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Song of Courage

A Human, a Pony Princess, and a Mistake

Chapter 15: Song of Courage

A few days ago, somehow, probably Luna, Chrysalis had heard of Coco Pommel’s situation. So there she was, in all her glory, to greet the whole crew as they disembarked from the train. As soon as she spotted the crème colored mare, Chrysalis pounced on her and wrapped her in a hug.

“There there, dear child, nothing shall harm you so long as I have anything to say about it,” And that was that. Chrysalis had practically adopted Coco on the spot.

Coco, for her part, had been surprised. That was only natural when a Changeling easily twice, if not thrice, the size of yourself jumped you and declared you her adoptive child. She had heard of the Changelings, of course. Who hadn’t? But if their Queen was any indication, then the hysterics back in Manehatten were full of it.

If Tom were to guess, it was news that Coco had been forcefully starved that invoked such a strong reaction in Chrysalis. He had to admit, there was something touching about watching Chrysalis showering Coco in affection. Tom looked forward to watching Coco bloom under the attentive care of the Changeling Queen.

As far as He, Twilight, and Moon Dancer were concerned, it was back to the books after a pleasant vacation. Even with Luna’s solution to the situation with his and Twilight’s Souls, which she had reported was done and it did indeed require the Winter Solstice, they still needed something to put his Soul into.

That was why the day found Tom, Twilight, Luna, Moon Dancer, Fluttershy, Chrysalis, and Coco in the library. Coco had been inducted into the secret yesterday. She didn’t claim to understand it all, but figured weirdness just followed the Elements around. An impression reinforced by the occasional appearance of Discord.

“How about the Mirror Pool? Is that thing still around?” Chrysalis wondered.

“Already discussed and discarded,” Tom replied.

“Actually, that reminds me. There was an article in last month’s Transfiguration Today. It mentioned an experiment with cloning. I haven’t read it thoroughly, but that sounds promising,” Moon Dancer spoke up.

“Tom and I read that article too. All the tests ended in failure. The cloned body couldn’t survive the magic needed to sustain it past the initial gestation period. They were torn apart by the magic used to create them,” Twilight reported.

“None of those test bodies were Alicorns,” Chrysalis pointed out. Heads turned to her, “What? I read.”

“I suppose not, but none of the trials were on sapient subjects. What if the cloned Alicorn has a Mind or Soul of its own?” Twilight asked.

“That’s even assuming an Alicorn body would accept my Soul. Alicorns are made, not born. We don’t know if whatever force creates Alicorns would be happy with me inhabiting an Alicorn body it didn’t approve of,” Tom added.

“It hasn’t done anything to you so far. Anyway, we won’t know what will work or not for certain except on the Winter Solstice. It isn’t like we can call on volunteers and mess around with their Souls before the Solstice. Tom inhabiting an Alicorn body is our best bet. He’s already grown accustomed to it and there’s no telling what effects inhabiting Twilight’s body for so long could be doing to him. It’s just a bonus he’s been learning statecraft alongside Twilight,” Moon Dancer argued.

“We would not force Tom to become a Princess, er, Prince. Being an Alicorn does not require one to be Royalty,” Luna pointed out. Twilight wanted to say something sarcastic, but refrained.

“I might end up being a mare anyway. If we do go the Alicorn clone body route, it’d be best to minimize unknown variables,” If he were being honest, Tom wanted to throw up just from bringing up that fact, but he contained himself.

“I’ve always wondered what it would be like to have a twin,” Twilight snarked and Tom glared at her.

“At absolute worse, we can always move your Soul around from container to container after the ritual. The ritual is only needed to unbind the two of you, after all,” Luna reminded them, “I will not pretend it will be pleasant, but it should be doable.”

“Then we’ll write the people behind the experiment and see if we can’t get them to divulge their secrets,” Tom stated.

Before anything more could be said on the subject, the door to the library burst open.

“Fluttershy! Disaster! Twilight! Help!” Rarity shouted hysterically.

“Rarity, calm down and tell us what’s wrong, then we can help,” Twilight said soothingly. Rarity took a deep breath.

“The Ponytones were supposed to perform today for Fluttershy’s animal fundraiser, but Big Mac went and lost his voice in a turkey call contest! You have to do something!” Rarity cried.

So Tom, Twilight, Moon Dancer, and Fluttershy followed Rarity to Big Mac. A quick examination told them all they needed to know.

“I can certainly heal his vocal cords, but he’d still need to rest them or risk doing permanent damage,” Tom admitted.

“Isn’t there some other way?!” Rarity demanded.

“We could use Loud Mouth’s thought to voice spell…” Moon Dancer trailed off.

“I’m sensing a ‘but’, darling,” Rarity sighed.

“It wasn’t designed with singing in mind. Replicating speech is easy enough, but a singing voice is so much more complicated,” Moon Dancer answered.

“It would be possible to create a bass voice similar to Big Mac’s to cover someone else’s voice, but all the spells I can think of for that either have a delay or worse, an echo,” Twilight frowned.

“Could you change someone’s vocal chords to do it?” Rarity asked.

“Transfiguration on that level is extremely dangerous. One wrong move could cause the subject to lose their voice entirely. However, speaking of transfiguration, why not get a Changeling to shape shift into Big Mac?” Tom suggested.

