//------------------------------//
// Chapter Eight: The Good Times? 
// Story: Bricks in the Wall 
// by _NAME_ 
//------------------------------//


Chapter Eight

The Good Times?




“So baby… How ‘bout it?” The unicorn mare smiled at me and caressed my face, giggling to herself. Slowly, she sidled closer and leaned on the wall next to me, placing her hoof on my jacket and slid it off, throwing it to the ground. She moved closer and I could feel her hot breath on my face as she panted in excitement.

Quietly, she whispered in my ear. “I can give you all you need, baby. These other girls? You don’t need ‘em.”  With another giggle she moved in even closer and nibbled on my ear.

I recoiled at the bite and spun to face her, my hoof half raised in reflex. She looked back at me, her face frozen half in fright and half in amusement as I fought the reaction to hit her.  Gradually, I lowered my arm, returning it to my side and forced myself to relax. She didn’t mean any harm. She giggled again and sauntered closer once more, flashing her practiced bedroom eyes at me. “Baby…” she drawled. “Let’s gooooo…. Surely you got someplace, bein’ a rock star an’ all?” 

I turned and looked at her again, this time directly into her eyes. Her blue eyes. Blue like Rêves.

“Not you, hon.” I pushed her off of me, practically shoving her into the trashcans on the opposite side of the alley.

She managed to catch herself before she hit the floor though and glared at me as she readjusted the tattered, stained saddle she was wearing. She huffed and shook herself, as if trying to shake off excess filth. Like she wasn’t dirty already after a night of working the streets.

“Go on.” I shooed her. “Send the next one back while you’re at it.”

She looked at me indignantly and turned, trotting back around the corner. “Fine!” she called back over her shoulder. “I will! I don’t wanna go with you anyways! You rockers are bastards!”

“Oh, piss off, hon!” I yelled back. “Send the next one! Haven’t got all night!”

As she rounded the alley corner, I bent down and picked by discarded jacket off of the floor. That little bitch, throwing my jacket to the floor, who did she think she was?! And it was vintage leather too! I sighed and slung the coat over my shoulder and readjusted my position to one more comfortable. Leaning on walls, while intriguing and mysterious looking, was not designed for a pony form.

Just then, the sound of hooves clacking against the stone pavement reached my ears. I glanced up to see the black and white stripes of a zebra trotting towards me. I blinked in surprise, wary of the situation already. I never considered there being non-pony whores in Canterlot, though I suppose there was a certain exotic quality of having a zebra that was appealing. I had certainly never done a zebra before. Back home, the only girls you could find out on the streets at night were strictly ponies.

The zebra dipped her head in acknowledgement as she approached. “Greetings, rock star Pink Floyd, I understand that you are looking for a good time? Trust me, out of all others here, I can satisfy anything your heart and body desires...”

I chuckled. “Yes, that’s what the last mare assured me of. And she was much more…forward than you are, hon.”

The zebra looked at me devilishly. “I am not so quiet in bed, I assure you. Now, do you want to go have some fun?”

I looked at the zebra thoughtfully. “How much?”

She smiled. “Oh, for you Pink Floyd, I’ll charge none. I only ask that you give me your autograph. That would suffice.”

My face fell at her words. “Leave.” I growled. “Send the next girl out.”

The zebra bitch balked. “W- Why? What did I say?”

I grunted. “I don’t want another fan obsessing over me while we’re going at it. I’ve had far too many nights like that these past few months.” I chuckled darkly and gestured for the zebra to leave. “If you had kept your mouth shut, we might’ve had something here. Now go.”

With a snort of anger, the mare turned and briskly trotted off without as much as a backwards glance. As she rounded the corner, she stopped and murmured something to the next working girl in line before disappearing from sight.

Well at least she left with more dignity than the last four had.

There was a brief period of silence before the next prostitute rounded the corner. Only it was immediately obvious it wasn’t a pony. Or anything remarkably similar to one.

It’s amazing how different the sound of griffon talons on cobblestone differ from hooves. It’s more of a skittering sound than the normal clop of a pony. 

And the next moment, my fears were confirmed as the hulking shape of the griffon rounded the corner. My heart skipped a beat. A griffon? Oh, dear Celestia, not a griffon…

In the distant recesses of my mind, I heard the resounding smack of a ruler on a desk and a shrill, reprimanding voice shrieking at us. I shuddered and closed my eyes, and hoped the griffon would leave.

And how would that even work? A griffon and a pony? I could see a zebra, but a griffon…?

