“Twilight, can I ask you a question?”
“Go ahead, Spike.”
“Whatever happened to that castle restoration project we planned?”
“Oh, that. It has been a while since we tried to restore the castle, now that you mentioned it. We’ve been so busy these days. Maybe we should find time to continue it.”
“Have you even decided what we should do when the castle is complete?”
“That’s still up in the air. Maybe we’ll make it into a historical landmark for everypony to see or renovate it as a vacation home for Princess Celestia and Princess Luna. Anyway, let’s head on over to Fluttershy’s. Her fundraiser for the Ponyville Pet Center is coming up, and I want to make sure she’s ready. She planned everything after all.”
Along our way, we encountered the other girls, who coincidentally were also visiting Fluttershy. By the time we got to the cottage, we could hear Fluttershy singing. That’s when I realized this was when the episode “Filli Vanilli” would happen. In the show, Big Mac would lose his voice to a turkey call contest, so Fluttershy would have to replace him in the Pony Tones via poison joke. While I didn’t have to change that, there was something else I wanted to change.
I didn’t know what the writers were thinking when making that episode, but somehow they made Pinkie really unbearable in that episode. The party pony had put so much pressure on poor Fluttershy, that she almost made her cry. The worst part was, besides Rarity smacking her with a flyer, Pinkie never got karma for her actions. Well, that was definitely going to change today.
After Fluttershy concluded her song, she suddenly noticed us. We were all amazed by her singing.
Fluttershy squeaked, “Oh...you...um…you didn't hear me...um...”
“Singing in the most beautiful voice ever?!” Pinkie exclaimed.
“Yeah, we did!” shouted Rainbow Dash.
Fluttershy covered her face with her hooves.
“I've never heard you sing a solo like that before,” said Twilight.
“It’s even better than when we have a musical moment,” I added.
“It was like a little slice of heaven,” Applejack complimented.
“With ice cream on top!” Pinkie shouted.
“Fluttershy, I cannot believe your spectacular voice isn't part of the Pony Tones quartet,” said Rarity. “Especially since you're having us perform for your Ponyville Pet Center fundraiser tomorrow night!” She pulled out a poster to reveal the fundraiser event with the Pony Tones at the bottom.
“I didn’t know Rarity was in a band,” I said.
“Well, they’re pretty recent,” said Applejack. “Big Mac told me they joined up a couple of weeks ago. Didn’t think the big lug was into singin’.”
“Wait, he’s in the band as well?”
“Yep. He’s the...uh...bass singer stallion...whatever they’re called.”
“Baritone,” said Twilight.
“Right, right.” Applejack nodded. “Sorry, I don’t pay much attention to the specifics of music. More of a mare of action, if y’all know what I mean.”
“This simply must be rectified,” said Rarity, pointing her hoof up in the air. “You must share that stunning voice at the event!”
“Yeah! It'll be so amazing!” Pinkie exclaimed. “You'll be there on stage, basking in the hooflights! The center of attention! A shining star!”
“Don’t do it, Pinkie,” I warned.
But Pinkie continued, almost as if she didn’t hear me. “Everypony staring at you, judging you, jealously noting how they could be way better than you! Why wasn't it them? Why wasn't it them?”
“I said don’t do it, Pinkie!” I gripped my fist.
“Spike, are you okay?” Twilight asked in concern.
Again, Pinkie ignored me. “And then, when you choke, they'll turn on you, becoming a seething, angry mob, and you'll be horribly humiliated, never able to show your face in Ponyville again!”
WA-POW!!
What followed after that loud sound was all but a blur. It was as if someone tried to erase the memory to keep it from happening. I couldn’t tell where I was. My vision looked like I had the eyesight of a mole, and my hearing was muffled like it was stuffed with fifty earplugs. The only sounds I could recognize were the voices of the girls, but even then I couldn’t hear what they were saying.
Soon, my vision regained, and I checked my surroundings. A pair of lavender legs, definitely Twilight’s, covered me like they were trying to restrain me. Fluttershy stood with her hoof covering her mouth, probably trying to figure out what happened like me. Rarity was by Pinkie Pie, who lied on the ground and rubbed her swollen cheek. It was then I put two and two together and discovered what I did.
I punched Pinkie in the face.
In a fit of rage, I had just attacked one of my friends. A tidal wave of regret washed over me. I didn’t know why I gave Pinkie such a wicked blow. It could’ve been better if I simply called her out or even slapped her. But no. My anger got the best of me, and now Pinkie had just experienced the wrath of a dragon.
“Pinkie, are you alright?” Rarity asked worryingly.
“Oww...” That was the only thing Pinkie could say.
So far the only damage was her swollen cheek, as there wasn't any other exterior damage and Pinkie didn’t spit out any teeth.
“Pinkie, I...” I tried to step forward, but Twilight’s hooves kept holding me back.
“Can you stand up?” Rarity asked Pinkie.
Pinkie did her best to get up. She pressed on her cheek like she had a toothache.
“Pinkie, I’m sorry!” I said desperately. “I didn’t mean to hit you so hard! I was trying to protect...”
I tried my best to say something more, but every sentence trailed off.
“I’ll take it from here, Rares,” said Applejack. “Let’s get you an ice pack, sugarcube.”
Once both AJ and Pinkie left Fluttershy’s property, Twilight released me from her grip and spun me around.
“Why in Celestia’s name did you hit Pinkie like that, Spike the Dragon?!” Twilight barked.
