//------------------------------//
// Foal Harmonics 
// Story: The Composer 
// by Smug Anime Girl 
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When Luna woke up, it was almost noon, and she found the alarm in her clock turned off and Celestia's bed empty. She rolled off the bed and landed on her hooves unevenly. A quick search revealed Celestia sitting at the kitchen table reading a local newspaper.

"Nornin' sister... " Luna groggily muttered. "Why is the clock broken?"

"Nornin...? I turned it off so you could sleep in." Celestia pulled out a chair for her. "You'll need the extra rest. Today's Nightmare Night and I want you to foalsit Schuberry and her friends. There's usually a pretty good celebration in Manehattan."

Luna poured herself a bowl of cereal. "Huh?"

"I know that Schuberry likes you, but I want you to know that too." Seeing an uncomfortable reaction Celestia continued more tentatively, "It's only a small bonding experience." Celestia grinned slyly. "Well, it was Twilight's idea actually, but I daresay a good one. By the way, are you sure you'll have that much cereal?"

Luna looked down to see that a small pile of oat flakes had formed on the table, her bowl completely buried. "No, uh, no." Sighing, she began scooping Mount Cereal back into the box. "Just to be clear, do I have any say in this?"

"Do you want to disappoint Schuberry?" Celestia lowered her paper and looked down at the filly under the table.

Luna leaned back and caught a glimpse of her. "Sister, what is it that she's wearing?"

"Oh, she's dressed up as a traveling salespony. Isn't it just cute?" Celestia reached down and petted her.





Several hours later, a slightly more awake Luna found herself standing by the Manehattan waterfront with three foals precariously squeezed on her back, wondering how she got talked into caring for them. A large crowd had gathered on the river jostling them around. Luna held up her wings to keep balance. 

"When are the Wonderbolts coming?" Hayseed called out above the din. He wore a black sports jersey with a big white nine on the back. Luna had to give him credit; the costume was comfortable, low budget, and yet mostly every stallion that they passed smiled at him or gave some form of greeting.

"Soon!" Luna answered. It was a very clear day, so ponies could easily point out the famous group of pegasi in the distance. The Wonderbolts held close formation as they flew down the river. Vapor trailed off their wingtips. Everypony could clearly see their bright uniforms and sharp manecuts. After flying past the city's skyline, the formation split up and landed amongst the crowd near a tent.

As the ponies drifted away from the railing on the piers, Luster pointed at where the Wonderbolts had put down. She was wearing a Wonderbolts costume with fake cardboard wings colored in with pink marker. "Can we go see them?"

"Sure." Luna let them down and they began to wander slowly towards the lump of ponies.

When they finally got close enough to identify the ponies, Luster let out a squeal. "Rainbow Dash is here!"

'Rainbow who' Schuberry looked genuinely confused.

"You don't know who Rainbow Dash is?" Luster was amazed. "She's just about the coolest pony to ever fly for the Wonderbolts! She made the world's first sonic rainboom!"

"I didn't know you were actually a Wonderbolts fan," Hayseed said. "You're always going around with your nose buried in a book. Are you ok?"

"Nerds can like the Wonderbolts too, Hayseed." Luster huffed. "The only difference is I'll be your boss one day, and I'll make enough to see a lot of their shows."

'Let's go see them together someti' Schuberry had to stop writing as the space became more cramped.

They reached the front of the crowd after a few minutes. Luster jumped up and down as the amount of ponies before them thinned.

Rainbow Dash saw them coming thanks to Luna's height. "Hey, Luna."

"Hello, these three are here to see you." Luna gently pushed Schuberry from behind her. "Sorry, Schuberry's a little shy-"

"I'm Luster Dawn!" The unicorn looked up at the taller pegasus. "You're so cool! I wish I was a pegasus... I'd fly for the Wonderbolts too!"

Dash chuckled at this. "Kid, don't worry. You're awesome as a unicorn."

