//------------------------------// // Performance // Story: What A Long Strange Trip // by milesprower06 //------------------------------// Sunset was roused from sleep by the incessant beeping and vibrating of her phone on the nightstand. She reached up to grab it, sliding her thumb across the screen to unlock it. New Message Applejack Happy birthday, sugarcube. Meet me out front in 30 with your guitar. Got a little surprise for you. -AJ She double-checked the time that was sent, and realized that she had about 25 minutes left to get ready. She threw the covers off of herself and swung her legs around to the floor, and headed down the short flight of stairs to the bathroom, turning on the shower as she got out of her purple pajamas. She wasn't intending on doing anything outrageous for her birthday, and she figured that AJ and the others had planned on a cake or something. After a quick five minute shower, she hopped out, wrapped a towel around her chest, and quickly dried and styled her hair. By the time that was done, the rest of her barely needed any toweling off, and she was ready to get dressed. Throwing on one of her usual outfits, she took her guitar from the stand next to her amp and put it in its case, making sure everything was latched before picking it up and taking it down the stairs. Heading out into the hall, she locked her door and headed down the three flights of stairs down to the front walk, getting outside just as Applejack was pulling up in the farm truck. "Morning, Sunset. Put your guitar in the back and we can be on our way." AJ greeted. Sunset did just that, setting her guitar case next to AJ's case containing her bass in the bed before opening the door and sitting in the passenger seat, buckling up. "Alright, you don't get motion sick easily, do you?" Applejack asked, digging into a cloth bag between the two of them. "Not terribly, why?" Sunset answered. In response, AJ came out with a simple black blindfold. ""We just want to keep it a surprise, that's all." Applejack answered, leaning over and tying the cloth over her eyes and around her head. With that done, she put the truck into drive, and they were off. Sunset tried her best to deduce where they were going from the direction Applejack had turned, but what she couldn't get a good handle on was how fast they were going. They had made a right out of her complex, so they were definitely heading south, towards the school. But AJ had to have been doing a little under the speed limit. Because what was normally a 3-5 minute drive was now approaching the seven minute mark. Applejack knew how clever Sunset was, especially for something as simple as the four-minute drive to school. So she was indeed going five under the posted limit, as well as taken a few side streets through some neighborhoods to throw her off. Ten minutes later, they pulled into the lot, and Appleack opened the driver side door. Sunset began to reach up for her blindfold. "Not just yet, Sunset. We're not quite there yet." AJ told her. The farm girl came around to the passenger side door, opened it, and took Sunset's hand, helping her out of the truck. She carefully handed the guitar case to the blindfolded girl before grabbing her own bass, and took her hand and lead her down the walk. Sunset could tell they were headed down a very gradual downhill, but couldn't hear much of anything outside of the passing traffic out on the main road, and that was becoming quieter as they walked away from wherever they had parked. Then, they slowed, and AJ let her know that stairs were coming. Sunset raised up her next step, and found the stairs. Wooden stairs. She stepped up four of them, and her guitar case was gently removed from her grasp before continuing on the flat wooden platform. She heard her guitar case being opened, then twenty seconds later, she felt the weight of the strap of it on her left shoulder before hearing it get plugged in. "Alright, Sunset..." She heard Applejack say, as the knot holding the blindfold on was loosened, and the cloth fell away. "Happy birthday." Sunset found herself standing front and center on the stage of Canterlot High's amphitheater. She looked around, and saw that the rest of her friends had their instruments and were up on stage with her. Down in the front row, sat Flash and the members of his band, along with VInyl. "Hey guys, what's going on here?" She asked. "Well, you know the rehearsals that we've been canceling the last two weeks?" Rainbow asked. "Well, we haven't been canceling anything. Flash told us that you've been working on a song of your own, and we thought we'd surprise you by letting you perform it live, with everything, for the first time." Sunset's eyes widened. "You've actually been practicing my song...?" She asked, her heart skipping a beat. "Every Wednesday and Friday for the last two weeks!" Pinkie chimed in excitedly. "No lead vocals though," Rainbow added. "We're leaving that to you. So what do you say?" Sunset turned towards the seats, and Flash gave her a smile and a thumbs up, as Pinkie began to tap out her song's tempo on the bass drum and high hat. Sunset swallowed the lump in her throat, and slowly took two steps up to the microphone, getting her left hand positioned on the neck of her guitar, for 'My Past Is Not Today's opening riffs. Then she heard Pinkie's drumsticks give off the count, and she began strumming, with Rarity's keyboard joining in at the same moment. "~Power... Was all I desired But all that grew inside me Was the darkness I acquired." Flash sat with his bandmates, listening and watching with a smile, never taking his eyes off of Sunset as she sang out to the nearly empty amphitheater, which did not deter her in the slightest. He figured she could be singing on the roof of the school and it would sound exactly the same in this moment. "When I began to fall And I lost the path ahead That's when your friendship found me And it lifted me instead. Like a phoenix burning bright In the sky I'll show there's another side to me You can't deny I may not know what the future holds But hear me when I say That my past does not define me 'Cause my past is not today." Flash glanced over at Vinyl, who just gave him a thumbs up as she rocked along to the beat. "Ambition Is what I believed Would be the only way To set me free But when it disappeared And I found myself alone That's when you came and got me And it felt like I was home Like a phoenix burning bright In the sky I'll show there's another side to me You can't deny I may not know what the future holds But hear me when I say That my past does not define me 'Cause my past is not today!" All five members of Flash Drive along with Vinyl stood and applauded as the final chords were played and the Rainbooms went silent. Setting their instruments down, they all came around for a group hug around Sunset, praising her on her vocals. When they all parted, Sunset wiped her eyes and came to the front of the stage and hopped down to the front row, coming up to Flash. "Quite a terrific song you got there, Sunset." Flash complimented. "Thanks to you. If you ever need any more guitar picks, you know where to find me." Sunset told him, offering her hand out, which Flash shook with a smile. "Anytime, Sunset. Anytime."