"My, I do wonder what kind of performance Coloratura will do on stage this time," Rarity said as the air balloon soared through orange clouds.
The cool gradient of a late afternoon sky hung over the six ponies and they didn't know if evening Las Pegasus could match a view like it. A warm, cozy expanse stretched forward to the horizon, snuggled by velvet and dark blue colors with tiny twinkling pinpricks scattered around.
"I've been keeping track of her discography as of late," Twilight said, her mane rippling with high-altitude winds. "She's been shifting from alternative pop to pop-rock and it's selling really well. Critical reception is stellar, too."
Applejack heard none of them. She was on the floor leaning against the wall with a hat covering most of her face. But she couldn't sleep. She worried if the ponies she hired a while ago screwed up the apple delivery to Las Pegasus. Of course she couldn't hire reliable, renowned services to do the job, not with those great costs. She had to go cheap.
"Applejack?" Pinkie's voice rang out. "Are you okay? Seems like some pony didn't drink their coffee today."
"Mmm..." Applejack mumbled. "I drank two."
Rainbow Dash heard the conversation and flew from the sky to the gondola. "Two cups? Pfft! Rookie numbers, AJ!"
Applejack shifted and adjusted her hat. "Two barrels", she could barely say, but everyone heard.
"Woah. AJ, those aren't rookie numbers anymore. Those are overkill... numbers."
"It's still two, so technically they're the same numbers!" Pinkie said.
"Applejack, if you're too exhausted, maybe you could book a hotel when we get to Las Pegasus," Fluttershy suggested.
"Ngh, I can't!" Applejack said and stood up. Bad idea, but Rarity saved her from collapsing on the floor again. "I have to... sell some apples, you see?" she said, balanced again but barely.
"We can sell some apples," Twilight said. "You just rest while we---"
"No... Not gonna happen. Big Mac and Apple Bloom are already there ready to sell some with me. I ain't gonna give y'all the burden of sellin' my apples. That's too much..."
"I know a certain thing that's also 'too much', darling. The girls and I can handle it! We can't bear to see you overworking yourself like this!"
"Thank ya kindly, Rarity. And all of ya. But I just can't let any of you do that." Applejack stood firm. "This is the grand opening of the Equestrian Hotel! And Rara will be singin', too. Y'all should enjoy the show and worry about me none."
Applejack blinked a bit of exhaustion away. "Besides... Zecora gave me a lil' somethin' to put the pep back in my step for a little while. Oh! And would you look at that."
Six ponies awed at as the clouds depart like stage curtains to reveal a floating city during a beautiful sunset. A picturesque sun the color of molten iron aligned perfectly with the main avenue, and the skyline silhouettes on both side framed it like a sky altar. A pair of tired green eyes reflected the view. It was almost a consolation for everything.
The air balloon landed on a platform and the valets tied it down with a rope. Twilight put out the flames as they exited the gondola, though Rainbow Dash was already hovering outside. Applejack was the last one to exit, trudging along slower than her friends in a vain attempt to conserve energy.
They walked the streets filled with tourists and residents alike and stopped at the gate to the Equestrian hotel. The building was the largest structure in Las Pegasus and built like a tall, rectangular prism curving inwards. Grass fields surround the building like a flattened, floating Sweet Apple Acres. It glowed with luxury. A sign the size of a barn was erected on the large terrace near the entrance, and it said some interesting things.
Malcolt McSaddle presentsCOUNTESS COLORATURA
and the Royal Fillyharmonic Orchestra
Applejack smiled at the thought of her childhood friend. Apparently Rara signed a contract to perform at the Equestrian Hotel for its publicity and recognition, and this time Svengallop wasn't pulling the strings.
They met Big Macintosh and Apple Bloom near the big glass doors of the hotel.
"Sis, you're here!" Apple Bloom hugged Applejack. "You look like you should get some rest."
"For the last time, Apple Bloom, we ha-"
"That's why you shouldn't worry! Some rich guy bought a bulk of our cider and we had a lotta success selling them fritters. It's been a good day! Ain't that right, Big Mac?"
"Eeyup."
"See?"
Applejack sighed in relief. "Oh thank the heavens. That's good news."
"And since the market avenue was closed we're gonna have to sell inside."
