W 19 - Cutting the Chord, Swinging the Hammer, and Dropping the Piano
Week 19 - Cutting the Chord, Swinging the Hammer, and Dropping the Piano
After Tirek’s rampage, Princess Twilight Sparkle had lost her home and all of the things that her friends and family had contributed to it over the years she had been in Ponyville. Fortunately for her, Twilight Velvet had managed to find and restore one precious memory for her favorite daughter to take into her new home, forever.
Unfortunately, it was a piano. The same piano Twilight Sparkle and her friends had ‘accidentally’ pushed off a tower balcony during her move to Ponyville. Even after the remains had been stuffed into a locked chest and disposed of forever in the depths of Tartarus, her mother had brought it home, restored it to perfect condition, and returned it.
After all, Twilight Velvet loves her daughter, and knows how much the piano means to her.
EqD Prompt: Tirek wasn't the only creature to escape from Tartarus when Cerberus left his post...
Inspired by the fantastic 100 percent move, 50 percent fire by Estee Read all of them and enjoy.
19 - Twilight’s Kingdom
-or-
Cutting the Chord, Swinging the Hammer, and Dropping the Piano
A piano was the last thing on Princess Twilight Sparkle’s mind as she trotted through the Crystal Castle of Friendship with Spike at her heels. The new castle felt just like a brand new book to her, all filled with unexplored secrets and little niches that needed to be explored, categorized, and enjoyed. While most buildings in Ponyville seemed larger on the inside than outside, the Castle of Friendship seemed larger whenever her friends were there with her. There were even a few of the Day and Night Guards poking around with them, because the argument ‘It’s just a Tree, not a Castle, so it doesn’t need Royal Guards’ just didn’t hold any water now.
Much in the way that the sheep appreciated the dog keeping the timber wolves away, Princess Twilight Sparkle appreciated the guard’s role in keeping the Canterlot press corps at hoof’s reach, or farther. It was almost magical to watch a photographer weasel and twist into the best spot to take a picture of Her Royal Elusive Highness of Books doing something that could be misinterpreted. They would set up their camera, lick their lips — and a nice young pair of muscular guards would sweep in and take the intruder away before they could push the shutter. They never seemed to appear again, and Twilight was a little hesitant about asking their fate; she preferred to think of them as simply being severely discouraged and set free some distance away, in some humane catch-and-release program like Fluttershy did for inquisitive skunks.
The new castle was certainly large enough to hold them all and then some; it bulked over the small sprawling town of Ponyville much like a mother hen over her chicks. In an emergency — and she tried not to think of what that could be — it could most probably hold the entire population of the town comfortably enough for weeks, or until close proximity to Pinkie’s perpetual parties or Rainbow Dash’s tendency to go stir-crazy in small spaces would drive them all out into the disaster again.
Spike had been helping her map the place with a collection of small-square graph paper (ten hooves to the square) as they conducted an evaluation of the rooms, leaving a trail of wadded up drawings as they progressed through the various meeting rooms, the kitchens, the library, the solarium, the astronomy tower, recital room, the library, the herbarium, the library, and of course, the library. There was a certain fractal quality to the castle that was fascinating, hinting at rooms that could only be found if one were to progress around the castle in a particular order, and she was just starting to scribble some notes on her theory when one of the Day Guards came trotting into the room with a look of relief.
“There you are, Your Highness! There is word from the train station that a package has been delivered for you.”
“My books!” she squealed with a happy flap of her wings and one quick circle around the empty library shelves. “Princess Celestia sent the books I ordered from the Archives!”
~ ~ ~ * ~ ~ ~
“These are not books,” said Twilight, looking at the huge crate that took up much of the freight dock at the Ponyville railroad terminal.
“Didn’t say it was,” said the stationmaster, producing a clipboard. “Sign here, please.”
“Well, what is it then?” she snapped while writing and looking around for a second, perhaps concealed box of books, resulting in a signature that indicated a certain talent for medical school.
“Yours,” said the stationmaster, checking the signature and nodding to the new princess. “Some crazy mare was bossing around something like twenty earth ponies to get that thing off the flatcar. Barely got it over here before the train was scheduled to continue on to Canterlot. She left you a note, though.”
Twilight unrolled the note and began to read, feeling her stomach sink to her hooves.
