A musician is given a chance to regain his life. He just needs to win a game.
A famous musician was killed by a stalker that decided if she couldn't have him, no one would. He wakes up to find himself in a void with a strange man who gives him an offer. Play a game with the man and the musician can come back to life. Win the game and the musician can return to his universe and get his memories back. Let's hope the musician is good at hide and seek.
It was late at night in Dundee Florida as a tall man with black hair and blue eyes sat in his bedroom trying to work on his newest song. The man was an amazing singer and an even greater musician. He knew how to play a variety of instruments and used his bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering to make a system that allowed him to play multiple instruments at once by simply pressing the right buttons. His stage name was “The One Man Band” because he could play an entire song using drums, guitar, and bass while singing. Of course those were simply the ones that earned him his name. His favorite instrument was the piano and he often found a way to incorporate it into his songs.
He had become rather famous, but had always refused to get guards or a security team for his house. His explanation had always been that because any money he had that could be spent freely was given away, no one would try to rob him. He later came to regret that decision as he felt something cold push up against his head, causing him to stop what he was doing. He had been wearing his noise cancelling headphones while trying to find a good combination of instruments for his next song and so he hadn’t heard the woman bust into his house and come into his bedroom.
The woman was wearing a full black suit and a black ski mask and had several duffle bags on her back and in her left hand. She quickly took his headphones off before grabbing him by the back of his white T-shirt and forcing him to stand up.
“What do you want?” The man asked as the woman turned him around pushed him up against the wall.
“Oh honey, what I want is quite simple.” The woman said causing the man’s eyes to widen as he recognised the voice.
“Why are you here Victoria?! I told you the last time that I don't love you!” The man shouted causing Victoria to chuckle darkly.
“Oh Alex darling, you seem to think that you have a choice.” Victoria said before sighing and pressing the small M1911 that was in her right hand against his chest. “Either I get to have you or no one does.” She said with a sick look on her face.
Alex said nothing and just spit in her face causing her left eye to twitch before she pulled the trigger. In an instant Alex felt an immense amount of pain as he screamed before slowly losing consciousness. Right before the darkness took him he heard Victoria thank him for his instruments and then there was nothing.
Alex opened his eyes to see that he was now standing in an abyss that went on forever. He looked around before looking down at his chest and looking for a bullet wound, only to find nothing. He sighed before a very British sounding voice spoke up.
“Hello there! It’s good to see you Alex. Before you ask, I know your name because I know the names of every single being in the multiverse that can die.”
Alex quickly looked up to see a man wearing an open black coat, black combat pants, and black combat boots sitting on a chair that hadn't been there a second ago with a desk in front of him as well as an empty chair on Alex’s side. The man had messy, waist-length, dark brown hair and a messy dark brown beard that connected to his hair. His eyes were different colors with his right eye being sky blue while his left eye was blood red with a black sclera.
“Who are you and what are you talking about?” Alex asked causing the man to chuckle before stroking his messy, dark brown beard with his right hand.
“I have many names, but nowadays most people call me ‘The Hated Saint’ and what I’m talking about is the fact that you're dead. I’m just here to make a deal with you that will end with you being brought back to life.” The man explained with a grin on his face as Alex’s eyes widened.
“What's the deal?” Alex asked as he sat down on the chair in front of him and leaned in closer to the man.
“Simple. I bring you back to life in a different universe with a different form and we play a small game. To win the game you must find me in this new universe. As extra incentive I will take something from you that you think is important. What that something is depends on what would hurt you the most. If you win the game you’ll get your important thing back and I will give you the choice of either staying in the new universe or returning to your old universe a couple of minutes after you died. With that second option I will simply put you back in your body while keeping you alive. There isn't a way to lose aside from dying again before finding me and even then there's no penalty or punishment for losing.” The man explained before reaching into his pocket and pulling out a scroll and pen.
He set the scroll and pen down in front of Alex before gesturing for him to read it. Alex shrugged before opening the scroll and going over it. It turned out to be a contract of the rules of the deal as well as the game. At the bottom was a place for Alex to right his signature and he quickly grabbed the pen before signing the contract and handing it back to the man.
“Good choice.” The man said before grabbing the scroll and pen and putting them away. He then reached into his pocket universe and pulled out a music box before reaching through Alex's chest and taking out a grey wisp-like object. He then proceeded to shove the wisp-like object into the music box before shoving the music box into my chest.