I stayed silent, trying to think what I should say.
“She’s our friend!” Twilight continued. “You can’t do that! She—”
“She got what she deserved!” I retorted.
“Excuse me?!”
Who was I kidding? The way Pinkie acted towards Fluttershy, anyone could have done the same thing, no matter if they were from Equestria or my old world. Most of the regret I felt soon died away. I reminded myself what Pinkie did in the show, and I hoped that my attempts to shut her up would remind her not to be so insensitive next time.
“You heard me!” I pushed Twilight away. “Don’t make me the enemy here, Twilight Sparkle! You’ve heard those nasty things Pinkie said to Fluttershy! While I admit my retribution was disproportional, I was doing it to protect Fluttershy!”
“Perhaps Pinkie was a bit annoying, maybe even more than usual today,” said Rarity. “But that does not mean you had to resort to such brutish measures like that.”
“What would you have done if your special somepony was being mentally abused by someone, and they didn’t listen to you when you told them to stop?” I asked.
“Well...I...” Rarity looked at Fluttershy and then to the dirt road.
“Exactly.”
“Spike, please listen,” said Twilight. “Pinkie isn’t apathetic, but there are times when she has problems reading other ponies’ emotions. Sure she didn’t help Fluttershy in this case, but it was still a bad idea to punch her. She would’ve understood if you just talked to her.”
I pinched the bridge of my nose. “Alright, I’ll try to be much less violent next time.”
But hopefully, there won’t be a next time.
Rarity cleared her throat. “Anyway, Fluttershy, I was going to say that you should join the Pony Tones quartet, and make the Pony Tones quintet!”
Flutteshy sighed. “No.”
“Pardon me?”
“I love the Pony Tones, I'm one of their biggest fans, but I do not want to perform with them.”
“Why not?” Twilight asked.
“Well, you see...I...I have...um...I...I have...” Fluttershy couldn’t think up a word, let alone a sentence.
“Do you have stage fright?” I asked calmly.
Fluttershy raised her eyebrows. She then nodded slowly.
“Oh, that’s it,” said Twilight. “But you’ve faced problems like this before. I’ve seen you sing with the rest of us, and you performed in front of crowds before, like in that Hearth’s Warming play.”
“Yes, but that doesn’t mean I’m over my fear of performing. My stage fright doesn’t disappear like that.” Fluttershy clapped her hooves together. “I'm very thankful the Pony Tones are singing at the Pet Center fundraiser, and I'm really looking forward to the performance, but I'll be watching safely from the audience,” said Fluttershy.
Rarity sighed. “I think it's a terrible waste of an exquisite talent, but I understand that you're not comfortable.”
“Thank you.”
Angel then jumped in front of Fluttershy.
“Oh! Angel's right,” Fluttershy said. “We'd better get going. There's a lot of work to do before tomorrow's event.”
“We’ve got our fair share of work as well,” said Twilight. “We’ll see each other later.”
As the girls and I split up, Fluttershy quickly approached me.
“Um, Spike? Can I talk to you for a second?” she asked.
“Uh, sure thing,” I said.
Once the rest of the girls were gone, Fluttershy pulled me closer. Angel scratched his head.
“I really do appreciate you trying to protect me…” She then took a deep breath and looked away. “...but I’m afraid you might be going too far.”
I rubbed my forehead. “Look, Pinkie was pressuring you. She wouldn’t listen to me, so I had to knock some sense into her.”
“But you didn’t need to do it so literally.” Fluttershy looked at me with concern in her eyes. “Spike, I’m worried that you might have an anger issue. Sometimes you would shout at somepony because they did something wrong or argued with somepony else.”
In a way, she was partially right. There were times where I did yell at some ponies, including my own friends. But then I remembered the context for some of the scenarios. I sighed and scratched the back of my head.
“Well, there are times where my anger is justified,” I said. “I’m not saying that to deny I have an issue, mind you. Take that time at the Wonderbolts Academy, for example. Lighting Dust threw us off the balloon with that tornado of hers, and yet she never showed remorse for us. I had to let her know what she did. There’s also when Twilight came up with an awful plan to humiliate Dash instead of simply talking to her. For those times, I don’t think it was an anger issue, it was more of an idiot issue.”
Angel shrugged like he thought I had a point. This was one of the few times where the bunny agreed with me.
“We all have our dumb moments, Spike,” said Fluttershy. “That doesn’t mean you have to yell at us. You can quietly say that we’re doing something wrong.”
“I know, I know. But...I think you’re right about one thing.” I sighed and looked at the horizon. “What really ticks me off is when ponies or other creatures argue really loudly. I can accept arguments as long as they’re at a reasonable volume, but when they have to shout so loud that all of Equestria could hear, that’s when I get mad. The whole world doesn’t need to know about the disagreement, so why should it be forced to listen? For times when I have to tell other loud-arguing ponies to pipe down, that’s probably my real anger issue.”
“Why do such loud debates annoy you so much, anyway? Was there a cause for all this? Were you raised this way?”
I thought about whether or not I should tell her.
I think it’s okay. As long as she assumes this occurred in Canterlot.
“When I was younger, my neighbors, who were an elderly couple, would always argue with each other. It wouldn’t have been a problem had they not done it so much in the middle of the night. I would lose sleep because of their squabbles. I told my parents one day, and they told the neighbors, but that didn’t help at all. Eventually, my neighbors divorced and thankfully moved out of their house. But sadly the damage was already done, and to this day I had a hatred for loud arguments. I was thankful the only fights my own family had were resolved easily, quickly, and quietly.”
