The Four Seasons for Quintet

by CrackedInkWell

Autumn, 2nd Movement.

Author's Note:

Welp, I'm tired. *Crash!* I'm okay!

Once October rolled in, students found that the hallways were decorated in black and orange paper that hung from the ceiling. Cut out paper bats, pumpkins, ghosts, and pointy witches hats dangled and spin over the heads of those who walked through. Even paper leaves of yellow, orange, red and brown were taped to lockers and walls of the school.

The last thing that went on the walls of the hallways was the posters for the upcoming Halloween dance. Although not as big as the Fall Formal in November, the themed costume ball was still looked forward by many students to show up in their costumes and get free candy. Not surprisingly, Principal Luna chose the theme for the dance every year, and this time, it’s about ghosts.

“Are you going to dress up for Halloween?” Bon Bon asked as she pinned the poster onto one of the billboards.

“Not sure,” Lyra handed her girlfriend another poster. It was one of several copies that depicted several pale looking spirits heading towards a graveyard with the title of Ghouls Gala, Canterlot High School at 8 to Midnight, Oct 31st. “Even if I did knew, I don’t know if I wanna go.”

“Why not? We’re in our senior year; this might be the last time we might actually get to go.”

“I know,” she said as they moved on, handing her the roll of tape. “But the thing is I’m not sure if my family needs me to help them for Halloween with our annual party and all. Hopefully, I won’t be stuck with the duty of escorting the kids around town for tick-or-treating, and get somebody else to do it.”

“Fair enough, but if you did go to the dance with me, what would you come as?”

Her mint green girlfriend thought for a while as she handed her another poster. “That’s a tricky one; I haven’t really thought it through so far. I know it’s about ghosts this year but what does that entail? Come in with a white sheet over your head with eye holes or what?”

Sweetie Drops shrugged, “Maybe we just need to get creative with it. I mean, its ghosts, somebody who’s dead, which opens up a lot of possibilities, like I could show up as Cleopatra.”

“And I can be Julius Caesar,” Lyra smirked.

“Before or after he got stabbed?”

“Oh shut up,” she playfully punched Bon Bon in the arm. “I’m still thinking here with all that’s going on.”

This got Sweetie Drop’s attention, “What do ya mean?”

Lyra quickly realized what she said, “Uh… Y-You know what, forget it what I said.”

“No, is something wrong?”

She shook her head, “No, it’s nothing bad or anything it’s just…”while Lyra trailed off, she reached into her pocket and pulled out a folded piece of paper. “Here, you read this. It’s from the other me, I got it yesterday.”

Bon Bon raised an eyebrow and unfolded the letter that was in her girlfriend’s hand and scanned what it said. “Wait, the other me is gonna open a candy shop in some big city? That sounds great!”

“Keep reading,” her girl friend told her. “There’s a little more to it.”

She did, and quickly spotting the problem, “But the other Lyra can’t go because of her career in Canterlot and… wait, this is starting to sound like the discussion we had months ago.”

“I know, she’s also worried about not being able to see her for a while. Much like with me in a way.”

“Lyra,” Sweetie Drops hugged her, “The other us are married, so I doubt that anything would happen to pull them apart, much like us here.”

“But this is different. You’re going to some fancy college soon in some other town.”

“Hey, I’m not going to send in those application letters yet, and neither is my future set in stone.”

“At least you can afford it.”

“Look, we’ve already talked about this-”

“But we haven’t,” Lyra interrupted. “You said we’ll talk about this later back in July and we haven’t said a word until now. If we keep putting this off, we’re going to have to deal with this when times are stressful. Don’t you think it’s better to deal with it now then later?”

“Even when I don’t know how to deal with it?” Bon Bon questioned.

The Harpist thought for a moment, “Perhaps we might need to get some help with this, a third opinion or something.”

“From who? Who’s going to help us figure this out?”

“I don’t know… Mr. H maybe? He’s good at giving advice.”

Bon Bon hummed, taking another poster, “I guess that if we can’t come up with anything else, we would go to him if we can’t think up anything else.”

“Fair enough,” Lyra nodded. “Besides, it was that and the project from Mr. D that has been bugging me lately, so, you can guess why I’m not thinking about costumes at the moment.”

“Really?” the Candy Maker asked as she stuck the poster on the wall. “What kind of project?”

“Oh, we’re learning a bit of post-Impressionism painting. Like van Go and all that. We’ll be using acrylics, but I’m still trying to figure out what exactly to do with my painting.”

“Has he said anything about it?”

“Only that we need to take a picture and make it black-and-white so that we’ll have some idea what colors to paint with later. But that doesn’t solve what I’m gonna do.”

Bon Bon put a hand to her cheek in thought, “Are you aloud to do portraits?”

Lyra raised an eyebrow, “Like, do you?”

