//------------------------------// // Chapter Six: The Promise of a Brave, New World // Story: Bricks in the Wall // by _NAME_ //------------------------------// Chapter Six The Promise of a Brave, New World I sat in the carriage, watching the city roll by through the windows, anxiously tapping my hoof on the windowsill, trying to relieve some of the tension knotted up in my stomach. Short glowered at me. “Stop that, will ya? We’re all nervous enough as it is without you tappin’ your hoof.” He reached out and griped my leg, stopping its drumming. I gave him a small smile and leaned back into the seat. “Sorry. It’s just, they were just so vague with what they wanted, ya know? It’s been a week since the album released. What if it’s a flop and they’re letting us go, or somethin’?” Short shook his head. “Don’t worry. You an’ the band did a great job, ya hear?” He looked out the window. “I think we’re almost there, so, as your manager, will you please relax for me, Pinky?” I sighed and turned to face the tan pegasus. “I… I guess. I just put so much work into this. I don’t know what I’d do if this fails.” I paused, running a hoof through my mane. “This has been the moment I’ve been working towards ever since I got my cutie mark. What if I’m not cut out to be a musician? It’s a cutthroat business…” “Hey…” Short rested a hoof on my shoulder, just as the carriage rolled to a stop. “Get yourself together, rock star, because you’re on.” I nodded, begrudgingly, and opened the door of the taxicab. I stared up at the towering building in front of me. I felt Short clamber down from the carriage after me, flicking a few bits to the driver. “It’s impressive,” he said. “Huh?” “The building.” He motioned in front of him. “Parlaphone Records is a big company. The fact they called us here so soon can only mean big news.” “Yeah,” I chuckled, “but is that news good or bad?” We trotted forward into the building, pushing through the large double doors. A large, empty lobby with a lone receptionist on the far side greeted us. We walked across the tiled floor, our hoofsteps echoing around the room, and the receptionist stared at us as we approached, an emotionless gaze on her face. As we reached her desk, she spoke up. “Name?” she asked. I smiled at her, resting a foreleg on the desk. She didn’t smile back. “Pinkerton and Shortchange here to see, uh, Mr. Parlaphone.” The mare examined a few papers on her desk for a moment. “You’re early. Didn’t expect that. I’ll tell them you’re here.” She looked back up at us, the same bored expression still on her face. “Go through the doors at the end of the hall and look for room sixty-eight. He’ll be in there.” I nodded and made for the doors she indicated. Short smiled and thanked her, and then hurried after me. We entered the doors and went down a long hallway. Near the end were a pair of nondescript doors labelled as Rm. 68. Our room. We looked at each other. “Well, this is it,” Short said, some apprehension seeping into his voice. “Yeah,” I whispered back. “Let’s hope it’s good news...” We pushed open the doors together, and were met by a large conference room. Seated around the table in the center was Mr. Parlaphone, the head of the record company, whom we had never met before, and several other executives and ponies I didn’t recognize, all of whom turned to face us as we entered. I cracked a smile. “Hello.” None of them responded. I glanced at Short out of the corner of my eye to see that he was just as nervous as I was. “Sit,” Parlaphone said as he motioned towards two empty chairs opposite him. He then added a, “Please.” I swallowed a lump in my throat and did as he asked, Short trailing just behind me. We took the offered seats at the foot of the table, the chairs squeaking loudly as we did so. My producer, sitting further down, at the right of the table, leaned forward, his face grim, eyes not quite on either of us. “Now, Pinkerton,” he spoke, “You know that we only signed you on because Fifth over here,” the stallion to his left smiled at us, “thought you were good enough.” He sighed, his eyes glancing over our faces. “It has been a full week since your album, Projection, was released, and, well, we’ve received word that…it has exceeded all sales expectations.” I blinked. “W-what?” is what came out of my mouth, purely by accident. Parlaphone, from his seat at the other end, cracked a smile at us. “Your album, my boy, is selling like crazy. It’s at the top of the charts.” Short stirred beside me, sitting up straighter. “The top of the charts?” Parlaphone nodded and stood up, while everypony else broke into subdued applause. “Yes indeed, my boy. Against—well, I’ll be frank—against all of our expectations, your debut album is currently on track to be one of the best-selling albums in Equestria, and most other countries for that matter!” He laughed and walked around the table to stand beside me. “You’re a hit, boy! An overnight sensation! We wanted to invite you here to tell you personally that your album has already gone Gold, and is expected to be certified-Platinum before the month’s end, if these projections are to be trusted!” “I…I…Wow! That’s amazing!” For once, I was at loss for words. I stood up, my legs shaky, and looked over at Short, whose face looked just how I felt. “I can’t believe it. I…” Something inside of me felt complete and warm. I was giddy and broke out into a smile. “Wow, just thank you, sir! I—” Parlaphone laughed and clasped me on my back, jolting me some. “No. Thank you, my