//------------------------------// // CH11: Reunion // Story: Pink Symphony // by DragonLS //------------------------------// Special thanks to: Editor: DaMobbs Proofreader: Meeester ***** Right then, on to the next chapter. Let’s see… ….. What? I thought you wanted me to stop monologuing? Besides, I don’t always feel like rambling before every single chapter. Even I need a break sometimes. ….. Don’t give me that smile. Fine, just for that, I’ll ramble. I can ramble on about nothing for days on end so unless— ….. Ohhhh no you don’t! I ain’t letting you back out of this just yet! It’s too late for apologies now. However, I am feeling quite lenient at the moment, so you’re off the hook... for now. Anyway, Beaver huh? And reuniting in a sweets restaurant of all the places too? For shame... those architects and decorators need more fashion sense, or design sense in this case. ….. Regardless, let’s continue on. I’m itching to find out what happens next. ***** Chapter 11: Reunion Of all the ponies in Equestria, you never expected to run into Beaver again. The band broke up in Canterlot and went their separate ways to Celestia-knows-where. Now, through some ironic miracle, your paths had crossed once again, minus Loud Hoof of course. Beaver brought his drink over to your table and took an empty seat. He looked between you, Pinkie, Berry, and grinned at the whole group. “Well Saxxy, I didn’t think you had it in you. I mean, two mares at the same time? You’ve certainly grown a pair since back then.” Saxxy, the nickname Beaver decided to give you after a stunning solo on brass one night. You honestly wanted to know why no one called you by your real name. Still, it was Beaver you were talking to, so anything short of inappropriate from him was a stretch. You vehemently denied what he was insinuating, but Berry cut you off. “Not true at all, Mr. Top Hat,” she said flirtatiously, “I think you’re quite lucky to have us both.” “Yeah! Aren’t you glad you have such nice friends?” piped in the naive pink mare. “Oh hoh? So the colt has finally become a stallion?” Beaver said, leaning forward to give your head a noogie. You smacked it away absentmindedly. He had always treated you like a colt, and even now, it aggravated you to no end. Beaver quickly sat back in his seat, nursing his hoof as if it had been burned or cut off. “Ouch man, take it easy will ya? Just checking up on an old friend of ours and since you’re here too, the more the merrier.” You didn’t exactly know what he was talking about at first, but you had a small idea of who it might be. “Can I take your or—Huh? No way...” Your eyes averted to a stallion sporting a bow tie. That white coat, those azure eyes, and freckles were all dead giveaways. Loud Hoof stared at you as you returned the stare, mouth slightly open in shock. So the band was back together... ***** Half an hour had passed since Loud Hoof joined the table. That feeling of wanting to leave was still there, but you wanted to catch up with your old friends, especially with Loud Hoof. “Heh, me and Hoof got here a few days ago, actually. When you left, we were at a bit of a stand still on what to do, so with my devilish good looks and cunning personality, we teamed up to do some work on the side. We just couldn’t jump back into the music; it lacked a certain somepony, and it just didn’t feel the same, right, Hoof?” “Y-Yeah, but you—“ “Ah stop selling yourself short, Hoof!” Beaver cut in, rapping him on the shoulder with a hoof. ”Even though I do all the work around here, you’re still a good contribution to them team!” Ignoring Beaver’s usual antics, you asked why him and Hoof were here of all places. Beaver responded with a raised brow at first. “It was a grand opening event. That means good money.” He gestured at the surrounding restaurant with both hooves. “But as you can see, ‘twas a waste of time, and now Hoof is stuck here until the day is over. Lousiest. Opening. EVER.” It was hard to find qualms with such a statement when it was as clear as day just how bad this place truly was. False advertisements suck. Besides that, Beaver didn’t seem to change much since the last time you talked. Sure, he was an outstanding musician like yourself, but he always tried to skimp out on work. Sometimes, he’d get somepony else to do his work for him, and only after it was done did you find out. Sadly, Loud Hoof was usually on the receiving end; you might even say all of Beaver’s feats were accomplished through manipulative use of Hoof in some way, shape, or form. Now Loud Hoof was the polar opposite; he was a strong, innocent stallion who didn’t have any backbone. He wasn’t the type to incite confrontations and certainly not the type to fight back. Thanks to this, he was usually very nervous and easily bossed around. That temptation to leave was still there, nagging away at the back of your head, but you quickly kicked it out the metaphorical door. With the table still buzzing with idle conversation, you glanced at Berry and Pinkie Pie. They did order a couple drinks, something like an apple or