//------------------------------// // Adaptation - Part Two // Story: The Melody of the Heart // by Star Origin //------------------------------// Melody glanced at the breakfast before her, but her mind was already elsewhere. Today was the day she resumed school since she had gone missing and had a year go by her without even knowing about it. Reluctantly reaching out for the cutlery around her plate, she raised her head, and her brow, to look at Rising Chorus. She sighed and just gave up her facade, her head dropping onto the table. Rising made a gesture to help her out, but the filly declined his help with a hoof lifted in the air and a grunt. She shook her head on the table and lifted herself back up to look at Rising with an aggravated look. “Are you—“ “No, I am not okay! Do I look like I’m fine?” Melody placed her hooves over her eyes and shook her head, sighing and dropping her forehead onto the table once more. “Well, you certainly do seem lively, sweetheart,” Coral chimed in, taking a seat next to her husband and giving him a soft kiss on the cheek, making him fidget a bit as he returned the kiss. “Can I be taken seriously at least once in this house? Can’t you two see I’m about to lose my mind? Rising Chorus’s smile grew a bit wider at her response, and he left the embrace of his wife to take a seat next to Melody, lacing a hood around her shoulder and pulling her into a hug. The filly gave a faint shriek of protest before eventually giving up in front of his persistence. She shot him a glare and pouted when he refused to let her go even if she constantly pushed herself away. He finally let go of her—to her great pleasure—and he looked at her with a more serious expression. “We are taking you seriously, Melody. We just don’t think this warrants all this…trouble,” he said calmly, patting her on the back. “Cheer up, okay? It’ll be just fine. Besides, Choir’s at the same school, so you already have one pony to talk to if things go rough.” But it wasn’t going to be okay for her. She already dreaded the moment she would walk in the class and everypony would look at her for what she is and reject her with all of their being. Just thinking about it made her head spin. Her vision blurred from the sudden rush of anxiety and her heart almost skipped a few beats as her chest rose and fell at an increasing pace. “It’s not going to be okay! I can’t even shapeshift yet, and you expect me to walk into a classroom full of ponies that are probably going to run at the first sight of me, or bully me?” she hissed, shooting a glare to both Rising Chorus and Coral Charm. Rising and Coral took a few moments to look at each other, sharing what seemed to be a quiet fit of giggles, a hoof lifted over their lips. She sighed and crossed her front legs on the table, pushing her breakfast away from her. Her lower lip curled into a pout, and she looked at them angrily. The couple exchanged a few more glances and giggled again. They shook their heads for just an instant, turning to face Melody with innocent grins. Both of them looked at her as if she was some adorable little critter, which made her roll her eyes annoyingly. “I’m so glad you two are enjoying this moment,” she grumbled, shaking her head and hissing. “If I’m not back by tonight, make sure I get a proper funeral, okay?” “Oh, for the love of Celestia, you’re going to be just fine, sweetie!” Coral Charm replied, which failed to entertain Melody or even lighten up her mood. “Just make sure you have fun at school!” Melody just gave a dismissive nod before walking out of the kitchen, stopping only to her room and peeking her head inside to see Choir Heart getting her things ready, stuffing a few notebooks in her saddlebag. She slowly turned her head to face her sister and smiled at her. Despite her smaller frame in comparison to Melody’s, the unicorn was only a year younger than her adoptive sister. Melody barely made the efforts to spread a smile on her lips and walked to her side of the room to gather her belongings, stuffing close to nothing in her saddlebags, and instead just hovering them over her back and placing them appropriately. “Ready for the first day of school, Melody?” She turned to face her with a stern stare and scoffed at the smaller filly before returning to her things, rummaging through her drawers for whatever school furniture she might have scattered in there. “Yeah, as ready as anyone could be. Who wouldn’t mind going to school looking like Equestria’s number one public enemy. It’s going to be such a good time! I can already tell.” The tone Melody used made Choir’s hair and fur crawl, turning to face her sister again, frowning at her. “Well, at least, it’s good to see you have a good feeling about it,” she muttered, getting her saddlebags ready and packing them on her back, heading out already. “Good luck, I guess.” The changeling groaned and gathered a few pencils, erasers, and a single notebook in her saddlebags. She walked out of the room and began making her way outside, although not before coming to a full stop to see Rising Chorus sitting alone in the kitchen, sipping his coffee and going through the newspaper floating in front of him. “Where’s Coral?” she asked with a confused glance. Rising pried his eyes away from the newspaper to look at Melody and offered her a warm smile. She replied with a very forced one, and he gestured at the hallway next to her. “Oh, Coral just left with Choir for school. And you should get going soon too. You’ll be late if you don’t hurry.” She rolled her