The Second Life of Moztrot

by CrackedInkWell

Chapter 21: Billiards with Starlight and Sunburst

Several weeks later, when the air was growing colder and the leaves had changed color, I finally felt ready to invite not just Starlight Glimmer to my home for the interview, but Sunburst as well because I wanted some company after the Requiem. For the occasion, I wanted to get something that I had wanted to buy for a long time: a billiard table, which we set in the library. And of course, I had the chef fix up some delectable items for the visitors.

On that autumn afternoon when the leaves were falling all over the elegant street, I spied the two ponies walking up to the front door. I called out for Wilfred to answer the door before they could ring the bell. They were shown into the library to find me there with a cue in one hoof and a glass of wine in the other. On the table was a sketch.

“Hello Mr. Moztrot,” Starlight greeted me as she eyed the parchment. “What’s that?”

“Sunbutt has commissioned me to write a new Hearth's Warming Carol in time for the holidays. While I was waiting for you two to get here I thought I’d start juggling some ideas in my noodle.” After setting my glass down, I asked them, “Do you know how to play billiards?”

They looked at one another for a moment, “I’m afraid that we don’t know the rules of it.” Sunburst said, “How does it work?” So after explaining the basics of the game when multiple players were involved, they managed to quickly grasp the idea of it. “Although,” I added, “I must warn you both that while I may be a virtuoso at the keyboard, I’m also one at the billiard cue. So how about I make this interesting?”

“How so?” Starlight inquired.

“Since these new balls are numbered one to ten, how about that you two would take turns in getting your set of, for example, odd numbers into these slots here while I try to do the same with the evens. Whoever can get all of theirs into the slots is declared the winner.”

“That sounds fair,” the unicorn mare told me, “but remember, I’m here to interview you too.”

“Who says that you can’t chat and play with my balls at the same time?” I laughed at my joke like a hyena. “Now that I think of it before we start, do you want anything? Some wine or something to nibble?”

“Maybe later,” Sunburst said as he lit up his horn, rearranging the balls on the table to their proper place while using the triangle to get it all just so while placing the white ball in its proper place. He then levitated one of the billiard cues over to himself and his friend.

“How about you go first,” she suggested as she took out a quill and notepad. “So do you need to get started, Mr. Moztrot?”

“Call me Wolfgang,” I said as Sunburst lined up the white ball to break the rest of them up. “Now I don’t know how these interviews work, but I am quite good at talking. So what do you want to talk about?”

She flipped through her notes while her friend made the first move. The group of balls did split with a sharp ‘Smack!’ but fortunately none of them fell into the slots. “Well, before I start, I’m rather surprised that you were acceded to my interview so quickly, especially after… you know… the funeral.”

I took in a deep breath, “Ah yes, I tended to get that reaction quite a bit in the past. About how swiftly I was able to take hold of my grief, after those I’d known and loved passed away. While it was -- is -- quite devastating to me, I do have ways to deal with it. Composition has always helped me in the past, and the Requiem was a major assuagement to my mind. Do not worry, I’ll be fine, and I think it is your turn.”

After circling the table she took her shot at the two balls but it missed its mark. “Now then,” she began, “while I have already read quite a bit from secondary sources, there are some things that I think only you can give insight on.”
“Such as?”

“Well, for example…” she looked through her notes. “Starting with your foalhood. Did you even have one? I mean from what I’ve read, your father did basically drag you and your sister from kingdom to kingdom to perform for nobles. Not only that, but the books said that you were either performing or composing. Did you ever find any time to be a kid, like playing or something?”

While Sunburst thought about his next move, I replied, “Papa was trying his best to look out for us on every step of the way. After all, the reason for such long trips was to get financial security and to spread our fame throughout. So in between the stops at cities and towns, Papa had to make sure that I and my older sister were prepared. We were always practicing and playing the clavichord or the violin that we carried around with us. Most of the time, we traveled by carriage from countryside to countryside with our driver… Mr. Winter, I think his name was, who carried us all across the land. If anything, that carriage was our home for several years. I was told later of how much Mama and Papa were concerned for me; I was so fragile, then, and my hearing so sensitive that any discordant or unexpected noise would be enough to make me faint. Not to mention that I took ill easily back then, especially during the winters when my bones would stiffen and fevers would leave me miserable. And the food didn’t keep fresh for very long.”

