Twilight and her friends led Dream Theater though Ponyville to the cottages they’d be staying at. Petrucci and the other members still wore their hats from Pinkie’s song in an effort to please her. Jordan, however, was far from being pleased, as he still had bits of cake and frosting clinging to his face and long, white beard. Pinkie hopped alongside the forlorn keyboardist, doing her best to make him happier. Though, her actions met with little success.
“Aw, come on Rudy! I said I’m sorry. How did the cake taste anyways?”
“I’m not really in the mood right now,” he moaned.
“Please? I made it myself.”
“Fine,” he relented, “the cake was good. Scratch that, it was delicious. But I personally like cake in my mouth and not in my face.”
“Well, then you should have opened your mouth!” Pinkie giggled obliviously. Jordan’s patience was wearing thin. Twilight, seeing the look of annoyance on his face, decided to change the subject.
“So,” she wondered aloud, “you say you’re a rock band? What instruments do you each play?” Twilight was well aware with which instruments the band played based on their appearance in Canterlot the night before. However, not only did Twilight’s friends not know, but she had to keep Jordan from trying to murder Pinkie Pie.
“I play the guitar,” spoke Petrucci.
“Bassist,” Myung simply stated.
“Keyboardist,” said Jordan, annoyance still present in his voice.
“Singer,” said James.
“Drummer,” piped in Mike.
“That’s interesting,” said Twilight. “What kind of music do you play?” Twilight now started to sound intrigued, as she genuinely didn’t know the answer to that question.
“They said play ‘progressive metal,’” answered Rainbow Dash.
“Metal?” gasped Rarity. “That’s barbarian’s music!” Jordan was very annoyed now. At that moment, Twilight wanted nothing more to bury her head in the sand. Thankfully, Jordan’s rebuttal was more controlled than what Twilight had expected.
“Once we get to the cottages, I’ll gladly show you what kind of music we play.”
“Fine,” snorted Rarity, “but I highly doubt I’ll like it.”
“We’ll see about that,” muttered Jordan.
Not much later, the band arrived at the cottages. There was one for each member, and it included a bedroom with a queen-sized bed and closet. The living room had a couch and a rug, and the kitchen came with a stove, cupboard, silverware drawers, and an icebox. The bathroom was fully equipped, with a tub, toilet, and mirror.
After observing their temporary homes through the windows, Mike noticed that all of their equipment was being placed inside a large building surrounded by the cottages. From the inside, it looked like a banquet hall. There were tables with plates, silverware, and cups placed on them surrounding the large polished dance floor in the back, along an impecable glass ceiling that could see the sky in all of its glory.
“What’s going on here?” asked Mike. “What’s our stuff doing here?”
“Princess Celestia knew very well that your drums wouldn’t fit in your cottage,” answered Twilight, “so she decided to move all of your gear to the banquet hall. Don’t worry, it’s rarely used, so it shouldn’t be a problem.” Twilight then went to the ponies unpacking Dream Theater’s stuff. “It’s okay, sirs. I’ll take it from here.”
Twilight used her horn’s magic to quickly levitate all of Mike’s drum set pieces into the back of the banquet hall. Mike still couldn’t hide his amazement as Twilight assembled his entire drum set systematically in roughly the same time she disassembled it yesterday. As Twilight was constructing it, the mouths of everypony almost dropped to the floor by seeing the sheer size of Mike's set. Most drum sets in Equestria had a snare, a couple of toms, a hi-hat, a crash and a ride. Mike's set easily had about six to seven times more equipment, all of which would surround him like a giant cage.
"Whoa," was all that Rainbow Dash could muster.
Once Twilight finished with Mike’s drums she set Petrucci’s guitar, James’ mike stand, and Myung’s bass in place from her right to her left. Jordan assisted Twilight with his keyboards, as she wasn’t too sure how the things were assembled. Twilight first set Jordan’s special rotating and tilting stand to the right of Mike’s drum set. Jordan then placed his Korg OASYS onto the stand, which Twilight helped fasten on to hold it in place. Jordan then fastened the iPad onto his keyboard as Twilight set his keytar and Continuum fingerboard in their proper places. The whole of Dream Theater was amazed that such a set up could be done in mere minutes like that.
“Remind us to hire you for our next show,” spoke Petrucci. Twilight’s ears drooped as she darted her gaze to the side, blushing and smiling.
