Lunch had always been a simple affair for Magnus. He had grown up with breakfast, lunch, dinner, and an evening meal. If he wanted something to eat between meals, his grandfather always had fruit in the house. Lunch especially had never been a big deal for him. Bread and a simple spread like jam or cheese had been sufficient. That hadn’t changed now that he was in Equestria, as he eyed the bread, jam, cheese, lettuce, and milk before him. Despite him residing in a crystalline castle, the meal was so unlike the extravagant affairs served to him in Canterlot.
This was how Magnus found himself with Twilight and Spike, as his brain had finally been given a moment of respite. Twilight, despite what he had hoped, had earlier made good on her promise to teach Magnus about Equestrian math. Addition and subtraction, multiplication and division, fractions—they all followed a somewhat similar system compared to what he had learned growing up, but it all appeared vastly different on paper.
As stated before, Magnus didn’t have a learning disability or a problem with numbers in his head. No, he just didn’t like math.
After a few hours cooped up with Twilight and more than once considering jumping out of the windows, she had mercifully decided that he had learned enough for the day. While relaxing afterwards, he fell into a conversation with Spike. It turned out that the baby dragon had a collection of comics that he was eager to show off to the human. Magnus easily spotted the similarity towards both Marvel and DC superheroes, the Power Ponies in particular the most blatant. Spike was clearly an avid reader and collector of the comics. While not a particular fan of superhero comics, Magnus could still whittle away some time just by reading a few, though the plot and action were a bit tame compared to their Earth counterparts. A villainous mare who wanted to turn everybody bald was pretty boring compared to one of the Joker’s many cruel games.
Magnus had also spent the morning practising his new spell and had slightly improved on his efforts. He was able to cast the spell within seconds now if he concentrated. He had also discovered that the magic drain of the light spell was more pronounced than the levitation spell. When asked about it, Twilight stated that the brighter and stronger the light, the more magic he would consume.
Now it was lunch that Magnus was focused on. The milk bottle was empty and he was thirsty. At this point, he had mostly gotten used to the milk coming from talking cows, as long as he didn’t linger on that detail too hard.
“You have some more milk?” he asked, holding up the empty milk bottle.
Sinking his pointy teeth into a jam and gem sandwich, Spike munched away and pointed at the fridge. “In the refrigerator,” he mumbled while pieces that looked like broken glass flew from his mouth, making Magnus shudder.
Equestrian refrigerators had puzzled Magnus when he found out about them, for they didn’t run on electricity at all. Some older models were simply ice boxes, which were slowly being phased out. The newer model, the same type that Twilight owned, was a metal storage container that resembled a refrigerator. The interior of the box had magical runes carved into them at discreet locations, which kept the air cool at all times, aided by the physical insulation built into the appliance. The runes needed refreshing once a year, but that wasn’t a major problem since most ponies knew a friendly unicorn who could recharge the runes for free. Most new models of stoves worked in a similar fashion by heating up the metal to a certain degree, although many ponies still swore by the old wood or charcoal-fuelled stoves, claiming that the food tasted better the old-fashioned way.
The same went for light fixtures. What appeared to be fluorescent tubes and bulbs were in fact a special type of crystal that emitted light. With the help of a small runic enchantment carved into the crystals and a similar enchantment on a crystal matrix plate—whatever that was—magically connected to the crystals, and protected behind a white wooden cover looking like a light switch, it gave the illusion of the lights running on electricity. Twilight explained how it all worked, but the details went so far over Magnus’ head that he couldn’t even see them with a telescope.
Heading over to the magical fridge, Magnus opened the door.
“Hi!”
He released a frightened yelp as he scrambled backwards, scaring the daylight out of Spike and Twilight. He ended up tripping over his chair and falling into a heap on the floor.
Extricating herself from the fridge, Pinkie frowned at Twilight and Spike before marching over to Magnus, all while stomping her hooves. She didn’t look particularly pleased, which puzzled Twilight and Spike.
Standing over Magnus, she glared at him. “You had a party last night, and you didn’t invite me!” she accused accusingly.
“Party?” Magnus sat up and rubbed the back of his head. “There wasn’t a party here last night.”
“He’s right, Pinkie. We didn’t have a party. After we got back from town, I taught Magnus a new spell. Other than that, we mostly talked or read,” Twilight interjected.
Pinkie turned her head so quickly to face Twilight that her neck cracked, causing Spike to wince. “Oh no, you didn’t! I saw it! I saw the lights coming from one of the rooms! You even had a disco ball, and I know you don’t own a disco ball, and that means you bought one in town yesterday! And you didn’t even have music playing! A silent party? What is that?!”
Sitting up cross-legged, Magnus raised a hand. “That… might have been me. I practised the light spell before I fell asleep. My magic got a bit low at the end, which caused the light to flicker.”
Still frowning, Pinkie’s frown diminished slightly even as she narrowed her eyes. “Pinkie Promise you didn’t have a secret party?”
“I swear.” Magnus held out his hand, his pinky finger extended. On that note, he wasn’t sure how Pinkie could do a Pinkie Promise with hooves.
Pinkie merely glanced at his hand. “Then repeat after me, and you have to do the motions too! They are vitally important!”
Performing a series of gestures and motions, and even going so far as to touching her entire eyeball with her hoof, Pinkie chanted, “Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye.”
‘Catchy. And... it’s very Pinkie.’
“Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye,” Magnus repeated, ending the chant by gently touching his eyeball.
Pinkie’s entire demeanour changed in an instant. Her frown was replaced by a huge smile, and her pink coat somehow seemed to brighten up.
“Great! Now I believe you. Oh, is that strawberry jam?”
Pinkie made a single bound over to the table, landing on an empty chair, and stuck her entire muzzle into the strawberry jar, her tongue working like a tornado inside, licking up all the jam.
