Staccato Dreams

by Vivace

Chapter 4: With Friends Like These..

OOC: Chapter 4, sorry about the long wait, been swamped with school and such. I'll be honest, this one is kinda boring, a lot of talking not a lot of stuff happening until near the end. But it's a slice of life story what did you expect? Anyways, hope you enjoy, please check out Staccato's Tumblr if you are interested.
Thank You.

As the dark clouds made their move out of Foalida, one small pony sat still under the protection of a single window in a small beach house on the coast of Mareami. She gazed up silently at the quickly traveling clouds, letting her mind wander as her eyes entertained themselves with the white puffs of precipitation.

“Still worried about that stallion in the hospital?” A soft, almost motherly voice called out. The mare turned to see her companion, a cream earth pony with a violet and pink mane. Three pieces of wrapped candies served as her cutie mark.

“You’ve been thinking about that since we left him Lyra.” The sea foam green unicorn smiled a bit at the sight of her best friend.

“Sorry Bon-Bon...” she said apologetically, trotting up to her and giving the earth pony a quick, soft nuzzle. “Just.. did you see how much he was bleeding?!” She squirmed and shivered heavily at the thought.

“And when we came back, he still wasn’t awake!” Lyra suddenly gasped deeply and brought her hooves up to her face at a shocking realization.

“What if he’s in a coma!?” She almost shrieked as other possibilities rattled around in her head.

“Oh my gosh! He could be dead! Or worse!” Bon-Bon rolled her eyes and brought Lyra’s hooves back to the ground before she fell forward on her face from the lack of frontal support. She looked meaningfully into the unicorn’s eyes before responding.

“Lyra, I’m sure he’s just fine. We can go visit the hospital again if you want. But I don’t want this to ruin our vacation before he have to go back to Ponyville.” Bon-Bon issued sternly, giving the sea foam green unicorn a soft hug, before pulling away to look at her again.

“It’s not often that we can go out of town for two weeks you know?” Lyra smiled brightly.

“I know, I know..” The two shared a soft and short kiss before breaking away.

“I’m just.. worried about him, y’know?”

“I am too Lyra, but we can’t have you moping about the house like this.” The mares finally backed off from each other’s hold, smirking at the other.

“Now that the clouds are finally gone and the sun is out, let’s go outside and enjoy the sights shall we?” Bon-Bon said with a grin.

“Then we can hit the beach and get some sun!” Lyra said beaming with joy.

“But first let’s go check up on that pony at the hospital.”

“Agreed.” Lyra quickly opened the door with new found energy and excitement, almost hopping out of the house like a small filly, with Bon-Bon following closely behind.

Since there was nothing else to do, Staccato had decided to get some work done. He sent a message to Glowstix back home via dragon fire, requesting that, while he was in the hospital, he might as well get some work done.

Reluctantly, the assistant sent him some low tier contracts and paperwork to fill out. After all, Nurse Purple Heart would not allow any strenuous activity while he was here.
Staccato stared down the small stack of papers in front of him, he had easily finished all of them except one.

A personal letter from Madeline Philharmonica, the Premier Conductor of the Birminghoof Hippodrome, requesting a recommendation for a guest instrument for this month’s performance. He was already sent a recording of the symphony, he was just in charge of deciding and finding what guest instrument would flow the best with the already existing harmony.

The whole piece was very heavy, deep, and it rumbled the pit of one’s soul, it was strung together very smoothly, a beautiful legato delicately sewed together the entire symphony. Any inexperienced pony would think that the song was spectacular and powerful to the core on its own. But Staccato knew better than that.

Even though he had tried all his life to be as modest as possible, as his mother always taught him to be, Staccato Fortissimo still developed quite a reputation as somewhat of a musical prodigy, and his diversity in music was even more well known. Although, it would be hard to run a publishing company if you were not open to all forms of music. It was not the first time somepony had asked him for musical advice.

He was lucky enough to even be able to listen to the piece in the first place. Nurse Purple Heart had advised again and again to refrain from listening to music while his concussion was still healing, but since it was for business sake, she allowed it just this once. Staccato made sure to savor this opportunity as much as he could, he had craved a feeling of Gioia for a painfully long time. He must have listened to the work in progress piece a dozen times, enjoying every single second of it, with the nurse returning every couple of minutes. Her irritated expression ever increasing each time as she continued to see the light brown pony continuing to listen to music long after she had told him to stop. His only excuse being; “It’s a symphony, Heart. It could last for over two hours.” When the violet coated nurse finally confiscated his music device.

