//------------------------------//
// Chapter 16 - Live in Concert 
// Story: Lessons From Ponyville Elementary 
// by Blade Star 
//------------------------------//

Winter, Hearth’s Warming Eve, and Winter Wrap Up had all come and gone at a surprising pace. Equestria was now once again beginning to bloom again as the land shook off the last effects of winter. The snow hadn’t actually been too bad this year, but more than enough to warrant a day or two of snow days. Between you, me, and the gatepost, teachers enjoy an extra day off as much as the next pony, even if it does mean a little bit of extra work next week. 

Still, that was all in the past now. The temperature was climbing, and foals were no longer traipsing in with snow on their boots, all decked out in thick coats, ear mufflers, and bobble hats, and walking half melted snow into the classroom. Nor were Cheerilee and I having to constantly put grit on the playground to stop foals from slipping up. Now it was much nicer, warm weather, with the occasional shower to help the new seeds grow. It was a more than welcome change if you ask me. I lived through one of the worst winters on record when I was a little girl; the snow stayed on the ground until late May. 

Naturally, that was before global warming and climate change became a thing. Back then we just called it freak weather. I’m sure if the same thing happened today, it would trigger some daft government enquiry. 

Anyway, I’m rambling on.

With spring well underway, the foals had all come back from their winter break and were steadily working their way through the spring term. With spring’s arrival, Ponyville’s entertainment season was beginning to kick off. For such a small little town, the place certainly has its fair share of shows pass through. There’s the rodeo, carnival, soap box races, magic shows, all sorts. They however, had all been entirely eclipsed when it was announced that Countess Coloratura would be stopping in Ponyville as part of the Helping Hooves music fesitval. 

Now, for the uninitiated and males, let me explain. Countess Coloratura is a pony pop star. Well, no, she’s the pony pop star, even topping the likes of Sapphire Shores in overall popularity. Lizzie, and a lot of ponies around my daughter’s age, adore her music. To my knowledge, her singles have swept awards ceremonies for a few years now. So, when word trickled down that she would be doing a show here, ponies went nuts. It was to be an open air concert, with a little time after the show for the star to meet some of the foals. 

That was where things got…interesting for me. 

The show was announced a month in advance, and I know for a fact that almost all the foals in my class love Countess Coloratura. Have you ever tried to keep a class focused on their work when something like that is buzzing around in their tiny minds? It’s…challenging. 





“Alright, everypony!” I called out. “Can we please quiet down now?”

I was standing at the front of the class, just in front of my desk, with my hands raised in an effort to get the foals to quieten. It wasn’t having that much of an effect if I’m honest. My voice was pretty much drowned out by the chattering foals, and there was only one topic of conversation. 

“Have you got your tickets to the concert yet?” Dinky asked Twist. 

“I heard that she’s going to come and hang out with all of us after the show finishes,” Silver Spoon butted in. 

“Can you believe that the Countess Coloratura is coming here, to Ponyville?” exclaimed Sweetie Belle.

And it went on and on, chattering about the same subject, every second saw the foals grew more and more excited for something that was still a week or so off. And when you’re a kid, a week is like a month, and at this point at five minutes past nine on a Monday, I was beginning to feel the same. It’s times like this that, as a teacher, you have to back up your authority a bit. I’ve seen more than one poor substitute crash and burn trying that whole ‘I can wait’ routine. Trust me, the kids will outlast you. You need to do something to get their attention focussed back on you. 

I had an old standby for this occasion, and I thank my dear old dad for telling me about it. He was in the Army you see, Royal Engineers, as a sergeant. And in the Army, there’s two simple way of maintaining order; shouting and corporal punishment, which the school board doesn’t let me do. Taking a deep breath, I let out a bellow that cut across every other voice in the room. 

“HEADS UP!” I yelled. Instantly, the talking stopped and two dozen wide eyed foals were looking at me in astonishment. It was like being stared at by a load of owls. 

“That’s better,” I went on, in my usual tone of voice, and volume. “Now, I know you’re all excited for the concert this weekend, but we all still have work to do. So, shall we make a start?” Nopony argued with me.  

