Second Chances II: Love and Courage

Second Chances II: Love and Courage
By Hero541
Chapter 2: Showtime

Josh wandered around the stage setup the next day, making sure everything was as it should be for their performance tomorrow. He walked over to the soundboard and began checking to make sure everything was still set up as it should be.

“Which one of you wired this?” he called, making everypony stop what they were doing.

“Uh… I d-did, sir.” said a green unicorn mare with a black mane, raising her hoof hesitantly.

All eyes fell on her as Josh stood to address the problem.

“Come on over here for a second.” he said, smiling and gesturing for her to come closer, “I wanna show you something.”

The unicorn pressed her ears flat against her skull and walked over to Josh, mentally cringing at whatever mistake she could have made. As she approached, Josh saw she was pretty apprehensive, so he knelt down and spoke softly.

“What’s your name?” he asked.

“E-Emerald.” she stammered.

“Well, Emerald, you’ve done a pretty good job wiring the board here.” he began, standing up and looking to the device, “But, you messed up a little.”

“What did I do wrong?” asked Emerald, jumping up on her hind legs and looking at the wires.

“This wire here is supposed to go in that port as opposed to the one you have it in.” said Josh , pointing to each wire in question, “We don’t need these ports for anything. They aren’t hooked up to any of the equipment anyway.”

“Oh.” said Emerald, blushing a little at her mistake, “Sorry.”

“It’s not a big deal, Emerald.” said Josh turning and smiling at her, “This is why I come in and check everything before the show, so we can fix mistakes like this.”

Emerald smiled back at Josh, relieved that he wasn’t too upset. As she went to fixing the board, six ponies made their way up to see Josh.

“Joshie!” yelled the pink pony, running up and launching herself at the human.

Before Josh had any time to react, she collided with him, sitting on her haunches atop of his chest as he hit the ground.

“Hey P-Pinkie Pie.” said Josh, struggling to breathe from both the weight of the pony atop his chest as well as the impact from hitting the ground.

Pinkie smiled down at Josh as the other five ponies made their way up the stage. A bright pink aura surrounded Pinkie and lifted her off Josh, placing her next to the other ponies.

“Thanks, Twilight.” said Josh, rubbing the back of his head.

“How are you, darling?” asked the white unicorn, walking up and hugging her friend as he lay on the ground.

“Well enough.” he said, returning her hug and standing up, “Just doing some last minute checks before it’s time to rehearse for tomorrow.”

“When’re you guys gonna do that?” asked a cyan pegasus with a long, rainbow colored mane.

“Whenever Vinyl gets here.” he replied.

“Where is that mare, anyway?” asked an orange earth pony in a brown Stetson, Applejack.

“She’s in the back taking a nap.” said Josh, rolling his eyes a little, “She likes to be nice and rested before we start rehearsing.”

“Ah can hardly blame her.” said the earth pony, “Ah’ve seen you two durin’ your rehearsals. Ya’ll can get into it and go pretty crazy. Wouldn’t wanna be tired for that.”

“I suppose…” said Josh.

“What time should we show up tomorrow?” asked the yellow pegasus, Fluttershy.

“Probably around 7 or so.” said Josh, “Just show the guys at the front your passes and they’ll let you all back here so you can join us onstage.”

“I’m so excited! I should throw a party before the show! Then I can throw a party after the show! Maybe I’ll just make the whole entire thing just one big huge fantastical crazy party!” shouted Pinkie, attracting attention from all around.

“Maybe we’d better leave that up to Josh and Vinyl.” said the purple unicorn, Twilight Sparkle, “It is their show after all.”

Pinkie hung her head a little at Twilight’s words. Josh laughed a little at her sudden change in expression.

“Tell you what, Pinks,” he began, kneeling down and patting her on the head, “After the show, you can be in charge of the after-party. How’s that sound?”

Pinkie smiled wide, the squeaky noise sounding as she did so. Josh smiled back, ignoring the annoying sound that seemed to plague him everywhere he went.

“Ah thought ya’ll had somepony else who planned that kinda stuff.” whispered Applejack into Josh’s ear as Pinkie began to ramble all about her plans to the gathered ponies.

“I think I can pull some strings for that.” he whispered back, “After all, who am I to keep Pinkie from throwing a party?”

Applejack chuckled a little as Vinyl walked out from backstage, yawning as she did so.

“You ready for rehearsal, baby?” she asked as she walked towards her coltfriend.

“Sure. Did you sleep well?” he asked, kneeling down and giving her a kiss.

“Well enough.” she replied, smiling at him, “I’m ready to go crazy now though.”

“We’ll just head out then.” said Twilight, looking to the white unicorn examining the curtains, “Come on, Rarity.”

“I can’t believe they’re using a black curtain for this!” she exclaimed, looking at the fabric in disgust, “It totally doesn’t match the overall color scheme.”

