Chapters Chapter 2: Loving the Guitar
"Alright guys-"
"And girls!!"
"Lemme finish, Flare."
"Sorry, Sharpie."
Celestia, in disguise as "Sunny Sky," smiled to herself as she listened to the two unicorns bicker. With a wingtip, she adjusted the fade and reverb settings on her keyboard, trying to make it play a sound like a piano that reversed the note played upon release of the key.
"Anyways, guys and girls-"
"Don't forget the gender neutrals and the-"
"FELLOW BANDMATES!"
Celestia jolted in surprise, accidentally flicking the autoplay switch. Almost immediately, a loud screeching filled the air, drowning out all other sound.
Covering her ears with her wings, Celestia mashed the power button with her hoof, turning her keyboard off and ending the ear-popping death screeching.
"What in the name of Celestia was that, Sky?" asked Flare.
Sheepishly, Celestia replied "The gain was too high... Way too high."
Sharp rolled his eyes. "Ok then. Now that I have your attention, I would like to let you know that I got us a job-"
"Wouldn't the technical term be a gig?" interrupted Flare, doing her best to look innocent.
Sharp sighed, and tried again. "I got us a gig at the Party Barn."
Regolith, with his incredibly deep voice, spoke up from behind his drum set. "How much?"
With an ear perked to better hear the conversation, Celestia readjusted the gain, not sure if spinning the knob to the right or the left would turn it down.
"Fifty bits per hour." replied Sharp.
"Only fiddy?" There was a smashing of a cymbal.
"What do you mean only fifty? The last time we performed it was with Duster, and that was months ago! We got a total of forty-five bits from that!"
"Yeah, but-"
"Fifty bits per hour! PER HOUR!" Sharp said, clearly agitated.
Flare, looking up from tuning her bass with her magic, huffed once, and went back to tuning, plucking at the third string.
"We don't have enough songs to last an hour, Sharp!"
"Not right now we don't! Rego, weren't you writing a song?"
"No. No I wasn't."
"...Flare?"
"I am, but it's not done yet..."
Yes, it was definitely to the right, thought Celestia. But does that mean that I spin the gain knob clockwise or counterclockwise?
"Sky? You have any ideas?"
Since the gain is high... hmm...
"Sky? Eqqus to Sky. Is there any life in there?"
In response to Sharp's teasing, Celestia blurted out her thoughts.
"Since the gain is high, I'll rotate it evenly in both directions. Whichever side hits the stop first is the high side, then from there I can adjust it down..."
Sharp chuckled. "That's all fine n' dandy but do you have any ideas for a song?"
Pulling herself out of her thoughts, Celestia formulated a wonderfully eloquent response.
"Huh?"
"I asked if you had any song ideas. Do you?"
"Uh..." Celestia looked up from her keyboard, and saw that everypony was staring at her. "Well, I do have a few ideas... maybe... uh..."
"Sky, we don't bite. You've been practicing with us every other day for a week now," said Flare, a kind smile on her face. "We're gonna judge you, but we're not gonna kick you out of the band."
Celestia did not have an idea. She had several ideas, some good, some bad. She quickly decided that a ten minute drum solo would not be a good idea, and then had an epiphany.
"What if we had a few straight instrumentals? No singing, just playing. We could make slight variations and end up with a really long piece..." Celestia trailed off after seeing the blank looks on her bandmates' faces.
After a few seconds of dreadful silence, Regolith spoke up, and his deep voice seemed to echo in the small, rocky clearing.
"So, whatcher sayin' is I'ma have ta keep up a beat fer ten minutes or possibly more?"
There was another few seconds of silence, during which Celestia began to sweat.
"...Yes? Maybe?" She readied herself for the scathing criticism that was sure to come.
"Sounds like fun," Rego replied, nonchalantly.
"Then I guess- wait, what?" Celestia was taken aback. This was not how most ponies behaved. In Canterlot, back when she would hold court, the nobles would scoff and get angry if Celestia ever suggested that they do something even remotely challenging. The same could be said for most of the ponies in Canterlot.
But these ponies weren't most ponies.
"As long as Flare's up for it, I'm game," said Sharp.
After a short chord from her now perfectly-tuned bass, Flare raised an eyebrow at Sharp. She turned her head and then raised her other eyebrow at Celestia.
"Let's do this!"
The following cheer could be heard from the edge of Tall Tale.
