Star was in the Ponyville Market, buying different types of foods for the week. He watched as Fluttershy's face appeared on the magazine the store was selling. He felt bad for her, he knew she didn't like the limelight. The halfa just hoped that something popular would take her place, and fast.

He put the magazine down and went back to his shopping, hoping to get it done before nightfall. He never saw the Fluttershy magazines be replaced by another mare's picture.

Star Phantom in:

Spirit of Music

Tell Me Who You Love!

As Star finished up going to the market, he passed by a small music dome near the park. Normally, you would find a resident musician or actor doing a performance for passersby. However, all he could see was a massive mob formed around the stage manager. The pony seemed to be desperately trying to keep the angry ponies at bay.

“Settle down. I've already rearranged all your performance dates to next month.” He said. This only made the mob angrier.

“A month?! I'm supposed to be in Canterlot in a month! Where is my group supposed to practice?!”

“Dude. You made me a day show. You know I only do nights!” These were among the many complaints given by the mob.

“Who replaced us anyway?!”

The manager seemed to gain a dreamy smile on his face as he responded. “Ember Flame. The newest, and most popular, musician in Equestria. She's spending time in Ponyville before going to Canterlot to finish her tour.”

Star raised an eyebrow. Ponyville had celebrities here before, but Ember Flame came out of nowhere. If she's as popular as they say. Her arrival would've been heard of way before booking the dome. He watched as the crowd was forced to disperse by security, their angry scowls only growing firmer.

He watched as Vinyl and Octavia passed, deciding to talk to them about the situation.

They didn't notice him at first, since they were completely lost in their conversation. “Stupid Ember. Stupid popularity. My band can not practice anywhere else. And we were performing at the Gala this year!” The grayish brown earth pony said, her glare burning holes in the road.

Vinyl slammed her hooves on the ground in frustration. “Yeah. My bits come from my weekly concerts. I might not be able to afford the rent!” Star was surprised. Octavia and Vinyl were usually more calm about these types of situations. Whatever was happening, it hurt them deeply.

“Hey girls. Everything okay?” The two snapped their heads toward the halfa, small smiles formed as they recognized the stallion.

“Star, wazzup my main stallion.” Vinyl and Star high hoofed, while Octavia simply nodded.

“Good to see you Star. How's everything on the farm?” Star shrugged.

“It's fine. I'm more worried about you guys. What's going on?”

Octavia snorted. “Some new pop star named Ember. Apparently she's booked an entire month, completely tossing us aside.”

Star's eyes widened. “But you guys are always popular!”

Vinyl rolled her eyes. “Guess not as popular as Miss Pop Star.”

“Yikes, sorry girls.”

Octavia sighed. “It's not your fault Star. Thank you for the support anyway. I better go tell my associates the bad news.”

“Same. Gotta tell the crew the bull load. Later.” With that, the two mares walked away, leaving Star to ponder just who this Ember Flame was.

He stared at her poster with suspicion, then left the stage area

“Oh mah gosh! Ember Flame is comin’ tah town!” Star cringed at how loud AppleBloom was being right now. He went back to Sweet Apple Acres to talk to his siblings about his suspicions. He certainly didn't expect them to show this much excitement.

“Okay guys, we just gonna ignore the fact that several Ponyville musicians got put out of work because of this mare?!”

The three Apples rolled their eyes. “Come on, Star. Not Ember's fault she's so popular.” AppleJack said dismissively.

“Yeah, Ember's just too good.” AppleBloom added.

“Eeyup.” Star just stared at his older brother with a deadpan expression. He threw up his front hooves in a dramatic fashion.

“Fine. Guess I'm the only one who cares about my musically talented friends being shafted by some upstart one hit wonder!” The halfa recoiled at the loud gasps his siblings did.

AppleJack glared. “Don't talk about Ember that way!”

“She's the greatest, most talented pony ever!” AppleBloom added.

“Eeyup!” Big Mac finished. Star just sighed, transformed, and took off. When he was gone, AppleBloom turned on the record player, starting up Ember's one song.

