The Maven's Suite <Private>

Delphina sat on her familiar deck on the outskirts of Maretropolis, humming softly to herself. She plucks the strings of her viola lightly, tuning it under the noon-day sun. She smiled at her neighbors, who had noticed this and taken pause to listen. 'For some reason, when Delphina plays,' they thought, 'the world gets just a little brighter.'

She brought the viola up to her chin and closed her eyes, thinking about what she might want to play. Settling in, she began to play a calm but happy number, thinking the day was suitable for lazing about. The skies were clear, the sun was shinning, and the breeze was gentle. A small part of her thought it might be a good day to start an adventure, which caused her to smile a bit. Adventures don't pick good days, after all.

... And in that gentle breeze, a unicorn stallion on an airship kept using a long pole to press away from the ground and other buildings as he went past them through Maretropolis. For whatever reason, the airship looked to be part cloud as well. A magic mishap perhaps? But sooner or later, he'd safely gone by onto the outskirts where homes were smaller and he was less likely to crash into anything. As for Delphina, she'd eventually get her next bit of audience as the stallion looked her way, and purposely maneuvered from the deck so as to move a bit closer for a listen. It might be a bit odd, having someone casually stopping by in a ship as big as a house, but he didn't seem to be looking for trouble as he leaned over the railing to watch and listen.

Her eyes opened as a sudden shade passed over them, and she slowly stopped playing to behold the giant airship that had just amassed outside her house. Wide-eyed, she felt the need to tell herself, Careful what you wish for. She waved her bow at him from the ground.

The stallion chuckled and waved back from his spot. "Sorry, am I distracting you too much? And yes, I know, my ship's not... doing too well, but I figured I could take a break from dealing with this mess and just listen to some nice music..." He stopped waving and looked around sheepishly. "Um... Any chance you'll play some more?"

She blinks a few times up at him, "Uhh, sure thing. Do you wanna come down, or...?" To be honest, she was a little intimidated by the fact that something as large as her house was floating right next to her house.

"Oh, sure, I'd love to listen closer, ju-...!? Oh, hey no no no!" The stallion now had to deal with the cloudy airship turning on its side at random. He tried to cast a few spells to stabilize it, but something always seemed to react different to his efforts until he was forcibly flipped out of the airship and onto Delphina's deck with a heavy grunt. Fortunately, the airship just moved away mildly from her home and stayed there in a slow orbit.

The stallion then sighed as he looked between the mare and his ship. "... Some villain in the city shot a spell at my ship as I was passing by. As much as I'd like to go after them, that's my house too. I can't just leave it be, but the spell is so unstable I can hardly work my way through it. It doesn't help I'm worried I might break something if I rush it..." He seemed reasonably distraught. Perhaps now might be a good time to soothe his weary soul...?

Delphina helped him to his feet, looking up at the craft. "A villain you say? Well, this town has no shortage of those, that's for sure. Besides, stranger things have happened than a spell wearing out around here. I wouldn't worry to much. It'll probably work out." She thinks through her spell list and nods, deciding on one. "How about I play you a song called the 'Carpenter's Respite?' A number to calm you down." She closes her eyes and leans against a support beam, playing the slow, low song. She picked the piece for two reasons. The first: the piece should have an affect on Sugary, making him a bit tired and less observant. The second: she was about to have her song do combat with the spell on the ship, to attempt to gently remove said curse from the workings. The intensity of the song would depend on the perceived strength of the spell. Hopefully, it would be enough to get the airman back on track.

Sugary appreciated the help up, and the music all the more so afterwards for the time being. To an extent, he felt more at ease to be sure; In fact, he gleefully wobbled as he listened and more or less watched her work on the airship.

As far as the ship itself went, Sugary had done a good job dealing with trying to keep problems stable and isolated among the curse as a whole. It was all now about making delicate approaches to the curse, and Delphina's music magic was going through just fine. Slowly, but surely, the airship once more turned right side up, but then things got a little bit rough as the clouds rumbled when they began to shrink...

She subtly changed the song to Vivaldi's Autumn concerto, a song that celebrates the turn of the seasons and a bountiful harvest. It represents rest, which is what she wanted the curse to do. Settle down and fade, you needent remain so upset. Go back to your friends in the aether. However, the change would provoke a sort of festival mood, with dancing and such. And, well, have a listen:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q8AN0jWNrJA

More and more the clouds rumbled at first, but eventually they calmed down in a mix of colors as the ship spun in place. The clouds then began to fade away, and the airship gently floated onto the ground once the intrusive clouds were gone for good... Sugary then proceeded to lean upon and snore over Delphina as he was feeling awfully content with everything at the moment...

Delphina stopped playing to catch the airman. "Oooph, a little... forward, are we?" she grunts, bracing against the wall as she holds him up. She wraps and arm around him and kicks her door open. "Lets see if we... can get you... to the couch!" She had plenty of difficulty moving him there, as to her he seemed quite heavy. She wasn't necessarily the strongest mare.

It probably didn't help that Sugary was quite the large and healthy stallion, built like a brick wall on top of his height that easily rivaled any Royal guards, or maybe even some of the imposing local heroes and villains. He didn't seem to mind being dragged about at least, resting peacefully still when finally dragged to the couch...