“Oh, my.” Fluttershy covered her mouth with her hoof again. “But hearing people argue a lot doesn’t sound like it would push your buttons later on.”
“It does when you can’t do anything about it. Throughout my childhood, I was taught peace and to suppress my rage, so that’s why I rarely shouted or fought back then. I guess it was because I was a dragon, and my parents didn’t want me to grow up violent like all the other dragons. And now that all my rage has built up inside me, it’s trying to let itself out.” I exhaled deeply. “But I promise you, I would never harm or yell at you for any unjustifiable reason. Dragon’s honor.”
“I hope not. If it’s not too much trouble, could you promise me that you’ll also try to at least calm yourself down whenever a loud argument is nearby? Or at least, find a different way to stop it?”
“Yes, I’ll try.” I swallowed. “Cross my heart and hope to fly. Stick a cupcake in my eye.”
I hoped that was one Pinkie promise I would never break.
Later that day, I helped Twilight with the decorations. I noticed Applejack and Pinkie next to each other. Pinkie had a vanilla ice cream cone smeared against her striked cheek for some reason.
“Uh, what’s with the ice cream?” Applejack asked. “What happened to the ice pack I gave ya?”
“This one’s tastier,” replied Pinkie. She licked a bit of the melted ice cream.
It’s nice to know even when she’s injured, she still finds a way to be random.
“Hey, Pinkie?” I asked. “I’m sorry for punching you. I couldn’t handle what you were doing to Fluttershy. I had to do something.”
Pinkie shrugged. “Eh, don’t think about it too hard. It’s not the worst pain I felt physically.”
“What was your worst physical pain?”
“I tried to get cheese from a mousetrap with my tongue.”
“Seriously?”
“It was cubed gouda. You can’t say no to cubed gouda. Sliced gouda, on the other hoof, that’s a no thank you for me.”
It was a good thing Pinkie didn’t have a grudge or fear against me. I may have dodged a bullet there.
I noticed Rarity and the rest of the Pony Tones on the stage. After I finished decorating my assigned area, I went over to listen to them.
I knew Rarity and Big Mac were in the band, but I don’t remember the names of the other two. I think the mare is named “Torch Song” while the stallion is “Toe-Tapper.”
“Alright, Pony Tones!” Rarity announced. “Let's run through that again” She then blew through a pitch pipe.
The song they sang sounded incredible. It was a wonder how I didn’t hear about them until now. I could see why Rarity wanted Fluttershy to join them. Sadly, the latter’s stage fright needed to be overcome first.
Once the group’s song ended, I gave a light applause.
“Good job, everypony!” I cheered. “You guys are definitely gonna knock everypony’s non-existent socks tomorrow night.”
“Thank you, Spike,” said Rarity.
“I also thought you were all amazing, Pony Tones,” Fluttershy said as she trotted towards us.
Torch Song giggled. “Thanks, Fluttershy.”
“Now, Pony Tones, I want you all to rest your voices for the remainder of the day,” Rarity reminded. “We'll do a final run-through tomorrow before the big event, alright?”
Once the band parted ways, Fluttershy hopped on stage.
“Oh, Rarity, the Pony Tones are really gonna make the Ponyville Pet Center fundraiser so special,” said Fluttershy. “Thank you so much for helping me help the animals.”
“Oh, yes,” Rarity sighed. “It is wonderful when a plan comes together without any sort of drama, isn't it?”
Way to tempt fate, Rarity.
The next morning, I helped Twilight with a few things at the library and made my way to the festival. By the time I got there, I saw Fluttershy and Angel heading to the stage.
“Good morning, you two,” I greeted. “Are you seeing the Pony Tones as well?”
Fluttershy nodded. “I wanted to hear them practice one more time before I check to see if everything’s in place.”
As we arrived at the stage, Toe-Tapper and Torch Song were already there. Rarity was behind the curtains pacing back and forth.
“Morning, Fluttershy and Spike,” greeted Torch.
“Good morning, Pony Tones,” Fluttershy and I said in unison.
“Oh, wow. We’re starting to speak the same thing at the same time,” Fluttershy giggled.
“Actually, we're the Pony Tones minus one tone,” said Rarity. “Big Mac is inconveniently late.”
Right after she said that, Big Mac arrived out of breath. Just like in the show, Rarity blew on the pitch pipe, but Big Mac couldn’t get a note out.
“Big Mac! Did you lose your voice?” Rarity asked.
“Eeyup,” Big Mac croaked.
We all gasped.
“Whatever did you do to cause this?” asked Rarity.
“I can explain all of it,” said Pinkie, who appeared out of nowhere. “Yesterday was Sweet Apple Acres’ twelfth annual Ponyville turkey call contest, and Big Mac was the six-year champion. I wanted to challenge for the title, but I lost because my cheek was still sore. Big Mac managed to win again, but his voice got sore afterwards. I may be guessing, but that’s why he doesn’t have his ‘eeyup-nope’ voice anymore.”
“A turkey call?!” Rarity shouted at Big Mac. “You lost your voice doing a turkey call?!”
Big Mac croaked another “Eeyup”.
“I don’t see how it could be possible. I came in third place and my voice works just fine,” said Pinkie as she pulled a bronze medal from her mane.
“Now we can't perform tonight,” Rarity announced.
