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// Music Disaster 
// Story: Healing Hearts 
// by KidatHeart5 
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To take up Lady Evelyn’s suggestion for the ball, Alpheus had hired a music teacher so the princes could re-learn singing. The teacher was none other than the famous Clef. Although he was high-strung at times, he always created and directed wonderful music. Rarely would Clef ever fail at such an endeavor, but his first session with the princes and ladies would be far from perfect.
Clef was pleased to see the ladies all arrive on schedule in the music room, but he was becoming especially ticked that the princes were tardy. He fretted, “Where could the princes be?”
Juno said with a hopeful smile, “I’m sure they’ll be here shortly.”
Suddenly, Zeb barged through the double doors. He ran to his spot as he apologized breathlessly, “Sorry I’m late! There was a little bit of trouble with the confetti. Discord went a little overboard again.”
Clef said in an annoyed tone, “A little?”
Zeb noticed the girls were giggling and looked back to see his rear all covered in confetti. He smiled sheepishly as he wiped the confetti off, “Eh-heh-heh. Okay, a lot overboard.”
Clef turned to the girls and chastised, “Ladies, we do not find amusement in others’ embarrassment, especially not a prince’s.”
The girls all stood up straight and said, “Yes, Master Clef.”
Just afterwards, Tirek and Bill Cipher arrived. The centaur muttered under his breath, “Might as well get it over with.”
Zeb asked Bill Cipher in a deadpanned tone, “Let me guess: you’re here for the girls, aren’t you?”
If Bill had a mouth, he would’ve been smirking. He said, “Yep.”
At that moment, they heard scuffling and quarreling outside the music room. The double doors then burst open as Negaduck and Aku tumbled inside, fighting with each other.
Tirek scoffed, “Very mature.”
Negaduck grunted as he reached for something in Aku’s hand, “Give me my spark plug, you four-horned egomaniac!”
Aku taunted as he kept the spark plug away from Negaduck’s grasp, “Oh-ho! Look who’s talking!”
Clef cleared his throat forcefully and loudly, “Ah-he-hem!” The quarreling brothers stopped fighting and looked up at the teacher. “Your Highnesses, you will do well to behave in this room and everywhere else in the castle.”
When Discord entered the room, he said, “We live here. There’s no reason for us to not act like ourselves. I mean, we can’t be proper all the time.”
“Need I remind you that you are princes? You have guests and I suggest that you put your etiquette to good use and-“
Garnet interrupted, “Master Clef, I think it’s best we get on with the music lesson. After all, we don’t want to be late for everything else today, now do we?” 
After a few moments of silence, Clef gave a gruff humph before instructing, “To your places, sires. To your places.”
As the other princes were getting into their positions, Negaduck hissed to Aku, “Give me back my spark plug or you won’t get what you want.”
This intrigued Discord and he asked, “Oh? Aku wants something from you? Do tell.”
Clef ordered, “Quiet! Now remember, this is a mood piece. We must paint a picture with music and words…and CONCENTRATE!”
The princes and ladies were surprised by the shout of the last word. When he blew the pitch pipe, the sisters vocalized beautifully, but unfortunately, the brothers were horrendously off-pitch. 
Clef gave a grimace before saying, “Remember…adagio con brio!” 
Even though Tirek only mouthed the words, the rest of the princes and their female guests began to sing, “Oh, give me a home…where the buffalo roam, and the deer and the antelope play…”
Negaduck whispered to Aku as if he was singing, “Give me my spark plug.”
“Where seldom is heard a discouraging word…” 
Aku sang/whispered back to Negaduck, “Not on your life.” 
The rest sang, “And the skies are not cloudy all day…” 
Discord said to Aku, “If you don't tell me what you want from him, I'm just going to scream!” 
Negaduck talked over Discord, “Give me my spark plug, you oozebrain!”
The brothers and the ladies still sang, “Home, home on the range…”
Negaduck demanded, “Give me my spark plug.”
Aku refused, “No!” 
The rest of the group sang, “Where the deer and the antelope play…” 
“Not until you promise I have your help.” 
Negaduck retorted, “What are you trying to do? Stifle my freedom of speech?” 
The group sang, “Where seldom is heard…” 
“Give me my spark plug!”
“A discouraging word…” 
Aku crossed his arms and said “No promise, no spark plug!”
“And the skies are not cloudy all day…” 
At that moment, Discord teleported the spark plug into his paw and teased, “What spark plug?” He then gave a chuckle.
Aku exclaimed, “No!” 
The group sang, “Oh, give me a land…” 
“Give me that spark plug!” Aku formed his hand into something like a short whip and struck Discord’s wrist. The draconequus gave a yelp as the spark plug flew out of his paw. Aku grabbed the spark plug before anyone else did.
“Where the bright diamond sand…” 
Discord pouted as he rubbed his wrist, “Aku, that just isn’t fair.”
Tirek hissed to his brothers, “Sing!” 
The group then sang, “Flows leisurely down the stream...”
Zeb turned to Aku and asked in confusion, “Why did you take Discord’s spark plug?”
