The Strings Of Life:
Chapter 42- The Dying Storm:
Four days have passed, and the battle had been won within Ponyville, though many lives were lost. The skies had been heroically reclaimed over Cloudsdale; despite the priceless souls they had lost as well. Now all that remained was Canterlot, and the Changelings were now surrounded. Many of them now desperate to spare their own lives, they tried sneaking out of Canterlot by themselves, but Unicorn snipers ended up knocking them right out of the sky or on the ground with ease and no remorse. Despite every attempt to escape, they failed. Some Changelings even disguising themselves as the ones they killed, but not lasting long as the soldiers talked to each other to check and make sure there were no imposters. Changelings couldn’t speak their language, so their hissing and other noises resulted in a very quick death for themselves point blank.
Maestro a few days ago had luckily only been relieved of duty, and not dishonorably discharged very fortunately. His excuse for his family and his soulmate seemed like fair enough reasons to where he would be dealt with on a lighter scale. Soon after being relieved of duty, he met back up with his mother and Octavia in the house they were able to return to. With a limp in his back left leg and the wound stitched up, he had something to be thankful for. His wound was only mere inches away from a main artery, were it not for Nimbus who got him out of the way in time, he would have probably bled out and died. He now had some things to look forward too. New friends, a great family, a promising future, and he could now shoot for one of his main goals. He still wanted to play within the Royal Canterlot Symphony Orchestra, one of the best Orchestras in all of Equestria. But he now thought that would have to certainly be but on hold. He now wanted to do nothing but take it easy with his family and Octavia.
Octavia was now feeling easier with herself, now that Maestro was there to be there with her and not just his mother. To be honest, her kindness was getting slightly on the annoying side for her; she wanted somepony she could truly connect with. Octavia had all sorts of ways, codes, signals, etc., to let Maestro know about how she felt. Though he obviously didn’t get it right the first few times, and wasn’t the best one at helping her out in certain situations. She atleast understood and felt his efforts he put into trying to make her happy with him to solve the situations if there ever were any, she appreciated that effort and affection from him. Sometimes even his ignorance every now and then cheered her up, since usually he was trying to get on her level, rather than her getting on his level of understanding. This wasn’t implying Maestro was unintelligent, or somepony who wasn’t as bright as Octavia, he was anything but dumb to be honest…he was quite clever, and one with an imagination.
As for Maestro’s close friend Starlight, along with his foster parents, it remains to be let known unto him. His foster parents however were planning to move out of Canterlot, and over to Manehatten, but their plans were halted by the war. Starlight was still stationed at her hometown, and that she seemed pretty busy after her promotion to Sergeant just yesterday. She was being the strong-willed mare she promised herself she would be for her uncle and the rest of her family that passed on. Again, she was and is the last of her family; the Changelings killed everypony else unfortunately. Not even taken prisoner, and brought back to the hive for conversion. They were simply killed and left where they were. It was like something out of a horror movie, though thank Celestia she wasn’t there for any of them…except her older brother. He died from a direct impact to his gut from a Changeling ramming its horn into his stomach. How did Starlight escape? She knew every inch of her house, both inside and out. So she hid out in the hidden family shelter that had been constructed by her father. She stayed there until the military arrived just several hours later.
So now Canterlot was finally livable, and some of the citizens were now able to return to their homes. Certain streets that had minimal damage were reopened, as construction crews would come in too, and repair the damage to the buildings, this counted for houses as well. Octavia and Maestro’s house was safe enough to return to also.
Later on that day…
“It’s finally good to be home! Thank Celestia!” Maestro got down onto the hardwood flooring in their living room, proceeding to hug and kiss it.
“I could leave you two to each other if you’d like?” Octavia turns to him raising an eyebrow.
“Luna too…she helped our recovery and stuff…yeah.” Maestro looked off whistling out of feeling weird now.
“Well your whistling is not going to be making you any less weird. In fact, it’s making you look even more ridiculous. But I don’t think it will be as weird as you hugging and kissing our floor though.” She said, followed b a sight giggle.
“Well what else was I supposed to do?”
“You could just stand there and take it all in?” she replied.
“But if I did that…I might explode from the relief.” He smiled back to her with a chuckle.
“Silly as always…you haven’t changed much.” Octavia giggled, bumping into him as she passed him up to take it easy on their couch.
“Care to sit with me? I could use the company.” She patted the side of the couch.
“I appreciate the offer, but I must hereby decline milady.” Maestro’s voice then changed to a very refined tone of voice, with a thick Canterlot accent. She said nothing and merely watched him continue his impersonations. He had a knack for impersonations, and he enjoyed doing them with the right ponies.
“No I mean seriously though Tavi…I got to check up on some things.”
“Oh? What might those be then? She asked intrigued.
“Well first, I need to see how my foster parents are checking up. My foster mother must be going crazy from not seeing me in months. I also need to check up on how a really good friend of mine is doing at her hometown.”
