly. Speaking of which, what is your name, little one?"
The filly shook its head and bumped it's neck with her hoof. Celestia cocked her head quizzically, unsure of the meaning. "Let's just get you dried." Celestia brought over a small towel (one she would use to dry off her mane) and gently dabbed it against the pegasus. After making sure her pony was no longer wet, Celestia cast a healing spell, wrapping the filly in a yellow glow, and inspected the pony for any further signs of injury.
Satisfied that the filly was now clean and healthy, she put her down on the marble tiling. "Spread your wings please." Celestia then began to preen the pegasus' small feathers, many of the barbs had been seperated. The plummage turned out to be softer than expected, almost more so than her own mane, and Celestia found herself rather jealous for a second time. The filly flapped her wings a few times and then folded it in a prim, proper way.
"Would you like some food? I think there's a few frozen hayburgers left in the fridge..." The filly bolted out of the bathroom and turned left. "The kitchen is the other way!" Celestia called, and the filly zoomed past the doorway, full gallop. "Hayburgers it is." She gently trotted after the filly and tugged open the freezer. Setting two onto a pan, she turned on the stove. "Since I'm feeding you now, little one, would you say it's fair that I get to know you better?"
The filly nodded, slightly drooling. A small drop gently splattered against the oak floorboard.
"Can you write?" Seeing the answer was a nod, Celestia trotted to the living room and found a piece of parchment and a quill. On one side was a note from Luna explaining that she was making an emergency trip to buy a bed and toys and supplies for their guest. Celestia chuckled and flipped the parchment over.
The filly put the parchment on the floor began scrawling across it, quill in her mouth. Her printing was large, rough and roundish. 'thank thank make me clean and lose trash bear'
Celestia's heart truly melted. "Have you been fending for yourself this entire time?"
'no have, with dad few moons before'
There was hope! Perhaps she was a runaway. Celestia decided not to push the issue at the moment, partly for fear of making the filly shy away further, and partly to avoid the subject of returning such a cute pony. "Why were you pointing at your neck earlier?"
'cannot talk, throat broken'
"I see..." Celestia gently patted her. "Do you have a name?"
'Shuberry' With that, the little pegasus jumped up and headed back to the stove. The patties were almost ready.
Celestia flipped them and turned the fire down. Clamping them down between buns, she put it on the table, and Shuberry leapt onto one of the cushioned chairs. Celestia took out a dinner of a fruit and veggie salad and cream of corn soup and joined Schuberry at the round table. Seeing that Celestia was beginning to eat, she absolutely tore into one of her burgers. The alicorn had barely finished her salad when Shuberry began to ravage the second burger.
"Careful, you'll choke." Celestia warned, and the filly, looking up, ate at a noticably slower pace. They finished their dinners in relative silence, Celestia saring intently, as if words would appear on Shuberry's face revealing this strange foal's life.
When Celestia had finished her soup, Shuberry had long since inhaled her second burger, and was waiting patiently. Almost as if on cue, she began piling up the dishes and bowls and silverware and carried it over to the sink, teetering and tottering along the way. Celestia waved Shuberry off when she tried to help clean the dishes. "It's ok, you can go rest."
'are you sure' Schuberry wrote. There was a symbol at the end of the three words, and Celestia realized it was a very deformed question mark.
"It's fine. Really. It'll only take a few minutes anyways." The alicorn tapped her horn.
'thank thank' Shuberry then bolted off, exploring the entire house. Celestia could hear the clicking of Shuberry's tiny hooves as the little filly crossed back and forth, finding everything and anything interesting.
Drying off the last dish, Celestia called out to the foal. "Want me to brush your hair?"
Schuberry thought over this for a moment. 'quick sleep soon, no reason'
"Perhaps tomorrow." Celestia smiled gently. "Did you find your room?"
'i tonight can not can be your wing under sleep'
Celestia blinked at the mess of words and made a mental note of teaching Schuberry some better grammar the next day. "Oh uh, sure. I'll be there in a minute." Celestia went around and turned off lights. When she reached the bathroom, she realized that she forgot to drain the bathtub and pulled out the plug with a satisfying pop.
Schuberry was already waiting in bed curled up and looking comfortable. Celestia slunk up behind and curled up next her, leting the filly shift around to find the best position. Her thoughts drifted to Twilight. It had been only a few years before that Twilight had literally and figuratively been under her wing. Schuberry was still awake, but her eyelids were fluttering. A few minutes later, Celestia fell asleep as well, mind still dancing around the memories of a lavender unicorn.
When Luna returned home, looking absolutely ridiculous buried under a huge number of bags, she found that the house was dark and quiet. She gently placed her cargo on the ground and trotted over to the kitchen, where she found some leftovers.
Luna was very tired at this point, and after looking back and forth at the stove and then at the soup a few times, she just shrugged and slurped it up straight from the bowl. She didn't even bother with the salad, and just dumped the dirty bowl into the sink.
Celestia was gently snoring, and the little filly's head poked out from below her wing. Luna treaded as quietly as she could and snuggled up against her sister on the other side, and after a few minutes, dozed off as well.
The very next morning, Celestia prepared a hearty breakfast of eggs and cereal. Luna decided to stay in for the day to assemble the furniture she brought home, and soon after the dishes were clean, she tied her hair back and set straight to work.
Schuberry (now with her mane neatly brushed) watched the blue pony put out newspapers before setting parts on top, neatly arranged on the ground. The magic brought pieces together and Schuberry used the last space on the parchment to ask, 'no delivery?'
Luna smiled and explained, "I thought you were going to sleep in the guest room, but we never got around to setting up that room. I suppose I panicked a little."
Schuberry was about to write down an answer when she looked at the note, completely covered in her scribbles. She looked both ways, pawing at the paper.
"We'll have to get more parchment, it seems." Celestia joined them and showed them a list. "Schuberry and I are going on a shopping trip, but we'll be back before lunch."
"Make sure you buy her a ballpoint pen." Luna suggested. "The quill seems to be giving her some trouble."
"Good catch." Celestia quickly added that on. "Come along now, Schuberry." She lowered her wing and let the filly jump on her back. As they left the house, Schuberry gave Luna a cute wave.
"I'll see you soon!" Luna called after her. When the door closed, she clamped at her cheeks. "I'm going to spoil her with everything she ever wanted...and more!"
It was chilly for an early August day, but Silver Shores was slightly further north. A small breeze blew as Celestia trotted along, and she raised her wings a little to block it from the filly.
Schuberry streched up to look around. It was a quiet suburban community, and she noticed a lot of old ponies sitting around on rocking chairs on their porches. She wanted to ask Celestia about it, but once again, the lack of parchment frustrated her efforts.
There was a large white building up ahead, and as they got closer, a humble sign explained that it was the Silver Shoals Assisted Living Facility. Celestia entered through a side door, dusting off her hooves and greeting ponies as they made their way down the hall. She struck up some conversation with a pony behind the reception desk, and Schuberry decided to hop off and made a beeline for the snacks.
Celestia was busy asking the pony behind the desk (a certain stallion by the name of Helpful Hoof) to create some flyers for Schuberry. He obliged, and after a few minutes, they had a small stack ready to be posted. As Celestia turned around to collect Schuberry, she saw her nodding along to another filly, who had a pink coat and a fire-like mane.
"I'm here to visit my grandmother, she used to mayor of Ponyville you know." The unicorn proudly boasted. "Hey, you don't talk much, do you?"
Celestia was about to intervene when Schuberry laughed-or rather, did the physical motions of laughing. No sound came out of her mouth. She pointed at Celestia. The unicorn froze, slowly looking up to meet Celestia's eyes, and then galloped off, terrified. Schuberry herself was startled by this and tried to dive under a couch. Her head was too big, however, and she only got her nose to fit.
The alicorn tried her best to stifle a laugh at the scene. "Schuberry, who was that? Did you make a new friend?"
The pegasus slowly pushed back and did a motion explaining that the unicorn just walked up to her and started talking.
"I might have scared half her life away, the poor thing..." Celestia muttered. "Come on, lets get you some supplies." Once again, Schuberry was on Celestia's back.
Normally, the journey to the main street only took a few minutes, but Celestia hung fliers along the way, perhaps a little too enthusiastically, and by the time they finished shopping in the brightly colored shops, Schuberry's stomach was rumbling. She never did have those snacks back at the reception lobby.
Celestia put aside her thoughts on the little pony's shocking metabolism and entered a small bakery. "We can get you a doughnut, but if I feed you too much Luna will notice." Schuberry nodded and asked for a 'Filliez Special Pretzel.' Paying the bits, Celestia found them a table together. Schuberry was actually more interesting to the other customers since the sisters had started to become regulars in the town, though interest in the filly was perhaps due to her association with the massive alicorn.
Celestia noticed Schuberry was eyeing the bakery's upright piano. 'Shetland & Sons' was emblazoned on the side in gold lettering. After finishing the pretzel, Schuberry wrote something down with her new retractable pen and slid the paper across the table. 'I can not can play piano?' The ballpoint pen had helped her writing a little. Celestia nodded, slightly worried that a small filly banging piano keys at random would disturb the other patrons.
Schuberry approached the piano confidently and set the bench, nose slightly turned in the air. She patted down her chest and sat on the bench. After a moment's pause, she pushed the cover up, grunting a little. One, then two hooves gently rested on top of the keys, and she started playing.
Celestia preemptively winced, but was quickly took it back. It was a relatively new piece by Andante in the classical style, and she remembered listening in a concert about a week after the Storm King was defeated. Luna found the piece rather enjoyable, but Celestia, always one to enjoy the present, resented having to sit surrounded by crusty nobles listening to dated music.
Schuberry had reached a slightly faster paced movement of the music, pulling Celestia from her thoughts. Schuberry truly had perfectly adapted the piece to the piano. And her playing; she didn't bang on the keys, but she didn't tentatively tap on them either. Each note was coaxed out of the piano gently, and even so, she matched the sheet precisely, as if she were a living metronome. Her repertoire could be easily compared to a professional player, and yet she maintained a childlike attitude about it.
Celestia realized that this foal was that one-in-a-million pony that was gifted with a natural inclination towards music. The cutie mark's early apperance made sense now. If she was asked at that moment what she thought she was listening to, she would have described it as the same feeling as eating the world's airiest, softest chiffon cake. Other ponies were paying attention too, mesmerized by how perfectly each note was played. Even the staff had stopped working to listen in. In that moment, everypony within earshot was brought under Schuberry's spell.
She repeated a certain bar several times, each repition becoming softer than the last, as if she forgot what came after. But she didn't forget; she started playing her own meoldy. It was jarring for ponies who heard the original, but after a few measures, Celestia decided she liked Schuberry's version better. The original had become droll and repetitive after that point, and it had nearly put her to sleep that night, but Schuberry played raw emotion.
For Celestia, this new version was like the memory of an ancient friend calling out desperately, begging to be remembered, even after thousands or millions of years. It was auditory nostalgia. It became desperate, faster and faster she played. As Celestia felt tears well up in her eyes, Schuberry managed to change it once more. The song was comforting Celestia. It would all be alright, there was nothing wrong with forgetting a name or a face.
Something left inside of Celestia as the song began nearing the end. Once again, the song became faster, and more desperate. Celestia felt something inside leave her; it was the only way she could describe it. The strange thing is, she didn't feel very sad about it. The song reached a peak, and Schuberry brought everything crashing down. It was over.
There were a few seconds of stunned silence, then one of the patrons begant to stomp his hooves. Everypony else began to join in, and Celestia was snapped out of her trance. She looked up to see Schuberry's expectant face. The filly was panting slightly.
"That was beautiful." Celestia breathed out.
Schuberry blushed. 'I wrote song for dad, but he no like, ask change it'
Celestia's expression changed from breathless to concerned. "What do you mean, your father asked you to change it?"
'dad need help build music, so i wrote this' Schuberry scrawled back. 'you want listen more?'
"Schuberry?" Celestia asked. "Who...who is your father?"
Twilight was catching a break from the day court in the Canterlot Castle's garden, the one oasis of peace and quiet. Her days had become busy, dealing with nobles and diplomats, and even running Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns became a real chore.
She frequented a certain spot under two ponies dancing and would read out documents out loud as a way to get a fresh perspective on disagreements in the court, as well as venting frustrations at the ineffective system as a whole.
As Twilight paced back and forth, muttering about the Crystal Royal Family visiting soon, a messenger pegasus from the Royal Mail Service swooped in. Twilight let out a screech and accidentally sent her manuscripts flying. "Derpy! Wait, how did you find me?"
"Mailmare's gotta do her job." Pegasus curtly replied. "I think it's from Princess Celestia." She dug in her bag with her snout and handed it off to Twilight's glowing magic. "Toodles!"
"Uh, bye!" Twilight called, shaking her head at the fact that some ponies still refered to Celestia as 'Princess,' and gently broke the seal. "Dearest Twilight, last night I came across a small runaway filly with the most astonishing musical talent..." She read over the rest of the letter detailing everything about Schuberry and her horn glowed. Spike came running out a few minutes later. His Royal Advisor medallion was glowing.
"I'm here!" He huffed. "What's the...what's the trouble...?"
"Celestia's already calling in favors." Twilight sighed, rubbing her face. "Oh, its not that I mind! But Pinkie and I had a bet..."
Spike just grabbed the letter and read it for himself. "She said you didn't have to take this 'quest.' Twilight, did you even read through the entire thing?"
"Uh, no." Twilight sheepishly answered.
"Alright..." Spike groaned. "I'll get the gang."
Twilight nodded. "I'll meet you guys in the throne room." She teleported right into the census office. Endless rows of filing cabinets greeted her. At first, she tried her luck going alphabetically down, but after going through the 'AND' section and finding no 'Andante,' she decided to go through the section reserved for nobles. Brass stanchion posts surrounded the cabinets and there was a spotlight illuminating the small area.
After several minutes of rifling, Twilight found what she was looking for: a small file on this unicorn stallion; his current career and occupational history, living arrangements, and family. As she read over the file, she copied some of the information down, triple checking to make sure she got it right. After she had what she needed, Twilight returned the parchment to its proper place and folded the note she wrote down under her wing.
As she exited the archive, a guard snapped a salute. After checking to make sure there were no ponies around, she pushed a brick in the wall, revealing a dark pathway. She took this secret path to avoid unwanted conversations along the way, emerging from a secret panel from the floor in the throne room. "Good, you're all here. I'm sure Spike-"
"Hi, Princess." Sandbar greeted. His friends stood there, waving.
Twilight stood there for a moment. "Spike...? Where's...Rarity...and Applejack..."
"Ah well, I flew down to Ponyville and when I was trying to find the Elements, Starlight Glimmer suggested that I bring these six instead." Spike said proudly. "You're the ruler of Equestria now! C'mon, you should have creatures do things for you every once in a while!"
"Thats not how it works, Spike." Twilight shook her head. "Since Starlight suggested it, I'll allow it. But you have to go with them, Spike." Twilight added on. "Just in case. I don't want you creatures getting hurt. Oh, and take this."
"You can count on me!" Spike puffed out his chest and grabbed Twilight's note. "Alright, let's go!"
When Celestia and Schuberry had returned from the trip, Luna was ready and waiting for them with a big smile on her face. "Hello Schuberry! How was your trip?"
Schuberry quickly wrote back, 'I played the piano'
Luna blinked, and laughed it off. "Oh did you now? What song did you play?"
"Sister, she played Andante's Rose's Ballad." Celestia said. "The one you insisted was really good and nearly put me in a decade of slumber? Come. I'll explain over lunch."
Schuberry hopped off Celestia's back and took her usual seat. Luna joined them, slightly doubtful. "Sister, we both were at the debut, there is no way she could have played something like that."
"She did, and not only did she play it, she played a better version. I enjoyed it." Celestia furrowed her brow and rubbed the base of her horn. After a moment, she began to eat.
"Are you sure you're ok?" Luna quipped. "I'll summon Doctor-"
"I'm quite fine." Celestia waved at Schuberry. "You don't seem convinced."
"I'm not." Luna answered bluntly. "She's too young."
"She'll prove you wrong. Just you wait."
The alicorn sisters then wolfed down their food. In the afternoon, with permission from Schuberry, they went back to the bakery. A small crowd gathered, at first to see both ex-princesses, then to look on at the tiny filly by the piano. Schuberry didn't seem to be scared of the crowd as Celestia first feared. Perhaps music brought some level of confidence out of her.
Schuberry asked Celestia what music she ought to play, and Celestia gently told her, "Any will do. I'm sure everypony will love it."
That put Schuberry in a bit of a pickle. She wasn't aware of the affect she had on Celestia earlier. After thinking for a moment, she banged out a relatively short but difficult piece with many short notes. Her little hooves danced across the keys, and when she was finished, she looked expectantly up at Luna and Celestia.
"Well." Luna muttered. "I don't care much for the song, but she didn't miss a single note."
"What song was it?" Celestia nodded at Schuberry to keep playing.
"It was the Violet Etude, also by Andante." Luna frowned. "It's not meant to be played in concert. Andante just mushed some notes together to teach young ponies how to play the piano."
"I liked it." Celestia turned her attention back to Schuberry.
She had begun playing a very slow moving piece, but it wasn't classic. It could be described as a peaceful night with a twinge of hope. As Celestia let the music wash over her, she began to think. It was no secret that her sister had been completely engrossed with old fashion styles and music, but as Celestia went deeper into the rabbit hole, she realized that Luna missed out on a whole thousand years of history. It was so obvious and yet Celestia herself had tried to ignore the pain of what she did to Luna by immersing herself in the present.
Celestia turned to Luna and drew her in a hug. "I love you, Luna."
"Huh-wha? I love you too, now let me listen to the song!" Luna protested. After trying to push Celestia away, she gave up and leaned in.
Schuberry hadn't noticed this interaction and finished the song. As the ponies politely stomped their hooves, she turned back to Celestia. 'Not sure now play what song'
"But you know more songs, yes?" Celestia finally let go of Luna.
'But you no like them' Schuberry explained. 'I have all song build like this'
"Well at least Luna seems to be enjoying them." Celestia giggled.
"I do. What of it?" Luna huffed.
Schuberry thought for a moment, and once again, the bakery was filled with her music. There was a very noticable rythm to this song, with a few very fast notes followed by a long chord and a pause. It sounded quaint and cute, and it didn't take a music critic to tell that this was her true self playing.
Somehow, though, Celestia couldn't feel the music the same way that morning. Schuberry seemed to have closed off completely. She looked around and found the other ponies enthralled with this song. Luna seemed to be in a happy, otherworldly place.
She stopped abruptly.
'Not sure how to complete building song' Schuberry wrote.
Luna looked on, disbelivingly. "Did she just...pull a song out of her-"
As the afternoon turned to evening, the shadows got longer and longer, and soon, the bakery closed. Celestia went home that night with her mind in a swirl of questions. Prominently, why did the Rose's Ballad have such a profound impact on her? Why did Luna seem affected by Schuberry's improvised tune? Luna and Schuberry fell asleep quickly, but Celestia lay in bed for a long time before succuming to her sister's realm.
Andante's estate was a large, old building with many towers and sharp spires. Over the years, several renovations had added more rooms to the sides, and as a result, it looked like a child's building set, with different architectural styles and colors clashing with each other.
Around the property, dead bushes fenced off the yellowing lawn. A single crooked tree was on the left of the path to the front door, weathered and grey, clearly dead. Weeds poked out between the bricks on the path.
The younglings regarded the engineering mess before them with unease. Ocellus asked, "Are you sure this is the right place? How could anycreature even live in this...dump?" The little blue changeling said the last word very carefully, as if she would offend the house.
"Well, here's one way to find out." Spike stepped towards the big wooden doors and knocked loudly. There was some shuffling on the other side, and after several locks were opened, the poorly lubricated door creaked inwards. A blue unicorn looked at them with a haughty gaze. His messy grey mane blew gently from the door's draft. "What can I do for you children?"
"We're looking for Andante, does he live here?" Spike asked awkwardly.
"He does. I am Andante." The unicorn blinked, then began to close the door on them.
"Now hold on." Smolder kept the door open with her foot. "We've been sent here on a friendship mission by Princess Twilight."
Andante groaned. "I don't have time for this. I'm trying to write music, please, just go away."
"I'm sure you could gain the Princess' favor by cooperating." Ocellus pointed out. "She takes these friendship missions very seriously, and the Grand Galloping Gala is only a few months away. This just might be the thing that'll convince her highness to feature your work..."
They could very clearly see the cogs slowly turning in Andante's mind, and with an annoyed snort he let them in. The floor creaked under their combined weight. It was a complete mess inside, in fact, it was probably worse than the initial appearance of the house from outside.
Random bits of sheet music was tacked on the wall at random, dirty clothing lay on the ground in flat heaps, and if one peered deeper inside, one could see an assortment of pots and pans left to pile up in the sink, sadly abandoned like a scrapyard. Flies circled the smelly mess, landing at random to take bites out of bits of food still stuck on..
Yona's jaw nearly hit the floor. "You sure do live in a pigsty, mister!" She said without thinking.
He just shook his head, muttering about children's lack of restraint. After getting pouring out cold chrysanthemum tea, he slumped into a massive armchair, almost oozing into it. "Well? Are you going to get to the point or not?"
Gallus stepped forward. "Yeah, we're here cause Prince-I mean Celestia says that you have a daughter by the name of, uh..." He trailed off.
"Schuberry." Silverstream called from the next room. She was already exploring the place, sending bits of paper flying with each wing beat. "That's a big piano!"
"Yes, that. Her, I mean." Gallus continued. "She claimed that you kept Schuberry a secret, had her write music for you, then pawned it off as your own?"
Andante took a deep sigh. "I can assure you, griffin, that I have no children. And even if I did, I don't think any child could write music worthy of my time."
"Now wait." Sandbar said. "We've never heard of Schuberry until Celestia found her. Like Gallus said, Celestia thinks you kept her a secret this whole time, so how do you know you're not lying about your family?"
"Of course, there's no way to prove nor disprove it." Andante laughed a humorless laugh. "For the sake of argument, let's say that I did have a child, and then kept her a secret, taught her how to play the piano at the ripe old age of five and write music before she even passed her first decade of life, and then stole her music. Is it against the law? Perhaps it is morally grey, but I see no laws broken, no rules bent."
"So you admit that it's not right." Smolder tapped her foot, agitated by his logic.
"Yes, I do, and I think that makes me less suspect, no?" Andante sat straighter in his chair. "Will that be all?"
"Actually, I was hoping you'd come with us." Spike suddenly said.
"Wait, what?" Andante and Yona said at the same time, then they looked at each other.
"No, wait, that's a great idea." Gallus rubbed his chin. "You have everything to gain by coming with us and everything to lose by staying. Cause you'll look guilty, even if you're not, and if you go, well, there's your chance to clear your name."
"Either way, one of you is a liar, but you have more to gain from lying." Silverstream added on. Their arguments were beginning to sink in.
"Bah!" Andante cried out. "I'll go. Let me pack my things." He stormed up his stairs and muttered about how modern parents were too lenient and how foals now had too much power in the family unit. Ocellus shook a little, certain that he was going to punch right through the boards.
"Thanks for having my back, guys." Spike said, wiping a bead of sweat off his forehead. "That almost turned into a disaster."
"Anything to get out of class." Gallus joked, patting the little dragon. "Oh, here he comes."
Andante had grabbed a bulging worn saddlebag. "Let's go." He said gruffly, brushing past them. The little group walked back out past the snag and the dead bushes.
"You guys can go back to Ponyville." Spike said to the students. "I'll get to the bottom of this, I promise."
Yona was about to protest when Sandbar cut her off. "Don't worry about us, we know how to get a train ticket. We wanted to stay in Canterlot for some food anyways. Thanks for letting us tag along."
"Sure thing." After Spike and Andante had left, Sandbar turned to his friends, who were staring at him with looks of horror, annoyance, and concern.
"What was that about?" Gallus half-yelled. "Now we have to go back to school!"
"We aren't done here." Sandbar gave his friends a mischievous grin.
Silver Shores had recently been connected to the Equestrian Rail Network by a new station and a track extension. The work had been dictated by Celestia's government, one of the last public works she had dictated before she stepped down. The tracks were so new that they were still shimmering silver. The small brick house that served as the station building had green awnings extending off the roof, and under one of these awnings, the alicorn of the night wore a cold expression as she stood waiting for the Friendship Express to arrive.
The weather matched her mood; great sheets of rain swept across the scene, with the occasional bolt of lightning lighting up in the distance and thunderclap washing over the scene. Several other ponies stood around with umbrellas and ponchos. Luna ignored them and pawed at the ground, agitated.
The train rounded the bend and let out two mournful toots of it's whistle. The rain was so loud that the train's hissing and screeching was nearly drowned out as it slowed down. Coming to a stop at the platform, the train let out a metallic clang. A small number of ponies got on, and a blue stallion and small purple dragon got off. Luna curtly nodded at Andante. "It's a pleasure to have you here. Your music is quite enjoyable." She mentally winced at the awkwardness of that compliment. "And it's good to see you again, Spike."
"Thank you. I appreciate your work in the dream realm." Andante and Luna shook hooves. "Shall we be going?"
Luna nodded and cast a spell. It wasn't initially clear what it was, but when she stepped under the rain, the droplets began to splash against a thin blue film. She had covered the small group entirely, and making sure everycreature was dry, led them away from the station.
The journey back to the house was a quiet one. There wasn't a single other pony on the street. They passed the bakery where Schuberry had played a few days before, and Luna slowed her pace slightly to catch a glimpse inside. A young couple were inside, chatting away.
