//------------------------------// // Chapter 30 - Bright's Light & Magenta's Fury // Story: The Scoota Finale // by thedarktome //------------------------------// Magenta's narrowed eyes were the most scariest thing anypony has ever seen. Add that to the fact that her teeth were barred and back bones buzzing. "I...need... My bucking CAMERA!!!" She yelled. Then turned around and jogged out the room. "SHE IS MESSING WITH ME?!! I WILL DESTROY HER!! AND HER LIFE!!" Bright turned around and jogged out the room behind her. Everyone else inside held a hoof over their chest, attempting to slow their heartbeats. She yells really loud. While making her way down the hall, Magenta reached into her mane and pulled out her phone. She turned on the camera and pointed at herself, set to record. Smiling, Magenta greeted, "Hello, everypony. A friend of mine just showed me a video from fellow Vlogger Covered Scenes who was critical of my goals as a rising entrepreneur in Equestria. These words are for her. Don't you ever make a video about me, my music, my sister, my family, or Starfire ever again. Let alone my funds. I don't know how you got those numbers but I never permitted you to put my figures out for everypony in Equestria to hear. That is a complete invasion of my privacy and I can have you kicked off of YouHoof for that and arrested. And since you know me so well, then maybe you can tell me exactly how much I practice each week for a single YouHoof show. Maybe you can tell me about my past that even I don't know about and how much work it takes to make a new song each week while working on an album at the same time. You know it right? Maybe you can tell me! This is my only warning. Don't ever come at me again." Magenta lowered her phone and ended the video. Then pushed open the doors to the castle while making a phone call. Bright caught up to her and said, "Magenta, I know you're upset—" "I am furious," Magenta snarled, correcting her. "How dare that little wannabe tests me! I worked hard for my bits, endured all kinds of things and she wants ponies to stop listening to my music that I work hard to make everyday and every night! Not counting our vlogs! I'm heading home and pushing that track! The hardest one yet. Then I'm calling the others to get this party started—hello? Yeah, get me my chariot to Ponyville as soon as possible. Right by the train station." Magenta hung up the phone, uncaring for an answer and said, "You don't have to come if you don't want to, Bright. Have fun on your vacation, you deserve it. But I'm pushing that track out on YouHoof. Then helping Golden Daisy's mother." Bright shook her head and answered, "No, I'm coming. She's messing with our success. I know you have a plan with those bits... Right?" "Yeah, I'm giving them away." Record scratch in Bright's head. "I've already applied for school. I'm attending currently and do online classes through Net. I never tell anypony because I don't need Press hounding my flank about school and classes, my music, all that. Just like that dumb filly stated, I am the most sought out pony in Equestria. Which means everypony is watching me. I am already the hot topic, I didn't need that little filly telling everypony about how many bits I really have because now everypony's going to be wondering what I was going to do with them. And I didn't need that attention. But now she practically threw it out there. So now, I have to let everypony know about that, and the fact that I was planning on starting my own Record Label on the side. I have way more than enough bits to do it in the near future. But now my income may pause all because of her. I even have forms, documents, all of it to prove it. Not to mention, her words will possibly affect the future sales from the releases of Coloratura, Spit Rhymes, Fire Starter, and Blue Arrow. That was going to help me start off my record label I want to call Color Flash. And now, because of her, all of those plans will be delayed." The sisters walked into town, thus beginning the onslaught of questioning from a few journalists and random ponies. Forming a tight circle around the two ponies as they made their way towards the train station. They didn't answer a single question and soon made it to Magenta's large luxury chariot that landed right beside the train station. The Pegasi bodyguards pulling it quickly let down the stairwell, allowing them on before they closed it, locked it, strapped themselves back in, then took off back into the air. Leaving everypony on the ground without answers. "Magenta sighed then groaned, "I have to ask Apple Bloom or somepony if they'd be willing to watch my stuff for me until we get back. Or bring it back to the mansion. I have to fix this and have no time to go back and grab it." Bright hummed and stayed silent. That mare's