Fluttershy widened her eyes. “Wait, what? No! You have to perform! Otherwise, the fundraiser will be a disaster!”
“Well, we cannot perform tonight with only three voices.”
“Why not?” I asked. “A trio band isn’t so bad.”
“It’s not that, Spikey-Wikey.” Rarity looked at her hoof. “It would take rearranging all the music, and we just don't have time. I'm sorry, Fluttershy, but I have no remedy for this situation.”
I swear I saw a lightbulb form over my marefriend’s head when she heard that word.
“Of course!” Fluttershy exclaimed. “A remedy! Follow me!”
I hopped on Fluttershy’s back as she escorted Rarity and Big Mac out of the festival. I knew where we were headed before we even entered the Everfree Forest.
Once we got to Zecora’s home, Fluttershy knocked on the door.
“Miss Zecora, are you in there?” She asked.
“A knock at the door? Who could that be?” Zecora opened the door. “Why, it’s Fluttershy, Spike, Big Mac, and Rarity.”
“Zecora, we’ve got a big problem,” said Rarity. “Big Macintosh lost his voice and we need him to sing tonight!”
Zecora invited us all in and proceeded with checking Big Mac’s throat.
After examining, she said, “I can cure this pony that is hoarse, but it will take a longer course.”
“Uh, come again?” Rarity tilted her head.
“I can mix a brew that can work just right, but it cannot heal him by tonight.”
“Oh, no!” Fluttershy gasped. “Where are we ever going to find a deep voice to replace Big Mac's?”
Zecora chuckled, which didn’t amuse Rarity.
“Pardon me, Zecora, but this is no laughing matter!” Rarity shouted. “We need a bass voice for the harmonies to work! Without it, the performance will be ruined!”
“Please, forgive my strange elation,” said Zecora, “but I was not laughing at your situation. Remember when you pony folk stumbled into poison joke? Miss Fluttershy had an unusual change, deepening her vocal range.”
“Oh, I remember that,” I said. “Fluttershy, your voice was really low, and Pinkie called you...”
Fluttershy gasped. “...’Flutterguy.’”
Carefully holding a bowl of poison joke, Zecora said, “With these leaves I can mix a brew, creating the same effect on you.”
“Zecora, that's fantastic!” Rarity exclaimed.
“Yes! I'll do it! I'd do anything for the animals!” Fluttershy proclaimed.
“Why, you'd even appear on stage!”
“Oh. Except that. I just can't bring myself to sing on stage in front of everypony.”
“No pony said you had to,” I said. “We could try a lip dub.”
“A what?” Fluttershy tilted her head.
“Big Mac will be onstage, moving his lips while you're behind the curtains singing his part,” said Rarity. “It would be just like singing in your house! Nopony would know it was you!”
“Even still, I just don't think I could sing in front of...”
“You must!”
“For the animals, Fluttershy! For the animals!” I picked up Angel, who gave his owner a sad puppy look. I knew she couldn’t resist it.
“Oh, okay then...” Fluttershy gulped. “Mix it up.”
Zecora nodded as she put some gloves on. She carefully picked up some petals from the poison joke and placed them in the bubbling cauldron.
“Say, Zecora,” I said. “Have you ever been affected by poison joke? If you have, what did it do to you?”
“I would rather not talk about it, little Spike,” Zecora replied with a slight shudder. “Let’s just say it changed the color of my stripes.”
Later that night, the Pony Tones, Fluttershy, and I were backstage. Fluttershy already drank that special poison joke potion, but her voice had yet to be deepened.
“Are you sure that potion was supposed to be effective?” I asked. “I haven’t heard Fluttershy’s voice change all day.”
“Zecora said it would work before nightfall,” said Rarity. “Fluttershy, try singing a few notes.”
Fluttershy cleared her throat. “Do, re, mi, fa, sol, la, ti, do. Do, ti, la, sol, fa, mi, re, do.”
The second she hit that low note, her voice turned from a shy girl to a tough club bouncer. I was nearly caught off-guard.
“Oh, thank goodness,” Rarity sighed. “Now, do it just like we practiced.”
Fluttershy and Big Mac nodded. Rarity disappeared through the curtains and gave her speech as the other three Pony Tones lined up. I hurried over to Fluttershy.
“Just stay calm and you’ll be okay, Fluttershy,” I said to reassure her. “You’re only going to be behind the curtains. They won’t know it’s you.”
“I don’t know, Spike,” Fluttershy deeply mumbled. “We may have practiced all day, but I’m still afraid to mess up.”
Wow, it’s so uncanny how a deep voice is coming from her. It’s giving me some...confusing emotions.
“You’ll be alright. I’m right beside you for support,” I said.
“So, with no further ado,” Rarity announced, “please welcome the Pony Tones!”
The rest of the band took the stage. Once Rarity blew on the pitch pipe, Fluttershy and Big Mac inhaled at the same time. Fluttershy then bellowed out the music notes.
Just like they practiced, Big Mac and Fluttershy were able to convince the audience the former was singing. Fluttershy managed to match up perfectly with Big Mac’s mouth. Her nervousness was slowly replaced with confidence. She danced around without ever missing a note. I couldn’t help but shuffle a bit to the music as well.
Once the song was over, everypony cheered for the Pony Tones. Fluttershy sighed heavily as she and I hugged.
“That was so amazing!” said Fluttershy.
“And best of all, the audience were none the wiser,” I said.
“Now I should hurry home and take that herbal bath. This voice makes me sound like a jazz singer.”