“Is this normal?” Magnus asked Twilight the moment Pinkie had licked the entire jar clean in a matter of seconds.
Twilight and Spike both exchanged bemused glances. “With Pinkie, sort of,” Twilight answered.
“I should’ve guessed.”
***
“So why were you hiding in the fridge?” Magnus asked. After extricating himself from the floor and sitting back down, Pinkie joined them for an extended lunch. Though she never told them why she was in the fridge, Twilight and Spike didn’t question her about it. Logic dictated that they were used to it, oddly enough.
So, it was quite natural that when Magnus went outside, Twilight and Pinkie followed. Twilight particularly wanted to spend more time with Magnus today since the human had a special errand in mind, one that perhaps would allow him to save more of his memories of Earth.
Pinkie pronked here and there as was customary while Magnus and Twilight walked. She eagerly greeted everyone they passed by, never showing signs of tiring.
“I wasn’t hiding, I was just waiting for you to find me so I could confront you,” Pinkie replied in her usual cheery voice.
“And the fridge was the first logical place to wait for me?”
“Everypony needs to eat,” Pinkie retorted as she bent down to smell a flower.
“...Fair enough.”
Magnus faced Twilight, who had followed their conversation. He mouthed to her, ‘seriously?’ She replied by whispering, “She once hid behind the books in my old library.” Magnus simply acknowledged that he would never get a sane answer out of Pinkie. Probably not one from Twilight either, seeing as she had spent so much time with Pinkie that she had simply accepted her insanity.
“So what did you have in mind today, Magnus?” Twilight asked as they walked through Ponyville. Magnus inspected the stores they passed, searching for one store in particular.
“Music.” He picked his phone out of his pocket, showing it off to Pinkie and Twilight. Twilight was still mesmerized by it, and Pinkie just went ‘ooh, shiny’. Now that the photos he wanted to keep were safe at Snapshot’s studio, he could devote the remaining battery life to saving some of his music. “Is there a record store or something like that in Ponyville? Someplace where I can record my music?”
Twilight answered, though it wasn’t one he wanted to hear. “There is a record store, yes, but they only sell records. I don’t think anypony in Ponyville has a studio to record music in. There are a few musicians living here, but whenever they record something, they usually go to Canterlot, Manehattan, or Las Pegasus.”
Nodding, Magnus pursed his lips. Canterlot was sure to be expensive, but probably much more so when it came to recording music. A lot of work went into making a record. They had to apply a perfect layer of veneer to metal disks, engrave the disk, apply several layers of liquid metal, clean it thoroughly, and then begin the pressing of the records. To create a single record, the price would likely be out of his reach.
“What about DJ Pon3?” Pinkie spoke up. Magnus and Twilight both turned to Pinkie.
“What about her?” Twilight asked.
Pronking in place, Pinkie said exuberantly, “DJ Pon3 is a DJ, right? She makes all of her own music at home. I know her, and I know she has a lot of funny-looking music equipment at her home. Why don’t you ask her for help?”
“That’s a good idea! What do you say, Magnus? I’m sure that Vinyl can help.”
Magnus pondered for a moment. Sure, the idea was good, but as a musician, she’d probably want a fee for services rendered. Still, he had some bits jingling in his pocket, and it wouldn’t hurt just to meet the DJ and ask for an estimated price.
“Why not?” Magnus said with a grin. “Lead the way, Pinkie.”
***
Pinkie and Twilight led Magnus to the outskirts of town and a peculiar-looking house. It was painted in two different colours straight down the middle. One half was painted in shades of blue while the other had more earthy tones. There were more clues that a musician resided here: the flower boxes at the windows were painted to resemble piano keys, and the tree on the lawn in the shape of a musical note.
Twilight knocked on the door, and mere moments later, a raven-maned grey earth pony mare with a pink bow tie around her neck opened the door. Aptly enough, her cutie mark was music associated; that note which resembled a stylized G, although Magnus didn’t know its true name.
“Octavia, hi,” Twilight greeted the mare.
“Princess Twilight, Pinkie Pie, hello.” She craned her neck upon noticing that Magnus was also with them, and reacted with nothing more than a raised brow. “And hello to you too, Mister Human.” Her tone was friendly enough, though there was a detectable trace of stuffiness. She had an unusual accent that reminded Magnus of the way the British upper class was presented in movies and TV shows.
“Magnus, this is Octavia Melody, one of the musicians living in Ponyville. Octavia, this is Magnus,” Twilight said.
Magnus nodded slightly to the mare. “Miss Melody.”
She nodded back and smiled. “A pleasure. Come in, and please, excuse the mess. I’ve been pestering Vinyl to clean up her share of the house for days,” Octavia said with an annoyed huff.
‘I see. There are two mares living here. That explains the house.’
The moment they stepped inside, the split personality of the house’s residents became even more evident. One side of the house was neat and tidy, reminding Magnus of a Victorian-era home, complete with portraits of other earth ponies in formal clothing. The other side looked like a bachelor, or rather, bachelorette’s pad. There were empty milk bottles, cider bottles, a plate with half-eaten sandwiches, bookcases filled with records, and posters of various bands.
“Please, take a seat.” Octavia gestured to the couches in the centre of the living room. It almost looked like a compromise of tastes had been agreed upon there, neither expensive nor messy and tattered. What they did have in common was a musical theme, with the furniture having a note pattern.
After they sat down, Octavia asked if they wanted some tea. Magnus declined, but Twilight and Pinkie agreed. Twilight only had a small squeeze of lemon in her cup, while Pinkie added what seemed like a full cup of sugar cubes into hers.
“Now then, may I ask what warrants the visit of a princess, our very own party mare, and a human?” Octavia asked after they all had settled down.
“Actually, we were hoping to talk to Vinyl. Is she here?” Twilight asked.
Octavia nodded. “Indeed she is, but as usual, she does not wake up until at least two or three in the afternoon. The lazy, lovable bum.” She huffed, but smiled nonetheless. “Perhaps I can assist you?”
