“SWEATIIING BULLEEEEETSS!!!”
The large crowd stomped their hooves. Lights were shining down at all angles, yet it still seemed dim in the concert hall.
“Thank you. Thank you.”
The Pegasus at the front of the stage was holding a guitar and speaking into the microphone.
“How’s everypony doing tonight?”
The crowd cheered loudly, giving him his answer.
“Alright. So, I’m sure you all know that this is the last show we’ll be playing, for a while at least. So, for the first time since we started this band, we’re actually gonna introduce everyone.”
The pony hovered over to the griffin, who was holding the bass.
“This here, is the King of Shadows, Lemmy Lambchops!!”
Lemmy took to the bass, playing with a unique sound, unused by most bass players.
The Crowd cheered very loudly, drowning out any chance of speaking. Pegasi were flying around as the overdriven sound of the bass took any hesitation from their bones.
“ALRIGHT!!! That was Lemmy everypony. Now, let’s bring it on over here. Bringing the magic to the stage, our unicorn, Soprina, the Queen of Light!”
As soon as the loudest roar of the cheers ceased, she turned up her keytar and started playing with great precision, incapable of most other ponies.
“YEAH!!! Alright everypony, are you ready for more?”
The ensuing cheer brought him toward the back of the stage.
“You’re gonna have to scream louder than that for me to introduce this big fella.”
The crowd then roared with enthusiasm.
“Alright, there we go! Now, allow me to introduce, all the way from Austailia, the Lord of Luminescence, our drummer, Stellor!”
The two exchanged a look.
“Aaaaand… GO!”
The drummer then took off, only using his hind legs to start off, playing a quick beat with the gear on his drum set. He then began to pick up speed, getting more intense with the cheers of the crowd.
Once she had finished, Soprina began holding a note on the keys while grabbing her guitar.
“Here we go, everypony. I am, Sonic Scream, or, better known as, the Prince of Darkness. And we are, The Royal Court!”
The drums and bass began playing soft notes, signaling the start of the song.
“My victims are rich or poor, young or old, strong or weak. I cause millions of accidents.”
Sonic Scream was quoting the spoken word opening to the song Prince of Darkness.
“I am cancer in your bones.”
The crowd began a loud cheer, finally realizing which song was being performed next. “I fathered the lie, twist what you say. Speak not the truth.”
He planted his hind hooves on the ground and spread his wings to maintain balance.
“I am insidious, impartial. Deep inside your chromosomes.”
He brought his forehooves to the guitar.
“I take what you love,”
He strummed down on the guitar.
“and leave you in tears. I imprison your soul. Your hopes are my games. I strip you of pride. My promise is in vain. While you burn at the stake, I dance in the flames. I bring poverty, sickness, and death. A worthless hoofshake, the slickest thief, I steal your wealth. I answer your prayers for greed and lust. More than evil. I laugh at your trust.”
The guitar begins to be strummed at a more steady beat.
“I am more powerful than all the armies of the world. I am more violent than violence. More deadly than death. I have destroyed more ponies than all the nation’s wars. I am relentless. Unpredictable. Waiting for your last breath.”
“Sir, you have another one on the way.”
The brown unicorn stallion looked up from his desk, fatigue written all over his face.
“Who is it going to be now?”
“Somepony from Canterlot, doctor.” The mare hovered over and left the papers on his desk. “They said they had some trouble finding his files after he was transferred, but they gave us all that they could.”
“Alright then. Thank you, Feather Quill.” The pink pony flew out the door. “Now let’s see what we’ve got going on here.”
“Sonic Scream, musician, various stress problems, and the last therapist killed himself, mentioning him in the note… wait, WHAT?!”
“Demons they follow me. Cause my insanity.”
“Thank you Manehattan! Goodnight!”
The group of ponies left the stage, went through the back hallways, and barged through the dressing room door, sprinting the whole way.
“I told you all I’d beat you here on hoof.” Sonic Scream flipped his mane out of his eyes and glared at the others.
“That’s not fair, mate.” Stellor said, sweat pouring down his face. “I had to leap over the drumset and take off, while you didn’t even take the time to put your guitar down.”