“Good. Now, if you could all take out your maths textbooks, we’ll make a start on chapter seven.”





I managed to keep everypony on task for the rest of the day. But the excitement could still easily be felt. At recess, there was only one real topic of conversation again. Honestly, if Discord had brought forth all the demons and horrors of Tartarus, I don’t think anypony would have paid him any attention. Diamond Tiara even had a record player brought from her house, just so they could all listen to the most recent single at lunch. 

I had listened, at Lizzie’s request, to a few of Coloratura’s records myself too. To me, it sounded like your generic post-2000 pop songs; I quite liked it though. It wasn’t the sort of thing I remembered when I was that age, but then again, I remember standing with hundreds of other girls all screaming for John, Paul, George and Ringo. It never hurts to try new things, and some of the songs were quite good if you ask me. 

Lizzie was, of course, going to the concert too, so I’d decided to join her. The music was nice enough, but it would also be a chance to spend some time with Lizzie, and I hadn’t been to a proper concert in a good long while. The two of us had pooled our resources to get some good tickets close to the stage. I was actually expecting them to turn up today in the post. 

After lunch break was over, Cheerilee took the reins for a while, while I did some marking in the office. I was glad just to have a break from constant talk about Countess Coloratura. Despite my efforts, it was still a challenge keeping the youngsters all on track. The number of Coloratura related doodles I’d confiscated could attest to that. 





Heading home that afternoon, I found Derpy waiting for outside the house, an envelope in her hoof. 

“Hey there, Margaret,” she called out as I drew up. “I need you to sign for this.” 

Reaching into her saddlebags, she pulled out a clipboard and fountain pen for me. I quickly singed for the delivery and opened it. It was what I had suspected; the tickets. I smiled.

“Thanks for getting these here so quick, Derpy,” I said, holding up the tickets. 

“No worries,” the pegasus said with a goofy looking smile. “All these special deliveries give me a chance to talk to everypony. You’d be amazed how quiet a mail route can be at times.”

Glancing at her saddlebag, I saw she still had plenty of special delivery envelopes to go. I let out a low whistle. 

“Wow, I guess everypony and their mother’s going to this concert.” Derpy nodded. 

“It seems like it,” she agreed. “I just hope my own little muffin will be able to see everything. I haven’t been to a concert since I was a filly, and this one looks to be one of the biggest Ponyville’s ever seen.” 

“Oh, you and Dinky are going too are you?” I asked excitedly. “With any luck we’ll be able to find a spot we can all share.”

I wouldn’t have minded going with Milano again, as Lizzie and I had done when we all went up to Canterlot. But she had her plate full at the moment, and neither Button nor Gibson were fans of pop music. Having Dinky and Derpy around be a nice little addition. After all, going as a pair to a concert isn’t the best way to enjoy it. You need a group so you can all get excited together.

Thanking Derpy, I watched the grey pegasus jump back into the sky and go on her way. 

Heading inside, I heard Charlie barking. He bounded up the hallway and jumped up at me in his usual greeting. Despite our rocky first meeting, the disguised changeling drone seems to like me well enough. I just wonder why he doesn’t talk; Strong Shield can after all.

“Hey there, Charlie,” I said, making a fuss of him. The dog followed me into the kitchen.

Setting the tickets down on the counter along with my folders from school, I put on the record player, then sat in the kitchen and sat down at the table. Again Charlie followed, whining a little in excitement. Of course, it was obvious he wanted feeding. I’d let him feed off me a few times in the past and, while it did feel a bit odd for a few moments, I never had any serious after effects. Still, I never did get used to the strange purple haze flowing out of me and into him. 

It only took about thirty seconds or so, and then he was quite satisfied. That would probably keep him going for at least the rest of the day. From what I understand, changelings are never entirely able to satisfy their hunger. Hence, perhaps, why their queen sought to use all of Equestria as a feeding ground. But they are able to survive comfortably enough with relatively little. In any case, the two of us seem more than enough for the young drone. 

