The Friday night was still young. The stars twinkled brightly gracing Ponyville’s nightlife with their gift of a beautiful velvet night sky. Most places were dark inside, signaling a hard day’s work was at an end, but one place said otherwise. This building was Ponyville’s very own Sugarcube Corner where an impromptu after party was well underway. It was party that was pretty typical in the small town; mainly because most of the town’s shindigs were devised by same festivity obsessed pink mare. Most of the parties that were thrown by said pony were for either birthdays, anniversaries, or housewarmings. This party however celebrated an occasion that was somewhat peculiar to the group of friends that celebrated it. One of their friends decided to give a recital of sorts out of nowhere and not only completely surprise her friends but a crowd full of random ponies as well.
Each of the friends gathered around the guest of honor, well past the point of invading her personal space and barraged her with a flurry of questions.
“What piece was that?” asked the studious purple unicorn.
“How were you able to play so fast?” inquired the blue pegasus.
“My goodness. It must have taken you a long time to learn such music.” the timid yellow pegasus asked.
“Were you nervous? I bet you were nervous. You know you should eat lots of jelly beans to calm yourself down. Maybe except for the licorice ones. I know some ponies like the but I can’t help but spit one out if I ever ate one on accident. But if you do-” The pink pony stream of conscience was stopped when an orange hoof clogged her mouth.
“Settle down, y’all.” The humble Earth pony smiled. “I’ve got enough time to answer all your questions. But you have to give ‘em to me one at a time, for pete’s sake!” Applejack laughed and her friends joined in as well. It had been one crazy, hectic night. After the performance at the cafe, Applejack and her entourage of friends needed to be teleported by Twilight just to get away from the over affectionate crowd. After recovering from the post teleportation vertigo, the group proceeded to trot discreetly to Sugarcube corner where they now resided.
Applejack began explaining the many details that she kept from them all these years. She told them the little story of her violin and how she began playing. Of course she had to explain to them why she decided to play at the open stage night in the first place. The funny things was they reacted to it in the same way as her family did. She started out with your standard exposition. “Well, after Rarity heard me play she-” The orange pony then was cut off by an explosion of realizations from her friends that informed her that continuing the story would be far past redundant. Applejack saw that Rarity was a bit irritated by her friends’ outbursts which made Applejack giggle.
The party continued in the typical Pinkie Pie fashion. The six mares drank whatever punch mixture that Pinkie had concocted on the spot. For the five hundredth time in a row, she managed to mix up another instant favorite. They gathered around for dancing as the evening progressed. They all understood that none of them were good dancers and just did any random movement that came to their mind. Twilight was the worst offender, but I guess you could get away with these sort of things when you are in the company of friends. They played numerous games that included board games, truth or dare, and even Rarity’s favorite, for some weird reason, “Pin the Tail on the Pony.” The night was just one sugary confection induced ordeal that burned out in a pink blaze.
After a few hours of partying “Pinkie Pie style”, the six mare’s decided to call it a night. All six of them had responsibilities to attend to in the morning, so there was no use in staying up all night. Five mares exited Sugarcube Corner while the sixth on stayed inside and turned off the lights and headed towards her own bed upstairs. Out of the five mares, three of them set off into various directions while the remaining two walked in the moonlight together heading towards the Carousel Boutique.
After walking for a couple of minutes, the white unicorn turned towards her friend. “Thank you for walking me home, Applejack.” Rarity happily chirped.
“It’s my pleasure.”
There was a bit of a silence between them. It wasn’t an awkward silence but one that showed that they were just basking in each other’s company. Applejack was still in her dress but now had her familiar Stetson on messing up her styled mane. It irked Rarity, but she decided to just let it go. There were more important things on her mind. “You must tell me, Applejack. How was your first performance?”
“I thought Fluttershy asked that question already.”
“Well, she did. But I know the answer you gave her wasn’t the entire truth.”