“Yeah. At least give us a fair chance.” Soprina added, shooting him a look of disgust.
“Hey, I never said you had to put down your instruments. I just kinda yelled that I’d win and took off.” He was backed into a corner, hooves held up in defense while the two were shooting glares in his direction.
“Would ya lay off ‘em?” The griffon spoke, in a raspy voice. “It’s not like it means anything, anyway. These hallways are small and he went first. He was bound to win.”
The two backed off. “It doesn’t mean he’s gotta be a prick about it.” Stellor whispered to Soprina while walking to the couch.
“Hey, I do what I want. Don’t like it, then get the hay out.” The Pegasus added with a smirk.
“So, to change subject,” Soprina gave Sonic a confused look, “can you tell us again why you’re leaving Canterlot?”
“Yeah.” Stellor added. “It’s not like you really have anywhere to go. Or any family for that matter. And what about your therapist?”
“I’ll figure all that out when it comes time. And I’m leaving because I can’t stand the prissy, stuck up lifestyle of the ponies that live in Canterlot.” He laid back on the couch and grabbed a bottle. “And besides, the hiatus is only temporary, unless we all move on to another project. And my therapist is dead. I’ll be getting a new one when I move.”
“But, why do ya have to leave after our fifth year anniversary, bro?” Lemmy had dropped down to all fours and was walking across the room to join the rest.
“I just… I need to get away from it all, ya know?”
“Not really.” Soprina said, a look of sadness on her face. “We’ve been like a family since we found you 6 years ago. We’re worried.” Tears were forming in her eyes.
“I don’t wanna see ya get hurt out there.” Stellor added.
Sonic walked up and grabbed Soprina, pulling her into a hug. “I know. And I love you guys to death,” he pulled out of the hug. “but I just want to be alone for a while. Go somewhere that nopony knows who I am and I don’t get treated differently because I’m famous. And besides, we’ll be able to visit eachother anytime. I’m not moving too far from Canterlot.”
“Where are you going, exactly?” Lemmy asked.
“I’m moving to Ponyville.”
As he awakened from his slumber, Sonic Scream began to slowly open his eyes.
“Ahhhh… AGH!!”
After slamming them shut, he reached a hoof up to his head. The throbbing pain was only intensified by the blinding light of Celestia’s sun.
‘Another night I didn’t make it all the way home I suppose.’ He thought to himself. ‘I really need to stop drinking so much at these afterparties.’
He slowly began to open his eyes to check out his surroundings. He lay there, checking his surrounding. No familiar sites were found.
“Where am I?” He said aloud, scratching his head.
He looked down and saw a multicolored mane on his chest. The mare it belonged to seemed to be sleeping peacefully. He took his hoof and wiped one of the stray hairs out of her eyes.
“How did I end up here?”
“Alright guys. Thanks again for helpin’ me move.”
“No problem, mate. Just take care yourself.” Stellor said, trying hard to keep himself from choking up. “We don’t want you going back down that road.”
“Don’t worry about it, dude. I’m clean now. I don’t expect to go back to that stuff.” Sonic Scream was setting down the last box in the living room. “Rehab sucked anyway.”
Stellor gave him a deadpanned stare. Sonic just shrugged it off.
“Anyway, how long until you guys come down and visit?”
“We’re here right now,” Stellor joked.
“Shut up.” Sonic said. “Let’s go try and stop Soprina from crying again.”
They walked out the door, and were instantly met with wails of cries coming from the wagon.
“WHY DOES HE HAVE TO LE-E-EAVE?” Soprina let out, sobbing heavily into Lemmy’s shoulder, his brown feathers looked moist.
“He feels it’s better to be on his own for a while now, darlin’.” Stellor added.
Lemmy stood there quietly, patting her on the back. He moved the stray, purple hairs out from her eyes.
“Soprina,” Sonic said, as calmly as possible, “you know I love you guys. I just feel like I’ve been pampered too much in recent years. You understand, right?”
“Of… Of course I do. It’s just… I DON’T WANT YOU TO GO!!!” She yelled, sobs coming heavier than before.
“You can come down and visit anytime. Just give me a heads up so I know to pick up some snacks for big eater over here.” He nodded his head toward Lemmy, who chuckled nervously, scratching the back of his neck.
