Inverno’s Opus in A Minor

by CrackedInkWell


11: The Apology in G minor

By morning, the Crystal Train rolled through the forests and steep mountains westward. By noon, it came into the station of Vanhoover. For Inverno, Schubit, and Maneler, they awed at the sheer scale of this city by the sea with a seemingly endless row of buildings that were made of brick, steel, and glass. But at the same time, it was a worrying sight to see hundreds of thousands (or perhaps millions) of ponies that have crammed both pavement and traffic of the city.

“How are we going to find anyone in all of this?” Inverno asked after he and Shining hopped off the train. “If we go talked to everypony, it might take forever.”

“We’re not gonna do that,” Shining said, stepping off the train.

This catches Inverno’s attention. “Huh? What do you mean?”

“You’re right that this city is too big to go up to everyone would take forever. But luckily, we’re not gonna do that. Instead, we’re going to go to this city’s police. It’s their job to record any suspicious activity like say… a pony rode his way in by boxcar?”

“That’s actually very clever.” They turned around to see Professor Key stepping out. “For all we know, they might put whoever it is under missing ponies or some other.”

“Exactly.” Shining concurred. “And from there, we can piece together where whoever it is has gone to.”

“Uh… E-Excuse me, Your Highness.” Out of the crystalline train was Schubit that climbed down the steps and onto the concrete floor, with Maneler following after. “If it’s alright with you, we’d like to offer our assistance with the search.”

Inverno saw both Shining and the Professor exchange a glace before Key asked, “What for? Why do you want to help?”

Maneler spoke up. “We talked it over this morning and we agreed to help with this search for three reasons. For starters, everypony that we knew, our families, friends, students, patrons, have died for over a century ago. The colt here, while his actions for bringing us from the dead was irresponsible, is at the same time understandable, considering he has made the effort to offer his hoof in friendship to me. While Schubit here wishes to make amends with the colt after what happened the other day.”

“And the other two reasons?”

Schubit cleared his throat. “Well… We didn’t exactly want to be kept cooped up like prisoners on this contraption. Despite the comfortable arrangements, we would get bored rather fast. So, we thought that the more that is helping you with this endeavor, the greater your chances of finding them much more quickly. Besides, with such a drastic change, why should we be denied to see what the world looks like since we have been gone?”

Shining gave some thought to this. “Of course, this would mean that I would have to put a guard on you both if you wandered off. And what’s the third reason?”

“For me…” Schubit pawed at the ground. “It’s more personal as… if what you said was true… you brought back my idol. One that I thought it was a missed opportunity to getting to know after he died.”

“Beethooven.” The Professor said. “That’s right, you carried the funerary torch that day.”

“Yes.” Schubit nodded. “I am a fanatic of his work and was too shy to approach him when he was alive. So I figured that if I helped, I would get to meet one of my heroes.”

As the Crystal Guards marched off the train and stood in formation, Shining had to do a quick calculation in his head with his current plans and the offered assistance. “Alright, fine. You two can come along.” But before they could move out, the Prince stopped in front of Schubit with a glare. “I am giving you this chance to convince me that you’re not a threat to my son. Try repeating your stunt from yesterday and I will personally send you back to the afterlife. Got it?”

Quivering, Schubit upon instinct nodded his head.


Fortunately for those involved with the search, there was a report filed a few days ago of a stowaway found in a boxcar where a green Pegasus disappeared before Vanhoover’s police would investigate. At the same time, it was noted that the file was under “Mentally Questionable” due to the fact that the one who filed the report said that the name of the stowaway was Johann Sebastian Buch. As far as the search party was concerned, they know who they were looking for.

With this information, the Professor asked for a map of the city and requested that even after they walked out of the station and down the streets, he was immediately questioned.

“So… explain to us why exactly we are going to every coffee shop in the city?” Maneler asked.

“If this is Buch, I think it would be best to investigate the places in which he would have loved in life. It’s been well documented that he loved coffee to the point that he wrote a cantata where the plot was about coffee addiction.”

“Professor.” Inverno walked a little faster to catch up to the old stallion. “What’s a cantata?”

“In a nutshell, a cantata is a piece that tells a very short story that usually sings with the accompaniment of instruments. Most of the time they are centered around a theme like kindness or sacrifice. But anyway,” he craned his neck over to Shining, “I think we should start looking at the coffee houses that are nearby the railways, as perhaps that might be the first and likely places he might go to.”

“Like what?” Asked Shining.

“I suppose we could start with a place called the Gas District, those reports say that he was found around that area.”

As they begin to make their way down the streets with guards circling around Inverno, his father, the Professor and the two resurrected composers, Schubit made the remark to Maneler: “Between you and me, I don’t really know who this Buch is.”

Maneler looked down at him wide-eyed. “You never… You have no idea who Buch is?”