Applejack didn’t lie. She told Fluttershy that her first performance was great and was fun. But like Rarity pointed out it only part of the truth.. She figured that the answer she gave would be good enough for her friends because like her weeks ago, they knew nothing of art and the feelings one would get from such things. But Rarity knew. It was only with her that she could truly share her feelings with. A big smile grew across her face. “It was...” Applejack was at a bit of loss for words. But as she remembered the crowd cheering after she finished the words appeared from nowhere and burst through her mouth. “It was amazing.” Applejack laughed. “You were right, Rares. It was one of the most amazing things that has happened to me. It felt just like...um... winning a hundred rodeos all at once.”
Rarity giggled. “That’s a rather odd way to put it, but alright.”
Applejack continued to speak with more zeal in her voice. “It felt so weird getting such an applause without me having to beat anypony else. But at the same time, it made it all the more sweeter.” Rarity gave and nod of approval and continued to walk merrily on their way.
The two continued to walk for a moment but then Applejack slowed her walk to a stop. Her face seemed to have an expression of awe and wonder. As soon as she stopped she called out to her unicorn companion who was a few paces away. “Do you feel this way all the time, Rarity?”
Rarity slowed her walk to a stop and turned around to face Applejack. The question at hand was indeed a difficult one with no easy answer. Like all things there was a good side and a bad side. She was happy that her friend got a taste of what the limelight had to offer but at the same time she wanted to warn her of the troubles of it without scaring her. She had to word her next sentences carefully. “Sometimes, but lately I only get that amount of satisfaction if I really push myself to my limit. And then sometimes,” This was the crucial part. She irrationally feared that if she were to butcher the next part it may spoil Applejack's feelings. “there are moments where my audience doesn’t respond quite as well as I wanted them to and it upsets me. But as my mother always told me ‘you can’t please everypony all the time.’” Rarity voice felt a bit melancholy hinting to no pony in particular the many challenges that she had to face before she reached the amount of acclaim she now had.
“But,” Rarity’s tone seemed perkier all of a sudden. “when I do get that reaction I want, after hours of arduous and tedious work perfecting my latest creations, it makes the glamour brighter and as you said ‘sweeter’.” Rarity sighed dreamfully. “It is those times where I succeed that tell me to get up every morning and try again, even after the most devastating of shows. It’s an addiction really. I hope you don’t get hooked.” Rarity played as she gently poked Applejack’s shoulder with her hoof.
With a smirk, Applejack replied to Rarity’s jest. “Who knows? Maybe I will give up Applebucking and runaway to Fillydelphia and play for the Fillydelphia Philharmonic.”
Rarity let out an unladylike laugh but quickly calmed herself. “Is that your new dream?”
After a tension filled second, Applejack quickly dismissed her comments. “Na. I love it here too much to leave. Besides playing violin is fun but it can’t compare to good honest day’s work.” The two friends started to walk again towards the boutique. “Still,” Applejack continued, “it would be amazing to feel that way again.”
“I’m sure if you wanted to, you can do another concert.”
“Maybe, but I think tonight is enough for now.”
After another few minutes of walking, Applejack and Rarity found themselves outside of Carousel Boutique.
“Rarity, I can’t begin to thank you enough for opening me up to this new world.”
“You don’t have to thank me. Your happiness is thanks enough.”
Rarity leaned in and gave Applejack a quick hug. “Thank you again for walking me home.”
“Anytime.”
“Goodnight, Applejack.”
“Goodnight, Rarity.”
Rarity unlocked her door using her magic and walked inside of her shop and home. Applejack turned to head towards Sweet Apple Acres when she remembered something. “Rarity!”
The mare in question popped her head out of the door and asked “Yes?”
“Don’t you want your dress and jewelry back?”
“Keep them, dear. You deserve it.” Rarity smiled and closed the door to the Boutique.
With a smile on her face, Applejack turned around and headed down the road to home.
***
It was a typical Sunday morning in the Ponyville market. Ponies hustled through crowds looking for the freshest ingredients for their weekend meals. The sun was out and was actually shining down on the land a bit warmer than normal but that didn’t seem to hinder the ponies below.
