//------------------------------//
// Chapter 10 
// Story: Rising Sun 
// by Jet Howitzer 
//------------------------------//

(A quick note.  The songs I've linked to are not necessary for the story, but they help.  Just enjoy them, if you like.)

A sharp thump signals you falling out of your bed, and your dream.  A few bits of info swirl around your semi-conscious mind, and you cling to them.  A piano, a song, and a letter.  They pulse in your mind like brilliant beacons, guiding you toward something great, and terrible at the same time.  You take a moment to center yourself, and get a grasp on the memories that you now have.
The letter, despite your attempts, remains a vague blur.  The song, and the piano gain some clarity, but not enough to do anything.  You resolve to purchase a piano for yourself, as you want to see if that helps with your memories.  You head to the bathroom, and freshen up.  As you finish up you take a look at yourself in the mirror.  The same face as yesterday stares back at you, but the eyes seem different.  The sparkle that you noticed before seems a bit more pronounced.
After feeding your inner narcissist you head down to the living room, and glance at the clock.  You’re right on time, and decide to grab an apple before heading to Rainbow’s house for the weather detail.  You take a few bites before heading out the door, and to Rainbow’s house.  You arrive to find a note on the door.


Storm,
Sorry for bailing on you, but Twilight and the others needed my help, so I did what was right and went with them.  The weather is supposed to be clear today, so I trust you can take care of the few clouds that blow in today.  Hopefully we’ll be back before dinner, so we can meet up.
R.D.


You read it over again, a few hours later.  After taking care of the weather you were sitting on a bench in the park, reading it over again.  It seems odd to you that this would just happen to come up after yesterday.  You figure that its just a coincidence, and then head off to the library.  Surely Twilight, of all people, wouldn’t let the library be closed.
The door opens when you get there, and Spike is standing on a stool sorting some books.  He notices you enter, and he gives you a wave.  He puts the last few books on the shelf before walking over.
“Hey, Storm.  What’s going on?  Didn’t the girls take you with them?”
“No.  I didn’t even know they were going anywhere.  Why, do you know anything?”  You look at him, and he gives a quick shrug.
“All I know is that Zecora came by, and said something about some monster in the forest going on a rampage.  Hopefully they’ll have it all sorted out soon.  Now, why did you come by?  Looking for a book, or perhaps somepony else?”  He gets a big grin on his face at that, and you promptly ignore it.
“No, actually.  I’m not here looking for somepony.  I was hoping to find some books about music.  I’ve decided to take up the piano.  I was hoping that there were some books with some music, or a practice guide, or something.”
Spike sinks deep into thought, before he jumps up, and heads down a shelf.  You follow, and a minute later you find yourself in front of a large shelf.  Spike climbs up the shelves.
“Er… don’t tell Twilight that I’m doing this.  She prefers it if I use the ladder.”
“Don’t worry Spike, I won’t tell.  And if you fall I’m certain I can catch you.”  He continues climbing, until he gives a cry of triumph.  He climbs down, with a  large book in one hand.  He hands it to you, and you look at the cover.  On it is a pony, clearly wearing a wig, sitting in front of a piano.  You glance up at the title, and read it.  Piano Classics: From Ludwig Van Hooftoven to Mustang Amadeaus Mozart.  You open it up, and find pages worth of music, and even some simpler pieces to help with practicing.
“Thanks Spike.  I appreciate it.  Now I just need to find a piano, and I’ll be all set.”
Spike gives a shrug, but suddenly jumps up again.  “I think I may have a solution.  When we first moved into the library it was partially being used as a storage place.  You should've seen Twilight's reaction to THAT.  Anyway, the town kept some stuff in the secondary rooms.  I think there may have been a piano amongst all of it.  Let’s go check the basement.”  He heads down the hallway to the guest bedroom, before arriving at a door.
With a  loud creak the door slowly opens.  Spike grabs a lantern before heading down.  You follow, careful to stay in the light, not wanting to plunge headfirst down the stairs.  You see plenty of cobwebs, and empty bookshelves, but no piano.  A few minutes of searching later, and you find it.  It’s a grand piano, and other than some scratches to the paint, looks to be in perfect condition.
“Spike, do me a favor, and bring the light over.”  He does so, and you take a seat in front of the keyboard.  You look at it for a moment, and think back to that one song you remembered, and a few others follow.  None of them are full songs, though, just some snippets.  Finally one comes along that you recall in its entirety.  You promptly limber up your hooves, and you wings too.
With a  quick flourish along the keys you hop right into a jaunty little tune by the name of the Entertainer.  (Scott Joplin, The Entertainer: Listen here)  As you finish up you see Spike standing there with a dumbstruck look on his face.  You give a quick chuckle at his expression.
“Did you just make that up on the fly?  That was incredible, and I’ve never heard anything quite like it before!  You’ve got a real knack for that!”  He continues for a moment, heaping praise on you with no end in sight.
“Spike,” you interrupt, “I’m not that good.  Just wait until I remember some other songs.  Then we’ll see how good I am.  Now, I’d like to see about getting this brought to my house.  I hope the mayor will let me have it, rather than leaving it down here to gather dust and cobwebs.”
You get up from the bench, and scoop up the still speechless dragon with your wing, and deposit him on your back.  You put him down on the counter where he was before, and head off to the mayors office to ask for the piano.