“Why not?” she smiled, “I wouldn’t mind too much if you did mine, if anything, it’ll be kinda touching.”

“You do realize that I have a ‘C’ in that class right,” the Harpist pointed out, “So I don’t know how well it’ll turn out if I tried.”

“I wouldn’t care if you painted me as a plate of spaghetti, I would be glad to help you out.”

_*_

Spitfire blew her whistle once more, “Alright Wondercolts, take a break, you’ve earned it.”

On the field, there was a sigh of relief as the team headed towards the orange water cooler. Naturally, Soarin Cloudline was out of breath from the all the practice for the past half-hour. Not to mention that his throat was dry from the entire workout.

“Hey Soar,” the team’s captain, Rainbow Dash offered him a paper cup from the cooler. “Nice work out there.”

“Thanks,” he takes hold on the cup while whipping the sweat with his jersey. By the time he was taking gulps from the tap water, Thunderlane took a cup and filled it, giving Soarin the evil eye all the while before turning his back from him.

“What’s up with him?” Dash raised an eyebrow. “Lane’s really been avoiding ya lately.”

“Have ya heard about what happen a few weeks ago in our gym class?”

“Other than there was a fight in the boys' locker room, not much. Why?”

“To put it short, we had a fight.”

“I know, but over what? I don’t think I’ve ever seen him like this before.”

The aqua athlete sighed, “Then I guess you haven’t heard about who I’m dating either huh?” she shrugged. “To put it short, I’m dating a dude.”

“Really,” the girl with the rainbow hair smirked, “Soar, I didn’t think you swung that way.”

“It’s… kinda complicated,” he took another gulp. “We started going out in the middle of summer, but we already knew each other for a while and he has feelings for me.”

“Who the dude?” she asked while taking a gulp of her own. “Do I know him?”

“You know the Apples, right?”

“Like Applejack? Sure I do. Hold on,” she lifted a finger, “which one? Is it Big Mac or someone else?”

“Actually it’s-”

“Hey Soar,” he was quickly cut off by a familiar Southern drawl.

Locating the source of where the voice was coming from, Soarin blinked, “Brae? What are you doing here?”

“Hey there,” his boyfriend took off his Stetson, “Ah know this is bit short notice but, Ah was wonderin’. Do ya mind if ah did a tryout fer the Wondercolts?”

“Wait, what?” Soarin asked, “I thought you’re not interested in doing sports?”

“Ah know,” the yellow cowboy rubbed the back of his neck. “But Ah’ve been thinkin’ lately about how else Ah could spend more time with ya. And Ah know that Ah might be a bit rusty when it comes to this stuff, but it wouldn’t hurt none ta give it a try.”

“But what about your guy’s farm, doesn’t your family need help with that?”

“Ah still have some free time, and maybe Ah could spend it here,” he said with a smile.

Rainbow Dash hummed, “You’re one of AJ’s cousins aren’t ya?”

“Yes’m. Name’s Braeburn by-the-way,” he offered a handshake to her.

She accepted it, “Good to meet ya. I’m the team captain.”

“So, do Y'all know how Ah could join yer team?”

“First off,” Rainbow pointed her thumb at the fire-haired Gym teacher. “You might wanna talk with Ms. Spitfire first about it. Of course, getting in ya need a physical, along with showing off your moves to her to see if you’ll make it in or not.”

“Oh, thanks,” Braeburn started walking towards her before turning back to his friend, “See ya, Soar.”

He waved back at him, returning his attention to a smirking team captain. “What?”

“Is it him?”

“Who?”

“Your boyfriend, duh,” she rolled her eyes.

“How’d you-”

“Lucky guess, though to be blunt,” she leaned over to the side, getting a view of the cowboy going up to Spitfire. “He ain’t half bad.”

“Uh…” he looked over, slightly blushing, “What ya mean?”

“You’ve got a handsome one here,” Rainbow said directly.

“Well… thanks?”

The whistle cut through the air as Spitfire called an end to their water break. The practice game resumed once more, every so often, Soarin took a glimpse over to where Spitfire and Braeburn where, but couldn’t hear what was being said. At one point, he spotted them shake hands, which could only mean one thing.

Spitfire is giving him a chance.

Once practice was over, Soarin went over to the cowboy, “Well?”

He smiled, “She’s givin’ me a try. This is good news Soar!”

“Good to hear,” he reached up to mess with his hair. “You think you’ll be ready for it? You know, for her test?”

“Please,” Braeburn rolled his eyes, pushing his hand off his head, “How hard can it be?”

“Well, she does take the whole test thing seriously,” Soarin pointed out as they started walking across the field. “She’s looking for anybody that’s fit enough to not only do a lot of running but have good aim at kicking a ball too.”