pineapple shake each. The menu choices were mediocre at best, but the girls did seem to be enjoying themselves so no harm, no foul. You didn’t bother ordering anything when the girls placed theirs. Your appetite seemed to go up in smoke once you had locked eyes on Beaver walking up to the table. Well, that and having a stomach full of sugar and caffeine didn’t sound quite appealing. An elbow to the waist by Loud Hoof got your undivided attention. “So um, how have you been? What have you been up to?” Hoof asked. A quick recap of your time in Ponyville later and Hoof nodded and smiled happily. “You’re back to playing music? Wow, nothing seems to keep you away from your instruments. I wish I was like you sometimes,” Hoof said. You only smiled at him in agreement, but Beaver had to ruin the moment. “Hah, playing music again? I bet that’s not the only thing you like to do…” Beaver said, a smirk growing across his face. “I bet you got the job through bed than anything else. Let’s face it: you’re just a playcolt picking up mares with that fancy music of yers.” Berry and Pinkie paused mid-sip and stared—nay, glared at you with mirth . Chuckling nervously, you calmly explained that you weren’t anything of the sort. Thankfully, you weren’t smooth with the opposite sex. Although, you oftentimes wished you were. “Ahh don’t lie. Loud Hoof and I know you like tooting your own trumpet and shoving it up their—“ The rest of his sentence was cut short as you slammed a hoof on the table in aggravation. This was definitely something you did not miss when the band was still together. The table fell silent, all eyes staring at you. You locked eyes with Beaver, leaned forward, and told him to shut up. Beaver merely grinned but didn’t say anything else. You sighed heavily and excused yourself from the table, making a bee-line for the bathroom. ***** After washing your hooves at the sink, a sigh escaped your lips. It was typical of Beaver to incite an outburst, trying to make you look bad under a certain light. He had a persuasive way with words just for all the wrong reasons, to the point of provocative. It reminded you of when the  band actually broke up… ***** “What do you mean ‘we’re breaking up’? I thought we had the best damn Jazz here in Canterlot!” “Uh, Beaver. Maybe it’s for the best? I mean, we were talking about it, and—“ “And so what? You can’t just go on your own little adventures and leave me out of the picture!” “T-that’s not it! We just think it’s for the best we go our separate ways! Remember what happened to the last two gigs we had? He almost got injured from accidents waiting to happen. A sand bag almost fell on his head, and he almost fell through that trapdoor on stage! We’re lucky he’s still breathing!” “Bah, so what if he had some bad luck? It comes with being a musician! Sure, there are some rather extreme fans out there, but that doesn’t mean we should give up! They love us!” You made a comment on how it just wasn’t working anymore. The band, Beaver’s constant bickering and disagreements, the constant scrapes with death; it was starting to affect your performance and you wanted out before it got any worse. Beaver didn’t think that way though. “To hell with that! This band will NOT disband as long as I’m still here!” Beaver shouted at you. No matter what he said, you’d already made your decision along with Loud Hoof. It was time to move on. Motioning for Loud Hoof to follow, you turned around and started towards the exit.. The last thing you could remember was Beaver’s derogatory shout and a sharp pain in the back of your head… ***** You’re jerked back to reality as somepony taps your shoulder. You turn around to find Loud Hoof standing there, a nervous look on his face . “Hey… you alright? You seemed pretty angry back there.” You shook your head. Not once had you met a pony who didn’t get mad after hanging out with Beaver for “Yeah… I tell you, Beaver’s scary. He’s gotten more aggressive over the past few weeks.” You raised a brow at Hoof’s comment, wordlessly asking him to go on. He averted his eyes for a moment before he continued. “Well, after we broke up the band and went our separate ways, he found me a week later, apologizing for what he did. We stuck together and travelled around, taking the occasional odd job, but honestly? He hasn’t changed a bit. I’m still doing all the work, and he’s taking all the credit.” So nothing had changed in the past month then. You couldn’t say you weren’t surprised; a month is a relatively small span of time for somepony to change. Then again, why was Loud Hoof still hanging around that slouch? “And yes, I know I shouldn’t let him boss me around like this, but I don’t like fighting. I’ve got the muscles, but... well, you know me.” Yep, typical Loud Hoof, a pacifist to the core. Countless times in the past, you nagged and pushed him to become more self-confident and to stand up for himself. Despite the constant reminder on your end, he never really seemed to care. That’s when your hat flew off your head mysteriously. Thoughts flew through your head: why did your hat keep flying off as if it had a mind of its own? Should you look into pinning it on as a preventive measure? What about glue? Shrugging, you picked it off the floor and put it back on. *KER-CRASH* You jumped forward, more out of shock than anything else, as something heavy smashed into the floor. You looked up at the ceiling and saw a nicely shaped chunk of ceiling missing. On the ground was that missing piece, strewn about where you were standing a moment ago. You took a hesitant step back, a cold sweat beginning to break out. Hoof was staring at the ceiling, jaw agape and just as shaken as you were. That was the second close call since you came to ponyville. You needed to get out of here. ***** “Heyyy there stud! Squeezed the lemon right, aye?” You rolled your eyes and tried to push back the thoughts of kicking Beaver’s arse until a later date. They were still sitting around the table, idly conversing with each other, but it seemed you came back to Berry in a bad mood. Despite your better judgement, you decided to ask what was wrong, although the fact that she had her nose up in the air away from Beaver made it quite clear who was causing her such gripe. “Rude much?” Berry scoffed. “Hey now baby, there’s no need to play hard to get. After all, I’m a good lookin’ stallion who’s always rarin’ to go, eh?” “Ooh, ooh! What kind of action? Do you mean some party action? Or maybe some music action? I want in!” You knew exactly what kind of action Beaver meant, and despite your steadily growing anger, you couldn’t help but chuckle. Leave it to Pinkie Pie to defuse a tense situation like this. You placed a few bits on the table and told Berry and Pinkie Pie that you were leaving. The two mares exchanged confused looks as Beaver raised a brow . “So the playcolt reverted back to a scared filly? What? Can’t handle a little adult conversation?” It was hard to believe that you used to play with him on a daily basis now that you thought about it. You merely walked out the door, despite the mare’s protests. You waved goodbye to Hoof and wished him luck with whatever he was doing. ***** “H-hey! Wait, Mr. Top Hat! Where are you going?” “Yeah, the party was only just getting started!” Pinkie and Berry had followed your departure, obviously concerned about what just happened. Berry twirled her hair a bit in her hoof, staring at you inquisitively. “What’s gotten you upset? Something wrong?” You mentioned how you couldn’t handle Beaver’s inappropriate comments and just wanted to leave. That’s when Pinkie tackled you from behind and grabbed you. “Hey! You’re not going anywhere, Mr. Hat Pants!” Ok seriously!? Now it’s Mr. Hat Pants!? “I know it’s something else. You look like you went through a cotton candy maker at full speed without any sugar! C’mon, you can trust us!” You grumbled something about ‘curiosity killed the cat’ before Pinkie Pie decided to stand on the floor instead of your back. It was a long story, and now was not exactly the time nor the place to break out into a story. Still, it wouldn’t hurt to give them a condensed version for the time being. “Again? That’s really strange… Why would a similar accident happen twice to you? It’s like… somepony is out to get you,” Berry said with a gasp. There was some meaning in her words, but who would be out to get you? It didn’t make any sense. Nopony truly hated you. The majority of them probably loved you because of how good a musician you are. Then again, there would be some ponies that are of the extremely jealous type. You just chalked it off as a coincidence, but Berry didn’t feel the same. “No, this is the second time it’s happened. This is not just a coincidence.” You merely sighed. Honestly, who would be out to get you? Out the corner of your eye, you saw Pinkie eyeing her tail. So after all that, she just stares at her tail like she’s never going to see it again? “Oh, it’s nothing,” she said when she noticed you giving her an incredulous stare. ”When you went to the bathroom, my Pinkie sense was tingling.” You squinted one eye, wondering what blabbering nonsense she was talking about now. “Well, my Pinkie sense can predict the future. I can’t really explain it, but it works! Ask my friends, and they’ll tell you it’s the most awesomest thing ever!” “Whatever the case,“ Berry interjected, ”Beaver and Hoof made sure you were all right.” Four times you’ve already avoided injury the past few months or so, and you just want to know why these strange occurrences were happening. Whatever the case, you just wanted to go home. With these puzzling events put aside for now, you waved goodbye to Pinkie and Berry. However, after Pinkie left, Berry snuck a kiss on your cheek before galloping off. A tint of red filled your face as you placed your hoof on the spot she kissed. When you pulled it back, the subtle red of her lipstick was stuck on it. Now, part of you is glad ‘something’ good came out of this despite Beaver ruining your nice day out. You couldn’t say you didn’t like the kiss on the cheek, but somehow, you wanted something... Different?