Inverno’s Opus in A Minor

by CrackedInkWell

14: Blossoming in G Major

As much as he hates to admit to himself, Paganeighni was right. In a matter of days, ponies in the market place have kept returning to be seduced by the black griffin’s violin tricks. Vifilli didn’t exactly agree with the style as most of the time - to his ears - the other violinist wasn't even trying to make something beautiful out of his virtuosity. That annoyed him the most, but for whatever reason, it did bring in bits where they’re able to share a room and some food.

Which was why he decided to leave the marketplace and start heading towards the more quiet places to clear his head. Walking down a trail that had more trees and the houses became more spread out. As he walked down this path, he noticed there were more birds and small animals that duck out of sight when he passes by. Next to the trail, a stream flowed peacefully where there grew wild grass, lily pads and cattails. However, the further up he went, the more he noticed there were more nests and birdhouses that hang from the trees.

Then he paused as his ears perked up. Somewhere up ahead was a voice singing sweetly as a nightingale playing the flute. His curiosity drove him to walk further towards the voice. There he found a cottage where the nests, birdhouses, and burrows were at their plentiful. One with many windows and a grass roof that looked like a mound with a door in the front. But it was nearby this home near a patch of flowers that he found the source of the voice.

It was a yellow mare in a gardening hat, a watering can, and the packet of seeds that were nearby. To the composer’s wonder, she was singing to the animals that were helping her plant these seeds in her garden.

‘Such a voice,’ Vifilli thought, ‘would be worthy among the angles.’

He walked towards her, making sure that each step was loud enough to let the mare know of his approach. He even cleared his throat to catch her attention. “Pardon me-”

“EEP!” the yellow Pegasus jumped in the air, swinging around to see who was there.

“Forgive me, I didn’t mean to startle you.” He bowed. “I was curious when I heard singing.”

After taking several deep breaths to calm herself down, she said. “Sorry, I wasn’t expecting anypony to come by today.”

“To be fair, I didn’t think I would come by here either. I was taking a walk to clear my head, you see, when I heard your voice.”

“Oh…” she tilted her hat to hide her embarrassment.

The two of them stood in awkward silence, Vifilli tried to figure out how to start a conversation, looked over to the cottage. “I take it that this is your home?”

She nodded.

“I’ve never seen anything like it, with so many birds and animals about.”

“I take care of them.”

The composer tilted his head. “Sorry?”

“It’s part of my job, I look after animals, mister…”

“Vifilli, Antonio Vifilli. And I don’t believe I caught your name.” The mare rather shyly and quietly whispered her name. “Flutter… shy...” This caught the yellow Pegasus by surprise as normally she had to repeat her name a few times for anyone to catch it. For the curly orange mane stallion, he repeated the name like how one tasted wine the way he said it slowly, rolling his tongue. “Flutter shy, Fluttershy, Fluttershy…” He nodded. “A modest name.”

“Um… thank you?” Fluttershy tilted her head. “I guess I could say that your name sounds… exotic. Not many ponies have that name. Antonio.”

He shrugged. “You’d be right. I’m not from Equestria actually.”

“Oh?”

“Born and raised in Venice, to tell you the truth.”

Fluttershy blinked. “Isn’t that in Istally?”

“Yes. I used to be a priest there, so there’s no need of being timid around me.” He looked over to the garden. “If you would permit me, would you like some assistance?”

“Well…” she looked at the other animals that were looking up at her, “I suppose that you can help to water the seeds before I bury them. That is if you don’t mind.”

“Of course.” He took hold of the watering can with a wing, to which the mare resumed with her animals to planting seeds. “Do you sing often?”

“I didn’t mean to have anypony hear that…”

“So I presume that’s a no?”

She shook her head.

“Hm… That’s rather a shame actually. A voice like that, why, ponies all over Venice would flock over to hear it. I had taught many fillies to sing like that.”

“You’re a music teacher too?”

“In a manner of speaking, I was. To orphan fillies that I used to give lessons to.”

This caught her attention. “Orphans?”

He nodded. “Yes, every student I had were orphan girls until I was dismissed honorably. In those days, I taught them how to sing, how to play the violin, viola, cello, harpsichord, flute, oboe, piccolo, guitar… I could go on, but at one point, I taught them how to play as an orchestra. Complete with a choir too with singers that could easily go hooftip to hooftip with even the most virtuosic opera singers.”

