Finding Perfect Harmony

Her voice echoed across the land, over thousands of roaring fans, each screaming her name and reaching out just for a chance to touch her hooves just once.

“Joyful we love you” One yelled.

“Joyful, Marry me” another yelled.

Her long brown mane swayed back and forth as she sang along to the music, the rhinestone encrusted microphone illuminated with a green aura from her horn.

“To bath in life, no disappointment

Injured wings will rise up

You will fly in the sky

Suddenly again glistening tear drops

You are beautiful

You embrace life

This will accomplish a miracle”

I nearly missed my next note watching her in her element. She looked so happy, losing herself in her music just as she always had done. “Living in the moment” she used to call it, she was always the singing superstar even when were little.

Joyful Noise; the number one pop singer in Equestria, with a voice that would rival even the beauty of Princess Celestia herself, not to mention a body to match. She had formed “Solvalla” when she was very young, which only grew in popularity as the years went by.

As the concert ended, I could see the signs of exhaustion in her face as she turned to face me, a faint smile draped across her face. I smiled back setting the guitar down as the stage curtain closed releasing my hold on the neck of the instrument, the blue aura from my horn fading as I turned and followed the olive green mare out the side of the stage, the rest of the band following close behind as we returned to the room the manager had prepared for us.

“Another great concert, eh Pitch” A voice called as a hoof collided with my shoulder.

Turning I could see our drummer ‘Steady Beat’ with a smile; two bottles of hard cider levitating right beside his smiling face blanketed in a red aura which matched his coat, his eyes behind a small pair of silver sunglasses.

“Ya, no thanks to you” I joked taking one of the bottles from his grasp and bumping it against the one he still held, knocking it back just as he did the same.

I felt a set of hooves wrap around my neck and a set of lips smack against my cheek. “Hey P” the calm voice cooed into my ear before she turned my head with one of her hooves to now face me directly before pressing her lips into mine. She stayed there for a moment before backing away leading me by a hoof towards the door to the lobby where fans crowded outside. A small group of each being held back by a big bulky guard at the front, each with its eyes shaded by a dark pair of sunglasses and an earpiece in their ear. As we approached their gaze shifted to us before they began to move again pushing through the crowd and somehow making a gap between them so we could pass, each of the hooves reaching out to us as we passed, some carrying pens and paper while others held cameras which flashed a near blinding light in my face nearly every second making me squint my eyes as I advanced.

I hated the crowds. The endless paparazzi that would always bug you wherever you went didn’t help the situation much either it was pretty annoying to say the least. Joy loved it though; in fact she welcomed the pictures, interviews, and publicity she had gotten; she relished in it in fact. Whenever I found a camera or a microphone in my face she would always shield my eyes with one of her hooves, or push away an interviewer whenever he/she got too close for my liking; it was one of the reasons I loved her so much.

By the time we had finally made it back to the train station where the bands private couch the band had rented out for the tour waited, its lights illuminating the darkness. My hooves began to ache, my eyelids heavy. Finding my familiar spot on one of the sofas I laid out on my stomach burying my face in one of the pillows and letting out a long sigh.

“One concert down” Steady Beat stated walking over to the fridge and removing a bottled water from the shelves.

“Where to next?”

“Some country town, PonyVille I think.” Joyful Noise answered sitting down by my tail.

Beat let out a noticeable groan as he laid down onto the adjacent couch laying his head on the pillow. “I hate the country” he stated twisting the cap off of the water bottle and putting the top to his mouth.

“Get used to it Beat. It’s a curse the curse of being famous” Joy stated in an annoyed tone.

A sudden noise caused the three of us to turn to face a familiar figure trot through the door, his movements jumpy and exited. “Good show Solvalla, I think it was our best one yet” he said in a familiar accent. “Joyful Noise, Celestia herself would be envious of your voice, well done” he went on trotting over to couch to address us all.

“Thank you as always Charger”

“Steady Beat, you were a little hesitant on the second number, I expect you to fix that before we reach our next destination”

“Whatever” Beat said giving a weak salute.

“Perfect Pitch, remember to get lost in the music. Not your mare friend, I could see you gawking at her from backstage, fix it!”

I mimicked Beat’s salute before turning over onto my back avoiding his gaze completely.

“The train leaves in half an hour, do try and get some rest on our way there” Charger stated exiting out the train door out into the night once again leaving the three of us alone once again in the un-necessarily large train car.

The train pressed on through the night, sounds of Steady Beats snoring echoed throughout the train car preventing me from getting any sleep. Against my chest lay Joy; I could feel her breath against my chest, the rise and fall of hers against my side.  I looked down at the sleeping mare who remained motionless even as I moved a strand of hair away from her eyes, a faint chuckle escaping my lips. I laid there for another hour or two trying to focus on anything other than Beats snoring; but to no avail. Slowly I got up from the couch, careful not to wake the sleeping mare beneath me making my way to a nearby window as if to just watch as the scenery pass by, sitting down in the window seat upright yet still unable to find a good position to sit in.