The orange wizard made his strike and was able to knock the three ball into a slot. Seeing that it was my turn, I examined the table while adding, “However, that doesn’t mean that we never played as children do. I remember this one time we asked Mr. Winter to draw us a map of an imaginary place. Using that, I established from the Kingdom of Bac, which had everything for good and happy children, and I was king of it all. I had my sister name the cities, market towns and villages.” I smiled with nostalgia as I hit the white ball, thereby sending the four and ten ball into the same slot. “I remembered that in that world, I would be sitting on an embroidered cushion to distribute treats and favors to the children of that land.”

“But did you ever have friends as a child?” Sunburst asked while the mare took aim.

I shook my head, “How could we? We didn’t stay in one place for very long so it wasn’t possible for any of us to do so. The only one that I could play with was with my sister. And even if I did encounter any children from the places we visited, I couldn’t really connect with them nor they with me. My sister had complained to me once that I had spent more time in Bac than in the real world.”

After Starlight took aim and missed, she made a few notes and then moved on to her next question. “Okay, now I kinda have to ask, why music?”
I tilted my head, “I don’t understand the question.”

“Well, what I mean to say is that, with a mind like yours, how come you focused so much on music? I’ve read a biography that said when you were little, you were drawing mathematical equations with chalk on the walls, floor, and even the furniture. Not only that but from your operas, many critics felt that your understanding of the pony mind could easily rival Shakespeare’s. So you could have been a writer or a playwright. Then there are the things found in your personal library in which was stocked with some of the most influential writings of the Enlightenment, so you could have even been a philosopher. So my question is why did you become a composer?”

“Why not?” I asked. “After all, I come from a musical family. My grandfather was a musician; my Papa was both a musician and a composer. The same goes for my older sister. Yes, it’s true that my interest isn’t solely in composition, for there is a great range of subjects that have captivated my attention: from the latest ideas of philosophy to the latest novels and debating their themes in cafes around Canterlot.”

This got Sunburst’s attention, “Like what kind of novels are we talking about?”

“Well…” I thought for a moment as I leaned on my billiard cue. “There’s the travels of Captain Gulliver. A hoofful of Shakespeare’s plays that I remember reading in my teens. What else…? Oh! Then there’s Voltaire’s Candide: or the Optimist. Now that one was fun to read, if it is still in print after all these years, I would recommend taking a look.”

“Oh yeah!” Sunburst, true to his name beamed. “I remember a section of that from our Equineties Class sometime back. It’s rather surprising how funny it still is despite being nearly three hundred years old.”

“But to your question ma’am,” I said to Starlight, “I was born with music captivating my mind. In fact, Papa had taught me how to write musical notes before I knew how to spell my own name. Much like how a painter plays with colors, light, and shade upon a canvas, so do I with the sound that I juggle in my head. Even right now I’m thinking up melodies, counterpoint and harmonic progressions that I could use and play with on a sheet of paper. For me, writing or performing is as easy as breathing, much like how it is for both of you with magic, I assume.”

“I see,” the unicorn mare jotted down my response. “Do you remember that shop I showed you in order to cheer you up?”

A giggle escaped from me, “How could I forget?”

“You see, I was kinda wondering about that. What are your thoughts about it? I mean, to have some chocolate that has your image on it. I don’t know how long those things have been around, but are you bothered that they used it without your permission to do so?”

“On the contrary,” said I, “I’m rather amused by the treat on so many levels. But I trust that you know my taste in humor?”

“Kinda. From what I’ve found, you love poop jokes and sex jokes, and that this was a common thing in your family.”

