An earth pony mare pushed a small cart along the streets of Ponyville, as well as reading a lost she had taped to the back of it where she could see it at all. “Right, got groceries, Booked Airwave’s appearance in the upcoming music festival, ensured stuff gets mailed to our new address from now on...now once I get these groceries home I can pop on over to Sparkling Harmony Records to see if this Master Mixer lives up to her—“
“HIYA NEW FRIEND!” The mare jumped and whipped her head around to see a pink earth pony spring into her field of view. The pink mare smiled widely at her. “HI MY NAME IS PINKIE PIE WHAT’S YOURS I’VE NEVER SEEN YOU AROUND HERE BEFORE YOU MUST BE NEW WELCOME TO PONYVILLE OOH I SHOULD THROW A WELCOME PARTY FOR YOU AND AIRWAVE ANYWAY I GOTTA GO SEE YA LATER NEW FRIEND!” Before the first mare even blinked ONCE, Pinkie was gone.
The mare stood there, absolutely flabbergasted at what just happened. “Did...why...just...wha...?” The mare shook her head. “Wait, why am I questioning it? That was the Element of Laughter. Are you really that surprised at how unpredictable she just was Lyrica?” She asked herself. Lyrica chuckled and went back to pushing her cart. “I wonder if she’s found Airwave yet.”
Meanwhile, the door to the basement opened and Flappy flew down into the studio. Sparkler and Airwave close behind him. Airwave got a look at the set up as he followed Sparkler down and let out an impressed whistle. “Whoo. So this is where the magic happens.”
Sparkler nodded. “Little more rundown and slapped together than Star Records’s studios, but where it lacks looks, it makes up for in the acoustics. Everything in here is precisely calibrated for the ability to capture the highest quality of audio possible.”
Flappy nodded. “Squawk! Couple that with two mixers who know their equipment down to the tiniest bolt, and you certainly get what you pay for. Squawk!”
Airwave nodded. “I look forward to seeing you work.”
Sparkler nodded as she took a seat in her chair and gestured for Airwave to sit on the couch. “So Airwave. You say you’re currently working on your new album. How much of it was done before Star Records went kaput?”
“Well. I would say about a quarter of the songs were finished in their entirety, but unfortunately all the files were lost in the fire. So now we’ll need to start near completely from scratch.” Airwave replied.
“Squawk! Ouch. That stings. Squawk!”
Sparkler nodded. “Near completely from scratch?”
Airwave nodded. “Lyrica, the pony who helps me write the songs, saves the original note sheets in her music journals, so those survived the fire.”
Sparkler smiled. “That’s good.”
Airwave nodded. “She’s a life-saver. She should be on her way now. She had some stuff to take care of at our new house before coming here.”
Sparkler nodded. “So when she gets here we can get started.”
Airwave nodded. “So while we wait...” He glanced into the main studio and then back at Sparkler. “You have a lot of instruments in here. You play any of them by chance?”
Sparkler nodded. “I can play every single one of them, as a matter of fact. Though some more than others, my main drivers are the bass guitar, drums, and keyboard.”
Airwave smiled. “Sweet. You play often?”
“Eh...” Sparkler shifted her weight in her chair. “Kinda, in my spare time I like to record songs for fun.”
Flappy nodded. “Squawk! It’s how she got her cutie mark. She can play like it’s nothing. Squawk!”
Sparkler chuckled. “Oh, I wouldn’t say I’m THAT good.”
Airwave chuckled as an idea came to him. He got up off the couch and started for the main studio. He smiled at Sparkler. “Wanna play something?”
Sparkler raised an eyebrow. “Pardon?”
Airwave gestured to the drums. I got the beat while you shred the bass?”
Sparkler’s eyes widened. “You mean...you and ME, play together...”
Airwave nodded. “Why not?”
To her credit, Sparkler didn’t faint at the prospect of playing with Airwave, her idol...She whipped her head around to look at Flappy. “Flappy, please poke me with one of your claws, hard.”
Flappy raised an eyebrow. “Squawk! Why? Squawk!”
“Because today is just too good to be real and I’m afraid I’ll wake up at any moment.”
Flappy and Airwave chuckled. Flappy shook his head. “Squawk! You ain’t dreaming Sparkler. You met your idol, are gonna work with him on his new album, and have the chance to play music with him right now. In short, it’s the best day of your life. Squawk!” Plus, if you were dreaming, you wouldn’t be wearing a sweater right now. Flappy dared not say that last thought out loud. He and Sparkler weren’t alone, or with Twilight.
Sparkler nodded. “Yer darn tootin’ it is!” She grinned and shot out of her seat. “Flappy don’t miss a SINGLE note of this—er...” She frowned and turned to Airwave. “If that’s ok with you of course.”
Airwave chuckled and nodded. “Go ahead and hit record. Let’s see what you got.”
Sparkler nodded and summoned her bass. “I am crossing a LOT of things off my bucket list today.” She giggled.
Airwave nodded and got set up on the drums. “Let’s rock this house!”