Celestia had opened the door for the group as they neared the house, and her trademark smile shone through the storm. Luna nodded at her and cleaned off her hooves on the doormat. "I'll get her."
"Thank you." Celestia whispered, then turned to Andante. "Would you like some tea?"
Luna let her older sister deal with the pleasantries and crept into Schuberry's room. "Your father's here." She whispered.
The little filly looked up from her desk. She had finally finished writing the song she played in the bakery, and was stapling together the sheet music. 'Ok, I arrive now'
Keeping Schuberry slightly behind her, Luna went to the now-filled living room, where Andante was voicing his displeasure to a serene Celestia.
"If it were not to make clear that there seems to be a misunderstanding, I would not be here at all!" Andante complained.
Celestia ignored this. "Ah, Schuberry."
'Hello you' Schuberry turned to Spike, curiously nuzzling his scales.
Andante frowned at the filly. "She's younger than I assumed...are you sure it's her?"
"Quite." Luna curtly replied.
Andante was unconvinced. He looked over at the piano. "Sit, please." Schuberry did as she was told, and Andante pulled out an Ambletivirus violin. "Do you know the quote on quote 'famous' part of my Ursa Major Concerto?" After seeing her nod, he began to play. Schuberry quickly joined in, gently complimenting his plucky tune. He frowned, and stopped playing the lead. Schuberry didn't miss a beat and immediately took charge. To the untrained ear, it would have sounded like she was off tempo and completely destroying the song. Her plucky movements and approach to the tune didn't match the slow moving piece.
After attempting to seize the lead again several times (and being rebuffed by Schuberry spectacularly), Andante stopped. "Very well. She's certainly above average for her age." Andante concluded. "And quite the showpony too..."
"That's hardly the achievement." Celestia chuckled and took a sip of her tea. "Satisfied?"
"I suppose." Andante grunted as he returned his violin to it's case.
"Now when I heard you were coming, I wasn't going to call you here to point hooves and get a 'he said, she said' argument out here." Celestia began. She was choosing her words carefully. "There is a certain spell I would like to perform on the two of you."
"Go right ahead." Andante said confidently.
"Hold on, I haven't told you about it." Celestia saw his look. "You need to have full disclosure before being able to give consent to the spell. I'm going to probe both of your magic and try to sense a parental connection."
"Like I said, I have nothing to hide." Andante repeated. Schuberry also nodded.
Celestia spread her wings (presentation was important, she thought) and her horn glowed. Andante and Schuberry were lifted into the air, and a bright yellow glow originating from the ancient alicorn's horn blinded the room occupants. After several minutes, the magic subsided and the two ponies landed back on the wooden floor. "Andante, you're not magically tied to Schuberry."
"Of course I'm not, I've been saying, I'm not her father." Andante scoffed.
"I'd better get the adoption papers ready..." Celestia mused. "Would you two like to stay for lunch?"
"Sure, thanks." Spike quickly answered.
"Oh, thank you, but I must be going. The sooner I return, the better." Andante began to head for the door.
"Wait. When I said I enjoyed your music, it wasn't just some awkward compliment. I meant it." Luna blushed slightly. "Could you possibly play the Pheasant Duet for me please?"
He stopped and looked back, sighing. "Very well. I certainly do find Schuberry fascinating. Do you know this song, filly?"
'I promise I play accompaniment with no fight'
So Andante returned to the living room and took out his violin again. Celestia and Spike had begun to prepare food, but Luna noticed that they were paying as much attention as she was. They looked over at each other, checking that they were ready, and then they began together.
The Pheasant Duet was a rather slow moving song, meant for couples to slowly ballroom dance at establishments with limited access to musicians and equipment. It was one of Andante's first published works, and perhaps still Luna's favorite. She gently swayed as she listened, eyes closed. Andante's playing was more reserved compared to Schuberry, and the alicorn could tell that the filly was trying hard to not inject her own element into the playing or overtake the stallion.
Luna's worries melted away like soap in water. Of course Schuberry wasn't Andante's child; she had been an idiot for thinking so. The relief was almost immediately overshadowed by the thought that perhaps Schuberry had some sort of hidden agenda. Cozy Glow taught everypony in Equestria that even a foal could become a dangerous villain. Was this another case of a foal led astray by delusions of grandeur or the seductive nature of power?
She didn't seem like that kind of pony, Luna thought as she opened her eyes and looked towards the piano. A cunning villain wouldn't have made up such an easily refutable story. Schuberry seemed incapable of lying; just the other day, she attempted to fly and accidentally broke a picture frame. She made a pathetic attempt to shift the blame to a mouse. Before Luna knew it, the song came to a close, and Andante gave a slightly sarcastic bow. "Thank you, thank you. Now I really must be off."
Andante was interrupted by a sound that could only be described as a dying cat's last few breaths. The source of the sound was Spike, whose face was a comically shade of blue and on his knees, clutching his throat. He sputtered out green flame, and a fat scroll flew out. Celestia snatched it up and read the few first sentences. "Andante, I'm afraid you'll have to stay."
"I'm not sure this is ok." Ocellus tried to protest as she heaved Sanbar up. "We're breaking into a pony's house. This isn't right."
"I won't lie, I don't think this is right." Gallus agreed, hovering outside a second story window. "I mean, we're not even going to take anything!" Seeing his friend's looks he tilted his head. "What?"
"Just try to return things back to where you found them, ok?" Sandbar pushed open the window. "And be quiet, please." He pushed himself in, and after his winged friends flew in, they pulled Yona up with a heave. After brushing wooden splinters from beneath scales and out of fur coats and layers of feathers, they looked around. The gang found themselves near the back of the house, in what once must have been a grand dining room. There were display cases crammed with trinkets, none of which any of the children could positively identify. "Ok gang, let's split up."
Gallus and Smolder headed into the kitchen, Silverstream and Yona headed back into the piano room, leaving Sandbar and Ocellus to head straight forward. It was a rickety staircase that led into a dark cellar.
"Well, let's go." Sandbar flicked on the light switch and a light orange glow emanated from the bottom. He slowly made his way down warily. Ocellus followed closely, slightly shivering. As they looked around, it became clear that it was a small living space, perhaps a servant's quarters once inhabited by the family's maids and butlers. The space was sparsely decorated, with some sections just bare brick. It must be cold during the winter, Sandbar thought. There was a wall to the left specifically meant for preparing food, and further back there was a washroom. To the right, a row of doors were closed.
Ocellus tried the first few but found them all locked. The one on the end swung open, dust gently billowing. "Sandbar."
"Yeah?" He had checked out the washroom and promptly concluded that there was nothing of interest. However, in Ocellus' room, there was a small bed neatly made. Sandbar checked the drawers in the desk and found a few pens and pieces of paper. "Nothing here."
"What about the dresser?" Ocellus asked, tentatively. They pushed the doors open and found a black tuxedo neatly hung up in the hangars and a small pile of mismatched socks. "That's strange..."
"This is just about it." Sandbar sighed. "Lets head back up to see what the others have gotten."
"Wait." Ocellus pulled a book from the pile of socks. Flipping it open, the blue changeling's lips moved with the words as she read. "This looks like some sort of journal. I don't think Andante's going to miss this."
"We're supposed to be returning things." Sandbar tried to put it back.
"No, seriously, Andante's not going to miss this." Ocellus pointed at the socks. "Schuberry definitely had this hidden."
"Alright. Whatever." The earth pony shook his head and led them back upstairs. Schuberry's journal was quickly forgotten when he saw Silverstream clutching a small pile of documents. "What...are you doing?!" He cried.
"Collecting some evidence." Yona grinned. "These here say that Andante has been taking care of Schuberry as her legal guardian since birth...and there's more."
"Andante is NOT the father!" Silverstream giggled. "This is just so juicy!"
"Yeah, ok." Gallus stepped forward. "We found nothing."
"That's not absolutely true. There seems to be these scribbles lying all over the place and they're covered in dots. Andante has made a lot of critiques on them...he says things like 'she should have made this part should be more like this' and that sort." Smolder held it up proudly.
"It's not really that profound, not on it's own. But," Sandbar said. He paused for effect. "Ocellus and I found similar paper in Schuberry's desk."
"So then. Now what?" Ocellus looked back and forth.
"Let's get this to Princess Twilight." Sandbar suggested. "She'll know what to do from here." He led them out the window and climbed out, one after another. Smolder and Gallus barely caught Yona (Smolder's feet actually sank into the ground a little). Once everycreature had collected themselves, they immediately headed for the Canterlot Castle.
It was a very awkward lunch, especially for Andante, who refused food and sat off to the side sulking like a foal. Spike engaged in some conversation with Schuberry to keep her attention away from the other side of the table.
Luna was staring daggers at Andante, while Celestia was gently prodding him with questions. "So Schuberry has no biological connection to you?"
"Of course not." He snorted. "If she did, I would be happily married with her mother right now."
Celestia thought this over. "Are you going to tell us her name? We can probably track her down and return the filly to her."
Luna's death glare was now turned on her sister.
"I had the luck of meeting who she...preferred over me." Andante began, and paused. "They had a very toxic relationship. It wouldn't be good for Schuberry."
"Why didn't you admit her into an orphanage then?" Celestia continued the interrogation. If she wasn't wrong, it was concern she detected in the stallion's voice.
"I didn't want her to go into the orphanage system." Andante's voice grew softer. "I've been through it myself. It's not...desirable."
Celestia nodded, understandingly. "May I ask about you taking Schuberry's music?"
"I didn't take, we agreed that it would be for the best. Such a talented filly would instantly become very famous..." Andante scratched the back of his head. "I believe that she should not be displayed to the Canterlot nobles as some kind of circus animal."
"That's another lie." Luna folded her forelegs. The chair creaked under her weight as she leaned back. "You cut her coat and mane like a stallion and bought her a suit. It appears that you were about to present her to the world, like a circus animal . It says so in your journal."
"Just how much did those spoiled brats steal from my house?" Andante grumbled. Luna tried to react but was restrained by Celestia. Spike, who overheard what he said, shook his head to himself.
"Now now, let's be civil." Celestia chided. "Andante, we aren't here to punish you."
"Luna might be." Andante snuck in.
"I want what's best for Schuberry, and I hope and believe you do too." Celestia quickly brought his attention back. "My sister and I think the best arrangement for Schuberry is to live away from you right now. We'll provide her with everything she needs. You'll be able to see her whenever you want, so long as she wishes to see you too."
"What about the music I borrowed from her?" Andante asked. Both sisters thought it was very narcissistic of him to be worrying about that rather than the child first, but Celestia brushed it off. He was certainly better than the vast majority of the Canterlot nobles.
"How about this. The music you have already published, you can keep under your name to prevent public embarrassment. But half of the revenue earned from the music will be transferred to Schuberry's name in a savings bank account, where she will be able to begin withdrawing money from the age of eighteen." Celestia folded her forehooves.
Andante thought about it, and after letting out an exasperated "Bah!" threw his hooves in the air. "Alright. I still have a song to complete."
"If you want her help, just stop by, alright?" Celestia stood up, ready to show him the door. "And Andante. We're not pressing charges because Princess Twilight asked us not to. Are we clear?"
"Yeah, yeah..."
After the door was closed on the unicorn, Celestia let out a long sigh.
"Diplomacy at it's finest." Luna shook her head as she began to do the dishes. "Oh, Spike, Schuberry, you run along now. We'll clean this mess up." Watching the two head off (presumably to play), she asked Celestia, "Do you think we could give her voice back?"
"There's something strange about that filly." Celestia said darkly. "When I was doing the magical probe, I found traces of a very powerful magical essence embedded within Schuberry. It might have something to do with her innate musical talent."
"Oh, that is strange..." Luna wondered aloud. "We might have to ask Starswirl to look into it for us..."
"Well, that can wait." Celestia dried off a fork. "At the very least, the spell has made a case to whether or not inquiry should be put forth, but it should be stressed that relevant facts cannot be established with any degree of certai-"
"When you use such circumspect language, you end up saying nothing whatsoever." Luna unplugged the drain in the sink. "Are you hiding something from me?"
Celestia dried off the last of the plates and put it away. Her attention inevitably drifted back towards the grand piano. "Perhaps I'll consider a career in law. And let's just say for now, I have a hunch that I can't confirm."
"We should have enough foodstuffs for a few more days." Luna checked the fridge. "Do you think Schuberry will like some treats? Candy?"
"I'll go get her some candy apples." Celestia began gathering some loose bits. "Do keep an eye on her."
Schuberry came bounding over and booped Luna's hoof. She looked down. "What is it?"
"You're it!" Spike laughed. "Run, Schuberry! Run!"
"Oh you fiend-!" Luna chased after Schuberry, giggling as she skidded along.
Celestia shook her head and smiled. "Don't break anything, Luna!"
Not long after Schuberry had been adopted, Celestia and Luna both decided that the little pegasus should immediately begin schooling. It was already a month since school had started in Silver Shoals, and Luna, ever the worrywart, spent the night leading up to her first day pacing and listing all the things that could go wrong.
"Schuberry will be fine." Celestia had said. "There's no reason to be so worried."
"How do you know that?" Luna asked, fluttering her wings in agitation. "A thousand evils could turn Schuberry's first day into an utter disaster! How do you know the other foals will accept her? Maybe she'll hate school!"
Celestia didn't say anything after that and wrote her sister off as a lost cause. And so, the next day, Luna found herself perched up on a tree looking into Schuberry's classroom with a perception blocking spell cast on herself. The teacher was introducing Schuberry to the class.
"Now, children, do you know what mute means?" The white mare asked in a sing song tone.
A pink unicorn raised her hoof. "It means she doesn't know how to speak!"
"Not quite, Luster Dawn, but you're very close." The teacher explained. "She's unable to speak. I'm sure everypony will be nice to her, right class?"
"Yes, Missus Mentor!" The class chimed.
A donkey rasied his hoof. "Were did you come from, Schuberry?"
'Canterlot' Schuberry slowly wrote out on the green chalkboard. The students let out an amazed 'oooh' at her cutie mark when she turned around.
"Alright, Schuberry." Mentor pointed at a seat next to Luster. "You can sit there. Now, let's review our alphabet...A is for Apple, B is for..."
The rest of the morning was spent on math (where Luster Dawn proudly showed off her ability to do hundredths place addition) and gym. The donkey (who had introduced himself to Schuberry as Hayseed) ended up on the same dodgeball team as her, and despite being outnumbered three to one, they managed to pull a win.
Luna kept a close eye on the little group of foals cheering for the two. Schuberry's popularity pleased the alicorn to no end, and she rolled on her back and kicked her hooves in the air.
After lunch, the children were sent down to the music room in single file line and kazoos were handed out. Luna jumped up and down giddly, expecting Schuberry to perform some kind of melodical miracle, but she stubbornly played along with the other foals, refusing to stand out. Luna's initial excitement died away and she found herself twirling her hair.
There was a solo from one of the other students, and Luna groaned. The foal puffed his cheecks and grew red from the exertion, putting way too much effort into the little plastic instrument. It was painful to watch, and Luna wanted to drop her cloak right there and put Schuberry front and center. She let out a disdainful snort.
The rest of the day went by uneventfully, and soon, Luna dropped the spell and doubled back around the school. She waited on the field with the other parents there to collect their colts and fillies. Schuberry was jostled a little as she came out, happily listening to her friends talk about setting up a playdate at some point. Seeing Luna, the little pegasus waved.
Luster Dawn's eyes widened. "Your mom is LUNA?! "
Schuberry bashfully patted the unicorn, trying to stop drawing attention. Luna approached them and smiled. "Schuberry, do you wanna play with your friends?"
'i want play with at home' She wrote.
Luna tilted her head at this. "I'm not sure if our home is even that fun..."
"I live right near there anyways." Luster added on. "Pleeeeaaaaase..."
Luna looked at their expectant faces and sighed. "Alright, if you really want to. Are your parents alright with this?"
"Ah, I need to go home." Hayseed smiled sadly. "Maybe next time. See ya, Schuberry!"
"Bye, Hayseed. Miss Luna, Missus Mentor can let them know." Luster jumped up and down excitedly. "C'mon, c'mon! Schuberry, you've gotta show me your dolls..."
At home, Luster forgot all about toys when she saw the massive grand piano. It's fall board and lid were both closed, and the bench was neatly tucked below. "Schuberry, do you know how to play that?" Seeing her nod, Luster stepped up to it. "Can I?"
Schuberry raised a hoof, indicating it was ok. Luna helped open the lid, and the unicorn climbed onto the bench. She played a very slow, rickety cover of chopsticks, and looked back to the two ponies.
'nice。do you know other song'
"Heh....not really." Luster scratched her mane. "Can you play anything?"
Luna's ears perked up. 'It's showtime.'
Schuberry got up and Luster moved aside, watching the pegasus' hooves move back and forth, playing a very simple tune. It was slightly above Luster's level, but not particularly extravagant or complicated. Luna almost let out a sigh of exasperation; Schuberry seemed to be purposely hiding her true skill.
When the song ended, Luna leaned forward and whispered into the pegasus' ear. "Why don't you play something more...complicated?"
'mom wont like' Schuberry scribbled.
"Why not?" Luna asked. She noticed Schuberry calling Celestia 'Mom' and squinted her eyes.
'dad never like when i play too much when other here'
"Well, it's fine by me. You don't need to hold back at all." Seeing her apprehension, Luna gave Schuberry an encouraging pat. "Go on."
Luster dug through some of the piano sheet music and found an old booklet titled 'Hoofel's March For Piano.' After blowing off the dust, she handed it to Schuberry, who quickly read through it. "How abut this? Mom used to play this for me on the phonograph." Luster said as she got back on the bench next to Schuberry.
'ok' Schuberry put the sheet music on the music rack. She eyed the paper with distrustful eyes, as if it would run away if she didn't look hard enough. Her hooves hovered in the air as she hesitated, but she was interrupted by the front door opening.
Celestia strolled in, followed by Mayor Mare. Luna smiled. "Ah, sister! And Mayor Mare!"
"Pri-Luna, always a pleasure." She shook the dark blue alicorn's hoof. "Luster Dawn, we need to go now."
"Oh come on!" The little unicorn threw her hooves up in the air. "I wanna watch Schuberry play!"
Mayor Mare blinked. "You can listen some other time. We have some things to do."
"I wanna learn again." Luster insisted. "I wanna learn to play that! "
"Well, Frederic Horseshoepin said he isn't going to teach you anymore." The earth mare pointed out.
Schuberry, who saw Celestia, visibly relaxed and started playing the upbeat piece.
"I can ask Schuberry." Luster turned to the still-playing Schuberry. "You'll teach me, won't you?"
Schuberry nodded.
"Well, I hope you know what you're getting into." Mayor Mare sighed. She reached out to grab her daughter, but as she listened to Schuberry, she thought better of it and sat down. Celestia began chopping vegetables in the background, gently humming along.
"Mayor, would you like to stay for dinner?" Celestia called out.
"Oh, uh..." She answered distracted. "Uh, sure."
When Schuberry finished with her usual bravado, Luster looked up at her mom. "See? I want to do that."
"Dinner's almost ready~!" Celestia called.
"Oh my, we really must be going now." Mayor Mare stood up.
"But mom, you said we could stay!" Luster hugged a forehoof, jumping up and down.
Luna leaned in. "To be fair, you did."
A very confused Mayor Mare found herself lead over to the table, where Schuberry and Luster joined them and began to hold their own conversation. "Alright fine, we can stay. But we need to go right after."
"So you're retiring as well?" Celestia pushed some mac and cheese over to the other side.
"Ah, yes, well it's to take care of Luster Dawn and her grandmother better. I think I can afford to take a break." Mayor Mare laughed. "But you know all about that. Government is draining enough at a town level, I can't imagine what it would be like in a national level."
"Ah, well, it won't hold a candle to parenthood." Celestia laughed.
Luna paid more attention to the fillies' conversation. Schuberry acidentally pushed a note off the table, and Luna snuck a look at it. Things like 'Am I fitting in well?' and 'I want something like what mom and Luna have' were written on the paper.
Once the food had been placed in the ponies' tummies and the dishes had been moved near the sink, Mayor Mare and Luster Dawn left (the earth pony apologizing profusely for not helping with the dishes), leaving the family to tidy up the house. Schuberry put the sheet music on the top of the pile of booklets.
"Sister, I have something to tell you." Luna said, breaking through the silence.
"Yes?" Celestia looked up from the flooded sink. "Luna?"
"I'm thinking." Luna sighed. "You know how I was watching her today? She wouldn't show off in music class-"
"Was she supposed to?" Celestia hummed.
"No but-" Luna frowned. Celestia was right. Showing off like that only made her look arrogant. What did that say about herself? Her thoughts drifted to her great constellations she once formed above the skies of Equestria. Luna spent weeks, sometimes months planning out star patterns, and when she perceived them to be underappreciated, she ended up being unreasonably upset. Her self-evaluation turned up some things she found deeply troubling about herself, so she threw out a slightly valid excuse. "I noticed that she's been less willing to play when you're not around."
"That so?" Celestia dunked a dish into the murky waters of Wash Basin Ocean. "Do you think that's a problem?"
"I do." Luna grabbed the dish and dried it off. After putting it down, she looked back at Schuberry, who was lounging on a couch. She regretted starting the conversation, and she regretted lying even more. And yet, she was always so terrified of talking about her problems that she wore a fake smile and acted as if nothing was wrong.
Part of it was Celestia's fault for not noticing it-Luna caught herself trying to shift the blame and attention away from the problem once again. How was anypony supposed to notice if Luna never cried for help?
Her thoughts invariably drifted to the Mare on the Moon. It began because she was jealous of Celestia's popularity. Perhaps Luna would have been better received had she gone to the effort of being social instead of wallowing in self-doubt. She suddenly realized she was doing the same at that moment.
Celestia poked Luna with the plate. "Hey, are you ok?"
"Of course I am." Luna turned back around and kept on drying, avoiding eye contact. "Just worried for Schuberry."
"Still?" Celestia shook her head in disbelief. "I saw the notes she was writing to Luster Dawn. If you're concerned that she likes me more than you, it's not true. As a matter of fact, she'll probably learn a great deal more from you than from me."
Luna didn't say anything back, silently cleaning the dishes.
"This is a matter of principle, sir." Andante paced. "Ah, the sort of thing you used to tell me what politics was about."
"What..sort of principle?" Prince Blueblood asked from behind his desk. The two were in an office, presumably the Prince's with an assistant off to the side.
"You're taking money away from the arts and putting it in frivolous things such as Bocce ball." Andante sat down as he spoke. "Bocce ball is strictly commercial. Why would you need to subsidize Bocce ball if it runs out of money?"
"Why not?"
"Why not? " Andante's tone went up a pitch.
"Yes, why not." Blueblood made clear his question. "Why is there no difference between subsidizing art and Bocce ball other than the obviously greater popularity of the latter?"
"Art is our cultural heritage, it must be preserved at all costs!" Andante argued.
"For whom? For ponies like you! The educated middle to upper middle class! Why should the rest of the country foot the bill of such a niche group of ponies' pleasures?" Blueblood brought his hooves together. "Orchestra, theater, opera, ballet ?" Each word grew more condescending. "You're just ripping everypony else off."
"Prince!" Andante protested. "How could you say such a thing? This is about education, perserving the great moments of our civilization! Have you not noticed?"
"Don't patronize me, Andante. I belive in education too." Blueblood groaned. "May I remind you that I'm a graduate of Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns?"
"Well I'm glad to hear that even the CSGU isn't totally opposed to education." Andante said sarcastically.
"Sport is education too!" The Prince seemed completely exasperated at this point.
"We have classes on the birds and the bees, shall we subsidize that too?" Andante grinned. He seemed rather proud of his point.
"Oh could we?" The assistant asked. The two stallions looked at her with amazed expressions.
"We ought to subsidize based on popular demand. It caters to the needs of the many." Blueblood pointed out.
"What would happen to the Royal Opera House on that basis then, hmm? The great forum of our culture!" Andante sputtered.
A predatory smile ran across Blueblood's smile. "Thank you for bringing that up. Now tell me, as not only a composer but a violinist and a conductor, what do they do in the Royal Opera House? Dragon operas and hippogriff comedies and changeling tragedies. Certainly not our culture-why should we subsidize the cultures of nations who have invaded us in the past?"
Andante bit his lower lip. "Our partners in friendship, Prince. "
"The Royal Opera House generates enough revenue every year to keep a small town like Ponyville afloat for three years financially. The audience is always big business owners; booked full by shipping companies and sellouts and ponies like you."
"Prince, this is very appalling. It's savagery and barbarism. A servant of the crown saying these things..." He shook his head in disbelief. "It-it-it's the end of ponykind! Art needs subsidy to survive!"
Blueblood couldn't help but laugh at this. "Did Hoofel receive subsidy? What about movies? Movies are fun and educational. The only reason we don't subsidize movies is because ponies like you prefer opera. We should be encouraging the growth of what the average pony sees, causing growth of what is happening now."
"It's commercial ." Andante slapped the table. He looked at his watch. "If you'll excuse me, I have an appointment."
"Where are you going? You have another half hour booked." Blueblood looked at the other stallion funny.
"Oh, nowhere in particular."
"We must talk this through." Blueblood insisted.
"I can't, I must get dres-I-" Andante realized his mistake.
"Dressed?" Blueblood pounced. "Where are you going?"
Andante wasn't amused. "If you must know, I'm headed to the Royal Opera House."
Blueblood's smug smile followed him out of the room.
Near the end of the school day, Miss Mentor took a few minutes to make an announcement. She wrote on the chalk board and clapped her hooves several times to quiet down the foals.
