//------------------------------// // Publication Procurement // Story: The Composer // by Smug Anime Girl //------------------------------// 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.