WARNING: This chapter contains many links to many different songs. I own none of them, as I am merely using them for 'entertainment' purposes. They all belong to their respective owners. In addition, the image used was made by DarkWolf-BlackHeart on Deviantart.

" --Ey Zephyr! Wake up!"

"Wah!" Zephyr bolted upright before his mind had a chance to catch up, resulting in a minor headache.

Burst gave him a worried look. "You alright? You looked like you were having a nightmare."

Zephyr did his best to suppress a shudder before nodding. "I'm fine now..."

He had been getting a few nightmares from time to time ever since everything crashed down on him involving his former friends. Usually they were tame, if not similar to the nightmares had when Zephyr first moved to Ponyville.

This one, however, involved the concert and was pretty bad. The band had failed and everypony in the crowd, including Zephyr's own band mates and mother, singled him out for the punishment. He was to be tortured in front of an entire audience for the amusement of all watching.

The last knife stroke came from Rainbow Dash, her now blood red eyes narrowed in a murderous glare.

"Take this you freakish traitor! Nopony wants you around!"

Right before the knife sliced Zephyr's throat open, the scream echoed in his mind. The same scream that has haunted the dreamscape from the beginning of his memories. After suppressing another shudder, Zephyr managed to climb out of bed with a pained look. This got worried glances from Electron and Iron though they didn't touch upon it.

Snare and Strings had gone ahead to the concert area to get things set up, with Burst leaving shortly after waking Zephyr up. Iron and Electron were still getting ready, with Iron doing what appeared to be morning stretches while Electron was doing up her mane and tail. Right underneath her horn rested a pair of blue shades.

Zephyr couldn't help but stare at them. "Those glasses look familiar..."

That startled Electron a bit before smirking at Zephyr. "You've met Vinyl Scratch then?" That got a nod. "She's my cousin. I got these from her as a birthday gift a while back. I initially didn't think too much of it, but now they're my favorite pair of shades to wear. She thought I was going into trotstep as well... imagine her surprise."

Zephyr gave her an amused look before heading into the bathroom. his mane was a rats nest and the bandages were getting a bit too loose for his tastes. Luckily I brought a roll of bandages and my own mane brush. Wouldn't want to look like I crawled out of a rock slide in front of the audience.

Despite his nightmare, Zephyr was only uneasy about the concert. Ponies don't resort to physical torture for others who have failed miserably, though there have been rumors of griffons doing it in the neighboring kingdom.

After sorting himself out, Zephyr decided to head out before Iron and Electron. According to many other bands, band members are harder to recognize if they travel individually. Plus Zephyr wanted to make sure I didn't run into anypony from next door.

Especially Rainbow Dash. After the nightmare he just had, Zephyr felt he might suffer a full mental breakdown if she confronted him.

The clock in the lobby is currently telling 9:15AM. The concert officially starts at 9:30, so Zephyr flew to the building where his band was going to meet. The organizers were nice enough to have a message board showing which bands are in which building. Upon getting to the back of a stage, he was immediately greeted by Harpsong and Snare.

"Hope you don't get cold hooves there, Zephyr." There's Snare being snarky again. She admitted to not being a morning pony before, so he let it slide.

"It just feels a bit... surreal that I'm here."

Harpsong shakes her head in amusement. "That was my feeling when I first stepped back-stage as a singer as well. Don't worry, you'll get used to it."

"Speaking of things to get used to..." Burst walked over with a stoic face. "Apparently guests with VIP back-stage access won't be let back here until the first song from each of the bands has been sung. A bit odd."

Realization dawned on Zephyr as he grimaced. I forgot I gave out VIP tickets to a certain group of six mares and three fillies before the whole birthday incident.

"By the way, Harpsong, where's the rest of your band?" Strings was tuning his electric guitar for the first song they were going to play.

She snorts in a mix of laughter and exasperation. "They tend to be a bit lazy. They'll show up, don't worry." She turned to look at her son. "And don't worry, Zephyr. Just believe in your ability to sing and everything will be fine."

"I hope so, mom... I hope so..."

Harmonecence's first song was quite the leading act for the little building. Zephyr was already beginning to doubt his capacity to perform properly after such a performance, even if it was his mother's band.

