//------------------------------//
// Snowed In (Pt. 2) 
// Story: Brass Button's Musical Emporium 
// by trombrony98 
//------------------------------//

Vinyl walked into the lobby with a pile of pillows balanced on her back and a few bags of potato chips floating behind her. The rest of the group was waiting for her there. In the ten minutes or so it had taken her to get everything, Rarity had braided Lyra's hair, Big Mac had lost seventeen games of tic-tac-toe in a row to Fiddlesticks, and Brass Button had started a heated conversation with Toe-Tapper about whether Sapphire Shores or Nickel Flank was a worse singer.

"Hey guys, I'm back! Everypony ready to party?" She threw the pillows in a heap in the middle of the room. Every pony except the two who were playing tic-tac-toe got up and came to the center of the room. Rarity gave an excited squeal.

"Yee-haw! Ah win again, Big Mac! Eighteen in a row!" Big Mac walked over toward the rest of the group while Fiddlesticks did a victory jig.

Seeing that almost everypony was gathered, Vinyl spoke up. "So, what do guns want to do first? Makeovers? Truth or Dare? Drop the tree branch through the window?" She got a few curious looks as she mentioned the last one.

"How about charades?," Brass Button suggested, trying to come up with something that the stallions could enjoy along with the mares. He got a few overeager nods from both Toe-Tapper and Big Mac.

"Why not?," Vinyl said enthusiastically. "Everypony know the rules of the game?" They all nodded.

Fiddlesticks crashed into the wall as Brass Button went to get a pen and paper to write down what they'd be acting out. Dazed, Fiddlesticks tried to focus her eyes on the group. "Did Ah miss anything?"

They all bursted into laughter as Lyra and Toe-Tapper went to her aid. As far as they could tell, she was fine, and she joined in on the laughter when she realized what she had done.

Brass Button came back with a bowl, pen and notebook. "Now, I'm going to write down an action on each piece of paper. Don't worry about me cheating; I'm putting a spell on them that will randomly choose the action. We'll play until either one of us gets ten correct guesses or we run out of paper. Vinyl will go first, since this is her home." He levitated the sheets of the notebook into the bowl and cast an orange aura over it.

Vinyl went up to the bowl and picked up a paper with her teeth. She took a quick look at what was on it and started to move. She stepped slowly toward one side of the room, struggling against the imaginary object holding her back.

"Making a sandwich!"

"Playing cards?"

"Shovelling snow!"

"Pulling a plow," Big Mac guessed flatly.

"Yep! Your turn Big Mac."


********


At the end of the game, Big Mac had won by a landslide. Nearly every time it wasn't his turn to do the acting, he was able to guess the right answer. He even had somehow managed to interpret Fiddlesticks' bumblebee impression.

By that point, nearly everyone was exhausted. Lyra had already managed to fall asleep in the far corner of the room, and Fiddlesticks gave a loud yawn every once in a while. Vinyl, on the other hand, was still alert as ever. "Come on, let's do something else! How about we go upstairs and tell ghost stories?"

Fiddlesticks yawned again. "No thanks. Ah think Ah'll be hittin' the hay. See ya'll in the morning!" She meandered over to the pile of pillows and slumped over.

Rarity also objected to the idea. "Vinyl, darling. I know it's a sleepover and all, but we really should be trying something a bit less . . . tasteless. Plus, ghost stories hardly ever end up as more than a boring mockery of others' flaws."

Unsure what to do, they sat down and opened a bag of chips. They went through the bag fairly quickly; probably not helped by the fact that neither Brass Button or Big Mac had eaten since breakfast. Rarity giggled as Big Mac let out a massive belch; only to join him with her own, smaller one.

"Nice one! So has anypony come up with any ideas? I'm bored out of my mind." Vinyl dropped to the floor and gave an exasperated sigh. Everypony who was still awake joined her on the floor, with similar frustration at the lack of action.

Thinking of nothing better to do, Brass Button began to hum absentmindedly. It was a short little ditty he had going through his brain; a small scrap of ideas he had floating in his head. Hearing the tune, Vinyl sat up and exclaimed, "Brass! You're a genius!" Fiddlesticks rolled over in her sleep as Brass Button looked back at Vinyl with an extremely puzzled look.

Quieting down, she tried to clarify what she meant. "Let me explain. Does anyone other than Brass here know how to sing?" Only the two ponies asleep in the corner didn't raise their hoof. "Great! Now, why don't we go over into the soundstage for my plans."


********




Vinyl was sitting at the soundboard, looking out at the five ponies who were standing side by side in the recording studio. The quintet was going over the parts that Brass Button had come up with over the past hour. The sun had set a few hours ago, and every few seconds, another yawn would break out from the group.

Rarity spoke up. "Vinyl dear, we're, yaawn, ready when you are." Taking this as her cue, Vinyl engaged the sound system and gave the group their cue.

Big Mac started off the song with a catchy beat before everyone else joined in on harmony parts. They hadn't taken the time to write lyrics, so the song largely consisted of a large amounts of vowel sounds and bums. Despite that and the lack of practice, the group blended with each other surprisingly well.

As the song ended, they all noticed that Vinyl was visibly impressed. "Wow. I've got to say, that was impressive. Forget the instruments, you guys should form a group!"

Brass thought to himself, 'this actually sounds like a good idea. Maybe I'll give it a shot if anypony else is interested.' "I'm in if you guys are in."

Rarity gave a nod. "I'm in, too. This could just be wonderful! Of course, I'd have to, yaawn, make us all matching outfits, maybe a little something green with a gold hemline . . ."

The other three quickly decided to join the effort too. Torch Song was particularly excited, her legs shaking wildly at the idea.

" . . . And of course we'd have to come up with a name. Hmm, how about the Bridleway Bunch?" Rarity received a few head shakes at that idea. "Of course not. What was I thinking."

A short silence lasted for about ten seconds before ideas started to spill left and right. A few yawns snuck their way in, but other than that, this argument was no holds barred. all sorts of names floated around ranging from extremely generic " to real charmers such as 'The Wandering Potato Chips.'

Trying to bring it to a peaceable resolution, Vinyl put in her two cents. "How about the Ponytones?" 

They all paused for a few seconds, taking time to consider the name. Slowly, they all gave their approval, finally reaching a unanimous consensus among the group. Brass Button gave a sigh of relief.

Big Mac let out a massive yawn. "Best time Ah be gittin' to bed." He trotted off toward the lobby with a sleepy smile on his face.

"He does, yaawn, make a point. A mare needs her beauty sleep." Rarity followed Big Mac, giving another high pitch yawn as she left the room. Torch Song and Toe-Tapper were quick to follow suit.

Brass Button was left alone in the room with Vinyl. "Thanks for letting us stay here." He gave a yawn. "I'm glad to be friends with you."

Vinyl smiled back at him, her eyes drooping from a severe lack of sleep. "No prob. This is one sweet group you've got here. I think if you try hard enough you'll rock the world. I'm gonna go catch some Zzzs. See you in the morning." She walked out the studio, leaving Brass Button alone in the studio.

Brass Button closed his eyes for a few seconds. Finally succumbing to exhaustion, he fell to the floor and began to dream.