"She's going to be the first alicorn to fly for the Wonderbolts." Hayseed joked.

Schuberry was looking over this flying legend with wide eyes. Luna couldn't judge what she was thinking, but Schuberry kept eyeing Rainbow's powerful wing muscles. When will I fly?

"Soon." Rainbow winked. "Very soon."

After a pause so Luster could switch out her plastic wing pin with a metal one at Wonderbolts the merch tent, they headed back into the main celebration. Luster gave Schuberry the old plastic pin, and the pegasus wore it on her straw boater hat. As the group continued down the waterfront area, a storyteller was singing a little rhyme.

"Every year, we put on a disguise to save ourselves from her searching eyes. But Nightmare Moon wants just one thing: to gobble up ponies in one quick swing! Hungrily, she soars the sky. If she sees nopony, she passes by. So if she comes and all is clear, Equestria is safe another year! Fill up her belly with a treat or two, so she won't return to come eat you!"

'who is Nightmare Moon' Schuberry asked Luna, shuddering slightly.

Luna frowned at this, and Luster Dawn, who saw the paper, looked away. The alicorn opened her mouth to begin, but stopped. A euphemism wouldn't be right. She owed the truth to Schuberry. "Your, uh, mother and I were once the rulers of Equestria. She ruled the day, and I the night. We had kept this balance together, but as time grew on, the ponies slowly loved Celestia more and more and they began to like me less and less. I grew jealous and bitter."

Luna paused for an uncomfortably long time. "I told Celestia that I would be the only ruler of Equestria, and I forced refused to lower the moon. We dueled, and I ultimately lost." Luna cringed, expecting a frightened expression from Schuberry.

'So mom and auntie fight?' Schuberry asked innocently.

Luna blinked. "Well, everypony fights. Husband and wife, older and younger siblings, parent and child."

Schuberry paused to consider this. 'will I fight you?' She finally wrote, looking worried.

"Well, I certainly hope not." Luna felt a sense of relief wash over her. For some reason, she was more stressed talking about Nightmare Moon with Schuberry than any other pony she met since her return.

'ok good, I like you a lot' Schuberry hugged Luna's neck.

It didn't take long for the four to agree that there wasn't much more to see by the river, and they turned their attention to the great skyscraper forest that was downtown Manehattan. The great buildings stretched high above them, and on the ground level, brand name stores sold overpriced clothing and perfume and saddlebags and watches.

"Hey, over there." Hayseed pointed towards what looked like an open area in the middle of the city. "That looks like a rock concert! Maybe it's Ladon... or Solleret!"

"Let's go see." Luna crossed the street making sure Luster was keeping up. Before they merged into the crowd, they could already hear the music very clearly thanks to the excessive amount of speakers set up. The large open area turned out to be Woolhoof Rink next to the zoo. There was a small pond behind the stage, and they slowly rounded the shore. Some turtles basking on rocks slid into the water, startled by the ponies' presence.

Hayseed chuckled. "Ah, it is Ladon!"

"What song is it?" Luster asked.

He shrugged. "I don't know, they played this song on a stereo at one of the bocce ball games."

His companions each had a large sweat drop running down the side of their heads.

The band was near the end of the song, and when they finished, the lead grabbed the microphone. "For our next song, we need someone who can play the piano. Raise your hooves up real high..."

"How cliché," Luna commented. "It's like they knew Schuberry was gonna be here or something.”

Luster practically exploded in a ball of energy. Her cardboard wings flapped from the motion. "Over here! Over here!" She waved both forehooves like a madpony, and it worked.

"You there, the one who's jumping a mile high. Come on up here!" The tan earth pony waved her up.

Luna’s eyes widened. “VindiCATION!”

"It's not me, it's her!" Luster pointed at Schuberry, who had her face buried in her hooves in embarrassment.

"Sorry, what?" the stallion asked. The crowd quickly relayed the message up. "Oh, your friend? Well, both of you, come on up!"