"Class, we're taking a field trip to Cloudsdale next week. The weather factory is holding a school special tour, and other schools like Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns and School of Friendship will also be making the trip, so be on your best behavior. We'll also be seeing the Wonderbolts perform at the Cloudeseum." Mentor explained as she passed permission slips to the foals. "Get your parents to sign this, bring it to me before Monday or I won't be able to let you on the trip!"
"Yes Missus Mentor!" The class chimed. The bell rang out and there was a big scramble as all the students headed for the door.
"Schuberry!" Luster called. "Hey, can I practice at your house today?"
'i want go over sheet music with you, we won't play piano, probably do during after school' Schuberry explained. Perhaps the most inconvenient thing about her muteness was when she wanted to explain something, she had to stop walking.
"Maybe we should move to the side of the hallway." Luster patiently waited for her to finish and then read over the note. "I'm ok with that."
The two fillies found a sunny spot by the playground and Schuberry placed a stapled packet of sheet music on the ground. 'Read the notes out'
"E4, G4, E4, D4, G4, C4, D4, C4, B3, G3." Luster said in a steady monotone.
'now humm it out' Schuberry ordered. Luster did. 'very good'
"Isn't this just the Friendship Anthem?" Luster asked.
'it was originally a small movement in a symphony by Hoofel, was adapted by Princess Twilight, i think' Schuberry flipped several pages with her wing. 'now this'
Schuberry quizzed Luster on a few more lines before Celestia arrived to pick her up.
'i'll leave this with you ok ok' Schuberry hopped onto Celestia's back. 'try play on piano'
"Yep." Luster stuffed the packet into her saddle bag. "See you next week!"
"So how was school?" Celestia asked. There was a pause as the ancient pony felt the pen on her back before Schuberry reached forward to show her the paper. "Oh, that's good. Friends are always important." She hummed to herself as she playfully kicked a a small pile of leaves. "Nightmare Night is just around the corner, you should consider getting a costume."
'costume?'
"You know, dress up as something that you arent. Monsters are always popular, career costumes are also a safe bet." Celestia looked across the street. "Like that milkmare."
'ponies dress up as milkmares?'
"You could dress up as other things, it doesn't have to be a milkmare." Celestia stopped walking and thought for a moment, Luna's troubled expression after dinner still engraved in her memory. "Why don't we stop at the library? I could show you in a picture book."
'ok let go' Schuberry stood a bit taller as Celestia headed back the other way towards the town center.
It was a peaceful night with a new moon, and Celestia was mopping the floor. She enjoyed the quiet, and hummed some tune to herself.
Schuberry came out of her room holding a small paper slip. 'wanted show you earlier but no time'
Celestia took it and read it over. "Ah, field trip notice. To Cloudsdale..."
Schuberry pointed at a line in notice: 'Students need to bring their own lunch.'
"Do you need me to make your lunch?" Celestia asked.
'yes'
"Ok, what kind of lunch do you want?" Celestia put the mop against the wall and opened the fridge to check on food.
"Don't worry, sister. I've got it. covered" Luna came over. "I'm better at it, anyways."
"Oh, is that so?" Celestia's voice changed. "I'm better than the best."
"Well, I'm even better than that." Luna thinned her eyes.
"Look at you talk, Luna..." Celestia pushed Luna's hoof down. There almost seemed to be thunder in the room. "Pathetic."
"Well, well, well, there seems to be only one way to settle this..." Luna sneered.
"Don't underestimate me, I'm old but I still can hold my own..."
The fridge's open door alarm was beeping and Schuberry had to jump up to shove it closed. 'What's going on now?'
FIELD TRIP LUNCHBOX COMPETITION
THREE ROUND MATCH
Celestia and Luna found themselves sitting behind identical food preparation counters the next day. The kitchen had been redecorated to look like a game show soundstage and there was even a live audience from the assisted living facility in the living room.
"Luna, we don't have the bits to pay for this set." Celestia muttered.
Hayseed, who was sitting behind a table with a 'Judge' banner, leaned forward. "You two will be making a three course meal: an appetizer, a main course, and dessert. Entertain us and our taste buds."
"What even is your character anymore?" Luna furrowed her brow.
"The ingredients are your choice~!" Mayor Mare explained, with 'Commenter' in front of her stand. "Try not to spend too much money...we don't want to strain Celestia's wallet too much."
"Hey!" Celestia grumbled.
"Now...begin!" Hayseed set off a popper. Both alicorns scrambled out of the house.
"They're in good spirits..." Mayor Mare commented. It was probably been the fastest she ever saw Celestia move in her life.
'mom is really excited' Schuberry added.
Luna galloped into the farmers market, rushing back and forth and flapping her wings to help her balance. The bits she dropped on the counters didn't even stop bouncing before she was on to the next. She dashed between the other ponies, causing some to drop their groceries.
Celestia, meanwhile, was in a large chain supermarket. She meandered into the produce aisle and grabbed a brussel sprout, thinking.
"DONE!" The two sisters exclaimed.
"Contestant Luna has a very delicious looking potato and celery soup with herb creme fraiche and those tasty oyster crackers on the side..." Mayor Mare announced. "But Contestant Celestia...just has two garlic bread pieces? Huh?"
Luna snorted. "Throwing in the towel already, sister? There's no comparing our recipes!"
"There is no need to compare." Hayseed said darkly. "The first round goes to...Celestia."
"Huh?!" Luna screeched. "How did my soup lose to a piece of store bought garlic bread?!"
Celestia let out a low 'hmmf,' it almost sounded like a supressed chuckle.
"Luna, a lunchbox is not a royal meal." Mayor Mare explained. "Your soup wouldn't fit within the confines of this box without destroying the other contents!" She held up a small plastic container. "See? No subdivisions between the sections!"
Luna, trembling, looked back at Celestia, who was throwing her a gloating smile.
"I'll win the next round!" She swore. And she did. All three ponies unanimously agreed on Luna's cauliflower bolognese, which also had assorted mushrooms added.
"Huh? Baked egg greens don't work?" Celestia was slightly irritated.
'pasta better' Head Judge Schuberry wrote.
Celestia looked devastated. "But eggs and greens...they're delicious too!"
'pasta better' Schuberry, instead of pointing at the old paper, wrote it again in bold for effect.
It was Luna's turn to celebrate. "Get with the times, old mare ."
"Final round." Mayor Mare stared the two down. "Something small and sweet. A fruit could work. It can't be cooked, though."
The two began to leave, Luna trailing behind.
'Auntie' Schuberry wrote. 'why fighting with mom'
"We, well..." Luna realized. "I...I'll be back." She left slowly.
Mayor Mare sighed. "The sisters have a track record of fighting ever so often. I suppose its good to let them vent their frustrations out now instead of...ah, well. They'll tell you when they're ready."
'what mean?' Schuberry asked.
Mayor Mare smiled a half-hearted smile. "Oh, nothing, nothing."
Luna looked around at the farmer's market that she visited earlier.
When Celestia returned, she fed Schuberry a candy apple.
'why do you and autie fight'
Celestia considered this question. "Because we're close." She finally said. "When you love someone, you care for them. Sometimes, that causes friction. But every now and again is fine. She's my sister, but she can be my friend too."
Hayseed yawned. "How long is Luna going to be gone?"
Celestia slumped up against the wall, tapping the floor. When Luna finally returned, Celestia just turned her head to look.
"Alright, third round complete!" Hayseed tilted his head. "Luna, what's that?"
Luna proudly held up a long, lumpy grey object. "He he he, wouldn't you like to know? It's Duskfruit, it grows on the moon."
Celestia reached forward and took a bite. "It's not bad! How did you get it?"
Luna chuckled. "Well, thats a secret~!"
Hayseed shook his head. "Food from other celestial objects are against the rules. Sorry, Contestant Luna. You've been disqualified."
Luna didn't seem very bothered though. In the background, the fruit came to life and began to snap at Celestia with razor sharp teeth. She stuck out her tounge at Schuberry and winked.
"LUNA!" Celestia yelled.
When Luna woke up, it was almost noon, and she found the alarm in her clock turned off and Celestia's bed empty. She rolled off the bed and landed on her hooves unevenly. A quick search revealed Celestia sitting at the kitchen table reading a local newspaper.
"Nornin' sister... " Luna groggily muttered. "Why is the clock broken?"
"Nornin...? I turned it off so you could sleep in." Celestia pulled out a chair for her. "You'll need the extra rest. Today's Nightmare Night and I want you to foalsit Schuberry and her friends. There's usually a pretty good celebration in Manehattan."
Luna poured herself a bowl of cereal. "Huh?"
"I know that Schuberry likes you, but I want you to know that too." Seeing an uncomfortable reaction Celestia continued more tentatively, "It's only a small bonding experience." Celestia grinned slyly. "Well, it was Twilight's idea actually, but I daresay a good one. By the way, are you sure you'll have that much cereal?"
Luna looked down to see that a small pile of oat flakes had formed on the table, her bowl completely buried. "No, uh, no." Sighing, she began scooping Mount Cereal back into the box. "Just to be clear, do I have any say in this?"
"Do you want to disappoint Schuberry?" Celestia lowered her paper and looked down at the filly under the table.
Luna leaned back and caught a glimpse of her. "Sister, what is it that she's wearing?"
"Oh, she's dressed up as a traveling salespony. Isn't it just cute?" Celestia reached down and petted her.
Several hours later, a slightly more awake Luna found herself standing by the Manehattan waterfront with three foals precariously squeezed on her back, wondering how she got talked into caring for them. A large crowd had gathered on the river jostling them around. Luna held up her wings to keep balance.
"When are the Wonderbolts coming?" Hayseed called out above the din. He wore a black sports jersey with a big white nine on the back. Luna had to give him credit; the costume was comfortable, low budget, and yet mostly every stallion that they passed smiled at him or gave some form of greeting.
"Soon!" Luna answered. It was a very clear day, so ponies could easily point out the famous group of pegasi in the distance. The Wonderbolts held close formation as they flew down the river. Vapor trailed off their wingtips. Everypony could clearly see their bright uniforms and sharp manecuts. After flying past the city's skyline, the formation split up and landed amongst the crowd near a tent.
As the ponies drifted away from the railing on the piers, Luster pointed at where the Wonderbolts had put down. She was wearing a Wonderbolts costume with fake cardboard wings colored in with pink marker. "Can we go see them?"
"Sure." Luna let them down and they began to wander slowly towards the lump of ponies.
When they finally got close enough to identify the ponies, Luster let out a squeal. "Rainbow Dash is here!"
'Rainbow who' Schuberry looked genuinely confused.
"You don't know who Rainbow Dash is?" Luster was amazed. "She's just about the coolest pony to ever fly for the Wonderbolts! She made the world's first sonic rainboom!"
"I didn't know you were actually a Wonderbolts fan," Hayseed said. "You're always going around with your nose buried in a book. Are you ok?"
"Nerds can like the Wonderbolts too, Hayseed." Luster huffed. "The only difference is I'll be your boss one day, and I'll make enough to see a lot of their shows."
'Let's go see them together someti' Schuberry had to stop writing as the space became more cramped.
They reached the front of the crowd after a few minutes. Luster jumped up and down as the amount of ponies before them thinned.
Rainbow Dash saw them coming thanks to Luna's height. "Hey, Luna."
"Hello, these three are here to see you." Luna gently pushed Schuberry from behind her. "Sorry, Schuberry's a little shy-"
"I'm Luster Dawn!" The unicorn looked up at the taller pegasus. "You're so cool! I wish I was a pegasus... I'd fly for the Wonderbolts too!"
Dash chuckled at this. "Kid, don't worry. You're awesome as a unicorn."
"She's going to be the first alicorn to fly for the Wonderbolts." Hayseed joked.
Schuberry was looking over this flying legend with wide eyes. Luna couldn't judge what she was thinking, but Schuberry kept eyeing Rainbow's powerful wing muscles. When will I fly?
"Soon." Rainbow winked. "Very soon."
After a pause so Luster could switch out her plastic wing pin with a metal one at Wonderbolts the merch tent, they headed back into the main celebration. Luster gave Schuberry the old plastic pin, and the pegasus wore it on her straw boater hat. As the group continued down the waterfront area, a storyteller was singing a little rhyme.
"Every year, we put on a disguise to save ourselves from her searching eyes. But Nightmare Moon wants just one thing: to gobble up ponies in one quick swing! Hungrily, she soars the sky. If she sees nopony, she passes by. So if she comes and all is clear, Equestria is safe another year! Fill up her belly with a treat or two, so she won't return to come eat you!"
'who is Nightmare Moon' Schuberry asked Luna, shuddering slightly.
Luna frowned at this, and Luster Dawn, who saw the paper, looked away. The alicorn opened her mouth to begin, but stopped. A euphemism wouldn't be right. She owed the truth to Schuberry. "Your, uh, mother and I were once the rulers of Equestria. She ruled the day, and I the night. We had kept this balance together, but as time grew on, the ponies slowly loved Celestia more and more and they began to like me less and less. I grew jealous and bitter."
Luna paused for an uncomfortably long time. "I told Celestia that I would be the only ruler of Equestria, and I forced refused to lower the moon. We dueled, and I ultimately lost." Luna cringed, expecting a frightened expression from Schuberry.
'So mom and auntie fight?' Schuberry asked innocently.
Luna blinked. "Well, everypony fights. Husband and wife, older and younger siblings, parent and child."
Schuberry paused to consider this. 'will I fight you?' She finally wrote, looking worried.
"Well, I certainly hope not." Luna felt a sense of relief wash over her. For some reason, she was more stressed talking about Nightmare Moon with Schuberry than any other pony she met since her return.
'ok good, I like you a lot' Schuberry hugged Luna's neck.
It didn't take long for the four to agree that there wasn't much more to see by the river, and they turned their attention to the great skyscraper forest that was downtown Manehattan. The great buildings stretched high above them, and on the ground level, brand name stores sold overpriced clothing and perfume and saddlebags and watches.
"Hey, over there." Hayseed pointed towards what looked like an open area in the middle of the city. "That looks like a rock concert! Maybe it's Ladon... or Solleret!"
"Let's go see." Luna crossed the street making sure Luster was keeping up. Before they merged into the crowd, they could already hear the music very clearly thanks to the excessive amount of speakers set up. The large open area turned out to be Woolhoof Rink next to the zoo. There was a small pond behind the stage, and they slowly rounded the shore. Some turtles basking on rocks slid into the water, startled by the ponies' presence.
Hayseed chuckled. "Ah, it is Ladon!"
"What song is it?" Luster asked.
He shrugged. "I don't know, they played this song on a stereo at one of the bocce ball games."
His companions each had a large sweat drop running down the side of their heads.
The band was near the end of the song, and when they finished, the lead grabbed the microphone. "For our next song, we need someone who can play the piano. Raise your hooves up real high..."
"How cliché," Luna commented. "It's like they knew Schuberry was gonna be here or something.”
Luster practically exploded in a ball of energy. Her cardboard wings flapped from the motion. "Over here! Over here!" She waved both forehooves like a madpony, and it worked.
"You there, the one who's jumping a mile high. Come on up here!" The tan earth pony waved her up.
Luna’s eyes widened. “VindiCA TION!”
"It's not me, it's her!" Luster pointed at Schuberry, who had her face buried in her hooves in embarrassment.
"Sorry, what?" the stallion asked. The crowd quickly relayed the message up. "Oh, your friend? Well, both of you, come on up!"
Schuberry, who found herself at the center of attention, blushed and shyly followed behind Luster. It must have been the largest gathering of ponies she had ever seen. The crowd politely parted for them.
"Schuberry plays the piano?!" Hayseed asked, confused.
"She's probably the best in her age group." Luna answered.
The stallion helped them onto the stage. "What are your names, kids?"
"I'm Luster Dawn, and my friend is Schuberry!" Luster announced. "She's the best piano player there is! Though she's also mu... mu... I don't know what it's called, she can't speak."
The crowd let out a sad 'awwww.'
"Ah well, Schuberry, I'm sorry to hear that, but you both are really brave for coming up here!" He stood up straighter. "Everypony, give it up for Schuberry!"
There was a wave of cheering, and Schuberry gave a small bashful grin. Luna really wished she had a camera to save how cute she looked.
"Please, come here... so do you know how to play 'Come Sail Away?" the singer asked. Seeing Schuberry shake her head, he pointed at the sheet music already set up. "It's real simple, just read the sheet music here."
Luster was about to hop back off when the singer stopped her. "Wait wait, where are you going? You wanna sing with me?"
The crowd cheered when Luster said yes. Schuberry sat down by the piano and started playing, figuring out the tune. The singer looked back. "An octave lower, please!"
Luna tapped Hayseed. "Let's move closer."
"And a one, and a two..." The leadist looked back and threw Schuberry a confident smile. She nodded at him, and the crowd began to cheer. After a few more bars, he began to sing. Luster joined in after the first line. The leadist paused before the last line.
"Your turn!" he urged the audience.
To carry on
They sang back, Luster among the loudest with the benefit of the speakers.
"Yeah, we're gonna carry on, aight, we're gonna carry on..." He picked up a guitar from the stage, getting ready as he sung the second stanza. "From your heart!" He began to play the guitar.
To carry on
Schuberry's eyes widened as she took a moment to look over the crowd. It was so unlike a classical concert; ponies were cheering loudly and jumping up and down and dancing. From the corner of her eye, Luna could see Hayseed waving up at her. She quickly turned her attention back to the piano, but stopped to look to her left for a moment as if somepony were sitting next to her.
Schuberry was a classical musician and had a different feel for rhythm compared to a jazz or rock musician. As a result, she had excellent tone color and discipline, but her rhythmic feel was weaker. Luna realized that this was probably the first time she was exposed to non-classical instruments. Despite her cheerful demeanor, her playing was wavy and tentative. Several times she had to add notes to the tune to fall back in line with the rest of the band.
You see, modern musicians have a very good idea of phase locking, which in musical terms means being on tempo with your band mates. Schuberry, no doubt, would be more comfortable having specific direction from a conductor to keep the tempo, and was completely out of her element. Only Luna appeared to notice, though. Even Ladon seemed to be swept up in the excitement. The drummer eased into the beat.
The alicorn thinned her eyes at Schuberry. The ghostly imprint of a mare gently pulsated next to Schuberry, playing along with her. She was definitely a unicorn, though her horn was very distorted. Her coat was lighter than Schuberry's, and Luna couldn't quite make out the color. Her turquoise green and red mane and tail gently floated in the air as if she were underwater. Luna couldn't make out a cutie mark or any particular facial features.
"Miss Luna, you were right!" Hayseed grinned. "She's great!"
After the third stanza, the leadist began strumming a solo. Schuberry stopped playing completely and looked over at the singer. The solo kept on for awhile, while the crowd cheered louder. Several fireworks were shot up in the sky behind the stage.
After the final stanza, the song came to a slow close, the last note slowly fading. The mare faded from existence as Schuberry turned away from her. The crowd somehow got louder, perhaps an auditory illusion from the lack of music, and the lead grabbed Luster's hoof and held it high.
"Mares and gentlecolts... Schuberry and Luster Dawn! Woo hooo!" He caught something flying from offstage. "A hat for you, and a t-shirt for you!"
Luster struggled a bit putting the shirt on, and it was one or two sizes too big, but it didn't seem to bother her. Schuberry switched out her boater hat with the bocce ball cap. Luna raised her wing like a ramp and helped the two back down off the stage.
"Hey, guys, that was really something." Hayseed grinned.
Luster Dawn squeezed Schuberry in a tight hug. "Hey, does this mean you'll be playing for the Hearths Warming Eve musical?"
'maybe' Schuberry looked at the printed Ladon logo on Luster's t-shirt. 'Auntie, what instrument he play?'
"It's called an electric guitar," Luna said as she led them back towards the waterfront. "Why don't we stop for a quick snack?"
"Yep," Luster answered.
"Sure," Hayseed responded.
But Schuberry didn't write back, as she was on Luna's back, pushing into her neck as if it were a piano.
"Schuberry?" Luna looked back. "Are you ok?"
'guitar nice' Schuberry simply wrote and went back to pushing Luna's neck. She didn't write much for the rest of the day, even ignoring offers of food. Luna absentmindedly guided the foals around, only making sure that they didn't wander too far away. Sure, everypony had heard ghost stories, but this was something different. The spirit Luna saw didn't appear to have evil intentions.
As night fell, Luna carried the drowsy foals back through the Manehattan Central Station. The arches were lit up with beautiful orange lights, and scattered ponies trotted back and forth past the famous information booth. She took a moment to look up at the stenciled constellations on the roof. The fact was, her stars were never unappreciated. Luna simply had unrealistic expectations of how her subjects perceived them.
The train ride back to Silver Shores was quiet. Schuberry leaned up against Luna, napping with her coat costume draped over her shoulder like a blanket. They dropped a sleeping Hayseed off at his barn first and then stopped by a small hut near Silver Shoals for Luster.
She waved at Luna and Schuberry as they headed back for the main road, and closed the front door with her magic.
"Did you have a good day, sweetie?" Mayor Mare asked, cleaning the stove.
"Yep! Schuberry played in a concert!" Luster nuzzled up against her mother. "And I saw Rainbow Dash!"
"That's great, hon." Mayor Mare patted her. "Are you tired? I'll help give you a bath."
"No, I'm tired, maybe tomorrow morning. Night, Mom." Luster Dawn gently closed the door to her room and put the Wonderbolts pin on her nightstand. It made a heavy thud as it impacted the wood. She brushed her teeth quickly and flopped onto her bed, bouncing a little. After rolling onto her back to get beneath her covers, she sighed, looking at the pin. "Awesome as a unicorn... how can I..."
While Luster laid in bed, contemplating the day's events, Andante was wide awake by his piano. There was a marked drop in quality in his work since Schuberry had left. While it wasn't explicitly stated in a publication, word spread fast among the Canterlot nobility about his new symphony. Nopony needed to tell him he was slipping though; he knew better than anypony that he was in trouble.
He grumbled a bit as he sat by his piano, trying in vain to figure out why his music just didn't work. It was a frustrating reality that without Schuberry, he would not have amounted to very much at all. He cursed the filly, dropping his head on the closed cover. The stallion wasn't at the point where his financial security was threatened; he could always keep conducting his old works. Sooner or later, though, the nobles would grow bored of listening to the same songs and move on.
The thought of fading into obscurity didn't sit well with Andante. He grabbed the newspaper and unfolded it, sipping away at a cold cup of tea. The liquid was almost instantly spat back out as Andante choked. The article was about Schuberry playing at some ridiculous rock concert. There was a picture of some unicorn and Output Jack sharing the stage, and Schuberry was in the background.
He paused to consider something for a few minutes, letting his anger simmer. After making up his mind, Andante grabbed a suitcase and a saddlebag and began to pack things up quickly. Bits, clothing, and a few hygiene products like a toothbrush and a razor.
There wasn't any time to lose. He had a skyship to catch.
In the ancient times where ponies were split in to three tribes based on their species, Cloudsdale was a militarily powerful city-state, the pegasi relied heavily on a powerful sky navy to defend their home. The isolated nature of the city also meant that it heavily relied on the ground far below. The merchant skyfleet was the lifeblood of the floating city.
There was a fast food joint in the shadow of one of these half-finished galleons, completely crowded with young creatures. Off to the side, a large number of snobby unicorns muttered amongst themselves, drinking instant tea and eating salad. Most of the students were wearing a runestone engraved with a cloudwalking pentagram around their necks. The CSGU students had all prepared their own spells as part of a magical theory assignment, and Celestia had cast spells on Schuberry's friends.
Luster Dawn was looking over at the CSGU students, drooling slightly. She was wearing her Wonderbolts costume again, metal pin proudly pinned on her neck. She must have seemed like a very strange pony to the unicorns. "So cool..."
Celestia chuckled at the reverence the filly seemed to hold. "I'm sure you'll be able to get in if you work hard and study." Celestia encouraged. She was one of the parents to volunteer as a chaperone for the school.
"Do you really think so?" Luster looked up at the much older pony expectantly. "You know, when I was in the weather factory, I really saw the importance of maintaining the meteorlogical conditions above Equestria, but being a student of the magical sciences is cool too."
"Of course." Celestia smiled. "You're still very young, you have a lot of time to decide what you want to do."
"You pegasi are so lucky. I would kill to have a cloud bed..." Hayseed reached for Schuberry's wing.
'it s an n o yin g tp w rite on' Schuberry let him stroke her feathers. 'im j us t n o t go ing to'
"You might as well try using this chair." Hayseed groaned as he lifted his butt and sat down again. "They made it hard as concrete. I mean, what sized pony is this for? Look at that mare over there. She's not fat but she's spilling out over it."
"That's Celestia and she's sitting right in front of you." Luster groaned.
"Meanwhile I can't even get my hooves down on the ground." Hayseed ignored her. "This is like...the perfect chair for the eleven to thirteen age group. It just doesn't work for anycreature else. This is ageist!"
Luster was unsympathetic to his situation. "Just finish your food, Hayseed. We've all been done for nearly half an hour now."
"I just can't get comfortable in this." Hayseed continued. "It's like, we went from a log, to this cloud chair, to cushions."
"You're not funny." Luster gave up and turned her nose up, letting out a small 'hmmf.'
"The one comedy bit working so far in this entire story was this terribly designed chair, don't take it from me." Hayseed grumbled. "And don't 'hmmf' that, you know as well as I do that it's true."
Mentor trotted over and tapped Celestia. "Hey, we're getting ready to leave. The Principal said we could get better seats if we head off before the other students. I'm getting the rest of the class, meet you back here."
