//------------------------------//
// Chapter 14: Musician's Dilemma 
// Story: Lessons from Another Dimension 
// by HolyOrdersOtaku 
//------------------------------//


Chapter 14: Musician’s Dilemma

We chased our pleasures here. Dug our treasures there. But can you still recall the time we cried? Break on through to the other side! Break on through, oh! Oh yeah!


An hour passed by with Bass concluding the shopping that Twilight asked of him. He felt pretty good about himself, but as soon as he entered Golden Oaks Library, with Trixie in tow, he suddenly felt very dejected.
There, sitting in the main room with Twilight having a nice chat, was Rainbow Dash; the source of Bass’s newest headache. “Heya, Bass! What’s up?” she greeted cheerfully.
“Just peachy. Nothing but gumdrops and icecream. Or at least I was, until I saw you,” Bass said, sounding colder than he intended.
“Aw, come on, you aren’t that mad at me, are you?”
“More like pissed at myself for making such a silly bet in the first place.”
“Uh huh. I get that a lot. That’s actually why I’m here.”
Bass tilted his head with curiosity. “Could it be that you feel terrible for making me partake in such a silly endeavor that you have decided to either alter the bet or cancel it altogether?”
Rainbow laughed. “Nice try, but no. I actually brought you this!” She proudly held a piece of paper. “This is the entry sheet you have to fill out once you have a band assembled. Entries can be turned in as late as the day of the battle of the bands, but they are considered late and will play last out of all of the bands. All you need to do is write down a band name, and the name of all of your members.”
Trixie eyed the paper in Rainbow’s hoof. “You actually think he can pull this off?” she asked, not convinced of Bass’s talent as a musician, or his ability to find band members.
“Heck if I know. He just has to try.”
Bass took the sheet and read the information. Band name here, band members there, sponsors here (if applicable), disclaimer there, ‘I agree that I will not sue if…’ here; pretty generic contract really. “Well, I still need a band. Three more ponies are preferable, but two more will suffice. I can double as vocals and guitar, or vocals or bass. I need another skilled guitarist who can either play either instrument or just one really. If they only play one, I can pick up the slack with the other. And I need a drummer.”
Rainbow nodded. “And because I’m such an awesome mare, I think I can help you with one of them.”
Bass looked at her and deadpanned, “You’re shitting me.”
“Nope. I can’t help you on the drums, but I know a guy who knows a guy that plays guitar.”
“Really?” Twilight asked, which reminded Bass that she was present.
“Yeah, Vinyl has a friend that plays guitar. He’s pretty good actually. He lives just two houses away from Sugar Cube Corner.”
“Give me his address!” Bass exclaimed.
“Alright, alright! Chill. I told him that I’d send him your way, and he said that was fine, but he didn’t say whether or not he’d help.” Rainbow said. She told him where to go to find the stallion in question, whose name was Flaming Fretts. Bass told the mares to sit tight, as he wanted to handle the negotiations alone.
After a short, brisk walk to the house in question, which was just past Sugar Cube Corner, as Rainbow had said, Bass stood before the door and dutifully knocked. “Come in,” came a deep voice. 
Bass shrugged and opened the door. Once inside, he could tell this was a musician's house. There were records and record players placed all over the house in a decorative, but practical, fashion. Sitting in the living room, which held three guitars, was a red pegasus stallion with an orange and red mane. In his hooves was a guitar that, to Bass, looked like a Sunburst Gibson SG. “Hello,” Bass said. “My name is Bass Chord. I believe Rainbow mentioned me?”
The stallion smiled. “Yup. Name’s Flaming Fretts. I prefer to be called Fretts for short. What can I do for you, Mr. Bass?”
Bass winced. Why does everypony insist on calling me Mister? I don’t like it! He thought. “Just Bass, please. And I have a request that I would like to make.”





“Do you think your friend will help?” Twilight asked Rainbow Dash.
“Technically he’s a friend of a friend. But, hey, if he’s half the stallion Vinyl says he is, he won’t help until he’s been sweet talked into it with something. Does Bass have any money?” Rainbow replied.
“Not that I’m aware of.”
“Then he better be a very good spokespony. Otherwise, he’s going to get nowhere fast.”
“I don’t know,” Trixie said. “He certainly has a way with words.”
“What did he say this time?” Twilight asked with a smile.
“He sort of, kind of, maybe went off on Lyra for harassing me and got the ponies who were watching to applaud that he told her off.”
Twilight and Rainbow both stared at Trixie in shock. “Wow. I hope he didn’t hurt her feelings or anything.”
“I think he actually enlightened her. She apologized and wanted to be friends when he finished. Really, all he did was point out what was wrong with her behavior, albeit in a rough, almost cruel way. But he got the job done.”
“What exactly did he say?”
Trixie recounted the entire encounter in full detail, which served to shock the other two mares even more. “He actually said all of that?” Rainbow asked. Trixie nodded. 
“I don’t know if it was mean or justified, but it was certainly very well thought up,” Twilight noted. “And, in a roundabout fashion, I learned more about his world.” She grabbed a blank scroll and jotted down the new information. “At least it ended well.”





