//------------------------------// // Chapter 56: The Calling in C # minor. // Story: Beethoven's Tenth // by CrackedInkWell //------------------------------// “What do you mean ‘no’!?” Svengallop demanded. His outburst attracted several onlookers that were near the expensive café. On that morning (about a few days after the Countess auditioned,) the white Earth Pony had decided to talk with the giant at one of the Empire’s most well-renowned restaurants. The composer himself sat on a low wall, with the table at his knees, looking down at the magic scroll that was held in place with a cup and some silverware. “As in I do not agree with the proposal,” Ludwig clarified. “It’s one thing to have your singer be the main soprano for the symphony, but it’s another when you want to have my music be taken up by your radios.” The manager was slack-jawed, “But-But don’t you want to have your music to be heard live, from all over the world to those who probably have never heard any of your symphonies? I’m more than willing to use my money to get that thing heard!” “It is because I have two problems of that invention,” the old man said as he reached for a handful of freshly baked rolls. “The first is that as you said, my music would be heard across the world. They say the radio can go to the living rooms of homes if they set the adjustments on that thing just right. Where would the money be if you have a huge audience that gets to listen for nothing?” Svengallop facedhoofed. “And the other?” “I have taken a listen to one of my pieces on the radio on the New Year; the DJ had helped me listen to the sound waves as they sang Auld Lang Syne. Although I could pick up their voices and the instruments, I could barely pick it up from all the constant hissing and crackling noise that the machine was making. So how would I know for certain that if my Choral Symphony goes into the airwaves that those with radios can hear it clearly?” Grunting, the stallion leaned forward on the table, his forehooves firmly rubbing his temples. “Look, I’m proposing something that would benefit both of us. First of all, the radio is actually a great way to encourage ponies to buy your albums that, in case you haven’t noticed, your symphonies have been super popular on both classical and pop channels. It’s one of the reasons why you’ve been doing as well as it is. But none of your works have been done live, so this would be a great opportunity to show it off to everyone that has a radio so they would demand to buy the record.” “Even if that were the case,” Beethoven said between bites of bread. “I can see what you’re trying to do, for I may be deaf, but that doesn’t mean that I’m an idiot. I’m not going to have your Countess be the star simply because you bribed me into doing so. As of now, there are hundreds of perfectly capable singers for the solo Soprano, Alto, Tenor and Baritone parts in the fourth movement.” “But you’ve heard her sing!” “So I did. She’s fortunate that I let her, besides, if for a moment I didn’t think she couldn’t sing she wouldn’t be rehearsing, to begin with. Consider yourself lucky that I at least have allowed her in at all.” He took another bite, “Besides, unlike the last time I’ve had this symphony performed, I had limited resources in what theater, orchestra, and choir to use. So because of that, my ninth didn’t make much money. This time, I’m determined to give the audience in my next concert the best of the best. Perhaps the Fräulein may sing with the other soloists, or maybe she won’t, but at least be grateful that she gets to sing at all, Herr Svengallop. I’m afraid that you will have to do better than this to convince me otherwise.” Svengallop sighed, but before he could respond, his ears perked up, as did everypony else. A voice vibrated off from the crystal said, “Attention Citizen of the Crystal Empire and Visitors: By orders from Princess Cadance and Prince Shining Armor through telegram, due to an emergency in Equestria, the city is to be put on lockdown. The shield will be raised to which nopony is to enter or leave the Empire until further notice. We are ordered not to lift the shield until one of the members of the Royal family says so otherwise. We further ask to please remain calm, for the Crystal Heart will be protecting us from whatever threat that Equestria is facing. Thank you.” As ponies all around Beethoven were showing concern, the old man looked down on the crystal wall he was sitting on. “Did someone speak just now? What is going on?” _*_ By the time Ludwig returned to the Opera House, the sky above was covered in a sea-like dome. While it was a curious sight for the old man to see, his focus was on something else. As he walked inside the opera house, he saw that while the orchestra and a good chunk of the choir were there, they were not preparing to rehearse. Many of them sat in the rows of seats; all of them looked worried. “Why are none of you rehearsing?” Beethoven questioned. “It’s ten o’clock and there’s much to do. In fact, where is the rest of the choir?” He spotted an orange, crystal mare moving her mouth. But the giant said, “Wait! I can’t hear you,” as he pulled out the scroll and unrolled it. “I said,” The mare repeated, “that the reason that some of us aren’t here is that of the news from this morning. In case you haven’t heard, Equestria is under attack, and Princess Cadance and Prince Shining Armor aren’t here. We’re up here without a leader while something was wrong with the sun not rising on time, which means something has likely happened to Princesses Celestia and Luna. So forgive us if some of us aren’t up to rehearsing when we don’t know if we might be in danger ourselves.” “And your response is to do nothing?” “You have a better idea?” Ludwig looked up to find Bow, the first violinist come flying up to him. “The situation is grim as it is. We don’t know what’s happening out there, why it’s happening, or if somepony is doing something about it. To top it all off, everypony in this city is now trapped in here until one of the Princesses come by to let us out.” “You’re saying that is if dread is an excuse to be lazy,” Beethoven scolded them. “Last time I’ve checked, the sky is still in one piece, we’re still alive, and regardless of what is happening in Equestria, all of us still have a symphony to perform.” At this moment, Octavia stood up, “How could you say that? Considering all the things that have happened in recent years like Nightmare Moon returning, the Changeling invasion, Discord, or even King Sombra here in the Empire, how do we know if there will be an Equestria to return to? Our homes are probably getting demolished as we speak, and we can’t go anywhere until the shield is lifted.” “Hopelessness is not an excuse to stop creating art,” Ludwig told them as