“Maybe you can. You see, it concerns music, or rather, the preservation of music. Magnus can explain.” Twilight gestured to the human.
Taking his cue, he removed his phone from his pocket and placed it on the table, immediately garnering Octavia’s interest. Her eyes roamed over the strange and foreign device.
“This contains a lot of music,” he started, turning on the power, and after a few moments, clicked his way to the music library he had stored on the phone. “There’s probably somewhere between a hundred and a hundred-and-fifty songs stored in here, music that I want to save. This device runs on electricity, and one day it’ll run out with no way of recharging it.” Looking up, he stared Octavia in the eye. “I want to save as much of it as possible.”
Octavia’s eyes widened as her mouth fell open. “My goodness! So much music!” To her credit, she quickly composed herself, though there was still a trace of awe in her expression. “Ahem, yes, it sounds incredible indeed. Yes, yes… Music… from another world. Absolutely astonishing.”
Exhaling with a brief laugh, Magnus leaned back on the couch. Every time he turned on his phone, there was always someone who wanted to see what it could do. “Alright, what’s your favourite genre of music?” he asked, chuckling.
Her eyes went wide. Twiddling her hooves, Octavia peered up at him uncertainly. “Oh no, there is no need. But… if you have anything classical, I wouldn’t mind hearing it.”
“Classical, classical, let’s see…”
“Oh! Pick that one!” Pinkie hollered from Magnus’ shoulders which she had climbed up on.
“You can’t even read English, Pinkie.”
“No, but those letters look funny.”
Searching through the list, Magnus had a hard time finding anything classical that might be to the mare’s taste. It just wasn’t his type of music, so he hadn’t downloaded much of that stuff. A lot of 80’s metal and mainstream songs were there, along with a lot of modern stuff in a variety of genres. Finally, he found something that at least sounded classical, even though it was from a game.
The music flowed easily from the phone, a gentle mix of classical instruments creating soft, yet firm music, one that Magnus easily imagined being played at a ball in Canterlot Castle. He tried to imagine Celestia and Luna dancing to it whilst dressed in extravagant dresses, and surrounding them, mares and stallions, all wearing their finest. The problem was that he had no idea how ponies danced, or how they would even move to something like waltz, let alone something from Final Fantasy 8.
That, however, wasn’t a problem for Octavia. When the music first began, she appeared surprised at first, but then grew quite pleased with it. As the song progressed, she closed her eyes and moved her hoof in sync with the music, acting as the conductor.
Twilight approved as well. She swayed from side to side, listening to the tune without analyzing it. The only one who wasn’t taken by the waltz was Pinkie. She rested her head on her hoof, blowing away a few curls from her face while appearing bored.
The song ended and Octavia opened her eyes with an approving smile. “Marvellous, simply marvellous. A waltz performed in three-quarter time. The tempo, refined and not rushed at any part. The fine accent of the string instruments as the main piece. This orchestra must be quite famous on your world.”
Suppressing a chuckle, Magnus replied, “Yeah, I’d say more than a few people have heard this song before.”
“He has even more music, many more genres that I’ve never even heard of before,” Twilight added.
Octavia raised a brow. “Oh? Then perhaps you have something that can lure Vinyl out of her bedroom. Perhaps something with bass? After all, she is the one you are looking for.”
Magnus grinned and mused on how a bass heavy song could wake up Octavia’s roomie. If played loud enough, then yes, bass could make rust fall off the side of a sunken battleship. His phone wasn’t capable of that, however.
Navigating through the menu, he clicked on the first song he found that he knew had at least decent bass and cranked up the volume to max.
“~She’s got a fetish for fine art…~”
The soft voice speaking in an alien tongue and the string instrument was a trap. The moment the ponies thought it faded, the bass kicked in. Magnus noticed that the living room carried music exceptionally well, even so far as to amplify it. He hadn’t noticed it during the waltz, but now that the Ken Ashcorp remix did its thing, it became evident.
Pinkie went wild. She jumped down from Magnus’ shoulders and began dancing, throwing her forelegs about wildly while jumping around and wiggling her rump and tail to the beat. During the build up to the next verse, she did a moonwalk, having the time of her life.
Even though Twilight didn’t go as wild as Pinkie, she smiled and bobbed her head to the music. “It’s catchy!”
Meanwhile, Octavia looked unimpressed. Perhaps it just wasn’t her type of music. Around halfway through the song, Octavia’s eyes shifted to something behind them. Looking over his shoulder, he saw Vinyl, the very same unicorn that had been in charge of the music at his welcome party. She had a white coat, two-toned blue hair in a spiky hairdo, and a musical note as a cutie mark. She also wore purple shades with black rims. She didn’t react to the music, simply standing and listening until the song ended. When it did, she grinned and tapped her hooves to the floor, changing the speed and number of taps in a row, alternating between forelegs and hind legs.
“Vinyl says good wubs,” Octavia translated.
“Wubs?” Magnus asked and glanced over to Vinyl, who gave him and Twilight a lazy salute. “By the way, hello Miss Vinyl.”
Vinyl shook her head and tapped her hooves several times once more. “She says drop the ‘Miss’ part,” Octavia said.
Pinkie pronked over to Vinyl, said hi, and proceeded to informed the unicorn mare of how much music Magnus had on his phone. Vinyl grinned and nodded at the appropriate times.
“Vinyl never uses the word bass. She says wubs,” Octavia clarified.
Vinyl left the others for the kitchen, and by the sounds of it, began rummaging around in the fridge. The clatter of milk bottles and a bread box opening made it evident that Vinyl was preparing breakfast at two in the afternoon. She was even worse than him.
“What was all the hoof tapping she did?” Magnus asked. To him, the tapping made no sense. It was just a series of clops and taps with no rhyme or rhythm.
