Author's Notes:

The listed Classical music was arranged by two of my co-authors: Amethyst Blade and Lord Dragon. They helped greatly in deciding which pieces to use and in what order. They both deserve a huge round of applause.

As always, let me know if you spot any typos.

Artex held the door as his adoptive family and his herd all strolled into the house. The other mares had all agreed that the Apples were more than welcome to stay in the house while they visited. The rest of the Apple family had arrived early in the evening and Artex had wasted no time in telling them they did not need to pay for a hotel.

Vaiawa had been maintaining her disguise all day and Applejack had kept her word. The two mares had been chatting, somewhat awkwardly, the entire time. Artex had not taken the time to make full introductions yet, but he had pipped off to expand the number of reserved seats at The Melting Pot. Razor Wit, Oriana, and Rose Thorn all took the time to show the Apples where they would be staying, but Granny Smith stayed behind.

Once she and Artex were alone, she nudged him toward the large living room, "Ya know, this here place done changed a lot since Ah was here last." She said cryptically.

Artex kept quiet for the moment. He led her into the living room and sat himself down on one of the chaise lounges while Granny took an overstuffed rocking chair, "Ah remember when this place was the main base for the ole Peacemakers. Ah still can't believe that yall let them murderin' Bloodmages run 'round here practicin' their foul craft." She smirked, "An' Ah see ya managed to get Applejack to talk to your Changeling filly there. Ah'm right impressed by that, I tell ya."

Artex grinned, "She was more reasonable than you gave her credit for. She still has a problem with Changelings, but she's willing to get to know Vaiawa."

Granny closed her eyes and leaned into the plush chair, "She sure do make a purdy Pegasus though."

Artex' mind was on another topic, "I would never have guessed that you knew about the Peacemakers."

"Knew 'em!?" Granny huffed, "Ah was one o' their best brawlers!"

Artex opened and closed his mouth several times while Granny Smith just cackled, "Why so surprised youngen? Yall didn't think this ole mare had it in 'er?" Artex merely shook his head in mute reply, "Well Ah was a spry young mare an' at the time mares weren't allowed ter be Guards. Nopony woulda ever guessed Ah was one o' the Peacemakers, bein' a mare an' all. They would send me inter places under the guise of an apprentice Bloodmage an' relay information back t' mah team. We had us a mean team leader too. Woo! That there Diamond Dog was a rough an' tumble ole scrapper. He was smart too. Sharp as mah tongue is these days. The team was near enough unstoppable. We done rooted out any Bloodmage hideout we came across. Collected a bunch o' their books too. Brought 'em back ter the Princess."

Granny Smith's face fell then, "Ah remember once, we found a Changeling in one o' their hideouts. They was experimentin' on it. Well we leaned on it for information an' it tole us about their hive an' how they would feed on Ponies fer their magic. Well, our team leader saw a possibility an' used it. There were two enemies who were fightin' real quiet like. We made it look like the Changelings were the ones who done killed all the Bloodmages in the hideout. We turned 'em against one another."

She shook her head sadly, "We knew they was enemies but we never even tried to make peace with 'em." She looked up at the ceiling, "Seein' your Changeling filly now..." she closed her eyes, "I feel bad 'bout what we did. We coulda maybe made peace with 'em an' had 'em as allies. We mighta saved a bunch 'o them an' bypassed the attack on Canterlot... Ah don' know anymore." She opened her eyes and regarded Artex evenly, "That's the way o' the world youngen, sometimes ya gotta make a choice an' just hope it's the right one."

Artex gave the eldest Apple a half smile, "You did your best at the time. It might have been manipulative, but it was a canny move that solved two problems from what you guys saw. In either case, it's in the past now. Let's just move on and do the best we can going forward from here."

Granny returned his half smile, "Looks like some o' mah wisdom done rubbed off on you."

Artex shrugged, well either that or I'm delirious from hunger and I'm just spouting nonsense."

Granny scoffed, "Ifn that's the case then Ah says you should do it more often!"

Artex chuckled dryly and patted the arms of the chaise, "Well I don't know about you Granny, but I'm hungry." He said standing up and stretching.

Granny Smith slowly rose up off the chair and cracked her back, "Ah'm with you there, ya gangly baboon. Let's get the rest o' the family an' go get us some grub." She squinted at her adopted grandson, "This ain't no fancy place is it? Ah've never been a mare o' fancy taste ya know."

Artex stopped at the doorway to the kitchen which led back toward the foyer, "I'm the same way. I'm happy as long as there's good food and plenty of it."

Granny toddled along behind him, "Now THAT'S an idear Ah can get behind! Hee hee hee."