"But-wait! I'm not done with my food!" Hayseed began to cram fries into his mouth.
Luster said what they were all thinking: "Should've spent less time complaining about the seats."
The Silver Shores schoolfoals bunched up onto the road, and after each teacher or chaperone reported all foals were accounted for, the massive congregation began to slowly drift towards the massive Cloudeseum like a chunk of ice on a river. Along the way, the foals slowed down to look at the ships flying by or being built, and the adults had to herd them along like shepherds.
They arrived within minutes, taking advantage of the bridge connecting to the massive reinforced cloud structure. Everypony stopped to gaze up at the massive pillars before sliding into the cool shade beneath the seats.
The journey up onto the bleachers felt like an eternity of climbing, even though they were headed for the front few rows. Staircases leading up to the first indentation in the sections seemed to overflow with creatures, and then they spilled back down towards the wide open space at the center like a waterfall.
There were a few scattered ponies already waiting in the stands, but the main crowd hadn’t arrived yet. Celestia squeezed up against Schuberry on one side and Luster on the other. While the ponies slowly trickled in, food vendors dashed back and forth, and Schuberry took notice of the strange food they were selling. She nudged Celestia and pointed.
"Do you want some?" Celestia fished out a purse from under her wing and waved a stallion over. "Hey, Donut Joe! Come here please!"
Hayseed leaned forward. "Can I please have some too, Miss Celestia?"
"Sure." Celestia handed Donut Joe a few bits and distributed the cotton candy to the foals. Hayseed happily lapped up the airy confection at a fairly quick rate. Schuberry stuck out her tongue and lapped up a small portion to test the taste. Finding that she enjoyed it, the pegasus practically sucked up the entire sugar cloud in a single breath like a vacuum cleaner, sound effect and all.
Celestia stared with a slightly incredulous expression. She must have seen the filly display her terrifying ability several times by now, and yet, she was just as amazed as if she saw it for the first time.
Generally, other ponies found Schuberry's gluttony an endearing quality and had fun feeding her, but having thought about it before falling asleep, Celestia found the behavior depressing. Schuberry must have always felt that there wasn't enough food and was pressured into eating whenever it was available.
Everypony's attention was quickly drawn to the center of the Cloudeseum. A single pony was slowly being raised on a cloud platform. The crowd began to stomp their hooves in excitement.
"RAINBOW DAAAAAASH!" Luster screeched.
The blue pegasus slowly spread her wings, and in a powerful flap, she shot into the sky like a rocket. Spitfire lead Soarin and Fleetfoot in a three element delta formation, and Rainbow slotted into the number four position right behind and below Spitfire. The formation made a perfect left knife edge turn.
They preformed some basic acrobatic manuvers, barrel rolling and switching speed. Cameras flashed as they pulled out low over the crowd before zooming up into the sky again. There was plenty of time to marvel at their perfect flying-it seemed almost like they were flying as one, the distance between the pegasi never changing.
At the top of their climb, the team split up at perfect right angles, vapor trailing off the leading edges of their wings. It was a reasonablly executed bomb burst manuver, and certainly a beautiful image against the deep blue sky.
As the pegasi leveled out over the stadium, two more ponies-Thunderlane and Misty Fly-dropped in from the flanks and formed an arrowhead formation. Zooming back down at the crowd, Thunderlane and Fleetfoot pulled off to the left, Soarin and Misty pulled off to the right, and Spitfire lead Rainbow straight back up.
Meeting at the bottom, the two flanking groups swung around to meet up with the center group. The smoke left behind formed a pierced heart, slowly being blown lopsided by the wind. The pegasi flew off triumphantly, disappearing over the edge of the Cloudeseum.
Luster stood up to get a better view amongst the celebrating crowd of ponies. "Is that it?"
No sooner had she finished talking, High Winds and Suprise suddenly burst from below the cloud layer, doing a reflection pass. High Winds was inverted and directly below Suprise, mere inches away. Suprise rolled right and High Winds leveled out, and they turned into each other, executing a very hair-raising crossover break. High Winds pulled up, inverted, and then dove over the edge of the stadium, and Suprise made an Immelmann turn, setting up for the solo routine.
"Hey, Schuberry! Whaddya think?!" Luster turned to look at her friend. "Oh, right, sorry. Tell me later!"
Suprise rolled a snappy eight point presentation roll, sunlight glinting off her suit, and pulled up again, enduring at least six g of force on her frame. This time, Suprise didn't pull back over, opting to hang in the air, before falling backwards back towards the ground. She pulled out at about half the speed of sound, leveling off seemingly effortlessly. Several ponies began to scream with excitement.
The less sharp-eyed members of the crowd didnt notice High Wings zooming right at her until the last second. There was a collective gasp as Suprise flicked to the left and High to the right, passing at the last second with almost no room to spare. Hayseed crossed his eyes and fell backwards dramatically, then got back up to keep watching. Only Schuberry noticed.
High Winds took the spotlight. In shows like this, she played the bubbly idiot who looked like a young pegasus just learning to fly. However, if it took above average skill to perform like a normal Wonderbolt, it took double the skill to fly badly purposely and not crash. Pegasus aerodynamics was very imbalanced and front-heavy, making stalls and spins very dangerous. High Winds needed to know her limits and push herself to them, but not beyond.
And she did.
Her curly tail wiggled back and forth, causing her to yaw in crazy patterns. Her routine was doing crazy flips and reversals. At one point, High Winds did a pass at moderate speed, suddenly standing up on her hind legs in midair, using her entire body as an airbrake of sorts. The pegasus also took advantage of her namesake-she slowed down to stall speed, pulled up, and hung in the air with zero ground speed for over half a minute before dropping back down.
When High Winds finished her solo, she disappeared below the Cloudeseum. The eight pony formation flew over once more at a high altitude, and Rainbow Dash did a split-s, heading straight for the center of the arena. A vapor cone formed around her body as she sliced through the sound barrier, and the blue blur passed right through the temporary clouds at the bottom, blasting them away with her rainbow shock wave.
The Wonderbolts all landed at the edge of the stands and took a bow. Several ponies threw flowers down, which fell right through the cloud. With the show over, the crowd began to disperse away. Many pegasi simply flew off, while a few die-hard fans gathered around the bottom to meet their idol.
Celestia gently herded her foals back out of the Cloudeseum, trying to keep an eye on all of them at once. Luster accidentally bumped into a griffin as they were heading down the stairs.
"Hey, watch where you're goi-" He paused as he noticed Schuberry. "Hey..."
"Gallus, we waiting for you! Hurry up!" A large yak called.
"Guys, I just saw that filly..." The griffin disappeared with his friends in the crowd, and Schuberry didn't seem to notice that a complete stranger recognized her.
The skyship that took them to the city was waiting for them outside the Cloudeseum, propellors slowly churning the air to stay in place. The classes slowly filed onto the wooden hull and took their seats, students all jostling for the back. Mentor took another head count before slumping against the side of the hull, completely knackered.
The twin motors' pitch increased, and the ship slowly pushed away. Celestia looked down at Schuberry.
'My pen is black but it can write red.' The filly smiled, pen still clamped between her teeth. Celestia smiled-this was the first whole sentence she formed.
"I don't belive you." Luster said. "Show me."
'Red.'
The unicorn opened her mouth, then closed it again. She thought of something to say and opened her mouth, but decided against it. "You know, Schuberry, sometimes, I wonder why I bother sticking around you." Luster leaned up against her. "Then I remember you're the one giving me piano lessons."
Schuberry chuckled at the joke and wrapped one of her small wings around her pink friend. Hayseed was busy looking out the round porthole, humming to himself.
This is so peaceful, Celestia thought. I want it to last forever.
"She's been like this for a day." Celestia sighed.
"She's been like this since the concert, though it's only gotten worse." Luna sipped her hot coffee.
Schuberry was scribbling away on a piece of paper ferociously. Around halfway down, she let out long, frustrated exhale and ripped apart the paper into little bits.
The two sisters looked at each other.
"You've been keeping an eye on her, right? Is this affecting her performance in school?" Celestia asked.
Luna scrunched her snout. "She's been passing a lot of notes with Hayseed and Luster Dawn but I wouldn't say it's abnormal behavior for her."
"That's not good enough." Celestia slumped into the couch and stretched out her slender legs. "She's like a zombie!"
"Well, what do you want me to do?" Luna huffed. "I can’t just magic away her worries and frustration?"
Celestia slid off the couch completely before jumping up. "I'll talk to her."
"Hoo, this is going to be good." Luna put down her coffee and looked on.
Schuberry, noticing the alicorn approaching, rolled onto her belly for rubs. Celestia nuzzled the soft fur for a moment before becoming serious. "Don't you think you should take a break?"
'No, I'm good. I will make a very good song for you. Schuberry tried to grin but a yawn got in the way.
"You don't have to do it for me. Do it for yourself." Celestia patted her. "Is there anyone who can help?"
Schuberry looked up at Celestia with wide eyes. 'An writing song about Wonderbolts. Atmosphere of flight. Make sense of discipline and wonder. How?'
"I don't know much about music, and I don't think I could give you specific suggestions but..." Celestia smiled rolled onto her back like Schuberry. "Why don't you talk to the pony at the concert? He's your friend, right?"
Schuberry's eyes widened. She grabbed a piece of paper and began to write a letter.
"I...should check her grammar."
Dear Output Jack,
I'm the filly that played at your concert in Manehattan for Nightmare Night. I had a lot of fun playing the piano. I'm trying to write some music for the Wonderbolts cause I saw a show and think they're really cool. I have a bit of trouble trying to make a core theme. I write classical music and this is something that I don't know if I can do. Could you give me some tips?
Sincerely,
P.S. It's ok if you don't answer, I know you're very busy
Hey Schuberry,
So glad to hear from you! You say you write classical music, huh? That's amazing, really. You have to send me a record sometime!
I will admit, the band's prepping for our next concert, but right after, I think I'll be able to visit if that's alright with Luna. I can leave a few tips that always work for me.
First, whenever I feel like I'm not making any progress, I stop and do something else. You should never force music out of yourself, it won't feel right or natural. That's not saying it's impossible to just throw some notes together and have it sound good, but the probability of that is kinda low.
But I guess you asked about how to start a song. Well, you did mention that it was going to be about or related to the Wonderbolts. What kind of emotions do they make you feel? Is it happy or proud or amazement, or all three? Classical music is more nuanced, if you want to do something different, don't hold back.
Don't forget, we have more advanced technology that helps us make music. You don't have to be held back by drums or guitars or pianos, there are magical options too! Theres a DJ that I worked with a few years back, I'm sure I could convince her to pitch in as well.
But yeah, lemme know if it's ok for me to drop by, maybe with a friend or two as well. We'll make this work, I promise!
Output Jack
Dear Output Jack,
I put a recording of the Violet Etude inside with the letter, it's a very fun song to play! Mom says it's alright for you to come by, there's going to be food and drinks. I've taken your advice and have a bit of a start. See you soon!
Sincerely,
Schuberry
Celestia found herself gently brought back to the waking world by Schuberry's baby grand piano. Somepony was playing, but definitely not the pegasus. The notes were rough and choppy, the pianist definitely feeling unsure of themself. With a herculean effort, she opened a single eyelid and found Luna staring right at her with a disapproving expression.
"You're finally up." The younger sister stated curtly.
Celestia mashed her teeth together and began to slowly push her body upright. "How long was I out?" She finally asked.
"I wouldn't know. You were the one who was supposed to stay home and watch Schuberry and our guest." Luna snuck a look at the two fillies by the piano. "Challenging them to make the best drawing of you then napping is not 'keeping an eye on them,' sister."
"Not physically, I'll admit." Celestia agreed. "But its effective nonetheless." She raised a piece of paper. "Maybe Schuberry ought to become a different sort of artist."
Luna pursed her lips. "You look like a pickle in that one. It's the funniest thing I've ever seen, but besides the point. They could have escaped at any point!" She lowered her voice. "Especially with Schuberry's track record..."
"Alright, alright, I get it. You don't need to be such a worrywart." Celestia held up her hooves in surrender, then her lips curled up into a smirk. "I'll be more careful next time so Schuberry doesn't go pick fights with racoons in garbage cans."
"There won't be a next time." Luna pushed aside the comforter and joined Celestia on the couch. "For the record, I was gone for three hours."
"Uuuugh." Celestia groaned. "Luna, I know , I'll be more careful-"
"I'm not talking about your questionable foalsitting." Luna aimed her hoof at Luster. "I thought Mayor Mare said Luster wasn't a good student. Schuberry wrote the Magical Etude as a quick way to teach Luster repertoire. I tried to play it-not the easiest piece I've seen."
Celestia's mouth formed an 'O' shape. "Well, perfect practice makes perfection."
"Yeah but in under three hours?" Luna muttered. "Say a word enough times and it starts to sound funny."
The two mares sat together in silence and listened. The music sped up and slowed down, charged forward and retreated. Every once in a while, Schuberry reached up and flipped over a page of the sheet music. Perhaps she was a good teacher, or Luster was a fast learner, but the airy tune was rather well preserved from composer to musician.
"You know, we might have to return custody." Celestia said suddenly.
Luna scowled. "What?"
"I've put a bit of thought in it, actually quite lot more than a bit. We're no longer legally able to make other ponies' business our own." Celestia explained.
"You're getting cold hooves over a moon into this arrangement." Luna laughed humorlessly. "It's too late to want to give her back now."
Celestia shook her head. "I don't want to 'give her back' as it were, but Andante's going to ask that we do. He's tried to keep us out of this by denying parenthood-rather convincingly, I might add-and he's rightfully angry about those children that went through his property. She's a reminder of a lot of pain and suffering he's been through, and I think he's done well to look past that and raise her as his own."
"We were doing the right thing." Luna maintained. "Were we a bit hasty? Yes, I'll admit it. We jumped into the situation without all of the facts, which those younglings have kindly brought us. You didn't have a problem with Twilight and her friends making 'house calls.' Why should they be any different?"
"Of course that's different, one of those things was national security, the other was a private family matter." Celestia tried to counter. "And I'll say it again: it's no longer our business to 'do the right thing.' That's why I mailed Twilight; we're retired , it's her turn to worry about these things. Hay, you even passed off your dream patrols to a government team."
"He's stolen her work, tried to dress her up like a colt! That is completely different from banishing a nightmare!" Luna raised her voice. "He's given her the bare minimum to survive and then leeched off of her like some kind of pinworm!"
"I'm not saying he's perfect, but I still believe we've judged him too harshly. I'm just letting you know that he's still her legal parent, and that he has a right to her." Celestia sighed. Luna was still unconvinced, so Celestia added on, "Several hundred years ago, Equestria was at war with Griffinstone. Andante's treatment of her would have been seen as above average for those times."
Luna thinned her eyes dangerously. "What do you mean, war ? You never told me about a war."
"Actually, there were a few. But, um, remember that night guard?" Celestia asked nervously, like a foal being forced to confess stealing candy. Luna nodded slowly. "She wasn't a night guard..."
"I see." The younger sister finally said. Luna slowly rose. "I took the liberty of sketching you for a few minutes myself, you know."
"Can I look?" Celestia's eyes followed Luna to the kitchen.
"On the table. I'll start preparing supper."
Yellow magic gently clasped the papers and quickly flipped through them. Celestia's ancient lavender eyes settled on a line sketch.
Andante abhorred travelling. He made trips to conduct concerts occasionally, but never out of Equestria. Being so far from Canterlot scared him more than he liked to admit. He looked down over the side, taking in the lush green bamboo forest below through gaps in the clouds. His somach clenched. It was a lovely view, but Andante was more concerned about how long the fall would be if his hooves slipped.
The skyship lurched slightly as she began her descent through the haze. There was some slight turbulence and her hull rattled, but it wasn't long before the mooring mast came into view. It took a few minutes to tie her down, and he was the first off the ship, wobbling down the gangplank. No doubt he would be the butt end of jokes for the ship's sailors for the next few weeks.
The town was oriental in design. There was a certain bilateral symmetry to the layout, probably planned out years in advance. At the very center, there was tall, thin building with tiered grey roof tiles. A wall loosely hugged the town, guards slowly pacing up and down the raparts. Locals wearing strange, flat straw hats milled about in the fields. At such a distance, their features couldn’t be made out.
He noticed that the fields were actually square shaped ponds. No known crop was grown in such a manner, and yet, the plant was clearly thriving in the other subdivisions of the swamp. Another strange sort of plant seemed to be very plentiful in the area, it’s main stem appearing to be tiered bars with small offshoots of long, thin leaves. It was hard and could almost pass off for an alien tree.
He picked up his suitcase from a luggage handler and marched straight for the town. Two great guard lions stared him down as he passed the big circular gates. One had a great brass ball under his paw, while the other gently held a cub in place. He tried to greet them with a smile, and they responded by baring their fangs. Andante's eyes flicked back to the ground and quickened his pace.
That wasn't such a good idea; he accidentally walked into one of the creatures. Andante got a good, up-close look of the citizens of this far flung town, and he realized that a large number of them were carnivorous in nature. Small doglike animals with nine enormous fluffy tails that were either orange, white, or black scurried across the stone slab streets. A strange, fat, black and white bear munched on the plant Andante saw outside of the town ferociously.
A few of the townsfolk stared Andante with strange, curious expressions. As they drew close, he noticed kirin were among those observing him, although small in number. Seeing a familiar species comforted the unicorn. Andante began a search for lodging, trying to ignore the stares he was collecting.
Along the way, the unicorn happened across a wide open marketplace. Different stands were all trying to sell food or clothing or jewlery, and wooden chairs and tables were loosely scattered around a water fountain. He decided now was a good time as any to stop for a quick lunch.
Andante was acutely aware of the language barrier. He tried to order food from a kirin vendor, but after failing to figure out the price, he just carelessly tossed some bits over the counter and grabbed the strange steamed roll from one of the pots. An annoyed shout followed him to his table, probably about an inability to accept the currency.
He set himself up at a table. Inside his suitcase, he pulled out a newspaper and began to do the word puzzles. After solving a questions in a crossword puzzle, he picked up the roll and slowly chewed it. A strange sweet paste had been cooked into the roll, and Andante spat it out. The cook scowled.
The unicorn pretended to not notice and went back to his puzzles. He tried to grab the roll again with his magic, but only snached up a ball of air. Andante looked up from newspaper with angry, confused expression and found a mare sitting across from him, hind legs propped up on the table and swallowing his lunch.
"Thanks for the roll, hun."
Andante made a sound similar to a mouse that had been stepped on. "I wondered why all the birds had suddenly stopped singing."
There was only one hotel in the entire city, and the mare had booked a small room nearly a moon ago. She was kind enough to allow Andante in, but didn't invite him to sit or offer refreshments.
The shades were drawn and she laid on the futon on the ground, voicing displeasure when he tried to find a place to take a seat. He finally shuffled awkwardly near the doorway, swishing his tail in agitation.
"So." Andante spoke.
"Why are you here?"
"Strictly for business." Andante coldly responded. "I imagine you're here for the same reason."
"Indeed. The locals have taken an interest in my adventures." In the darkness, she dramatically sighed. "They're called kitsun, they're suprisingly friendly. Gorgeous creatures."
Andante wasn't in agreement, but he let it slide.
“So, business. Is that what you call mending a relationship?" The pegasus asked. "Well, you've gone through the trouble of coming here so I might as well entertain this."
Andante leered. "Oh please. We all know I wouldn't come back just for you, witch."
“At least I don't look constantly constipated." She giggled like a filly. "It's not that far of an exaggeration either."
"I'm just glad you're getting some weight off those paws." Andante smiled.
"Calling me Ceberus?" She asked. "That's a compliment."
"Actually, I was calling you a dog, you dog." Andante corrected her.
The mare's mirth was greatly diminished. "Sticks and stones, hun."
"Your breakfast?"
She rolled off the futon and got in his face. "Coming from a stallion who writes music for ponies who wash paper plates. You're as boring as watching bocce ball without the players or the ball."
"And I, for one, regard you with indifference bordering on aversion." He turned his nose up.
"You embarrased me in front of Songbird Serenade!"
"You embarrased yourself ." Andante suddenly put a metaphorical lid on the arugment. "And I'm only here because of your daughter."
There was a physical change in her demeanor. "Schuberry isn't just business. Is she alright?"
"I suppose. Celestia and Luna have her at the moment." Andante inspected his hooves, feigning a lack of concern. Considering there was barely any light in the room, he looked a bit like an idiot.
"What did you do?!" She screeched.
"I didn't do anything. Schuberry ran away one night and Celestia found her. The put the idea that they would take better care of her than." Andante began. "I'm here because I'm searching for an artifact."
"Just ask for them to give her back." She groaned. "They cant say no to you or that'd be considered foalnapping."
"You don't understand, I need this to be a psycological victory. Schuberry has to want to come back to me." Andante hissed.
"Well if there's actual evidence of abuse, of course the foal is going to be taken from the parent." The mare tilted her head. "I'll ask you again, have you actually been taking proper care of her?"
"I'm giving her everything she says she wants. And she only ever said she wanted a grand piano. Of course you know I got her one." Andante trotted around the mare and gently lowered him rump onto the futon. "I have a plan. I'm going to need something with the power of mind control."
"Business, huh." Her energy deflated.
Andante rolled onto his back and spread out his legs. "I want the best for her."
"Yes, more than I ever could. I won't lie, it was good call to take her from me." She explained. After a pause, she changed the subject. "I've been doing other things lately as a career. Mostly because the Guardian of Tenochtitlan has a career hinged on me-"
"Are you going to help me or not?" Andante didn't bother sitting up.
The mare lightly stepped onto the futon and lay down next to him. "Why can't things to back to the way they used to be? All of this bickering and fighting, we can stop it."
Andante looked her straight in the eyes. "I don't hate you. I'm past that. If I felt anything towards you now, it'd probably be disappointment or frustration."
"I'll admit it, as I have before, I was young and stupid. Still am." She sighed.
"Stupid? Yes. Young? No." Andante groaned. "Your entire career hinged on painting somecreature in a bad light and destroying their workplace. How did it feel when it turned out that they were working a 9-5 job like the rest of us? And your claims that it was for preservation of the past was a cover for your own personal gain."
"That's hypocritical. I know your music isn't entirely yours."
Andante took a moment to think of a response. "We both agreed that it would be safer for her creations would be pubished under my name and I would be able to nurture her growth."
"I wouldn't know enough about music for that." She said. "You 'nobles' take your music way to seriously. All the fun of it's been drained out."
"It pays the bills. Schuberry and I work to their tastes." Andante faced her. "I suppose fathering her implies I still have some room in my heart for you in some sort of a strange, twisted way."
"Love can be broken down into a simple few chemical reactions, but we can give it a new meaning." She drew him into a soft kiss.
"There is nothing chemical between Schuberry and I. I'm simply clearing up your mess." Andante pushed her away gently with his magic before their lips met. "You need to move on. I know that everything you've been doing has been to try to impress me, but it's not going to work. We were never meant for each other."
"So that's how it is huh?" She shook her head and rolled off her side.
"I've done so much for you." Andante breathed. "I gave your voice back only to find out you have no sense of gratefulness or compassion."
"But not for Schuberry?" Slowly, she got off the futon. Andante watched with a sad gaze. "Does Schuberry still write music?"
"She does."
The mare shuffled to the door and grabbed a safari hat dangling from a coathangar. "You're choosing her fate for her. Not much of a fate, to be honest." With that, she left the room, ears down, tail dragging behind her.
Output Jack turned up on the sister's front porch late in the morning wearing a red vest and a big smile. "Schuberry! So good to see you!"
Schuberry nodded happily and lead him into the house. 'Who are they?'
"Remember in my letter, I was talking about the application of technology in music?" He pointed at a white unicorn mare. "She's the friend. And her friend wanted to tag along to see you as well."
"Octavia." The grey mare politely greeted. "I'm the lead cellist with the City of Ponyville Philharmonic Orchestra."
"You can call me Vinyl Scratch, kid. Let's see whatcha got." The unicorn in the sunglasses grinned. She was carrying a few large boxes in her magic. Schuberry eyed it with suspicion.
A few minutes of scanning what limited sheet music Schuberry had written revealed that she had the barest structure of a music. If somepony were to play it, they would need to take breathers between the parchment; there were only a few shattered ideas, but no cohesive work of art. And even if it was, it would sound like a waltz or a grand symphony, not some exciting theme song for Equestria's best fliers.
Output smacked the parchment with the back of his hoof. "This sounds like something Miss Octavia would play."
'That's what I don't want it to sound like it, classical style too boring for Wonderbolts.' Schuberry looked up expectantly at her guests.
"Don't look at me." Octavia smirked. "I'm just an observer."
Vinyl worked away on her machine and the sheet music through a strange device which she called a 'scanner'. "We could increase the tempo, for starters. We aren't working with a real orchestra so we don't have to follow the traditional rules of composing."
Output helped on the side, layering in some low guitar strumming. "This should do nicely."
The work was rather quick, and only a few minutes later, the now much shorter piece was finished. The four ponies listened to the reworked music.
"It sounds like a folk song." Output concluded. He was right; Vinyl had added some upbeat drums and banjos to the sped up orchestra, and the result was an upbeat, but unfortunately basic piece. "Blast."
Vinyl frowned. "I gotta admit, I'm outta my element here."
"Well, you all are." Octavia nodded encouragingly. "That song's only three minutes long. I'm sure there's more we could work on."
The adults turned to Schuberry.
"Come here." Vinyl gestured at the filly. After explaining the basic gist of the controls, she took a step back. "Well, kid, go for it."
