//------------------------------// // 19. A Day Off. Part 2 // Story: Orchestrated Chaos // by ReFro //------------------------------// Melody was sitting at the small, two-seat corner table, finishing up her custard-filled powder sugar coated doughnut. Her eyes wandered around the confectionery store, stopping every now and then when something particularly interesting looking caught her attention. Granita and Minty were over by the register, still chatting about this and that; who's doing what, when they’re doing it, the high price of eggs—things that Melody really didn’t care about. She was waiting for Silver to come out from the kitchen again, hoping that she would get a chance to talk with him and maybe get a closer look at his wings. “How’s ya doin’ over there, squirt?” Granita said, heading towards her as Minty went to go check on her two stallions in the kitchen. “Doing alright, I guess.” Melody shrugged, a little bored now that she had been sitting here with nothing to do, patiently waiting as her mind wandered. “That doughnut was really good. Kinda messy though,” she stated, her tone a bit happier as she held up her sugar coated hooves. “See?” “Yeah, that they can be,” Granita said with a chuckle, looking at the mess of sugar that had painted the filly’s hooves white. “Let me see if’n Ah can find ya something to wash off with. Don’t want ya to get tracks all over Minty’s clean floor.” Melody nodded as the older mare smiled to her before walking over to the kitchen door. Granita was just about to poke her head through when the door suddenly swung open, catching her by surprise as she gasped, jumping back just in the nick of time as a few strands of her mane gently floated down in front of her.. “Oh! Sorry, Granita. Didn’t expect you to be standing there,” Minty said as she backed out, carrying a tray of steaming bread. “Ah, don’t worry about it. My fault anyways,” Granita replied, letting out a sigh of relief as Minty started filling one of the counter’s displays with the freshly baked bread. “Don’t suppose ya happen to have a wet rag or somethin’ fer Melody, would ya? Ah didn’t want her gettin’ yer floor all dirty like.” “Yeah, no problem at all. I’ll get one from the kitchen in just a sec.” She looked up from the counter and smiled over at the filly. “How did ya like the doughnut, Melody? Messy enough for ya?” she asked with a grin, the tray of bread now emptied into the counter. “Yup! Good and messy. Thanks again for letting me have one.” “No problem at all. Glad you enjoyed it,” she said with a proud smile. “That there was my Great Aunt’s Honey’s recipe. I loved those as a foal. Still do actually.” She chuckled, giving the filly a quick wink before turning around to head back into the kitchen. “I’ll get you a washcloth in just a second.” “She seems really nice,” Melody said after the mare disappeared through the door. “How did you two meet?” “Oh yeah, she’s a doll. Minty and Ah met back in Canterlot when my family was a looking fer a place to settle down. Her and Golden were there too, but they were lookin’ fer a place to set up shop in Canterlot, but all the land in inside the city was too expensive fer them. They overheard Pa talking to the Princess about startin’ a new town. And, well, they just jumped right at that opportunity. We got to talkin’ later that day, and short story is that we became good friends after a while.” “My ears are burning.” Minty said in a sing-song voice, a warm smile on her face as came out from the kitchen, a damp washcloth in hoof. “You telling stories about me again?” “Oh, just how we met in Canterlot is all. Youngin’ was curious.” “I see. That’s kinda a boring tale to tell, don’t ya think?” Minty replied, walking over to Melody, giving her the damp washcloth to clean up with. Granita shrugged. “Not all tales gotta be exciting, ya know?” “Yeah, but you’re gonna bore her to death with that one.” She giggled, winking to the filly. “Thanks, Minty.” Melody smiled, handing her the used washcloth and started to get up from the corner table. “Sure thing, hon,” Minty said with a soft smile, using the washcloth to quickly wipe down the table. “But, before you get up, let me see your hooves.” Looking them over to make sure they were clean, she nodded to Melody. “Okay, you pass inspection.” She gave her a warm smile before walking back over to Granita. “So where you two off to next?” “Oh, Ah think we might head on over to the new park and see what that’s all like. Let Melody run around a bit to work off some of that energy she has, especially now that there is a bunch of sugar in her,” Granite said with quick laugh. “Plus, Ah think it would be nice fer her to find some other foals around her age ta play with. We