He had to continue his search for a guest instrument from memory. It needed something simple, something soft, yet very dignified and defined. The violins seemed to be lacking a bit, perhaps a string instrument would suffice. After all, his father always told him you could never have too many strings.

A piano? His good friend Fredric would be more than happy to oblige. No, although Fredric could play absolutely beautifully and without par, a piano could simply become too complex too fast, and a piano playing a simple piece in a song like this seemed.. for lack of a better word, inexperienced. And he certainly did not wish to taint poor Fredric’s reputation because of his poor choice.

Maybe a cello? It was simple enough.. No, it needed something lighter than that. Besides, there was no doubt that there was plenty of cellists already in the orchestra, he just could not quite recall hearing them. So having a instrument that is already in the main selection as a guest would make little to no sense.

The cello was much like the song, very deep and powerful, shaking your nerves, give a magnificent shock to the bottom of your very soul. An amazing instrument indeed, but not what was needed, it would just blend in with the main selection anyways. Something fast, light, simple.

A harp? Harpo is always happy to accept a job, supposing he does not already have one at the time.
No, the harp was a beautiful string selection and extremely difficult to master at that, but unfortunately it shared the same issues as the cello and the piano.

It could very easily become overly intricate, much like the piano. It was also considered a bit of a heavy instrument in his opinion, to the point where it sounded almost hallow. If he had to compare the harp to any other string selection, he would immediately compare it to the cello. But he needed something lighter, a lighter version of a cello would be a violin or viola.

So Staccato just needed to find the violin equivalent to the harp, so to speak. What would that be? His mind was drawing a blank, completely unable to come up with any solution. Perhaps it was because of the concussion. He placed the paper and quill on the small white stand next to his hospital bed, deciding to come back to the project later. He did not wish to think of anything right now, as his headache proceeded to increase painfully.

But now what? He was banned from music, that was torture in itself. He was not allowed to read, write, watch television, not even draw. Anything that required brainpower was banned. all he could do was stare at the ceiling above him. The boring, white, pale ceiling, tiny black random dots sprinkled aimlessly all over.

He used to make little constellations with the specks, in attempts to entertain himself, until nurse Purple Heart caught him mumbling “Orion, Sagittarius, Ursa Major” and smacked his hoof with a ruler.

“Gah! This is so boring!” Staccato shouted, flailing his one good leg about in frustration. He planted his face firmly in his soft pillow in annoyance. Nurse Purple Heart rushed into the room in response to the frantic screaming, raising an eyebrow in confusion.

“Staccato dear? Is everything alright?” Staccato simply waved his hoof in the air dismissively, not moving his head off the cloud like pillow.

“I’m so bored Purple Heart..” He said in a barely audible tone, almost completely muffled by the head rest. The Nurse had to take a couple of seconds to understand what distressed unicorn had said. Then shook her head and smirked.

“Well, you have visitors, perhaps they can keep you busy for a while.” She said as she walked off. Staccato turned his head off his pillow just in time to see her leave the doorway, his eyebrows furrowed.

“Visitors?” As if on cue, two mares entered the room side by side. The seafoam green unicorn, with a streak of white in her minty green unkempt hair, and the cream earth pony with a the swirl of purple and blue in her well curled mane.

“H-hello?” Lyra began hesitantly. Staccato’s face suddenly changed to a more relaxed expression, even a small smiled formed on his snout.

“Ah, so you two must be the two mares Nurse Purple Heart told me about.” It seemed that Staccato’s casual tone seemed to calm the two mares, as they easily shifted from their stiff and ridged form, to a more nonchalant posture.

“The two who found me at the bottom of a ditch bleeding profusely from the head if I’m correct.” Staccato continued. Lyra shuddered heavily, then shook her head violently in attempts to shake the image out of her head.

“Yep, that was us.” She replied, a friendly smile on her face.

“I’m Lyra Heartstrings.” She began.

“And this is my marefriend, Bon-Bon.” she motioned towards the cream earth pony as she nodded.

“Nice to meet you sir.”

“A pleasure.” Staccato responded with a curt nod as he began to introduce himself.

“I’m-”

“Staccato” Lyra interrupted. The stallion raised an eyebrow, a little bit astonished.

“It wouldn’t be very nice if we didn’t know the name of the colt we brought to the hospital.” The green unicorn smiled brightly.

“She wouldn’t leave the hospital until she knew you were taken care of, and demanded to know your name.” Bon-Bon added. Staccato smirked, chuckling softly.

