//------------------------------// // Chapter 17: Remembering My Past (Part 2) // Story: This Bright Blazing Future // by Dynasty-Kaine //------------------------------// It was a beautiful day as Signature Sandwich came upon the open air theater named justly, The Canterlot Bowl. The beautiful marble rows surrounding an equally beautiful marble hewn stage. The natural acoustics at the bowl were some of the best ever created a century ago, and not to mention it was the most in tact after said century. As he proceeded down the stairs toward the stage he marveled at the accomplishment he had achieved here. Of all the band members to join, this one had definitely been the hardest to secure. Brimstone Beats had already been put in his element as a drum/percussion instrument specialist within the Canterlot symphony. In fact, he was the bright new star of the symphony at the time. The next prodigy they said. "And I ruined him in their eyes." Sig said with a laugh. The forest green stallion hopped up onto the stage to sit with a smile as his memory took shape. Those classical stiffs never knew, that hindering their prodigy, was the only mistake they ever made. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A week after Redd joined the band... The forest green stallion was walking through the streets with Storm, Ace, and Redd at this point in the day. The conversation was the usual one as they griped about how there were no available drummers in Canterlot. Redd had been silent the entire time, seeming to be analyzing the conversation as it escalated into the evening. "I'm just saying that at this rate Sig, we are gonna hafta hijack some other bands drummer!" Ace exclaimed venting his frustrations. "You never know man, stranger things have happened." the guitar player calmly said. "Yeah you stumbling onto Redd here was a nice stroke of luck, but we haven't had any since." the white pegasus lamented. "Now that's an interesting idea." the blue maned stallion muttered suddenly. "What is buddy?" Sig said turning to the bassist. "Haphazard hijacking." he answered stopping in place. "Now hear me out, this may sound impossible, but I think we have a chance. Sig you think you can tolerate a night at the Canterlot Bowl?" "What does that have to do with anything?" Ace interjected. Signature saw the candy apple green eyes glimmering with purpose, and he knew this meant Redbook was on to something with very likely chances. Yet, he had to agree slightly with Ace as he failed to see the purpose. "Ace, man, you're uncultured so I can forgive you for not realizing what Sig can do there for us." Redd said neutrally. "Wait, didn't they just hire a new drum and percussion specialist a week or so ago?" Storm suddenly chirped cutting off her brother's sharp retort. "Exactly." the unicorn said with a devilish smile pointing to the mare. "Sig has a natural affinity for finding talent and acquiring it. With that and my connections to staff at the bowl I can get us in easily. After that it is entirely up to you man." "I don't know if I can bag him first try." the green earth pony admitted. "I mean the symphony is a good paying job, and I don't think we can compete with that stable packaged lifestyle." "Then just trust that this band is fated to happen, and if he is part of that fate it will happen." the blood red unicorn shrugged. "And if not then we tried, no harm no foul right?" The guitar player hesitantly agreed and parted ways with Ace and Storm to pursue the goal they had at the Canterlot Bowl. The bassist's connections would indeed get them in, and he personally would rather not question why. As they arrived they were in a row in front of the stage, and they had walked in already halfway through a performance. Quietly they took their place among the others watching in awe, but it was Sig who was quickly blown away by the coming talent he was to behold. He locked on to the drummer of the symphony and began to watch intently. "That is Brimstone Beats, he is a trained percussion specialist." Redd whispered. It was apparent that he was trained, but something told the green stallion that he was holding back a wild tide. The light grey unicorn could control more than one instrument effectively, but it looked like he could do so much more for the world of music. It actually began to hurt to see him holding himself back with class. "Another thing you should know is that he has an affinity for geology as well, but mostly experimental music enhancers that haven't gotten acceptance from the classical community at a large." Redd continued spitting out facts. As the unicorn's sentence finished the piece came into it's final climax, and it was then that Sig realized exactly why Brimstone had controlled himself this long. He watched in awe as the obsidian maned unicorn went all out, milking the acoustics of the Bowl for all it was worth. But as quickly as the moment had come, it was gone again as the piece hit its final note. The audience was instantly up and applauding the performance. It was a long time before the crowds finally began clearing out of the Bowl after that. Eventually though, it was down to just a small crowd and Sig took this as his time to sneak back stage. It hadn't been easy to get past the security but he had managed all the same. After a long while he came to an actual private room that he could hear arguments coming from within. He felt compelled get closer and listen in on the conversation. "No, I will not dirty the symphony with that magically induced rubbish Brimstone!" the conductor shouted in disgust. "But Sir, if you'd just give me a chance to prove--" Brimstone tried to explain. "You can try all you want, but I will never allow it to be used by this band!" the conductor vowed. "Why don't you put your training to more practical uses, like practicing for the next show! "But Sir, I--" the grey unicorn tried again. "Good Night Brimstone!" the conductor closed the conversation and flew through the door. As Signature looked into the room he saw the unicorn stallion looking at the ground dejectedly. His