have been so busy at the farm lately that all she has been doing is working. Ain’t good fer a foal not ta get some playtime and make some friends,” Granita stated, glancing over to Melody who was now out of her seat, roaming around the shop, perusing things as they talked. Minty hummed for a moment, glancing back to the kitchen door. “You know, Silver could use a little break as well,” she said, a sly grin crossing her face as she looked back over to Granita. “Say, I don’t suppose you wouldn’t mind taking him to the park with you as well? I’m sure Silver and Melody would get along just fine.” “Ah don’t see why not,” Granita said as Melody came over, hearing her name mentioned. “Ya don’t mind if Silver comes with us to the park, do ya, Squirt?” “Silver is going to come with us?” Melody hopefully asked, looking up to the mare with a small glint in her eyes. “I mean, yeah… sure, I don’t mind,” she calmly stated, covering up her mouth with a hoof as she faked a cough. Minty chuckled, grinning at the filly who was just so adorable. “Well, I guess that settles it then, huh?” The mare smiled to the pair as she headed into the kitchen. Granita nudged Melody, half grinning at her. “Ya seem ta be a mite bit infatuated with Silver.” Melody’s cheeks turned an embarrassing shade of red as she glanced up to the older mare, giving her a look. “I am not... whatever that word is with Silver. But I know what you are getting at,” she grumbled, letting out a soft huff. “I just want to see his wings up close. I have no other interest in him other than that, just so you know. Besides. I haven’t even spoken with him yet, so I have no idea what he is like. And, I don’t even like colts!” With a short laugh, Granita grinned at Melody, ruffling her mane. “Quite a list of excuses ya got there, Squirt,” she stated matter-of-factly as the kitchen door opened once more, Silver and Minty coming through as Melody quickly stuck her tongue out at Granita and fixed her mane with a hoof before turning her attention to Silver. “So, ya git ta go with us to the park, eh?” Granita asked with a smile to the young colt who was busy looking over to the grey filly he hadn’t noticed before. “Yup!” Silver happily replied, glancing over to his mother. “Mom said I have been inside too much and needed to get out,” he stated, looking back over to Melody who was right beside Granita. With a small smile, he took a step towards her, getting within leg’s length of her as he reached out his hoof for a shake. “Hey. I’m Silver. What’s your name?” “M-Melody,” she replied, looking down at his outstretched hoof. A hint of nervousness washed over her now that he was this close. She took a small step backwards as her nerves started to get the better of her. Ma, Pa, and Granita... those ponies she was fine with being this close to, but not with anyone else just yet, especially a child that might not know what personal boundaries where yet. She had always had a hard time dealing with kids in the first place. “Well, M-Melody, nice to meet you. Nice accent you have there,” he stated with a grin, running his hoof through his mane as she left him awkwardly hanging. “Guess we are hanging out for a while today then, huh?” “It’s just Melody, and I guess so,” she replied, rolling her eyes before glancing back up to Granita. “You three have fun at the park,” Minty said with a cheerful smile. “Oh, and if Silver acts up, don’t be afraid to give him a good spanking.” She shot her son a quick look, letting him know that she meant business. “I’ll behave, Mom… jeez.” Granita lightly chuckled. “Ah’m sure he will be just fine, Minty. If not-” she turned her head towards him, “-Ah’ll tan his hide good for ya.” She gave him a quick nod. “You get in trouble a lot of something?” Melody asked, almost in a whisper, taking a step closer to him. “A little bit.” Silver shrugged, looking back up to his mother and Granita. “I swear I will behave,” he said, holding his hoof up to his chest, closing his eyes as he spoke. “Besides, we are going to the park, how much trouble could I possible get into anyways?” “You and your father are very creative in that fashion. I’m sure you could easily figure something out to get yourself in trouble,” Minty joked, bending over and giving him a kiss on the cheek which he promptly wiped off with a groan, making Melody silently giggle. “Alright, you two ready ta get?” Granita asked, starting to head towards the door, holding it open for the two foals. “We’ll be back in an hour or so, Minty.” “Yup!” Melody happily said, waving bye to Minty as she caught up with Granita, heading past her out the door and back out into the nice, late morning day with Silver following right behind. As the trio walked, Melody