boy! You made us some serious money. You can do whatever you want in the future, so long as your music still keeps selling, alright?” He went back around to the other side of the table and sat down. “You boys can head on out now and go home and do whatever you want.” And, just like that, we were dismissed. Short and I stood up, both of us still barely unable to grasp that I became the one of the most popular musicians ever, just like that. We exchanged a few words more with my producer, before we turned to leave. As we pushed out chairs back and stood up, Parlaphone spoke up again. “Oh, and by the way, we’re throwing a little party tonight at about nine o’clock, at the old convention hall in celebration of this momentous occasion. You’re invited, of course, as is anybody else you’d like to bring along. There’ll be food, drink aplenty, pretty much everything. It’ll be a grand old time, alright?” I nodded, promising that we would be there, and walked to the door, absolutely ecstatic with the way the day turned out. We were almost out of the room when Parlaphone stopped us again. “Oh, and another thing, which one of you two is Pink?” I froze, and turned to face him, slightly offended that he didn’t even know what I looked like. For a moment, I wasn’t quite sure how to respond to that question. “I am,” was all I said. The mood in the room had taken a little downturn. Some of the other ponies around the table seemed just as off put as I was. His comment certainly sucked some of the joy out of this moment. But Parlaphone didn’t seem to notice anything, and flashed another big smile at me. “Alrighty. You’re gonna be big, kid. I can feel it!” And with that, we left. ~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ After me and Short had left the meeting and exited the building, we practically broke down right outside of the door. If any police officers had been around at the time, we may have been arrested for disturbing the peace, because we were screaming our heads off in excitement. Both of our pent up exhilaration was broken through, and we had very much made a scene right there on the sidewalk. It was a little embarrassing, in retrospect, but in the moment, it was all we could do. It was very loud, to say the least. We were both very, very, excited. After that though, I rushed back home as fast as I could to break the good news to Rêves. Short headed off to go inform the rest of the band what had happened, since, well, he didn’t have anyone to go celebrate with himself. By the time I got to the apartment building Rêves and I both lived in, I was nearly trembling. I bounded up the stairs, up to the fifth floor, and, after fumbling with the key for a moment, let myself into the little apartment we both called home. It wasn’t the fanciest of places. It was a bit of a dump, really, but it was enough for us two. Despite only having lived there for a little less than a year, it felt as if I had lived there all my life. And there, sitting on the couch, lazily flipping through some magazine, was Rêves. As I opened the door, her head snapped up, her expression worried. “How’d it go?” she asked. I stood there for a moment, the words I was wanting to say evaporating before I could. In all my excitement, I couldn’t find the words. She looked at me, concerned. “Was it bad? Did they let you go or something?” She stood up and moved towards me, throwing the magazine onto the couch. I smiled wide, and closed in to hug her tightly. “It went absolutely great!” I planted my lips on her’s and kissed her deeply. For a moment, she tried to say something, mumbling into my mouth, but then pushed back with equal measure, returning the kiss. We broke apart what felt like lifetime later, she wiping at the corner of her mouth, me panting slightly. She smiled back at me, her eyes sparkling with mirth. “Well? What happened then? Don’t leave me hanging!” “You, my dear,” I said with a sultry wink, “are looking at the stallion who created one of the best-selling albums in the country!” Her eyes went wide. “Really!?” I nodded. “The album’s at the top of the charts, it’s gone certified Gold. It’s selling like crazy!” She squealed in excitement and pulled me into another hug, only to kiss me again. “That—That’s amazing! How did— What— How— I-I can’t believe it!” She was having trouble speaking as well, apparently. “I know!” I responded earnestly, “I still can’t believe it!” “W-well, we have to go out and celebrate tonight! This is huge!” “The company is already throwing a big party tonight in celebration. Everyone’s gonna be there.” Her eyes grew wide. “When?” “It’s at nine, down at the convention hall.” “Pink!” she admonished in a sort of half-shout, “That’s in, like, four hours! We’ve gotta get ready!” She turned and galloped into the bedroom. “I don’t even know if we have anything to wear!” I followed in after her, chuckling softly. “Babe, don’t worry. We’ll be fine.” She scoffed at me. “No it’s not! This is a big, fancy party, and you’re the guest of honor. There’ll be a ton of important ponies there. We’ve have to look nice.” I sighed. She was right, of course. We had to be presentable. I didn’t know quite what to expect tonight, but I was sure that I’d be watched closely. “Alright,” I said, “You’re right…” And I joined her. ~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ Short stood on the street corner in an ill-fitting suit, his eyes darting nervously around the area. I strode up behind him and tapped gently on his