During the song, Zephyr learned about the other two bands in this building. One was called Disrupted, who played mostly heavy rock. The other was Linkin Colt who did rock amongst other genres, making Zephyr wonder why they got stuck with them in this building when they had such diverse music. Both were popular bands and, judging by all the screaming fans on the other side of the curtain, everypony attending most likely expects a good show.

While Zephyr was only slightly nervous before, now his nerves were completely wrecked. The thought of messing something up during a song tormented him as he started shivering in a corner again, much to his own band's worry. Zephyr was able to do one thing to help calm himself down: get a disguise that prevented anypony from recognizing him. From what others have said, it wasn't uncommon to have newer singers feel like they needed said disguises to perform, which was why they seemed to be plentiful.

While the 'wing glove' was a bit small for Zephyr's oversized wings, he tolerated it since he knew he wouldn't find a more fitting one fast enough.

The other singers managed to somewhat reassure Zephyr as well. One of them even said, "It's everypony's first time at some point." Another even got a laugh out of him when he said Zephyr should "work against your fears and rile up the crowd." Zephyr didn't even know why he laughed at that, but it helped his nerves even more.

Burst gave Zephyr a pat on the back as Harmonecence finished their song. "We're up next, Zephyr. Just remember the lyrics and we should be fine." There was a five minute reprieve between songs, with a huge lunch break between the first four and the second four.

Snare smiled savagely. "Let's give 'em a show they won't forget!"

Apparently the advice about swallowing your fears and going all-out had great rewards, especially if one were feeling metaphorically suicidal about it. Zephyr was introduced as the "new singer" and right as the song started, he managed to rile up the crowd. Saying he was incredibly happy with the result was a massive understatement.

It was also an understatement for Harpsong too. As soon as Zephyr went backstage after the song finished, she had him in a massive hug while crying, "I'm so proud of my little colt!" It certainly got a laugh out of all the ponies present.

Snare was pretty ecstatic herself. "I told you we could do it!"

"You didn't sound EXACTLY the way Clear Octave sounded, but it gave the song a bit of much needed freshness." Electron huffed out with a slight dead-eye look. Apparently she still had some stage anxiety which gave her shortness of breath after the fact. Disrupted had just started their song.

Burst smiled at his band mates. "If we ride this success, we'll be among the best of this concert. Let's keep it up!"

"Hate to burst your guy's bubble, but we still have a long time before our next song." Strings shrugged when the rest of the band gave him a flat look.

"Buzzkill," Zephyr snarked, clearly feeling fine. Strings merely shrugged again.

Burst shook his head. "Regardless, there's going to be plenty of VIP's who will want to meet you now, Zephyr."

This made Zephyr lock up with a horrified look of realization and Snare facehooved. "Here we go again... feather nuts."

"I-I'm... sure they'll be, um... happy to see me." All he got were a bunch of disbelieving looks.

As Linkin Colt finished up their song, the backstage hooves mentioned that, while band members were free to explore the park, VIP's will be let into the back now that the first part of the day is over. Zephyr managed to excuse himself and exit the building without anypony else seeing him, even with his garish disguise on.

He didn't dare try and go back to the hotel. Zephyr recognized the risk of losing track of time and being late to the second song. Plus, he didn't want anypony to recognize him at any point on the way there or back.

As crowds were skirted, Zephyr was relieved to find a small, secluded section of the park a fair distance from the concert buildings that nopony else seems to acknowledge. Flying into the tree, he perched himself to observe the crowd from afar. I have a pretty good view of the concert area from here.

As Zephyr observed the distant crowds, his feeling of lonely emptiness began to take hold again. Most of them look... happy. Especially when they're with friends. He suddenly felt a longing for something he knew was long gone and won't come back.

If only I wasn't so blind...

There were a few things Zephyr noted to himself. First thing noticed was Rainbow Dash looking for somepony or something with Scootaloo at her side, though they disappeared quickly. Then he noted a small brawl between what appeared to be fans of two different genres. Manehatten ponies aren't the friendliest of ponies even on a good day, but sheesh... spare a thought for everypony around you.

As time went on, Zephyr did see the other mares from Ponyville even though they all looked like they were casually trotting to a destination. None of it was noteworthy except --

"Hello there, Mr. bird."