“Well, we’d best be going, before she starts loading your stuff back up. Cheerio.” Stellor stated, pulling Soprina in the front.
“Alright, bro. Later.” He stood there waving goodbye until they were out of sight.
That is, until something even more unusual came into his line of site. A pink mare was pulling a wagon, trotting toward him with the biggest grin on her face.
“The hay?” He said quietly. “This can’t be good.”
“HI!” The pink pony exclaimed, almost hovering off of the ground. “Are you new in town? Well, of course you’re new. I know everypony in town. And everypony knows me. And I’m friends with them all. Oooh, and they love my cupcakes. Do you like cupcakes? Of course you do. Everypony likes cupcakes. And when you put…”
Sonic had basically turned off his ears and began getting back to work unpacking boxes. “Yeah, yeah. Cupcakes, or something or other. Can I help you with something?”
“Not really. I just came to meet the new pony in town. I’m Pinkie Pie. What’s your name?” Pinkie was leaning in, almost touching faces.
“Sonic Scream. And could you back up a little? I don’t like ponies I don’t know being so close. It freaks me out.”
“Okie dokie lokie.” She said, backing up a bit.
“And that wagon looks different than any other wagon I’ve seen.” He began walking around inspecting the wagon. “What kind is it?”
“Boy, you sure do talk a lot.” Pinkie said.
“Really?” he muttered to himself. It went completely unnoticed by the party pony.
“This is my special welcome wagon. I use it to welcome ponies to Ponyville.” She said, bouncing around a little with each word.
“So… you just walk around them with a wagon, and then leave?” He knew it wasn’t that simple, but he decided to humor her.
“No, silly filly. It has a special welcome with it.” As she explained this, the lid to the case popped open, and music began to play.
“What the…”
“Welcome, welcome, welcome. A fine welcome to you.
Welcome, welcome, welcome. I say, how do you do.
Welcome, welcome, welcome. I say, hip hip horray.
Welcome, welcome, welcome to Ponyville todayyyy!”
Pinkie stopped. “Wait for it.”
He waited. And waited. And waited.
“Wait a minute. Did I refill this?” Pinkie looked into the top of the mechanism. Suddenly, confetti shot out, startling both of them and sending Pinkie into the air.
‘What the hay is going on?’ He thought to himself. ‘Is this really happening?’
‘Yes. Yes it is.’ He heard another voice in his head.
‘Huh?’ he sighed. ‘They always said, talking to yourself is normal, but when you get an answer back, there’s a problem.’
“Welll, THAT was fun!” Pinkie exclaimed as she land on her hooves. “I should do it again. Oh, but then it won’t be as fun, since I’ll be expecting it. Aww… Oh well.” She said, returning to her giddy self in a matter of milliseconds.
“Oookay. So, you sang your song, now can I get back to unpacking? I’ve got a lot of stuff here.”
“Okie dokie. Well, I’ll see you around town!” She said as she skipped away.
“Yeah you will.” he exclaimed in her general direction. “When I’m dead.” He said, much quieter. ‘And everypony calls ME crazy.’
He walked inside and started to unpack some boxes. The first thing he pulled out was a small record player, which was on the top of some old records.
“Well, at least I don’t have to work in silence.” He said to himself. He reached down and grabbed one of the records, before throwing it carelessly across the room. ‘Why do I even have that record?’ he wondered to himself, ‘It wasn’t good when it was released, so it wouldn’t be good now.’
After a few more records were thrown around the room, and the ones he wanted laid beside the box, he finally grabbed one he wanted to listen to.
He put the record on the player and positioned the needle on the edge.
After a few seconds, a piano began playing. It was a fast, evil sounding pattern.
A smile creeped across his face as a voice on the track began it’s laughter. The guitar part kicked in, matching the piano.
He began to lightly nod his head to the music as he pushed the other boxes around.
The guitar began playing with a heavier beat for a measure, until the drums and bass kicked in as well.
“I’m not a fan of puppeteers,
But I’ve a nagging fear someone else is pulling at the strings
Something terrible is going down
Through the entire town, wreaking anarchy in all it brings”
After about an hour of unpacking, he was done with the living room.
