lincolnshirepony

@Sterling Crimson "I dimmed the spell to more easily find the glowing object. I didn't want it to be too bright," she said. "But I don't want to leave us in total darkness either. Something is... off here." Dark magic, evil forces, a trap of some sort? Her mind could find many terrifying possibilities.

Blue Note's horn continued to glow. She dimmed the spell, but could not bring herself to stop it entirely. The darkness suffocated her. The benevolent magic she felt in the jungle was not present here, or perhaps something else was overpowering it. Either way, she wanted to leave the light on.

Blue Note had never been so glad to be on salad duty. Fetching lettuce and making sure there were enough tomatoes was a simple enough task, and it didn't require interacting with anypony. Her encounter with Cheesy had left her feeling unsettled, and spending another semester with him would be absolutely dreadful. His apology lent itself to small glimmer of hope; perhaps he was sincere enough to figure that out that nothing would give her greater pleasure than being left alone.

"You're welcome," Blue Note said briskly. She looked upwards. Two lights should be better than one. "Any idea where this thing might be? I'd think that it would give us a clue or something. Unless it doesn't want us to find it..." She felt weird talking about a magical item like it was a pony, but the one she found had clearly been aware of her. This last piece should be aware of them too, if the magic was really the same.

Blue Note stepped off the chariot, and took in the room. The darkness came with extra uncertainty, considering the circumstances. "We need some light in here." She concentrated on the light spell, and tiny beacon of light was produced from her horn. "Okay, where should I shine this thing?" she asked. They had a very limited amount of time to work with.

Cheesy couldn't say a word. She... didn't believe in second chances? That was incomprehensible to him; how in the world did she get through life without them? He thought of the teacher pulling him aside in primary school, giving him one last chance to do the assignment that he skipped. How his cutie mark appeared after he got the A. All the times he got in trouble, but somehow never managed to screw up badly enough. Cheesy thrived on second chances. For the first time in his life, he questioned if he really deserved them. After all, why should Blue Note talk to him? He had made fun of her at every opportune moment, and did things with the intention of riling her up. And now he still wanted to use her as a means to end, albeit in a different way. With all this to ponder, he couldn't think of a single thing to say to Blue Note. Luckily for him, she had already walked away.

"All right, class dismissed," the professor said. Blue Note bolted out of her seat, having packed her stuff up during the last minutes of the lecture. Cheesy wasn't far behind however. "Wait, Blue No-" he started to say. He had to explain himself! "I have work. Not sorry!" Blue Note said, nearly running out of the door. "But I've changed!" he said. "Give me a second chance!" Blue Note stopped in the hallway, and looked him over. "I don't believe in second chances."

Cheesy's eyes didn't leave Blue Note. Every time she glanced at the next seat over, he quickly looked away to the front. She didn't want him staring at her, no doubt plotting a way to make her life miserable or something. She shifted uncomfortably; she didn't much like anypony staring at her. Perhaps she could talk to the professor after class, and ask to have him moved. Eyeing the door, she realized that she'd have to book it out of there to escape him.

Cheesy hadn't expected to win Blue Note over so easily. He had been a bit... careless in talking to her before. But now she was exactly the kind of pony he wanted to be around. Good grades and good looks, exactly what he wanted! Her attitude was more or less the exact opposite of his, which intrigued him. How exactly did she get by? Then again, he wasn't exactly getting by with his current personality, so maybe he could learn a thing or two.

On the first day of class, Blue Note had two priorities. First, get there early. Second, sit in the front row. It usually kept her engaged in the class and out of trouble. Not today, apparently. "You?" Blue Note asked. "Why are you talking to me?" "Well, I thought..." Cheesy started to say. Blue Note would have none of it, though. "Listen," she cut him off. "I don't know what you're playing at, but whatever it is, forget it. I'm not talking to you." "I just wanted to say I'm sorry," Cheesy said quickly. Blessedly, the professor took the front of the room to start class, leaving Blue Note a good 50 minutes to decide what to do about Cheesy.