“I can’t believe that ended well!” Bass gasped as he exited Fretts’s house. Still, he couldn’t help but feel bad. He may or may not have made a promise that may or may not be outside of his control. Please, Twilight, don’t hate me, he thought to himself. He decided it would be Future Bass’s problem, and decided to celebrate his small victory by taking a stroll. His stroll ended, however, as he walked a measly forty feet and wound up at Sugar Cube Corner. As it turned out, one of the prices for the shopping this morning was tremendously lower than Twilight had written, so Bass had on his possession five bits. 
Now, naturally he intended to return them to Twilight, but he forgot when Rainbow had showed up. “No use crying over spilled milk,” he said to himself. He was hungry, and Sugar Cube Corner sold muffins, cupcakes, and various pastries; why not buy one and have a snack?
So, it was with this thought that he entered the bakery and was assaulted in the nostrils by an insanely pleasant and sweet odor that emanated from everywhere around him. It’s like those children’s stories about the house made of candy…which is ironic, because he just remembered the Sugar Cube Corner was, in fact, a giant gingerbread house.
He looked around and noticed that it was fairly crowded. Not to the point of being annoying and inconvenient, but it was obviously a busy part of the day. Bass saw a clock and noticed that it was almost noon. “Ah,” he said out loud to himself. “Must be lunch.” He approached the counter and waited behind a mare and a stallion. He didn’t really pay any attention to them because he was eyeballing the display case and the menu stand next to, deciding what was within his price range and what was most undoubtedly delicious. Before he even realized it, he was standing at the counter, the other two ponies having already been served.
“Welcome, sir. How may I help you?” asked a thin earth pony stallion wearing a serving hat.
Bass eyeballed the display case again, and moved his gaze to the menu next to it once more. “Do you have any more banana nut muffins?” he asked.
“Yes. We have a fresh batch coming out now. They’re two for a bit.”
“Hm,” Bass said, sounding pleased. “I’ll take ten, then.” Might as well spend all five bits. Plus, he could apologize to Twilight for his little “promise” with a basket full of muffins.
“Coming right up sir,” the stallion said as he accepted Bass’s bits.
“Oh! Oh! Oh!” Bass heard from the kitchen. The next thing he knew he was sneezing from the flour in his nose. Wait, flour?
“The hell?” he asked.
“Hi, Bass!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed, who was suddenly beside him, covered in flour. “I was just in the kitchen when I thought I heard your voice so I looked out and saw that it was you so I just had to come and say hi. Hi, Bass!”
“Yes, Pinkie. You said that twice.”
“Then double hi!” 
How this mare was so energetic, Bass felt he would never know. Whatever it was, he kind of wanted some. Even if it was just two milligrams he wanted it.
“Really? You want me to pump some into you?” Pinkie asked as she closed the gap between her and Bass and began to stare deep into his eyes with an unmoving expression.
“Wait? What? What are you?”
“You said you wanted some of my energy!” she stated.
“N-no I didn’t! I thought that, but I didn’t say it!” Bass exclaimed.
“Meh, close enough.”
“Seriously, what are you?”
“I’m Pinkie Pie!” she said joyfully.
Interestingly enough, Bass couldn’t really see a fault in that statement. Aside from the obvious that she was, indeed, Pinkie, it also made sense in the fact that she was, well, Pinkie. “Fair enough,” he said. The baker had come back and offered Bass his basket of muffins. “Thank you.”
“Whatcha buying those for?” Pinkie asked.
“I’m hungry. I’m also going to give some to Twilight when I get back.”
“Oh, like a gift? Are you asking her out on a date?”
“No, I just want to give her a gift.”
“Hmmm,” Pinkie said, sounding like she thought Bass sounded suspicious. “You did something bad, didn’t you?”
“M-maybe. Look, I needed a guitarist, and it was the only way to get one. I’m sure she’ll understand.”
“What did you do?”
“I’d rather not discuss it until after I’ve told Twilight, if you don’t mind. After all, it’s kind of in her jurisdiction, and none of anypony’s business. No offense.”
“None taken! So, you have a guitarist, you have you, so that leave a drummer, right?”
“I’m not going to ask how you know my intentions for this band, but yes; I need a drummer.”
“I can help.” She stated bluntly. “I play drums.”
Bass didn’t know if he was surprised, happy, or pissed. “Why didn’t you say so sooner?”
“You didn’t ask, silly.”
“I didn’t ask now!”
“Hm, I guess you’re right. I dunno.”
“Do I need to offer you something to acquire your drumming talent?” Bass asked.
“Nopers! I just want to help!”
Bass gently set down the muffins on a nearby table, and grabbed Pinkie Pie in a bear hug. “You. Are. Awesome! You know that?”
Pinkie returned the hug with a stronger grip, cutting off Bass’s air supply. After a few seconds, she let go. “I’m better at bear hugs than most ponies.”
“I…can…tell…” Bass said in between coughs. “We’ll meet at Flaming Fretts house every Tuesday and Thursday to practice at six pm. Got it?”
She sat on her hind legs and saluted with her right forehoof. “Yes, sir! See ya then! I gotta get back to baking!” She hopped off to the kitchen, humming a song.
“Well,” Bass said. “Today was better than expected. Now I just hope Twilight doesn’t kill me.”





