Presto Agitato
Fredrick looked over the thick pieces of manuscript paper, even despite the poor condition music was in, his eyes still managed to decipher the page of notes as he sat, slumped over the griffon made grand piano. Though he knew the piece from beginning to end, he continued to analyse the sheet of music purposelessly. After a short while however, the boy replaced the papers onto the music back and buried his head into the cup of his hands with a sigh.
It had been only a couple of weeks since the incident that ripped him into a world he barely knew, and already he was starting to feel sick. Not literally sense, but his mind couldn't cope with the constant feeling of boredom that was brought by the restrictions next to his name, just so that he didn't get into any trouble. The most agitating one, he thought, was the fact that he was stuck behind the walls of the Canterlot Palace which homed the two pony princesses that ruled over Equestria. He wasn't allowed to leave, and so he constantly had to spend his time alone as he attempted to preoccupy his mind.
Though the human didn't blame princesses, Fredrick felt as if he was being imprisoned in oversized and fancy cage. They may feed him and give the boy a cosy room to live in where none ever disturbed him, but none knew he even existed except for the maids and guards that never spoke a word to him. It didn't make him angry, but it did annoy and sadden the young boy. So during that time alone, he would visit the dome like room like the one he found himself in to calm his turmoil. Though it wasn't anything grand, it did contain certain instrument which he would visit frequently.
He finally dragged his head out of his hands and rested his chin on his knuckles. While he contemplated what to play, a certain pony wandered into the room silently behind the human's back. "Hello?" a familiar voice introduced themselves to Fredrick who still sat motionlessly on the wooden stool. "Are you feeling okay? I would've come down to check on you more often, however the griffons aren't being as cooperative as I want recently," Celestia said as she approached his side.
"I'm fine, just a bit bored I guess," Fredrick replied monotonously as he simply shrugged like nothing was wrong.
"I didn't know you could play the piano; I hope this one is treating you well." The princess commented as she glanced at the sheet music presented out on the piano. Though she wasn't a herself musician, Princess Celestia was exposed to a lot of music throughout her lifetime to know that the piece he was looking to play was beyond anything she had ever seen or heard performed on the large instrument. She was quite curious if he could actually play it at all.
"Yeah, I can play." The human spoke almost silently, his words just able to be picked up be Celestia.
"Fredrick, what's wrong?" she asked while she lowered herself slightly so that she was eye level with him.
"No, it's nothing," he said to her in a much louder voice.
"Fredrick, I may be old, but I've lived long enough to read the faces of all my citizens, ponies or not. Is there something that's troubling you?"
"I just... keep getting reminded of home all the time, I had friends, I lived in a peaceful town. But here, I got pretty much near to nothing. I may have my essentials but it just feels like I don't belong here. No one pony seems to know me or even acknowledge me, it is like I'm not even there. At least back at home I could talk to someone other than myself..." She could see the boy's distress and loneliness written all over him like a beacon. Celestia felt sympathy for him; she knew what it felt like to be alone, and it wasn't something she got over easily. She still didn't know how to deal with it.
"I didn't even realise what you were dealing with, I'm sorry I didn't recognise this until now. I limited your connection with my ponies but I didn't take what you're feeling into account." Princess Celestia stared apologetically at him before an idea struck her head. "I'm sorry I didn't notice sooner; I stopped you from gaining friends and so I want to change that. If you would, would you like accept my invitation to a party I'm having" she asked to Fredrick.
"A party? Like a birthday party? with people?" he asked intriguingly as his dull eyes sparkled once more.
"Sort of, it is a celebration of the return of my sister," Celestia explained and bit her lip before she said anything else that could've brought up memories.
"Who's the host of this party?"
"I'm the host. It's happening in the courtyard tomorrow night at eight o'clock. I've invited Twilight, my student, and her friends to come along, as well as Princess Cadence and Shining Armour. Usually for an event like this, I keep it closed to invitations and friends only," she said to him.