‘I, umm… I guess that’s enough for now.’
He walked toward the kitchen, hoping to find some food. Opening up the refrigerator, he realized one important thing. He hadn’t bought any food.
“Aww horse feathers,” He whined, “now I have to go socialize.”
He walked over to the desk in the living room and opened the door below. He reached in and opened the chest, grabbing a small bag and scooping a generous amount. He walked to the other side of the room and grabbed his saddlebags, then headed toward the door. As he opened the door, he was instantly hit on the leg.
“AGH!! What the hay?!”
“Oops. Sorry.”
He looked down and saw a little orange filly with purple hair.
“I didn’t know you were going to open the door.” she said.
“It’s fine.” He said, grimacing a little as he looked at his shin. ” Now, how can I help you?”
“Well, me and my friends heard there was a new pony in town,” she explained, stopping to look back at two other fillies, one white with purple hair, the other, yellow with red hair and a bow, “and we thought we’d stop by and say hi.”
“Well, if that’s the case, why are you the only one up here.” He said with a smirk.
“Hey, don’t blame me. It was a dare. It’s not like I want to be up here.” She said, pouting a little.
“Oh. Well that makes sense, I guess.” He said, rubbing his chin. “Well alright then. You said hi. Now what?”
“Well, umm… my names Scootaloo?” She said, smiling.
‘Okay then. Introductions.’ He thought to himself.
“I’m Sonic Scream,” He said, pointing a hoof, “who are your friends?”
“Oh!” she turned and called them over. They both began trotting toward the other two, nervous smiles on their face. “This is Sweetie Belle,” she announced, pointing towards the white one, “and that’s Apple Bloom.”
“Well, I guess it was nice to meet you girls, but I gotta go do some shopping.” He said, turning to walk away.
“Bye!” the three fillies yelled in unison.
“Bye.” He said back, not nearly as loud as them, but loud enough so they could hear.
He walked into town in complete silence. The sounds of the village seemed calm and quiet compared to big city life. He didn’t even know when to stop to shop, until he showed up at Sugarcube Corner.
‘Sounds promising.’ He thought to himself.
He opened the door, looking around to see who was running the shop. He saw Pinkie Pie behind the counter. Before he could turn to walk out, she was right beside him.
“Well, hiya!” she exclaimed. “What are you doing here?”
His head beginning to throb from how loud and high pitched her voice was, he answered. “I’m looking for some record’s. You got any?”
He was sure his sarcasm was read by the other pony. It wasn’t.
“Silly, this is Sugarcube Corner. We sell sweets. If you want to buy records, you need to go down the street to Vinyl’s Vinyls. She always has the best.”
He just stared at her, perplexed by the situation. “Umm… okay then.” He said slowly. “I’ll just buy some of your sweets, then.”
“Okie Dokie. Now, what would you like?” She said, appearing suddenly behind the counter. “We have donuts, and cupcakes, and regular cakes, and pies, and muffins, and”
“Donuts!” He yelled, interrupting her. “A dozen donuts will be fine.”
“Okay, now what kind of donut? Glazed, Chocolate, Frosted”
“Chocolate glazed, please.” He said, interrupting her again.
“Boy, you stop me quicker than my friend Rainbow Dash does. And she stops me quick.” She said, bouncing a bit in place.
“Gee, I wonder why?” he said, grabbing the bag in his teeth. “How much?”
“That’ll be 12 bits.”
He took twelve out of his bag, and laid them on the counter.
“Thank you, come again!”
He hurried to the door and, as soon as he was past, took to the sky.
‘How many times am I gonna run into her today?’
He landed in the middle of town, seeing all the shopping stands around the area. Placing the bag of donuts in his saddlebags, he landed in the center and began to look around. There were stands selling all kinds of food. Tomatoes, cherries, watermelons, apples.
“Apples sound good.” He said quietly to himself. He walked up to the stand.
“Well, howdy there, partner!” the orange mare behind the stand exclaimed. “What can ah do ya for?”
“How much are your apples?”
“1 bit for 2 apples.” She said, pointing to the sign on the side of the cart.