“From now on you are ageless and if that music box stops playing music you will pass out. Your body will go through a few more changes, but I’ll just implant the memories of how they work while you're unconscious. Anyways, see you later Music Man!” The man said before touching Alex's head, causing him to fall unconscious.
The man started working on Alex and quickly took all of Alex's memories aside from the ones of the deal and the game. After he was finished with the memories he started working on the body. The man tapped Alex's skin, causing it to suddenly gain a metallic sheen as it became metal. Alex's eyes went from white with blue irises to white with rainbow irises as his neat, neck-length, hair also changed colors, though unlike his eyes which looked like a color wheel his hair was constantly going through the colors of the rainbow.
“That's good. Now for the clothes.” The man said before touching Alex's clothes, causing them to vanish only to be replaced by a rainbow tuxedo. The man looked at Alex while stroking his beard.
“I feel like something is missing.” The main said before his eyes widened. “I got it!” He said before reaching into his pocket and pulling out a normal black fedora only for him to tap it, making it rainbow coloured.
“Alright! Time to send him off. Good luck Music Man!” The man said before snapping his fingers, causing a colorful portal to appear beneath Alex.
As the portal closed behind Alex, another unconscious person appeared causing the man to smile.
“A new challenger approaches.” The man whispered to himself before getting ready for when they woke up.
I woke up and looked around as I saw that I was in a forest of some kind with trees all around me. I stood up and picked up my fedora before putting it back on. I tried to remember how I got here and all that I could remember was a deal and a game as well as the rules. I tried to remember who I was, only for my mind to pull a blank. I was about to start freaking out before my mind was filled with more information than I knew what to do with.
In an instant I knew everything about my new body as well as my new powers, though I was extremely curious about how I was supposed to use them since they were all based around different instruments, with the exception of an ability called metronome. Metronome forced anything that could hear my music, whether it be instruments or singing, to move in sync with the music unless they wanted to be frozen in place. I knew how to play the instruments, but at the moment it seemed that the only instrument I had was the music box inside my chest that was playing a slow lullaby.
While I was thinking my chest opened up like a door before the music box came out, revealing that it was almost over and needed to be wound up again. I took some time to wind it up enough for it to last me a day at most. Once that was done, I put the music box away before my chest closed.
“It seems that I am some sort of robot. That is...concerning.” I said out loud to myself before I heard what sounded like a woman scream. I quickly ran towards the scream without thinking and what I saw terrified me.
There was a woman with waist-length gold hair cornered by what my limited memory called a manticore. The woman wore a beautiful set of white armor with a sword in her right hand and a shield in her left. On the center of the shield was a symbol of the sun and moon while on the right pauldron of the armor was a symbol of a halo and wings surrounded by a golden light. But the thing that made my eyes go wide in shock was the horse like face and feet as well as the horn protruding from her head and the white fur that covered her body.
I heard the woman shout for help as she held back the manticore using her shield to block it’s tail and what I can only call light magic to block the beast’s swipes. The shout knocked me out of my daze and, without even thinking, I grabbed a leaf from a nearby tree before rolling it into the shape of a Slek or Leaf Flute. Once the Slek was made I ran up to the two before starting to play a song that appeared in my mind.
As I played the song, vines started to grow from the ground and wrap around the manticore, rendering it immobile. When the woman saw this she just stared at me with wide eyes before trying to run in and decapitate it, only for her body to freeze in place. I stopped playing for a second and shouted.
“You have to move with the music or my powers will prevent you from moving!”
Upon hearing my explanation, she nodded as I went back to playing the song. She started gracefully moving with the music before getting close enough to decapitate the manticore, which is exactly what she did. The head fell off of the manticore’s body as I stopped playing the flute, causing the vines to go back into the ground with the manticore’s body falling as well. I let out a sigh of relief before looking at the leaf in my hand as the woman approached me.
“Thank you good sir. I appreciate your assistance though if I may inquire, what was that magic you used? It reminds me of nature magic but it didn't start until you used that strange leaf.” She said while pointing to the Slek in my hand. I went to put the Slek in my pocket before a compartment opened in my midsection, causing the woman to jump back a bit while I just shrugged and put the Slek inside it. The compartment closed and I smiled at the fact that I gained a new instrument.