The library was relatively quiet. Trixie was getting bored, so she asked Twilight to play a game with her, and so the two unicorns were staring and stressing over a chess board. They had been like this for about fifteen of the thirty minutes that passed since Rainbow left for home. It looked as though a stalemate had occurred, but Trixie was not going to be the one to knock her king over in defeat. No, she felt determined to be better than Twilight at chess.
It was Trixies turn, of course, and she stared intently at the pieces. After deliberating for a few minutes, she finally moved her rook up a few spaces to eliminate Twilight’s remaining bishop. Just a few more plays and Trixie would have Twilight in check.
Twilight saw the move and frowned. She looked over the pieces for a few seconds before moving her knight up and right. “Check mate.” She said with a cheery voice that replaced her frown.
“What!” Trixie exclaimed. Sure enough, her king was surrounded by a pawn, a queen, and a knight on all sides. She could make no move to save him. “I thought I had this game in the bag!”
“You moved your rook to take my bait, and that was your downfall.”
“Ugh! I was doing so good!”
Twilight giggled. “Even the most experienced players make rookie mistakes.” She began to giggle more.
Trixie just glared at her. “That wasn’t meant to be comforting was it? That was just a really bad pun.”
“Aw, come on. It wasn’t that bad.”
“A really bad pun,” Trixie deadpanned.
The two mares heard the front door open, and the sound of hoofsteps marked Bass’s return. “Welcome back,” Twilight greeted as she stood from the table and reentered the main room. In Bass’s grip was a basket of muffins. “Where did you get that?”
“I had a little money left over from this morning, so I decided to buy this on my way back. It’s a gift,” he said as he placed it on the table. “I ate one for a snack, but there are nine left.”
“You didn’t have to get me a gift, Bass.” Twilight assured.
“Oh, no. I did, actually. Because you are going to be absolutely pissed with me.”
“Why?” Twilight asked, not sure really what to make of his meaning.
“Well, I go Fretts to agree to be my guitarist.”
She smiled and clapped her hooves. “That’s fantastic!”
“Yeah,” he said nervously. “See, I had to talk him into it. It went rather well, all things considered, but I…sort of...maybe…” he finished the sentence in a low whisper.
Twilight heard it, but wasn’t sure she heard properly. “I’m sorry, but could you repeat that so I know you didn’t just say what I think you said?”
He sighed. “I kind of told him that I was friends with the princess’s personal student, and could therefore pay him a considerable sum.”
Twilight’s eye twitched for a moment, but then she calmed down. “Well, it can’t be that bad. How much are we talking?”
“Two hundred bits.”
“Two…hundred?” she asked. He nodded. He could see the rage on her face, and he began to feel something he very seldom felt; fear. He was afraid of only two things; his sister when she was angry, and snakes. He could now add pissed off Twilight to that list. Then, to his and Trixie’s surprise, Twilight lifted into the air. Her coat turned white, and her tail and mane both erupted into fire.
Spike happened to walk by and witnessed Twilight’s rage, and quickly doused her with a bucket of water to put her out, and she returned to normal.
“Thank you, Spike,” she said through her irritation and gritted teeth.
“Anytime. Just don’t kill anypony,” the dragon replied.
Bass didn’t know how to respond. “Um, I’m sorry,” he finally said. “I was kind of desperate.”
Twilight inhaled slowly, and exhaled likewise. “No, I get it. I’m sorry for getting angry. However,” she said with a slight hint of venom. “I expect every bit I spend to be repaid!”
“Of course,” Bass agreed. “I’m not the type to just borrow money and never pay back. I’m good for that. All I need is a source of income, and I’ll have you covered.”
Trixie was glad that Twilight never got that angry with her, even during her last two visits to Ponyville. She looked at Bass, and then looked to the band form on the table nearby. She read it out of curiosity when a certain passage caught her attention. She cleared her throat. “Are you aware, Bass, that the top five bands win prize money? Fifth place gets three hundred bits per band member. It gets higher and higher as the ranking does.”
“There we go,” Bass said, finally free of his fear now that Twilight was somewhat calm. “I just gotta get to fifth place, and I can pay you back and have some left over.”
“First place is five thousand bits,” Trixie pointed out.
Twilight and Bass slowly turned their heads to Trixie, who still held the paper, reading it carefully. Then the two met each other’s gaze. “First place?” Twilight asked.
Bass nodded. “First place.” He had a goal. Now he prayed that he was able to get this ragtag band ready for a show that was less than a month away. And considering that he had never been in a band before, he could only assume that it would be difficult.