Tritonus

by Catullus Sedecim

The Golden Mare - Sweetie Belle

Sweetie poked her head out of the curtain, took a deep breath, and sighed. A few minutes left before it was time to go on stage. She had to be ready.

She looked to club’s owner, a short earth pony, who looked far older than his thirty-five years. “She’s here?”

“Who is?” He asked, sounding exasperated.

“She is. You know. The golden mare!”

The owner’s ears perked up at that, and the pair of them both looked out together, now. It looked like being inside a pony’s chest, with white arches holding up the massive red ceiling. Inside was reds, golds, and browns, with only a small amount of white for accent. She heard the owner let out a wistful sigh, then pull his head back.

“So she is.” His shoulders dropped for a second, but then he stood up straight again, “Hey, don’t worry about her.” He gave the filly a pat on the shoulder, “You’ll be as big as she was, I swear.”

“You think so, Red?”

“Yeah, kid, sure.” He shrugged, “Stranger things have happened. Three minutes.”

He went out, going to mingle with the guests. Sweetie smiled. She really could be like the Golden Mare, back in the heyday of the Haberdashery. And honestly, she was just thrilled to perform here on the same stage that Surprise had vocally hypnotized rooms full of ponies. The crowd was smaller, sure. Even her sister had stopped coming to the Haberdashery in the years since Surprise had left it. But it was still a grand old place. It would always be the place that stars had been made. And maybe, Sweetie hoped, there’d be one more made tonight.

She looked out again. Surprise was in the back, next to Maestro and his bodyguard, a muscular orange pegasus who looked about Sweetie’s age. She was big enough that Sweetie thought it was a stallion at first. Only at first. The more she looked at the purple-maned mare, the more interested she was in her. There was a touch of softness inside her hard body. Sweetie was sure of it, though she didn’t know why.

Maestro himself had a red jacket, looking at home in this place as its owner. Maybe even more so. She shivered a bit. Her first real public performance, and it would be for one of the three rulers of Equestria, AND one of its most famous stars, the pegasus who played Pinkamina. The pegasus who’d been able to not just sing, but to lead the song.

Music abounded in Equestria. It was one of those weird little things. A song was always about to break out. Perfectly choreographed, with random passers by knowing the background parts. But that didn’t diminish the role of singers. It actually gave them a bit more prestige. Anyone could sing when the time came. Few could just pick up and sing whenever they wanted, or at least do it well.

But even amongst those singers, there were a rare few who could do even more. An almost mythical talent. To sing, of your own volition, and to get the room to sing with you. To lead the whole room in a song of your choosing. Surprise had done it, and people had come to the Haberdashery from miles around. And since then, since she’d first joined in the chorus at one of Surprise’s performances when she was a child, she’d dreamed of being a singer herself. She remembered, years ago, Surprise performing at one a cousin’s wedding. Things had been happier then. Rarity had been healthy, and Surprise had sung so beautifully the whole room joined in. She remembered Surprise had picked her out of the crowd, and they’d sung a duet together, with everyone else singing behind them. It had been rapturous. It wasn’t the vague compulsion of most songs she’d experienced. She had looked Surprise in the eyes, and it was like she’d been brought into a warm, comforting embrace as they sang.

That was when she got her cutie mark. That was when she knew what she wanted. She wanted to do THAT. To make everyone feel the same way that Surprise had made her feel.

“Ten seconds!” She heard. She waited for the countdown.

Ten. Nine.

She hoped it would happen. That she’d be able to make them sing with her. She’d be happy just to sing, to be here, but to have it happen.

Eight. Seven.

Of course, most singers practiced their whole lifetimes without it happening.

Six. Five. Four.

But she didn’t care. She was going to stand out. Surprise had done it. And now, she’d do it too.

Three. Two. One.

The music started, the curtains raised. She stepped out.

“If I had a neon sign on my heart
Round and round it would go
Saying “I love ya
I love ya, I love ya,
All night long”

Sweetie looked around. She had all the attention of the whole room, and it felt wonderful. But it wasn’t enough. They were supposed to join in, now. At least they would in her head, she wanted them too.

“If I had a neon sign on my heart
Off and on it would go
Saying ‘You’re gorgeous
You’re gorgeous, you’re gorgeous
All night long.”

She thought she heard someone, but they might have just been humming along. Their eyes were on her, and they were impressed. But that wasn’t ENOUGH. She didn’t have time to think much.
“It wouldn’t need electricity,
It would work by the light of your eyes.”

‘Do-do-de-doodoo’

She smiled, there it was. Someone else was singing. It was quick, but it was something. She stepped off the stage, now, feeling them all singing with her. But her eyes were on the pegasus next to Maestro. She approached her, singing right to her.

“And when they looked at me
Everypony would see
That it pays to advertise.”

Maybe she had been imagining it. Maybe she just wanted it to be true so badly she heard it. Then again

“If I had a neon sign on my heart
Round and round it would go
Saying I love you, you’re gorgeous
I love you, you’re gorgeous
All night long.”

‘I love you, you’re gorgeous,
I love you, you’re gorgeous’

It was quiet, very quiet. Again, so quiet she might have only thought she could hear. The purple-maned bodyguard seemed to be moving her lips. It might have been there.

“I love ya, I love ya,
I love ya, I love ya,

All night long.”

No, it was there. They were singing with her. She was sure. They HAD to be singing with her. She couldn’t have just imagined this much.

“You’re gorgeous, you’re gorgeous
You’re gorgeous, you’re gorgeous”

Maybe the rest of the room was singing. This table didn’t seem to be, but this table had the greatest singer she’d ever known, and one of Equestria’s protectors. Maybe that was part of it. They were just too musical to be brought in as easily, this was her first time.

