Prerecorded Performance
The sheer cold of winter had turned into crispness in the air as two stallions, one grey earth pony and one steel blue pegasus, walked through the streets of Ponyville.
“Still odd how the town looks now,” I said. “Winter was only just a while ago.”
“Just goes to show how effective this year’s Winter Wrap-Up was,” Icy told me. “Gotta love how Twilight got this town ready for Spring for once.”
“Hey, Amethyst tried to do that for years.”
“Yeah, but you aren’t the one who has to deal with Rainbow making the cloud clearing into a competition.”
“Don’t get me started on what Applejack has us do then.”
We shared a little laugh, walking to the side to let a few carts pass.
I looked around my surroundings, half expecting to see some sort of act of defiance from winter—an icicle here, some frost there, some of the towns folk bundling up for warmth—but everywhere looked like it usually did whenever the town wasn’t in winter: barren walls, fillies and colts running around having a blast.
“So, you sure Ditzy knows to meet us there?” I asked Icy.
“Hey, what’s that supposed to mean?” he replied. “She’s the one who told us to have it today.”
I raised a hoof in defense. “I know, I know. It’s just that she can be scatterbrained at times. So, just want to be sure.”
Icy gave me a deadpanned look before he pulled out a small note. “’I’m delivering things to Canterlot, so I’ll be waiting for you two there at five.’ She signed it with a smile.” He put it away and gave me a look. “That good enough for you?”
“Hey, hey, relax okay. I just wanted to make sure we wouldn’t be waiting or have to go find her. You know that that’s happened before.”
Icy rolled his good eye. “Doesn’t matter if she’s there on time or not if we don’t get to our train,” he said as he passed me.
We got to the train station and paid for our tickets, though we had to wait for a while.
“So, are you going to shy away from singing again Icy?”
He sighed and sat on the station’s steps. “Do we have to have this conversation every time?”
“Yeah, we d-“
“Grey?” a voice asked from behind.
I turned around, half expecting it to be Amethyst asking us why we were still here, but saw a beautiful purple coated unicorn mare accompanied by a yellow pegasus mare.
“Oh, hey, Twilight and Fluttershy,” I said to them, giving each a small nod.
“You’ve been spending too much time with Applejack,” she said, smiling.
“Well, that kind of happens when she’s your boss, you know.”
“W-why are the two of you h-here?” Fluttershy asked us.
“W-we’re waiting for the train,” Icy said, trying to look anywhere but in the direction of Fluttershy.
I sighed a little. “We are going to Canterlot to meet up Ditzy there so we could go somewhere.”
“Oh,” Fluttershy responded quickly.
“What’s in Canterlot?” Twilight asked.
“A karaoke bar ran by a friend. We, Ditzy, Icy, and I, try to go every now and then whenever we feel we feel too stressed.”
Fluttershy opened her mouth to say something, but Twilight said, “That sounds like an interesting activity to do.”
“Hey, I have an idea,” Icy said. I looked at him, hoping he wasn’t going to do what I thought was he going to do. “Why don’t you two join us?”
I glared at him, but he just smiled it off.
“Oh, I’d love to join,” Twilight beamed.
“Y-yes...” Fluttershy replied.
I saw a faint blush on Icy’s face as the train’s whistle blow.
“All aboard for Canterlot!” the conductor told everypony.
The girls bought their tickets and we all got onboard, sitting in the nearest empty seats.
“What were you thinking?” I whispered to Icy angrily, as Twilight and Fluttershy talked about something.
“Hey, I didn’t think they’d say yes.”
As the train left the station, I felt the butterflies in my stomach multiple at the thought of singing in front of her.
The train ride was, for a lack of better words, interesting. The girls talked the whole time about something or other, Icy faked taking a nap, and I just looked out the window.
We got to Canterlot with half an hour to spare, which was more than enough to get to our destination, especially since the bar wasn’t too far from the station and it only took us a little over ten minutes to go there.
Now, at first glance, you’d think the shop wasn’t there at all. It blended in so well with the buildings it was sandwiched in between that you’d think it was an extension of the wall and nothing else. The only way to know it was there were the lone door, the two windows along the sides, and the small wooden sign with the store’s namesake – Juke’s Box.
“We’re here,” I told everypony.
“Uh, Grey, I don’t want to be rude,” Twilight started, “but this doesn’t look like what I thought it would look like.”
“Trust me,” said Icy, “it's better on the inside.” With that, he went for the door and opened it for us, assaulting us with sounds of ponies singing, cheering and booing, and plates and cups being banged together.