“Now,” snooted Rarity, “I’d love to see you impress me with your ‘metal.’”
Jordan turned his Korg on, despite it not being plugged into an outlet. He remembered what Twilight said about magic powering things in this world, and just like he predicted, the keyboard lit up. Jordan then played with the wheels and buttons on the keyboard until he put it in its piano setting.
Without saying a word, Jordan put his fingers to work, playing an improvised solo similar to the one he did for the Live Scenes from New York album. Not surprisingly, Rarity was the first to be absolutely stunned. Her expectations were instantly shattered as she watched this bearded human fly across the keys with such precision and grace.
Twilight and her friends were almost brought to tears by Jordan’s playing. It wasn’t long before Jordan stopped playing, as he proved all that he needed to.
“My heavens,” sighed Rarity. “That was absolutely beautiful.”
“Thanks,” said Jordan. “I figured someone of your tastes might appreciate the piano a little more than the other sounds I can crank out of this thing.”
“Is that the kind of music you normally play?”
“Sometimes. We like to change the timbre around a little.” Jordan demonstrated with the keyboard bit from Endless Sacrifice, showing the keyboard’s full musical potential.
“That’s incredible! Jordan, I had no idea that you were so… elegant.” Jordan couldn’t help but chuckle a little at the mare’s compliment. “I do apologize for debasing your music. If that’s the kind of music you perform, I’d die to hear more.”
“Don’t sweat it. To be fair, our music can be heavier than what I played, but I assure you that there’s plenty of ‘elegance’ in it. Now, if you'll excuse me, I’m going to wash up.”
“Take your time, darling.”
Jordan was just about to leave the banquet hall, only to see Pinkie Pie standing in front of him, carrying a plate with three loaves of bread stacked together with a large knife on it.
“Pinkie Pie,” he said to her, “may I please go and wash my face?”
“Okay,” chirped the pink pony, “I just thought you all could use some breakfast.”
“Breakfast?” asked James. He was then reminded of his forgotten meal with a growling in his stomach. “I, uh, I guess we forgot to have breakfast.”
“What’s on the plate, anyways?” asked Jordan. He then took a sniff. “Is that banana bread?”
“Yep. Made fresh today, Jorday!” Pinkie Pie giggled at her forced rhyme.
“Please stick to calling me Jordan. I’d love some, but I’m going to wash up first, is that okay?”
“Okie dokie lokie!” Without a further word, Jordan made his way to one of the vacant cottages to use its bathroom.
Meanwhile, Pinkie Pie set the plate of banana bread on one of the tables inside. Mike was about to grab the knife when Pinkie Pie put her front hooves on the table, impeding Mike’s progress.
“Let me get that, silly.” She then took the knife’s handle in her teeth and cut Mike a big slice. She used the knife as a makeshift spatula, scooping the slice and placing it on one of the set plates on the table for Mike.
“Much obliged,” thanked Mike, taking his plate. Mike broke a piece off and placed it in his mouth. His eyes widened as he continued chewing. “Holy Christ,” he exclaimed with food still in his mouth. “That is the best damn banana bread I’ve ever tasted.”
“Really?” asked Pinkie Pie.
“Seriously. If I only had a tall glass of milk, I’d be in business.”
Pinkie suddenly rushed out of the banquet hall only to appear seconds later with a basket containing two large bottles of ice cold milk.
“Here you go, Mr. Genie!” she stated. Mike was almost at a loss for words.
“Y— You are my personal Jesus.”
“What’s a Jesus? Is that some kind of butler or something? I’ve always wanted to be a butler! With the aprons, and the clothes, and those towels, and the trays, and the…”
“It’s an expression where… never mind.” Mike merely let Pinkie ramble as he poured five glasses for him and his bandmates with one bottle while Twilight poured seven with the other for her friends.
Jordan returned looking much cleaner, but his shirt was wet around the collar, and there was still frosting stains on it. He saw all four of his bandmates plus the six ponies - including Spike - eating the breakfast Pinkie Pie had gotten for them.
“Hey everybody,” he greeted.
“Hey, Jordan,” welcomed Petrucci. “Mike poured you some milk. You need to have some of that banana bread, it’s to die for.”
Jordan took one small bite from the slice already set for him. Jordan marveled at how perfect the sweetness and moistness of the bread was.