Along the road that connected downtown Ponyville to the outskirts of the town was an orange mare happily trotting with a cart full of apple barrels attached to her hip. It was Applejack’s turn to set up shop at the Ponyville market. It was an arrangement that her and her brother had made years ago that kept the workload between them as even as possible. One of the two would go into town, set up the apple stand and sell apples in the morning. When lunch came around the other would arrive, sell apples for the rest of the day and come home with the cart. It was a simple yet effective system that allowed the Apple Family to have some free time and enjoy their weekends.
Applejack slowed her trot to a saunter as she approached the usual selling spot. It was surrounded by other food related booths; some selling fruits and vegetables while others sold hot meals. Being the sole provider of Apples in the greater Ponyville area, there was always a demand for their signature product. Applejack pulled from the cart a sign that had all their prices on it. In the past she used to just yell out prices but it got old really fast. It was actually a bit ridiculous that they didn’t think of that idea sooner.
The sign did save the Apple Family some work, even if it was miniscule. All they really had to do was draw customers in but that wasn’t really much work either: the apples really sold themselves. So in actuality all the Apple Family had to do was act as a cashiers. It wasn’t much but the brother and sister duo liked to be out and about in their lovely town. It was a nice break from doing farm work from dawn till dusk.
This particular weekend though was a bit more pleasant. When Applejack finished setting up shop, ponies began stopping by; not to buy apples but to offer congratulatory remarks.
“Hey Applejack! You were awesome the other night!”
“Yo, AJ! You rocked!”
“I had no idea you could play so well!”
“You were spectacular, Applejack!”
This was the second day in a row that ponies stopped by to tell her how well she played and like the day before the humble Earth pony took each compliment with great sentiment. She smiled at them thanked them and waved goodbye as they walked away going on about their day. Thankfully some of them bought a few apples as a token of appreciation. Today felt like it was going to be another good day.
The rest of the morning went by fairly smooth and it was almost time for Applejack to switch shifts with Big Macintosh. It was good thing too. She was beginning to feel “peckish” as Rarity would put it. Applejack laughed. It seemed that fussy unicorn’s behavior was beginning to rub off on her in more ways than one.
It was just about time to call it a day when a tan unicorn stallion walked up to her cart. “Pardon my intrusion, but are you Ms. Applejack?” Applejack had never seen this pony before. He was in a prim and proper black suit with a complimenting blue bow tie that made him stand out from the rest of Ponyville’s residents.
But despite him being a total stranger, Applejack gave him the same treatment as anypony else. “Yes sir!” the farm mare answered happily. “What can I do you for? Care to sample some our famous apples? Or perhaps our less-than-famous-but-otherwise-equally-as-delectable Apple cobbler?” Applejack spoke with such enthusiasm that the stallion surprised by the her energy.
“Actually no, I am not. I am here for another pressing matter.” The stallion proceeded to take a card from his coat pocket and handed it to Applejack. “Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Consonance: musician, composer, and director of public affairs at the Cantabile School of Music at Manehattan University. An acquaintance of mine who was visiting family here, recently contacted me about a performance she witnessed last night in which she was most impressed by. From what I gathered from the cafe that hosted the event, you were the one who caused such an uproar by your supposedly magnificent performance.”
As the stallion continued talking. Applejack couldn’t help but feel a tad bit uneasy around him. Maybe because his Manehattan accent was a bit off putting and gave him an smug posh feel. She wondered what he was doing all the way from Manehattan. Her performance couldn’t have been that good, could it?
“So after hearing her review, I simply had to come to your quaint town to meet you.”
“Why is that?” Applejack asked suspiciously.
“Well you see, the Cantabile School of Music is always looking for guest performers to have recitals at our concert hall. As director of public affairs, it is my job to interview new virtuosos that are recommended to me, and from what I heard about you, it seems that you have some potential, but I have to see you perform to be sure.”
Applejack almost responded instantaneously. “That’s mighty nice sir, but I’m afraid I’m gonna have to pass on that offer. I’m far too busy here and I can’t be away from my family and farm for too long.”
Unphased the stallion replied in the same cool manner as before. “I understand. If you do happen to change your mind though, you have my card. I will be in Ponyville for the remainder of the weekend lounging at the local hotel. I will be returning to Manehattan on Tuesday. I hope our paths cross again soon.” And with that the unicorn walked away and blended in with the rest of the crowd. Applejack looked down at the card for the first time. It simply stated.