We went inside and the girls seemed to be surprised with what they saw. The walls were made of spruce with random signs of drinks they served – ciders, sodas, teas, coffee – as well as a few clocks placed here and there so whoever wanted to know the time could easily found out. The floors were cobblestone tiles that made everypony’s steps echo. Nestled against the far wall was a stage big enough for three with a mic stand, another stand along the wall, a pair of speakers on both sides, and an older auburn earth pony stallion with dark chocolate mane and tail in charge of the music.
We managed to get a hold of a table for five pretty close to the karaoke stage, a red pegasus stallion singing a song (probably not so good based on the crowd’s boos). We just got into our seats when a grey blur hugged me.
“Hey there guys,” the blur said.
“Well, hello there Ditzy,” I said while laughing a little.
“Hello there, Derpy,” Twilight said.
I wanted to say something, but I bit my tongue. I promised not to correct anypony anymore.
“Hello Twilight.” Ditzy turned to Icy and me. “Did I make you wait for long?”
“Nah, we just go here,” said Icy.
“You guys want anything?” I asked. “My treat.”
Everypony give me their drink requests and I went to one of the counters, though I had to wait as the bartender, an older cobalt pegasus stallion, was chatting up a teal earth pony mare. Eventually, after a few minutes of listening to the mare trying to lay the flattery on thick on the guy, I got our drink orders and headed back to the table.
“So, tea for Twilight and Fluttershy, soda for Icy, and water for Ditzy and myself.”
They all thanked me and we all just sat and listened to everyone that sang.
“There are a lot of good singers today,” Ditzy said.
“I agree with you,” said Twilight.
“I haven’t really heard any that I’d like though,” I told them.
“Why don’t you go up there and sing then, Grey,” said Icy.
“Why? Not like I’m any good at it.”
“Lies!” Ditzy exclaimed, nearly spilling her drink on Icy. “You are an amazing singer.”
“I w-wouldn’t say I was amazing...”
“I have to agree with Ditzy on this on, Grey. You are pretty good.”
“Not you too, Icy.”
“Hey, she has a point,” Icy said as he sipped his drink.
“I’ll sing whenever you sing, buddy.”
Icy rolled his eye and decided to pay the current singer, a peach cream mare, his attention.
We all watched a few ponies go up and sing, enjoying yourselves and giving cheers whenever we loved the singer, when Ditzy got up and made it to the stage.
“Go get it, Ditzy,” Icy said.
Ditzy went to the stallion in charge of the music, the two of them talking a little before settling on a song.
She got on stage and reached for the mic, just as cheery acoustic guitar riffs came out of the speakers. She moved a little bit, getting a feel for the song.
“Stop me on the corner; swear you hit me like a vision...”
She took the mic into her hooves as she moved along the stage, a grey bundle of joy getting the crowd into it. She slowly moved her free hoof and body, doing a few slow half and full twirls, and reached out for a few of the nearest ponies, smiling the whole time. She even managed to get a few of the patrons who knew the song the sing along with her. As she neared the end of the song, she gradually softened her voice, the audience getting louder as she did. There was an uproar of cheers as she put the mic back, a blush crossing her face, and joined our table.
“Good to see that you are as amazing as usual Ditzy,” Icy said as he offered her a hoof bump, which she bumped.
“I didn’t know you were such a talented singer,” said Twilight.
Ditzy rubbed her hooves together nervously. “It’s only because I’m comfortable here. The owner is a nice guy and I know Grey and Icy would never boo me, even if I’m horrible.”
“Of course not, Ditzy,” I said. “That’s what friends are for.”
“So,” Ditzy started as she looked at all of us, “who’s next?” She zeroed in on Icy and smiled that evil harmless smile of hers. “Icy?”
“I’m n-not sure. You know I d-don’t like to s-sing.”
“What if you sing a song that everypony would know?” I asked him. “Would you sing then?”
“I’d join you if you want Icy,” said Ditzy.
Before Icy said anything, Fluttershy mumbled something.
“What was that Fluttershy?” Twilight asked.
Fluttershy mumbled a bit louder, but none of us could hear what she said, so we asked her to speak a bit louder.
“I....I could g-go with you I-I-Icy...”
“Y-you don’t have t-t-to if you d-don’t want...” he replied (was I the only one who noticed the two of them blushing?).
“N-no, I want to...”