eyes closed with an aura of defeat washing over him, it felt like a dream was slowly dying. "Shot down again...I'll never get them to see...to hear the beauty of the earth." Brimstone let a tear escape his eyes. "My dream will never come true." The obsidian maned unicorn levitated the stones he had planned on showing the conductor towards a trash can near the door. Sig stepped in and grabbed the stones before they could make it to the trash can. Holding them in his hands he felt a spark in his mind, something made sense here. "Wh-Who are you?" the unicorn stuttered in shock. "A traveling musician of sorts, why are you throwing these away?" the green stallion asked honestly. "Because they're worthless to a musician in my classification." the stallion became defensive. "I don't think you really believe that yourself." he answered throwing one of the stones at a wall. It was caught instantly in a grey aura of magic, "You idiot, they're still delicate stones!" "See?" he prodded. "You do care about your dreams still. My next question is, why do you let this conductor of yours hold you back from that dream?" "Do you even know how much I'm paid per performance?" the obsidian maned stallion asked bluntly. "I make five hundred bits per show, and I have to make my living somehow right?" "Is that how much your soul is worth to you?" Sig questioned darkly. "What?" Brimstone replied oblivious. "You heard me, is five hundred bits what your willing to sell your dreams, hopes, aspirations, and your own soul for?" the forest green stallion roared. "You and I both know that that is no way to live." The grey unicorn was silent a moment observing the guitar player with his pale baby blue eyes. It was as if he was trying to anticipate the intentions of the stallion before him with little success. Even though he couldn't read Signature, the forest green stallion couldn't read the drummer either. "Then, what do you want from me?" Brimstone finally questioned. "Only to leave you with a choice." he answered calmly. "Either go on selling yourself for five hundred bits a show, or come join a rock band based purely on following your heart. To feel the rush that only freedom can give you. Now, I can't promise you anything that your current gig can, but who needs all that stuff when you have your music?" "I can have my music, exactly how I want it?" the grey stallion asked with a raised eyebrow. "Yes, I would love to see this stone infused drum kit in action personally...but that can only be seen after your choice is made." "Could you give me time to consider it?" the drummer questioned further. "Of course, and so you know, you can find me at First Requiem Park." Sig said walking over handing Brimstone his magic infused stones before turning to leave. "You can find me and the band there most days. Come when you're ready!" He left the drummer behind and found Redd before heading out. Signature wasn't sure if he had made any dent in the unicorn drummer's mind nor if he had hooked his spirit either. The bassist was abuzz with questions, which the guitarist ignored lost in his own thoughts. "Seriously Sig, what happened back there?" Redd finally broke into his mind. "Man, I don't even know what will come of tonight." the stallion answered his friend exasperated. "Let's just go, I need to get some rest after all that." ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Signature Sandwich lay upon the stage now staring up into the skies as he reminisced. Brimstone hesitated for quite a long time on his decision, and the forest green stallion never blamed him for that. The skies were spotted with clouds today, and the temperature out was quite mild. It helped him to remember the rest of the next week faintly. He had sat in on the symphony's performances for a week straight, and after every show he would speak with Brimstone. They quickly became friends and found out that the both of them enjoyed a lot of the same philosophies about music as well as life. The more they saw of each other, the more apparent it became that something was here. Even though neither of them at the time thought anything of it. As Sig sat up he recalled the very day that things came together. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ It had been a long week of trying to get Brimstone to join the group, and admittedly they were beginning to lose hope in their venture. Ace had been the most outspoken in voicing his fading beliefs, and Redd was silent but you could tell he wasn't happy at being wrong. Yet, Storm was cheerful and optimistic still. The forest green stallion couldn't help but be amazed by her stubborn resolve. "Seriously guys, just be patient!" she pleaded with the aura of dread we had made. "He has to choose what is best for him and this choice just can't be easy on the guy at all. I mean the Canterlot Symphony is a big thing to walk away fr--" Storm's mouth fell agape as she turned around falling silent. She put her hand over her mouth before her expression lit up. Since Sig had been the only one really looking at the white pegasus mare, he turned to see what had caught her eye. Nothing could have stunned him more than what he saw at that moment. "So, I hear this band needs a drummer?" Brimstone Beats announced himself. "What do you mean by that Brim?" Signature said as he walked over to the drummer. The others had looked up as well the atmosphere of the park quickly changing because of one light grey unicorn. Ace had the brightest expression written across his face. "Well seeing as the fancy Canterlot symphony doesn't want what I have to offer to music..." the stallion started. "...Then I guess I'll take my talents somewhere that can respect them!" "Ahhwwwlllrriigghhttt!!!" Ace exclaimed in his usual vocal tone. "Now we are ready to rock!" The group embraced and like that the group had been formed. They started to talk about what needed to be done next for the band to work. Brimstone had to build his first prototype drum set, and then tune it. Redd still had more practicing to do, but Sig agreed that would be something he could