//------------------------------// // Chapter 2 // Story: Kydo & Slick // by Slick Dash //------------------------------// -2- Although the canopy was huge, it was completely closed at the moment. The band didn’t want anyone to see the stage until Saturday night. And to ensure no one could, the crew had spent all night making it from scratch. An amazing feet even by unicorn magic, and now the small ticket booth stood solitary in the centre of the field which in 2 days time would be filled to bursting point with rocking ponies. Slowing down and landing Dash let Twilight drop to the ground and then landed next to her. The two began to move to the ticket booth, not yet crowded but with merely 2 ponies waiting. “Rarity?” exclaimed Twilight with surprise, the bedazzling white pony turned to see who had called her. “Twilight! Well I’m not surprised Rainbow is here but really, what in heaven’s name brings you here?” “Hey, I can have some fun too yah’know!” “Of course you can! It just didn’t strike me as your...cup of tea.” “ARE YOU KIDDING ME!” screamed Pinkie Pie, piping up for the first time after being surprisingly still for a change. But she made up for her silence by speaking a mile a minute now. “How could not be anyponies cup of tea? I can’t wait! After all concerts are just like big parties, and as you know I LOVE parties, they just get me so hyped, and if parties get me hyped then concerts must reeeeaaallly get me hyped. So all in all I’m hoping I’m able to go as nuts as I want and I can just let loose and go CRAAAAAZZZZZAAAAAYYYYYY!!!!” Dash smiled, as she began to walk to the booth she muttered a quick “you mean she hasn’t let loose yet?! That can’t be good!” Twilight fought hard to suppress a fit of giggles. “Rarity, so if pinkie pie is here to get ‘hyped’ then why are you?” enquired Rainbow Dash. “Never had you pegged as a rocker!” she said with a sly wink at her white friend. “Well I’m not one of these “ROCKERS” but I’ve heard that the costumes this band wears are simply divine!” “Are you telling me none of you came here for the band themselves!” Dash said incredulously. All the girls looked back at her with a sheepish glance at one another. “OH MY GOSH! The sky ravens! They are sooooooo cool!” she yelled, standing on her haunches to show the logo on her shirt. Three red dramatic silhouettes of stallion Pegasy stand against the black background. “They rock SO hard! Pinkie if you want a band you can jump to you can’t have asked for more. Twigh well I gotta say you are gonna have a lesson you’ll never forget, and Rar-” “Hey y’all!” Shouted a familiar southern voice from behind the group of friends, Apple jack was slowly making her way across the field to the ticket booth along with her big brother, the strong and powerful Big Macintosh. “APPLE JACK!?!” all four ponies exclaimed in unison. The smiling pony bumpkin smiled as she approached her friends along with her brother. She looked over them all beaming with surprise that they had all come to the same concert without even mentioning it to her. And for a second her gaze lingered on Rainbow Dash longer than the rest. Was that pity in her eyes as she looked at her? Rainbow asked herself, but then she looked away and began chatting animatedly to the others. Big Macintosh however didn’t hide his judgement, his eyes never left the bright pony’s. The two stared at one another for what seemed like a long time, most likely a few seconds really. Finally breaking eye contact Big Mac glanced at the gang of giggling ponies, when sure they weren’t going to stop any minute soon, the stallion walked right up to Dash. He passed within inches of her right flank. “Yah gotta minute?” he asked in a whisper. Dash looked at him slowly moving away, then back at her friends. The booth hadn’t opened yet, but she could see ponies in the distance beginning to approach the field. With a sigh she turned and followed “I guess.” When sure they were out of earshot Big Mac turned and looked at the little pony. Now that they were alone, the words that he was so sure of a few moments ago now felt extremely inadequate. “Now Mrs. Dash, I know you just wanna keep on going with your life. But are yah sure this is the best idea, it is ten years today that ... well ... yah know.” Big Mac’s strong voice trailed off, he looked to the ground and rubbed one of his forelegs against the other, his confidence was quickly leaving him. Dash saw what the stallion was trying to ay and saved him the trouble, “I know Big Mac, and yes I DO want to keep going. The thing is I didn’t know tickets were today, and if they weren’t so popular id have waited. But ten Twilight showed up all ready to go, and well she doesn’t know what day it is. I feel terrible about doing it, but this weekend’s concert is the one thing I NEED to distract me from... it.” she finished lamely. Casting a glance over her shoulder she saw her friends laughing at some joke Pinkie Pie was telling, all of a sudden she felt a vast need to be near them. “Well I know its not the same, but he was mah’ best friend too as well as your brother, so if anything we should know best what’s going through the others mind. ‘specially seeing as youve taken it upon yourself not to tell any of the girls.” He smiled warmly at the small pony trying to show that he was here for her. “To be honest Big Mac, its not really the same. Yes you cared for him, but he’s my family... and well, you could have always told AJ about Slick at any point. I never stopped you.” Dash hadn’t meant to make it sound so cold, but in all honesty it was how she felt. She didn’t mind her friends knowing about her brother, but she just didn’t want to be the one to tell them. “And if it’s so TERRIBLE for me to be here, then why the hey are you here too?! Huh?” she accused the huge red Buck. Big Mac opened his mouth to speak, but an announcement cut him short. -Attention! Tickets for Saturday nights “Sky Ravens” concert are now on sale! Please form an orderly line to be served by the broker.