Schuberry, who found herself at the center of attention, blushed and shyly followed behind Luster. It must have been the largest gathering of ponies she had ever seen. The crowd politely parted for them.

"Schuberry plays the piano?!" Hayseed asked, confused.

"She's probably the best in her age group." Luna answered.

The stallion helped them onto the stage. "What are your names, kids?"

"I'm Luster Dawn, and my friend is Schuberry!" Luster announced. "She's the best piano player there is! Though she's also mu... mu... I don't know what it's called, she can't speak."

The crowd let out a sad 'awwww.'

"Ah well, Schuberry, I'm sorry to hear that, but you both are really brave for coming up here!" He stood up straighter. "Everypony, give it up for Schuberry!"

There was a wave of cheering, and Schuberry gave a small bashful grin. Luna really wished she had a camera to save how cute she looked.

"Please, come here... so do you know how to play 'Come Sail Away?" the singer asked. Seeing Schuberry shake her head, he pointed at the sheet music already set up. "It's real simple, just read the sheet music here."

Luster was about to hop back off when the singer stopped her. "Wait wait, where are you going? You wanna sing with me?"

The crowd cheered when Luster said yes. Schuberry sat down by the piano and started playing, figuring out the tune. The singer looked back. "An octave lower, please!"

Luna tapped Hayseed. "Let's move closer."

"And a one, and a two..." The leadist looked back and threw Schuberry a confident smile. She nodded at him, and the crowd began to cheer. After a few more bars, he began to sing. Luster joined in after the first line. The leadist paused before the last line.

"Your turn!" he urged the audience.


To carry on


They sang back, Luster among the loudest with the benefit of the speakers.

"Yeah, we're gonna carry on, aight, we're gonna carry on..." He picked up a guitar from the stage, getting ready as he sung the second stanza. "From your heart!" He began to play the guitar.


To carry on


Schuberry's eyes widened as she took a moment to look over the crowd. It was so unlike a classical concert; ponies were cheering loudly and jumping up and down and dancing. From the corner of her eye, Luna could see Hayseed waving up at her. She quickly turned her attention back to the piano, but stopped to look to her left for a moment as if somepony were sitting next to her.

Schuberry was a classical musician and had a different feel for rhythm compared to a jazz or rock musician. As a result, she had excellent tone color and discipline, but her rhythmic feel was weaker. Luna realized that this was probably the first time she was exposed to non-classical instruments. Despite her cheerful demeanor, her playing was wavy and tentative. Several times she had to add notes to the tune to fall back in line with the rest of the band.

You see, modern musicians have a very good idea of phase locking, which in musical terms means being on tempo with your band mates. Schuberry, no doubt, would be more comfortable having specific direction from a conductor to keep the tempo, and was completely out of her element. Only Luna appeared to notice, though. Even Ladon seemed to be swept up in the excitement. The drummer eased into the beat.

The alicorn thinned her eyes at Schuberry. The ghostly imprint of a mare gently pulsated next to Schuberry, playing along with her. She was definitely a unicorn, though her horn was very distorted. Her coat was lighter than Schuberry's, and Luna couldn't quite make out the color. Her turquoise green and red mane and tail gently floated in the air as if she were underwater. Luna couldn't make out a cutie mark or any particular facial features.

"Miss Luna, you were right!" Hayseed grinned. "She's great!"

After the third stanza, the leadist began strumming a solo. Schuberry stopped playing completely and looked over at the singer. The solo kept on for awhile, while the crowd cheered louder. Several fireworks were shot up in the sky behind the stage.

After the final stanza, the song came to a slow close, the last note slowly fading. The mare faded from existence as Schuberry turned away from her. The crowd somehow got louder, perhaps an auditory illusion from the lack of music, and the lead grabbed Luster's hoof and held it high.

"Mares and gentlecolts... Schuberry and Luster Dawn! Woo hooo!" He caught something flying from offstage. "A hat for you, and a t-shirt for you!"