I took some time to relax, have a cup of tea, and read the paper, before I picked up the tickets and headed out again. I’d promised Lizzie that I would bring her ticket to her as soon as it arrived. Just like the kids at school, she’d been getting steadily more and more excited as the date of the concert drew near. 

Leaving Charlie to his own devices again (he has the full run of the house, and I know for a fact that he spends a fair bit of his time reading some of our books) I left and set out for Fluttershy’s cottage. 





After a short walk, I found myself outside Fluttershy’s cottage. I was slightly surprised to find a note on the front door addressed to me. It was from Lizzie and went this way:



    ‘Mum,
Have gone into town with Fluttershy to get more animal feed. Back around four.
Lizzie’



Well, that was clear enough. A quick glance at my watch showed that it was quarter to four already. The weather was nice enough, so I saw no reason to not hang around and wait. If I left, by the time I got back home, Lizzie and Fluttershy would have returned and I’d have to walk back. So, settling myself down by the brook that runs past the cottage, I waited. I figured five, maybe ten minutes, and they’d both be back. 

Unfortunately, it wasn’t Lizzie or Fluttershy who turned up first. With his signature pop and flash effect, Discord phased into existence right next to me. His sudden arrival caught me off guard and made me jump with a start. He was decked out in what you might describe as fisherman’s clothes, and proceeded to cast a rod into the stream before deciding to take notice of me. 

“Why hello there, Maggie,” he said in that irritating voice of his. He calls me Maggie ever since he found that it’s mildly irritating. “And what brings you out here this fine deeply unchaotic day.”

Now, let’s get one thing clear; I cannot stand Discord. He’s annoying, childish, irritating, difficult, and grouchy at times, and he has all the maturity of a six year old. I’m a teacher though, so surely I should be able to deal with that, right? Yeah, no. Have you ever tried to keep control over a six year old with the powers of a god? Even Celestia struggles to keep him in line. How Roger can stand him for five minutes I have no idea. I can’t stand him for five seconds; particularly after his most recent bout of ‘crashing’ on my sofa.

“What do you want, Discord?” I asked. Please God, don’t let him need to stay in my house again. Discord smiled and then adopted a near perfect poker face.

“Oh, nothing much,” he replied in an offhand way. “I just wanted to tell you I’m sorry for stealing your man from you.”

Well, a historic moment, this is only the second time in his life, to my knowledge, that Discord has actually apologised for anything. The last time was at the Grand Galloping Gala, and that was only because Fluttershy asked him to. She seems to be the only one who has any real control over him, and to his credit, he seems to care greatly about her too. 

But, to explain just what he was talking about, I need to tell you about my husband’s unexpected trip to Las Pegasus. 

As the name suggests, it the pony version of Vegas and is just like the town on earth; a place for suckers to part with all their money. A few weeks back, Roger was supposed to be taking part in the Royal Summit, but thanks to the draconequus beside me, had been forced to step aside at the last moment. After that, Discord took him to Las Pegasus, apparently because he wanted a holiday and wanted Roger to join him. So, he cooked up some hare-brained plot to get him away from the summit.  

After that, Roger’s account goes a bit fuzzy. They both had a fair bit to drink and Roger soon found himself in the local lock up. He was sober enough to send me a telegram asking for bail money, but not much else. Both were released and told not to come back to Las Pegasus ever again, and Discord deposited my husband on our front lawn, out cold.

Now, normally, that would have been enough for me to give him a proper telling off. What was more concerning though, was the fact that he’d suddenly gained an extra ring on his finger. A quick check with the registry office in Las Pegasus confirmed my suspicions. The two drunken idiots had gotten married. It was invalid of course; Roger was already married and neither of them was in any fit state to understand the vows, never mind agree with them.  

It sounds like something off of Jeremy Kyle doesn’t it; ‘my husband committed bigamy with a draconequus’. Needless to say, it worsened my already dim view of Discord.

“Seriously?” I asked, looking at him in surprise. Discord however, smiled again.

“Oh goodness no,” he replied with a wave of his talon. “I just wanted to see if I could catch you off balance.” I sighed in irritation. 

“What do you want, Discord?” I asked again. 