Consonance
Director of Public Affairs
Cantabile School of Music; Manehattan University
PO box 14556 University Lane, Manehattan, Equestria
With that, Applejack stuffed the card into her hat and continued selling apples.
***
“So after a tiresome negotiation over price, the customer and I finally agreed on a suitable sum for the dress.” Rarity levitated a bite of her homemade salad into her mouth and chewed thoroughly before continuing her conversation. “So that concludes today’s events so far. How was your morning?”
Applejack was nibbling on a daisy sandwich that she brought from home. After her shift ended, she decided to go and spend her lunch time with Rarity. Fortunately she wasn’t busy and could stay and chat. Both ponies were in Rarity’s kitchen sitting at a small table with a blue table cover and a slender vase containing a few daisies. The pony swallowed what food she had in her mouth and answered the unicorn. “Not much. I got more compliments about that cafe thing the other night. ”
“Wonderful! Anything else.”
“Well there was this one stallion I met. He said he was from some music school. I can’t remember which one. Apparently one of his friends heard me play last night and he wanted me to play for him.”
“For what?”
“I don’t know. I guess he wanted me play for some college. I wasn’t really paying attention.”
“Maybe you should have. I mean, if someone asks you to play for them I don’t see why you would not. Playing for some music students sounds like it could be a lot of fun. What college was it, by the way? A local community one perhaps?”
“Hold on a sec. I have his card right here.” Applejack took off her hat to retrieve the business card he gave her. She put it on the table and slid it across the small they were sitting at. Rarity picked it up with her magic while also holding a fork that had another bite full of salad. As she took a bite, she eyed the card reading what was on it. Her eyes dilated instantly from shock and she nearly choked on her salad and had to take a quick drink of water.
“The Cantabile School of Music?!” Rarity shouted as she put down her glass of water on the table.
“Yeah, that’s it.” Answered Applejack nonchalantly. “What about it? Is it good or something?”
“‘Good’ is putting it lightly, dear. It’s one of the most prestigious schools of music in Equestria! You would be a fool to deny an opportunity to perform there!”
“Really? Wow.” Applejack was dumbfounded. A goofy grin grew across her face from awe and amazement. “I knew the guy was from Manehattan but...wow....” Applejack laughed. “I guess I was that good the other night, huh?”
“You were nothing short of magnificent, dear.”
“Boy, can you imagine?” Applejack’s face brighten up at the imaginary image. “Me playin’ in Manehattan? I would have never dreamed that could ever happen.” But after a second her demeanor dimmed and she sighed. “Still, I can’t go. I have too much work to do here.”
“You aren’t leaving forever, Applejack. Manehattan is just a few hours away by train and you would only be away for a few days at most. It will a one time thing. Besides you said that you would like to perform again and this could be your opportunity!”
“But so soon and in Manehattan? Rarity, I ain’t good enough to play there! What if I were to make a fool of myself. I was nervous enough being around my own town!”
“That’s just your nerves talking, Applejack. I, mean, were you nervous when you did your first rodeo competition?”
“Er..well, yes. But...”
“But nothing! It’s exactly the same situation.”
“You’re forgetting one thing Rares, I’ve been competing in contests like that all my life. I’ve only been playing the violin for about three weeks!”
“But that’s the great thing about music! You aren’t in any competition with anypony! I’m sure as long as you sound great, they wouldn’t care how long you have been playing.”
Applejack shook her head in disagreement. “That’s not how things work. What if I were to hire a new hand around the farm. Sure he could buck a tree, but if he doesn’t know what the hay he’s doing, I’m not even going to waste a second on him.”
Applejack took the card from the table and looked again at the address. PO box 14556 University Lane, Manehattan, Equestria She continued her rant. “I know how those ponies think in Manehattan. If you aren’t 100 percent perfect, then they won’t even look at you. Do you honestly think they would even give me a shot?”
“If they didn’t think you were good enough, would this ‘Mr. Consonance’ come all the way out here for nothing?” Applejack didn’t respond and Rarity continued to speak. “You have to stop comparing the Art world with manual labor. They don’t work the same way.”