“Child’s play,” he snorted, “Ah’m sure that whatever she has in mind, Ah think Ah’ll take it. Wouldn’t hurt to give it a shot ta see how it’ll go, though Ah do hope Ah would get on the team.”

“I’m actually impressed you’re actually doing this, even after all these years of, well, not being on a sports team. So you’re really doing all this for me?”

He nodded, “Ah jus’ wanna be close now. You’d bein’ mah boyfriend and all, Ah wanna see fer mahself what it’s like for ya doin’ what you love. 'Side’s, maybe it’ll be fun.”

“You’re sure buddy? Even if you do get in, it’ll be a lot of hard work that Spitz would give ya, being new and all. With her, it’s kinda like a mini boot camp.”

“But Ah’m confident. Course, it has been a while since Ah really played any sports, but Ah’ve been practicin’ a bit with mah kick.”

“Practicing, how?”

“Mainly buckets, whatever balls Ah have are either thrown away or have holes in them so Ah have ta work with whatever Ah got.”

“I suppose so. Say, since you’re here, you wanna get something? I heard they have that candy corn cake at Sugar Cube Corner now.”

Braeburn smiled, “Sure thing buddy.”

_*_

“Really? You’ve actually paid for that?” Harmonic’s son asked with astonishment over the phone.

“Yes, and it even came with free catering too,” the Orchestra teacher said before taking a bite of his sandwich.

“But the Applewood Hotel?” Script questioned, “Isn’t that place way expensive?”

“Not if you rent the Ball Room. It maybe huge but at least they don’t come with diamond encrusted sinks and expensive silk sheets.”

“Still, I’m amazed that you’re throwing your money into this.”

“I told you, I’m practically retired. And if I want to spend some of my cash on my son’s wedding, then that’s what I intend to do to make you guys happy.”

“Thanks, dad,” Harmonic took another bite of his lunch. “Though, are you okay with the time that Page and I are getting hitched? If all goes right, we’ll be gone for our honeymoon by around Christmas.”

“So?”

“Won’t you be alone by then?”

The amber Violinist sighed, “I think so. But you don’t have to worry about me Script. Think about you guys; I should be fine when the holidays come around.”

“But dad, that’s what I’m worried about. Considering what happened to Pa, I just don’t want ya to think that you’re being abandoned here without someone there. After all, for being a joyful holiday, I don’t want you to feel alone and depressed while I and Page are gone.”

“Script,” his father said sternly, “You don’t have to worry about me. I’ll be fine. Be concern about you guy’s about saving money for going to New York. I’ll take care of the whole wedding set up while you take care of where you’ll be going.”

There was a sigh from the other line. “If you say so dad, for now, I think I’ll let you get back to work.”

“Sounds good,” he picked up his drink. “Will I be expecting you guys over for dinner tonight? I’ll be fixing some homemade ravioli you like.”

“Don’t worry, we haven’t forgotten,” his son ensured him, “We’ll see you later.”

“Okay, bye.”

“Bye,” with tumbling and a click, his son hangs up and Harmonic returned to his lunch.

Not too long after his phone call was over, Celestia asked if he could sit down with him. The teacher waved, giving his permission to do so. “That’s really sweet of you.”

“Hm? What?”

“Forgive me, but I overheard that you’re paying for your son’s wedding, right?”

He nodded, “Yes, I am.”

“When is it?”

He opened up his bottle of milk, “The week before Christmas.”

The head Principal paused, “Wait, how long will your son and his fiancé be gone for?”

“After New Year's at least,” Harmonic looked up, noticing his boss was giving him a sympathetic look. “What?”

“You’re going to be alone for Christmas, aren’t you?”

“Not you too,” he muttered under his breath. “Celestia, you don’t have to worry about me, I’ll be perfectly fine.”

“But for Christmas?” she raised an eyebrow, “Giving your present situation, forgive me for saying this, but I don’t know if you actually ‘fine’ with something like this. As far as I know, with you abandoning the orchestra you usually travel with, your son is gone, and your parents haven’t seen you in years, you’re practically alone here.”

“But I don’t mind being alone for the holidays. What’s so different from all the other days of the week when I’m not seeing anyone?”

“Is that Christmas is known to be the holiday where you celebrate with friends and family. Harm, I’ve known you since the day you tried to sneak into the cafeteria for food when you were homeless. I have stuck my neck out for your well-being, and so has Luna to get you an education and a future. I’m concern about you because you’re family to me.”

“Well maybe I want to be left alone, especially around Christmas,” he said as calmly as possible. “I don’t want anyone else to worry over me, and frankly Celestia, I’m getting sick of it. For the last time, I’m fine.”

His boss didn’t respond for a moment before nodding, “Very well.”

While she had dropped the subject with him, even after the bell had rung for teachers to return to their classrooms, Celestia didn’t let it go. While the holiday itself was several months away, she figured that she had to do something. But the question was what?