To my beloved daughter, Princess Twilight Sparkle
I was so upset when I heard about the little accident that happened to your library house. It is always a loss to your heart when things that mean so much to you and your family are damaged. Just remember that it is just a tree, and if the roots are still strong, it can be regrown into a new tree.
With that in mind, I have rushed my birthday surprise to you. I’m sorry for not having the time to get it moved up to your new
housecastle, but I’m sure you can get some of the strong, handsome stallions from around town to help carry it to an appropriate location for the presentation later.Your father and I shall be back next week to help celebrate your birthday.
Please take better care of it this time.
With love, your mother
Twilight VelvetP.S. No need to thank me.
~ ~ ~ * ~ ~ ~
To Spike’s credit, it was less than an hour later when the rest of her five friends showed up at the train station freight dock to see Princess Twilight Sparkle sitting on her rump and looking over the huge monolithic box like it was some sort of ancient monument to immobility. The top had been removed from the crate and was sitting to one side, so Rainbow Dash’s somewhat parabolic approach gained a slight detour as she peeked over the edge and let out a low whistle.
“Wow, Twilight. Somepony sent you a piano.”
“I know.” Twilight did not move.
Fluttershy flew up beside Rainbow and took a look for herself. “It looks familiar.”
“Yes. Yes, it does.” Twilight did move this time, but only enough to float the note over to Spike, who read it out loud for the rest of her friends.
“Seems a mite creepy for your mom to buy another piano for you there, Twi,” said Applejack while inspecting the crate. “Shipped it all the way from Fillydelphia too. Mezhinsky LLC Restoration.”
“Twilight, dear,” said Rarity with just the slightest twinge of nervousness, “Why would your mother be sending you a piano from a restoration facility? I mean, Mezhinsky does do excellent museum-quality work, but wouldn’t she be better off buying a new—”
“It’s that piano.”
A number of nearby small crates glowed blue as Rarity formed an impromptu staircase out of them, trotting up to the top of the giant crate to look down at the contents. After a lengthy inspection, she turned to Twilight and swallowed. “They… got the scratch out too.”
“I don’t get it,” said Pinkie Pie, hopping up the stack of crates to stand beside Rarity and get her own look. “You’re acting like this is some sort of monster that has come back from the grave to stalk through Ponyville committing senseless act of violins. It’s just a piano. They’re fun!”
“Pinkie Pie,” began Rarity in a soft voice, “do you remember the piano that we moved from Twilight’s old apartment in Canterlot?”
“Oh, do I ever! That thing was a monster, as big as this one, and just the same shade of black, only that one kind of slipped off the edge of the balcony when we were moving it and smashed to pieces on the ground below, only pieces is a little misleading because some of them were itty bitty and some were biggie wiggie, and both you and Twilight swept up all of the evidence, I mean pieces, and put them all in this really big box except for the really big chunk that Rainbow had to kick a couple times to make it fit on the back of a wagon and then you sealed it up with a bunch of spells and Twilight said she was taking it away to a super secret place where it wouldn’t be bothered for ever and ever and ever and — Oh, look! There’s a note.” Pinkie Pie dove into the crate and emerged with several pages of paper, which Rarity took from her and began to read through.
“It’s a receipt from the restoration company, Twilight.” Rarity coughed as she reached the last page. “Quite a substantial amount, I might add. They certainly did a thorough job.”
“I know.” The magenta glow of Twilight’s magic surrounded the crate before seeming just to slip to one side and compress to a small glow, which winked out with a faint pop. “They even updated the security spell.”
The group considered Twilight’s immobility for a while until Rarity asked the question they all were thinking. “Didn’t you say the remains of the piano were going to a place that not even your mother could find, Twilight?”
“I thought they were,” said Twilight Sparkle with a groan. “I put the wagon in the top level of Tartarus, chained to a post. Mom must have accidently let Cerebus loose when she dragged it back out. She was always letting the dog out the back door by accident at home. I knew I should have checked the pieces for a tracking spell first.”
“Hay, no problem,” said Rainbow Dash. “After this one meets an untimely accident, you do it again, only better. All we need to do is push it out on the railroad tracks and…”
The concept of ‘inertia’ was just a theoretical bother to Rainbow, but even she could estimate the rough mass of the sizable crate and consider just what would happen to a populated train when the two objects met at any reasonable speed.