“Wow, it’s been a while since anypony cared this much about me.” he mumbled softly out of the range of the two mares grinning at him.

“Hm? I’m sorry I didn’t quite catch what you just said.” Bon-Bon chimed. Staccato shook his head lightly, dismissing his last comment.

“Thank you both so much, I may not be alive today if you both never found me that day.” He paused for a moment, looking them both in the eyes with genuine appreciation.

“I owe you both my life, how can I ever repay you?” The two mares looked to each other thoughtfully, pondering for a while. Lyra suddenly turned to Staccato, a bright and innocent grin tickling her lips.

“Money is always nice.” The seafoam green unicorn felt a sharp slap as Bon-Bon smacked the back of her head, scolding her.

“Lyra!” She shouted.

“What?! He asked didn’t he?!” Lyra snapped back with equal volume, rubbing the back of her head painfully. Bon-Bon scowled at her marefriend, her snout crinkled in a way that Staccato found absolutely adorable.
Staccato could not hold back a soft laugh, then clutched his head painfully, feeling the aftermath of his concussion.

“It’s fine Staccato, really.” The stallion shook his head, then clutched it again in pain.
He needed to remember to never move his head ever again.

“No no, I hate owing people, and I have a need to repay my debts quickly. There must be something I can do for you both.”

“Money is always nice.” Lyra repeated, then feeling another slap to the head, to which Staccato responded by laughing again.

“Lyra stop that!”

“What?! He keeps asking! And we need the mrphrph..” Lyra was cut off abruptly from Bon-Bon’s hoof being forcefully shoved in her mouth. The cream earth pony lowered her head, pulling Lyra down to her level.

“Lyra..” She began in a hushed voice.

“Just because we are in a bit of a rut, doesn’t mean you can just ask anypony whose offering, for donations.” Lyra shook her head a bit, pulling the cream colored hoof from her mouth.

“Come on Bon-Bon, you know we need the money, and anypony planning to take a vacation to Foalida is bound to have a good sum of bits on him.”

“You don’t know that!” Bon-Bon snapped back.

“For all we know, he might not be able to pay for the hospital bills. Think before you speak!” Bon-Bon scowled. Lyra stood tall, looking as if she were ready to retort again, but suddenly, she sighed and her eyes found the floor as she shuffled her feet.

“I’m sorry Bon-Bon.. I guess.. Since I was the one who lost my job.. I feel responsible... for getting you into this mess..” She paused, trying to sum up what to say next. Bon-Bon’s look of irritation, now faded, and slowly turned into a look of concern and sympathy.

“So now I’m trying to earn the money back for you, by any means.” Lyra still hung her head.

“But if you don’t want me to take money from another pony, then I understand. I’ll just have to get a second job or something” Bon-Bon could not help but pull her forward, locking her in a tight hug.

“It’s okay, we’re both in this mess together, so we’ll fix it together. You don’t have to do anything by yourself.” Lyra returned the hug softly, smiling a bit. The cream pony released Lyra and pulled back to look at her, returning the smile happily.

“Sorry Bon-Bon.”

“It’s fine Lyra.” She gave the unicorn a quick nuzzle.

“Just don’t do it again.” Staccato gave a light faux cough, trying to bring the two mares back down to earth. Funny that neither of them were pegasus, otherwise the term would be taken literally.

“Sorry for interrupting, but visiting hours are almost up. We were discussing my payment to you right?” The two finally released each other from their grip, standing a bit awkwardly, blushing deeply.

“No Staccato, I must insist, I can’t let you sacrifice anything else after everything you’ve been through.” Staccato was about to shake his head again, but luckily caught himself beforehand.

“I’m afraid you’ll have no choice in the matter dear, I have not decided yet, but I will pay you two back. Whether you like it or not.” The light brown unicorn smiled to himself triumphantly.

So this must be how Fleur felt when she forcibly bought the old gramophone and record collection for him, even when he insisted her not to.
It felt.. good.

“You know what’s always nice?” Lyra began.

“Lyra.. I swear to Celestia, don’t you dare.” Bon-Bon started, looking daggers at the unicorn. Lyra flashed a devilish smile towards her marefriend, grinning an almost evil grin as she continued.

“Money.”

It seemed that the mares did not have to leave the hospital at the specified end of visiting hours. Lyra found herself lying unconsious on the hospital bed next to Staccato, being treated for a minor head injury to the back of her skull, and Bon-Bon resting an injured hoof on the chair to the left of Lyra’s bed.

