//------------------------------// // 3rd Movement // Story: A Wish for Hearth's Warming // by CrackedInkWell //------------------------------// As for Harmonic, when he couldn’t help but watch his father leave the room without a word, the alicorn couldn’t help but feel devastated. This was surprisingly worse than he’d expected it to play out, he was delivered a blow that didn’t come from physical or verbal harm. Although his dad never said a word, the moment that the truth had reached him, he was now dead to him. “Harm?” Note asked quietly, “Are you-” Hunching over in his seat, hooves over his eyes, and all hopes of being reunited with someone that he’d mourned over was broken; the Prince couldn’t help but feel worthless once again. His mint green fiancé hugged his shaking body as he shook and sobbed. Meanwhile, Note’s mother stood up from her seat, “Come on Green,” she turned to her husband who got out of his seat. She turned to Harmonic’s son, “Script, you too.” “Why? What are you-” the blue Earth Pony was about to inquire when the Librarian cut him off. “We’re going to give Mr. Backward a little talking to,” she starting marching towards the door, swinging it open. “Now come along.” The two other stallions followed the determinate mare while leaving the Princesses and Book Mark’s son to comfort the grieving alicorn behind. It didn’t take long to find the Instrument Maker who was walking down one of the endless hallways. “Hey you!” the mare called out, getting Crescendo’s attention, “What was that about?” “Leave me alone,” the yellow unicorn told her, “I really need time to-” “Oh no you don’t,” she circled around until she was in front of him. “Is that the way you honestly react to your son for telling who his special somepony is?” “Ma’am, now is really not the right time,” he tried to go around, yet the crossed librarian kept blocking him. “How could you do that?” she questioned, “Tell me, how could you just disown someone that has gone through all the trouble to bring you here so he could show you who he really is?” “First of all,” the unicorn said, lighting his horn to move Book out of the way, “I never said I’ve disowned anypony. And secondly, why are you so upset at me and not at your son for?” “Excuse me,” now it was the Gardener’s turn to block him, his face souring. “What did you just say?” “I was asking why neither of you aren’t scolding your colt for… this?” Crescendo waved behind him towards the private dining room. “I mean, this is completely going over my head, how can my own boy and yours decided that they would want to wed each other? Does this even bother either of you in the slightest?” “No,” Green said, “we already knew years ago that our Whole Note trots that way.” “But, how?” Crescendo questioned, “How could you be alright with something like this? Much less give your permission for this to occur, to begin with?” “Permission?” Book Mark raised an eyebrow, “What do they need our permission for? They’re full grown adults; they can make up what they want to do with their lives, or even who they want to marry.” Harmonic’s father’s jaw dropped, “Has the world gone insane in the past forty years? T-This is unheard of! Absurd even! No, no! It’s absolutely incredible that neither of you just don’t care!” “Hey! Of course, we care.” Green interjected, “We care about making sure our colt is safe and happy. Don’t you dare say that it’s crazy that we would not only allow it but even give them our blessing too.” Crescendo covered his face, sighing he asked, “What is going on with the traditions? Yesterday, children had to ask the parents’ permission, where husbands get a wife and wives get a husband so that businesses, disputes, and property problems can be settled. And now I find out that my son, my Harmonic, is going to get married to a… a stallion? Why?” “Because happiness is more important than traditions that make you miserable,” Script answered. “It’s the same reason why I married my wife, not because someone made some business agreement or anything like that. But because I asked her out of my own free will.” “Getting yourself wed to a mare is one thing,” Crescendo pointed out, “but all I’m asking is… why him? Why a stallion and not a mare? What does Harmonic see in him that would want him to… to…” he cringed. The Gardener put a hoof on the Instrument Maker’s shoulder, “Look, my wife and I didn’t really know from the start that our son prefers stallions over mares either. In truth, when Note told us that he’s gay; we didn’t really know what to make of it at first. Now, I wouldn’t lie to you if we thought that this was some fluke too, that maybe