“I take it that you’re that good of a teacher?”

Vifilli sighed. “Yes, very good. I mean, not to brag, but for several years, the ponies there tend to come towards our place of worship then they did the opera house every week to hear what I’ve prepared for them. I wish you could hear them sing and play for Our Lady Celestia, each service they let out music that would make all the angles of eternity sound… tone-deaf.”

“That sounds lovely.” Fluttershy smiled. “I wish I could sing like that.”

“What makes you think you can’t?” He looked at the animals that planted the seeds before he poured some water in. “Even the birds and these creatures admire it when I walked up the road.”

She paused for a moment, “I’m rather… self-conscious of my singing. Especially among crowds of ponies, oh…” the mare shuttered, “I just freeze up when everypony’s eyes are on me.”

“Ah, stage fright.” Fluttershy nodded. “But when I walked up on the road, what made you compel you to sing?”

To that, the mare waved a hoof all around her. “It was such a lovely day; the animals were so happy, and the birds were sweetly chirping that… it just came to me.”

“Inspiration… I know that feeling. That at times it comes out of nowhere like a voice from heaven or from the sheer beauty of the simplest of things.”

“You talk as if this happens to you a lot.”

Vifilli laughed, “When you’re composing, it comes naturally. I hear melodies everywhere, from the conversation of birds, the laughter of water, a storm, the sway of grain in a field, or even from the snow dancing in the wind. Or even at this moment too, I can hear it. A perfect concerto for a violin singing an ode to these flowers, of Spring, of…” He trailed off when he looked over at Fluttershy who was staring at him. “I must have let my mind wander off there, forgive me.”

“Oh, I don’t mind,” she said as she continued to dig up the dirt for the seeds, “if anything, I understand it. To be honest, it’s why I live here, to be close to nature as it gives me space to not only take care of them but to be inspired by what’s around me. So in a way, I can connect with you on that level.” Then one of the animals, who were holding onto the packets of seeds, turned one of them over into the little hole, only for nothing to fall out of it. “Oh dear…” she said, “I think we’re out of those seeds.”

“How much further do you have to go?”

“A long way, I’m afraid. Although, it’s a good thing that I’ve chosen today to do it. I knew it will take up all day. But I know that it will be worth it.” She stood up and started to make her way towards the cottage. “I’ll go see if there’s any more left. I’ll be right back.”

Vifilli watched the mare disappear behind the red front door of her home before he turned to the amount of unplanted ground that was still left to do. It stretched nearly around the inside of the fencing that would no doubt take several hours to complete such a monumental task.

‘The poor girl,’ he thought, ‘to plant all of these flours all by herself with no one but these creatures to help. Still, I wish there was a way to speed up the process just so I could spend more time with idle chatter with her. And I wish that I had my violin, so that I may play in gratitude for spending the time in her company. Especially on a beautiful spring day such as this…’ The stallion closed his eyes for a moment and lifted his hooves where he imagined his violin and bow in his hooves and underneath his chin. In his mind, he could almost see the string orchestra waiting for their cue to play.

As soon as his right hoof started to move, he began to hear the bright, lively opening of strings. In his mind, he could almost feel the neck of the violin to touch it and a bow to let it glide over. His daydream took hold at that moment to paint this moment into music, of a fantasy landscape of this mare’s piece of land. He envisioned the garden, still left unfinished and bare to suddenly be sprouted in every direction of spring petals in whites, butter yellow, pinks, blues, violets, and reds that pop out from the ground. He let the melody, like a painter with a brush, drew out warm, inviting colors and shapes of healthy, exotic plants to grow while drawing curious animals in.

Diving deeper into his imagination, his violin included the stream by the cottage to become a babbling brook. One that included swans and ducklings to grace among its waters. Yet, up above the cottage, he imagined a flurry of birds who twisted and summersault in the wind. With sparrows and doves, robins, and chickadees, they circled around at the abundance of food with bees who came to hover around the flowers for their honey. He could almost see the bees rushing from one patch of flowers to the next, greedily trying to get the limited pollen of each plant before moving to the next. He could just hear the angry buzzing of those insects that seemed to swarm around before they left.