She returned to her office, filling out paperwork and from time to time taking a moment to look out the window to think. With the trees starting to turn colors and falling off their branches in the wind, so did the Principal’s thought process that ebbed and twisted as she tried to come up with some kind of idea to help out Harmonic.

Then, she got an idea. After getting up from her desk and poking her head out the door, she asked her secretary, “Ms. Raven? Could you get the number for Script Trotivari for me?”

After giving the number to her, Celestia closed the door to make her phone call.

“Hello?” the voice on the other line said.

“Hey Script, it’s me, Celestia, how’s it been?”

“Oh, hey there, I was just starting lunch. But out of curiosity, why are you calling me Cel? Did something happen to dad? I just barely-”

“Not really,” she sat back in her seat. “I just found that you’re getting married, which, congratulations by-the-way.”

“Thanks.”

“But I shall get straight to the point here. I’ve also learned that your father will be home alone for Christmas. So I was hoping if you could help me do something about it.”

“Really? You want my help?”

“Why not? You’re his son after all so you probably know him better than do when it comes to the holidays.”

“Yes but, why now? December is still several months away.”

“I like to plan ahead.”

Script from the other end hummed in thought. “I’m curious, what do you have in mind?”

“For starters,” Celestia took out a pen, “does your father mind about carolers coming to his door?”

_*_

On the grassy field, the Wondercolts had lined up for practice. Their coach held the soccer ball under her arm while Braeburn stood next to her, “Guys,” Spitfire told them. “Today we have a tryout for our team. As usual, we’ll be doing our usual practice, only we’ll be testing him to see if he’s got the guts for being a Wondercolt. Which means, that I need everyone’s cooperation, and to do exactly as I say for today. Tomorrow I’ll decide if he’s fit enough to join. But until then, let’s get started. Cloudline,” the student walked forward.

“Yes, Ma’am?”

“I need you to start out with the warm-ups. You can assist him with stretches and run a couple laps around the field. You guys have ten minutes.”

Thanking her, Soarin went up to the yellow farmer, who is without his usual Stetson and brown vest and instead is wearing an old t-shirt and shorts.

“Hi there,” Braeburn nodded. “So what’s first?”

“You know the stuff we do in gym class?” he nodded, “It’s pretty much that – some push-ups, crunches, those kinds of things.” So with that, the two of them did their routine stretches before they went on to jogging around the track.

“Any worries?” the blue athlete asked as they made their race.

“Jus’ one,” the cowboy looked towards the field where the other team members were stretching. But it didn’t take long for Soarin to know who exactly he was talking about.

“Thunderlane?” he asked.

“It was the only thin’ that made me not wanna do this tryout. Thinkin’ back to what happened in the locker room. Has he ever done anythin’ bad towards ya?”

“Not really,” Soarin told him as the turned a corner. “If anything, he’s been outright avoiding me. Not even saying a word to me either. Captain Rainbow Dash has noticed this already, and… she already guessed about us.” This got Braeburn’s attention, “And she’s totally cool with it. So even if something does go wrong, I’ll be sure that nothing bad will happen to you.”

“Y’all don’t have ta worry about me,” the farmer took a swig from his water bottle. “If anythin’ it’s you Ah’m worried about.”

“Me? Why would you-”

Spitfire’s whistle pierced through Soarin’s train of thought.

“Warm up’s over,” she declared, “Time for the exercises.” Soon, the whole team assembled before the Ex-Drill Sargent. Turning to Braeburn, she says, “We are going to test you on several key factors: Speed, aim, kick control, quick thinking, bravery if you take on the part of goalie, and endurance under pressure. If you perform these well, and by a majority vote of team members, you’re in. But just to warn you here and now, we won’t go easy on ya. So do you think you can handle it?”

Braeburn smirked, “Bring it on.”

“If you say so,” Spitfire turned to her students. “Fleetfoot, get the cones. Cloudchaser, have those goalie gloves on standby. Rainbow Dash, don’t do flying to intimidate the new guy. Thunderlane,” she looked at him with a stern expression, “play fair.”

“Ma’am yes ma’am,” he saluted.

When orange traffic cones were placed in a straight line on the grassy field, the coach explained, “For your first test, you’re gonna kick this,” she held up the soccer ball, “in-between the cones. The point of this is to go from here to the other side and back again while zig-zagging through the cones as fast as you can. So it’s best to try not to kick the ball too far or too soft while you’re running through. Also,” she let the ball drop and pulled out a stop watch. “I’ll be timing you.”

“How long do Ah have?”

“Just get through, for now, ready?” he nodded and she blew her whistle.

With a kick and a dash, the cowboy zipped between the cones with the Wondercolts watching on. While not perfect, Braeburn swiftly made his way through this simple obstacle course. He reached the end and with a hurry, made his way back to the other side of the cones.