words practically hurt Magenta's feelings. Thus irking Bright, even though they weren't for her. Magenta's phone rang, interrupting her thoughts. Groaning, she put it on speaker and answered, "Magenta." "Hey, it's Coloratura. What just happened, you're on the news." Magenta grunted just thinking about it and answered, "Covered Scenes just put my real earnings out on display and is asking everypony to stop listening to my tracks. I'm expecting a slow in YouHoof and Starfire Sales. "Bright and I are heading to the penthouse to prepare and release my hardest to get these listeners to continue listening. With all the instruments I have learned how to play fitted with effects. Everypony is about to see what hard work looks like. Let the world know. We have to speed up our studio time before somepony else attempts to call me out. Have everypony meet me at the penthouse tomorrow at noon." "Okay. Don't do anything stupid." "Trying my hardest not to." Magenta pulled the phone back and hung up. Then started to upload her message video to myStable. This mare had peed on her life's timeline and ruined her vacation. And Magenta had a few choice words. And a show to put on. Way too soon, the chariot landed back down on the streets of Manehattan. If they were going to Manehattan, they weren't allowed to fly directly to their destination for safety reasons. Just as expected ponies out and about immediately called out for her, trying to get some information about her plans, bits, and overall hidden life. This mare had infuriated her. After a few more minutes, they stopped in front of The Rising Sun, ready and expecting the worse. And it was bad. According to Magenta. Press, Magazines, and Journals. Ponies from these categories we're all there recording and calling up to The Gold Sisters while their bodyguards kept them back and lowered the walkway so they could go to the doors. "Magenta! Magenta is it true about your real amount of bits?!" "What are your plans after the contract with Starfire is closed?!" "Why are a majority of your tracks still monetized?!" Just a few questions from the ponies taking photos, holding mics her way, and recording them both before three bodyguards led her up to the elevators. Magenta pointed to Bright and said, "She's going to make me destroy one of my synthesizers after this." After the doors dinged open, they strode right inside. Nearly three hours after the video was uploaded, Magenta Streak once again became a hot topic. But not about her music. Vloggers, News Channels, and even more all over Equestria were discussing Magenta Streak. And her vast amount of bits at the age of nineteen and current known projects. Theories flew all over Equestria about how she gained that many bits. Diamond Tiara could tell that this was about to get ugly. And not because of what Magenta posted on myStable in anger. But because many ponies were already talking about no longer listening to her music. About half of Ponyville. Until Magenta did another live video through YouHoof that was scheduled to commence at five pm. The second it started, Diamond Tiara and everyone else could see Magenta's angry face set up in her studio. "Thanks everypony for watching this video. I just want to set a few things straight. Firstly? Stop putting my business out there for everyone to hear, Covered Scenes. That is a complete violation and invasion of my privacy, as well as the rights in Starfire's privacy, and YouHoof's privacy. If you were to actually read their terms and conditions you would see that instead of reading my earnings that you have no reason putting your nose into anyway. And yes, I admit. I make a minimum of three hundred thousand bits a day. But I'm not sitting on them. Just like my sister, I'm saving up for something grand. And I have the right to retain that information from public eyes and ears, but I will tell you this. It is to help all other artists and musicians succeed, I promise. I have been working closely with YouHoof, Glow Sounds, and many more companies to get this done. Unfortunately, I can't have none of it done until I am twenty-one. I am nineteen. And as for me not doing anything?" Magenta reached out of frame to grab something. After presenting it to be a towel she rubbed her face with it intensely. Then pulled it back. Bags. She had a bunch of bags and rings around her eyes. Sweetie Belle mouthed, "What the buck?" Everyone else that were watching held the exact same expression. Muttering things about Magenta's appearance. Pointing at her face, Magenta explained, "I once did a tour in Manehattan for two weeks and only got an average of three hours of sleep a day, why? Because none of my mixes are the same. I have to setup my tracks to the cue points, timing, all of that so nopony hears the exact same thing. I constantly make new