But even still, this picture still wasn’t complete in Vifilli’s mind. His imaginary music then turned towards the cottage itself as he could hear the strings starting to climb upwards like quick-growing vines. Ones that latched onto the roof and curled around the birdhouses and chimney before they sprouted and blossomed into red roses. Almost like an intricate necklace, the roses bloomed into patterns that crisscross white ivy and forget-me-nots. In a way, he imagined the home’s roof to look like a crown of jewels.

However, before his daydream could play out the final note, he suddenly heard an “Oh… my…” before he opened his eyes up to a stunned Fluttershy and the new garden that had grown. Everywhere Vifilli looked, he was shocked to find that his daydream had suddenly become real from the abundance of flowers to the birds that circled about them. But most of all, in his hooves, a violin and bow faded away as the music suddenly stopped.

“Did…” Fluttershy trying to say, but was so astonished by the instant growth of her garden that she barely to get out the words: “Did you do all of this?”

“It’s a miracle,” Vifilli said aloud.

“What?”

“I… I did this… At least, I think I did.”

The mare took flight to hover over her home and the garden that sprouted. “It’s beautiful.” She then went up to the stallion and hugged him. “Thank you so much!”

Vifilli felt his cheeks warm up at this sudden embrace. “You’re welcome, my lady.”

Fluttershy was taken aback at the complement and hid in her mane from seeing her blush.

The sudden awkward moment was broken from a cough, which the two of them turned to a black griffin propping his head up with a claw on the fence. “There you are, I was beginning to ask myself where you’ve decided to wander off to.”

“Oh, uh…” The stallion stepped away from Fluttershy and towards the griffin. “What do you want?”

“Well, I was going to tell you that I got enough bits to get something to eat.” He held up a bucket overflowing with golden coins. “However, it looks like that you’re preoccupied at the moment. Shall I come back later or are we going?”

“Y-Yes.” He turned to the mare and bowed. “Thank you for letting me help, Ms. Fluttershy.”

“You too Antonio.” She waved. “Have a nice day.”

“Likewise.” So with that, Vifilli spread his wings as did Paganeinghni as they flew towards the town. Along the way, the red Pegasus couldn’t help but notice a smirk on his friend’s face. “What?”

“You… hypocrite.” He smiled widely.

“What are you talking about?”

“Ever since we’ve met and found out that you were a priest, you have been on my case of how much of a sinner I am for being stricken with lust by every passing mare that I play that violin to – now I find you growing flowers for that lady back there where it looked like she was moments away to having you deflower her.”

“That’s not what was happening!” Vifilli snapped at him.

“No? And all that sudden burst of magic when I arrived? C’mon, admit it, you were trying really hard to impress her. I can’t blame you for trying. She does have a good flank.”

The Pegasus snorted in disgust. “We were just talking, and I was helping her with her gardening. That was it.”

Paganeighni rolled his eyes. “Uh-huh, sure you were.” He said with heavy sarcasm. “Now come on, we have enough to eat at that café place downtown.”

---

Afternoons were usually slow for Dr. Assurance. Even in the bustling city of Applewood, he found that he didn’t have nearly as many clients to attend to at this time of day. Being that way, he found that he had more than enough time to go pick up lunch for himself and his secretary. Usually, he’s the one to pick up the food to order take out and returning with a bag or two for him and his employee to have for the next hour or so.

This time, however, as he walked into the office building with a bag of Neighponese, he noticed that his office door was ajar. “Hey, Pencil?” The mare behind the desk looked up. “Did anypony came in when I was out?”

“Yeah, just a few minutes ago.” She said as she lit up her horn to take the paper bag and separate their lunches. “It’s that homeless guy… Mr. Ski I think, he came in asking for you.”

“You mean he’s in my office now?” She nodded. With a sigh, he told her to keep his meal warm for him as he’ll go in to talk to him.

The office of Dr. Assurance was what one may describe as a small but comfortable place. Across from the door, there’s a huge window that looks out into the street that let in natural light. The walls were whitewashed with pictures of painted landscapes of forests and have framed degrees of the therapist’s credentials. There was a low bookshelf that stretched around the room that housed binders and books about psychology that held most of the knickknacks such as pictures of the doctor’s wife and some scented oils of orange blossoms. The only noticeable furniture in the room were two padded chairs that one of them had a clipboard in one seat and a Pegasus in the other.

“Mr. Ski,” the Doctor greeted, “this is unexpected, welcome to my office.”

The other stallion twisted his head over to him and instantly stood up. “Doctor, hello! Forgive me for arriving on such short notice.”