this was all temporary and he might find a marefriend. Heck, before he came out, I didn’t bother to research anything homosexual related because I didn’t know anypony who was, nor even cared what their history was. “My wife and I went to our family doctor about it, the same one who we’ve always trusted for years to see if there was anything to be done.” The Violinist’s father raised an eyebrow, “So what did he say?” Note’s mother laughed, “He told us that he’d had nothing to worry about, that this was completely natural.” Crescendo blinked, “Define ‘natural.’” “As in that this behavior is commonly found in nature in nearly every species on the planet. And it’s not something that is to be afraid of because it’s just a natural trait like how you were born a unicorn and not a Pegasus or an Earth Pony. This means that there’s no choice in the matter. Also, he told us that he can’t change him liking stallions anymore then we lean towards the opposite gender.” “The point here being is,” Green stepped in, “We turned away from following ignorance and worry to research. We’ve looked into books, searching other ponies who are the parents of children like our own for guidance. And try to figure out where to go from here. As it turns out, the answer is very simple.” “And what answer, pray tell, is that?” the unicorn questioned, “What do any of you do when your child isn’t what you thought he was? Or that you found something that only makes your relationship with your child seem all the more distant? To the point that you have no idea how to relate to or even why that Harmonic made this, decision to wed your son?” “For the same reason I guess why you loved your son, even though he’s an alicorn,” Book stated. Crescendo searched for a response to comeback it, only he couldn’t because it really was the truth. Even when his sense of tradition told to deny it, he hates to even accept such a truth, but the father’s mind went back to the day that his son was born. Back to the time that his village called Harmonic ‘unnatural’ because of his horn and a pair of wings, and how they wished to abandoned him somewhere in the forest so that no evil would come to Cermona. Yet, he remembered his reason why he didn’t; it was the same one that these parents were trying to persuade. Because he’s still his son, and he is the father who wanted nothing out of him but happiness. “But…” the stallion objected, “how is he to raise anypony without a wife? I mean, having a father and mother raise foals is the only way it’s been done since the dawn of time.” “Grandpa,” Script answered him, waving a hoof at him as he started to walk down another hallway, “I want you to show you something.” _*_ Ding! The elevator doors slid open, and the Writer and his Grandfather stepped out of the lift and into the darkness. Lighting up his horn, Crescendo followed Script into the unknown. Along the way down, the bearded unicorn noticed that the blue pony didn’t say a word on the way down. He wondered what his future grandson had in mind; much more in what he intended to show him. Soon, in the echo of their hoofsteps, and in the dim light of his horn, the Instrument Maker found lines of stone lids that were stacked far above him, assuming that they went up to the ceiling. Each lid had carved onto it a name and two dates. “What is this place?” Crescendo wondered out loud. “Canterlot’s Cemetery,” Script told him, “There’s a grave here that I think you really need to see.” “What? My own?” His grandson shook his head, “No, something much more important.” He leads him towards a massive iron gate, above it had the seal of the Equestrian Royal Family, the Crest of Everfrees. Script unlocked it and went through with the unicorn following him behind. Then he came to a stop at one of the graves that was near the floor. In Crescendo’s aura, surrounding the lid were several wreaths of wilted flowers, from roses to orchids that encompassed the portrait in the center. Forever in paint and glass, staring back at them with a soft smile was a unicorn of light brown, white hair and shiny sea blue eyes. “In life, he was Color Spectrum,” Script said, “He was an artist, my Pa, and Harmonic’s husband.” “What?” his grandfather asked in surprise. “Let me finish,” the Writer quickly said. “Before you make your final judgments on my dad, your son, let me tell you about him, his last husband and my biological parents. You see, when Harmonic was discovered here in Canterlot and Princess Celestia adopted him because he was seventeen at the time, my dad once believed that because he was both an alicorn and a homosexual, that nopony in their right mind