“Prove it.”
Rarity sighed. “Do you honestly think I would lie to you, Applejack?”
“I know you wouldn’t lie to me, Rarity.” Applejack said apologetically. “It’s just I have a hard time believing that there are different rules.”
Silence followed for a few seconds until Rarity spoke up. “If you really want proof, there’s a composer by the name of Cacophony. He’s a relatively new composer and he’s already made quite a reputation for himself. The story goes that he doesn’t even know how to play an instrument and doesn’t know traditional Music Theory. Apparently one day he took a music appreciation course in a university and decided to write music. His music lacks the traditionally tonal structure and is mainly musical effects but that didn’t seem to hinder his success.”
Rarity looked back at Applejack. “If he were the farm hand you were talking about earlier, you would have turned him down.”
Applejack thought about everything. These new rules were still mind boggling to her. The concert earlier that week taught her what rewards could come from playing your heart out on the violin’s strings, but now she is learning that qualifications, something that was universal to almost any trade in life, were now a mere afterthought in the eyes of the art world. What more was different and would she be able to adapt to it all before completely drowning in a world that was alien to her? In the sea of doubt there was still a beacon that called out to her. It was the same sensation that led her to take the plunge all those weeks ago and agree with Rarity’s proposal. In a brief struggle between the familiar and the new, the new won.
Applejack picked up the remnants of her lunch and began to head out the door of Rarity’s boutique.
Rarity called out to Applejack before she left. “Wait! Where are you going, Applejack?”
The farm pony looked back at her friend with a face of renewed determination. “I got to head home and talk to my family. I got to let them know I’ll be going to Manehattan soon.
With that, Applejack sprinted out of the Boutique and began heading towards her home. Rarity, still sitting the table, smiled as she watched her friend head off into the distance.
***
It was a bit late in the afternoon. Applejack was walked towards the hotel Consonance was staying at with a violin case in her saddle bag. The sun gave a yellow tint to the town making everything calm and peaceful. The wind was tamed yet warm and blew with a steady continuous pace. The pony soon stood in front of the hotel. It wasn’t anything fancy. It was a three story building with an Earthy brown color that glowed in the sun. The windows that the pony faced were away from the sun thus giving them a dark tint, not allowing her to see into any of the rooms. She made her way through the door and into the lobby.
At the receptionist's desk was a pink pegasus with a curly red mane. She was reading a magazine due to the hotel’s lack of activity. The mare walked up to the receptionist and spoke. “I’m here to see a Mr. Consonance?”
The receptionist looked up from her magazine with an unenthusiastic frown. “Name?” she stated plainly.
“Applejack.”
“Is the pony in question expecting you?”
“Uh, I’m not sure. He just gave me his card earlier and said to contact him here at the hotel.”
The pegasus gave a quick snort. She got up from her chair and walked over to the wall behind her. On it were about forty or fifty short ropes with a number attach to it. Next to the ropes was a tube that extended through the ceiling. Applejack had encountered these before when she spent some time in Manehattan as a filly. She remembered asking her Aunt Orange what they were. She giggled and said that they were called “Tubular Intercoms” or “Intercoms” for short. She explained that they were long pipes that connected to each of the rooms. When the bell was rung, the pony in the room would lift up a flap that covered the tube and speak into it. Then the pony could talk to the front desk without leaving their room.”
The pegasus looked in the guest book and looked up the number for the pony in question. She found the room number and pulled the rope that was that marked “44”. She lifted the flap off of the master tube and waited for a response. Silence followed for a few seconds until a voice from the tube emerged. “Yes?”
“Good evening Mr. Consonance. There is a guest here to see you. A ‘Ms. Applejack’”
“Wonderful! Send her up, please.” The voice vanished into the tube and was not heard from again.
The pegasus put the flap back on the tube and turned around to face Applejack. “He is on the third floor. The stairs are down that hallway.” She pointed to her right and quickly returned to her chair, picked her magazine back up and got lost in her own world. Applejack proceeded to thank her even if she wouldn’t hear it.
