The Takeover

Four Days Later, General Vida's Office after training, 7:30 P.M.

Khan

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" I ask Nova as we climb the stairs up to the indoor balcony that leads to Vida's office. I'm not completely on board with the plan yet.

"I don't see what could go wrong," she replies with a confident smile. "Just give her a chance. If we feel she can't do it, then we'll find somepony else."

"I'm just afraid that she will be too distracted by our presence, is all."

"Well, like I said, if she doesn't work out, we'll find somepony else."

We get to the door and I bring my hoof up to knock on it, when it opens up, revealing a bright eyed Vida. "Oh hey! Didn't think I'd be seeing you two here," she says cheerily, almost dropping the tin foil pan she is holding.

"That's quite the coincidence, considering," I say with my best charming smile.

"Oh, I was about to go find my opponent in the elections and wish him good luck at the polls." I give her that 'uh-huh' look and she continues, "But that can wait, come in!" She turns around and flies up the stairs, me and Nova following close behind her. As we reach the top, Vida flies over to her desk and sets the container on it. She turns back around and asks, "So, what's up?"

"Well, we've got some goods news and some better news," Nova says to her, muffling her excitement to a level that wouldn't be noticeable if you weren't looking for it. "Which would you like to hear first?"

Vida face morphs into what I can safely assume is her thinking mode and says, "I've always been the 'save the best for last' type, so let's hear the good news first."

"Alright," Nova says, clearing her throat. "We are going to continue making music and plan on performing our first song as a duo during the anniversary festivities."

Her face went from thinking to shock to excitement. "That's awesome! I'm definitely going to be there!" She stops for a second. "Can you guys get me a front row seat?"

"That's where the better news comes in," Nova begins, giving it a second pause to let Vida's excitement build up. "We want you," she starts dramatically letting the excitement on Vida's face intensify, "to play your cello in it."

"What?" Vida says, probably thinking she heard us wrong.

"We want you to play the cello in it," I reiterated.

"You want...me?"

"Yes," Nova and I say simultaneously, looking at each other afterwards.

"Of course, we've gotta know that you're going to be...talented enough to do so," I say, giving her the hint that this is a one time opportunity. She needs to give her all.

"You guys can count on me! I wouldn't miss it or mess it up for the world!"

"Well, do you have time to audition? Like, right now?" Nova asks her. "We've got very little time to come up with your part. We've got the lyrics already we just need to know you can play the part."

"Oh yes, I can tryout right now! I've got plenty of time!" She exclaims with glee, running over to her cello and picking it up off the wall. She flies slowly to her desk and sets the cello up against it. She opens a drawer on her right and pulls three different bows out of it, staring down one in particular. She puts the rest of the bows back in the drawer and closes it. She opens the drawer above the last one and pulls out a black, plastic cuff and sets the bow in an indentation on the top of the cuff and twists a handle on the other side to lock it in.

"Anything you want me to play in particular?" She looks mighty confident. I hope she is as good as she thinks; as good as I hope.

"Actually, yes," I say, shimmying off the backpack on my back, letting it fall to the floor. I unzip it and pull out a manila folder that contains two sheets of music that I could just barely translate into something readable by a musician that plays by sheet music. I grab it up with my teeth and give it to her, me meeting her amber eyes for a second. She gave me this funny look, perhaps just a nervous one, but odd nonetheless.

She plops the folder down on her desk in a well practiced motion that causes the folder to open on its own. She looks up and down it for a moment. She turns to me and ask, "Did you write this?"

"Yeah..." I respond, a twinge of nervousness now taking over me.

"How does a band as brilliant as Stormborne so bad at writing sheet music?" I feel slightly insulted by the question but at the same time, I don't use sheet music at all. None of us did.

"We play by ear, not sheet music. I was surprised I was able to get that much."

Nova looks over at me for a moment before turning back to Vida.

"Okay," Vida says. "This is really simple looking."

"Then it shouldn't be a problem," Nova says with a sarcastic smile, urging the batpony on. "Let's hear it."

She clears her throat, which seems pointless as she won't be using her voice. She pulls the bow up to the ready position and begins to play. That cello couldn't have been cheap. It sounds...angelic. As she pulls the bow across the low string, I could feel shivers going up my spine. She keeps playing through, not missing a note and making it sound better than I had imagined it. I look over at Nova, her jaw slightly hanging open. Vida continues playing, closing her eyes and letting her body sway back and forth as need be to get the bow across certain strings at certain times.

Minutes pass as she plays through all of the sheet music, her holding out the last low note, slowly dragging the bow across the lowest string.

Vida opens her eyes and looks at me and Nova's blank expressions. "Was that...good enough?" She asks. Nova and I exchange a quick glance.