“I mean we can drop it off…” One thing that defined Ponyville fairly well was the word ‘flat’ and in order to drop a piano down, one first had to lift it up. There was always Mare Do Well Cliff, but a substantial padded structure had been constructed across it since the last seventeen near-disasters.
“No,” said Twilight, getting to her hooves and glaring at the huge crate as if it were attempting to take over the world. “I’m a Princess of Equestria now. This piano is my responsibility. I’ll move it to the castle by myself.” Twilight Sparkle trotted around the back side of the crate while five uncomfortable ponies and one dragon exchanged glances. The noise of a small straining alicorn could be heard, along with some panting and possibly one small curse, but the crate remained without a single twitch of movement.
“Rarity, you distract her,” whispered Rainbow Dash, “while I get Snowflake and the rest of the weather team. If she’s really determined to keep the stupid piano, we can have it airlifted to the castle in a few minutes. If not—” Rainbow shrugged “—we’ll make a detour by Ghastly Gorge.”
“Almost got it,” grunted Twilight from behind the oversized crate. “Just a little more.”
“While I’m certain Twilight would appreciate the help, Rainbow Dash, I’m afraid that’s not an option.” Rarity held up the invoice from the refurbishing company and pointed to a line.
“Included security enchantments. An anti-pegasi lifting charm?”
Spike tapped the crate with one claw. “Looks a little flammable. Oh, you can’t be serious,” he added when Rarity floated the invoice over to him and flipped the page. “Fireproof too?”
“This is easier than I thought,” called out Twilight from behind the immobile crate. “Tell me when I’m getting close to the castle.”
“Maybe we could have the guards move the piano,” whispered Fluttershy.
Rarity shook her head. “I’m sorry, darling, but the Royal Guard, guards. They’re not a moving service.”
“I know! I know!” shouted Pinkie Pie in a series of high hops. “We can get Big Mac and Caramel and all of the town’s hunky stallions to lift it up and carry it up to the castle in a big parade! And we can have tubas and drums and—”
“Pinkie!” shouted Twilight, still concealed by the huge crate. “This is my responsibility. I’m Princess Twilight Sparkle, and I’ve faced Nightmare Moon, and Discord, and King Sombra, and even bucking Tirek, and I will not be defeated by a piano!” Leaves from nearby trees swirled in the roar of her voice, the ground shook, and Twilight flung herself against the crate with all of her strength.
It might possibly have moved, if somepony had been holding a micrometer to the crate and measuring very carefully at that moment.
“Maybe if we dropped something on it,” said Rainbow Dash in the resulting silence, hovering up in the air while holding her hooves in front of her as if she were measuring the crate. “It would have to be really big, like…” She trailed off at the looks she was getting from the rest of the group and quickly landed. “Right.”
“Hey look,” said Pinkie. “There’s a pin sticking out of the crate here. What happens if you pull—” There was an explosive bang, and all four walls of the crate fell flat, causing all of the ponies to run for cover and a brief tugging afterwards to extract one slightly-flatter dragon. Revealed in the morning light was the piano in question, still festooned in bubble wrap and protective paper bumpers, but most definitely the same Early Depression Recovery piano they had all last seen at Twilight’s apartment in Canterlot, although at that point it had suffered considerable structural damage from a rather dramatic drop of several stories and an abrupt stop at the bottom. One of the griffon-clawed feet had actually managed to fly almost a hundred trots on impact and the discrete little nameplate that had proclaimed the name of Steingraeber & Söhne as if it were some magic talisman against the ages had almost been twisted into a circle.
Now the nameplate winked in the sunlight, glossed to a perfect shine along with the rest of the Black Ironwood body from the pristine clawed feet to the mirror-like lid in the kind of perfect condition you could only get in a musical instrument by giving slightly more bits than the Equestrian Gross Domestic Product to small elderly ponies with Germane accents who wore enormously thick glasses. There was even a discretely thick lesson book plastic-wrapped to the music stand with another note sticking out of it.
“I think it’s watching us,” whispered Fluttershy while trying to hide behind Rainbow Dash.
“You don’t think it could be… angry due to our previous mistreatment?” asked Rarity.
