The Unknown Daughter's Reunion:Part 3

by Disembodied_Pony

Chapter 9: Presence (in-progress)

Author's Note:

This chapter, is an odd one. Pulled from an unwritten story I'd call "The Performances of Castle Midnight; an HiE story". Of course, there will be no HiE here, due to the chronology of events in this universe.
Though, I find it a rather sweet notion that the fledgling space explorers of old could -in a fashion- make it to Equus, and present some of their best to ponies.

If only I were an animator , because the performances would be great fun to portray.
Adding to it little-by-little over the months, this is what I have so far. The set list is nearly completed, it just needs polish.

Leaving the throne room, Twilight walked with the empress down the hall.

"Your Highness? There's something I'd like to talk with you about?" Princess Twilight asked the dark alicorn as they walked.

Her curiosity piqued, the dark alicorn followed her to a side office. There, they sat down at a small table.

"It's about our ponies... yours, and our younger ones who don't know us" Twilight began.

This was an idea which Princess Twilight had spearheaded herself. Though they had collectively noticed something which mas missing.

Which was; that soon after retaking their respective thrones and crowns back, the princesses come to realize that in the time that had passed, effectively had severed their connection and image with the ponies born in the recent many decades.

Analyzing the situation, Twilight noted that they needed a way to show Equestria that they were there for them. Present, and not some detached shadowy force sequestered in castles in distant parts of the lands.

Seeing the empress perform for Her ponies and connecting with them on her world, had given her the idea on how to build that. She then told the other princesses what she was thinking, and after a little deliberation, they agreed.

However, now they were at a bit of a loss on what pieces to perform, who would play them, and how it could actually connect with the recent generation of ponies, while involving the princesses, at least in part.

The last era had seen the suppression of performances and music, amongst many other things....

Harmony now was at an all time low, and expressions of love and friendship were much rarer than they had ever seen in their day.

Nearly two years had gone by now, and efforts in changing this were fruitful, but very slow in coming.

"This isn't exactly our apple cart. Arts like these were what our ponies made on their own, and we never had to encourage or promote it before." Twilight spoke.

"Now you've got experience in this, obviously. What, would you do?" Twilight asked with a leading smile.

At this prompt, the other alicorn smiled back with a knowing look.

This is where the only alicorn with practiced experience in musical performances, became a subtle part of the lives of Equestrian ponies for a long count of generations.

...and with her, the empress, so did an other party, though posthumously.

---

Elsewhere, life in Equestria was getting along better than it had before. But there were still the wounds of missing pieces in a few places.

Materializing in a park, Magnifying Glass waved to a couple ponies that saw her appear, before heading toward the street.

The two she waved at, just looked at each other and shrugged as the mare hurried off.

A few ponies that wanted to visit friends they made during their deployment, had tagged along on the trip. Magnifying Glass was one of them.

Coming to a bakery, she opened the door and smelled the aroma of baking bread.

"I miss that smell" she said to herself.

The ringing of the bell on the door, elicited a "Coming, be right there!" from the kitchen in the back.

Smiling at the voice, she went up to the counter and waited for the proprietor.

Coming around the corner doorway, a mare covered in flour greeted the customer;

"Okay, what can I get you? We have fresh..." she stalled as her eyes widened.

Magnifying Glass, seizing the opportunity, ranted;

"What kind of service do you call this?! I spend WEEKS traveling here to get some fresh bread, and what do I get? be right there What kind of place are you running here?!"

"Glass!" the flour coated mare exclaimed as she made her way around the counter.

"Long Bread!" She happily hugged the floury mare.

Releasing the hug, Glass told her;

"Still getting into your work I see?"

"Oh you know, If you can't get into your work, do something else, I always say!"

After sharing a laugh, Long Bread ushered Glass to a table;

"So which one tickles your fancy today? Pumpkin, Banana, Sour dough?"

"Ohh, pumpkin for sure! Just can't get that back home. It's close, but not the same" Glass replied as Bread went to grab a serving with butter and a glass of milk.

"I can see your keeping busy, so whats Pumpernickel up to these days?" Glass asked, making conversation while the other mare worked.