//*********************//
Sharp Wit was aptly named. He was extraordinarily clever, which helped him in school. Upon moving to Tall Tale as a young colt, Sharp had gone out the front door of his family's apartment building to explore his new home only to be head-butted by a grey unicorn filly with a frizzy orange mane. After she helped Sharp back to his feet, she stared at him for a few seconds before speaking up.
"You're new."
"...Uh, yeah... My name's Sharp."
"Mine's Flare. Let's go climb a tree!"
And with that, Sharp had made his first friend. It wasn't until he turned fifteen that he realized just how much he liked having her as a friend, and not long after that Sharp started wanting her to be more than friends with him.
The only problem was that he had no clue whatsoever how to tell Flare how he felt about her once he realized that he "like-liked" her.
It had been two years since then, and Sharp wasn't any closer to talking to her about it. He had tried asking his father, but only got "Just go tell her" as a response, and he couldn't do that.
Sharp knew all about Flare, from her favorite color (sea green) to her cutest quirk (she mimes how she's feeling when she's bored). Flare's mother loved Sharp like he was her own son. Sharp's own parents regularly had Flare over for movie night, and they thought she was perfect. If Sharp was a little bit braver, he would tell her that he thought the same.
Sharp could talk to Flare about anything, except for how he felt about her. And this kept him up to all hours of the night some nights.
Nights like this one, where he stood over his desk with an old-style fountain pen in his magical grasp.
His tongue stuck out from the corner of his mouth as he wrote the beautiful calligraphic letters of a song. But it was not just any song, for Sharp had written normal songs before, like Background Pony and he had helped Regolith write Welcome to the Dead Club, but this song, Courage to Love, was different.
It was for Flare.
If I woke up one day without you
I would not know what to do.
So lost and so alone,
Without you there's no home
For me...
Sharp closed his eyes and began to sing the chorus quietly.
"Oh Luna,
Celestia on high,
I need courage,
Courage to love.
Oh, courage,
Courage to love."
From somewhere in his room, Sharp heard a sniffle, followed by a rustle. His eyes snapped open and his magic found his bow and quiver. As he turned to see the intruder, Sharp knocked an arrow and drew the string, aiming it in the general direction of where he had heard the noises.
"Don't shoot don't shoot! It's me, Sunny Sky!" Said a voice that did sound a lot like Sunny Sky.
Upon turning to look, Sharp saw that it was in fact Sky.
Relaxing the bow but not setting it down, he asked "What- How did you get in here?"
"Your window was open, and I wanted to talk to you about something." Sky began inspecting her front left hoof with great interest.
"You know there's a door downstairs, right?"
"Mmhmm... but I didn't want to wake your parents." She looked up at Sharp for a second before sitting and looking around his room. "Nice place you got here."
Sharp glared at her. "Sky, just tell me why you're here so I can go get some sleep."
"You weren't sleeping before..."
"Please."
"So, Sharp..." Sky began tracing circles on the floor with her hoof. "Are you in a relationship with someone?"
Sharp's face went from the sandy brown to a dark orange. He stammered "Wh-what do y-you mean?"
"I mean do you have a fillyfriend? Or... a coltfriend?" She continued to trace circles, seemingly oblivious to Sharp's embarrassment.
"Uh... not to be rude... you're very nice and all but-"
"Oh no no!" Sky suppressed a giggle with a hoof. "You thought I was asking you out? No no..."
Sharp's orange-tinted face gained a more reddish hue. "You aren't?"
"No, I wouldn't dare ask you out!"
Sharp's face lost all of its blush, and he snorted. He wasn't sure if she was insulting him. "And why wouldn't you dare go out with me?"
"Because, I'd never be able to compete."
The brewing anger drained from Sharp, only to be replaced by confusion. "What the heck are you talking about?"
Staring into Sharp's eyes, Sky responded "I saw how you stare at her. You're a very handsome stallion, Sharp, and I'm sure she would agree with me. You do know who I'm talking about, right?"
Sharp could only stand there, unmoving, his whole face steadily turning orange, and then red. He could not formulate any thoughts or a response.
Standing up, Sky took a step towards Sharp. "The nice, steel-grey unicorn with the flowing mane that looks like... um..." Sky trailed off.
Sharp found his voice, hidden somewhere beneath eleven thousand layers of embarrassment. "...Like a waterfall made of fire..."
"So you do like her! Perfect." Sky said, booping Sharp on the snoot with her hoof. "I bet that song you were singing is for her too!"
