Magic Song

Chapter Twenty-One: From the Heart

Corey was beginning to feel exhausted.

He knew it had only been about ten minutes, but their shows were usually pretty short, and it felt like they’d gone through their setlist at least twice (even though it had probably been more like one and a half times). As much as they played and sang, though, Laney’s fight was starting to lag. Corey could see little cuts all over her coat now, the red blending with the green in a grotesquely Christmassy way, her mane blowing out of control in the breeze she herself had created. The music that had been leaking so beautifully out of her was warping into something confused and jumbled.

The girls had tried to help, honestly they had, but fighting an ultra-powerful god-pony without any magical amulets or swords of justice was proving kind of difficult. They’d gotten Trina and the colts, but then Trixie had quickly imprisoned them, one, two, three, four, in thick clusters of crystal and left them to struggle as she returned her attention fully to Laney. “Had enough yet, music mare?” the blue unicorn hissed.

Laney didn’t answer, but the blue of her eyes dimmed a little, and Corey realized that he’d stopped singing. Was there even anything else to sing? They’d exhausted everything with lyrics pretty darn fast.

Small plants shaped like the ends of drills exploded up from the ground beneath Laney. She dodged, but not enough, and one of them caught her in the leg. Corey gritted his teeth as Laney let out a horrible scream, dipping in the air and coming to hover just above the dirt. My magic isn’t powerful enough to help, and our songs aren’t doing anything anymore! What do I do?

Laney wasn’t moving, and Trixie knew an opening when she saw one, because she let out a pulse from her horn that wound a thick green vine around Laney’s neck. Laney gasped for air, her eyes fading from blue to their usual green. "C-Core," she choked, reaching a foreleg out…

There was a wild look in Trixie’s eyes and a triumphant grin on her face. "I told you there was no way you could beat Trixie," she breathed, "and now she'll make sure there's no coming back for you!"

Corey felt himself running, suddenly, toward Trixie and Laney in the center of the clearing, his own horn charged with a pale blue aura. I’ve lost her once, he thought, realizing as he did how cliché it sounded, and I’m not gonna lose her again!

At the same time, Twilight was streaking toward them from the direction of the portal. The two locked eyes, then leapt at Trixie, catching her by surprise. The pale blue mare let out a shriek as Corey shot his tiny energy beam at her, allowing Twilight to knock Laney out of the vine’s grasp. With her magic the violet unicorn pulled the green one out of the way and yelled, "Don't just stand there, get her!" at Spike and the girls, who were shaking free from strands of burnt plant fiber.

Applejack was the first to charge, followed by Rarity. Corey didn't stop to watch them, though. He galloped over to Twilight and let her drape Laney across his back, feeling the little mare’s heart beating in time with his own.

“Did you learn anything?” he asked, keeping an eye on the renewed battle. It probably wouldn’t be long until the others needed their help again, though he did see Kin and Kon holding huge sticks again.

Twilight nodded. “Yeah, and not what you’d expect, either. I talked to Princess Celestia in there, and she gave me some really important information we need in order to stop Trixie’s plans.”

Corey stepped a little nearer to the edge of the clearing and knelt, sliding Laney onto the cool forest floor and letting her massage her throat for a moment. “Tell me.”

Twilight quickly explained where she’d been and what the Princess had said. Corey listened as well as he could; he could feel Laney twitching next to him, coughing lightly, breaths coming hard and fast.

“So we were right to get the Elements, anyway. All we need is a heart-song and we’ll be golden,” Twilight finished, eyes blazing almost as brightly as Laney’s had.

“A heart-song is one you write as you go, right?” Corey said hesitantly. He’d been cool with his plan up until now, but honestly, this was a major setback. “Uh, not to burst your bubble, but I am literally the worst at lyrics. I’ve never written anything good in my life.”

“There isn’t time to worry about it,” Twilight said. “I need to go help with Trixie until the Elements get here. I’ll send Kin and Kon over and I know you can work something out. You have to.”

Corey sighed. “Okay. We’ll do our best.”

“That’s the spirit.” Twilight flicked her tail and ran back into the fray, ripping a branch from a tree as she did.

Corey turned to Laney. “How you doing, fella?”

