Beethoven's Tenth

by CrackedInkWell

Chapter 33: The Thanksgiving Hymn in G minor.

Ludwig woke up by the sunlight from the window. Much to his confusion, he found the nightstand next to him was nearly overcrowded with cards, flowers, bouquets made out of candy, and small wrapped boxes. There was barely enough room for the magic scroll that laid there on top of his composition book. Beethoven reached up to one of the cards, in which it wished him to: “Get well soon.” He looked through the others that said the same thing and were signed by many other ponies.

He felt the bed shook as he looked up to find a stallion there in a white lab coat and glasses – and for some reason, the coat dull gold and brown mane looked familiar to Ludwig, only he couldn’t figure out why. The doctor waved over towards the magic scroll to unroll it. Reaching over, Ludwig read off what the stallion was saying.

“Good morning Mr. Beethoven,” he said. “My name is Doctor Horse; I’m one of the doctors that lend a hoof into your surgery last night. How are you feeling this morning?”

With his free hand, he felt over to his stomach, “I still feel sore, but not as bad as yesterday.”

The Unicorn nodded, “Very good. I came by to give you a full report of the surgery.” He picked up a clipboard. “The surgery was indeed a success, and it was rather good timing too. Your appendix hadn’t burst when we removed it. Although we did have to up the dosage somewhat on those painkillers in order to accommodate your size. The staff is very relieved that we were able to do it on a completely different species too, which is a first in this hospital.”

He then looked up, putting the clipboard away, there was a frown on his face, “With that being said, I’m afraid that I do have some bad news that you’re entitled to know.”

Beethoven adjusted his bed, “What bad news? I’m going to live, am I?”

The stallion’s ears folded back, “Oh, you are defiantly going to recover from this surgery. Yes. But as we were doing it, we’ve made a thorough test on your blood, and to our alarm, we’ve discovered that along with the high white blood cell content, there was also a huge amount of lead in your system. I don’t know where or how you got so much of it, but yours was borderline deadly.

“So with that in mind, we’ve also checked your other organs to see if they were affected too. I’m sorry to tell you this, but while we can reduce the lead count in your system, it’s already taken a toll on your liver. It’s completely riddled with Hepatic Cirrhosis, which means that all the healthy cells are now replaced with scar tissue that prevents the organ to function properly. It’s nearly full of scares that, while not life-threatening right now, it will be in the near future. I’m afraid sir, that unless there’s another human that comes by, willing to give their healthy liver that has the same blood type as yours… there’s nothing we can do.

“I'm saddened to say, even with our medicine in how much it’s advanced… we estimated that given your size, that you have about, three to five years to live. I’m deeply sorry Mr. Beethoven.”

Ludwig nearly dropped the scroll in his hand. Did he read that right? This pony doctor here said that?

“Nothing?” the giant questioned, “Not even with the magic you ponies have?”

The doctor shook his head, “Everything, including magic, has their limits. While in the hooves of Unicorns, magic can be a tremendous tool in their day to day lives and even in this hospital can be lifesaving, there are some things that even the most advance unicorn doctor or nurse can’t do. Even the Princesses, as powerful as they are, they too have their limits on what they can or cannot do. While somepony like Celestia can move the sun to her will – she, nor her sister, Cadence or Twilight can use a spell to bring somepony back from the dead. Nor can they fix brain tumors when they arise or reassemble nerve fibers that are severed. And I’m sorry to say, your liver happens to be one of those limits. Unless another human comes by to willingly give up his liver to you so we could replace it, there’s nothing we can do. I’m sorry.”

Beethoven put down the scroll onto the bed and stared blankly at a wall in front of him. “I knew… I knew death was coming for me. Even when I heard the humming and buzzing in my ears, I knew death was approaching swiftly. Still, even now, there’s a part of me that refuses to believe that I’m going to follow the same fate as many of the people I know will follow to in the end. Yet, I know that this is true: I’m going to die, and there’s nothing I can do about it. There’s no cure for my deafness, why should there be no treatment for immortality?” Ludwig closed his eyes and shook his head, “I refuse to give in so easily. I wrote my way out of death before with nothing then the music in my head. I will do it again here. I will seize fate by the throat; it will certainly never wholly overcome me.”

