By Grace

by TheAmazingMe

Chapter 6: Faith, Work, and Grace

"Mr. Bass, what about holding this for another two count and diving into the run after a shorter rest? Doesn't that sound better?" Blue Hope asked, pointing out a spot in the sheet music.

Grace looked over the arrangement he'd written out. "It would be, but can you get yourself prepared enough for the run with such a short rest?"

For his part, Juri was sitting at the kitchen table and listening as he sipped a cup of chai. As he drew his cup to his lips Grace idly thought about reheating his magically. Grace wasn't fond of the staining effect the tea had on his teeth, but did enjoy the taste. As Blue played out the phrase with his changes, Grace decided to get a stronger toothpaste.

Remarkably, Blue did manage to nail the new arrangement...after the third try. He really was advancing through these lessons at a greater pace than Grace anticipated. His grandfather was apparently musically inclined as well, though the bulk of the family's money came from his grandmother's diamond business.

Pausing in his ruminations, Grace decided a little praise was in order. "You've advanced quickly. You're sounding much better than I expected."

"I'm going to play for her the day we get back from break." He stated, determination written in the set of his jaw and the focus in his eyes. "It has to be perfect."

"Well, no pressure then." Grace joked, feeling uneasy on Blue's behalf. He might have progressed more quickly than expected, but had he really surpassed his rivals enough to impress the filly of his dreams? Grace hoped so.

Finished with his tea, Juri stood and called over to the pair. "If you have time to take a break, the fair is starting soon at the university."

Blue looked like he would protest, then looked down at his hooves. From experience, Grace knew they had to be pretty sore after a whole morning of practice. "Come on." Grace said encouragingly. "Let me rub some ointment into your hooves and then we'll go see what there is at the fair. Your mother paid us enough that we could probably do just about anything."

Blue shrugged, waving his lion-like tail over his forehooves. “Sure. I’ve been practicing a lot since I came over. It’ll be good to give your cherry harp a rest.”

Grace noted the deflection from Blue’s hooves, but still grabbed the jar of ointment. “Come here or you’ll be walking funny all weekend.”

Juri snorted loudly over the sink.

With a flicker of thought, Grace figured out where Juri’s mind had just gone. “Not like that! Keep your mind outta the gutter with the foal around or YOU’LL be walking funny all weekend!” Grace threatened.

Juri looked decidedly unrepentant. “Maybe I’ll just keep it up and see which one of us hits harder.” He replied, shaking his rump at Grace.

“Why you rude little—“ Grace’s outrage abated as he heard peals of laughter coming from the foal close at hoof.

Blue waved a hoof at the two of them. “You guys fight just like Grandma Facet and Grandpa Welly.”

“We’re not a couple.” Grace and Juri said simultaneously. This resulted in a renewed bout of laughter, which Juri joined in on. Grace shook his head at the two of them.

***

The campus of the University of Manehatten was large. This campus included special buildings for the performing arts, legal studies, and a few other disciplines. Walking past the library made the book nerd in Grace unreasonably happy; although they didn't even take a peek inside that building. Instead, the trio headed to the field of grass unrivaled by any except for the hoof-ball field and the largest park in Manehatten; the University of Manehatten's quad.

Booths were strewn about in an orderly fashion, although the flashy bright colors collided into each other in a dizzying kaleidoscope of brilliance. Food vendors seemed to be centered down the middle, where the intersecting paved walking paths split the field into quarters. There were game vendors, performance spaces, a petting zoo and so much more than any of the stallions expected.

"Holy Celestia." Blue Hope said softly, eyes wide. "This place is huge."

"Yeah, even back when I taught here before this wasn't this...crowded." Juri said, eying the fair with some trepidation.

Grace bumped shoulders with Juri and Blue and chuckled. "Come on, guys! Focus on the little things. Like, first we need to find something to eat. Breakfast is feeling like it was yesterday."

"You're the one who said we should go right away instead of eating lunch at home." Juri reminded Grace as the trio set off down the middle of the fair.

"Yeah, because fair food is amazing! Let's take a look, then decide what we want, okay?" Grace said. The other two agreed and the hunt for good fair food was on.

"Check it out, deep-fried-chocolate-covered-apples-on-a-stick." Juri said, pointing a hoof at a stand done up to look like a big apple.

Grace cocked his head. "I can't decide if that's the worst thing ever or the best idea anypony has ever had."

"Let's move on. That isn't food; it's a freak show." Blue Hope said, deadpan. The adult pair laughed and they headed on. In the end, Juri ended up with a fry-bread veggie taco, Grace had a bowl of rice and teriyaki stir-fried vegetables, and Blue had...

"Is that fish?" Grace asked as the foal trotted up with a basket of french fries and what were definitely battered, deep-fried fish.

"Eeyup." Blue replied, his lion-like tail swishing happily. Not for the first time, Grace wondered about the foal's parentage.

"So what, are you half-lion or -griffon or something?" Juri asked in between bites of fry-bread.

Setting his meal down on the table, Blue shook his head as he hopped onto the bench seat. "Nope. Although there are rumors that griffon is somewhere down the line for ponies with tails like mine. My dad was from a kingdom south of Saddle Arabia." He replied, swishing the tail in question.

Juri and Grace nodded, both trying not to stare at the colt as he dug into his meal. "I didn't think anypony here would sell something like that." Juri said, apparently too surprised to let the matter lie.

Grace shrugged, but Blue answered. "Actually, it was a griffon. They were a bit surprised I ordered it; they kept asking me if I didn't just want fries. There were a bunch of griffons around the stand, too. Guess it's fairly popular with them. Also, they have griffon scones."

"I have my dessert picked out." Grace announced, pouncing on the ability to change the subject.

