Inverno’s Opus in A Minor

by CrackedInkWell

3: Return of an Old Friend in D Major

Before Inverno and Shining Armor could head out, they had to rope in one more important pony before they could begin their quest. Cadence had already sent a message to Canterlot to bring in by Pegasi chariot as quickly as possible. In the meantime, Shining did some investigating of his own about where those boxcars had gone off to.

Much to Shining's annoyance, it would look like a round trip throughout Equestria from Rainbow Falls in the North to Applewood in the South with several stops in between. In his study, he looked over a map of the whole country that marked out the destinations in which those railcars were supposed to go. But just by looking at it was enough to give him a headache.

“At least there's two places that we could pick up two at the same time.” He mumbled to himself. However, he noticed that most of them were pretty spread out, at least, as far as destinations go. “Of course that only means if they all made it there.”

“Your Highness,” a guard said as he entered, “Professor Key Signature has arrived.”

After thanking him, Shining packed up the map and some remaining items he would need for the trip before heading towards the throne room. In his mind, he does not doubt that his adopted son is probably running in the halls at full gallop to tackle his old teacher to the ground like a tiger would with his prey. Probably little Flurry is hugging his face with her wings that his wife is having trouble making him hold still to peel her off. By the time he got there, it turned out to be the latter.

“Easy! Easy!” Shining walked in time to see his daughter trying to get on the old stallion’s back. As he hadn’t seen the Professor in over a year, he looked the same as he first saw him. A yellow, wrinkled coat with a combed back, trimmed beard, and mane with glasses, and a set of piano keys as a cutie mark. “My back isn’t as strong as it once was.”

His wife was there to lift the playful alicorn off of his back. “Sorry about Flurry,” Cadence said to him, “she can be quite friendly when meeting somepony new.”

“So I noticed.” He chuckled as he took notice of Shining. "Your Highness, long time no see.”

“Thanks for coming up here on such short notice.” The Prince said as he went over to shake his hoof. “Especially for taking some time off for this.”

“Prince Armor, even if this wasn’t an emergency, I wouldn’t pass up an all-paid trip around Equestria with a favorite student of mine for anything. Speaking of which, how is Inverno doing now?”

“Professor Key!” a shout from Inverno was heard as they turned to see galloping hooves rushing over to hug the old stallion. “I’ve missed you so much!”

“Take it easy there,” Key chuckled, “I just got here after all. How are you?”

“I’m about to go outside of the Empire and travel with you, I’m really excited.” Inverno was cut off as he heard Shining clearing his throat. “Oh… So… Have you heard why we’re doing this?”

“That you resurrected twelve of history’s greatest composers and you might have given them powers that might be dangerous? Yes, I have.” The Professor sat on his haunches and placed a hoof on his shoulder. “We’ll talk about this later because I do have some thoughts on the matter. But for now, I have a more pressing question: When do we depart and where are we going?”

“We’ll be going tonight on our private train,” Shining answered as he took out and unrolled the map. “I think it’s best we start by going towards Rainbow Falls first because that's the closest. Although I have no idea who we’re supposed to find over there.”

“How long do you think this will take?” Cadence asked as she picked up Flurry. “Surely this will be a round trip across Equestria, so how long will we be gone for?”

“At a minimum, two weeks.” Shining rolled up the map, trotting over to kiss her daughter on the forehead. “But with some luck, we might be back in less than a month if things go smoothly. However, realistically I think it might take longer. So are you sure you can handle her for that long?”

“I’ll be fine.” His wife replied. “We do have backup help for both Flurry and me, what’s important is to find these ponies and to bring them back here. We’ll figure out what to do with them from there.”

“Of course, Mi Amore,” Shining said before kissing her. “We’ll be back before you know it.”

“Inverno,” Cadence waved over to him to come near. When he did so, his mother hugged him. “Be safe, stay with Shining and Professor Key.”

“I will mom.” Inverno nuzzled her.

After saying their goodbyes, Shining then picked up Inverno’s things that he was taking with him and escorted them out of the palace and across the streets of the Crystal Empire. But as they walked on, Inverno couldn’t help but notice something.

“Uh… Dad, the rail yard is that way.” He said, pointing in the opposite direction.

“We’re not going to the rail yard,” Shining said. “Our train isn’t even above ground.”

“Huh?” Both Inverno and the Professor inquired.

"You'll see what I mean, but you'll have to follow me first."

