Chapter 26: Friendship of a Dragon in A Major.
Later that day, Lyra returned to Beethoven’s studio apartment with a bowl of noodle soup. Much to the composer’s disappointment, there was no meat in it. However, since he was forbidden to leave due to his cold, going out to the only place in town that sells meat was inaccessible.
For the afternoon, stuck in his room, coughing, sneezing and wiping his nose, Ludwig composed from his bed. He turned his attention to the third movement of his newest symphony, reviewing the first few pages to revise the brass and wind sections. Scratching out the discorded harmony and counterpoints to the point he found that he ran out of room to correct them. After making some notes on the very bottom of the page, he moved on to the Allegro part of the movement. Using the strings as a guideline, he pushed and pulled clarinets with horns, bassoons with flutes, trying to find a balance for all of them that coincided with the strings. Sometimes he expanded upon certain phrases while dismissing others when they didn't fit with the ever-flowing mood of the piece. For a while between sipping the noodle soup and juggling instruments in his head, he soon lost track of time.
By evening, a visitor came to the door, this time it was Spike with a book. After tugging on his sleeve to get his attention, the baby dragon waved. “Hey Ludwig,” he said slowly. “I’ve brought you something.”
Setting the score aside, Ludwig picked up the book from the young drake’s claws; it was a history book of Equestrian Music. “Compliments from Princess Twilight?” he asked and Spike nodded. After sneezing, Beethoven said, “Since you’re here, is it possible I could run you an errand?”
After spotting the magic scroll on the bed, Spike unrolled it and inquired: “What kind of errand?”
“Take some of those bits over there,” he pointed towards a box that was up against one of the windows. “Go to the hole in the wall where that gryphon works and buy me some chicken. I’ve haven’t had any meat all day.”
Spike looked over his shoulder, “Wouldn’t you mind if I take enough for me to snack on? After all, I haven’t gotten the chance to get away from Twilight to have some in a while.”
“I’ve got plenty,” Ludwig said before he coughed. “Now hurry, the sooner I get proper food, the sooner I can be healed.”
One salute and bagging a reasonable amount of bits later, the dragon left the studio, giving Beethoven some time to himself to compose from his bed. Nearly an hour later, Spike returned with a paper bag in his claw, kept looking over his shoulder all the while. After getting the giant’s attention, Ludwig pulled out a white box from the bag, popped it open to reveal the shredded chicken. Spike handed him a fork and the two started to dig in.
Eventually, Spike got a hold of the magic scroll before saying, “Oh Celestia this is heavenly! Thanks for sharing this with me. How well are you doing by the way?”
Ludwig sniffed, “No better than I was this morning,” and he sneezed.
“You know, since I’m here,” the dragon said. “Apart from giving you that book, Twilight wants to pass a message over to you. The copyists have finished printing out your next symphony that she’ll start sending them out to the orchestra once she gets them.”
“When will rehearsals begin?”
“If I remember it right, I think that they’re taking a break for this month but they’ll get together after Nightmare Night.”
Wiping his nose, Beethoven inquired, “What’s Nightmare Night?”
Spike thought for a moment before he replied, “Basically, it’s a holiday that celebrates how important it is to stir things up a bit. Foals and adults alike dress up in creative costumes, go to places to get scared for fun, go to Nightmare Night parties to play games, and for foals they go door to door to get candy. On that day, the unusual and the creatively scary is welcomed. Maybe when you get better, you could celebrate with us.”
Ludwig coughed, “I think I’ve heard a holiday like that before. In other countries in Europe, they have a holiday like how you described it. I think it's called… All Souls Day. I heard it’s quite popular in England and Italy. In which the children over there do something similar as you described.”
“All Souls Day?” Spike inquired.
“Something about that in the remembering all the souls that haven’t gotten into heaven yet, but I know very little on the subject.”
“Still, you should come, it’s really fun. And given that you’re a giant, you don’t have to dress up for anything.”
Beethoven raised an eyebrow, “Why? I’m already so freighting looking as it is?”
“Well, no I didn't say that. I mean that ponies tend to dress up as characters or creatures that they pretend to be. With you, however, there’s no need. You’re literally a giant; you can go as you are. I didn’t mean any offense.”
After taking a few bites of the chicken, Ludwig said, “As amusing as that sounds, I don’t know if it’ll be possible for me to participate such festivities.”
“What? Why not?”
Ludwig picked up the sketches on the bed. “I’m trying to make sure the third movement of my new symphony is just right. The sooner I complete all the movements, the sooner I’ll go back home.”