“Hey, I happen to like jazz music, thank you very much.”
“Oh, sorry.”
Fluttershy and I tried to sneak away, but Pinkie appeared right in front of us.
“Fluttershy! Spike!” Pinkie greeted loudly. “You were on the wrong side of the curtain! You guys totally missed the show!”
Rarity bit her lip. Little did she realize I had an ace up my sleeve.
“Au contraire, Pinkie. Fluttershy and I did witness the show,” I said. “You see, Rarity offered us a few backstage passes to see the performance up close. It was like being on stage without being on stage, if that makes sense. I figured it would help Fluttershy a bit with her stage fright.”
Not wanting to give away her deep voice, Fluttershy nodded quietly.
“I needed Fluttershy and Spike backstage anyway to make sure everything ran smoothly,” said Rarity. “And it was perfect.”
Fluttershy grinned.
“That was fantastic, Pony Tones!” A deep latino-like voice said.
A muscular pegasus and his daughter approached us. The young one, Zipporwhill, was wearing a tiara and holding a small puppy. The bigger one, Nightjar I think, was wearing a black t-shirt. Both of them were wearing thick black glasses that almost matched.
“My new puppy and I thought it was super-duper crazy good!” Zipporwhill rapidly said as she zipped around us like a hummingbird. The puppy looked like it was getting dizzy.
“Why, thank you!” said Rarity.
“And we were wondering if you would consider performing at my daughter Zipporwhill's cute-ceañera,” said Nightjar.
“We'd love to! When is it? Next week? Next month?”
“Tomorrow!” the two glasses-wearing pegasi said.
Rarity gritted her teeth. Big Mac and Fluttershy did the same.
“Oh, gracious, I'm terribly sorry,” Rarity said sadly, “but that's much too last minute.”
Zipporwhill and Nightjar were disappointed, but they understood. They both walked away. The rest of the girls did the same.
“I mean, it was last minute,” I said. “But still, we shouldn’t turn them down.”
“Spike’s right,” Fluttershy whispered. “We can't disappoint that sweet little filly.”
“Are you sure you’re up for it?” Rarity asked.
Fluttershy could only nod.
“Well, alright.” Rarity rubbed the back of her head. “But you need to keep quiet until then. We don’t want anypony else to find out, not even the girls.”
“I’ll be by her side all day tomorrow,” I said. “If anypony asks, I can tell them she has a voice problem and can’t speak.”
“Thank you, Spike,” said Fluttershy.
The next day, I quickly finished up my morning routines. I was about to hurry out when Twilight stopped me.
“Where are you going so fast?” Twilight asked.
“Fluttershy told me to swing by her cottage today,” I lied. “She needs assistance with helping some of the new pet-owners, like how to feed and take care of them.”
“But why would she need you? She couldn’t get the vet to help out?”
“She trusted me to help her. The vet was going to be busy today, anyway.”
“Alright then. Good luck.”
I ran to Fluttershy’s cottage as fast as I could. I arrived to see Fluttershy feeding Angel, or rather she was trying to.
“Now eat your spinach, Angel Bunny,” Fluttershy said kindly.
Angel pointed at Fluttershy and then at his own throat. He then shrugged.
“It’s just some poison joke,” replied Fluttershy. “Don’t worry, I’ll have my sweet sounding voice back in no time.”
I knocked on the front door. Fluttershy noticed me and hurried to the entrance.
“Spike, good morning,” Fluttershy greeted. It was still hard to get used to her deep voice.
“Morning, Fluttershy,” I said. “Did Rarity come by yet?”
“Funny you should say that, because here she comes now.”
I turned around just to see Rarity galloping across the bridge.
“Fluttershy, Spike. So good to see you,” she said. “Your voice didn’t change back, did it Fluttershy?”
“Nope,” Fluttershy deeply replied. She almost sounded like Big Mac.
“Good. The Pony Tones and I had to pull a few strings, but we’re able to perform at Zipporwhill’s cute-ceañera later today. But we must hurry in order to practice.”
The three of us arrived at the Town Hall in a flash. Thankfully, the rest of the Pony Tones were already there.
“Morning, girls,” said Toe-Tapper, “and Spike.”
“Morning to you all,” said Rarity. “How’s Big Mac? Is his throat still sore?”
“Eeyup,” Big Mac grunted.
“Well, don’t worry,” I said. “We still have backup.” I pointed to Fluttershy.
A few minutes after practicing, Zipporwhill, her friends, and her father showed up for the cute-ceañera.
“Pony Tones, I knew you’d make it,” said Nightjar.
“We were fortunate none of us had anything planned for the week, so we were able to find time to attend your daughter’s cute-ceañera today,” said Torch Song.
“Good, good.”
Fluttershy and I hid behind the curtains while everypony paid attention to the Pony Tones on stage. Just like last time, Fluttershy sang while Big Mac lip-dubbed, and nopony grew suspicious.
It’s a good thing that the poison joke was useful this time. Maybe I should get some if I need to disguise myself as a pony. Come to think of it, I wonder if there’ll be an episode where I could.
Once the song was over, all the fillies and colts cheered.
“Yeah, alright!” Zipporwhill shouted. “We got the Pony Tones! We got the Pony Tones!”
As the band exited the stage, the mayor approached us. Fluttershy quickly dashed off.
“Amazing, Pony Tones!” Mayor Mare complimented. “And it would be even more amazing if you could perform at my ribbon-cutting ceremony tomorrow!”