He opened his eyes, reaching for the composition book, he flipped over to the sketch of the Third Movement. "Leave me be Herr Doctor, I have work to do.”

The doctor started to talk, but when Ludwig didn’t respond, he tapped upon the open scroll once again and said, “Sir, you should be resting.”

“Unlike you, I don’t have much time! A good man knows how to die, and if I’m going to do so, then let me do it in Vienna, with my friends and family together. Unfortunately, the only way I can accomplish that is if I were to finish my tenth symphony! I will not rest until it is finished! Now, get out.” But as he started sketching, he looked up to see the doctor was still there. "AUS!!"

_*_

“I can’t do this,” Ludwig sighed as he dropped both pencil and notebook on the bed to rub his eyes. Even with the ideas in his head, the pills he was given were making him drowsy. His mind could barely keep up with the third movement that he felt so near completing. What he needed, was a break.

The door to his room opened in which two white unicorns entered. For the younger, Beethoven recognized, “Fräulein Sweetie Belle?”

Waving, the filly said slowly, “Hi, mister, Beethoven. How, are, you?”

“Tired,” Ludwig said. “What are you two doing here?”

Rarity spotted the magic scroll and unrolled it in front of his face, “We’re here for two reasons darling. The first is that we wanted to come by to see how you’re doing. I trust that the surgery was a success?”

“At least I didn’t die,” Ludwig commented.

“Well… that’s good,” the seamstress said. “I’ve also wanted to apologize for not coming down to Applewood for the symphony. From what I’ve read from reviews, it sounds rather avant-garde that’s welcomed. I’m rather curious as to what it sounds when the record comes out. Still, I hope you and the orchestra are still planning to play the next symphony I trust?”

“All I can say,” Beethoven adjusted his bed. “Since I feel gratitude towards how this town has treated me since my arrival, I want to present my sixth as a gift.”

Sweetie Belle tilted her head, “How do you do that?”

“I’ll think of it,” the composer waved it off. “Now, what’s the other reason you two came?”

“Simply put,” the young sister pointed, “since winter is coming up and the weather is already turning cold, Rarity wants to make you a coat before the snow comes in.”

“I think it’s going to be an interesting experiment on my part,” Rarity said as she drew out a few samples of material and a sketchbook. “I just wanted to see what I’m going to be using, how much, and how you wanted to look. Now, since I’ve already gotten your measurements, I need your help to narrow down some things.”

As her older sister talked, Sweetie Belle craned her neck over onto the bed at what was written and scratched in the composition book, “What’s this?”

“The coral of my third movement,” Ludwig sighed, “But at the moment, I’m getting too tired to complete it. I suppose it must be something those doctors gave me that I’ve been feeling rather sleepy. I want to work on something else, but I’m afraid that I might doze off at any moment now.”

It was then that the young unicorn got an idea, “What if I could write it down for you?”

“Sweetie,” Rarity warned, “Don’t bother Mr. Beethoven.”

Ludwig, however, tilted his head in curiosity, “What do you mean Fräulein?”

“Well, I guess it would give me good practice for one,” she told him as he read off from the scroll. “I kinda, maybe want to be a singer someday, to where I might compose some songs too.”

“Oh mein Gott,” Beethoven moaned into his hands. “A woman composer? Honestly young one? You want to write music?”

This comment took both sisters off guard, “But sir,” Rarity protest, “There have been plenty of mares that have composed music.”

“Like how a dog walks on his hind legs,” Ludwig deadpanned. “It’s not done well but it’s amazing if it’s done at all.”

“Hey!” Sweetie squeaked, “Just because I’m a girl doesn’t mean I can’t learn how to write music as well as you can! I want to learn how you do it so maybe I could use what I learn in the future. Is that a little too much to ask?”

