//------------------------------//
// Track 7: Sacred Heart 
// Story: The Ponyville Rag 
// by Fernie Canto 
//------------------------------//

Through the next few days, Dainty Tunes found himself obsessing over the idea of the concert. Of course, that had been the whole idea since the start, but by now, the idea felt more real, more palpable, more plausible. He kept going back to his setlist, pondering about the songs the band had already learned or were in the process of learning, and also started to add songs that could fill in the empty spots, planning his alternatives and considering song orders.

His thoughts kept getting more ambitious and more specific, and he often found himself fantasising about the concert, imagining how the band would occupy the stage of the Ponyville Theatre, the audience packed full of excited ponies before him, blown away by the power of those songs and the sound of the band. He would play the songs off his records and rehearse performances in his house, finding out to use his body and the space around him.

He also sketched out some posters advertising said concert, drawing how the photographs of the band could be. He proposed a few more traditional images, with the band lined side-by-side, imagining what order they should be in: Dainty in the center, Steel and Fiber on either side, River and Honey on the far ends respectively; or maybe somepony else in the center, breaking this idea that the vocalist is the “most important” member, and maybe Honey Drop’s exuberance could make him perfect for the center spot… but that could lead to ponies presuming he was the singer.

And then, there were the more ambitious, artistic ideas for photos: the five faces turned in different directions, like in the cover of Town Troop’s first record, or even the band in a colourful field of flowers, imitating The Discovery of Equestria—but it could be very pretentious to reproduce exactly a iconic image of the Town Troop, as if Dainty’s band were their replacements. He imagined the five ponies strewn out across a large public space, each one in a very different pose, just casually conquering the place. Should they pose with their instruments? That could be cool, and give more emphasis to the music, and less to the ponies themselves.

He didn’t bring up these ideas in the next rehearsal, as he thought they should focus on the songs for now, but he did follow his sketches to suggest new songs to learn.

“Dainty, why don’t we try Factory?” Honey Drop said, when Dainty mentioned going to a new song.

“Factory? That’s actually an interesting choice, Honey!” Dainty said, going to his record. “Yeah, we can give that a listen and see what you guys think. I also would really like to learn Wind on the Coast, but we can try that one later.”

“Isn’t that song really slow?” Hard Fiber said.

“Yeah, it is,” Dainty said, “but I think we need some gentler songs for contrast, you know? It’s better to have some dynamics in our concert, like, some parts slow and some parts fast, some parts quiet and some parts loud.”

“That’s true,” Steel Strings said. “We need some contrast.”

“I think we should start working on a setlist, you know?” River Mouth said. “Or, at least, look at the songs we already know.”

“Oh, I’ve been doing that!” Dainty said. “If you want, I can show you what I’ve got later. I just didn’t think of doing that yet, because we still need to learn more songs.”

“Yeah, let’s do it!” Honey Drop said. “I can’t wait to see what our show would look like!”

“Okay, then. Let’s work on Factory first, and then we’ll look at the setlist.”

Dainty put the song on, and the band proceeded to work on it for a while, figuring out the chords, the transitions and the different parts. Dainty suggested some parts could be played on the piano, without interfering in his singing, and so they tried that.

After a few passes of the song, Dainty grabbed a few sheets of paper from his desk, where sketches of setlists had been scribbled, together with several other phrases and loose ideas. He took the papers to the bed, and the band gathered around to look.

“So, this is the one I’ve been considering the most,” Dainty said. “It’s got all the songs we know so far, and some empty spaces for songs we still need to include.”

The list went as follows:



Is It (!)

Almost by Mistake (!)

When the Sun Shines Through the Window of Your Room

(Acrylic on Canvas?)

(I Was a Teenage Werewolf?)

Seven Cities

(It's Too Early / I Know?)

(Chalk?)

(Pony in the Lions' Den?)

For a While Now

(Wind on the Coast?)

(The Vampire Theater? / The World's Been Acting So Complicated?)

Twenty Nine (!!!)

(Before Six / Let's Make a Movie?)

(Theorem? / Waiting for Me?)

Lost Time (!!)


“There are some songs that I wrote down that I intended to suggest we learn, but we could replace them with other ones, if you prefer,” Dainty said.

“We have to add Factory to that!” Honey Drop said.

“Yes, absolutely!” Dainty said. “I’m thinking, maybe that could even be a show opener, but we could discuss that.”

“That’s quite a bunch of songs,” Hard Fiber said. “You think we could learn all that?”

Dainty finished scribbling their new song to the top of the list, with a question mark. “I believe we can, Fiber. But, well, we’ll have to see.”

Steel Strings had casually pulled out another sheet of paper, where Dainty had sketched out some poster ideas. He idly looked at them, before Fiber noticed them.

“What are those, Dainty?”

Dainty felt a little embarrassed, all of a sudden. “Oh, those are… I was just imagining… how we could show up on photos, you know, for advertising and all…”

“Shouldn’t we be discussing that stuff among the band?” Honey said. “You’re not gonna decide all that yourself, are you, Dainty?”

“No, no, of course not, Honey,” he quickly said. “No, those are just… random ideas that I started doing someday. Of course we have to talk about all that. It’s not like I’m making plans behind your back. I just… well, I can’t stop thinking about our concert. I’m excited, you know.”

“We still have quite a lot of work to do, apparently,” Fiber said.

“Yeah,” River Mouth said. “Isn’t that… Wouldn’t that be a pretty long concert, though?”

“I estimated about an hour and a half,” Dainty said. “I think that’s reasonable, is it?”

“I think that’s fair,” Steel Strings said.

“So, well, yeah, everything here can be discussed, and you’re free to bring your own suggestions anytime,” Dainty said. “Now, how about we go back to the songs? Could we maybe try Wind on the Coast now?”

The rest of the band agreed, and they set out to work.



As the days passed, Dainty Tunes felt more and more excited and anxious about his ideas for the concert. He mulled over the setlist, looking through the songs that the band hadn’t learned yet, and kept wishing they had more rehearsals to work on those songs. They should absolutely start working on I Was a Teenage Werewolf next… or maybe The Vampire Theater? Yeah, that one had more potential. Oh! But Chalk was so pretty! They should absolutely go for that one first. But why not all three at the same time? Why not all of them at the same time?

He made sketches of how the band should be arranged on stage, trying to balance out the presence of each member. There were five of them, and the drums should be central, and there were three guitars, so there would be an imbalance. Oh! And he absolutely wanted to use the piano in some songs, so it would have to be there too. How to arrange that?

His free time was spent mostly in wild spirals of obsessive thoughts about the band, alternated with his aching need to see Steel Strings again. At one point, he realised he wasn’t sleeping well at all, and he might be driving himself to an actually unhealthy condition. He thought that maybe taking some walks outside could help distract his mind, but, as he wandered outside, trying to pay attention to the scenery and the sounds around himself, he just felt consumed by an urge to rush back home and look at the setlist again and make more plans.

On one Thursday rehearsal, Dainty was downright electric as he waited for his bandmates. Steel Strings and River Mouth were the first ones to arrive, and he had already started talking about new songs to start working with. When Honey Drop arrived, he rushed to help him bring the drum kit inside. Dainty asked him about his practicing, his lessons with Pinkie, what songs he wanted to learn, if he thought they could learn more songs at the same time. Honey Drop just kept replying until he was cut off by a yelp and a thud coming from inside.

“Sweet Luna! Are you alright?” he heard Steel say.

Honey rushed inside and found Dainty lying flat on the floor, holding the snare drum above his head.

“Holy crap!” he said, rushing to help him up, while River Mouth took the drum from his hooves. “Are you hurt?”

“I’m fine, I’m fine,” Dainty said, with a face that suggested he was not fine. “I’m sorry, Honey, I tripped and almost let your snare hit the floor. How does it look, River?”

“It looks fine,” she said, giving it a superficial glance. “I don’t think it hit the floor. Are you sure you’re fine?”

“It was nothing,” he insisted. “This is not the first time I’ve taken a trip, you know?”

“Dainty, did you fall on your face?” Honey said, noticing a bruise near his eyes.

He gave a sheepish chuckle. “Silly, isn’t it? Guys, stop worrying about me, we have to get prepared.”

“Sweetheart,” Steel said, approaching him, putting a hoof over his shoulder, “relax. You’re hurt. You bruised your face. Doesn’t it hurt?”

Dainty couldn’t stand those sweet eyes staring at him. They felt almost accusatory in their worry. “A little,” he said, embarrassed. “Guys, I’ll live. This is nothing.”

“Dainty, my love, stop being so hard on yourself,” Steel said, almost scolding him. “Come with me, rest a little. The band can wait.”

“No!” he replied. in shock. “The band can’t wait, just because I fell on the floor like a stupid moron!”

“Dude, stop that!” Honey Drop shouted.

Dainty and Steel both stopped on their tracks.

“We care about you! We’re your friends!” Honey continued. “Listen to your boyfriend, dude. There’s no point in rushing. We have to wait for Fiber, anyway.”

Dainty turned to him, and just stopped to let those words sink in. “Your friends.” “Your boyfriend.” That’s who those ponies were, weren’t they? They were more than just his bandmates. It was weird how he kept forgetting that.

“I…”

He finally paid attention to his bruise, and noticed how much pain he actually felt. He winced and pressed his eyelids.

“Ow. Yeah, you’re right… You guys are right,” he said. “I’m going overboard, aren’t I?”

“Yeah.”

The word came from all three, in a perfect, accidental unison. Dainty looked around himself, a little disappointed.

Honey Drop, who was heading outside, stopped and shrugged. “Well, it’s true!”

“Yes, it is,” Dainty said, as Steel brought him to the bed and went to the kitchen. “I’m… I dunno, I’m just so excited for us, that I… well, I don’t know how to hold it back, you know. I never felt like this.”

“Just remember that we still have quite a lot of work ahead of us,” River Mouth said. “Try to keep focused on what we can do for the time being. Sometimes, when I have something big ahead of me, I try to break it down into small bits, and focus only on what I can do at that time,” she said. “And, if there’s nothing I can do at that time, then I just focus on something else.”

“I know, that makes sense,” Dainty said, as Steel Strings brought a few blocks of ice wrapped in a cloth to put on his bruise. “I… ouch, careful, my love. Ow. Yeah. Thank you. Yes, that makes sense, River,” he resumed, “but it’s hard for me to control myself. I just… I just want stuff to happen.”

“It will happen, pal, don’t worry,” she said, noticing Hard Fiber was just arriving.

“Hey, there!” he said. “Hope I’m not too late.”

The others greeted him, and assured him he wasn’t late.

“What happened there, Dainty?” he said, putting down his amplifier.

“I fell on my face and got a little bruise,” Dainty replied.

“Oh, yikes,” Fiber replied with a wince. “Sorry to hear that.”

“Thanks. I’ll be fine, though.”

Steel Strings kept nursing him for a while, while the others assembled their equipment and started to warm up, until he thought it was good.

“I think that’s enough, sweetheart,” he said, kissing his cheek. “Take it easy, okay?”

Dainty gave him a facetious glare. “What happened to our professional stance, Steel Strings?”

Steel gave a cheeky smile. “Well, if that’s what you want, Mr. Professional, then get up and get to work already.”

Dainty chuckled and shook his head. “Yeah, I guess I asked for that.”



The band was in high gear on that rehearsal, and they managed to work on two new songs at the same time. Dainty Tunes’s bruise had swollen a bit, despite Steel’s nursing, and it bothered a little bit when he sang, but he still did what he could. As they often did, they also played some older songs, just to keep in check that they could still handle them well.

Dainty felt that his impatience and anxiety was quenched as long as they were playing the songs. He pondered deeply on what River Mouth had said about focusing on what could be done at the time, but he still felt like he’d go back to his previous state once he was done rehearsing.

By the end, they were all quite satisfied, and they played until a little later than they usually did. River Mouth was actually starting to yawn when they decided to call it a day.

“How are you, Dainty?” Fiber said. “Are you feeling okay?”

“Yeah, yeah, I am,” he said, with a reassuring tone. “The swelling’s kinda bothering me, but I feel fine.”

“Good to know, Dainty,” River said. “I was kinda worried that you were making too much effort after what happened.”

“Yeah, don’t worry, I’m doing fine,” he replied, despite noticing he did feel a bit of a headache. “So, how’s your schedule? Are you free this Saturday?”

Steel, Fiber and River all signalled they were.

“You know, guys,” Honey Drop said, “I, uh… I kinda miss that day when we just hung out together, like, just to talk and have fun… I was wondering if we could do that again?”

Dainty casually glanced at the others. “Well, sure we can. It could be a nice idea, I think!”

“Yeah, I’m up for it!” Hard Fiber said. “Could we do it this Saturday?”

“I was thinking of that, yeah,” Honey said. “I mean, I know Dainty is eager to work on the songs, so we could leave it for some other day.”

“I’m fine with doing it this Saturday,” Dainty replied. “It might be good to get my head away from the music for a little bit.”

And so, they arranged to hold another picnic, and everypony would bring something to share with the others. River, Honey and Fiber eventually went home, and Dainty closed the door.

“So, are you feeling alright, sweetheart?” Steel said. “You look a little bit slow tonight.”

“Yeah, I’m trying to take it easy,” he replied. “I… I do have a bit of a headache, but it’s no big thing.”

“A headache? Aw, come on here, my angel,” Steel said, leading him to the bed. “Lay here and rest. Do you want some tea?”

“Hm, yes, I do!” Dainty replied, already going off to the kitchen.

“Hey, where are you going?” Steel scolded. “You stay right here, resting, and let me do the work.”

“But I’m fine, love!” Dainty said with an awkward smile. “I’m really okay.”