Once he did, Spitfire stopped her watch, “Twenty-eight seconds… not bad kid. Now we’ll go on with the next test. Cloudchaser, the gloves. Thunderlane, get the bag.” Her instructions were met. When she given the gloves, she handed over to the Apple farmer as they headed towards the goalpost, “For this exercise, we’re gonna see how you do as goalie. Don’t worry, these guys are gonna kick one ball at a time, but at random. You’ll be tested on quick thinking and reflexes. For your goal is simple, make sure whatever comes at ya, and doesn’t touch the net. Try to keep out as much as you can, and we’ll move on to the next test.”

“In other words,” he said as the cowboy took his place, “Like dodge ball in reverse.”

This got a chuckle out of the team, “Yeah,” Rainbow commented, “Something like that.”

The coach got out of the way of the firing squad, “Everyone ready?” They said yes, “Are you ready?” she asked Braeburn.

He crouched a little; his arms positioned itself like a kung fu master, “Ready.”

“Go,” she blew her whistle, and the first ball had begun to fly.

True to the coach’s word, the black and white balls did come one at a time, but for the first few, they were lightning fast as Braeburn tried to catch or block those that came his way. However, he was able to stop the balls that came his way with his hands and throw it back to them.

While this was going on, Soarin shifted his eyes over to the charcoal athlete who had a permit frown on his face. There was something about Thunderlane the way he looked from the ball he was kicking and his boyfriend that looked like the gears were turning in his head. What’s more, when he isn’t kicking, he looked over his shoulder over to Spitfire.

Just as Soarin was wondering what Thunderlane was doing while their coach wasn’t looking, he kicked the ball as hard as he could at the same time one of his teammates did, a speeding ball that was aimed towards Braeburn’s head.

“Brae!” but it was too late. Before the cowboy could react, the soccer ball had punched his nose; it was enough to knock him down. While he clenched his nose in pain, Soarin had a flash of anger when he turned to his fellow teammate. “Thunder!” he shouted while he marched over, “What the living HELL did you do that for!”

“Now we’re even,” the charcoal athlete said coldly.

Soarin tried lunging at him but was seized by the hands of nearby Wondercolts. Spitfire blew her whistle, “Hey, what happened?” she demanded, walking between them and headed towards Braeburn.

“Who do you think?” Soarin spat.

It didn’t take long to figure out, “Thunderlane, benches, now!” While she and the charcoal athlete went off to the sidelines, out of earshot of everyone, Soarin rushed over to assist the apple farmer.

Once they reached the benches, Spitfire sat him down, “Seriously Lane, what is going on here?” she questioned. “Up until recently, you were a good kid and now this? This isn’t like you.”

He folded his arms, “Ma’am, I don’t want to talk about it, ma’am.”

“Is this over who Soarin is dating or something?”

“No, yes, it’s…” he stuttered before groan as his hands grabbed his hair. “Just stop, I’m in enough trouble as it is.”

This got Spitfire to raise an eyebrow, “How so?”

“Forget it. You don’t wanna hear about it anyway.”

“Who says I’m not? I’m just trying to figure out what’s changed here. Before you were a great team player, and now suddenly you’re a bully? That I don’t get.”

“It’s too complicated.”

She frowned, “Try me.”

He sighed, “It’s just… those two had ruined everything! Especially Soarin!” he threw his hands in the air, “He was just a normal guy until the Brokeback kid suddenly turned him gay.”

“Hey,” the coach cut him off. “You’re not responsible for who he decides to date. That doesn’t affect you at all.”

“Until you made it affect me,” he pointed at her. “Ever since you got all of gym class turned against me, nobody would go near me because they think I’m solely there to get them into trouble. My record of being a good guy has been stained that even my own little brother doesn’t want anything to do with me. Just because he thinks I’m a bully! He doesn’t want to join the Wondercolts because of me! And it’s all because of those fags that had shoved in and ruin everything!” Thunderlane huffed, “It’s just not fair. Life is going downhill for me all because of one slip up! I admit, what I did in the locker room was uncalled for, but do I have to be suddenly seen as the villain because of it?”

“Believe it or not,” Spitfire said, “That’s actually the point of what I was trying to convey here.”

“And what’s that?”

“Hatred will get you nowhere,” she explained. “In my time in the Air Force, I have to deal with hatred, if not outright prejudice all the time among the recruits. Hatred not only divides people, it isolates them too. I mean seriously, even with the truth about Soarin and Braeburn, even fully knowing that they’ve been dating happily for months that makes you uncomfortable, where has that sense of superiority of you thinking you’re somehow better and much more normal then them has gotten you? Nowhere. I’m glad that you’ve acknowledge what you did was wrong, but you have to let go because it doesn’t just hurt them, it hurts you too.”

