Chapter 23: Make Way for Royalty
A chilly wind blew in the morning in the outskirts of Ponyville, Fluttershy conducted her birds choir one last time before they had to prepare to migrate to the south for winter. The song they were singing was an instrumental adaptation of a song she heard long ago about seven kings heading to war, that she never quite got out of her head.
At the middle of the song, the bird in charge of the ‘vocal’ part of the song started coughing, Fluttershy stopped the others to check on him, “Frederick are you ok?” Frederic was an eighteen years old red cardinal, his mother was one of the first birds she took care when she decided to live in Ponyville so many years ago, and Frederick has been on Fluttershy’s choir since the time he learned how to sing. But he was still just a bird and Flutthershy knew that he was shedding his last feathers, she had seen it before several times, when a singing bird is near its death it sings with all its heart, he was weak to urging, his song had notes Fluttershy had no names for. But he was ending and his music was bittersweet. It was beautiful, “Frederick, maybe you should take a rest, let me bring you some seeds,” he shook his head, puffed his feathers and shivered making some of his feathers fall, he let out a few chirps making gestures with his wings, “but Frederick, you need to rest, soon you will need to prepare for the migration,” the bird chirped again, “what do you mean you don’t care?” he just looked the other way, even if she was asking, Fluttershy knew the answer, it’s pretty rare seeing a cardinal live as long as Frederick and even if his song was the most beautiful of the choir, she knew that this would probably be his last winter, he even had problems flying for long periods of time, but he refused to be carried by Fluttershy “Frederick, I don't know if it’s going to be possible for you to sing”.
Frederick flew to the fountain and drank some water, then returned to his spot and chirped some more, “ok, if you insist, but only one more time, ok guys, from the top,” the birds sang one more time and Frederick sang like his life depended on it meanwhile Fluttershy listened their song with tears running from her eyes. That was the last time she heard Frederick's singing.
~♥~♦~♣~♠~
That afternoon Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Rarity and Applejack walked to the castle of friendship, they were chatting about the weather since Rainbow Dash let them know that this winter might be colder than the last one.
“So I spoke with the weather manager and apparently, somepony screwed with Ponyville and Manehatten’s winter report, they manage to fix Manehatten but completely forgot about Ponyville, they are sending us enough snow storms for the big city, right now it’s too late to fix it.”
“But Rainbow Dash, I don’t understand, why don’t they just push some of the storms to other cities, instead of drowning us in such dreadful weather,” Rarity asked her pegasus friend, in her mind already planning on changing her winter line to a most warm and isolating material.
“Ugh, in the weather factory they are a bunch of bureaucratic jerks, the paperwork would be such a problem that winter would end before they can fix anything. I swear there is enough red tape to choke an ursa mayor!”
“Oh consarn it! Ah’ll have to prepare the trees for a rough winter, thanks for the heads up RD.”
“No problem, they were going to announce it in a couple of weeks, but I know nopony reads the weather alerts,” Rainbow flew with her hooves on her heck when noticed Fluttershy has been very quiet the entire way, “hey Flutters, something eating ya? You are more quiet than usual.”
The yellow pegasus snapped, “OH! Sorry Dashie, I’m just worried about some of my birds, this year there are several that might not be able to complete the migration, I’m worried about one in particular, but that is nothing you should be worried about, that is nature, as loving as she is cruel.”
“O…kay, anyway we are almost there,” the group reached the castle and entered directed to the studio where Twilight, Starlight and Pinkie were waiting for them, “hey, where is Spike?”
Twilight was busy checking on the console so Starlight responded, “oh you know him, he is with Gaby on a ‘no-date’, he’ll be here any time now,” and as a charm the purple drake flew in the room from a window.
Spike landed in front of everypony, “I’m sorry I’m late *pant* I lost track of time *pant* Oh boy, I think I made a personal record hahaha *wheeze*”
Rarity picked a glass and filled with water offering it to Spike, “Darling, you look exhausted, what did you two do? And don't leave out any of the juicy details,” she asked pulling a notebook and a quill from her saddlebags biting her lip.
Spike scratched the back of his head, “what do you mean? We just went for a walk on Sweet Apple Acres, hehehe.”
“But we just came from there, sugarcube.”
“Oh… well… we probably missed each other, it’s a huge place,” Spike kept sweating but Applejack nodded not really interested on the topic.