“Dainty, Dainty, listen here,” Steel said, gently pushing him to the bed. “You have the perfect excuse to get pampered by somepony else, and you don’t want to take it?”

He laughed clumsily. “I’m just… I’m not used to this, really.”

“Then lay down there and let me show you how it is,” Steel Strings said, “because, when I’m the one who needs pampering, you’ll know how to do it. Okay?”

Dainty gave him a cheeky glare, and lay back in bed. “I should’ve known you had second intentions.”

“Always, baby, always,” Steel giggled, and went off to the kitchen. “Do you take your tea with sugar?”

He pondered, remembering how he always had his tea without sugar. “Hmm… yes, two cubes, love,” Dainty said.





Steel Strings and Dainty Tunes left the house together that morning. Steel went back to his workshop, and Dainty headed to the building that his team was tasked with repairing. Iron Bolt and Jack Hammer both noticed the swelling in Dainty’s face. He smiled awkwardly and pondered that it could sound more dignified to say he got punched in a brawl, instead of admitting he fell flat on his face in his own home, but he didn’t have the guts to make up such a lie.

More than anything, he was feeling fine that morning. There was no headache, and the swelling was more of a nuisance and it didn’t really hurt. His two friends invited him to go to the pub that night, and he agreed. It had been a while since he didn’t go there, since the bullying from the other two ponies had left a very sour taste. Maybe this time would be different.

In his break, after lunch, he went around to get some supplies for the picnic. Before going back to work, he stopped at the Sugarcube Corner, and couldn’t help but smile with glee as he saw Pinkie Pie behind the counter, serving a few customers. Dainty stood behind the other ponies, waiting for his turn, and in a few moments, Pinkie warmly greeted him.

“Hello, Dainty Tunes!” she said with her usual grin. “How is the band coming along?”

“Hi, Pinkie!” he replied, with a small, irresistible burst of joy. “We’re doing great. In fact, we’re having a picnic tomorrow, and I came to buy some sweets for us.”

“Oooh, a picnic? Now that sounds like a super duper fun time!” she replied. “So what’s your choice?”

“I’m thinking of a couple of cupcakes… Maybe ten of them? I think that’s reasonable.”

“Ten cupcakes to go! What flavours?”

He pondered for a second, and then narrowed his eyes a little. “Surprise me, Pinkie.”

Her eyes went wide as she quickly, but carefully chose among the different kinds of cupcakes on display, and his mind raced around his usual thoughts. He considered asking something to her, and glanced behind his back to see if there were other customers waiting, but luckily there was no one.

“Pinkie, do you…”

She gave him a quick glance over the counter. “Yes?”

“Um, do you ever get the feeling that… you’re so enthusiastic and so excited about something, that you just can’t stop thinking about it, to the point where you… get impatient and you can’t focus on things properly?”

“Oh, all the time!” Pinkie said, as she went on selecting the cupcakes and putting them neatly in a tray. “I often get super excited when there’s something great about to happen, and it makes me all jittery inside! And I can’t wait for the time for that thing to happen, and I keep asking myself, is it time already? No… Is it time already No… Is it time already? No… Is it time already? No…” She kept alternating an expression of bright expectation and limp disappointment as she repeated those two phrases. “And that keeps going for quite a while!”

“Yeah, I’m kinda feeling like that myself,” he said, as she finished packing the cupcakes. “So what do you do when you feel like that?”

She put a hoof on her chin. “Hm… It depends, really! But I’ll often just look for something to do that’s very different from that great thing that’s about to happen, so I can get distracted. Oh! And visiting my friends is also great! It helps if I hear lots of somepony else’s things so that I stop thinking about my own things. I’m a very good listener, you know!”

“Yes, you most certainly are, Pinkie,” Dainty replied. “Yeah… visiting friends… It’s weird, because I just… never do that. They just go to my house for rehearsals, but we rarely ever just… hang out, you know. How silly of me! I should definitely see them more often.”

“I bet they’ll love it, Dainty Tunes!” she said. “So, will that be all?”

He eagerly looked at the other delicacies around the store, and tapped his chin. His friends deserved more.





Dainty waited in his house for Steel Strings to arrive. They band had arranged to gather at Saddle Lake, so, shortly after Steel arrived in Dainty’s house, they headed there. The two found Honey Drop, sitting idly by the margin of the lake, with a basket by his side. Dainty called his name, and he turned around and waved to his friends.

The three spread a cloth on the grass, but decided to wait for the others to show up before putting the food around. River Mouth arrived a couple of minutes later, and they quickly started chatting about life in general. Dainty realised that, perhaps unconsciously, he was avoiding talking about anything related to the band. After all, that wasn’t a “professional” meeting, so they could just take their time to enjoy each other. Still, if the topic of music did show up, it wouldn’t be an intrusion; there was just no proper “work” to be done there.

The four sat and chatted for a long time, and they started wondering where Hard Fiber could be. River Mouth tried to play it cool, remembering how he was usually the last to arrive for rehearsals, so he was certainly on his way.

Eventually, River and Honey agreed to get something to eat, even though the group wasn’t complete yet. Dainty was feeling a bit worried, and though he didn’t know for how long they had been there, it felt like a considerable amount of time had passed. Steel could see the unease in Dainty’s eyes, as he often would look around, in the hopes that Fiber was arriving.

It reached the point where all four were starting to feel worried, and then, River spotted him in the distance, walking limply with a basket hanging from his mouth. She made a gesture to him, and he slowly approached him. The four greeted him as he lay the basket on the grass.

“Hi, guys,” he said, sitting down. “Sorry I’m late.”

“Is everything alright?” River Mouth said, noticing his tone was a little unenthusiastic.

“Oh, yes, sure, I had… well, some stuff to do at home before I could leave,” he replied, unable to look at them directly.

“Ah, I know how that is,” Steel said with a bit of a smile. “Whenever I wanted to go out and do something when I was younger, my mom would use that to force me to do my chores, like, ‘do you want to go out? Only after you clean your room!’ and such.”

River Mouth giggled. “Yeah, my parents were the same. I wonder, is there a manual that teaches parents how to do that stuff?”

“If there is, it must be secret,” Steel said. “I never saw it!”

“I guess you must have a foal before they show it to you,” River replied. “Like, now you can get into our secret circle of parents and know all the things we’ve been hiding from you.”

Steel and Dainty chuckled. Honey Drop, however, noticed that Fiber was looking even more disheartened than when he arrived.

“Fiber, is there a problem?” he said.

“Oh, it’s… it’s nothing, really, I… I don’t wanna drag you down with this stuff,” Fiber said. “It’s… it’s fine.”

“You know you can talk about it, if you want,” River Mouth said. “We’re your friends.”

Fiber looked at their faces, and noticed they all looked quite worried, and maybe his attempts at avoiding the subject weren’t helping.

“Well, it was… my little brother,” he said. “He… he has these fits sometimes, you know, and he becomes… hard to calm down. I have no idea why, he just… does that, sometimes, and I… I had to stay and try to calm him down. I don’t like leaving him like that, you know, and my… my father says sometimes that I’m trying to run away from my responsibility, but I’m not, really! I just… I just need to have my own life, you know.” He wiped his face and sighed. “Why can’t he be normal?” he cried, pressing his eyes. “I’m sorry, I know this is a horrible thing to say, like, to expect somepony to be ‘normal’, but… It hurts to see him when he does that. I love my little brother, I swear I love him. I just… I hate to see him like that. If he… could just be like other ponies, it would be better for all of us… but… well, there isn’t much I can do about that, is there?”

Honey Drop put a hoof on his shoulder. “I’m sorry about that, buddy. It must not be easy for you.”

“Yeah, we’re with you, Fiber,” River Mouth said. “I’m sorry for you and your brother.”

“Thanks. I’m not doing this to make you pity me, you know, but…” He sighed again. “Sometimes it’s hard not having many ponies to talk about this, you know? If I said any of this to my family, they’d probably be hurt… even though I’m not trying to hurt them.”

“You can talk to us any time you want, Hard Fiber,” Steel said. “It helps to talk about stuff.”

“It’s true. I feel a little better already, in fact,” Fiber replied, with a hint of a smile. “Thanks, guys. You’re great… Now, I’m kinda hungry, you know?”

The others smiled and started getting the food from their baskets.

The rest of the afternoon was pleasant and enjoyable for the five of them, and they remained there until it started to get dark. Honey Drop actually got a little worried when he realised how late it was, as his parents could complain, so he hastily grabbed his things, said farewell to his friends and rushed home. River Mouth and Hard Fiber took that as their cue to go home as well, as they had their own things to do. And so, Dainty and Steel took their own things and made it back to Dainty’s house.





The rehearsal for that week had been scheduled for Thursday, and Dainty would have to find something to occupy his other evenings, as usual. However, they had talked about the possibility of seeing each other more often through the week. Dainty said the others were free to visit him any time they wished. Hard Fiber sometimes had impediments due to taking care of his little brother, but he was sometimes available for a chat. River Mouth had her field research, so she was a little short on free time, but she said she could find a way. Honey Drop said the others also were invited to go visit his house and get to know the farm, and Dainty was particularly interested.

On Tuesday, after his shift, he thought of giving Honey Drop a visit. He got to know parents for the first time, after only ever hearing about them. Mr. and Mrs. Honey had the peculiar sternness and maturity of people who worked hard all their lives, but they were still very welcoming and friendly towards Dainty, and he felt they were happy to get to know the musician Honey Drop kept talking about so much. Dainty chatted with them for quite some time, getting to know a little about their story, and also sharing a bit of his own. He got to know the farm, learnt a little about their beekeeping methods, and then went to a back room where Honey Drop had his drum kit assembled, so they could chat about music and assorted things. It was a very pleasant visit, and he felt refreshed when he went home that night.

So, Thursday evening eventually came, and the band gathered in his home to carry on working. As they were preparing their equipment, Dainty proposed something new this time: they’d spend some time practising the new songs, and then they’d play a whole setlist, as if it were a real concert.

“But do we even have a setlist?” Hard Fiber said.

“Well, I have my sketches,” Dainty said. “But I think that, if we try to play all songs we know in order, we’ll get a feel for how an actual concert would sound. And we could also discuss the song order when we’re done. What do you think?”

“I think it’s a good idea, Dainty,” River Mouth said. “We’ve been playing for so long already, it would be nice to have a little taste of how our live show would be.”

“Okay, then. Let’s get the new songs done, and then I’ll get my sketches,” Dainty said.

They worked for a while on the new songs they had been practicing, until they were satisfied with them. And so, Dainty grabbed his most complete setlist sketch and put it on the floor, next to his mic stand, to let the band know what was the song order.

And so, they blasted off with Is It, and, after talking a little bit about some details of the execution that could be improved, they moved on to Almost by Mistake, and they played song after song, slowly getting the sense that they were actually playing a concert to a non-existent audience. It felt exciting to do that, and, even though they still made small mistakes in the performances, they enjoyed the atmosphere, and they felt like a real band.

By the end, they discussed some things they felt should be improved, and made suggestions about the song order. Sometimes there were considerable disagreements—Honey Drop insisted there shouldn’t be two slow songs in a row, whereas Steel Strings thought it would be nice to have a softer moment in the show, to let everypony catch their breath—and they put those topics to a vote. It turned out that River Mouth, Steel Strings and Dainty Tunes would often agree on their choices, leaving the other two at a disadvantage, and Honey Drop started to find that a little unfair, because they weren’t being heard.

“Well, I’m trying to keep this fair for everypony,” Dainty said. “You can try to convince us of your point of view whenever you feel the need to, Honey Drop.”

“I’m trying! But it feels like you’re just ignoring me when I say something,” Honey replied.

“I dunno, Honey, I don’t think I ever ignored you,” Dainty said. “You suggested we should play Factory, and we did add it to the setlist, remember? It’s just that we don’t always agree with everything.”

“Yeah, but Fiber and I are pretty much always at a disadvantage,” Honey said. “I mean, it’s guaranteed that you and Steel are always going to vote the same, anyway, so…”

“What? No, that’s not true, Honey!” Dainty objected, without raising his voice. “That’s not guaranteed at all. I mean, we often disagree when we talk to each other, so don’t say we’re always going to side against you. That’s not fair.”

“Yeah, whatever,” Honey said. “I don’t wanna start a fight, or anything. I just wanna… you know, participate a little more, that’s all.”

“Okay, so, what do you think we should reconsider?” Dainty said.

“Well, I just don’t think we should have The Vampire Theater and Wind on the Coast back to back. They’re too slow and too sad! I think they’re gonna drag everypony down.”

“I still think it’s better if we do,” Steel Strings said. “If the slow songs are too loosely spread, they kill the momentum.”

“Yeah, but…” Honey Drop couldn’t think of what to say, so he just sighed.

“Well, what if we, say, replace The Vampire Theater with Chalk, and put it somewhere else in the setlist?” Dainty said. “We can also have The World’s Been Acting So Complicated to close off that part of the setlist. It’s a little faster, but it’s a pretty gentle song. So, then, we put The Vampire Theater somewhere else, together with other songs that aren’t too sad. What do you think?”

“That could work, actually,” Steel Strings said.

“Maybe write it down, Dainty, and we’ll try that next time,” River Mouth said.

“Is that okay for you, Honey Drop?” Dainty said.

He slowly nodded. “I think so, yeah. Let’s try it.”

And so, they went on making arrangements and decisions, and Dainty put the sketch away. They still had some time remaining, so they chose to play the songs that they felt needed improvement.



That Saturday, they joined together to work on some more new songs. They realised there were very few songs on the setlist that they hadn’t learned yet, and figured they’d have their full show on hoof in just a few weeks.

“Don’t you guys think it’s about time to try to get a show scheduled?” River Mouth said. “I mean, it’s not like we would get a date for the next couple of weeks anyway, so we’ll have time to rehearse everything we need.”