eyes and made for the door with no hurry whatsoever in her gait. “Yeah, yeah. What does Coral even do, though?” “You’ll find out pretty soon. Now, hurry along, Melody. Don’t want to be late on your first day of school.” She grumbled at the reminder and opened the door to the house, taking the first step outside to find a soft breeze colliding with her body, sending her mane flying behind her. She tugged her head closer to her chest and regretted not taking a scarf already. Oh well. ---- “You have to be kidding me,” Melody muttered when she sat down to stare at her teacher. At the front of the class stood Coral Charm. She was currently busy with writing a few introductory phrases for the class that Melody never bothered to read. Her day was just becoming more enjoyable by the minute. That and all the stares and the looks she got from all the other foals made her more uncomfortable. She almost jumped from her seat when she felt a hoof tap her back. Brushing the feeling aside, she lifted her shoulders with a sigh and ignored the probing. By the tenth time, however, she gritted her teeth and anger boiled within her, her fur already started to stand on end. She snapped her head back and hissed, staring deep into the eyes of the filly sitting behind her. The cream-coated filly sank into her seat and stared back at Melody with wide eyes at the sight of her fangs. Her ears flattened against her head, trying to muster an apology even if the words refused to come out. “I am so, so sorry. I didn’t mean to snap at you. It’s just I’ve had a bad—” Her train of thought was lost when her ears perked up at the sound of mild chuckles. Following the sound with her ears and eyes, her expression turned to deadpan. Holding her hooves over her lips, she stole a glance at Melody, trying to muster the most innocent expression possible, with astounding failure. “Of course, you’d be involved in this, Cherry Blossom.” That was it. Cherry burst in laughter and gently hit her desk with a hoof a few times, all the while staring at the changeling in front of her. She gave her the biggest grin she could muster and giggled, “I am. Don’t worry, she’s not actually scared. I promised her a few things my mom made for lunch that I don’t like so she’d act like she was afraid. Say hi to Sunshine.” The filly giggled in turn, and it was only once her little fit of laughter ended that she managed to give the changeling the most innocent smile she could muster. Melody looked back at Sunshine and then Cherry and rolled her eyes, gathering her forelegs on the desk and sinking her face behind them while she let out a groan. “Nevermind. This day just got worse.” Her ears perked up from the sound of somepony clearing their throat. She lifted her head to look around, her gaze quickly finding Coral Charm standing by her side, giving her a stern stare that made her sink into her seat, shying away from those eyes. “Do you have anything you’d like to share with the class, Melody?” she asked in a smooth voice. She fidgeted, her cheeks grew hotter and redder, from the immediate intervention and she averted her eyes to look instead at the floor. She shook her head and remained in complete silence while the rest of the class giggled and laughed at her, or maybe the situation. She couldn’t quite tell. Despite not feeling any hostility in the emotions around her, it remained that she did not feel at ease being the center of attention as she was. Once Coral Charm was back to the front of the class to start the day, Melody was left to her own devices. Drawn to the sound of chalk hitting itself against the board, she lifted her chin to look at the words written there. Already she knew that the day would be long, despite knowing Cherry Blossom was next to her, through some dumb luck or by Celestia’s fury. She sighed loud enough for Cherry to hear it and steal a glance her way, but not loud enough to garner a lot of attention. She rested one of her knees on the desk and leaned her cheek against her hoof, glancing absent-mindedly at the ponies in front of her and the lesson given. Her horn barely lit up, and her pencil rose to life to come scribble in the notebook she had in front of her. Figures, words, names. Anything that entered her head spilled itself onto the sheet while her mind lifted itself above the clouds, going over better days she’d had with her brother a year before this whole mess of a life she now lived. Her ears perked up when an incoherent sound reached her, and she spun her head around in an attempt to find the source of the voice that had taken her out of her reverie. Leaning her head to the side to see Cherry Blossom leaned a bit toward her, a hoof over her mouth in the least subtle display she’d seen. “Psst. How’d you get in this class?” she hushed with a brow raised and she stared straight at Melody. Said filly glanced at Cherry for a few moments, then to Coral and finally back at Cherry, sighing once again. She closed her eyes and, upon opening them, returned her attention to the sheet in front of her. “It’s a long story. Can we talk about it during recess?” Cherry arched her other eyebrow and tilted her head at the response, and offered a simple smile as an answer and soon returned to her business, leaning down to grab that pencil between her teeth. The day was certainly going to be long indeed. ---- “No seriously,” Cherry began, halting a second to catch her breath, “how did you get in this class? You’re, like, taller and bigger than everypony in class, and I’m pretty sure you ought to be in