After rubbing his forehead hard, pulling his curly hair back and forth, Beethoven replied: “Maybe it’s those pills what those doctors have given me, but I’ll take whatever help I can get so that I don’t tire out so easily.” Sweetie nodded but frowned, her horn was about to grab the score of the tenth before Ludwig interrupted, “No, I want to work on something else to distract me for a while. Give my mind a break from that.”

“Um… okay? So what do you want me to dictate?”

“Turn to another page,” Ludwig ordered, “You’re going to help me write a movement for a string quartet. I trust you can write in all three clefs?”

The young unicorn nodded. “Isn’t a string quartet made up of two violins, a viola, and cello?”

“Yes, now draw up the clefs for at least several pages, then let me know when you got that done.”

As Sweetie started writing the clef signatures, her older sister showed Beethoven some fabrics and narrowed down some drawings in order to suit is practical needs. When the young unicorn was finished, she hopped onto the bed, next to the composer, she got his attention. “I got it Mr. Beethoven, so before we start, what key is it in?”

Ludwig gave it some thought as he starred at the sterile lights in the ceiling. “No key.”

Both sisters blinked, “No… key?” Rarity asked in confusion. “Nopony could write music if it doesn’t have a key signature.”

“For this,” Ludwig told her, “I cannot write this movement in anything but no key.” He then turned to the young Unicorn, “It’s common time. Molto Adagio, sotto voce…” Sweetie wrote the marking at the top.

“Got it.”

Through the ringing in his hears, Beethoven started to dictate, “First violin, in quarter notes, middle C up to A, then down to G, up to make two notes of C’s before down to F. Bar three, up to G, down to back to F and a half note on F. All tied.”

“Got it.”

“Second violin, bar two, again in quarter notes, middle C up to A, down to a double step of E and G, all tied. Then it back to middle C, E, D, again tied and finishing on low A. Viola clef, bar two: low C up to A before down to G… double notes of low and middle C’s fishing with those same notes as half notes. Cello, bar three: two-quarter notes starting on low C up to A tied, and finishing on low half note F.”

Sweetie wrote down the notes of the first three bars before asking, “Mr. Beethoven, what exactly am I writing?”

“It’s a hymn,” he said.

Rarity looked up, “What’s a hymn?”

“It means, a holy song,” Beethoven replied, “One that I dedicate to God for sparing my life, in order to finish my work.”

“Um…” Sweetie blinked, “Okay?” She readied her pencil, “Shall we keep going?”

Comments

[Dan]

[caalv24]

Well someone already called it Beethoven having Hepatic Cirrhosis that's break my poor little heart and damn it it's hits me hard. Beethoven you better teach this young sweetie bell how to write music their Future depends on it Damn it. The Feels. I love this chapter.

[ShadowWalking18]

7592322

I saw that movie. I cried.

[SwimmingDalek98]

Herr Beethoven… Why… God, let him finish this, just let him finish this much...

7592322 Oh I didn't need my heart at all.

[batran]

Sadly 19th century technology is not that advanced enough to perform a organ transplant...

Unless they can drag the pony's doctor back to their world...

Or maybe the being that brought him here can fix him as a reward

OR discord can just magically pop a new liver.

[stephen51991]

7592613 Or perhaps his reward would be a choice. To go back to Vienna after one year as planned, or to spend a long and fruitful life in Equestria, only to be reverted to the age and health that he would otherwise have been once he does return.

A relatively happy ending, that simultaneously preserves the timeline.

[Rhombicosidodecahedron]

7593005
Who cares about timelines
If anything he'd be dropped back in Vienna when he left

[melodic_harmony]

The Earth Pony nodded, “Very good. I came by to give you a full report of the surgery.” He picked up a clip board. “The surgery was indeed a success, and it was rather good timing too. Your appendix hadn’t burst when we removed it. Although we did have to up the dosage somewhat on those painkillers in order to accommodate your size. The staff is very relieved that we were able to do it on a completely different species too, which is a first in this hospital.”

Isn’t he a unicorn?

[CrackedInkWell]

9041694
Fixed.