“I think you’re right, River,” Hard Fiber said. “If we don’t make a move, we’ll never go anywhere. We’ll just keep rehearsing forever.”

Dainty couldn’t help but feel that apprehension he had felt when they scheduled their first gig, but he tried not to let the fear get the best of him. “Yeah, let’s do it. We could go to Ponyville Theater this week and talk to them. We held our audition there, so they must still remember us.”

“I can go with you if you want, Dainty,” Steel said.

“That would be wonderful, my lo— Steel,” Dainty replied. “Maybe on Monday? I can go there during my lunch break, I believe.”

“I think Tuesday’s better for me,” Steel said.

“I could go too, if you wouldn’t mind,” Hard Fiber said.

“No, of course not!” Dainty replied. “Yeah, let’s do that, then! Tuesday it is.”

They finished their arrangements, and moved on to the rehearsal. They started work on a new song, and once again played their setlist, incorporating the changes suggested on the previous rehearsal. Dainty felt satisfied that this was probably going to become a method of work, and could really tighten up their sound and their act. As usual, they discussed things they needed to improve, suggested changes to the setlist, and, after a few hours of work, they were starting to get physically tired. It was another exhausting, but productive day, and Dainty felt his bandmates left that day feeling satisfied.



On Tuesday, as they had agreed, Dainty Tunes, Steel Strings and Hard Fiber met in front of the theatre to try to arrange their concert. Dainty felt very nervous, as there was something very uncomfortable in the idea of trying to convince somepony else that his band was worthy of playing there. They had hundreds of possible reasons to reject the Ponyville Rag, so much that he could probably choose to hear them in alphabetical order, or from least to most humiliating.

However, the talk with the manager was very tranquil and reasonable. Indeed, the manager remembered them from their audition, and they talked about the equipment and stage set-up, and the available dates. Dainty estimated that they’d need at least one month of preparation, to finish their rehearsals and advertise the show around the town. The detail that shocked the manager the most was that they didn’t want to charge for the concert.

“So... you’re doing this whole thing for free?” he said, not concealing his bewilderment.

“Yeah it’s... it’s part of the arrangement, yes,” Dainty said. “We were only allowed to play these songs if we didn't make a profit.”

“Well, fair enough,” the manager said, “but we still need to maintain the costs of running the concert. I couldn’t hold it free of charge.”

“In that case, you can charge a reasonable fee, and the theater keeps all the money,” Steel Strings said. “Does that sound fair to you, Dainty?”

“Yeah, yeah, sure,” he replied. “Of course. I mean, we don’t want to cause any losses to the theater. The important thing is that we don’t make a profit.”

And so, they left the theater with a few potential dates, all on Saturdays. They’d talk to the other band members on their next rehearsal, and come back with a final choice.

“Gee, thank you, guys,” Dainty said as they left the building. “I wouldn’t have been able to do this on my own.”

“It was a pleasure, lovely,” Steel Strings said.

“Yeah, no problem there, dude,” Hard Fiber said. “Hey, by the way, if you want to, you could come up to my house this evening, if you wanna chat. What do you think?”

“I’ll be busy tonight, unfortunately,” Steel said. “I’ve got a job I have to finish for tomorrow.”

“Well, I’m available,” Dainty said. ”It’ll be a pleasure to go, Fiber! I’ll be there after the shift… and, in fact, I really gotta hurry back to work.”

“Of course, sweetheart, don’t be late,” Steel said, kissing him gently on the cheek.

“Talk to you in the evening, Dainty!” Fiber said, before Dainty went off to work.





Dainty Tunes knocked on the door of Hard Fiber’s house, and, after a few seconds, he opened the door.

“Hey, there!” he said. “Come in, Dainty.”

“Thanks, Fiber! How’s it going?”

“Pretty good, buddy,” Fiber said, closing the door after Dainty came in.

Dainty noticed a faint, but distinct scent in that house. He couldn’t put his hoof on what it was, but it felt oddly pleasant. On two chairs next to a wall, two ponies sat, busily working. Dainty had seen them before and knew they were Hard Fiber’s mother and younger brother. She was working on a piece of knitting, but would often glance at Fiber’s brother, who hastily manipulated pieces of string in his hooves. He rocked his body back and forth, and had a vacant facial expression, which didn’t match the hasty, almost chaotic movements of his hooves, which still looked too deliberate and purposeful to be random.

“So, this is my mom, Twill Weave,” Fiber said, pointing to her. “Mom, this is Dainty Tunes, the singer of my band.”

“Oh, yes, I have met him before,” she said. “Good evening, Mr. Tunes.”

“Good evening to you too, Mrs. Weave,” he said.

“And this is my little brother, Macramé,” Fiber went on. “I’m afraid he won’t say hello to you, but he seems to like you.”

Dainty awkwardly smiled. “Well, that’s nice to hear,” he said.

“Do you see all these knots in here?” Fiber said, pointing at a wealth of intricate, beautiful decorative knots placed around the furniture of the living room. “They were all made by him. He just has a natural talent for knots. Isn’t that right, buddy?”

Macramé didn’t reply, but Dainty felt like Fiber could pick up small cues that indicated how he felt. The young pony sometimes gave little grunts and moans, and it seemed that was all Dainty would hear from him.

“Yeah, he’s pretty comfortable with you here, Dainty,” Fiber said, leading him to his bedroom. “Come this way, I wanted to show you something.”



Fiber had his guitar plugged into his amp, which suggested he had been practicing. An acoustic guitar was resting against the opposite wall. Fiber sat down on the bed and took his guitar, and invited Dainty to sit on a chair in a corner of the room.

“I’ve mentioned before that I often don’t have time to practice,” Fiber said, “but I take any opportunity I can find. And now that we’re scheduling our concert, I’m gonna try harder to get some stuff done.”

“Yeah, well, you have to try to find your own pace, Fiber,” Dainty said. “It has to be comfortable for everypony.”

“I guess, yeah,” Fiber said. “So, I’ve been playing around with the guitar stuff from Lost Time, you know, and I… Well, the chords are C, A minor, B minor and E minor, right? That’s what Steel plays on the guitar.”

“Yes, that’s right,” Dainty said.

“So, yeah, I sometimes try to find out things to play in the song, like those arpeggios and bends and whatever, and listen to this.” He started to play some guitar lines, which Dainty immediately recognised as Lost Time, even though Fiber was just improvising his lines. “That’s the stuff that I usually do, you know, But now, look at this.”

He played almost the same thing as before, but changed the notes of one of the chords. Dainty nodded, immediately understanding what he was doing.

“Like, this is different from what we do on the song, but it seems to work,” Fiber said. “I think that, instead of playing a D, I’m playing an E flat, I think. Is that right? I don’t know, I don’t really know what I’m doing, but it sounds good to me.”

“Yeah, it does,” Dainty said. “You’re playing B major instead of B minor, so that’s a D sharp, not an E flat. You’re playing a major five chord on a minor progression, and that’s super common. That’s why it sounds good to you.”

“Oh, so that’s what’s going on?” Fiber said. “That’s interesting. I didn’t know you could play that chord on a minor key. I thought the five chord had to be minor.”

“It can be either minor or major, really,” Dainty said. “Well, in reality, any chord can be whatever you want, you know. You don’t have to only play the chords that belong to the key. What happens is that some chords are more common than others, so some of them will make more sense when we hear them. And the major five chord is pretty common. I mean, that D sharp you’re playing goes up to an E. That’s what we call the leading tone. That’s why we sometimes replace the minor five with a major five.”

“Hm, interesting,” Fiber said. “That’s pretty cool. But, like, would this work if I played like this in the song? I mean, I’m only playing this on my own, so I have no idea what it would sound like with the band.”

Dainty pondered his choice of words carefully. “Well, it would probably sound pretty strange, because you’d be playing one chord and Steel would be playing another. And the melody I sing follows what Steel plays, so there would be a lot of clashing, like we’re doing two different things at the same time. I think, since the song uses B minor, that’s what we should play. But yeah, we could replace it with a B major if we wanted to, and it would be fine.”

“I get it. Yeah, that’s very interesting. It’s funny how we sometimes bump into some really unexpected things like these.”

“Yeah, I sometimes do that,” Dainty replied. “I’ll just let my hooves play stuff on the piano, and when something sounds cool, I try to use it somehow. It’s fun just letting things happen by chance.”

“I think I should do that more often,” Hard Fiber said. “Well, even though, for learning the band’s songs, I think it’s better to stick to the script, right?”

“Well, you can always experiment with new things,” Dainty said. “But yeah, the things you do have to kinda match what the rest of the band is playing. But there’s still things to do.”

“I guess. I like playing this song, you know,” Fiber said. “There’s always a little thing I find out, and I feel like trying it when we play together.”

“You wanna try playing it now?” Dainty said, pointing at the acoustic guitar. “Is it okay to play here? We could try to keep it quiet.”

“Sure, sure, go on,” Fiber said. “Let’s try it!”

Dainty grabbed the guitar and tested the tuning, and asked Fiber to give him a low E. They spent some time getting the tuning right, and then Dainty asked Fiber to start the song. Dainty joined in, and they quickly got into the regular groove of the song. Dainty sang, noticing how Fiber looked focused on his guitar, and figured he was trying to do the things he said he had been practicing.

Then, Dainty noticed that Fiber glanced at the door, and for a moment lost his focus. It took a moment for Dainty to turn around and see what had attracted his attention. Once he did, he saw Macramé in the doorway, standing still, watching them. He went on singing and playing as usual, still noticing that Fiber looked extremely surprised, and seemed to play with even more motivation than before.

When they finished the song, Dainty noticed Macramé making some short, gentle grunts.

“You liked it, buddy?” Fiber said with a smile. “It’s good music, isn’t it?”

“Let’s play another one, what do you think?” Dainty said.

“Sure, sure! What do you suggest?”

“Um, let’s do The World’s Been Acting So Complicated. I really like that one.”

“Okay! Do the count in, Dainty,” Fiber said, getting in position.

They launched into the song, and Dainty felt it sounded especially lively, even though the rest of the band wasn’t there to play along. At some point, Fiber’s mother came to the door and stood there as well, next to Macramé, until the song was over.

“You like the music, Macramé?” Twill Weave said, looking at Fiber. “It’s nice, isn’t it? Come on, now, it’s time for your snack. You can hear them play later, okay?”

The young pony seemed to object a little, but his mother guided him away.

Hard Fiber took a trembling breath.

“It seems we have a new fan,” Dainty said with a smile.

Fiber looked at him. “I’ve never seen my brother so happy, Dainty,” he said. “He was… so calm.”

Dainty gave an involuntary grin, noticing how deeply moved Fiber was.

“You don’t have the habit of playing music to him?”

“Well, I mostly practice my stuff,” Fiber said, “but… I don’t really play the songs, I guess. I mean, I don’t even know how to sing.”

Dainty gestured to the door with his head. “Now you‘ve got a motivation to learn, don’t you?”

Fiber smiled timidly. “I guess so.”





At Thursday's rehearsal, once everypony had arrived, Dainty and Steel mentioned their meeting with the manager of the theater, and the dates they could choose from.

“We thought it would be better to pick either a Friday or a Saturday, as that would probably mean a larger audience,” Dainty said. “They also had Sunday available, but, since River Mouth has her field work, that would be out of question.”

“Oh, yes, about that,” she said, scratching her head. “I now have pretty much all evenings available. The… the research on the lake has been cancelled.”

The other four ponies looked at her, uncertain how to react. “You mean, you’ve finished it?” Hard Fiber said.

“No, no, actually cancelled,” River said. “It seems to have run out of funding, or something, so… there was no way to go on.”

“Oh… that sucks, River,” Honey Drop said.

“Yeah, it does, Honey,” she replied. “And worse is… well, honestly, let’s not talk about that. Let’s focus on the band, which is much better.” She gave an insincere smile.

“Well, yeah, let’s do it, then,” Dainty said, trying to get back into gear.

They looked at the dates, and managed to choose a date very quickly. They decided to keep a second date as a plan B, just in case the first choice became unavailable. They also talked about how they should go about advertising the concert, and Dainty brought out some of his sketches of how band photos could be. They gathered around his bed, to look at his ideas and discuss.

“But, are we, like, gonna pay a photographer to do this?” Honey Drop said. “We’re not gonna get this done for free, are we?”

“Yes, we’re gonna pay for it,” Dainty said. “We’ll have to look for somepony to do this for a reasonable price.”

“I know a friend who does photography,” Hard Fiber said. “He’s… well, he’s not like a professional, but I’ve seen some of his photos and he’s pretty good. I think he could charge us a little less to get this done.”

“That sounds good, Fiber!” Dainty said. “Get him in touch with us. I’m thinking that we could put some posters around the town. If we talk to the mayor, we can do it without making a mess.”

“Sounds like a good idea, Dainty,” River said. “We should try to generate a buzz.”

“Okay, then, Fiber, talk to your friend and see if he can have a meeting with us,” Dainty said. “If he agrees to work with us, we’ll arrange a day to get this done.”

“Alright, I’ll talk to him,” Fiber said. “So somepony has to go to the theater and schedule our concert, right?”

“I believe I can do this tomorrow,” Dainty said. “I can do it on my own, so if none of you can go, there’s no trouble.”

“Okay, I don’t know if I can make it tomorrow, so if you can do it, that’s wonderful,” Steel said.

“Alright. So let’s play?” Dainty said, going to his position. “Let’s try to get the new songs finished, and maybe go on to the last ones. There’s just a few left to go.”

“Yeah!” Honey said, rushing to his drum kit. “Let’s go!”