secondary school right now.” Melody rolled her eyes and sat on her haunches against the brick wall, uncomfortably trying to rid herself of an itch. Watching the colts and fillies play and scheme their little plans away forced her lips into a tiny smile. She turned to face Cherry, her smile faltering and the intensity of the matter washed over her anew. A sigh shook her shoulders, and she tore her eyes from her companion’s gaze. She instead threw her head upwards to watch the clouds swirl and play in the azure skies until they began melding themselves into familiar forms. Weakly, with a shaking leg, she lifted a hoof to cover her mouth, just in time to choke a whine escaping her. The memories flashed through her mind. The trip, the attack, the manticore, the blood, the pain, and then… nothing. Nothing for a whole year. Some tears formed in her eyes when she thought of her brother, but the mere thought of what he did to her made her fur stand on end, furiously blinking the tears away before the other filly could notice them. “It’s a really long story, and I doubt recess would allow me to cover it entirely.” Cherry stared at Melody, her mouth flung open, and she leaned forward the changeling, pressing her nose against Melody’s and staring at her with two wide eyes, brows also raised. “Are you for real? You told me you’d share that story during recess, and now you want to call it off? Make up your mind already, Melody.” The changeling tore her muzzle from Cherry’s and just looked away at the playground. She fidgeted, which in turn forced her to swallow a pained cry when her leg received too much pressure. “Fine, but if I can’t finish it before the end of recess, I’ll continue at lunch, okay?” Cherry nodded and backed off, offering her a satisfied smile that quickly distorted itself into a grin. Melody brought a hoof to her forehead when she realized she had walked into her trap. With a soft buzz of her wings, she cleared her throat. She began with how it all started. Well, as best as she could, while leaving most of the details of the bloody assault she and her brother suffered in the Hollow Shades. She was about to tell more of her story when Cherry raised her hoof and looked at Melody with a concerned expression. “Wait, you’re that Melody Swiftsong? The one that went missing a year ago? Wow, well, that’s a surprise!” she exclaimed with a light giggle, staring at Melody with wide opened eyes full of curiosity of life. Melody, in her case, nodded and opened her mouth again but before any sound escaped her, the bell rang, signaling the end of their recess. She groaned and winced. Her muscles refused to cooperate with her and, with every attempt at another step, she let out another pained whine and walked back into the school with her slow and limping gait. Upon walking into the classroom with Cherry at her side, Melody made a beeline for her desk and couldn’t help but notice a small note taped to the desk. Narrowing her eyes to read the small characters, she rolled her eyes and opened the desk to reveal a small bag inside of it. Although her mind said no, her crying stomach said quite the opposite, causing a flush of embarrassment to spread on her cheeks. “Here’s your lunch for today, sweetie. Love, Coral. Wow, must be fun having the teacher as your mom,” came Cherry’s voice. Her eye twitched slightly, and she glared at Cherry with her eyes squinted and her fangs exposed in quite the threatening display—which did nothing to threaten Cherry Blossom in any way. She hissed at the mere notion and scoffed before turning back to face the board, sinking her muzzle onto the desk and avoiding all eye-contact with the white pony. “She’s not my mom! She just ended up taking care of me because of her husband.” The dryness in her voice made it clear to Cherry that no compromises could exist about this whole matter. In fact, Cherry pushed the thought away from her mind, and she just did as Melody did and switched her attention to Coral Charm. ---- Once the bell rang again to signify the end of classes until lunch time was over, Melody waited until everypony was out, except for Cherry that clung to her side with an expression of jubilation adorned all over her face. She had those big eyes that made it impossible for Melody to deny her, but she had something to take care of that required her gone. “Do you mind waiting for me outside the room. I want to have words with Miss Charm,” she said dryly, offering a simple smile that looked forced. Cherry shrugged and got up from her seat and stopped after a few steps. She glanced back at Melody with her tongue stuck out. “Alright. Just don’t take too long. You still owe me a story.” Melody nodded, rolling her eyes, and got up, in turn, waiting for Cherry to get out before approaching Coral Charm. Her crystalline coat dazzled in the sunlight that breached from the window, and she hummed quietly, occupying herself with cleaning the board all the while. When her ears perked up at the sound of steps behind her, she craned her head backward to glance at Melody. The filly threw her a sharp stare. Her whole body exhumed with bristling anger, and she felt on a high of emotions that felt like they belonged to someone else. But not once did she question herself for feeling that way. Instead, she directed all that anger onto the mare in front of her. Coral sighed, slowly traveling the short distance between herself and the door, closing it before returning to the front of the class. She sat in front of Melody and stared her down. “Look, sweetie,” she