MLP-Kiss Me Slowly

“Alright, everypony, settle down, settle down,” I said into the mic. “The racing may be over but you’re in for a treat tonight. Tonight, and tonight only, we’ve got a show for ya!” The crowd cheered. “And guess who’s playing tonight?! Yell it out for me, fans!!”

“THE GARAGE STALLIONS!!!” the crowd yelled.

“You got it!!!” I yelled. “And here we go!!” I turned around, facing my friends. I then whispered to them, “You ready for this?” They all nodded, grinning like cats. “Alright, hit it Tak! ‘Rooftops’!” He started strumming the opening cords to the song, and the crowd already started going wild as the light shone on him. He kept playing as I put on my hat, adjusted it, and then started up with the lyrics as a second spotlight shone down on me;

“When our time is up…

When our lives are done…

Will we say we’ve had our fun?

Will we make our mark… this time?

Will we always say…. We tried?”

Gold began to echo me as the chorus started, and the bass and drums kicked in, causing a huge cheer from the crowd.

“We’re standing on the Rooftops,

Everypony scream your

HEART OUT!!!

Standing on the Rooftops,

Everypony scream your

HEART OUT!!!

Standing on the Rooftops,

Everypony scream your

HEART OUT!!!

This is all we got now,

Everypony scream your

Heart out!”

The crowd was going absolutely wild as I then winked at a couple of mares in the front row, causing them to go even crazier and bounce about, screaming my name. I smiled as I continued the lyrics.

“All the love I’ve met…

I have no regrets…

If it all ends now….

I’m set…

Will we make our mark… This time?

Will we always say… We tried?

We’re standing on the Rooftops,

Everypony scream your

HEART OUT!!!

Standing on the Rooftops,

Everypony scream your

HEART OUT!!!

Standing on the Rooftops,

Everypony scream your

HEART OUT!!!

This is all we got now,

Everypony scream your…

I held the microphone to the crowd as they sung the last two words “Heart out”. I smirked crazily as the guitar solo started up, and the crowd went crazy as Takashi then flipped his knife out of its sheath and started using it as his guitar pick. I laughed as the solo began to come to an end, and Shadow slammed the last few drum beats as I started the bridge, with Gold and I alternating lines.

“We’re standing on the Rooftops,

Waiting ‘til the bomb drops!

This is all we got now,

Scream until your heart stops!

Never gonna regret,

Watching every sunset!

Listen to your heartbeat,

All the love that we found!

We’re standing on the Rooftops!

Waiting ‘til the bomb drops!

This is all we got now!

Scream until your heart stops!

Never gonna regret!

Watching every sunset!

This is all we got now!

ALL THE LOVE THAT WE FOUND!!!!”

I cut into the last line of the bridge as I sang the last lyrics of the bridge, with the crowd screaming our names.

“SCREAM YOUR HEART OUT!!!!

SCREAM YOUR HEART OUT!!!!

“SCREAM YOUR HEART OUT!!!

SCREAM YOUR…”

“Sing it with me crowd!” I yelled as the drums slammed. The crowd joined in as I started up the final chorus.

“Standing on the Rooftops,

Everypony scream your

HEART OUT!!!

Standing on the Rooftops,

Everypony scream your

HEART OUT!!!

Standing on the Rooftops,

Everypony scream your

HEART OUT!!!

This is all we got now,

Everypony scream you…”

Takashi played the final notes on the guitar, and I walked over to the keyboard and finished the song, and the crowd went absolutely wild, applauding, whistling and jumping about, screaming our names. I laughed.

“Haha, if you liked that, everypony, then you’re not gonna want to leave, ‘cause that was just our first song! We’ve got plenty more where that came from! So stick around, you are in for an absolutely killer night!” The crowd cheered as I turned to my friends and motioned for them to start up the next song.

About an hour or so later, after playing several more songs such as “Somepony to Love” and “Say Anything” by Queen and Good Charlotte respectively, the sun had set almost completely, and we were getting tired and needed a rest so we decided to take a break. We were going to play one more song and then have an intermission.

“Alright everypony, this will be the last song for about a half hour, ‘cause believe it or not, we’re getting a little tired up here,” I said. “But we’ve got one more song to play for you colts, fillies, stallions and mares out there. I love this next song, and I’m sure you will too! Sometimes I wonder where I would be now with the one pony that I love, but sadly, I don’t have a chance with her. But appropriately, the song is titled ‘Where Would We Be Now”, and it’s by my all time favorite band, Good Charlotte! And here we go everypony!” The crowd cheered as I started up the piano solo in the beginning, with Shadow tapping his cymbal every now and then, and I started the lyrics.