"Let me rest…" Laney mumbled. "I feel dizzy…and sick…"

“I know,” Corey said. “But try to get your energy back up. We have to do this one more time. And I…” he gulped, “will have to write some, uh…killer lyrics.”

“Won’t be able to take them from Trina this time,” Laney murmured.

“Plus they have to come from the heart, and I’m not sure Trina has one.” A large boom resonated through the clearing, courtesy of Twilight; Corey flattened his ears. “But the thing is, even the crappy lyrics I’ve written took ages to think up! How am I supposed to make some pop out of my brain in just a few minutes to fight Trixie?”

Kin, his stick broken down to barely a twig, came rushing over with Kon at his heels. “Twilight just gave us the rundown!” he said, tossing the twig into a nearby bush. “She says you have to make up some lyrics – and fast!”

Kon stepped tentatively over to Laney. “You okay?”

“Don’t feel too great, thanks,” the unicorn said, squeezing her eyes shut. “Just almost died for the second time today.”

“We don’t have time for this!” Kin blurted out, running in place nervously. “Try to think of some words, any words!”

“Uh…I wish away my wishes!” Corey yelled, panicking.

“Already wrote that one,” Laney said.

“Giggle…at the…ghosties?” Corey tried.

“Not even ours!” shouted Kon.

“Come onnnnn!” shrieked Kin.

“I am trying! It is hard to think under this kind of pressure!” Corey snapped.

“You’re usually great at thinking under pressure!”

“This is different!” Corey glanced up again at the battle – Applejack was distracting Trixie with her vine lasso while Twilight and Rarity sent magical blasts at the pale blue mare – and then squeezed his eyes shut. Come on, Corey Riffin, think think THINK…

His mind stayed, unfortunately, blank.

Rarity sent another spear of blue energy at Trixie, then came galloping over to the band. “Twilight told me everything! How’s the song coming?” she asked as she hefted a good-sized rock in her aura.

“It’s not,” Kin growled.

“I suck at this, okay? Lyrics are something I suck at,” Corey retorted. “I’m trying my best though. Now shut up and let me think!”

Rarity lobbed the rock in the general direction of the action. “Try to calm down! I understand, a heart-song is no easy task. You need have the right emotions at the right moment to make one happen. My friends and I are only so good at it because we’re connected to the Elements of Harmony,” she said, giving Corey a quick pat on the shoulder. “You just give it a few moments and something’s sure to come along.”

“Yeah, Corey! You’ve got this!” Kon cheered.

Corey felt a trickle of sweat drip down his face and glanced back at Laney. She was smiling crookedly at him. He could tell she was still hurt, but she was trying to encourage him nevertheless.

“You can do it, Core,” she whispered. “I believe in you.”

Corey strained his brain again, but nothing jumped out at him. He kept getting distracted by other thoughts; thoughts of being utterly destroyed by Trixie, thoughts of submitting to Trina’s diabolical will, of never playing music again… Sweet mother of grilled cheese, how the heck am I gonna do this?

“We’ll try to help, dear,” Rarity said quickly when Corey stayed quiet. “Twilight said the song had to come from the heart of the band, so try thinking about what’s at the center of the band that connects all of you!”

Something sparked in Corey’s mind. A memory, of himself and Laney sitting on a bench in sixth grade. Hey, Core, she’d said. What if we started a band?

“I’ve got it,” he said.

Kin jumped about ten feet into the air. “Got what?! Whatdidyoufigureout?!?”

“It isn’t about the heart in a mushy way,” Corey said, eyes glittering, “It doesn’t mean that the lyrics have to come from my heart. It means someone else. The actual heart of Grojband.”

Rarity’s jaw dropped. Corey swore he heard an audible squee as she realized what he meant. “Of course! The pony – er, person – who brought your band together, and who keeps you in harmony together as a team!”

“There’s only one person like that,” Corey said, turning to his best friend. “Only one person I trust to be like that. So…Lanes, do you have some lyrics in you?”

Laney coughed in surprise. “What? Me?” she said. “Look at the condition I’m in! There’s no way I could sing a note, let alone a whole song. And lyrics? Forget it!”

"Lanes, we can't do this without you," Corey said firmly. "This fight's not over yet. Our world needs you! Plus, everyone else is getting creamed out there.” (He was right; Applejack was wheezing so hard she had to stop fighting, Fluttershy appeared to have fainted, and Kin’s stick was now basically a twig.)