With all these performances day by day, it’s really lucky none of the Pony Tones are busy this week.
“Oh, Mayor,” Rarity said, “we would love to, but...” she then noticed Fluttershy asking her to speak in private. “Would you excuse us for a second, Mayor?”
Rarity and Fluttershy got out of earshot. After a brief conversation, Rarity told the mayor that the band would happily perform. The rest of the group was excited to hear that.
Just like in the show, the group performed each day for a different group. They performed for the mayor, the spa patrons, and the schoolpoines (they were there for an early orientation day due to some schedule conflicts). Fluttershy’s confidence grew more each time. She even improvised a bit, but nopony noticed.
Not wanting to arouse Twilight’s suspicion, I told her that Fluttershy was having throat problems, and she wanted me to help take care of her. I even carried some chamomile tea in a thermos to prove it. At least it would explain why she was talking way less than usual and why I kept visiting her so often these days.
One night, everypony was lined-up to see the last Pony Tones show at Sugarcube Corner for this week. I was a bit worried because this was going to be when everypony finds out Fluttershy was the one singing Big Macintosh’s voice.
After I did my job as the bouncer, I hurried backstage with Fluttershy.
“I gotta say, you’re getting pretty good at this, Fluttershy,” I said.
“Thank you, Spike,” replied Fluttershy.
“I really hope this really is the last show for a while. I’m starting to get used to your Flutterguy voice.”
“Fluttershy, we must talk to you,” Rarity said as she entered backstage with Big Mac. “Big Mac's voice is all better!”
“Eeyup,” Big Mac said clearly.
“Now you can bathe in the poison joke antidote and sound like your lovely self again.”
Fluttershy dipped her head after hearing that.
“It's just...I didn't know that last performance was my last performance,” she said somberly. She then turned to leave.
“Fluttershy, stop,” pleaded Rarity. She then turned to Big Mac. “Would it be okay if Fluttershy sang for you one last time?”
Big Mac took one look at Fluttershy’s sad puppy face and said, “Eeyup.”
Fluttershy’s face lit up like a lightning bug, and she gave all three of us a group hug.
“Alright, I guess we should get on out there,” said Rarity.
“Good—er, break a leg, Pony Tones and Fluttershy,” I said.
The Pony Tones appeared on stage as applause filled the room. Fluttershy trotted in place like she was about to witness the Breezie migration again.
Man, I have never seen Fluttershy this excited before, animal-related or not.
The second Rarity blew a note on the pitch pipe, Fluttershy instantly sang the first part. I peeked out to notice that Big Mac had trouble keeping up with her improvised lyrics. Some of the audience members were getting a bit dubious.
“Fluttershy! Fluttershy!” I whispered sharply. “Stick to the original lyrics! Big Mac can’t keep up!”
But Fluttershy’s dancing and singing meant that she couldn’t hear me. Her rump bumped into the curtain rack, knocking it over on the Pony Tones and revealing the real singer. Fluttershy didn’t notice until the spotlight shined on her.
“Fluttershy?!” The rest of the girls were astonished.
Fluttershy covered herself with her tail as she fell to the floor. Despite the crowd cheering for her, she still couldn’t handle the pressure. She rushed out the double doors faster than Rainbow Dash drinking Red Bull.
“Big Mac, you got some 'splainin' to do!” Applejack barked as she hopped on the stage. “Turkey call?”
“Eeyup,” Big Mac replied.
“Trash your voice?”
“Eeyup.”
This went on like in the show, up to the point where Applejack said, “And that shy filly was livin' her dream in the shadows because she couldn't bring herself to come into the spotlight?”
“...Eeyup.”
“You seemed to correctly assume our problem to a T, Applejack,” I said. “Has a similar situation like this happened before?”
“Eeyup,” AJ and Big Mac both said bluntly.
“Wow.”
“Well, for corn's sake!” Applejack called out. “Let's go!”
The girls and Big Mac quickly ran out of the bakery. I didn’t know if Pinkie learned her lesson by now, but I didn’t want to wait to find out. I hurried to catch up with the girls.
Twilight said, “We need to get to Fluttershy’s and—”
“HALT!”
Everypony stopped dead in their tracks, including Pinkie Pie.
And Fluttershy says I don’t need to yell.
I ran to the front of the group. “Sorry about that everypony. I needed to get your attention. I think it’s best to leave Fluttershy alone for now.”
“We’re not going to mob her, Spike,” Twilight said. “We just want to praise her for helping Big Mac. For helping the Pony Tones.”
“I know, but she’s too stressed out right now. She needs some time to relax.”
“What’s there to stress about?” Pinkie asked. “It was just a show in front of hundreds of ponies with high standards judging each and every move so that if somepony messes up, they’d...I’m doing it again, aren’t I?”
“Eeyup,” Applejack nodded.
I said, “I don’t think you should approach Fluttershy just yet. You should wait until tomorrow to talk to her.”
“Alright, we’ll leave her be,” said Twilight.
“Thank you.”
As the girls walked away, I decided I should visit Fluttershy by myself. It would be better to have only one dragon talk to her than a group of ponies.
I approached Fluttershy’s cottage with tension in my bones. I knocked on the door and headed inside.
“Fluttershy? Are you in there?” I asked.
Steam came out from the upstairs bathroom.
“Yes...I'm here.” Fluttershy came out with a towel on her head. She quickly noticed me and covered herself up. “Oh, Spike. Uh...hello.”