They prepared their instruments, and went off to play the new songs in the setlist. River Mouth was visibly unenthusiastic, and that even affected her playing, though it wasn’t getting in the way of the others. Dainty put on a new song for them to learn, and they worked on it for a while. After that, they saw they wouldn’t have enough time to play the entire setlist, so they chose to focus on the songs that needed improvement.

Dainty couldn’t hold back his excitement at the fact that they only had one song left to learn, Waiting for Me, and he presumed that it would be ready in two rehearsals at most. And then, they’d just have to tighten up their performances. The band, already tired, started putting away their instruments to leave, and most of them were chatting about their next plans. Only River Mouth remained mostly silent.

“River,” Dainty said, discreetly approaching her. “Do you… Do you wanna stay here and talk to us? You know, just to talk?”

She pondered for a moment. “Yes, I would. Thank you, Dainty.”

Fiber and Honey went on preparing to leave. Fiber asked whether River was heading out too, but she just casually said she was staying for a while longer. They bid the other two ponies farewell, and Dainty closed the door. Steel, sitting on the bed, just watched the two.

“So, River,” Dainty said, a little unsure. “You wanna talk about what happened?”

River Mouth sighed profoundly, looking at the floor, as if deep in thought. “They… they cancelled the project, guys. They just… decided it had to stop. They say they had no more funding, but, honestly, I don’t know. They didn’t care to explain it properly to us. They just sent us home and said it was over.”

“And your work wasn’t done yet?” Steel said.

“No, it was nowhere near done!” she complained. “We still had a lot to do!... And the worst thing is that… well, the consequences may be terrible.”

“Really? Why?” Dainty said.

River exhaled. “This… this place, Dainty, it’s a huge, beautiful lake. It has a rich vegetation, and it attracts all sorts of birds and other animals… You can see the fish swimming in it. But… for some months now, this… this strange fungus started growing all over it, and it’s throwing the entire ecology out of balance. We were investigating why, and how we could possibly revert it.”

“Fungus?” Steel said. “I thought you studied underwater stuff.”

“We’re a multidisciplinary team, Steel,” she said. “I’m responsible for studying the effect of the fungus on the water plants and the algae and fish. But there’s more of us working on this. And the thing is, if we stop working now, the entire place might be destroyed. The fungus seems to be very strong and aggressive, and, if we don’t act, we can’t be sure that it can be naturally stopped.”

“Yeah, that sounds bad,” Dainty said.

“Dainty, it’s… it’s a gorgeous place,” River said. “It’s wonderful, and it’s… scary to think that all this beauty can just disappear, and that I did nothing to prevent it.”

“But, River, it’s not like you did nothing,” Dainty objected. “You were working on it. You did what you could.”

“But it wasn’t enough!” she replied with anger. “It… wasn’t enough.”

Dainty scratched his head, unsure of what to say.

“Well, is there anything you can actually do, River?” Steel said.

“I’ve talked to the professor in charge,” River replied, “and she just said that she’ll see if she can secure more funding and get the project running again… but, honestly, I don’t know whether she really means it, or if she's just making excuses.”

“Then I guess you’ve done your best,” Dainty said.

She shook her head. “Dainty, that doesn’t cut it for me! I just can’t sit on my ass and think, ‘oh, well, I did my best!’ Well, have I? For all I care, I’m doing nothing right now. Nothing. If nothing is literally the best I can do, then what kind of pathetic, worthless pony am I? Tell me, Dainty, what’s the use in me saying, ‘I did my best,’ when that whole place is being ruined by that stupid fungus? Does it care if I did my best? It doesn’t!”

“Yes, River, I know what you mean,” Dainty said, approaching her. “This really sucks, like, it really, really does. And it’s totally fine for you to try to do something about it. But you shouldn’t punish yourself for something that’s beyond your reach. Just try to focus on what you can do.”

“That’s easier said than done, I guess,” she replied, looking to the side. “But you’re right… I just feel so… helpless, you know. This was a real problem that I could help fix. I studied all my life exactly so that I could do this kind of thing, and then… everything’s just ripped right out of my hooves.”

“It sounds awful,” Steel said. “I guess you should try talking around to somepony who could make a difference. I don’t know, maybe reach out to Princess Twilight? Perhaps she could do something.”

River took a deep breath. “I don’t know… could she even do something about this?”

“Perhaps it’s worth giving it a shot,” Dainty said. “I think it’s a good idea.”

“Maybe,” she replied, shrugging, and sighed. “Sorry to drag you down with such a bummer, but I really needed to talk about this… Thank you for letting me vent.”

“You know you can always talk to us when you want to, River,” Steel Strings said. “No need to keep things to yourself.”

River felt like she had said all she had to say about that subject, and the subject changed to less unpleasant things. Dainty made themselves some tea, and they stood there, chatting for a while longer, until she felt it was time to leave. Dainty felt like she looked a little better, but she was still dispirited, and he fully understood that.





On the next Saturday, Hard Fiber gave them the news that he had arranged a meeting with his photographer friend on Monday evening, to talk about their ideas for a photo session. The other four signalled that they’d be available, and were eager to get that next step done. Also, Dainty said he had successfully scheduled their chosen day for the concert in Ponyville Theater, so the five of them were quite enthusiastic for that rehearsal. Dainty suggested they start learning the final song in their setlist, and so they did. They worked on that song for a while, and then tried to play the full setlist, start to finish, to get a taste of how it would sound like. Dainty was particularly ecstatic.

The meeting with the photographer had been arranged in a café, which was near Steel Strings’s house. Dainty picked him up after his shift and went there, where Hard Fiber was already waiting. In just a few minutes Fiber noticed his friend arriving.

“Oh, there he is!” he said, raising a hoof.

The unicorn, with a dark red, almost brown coat and a black curly mane, casually approached the table.

“Guys, this is Sharp Focus,” Fiber said, getting up. “These are Dainty Tunes and Steel Strings. The others should be coming up.”

“Hi,” he said, in a soft tenor voice, sitting down. “Nice to meet you.”

“Hello, Focus,” Dainty replied. “Nice to meet you too!”

“Yep, same here,” Steel said. “I think maybe we should wait for the others?”

“Yeah, let’s give them some time,” Dainty said.

They started to make some casual, small talk. Sharp Focus was a soft spoken, rather timid pony, and he mostly listened to what the others had to say. They talked a bit about their experience as a band, and Focus just asked a few questions about that.

River Mouth arrived soon afterward. They decided to order some drinks while they waited for Honey Drop to arrive. They chatted and drank for a while, and after about twenty minutes, there was no sign of Honey.

“I guess he had some trouble,” River said. “But I think we can get to business with just the five of us, right?”

“Yeah, I guess we can,” Dainty said, reaching to his saddlebag next to the table. “So, I’ve made some sketches of some ideas I discussed with the band.”

He pulled out a few sheets of paper with hoof drawings, and passed them to Sharp Focus. “Some of those are suggestions the others made, too. I just thought you might get a rough idea of what we have in mind.”

Focus looked at them in silence, seeming to contemplate them deeply.

“Of course, those are just suggestions,” Dainty said, unsure whether he should fill the silence or let him examine the sketches quietly, “but I know nothing about photography. So, your ideas will also be welcome.”

“Yeah, I’m trying to get a feel for it,” Focus said. “These are interesting, they give a direction. But I think I need to check out your sound first. I need to know what your music sounds like, to get a mental picture.”

“Of course, that makes total sense,” Steel said. “I presume you could attend our next rehearsal, if you’re available. What do you think, Dainty?”

“Sure! You should totally come,” he replied. “We’ll play this Wednesday evening, in my house.”

“Okay, I’ll be available,” Sharp Focus said. “And then we can arrange a shooting session. Maybe on the weekend? Either Saturday or Sunday is fine.”

“That sounds good to me,” River said.

So, they went on talking about their music, their ideas, and Focus shared some of his story, and said music was a great interest of his, though he didn’t play anything.

“But you know,” he said, “being hired to do a job like this is good for me to learn. I like to photograph landscapes and buildings, mostly, but promotional shots for a band is something new to me… uh, I mean, Fiber did tell you that I’m not really a professional yet, right?”

“Sure, sure, don’t worry,” Dainty said. “I mean, none of us in the band are really professionals either. I think we can all just help each other, you know? Artists should get together and offer support.”

“Yes, that’s true,” Focus said. “And if you’re offering support, I’m not one to deny it, right?” He chuckled, almost shyly.

After that, they talked about the payment, and Sharp Focus confirmed that he’d charge them a low price, both because he still considered himself a student, and as a favour for Hard Fiber. Dainty was concerned about Honey Drop’s absence, and, as the evening wore on and Focus decided he had to leave, Dainty said he’d pay a visit to Honey to tell him the news and check if things were fine.

“He probably had to stay to help with something on the farm,” Fiber said. “After all, it wasn’t required for everypony to be here.”

“Yeah, but he’s not one to just not show up, like that,” Dainty said. “I’ll just check out on him anyway.”

“Okay, sure,” Fiber said.





Dainty made it to Honey Drop’s house the next evening. He was warmly greeted by his parents. Mrs. Honey said her son was in his bedroom, and went to call him. Dainty stayed in the living room, and made some small chat with Mr. Honey, asking about the farm and life in general. Dainty noticed he wasn’t terribly keen on small talk, so he tried not to extend the conversation too much. He made those questions mostly out of politeness.

After a while, Honey Drop came to the living room. “Hey, there, Dainty,” he said, without much enthusiasm. “How’s it going?”

“Pretty fine, pretty fine,” Dainty replied, getting up. “How about you?”

“Yeah, I’m… I’m alright,” Honey said, glancing behind his back. “You know, I’m sorry I didn’t come out to see you right away, but I’ve been doing some reading lately, and I didn’t want to put down the book without finishing the chapter. I didn’t mean to be impolite…”

Honey smiled sheepishly, and Dainty gave a dismissive hoof wave. “Pft, no worries, buddy.”

“So, uh, you’re here to talk about the band, right?” Honey said.

“Well, in part, yeah,” Dainty said, with a shrug. “But it’s also to know how you’re doing. Since you didn’t come to the meeting last night, I wanted to check if everything was fine.”

“Oh, yeah, yeah, there was that,” Honey replied, looking clearly uncomfortable. “Do you wanna go with me to the back room to chat? I think it’s better than here.”

“Yeah, sure,” Dainty said, already noticing that something wasn’t quite right.

He followed Honey to the room with the drum kit, and they sat in a pair of chairs, in two corners of the room.

“So, we talked to Hard Fiber’s photographer friend,” Dainty said. “He agreed to do the job, but he only wanted to hear us play first. So, we invited him to our next rehearsal. He’ll be there to check us out, and then we’ll probably have our photo shoot this weekend. He’s gonna make us a cheap price, so it shouldn’t be any trouble for any of us.”

“Yeah, that’s cool, Dainty,” Honey Drop said. “I’m sorry I couldn’t go, I… well. I didn’t mean to desert you, but… well…”

“Nah, it was no big deal, Honey, don’t worry,” Dainty said. “It wasn’t strictly necessary that everypony be there. I just… Well, I just wondered what happened. You don’t usually leave us waiting, you know. Is everything alright?”

Honey scratched the back of his head. “Well, um… I, uh… You see, Dainty, I’m… We have this concert scheduled, and all, and I’m totally on board to do it, since you’re counting on me and all… but, Dainty, we gotta face it. I’m a bad drummer. That’s just what it is.”

For a moment, Dainty was unable to react. He just stared blankly at Honey Drop for a second, and blinked. “What… What do you mean, Honey?”

“I mean exactly what I said,” Honey replied, trying to sound dry, but unable to. “I’m not a good drummer. I suck at it.”

Dainty couldn’t help but frown. “Honey Drop, look, you’re a beginner, that’s true. You haven’t been playing for a long time, but you have improved a lot since we started. You learned all the songs, you’ve worked on your technique, and you sound great when you play with us. You’re not a bad drummer, Honey! Where did you even get that idea?”

Honey gazed at the floor, uncertain. He had that look of somepony who isn’t sure whether they should say something. “This Sunday, we received a visit from some relatives of mine. My uncle is a drummer, you know, and he asked to hear me play. And, well, he said that… that my drumming is really bad, and I still have many, many things to improve before I could call myself a drummer. I mean, I didn’t even hold the drumsticks right, Dainty. Even that was wrong! If my uncle hadn’t told me, I would’ve never known.”

“What do you mean?” Dainty said, puzzled.

“Here, look,” Honey said, pulling a pair of drumsticks from his kit. “You know, I used to play like this, you know?” he said, strapping the sticks to his hooves parallel from each other, away from his body. “But this is wrong.” He turned the drumstick on his left hoof around, so it pointed towards his other hoof. “This is the right way to do it. This is how I should be playing. And, well, when I try to play like this, I really can’t. I have to learn it all over again.”

Dainty scratched his head. “Look, Honey, I’m sure those are just two different techniques. I’ve seen other ponies play like you were doing before. It wasn’t wrong. I’m sure Pinkie Pie could tell you about this.”

“Dainty, my uncle is a real drummer,” Honey insisted. “He’s played with bands. He’s actually recorded music. He sat down at the drum kit to show me a few things, and, well, the stuff he does is unbelievable. It’s ridiculous. I love Pinkie Pie, but she’s not a real drummer like he is. He knows a million things about music, so, if I’m to believe someone, I’ll believe him, you know.”

“Honey, I’m not saying anything against your uncle,” Dainty said, already exasperated, “I just… I mean, what kind of music does your uncle play?”

“Oh, all kinds,” Honey said, shrugging. “He plays stuff like jazz, mostly. I hardly know anything about it, but he plays a lot of stuff.”

“Does he play rock music?”

“He said rock is not real music. It’s primitive noise, it has no technique. He said, if I keep listening to rock, I’ll never learn to play a real instrument.”

