//------------------------------// // Symphony // Story: In Which SPark Attempts to be Slightly Less Verbose. // by SPark //------------------------------// “Are you ready, Twilight?” The princess smiled benignly down at her knee-high student. “Yes Princess Celestia!” Twilight resisted the urge to check her saddlebags for the sixth time. Her quill, ink, and paper would still be there. “You know you don't need to take anything with you. This isn't a test, this is merely an outing. I thought you might enjoy attending the symphony.” “I'm sure I will. You've often told me yourself that a pony should be well-rounded, so I am delighted to get some exposure to the arts as part of my curriculum. It's just that I want to take notes! Ever since you said we'd be attending a concert I've been studying. I researched music history, and theory, and just today I started reading Hericoltus' 'Computational Aesthetics', so I want to record my reactions to the pieces, so I can compare them to his charts.” Celestia chuckled. “Well, if that's the way you want to enjoy the evening, far be it from me to try and dissuade you. Come.” She led the way through the palace halls, little Twilight trotting eagerly at her heels. Eventually they reached the courtyard where the Princess' chariot waited. Twilight climbed aboard eagerly, and sat next to Celestia chattering away about bell curves, increasing complexity, and predictability versus novelty, while Celestia simply listened and nodded now and then. She was well used to dealing with Twilight's frequent scholarly enthusiasms. Twilight was still chattering when they arrived at the royal box. She had to sit on a stool to see over the edge of it, but the sight of the orchestra turning up finally silenced her. She got out a sheet of paper and a quill, ready to take notes. The lights dimmed. Twilight scowled, since this increased the difficulty of her note-taking. Celestia just smiled. The conductor walked out onto the stage. He tapped the podium with his baton. There was utter silence. Twilight's quill was poised over the paper. The music began. A swirl of strings leapt immediately to life, bright notes cascading from violins and violas. Brass echoed them, the metallic sounds of trumpets and horns. Twilight stared at the dancing bows, the glinting lights off trombone bells. Flutes picked up the theme, the players all unicorns, their magic glowing on the tiny, delicate flute keys. Then a new theme, carried by the brass again, deep and solemn and majestic, where the previous theme had danced and laughed. Twilight watched as drummers payed huge kettle drums, bigger than the ponies themselves. The music suddenly dropped down, soft and quiet, flutes and clarinets carrying the tune at a near whisper. Twilight's ears were perked forward, listening intently. She'd read so much about music, about the history of it, the construction of the instruments, the theories behind playing it, but she'd never heard music like this before. Her paper and quill fell, forgotten, as the music swelled into a grand crescendo, filling the concert hall, and Twilight stared in fascination. That song was followed immediately by another, and another, and eventually the lights came up and it was time for the intermission. “Did you like the music so far?” asked Celestia. “Oh yes! It was wonderful!” said Twilight, still enthralled. Then she noticed the fallen paper. “Oh no! I didn't take any notes!” “Twilight... you don't have to analyze it if you don't want to. Sometimes it's nice to just enjoy something. You did enjoy everything so far, didn't you?” Twilight frowned, her brow furrowed. “I did, yes.” “And you didn't have to know all that about bell curves and complexity and so on in order to do so, did you?” “Well... no. But plotting my own enjoyment on the graphs is still important. The data matters, Princess!” Celestia almost wanted to argue. She had never believed in measuring and marking down everything. Not the way Twilight did. But looking at Twilight's eager, determined face she had to smile. “I suppose you wouldn't be Twilight Sparkle if you didn't think that,” said Celestia gently. Twilight cocked her head to the side. “I don't think I could be any pony other than Twilight Sparkle,” she said, sounding a bit annoyed. Celestia laughed. “Very true, my faithful student. Very true.”