The Sound of Music

-I-

It was another sweltering afternoon in the desert, buzzards flew overhead and cast their great shadow over the bitter sand. The small amount of wildlife took shelter in shaded holes or under rocks to avoid the powerful gaze of the sun; unflinching and without mercy. Metal tracks start to shake the desert floor, nothing for miles in any direction; yet something disturbs the quiet...

An unpleasant looking iron horse speeds along the tracks, its steam billowing into the air and making enough noise to break the calm of the afternoon. Aboard is only a few adventurous types, ponies from far and wide trying to make it in the world as travelers, seeing strange sights and risking life and limb for the sake of adventure... merely enjoying life with no strings attached, but there was a group on board who were different...

A tall, dark haired pony sits on one side while a short bright red eyed and rebellious looking teenager and his companion, a tall and grey stallion, eyes a deep and strange purple while most of his face was concealed by his long, thick silver hair. All of them wearing similar gear,a few guitar cases lay next to the window with the same mark of a waning gibbous moon, the dark crescent and bright bulk with musical notes crossed in the bright moon itself.

It was their mark, more accurately the leader's, but the trio accepted it as theirs from the shared warm...and sometimes bitter past. The short one was nicknamed Razor, only one person in the group knew his real name, but it had been so long that he had trouble recalling it...His temper as a child landed him out of the orphanage at ten, though his quick wits and tough attitude helped him survive easily in the streets of Manehatten

The second, Dynamic Waves,  a tall and rather chilling looking stallion...his grey fur and almost white mane broken by a purple streak, and his bright purple eyes made him impossible to read; But it was all an act, his friends knew he was a kind but quiet heart, his words soft and few but his actions always had weight behind them.

The leader was a rather shadowy individual, always wearing a dark hoodie and obscuring his features with the hood or extra gear, he wasn't the shy type and far from unsociable, he just had a viewpoint that anything beyond average would just complicate what he sees as normal relationships. The left blind eye also seemed to repel a lot; using his mane to cover it made things a lot simpler...The only ones he trusts with who he actually is, is his group.

The three together made a living playing music, though through rough times they realized the world they lived in wasn't so accepting of this type of sound...They played loud, heart racing, ground shaking and ear ringing rock; In a peaceful and safe world, its was nothing but anarchistic, but he valued the words much over the sound, each song inspired by something in their lives and with that emotion comes the music.

The more they poured into each craft, the more power the song had, but it always took time and many efforts before they can present...it had been three years since any of them played on stage; but they were ready to tour for the first time.

Razor stomped impatiently, waking up Waves and managing to nearly dislodge the gear stuffed in the net compartment above them, Dark laughed under his breath, the shock had jarred him from the deep daydream he was wrapped in; slowly he sank back into it while he heard but not listened to his friends argue, his mind already entangled in its fantasy. The stage was dark, shadows cast in the glow of moonlight with white flashes on stage... The drum starting a slow beat and rising with the gentle stings of a guitar to warm up...its quite unnerving and he felt the hair on his neck stand up...nerves begin to make his hoof shake as it raised...in an instant his heart raced and the lights came on and flooded the stage while a guitar set off a flurry of cheers and he saw himself grab the microphone-

"Yo!"

Dark gasped sharply and looked around, unsure where he was for a moment...

"You alright?" Razor asked.

It sounded like the train had stopped, Dark yawned and stretched him stiff limbs; rubbing his eyes once he stood up.

"Yea, I'm fine. Just had a intense dream." He said with a smirk. "Now you guys ready to kick it?"

Razor got that gleam in his eye again and jumped up, grabbing his guitar case first and the extra amps all wrapped in once giant  bag. Waves was second, grabbing the broken down drum set and grunting when he took the weight on his back; Dark grabbed his things and followed quickly, the stage parts not putting a damper on his mood with their weight..for once he stepped off the train and looked at the bustling streets of Ponyville...he knew that this was the start of something amazing.

"Alright guys...we look for a good spot and start advertising. Razor..no scaring the locals."

That got a chuckle from Waves...Razor ignored the comment and started off on his own, dead set on getting a crowd to see him play until his hoof started bleeding. The tune from the first song started playing in his head, scratchy and grainy guitar chords that echo in a uplifting pace until the rift hits it full circle and the drummer kick it into gear and-

"Watch out!" A female voice cried.

Razor shook his head and jumped to the side just in time to avoid a colorful cart and pink pony pushing it along the streets.

"Sorry, just there's these new guys in town and I haven't even said hi yet! Who does that?! Scatterbrained Pinkie..." She said to herself as she walked on by..Razor smirked and walked with her...a brilliant idea forming in his head.

"Actually, I think you're looking for me and my friends..." He said with a smug grin.