"...Yes..." Sharp's face had achieved terminal redness. If he was any redder, he could pass for a really big apple.
"How long?" Sky asked suddenly.
"Excuse me?"
"How long have you like-liked Flare?"
"A few years..."
"How well do you know her?"
"Uh... I can't..."
"That well, huh? But you haven't told her."
Sharp stared at the floor, not answering.
"I'm sorry for putting you on the spot, Sharp. But I have a proposition."
Sharp's ears perked up, but he continued to stare at the floor.
"You want to be together with Flare. I want to help you. Let me guide you."
Keeping his head down, Sharp looked up at Sky. "You'll help me? What's in it for you?"
"Nothing. I just want to help you. Honest."
Sharp angled his head up until he was looking straight over his nose at Sky. "Pinkie Promise?"
Sky gave him a confused look. "Where did you learn that?"
"Party barn. I was six. Didn't you learn it there too?"
"No, I learned it from a friend a few years ago. Fine, I pinkie promise."
//*********************//
Celestia, in her Sunny Sky disguise, was giddy. She hadn't played matchmaker for... for... too many years for her to remember. Ohhhh this is going to be so enjoyable! To help two young ponies get together! Celestia thought to herself. She almost did a little dance on the spot, but noticed that Sharp was staring at her. Celestia still needed to do the pinkie promise.
Going through the motions, Celestia said "Cross my heart and hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye-ow!" She rubbed her eye which was now sore from a poke that was a little too strong.
Sharp giggled like a little colt for a few moments before he managed to calm down. "Alright, alright, I believe you. Now, can you leave so I can get some sleep? We can talk more tomorrow."
Celestia smiled at him, nodded her head, and jumped out the open window. She hovered there, just outside, for a few moments before saying "See ya!" and disappeared into the night.
//*********************//
On the topmost floor of a giant barn-like structure, a certain pink pony shot up from her super-dooper water bed. She looked around, groggy for a moment before her mane audibly floofed into its usual fluffy self. Her mane along her neck was itchy, and her ears were all tingly. Somepony had just made a very important pinkie promise, and she had to make sure that it didn't happen! The fate of ponykind would suffer if... if... -the pink pony's ear twitched while being tingly- if Flare and Sharp were together too early! Pronking out of her bed, the pony shot to her desk to start a plan.
Author's Note
Yes, I know that there's an "insert line break thing here" button, but those don't show up on the ebook format...
If there's any errors let me know so I can fix them!
Happy reading!
Chapter 3: Invitations and Cannons
You are invited to the PARTY BARN in the town of Tall Tale because Hi Celly, it's Pinkie Pie I really really want you to come to this party because it's really super duper important that you come! I know your schedule is free and I invited Twilight and the rest of my friends too, because I know you want to see Twi really really bad! Gimme a call to tell me if you can come! This party will be held on the date of 6/14! Please RSVP as soon as possible!
This was the third time that Celestia had read the note. She checked the date again; it remained June fourteenth, the same day that she was to perform at the very same Party Barn with the band, under the guise of "Sunny Sky" of course.
She couldn't imagine what her bandmates- no, friends would do if they found out that Princess Celestia, former Diarch of Equestria, was a member of the band. Celestia could bet that if they ever were to find out, Regolith would have something witty and funny to say about it afterwards.
Celestia took the invitation, and folded it into a paper airplane with her magic. Using her telekinesis, she gave it a toss and it flew across her room to land on her dresser.
Even though Celestia was no longer a ruler of Equestria, she was still a princess, and still had her room in the castle. She had tried staying elsewhere, but it took only a few hours for Celestia to get sick of the constant barrage of questions from the media.
Yes, Celestia would much rather reside in the castle, where she was safe.
Not wanting to think of the media, Celestia turned her attention to her weekly schedule. At ten-o-clock she was to go visit wounded soldiers who were brought back to Canterlot General Hospital from the front lines. Then, at three in the afternoon, she would be meeting Sharp at a café in Tall Tale to give him relationship advice. After that, she was to have dinner with General Crushed Egg and a few randomly picked soldiers. Celestia was looking forward to the dinner because it would be an opportunity for her to talk with Luna about a few things.
And then she had to figure out how to decline Pinkie's invitation to the party that Celestia would already be at.
Since she had some time before she had to leave for her hospital visit, Celestia thought about sending a return letter apologizing for having to decline the invitation. She could claim that she had something else she was doing, but then Pinkie Pie would just have to spy on her and discover her secret.