“I smile, you laugh, I look away…

I sigh, you ask me why, I say…

It’s okay and I’m just feelin’…

Down…

Your hoof on mine, I hear the words,

‘If only love had found us first…’

Our lives they would be diff-erent!

Ooooh…”

The crowd was already swaying along to the beat of the song as I played the next chords on the piano, then started singing again.

“So I stand...

And wait…

I am just a man…

OOOOOHHHH!!!!

Where Would We Be Now, baby!

If we’d found each other first?

Where Would Be Now, baby?!”

The crowd was cheering as I kept playing, as did the others. I started singing again.

“And now I must confess!

That I’m a sinking ship!

And I’m anchored by,

The weight of my heart,

‘cause it’s filled with these feelings…

But I keep my true thoughts locked!

Beside my heart’s black box!

And it won’t be found,

It won’t survive through the smoke or the wreckage…

So I crash…

And burn…

I’ve got a lot of things to learn…

OOOOHHHH!!!!

Where Would We Be Now, baby?

If we’d found each other first?

What would you do now, darlin’,

If I’d said these simple words…

I’ll wait!

I’ll wait!

As looooong as you want…

Where Would We Now, baby?!!”

The crowd was going wild as I yelled to them, “Sing it with me crowd!” I then sang the next lyrics, and the crowd sung with me;

“I’ll wait!

I’ll wait…”

The crowd cheered louder as the guitar came back in, loud and strong, as I continued the lyrics.

“Where Would We Be Now, baby?

If we’d found each other first?

What would you do now, darlin’,

If I’d said these simple words?

I’ll wait!

I’ll wait!

As loooooong as you want!

Where Would We Be Now, baby?”

I played the last few notes on the piano, singing out the last few lyrics.

“I’ll wait!

I’ll wait!”

Blades began playing the outro on his guitar, and I sang the last four words.

“I’ll wait!

I’ll wai-aaaiiiittt…..”

The song finished, and I hung my head slightly. The crowd was cheering so loudly it was nearly impossible to hear anything else, but as I looked out to the crowd, I saw two familiar adventurous hats right in the front. I knew who those two were immediately.

“Swift? Applejack?” I yelled out over the noise.

“That’d be us, pardner!” I heard Swift’s voice yell back. I then realized that noise was dying down, and made the last statement before the intermission.

“Alright everyone, that’s the last song for right now, we’ll be back in thirty! This is the Garage Stallions first ever show, LIVE at Import Knights, and I hope you ponies are all enjoying it out there!” The crowd cheered as I motioned with my head to Swift and Applejack to follow us backstage. I then put the microphone back in the stand as the others put up their equipment as we headed backstage. I headed over to the small gate that had been installed to keep out unwanted ponies from backstage and saw Swift and AJ already over there, and I opened up the gate. “What are you two doing here?!” I said excitedly.

“Well, to be honest with you, we came because word spreads fast and we heard you and your band were performing here tonight. I see we made it right before the break, so we heard that last song. A great song if I must say so myself.”

“You’ve got a great singing voice there,” Applejack remarked.

“Thank you,” I said, taking off my hat for the moment and smoothing out my mane with my hoof. “So what have you two been up to?”

“Oh, not much,” Swift said. “Just the usual stuff. Y’know, apple bucking, racing, winning, all of that.”

“Haha, we had some excitement here today,” I said. “The 5-0 showed up for the last race of the day. Totaled a car and almost arrested the wrong pony.”

“Wow,” Swift said, whistling. “Sounds like an exciting day indeed.”

“Ah’ve gotta admit, Ah don’t reckon Ah’ve seen this many cars at an event other than at Swift’s race group,” Applejack said.

“Yeah, we’ve got all sorts of cars here,” I said, chuckling. “’Course, they’re different than what Swift here drives.”

“You’ve got that right, but Celestia, does your S13 haul!” Swift said.

“Yeah, I’ve tuned it up for the best performance I can get for it,” I said. “Anyway, so you two weren’t here for most of the first half of the show?”

“Yup,” Swift said. “We tried to get here quicker but we didn’t find out ‘til it was practically nightfall.”

“Ah, well, you only missed the opening song and a few others,” I replied. “You would’ve loved the fifth song we played; it was “Somepony to Love”.” I smiled and sighed a bit. Swift smiled as well and looked at Applejack, who was also grinning.

“You’re darn right,” he said. “I know I’ve got my somepony to love, and she’s right here.” Applejack blushed slightly as he kissed her.

