//------------------------------// // What A Wonderful World // Story: Pinkie Discovers Jazz // by Crisis_Vyper //------------------------------// Chapter 18: What A Wonderful World Soon enough the band is the talk of town, and everyone could only feel a sense of pride to these ‘Dignitaries’ as the media dubbed them. With the two Bearers of the Elements of Harmony in the band, there’s bound to be a big media buzz and the likes. Thankfully by the power of Princesses, the paparazzis are unable to do anything resembling an act of sensational ‘journalism’ without the Princesses knowing it. Thus is it so that Pinkie, Applejack, Octavia and Spike are able to go about their daily lives without much of a worry. But of course as with the idea of balance in the universe, when there is something good there is always something bittersweet soon after, if not something horrible. During their practice session, Mr. Coltrane finally breaks the news to everyone. With his duty done, Mr. Coltrane will be returning to Manehattan to be with his wife and back to his retirement of sorts in another two more days. Of course, that made Pinkie really sad as he is essentially a mentor and a friend to her throughout this particular misadventure. “Do you have to leave?” Pinkie’s deflated hair only serves to show how sad she is about the news. Pinkie does not like to say goodbye to her friends especially when the prospect of not seeing them again in the foreseeable future is pretty high. Mr. Coltrane nods, and he takes off his glasses to look at the pink pony with his warm, amber eyes. “Eeyup, cool cat. I gotta leave or Elsa would throw a hissy fit. ‘Sides Ah sure had a blast.” The old zebra stallion gives Pinkie a warm smile. Applejack, Octavia and Spike are a lot more mature than Pinkie, but they too feel the same way about Mr. Coltrane leaving. Before long everypony is now giving him a warm hug. It was then that Pinkie asked the old zebra for a last favor. “Could you just play with us for the very last time? And let’s make this session count as we will never know when we will be able to play with you ever again. Pretty please?” Pinkie is now showing Mr. Coltrane her best puppy dog eyes, and Mr. Coltrane could only sigh with a smile on his face. “Sure let’s do it.” The pink pony brightens up and soon enough she is ready. As Mr. Coltrane looks upon this small band, he wonder for a while about the future, but he wipes that thought away and smile to everyone. They might as well live up to the moment and be happy about it. For that he decided to play something more upbeat and hopeful, as he truly believes that there will always be a brighter side to life, and there is always something for everyone at the other side of the road or pasture. As they played on, everyone could feel the same thing for no matter what the future brings and as time goes by, this moment will forever be in their hearts and minds and they can never forget about it. The ups and downs, the funny and sad, the trials and errors, they are all part of the cycle of life. The only thing that they could do is to take things in strides for life is like jazz, for it could be odd and complicated at times, but at the same time it has an encompassing melody that makes up for the oddities that it could bring. Jazz is as jazz does, it is strange that way. ***************************************** -At the Ponyville Train Station- Mr. Coltrane is now finally going home. He had been in this rustic town for over two months now, and he had enjoyed his time here despite some minor hiccups. Nonetheless the hospitality of this town have grown on him, and this shows itself when literally everypony is seeing him off at the train station. He felt a bittersweet feeling from within, and he will remind himself that if he ever needs some time off from the city, Ponyville would be the next best thing to a runaway place from the hustle and bustle of the city. As the train attendants are loading Mr. Coltrane’s farewell gifts, which I must say is a little over the top in terms of the quantity that they gave him, the old zebra finally noticed that there is one pony that is not within the crowd. Pinkie Pie is not in the crowd, which surprises him. Oh well, perhaps she is a pony that does not like to see people leave her. As he enters into his coach and takes his seat, he looks outside the window to see a lot of ponies waving goodbye to him. Again, he felt that bittersweet feeling in his heart and the howling steam from the train only serve to make him feel that good things could never last forever. The train starts to move little by little, and Mr. Coltrane could hear the laborious sounds of the train dragging itself on the track. Soon enough the train has moved on, and everything outside the window started to move like a slideshow. Mr. Coltrane waves goodbye to everypony, and before long the sight of Ponyville is but a distant moment ago. But then his ears caught on to a sound that is not from the train, and indeed it is coming from outside the train. As he listens on the faint sound, he could definitely identify it as polka and he wonder why on Equestria would there be polka music in the middle of nowhere. “What the hay? Where’s that racket from?” He takes off his sunglasses and look around to see where is that sound coming from. Before long he could see a small railroad hand-powered cart rushing towards the train from a railroad track running parallel to the train, and he sees a very familiar sight with several instruments strapped on her back. Pinkie is now waving at Mr. Coltrane with her free forehoof and there is a very big smile on her face. Mr. Coltrane however noticed the teary cerulean blue eyes, and all he could do is to smile and look back at her with his own teary eyes. As he slowly counts on the number of instruments on her back, he smiled to himself. Soon enough, the train overtakes the small cart and speeds forth towards the wilderness and Mr. Coltrane could only laugh at Pinkie’s last act. Pinkie is definitely a pony that he could never forget in a lifetime, and perhaps one of the most talented ponies that he ever met. ***************************************** Octavia is now in front of her home. Saying farewell to somepny that