Staccato was still laughing a good while after the incident, as painful as it was even to chuckle. It was an odd sight, seeing a stallion laughing is flank off while at the same time clutching his head and gritting his teeth painfully as tears rolled down his cheeks in both agony and delight.

Finally, when his unhealthy sense of humor died down to no more than a light chuckle, Lyra managed to wake herself from her short comatose, and Bon-Bon was finally able to walk on her slightly injured hoof again.

“So how long do you have to stay here?” Bon-Bon asked as she helped pull Lyra out of bed.

“Only two more days. Then I’m free to limp around Foalida as I please.” Staccato replied, chuckling a bit.

“Do you have a place to stay?” said Lyra, as she landed on ground, rubbing her head with her forehoof.

“Yeah, I’m staying at the Tempo Mareami resort for the rest of my vacation.” Lyra whistled.

“Wow, The Tempo? That’s a five star luxury hotel. Super expensive.” She shot a look at Bon-Bon that seemed to say; “See? I told you this guy was loaded!” Bon-Bon returned with another crinkled nose scowl.

“Yeah, a friend of mine recommended it to me, what with being of a musical background and all.” Lyra turned to Staccato, looking to him with a brightened expression.

“Musical background? What do you play?”

“I’ve been classically trained in the ivory keys and the violin since I was four. Started spinning records when I began college.” Lyra cocked her head, slightly puzzled.

“Classical and Techno? That’s an odd combination.” Staccato chucked and shrugged.

“Yeah, I get that a lot.” He turned and returned a gaze to the seafoam pony.

“You seem to know your music.” Lyra gave a large grin, glad that her natural talent was noticed.

“Yeah, I’ve been playing the lyre since I was little.” Now it was Staccato’s turn to cock his head in confusion.

“The Lyre?” Staccato questioned.

“I’m afraid I’m not familiar with that instrument.” Lyra turned her body, giving a profile view, pointing to the cutie mark on her flank.

“This is a Lyre, it’s a like a miniature harp, one you could hold in your hooves, it’s much more simple, and much lighter, in more ways than one.” She finished, giving a giggle.

As she listed the attributes of the Lyre, Staccato’s eyebrows rose in fascination. Could this be the instrument he was looking for? The violin equivalent to the heavy and soul trembling harp? Well, there was only one way to find out.

“Interesting.. do you think.. you could play it for me?” Lyra’s face abruptly shifted from cheery to astonishment.

“Excuse me?”

“Do you think you can play the lyre for me?” Staccato repeated

“I would like to hear it. If that’s all right of course.” Lyra’s gaze stuck on Staccato, then quickly shifted to Bon-Bon, giving a quick, surprised smirk.

“Did you bring my lyre with you Bon-Bon?” Lyra squeaked, her voice quivering a bit. Bon-Bon turned to the table next to where Lyra originally laid during her small injury. A small saddle bag lying lazily halfway off the table.

“Yeah, I think so, let me go check.” The cream earth pony trotted to her small bag and fumbled around inside. Finally she revealed a small golden lyre adorned with eight matching gold strings. Lyra took it hesitantly, a small nervous smile tickling her lips.

“Nervous?” Staccato said. Lyra gave a trembling chuckle, trying to control her shaking body.

“It’s... It’s just... I haven’t had the greatest reviews for my playing..” Staccato waved a hoof dismissively.

“I’m not one to criticize. I’m sure you’ll be fine.” He gave a reassuring smile, Lyra tried to return it, but could only managed to keep her nervous expression. She began to stand on her hind legs, holding her instrument with her forelegs.

Odd, Staccato noted, for a unicorn to do anything with their hooves while they had full access to their magical powers. Perhaps she wanted to show that she did not need to use magic, she had no advantage over the earth pony artists, whom had to use their bodies to hold and play their instruments.

Sometimes in comical ways, take Beauty Brass for example, while she is an amazing sousaphone player, most of the entertainment of watching her play came from watching her take off and on the cumbersome horn afterwards.

Finally Lyra began to play, holding the lyre with the ankle of her left forehoof, while gently strumming the gold strings with her right. She started with a soft, simple introduction. Just as she had described, the lyre was much lighter and less intricate than the harp.

Beautiful, pure, crisp, and quite frankly, very refreshing. Staccato closed his eyes, so to fully absorb the music, with no distractions from his other four senses. It was not too complex or intricate, nor was it too simple or inexperienced.

It was... amazing, Staccato had to admit. Not a single mistake or flaw, it felt very old and classical, in a nostalgic way. Like listening to his Nonna’s silver music box when he was just a colt.