“I have a new question for you. What are you?” The woman asked while standing in a fighting stance. I sighed before taking off my fedora and bowing.
“I am a metallic individual that runs on the soul from my original body. This body was designed to look similar to the species of my original body, though I cannot remember the name of it. You may refer to me as a robot and, while I do not remember my real name, you can refer to me as The Music Man.” I said with a happy smile on my face before standing up and putting my fedora back on.
The woman stared at me with slight fear in her eyes upon hearing that I was merely a soul tied to a body, though she did not loosen her stance.
“You do realize that your very existence falls under the category of dark magic known as necromancy, right?” She asked while her horn began to glow.
“Oh yes, though I don't believe there was any magic used in my creation. You see while I may not remember everything about my past I do remember how I came to be what I am. In short I died in my universe and was given a choice by a man that called himself The Hated Saint. The choice was simple. I could pass on and go to the afterlife or I could play a game with him. Since I would require a body to play the game he would give me one and the game would start. It's a simple game of hide and seek. If I find him I get my original body back as well as my memories and the chance to return to my universe the morning of my supposed death. That's the basics of it at least.” I explained while still smiling as I kept thinking about ways to acquire more instruments.
The woman just stared at me for a couple of seconds before reaching out and touching my face, only to pull her hand back quickly. Her eyes were wide but went back down to their normal size, though they were filled with many emotions ranging from pity to sadness.
“Umm. Would you like to come stay at my house for the night? I know we just met but consider this payment for saving my life.” She offered before her eyes widened in realization. “Ah! I haven't even introduced myself! My name is Angelic Light. It is a pleasure to meet you sir Music Man.” She said with a bow before standing up straight. I smiled before shrugging and fixing my fedora.
“Thank you. I think I will take you up on that offer. Please lead the way Miss Light.” I said with a smirk while straightening my rainbow tie.
Me and Angelic Light arrived at a city in a clearing just outside the forest with a castle in the center of it all. We were stopped at the gate for a second because of my odd look, but we were let in as soon as they confirmed that I had no weapons. I wasn't particularly bothered by being stopped, though the equine features definitely threw me off still.
After walking for a while we arrived at Light’s stone house and she opened the door letting me walk inside first. As I did so I felt something hit my head before turning to see what it was. My glassy eyes widened upon seeing a purely black male figure holding his hand in pain, suggesting that he had just punched me in the head and was hurt because of my metal body and rainbow strands of titanium hair.
“Are you alright, sir?” I asked while looking at his injury as Light walked in after me. She gasped at seeing the man hurt before understanding what happened and sighing.
“Dark. How many times have I told you not to attack anypony on sight?” Light said before walking over to him and casting a minor healing spell, causing his cuts to close.
“I’m sorry Light but I was worried about that thing! It doesn't look natural and, as I just found out, is made of metal!” The man, who I now knew was Dark, said before glaring at me while I just smiled at him and bowed while taking my fedora off.
“My sincerest apologies sir. I did not mean to hurt you or scare you. I was simply accepting Miss Light’s offer to stay at her house as a thank you for helping her.” I said while standing up and keeping my fedora off. After all, it would be rude to wear a hat while inside a building.
“Is that so? And how exactly did you help my wife? From what I can see, you don't have any weapons on you and your body doesn't have any dents or scratches so I doubt that you helped her fight.” Dark said with suspicion in his voice. Light smirked before gesturing for me to show him.
“Are you sure that would be wise? After all I don't have a target this time.” I said with hesitation in my voice as I was nervous about trying my powers without a specific target. Light seemed to be in thought before she smiled.
“You can use me as the target since I know what's going to happen!” Light said happily taking me by surprise before I shrugged and took out the Slek again, only this time a different song appeared in my mind. It was calm and soothing and it appeared as if Light was becoming sleepy until I stopped playing causing her to fall asleep. Dark seemed worried until they heard Light’s light snoring. We both chuckled at this and Dark looked me in the eyes before smiling.
“I don't trust you just yet, but your magic is interesting to say the least as it appears to be connected to music.” Dark said calmly before using his magic to wake up Light, which was interesting to watch as he seemed to excel at the use of dark magic. Light jolted awake as a hand made of shadows slapped her across the face.
“Ow!” Light said while rubbing her cheek as she looked up and noticed that she was on the ground.
“Huh. That was different from before, but I guess it proved my point nonetheless.” She said before standing up and smiling.