“This is amazing!” said Jordan. “It doesn’t even need any butter.”
“I’m glad you like it,” responded Pinkie Pie. Her voice changed to one that was a bit more somber. “Hey, I just wanted to say that I’m sorry for shooting that cake in your face.”
“That’s okay. It’s all water under the bridge now.”
“Thanks, Jordan!” She wrapped her arms around Jordan’s waist, leaving Jordan to set his bread down and place his now-free hands on the pony’s back in comfort.
Mike finished the last bite of his bread when Rainbow Dash approached him.
“So, that’s your drum set?” she asked, pointing to it in the back of the room.
“Sure is,” Mike answered. “Pretty impressive, huh?”
“Yeah. I’ve never seen one so big!”
“You should see some of the sets that others have where I’m from. It’s incredible.”
“How about you go over there and show me what you can do on that?”
“Maybe later. Once we get the tour of the town finished, we should have plenty of time for a performance. Sound good?”
Rainbow Dash was irked that she wouldn’t hear a wicked drum solo for at least several more hours, but she had no business ordering a professional musician around.
“Alright,” she finally agreed. “Once we’re done showing you around, you pound those drums like nopony’s business.”
“Sounds like a plan.”
“Alright,” said Twilight, approaching the humans after they had finished their bread. “How was breakfast?”
“Very good,” said Petrucci, brushing crumbs off of his beard. “Are we ready to start that tour?”
“Indeed we are. Let’s go.”
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
The humans were then shown around Ponyville. Petrucci and the others were thankful that the ponies were much more receptive of their presence. Various ponies gave them all pleasant smiles as they passed them, while others even waved. It seemed that of all worlds that they decided to be whisked away to, Dream Theater couldn’t have landed in a better one.
Rarity had insisted that they stop by her shop, the Carousel Boutique, first along their way.
“So,” spoke Jordan as they all entered. “Why are we stopping here?”
“Well,” answered Rarity, “I thought you might like to know where I live and work. Plus, there’s a favor that I owe you all, especially you.”
“Me? This isn’t about the ‘metal’ thing is it? I already forgave you for that.”
“I know, but I just feel so dreadful for putting that on you, so I will make it up to you.”
“Bu—”
“I will not take no for an answer.”
“Okay. So what’s this favor?”
“She’s making us new clothes,” cut in Petrucci.
“What? You don’t need to do all that.”
“Pshaw,” exclaimed Rarity. “It will be easy. See all these dresses? I made them all myself. If you think I can’t handle a simple shirt, what kind of fashion designer would I be?”
“How would that even work, anyways?” asked James. “Wouldn’t the lack of hands and fingers make it difficult?”
“Not when you can use magic like me. Now, Jordan, please be a dear and take off your shirt and pants?”
Jordan’s eyes could not be wider, and his cheeks could not be redder.
“Oh, come now, darling, I’m naked and you don’t see me making a fuss. Plus, it will only take a second.”
Jordan nervously took his shirt and pants off, leaving him in his underwear for everyone to see.
“I prefer the undergarments stay on,” stated Jordan.
“Alright,” Rarity settled, “I’ll see what I can do. Arms out, please.”
Jordan held his arms straight out while Rarity held a clipboard, pencil, and measuring tape using her magic. She began wrapping the tape around Jordan in various areas while she wrote the measurements on her clipboard. It felt weird to Jordan that it literally took Rarity only a spit second to measure all these areas.
“Are you sure your measurements are accurate?” he asked.
“Jordan, you act as if this is the first time I’ve ever done this.”
Jordan just let Rarity continue. It didn’t take her a while to finish. She then observed Jordan’s shirt and pants, looking at any differences she might see in pony clothing and this human’s clothing. Within a minute, she took a variety of fabrics, cloths, pins, scissors, etc. Jordan watched with amazement as she quickly, but intricately cut and sewed the fabrics into a grey t-shirt and black pants for him. Jordan then felt himself being lifted into the air, shocking him greatly. Rarity pulled Jordan’s new shirt over his head and slipped his new pants over his legs and buttoned them up, setting him back down when she was finished.
“Now,” asked Rarity, “how are your new clothes?”
“They’re…” started Jordan. “Very comfortable. Thank you so much. What about my old clothes, though?”
“I’ll throw them in the wash to get the cake off of them and throw them in with the other clothes that I’ll make.