“So warm and tender! You will Remember my Name!”

Star flew over the town, noticing how everypony was listening to the same song over and over again. Seriously! What is so good about this mare's music?!

Sure, she sounded great. But this mare only existed in Ponyville for barely a day and she's already the next best thing since Zap Apple Jam. Star groaned as he could hear the song starting up again.

He looked around to see who was playing it, when he saw a strange looking train pull into the station. Unlike the usual pinkish colors of the Equestrian Railways, this train was bluish white, with cyan flames marking the front and sides. The sound was originating from an empty flatcar near the rear of the train. The entire town suddenly rushed over to the train, cheering and hollering like a frantic mob.

Star felt a chill go up his spine as his breath began to mist. His ghost sense was telling him a spirit was nearby. He looked around to see what could be causing it to go off.

Smoke blew from the flatcar, then dissipated, revealing none other than Ember Flame herself. The crowd went ballistic at the sight of their idle. Ember grinned as she stood before her crowd.

“Hello Ponyville! Tell me who you love!”

“Ember! Ember! Ember!” The crowd chanted in unison. Ember's flaming hair expanded as the chanting continued. Behind her, more smoke appeared, followed by her bandmates.

“Ember Lame! Ember Lame!” The crowd grew silent as Ponyville's DJ shouted out her own chant. Her roommate was doing everything she could to quiet the mare down.

“Vinyl.” She growled. “You're making a scene.” Their other friend, Lyra Heartstrings, wasn't helping at all.

“Ember Lame! One Hit Blunder!” Bon Bon face hoofed at her best friend's immaturity.

Ember simply rolled her eyes. “Oh great, jealous rivals.” She grinned as she changed the dial on her guitar. “Well, audience. Show them who you wanna hear!” She blasted a note, sending a purple spiral through the crowd. Their eyes went red as they turned to face the four mares with snarls and growls. The four backed away slowly as the crowd advanced.

Star's eyes widened in shock. Ember was a ghost! He rushed down and stood between the crowd and the four mares. He looked at them with determination. “Run.”

The mares did so, leaving Star to handle the crowd. He sprouted an ecto shield to block the crowd in. They bashed against the shield, snarling like wild animals. The shield slowly began to shrink as Star backed down. He looked back to see the mares were clear. Star dropped the shield and took off into the air.

“Alright, time to deal with the one hit blun-” His eyes widened as he looked at the empty flatcar. Ember and her band were long gone. The crowd below stood around in a daze.

Star groaned as realization hit. She used the crowd to escape. He flew off into town to find the mares and make sure they were okay.

Star had a lot to think about as he flew over town. It was obvious Ember was using some form of mind control on anypony who listens to her music, but why were he and the other musicians unaffected?

His ghost powers more than likely kept him safe, but the others. Unless they were halfas, there should be no way for them to resist. He didn't have any more time to think about it as he spotted the mares huddled inside Sugar Cube Corner.

Mrs. Cake placed a milkshake on the table, which Vinyl immediately grabbed and chugged down. Octavia rolled her eyes.

“Vinyl, must you drink a milkshake at a time like this?”

“What?” The DJ asked after gulping down the shake. “It helps me think.”

Bon Bon leaned in. “Did you see what Ember did out there?! She has mind control powers!”

Lyra nodded. “She has to have some serious skill to be able to pull that magic off.”

“Something tells me it's more than that.” All four heads turn to the black and white stallion floating above them. None of them say or do anything, too shocked to think. Star just waited for their brains to catch up. Once they did, one screamed, two more grinned like cats that swallowed canaries, and the fourth one whipped out an ecto-blaster. Star cringed at the scream, got creeped out by the grins, and recoiled in shock from the blaster.

“Woah woah-woah-woah! Good guy here!” Star frantically shouted while waving his hooves in front of his body. Bon Bon simply glared as she aimed her blaster at the ghost, then Lyra stepped in front of her.

“Bonnie! What the heck?!” The unicorn shouted. “He’s cool!”

