private Rhapsody in Blue

[lincolnshirepony 527]

Blue Note levitated the ingredients. "One cabbage salad, coming up." As she made the salad, she thought idly about tossing salads at her old job back in Canterlot. "I'm getting pretty fast at making these," she said to Sterling. "Have a lovely lunch." She pushed the bowl towards him. "Eat together tomorrow?"

[Inactive01 5,299]

Sterling smiled as Blue Note whipped up his cabbage salad. He remembered the days of eating cabbage salad with his parents, when their days were much more carefree and when they had fewer worries about job security and rest. Nowadays, it was hard to even strike up a conversation with his parents because of their financial troubles. His Hearth's Warming with Blue Note invigorated Sterling's hopes of a return to the things that were and an injection of the new into his life. 

 

After Blue Note finished his cabbage sandwich, Sterling happily took the cabbage bowl that she made and placed it onto his lunch tray. When asked about eating lunch together the next day, Sterling only had one response: 

 

"Sure! Let's! Have a good day!" Sterling spoke happily before he went off to eat his cabbage lunch... It was actually quite delicious for Sterling, almost as good as his parent's cuisine! Blue Note sure was a good chef when it came to cabbage salad...

[lincolnshirepony 527]

"So, it was just a normal conversation," Blue Note said, recounting the lunch encounter to Pink Heart. 

 

"You know, I think he likes you," Pink Heart said.

 

"W-what?" Blue Note's cheeks went red. "There's no way. What are you talking about?"

 

"I think you like him too." Blue Note thought that Pink Heart should be more careful about grinning, wouldn't want to get her face stuck in such a self-satisfied expression.

 

"Well, I-I," Blue Note started to protest, but Pink Heart shook her head. 

 

"It's okay. I won't tell anypony. Anyway, I think you should just ask him out. It's what I did with Red Wings, and now look at us!" 

 

"Wait, are you two together now. Officially?" Blue Note asked. She vaguely remembered Red Wings coming around sometime last semester, but it was difficult to keep track of Pink Heart's dates. 

 

"Yeah, he's my coltfriend!" Pink Heart got a dreamy look. "You could get one too. I know a pony as a pretty as you could get a date."

 

"Pft, I don't know if you've noticed, but I'm not exactly popular. Besides, I don't want a pony to date me just for a good opinion of my looks." 

 

"Sterling likes you for more than your looks."

 

"Oh, shut up," Blue Note said good-naturedly. "I don't have time to worry about coltfriends anyway. I've got homework." And that she did. Adagio certainly wasn't about to disappoint her. And she still had classes tomorrow to reckon with. She let out a sigh. This was going to be another looooong semester. 

[Inactive01 5,299]

The rest of Sterling's day went on without much fanfare, as he now had the rest of the day off. Typically, he would have a lab in the afternoon, but since it was first week of classes of a new semester, the labs didn't start until the second week. While he was heading home for the day though, he stumbled onto Spectro, who wanted to make a feast out of what he knew about him and Blue Note:

 

"Hey Sterling! Wait up!" Spectro shouted as he tried his hardest to catch up to Sterling. Sterling stopped and turned to see Spectro running up towards him and waited for him to catch up.

 

"Oh hey Spectro!" Sterling retorted. He was excited to see Spectro, but he wasn't looking forward to his jokes about Blue Note... hopefully he wouldn't make them again...

 

"Hey Sterling! Erlen and I saw you with Blue Note on Hearth's Warming! Looks like you two had a REALLY special day together!" Spectro then began laughing and kissing on the air, leaving Sterling completely unsurprised and giving out a sigh in the process..

 

"Oh Spectro... wait until you get your hands on a mare... we'll see who's the one laughing... And keep in mind... Blue Note and I are just friends right now..." Sterling replied monotonously, but before he could continue, Spectro gave out another laugh,

 

"Just friends?! Dude, you two are a pair! Admit it! You certainly act like it!" Spectro laughed again before Sterling trotted away with a sigh. For a good friend, Spectro was becoming more and more annoying by the day... and Spectro didn't even notice...

[lincolnshirepony 527]

At 6 AM in the morning, Blue Note was most inclined to wonder if she could get a single dorm. Just the other day, she had been the one to wake up early, but Pink Heart's alarm really messed with her blissful sleep. She drifted back to sleep, despite Pink Heart moving around to get ready. 

 

Her own alarm blared unforgivingly at 7:30, destroying whatever hopes of rest she had. Staying up late to do homework was going to be the death of her this term. She had two classes, a rehearsal, and a shift today, and she already wanted to crawl back into bed. "Better get coffee before piano class..."