Schuberry blanched. Surely such a complicated machine costed the mare a lot of bits. And improvisation required a good understanding of the instrument; a half minute crash course wouldn't do. This was was going to be a disaster if she pressed the wrong button.
"What're you thinking?" Output asked.
'I don't know. This is' Schuberry stopped writing and began to scratch her head. 'In classical music, you have several different movements all with different core tunes. I could do that but this supposed to be a single song. I don't want to ruin the theme we already have set.'
"Don't worry about that." Output reassured. "Just let it out from the heart."
Schuberry's lips curled downward. Early on in the song, the strings section took the spotlight. It was a good place to start. But what of the tune? Something bolder, more exciting was needed.
Octavia stepped in. "Schuberry, remember, it's your song. I did say that there's more to work on, but I let my curiosity get the best of me. You don't have to if you don't want to."
'it fine.' Schuberry politely replied. She picked the strings and slowly programmed in a basic tune. 'How's this?'
"You know what it sounds like?" Output mused. "It's like that friendship theme Princess Twilight uses."
"Hey, you're right!" Vinyl smiled. "It's definitely something to work off of. I think, we don't want to 'reveal' it just at the beginning. We could start of with something similar, and then either ease into it or drop it on our audience like an anvil."
Schuberry was left wondering what an anvil was as Vinyl picked up her headphones and listened to the tune several more times. After getting the basic gist, she stepped back and let Schuberry take the controls again. "C, D, F 'n' E, C-D-C..." She muttered. "How about...CGC, DGD, E, C, G, F, E, D?" She planned and wrote several variations down.
Schuberry meanwhile tried out several different instruments on the machine. She accidentally pressed a button, and a preloaded song started playing. The song was loud and completely unrecognizable as a traditional song, and the little pegasus leaped into the air and fell hard on her back in fright.
'What was that?' She asked after Vinyl paused the song. 'Did I break your machine? I'm sorry if I did.'
"Oh, it's called dubstep. It's what I'm known for. The neighbors especially." The unicorn chuckled. "Sorry for the suprise."
Schuberry didn't seem to mind. As the ponies set back to work, Octavia watched her with a tilted head. The first time she heard Vinyl's music was...a bit of a disaster, really. Their friendship was almost destroyed before it even began. But Schuberry, while also frightened by the music, was far less disgusted than she was. In fact, she looked...curious. And the grey mare would go so far as to say that the little pony was frightened of breaking Vinyl's machine and not of the dubstep itself.
"What you thinkin'?" Output asked.
Schuberry looked back at the stallion and pressed the 'start' button. She had selected a light, airy synthetic instrument. It held the same note, but grew in volume. 'Ease into?'
Vinyl placed her notes down on the panel. "Let's see how we can fit this into it..." She turned a few knobs. "That's good, that's good..." The strings joined in, overtaking the synthesized sound. After a quick greeting from the drums, the strings took over completely, and the first 'cycle' played out.
'That's great!' Schuberry smiled widely. 'Let's add more.'
After putting in a short pause, the brass instruments annouced their arrival.
"It sounds just the song's flying with the Wonderbolts." Octavia commented. "Before you add the guitars, give the brass a little more time in the spotlight."
"Sure." Vinyl checked her notes for more variations. "Done. Hey, let's use the original theme for the electric guitar." She quickly typed in the notes, and Schuberry added on the barest hint of the string section. For the second cycle, the brass complimented the guitar as it climbed high into the deep blue sky. "Should we keep the guitar going?"
'I don't want to overuse it, let's let the orchestra take over again.'
The music entered the most exciting stage, dancing among the clouds and showing off to the amazed ponies below. This was the grand finale, the best that the best could offer. It took awhile to reach this point, in the song, but was well worth the wait.
The song came to a close, and Schuberry played it from the start again. And then again. She listened to it no less than five times before she was satisfied.
Output asked, "So, is it good?"
'It wouldn't be good if I said no, would it?' Schuberry wrote. Before Output said anything, she added on, 'I don't mean it was bad. I like it, the ending was a bit too sudden but so was the actual show.'
"Well, that's good then." Vinyl pulled out two records and burned the music onto them. "Hey, we want to submit this to a publishing company, if it's alright with you."
'Sure.' Schuberry took her copy and hugged it.
Octavia helped her friend pack up the equipment. "Are you going to name it?"
'Me?' The idea that she would get to name her own song seemed foreign to the filly. 'How about Vivid Shining Sky?'
"That's a great name!" Output smiled. "Look, the publishing company is called Manehattan Records, they should contact you within a week to negotiate the money you get from this."
'What about you?'
Vinyl looked at Output. "Extra bits would be nice, but I don't exactly need it. Besides, kid, you worked on this."
Output was in agreement. "Trust me, Schuberry, we get plenty enough in the band."
"Lunch is ready~!" Celestia called from the kitchen.
"Oh, sorry." Octavia frowned. "We can't stay, though we'd love to."
"Oh, I understand." Celestia tapped a spatula against the counter. "Well, feel free to stop by anytime. We rarely get any visitors."
"We got a lot of peeping toms though..." Luna grumbled.
The family walked the guests to the door and waved goodbye. Octavia was thanking Vinyl for "holding back" as Luna shut the door. "I overslept again. You didn't turn off my alarm clock again, did you, sister?"
"Look, if that dubstep didn't wake you up, I don't think anything will." Celestia began shoveling the lunch onto seperate plates. "Oh, Schuberry's writing something. Was it fun?"
But Schuberry wasn't writing about her much older friends or music. 'Is lasagna a pasta?'
"I suppose lasagna could be categorized as a distant relative...why?" Luna furrowed her brow.
'Lasagna is the creepiest pasta.'
"I wanted to give you this, but Schuberry was home." Celestia held up an old, tattered book. The binding was barely held together by a few strings of leather.
"Whats that?" Luna raised an eyebrow. "Is it that stupid prank again?"
Celestia shoved it towards her sister. "I promise, it's not. Just open it."
"Very well..." Luna slowly took it. "This is a diary."
"Correct! More to the point, this is Honey Paradise's diary." Celestia grinned.
Luna's eyebrow slowly gained altitude. "Sorry, who?"
"Oh, her dad was in the E.U.P." Celestia sighed. "When you're done, I'll give you another book to read."
"Is this about the war?" Luna asked. Celestia ducked out of the bedroom. "Wait, where have you been keeping these?!" She sighed, and after grumbling for a moment, flipped to the first page and began to read. "It's a day of great celebration, but I do not quite feel like celebrating..."
It had been some time since Andante had returned from his trip, and he had more or less caught up with the recent events. A record of Vivid Shining Sky lay on piano, scratched and broken already.
Andante was sitting on his couch eating stale biscuits and drinking tea. A red collar with golden studs attached rested on the coffee table, a clip where the Bewitching Bell once hung was set off to the side, smashed and worthless. He felt like a child waiting to open a Hearths Warming Eve present, and the snow drifting down outside certainly added to his bottled up excitement.
"I suppose now is a good time as any." Andante sighed. "New Years is right around the corner, and the Grand Galloping Gala..."
With a grunt, he heaved himself onto his hooves and slowly slipped on a coat. After pausing a moment, he shoved the collar into his coat. It bulged out a little, but not enough to be instantly noticeable.
With everything ready, Andante stepped outside. A blast of cold wind hit his face. The snow was deep, and grumbling, he pushed a path to the main road with his magic. It didn't bother him that the snow he cleared from his walkway was now blocking the main road.
He set off towards the center of Canterlot. A coffee shop had recently re-opened nearby. The few times he gone past, he could see young mares socializing and writers with greater opinions of themselves milling about, trying to appear more cultured than they really were.
In fact, a lot more ponies were there than what he viewed as the scum of society. A group of carolers bundled in thick winter clothing were waiting in line, and several families and couples were sat around tables. The cold weather was a good incentive for warm drinks.
It didn't take long for Andante to reach the front of the line. A small problem hit him; he didn't know a single thing about coffee.
"Hello, what would you like, sir?" The attendant asked.
His eyes scanned the menu on the counter. He picked a random option. "An espresso please...T."
"One tall espresso. Would you like anything else?"
Tall? Tall?! What did tall mean? Andante rubbed his face. "I uh, want the small please."
"One short espresso?" She offered.
Andante blinked. "A short small?"
"Uuuh..." The mare blinked. "Do you...want it hot or iced?"
"Hot, please ." Andante said quickly. So there's how they get business during the summer.
"The hot comes in sizes, solo and doppio." The mare began reaching for the cups. "Which will it be?"
What the hay is a doppio?! This is a cup of coffee, why is it so complicated?! Andante stared at her with his mouth slightly open. He suddenly had an idea. "Can I just have the coffee of the day?"
"The coffee of the day is an espresso, sir."
Andante felt like he had been shot by a crossbow.
"So uh, solo or doppio?"
"Just...just make anything." Andante gave up. After taking a number marker, he left the counter and found a place to sit down.
The collar shifted inside his coat. He concentrated some magical energy into the object and directed it at the barista. To see if it worked, he would have the pony make him a cup of tea exactly the way he wanted it. The mare was rushing back and fourth, going through all the counters.
There's no tea, master. A voice suddenly said in his mind. Andante jumped a little from suprise, but nopony noticed.
What? This is a cafe! He responded.
This is a coffee shop. There's no tea. She was looking right at him.
Andante felt like crying. Fine, get yourself fired. He stood up and left, not even bothering to replace his table number card. Before he even gone a block, the mare was thrown out of the shop.
The successful test of the collar was wonderful news. He planned several meetings for the afternoon, but first on his list was Prince Blueblood.
He had been booked behind a banker. Blueblood came out of his office to welcome the stallion.
"...Well don't you read the Financial Times?" The Prince asked mid-conversation, gesturing at the newspaper tucked under Overdraft's leg.
The gentlecolt shook his head. "Never do."
"You're a banker." Blueblood frowned. "Surely you read it."
Overdraft shrugged. "I can't understand it. It's filled with economic theory."
"Why do you subscribe to it then, sir?" Blueblood's blood drained from his face.
"Oh, part of the uniform and all that." Overdraft chuckled. "Took me about three decades to wrap my head around Cane's theories. Then ponies got hooked on Capital ideals. Demand and...provisions, I think? 'I Want to be Free,' by Silver Freepony."
"You mean Silver Stocks?" Blueblood corrected.
Overdraft nodded. "They're all called Silver, aren't they? Anyways I'll be having a chat with Silver Shores later."
"Sapphire Shores?"
"I'm sure there's a Silver Shores." The banker frowned.
"Well yes there is bu...but..." Blueblood half-heartedly pointed off to the side. "Come into my office, please."
Andante raised an eyebrow at this. He overheard them discussing issues with building a new skyscraper office in Manehattan, but his thoughts lingered on the collar tucked in his jacket. If it failed, things would get awkward quickly.
Blueblood was concluding his suprisingly short meeting with the banker. "Before you go, my good sir, I'd like to remind you of something. There's an implicit pact offered to every Princess offered by her senior officials. If the Princess will help us impliment the opposite policy to the one she's pedged to, where once she comes to power, will see is clearly wrong, we will help her pretend that she is doing what she said she would do in her manifesto."
"Very well, Prince." Overdraft nodded and patted Blueblood's shoulder. "I'll be seeing you in a month."
"Now, Andante." Blueblood raised an eyebrow.
"Yes, looking for art subsidy again." Andante got up. "Oh, I won't be here for long."
"Another trip to the Royal Opera House after this?" Blueblood chuckled. "May I take your coat?"
"As a matter of fact, yes, and it's fine." Andante held up a hoof. "You'll see in these records that I took a trip to the Far East on a culture gathering expedition. I belive we could propel our own cultural development by borrowing from others." He began to concentrate on his collar.
"That's quite interesting, quite interesting indeed." Blueblood rubbed his chin. "How much would you like?"
"Oh, half a million bits?" Andante purposely threw out an exorbitant amount.
Blueblood went into his office. "The funds should be transferred to your account within a few minutes, Andante."
"Thank you." Andante smiled and practically glided out of the office. He made a beeline for the Royal Opera House, only stopping by the National Bank to withdraw the bits.
A group of old ponies was waiting for him in one of the performance halls, sitting on the stage in a tight circle. Andante greeted them with a tight lipped smile. "Sorry for being late."
"It's alright." A stallion wearing a powdered wig waved at him dismissively. "We're just planning the Galloping Gala right now. Turca and Seville are here to help us select musical pieces."
Andante knew these two stallions well. They were two of the most renowned music critics in Canterlot, and the main reason he was there. A quick thought to his collar, and his job was done. He stayed, though, party to not raise suspicion and partly to see about the Gala.
"Some of you may have heard about my trip." Andante jumped in. "I know the deadline is tight, but I have no doubt that I could scrap something new together."
The wig pony spoke up. "We already have music selected, why would we need new pieces?"
"It's Princess Twilight's first year hosting the Gala. Gentlecolts, you need to stop thinking so small ." Andante pressed the play button on an old cassette player, starting the Ursa Major Concerto. "We have the chance to do something big."
"What are you thinking?" Turca tapped his quill.
Andante smiled. "We start with something new. Once Twilight sees how wonderful music is, she'll have to increase our subsidy. And if not, the nobles and ministers at the party will hear the music and lobby for more. A new monarch means a new administration."
"You're still trying to push the whole subsidy thing?" Seville groaned. "I doubt Sir Blueblood could tell the difference between the song you're playing right now from Hoofel's 8th Concerto."
Andante frowned. "What? It gives us more wiggle room, financially."
"Andante, if we need more funding, we shall go ask for a loan from Sir Overdraft." The wig pony shut down the conversation.
The group of ponies had a good chuckle at Andante's expense.
"Though," Turca tapped his quill again. "I wouldn't mind seeing what options you have."
Andante pulled out some sheet music. "This is a sample, I'm far from finishing it."
"I see. Well, if you don't come up with anything, we'll have backups ready." Turca neatly returned the small packet. "Seville and I shall be picking musicians next week, we expect you to be ready by then."
"Of course." Andante bowed out. He decided to loiter a bit in the great halls of the building, looking up at the oil paintings on the ceiling. His livelihood was tied to that filly, and now, more than ever, he needed her.
"Celestia may have won the last battle, but I will win..." Andante cackled. "The next battle!"
Celestia gently sipped her after-lunch coffee, reading Equestria Daily. The local newspaper sat off to the side, already scrutinized by the two sisters. Every few seconds, Celestia's ear would twitch and she would mutter something under her breath. "Luna, come look at this."
"Mmm?" Luna's eyes fell on the headline under Celestia's hoof.
"We can not let Schuberry see this.” Celestia said.
“No, we can’t.” Luna agreed. “Go hide it. I’ll go get her from school. It’s almost dismissal.” She pulled a coat from the closet near the front door. “Auf wiedersehen.”
“Equestrian will do fine, Luna.” Celestia watched her sister disappear into the flurry of snow. It slowly dawned onto her that the house they had built was terrible for concealing anything from foals.
She looked below the couch, above the fridge, even inside Schuberry’s miniature grand piano. But in all these locations, there wasn’t a single doubt in Celestia’s mind that Schuberry could climb up or squeeze under to get to the newspaper. As for the piano, the filly would play a single note and realize the acoustics was off.
Celestia groaned, pacing in the living room. Schuberry found the bag of malted milk balls Celestia stashed in her makeup cabinet, the little devil. But she always smelled food . Maybe something as mundane as a newspaper could slip under the radar.
Slowly, the ancient pony drifted back into her seat. All of her wisdom and knowledge couldn’t defeat the insatiable desire of a curious fully. She grabbed her coffee and took a sip, then immediately spat it back out. It had gone cold.
Celestia loved winter, in fact, it was her favorite season. It reminded her of Schuberry in a roundabout way; there was another small handicapped pegasus that was alive over a thousand years ago.
The alicorn didn’t have long to daydream about Snowdrop, as Luna practically bucked down the door. “We’re home!” She unfurled her wings, revealing Hayseed and Luster Dawn tucked in along with Schuberry.
Celestia’s eyes bugged out and she quickly tossed the rolled up paper onto the precariously stacked sheet music by the piano with a flick of her hoof. “Ah! Uh, welcome!”
“Hello, Miss Celestia!” Schuberry’s friends greeted. They all tumbled into Schuberry’s room.
Luna sat back down, taking off her snowshoes slowly. “Where did you hide it?”
“I didn’t find a place.” Celestia admitted. “I tossed it over there.”
“Oh, Celestia, you’re overthinking it.” Luna grabbed the paper and shoved it into the space below the sink. “See?”
The bedroom door opened, and they heard Luster say, “...and grab some newspapers, we don’t want to cause a mess on your carpet.”
Schuberry wandered out and found some watercolor paint sets in a drawer, then meandered into the kitchen area. It took her all but twenty seconds to look below the sink, grab the newspaper in her mouth, and then disappear back into her room.
Celestia put her forehooves down onto the table with an intentional slowness, her breaths becoming more pronounced.
“Now, I know what you’re going to say.” Luna sheepishly smiled. “But believe me, that was a complete coincidence.”
“You’re a fu-“
Celestia gently arranged lemon squares onto a small platter. "They'll be distracted by this, you can just say something like, 'Oh, I haven't read this yet,' and then take it and leave."
"Assuming she hasn't already seen it yet." Luna pursed her lips. “Why don’t you go?”
“Because I’m older!" Celestia put her hoof down.
Luna let out a sarcastic huff. "Oh, please, when have you ever taken responsi-"
"And I’m scared.” Celestia quickly added on. She still had some slight PTSD from Twilight's Twilighting.
Luna lowered her head. "That's not fair." She grabbd the platter in her magic and dragged it off the table, slowly shuffling around the corner. Steeling herself, Luna pushed her way in. "Hey, kids. Want some food?"
"Thanks, Miss Luna!" Hayseed got to the lemon squares first, and he began to help himself.
Newspapers were spread over the carpet, and Luna could see that the foals were drawing different tree houses. "Oh, I haven't read this yet." She said robotically.
"We still need some, Miss Luna." Luster flicked her tail.
"Can I take a few articles and leave the rest?" Luna asked.
"That's fine. We won't need the entire thing." Hayseed waved the last square in Schuberry's face.
The article Celestia had pointed out was gone. After flipping a few pages, she grabbed the puzzles and comics, snatching up the empty platter on the way out.
"How did it go?" Celestia took the platter and washed it off.
Luna bugged her eyes. "Do you want the good news or the bad news?"
"Bad."
"I haven't gotten the article." Luna opened the page to show off the comics. "The good news is that Schuberry hasn't noticed. Maybe Hayseed or Luster saw the article and decided to not say anything."
"We should have called them out to eat the squares." Celestia banged her head against the counter. "Ow..."
"What can we do now?" Luna asked. Celestia shrugged.
"What can we do?" The older sister responded. "We used up our one good excuse to go in there."
"You made the lemon squares and came up with the idea, I'll think of something this time." Luna offered. "But you have to do what I say."
"I haven't agreed." Celestia said. She observed her younger sister as her expressions slowly morphed. Suddenly, Celestia said, “You have an idea.”
“What makes you think that?” Luna was irritated.
“You’ve got the same look on your face as when you got us into this mess.”
Luna's face took on a more reddish shade. "Why couldn't you even find a place to hide the newspaper?"
"Well, you just found that out, didn't you?" Celestia smugly replied. "That foal could find a needle in a haystack in twenty seconds flat."
"Fine, I was wrong, and you were right, and Schuberry is so much better than me, is that what you wanted to hear?!" Luna slammed her hoof down. "You go figure it out yourself then."
"You know, what, I will." Celestia stood up slowly and left the table. She wasn't quite sure what to do, so she ducked into Schuberry's room and watched them paint. "What do you foals want for dinner?"
'Hayburger' Schuberry quickly scribbled.
Celestia looked closer and noticed the slightly gloomy atmosphere. Perhaps they found the article. "Is there something wrong?"
"Luster is moving back to Trottingham after winter break." Hayseed explained.
"I see." Celestia looked at the watercolor paintings. "Are you going to be here for the Hearths Warming Eve play?"
Luster nodded. "I'll have to leave with mom afterwards."
'Actually, I should start writing music for play' Schuberry pushed her painting off to the side and left the room. Luster galloped after her, accidentally kicking her art a few inches to the side. Hayseed put his own paper next to Schuberry's.
"Miss Celestia, do you think they'll be okay?" Hayseed asked. "I mean, I'm alright with sending letters and all of that, but I'm not sure how long distance piano lessons could work."
"I'm sure they'll work something out." Celestia lied. "You might have to be there for Schuberry, though."
"I will." Hayseed started the stove. "Can I help?"
"You can cook?" Celestia asked.
"No self-respecting Hay family donkey will ever say no to that question." He grinned.
Celestia shrugged. "You might have to put the patties in the oven instead of in a skillet."
"Oh, right, I knew that." He cut off the flow of gas and opened the oven as Celestia dug out the frozen patties from the refrigerator. After setting them down on a pan, Hayseed guided the edges on the second rung and closed the door. "So, we just wait now?"
"Unless you have a better idea." Celestia answered. Luna came back out of her room, attracted to Schuberry' experimental playing. Seeing Celestia, she stuck her nose in the air and marched back the way she came. "So what's the play about?"
"Well, they kind of took themes from The Ugly Duckling and other Hearths Warming stories and wrote a new plot. The fifth graders just finished today, actually. Now, the music's all on her." Hayseed didn't notice Luna. "The second graders are playing music, the first graders are making the backgrounds for the scenes, and the third graders are doing stuff with special effects and lighting and all that, leaving us fourth graders to act."
"Oh? What role did you get?"
"That's a secret~" Hayseed insisted. "You'll find out when you watch the play."
"Oh, alright, alright, fine." Celestia opened the refrigerator again and grabbed the ingredients for a potato salad. "Hayseed, be a dear and set the table, please?"
"Right away, Miss Celestia." He sprung into action, carefully transporting utensils and plates and bowls over to the table. He stepped back, letting Celestia put down the side in the middle. The timer on the oven was still running. "Hey, they talked about the spring season sports today, I'm thinking of joining the bocce ball team."
"Sounds fun." Celestia absentmindedly said. "Hold on a minute." She rounded the corner and made a beeline for Luna's room. "Can I come in?"
"And if I say no, will you send me to the moon for another thousand years?" Luna grumbled.
Celestia sighed and turned on the lights. "We both said things we shouldn't have."
"Again. How many times have we fought? Maybe we shouldn't live together." The lump of soft blue fur and feathers said.
"More than I'd care for." Celestia laid down next to Luna. "I'm talking about fights and the number of times we've had this conversation."
Luna waved her hoof in the air, probably asking her sister to leave. "I'll move out tomorrow."
"That's not what I want." Celestia shook her head. "We used to live so peacefully before we became Princesses."
"Hmmf. I still remember the fights." Luna still wouldn't face Celestia. "Face it, we aren't meant for each other."
"We're fighting over Schuberry now. Back then it was because we didn't communicate enough. Now, we do." Celestia tucked Luna's mane behind her ear. "She needs both of us. So please, stay, for her."
Luna didn't say anything for a long time. Finally, she pushed herself up. "We sound like a married couple. I'll let you know my decision after the foals leave."
"The burgers look almost ready!" Hayseed called from the kitchen.
"I've got to go, don't miss food." Celestia kissed her sister behind the ear and left the room. "Luster, Schuberry-" The large pony stopped. "Where's the hay Schuberry?"
"She said she would clean up the mess in her room." Luster pointed.
Celestia moved so fast she felt like she had teleported to the doorway. Inside, Schuberry had pushed aside Luster's painting and was reading the dreaded page. The big, bold letters announced what a terrible song Vivid Shining Sky was, stating that it was the 'Biggest Musical Flop of the Century.' The little pegasus held the page in both her hooves, clearly upset, but not crying. After reading what she could (some of the paint covered the article), Schuberry slowly scrunched up all the loose sheets into one massive ball and kicked it off to the side.
A ghostly figure suddenly emerged from the corner, a unicorn mare. How she made it into the house was beyond Celestia. Her body was light, too light to discern its color, but the darker mane and tail was a soothing turquoise and red. The unicorn gently placed a hoof under Schuberry's chin and forced their eyes to meet. Schuberry's eyes widened as the strange mare whispered something into her ear, and then faded away.
Celestia blinked once, then twice. Tears were in her eyes for some reason. This unicorn was so familiar...
Schuberry gently placed Luster's art next to her own, so it and Hayseed's piece were flanking hers. After a sad look, she turned to the door. Celestia pretended to have just arrived. "Hey, dinner's ready. The hayburgers are done!" The alicorn said in a singsong voice.
The little pegasus broke into a smile. The frustration of the article and Luster's premature departure was temporarily forgotten. Dinner was a pleasant affair, as both sisters pretended nothing was wrong, partly to keep Schuberry happy, and partly because there was no need to argue any longer. Hayseed joked and played with his food, Luster hummed out tunes trying to help Schuberry, and the fireplace was lit for the first time, spreading warmth and light inside the cozy little home.
Everything was perfect.
“She’s not okay.” Hayseed muttered to Luster. They were in class, and Miss Mentor was writing several fraction addition problems on the chalkboard. The clicking masked the conversation. “Schuberry hasn’t said-I mean, written anything to us for three days.”
“She’s not obligated to.” Luster looked like she smelled something foul. “She'll write when she wants to.”
“That’s just the thing, I don’t think she will.” Hayseed said more urgently. “It’s up to us to cheer her up.”
“I need to do work.” Luster tried to end the conversation. Despite her aloof, indifferent appearance, she desperately want to make Schuberry feel better. School was school, though.