“Well, what do you want me to do?” Thunderlane questioned.

“Have you ever heard of the phrase, ‘Starting over’?” the Ex-Drill Sargent asked. “I suggest that if you go over there right now, apologized for what has happened, make the effort of becoming a better person and try to look past of the fact it’s two guys dating to see them as students like you, maybe, just maybe, you can redeem yourself.”

He looked up towards the goal net where Braeburn had his head looking straight up and a rag over his nose. “They won’t listen,” he shook his head.

“But they’ll hear. At this point, they probably won’t be so easy to forgive, but the first step in becoming a better person is to do something that’s as difficult as this.”

The athlete sighed, but she was right. Getting up, he walked towards the couple that he harmed. Almost immediately, he got weird looks from his other teammates as he approached them.

Soarin himself didn’t say a word, but he expectedly gave Thunderlane the death-stare.

“Look,” he began, “I don’t blame you for not taking anything I say seriously since this is my fault. But coach talked to me and… she’s right. I’ve royally screwed up. I’ve been angry that everybody’s turned against me and I saw you two as the source. What I did and what I’ve said was uncalled for. I guess… what I’m trying to say is… I’m sorry.”

Braeburn, who was still trying to stop the bleeding; only looked at him with confusion in his eye, do Thunderlane continued. “Braeburn, truth be told, up until a month ago, I’ve never known anyone that’s gay. I was lead to believe that gay guys were annoying, flamboyant crybabies that don’t appreciate women the same way that we do. I had no idea that you’re going out with Soarin before. Dude, you’ve got every reason to not forgive me for thinking that… and I guess I still do since I grew up believing what I considered to be normal. For that, I know what I did to you was wrong, and I’m sorry. But with that said, I do think that you might make a good Wondercolt.”

He then turned to the blue teammate, “Soarin, dude, you’re right. I’m sorry for thinking that you’ve changed for the worst because you’re going out with this guy. Really, I didn’t mean to turn out like this but… I’ve been treated unfairly lately that has given me the excuse of being the bully. In other words, I’m an idiot, and I’m sorry for being one.”

Braeburn took the bloodied rag off of his nose, “This is all a little sudden ya know. One moment ah get hit, the next yer apologizin’?”

“I know,” Thunderlane nodded, “but still, Spitz has pointed out something that I didn’t realize before. I really want things to go back to normal. Is there something I could do to make it up?”

Soarin looked between him and his boyfriend, “Like stop acting like a total jerk would help.”

“I promise it then,” he said. “I promise that from now on, I won’t do anything bad to either of ya again.”

“Pinkie Promise it,” Rainbow Dash said, folding her arms.

“What?”

“On this team, I don’t want what you did to happen again either. So if you’re serious, do the whole Pinkie Promise, motions and all.”

The charcoal student sighed, “Fine. I ‘Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye,’ promise that I won’t do anything like that again.”

Braeburn whipped some of the trailing blood from his nose. “Since yer tryin’ ta make the effort, Ah for one will at least call it a truce.” He held out his free hand out to him. Thunderlane reached out but the cowboy pulled back, “Don’t shake unless Y'all mean it.”

The Wondercolt sighed but agreed by shaking the farmer’s hand.

_*_

The bell of the day rang, “That’s all for today class,” Harmonic said as his students got up from their seats. “As always, be sure to practice and have a good day.”

From his desk, he watched the last young orchestra of the day pack up, exchanged small talk and headed out the door. Over all, today wasn’t an okay day. Rehearsals for the November recital were coming along alright, but there were a handful of students that still needed work. Still, he was looking forward to getting home.

When the last student had vanished, Harmonic put his violin back in its coffin case and the music scores into his binder. But just as he turned to leave, he found a couple of students emerging through the door. “Ms. Heartstrings? Ms. Drops?” he asked perplexity, “Is there something you need?”

“Actually, yeah,” the mint student said, rubbing the back of her neck.

“We need some advice,” Bon Bon told him. Harmonic welcomed them both and asked them what kind of wisdom they needed. “Let me get straight to the point here. I’m currently making plans for when I get out of college when we graduate, in this case, an out of state college. But the problem is that Lyra isn’t sure about her education in the long run and if I get accepted, we might get separated. Neither of us want that, yet, I don’t want to abandon my further education for my dream career.”

“So we’re wondering,” The Harpist added, “if there’s anything you could give us to figure out this problem.”

“Ah,” Harmonic leaned on the chalkboard. “So you two are trying to solve a problem before it becomes one I see. Tell me Lyra, do you have any plans when you get out of High School?”