Oh how he adored that music box, he could not keep his hooves off of it. Every time he would visit his grandmother, the first thing he would do was find that musical device. Where ever they had hidden it from him this time. Opening dressers, cabinets, closets and drawers, it was futile to hide it from him, because he would not stop searching for it until he had found it. Even if it meant flipping the whole house upside down.

Holding the cold silver case in his hooves, opening the cover, gently twisting the knob, the clicking as the gears were set into place. Then, the release, as he let go, the music would play.

Light, simple, beautiful, pure, just like the lyre being played before him now. Staccato’s very first case of “Gioia” was experienced with that box, and it became the happiest part of his life. It was amazing, magnificent.

But.. something was.. off..

It felt.. empty. Lyra was a magnificent lyrist, at least, as far to his knowledge. But, Staccato felt that she played, without passion, without emotion, without spirit. It was something that could not be sensed by a computer or a recorder. It could only be heard, not with the ears, but with the heart and soul.

Staccato could feel that there was no feeling behind her hoof, gently stroking the golden strings, not by emotion, but by pure discipline and muscle memory.

She finished the piece, fully extending her foreleg with the final strum. A sort of final flare to the end of a simple song. Not completely necessary but appreciated nonetheless. The seafoam green unicorn stood nervously, shaking a bit, anticipating her evaluation.

“W.. What did you think?” She quizzed. Although Staccato had heard the emptiness of her performance quite clearly, he did not wish to offend the young mare with criticism, however light and harmless it might be.

She seemed sensitive towards the quality of her playing, whether or not that meant she was angered when pushed this way or became extremely dejected, Staccato did not have the heart, or bravery for that matter, to find out. So he would not tell her about it, at least, not yet. He simply nodded, a wide reassuring grin spreading across his face.

“Your performance was magnificent Miss Heartstrings, Truly an interesting experience for me, discovering a new sound in the world of music.” As far as the guest instrument was concerned, Miss Heartstrings would definitely be a possibility. But unfortunately, the Premier Conductor would definitely hear the lack of emotion in Lyra’s playing, if not even more than Staccato, and she would definitely be much more harsh than Staccato. Much, MUCH more harsh than Staccato.

Lyra’s face suddenly looked extremely flushed with relief. He legs stopped shaking, sweat stopped forming, but her nervous smile continued to quiver.

“Really?” Staccato nodded deeply, to further emphasise his point. Staccato had never seen a pony seem to inflate with happiness other than one certain pink party pony, but it seemed that Lyra was fully capable of it.

Staccato was a little taken back by the sudden rejoice, leaning back slowly in his bed, farther from the ballooning joy. His pupils shrunk and eyebrows rose sky high, as Heartstrings bounced about like a small filly, giddy with excitement.

“Thank you thank you thank you!” Staccato chuckled nervously, as Lyra’s energy became a little uncomfortable for him.

Conversations came and went with very little pauses between. There was an abundance of jovial laughing and smiling as subjects flowed endlessly between the three ponies.

Bon-Bon talked about her aspiring career as a baker and confectionist. Staccato recalled hilarious events in bars while he was a DJ. Lyra, mimicked the snooty attitudes of the Canterlotean ponies, remembering while she lived in the ivory city. It seemed that only a knock at the door seemed to interrupt their endless speeches.

“Excuse me everypony.” Nurse Purple Heart’s voice chimed in after her hoof had struck the door frame a final time.

“I’m sorry, but unfortunately, it would seem that the clock has almost struck one, and that is the latest I can allow for visitors.” The three all glanced at the nearby wall clock that hung above the door. 12:56, Staccato read with surprise.

“Wow, I apologize, I didn’t realize how much time we’ve spent.”

“Not at all Staccato, we had fun talking to you.” Bon-Bon replied cheerfully as Lyra helped her slip on her saddle bag.

“A shame we could not spend more time together.” Staccato said.

“Well, when you get out, Bon-Bon and I would be happy to tour you around Foalida.” Lyra suggested.

“That is, if you’re not too busy getting deep massages and spa treatment at the Tempo hotel.” She joked.

“I would love to!” Lyra grinned widely in response.

“Cool! We’ll meet you when you get out in a couple of days then.” The unicorn said as the two began to exit the room.

“Bye Staccato, get well soon.” Bon-Bon gave a final farewell before leaving. Staccato responded with a small wave of his left forehoof, wary this time not to raise his injured leg.

