Special Thanks to:
Editor: DaMobbs
Proofreader: Meeester
*****
Nightmares over a dead ol’ coot, huh? Must’ve been some traumatic imagery there.
…..
Hey, I’ll call him what I want to call him now sit down, shut up, and listen before I make you. Good? Good. Now where was I? I used to have traumatic memories too... that is until a certain pony came into my life. Fixed me right up, almost to the point where I couldn’t dream anymore.
…..
Who was this pony? Well, I’d be half lying and half truthful if I said it was a Psychiatrist, but for simplicity's sake, we’ll say it is.
Let’s see, flip a page here and a page number there... Ah yes, so, according to this, you liked to groove with your jazzy soul, I take it?
…..
You still don’t remember!? Well that’s good, gives me more to look forward to. It would’ve spoiled the ending if that was the case.
Now, shall we?
*****
Chapter 4: Mingle
With your Trumpet case firmly strapped to your back, you started the walk towards Sugarcube Corner for the second time today. All the while, you wondered if this really was a good idea, attending your welcoming party and all. Then again, what better way was there than to mingle with the residents of Ponyville whilst partaking in the consumption of delicious cake?
Besides, this quaint town is your home now; probably best to make a good first impression before that window closed. It wasn’t long before the rooftop of Sugarcube Corner came into view. The sun was already beginning to slip behind the distant mountain range to the west, casting the mountain’s massive shadow over the town.
You stood in front of the door, brought up your hoof to knock, and paused. What would happen if you entered? A surprise, a party, all the beverages you could drink, or maybe total and utter humiliation? You don’t know what that pink pony was up to, but hopefully she’d go easy on you, seeing as you were still new.
You slapped your cheeks to snap out of your delusional stupor. It was a welcoming party. Nothing more, nothing less. There was nothing suspicious about attending a party that was thrown for you... right? Taking a couple of deep breaths, you place your hoof on the doorknob, only for it to swing open before you even nicked the wood.
A bunch of hooves shot out from the darkness within and pulled you inside, the door slamming shut right behind you. You feel them let go of you and you fall to the ground, more out of shock than anything else. You manage to eek out a small hello to the pitch-black abyss before somepony flicked on the lights, blinding you as if you were staring directly into the sun. You threw up a hoof to cut off the light assaulting your eyes before a resounding shout rang through the air.
“SURPRISE!”
You slowly lowered your hoof, and as your eyes finally adjusted to the bright indoor lights, several ponies came into clear view. Behind them, you could begin to make out the streamers, the balloons, and the exorbitant amount of glitter that seemed to have exploded onto every corner of the bakery. You eyed everypony as you got back up onto your hooves, forcing a small smile and a greeting to them all in general. You tapped your top hat to make sure it was still on and noticed a white cloth banner with red writing that said:
‘Welcome Mr. Top Hat!’
You grumbled to yourself, seeing as Pinkie still didn’t get that you didn’t like that name. You mentally sighed.
The party was rather lively at first. Pinkie Pie brought out an old Gramophone which completely surprised you. How could somepony so rambunctious use something so old and dilapidated? It was a rather old antique that read old vinyl records with a needle and played the music through the big brass horn attached at the top. You knew these days that music was either digitalized or played live, but a gramophone? Saying you were baffled was an understatement.
Regardless, the party was already in full swing, and you noticed several curious ponies quickly closing the distance.
“What’s your favorite animal?”
“What kind of hat is that?”
“What’s that hat made out of?”
“Ooh, ooh! What’s that case you have on your back? Can I see it? Oooh pretty please let me see it!”
The question barrage was fully underway. You expected to answer a hoofful of questions by the time the party was over, but they just kept on coming. They ranged from the simple ‘Where did you live before’ to ‘What’s your take on the new fashion trend in Las Pegasus’. You tried to answer each question completely, but it was soon apparent that you were in over your head. Thankfully, somepony noticed your distress and came to your rescue.
“Now now everypony, I’m sure you all want to get to know the new pony, but give him some breathing room!”
A lavender-colored unicorn shoved her way through the crowd and began shooing the crowd away, the ponies reluctantly returning to the festivities. She smiled while you scratched your head with a hoof.
“Sorry about all that. Most ponies around here are just like that.” she said before her eyes lit-up in realization.”Oh, I didn’t introduce myself yet did I? I’m Twilight Sparkle, and I’d like to be one of the first to formally welcome you to Ponyville. It’s not often that we get new ponies around here.”
You nodded and shook her hoof, saying you moved here due to it being peaceful and tranquil. At this, Twilight’s smile grew wider.
“Well, you found the right place. Ponyville is as friendly as you can get. Oh, speaking of friends, let me introduce you to mine. Not all of them are here, but some managed to make it.” She motioned at the crowd, and a moment later, an alabaster white unicorn with a royal purple mane joined you.
“How you do? I’m Rarity, clothing fashionista and the proud owner of the Carousel Boutique. It’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance. By the way,” she said, leaning in and whispering, ”not many ponies can pull off the top hat ensemble correctly, but you do it justice!”
You figured that she was one of those high-class ponies, and frankly you were right. You didn’t want to be rude, so you acknowledged her, saying that it was also a delightful pleasure to meet her.