Not that being in a band was a horrible thing, because that was not what Celestia was worried about. No, it was the media. If they found out that she was "wasting her time" in a band... She shuddered at the thought.
After ten minutes of deep thought, Celestia had not come up with a way to decline the invitation without gaining the interest of Pinkie Pie.
Celestia left her room with a tired smile on her face. She planned to figure out her plan later. Right now, she had some soldiers to cheer up.
//*********************//
Flare Bear was not a very "sporty" pony. She preferred a good book or a broken terminal to fix over jumping hurdles or catching balls in baskets.
She was not very good at buckball or hurdling anyways.
What Flare was good at was delicate magic. Magic which was used to play her bass guitar. Magic that was used at her weekend job at an arcanoelectric repair shop which was owned by her father, Magnesium Flash.
While Flare didn't have very strong magic, she was oddly good at it. She had passed all of her basic magic classes with almost full marks, and was planning to take Advanced Magic I in the fall once school started up again.
In the advanced class, Flare would be able to focus her studies on whatever she wanted to do. With her simple red heart cutie mark, Flare's future could go anywhere.
Lost in her daydream of being a famous movie actress, Flare ran horn-first into a tree.
After giving the tree a dirty look, Flare continued on her way down Straight street towards Western Equestrian Academy, which was closed for the summer. Flare politely greeted everypony she passed, except for Tin Cannon, who was busy being a jerk to a store owner.
"I told you, I can't refund your baseball bat just because you broke it! You didn't even buy it here!" The light blue unicorn seemed nervous.
Tin Cannon snorted, and Flare stopped a few steps behind him.
"If you can't give me money for my bat, can I just get a new one?" asked Tin.
"Oh yes! Of course! They are actually on sale right now for a real steal! Ten bits!" The store owner seemed relieved, but it didn't last.
"Oh, it's definitely a steal!" Tin laughed, and pushed past the store owner. He disappeared into the store while the owner looked around, confused.
Flare stepped forward. Y'alright, Mr...?"
"Deal. Green Deal. Is everypony around here like... like that pony?"
Flare raised an eyebrow.
"O-oh I meant besides you! You seem like a nice filly."
"You're new here, aren'tcha? We're generally pretty nice. Tin Cannon's a bit of a jerk though. School bully and all that. Speak of the devil..." Flare looked towards the store's door.
As if on cue, Tin Cannon came bursting out of the front door. He turned and trotted off without any acknowledgement of the two ponies standing just outside. Flare noted that there was a baseball bat sticking out of his saddlebags.
"Did he pay for that?" Flare asked, a little worried.
"Let me check, young lady." Green gave a smile and stepped inside the small store, his moss-green tail swishing a little behind him. Flare followed him in but stopped at the storefront. There was just so much stuff! spotting an arcane electronics display, she hurried over to have a look. 'Get your very own custom PipBuck model here! Only Five-Hundred bits! Fabrication may take up to one week. Comes with a two-year full replacement plan!' Flare re-read the advertisement, and then turned towards the front register.
"You make custom PipBucks?"
"Yeah, just give me a minute. I think that punk didn't... yup. That pony didn't pay for the bat! All he did was leave his old one behind!"
"Aw man I wish I had five- Wait what? Tinny stole it?" Flare walked over to the register.
"Son of a..."
"Mr. Deal, Mrs. Cannon is a very nice pony with a horrible son."
"...Sorry..."
"No, It's ok. You didn't know."
There was a short, awkward silence before Flare started heading for the door. "Well... let me see what I can do."
"Wait, what do you mean?"
"I mean that Tinny's gonna be back 'round with an apology and fifteen bits." Flare said as she opened the front door with her magic.
"But... but he's huge! I'll just call the police."
Flare stopped in the doorway and turned towards Green Deal. "Then you're going to have to deal with an angry Cannon."
"Why are you even doing this, miss... I never got your name!"
Flare sighed before saying "My name is Flare. Don't worry, Tin Cannon will be back within the hour." Then she stepped out the door, letting it close behind her.
Looking across the street from the store, Flare could see Sharp sitting in a booth with another pony at Poné Café. He was talking to her very animatedly, too. Squinting, Flare recognized the other pony as Sunny Sky.
This is perfect. I don't need to go face Tinny alone! I can always use a little help from my friends.
With a small smile on her face, Flare started to cross the street before almost getting run over by a wagon.
"HEY, I'M WALKIN' 'ERE!"