After a moment of silence, Bread replied;

"It's just me these days. Pumpernickel, didn't come back to work after.. that night" She said, her features downcast.

"Not Pumpernickel! He was so nice!" Glass said with shock.

Coming back with Glass's pumpkin bread, and shaking her head, Bread told her;

"It wasn't Pumpernickel, it was... his wife Ink Blot. She was a ranking clerk somewhere in the Equestrian Order. I never new where exactly, as he didn't like to talk about it. I got the feeling that she was really sold on what was going on."

Sitting down at the table, Bread told her a little more;

"He wasn't happy about it, but he had three foals. They, took after their mother. I could see it in his eyes; he was heartbroken, but he pushed on"

Smiling at the memories of laughter that the two shared, Bread added;

"He always said, 'love has no easy answers Bread'"

"The way you talk about him, he sounds pretty dedicated?" Glass consoled her.

"Yeah, he was a good stallion"

Bringing her hoof to the other mare's shoulder, Glass said to her friend;

"I think, you'll be needing to put a help wanted sign, out. I don't think he'll be coming back, no matter how much he'd love to..."

Looking down, Bread gave a sad nod;

"Yeah..."

---

Returning home, the empress called on her ponies to submit suggestions suitable for a musical performance upon Equus. Many came in from both musicians and the musically uninclined.

The alicorn went through them as they trickled in, when a submission from a composer by the name of Bass Clef, arrived.

It was massive; Complete sheet musics and demos, of which there were nearly a hundred there. The submission was titled simply; "For your consideration, your highness"

As the empress played through the demos, the first two were familiar to the three-hundred celebration, though they were more refined and flowed better than the ones played over a half millennia ago.

She listened on, impressed with his minor adjustments to the well known songs to pony ears.

The third was one that wasn't featured in the celebration, but she knew it well, as it was from the same origin as one which was. Wondering how this was still floating around so many generations later, she followed the attached sheet musics. The string and horn sections were most impressive, as they were for more than a hundred piece orchestra. Demo'd by one he conducted.
It was; 'In Your Wildest Dreams'...

Listening on, there were a few other which weren't known to ponies, to her knowledge.

One, stopped her cold as she read the prefix attached to it. It said

"I always thought of you when I listened to this one, your highness. I think, maybe Equestria would like to hear you sing the re-imagining?"

The song was titled 'Undelivered Words'

Listening to it, the song was essentially a past tense version of 'Why' by A. Lennox. Where it played like an apology for passed transgressions.

Sitting there in silence, she thought for a great while.

...perhaps, it is time? she thought.

Going back to the dragons hoard of reworks, she marveled at the effort which went into it.

All the while, she thanked the stars that her Mare-Metal, as she called it, wasn't here.

However other things were here, which were definitely of the era reminiscent of her time amongst the Ones Lost.
Things she hadn't heard in well over a century.

While wondering where the stallion had amassed such a collection of her listenings, the alicorn thumbed through the titles. Many she didn't recognize, however that made sense as the stallion didn't have the official titles available to him if her suspicions were correct?

Choosing a curiously titled one, she recognized it as well. 'Wake me Up,' or 'When I'm Older' as Bass Clef called it.
This was turning to be a surprise game of name-a-tune.

Perusing the list again, there was another note prefixing one titled 'A Gift of Princesses' which said;

Sung by the princesses?

Seeing that it was nearly ten minutes long, she gaped;

"He did not!? Why would he spend such effort?

Playing it through, it was exactly what she thought it was. This pony translated another from a dead tongue into Equish.
A song which was sung by what would be princesses, by the Ones Lost's lore.
The parallel was uncanny.

This pony knew the princesses secret thoughts to an extent deeper than most. As, she always pictured the three of them singing this to ponies.

He must have, used the reference I released in order to perform this feat?

When the alicorn released 'A New Beginning', she had to release the translation dictionary along with it. So by now, the tongue was tiny bit familiar by many, and in-depth by a few scholars.

This whole time, the though of playing a few of them for Equestria ran through her mind.