“Oh…” Spike put down his fork. “That’s right… I’ve forgotten already that you’re from somewhere else.” The baby dragon took another moment to carefully construct his question before showing the scroll to the old man. “Mr. Beethoven, you’re music is becoming popular, and you’ve probably just become controversial thanks to what you did the other night, you’re making a profit from the share of the record of one of your symphonies, so with all of that in mind, why do you want to go back?”
Beethoven too put down his fork and after wiping his nose, he looked at Spike in the eye and said: “Junge Drachen, I want you to listen to me carefully. As strange and wonderful as this world may be, the truth is Equestria is not my home. Vienna is. It’s lonely enough that I can’t hear what anyone is saying, but not to be able to be with my own kind, though corrupt as they can be; it is the only world I know. I have a nephew over there that I come to think of like my son. Karl. I saved him from his corrupting mother’s influence; try to ride her poison from him, to make him a better man…”
For a while, Ludwig became quiet. “Though at times, I wonder if all I’ve done for him wasn’t enough. He tells me that he can’t play the piano and that he wishes to join the army, particularly the Calvary since he’s fond of horses. It seems as if the more I try to get him to be a virtuous human being, the more he resists! He gambles, plays billiards, probably conversing with whores, getting drunk every night. In fact, do you know what a friend of mine has told me my Karl was miserable? What am I doing wrong? I teach him virtue, which I speak from experience has always made me happy, so why can’t my nephew be happy also?”
“To be honest Mr. Beethoven – I don’t know the answer to that since I’m just a kid. I’ve no clue about how to raise someone else. However, I can relate to being alone when you’re the only species around. Heck, I’ve never met another dragon until a few years ago. I’ve only known ponies since I was I was hatched, so even when up until some time ago, I was curious about what other dragons were like. But do you know what the funny was after I met those dragons for the first time?”
Curious, Ludwig shook his head after he coughed.
Spike continued, still holding up the scroll for him to read. “Even with my own species, I didn’t quite feel at home as I should have been. They considered me tiny over there, and the dragons aren’t exactly… nice. For me, Equestria, even if I’m not a pony, is where my real home is at. To a degree, I think I have an idea what you’re going through, I’ve been there.” The little drake smiled, “It always helps to have at least a friend in a strange land.
“Besides, regardless of what other ponies may think, I thought you’ve given Prince Blueblood what was coming to him.”
This got Beethoven laughing, “Is that so?”
“Seriously, after how he treated Rarity at the Grand Galloping Gala, saying something like that to him in public is the least of what he deserves.”
Now, this got the composer curious, “Why?" he sneezed, "What did he do?”
Spike rolled his eyes, “From what I’ve heard from Rarity, you know, the mare that tailored all of your clothes, she had him on a date and he treated her with such disrespect. Let's just say that it was completely the opposite of a gentlecolt from what I’ve heard from her. I was going to tell you that what you said back in Manehattan, that you’ve just earned my undying respect, only you’ve stormed out before I could say anything.”
“It is from my experience that aristocrats like princes, who care only for costly fashions and nosy pleasures are hollow - which reminds me of a song I’ve made an arrangement of now that I think of it.”
The dragon assistant laughed, “Oh! That would be funny if we sent a record of that song over to him!”
“An interesting idea young one… I’ll think about it.”
Spike looked out of one of the windows. “Oh, it’s starting to get late, Twilight will be wondering where I am. But before I go, I wanted to tell you that I’ve been practi-” He was interrupted when the giant sneezed, “Bless you. Anyway, do you remember a while back that I’ve mentioned that I've been practicing a piece of yours? I’m confident I can it play now.”
“I could barely remember. Which one is it?”
“It has a funny name… Fur Elise?”
“You mean Für Elise,” Beethoven corrected him. “Well, at least you didn’t play that one sonata that I was getting tired of hearing before I became deaf. Some of my people called it ‘Moonlight,’ but it’s been played so often that you would think that I have composed something better. However, I am rather surprised you’ve chosen that one.”
“Why?”
“That bagatelle, I’ve never published it. I wrote it as a gift for a woman that was nicknamed Elise, so as far as I know, no one in Vienna has heard of it. Yet, you want to play something that I haven’t published?”
“Why not? I think it’s good. Challenging, but good. My teacher, Octavia is hosting a recital in a couple of weeks where I’ll be playing. Besides, I’ve got the whole thing memorized.”
“If it weren’t for my cold, I would come,” Ludwig sniffed. “Would you tell me how they like it if my cold hasn’t gone away by them?”
“Sure thing. I have to go now before Twilight comes looking for me. Thanks for the chicken by the way.”
With that, the baby dragon put the scroll down on the bed and left the room. Beethoven finished eating his dinner before turning his attention towards a fugue in his tenth symphony.