“Not really. Should I?”

“The father of music? Master of harmony and counterpoint? The one that every composer had taken lessons from?”

Schubit blinked. “The only master of harmony that I know of is Beethooven. But I take it that this Buch must be some distant composer… or one that became famous after I died?”

“Distant, yes, but I’m rather shocked you haven’t heard of him. He’s composed around the early to mid-eighth century. Considered by many as… well… one of the gods in musical history.”

“And we’re not?”

Maneler was puzzled. “What do you mean?”

“I mean… this might sound like a ridiculous question, but are we famous too like this Buch you’ve mentioned?”

“I…” He trailed off in thought. “I honestly have no idea. But then again, if this child had gone through the effort to bring us and many others back… Perhaps we are worth remembering in some way.”

“But even so… why choose me?”

“Perhaps you should ask the colt himself.”

Schubit gave a worried look. “I don’t know… isn’t he angry at me? I certainly know his father is.”

Maneler shrugged. “I can’t say. But the only way to know for sure is to go speak with him.”

With a sigh, Schubit trotted a little quicker to try to catch up with the young unicorn that walked behind his father and the Professor. Inverno looked over his shoulder at the stubby unicorn. But even walking side-by-side, there was an awkward silence as the search party marched its way past the shady trees and elaborate brick layered structures. For a good minute, the composer wasn’t exactly sure what to say or how to begin. However, the colt started for him.

“So… what it an accident?”

This snapped Schubit’s attention. “I uh… It wasn’t my intent, I swear to Celestia that I didn’t mean any harm. I-I didn’t know what was going on or why these guards come for me and… I panicked. Besides, I didn’t know that I could do… whatever that was.” He paused, his ears folded flat against his head. “I’m sorry.”

Inverno looked up at him. “Dad said it was an accident to and you didn’t mean to. But… you scared me.”

“I’m sorry.”

“You scared dad in thinking that I might have died.”

Now his head hung low. “I’m sorry.”

“But… I’m not mad at you. As much as you scared me, and seeing my worst fear, you don’t seem to be the kind of pony that Papa was like.”

Lifting his head, Schubit raised an eyebrow. “How so?”

“Apart from being a big fat liar, he was cruel. But you don’t come off as such to me.”

“That’s because you don’t deserve it.” He snorted. “I mean… a long time ago, I was once a teacher when the only time I distributed the cane on my students is if I honestly thought they deserved it. I spare the thrashing rod from the innocent.”

Inverno, near hearing such a thing before, sidestepped away from Schubit. “You hit your students?”

“Well… that was how things were done.” He explained. “Perhaps schooling and teaching have changed since I was a teacher, but even so, it’s not something I enjoy doing. Regardless, I wouldn’t exactly know since I didn’t stay in a teaching career for very long. It got in the way of what I really wanted to do, you see. And that was for composition.”

Inverno nodded to let him know that he understood.

“But I do have a question… I’m sorry, I forgot your name.”

“Inverno.”

“Ah yes. Inverno, I want to ask you something and I want the truth: why did you bring me back?”

The colt looked up at him in confusion. “Huh?”

“And I am not referring to what your father, the professor, or Mr. Maneler had said. Rather, I want to hear it from you, young stallion, why did you bring me back? This has bothered me ever since I woke up in this new world. Because in my time… I honestly thought of myself as a failure. I never had the fame of Beethooven, nor had the wealth to hire orchestras to play my larger pieces. So, what I want to ask is why did you decide to resurrect a nopony from the dead from a world that I had no business in existing in?”

“Truth be told: I didn’t know much about you at first,” Inverno replied. “Even after I was rescued and was taught by the professor, I never heard of your name until my teacher shared with me a list of his favorite pieces that he recommended for me to listen to. And on that list, your name kept coming up several times over. In fact, the first thing I listened to was that serenade of yours. And from there, I became curious about whatever you created. From there, the more songs and symphonies that I found you wrote, the more relatable you became.”

“Relatable? How?”

Inverno shrugged. “This might sound strange, but your music might be the closest thing that I have to have a brother, even though I never had one. It’s as if the world you made with your music was from a family member. It’s as if you grew up in the same place as I have, but come out as braver than I. Like how I would imagine what having an older brother would be. I could see it in the music you wrote, and I thought that maybe bringing you here, we might have a similar bond.”

Schubit too in a deep breath. “Inverno, I don’t know if I would push it that far. From my experience, a family isn’t always the kind that would understand you. However, friendship is, I think, a much more reasonable approach. I’ll have you know that I am very particular when it comes to friends, so I cannot guarantee that we would become as such.”

“Oh…” Inverno said with disappointment in his voice.

“However… With that being said, it wouldn’t hurt to at least try. All I ask is that I don’t want to be disturbed when I get an idea of what to compose.”

Inverno smiled. “Maybe I could learn something from you.”