//*********************//
Green Deal was very, very worried. There was no possible way that the poor filly could ever take on the ginormous earth pony that was Tin Cannon. The poor girl wasn't even as tall as Green himself, and she thought she could take on Tin Cannon? The thought gave him chills.
Green was too busy worrying to notice that somepony had entered the store.
Somepony really really big.
"Um, excuse me?" Asked the really large blue pony, jolting Green out of his thoughts and back into reality.
"How may I-" Green cut himself off, ending the sentence with a squeak.
"I came back to... to apologize. And pay for the bat. And... ask for a job?" The huge blue stallion gave an embarrassed and hopeful smile to Green Deal. Green couldn't help but shiver.
"A... job?"
Tin Cannon dropped fifteen bits on to the counter. "Flare gave me a new perspective on things. Either I... either I shape up or-" his voice dropped to a whisper "-or she'll tell my m-mother."
And with that, Green Deal fell out of his chair.
Author's Note
Imagine Celly doing windmill legs.
OH THE MAJESTY!
The Party Barn was a very large building. For all intents and purposes, it looked like something that a giant could live in comfortably, that is if giants liked living in barns. Of course, all of the tables and chairs would have to be moved as well as the stage, and the kitchen area, and the arcade games... Celestia blinked a few times to refocus on walking in the most regal manner possible down the middle of the shabby red carpet that the propieters of the Party Barn had laid out to lead her to the "box seat" for the upcoming show. Following closely behind Celestia's royal guards was Celestia, but disguised as Sunny Sky. Celestia and Celestia tried not to think about it too hard because it gave them a headache, and Celestia knows that neither Celestia nor Celestia needed another headache at the moment.
Glancing back, Celestia saw that Pinkie Pie had just trotted in behind Celestia, who gave Celestia a funny look. Celestia motioned with her head for Celestia to act natural, which caused Celestia's guards to glance around nervously.
Pinkie Pie zipped over to Celestia faster than either of the Celestias thought possible, seeming to run right through the guards without touching them.
"Hey Celestia! I was worried that you wouldn't come! You're here reeeeal early!" said Pinkie, bouncing on her hooves in circles around Celestia. "Yup! The soldiers will be honored to have you here with them! According to Rarity it'll really really boost their morale!"
"Hey! Sunny Sky, right? You're with the band, right? Of course! Let's get you out of here or the readers will get a headache! C'mon now!" Pinkie said, shoving other Celestia towards the stage.
Both Celestia and Celestia had no clue whatsoever what Pinkie pie was talking ab-
"So, Celestia! Let me show you to the best seat in the house!" interrupted Pinkie Pie, annoying the narrator slightly. But only enough to make mention of it.
"O-okay," said Celestia, caught off guard a little. She followed the pink party pony down the red carpet towards the staircase, and then it would only be an hour until the show started. Plenty of time for other Celestia to help the band set up the stage.
//*********************//
Clone magic had a very distinct feel to it, and with her heightened Pinkie senses, Pinkie Pie could tell that there was a clone of Celestia hiding as "Sunny Sky." Pinkie wasn't sure why "Sunny Sky" was sometimes in quotation marks in her mind. It was just a name, right?
Celestia cloning herself wasn't a problem. No, clones were FUN! No, the issue was with the Pinkie Promise that Celestia had made to Sharp regarding his relationship with Flare.
There was no doubt- a stiff tail and two left-ear slaps meant that somepony had made a Pinkie promise that was bad Bad BAD!
Pinkie remembered the last triple-bad Pinkie promise- it was made by a school bully who had told a younger filly that he promised to find her family and "Beat them with an inch of their lives while you watch and then make them watch as I rip your little head off."
Yes, Pinkie had made sure that the bully's promise would never be carried out. It had turned out that the bully was a victim of an abusive father, and once the father had been taken care of, the rest of the problem went away!
But Celestia's promise wasn't that simple. She had promised that she would help out Sharp with his love life. That promise held no malicious intent, and yet it had set off Pinkie's Pinkie sense. Maybe a few years ago she could just write it off as a coincidence, but now...
From somewhere in her mane, Pinkie Pie pulled out a small tin with her hoof. She held it up in front of her and read the crudely written letters on the side of the tin.
PTMs. Party-Time Mint-als.
Before she made her first batch of PTMs, Pinkie's Pinkie sense could only respond to vague events, such as falling objects in her general area. Then she tried her first mint-al (non-party-time variety) at a party in Canterlot.
