Ever since the train had pulled up to Ponyville’s station, Sir Pull McCart was followed by a mob of fans. Not that he didn’t mind that they took pictures or begged to have his autograph, although he preferred to be a little quicker towards the town’s School of Friendship. Of course, the town already knew that he came to meet with the students of this famous school.
At the same time, he had another reason to come. He wanted to make sure of something important was there. Or rather, someone.
When he first laid eyes on the school, he scanned the windows and its grounds. There were already students there to greet him, of course. As well as Princess Twilight herself to greet him at its front doors.
“Welcome to the School of Friendship.” Twilight offered a hoof to him.
“Princess Twilight,” Pull took a moment to bow before shaking her hoof. “This is quite the place you have.”
“Just Twilight.” She smiled. “I can barely express how huge it is to have a genuine Beatle at the school. My students have been buzzing about you coming to visit.”
“I can see that. They’re practically vibrating in place.” Pull pointed out to the crowds of other students behind her.
Twilight usurer him further into the school. Although the Princess talked on and the students were clumped tightly in the halls just to see him, Pull still searched around. Ever since that day he returned to the past, he did everything he could so that history returned to the way it was supposed to. With everything restored, Pull hoped that maybe Ocellus had now escaped that terrible fate. That maybe, somewhere she’s alive.
“…. Not to mention,” Twilight continued, “we have grown a diverse set of students here at the school.”
“Pardon?” Pull asked, snapping back into reality.
“I said that we have a diverse range of students from all around Equestria and beyond. We have other creatures who are attending this semester.”
“Such as?”
“Well apart from ponies from different parts of Equestria, we also have a few Yaks, Dragons, Hippogriffs, Griffons-”
“What about Changelings?” Pull asked.
“Well, so far we have one. And she’s a diligent student.”
Hearing this news started to give Pull hope. “Ah… I see.”
“Here we are!” Twilight waved a hoof to a room that Pull was quite familiar with, “This is our School’s music room.”
“Splendid.” He smiled. “So, shall we get started?”
“They’re waiting on you.” Opening the door, they entered into the classroom full of students with instruments. As Pull entered and scanned those who were there with guitars, violins, drumsticks, and so on – he spotted her. For a split moment, he couldn’t believe it but there in one corner of the room with a wooden acoustic guitar was Ocellus.
The first thing he did was to go up to her. “Hello there,” he said offering a hoof to shake.
Ocellus looked at him back and smiled, taking his hoof to shake. “Pull McCart, I presume?”
“No, Elvis.” He joked and it got the class laughing. “How are you doing?”
“I’m excited to be working with you.”
“It’s good to have you here.” He said. Although he wanted to talk with her more, other students were waiting to be greeted as well. So, he made a mental note to perhaps try to talk to her once all of this was over. He went around the room to say hello and shake every hoof/claw. Eventually coming back towards the front of the classroom, Twilight began with an introduction.
“Welcome everycreature to a special masterclass, and today we have the privileged to have Pull McCart as your instructor for music.”
“How is everyone?” Pull asked and the class responded that they were good. “You know, now that I’ve given myself some breathing room, I figured that I should come by today and share with what I know. So how about we get right into it? Would anyone like to come up here first to show what they could do?”
At first, no one in the classroom dared to speak up. However, Ocellus raised her hoof. “I’ll go first.” She said taking up her guitar. “You know,” she said, “not too long ago I had played one of your songs at a recital.”
“Oh really? Which one?”
“Yesterday.”
“Ooh! That’s a good one. I’ve been told that nowadays that song has become a benchmark for those that wanted to learn how to play the guitar. At least, those who wanted to become a serious musician, it’s one of those tunes that they should know, you know. So, is that what you’re going to play today?”
Ocellus shook her head. “I figured that I would do something a little more fun.”
“Now I like the sound of that. What do you have in mind?”
“Let it Be.”
Pull hummed in thought. “Is it something you are going to sing and play?”
“I can. Why?”
“First off…” Looking around and spotting an upright piano he said, “Let’s do the vocals first where I would play the piano part. I want to hear how well you can sing it.”
“Uh… okay.” Ocellus said, watching the old stallion making his way over towards the piano. Facing the class, she let Pull know that she was ready.