“It’s called hoof language,” Twilight answered as she drank her tea. “Ponies who are deaf or mute tend to use hoof language to communicate.”
“Or they write notes,” Octavia added, glancing over to the kitchen. “Vinyl was born mute; her vocal chords never developed fully. She always carries a notepad and pencil with her so she can communicate with ponies.”
Right at that moment, Vinyl returned carrying a plate with two sandwiches and a bottle of milk. She made a series of taps on the floor with her forehooves before taking a seat next to Octavia and began munching away.
“She says she doesn’t need language to express herself. She only needs her music,” Octavia translated.
Magnus was surprised at the ingenuity of hoof language. It appeared simple enough, and even deaf ponies could understand someone through watching the hooves or perhaps feeling the vibrations from them as they struck the ground.
“Well then, if music means that much to you, Vinyl, then perhaps you can help me.”
Vinyl nodded while munching, and made a circular motion with her hoof for him to continue.
“It’s about this thing.” Magnus picked up his phone and showed it to Vinyl. She leaned forward and pushed up her shades while studying the phone with a curious expression. “It contains a lot of music from my home, more than a hundred songs in a variety of genres. I want to save them all.”
He pointed to the battery icon on the screen, revealing it to be at seventy per cent.
“However, there is a problem. This thing runs on electricity, and one day it’ll run out.
Magnus had had a brief talk with Twilight regarding batteries and recharging them earlier that morning. Electricity wasn’t a new idea, but at the moment it had very few to absolutely no uses. No appliances ran on it and no lights were powered by it. Batteries were huge and couldn’t hold much of a charge. They had something called a lightning reactor though; basically, an enchanted crystal sphere containing a small but powerful thundercloud. With copper wiring connecting the sphere to some sort of crude electric engine, they were able to power airships. Problem was, they were difficult to create and expensive, thus, only a handful could afford them.
Non-equine kingdoms didn’t have access to magic lights, so they used oil lanterns or imported magical light crystals from pony nations, mainly Prance and Equestria. In other words, mobile phone rechargers were a pipe dream. Hell, even voltmeters weren’t invented so that they could measure the electrical output of the battery.
Magnus placed the phone onto the table. “So there you have it. It’s about saving music from my home.” He leaned forward, maintaining eye contact with Vinyl. “Can you help me?”
Vinyl stared at Magnus, then at the phone, and back to Magnus again. Taking a swig from the milk bottle, she used her magic to levitate a notepad and pencil from her mixing table over to herself and spent a few seconds writing. When she was done, she turned the pad over to Magnus. Pinkie and Twilight leaned over to see what she had written.
Sure, we can try. Can’t guarantee the audio quality, though. That music player of yours plays kinda low, not to mention it sounds worn out.
“Yeah, it’s an older model,” Magnus replied, feeling a bit relieved that Vinyl would at least try.
The DJ jumped off the couch and walked over her mixing table. She waved a hoof at Magnus, gesturing for him to follow her.
Vinyl began rummaging through some drawers, picking out a variety of music equipment, such as headphones in her own mane colour with her cutie mark painted on the sides, cables with plugs in different shapes and sizes, a microphone, a triangle, harmonica, a kazoo, music sheets, and a handful of notes that had the word ‘ideas’ written on the top of them.
Vinyl turned to Magnus and presented the cables to him. She gestured her horn towards his phone, then to the cables.
“The cables? Oh, you want to see if they fit?” Magnus asked, to which Vinyl nodded. “Let’s give it a try.”
That idea was shot down pretty fast. The tiny audio port on the phone was unable to fit even the smallest of Vinyl’s audio jacks, not to mention the cable jack wasn’t a two-contact plug, instead being a whole heap of copper contact plugs.
Vinyl shook her head with a huff and tossed the cables over her shoulder, all while Octavia, Pinkie, and Twilight looked on. Putting her hoof to her lip, she paused for a second while eyeing her remaining music equipment and mixing table. Her shades made it difficult for Magnus to guess what she was searching for.
Vinyl suddenly gasped and grinned at Magnus. She rushed over to her mixing table, turned it on, and began plugging in some cables to it. The other end of the cables she connected to a strange metal box labelled ‘Audio Collector. Warning! Fragile!’
After hooking up the cables, Vinyl connected one to a microphone and the other to the box. After placing the microphone on a side table, she gestured to Magnus and the pocket he kept his phone in.
“What? Should I play a song?” he asked.
Vinyl nodded and grinned excitedly. She quickly made a series of taps with her hooves.
“She wants you to play something ‘awesome’,” Octavia translated.
Magnus raised a brow as he studied Vinyl. She waited, clearly having problems standing still. “Awesome, huh? Well, get ready for an eargasm.”
Moments later, a song that was among Magnus’ long list of favourites flowed from the phone’s speakers as it lay next to the microphone. No one spoke or moved, as silence was needed for the audio recording to turn out as perfect as possible. The reactions of the ponies was something to behold; as one, they all simply plopped their rumps down and listened, all while swaying slightly from side to side. Perhaps they thought that he would play something with heavy bass or metal. No, what came from the speakers was relaxing. Even Pinkie remained seated, oddly enough.
The tune was slow and carried with it a calm rhythm, one that made a racing heart steady, caused stress to fade, and made the mind drift to places where it could be at ease. Music like this had been Magnus’ favourite for a few years now. Even though he usually preferred to listen to something heavier, a bit of chillstep was always welcome.
When the song ended, the ponies remained seated, relishing in the lingering serenity the music had provided, until Vinyl herself stood up and turned off the recorder. Moving deliberately, she turned around to face Magnus, pushed her shades up to reveal her eyes, and grinned. Lifting one hoof, she froze for a second as she simply glanced down at her hoof. She remained this way for a few seconds until she lowered it again and sat down.
