Sound Of Love

        He took a deep breath as he the roar of a crowd numbering in the thousands on the other side of the metallic curtain. He could see lights flashing, colors mixing and spotlights  pointed at the stage through gaps in the metal doors. “Here goes nothing,” he sighed as he heard the announcer address the audience.

        “He’s here all the way from Marelin, Germaney! He’s been playing for over 5 years now all around the globe! Heeeeeeeeeerrrrrrrrrrreeeeeeeeeeee’s ZEPHRYS GARDENS!” A loud uproar was heard as his name was announced. He felt the ground shake and heard metallic screeching as the massive doors were pulled back into the walls as pyrotechnics lit up the front of the stage and thousands, possibly tens of thousands of ponies stood up in a loud applause.

~~~~<    >~~~~

        “Why did I come here again?” she asked her friend. Her friend turned to look at her and smiled.

        “Because it’s my birthday and I let my adorable begging eyes put you into a guilt trip,” said the other mare.

        “Oh, yeah. Do I really have to be here? I mean I know it’s your birthday and all Vinyl, but couldn’t you have brought Octavia?”

        “You know she doesn’t like this kind of music, Harmona.” replied Vinyl.

        “I guess you’re right.” Harmona let out a heavy sigh and walked out into the stadium seats with Vinyl. They made their way to their seats and sat down, Vinyl smiling from ear to ear, Harmona not so much.

        “Thanks for being a good friend, Harmona.” said Vinyl giving her a hug.

        “Sorry about being so mopey about it.” Harmona returned the hug.

        “Nah. It’s fine, I know it’s not your style of music, but you’re more accepting of the ‘noise,’ as Octavia likes to call it, than Octavia herself.”

        Harmona let out a small giggle and turned her attention to the stage as she heard the announcer yelling out Zephyrs’ name over the speakers causing the stadium to go up in a mad cheer.

        “Here he comes! You’re gonna love it Harmona!” yelled Vinyl at the top of her lungs.

I hope so, Harmona thought to herself.

~~~~<    >~~~~

        Zephrys stepped out onto the stage and stood there for a second. The crowd went quiet as nothing happened for a moment. Suddenly a microphone on a stand shot out of the stage through a hidden hole in the stage and Zephrys caught it as it fell down and a heavy bassline kicked in as he tapped his hoof on a pressure plate by his rear leg.

        The crowd was even more excited as he began singing in a dark, deep tone.

“Eyes shimmering.

Body simmering.

The heat of the night.

That moment of fright.

Don’t be afraid,

I’m only gonna say.”

        He tapped another plate and more pyrotechnics lit up the night as a large circular table lifted itself out of the stage with endless amounts of DJ equipment on it.

        His voice got louder and more excited as he flipped a record onto a high end turntable.

“You know you want me.

You know you need me.

The night is still here,

So lets party together my dear.”

        He put the mic stand down and hovered his hoof above the record. At the precise moment, he spun it in reverse causing a well timed scratch and replaying the beginning of the record. He turned a knob and the record spun twice as fast, speeding up the song and distorting the once clean notes. At around the 45 second mark, the bass dropped harder than a piano out of Ditzy Doo’s moving van and his wings flared out.

        He grabbed the mic and yelled, “YOU READY TO PARTY?!” The crowd roared and that was his cue. He put on a pair of silver lined headphones and began mixing away, live, in front of thousands of Ponies that came to hear his music.

~~~~<    >~~~~

        “What’s he doing?” asked Harmona as she saw Zephrys walk onto the stage and stand there.

        “Wait for it....” said Vinyl who was almost bursting at the seams with excitement.

        “But he’s not doin.........” she said as she heard the bassline and the dark singing. “Oh, my....”

        “That’s not the best part,” squeaked Vinyl.

        Harmona kept watching but soon had to cover her eyes as she saw bright flames shoot out of the stadium straight into the air. Her jaw dropped as she saw the massive table of equipment rise and a record flip through the air and land on the turntable. The track began playing loudly but it was surprisingly calm. She heard individual piano notes blend gently with guitar strums and a bass drum kick faintly boom through the stadium accompanied by several snare hits and a hi-hat ring.

        Her jaw dropped as she heard another bit of singing lead into an awesome record scratch and the music gain momentum as the massive wings of Zephyr spread out.

        “WHOOOOOOOOOOOO!” yelled Vinyl as the wings came out. “That’s what I’m talking about!”

        “That’s amazing....” Harmona said.

        “I know right?” Vinyl was head banging away as the music blared on.

        “Is he? Is he using his wings to mix the music along with his hooves?” Harmona said in shock as she watched the events unfold on the stage.

        “That’s what he does! That’s how he can make such good music live without much problem making certain parts complicated,” Vinyl chuckled in response.

~~~~<    >~~~~

        The song finished up with a thundering drop as he scratched the record back 15 seconds, slowed the speed, and raised the bass volume at the same time with the aid of his wings. He was sweating profusely and his muscles ached from the hard work as the lights dimmed and the drop ended.

        The crowd chanted his name as the announcer came on the speakers.

        “Fillies and Gentlecolts! Zephyrs!!!!!!”

        “ZEPHRYS! ZEPHYRS! ZEPHYRS! ZEPHYRS!” The crowd was ecstatic.

        All lights went out as he prepared for his signature closing move.

~~~~<    >~~~~

        “Why’d the lights go out?” Harmona looked in the direction Vinyl should be sitting, but couldn’t tell if Vinyl was still there because it was pitch black.

        “You’ll see!” Vinyl piped back.

~~~~<    >~~~~

        Zephrys pulled on a fireproof Unicorn enchanted suit and pulled covers over his wings.

        A blast of fire shot out of the stage in a curtain of flames and he shot straight into the air then dropped down onto the flames with his wings spread and his body vertical. He floated above the flames, the center of the fiery curtain dropping away leaving the sides billowing up making it look like the flames were holding up Zephrys. A moment later, everything went pitch black again as the flames dropped and Zephrys quickly flew behind the stage.

He heard a massive cheer once more as the metal doors closed.

~~~~<    >~~~~

        Harmona’s jaw dropped as she saw the finale move from Zephrys. Vinyl was next to her, yelling her lungs out.

        After everything went black and then lit up artificially from the stadium lights, Harmona managed to speak one word.

        “Wow.....”