Applejack proceeded to stairs. Along the way she replayed the day’s events in her head. It was truly unbelievable that this morning she was sent out to town to sell apples and now she was going to play for a representative for the school of music at Manehattan University. She couldn’t help but feel more nervous than she did the other night at that cafe. It just seemed that a single pony who was an expert at anything music related outweighed a crowd of ponies who really didn’t know much about music. What was good for them could be complete utter trash for this one pony. But she couldn’t let such thoughts distract her. Not now. There were too many ponies who believed in her to let nerves break her down. She had the support of her friends and a family that would cover her if she were to make it.
She remembered when she told her family about the offer. Like she figured, they were completely behind her, encouraging her to try and said they would gladly take over her responsibilities on the farm. Applejack was so joyful she gathered her family in a group hug and thanked them all for allowing her to do such a thing. She then ran up to the attic immediately and did a quick warm up. When she was done she left for the hotel in a hurry with her violin in her saddle bag.
As she reached end of the stairs, her heart started race even more than it already was from climb. She looked down the hall and noticed that the floor started on the number 38. That meant that room 44 would be further down. She walked down the hall in no particular hurry. She looked around the hallway. Each room door was an identical eggshell white with bronze numbers hammered in. The wallpaper had stripes of Burgundy and what appeared to be the same shade of white as the doors. The floor was made of cherry wood that made each step echo. The sound of her hoof steps made her more anxious. The door she wanted came up. Before she knocked, Applejack needed to take a few breaths to calm herself. When she felt ready, she knocked on the door lightly and waited for it to open. A few seconds later, the door opened and revealed the same stallion from earlier.
“Ah, Ms. Applejack. So good to see you again. I just knew our paths would cross again. Please come in.” Applejack walked into the room. It was a small bedroom with one bed, one bathroom and a wardrobe made of mahogany. There was a window that was closed and had white plantation style shutters. The wallpaper had the same design as the hallway wallpaper giving an illusion that the hallway had no end. Applejack walked in precariously. The stallion continued to talk while she did so. “If you don’t mind me asking, what made you change your mind on my offer?”
“Well you see,” Applejack’s throat felt a little scratchy and dry; a sign of her nervousness. “I talked it over with my family and they said that they could cover for me for a few days if things played out right.”
“Let’s hope they do.” The unicorn stallion levitated a chair from a far corner of the room and placed behind him. He proceeded to sit in the chair and pull out a writing pad a quill from seemingly nowhere. He wrote some quick notes on the writing pad and looked up at Applejack. “Alright. Whenever you’re ready.”
“Oh. You mean right now?”
“Yes indeed.”
“If you don’t mind me asking. What do you want me to play?”
“The ballade you played the other night. It’s from the third Equine Ysaye Sonata, correct?
“Uh, I think so.”
“Well, if you don’t mind.”
“Okay then.” Applejack got her violin from it’s case and rosined her bow. Her heart pounded harder in her chest with each pass of the rosin over the horse hairs. The bow shooked slightly in her hooves. Applejack had to grip the bow tighter to stop the shakes. Once she finished she took a deep breath to calm her nerves further. She stood up on her two hind hooves and got in position to play.
She closed her eyes and drew the bow across the strings like she did that night, but it didn’t feel the same. There was no prestige or esteem. It felt cold more than anything, like it was the act of playing the violin became arbitrary rather than a labor of love. Nether the less, she played on. Applejack’s bow glided across the strings surfing up and down the various waves that the music created, all the while Consonance wrote down everything he heard not even glancing up at Applejack. His eyes were glued to the writing pad. The quill he held in his magical aura scribbled fiercely almost drowning out the sound of the violin.
Minutes passed and the music reached its finale. Soon silence followed. Applejack lowered the violin. She wasn’t breathing hard like before. She didn’t even break a sweat. It wasn’t a sign of accomplishment but of worry. She didn’t feel the same way she did after she had performed at the cafe. Despite the awkwardness of the moment, she knew that she did the absolute best she could, but it still felt like there was something left to be desired. She began to wonder if she did something wrong or if she didn’t play the ballade as well as she did before. An even graver thought crept into her mind: What if her best wasn’t good enough?