“I wouldn’t need electricity,
It would work by the light of your eyes.”

She turned around, and yes, they were. The rest of the audience was tapping on the table, and singing the ‘doo do doo’ sections to back her up.

“But when you’re with me
Everybody would see
How it pays to advertise.”

“If I had a neon sign on my heart
Off and on it would go

Saying I love ya, I love ya
You’re gorgeous, you’re gorgeous
I love ya, I love ya,
You’re gorgeous, you’re gorgeous
I love ya, I love ya
You’re gorgeous, you’re gorgeous”

She stopped, and turned back around when she got on the stage, watching the whole room sing along. It was ecstatic, at once peaceful and powerful. They sang with her. They sang for her.

They were for her.

“Alll niiiiiiight looooooong!”

She opened her arms wide, and they all sang along. This was it. This was why she’d wanted to be a singer.

Half of why. The other, half was here, though.

The music stopped, and the whole room erupted in applause.

“Thank you. Thank you, all of you. It’s been my dream to perform here.” She smiles, “And I think you can all guess where that dream comes from.” She held her hand out, and people applauded again. “Surprise? Could you come sing with me?”

The room fell silent, and everyone looked at Surprise. She shrunk back a bit, but Maestro said something to her, and the white-coated mare finally stood, approaching the stage, to some applause. Sweetie looked up at her, and gave a comforting smile. There was something in her eyes. It might have been stage fright. She’d heard some say it never got easy to be in public, maybe Surprise was one of them.

There was a soft cough from the piano player.

“Excuse me... What song do you want?”

She smiled, “Don’t worry. It’ll come to you.”

She took a deep breath, and started singing an old waltz. A love song.

“Wunderbar, Wunderbar,
There’s our favorite star above. What a bright and shining star,
Like our love, it’s Wunderbar.”

They were supposed to sing together. Surprise had got it right, no problem, the first time. And the music that came when you sang just right wasn’t there either.

“Gazing down on the Jungfrau.”

No response, still.

She’d keep singing until Surprise started singing with her.

“From our secret chalet for two”

Still nothing.

“Let us drink, Liebchen mine”

No

“In the moon benign.”

Come on,

“To the joy of a dream come true.”

Surprise had spoke that time. Just whispered. But spoke.

“Wunderbar, Wunderbar,”

Yes, come on...

“What a perfect night for love.”

Sweetie urged her singing partner on.

“Here I am, here you are.”

She’d been definitely singing that time. And the music was distant, but there.

“Why it’s truly Wunderbar.”

She could see the peace coming over Surprise as they sang together.

“Wunderbar, Wunderbar!"

They’d both been singing, there, loud and clear, as the sound swelled around them.

“What a perfect night for love.”

She didn’t even have to wait for the next line.

“Here I am, here you are”

She smiled, it was definitely working!

“Why it’s truly Wunderbar!”

“Wunderbar, Wunderbar!”

Their voices rang out together, as they turned to the rest of the audience

“We’re alone and hand in glove.”

“Here I am, here you are!”

“Why it’s more than Wunderbar.”

Surprise turned her head, drawn into the moment.

“Say you care, dear?”

“For you madly.”

“Say you long, dear?”

“For your kiss.”

“Do you swear dear?”

“Darling, gladly”

“Life’s divine, dear!”

Sweetie held her close, “And you’re mine dear”

They sang together, clear as the sound of a bell “Wunderbar, Wunderbar,
There’s our favorite star above
What a bright, shining star
Like our love, it’s Wunderbar”

The song ended, it was painful being brought from that musical ecstasy into the harsh reality around her. But the applause was deafening. The music had come from nowhere, as only the truly great singers could. Even Maestro, one of their leaders, the fearless triumvirate that guided Equestria, was applauding. His bodyguard was stoic at first, but the maroon stallion gave her a slight shove, and it pushed her to applaud as well. To Sweetie, that meant even more than Maestro’s. She wished she knew why, but it did. She turned back to Surprise, her new friend, her new singing partner

But Surprise didn’t look half as happy. She looked scared. Or maybe shocked. She stared at Sweetie, but Sweetie had her doubts she’d even seen her.

“Surprise?” She asked, concernedly. The room was quiet, now. “Surprise? Are you... Okay?”

Surprise didn’t even seem to notice her, looking at something behind her, and then... It was like a flash. The Golden Mare’s golden mane collapsed. What had been curly and bouncy like a balloon was now flat to her neck, the colors duller.

She stepped back a bit, “Surprise!” She gasped, “Your mane! It...”

“My mane?” She asked, idly bringing a hoof to her mane, drawing one of the long, dulled strands in front of her face. She screamed, stepped back, turned, and bolted.

Her wings beat at the air as the Golden Mare galloped, full sprint. One pony was bowled over, drinks flying through the air, as Sweetie watched her alabaster body disappear out the door. Her face fell, and she turned to the stallion behind her. “Did I do something wrong?”

Maestro laughed. It was a comforting laugh, and his hoof gave her a smack on the back, but friendly, the way he had his bodyguard. “Don’t worry about it. It’s nothing.” He turned to the audience.

“Surprise is just having a bad day,” he told them all, “We all have them. We can’t be worried about bad days. We’ve got a good one, right here!” He shot Sweetie a grin, “And you, kid, I’m gonna make sure you have a lot of good days ahead.”

Comments

[Catullus Sedecim]

6162940 Well thankies a whole bunch, Phoenix. Three out of three people surveyed now agree that this one's pretty cool.

I'm counting this sample as representative!