“A ‘really good friend’ of yours you say?” Octavia was then interested into that certain word by how he portrayed it to her.
“Oh heavens no, it’s not like that, you have my promise on that Octavia. We just had a lot in common, same likes for stuff, and we became good friends well…surprisingly fast, heh. When you’re in the military, your bond with your comrades is formed very quickly, you’d understand if you could be there with me.” Maestro replied, as the front door still remained open. Half of his body sticking outside, while his front half continued looking back her explaining things to her.
“Of course…well then off you go I suppose. Also by any chance, could we pay a visit to Vinyl? I’m sure she seems awfully worried about us.”
“Of course, I was thinking the same thing.”
“You were?”
“Okay maybe not…but anyways yeah, we can go pay her a visit as soon as I get back.”
“Splendid! Thank you Maestro.” She gave a lovely soft smile back to him just as he closed the door.
Maestro trotted and took his time on his way to the military terminal, where they kept the archives and records of ponies within the military that were stationed all across Equestria. He head inside to the facility, and saw there was a line for ponies who were wanting to do the same thing he was wanting to do.
“Well…buck.” he thought to himself in mild frustration. He noticed the line seemed ridiculous at this time of day, but he was atleast patient enough to wait in it.
Meanwhile in Ponyville, Vinyl’s home was being repaired. Most of it thankfully was just some minor damage to the shingles and roof in general. A few busted out windows, but nothing too major. Vinyl walked her way into the town square, and noticed most of the damage took place here. Holes in the ground, and several houses were destroyed. Barricades from where the Earth Ponies and Unicorns defended Town Square were still seen encircled around it. There was much to repair to the town’s center, though most of the bloodshed took place out more towards the park and track areas just outside of town.
“Hey Vinyl, you feeling okay?” asked a voice running up to her. She looked back and noticed it was one of her frequent partygoers, Berry Punch.
“Yeah I’m fine, just wondering about my friends in Canterlot. If that was the main place, I just wonder how bad it must have been up there ya know?” Vinyl replied, as she looked back in the direction of Canterlot.
“Yeah I understand…well hey me, Roseluck, and Lily are going to hang out today, wanna come?”
“Getting back to normal life already?” Vinyl looked back to her as they kept walking side by side.
“Well sure, why not? We’re able to, the military officers said it’s safe enough anyway.”
“Ah okay then, but nah I’m fine by myself. Just have a few things on my mind that’s all.” Vinyl then looked off to another direction to hide a bit of feelings that seemed to surface.
Vinyl wasn’t too crazy about showing her feelings to her friends in Ponyville, as she thought it wouldn’t make her as cool and popular as she already was. She was one of the most popular ponies in town, alongside Rainbowdash. However she’s only been able to meet the awesome Pegasus a few times within some of her gigs, but she didn’t mind one way or the other.
“Okay, well see you later then. Don’t keep those parties postponed for too long.” Berry Punch winked back at her before running off to meet up with the others.
“Heh, yeah…I’m not done hosting nightlife parties at my house anytime soon.” Vinyl raised her voice a bit louder than normal so she could still hear her.
Vinyl turned back around followed by a sigh before looking around briefly.
“Hope your okay Octy…and if I know Maestro, heh…I bet he kicked their flanks in those streets. Oh what am I kidding? He probably got his flank kicked instead, heh. He’s not the strongest guy around…but I’m sure he can still hold his own if he’s gotta” She told herself, as she once again looked back up at Canterlot from miles away.
The past week or so had been a bit unstable on the weather patterns and such coming from Cloudsdale, as they obviously had their grand city to think about. Their city in the sky was more important than moving around clouds and such around the atmosphere for the current time being. But reparing the city was obviously pretty easy, since all it was, was nothing but clouds for any and all of their structures.
Maestro had festered up the patience to wait in that line, and do something many ponies didn’t care to do much in Canterlot…wait in line for elongated periods of time.
“Next!”
“Uh hi, I was just-”
“Oh well look who it is? Private Maestro…and not dishonorably discharged from what I hear in the service, eh?”
To Maestro’s surprise, it was Nimbus sitting at the desk checking statuses of current military personnel.
“W-what? Nimbus what are you doing here?”
“You mean what am I doing here for the past three days? Ugh, nothing but this…and you?” Nimbus said back to him, lifting his hat from above the top portion of his face.
“Well uh, life seems normal for me I suppose.” Maestro replied.
“I understand…well hey man, I wish you stayed at the med bay like you were supposed to all along.” Nimbus spoke up.
“My family was by coincidence, in danger at the house.”
“Oh wow, really? What happened? Oh wait, not my business to know that, here to do my job. Well dude, what did you need to know or find out, hm?” Nimbus asked him, as he proceeded to take out some folders of information he might need to use from one of the file cabinets.
“Well, I was wanting to find out about a good friend of mine.”
“A ‘good friend’ of yours? Just how good of a friend is she he-he-he.” Nimbus chuckled.