Dainty slammed his forehooves down on his thighs. “Well, there, Honey! Do you think that’s right? Do you even agree with him? Do you think rock is not real music?”

“Well, I…” Honey sighed. “I, uh… I guess I like the music that we play, and I like the songs, and all, but… but I wanna be a good musician, Dainty. I wanna play stuff that’s good, that other ponies like.”

“Honey Drop, look, the most important thing is that you have to play things that you like,” Dainty said. “You need to play the sound that you like to make, not what others think you should make. That’s what making music is all about, buddy.”

“Oh, come on, Dainty! Don’t give me that shit!” Honey shot back. “The only reason why we’re rehearsing so much is that we wanna play for other ponies and we want them to like our music. We want to be good, so they’ll enjoy what we do. That’s the whole point.”

“Honestly? I don’t think so,” Dainty said. “I rehearse so much because I like being as good as I can possibly be, and because the songs deserve it. I have no idea if anypony else out there will like it or not, and there’s no way I can make anypony like it. All I can do is be the best possible version of myself and hope for the best, and I can only do that if I’m doing the things I like, the way I like them. There are no rules, there’s just us and the music. And I remember the way you played with us. You were enthusiastic, full of energy. You loved it, Honey Drop! Remember how happy you were when you played Twenty Nine with us for the first time? Remember our gig? You were up in the clouds. You can not tell me that all of that is gone just because somepony told you that you’re not good, and I don’t care how good they are and with how many bands they played. They have no right to steal your enthusiasm, Honey. They can’t do that.”

Honey shook his head. “I dunno, Dainty, I…”

“Come on, you can’t have lost the enjoyment of playing, Honey Drop,” Dainty insisted. “Come on, play something that you like. Something fun, something that makes you happy.”

“Anything?” Honey said, glancing tentatively at the drum kit.

“Yeah, anything, whatever you want. Just something that you have fun with.”

Honey Drop shook the drumsticks in the air a little, and got up, heading for the drums. “Okay, I guess… There’s something that Pinkie taught me one day,” he said, sitting on the stool. “She calls it The Pinkie Pie Stomp. I don’t know if she made it up on the spot for me to play, but it goes like this.”

Honey started to play a constant pulse on the kick drum, and a rather complex, syncopated beat on the toms. Honey bobbed his head a little to keep track of the pulse, and then started to chant a repeated verse, with just spoken words, without melody:

Everypony around, stamp your hooves on the ground!
Roll, jump and romp to the Pinkie Pie Stomp!

Dainty started to swing his body to the rhythm, complimenting the beat by drumming on his own thighs, and started to chant along. As they went, Honey Drop started to create variations on the drum beat, playing the snare and the cymbals, doing some rolls and extra beats, until it all suddenly died down, and he sighed.

“Why did you stop?” Dainty said.

Honey looked at his hooves: he had the drumsticks the “wrong” way again. “Well, you know… Okay, maybe this is fun for me, but is it fun for anypony else?”

“Well, it was for me,” Dainty replied with a wry smile. “And you were doing well. Those variations at the end, are they part of the song?”

“Oh, no, no, I… I just started to improvise. Pinkie told me to try to improvise, so I’d always try to do something.”

“So you see?” Dainty said, getting up. “How would you do that if you were a bad drummer, Honey Drop?”

“Dainty, look,” Honey said, looking at the floor, “I… I appreciate what you’re trying to do. Honestly, I do. You’re a sweet guy, and all, but… Look, I already told you, I’m gonna play the concert with you. I wouldn’t quit on a commitment like that. But, after that, I’ll… I’ll just go, and you can find a better drummer.”

“But, Honey, you are the right drummer for us!” Dainty said, almost in a pleading tone. “What does it even mean to the ‘better’ anyway? I don’t care. I don’t want a ‘better’ drummer, Honey, I want you.”

Honey Drop pondered for a second, and then gave Dainty an oblique look. “You already have a boyfriend, you know.”

Dainty, caught off guard, couldn’t react for a second, and then scoffed, trying not to lose his pose. “Oh, sweet Honey, you’re nice and all, but you’re not my style.”

They both laughed briefly, but the laugh was cut short. “I… you know that I’m just joking, right? ‘Cause, you know, I… I’m not into stallions, and all…”

“Oh, of course we’re just joking, Honey, buddy,” Dainty said with a smile.

“Yeah, I mean, besides… you and Steel are so cool together, you know?” Honey said. “Like, it’s kinda funny how you try to disguise it, but you always act like you haven’t seen each other in years… which is funny, of course, because you probably see each other every day, and all.”

Dainty paused for a second. “Well, actually, we don’t. We… only see each other in rehearsals, really. We… have an agreement to only meet twice a week.”

Honey Drop couldn’t hide his bewilderment. “Oh… wow, really? But why?”

“Well, it’s something that we decided is best for us… More like, it’s something Steel asked.” Dainty said, going back to his chair. “He has his reasons.”

“Wow, that’s crazy,” Honey said, soon widening his eyes. “I mean, like, I’m not judging you, or anything, it’s just… I don’t know if I could do that, you know? If I had a girlfriend right now, I’d want to be with her all the time!”

“You ever had a girlfriend, Honey?”

“Yeah, I had,” Honey replied, a little sadly. “It was… nice, you know, but it didn’t work out… She was a nice mare, and all, but… well… Maybe someday she’ll wanna see me again, but for now… Eh. I’ll live, right? But it was great. We were together almost all the time… I guess that’s gotta be a thing for older ponies, right? Since you’re more mature, you do better on your own, I suppose.”

Dainty stared idly at a random spot, and then sighed. “To be honest, Honey? I… Maybe I’m not that mature either, because I also wish I could be with Steel all the time… but I can’t. And I miss him terribly. It’s… pretty bad when he’s not around. It’s not awful, because I learned to deal with it, but I feel… I feel empty, you know? And what’s worse is that, in my mind, I know that this is better for us, and we’re making the right decision… but I can’t control my heart, Honey. I… I still need him regardless. Sometimes…” He took a deep, trembling breath. “Sometimes I wish I liked him a little bit less, you know? Just so that I didn’t miss him so much. But I can’t. I love him. I love him like an idiot, like a lunatic, like a fucking maniac. And it… hurts. It hurts.”

Honey made a pause, unsure of what to say. “Sorry for that, dude.”

Dainty gave a sad smile. “You know, I think, when we’re young, we think the adults have everything figured out, because they’ve lived enough, and they’ve seen enough stuff. They solve problems, you know? They get stuff done. They fix things and they do things right. But, I look at myself, and I feel like I can’t do any fucking thing right, Honey Drop. I’m… I’m a complete mess. I can’t fix my own feelings, so how could I fix anything else? I can’t do anything right, dude, that’s the truth.”

“Hey, wait a minute,” Honey Drop said, raising his hooves. “That’s bullshit, dude! What do you mean? Look at the stuff you’ve got! You created the band! You started this thing and you got us to learn the songs and all, and you scheduled a concert. And you have a job, you have a nice house, you’re great at music, and you have friends… If you really couldn’t do anything right, how could you have all that?”

“Yeah,” Dainty said, with a sigh, “but I don’t have Steel. I don’t have… him.”

“But, like, do you need to have him?”

“Well, not like owning him, no,” Dainty said. “I just… I just wish I could have him close to me more often. When he’s not with me, I feel… I feel incomplete, I feel kinda scared, and I just can’t wait until we meet again.”

Honey pondered for a second. “You know, that reminds me of one of the songs we play.”

Dainty looked up at him. “Oh, really?”

“Yeah.”

Then, Honey Drop started to sing a few verses, which Dainty immediately recognised as Seven Cities. Honey’s voice was a little out of tune and weak, but he sang with his heart:

I am so in love
With the sound of your voice
And the light inside your eyes
But you broke my heart
And I feel a hole in my soul
Where you once were

Honey started to play a gentle, tentative beat on the drums along with the song, mostly keeping the rhythm on a ride cymbal and softly tapping the snare.

You’re so far away from me
Everything around feels empty
And I can’t stop the tears from falling
Every night

Before going to the second verse, he noticed Dainty was crying, almost sinking into the chair.

“Oh, sorry, Dainty!” Honey said, embarrassed, stopping the beat. “I didn’t… want to…”

“No, no! Please, go on!” Dainty said. “Don’t stop!”

“Really?”

“Yes, go on!”

Surprised, Honey started the beat again, and went back to singing.

My heart is aching
And it makes me so sorry
It’s lost and lonely
With no hope for tomorrow

As he went back to the chorus, he heard Dainty singing along, amid sobs.

You’re so far away from me
Everything around feels scary
And I can’t stop the tears from falling
Every night

Honey’s drum beat was growing stronger and more steady, and Dainty seemed to want to break out of his weeping and give into the song.

Hurry back to me, please
I am losing my mind
I need to hear the beating of your heart
I need your love
And the light in your eyes
Come back to me and heal my soul

Dainty was drumming on his thighs again, and Honey was playing the whole drum beat as he remembered it.

You’re so far away from me
And I feel my spirit weeping
Hear it crying
Crying
Crying…

Dainty vocalised the ending of the song, and Honey followed him, until he played the ending drum fill.. He looked at Dainty, with a smile.

Dainty smiled back, suddenly sighed and started to weep again. “Thank you for that, Honey. I needed that.”

Honey scratched his head with a drumstick. “Yeah, no problem, buddy, but… it’s weird how you actually wanted me to play a song that makes you sad.”

“Remember when Pinkie said that sad songs can make us feel less lonely?” Dainty replied. “That’s what you did, Honey. Hearing you sing… was like being hugged, you know? It was like an embrace. I… feel better now.”

Honey Drop pondered for a moment, in deep surprise. “And I did that?”

Dainty raised his eyes and gave him a mischievous smile. “You see what I mean now? I don’t need a ‘better’ drummer, because I have the best drummer.”

Without an explanation, Honey felt himself overcome with emotion, and burst into tears. “Aw, dude!”

Dainty rushed to him and hugged him. “Come on, my friend!”

He gently patted Honey on the back, and felt as if a massive load was being lifted from Honey’s back.





Thursday evening arrived with a new opportunity for a rehearsal, but with the added responsibility of having an audience now. Hard Fiber and Sharp Focus arrived together, a little earlier than Fiber used to arrive, shortly before River Mouth did. Dainty introduced him to Honey Drop, who felt particularly electric that evening. It seemed like his chat with Dainty had livened him up quite a bit.

“So, what’s it gonna be today?” Honey said, after he finished assembling his drums.

“Well, let’s play the whole setlist, shall we?” Dainty said. “Let’s pretend it’s a real concert.”

“Yeah, but, it would be nice if we had copies of the setlist to follow along,” River Mouth said.

“Oh, of course!” Dainty said, reaching to grab some sheets of paper from the top of the piano. “I prepared them last night. Here you go.”

He distributed the copies to his bandmates, while Sharp Focus paid attention to everything, making some notes on a notebook, a pencil magically hovering before him. The band prepared themselves to start playing, and, when Dainty noticed everypony was silent and in position, he pointed at Sharp Focus.

“Okay, guys? Let’s do it.”

Honey Drop did the count in for the first song, Is It, and they launched into it. Dainty felt the band sounded quite full of energy. They still made a few mistakes, but it didn’t detract from the feeling, which remained tight all the way to the end of the song.

“Okay, let’s not take too long,” Dainty said. “Let’s jump into the next one.”

“Give me a second,” Steel Strings said, and signaled that he was ready.

He started playing the song, and the whole band soon jumped in. Sharp Focus kept watching, gently bobbing his head to the beat, making a few notes here and there.

When the song ended, Focus raised his hoof. “Uh, guys? I was thinking of something here.”

“Yeah? Go ahead,” Dainty said, adjusting his microphone stand.

“Well, I wanted to try to get some pictures of you while you’re playing. Like, I don’t want you to make poses or anything. I just want to capture you in the moment, focused on the music. Do you think it’s okay?”

Dainty looked around the band, and the faces looked approving.

“Yeah, go ahead, Focus,” he said. “But keep in mind, we didn’t prepare for that, and this is just a rehearsal.”

“Yeah, that’s the good part,” Focus replied, getting up from the chair to get his camera. “It will be more spontaneous.”

“Sounds cool to me,” Honey Drop said, adjusting the tuning of his snare drum a little.

And so, Sharp Focus prepared his camera, and signalled to the band that they could go on. For the next songs, Focus would often just keep watching, and then move around taking pictures. Dainty noticed he would often take photos of the individual members, but he had no idea how they would come out. And so, Dainty just did what he had asked, and focused on the music, singing as well as he could. The other band members also did the same, and tried to just ignore the camera—except for Honey Drop, who couldn’t help but spread his wings a little when he noticed Sharp Focus was aiming the camera at him.

As they finished playing Lost Time, the final song in the set, Dainty made a gesture to Sharp Focus. “So, this is our show. What do you think?”

“Well, I’m getting some ideas already,” Focus said, adjusting some things in the camera. “I think I got a feel for it. When we get together for our photo session, I’ll tell you what I think. How’s that?”

“Yeah, sure,” Steel Strings said. “I think we should use our remaining time to work on a couple of songs, what do you think? I think Waiting for Me is still a little bit rough.”

“Me too,” River Mouth said. “I still want to improve a few things about it.”

“Sure, let’s do it,” Dainty said. “If you want, you can stay all the way until the end, Focus. We should work for about an hour more, I think.”

“Okay, I can stick around,” Focus said, sitting on his chair. “I have nothing else to do, so I might as well enjoy some free music for now.” He gave his usual giggle, and Dainty couldn’t avoid grinning.

“So, let’s do Waiting for Me, then?” Honey Drop said. “I’m ready.”

