Gazing to the Ocean of the Sky

by David Silver

48 - Insecure Footing

Applejack caught up with Braeburn, the excitment erasing her headache, for just a moment. "What is it?" She saw nothing out of place really.

Braeburn leveled a hoof at the lever. "They did... somethin'. Somethin' with the water system."

Applejack looked between the lever and her cousin. "So, what'd they do?"

Braeburn put a hoof behind his head. "Can't reckon... Suppose there's really only one way t' find out." He put a hoof on the lever. "Be ready for anything."

He pulled it into position. Beneath them there was the soft rumble of the machine coming to life. The sprinklers popped up around the orchard and began spraying the trees, but Braeburn quickly turned it off, lest the water cause damage in the mid-day sun. "Ah don' get it..."

Applejack tilted her head. "Well, they are pretty talented when it comes to mechanics... Maybe they did ya a solid?"

"Maybe." Braeburn didn't sound entirely convinced. "Well, it works. Ah can't really complain." He shrugged softly. "Shoot, uh, here she is! This is what ah called ya out here to see, cous'!" He gestured dramatically to the lever that had already lost most of its magic. "Ta da?"

"It's mighty fine." Applejack nodded agreeably. "But if ah don't lay down and wait out this headache, ah may do somethin' crazy." She turned back to Braeburn's place. "You see the sea ponies, make sure they don't get into no further trouble, ya hear?" He saluted sharply, which was good enough to send Applejack fleeing back towards bed.

Braeburn let out a little sigh. "Somethin' just ain't right..." He nudged the lever, but it had no answers to give. "Ah ha! This evenin'. Ah'll giver 'er a real test drive when it's safe and we'll make sure everythin's working right." He nodded, seemingly satisfied, and went off in search of the missing sea ponies. "Now where'd they get off ta?"

---

Despite their recently learned fear of fire water, the tavern seemed like one of the friendliest places to be.

"Another water please!" Indigo waved at the water master eagerly.

The water bearer approached them, placing a fresh glass before each of the ponies. "Ya know, jus' because we offer free water, we expect ponies ta buy somethin' else while they're here..."

Cherry tilted her head. "Oh, sorry. Hmm, what do you have besides the fire water?"

She produced a small menu and handed it to each. "Most don't come here for a proper meal, but if'n ya want my advice, try the taters n' cheese, and avoid the tomaters."

It was a curious way of referring to both of them, but they didn't already know better. Berry nodded. "We'll try that, what you said. One plate we can share please."

"Comin' right up." She left the menus there, in case they saw something else they wanted, and wandered back to the bar to deliver the order.

Cherry clopped her forehooves together. "Together was a productive day! We fixed their engine and got to look around their town."

Indigo nodded, but his eyes were drawn to a pony playing a piano. The big hooves playing across the little keys seemed like a sort of magic. "I wonder if I can try that..." He slid down to his hooves. "I'm going to ask."

He approached the pony dressed in what looked like animal skin. Indigo nodded at the player, then the piano. "Can I try?"

The player looked confused. "Ya ever tickle the ivories?"

Indigo blinked with confusion. "No, I wanted to play that." He thrust a hoof at the piano. Percussion instruments didn't work so well in the water, or at least differently, so the sound of it sparked his curiosity fiercely. "May I?"

"Well, if ya promise to be careful-like." He slid to the left a little on his bench. "Hop up, little pardner. Ah'll show you the basics."

Indigo bounced right into the cleared position, smiling widely. "That's very nice of you!" He looked over the multitude of keys and at his two hooves and he wondered how to make the lovely sound the player had managed.

"Don't look at it like that. Ah can see yer already gettin' lost." He put a leg around Indigo and directed one of the sea pony's legs into position. "Jus' focus on what needs to be hit, n' stop worryin' so hard. So here's the basic..."

Together they played a slowly increasing notes as he led the smaller stallion along the chords of a piano. "Ya learn this, ya'see, and all the songs become easier. It's like the alphabet of th' piano." He led Indigo back down and up again. "Just takes practice to get it down, get it?"

He released his grip on Indigo and let him free to try his hooves at it on his own. Indie clopped his hooves with giddy expectation before he brought down his hooves in a jangled mess of notes. He blushed and giggled nervously before he got the chords a bit better and began traveling up and down the piano. He wasn't playing a specific song, but he was making music! He was making sounds that didn't hurt to hear, and he felt his heart swell with pride.

