lincolnshirepony

Blue Note brushed past Ruby and sat far away from the door. She saved one seat to her left for Sterling by putting her bag in it. Ruby took a seat near the back on the opposite side of the room, and started glaring at Blue Note. She was about to retort with a glare of her own, but Ruby was looking at the door instead. Blue Note heard the door open before she turned her head. A unicorn trotted in through the door, clicking his hooves rather loudly on the floor. His steps were rhythmic, and Blue Note wondered if it was intentional. She glanced back at Ruby, who was just staring at the new pony. Before she could read much meaning into Ruby's reaction, the new pony took the seat to her right. "Hey!" he said. "Music Theory II, right?" Blue Note nodded, suspicious of anypony that enthusiastic first thing in the morning. "Great! I never know where anything is." He had a grin on his face. Blue Note wondered why he would admit that, and admit it with so much volume. Ruby would easily hear them talking. "Oh, I'm sorry," he said suddenly. "Name's Stick Clicks. What's yours?" "Blue Note," she said briefly. Sterling needed to get here soon and save her from small talk. "Glad to meet ya, Blue!" Ruby snickered from the back. "Blue Note," she said through gritted teeth. "I don't like being called Blue." "Oh, I'm so sorry!" Stick Clicks said. "I didn't mean any offense." Blue Note decided to give him the benefit of the doubt after he apologized. But she still eyed the door, hoping Sterling would make it soon.

Blue Note sat quietly on the ship. She was useless, as usual. Canterlot was looming over her thoughts; that was the last place she wanted to meet death. When she could escape Canterlot, death still remained. Klackon appeared every time she closed her eyes, so she resolved to look at anything and everything else. She didn't want to think about what might happen next...

Joy, it was a return to her least favorite city at its most dangerous. Blue Note still didn't understand how she had gotten tangled up in this mess. But this gem had bound her to the task, and apparently the Darkstar's magic had chosen her. Perhaps this should have comforted her, but instead she wondered if magic could have poor judgment.

Enchanted alarm clocks were a terrible waste of magic, Blue Note decided as she forced her eyes open. Anything to silence that metallic ringing. "Turn it off, Blue Note," Pink Heart murmured from her bed. She was blessed with her first Monday class at 10AM. Blue Note, on the other hoof, had bright and early 8AM music theory. Over the course of break, she'd been blissfully allowed to stay up late composing music. But break didn't last forever, and her second semester had arrived. Blue Note silenced the device using her magic. After carefully curling her mane, and applying mascara to her eyelashes, she deemed herself presentable to the public. She wrapped herself up in a scarf, and made her way out the dorm. She stopped by the dining hall for her morning coffee, and kept it levitated in front of her as she walked to class. Luckily, music theory was in the same room as last semester, so she knew exactly where it was. Unluckily, she knew exactly what professor was waiting for her in that room. She was already dreading another sixteen weeks with Adagio, but the possible problem of her classmates never occurred to her, until it faced her from the opposite side of the door. "Hey, Blue," Ruby said. Blue Note didn't bother with speaking, and instead let out a groan. It was too early to deal with this!

With that, Blue Note gave him a smile. "Thanks. See you later," she said, walking towards the door. "We still have some break left, and there's always 8AM with Adagio next semester." She turned around before exiting. "I had a great time tonight. Have a Merry Hearth's Warming!" She exited the building and called a cab from the street. Today had been unlike any other.

Blue Note was glad that Callaloo assembled the ponies together. It would give her something to concentrate on, besides the horror at the thought that the only reason the princesses abstained from killing their enemies was because they didn't have enough power to carry out the task. She focused intently on his words, and realized that the sapphire he was talking about sounded very familiar... She levitated the stone the harp showed her out of her bag. "Is this it?" she asked. "When we were separated from the group, a I heard a harp playing, and I felt like it was calling to me. It even played part of a piece a wrote. It was some sort of benevolent magic, I believe."

