//------------------------------// // 23: Opportunity in Ab Major. // Story: Inverno in F Minor // by CrackedInkWell //------------------------------// As the evening wane on, Key Signature was deep in thought as he sipped his tea. 'Was I a little too hard on the little guy?' He wondered, 'I mean sure, he may have received his Cutie mark, and it did teach him a valuable lesson. But was I a little too cruel in doing that?' He shook his head, 'No, come now! You know that you’ve done worse… Yeah, much worst…' Signature took another sip of his tea. 'On the other hoof, you did the same thing to your granddaughter. Well, not exactly in such a fashion but… Perhaps I ought to repair the damage while I still can. But how?' It was then that the Professor heard something from his window that startled out of his thoughts. At first, he couldn’t believe what he was hearing, so putting his tea down, Key went over to the window to investigate. There, on the edge of the Empire, the Professor saw lights moving, then slowing down at the gates. It was a train and a team of ponies that moved about like ants, laying out the line of tracks to the Empire’s front door. “Professor Key Signature?” he turned around to find Cadence, knocking on the opened door. “May I come in?” “You may, Your Highness,” as she entered, the elderly Earth pony offered the Princess some of his tea. “I already had some, thank you.” Cadence said, “I’m here to ask you a few things.” “Let me guess, about today’s lesson?” Key guessed, and the pink Alicorn nodded. “Alright, what do you want to know?” “I was told that you gotten him upset by tearing up his composition.” “Yes, and...?” “Why did you do that?” “Motivation,” the Professor answered, picking up his tea. “At least I’ve demonstrated to him that there’s a constructive way that he could use his anger without becoming a danger to anypony. It looks like that plan had worked beautifully.” “But you do realize that was an awfully risky move though.” Cadence pointed out, “As effective as it was, you have to be extra careful with him.” “I know, you’re not the first to say that on behalf of my students you know. When it comes to certain music, playing with emotion is almost always required. Sometimes, a student wouldn’t understand the piece their playing unless I evoke the emotion that the piece requires. Sometimes, that requirement means that I need to. I confess, manipulating their emotions to get that music just right. And I know what you’re thinking?” “Isn’t that a bit extreme?” Cadence questioned. “Some may view that, but as for me, it always has shown positive results. As well as to show my students how to be emotionally mature. That is what I was doing with Inverno. Although, sometimes I do tend to feel guilty about doing things like this.” “How so?” “Well…” Key trailed off. He refilled his cup before he answered, “There are times when I look back and think if I have gone too far. As effective as it is, the last thing I want my students to view me as if I’m some sort of villain. This is why I need to meditate on how to make it up to the colt, so he doesn’t think that all music is all unfair play.” “If it helps,” Cadence began, nibbling on a crumpet. “Inverno told me that Twilight had helped him repair those pages you’ve torn, much to his relief.” “Thank you,” Professor Key nodded, “And just out of curiosity, is that the railroad coming to the Empire, Majesty?” Cadence craned her neck over to the window, “Ah, right on time,” she grinned. “With any luck, my ponies will have access to all of Equestria by tomorrow, and Equestria will visit the Empire as well.” “I’m sure they would,” he said, sipping his tea. “I wonder who else from the outside world will be bringing in first.” “From what I’ve heard,” Cadence began walking out of the suite. “The Royal Philharmonic is expected to be here to perform a concert to welcome our ponies to the Modern day.” “Is that so?” By now, the gears in the elderly stallion’s head were turning. “Quite. Unfortunately, I don’t think I’ll be able to make it, but I’m sure it might be something you may look forward to.” “Oh! I will, Your Majesty,” even when Cadence bid him good night and closed the door, the Professor’s mind was at full speed. Now he had an idea how to make it up for the little unicorn. _*_ Inverno didn’t see nor hear anything. As far as he could see, it was all a silent void. He tried calling out a while ago, but even he couldn’t hear anything coming out of his mouth, even though he knew it moved. Suddenly, he was blinded by a bright light. After blinking, he saw a spotlight on a piano, as if it were waiting for him. As he approached, he could make out vaguely from the darkness that he was on a wide stage with faceless ponies in the shadows. He had no idea what he was doing here. Was he supposed to play? Play what exactly, he didn’t know. Inverno sat down at the bench before the black piano, took a deep breath, and decided that he should play out a favorite anthem. He put his hoof on the key and… nothing. The colt pressed the key again, but it was still quiet. Confused, he looked over into the inside of the instrument. The strings and hammers were still present, but the unicorn noticed that no matter how hard he pressed any of the keys, it refused to make a sound. “Any time now!” he heard somepony in the audience shout. Soon, there was a murmur among the crowd, making Inverno even more uncomfortable. Sitting back down, he tried to play out the anthem he had in mind, but he still wasn’t able to hear anything. “Louder!” And by the looks of things, neither was the audience. He tried pounding at the keyboard as hard as he could, but even then, the piano refused to sing. Inverno panicked as his audience got restless. He didn’t know what to do, even trying to talk to them didn’t work because he couldn’t make a sound either. What was going on? Why can’t he hear anything other than the audience’s disapproval? Then the ground began to quake, everything around him was moving back and forth, “Inverno.” A voice called out, “Hey Inverno, wake up.” Inverno awoke, finding that the Professor was shaking him in his bed, “Are you up?” he asked. “Huh? What?” in Inverno’s confusion, his mind was trying to make out what was going on. “Well good morning to you too,” the Elder stallion said, pulling the blankets off of him. “Come on and put these on,” he threw some clothes and a pair of sunglasses onto the colt’s bed. “We’re going on a field trip today.” “What’s going on?” Inverno asked, wiping his eyes, “What time is it?” “Pretty early in the morning, but we’ll need it because I have a special plan for today. Inverno, how would you like it if we stepped outside for a bit.” “Outside of, where?” “The palace of course,” this got Inverno’s attention. “What!? But… I’m not allowed-” “I know that,” his teacher interrupted. “But after all, I put you through the other day, I want to make it up to you. So, how about we get you in disguise and sneak around the Empire for a bit.” Inverno stared at the Professor, “But what if we get caught?” “Then, we’ll get caught,” Key answered, “Besides, you do want to see what the world is like out there right?” The young unicorn nodded, “Shall we take a look?”