Applejack scoffed and rolled her eyes. “It’s just a durned piano.” She moved to pick up the note and hesitated, stepping back outside the theoretical reach of a predator. “Dash, can you get that?”
“Me?” Rainbow Dash polished one hoof against her chest before zipping the short distance to the lesson book, grabbing the note in her mouth and retreating to the safety of the herd in one swift motion. “Nothing to it.” After a quick glance at the immobile piano, she hoofed the note over to Rarity and called out, “Twilight, it came with a card.”
“Ooo, it’s a birthday card!” shouted Pinkie as she bounced around the piano, picking up Twilight Sparkle from behind the crate and bringing her over to the rest of her friends. “Open it! Open it! Oh, wait!” She came to a skidding halt and held her hooves over Twilight’s eyes. “We already opened it! Your birthday surprise is all ruined! Well, it was ruined until the piano repair company put all the pieces back together, but now it’s ruined because I opened your present before we could even get the cake and the punch and the pinata—”
Rainbow Dash mused, “I suppose if we were to fill it with candy and winch it up into a tree…”
“Pinkie!” The pink party pony stopped talking, although it was mostly from the magenta zipper that had appeared over her muzzle. “It’s fine,” said Twilight. “I’m not angry at you. I’m not angry at the piano. It’s mom.”
Pinkie gasped once the gag was removed. “Your mother is in the piano? Hang on, Missus Velvet! We’ll get you out of there. Let me go get my axe.”
“No!” Twilight applied her right forehoof to her forehead. “The piano is a symbol.”
“I don’t know, Twilight,” said Pinkie, looking at the dark piano with a critical pout. “I know my musical instruments, and a cymbal is a big metal disk that you smash into another big metal—”
“NO! I mean… Just give me the card.” Twilight took the card from Rarity and read it out loud.
Happy Birthday, Princess Twilight Sparkle
From your loving parents, Twilight Velvet and Night LightMay this symbol of our love be cherished in your heart as a memory of all of your family throughout your rule. And someday when you have a foal of your own, you can pass it down to her, as I received it from my mother, and her from your great-grandmother, and so on.
P.S. I included an introductory learner’s manual for the times when you are not busy with princess things and wish to improve your skills. There is also a nice young stallion named Noteworthy in town who said he would be honored to provide lessons at your convenience.
“That was… interesting,” said Rarity once Twilight had finished reading the note. “I do hope your mother realizes Noteworthy is married.”
“Is he a symbol too?” asked Pinkie Pie. “Because I always pictured him as more of a tuba instead of a piano.”
“No, Pinkie. Look.” Twilight pulled a chalkboard over in front of the piano and began to draw. “This is my mother—”
There was a muffled noise that could possible have been the question “So your mother is a chalkboard now?” if not for the presence of several hooves in Pinkie Pie’s mouth.
“—and this is me, and this is the piano. My mother loves me very much, but sometimes she finds it difficult to express, so she tends to show her love by driving our family nuts! I mean showing her love by way of physical things, such as Shining Armor’s flugelhorn lessons, or my father’s vast collection of ties, or in my case, a piano. I’ve tried to tell her that her love is just fine without having to be filtered through a noun of any kind, but she is the most stubborn pony in the world, and won’t listen to me!”
“Hang on there, sugarcube.” Applejack tapped the chalkboard under the drawing of Twilight Velvet. “Ah met your mother during the wedding, and she was the sweetest thing ever.”
“You didn’t have to deal with her outfit,” said Rarity with a toss of her mane. “She insisted on wearing that dreadful thing to the wedding, and I was completely unable to convince her otherwise.”
“That doesn’t sound too bad,” said Rainbow Dash. “I mean I’m pretty awesome that way too. How bad could she be?”
Rarity sniffed. “Just look in the mirror, and multiply by ten.”
“Hey, unfair! No math!”
“Anyway,” said Twilight, tapping the chalkboard with a pointer, “when the piano was destroyed, I had hoped that she would become more open to expressing her feelings without some object to focus them through. I was afraid for a while she might decide to focus on grandfoals, but that’s always been her goal after I finished mastering the piano.”
“So yer afraid if we destroy the piano again, she’ll start trying to set you up with a stallion?” asked Applejack. “Seems a bit far-fetched.”