@Sterling Crimson Blue Note had been wandering the shop aimlessly. She didn't know what she wanted, all she could think about were lost ponies and lost innocence. Sterling Crimson's words interrupted her thoughts. "It had to be done..." The thought echoed in her mind. "Celestia has yet to kill Chrysalis," she said abruptly. Blue Note wondered if she should have been a bit more grateful to Sterling. He was trying to reassure her, and he had a point. Klackon got exactly what he had coming to him; Blue Note was not going to argue against that. There was something more pressing on her mind at the moment, anyway... She walked over to Callaloo. "Do you know what happened to the ponies the changelings replaced?" The question was burning at her mind; what had been done to the poor citizens of this island? And how was it fair that the changelings reaped the rewards of that?

Blue Note's kept herself calm when he mentioned her parents. She'd been deflecting those questions for years. "Don't worry about it," she said briskly. "Neither of them hosted you." She didn't want to spoil the night by talking about them. "You're welcome for the gifts. I can't thank you enough for mine." Her warm smile returned. "Thanks for everything. You know, my first semester at University of Manehatten wasn't so bad."

The piece was beautiful. The day had been beautiful. The night was and would be beautiful. She felt beautiful. She knew Sterling was beautiful, and their friendship was beautiful. But all good things must end. The night had set, and Blue Note didn't want to be out too late. Walking alone late at night in a city had never appealed to her. After the piece ended, she spoke up. "I've had a great time tonight," she said. "Thanks for giving me the best Hearth's Warming ever." She waved her hooves at the other gift. "That's a box of nice quills for your parents. Do what you think is best with it," she said. She didn't want to stir up any rifts in his family, and he would know best how to approach them. "I wish today could last forever." It was a silly cliche, but it was what she wanted most in that moment. Her mind would change after more moments, but this was quite possibly the most blissful day she'd had in years. Of course she didn't want to let go.

Blue Note smiled as Sterling put Rhapsody in Blue on. It really had been the right gift. She had always an appreciation for Gershwhinny, and she was glad her best friend shared it. The clarinet solo was her favorite part, naturally, but the whole piece appealed to her. She decided that it was Manehatten in musical form.

"Don't worry too much," she said, giving him a quick squeeze. "I'm glad you like the gift!" A conspiratorial grin appeared on her face. "So where do you keep your record player? And which should we listen to first?" Getting lost in music together seemed like the perfect way to end the evening.

That post wasn't intended as declaration deeming the situation morally ambiguous; it was meant to show Blue Note's confusion. She's never seen death like that before, and the most recent post was meant to show her very first thoughts about the situation. Within the context of MLP as a show, most of the villains defeated were not killed (Sombra is the only one that's unclear). The concept of killing an evil foe to serve justice is something she hasn't been given exposure to, and now she's just witnessed it firsthand. Combine that with the uncertainty about this journey she was already feeling and uncertainty about correct morality in general, and she's going to be incapable of seeing the good and the evil immediately after the situation.

Blue Note couldn't say how long she her shock had lasted. Her thoughts were clearer, even though she was unsure of her feelings. She could discern NightStrike gently telling her to look away and that she would be okay. "I'll be okay." Thinking this to herself brought reassurance. She felt unsteady on her legs, but she could move. The first thing she did was turn away from Klackon's dead body. The group was moving away from him in search of DJ. She followed, doing her best to keep up. She stopped short, trembling. DJ had caught a changeling, scared of death. She didn't mean to exhale so loudly when NightStrike said he wouldn't hurt him. The changeling's words painted a picture of Klackon ruling as a tyrant with an iron hoof. The changeling's pure joy at being allowed to live as a zebra jarred her from the serious mood that colored her view of the situation. But it made sense, she supposed. Who wouldn't be happy to gain a peaceful life after living in so much fear? She couldn't help but wonder about the ponies and zebras the changelings were replacing. Were they rotting in a changeling prison somewhere? Had they been forced to suffer and then killed? Did the village ponies know that their loved ones were gone, replaced with copies? Would they ever know? Did that matter? (She thought it did.) Time was still of the essence. As she trotted with the others in pursuit of Callaloo, her mind tried to put the night's events together. She had seen justice served through killing. She had seen mercy given through deception. There was no immediate right answer, and neither celebration nor outrage seemed an appropriate response to her. The village was better off, one way or another, but the truth was she didn't know if what she had witnessed was right. She did believe that keeping Equestria safe was a noble pursuit, and that thought allowed her to continue moving forward. As long as she stopped herself from wondering if she was able to help carry out that noble pursuit

Blue Note reciprocated the hug. The gift had been just right after all. "Okay... having trouble breathing here," she said. She was beaming though; her gift giving efforts were a success! Sterling was so happy, which made her even happier. "Manehatten Moods is the most magical place in Equestria, I've decided." She was so glad that she'd stumbled into that music store right around when she started at U of M. But she was even more grateful to have met Sterling.