-- Zephyr realized he never saw Fluttershy during that whole time.

She would be the only other pony to come to a place like this...

Zephyr tried staying still so she wouldn't see or hear him, but the perched branch conveniently decided to break and send him tumbling to the ground, inciting a surprised squeak from the only pony to see it. Because he still had his whole disguise on, Zephyr did his best to pretend he was a stranger. "Ah... ahaha, my apologies young miss. I had thought to observe the crowds from a quiet spot, but I seem to have chosen a poor branch to perch on."

"O-oh, it's no problem. Really! I understand the need to get away from crowds." Fluttershy thought the disguised singer's voice sounded familiar, but presumed it rude to try and pry.

Doing his best to ignore the knife in his heart, Zephyr bowed to her. "I thank you for your consideration. Alas, I must head back to discuss with my fellow band members our next song. It would... please me greatly if you listened to our next song."

Before Fluttershy could respond, Zephyr took off back to his building, thankful that she didn't recognize him. He knew, deep down underneath her kind yet shy exterior, she resented him thoroughly for his actions that day.

I couldn't... I can't... do it...

Zephyr simply sat in a nearby bush for most of the lunch break until his fear was replaced with self-loathing. "All I can ever do... is run away anymore. Perhaps that's all I've ever done my whole life..."

Letting out a depressed sigh, Zephyr went back inside to find that all the VIP's have been ushered out for the next part of the concert. Going into the bathroom to get all the twigs out of his disguise, he got a good look at himself.

"I need to re-evaluate my life. I can't go on like this. Question is... will I ever have the courage to do so?"

Oddly, it took slightly longer for all the bands to finish up their second songs. Zephyr secretly blamed it on his sense of time being skewed by depression, though he made sure he didn't show it to his band mates.

Harmonecence had played the complete version of 'My Immortal'. While Zephyr thought that only him and the band knew who Harpsong was singing it for, since everypony thought she sang it for her dearly departed husband. When Zephyr got looks of sympathy from everypony in the building, he knew at that moment that they knew, which slightly depressed him more.

Then Three Night's Grace went forward with the song 'Pain'. Zephyr decided not to rile up the crowd like he did last time and put a bit more emotion behind it than intended, but it seems to have gone over well with fans of the original song. The only one who gave Zephyr a worried look this time was Iron.

Disrupted went forward with their song titled 'Darkness'. Zephyr noticed all the bands were going for a more depressing song in the second round. Why... do the lyrics feel like they pertain to me?

"Slowly walk away to breath again... on my own."

Finally, Linkin Colt ended the second part with the slightly more upbeat 'Somewhere I Belong'. In a way, it was a relief that it was more upbeat since it made Zephyr feel slightly better, yet once again he felt it was mirroring the current state of his heart.

"Just stuck, hollow and alone, and the fault is my own and the fault is my own."

Why do I feel like everything pertains to me? Now I'm egocentric?

When the VIP's were let backstage again for the last time, Zephyr disappeared again. The other bands were pretty understanding about him not wanting to meet VIP's, going so far as to say that was just a bad case of "shying away from the attention". When Zephyr got back, they made mention of a Pegasus mare and her little sister, who kept asking about the singer of Three Night's Grace. The filly had looked deeply disappointed and even saddened when they kept telling her they had no idea who or where Zephyr was, with the older sister huffing in frustration and disappointment.

I've got a pretty good guess as to who those two were.

As the night began, courtesy of the Princes of the Moon, all of the equipment was moved to the biggest stage in Times Circle for the final phase of the concert. All the bands were to sing either a new song or a very recent one. Three Night's Grace was doing the former, though others like Linkin Colt have the latter in mind.

Electron peaked out of the curtains. "Looks like an even bigger crowd than I imagined. Heck, I can even see Princess Luna waiting for the final round."

Burst looked at the rest of the band. "We've come this far, gang. We give them our A-game and show them how we do things around here."

Snare snorted and waved her hoof dismissively. "That goes without saying. That little pep talk was pretty lackluster. Final act got you nervous, second-in-command?"

That earned a glare at her. "I've never had a song judged by a PRINCESS before. Of course I'm nervous, though I can't imagine how Zephyr is feeling right now."