“Are you doing alright?” Assurance asked as he closed the door behind him. “Were you able to go to the shelter?”

Tchaicoltsky nodded. “At least I have someplace to rest my head at night, so I thank you for that.”

“And are you able to eat?”

“The mares at the soup kitchen have been very kind to me and was able to get just enough to get by.”

The therapist nodded. “Good. Good… So, what brings you to my office today?” He noticed the Pegasus hesitating as he rubbed one of his forelegs. “Is something the matter?”

“You did say that if I needed someone to talk to, I can turn to you, can I?”

He nodded. “Of course, you did save me a few nights ago. Would you like to take a seat and get comfortable?” After the Pegasus did so, he then further asked, “Would you like anything? We have coffee and tea in the building.”

Tchaicoltsky sighed. “Oh, I missed tea. But, if it wouldn’t be too much to ask, is it possible to have it made like they used to be in my country.”

“That depends, how so?”

“Well… It’s black tea that has honey and fresh raspberries. But if you don’t have-” he was cut off when the doctor opened the door to tell his secretary to fetch these things before closing the door.

“I think you’ll have it in a good ten or so minutes.” Dr. Assurance said as he picked up the clipboard and took a seat from the other chair. “So, Mr. Ski, tell me what’s on your mind?”

“If you don’t mind of me saying so,” the Pegasus began, “but what exactly do we do here? I know that you’re a doctor, but I’m not familiar with what exactly you do.”

“Ah. Well, it’s very simple. As a therapist, it’s my job to listen to my client where they just talk freely about whatever comes to mind. I listen and then try to help in whatever methods that are appropriate to your situation. And, don’t worry, whatever you say here will only be within these walls. As I’m obligated by law to keep your information confidential. My job is to simply listen and take down notes that I see fit.”

Tchaicoltsky raised an eyebrow. “That’s it?”

“That’s it.” He nodded.

“So… I can tell you my secrets, and you’ll never tell anyone?”

“Absolutely. Just so you know, this is a safe place for you. I guarantee that I had clients that have talked to me about pretty much anything and everything you could think of. So, you have my word that no matter what you say to me, I will not judge you. Because that’s not my job. What is, is to study you and how you see the world. So, whenever you feel comfortable,” he said as he crossed his hindleg, “you have my full attention.”

There was a tense moment between the two of them. Tchaicoltsky, with a million thoughts going through his head and his front hooves rubbing nervously. “I… I don’t know what to say.”

“It’s fine.” The doctor told him in a clam voice. “You don’t have to tell me your secrets. Just anything at all. Talk to me about whatever you’re comfortable telling me.”

“Um… alright.” He said shifting in his seat. “Perhaps… I could at least give you some idea what life for me is like up to this point.”

The doctor levitated his clipboard. “I’m listening.”

“Well… As I’ve said, I was born in Budyonny, in a town that I doubt you’ve ever heard of that’s deep in the countryside. My parents were well off, all things considering. I don’t remember much of my foalhood, I do recall have what my family said about me. How that I was sensitive when it came to any sudden loud noises. A good unexpected bang was enough to scare me into crying. Even a song played incorrectly was enough to send me into tears. However, I fell in love with good music almost immediately. In fact, the earliest pieces I wrote were songs for my mother when I was four years old. As a child, music poured out of me, so much so, that it gave me headaches trying to write them all down.”

“Did you ever have a good relationship with your family?”

“With my brother, sister, and my mother, yes. But my mother more so, who was ever so kind and held me whenever I cried. She was always amazed at the things I’ve written just for her, if anything, she saw a bright future in me with music. My father agreed when he sent me to boarding school. However, I hated it because as a child, being sent away to an alien place, far away from my family filled me with terror. As soon as I set hoof into that school, all those games and snacking on honey was over. I was sent there to be prepared for a job I knew that I would loath. It didn’t help much as I was away from them most of the time. Of course, we sent letters back and forth, but it felt so distant. In fact, the few times I was allowed home, it was for my mother’s funeral.”

“Oh…” Assurance’s ears folded back. “I’m so sorry to hear that.”

“I know I was fourteen at the time, but even today, I still feel that loss. You could say that when I returned to school, I spent most of those years crying. Misery followed me, even after I graduated to become a civil servant, but after a few months, I forced myself to quit so that I can pursue what I really wanted to do. So, I turned to one of the music academies that, fortunately enough for me, offered both training and a career. It took a few years, but I managed to earn the title of professor in music where I was to teach students and have time for composition.”