has been a part of their live no matter the duration of the time is always a bittersweet moment. However, something far more subtle caught the gray mare’s attention; The sound of wubs and rave music is absent. Octavia wonders if something had happened to her housemate and as she opens the door she could hear Vinyl’s voice. “Ah, there she is gentlecolts. The lady you are looking for.” Soon enough Octavia is now facing two rather impeccably dressed unicorn stalions in business suits, a short pudgy one and a tall lean one, with the pudgy one having a monocle while the tall lean one has a thin sharp moustache. “Goodness gracious, she is far more beautiful that I thought she would have been.” Octavia is flattered that the tall lean stallion is complementing her. But of course, this does not answer her question that she now have in her mind; who are these stallions? “Oh sorry my dear, allow us to introduce ourselves. This gentlecolt right here is Mr. Eubank while I am Mr. Lovingstone. It is a pleasure to meet you Miss.” The pudgy one bows down as he introduces both of them. Octavia, being suddenly confronted with Canterlot etiquette, instinctively gave a curtsey in response. It was then that Octavia’s mind registers their names. Their names are very familiar to her but she could not put her mind to know who they were. “Alright Octy, I will leave you with them. They are your guest after all…” Before Octavia could even ask Vinyl what is going on, the white unicorn had already walked out from the door to do Celestia’s know what. Octavia soon guides them to the dining table and politely ask them to take a seat. “Thank you dear.” Mr. Lovingstone replies. The other stallion did not say much, but he does give some glances at Octavia, eying her out. Of course, it is not the ogling that Spike gave when he is looking at Rarity, as Octavia could see that his glances are those of someone scouting a person’s potential. She wonders what is going on as she prepares some tea for her unexpected guest. As she awaits for the water to boil for the tea, Octavia finally asked them two colts the question that is on her mind. “Well good sirs, I am happy that you are here to pay me a visit, but may I ask what is the purpose of your visit?” There was a short silence between the two colts, and as they glanced at each other, Octavia could only wonder what is going through their mind. A cough from the tall stallion breaks the silence. “Well Miss Octavia, I would assume that a musician of your caliber would have heard of the Royal Canterlot Orchestra?” It was then that the pin dropped in Octavia’s mind, but she tries to disguise her reactions. “Yes, I have done an audition before for the Orchestra….”She pauses for a moment, letting the colts to continue on explaining. She sort of understand their purpose here, but trust me, she had no idea. It was then that Mr. Lovingstone reveals the purpose of their visit. “Well, we are the managers Cirque du Symphony, the conglomerate that owns all the orchestras throughout Equestria, and it seems that our underling is either deaf or stupid to not notice your talents in the first place. Not to mention that with the recommendations from the Princesses and your stellar performance a few days ago, you are perhaps the ‘hottest’ new star in the music scene. This is why we are here in your humble home; we want you to join us as a honorary member of our performing troupes. Of course everything can be arranged to fit with your particular schedule and/or pecularities. And if you must know, we fired the person who had prevented you from entering into the Orchestra in the first place.” It was then that Mr. Eubank hovers a contract scroll on the dining table, placing gently for Octavia to see. It was then that the teapot started whistling, and Octavia’s mind is blown…..twice. ***************************************** Applejack could not help but to be bothered by the knocking sound on her door, and as she puts her broom away, she wonder who will be visiting her in the middle of the day. As soon as she opens her door, she was surprised that a rather large elephant is now in front of her door along with his retinue of elephants and some of the Royal Guards. “Oh….heya….ur….Janangir right?” Applejack breathes a sigh of relief from within her heart, as she almost forgot the name of an important dignitary. She needs to remember names much better, especially when they are as important as those of her current guest. “Yes, Appujak, I am him.” His accent is thick and has an odd lyrical timbre to it. “So…ur….what brings ya to mah humble home, yer majesty?” Applejack could not help but to try and be more ‘fancy’ to the Maharaja. However, instead the Maharaja beckons for his retinue of both elephant guards and also Royal Guards of Equestria to leave them be. “Let’s walk shall we?” Applejack did so without any hesitation and soon enough she is now walking beside the large elephant. As they walked out from the farm to the orchards, Applejack could not help but to feel like a small filly. An elephant’s bulk is immense, and their lumbering and heavy gait only serves to prove to Applejack about how powerful he could be. It was then that his trunk plucks one of the apples from one of her apple trees and he then shows the apple to the farm pony. “I noticed this fruit at the party the other day. Everyone calls this an ‘apple’ and it seems that there are a lot of dishes and beverages that could be made out of this humble fruit. I would like you to tell me more about it as I need all the help I can get in understanding how these fruit could be cultivated and the likes.” Applejack could suddenly smell the prospect of profit and soon enough she gives the Maharaja a wide smile. “Sure, Ah can do that. Let’s see….where do Ah wanna start……” ***************************************** “Spike, what are you doing up so late?” Twilight was woken up by the sounds of books falling down to the floor. She noticed that Spike is buried inside a large pile of books and this is definitely something that she did not expect. Spike is usually asleep by now, and seeing him being awake at this time of the night surprises her. “Well I just need to find out about something. Don’t worry too much about it. I