Her face scrunched up, “Well…” she started. “Truth be told… I don’t think I’ve really settled on what to do. I mean, I’m a girl that can play the lyre and harp, not to mention my somewhat fascination with unicorns (but that’s a different story). Plus, as embarrassing at this sounds, I have a part-time job at a smoothie place, but lately I wanted a job that’s, you know, more dignified. Only, I don’t know who would hire me. And besides, everyone knows that college is crazy expansive anyway.”

“Where did you say your school of choice is?” their teacher asked.

“It’s Calvin Hill University,” Sweetie Drops told him. Their teacher put a hand underneath his chin and hummed in thought.

“Have either of you considered the community college here?”

“What good would that do?” the Candy Maker questioned.

“Just hear me out. Since you’ll be starting college, that means that you’ll need to start off with the generals first. That being with Math, English, Social Sciences – that kind of stuff for the first couple of semesters you’ll be required to attend. Keep in mind, just to get through generals may take a couple of years to complete. This means that there might be plenty of time for your girlfriend to either catch up or probably save enough by the time if you want to transfer over to that university.”

The two of them looked at each other, “Could that work?” Lyra wondered.

“I admit, I’ve never really thought of it like that.” Bon Bon confessed, “That way, if I just do generals at a local college here while you save enough, maybe you could move with me to Calvin Hill with me while I get transferred there. You know, it just might work. But I guess I need it to run through my parents and see what they think.”

“From what I hear,” Harmonic stepped in, “going to a community college is a good deal cheaper, and has smaller classes so it doesn’t overwhelm you. I think it might be the way to go. So, with that out of the way,” he picked up his case. “A quick question, are you two going to go that Halloween dance?”

“Probably,” Lyra shrugged. “Why’d you ask?”

“I’m going over there too to perform a little something that the Vice-Principal asked me to do.”

“Really?” the Harpist raised an eyebrow, “What are ya gonna play?”

“A really fun little piece called ‘La Danse Macabre.’ In English, it means, ‘The Dance of the Dead.’”

“Ooh,” Sweetie Drops said, “that sounds interesting.”

“Although I don’t have an orchestra anymore to accommodate me, I was able to find a last minute pianist who was more than willing to take up my offer for the dance at midnight.”

“Let me guess,” Lyra raised a finger, “Mr. Disc?”

“You’re very good at guessing,” Harmonic admitted.

“Will you be dressing up as well?”

“In the manner of speaking, I am. Well, Luna said that it was required.”

“Really? Who are you going to go as?”

“I was thinking of going as Paganini’s ghost. Also known as the ‘Devil’s Violinist,’ which I think will fit perfectly for the midnight performance.” Their Orchestra teacher started to head out the door, he stopped for a moment when he remembered, “Oh! And Ms. Drops, don’t forget to practice that Beethoven piece. Remember, we’re about a month away now.”

“I know, I know,” Bon Bon rolled her eyes; “I haven’t forgotten it.”

“Good,” with that, their teacher made his way to his car.

_*_

The air was cool and there were gray clouds on the night of the dance. Yet, this didn’t discourage those who could attend the dance that was held in the school gym. Students, from sophomore to senor they came in with their costumes from plain and simple to elaborate and detailed.

It is this night that both Lyra and Sweetie Drops found themselves in. “You know,” the mint green lady in Egyptian jewelry said. “I’m still impressed that you can pull off this makeup so well.”

“Oh it’s nothing,” her girlfriend waved it off; “I had to view of couple tutorials here and there. Though I wish I had more time.”

“I still think it’s great, Bonnie,” she winked, “Though I’m surprised that you don’t have Clyde with ya.”

Bon Bon rolled her eyes while adjusting her fedora. “Are you really gonna keep that role-playing up?”

“Hey, it’s Halloween. You gotta have a little bit of fun.”

“Hail Cleopatra!” a sudden voice startled them as they quickly turned who was behind them. They found Soarin in a Roman general’s outfit, complete with the helmet with red plumage.

“Don’t do that,” Lyra shoved the athlete in red clothing.

But Soarin didn’t seem to mind, “Sorry, I couldn’t resist when I saw what you've dressed up as. Which, nice costume by-the-way, it looks pretty good on ya.”

“Oh likewise, and what are you supposed to be, Mark Anthony?”

“Close, Julius Caesar,” he turned Bon Bon, “And what are you?”

“Bonnie Parker, Clyde’s girlfriend.”

“You mean that gangster lady from the twenties?”

She snapped her fingers, “That’s it. Say, where’s the other guy?”

“Who? Brae?” Soarin looked over his shoulder, “He’s just parking so he’ll be here in a sec.”

“What is he anyway?” Lyra asked, but her question was quickly answered when the yellow Apple came up to them in a costume that was a bit unexpected. Admiringly, both girls thought that Braeburn would show up in western theme clothes as he did on a daily basis. However, that was not the case.

For Braeburn walked up on the sidewalk with polished black shoes, gray pants with a gray suit that overlapped a crimson vest and tie. His wild hair was pulled back in a pony tail that was topped with a top hat.