“Looks like you’re finally learning to not move that injured foreleg.” Nurse Purple Heart chuckled as she turned off the light in Staccato’s room.

“Get some sleep Staccato. You’ll need it.”

“Yeah..” He yawned and adjusted himself in the small hospital bed.

“Night Staccato.”

“Night Nurse.”

And with that Staccato began to drift to oblivion..

In more ways than one..

Staccato floated aimlessly in a sea of darkness, a scene he had seen lived many times before, but each time he was always surprised to find himself here. He could see nothing but black, and there was not a sound to be heard. Everything was empty and cold in this never ending void. Staccato floated about awkwardly, with absolutely no control over his movements.

“Ugh.. not this again..” he groaned.
Suddenly numerous orbs of light swirled rapidly around the light brown unicorn, leaving bright trails of fading radiance in their wake. They twisted and turned before Staccato, spinning into a small, tight, and compact tornado in front of him before suddenly imploding in a bright flash of light, blinding him for a moment.

When he reopened his eyes, there stood a black unicorn, covered from horn to hoof in a jet black cloak, making it even more difficult to see him in the darkness of this void. Staccato grimaced heavily.

“Solace..” He scowled, the black unicorn gave a wicked grin, his eyes hidden from view under his cowl.

“Greetings Fortissimo, are you enjoying your vacation?”

“Don’t call me that!” Staccato barked, Solace brought his hooves up in defense.

“Fine, Al.” The young CEO glowered heavily.

“What do you want?” The cloaked unicorn shrugged, his devilish smirk ever present.

“What? I can’t take some time to talk to my best friend?” Staccato was ready to slap the pony in front of him, but unfortunately, he was too far away to reach.

“We are not friends.. Why did you bring me here?” Solace grinned again and began trotting and pacing about. Although Staccato was helpless to the zero gravity effect of this void, Solace seemed to have free reign over this area.

“I just wanted to check up on you. Saw you were in the hospital. Got worried. Wanted to see how you were doing.”

“You mean protect your investment?”

“Hey! Don’t call it that, you’re making me sound like the bad guy!” Staccato stood silent, his glare growing darker and darker with every word.

“Seriously, why are you really here? Angry that I decided to take a vacation from work?” Solace turned around facing away from the other unicorn.

“No no, not at all actually. You deserved the break, if you worked yourself too hard you might have stopped all together. I’d rather you take some time off and refresh yourself than slowly overwork to death.” He turned back around to face Staccato directly.

“I just wanted to remind you that you still much more work to do before you reach your quota.”

“Yes I am aware, you don’t have to tell me.”

“Good. Also, I wanted you to know that you might not be alive right now if it weren’t for me.” Staccato raised an eyebrow in confusion.

“What? What are you talking about?” Solace’s grin became even wider than before.

“If I had not pulled the strings and led those two mares to your location when you fell out of that cart, you’d probably still be there right now, bleeding to death under that tree.”

“So what? Are you expecting a thank you?” Solace’s smirk disappeared now.

“No, I guess I would be asking too much from you then.” The cloaked unicorn turned away from Staccato, begining to walk away into the void before uttering one final statement.

“I won’t bother you for a while so you can enjoy your vacation Staccato, but as soon as it’s done, get back to work.”

“Wait, aren’t you going to tell me my fortune before you go?” Solace stopped and paused for a while.

“You will soon receive aid, from an old and forgotten friend.”

“Hm, I wonder what that could mean..” Staccato mumbled.

“You’ll find out in time Fortissimo..” Solace suddenly imploded into a bright white flash, just the same as when he came, blinding the Staccato all the same.

Staccato’s head popped off of his pillow, much to the dislike of his injured skull. He yelped lightly in pain as he clutched his head. Nurse Purple heart popped her head into the room within seconds.

“Staccato? Are you alright?” Luckily, Nurse Purple Heart was nearby and heard the unicorn squeak.

“Yeah.. yeah I’m fine.. Just a bad dream is all..” He scowled again. “A disgusting dream..”

Nurse Purple Heart cocked her head in concern.
“Oh.. okay, would you like me to get anything for you?” Staccato shook his head lightly.

“No, it’s fine, thanks Nurse.” Purple Heart gave a curt nod, and exited the room again, closing the door behind her.

Staccato stared blankly at his hooves. The right one was wrapped tightly in a white cast, the left, relatively unscathed besides some scabs and scratches from the tumble down the hill. The young CEO let out a long, deep sigh, rubbing his eyes with his left hoof and mumbled.

“Cazzo.. This vacation just got a whole lot less enjoyable..”