As she listened to the re-imagined collection, it made more and more sense; The ones lost had an innate ability to turn their anguish, into joy through music. The ponies of Equestria, had just gone through a terrible ordeal, and needed that leftover strife turned into happiness...

Sitting back she chuckled.

Here was a pony, showing her what was sitting under her very nose for nearly a millennia, through his own eyes. He possessing only a fraction of what she knew of it, yet he was reminding her of a great power that slumbered under her guard...

Perhaps it was time for that power to stir once more?

Calling an audience with Bass Clef, she talked with the older pony.

Turns out that many generations previously, his fore-bearers had been the ones to write the sheet music for the three-hundred celebration, and so had the recordings from the intrusion of her office.

Over the generations, the recordings in their completeness, had been hooved down as a family heirloom as a connection to the; then princess.

The ponies of his line had grown up listening to them as a part of their foalhoods, and he was no different.

During that time, occasionally one of them would take on the task of recreating the music they heard into compositional form.

What Bass Clef submitted, was the cumulative effort of generations of writing and tweaking what they heard.

Looking at the confident yet humble stallion, the empress told him;

"You might have just accomplished a thing, that even they had never dreamed. How would you feel of being my coordinator and advisor in this matter of the performance?"

"Yeah! Oh, I mean, I would be honored your highness" He said as if a number of decades on him, had just melted away.

"Excellent. We have much planning to do, including selection of diegetic compositions. I hope your schedule can be cleared?" the alicorn asked him as she raised an eyebrow.

"He might not realize how much he has just bitten into?" she wondered.

Looking him over for a moment, the empress asked him;

"From growing up listening to what you have heard; What is your impression of the Ones Lost musical abilities?"

"Simply...amazing, I'd say."

Nodding in agreement, the alicorn followed up by asking;

"How well did you come to know the tongues they spoke, from the songs you have rewritten?"

"Okay, I'd guess. But I'm no expert" Clef replied.

"Hmm. Come with me, if you would?"

Leaving the throne room, the stallion followed the empress up the stairs to the second floor hall. There, they walked together and turned a couple corners, and finally came to the empress's private office library.

Walking inside, Bass Clef's eyes bugged out of his head. This was an honor bestowed to very few ponies; In fact, he was the eighth pony besides the empress to step hoof into the expansive room.

Walking behind her desk, the alicorn brought up her now antiquated built-in desk computer. Where, she moved a strange device along her desk, and then typed many keys on the odd looking array of buttons.

Turning away from her desk, she walked down an isle of small shelves, Bass Clef following along with her.

Humming to herself, she spoke softly and melodically. It was familiar to Clef, but it was in an uncharacteristic manner for the empress. The words that escaped from her muzzle, formed;

"~we just can't escape it....like flames reaching out from the sun~"

This was one that Clef hadn't heard before, so he was quick to ask;

"Your highness? Escape what?"

Broken from her thoughts, she looked to the unicorn.

"Oh? My apologies, tis nothing of import. Merely something which has been brought back into memory by recent events"

Turning back to the shelves, she paused and then turned around. Heading back toward the end, she stopped and pulled one of the cases from its place. Opening it, she slipped out the paper inside and unfolded it. Reading the ancient text to herself, her expression became... forlorn.

Pausing to think for a few moments, she muttered to herself;

"I wonder..."

Folding it back up and slipping it back together, the alicorn put the case back onto the shelf.

"An aged song by even their reckoning. I listened to it when I was trying to comprehend them in those days. Yet strangely, at the same time; often finding myself looking back upon my own dark times. And of Celestia as well"

"What do you mean? How could it compare?"

"Ponies, caught in the middle during a coup. Additionally, the specter of being worse-off for it...instead of better as was often proclaimed. Such played out here from time to time, and the words speak of it"

Shaking her head to clear her mind, she then looked to Clef with a resigned smile.

"Nopony can be sure of the results of change beforehoof. For even scrying, cannot alleviate... doubts. Thus, I rarely perform the feat of scrying the times ahead. I look only as far as ponies still walking the lands here, in a century's time"

Turning her gaze back to the shelf, she resumed her search.