“That might just be the best idea. I’ll have to track down a Changeling willing and teach them our songs, but-”

“Wait!” Fluttershy exclaimed, “I’ll take over for Big Mac!” Everyone looked at Fluttershy in confusion.

“Fluttershy, dear, while I don’t doubt you have a wonderful singing voice, this isn’t a Heartsong and you aren’t a bass,” Rarity said reasonably.

“I- uh- well…I can use poison joke,” Fluttershy confessed.

“I thought you hated what the poison joke did to your voice?” Twilight asked in confusion.

“That was when I thought it was permanent. After I found out there was a cure, well, I’ve been using it every so often with Zecora’s help,” Fluttershy stared at the ground, “It’s just, it’s nice sometimes, hearing that big, booming, powerful voice coming from my mouth. It makes me feel just as powerful. Some days I’ll just go deep into the Everfree and talk or yell or shout or whatever in that voice.”

“That’s um, is that safe?” Tom questioned.

“Zecora’s assured me it’s perfectly safe and I trust her. I also need to get more used to performing in front of others if I’m going to compete in the Games. So, the Ponytones get the singer they need, the animals get a performance for the fundraiser, and I get some confidence practice. Everyone wins,” Fluttershy said with a small smile.

“If you’re sure about this, Fluttershy, then I see no reason to say no,” Rarity finally decided, “I’ll go call an emergency practice session with Toe Tapper and Torch Song.”

That night, almost all of Ponyville was in attendance. The Ponytones were local celebrities, after all. Maybe not on the level of Princesses and Elements, but still quite popular. Chrysalis and Luna were also there. They had caught wind of the change of plans and wanted to support the timid Pegasus. If Tom teasingly called it a date, well, a few bolts of magic were enough to send him scampering.

“That’s a lot of people,” Fluttershy said with a nervous gulp.

“And there will be more at the Games,” Rarity reminded. Fluttershy took a steadying breath.

“You’re right,” She agreed and downed the poison joke. Zecora’s brew worked almost immediately and Fluttershy spoke again in a commanding bass, “I’m ready.”

The Ponytones took the stage. Fluttershy felt some panic welling up in her from all the eyes on her, but Rarity blew a note and it subsided as Fluttershy opened her mouth. The singing and music easily carried her away. All her worries seemed a distant memory as song after song wrapped around her heart and was vocalized in all its glory.

Fluttershy had always enjoyed singing in private, with no one around but her animals. Now she was awakened to a whole new sort of joy as the singing of herself and the Ponytones brought happiness to all of Ponyville. Her song was her armor and her gift; it protected her from her fears and gave smiles to those around her.

After it was all over and almost everyone had left, Fluttershy couldn’t help but cry.

“Fluttershy, darling, what’s wrong?” Rarity asked concerned.

“These are tears of happiness, Rarity. I never thought I’d be able to do something like this, but here I am,” Fluttershy replied.

“Bravo, bravo! You were outstanding, Fluttershy!” Those that were still around turned to see the Lord of Chaos suddenly appear in their midst.

“Oh, Discord, when did you get here?” Fluttershy wondered.

“I’ve been around~” He said airily, “I couldn’t very well miss the first performance of my very first friend, now could I? I never thought my poison joke could be used to such wonderful effect!”

“I had suspected, but it’s nice to know you were the one responsible for poison joke,” Twilight commented.

“Yes, one of my earlier experiments, it was certainly able to do its job, but it was also terribly, horribly predictable. You could pick just about anyone off the street and know in ten minutes what poison joke would do to them,” Discord shrugged, “I’d considered it a failure, but hearing it was able to get Fluttershy to sing like this, maybe it wasn’t such a failure after all.”

“Ah, Discord, while we have you here, we’ve found a way to split my Soul from Twilight’s. Would you be able to make me a vessel when the time comes?” Tom requested.

“I can try, but I make no promises. My magic is Chaos and follows no rule except sometimes the Rule of Funny and even I don’t always know what it would consider funny. One of the problems of being an Avatar of Chaos and not just Chaos itself, I’m told,” Discord remarked while donning a blue arrow tattoo and robes.

“Well, your efforts are greatly appreciated,” Tom said sincerely.

“And your gratitude is most welcome. Tea at the usual time, Fluttershy?” Discord asked.

“You know it,” Fluttershy replied with a smile.

Over the next week, Fluttershy would sing often with the Ponytones, in between practicing with Dash and the others. Most of it was with her poison joke voice, but once Big Mac was recovered, she sometimes used her natural voice. Every time she sang, she fell more in love with it. She didn’t know how that was possible, but it was true nonetheless.

Author's Note:

A quick touching of base on the 'Get Tom His Own Body' front and a fresh take on Filli Vanilli.

Yes, I know I'm an unoriginal hack for stealing 'Trasnfiguration Today'. It was just too easy.

Next chapter should be something significantly sillier with Bats.

Also, my notifications on Fimfiction have been acting up, I'm not getting some notifications on comments and favorites. So, fret not if I don't answer promptly to comments and I'm immensely sorry if this interferes with my habit of sending silly little notes to those who favorite the story.