"That was fantastic," Nova says simply, not even uttering a drop of emotion in the statement. I hadn't doubted that Vida would be at least mediocre at it, but that really was tremendous.

"You are definitely on board," I say to her.

Her face lights up as she sets the cello and the bow against her desk slowly and neatly. Which is how she catches me off guard with a hug that nearly takes me off my hooves. "Thank you!" She exclaims with outgoing joy. She lets go of me and flies over to Nova, also nearly taking her off her hooves.

"Alright, it's settled then," I say proudly. I'm extremely happy that Kicker and Dusty suggested for us to continue with a our music production, as the new found faith in the project soars, my hopes only get higher.

"That brings us to something else," Nova starts looking over at me. "We also need a piano player. Would you happen to know anypony around here that plays piano?"

"Well, there's this one pony, although I don't know his name, but he usually plays the mini grand piano in one of the bars on Main Street," Vida says, putting her hoof up to her chin.

"Is he good?" I ask excitedly. If we could persuade this pony into playing for us, we would be ready to roll. It wouldn't take long for us to get used to playing to each other I'm sure.

"From what I've heard just flying by, he sounds decent," Vida says with uncertainty. "I've never really stopped to listen."

"Well, I guess that is where we are going next," I say, a smirk trailing up the side of my face.

<--------o------O------o-------->

Walking down the streets without it's usual bustling activity feels off. Apparently at night the streets die down to just a few ponies spaced out here and there. The moon now hanging high, Nova, Vida, and are making our way to the bar. Hopefully, this pony is good enough to be the pianist for our show because it might be rather hard to find another.

I'm sure that Nova and Vida could pull it off with just a cello but I would rather them not have to do a two pony show. The song is going to be in AAA form, so there isn't a chorus, it just runs straight through like a poem. Nova should be just about done with the lyrics for it and I know they are going to sound great.

Vida stops in the middle of the red brick road and turns to her right. "This is it," is all she says. I look up at the glowing green and purple sign that reads Cayman's Bar and Casino.

"We only have thirty minutes before we have to get back to the barracks, so we need to make this quick," I say, making sure that everypony heard me. Nova nods and Vida just stares blankly at the door to the bar. "Are you alright?"

Realizing I was speaking to her, Vida looks at me with a blank expression and then shakes her head and poses a nervous smile. "I'm fine but I think I'm going to wait out here."

"Is something wrong?" Nova asks her concernedly.

"Oh no, it's nothing," she chuckles nervously. "Go ahead and find him. Time's wasting, ya know."

I don't buy the lie about it being nothing but she is right, time is wasting. I walk to the dark oak doors and pull on the handle with my teeth, opening it and motioning with my wing for Nova to go first.

"Thank you," She says sarcastically.

I make my way around the door and jump in before it closes back. "How come every time I try to be a gentlecolt you have to remark with sarcasm?" I ask her playfully. It's true though, she always does that.

Her lifts and runs under my neck and caresses my face. Nova still facing forward says, "It keeps things interesting, of course."

I release a muffled uh-huh and continue through the door. When we walk through another set of doors, our hooves are met with soft carpet and an aura of purple in the air. To the right is a bar, with every bar stool empty besides one. Straight ahead is a turntable that nopony is using at the moment and to the left is a stage that has a solid white, baby grand piano on it. The stage is lit with a single stage light, with a closed red curtain in the back.

The entire place is empty besides the bartender and the one unicorn at the end of the bar. I guess it's time to break the ice.

I walk over to a stool two over from the other pony and take a seat. Nova sits down next to me looking around with uncertainty. When we used to play at small bars when Stormborne first started out, she didn't like to be in there any longer than she had to. As soon as the show was over she went out the backstage exit and waited on us on the outside. I don't understand her problem with them but it doesn't matter, I'm not much of a frequenter either.

The earth pony bartender walks over to us, jerking her head to the side to get stands of her green and yellow mane out of her eyes. Her coat is a tan color and her eyes matches the green in her mane. "What can I get you two tonight?"

I respond quickly before Nova could say anything about it, "I'll take a scotch, neat." Nova punches me in the arm and gives me that 'what are you doing' look. "It's fine," I whisper, only loud enough for her to hear.

"And what can I get you dear?" The bartender says looking over at Nova. She doesn't like drinking or the idea of somepony else doing it. Her father was a drunk who left after finding out her mother was pregnant which is why she never met him, her mother making sure that he never met her. Maybe that's why she doesn't like bars. However, she especially doesn't like me drinking because I have a very minor liver problem and she knows it. I just do it so little that I'm not really worried about it.

"I'm fine," Nova says with an agitated look on her face. Thankfully the bartender hadn't noticed her tone and continues about getting my drink.