[Inactive01 5,299]

It wasn't much of a day to remember for Sterling as he spent the rest of it practicing the piano and not seeing his parents because they were at work all day. It seemed like they were never at home anymore, other than holidays, given how hard they worked and toiled through the newspaper... he felt something suspicious about their hours, but he didn't want to think too much on it since it would cause another family uproar like the one he witnessed on Hearth's Warming.... Nevertheless, Sterling spent much of his time improving the Scherzo as Dr. Thorrington demanded... he knew it wouldn't be great after just one day, but at least it was a start after all the work he put into it...

 

Once Sterling's day was done after piano practicing and dinner, Sterling turned off the lights, Spectro's words continually pounding on Sterling's head... Love... Blue Note... couple... It was lovely, but at the same time, anxiety-inducing... what did Blue Note think of him... what would happen if they got into a relationship... What if they would break away... so many fears did Sterling have as he went off to sleep for the next day...

[lincolnshirepony 527]

Blue Note stopped by the dining hall, and used a meal swipe to get a large coffee and a fruit salad for breakfast. She wanted to get a decent start to the day. She regretted not practicing piano as much as she could have over break, but her clarinet was just so much more fun. Even if the piano was the most practical instrument for composing, she still felt most loyal to her favorite woodwind. 

 

Most loyal to piano or not, piano classes were crucial to her composition major, and piano playing was crucial to her ability to compose. She needed to hear her pieces somehow. Hopefully, she'd be ready to face the day.

[Inactive01 5,299]

It was almost time for piano class to start, and Dr. Thorrington made sure to be early this time since ponies often tagged him for lacking punctuality every now and then. He couldn't be fully blamed given his busy schedule, but this time, he wanted to be on time for the first piano class... Coming into the classroom with a decently sized baby grand and a few students, he welcomed the class for the first time, and began to take attendance... one of the first names that came up was Blue Note... when he called out her name, he remembered that she was Sterling's friend and potential love interest... Otherwise, he discarded the detail and continued onward with attendance... 

[lincolnshirepony 527]

Dr. Thorrington started class punctually, Blue Note noted. Fortunately for her, she was compulsively early to class. She made sure to call out "Present." when her name was taken for attendance. She was a little nervous because Thorrington was a bonafide piano professor, not a TA like in her last class. She had to be on her hooves in this class.

[Inactive01 5,299]

Dr. Thorrington could see her nodding... she didn't say much for a pony so eager to come really early to class... He then went through the rest of the 30 students in the class list before he introduced himself,

 

"Well, welcome to Piano Class! My name's Dr. Thorrington, and I hope you all had a wonderful Hearth's Warming Holiday, but we've got quite a bit of piano work to do now! So we've got to hop to it!" Dr. Thorrington always had that bellowing tenor voice about him, even if he wasn't a natural singer. After his introductory remark, Dr. Thorrington briefly went through the syllabus before he began the class... 

[lincolnshirepony 527]

Blue Note looked down at the syllabus. She'd have to go mark it all down in her planner after class. She sighed inwardly as she read through the assignments. Looks like she'd be spending more time going insane inside a practice room. And she'd have to do her best to lay claim to a room with a good piano. She'd learned last semester that they were quite difficult to catch unoccupied. 

[Inactive01 5,299]

While Blue Note and Dr. Thorrington were preoccupied with their piano class, Sterling was just waking up at 8:30 in the morn to get ready for another class, this time regarding cellular biology. He knew that first year had a lot of theory related courses, but he wasn't expecting one biology class after another in just his first year alone! He knew it was going to be a struggle to get it all down, but at the very least, it was going to be nice that he could talk with Blue Note today. He was always excited to see Blue Note every day, even if it was at the expense of having to hear Spectro's taunts every day... He could never understand why he kept taunting him about Blue Note... it was getting really annoying, and he had to say something about it soon before his mind went crazy...

 

---

Meanwhile, Erlen woke up once again, excited to be able to start another day of classes, both of which were inorganic chemistry and organic chemistry. He heard that they were tough courses, but he always felt that he could face them well with a nice look at Entropy's latest outfits... While the other guys were still sleeping, Erlen placed his hoof into the underside of his bed, and happily read through more of Entropy's Flame magazines... he could never get enough of them... she was so comforting in the face of being mareless... it was always a way for him to cheer up before the start of his day...

[lincolnshirepony 527]

Blue Note was busy taking notes on what Dr. Thorrington was saying when she felt a hoof tap her shoulder. She nearly jumped out of her seat. "Hey, you're in my music theory class!" A voice whispered from behind her. Annoyed at having her concentration broken, Blue Note turned her head slightly, using her periphery vision to see who was behind her. 