At first, Pull played the small but grand intro, one that he had played more times than he was able to count. Then when Ocellus started singing of what his mother had often said to him, he noticed that it was on the quiet side but still enough for the room to hear. A sweet voice that as far as his ears were concerned didn’t have anything much to critique. The notes were clear and were on point, the words understandable, and there was a passion behind the voice to carry it from start to finish.
There was a part of him that she still has the talent to become a singer in her own right. Given that everything is back to the way it was, Pull reasoned that he had the recourses and connections to elevate her into public consciousness. And why not? He knew what she’s capable of, she had brought the music of the Beatles back and gone on tour in the other timeline.
Yet…
Looking at her now, at a timeline where there wasn’t a need for her to become a Beatle, she seemed so happy in the freedom of being a teenager. He knew that to do otherwise would rob her from the life that she has. A hard-working student with friends. One that may not carry the fame that she had in the other timeline, but one that was infantry happier still. For all he knew, she was glad to be with her idol.
All he had to do was look at her, and he could almost hear his mother’s voice telling him what they both knew all along.
Pull, let it be.
Overall, the masterclass was fun for Pull. He got to play, listened to the students, and gave them advice from the experience that he knows. There were jokes that were laughed at. Stories that were told. And the relief that Ocellus was alive.
So at the end of the class, after students went up to him to ask for autographs and pictures that he found the last remaining individual was the Changeling. Pull noticed that for a brief moment she had left the class only to return with an album of Sgt. Pepper’s.
“Excuse me,” she said after the last student left the room, “could you sign this for a friend of mine?”
“Oh sure,” Pull said as he took the album in his hooves. “Who’s record is this?”
“Sandbar’s. He’s the one that introduced me to The Beatles.”
“I’d say he has good tastes,” he laughed.
While he put his signature on it, Ocellus looked about to make sure that they were truly alone. “Pull… thank you.”
“No problem.”
“No… I mean coming back for me.”
This caught Pull off guard, suddenly looking up at her. “What?”
“You went back in time to fix everything, did you?” She asked. “You saved me from dying.”
Putting the signed album on a nearby desk, he inquired. “So… you remember everything then?”
“Well… It’s odd. Even though I clearly don’t remember doing any of the stuff like going on tour… it’s as if I really lived through it without doing so. I know, it’s confusing, even for me. But I recalled that for a few months… I was a Beatle. It was stressful, but at the same time amazing too. Some days I swear that I dreamt it, but I was there making songs with you and Dawn. As well as the big musical for the school, the concerts and… getting shot.” She looked over at him in the eye. “That was too real to be a nightmare, wasn’t it?”
“At least you didn’t have to go through it again.” Pull nodded. “Still, I shouldn’t have changed the timeline, to begin with… but the one good thing about all of this was that at least I got to meet you. Now that you do remember everything, I suppose I should thank you for giving me the perspective that I needed. You reminded me of not just what was important, but why.”
“It’s good to finally bring all this up,” Ocellus said. “You wouldn’t believe how tempting it was to want to tell my friends that I was a Beatle without them thinking I was crazy.”
“To be fair, you still are.”
Ocellus blinked. “What?”
“Thing may have gone back to normal, but in my eyes, you still are a Beatle. You’ve earned your place.”
“Wow.” The young Changeling grinned, “That is a lot coming from you.”
“Tell you what, if you ever get the chance to get a break from school, write me up. Or come around to Trottingham sometime. It would be grand to do some records with your input.” He winked, “In the meantime, I think we should keep in touch.”
She excitedly told him that she would.
“Hey Ocellus,” the two of them turned to a new voice. Sandbar walked into the music room. “Did you get Pull McCart’s auto…” He trailed off when he found Pull there. “H-Holy crap!”
“Sandbar, good timing,” Ocellus said, snatching up the signed album to give it to him. “I got the signature you wanted. And also, let me introduce you to a new friend of mine. Pull, this is Sandbar. Sandbar, Pull.”
“Oh, so this is the lad that has good tastes.” The old stallion said as he shook the hoof of a shaky one. Tilting his head, he added. “You know, if you had glasses and your mane was brown, I’d say you remind me of Dawn.”
Sandbar fainted.
Turning to Ocellus, Pull said, “Yep, diffidently a fan.”