"Wow, Sprout. I didn't know you brought that much money with you," Sunny commented as she looked at the new smartphone he had just purchased from Z-Mobile as he came out of the store.
"Well, when you live at home and half of your meals are paid for by the company you work for, it's easy to set aside some spending money, for instance, when you visit a new city. I know mom's looking to get CanterLogic involved in the logistics of getting Zephyr Heights phone companies in town, but I didn't want to wait, and I wanted to get one right from the source. Just texted you my number, by the way," Sprout answered.
Sunny dug her phone out and saw the new text message, and added Sprout's number to her contacts.
"And here..." she said, doing some scrolling with the tip of her hoof. "Are everypony else's numbers."
Sprout's phone vibrated and gave off six notification tones, and he spent the next couple minutes getting the numbers of Zipp, Pipp, Hitch, Izzy, and Sunset into his contacts, joining Sunny.
"Well, I can figure out all the bells and whistles of this thing over dinner. Where do we want to grab a quick bite on the way to the castle?" Sprout asked.
"Hmm," Sunny began, digging out the pamphlet that had the map on the back.
"How does hayburgers sound?" Sunny asked, pointing a hoof at a burger stand between them and the castle.
"Sounds great!" Sprout answered, pocketing his new phone in his saddlebag, and the two earth ponies made their way down the main street towards the large elevator that led to the VIP entrance to the castle.
They stepped into Heights Hayburgers and found themselves in a short line.
"What can I get you folks?" the cashier asked.
"I think I'll try the Honey Barbecue Hayburger," Sprout answered.
"I'll have the Amazing Avocado Burger," Sunny told him.
"Alright, that's 3 bits for you, sir, and 4 bits for you, ma'am," the cashier said after getting the items rung in. Sunny and Sprout paid, and were seated with their meals three minutes later. Sprout's burger had two slices of melted cheddar cheese, slathered with honey barbecue sauce and stacked with pickles between the hay and the top bun, while Sunny's had provolone cheese, pickles, tomato, and a generous smear of avocado spread.
Sprout spent the majority of his eating exploring all the apps that his phone came with, getting rid of some of the bloatware that he knew he would never use.
"We'll probably want to give ourselves some spare time to get over to the castle. We aren't sneaking in with Zipp this time, so who knows what kind of lines we'll have to wait in," Sunny told him.
"If you say so. Can't be a bigger crowd than CanterLogic's annual showcase, right?" Sprout asked.
"Better to be safe than sorry, especially since Pipp got us front row seats, so we don't want to be late."
"If you say so," Sprout said, finishing off his burger. After Sunny took her last bites, they took their trays over to the short stack of them above the trash cans, then made their way back outside, where the sun was beginning to dip below the Zephyr Heights skyline. They continued on towards the elevator, while more of the crowd made their way up the inclining street to another entrance.
"Good evening, Miss Starscout," one of the guards watching over the elevator greeted. "I know it's pretty much a formality, but do you have your VIP ticket?"
"Got it right here," Sunny replied, digging into her saddlebag and retrieving the ticket that Pipp mailed to her right before their first Crystal Empire excursion. The guard peered at it for just a moment before nodding, seemingly satisfied, waving her onto the elevator.
Sprout began to follow, but was stopped by an armored hoof.
"And your ticket, sir?" the guard asked.
"Um, I never got one," Sprout answered.
The guard shook his head.
"I'm sorry sir, but the elevator is for VIP's only. Ticket sales are up and around, at the west entrance to the grand hall."
"Excuse me, gentlecolts?" Sunny began, taking a few steps back to where the guard was keeping Sprout from getting on. "I'm not entirely sure if my ticket explicitly says if it's allowed or not, but Mr. Cloverleaf here is my plus-one. I'm not going in without him, and I would hate to explain to Princess Pipp that one of her best friends was late to her performance because I had to wait on him to purchase a ticket. So perhaps an exception can be made?"
The pair of guards exchanged glances, shrugged, and stepped aside, letting Sprout pass and get onto the elevator. Three other VIPs stepped on before the doors closed and the elevator began to slowly rise up to the very top of the city.
"Thanks, Sunny. You know, I don't think I ever said this, but you certainly know how to handle your celebrity status," Sprout complimented.
"Thanks, but to be fair, I did get a lot of help from Pipp. Otherwise I probably wouldn't know what to do a lot of the time."
"What kind of help?"
"You know, like pointers. The thing she wanted to impress upon me the most is knowing the difference between fans and friends, and realizing that there will be a difference between the pony that I am versus the image that other ponies have of me based on the things that I've accomplished."
"Ah, I guess that... Kinda makes sense," Sprout said. He had more than enough of his fill of fame from his two days as interim sheriff. Now he was more than happy to help Sunny further her exploration goals down in CanterLogic's R&D labs.
