Chapter 9: Lesson 1

"Alright is everypony here!" Celestia asked. The ensemble was on stage sitting in two line, one were the colts and the other the fillies. "Now in order to help you learn the songs in the proper key I have enlist the help of a friend of mine. Please welcome Gus Tenor." Everypony clapped a teenage unicorn walked on. He had a light gray coat, a rough looking white mane, his eyes were a redish purple, and his cutie mark was a pink storm cloud with brown rain. He looked unhappy to be there. "He will be helping the boys learn the songs in the correct pitch." Fluttershy felt like she had seen this colt before. He seemed very familiar.

'This was the worst punishment ever,' Discord complainingly thought. 'Being forced to learn the songs was bad enough but now I have to TEACH them! Worst nightmare come true and on top of that SHE got to pick out the fake name. Gus Tenor! What kind of name is that?! It sounds pathetic.'

"Gus, you ready?" Celestia asked.

"For what?" he responded.

"To split up into groups," Celestia clarified.

"Alright, fine, whatever," he said. "Okay! All the colts come with me!" The colts stood up and followed Gus out of the auditorium and into a more private room. Celestia turned to the fillies.

"Alright, now here's the melody," Celestia said.

"Two worlds never meant to met. Two ponies who weren't meant to be. One was from privileges' seat. Other from a world of sketchy deeds," Gus sang. He then said. "Your turn."

"Um...sir, could you sing it one more time?" one of the colts asked. "I'm not quite sure on the melody." Gus groaned quietly.

"Fine," Gus said. "Here it is again." He then sang. "Two worlds never meant to met. Two ponies who weren't meant to be. One from privileges' seat. One from a world of sketchy deeds."

"They met on a fatal journey," the fillies sang. "On that doomed ferry. Their love would pay the price. Join us now as we tell the tale. Of a love that just might fail."

"Great work girls," Celestia said. "That's the last verse in the intro. Now any questions?" One of the fillies raised her hoof. "Yes Spoiled Rich?"

"Miss Celestia, Fluttershy was singing off key," Spoiled Rich said. Celestia gave a questioning look while Fluttershy was panicking.

'Please don't make me sing on my own. Please don't make me sing,' Fluttershy thought.

"Fluttershy, why don't you sing the intro for us?" Celestia said. "Just to so I can see if you're off key." Fluttershy was panicking and it only got worse when all eyes went on her. She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and tried to sing but she panicked. Her singing came out as a screech instead. Everypony laughed, except for Celestia, Twilight, and Pinkie. Fluttershy cried and ran off stage.

"Fluttershy, wait!" Twilight called. She and Pinkie ran off after her.

"You don't like being here do you, Mr. Gus?" one of the colts asked. They were walking towards the auditorium.

"Really? What gave it away?" Gus muttered sarcastically. Then they saw Fluttershy run past them and crying. Gus stopped in shock. 'Who would dare make that sweet filly cry!?' he thought angrily. The other colts crashed into the one in front of them. Then Pinkie and Twilight ran past them. Gus then marched furiously towards the auditorium.

"Should we follow him?" one of the colts asked once he was out of sight.

"I'm not getting in between him and Miss Celestia," another one responded. "He looked ticked."

"Why was she crying?" Gus demanded. He was with Celestia in an isolated area of the backstage.

"One of the girls said she was off key so I asked her to sing. She tried but it came out wrong. The girls laughed and she ran off," Celestia told him.

"Why did you ask her to sing on her own in front of other ponies? You know she has stage fright," Discord responded.

"I'm well aware but I can't deal with her individually on these things anymore," Celestia answered. "It'll look like I'm showing her favoritism. I could see about her getting a private tutor but I don't know who to hire. I'll talk to Luna about it later and I'll let you know what we've decided." Gus groaned.

"I hate waiting," he stated.

"Fluttershy, it's Twilight," Twilight said.

"And Pinkie," Pinkie added.

"And Pinkie. Please let us in," Twilight said. They were outside Fluttershy's bedroom door. The door opened and Fluttershy let them in. Twilight closed the door behind her. "Fluttershy are you alright?" She shook her head as a tear fell down her face.

"Ah," Pinkie said sadly. "Come here." She gave her a hug and Twilight joined in.

"So you're thinking of getting her a private tutor?" Luna questioned. They were in Celestia's room/office. Celestia nodded.