“Speechless?” Magnus asked with a smile. It took a second before he understood what he just said to a mute. Vinyl, luckily, didn't take offense.
She simply grinned back at him and nodded. Grabbing her notepad, she scribbled down a brief message to Magnus.
That was pretty cool. I’ve never heard anything like it.
“Yeah, it is. It’s the kind of music that’s perfect for relaxing after a long day or whenever you’re stressed out. Just sit back and listen, that’s all.”
“Although it was certainly not my choice of music,” Octavia said after standing up and going back to the couch, “even I must admit that I enjoyed it. It felt so relaxing.”
“Meh, it was okay,” Pinkie muttered, her hoof resting under her chin. “I don’t think it’s party music. You can’t dance until your hooves get tired to that, and it doesn’t sound fun at all.”
“Well, I think it sounded wonderful!” Twilight exclaimed with a contented smile. “It felt magical somehow. I wonder, perhaps humans can imbue magic into music? It’s not unheard of in Equestria. Humans can’t use magic like unicorns can, but maybe they can imbue small amounts of magic into music.”
“Maybe.” Magnus glanced over to the recording box and Vinyl, who connected some cables to her mixing table and speakers. “What about the recording? How did it go?”
Vinyl nodded and tapped the floor a few times in response. “She’s going to play it back now,” Octavia translated.
They waited anxiously for the recording to play back, and when it did the result was… well, atrocious was one way of describing it. The music echoed terribly, as if it was played in one huge room, which it had been. Vinyl and Octavia’s living room carried sound too well, to the point that the echo completely ruined the recording. Vinyl didn’t play much more than thirty seconds or so before she shut off the recorder with a discouraged shake of her head.
With a downcast expression on her face, she wrote a short message.
I can’t record it here; too much echo. Music deserves special attention to be perfect, and I don’t have the proper equipment. Nopony in Ponyville does. Not to mention the background noises. You need special filters and an isolated room.
Magnus swore internally and sighed before passing the note to Twilight and Pinkie.
“No luck, I take it?” Octavia asked, to which Vinyl shook her head unhappily. “Oh, I see.”
After reading the note, Twilight spoke up. “Well, there must be some way to preserve your music. Perhaps Princess Celestia could give you a Culture Preservation Grant for saving the music on your device. Then you could afford a good studio.”
“Maybe,” Magnus replied as he picked up his phone. That would surely take care of one major problem. Another problem was that the phone’s charge would deplete rapidly. A few hours playing at best and then his phone would be dead.
Then the sound of a series of excited hoof taps came from Vinyl. The unicorn mare grinned wider than before while tapping her forehooves excitedly.
Octavia smiled gleefully. “Of course! He can help.”
“He?” Magnus parroted. “Who’s he?”
Vinyl began to tap her hooves, but gave up after just a few taps. She grabbed her notebook and began writing.
LP, my big brother. He runs a professional studio up in Canterlot named Cool Sounds. He was a DJ when I was a filly, and he still plays now and then. He’s got plenty of experience recording music, and he’s got the contacts for making records. Trust me on this, he’s the pony you want.
Magnus read the note, feeling hope return as he passed it to Twilight. A professional studio sounded great. And with the name LP, Vinyl’s brother probably knew records inside and out.
“But it would cost me a pretty penny—er, bit, wouldn’t it?” Magnus asked. No one would do something like this for free.
“It sounds as if you wish to keep this music to yourself.” Magnus turned to Octavia, the mare stirring her tea with a teaspoon while staring at him quizzically. “Why would you not share it? From what I’ve heard so far, I am confident your music would interest somepony. Perhaps a way of paying for the music would be to release it. Ponies are bound to like it, perhaps not all the genres, but some at least.”
The easiest answer had been staring him in the face the whole time and he’d never even thought of it. He almost facepalmed at his own stupidity. Why not release it? It would solve the greatest problem of all: paying for the whole deal. Given the variety of genres he had on his phone, he was certain that a cross-section of ponies, and maybe other races, would find something to their tastes.
“I’m an idiot. Why didn’t I think of it myself?” Magnus slapped his forehead lightly. “It’s so damn obvious. Thank you, Miss Octavia.”
Octavia smirked and sipped her tea. “Oh, it was nothing. Quite logical, really.”
Vinyl yanked on Magnus’ arm. When he looked down at the unicorn, she held a note out to him.
My brother’s studio in Canterlot is at #40 Sleigh Bell Street, big brick building with a neon sign outside. I can send him a letter and tell him about you and what you want.
“I would appreciate it. Thank you, Vinyl, for your help, both of you.” He glanced over to Octavia with a grateful nod of his head.
Vinyl tugged on his shirt again to regain his attention and pointed to his phone, moving her hoof in a circle motion. Magnus understood.
***
“That went well,” a satisfied Twilight Sparkle stated, trotting down the road towards Ponyville alongside Pinkie and Magnus. “Your photos are saved, and now you’re well on your way to saving your music too.”
“Yeah, this went so much better than I could possibly hope for,” Magnus replied, exhaling in relief.
“I hope you have party music on that thingy-ma-bob! I could really, really, reeeaaally use something new to make ponies cut a rug, something that’ll make their hooves move like caraaaazy!” Pinkie exclaimed, pronking in circles around Magnus like the energizer pony she was.
“I should have something good in here,” Magnus said, wondering what kind of reception Party Rock Anthem would have in pony society. It was sure to be a hit with Pinkie at least. “Pony rock anthehehem,” he chuckled under his breath.
Still, a major problem remained, namely the battery. Magnus sighed. He had played a couple more songs for Vinyl and Octavia, since they were so helpful, but had to stop when the battery began to drain. Sure, he still had hours left before the battery was empty, but there was still a lot of music he wanted to save. Still, choosing this time wouldn’t be as hard as it had been with his photos.
“Problem is the battery. It’ll drain fast when recording starts. I can probably squeeze an extra hour or two out of it if I store the ~phone~ someplace warm and avoid using it.”