“What? Can’t a guy just simply relax and enjoy the peace of fishing?”

“There’s no fish in there and you have an attention span of seven seconds,” I replied acidly. At that, he threw the rod away and, with a snap of his talons, he returned to his normal self. 

“Oh fine, spoilsport,” he acquiesced. “I’m here for exactly the same reason as you; I’m waiting for Fluttershy to get back from the market. It’s time for our weekly tea together.”

Honestly, the idea of Discord calmly sitting down for tea and cakes with Fluttershy is just so…odd. It really does go against his nature. I guess it shows how far his ‘reformation’ has come, at least insofar as Fluttershy is concerned. 

“What about you then?” he asked. “What brings you all the way out here? Does that cleverly disguised mutt need some attention?” Like me, Charlie and Discord have never got on. 

“No, I’m here to drop of Lizzie’s concert ticket. She and I are going to see Countess Coloratura.” The draconequus shuddered. 

“Eww, I’ll never understand how ponies can listen to that dreadful noise,” he complained. “I mean really, what’s wrong with a good swing band instead of that electronic drivel?” Oddly, it seems my son and Discord share taste in music.

Before I could respond to that, we were interrupted by Fluttershy and Lizzie arriving back. The butter yellow pegasus flittered over to her friend. 

“Hello there, Discord,” she said sweetly. The previously complaining draconequus now became completely docile. If I didn’t know better, I’d say he liked Fluttershy as more than a friend. She certainly seems to have him pretty whipped. 

Lizzie also joined us, and while Discord and Fluttershy went inside, I walked over to her and handed over her ticket. 

“Hey there, Lizzie,” I said, handing her the ticket. “Here’s your concert ticket for next week. I chatted with Derpy earlier; apparently she’s going with Dinky too, so I thought we might join up with them.” Lizzie smiled and rolled her eyes.

“Okay, Mam,” she replied. “But you have to promise not to be too embarrassing. Things have changed a lot since you went to a gig.” 

She didn’t mean it of course. I’ve gone with her to see One Direction and Adele back on Earth. But she liked to joke about it.

“Just so long as you don’t get too excitable,” I prodded back. “I don’t want you getting too tired and having to carry you back home again.” Lizzie laughed and tried to gently bat me with a wing. 

“Thanks for bringing this for me,” she said kindly. “Say, Fluttershy’s going to be busy with Discord for a while. Want to help me feed some of the animals?”

“Sure, why not?”





Back on Earth, we used to have a little smallholding. It was nothing major, only a dozen or so chickens for eggs and a few sheep to keep the grass short. Still, it meant I was a bit more used to working around animals than some people. Fluttershy has a small flock of chickens herself, living in a little henhouse and run just outside her cottage. It was these Lizzie and I set to work on. 

It was fairly easy going, just throwing down a bit of corn for them all to peck up, and collecting the eggs from the nest boxes. They all seemed to be pretty good layers given the eggs we got out from them, although one hen seemed to have decided that she was going to sit her eggs for a while. 

The work gave Lizzie and me a chance to chat for a bit too, which I’m always glad for. I do like to keep tabs on both my kids, even after they’ve flown the coop. She was getting fairly excited for the concert as well. She’d even dug out a Countess Coloratura t-shirt that she’d gotten last Hearth’s Warming Eve. 

Before long, all the chickens were happily scratting about in the dirt and pecking up the scattered corn. They even tried to follow us out of the run and make a break for it when we’d finished. If Fluttershy didn’t live so close to the Everfree Forest and all its predators, she might have considered letting them roam free. I know Applejack’s flock are all free range, and it improves the egg quality no end. 

Leaving Lizzie’s ticket with her, I promised to stop by to meet up with her again on the day of the concert. Adorably, the little pegasus jumped into the air and did a sort of corkscrew manoeuvre in excitement.     





That Saturday found Lizzie and me, along with Derpy and Dinky, and quite a lot of other ponies, all queuing up to catch a glimpse of Coloratura’s arrival. It was something, I’ll give her that. The spectacle of it all was something that I doubt even Vinyl Scratch could top, with lights, electronic music, smoke, the works really. 