I had been with Solvalla ever since the band formed. Granted at the time I had joined, Joy and I weren’t an item, and arguably the only reason I was put in the band in the first place was because I was the only one in our school who could play the guitar without fumbling for notes, but that never stopped Joy from recruiting me. Beat joined later, after our previous drummer decided to peruse a different career in economics eventually finding a steady paying job in Manehattan, and ever since then he had been my closest and only friend I had ever known. The three of us became as thick as thieves not soon after we began playing with each other, playing whatever gig we could find as often as possible. The music at the time was all cover songs playing on the radio at the time, never any original music which prevented us from standing out at all, however; that all changed when Joy decided to do so. Crowds began forming, tickets would sell out, and we eventually found ourselves being invited to more and more events; the dream had become a reality.

A felt a tender hoof wrap around my shoulder just as a head rested against it breaking the trance I was under whilst staring out the window.

“Hey” Joy said in a weak tired tone. “Couldn’t sleep?”

“No” I replied laying my head against hers.

We sat there for a while, not speaking; only comforted by each other’s company. I turned my head to kiss her lightly atop her head just behind her ear earning a content sigh from the mare who in turn leaned into me further.

“My Perfect Pitch” she stated nuzzling my shoulder with her snout.

My mind began to ease as I wrapped a free hoof around her holding her closer. A sense of contentment washed over me and I began to feel my mind rest a bit. I felt Joy shift a bit, getting out from underneath my arm and leaning up to kiss my cheek.

“You really should get some sleep” she stated, as she turned my head to gaze into her golden eyes. Lightly she began to hum and began to run a hoof over my black and blue mane, she knew all too well it was one of the ways she could make me relax enough o actually sleep. I began to recognize the tune, the lullaby she had made just for me, the one she would not sing to anyone else. She stopped humming only to begin singing the familiar words.

Cry, the first thing we did when we born

Hooves, they are what we use for a hug

Smiles, Thank you for that smile you gave me to change my life

Welcome to a beautiful life

I shifted my body to lie down on the window seat while she lay down next to me, still stoking my mane as she continued singing.

Eyes, it is in your both eyes

Soul, it belongs to your soul

Voice, it’s a lovely voice that comes from you

If your wound could not heal because of the common word that I just said

I'm going to hug you with it until the death comes and takes me

Closing my eyes I felt sleep rapidly approaching, however I fought it to stay awake just long enough for her to finish. I loved her voice, the one I had come to love; my Joyful Noise.

We can just sing sing sing forever

Try to understand tomorrow

I’m going to understand the word "Joy" that’s why you should sing it together with me

Echo of sing sing sing forever

I finally found my True Love

Always be the last minute that we know "LIFE" that’s why you should sing it together with me.

As she finished her song, her voice trailing off, I felt sleep finally come to me, and yet, even in the darkness of my dreams; I swear I could still feel the touch of her hoof still stoking my mane.

The train arrived late in the day, in PonyVille Station, mid-afternoon to be exact. As I exited the train station twisting my shoulder blades to try and stretch out the soreness, I looked around at the surrounding lush green area. It was not at all like I had pictured it. Granted when someone said “Country” I would think of barren dessert’s spread as far as the eye could see, with only a small village in the middle of nowhere which would consist of only a few buildings; I was happy to be proven wrong. Much to my surprise; I actually liked the looks of this town; friendly looking ponies, welcoming scenery, this town had it all. I caught the gaze of some of the ponies in the station starring at me, some with a face of confusion, others with a look of amazement at seeing somepony who was actually famous.

“Is that Perfect Pitch?” I heard one pony whisper

“He’s taller than I thought.” A female voice said from somewhere else.

I thanked Celestia that there weren’t any paparazzi nearby, the flash of a camera was the last thing I wanted thing I wanted to think about right now. I heard Joy let out a sigh of relief as she exited the train car.

“So nice to finally be out of that train car” she stated.

“So this is PonyVille?” I heard Beat say as he exited right behind. “What a dump, I hate the country”

“It’s not that bad” I stated.

“Whatever…” Beat said trailing off as he leaned against the train car lifting a cigarette to his mouth with magic lighting it soon after.

A crowd began to gather just in front of the train as more ponies came to the realization of our presence in the station. Some began calling our names, others taking pictures.

“So much for no cameras” I thought as I turned away from the flashes back to the train pretending to be looking for something.

Security began to form in front of us, pushing the crowd back just as a familiar gray stallion came into view; Charger.