“Why not place it in the oven?” Pinkie suggested.
“Too warm,” Magnus replied. Lithium batteries and extreme heat never got along with each other. He didn’t want to blow up an oven and find out how much he needed to pay to replace it.
“Perhaps we could use magic to recharge it,” Twilight suggested, turning to Magnus. The mare's grin was quite unsettling, the classical 'I-need-to-learn' grin Twilight used quite often in his presence. “If we tried to study your ~faoone~, there is a chance we could find a way to charge it.”
Magnus mulled over the possibility. Sure, perhaps it could work. With some luck, Twilight could potentially create a spell that stuffed a precise amount of electricity into the battery that would recharge it.
On the other hand, the battery could explode or the circuits could all fry in an instant, rendering the phone into nothing more than a fancy paperweight.
Magnus weighed the phone in his hand, wondering what to do. “I’m just worried that something will go wrong, Twilight. I trust you, but I’m not sure if magic and technology like this can get along. What if something does go wrong? What sort of chaos would that cause?”
“Did someone mention chaos?” a mischievous, disembodied voice piped in.
Magnus felt a shiver run down his spine. He knew that voice. How could he forget? The one being that with a snap of his fingers could cause bedlam the scope of which would make Magnus shit himself, figuratively and literally.
A light drizzle of rain fell from the otherwise blue sky. Brown rain, strangely enough. A drop fell on Magnus’ lips. He tasted chocolate milk.
“Discord,” Magnus hissed as his group strained their necks upwards, finding the chaos spirit lounging mid-air on a winged chaise lounge. “What do you want?”
“Ooh, so suspicious.” Discord snickered as the lounge vanished in a puff of giggling butterflies, slithering his way down to the ground. “Can I not come to say hello, little brother? Why, you’ve been so busy these days, I haven’t had a chance to come talk with you.”
Magnus squared his shoulders and crossed his arms over his chest, standing defiantly in Discord’s presence, though it was a thin facade. Magnus still held a healthy amount of fear for him, no matter how ‘reformed’ Discord was.
“I’m suspicious because I’ve heard a lot about you. And we’re not related! I’ve nothing to say to you, except to tell you to stay far away.”
Discord waltzed right up to Magnus and peered down at him with a crooked grin. “Oh, come now, that’s no way to talk to your big brother. After all, you never know how much I can help you.”
“You can help by staying far away from me.”
“Now now, you two, settle down,” Twilight interrupted. She walked to stand between the two. “Magnus, Discord is reformed now. He won’t hurt or do anything to you because he knows Fluttershy will find out about it, and he wouldn’t do anything to hurt Fluttershy’s feelings, right?” Twilight stared pointedly at the chaotic spirit. Discord’s crooked grin diminished slightly.
“Well, yes. I’m reformed, acting only in the name of harmony, rainbows, butterflies, all that stuff,” Discord stated in an aloof tone as he stood up to his full height before pointing to a medal pinned to his chest, one that wasn’t there moments earlier. “I have been so nice lately, I even got a Good Boy medal. Look.”
Twilight took a glance at the medal, seeing that the medal had Discord’s face on it and his paw giving a thumbs up. She should have expected something like that, she thought.
She then turned to the human. “And Magnus, even though you and Discord don’t get along, being a tiny bit friendlier won’t hurt. Even Discord has feelings.”
Magnus snorted dismissively. “Whatever. As long as he stays away, we’re fine.”
Magnus began marching away, not saying another word. Pinkie and Twilight kept their gazed on him for a few seconds.
“Wow, what’s up with him?” Pinkie asked.
“I’m pretty sure he doesn’t trust Discord, or even like him,” Twilight answered, turning to the spirit in question. “Maybe you can try to tone down your shenanigans down around him? Being a bit friendlier towards him would also help.” She and Pinkie turned to catch up to Magnus. Twilight peered over her shoulder. “You can try, Discord, okay? I’ll talk to Magnus about his behaviour towards you as well.”
Twilight and Pinkie hurried after Magnus while Discord remained behind. They quickly caught up. Trotting next to Magnus, Twilight noticed the serious glare on his face.
“Does Discord really bother you that much?” she asked quietly.
Magnus frowned even harder. “Yes. He’s as annoying as a ~internet~ troll, and all that magic of his is controlled by the brain of a madman. Basically, he’s Sheogorath on Peyote. Or Q from Star Trek, just infinitely more annoying.”
Twilight wondered who this Sheogorath person was. She tried to remember if Magnus had mentioned the name before but quickly concluded that he had never done so. What was this Star Trek, and who was this Q? And trolls? Being the educated pony she was, Twilight was well aware of the existence of trolls. They were a magical race of creatures made from rock and stone, known for their size, strength, and rather simple minds. But how could trolls live inside this mythical information network that humanity had created? She didn’t reject the possibility of some sort of technology troll borne from the inventions of mankind.
“Don’t worry about Discord; he can be a lot of fun if you get to know him. You should ask him to do impressions—he’s good at them, and storytelling too because he’s been to a lot of different places,” Pinkie added. Twilight raised a brow at Pinkie’s statement. Apparently, the pink pony knew Discord better than Twilight assumed.
Magnus merely frowned harder. From behind them, they heard Discord call out in a sing-song voice, “Little brother, I think you dropped something.”
While Twilight and Pinkie halted, Magnus felt he shouldn’t listen to Discord, as simply ignoring him was better. However, something made him stop and look behind him, and he blinked his eyes in confusion.
There was a thread running from his pocket all the way to Discord, who held the other end of the thread. It wasn’t made of metal or cloth, instead resembling a white and blue electric current, braided, twisted and stretched like a cotton thread, with sparks flying from it at regular intervals.
“What the…” Magnus attempted to touch the thread, only to be rewarded by a stinging static shock. “The hell is this? What are you doing?” he frantically demanded while pointing at the lightning bolt hanging from his pocket.