Laney blinked and stared Corey down with the look she usually used to try to convince him that one of his plans was bad. "No you don't. Didn't you see me out there? Trixie already beat me. I'm useless."

“No, Lanes! You’ve actually held out the longest against her!”

“What if I’m worse at lyrics than you are? What if I just make Trixie stronger and she demolishes the universe instead of conquering it?” Laney was on the verge of tears. Corey was suddenly aware that he’d never seen her really cry. “I can’t do it. I just can’t…”

"Yes, you can," Corey said firmly. He felt butterflies in his stomach. Laney hadn’t ever looked at him like this either, like she didn’t have any confidence left, and it was painful. She looked washed out and wrong and sick. Corey’s brain was working faster than he could process, trying to make sense of it all but failing horribly, so he fell back on the one thing he’d secretly wanted to do for only the gods of Mount Rocklympus knew how long:

He brushed a lock of Laney’s mane from her injured face and kissed her, tenderly, on the lips.

When they broke apart, Corey’s face and neck were bright red, and Laney seemed like she’d become out of focus with the rest of the world. One of her cuts had opened back up, and Corey bent down to brush a trickle of blood away with his foreleg. "You know…it isn’t just the universe that needs you right now,” he murmured in Laney’s ear. “I need you.”

Laney gulped, eyes shut again, hiccupping a little like she’d lost the knowledge of how to breathe correctly. For a second Corey thought Oh no, I broke her. Then she calmed down, and something was different – Corey wasn’t sure what.

"Corey…"

"Yeah?"

The eyes opened. They were glowing blue.

"I need you too."

Corey couldn’t look away. At least, not until Kin let out a little, awkward cough. “Not to ruin the moment, but SHE’S KIND OF BEATING THE OTHERS!”

Sure enough, Trixie had Fluttershy, Mina trapped in a web of pink lines, and Applejack was hanging by her hind legs from a tall tree. Twilight was still engaged in a magic duel, but Trixie clearly had the upper hand and was using twists of rainbow to stab at Twilight, laughing like it was some kind of irony. What’s more, Trina had woken up, and stood groggily next to Trixie as if trying to look intimidating too.

“It’s all right! I’ll hold them off for a few more minutes. You four collect yourselves and get a good song going, all right?” Rarity said, stamping her hoof like a bullfighter and hefting her rock. “Once the Elements get here we’ll have an even bigger advantage, so let’s make every second…” The unicorn paused, looking straight into Corey’s worried eyes, and took a deep breath.

“Corey, I – I’m sorry I’ve come on so strong to you this past week. You and Laney…are perfect for each other…” Her own eyes welled up with tears, and she took a deep breath, composing herself. “And I apologize for not realizing it sooner.”

With a loud CRUNCH, Rarity uprooted another rock and began to run back to the still-raging pony battle. “Good luck!” was her final comment before she was out of earshot.

Corey watched her go, then smiled as reassuringly as possible at Laney. “Do I need to set up an inspirational hum for you?”

“No thanks,” Laney said, rolling her eyes. “I just, you know, hope I’m good enough.”

“You will be,” Corey said, cutting her off. “The fate of the multiverse rests in our hooves, but Grojband never quits –”

“Ah-ah-ah!” Kin said. “You were just about to give up yourself!”

“Okay, Kin…” Corey facehoofed. “Now is not the time! I’m trying to give a speech!”

“Point taken.”

“Okay, the thing is, we all have stuff we’re good at. Kon’s a drummer, Kin’s a genius, and I’m the front man. But Laney – you’re the heart. You keep us together, even when we fight or get a little too crazy. And, well, we love you for it.”

Laney’s eyes flared blue. “Um, I…”

“I already had this conversation with you, like a minute ago. So, let’s do this!” Corey said, putting a hoof on Laney’s shoulder.

The green mare hesitated, then nodded, once, a smile and a blush creping across her face at the same time. “Yeah. Let’s shred.”

“And have no fear, because we’re here to back you up!” Kon said excitedly.

Everyone looked at Corey. “Well?” Kin asked. “Are you going to say it or not?”