"Now hold on." Applejack shook her head. "Do we even have the proper authorization to do that?"
"Yep! From Filly Ruffin herself! She's like, the owner of the darn hotel!" Apple Bloom beamed, but then frowned. "But we have to wear hotel clothes. They're like these red uniforms. I don't like wearin' them."
"Eee-Nope."
"So you don't have to sell with us! Let us handle it for the night and you just rest up with-"
Applejack was becoming frustrated. "Okay, hold on just a minute! I ain't gonna waste a precious opportunity to help the farm!"
"But like I said, we did really well today! I'm sure we can cut you some slack!" Apple Bloom said. "I don't want to see my sister like this!"
Applejack bit her lip. All the walking she'd done, she forgot how much her hooves hurt. But Apple Bloom's words reminded her that indeed she was hurting, and she needed to sit down.
Sweet Apple Acres endured a steady decline of sales for the past few years, and every year's end Applejack would scrutinize every financial detail that might spell out a reason why. But she couldn't find out. It seemed like every way she tried to fix the farm something else pops out that derails a good day's work. The barn roof needs fixing. The plow needs replacing. An acre's worth of land needs attention and debts need paying. Eventually it all piled up and the usual schedule for Applejack needed changing. She needed to work twice, thrice as hard to cover the costs that seemed impossible to overcome.
"Applejack, please relax with us for a while. We really miss your company." Fluttershy put a hoof over her shoulder.
Applejack frowned and drew out a weak, relieved breath.
"Okay then, " she said. "I guess I need that. Business won't be good if somepony's runnin' it like a zombie, right?"
The evening was a grand event. There were dozens of round tables, each covered in pristine table cloth and readied up for ten guests. The tables nearest to the stage were long and rectangular like dinner tables, ensuring ponies a good view of the performance and a place to eat while watching it. Applejack seats were at one of those. Blossoms of jasmine, roses, and daisies were organized into tall centerpieces, filling the air with scented delight as ponies begin to sit down and prepare for the show.
Usually posh snobs from Canterlot filled events like these like a swarm of bees but tonight was different. The guests came from diverse places. Saddle Arabia, Cloudsdale, Manehattan, Hoofington. Crystal Ponies too. It seemed like Rara's reach was enormous and if she could bring in ponies from all over Equestria, then Filly Ruffin picked the right mare.
"Ugh, I need to eat," Rainbow complained. "Where's the food? I'm starving!""
"Food's not coming until after the show, darling," Rarity said. "Don't worry, with Countess Coloratura on stage, you'll forget your cravings!"
"I doubt that."
The lights began to dim. Applejack saw Big Mac and Apple Bloom amidst the crowds of ponies and tables. They refilled ciders, offered apple fritters, and ponies seemed to give their bits with no hesitation. They donned bright red formal coats and boater hats with little crimson accents as hat bands. A bowtie each hung from their neck as well as an open box containing the apple goods. A tinge of guilt hit Applejack. She should be with them wearing those campy clothes and she thought it was unfair.
Knowing how hotels and other properties like these work, the owners of the hotel would be getting a small cut if they let third-party ponies sell in their estate but it was better than nothing. After the place gets it popularity, executives would hire well-known distributors and companies to replace temporary sellers anyway.
She shook her head. Until the show ends she needed to stop and smell the roses. Of course she'll worry about the farm but that was for later. Now would be the time to lick wounds and recharge batteries, just as her friends advised.
A faint memory sparked in her mind. She sifted through her saddlebag and looked for Zecora's potion. She pulled out a red one, but she saw another potion under it.
Which one was she supposed to drink?
Sleepiness tend to make ponies forget. Maybe Zecora gave her two potions? That was probably the case. Shrugging, Applejack drank both of them in a few chugs.
A sense of freshness washed over her. Her eyelids weren't as heavy anymore. In fact, she felt them moving in some sort of rhythm.
"Ya know, Rara sent a letter to me a few months back." Applejack joined the conversation. "Said she was 'branching out' to the other genres after all that Svengallop business in Ponyville. She has more freedom now."
"Oooh, I hope she plays the accordion! It's about time for some of that Colorapolka!" Pinkie said.
"Polka? Heh, I'd like to see that. I dunno if her fans are gonna get used to it, but hey, they should give her the opportunity to try... to try... um..."