The bartender sets the glass on the counter and slides it over to me softly. I stop it with my hoof and look up at the bartender. "We were hoping you could help us find somepony," I tell her nonchalantly.

"Well, who are you looking for?" She asks.

"The pony who plays the piano around here," I say, her facing giving that little tick that gives away the fact that she has the information.

Before the bartender responds, the pony that is sitting two seats from me pipes up. "That would be me," he says with a raspy voice and looks over at me, his dark green eyes making a stunning visual contrast between the purple haze that the room is engulfed in. "Who's asking?"

That has to be him. Only somepony who is the pony in question would ask something like that. I reply, "Just a few fellow musicians."

"What's your names?" He asks without emotion.

"I'm Khan," I tell him and then lean over so he could see Nova sitting behind me, "and that's Nova."

"Never heard of ya," he says with finality and turns back around and continues sipping on his drink. A rough silence settles in the room making the conversation a tad bit awkward.

"Sir, we are working on a new song that we were hoping you could-" Nova begins before being cut off by the pony.

"Not interested," he says without looking over at us. I stand up and look over at Nova, "Let's go." I pick up my glass with my teeth and gulp the tasty drink down, giving that really warm feeling against my throat. I sit the glass back down on the counter and take my leave with Nova in tow.

As we walk back through the door with the lowering sun beaming right into my eyes causing me to squint, Vida floats over to us with another pony right behind her and asks, "Any luck?"

"We found him," I tell her, clearing my throat to get rid of the little bit of rasp that the scotch had left behind. "He's a dick though."

She had a look of understanding, probably having a good idea about what happened. "Luckily for us, I just so happened to find another piano player," Vida says, making no effort to hide her excitement. The pony behind her shifts nervously but still put on a smile. "Khan, Nova, this is Zyrah," she says. "Zyrah, this is Khan and Nova," she finishes, pointing her hoof at us respectively as she introduces us.

"I know who they are," Zyrah says nervously.

"Do you now?" I ask with a hint of curiousness. "Then who are we?"

"Sweet Celestia," Zyrah says with a sigh. "You are just as ignorant as I thought you'd be."

"Oh really?" I ask sarcastically. This pony is already making me tick.

Right as he is about to reply, Vida interrupts with, "Both of you knock it off. Why do boys always have to butt head trying to impress the ladies." That comment left me with a deep sense of embarrassment, Zyrah's face turning red as well. Nova puts her hoof against her mouth trying to suppress a snicker, but I still hear it. Along with it being obvious that she thought it was funny because I could see the edges of her lips curled up in a smile.

We all stand there quietly for another moment and then Vida says, "Well, Zyrah, let's go to your place so you can audition."

He looks around at all of us and says, "Let's go."

<--------o------O------o-------->

Well, I guess I can finally say I saw the other side of the base now. What is directly below Vida's office is a vast downhill expanse of houses. It's like the rich people neighborhood of Canterlot except nicer and with a full view of the ocean. A favela of beautiful houses adorn every inch of the mountainside with red brick roads winding down all the way to the base of the mountain. At the very bottom is a massive dock containing a variety of massive cargo ships carrying many large, multicolored containers.

It doesn't seem like too much activity actually went on here besides that of a neighborhood. We continue walking down the road in silence. The sun has disappeared behind the mountain, the stars becoming visible.

The base seems more like a city now that I've seen this neighborhood; it has a market, a government, an import and export dock, and a neighborhood. It really is more like a city than a base.

Zyrah stops at a house to our right. Walking through the rot iron gate, he continues up the steps of the beautiful orange brick home. We follow him and once we are on the orange and brown tiled front porch, he opens the door and we enter.

If I thought the outside was beautiful, it doesn't even compare to the inside. The dark oak wood floors span the large living room, a dining table to the right with expensive looking taste and chandelier hanging over it. An elegant grandfather clock sits in the corner and to the left against the wall is a dark wood china cabinet full of very high class, untouched plates, glasses and more.

To the left there is a piano against the wall with a massive mirror hanging above it. A couch sits in front of the piano, its fall weather theme making a stunning match for the floor and the other furniture in the room. A glass coffee table that has three geese in a sitting position under it, supporting the round glass top with their heads.

"This is quite the place you have here," I decide to say to break the silence.

Zyrah shakes his head lightly, "It's nothing special really."

Rich people. They have all these nice things and it's nice of them not to brag but for them to make it seem like nothing is just as bad. An asshole's modesty is what I call it.

"So, how are we going to do this?" Zyrah asks, standing in front of the piano.

"I'll sing and Vida will play the cello," Nova answers. "Just play along."

Zyrah really doesn't look impressed, but he sits down at the keys. Then he looks back over at us, "What is Khan doing?"