I felt the sharp poke of a talon tap me on the shoulder. I winced and cracked open an eyelid to see the griffon watching me with mild disinterest.

When she saw my eyes open, she chuckled. “Ah. The pony lives. So you’re the one who’s been goin’ through the city’s whores like nothin’, huh? I guess what they say is true about ‘Sex, drugs and rock n’ roll,’ huh?” She chuckled, her beak clattering together. “Well, you wanna go then?”

I whimpered and vigorously shook my head. “No!” I half cried. “No! No griffons! Not now, not ever! Leave!  And send the next bitch out after you.”

The griffon blinked and for a split second her fist balled up in anger. She lifted her fist menacingly at me, and then stopped. She stood there for a moment, shaking, obviously at battle with herself over whether or not to punch my face in. 

I really hoped she wouldn’t.

I rather liked my face.

But the griffon took a deep breath and unclenched her hand, letting it swing loosely by her side. She breathed out again and smoothed down a few wayward feathers on her chest. She scoffed and turned away. “Whatever dweeb. Don’t like doing it with you lame ponies either.”

With those words, the griffon turned and walked away, vanishing around the corner where there was still a line composed of most of the hookers in the city waiting to petition for me. I paid them nicely.

I breathed out a sigh a relief I hadn’t known I was holding as the griffon departed. Of all the griffons I had met, which I could now count with my two front hooves, they both seemed to have anger problems. Must be a heredity trait, I figured. Sir and that griffon whore certainly hadn’t built a very good name for their species.

I waited a few more moments as the next mare approached the alleyway. Eventually, the very satisfying sound of hoofsteps on the cobblestone reached my ears. At least the next female was equine in nature. Perhaps I should have specified that.

As the next female stepped out of the shadows of the alley, I chuckled with interest. At least, I believed it was female. I didn’t know exactly what I was looking at. The creature was certainly pony-shaped, but more bug than equine. A black, shiny carapace covered her body, translucent wings hung by her sides, and a crooked horn adorned her head.

“Hey there big boy,” she chirped as she stepped closer, revealing small fangs, “I hear you’re looking for a dirty woman, Floyd. You know I can give you that, and so much more.”

I nodded in confirmation and gestured for her to continue her audition.

She suddenly stopped her approach a few feet away, and regarded me with a mixture of curiosity and hunger. “I can feel the love in you, Floyd. You’ve bottled it up, chained it and haven’t released it in a very, very long time. It’s almost sad that a stallion of your…position should contain so much.” She sighed and moved closer, her bug-like wings flittering as she spoke. “It isn’t healthy Floyd, to lock up love like that. I can feel it close to overflowing.”

She paused and gazed up into my eyes. “Though I suppose you know that, don’t you? Why else would you be here, but to guiltlessly let out these pent up feelings?” She smiled and began ran a hole marred hoof through my mane. “I can help with that Floyd. You know I can.”

I shivered at the female’s words and nodded tensely. 

“But why is it you lock your love away so?” she crooned as she continued to stroke my mane. “Trouble with the Missus?” Her eyes flashed and a tingling sensation burned in the pit of my stomach. The changeling blinked, her eyes returning to normal. “No. That’s not it, is it? No, it’s much deeper isn’t it?”

The changeling whore smirked and moved away. She concentrated for a moment and then lit up in a flash of light. I averted my gaze downwards and when I looked back up to see a off-white unicorn staring at me lustfully.

“Tell me Floyd,” she said as she changed appearance into a gray pegasus, “what are your passions,” she turned into a zebra, “your fantasies,” a brown earth pony, “your dreams? I can make them come true. I can be anypony or anything that your little heart requires.” Another flash of light and the changeling was once again standing in front of me.

I looked at her with a slight air of superiority. “How about you be yourself and we go sort out the problems you say I have?”

The creature blinked in confusion and then a grin slowly spread across her face. “I think we can do that, Floyd. I do indeed…”


~-~-~-~-~


The next afternoon I was alone again. 

I awoke around noontime as the sun’s rays began to filter through my bedroom window, shining bright light directly at my eyes. Groggily, I sat up in bed and rubbed the sleep from my eyes, making sure to turn my head away from the sun’s light.

It was then that I noticed the empty space beside me on the bed.

I sighed and stared at the spot the changeling had occupied the previous night after she had finished with her job. She had fallen asleep in the bed, tired from the night’s activities. Part of me hoped that she would still be there in the morning.

But she had left me, sneaking away sometime in the night.

I felt so alone.

I grabbed a pillow and hugged it close to my chest, hoping that it would help chase away the coldness I felt inside.