“Alright, I’ll take 6.” He said, reaching into his saddlebags to grab his bag of bits.
“Alrighty then.” She answered, grabbing the apples out of the barrel. “Say, ah ain’t seen you ‘round here before. New in town?”
“Yep.” He said, placing the bag on the ground to grab the bits. “You could say that I’ve met some very… interesting ponies today.”
“Ah take it you met Pinkie Pie?”
“Yes.” He said. “Yes, I did.”
“Please, Celestia let her be the only crazy one in town.” He muttered under his breath.
“Hey, ah don’t take too kindly to others insultin’ my friends,” her face showed what appeared to be hostility, “ya got that?”
He backed up a little bit. “Umm… yeah.” He said, unsure of what’s to come. “I’m sorry, I’m just in a bad mood today, and she just wouldn’t leave me alone.”
“Well, ah know she can be a hooffull, but ya can’t go around talkin’ mean about other ponies.”
“Yeah. I should know that by now. Sorry.”
“It ain’t no problem. And here ya go, 6 apples.” She said, waving her hoof behind the apples. “That’ll be 3 bits.”
He laid them on the table and scooped them into his saddlebags, careful not to let any bruise. “Thank you.”
“It ain’t nothin’. Pleasure doin’ business with ya, Mr…”
“Scream. Sonic Scream. And you are?” he asked, tilting his head.
“Name’s Applejack. Well, ah’ll be seein’ ya ‘round. Have a good day.”
“Ditto.” He responded, walking in the opposite direction.
He looked all around him again, seeing ponies everywhere didn’t help him at all. His heart started to beat faster, sweat beginning to form on his brow.
‘Oh no. Not again.’
He swept the red strands of hair out of his eyes and took to the air, heading for home.
Landing on his porch, he noticed something. He hadn’t shut his door. He walked into his house and noticed broken records against the wall. He pushed his saddlebags off and ran over.
“Who would’ve…” he yelled aloud before stopping himself. “Oh yeah.”
He hovered into the kitchen, looking for a broom.
‘Hopefully I even have one.’ He thought to himself.
Sure enough, there wasn’t one in sight. He sighed.
“Looks like I’ll have to buy one.”
He flew over to his saddlebags, bringing them into the kitchen. He grabbed the bags of donuts and put them into the refrigerator, and then, after grabbing one, he set the apples in a bowl on the counter.
He flew up the stairs, to the room that he decided would be his. Actually, all the rooms were his, but this one already had his new bed. He pulled the drawer of the nightstand open and grabbed the folders inside.
“Time to meet my new therapist.”
It hadn’t been a long flight, but he landed on the doorstep of Dr. Dream Scape’s office. Pushing the door open, he heard a bell chime overhead. He took a few steps before he was greeted by the receptionist.
“Hello, sir,” she exclaimed, her excitement met with a small glare, “how can I help you?”
“Yeah, I’m here to see Dr. Dream Scape.” He said, walking closer to the counter. “Is he in?”
“Yes. Do you have an appointment?” she asked, looking down at her notepad.
“Not exactly.” He said, rubbing the back of his neck. “Actually, I came to talk to him on a more immediate notice.”
“Oh. Well, let me check with him.” She disappeared through the doorway. The sound of a door being opened filled the silent office.
He looked around, trying to find something to focus his attention on. The noise coming from the clock on the wall seemed to fill the room.
“Sir,” she yelled from down the hallway, “he will see you now.”
Sonic Scream trotted through the doorway, taking note of the small size of the hallway.
“Ah. The new one, correct?” The older stallion asked, looking him directly in the eye.
“Uhh… yeah, I guess.” He responded, averting his gaze.
“Please, have a seat.” The doctor said, waving toward the chair on the other side of the room.
“Okay.” Sonic said quietly. Something about this situation unnerved him.
“So,” he said, closing the door behind Sonic, “I hear that they couldn’t find your files to ship over to me.”
“Mmhmm. I have them.” He said, setting his saddlebags down. “I don’t just let anypony see my files.”
“Alright then. May I see them?” he said, reaching toward Sonic Scream.
“Hold on there, bub.” He said, reaching his head into his bag. He pulled out a single piece of paper with a lot of print on it.