 

"It's me, Stick Clicks!" She couldn't fathom how a pony could sound so excited, yet still whisper. She continued taking notes; after all, she didn't want to get into trouble, or miss something important.

[Inactive01 5,299]

Chemm awoke from her slumber, and when she awoke, she could see that her roommate See Stick was as always beginning her day with a game of Tetris... How addicting that game could be for any pony, whether mare or stallion... she was never into video games, and all she could do was trot over to the bathroom where she then took her shower and performed her usual morning routine before leaving the dorm and getting ready for Cell Biology... it was a class without Erlen and with her rival, Sterling Crimson... it would seem that she could never get away from him... the pony who always did better than her, who managed to have who seemed like a marefriend, and even got the favour of some of the teachers across the university! How that was possible, she could never fathom...

 

Just after she trotted out of the bathroom and towards the dorm's door, she noticed that See Stick was still playing Tetris...

 

"See Stick, don't you have a class to come to? I mean, you can't just play Tetris all day..."Chemm spoke monotonously to See Stick. See Stick then proceeded to turn off her console and turned towards Chemm with a smile.

 

"Of course! It's just that I like to have my daily dose of gaming to start the day! My first class isn't until 11:00 am today! It's a history class, all about the basics to Equestrian history!" See Sticks responded rather cheerfully. Chemm could never understand her cheerfulness and her love of video gaming, but it seemed like she was going to be able to prevent herself from being too addicted to video games, so she opted to just trot out the dorm door without giving even a good bye as she headed towards Cell Biology class...

[lincolnshirepony 527]

"Blue Note, right?" he whispered. Blue Note let out a sigh; it appeared her new "friend" wasn't going to let up until she responded. 

 

"Can you wait until after class?" she whispered. "I'm trying to take notes."

 

"What?" he whispered back.

 

Blue Note sighed again and raised her voice. "I'm trying to take notes."

 

"Oh, okay!" he said, a little too loudly. She shook her head and turned her attention back to Thorrington. 

[Inactive01 5,299]

Dr. Thorrington was just about to trot over to the piano when he noticed that Blue Note and Stick Clicks were making more noise than they should have... it was typical for him to face such things, so he wasn't too mad. He too used to do the same thing in his days, but he did want to get the class focused again, so he spoke calmly and briefly,

 

"Blue Note and Stick Clicks, I'm sure you two can chat about your holidays and such after class. For me, I need to show you all some piano technique and how to teach it!" Dr. Thorrington then continued his class and began to play some notes on the piano as an example...

[lincolnshirepony 527]

Blue Note shot Stick an annoyed look. Now he made her look bad in front of the professor! Did this guy care about school at all? 

 

"Oh, sorry prof!" he said. "Don't blame Blue Note, I was just surprised to see her in class so I had to say hi." Blue Note's annoyed look shifted to a more confused look. What was this guy doing? Stick Clicks certainly marched to the beat of his own drum...

[Inactive01 5,299]

The apology was very surprising, yet sincere. Dr. Thorrington merely chuckled and assured Stick Clicks and Blue Note that everything was fine, and that he used to do the same back in the days, which labeled him as a very enthusiastically social pony. Nevertheless, Dr. Thorrington quickly got back into the spirit of piano pedagogy as he began to teach the students the art of piano teaching... for him, it was an art and a passion, because he wanted to see his students become world class pianists as well... He could easily point at his humble upbringing and how rigorous piano practice and methodical mentoring from the piano greats helped him, and he wanted to transfer those same skills to his students... so he continued teaching with a passion...

[lincolnshirepony 527]

Blue Note continued to take notes. Thorrington was very absorbed in his material, and his knowledge showed, as Blue Note scribbled to keep up with him. But it wasn't soul destroying like Adagio's class. Blue Note decided that the main difference between Thorrington and Adagio, was that Thorrington actually cared about his student's learning. Adagio tried to trick and stump them at every turn, weeding out everypony who wasn't quite quick enough. Thorrington, on the other hoof, actually seemed to want all of them to understand, and to love piano playing like he did.

 

This class might just become one her best yet.

[Inactive01 5,299]

Dr. Thorrington realized just how much time had passed when he checked his wrist watch and saw that class was almost over already. Dr. Thorrington then signaled the rest of the class to begin a major project where they would eventually have to teach a young filly or colt how to play the piano. He then started to give handouts that provided the instructions for this major project. He began his explanation once he saw confused faces all around him,

 

"For this class, there is no final exam. However, instead of a final exam, you will all have a major final project that will act like your piano exam. Now as you know, the University of Manehattan is affiliated with Manehattan's Elementary School, and as part of the agreement, we will have one month where you all are going to spend the class teaching a colt or filly a simple piano piece they will play in front of the class for your final project. It's an initiative not only for you to learn how to teach, but it is also a way for the students to appreciate playing on the piano as part of their lives!"

