Melody of Darkness
Chapter 2
It was a quiet winter morning in the town of Ponyville. The cool, crisp air nipped at the noses of the ponies who went on about their business. The streets of Ponyville were lined with a thin layer of snow. The fillies and colts were seen joyfully romping around in the snow-covered streets and fields and the adults headed to their jobs to start another long and hopefully productive day.
It was a busy work day at Icy Mocha Cafe, the coffee shop that Vanilla Mocha and her husband Scythea had renamed and refurbished after they and their friends had defeated the twisted servant of darkness Comet Nebula for the final time. Customers were lining up all the way around the store, eager to escape the chilly air outside and warm themselves up with a piping hot cup of either coffee or cocoa. Mocha, Scythea, Galaxy Nebula, and Crystal Harmony were sweating bullets trying to fill out, create, and serve the large numbers of orders being demanded by the thirsty and shivering customers.
Just then, Melody Note rushed through the entrance of the cafe and raced towards her father. She was wearing a lovely green scarf that was knitted by her mother Crystal Harmony for her sixteenth birthday. Even though she looked like she was going to pass out from exhaustion, Melody Note managed to maintain a twinkle of excitement in her mud-brown eyes.
“Well, look who’s late again,” chided Galaxy Nebula, shaking his head in disappointment when he caught sight of his daughter. “Mel, you’ve been late for work just about everyday for the past few months! Where in Equestria were you this time?!”
“I’m sorry, Daddy!” said Melody Note, so excited that she didn’t even care that she was in trouble, “But I’ve got some really good news!”
“Are they more important than showing up to work on time?” asked Galaxy dryly, raising an eyebrow. His daughter being late to work wasn’t anything he hadn’t seen before. He sighed and stared at his daughter, waiting for whatever tawdry excuse Melody would tell her - like she had been doing for the past few months.
“Galaxy, don’t be so hard on Melody!” said Crystal as she walked over to fer family to see what all the fuss was about. She gave her husband a chastising look, which made him feel slightly guilty inside. Crystal turned her head back towards Melody and asked her, “So, what’s this news of yours, sweetie?”
“Get this! This weekend, Ponyville’s going to have a huge talent show this weekend!” said Melody Note, feeling like she was on top of the world.
“A talent show?” said Galaxy.
“Yeah! I saw a poster for it on the way to the cafe. I heard there’s going to be a lot of important music producers in the audience! Do you know what this means? This is my chance to show Equestria my talent and kick off my singing career!”
Ah, a talent show, thought Frostbyte as she walked by acting as a fly on the wall. Such an interesting concept. A competition where one does not battle with weapons or combat magic, but rather with talents and hobbies. Such potential for achieving stardom- the blood clone let out a sinister grin -or for failure and humiliation.
“Hahahaha! Did you hear that, Scarlet Sprinkle?” scoffed a voice that entered the cafe. “The dumb blonde blueberry thinks she actually has a shot at winning the talent show!”
“You got that right, Crock Pot!” laughed a second teasing voice. “Hey, Melody! That caterwauling of yours is such a useless talent! It’s made even more useless due to the fact that you suck so hard at it!”
“Stop making fun of me!” shouted Melody Note as she turned to face the two bullies that entered the cafe. The first one was a silvery colored and slightly chubby stallion with eyes like sapphires. He had a neatly combed snow white mane that looked as soft as cotton candy and cooking pot cutie mark on his flank. The bully next to him was a snobby looking unicorn mare with neon green eyes. Her coat was a bright scarlet color and her jet black mane was tied back in a ponytail. Her cutie mark was a pattern of blue and yellow sprinkles.
“Hey, who the hell do you two think you are making fun of my daughter?” angrily asked Galaxy, approaching the two bullies in a threatening manner.
“Oooh! Lookie here!” scoffed Scarlet Sprinkle. “The Blubbering Blueberry’s daddy is sticking up for her!”
“Hey, buddy!” Crock Pot shouted to Galaxy Nebula, “How does it feel to be the father of a good-for-nothing daughter whose useless talent’s never gonna help put food on the table?”
“Hell, I don’t even think she came from your wife, mister!” cackled Scarlet Sprinkle, “I’m pretty sure you bought that ugly blonde beast at the pet store!”
“Hey, can she do any tricks? Can she roll over and fetch the newspaper?”