As you expected it takes almost an hour to fill out three different forms to get the piano.  It takes another hour for a group of earth-ponies to move it into your house.  It was worth it, though.  You can now practice, and maybe even stoke some new memories.  You plant yourself on the bench, and wait for inspiration, but nothing comes.  Not even the song you played earlier comes back to you.
You grab the book that Spike gave you earlier, and you open it up to a random page, and just play the music on there.  It’s nothing special, so you stop after just a few minutes.
You start to get frustrated with these memories you have now found yourself with.  What good are they, if you can’t even remember them properly?  You stretch out your hooves for a moment, and rest them on the keys.  You close your eyes, and simply allow your mind to wander.  You improvise a bit, and just start playing.
You lose yourself in the music, and just play whatever comes to mind.  There are parts where you find yourself joyful, and moments of sadness that you can’t explain.  As you start to slow down a tune begins to pull itself to the forefront of your mind.  Without missing a beat you start up this new tune.  (Beethoven Fur Elise: Listen here)
As you finish you let your hooves fall by your sides.  You hear a sniff come from behind, and you whirl around, and see all six mares standing there.  You give a nervous chuckle, before breaking the silence.
“So how long have you all been standing there?”
After a moment Pinkie steps forward.  “About ten minutes.  It was really beautiful, and none of us wanted to stop you.”
You remain sitting, and then turn back to the keyboard.  While just a moment ago you were lost in the music, and it just flowed through you, you now find yourself unable to think of anything even remotely creative.  You feel a hoof on your shoulder, and Rarity takes a seat next to you.
“You don’t need to play anymore, if you don’t want to.  Those were likely the best spent ten minutes of my life.  If you ever wish to have an audience, please do not hesitate to ask me.”  She gives you a big smile, before she gets up, and walks back to the others.
You decide that you’re done for now, and so you ask whether they would like to go for some dinner, and maybe just hang out together.  They quickly agree, and before long you are enjoying yourselves at a restaurant.
Two hours later, and you find yourself in your house again.  Rainbow follows you in, and you let her stay.  You head up to the bedroom, where the piano is, and take a seat on the bench.  Rainbow follows you, and lies down on the bed.  You’re about to say something, when she speaks up.
“I was never really a big fan of classical music.  It always sounded so boring, and repetitive.  I know that it’s good music, but to me it was never special.  But earlier, when I heard you play it changed.  I watched you move with the music.  It was as much a creation of yours as it was a part of you.”  She sits up on the bed, and looks at you.  “Could you play something for me?”  The look on her face is one of uncertainty.  Maybe she thinks you'll judge her.  Or maybe she's confused by her feelings.  There are thousands of possibilities, but they don't matter now.  She asked for a song, and by Celestia you intend to deliver.
You give a quick nod, and she lies back down on the bed.  You think hard, and slowly the one song that eluded you returns.  To you, it becomes the most important song you’ve ever played.  You strike a few keys, and then begin playing.  (Beethoven Moonlight Sonata: Listen here)

As you finish, you get up, and head over to your bed.  Rainbow is sleeping, but there are a few streaks running across her face from her tears.  Whether they are from happiness, or sadness you can't tell.  You tuck her into your bed, and head down to the couch in the living room.  You grab a few spare pillows and a blanket before lying down.  You feel good about what’s happened to you so far.  Sadly, you find yourself unable to get comfortable on the couch, so you give up.
You climb back upstairs, and look at Rainbow lying in your bed.  There’s just something about her that makes you happy, and nervous at the same time.  You give a quick sigh before you climb in from the other side.  You figure that you can explain in the morning what happened, if she doesn’t remember.
As sleep overtakes you, you feel a hoof brush your shoulder, and then an embrace.

(Before anyone asks, no.  His talent is not music, although it crossed my mind.  And yes, I do in fact, enjoy classical music.)
(And as a second note, as of this posting I have 23 people tracking this.  Thank you, all of you.  Feel free to comment.  And I mean more than just you, skyscraper123.(Only joking, feel free to say more if you want.))