Luster struggled a bit putting the shirt on, and it was one or two sizes too big, but it didn't seem to bother her. Schuberry switched out her boater hat with the bocce ball cap. Luna raised her wing like a ramp and helped the two back down off the stage.

"Hey, guys, that was really something." Hayseed grinned.

Luster Dawn squeezed Schuberry in a tight hug. "Hey, does this mean you'll be playing for the Hearths Warming Eve musical?"

'maybe' Schuberry looked at the printed Ladon logo on Luster's t-shirt. 'Auntie, what instrument he play?'

"It's called an electric guitar," Luna said as she led them back towards the waterfront. "Why don't we stop for a quick snack?"

"Yep," Luster answered.

"Sure," Hayseed responded.

But Schuberry didn't write back, as she was on Luna's back, pushing into her neck as if it were a piano.

"Schuberry?" Luna looked back. "Are you ok?"

'guitar nice' Schuberry simply wrote and went back to pushing Luna's neck. She didn't write much for the rest of the day, even ignoring offers of food. Luna absentmindedly guided the foals around, only making sure that they didn't wander too far away. Sure, everypony had heard ghost stories, but this was something different. The spirit Luna saw didn't appear to have evil intentions.

As night fell, Luna carried the drowsy foals back through the Manehattan Central Station. The arches were lit up with beautiful orange lights, and scattered ponies trotted back and forth past the famous information booth. She took a moment to look up at the stenciled constellations on the roof. The fact was, her stars were never unappreciated. Luna simply had unrealistic expectations of how her subjects perceived them.

The train ride back to Silver Shores was quiet. Schuberry leaned up against Luna, napping with her coat costume draped over her shoulder like a blanket. They dropped a sleeping Hayseed off at his barn first and then stopped by a small hut near Silver Shoals for Luster.

She waved at Luna and Schuberry as they headed back for the main road, and closed the front door with her magic.

"Did you have a good day, sweetie?" Mayor Mare asked, cleaning the stove.

"Yep! Schuberry played in a concert!" Luster nuzzled up against her mother. "And I saw Rainbow Dash!"

"That's great, hon." Mayor Mare patted her. "Are you tired? I'll help give you a bath."

"No, I'm tired, maybe tomorrow morning. Night, Mom." Luster Dawn gently closed the door to her room and put the Wonderbolts pin on her nightstand. It made a heavy thud as it impacted the wood. She brushed her teeth quickly and flopped onto her bed, bouncing a little. After rolling onto her back to get beneath her covers, she sighed, looking at the pin. "Awesome as a unicorn... how can I..."





While Luster laid in bed, contemplating the day's events, Andante was wide awake by his piano. There was a marked drop in quality in his work since Schuberry had left. While it wasn't explicitly stated in a publication, word spread fast among the Canterlot nobility about his new symphony. Nopony needed to tell him he was slipping though; he knew better than anypony that he was in trouble.

He grumbled a bit as he sat by his piano, trying in vain to figure out why his music just didn't work. It was a frustrating reality that without Schuberry, he would not have amounted to very much at all. He cursed the filly, dropping his head on the closed cover. The stallion wasn't at the point where his financial security was threatened; he could always keep conducting his old works. Sooner or later, though, the nobles would grow bored of listening to the same songs and move on.

The thought of fading into obscurity didn't sit well with Andante. He grabbed the newspaper and unfolded it, sipping away at a cold cup of tea. The liquid was almost instantly spat back out as Andante choked. The article was about Schuberry playing at some ridiculous rock concert. There was a picture of some unicorn and Output Jack sharing the stage, and Schuberry was in the background.

He paused to consider something for a few minutes, letting his anger simmer. After making up his mind, Andante grabbed a suitcase and a saddlebag and began to pack things up quickly. Bits, clothing, and a few hygiene products like a toothbrush and a razor.

There wasn't any time to lose. He had a skyship to catch.