"You are awesome. Thank you, Rarity."
“You’re most welcome, Jordan. Alright, who’s next?” Mike raised his hand in the air like an excited child.
The band got the same go-around with the measurements, the construction of their first wardrobe, and trying it on. Once everyone was done, Myung had a clean black shirt with black pants, James had a grey shirt with blue jeans, and Mike and Petrucci both had black shirts with blue jeans.
“That was fun,” chirped Rarity. “I can’t wait to make the others!”
“Jordan’s right,” said James. “These are very nice. Thank you. I wish we could find a way to repay you.”
“Perish the thought. The fact that I’m under the same roof as such esteemed guests is payment enough. Now, go and enjoy the rest of your tour. I’ve got more clothes to make.”
“Once again,” said Jordan, “thank you so much. Have great day.”
“Take care!” With that, everyone minus Rarity left the store.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
The next stop was Sugarcube Corner, the local bakery where Pinkie Pie worked and got the banana bread from. It was later in the morning, so business was slowing down a bit. The band walked in to be greeted by the aroma of baked goods. They then noticed a yellow stallion with a white apron, an orange and white striped bowtie and hat, along with an orange mane and tail managing behind the counter. A mare came out the back. She was light blue in color with a dark pink mane and tail. She was wearing a yellow and pink apron while carrying a tray of cupcakes on her back. The two ponies noticed the humans walk into their shop.
“Oh,” exclaimed the yellow stallion. “You’re those, um… humans that appeared. Allow me to introduce ourselves. I’m Mr. Cake, and this is my wife, Mrs. Cake. We run this bakery.”
“Is this where Pinkie Pie got that banana bread?” asked Mike.
“Indeed she did,” responded Mrs. Cake. “Did you like it?”
“Like it? It was the best banana bread I’ve ever had!”
“Oh,” exclaimed Mrs. Cake, not expecting such a compliment. “Thank you!”
“I wish I could give you some form of payment, but I don’t think American dollars would be accepted here, would they?”
“American? So you come from a place called America?” asked Mr. Cake.
“Yeah,” said James, “but don’t bother trying to find it on a map.” Despite the casualty of the comment, Mr. and Mrs. Cake giggled.
“So,” asked Mrs. Cake. “What brings you over here?”
“Nothing much,” answered Pinkie Pie. “We’re just giving them the old tour of Ponyville.”
“Dearie? Could you give us a hand? We’ve got a large order coming up and we need your help to set it up.”
“Yes-siree-bob, Mrs. Cake.” She then turned to the humans. “I’m sorry, but I have to stay here for a while. Have fun with your tour!”
“Well,” said Twilight, “we’re going to be off too. Have a good day, Cakes.”
“Farewell!” They were then off to their next destination.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
The next walk was easily a bit longer than the others, as the next stop was far beyond Ponyville’s limits, and that was Fluttershy’s cottage. The humans were quite impressed to see it in its state.
“Jeez,” said Petrucci, “it’ like something out of a Disney movie.”
“Is that a good thing?” asked Fluttershy from behind.
“Oh, it’s not a complaint. The house looks very pretty.” Fluttershy smiled in response. The other thing that the humans were noticing the animals. Normally, ducks and squirrels on Earth would flee as fast as they could from an approaching person. However, the animals just stood by and observed the strange looking creatures walking by them.
Fluttershy opened the door to her cottage. Dream Theater was amazed by the number of animals they saw inside: Mice, birds, chipmunks, and there was even a white rabbit in sleeping in a bed to the right of the door.
“Are all these animals your pets?” asked James.
“Oh no,” responded Fluttershy. “We just enjoy each other’s company.”
It had been a long walk from Ponyville to Fluttershy’s cottage and it was nearing lunchtime. Myung’s stomach growled, much to his embarrassment.
“Oh,” cooed Fluttershy. “You must be hungry. I heard from Twilight that you eat fish, so I have some sardines you could eat.” She took out a bucket from her kitchen with small, dead, fish inside it. “Here you go.”
Petrucci did his best to not look disgusted, but he had to be frank with her.
“Fluttershy, I don’t mean to sound picky, but humans require their meat to be cooked. They’ll get horribly sick otherwise.”
“Oh,” Fluttershy exclaimed, “I didn’t know that. I would gladly fry them up, but there’s not enough room to cook all these fish for all five of you. I could offer you some soup.”