They both got up, kind of reluctantly, and went to the stallion in charge. They seemed to have a quick chat before the two of them got onto the stage, Icy bringing the second mic stand with him. The sounds of what I assumed to be a synth piano accompanied with a bass line came out of the speakers, the two of them just simply froze in place, the song stopping not long after. The stallion went to ask them to get off, but Icy told him to start it again. The song started up again, but the same result happened. The crowd started to boo the two them and it didn’t look like our words of reassurance were getting through the two of them. The stallion again went to take them off stage, but Icy raised a hoof and talked to Fluttershy some more, nodding a little bit. Icy told the stallion to start it again once more and he did, the synth piano and bass line coming out of the speakers once more.
Icy gave Fluttershy a slight nudge and a reassuring smile, though she used the time before the song actually started to gather her breath.
“Just a small town girl,” she started, a little too softly, “living in a lonely world...” She turned to Icy as she sung until the next pause.
“Just a city boy,” Icy started, trying to have some confidence in his tone of voice, “born and in raided in south Detrot...” He followed Fluttershy’s example.
They sung the rest of the song like that, going back and forth, occasionally joining together, never looking anywhere besides one another, gradually getting more confident in their singing, though it didn’t help with our table and everypony else slowly joining in (come on, it was Adventure).
They received applause as they put away their mics and walking off stage.
“The two of you were amazing,” Ditzy gleamed.
“I w-wouldn’t say we were that,” Icy said, a smile plastered on his face.
“W-we just had fun,” said Fluttershy.
“That’s all that matters,” said Ditzy.
“So, Twilight, Grey,” Icy started. “Looks like the two of you are the only ones left.”
“Looks like it,” Twilight said. “What do you say we go up there and sing next Grey?”
I felt everypony’s eyes on me as I looked at my lap, trying to keep calm about what was just said. Me and Twilight....singing...together. I just hoped my face wasn’t as hot as it felt it was.
“Come on, Grey. It’s our turn.” I heard Twilight get up and I was about to join her, but the sound of a mic check came through the speakers, everypony turning to see who it was.
“Hello there everypony,” said the auburn stallion in charge of the music. “Before I say what I want to say, let me introduce myself, just in case a few of you didn’t know who I was. My name is Jukebox and I’m the owner and operator of this fine establishment.” That got him a round of applause. “Now that that’s all out of the way, I want to introduce an old friend of mine.”
Everypony started to look around, trying to find somepony who might have been that friend he was talking about, while I just tried to hide.
“Now, everypony relax, since you don’t have to try to find him. Hay, I believe most of you have heard him before. So, without further ado, please give it up for Silver Tongue.” He gestured toward our table as the room roared in applause.
“Silver Tongue?” Twilight asked. “There isn’t anypony with that name here.”
“Actually Twilight,” said Ditzy, “that’s what everypony here knows Grey as.”
“I don’t care what everypony says,” I told them, “I’m not going to sing.”
Everypony kept on cheering for me, even if I didn’t want them to.
“Looks like everypony wants you to sing Grey,” said Icy.
“Nope, don’t care. Not going to happen.”
“Come up dude. Why don’t you show off those pipes of yours? You know you are going to, sooner or later.”
“I wouldn’t mind hearing you sing,” said Twilight.
I looked up at her, my face starting to feel a little hot. “R-r-really?”
All she had to do was smile and nod and that was it for me.
“W-well, since everypony w-wants me to, guess I have n-no choice.”
I didn’t even stand up when the sounds of some weird synth instrument started to play.
“Hey, that’s not fair,” Twilight started. “You didn’t even pick the song.”
“It’s okay Twilight,” I told her as I made for the stage, a smile on my face. “I know this one.”
“Nopony here knockin’ at my door, the sound of silence I can’t take anymore,” I said as I reached the mic, not even missing a beat with the actual song. I sung along with the lyrics, being on track at every instance, using any pauses to get into it. I moved my head side to side, not really caring that I was making a fool out of myself in front of everypony, my eyes closed as I lost myself to the music. I must have been doing something good since the whole bar loved it. As the song came to a close, I received a standing ovation.
“Once again, give it up for the musical stylings of Silver Tongue,” Jukebox said from offstage. A roar of applause hit me like a brick wall and I couldn’t help but smile like a dufus. “It sounds like they want an encore, my friend. Why not give it to them.” That got another roar.
I looked over to Jukebox then to my friends. I shrugged. “Why not.”
Must have been the answer he was waiting for because the sounds of a cymbal being hit in a soft rhythmic pattern, another one being hit every now and then, and bass line started to come out of the speakers. When the piano came in, I knew the song right away. I slid off my hat and took a deep breath.
“Light up the sky, shy violet angel eyes...”