Looking closely, reading fine print along the spines; she hovered one out, then repeated the motion, getting another, and finally another.

Turning around, she made her way from the aisle, and over to the wall behind her desk. There; was an antiquity, over a millennia in age.

Bass Clef stared in wonder and amusement as the alicorn turned on the system; it's amber displays illuminating symbols, both familiar and not.

From the three items she brought with her, she opened each one and hovered out a flat platter. The ?cases? he guessed, had pictures on them and words. The first, had a mural with strange looking creatures in it. The second, had...a skeleton looking figure on it. The third; had what looked a bunch of circles on it.

Placing the three platters into an overly complicated looking cartridge, the alicorn inserted the cartridge into one of the units housed in the wall.

While she did this, she spoke to Clef;

"If you would be so kind, what was your impression of; Marvin, I love you?" Moon asked offhandedly.

An expression of confusion coloring his face, he returned;

"Your highness? What do you mean?"

"You submitted it to me, Clef. The composition?" She clarified.

Thinking it over for a moment, he replied;

"Oh! The one about the robot? That was composed by my mother, Somber String. I just recorded it as she wrote it" He replied.

"Ah. Hmhm, I suppose that Somber would indeed do it justly. An eclectic combination of uptempo humor and gloom" she answered.

"Yeah, I heard it quite a few times, and eventually asked her what a robot was" he broke for a laugh "I thought they were scary, and I'm happy we don't have any shuffling around, even now. Though it's hard to be scared of a sad robot!" he finished heartily.

"Such was the reason I found the tale charming. Though he was but a minor part of it, it was always a treat to see the awkward figure make his appearances" pausing to think, the pondered;

"I wonder if my ponies will eventually make their own rendition of the odd tales some day? Through mere coincidence?"

Turing back to the stallion, she addressed him;

"This, as you must have surmised, is an antiquity of era of the Ones Lost. What I placed into it here, are recordings that they made. The recordings vary from the heart capturing-ly sweet, to things that would make thy blood freeze in thine veins. I asked you here to my office, so thee would have a greater understanding of the power you wield via their songs. I shall play a few of them for you, to deepen thine palette. I feel that you will appreciate what their voices will tell"

Smiling at him with mischief in her eyes, she said;

"The first, is a fable. One that I have little doubt hath occurred at least once, in their long history. It is about Two Knights; guards, and two Maidens; mares"

Turning her head toward the player, her horn lit, and the buttons pressed in succession; disc 1, track 10+ and 1. Also, the alicorn pressed the 'Vol >' a number of times, eliciting a decreasing negative number on the display.

After a moment of clicking and whirring, a faint rumbling came from the speakers. Fading in, it was joined with ambient sounds and a distant drumming. Swiveling his ears, Clef was doing his best to make out what he was hearing, when the reversed piano chord made him jump.

"Two Knights and Maidens"

The alicorn studied the expressions of Bass Clef as he listened. When he blushed a bit, she knew that he was understanding the voices in the song.

When the song finally reverted back to a fading rumbling sound, Clef's eyes were tiny pin pricks, and he was considerably paler than he was before.

He just looked at the alicorn with an expression of horror as he pointed at the wall and said;

"Th...They're, they were eaten.. the Knights?!"

Looking upward, the alicorn shrugged;

"Who is to say? Though I believe such was the result. The Maidens had solved their Knight problem, and the Knights might not have ever known they were at their end, until after? A powerful message in such a simple melody is in not? Made ever more powerful, provided it happened to not be fictitious? Such were the Ones Lost; powerful and... unpredictable. The powers that each other held, were never quite what they seemed. These, Bass Clef, are their echo's..."

Letting that sink in for a few moments, she smiled. Taking joy in playing the part of a teacher once more; she had missed seeing the wide eyes of realization settling into ponies. Many centuries had passed since she turned the role of teaching over to the younger ponies, from her role of being the sole instructor in the beginning days.

