The Piano pony

by Yuki Harima

Rating: teen
Tags: Crossover, Slice of Life, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Sad, Other, Original Character
Length: 1777

A piano player from the gala now works at a small time bar

I am an unknown pony. I use to play at the gala but now I don't anymore. no pony knows who I really am. Now I just play the piano for other amusement at a run down bar.

Part of my inspired by music series
Based off of the popular song Piano Man by Billy Joel
Also this idea is based off a conversation I had with someone over skype

Published 2012-11-19 20:00:01 UTC
Last updated 2012-11-28 23:39:15 UTC

Sharing our Sorrows

Octavia, a lovely pony that I had a pleasure of working with at the Grand Galloping Gala. Such a nice mare that is kind and courteous to everypony she meets. After that…aforementioned night where a crazy pink mare tried to change the music, Octavia went to become a very popular musician and is highly regarded across all of Equestria. Last time I heard about her was that she settled down with some…Disc Jockey I think the term is, in a town called Ponyville.

Who am I? Well I am one of the performers at the Gala. The piano pony with the black and white Eighth notes for a cutie mark. No one really knows me or even talks about me and my music. I am just a nopony from that night. They only know about the cello mare.

Whatever happen to me you ask? Well I manage to get a job at a local bar, playing live music for the ponies in Canterlot. Not a high paying job but that is all I need to help me pay my bills. I have been working here for a while now and the ponies really like my music. I am starting to get a little more attention but only to those at the bar.

Tonight is a Saturday which is our busiest of the week. It is where I earn a lot of my tips for the night. So tonight, I enter in the front door to what the manager likes to call his bar, “The Piano Bar” where mostly pianists play music for the upper-class. The bar is pretty small compared to the others but we still fit all of our patrons in here.

I walk up and take a seat at the bar. The bartender, who I got to know really well, is a stout blue unicorn with black mane that is receding with his age. He brings me my usual free of charge and lights the cigarette I took out of my cigarette case.

“Thanks Scotch,” I inhale my cigarette and let out a long breath. He leaves to go over and help the other customers who then let out a hearty laugh when Scotch told them one of his funniest jokes. Well, that is Scotch for you. He can be quick with a joke or to light up your smoke but to tell ya the truth, he really doesn’t like it here. One night before I was about to go on stage for my performance, he came up to me and told me about his problem. Scotch has a dream that he wants to be a thespian in the theatre and act in front of the high society ponies. He believes that when he gets out of this place, he will have a chance to aspire his goals to be a thespian. Well it is very hard to get out of a place like this. I’ve tried.

I finish my smoke and snuff it in the ashtray. I take my shot of whiskey and look around the room. I notice some regulars in the bar. Over at a table, the royal guard Iron Hoof is having a discussing with Asset, a real estate novelist. Iron hoof is a friendly stallion to talk with. If you ask him, he would tell you about his times in the royal guard which would lead to his future plans when he out of it. It is a shame that he will probably be in there for life. After all, he’s been in there for twenty years.

Now Asset, on the other hoof, is a different story. He is always busy with his work; whether it be looking up details on the housing market across Equestria or writing on his latest real estate novel. It was always work first and everything else later. He never had any time to settle down with a lovely mare and start a family.

Speaking of lovely mares, I see the waitress delivering a tray of drinks to a group of business ponies, From they way they are acting I believed that they got some of the good stuff. The waitress pony, Starlight, would sometimes have a talk with me when I am on break. She told me that she wants to be involved with politics. She said something about being a journalist for a newspaper here in Canterlot and write about politics. I wish her luck but it can be hard for her.

I notice one of the business ponies smack Starlight's flank. She is perturbed by this and I can tell because she dumped water on the pony that smacked her flank. Well at least they are sharing that drink called loneliness. It is better to share your loneliness with the company of other ponies. I do that all the time.

I finish my drink and leave the glass on the table. I walk up to the stage where my piano is. I sit down and get ready to perform. I see the manager talking with some of the bar staff. He sees me up on stage and gives me the sign to start my performance. He knows that everypony here just wants to see me play the piano so that they can forget all about their troubles for a while.

So I did. I played the piano for them and they all enjoyed it. At the end of my set I will accept request from some of the patrons

“I will now be taking requests. Does anypony want me to play anything for them?” I ask the crowd.

“I have one.” An elderly pony answers and takes a swig of his tonic. He is sitting at a table next to the stage. “I want ya to play me a melody, but I forgot how it goes.” The pony takes another swig of his tonic. “I know it is said and sweet and I knew it complete when I was a young stallion.”

“Well it doesn’t really help me.” I tell him, “Do you think you can hum a few bars for me?”

“I think I can manage that.” The elderly pony hums a couple bars from the song.

I stop him, “Thank you. I know what you want me to play.” The pony goes back to making love with his tonic and gin.

I start to play the song and everypony in the room just stops and listens to the melody. They all start to get into the song and sway back and forth. Well they all just want to forget their troubles and forget about their problems. That is what a bar is for. During the song,ponies start to walk up and put money into my tip jar. When I was finish the same old pony puts a generous tip into the jar.

“That was a nice song you played. It reminds me of my youth, when life was a simpler time of ponies.” The older pony compliments me.

"I know how that feels." I reply to him.

“But I have a question to ask you if you don't mind me asking you."

“Sure, you can ask me any question.” I reply.

“What are you doing in a rundown bar here. With your talent, I am sure you can be as popular as that new rising musician Octavia?”

Well there was no shocker there. Everypony seems to ask me that question almost every night. Why am I here with a talent like that? You deserved something better than this. The answer is quite simple. I am just like them. A lonely pony who just wants to share a nice drink and forget about his troubles. After all, this is a bar and I am stuck in here, forever to be known as the piano pony.

Author's notes and new prospect

Well...it is time for the Author Notes...I just want to say, Thank you for reading my story all 144 readers of you. It may have not been the most popular one of the bunch but it did get a decent amount of views. I like to take my time to say why I wrote it and what I plan for the future of my inspired by music stories.

The idea came to me when I was talking to my friend about how background characters became popular and showed me a picture of the piano pony. He said that they shared the same amount of screen time and Octavia is the one who gets popular. I was...stunned at the revelation and then, Piano man came into mind. I felt like I had to write this as a story. So i wrote it out and...posted it to the site. I had this in first person because I needed to get the perspective of the pony himself and what happen to him. This is just my take on him.

Now I created a story called the Ghost of You that had...more detailed than this story right here and is actually a second point of view where you are a reporter. I have more plans with him/her for other stories that I feel like the song requires another pony on the scene. So...link right...The Ghost of You there it is. Now this one the song is actually important to use as it helps set the mood. Now for my music stories...I have started several which included Whatername, I love college, My Hero, Titanium, and even She Wolf. So out of those stories which one do you want me to post first and what songs do you want me to do. I need more for the inspired by music series.

Finally I thank you for reading it and I look forward to see what you guys will think of my next story. Yuki Harima is...

YUKI: STOP CREATOR!
HARIMA: YEA DON'T LEAVE YET.

Well look who it is...my two idiots that seem to not get out of my head.

Yuki: we have a tumblr account that has Harima and I reviewing our favorite stories
Harima: Yea, We talk about all the good stuff, like action and clop, and...
Yuki punches Harima out.
Yuki: we don't do clop remember...we will review stories and are getting back on track with them. So please go check them out on tumblr and tell your friends.
Yuki drags Harima off screen leaving the creator bewildered at what just happened.

Well...that is my insanity right there...anyway, Yuki Harima is out and remember, if you like what you see then leave a like and a fav, and you can stalk me...I mean watch me. Yuki Harima is out!