would ever fall in love with him. But thanks to my aunt, Princess Cadence, that decided to play matchmaker, he was paired up with him,” he pointed to the grave. “And over the course of four years, they dated each other. Color became a kind of councilor to him, where Harmonic could share him his feelings, and secrets like his recurring nightmare of forcing to watch him getting torn apart by villagers from the country you came from. “Then, after they became Husband and Stallion, they help run Equestria in the arts from music to sculpture and everything in between. Not to say that there weren’t times when they had their arguments. Heck, as a teen, I remembered them arguing over who’s turn to do this particular duty. Yet, in the end, they’ve always found a way to apologize and laugh it off.” “What does this have anything to do with you?” the unicorn asked. “Let me get to that. You see, while this was going on, I was born in Baltimare. My real parents, they were not good at all. In fact, my mother died in prison since she was a convicted criminal and left me and dad to fend off for ourselves. My dad on the other hoof couldn’t hold down a job to save his life. We didn’t live anywhere except for some abandoned buildings left over by the city. And to top it off, dad takes this kind of drug that would change his personality, so that when he takes it, I had to leave to wander the streets. I would beg and steel scraps of food or whatever bits I could get my hooves on just so I wouldn’t starve. “Anyway, on this very day years ago, when I was probably a tad older than when you last saw your son yesterday, my dad took his usual drugs, and never woke up. You could imagine that I bawled my eyes out when he died. I got so sad that I went into some alley, crawled in a cardboard box and spent hours crying in the middle of winter without a coat on. I could have died on that day if it wasn’t for somepony that heard my grief. This turned out to be your son who he and his husband was stuck in the city at the time because of an unscheduled blizzard. And… he saved me. “He took me to the hospital to get me warm. Then the next day, he and Color came by and I was given a wish that they can grant. I wished for a family that would be there for me, to listen to me, care for me to eat regularly, sleep in a warm bed and a roof over my head. And you know what?” Script smiled with nostalgia, “That wish came true because they adopted me on the spot. Even from the start, I thought it would be weird having two dads since I never knew anypony that had gay parents before. “But you know what? They stayed true to my wish. I got the family I’ve not only wanted but needed. Under their care, I grew up learning how to be mature, appreciate hard work, and even got my cutie mark in creative writing. From them, they help give me advice in dating my special somepony, who years later turned out to be my wife, Page Turner.” Then, Script paused for a moment. Harmonic’s father was about to ask what was wrong before he said, “On the day that my Pa died, he was working on our family portrait, except, he never got the chance to finish it. But when he passed away, I don’t think I’ve ever seen my dad cry harder in my life. I was told later that at his funeral, dad played his violin one last time before they put him in there. It would be three years before he picked that instrument up again, yet in that time, he never smiled for anything. Not at my wedding, or Cloud’s birth, nothing. He still did his job, but for a while, he really missed him. “But when he met Whole Note, however, he was back to his old self again. He’s was so happy to be around him like he did with Pa. Now, don’t tell my dad that I told you this but… Right after he purposed to Note to officially be his special somepony… Whole Note… got raped.” “What?” Crescendo asked in disbelief. “My dad's historian wanted to have the throne with Harmonic, but when he asked Note and not him, his employee got drunk and… did it to him. My dad found what he was doing to him. Not only did he fire him on the spot, but had the monster arrested as well, leaving Note crying in pain.” This was not what the Instrument Maker expected to hear. But Script continued, “It has taken years for Note to get over it, even when justice was served, he had nightmares for a year about the event. My dad said that he held him for hours at night when he wakes up crying. Yet, just like how Color had comforted him, Harmonic did the same for Note just to let him know that he isn’t alone. “Grandpa, I know you grew up in a different time and place, but I hope you know what love is when you see it. And