Mint-als were originally created by zebras. For most ponies, mint-als greatly increased their mental abilities and memory. Exactly two seconds after eating the first mint-al, Pinkie became aware of a slight pain in her right eye, followed by two left-ear slaps, a half second of the shakes and a twinge in her mane. There was a bomb at the party, and Pinkie had to find it and disarm it before somepony got hurt. She really had no clue how she knew this, but her Pinkie sense had never been wrong before.
And it wasn't wrong about the bomb. In the toilet tank of the little filly's room, of all places, was where pinkie found the explosive spell ball thing. With her brain high on mint-als, Pinkie was able to understand that the spell was set to go off in three minutes, at eleven o-clock exactly.
"Are... you okay? Miss Pie?" asked other Celestia, jolting Pinkie out of her reverie.
"Oh I'm perfectly super-dee-duper fine!" exclaimed Pinkie, pronking on the spot. "I'm just thinking back to an old party I had!"
"Oh. Was it a fun party?" asked other Celestia as they walked through a door to backstage.
"It was an AWESOME party, at least until I had to take care of the bomb!"
"...Bomb?"
"Yuppers! Somezebra planted a explodey-bangy spell-thing-in-a-jar in a toilet!"
"...Okay then."
"Nopony was hurt, don't worry! Now, I have most of your sound system all set up, but I wasn't entirely sure where to put it all! Blockbuster is backstage to help you rearrange things to your liking!" Pinkie said as she pronked in circles around other Celestia happily. "I got you smoke machines and lasers and colored lights and confetti and although Rarity couldn't come she insisted that I gave each of you a gift bag with all sorts of stuff in it just don't eat the brown chocolate because it's not chocolate it's really oak soap and it tastes horrible and really froths in your mouth and it took me a whole half-hour to get the taste out of my mouth because Rarity gave me a bag too and a bag for Celestia!"
Other Celestia had stopped in place and was staring at Pinkie. Pinkie grinned back.
"Oh I have really really big lungs!" she said, still grinning. "BLOCKBUSTER C'MON I WANT YOU TO MEET MY FRIEND!"
//*********************//
Sharp was running late. Very late. He should have been at the Party Barn ten minutes ago, but he couldn't help it when he had a new song stuck in his head. A song that the band would be performing in an hour or two.
"Oh but he's gone gone gone. S'why I wrote this song song song... oh how I want him back. I miss you my friend Jack."
Sure, the mumbled lyrics earned him a few looks, but Sharp could not lose this song.
"I remember early training... on a day of raining, we cleanin' our rifles and mopping the floors. Least we were safe while doing our chores..."
Sharp was too focused on the lyrics and trying to not run into anything or anypony as he ran towards the Party Barn to notice that he was being followed.
And even if he wasn't distracted, it would have been quite a feat for Sharp to detect a cloaked zebra.
None of the other ponies that Sharp ran by were able to notice the striped equine following right behind Sharp's tail. How could they? A cloak with an invisibility gem in the clasp kept the zebra out of sight of everypony.
Sharp stoped suddenly at an intersection to let a wagon pass, and the zebra almost ran face-first into his tush.
Not that it would have been a totally bad thing. Sharp's rear was a very nice rear. Not too big and not too small, either. It was just that running into the very nice butt would compromise her invisibility. Normally, the zebra did not care about keisters, zebra, pony or otherwise, but it was hard to ignore such a nice badonkadonk as the one in front of her. Even if he was way too young.
The zebra sighed invisibly, remembering when things were better, before the war. Back when she was known as Recursia, and not Timora.
Recursia had been approached a month prior by a pony from the Ministry of Morale, who told her that her apartment would be raided by zebra spies that very night and that they would give her two choices: die as a traitor to the zebras, or work as a zebra spy. The pony then told her that she could remain loyal to Equestria by becoming a double agent.
She really did not have much of a choice in the matter, and the only thing she hated more than the war was the fact that the equestrian military wouldn't let her enlist.
Just before the last wagon passed Sharp, Recursia quickly slid a bright orange note into Sharp's saddlebags before turning her invisible tail and running off, her mission complete, for now.
//*********************//
On another corner, exactly one block away, a similarly tan unicorn waited at an intersection while repeatedly checking the time on his PipBuck. After two minutes of waiting, he left, heading for the Party Barn at a brisk trot.