"Deep-fried-chocolate-covered-apple-on-a-stick?" Juri asked, leaning his head on one hoof.

Grace nodded emphatically. "Deep-fried-chocolate-covered-apple-on-a-stick!"

Blue Hope shook his head wonderingly. "What is with you and apples?" He asked, ignoring Juri's sudden wide-eyed look of warning. "I mean, aren't all apples pretty much the same?"

Juri slapped his forehead with enough force that Grace was sure there'd be a mark. Smiling in spite of his friend's self-inflicted pain, Grace turned his attention to the unwitting foal. "You're so wrong. And let me tell you why."

One apple-related rant later, the trio finished their food and moved on to find something entertaining. There were carnival rides, although they decided full bellies didn't belong on fast-moving machines. Which left all sorts of games.

Taking a look at one particular stall and the fillies attempting to win a prize there, Grace leaned over to Juri and spoke. "Do you think these are rigged?" His eyes flicked back to the fillies, leaving empty-hooved after missing their target.

"Well, I'm not saying it couldn't be. But the university has rules against it." Juri stated. "And this one is pretty simple, all things considered. It just takes a bit of hoof-eye coordination and some luck."

Blue Hope stretched out lazily, his posture even more reflective of his lion-like nature. "Well, why don't you give us a practical demonstration, professor?"

"All right, easy enough." Juri replied, sauntering over to the stand with an unusual amount of confidence.

Blue Hope seemed to notice it as well. "You don't think he knows the pony running the stall do you?"

Juri handed over a few silver bits. "One set of rings, my good sir."

Grace narrowed his eyes at this antique turn of phrase. "Oh yeah, I'd say they know each other. We’ve totally been set up."

They looked on as Juri spent an inordinate amount of time lining up his shot. Then, Juri stood up straight and casually tossed the ring, almost as if he had no interest in it at all. To neither of his companion's surprise, the ring landed on the neck of a bottle perfectly. Juri pumped a hoof in celebration and picked up his second ring. Grace and Blue Hope groaned and rolled their eyes as Juri repeated his antics from the first throw. Predictably, the second ring fell perfectly around the neck of another bottle.

Dropping all pretense, Juri turned around and threw the last ring over his shoulder. With a clink, the ring fell around the neck of a third bottle. Grace and Blue clapped slowly, their faces almost mirroring each other's sarcastic smirking.

Juri returned to the other two bearing a large teddy bear on his back. "Oh, and don't forget to slip the ride operator a few extra bits so you can impress your friends. Enchanted game rings. Not on the usual menu."

Shaking his head, Grace booped the bear's nose. "Yeah, real impressive."

Juri transferred the bear onto Grace's back. "I hope so, it's for you."

***

Grace's stomach wouldn't settle and there was really only so many ways to tune a bass. Sound check was over and soon the doors would open. With a sigh, he set the guitar down gently and hopped off his stool.

The Scratch Batch were talented and charismatic; the ultimate showponies. The strength of the group was that every member utilized their strengths together. Any weakness could be covered by another member in the band. Their talents and their rapport was durable and flexible enough to cover everypony. Not that this meant it was friendly. The competition between bandmates was fierce, leading to a few blow ups during sound check that still had Grace's ears ringing.

Entering the green room, Grace was reminded how much he still had to prove of himself to these ponies. The lead singer, Mic Cords, outright refused to acknowledge his presence. Lead guitarist Pick Strummer seemed content to occasionally glance at Grace, but mostly spoke to his bandmates. The pair were over by the catering table, making use of some sort of chocolate fountain. Drummer Double Kick was the most polite, breaking most drummer stereotypes Grace had ever heard. She also appeared to be the most consistently sober, although Grace saw her hitting a few drinks now. She lounged across the couch in the middle of the room, two low-set armchairs making a c with the couch on either end.

Mic had apparently had enough alcohol to deign to acknowledge Grace's presence. Carrying a plate of chocolated-dipped strawberries on one wing, Mic sauntered over. "Well, Sunny's boy, you can tune a guitar. Congratulations, you're as useless as any techie in the building."

From her place on the couch, Double Kick threw a poorly aimed glass at Mic's head that thankfully missed, smashing on the wall behind him. "Leave the newbie alone, Microphone. You know the stage is where we settle this crap."

Mic stuck his nose up. "Well what if I don't wanna, Momma Dubz? You gonna protect Sunny's baby?"

Pick pulled Mic back towards their corner of the room, plying him with something that Grace could smell even from a fair distance away. Plopping into a couch, Grace put his head in his hooves.

A frustrated sigh sounded from the couch nearby. "Look, babe. I'm going to tell you the same thing I told every burnout wannabe before you. Your talent got you here, so don’t let your head take you somewhere your heart doesn't want to be. When you're up there with us it's all on you to make you look and sound good. Scratch says you know the songs, now you gotta own the stage. Or mess up and go home. It's all the same to me." With that, she heaved herself off the couch.

She gave a flash of magic from her horn and fixed the glass she shattered. Setting the reconstituted glass on a side table, she exited the green room, entering a room with a lit mirror before closing the door and shutting out Grace's view.

The door closing seemed to draw Mic's attention. He stared daggers at Grace, who shook his head and looked away. Pick seemed to be doing his best to sidetrack Mic, but the tension in the room remained high.

"It's time." Ready Set said from the doorway.

Author's Note:

That break wasn't as restful or productive as I wanted and I know I'm "coming back" a little early here, but oh well. Best laid plans and all that. No schedule in place yet, though. Let's see how this goes.

Comments

[PonyJosiah13]

That foal is surprisingly mature. In fact, he just might be the most mature of the three!

[themouthofmush]

so, you got them a fair gift. and you possibly got a new pony who might be checking out grace. romance tropes be abound.