I don’t know why, but just seeing the two of them kiss pulled at my heartstrings. My spirits were immediately doused a bit, though I tried not to make it noticeable. However, Swift noticed almost immediately after the two came apart. “Hey, you alright there pardner?” He thought for a moment. “And come to think of it, what did you mean when you said you had no chance with the one you love? She back home or what?” I sighed a bit.

“Swift, can I talk to you about that in private?” I whispered to him.

“Naw, come on!” he said. “AJ doesn’t have to go! Just tell us both, come on!”

“I seriously need to tell you this in private,” I said. “You don’t understand.”

“Oh, it can’t be that bad!” Swift said. “Unless something already happened between you two… but I just can’t send Applejack away!”

“It’s okay,” Applejack said, winking at me slightly. “Ah get it. Ah’ll go over there and talk to those fellers for a bit while you two chat.”

“You sure, AJ?” Swift asked.

“’Course Ah am!” AJ replied. “Now come on, don’t keep him waiting. He looks like he needs to get this off his chest, ‘fore it gets to be too much.”

“Alright,” Swift said, though sighing a bit. He and Applejack kissed again, and once again this pulled at my heartstrings. AJ then headed over to where my fellow band members were, and Swift turned back to me. “So why did this have to be so private?”

“Well…,” I began, “you know how I said I didn’t have a chance with the one I love?” Swift nodded, raising his eyebrow. “What I meant is that there’s no way that I’ll ever even be able to get a moment with her.”

“Well, who is this that you’re talking ‘bout here?” Swift asked. I took a deep breath. “I mean, really, she can’t be that hard to get a hold of, can she?”

“Would you change your mind on that last statement if I told you that the one that I love happens to be…” I swallowed and started sweating slightly as I prepared to say her name; “…Princess Luna?”

When I mentioned Luna’s name, Swift’s eyes bugged out and his jaw dropped a bit. He then regained his composure but still looked shocked.

“You’re kiddin’, right?” he asked. I shook my head sadly, and Swift whistled.

“See what I mean?” I said.

“Well, it ain’t gonna be easy, I can guarantee you that,” he replied. “But I know that you’ve got a chance, and a better one than anypony else. You’ve just gotta be yourself; that’s how I won over Applejack.” I looked past Swift and he looked over his shoulder, and we both watched Applejack talking to Gold and Shadow as though they were old friends for a few moments. Swift then turned back to me, but I still was doubtful.

“So you really think that I should just be myself and go for it? Be completely straightforward?”

“Exactly. You just need to go with your gut feeling sometimes, my friend.” I felt a spark of hope go through my body but it quickly went out as a thought came to me and I hung my head in defeat.

“…But she’s royalty. I’m just a racer.”

“Look, Silver, sometimes you’ve just gotta realize this; it doesn’t matter who you are. What really matters is how you feel and what you think you should do.” I felt that spark of hope go through my body again, but this time it stayed. I picked my head back up.

“You’re right. I’ve just gotta go for it; give it my all, like with everything else I do.” Swift beamed.

“See, that’s the spirit!” Swift said. “Just keep up that attitude and be yourself; before you know it, you’ll have won her heart!” I smiled widely and I felt a tear of joy run down my muzzle.

“Thanks, Swift,” I said, slightly choked up. I put out my hoof.

“Anytime,” he replied, smiling as we brohoofed. I then checked the time and saw that we’d already been on the break for 25 minutes, so I had five minutes to get a drink, regain my composure and head back out onto the stage.

“Well, you and AJ had better get back to the audience,” I said to Swift. “Don’t want you two to get caught back here, ‘cause technically you aren’t even allowed back here. ‘Course, I can pull some strings if you do get caught…”

“Naw, I get it,” Swift said as AJ finally walked back over and stood next to him. “We’ll get on back out there. Thanks for letting us come back here, though.”

“Haha, no problem, my friend,” I said. Swift tipped his hat to me, and I nodded and wished Swift and Applejack the best as they headed back out to the main area.

Five minutes later, we were back on the stage, getting everything ready for the next song, but as the others tuned their instruments again I kept the crowd entertained.

“So, how many of you out there have enjoyed the show so far?!” I yelled, and the whole crowd cheered. “Well, that’s great to know, ‘cause we’ve got at least another hour of amazing music, and you’ll love our closing tune for the night!” I looked back to Gold and Blades, and they nodded at me. “Well, it looks like everything’s ready to go! So here we go again, fans!” I turned and nodded at them, and we started up our next number on the list; “Welcome to My Life” by Simple Plan.