“Oh? You’re a professor?”

“Used to be. I used to have students that came to me to learn about singing to playing on the piano, my specialty. And it was there that I…” He trailed off and this got the therapist’s attention.

“What?”

“Forget it.”

“What were you going to say?”

“I don’t want to talk about it.” He sighed. “I know you said that I can tell you anything, but…”

Dr. Assurance placed the clipboard down on the arm of his chair. “Mr. Ski, is this something important that you feel you wanted to share with me?”

Tchaicoltsky opened and closed his mouth as if trying to find the right words to say. But he found that he couldn’t, he unexpectedly stood up. “This was a bad idea, I shouldn’t have come here.”

“Now wait a minute, what’s wrong?”

“I’m sorry for wasting your time, but I thought I could talk to you but that was a mistake on my part.”

“Mr. Ski.” the therapist said firmly. “I can easily see that something has been on your mind and it’s been troubling you. Now when I said that I will listen to you without any judgment, I meant it. I don’t know what has gotten you filled with anxiety, but I promise that whatever it is, would not shock me. You must understand that in the years I’ve been at this job, I had to interview criminal psychopaths, delirious and deprived ponies for years. Trust me, I’ve heard it all. Now I cannot force you to tell me what you don’t want to, but at the same time, I want to say that you can trust me with whatever is bothering you.”

Once again, Tchaicoltsky could sense that same unconditional compassion that radiated off from the doctor. But even still, should he take this gamble? What he said was very sincere, and that he promised that no matter what he says in that office, it’ll only stay there. He sat back down again. “Are you sure I can trust you?”

He nodded. “Without judgment or interruption.”

He took in a deep breath, then after several minutes in silence, he finally confessed. “I… preferred the company of uh… stallions.”

Dr. Assurance blinked. “And?”

Tchaicoltsky felt that his eyes were about to pop out of their sockets. “And? That’s all you have to say? And?! I just told you that I’m a pervert, and all you can say is ‘and?’ Aren’t you the least bit disgusted?”

After jotting down some notes, he shrugged. “Not really. There are plenty of clients I have that happen to be gay. I don’t fully know how Budyonny views homosexuality, but from what I can see, it must be awful if you had this much anxiety. I just want you to know that here in Equestria, we’re a little more open-minded when it comes to this. Psychologists here don’t see what you have as a sickness or a disability. You are what you are, and we can’t change that. Frankly, it's unethical for us to try. So, in this country, you have our acceptance.” As he spoke, the doctor saw his patient tearing up. “Are you alright?”

“You…” he sniffed. “You really mean that?”

The doctor didn’t say anything as he got up from his seat, went over to hug him. Tchaicoltsky instantly felt and could taste the sweet waves of kindness, compassion, and even love that was so potent, that he hugged him back as he wept in his acceptance.

“Trust me when I say this,” Assurance said, “it gets better. You have no reason to hide anymore.”

There was a knock on the door, followed by the voice of the secretary. “Excuse me, I have the tea? Should I come in?”

Dr. Assurance got up to open the door, where he took the tray off from her back to bring it into the office. After closing the door once more, he asked his patient if he’s going to be alright. “Yes, just take me a moment to recover.” Tchaicoltsky took in some deep breaths as the unicorn set the tray on the low bookshelf.

On the tray was a metal kettle of boiling hot water with two mugs with spoons, a box of black tea, honey, and a bowl of raspberries. As he was sitting the tray down, the doctor paused as he spotted the box of tea. On the small green box, was a black and white picture that was directly underneath the golden lettering that read: Tchaicoltsky Black Tea. What caught his eye and made him lift the box up to his face was that the old photograph that was on the box looked very similar to the Pegasus who was drying his tears. From the manecut to the beard, even the shape of the face looked uncannily similar to his patient.

“Is something wrong?” The doctor quickly turned around to the stallion.

“No uh… I just realized that I don’t exactly know how you’d like your tea.”

“Here.” His patient got up, “Let me do it. If we’re going to have authentic Budyonny tea, then let the Budyonnian do it.”

This got a laugh from the doctor as he stood aside but kept the box close to him.

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[Dan]

The Red Priest has red fur, of course.