“Why are you covering yourself?” I asked. “You’re always naked.”
“Well, I still need privacy when I’m in the bathroom,” she replied as she put the towel on her back.
“Anyway, it’s good to hear your original voice again.” I approached the steps. “I guess that means the end for Flutterguy.”
“Yes, it does. I hope to never perform in front of an audience again!” Fluttershy marched to her bedroom.
“Wait, Fluttershy, don’t say that!” I followed her inside. “Listen, even when your voice was several octaves lower, you were amazing. All those crowds this past week cheered because they heard your voice among all the other singers.”
“But did you see how the crowd reacted at Sugarcube Corner when they found out it was me who sang?”
Fluttershy hopped on her bed and covered herself with the pillow.
“Fluttershy, I didn’t know what you heard, but it certainly wasn’t boos or heckling,” I said. “Did you even enjoy yourself singing?”
“Well...” Fluttershy muffled. She then removed the pillow. “Maybe a tiny bit...”
“See? Your stage fright is slowly disappearing. All you need is to take baby steps to get there. It was your idea to get the Pony Tones to sing at those events in the first place. I think the Pony Tones agreed to everything because Rarity knew you wanted to perform.”
I lied down next to Fluttershy and stared at the ceiling.
“You know, I think I have an idea about what you can do next,” I said.
“What’s that?” Fluttershy asked.
“Ever consider performing a duet?”
“Don’t you mean a solo? A solo is when somepony sings by themselves. A duet is when...”
“...two ponies sing together. Or rather, a pony and a dragon singing together.”
Fluttershy sat up. “Wait, are you saying...?”
“You and I should perform a duet. Just in front of the girls and your animals. They’ve seen you sing before, so you know you can trust them. It’ll be one small baby step for overcoming your stage fright.”
“Can you even sing? Outside of musical moments, I mean?”
I sat up, cleared my throat, and sang, “There’s music in the treetops, there’s music in the vale.”
“I guess that answers my question.” Fluttershy giggled.
“So here’s my plan. We’ll pick a song to sing, make some disguises, set up a stage in front of your cottage, perform in front of the girls and animals, and finally reveal to them that it was us singing.”
“How are we going to disguise ourselves?”
“I can get Rarity to design costumes for us, and I can get Twilight to slightly alter our voices. I’d have to tell them about our plan, though.”
“So what song will we sing? It’s not going to be a love song, is it?”
I scratched my chin and shook my head. “Too cliche and gushy. I’m thinking more of a simple upbeat song. Maybe we could do a cover.”
“Well, there are a couple of upbeat songs that I know.” Fluttershy nodded. “I guess it wouldn't hurt to try it out.”
“Good.” I hopped off the bed. “Go ahead and get a good night’s sleep. If you have doubts about this plan and want to back out, then feel free to tell me. I’ll understand.”
“It’s okay, Spike. Your plan sounds good. Like what you said, it's only going to be my animals and my friends.”
The next morning, I talked to Twilight about my plan with Fluttershy.
“A duet, huh?” asked Twilight. “Sounds rather romantic.”
“Yes, but you must not tell anypony besides Rarity that Fluttershy and I are the ones performing.”
“I won’t tell. So what do you want me to do again?”
“I had some design ideas for our costumes, and I would like to have our voices altered very slightly, just until we reveal ourselves.”
“I’ve worked with a few audio spells in the past. I’ll see what I can do.”
“Thank you.”
Later I went to Rarity’s boutique with my drawing ideas. They were based on an electro-music group that always wore helmets during their performances. I told Rarity the same thing I told Twilight, and I showed her my ideas.
“These are quite some unique designs, darling,” said Rarity. “They look almost mechanical.”
“Do you think you could make them?” I asked.
“Of course, darling. The helmets will be a challenge, but the rest would be effortless. Although...” Rarity scrutinized one of the designs. “These designs are pony-shaped, not dragon-shaped.”
“It’s part of the disguise. Do you know any other bipedal creature my size that lives in Ponyville?”
“Fair point. I’ll be sure to keep this private between us.”
My next and final stop was Fluttershy. She didn’t change her mind about the duet, thankfully. I told her about Twilight and Rarity.
“So in short, they’ll help us, and they agreed to keep it secret,” I said.
“That’s good. There’s a few songs I found that I know the lyrics to,” said Fluttershy as she pulled out some records. “Let’s hear them and see which ones to pick.”
As Fluttershy and I listened closely to the records, I noticed how some of the songs sounded almost identical to the ones back in my human world. The most recognizable song I’ve heard was “Good Time,” which was sung by the pony versions of Owl City and Carly Rae Jepsen. Since the lyrics were somewhat similar to the original, I picked that song for our duet. Fluttershy liked the song, too.
Fluttershy and I spent the next few days keeping our duet under wraps. Fluttershy and I practiced singing, Rarity designed the outfits, and Twilight worked on enchanting the helmets. We also came up with our potential band name: the “Draft Pones.”
There would be times when one of the girls would come by and tell Fluttershy how she did a good job helping Big Mac. Fluttershy would blush and say nothing.
On the day everything was ready, the four of us set up the stage in Fluttershy's front yard. The animals grouped together. They all promised not to tell the girls our secret, though I doubt the girls would even understand them.
Fluttershy and I put on our costumes. The suits were able to disguise our bodies and hide our tails. Since I was going to be on all fours, I had velcro around my “front legs” that matched the color of my sleeves. My microphone had velcro as well.