Clearing her throat, the empress drew Clefs thoughts back to the present;

"I found that their most striking and brightest of works, were made possible through only their darkest and deepest woes that they could conspire to manifest. That their light was only possible, due to their dark nature. Such was my kindred beginning, had led to how my understanding and appreciation of them, was made."

Closing her eyes, the alicorn lamented;

"An appreciation such as most ponies cannot form. More so as the distance of time and experience makes..."

Looking back to Clef, she ushered the conversation along.

"This next one...is embarrassing for me to present to another, here and now. I, have not played it in a very long time. For me, it was symbolic to what I was facing... should everypony had not come to be. Judging from what thee have submitted, it is unlike any you have heard before?"

Turning the volume down a little, her magic illuminated the; disc 2, and the 7, buttons.

Her voice uncharacteristically soft, she spoke;

"Midnight"

Pressing stop at the end of the track, the alicorn sighed;

"I am glad those times are behind me now, as those were troubled nights. However, it is amusing how allegorical lyrics can be interpreted in so many different ways. Surely the lyricist had not envisioned how I would receive them, Clef?"

"I've, no clue what they would've meant. Now, thinking back to the saga, and how, y'know... things might've went? That makes a bit more sense? Maybe?" Clef shrugged. "Sure is loud though!"

Smiling back at him, the alicorn chuckled.

"Indeed. Long ago, in another time, a forever night had a different meaning."

Looking sheepishly, Clef pressed the alicorn for an answer to a question that just wouldn't leave him;

"You highness?"

Following the empress's nod, he pressed on;

"The um.... banishment..."

Swallowing the lump in his throat, he finished;

"...the exiles?"

Getting a feel for what Clef was getting at, the empress clarified;

"Of all ponies, why would I carry out such an act?" She prompted.

"Well.. yeah. I'd have thought, that after what you've been through..." Clef trailed off.

"Mmhm. Twas not my first, nor second desired method.. In actuality, such was.. my last resort"

Looking downward, she thought back to what was weighing on her mind when Equestria was under siege from within.

"What directed my choice Bass Clef, was... fear."

Hearing such a thing fall from her highness's lips, was...nearly preposterous!

"What could you've possibly been a-afraid of?? You're?!"

Heaving a sigh. The alicorn knew that words would not do her fears any justice. Regretting that her library didn't contain the ones lost historical accounts, she searched her memories of how to relate to Clef what she knew.
Recalling the words she read recently, it came to her.

"A moment if you would, Clef. I believe I can illustrate."

With those cryptic words, the alicorn turned and trot swiftly back to her desk. There, she entered many different terms, and scrolled through tiny pictures, until she found what she was looking for.

Leaving her desk, she passed by Clef where he patiently sat, as she went back to the shelves.
Peering closely at the spines, she pulled one out, removed the platter from within, and placed it where the case she removed had been.

Levitating it in a manner which Clef could not make out the cover, she returned to where he waited patiently.

"Bass Clef; What I am about to show you, is to not leave this room. Am I making myself clear?" The alicorn spoke with a soft, yet clear tone which left no question that this was an agreement with royalty. An informal contract of terms.

"What do you mean?" Clef gulped.

"What I am ready to reveal to you, I feel will answer your question. And if you truly do want to understand what would give an alicorn pause, and even direct her to wield banishment in order to avoid or prevent... You must agree to keep this image to yourself for the rest of your days, describing it to nopony. Agreed?"

Nodding hesitantly, Clef wasn't sure if he wanted to know. Though his curiosity was getting the better of him.

"Very well. Now steel yourself, for this is most un-pony. With fortune, should it stay that way, always."

Levitating the case to him, he gripped it with his own magic as he brought it closer, trying to make out the image. For a few moments, he couldn't make sense of the picture. There was no color in it, and seemed to be a chaotic mess of white and shadow. His eyes were finally drawn to the side, where a shape could be made out, however it wasn't a pony, it was..

His eyes widened as he thought This is one of them? It is, this is how they looked!

However, that was about all he could discern from it.
Looking up to the alicorn who was watching him intensely, Clef asked;

"I, don't get it. What's this all over, it?"