* * *

The Apple Family, Artex and his herd, and the mares from Ponyville all saw each other in the restaurant and decided to all join their tables together. The Melting Pot was hugely busy. Ponies, Humans, and Changelings were everywhere, but reservations were kept very strictly, especially with so many prominent figures present. The already large crowd was joined by Captain Joyner and his wife, Kolo Calvin and Buzz Butter, Bobby Jewel and Alana, Darryl Hord and his two girlfriends, and finally by Shining Armor and all four Alicorns, plus Chris Vacca. The Alicorns' Guards stood watch at the entrances to the dining area stoically for the entire meal.

Dinner was a rambunctious affair to say the least. More than once Rainbow Dash was surprised by the frequency at which she ended up interacting with Changelings. The group ate and drank, laughed and talked. It was a grand night for everybody involved. Never before had so many shakers of Equestria been in the same place at the same time for such a positive, lighthearted reason. The wines and liquors flowed freely and the entire group had a fantastic time. It was something none of them would ever forget.

Artex tried to float the bill for everybody, even though the total came out to be almost fifteen hundred Bits. He had seen the obscenely large amount of Bits in his own bank account when he stopped by the bank earlier that day. He was overruled by the Alicorns, specifically Celestia, who had the entire affair billed to her own account in the Royal Treasury. Afterwards, there were a great many jokes about Celestia trying to join the herd. She surprised everybody except her sister when she revealed that she already had somebody for a potential husband, but politely declined to give his name. Dinner ended with everybody agreeing that it was one of the best times they ever had.

But the evening was not over yet.

* * *

Just South of New Humansville was a new, stone concert hall that Artex and his herd had missed earlier in the day. It was toward that great hall that a colossal group of visitors and residents of New Humansville made their way.

The red brick sign outside of the colossal building read: 'New Humansville Memorial Concert Hall, Dedicated To Those Who Lost Their Lives Before And During The Founding Of New Humansville'. It was vague, but most of the residents knew that it referred to the massacre of Humans by the E.U.P. Guard and the Battle For New Humansville. The group filed in with the crowd and due to their proximity with the Alicorns, were all escorted to the balcony seats on the very top level of the concert hall. The balcony was lavishly decorated with huge pillows to allow all to sit comfortably and enjoy the show. Ushers came around and passed out program pamphlets to whomever wanted one.

Artex held his pamphlet in his hand as he spoke to the Princesses, "How did the town afford to build this place? It must have cost a fortune and then some."

To his surprise, it was Captain Joyner who answered, "The designer was a Pony from Canterlot that somebody called in for a their boon. The Sorcerers erected this hall out of the quarry stone that Rifin flew in while the Pony directed their efforts. The wood paneling, rails, and the rest of the wood was hand and hoof carved by skilled residents to show their support for the memorial."

Artex was moved by the willingness of the residents to provide their support, "Well they did a fantastic job of it. This place is beautiful."

Darryl chuckled as he sat nestled between Backlash and Heidi, "It IS gorgeous, but the real treat are the acoustics. The walls are angled very specifically to provide the optimal reflection of sound for the best quality."

Artex opened his pamphlet and read it out loud, "Presenting the New Humansville Symphony Orchestra?" He whistled, "Wow..." he peered closer at the list of music for the night, "Holy cow!" He looked up to Kolo, "Is this for real?" He asked eyes bulging.

Kolo chuckled deeply, "Oh yeah, it's gonna be somethin' else!"

Twilight suddenly spoke up, "Um, does anypony know what a 'Valkyrie' is?" She looked back down at the pamphlet, "One of the songs is listed as 'Flight Of The Valkyries' and many of these other names are in different languages, I'm assuming different Human languages."

Darryl was the one to answer her, "Valkyries were ancient Viking myths associated with battle. According to legend, Valkyries would fly over a battlefield and chose half of the warriors who fell during the fighting. Those who were chosen would go to the great mead halls of the god Odin. The mead hall was called Valhalla, where they would prepare for more battles in the afterlife, the biggest battle of the afterlife was called Ragnarok. Valkyries are associated with some of the greatest warriors of ancient times and are well known to the European Human Military. The 'Ride Of The Valkyries' is a popular theme for helping to improve the morale of soldiers or for getting them 'amped up' for battle."

"Most of the classical music was written by people from other countries on Earth where they did not speak English. We keep the titles listed in the native language of the composers as a show of respect for their work." Artex explained.

Twilight had another question, "Is it normal for orchestral pieces to have accompaniment by a choir and... are those cannons?"

Artex chuckled, "Not normally, no, but for some of these pieces they are a must."

"Soooo, what kind of instruments are they going to be playing?" Rainbow Dash asked in a bored tone.

"Classical," Mike Joyner answered, "String, woodwind, percussion, and brass mostly." He pointed down to the stage, "They've been warming up since before we came in."

Dash hung her head, "Great," she said sarcastically, "We have to sit through a bunch of old, dumb, slow songs."