The elevator came to a soft stop at the top and the double doors on the other side opened to reveal the red carpet. The reaction wasn't as prolific as the princesses stepping off, but several of the photographers recognized Sunny, and asked for pictures as the two ponies made their way down the carpet. Sunny smiled, giving a short wave, but didn't break her gait as she walked along Sprout, who was smiling awkwardly in the same directions as Sunny was.
"Another thing she wanted to make clear was that you do your best not to let your fame affect your relationship with your friends," Sunny told him as she returned her attention to him and not the cameras.
Sprout couldn't help but smile, and suddenly didn't worry about the photographers as much as they made their way into the castle proper.
"Whoa," Sprout commented as he took in the interior.
"Yeah, it'll be nice to take in the surroundings now that we're not on a stealth snatch-and-grab mission," Sunny chuckled.
As popular as Pipp's concerts were before reformation, it was considerably more crowded tonight, and Sunny had a feeling that sneaking around like they had months ago going after the Pegasus Crystal with this increased crowd size probably would have been impossible.
The setup in the Grand Hall was a bit different as well. The royal seating had been moved further back, and the stage had been extended out into the middle of the room with an elevated walkway. With the equipment on said stage, it looked like Pipp was going to have an actual band performing with her tonight, and Sunny hadn't even asked how Sunset was involved with all of this, but she'd be finding out in a matter of minutes.
Sunny's gaze caught a white foreleg waving towards them to get their attention, and she and Sprout made their way through the crowd to the area directly in front of the center stage, cordoned off with a red velvet rope, where Zipp was waiting.
"Evening, you two, you got here just in time," Zipp greeted, with the two earth ponies coming in for hoof bumps.
"Not sitting up there this time?" Sunny asked, motioning to the trio of couches.
"Nah, this time it's all about the music. Haven't seen Pipp all day, so it's gotta be awesome," Zipp answered.
There were about two dozen other ponies in the VIP section, with plenty of room to move around as more and more ponies packed into the Grand Hall. Then, the lights began to dim, and cheers erupted as the crowd applauded the start of the show.
But as the music started, Sunny noticed that rather than descending down from the room above, Pipp and her musicians entered from the entryway behind the couch.
"Glowin' up kind of love
Dip and slide through the cut
Glowin' up kind of love
We say 'Hi', you say 'What?'"
Sunny quickly realized that Zipp hadn't been kidding as they didn't even see Queen Haven sitting at the center couch, but rather Pipp's backup musicians had made themselves comfortable with their synthesizers and keyboards as Pipp slowly made her way down the elevated walkway, singing the opening verse of one of her newest songs.
Among her bandmates, stood Sunset, who had some kind of musical instrument strapped around her neck, with glowing appendages moving up and down the neck and strumming the strings down on the body.
"Used to care what they'd say
Let 'em into my brain
But I found a new way
Ooh-hoo
Every time I fall down
I pick it up like rebound
Gotta get through somehow"
Pipp's song was undoubtedly an ear worm, and Sunny was able to pick out the addition of Sunset's instrument as the unicorn grooved along to the music as Pipp took center stage.
"We don't fly like we used to
We take what we've been through
And we can feel brand new
Ooh-hoo-hoo
I know I am a fighter
I feel the fire
I'm shining brighter
Ooh-hoo-hoo"
Performance wires or not, Pipp hadn't taken to the air this time, and merely slowly walked the circumference of the center elevated platform, pointing at her fans as she sang.
"We got the light
We're coming in stronger
We're in it together
If you want it it's all inside your mind
We got the light
Won't wait any longer
We'll get it together
If you want it then you can paint the sky"
Sprout was entirely impressed with the show. Up until now, the closest thing he had seen compared to this was his mom's keynote at CanterLogic's annual show. But this was a bit more flashy, with more pizazz, and Pipp was certainly an expert at commanding the crowd's attention.
As her opening song came to a close, the applause erupted again, and she took a bow, as one of the stagehands brought up a microphone stand. Sunny thought that was a bit odd, as Pipp was wearing a wireless headset microphone. She took another bow as she stepped up to the front of the center stage.
"Good evening, Zephyr Heights, and thank you so much for coming out tonight!" She announced, getting more cheers. "Before we get any further into this, I'd like to announce that there have been some rather significant changes to our setlist this evening. Now don't worry, we're going to perform all of your old and new favorites, but just yesterday, we've got a new performer from out of town, and her music is simply stunning. I know you're going to love what she has in store for all of you tonight. So, without further adieu, it is my pleasure to introduce our guest musician for tonight, Sunset Shimmer!"