Rarity was going to ask something else but was interrupted by Twilight, “I see everyone is here, then let’s begin, does anyone remember who had their turn already?” no one responded, “ok, I guess we can start over, it’s been awhile since any of us actually pressed the button anyway,” she picked the sticks and let everyone pick one, Rarity winning the chance to press the button first. She approached the music box and pressed the button, a male voice started singing accompanied by a piano.
“Now that’s a peculiar voice, I really like it,” Rarity said while sitting on her pillow.
“Peculiar? I would say it’s amazing, his voice is… unique, YEAH don’t stop him, EVER!” Starlight was in love with the song, her eyes illuminated by the feeling of freedom, experienced just by listening to the song.
Spike picked a cookie, “for some reason this sounds familiar.”
Twilight put on a weird look, “but shooting stars don’t leap, nor tigers float… oh he is defying the laws of gravity.”
Starlight teleported next to Twilight and leaned on her shoulder, “Twilight, please don’t ruin the song, let’s just agree this is not a literary descriptive song,” Twilight nodded.
“Awesome, they have racing cars, like those we made with the CMC…” Rarity and Applejack shrugged remembering how they almost ruined that experience for their sisters, “Yeah forget I said that, but what is a Lady Godiva?”
“I do believe the question is who is Lady Godiva, darling, maybe a noble and I bet they refer they go passing by like her means they conduct themselves in elegance and decor, such like a noble.”
Pinkie giggle, “yeah, is not like they go on a trip butt naked on top of another animal.”
“Pinkie, darling, I believe it was decided that our alien friends usually wore clothes and if they are similar to us, the nobles always wear clothes so is safe to say their nobles would do the same.”
“Mr. Farenheit? That’s curious,” Starlight pondered.
Twilight rubbed her chin, “yeah, probably the spell translated to what is closer we will understand, like Fahrenheit and Celsius, you know the temperature measures, did you know they are named after Dr. Fahrenheit and Dr. Celsius, they were two ponies that revolutionized the way we measure temperature… ok, yeah there is no way he can travel at the speed of light… you know what? Nevermind, these aliens probably had the technology to do that.”
“Oh my, such a beautiful voice, so manly and full of life,” Fluttershy could feel the emotion the singer put on his voice.
Starlight’s eyes went wide open at the guitar solo, “WOW this guitar solo it sooo tight!”
Pinkie drank from her mug while the song reached its end, “awww it’s over, this was one of the best songs I’ve ever heard.”
“It was really good, even if most of it was nonsense, the singer told it with so much conviction that I can almost believe everything he said is true,” Twilight said while putting her notebook on the table.
Pinkie picked the straws and everyone picked one, “YAY it’s my turn, I hope the next one is just as good as the last one,” she approached the music box and pressed the button, a solemn tune started playing.
Pinkie frowned, “well I guess no happy song this time.”
Applejack scratched her head, “hey Twilight, ain’t that the same voice as the last song?”
Twilight stopped writing and nodded, “it seems that way, it appears that we got statistically lucky. But it seems the tone of the song is different, like he is missing some of the energy of the previous song.”
‘No Twilight, you are wrong,’ were the thoughts that passed through the yellow pegasus mind, she could feel that the male singer was giving away the same energy but focused on a different tone, ‘this singer must have a supreme control over his voice’ she thought keeping quiet and listening. But there was something else, she could feel it in his voice, “no it can’t be, he sounds so young.”
Starlight heard Fluttershy whispering, “is there something wrong Fluttershy?”
“Oh, I’m ever so sorry Starlight, is probably nothing,” Fluttershy kept silence for the rest of the song, maybe it was because one of her birds was approaching its end, but she felt like the singer was singing in pain and not emotional pain, but real physical pain, she could feel the same tone that Frederick used at the beginning of the year, he was trying his best to sing with as much feeling as he could.
“Wow this song is really inspiring, even if the lyrics sound kinda sad,” Pinkie said while paying attention as best as she could.
Twilight kept writing while paying attention, “yeah and it doesn’t seem that the lyrics follow an actual story, is more like the previous, he is singing what he is feeling.”
Spike sipped from his soda when he came to realize something, “hey wait a minute, I know now why it sounds familiar, his voice is pretty similar to a singer of a pretty new band.”
“Really?” asked Twilight.
“Yeah, they are really new, they began like about four or five months ago, Gabby introduced me to their music about a few weeks ago, the band is called Monarch, it has four members, the vocalist and keyboard a unicorn stallion named Fabolous Mane-”
Rainbow Dash interrupted Spike, “is that his name?”
“Um, I think is more like a stage name, anyway the guitarist a hippogriff Dr. Brain Mane and two abyssinians Jab Dice in the bass and Ron Timbal in the drums.”