“What is this?”
“A contract. To save you the time, it says that, unless I have died, under no circumstances are anything said in this room able to affect me under law, and I have full say on what is allowed to be shown or said about me to anyone. There are a lot of things I would like to keep private. Especially from the authorities. Are we in agreement?” he held the paper toward the doctor.
“Well, alright. I mean, what could go wrong, right?” he asked, jokingly. “But seriously, don’t tell me any plans of murder or stuff like that. Don’t want it on my conscious.”
“Of course.” He laid the paper on the table.
After all the parts of the paper that needed signed were filled out, he reached into his saddlebags again. This time, pulling out the folders.
“Alright. Here you go.” He laid the folders on the table. “Look over these and I’ll be back next week for my first appointment.”
“Okay, I’ll see you then.” He said, placing his glasses on his head. “Have a good day.”
“You too.” He called back before exiting the hallway.
“Have a good day, sir.” The mare at the front desk called toward him.
“You, as well.” He exclaimed, pulling the door back.
He stepped outside, feeling extremely happy with the situation. He took a deep breath.
‘It’s a nice day. I’m just gonna walk.’
He started down the road, looking around town.
‘What was that store she said? Vinyl something or other?’
He looked to his right, and immediately saw the glass building he was looking for. The neon on the sign shone brightly, even during the day.
“Ah. Vinyl’s Vinyls.” He said aloud, walking up to the door.
He opened the door and was hit with a wave of cool air. He walked into the store, looking for anything he hadn’t heard that looked decent.
“Hey, buddy. Can I help… Sonic Scream?”
He turned around to see the pony who was calling his name. “Vinyl?” His eyes went wide.
“The one and only. It’s been a long time, cousin.” She said, placing a hoof around his shoulder.
“Yeah, it has. So, how’s everything been?”
“Pretty good. Started this awesome store, bringing music to the ponies of Ponyville.” She stated, waving her hoof around the room.
“I see.” He said nodding his head. “Speaking of which, do you have any good rock music?”
“Well, I got your last three albums in stock, if that’s what you mean.”
“Not exactly what I was looking for,” he said, rolling his eyes, “I meant any bands where you’re not related to the frontpony.”
“Oh… I got this new album in last week. Some band’s first album.” She started walking towards the back of the store. “You wanna check it out?”
“Yeah, sure.” He began following her toward the back.
She grabbed a record and placed it on the player.
The music started loud, with crash cymbals and heavy guitar.
Sonic started to bang his head along to the beat, his black and red mane flying into the front of his face.
“Sifting through the shadows
A violent force bent on your destruction
Evil intentions
Seeking the payment assigned”
After the music stopped, he looked over at her.
“Well,” she asked, “what’d ya think? Heavy, huh?”
“Yeah, it’s heavy.” He said, rubbing his chin. “It’s alright. I don’t see myself listening to it often, but it’s not too bad.”
“Oh. Well, it doesn’t matter anyway. So, you want it?”
“Nah, I don’t really need to get a new vinyl, anyway. I have a lot at home.”
She chuckled, covering her mouth with her hoof, “Then why’d you come here?”
“Just checking the place out. Seems cool enough.” He said, looking around. “Well, I’m gonna head out. We’ll have to meet up again, sometime.”
“Hey, wait. Why are you living in Ponyville now?” she asked, showing clear confusion. “Weren’t you just living in Canterlot last time I saw you?”
“Yeah, I decided that it was time to move away from the big city. The band’s on hiatus for a while.”
“Hiatus?” she asked, “Why?”
“Because I wanted to get away from it all. Didn’t I say that?” he said, smirking. “They had other products they wanted to work on, so I’m here now.”
“Oh. Well, I guess that makes sense.” She walked over to him and swung her front leg around his shoulder. “See ya later.”
“See ya.” After returning the hug, he walked out the door and started on his way home.
‘That may have been the most unexpected thing all day.’ He thought to himself as he walked along the road. ‘Such a small world.’
He started flapping his wings up and down, slowly. Everything about the day currently felt great. Nothing could go wrong. He took to the air.
“LOOK OUT!!!”