“But how many times has he destroyed the town?” The earth pony asked with venom. Star looked down in guilt at that remark, nor did he deny what he did in the past.

“Well, he did save us.” Vinyl thought aloud as she shook Octavia out of her shock. Bon Bon looked between her best friend and the ghostly menace, her eyes snapping between the two several times. After what felt like hours, she sighed and lowered the blaster.

‘Fine, I suppose I’ll let you go this time.” Star let out a sigh of relief, glad to safe for now. Lyra, on the other hoof, raised a suspicious eyebrow.

“And where did you get the blaster?” The mint unicorn asked slowly.

“Twilight!” Bon Bon said quickly. Everypony stared at her with semi-suspicious glares, then Star broke it up.

“Okay, whatever. I just need to ask a question to all of you?” The four mares looked at him in confusion. “How come you're not affected by Ember's music?” They all shrugged.

“That is a good question.” Bon Bon mumbled to herself.

“Maybe it's because of our musical interest. After all, we all have a pitch we find perfect.” Octavia suggested.

“That makes sense, Ember's pitch is at that perfect level for most ponies. But since we all work at different pitches, we aren't affected by her!” Lyra added.

“True, plus her song is good tune wise, and her lyrics are great.” Vinyl added. “But I prefer my remix and techno. I literally can't hear anything else.”

Bon Bon shrugged. “I'm just tone deaf.”

Star nodded. “Okay, so how to we battle music like Ember's?”

Vinyl rolled her eyes. “Duh. By being better!”

“Wait what?” Star raised an eyebrow.

“Hey, that could work!” Bon Bon agreed loudly. “If we could create a better pitch, we can break her spell.”

Star looked at them with a doubting glance. “But would that work on a ghost?” The four mares looked at him with wide eyes. This might be a bit more difficult. Lyra then sighed and shrugged.

“What else can we do?”

“Okay then. So now we gotta create a song that sounds great and could go toe to toe with a ghost. Great. Just great.” Bon Bon droned.

“Oh, come on Bonnie. It'll be fun.” Vinyl said, putting a hoof around her haunches. “We got this.”

“Alright then, let's get to work.” Octavia said. “Lyra and I will do musical notes. Vinyl, you work on a beat. Bon Bon, pull security. Inviso-Bill-”

“Phantom.” The ghost colt said abruptly. “It's Star Phantom.”

“Alright then… Phantom, you prepare to take on that ghost.” Star nodded nervously as the others got to work. His eyes suddenly widened in realization.

“Wow, this is going by a lot quicker than I thought.” And did Octavia really just take control here?

At the Performance Stage in the park, Ember was making final preparations for her concert. She smirked devilishly as she finely tuned her guitar.

“Almost, just a little more power, then even the Princesses won't be able to resist my control!” A knock came from her door and a stage pony stepped inside.

“Miss Ember, you're on in five.” The stallion said with a dreamy look in his eyes.

“Thanks, sweetie. You've been a big help.” Ember said sweetly, earning a fan giggle from the stage pony, how closed the door. The unicorn mare sighed in content as the sound of her name echoed from the crowd outside. Her flaming hair expanded, then shrunk back to normal size, albeit a bit brighter.

“Time for my ‘adoring’ fans.” With that, Ember left the dressing room and marched on stage. The massive crowd went berserk.

“EMBER! EMBER! EMBER! EMBER!” As the chanting continued, Ember felt the power surge through her like fire, her hair grew brighter and larger with each syllable of her name.

“That's it baby! Tell me who you love!”

The band appeared from thin air, and began their tune.

“Yeah-ah. Oh oh ohohaho!”

“It was, it was September. Wind blows, the dead leaves fall.”
“To you, I did surrender. Two weeks, you didn't call.”
“You're life, went on without me. My life, a losing game.”
“But you should, you should not doubt me~.”
“You will Remember my Name.”

“Oh oh, Ember! You will Remember!”
“Ember! One thing remains!”
“Oh oh, Ember! So warm and tender~!”
You Will Remember My Name!”