The band launched into the song, and then kept working on a few others. Some comments were made about the song order, and they approved a single change. They agreed to meet on Saturday for the photo shoot, instead of the usual rehearsal.

The other four ponies left the house, leaving Dainty and Steel behind. Steel lay back in bed while Dainty went to close the door.

“So, it’s happening, my love!” Dainty said. “We’re closer to it!”

“Exciting, isn’t it?” Steel replied, with a gentle smile. “Are you tired, sweetheart?”

“Not much, actually,” Dainty said. “Why?”

Steel lay back on the bed. “I was thinking that you could play something for me tonight. Would you do it?”

Surprised by the question, Dainty tilted his head gently. “Sure I will.” He sat by the piano and stretched his hooves. “What do you wanna hear?”

“Play me something that you wrote,” Steel Strings said. “I wanna hear something that sounds like you.”

Dainty raised his eyebrows, and immediately started to mentally go through his own songs to choose something to play. He chose something gentle, the closest thing to romantic that he had written, which meant it wasn’t really romantic. “Okay, then.”

And so, he lay his hooves on the keyboard, and a few vague, oblique chords filled the room. Dainty’s voice soon followed, and Steel just rested his head on the pillow, letting the music fill him up. He closed his eyes and focused on those sounds, and, for a few moments, he couldn’t even feel his own body anymore; he was hovering inside the music, like Dainty was softly caressing his soul.

He only felt it all go away when the song was over.

“Can you play another one?”

“Yeah, sure,” Dainty replied, softly clearing his throat.

Dainty played another song, and then another. By the end of the second song, he started to do an improvisation on the piano, as he felt suddenly struck by inspiration. He just let the melodies guide him along, and led the song to a drawn out, soft ending.

As the sound of the strings died away, he turned around and saw Steel Strings lying with his eyes closed, breathing slowly and deeply.

“Steel?” he whispered. “Are you asleep, love?”

“No, sweetheart,” Steel replied with a smile. “I was listening. Thank you for that, lovely.”

“It was a pleasure,” Dainty replied. “Can I… can I join you now?”

Steel looked at him and grinned, with lidded eyes. “Of course. I’d like you to play another instrument now,” he said, pointing at himself.

Dainty shivered and smiled. “I thought you’d never ask,” he said, getting up.





The band met with Sharp Focus in Dainty’s house early Saturday afternoon. Focus examined Dainty’s sketches of photos and posters again, and asked if he could take them to use as a reference. The band talked about a few ideas, but nothing specific.

“Well, I thought about this since I saw your rehearsal, and I do have some ideas,” Focus said. Dainty noticed that his usual soft, laid back tone was now replaced by a more professional, serious manner of speaking. “You’re the Ponyville Rag, right? You belong to Ponyville. So, I wanted to place you physically in the town. I want you to be geographically located in Ponyville. So, I thought we could go around the town and capture some of its scenery, so that Ponyville itself becomes an element of the music.”

“That sounds fair to me,” Dainty said.

“Also, Dainty, I noticed in your sketches that the five of you are all on the same plane, right?” Focus said.

Dainty frowned a little, and instinctively glanced at Steel Strings. “Uh, what do you mean?”

“Oh, you’re, like, you’re all the same,” Focus said, gesturing with a hoof, “nopony’s in front of anypony else. You’re all on the same level.”

“Oh, of course!” Dainty replied. “I mean, we’re a band. There’s five of us, and nopony is more important.”

“Exactly,” Focus said. “I want to preserve that. One more thing I thought is that I don’t want you posing. I don’t want anything that looks like you’re showing off to the camera. I noticed while you played that each one had a very natural personality, a certain pose, a certain demeanor. I want that to show in the photos. Just be who you are when you’re playing. Act like you’re preparing for a rehearsal, or something. No cool poses, no posturing, nothing. Just be a band, you see?”

“Aw, but I wanted to look cool on the poster!” Honey said.

“Honey Drop, you are cool,” River Mouth replied. “No need to look like it.”

He couldn’t help but grin. “Heheh, okay, I’ll trust you!”

“Yes, because, also,” Focus went on, “the music you play, it’s very personal and very honest. I realise they’re not your songs, but it sounds like it really comes from inside you. It’s not an act. The photos have to look like that, like it’s just you in there, your essence, your spirit. So, to put it short, the image I have in mind is: the five of you, living, existing in Ponyville. But I want chemistry between you, interaction, dynamic. You’re a band, the music depends on all of you. There’s a balance. The photos have to be like that.”

“That sounds like a pretty difficult thing to do, actually,” Honey said, scratching the back of his neck.

“Well, Honey, that’s really up to me to do,” Focus said. “You have the easiest job. I’m just showing you the ideas I have, so we can be on the same page.”

“Yeah, I like that,” Steel Strings said. “I agree with what you say.”

“Are we all in agreement?” Dainty said, looking at the others.

They all nodded and said words of approval. And so, they left the house, Hard Focus with the camera hanging from his neck, and the other five with just their own selves.



From Dainty’s house, they headed in the direction of the town hall, trotting through the streets under the intense, but gentle light of the sun. Sharp Focus heard the band chatting casually as they went, which made it feel like they were just going out for a stroll. At one point, Focus asked them to stop.

“Let’s stick here for a moment, I wanna try something out,” he said.

“Should we do something?” Hard Fiber said.

“No, no, just ignore me,” Focus said, as he walked around and looked around himself, as if studying the scenery.

The band members just exchanged glances and kept chatting. Dainty sometimes paid attention to Focus, and noticed him looking through the viewfinder sometimes, but didn’t know if he was taking pictures or not.

After a while, Focus asked them to move to another spot and spread out a little, but still keep chatting and enjoying their time. Focus moved frantically around, looking for angles and looking through the camera time and time again.

“Okay, just look at the camera now,” he said.

The five heads turned to him.

“Is he actually taking pictures or not?” Honey Drop said.

“No idea,” River said. “But let’s leave him to do his work, I guess.”

Sharp Focus did some more of his thing, and then told them to keep moving. The scene repeated when they were closer to the town hall. Dainty couldn’t help but find it a little uncomfortable just hanging in there, though the mood did loosen up as they went, and it became easier to just ignore Focus.

They went to the town square, and also posed there for a while. Sharp Focus took some more liberties this time, suggesting specific spots for each member to stay on, but still told them to talk and interact, as if they were just hanging out. At one point, he asked them to trot towards the camera. “Do it as if you’re going to a rehearsal, or a concert,” he said.

The group went on walking through a few more streets, until they found a spot where the clock tower was in view. The scene repeated, and Dainty was surprised when Sharp Focus climbed on some nearby crates to get his angles. Again, Focus asked them to look at the camera for a moment.

“I’m thinking of taking some pictures in the train station,” Focus said, going back to the ground. “What do you think?”

“Ohh, come on, aren’t we done yet?” Honey Drop groaned.

“Honey Drop!” Dainty scolded. “Don’t be rude! Show some respect to Sharp Focus.”

“Yeah, I don’t mean to disrespect,” Honey said, a little embarrassed as they started to walk again. “I just, I mean, do we even need so many photos? Aren’t we just gonna make a poster?”

“I’m trying to give you lots of options, so that you can choose the one you like best,” Sharp Focus said. “Also, you might need more photos in the future, and you won’t need to go through this all over again. I mean, it’s not like you’re just gonna do this one concert and disband, are you?”

“No, of course not!” Honey said eagerly.

“Yeah, he’s right, Honey,” Dainty said. “Let’s take this day and do as much as we can.”

They kept walking, until they reached the station. Focus really took his time in each location, exploring it deeply and looking for possible angles and positions for the band. After that, they walked towards a nearby hill, where Ponyville was in plain sight. Dainty noticed Focus had changed the film roll quite a few times, but he couldn’t calculate how many pictures he had taken already.

Slowly, they headed back into town, picking a few more shooting spots along the way, until they ended up in front of Dainty’s house.

“Well, I think I did everything I had thought about,” Focus said. “Do you have anything in mind that we missed?”

The band exchanged glances. “Not me, no,” Dainty said.

“Yeah, we did a lot more than I thought we would,” Steel said. “I think we should have enough by now.”

“I agree,” River said. “It was pretty great.”

“So, why don’t we come inside, then?” Dainty said, turning to Focus. “I can give you your payment, and you can have a cup of tea with us.”

“Yeah, I’ll take the payment, but I’ll pass on the tea, Dainty.” Focus said. “I want to go and get some of the photos developed right away. I should have them by… Tuesday or Wednesday, I believe.”

“That’s pretty fast,” Dainty said. “But okay, do as you wish, Focus.”

“Yeah, I like to work fast. The faster I do it, the sooner I get it over with,” he replied, with his usual chuckle. “Hope you guys don’t mind.”

“No, of course not!” Dainty said, as they headed inside.

He gave Focus his payment, which he stored in his saddlebag.

“Well, thanks for the invitation, guys, but I wanna get going to the lab now,” Focus said. “I’ll let Fiber know when the photos are ready. So, see you next time?”

“Yeah, see you, Focus!” Fiber said. “Thank you!”

“Yes, thanks, it was nice working with you,” Steel Strings said.

They went on exchanging their farewells, and Sharp Focus left the house.

The band hung around Dainty’s place for a while, and scheduled another rehearsal for Thursday. Dainty felt that they didn’t need such a heavy schedule of rehearsals until the concert, as they only needed to improve the songs from now on. Steel and River agreed.





On Thursday evening, Hard Fiber and Sharp Focus arrived together once again, after the rest of the band was gathered already.

“The photos are ready, guys,” Focus said. He had some rolled up pieces of paper sticking out from his saddlebags, but Dainty had no idea what they were.

“Aw, yeah!” Honey Drop said, jumping out of his stool. “I really wanna see them!”

“Come around guys,” Dainty said, gesturing for everypony to stand around his bed, while Focus’s saddlebag glowed with magic.

“Yeah, so, I didn’t develop all of the photos. I just picked the ones that looked good,” Focus said, producing a quite generous pile of photos, which floated towards Dainty. “I also made some mock ups of posters that I wanna show later.”

“Oh, that’s brilliant,” Dainty said, turning over some of the pictures over the bed.

The first pictures were taken in the rehearsal. There were only two pictures of the whole band, and two close up pictures of each of the members. The pictures looked bright and colourful, and caught the five musicians in very spontaneous, intense moments.

“Wow, those are good!” River Mouth said. “Very professional looking!”

“Well, not that professional, you know?” Focus said, chuckling. “But I did my best, I really did.”

“They look cool,” Steel Strings said. “It’s good stuff.”

“Yeah, I told you he was good at it,” Fiber said.

Dainty flipped over a few more photos, which were from the Saturday session. The five musicians were delighted by how they looked, and kept making comments and praises about them.

“This is amazing!” Dainty said, his eyes full of joy. “We look like a real band, guys!”

“Dainty,” Honey Drop chided, “we are a real band!”

“Yes, I know that, but we actually look like a band who’s in the actual business, you know?” Dainty said. “These could be record covers!”

“I know what you mean, Dainty,” River said. “They look crazy good.”

Sharp Focus just watched silently, letting the band make their comments and choices. They looked through all the pictures, trying to put aside the candidates for the poster. When they finished looking through the pile, they had more than a dozen candidates.

“Oh, by Celestia, how are we gonna decide?” Honey said. “They’re so good!”

“Yes, this is hard,” Steel Strings said. “I wish we could make one poster with each photo.”

“It’s heartbreaking to choose just one, you know?” Dainty said, looking at Focus. “They’re all so beautiful.”

“Well, remember that you can use the other photos in the future,” he replied. “They’re yours to keep.”

“Maybe we could take one photo to keep as a kind of gift?” Honey said. “I wanna frame one of them and put it in my bedroom.”

“Yeah, sure!” Dainty said. “After all, we paid for them.”

“Okay, so which one is gonna be our poster?” River said.

“I like this one,” Honey replied, pointing at one of the photos, in which the clock tower loomed over the background.

“Yeah, just because you’re making this cool pose, huh?” Hard Fiber joked, noticing how Honey stood on his hind legs, leaning on a wall, his forehooves crossed.

“Well, I do look good in it, don’t I?” Honey said, with a sheepish smile.

“I think the ones in the town square are the best,” River Mouth said. “They have a great energy.”

“I really like these two,” Steel said, pointing at two particular pictures, one in the town square, and one in a street, with the town hall in the background. “This one on the hill is nice too.”

“Aw, I just like all of them,” Dainty said, biting his lower lip. “But, yeah, this one does look like a poster.”

And so, they eventually converged on a photo in the town square, in which the group is trotting towards the camera. Dainty noticed how each one had a slightly different attitude; Honey Drop gave an oblique look at the camera, with a hint of a smile, and his wings slightly open; River Mouth looked towards the sky, her head a little tilted; Hard Fiber was smiling, looking at Steel Strings, as if telling him something; Steel looked ahead, as if gazing intently at his destination; and Dainty looked to the side, as if distracted by something or somepony, which he probably was.

“Yeah, it’s this one,” Steel said. “It’s gotta be. This is us.”

“I agree,” Hard Fiber said. “It’s my final pick.”

“So, that’s it, then?” Sharp Focus said. “Nice! So, I wanted to show you my ideas for the posters, to see what you think.”

He pulled out two rolled pieces of paper and lay them flat on the bed. They both had an empty space in the middle, so Focus put the chosen photo on one of them, to give them an idea. The poster on the left had a more traditional layout, with bold lettering, while the one on the right was more loose, with the phrases spread out over the page in creative shapes. They also noticed there were five small squares in each poster, with drawn silhouettes.

“One idea that I had was to use those close up pictures of you and spread them over the page, like this,” Focus said.

“That’s a nice idea,” Dainty said.