Soon, Lyrica was walking down the street towards Sparkling Harmony Records, having dropped off groceries at hers and Airwave’s new place. She smiled as she quickly scanned the house numbers, looking for 453. “451, 452...ah! 453. Just like on the flyer.” She smiled and walked up to 453’s front door and knocked on it. She waited a few seconds, a few more seconds, and frowned. “Hm...” she knocked again, and got nothing as a response. Lyrica raised an eyebrow. “It shouldn’t take so long to get to the door—what’s that?” Her pony ears picked up a muffled sound, almost like...Lyrica’s eyes widened, and smiled. She giggled. “Airwave you goofball.” She chuckled to herself. Airwave was jamming out inside the house. Presumably with whoever Sparkling Medley was. “I’ll just wait for them to sto—“ She was interrupted by the door opening and was greeted with a parrot smiling at her.
“Squawk! Welcome to Sparkling Harmony Records. Are you here to commission a song or two? Squawk!”
Lyrica chuckled and shook her head. “Nah, I’m not here to commission a song myself. I’m Lyrica, Airwave’s manager/songwriter, he told you I was coming late right?”
The parrot smiled and nodded. “Squawk! Perfect! He did say you’d be coming along. Come right in. Squawk!” The parrot let Lyrica in. It closed the door and flew into the house. “Squawk! If you’ll follow me, I’ll take you down to the studio. My name is Flappy by the way. Nice to meet you Lyrica. Squawk!”
Lyrica nodded. “Nice to meet you too Flappy.”
Flappy led Lyrica down into the basement, where the music was definitely coming from. Lyrica descended the steps and saw something that made her snicker. Airwave, banging the drums, providing a beat for a unicorn mare that was shredding the bass.
Flappy smiled as he landed on the table. “Squawk! Just give me a sec to get their attention. Squawk!” He turned to the two musicians, and started squawking at the top of his lungs.
Near immediately, Sparkler heard the sound of squawking over her bass and stopped playing, Airwave following suit. Sparkler turned to Flappy, who had stopped squawking. “Everything ok Flappy?”
Flappy nodded. “Squawk! Yeah. I just needed to get your guys’s attention because we got a visitor. Squawk!” He gestured to Lyrica.
Sparkler and Airwave turned to see another pony standing there. Airwave smiled as he walked out from behind the drums. “Lyrica. You made it.”
Lyrica nodded. “I said I would.” She turned her attention to Sparkler. “And you must be Sparkling Medley. The rising star in the music industry.”
Sparkler nodded as she held out a hoof to shake. “Sparkler will be fine. And your Lyrica?”
Lyrica nodded as she shook Sparkler’s hoof. “Lyrica Harp. Airwave’s manager, songwriter, roommate, and marefriend.”
Airwave blushed as he smiled sheepishly as Sparkler giggled. “Lyrica, did you have to say that last part.”
Lyrica giggled. “Hey, had to make sure Sparkler here knew you were taken.” She turned back to Sparkler. “If you try something, it won’t end well.”
Sparkler laughed. “Oh don’t worry Lyrica. I swing towards mares anyway. If anything, Airwave should be worried I might try and steal YOU from HIM.” She cleared her throat. “Ahem, not that I would ever do that. I don’t get in the way of a relationship. No matter my own feelings.”
Flappy nodded. “Squawk! Yeah. Besides, she has her own crush on—“ He was cut off when his mouth was magically jammed closed. He looked at Sparkler, who’s eyes were clearly telling him, Finish that sentence and I will burn your wonderbolts costume. I DO NOT need anymore teasing.
After letting go of Flappy’s mouth, Sparkler cleared her throat. “Moving on. Now that Lyrica’s here. Let’s start making some music. What song do you want to work on first?”
Lyrica nodded as Sparkler took her seat at the mixer. “Before we get into that. There is one thing that we need to be clear on. Non-Disclosure.”
Sparkler nodded. “Standard SHR privacy guarantee, neither I nor Flappy will breathe a word of content creation to anypony until release, or however long is specified. Though we do however reserve the right to client identity disclosure unless expressly requested by said client.”
Airwave chuckled. “Nah, you don’t need to hide who you’re working with.”
Lyrica nodded. “Just everything relating to the songs.”
Sparkler let out a sigh of relief before she could stop it. “Oh thank Celestia. I honestly wasn’t sure how long I could go without telling somepony that one of my biggest dreams came true today.”
Lyrica and Airwave chuckled. “Let me guess, number one fan?”
Flappy laughed. “Squawk! Lyrica, she had to excuse herself to let out a VERY audible squeal of delight when Airwave first arrived. Squawk!”
Sparkler smiled sheepishly. “Ahem. I hope you can forgive that. I’m usually more professional.”
Airwave chuckled and nodded. “I understand. Not every day you get a chance like this.”
Sparkler smiled and shook her head. “No. This is honestly once in a lifetime.”
Flappy nodded. “Squawk! So, we gonna lay down some sick beats or what? Squawk!”
Sparkler chuckled and nodded. “Shortly.” She turned to Airwave and Lyrica. “So, which song do you want to work on first?”
To be continued...