Broken Strings and Bucked Apples

Chapter 1: You've Got to Start Somewhere

All it takes is one pony... one pony to make a change...

"HEY!" You hear a voice scream, breaking you from your thoughts.

At first, you are reluctant to turn and face the pony requesting you, as you know exactly who it is. Over the past few months, you and your band have decided to get serious about the quality of your gear, forcing you all to get jobs. You, unfortunately, have received the worst. A janitor at one of the dirtiest possible restaurants in all of Equestria. With a sigh, you spin around and put on a forced smile as you face your boss.

"Y-Yes, sir?" You say, trying to sound cheery despite the annoying sound of ambient dishes clattering and chatter from your usually unruly customers.

Your manager eyes you for a moment and raises an eyebrow.

"Wipe that stupid grin off of your face, kid." He says grimly.

With a sigh, you let your grin fall and hang your head for a moment.

"What's up?" You say, letting your usual tone take over.

It wasn't out of your boss's nature to constantly demean you. After getting word of the "music project" you and your friends were putting together, he has made your life a living hell. Spitting constant insults about how your dream is nothing more than a foalish waste of time. Needless to say, you hate your boss with every fiber of your being. Even if he didn't constantly belittle you for wanting to change a terrible trend of music, you would hate him because of his greasy attitude and appearance.

Your boss quickly smiles, only further establishing his greasiness by revealing a row of yellow-ish teeth.

"Got your check here, buddy." He says with a chuckle.

He isn't normally happy about giving away his money, what makes him so happy this time? Without another word he reaches into his coat, which carries enough grime to make Rarity have a full-blown seizure, and pulls out a small slip of paper.

Something is definitely off about your boss right now. He never smiles and the fact that he is holding your paycheck with such a troll-ish grin is making you uneasy. As soon as his hoof stretches out to give you this week's pay, you quickly snatch it away with a burst of levitation and stare at it.

"This is... 100 bits short." You say, your tone slightly choked.

"I needed to pay for a few renovations, figured you might not need that money anyway." He replies with a chuckle.

Your anger is slowly reaching peak, and you feel your eye twitch once or twice from the rage building in your heart.

"T-that's... 100 bits...." You say with a nervous chuckle.

"Yep. But trust me," Your boss continues with his own chuckle. "It went to a good cause."

It would've gone to a better cause... you think, tightening your grasp on the paper you are levitating.

"Now get the hell out of here, your shifts up and I'm not paying overtime." He says, pointing a hoof to the front door.

It is taking every ounce of reserve that you have not to explode and slap him across the face with a broomstick. You simply take it as yet another loss and hang your head low, undoing your apron and setting it on a nearby table. Your boss watches you with a vicious smirk as you slowly make your way to the door. The only thing you can hope for at this point, is that band practice goes well.

*  *  *

"He cut it 100 bits?!" Trap-set says as you show him the check.

You look at your long-time friend and sigh.

"Yep. He did." You say in a defeated tone.

The large, light-brown, earth pony shakes his head and stands up from the couch.

"That's so stupid dude! Can't you do anything about it?!" Trap says, clearly annoyed that your boss has screwed you again.

"C'mon man, chill out." Basswave says, next to you on the couch.

The blue unicorn puts a hoof on your shoulder and sighs.

"We'll figure it out, it's just a hundred." He says.

Trap-set's eyes quickly go wide and he runs his hooves angrily through his brown mane.

"Just a hundred?!" He shouts angrily. "How the hell are you going to pay for The Hay-Maker, huh?! Our sound is dead without that!"

Basswave shakes his head and jolts up from his seat next to you on the couch.

"Shut up man! You're making him feel like shit!" The blue unicorn shouts in return.

He actually is.

"Guys." You say weakly.

Both of your friends turn to face you.

"Let's just practice, and deal with it later, alright?" You say, hoping to end the conflict.

Trap-set shrugs a moment later and extends his hoof towards you.

"Alright. But we're getting those bits back." He says.

You roll your eyes and accept his hoof as you pull yourself off the couch.

