The Bar
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The Piano Bar

The Bar

Hey! You!

Yeash, you! Dude ashe piano! Play shumethin' gud fer onesh! Ya' know! Shumthin' catshy. Like 'Da da da da, da da da!

Nah, not that. Shomething dif-rent.

Why you iganorin' me? I wanna somethin' DIFFARENT. Whaddid I do to you? Prick! You shood be--

Hey, whaddya doin'? You cannt shrow me out! I payd good muney! Wha?!? I'm not drunk! How dareshou! I'm NOT-

Hey man. Sorry about last night. I got a little... out of control. I guess I just had a little too much to drink.

I don't even know how many I drank, I just know I had a massive hangover.

Well, that's how it goes, right...?

You know, I really am sorry for last night. I'm usually really awesome! Maybe you've heard of me? Rainbow Dash?

No? Oh... Okay. Well, yeah, I'm pretty awesome.

Nah, I'm not cool when I'm drunk. ...Oh, that was supposed to be a joke? Sorry, I didn't catch it fast enough.

Hey, what's your name? ...Martin... I like it. Pretty simple and cool. Not too many with that name.

What? You want to know how my life is going? That's sort of an abrupt question.

...Really? Well, okay.

Life's been alright.

Actually... It's not been that great.

My boyfriend, Soarin, broke up with me yesterday. ...I guess that's why I drank so much last night.

It was a bit of a bummer, since we had been going strong for a while. But my schedule has been getting busier over the past few months, and my job has become more important than he is.

Where do I work? I work at the weather station. The director had to lay off several employees, so I needed to step up my game to keep my job.

-I know, the weather station isn't the best place to work, but it pays the bills.

I want to try out for the Wonderbolts though.

Oh? You know them? Good.

I've been training forever to try and make the Wonderbolts. That's why I'm really bummed that Soarin and I broke up. I just couldn't handle work, training, and a boyfriend all at the same time. The only release I had was the little amount of sleep I get every night, and recently this bar.

...Yeah. My life is really hectic.

What? You have a song you want to play for me?

Um... Okay... Play on, I guess...

Oh wow. That was nice. What was it called?

Vienna?

Okay. It was very... interesting.

Well... Thanks, I guess.

Oh wow, it's really late. I'm going to head home now. Thanks for the talk and song!

Hey, how are you doing? I'm doing alright.

What was that song you just played?

The Stranger, huh?

Well... That song reminded me of... me.

I've been feeling pretty down lately, and it seems like my life has been dropping too.

I have a lot of friends that are usually there for me, but I've started to drift farther away from them. I become a different person when I'm around them. I become hostile and arrogant. I know, I'm usually a little arrogant, but this is off-the-deep-end-arrogant. My friends back away when I start to get aggravated. They've started to drift away from me.

And the scariest part is... I don't even care when I become hostile. I guess I just become... selfish.

It's such a bad feeling, but I just can't get rid of it. I want to go back, to apologize to my friends, but I can't pull myself to do it.

What? You think I could do it? Thanks...

Well, have a good night. See you soon!

Hey Martin!

I was going to ask you: What do you do for a living? I know you don't work at the bar 24/7.

Ah, so you're sort of a floater? A jack-of-all-trades, huh? I know how that feels...

Yeah, I float around a lot too. My main job is at the weather station, but I help out my friends a lot.

Sometimes I go work at my friend Applejack's farm. I love helping her and her brother out whenever I can, but recently my life has just become too busy to spend extra time working there. It's sort of depressing... I like spending time with her. She helps distract me from the troubles of life.

What's your escape?

I should have figured music. After all, you ARE playing the piano. The entertaining business must be pretty easy.

ARGH. I should have known you have a song for that. You have a song for everything, don't you?

Thanks for the enlightenment. Yeah, staying popular must be hard on you. Is that why you're in a bar?

Oh, it's more... personal reasons? Okay.

Looks like it's time to head home. I have to do some... stuff before I go to bed.

Thanks for the chat!

HOW DID YOU KNOW?!?!?!?!?!?!?

I was just thinking about it, and you played that song!

Oh... You've seen me go in there...?

Ok, I'll admit it.

... I've been using drugs.

They seemed like a way to escape this life that I've come to hate. Some guy from work had me try some, and then he hooked me up with a dealer. I've been trying things I never would have done before. My life's turned into such shit, who cares, ya know?

But then I do care. I look at my life and all the trash in it. It sucks.

Tonight I'll go home after this, get high, then sleep. Tomorrow morning, it's work all day. I've had to drop training cause my work hours have extended, which doesn't help. Then i'll go home, get high again, probably come here, then repeat.

I want so badly to break it, but changing is really hard and uncomfortable. I don't think I can pull myself to make a change.

Thanks for the music. *sigh* Time to go home...

Hey Martin, can you play me something calm and quiet? I need some time to think.

Thanks.

...I'm gonna head home now.

......Thanks for being there, man.

Well, I guess you know the story, huh? After all, it was you who called Fluttershy. I don't even care how you knew to call her, or even how you got her number.

Seeing her and Twilight and AJ and them standing in my doorway as I held the knife and rope in my hands...

I was feeling so down that night...I guess you noticed, huh? You played that beautiful song, but all I could think of was how my life sucked so much. I didn't think I could keep living like this forever. I just lost the will, you know? I had it already determined by the time I walked in the door of this bar.

But... the music... It just made me feel... peaceful. If I could just live in that moment, well...

That's a good reason Fluttershy was able to save me.

You don't know how long I struggled that night. I sat staring at the rope on the table, not fully able to grasp what I was about to do.

My life was horrible, but could I bring myself to do such a thing? I was convinced there was nothing good, nothing worthwhile in this world to live for. I was at the bottom of that black abyss, unable to find an escape. But that song showed me something new.

There was something beautiful in my hell.

My mind pondered over that for the longest time. Sadly, it didn't totally stop me. I picked up that rope, and grabbed a knife just in case the rope didn't work.

That's when Fluttershy and my friends appeared.

I didn't know what to say. What would you do, if your best friends appeared just as you were about to take your life? And they were all there. Fluttershy, Twilight, AJ, Pinkie, and Rarity. Not a single one was mad at my actions. There was no resentment of decisions I made; no hate of my darkened soul.

In an instant I was forgiven and loved. Just like that. That sense of belonging came back into my life. They wanted...me. Just ME!

... So what did I do?

I just stood there, staring at my friends. I couldn't move. It was only when they hugged me that I dropped the knife.

I'd like to say that I handled it stoically, but I didn't.

-I bawled like a baby. Not so awesome of me, huh...?

I... just let it all flow that night. The proverbial dam of emotions burst, no, exploded in their embrace. I don't know how long I spent sobbing into Fluttershy's shoulder. I just know it mattered.

...Needless to say, their presence kept me from passing that threshold.

I... I can't express how much thanks and gratitude you deserve. And the best part: you're a total stranger! You could have cared less about my life! You could not have called at all!

Without that call, well...

I'd be dead.

Can you just play me something calm, and peaceful? I think I need a bit of that tonight.

Hey Martin!

I brought some people that I thought you should meet!

This here's Fluttershy! She's the one you called...

And this is Twilight, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, and Rarity.

Girls, this is my new buddy Martin. He's the one that called Fluttershy that night. I can't tell you how much thanks he deserves.

Hey Martin, care to play us something? Oh, you have something in mind? Alright, let's hear it!

What? You want us to sing along? Okay!

La le la, di de da,

La la, di de da, da dum