Beethoven's Tenth

by CrackedInkWell


Chapter 14: New Expectations and Experiences in C # minor

After the reviews of his two symphonies were made national in many Equestrian newspapers, it caught the eye of one particular mare when she saw the picture that was next to the article. Although she and her “best friend” were on vacation in Manehattan, when she saw the picture from the newsstand, she immediately bought it to read at their lunch from one of the café’s in the city. Once they’ve sat down, she read through what the paper had to say about the artist.

“Hey Lyra,” the pony across from her spoke aloud, “Something wrong?”

In truth, she wasn’t really paying attention to her, nor what the critics were saying about this new music. Rather, she was interested in what they know about this human. That the crown is trying to find a space big enough for him to reside in for at least a year and is open to anypony that would volunteer to take care of him while they would cover the financial expenses.

From this information, the mare named Lyra grinned wide.

“Lyra?” the mare behind the newspaper lightly tapped on it, “What’s up?”

To this, she put the paper down but still kept her smile wide as ever.

“Okay, what’s with the smile?”

“Bonnie,” the green mare said, “Is it possible we can go home right now?”

She tilted her head, “What? But the timeshare-”

“But Bon, this is important. Take a look at this,” she showed her the article.

The Earth Pony did, in which she raised an eyebrow, “Is that?”

Lyra nodded enthusiastically. “He’s looking for a place to live for a year, and the Princesses are willing to pay the rent if we volunteer to lend that dusty studio upstairs!”

“Hold on Lyra,” Bon Bon put the paper aside. “We can’t just leave right now. For one, the timeshare says that we have about a couple more days before we can go back home. Another is that from what I can see, it doesn’t give us any idea what he’s like. Also, we don’t know if he even wants to move into that studio.”

“But Bonnie,” Lyra whined, “There’s a real, human, back home! And looking for a place to crash! How often does something like that happen?”

“I don’t know…”

“Please! At least write a letter or something to Princess Twilight to let her know that there’s space available.”

The cream-colored mare sighed, “You’re not going to let this drop until I agree to this, aren’t you?”

She nodded.

“Okay, fine.” She said with a touch of annoyance, “I’ll let Twilight know about the studio, but I won’t make any promises if the… giant wants to be there.”

Bon Bon was quickly found herself in the tight grip of Lyra’s hug, “You’re the best Bonnie!”

_*_

Since dinner was over, Twilight had sent her assistant to run an errand towards Sweet Apple Acers to give Mr. Beethoven, as well as the Apple family, the good news. With the scroll in his claw, he rushed over to the farm when he spotted Applejack in the fields. Jumping through the fence, he went up to her with, “Hey there AJ!”

The orange mare turned around, about to pick up one of the baskets, “Spike. Ya need somethin’.”

“Do you know where Mr. Beethoven is?”

“Said somethin’ about goin’ to town fer dinner,” she said. “Ah think he might have gone to that new place where they’re servin’ meat. You know the place?”

The baby dragon nodded, “I think so. I was kinda hoping that I would get to share all of you guys the good news.”

This got the farmer’s attention, “That bein’?”

“Somepony in town has volunteered to lend space for him. A studio! In theory, it should be big enough for him stay in until he goes back.”

“Hold up, are y’all sayin’ that there might be a chance he could be leavin’ soon?”

“Uh, yeah?”

After a jump in the air and a “Yeehaw!” later, Applejack wrapped him in a tight hug, “Spike! That’s gotta be the best news Ah’ve heard all day! Where and when is he gonna move?”

“Wait a sec,” Spike held up his arms, “that’s why I’m looking for Mr. Beethoven. I don’t know if he even wants it since we’ve hasn’t seen it yet. But as to where, do you know that one building is where Derpy, Lyra, and Sweetie Drops homes are? There’s supposedly a huge space above it that used to be a studio – and as to when, Lyra and Sweetie Drops are away in Manehattan and won’t be back for a couple of days since Lyra is kinda the landlord over there.”

“Okay, but what about the whole cleanin’ thing?” the farmer inquired. “Celestia knows that he can’t really clean anythin’ ta save his life.”

“Twilight has already thought ahead. I just need to let you guys and Ludwig know about this.”

“Sure thing, thanks fer comin’ ta tell us,” she smiled. “You hurry along now, if yer lucky, you might be able ta find Mr. Beethoven before he wanders off again.”