"Y-yeah... I just hope that it passes muster..."

Strings looked around. "With so much variety in what genres ponies like, I can see the results being either mixed up or incredibly close together."

Electron sighed. "Let's just try our best. That's all we really can do..."

Zephyr merely nodded with Iron. Probably the hardest part of this phase of the concert is waiting, as we were to be the closing song for the night and the anticipation get most ponies more than the actual action.

Burst and Zephyr connected eyes and both nodded at each other. During Zephyr's quick rewriting of the new song, he found out that Burst had similar issues with being "unable to feel" due to depression in the past. In addition, despite her attitude, Snare also times where she felt, as she put it, "Un-equine". As such, the band really appreciated the fact that Zephyr made the song as homage to everything everypony present went through.

I'm sorry, Grandpa... for what I've done.

Zephyr made sure to keep his feelings in stock, hoping it would make a bigger impact on the song.

As Disrupted finished their new song, Zephyr noticed that none of the bands said what the name of the song was, nor were they announced. As such, he could not remember what they were singing as well as he would like, though the curtains having greater muffling capacity might have a role in it as well.

In addition, if the band permitted, the lyrics of the song were projected on the screen above and behind the band playing. If said band was feeling extra artsy, they could have 'intermission pictures' showing during instrumental sections to give the audience something look at while listening. Zephyr, unsure if it'll give his identity away, knew exactly what to display during his song's instrumental.

Burst sighed. "Well... this is it guys. Now we go for broke."

"And now, the final song of the night. Ladies and gentlecolts, Three Night's Grace!"

My band members had already taken positions. Zephyr slowly came out of the back as the song started.

As Strings kicked in his guitar, Zephyr once again brought up his memories of the days after his grandpa's death.

Feelings of anguish from when he died and his inability to feel anything for a time. From the loss of his friends and his own failure to recognize so, leading to his current downward spiral.

Zephyr did his best put all these emotions into his voice as he began to sing.

Here's to being equine
All the pain and suffering
There's beauty in the bleeding
At least you feel something...

I wish I knew what it was like
To care enough to carry on
I wish I knew what it was like
To find a place where I belong

BUT!

I am machine, I never sleep
I keep my eyes wide open
I am machine, a part of me
Wishes I could just feel something

I am machine, I never sleep
until I fix what's broken
I am machine, a part of me
Wishes I could just feel something

Here's to being equine
Taking it for granted
The highs and lows of living
To getting second chances

I wish I knew what it was like
To care about what's right or wrong
I wish someone could help me find...
Find a place where I belong

BUT!

I am machine, I never sleep
I keep my eyes wide open
I am machine, a part of me
Wishes I could just feel something

I am machine, I never sleep
until I fix what's broken
I am machine, a part of me
wishes I could just feel something

It wasn't supposed to be this way
We were meant to feel the pain!
I don't like what I am becoming
Wish, I could just feel something...

During the instrumental, words with mechanical imagery began projecting onto the screen that Zephyr chose for the song.

If I truly cared about you...
Why can I not feel you there?

As the sky falls and stars dim
Why did I never show that I care?

When all is said and done and the cards are played in cowardice

If Friendship is magic...

Then I am powerless

Not long after the final image was shown, Zephyr finished the song:

I am machine, I never sleep
I keep my eyes wide open
I am machine, a part of me
wishes I could just feel something

I am machine, I never sleep
until I fix what's broken
I am machine, a part of me
wishes I could just feel something

As the song slowly ended, Zephyr noticed some of the front row ponies had tears streaming down their faces or looks of anguished realization. he had to force back a sob and prevent himself from crying as well. When the song completely ended, the audience burst into cheers as the band slowly made our exit.

"Quite the song there. Sounded a lot better than practice." Electron wiped her brow as Burst and Zephyr look at each other again.

"It's because we put forth real emotion there." Was all Burst said before falling silent again. Zephyr simply nodded in agreement.

Snare looks around at the other bands before looking at the curtain. "All we can do now is wait..."

As all the bands gathered on the rather big stage, there were murmurs among the crowd as to who would be the winner. Standing here now was probably the most nerve-wracking thing for Zephyr thus far when dealing with the concert.

