The Favor
Author’s Note: This is my first fanfic so any constructive criticism is absolutely appreciated. Also, since this is my first fanfic, it’s a little rough. Hopefully not too rough. Enjoy!
***
I can’t believe final exams are so close, Lyra Heartstrings couldn’t help but think as she frantically flipped through the pages of her textbook. She and Octavia came to the public library, in Canterlot, to get some early study-time in before their Music Theory final. And they were glad they did; There were so many resources available on the subject.
I wonder how Royal Riff is doing, her mind trailed off from the book as she thought about her best friend. I haven’t visited him in a while. I wonder if he’s still composing...? I doubt it; He probably doesn’t have time because of Music Theory, like me. She drifted off into a quick daydream before being interrupted by Octavia, who was watching her friend stare at the ceiling.
“Lyra, we can’t afford to waste any more time. Our final is in three weeks”, Octavia stated while placing a hoof on Lyra’s shoulder.
“I know”, Lyra said in response, “but I’m so bored. We haven’t rehearsed any new compositions for a while now, Octavia.”
Octavia listened to her friend’s complaint, nodding her head in agreement. She couldn’t help but feel bored, herself. What pony in their right mind didn’t love playing a good concerto every once in awhile? She felt conflicted to speak her mind, because she had a great idea. However, it was also a great distraction. Octavia decided to tell her friend about it anyway, just to get some intake on her opinion.
“Hey Lyra, you know what we can do?”
Lyra looked at her friend with a curious face and asked, “...What?”
Octavia put on a small grin and replied, “We could ask Royal Riff if he would like to compose some pieces for us! I could get together with Symphony and Concerto, and you could get together with Harpo. Riff could write us an orchestra trio and a harp/lyre duet for you two.”
Lyra couldn’t help but beam at the amazing idea. She was so excited! But there was just one issue, and thinking about it made her frown. “What if Riff is too busy with his studying to be able to compose for us?”
Octavia took the question into consideration and suggested they go ask Riff and find out. The two ponies gathered up their books and placed them into their saddlebags. I mean, there’s no pain in asking, right? Lyra couldn’t help but worry a little, because now her hopes were skyrocketing. Right. There’s no pain in asking. Both of them walked out of the library and began towards their school, Canterlot University of Music, to pay Royal Riff a visit in his dorm.
***
Royal Riff sat in his dorm room, looking over his final study guide. *groan* If only they gave extensions on exams. Life would be so much easier, he thought as he realized that he had to go over almost everything on the study guide. Now is seriously not the time for any distractions, whatsoever. But he instantly broke that mental promise as he heard the knocking at his door. Curiously, he got up to answer it.
“Lyra! Octavia? What are you two doing here?”
“Hey Riff!” Lyra couldn’t hide her enthusiasm. She hadn’t seen him in so long. “Can we please come in?”, she asked with her usual friendly smile.
“Uhh yeah, of course”, he smiled back as he stepped aside to let them in. “So uhh, what brings you here? Shouldn’t you be studying for Mr. Hoofington’s exam? You know it’s in three weeks, right?”
Octavia was first to respond. “We know, Riff. We came to ask you for a favor. We know you’re obviously super busy with studying and all, but we were wondering if, well, you would write some music for us?” Her curious smile shrank as she noticed the worried expression that came over his face.
“Umm, well, I...”, he muttered. He didn’t want to let Lyra down. He thought for a minute, and finally responded, “... okay. Yeah, sure. What do you need?”
Lyra’s face lit up, which made Riff blush. “Well, Octavia was going to get together with Symphony and Concerto, like a small ensemble. I was planning on doing a harp/lyre duet with Harpo. You remember him, right?”
Yeah, I remember him alright. He was the biggest jerk in high school. Riff hated Harpo, but instead of saying that, he said, “Uhh haha, umm yeah... I remember him.”
“Great! So, do you think you’ll be able to finish two compositions and studying for the final exam? If not, it’s no big deal, really.” Lyra’s hopes couldn’t get any higher.
“Oh yeah, absolutely! Anything for you...”, he blushed, but quickly cleared his throat, “... best friend.”
Octavia rolled her eyes, then looked over at Lyra who was beaming, as usual. After Riff agreed to help them out, he offered them something to drink, but they didn’t want anything. The two ponies thanked their friend again for agreeing to write for them, and they left to go to their own dorm. Lyra was smiling the whole way back.
***
Meanwhile, back at his dorm, Riff was pacing back and forth. He had realized that maybe accepting his friends’ task wasn’t a logical decision. Oh man, what have I gotten myself into?, he thought angrily. But his anger turned into glee when he thought about how pleased Lyra would be with the end result of his hard work. Composing music on a tight schedule was no simple task, obviously. But he told his best friend that he would do it, and he planned on keeping his word. However, this wasn’t just a mere arrangement or chorale he agreed to write. No. He had to write two works for Octavia and Lyra. He began to regret his decision and frustratedly resumed pacing his dorm room once more.