I know that you have until tonight to live, but all I can say is that from here to you, you need to decide how you want us to remember you. Do you want to be remembered as a monster, no more different than the foals that had beaten my dad in your town, the ignorant villagers that tortured him for fun? Or, do you want to be remembered as the same, kind father that you son grew up to love?” The two stallions stood there in silence until Script asked, “Out of curiosity, about my grandmother, Melody. You said that marriages were arranged where you came from, did you love her?” His Grandpa cleared his throat, “The first time I’ve ever met her, was on our wedding day… She and I were frightened when we were wed in front of everyone. But our parents said that we should learn to love each other.” “Did you?” He shook his head, “We were more like friends who happened to be married. I did respect her, but when Harmonic was born, that love for him as a son… that was genuine. For seven, bittersweet years, I watched that tiny baby grew up to a wonderful, helpful colt.” Here, Crescendo chuckled sadly, “Although, he did break a few windows with his ball, and had smashed a few good violins. But what makes it all so weird to me is… I can’t see him other than the colt that I’ve always known. And now, with him getting married to a stallion…? I’m completely lost in what to do.” His grandpa paused for a moment, “Script, may I be left alone? I think I can find my way out of this place, but I need a moment to ponder on a few things.” “Are you sure?” He nodded his grandson quietly clip-clopped his way back to the elevator, leaving a unicorn of flesh and a unicorn of paint in the catacombs to meditate. _*_ Script walked out of the elevators and walked towards the private dining room where he last saw his dad. He hoped that he might have enlightened his grandpa a bit from what he told him. Although, he confessed to himself that he wasn’t all too sure about if what he had to say made any impact with the stallion from Cermona. “Dad,” he snapped his attention upward, finding his daughter above him. “Where’ve you been? And where’s grandpa’s dad?” “I just had a talk with him, sweetie.” The little filly lowered herself till all four hooves were on the ground, “Did he mean to make grandpa cry?” “I don’t think that was what he intended to do,” the blue Earth Pony picked his daughter up, “Right now, he’s just confused and need some time to think things through. And speaking of your grandpa, is he still in the dining room?” “No,” Cloudy shook her head, “He and Note went to his room. Aunt Luna and Cousin Flurry are pretty upset with grandpa’s dad leaving without saying anything.” “What about everypony else?” “Well… Celestia, Twilight, and Aunt Cadence are talking with Not’s parents right now, and mom was wondering where you’ve gone to.” “Oh, I see,” Script swung the filly onto his back and started to continue on his walk. “Where is your mom anyway?” “She was looking for you,” Cloudy moved around, trying to hug his dad’s neck, “since you’ve just disappeared on us.” “I’m sorry for that, but I had to show Harmonic’s dad something first.” “What was it?” The writer shook his head, “It doesn’t matter now, how about we go find your mom?” As father and daughter walked on and turn into a different hallway, the elevator door rang, its doors opened up to the Instrument Maker. His mind deep in thought, he wondered down passed hallways and elaborate rooms aimlessly. It didn’t matter where he was going, but rather to walk off what was on his mind – something he intended to do from the start. Eventually, he came across the doors that lead to the winter outside. With a flicker of his horn to open the doors, the arctic winds that bit on the yellow coat, but walked out to the crunchy snow nevertheless. Although, as freezing as it was, Crescendo found it appealing given that there wasn’t anypony on the palace grounds. He walked along the labyrinth of shoveled pathways of this Icy Wonderland. Nearly every inch of grass, bushes, statues, trees, even the buildings, and mountains were layered in crunchy snow. Winds danced wildly around the statue gardens to the point that the bearded stallion could have sworn he could see ghosts doing a traditional dance from his village. The Instrument Maker paused for a moment behind a snow covered hedge that blocked most of the wind and thought for a moment. ‘Am I really being so inconsiderate?’ he wondered. ‘After all, my boy did go through all the trouble just to see me one last time. Come to think of it, he just wanted me to meet his family, his children- adopted! Remember you old fool, every single one of them are adopted! There’s not a drop of Trotivarius blood in any of them.’ Crescendo looked up at the massive castle, ‘But, does that matter? They took you in; Harmonic introduced me to what he considers to be his love ones. Maybe not by blood, but he has a family now. On the one hoof, in this future, he’s happy, safe, and has raised a colt of his own that’s now a stallion himself. Oh, but on the other hoof, he’s going to wed a stallion and not a mare, twice! Then again, Script was raised by two fathers, and even in Cermona, he would be perceived as a normal fellow. And that Note does appear to be a polite, if not tongue-tied at times. If he and my colt were to raise another foal again, perhaps whoever they raise, may grow up to be an upright, moral pony.’ He shook his head, ‘But on the other hoof, this is going way outside of the norm, no matter what country this is. I mean, who’d ever heard about a stallion that’s capable of falling in love with another? There’s a reason why traditions like a stallion and a mare get together to raise a family has endured for so long, this is just something new. Yet, maybe all traditions started out as new once, did they? ‘Besides, from what he told me last night, and by the looks of it...’ Harmonic’s father looked around the Splendor, if not frozen palace. ‘Things can’t get any worse for him… From what he’d had to endure, they can only get better.’ Feeling the chill all over his body, it was about time that the bearded Instrument Maker moved indoors for his ponderings. He followed one of the shoveled pathways that lead to a different part of the castle. Walking through another pair of double doors, he shook the fallen show off of him and whipped the fog that formed on his glasses. As he did so, a question popped into his mind, ‘Why does it matter what gender Harmonic’s spouses are supposed to be?’ Spotting a couch a little way down, Crescendo walked over to sit down in it, musing over this new question that he’d never considered thinking before. Minutes passed by with the stallion never moving from where he was resting. Then, a butler noticed him and went up saying, “Excuse me sir, are you Crescendo Trotivari by any chance?” “Yes, and?” he questioned. “Sir, the Princesses have been looking for you everywhere, partly being that it’s now time for lunch and that the Prince has been upset over you.” Harmonic’s father blinked, “Upset?” “He’s with his fiancé in his room, and he’s been furious. Whatever you’ve done, it really soured his mood quite a bit.” Making up his mind, Crescendo stood up, “Can you take me to him?” _*_ Up several staircases, down hallways, passed armies of the castle staff and guards, and dozens of festive rooms later, Crescendo stood at the double doors that bared his son’s cutie mark of the familiar, elegant “f” that he’d covered countless times before. He knocked twice on the tall doorways, a moment later; it opened up to find his son peeking out from it. Who by the look on the alicorn’s face had quickly frowned when he saw who knocked. “Harmonic, I think we-” was as far as the unicorn got before the door was slammed in his face, quickly followed by the door being locked. Annoyed, he knocked again, “Son, let me in.” “Why?” his son questioned with a hint of anger, “I think your silence spoke for itself.” “What are you talking about?” “You walked out on me, even when I tried to ask you to stay to hear me out, you wouldn’t. So it looks like now that I’m dead to you isn’t it.” “Harmonic, look, you’ve got it all wrong. That’s not what I meant to intend. I mean… this is all a big shock to me. I left so I can comprehend what was happening, since… I never had to deal with anything like this before.” “So? You could have just said, ‘I need a moment’ or something other than just walk right out. Besides, why did you come back to me anyway?” “I just wanted to talk.” There was a thump from behind the door, “Let me guess,” Harmonic said, “You’re going to say that I’m no longer your son anymore and follow it with every insult that I’ve ever heard in my life? Like saying that I should be treated lower than dirt because I’m a delusional, selfish, sick, perverted, stallion-stuffing, demon-possessed, queerer-than-a-fairy, manure-eating, weak, pathetic, stupid faggot that should never have been born – was that what you’re going to say? I think I’ve pretty much covered it.” His father shook his head, “No, that’s not at all what I was going to say at all.” “Then what,” Harmonic asked coldly, “what were you going to say?” He paused, inhaling, the Instrument Maker said, “You have my permission.” At this, the