Her head pulsed like drums striking a playful, upbeat tempo.
"To try a-new a-things!" Applejack blurted. She quickly closed her mouth. "Sorry."
Twilight raised an eyebrow and put a concerned hoof over Applejack's back. "Are you okay, Applejack?"
Her vision twirled like a tumultuous sea as a massive, burning headache formed in her head. The sudden urge to belt out high notes made her throat dance.
Sweet Celestia. It was as if every hoof step in the building rang out in her head and arranged like some sort of song. A phantom cadence in the back of her mind. She whirled her head around frantically. The waiters set a plate on the table, followed by a laugh from a pony on the other side of the room then the clinking of glasses from another spot and she heard in them a song!
"Your ears are twitching," Fluttershy said.
Applejack covered her ears. "I'm fine! I'm fine! Um, please excuse me for a bit."
Applejack stood up and rushed to the bathroom. She squeezed through the crowds as nausea curled her vision in a rather doozy manner. Was she going crazy? Everything throbbed like music and her throat itched her to coax a song with the omnipresent beat. She heard them everywhere!
And it wasn't like she was imagining them. All the sounds were real but her brain organized them like a conductor conducting an orchestra. What did I drink, Zecora?
Thud!
"Hey, watch where you're going!" A stallion exclaimed.
"I'm a-sooOOorry!" Applejack sang. "Umm is it too late now to say sorry?"
The stranger looked at her incredulously. "What in the..."
Applejack dashed past him, heat rising up her cheeks. She had to go to the bathroom fast and take a good look of what's happening to her. And maybe find a way to fix it!
"Sorry ma'am," a hotel employee said, stopping her in front of a locked bathroom door. "It's under construction. Use the one in the backstage."
Applejack groaned and galloped to the backstage. She burst through the door, slid across the bathroom floor, and looked at herself. The mirror reflected a pony that seemed too normal compared to what she was feeling. Applejack half-expected a crazy witch-like version of herself in the verge of irreversible insanity but that wasn't the case! She was still beautiful.
In fact, she thought she was more beautiful than before. But how could that be? Her facial structure didn't change one bit.
Back in her table, the other five ponies wondered where Applejack had gone, or what kind of silly mushroom she had accidentally consumed in the Everfree forest. Twilight immediately dismissed that imaginative idea of Pinkie's.
The pony in question stayed idle in the bathroom for about five minutes before the sensory overload of musical factors seemed to calm down. Upon further thought Applejack realized it didn't go away; she had merely adapted to it. Splashing water onto her face, she exited the bathroom and headed for her table. She had to explain everything to her friends.
But before she could leave the backstage she overheard two ponies.
"...Coloratura still not here? Did she forget about the whole darn thing!?" came a booming voice.
"N-no! Of course not Captain McSaddle! She has been looking forward to performing tonight, that's all she could talk about all day! Something must have happened with her ride!"
"Svengallop, there is an audience waiting!"
"I know, I know!"
"I talked with Mrs. Ruffin. If Coloratura's still not here after 20 minutes, the hotel executives will be bringing in the after show performance and end the event early. The guests are getting impatient, and frankly, I am getting impatient too! Especially for a pop star who I don't know will even be coming here tonight!"
Applejack froze as the realization set. If Coloratura wasn't coming...
Then Big Mac and Apple Bloom couldn't sell anymore apple fritters. Dozens and dozens of potential customers from different walks of life all in one place... a chance to breakeven for all the costs for the past week. A chance for a more secure life.
The show must go on.
Under the influence of a mysterious potion, Applejack steeled herself for what was about to happen. Then and there the story had fallen out just as a musician writes notes in a music sheet.
"I'll do it!" Applejack said, approaching Svengallop and Malcolt McSaddle. The pain in her hooves had disappeared, she realized, and was replaced by an exuberant rhythm.
"If Rara ain't comin' for another half an hour, then I'll perform! I'll sing until she comes!"
"It's you!" Svengallop hissed. "You're Coloratura's 'friend'. What makes you think we'll let you of all ponies-"
"Svengallop!" Malcolt exclaimed. "We have talked about this!"
Svengallop cowered behind his mane and took a few steps back. "Sorry, sorry."