help with some. Upon offering his help with that he realized something that needed to be addressed. What instruments could all of them play, did they have multiple ones they could play? "Hey Ace, Redd, can you guys play any instruments outside of your norms?" "Well, I can also play some lead guitar and have been known to rock the saxophone." The white stallion answered. "Not really, although I think I could pick up keyboards if we needed it." Redd told him. "I know a professional pianist that could help with that actually Redd, if you'd like that?" Brimstone offered. "Wow, this is more than I could have expected to work with!" Sig answered surprised. "We've got some definite potential here!" "Guys, you're forgetting one important thing that a band needs still!" Storm interrupted with a dissatisfied expression. They all turned to her and said, "What's that Storm?" "You haven't even bothered naming the band." the white mare frowned at them. "How can you be known without a name?" The sweet pegasus was right, in their haste to start playing they had ignored naming their new group. Little did Storm expect the debate that followed her commentary. They argued for what seemed like hours on a good name that ranged from Cloven Hoof to Redd Ace Signature Beats. It didn't seem like they were going to come up with anything worthy of agreeing on. Then, as the times before with finding Redd and Brimstone, the forest green stallion had a momentary spark. "Hey guys." Signature started with a tired expression. "What about, Kirin Rush?" His band mates looked at him for a moment before the name sunk in seeming to cause their eyes to sparkle before they nodded their ascent. All of them felt it had been a name that would inevitably represent how they played their music, not to mention it was catchy as another band that had become popular in the rock music scene in the last five years. "You think we will ever be as good as Heart and Hoof?" Redd verbalized what everyone was silently thinking at that very moment. Signature's memories here were some of the most vivid as he had seen the lead man of Heart and Hoof perform twice before. The first time, he had shown extreme potential as a musician that played for the enjoyment of the song alone, but the second time around his soul had been corrupted by fame and greed. The forest green stallion reasoned this as happening because the stallion hadn't had a decent challenge in many years, and secretly it had been his goal to bring back the real soul of this guitar player. At the formation of Kirin Rush though, he wasn't entirely sure that they would ever play on the same stage as Heart and Hoof. Signature promised himself that no matter what he would play for the music alone, even if they lost out against the biggest rock band out there. A couple years would be roughly what he thought would get them their perfected sound and harmony. After Redd had uttered the words he did though everyone had taken pause to think about things, and resolved to give their all to the music they would one day create. They dedicated everything they could to it, because it was no longer about them. It was only about perfecting their sound. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Later that evening... Signature Sandwich sighed as he sat in a wooden chair strumming a tie dye, glossy, blue guitar with worn strings. It echoed cleanly off of the cold stone masonry of the Canterlot Castle's Magical Channeling Instruments vault. His Rainmaker had gotten out of tune from all the years of sitting here, and he had started to tune it string by string. "So you have returned, my little storm maker." came an elegant voice from the doorway of the vault. As he looked up he saw the glimmering mane of the ruler of Equestria itself, Princess Celestia. Her skin softly glowing in the faint moonlight that shown into the chamber. Her night gown long and sliding along the floor as she came toward the guitar player smoothly. Her smile was gentle, not a trace of acusation for the one who had broken into her home. "Is it that time already Signature Sandwich?" she continued softly as she stopped in front of the green stallion. "You are only fifty-four, your life renews at age seventy five. If you've come for your trademark guitar so soon, maybe you feel it is time I granted your final rest?" "Yeah, it is about that time indeed." he answered her strumming the guitar again. "Just reliving my memories right now is all, I've lived such a good lifetime in this fifth go round. Nature doesn't need my assistence anymore, so I feel I've made my peace with things." "Are you quite sure about that?" Celestia questioned hinting at a mistake. "You may have lost your love, and your only biological child in this world. But do you realize that there is another that still clings to your presence?" "Do you mean Rainbow Dash?" Sig had learned over the many years how to read the hints of the princess. "She has a mother and father of her own, she will survive without me I'm sure." "You tell yourself that now Signature Sandwich, but what if I told you that your delusional about that reality?" the white alicorn started with a cocked eyebrow. She did not continue though and he began to feel cheated, "Why aren't you finishing your sentence 'Tia? That isn't like you at all!" Her horn began to glow as magic flowed into her body, she projected it onto the guitar player. He felt his mind slipping back into his memories again. Why would she do this if she knew it would just bring him closer to that last domino falling into place in his heart? "You won't confront the truth of right now, until you have remembered everything from this lifetime's youth." came Celestia's voice even though all he could see was white. "Your guitar is a magic channeling device, but yours relies on your heart's strength of conviction. Remember the fortress your music built you once upon a time." "I don't understand at all." Sig mumbled drearily. "We will talk when you find your heartstrings are fully tuned, just as your guitar." were Celestia's final ominous words.