“Oh, this little thing?” Discord asked as he tugged the wire, making a few inches come out of Magnus’ pocket. “It’s just the electricity that makes that device of yours run.”
Magnus paled. He quickly reached into his pocket, ignoring the shocks he received, and pulled out his phone. Sure enough, the electric current ran from the power intake port, all the way to Discord’s paw. Worse was, the battery level was now at just five per cent.
Slowly, Magnus raised his gaze towards Discord, staring at the spirit with nothing but fury and contempt. “First you attempt to claim you’re my family, when you’ve done nothing but annoy me,” he stated, his voice filled with rage as he slowly advanced upon the corporeal mass of chaos. “And now, when I try to save what little I have left of my home, my people, my culture, you try to destroy it?! Why?!” he shouted at the top of his lungs. He clenched his fist so tightly that his knuckles cracked as the bones braced for a strike. However, it never came.
Twilight and Pinkie ran up beside Magnus, the alicorn looking upset. “Now I have to side with Magnus, Discord! Why are you trying to destroy his music?”
“Yeah, even you would like some of the stuff he has,” Pinkie added.
“Oh, don’t act as if I’m doing something bad. All I’m trying to do is act according to what you said, Princess, but in my own way,” Discord said with a Cheshire grin, patting Magnus’ head. “And if you’re planning to hit me, be my guest. Just be prepared to live with a hand made of jello for the foreseeable future.”
Magnus hesitated for a second. He could probably live with only one hand. The pleasure of rearranging Discord’s crooked tooth was awfully tempting.
Quickly grabbing Magnus’ phone, Discord twirled it in his talons. Magnus attempted to grab it back, but Discord simply held him at tail’s length… with his tail. “You see, my dearest friend Twilight convinced me to be nicer to you, what with you being new here and all.” Discord even pinched Twilight’s cheek slightly. “Look at that, so pinchable,” he warbled like an old lady, complete with a grey, curly wig and half-moon glasses.
Magnus had ceased struggling against the scaly tail, instead holding out his hand. “Give. Me. My. Phone!”
Discord merely waved his paw at him. “In a minute. Now, being the decent, upstanding citizen of Equestria that I am, I thought that I would help you with this device of yours. For you see, I listened in on the conversation you had with the DJ pony and the cello pony. You want to save your music! But this thing,” Discord shook the phone sadly, “might run out of electricity soon. How absolutely tragic.”
“And because of you, you brainless piece of shit, even less can be saved, now that you literally pulled the electricity out of it,” Magnus retorted with a sneer.
Doing a mid-air forward flip while levitating in the air, Discord ended up face to face with Magnus, a smirk on his lips. “But what can be pulled out can also be stuffed back in. Just watch.”
Suspending the phone in mid-air, Discord grabbed the sparking electric arc and coiled it around his talons until it looked like a ball of yarn. “Just need to borrow this,” Discord said nonchalantly and leaned over to Magnus, grabbing something from his head and yanking it loose with a loud pop. When his paw came back, it held a pale white unicorn horn. Instinctively, Magnus’ hand shot towards his forehead, finding empty space. His horn was gone. Discord… had taken his horn. Immediately, Magnus felt a great sense of unease and loss so strongly that he almost felt like crying. He had no idea where the sensation came from, yet the shock of what had just happened prevented him from doing or saying anything. All he could do was just stand there motionlessly and watch as Discord used his horn to stuff the bundle of electricity back into the phone, like a reversed toilet plunger.
“Almost there…” Discord worked the horn like a plumber, complete with sound effects, a black moustache, overalls, and a familiar looking multi-coloured hat with the letter D on the front. “And… there! All done.”
Magnus’ phone seemed the same held in Discord’s talons. Eyeing it critically, the Spirit of Chaos inspected it like an art critic, stroking his goatee. “Hmm, almost. It lacks a certain… je ne sais moi!”
Magnus was still too shocked to even move, but his vocal faculties had returned. “Y-You just… my horn,” Magnus stuttered.
Discord hummed at hearing Magnus speak. “Your what? Oh, yes, here, thank you.” As easily as he plucked his horn from his forehead, Discord reattached it, this time twisting the horn back on like a bolt. “Make sure to tighten it after five hundred kilotrots or fifty spells, whatever comes first.”
Magnus instantly reached for his horn, making sure it was really there, and exhaled blissfully when he discovered that his horn was back in place. He even tried to twist it to make sure it wasn’t some false replica. After what he just saw Discord do, Magnus had to make sure, even going so far as to try his magic and see if it still worked. When he saw the telltale green glow with a white ribbon around it, he uttered a silent prayer of thanks to whoever bothered listening.
“Ah, now I know!” Discord suddenly exclaimed. Holding the phone flat between his paw and talon, he inhaled deeply, held the phone up to his lips, and blew into it. In response, the phone inflated as if it was a black balloon, growing larger and longer.
Magnus’ jaw fell further than it ever had before. This blatant display of telling basic physics to hit the road was almost too much for his already burdened mind.
Discord struggled with the smartphone balloon for a second until it was the right size. Then, he began shaping it, twisting and tying it off like a circus clown making a balloon animal. When he managed to get the former phone into a somewhat square size, he detached his crooked tooth with one hand and popped the balloon phone with it.
Magnus’ brain began to sweat and itch.
“Finished! A new masterpiece!” Resting in his paw, Discord held Magnus’ phone and held it out to him. The human instantly grabbed it and began checking it over. It seemed the same as before; all the scratches and minor dents were still there.
“W-What did you do to it?” Magnus asked frantically. Pinkie and Twilight were instantly at his side, looking at the phone with equal interest.
The Spirit of Chaos placed one arm behind his back and inspected the talons on his other casually. “You were afraid the battery would run out. I took care of it. Now it runs on chaos magic, permanently.”