Applejack's eye twitched. An odd hydrating sensation rose in her throat as though someone rubbed it with the juice of a chaste tree leaf.
Malcolt looked at Applejack and raised an eyebrow, examining the pony. "So you're an acquaintance of Coloratura, correct?"
"Yes sir, known her since I was a lil' filly."
"Then you must be Applejack. Coloratura talks about you sometimes."
Applejack nodded.
"And what kind of performance will you do on stage?" Malcolt asked. "No offense, but first, you look drunk and twitchy. Second, we don't even know how good you are at singing or dancing or any of that stuff, really."
Applejack rubbed her temples a bit as she adjusted to the rising sounds of musical pulses from all the sounds in the hotel. It became worse, but somehow she tolerated it much better. She could hear the fast tempo of wing flaps from a pegasus window cleaner outside and the chatter of two maids in the top floor penthouse.
"I don't quite know but for sure it'll knock your hooves off," Applejack blurted. Those words were not meant to come out of her mouth but it did anyway. "I mean! I mean, how can I prove it to you?"
"I don't know." Malcolt tapped impatiently. "How?"
Applejack noticed the sound of an upright bass, an electric guitar, and a set of drums farther in the backstage. She peered behind Malcolt and a cowering Svengallop and saw a whole orchestra of ponies silently rehearsing.
"I need to borrow your orchestra."
"No," Malcolt said. "They're reserved for Symphony No. 5 later."
"Fine then," Applejack flipped her mane. "I'll borrow your bassist, your lead guitarist, and your drummer. We square, daddy-o?"
"What?"
"Sir! I mean, sir!"
Malcolt sighed. He gestured Applejack to follow as he walked to the crowd of musicians. "Jam, Berry, Blackwater! You'll do the first performance. This is your singer until Coloratura arrives."
Applejack went over to each of her new acquaintances and introduced herself. "Howdy, I'm Applejack. But call me AJ."
The bassist shook Applejack's hoof. He was an older unicorn stallion wearing round glasses. "Jam Lemonade. You know, you remind me of my daughter."
Then it was the drummer's turn. For some reason the pegasus was giggling when Applejack shook her hoof. "Cindy Blackwater! So nice to meet you!"
The lead guitarist could not look Applejack in the eye, but she shook her hand. She looked like she was holding her breath. "I'm... I'm Berry Luck."
Applejack smirked. "Alright, you'll be my bandmates, clear? We'll be playing a little song called 'House'. I remember my cousins from Appaloosa singin' it."
As her bandmates listened, the other musicians stared. Curious eyes examined how Applejack moved around, talked, and how her hooves tapped along an unheard tempo. They stopped rehearsing to see what was unfolding before them.
"Let's start this." Applejack looked at Jam. "Follow my lead, 'kay?"
Applejack sang many songs before this moment but this one felt different. It was like she was holding the reigns of the song, not merely riding with it. She knew how it works now, how every note leads to another, how every note fits into the staff and the time signature and the scales and everything else. She knew what she wanted to sing, what she wanted to hear. She could see the music in her head, a colorless, shapeless sound arranging itself to be read flawlessly.
What was happening to her?
Applejack closed her eyes. Forget about that. Now was the time to rock.
"Bum bum, bum bum ba-dum, dum," Applejack started. She looked up at the ceiling, feeling the rhythm flowing through her body.
When Jam caught the rhythm he played the bass and with it came the baseline. It was bouncy and vivacious, following the blues scale that added a sort of interest- a spice- to the notes. He didn't show it, but Jam immediately liked this sort of music.
Applejack knew every note he hit. She knew every note that would come after.
Naturally, Cinder followed and hit the drums. A beat was formed, but something was missing. Before Applejack could speak, the other musicians from the orchestra began clapping their hooves to the rhythm.
Smiling, Applejack spurred them on. "That's right!"
Malcolt and Svengallop shared a brief glance then looked back at Applejack. Their jaws agape, they briefly heard the notes for the first time. Notes that flowed with music, not a tool for money and business.
Applejack noticed that. Smiling, she readied her throat.
The applause faded as the spot light engulfed the host at his podium.
"As we anticipate Countess Coloratura's arrival..." his microphone echoed. "We have our opening performance here to spice things up at the one and only Equestrian Hotel! She's a young singer from the town of Ponyville, and a dear friend of the Countess."