Aku growled in frustration, “Aaarrgghh!” He then teleported out of sight.
The people still in the music room sang, “There the graceful, white swan goes gliding along...”
Discord asked Negaduck, “Why did he take it?”
“Like a maid in a heavenly dream…” 
Negaduck confessed, “He knows...when the ball ends...I’ll be leaving!”
Discord cried in surprise, “You’ll be leaving?!”
Zeb turned to them and said, “You’ll be leaving?”
Bill Cipher did the same thing and echoed, “You’ll be leaving?”
The girls and most of the princes sang, “Home, home on the range...”
Discord shot back in an upset tone, “Well, that makes me...What a terrible thing to do to…Oh, just forget it! Never mind!” Like Aku, he teleported out of the room in a flash.
The rest sang, “Where the deer and the...” 
Bill Cipher started to leave as he said, “Know what? I’m done here.”
“Antelope…” 
Tirek said as he joined Bill, “I’ll take my leave, too.”
“Play…” 
Zeb tried to stop his brothers, “Wait, you two-“
Negaduck shouted, “Hey! He's still got my spark plug!” He then raced out of the music room. 
Even though the girls were tapering off, they and Zeb sang, “Where seldom is heard a discouraging word...” 
When the girls stopped singing, Zeb finished while feeling awkward, “And the skies are not cloudy all day…” 
Clef gave a groan before plopping his head against the music stand.





In his secret playroom, Discord was trying desperately to open the canister. He figured that if he could solve the code, maybe Negaduck would be convinced to stay. He spun the decoder rings at a fast pace as he tried to come up with four words to open the container.
He fretted, “’Lore’, no. ‘More’, no. ‘Dore’? What’s ‘Dore’?”
Just then, he heard a voice through the pipe. “Discord, are you in there?”
He gasped and quickly put away the canister. After he shut the toy box lid, he flashed into his room and sped to the door…before he realized his bed was still in the air. “Oh!” With a flick of his tail, the bed fell to the floor with a loud thud.
The voice outside the door asked in concern, “Discord, is everything okay?”
Discord said with a nervous smile, “Be right there!” He opened the door and said, “Teardrop! What brings you to my humble bedroom?”
Teardrop said, “I wanted to make sure you were okay after what happened in…” She trailed off when she noticed new scrapes and bumps on Discord hands. She asked in concern, “Why are your hands callused?”
Discord looked down at his hands and saw that she was right. He was trying so hard to open the canister that he ended up scraping his hands. He put them behind his back as he nervously chuckled, “Oh! Heh-heh-heh. I was, uh…rubbing…my bedknob! I always rub my bedknob whenever I get anxious.” While he was speaking, the tuft of his tail rubbed the finish off the bedknob.
When he ushered Teardrop inside his room, she asked, “I was wondering if you were doing okay.”
Discord uneasily tittered, “Why wouldn’t I be? I’m as happy as the day is long. Look at me. Not a grumpy frown on my face.” He smiled as widely as he could to show Teardrop he wasn’t upset.
Teardrop didn’t seem convinced. “I don’t know. You left the music room in quite a huff.”
The prince then knew he couldn’t fool her, so he gave a hurt sigh and confessed, “It’s Negaduck. He wants to leave Venupil when the ball’s over.”
“Did he say why?”
“No, but I’m probably guessing it has something to do with Mom. When she was here, we were a close-knit family. But now that she’s gone, I’m the one keeping us together.” He scornfully scoffed, “Nice job I’m doing.”
Teardrop didn’t know what to say. She felt bad for Discord, but at the same time, she knew no one could stay under one roof forever. She sighed and said, “Look, Discord…”
Suddenly, they heard scuffling outside the bedroom. Discord opened the door and he and Teardrop leaned out to finding Aku and Negaduck hitting each other on the floor again.
Discord face-palmed as he muttered, “Not again…”
Negaduck roared at Aku, “You threw away my spark plug!”
The demon retorted, “As I said before…’No promise, no spark plug’!”
That did it for Discord and he shouted, “What promise?! What could you possibly want Negaduck to promise?!”
The mallard explained as he grunted, “He wants me to find something to contact Salene from the dead, though he should probably know by now –“
Aku shouted, “She is not Salene! She is our mother!”
“Well, she’s not mine!”
It tore Discord’s heart in half to hear such a thing. It also made Aku pause in surprise. Teardrop just watched from the bedroom door in stunned silence. Just then, they heard someone clear their throat. The princes looked up to see the chamberlain.
The chamberlain said, “Need I remind you we have guests in the castle? Proper conduct must be upheld at all times.” He faced Teardrop and apologized, “I regret that you had to see such behavior, miss. I assure you that it will not happen again.” He gave a glare to the princes as he said that. He then said to the brothers, “Your father requests your presence in the throne room with the rest of your brothers. I assume you know what it’s about.”