Cheesy walked up the stairs to the second floor of the music building. Double-checking his schedule, he walked into the classroom. He immediately started walking towards the back, but a pony sitting in the front row caught his attention. Then, it clicked. He could still have have social and get mares, while still getting good grades! He just needed to pick different ponies to surround himself with. Not every high achiever was Ruby, thank Celestia. There were plenty of ponies that could help him out and still be fun to be around. And he had idea who the first lucky pony might be, even though she might take a little work to win over... Sliding in the front row seat next to her, he gave her his signature smile. "Heya, Blue Note."

But, it turned out that it wouldn't take very long for Ruby to be rid of Cheesy. He had class at 11, unfortunately, and part of doing better in school was actually showing up. He couldn't afford to cut or be late, so once 10:50 rolled around, he and Ruby parted to go their own ways. "Keep practicing; I'll know if you're slacking," Ruby said, narrowing her eyes at him. "We'll meet again before next rehearsal." She didn't ask, and Cheesy didn't protest. He felt like he could finally breathe once she walked away. Not for long, though. He had a class to make!

Blue Note followed the other flightless ponies into the chariot. It made her feel a little nervous; she had never been the biggest fan of heights. But it certainly was not the scariest thing she had done in the past few days. And the sooner they found that weapon the better. Anything could happen in the moments they waited, and she would rather not be caught off guard.

Cheesy's singing had a lot to be desired in Ruby's opinion, but at least he seemed capable of improvement. A little while with her, and he was already sounding better! Nothing to write home about, but perhaps he wouldn't make a mockery of the theater program. And somehow he managed to learn all the words. "Not bad," Ruby said. A little praise could make some good motivation. "You'll be fit to share my spotlight if you keep up the hard work." She noticed Cheesy shrink back at the words "hard work". "That's right; music is hard. Put in the work or get out." "Can't get rid of me that easily." There was that stupid grin again.

@Sterling Crimson Do me a favor and return the favor?

Blue Note got her dining hall coffee sludge and sat down at one of the tables, dutifully opening up her music theory textbook. There was no such thing as starting too early with Adagio... --- Ruby was cute, Cheesy decided, but she was a bit too bossy for his taste. Besides, he had to spend less time chasing mares, and more time studying. The thought made him feel a bit queasy. Was he really going to give up his social life? For this? Ruby talked on and on about one musical thing or another, always being sure to point out any mistake he made. "Listen, you have to do what I tell you, okay? Trust me, I'm a professional." Cheesy thought that might be an exaggeration, but he valued his life too much to say so. He made the necessary adjustments. One thing was certain, improving himself or not, he wasn't going to get stuck in places like this practice room with ponies like Ruby every day!

"Okay, I'll be the disgruntled one," Blue Note said. She had a small break before music history, which she was grateful for. Another coffee might do her well... --- "Hey," Ruby said curtly. She didn't want to be stuck with Cheesy right now, especially with that stupid Music Theory class still on her brain. "So, did you learn all the words? If not, I'm leaving right now." "Woah, chill out. Yeah, I learned all the words," he said with his signature stupid grin. "Hm, maybe you're not as dumb as you look." "That hurts coming from you," he said, mock offended. "Good," Ruby said. "Now let's get down to the practice rooms. I've got important stuff to do today, and I don't want this to be a waste."

"I have to work the lunch shift today," Blue Note said apologetically. "Tomorrow? Feel free to come by the dining hall and watch me suffer today, though." Looking at her bank account made her realize that she needed to work more hours. Her schedule this semester consisted of rehearsals in the evenings, working the evenings she didn't have rehearsal, homework and practicing in between... And not to forget classes: Music Theory, Sight singing, Band, Piano Technique, Music History, and Music and Popular Culture. --- Returning to the University of Manehatten did not allow Cheesy to escape his guilt, only his most poignant reminder of it. He could still hear his mother's voice, playing over and over in his mind. "Oh Cheesecake, I'm so proud of ya!" she had said after he walked back into her apartment for the first time in half a year. She had taken a day off from both jobs to spend time with him. At Hearth's Warming dinner, she just couldn't stop talking to his relatives about how proud she was of him. "The first in our family to go to college!" She wouldn't stop saying that, and it reminded Cheesy every time of the letter he had tucked away, informing him of his academic probation. He had to do better. His mom was gone most days, working. He'd wanted to get a job for the fall, but his mom insisted he only focus on doing well in school. So he was left alone at home most days, which gave him ample time to memorize his South Pacific lines. His mom had been pleased about that too. "Oh, Cheesecake! That's so wonderful you're getting involved. Let me know when the show is so I can come see it!" Now he was back at school, and had the monumental task of getting his grades up. Cheesy knew he had to do things differently this time around if he wanted to deserve his mother's pride. His first change was actually working at his South Pacific role. Ruby was going to meet him and help him out. Her red mane and annoyed look soon appeared out of the crowd. "Hey!" he called to her.