Corey knew exactly what they were talking about. He grinned. “By the power of rock –” A flare lit up the clearing just about as brightly as it had lit up when Laney had first appeared, but the light was blue and came distinctly from the band instead of all around. “GROJBAND UNITE!”

When the light faded, Corey realized that there was a weight hanging from his chest. He looked down and saw a shiny red guitar, just like the one he had at home, strapped onto his shoulders. “Sweet!” he said, looking around. Kin’s keyboard, Kon’s drums, and Laney’s bass had also appeared around them. “I wasn’t sure that was gonna work – but it did!”

“Do your thing, Laney!” Kin said, setting his hoof on the keys and proving that he could play chords just as well as if he had hands.

Laney gulped and pulled a pick out of the guitar’s neck with her magic. “Hey, Trixie!” she called, her voice sounding way more confident that she probably was. “Leave them alone!”

“Or what?” the blue mare taunted. Even Rarity and Twilight were trapped now, bridled by rainbows and struggling as hard as they could. Trina smirked next to her and echoed, “Yeah, or what?”

“Or you’ll be in for a world of hurt, ‘cause I’m not letting you walk free this time!” Laney strummed an E minor with the pick, and a huge blue sound wave rippled out and distorted the air. “Ever heard of a heart-song?”

“Of course Trixie has, but those are one of the most pathetic forms of emotional magic. They’re unreliable, never happen when one wants them to, and aren’t a weapon whatsoever! Surely you don’t think a heart-song is going to stop Trixie from her conquest of the multiverse?” Trixie cackled.

“Not the song, exactly,” Laney said, strumming the guitar again. Corey could tell she was sort of improvising, but she didn’t falter. “More like the lyrics. Count us in, Kon!”

The drummer, somehow clutching the sticks easily in his Earth pony hooves, pounded out a simple starting beat. “Go, Grojband! You can do it!” Rarity called encouragingly, until Trixie silenced her with a zipper to the lips.

A soft tune wormed its way into Corey’s brain. It sounded familiar, though he couldn’t quite place it, but somehow he knew exactly what he was expected to do with it. Heart-song magic, maybe? he thought as he began to pluck out the melody on his guitar with his own pick. Whatever it is, it’s probably best to roll with it. Especially since Kin’s playing along too. And Kon’s drum line is getting stronger…

“Louder,” Laney whispered out of the side of her mouth to the band, then turned back to Trixie. The unicorn had conjured a humongously poofy couch to recline on, apparently thinking that the song would be a laugh before she finished taking over every single world ever created. Trina clambered up next to her, ponytail flapping in the breeze that had started up.

Laney’s eyes still shone blue, and the rich tone of her bass joined the rest of the band’s playing. There was something comforting about the music, even though it was upbeat; it made Corey want to dance, but just sit and listen at the same time. He poured all his love for Grojband, for his new pony friends, for Kin and Kon and Laney into his playing until he was totally into it.

It was still a surprise to him when Laney started to sing.

“It might sound like a lie, but I have never been too brave

I hide behind a tough-girl shell, my reputation’s saved

I’m always searching for a way to let my true self free

Something has been missing but I’ve finally found the key…”

Corey saw Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie peek their heads out of yet another bush, their eyes wide. Belatedly, he looked down and noticed that arcs of blue electricity and sound waves were pounding off the instruments as the band played. Trying to ignore it, he mouthed to the hidden ponies, “Get over to the others while she’s distracted!”

Laney kept singing: “Dear Princess hear my song

I’ve righted what was wrong

I’ve found a place to turn

I told the truth

So lesson learned…”

Rainbow’s eyes widened, but she and Pinkie didn’t stop moving stealthily toward the portal, a number of golden necklaces hanging around their necks and a big crown thingy perched on Pinkie’s head. In contrast, Corey slid back into the music’s spell, letting the tune and lyrics wash over his senses as both intensified. Chorus must be coming up –

“I can’t let me hold me back anymore

Love and friendship mean so much more

Those you care for will always hold your hands

They’ll follow you and all your crazy plans

And so, with the magic that I’ve gained

Now I say:

You no longer reign!”