***
“So when are you going to talk to Harpo about the duet?”, Octavia asked. There were a few minutes before class ended, but Lyra was still vigorously taking notes from the information on the board. Music Theory wasn’t the easiest class available at the Canterlot University of Music, but that didn’t make it any less enjoyable for Lyra.
Her pencil tip snapped as she was suddenly surprised by the hoof shaking her shoulder. Great, she thought, thanks Octavia. Now Mr. Huffington’s erasing the board and I didn’t get everything down. FANTASTIC. Just before finals too... Lyra became lost in her frustration and completely forgot about Octavia’s question.
“I was planning on asking him after class today”, she finally answered.
“Oh okay. And sorry I startled you, by the way.” Octavia tended to do that every so often. Lyra usually didn’t mind; She was used to it. Class would be over in one minute, and she would catch up with Harpo to tell him about the duet Riff was going to write for them. *Rrrrrrring*
“Hey Harpo, wait up”, Lyra called out while quickly walking over to her old friend.
“Oh, hey Lyra. It’s always nice to see a friendly face.” Lyra loved that Harpo always knew the right thing to say to make her feel good. But that was besides the point.
“Would you be interested in playing a harp and lyre duet with me? Royal Riff said he would write one for us.” Her enthusiastic smile made her face glow.
“Alright sure. That sounds really great. Royal Riff? I haven’t seen him since high school! I should pay him a visit one day.”
“Yeah he’s going to manage to write it as well as study for finals. He’s so hardworking.” Lyra admired that about Riff.
“Oh yeah that’s right, finals are three weeks or so. I have to study as well. Well, I’ll see how I can fit some practice time with you in. I have to go. It was great seeing you again Lyra. Take care.” Lyra had heard some of her friends say Harpo was a jerk in high school, but she had a difficult time believing them because he was always very nice to her. She admired that, and the fact that he was so nice to everypony, as far as she had seen.
This is great! I’m so looking forward to this! She couldn’t help but be excited, because she would get to play some awesome music again for a change.
While Lyra had gone to talk to Harpo, Octavia went to the orchestra chamber to find Concerto and Symphony. She figured she’d take the available time to tell her friends about Royal Riff’s work and how they could arrange a small ensemble trio. She couldn’t wait for Riff to finish his compositions so everypony could hear them possibly give a wonderful performance. At least, that’s what Octavia had in mind.
“Symphony. Concerto. Lovely to see you both again”, Octavia called out to her friends. Symphony was tuning her violin while Concerto tuned his viola. They both stopped and looked up as their good friend approached.
“Octavia, how are you?”, Symphony asked politely. She attempted to perfect the tuning of her G string and rested her instrument down after checking one last time.
“Oh I’m good, thank you. I wanted to ask you both if you would like to join me to form a small ensemble trio? My friend Royal Riff has agreed to compose a piece for us to rehearse.”
Concerto looked down after she said this and tweaked his C string, plucking it to check the pitch. Ahh, perfection. As always, he thought. He and Symphony both looked at eachother, then up at their friend.
Concerto replied, “Well, we both don’t have final exams, but don’t you?” He gave her a puzzled look.
“Don’t worry about me. I know that course like the back of my hoof. And for some reason, if necessary, I can manage a way to organize some study time into my schedule. However, I feel I am well prepared for my exam. Will you two join me? It will be just like the old days, back in high school.” She looked at them as they sat, pondering.
“Alright, we will join you”, Symphony finally broke the long silence. “When will Royal Riff complete his composition?”
“I’m not quite sure. He has to do so while managing to study for his exam.”
“Oh, alright. Well, Concerto and I have to practice one of the sonatas the orchestra is playing. We’ll be seeing you Octavia.”
“Goodbye Symphony. Goodbye Concerto.” She trotted out of the chamber and to her dorm to see how things went with Lyra. When she reached the dorm room door, she pulled out her keys and just as she was about to open the it, Lyra came trotting up to her. She unlocked the door and they both went inside.
Octavia was the first to speak. “So, how did it go with Harpo?”
Lyra pulled some daisies out of the fridge. “Great, he said yes!”
Octavia smiled and said, “While you went with Harpo, I went to the orchestra chamber to ask Symphony and Concerto if they would like to join me and they agreed as well. This is going to be so fun. I’m glad they don’t have any final exams. That’s all everypony is worrying about, and I can’t blame them.” In fact, I wish I didn’t have to worry about finals either. I could do without the extra stress, Octavia thought to herself. Just thinking about finals made her feel tired again.
“That’s great. Here let’s have some daisies for now, then we can go out to dinner later on to celebrate.” She was in a really good mood. She was so glad Harpo was as excited about the duet as she was. The two of them sat there eating the daisies for a while, chatting about music theory, then got to their daily studying. After studying for an hour, they went out to dinner together.
***