I couldn’t help but tap my toe as the shipboard band rocked it’s way through this years top forty. I was surprised that Lemon Zest could play like she was, always having pegged her as a bit of a metal head. She was easily sliding her way back and forth between edgy rock and soft ballads, tossing her head back and forth in glee and her hair flying. Sugarcoat was less interesting to watch, as stoic in playing sweeping lines as she was in speaking.
“The band’s not bad considering they didn’t meet until the cruise,” I remarked to the table, consisting of myself, Fluttershy, Rarity, and Twilight. Pinkie was off at the buffet, making a plate of dinner. Dash and AJ were out at the rock climbing wall they had mentioned earlier.
“It is made of several remarkable musicians,” Twilight noted. “But I had no idea Lemon and Sugarcoat could play at all, let alone as well as they are!”
“You weren’t exactly close with most of the students at Crystal Prep,” Rarity said. “So it stands to reason that you weren’t aware.”
Fluttershy lead us in clapping as the band bowed and stepped off the stage before slipping an arm back around Rarity. The way the two leaned towards each other reminded me of how Twilight and I had been in the early days, before trips to Equestria and long nights at my place had cemented the fact that we loved each other beyond all doubt.
Not that we weren’t still prone to similar displays, far from it. Twilight was currently nestled under my arm, a hand on my thigh.
Lemon stepped over and plopped in one of the vacant seats at the table and grinned, laying her sticks on the table.
“So, what’d you think?” she asked.
“Not a bad set,” I said, smiling. “I was surprised to find musicians of such caliber at CPA.”
“You wont anymore,” Sugarcoat said, taking another vacant chair. “Cinch shut down the music program a year before the games. She thought it was frivolous and a waste of money.”
“That’s a shame,” Fluttershy whispered. “Everyone should be able to enjoy playing music. When you find the music inside, it just lifts you up to the clouds.”
Lemon nodded in agreement. “Nothing like sitting down and jamming with people that enjoy playing just as much as you do,” she grinned. “Any chance of doing the same with you all?”
Pinkie sat back down. “We’ve only got the one kit at CHS,” she said. “You’d have to bring your own set.”
Lemon frowned. “That’s a pain to haul around, though,” the rocker groused.
“Maybe you could take turns?” Twilight suggested.
“We’ll have to set up a time,” I said. “But furthermore, I want to know how you two got this gig?”
“There was an ad in the paper a few weeks ago,” Sugarcoat said. “We auditioned, we made it. Being eighteen meant that we didn’t need parental waivers and the cruise company provided the equipment.”
“And why did you two want to do it?” Twilight asked softly.
“Duh,” Lemon shook her head. “We get to go on a cruise, play on a regular basis, and get a little money out of it! It’s a great gig! I’m surprised there weren’t more people auditioning, actually.”
“Many likely don’t enjoy the prospect of being away from family for long stretches of time,” Sugarcoat countered in her monotone. “For example, this cruise is only a week, but some go for two or more.”
Twilight looked down, her hand squeezing my thigh as she thought. “I don’t know if I could do that,” she said. “Being away from my family for weeks.”
Lemon was about to say something when Sugarcoat stood and wandered back to the stage along with a few other of the band members. The long-haired drummer sighed and picked up her sticks.
“We’d better get invites, you two,” she said with a wink at Twilight and I. “This is something I’ve got to see.” She waved as she headed back and seated herself behind the drum kit once again.
“Not a bad idea,” Rarity said, smiling. “Having new friends come as well as old ones.”
“Well, we’ve got a little ways to go before we have to worry about that,” I noted. “But maybe we could have them come to the shower as a first step.”
Twilight smiled. “That would be lovely,” she said, leaning in and resting her head on my shoulder.
Lemon gave a hard kick to the bass drum and the band launched back into the rock set list.