She dropped him on the couch, collapsing on the floor next to it gasping. Celestia, I need to hit the gym. That was rough. On her elbows heaving, she eventually pushes back to her hooves to get a drink, checking to see if the air ship was now behaving.

Delphina would be met by the sight of a somewhat old but well built airship of modestly stylized reddish hardwood and metal. Many propellers signified it was certainly quite capable of going airborne, while a solid foundation stated its competence for seafaring strongly. It also had the name on sideplaques; Black Mambo. And while not readily obvious, it was actually quite the piece of Magitech construction from within... Otherwise, there was little else of note from outside as the stallion napped on her couch.

She admired it briefly, before humming and going to get something to drink. Some hot chocolate. It's like, my catnip. Wonder if the airstallion would like some. She shrugs and brews enough for the both of them, softly singing a seafaring song.

After a good nap, the stallion slowly roused himself from his sleep at the scent of hot chocolate, getting up and stretching casually until he snapped into reality. He gasped, and looked around, confused for a moment until he galloped onto the home deck to see his airship. All was good.

He then immediately recalled the mare who had aided him, and moved back inside, following the scent again to meet, greet, and thank the mare for whatever she did. "Hello...?"

"Heyo. How's you ship?" She passes him a mug of her favorite drink, sipping hers lightly. It was still hot, and she didn't really desire a burnt tongue. She had since put her instrument back in her case, as she felt a little tired. The curse on his ship was more than a little bit powerful, and had drained her a bit. That said, she wasn't about to tell him she fixed it herself.

He was briefly perplexed by the sudden offer from the petite mare before him, looking between her and the mug, but then smiled softly at her as he blew air on the hot drink. "Oh, it's looking good as new! That was a real piece of work by the way; I just hope the inside is just as intact too..." He then took a light sip while staring at the mare briefly. He pondered, if such a mare was owed his thanks? "... I remember very well by the way, that music you played. So enchanting, and so soothing... You did something to me and the ship, didn't you?" He didn't give her an accusatory glare or tone, instead looking mildly impressed.

She shrugged, "Strange things tend to happen around my house. Somethings are better left... unexplained." She sets her cup aside and pulls up two stools for the both of them. "So, what's your story? Not a ton of airships pass by my house, you know. Also, a name would be nice."

Sugary raised a brow at his host, even keeping an amused smirk as he kept drinking from his mug contently. Deep down, he knew she did something, just not in explicit details since he went for the relaxing nap. "Fair enough, my name is Sugary Market. My story is... Having come to go sightseeing actually. It's usually work or exploration, but I actually came to Maretropolis because it's such a fascinating location for finding talent; Of all sorts." He hummed as he drank more and continued. "But then a fight broke out on a building top as I was trying to land... So here I am! And your name is...?"

She smiles, "Well, Mr. Market. My name is Delphina. It's a pleasure to meet you." She nodded her head in his direction, and then looked at the airship. "Mind if I climb aboard? It might be fun to see the inside of one of these things. I've never been on one personally."

"Pleased to meet you then, Miss. And uh... Let me check for a moment..." Sugary went by her and went to the edge of the house deck... and then hopped out the edge as he cast a floating spell to self-levitate towards his own airship with a smile.

He then made his way back, not smiling. In fact, he looked downright horrified as he stared down at her with a shaking mug. "... Um... No... No no... Can't do it... Messy. So messy. Everything's flipped about, so... Not just yet..." He tried to calmly drink from his mug, but it was fairly clear he had quite a bit of cleaning to do later on.

She sighed, "I'd imagine. The thing did do a nice little flip, didn't it. So, what are you gunna do? Stick around, fly away, take another curse to the face?" She teased him a bit. All said, though, she liked this stallion... except...

"By the way, I would recomend finding somewhere nice to sleep. You aren't exactly, ummm, light, if you catch my meaning. If you'll excuse me, I have a little bit more practicing to do for my concert tomorrow. Feel free to kick about, but please don't snoop in the closets and such. It is my home, yeah?" She wanders of to practice her music.

Sugary felt a light sting to his pride at how things turned out, but what's done is done; And Delphina had a point even if he had things to take care of. He sighed lightly and waved her off for the time being, chuckling softly at being reminded of their difference in height. "Right... And don't worry, I'm not that curious. I just need a bit of time to make things right again. Thanks again, by the way."

After he finished with his mug and calmed down again, he moved about the home to look at the music memorabilia while thinking on how to clean his own mess proper later given what he saw. His smile grew the more he looked at the records and merits, but smiled the most when he wandered near her practice spot for a better listen; The approach was intentionally silent.

She waves his thanks away on the way out, coming to her practice room. She looks across the room to a fantastically polished and well maintained cello, walking slowly to it and resting a hoof gently on it. She sighed, waving away a memory of her mentor. Hopefully, she's living it up on a beech somewhere. The old bag would've thought poorly on my current path.

She sighed and plopped the duet she was to perform tomorrow on her stand, a Beethooven piece. She remembered it well, she and her teacher had done it often for community events back home. Before all... this. She closed her eyes and started her part.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ly7e_WOIwZk