“And I’m sure you’ve already met Pinkie Pie.” Twilight said as she pointed a hoof to her, whom was working the gramophone, greeting the guests, messing with the punch bow—
You shook your head a little, readjusting your eyes to make sure that you weren’t seeing triple. You wondered how she was showing up in so many places at once. Twilight took notice of your confusion and giggled.
“She’s just being Pinkie Pie. Don’t think about it too much. It makes much more sense that way.”
On that you could agree.
*BOOM*
A small boom echoed throughout the room. Everyone shifted their eyes—yours included—towards the source, seeing a gramophone spewing out smoke from its speaker tube. Pinkie coughed from the smoke as she waved it away, whilst nearby ponies backed away for their own safety.
“Oh no! It’s broken!” she said with a frown, her mane seemingly deflating.
You walked up beside Pinkie Pie and examined the Gramophone: the smoke was coming from the inside of the tube, so you assumed a delicate part of internal machinery was out of commission. Upon closer examination, the record needle had also snapped off. You don’t know how it broke, but you assumed it was from the combined efforts of wear and tear as well as the tiny explosion a few moments ago.
You told her what condition the gramophone was in and she frowned, clearly disappointed and sad.
“It’s really broken? But… but what about the music? We can’t have a party without music!” Pinkie exclaimed. You looked towards the guests, each of them eying each other in confusion. You pointed out a party can still be done without music, but Pinkie shook her head.
“You don’t understand, Mr. Top Hat! Without music, how’s everypony going to dance? You can’t dance without music and you can’t shake your tail without it either. It’s like baking a cake without the batter! It wouldn’t even be a cupcake!”
Despite your reassurances, she had a point. Dancing in a party with no music wasn’t unheard of, but it would definitely be awkward and dull. However, it seemed that this party mare wanted everything to be perfect for your welcoming party without exception. Unfortunately, this wasn’t the case.
You tapped a hoof with your chin, eying the crowd as they looked rather sad and disappointed. You gave a small sigh. You didn’t like seeing a crowd unhappy, especially when they’re at a party of all places.
Music can make or break the life of a party... that or a rampant drunk who’s getting into everypony’s business, but it also soothes the soul. The right music accentuates your body’s rhythm and makes you dance like you’ve never danced before.
You unfastened the strap of your instrument case and placed it on the floor. Pinkie eyed you carefully as you began undoing the clasps holding it closed. In fact, everypony was staring at you but you didn’t care. Opening the instrument case, you pulled out your trumpet and sat into a rather conveniently placed chair, with your top hat leaning in front, just enough to cover your eyes.
Nothing said cool like a tipped top hat.
You could feel their stares drill into you. The anticipation. The tension. It reminded you being up on stage with your band, and this feeling of trepidation and suspense was something you embraced wholeheartedly.
You liked it.
You put your muzzle on the mouthpiece and placed your hooves on the handle and valves of your Trumpet. You took a deep breath...
And let it sing.
Your trumpet buzzed as your hooves flew across the triple-valved brass instrument, delivering a simple yet elegant beat. The crowd ooh’d at your skill with the piece of silver metal in your hooves. You tipped your hat back slightly to find everypony swaying to and fro with the beat.
Everyone seemed to be enjoying it, but you knew it needed something else; having only a trumpet player perform solo wasn’t easy. The only time a trumpet would be heard exclusively was during their short improvs or solos during a piece. There was always a backup of some sort, whether it be a saxophone, a cello, or a piano, to add another layer and provide a base for you to work off of. It was unnerving, but you pushed on regardless.
That’s when Pinkie Pie tapped your shoulder and showed you a small, toy-like piano. Your pacing on your instrument wasn’t interrupted, but you raised a brow at her, giving a ‘what are you doing’ sort of glance.
Without bothering to respond, she set the mini-piano next to you, excitedly hooking it up to an amp she pulled out of her mane, and looking up at you in anticipation.
You almost missed a note on your trumpet. You knew exactly what she was trying to do: join in. Having a pianist by your side would certainly help the flow of the music, but the idea of playing along with a toy piano was embarrassing to say the least. However, you were curious how she had the patience to even play a rather complicated instrument such as the piano. You thought about it for a few seconds. Seeing as how she did organize the party for you, you couldn’t really tell her no. You were about to give her the okay, but she beat you to the pass.
She touched the small keys on the tiny piano, the music coming from it causing you to almost falter in your playing. You couldn’t believe it. How was she making that toy sound like a 10,000 bit grand piano!? You expected to hear something along the lines of a cheap xylophone, but this was something else.
You were stunned at how Pinkie was able to follow along with you despite your improvisations along the way. It didn’t matter how she learned what she knew, but you were most definitely impressed.
You decided to step it up a notch, fed up with the slow beat. You stopped playing your trumpet for a moment to eye the crowd, in which they eyed you in return curiously. You had no doubt that they were wondering what you had in store for them next.
You smiled as you looked at Pinkie Pie. You whispered to her that it was time to speed things up a bit. She nodded and proceeded to crack her legs and hooves in ways that made you cringe, limbering up for the next bout.
You jerked your head back to the crowd, placed one forehoof on a chair, and planted the trumpet on your muzzle.
Just like old times.