“Luster!” Hayseed hissed. “I heard from Miss Celestia. Listen. Miss Luna left.”
“What do you mean, left?” Luster asked.
“She moved out. Miss Celestia said that it was for the best. Schuberry’s got it in her mind that it’s somehow her fault.” Hayseed explained.
“Well, what do we do, get a pair of retired princesses together and talk it out?” Luster shook her head. “And besides, we have work.”
“Oh my-Didn’t Starlight Glimmer change their cutie marks? And I’m just trying to tell you, we just need to be there for Schuberry.” Hayseed looked back at the emotionless pegasus. “It might just be as easy as talking it out.”
The last few words stuck in Luster’s mind, being played on loop. She was irritated and slammed her face into the table, but all it did was make her angrier. Talking it out, talking it out...
Talk.
That was it.
Schuberry couldn’t talk. She would be a lot happier if she could, wouldn’t she? The poor filly was miserable, a little good news could do her wonders.
A faint pink glow slowly wrapped around Schuberry as Luster began probing. The unicorn wasn't sure what she was looking for, but she quickly found the pegasus' innate magic. It was light and airey, though at the moment, filled with an unsettling guilt. Something else was there, too. It was richer, and definitely originated from a unicorn's spell.
Luster Dawn suddenly pushed against her desk, scraping the chair against the floor. Everypony looked at her and she simply trotted out the door. Miss Mentor was completely shocked at the usually docile and obedient filly’s random act of defiance. She didn’t even try to stop her call after the unicorn.
Luster entered the library and slowly collected all of the books on magic. Most of the volumes were for foals and contained basic utility spells, but two were more advanced books meant for adults. They had never been used, perhaps being on display only to make the school’s students appear more precocious than they really were.
She selected a book that looked like it began around her level and became a little more advanced. The cover advertised an invisibility spell in the final chapter. After skimming through basic card tricks, levitation, and other utility spells, she found the final chapter forcibly ripped out. It looked like a rushed job, as if some madpony attacked the book. Luster couldn’t figure out why the librarian would withhold information about an invisibility spell to elementary school level unicorns, and with an annoyed snort, she moved onto the next book.
Lunch came and went. Hayseed tapped his pencil impatiently, completely ignoring the geography lesson going on. As soon as the bell rang, he unceremoniously used his foreleg to sweep his belongings into his saddle bag and galloped over to Schuberry's desk, shifting his weight around. "Come on, let's find her."
'She could have just gone home.' Schuberry moved slowly, organising everything as she packed. Hayseed shoved her textbook into her bag.
"Let's go." He led the way, scrambling across the halls, checking classrooms on both sides. Schuberry followed at a far more mature pace, watching the donkey scramble around.
'Hayseed, what were you talking about?' Schubery asked.
"Oh, it was just-" He clamped his mouth. "Um..." He faltered under her stare. "Luster and I wanted to cheer you up a bit. I don't know where she is."
'Thank you for being honest.' Schuberry smiled. 'She'll either be in the library or the gym.'
"Lets go!" Hayseed galloped off again. It didn't take long to reach the library, which was still bustling with activity.
Luster was buried under a pile of books, silently mouthing the words on the page. She didn't notice her friends sit down next to her.
"Boo!" Hayseed yelled, sending everything flying.
Luster gave him a tired smile. "Lunch time?"
"Dismissal." He grinned. "Schuberry saved you half her sandwich."
'Sorry, it's a little crushed.' The pegasus held out the bread triangle.
"No, it's alright." Luster stacked her books. "Let's go."
"Don't you need any of the books?" Hayseed pointed at the mess she was leaving. "Aren't you going to clean this up?"
Luster shrugged. "I'm going to ask Miss Celestia." She ignored the second question. Schuberry, slightly annoyed, gathered up the books and tossed them into the return box. "Can you give me your notes?"
"I never take notes." Hayseed laughed. "Maybe you should have waited in class."
They stopped by the front door to put on scarves and fluffy coats, and bracing themselves, they pushed into the cold outdoors. Celestia was waiting patiently on the road, and a smile broke on her face when she saw the foals.
"Can I come home with you today, Miss Celestia?" Luster asked. "There's a few questions about magic I want to ask."
"Oh?" Celestia let Schuberry, then Luster climb onto her back. "I didn't know you had an interest in magic."
"I didn't either." Luster adjusted herself. "See ya, Hayseed."
"Bye." The Donkey waved and set off for the farm.
"It's about Schuberry." Luster explained. "I want to give her a voice."
"Oh? That's very advanced magic." Celestia commented. "What kind of help do you need?"
"Uh, everything." Luster suddenly spoke very fast. "I checked her magic, it's something dad taught me to make sure I wasn't hurt, and it looked like she had something in her that wasn't supposed to be there, so I checked the school's magic books to see if there was anything in there, and I saw a thing called the Et Rondo Theorem, but I don't think I understand-" She droned on for several minutes, effectively relaying the day's events. "-I was hoping maybe you could help me, well, fix Schuberry."
Celestia took a moment to digest what the filly said. "Let's talk first." She opened her front door and let down the fillies. "Oh, Luster, let's work in the living room."
Schuberry threw her bag against the wall and hopped onto her piano.
"Don't we need her to do this?" Luster asked.
"She'll be fine there." Celestia put down a notepad and a pair of quills. "Genius is nothing without practice."
Luster shrugged and grabbed the pad. "So, about magic..."
"I'm quite surprised you noticed it. The first time I checked Schuberry, I didn't." Celstia mused. "You could call it a tumor or an anomaly. But I don't think we should remove it."
"Why?" Luster watched Celestia write something down on the pad.
"Life is all about balance. You can hear, but you can also speak. You can feel, but you also have your own texture. You can see, but you also give off your own light." Celestia showed off a diagram that looked reminiscent of a color wheel. "This is a very basic diagram, but I think it gets the point across. Now." Celestia lifted the pad up and balanced it on her hoof. "Without an equal balance, the magic becomes unstable." She shifted her hoof's position and the pad fell over.
"So is the...anomaly a counterweight?" Luster suggested.
"That's a good way of putting it, and it's how we'll approach it for now." Celestia leaned back. "When a pony is born missing magic, there are three ways to save them. The first is a magic donor. A relative gives their portion to the newborn, but that still leaves a pony missing. The second is what I think happened here, the doctors might have pumped raw 'junk magic' in to fill the hole. And the third option is to also remove the opposite magic."
"She could have been mute AND deaf?!" Luster yelled too loudly.
Schuberry stopped playing and scribbled something down. 'I know I cant speak but I can hear just fine so dont yell'
"Don't forget your periods and apostrophes." Celestia reminded her. "Now, Luster, are you willing to give up your voice for Schuberry?"
"I...I don't know..." The unicorn rubbed her elbow, ears tucked back.
"Luster, please don't feel bad. That wasn't a moral question. I would never ask you to do something like that." Celestia put a wing around Luster. "And, if it's any consolation, doctors used a much more advanced version of the Et Rondo Theorem to perform magic related surgeries."
"Hey, wait." Luster perked up. "What if it was removed?"
"What?" Celestia blinked.
"You said that one of the options to deal with unbalanced magic was a donor. Well, I know about Andante, and I wouldn't put it past him to sell his daughter's voice to gain a cheap bit!" Luster energetically jumped off the couch.
Celestia buried her face in both her hooves. "Schuberry, what have you been telling Luster?"
The grey pegasus looked over, then sneezed. Celestia folded her forearms and began scolding the filly.
Luster's horn glowed. The possibility of snagging Schuberry's voice floating around somewhere in Equestria was too good of a chance to pass up. She felt into the distance, looking for any trace. There were so many emotions, feelings, Luster felt rather overwhelmed. But, very faintly, a piece gently called out. Luster was guided towards it, and when she was near enough, she snatched it with delight.
Schuberry suddenly giggled. Celestia blinked. "Luster, what are you doing?"
"Giving her a voice." Luster simply said. A bright white light blinded the room's occupants.
Schuberry had been knocked to the ground. Luster galloped over, sliding next to Celestia. The large mare had her ear pressed against the pegasus' chest.
"Miss Celestia?" Luster looked closer. The sun pony was asleep. "Miss Celestia!"
"Huh?" The alicorn shot up. "Oh, uh. She's fine."
"Say something, Schuberry." Luster suggested. Schuberry let out a pained cough and opened and closed her mouth a few times.
Celestia brought Luster away. "Maybe I wasn't clear enough. Luster, professional ponies who have studied for years have trouble with this kind of operation. The fact that you didn't just kill her is a miracle."
"I just took the magic and put it in. It felt like a puzzle piece." Luster explained. Schuberry coughed, then suddenly sang a perfect B flat. "Hey, she should sing in an opera."
"Luster, you just took somepony's voice!" Celestia frowned a little. "You have to contact them, and they have to agree to return Schuberry's magic."
"But it's stealing backsies. It belongs to Schuberry." Luster explained.
Celestia nodded. "Yes, but you have to find them so when you take it, you don't hurt them."
"Oh...I didn't think of that." Luster turned to Schuberry. "Do you think she'll talk?"
"She hasn't had the chance to learn to control her vocal cords. Give her some time." Celestia sat back down on the couch to think. The Royal Guards would probably be notified of the situation, but she could chalk it up to some freak magical accident. There was no need to fear for Luster yet.
Schuberry patted her chest a few times. "I'm treated like a god. Nopony pays attention to me until they want something."
"It worked!" Luster cheered. "I got it, I got it!"
"Luster, look back." Celestia smiled. She did, and on her flank sat a beautiful cutie mark.
"I've got to show everypony!" Luster jumped higher.
It was like reliving Twilight's entrance exam. Here was a young unicorn who had performed a complex spell and earned her cutie mark dancing around happily. Celestia bit her lip. "Luster, would you like me to recommend you to the School for Gifted Unicorns?"
"You think I can get in?" Luster's jaw dropped.
"Well, you're a unicorn, you're gifted." Celestia pointed out. "I think you could do a lot of good."
"I could be cool, like the Wonderbolts!" Luster remembered. "I'll do it!"
Mayor Mare picked up Luster several minutes later. Finally alone with Schuberry, Celestia looked over her filly. She had cared for foals before, like Sunset and Twilight. Schuberry was a strange exception.
Celestia cared for her students, as a teacher should, and she made great personal sacrifices on behalf of them. She had never been called upon to hurt other ponies for her foals, though. A morbid question popped into her mind. Am I willing to sacrifice others for Schuberry?
As she stared into the filly's eyes, which were a shade of lavender so much like Celestia's own, she realized the answer was, yes. Celestia was too selfish to return Schuberry's magic.
"Mom, I need practice." Schuberry choked out. Her voice was raspy and dry, but sweet nonetheless.
"Oh, sorry." Celestia stepped back. The music started up again, and Celestia retreated to the kitchen to mull over her disturbing revelation.
Despite the looming deadline for the Grand Galloping Gala music, Andante chose to procrastinate at the local tea room. He had quickly come to the conclusion that he couldn’t actually write any of the music himself, so he bided his time and mulled over Schuberry and drank tea in the tea room.
"Some biscuits on the side please, Sospiro." He requested from the server. "Ah, chrysanthemum tea will do nicely."
Sospiro smiled politely. "Speaking of which, a mare called with a mes-"
"She didn't call again, did she?" Andante grumbled. "Next time she calls, I've just left."
"But Andante, you really better-"
"No, no." Andante dismissed her. "I don't want to talk to her. You know, Sospiro, fat ponies are supposed to be jolly. She's just a nasty old tub of lard."
"She didn't call this time." Sospiro said, growing more scared with each word that came out of his mouth.
Andante blinked. "Oh, in that case, she probably telegraphed. And if she didn't telegraph, she's standing right behind me!" He laughed, but the smile was wiped off his face when he heard faked laughter behind him. There she stood, wearing an enormous smile. "A.K! What a wonderful surprise! You know I was only kidding, right?"
"Of course I know!" The pegasus sarcastically responded. "I want you to know, I haven't laughed like this in years! And you're right, I really am a nasty old tub of lard."
"So, uh, what brings you back to Canterlot so soon?" Andante asked nervously.
"You were quite obviously ducking my calls." She explained. "I decided to see you personally."
"Ducking your phone calls? Oh, Sospiro, why didn't you tell me?"
"Andante!" The mare grabbed his attention again. "I heard everything."
"It's nice that you're doing this in front of an audience." Andante complained.
"I don't know of a pony who wouldn't want to see a mare fight a pony sized cockroach. Now let's go." She yanked him up from his chair and dragged him out of the tea room, despite his protests.
Sospiro looked at his table. "Ugh."
Back at Andante's mansion, the mare sat him down in the kitchen with a murderous look in her eye. She opened her left wing. "What the hay is this?"
"That is a newspaper." Andante replied, thoroughly cowered.
"I'm talking about what's on the newspaper." She smacked the article, unimpressed.
"Now why didn't you say so, darling?" Andante slowly read it over. "How is your delightful and charming friend, Caballeron?"
"Caballeron is neither delightful nor charming, much like you." She rolled her eyes. "This isn't a social visit, it's business."
"Of course." He smiled. "And what would the business be?"
"Stop acting all chummy." The mare drew close. "This is about Schuberry."
"Schuberry isn't business." Andante echoed.
Groaning, she threw her hooves in the air. "I know what you're doing, and I can't believe I let you talk me into helping you. Give me back the collar."
"No." Andante simply said.
"You wouldn't have it if I didn't retrieve it for you." She folded her forelegs. "Cough it up or I'll make you."
"I'll call the royal guards on you." Andante gestured his horn.
"You could bring Grogar back for all I care. I'll beat him into a pulp. It's about time I took responsibility." The pegasus grasped the newspaper in her feathers. "There's ways to find out that she's really my child. And when I do, I'm taking her away from you."
"No you can’t."
"Yes I can."
"No you can’t."
"Yes I can."
"I'm going to give up Schuberry over my dead body." The stallion indignantly declared.
"It's a deal!" She stood up.
"You gave her to me because you said you couldn't take care of her. What makes you think she wants to follow you around on your miserable adventures, never having any sense of stability or permanency?"
"Oh look who's talking. For starters, you probably traumatized her with this little stunt of yours, trying to get her back to you." The pegasus began. "I haven't driven her to run away because I keep her cooped up in my basement, forcing her to mold to my image, writing music that she probably doesn't even enjoy. As an artist, you should be nurturing creativity, not crushing it like some kind of evil."
"I'm grooming her to become a successful and cultured musician." Andante defended.
"While conveniently boosting your own prestige in the process." The pegasus seethed. "The worst of it is, if you were actually a good parent, I could overlook your morally greyness, but you're using her like some sort of machine."
"Right, like you wouldn't have killed her by now gavallanting across the world stealing old books or something." He folded his arms. "If it'll make you happier, I'll say that I'm her best worst option, even though it's not true."
"Adante, when I'm through with you, you're going to regret everything you-"
Andante watched as she fell to the ground choking, covering her throat with her hooves.
There was a gentle violin that echoed the mansion the next morning. The playing was unsure and slightly uneven; Andante clearly wasn't completely familiar with the song. He clutched his Ambletivirus violin tightly, and it looked like he was afraid the instrument would simply fall apart.
As soon as he saw the mound of blankets and quilts on his couch stir, he stopped. "You're awake?"
The pegasus very much would have liked to say, "With that thing screeching, how could I not be?" but she found herself unable to. With her wing, the mare pushed away the covers and slowly sat up.
"Something happened to your voice, I don't know what yet." He held out a pen, some paper, and a glass of water. "I'm going to see Schuberry soon."
The pegasus chugged the glass of water. 'What is it that you want?'
“Every time I do something decent, must I have an angle?” Andante pulled up a chair.
'Yes.'
He shook his head in disbelief. "Fine. Be like that. I'll let you stay here and meet her but after that I will have you leave. I mean it this time."
'Until you need me again, that is.' She scribbled.
"She won't have to know about this mess between us." Andante slowly got up. "I'll happily tell her we're apart for business related issues. It's not that much of a stretch, considering your work." He drew close. "It's for the best."
'Lie to the kid!' Her steely gaze had a physical effect on Andante, and he shied away like millipedes being exposed to light.
In the week leading up to the school play, Celestia decided to take Schuberry back to the bakery on the main street. As Schuberry's little hooves danced across the glossy keys of the shiny black piano, Celestia helped behind the counter, keeping a watchful eye on the foal.
The return of the little filly drew more ponies in. They crowded in the tables nearest to her warming their hooves with hot chocolate and munching on the baked goods. The owner of the bakery, a pudgy mare by the name of Soda, happily regarded the little guest, telling Celestia several times that Schuberry was 'always welcome to practice here' and 'a few missing doughnuts for her trouble could be overlooked.'
"I'm sorry, I couldn't hear you!" Celestia responded. "Too many ponies!" She could, of course, hear Soda perfectly, but the thought of Schuberry inhaling an enormous amount of pastries didn't sit well with her. Celestia made a mental note to keep Schuberry from finding out about Soda's offer.
The filly played the sweet, mellow, and aptly named Pleasant Etude, another of Hoofel's works. She wasn't intimately familiar with the song, and every once in a while, she shuffled the sheet music about while holding down the keys with her wings. She finished the song softly, cutting it off awkwardly.
Several nearby ponies fed her some snacks. Celestia decided to swing by. "Want to go home now?"
"One more song." She insisted. Her pit crew fell back, and she dusted off the crumbs. Celestia watched her pick out a song titled 'sturdy.' After the mess with the Wonderbolts song, Schuberry's compositions became much more conservative. While this song wasn't in the classical style, she didn't dare tread much further from the line.
She kept her hooves low as she played. Most of the song revolved around a select few notes, and it felt repetitive. Celestia watched this sadly from behind the counter.
"Honey bun, please." A customer asked quietly.
"Oh, two bits, please." Celestia took the coins and exchanged it for the food. She missed a few seconds of the song. Somepony came into the shop loudly, and ponies by the door quickly shushed him. Celestia could make out Andante shuffling through the crowd, looking lost. "Soda, I need to go for a moment."
"Oh, sure." Soda waved her off. "Don't forget to wash your hooves when you come back!"
Celestia looked down at the stallion before sucking in a breath. "Andante. What brings you here?"
"Oh, what a pleasant surprise!" Andante turned around. "What's all this about?"
"Schuberry is playing." Celestia curtly responded. "Now answer the question."
"Well, business to be frank. I was reading the newspaper and I saw a report by some critics, and it wasn't very positive, I must say." The edge of his lip was curled slightly upwards. "It doesn't look as if spending time with...friends has helped her musical career."
"If you have something to say, then say it." The alicorn thinned her eyes.
"I wish to take Schuberry back to Canterlot." Andante marched up to the filly. "What do you say? I'll make sure you'll never have to deal with this kind of mess again."
"I have to play the piano at my school's Hearth's Warming play." Schuberry responded, taking Andante off guard.
He blinked. "She talks now?"
"Oh, there was an illegal operation of some sort. It's a long story." Celestia explained. "Are you done?"
"Mm. Let's go home." Schuberry gathered up her sheet music.
Andante placed a hoof on her back. "You can't play."
"Why not?" Schuberry's ears perked up.
"Because I'm in charge of the Grand Galloping Gala musical committee, and I want you to play for that." He smiled as genuine of a smile he could muster. "Be reasonable. Don't waste your time twiddling about in public school productions."
Schuberry actually paused at this. Celestia balked at her impressionability. The little filly paced several times, then pulled Celestia to the side. "I'm sorry about Luna."
"Wait, you're not actually going to leave, are you?" Celestia mumbled.
"I want to. Is it wrong?" Schuberry looked down at her hooves. "I feel like I'm always causing trouble for you. You have to make extra food for me, I bring my friends over and we always make huge messes...and worst of all, my music is falling apart."
"But you don't have to apologize." Celestia tried to explain. "You're polite and sweet."
"Being polite and sweet won't help me write music." The filly insisted. "This is what I want."
"I see." Celestia stood back. "I can't stop you."
Schuberry tucked the sheet music below her wing and put the lid down on the piano. "I'd like to stay tonight."
"Well, I have a tight schedule, we need to go back now." Andante urged.
"I'm staying tonight." Schuberry didn't wait for a response, gliding out the door. Andante and Celestia looked at each other.
Early next morning, Celestia walked Schuberry and Andante to the train station. The little foal's saddle bags were stuffed with snacks, a luck charm from Luster, and a pen from Hayseed.
The station's brick building with it's green awnings looked dulled in the morning light, fringes gently flapping in the wind.The train rounded the bend and let out two mournful toots of it's whistle. The train hissed and screeched as it slowed down, and when it finally stopped at the platform, the train let out a metallic clang.
"If you need anything, just phone me." Celestia stared into Schuberry's eyes. There were a million things to be said, the alicorn was sure, but nothing came to mind.
"We'll be off now." Andante herded the filly up the stairs. "Perhaps you'll be invited to the Gala."
"Perhaps." Celestia answered. She saw Schuberry find a window seat and press against the glass.
'I'll be fine.' She mouthed.
The train's whistle tweeted twice, pulling from the platform. It disappeared around the corner and soon, the sound faded away too.
Celestia sighed and turned for home.
The sun had just fallen past the horizon, and the twinkling twilight gently fluttered against the distant billowing clouds. A small funnel of ponies seemed to be tugged towards the school's gymnasium. It was a large building not attached to the rest of the classrooms, and it was the only room large enough to host the play.
Taking care not to trample the others, Celestia followed the flow in through the doors, ducking her head to not catch her horn in the entrance. Inside, she found Mayor Mare and two other ponies waiting.
"We're Hayseed's parents." The stallion extended a hoof. "I'm Earseed and my beautiful wife here is Haystack. Thanks for taking care of him all this time."
"Of course." Celestia took the hoof and followed them up the bleachers. The father chose a row halfway up and shuffled in.
"So where's Schuberry?" The Mayor asked, looking towards the orchestra. Luster was sitting by the piano, reviewing some pieces of paper. "I thought she was going to be playing."
Celestia pursed her lips. "Well, her father returned from a business trip, so, you know."
"Ah, rotten timing." Mayor kept her gaze. "Luster's been down. I'm thinking of buying her a pet."
"Speaking of pets, coyotes keep eating my raccoons." Earseed lamented.
"Keep eating?" Celestia asked. "How many raccoons do you have?"
"Every time one gets eaten I get a new one from the shelter." He explained.
"It sounds like you're just feeding shelter raccoons to wild coyotes." Mayor commented.
Earseed didn't have much time to retort, as the lights dimmed. The orchestra readied, and the off-tune and slightly dilapidated music filled the large room. Luster waited, both forehooves in her lap. The actors slowly made their way onto the stage. When the main character, a flightless chick, finally introduced himself, played by an exuberant Hayseed, the piano joined in.
Celestia had plenty of practice of pretending to be paying attention over the years, even going so far as to cheer and groan and stomp at the right times without needing to think. She lost herself in a swirl of thoughts. Schuberry's composition, named 'Rose Play,' had been very specifically tailored to everypony playing the instruments and acting. Luster was the only pony that could take up the mantle and carry on the most central part of the music. The music teacher needed to conduct, after all.
The little unicorn did her best, trying to keep up with the notes and watching the cues. However, there was no comparison to Schuberry. Whereas the pegasus was skilled enough to not only play the notes correctly but also with flair, Luster struggled to hit the proper notes, and small errors were frequent and disturbing.
"Earseed, I might adopt my own raccoon..." She muttered.
"What's that?" He leaned in.
"Oh, nothing, sorry." Celestia waved him off. The stallion shrugged and sat back.
The little disturbance brought her back to the waking world. The play was in the thick of the drama.
"What are you even?" One of the ducklings asked Hayseed's character. He was wearing a costume that had a sharp yellow beak, the dark wing down of a mallard, and the white belly of the swans.
"My mom says your mom isn't even your real mom." Another duckling added. "You can't even swim! Look at those ugly feet!"
Celestia closed her eyes. Oh come on! The lines passed excruciatingly slow.
Schuberry's music picked up a quicker tempo while the ducks were preparing to fly south for winter. Some (played by pegasi) tried jumping to fly. The mallard ducklings appeared.
"Look, the ducks are trying to fly!" One of the younglings laughed. "Their wings are so small they can't even get off the ground!"
The mallards responded with a snark about the Mallard's fear of swimming, referencing an earlier part of the play. The actors began to pretend-fight, and it wasn't long before the parents were prying apart the younglings.
"This all began because your chicks just couldn't leave ours alone!" A mallard yelled.
"Our chicks?!" A duck retorted. "Your chicks started the fight!"
The argument wasn't allowed to progress any further, however.
"Look!" Somepony yelled. "A blizzard!"
And, with that line uttered, the curtains dropped, and the lights brightened slightly. The music teacher stepped forward. "Intermission will be for five minutes!"
Celestia joined a couple ponies heading down the stairs, but instead of heading for the bathrooms or food stand, she dropped by the orchestra. "You alright, Luster?"
"Oh, hi, Miss Celestia." She dropped a soaked paper towel off to the side. "I'm getting by."
"You're doing fine." Celestia smiled encouragingly. "We're cheering you on."
"Thanks." Luster took a long sip of her water. "I really wish her dad could have waited another week."
"So do I." The alicorn chuckled. "You're halfway through. Keep it up!"
Celestia returned to her seat before the crowd, and a minute later, the play resumed.
The scene opened with all of the actors running around, tripping over each other, getting tangled up all in an effort to save themselves. The music was a bit too cheerful in Celestia's opinion, but perhaps Schuberry found the scene funny in a slapstick sort of way.