"It seems you've already forgotten about me your highness," came somepony else. The new stallion, who waltzed calmly into the room, wore a black suit and bow tie that was pristine and freshly ironed with a light scent. Fixed onto one of his eyes was a blue steel rimmed monocle that had a small chain attached to it which went into his right chest pocket. "I guess this is the human you spoke to me about, he doesn't look that bad at all," he looked over the human with an approving glance.
"Fredrick, this is Fancy Pants, Fancy Pants, this is Fredrick," the alicorn introduced the posh looking stallion.
"Nice to meet sir Fredrick," Fancy Pants said as he outstretched a hoof which the human grabbed to shake.
"Nice to meet you to," the human replied in response. His face contorted into grateful smile. Fredrick was quite surprised to see the stallion acting so casually around him, the panic which he usually predicted didn't come which slightly confused him.
"It looks like you two are going to get along well. I need to get going now, my guests won't entertain themselves." Princess Celestia stood to leave and gave one last warm smile to Fredrick before she exited behind the large doors.
Fredrick looked back to Fancy Pants, who was watching Fredrick calmly, his form was relaxed in front of the unfamiliar person in front of him which baffled the human. Fredrick at least expected him to be nervous around him like everyone else he had encountered during the short time he had been in Equestria, but Fancy Pants showed no symptoms of this.
"Um, hi Fancy Pants," the boy said nervously.
"Hello Fredrick," the stallion replied back with an almost joyful tone. "Are you looking forward to the party, I can assure you that'll be a blast," he asked.
"Yeah, I'm just happy that I'm going to meet other people who won't just ignore me," Fredrick looked shamefully away. He didn't like the fact that he sounded so pathetic, but at the same time he didn't feel that strong either to fake his emotions. At least he had the chance to turn things around for the better, and the first step is to make a friend. He didn't feel like he was making a good first impression.
"Cheer up Fredrick, I may not be able to tell you that I know what you're going through. I only know as much as you said earlier, but I can tell you that you're going to meet some of the friendliest ponies Equestria has to offer. If anyone, other than me, will accept you for who you are, it is them," Fancy Pants spoke with absolute certainty. "You may be different, but different is good, it is up to you to make sure others can see that wonderful side of you. So trust me when I say that if anything happens, I got your back."
Fredrick would've been lying to himself if he said that he didn't feel even slightly speechless by the stallion's proclamation. Even within the little time the two have spent together, the Fancy Pants was already leaving rogue tears in Fredrick's eyes. It had been ages since anyone properly spoken to him, and a long time since anyone said anything decent about him. From that moment, he knew that the bother of them were going to get along well.
"Thank you," he whispered quietly.
"There isn't a need to thank me good sir, I'm just here to make sure that you don't steer off into the wrong direction," he said as a matter of fact. "Sometimes ponies aren't very good when it comes to change, but hopefully we can fix that."
"How do you know the princess?" Fredrick asked Fancy Pants, deciding to move off topic.
"I'm lieutenant colonel of her guard, and we're good friends as well."
"I didn't expect you to be a military person," Fredrick commented with surprise.
"A lot of ponies just think of me as just another rich overblown pony, but I do my part like everyone else. What about you, what did you do back on your world?" Fancy Pants questioned him.
"I used to be a pianist. I wasn't a part of a large orchestra like the Berlin Symphony Orchestra, but I've played my fair share of concerts and parties." Fredrick's face lit up with excitement as an idea popped into his head. "Want to hear a piece?" he offered with a grin plastered onto his now lively face.
It had been ages since he played to anyone but himself, which made the passion he once had to go with it as he begun to lost interest in everything after he landed in Equestria. But, that passion which was meant to be long gone was suddenly burning intensely with a new fuel of determination, and Fredrick was excited to finally play once more.
"I'd be honoured," Fancy Pants replied as he took a small step back to give the boy some space in order to play without disturbance.
"Here, take this," Fredrick grabbed the sheet of music and waved the sheets in front of him.