“Soup… sounds fine. Thank you.”
Petrucci would normally object to soup in such warm weather, but he didn’t want to sound rude considering she was feeding them. He then felt more comfortable when she began pulling a large container of tomato-based soup from an icebox in her fridge. She started to ladle the soup into bowls on her kitchen counter. Petrucci looked at the array of vegetables that cascaded down the ladle, and his mouth watered slightly.
“So,” he said. “It’s like gazpacho.”
“Gaz what?” asked Rainbow Dash.
“It’s an Italian tomato soup that’s served chilled where we come from.”
“Well then,” said Fluttershy carrying a tray with the filled bowls on her back, “I hope you like it.”
Each member grabbed their own bowl from the tray while Fluttershy went back to serve Twilight, Spike, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, and herself. Petrucci figured that there were no spoons here due to lack of fingers, so he lightly and politely poured the soup from his bowl into his mouth. Much like with the banana bread, he was amazed with how exceptionally good the soup was. Each vegetable’s taste was evident and they each tasted marvelously good, especially when combined into the soup.
“Alright,” said Petrucci, “I have to know how everything in this world tastes so good.”
“What do you mean?”
“The banana bread, now this. Where I come from, food doesn’t taste nearly this good. What’s your secret?”
“It’s just a simple recipe that I got from one of my cookbooks.”
“Well, I mean the vegetables tasted so fresh and flawless.”
“Maybe I can tell you a little about that,” spoke Applejack. “All us ponies work together to make things the way they are. Pegasi are responsible for the weather and rain and such, so our crops can get the right amount of water when needed, and—”
“Wait,” said James, “did you say that you ponies control weather?”
“Yep,” answered Rainbow Dash. “Isn’t that how it works for you?”
“No, actually. Weather can be very unpredictable in our world. Sometimes, there will be lots of rain, sometimes there’s none.”
“Well, how in the hay are you supposed to grow anything?” asked Applejack.
“We, just do, I guess.”
“Anyways, we earth ponies are normally farmers because we have a special connection to the land and our crops, so every fruit and veggie picked, plucked, or bucked is fresh, tasty and delicious.”
“I see. And you’re such a farmer?” asked Jordan.
“Sure am, sugar. Would you like to see the farm?”
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
Once everyone finished Fluttershy’s soup, they left for their next stop, Sweet Apple Acres: Applejack’s home and farm. Like the walk to Fluttershy’s, it was very long and time consuming, only kept shorter by the band’s pleasant conversations with the ponies. They finally arrived along the grove of apple trees that would lead to the farm. Applejack then thought of something when she glimpsed at a tree house deep within the forest of fruit-bearing trees.
“Oh, nelly,” she mumbled.
“What’s wrong, Applejack?” asked Petrucci.
“I completely forgot. My family or the girls don’t know about all y’all.”
“Family? Girls?”
“They must not have heard the announcement. I suppose we should just turn around and—”
“Hi Applejack!” called three fillies in unison as they ran from the opposite direction and stopped in front of the group.
One was a yellow earth pony, with a red tail and red mane, adorned on top with a large, pink bow. Another was a white unicorn with a pink and purple mane and tail. The last of the three was an orange pegasus with a purple mane and tail. All three of the fillies were dumbfounded at the humans before them. Applejack broke into a nervous sweat and gulped, expecting the worst.
“What…” sputtered the orange filly in shock. “W— w— w— what are you?”
“Girls,” spoke Applejack. “These are our friends.”
The girls still stared at them still, unsure what they were going to do.
“Uh…” said Petrucci. “We come in peace?”
Nothing. Petrucci then opted to sit on the ground and put a hand out.
“It’s okay,” he whispered. “I won’t hurt you.”
The bravest of the three fillies, the yellow earth pony, approached first. She inched ever-so-slowly, giving Petrucci hope that he could gain her trust. When she finally got close enough for him to touch her, he reached behind her ears and gently scratched.
“Boy,” she moaned, “that feels good.”
It was then that the other two foals were convinced. They ran to the humans hand began asking them a barrage of questions.
“Settle down, girls,” ordered Applejack. She then introduced the whole of Dream Theater and explained their situation to the three of them.
“Hi,” said the yellow filly. “I’m Apple Bloom, Applejack’s sister.”
“I’m Rarity's sister, Sweetie Belle,” said the unicorn filly.