The blizzard hit as the music calmed down. Wind was provided by some unicorns fanning the stage, and shredded paper snow swirled across the stage. The orchestra dropped back and the piano played alone.
"I see no reason for the ducks to work together with the swans!" One of the characters declared. "You've spent last summer stealing our food in the pond!"
"Oh, look who's talking!" A mallard stepped forward. "Don't forget who drove us into the creek in early spring because your chicks didn't need to be dirtied by 'those dirty mallards!' That's twelve chicks swept away by the current!"
Hayseed stepped forward. "If we don't stop fighting now, all of the chicks will be swept away by the wind!"
"The ducks and mallards are too small to protect our babies!" The Swans declared.
"The swans and others will let our babies be blown away!" The others responded.
"Listen to me!" Hayseed put his hoof foot down. "We can, and have to protect each other! But we need to hurry!"
It took a little more convincing, but seeing the dire situation, each of the parents lamented. Hayseed's character quickly arranged the others in a formation, keeping the chicks safe. He went back and forth, 'checking' their position as a cover to hook their costumes to cables attached to the roof. One after another, they slowly lifted off.
"Won't you join us?" They called.
"I can't fly!" He yelled. As the others slowly rose away, he was left in the paper snow alone. But after a moment, one by one, they returned. "What are you doing?"
"We'll keep you safe." One of the swans said.
"Yeah! We'll find you food!" A mallard added on. "We won't let you freeze out here alone!"
They huddled around him, protecting him. Celestia looked down at her hooves. No, I was right to let her go. She tried to reason, but Schuberry's last look back through the windows still haunted her. It just didn't sit right with her.
The play ended with polite hoof stomping, as each of the actors took a bow at the front of the stage. Celestia watched Luster slide off the piano's bench looking absolutely drained.
"It's a bit late, Hayseed's bedtime is soon." Earseed nodded a farewell, and the two donkeys disappeared into the dispersing crowd to pick up their foal.
Celestia followed Mayor down to the piano to find a wheezing Luster. "Schuberry's trying to kill me!"
"Hey, it's all alright now." Mayor smiled. "How does some hot chocolate sound?"
"Mom, I want something cold to drink." The unicorn slowly pushed herself up. "I've never moved like that in my life..."
"Would you like to join us?" Mayor offered Celestia.
"Why not?" Celestia responded. "Shall we let Luster pick where to?"
"Of course." The earth mare let her daughter climb onto her back, the unicorn giving directions.
Celestia followed close behind, weaving through the crowd. "Mayor, I want to ask...about foals."
"What about them?" Mayor slowed down so Celestia could walk alongside.
"Well, you see, I've never had any." Celestia paused. Usually, she was the one dispensing wisdom. "I'm sorry if it's a bit personal, but it seems like you had Luster really late. Relatively of course."
"Oh, that's fine." Mayor waved it off. "Children are the most wonderful thing in our world, I think. They don't quibble about silly politics, they don't care if you're a dragon or a griffon. They just see other wonderful creatures. That's why I treasure Luster with all my heart."
"I see." Celestia nodded. "I haven't been honest with you about Schuberry. I've never had official custody. She ran away from home and ended up here somehow, and I've been taking care of her since."
"Now it's my turn to apologize for prying." Mayor sighed. "Away from Andante?"
"Yes." The alicorn paused again. "I want to raise her but...she's been staying with Andante for musical education, and I can't provide that for her."
"Well, if she ran from home, she must have had something terrible happen." Mayor shrugged. "The right thing to do, I suppose, would be to adopt her."
Celestia brought up another point. "But if she wants to stay with him? What then?"
"Then, Miss Celestia, you have a thing called a pickle." Mayor Mare stated. They rounded the corner and Celestia found herself facing the main street. It was a pretty scene. The lamps glowed softly, and a few blocks down, and a couple shared a soft kiss. Celestia pointed towards the bakery. "We're going there?"
"Are we, Luster?" Mayor checked. The unicorn nodded.
"Schuberry used to play there..." Celestia put a hoof over her elbow. "I...I apologize, I must go." She turned around and galloped off, and she didn't stop galloping until she was facing her front door, slightly out of breath. Fumbling with the key, Celestia pushed open the door and stepped inside, stomped the snow off her hooves, and collapsed into the couch, not even taking off her jacket. A hoof caught the coffee table, and a few pieces of paper slipped onto the floor.
Celestia picked one up in her magic and looked it over, an uncomfortable expression forming slowly across her face. There were a few scribbles on the paper.
'why do you and autie fight'
"Because we're close. When you love someone, you care for them. Sometimes, that causes friction. But every now and again is fine. She's my sister, but she can be my friend too." Celestia echoed her words. Luna then brought some strange fruit from the moon and...purposely...
"I've got to get her back."
The next morning, Celestia found herself sharing coffee with Twilight in a small cafe nestled in a quiet corner of Canterlot. There was a certain awkwardness about the scene, as if her former student was a disappointed mother chiding a very naughty child.
"So that's the situation, Princess." Celestia crushed a sugar packet in her magic below the table, not daring to look up.
Twilight stirred her coffee and sighed. "I understand that you're retired, but that shouldn't stop you from making a difference, right?"
"I suppose not." Celestia agreed. "She is legally his child, though."
"Adopt her." Twilight grinned. "He hasn't been treating her too kindly, we know that for a fact. It's violating one of the six core principles of Friendship."
"Shouldn't we also respect Schuberry's own choice, though?" Celestia asked. Seeing Twilight's slightly apprehensive look, she added on, "This isn't one of my tests, it's a genuine question. Shouldn't we balance freedom to choose with the six friendship values?"
"Even though it may hurt her? I think, due to her young age, she's not entirely capable of deciding for herself. Of course we should respect her decision but we also need to think about her safety." The alicorn dropped some bits on the table. "Let's go, the recital is soon."
"Right." Celestia pushed their chairs in. Outside on the street, a homeless mare held up a sign that said 'will make coffee for bits.' Celestia tossed a few bits into her cup. "Keep it."
"We'll have to talk to Andante after the Gala. Apparently he's in charge of the music." Twilight explained.
"What if she doesn't want to be adopted?" Celestia suddenly spoke up. "I don't want to alienate her, it would make both of us miserable."
"That's why we're going to talk to her." Twilight chuckled. "I don't think I've ever seen you stress over a pony like this before."
"It's because I care." Celestia forced a smile. "You should have seen me trying to plan for you. After Sunset, I didn't know if I had what it took to be a good teacher."
"I'm proof that not only do you have what it takes to be a good teacher, but also to be a good parent." Twilight gestured at herself. "You were practically a second mother to me."
"What about a sister?" Celestia stopped a moment to admire the Royal Opera House. "We've never gotten along perfectly. And even after our, uh, big disagreement we couldn't put our differences aside. We'd make up, then find something new to disagree about."
"Can't you agree about Schuberry?" Twilight pushed the glass door open and held it.
"Thanks." Celestia stepped into the warm interior. They took a moment to admire the paintings on the ceiling before continuing. "That's the idea, but we've argued because of her too."
Twilight brought them away from fancily decorated entrance hall into the rear of the building. The administrative section was far more cramped and modern, filled with offices and practice rooms. The third door on the right was slightly open, and Celestia poked her head in. "Hello, Octavia."
"Oh, Pri-Miss Celestia!" The grey mare stopped playing. "What are you doing here?"
"Looking for Schuberry." Celestia flicked her snout towards the cello. "What are you playing?"
"It's a little etude called 'Sun and Moon' Schuberry wrote for me. It only sounds right when two ponies play." Octavia sighed. "And as you can see, I'm the only one here, so that's just great."
"I see, quite unfortunate." Celestia nodded. "I'll see you soon."
"Right." Octavia readied her bow. "Oh, I think she's down the hall to the left!"
"Thanks!" Celestia called back. The low strumming of the cello pushed them from behind, and the twinkling sound of a piano beckoned them. "That's her."
Twilight stopped and let the older pony continue on her own. Schuberry had her back to the door, and was, well, practicing.
"Hey." Celestia gently rapped the door. "Is that what you're playing?"
"Oh, this? No." Schuberry suppressed a smile, but didn't turn to face the alicorn. "I...I'm just trying something out."
"It's very pretty." Celestia complimented.
"Thanks." Schuberry added a small riff. "Well, they're going to ask us to line up soon."
"We'll be cheering you on." Celestia pulled back and closed the door.
"What's wrong?" Twilight whispered. "Didn't you ask her?"
"I don't think now's a good time. Let's just go find seats." Celestia brushed past Twilight shamefully.
Inside the main hall, the lights were still bright. The two alicorns settled in a gallery to the left and above the stalls, and several ponies down below who noticed the Princess whispered amongst themselves. Twilight was not known to take a particular interest in music.
Celestia leaned back in her chair, hoping to at least enjoy the performances, but that was snuffed out when she noticed Andante sitting amongst the five judges near the back. He had been staring up at her, and when her eyes met his, he looked back down at his clipboard, pretending to not notice.
"Look down there." She whispered. Twilight saw what Celestia was pointing out.
"Oh, right, he's a judge." The Princess muttered.
"He's going to rig the selection." Celestia leaned over the balcony and gave him a pointed stare. "He's going to get Schuberry picked."
"If she's as good as you've told me, it wouldn't be that hard to convince the other judges." Twilight shrugged. "Hey, I'm being realistic."
"We need to have a talk about corruption in the government." Celestia muttered. At that moment, the lights dimmed, and the spotlights cast an orange glow onto the stage. The first performer trotted onto the stage and bowed. He checked over the piano awkwardly. "What's Schuberry's slot?"
"She's number seven, right before the intermission." Twilight answered back. "Do you know what song he's playing?"
"Luna would know." Celestia lamented. "Oh look, they put out a sign."
"Glacial Violin Etude, by Hoofel." Twilight read it off with a disinterested tone. "I can't believe how many songs I've been forced to sit through that are composed by him."
"Nopony will ever accuse the nobility of being particularly adventurous with their culture." Celestia let out a kind of sharp exhale through her nose.
Several other contestants came and went, and the Twilight murmured about how they all sounded about the same. Celestia, however, was impatiently tapping her hoof.
Right before Schuberry's performance, Frederick Horseshoepin took his place on the piano. He placed some sheet music on the stand and started playing. From the outset, it was a very fast, difficult piece to play. It was a song called Andante Virus, originally meant as a duet with a violin. Perhaps he was trying to please Andante.
Suddenly, a violin started playing. There seemed to be no obvious source, yet it was clear and loud. Celestia wiggled her ears about trying to pinpoint the location of the playing.
"You hear that?" The crowd whispered. "Yes, do you?"
Celestia looked closer at the stage. It was that unicorn again, the ghostly one with the light coat and dark mane. She was staring straight at Schuberry, who was waiting behind the curtains. Schuberry was staring right back.
"Do you see her, Twilight?" Celestia asked.
"See who?" Twilight blinked. "Schuberry?"
"No, that unicorn." Celestia pointed more urgently. "She's standing right by the piano!"
"What unicorn?" Twilight squinted. "Where?"
"Nevermind." Celestia tried to get a better look and stood up. Once again, she was hit with a feeling that she knew this mare somehow, and yet, racking her brain did her no good.
Her playing was bold and exciting, overtaking Frederick in both weight and volume. She brought out the most frustrating portions of the playing, and yet, also produced a rich and full sound. The poor stallion was dragged along to her whims; if he didn't follow her tempo, the clash could force him to simply stop playing, leading to a disqualification.
Celestia appreciated his efforts, but she was looking at a doomed stallion; Andante would probably use a supernatural violin duet as an excuse to disregard his entry. They reached the end of the song, and the mare played the final note with great fanfare, raising the bow above her head before slowly lowering it. The audience politely stomped their hooves, still whispering about the strange impromptu duet.
Schuberry watched them pass her as they came back off the stage. Frederick seemed to be ignoring the mare; he simply undid his tie and slumped against the wall. The unicorn threw Schuberry a wink and swaggered off, green and red tail swishing back and forth. The little pegasus stared up at the mare with an amazed expression. Her moment of reverence was cut short by the organizer pony, who gently whacked her with a clipboard and nudged her onto the stage.
She stumbled out under the lights and the audience collectively gasped at her diminutive size and age. It didn't seem to bother her; in fact, she seemed to enjoy the attention slightly. After a polite bow, Schuberry adjusted the bench, accidentally looking up and seeing Celestia. The alicorn waved, but she pretended not to notice.
Without much ado, she pushed down onto the keys, hooves close together. 'Farewell Rose' was a peaceful enough song, but Celestia wasn't quite sure if it was classical. There were hints of jazz, but it didn't move fast enough.
About a quarter of the song in, the tune changed from a gentle repetitive swing to something that stood out more. Any sort of semblance it had with the classical style was shed away, leaving behind a strange amalgamation of different genres and styles. There was a kind of regret about the song, almost as if the filly was apologizing, saying farewell, and explaining her regrets all at the same time.
The main theme repeated itself, and Schuberry looked up at Celestia with a determined look in her face. The alicorn couldn't understand the expression; in all her years, she had never seen anypony look at her like that. As quickly as the filly looked up, she averted her eyes, leaving a haunting impression on Celestia's mind.
"Hey, Celestia." Twilight nudged Celestia's hoof. "What was that about the nobility being adventurous with their culture?"
"To be fair, she's not nobility." Celestia argued. After a moment, she added, "Look at the audience, they don't know how to react."
That was absolutely true. When Schuberry finished, the audience didn't immediately stomp their hooves. Schuberry stood awkwardly on the stage after bowing, and only when Twilight began to stomp her hooves, they slowly joined in.
"They don't look too happy." Twilight observed. "The judges."
"Oh." Celestia held open the door. "Andante will find a way. Things have been going his way so far."
"How much of that was blind luck? You go and see her, I have to use the bathroom." Twilight patted Celestia and galloped off.
Celestia found Schuberry sitting near the entrance munching on an eggplant sandwich. "Hello again."
"Hi."
"Did you see that mare who played the violin?" Celestia slumped down onto the bench in a rather crude way, slouching on the edge of the seat.
"She comes and goes." Schuberry coughed, sending some eggplant bits flying.
"Is everything alright?" She asked softly.
"I guess." Schuberry averted her eyes.
"Andante isn't treating you wrong or anything?"
Schuberry shook her head. "I don't want you to give him trouble."
"I won't, but if he's treating you poorly, you need to say something." Celestia frowned.
"I need to be going," Twilight stopped by. "To Luna."
"Right, good luck." Celestia waved. "Is that eggplant sandwich good?"
"Your hayburgers are better." Schuberry admitted. "Dad's a terrible cook."
As Twilight disappeared around a corner, Schuberry slowly got off the bench and stared at the entrance to the concert hall. "Dad says I can't see you, mom. Sorry." She scurried off away, disappearing between the legs of the other ponies.
Celestia looked at where the filly disappeared. "She still calls me 'mom,' huh..."
In previous Galas, Celestia was the center of attention, having to spend the entire night greeting the guests with a hoofshake and that trademark smile.
While she was far from ignored, as ponies would come seeking words of wisdom, Celestia wasn't a permanent fixture guarding the main entrance. She wandered through her old castle, seeing for the first time what the party was like inside. It was disappointingly political.
With some clever maneuvering, Celestia pushed her way towards the ballroom. She found herself intercepted by Pinkie Pie at the doorway.
"Hey, Celly, did ya make these snacks?" Laughter held out a hors d'oeuvre.
"As a matter of fact, I did." Celestia tilted her head. "Why do you ask?"
"They're a real smash." Pinkie nodded at the buffet table. "Hey, you should help us every year."
"No, no, I don't think you want me to." Celestia drew Pinkie close with her wing. “The nobles would eat marinated dog food on a cracker.”
“Don’t be so modest.” Pinkie tossed the appetizer in her mouth.
“No no no, what you heard was, 'I threw some random ingredients together and made it up as I went along.' I ran out of ingredients, it’s what I had to use.” Celestia explained. “Is that enough seasoning?”
Pinkie blinked. "It's just perfect..."
The pink mare bounced away, and Celestia sighed. Her attention quickly shifted back to getting into the ballroom. She could make out Andante conducting, and Schuberry at the piano; perks of being tall. After a short detour to load up on food, Celestia put herself next to the stage and looked up.
Schuberry was wearing a full on tuxedo, and her coat was cut like a colt around the hoof. Her expression was flat and muted, reflecting no warmth or even emotion. It was like the life was drained from the filly. Schuberry played the duet with Octavia begrudgingly, hitting the right notes but not going out of her way to perform .
"Is the music to your liking, Celestia?" Seville suddenly asked.
The alicorn nodded. "Oh, yes, I suppose."
"Interesting song. It starts off with the piano leading, and slowly, the cello takes over." Seville commented. "Still, it was a rushed operation. I just hope the rest of the night goes smoothly."
"I'm sure it will, sir." Celestia politely encouraged.
Schuberry finished playing and put her hooves in her lap, waiting for Octavia to finish as well. She suddenly froze when she caught Celestia in her peripherals. "Oh, you came."
"Of course I came." Celestia shrugged. "I wouldn't miss your first real live performance."
The filly fidgeted. "You shouldn't have. Andante's going to get mad now."
"I can't say I'm pleased, but if you want to listen, feel free." Andante raised his baton.
"Wait." Turca joined the small gathering. "Why don't you play that violin etude?"
"What violin etude?" Andante tilted his head.
"Come on, you know the one. You played it in the dress rehearsal." Turca wiggled his hoof in circles. "I quite like it."
"Very well, sir." Andante waved at Twiddly Twang for a violin. He stepped around the piano, and as he passed Schuberry, he whispered something into her ear. "Let us begin."
"Is that another virus?" Celestia grinned.
"Sorry, what?" Turca frowned.
"Wasn't there a song called Andante Virus?" Celestia looked over.
"Oh, it's a violin etude named as a tribute to the Ambletivirus violin maker." Seville explained. "Though, we could redefine a whole new genre of music as Virus, the ultimate tribute..."
"Then this song ought to be called Schuberry Virus." Celestia suggested. "That little filly wrote it, after all."
"Wait, what?" Turca and Seville said together.
"Oh, yes. You're staring at a musical prodigy, but not our stallion Andante." Celestia smugly stared into the violinist's eyes. "None of the music he claimed he wrote is his."
"Interesting." Turca stroked his chin.
Schuberry was listening in. Her eyes widened slightly, and she whispered, "We're doing it my way." She picked up the pace. Somehow, her playing was the accompaniment, but Schuberry forced her father to play faster than he intended. The duet became a duel, just like their duet over the Ursa Major Concerto. Her life was back, and somehow, she forced Andante to her whims as well. Perhaps he wanted to be lead.
The ponies dancing in the ballroom below slowly stopped twirling. As quickly as they stopped, they swung into a much quicker dance, laughing excitedly in a flurry of dresses and sharp tuxedos.
Seville waited for the exciting song to come to a close. "Andante, we need to have a talk, now."
"I've heard what you were saying, sir." Andante placed the violin off to the side and reached into his jacket.
Celestia felt woozy, and before she hit the ground, she heard screaming coming from outside.
Almost as if she had cold water dumped on her, Celestia was released from her blackout. Stumbling around, she looked up and felt her blood run cold.
A massive blue ram had crashed through the roof and was blasting bright yellow magic at reckless abandon. His eyes were solid red, and his eyelids twitched sporadically. Ponies scrambled to get out of the way as his massive cloven hooves smashed the granite floor. The ceremonial guards were being beat back like insects; nopony else seemed interested in staying around to help.
There was nopony else to stop him. It would have to be Celestia.
With a powerful beat of her wings, she tore off her dress and flung herself into harm's way. Grogar saw her coming and took a massive step back, casually parrying the attack with his curled horns.
"I don't understand!" Celestia yelled. "I thought you were defeated by Gusty eons ago!"
Grogar let out a primal roar and made a move to attack the ponies below again. Celestia knocked him off balance with a shockwave blast, and the wall he fell upon crumbled into dust. Just as quickly as he was knocked down, Grogar got back up and shot Celestia. She raised a shield, but the force knocked her down. Challenging him appeared to be a bad idea.
The Cutie Mark Crusaders managed to push a table in the way to break her fall. "Are you ok?"
"I'm fine-you foals really should get out of here." Celestia extended her wing to cover the fillies.
"As a matter of fact, we're here to help." Scootaloo pointed at the flattened doorway. Sandbar and his friends were galloping or flying in. "Where's Twilight?!"
"Coming!" Yona skidded to a stop. "Do we have a plan?"
Gallus had borrowed a guard's spear and clutched it tightly. "Yes. We need to get his eyes."
"Right, let's go!" The foals sped out from cover, leaving Celestia behind. With a groan, she flapped her wings and flew after them.
Sweetie Belle and Ocellus blasted him with magic, and he looked down at these little creatures with an almost amazed expression. It didn't register in his mind that such young and small younglings could even scratch him. With his attention now facing downwards, Sandbar and Yona defended Sweetie and Ocellus, launching pies and cake slices and other food upwards. They slowly backed up, drawing Grogar out into a more open space.
"This is worse than that summer we added a breakfast nook to our treehouse." Scootaloo groaned to Apple Bloom.
Gallus and Smolder rolled upside down and dove down at Grogar's head. The dragon blew a pillar of fire down, and the ram looked up just in time to have a spear dropped into his eye. He let out another roar, shaking his head around in pain. In that moment of confusion, the two managed to escape.
Celestia hovered, watching the scene unfold like a battle commander. With his last eye, Grogar eyed the group of youngsters, growling like a predator. There was no evidence of a higher intelligence in the body; it was like someone had hit the reset button and there was nothing left except the most basic survival instincts.
There wasn't much time to ponder the intricacies of life magic of an ancient dictator, as a high pitched wail sounded out down below.
"No, Flurry!" Cadence chased the little alicorn, trying to grab Flurry's tail. Celestia dove down to try and intercept the foal, but Grogar shot the little pony with his magic. The downwards motion of Grogar's head caught Celestia, and she was knocked down once more.
There was just enough time for her to remember that perhaps the stove was still on at home before her head hit the floor.
Schuberry had been hiding under the piano. Everything had been a blur; ponies were screaming and it sounded like a hurricane was tearing through the room. Andante was nowhere to be seen. The orchestra was nowhere to be seen. There was nowhere to run, and masses of ponies huddled behind overturned tables and rubble, scared like her.
The other students from the Wonderbolts show were here. She poked her head from below and looked up. They were fighting this giant, strange looking pony. Schuberry looked down at her hooves. There was nothing she could do to help.
Celestia was suddenly knocked to the ground with a sickening thud. There wasn't any movement. A collective gasp came from the crowd, and almost like someone had turned off a switch, silence fell over the room. The fighting continued.
Schuberry scrambled back onto the piano. Her only skill was playing the piano; perhaps she could help calm down the terrified ponies.
What song to play?
Sheet music was billowing around. There was no way she could play anything off that; there was nothing she could do. Schuberry groaned, trying to think. The beautiful black polish of the concert grand piano reflected her image, and the beautiful gold lettering almost glowed. 'Shetland and Sons' it said proudly. The memories flowed back. Teaching Luster Dawn, watching Hayseed practice for the play, and the cozy bakery...
There was one song she memorized, locked away in her mind; the Rose Ballad. Schuberry allowed a small smile, thinking back to her first performance in front of Celestia.
These were the same notes, the same sound she made all those months ago, but nothing was the same. She wasn't playing tentatively, unsure if her strange variation would be accepted; she wasn't playing for an audience unsure of her talents, expecting her to randomly slap the notes with reckless abandon as a foal with no understanding of the wonderful machine in her control.
Taking a look, she could see the ponies visibly calm down. That was good; the music was working.
Schuberry closed her eyes as she reached the part in the song that repeated the same bar several times. This time, she added a more obvious tone shift. The music flowed gently, almost like a breeze over wide plains. She leaned back a little as the music became desperate, faster and faster.
Schuberry could have sworn Celestia cried at the next part. There were slight butterflies in her stomach as she neared, but as Schuberry played the notes, a violin joined in, clear, loud, yet obviously playing as the accompaniment. The filly opened her eyes and found herself staring at a beautiful mare with a light coat and a rich mane.
"What's your name?" Schuberry asked. "You never told me."
"Ah, just call me Breeze." The unicorn kept playing, never overtaking Schuberry. "You know, I used to fight that guy all the time. His name is Grogar."
"Grogar, from the stories?" Schuberry asked.
"Well, those stories have some basis in truth." Breeze chuckled. "When I-I mean when he was defeated, I wasn't sure if he'd ever come back. Guess we know now." When the piano reached a lull, she added a few fast notes, but then quickly retreated when the piano became more exciting again.
For Schuberry, who spent most of her piano playing trying to correct for a violin, this was a completely new experience. For once, she was leading! But her excitement was short lived; she remembered Celestia lying in a heap on the floor. "Will mom be okay?"
"She's had worse. She's my daughter, actually." Breeze chuckled. "Remember when I said I wasn't sure if Grogar would ever come back? Well, Celestia and Luna developed the principles of Friendship to combat Grogar's power hungry and imperialistic ambitions. Apparently, it's application was a lot wider than I first thought."
"Oh..." Schuberry blinked. She was still too young to grasp the weight of what Breeze was saying. "Hey, doesn't that make you my grandma?"
"Sorry?"
"Celestia is mom, and you're mom's mom." The little filly flapped her wings excitedly.
"Schuberry...you're not related to me. Celestia isn't your real mom." Breeze sighed.
"But she loves me! She gives me good food, she bought me a piano like Dad, and she enjoys my music!" Schuberry insisted. "Isn't that what a mother is, someone who takes care of you?"