- Dash turned away from the stallion without a word and moved back to the booth as her friends also headed for it, just ahead of the fast approaching crowd. “She’s as stubborn as old Slick y’know” a voice said in Big Mac’s head. “Yup” he said quietly to himself, before following the group of girls to the small hut. Pinkie pie was the first in line, she bought two tickets, one for her and one for some “Friend” she wouldn’t disclose to the others, but just smile and say “Well I definitely won’t be the most ‘Hyped’ of everyone going on Saturday. I promise you that!” Next was Rarity who bought just one for herself and with a wink to the young broker she tossed her hair back and slowly strutted away. The transfixed Colt took a few moments to recover after he watched the elegant rump of the unicorn round the side of the window and escape his sight. A small sliver of saliva dangling from his slightly ajar lips. With a malicious smack, Rainbow came next, slamming her hoof on the window to jolt the broker out of his trance. It worked. The broker jumped enough to topple backwards off of his seat and collapse in a heap on the floor. Seconds later he bounced up apparently unperturbed, and so rainbow payed for both hers and Twighlight’s ticket. The two friends joined the pink and white ponies to the side of the booth and began ogling their tickets. Finally AJ and Big Macintosh came to the glass panel, something strange happened as, AJ looked up at her brother who proceeded to take out an envelope from his left saddle bag. Rainbow Dash was the first to notice this and drew the others attention to it. As they looked on, Big Mac opened it and turned it upside down over the small tray where money was placed to pay. A cascade of coins fell into the tray, and the others gaped as Big Mac sheepishly replaced the envelope in his bag. After the two received their tickets, they came over to the others. “uhhhmmmm Apple jack, where did you a Big Mac get all that money?” asked Twilight. “Well sugar cube, we didn’t earn it, but we didn’t steal it either, if that’s what you ponies are thinking.” “But sweat heart! We’d never think that!” gasped Rarity. The others all nodded in agreement. “Well...” Applejack began, “last night, we got a letter, in that there envelope. Along with all that money.” “AND WHAT DID IT SAY?” Pinkie Pie pleaded while bouncing up in front of her orange friend smiling madly. Big Mac then took out the envelope again, and pulled out the letter inside. “To a certain red apple bucking stallion and his sister. As you know by now, the band “Sky Ravens” are playing just outside of ponyville, this Saturday evening. Please find enclosed the amount needed for two tickets use this money to buy them. Trust me this isn’t a night you won’t want to miss. Hoping to see you there, we know out of everypony here you two would be the last to spend money on something like this, so we supplied it for you." The girls were silent, Big Mac retracted the letter and place it back in his saddle bag. He looked at Rainbow dash for a moment, “I did try to tell you, this is why we came.” “Dang right we came!” cheered Applejack, “if some pony decides to give us money to see a concert out of their own sweet nature, then who are we to turn it down?” the little pony was clearly excited, so much so she held the ticket in her mouth, closed her eyes and trotted on the spot for a moment out of sheer elation. The girls all smiled and squealed with excitement, as they all began to move out of the way of the crowd now milling around the ticket broker’s stand. All except for rainbow Dash, looking slightly downtrodden she scuffed her hoof at the dirt at her feet. Big Mac stood in front of her “you ok ther’ Dash?” “Oh yeah” she murmured, “I guess I’m a little jealous that you basically got invited when you don’t listen to them. But I don’t mind really” she suddenly looked up and smiled, “It just means we all get to enjoy the concert together” she paused “...Except fluttershy, she never did show up, I guess she didn’t wanna come.” “To be honest I reckon a rock concert, filled with rough colts and loud noises isn’t that Phillies idea of a good time.” The stallion smiled, placing a hoof on the rainbow Pegasus’s shoulder, he gently turned her around and led her off after her friends. Unseen by anypony, a small flap was open in the side of the canopy facing the audience area. Behind it, someone looked out at the little filly being led away, a lock of black hair fell across their eye. They flicked it away quickly, ensuring not to miss the sight, but it was too late. The two had rounded the corner at the field’s gate and headed into town. .........................................................................