Inverno in F Minor

by CrackedInkWell

14: Key Signature in F Major.

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Three days later, arriving by a pegasi drawn chariot, Inverno’s teacher arrived at the gates of the Empire. The stallion carefully leaped out of the chariot, thanking the gilded pegasi and hoofing both of them some bits from his saddlebags.

Before he entered the Palace, the stallion looked at his reflection from the crystal walls. His orange mane was combed back, the beard was trimmed, and there was no dirt on his yellow coat or the image of piano keys that sat on his flank. Adjusting his glasses, the aged stallion took a deep breath, readying himself to meet a different kind of royalty.

He found a few guards to show him to his new employers. The guards led him through the labyrinth of passages to the throne room.

“Presenting Professor Key Signature of Canterlot University,” a guard announced as he entered the magnificent crystal throne room. On the throne was Cadence, walked down from her seat to greet the professor.

“Welcome to the Empire, Professor,” she said politely. The earth pony, in turn, gave a bow to the Princess of Love.

“Thank you for having me,” Key Signature commented, “It’s an honor to have me at one of the great wonders of Equestria.”

After Cadence adjourned the court, she personally escorted the Professor to his room. “We were wondering when somepony for Inverno was coming,” she spoke aloud. “He was getting a bit anxious about meeting you.”

“Yes,” Signature pulled on the collar of his tie. “Sombra’s child, isn’t it?” Cadence nodded, “To be honest, your Majesty, I’m a bit nervous about teaching the colt.”

“Don’t worry too much about him,” she reinsured him. “I think that you’ll get along perfectly fine with him.”

“What is he like anyway?” the Professor asked as they turned a corner, “I wasn’t given much on who the foal is, other than who he’s related to.”

“To begin with, he can be a bit naïve at times. But I think this is due to living his entire foalhood in a secret apartment. He can be curious about certain things, like for example, he wandered into the kitchen the other day and he almost walked right into a heated oven because he wanted to know why they put pans and trays in them. He’s still in mourning for his father, so watch out for that. Also, as a bit of a fair warning: whatever you do with him, do not make him angry.”

Professor Signature raised an eyebrow, “And why not?”

“You know how Sombra’s dark magic is influenced by fear?”

“I have heard something like that to an extent.”

“His magic is influenced by anger, except the difference is that once he gets angry and things started breaking around him, it’s a bit difficult to calm him down. And one last thing,” the stallion turned to look at Cadence, “Like yourself, he has a love of music. He knows how to play the organ and I think he’s experimenting with the piano. But there’s something else I think you should know.”

“Yes?”

Cadence stopped in front of the door to his suite, “Well, according to him, he claims that he can actually see music as it's being played out.”

The aged stallion blinked, “Pardon?”

“I know how you feel; even we’re not exactly sure what this all means. We’ve noticed that whenever he’s playing or listening to the phonograph, he goes into an almost hypnotic state.”

“Now I’m curious. Where is he anyway?”

“At this time of day, he’s in the Music Room,” Cadence lit up her horn for the earth pony. “This will be your room. When you’re prepared, we’ll-”

“With all due respect, Your Highness,” he said, “I’m already prepared. I’ll unpack later. For now, show me the student.”

Cadence nodded, “Very well”. She showed him the palace’s music room. As they got closer, the sound of organ music was increasingly present as they neared the room.

And then they came to the source of the music. Inverno was at the organ, playing what looked like a ballad off of a hoof written parchment. Even as they entered, the colt never broke his concentration on the music in front of him.

“Inverno,” Cadence started, “I would like you to meet somepony.” When Inverno didn’t respond, Cadence called his name a few times, even waving a hoof in front of his face. Signature, on the other hoof, looked over at what key the pale unicorn was playing, and at a certain point in the music, pressed the wrong note.

Not only did this break Inverno’s concentration, it even made him jump out of his seat. “AGH!” Inverno shouted as he fell backward from the organ’s bench.

“Inverno, are you alright?” Cadence asked, helping him up.

“What just happened?” Inverno questioned. The pink alicorn gestured over to the stallion.

“Inverno, I would like to introduce you to your new teacher, Professor Key Signature, from Canterlot.”

 As the colt’s cat-like eyes landed on the elder stallion, the Professor couldn’t help but feel unnerved to making eye contact with what looked like the eyes of a predator, rather than a pony.

“Um… Afternoon,” he said, “My name is Key Signature, Professor of Musicology. I have a master’s degree in music and a bachelor’s degree in history. I’m going to be your personal tutor.”

Inverno blinked, “What’s a degree?”

Signature waved a hoof, “Sorry, it’s college talk for how many years I’ve spent studying in a particular field of interest. You don’t have to call me Professor if you don’t want to. Just ‘Key’ would do nicely.”

“Um… okay?” Inverno sat back down on the bench again. “Are you going to start teaching me right now?”

“If you like,” he turned to Princess Cadence, “I believe I can take care of things from here – and don’t worry, I know how to get to my room from here.”

The pink alicorn giggled, “Alright, if you say so. If you get lost, just ask a guard, and they’ll show you where to go.”

The Professor said that he’ll keep that in mind as he turned back to the young unicorn. “So… Before I start, I do have a question to ask of you. Do you know any key signatures?”

“You mean you?” Inverno asked.

The stallion chuckled, “No, no. I mean do you know signatures like B Major, C sharp Minor, those signatures.”

“Oh!” the unicorn nodded, “Yes, I know them. I know how to play all of them, major and minor.”

“Well, this is going to make my job easier,” Key sighed in relief. “Because I’m planning to teach you in a way than I usually do with my students.”

“What do you mean?”

“I was sent here to not only show you the evolution of music but to also to teach you what happened in all that time. You’re going to be my test subject in a new field of study that I’ve been thinking for a while now. I’m going to teach you history but from the point of view of music. So,” he hopped onto the bench, right next to Inverno. “Tell me, in the Empire, what kind of music do you know?”

“What kind?” Inverno put a hoof to his chin. “Well, there are ballads, anthems, serenades, marches, dances, and canons.”

The Professor nodded, “I see. So tell me, do you know what a fugue is?”

The unicorn tilted his head, “A what?”

“Good place to start,” Key said to himself, “Tell me, do you know how a canon works?”

“Yeah, a canon is where you take a theme and you repeat it at certain times while adding more to it at each round.”

“Very good. A fugue does just that, but it goes further. Not only is there a theme being played over and over, but each voice had a developed melody in what we call ‘counterpoint’. In other words, while the main melody is being played out, the other voices would harmonically relate, but still, have a unique voice. Perhaps I could illustrate what I mean by playing one.”

“I guess so.”

Key turned to the keys of the organ, “May I?”

Inverno motioned for him to go ahead; the Professor pulled and pressed a few buttons before he started to play.

“This one is from the master, J. S. Buch,” Key told him as he started to press the first few keys.