Sassy Sax was nearly certain that between her and Blue Note, they had gone through almost all the records in the store. After Blue Note explained what kind of gift she wanted to get for Sterling, Sassy had diligently helped her comb through the records, finding pieces that might be what she was looking for. When she found something good, she asked Blue Note's opinion. Blue Note would add it as an option if she liked it. The two ponies dug through the record bins for quite some time. Sassy was glad that there weren't any other customers in yet. She'd have a lot of running around to do otherwise, and it was nice to be able to offer a large amount of help. "Is that all of them?" Blue Note asked after they were close to converging. "Just one more bin," Sassy said, pointing her wing at it. "Do the honors?" Blue Note almost wanted to skip over it; she had so many options already. But the perfect record could be in there, and she did not want to miss out on it. Sterling was worth it. She flipped through the titles rapidly, nothing caught her eye, until... "What about this one?" Blue Note asked, levitating the record she noticed out of the bin. She knew the piece well, and it might just be perfect. "Good eye! I think that's an original recording," Sassy said. "Wait... by...?" Blue Note asked. If it really was... That would be the perfect gift! She scanned the packaging, and saw the name. "Wow, is this the last one? I'm surprised you still have one in stock." "Must be your lucky day," Sassy said. "I think it's exactly what you wanted." "Do you think Sterling will like it?" Blue Note asked nervously. She wanted to pick a good gift out for her friend. Something that would he would like but more than that. She also wanted it to be meaningful. "He'll love it. It's got a great piano part, and I think he'll appreciate that solo at the beginning for more than just it's musical merits." She gave Blue Note a grin. Blue Note could only blush in response. Sassy took her to the counter to make the sale. "15 bits," she said. Blue Note dug out the money. She was basically broke until payday came around in two days, but this was worth it. ---- "I got this for you," Blue Note said, pointing at the gift. "It's not quite as much as you got me, but I hope you still like it."

Blue Note held a flat package, wrapped in piano-themed paper. "This is for you," she said, shyly smiling. She pushed it towards him, but it was clear he wanted her to open his present first. "I wonder what these could be?" Blue Note asked. There were three separate packages; Blue Note felt overwhelmed by his generosity. She wished she could have afforded to get him at least one more present. She took the first present, a package in the shape of a rectangular prism. She carefully tore the paper away. "Vanhorsen size fours? How did you know?" she said, looking at Sterling with widened eyes. "Thank you!" She let out a giddy giggle. She wouldn't be in want of reeds for awhile! "You really shouldn't have gotten me anything else," she said, reaching for the second gift. She opened this one using her magic. It was a record. "Marezart! Wonderful, this will be great in my record collection!" She could never get enough clarinet music. One last gift to open. She opened it, and saw sheet music. She said nothing, levitating it up to herself so she could look through it. She flipped through the pages, taking in the wonderful composition. "Thank you so much!" she said, giving Sterling a quick hug. "These are the best presents I've ever received."

@Wayzer Normally, Blue Note did not care for ponies touching her, but NightStrike's nudge offered her a faint reassurance. Somepony wanted to support her, even if it was the pony she trusted least. Why did she trust him least? She couldn't quite remember at that moment. Somehow she could understand his words, which seemed about the strangest thing in the world to her at that moment. Of course he would have killed her. Of course a killer would be killed. She turned nodded at NightStrike to acknowledge his words. Her blank eyes were finally away from the sight of death. Some part of her knew that she should be doing more, there were words to say, actions to carry out. But she could barely move, and everything around her seemed distant and detached from her reality.