tracks for new shows every day and I have to practice. Just like anypony. And as for making a lot of bits? Ponies just love my older tracks, what can I say? They make you dance, they make you move. As a Vlogger partnered with YouHoof, I naturally upload a lot of tracks to YouHoof and a lot of ponies view them. I work hard for this. And you can't say I don't—nopony can say that, let alone you, Covered Scenes. I really hope your channel is suspended, because you are messing with my goals and my opportunities right now. Now off of her, I have a new track that will be on YouHoof tomorrow morning which will not be monetized just for fun. It's not even going to be on Glow Sounds. Now if you'll excuse us, Bright and I have to go back to being awesome... And sleeping." Magenta pressed a button on her mixer, cutting the feed. Then leaned her head back and groaned. Bright poked her head back in with a worried expression. Magenta was more than exhausted. "Jeez, Maggy," she sighed. Then walked in while Magenta took down the camera. "You need rest. How come I've never seen this before?" With the camera and cords secured in a hoof, Magenta turned around and made her way to the door, Bright directly behind her. She sighed and answered, "Because I didn't want you, mom, or dad worrying about it. And now that little pony is trying to expose it. This vacation is a chance for me to relax, take it easy, work on my sleep and other things besides just my music. I want to help out other ponies with theirs, get some sleep, go out of town. Things like that. Now it's ruined." "Well you're not doing anything until you get some sleep first," Bright stated sternly. "You are clearly exhausted and are in desperate need of it. Mommy and daddy would say the same." "Brightlight—" Bright put a hoof in front of Magenta, stopping her before they could walk down the stairs. With narrowed eyes, she said, "No. You need sleep. You have migraines, you write songs and vlog ideas, you go to meetings, you handle finances, you. Need. Sleep. Everypony at Starfire and YouHoof need sleep and would say the same thing. Let me handle YouHoof and the press for awhile. You are clearly not up to the task to do it right now." Magenta sighed. Then smirked at Bright. "What happened to the little sister I used to look out for?" She whispered. Bright shrugged and answered, "She's growing up." "Well stop growing." Magenta held out a hoof that Bright slapped. Then shared a hip bump. "Alright, I'll... Get some sleep here. Let everypony know that you are in charge of everything right now. Carrying both loads while I get some rest. Because you're right, I need it." "Good." Bright grabbed the camera from Magenta's hold. Then began to walk with Magenta down the stairs. "Hey. Is it okay if—" "Bright, you can do what you want," Magenta interrupted. She knew exactly what she was going to ask. "We may be sisters. But you are also your own brand and pony. You have over thirty unreleased copyrighted tracks with cover arts through YouHoof. You could make your own solo album. You do what you want with those tracks." Magenta yawned loud. Then smacked her lips and walked down the hall towards the master bedroom. "What's mine is ours, Bright. Do what you want." After that, Magenta walked into the bedroom and closed the door back. Bright sighed, worried eyes on the wooden ornate door. Hopefully Magenta would be alright when she woke back up. Until then... Bright turned around and quickly ran back up the glossy wooden stairs. She had a single to release. From the other side of the snack table, Apple Bloom nudged the Z4 in Sweetie Belle's hooves and stated, "Ponies are still talkin' about this sudden beef between Magenta Streak and Covered Scenes. What's up with her anyhow?" Babs looked around the rest of Ponyville's busy Square and answered, "I don't know. Maybe jealousy. Magenta Streak makes a lot of bits apparently and is richer than any YouHoof star out there. Carolid has a lot of subscribers and views, but not nearly as much as The Gold Sisters. Yet she's number one. Wonder why." "Hey, listen. Bright Snow just released something on YouHoof." Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom looked at each other, then behind them towards a stallion who was showing them his Z4. "Dude, she just released it. Didn't even know she could sing. It's really good." Apple Bloom shot her wide eyes to her friends who in turn stared back. Sweetie and Diamond both flew through their apps towards YouHoof. Stopping on The Gold Sisters' channel. Sure enough, there Bright was in a thumbnail behind a Mixer, smiling. "'Bright Snow - Shine On'," Babs read aloud, motioning towards the title. Then at the impressive views. "Twenty million already?! It's only been up here two hours!" "Quick, play it!" Silver Spoon instructed. Sweetie did. The video started off with Bright jumping from the side into the chair in Violet Haven's Studio, spinning it around. She thrust out her hooves to grab the mixer and stop spinning, eyes on the camera grinning. "Hi, everypony!" She greeted. "It's your favorite dancer, Bright Snow. I'm sure by now that all of Equestria has heard of the sudden conflict between my sister and Covered Scenes. Not to mention her display of stress on her latest live stream on YouHoof. Well to be honest? I have never seen that. Nor have mom or dad. Apparently she stays up way too late and gets one hour of sleep on a regular day. When she's touring, three. So she is drained and exhausted. Magenta is now sleeping and more than likely won't wake up until eleven tomorrow. So I'm carrying both our loads until then. Any questions can be directed to me. "This evening while Magenta and I were watching Covered Scenes' rant, I realized that I do have a lot of tracks that are unreleased. So many in fact that I could publish two albums through YouHoof and still have two or three singles afterwards for Starfire. So I decided to share one of them with you. I hope you enjoy it!" Bright reached out towards the play button on the mixer. Then pressed it. Bright's Song After Bright uploaded her track, she tenderly walked down the staircase into the lonely living room. Serene, quiet. Alone once again. Was this what being a superstar was all about? Bits? Fame? Conflict with a pony she's never heard of before? Who the buck is Covered Scenes anyway and how did she find out about Magenta's real earnings? There was no way all of those were estimates. They were too on point. Ignoring those thoughts, Bright walked into the kitchen and opened the steel refrigerator. Rummaging through it for a soda. After grabbing it, she walked towards the balcony doors and slid the door open, letting in the cool evening breeze. Bright walked out and looked out over the city of Manehattan, observing the average Pegasi fly by with a friend or two, eating ice cream. Bright was eager to see what would happen if they dropped that cone. She was also eager to see how many views she was getting on her song. Magenta was going to release her emotional tomorrow, but was more than likely going to sleep right through that. Bright had to do it. She was more than happy to share the load. Magenta was always working. It was her turn. Bright sighed and popped the cap on the bottle with her teeth. Then leaned back her head and took a sip. Sighing in relief as the acidic bubbles fizzled on her tongue, the taste of strawberries flowing through her mouth and down her throat. She whispered, "That's a great change of pace." She placed the bottle down on the glass dining table beside her, then took a seat on one of the square white soft cushions behind her when the phone rang inside. Sighing, she stood back up and walked in to get it from the living room. Probably mom. Once she reached the table in the middle of the room, she pressed the answer key and answered, "You've reached The Gold Sisters." "It's your mother. Where's Magenta?" "Sleeping." Bright looked towards the hall Magenta disappeared down and listened to some heavy snores. "And sleeping hard. She snores like a pig." "Good. Your father and I were very worried when we saw the images on the news. Did Maggy tell you about Golden?" "Yeah. She passed away, right?" Bright asked solemnly. "I'm very sorry to hear that." "Yeah, she was a sweet pony. Magenta wanted me to let her know." Bright nodded and made her way back out onto the patio. Speaking all the while. These new inventions were amazing, they could pick up her voice from meters away. "Yeah, Maggy was saying she was going to do something for the family. She was going to give them some bits for her funeral." "That sounds like a good idea," Goldhoof responded quietly. "It would show that she cares. When will she do it and how? I recommend not doing it through the mail because that would infer that Magenta had her address." Bright picked up her soda and responded, "Make-A-Wish has her information. So Magenta can send them the money, then they could give it to her." She twirled her bottle around and watched as a few ponies flew by. "Yeah, that could work. They would understand and hopefully cooperate with all of these new rumors about Magenta not having a goal in life. Speaking of all of this, I'm very proud that you moved all the attention away from your sister onto yourself with one of your songs. It was really good by the way." "Thanks mom," Bright replied. Then put the bottle to her lips and took a sip. "Maggy's releasing her 'emo track'—as she calls it—tomorrow. But she'll more than likely sleep through it. So I'll just do it for her." "The one that has something about scars in it and had the house shaking when she was recording