Releasing a held breath, Moon replied;

"Tis fire"

"Wha..?" He trailed off as his eyes went back to the image he held in his aura.

His furrowed expression having changed into that of wide-eyed shock, his magic grip fizzled out. The case, falling freely to the floor with a clattering sound.
Laying there opened and undamaged, the case's protection enchantment still holding true, even after this millennia passed.

"W-wh? They had no magic?! That's...real?? How, why?" Clef sputtered.

"Slowly Clef, breath, slow breaths. Now you see the need for my requirement of confidentiality, yes?"

"Y-yes. That's, beyond, horrible. I...can't" Clef said between panting breaths.

"Indeed it is. At the same time, this was by his own volition. None did that upon him, for that was; a mere protest"

"Against WHAT?! What could possibly...make This.. worth doing?!" Clef exclaimed.

Covering the case in her magic, the empress closed and levitated it back to herself. Resting her gaze upon the picture, she told him;

"I do not know exactly. Actions such as this were extraordinary, and fortunately just as rare."

Taking a deep breath, she ruminated openly;

"Images such as these carry meaning beyond words....many of them questions; Who he was, what he was thinking of, what intricate circumstances conspired to bring this to fruition...are to name but a few"

Looking up from the picture to Clef, she made her point;

"What this image says to me, is that; Ears may have heard him and his protests, however.. their rulers seemingly took little heed of them, or could not. Effectively, they were deafened to them"

Ruffling the tension from her wings, she laid down before Clef.

"Endless, even needless-complexity, was their way I feel. Tis the only thing which makes sense to me, in order to explain this. Ones who had the ambition, yet not the wisdom, took reins. They were not ready, and so, did not think through their machinations to their ends. Making decisions ad-hoc as they went, installed the complexities, which in turn, constrained them more and more as they went"

Smiling a bit, she puffed a chuckle as she remembered a phrase from back then.

"Keep things which are important, simple Clef. Though such.. is a harder thing to practice than you would expect. As it limits one from making personal exceptions. Which even I falter doing on occasion. Case in point; should I had fallen in that throne room two years ago..."

Looking him in the eyes, the empress asked him;

"Could and would you have ruled in my stead as my successor, thrust into power due to my recklessness? Would you be wise enough to make decisions to keep the empire from splitting apart over disagreements?"

Clef shook his head wildly; "Stars no! Me?"

Quirking an eyebrow leadingly, the empress followed;

"Even if you, for some reason, thought of yourself as most qualified? Perhaps that through the generations of exposure to the 'heirlooms of the empress' had granted you insight into the mind of a ruler? And therefor, more qualified than the average pony?"

Laughing openly to Clefs expression of incredulity, she put the unicorns mind at ease;

"I jest, humble Clef. The ponies of Equestria that ceased power, thought themselves worthy of ruling power for similar meager exposures. Such are the ways things sometimes happen. Ponies, can loose appreciation for their own naivete, and put themselves in places which they are not well suited nor ready for"

"Well, that's certainly not me. I'm perfectly happy just conducting orchestras" Clef dismissed.

Nodding in appreciation, the empress looked back down to the colorless image.

"In Equestria, I saw ponies making gestures which I had witnessed before. Gestures which might have led to..."

Meeting his eyes once again, she told him;

"I would not see ponies turn deaf ears to one another as they trod on each other's hooves. Slowly deviling into a situation where the unthinkable, would seemingly become the only remaining option that they had left to them..."

"Fear for such an outcome, pushed me to place my hoof in, and down as hard as I would dare to. Should even a single pony eventually resort to engage in an act such as this, would show that the princesses and myself, had failed them. I would not see that become part of the history to my old home. And so, against that end, I performed judgement, banishment, and exile. Now, only time will tell if it was folly to do so?"

"I think it'll work out just fine. In the end, it worked out for... you your highness"

Standing back up, the alicorn walked back to return the case and its platter to its place on the shelf, replying;

"I indeed hope so, Clef. Inducing chaos, destruction, and doom once more, is not what I wish to be remembered for. I went back to remedy relations, not renew the stale ones which existed"

"Still, I can't believe things on Earth were that bad..." Clef trailed off.