After saying thanks to her, Spike went back into town and headed towards the restaurant part of town where he passed by ponies looking for a bite to eat. While there weren’t many, the places usually get plenty of crowds to feed nearly every night. However, Spike was headed towards the one place that was getting a very… short reception. This is because that despite this new restaurant had changed the menu a bit to make it edible for ponies, the Gryphon Grill has gotten its share of suspicions because it happened to have… meat, on the menu.

This is where the dragon found Ludwig, sitting by the bar, cutting something unidentifiable before stuffing it in his mouth.

Spike took a moment to look around, making sure that nopony was watching before he went inside. Once he stepped through the curtain of red beads, he caught Beethoven’s eye as he entered.

“Ah, you again,” he said, putting down his fork and knife. “What is it?” Spike offered up the scroll to him. “What?” Getting the hint, Ludwig took the document, unrolled it, and read its contents. “Finally, they’ve found me a new room,” he said before returning to his dinner. “About time too, that barn was getting far too hot in there. Perhaps this studio would have more windows to let all the warm air out.”

“Another Ale?” the gryphon behind the bar asked.

“What?” Beethoven looked up.

With a frustrated sigh, the chief in a white coat pointed to the chalkboard towards the drink section.

“Later,” the giant said, “Once I finish this.” He continued on eating, but then noticed the dragon nearby giving weird looks towards his plate. With an eye roll, he took out his conversation book. “Well, what is it?”

What are you eating?

“Chicken and vegetables, all mixed in some kind of sauce.”

“Teriyaki,” the gryphon chief chimed in.

But then, Ludwig gave a puzzling look, “What do you mean, what am I eating? You’re a dragon, aren’t you?” Spike nodded, but still had a confused look. “Don’t you eat meat as well?”

The little drake paled, looking behind him, he hoped that nopony from the street had heard that question. Taking back the notebook, he scrolled down his message to him.

Actually, I’ve never eaten meat in my life. Twilight would never allow me to go near that stuff, so I have to rely on eating gems and other foods to keep my feed.

Ludwig looked between him and the book, “Utter nonsense. Here, open your mouth so I can see your teeth.” He did so, “You look that you have very sharp teeth Herr Dragon, so why are you forbidden to eat something like this?”

I… I don’t know. Maybe she’s worried that I would get bloodthirsty and go after ponies or something like that.

Ludwig turned to the gryphon, “Do you serve pony meat?”

The chief gave a very annoyed look, “For the last time, we never serve meat that comes from ponies, gryphons, manticores, deer, buffalo or cows. Only fish and fowl are the only kind of meats that end up on my grill. Even though it’s not exactly popular here and only one customer eats it.”

Beethoven stabbed one of the pieces of chicken and offered it to the dragon, “Here, try one.”

Spike quickly jots down his response.

Are you crazy! Do you know how much trouble I will get if Twilight finds out!

“I don’t see why you should be punished for it,” Ludwig said. “Telling a creature like you that you’re forbidden from eating what your mouth was created for is like making birds with sharp beaks and forbid them from eating seeds. Or giving dogs sharp teeth and never goes after a bone. At least have this one only once, just to see what kind of food nature really had in mind for you.”

I don’t know…

“He does have a point,” the chief said. “After all, you are a dragon. The dragons I know hunt for wild game all the time south of Equestria. Just have a try, if you don’t like it, then you have no reason in coming back here.”

“But, what if I do?” Spike asked.

The Gryphon shrugged, “Then you do. Look at me, I’m a meat eater too and you don’t see me butchering whatever comes into my place like Sweeney Trot. At least I and my counterpart in Canterlot know where we get our food from. There’s nothing wrong with eating meat kid.”

Spike thought for a long moment, peak his head through the curtain to make sure that nopony was coming before writing down his thoughts.

I’ve already eaten dinner, and I know I shouldn’t… but… maybe just one little piece won’t hurt. Just please don’t ever tell Twilight.

“That’s the spirit!” Beethoven hands him over his fork with a piece of meat on the other end.

Spike gulped as he took the silverware in his claw. For a moment, he heard two arguments going on at once inside his head. One side was telling him how wrong this is because Twilight says so. How disappointed will she be if she finds out that he partook the forbidden thing in a dark amber glaze.