locks on the double door were opened, and Harmonic’s head peaked out. “What?” Crescendo took a breath, “What I meant was… if you wanted to wed this other stallion of yours… you… have my permission to do so.” Slack-jawed, the Violinist stood there in shock, not saying a word, the bearded stallion continued, “Let me make this clear to you. I have thought this over about what some of your family said to me into consideration. Personally, I don’t understand this, and given the limited time that I have left, I doubt that I ever will. Is it weird for me that you’re going to marry a stallion for the second time? Of course, it is. “And I don’t know who, or what put the idea that I’m suddenly going to disowning you in the first place, but that’s not what I’m ever going to do. In my eyes, all I see from you is the same, timid seven-year-old who has been unjustly thought by the village as nothing more than a recreation of a monster. I still see someone of my own flesh and blood that all he asks in life, is to find something to make him happy. Harmonic, I am a stallion of my word when I told you that there’s nothing that you could do or say to me that would make me stop loving you, my child. “Perhaps, I’m not the one that’s caught up with all the changes in ideas since this is forty years into the future for me. Maybe there’s something in what you’re doing that I’m still missing and just don’t quite see it. But you know what son? As long as you are safe from harm, and can still give a real smile, it’s all I ask as a parent. And by the look of things, I don’t think I’ve done a good job at it lately.” Sighing, Crescendo added, “Harmonic Trotivari, for what I’ve put you through… I’m sorry.” As for the Prince, he embraced his father with not only his fore hooves but even wrapped him in his wings too. “Thank you, dad,” Harmonic said, “I… I don’t know how to express how much this means for me.” His dad pulled away, but still kept his son’s wings around him. “But I have to ask, are you sure that this is what you want to do? I mean, marrying another stallion again.” His son smiled, “Yes dad, I’m absolutely sure of it. Whole Note has made me happy more than you could possibly know. I can say this without any hint of sarcasm or lie to you by saying that I love him.” Nodding, his dad asked, “Speaking of which, where is that Note, fellow? Is he in there with you?” One of the double doors were pulled aside, revealing the mint green Cellist behind it. “Y-You wanted to see me?” Letting go of the hug, Harmonic’s father turned to him and told him, “Son, I want to have a moment to speak with your… fiancé in private. In the meantime, I’ve heard that they’re serving lunch now, so how about you head off there and we’ll join you later?” The Prince of Inspiration raised an eyebrow, “Why?” “I’m not going to scold him if that’s what you’re thinking,” the yellow unicorn said as he stepped in. “I just want to get to know the pony who’s going to be marrying my son is all. Now run along,” His horn lit up, gently pushing his son out and closing the doors. Alone with his fiancé’s biological father, Whole Note gulped, “Uh… Could I uh… Help you with anyth-thing?” “Have a seat,” he waved a hoof over to the couch. Even when he was hiding his increasing nervousness, Whole Note obeyed. The stallion watched Crescendo trot over to the couch, sitting down across from him. “I’m rather curious,” the bearded stallion began as he adjusted his glasses. “How did you come to know my son?” “Well,” Note scratched the back of his neck, “We’ve met a few ye-years ago when he’d rejoined the orchestra.” “That’s right; somepony said that you play the cello.” He nodded. “How long ago was it?” The Cellist put a hoof underneath his chin, “I… I think it was about three… maybe, four years ago?” Crescendo nodded, “But, why him?” “S-Sorry?” “I mean,” he clarified, “Out of all the ponies in the world, why did you choose him?” “Oh. Well, truth be t-told, I didn’t really choose him, o-o-or even asked him to marry me. He did.” The father tilted his head in confusion, “Ya see, I had developed a kind of crush on him years ago. I mean, how could I not? He started out as this role model for me, from coming out to my parents t-to picking up music as a passion. “But, when I was good enough to join the Royal Equestrian Orchestra, and the day he rejoined it,” Crescendo noticed that a slight tint of red started to form on Note’s cheeks. “Oh, I was j-just so nervous. I guess from both being star st-stu-struck, and being in the presence of this, violin God to the point that I couldn’t help but distance myself from him. Yet, on one Hearts and Hooves