The Countess had a veil over her face, for one reason or another, and a fairly ostentatious outfit. Still, Lizzie was more than a little excited for it all. I was just there for the music and to spend some time with my daughter. 

As with any high profile celebrity, there was quite a bit of security around her too, including more than a couple of fairly burly earth ponies that I didn’t fancy crossing. No doubt Coloratura had her share of fans that weren’t quite the full shilling. They kept the crowd back for the most part.

One pony however, did get through; Applejack of all ponies. It was hard to hear over the noise of the crowd, but from what I could make out, Applejack seemed to know Countess Coloratura, or ‘Rara’ as she called her. However, the conversation was quickly cut off by what I’m guessing was her manager, who encouraged her to move along. Leaving Applejack with one of her ‘hoofsies’, the countess strode off. I’ve never seen Applejack with such a mixture of confusion and anger on her face. 

After that little ‘arrival’ we all had a bit of time to ourselves before the show started. After the rehearsal for the show was over, Coloratura was going to do a bit of meet and greet with some of the foals from school. I’d even heard a rumour that there was going to be a contest, and that the winning foal would be allowed to go up on stage and sing a number with the famous diva. 

Lizzie went off for a little while to chat with Rainbow Dash, while Derpy and Dinky went to get a bite to eat. That left me to my own devices. I soon found myself walking over to the still stunned Applejack. She was just wrapping up chatting with Rarity when I found her. The fashionista was reassuring her that she would enjoy the show. 

“Hey there, Applejack,” I greeted as I walked up. “I’m surprised to see you here. I didn’t know you were into Countess Coloratura’s style of music.” Applejack barked out a short laugh. 

“Ah’m not, Margaret,” she replied, sounding a little sullen. “Believe it or not, Ah used to know her; we were in the Filly Scouts together ya see. She was a great singer back then too.”

“But something’s on your mind?” I gently prodded. The mare nodded. 

“Ah was just sayin’ to Rarity. Ah hardly recognise her. It’s her for sure. But...she seems so different now. It makes me wonder what happened after we lost touch with each other all them years back.” 

It was certainly hard for me to imagine either of those ponies running in the same circles. They seemed to come from completely different walks of life. Still, Applejack was adamant that the diva was indeed her old friend Rara. I tried to think of some advice for the mare. 

“You know, Applejack,” I said at last. “I know for a fact that once the rehearsal is done and dusted, Countess Coloratura’s going to stop by and say hello to some of the foals from school, Apple Bloom included. Why don’t you stick around then. It might give you a chance to talk to her at length, connect again and whatnot.” Applejack thought for a moment and then nodded in agreement. 

“That does sound like a plan,” she consented. “Ah just can’t believe one of my best friends would grow up to be somepony who says hello by stampin’ your snout with a library stamp.”





Unfortunately, my own plan of giving the pair a chance to reconcile sort of came off the tracks before it had a chance to get going. From what I heard about it afterwards, Applejack happened to overhear a conversation between Pinkie Pie, who was organising the music festival, and Countess Coloratura’s manager, a tosser named Svengallop. He was making all sorts of demands on the party planner, mainly for his own benefit, and threatening to pull Coloratura from the festival if they weren’t done. 

When Applejack went to see Coloratura, she promptly told her what she had heard. But given their somewhat rocky introduction (Applejack had already made plain her dislike for the bells and whistles style of Coloratura’s music), and the fact that Coloratura trusted Svengallop almost implicitly, the two had a pretty major row. The upshot of that was that Coloratura said that she was no longer friends with Applejack.  

Luckily though, with a little help from Twilight, Applejack and Pinkie were able to expose Svengallop as the jackass he was. Coloratura was furious and pretty much sacked him on the spot. The downside of that being that he’d been the one supporting her through all these shows, and his departure meant that a fair bit of the kit went too. 

But, as the old adage says ‘the show must go on’. With a little encouragement from her old friend, Coloratura was able to find her confidence again and go out there. Lizzie, Derpy, Dinky and I were out there, along with half of Ponyville. The lights went down and a bunch of unicorns in the audience lit up their horns, kind of like how people used to hold up lighters back in the day. 