Berry clopped her hooves appreciatively. While Indigo had been busy practicing, she parked herself beside the two and was watching the entire lesson with rapt attention. "You're already good, Indie!"

"Y'aint bad, but y'aint good, yet. It takes practice." The player gently nudged Indie's hooves aside and starting playing a little melody. "Ya also want to learn how ta read music eventual-like. 'fraid ah ain't offerin' full lessons."

Indie's eyes widened. "You can write music?"

Berry nudged him. "Silly. That's not a, er, not just a dry pony thing. You never played an instrument before?"

"N-no?" Indie's ears went back against his head as he hopped down from the bench. "Have you?"

"Well, no..." confessed Berry. "But I've seen music written down before, with notes and bars and..." She saw the pianist had some sheet music ahead of him, so she pointed at it. "Like that."

Cherry called out to them, "Food's here!"

Set in a large tray were enough fried potatoes generously drizzled with cheese for all three to enjoy. It was placed right in the middle of the table where reaching it would be easy, no matter where they sat.

Indie and Berry returned quickly, hopping up and sniffing at the food. It didn't smell like meat, but it smelled good, whatever it was. Cherry already had a bit, trailing a long and gooey bit back towards the plate. "Here goes nothing..." She popped it into her mouth and chewed eagerly. It was seasoned with... something, and it was gooey and tasty, and mmm. "I like it!"

Her endorsement quickly won over the other two.

Braeburn opened the door, entering the building and looking around before he started. There they were, devouring the plate of food like a bunch of hungry sharks. They had their faces right in the plate and were tearing into the cheesy potatoes with zeal and gusto, making a bit of a mess as they tore into the food voraciously. As cute as they were, they were sea predators like any other, and the meal before them was their victim, its gooey orange guts sent flying as they tore into it and filled their bellies.

He wandered closer slowly, shyly. Would they turn on him after they finished eviscerating the potatoes? "Uh. feelin' hungry?"

Cherry looked up, face covered in gooey cheese. "Not anymore. Oh hello!" She recognized Brae and waved energetically at him. "You ever try this?" She picked up a lone shred of tater that had avoided the feeding frenzy and offered it to him.

"Oh, uh, thanks, but ah'm on a diet." He gave a little nervous laugh before he nodded. "If y'all are full, we should be headin' back."

Cherry put down a collection of bits on the table to cover their meal. Berry tilted her head at Brae as she wiped her snout clean of their food. "Where are we going back to?"

"I can play!"

Brae blinked at Indie's excited exclamation. "Oh, uh, good fer ya pardner. What can ya play?"

Indie pointed with authority at the piano across the way. "Want to see?"

Brae quirked a smile. Playing a piano seemed fairly safe as things went. "Sure thing. Show me what ya got."

Hopping down from his bench, Indie approached the player there with a hopeful smile. Fortunately, the player was good-natured about it and allowed Indie back up before the piano. He cleared his throat softly as if he were going to sing, then brought down his hooves onto the keys in a slow and methodical playing of the chords.

Cherry tilted her head. "Is that what you were doing? You're good at it."

"Isn't he?" Berry let out a little sign of fancy. "I'd say it's his talent if we didn't already know what that was."

Indie blushed dark and started to play freely. He didn't play a specific song. It wasn't as if he knew how to read or had any songs taught to him, but he let his hooves dance where they wanted, and a song emerged that was a light-hearted and jovial as he felt. He let his feelings be portrayed by the instrument and found joy in how it displayed from within the strange instrument.

The player raised a brow. "Are ya just ticklin' yer fancy along with the ivories or is that a song from somewhere?"

Indie slid to the ground and bowed to the player. "I was just playing. Thank you for letting me borrow your, uh... what's it called?"

He blinked down at the sea pony. "Ya never heard a piano before? Huh..."

"Piano..." He turned to the other sea ponies. "If you get a train, I can ask for a piano, right?"

Cherry raised a brow down at Indie. "We can ask, but I wouldn't be sure of it."

"But you got a whole train!"

Braeburn looked between the seaponies with building confusion. "Ya have a whole... train? We talkin' a model train?"

Berry shook her head. "Oh no. We have a train, a real train." She spread her hooves far apart. "We're still working to make it work again."

A broken down train didn't challenge Braeburn's sense of scale quite as bad and he let out a breath he didn't know he was holding. "Well, that was some mighty fine playin'. If'n ya ask Princess Twilight, maybe she can arrange something. Ah can't speak fer her or nothin'."

He led the trio out of the tavern. "Now let's get back t' Applejack. She's come around and--"

Cherry leaned in closer. "Is she alright?"