he headed towards the stage. “If anything, now would be the perfect time to rehearse.” “What?” objected everypony in the entire theater. Beethoven stopped as he saw what was on the scroll in his hand before he turned around, “This is precisely why I wrote the Ninth Symphony. Playing each of the four movements is an act of defiance against everything the rest of you are feeling right now. Hope against hopelessness, courage against fear, order against chaos, joyful love against depressing hatred, that is what this symphony is all about! If none of you don’t believe what I’ve just said then you know where the doors are! The rest of us are going to change the world, give light to the darkness through the music I’ve written.” With that, the giant went over to sit in his chair, putting his pair of headphones on. Musicians in the opera house looked at one another, and then, one by one, the orchestra flipped open their cases and assembled on stage. After tuning their instruments, they looked over to the giant, “Now,” he said, “Let’s begin with the first movement, start softly but mysterious with the second violins, horns, and cellos. First violins, be as light as air but keep the same tone, same with the clarinets. Oboes, flutes, and bassoons, your job is to build up the crescendo with the timpani. Now, let’s run this through.” _*_ Fortunately, the shield was taken down later that day when news came that Twilight had settled the threat. By the time that Beethoven, along with the rest of the Philharmonic and choirs were heading back to Equestria, they’ve learned what was going on. From what they could gather, a manipulative creature called Tirek had come very close to destroying the land by draining the magic from everypony. Even, it is said, from the spirit of Chaos himself that the creature had tricked into this devious scheme. In the end, Princess Twilight along with her friends did manage to subdue the threat after a great battle. What those reports didn’t tell them, was the damage that was left behind. As they headed southwards, through passing towns and villages, they could see in the eyes of ponies that they were shaken. Although there was a relief, there was a worry in the faces that the train rushed past. On the way to Canterlot, Ludwig saw more signs of the battle through the windows. At first, he saw only a couple of scorch marks on the trees and farmlands. However, as they drew closer to the capital, he began to see that buildings that were standing mere weeks ago had been knocked over; craters that began small became larger as they drew near the mountain. He was even stunned as he saw another mountain that had a huge hole punched through it. By the time the train pulled up to the capital, the first thing the Philharmonic did as they left was to go straight towards their homes to see if they were intact. However, as the composer stepped out, he was greeted by Princess Twilight and her dragon assistant. As they waved, Ludwig took out the magic scroll, “Princess Twilight,” he said, “Rumor has it that you’ve defeated a demon while I was away.” Both of them exchanged an uneasy look, “Uh… Yes, that is true,” Spike rubbed the back of his neck. “Equestria is safe again, but…” The giant looked up from his scroll, “Is something wrong?” Twilight took in a deep breath as if she was bracing herself for something, “Mr. Beethoven, I have some good news and bad news that I think you should know.” “Can you please promise that you won’t freak out when we tell you,” Spike added. This got Ludwig curious, “Why? What happened?” “I guess I should tell you the bad news first,” Twilight began. “You see, the bad news is that during with my fight with Tirek, obviously, some things have gotten damaged. And… I’m sorry to tell you this, but do you remember when you entrusted me to have your manuscript for your Tenth Symphony to be kept in a vault in my library’s basement?” Beethoven looked down at her, his eyes narrowed, “And you are telling this because…?” “My library was destroyed,” Twilight said at last. When Ludwig read that, his heart sank as she continued. “I’ve revisited the library after the battle, and I found that the vault that kept your newest symphony was blown open. The manuscript didn’t survive.” The scroll that Beethoven was holding dropped onto the platform, “What.” His voice became low as he stepped forward, and his face twisted into rage, “Are you telling me that the very thing that would guarantee my way home has been turned to ashes!” Spike quickly picked up the scroll and held it up high, “Wait! Before you get angry, just hear us out! There is some really good news too!” Beethoven folded his arms, “What news could you possibly have to distract me the fact that my work has been demolished by a demon?” “We’ve already photographed the entire thing,” Twilight continued. “Right after you left to the Crystal Empire, I’ve taken the liberty to send hundreds of photographs to our publisher that transcribes all of your symphonies. They have a copy of all the previous movements you’ve made and, last time I’ve heard from them, they have some questions regarding some of the notes you’ve written for clarification. So really, your tenth is safe. All they need is your last movement.” “Then why haven’t you told me that first!” “The point is your music is still safe,” Twilight pointed out. “But that’s not what I wanted to talk to you about. So take a moment to calm down before I say anything.” It took a good a few minutes, but after Ludwig’s temper cooled, he was ready to listen. “Mr. Beethoven, since I’ve already known about your next symphony, and you’ve already told me what it’s about, I speak on behalf of my country that we need this music now more than ever. The ponies of Equestria need to hear this symphony. After all, many are still feeling the shock of what has happened, and you have something that would heal all of us. I’ll do whatever it is you require so that as many ponies from all over the country can hear your message of hope because that’s what many of us demands right now.” Beethoven thought for a moment. Yes, there is truth in what this lilac princess is saying. After all, he saw it in the faces of the orchestra during rehearsal on the day of the battle. He even saw it on everyone else’s as the train trudged its way down. This poison of fear was widespread, and these ponies needed an antidote to it. While it was true that he has it, Beethoven knew that performing it in just one concert hall would not be enough. Just then, he spotted Svengallop stepping onto the platform along with his client and their entourage of crewponies. With a sigh, Ludwig walked up to them and said, “Herr Svengallop, for the sake of this country, I have changed my mind about your offer. The symphony must be put on the radio.”