“Yeah, I think it’ll look cool!” Honey Drop said. “I like the poster on the right.”

The group was a little more evenly divided on this choice, as Dainty and Fiber preferred the more traditional design, and the other three liked the other one better.

“Well, I think we’re in the minority, Fiber,” Dainty said, moving the photo to the other poster. “We should choose the one on the right.”

“Yeah, no problem,” Fiber said. “They’re both good, anyway.”

“So, that’s it?” Focus said. “That’s your choice?”

“Yep!” Dainty said. “This is it!”

“Okay, then!” Focus replied, taking the two posters and putting them away. “I’ll get it arranged with the printing press, and we should have posters ready next week.”

“That’s perfect, Focus, thanks a lot,” Dainty said. “I suppose you need to take the photos too, right?”

“Oh, no, no. I just need the negatives. You can keep the photos,” Focus said. “Also, if you ever need more prints, you can talk to me and I’ll make more. For a price, of course.”

“Yeah, that’s good to know,” Steel said.

“Also, I meant to ask you something else. If you let me, I wanted to include some of those photos in my portfolio. That will really help me get jobs in the future. Are you okay with it?”

The five members promptly agreed.

“Of course, if that’s gonna help you, go ahead!” Dainty said.

“Yeah, I remember you saying that we artists should help each other, so I helped you out with that, and now you’re helping me back!” He chuckled.

“No doubt about it, friend,” Dainty said.

And so, Focus said he had to go and get some more work done, and the band moved on to the rehearsal proper. After they were done for the day, Honey Drop, River Mouth and Hard Fiber each took a few of the photos with them, including their own close ups.

“I think my parents will love this!” Honey said. “I can’t wait to show them!”

“Yeah, my folks will like it too,” Fiber said. “This is so great. I can’t wait to see the posters.”

“Me too guys,” Dainty replied, grinning. “We’re gonna rock this place, guys. Trust me!”

They all exchanged hoof bumps, and the three ponies left. Dainty sat on the bed, next to Steel, looking at some of the pictures again.

“You look so handsome, you know,” Dainty said, pointing at Steel in one of the photos.

“Oh, sweetheart,” Steel replied, chuckling sheepishly. “You and your flattery.”

“Yeah, I know it’s cheesy, but it’s true,” Dainty said. “Like, really. You look so beautiful in these photos, that I… I kinda envy you a little bit!”

Steel grinned at him. “Well, I’ve always admired your good taste.”

They both laughed.





The Saturday of the following week was a special day. Fiber would receive the printed posters from Sharp Focus, and they’d go around Ponyville to affix them. They had received permission from Mayor Mare for the places they could use, with the agreement that they would remove the posters and clean the walls after the concert. This would officially start the promotion for their upcoming concert, and Dainty could barely sleep on Friday night.

Steel arrived early, as he usually did, and River Mouth came soon after. Hard Fiber brought the posters on a cart, and placed one over the bed, so they could examine it. It was glossy, with a soft, but attractive red background, bold lettering, and the photo of the band right in the middle, strong and imposing. Smaller portraits of the band members were laid around it. Dainty was in ecstasy.

“Wow, and Sharp Focus said he wasn’t a professional?” Steel Strings said. “This is pretty amazing, Fiber. Thank you for recommending him!”

“Yeah, I think he took extra care with this,” Fiber said. “I guess it’s important to him.”

“He should be proud,” Dainty said. “Really, I hope he gets lots more jobs from now on. He deserves it.”

“Oh, hey, guys?” Honey said from the door. “The posters are here?”

“Yes!” Dainty replied in a snap, making him a gesture. “Come here to see!”

Honey rushed to the bed, and put his hooves on the sides of his face. “Holy moly, this is amazing! Really, look at this! It’s awesome! And we’re gonna put them all over town, aren’t we?”

“We are, buddy!” Dainty said, grinning. “It’s our time to shine.”

“Well, let’s go and do it, then!” Honey said, unable to stand still. “Let’s get the word out!”

“Calm down, calm down,” River Mouth said, “we have all day.”



The five of them banded off together, going into the designated spots. The posters lay on the cart, together with a can of glue and a few brushes. Honey Drop pleaded to help put the glue on the first one, and, after the job was done, he stepped back and proudly admired their work.

“Yeah, it looks amazing!” Honey said.

“It really looks good,” Fiber said. “Come on, let’s move on.”

The other four went along, while Honey stood back looking at the poster a little more. He noticed a few ponies were paying attention to it, and he rushed after the group when he noticed they were a little far away.

On another block, the group had already put a poster on a wall, and were sticking another one on the opposite side, a little ahead. Again, Honey admired the poster, and noticed two young mares were coming along the road, chatting. Honey noticed that they saw the poster, and kept watching them as they stopped to read the details.

“Cool, huh?” Honey said. The mares turned to look at him, curiously. “It’s gonna be in a few weeks, in Ponyville Theater!”

“I haven’t heard of them,” the teal coloured mare with a light pink mane said. “Are they new?”

The other mare, who had a deep green coat and light brown mane, looked at the poster and back at Honey. “You’re in the band, aren’t you?”

“Yup!” Honey said, proudly. “I’m the drummer. I’m playing with the guys over there.” He pointed at the band, who just finished putting up the other poster. “And, let me tell you, it’s gonna be an awesome show. You should totally see it!”

Honey stood there, chatting with the two mares, while the rest of the group were ready to move on. Fiber looked at Honey and called his name. “Come on, let’s get going!”

“Just gimme a minute, Fiber!” Honey shouted back, and carried on in his conversation.

“Let’s get going,” Steel said, “he’ll reach us shortly.”

The four of them started moving. They were about to turn a corner, and Honey hadn’t joined them yet. Fiber looked behind his back, annoyed. “Honey Drop, you dang brat!”

“Leave him be, Fiber!” Dainty said with a grin. “He’s enjoying himself.”

“Oh, yeah, and we do all the work?” he grumbled. “I’ll go bring him back.”

Hard Fiber marched towards Honey, who was already saying his farewell to the mares and turning around.

“Honey Drop!” Fiber scolded. “Are you gonna come help us or what?”

“I was talking to our fans, you know!” Honey said, defensively. “It’s part of the marketing strategy!”

“Yeah, marketing strategy my flank!” Fiber said, as they went back to the group. “You were chatting up those girls while we were doing all the work.”

“Well, I was doing that too,” Honey replied, a little embarrassed, “but I was telling them to go to our show. They were interested!”

“Interested in us or in you?”

“Uh, both, I hope,” Honey said.

“Yeah, we’ll see.”



The group carried on putting more posters near the town square. They noticed some ponies were starting to take notice, but they didn’t want to stall. They still had more posters to put up. On the way to their next spot, Dainty noticed three ponies were tearing down one of the posters they had put up.

“Oh, sweet Celestia, are you serious?” he said, shaking his head.

The four ponies stared at the scene, their mouths agape.

“I can’t believe that!” Steel Strings said.

“Hey! You there!”

Honey Drop was marching towards them, stuffing his chest. The three ponies turned their faces to look.

“Oh, look at that! It’s the losers from the band!”

“And you’re the losers who don’t even have a band!” Honey Drop shot back.

Dainty was too stunned for a moment to believe his eyes, but he rushed to go after Honey. As he got close, he recognised the two hecklers from their gig and the pub, and noticed that the third pony was the white unicorn who had offered himself to join the band months before.

“You get out of here and leave our posters alone!” Honey Drop went on, as he stood firm in front of the other three.

“We’re not gonna leave you alone,” the unicorn said. “We don’t want your garbage posters for your garbage band littering our town.”

“Oh, yeah?” Honey went on, as the rest of the band stood behind him. “Well, you’re gonna have to live with it.”

“Really? We could go around and tear down all of your posters,” one of the hecklers said. “What are you gonna do about that?”

“Well, I’m sure Mayor Mare will be very interested,” Dainty said, with a smirk. “She gave us the permission to put those up. And since everypony around us heard you say that, if we see any other posters damaged, we’ll know who did it. And, of course, you’d have to pay for the damage, since those posters weren’t cheap. And you’ll probably have to clean up the mess, too. So, do you wanna risk it?”

The three ponies exchanged glances.

“Let’s leave those losers alone,” the unicorn said. “They don’t deserve our time anyway.”

They turned their backs and left, and Honey Drop watched them with a smug grin.

“Yeah, we showed them!” he said, feeling victorious, until he saw Dainty trembling and hyperventilating behind him.

“It’s okay, sweetheart, you did fine,” Steel said, a hoof on his shoulder.

“H-Honey Drop, don’t do that again, hear me?” Dainty said, in a limp, hoarse voice.  “You don’t know what they could’ve done.”

“Oh, sheesh, Dainty! We handled them fine!” Honey said. “After what you said, I’m sure they’ll leave us alone.”

“By the way, is that true?” Hard Fiber said, in a hushed tone, checking to see that the three ponies were far away. “Do you think the mayor would intervene?”

“I don’t know,” Dainty said. “I was bluffing. But I’m betting those idiots don’t know any better, so let’s leave it like that.”

“Yeah, you said it, buddy,” Honey said, taking the fallen poster from the ground. “Do you think we can put this one back up? It’s a bit torn.”

Dainty looked at it with a frown. “Yes, let’s put it back, just to make a point to those assholes. Come on, guys.”



After all the work, the band went to have dinner and celebrate. The mood was good, and the five of them were quite joyful and full of energy. They even cracked occasional jokes at the three ponies who tried to sabotage their effort. They didn’t want to allow the incident to drag their mood down.

At one point, while they were waiting for their orders to arrive, they noticed a teenage colt standing near the table, looking at them, with some expectation in his eyes, as if he was only waiting for a turn to speak.

“Hey? Excuse me?” he said.

The five band members turned to look at him. He had a very light yellow coat and a short, dark blue mane, and stared at them with a timid smile.

“Yes?” Steel Strings said.

“Are you… that band that played in the town square some months ago?” he said.

“Yep, that’s who we are!” Honey Drop proudly said.

“Oh! Nice,” the colt said. “I saw some posters today with you on them. You’re gonna play another concert, are you?”

“Yes, we are, in two weeks,” Steel said.

“That’s cool! I totally wanna watch you,” the colt replied. “You know, I liked the way you played so much… Do you think that, if I… if I took an instrument, I could learn to play music too? Like you do?”

“Well, of course!” Dainty said. “We all started like that, pretty much. We took an instrument and started learning. Maybe find a teacher and get into it!”

“Oh! That’s awesome,” he replied, rubbing the back of his neck. “You know, I, I felt like maybe I was too old to start. I heard that great musicians all started when they were still foals, so maybe I was past my time…”

“Dude, that’s so not true!” Honey objected. “I had started playing drums about a month before I joined the band! And you’re even younger than me, aren’t you? You’re not too old, buddy.”

“Yeah, I don’t think anypony is too old to learn,” Steel said. “As long as we dedicate ourselves, we can do it.”

“Wow, that’s great! Thank you, guys! I can’t wait to watch you play again!” the colt said, noticing the waiter was arriving with the band’s orders. “I-I’ll let you eat now, okay? Bye!”

The band bid their farewell to him, and he returned to his table, where he joined who seemed to be his parents.

Honey raised his eyebrows.”Gotta treat our fans well, ya know!”



The band stood together for a while after they were finished, and then dispersed. Steel followed Dainty to his house, where they had a cup of tea. Steel enjoyed seeing Dainty’s excitement, and he couldn’t stop talking about his ideas and his plans. He sat on his piano bench, while Steel sat on the bed, and they just kept talking about their ideas, almost like back when they were just friends, and their conversations felt like they could last forever.

“So, what are you gonna wear, Dainty?” Steel said, at some point.

Dainty furrowed his brow. “Wear?”

“Yeah. You didn’t think of that?”

“To be honest, I… I never did, really,” Dainty said. “I just… Eh, really, do I need to wear anything? Will anypony even be paying attention to that? I’m a musician, not a model.”

“But it’s not about being a model, sweetheart,” Steel said. “You’ll be up there on the stage, and ponies will be looking at you. It would be nice to enhance your image, even though our goal is to make music. It’s about feeling good.”

“Hm, well, I could do that…” Dainty scratched his mane. “You know, I just never… never paid much attention to that. I just… I just thought I didn’t need to look good, because nopony… well, because nopony wanted to look at me. But, yeah, they will be looking at me, won’t they?”

“They absolutely will,” Steel said. “And, trust me, I will be looking at you too. You know I love to watch you sing.”

“Yeah, but you should be paying attention to the music, you know?” Dainty scolded. “I don’t want you getting distracted and making mistakes!”

“Hey,” Steel objected, folding his forehooves. “I know how to play, you know. Besides, you don’t distract me. You inspire me.”

Dainty smiled. “Aw, my love…”





The lights were dizzying Dainty. There were too many ponies buzzing around backstage, most of them he didn’t know. The band was there with him, and they were talking about something that he couldn’t follow.

He was worried about the songs. He played them out in his head, but that place was too crowded. He heard noise from the audience. He wanted to step onto the stage, but he felt apprehensive. Something felt wrong.

“Do you really know what you’re doing?”

He turned around. “Of course I know, mom,” he said, frowning. “I prepared for this.”

“This place is too big, there are too many ponies out there,” his mother, Spotless Shine, said. “You’re not prepared.”

He looked around, trying to find her among all those ponies walking around.

“Don’t say that,” he heard his father, Final Touch, say. “Don’t discourage him.”

“I’m not discouraging him. I just don’t want him to embarrass himself.”

“I won’t embarrass myself!” Dainty shouted. “I’m ready to do this!”

“That’s what you say, but you don’t really know,” she said.

“He knows what he’s talking about, Spotless,” his father said. “He’s a genius. He can’t fail. He can never fail.”