“Okay, let’s test to see if my spell works,” said Twilight as Fluttershy and I put on our helmets. “Go ahead and sing something.”
“Harder, better, faster, stronger,” I sang. My voice sounded slightly robotic, but other than that it was no different from my normal voice.
Fluttershy was more or less the same way. Twilight meant for the spell to make slim alterations.
“Alright, I think we’re ready,” said Rarity. “Let’s fetch the other girls.”
“Right.” Twilight galloped down the road into town.
Fluttershy and I went backstage. She took deep breaths, but they sounded like she joined the dark side. She then lifted her helmet.
“Are you sure this is a good idea?” Fluttershy asked quietly.
“I’m positive,” I replied. “The girls won't recognize us. That’s why my costume makes me look like a pony.”
Fluttershy gulped and put her helmet back on.
We heard hoofbeats approaching. I peeked from the curtains to see the rest of the Mane 6 joining Fluttershy’s animals.
“Thank you girls for coming,” said Rarity.
“So...what’s going on?” Twilight asked, pretending not to know.
“Well, it seems our group, the Pony Tones, have been so influential to other ponies. So influential in fact, that two of them have formed their own duet band. They were practicing for a while, and they wished for us to witness their first performance. They also wanted to sing in front of the animals, just like the Pony Tones did back at the fundraiser, so Fluttershy allowed them to do their act here at her cottage. And now without further ado, the ‘Draft Pones.’”
The rest of the girls and Fluttershy’s animals clapped as Fluttershy and I walked to the front of the stage. It felt a bit awkward to be walking on all fours.
“Ooh futuristic-y,” said Pinkie.
“Say, where are Fluttershy and Spike?” Applejack asked. “They’re gonna miss the performance.”
“They both had...certain things to take care of,” Twilight lied. “But don’t worry, they’ll be around soon.”
I nodded to Rarity. She put the needle on the record and upbeat music played.
I cleared my throat and sang the first verse,
“I woke up on the right side of the bed.
What’s up with this swell song inside my head?
I’m in if we’re going to get down tonight. Yeah, it will a good time.
I slept in until noon like I didn’t care.
I feel so alive. Take me anywhere!
Count me in if we’re going to get down tonight. Yeah, it will be a good time.”
I motioned to Fluttershy. She inhaled a bit and sang,
“Good morning, and good night.
I’ll wait until twilight.
It’s gonna be alright.
We won’t even have to try; it will be a good time.”
As we both sang the chorus, which had the same lyrics to the original song, Fluttershy felt more and more confident. When the song first started she was stiffer than a statue, but now she was dancing around.
This was more evident by the next verse, in which Fluttershy sang,
“Flew high! Gonna dive into the pool again!
Hung out in my room, joined by all my friends!
Let’s all go if we’re going to get down tonight! Yeah, it will be a good time!”
It was my turn to sing the next part.
“Good morning, and good night!
We’ll wait until twilight!
It’s gonna be alright!
We won’t even have to try; it will be a good time!”
We sang the chorus again. The girls and the animals either stepped to the beat or sang a bit of the song.
“Doesn’t matter where, it will be a good time there!” I sang.
“Doesn’t matter where, it will be a good time there!” Fluttershy sang out the next line.
“Doesn’t matter where, it will be a good time there!” We sang simultaneously.
We then nodded at the same time and threw our helmets off.
“It will be a good time!”
The girls were surprised but pleased when they found out it was us singing. During our final chorus, I hopped on Fluttershy as we rose to the sky. My heart was like a firework. While performing a duet with my favorite pony wasn’t on my Equestrian bucket list, it may as well have been so.
As the song reached its final notes, Fluttershy and I slowly landed back on the stage. The girls and the animals applauded at our gig.
“I had a feelin’ yer voices sounded somewhat familiar,” said Applejack.
“They did ask for their voices to be somewhat changed underneath the helmets,” said Twilight.
“Wait, you were in on this?” Rainbow asked.
“Of course,” replied Rarity. “In fact, so was I.”
“Why didn’t you tell the rest of us?” Pinkie asked. “It’s that Big Mac and Flutterguy secret all over again.”
“Well, it was going to be a secret initially,” I said.
“And we wanted to reveal ourselves this time,” added Fluttershy.
“So how do you feel, Fluttershy?” Twilight asked.
“Surprisingly...okay!”
I sighed in relief. I had a feeling Fluttershy would be partially over her stage fright regardless of whoever she sang with, but I just wanted to confirm it. The girls were glad as well.
“You know, the Pony Tones have been booked for the Apple Family Zap Apple Jam Extraordinaire this coming fall,” said Rarity. “Perhaps you two could join us. We could do a collaboration.”
“Yeah, you could be the ‘Draft Tones’,” said Pinkie, “or the ‘Pony Pones’, or the ‘Drafny Ptones’, or...”
“Oh, no...I couldn't do that,” Fluttershy politely refused.
The girls were disappointed to hear that. I wasn’t.
“I'll get there someday,” said Fluttershy. “But for now...baby steps, everypony. Baby steps.”
“That’s okay, Fluttershy,” I said as I picked up our helmets. “After all, we only planned for one gig.”
All in all, I was glad to change this episode a bit. I had slightly mixed feelings about punching Pinkie, but at least she didn’t make Fluttershy cry this time. Also, I got to sing with Fluttershy. I hoped one day, we would get to perform as the “Draft Pones” again.
Possibly whenever the later seasons happen.