Standing on a nearby hill, Star and the four mares watched the concert with determination in their eyes. Vinyl readied her speakers and turntable. Octavia readied her cello, Lyra her lyre, Bon Bon her ecto gun (just in case), and Star readied his ecto hooves.

Vinyl activated her turntable. “Hit it!” Octavia started off with a slow rhythm. Vinyl then matched it with a few beats. Lyra then started playing her lyre, catching onto the rhythm the others were creating.

Vinyl turned up the volume.

Members of the audience caught wind of the music and turned their attention to the five ponies playing. More joined in, and soon the crowd was enthralled by them.

Ember glared at the four mares and stallion, then smirked. “So, these ponies wanna have a battle of the bands. Let the battle begin.”

She began the next few notes of her song, when a toxic green ecto blast hit her guitar. Ember watched in horror as her instrument went flying into the air. It was caught by a pair of glowing white hooves.

Star floated triumphantly above the rock star, his own smirk showing. “Hey Ember, mind if I jam with the band?”

“Sorry Babypop, I don't do duets!” She fired her own flaming blasts at the halfa, who dodged them with ease. She roared before charging up and landing a solid punch on his face. Star went flying, dropping the guitar in the process. Ember dove for it, and caught it. She was about to start playing again when Star slammed onto the stage. The two glared at each other before Star grabbed a microphone stand, then posed with it in a defensive manner. They stared each other down until Star made a ‘Come At Me, Bro!’ gesture. Ember obliged by raising her guitar over her head and rushing the halfa.

He blocked the instrument with the stand, pushing her back to make his own attack. The two fought with their makeshift weapons as the mares continued to play, drawing in more and more of the audience. Star went on the offensive by swinging the microphone down over his head. Ember blocked the attack with her guitar, but the mare felt her energy being sapped away. She turned toward the crowd and saw that their attention was on the four mares performing on the hill. Her shock was enough of a distraction for Star to change tactics and take a gold swing at Ember's head.

She had no time to react as the mic whacked the side of her head. The mare went flying down the stage, landing hard on her back. She struggled to get up as Star stood above her. The rockstar ignored the halfa as she gave a pleading look to the cloud.

“No! Please! Tell me who you love!” She commanded. None of the ponies obeyed. They were entranced by the other mares and their music. “Say my name! Say MY NAAAAAAME!” Ember cried into the heavens before collapsing onto the stage. Star just sighed and pulled out the thermos.

“The only words we got for ya is ‘So Long, Farewell, and Goodbye’.” Ember screamed in anger as she was sucked into the device. Star slammed the lid closed, and took off. The other ghost band members disappeared, and the musicians finished their song. The crowd cheered, giving the musicians a newfound drive. They smiled at each other and started another song.

Star smiled and took off toward the Everfree Forest. He didn't realize that Bon Bon watched him fly away, before powering down her blaster. “Congrats Ghost Colt. You earned the peace this time.” She then glared at the ground. “But now I gotta deal with Head Pony. Just great.”

The next day came with most of the town returning to normal, although most of the residents were absolutely exhausted after their late night concert. Everything Ember related was taken down, and all performance times were returned to normal.

Star watched one by Octavia and her Orchestra from atop the same hill they had used as a stage the night before. It was a really well done performance, Star couldn't wait for them to perform at the Gala. He had a newfound respect for performers, musician or otherwise. He saw just how easy it was for somepony to become popular and die out due to someone better.

He doubted that would ever happen in Ponyville though, since everypony got a share of talent. He just hoped that Ember would learn that attention didn't need to be forced. The halfa hoped he left her with a good teacher.

In the frozen waste of the Spirit Realm, Ember growled as she covered her ears from the most annoying sound in the world.

“Ember! Ember! Ember!” Klemper shouted in excitement.

Ember turned with a glare and shouted “Stop saying my name!” Klemper ignored her and kept saying her name as she kept walking through the ice and snow of the Spirit Realm.

Author's Note

Yes! First Chapter of 2019! Let's Celebrate!

In all seriousness, hope you all enjoyed the chapter and EMBER FLAME!!!

Happy 2019 everybody!