As the princes followed the chamberlain, Discord gave a heartbroken glance at Teardrop before continuing on his way. She couldn’t bear to see him unhappy like that. From what her mother had told her about her chat with Discord the other night, Teardrop knew that the brothers could still be healing from the queen’s death. If they were fighting like this, then they really needed help. At that moment, Teardrop knew what to do.





Discord couldn’t bring himself to look at his brothers, so he only either focused on their disappointed father or looked down in shame.
Alpheus sighed in frustration as he rubbed the bridge of his nose with two of his fingers, “Do you realize what you’ve just done today?”
Bill Cipher asked, “Do we get three guesses?”
The king glared at his adopted son and sternly said, “No.” He then addressed all of the princes, “Because of your careless behavior –“
Clef interjected in a peeved tone, “Careless and reckless behavior!”
“Yes, Clef. As I was saying, that kind of conduct not only disrupted the music lesson, but also –“
Clef once again interrupted as he spouted off, “Leaving the room and thereby ruining, wrecking, and COMPLETELY DESTROYING IT!”
Alpheus looked at the music teacher and asked in surprise, “What? They damaged the room?”
Clef clarified, “No, sire.” He then glared at the princes, “Only the lesson and my reputation overall.”
“I see. You may be dismissed, Clef.” After Clef left the room with a pompous humph, Alpheus turned his attention back to his adopted sons. “What you’ve done during the music lesson today not only bruised Clef’s pride, but also humiliated the royal family. We are the hosts of seven ladies, but you’ve disgraced yourselves by acting up in front of Evelyn’s daughters! I believe it is time for you to start behaving like proper princes. I shall make arrangements for you to be taught etiquette and poise. You will not be allowed any spare time for yourselves. Tomorrow, you shall –“
Once again, he was interrupted, but this time, the double doors swung open. To the surprise of the royal family, Evelyn stepped into the room.
The lady requested, “I have something to say, Your Majesty.”
Alpheus asked, “Then say it, milady.”
Eve curtsied before she stated, “I have a moral code that I raised my daughters to uphold. We always judge people by who they are, not how they act or who they’re supposed to be.” She gestured to the brothers as she said, “These princes here are not your ordinary princes. They show no stiff upper lip, no composure, and certainly no temperance.” The princes were afraid she might speak ill of them until she said, “And I commend them for it, though I’m less than pleased about the music lesson incident. So they might’ve been testy, but hey, we all get like that. The point is these guys have shown their true colors by just being themselves around us.
“If it’s all right with Your Highness, I propose to supervise the first few dance lessons…after I take your sons out to town tomorrow.” She turned to the princes and gave them a reassuring smile. She faced Alpheus again and continued, “After all, I think they can find crowd approval if they show that they can relate to the citizens of Venupil. Do we have your permission, Your Majesty?”
Alpheus gave it some thought before he said, “Very well, milady. You may tour Venupil with my sons, provided that they are on their best behavior.”
“Oh, I don’t expect them to behave their best. I want them to be their best.” She gave a wink to the princes, which confused and surprised the guys a little.





The sisters were busy creating crafts and threading bits and pieces together when their mother came in the room.
Sheba asked, “Is everything okay now, Mom?”
Eve said, “Thank goodness Teardrop told me about what was happening in the hallway. I just saved the princes from being in hot water…for the time being.”
Teardrop asked, “Uh-oh. What was the king going to do to them?”
Eden asked, “Put them in the dungeon?”
Garnet asked, “Flog them with chains?”
Eve gave a smirk, “Worse. Etiquette.”
Juno shrugged in innocence, “Well, I don’t think etiquette can be that bad.”
Her mother pointed out, “Arching the back? Not really. Putting a napkin on your lap? You can live with that. But does not having any free time for yourself count as not that bad?”
This left the girls in stunned silence until Genesis said, “Wow. He must’ve been really upset, then.”
Eden asked, “Do you suppose he’s truly that bad?”
Eve chastised her youngest daughter, “Now, Eden, we don’t judge people by how they act unless it’s who they really are. I don’t think Alpheus is rotten to the core or anything close to it. If anything, he could still be suffering from his wife’s death. His sons, too.”
Teardrop whistled, “They must be really hung up about Queen Salene’s death.”
Sheba pointed out, “Remember how hung up we were about Dad’s death?”
Garnet nodded, “It took us a while to heal from it, but we eventually moved on. Why haven’t the king and his sons done the same?”
Eve explained, “They’re guys, and guys might go through grief differently. Sometimes, they heal at a different pace than girls do. Also consider the fact that the princes are all adopted, so they might’ve had families before they were adopted. One must wonder what each went through before he came to Venupil.”
Eden said, “Well, it never hurts to ask.”
“Just remember: it may be a touchy topic for them, so be careful.”
Genesis said as she stroked her hair back, “Mom, with my charm and infectious joy, I’ll draw their backstories out like they were buckets of water from a well.”
The girls and their mother chuckled until Juno asked, “So, Mom, what are we doing tomorrow?”
Eve smiled, “We and the princes are going on a tour of Venupil, arranged by yours truly.”
Teardrop remarked, “Ooh, you’re good, Mom. Really good.”