It didn’t.

And yet I held onto it anyway, stroking it absentmindedly as I stared off into space. Gradually, I began to rock back and forth. I glanced back at the window and at the Canterlot skyline outside. My hotel room looked out high over the surrounding countryside. I saw a small village nestled on the outskirts of a grand forest that seemed to stretch for miles.

They had given me the nicest room in the most expensive hotel in the city.

Anything for the star, right?

I chuckled and unclenched the pillow, letting it fall into my lap. What was I doing?  I was loved by thousands of ponies, not to mention my wife and friends, but… I just couldn’t explain why this uncertain feeling was here in my brain. I had no reason to feel like this. 

I’m Pink Floyd, one of the most well-known musicians Equestria has seen! My songs have garnered an audience of millions as my songs lifted their spirits after the war. My ballads have soothed their aching hearts and touched even the coldest codgers. I’ve produced dance songs that have defined a generation and I’ve even catered to the children! I had it all. The dream job. The money. A loving wife. Fame. Love.

So what was missing?

I realized that I didn’t know.

I didn’t know what was wrong with me. 

The whore had said something last night… Something about love…

Something about… 

Something…

I didn’t know.

I decided to go for a walk, hoping that the clear air would ease my worried mind.

With a lethargic sigh, I swung out of bed and walked into the bathroom. I stared at my reflection, disheveled and pallid, for a few moments, before washing my face in the sink. There was a small pill container sitting out on the counter. I stared at it too and then wrangled open the top and shook a few pills into my hoof. I allowed myself a small smile and took them all with a glass of water. It only dulled some of the pain that I felt.

Feeling refreshed, I walked out into the main room of the penthouse room and flung on my jacket. I took one last look at the room, at the view outside the ceiling-to-floor windows, at the private swimming pool out on the balcony, and switched off the lights.

I took the elevator down to the lobby and immediately felt intimidated by the sheer volume of ponies milling around. I gulped and stepped out of the elevator as several others pushed past me to get on.

With trepidation, I slunk around the edge of the crowd, hoping no one would notice me, hoping no one accidently bumped into me. I didn't think I could handle that right now.

But I made it through with little incident. I exited the hotel and made my way down the street. It was late afternoon, so not many ponies were out, for which I was grateful, and those that were seemed to want to avoid the grumpy-looking, unkempt pink stallion walking past them. I didn't mind. I didn’t want to interact with them either.

And still that empty feeling lingered. I couldn’t understand it, but lately it seemed to gnaw at me all the more. 

So I did the only thing I could. Sex, drugs, and rock n’ roll, and some more drugs, and some alcohol. I kept pouring things, vices, into the emptiness, but it was never filled.

My hooves felt heavy as I walked further and further down the street. Like everything I dumped into my body was settling there, but not beyond.

I passed by some wall plastered with posters of all shapes and sizes. Something caught my attention, and I froze and went back to look at it. There, in the middle of the wall, unblemished by any other notice, was a large poster for the concert I was playing at that night.

I was standing on my rear hooves, singing into a microphone with a fervor I hadn’t had in a long time. Large letters across the top proclaimed, 'PINK FLOYD’S 1000TH SUMMER SUN CELEBRATION TOUR!' and below that, ‘HIS FIRST STOP - TONIGHT IN CANTERLOT!’, and then some other tour dates and destinations at the bottom.

I stared at that stallion on the poster for some time, no particular emotion coming to me. 

I blinked

And before I knew what I was doing, I had gripped the poster and tore it from the wall. I let it fall to the ground and looked back at what remained. The only part that hadn’t torn off was a corner with the word ‘PINK’ emblazoned at the very top. 

That seemed satisfactory. Pink was my name, after all.

I continued down the sidewalk, my mind not growing any clearer, but my steps growing ever more haggard. I didn’t get much sleep last night, and the pills I popped didn’t have much of an effect.

Eventually I came to a stop on some street corner, unable to move any further. Despite everything, I was still so cold, so empty. I wished I had brought my sunglasses, because the world was too bright, too cheery. Its colors were overwhelming.

The building I leaning on was some hardware store, judging by the ad for hammers in its window. But it was closed. A different sign said so. I wasn’t sure, so I tugged on the doors, but they were locked.

I stayed there for a little while longer, watching as the world moved around me. There was some mare carrying groceries home, struggling under all the weight. Behind her was some posh-looking stallion with his nose stuck so far in the air it seemed he was bird watching. From the opposite way, some unicorn lady was chatting with her friend about the latest fashion trends. Then, there was a young couple, a unicorn mare and an earth pony stallion, so close together that it wasn’t too hard to tell they were in love.