began, finally breaking the awkward silence between them. She rubbed her hooves together to get rid of the chalk that crawled its way onto them, clearing her throat right after. “Can you wait un—“ “Don’t call me that! I’m not your daughter, and you’re certainly not my mother, so cut the act already!” Melody bellowed. Coral was not only physically staggered by the interruption; she regarded the filly with boiling anger that rose from within her. Melody felt it swell within the air around Coral and her form seemingly shrunk under the growing pressure of those emotions. She shrieked when Coral grabbed her and put her on the desk with a tenderness that betrayed her anger, but those eyes did not, and neither did that slap. Melody’s muzzle snapped to the right, a hoof slowly trailing her fur until it connected with the sore spot where Coral had slapped her, tears already glistening in her eyes that begged for the reason she had done that. “I may not be your mother, and I may not know how you feel, that may be true. But I am not trying to burn bridges with everypony around me!” Her voice was stern and cold, commanding and frightening. “When I agreed to take you in with Rising, I agreed to that because I felt like you deserved more. It wasn’t simply out of pity so get that out of your head! “I can imagine your brother must have been a sweet and caring stallion, but he’s not the only one qualified to take care of you. Rising and I took you in because we wanted to help mend your broken heart, not tear it open even more. We both love you as if you were our child, and given our situation, you could very well be. Melody, I—listen to me when I’m speaking, young lady!” Melody had already looked away to stare at the empty class and already regretted trying to get into an argument with her adoptive mother. She was right. They’d given her nothing short of love, affection and care since she’d moved in. She had done nothing to make herself at home. Instead, all she did was create tension with everypony in their household, and even outside of it. She was aware of the reason for her detachment, and although she could attempt justifying it, it wasn’t enough to right her wrongs. She was afraid. So scared of losing somepony else close to her again that she closed herself from the world. If she had nopony to care for, then she’d never be left all alone by those she cared about. But where had she gone wrong? Why were her every attempt at protecting those she cared about failing so miserably? She looked at the filly she had been a year before. The happy-go-lucky filly she had once been was no more. She died when Star Blaze died. Did that make it automatically correct for her to ruin herself to that point? As a changeling, she needed positive emotions much more than negative ones and yet refused to let anyone in; she erected a wall around her broken heart that had become too strong to even break it herself. Coral Charm was right. She had no rights to do what she had been doing for the past two months. She forcefully fed on her sister, refused her father’s love and encouragement, and tried to burn a bridge with her mother. How could she, with a clear conscience, still be salvaged from the shell that suffocated her? Tears that she had fought back against welled in her eyes and she rubbed her hooves at them, desperately trying to hide her sorrow and sadness. With a strangled sob, she turned to Coral and faced her, tears glistening in her eyes and on her cheeks. The sound of them impacting the ground almost reverberated around the room. She stared into Coral’s eyes, her lower lip quivering, words trying to leave her mouth, but to no avail. “H-help me!” she weakly cried and collapsed into tears. Hooves resumed their attempts to wipe the tears even if, with each wipe, they gathered again tenfold. She froze when she felt hooves lace themselves around her. Her tears kept running down her fur and onto the desk and floor, but she was frozen in space, sobbing and sniffling like a foal. Coral smothered her as if she’d been a foal, pressing her cheek against Melody’s. She kept her in her embrace long enough for her to calm down. When she had, Coral pushed her muzzle away from the weeping filly and looked at her at eye-level. A smile spread her lips wide, and she just nodded. “Of course, I’ll help you, sweetheart. But are you ready to help yourself first?” The filly stared at her with big, puffy eyes. She neither shook her head or nodded and just stared away at her adoptive mother. The mare sighed once, but her smile crept its way back up the moment a gentle nod shook Melody’s head. Coral nodded in return and just hugged the filly again. Melody neither squirmed nor fought against it. She just looked past Coral to suddenly see a blur pass through the window in the door. Her curiosity had indeed been piqued, arching her eyebrows in response. Before she could find out what sort of shenanigans were going on outside the classroom, Coral broke their hug apart and planted a kiss on Melody’s forehead. “I’ll remain here until you can calm down. Once you do, go home. Take the rest of the day off, and please, bring Cherry Blossom with you. Trust her with your secret and let her in your life. I’m sure she’ll be a great friend for you,” whispered Coral in a sweet and gentle voice. She pivoted her head to the side to see the white blur passing through the door, a giggle escaping her. “Get your lunch, sweetie. I’ll eat with you, and if you want, you can open the door to let your newest friend in.”