The world keeps spinning 'round, but I'm hanging by a moment here with you

“Where are they?!” I asked myself.  The rest of the band was usually late for rehearsal, but we had to hit the road that night for Ponyville, and I didn’t want us to leave later than 10 o’clock.  Marching band made me an extremely punctual pony (early means you’re on time, on time means you’re late, and late means you’re in trouble), but that also made me incredibly annoyed when others were late.  Fortunately, my annoyance didn’t last long, as I saw the rest of the band coming up in our carriage.  I trotted up to the carriage so they could see how disappointed I was.

Jade, our unicorn singer and guitarist, was pulling the carriage with his green coat and white mane glistening with sweat.  It was obvious that he wasn’t used to pulling it.

“No wonder you three are late,” I said as the twin earth ponies Bench and Brody hopped out of the carriage, “Jade’s pulling.”

“Well, excuse me for not being as fit as all of you.  I’m only pulling because I lost a bet against these guys.” Jade said with some frustration.  In order to avoid any more conflict within the band, I decided it was better not to ask what the bet was.

“To be honest, I was surprised that he was able to pull it without using his magic.” Brody said as he took a sip of water.  In response, Jade grabbed the bottle with his magic and poured it all over Brody’s head, drenching his brown coat and dark brown mane.

“Try to make me pull that thing again, I dare you.” Jade growled, as the twins laughed again.

“Too bad we all have to take turns pulling the carriage when we leave tonight after rehearsal.” I said.  Jade frowned, but understood as we all had to pull our weight as a part of the band.  “Speaking of rehearsal, it should’ve started five minutes ago.  Let’s go, we have a concert tomorrow night.”  I said as I flew into the auditorium to warm up.

As I was practicing a certain part of one of our songs, Jade and Bench tuned their guitars, while Brody set up his bass.  After everypony warmed up, I told them the setlist for our concert after the Wonderbolts show.

“Since we’re opening with it, let’s practice “All In”, ok?” I said, and the others nodded in agreement.  “Jade, start us off.  One, two, one two three four…” and Jade started playing.  The song went along smoothly, until Brody’s strap broke, resulting in him dropping his bass.

“Uh, whoops?” he said.  I shook my head, as we had no time for these problems.

“Whatever, let’s just go to the next song.” I said.  Fortunately for us, we flew through the rest of the setlist without any problems.  It was about time too, as my black and yellow mane was starting to hang in front of my face thanks to all the sweat.

“Alright guys, let’s get some grub.  We need the energy to travel tonight.” I said, and we all got some food and sat down to eat.

“Since we’re staying in Ponyville that night, where are you all staying?” Jade asked.  “I’m staying with my sister Lyra.”

How convenient, I thought.  Too bad my closest relatives are near Fillydelphia.  “I’m staying with a pen pal of mine, Trey.  I’ve just been really excited to meet him.  Good thing this opportunity came up, I guess.” I said.

“That’s actually really cool.”  Bench said.  “But I’m simply looking forward to all those single mares that will be in attendance.” Then he started grinning.  “Hopefully I’ll get some action tomorrow!”

“Come on, seriously?” I said as I shook my head and laughed.  “You and I both know that you get friendzoned all the time.  Good luck with that!”

Jade then spoke up and said, “This is coming from the pony that hasn’t had a relationship since high school.”  The twins then started laughing.  While that was true, I never really tried for one either.  I chuckled anyway and continued speaking.

“Anyway, I think I’ll enjoy my time at Trey’s house, as we’ve both been anxious to meet at some point, and this is the perfect opportunity.”  I said.

After finding out that the twins were staying with a cousin of theirs, we started packing our stuff into the carriage.  I volunteered to pull first, and thanks to a spell Jade cast, I could actually pull it despite all of the equipment plus the three ponies onboard.

“Alright guys,” I said.  “Next stop: Ponyville!”

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After an entire night of travel (and each of us pulling for a few hours at a time), Ponyville finally came into view.  While it wasn’t the smallest town we’ve ever performed for, it certainly wasn’t the biggest, which would probably give us a cozier environment than normal.

Good, I thought to myself.  I like it when concerts are more personal.  With that in mind, that only made me more excited for the show that night.

After about ten more minutes, we stopped at the stage just outside of town and unpacked our music equipment.  While it wasn’t desirable after several hours of travel, we decided it was better to do it now than wait until just before we performed.

Once the last amp was taken off the carriage, we went our separate ways to meet family and (in my case) the ponies we would be staying with.  While reading the directions Trey had given me, I wasn’t surprised to notice the cottage outside of town and by the Everfree Forest, considering his wife’s love for nature and animals.  I also wouldn’t find it surprising if Trey himself had become a bit of a nature-lover as well.

Fortunately, I didn’t have that much time to wait, as the cottage appeared before my very eyes as I crest a nearby hill.  Animals of all kinds were scurrying about, making a clearer path to their front door.

What a house!  I thought.  I think I’m going to enjoy my time here.  I knocked on the door a few times and patiently waited a few moments for somepony to answer the door.  Not surprisingly, the door opened slowly, and I saw a pair of light blue eyes partially hidden behind a pink mane that looked terrified to see a stranger like myself.

“Um….hello?  Who are you?”  the shy pony said nervously.

To show that I was a friend, I gave her a warm smile and said, “Hello, Fluttershy!  I’m Trey’s friend, Kirakuk, and I believe he said I could stay the night after my concert?”  Her eyes lit up, showing that she was expecting me to come, just like Trey said.

“Oh, welcome!  Trey said you would be coming!”  Fluttershy said with more confidence.  “Speaking of Trey, he should be home in about twenty minutes, as he’s still at the school.”  I nodded as I took a seat and started patiently waiting for him to come home.  The house was surprisingly quiet, save for a few birds chirping and a few squirrels skittering around.

Their foals must still be at school as well.  I thought, which explained how quiet the house was.  Fortunately, sitting in near-silence was a favorite pastime of mine, so I wasn’t complaining.

Right on time, I heard hoofsteps approaching the door.  I stood up and got ready to meet my longtime pen pal.  As he opened the door and saw me, he paused and smiled.

“I’ve been waiting for you…” Trey said in a playfully menacing voice.

“So have I.” I responded.  “It’s good to finally meet you!” As I said this, I trot over to him and we bumped hooves, marking our first real meeting.