“Music Man, I would like you to meet my coltfriend Demonic Dark. Dark, I would like you to meet the stallion that saved my life from a manticore Music Man.” She said while gesturing to the each of us respectively.
“As I said before, it is a pleasure to meet you sir.” I said while Dark just grinned.
“It is a pleasure to meet you as well, even if I don't know what you are.” Dark said with a chuckle while Light walked away into a different room.
This seems like it will be rather interesting. I thought to myself as Dark lead me to a sitting room and we began to converse about me, though I was asking questions about this place in general as I needed to know more about my current location. I wasn't certain of anything, but one thing was clear; I needed to find that Hated Saint and get some answers.
As Light, Dark and I continued to talk the sun had fully set. They decided to go to sleep and offered a bed before I informed them that I was unable to sleep and that I did not need to sleep. They were shocked to hear this, but Light quickly understood why and her expression once again became that of pity. They told me good night while I simply wound up my music box in order to ensure that I would not fall asleep. I stared out at the beautiful night sky before walking outside of the house and staring at it while I thought. I had learned that, shortly before my arrival, a group of beings known as sirens had been stopped by a group known as the pillars. These sirens disgusted me because of their corrupted use of music. As I stared at the night sky a song came to mind and I started singing it calmly with my music box changing its melody to match the song as best as it could.
"Je T'aime, Je T'aime toujours. I am forever yours. Sweet dreams, sweet dreams, mon cher. You're always in my prayers. Softly, sweetly. Wrapped up in heaven's arms. Sailing, soaring. Over the moon gathering stardust. Be safe, be still, be sure. Je T'aime, Je T'aime toujours. Wishing, praying. All of your dreams come true. Please remember where 'er you are, my heart is with you. Sweet dreams, sweet dreams, mon cher. Always in my prayers. I am forever yours. Je T'aime. Je T'aime. Toujours."
I smiled and felt a sense of peace as my music box returned to it's normal melody before going back inside of the house.
The Next Morning
I had stayed up all night watching the sky and its beauty. I had seen several thestrals, as Light and Dark had called them, fly through the night sky wearing armor that looked similar to Light's armor. After a few hours the sun had risen and soon enough there was a battalion of armored ponies outside with two ponies that I could only assume were the princesses that Light and Dark had told me about. One of the armored unicorn stallions walked up to the door before pounding on it, causing Light to shout in surprise. After a few seconds, Light and a very upset looking Dark came out of their room.
"Good morning Music! What was the pounding about?" Light asked while Dark just grumbled as he sat down at the wooden table.
"There appears to be a battalion of armored ponies outside as well as both of the princesses that you told me about. Did you invite them here?" I asked out of curiosity as I grabbed my fedora off of the table.
Light's eyes widened as Dark shot up with wide eyes. They started whispering to eachother before nodding as Light went to answer the door.
"Hello. What are all of you doing here?" Light asked before being shoved aside violently as the stallion barged in. He looked around before seeing me and unsheathing his sword and turning back to the battalion and two princesses.
"IT'S IN HERE!" He shouted before turning back to me and pointing the sword at me. "Come with me creature and no one gets hurt." Said the stallion, who was smirking as if he expected me to attack. He was sufficiently confused when I simply nodded and put my fedora on before walking outside with my hands up as he walked behind me.
As I exited the house I noticed that every one of them, including the princesses, had weapons drawn. They all glared at me as if I was some monster.
"May I ask why it seems like I am being taken prisoner for simply existing?" I asked calmly, causing the entire group to look shocked that I didn't even try to attack. The princesses snapped out of their shock before the dark blue one, who I had been informed was Luna, spoke.
"We were informed by one of my men that you use music as a medium for using magic. Is that correct?" Luna asked while I smiled.
"That is correct your highness. I suppose that means I was seen singing last night. My apologies if it caused any problems, I just couldn't let such a beautiful night go without a song that is just as beautiful." I said while smiling as Luna blushed before going back to being professional.
"You are to either leave and never return or be locked in the dungeon." Luna said calmly with a stoic expression on her face. I went to answer before I felt my music box stop.
"Oh. That's bad. It appears that last song sped up my music box just a bit too much." Was all I said before my vision went dark.
3rd Person POV
As Music Man shut off, his body dropped down to a slumped over sitting position as his chest opened up and a platform with a music box attached to it extended out. The guards quickly picked him up while the princesses looked at eachother before nodding.