"Not in the...biological sense, no. I'm sure if you ask, and you should, Celestia will adopt you." Breeze slowly explained. "Your real mother has had some trouble in the past, and she doesn't want to see you. But it's because she loves you very much."
"Is Andante my real dad then?!" Schuberry desperately asked.
"No, and unlike Celestia, he has no love for you." Breeze sadly admitted. "Schuberry, he only loves you for your talent. He's not good for you."
"But if I don't stay with him, I can't learn music..." Schuberry looked down.
"What song are we playing right now, Schuberry?" Breeze smiled. "The first half is molded by your father's crude hoof, but the second is your own creation, and it's truly beautiful. I have been awoken by it, and I have also followed you to hear it once more. I never thought I would have the chance to play with you, but I'm happy and honored that I can."
"Your playing is very interesting." Schuberry commented. "I've never seen anypony play the violin like this."
Breeze's playing faded, lifted her bow from the strings. "Schuberry, you're a wonderful filly, and you'll grow up to become a beautiful, wonderful mare. I just wish I could watch you grow." The music once again became faster and faster. Breeze began to glow, and then, she burst into a million rose petals. The light was blinding, yet Schuberry seemed glued to the piano. She kept playing, and the light blew over Celestia's body, then entered it.
When Celestia came to, Luna was standing over her with a concerned look on her face. "Ugh...what's going on? What are you doing here?"
"Can you stand up?" Luna steadied her sister. "I finished Honey Paradise's diary."
"Oh? What do you think?" Celestia looked around.
"Very excellent read." Luna guided Celestia behind some rubble. "I thought mother defeated Grogar."
"Well, take a look." The older sister held up a wing to block little pebbles raining down. "Look, we really need to stop fighting."
"That's true." Luna agreed.
"We both love Schuberry very much." Celestia added.
"That is also true."
"Look, after this, we should try to help Schuberrry however we can. We're only in this mess cause we-well, we didn't behave mature enough." Celestia looked down, ashamed. "We have to make things right."
"We can start with Grogar!" Luna screeched, sidestepping a magic bolt from the mad ram. "What do we do?"
"Twilight and her friends have gone to fetch the Elements." Celestia closed her eyes. "Flurry is gone. Look." Cadence was bowed over, and she was still crying, even though her eyes were dry.
"I know. We'll have to add that to the growing 'worry later' list." Luna charged ahead and hit the ram with her magic. Grogar tried to retaliate but missed. Luna caught the bolt, preventing further destruction. Celestia joined and beat Grogar back again. Gallus' spear was still impaled in the ram's left eye.
"Luna, let's get his other eye!" Celestia dropped near the ground and picked up an abandoned spear. "Luna, take him that way!" She caught a glimpse of Gallus and Ocellus helping the last few ponies out of the room. With Grogar focusing on her younger sister, Celestia rolled over and dove down. She held out the spear with her magic and closed her eyes as she passed, trying to ignore the sickening squelch.
Grogar stumbled, falling down and flailing his limbs. Celestia scooped up Schuberry in the pullout, then landed outside. "Are you okay?"
"Mom, what's going on?" Schuberry asked. Her attention was drawn away for a moment when Twilight and her friends charged in. There was a bright flash of light as the Elements did their work.
"I don't know. But I'm glad you're okay." Celestia squeezed Schuberry tightly.
"Mom, I saw that pony. The nice one that only I can see." Schubery tugged the alicorn's wing. "She was beautiful and played the violin for accompaniment for me. And she said a lot of things, like you're not my mom, and my real mom loves me very much but can't see me, and uh, Andante doesn't love me. I don't know what she's saying, but think she's telling the truth..."
"Sshhh, Schuberry, it's alright..." Celestia patted her. "What did this pony look like?"
"She's pretty, she has a red and green mane, and a light green coat." Schuberry described. "And, uh, she said she was called Breeze."
"Breeze...Gusty?" Celestia whimpered slightly. "It can't be..."
"I thought I saw her at at the Nightmare Night concert." Luna rubbed her chin. "She was helping Schuberry play the piano with Ladon."
"I saw her at home one day, and she must've been playing the violin at that piano contest!" Celestia exclaimed. "Schuberry, where is she now?"
"She turned into a million petals, and the petals flew into you." Schuberry blinked innocently. "What's going on?"
Luna slowly sat down on the grass and leaned against Celestia. "Sister..."
Andante slowly pushed himself up. His body was covered in dust, and a rock pinned his leg. With a great effort, he pulled himself up and dusted his tattered tuxedo off. Checking to see that his collar was still inside his breast pocket, he tried to gallop off, but a whip caught his hind leg. "You!"
A.K. Yearling came strutting down from a pile of rubble. She said nothing, but a cold, furious expression was on her face. Without much ado, she slung his body over her back.
"Where are you taking me?!" Andante tried to escape, but her wings kept him in place. She walked him out into the dark garden, filled with tired, angry ponies. Several of them eyed their direction.
Twilight landed hard right next to them. "A.K. Yearling?"
The pegasus handed a sheet of paper, and Twilight took a short moment to skim over it. "Grogar's collar...collar slowly drained Andante's magic...used it to break free..." She read out loud.
Andante exploded. "What?! I haven't done anything, this mare is lying-" He reached for his collar, but as he focused his magic, nothing happened. It flopped out in a cartoonish way, bouncing a little.
"Andante, what's that?" Prince Blueblood came forward.
Celestia came forward. "It is a collar...it's Grogar's collar. How did he get it?"
Daring Do shrunk back a little.
"Celestia, can you explain what this collar does?" Twilight slowly circled Andante.
"From what I remember, it's a mind control device." Celestia explained. "It takes the user's magic and impresses it on others. The only creature that can use it without ill effects is Grogar himself." As she spoke, Andante felt like a lemon being squeezed. His legs became feeble, and his horn became crooked. "...As it is happening to Andante right now."
Turca stepped forward. "Seville and I have faint memories of writing a critique of a song that was not submitted to us."
"What song is that?" Luna asked.
"It was for the Wonderbolts." Seville shrugged. "I can't remember what it was called."
"Hey, is it Vivid Shining Sky?" Rainbow jumped in. "You know, we've been playing it at every show we've flown in. Nice job, kid." She tousled Schuberry's hair.
"On the subject of music." Sandbar thinned his eyes. "Haven't you been stealing Schuberry's music?" His friends shot glares at the frail unicorn.
"It was for her own good. You wouldn't understand!" Andante's cries became desperate. "She wished to learn from me! Tell them, Schuberry!"
"I have reason to suspect Andante also performed an illegal operation on Schuberry's mother." Celestia added on.
'Yes, and it involved a minor as a matter of fact.' A.K. scribbled.
"Several ponies are accusing you of some very serious charges, Andante." Twilight snarled. Her tone became softer. "Schuberry, please. We need to know, did Andante steal your music?"
Everycreature held their breath.
"Schuberrry won't say anything." Andante confidently growled. "I'm too important to her! Come home to me. We can pick up where we left off. We can be happy!"
"He only smiles at train wrecks." Luna whispered under her breath.
Schuberry seemed uncomfortable for a moment. "Andante has been stealing my music for years. I don't know if he stole that collar, but he said my friends made me stupid. I don't remember if he took my voice. And he makes me dress like a colt..." She pulled off her bowtie and threw it away, disgusted.
"What the-Schuberry, what are you saying? After all I've done for you-this is how you treat me?" Andante slowly pushed himself up onto his hooves. His legs trembled from the effort, but his furious expression almost had a phyiscal effect. "Schuberry, I am your father! You can't do this to me!"
"You're not my father." Schuberry defiantly stood her ground. "And I know now. You've been lying to me, and whoever."
A tired looking mare stepped forward. "He caused me to lose my job!"
"And the National Bank had a large withdrawal of bits under my name to you." Prince Blueblood marched up to the scene. "Guards, arrest him."
As the unicorn was taken away, Celestia had a good look at his expression. She had expected him to be gazing back, filled with disgust or resentment, but his expression had grown much softer. His eyes were wider than usual, and his jaw was slightly slack. Celestia had seen this expression before; she racked her brain trying to read it.
Andante was coming to the realization that he lost Schuberry. That was why the look was so strange-it wasn't one of snobbish superiority or petty frustration. While that expression quickly changed to discontempt, he knew as well as Celestia that Schuberry had accidentally spread her wings, and not even the most furious of storm or the biggest batacuda could stop her now. Luna didn't notice, and Celestia decided it wasn't the time to point it out.
The crowd slowly dispersed, now that the source of the excitement was gone. Schuberry looked around, unsure of what to do. "Miss...Celestia..."
"What is it, dear?" The great alicorn offered a ride on her back.
"Breeze said something about..'adopt'..." Schuberry rubbed the back of her head. "I don't know what that means."
"Well, if you want me to adopt you, it means I'll be your mom." Celestia explained patiently. "Well, in this case, you'd be adopting Luna and myself as your family. We'd just need your approval-" She was cut off by Schubery throwing herself into a tight hug. For the first time, there were tears streaming down the little pony's eyes.
"Oh dear, oh dear. I do hope this means yes." Luna joined in on the hug, and it seemed all would be right in the world.
Rainbow Dash looked over the scene. "Hey, Daring, are you ever going to tell her, well, everything?"
'Oh, oh yeah.' The author wrote. 'Someday, maybe when I'm retired, and I've seen enough of the world. Celestia's going to make a fine mare out of her.'
"She's an awesome composer already, though." Rainbow curled a wing around Daring's back, leading her away from the wrecked castle.
Schuberry is named after Austrian composer Franz Schubert, and the way she plays is modeled after Chinese pianist Lang Lang. He's pretty epic, check him out. The broken grammar she uses when Celestia first finds her is based off Chinese grammar, which I had to translate in my head since they fixed Google Translate for the most part now. Her gifts include photographic memory of sheet music and excellent improvization skills.
Hayseed is heavily based off the mule of the same name in Piemation's Sheriff Hayseed series. He was supposed to be a more important character, but his role shifted to Gusty since having the story filled with musicians would detract from the main themes about family and etc.
Andante's character draws inspiration from Salieri, the lesser-known Italian composer. His name is a musical term, meaning 'moderately slow tempo.' Despite being a blue stallion, Andante was originally supposed to be a deep purple, almost red mare with a greyed mane and tail. After putting it in General Tzoi's pony creator, I realized that it looked horrifying and decided against it.
Hoofel is pony Handel, and considered by Schuberry, Luna, and Andante to be the greatest composer to have lived in Equestria. Maybe I'll do a story on him someday...
Shetland & Sons is a play on words with Steinway & Sons, an American piano maker founded in 1853, and the Shetland Pony, a Scottish breed.
Ambletivirus is a play on words with:
Amati, the last name of an Italian violin maker, and amble, a general term for horse gaits that are around the same speed as a trot or pace but far smoother.
Stradivirus is the name of string instruments built by the Stradivari family, and it is said that their sound is of higher quality than other instruments, though blind experiments have not proven this.
Both these string instruments are seldom played, and are more commonly found as collector items.
I began to run out of clipart after "Foal Harmonics" and had to buy a small pack off the internet to keep it going. So yes, this story, at the moment of it's completion, has a net loss of around 20 USD.
I didn't plan for every chapter to have a word count rounded to the hundred's place but after Chapter 1 and 2 both did by some miracle I made it a challenge. Apparently it's been working ever since.
This story takes place shortly after S9E25, and it sets up events in The Final Problem. This story is also formatted to light mode, so if you read through the entire thing in dark mode, you're a souless demon and I'm scared of you.
Here is a list of songs featured in this story, with their real life counterpart and what chapter they're featured in. I have added links to the specific versions I was thinking of, if anyone wants to listen to the song as they go back and read.
Schuberry's version of the Rose's Ballad is based off the Ballade No 1 in G Minor, Op 23 by Chopin (Bakery Tunes , Schuberry Suite )
The Violet Etude is based off the Etude in C-sharp minor, Op.10, No. 4 by Chopin (Bakery Tunes )
The Bakery Song is based off Hot Milk by Snail's House (Bakery Tunes )
The Ursa Major Concerto is based off the Carmen Concert Fantasy Op. 25 by De Saraste (Love Child )
The Pheasant Duet is based off String Quartet No. 1 in D Major, Op. 11 by Tchaikovsky (Love Child )
The song that Schuberry played to Luster Dawn is Temmie Village by Toby Fox (Bagged Lunch )
Hoofel's March For Piano is based off Op. 53 in A Flat Major by Chopin (Bagged Lunch )
Hoofel's tune (E4G4E4D4G4C4D4C4B3G3) is the theme tune of MLP (Lunchbox War)
The rock song played during the Nightmare Night celebration in Manehattan is Sail Away by Styx (Foal Harmonics )
Magical Sonata is based off Dreilide Thrace Sonata No 1 by Bear McCreary (Ladon Letter )
Vivid Shining Sky is based off The Color of Friendship by Hideyuki Fukasawa (Wonderbolts Blue )
Andante's violin playing (or Cold Love by Hoofel) is based off Introduction and Rondo Capriccioso by Saens (Guilty Displeasures )
The Pleasant Etude is based off the largo section of Fantaisie-Impromptu by Chopin (Guardian Discourse )
sturdy is based off a piano cover of Bless the Broken Road by Rascal Flatts (Guardian Discourse )
Rose Play 1st Movement is based off Piano Concerto No.21 by Mozart (Mundane Things )
Rose Play 2nd Movement Wanderer Fantasy by Schubert (Mundane Things )
Rose Thorn is based off Etude Op. 25 'Winter Wind' by Chopin (Andante Allegro )
Wilting Rose is based off The Wrong Note Etude by Chopin (Andante Allegro )
Snow Rose 1st Movement is based off Nocturne in A-Flat Major by Liszt (Andante Allegro )
Snow Rose 2st Movement is based off Impromptu No. 3 by Schubert (Andante Allegro )
Snow Rose 3rd Movement is based off Air by Bach (Andante Allegro )
"Andante, you are mad!" is based off Bolero by Ravel (Andante Allegro )
The Night Rose is based off The Girl with the Flaxen Hair by Debussy (Andante Allegro )
Play Rose is based off Sonata No.21 by Beethoven (Andante Allegro )
Sun and Moon is based off Roslin and Adama by Bear McCreary (True Harmony )
Rose Jazz is based off After 3:00am at Quark's by Dennis McCarthy (True Harmony )
Glacial Violin Etude is based off Love's Sorrow by Kreisler (True Harmony )
Andante Virus is based off La Ronde des Lutins, Op. 25 by Bazzini (True Harmony )
Farewell Rose is based off Everything Stays by Rebecca Sugar and Drift Away by Jon PumperTrue Harmony )
Rose Duet is based off Butterfly Waltz by Brian Crain (Flowering Night )
Schuberry Virus is based off Introduction et Tarantelle Op. 43 by de Sarasate (Flowering Night )
There is some music that never fit into the context of the story but I still wanted to add them as a sort of 'honorary mention.' I guess they could fit into the Galloping Gala scenes in Flowering Night.
Beethoven's 5th Symphony, 2nd Movement
Kaiser-Walzer by Strauss
The Inner Light by Jay Chattaway
Water Music by Handel
Battlestar Operatica by Bear McCreary
Manhatta by The Cinematic Orchestra
3 Old Viennese Dances by Kreisler
Pas de Deux by Tchaikovsky
Mishima Closing by Philip Glass
The Swan Saint by Saens
I had some help from The Red Parade and EverfreePony in terms of grammar and editing, thanks you two ;D
Thanks to the following for supporting me along the way: truenorth14 , Mr_Mopey ,Melody Song
Here's some art, along with their artists. Make sure check their profiles out:
Randomspagetti
Coco Candy
Sleepy Panda
NixWorld
"This isn't enough." Andante said again. He had said it several times already, and each time, Schuberry reacted with a slightly more irritated shake of her head. "Do you have something to say, young mare?"
"No, father." She shuffled some sheet music from the back. "Here's another, then."
"Alright, let's hear it." Andante jabbed the air with his quill. He could barely make out the title of the song, 'Rose Thorn' from where he sat.
Schuberry gently played the first notes slowly. She was sight reading the music on the fly, so her choppier playing could be forgiven. The music was pleasant, and while not suited for ballroom dancing, Andante was willing to overlook it.
She paused a moment, and then slammed her hooves down, keeping close to the keys. The room noticeably chilled and while every fiber of his being told him to stop her, Andante was completely enthralled by the terrifying beauty. When Schuberry finally slowed down and brought the song back into a slower pace, huffing from the exertion, Andante patted her. "That's enough. We aren't using that."
"Then..." Schuberry picked out 'Wilting Rose.'
"No, not that either. I know you've put in a dissonant grace note." Andante brushed it aside. "You used to write so many wonderful duets. Those friends of yours, they've made you stupid. Try something new."
Schuberry appeared to consider this. Her ears flattened as she turned back to the keys. "Take that back."
"Uh huh-what?" Andante did a double take. "What did you just say?"
"Nothing." Schuberry responded and quickly played before Andante could speak.
It was another pleasant song, definitely more so than Rose Thorn, but Andante shrunk back, readying for another musical tirade. It never came.
It didn’t mean Schuberry wouldn’t try to stir a reaction from he father, though. The song almost felt like it was folding over on itself, and she couldn’t justify her melodies. Schuberry distracted Andante by throwing in little flourishes, and it worked reasonably well, driving the stallion mad as he tried to figure out why the song sounded so wonderful yet empty.
She went straight on into a second movement without even taking a breath. The tempo was calmer, but it was the same indescribable greyness of the first movement. She bracketed a constant flourish with the melody, creating a very conservative and repetitive sounding piece.
Andante gave her an awkward smile when she finished with a flourish. "That's very...good. Go take a ten minute break."
Schuberry slid off the bench and trotted away, leaving Andante to silently mark his paper. She stopped at the sliding window door and looked outside.
There had been a light snowfall overnight and a soft layer of fresh snow covered the older, harder ice already present. A raccoon pushed its way through the yard, scratching at the ground for food every few steps. Schuberry wandered into the kitchen and returned with a lukewarm bowl of porridge, setting it down by the door. With a great effort, she pushed open the door and placed the bowl in the snow. The little raccoon slowly came over for a taste, then dug into it savagely.
The cold air gently blew in, and both of their breaths formed little condensation clouds. A second raccoon arrived in the scene, presumably the mother. Schuberry jumped back as the second raccoon hissed and grabbed the kit by the back of the neck. There was a disappointed look on her face as the animals disappeared into a bush.
She took the bowl back in and washed it off in the sink. Schuberry balanced her hind legs on a small rickety stool, angrily scrubbing the porridge off. After drying it off, she came straight back to the living room and sat down near the tea table. Andante could see her tail poking out from behind a leg, and the sound of a quill scratching paper replaced the piano.
"Hey, I said a ten minute break." He jabbed the air with his quill again. "You still have several minutes."
Schuberry poked her head above the tabletop and eyed him suspiciously. "What do you want?"
"Every time I do something nice, must I have an angle?"
"Yes." Schuberry's head popped back down. "I'm writing down the sheet music, then I'm going to play a third movement, then I'll be done."
"We'll see. Just play." He watched the filly slowly pick herself up, then force herself back onto the piano. She caressed the piano like a lover, slowly playing a peaceful, gentle tune. It remained slow, mournful, and steady. "Make sure you get that down too." Andante put down his paper and quill and slowly walked into the next room. "I'm going to see some ponies about your music. They're going to approve it for the Gala, and tomorrow, we'll select you as the pianist, and then..." He pulled out a thick stack of sheet music. "...We can start practicing."
Schuberry got off the piano and sneakily grabbed another packet below the tea table. When Andante wasn't looking, she slipped it into the massive stack, then retreated back to the piano.
"Right, well, I'll be off." Andante opened his briefcase and placed the slightly thicker and heavier sheet music tower inside. "You can make your own lunch."
"Are you sure we have the right stallion?" Turca stared blankly at his watch. "He’s going to walk in here with a pile of hot garbage."
"You asked me this already. Shouldn't you know?" Seville remarked.
"I do know, and it still mystifies me." Turca shook his head as he watched the blue unicorn enter the rehearsal studio. "Why did we ever pick that stallion?"
“Ah, Turca, Seville, it’s always such a pleasure to meet you!” Andante grabbed their hooves and shook overzealously.
"How is it that you have so much more pleasure out of seeing me than I do seeing you?" Seville suppressed a smirk.
“Oh, well it’s because you’re such a bigger pony!” He said without thinking. “Oh, sir, not physically of course!”
Seville rolled his eyes. “Let's just get on with it.” He took the thick packet of sheet music from Andante.
“I hope the orchestra is ready to learn as soon as possible. There are some tricky songs in there.” Andante sheepishly said. This elicited a grumble and a flick of eyes toward him, but not much else.
“Let’s try this.” Turca randomly selected a piece and distributed it to the orchestra. "Andante, if you'll please."
"Of course!" Andante laughed unconvincingly. He stood on the podium and paused for a moment.
"Is there something wrong?" Seville yawned.
"Oh, no sir." Andante fumbled about with his baton.
"He'd look perfect in a court jester outfit." Turca muttered, and the two critics shared a laugh. Music filled the windowless room, and they quieted down. The song looped every eight bars, and over the course of four loops, gradually added more instruments and increased in volume.
"We haven't had much time to talk about him." Seville began. "So what do you think of him?"
"His conducting is lousy, his playing is over the top, his tempo stinks, and he breathes like a camel." Turca responded. "You?"
"I like him as a pony." Seville explained. "He's blessed with a nice smile."
"And not much else." They shared another laugh.
The loops went on, and on, and on. Some of the orchestra members were starting to look around, and Andante too was becoming uncomfortable.
Turca and Seville slowly looked towards each other. "He's not going to move past that loop, is he?"
"No, I don't think he is." Turca stood up. "Andante, you are mad!"
"Mad?" Andante dropped the baton. "Pardon?" He slowly reached inside his vest.
"You told us you would write music, but you've come to us with a repeating snippet of a circus tune!" Turca raised his hoof to slam it down but stopped.
The orchestra ponies all suddenly stopped and held neutral poses. Andante approached the two stallions. "I'm sorry, I couldn't hear you. Could you repeat yourself?"
"Your music is satisfactory. We'll choose you." The two critics stated in monotone voices.
A cruel smile spread across his face. "Much appreciated, gentlecolts." Andante bowed his way out, and when he closed the door, everypony fell over like dolls.
Andante flipped through the stack of sheet music on his bed. It was nighttime, and the great constellations shimmered brightly outside the window. Downstairs, the piano was being played. Schuberry was repeating the same song over and over. Notes drifted up the stairs and under the door, keeping Andante from diving too far into his thoughts.
What if she slipped that piece in? He entertained the idea for a moment. No, impossible, she's too stupid.
Taking a longing look towards his bathtub, Andante sighed and closed his planner. "She's going to wear herself out at this rate." He slowly went down the stairs, carrying a candle to light the way. The muffler was engaged, and as he drew closer, the scattered notes became more cohesive.
"Schuberry, you should go to sleep now." Andante softly whispered. "Tomorrow is a big day."
"Tonight's Hearths Warming Eve, you know." Schuberry commented, completely ignoring him.
"I'll get you something, like this piano. Come along now." He gently nudged her. "I don't want you embarrassing yourself tomorrow."
"Let me embarrass myself if I'll embarrass myself. I don't need your help." Schuberry grumbled. Andante frowned at this, but chose to listen to the full song.
Despite hardly being the first time he listened to the pegasus play, it still amazed him how such a little pony could change the sound of the same instrument completely. Her song sounded like a summer night, with twinkling stars and fireflies drifting in the sky above.
"Will you be playing this tomorrow? You've been pretty secretive about your exhibition piece." Andante tried to shift the conversation. Schuberry didn't bite. He decided to content himself with her playing. There wasn't time to completely enjoy it, however, because Schuberry suddenly stopped and played a completely new composition. This one was another fast, complex, and difficult piece.
"Luster is playing something like this right now." Schuberry explained.
"Schuberry, you can always make new friends." He sat down on the bench with his back facing the keys. "Let me explain something to you...friends will come and go. Family is always here."
"I’d like to see Mom, then." Schuberry quietly requested.
"Oh!" Andante laughed sheepishly. "I really don't think you should see Miss Celestia. She's not good for you." Schuberry didn't respond. "And she's not even your real mother. What right do you have to call her that?"
"Then where's my real one?"
Andante breathed heavily. "Well, she doesn't want to see you. Oh, cheer up Schuberry. You'll have a much better life than her or me. What's this song you're playing?"
Schuberry looked over her shoulder. "Play Rose."
"I see." Andante nodded. "Hey, why is it that you like roses so much?"
Schuberry slowly looked at him. "Who says I like roses?"
"All of your songs have 'Rose' in the name." Andante pointed out.
"All of your songs are duets, do you like playing with me?" Schuberry remarked.
"I-" Andante stopped. Did he really enjoy playing with her? To him, the natural order of duets called for a smaller instrument, such as a violin or a flute leading with the piano complimenting in the background. Playing with Schuberry, however, was a complete chore. She fought back, tried to take the lead, and went off on her own tangents with blatant disregard for the other musician.
"Exactly." Schuberry finally said.
Andante turned back to look back at Schuberry. For a moment, in the low candlelight, it looked like to him that a much older mare was sitting on the bench, one that was capricious and temperamental, but also caring and likeable. "You're the spitting image of your mother, Schuberry."
"Good night." She closed the lid roughly.
"...Good night." Andante sighed again and retreated back into his room.