“Nice get up,” Sweetie Drops complimented, “What are you?”

The farmer cleared his throat before lifting his top hat and speaking in the best British accent that he could muster, “Good evening ladies, my name is Dorian, Dorian Gray. A pleasure to meet your acquaintance,” he looked over to Soarin, “I suppose you’ve already met this fine gentleman.”

His boyfriend couldn’t help but chuckle, “You’re such a dork sometimes.”

“What?” he said, regaining his southern drawl, “Ah read sometimes too.”

Soarin shook his head with a grin, “Never mind. So,” he turned to the other couple, “How’s everybody this evening?”

“How about we move inside?” Lyra suggested, “It’s starting to get cold.”

“Quite right,” Braeburn nodded. “You girls wanna hang out? We’re jus’ here fer the candy.”

“Same,” the two young ladies said in unison. “Oh, that and Mr. H is gonna play at midnight,” Bon Bon added.

“Really?” Soarin asked, “Well, this’ll be interesting.” He turned his date and cleared his throat for a more regal voice, “Good sir, would you escort the mighty Caesar to this party?”

Braeburn placed his hand over his heart and bowed, “My pleasure, Your Highness.”

The other couple couldn’t help but giggle at the corniness of this scene and decided to head in.

Inside, the gym’s light bulbs were replaced with violet and blue light bulbs, where yards upon yards of fake cobwebs stretched the walls and ceiling. As expected, the floor space was decorated with tombstones and a black iron gate was there to welcome guests towards the dance floor. There was a small stage that was set up where a DJ mixed and revived her beating music to the random lights that streamed over the noisy room. Off to one corner, a couple of tables held the prize that the four teenagers were after. Besides the punch-bowl of unknown green liquid, candy bars and baked goods lined up, waiting for those to come by to gobble them. While on the other side, a photographer had a sign that offered to take anyone’s picture for a couple dollars.

Bonnie smiled, “Let’s go get our pictures taken,” she said. The four of them agreed to take a group photo. They stood in front of a backdrop of a spooky graveyard, and before the camera flashed as the four of them positioned themselves closely, Soarin put a hand over Braeburn while Lyra did the same with Sweetie Drops.

“Say, ‘Boo!’” and with that, their picture was taken.

_*_

“What time is it?” Soarin asked.

Bon Bon looked at her watch, “It’s almost midnight. But I still haven’t seen Mr. H around, have you?”

“I don’t seem him anywhere,” Lyra looked over the party that was slowing down. “What was he gonna dress as again?”

“Now hold on,” Braeburn objected, “It ain’t twelve yet. So maybe you'll shouldn’t worry so-”

He was cut off when a sudden burst ball of fire was set off on stage. The remix music was suddenly halted where out of the smoke, two figures stood, one of them laughing madly. That was before that said figure started coughing when the smoke cleared, showing that it was Mr. Disc with a pair of horns.

“Dear me,” he said, “They don’t make fire and brimstone like they used to. Anyways, good evening everyone! How’s the party?” The students replied with cheers. “That’s good since it is almost midnight and this party is drawing to a close, I think we should end this on a couple screeching high notes.”

He then stepped aside to reveal the other figure from the smoke, in which the four students had to do a double take. If it weren’t for his amber skin, they wouldn’t have recognized their teacher. He stood there holding on his violin and bow in his arms like an infant. The clothes were torn, burned and stained. His neatly tied back hair was loose, making look like a Wildman. Then there were his eyes, which looked out to his audience as if he was on the brink of insanity.

“Performing for the first time since 1836,” Mr. Disc said as his head over to the piano. “My Violinist, Paganini will be playing for you the closing song of this gathering. In a rendition of,” he hopped onto the seat, “The Dance of the Dead.”

Immediately, Harmonic places his violin underneath his chin, but he bent his instrument downward so that the room can get a good look at his left hand. He hunched his back over and lifted his left foot ‘til his toe was only touching the floor.

Then, when the clock hit midnight, the violin chimed out twelve hours. Mr. Disc at his piano playing a few low notes for a couple of bars before Harmonic’s violin suddenly became possessed as it suddenly went to a high-pitched scream that put everyone under a spell. It seemed that nobody moved while the haunting sounds of violin and piano waltzed, screamed and roared like wild beasts.

Both sides showed off from the ghostly stings to the elegant piano that went up and down their celebration of this forgotten music into the night.

Comments

[CrackedInkWell]

6750976 Tell me, with the past two chapters that I've just posted, are they still any good?

[Grekoy]

Your chapters are good.

[CrackedInkWell]

6810520 Thanks for that, I was beginning to wonder if I've lost my touch.

[Grekoy]

6810579 I don't think so. There is just nothing to comment about. Your story is enjoyable.