"Her royal highness, Princess Luna, will now announce the contestants places." Zephyr stiffened at the caller's voice recognizing it was the moment of truth.

The Princess walked onto the stage with a piece of parchment in her magic grip and named off bands starting from last place. Oddly, Linkin Colt was only in fifth while Disrupted was in fourth.

One of the country bands managed to get third place. While Zephyr knew his band was in the safety zone long ago when it came to the booby prize, the anticipation of who got first place between Three Night's Grace and Harmonecence was causing a bad case of the jitters.

"...And lastly--"

Lastly?

"--In first place is a tie between Three Night's Grace and Harmonecence!" Zephyr merely stood there, dumbfounded as most of the Circle burst into cheering and applause.

This prompted a group hug in the band as well with a still stunned Zephyr. Electron was squealing in delight. "We did it! We did it!"

Snare had a confident look while proclaiming, "I told you we didn't need to worry!"

Princess Luna had handed off the mic to the original caller. "Well that was a result nopony expected. Would Harmonecence and Three Night's Grace please wait in the back, we wish to discuss the rewards with you. As for everypony else, hope you had a great time! See you next concert."

"I think I'm dreaming over here." Was all Zephyr could say in a daze as both bands were back behind the curtain.

Snare gives him a evil grin. "Want me to see if you are?"

"NothanksI'vechangedmymindI'mprettysureI'mwideawake." This got a laugh out of everypony present before Princess Luna and another pony walked backstage. They all bow to her as she stops in front of the group.

"Rise. Both bands hast proven themselves to be exceptional, howev'r, the reward is anon problematic as 'twas 'riginally intend'd to be reward'd to only one."

Zephyr noticed her chewing a bit on her cheek, slightly frustrated. I guess her old, archaic dialog is tough to break out of.

Burst stepped forward before anypony could say anything. "As honored as we are to tie for first place your highness, we feel that the second place prize would be better suited for us. Our current equipment is still relatively new and we would not benefit enough from it." He chanced a nervous grin before adding, "although... could we get something other than a boat as a reward?"

Luna looked at Harpsong before nodding. "But of course, we wouldst be more than happy to compensate. Besides, a boat is a bit of a fooleth's prize." She shoots a withering glare at the pony beside her, who flinched in fear from it.

"Are you guys sure? You did work pretty hard for the spot." Harpsong gave the fellow musicians a worried glance.

Snare waved a hoof nonchalantly. "Nah, I don't feel like picking up new duds until my current ones are thoroughly worn. Uh... no offense, your highness." She got a small nod from the lunar Princess.

"Then... perhaps an extra sum of bits instead? I can't really think of anything else at the moment." Zephyr hazarded a guess that the pony with Princess Luna was the organizer for the whole event. He looked kind of like a Canterlot noble, complete with an over-stylized dress coat.

"That will work just fine. Besides, I'm sure all of us need some rest after such a big day." Snare apparently wanted things to get moving. She may not show it, but she gets dead tired like the rest of her band mates.

"Then I'll arrange for the extra bits to be delivered to your respective addresses in a few days. Ah, and before I forget." The organizer gives all of the ponies present one golden ticket each.

I'm suddenly reminded of a bad song I heard when I was younger.

"Tickets to the Grand Galloping Gala, as promised. These ones double as a two-way train ticket, you merely have to show them to the conductor and you'll be set. I'll see you all tomorrow night." With that he takes his leave with Princess Luna bidding her own farewells before leaving as well.

"Well everypony... today was hectic as all Tartarus, so we best go back to the hotel to rest up for tomorrow." Burst punctuated the statement with a yawn.

"Aw come on, don't be so wimp-wim--" Snare yawns as well. "Never mind..."

Harpsong gives a soft nod to everypony. "Have a good sleep and see you again tomorrow... hopefully."

Zephyr made sure to give her a hug. "G'night mom. And don't worry, we'll be there."

At least THEY won't be there... I hope...

Author's Note

Here is the reason why I changed Zephyr's band. Not only would Three Day's Grace be easier to listen to, but I feel "I Am Machine" can be more related to on a broader scale.

Once again, all songs used are copyrighted by their original owners. I own nothing.