I heard the sounds of ponies clapping their hooves together to the sound of my hoof tapping along the stage, adding to the ambiance of the song. I tried to get as much breath into my lungs whenever I could for the long notes and used my almost empty lungs to my advantage for the soft notes. I opened my eyes at the end and focused a little bit on Twilight, hoping that nopony noticed me doing that. When the song ended, I was welcomed to a roar bigger than the one before as it seemed more ponies appeared in the bar, seemingly just to hear me sing.
Jukebox came onto the stage and clapped by back, giving me an earnest smile. “Silver Tongue, everypony,” he said into the mic.
I made my way back to me seat, putting my hat back on along the way, everypony giving me a different reaction: Ditzy gave me a hug, Icy a hoof bump, and Twilight and Fluttershy were slack jawed.
“Two standing ovations? Somepony was trying too hard,” said Icy.
“Hey, you know how I am whenever I get into music.”
Icy shrugged. “Still say you tried too hard.”
I rolled my eyes and chugged down the rest of my water.
“I don’t want to be the bearer of bad news,” Ditzy started, motioning towards the nearby wall, “but I think it’s time for us to go. It’s almost time for the last train home.”
Sure enough, it was barely under eight. We left some bits on our table and made our way towards the exit, ponies greeting me along the way. I saw Jukebox at one of the counters and I gave him a wave goodbye.
We got to the station with a few minutes to spare, so we managed to find a cabin that no pony was in and “claimed it” as our own. Twilight and Fluttershy sat next to one another with Ditzy and Icy across from them, by the sounds of it already planning for the next karaoke night.
I sat down by myself a few seats away, just wanting to relax a bit. I didn’t even notice that the train was moving until I saw the landscape change from stone walls to wild mountain trees.
“Mind if I join you?”
I turned and saw Twilight. “G-go ahead,” I told her.
She sat next to me, seemingly thinking about something.
“So, how did you enjoy karaoke night?”
“Oh...I enjoyed it. It seemed like all of you had a lot of fun, just wish I could have joined.”
“Well, there’s always next time Twilight.”
“Next time?”
“W-well, yeah,” I told her as I looked at my lap. “We try to go every now and then, remember.”
“Oh...right...”
A silence hang between us as the train continued on the tracks.
“Grey...I enjoyed hearing you sing,” she said as she turned towards me, making my heart go pitter patter. “I didn’t know you were such a good singer.”
I tried to look at her, but somehow ended up looking up at the roof. “Well, that’s because I’m not.”
“But you are!” she exclaimed as she grabbed my hoof, which I didn’t think she realized she did until I gave it attention.
“Twilight, the only reason I was good was because I knew those songs by heart. I know pretty much all of the songs there by heart.”
“You do?”
“Jukebox calls me ‘an old friend’ for a reason. I’ve known him pretty much since I was a colt. I used to spend so much time at his bar while he was in Manehattan that I learned the songs by simply being in the room.” I laughed a little bit. “Though, being in choir for a good portion of my life might have helped with my singing too. Maybe a little bit.”
Twilight giggled at that. “Maybe,” she said as she pressed up against me.
My heart felt like it was going at the speed of Pinkie Pie whenever she was on a sugar rush while my face felt badly sunburnt.
I gulped and tried to steel myself. “T-t-twilight...”
“Yes Grey?”
I went to say something but the conductor informed us that we would be docked in Ponyville shortly. As he left our cabin, I told her that I was going to say that.
As soon as we departed from the train, Ditzy said her goodbyes before she left for home and Icy volunteered to walk Fluttershy home. Somehow, I ended up walking Twilight home without really meaning to, a silence between us. We reached her home and I was about to bid her good night when she stopped just before the door.
“Grey.”
“Yeah Twilight?”
She turned around and gave me a quick hug. “Thank you for inviting me.”
I would have corrected her, but I was still in shock from the hug that I just nodded.
“Goodnight,” she told me just before walking inside her home.
I wasn’t sure how long I stood there, but I knew that I was humming a happy tune as I made my way home.
Author's Note
So, here we are again. Just seems like yesterday when I last published a story on here. Anyway, if you liked, disliked, d'awwed, cried, got angry, or even got hungry, please let me know below. Would be much appreciated. Now, some words from my editors:
PonyJosiah13: "I appreciate that you're including me in your works and enjoy your stories. And I enjoy your friendship."
FlashKenshin77: "I got nothing."
Legality: According to the Fair Use Index, which was updated not long ago from this date, I am able to use the songs "used" in this story as long as I state everything correctly.