The Prince leads them to the edge of the city-state in which he entered into a tinny crystal structure that was no bigger than a shed. But as Shining opened it, there was a flight of stairs that lead downward several floors. They followed him underground to where it opened up to a cavernous space, a tunnel carved from the rock that held the crystalline train.

For Inverno, he never saw anything like it. A massive chunk of blue crystal that looked smoother than the locomotives from the railyard. It was sleek as a seal and was connected to five long cars that looked like it was made out of the same material. All around, guards and servants rush along to move crates and supplies onto the train.

“Good evening, your Majesty,” Inverno’s attention snapped towards the one that spoke. There before him were two, familiar Crystal Guards. The one who spoke, a yellow guard that Inverno knew to be Offense, and the other that stood next to him, a purple guard to be his brother, Defense.

Shining introduced them to the Professor, “They’ll be accompanying us during our trip. Of course, there are a few other guards to come with us, but these two will be looking over us the most for security reasons.”

Once introductions were out of the way, they boarded onto the train. Much to Inverno’s amazement, it was much larger on the inside as in one car alone had bunk beds for the three of them, a small library, a phonograph, a movie projector with a screen, and a baby grand piano in a corner. As the car they were on was made out of crystal, there was no need for windows as the walls and ceiling were made out of crystal. The only exception to this was a small bathroom where the walls weren't see-through.

“I had the piano installed just for you,” Shining said to Inverno as he eyes the instrument, “I figured if we’re going to be spending days at a time going around from city to town, that you might as well have something you would enjoy.”

Inverno thanked him. And about several minutes later, the train was ready to depart, zooming out of the tunnel and up to the surface to make its first stop: Rainbow Falls.

---

Across Equestria, near the city of Applewood, a stallion walks out of his home with a full trash bag in his aura. He walks out the front door and around to the side of his well-kept house where a row of three trash cans with lids was kept. It was difficult to see as the only light was from the aura of his horn and the trash bag. With a tired sigh, he opens one of the lids to dump the dark plastic bag in.

However, before he could turn around, he saw from the corner of his eye something flashing from one of the lids. Raising an eyebrow, his attention was turned towards the slightly opened lid as he braced himself as he swiftly opened it.

“Gah!” the trash can tip over as a young Pegasus with a dark, scruffy beard tumbled over. He was orange and looked up in fear with green eyes. Before he could flee, the unicorn caught him at the end of his tail.

“Hey! Wait a minute!”

“Let me go!” The Pegasus's wings beat harder, but the unicorn used his magic to force him to be turned around to face him.

“Hey! Relax, I just wanna talk.”

“Just let me go,” the young stallion pleaded, “I promise I won’t come here again.”

“But that’s what I want to know. What were you doing in my garbage.”

A growling stomach answered that question. The unicorn, with this realization, took a closer look at the Pegasus he caught. He was young, but also thin as his coat had patches of dirt and his face told him that he was starving on top of being frightened.

“When’s the last time you’ve eaten?”

“I… I don’t know.”

The unicorn, his face becoming sympathetic, lowered the young stallion to the ground. “Listen, I’m going to let you go. Realize that I don’t want to hurt you because as I can see, you need help. So, will you allow me to help you?”

Gulping, the Pegasus nodded, thereby being set free.

“Come inside,” the unicorn said, “we have some leftover dumpling soup so we can give you that and maybe a room for the night.”

“Wait,” the Pegasus reached out, but then stopped as he retracted his hoof, “why are you helping me?”

“Because I can see you need it… I’m sorry, I don’t think I caught your name. My name is Assurance. Doctor Assurance. You?” He asked, reaching a hoof out to him.

The young stallion hesitated for a moment. “Ski,” he lied as shook the doctor’s hoof, “You can call me Ski.”

“Well, Mr. Ski, come inside. My wife and I will get you food…” after taking a sniff, he added, “along with a shower. I’m afraid we don’t have a guest room so all I could offer you is a couch to sleep on.”

Ski didn’t reply as his look of suspicion was stuck on his face. The doctor led him through the front door and into a comfortable home in which, as they walked in, a mare looked up from a book on the couch.

“Who's this?” she asked.

“I think he’s homeless.” Assurance replied, “I found him in a garbage can and he hasn’t eaten in days.”

“He looks like he hadn’t had a bath just as long.” His wife said as she covered her nose. “Why did you let him in? He could be dangerous?”