Pinkie stopped and whipped around, a look of shock and a little self-disappointment...here she was thinking she could find these ponies...and turns out they found her! Pinkie Pie rushed the short stallion and got inches from his face with a giant smile on her face.

"Hi! I'm Pinkie Pie!! I just wanted to say welcome to Ponyville!!! I normally catch newcomers quick and greet them, because who doesn't want to be welcomed into town the second they get off the train?! I mean...I know in other town, normally nopony actually welcomes you but that's because they don't have me to welcome them, I would if I could but the train costs and time it would take........"

How...is she still talking......

Pinkie was pacing around Razor explaining the finer details of her talent of welcoming...and being a nuisance. Razor was trying to find a way out of the conversation as hard as he could. On any other day, he would have already told the mare to shove off in as many colorful ways he can think of..but today he needed to make a good impression...just one bad look could make this concert a no show. So he took a risk and interrupted her in the middle of her rant.

"Woah woah...I think I get the gist of what you're selling...but I got a job to do and I don't want to be..late or anything...."

It was a bold faced lie, Razor put on the friendliest smile he could muster without gagging and quickly made an exit before the pink mare could come up with another reason for him to stay and listen to her drone...

Unfortunately...

Pinkie is not the one to take hints...Immediately following him as he sets up posters; getting Razor to start regretting his decision on the first stop rather than the eager feeling he had when they stepped off the platform.

_ _

Razor was advertising...which meant it was up to Dark and Waves to find a spot to set up. Somewhere open...somewhere away from the town to eliminate the risk of getting shut down by the police and an angry grandpa complaining about the noise...Somewhere like the farm!

An iron gate with intricate patterns of its heritage as an apple farm in plain view. The two walked the dirt path to the house and admired the seemingly endless tracts of apple trees.

They walked onto the creaky porch of the farm house, Dark knocking on the door and hoping dearly that the owners were friendly enough to go with this crazy pitch. The door opened and a yellow filly looked up at the two, a confident smile replaced quickly by a shy grimace..apparently she was expecting somepony else.

"Uh...hello sirs...we normally have apples for sale in the town if that's what you're looking for."  She said with a timid tone creeping into her voice.

Dark raised a brow but quickly cleared his throat to speak.

"We're nit intrested in apples, unfortunately.  I was hoping to speak to the uh...land owner about a deal."

This made the filly even more curious than afraid of the two grim looking stallions.

"Well...my sis is in the barn, you can talk to her if you like."

Dark nodded and Waves offered a kind smile, the filly relaxing and smiling brightly back. "Thanks." Dark said without hesitation, departing quickly for the bright red barn on the hill with Waves only lingering a moment longer to offer a more formal thanks...a small bow and words parted before rejoining his leaders side; always the formal one. Dark looked at his friend with a 'Really?' glare and Waves just let out a curt laugh.

"You can take the colt out of Canterlot..." he said as he suddenly slid over to shove his tall friend in jest.

Waves stumbled and laughed a bit more, returning the gesture in kind and sending Dark a few feet stumbling, even eliciting a small yelp of shock.

"And where did you come from again?"

Dark quickly trotted to catch back up and rolled his eyes.

"I was raised in the woods by a pack of timberwolves. Accepted as one of their own and a born killer of small children."

Waves let out a quiet laugh and soon it became a bit more of a guffaw. Laughing until they reached the barn doors and forcing themselves to calm back down and get back into professional mode, the look they needed was professional yet friendly; a certian charm might not hurt either if this "sis" could be wooed into a deal by any chance...

Dark took a deep breath and knocked on the barn door and pushed it open, calling out to avoide being called an intruder.

"Excuse us...we were told that the owner of this farm was working in here?" He shouted while looking around, wandering in carefully.

From the rafters came the call back, thick southern accent. The outline of a large hat and strong earth pony could be seen from the shadows of the rafter beams.

"One moment, sugercube!"

The sound of a hammer banged a few times and suddenly the figure jumped from one beam to the next, hopping down to a upper level and leaping into the air to land on a hay pile with praticed speed. Tan and golden mane, covered in dirt and hay with the smile of a hard working farmer on her face as she stepped forward. In one mption she shook all the sweat off her head and shifted the side her long mane hung on, examinging them both as she walked up.

"Sorry bout that, leaking roof needed a little fixin'." She said with a matter of fact but cheerful tone, proud of her hard work.

Dark glanced pver at his friend to get an idea of what approch he wanted to take, only to find out that he was on his own seeing as Waves was compleatly stone faced and an almost unnoticeable shade of red taking to his face. Dark had to continue, no matter how much he wanted to jab at his friend..

"Hello, my name is Dark Chords and my friend here is Rythmic Waves. We hope to make a deal where we can use a small plot of land...to have a rock concert."