"She's fine, promise." Brae smiled. "She just needs to sleep off what she drank before."

Author's Note:

Brae's big test waits until the evening. In the meantime, cheddar fries and pianos! What a perfect combination!

Comments

[Shadow Lance]

nice chapter, finnaly im done with the school year so now time to get ta workin

[Booster Spice]

Braeburn has found the pressure knob. Tonight only, log flume riding down Main Street.

[ConsciousHaze196]

It looks somewhat dark. Maybe because sequence in which they do things in Appleloosa, reminds of Fallouts.

[Fabian Corcair]

Still don't know how pianos are played in the MLP universe
I'm not sure if I should say something else or

[Rhombicosidodecahedron]

7303593
magic

[Fabian Corcair]

7303657 The magic of CAT VIDEOS!

[Rhombicosidodecahedron]

7303702 Plot Convenience's Magical Dust! 8)

[Hillbe]

LAND SHARKS ON THE DRY!
They eat and eat and eat!
sounds great to me

[Boulder]

7303862 Feeding frenzy on the Dry!
i.perezhilton.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/sharks-all-over-ocean-swim-onto-sand.gif

[Boulder]

7303593 Big enough keys perhaps?
3.bp.blogspot.com/-C2WyP7uOnHI/UsiFRiz7_vI/AAAAAAAABJg/M0ZVwvtgSrc/s1600/483577__safe_solo_pinkie+pie_animated_cute_hub+logo_hubble_spoiler-colon-s04e03_castle-dash-mania_hub.gif

[tsaukpaetra]

Music and food, simple party with no frills!
Keep going! ;)

[Fabian Corcair]

7303945 A piano like that would have less notes and playing three notes that aren't adjacent is impossible, nevertheless that makes sense

[Aqua_Breeze]

Indie playing piano? Well, ain't that interesting? I can see some use for that in the story.

Also, good on our favorite trio for (maybe?) fixing and/or improving the sprinkler system.

[Jphyper]

That cheese is going to cause them some problems later tonight. Remember how Mrs. Cake said they were most likely lactose intolerant? They haven't had anything dairy since infancy, so that is almost a certainty.

[terrycloth]

7305636 Most cheese has only trace levels of lactose. Or, specifically, the kind of cheese you melt over stuff has a tiny amount -- cottage cheese and feta have more (but still a lot less than actual milk).

[Jphyper]

7307307 Shush. Lets not let details get in the way of possible comedy.

[Daremo]

Breaburn leveled - Braeburn leveled
really only way - really only one way
Together was a productive - Today was a productive

played a slowly increasing notes - (I'm stumped. I can sense a typo here, but I figure out a minimally invasive fix to suggest) - played an increasingly complex series of notes (?)

tray was enough - tray were enough
then bring down - then brought down
hooves on the keys - hooves onto the keys
he didn't know he - he hadn't known he

*****
Excellent chapter! My somewhat disjointed thoughts follow, below.

Hmm... if the sprinkler system is working ok, then the trouble to come may be when whatever Snips and Snails took that regulator from, breaks. There are any number of things that would require a high capacity regulator, from the town's standpipe to the train. None of these would fare well with a missing regulator or a smaller one swapped in.

Indigo's gift is communication so I guess it stands to reason that since music is a form of communication that he would have at least a little bit of a talent for it that could be developed now that he's also developed an interest.

If there is a world record for the cutest feeding frenzy, our semi-aquatic trio just took the trophy.*

And I guess Braeburn was so put off by their eating habits that he completely forgot to ask them just what they did to his new irrigation system, and ask them to not do it again without getting permission first.

* apart, inspected it to see how it was put together, then reassembled it in better than new condition.

[David Silver]

7308299 While they were tearing those potatoes apart, you were feasting on a plethora of typos. Geeze, I made a lot today o_o

[Luckyfanisaac]

She produced a small menu and handed it to each. "Most don't come here for a proper meal, but if'n ya want my advice, try the taters n' cheese, and avoid the tomaters."

*Gives a look of suspicion*

Percussion instruments didn't work so well in the water, or at least differently, so the sound of it sparked his curiosity fiercely. "May I?"

"Well, if ya promise to be careful-like." He slid to the left a little on his bench. "Hop up, little partner.

Brae blinked at Indie's excited exclamation. "Oh, uh, good fer ya partner. What can ya play?"

[David Silver]

9942719
You are trying to correct my countryisms and I will not abide!