“Shut up and let me know.” Maestro rolled his eyes, feeling slightly annoyed.
“Ha-ha-ha! Of course…name please…”
“Starlight…”
“Uh-huh…well now let’s see here hmm.” Nimbus then rushed through the S’s like he knew exactly where each file was like it was nothing.
“S’s…okay now…light…light…Ah! Got him…or her, heh.” He scratched the back of his head.
“Okay, here we are! Corporal Starlight, she just got promoted not too long ago also. She’s still in her hometown currently, and will remain there for one more week. She will be removed from that station, and has permission to return to her home in Cloudsdale atleast within eight days tops…that’s all I got. All the rest of the stuff is classified to
non-military personnel, sorry bud.” He then closed the folder, and immediately placed it back where it was first found.
“Okay thanks…” Maestro leaned in closer to his acquaintance.
“You sure I can’t find out just a little more about her?”
“Hmmm…” Nimbus looked ever which way to make sure he wasn’t being monitored.
“Okay look dude, I already know you, so I guess that’s a plus for you. But okay fine…here’s her schedule. Use it if you want to catch her at a good time.” Nimbus quickly scribbled down on a piece of paper of her work schedule.
“Oh wow, tha-”
“Shhh, keep it on the down low. Now get moving, there’s others behind you, you know.”
“Oh right, well thanks Nimbus.” Maestro waved back to him as he left the large tent.
“Eh don’t mention it.” he partially waved back.
Maestro was making his way back to his home, and really started realizing just how much damage they really caused.
He dropped by the mailbox to check if he had any mail, though he hardly ever got any in the first place. But maybe this time he might actually get something for once in times like these. Surprisingly, he did get something.
“Hm?” he brought out what appeared to be a letter from Starlight.
“Well…so much for this stuff.” He ripped up the pieces of the paper he was given and tossed them into the street. The construction crews would gather up trash as they went along with repairing the streets and buildings anyways.
He quickly tore open the front of the envelope and brought out the letter, as he was still partially focused on not tripping over the stairs on the front porch.
“Ah, well hello there, back already are we?” said Octavia startling him slightly, as she was watering a few flowers in one of the front windows.
“Yeah, guess what I was looking for all went to waist, but not as badly as you might think.” He replied to her, as she sat down in the swing chair on the front porch.
“Really? Just how did that turn out.”
He said nothing, and merely waved the letter as he kept reading it.
“Ah, a letter of course…from one of your friends if I recall correctly, yes?”
“M-hm.” He nodded.
“You seem awfully occupied on that letter, mind if I read it with you?”
“Sure, take a seat.” He gestured next to him.
“Atleast you didn’t say er…‘pop a squat’ was it from Vinyl?”
“He-he, yeah, I might one day, you never know.” He smiled a bit.
Octavia soon after found herself comfortable next to him, and rested her head next to his with a bit of a ‘squee’ expression on her face as he looked back at her.
It read:
“Dear Maestro,
How’s it going? Hope everything turned out okay over there. I heard the news about what all happened over there in the fighting, and that I hope you turned out okay. I miss you too; I need a good friend around me in times like these. I also heard that many lives were lost spanning from Ponyville to Cloudsdale, and Canterlot was the worst from what I believe. But anyways yeah, I also want to wish your family peace in the future from these troubling times, I know I need some peace that’s for sure. Come to think of it, I want to try out that spa in Ponyville sometime, you should come along. Oh wait, that’s right, you’re too chicken to try something like that.
Well I hope to see you again soon, since I’m heading back home next week in Cloudsdale. If my home’s destroyed, I’m not going to be a happy camper. But okay now, I’m going to shut up, and let you get on with your day, and I’m going to get on with mine. Hope to see you soon Maestro. One more thing, for all that you did for me back at training camp, helping me and being there for me every step of the way in my times of coping and trouble…thank you. You’re an awesome pony to be with, and yes, you’re still a big brother to me.
Sincerely,
Starlight”
The letter then ended.
“Big brother? What happened over there, I’m curious?”
“How about we talk about it over dinner?”
“No need for you to cook, somepony already has that covered.” Octavia pointed towards the inside of the house.
“Huh? Well who exactly might that-”
“I made spaghetti Octavia! Come and get it dear!”
“Be…” Maestro ended off after hearing his mother suddenly call out to them.
“Oh come now Maestro, she loves you and me, and she loves to be with you when she can.”
“Yeah, guess I can’t complain there.”
“See? Now in you go, need to fill that stomach up to find a job.”
“JOB?!”
“Yes little child, a job.” Octavia giggled again, nudging him to go inside before her.
Maestro sighed and got off the swing chair and made his way inside.
“I’m not a child.” He pouted playfully.
“You’re certainly right about that, aren’t we?” Octavia winked at him kissing his cheek. They proceeded inside the cozy home for the remainder of the afternoon, and sat down at the table enjoying a nice family meal after a long day.