Broken Strings and BPM's

Well after much delay, chapter 14 has finally arrived. I'm introducing 2 new characters in this chapter, which are recognizable if you've seen my YouTube channel or if you are a Canterlot.com user. Although one of the characters' look has changed slightly, the personality is all the same. Well, here it is. Chapter 14.

Broken Strings Chapter 14: Before the Storm

It was quiet. A pleasant silence, in reality, however silent, nonetheless. Ivory and I had come home from dinner, and relaxed on the couch, with a smooth jazz record, and a bottle of wine. I don't remember much, besides falling asleep on the couch. I also remember waking up to a horn prodding at my stomach.

"Hey, Bass. Wake up. It's like 7 A.M."

I immediately knew who it was. Nopony else, in their right mind would try to wake me up so early. "C'mon, sis. Just a few more minutes… or hours. Yeah, let's go with hours." I should've known better.

"You wanna do this the hard way? We'll do this the hard way!"

I felt an odd tingling as I felt myself being lifted from the couch. After a second or two, the tingling went away, and I was dropped on the hardwood floor. "What the hay, Treb? Was that really necessary?" I sat up from the floor, and looked around. "Where's Ivory?"

"Don't worry. Now, I've got news about the tour. It'll really help if you want Vinyl and Flats off the tour."

This definitely caught my attention. "I'm listening…"

Treble grinned. "I knew that would catch your attention. Alright. With the influx of well known groups wanting to fall in line behind you, the record company decided to clear the lineup with the exception of my group, and now, they're going to be holding a musical battle to fill the spots. If you want on the tour, you're going to have to fight for it."

I slowly collected myself from the floor, pushing myself to my hooves. "Sounds easy enough. Who else is going to be in it?"

"Quite a few groups. Of course, the only real competition you'll have is Vinyl and Flats, then another small group. They're actually pretty good."

I tilted my head in slight confusion. "Who is this other group?"

"I don't know them personally, but the two ponies' names are Trik Beatz and Mid Wobble. I only know them on a professional level, and like I said, they're pretty good."

I nodded. "So, you're saying I'm going to need to bring my A game?"

"Precisely. Unlike the Steedston show, you've got three weeks to come up with something that'll rock the record company hard enough to get you a guaranteed spot."

I sighed, and Treble immediately picked up on it. "Something wrong, Bass?"

"Yeah," I chuckled. "All this 'Bad News Food' is gonna drive me broke."

"I highly doubt that, Bass. Besides, it's only bad news if you aren't confident in yourself."

I began to canter toward the kitchen to make myself a glass of coffee, since my sleep was so rudely interrupted. "So where are Octavia and Ivory?" Yeah, when you're that tired, you tend to not notice things like that. I blinked, as I saw that there was already a fresh pot made for me. She had been planning this wake-up all along.

Treble was following behind me, and had taken a seat at the table, as I grabbed a mug from the cupboard, and began pouring myself a glass, being sure to add the necessary amount of cream and sugar. "Well, Ivory said she was running low on food, having to supply four ponies, over her usual one, so they went to the market."

I stayed by the counter, sipping my coffee. "Well, then. Maybe you should tell Ivory."

She raised an eyebrow at me. "And why should I do that?"

"Because, sister, dearest… I've got a glass pot full of hot liquid, and you know my aim is truly impeccable. And I'm going back to sleep."

A few hours later, I was woken up again, but this time in a more gentle fashion. "Bass, my love. It's time to wake up."

I slowly opened my eyes to a smiling Ivory Keys laying next to me. I gave her a soft kiss, and smiled, wrapping my forelegs around her form. "Mmm. Good morning, sunshine."

"Actually, Babe," she giggled,  "it's noon."

"Yeah," I chuckled. "Morning."

She giggled, and rubbed her hoof on my cheek. "So, did you really threaten to throw a coffee pot at your sister?"

I nodded, obviously proud to own up to my actions. "Sure did."

Ivory softly tapped my snout, just as she normally did. "You should learn to be nice to your sister."

I playfully poked the mare in the stomach with a hoof. "Well, maybe she should learn that poking somepony in the stomach with her horn isn't the best way to wake them up."

"Touché, mi amor. Touché. So, how long do we have until this competition… thingy?"

I yawned, still a bit drowsy from my sleep. "She said we have three weeks to come up with a killer track."

Ivory raised her eyebrow. "Only three weeks?"

I planted a soft, quick kiss on her lips, then smiled reassuringly. "Babe, I've pulled off more impossible stunts, before."

She giggled, and rubbed her snout against mine. "I know, baby. I was there."

At this point, I don't even think that I cared about the tour anymore. I just wanted Ivory to be happy. But deep down, I was afraid. I wasn't afraid of failing. No… I was afraid of succeeding. I was afraid of that little demon that lives deep inside me. In fact, I was more than afraid. I was utterly terrified, and I wasn't going to let anypony else know it.

After a few minutes of cuddling my drowsiness away, Ivory and I left the bedroom. I had just gotten comfortable on the couch, when somepony decided to knock on the door.

Treble called out, from the kitchen. "Oh good! They're here!"

I had already gotten up, and started trotting to the door, and called back, "Who's 'they,' Treble?"

"Let's just say that they're your allies in this."

I cautiously opened the door, to the point where I spotted a pair of ruby red eyes, and a giant smile pointed right at me. I know who you think it is, and I thought it too, at first. Until I saw the lavender mane, and heard the high pitched, cheerful voice that I could've swore that I had heard somewhere before. "Hi! I'm Midsy!" I swung the door open, and saw the other pony, a Pegasus with a long, brown mane with frosted streaks, styled in an emo fashion, his eyes covered by a pair of dark red shades, almost the same style as Vinyl's. The only difference was that his shades had the letters "TB" engraved in the upper corners of the frames. His coat was a darker shade of cyan than Dash's, and his cutie mark was a dotted quarter rest. My attention was once again drawn to the bubbly, pale yellow unicorn with the giant smile on her face, when she burst into her joyful rant again. "And this is my brother, Hard Wobble! He likes to be called Trik Beatz, though. I don't know why. Anyways, you must be Deep Bass! Oh my gosh, it's so cool to meet somepony so famous! Is this where you live? Why does somepony so famous live in such a small apartment? Shouldn't you live in a mansion or something? Oh! And did DJ PON-E really che-" She was cut off by a hoof covering her mouth, but she didn't stop trying to talk, which resulted in hilariously muffled attempts.

The Pegasus stallion finally decided to speak up, removing his hoof from the mare who was now glaring at him's mouth. "Sorry, Bass. She tends to get like this when she meets somepony famous… or really anypony ne-… No, really it's just anypony. Anyway, I'm DJ Trik Beatz... If you didn't catch that already. The record company said that Treble requested a meeting, here, so here we are."

I stepped aside, and let the two into the apartment. "Then come on in. Treble's in the kitchen."

"Wow," Beatz grinned. "I never expected a huge rock star to be so hospitable."

The pale yellow mare cocked her head to the side, shooting the stallion an inquisitive look. "Are you calling him fat?"

"Totally, sis."