“No.” Twilight drew a heart around the piano on the chalkboard. “I felt so guilty after hiding the broken piano in Tartarus. At first I thought it was just because of the air in that place, but after a while I realized how much that piano means to her. When grandmother died, all of her sisters were a little resentful that mom wound up with the piano, and everytime one of my aunts visited us at home, they would always ask how I was getting along with my lessons and remark about how lucky I was to have the opportunity that their children didn’t. The thing is, all of my little cousins don’t want the piano either, so I can’t give it to one of them without hurting my mother and another relative.”
Rarity cleared her throat. “I must admit, I did mention the possibility of piano lessons to my dear sister once. It seems to be the only cutie mark opportunity that has caused her to flee in terror.”
Twilight nodded while drawing idle circles around the piano figure. “My mother has sacrificed so much for me, and she only wants me to be happy, so why does it drive me so crazy sometimes? It’s like everything she’s ever done for me is a piano key, and all she wants is for me to play them back for her. Would that be so hard?”
“That doesn’t sound too bad,” said Fluttershy. “You could avoid conflict by—”
“But that’s always how it starts with her,” huffed Twilight, smacking the chalkboard with her pointer. “We’ve been through this countless times before. She’ll just keep going, like she did when I was home from school for two weeks around Hearth’s Warming one year. ‘Just one lesson’ turned into ‘You did so well yesterday’ and ‘I thought since you were on a roll, we could just bring Mrs. Keys back for the rest of this week.’ By the time break was over, I had learned the practice piece well enough it was scaring me. I probably can even still play it.”
Twilight moved over to the piano, lurking dark in the afternoon sunlight, and tugged the bench around before laying down. With two hooves under the keyboard to manipulate the octave shifts and two above, she took a deep, shuddering breath and began to play. It was simple student practice music, something by Baahms or Bleathoven, but the air around the train loading dock seemed to shimmer with the notes right up until a series of flat thuds ended the piece.
“What the hay?” Applejack lifted the lid and — after a moment of hesitation and double-checking to ensure it was well propped up — stuck her head inside the piano for a better look. “Ain’t even had it out of the box for a couple minutes, and it’s already broke. Rares, come help me with this. Something’s stuck in here.” With Rarity’s help, the two of them soon extracted a thick piece of cardstock and gave it to Twilight to read.
To my daughter, Twilight Sparkle.
I just wanted you to know I had nothing to do with this.
All my love,
Your father
Night Light
“Can’t yer father talk some sense into her,” said Applejack. “Seems like a right practical feller.”
“Sensible enough not to to poke mom’s buttons,” said Twilight, using her magic to unfold the card and float it back over to Applejack. “Mom had a few hundred of those printed up when she first got the piano. Dad uses them for scratch paper and notes.”
Applejack read out loud, “You are cordially invited to a piano recital by our daughter, Twilight Sparkle, featuring the works of Reinbits. Heck, Twi. She can’t possibly think after all these years you’re gonna put on a recital with this thing?”
Rainbow Dash flew over to read over Applejack’s shoulder. “Yeah, she’d need to print new cards with your title.”
“Not helpin’, RD.”
“Sorry. But she’d be Equestria’s only piano-playing Princess. Wouldn't that be cool?”
“Still not helpin’, RD.”
Twilight scowled and sat down. “It makes me wish I had brought the piano back from Canterlot and put it in the library in the first place. It’s what my mother wanted me to do, and if I had, it would have been destroyed along with the rest of my stuff. I would have finally been rid of it.”
“Shucks, Sugarcube. You make it sound like that old dusty library was something you wanted destroyed.”
“I wanted to keep the library. I never wanted the piano back.” Twilight sniffed and touched the dark wood of the instrument with one hoof. “It’s always been a source of conflict in our family ever since my grandmother died. That’s probably why my mother had it moved to my apartment in the Archives when I was Celestia’s student, because otherwise one of my aunts would have been asking about it.”
A shudder traveled up and down Twilight’s back. “It was like one of those horror movies where you think the killer is dead, and the young college student goes back to her safe and secure home only to find him lurking in the shadows. I thought Mom had given up on Reinbits, and was willing to accept me as her magic-studying daughter instead of a piano-playing daughter.