"We are taking this being to the dungeon at once." Celestia announced before walking back to the chariots. Luna followed after her sister, though the Music Man's words continued to ring throughout her mind. Shouting could be heard as Light and Dark yelled and screamed at them for taking their newest friend.
Years passed by and Music Man was left in the dungeon, his music box remaining unwound for years. Angelic Light and Demonic Dark were allowed to visit him so long as an entire platoon of soldiers accompanied them. Of course they eventually died, but not before having a foal. Despite not being awake, Music Man was still conscious in the sense that he could see and hear everything that was happening around him. He enjoyed all the times Light and Dark would come talk to him about their lives and he was deeply saddened when Light had told him about Dark's passing. He had died while protecting a family from a Cragadile. Music Man later overheard that Light passed away from old age when the guards were talking about the new recruit, Harmonic Element. As the years passed, Music Man saw people live, grow, prosper and die. Years of being left alone ended with him getting forgotten, which caused vines and plants to grow all around his body. He saw the rise and fall of Discord, who had tried to turn him into a puppet. Unfortunately for Discord, he was unable to turn him into a puppet for several reasons.
The first reason was that Music Man had no brain to tamper with, because his body was fueled by his soul. The second reason was that the Hated Saint had made it impossible for anyone to tamper with Music Man's soul. This was there to make sure that Music Man played his game instead of having someone like Discord make him a new body. The final reason was that Discord never figured out that he needed to wind up the music box. After Discord was defeated, Music Man watched the years go by once more. He enjoyed hearing the guards talk about their lives for a while until he started hearing about some sort of crystal war.
Music Man felt guilty about his own inability to help these ponies and prevent unnecessary deaths. After several years, the war finally ended and the princess of the night, Luna, started coming down to the dungeons and talking to him. She was thankful for his kind words about her night being beautiful. He enjoyed the things she would tell him about and even laughed a few times, even though she couldn't hear it. This lasted for two years and Music Man felt happy about it all. He often found himself anxiously waiting for the next time she would come down to talk to him. He grew a connection with her that got deeper as she told him more and more about herself and her life. It was fun to hear the stories of Celestia getting drunk and hitting on guards and knights, both mares and stallions, while being slightly provocative.
These stories brought him joy to the exceedingly dull cycle that he found himself trapped in. He had grown accustomed to Luna's talks and knew more about her than even her sister. Life was good for him until the day that the castle shook. He didn't know what had happened, but what he did know was that Luna stopped coming by after that day. After that day no one came down there, not even guards. After a few years, Music Man realized that everyone had either died or left and he hoped that it was the latter. He waited for years until a zebra found him and started talking to him. This zebra, Zecora, could sense that a soul was connected to his body, but, just like Discord, she did not understand that she had to wind up his music box.
Regardless, Music Man was happy to have someone talk to him about their life. Zecora always came to him with interesting stories about her life in the forest as well as life in her homeland of Zebrica. He found himself interested in not only her culture, but also the instruments of her homeland and how they were used. Zecora brought joy back into his life and, just as Luna did, divulged personal information and stories to him. He thoroughly enjoyed the fact that she talked in rhymes, because rhymes were just as much a part of music as instruments were. He grew close to Zecora for a while until she had to leave to get more supplies in order to ward against some evil spirit that she said would return soon. A month later, a tall mare with pure black fur, wings and a horn appeared in front of him and tried to use magic on him in order to get him working again.
After at least a thousand tries, the mare gave up and started sobbing. She kept saying how she wanted the only being that appreciated her night sky back, which confused Music Man. This mare looked similar to Luna, but she seemed much more desperate than before. She cried for a while until a sound echoed from above. She stood up and wiped her tears before turning into mist and flying away. Half an hour passed by until a shy looking mare with yellow fur, a pink mane and pink tail came down the stairs. She had wings and wore a beautiful grass green dress that had a design of three pink butterflies on it. Around her neck was a golden amulet that had a pink gem in the shape of a butterfly in the middle.
The shy mare noticed Music Man's music box and walked into the old cell that had fallen apart. She examined the metal music box carefully before slowly and gently winding the music box for a while. After about five minutes, she stopped and let the music box play, causing the Music Man to slowly reawaken as seven other mares came down the stairs.
