Seriously, why was it so loud?

I know I've already said in this interview that I find military stuff SOOOOOOOO boring, but this was ridiculously dull! I knew some of the others would be nerding out over guns, but I found it really irritating!

For the record, I was stuck on the back of a tank, that was rolling through the middle of nowhere, with nothing to improve the ride as we rumbled along. I can only assume there's something in stallions that means they like being thrown about like peas in a frying pan, because this was totes uncomfortable!

I held on as best I could as we rolled along, the landscape rumbling about and past us. Behind me and in front of me were more military vehicles, rolling along. The pegasus tank commanders seemed to be trying to irritate the unicorns as much as possible by blasting marching music from their tanks loud speakers. As if that wasn't enough, the unicorns were playing their own marches as loudly as they could, and singing extremely loudly.

This was absolute torture to me, as I have perfect pitch. The fact the marches were in different key signatures and time signatures meant that none of them were in time, which produced an odd sense of bitonality and many time signatures running against one another on top of each other.

I looked about, and noticed none of the others seemed to be particularly bothered by this, so I assumed this sort of exercise in loudness wars was completely normal. It wasn't half annoying though. I simply pulled my head down as we continued onwards.

Whilst I will admit it was quite nice to rest my legs for a bit, the main problem with the sound was that it meant we were going incredibly slowly.

Just then, a pegasus march stopped.

"Thank Faust they switched that rubbish off," said Alphabittle. "Clearly our music is su-"

Suddenly, another march blasted in ridiculously loud, playing again in a time signature and key that didn't even match the other ones. And even louder than the others.

Surely they have better things to do than just play music incredibly loud? Come to think of it, how come they hadn't heard us at this distance?

I sighed, and dropped my head down before the vehicle lurched upwards and knocked me into the air. "Ow! Watch it!"

"My apologies, Your Highness," the commander replied. "We shall try to drive more smoothly in future."

Over on another vehicle, Sunny was echoing my sentiment. "All this pitching about is making reading rather difficult!"

"What's going on, Sunny?" Izzy asked.

Sunny looked up at her, and I strained my ears over the noise. "I'm trying to get these notes read from my dad's journal, but I'm having trouble making sense of them. It doesn't help this thing is pitching about like a ship on rough seas! I can barely read this without my face going green!"

Oof. I knew that feeling all too well. I'd tried reading in a car before, and it hadn't ended at all well.

Unfortunately, the commander of that tank wasn't too empathetic to Sunny's state. "Sorry, princess, but these vehicles weren't designed as luxury vehicles," he said, with a frown. "They're intended to dominate the battlefield. So either put up or shut up."

Sunny looked rather annoyed. "I'm not a princess!"

"Whatever you say," the tank commander replied, before vanishing through the turret and closing the top hatch. I at least knew they were hatches and not doors on those things.

I turned my eyes backwards and pulled on some headphones to try and listen to something else in an attempt to drown out the absolute din raging outside. I turned on some music in my ears to listen to. It was a song I particularly liked from the old days, as well as a demo track I had been working on for a future album.

Unfortunately, the blasting of brass bands was continuing to rage in the background, complete with loud singing about the brave unicorns who would drive off the bloodthirsty pegasi. I knew the unicorns were doing this on purpose.

I just wanted to pull my headset off, shout at all of them to shut up, and then go back to listening to my music. I switched it off, as this was clearly a pointless exercise, but still had to find a way to avoid this madness.

So I switched it to sleep music. Hopefully this would do the trick. I felt my eyes begin to drop closed, and before long the calming sound of sleep music was in my ears. At last, I could have some peace and quiet away from the constant loud racket going on out there.

Sadly, this would not work, and not even fate itself would let me have my proper sleep. I was suddenly jumped awake by more noise as the tank came to a stop. I looked around, hearing the military bands still blasting music before being ordered to stop.

Honestly, this was getting ridiculous. I sighed, and resigned myself to never escaping from this noise as some figures on the ground started praising the Queen.

I slipped my earpieces off and noticed that the assembled forces in front of us were joining us. Well, the more the merrier I suppose, but hopefully this wouldn't lead to more bad music.

Suddenly, the order went. "Lead us forth, Brave Highlanders! Bagpipes away!"

Bagpipes? Bagpipes? BAGPIPES?

As the drone started up, I shoved my headphones back on. I hated the sounds of those things, as they made so much noise!

At least I now knew why bagpipers always marched when playing. They were trying to get away from the sound, and as such had every right to escape.

What surprised me was that both sets of troops, even the unicorns, were playing the same melody. Was this an old theme from Imperial Equestria that had somehow survived the storms of time? I guess there was only one way to find out.

That evening brought the rain, which I've never liked. It makes me feel down and awkward. Good thing all of my performances take place on covered stages, or else I'd soon be very soaked. And downy feathers are incredibly hard to get dry.

After some time was spent building a small camp for us to stay in, we were then attracted to the smell of food, which soon smelled delicious. It was clear we'd been prepared a wonderous scene for our stay, a nice contrast to the sheer noise of the rest of the day.

Soon, it was ready, and we were processed into the biggest tent for food. The tent had lots of benches and a fire, giving it something of the feel of an old tavern from a fantasy novel. In fact, I could already here the ambience of the Prancing Pony as I stepped in. Before me were lots of tables, and food was being brought in from an outside kitchen. I wandered along, and took a seat within the building.

"Top table, Your Highness!" said a guard. I got up and wandered up the path to reach the top table, which was set on a dais. That's a posh word for a raised platform. I sat in the seat assigned to my name and waited to be served.

Zipp slipped in next to me. "Boy does this feel weird," she said. "We can't even sit with our friends?"

"I know!" I said. "This is really odd!"

"Only the Royal Family and household staff may sit at the top table," Opwinden gently reminded us. "It's formality from the ancient times. And the drink is always passed to the left- imagine the chaos if we reversed the direction suddenly!"

So, that was that. Mom was in the center, trying her best to look regal despite the situation. I knew this made her something that few monarchs want to be- a war monarch. I know there was one Pegasus king who spent more time fighting the Changelings than he did actually governing, but he's hardly the model to aspire to with global diplomacy.

Music was also playing in the background, which was also quite nice. Back in the old world I'd often put music on to meals or other tasks, so it wasn't too different to the great banquets of old, I suppose, where musicians and storytellers would have gathered and entertained the gathered crowd.

I continued to work at the food, keen to finish it properly. But after some time at work it was time to finish for the night. I could sense this event had raised morale somewhat, as the soldiers looked to be a bit more cheerful.

Then we were shunted off to bed. We had to be up at five. Five in the morning. This was gonna be a horrible morning.

I hopped into the big tent set aside for the Royal Family and tried to drop off to sleep. A shame Zipp snores so loudly.

Author's Note

And we're back for more of Pipp Petals in this leg of Rebirth of Magic for this week! :D