“Hello Solvalla, I trust you slept well?” he said over the roaring crowd. No pony answered, only stood there watching as he paced back and forth in front of us. Realizing no one was in the mood to talk to him he pulled out a small notebook from the black jacket he wore flipping some of the pages over. “Well I have good news and bad news. The good news is we are ahead of schedule, which means we can prepare for the concert… This brings us to the bad news… Due to unforeseen circumstances, the equipment will be arriving a day or two later. Our stage manager Dusk had a mishap with some of the equipments transportation. Your instruments won’t arrive for another two day’s”

“Are you bucking kidding me!?” Beat lashed out making the rest of us jump slightly at the level of his voice. “How the buck am I supposed to prepare without my drums”

“Calm down Beat, they’re on their way” I said trying to lighten the situation. Beat shook his head out of frustration, but remained silent for the time being. “What are we going to do until then?”

“Mingle around down, get a drink, I don’t care. Just stay out of trouble. Just be sure to meet back at the hotel before midnight ” Charger stated walking away from the group putting a hoof up to his ear where his earpiece lit up as he began to speak into it.

“Well you heard the man” Joy stated returning to Train car disappearing from sight as she walked further in.

Walking in front of a mirror I began giving myself the once over. It was amazing what one could accomplish with a few simple articles of clothing. With a simple hat covering my horn, as well as a blue pair of sunglasses over my eyes; I went from “Perfect Pitch, lead guitar in Solvalla” to “That pony that looks like you’ve seen somewhere before”. Granted my cutie mark was a dead giveaway, but no one really associated me with my mark as much as my guitar. The plan was to step out for an hour or two and explore the town for a bit, get a bite to eat, and return that night to spend a little quality time with Joy who was staying back at the train car to catch up on some rest. I asked Beat if he wanted to come with me but he shrugged it off with a simple “I hate the country” leaving me alone as I walked the unfamiliar streets.

It was interesting to see the town in a new light; as a citizen. Dozens of ponies all around attending to their business completely unaware of me as I passed by. I watched small stall owners selling assortments of food as well as accessories for passing ponies, stores all around had open doors which ponies of all kinds walked in and out of. Overhead I watched as a cyan colored mare with a rainbow coated mane clear the clouds out of the skies before dashing out of sight to whatever business she had next. It was unique to say the least to see all everypony attending to their daily routine, each accomplishing whatever task they had set for the day. I wondered what it felt like; to do everything on your own, to work hard for something, to wipe the sweat from your brow as you looked at the work you had done for the day with a feeling of satisfaction.

A sudden collision broke me from my trance, knocking me back onto the ground. I looked up to see a giggling pink pony in a similar position as me. Her mane resembling that of a big pile of pink cotton candy which matched her long tail.

She suddenly burst into a fit of laughter jumping up onto her legs with un-imaginable speed before she leaned down and assisted me to mine.

“Sorry about that, guess I didn’t have my blinker on” she joked continuing to laugh.

“It’s my fault, I wasn’t looking where I was going” I said with a slight chuckle. “Was she always this happy?”

She looked down at my feet then back up to my face getting uncomfortably close as if to gaze into my eyes through my sunglasses. “I’ve never seen you in PonyVille, are you new here?” she asked, still mere inches away from my face.

“No, just visiting for a few days” I lied, thankful she didn’t recognize me.

“Visiting an old friend a relative an old relative who’s a friend-” she began before I lost focus on her words completely, un-able to keep up with what she was saying, just standing there amazed at how fast she was talking. “- then I called somepony over and they managed to pull it right out, by the way what’s your name mister?”

I somehow managed to come back to the situation blinking several times as if to see if this was reality. “Pitch” I replied.

“Well Pitch, it’s always nice to see a new face in PonyVille. I’m Pinkie Pie, next time you’re in town look me up so we can throw you a “Welcome Back To PonyVille And We Hope You’ll Stay Party” she stated as she began to trot away, a smile decorating her face as if nothing had just happened.

“What just happened here?”

The sun began to set by the time I returned to the train car, a small brown bag hanging from my mouth as I trotted back into the train station. During my day out I decided to stop by one of the vendors and get Joy a small pendant with two gold interlocking circles which had “Together Forever” etched in the insides. True it was cheesy but I figured it was the thought that counted the most.

As I stepped inside the door I heard a faint sound come from the back of the trailer, the bedroom to be exact. The sound was faint, and impossible to make out clearly, but it sounded like a “female moan” of some sort. I set the bag down on the couch before stepping lightly towards the door which was creaked open very slightly. Stopping just outside the door I put an ear up to the door.

“Oh, Beat” the voice cried out, which I recognized almost immediately; it was Joy.

Tears began to well in my eyes. I debated whether or not to confront the two of them, or to just leave.

“What did I do wrong?” I kept asking myself.

I couldn’t take it anymore. Turning around I ran out the door of the train car, tears streaming down my face. I didn’t know where I was going, all I knew was; nothing was ever about to be the same again.