 

After his explanation, Dr. Thorrington then directed the students to look at their handouts for next class where Dr. Thorrington would then talk more about the project since class came to an end... 

[lincolnshirepony 527]

Blue Note would have preferred taking a final exam written by Professor Adagio. She had to spend a whole month teaching some elementary schooler how to play the piano? She was supposed to be the one learning how to play, and she wasn't an education major. Honestly, she wasn't very fond of younger ponies; whenever she saw one acting up or wailing in public, she rolled her eyes and walked as far away as possible. How was she supposed to spend a whole month ponysitting one? 

 

She sighed and started to gather up her things. Stick Clicks hadn't forgotten about her however. "Oh man, this project is going to be so cool!" he said.

 

"Maybe for you. I'm no teacher, and I don't know how to to talk to a colt or filly."

 

"You'll be fine," he said. "If you need help figuring it out, I can help. Teaching music is my special talent after all. Though I'd rather be running a drumline... I wish that was our class project. That'd be so awesome!"

 

"But this is a piano class." Stick Clicks was very strange, Blue Note decided, but he was also relatively harmless. And she just might have to take him up on his offer to help her. Celestia knew she needed it.

 

"Yeah, that's true. Man, I'll have so much practicing to do..." He looked off into the distance, creating a one-sided awkward silence. "We should be study buddies!" 

 

Blue Note fumbled for words. "Uhh, sure," she said. 

 

"Great! We'll meet up later! I gotta get a practice room for now."

 

Blue Note shook her head. What had she gotten herself into?

[Inactive01 5,299]

Chemm was trotting off to her Cell Biology class now... she was going to be with Sterling, and she was going to dread it. She knew it deep in her mind that this would end badly, and that she should stay away from Sterlin at all costs...

 

When she entered the room, she noticed that the only other pony in the room was indeed Sterling Crimson... what a cruel irony... When she saw Sterling taking his notebook out for the class and reading his cell biology textbook... for Chemm, it was just a class act... he was probably just trying to grab the professor's attention and get more contacts to move towards a successful career... He really was the worst... Chemm made sure that Sterling didn't notice her and placed herself near the front of the room, so that she wouldn't have to get a glimpse of his crimson face... She then proceeded to take her own textbook out and wait patientily for Cell Biology to start...

[lincolnshirepony 527]

Blue Note's second class of the day passed without much fanfare. She had a lesson with Dr. Wind scheduled afterwards. She had actually been impressed with how much Blue Note had practiced over the break. After the lesson, Blue Note wondered how giving lessons of her own would go. Teaching a college student wouldn't be so bad; there was a certain threshold of maturity expected. But nopony could realistically expect an elementary school colt or filly to be mature. This was going to be a disaster, but it appeared that her fate was sealed, unless she could drop the class. 

 

The plan crumbled before she could finish thinking about it. There had been a reason she put her classes at these times, and there was no guarantee there'd be a slot open. And she'd already agreed to be Stick's "study buddy". Maybe she could ditch him without scruples if she didn't have another class with him. 

[Inactive01 5,299]

It was some time after Cell Biology class, and while Chemm and Sterling were off to their respective routines, Spectro was just coming out of his Inorganic Chemistry class. When he came out, he saw the orange mare he bumped into the day before... he caught sight of her and quickly called out for her... once the orange mare noticed, she turned around and shyly greeted Spectro,

 

"Ohhh... Umm... hey!" Spectro then began his apology... again.

 

"Hey... I'm sorry about bumping into you yesterday... my name's Spectro." Spectro then extended his hoof, hoping that he could at least make a new friend... She seemed nice enough to be one... and pretty looking too... he thought the black glasses and her smooth yellow mane really complemented her looks... The orange pony then shyly extended her hoof and shook his...

 

"Oh don't worry about the bump in... I'm sure it was a mistake. And I'm... I'm See Stick. I'm heading off to history class." See Stick replied with a smile before she began to trot towards her class.

 

"Wait up! I'd like to walk with you!" Spectro exclaimed in reply. See Stick stopped again before she let Spectro catch up... he seemed like a nice pony. Perhaps she'd make her first stallion friend in the University of Manehattan...

[lincolnshirepony 527]

Blue Note made her trek to the dining hall after her lesson. She could vent to Sterling, at least. Her stomach rumbled as she trotted towards the main hall. A hay salad soaked in some dressing sounded perfect. She wondered how his first classes had been going. Hopefully he was having a better time than she was.