Returning back, the empress answered his supposition;

"Oh it wasn't. The world was a big place, even with billions of them all across the lands. There were small pockets, and
flares from time to time, however overall? They got along well enough, despite it. Do you remember the detonative devices they possessed?"

"Not really, my knowledge of where they left off and we began is a little fuzzy?" Clef answered.

"Ah, hmm... from what I can recall, they had fissile detonators in some capacity at the time that image was taken. In retrospect, it could have been infinitely worse. In turn, leaving me to arrive much later, only to be met with desolation...and without form, permanently. There would be nopony here, evermore, and Equestria left to the way we found it."

Shrugging her wings dismissively, she admitted;

"I cannot rightly split hairs on the happenings which took place before my time. Because of them, I can be here today, speaking with a talented pony, and a re-met family in Equestria."

"The odds are.. mind boggling. With chaos like that happening... Well, I'm just glad we're ponies!" Clef exclaimed gladly.

Quirking her head to the side, finding a puzzle piece out of place, the alicorn asked Clef;

"Clef, you stated that you did not know well, their advanced abilities?"

Receiving a nod, she went on;

"You are familiar with the song Forever Young yes? What is its meaning to you?"

"It's about the dangers of immortality, if I remember correctly" Clef stated simply.

"Hmm, I guess that is true... However, what would you think if I told you that the song, was a protest?"

"Against.. living too long?" Clef guessed off-hoofedly.

Finding amusement in his grope for an answer;

"Hmhmmhmhm, nay. T'was against living in constant fear of their world coming to an end at any hour. For you see, an entire generation had grown up knowing that those fissile detonators could be launched at any time. And eventually, they became frustrated with living in and under the constant tension of that reality. So...they supposed to end that stagnation, in one way or another. The protest message was; Either launch them, or put them away, all of them, no more of this."

"Wow! That's... well, the word risky doesn't come close to covering it. The musical piece made it sound like an awfully peaceful protest?" Clef remarked.

"Oh, Its original composition was quite different than the orchestral variation that you have heard; the one I prefer. It is worth pointing out that with the countless voices, I was exposed to only an insignificant number of their expressions in music. Even the ones which I stumbled across, were often re-imagined; before or after I came across them. Let me check if I have its original composition"

Heading back to her desk once more, she typed into it, the title;

"Of course, I recall it now. Hmhm, new wave genre, everything was 'new' then."

"Your highness?" Clef asked, confused by her remark.

"Tis nothing Clef. Merely an old cultural observation" the alicorn dismissed as she walked back to the shelf and picked out another case.

Walking back to the wall where the equipment was, she remarked to Clef;

"This will likely be trying to your ears Clef, as you enjoy the fullness of authentic instruments. This song was made with their synthetic instruments, when they were still quite primitive"

While she loaded the cartridge, a thought crossed her mind, so she asked Clef;

"You are aware of the synthetic performer; Buzzing Chorus, yes? What is your impression of him?"

"Oh... He's all right. Though I'm not completely sold on the idea of there not being a real pony doing the singing. I guess he's a proxy for a pony who can't sing themselves... but still? I don't know"

"Tis fair. When he came into being, I was not at all surprised. In fact I was waiting for it to happen again" the alicorn responded with a secret smile on her lips.

"Again?" Clef asked.

"Yes. You are the first pony I have told this; that he was not the first, though he is the best so far. Unknowingly outshining his predecessors"

With Clefs eyes getting bigger, having put the pieces together, he blurted;

"They had one too?!"

"Indeed, a few in fact. Made in their own image of course, though they were flat and simpler in design. Buzzing Chorus is part of a lineage in a way. Would you like to hear one, it might help put him into perspective?"

"Yes!"

"It will take some searching to jog my memory of her name, or what she was referred to as"

Pressing a few buttons on the equipment, a few moments later "Forever Young (Special Extended Dance Mix)" played while she went back to her computer to being the search for the virtual performer of old.
When the song came to its end, Clef pushed the button that he watched the empress push, causing the playback to stop, saying;

"Yeah, not quite my cup of tea. But it does sound more like a protest than the one I know."