_*_
Meanwhile, in Applewood, Svengallop looking at the schedule for November when he heard a knock on his office door, looking up he saw that his client opened the door. “Ah, Countess, just the pony I wanted to see.”
“Well, you did tell me that it was important,” she said before closing the door behind her. “I just finished eating dinner, so what’s up?”
“Countess Coloratura, we have a little problem. Come take a seat so I can explain this further.”
She did so, “Am I in trouble?”
“Oh no! It’s not you at all. You’re still incredible on stage, as always. But lately, concerning the record sales, we have some competition that’s come up recently. Have you by chance had heard of an artist by the name of…” he looked through some papers before muttering, “Let’s see if I can pronounce this right… Ludwig van Beethoven?”
“Heard of him? I’ve bought his record,” the singer smiled. Her manager looked up at her in surprise. “What? It’s catchy.”
Coughing, Svengallop resumed, “Uh, yes. But truth be told Countess, I’m starting to get worried because his record is selling more than yours. Not only that, but a classical record like his is not only getting popular but getting positive reviews, even one saying that it’s better than your album, that’s when I decided I need to do something.”
“Wait, really?” the Countess tilted her head, “he’s in the top ten?”
“At the top,” her manager clarified. “If his sales are that high, then I’m worried that you might lose your fan base, however, I have a proposal that I want you to hear.”
“Okay? I’m listening.”
He leaned forward, “I’ve checked the schedule that the Canterlot Philharmonic, the orchestra that’s playing Beethoven’s music and it turns out they’ll perform his Fifth Symphony for the first time right here in Applewood. Which, coincidently, is the exact same time that you’ll be performing at the Applewood Bowl, so this got me thinking, why not we host a battle of the bands sort of thing on that date. I can see it now: ‘Beethoven vs. Coloratura – The Battle of Giants!’ Where you, Countess, will get some time to sing both new and your greatest hits to the most outstanding, most spectacular, and stunning show ever performed in the world. I will spare no expense to dazzle our audience to remind them who is the queen of music.”
Putting a hoof to her chin, the Countess hummed, “You know, I’ve always wanted to do a battle of the bands, this could be really fun. And at the Applewood Bowl too! Plus, you say new songs? I’ve got a couple that I think many ponies would like to hear.”
“We’ll see,” Svengallop smiled.
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How do you do a battle of the bands between classical and pop?
This sort of characterization is why I like Spike. Sure he's just a kid and makes stupid mistakes often, but he's got a heart of gold and can easily relate to people and be the "straight man" with surprising insight.
7557196
Romantic, not Classical. Though Beethoven's life is generally thought of as the bridge between the two or transformation from one to the other, much as JC Bach's tutoring of young Mozart is generally thought of as the bridge between the Baroque and Classical.
7557196
7557389 From what I was taught by my Humanities teacher, Beethoven's music is so unique that it's both classical and romantic that they are being neither and similar at the same time. You could say that the man deserves a period of music that has similarities to the Neoplian Era. In that they're both short but powerful and left a titanic impact on human history.
Eeyup.
Ok, a couple of things.
1:
I'm pretty sure Spike already mentioned that to him in an earlier chapter, and Beethoven actually played the 'Moonlight Sonata' during Luna's dream visit sooo yeah... that's a thing.
2:
7557536 With For Elise, Spike did talked a little about this before... only with Octavia. This is actually the first time, I think, that Spike had mentioned this to Beethoven himself.
Also, that bit about the Moonlight Sonata, you have to remember that at this point in his life, Beethoven has been completely deaf for seven years now. But the other thing is that while fitting to the scene with Luna, Beethoven had thought the sonata wasn't the best of his other piano works. But the music got so popular that it irritated Ludwig to the point where he made the remark to Carl Czerny, "Surely I've written better things."
7557597
You think, or you know?
I think I remember something along those lines, I always thought that he simply got tired of all the focus being on that one song, and started seeing it as an annoyance because of that... meh, even so, it's still a great song.
7557641 I've looked, therefor I know.
7558074 Right after she gets steamrolled, and Svengallop takes his hat, carefully inserts it into his mouth, and begins chewing.
7559035 (Deep breath)
9.9999999999999999999999999... (Some time later) ...9999999999985 percent chance.
I just want to see the degree to which Svengallop gets owned.
Also, WHO'S PUMPED FOR HUMAN ZECORA?!
7559080 memecrunch.com/meme/R79K/you-have-no-chance/image.jpg?w=553&c=1
7557196
Beethoven vs Beiber ERBoH
7557196 You don't. Different timescales, different mediums. You might as well hold a battle between a symphony and a museum.
7605305 Agreed. It's apples and oranges.