The posh stallion graciously accepted and enveloped the sheet music within his magical grasp, floating the papers in front of his curious eye. As he examined the piece, his expression turned to one of shock and disbelief after only a short examination. "This is something that even greatest pianists of Equestria dreams to perform. I've never seen a piece on a level like this before. Are you sure you want to try something like this?" Fancy Pants warned worriedly as he looked up at the human who only smirked.
"Want to hear a real life demonstration?"
"The stage is yours."
Fancy Pants silenced himself as Fredrick prepared his mind. Though his hands shook from the nerves, his determination denied it to take over. He slowly lifted his hand over the plethora of keys. Without a second of delay, he begun to play.
There wasn't any introduction to the piece, nothing to introduce anypony to the piece. He launched straight into it, bombarding Fancy Pants with a rapid flurry of notes. His fingers were swiftly moving over the keys, each note played with clarity and power. Though the piece itself wasn't complicated, it demanded a lot of finger endurance in order to play through the piece. The stallion could see the slight strain in Fredrick's fingers, and was questioning whether he'd be able to make it though the entire piece.
Fredrick's exhaustion however was over written by the adrenaline, the thrill of performing once more excited him. He grinned stupidly to himself and begun humming the melody silently.
The intensity of the piece that resonated from the piano could be heard from the other side of the large and heavy doors the separated them from the rest of the palace. Some of the maids that roamed in ear distance stopped and listened in absolute awe at the performer. As the crowd grew, they managed wedged the door open which went unnoticed by the performer. Surprisingly, a certain group of ponies, that just so happened to be strolling that very same corridor, were intrigued enough by the sounds to be pulled into the crowd.
As the final chords were struck, everything fell into complete silence that made even slightest of breezes visible to the ear. A single stomp of a hoof broke the silence, which carried on with an increasing tempo and volume. Another joined in, and then another, and then the the entire crowd was up in applause which caused the place shake like an earthquake. Whistles and cheers and praises sounded from the crowd Fredrick didn't know existed. When he turned to stare, the look on their faces made his grin grow twice the size. None of them were fearful of him or afraid, or whispering behind his back, but instead their smiling faces told the human a different story.
"Fantastic!" Fancy cheered as he approached the boy. "Quite a show you put on there, I must say I didn't expect you to last that long," the stallion patted him on the back proudly. "You're full of surprises, and I hope you don't stop."
"Wow, I haven't seen anyone like you before," said a purple alicorn who was accompanied by five other ponies.
"Hello your highness," Fancy Pants lowered into a bow.
"Please, there's no need for that," she said with a slightly reddened face. "He's right you know, you played absolutely fantastically! You're the best pianist I've ever seen in my entire life." The purple alicorn praised rather loudly.
"Oh, um thank you," Fredrick replied as he looked away in embarrassment as he tried to hide his flustered face.
"Yeah, you were pretty awesome," said a prismatic maned pony who hovered above the group.
"If you don't mind me in asking, what inspired you to play that specific piece? I might even be able to create a new fashion line, oh so many ideas! Think about it, the music of fashion," asked a white unicorn mare with a long and curly indigo mane.
"Well, the piece I played is called the Moonlight Sonata but it also goes by as 'Sonata Quasi Una Fantasia', which means almost a fantasy. Like, it feels like some sort of hallucination that shouldn't be real. As for why I played this movement, it is because it best represents how I felt," Fredrick explained to the ponies who nodded with sincere smiles.
Most of the maids have already left to get on with their jobs, leaving the seven ponies and human alone in the room.
"Well I think that's a wonderful reason," the shy pony quietly inputted as she pawed softly at the ground.
Everypony in the room looked kindly at the human, their eyes gleamed with happiness and curiosity. Maybe life in an alternate universe wouldn't be so bad for him, although he was still yet to introduce himself to the six new comers.
"Well, my name is Fredrick from a different universe. What about you?" he asked to the alicorn of the group. Fredrick held out a hand, which gripped an outstretched purple hoof.
"My name is Twilight Sparkle, but you can just call me Twilight, and these are my friends."