“Name’s Scootaloo,” said the orange pegasus. “And we’re…”
“THE CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS! YAY!” they all shouted in unison.
“Cutie mark?” asked Jordan, confused.
“You see these marks on our flanks?” asked Rainbow Dash, pointing to the rainbow lightning bolt under a cloud on her rump. “Those our are cutie marks.”
“A pony gets them when they discover their special talent,” finished Twilight.
“Funny,” answered Jordan. “I thought those were tattoos or something.”
“What? You’d have to be a lunatic to get something like that.”
“Come on,” begged Apple Bloom. “You gotta meet the rest of the family.”
The three fillies ran down the road while Petrucci and the rest Dream Theater followed with the ponies plus Spike closely behind.
Over the last hill, there was a house shaped like a barn. From where they were coming, there was a field of corn on the left, a few sheds to the right, a chicken coop and well up front, and a carrot field in the back. The members of Dream Theater were happy to see how homey it looked.
There was an elderly-looking green pony with a white mane and tail both styled in a bun sitting in a rocking chair outside the entrance, taking a nap. There was also a large red stallion with an orange mane and tail with a yoke around his neck, carrying a bale of hay into the barn entrance.
“Big Mac!” called Apple Bloom, running onto the farm grounds. “Granny Smith! Look who we found!” Judging from their appearances, Petrucci could tell who was who. Granny Smith awoke from her sleep and took a look at the five humans who were now on her property. Her eyes grew wide in fear.
“Help! Don’t let them abduct me!” she cried.
Jordan felt pity for this mare by how slowly she tied to “run” into the house, her old brittle bones barely moving her at all. Big Mac dropped the bale of hay upon hearing the commotion and set his sights right on Petrucci. In a familial sense of protection, he charged at the confused guitarist.
“Wait!” cried Applejack trying to step in front of Big Mac’s charge. He simply bounded over her and continued on.
“Big Mac, wait!” shouted Applejack, but he was beyond reason now. Before the humans could get rammed, a rainbow-colored blur tackled Big Mac away from the group, dizzying him into sitting on his behind. Applejack and Apple Bloom ran in front of him to try and explain.
“I was trying to tell ya’,” said Apple Bloom. “These things are friendly. They’re just stuck here, is all.”
“Come on, big brother,” egged Applejack. “They just want to make friends. Say hello.”
Big Mac just sat there observing the humans.
“Get away from our house, ye’ varmints!” cried Granny Smith. She had a metal pot in her mouth and began beating it against the side of the house, alerting Big Mac onto his feet again. Applejack ran over and took the pot from her.
“Calm down, Granny Smith,” said Applejack. “They ain’t no timberwolves. They’re just this race of creatures called humans who are lost until they can go back home. I was just bringing them over to introduce y'all both since they’ll be here for a spell or two.” Granny Smith looked quizzically at her granddaughter for a second.
“Well, why didn’t you say so?” she asked. She then made her way to the humans to give her introductions. Applejack laid a hoof on her face.
“So,” said Petrucci to the red stallion, “you’re Big Mac?”
“Eeyup,” he simply responded.
“I’m John,” he said extending his hand. Big Mac indifferently allowed Petrucci to shake his hoof.
“Sorry about that back there,” said the elderly mare, finally reaching the group. “I’m Granny Smith.”
The whole of Dream Theater gave their names. Twilight then gave Big Mac and Granny Smith a cliff notes version of their arrival into Equestria.
“You poor dears,” responded Granny Smith. “If you ever need anything, don’t hesitate to ask. Ain’t that right?” she addressed her three grandchildren.
“Eeyup,” spoke Big Mac for them all.
“Well,” said Twilight, “it’s getting late, and we should try and finish up the tour. We’re just glad we got everything settled. We’ll see you all later.” With that they finally left. However, the Cutie Mark Crusaders decided to tag along and get more information about these humans.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
On their way back to downtown Ponyville, Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo asked Dream Theater many questions, eventually learning about Dream Theater’s musical status.
“You have to play for us,” demanded Scootaloo.
“That would be great!” agreed Apple Bloom.
“Please, please, please!” begged Sweetie Belle.
“Well,” said Mike, “if you aren’t doing anything tonight, I promised Rainbow Dash a drum solo.”
“YAY!” the fillies cheered.