Everypony said their goodbyes and left Josh and Vinyl to rehearse for tomorrow.

“It’s so awesome that we’ve got friends like them to come and support us.” said Vinyl, taking her place at the board.

“Yeah.” said Josh simply, grabbing his headphones and preparing to get to work, “You ready?”

Vinyl smiled devilishly at him and nodded. Josh smiled back and pressed a few buttons, beginning the music and allowing the two producers to become lost in the hypnotic beat.

*****

Ponies in the crowd screamed and danced as Josh and Vinyl stood onstage, both rocking and moving to the beat they were making. Behind them, Rarity, Fluttershy, Pinkie, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, and Twilight were also all losing themselves in the music. Off to the side, Princess Celestia merely stood along with her sister, Princess Luna, both of them smiling at the crowd all enjoying the music.

Josh felt wave after wave of ecstasy hit him as the beat flowed through his very soul, causing him to lose himself. Next to him, Vinyl had a wide smile on her face as she turned knobs and moved sliders, manipulating the music to her heart’s content. Both of them were completely entranced at this point, feeling the drop come closer and closer as the song built up. Josh threw his hands up on the air, gesturing for more from the crowd. The bass drop came, and he threw his hands down in perfect time, feeling another wave of pleasure overtake his mind.

The song ended and Josh looked to Vinyl. Both were smiling and drenched in sweat, both also thinking about how far they had come in less than a year. They embraced on the stage before Josh pulled over the microphone to address the still ecstatic crowd.

“Thank you, Canterlot!” he yelled, peering out and seeing a few ponies on the backs of others, all cheering and going crazy, “You guys have been absolutely incredible tonight. Thank you so much for allowing us to perform here tonight.”

Vinyl walked up next to Josh, moving her sunglasses so they were perched on her forehead just above her horn.

“And, of course, thank you to my lovely marefriend here, DJ Pon-3!” he said, making the crowd roar in response.

Vinyl blushed a little, but still waved to the assembled ponies, making them erupt in ecstatic cheers once more. Josh looked out once more and waved as well, hearing the sound of cheers and stomping hooves all around. As he stood there, Vinyl at his side, the crowd began to chant, “Kiss her! Kiss her!” He looked to Vinyl, both of them smiling.

“We’ve gotta please the crowd.” he said over the din as Vinyl jumped up on her hind legs and put her forelegs on his chest.

“Don’t mind if I do.” she replied, drawing him into a long, passionate kiss that made the crowd erupt once more.

They broke apart after several seconds and waved once more before heading backstage.

“That was so awesome!” said Rainbow Dash, beaming at Josh and Vinyl as she floated up to them, a few glow rings around her neck and one in her hair.

“Ah’ve gotta say, that was pretty great.” said Applejack, who had some glow sticks on her hooves and hat.

“Absolutely wonderful, darling. You both were.” said Rarity, smiling and hugging both Josh and Vinyl.

“Where’d Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie go?” asked Twilight, looking all around for their friends.

As they looked, somepony on the stage yelled, “STAGE DIVE! WHEEE!”

Everypony and Josh all peered out to the crowd and saw the familiar forms of a yellow pegasus with a long pink mane and the premier party pony of Equestria floating along the top of the crowd. Pinkie was wearing her signature “Rave party dress” and had made a similar one for Fluttershy, except it was blue and pink instead. Josh and the others all laughed as they watched the two mares bob up and down in the crowd. The human felt a tap on his shoulder and turned around.

“Hello there, Josh.” said Princess Celestia, smiling at Josh.

“Hey, Princess.” said Josh, bowing a little to the alicorn, “What’d you think of the show?”

“That was a fantastic show!” she exclaimed, beaming at Josh, “You may have just made me a fan of this, what’s it called, dubstep.”

“I’m flattered to hear you say that, Princess.”

The two stared at each other for awhile longer before Vinyl rushed up to Josh and jumped into his arms. Josh caught her and leaned in, giving her a kiss. She smiled at him as they broke apart, wrapping her forelegs around his neck and holding him close.

“You two can stay in the castle suite for another night, if you’d like.” said Celestia, smiling at the two producers.

“I won’t complain about that.” said Josh, setting Vinyl back down on the ground.

Celestia nodded and said goodbye to Josh and Vinyl, heading back to her castle. Human and unicorn looked back at each other, adrenaline still flowing through their veins from their recent performance.

“They’re wanting us to go out and sign some more autographs, babe.” said Vinyl, gesturing back to the stage.

“I think we can manage that.” said Josh, smiling and making his way back towards the crowd.

He thought all about the past year of his life. He’d given up everything he had back home, yet he couldn’t possibly ask for anything to make him happier. Here, he was madly in love with someone, had friends who genuinely cared about him, and could still live out his passion as a producer. Nothing in the entire universe could be better. Everything was perfect, and he couldn’t think of a single thing that could change that.