Across the room are your instruments, where they are shining in the daylight of the afternoon. Almost beckoning, begging for you to play them. Without further discussion, you and your two friends cross the room and prepare your equipment. You sling a gloss black and white guitar over your shoulder, while basswave readies his sparkling-green bass. Trap-set struggles behind his 7-piece drumset and brandishes two small wooden sticks. After a silent confirmation between you and your bandmates, you begin. Instantly the room is filled with the distinct sounds of guitar distortion, mixed with the pounding of the drums and the low pulse-pounding notes of the bass.

Playing the music brings you to a euphoric state. Despite the loud, thrashy, noises you can feel yourself relaxing and slipping away. Hearing the notes in unison followed by the rhythmic beat of the drums allows you to forget about your job, your life, your hatred for pop music... Until a knock at the door breaks your concentration and causes you to lose the rhythm. Trap-set raises an eyebrow and stops instantly, but Basswave continues slamming his hooves against his guitar, letting the pulse of the song continue.

"Bass." You say quietly.

He simply continues thrashing against the sparkling-green bass. You sigh and levitate a nearby microphone to your lips.

"BASS." You shout into it, trying to gain his attention.

Almost instantly, the blue unicorn stumbles back and puts his hooves in the air.

"Sorry." He replies sheepishly.

Trap-set calls your name, causing you to drop the microphone and send a blaring screech from the speakers.

"Yeah?" You ask, rubbing your ear with your hoof.

"Go see who it is." He says, pointing his hoof to the front door.

You groan and spin around to set your guitar on a nearby end-table.

"You know exactly who it is." You say, clearly annoyed.

As you cross the room, you think of the mare on the other side of the door. An orange earth-pony that lives just down the road at an apple farm. She'd come by the last few days asking you to turn it down, growing more and more frustrated each time she had to come and pound on your front door. As you finally reach it, you sigh, close your eyes, and toss the door open.

"Yes?" You say, trying to showcase your annoyance.

After a few seconds of no response, you open one of your eyes worriedly. Standing before you is a furious looking mare. Her eyebrows are narrowed and her eyes carrying a look of complete rage.

"Uhh... H-How can I help you?" You say, stammering for a moment.

"How many times do I have to ask y'all to TURN IT DOWN?!" She shouts angrily, causing you to stumble back a few inches.

"Uhh... well A few..." You reply nervously.

"Yeah. Ah thought it might take just one, but ah guess that's not the case! Maybe ah should call mah brother over here and-"

"No!" You shout.

You and Big Macintosh don't exactly have the best past.

"There's no need for that... I'll turn it down, alright?" You say nervously, trying to avoid conflict with the giant red earthpony just down the street.

Applejack snorts angrily and nods.

"Alright. 'Cause I'm gettin' real tired of hearin' that Celestia-forsaken noise..." She says, turning around to make her way back home.

You raise an eyebrow at her statement.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

She pauses and turns back around.

"Ah think you know what ah mean."

"No, please enlighten me." You say, narrowing your eyebrows.

"Well, to be honest, it sounds like a dyin' pony givin' birth to a demon-foal." She replies.

You blink in confusion, trying not to show how much her statement actually effected you. You'd heard a lot of offensive criticism before, but that had just topped it.

"W-well... you can't really hear it from all the way over there..." You reply, trying to defend what little honor you have left.

"Oh really now, you think it'll be any better up close?" She says with a smug smile.

That smile... the way she is demeaning your dream puts more anger in your heart than you thought possible.

"Yeah, I do!" You say, practically shouting at this point.

She narrows her eyebrows once more and takes a few steps closer to the front door.

"What are you doing?!" You ask, heavily annoyed.

"Well if it's as good as you say it is, then wah wouldn't ah want to hear it?" She says, her smug smile returning.

Without another word, she continues into the house, leaving you practically steaming on your front porch. Who does she think she is? Judging your music like that... does she even play? Probably not. You quickly stomp inside as the blonde mare plants herself on the couch.

"Uhh..." Trap-set says, pointing his stick in the direction of Applejack.