"Oooh, Ponyville!" Pinkie said.
"A dear friend of..." Twilight put two and two together. "Wait a second..."
Fluttershy smiled warmly. "It's good to have Ponyville representation here in Las Pegasus."
The host gestured to the stage center and took a deep breath. "Give a warm welcome to... Applejack!"
Twilight, Pinkie, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Rainbow Dash audibly gasped as the audience applauded. Apple Bloom's box of apple fritters fell to the floor. Big Mac's eyes widened. But before they dwell on the surprise the golden curtains split and revealed Applejack looking at the audience behind the microphone stand. Three bandmates accompanied her.
A wave of confusion crashed between the five friends.
"Applejack," the host started. "Are you and your bandmates ready?"
Applejack cleared her throat. "All geared up. Ain't that right, friends?"
Her bandmates smiled and nodded. They were ready ever since the rehearsal.
"Well I have to say it's an honor to be singin' here in the Equestrian Hotel, and we... Sir, do you have anything more to say?"
The host smiled and shook his head. "Nope. I'm ready."
"We have a song for y'all," Applejack continued, looking at the audience again. "And it goes somethin' like this... Ehem."
Applejack closed her eyes.
"Baby, baby buh-ba-baby..." she voiced out. "Turn back, baby, I wanna play house with you..."
The mic winced.
Applejack had completely butchered her song with an off-key voice and an insecure tune and the audience knew it. They shared glances among one another, whispering. The new singer opened her eyes and saw everyone in the hotel staring at her, waiting, looking. Even her friends knew something wasn't going according to plan.
Her heart dropped, and the stage fright took over. Sweat formed on her forehead and she wanted to pull her hat down and cover her face from utter embarrassment. Berry started to play the lead guitar but faltered after the first few notes. Jam played too, but he was out of sync. So was the drummer.
What has happened to her? She thought she had the rhythm in her but she couldn't find it in herself to sing.
But the potion...
Did the potion wear off that quickly? Applejack froze.
"Where's the banjo, cowgirl?" an audience member shouted, followed by haunting, mocking laughs.
"She looks so silly..." a pony whispered.
"Can Coloratura go on stage already? Sweet Celestia..." another said.
Applejack closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She drowned out everything and allowed only the sounds of music to speak to her mind, to get it into rhythm. She listened closely. Her heart beat loudly, pounding on her chest, but she listened to its tempo, and to the tapping of hooves by an impatient Coloratura fan, to the clock ticking, to the glassware coaxing a tune... All amplified in her mind.
She caught it.
Applejack opened her eyes and sang.
"Well~
You may fly to Cloudsdale,
You may float a spoon,
Well, a-you may have a pink caravan,
But don't you be nopony's fool...
In one moment Applejack and her band went in perfect musical flow and belted out a song that took the breath away of everypony in the hotel. Sharp, accented notes sprung out from Berry's guitar and sprinkled an effervescent flavor to the song. The bass line guided the other instruments in a bouncy, chipper rhythm that would make a pony's leg tap along. The drums, the heart of the beat, were played fast and furiously but in a neat, sensible pattern. And Applejack's voice was the center of it all.
Her voice was more in tune than the harps and organs of Canterlot. It was raspy but appealing, rebellious and full of swagger. The country accent mixed in added a sort of saucy, rustic twang. Unlike the choirs, doo-wops, and theater musicals, the tempo was fierce like a speeding cheetah. She sung it like a confident strut while shooting aggressive gazes at the audience.
A young mare from Saddle Arabia screamed.
Come back a-baby come,
Come back, baby, come
Come back, baby, I need to play house with you...
The end of the chorus was upon them. As the pre-verse guitar break began, Applejack put her face away the microphone, turned around and checked on her bandmates.
"Guys, what's their deal!?" Applejack said.
"The leg thing!" Cinder said as she played the guitar.
Applejack furrowed her eyebrows. "Umm, what?"
"Wiggle your legs," Jam said. "On beat? The audience likes it!"
Applejack paused for a moment. She realized her legs were shaking with the rhythm, but considered the vulgarity of doing that in front of many ponies. Maybe it was too inappropriate? She only wiggled her legs because of that other potion, whichever one was that. It gave her a boost of energy that was too powerful to contain so she let it out the only way she could: moving around. That and the slight anxiety in her veins.