Ski looked down at himself, “Really?” he deadpanned, “Do I really look that dangerous to you? Ma’am, if I were, you would think I might have a knife on me or something. I promise I'm harmless. I just wanted some food and a place to rest. In fact, I’ll be gone by morning.”

“I don’t know…”

The young Pegasus knelt down, “Please, I’m begging you. I don’t know where I am, and I have no place to go. If you could just spare me something to eat and a place to sleep, I’ll be out of your manes by dawn. I promise that I won’t touch anything you don’t want me to. Just for tonight.”

With a sigh, she looked over to her husband, “He gets some soup, a bath, and sleeps on the couch. But by eight tomorrow, I want him gone.”

“Thank you, ma’am,” Ski said gratefully.

So the couple showed him to the kitchen in which they put the leftover soup on the stove to heat up before serving to the stranger. Once a warm bowl was placed down, they begin asking him questions.

“So, Mr. Ski,” Dr. Assurance began, “Where are you from?”

“If you can believe this, I’m from Budyonny.”

This surprised the couple.

“But that’s practically on the other, frozen side of the world,” the wife said. “How did you come all the way here?”

Ski shrugged, “Can’t exactly say, all I remember was that I was feeling sick. Then the next thing I knew, I woke up in a boxcar with nothing but a bowl that had ashes and nothing else. I’ve been wandering around the city all day, having no idea how I got here. Not to mention that I was starving too, as no place would offer me food. This is the first meal I had all day.”

“Oh…” The doctor scratched the back of his head. “You know, I could get in touch with the Budyonny embassy to see if they could get you back ho-”

“NO!” Ski busted out before covering his mouth. “I mean… No… I don’t think I wanted to go back there.”

“Huh? Why not?”

The stranger remained silent for a moment between mouthfuls of soup. “Let’s just say… I’m not exactly welcomed there anymore.”

“Oh… You’re a refugee.”

Ski shrugged. “Something like that. Yes.”

“So… Did you have a life back in Budyonny?” the wife inquired.

“In a way, yes. I used to write music there.”

“So you’re a songwriter.”

Another shrug, “In a manner of speaking.”

“Full of mystery, aren’t ya?” Assurance smirked.

“I have a question for you Doctor, what are you a doctor of?”

“Therapeutic Psychiatry.”

Ski tilted his head, "What does that mean?"

“It means that if clients have some sort of mental issues such as depression or just need someone to give solutions to their personal problems, I offer my services to help them. I have an office in the city that I work from.”

After the three of them talked, Ski finished up his soup. The couple then showed them a bathroom in which they give him the soap, shampoo, and conditioner to help him get cleaned. The young Pegasus nodded and thanked them before they closed the door and he locked it.

As the water started running, Ski put aside the bottles to get a good look in the mirror. Closing his eyes, he let the green flames consume him to the form he found himself in that morning. Opening his eyes, he stared at the black, insect-like creature with solid blue eyes, fangs, and holes in all four of his legs, thin wings and a horn. He felt disgusted by what he was looking at, as he knew deep down that what he was looking at wasn’t him. Not even close.

“Look at you.” He said to his reflection disgusted. “Gone from the most respected composer in the world to a monstrous vagabond. Has fate been cruel to me enough? To live again as this… thing? Not only do I have to hide again, but this time as this creature…”

Sighing sadly, he shook his head. “Oh, whatever happened to you, Tchaicoltsky? What did I do to deserve this?"

Comments

[Dan]

Dabbling in Necromancy?

The Prof should play the kid some Dukas as a warning, if you get my drift.

[CrackedInkWell]

9044478
(One Google search later.)

Okay, that's funny!

[Bumblebee16]

Awesome

[Dan]

9036059
Maaaaaaybe.
i.imgur.com/02CvDsr.gif

https://youtu.be/9_vRo4mB_Go?t=58s

They were contemporaries and acquaintances. Maybe they were friends, maybe there was some professional rivalry and jealousy ala. Mozart and Salieri. Probably both.

They both were rumored to have courted https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Sand which probably caused friction.

[musoperatica]

Oh...my...god...this is my favorite character ever in this story! knowing about his life listening to bios on yt then being reborn as that 'creature' breaks my heart...I wanna hug him! a song goes comes to mind after reading the chapter (it's from two years ago and called mirror) https://youtu.be/e1lpDMOOp9s