on one side of Granita, Silver on the other, towards the newly opened park on the other side of town from the farm, Melody took in the sights, sounds, and smells of the budding town around her while its citizens went merrily about to and fro. She had only been half paying attention to Silver and Granita talk, mostly keeping to herself, watching the world around her as they walked along the main road, staying close to the older mare’s side. It wasn’t until they came to a stop in front of a construction site that she started to pay attention to the conversation as the sharp sound of nails being driven into wood filled the air. “This is the new school I was telling you about, Granita,” Silver said, not sounding too enthralled about it as they watched the construction crew for a moment who were hard at work erecting the small, square building. “I heard the mayor is going to sign in a law that requires all foals to attend too.” He made a small face at that. “Is that so?” Granita asked, looking over the small sign that indeed stated that this was the site of the new Ponyville school. A quick look over the sign told her that the school was scheduled to be completed this coming spring. “Ya don’t happen ta have heard who the teacher is now, have ya?” Silver shook his head as Melody did her best to piece together what exactly this building was from their conversation. “So,” she piped up, “what exactly is going on in the spring with this building?” she curiously asked, wondering why Silver had a somewhat displeased look on his face. “What do you mean, ‘what is it for’?” Silver replied in a slightly sarcastic tone, giving her a disbelieving look. “We just said what it was for. It’s a school. You know what a school is, don’t ya?” Melody shot him a look and was about to speak up when Granita cut her off. “Now, Silver, there’s no need to be rude,” the older mare chided. “Melody isn’t from around these parts, and she doesn’t fully understand our language yet, so be nice.” “Is that why she has that weird accent?” Silver quickly asked, glancing over to Melody who wasn’t looking too happy with him at this moment, though he didn’t exactly know why. Mares... “I don’t have a weird accent!” she shot back. “You have a weird accent!” “Do not!” Silver scoffed, huffing at Melody. “Do too!” “Do not!” Granita facehoofed, letting out a quick sigh as she closed her eyes for a moment. “Alright that is quite enough! Both of you!” she yelled out, loud enough that the pounding of nails was suddenly silenced as a few of the construction workers looked over to see what the commotion was about before going back to work. But, it got her point across as the two foals stopped yelling and just stared daggers at one another. “Ah want ya’ll ta apologize right now and shake hooves.” “Sorry,” Silver hastily mumbled as he glared at Melody, reluctantly holding out his hoof. “Sorry,” Melody said, looking briefly at his outstretched hoof before glancing up to Granita. The older mare gave her a stern look and nodded. She lightly sighed, pressing her smaller hoof into his, giving it one small shake before quickly retracting it. “That’s better. Ah want no more bickering from either of ya. Understand?” “Yes, Granita,” came the half-hearted sound of both of the foal’s voices. “Good. Now Silver, please explain to Melody what a school is.” “Do I have to?” he griped as Melody scrunched her face up a bit at him. “She should know this stuff already!” “What did Ah just get done explaining ta ya?” Granita asked, raising an eyebrow. “Heh… oh yeah. Not from here... Sorry,” Silver sheepishly replied, pawing at the ground for a moment before turning to weird filly that didn’t seem to know much. “A school is a place where foals… you know, go to learn... from a teacher with other foals,” he said, stumbling a bit over his own words as he tried to describe what a school was to somepony that had no idea. But he had done a decent enough job of it, or at least he hoped he did when he saw a bit of recognition in the filly’s eyes after he finished his explanation. “So, do you get what a school is now?” “I’m pretty sure I know what you are talking about now. Thanks for explaining it to me,” Melody replied, giving him a small smile that turned into a frown when she realized what this meant. “So we are going to have to go to… school in the spring?” She sighed, glancing between Silver and Granita, hoping that she wasn’t going to have to repeat school all over again, she just wanted to find Gennie and get back home, but even that was a bit of a long shot by now according to whatever that voice was inside her head. Demon. That was a fitting name. Silver cocked his head a bit to the side, starting at Melody. “You don’t like