//*********************//
Peeking out from behind the red stage curtain, Flare could see that the seats in the Party Barn we are really filling up. It seemed that half of the occupants were from the military, probably back in Equestria for a short leave of absence and then they would be back to fighting.
Sharp had arrived 15 minutes prior, out of breath but excited, as he had created a new song for them to perform. Flare wasn't so sure about her ability to play a song she had just heard about, but she knew she would try.
The plan was to start off with a few familiar and popular songs, then play a bit of the bands own music and then alternate between the two until everyone was tired out from playing.
Flare checked over the wires and her bass one last time. She had a feeling in the pit of her stomach that either this was going to go stupendously well, or horribly wrong.
The band as a whole position themselves on stage as the lights outside the curtain clicked off. Flare watched as sharp took a few steps through the middle of the curtain to start them off. She gave a nod, first to Sky, and then to Regolith. Sherpa stuck his head back in through the curtain, and looked at everypony.
"You guys ready?"
They all nodded in reply.
"Alright. Here we go..."
Author's Note
Expect the next chapter very soon!
Bla bla Errors bla bla tell me bla bla thank you
Happy reading!
Chapter 1: Drums in the Woods
It was a beautiful day outside. Birds were singing joyful tunes to the pleasant breeze, and the morning could not be more perfect. There were very few ponies all across Equestria who would be wasting the wonderful day stuck inside at their jobs, although most of them would manage to get outside for a few minutes before the day came to an end.
On this beautiful morning, A grey pegasus mailmare with a straw-colored mane who was just beginning her morning deliveries in Ponyville looked up in the sky at precisely 7:02 am after checking her pocket-watch. Focusing her eyes from their normally askew positions, she noticed a slender white figure with a telltale prismatic tail gliding swiftly west through the almost crystaline blue sky. The mailmare smiled to herself before returning her attention to the large package that she was attempting to stuff into a small mailbox.
From above, Celestia smiled a little sadly down upon the town of Ponyville. Had things gone a little differently, she could have lazily spiraled down to the large tree that was the home of her former student for a friendly visit and maybe even some chamomile tea. But now, even this early in the morning, Celestia knew that her former student would be terribly busy. Thinking this, Celestia sighed, and continued her flight onward towards the western side of Equestria.
The first thing that Celestia had noticed when she gave up her power to her sister was that she had a lot more free time. Her first week was spent helping Luna acclimate to her position as the sole ruler of Equestria, and her second week was spent visiting and comforting the sick and injured troops from the ongoing war with the zebras. After the events of that week and the fires that Celestia had accidentally started, she was limited to one scheduled visit per week. Having nothing better to do, the former diarch had attempted to visit her former student, Twilight Sparkle, only to find that Twilight had been busy to the point that Celestia would have to schedule an appointment at a minimum of four months out, all for a single hour of time with her former protégé.
Lost in thought, Celestia did not notice the lone cloud that just so happened to be directly in the middle of her flight path, and so she ran into it, scattering the cloud with a "Floof."
Looking around in a bit of a daze, she noticed she had just flown over the Smokey Mountains and had completely passed the thermo-arcane power plant that adorned the second tallest peak in the range.
Oh well, thought Celestia. I can always turn back. It's not like they were expecting me to show up anyways.
Looking down, Celestia serenely examined the expanse of the Smokey Forest, enjoying the feeling of the wind in her mane and listening to the sounds of the birds and the drum that was beating out a catchy beat...
Celestia paused midflight, straining her ears to better hear the steady snare and bass beat that was coming from somewhere below, in the forest. Curious, she silently glided down into a clearing in the forest, not wanting to disturb whoever was playing the drums. Listening carefully, she determined that the music was coming from the north, and so she began to trot lightly in that direction.
A few times, the drums cut out after an error in the beat only to start back up again a few moments later, leading Celestia northward until she came to another clearing, this one with a few rocks laid about and also with two young unicorns laying on a few of the rocks, obviously bored. On a much flatter rock, Celestia could see a drum set, but could not see who, or possibly what, was playing it.
Peering out from a particularly dense bush, she concluded that there must be someone else playing the drum set, as neither of the unicorns were using their magic, as their horns were not glowing.
All went silent for a few moments as the drums stopped in the middle of a measure. After a moment, Celestia could hear somepony speaking in a very deep, slow voice to the two unicorns.
"How was that, Sharp? I was a little slow through the bridge, but I managed to not miss the cymbals around the last few measures."