“I’m not a genius, dad,” Dainty said. “I just make an effort. I worked hard for this.”

“Don’t be modest, son,” Final Touch replied. “You’re better than the others. You have the obligation to succeed.”

“Don’t say that!” Spotless Shine chided. “Can’t you see it makes him nervous? If this show is a failure, it will be your fault, Final.”

“Please, stop arguing!” Dainty cried, still unable to see them. “I just need your support! That’s all I need.”

“You need to concentrate, son,” his mother said.

“I’m trying,” he said, as he suddenly looked around himself, and noticed the backstage was empty. It was time for the show, he assumed. The whole band was around him, and the lights stung on his eyes. He sat at the drum kit, and the audience just wouldn’t stop shouting and making noise.

He looked at the floor. He had forgotten the setlist, apparently.

His bandmates looked at him, waiting for him to do a count in, but he didn’t even know what song it was. In panic, he just did a count in and started to play, hoping for the best. When the band joined in, he noticed they were playing a song that wasn’t in the setlist. He recognised it, it was Lost in Space, but he had never tried to play that song. He didn’t even know if he remembered the words.

He didn’t even know how to play the drums, but there he was, anyway, trying to follow the rest of the band. He was trying his best, but he noticed the music was taking a lot of unusual twists and turns that he couldn’t recognise.

“Stoooooop!”

Dainty felt a chill up his spine. The silence pressed against his eardrums, and the blinding lights pierced his eyes.

“This is wrong! This is all wrong,” Deep Voice growled before him. “What do you think you’re doing?”

“I-uh, I’m sorry!” Dainty said. “I’m sorry, we tried to—”

“If anyone told you that you could play our songs, they were wrong,” Deep Voice went on, angrily trotting around the stage. “You have no intuition! The only thing that sounds good is the hum from the amplifiers.

“We didn’t rehearse enough, Dainty, I told you,” Steel Strings said.

“If you even rehearse at all,” Deep Voice retorted. “You don’t know what these songs mean! You have no emotion, no intent. You have no right to play these songs.”

“Deep Voice, please, forgive me—”

“And you’re charging for this concert,” Deep Voice said, ignoring him. “You can’t play our songs, and you’re making money off of them!”

“No, we aren’t!” Dainty said, defensively. “They are… The theater is...“

“I don’t know what is going on here,” the theater manager said, in a thunderous voice, “but this kind of music is unacceptable here. Unacceptable. Take this away, now.”

Dainty noticed the three hecklers were dragging the instruments away and throwing them backstage.

“No, don’t do that!” Dainty yelled, trying to run after them, but he couldn’t move. He flailed his hooves around, but some force seemed to keep him in place, like pulling him back by the chest. “Stop! Stop!”

“We told you we didn’t want your garbage music in here!” the white unicorn said right at his face, before turning around to drag one of the cymbal stands away.

“No! Come back!” Dainty screamed. Already in despair for not being able to move, he violently swung a hoof forward to try to grab the unicorn.





Dainty violently swung a hoof forward and hit something.

“Ow!”

He was jolted awake, and noticed he had just punched Steel Strings on the shoulder. They had been lying in his bed, and Steel now put a hoof on his shoulder, pressing his eyelids.

Dainty gasped, terrified. “Steel! I’m… I’m sorry!”

“Ah, what… what happened, sweetheart?” Steel said, gasping for air.

“I was… I was having a dream,” Dainty said, somewhat sadly. “I was… I was in this dream, and I charged a hoof forward to grab somepony, but then… then I did it for real, and punched you… I’m sorry, my love, I swear it was an accident.”

“It’s okay, it’s okay, lovely,” Steel said. “I’m okay.”

“Really, I’m sorry,” Dainty said, kissing his wounded shoulder. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t worry, really.” They fell silent and got comfortable in bed again. “So, was it a bad dream, baby?”

Dainty sighed. “Well, it was… more weird than bad, really,” he said, “... but, yeah, it was… kinda bad, I guess. It made me… really nervous, and frightened.”

“Yeah, just by the strength of that punch, you must’ve been pretty unsettled,” Steel said.

“Aw, geez, Steel, I’m… Urgh, I can’t believe I did this,” Dainty said, angrily pressing his head against the pillow.

“No, no, I’m not saying this to make you feel guilty,” Steel said, stroking his face. “I’m just sorry that you had such a nasty dream.”

“Aw, well, thanks, my love.”

“Was it about the concert?”

Dainty gave a sad sigh and nodded. “Yeah.”

“Are you nervous about it?”

“Well, you know, I don’t think I am,” he said. “I was actually quite excited. But I… I think this just happens to me. Sometimes, when I’m in a good mood, I have a bad dream, as if my mind is trying to bring me down.”

“Wow, that’s pretty annoying,” Steel said.

“Yeah, I guess it is,” Dainty said with a sad smile. “Can’t do much about it, I guess…”

“Well, you can cuddle up here with me,” Steel replied, stroking Dainty’s mane. “I’ll make you feel better. Come on.”

Dainty did so, and took a long, satisfied breath.

“I love you, Dainty.”

He smiled. “I love you too, Steel.”





During Sunday and Monday, Dainty couldn’t stop thinking about that question Steel made. On one hoof, he felt there was something embarrassing in him thinking of his own image, as if putting on an outfit could somehow change who he was, or that the way other ponies visually saw him should have an effect on how he was perceived as an individual. On the other hoof, he felt a strange allure in the idea of looking good on stage; not because of personal vanity, but because it would make the band more interesting to look at. It could be a way to enhance the show.

The problem here is that Dainty didn’t really have anything interesting to wear in his home. The closest thing to an outfit he was used to wearing was his work uniform, and, suffice to say, that’s not quite what he had in mind.

Off the top of his head, he knew of one pony who might be able to help him with this problem; but that was a bit of a stretch, wasn’t it? That was too far out of his own reality.

But he kept his mind fixated on one thought: the band deserved it.



Dainty pushed the door open, his heart thumping with apprehension, embarrassment and, at the same time, excitement.

The bell jingled. Dainty poked his head inside.

“Oh, good afternoon! Welcome to the Carousel Boutique! How may I help you?” Rarity said, turning towards the door. She had been adjusting some dresses that were displayed on mannequins.

“Hello, there,” he said, stepping inside. “Uh, yes, I do think you might be able to help me. You...“

He felt his stomach churning. It felt very silly for him to pretend he was just a regular pony casually checking out her store, when both of them knew that wasn’t the case. “Uh, you remember me, don’t you?” he said, with an uneasy attempt at a smile. “I guess our introduction wasn’t exactly fun, but… I, er…”

“Yes, I do remember you, Mr. Dainty Tunes,” she said with a gentle kind of solemnity. “And indeed, our first meeting may have been far from pleasant, but, all things considered, I’m ready to start again from a clean slate, if you are so willing. What would you say?”

“Well, sure! That would be great!” Dainty replied, with a more spontaneous smile. “Yeah, you know, I’m just… trying to fit in, after all that, and… you know, I’m actually here for business, and because you’re really the one pony who I think could help me.”

“That’s delightful to hear,” she said, “so, tell me, what is your problem?”

“Okay, uh, I’m in… I don’t know if you heard of it, but I’m in a band,” he said. “I’m the lead singer in a band right now.”

“Oh, why, yes! I have heard of it,” Rarity replied. “Pinkie Pie has told me about it. I believe she’s teaching the drummer of your band, is that correct?”

“Exactly! Honey Drop has been taking lessons from her for a while,” Dainty said. “So, yeah, we’re going to do a concert in Ponyville Theater in two weeks, and, well, I’ve been thinking that I could, you know, wear an actual outfit for the show… but I don’t really have anything to wear.”

“An outfit for a concert?” she said, her eyes already gleaming. He could almost see her mind swimming in possibilities. “Why, of course I could help you, Mr. Tunes! Please, follow me. You might be interested in seeing some designs I have right here, in my store!”

She spoke while she approached another room, and her horn started glowing. A mannequin floated into the room, wearing a bright, colourful and very richly designed outfit. The red fabric almost gleamed, and it was encrusted with tiny gems. An exuberant purple cape covered the mannequin’s back.

“This here is a replica of an outfit I, myself, have designed for a very popular singer for a concert in Manehattan,” she said, full of genuine pride in her accomplishment. “I wasn’t there to see it, unfortunately, but I hear it was a tremendous success. He’s very famous in other towns, his stage name is Captain Fantastic. You might have heard of him.”

“You know, actually, I haven’t,” Dainty said, looking to the side. “It’s a little bit funny, but I’m not quite up to speed with popular music from the big cities.”

“Well, you can trust me that, if these are successful in Manehattan, then they’re going to be explosive in Ponyville!” Rarity replied, already bringing in another mannequin. The outfit it wore was less flashy than the first, but the white fabric almost seemed to shine, and it was also filled with adornments.

“This one is similar to one I made for a singer in a band,” she went on. “I admit the name of the band fails me at the moment, but the stallion’s stage name was King Quicksilver. I will never forget him!”

Dainty tried to keep his cool while he talked. “Well, that’s, I’m sure wearing that would make me feel like a millionaire. It’s…”

By now, he couldn’t hide the awkwardness he felt for being there, as he had been scared that he’d end up exactly in the situation he was in right then.

“Seriously, Rarity, those are brilliant,” Dainty said. “It’s just that… for this show, for this band, what I had in mind was… a little bit different, you know, I was thinking of something… a little more discreet.” He sighed, and he noticed she was going to speak, but waited for him to continue. “I hate to do this, because, I mean, you’re an extraordinary artist, but I guess that… what I’m asking is too boring for you.”

She gazed at him in shock, a hoof recoiled against her chest. “Boring? Oh, darling, you have no idea! There can be an extraordinary amount of charm and elegance in even the most modest outfits, and that can be some of the most exciting challenges for even the best designers.”

His eyes lit up a little. “Really? That’s actually quite nice. I mean, music can be like that too, you know? It’s fun to be loud and bombastic and all, but, sometimes, it’s interesting to try to hide beauty in the corners, if you know what I mean.”

“Oh, absolutely, my dear!” she said, already bringing in a few outfits, though those weren’t displayed on mannequins. “Now, allow me to attempt something. Let me see…”

Dainty stood there as she examined some articles of clothing, looking back at Dainty from time to time. She muttered to herself as she went, and he was always tempted to ask what she was doing, but decided to let her concentrate.

“Here, darling, put this on, will you?” she said, at last, handing him a shirt. He didn’t pay much attention to it, and just did what she told him. “Also, this… No, no no no, this one!”

And so, she gave him a few more pieces, which he put on. He didn’t have a mirror nearby, and didn’t even think of looking for one, as he was just trying to follow her directions.

“There!” she said. “Come with me, please. Take a look, and tell me what you think.”

Dainty stepped in front of a mirror, and looked at himself. He was shocked. The outfit matched almost exactly the vague mental picture he had made in the days prior, but it worked much better than he could have imagined. He wore a dark blue shirt, with a light brown sleeveless jacket, and black trousers. He couldn’t quite put his hoof on it, but it just looked perfect on him.

“This is… great!” he said, still in disbelief. “It looks wonderful, and… it feels comfortable! I feel really nice!”

“Do you like the colors?” she said. “Would you like to change anything?”

“No, no, I don’t wanna change anything! This is wonderful!” he said. “I mean, I just wanna take this home right away!”

“Well, naturally, I still have to make some adjustments,” she said, examining the outfit closely, making some folds and putting some pins. “It’s a little loose, but I can fix it in a day or two.”

“Oh, yes, I guess there’s that,” Dainty said. “But it can’t be too tight, you know? I.. move around on stage a lot,” he said, making some sudden movements and quick poses and turns, imitating the way he moved when he sang.

“But of course!” she said, with a certain spark. “A showman like yourself must use your body to express yourself! Have no concern, I’ll make the outfit specifically to work on stage. I’ve done this before, and you shall be no exception.”

“Well, if you’re saying so, I do trust you,” he replied.

“So, I presume that’s your final choice, then?” she said. “I refrained from making any comments so I wouldn’t bias your opinion, but you do look exquisite. You are ready to shine, Dainty Tunes!”

He couldn’t help but be flattered. The cynical part of his mind thought that any salespony would say such a thing to seduce their customer, but, coming from Rarity, he couldn’t doubt the sincerity of it.

“Thank you very much, Rarity,” he said. “Yes, this is my final choice.”

He stood there a while longer so she could make some more measurements, and she took the outfit to work on it. She said it should be ready in two days.

After saying his farewell, he left the store feeling an odd kind of confidence, like an unexpected surge of energy had entered his body. He only hoped that the extra expense wouldn’t put much of a burden on his finances, but, even if he had to cut back on a few things, he felt it was worth it.



Back in his home, he sat by the piano, doing a bit of work that was unrelated to the band. He felt he needed a bit of distraction to keep his calm, especially now that he had the added anticipation of picking up his outfit when it was done. His head buzzed, and he needed to simmer down.

He heard a knock on the door. That was a surprise: outside of the band appointments, nopony had come looking for him like that in the past several weeks.

As he opened the door, he saw Steel Strings, standing there, a serene smile on his face.

“Oh, hello, Steel!” Dainty said, a little perplexed.

“Hi, Dainty,” he replied. “May I come in?”

“Y-yes, of course, love!” Dainty said, stepping out of the way. “So, um, what brings you here?”

Steel approached him and looked straight into his eyes. “You, Dainty. You brought me here.”

Dainty’s heart almost skipped a beat. His breath got heavier, and he embraced Steel strongly, stroking his mane.

“Let’s end this ‘twice a week’ nonsense, sweetheart,” Steel said. “Let’s end this tonight.”

“Oh, Steel!”

“I missed you so much, Dainty.”

“Me too, my love!”