“Ugh,” groaned Spike, riding on Twilight’s back. “I’m starving!”
“I told you,” whispered Twilight, “we’ll eat when we get to the p—”
“What’s that?” asked Jordan.
“Nothing,” Twilight quickly spurted.
Twilight then showed off more of the different shops and vendors around Ponyville until they made it to Twilight’s house, which was also the Ponyville Public Library. It was certainly impressive to Dream Theater that the building was a giant tree. They just had to get a look inside.
Twilight allowed them in. It looked very cozy, even for a library’s standards. Jordan, Myung, and Petrucci began to browse through the books.
“Twilight,” asked Petrucci, “you wouldn’t happen to have any songbooks, would you?”
“I do,” she responded. “Why?”
“Is there a chance that I could check some out? After spending a day here I… had some songwriting ideas that came into my head. I thought it would be interesting to incorporate augmented versions of Equestrian music into a future album possibly.”
“That sounds wonderful,” said Twilight, brimming with happiness over Petrucci’s interest in her books. She handed him three large, worn tomes. “Here are some collected works. I hope these work.”
“These will be great. Thank you.”
Myung, wising up to Petrucci’s idea, found some books on famous Equestrian poetry to see how any of them could serve as lyrics.
“Are we done yet?” asked Scootaloo.
Immediately after asking, there was a knocking at the door. Twilight opened the entrance to the library to see a grey pegasus with a blonde mane and tail. She also had crossed eyes.
“Message to members of Dream Theater,” she said.
“Yes?” answered Petrucci.
“Rarity wanted to let you know that your clothes are all ready.”
“Oh, thank you, um…”
“You can call me Derpy.”
That’s just sad, thought Petrucci. “Anyways, thanks. We’ll be right over.”
“Okay. Bye!” She flew away clumsily in different directions.
"Well, guys,” said Twilight. “That was the tour. I hope you enjoyed it.”
“Yes,” agreed James, “that was very helpful.”
“Rainbow Dash,” called Mike, “girls.” The cyan pegasus and the Cutie Mark Crusaders gathered around him. “Me and the guys are going to get our clothes and take a bath. Then, meet me us in the banquet hall. Sound good?”
“Okay,” said Rainbow Dash. “See you later.”
“Thanks for the books,” both Johns said to Twilight.
“Have fun!” called Twilight back.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
It was late in the afternoon when Petrucci entered his cottage, a bag of books in one hand and his bundle of newly-made clothes in his other. He set both items down on the couch and went to the bathroom to draw some hot water. He placed two of the books on the kitchen counter and the other in the bathroom. He then took his clothes and hung them neatly in the closet. Rarity had made four more outfits just like the one made for him today plus his old Earth rags.
By now the water was hot enough that Petrucci set the stopper, let the tub fill, and added some bubble bath that had been placed beside the tub. He then got undressed and used the toilet to do his business for the first time since he had been there. Once he stopped the water, he flushed the toilet. He then climbed in and immersed himself while keeping his arms dry. He took out the songbook and read it as he soaked.
Petrucci was impressed that not only the written language was the same, but the musical language was, too. The sheet music was exactly like what one would read back on Earth. This only made things easier for Petrucci. Having a vast knowledge and understanding of music, he was able to skim through parts of the book while understanding it completely. For as simple as it was, it was exactly what he had been looking for.
“This is going to make some damned good music,” he said.
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Once Petrucci got out, he set the book away from him so that any water that dripped out wouldn’t smudge the pages. He quickly dried himself off, went to his bedroom, and got dressed. Feeling refreshed, he picked the book up and placed it back with the others.
Petrucci walked outside to find his four bandmates, along with Rainbow Dash and the Cutie Mark Crusaders, waiting for him outside the banquet hall.
“Hurry up,” whined Rainbow Dash. “I can’t wait anymore.”
“Alright,” relented Petrucci, “let’s get going.”
They all walked in only to find the room pitch dark.
“Wait,” said James, “aren’t the ceilings made of glass? Then why is it so dark?”
His answer came in the form of large black sheets of cloth being removed from the ceiling, illuminating the large room to reveal tens of ponies standing inside. The room was decorated with balloons, streamers and ribbons. There were also various childish party games around the area.
“SURPRISE!” yelled all the ponies, mildly shocking the band.
“This is going to be one of those nights,” mumbled Petrucci.