“Oh!” He laughed nervously, “I forgotten that you compose as well. You know, just out of curiosity, could I see some samples of what you’ve written? I’d like to get a good idea of what modern music sounds like.”

“Trust me, you’re not missing much.”

This got a chuckle out of both of them and a smile from the Professor.


After hours of walking up and down streets, through districts, and questioning the owners of coffee shops, there was no hint of Buch anywhere. However, most ponies were partly surprised by Prince Shining walking into their shops while at the same time confused with the strange entourage that followed him around. By the time dinner came around, the search party sat down at the Flying Pig in the Gas District.

“Are most restaurants like this nowadays?” Maneler asked. The decor of the restaurant was like an antique store that somepony decided to place chairs in. A confusion of ancient objects from stained glass windows to a trolley in the very center of the establishment. Hoof painted crockery and oil paintings of elderly farm ponies looked down at the customers eating hoof made noodles.

Professor Key Signature shrugged. “I think this is one of those experimental establishments that try to attract customers by being quirky.”

“Seems rather cluttered if you ask me,” Schubit muttered as he looked through the menu. "It's as if I'm eating at a hoarder's home."

Inverno sat next to Shining as he had his head propped up with a hoof. He didn’t have to ask what was bothering him as his father’s sighs expressed his frustrations. “Are you going to be okay?” The colt asked.

“Yeah… I’ll be fine.” He said as he let himself sit back up straight. “I just think that we might have to stay here for a few days, given how big this place is. But… we just didn’t find anything. Not even a lead.”

“To be fair,” the Professor spoke up, “with the population of citizens and tourists being so large, it is rather like finding a Hearth’s Warming ornament in a pine forest. This place is very large and we don’t know which places he might have visited.” At this point, Maneler raised a cloven hoof. “Yes?”

“How do we know if he went to a coffee shop at all? I mean, when I woke up in that boxcar, I didn’t have anything on me, did you Mr. Schubit?”

“Not really.” The pudgy unicorn shook his head.

“What are you getting at?” Key asked.

“I mean, think about. If Buch really is here, he might be just as penniless as the rest of us. He doesn’t know where he is, how he got there, and has no place to go. Tell me, is there any place in Vanhoover that has a home for the destitute?”

Hearing this, Shining facehoofed. “A homeless shelter! Why didn’t I think of that first!”

“But I think you might be forgetting something else.” Schubit put down his menu. “How do we know if this Buch is in the city at all? What if he hitchhiked his way out heading to some other place in Equestria?”

“As much as I hate to admit,” the old professor sighed, “he’s right. There is no guarantee that he’s here at all.”

“But where would he go to?” Inverno inquired. “Even if he could, where would he want to be at?”

“Perhaps try to find a way back to the last place his family lived in,” Maneler suggested. “After all… Even knowing that I’m in the future, I would have gone to see what became of my family and my home.”

“Are you ready with your order?” They looked up at the mare with an apron and a notepad at the ready. A young-looking Pegasus with a silvery mane tied back, and a wooden brown coat that was covered up by a black apron with a name tag of Banana Crisp. “Or do you need a few more minutes?”

“Uh…” Shining picked up the menu. “I haven’t gotten the chance to look at it so we can wait.”

Before the waitress by the name of Banana could walk away, Inverno reached out to tug on her apron. “Excuse me, but can I ask you something?”

“Oh, sure honey, what would you like?”

At first, Inverno was going to ask what she meant by “honey” but shook it off and returned to his original question. “We’re looking for somepony that’s lost, you see. And so far, we haven’t found him yet.”

“Oh dear,” The waitress gave a sympathetic look. “Is he family?”

“More like a friend. But we went about all day without finding any trace of him.”

“What does he look like?”

“He’s a Pegasus. Light green with a gray mane.”

“Inverno,” Schubit said with a scolding tone, “Let’s not bother the Lady-”

“Does he happened to be a hefty looking guy that’s homeless but can play the piano like a professional?” All eyes from that table were on the waitress.

“How did you know that?” the Professor questioned.

“You mean you don’t know? There was a homeless guy who entered into one of those prestigious classical music contests. I think he played a song by Buch that really impressed the judges enough to make him the winner for a cash prize.”

Shining stood up. “Ma’am, how exactly did you know this?”

“It was yesterday’s news in the paper.” She explained. “All it said that he entered in, won it, and was offered a job by some conductor guy in Canterlot… Something Note, I think.”

“Quarter Note?” Inverno asked.

“Yeah,” Banana slapped a hoof on the ground, “that’s it! And I think he might have taken up the offer since the guy didn’t have a job. Now, would any of you need anything else?”

Shining repeated in saying that they’ll need some more time before she went away. The search party looked at one another in stun silence for a moment.

“On the bright side,” Schubit said, “at least we know where he is now.”