Ruby had not taken Adagio's Music Theory I class, but no pretentious professor would scare her! Though the cute unicorn in the front row might distract her... She shook thoughts of him away. Adagio was writing music theory stuff on the whiteboard at the front of the classroom. No stallion was going to interrupt her studies either! Rarely did she ever wish that she was anything other than the perfect pony that she was, but in this class, she couldn't help but think that the unicorns had an unfair advantage. Taking notes with magic must be so much easier. Still, she was Ruby Diamond, and she kept up, unicorn or not. At the end of the class, she decided to sit behind cute unicorn the next day. Why should Blue get all the attention from the stallions? She wasn't better than her. The only stallion that seemed to be paying her attention was Cheesy, and he was a tool. Besides that, he just wanted her to help him sing or whatever. --- Blue Note looked over at Sterling at the end of class. "Well, that was fun. I think I'm out of practice from last semester. I'll have to be sure to do some note-taking in my spare time." She snorted. Winter break was over, and she had too much to do. Spare time was a luxury of the past.

Blue Note wondered how they would find the last piece of the weapon. She hoped that knew they were coming. It was clear that the pieces commanded a self-aware magic. How else would it have known to call to her? Perhaps the last piece was also looking for them...

Stick Clicks looked at Sterling Crimson, waiting for his answer, but the pony had already turned away. To Stick, the crimson pony seemed a little down; he made a mental note to keep trying to talk to him. Before he say anything else, to Blue Note or Sterling Crimson, the professor took his place at the front of the class. "Welcome..." Stick Clicks noticed that professor didn't seem like he was in a good mood either. That didn't make much sense to him, since getting to teach a class all about music seemed like the best job ever! How could a pony not love that? That caused his mind to wander to the day when he would be directing his own music class, conducting from the podium. Or maybe he would be a drumline instructor, working on the field. The possibilities were endless... Meanwhile, Blue Note listened intently to her music theory professor. She knew better than to daydream. "Welcome, it's so nice to see that some of you decided not to drop out. Hopefully, enough of you will be left to fill a section of Music Theory III. If you've had me before, you know the rules. Keep up and pay attention. I'm about to pass out the syllabus, so read it carefully, because I'm not going to have any sympathy when you forget about the exam on the 18th." As the professor passed out the papers, Blue Note leaned towards Sterling. "Here we go again," she whispered.

I'm cool with a time skip. Might as well get straight to the action.

"Nice to meet you!" "We're not a couple." Both Blue Note and Stick Clicks spoke simultaneously. "Oh, my mistake," Stick Clicks said. "Anyway, I'm Stick Clicks, music ed major and percussionist. What do you guys study?" Blue Note decided he was clunky but harmless. She'd answer him. "I'm in composition. I play the clarinet."

"Oh, hey man, what's your name?" Stick Clicks called to the pony who was sitting down next to Blue Note. She paused to give him a chance to answer. At the same time, Blue Note wanted to shake her head. This stallion was all over the place. "We went to the pageant together," Blue Note said. "Oh," Stick Clicks said. And Blue Note could hardly believe that he could give a bigger grin. "So you two are together? You look like a cute couple."

"Wonderful," Blue Note said, giving him a smile. She wanted to tell him about how she had spent her break, maybe ask him if he would like to see one of the compositions she wrote later? She didn't get to tell him about her late night composing sessions, or making cookies with Pink Heart after she got back. Stick Clicks was a fast talker. "That's great!" he said. "Did you do anything special?"