“Chaos?” Magnus stared at the phone’s display. The battery symbol was gone, replaced by Discord’s smirking pixelated image.
“Of course. And it won’t run out.” Discord leaned down to Magnus, their faces inches apart. “Ever.”
Magnus gazed down at his phone in equal parts giddiness and fear. “W-What about—I mean, is everything still here? My music, the photos, the videos?”
“Of course! Did you think I would just destroy it all just for fun?”
“Yes!”
“Why, I never!” Discord exclaimed, sounding almost affronted. “Perhaps once upon a time I would, but not now. Reformed!” He pointed a finger at himself. “Look up that word in the dictionary, little brother. You’ll find my portrait next to it.”
Clutching his phone, Magnus allowed the relief to simply flow through him. He even checked the photo album, played a short video and a few songs, just to make sure. Everything worked flawlessly.
Still, Magnus knew perfectly well who he was dealing with; a trickster, a trollish admin in the sandbox game called life. Beware the Greeks bearing gifts.
“Why are you doing this?” he asked, eyeing the gift bringer suspiciously. “There must be a catch, I just know it!”
“There’s no catch—I did it all out of the goodness of my heart. After all, I had to get some of that goodness out; it took up precious space for chaos,” Discord replied with a gleeful chuckle. “However, I can’t say what will happen when it comes to mixing your technology and my magic.” Stroking his beard, he sat down on his own tail which curled into a rough chair-like shape, grinning like a child. “Anything might happen. I can hardly wait.”
Twilight looked at the phone, pleased that some friendship progress was made. She hadn’t expected Discord to make the first move. Sometimes, he could be surprisingly helpful. “Well, whatever may happen, I’m sure it can be manageable. If not, you can probably take the magic back, right Discord?”
Discord nodded.
Magnus still held the phone tightly. He was actually happy now that his memories were salvageable. If Discord was right in that his phone would never run out of magic, then perhaps there would be a way to save the videos one day.
“...I… uh.” Magnus coughed and pocketed his phone, feeling a bit overwhelmed by the gift. “I don’t know what to say. I mean—” Discord’s gift was, well, fantastic to say the least. Time was no longer an issue for him anymore.
He knew he had acted like an ass towards Discord, and rightfully so. Discord was annoying, problematic, unpredictable, completely unreadable, and Magnus always felt as if he was about to play some mean trick on him. After all, he once tried to take over Equestria, and later, sided with Tirek when he tried to steal all the ponies’ magic.
And now he did this. For free. No charge. Magnus didn’t even ask for help.
Magnus slowly raised his hand and held it out to Discord. Twilight and Pinkie gasped loudly, turned to face each other for a split second, then turned back, followed by some sort of squeaking sound coming from their throats. Discord simply regarded the human’s hand for a moment before reaching out with his lion paw.
And they shook hands.
Magnus nodded ever so slightly, just a bob of his head. “Thank you. This means a lot to me.”
Discord smiled back, but his smile was more genuine. “The pleasure was all mine.”
***
After parting ways with Discord, Twilight and Magnus returned to the castle, while Pinkie and Discord went out for fun, or shenanigans as Discord said. He and Pinkie were surprisingly close. Discord even whispered to Magnus that she was one of a handful of ponies who really enjoyed his tricks, especially the sugar-based ones.
Back at the castle, Magnus returned to the library and continued to read before Twilight offered to help him fine-tune his magic by teaching him a few precision lessons. They were easy at first glance, but threading a needle at ten feet was much more difficult than it seemed. Still, it would help Magnus in the long run.
Eventually, dinner came and went, and then it was bedtime.
Magnus fell asleep easily while listening to some music while doing some light reading. His phone worked normally and the pixelated Discord face on the phone never displayed any sign of the now chaotic battery draining. It felt nice not worrying about that detail anymore.
That night, he dreamt of snowy landscapes and driving a snowmobile through fluffy snow. Back in Montana, driving a snowmobile during winter was quite common. Although he didn’t own one, he could always borrow an old one from Adam’s dad since he owned two.
The dream came to an abrupt end when something loud jerked him awake.
He sat up in bed drowsily and rubbed his eyes. He heard music, a familiar tune as well. Barely able to muster a coherent thought, he looked around and saw the source of the music.
His smartphone, normally resting in his backpack or on the nightstand, stood in the middle of the room. Stood, as in the phone had grown two short stick-shaped legs and arms. Doing a pirouette, the phone danced around like a ballerina to the music, twirling here and there while Magnus tried to understand what was going on. He was much too sleepy to understand the concept of a phone with legs, thus he assumed that he was still asleep.
Reaching for the phone the moment it danced closer to the bed, the bipedal smartphone easily jumped away with grace and speed of a ballerina, landing at the door. Easily opening the large wooden door, the phone sprinted down the hallway as quickly as it could while Can Can music blared louder than the phone’s speaker could achieve.
Magnus sprung from the bed, but only managed to collide with the door, knocking his head, the pain causing him to awaken fully and realize that the rapidly retreating music was real.
It didn’t take a genius to connect the dots.
Magnus gave chase once more, running down the hallway only wearing his boxers while the phone sprinted around a corner further down, still playing annoyingly cheery music.
Just as he reached Twilight’s bedroom door, the mare herself came out. Rubbing her eyes and with a bad case of bed mane, she looked around with a drowsy gaze.
“What is that racket?” she asked with a mighty yawn.
Magnus sprinted past the door. “Discord!” he shouted back at Twilight. “And when I get my hands on my phone, I’m gonna shove it down his throat!”
Twilight was so groggy that she hadn’t even noticed that Magnus ran past her only wearing his underwear. “...’kay,” she mumbled, closed the door, and went back to bed.
Magnus managed to catch his phone an hour later in the kitchen, just before it started to play the Benny Hill theme song for the fourth time.