“I don’t know how the thing became a symbol between the two of us. I love magic, and I love my mother, but sometimes I think she’s trying to live out her childhood again in me.”
Twilight made a face. “Reinbits. It always comes down to Reinbits.”
Rainbow Dash blew a raspberry. “Yeah, whenever I go home my mom keeps dragging out these frilly outfits and makes me try them on. Says I should dress in style, well, no thanks!”
“My mother wanted me to go into politics,” whispered Fluttershy.
“Well, my ma always wanted me to stick with the farm,” snorted Applejack, “and I don’t see no problems with that. Yer a Princess of Equestria, Twilight. You ought to be able to say ‘I don’t want this piano’ to your mother and have it stick. Ah mean she musta thought you might not want it, putin’ it out here on the freight dock and all instead of taking it straight to the castle.”
“Oh, no, no, no!” said Rarity. “Why, Twilight is a princess now. You simply do not just move things directly into a princess’ house, particularly gifts. Twilight, do tell dear Applejack how Princess Celestia recieves gifts.”
Shaking herself out of her depression, Twilight said, “It depends on the importance of the pony or the diplomat. When she is presented with a valuable gift in an official ceremony, she voices her appreciation of the gift and places it where everypony else can look at it and appreciate it. Then over a number of years as everypony forgets about it, the display gets farther and farther into the background until it is cataloged for the Archives, where it is stored. We used to catalog dozens of the rarest and most precious volumes a week when I worked there, and that was just books. She has received jewelry, statues and all kinds of things all the way back to the founding of Equestria.”
“And it’s all stored in the Archives?” asked Spike with a gleam in his eyes. “Do you think Princess Celestia would let me make my den there when I grow up, Twilight?”
Despite herself, Twilight giggled along with the rest of her friends. “You’ll have to ask her yourself, Spike. That’s something that I can’t answer on my own.”
“Wait a minute,” said Spike. “Maybe Princess Celestia can help you with this, Twilight. What does she say whenever you have problems?”
“She say to identify the problem, come up with as many options to solve the problem as possible, decide on one of them, and take decisive action.” Twilight Sparkle stood up and faced her friends while Rainbow Dash fluttered down and took a seat with a clash of discordant notes.
“I think we have the problem figured out, Twi. It’s this huge hunk of wood.” She pressed a couple of keys with one hoof and ran down the scales in one quick motion. “And our options are either move it or destroy it.”
“Rainbow Dash!” Rarity scurried over and picked up the pegasus in her magic, sitting her down firmly on the piano bench before brushing off the spot where she had been sitting. “Twilight’s mother has put a great deal of work into making sure this priceless piece of… well, this horribly expensive piece of history…” She stopped and took a delicate, lady-like breath. “It may be ugly, but it’s historical. I for one do not think it should be destroyed. Unless we have to. Again.”
“That leaves moving it somewhere,” said Pinkie Pie. “Ooo, I know. How about Sugarcube Corner!” Six friends considered the possibility of Pinkie Pie with a piano and six heads shook. There was probably some law in the Equestrian Defense Budget against it anyway.
“Any other volunteers?” asked Rainbow. “I’d volunteer my house, but getting it up there and keeping it up there might be a problem. Besides, I think Twilight’s mother would still track it down.”
“Ah think she’s gonna find that durned thing no matter where we put it, Rainbow,” said Applejack. “It’s got too much family history to destroy again and ain’t no place in Equestria we can hide it, so that don’t leave many options.”
“No place in Equestria. That’s it,” said Twilight, perking up and grabbing her friends for a huge hug. “That’s perfect! I should have known to ask my friends before I got all twisted up over this. I’m not just a princess of myself, we’re the Elements of Harmony together, the best friends, ever!”
~ ~ ~ * ~ ~ ~
Dear Mom,
I just wanted to tell you that we found a place for the piano where everypony will be able to admire it. It took a little work, but I’m very happy with its placement, and I don’t think you will need to worry about it being damaged or stolen any more. It just goes to show that with the help of your friends, anything is possible.When you and dad come to Ponyville for my birthday, I want to sit down and have a nice mother-princess talk. I think there’s been something between us for a long while, and now that it’s out of the way, I believe we can finally connect.