My uni has a first day attendance policy. They'll drop you from the class if you miss the first day. After that... it depends. Large lectures are easy to skip, rarely will a prof want to bother with attendance. Some of the smaller classes I've been in took attendance, and made that part of my grade. One class gave unannounced quizzes. Actually, I've found one of the best ways to do well in college is to never skip class. Most professor's lectures are very helpful for understanding the subject matter, and paying attention and taking good notes will help a lot for assignments and exams. Yeah, I definitely had to learn my way around at first so I didn't get lost. I had a map of the campus on my phone; that helped me learn on the go. I also went to all the buildings my classes were in before the start of the semester. As my first semester progressed, I learned where most of the important buildings and places were. A lot of majors tend to put their classes in the same area(s), so it gets easier the longer you're there. This is sort of the flip side to getting more freedom in college; it requires a lot of responsibility for oneself.

Yeah, college is great. Finding the right one for you helps a ton too, since there are so many different types of schools.

On the whole, I would say yes. I've enjoyed it more, anyway. It gives students more freedom to choose what classes they take. Even within the confines of liberal studies/gen. ed. there are still plenty of options, and the bulk of classes are for majors and minors. I like the lack of busy work and wasted time too. Generally college lectures and classes use all the time efficiently, something I didn't find to be true in high school. Professors can actually let you out early if you're done early, unlike high school. I also think the scheduling is a lot better. Instead of sitting in the same school for 6-8 hours a day (plus additional time for after school activities), I generally spend about 3 hours in class per day, maybe about 5 hours on a particularly long day, or around one hour on a short day. I find it easier because I can get more work done outside of class, have more time for extracurriculars, and just more down time in general. I also have a bit more say in what times I take the classes, than I did in high school... I really hated the high school schedule; it didn't work very well for me.

I hated high school, and I love college. Though college has helped me appreciate high school a little bit more. I think that a lot of skills picked up in school do have their purposes, and I'm grateful for the privilege of education. That's not to say it's perfect, because there is room for improvement. I hated science class all throughout high school, and was convinced I'd never be able to use it. I remember thinking my chem teacher was ridiculous for telling me to write for science (actually I'd still never want that job, and she was just trying to pressure me into taking AP chem). At the same time, now that I'm of voting age and have interest in keeping up with current events in the world, I realize it's important to have a basic understanding of what's going on, on a ballot or in the world so I can make informed decisions on where to give my support. College science classes helped me see that. On the whole, I think college is a much better set-up than high school. The student has a lot more control over their education, and there's less busy work and wasted time. I remember getting frustrated with the wasted time in all my high school classes. I would have rather taken that time to get a head start on my homework! I had waaaaay too much homework in high school. In college, the assignments usually have a clear purpose, and demand the appropriate time. The scheduling is also a lot better. There's less time spent in class, and there's more time to get assignments, papers, and studying done outside of class. I really enjoy the flexibility. I don't know if I necessarily enjoy school, but I'm glad I'm able attend. I'll probably stick around till grad school.

I'm for it. It didn't work in the past for us, but I think it's worth another shot. It would make it a lot easier in regards to understanding the rest of the world. It'll just take some work to switch over. I think it would take a gradual shift... There's a lot that would need to be changed within the structure of our society.

Sassy trotted to the records and started looking through the Marezart pieces. Eventually she found the record she was looking for. She grabbed it and also lifted a box of Vanhorsen 4s off the shelf. She trotted over to Sterling; he appeared to be intently looking through sheet music. "Found anything yet?" she asked. She held up the recording and the reeds. "Are these what you wanted?"

"Do you know what type of reeds she typically uses?" Sassy asked. Blue Note always bought Vanhorsens in size 4, and if he didn't know, she could steer him in the right direction. "I think we have that recording; I can go get it for you. If you want clarinet sheet music, we have a few bins of it over there." She pointed her hoof at the corner of the store where all the sheet music was kept. A sign with each instrument's name was above it's designated bins. "Why don't you browse for a heart-warming piece while I get the recording?"

@Sterling Crimson Blue Note had been rendered speechless very few times in life. Usually she had to dam up the torrent of words that rushed to her mouth, but none came to her now. She shook her head to answer Sterling's question. Any concrete thoughts had fled from her mind. All she could do was look at Klackon, even though the sight horrified her. She was aware of her body trembling, but couldn't stop it.