Pipp lead with the applause as one of the overhead spotlights came on, and shone down on Sunset as she made her way down the walkway to join Pipp on center stage, the glowing magic appendages continuing to cradle her instrument. Unlike Pipp, she didn't have a headset on, and instead came up to the mic stand that had been set up.
"Thank you very much, Princess. Zephyr Heights, I cannot begin to tell you how excited I am to have been invited by Princess Pipp to join her onstage this evening. What I've got for you tonight may not be what you've gotten accustomed to, but she's assured me that you'll all love it. So, that being said..."
She turned to Pipp for just a moment, who then subtly signaled her band in the back by the couches. Sunny saw her tap her headset, going to a closed channel, but heard her tell her band "E-flat major", as Sunset positioned the glowing hand on the neck of the guitar, and took a breath.
"So you have magic
And it's not that great
But when it found you
You know it was fate
And it might seem scary now
But it can be wonderful, too
So how about we embrace the magic
And make the magic part of you?"
Sunny's eyes widened as she heard Sunset begin to sing, strumming her guitar before the electronic drums and accompaniment joined her.
"You take a little dash of magic
And you let it ignite
Mix things up a little bit
And it might start to go right
In just five seconds flat
How the story has changed
All 'cause now you've embraced the magic
And it just got better in every way.
Pipp once again stepped up next to Sunset, and joined her in the chorus.
"I say embrace the magic
No more holding back, just let it out
If you can take the magic
And learn a little more what it can do
Once the magic is part of you."
The crowd was lightly swaying to the rhythm of the song, but most of the eyes were on Sunset's instrument, as the glowing five-digit appendage moved up and down the neck, adjusting the tone and pitch of the notes she strummed.
"What's standing in your way
That you can't move today?
You've got the strength in you
To make your dreams come true
No need to shield yourself
From the magic that can help
Protect from any harm that might come."
Pipp and Sunset together created a beautiful sounding harmony, and to her credit, Pipp was sharing her stage presence perfectly with Sunset, instead of being her usual flashy self. They went into the second refrain and verse, before repeating the chorus a final time, and the crowd erupted into cheers as the pegasus and unicorn took a bow.
"Alright, well I'm sold, Princess," Sunset told Pipp, standing at the microphone.
"I told you. Now that we've got this amazing crowd warmed up, how about you show them what that thing can really do?" Pipp asked, motioning down to the guitar.
Sunset showed just a moment of hesitation, looking down at the guitar and out to the crowd before turning back to Pipp.
"I don't know, you think they're ready?"
The crowd offered encouragement, and Sunny wasn't sure if this was convincing stage banter, or authentic uneasiness.
"Positive. Show'em what you got, Sunset," Pipp said, followed by cheers of affirmation.
Sunset gave a confident nod, before turning back to the mic stand.
"I apologize in advance for the lyrics, this song was written by a great friend of mine, and I haven't had the opportunity to make them into something more... Shall we say, modest. So, this is for you, Rainbow," Sunset told the crowd before turning back to the band by the couches. "Alright, you heard her guys. Key is D major, 174 beats per minute, and try to keep up," Sunset told them before turning back to the mic stand, and began strumming the guitar strings again.
Pipp and her bandmates began shouting a rhythmic "Hey!" to the beat of Sunset's guitar, a total of six times before Sunset came in.
"Awesome as I want to be!"
The opening was clearly not about the lyrics, but Sunset's instrument, as the tones and notes it was producing now was much faster and lively.
"First you see me riding on a sonic boom
Got my guitar shredding up my latest tune
There is nothing you can do to beat me
I'm so good that you can't defeat me
Yeah, I'm awesome, take caution
Watch out for me, I'm awesome as I wanna be
Yeah! I'm awesome, take caution
Watch out for me, I'm awesome as I wanna be"
As the band went into a repeat of the 'Hey!' shouts, Sunset stepped forward beyond the microphone stand, and the glowing fingers on the neck of her instrument were like fire as she played a series of rapid, harmonic notes. The crowd was into it, and Sunny noticed that Zipp was absolutely enthralled by the performance.
"Step aside now, you're just gettin' in my way
I got sick chops you could never hope to play
When it comes to making music, I'm the ruler
You wish you could be twenty percent cooler
Yeah, I'm awesome, take caution!
Watch out for me, I'm awesome as I wanna be
Yeah! I'm awesome, take caution
Watch out for me, I'm awesome as I wanna be!"
The crowd gave roars of approval, overtaking Sunset's final chord, and Sunny barely heard Zipp gave a loud whistle of approval with the tip of her hoof touched to her lips. It was maybe a minute of nonstop applause before Sunset finally turned to Pipp.
"I guess they were ready for that."