They all seemed so happy, in their own rights, so full. And I wasn’t.

But my thoughts kept flashing back to the couple and their love. I thought of my own wife back home, of how much she loved me, of how much she cared. She never failed to make me happy.

So maybe she could help now. Yes, maybe Rêves could. Of course he would help. She loved me. My wife loved me. She could take away this pain I’ve felt for so long. Just had to ask, that’s all. She could help me fill the emptiness.

I rushed back in the direction of the hotel, planning to call her on the phone. I would call, and she would pick up and all my worries would vanish.

But as I got to the entrance, I remembered the throng of ponies inside and wavered on the sidewalk outside, debating on whether or not to go inside. The doorstallion looked at me curiously, but didn’t say anything.

I couldn’t, I decided. I couldn’t work up the nerve to brave the crowd inside again. Even the idea of so many bodies sent shivers down my spine.

So I asked the doorstallion if there were any payphones around, and as luck would have it, there was one located inside the alleyway next to the hotel. I hurried there and found it next to some dumpsters and trash, but at the moment, I didn’t care. 

Without any money on me, I dialed the operator as fast as I could, intending to place a collect call.

The operator picked up the phone on the fourth ring. “Hello?” said an overly enthusiastic female voice on the other side.

“Hey, yeah, I would like to place a collect call to my wife.”

“Certainly sir, just need your name and the number.”

I hesitated for a moment. I gave her my name and number.

“Calling now, Mr. Pink. Just a moment.”

I waited eagerly as the operator dialed Rêves. The phone rang on the other end once.

Twice.

Then I heard the telltale click of the receiver being lifted. I smiled. After so long, I knew Rêves would help me. She loved me dearly, and I loved her back just the same.

“Hello…?” said the voice on the other end. But… It wasn’t the voice of my wife. It was a male’s voice. One I had heard just before I left to go on tour when he had asked Rêves out for a drink. I felt my previous excitement vanish and begin to be replaced by something altogether more volatile.

The operator began talking again, this time to the other stallion. “Yes, this is a collect call for Mrs. Rêves from Mr. Pink. Will you accept the charges from Canterlot?”

There was silence on the other end for a moment, as if the stallion who picked up was unsure what to do. 

But then, he hung up the phone and the connection was terminated.

“Oh!” exclaimed the operator. “He hung up! That’s your residence right? I wonder why he hung up. Is there supposed to be somepony else there besides your wife to answer?”

I felt my heart flutter in my chest. There shouldn’t have been anypony there besides her to answer. And certainly not any stallions! 

What the hell was going on over there?

I exhaled a shaky breath, thoughts of infidelity and betrayal floating through my mind, my original purpose for the call completely forgotten.

“Sir?” interjected the operator politely as she could. “Would you like me to try again, sir?”

I gulped. “Yes please…”

“Certainly. Dialing again…”

I swayed back and forth as the phone rang. If she was cheating on me…

Finally, my house phone was picked up.

“Hello?” said the same husky, masculine voice.

“This is Canterlot calling, are we reaching-“

The receiver clicked once and the other side went quiet more as the stallion abruptly ended the call.

But not before I heard a rather feminine voice in the background. The rather familiar sound of my wife… calling the stallion to come back to bed.

And that was it.

My wife was cheating on me.

I felt the world go quiet as my mind processed that thought. Rêves, the mare I had loved and trusted for so long, had left me and run off with another stallion. It seemed unreal, but that was the only possible explanation. 

The chipper voice of the telephone operator interrupted my thoughts. “See, he keeps hanging up, and it’s a man answering, not your wife…”

The payphone fell from my grasp and clattered against the wall, cutting off the rest of the mare’s sentence. 

Slowly, I sunk to the ground, my eyes beginning to brim with tears as the realization fully hit me. My wife, Rêves, the love of my life, cheated on me.

For no reason.

Had she not been happy? I tried to remember the past few days preceding the day I left. Hadn’t she been happy? Hadn’t she been happy with me?

Hazy memories of the days before my tour started began to rise to the forefront of my brain.

There was one day she said she loved me, But… then she left soon after that. Something about… a job? I didn’t know. The memory seemed so faint, as I was watching from miles away. 

She seemed happy then. I was sure she was happy. But was it love for me, or joy that I was soon to leave so she and her lover could spend some quality time?