“Aby-what, darling?”
“Abyssinians, you know the cat folk, like Capper, remember him? The cat dude you were drooling over when we went to save Equestria from the Storm King?”
“Oh yeah I remember now hehe, thanks Spikey-Wikey.”
“Anyway, they are getting really popular really fast and they sing with passion, maybe we should go to one of their concerts, I heard they will make their first tour in a couple of months.”
Twilight took note of that, it would be really fun to go see a concert and if the singer was indeed one with a particular voice like this alien then it will be really fun, “yeah we should all go, is good to support new artists if they are good, hey we still have some time, why don’t we listen to one last song?” everyone agreed so they picked the sticks one more time for the day with Fluttershy winning this time.
“Oh my, I guess is my turn now,” she slowly approached the pedestal and pressed the button with one of her feathers and some drums played accompanied by a melancholic melody.
Pinkie grabbed the last piece of cake, swallowing it whole, “mmMMmm vanilla, I like the drums... hey wouldn’t it be crazy if we hear the same singer again?”
Twilight giggled, “that is not likely to happen Pinkie, we don’t know how many songs the music box have, but knowing what the aliens are capable of, they might have a huge deal of songs stored in that machine,” at that moment the first verse began, “what the hay? That’s statistically improbable!”
Starlight clapped her hoofs “well thank you improbability, if it gives us a chance to hear this masterpiece of a voice… oh that’s sweet, he doesn’t want passion or wildness, just sweet mother love.”
“Wow such powerful vocals, darling, I can feel my horn vibrate to his voice.”
Meanwhile Starlight and the others made comments on how powerful and full of life the singer sounded, Fluttershy remained silent, her hooves covered her muzzle and her pupils contracted when she realized she was right when she heard the second song, her eyes filled with tears and couldn’t help but let out a few gasps and sobs.
Rainbow happened to hear her friend, “Fluttershy? Twilight something is wrong with Fluttershy stop the music box!”
“NO! Please don’t stop it! I swear it is nothing bad, at least for us.”
Twilight flew in front of Fluttershy, “what’s wrong Fluttershy, is something about the song?”
“Well, you see, when the previous song played, I could feel something on the singer’s voice, you might haven’t felt it but... I’ve heard it before, when some of my birds get old and close to die, they usually sing with all their passion, this singer was the same, he was singing but was in a lot of pain and now with this song, is even more obvious, the singer is dying, his voice might sound full of life but I can feel it, he is dying and he knows he is dying but he wants others so listen to his voice. It’s so bittersweet, so… beautiful,” at that moment the next verse started.
“Wait an apple picking minute, that ain’t the same singer right?”
“Oh… my gosh, he couldn’t even finish recording the song,” Fluttershy began sobbing again, meanwhile everyone else joined her with tears in their eyes, they hugged and enjoyed the rest of the song.
Some time later after the song ended, they let go of the group hug, Starlight rubbed Fluttershy’s mane, “are you ok Fluttershy?” the pegasus nodded, “well, that was… pretty educative, wasn’t it?”
Twilight picked her notebook, skimming through her notes, “Indeed, I still can’t believe we could hear three songs from the same group, or at least from the same singer in a row, I wonder how could that happen.”
~♥~♦~♣~♠~
Planet Earth, year 20XX A.D.
“What the hell? Walter, this is the third time Bohemian Rhapsody sounds in the player in a row.”
The man was carrying some dishes from the kitchen, “so? Queen is awesome.”
She put on a bib with a lobster image on it, “well yeah but why it’s sounding so often?”
He brought the main dish, steamed lobster with a side of potato salad, “oh yeah, I always put seven copies of every queen song on my drives, you know… because I really like them.”
“Oh my God, steamed lobster? My favorite! You are going to spoil me rotten.”
“Everything for the birthday girl,” he then lit some candles and sat in front of her to eat.
Suzanne savored the food with gusto, “Jesus Walter, this is so good, I should stop trying to find a boyfriend and marry you instead.”
“Yeah you should,” he whispered.
“What?”
“Oh nothing, enjoy your food.”
~♥~♦~♣~♠~
Pinkie began picking the plates, “I guess we’ll never know, or will we?” she watched out of the window while everyone else stared at her, they shrugged and helped her with the dishes and then everyone went their own way.
To be continued
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EEEE!!!! FINALLY!!!! I WAS WAITING FOR A QUEEN CHAPTER!
9958043
Yeah, sorry it took this long, but I already planned to release it this date, hope you like it.
