A Different Maestro Spectrum

by The REAL Mister Pkmn

Chapter The Tenth: Emotions Stir

After Sarah had been sleeping on his couch for a few hours, Maestro smiled at her patiently when she awoke. Daylight was starting to shine through the window, causing her to wince at the light a little before Maestro closed the blinds with magic. She thanked him wordlessly, and Maestro then addressed the elephant in the room. “So… you want to tell me why you came to my place, or…?”

Sarah was silent for a few minutes, but Maestro respected that she might want to gather herself before telling him. After she had, she let the burden off of her shoulders. “It’s my bo- er, Ex-boyfriend now, I guess. He… dumped me. I thought we had something, but when I told him what you’d done by standing up for me… He lost it. He ranted about how I should disregard what you did; seeing as you’re not a thestral like us. That got under my coat, and one thing led to another… and he called us off. He wanted nothing to do with a… with a…! ‘Normie-lover’!”

At this she started to tear-up again, and her hysterics were starting to rise. Maestro acted quickly, comforting her. “Shh… It’s alright, it’s alright. Honestly, I had no idea how bad the vices betwixt the main tribes and uncommon tribes got… and to think, it goes both ways…” He shook his head. “It’ll be alright, Sarah. One day, everyone will get along despite of tribe or race… or, at least I hope so.” It hurt Maestro to see her like this, so he had to ensure she wasn’t hurt like that again… yet, he wasn’t sure if he should broach that subject, seeing as she’d just been dumped. It would probably not be received well, that much was for sure.

But her response to him was a bit surprising, to say the least. “M-maybe you could… help me get over this with a-a date? You’re pretty dashing, so…”

Maestro pulled back in surprise. She was asking him out? After just getting dumped? He wasn’t sure if she was being genuine about this, but he decided to give her the benefit of the doubt on this. He smiled. “Sure. To be honest, I was thinking of asking you out, so this works out swimmingly. Where would like to go? I’ll be buying.”

She had to think for a moment, considering where she would like to go. After immense consideration, she had her answer. “How about that pizza place nearby? I’m not really in the mood for anything too fancy right now.”

Maestro smirked. “A mare that can appreciate a more casual venue, eh? Alright, then.” He stood, and called out to Prism. “Prism! Mind the shop for me, would you? I’ve got a date to get to.”

Snickering a bit, Prism peeked into the living room. “Okay, dad! Have fun~!”

Maestro led Sarah to the door, and sighed. “She can be such a handful sometimes.” He opened the door, and stepped aside. “After you, Sarah.” Sarah nodded slightly, put on her sunhat, and went through the door. Maestro followed soon after, closing the door behind them. He decided to broker a little conversation on their way to the pizza place. “So, Sarah. How long have you been here in Manehattan?”

Sarah blushed slightly and turned away. “Not too long, really. I only visit for a few months at a time each year. I am only familiar with the place because of how often those visits are.”

Maestro smirked. “Interesting. I myself have only been here once before, a few years back.” He scratched his head in slight embarrassment. “That was back before I got the massive following I have now. Things were certainly quite different back then…” His musings were cut off when they arrived at the Pizza Palace. Mastro looked to Sarah with a quizzical look. “You sure about this? What if they…”

Sarah raised a hoof to silence him. “Relax, Hot Platter’s pretty chill. Just don’t irk him, and he’ll be fine with you.” Before Maestro could respond, Sarah led them inside. The place was rather plain, the only thing really of much note being the floor looking like a cheese pizza. At the counter was a thestral stallion with a dark orange coat. From what could be seen, his mane was yellow with small red streaks in it. His eyes were green, and he had a rather relaxed demeanor. He took a look at Sarah, and waved her over. Sarah obliged, Maestro following close behind.

The stallion- with a name tag saying “Hot Platter” attached to his white striped shirt- smiled. “Sarah! Been a while since your last visit!” He looked over to Maestro, eyes widening in shock. “Is that Maestro Spectrum?” His face was aglow with a large smile. “It’s an honor, sir! What you did for Sarah here is quite inspiring!”

Maestro chuckled awkwardly. “It’s nothing, really. I would do so for any of my customers if they were harassed; It’s just who I am.” He smiled lightly. “Besides, she kinda… asked me out. So…”

At that comment, Hot Platter turned to Sarah with a quizzical look on his muzzle. “Did Stormcloud dump you?” He only had to see Sarah’s dejected look to understand. “I see. Good riddance, I say. I honestly don’t know how the two of you stayed together so long…” He got out from behind the counter, and started to lead them to an empty table.

Curious, Maestro broached the topic. “What do you have against her ex? His personality, his attitude, what?”

Hot Platter shook his head. “Storm was always a bit of a difficult one. He was quite pushy, and quite unpleasant to be around.” His description of Stormcloud drifted off as Sarah and Maestro sat down at the table. Hot Platter shook his head. “Let’s not dwell on that, though.” His demeanor changed quickly as a smile spread across his face. “So, what will you be ordering today?”