And then, later, when she was talking to that one stallion at the front doorstep, basically flaunting their secret affair in my face. ‘Go out for a beer sometime.’ Ha! I’ve never heard that euphemism before! How long had that affair been going on? Weeks? Months? I hadn’t a fucking clue. Hadn’t a fucking clue…

Fuck, how could I have been so blind?! Not to see what was directly in front of my own eyes?

Mother had been right. She did bring heartache and pain. My wife, if I could even call her that now, used me for her own personal satisfaction! Was anything we had special? Or was it like Mother said, and Rêves had been going behind my back since we were mere foals?

That lying two-faced bitch! What a fucking idiot I had been to ever believe a word that cruel example of a mare had ever said to me.

“…Fucking bitch…” I muttered.

“Excuse me!?” 

I glanced up at the voice to see a young, green colored pegasus staring at me from the mouth of the alleyway. The other ponies going about their business just behind her paid the mare no mind.

“Excuse me,” she began again, though rather nervously “What did you say to me?”

I didn’t answer the mare’s question, hardly trusting my brain to form a coherent answer. My eyes, however, studied the mare in earnest, following every curve of her face and her auburn mane before moving down her body and observed her shapely form.

I blinked and smiled apologetically, slipping into a mask of composure. “Sorry… Wasn’t talking to you…” I tore my gaze away from the pegasus and stared at my hooves blankly.

“Oh. Sorry. I’ll leave then, shall I?” She smiled and began to turn away, but then froze as if she just realized something. “Hang on…” the mare glanced back at me and took a step closer. “Aren’t you… Pink Floyd?”

I looked up at her, my face expressionless. “So what if I am?  What’s it to you, huh?”

He eyes shifted around nervously as she took another step forward into the alley.  “Well, I’m a big fan of his, and… Well… I’ve always dreamed of meeting him…”

“That’s nice, hon.”

She inched closer and glanced at my half-red, half-white record cutie mark. “You are him!” she exclaimed, practically jumping with excitement. “

“Am I?”

The mare’s face fell, suddenly adopting a more serious expression. “Yes. You are! Oh my gosh, what are you doing out here?” she gestured to the alley. “Shouldn’t you be getting ready for your concert this evening or something?”

I shrugged and didn’t answer. What was there to say? That my wife left me and I was crying to myself in this alleyway? 

The green mare bit her lip and teetered slightly, as if she wanted to say something, but wasn’t sure. She watched me uncertainly and I met her stare with an almost venomous look of my own that she completely failed to notice. 

I desperately wanted this pegasus to leave me to my thoughts. Already her constant parade of questions had annoyed me to no end. Had this mare no sense of observation? Here I was, hunched over in an alleyway, obviously distraught and all she could ask me if I was who I was! As if my face wasn’t instantly recognizable!

This mare had to be daft, and now it seemed that she was going to ask something else. No doubt asking me to autograph something of her or something equally pointless. Nothing turned me off more than when they wanted me to sign something.

Still, all things considered though, her interruption did take my mind off of the past few minutes. Maybe this mare was worth something after all.

“Hey,” she burst out, finally concluding whatever inner struggle she had been going through, “Do… Do you suppose you could, maybe, autograph something of mine…?”

I sighed. Then again, perhaps she was like any other groupie. 

“Look, hon... I’m…” 

“Oh, please Pink Floyd! Please!”

I groaned and rubbed my temples, trying to decide what to do.

On one hoof, I really didn’t want any distractions at the moment. But on the other hoof, any distractions would be welcome. And on a third hoof, she was a fan.

Oh, what the hell. 

Anything for the fans.

“Tell you what,” I began, “Let’s go up to my room and we’ll find something for you there, alright, hon?” The mare squealed in delight and hovered slightly off the ground. I forced a smile. "And just call me Pink. Pink Floyd's just a stage name, after all."

I placed a hoof on the wall behind me to steady myself as I stood. I glanced up at the hotel wall I had been leaning against.

The bricks that made up the wall were a curious thing. The foundation of it, especially the first few feet, was filthy. Muck and grime accumulated from years of its position bordering an alley coated the first few bricks, truly showing their age. But as you continued up the wall, the bricks began to look crisper and incredibly well maintained. In fact, as you neared the roofline, the bricks looked practically brand new, and fresh laid.

Though I knew even those bricks would become weathered with age as time went on.

Shaking my head, I tore my eyes away from the wall and back towards the green pegasus that was waiting anxiously to go up to my room.

And who knows? Maybe this mare would help take my mind off my wife. Maybe she would help.

Maybe.