Your loving daughter
Princess Twilight SparkleP.S. Thank you.
P.P.S. Noteworthy is married.
~ ~ ~ * ~ ~ ~
The nightly ritual of dusk and dawn had taken on an informal air as the Royal Sisters had become reacquainted with each other after having spent such a long time apart. Sometimes Celestia would bring cake, or doughnuts still sizzling fresh from Pony Joe’s shop, along with a steaming hot cup of coffee and the evening newspaper to greet her groggy and affectionate sibling, while Luna delighted in sweeping in through her sister’s open window with tales of her nighttime exploits and a quick morning snuggle before the sun would replace her tired moon.
This evening, Celestia had opted for a simple cup of black coffee with several sugar cubes lurking beneath the obsidian surface for her sister, along with two pastries from the kitchen. It had been a very long day, filled with endless meetings to calm the roiled nerves that Tirek had left behind, and she was looking forward to as many dreamless hours of sleep as possible before the dawn. After rooting her drowsy sister out of bed and preventing three separate ‘just five more minutes’ attempts, the two sisters took a moment out on the balcony to carry out their Royal Duty. The sun sank below the horizon without a single complaint, but the rising of the moon brought a new problem to Celestia’s mind, one which would require a great amount of thought that she just did not want to deal with at this time.
The two princesses regarded the night sky in silent contemplation for several minutes before Princess Celestia gave Luna a kiss on the cheek and turned for bed. “Good night, Luna.”
Luna huffed in response, and pointed with a hoof. “Dearest sister, she is thy student.”
“Not any more,” said Celestia, not stopping her graceful stride for the door and the destination of her own warm bed. “She is a true Princess of Equestria, and as such, is fully responsible for her own actions. Plus, this is your domain.”
“But… She’s touching my stuff, Celly!” Getting no response from her sister other than an exaggerated yawn, Luna stepped to the edge of the balcony and spread her wings. It was a beautiful night for flying, and she had a very specific question that needed answered in Ponyville.
~ ~ ~ * ~ ~ ~
The quiet night breeze blowing through Twilight Sparkle’s bedroom window brought a visitor she had begun to expect as Princess Luna wafted into the bedroom and fixed the young princess with a firm but determined gaze.
“Princess Twilight Sparkle, why hath thou banished a piano onto my moon?”
Image Credit to Park Background by mandydax plus a few Inkscape tweaks.
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Author Notes:
First of all, I would like to apologize to Estee and in recognition of my apology, I would like all of you to go read everything Estee has ever done and appreciate it with a good thumbs-up. Time well spent.
Secondly, I would like to state that no pianos were harmed in the making of this story.
Thirdly, this satisfies the prophecy : In the thousandth year, the stars will align, and Nightmare Piano shall return.
Fourth, I had originally intended on titling this: Eighty-Eight Keys to Unlock Tartarus. I think the current title works better.
We would like to thank the following for their support:
Maene Piano
Steingraeber & Söhne pianos (stunt piano)
Princess Luna’s Home for Unwed Pianos
The Fnord Foundation, and their support for pianos worldwide
The Equestrian Travel and Tourism Bureau who would like you to visit the Castle of Friendship in Historic Ponyville. But please. Leave your pianos at home.
And of course, the Equestria Daily Weekly Writing Challenge for this season. It’s been a lot of fun and I hope to see you all next season. I’ll be right here, tuning this piano.
Should have sent it to the sun instead. It is fireproof after all.
I got a good laugh out of this one.
I immensely enjoy the equating of paparazzi to skunks.
senseless act of violins Ugh.
Scootaloo was playing a piano, maybe she'd want it.
Ha, Rainbow's mom is G3.
I assume in a thousand years, the student of Princess Twilight will be reading about The Pianoforte in the Moon?
This was beautiful.
My favorite line.
I may have to read the rest of these. Or write a sequel. Of a sequel.
And that's how the Royal Orbiting Piano Repository was made!
This was a magnificent piece, both in humor and emotion. Thank you for it.
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And thus did Twilight learn about the miracle known to Princesses everywhere as 'plausible deniability' .
Beautiful. Simply beautiful.
A fantastic sequel. Thanks for it.