her voice?" Bright grinned and nodded. "Yes, that one, mom." "Everypony's going to be really impressed with that one. Add that to the fact that she's not monetizing it. Listen, let Magenta know that we love her and we're going to be rooting for her always. And to enjoy her vacation as much as she can, okay?" It seems the conversation was wrapping up. "Okay... Love you too mom. Say hi to daddy for me, alright?... Okay, see you later." Bright walked back into the penthouse and closed the door back when her mother hung up. She had to monitor these news reports and— Bright's vibrating phone pulled her out of her thoughts once again. Walking back down into the living area, Bright grabbed it from the table and looked at the ID. "Carolid," Bright muttered. Then answered it with, "Bright Snow." "Heyyyy, Bright! How's my girl?!" Carolid asked immediately. "Saw some Magenta Streak beef going on and wondered... Why?" Bright hopped down onto the couch and grabbed the remote with a wing. "Don't know. Maggy's sleeping right now." "Good thing. I mean seriously, those bags could scare Nightmare Moon on Nightmare Night. They sure scared me. How are you guys handling this? Need some help?" Bright smiled and shook her head. Classic Carolid, always helping out others. They may just be friends for business, but she still had a soft side. "Since you're offering." "Awesome. I'm doing a Live Vlog about this in a few minutes. I know Magenta was super-duper frustrated when she saw that video, huh?" "She was T'd off," Bright corrected. Then stopped talking and turned her attention to the screen. "And apparently, so is YouHoof. News just said they're suspending Covered Scene's Channel for two months." "What?! Oh man, that's going to burn her income. Probably should've watched what she said. She was tampering with a fellow Vlogger's success by spreading conspiracies on YouHoof. She could actually be sued. But a bunch of snoring is telling me Magenta's too tired." Bright lowered the phone and listened closely. Snickering at what she heard. Bright sighed and lifted the phone back up. "Yes, that's Magenta." "Lol. Cool. So I'll mention you guys in this upcoming vlog. Hey, I know Magenta was thinking about starting her own label, and had to actually be twenty-one to do, correct?" Bright nodded and answered, "Yeah." "Well Equestrian laws state that if somepony wanted to start a business, they could as long as they were represented by another company. They can't do it alone. So technically, if Magenta really wants to start her own label, she could theoretically use YouHoof. You know they promote YouHoof and The Gold Sisters as an official partner. Imagine it like this. You're a brand that is escalating into your own business who is owned by YouHoof. If Magenta could get in contact with YouHoof's corporate offices, she could actually do it." Bright threw her hoof to the side in realization. "Wait, I remember that in their Terms and Conditions for Creators when you first sign up!" "Wait, you read those? I just get a simplified version from a random library's archives." Bright scoffed and answered, "I also get a paper copy. Magenta could actually start it if she wanted to! But... Magenta and I are privately owned by Starfire though. And you know how selfish they are. A business under a business would make things technical and complicated. So unless Magenta backs down from Starfire, she can't until the Ten-year contract is closed." "Right. Buck, I thought I was onto something." Bright hummed for a moment in thought. Thinking on what she suggested. "You may have been," she whispered. "I need to do some more digging into this contract. We may be able to find a loophole. Until then, we'll just continue with what we're already doing." "Alright. I'll mention you guys in my latest video. Have a great week, girls!" Bright started to say something before Carolid hung up, leaving the phone with a dead tone. Sighing, Bright hung up next. This was going to be a long week. The next morning was full of activity on news channels, YouHoof, and Starfire's label, who reached out to Magenta but ended up with Bright the next morning at eight. Leave it to them to be early. Bright had actually taken a shower and was making her way to the kitchen for some food. Magenta always had something good in there. Mom would sneak something healthy in Magenta's food stash she always thought Magenta herself put. It was definitely mom. After grabbing a mandarin orange from inside the fridge, she closed it back and went through the process of peeling the fruit with her teeth. She opened her mouth and descended down on the orange before the phone rang, freezing her. She glanced up towards the living room at the daunting phone. Then sighed and backed away from the orange, destination for it. Hopefully there would be no