"Yes but the problem is that I don't want the whole cast to know otherwise it'll get worse for her," Celestia said. "And every pony knows all the singing tutors in this city. Also it's going to be suspicious if the same pony shows up every day at the same time."

"Sister, what if the tutor is somepony who is already here?" Luna suggested.

"Good idea but who would do it?" Celestia asked.

"I have an idea," Luna said.

"So let me get this straight...you want to WHAT?!" Gus exclaimed. He was talking with Luna in her room while the ensemble and the others were having lunch.

"Tutor Fluttershy," Luna said. "Might I remind you that you suggested to me that she should get a tutor."

"Yes I might have but I wasn't suggesting it be ME," Gus responded. "I can't tutor her."

"Why not?" Luna responded. "You have the time, ability, and fit all the other requirements."

"Sure but I can't..." he started.

"Can't what? Sing?" Luna interrupted. "Cause I KNOW that's a lie. You have one of the most amazing voices here." Gus blushed.

"Well I don't know about that..." Gus started.

"And you're always complaining that you have nothing to do," Luna said. "Wouldn't this be better than nothing?"

A Few Hours Later

"So what is that you want to talk with me about?" Fluttershy asked. They were in Luna's room. "Am I in trouble?" Luna shook her head.

"No, me and my sister were talking and we were thinking about getting you a private tutor to help you with the upcoming opera," Luna told her.

"Oh," Fluttershy said. "Really?"

"Yes, we thought it would be better for you to learn the songs' melody on your own than be put on the spot while in a group," Luna responded.

"Who is it?" Fluttershy asked.

"Me!" Discord exclaimed as he teleported dramatically from a support beam near the ceiling. Fluttershy jumped. He was in his draconequus form and he wasn't wearing his cloak.

"Fluttershy, I believe you've already met Discord," Luna said. "And been in his cave. You will have lessons with him every day from 4 to 5. You will come here, go behind the mirror, and go straight down and you'll find his "bedroom". That's where he'll be."

"First lesson starts today," Discord said as slid the mirror to the left and walked into the hallway. "Follow me." Fluttershy hesitated before following after him.

"So first, sing the song you sing at the beginning," Discord said. "Oh, what's it called?" A replica of himself appeared and said, "The intro." The original then said, "Oh right! The intro!" Fluttershy was a bit wierded out by this.

"Um, where you talking to yourself?" she asked. He nodded.

"Yes, it's lots of fun," Discord told her. "You should try it some time. Well anyways, go ahead and sing." Fluttershy hesitated then she opened her mouth to try to sing but it came out as a squeak. She covered her mouth her hooves.

"I'm sorry," Fluttershy said.

"Fluttershy, I can't help you if you won't sing," Discord said.

"I'm sorry, I just...I'm use to singing in front of strangers," Fluttershy said.

"Well, let's try something," Discord said. He snapped his paw and the scene around them shifted to a garden full of beautiful flowers and creatures. Fluttershy's face lit up in delight. Some butterflies flew by and she felt at peace and home. "Now sing."

"They meet on a fatal journey," she sang. "On that doomed ferry. Their love would pay the price. Join us now as we tell the tale. Of a love that just might fail." The scene changed back into the cave and she saw Discord standing in front of her with a "I was right" smirk. "So how'd I do?"

"Well...you sang a bit higher than you were supposed to," Discord said. "You sang the right notes just in the wrong pitch. We'll have to work on that."

"Discord, what was that place?" Fluttershy asked.

"Did you like it?" he asked.

"Yes! It was beautiful!" Fluttershy exclaimed. He smiled. "But where is that? We didn't actually..." He shook his head.

"No, as much I'd love to, I can't," Discord said. "Even my powers have limits. I can't teleport to a place I can't see. What you saw was a memory of mine."

"You lived there once?" Fluttershy asked. Discord sighed.

"Yes. Once upon a time," he responded. "Well, anyway, I showed it to you so that you would loosen up a bit. We'll keep doing it until you're comfortable enough to sing in front of me without it. Now, here's the accurate pitch."

An Hour Later

"Is that better?" Fluttershy asked. She was in the memory illusion.

"Much," Discord answered. The clock bell rang. He snapped his claw and the illusion dropped. "Oh, look at the time. It's five o-clock."

"Oh, well, goodbye Discord," Fluttershy said. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"See you tomorrow," Discord responded. Fluttershy waved before walking back to Luna's room.