"I'm not in this one. I just helped with the lyrics," I tell him. There isn't a guitar piece for this project but even if there was, I don't have a guitar. Wow, that thought was depressing.

Nova leans over and covers her muzzle with her hoof and whispers something that I couldn't hear to Vida, who giggles a little bit. The way they are looking at me I know whatever it is, it concerns me.

I motion for Vida to start playing once she has her cello at the ready. She starts playing and Zyrah sits there for a moment, unmoving. Then his horn starts glowing and the keys begin moving.

The sound that I'm hearing isn't really what I had in mind but it sounds...gorgeous. About to voice my opinion I stop myself so as to not interrupt them. Since I'm not participating instrumentally, I'm more or less just overseeing, conducting. What would be the intro is coming to a close and I nod for Nova to start singing. Zyrah and Vida both look over at her expectantly. She begins the verse. It has no chorus so the song continues, progressing, telling our story.

The song comes to a close and I almost can't speak. I can't believe that this project is going to be a reality. "That was amazing! Y'all sound amazing!"

Nova blushes lightly and Zyrah just sits there staring at the keys. Vida just smiles, her fangs hanging out the edges of her mouth and then she says, "That did sound pretty good but it's getting late. I can excuse from your curfews but you two have to go straight to the barracks."

"Shit, your right," I reply, completely forgetting what time it is. "You and Zyrah should continue practicing together and a put some of your own styles here and there."

"I think I'm the one giving orders," Vida says, her expression going grim. Her face lightens up after a moment and she looks to Zyrah, "You and me will be practicing together and putting our own styles here and there."

Now I know she was joking. "Yes, ma'am," Zyrah replies. He stands up and trots over to the coffee table that has a thick and worn looking notebook on it. It's lying open, print scaling up and down the pages. Zyrah closes it with a slam and looks up at me. "I'm sorry," he says.

I don't know why he said he was sorry, but I ignore it. "Come on, Nova, we'd better get back before Coldfire decides to murder us."

"Right behind you," She replies.

I turn back around for a second and look at Vida, "You guys keep practicing, it sounds-" I look at Zyrah and my head explodes in pain, "Gahh!" I fall to my knees, squinting my eyes tight. My head begins searing in pain and I open my eyes but everything is tinted blood red.

"Are you okay?" Nova asks. I look up at her, everything all the way to her eyes are red. Another burst of pain shoots through my head causing me to cry out.

Everything turns white and I desperately look around trying to find out where I am. A few things are becoming visible as the white light begins to fade.

It's a hospital room and I'm laying on the bed. The room looks familiar but it isn't the one at the base. Where am I?

I look to my right to see a window that displays Luna's moon. Below it is a white leather couch, empty.

My head erupts in pain again, my vision going red again but this one doesn't last as long. When it clears, I'm looking at the couch again, but it isn't empty.

Nova is sitting on the couch this time, her head down, sulking. She looks like a mess, even her mane is tangled up.

"Nova?" I say to her she doesn't move but she does respond. The only problem is, she looks like a picture, unmoving.

"I'm here," she says but it sounds distant. I look around the room again and my eyes fall on the vitals monitor. It's not moving either. It's stuck in the middle of what would be a heartbeat. I look around again and notice a T.V. is mounted on the wall, the image of a reporter frozen as well. I look to the left of it to a clock on the wall. The second hand is unmoving, the time stopped at 9:05.

I turn back to Nova, still sitting on the couch, not having moved an inch, "Nova!"

Her distant voice responds again, closer this time, "I'm here!"

My head pulses in pain a last time, vision turning completely red once again. I squint my eyes tight because of the pain and when I open them I'm looking at Nova standing over me with a concerned face.

The red begins to fade and color returns to my surroundings. "Are you okay?" Nova asks, worry being very prominent in her voice.

"I think so," I tell her. I try to stand up and mostly succeed with a little help.

"You worried the shit out of me, I thought you were having a siezure or something," she says, wrapping her hooves around my neck in a hug.

Returning the gesture, I say, "I don't think a siezure would have hurt that bad."

"Scare me like that again and I'll hurt you," she says into my coat.

I chuckle at that and reply, "Don't threaten me with a good time." She chuckles as well and pulls away.

She looks at me for a section and her eyes widen a little bit. "Uhm, you've got a little something-" She stops and puts her hoof to her nose.

I do the same to mine and wipe my muzzle with a hoof. When I look at my hoof, a streak of shining red going down my hoof.

Zyrah levitates a napkin over to me which I take wipe the blood from my nose. What the hell is going on today?

We both turn to leave after I thanked Zyrah for the napkin and head out the door. Zyrah calls after us, "I'm sorry."