Artex laughed loudly at her statement, "O-ho-ho! Believe me Dash, this is going to be right up your alley. The selections they have here are well known back on Earth and they are, for the most part, decidedly NOT the kind of music that might put you to sleep." He looked back to his program, "I'm especially surprised by this final song. I was not expecting it to be in here, but it was an excellent choice. It was written less than twenty years ago, so classical music is not dead by any means."

Rarity spoke up, "Orchestral music is not something to merely enjoy, Rainbow Dash. It is meant to speak to the soul in a very deep way. I know this may be difficult for you, but I think that if you really listen to it, you will enjoy it far more than you think."

Darryl spoke up again, "Now the music I suspect you're really going to like is going to be two nights from now. It's modern Human music. There are going to be selections of songs from different genres of music like: Rock and Roll, Rhythm and Blues, Rhythm and Poetry, Heavy Metal. You'll be all over it, like Dan on a baked ham."

"Hey!" Artex yelled just as the lights dimmed.

"Ssssshhhhh!" Twilight shushed him, "They're about to begin."

The orchestra was finished setting up and warming up. A young Human man dressed in a dapper tuxedo elegantly strode onto the center of the stage and cleared his throat. His hands and eyes lit up dimly in the darkened hall and his voice amplified, "Greetings," he spoke in a soothing baritone, "We are honored to have you all here with us this evening. We hope you have all had a wonderful day with us thus far. We would now like to welcome you to enjoy a taste of music from our home. These pieces were selected by our musicians and what very few composers we have available to us. They have spent a great deal of time and effort to transcribe each of these pieces strictly from memory, onto sheet music for our orchestra to perform. These pieces were selected to provide an acceptable variety of types of orchestral music for your listening pleasure. Please keep in mind that these pieces do not constitute the entirety of Human orchestral music and we did not have the time to acknowledge every single one of the gifted individuals who composed them."

He laced his fingers together in front of his chest, "We will not be providing the names of each of the composers as their pieces are played. We will, however, be giving special recognition to the composer of the final piece this evening. And so, without further adieu, please welcome the New Humansville Symphony Orchestra."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hOA-2hl1Vbc

Rarity leaned over to Kolo Calvin, "That was simply divine. Such smooth, flowing notes. The composer must have been an absolute artist." She quickly quieted as the next piece began.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6LAPFM3dgag

As the music began, Fluttershy, Princesses Celestia and Cadence gently bobbed their heads to the fleeting notes of the woodwinds. Celestia closed her eyes and felt the music flowing through her. It was nearly magical.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-hJf4ZffkoI

Twilight's ears perked up as the piece began. Each of her ears twitched in time with the cornucopia of notes as they played. As the piece progressed, her eyes widened, 'There is so much complexity to this! One moment it is slow, the next the tempo speeds up like a race! This one piece could be an entire study in contrasts but it all flows together so beautifully'

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B7pQytF2nak

Applejack loved the piece as soon as it began. It painted images of her bucking apples back on the farm. Each of the louder, deeper notes followed by the faster ones reminded her of the movements of bucking then the fall of the apples as they plummeted into the baskets.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VbxgYlcNxE8

For the first two minutes, Pinkie Pie was nearly crying, the song just sounded so sad. The piece slowly began building up to something, she could feel it. It felt like somebody was telling a story. As the crescendo slowly built up toward the end she was nearly bouncing, giddy with excitement. (12:57) The part where it sped up sounded like a giant party was being thrown. The almost chaotic sounds of the bells made her wonder if they would be a good idea for her next one. Once the crescendo hit she nearly squealed for joy. Once the cannons went off she almost had to fight off tears of joy, 'They know about PARTY CANNONS TOO'

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XRU1AJsXN1g

As the song began, Rainbow Dash's ears perked up, 'Huh, that sounds kind of... cool actually'. Though she would not admit it, she absolutely LOVED the song, 'This song... it's me. The ending is really pretty too.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FWiyKgeGWx0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Nn3PcESF7w

The two songs spoke to Luna in a way she had never thought any music could. The firm percussion opening, the choir, the soft chanting, it was enthralling. It took her in its grasp and spoke of struggle, of dedications, of sorrow, of potential and of hope.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iCEDfZgDPS8

Shining Armor and Granny Smith felt a kinship with the piece as soon as it began. Neither would say why, but they felt as if somebody had seen into their experiences and turned those experiences into musical masterpieces.

The conductor stepped up to the front of the stage as the final notes of Night On Bald Mountain floated through the atmosphere, "We hope you have enjoyed yourselves this evening. We have one final piece for you. This was adapted by our talented musicians as a special treat for all of you." He drew in a deep breath and finished smoothly, "We now present Nobuo Uematsu's One Winged Angel."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yn71hIsm0U8

The final notes of One Winged Angel echoed through the air. Silence had no chance as the entire hall erupted in wild applause and cheering which lasted for many minutes. The Princesses and Rarity were among the loudest to show their appreciation for the music. Despite herself, Rainbow Dash had to quietly admit to herself that some of the music was not just for soggy old rich Ponies.