I slowly felt my sense of touch returning to me as my music box retracted into my chest, destroying the vines that had grown around it and my chest. As my sense of touch came back I felt the vines and plant life that had grown on me and broke my left arm free before starting to rip off the rest of the plants.
"Um...Hello." A quiet voice said from in front of me, which caused me to turn my head towards the voice. I saw the yellow mare looking at me through her pink mane and smiled at how cute she looked. I slowly stood up and looked around for my fedora before sighing, as it was nowhere to be seen.
"Greetings. I do not remember my real name, so I must ask that you call me Music Man for the time being. It is a pleasure to meet you." I said while bowing a little before standing back up. As I stood up I noticed seven more mares behind the, currently blushing, yellow mare. It took me a second to recognize the two in the back as Celestia and Luna, which caused me to kneel.
"It is a pleasure to see you again your highnesses." I said before standing back up and brushing off my tuxedo. "We never got a chance to have a proper conversation, though I already know quite a bit about Luna from all of the times she came down here and vented her frustrations to me. I was quite saddened when everyone vanished a thousand years ago. If you wouldn't mind me asking, what happened to Angelic Light and Demonic Dark's son, Harmonic Element?" I asked, causing most of the mares to look shocked, though Luna was blushing and looked embarrassed. Celestia shook her head and walked towards me with a serious look on her face. I quickly held up my hand while smiling, causing her to stop.
"I'd refrain from coming much closer. The structural integrity of this structure leaves much to be desired and, from the stories Lulu told me thousands of years ago, you seem to eat quite a lot of cake. It's fairly obvious that that has not changed what with that backside of yours." I said while running my left hand through my hair, causing Celestia's face to go red out of embarrassment and for Luna, the cyan mare and the pink mare to laugh hysterically while the others looked shocked at my words.
"I'll have you know that I have cut back on the cake! Now tell us why you have only just now decided to wake up after thousands of years!" Celestia shouted as her expression changed from embarrassment to anger as she charged up magic in her horn.
"No one wound my music box." I said calmly, causing Celestia to stop in confusion while the others, save the yellow mare, joined her in her confusion.
"Why would it matter if a stupid music box was wound or not? It's just something foals use to help them sleep because, unlike me, they're afraid." Said the cyan pegasus mare, who was currently flying. Hearing her words filled me with anger for some reason, though it was probably because of my love of music and the fact that my music box keeps me alive.
"I would refrain from saying bad things about any musical instrument while I am around, lest I pull you down to the ground. Now to answer your question, my music box is what keeps me alive. When it stops playing I enter a state in which I can see and hear everything happening around me, but I am unable to do anything. This body is not my original one, as evidence by the fact that it is entirely metal and that my soul has been bound to my music box. Yes I do understand that you would call that necromancy, though there wasn't any magic used in the process. I may not have any personal memories, but I do remember enough to explain my current situation." I said calmly while the unicorns and the princesses gasped upon hearing that I am, to them, a creation of necromancy, leaving the others confused about what they were gasping about.
I could see Celestia and the unicorns charging up their horns while Luna looked conflicted. I just smiled because I knew that my metallic body was not in any danger. The yellow mare noticed the others charging their horns and, to my surprise, stood in front of me as if to stop them from attacking me.
"Pardon me miss, but why are you stopping those three from firing at me? I am in no danger of being harmed as my body cannot be destroyed no matter what happens to it. They lost their chance to hurt me the moment my music box was back in my chest." I explained while looking confused as the yellow mare put herself in danger. The others seemed to be just as confused as I was by the yellow mare's act of kindness. She turned around and smiled at me as she looked into my rainbow eyes.
"I didn't want them to hurt you for no reason. You haven't done anything to hurt us and have answered any questions that we asked you. My name is Fluttershy and, if you don't mind me asking, what did you mean when you said that the princesses wouldn't be able to hurt you?" Fluttershy asked while smiling and hiding behind her hair a little bit. I couldn't help but chuckle at how adorable she was being before I nodded.
"My body was designed to be completely impervious to all attacks. The only part of my body that can be easily destroyed is my music box, which is hidden inside of my chest unless I take it out so I can wind it up. This is so that I don't need to worry about dying from an accident before I start looking for the being that gave me this second chance at life. Now I must apologize, but I should be on my way. Until we meet again." I said while bowing at the end before jumping up through a hole in the ceiling and starting to walk away.