A larger wave of sound blew out of the drum set on the final word, pushing Trixie and Trina deeper into the fluffy confines of their couch. Across the clearing, the ponies (except Mina) were all wearing their necklaces and surrounding the portal, waiting for the right moment to harmony-blast it. He wasn’t sure how Pinkie and Rainbow had freed them from Trixie’s traps, probably something to do with the Elements, but it wasn’t important right now. Corey slid his hoof down the neck of the guitar and moved back into the melody of the verse.

“I might get scared and try to slip behind my fragile mask

To be myself is such a difficult and daunting task

But my friends will always be there to help me when I’m down

They’ll pick me up and dust me off and wipe away my frown.”

Laney tossed her mane and fixed her glowing blue eyes on Trixie, who seemed to be frozen in her seat. “Dear Trixie did you know –

To learn you have to grow

You can’t just have it all

Pride always comes

Before a fall…”

Corey played a huge and impressive riff, then realized where he recognized the song from. Laney had been playing the instrumental version in the hot garage just before they’d arrived in Equestria.

“I can’t let me hold me back anymore

Love and friendship mean so much more

Those you care for will always hold your hands

They’ll follow you and all your crazy plans

And so, with the magic that I’ve gained

Now I say:

You no longer reign!”

Corey found himself remembering more things as he played, like all the times he’d had his own crazy plans and Laney had supported him, even when the idea had seemed kind of stupid. He remembered when they’d been little kids and goofed off together in Laney’s front yard, when they’d played their first gig at the Ashton Town Talent Show, when they’d pretended to be in love so that they could play the wedding at Barney’s Cake Barn...

He remembered how he felt when that stuff happened, but he remembered how Laney felt too, as if the music was letting him know her true emotions. She was always the tough one, which was why they picked on her and called her a dude all the time, but she had a soft and brave and loving center that would never allow her to let the band down. Her determination washed across the clearing like a wave of water.

“Honesty, kindness, generosity–”

Corey gasped aloud. When Laney sang the words of the bridge, the necklaces around the ponies’ necks – the Elements of Harmony – began to light up. Applejack’s was glowing orange, Fluttershy’s pink, and Rarity’s purple. Their eyes were glowing too, exactly the same color as their necklaces.

“Joy and laughter, loyalty…”

Pinkie and Rainbow Dash’s necklaces lit up. Behind Corey, a thud and a sound wave erupted from Kon’s drums; when the unicorn turned, he saw that Kon’s drumsticks and eyes were glowing blue.

“Magic, brains, the skill to lead,

And the heart that beats for all of these…”

Twilight and Kin’s Element and instrument exploded with light, and then Corey felt an odd sensation around his own eyes, as if everything had dimmed and the only thing that mattered was continuing to jam out on his guitar. Another huge flash of light radiated out from Laney’s body, along with a rush of music in different languages and styles that, rather than hurting the tune, added another beautiful layered tone to it all…

“Dear Princess, I just wanna say

We’re gonna fight the Grojband way!” Laney shouted.

“I can’t let me hold me back anymore

Love and friendship mean so much more

Those you care for will always hold your hands

They’ll follow you and all your crazy plans

And so, with the magic that I’ve gained

Now I say:

You no longer reign!”

With the last word, a column of rainbow light burst out of the Elements of Harmony and slammed into the portal, wrapping around it and then zapping over to Trixie and combining with the dozens of sound waves that already held the mare captive on her couch. If Corey’s eyes weren’t alight, he didn’t think he’d have been able to watch as the rainbow encircled the blue unicorn, dancing when the music made disturbances in the air and whirling like Laney’s tornado from less than an hour earlier.

Trixie rose into the air within the confines of the rainbow. Corey could hear her screaming, but only faintly through the music and wind. He realized that he’d stopped playing the guitar, but the music had continued.

He had no time to wonder about it before the portal shattered.

Liquid glass and pure auric magic went flying, and the trees bent backward under the force of the wind. Corey’s emotions were vascillating again, from elation to fear to rage and back to elation again. He felt the light in his eyes flicker.

Then, as if caught by a fast-moving camera, time seemed to stop. The rainbow uncurled from Trixie and disappeared back into the Elements, while the music quieted into a whisper of notes before flickering out altogether. The clearing was silent.

Trixie lay in the middle where the poofy couch had been, horn smoking and eyes leaking gritty, sooty tears.