day, a miracle happened. He’d noticed me, not just that, but took some time to talk to me, a-and even it grew to give me a chance go d-date him.” “So in other words, he was the one that gave you the chance to be… romantically involved with him.” Note smiled as he said, “You may not know it, but your son, Harmonic, is an incredible gentlecolt. He takes the time to listen to me, my compositions, and unlike some of these uptight na-no-nobles in Canterlot, he never saw me as an everyday pony that you’d easily forget because they’re not worth your time. Instead, he saw me, a Cellist who has a few mental disabilities, living in an apartment as this kind of treasure to be taken care of. Not to mention his k-kindness and selflessness, this is a rare thing for any royal mind you. “Although he’d offered me several times that he can help finish paying that stupid rent on my apartment once and for all, I’ve always declined it because I wanted to pay it all from my honest work from the orchestra. Yet, when I had my uh… bad day, when I got hurt, he was there beside me until I was w-well again.” “You seem to speak highly of Harmonic,” the unicorn pointed out. “So I assume it’s safe to say that you do care about him?” “No sir,” Note shook his head, “I love him. I-It’s just as s-simple as that.” Leaning back in his seat, Crescendo turned his head towards the fireplace in thought. Finally, he spoke, “I’ve always been protective of my son. In a place where ponies like alicorns are viewed as tricksters, you tend to hold a different view when that said alicorn is your own flesh and blood. There were times when the village demanded that he should be thrown into the well or sometimes a rock would be thrown at our window that wants your son dead, I bet even you too would do everything you could to make sure he’s safe. Yet, even for somepony that makes string instruments, you can’t always be with him; you have a job to do to keep your family feed.” “I th-think I understand,” Note nodded. “There have been times when my Harmonic would come home crying because those brats pulled on his wings until the feathers fell out. Or that he would run home with the children throwing leftover food at him. In fact, when I last saw him yesterday, he dropped out of school for two years because those foals treat him so harshly while the adults dismiss his cries of help. “Of course, I tried convincing the elders that my son deserved much better treatment, yet I was always ignored because they think I and Melody had done something wrong to get a child like this. So you could only imagine how frustrating it was for us living there. “Believe me, I have worked hard, both on the quality of my instruments and show my Harmonic as much love that a father could give him. I went out of my way of making the best violin I’ve ever made for him, and even taught him how to play the instrument too. Simply because that he loved music, it was his comforter, a constant friend that I wanted to pass down to.” “Are you a good musician?” Note inquired. Crescendo laughed, “When you’re the one who’s making the instruments, you might as well know how to play them so you could sell them!” The mint green Cellist tilted his head, “And what do you prefer playing?” “The guitar,” he grinned, “as much as ponies like to play the violins (like my son for instance), I for one always loved the guitar because it’s much easier for me to play.” “Huh,” Note commented, “I n-never knew that. I knew Harmonic talked about how you used to play music for him, but I somewhat expected you’d play the violin or something.” The Instrument Maker shook his head, “I’m an amateur at best. True I’ve taught him how to play the violin, but it’s not something I’m entirely good at. A dying cat performing can do better playing on the violin in its final death twitches than I can on a good day!” As soon as his laughter died down, Harmonic’s father turned serious looked at the Earth Pony and stated, “On a serious note. I may have just given the both of you permission to wed, yet, the last thing I want from my boy is to have anypony, especially you to make his life more miserable then what he’d already had gone through. I may be going to die tonight, but if I somehow catch word that you do something to make my Harmonic unhappy, I will do everything in my power to come back and haunt you until the day you breathe your last breath.” Note couldn’t do anything but meekly nod, ‘Celestia Harm! Your dad can be really scary if he wants to!’ Getting out of his seat, a smile quickly appeared on the father’s face, “So with that, let’s go get some lunch, I’m getting hungry myself.”