"Is she-?" Basswave asks.

You simply shake your head angrily and retrieve your guitar from the end table, and throw it over your shoulder. As you walk over to your amplifier, you motion to Basswave, who goes to his in return. A small amount of static begins to emit from the amp as you turn the volume dial as loud as it will go. Glancing back, you realize a wide smile on Trap-set's face.

Fell in Love With a Mare You mouth to Basswave.

The white-maned unicorn nods and aims his horn to the tuning pegs placed along the bass's headstock. After successfully tuning the instrument, he gives you a quick nod.

You turn and give a quick glare to Applejack before striking the first note of the song. She is almost instantly taken back by the intense amount of volume pouring from the speakers, shaking the room and causing the lights to flicker.

You swiftly move your body closer to the microphone and begin singing the lyrics as loud as you can, only adding to the intense amount of sound rocking the walls of the house.

"Fell in love with a mare, fell in love once and almost completely." You shout, your voice distorted slightly by the practically exploding amplifier.

While continuing the lyrics, you glance over to find Basswave completely lost in the moment, thrashing about and slamming his back hooves on the ground in rhythm with the pounding beat of the drums while his forelegs dance across the frets of his bass. You decide to loosen up as well and begin jumping to the fast-paced beat of the music. All the while hitting the pitch of the notes and keeping the firm volume in your voice. In sync, the music stops and you dash forward towards the microphone.

"Bobby says it's fine he don't consider it cheating"

You jump up once more and land on the ground in sync with the music returning and smile widely at the timing. Glancing over to Applejack you can see her eyes extremely wide and her mouth slightly agape as she watches you three continue.

She hasn't seen anything yet... You think as you continue the lyrics of the song.

As the song continues, you and Basswave quickly glance over to each other for the upcoming pause. Giving yet another silent confirmation for what was about to happen next. The music stops yet again.

"I said it once before, but it bears repeating."

You jerk the guitar side ways and slam your back hooves on the ground as the sound comes back once more. This time, your horn begins to glow along with Basswave's, causing the room to light up in a shower of magical sparks. As you continue the lyrics, the light from your horns dances around the room, changing colors and taking various shapes such as musical notes, and the words being sung. Both of Applejack's eyebrows are now as high as they can go and you can tell that her face is seconds from cracking a wide grin.

As Basswave finishes his singing part, you jump back in front of the microphone, still moving intensely with the beat of the song, thrashing your body from side to side with your eyes shut tight. You can just imagine the look on Applejack's smug face at this point. You feel you have successfully proved her wrong. Yet another pause takes place.

"I said it once before, but it bears repeating." You shout, the words literally manifesting themselves out of the sparks coming from your horn.

You continue in sync yet again, the words appearing over your shoulder right as they leave your lips. It's a unique talent you were lucky to have been taught by your father before he passed. It was all about being in touch with your mind, your body, and the music, and you had just taken it to a whole new level.

"I said it once before, but it bears repeating now."

With one final note, a massive flash of light engulfs the room for a second, leaving Applejack stunned. Her jaw is almost on the ground at this point and her eyes are huge. She slowly closes her mouth and stumbles over her words for a moment.

"Ah... Uhh.... Ah don't..." She says, dumbfounded.

You simply smile and reach your hoof over to Basswave, who meets it with his own.

"So?" You say.

My turn to be smug...

"What did y'all say your name was?" She asks.

You smile and tell her the name of your band, to which she replies with a nod.

"Ah see.... would you mind if I... ya know... came back tommarah?"

You pause for a moment and think of a response that doesn't seem to eager.

"Yeah, s-sure, whatever." You reply, trying to sound nonchalant, but failing terribly.

After replying, the four of you sit in an awkward silence for a few seconds, Applejack trying to hide a faint blush at her being proven wrong.

"Well, ah must be gettin' along now... got some work to do." She says, trying to avoid eye-contact.

With that, she trots hurriedly to the door and slams it behind her.

With a smug grin, you turn around to face your two bandmates, who are smiling widely as well.

"Gentlecolts.... I believe we have a new fan." You say.