drama this morning. Along the way, she pressed the control to let in the sunlight through the window, lighting up the area that was previously lit only by lamps sitting on the tables in the corner. While the home brightened up, Bright pressed the answer key. "Gold sisters," she greeted. "Hey, Bright, it's your manager," Sound Boost greeted. Bright sighed and glanced away, clearly annoyed. She could bet her bits that he was behind his desk, drinking some type of fancy beverage back at the office, reading a newspaper on them. No matter how specific it was. "How are you?" Might as well face the fireworks, Bright thought before answering, "I'm alright. At home right now." "Good, good." Sound Boost swiveled around in his chair and looked out the glass windows that made up the whole wall of his office back at Starfire, watching Celestia' sun rise. "Listen, I want to speak to Magenta but I know she's asleep. So I'll relay it to you. As your manager, I'm required to tell you that even though I don't like this beef between her and what's-her-mouth, it's excellent marketing material. Great for promotion. Everypony's going to be talking about this. But it's a gamble. If Magenta messes up, it could cause sales to dip. And her sales have always been high like a stock. And if her sales dip, Starfire's sales dip. Starfire relies solely on her to make great music and material so we can make great bits. Now as for her income, it's true, I won't deny it. She gets paid a lot, and we don't want it to stop. She doesn't want it to stop, we know that. And that's why... We want her to push that new track through Starfire." "Wait, what?" Bright asked. That was Magenta's decision, not theirs! "Magenta said she's going to push that through YouHoof, not Starfire and she has that right." Sound Boost rolled his eyes and turned back around to face the desk he was sitting behind, eyes on the newspaper with Magenta Streak's face. "I mean yeah, it's her decision. But with this recent conflict, she has gotten a lot more attention, I just learned this morning through our marketing department. Way more than usual. Just like that pony said yesterday, she in fact gets paid because the same ponies listen to her tracks multiple times a day. But that's not all the ponies in Equestria. Right now, she has the eyes of all the ponies in Equestria. So if she were to release this track through Starfire Records, she could make a ton of bits off that one track. She would lose a lot of money if it's not monetized. It's no big deal, but we highly recommend it." "Magenta's going to release it through YouHoof, that's her final decision," Bright relented. Sound Boost sighed, then glanced up to the five ponies standing in front of his desk with stern faces, waiting for an answer to their unasked question. Sound Boost shook his head to them and replied to the call, "Alright, Bright. You know I'll support you guys either way. We'll handle the damage on this end... Alright, talk to you later." Sound Boost hung up and reported, "Magenta's distributing through YouHoof and that's her final decision." One of the C-Suite executives, a yellow mare with a silver and violet mane and tail stalked forward and stated, "We need to modify her contract. This beef has unexpectedly skyrocketed her value and popularity in Equestria. Not to mention Net Worth." Sound Boost gasped and asked, "W-What? Ms. Gold Spoon, with all due respect her term is almost complete! We can't just add to it now, we'd have to offer a new contract! And it wouldn't be exactly fair for her either!" "Then we'll make a new contract. Magenta's attention just grew and we need to take advantage of it to take over Equestria. Our label would be immense. Imagine our company enrolling into the stock market, becoming more than just a label. We could own so many businesses alone. So many bits would be circulating through our pockets. And it all starts with her." Gold Spoon placed her hoof on Magenta Streak's photo on he newspaper. "We need her to stay with Starfire until we can get this done, then she can go. The more music she can make and monetize, the more we can succeed. We just authorized a nationwide tour for your clients and made millions. We want to do more of those but we have to have her stick with the label and only the label." Sound Boost was getting a bad vibe. Only the label. Leaning in, he asked slowly, "What are you saying, ma'am?" "She needs to drop YouHoof. All that money she makes off her online shows could be for Starfire. Instead, they're going straight to YouHoof. We want that, we need that, and we're going to get that. And with this new scandal, we could use that to our advantage. An excuse. 'Magenta, you need to get off YouHoof because you are causing too much drama.' Boom, she has no other choice but to distribute through Starfire."