He Who Lets Light Fade

The entire town was abuzz with gossip. Yesterday, Countess Coloratura, or Rara, as she had preferred to be called now, had come to Ponyville for a charity event, and it was certainly an event to remember. Her manager, an unpleasant fellow by the name of Svengallop, was revealed to have been a slimebag who was using Rara's success to get whatever his greedy heart desired. Thankfully, he was caught in the act and abandoned the Countess, who turned out much better off for it. Twilight, in order to make sure that he would never do anything like this again, made sure that details of the event were in newspapers all over Equestria. To be honest, she wanted to do a lot worse to him, considering how he treated Pinkie, but she was forced to act in a more diplomatic manner. Speaking of Pinkie, the earth pony was helping with the clean up, aided by Leo.

"So, Pinkie", he asked, "was this a success or what?"

Pinkie popped out from behind a bunch of balloons. "It was a TOTAL success! Did you see how those foals looked when Rara was talking to them? It was SOOOOOO cute! And her final performance was AMAZING!"

"Yeah, that girl had some pipes on her. How she can play piano with hooves, though, I have NO clue."

"How's that a big deal? Octavia can play the cello."

"Isn't she an earth pony?"

"Yuppers!"

Leo stared off into space for a bit before saying "This world is insane and I love it."

A pink mass of fluff popped up in front of him. It took only a fraction of a second to identify it as Pinkie's mane. The pony it belonged to was crouching down underneath him, looking right at his bemused face. "Well, duh! Of course you'd love it! So many fun things to do, so many types of cake to eat, and so many nice ponies to be friends with!"

Leo chuckled before saying "Yeah, but Svengallop certainly isn't on that list. If I wasn't keeping my cool, I'd show that guy just how you can use a fedora as a flying guillotine."

Pinkie stood back up. "That doesn't sound fun. But yeah, he was a meany. I can't believe he used Rara as a way to get expensive stuff. I wish I'd asked her if she knew what he was doing."

Leo raised an eyebrow. "Why didn't you, anyways?"

"Well, those foals were so excited to see Coloratura here in Ponyville, and if Svengallop found out that I asked too many questions, he might have come up with a lie to make her leave! I didn't want those foals to think that their idol deserted them! They wanted to be like her, and if they thought that she was rotten, their little hearts would break into pieces! Heck, I thought for a second that Rara would leave if I didn't do anything Svengallop wanted!"

Leo sighed and motioned for Pinkie to sit down. After they both did, he began to speak.

"When I was a kid, there was this band who came to town for a concert. My dad took me to see if, and it was awesome. The lead singer was in charge, and he was just amazing at what he did. I thought that I'd found what I wanted to do when I grew up. Play on the stage in front of hundreds of people, who all came to see me. At the end, the band thanked everyone for coming and offered to sign autographs. But then a man burst into the room, and the look on his face was one I'll never forget.

He told the crowd that he was the singer's brother, and he told the singer that he was ashamed of what he'd become. He handed his brother a testimony from a doctor who worked at a local children's hospital, and it said that the band refused to perform because they wouldn't get any money for doing so. He asked the singer how he could be so heartless, and so many people in the audience wished that he didn't respond.

He yelled at his own brother to mind his own business, that it shouldn't matter to him what he did or didn't do. I can't even remember some of what he said next, but he apparently forgot just how popular he was, 'cause he called the band's fans his little banks in front of a full house.

The whole place emptied out, and I was heartbroken. I didn't want to be in a big band anymore. What if I became a monster like that guy who valued money over the happiness of children who needed joy? I could never live with myself if that's what I would become. But then my dad told me something.

'Leonard, my son, that band wasn't corrupted by money or fame. They were corrupt from the start. It takes a truly good person to keep their soul when they become successful, and those people were not good. But there were kids in that audience, including you, that have souls that can't be bent and twisted by stuff like that. You can be anything you want to be, and as famous as you can, and as long as your soul shines bright, none of that will matter to you.' "

Leo smiled at Pinkie. "Sure, it would sting if Rara left for whatever reason, but as long as those foals knew what was important about her job, and if they dedicated themselves to being as free from corruption before their careers even started, then the sting wouldn't be all that bad. It would be a reminder of what not to become. But between you and me, I'm glad it turned out this way instead."

Pinkie smiled back at him before wrapping him in a warm and fuzzy hug. "Thanks, Leo."

"No prob, Pinks. Now, let's-"

He paused and looked around him. There was nothing left to clean up. Even with the both of them working on it, it would have taken about 20 minutes, and he was sure that his story wasn't THAT long. "...what the heck happened to the rest of the stuff?"

"Oh, I finished cleaning while listening to your story. I paid attention, though, don't worry!"

"But how...wha...when could you have...WHAAAAAAAAAAAAT!?"

Pinkie giggled before bouncing off. "Bye-bye, Leo!"

As Leonard Knox sat their, pondering the mysteries of one Pinkamena Diane Pie, only one thought could emerge in his mind.

"...this world is insane and I love it."