“Why, you little…” said Galaxy furiously through his tightly gritted teeth. Never before in his life had he heard such insolent remarks shot in his direction before.
“Hey! What did my husband do to deserve such hurtful insults?!” scolded Crystal. She was very defensive when it came to her family.
“Well, for starters, he’s married to you,” answered Crock Pot with a jeer. “You’re only about a six out of ten in my books, lady. I mean, seriously, your bangs look like a walrus’ mustache!”
“You bite your tongue, you horrible little pony!” shouted Crystal. The bully’s last comment stung her like a bee.
“Alright, that’s enough!” shouted Vanilla Mocha as she trotted over to see what all the yelling was about. “I will not tolerate this kind of behavior in my cafe! I want the two of you to get the hell out of here right now!” Mocha furiously pointed towards the exit with her hoof. From the icy glare that Mocha was giving them, Crock Pot and Scarlet Sprinkle knew that she wasn’t playing games.
“Woah, woah, woah!” said Crock Pot, “We’re not leaving here without our hot chocolate!”
“Well, you don’t deserve a drop of any of my beverages for how rudely you treat my friends!”
“Oh, this is a load of bull!” shouted Scarlet Sprinkle, “You can’t refuse our business!”
“Yes I can! GET OUT!!” screamed Mocha.
“Fine! Come on, Scarlet, let’s blow this popsicle stand!” said Crock Pot. “You scumbags are gonna regret this! We’re gonna mop the floor with you at the talent show, Melody!” He shouted as he and Scarlet Sprinkle angrily stomped out of the cafe.
Heh heh, such a pity that the show is now over, thought Frostbyte, Just what I love to see, a tasty race of enemies fighting amongst each other. It seems there is quite a bit conflict within this Melody Note’s life. Perhaps I can find a way to use this... As Frostbyte walked by Galaxy Nebula and his family, Galaxy suddenly felt a harsh chill down his spine and his head began to ache terribly.
“Honey, what’s wrong?” asked Crystal Harmony when she noticed her husband was clenching his head with his hoof.
“I-It’s nothing, Crystal.” said Galaxy, “I-I think I need to go for a walk.” Without saying another word, Galaxy strode out the door of Icy Mocha Cafe.
“Alright, be back soon, Galaxy,” said Mocha as Galaxy hurried out the door. Mocha then turned to Crystal Harmony. “I’m sure glad those rude brats are gone.”
“Hey, what’s going on over there?” asked Melody Note, pointing towards a group of ponies gathered at a single table. Crystal, Melody, and Mocha walked over to see what was going on.
“Honey, what’s going on over here?” Mocha asked Scythea, who was among the group.
“Ssssh!” abruptly said Icy, at which Mocha was slightly taken aback by at first. “Thunderbolt’s telling us a cool story! Listen!”
“...And that’s when I saw it!” said Thunderbolt Sentinel to the ponies who sat around him, listening to his story enthusiastically. “I could only see its silhouette, but there was this huge creature, as tall as Celestia, creeping through the Everfree Forest!”
“What did this thing look like?” asked Quillton Brooks, his curiosity shining brighter than everypony else.
“From what I can remember, this thing seemed to walk on two legs, just like a human,” said Thunderbolt, scratching his chin as he tried to recall what he witnessed that night. “But it wasn’t a human. It looked like a huge, scary wolf-man with eyes that glowed in the darkness. It looked like it was dragging something through the forest.”
“That’s preposterous!” said Quillton, shaking his head in disbelief. “I’ve seen and read about many creatures in Equestria, and no such creatures as the ones you’ve described exist in Equestria.”
“Aw, why do you have to ruin a good story with your nerdy science, Quillton!” said Redvelvet Melody, who was among the group of spectators of Thunderbolt Sentinel’s interesting story. “I believe him. How cool is it that there’s an awesome sounding monster roaming around near Ponyville?”
“Are you dense, Red?!” chided Quillton, annoyed by such a stupid question. “If this thing does exist, I’m not saying it does, what if it has a taste for ponies?” The question made Crystal Harmony quiver slightly.
“Then I’ll give that monster the ol’ one-two!” said Redvelvet Melody in a cocky tone, cracking her hooves with a battle-hungry grin across her face.
“Okay! Okay! I think we’ve heard enough!” said Vanilla Mocha, “Everypony who works here, let’s get back to work!” With that said, every employee in Icy Mocha Cafe left the table and got back to work. Everypony else went on about their business.