Celestia watched with mild curiosity from her hiding spot as the tan unicorn stallion with the brown mane- presumedly Sharp- replied, not bothering to move from his splayed out position on the rock.
"I told you already, Rego! We won't know how good it is until we play it together, and to do that, we need to have Duster back from the military base to play her keyboard!"
On the other rock, the slate-grey mare with the fiery red mane who was laying on her back raised her hoof up from her side into the air as if reaching for something. She groaned, and let her hoof fall back to her side. Celestia watched all this with a blank look on her face, as her mind was elsewhere.
So they need a pony that can play the keyboard? Celestia trotted away from the clearing, watching where she stepped in order to be as quiet as possible. I have a keyboard... but I can't just go joining a band because I feel like it! I have other things that I need to do, like... like... Celestia's mind drew a blank. She huffed in frustration while continuing her trot away from the clearing.
I could just do it for today. I could teleport to the castle and grab the keyboard, and come back here. Celestia stopped walking in order to think.
If they want me, and I enjoy playing, why shouldn't I try to join? It might do me some good.
With that last thought in her mind, Celestia teleported away in a flash of light.
//*********************//
Regolith Pie was not a very tall pony. He was a good three hooves shorter than his friend, Flare, and she was another half of a hoof shorter than Sharp. Despite his size, Regolith was an unusually strong pony, even by earth pony standards. His deep, slow baritone of a voice would suggest that he wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed, but that was not the case at all. Regolith had an amazing memory, which allowed him to excel in most of his classes in school.
Despite his success in school, Regolith's real passion was his drums. His Precious, as he called them. He had originally purchased the old drum set from a pawn shop for about twice of their value- 120 bits. Not even Regolith's parents understood why he wanted only that drum set. At least, not until he first played it. Regolith had a way with his drums; he could bang out beats so fast, it sounded like one long note. He could tap out a quiet pitter patter of a light drizzle, and nopony could tell the difference between his rendition and actual rain. It was as if the drums, or possibly Regolith himself, was magical...
As Regolith recounted his life story in his head for some reason unknown to himself, he almost failed to notice the tall, yellow-white pegasus with a pink mane step out from a bush into the clearing. What was even more surprising was that the mare had a Pegatronix Rat Nest X-2 arcanoelectric keyboard held under a wing. Regolith gave her a once-over, not recognizing her at all. But a Rat Nest was a very expensive keyboard, and the X-2 was limited-edition. There were a total of roughly a hundred and twenty of them made.
Deciding to have a little fun, Regolith jumped over his drum set with one of the drumsticks in his right hoof. He pointed it at the mare and yelled "Who the 'eck are you, yeh bliddy nit?"
//*********************//
Celestia froze mid-stride. This was the make or break point. She could turn tail and make a run for it, or she could reply to the short-yet-surprisingly-intimidating pony in front of the drum set. Wondering if she was going to regret this later, Celestia stepped forward and opened her mouth to reply.
"I heard you were looking for a... board? Keyboard player?"
The grey drummer used the drumstick that had been pointing at Celestia to flick his hair away from his face and out of his eyes.
"An' what if we are? Oh, lemme guess." A bored-looking smile appeared on his face. "You play."
"I do."
"Now, anypony can play. The real question is, can you play well? "
With a harumph, Celestia walked over to a rock that was just below her waistline and carefully laid out her keyboard on top. Both of the unicorns were now laying on their bellies on top of their respective rocks, watching the situation with interest. With a flick of her wingtip, Celestia turned her keyboard on, and began to play a version of Horsegang Mozart, with an autodrum beat. She kept her eyes closed the whole time, focusing solely on the music she was playing, using her wings and front hooves to hit each note perfectly.
When she finished, the grey unicorn mare with the fiery mane spoke up.
"What's your name?"
Celestia was silent for a moment. "Sky. Sunny Sky."
"That was Mozart, wasn't it?"
"It was."
"You live around here?"
"Kind of."
The unicorn raised an eyebrow.
"Fine. How often are you around Tall Tale?"
A small smile came to Celestia's face.
"How often do I need to be around Tall Tale?"
The drummer smirked and said "I like this one! Can we keep 'er?"
The sandy coated unicorn- Sharp, if Celestia remembered correctly- chuckled and replied. "Well Miss Sky, it seems you are now a tentative member of the band. Welcome to Divine Desolation."
Author's Note
This was originally going to be just one chapter but... this happened. If there's any errors let me know so I can fix them! Hope y'all like it!