On the other, this was going to happen eventually, right? Sure, he may be young dragon, but they were correct on one thing, he was still a dragon. It was true that his teeth and jaws were capable of crunching diamonds if he had some. While it’s true that he has no desire to harm ponies or anyone that was sentient, there was deep down a kind of morbid curiosity of what meat from… well, anywhere, tasted like.

Besides, it was only-

Just then, Spike took a bite, and his eyes widen. With the soft chard marks, completely cooked on the inside and a savory sauce on the outside, only one word came to mind.

“Wow,” he said aloud, “that’s rich!”

“No, that’s chicken,” the gryphon behind the grill said. “By the looks of your face, I can say that I have another customer.”

“I’ve already eaten,” the little dragon gave the fork back to Ludwig. “It wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be.”

“What did he say?” Beethoven inquired.

The gryphon waved over to him and said slowly, “He… liked… it.”

“As I thought he would,” the giant commented before returning to his meal.

Spike, however, wrote down a message for him.

Thanks for that. But… you wouldn’t tell Twilight about this… would you?

“Why? The only thing I’m concerned about coming from here is to make sure all my music is copied exactly, and finding a new place to sleep. I couldn’t care less in telling her what you ate.”

The little dragon seemed relieved; he wrote if he could stay for a moment for a little small talk. Beethoven, aloud it so Spike got onto the bar stool next to him.

What if I told you I'm practicing a piece you wrote?

“Are you?” Ludwig raised an eyebrow, “Which one?”

A little piano song called... Fur... something. I'm sorry, I can't remember from the top of my head what it's called.

“Well never mind the name, are you any good at it?”

Octavia says I’m getting better at it. Even for someone who has these claws to play the piano with, it’s still challenging.

Ludwig laughed, “Nothing compared to what that doubter… what’s his name? Horseshoepin is going to have to play.”

I remember him, wasn’t he the guy that called you a liar on stage?

“The same. I’ve made sure that Twilight had sent him two of my most difficult piano concertos as punishment for being a fool.” He picked up his glass and swallowed some of the remaining ale. “I’ve always hated when no one takes me seriously because of this infliction.”

Spike tried to change the conversation.

Do you miss the place you came from?

Beethoven sighed, “I do. I still remember what that shadow has told me about going back to the same place and time as I left. However, I can’t help but think what is going on with those I care about. Come to think of it, they probably would have noticed something wrong by the third day I came here.” Spike looked puzzled so Ludwig explained. “If I didn’t play one day, I make a note to myself to make it up for it. If I don’t play for two, my friends would take notice. But if no one hears me play for three days or more, the whole public would notice. My name would be in newspapers all over Europe asking what happened to me, and where did I go.”

Oh, I see. What about that new symphony, the one the shadow had brought you here to work on?

“So far, I’ve already got sketches for the first three movements. It’s the fourth that’s the most difficult to piece together. All I need is a good idea to work off of and the rest will be enjoyable enough for me to finish in time.”

Do you think you’ll be able to finish it for us to hear it?

Another sigh, “I don’t know Herr Dragon. Even with useless hearing, I tried to make sure that all the notes are perfect, including the most difficult parts.”

That right there is something I don’t quite understand from you. Why does some of your music have to be difficult?

Beethoven looked at what he wrote and said, “That is the highest compliment that I’ve ever given in this land.”

For me saying that your stuff is difficult? Why?

“Because difficult is good – it is the closest thing to the truth that we can strive for, something worth playing and listening to.”

Huh. Never thought it like that before.

Spike looked up at the clock, realizing what time it was.

I gonna have to head off soon. But before I do, and since I’m here, I think I need to give you a bit of a warning about your new landlord. You see, Lyra Heartstrings has a… interest in creatures like yourself. She and her best friend are kinda considered odd, even to the town. So when you’ll run into them in the next few days, make sure to watch your back. With you here, there’s no telling what she’ll do.

“I can take care of myself,” he said. “If you have to run off, then do so.”

Spike wrote in one last message before he exited through the beaded curtain. Ludwig opened up his conversation book to read what it said.

Thanks for the new experience, and the small talk. I hope to see you around. Bye.

He looked up at the gryphon, and showed him his glass, “Another ale.”