As I exited the ruined castle I ended up getting distracted and accidentally broke a branch on a low hanging tree that was outside of the castle. I picked up the broken branch before putting out my left pointer finger and rotating it at a fast speed. I used my metal finger to smooth out the branch into a nice even cylinder. I put the wooden cylinder in my mouth before carefully using my fingers to hollow it out and add holes on the top in order to make my first new instrument in years; a flute.
I smiled as I admired my own craftsmanship before hearing the sound of wings coming from behind me. I quickly rotated my head around and saw the cyan mare flying towards me at high speeds. I instinctively crouched before rotating my head around. The mare seemed angry at me, though I had no idea why she would be. I shrugged my shoulders before raising my flute up to my mouth and playing a song. A small part of the left side of my face opened up to reveal a second mouth and started singing the words of the song. As the song continued I noticed that the winged mare had slowly fallen to the ground and fell asleep. I was slightly saddened that I had to resort to using my magic, but I doubted that she would've allowed me to leave peacefully otherwise. I quickly walked away as I continued playing in order to ensure that she stayed asleep. Once I was far enough into the forest, I stopped playing and stored my flute inside of my chest cavity with my music box as the second mouth was soon gone. I continued walking through the forest and diverged from the path as I sought a way to throw off the ponies that were no doubt chasing after me now that I was no longer keeping them asleep. My walk led me through a field of blue flowers that emitted a magical signature, though they had no effect on me due to my body being impervious to magic. A ways past the blue flowers was a hut in a very small clearing in the forest. Hanging around the building were decorations that part of me said were meant to be welcoming despite their unwelcoming appearance. I approached the door of the hut and knocked on the door. A few seconds passed before the door opened to reveal a familiar zebra wearing a long black tribal dress. After a few seconds of silence, Zecora spoke.
"It is a surprise, that I would see you stand with my own two eyes. This is a delight, as day is coming from night." Zecora said with a smile that I reciprocated with one of my own.
"It is a pleasure to finally speak, though I have had a rough week. I am Music Man, and I would like to stay if I can." I said while bowing politely. I looked up to find Zecora smiling at my reciprocation of her rhymes. I had learned from her many visits that her rhyming was a mental exercise used to prevent oneself from saying something that they would regret.
"Stay you may as I have room to lay. A friend you are, even if bizarre." Zecora said as she walked inside. I followed her with a smile and closed the door behind me before noticing a familiar hat sitting on shelf on the wall. My eyes widened and I swiftly went over to the shelf before grabbing and putting on my rainbow fedora. It was thankfully unharmed due to the strange and unknown material that the Saint had made it out of. I turned to Zecora and bowed again.
"I thank you for finding my hat, without it I looked like a twat."
"Thanks are unnecessary, it's quite the contrary. You kept me from being alone, even if you responded like a stone." Zecora said with a gentle and appreciative smile. I lifted my head up again and my eyes locked onto a set of four instruments that I remember from Zecora's description of her homeland as well as from the list of instruments that had been placed in me by the Saint. The first was a tall string instrument that was similar in shape to a banjo, but with a much taller neck. The circular part near the end was made out of a gourd and had three strings attached to it. The second instrument was a cylindrical drum with a thinner cylindrical part as a base. It was made out of a tree trunk as well as a form of cloth, most likely from a plant rather than the leather of an animal. The last two instruments were small enough to fit in your hands and made from hollowed out gourds with strings of beads wrapped around the outside. These were traditional maracas, that much I knew without having to be told.
Zecora smiled at my interest in the instruments before walking over to the Djembe and bringing over to a stool. She sat down with the drum in her legs before she started to play a song. As she started playing, I smiled before taking out my newly made flute and, rather than playing it, I started lightly taping it against the wooden table as well as my own metal body while a second pair of arms emerged from my sides and started playing the Akonting. We played together for half an hour while a slight rainfall had started, most likely due to my playing. We smiled at each other before I returned the Akonting to its resting place and put the flute back into my chest.
"That was quite exciting, though it appears we have caused some lightning." Zecora said as she moved the Djembe back to where it was before. I sat down in a corner of the room before looking at Zecora.
"I shall rest, as that would be best. Should my awareness be what you want found, it is my music box that must be wound." I explained before closing my eyes and powering off, causing my chest to open and for my music box to be revealed.