Maestro looked over the menu, considering his options. “Hm, it all looks pretty good to me…” He turned to Sarah to ask her opinion. “What do you think? Any suggestions?”

Scouring the menu for a bit, Sarah eventually pointed at a particular one on the menu. “How about the Jalepeño Jalopy? I’m in the mood for something spicy.”

Shrugging, Maestro set down his menu. “One large Jalepeño Jalopy, then.”

Hot Platter wrote that down, and then asked them another question. “Would you like a drink with that? Milk, perhaps?”

Sarah responded immediately. “Sure, I’ll take a milk. Maestro, what about you?”

Maestro considered it for a moment. Should he? He’d had spicy things before, and he supposed he had built up somewhat of a tolerance… He decided to er on the side of caution. “One for me, just in case.”

Hot Platter wrote that down, and asked one final question. “Is that all?” At their collective nod, Hot Platter gathered his writing pad, and left into the back.

Sarah turned to Maestro, a bit surprised. “You hesitated when asking for milk. Why?”

Maestro chuckled slightly. “Well, I’ve some experience with spicy things. I have a decent level of ‘tolerance’ to it, but I reasoned that it was better to be safe than sorry.”

Just as Sarah was about to reply, a familiar voice entered Maestro’s ear. "Maestro?” He turned to see Trixie just standing there in shock. “Maestro, you're... dating somepony?"

Maestro raised an eyebrow. He spoke rather casually. “First date with her, actually. Hard to say where it’ll go from here, but...” he shrugged his shoulders. “Might as well try, right? Maybe it’ll wind up better than my date with that other mare...”

At this revelation, Sarah turned to Maestro in shock. “I’m not the first to try and date you? Who had that privilege?”

Sighing, Maestro shook his head. “I thought it’d be plastered over the paper by now… Oh well. It was a pegasus mare named Brilliant Dawn. She and I weren’t quite right for each other, so it didn’t work out.”

Trixie had remained silent during the exchange, only after they were done did she decide to speak. “Maestro…” Hearing his name, he turned to face her. “Why didn’t you tell me you’d been dating?”

Maestro considered why this might concern her, and a few reasons did come to mind. But it couldn’t be that simple, could it? “You never asked. I would’ve told you had you asked. Listen, can we talk about this later? I’ll find you when my date is done.”

For a little while, Trixie remained silent. She then nodded her head. “Okay. Have fun on your… date.” With nary another word, Trixie left into the overcast city..

Maestro sighed as he turned back to Sarah. “Sorry about that. Trix is my best friend. She worries sometimes.”

Sarah wasn’t so sure about that, but held her piece. The food came soon enough, and They had a bit of small talk during the meal. Yet as it dragged on, Sarah couldn’t help but notice that Maestro was starting to act a little odd. He was glancing out the window, tapping the table, and acting all sorts of antsy. Then she understood, and grabbed his hoof. He yelped slightly in surprise, and was about to apologize. But Sarah cut him off with a smile. “You’re worried about her, aren’t you?” At his nod, Sarah nodded in kind. “Find her. It’s clear we weren’t connecting as well as I thought we were.”

Maestro smiled, laid the payment on the table, and bolted out into the now pouring rain. Hot Platter returned, and spoke to her. “Do you regret it? Letting him go?”

A single tear strolled down her muzzle. “A bit, yes.But it’s clear to me that his heart lies with another… Even if it’s not quite clear to him just yet.” She turned to Hot Platter and buried herself in his white striped shirt as her tears started to overflow.

Hot Platter looked out into the rain outside. “Find her, Maestro. And when you do… don’t let her go.”

---

He had searched all over. The rain was pouring, far more than ever. If Trixie was caught in this, she’d catch a cold! Worry beyond description had him on edge. He tried asking the police, but they were of no help. He scoured every corner, and just when he thought he’d searched everywhere- *sniffle* That sound. He bolted towards it. Deep inside his soul, he knew. It was Trixie. He ran faster than he ever had in his entire life. He found her eventually, curled up in a ball in an alleyway. He went up to her, and helped her up- but she tried to push him away. “Go… away… run back… to your girlfriend…” Trixie then collapsed with high fever.

Maestro pulled her up, and helped her stand. He walked her to his place, for it was closer to where they were than the hospital was. He entered, startling the customers. Before anyone could say anything, he spoke. “Shop’s closed. Good day.” They knew better than to argue with him, so they scrambled for their umbrellas and left. He sighed as he laid Trixie on the couch. Prism was one step ahead as she brought him a warm blanket and some soup. He placed the blanket over Trixie, and set himself near the fire. He then drifted off to sleep.

Author's Note:

Well now, what have we here? A Hectic end to a rather nondescript day, to say the least...