I laughed at this, “Oh more than that,” I replied. “If anything, any sort of dessert that is even slightly perverted is enough to make me giggle like a school filly. Oh! Which reminds me,” I hopped over to the door of the library and called out for Mr. Sauté to bring out the snacks. Within a minute, he came in pushing a cart with a silver dome over it. I was vibrating in anticipation with a wide grin, “Are they ready?” I asked my chef.

“You do know this is possibly the dirtiest thing that I’ve ever made so far,” he confessed. “Are you sure you want them to see it?”

I nodded, “It’ll be funny. Let them see.”

One deep breath later, he put one hoof on the top of the dome and said, “Okay…” And lifted it up – both unicorns blushed, much to my delight. There on a tray were pouches of dark chocolate, each of which had two bulging shapes. I just couldn’t resist. “So,” I said with a chuckling smile, “Who here wants to try my balls.”

The unicorns turned to each other. “You know,” Starlight began, “If Freud were still alive; he would have a field day with this guy.”

“Are these for real?” Sunburst questioned.

“They don’t have any nuts in them, in case you’re wondering,” Sauté grumbled.

I laughed, “Oh! Do that next time!”

Starlight raised an eyebrow with a chuckle, “Oh my Mr. Moztrot, is there something you’re trying to tell us?”

I cocked my head to the side, “What are you implying? It’s funny isn’t it?”

She waved a hoof, “Oh forget it. Let’s see what these things are made of.” After picking up one of the pouches, she tore a little bit of it to get a look inside. She saw the layers of dark chocolate, marzipan, and a pistachio paste before taking a bite from it. “Hey… That’s actually not bad.” While her friend was trying one out, she also added, “You know, a dessert like this, I’d bet that Pinkie Pie would have been amused with.”

“Who?” I inquired.

After Sunburst swallowed, he answered, “She’s a fun-loving friend of hers, a party planner and baker in Ponyville.” My expression was blank as I had no idea what he was talking about. “Oh! That’s right; the town didn’t exist in your time. It’s just south of here by a couple of miles. It is home to Princess Twilight Sparkle and the elements of Harmony. It’s small, but there’s so much to do down there. You should go and visit sometime.”

I told him that I might consider it and we continued on with our game/interview. I’m afraid that most of it weren’t all that interesting as she tried to record my opinions and memories into her notebook. However, at the very end (and as I was winning), she had one last question: “So, what are you going to do now? Do you have any plans from here?”

“Well, besides going to Manehattan for a special Hearth's Warming concert, there are two operas of mine that I want to produce. Each in a special way: the first is that on Hearts and Hooves day, I’m planning to hold ‘The Marriage of Figaro’ right here in my home.”

“Really?” Sunburst inquired after he knocked the wrong ball into a slot. “How are you going to do that?”

“Well, I might ask the opera company here in Canterlot to do it. I can’t imagine that it would be too hard given my standing as a musician. But the other, I want to speak with King Thorax about.”

Starlight raised an eyebrow, “Why’s that?”

“Because his Changelings are the only ones to my mind that could, in theory, perform ‘The Magic Flute’ in the way that I originally imagined. Of course, I just need to figure out how, exactly, to accomplish that.”

She tapped a hoof to her chin, “I think I might help you out with that. After all, I know him and I can pass the message along to see what he thinks of it.”

After thanking her, my turn came about, and I did indeed end up winning. But I also thanked them for their company, as well as the interview too. Before she left, I told her that if she ever wanted to do an interview again, all she had to do was ask. Once they were gone, I finished up the Hearth's Warming Carol before turning towards a new idea: a piano concerto.

Comments

[Dan]

Giggidy.

[Chrome Masquerade]

Another great entry.
I must wonder how those balls taste.

[Greenhorn]

I never tried Mozart Ball. But if it is anything but chocolate and caramel then I pass.

[BurningSkies]

Imagine if those "pouches" had a bit of "whipped cream" on the end tho.