Coloratura, I think I ought to drop the ‘Countess’ persona at this point, didn’t go for one of her famous singles, and instead brought out something new. There was no big show or any of the fancy special effects from before. It was just her and the piano, lit up by the one spotlight. All her previous costume was gone too.





As the song began to get going, she got some acoustical backing from some of other musicians who had agreed to lend a hoof. The style was markedly different, as was her singing. It was still brilliant, heck, it was even better than what I’d heard before. Given how it related to all that had happened that day, it was clear that she’d only just recently wrote it, which only further impressed me. 

But the highlight of it all was, after that number was done, Coloratura invited the Cutie Mark Crusaders up onto the stage to sing a song with her. Applejack later told me that it was the same song that the two of them had sung years ago when they were in the Filly Scouts. 

The crowd of course, went absolutely wild for it, Lizzie and me included. I certainly preferred it to Countess Coloratura’s style of music. Amidst all the applause and cheers, Coloratura and the Crusaders took a bow. It sure was quite a sight; the stage lit up with lights and the crowd covered in little points of multi-coloured light from unicorns horns. 





With the end of the concert, came the after party. Everypony stayed around for a good long while afterwards. After all, this was a music festival; it was more than just a stage. There was a mini market set up, similar to the one we had on Nightmare Night a few months back, selling food and drinks. 

Of course, Sweet Apple Acres had their own stall selling anything and everything apple related. But with applejack and Apple Bloom both in the audience at the concert, and Granny Smith back home sleeping, it was left to the men of the house to look after the stall. Hence why I found Big Mac and Bones when I got to the front of the queue. 

“Hey there you two,” I said as I walked up. “Business good?”

“Eeyup,” Big Mac replied. I ordered myself an apple fritter.

“So, what did you guys think of Rara’s performance just now?” Big Mac, never one to speak his mind, merely shrugged his shoulders. Bones had a bit more to say. 

“It’s nice enough Ah s’pose,” he offered. “Ah always preferred somethin’ with a bit more swing to it. How ‘bout you, Big Macintosh?” Mac passed me a fritter and I handed over three bits.

“Ya know me, Bones,” Mac replied. “Ah’ve always preferred country music. Although singin’ in The Ponytones is helpin’ me to branch out a bit.” 

Ah yes, that was another side to Big Mac; he was a marvellous singer. He, along with Rarity and a few other ponies, made up The Ponytones; a little singing group. Naturally, he has quite a good bass voice. Stepping off to the side to allow the pony behind me to have their turn, I continued talking. 

“You know, Big Mac,” I went on. “I don’t think I’ve ever actually heard you sing. Rarity’s told me you have a wonderful singing voice.” Mac blushed at that, even under his reddish coat. 

“Thanks,” he replied shyly. 

“You ever do much singing outside The Ponytones?” Mac shook his head. “Maybe you could try some of those country music songs yourself. There’s an amateur act opening in a little bit. I’m sure ponies would love to hear you.”

I only meant it as an offhand, or offhoof, remark. I didn’t really expect Mac to go on ahead and sign up. But as I left, I heard him and Bones chatting to each other. As much as he’d deny it, Bones’ upbringing in rural Wales has left him with a fairly decent singing voice too. Not brilliant, but better than most. 

Leaving the two stallions to their work, I returned to Lizzie, Dinky, and Derpy. They’d all enjoyed Rara’s concert. Dinky was still excitedly chatting with the Crusaders, asking them every question she could think of. They were still pretty hyped from being asked to go up on stage by their celebrity idol. 

As I’d said to Mac and Bones, the only thing that was left now, as the festival drew to a close, was a sort of open mic for amateur acts. To my surprise, they were all pretty decent, covering a wide variety of different songs, along with a few instrumental pieces from ponies like Octavia and Fiddlesticks; one of Applejack’s relatives. 

Still, I don’t think anypony was expecting those two stallions to actually come up and do a performance. They weren’t half bad either.