school that much either, huh?” he asked in an amused tone, a small grin on his face. Ignoring Silver for now, Granita nodded, looking down at Melody who didn’t look to happy about this new prospect. “It seems so, Squirt. Come spring, looks like you and all the other foals will be gettin’ yer learnin’ from school. Ah wouldn’t fret it none though. Ya seem ta like leanrin’, so ya should have fun. Besides, ya get to meet all the other foals in town too,” she happily said, trying to make swallowing this new information easier for the filly, but it didn’t seem to have the desired effect. “But… then again, you might not have ta be here anymore to have ta worry about it.” She ruffled Melody’s mane, giving her a warm smile. “What do you mean she might not be around anymore?” Silver curiously asked. “She waiting for her parents to get back or something? He glancing between the two as Melody found the small pebble at her hooves very interesting at that exact moment. Seeing that Melody was upset over the question, she gave her a comforting smile before quickly turning to Silver, pulling him to the side to explain Melody’s situation to him. “Silver, nopony knows where her parents are, even she hasn’t said anything about them yet, and it has been a few months since we took her in,” she whispered in his ear, quickly glancing over to Melody who was still looking down at the ground. “Don’t bring up anything about her folks or her past. She seems ta get really upset about it still, and Ah wish Ah knew why, but she hasn’t had the courage ta tell us just yet. So ya understand what I am tellin’ ya?” Silver nodded, now extremely curious about Melody. “Y-yeah. I won’t bring it up,” he quietly stated, still looking over to the filly. Granita smiled, heading back over to Melody, quickly picking her up, giving her a loving nuzzle and hug. “Ya ready ta go play at the park, Squirt?” she asked with a big smile, a jovial tone in her voice. Melody nodded as she gently hugged her back for a moment. After the quick hug, she was placed on the older mare’s back, not even given the chance to protest before Granita started walking with Silver following at her side, heading away from the town proper. “So… what do you like to do for fun?” Silver asked Melody after a few moments of silence as they made their way to the park. The question brought her out of her thoughts as she held on to Granita’s back. “I, umm...fun?” Silver rolled his eyes, scoffing a bit. “You do know what fun is, right?” “Yes, I know what fun is. I was thinking and you caught me off guard,” she retorted. This colt seemed to know how to push her buttons... “Well, I like making music, umm reading, and just hanging out with friends…” That answer made Granita’s ears perk up a bit, but she didn’t say anything. She couldn’t if she didn’t want to pry into Melody’s past. “Making music? You mean playing an instrument?” Silver curiously asked. “Umm, yeah. That’s what I meant, playing an... instrument. Why, do you play?” “Oh yeah. I play the best instrument of all. The guitar!” Silver replied, boasting. “What do you play?” “Ah didn’t know ya played an instrument, Melody…” Granita curiously replied, wondering why Melody was opening up more to this colt she just met than she had to her or Ma and Pa. Melody giggled a little at his boyish enthusiasm. “I have no idea what a… guitar is, but you sure seem proud to play one,” she said with a genuine smile. “But, I have no idea how to pronounce the instrument I play. It is stringed, you place the bottom of it on the ground, it umm has a neck and a big body, you play it with a…” She frowned, trying to think if she had heard that word here before. Making a back and forth gesture with her hoof, she hoped that he would understand what she meant. “Like a bass?” he hazard a guess. Granita giggled and he looked up to the mare. “What’s funny about that?” “Ah am just picturing her tryin’ ta play the bass.” She giggled some more. “A bass would be like four feet taller than she is, Silver. There’s no way she could play the bass.” “Hah… I guess you’re right. That would be a bit silly, huh?” he asked, smiling up to the mare as Melody gave him a curious look as she started thinking. “Granita? Can we stop by that music store on the way back? I wanna see if they have the instrument that I play, then I can show both of you,” Melody asked, gently tugging on the mare’s mane as she peeked over her shoulder, the lush green grass of the park coming into view. “Ah don’t see why not, Squirt. Ah would really like ta see what you play.” Granita smiled back to her, wondering what else Melody would surprise her with. “Awesome!” Melody hugged Granita’s neck as they walked onto the path that lead into the park.