Because of his Doctorate in astronomy, light reflecting from dust particles in Earths orbit, I thought an appropiate name for teh guitarist, especially looking like Adagios father or equivalent, would be Dr Brain Mane.
He also worked out the maths of the music, related to prime frequencies, for Queens particular sound.
Given the Birthday trick, Id expect a Queen song to appear totally at random every 20 songs or so. On average. Which means 3 together is only a tenthousandth. Three Rhapsodies is closer to a million to one, so eventually it Will happen.
RIP Frederick.
9958153
Yeah, to be honest the part of the Monarch band was added at the last minute today morning, so I didn't have much time to think about the names of the band, but yo know that, I love your idea so I'll change it right now and yeah, don't worry he died peacefully and now rests on the back of Fluttershy's sanctuary.
9958167
Thank you very much. I just get this idea of Monarch playing at the latest announcement of discoveries. Breakthrough, Im The Invisible Mare, Its A Kind Of Magic.
If you wanted vinyl album tracks, theres always Everfree Nights. In honor of Fredrick?
Aint No Planes.
Oh hey, my mind went in several different directions this chapter.
First off, it’s wonderful.
So, let’s get to the main point, when Fluttershy mentioned having her birds sing Starfire, and the one that was almost dead was called Frederic, I immediately applauded you on the reference, because Frederic Leclerq was DragonForce’s last bassist. Of course, my mind immediately thought that the bird would be better if it was called Marc.
However, I actually remembered your thoughts on saying that you would do a Bohemian Rhapsody chapter, and then thought that that bird was probably a stand-in for Freddie Mercury, who quite literally sang to his dying breath. Also because no one knows who DragonForce’s last bassist was.
Then I read the rest of the chapter, and yep, you were going for that.
Good on you for that.
Also, Queen’s still together, so you can still see them live. Of course, there isn’t a Freddie Mercury, it’s an Adam Lambert instead, but Dr. Brian May and Roger Taylor are still there.
9958845
I'm glad you liked the chapter, I had no idea who Dragonforce bassist was, and yeah I know Queen is still together but Izzi wanted to see Freddie not just the band but if you mean about Monarch, remember this is several years/decades/centuries/eons in the future.
And don't worry, I'm sure we can squish another Dragonforce song in the future.
You should play Broken Dreams
9961955
Greenday? yeah I probably put one of them eventually.
Ok
so only real songs and bands? How about Parodies?
9971338
Yeah I can put some parodies in here, hell I already put a song from Weird Al, I'm sure some parodies can be added as well.
9971440
i suggest Starbombs then.. lol
9971440
oh wait, better. Something that makes them question if the aliens know about them.. at the same time cry that Twilight goes hug Celestia the next time they met.
Lullaby for a Princess
9974831
Like what? oh I know "The last unicorn" oh I never heard that one, let me just check it.
9974831
That might be a bit difficult, since this is a universe where MLP didn't exist, or at least not as we know it.
9976071
dang, fair enough
9976069
to be fair that song is also by Ninja s** party. But Starbomb is a different album filled with video game parody songs. Like "its Dangerous to go alone" a zelda rap XD .
Ohh maybe had Applebloom listen to MJ's Beat it, and had her sing along it. Lol [Micheal Creber. Voice of Applebloom corroborated with another person to sing a cover of Beat it]
9976282
Now that sounds interesting, we need more chapters with the King
9976441
actually when you make her sing don't write the lyrics, might turn flag the fic
I was listening to some music, I remembered the song while looking at fanfiction, and thought I could probably post it here.
9984807
Hey this sounds good, I'll put it on the list.
9984842
Neat
you had a Queen Chapter and NOT include Who Wants to Live Forever?
C'MON SON!!!
10223517
Sorry, I didn't want the chapter to drag too long XD
Noting the Red Cardinal in this chapter put me in mind of the movie "Rio"; one song that I would like to put forward for consideration is "Beautiful Creatures" from "Rio 2", a good way to show how multiple creatures can live together as shown by the Friendship School.
10237958
You know, I haven't seen that movie, most of my friends didn't liked it but they are mostly movie snobs, is it good?
heh, this actually made me cry a little bit.
10566757
As long as they are happy tears, or at least bittersweet.
9958167 Reminds me of referencing a pony called Moonwalker in one of my stories so Sweetie Belle could sing 'Thriller'.
10867593
Boom! Surprise crossover! please disregard what I edited from this comment XD [I hadn't realized what chapter you were on]