will put them all back as soon as possible.” Twilight, too tired to even care about anything else, just yawns and nods before she goes back to her bed. For some reason that the dragon is still trying to understand, he is now interested in understanding music theory out of sudden and this though had robbed the dragon of his sleep. He now needs to find out about it and horde the knowledge in his mind. As he continue on searching for the books related to that subject one can only wonder that it is perhaps a sign of greater things for the young dragon, perhaps the dragon has finally found a vocation that he might succeed in. With a dragon’s almost infinite lifespan, his knowledge would certainly be as vast as that of the ocean. Only time will tell if he will be hoarding knowledge like how any other dragon would hoard treasures. ***************************************** With the old zebra gone and, life in Ponyville continued on as normal….well at least for most ponies. As the cold winter fades away to the lively spring, there are some noticeable changes for the ponies that are forevermore influenced by this strange turn of events that Pinkie Pie had brought upon a select few. As a whole, the band benefitted a lot from this foray, and they still indeed do jam whenever they could, and enjoy the little things in life. You think I would break them up? Heck no! This is not some sad and tragic tale of backstabbing and the likes. Go read something else if you want those kinds of sadly emotional stories. Wait…..what did you say? What did Pinkie get out from this? Fair enough, as she is the pony that started this whole chain of events. For Pinkie, this experience is nothing so much as a stepping stone for fame, fortune, pride or knowledge. For Pinkie it is something else entirely. ***************************************** As the six Bearers of the Elements of Harmony meet for their first picnic of summer, they could not help it but to chatter with each other to find out what is going on with their lives and know about the news and gossips that are going about in Ponyville. It was then that the fate of everyone is laid bare for everpony to know. Octavia for example, got the break that she truly needs as her performance during that performance gained enough recognition that she is now able to get a seat on the Royal Canterlot Symphony and she often gets requests by many cafes and events to play for them. Right now, Octavia is out of town as she is to perform her first solo concert in Trottingham. In many ways, it is now a much better life for the musician, and there is no denying that she had finally broken out from her struggling phase to a much brighter future. Twilight told the other mares that Spike is now heavily invested in knowing more about musical theory and has literally read up on every book relating to the subject in the library. Right now he is considering about trying to get into a school of some sort to know more about this subject and Twilight could only feel proud for her little assistant in his pursuit of knowledge. Twilight is considering the option to enroll him into a school in Canterlot to allow for him to go even further in his endeavor once he is old enough to do so. As for Applejack, her life as a farmer is still very much the same, but thanks to the Hathi Empire’s desire for the import of her apples and all related products had literally caused the Apple Family to become a large business empire overnight. The large appetites of the elephants along with the wealth of the empire literally rained upon Applejack. In addition, Applejack had somehow taken some of Rarity’s advice to use her looks and her reputation with her apple to market her products to the rest of Equestria worked wonders to her business. Her rustic charm and reputation alongside the top-notch quality of her family’s product allowed for the profits of Sweet Apple Acres to increase tenfold. Applejack also told the other ponies that she could finally get Granny Smith that hip replacement surgery that she desperately need. On a more personal side, Applejack told everypony that she is abl to enjoy the little things in life and not getting too tangled into her work and literally work to a less fruitful existence. Nopony could deny that with both sides of her life being fulfilling and bountiful as her harvest, she is perhaps the most content mare in the whole of Equestia. It seems that everyone is forging a path of their own, but our dear little pink pony is not really listening to all of that chatter. As Pinkie looked on their location, a hill overlooking Ponyville, she wonder about how this weird stumbling upon that little old record had changed her life. In fact, her foray into this weird genre of music had also changed so many lives while she is at it, from the funny to the entirely profound way in which she views the world. Never had she thought that music can be such a vessel of discovery and learning, and she could only marvel at its profound effect. She can’t help it for it has such a mind-blowing impact on her mind. She sees trees of green and red roses too, seeing them bloom for everypony. She sees skies of blue and clouds of white and bright blessed days and dark sacred nights. The colors of a rainbow are so pretty in the sky, and the same could be said on the faces of ponies going by. She could see friends shaking hands, and saying ‘how do you do’ while all they were saying is that they love each other too. She hears babies cry, and watch them grow. Those babies will learn much more than she will never know. And as all those thoughts and sensation enters into her mind, she could only think of one thing to herself. But before she could even mutter those words in her mind, she is interrupted by Rainbow Dash. “Hey Pinkie, are you gonna stare all day at Ponyville or come and join us for this picnic?” Rainbow Dash’s words snaps Pinkie back to reality, and as Pinkie look at her friends with a sense of belonging and happiness, she could only feel that somehow this odd experience of discovery in Jazz had made her appreciate something that she never really did before. As she hops towards her friends, she finally mutters what she was thinking. What a wonderful world. The End.