The silence still lingered. The unicorn was still scribbling notes onto the paper and didn’t say a word. It was in this silence that Applejack made a promise to herself: ‘If things don’t go so well, don’t be disappointed at yourself. You came here to try and that’s all you can do.’ The scribbling stopped and the unicorn looked up at the orange mare for the first time since he sat down.
“Thank you for that performance, Ms Applejack. Before I say more, is it okay if I ask you some questions?”
“I suppose that would be fine.”
“Splendid.” The unicorn looked back down at the notes he took down and wrote something extra. “First of all, did you go to secondary school or any other higher education after primary school?”
“No, sir. After primary school I went straight to work on my family’s farm.” The scribbling continued.
“How long have you been playing?”
“The thing is that I played for about 3 years when I was a younger, but after that I kind of stopped playing. It was only recently that I started playing again.” The scribbles began again.
“How recently?”
“3 weeks.”
The unicorn quickly jotted down more notes. “Last question: Have you received any formal musical training?”
“I took a few private lessons when I first started out, but other than that, not much.”
The unicorn finished a sentence that he was working and put the quill on the nearby bed. He looked at the notes that took and then proceeded to put the writing pad on the bed next to the quill. He looked Applejack with an expression that could not be read as either positive nor negative. “First of all, I like to thank you for playing for me. That is not an easy piece to play.”
“Thank you kindly, sir.”
“That being said, you do have quite a few flaws in your technique.” Applejack felt a pain in her heart. She squirmed internally at the mention of the word “Flaw.” Applejack’s mind raced and thought back through her entire performance. She tried to remember what “flaws” Consonance could have been talking about. She really didn’t know. If she did make a mistake she would not have noticed. The unicorn cleared his throat. “Your hoof work is a bit muddy; your bowing is tad off; your dynamic range is narrow; and lastly your articulations are not well defined.”
Applejack felt hurt. As Consonance listed everything that was wrong she couldn’t help but feel disappointed. What made the pain feel worse was that he didn’t even look up from his notepad; like if all her mistakes were so obvious that he didn’t even need to see her play to identify them. But she had to be strong. She knew there would be problems but that didn’t make the news any bit easier. But out of all the emotions she felt, she was not angry. It was an expected outcome. An expert that was dedicated solely to perfection of music would most definitely see the problems with a simple country mare’s fiddle work. But she promised herself she wouldn’t be upset with herself. She did all that she could, but that didn’t make the situation she was in easier.
“If you were to fix all this you would be the perfect violinist.” This was it. In Applejack’s mind, this was the point where she was told that she wasn’t good enough. She would then have to walk back home and tell her family, she didn’t make it. Of course they would still love her no matter what were to happen but it was still another failure for Applejack. She hated to fail. It meant that her word wasn’t good enough. If she were to say she was going to do something, she meant it. Like when she said she would bring back prize money for the town. She lost every competition and didn’t win a single bit. It was easier to work her debt off than to admit that she lied. It seemed that she had to face the same fate once again.
The unicorn paused for a moment. His facial expression changed to a more softened look. “However, I am a realistic pony. I know that no matter how hard a musician were to try, they could never reach that point of perfection. I highly doubt that a pony with the lifespan of the princesses would ever accomplish such a feat.”
The Earth pony stood perfectly still, as if this was a dream and any movement would have shattered it into a thousand pieces. Consonance continued. “Ms. Applejack, you are a wonderfully talented mare. Even with all those flaws in your technique you were still brilliant and enjoyable to listen to. I have never heard such a fantastic interpretation of the Equine Ysaye Sonata. It rivals some of the Performance Majors we have in our school. Your background is simply remarkable. It is no less than a miracle that you can play something so intricate and so complex with such little training. You should feel proud.”
The pain in Applejacks heart was replaced with one of optimism and pride. It meant a lot for her friends and family to say she was good, but it was paramount to hear some one who really knew music to say such things. She really did feel proud. The unicorn continued to speak with the greatest news of the night. “It would be a honor for you to play for the Cantabile School of Music as our next guest artist.”
Speechless, the orange mare could only smile. Consonance continued speaking.
"But before you decide if you want to play for us or not, I have a proposition for you."