"Do it, AJ!"
Applejack nodded. She returned to the mic as the guitar solo ended.
Well listen to what I'm tellin' ya, baby
Stop horsin' around
Applejack swung her hind legs forward and gyrated her hips, moving with the music. Another mare shrieked, followed by more feverish screams. Big Mac ran to Apple Bloom and covered her eyes with his hoof.
Come back to me, little girl
Maybe we can play some house
Now baby, come back a-baby come,
Come back, baby come,
Come back, baby, I wanna play house with you
Now for the main guitar solo. "Hit it!" Applejack exclaimed and Berry's guitar took hold of the song. The electric notes of her guitar was novel and unheard of, sending chills down ponies' spines. Applejack used this opportunity to move her body. Her hips gyrated, her legs shook, her head rocked back and forth and she kicked to the rhythm of the intense music like bucking an apple tree as though the spirit of rock-and-roll itself had possessed her.
One by one ponies stood up from their seats, unwittingly knocking over chairs and plates and surprising the waiters and servers. They let their bodies feel the music but it wasn't enough. They gathered in front of the stage as their hooves reached for the blonde singer in an almost ravenous want.
Twilight Sparkle gulped. Her head spun, taking in everything that was unfolding. Chaos was everywhere. Applejack's moves were so animalistic... and venereal. She found herself heating up, too.
Thud!
"Oh crap. Fluttershy!" Rainbow Dash cried.
Fluttershy had completely fainted, her cheeks redder than blood itself. Her butter-yellow wings were unfurled and stiff as Rarity administered aid to the best of her skill.
"Breathe, darling, breathe..." Rarity said.
"Happy thoughts, Fluttershy!" Pinkie exclaimed. "No wait, don't do that! Sad thoughts! Sad thoughts! Right now, the last thing you want to think about are happy thoughts!"
Twilight slowly backed away.
She looked at every pony in the large room.
Stallions looked at their partners with confusion and some were so entranced they couldn't move. Mares were dancing to the beat, biting their lips and staring at the stage attraction. The ponies nearest to the stage where bobbing up and down, shrieking and crying and screaming as Applejack danced and sung. The singer had to step away from the edge so she wouldn't be grabbed by hooves. Desirous smiles and flustered cries almost drowned out the music and Twilight noticed the wanton hunger in them.
"T-Twilight..." Rainbow Dash landed beside her. "It looks like they wanna kill AJ!"
"Kill her?" Twilight was taken aback. "Dash, it looks like they want to---"
She couldn't finish her sentence.
The sound of this novel form of music continued to play as security started pouring in to supervise the chaos. She knew if it gets anymore unmanageable, they were really stepping in to stop the crowds.
It was unlike anything she has ever seen before. At first she thought the ponies were entranced, as though some sort of macabre magic took a hold of them. But Twilight knew it was no magic. Applejack alone did that to them with her moves, voice, and fiery charisma that broke all forms of unwritten pony etiquette.
Flaming blushes, primal screams, and craving eyes... Those mares must have felt something they knew they knew they weren't supposed to enjoy.
"Captain Mal, I'm here! Sorry I'm..." Coloratura arrived, but froze suddenly.
Her eyes landed on Applejack stirring mass hysteria on stage. "I... What am I looking at?"
Svengallop couldn't look away. "I don't quite know what I'm looking at."
Applejack continued her explicit display. She shook things up by hollering a backstage pony and asking for a guitar. When an assistant lent her one, she did what nopony expected:
She stood on two legs.
She needed to balance herself while playing the guitar but it had an unintended consequence. Standing up like that had caused even more screams from the audience!
At the climax of it all the ponies bunched up and one of them managed to snag Applejack's guitar sling. Applejack tried to jerk away, but the ponies were stronger than her. The singer struggled to move. As she slipped closer to the edge of the stage, she freed herself from the guitar sling and backed away, almost terrified. The guitar was almost devoured by the dozens of frantic ponies.
"Enough!" Twilight stepped in, magically summoning a force field protecting the stage.
Applejack's bandmates pulled her back as the curtains closed, ending the most hectic show Las Pegasus had ever seen.