shoulder. “Heya, Short.” “Eep!” He nearly jumped out of his skin. As I burst out laughing, he turned around to glower at me. “Yeah, okay, Pinky. Ya got me. Jeez…” “S-sorry,” I chuckled. “I didn’t think I’d scare you!” Rêves then came trotting up behind me, joining me at my side. “What happened?” she asked. Short rolled his eyes. “Nothin’.” She let loose a small giggle, and I shot her a knowing glance. We three began walking down the street, to the convention hall. “You tell everyone else what’s goin’ on?” “Yeah. They’ll meet us there.” And so we walked to our destination in a companionable silence. Once there, Short ran ahead of us, and then stopped in front of the doors. He grinned widely, and then gestured to the building. “Lady and Gentlestallion, We’ve arrived at our destination for this evenin’.” I nodded at him and then moved to open the doors. Only, before I could Short shot forward and opened them first. “Nah. You two go in. You’re what’s got us ‘ere.” And so, we entered the room, Short following us in. Immediately, I was taken aback by the sheer opulence of everything. It was an incredibly fancy place. I didn’t think I’d ever been in a room as lavish as this one. And, judging by the expressions of my companions, they hadn’t either. Were immediately beset upon by a stallion in a fancy outfit. “Ah! Our guests of honor have arrived!” His voice had some sort of accent I couldn’t quite place. He turned and gestured for us to follow him further into the room. “Please follow me.” And so we went. ~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~-~ The evening went by in a blur. It was several hours later now, close to midnight, though how much later I was unsure. I had had barely a moment to myself the entire night. Everyone who was there wanted to meet me and talk to me, and by the time an hour had gone by, I was in a daze. Though, I had a feeling that they were less interested in me as a pony then they were in meeting the musician that was the newest sensation in Equestria. But now, thankfully, the evening had worn down, and many of the guests had cleared out. Now, I was sitting by myself at a table, watching from across the room as Short and Rêves spoke to some other ponies. I was tired now, but they were still having fun. “Hey, man,” came a voice from beside me. I turned to look, and was met by a stallion in a bright floral pattern shirt and tie sitting to my left. He grinned at me lazily, his eyes half-lidded and bloodshot. “Hey,” I said back. For a few seconds he didn’t appear to acknowledge me, but then fixed me with his stare. “Hey, man, you lookin’ for a good time?” I tilted my head slightly, unsure what exactly he was propositioning. “Hmm?” “Here, man.” And to me, he held out a tightly-wrapped joint. “Take some of this.” “I, uh…” I took the joint gently, turning it around to inspect it. “What is this exactly?” I asked, turning my attention back to the stallion. He smiled, though not quite. “It’s poison joke, man. It’s some good shit—really good.” He nodded, his head bobbing as he did so. “Try it, man.” Well, I suppose, this was the life I was in now. Might as well make the most of it. I shrugged, and held the joint out towards him. With a little difficulty, he fished a lighter from inside his jacket and, with practiced ease, he flicked on the flame and lit the tip of the paper for me. I smiled at him. “Cheers,” I said, motioning the joint in his general direction. I brought it up to my lips. I took a deep breath in. I held the smoke in my mouth for a moment, letting it sit. And I exhaled, a small stream of smoke coming along with. “Oohh…” I scrunched up my face and snorted violently. My eyes blinked, and then focused back on the stallion, who was watching me back with mild interest. “Wow…” I sighed again. “That hits you hard, don’t it?” “Feels good, doesn’t it?” “Ss’good…” I blinked again, rubbing my eyes with the back of a hoof. All of a sudden, there was a tap on my shoulder. I looked behind me to see a mare I had never seen before. She was in a… very, very tight dress. I felt my eyes wander unbidden across her form before meeting her eyes. “How’re you doing?” were the words that came out of her mouth, though they sounded almost muffled to me. I said something in response, though what I wasn’t sure. She smiled at me. I smiled at her. Moving slowly, she slinked closer to me and wrapped a hoof around my neck. The smell of her perfume filled my nose and I felt myself let out a sigh. With gentle movements, she plucked the joint from my grasp with the other, taking a draw from it herself. “Just give it a minute, man. All your worries will be gone…” The other stallion took a swig from his own blunt, breathing the smoke out into the air. The mare on my shoulder pressed my blunt back to my lips and I took another deep breath in. Her own lips pressed against the side of my face. Then, out of the corner of my eyes, came another mare. She found a spot on my other side, taking a swig from my joint as well. Somewhere, in the back of my mind, I knew I shouldn’t be doing this. My wife was standing just on the other side of the room. I shouldn’t be taking any drugs now. I shouldn’t be involving myself with these two, very, very beautiful mares. But… I took another puff, plating a kiss on the cheek of one of those mares next to me. I wasn’t quite sure which. They were a little hazy, and, at the moment, I didn’t really care which was which. “Ahh… This is the good life…” I mumbled to no one in particular. And the world fell away. .