Still concentrating on her search, the alicorn didn't reply. Walking over to join her at her desk, Clef looked at the screen. On it were pictures, tiles of them. Which the alicorn was using a plastic device with a cord coming out of it to scroll through.
As the minutes passed by, the empress said;

"This is a more involved search than I realized. I have already narrowed the search parameters to a specific tongue, yet am reduced to scrolling passed images for something familiar to stand out"

"There's a lot. It's good to see that they're not disturbing like the one you showed me, before" Clef remarked.

"Few had the audacity to put images such as those upon their works, thankfully" she replied.

Minutes more passing by, she paused and exclaimed; "Wait" when an drawn illustration came across the screen.

"There she is"

Clicking on it, the details filled the screen, to which she exclaimed;

"Never in millennia, would I have thought to search by that term. It was not a natural word in any of the tongues which they used."

Turning her head to Clef, she remarked;

"Needless complications, Bass Clef"

Going back to the search parameters, she revised it to simply the term 'volcaloid', where little more than a couple dozen results came up.

"I believe this is the one I recall her sounding the most... realistic" the alicorn said as the details filled the screen

"Odds..ends?" Clef read the screen.

"There were countless applications for the singer, some quite unique" she said as the went back to the results.

Pausing on another, she put the details on the screen. Wondering why it caught her attention, it slowly dawned on her. With the memories coming back, she chuckled to herself.

"The story behind this one is likely greater than the album itself"

"Oh?" Clef prompted her to continue.

"Yes, the album itself, is a re-imagining of another, including the very image upon it. Performed by the virtual singer, it was largely a cover... except for this final track; Satellite Love. It caught my ear, more so than the rest of it did. So unique it was... Now, the likelihood of my encountering the recording altogether was one in a million, for it was a promotional copy, and never re-released in its entirety; the final track... missing. When I began assembling this library, I acquired the re-release only to find than what I wanted most, to not be there. Thus my search for the rare album began... Such is part of why I use the phrase; needless complication when I think back to them." She rambled while she got up to fetch the former album.

After hearing the former song, Clef remarked;

"It's an autobiography of the composer...impressive. And the instruments are much better than the last song, but the singer comes across flat, like you said. The subtleties of..character are missing. I can tell that the vocals are assembled, instead of performed by a pony. Buzzing Chorus on the other hoof, includes those in comparison, thankfully."

"Agreed. Clef, now that you have seen and heard what you have, are you still ready to assist me in coordinating the revival of musical harmony to the ponies of Equestria? Are you ready to meet the challenge of inspiring ponies with the brightness of the old world, from the measure of shadow to its origin?" the alicorn asked the unicorn.

Standing up straight, he looked like he would have flared his wings if he had them.

"I was born ready, your highness!" Clef exclaimed with full confidence.

Returning his confident grin, the empress replied;

"Splendid, and welcome. Welcome, to the empire of recuperation. We have much work to do"

---

Four months of arrangements and planning later, the empress's flagship was loaded with prefabricated equipment.

Equestria would witness its first nationwide tele-performance. Stages erected in every village and city, would show what the two had contrived at the princesses bidding.

---

While the stages were being erected and seats were placed, posters were hung seemingly everywhere.

Titled simply; [Presence of Harmony; Live from Ponyville to Everypony],
ponies became curious of what would be played at the performance.

The core performance was located just outside Ponyville, beyond princess Twilights castle.

There; the players and singers images and sounds would be captured for live re-transmission to the other stages. At the other stages, everything would be projected in lifelike depth, indistinguishable from the real thing; Save for the audience knowing that it was coming from Ponyville.

Ranging from skepticism to anticipation of many things about the performance, curiosity would be attracting ponies in droves. Countless ponies were going to be filling the seats that were being set up around the stages and its speakers.

It had been some time since ponies had been able to see a show, and they were itching to see one again.

Meanwhile up in orbit, a couple of support ships assumed position for their part in the show.