When she was talking about Celestia getting gifts, I was expecting Twilight to gift the piano to Celestia, who had gifted it to Twilight's ancestors to get rid of the thing. I was not disappointed with what actually happened.
Okay, that was the best ending I've seen in a while.
Not that I would ever want to ruin such an amazing joke, but... This is post season four, and... The tree didn't give the girls back their elements. So they don't have them to banish the piano with.
So I'm just going to assume that rainbow power can do whatever the Elements of Harmony can do, and thereby let it stand as it is.
Also, I'd just like to point out that this chapter was wonderful. Twilight's frustration is so relatable and understandable, and the humor was just so much fun. Great job on this.
4411632 They seem to have transcended the need for physical objects as they've gone along. In Equestria Girls, they only needed one element, and now they have Rainbow Power (whatever you do, don't show Rarity a mirror).
4404443 (Squee!) Thanks!
4404786 Technically, it is a Royal Gift, and as such can be placed in the Royal Museum. Add one "Do not touch" sign to it and her problems would be over. But that wouldn't be as funny.
4404125 Also Equestria's newest defense installation. When Celestia drops a piano on you, it lands hard!
4404232 It was possessed! Honest!
4404044 By coincidence, Horizon has a series called Never The Final Word that allows authors to write pithy and witty additional short chapters to stories they think didn't end the way they wanted. (I put in two) He welcomes submissions.
4403720 Once, there was harmony between the races of pianos...
4403301 Would you believe 'senseless acts of violins' was a typo? I never planned it, I was just typing and it slipped out. But I kept it
4400983 But that would get Celestia angry at her, and Twilight would never dare to do that.
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That's what I was thinking of when I mentioned this.
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And it's a good thing you did.
Because the Moon is where you banish out-of-control demons from your own subconscious and the piano genuinely seems to be that.
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And that, fillies and colts, is why EASPA—the Equestrian Air, Space, and Piano Administration—was founded. Twilight Velvet's call to action to the Equestrian parliament is remembered to this day for its impassioned plea:
4413827 But when it comes back in a thousand years, hopefully it (doesn't) land on the upper balcony of a tall castle. Specifically the hoof-carved fir one on the seventh floor, overlooking the magma lake in Tartarus. That way it won't sink into the depths of Tartarus for all of eternity. Where Unicorns can't manipulate it, and Pegasi can't get to it. And no Earth Pony is dumb enough to try.
The image link is broken, but I think I can imagine it well enough.
Thanks for the laughs; I got a kick out of the story and another out of "The Fnord Foundation." {Insert Discordianism joke here.}
10094372 Yet another image that I need to rescue from my box and find a place to host it. I'll get it, be patient :)
... I'm surprised no one mentioned a dangerous supply of saltpeter mixed with a few certain other chemicals that somehow made their way under the piano and just got far too close to a heat source! Really! Some ponies just need to be more careful where they store things these days.
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Finely ground alumin(i)um and iron oxide mixed in a certain ratio, perhaps?
And here I was thinking they'd sent the piano through the mirror.
10727874 "Twilight," said Principal Celestia into her phone, "I need you to do something for me."
She waited for a time, tapping one foot on the concrete sidewalk in front of Canterlot High and shifting her cell phone higher on her shoulder. Experience had taught her that conversations with Twilight Sparkle fairly demanded a certain amount of slack time for the young genius to get excess words out before an actual conversation could occur, but the delay was irksome. "I only have an hour before school starts," she said curtly when Twilight's words showed no sign of slowing. "All I want to know is if you have space in your house for a piano."
Celestia paused with a growing frown and gave the massive object a long look. "Yes," she started slowly. "That's exactly what got shoved through the portal sometime last night. Luna's gone to rent a truck and we were going to see if the football team could get it loaded and over to your house before--"
There was a much longer pause, which Celestia used to look over the note that had been taped to the top of the Ironwood piano lid reading 'This ain't Twilight's piano and we'd appreciate it if'n you can find a home for it.'
"Yes, I can call Luna and have her bring the truck around to your house first," said Celestia. "Do you have something else to send back that Starswirl sent us with his interdimensional trash disposal spell?"
"Oh," she said after a time. "You have one too. Yes, I think they'd both fit if we pushed them through, and it would provide a well-needed lesson to Equestria to quit dumping their garbage in our dimension."