//------------------------------// // Meet the Retired Musician // Story: No Longer an Enigma // by enigmaMystere //------------------------------// The red pegasus followed the entrancing sound for what felt like miles. He passed pony after pony, ignoring their stares and the odd condescending remark. He weaved through a crowd, focused only on the music. Eventually, though, he had to look around, lost as to where it could be coming from, due to the acoustics in the circular plaza. His degree in physics couldn't really help him, here. He finally took notice of the unicorns around him, and saw they were all giving passing glares to a large concert hall. He made his way over, almost tripping over a wooden sword in the middle of the street. He carefully pushed open the door, not wanting to scare whoever was making the wonderful music. As it turned out, his caution was unnecessary, as he was in an entrance hall. He slowly walked down the empty corridor, noting the distinct lack of lighting. "It's a public place, and it's not even noon. Why is it so dark?" He then began to wonder why he was talking to himself, and his thoughts wandered to whether there was a lantern or maybe even a tinderbox nearby. The hall seemed to go on forever. Every time he thought about turning around to go find his new home, the style of the music would change, spurring his curiosity further. As it grew faster, he rushed to meet the rhythm with his hooves; when it slowed, he slowed to meet it. Finally, he got to a large set of double doors, each easily four times as tall as him. Curious, and a little unsure, he pressed a hoof to it, pressing gently. It was a lot easier than he expected - mostly because the actual door was only a small panel of the larger door. As he pressed further, he began to make out words as they filtered through the opening. A song with lyrics? Interesting. He leaned in close, pressing an ear to the door and listening carefully to the words. Someday, love will find you. Break those chains that bind you. One night will remind you How we touched and went our separate ways. If he ever hurts you, True love won’t desert you. You know I’ll still love you Though we touched and went our separate ways. Enigma couldn’t take it. He just had to know who was making this music! He burst through the door, startling four stallions who were on the large stage. He stared up at them, giving a sheepish smile. They stared back, their expressions unreadable. There was a long, uncomfortable silence. One of the musicians, a blue earth pony with a brown-orange mane decided this would be the best opportunity to readjust the skins of his drum (no, not real skin - what’s wrong with you!?). The other two, a grey unicorn with black shades and a matching mane and a brown pony with tan-yellow hair that were apparently a bassist and a guitarist, respectively, opted to tune their instruments, instead. Eventually, the largest, a white unicorn, spoke up, taking a monocle from his pocket and carefully placing it on his face. “I say, old chaps, who is this mare?” Enigma fell to the floor face-first, groaning and muttering words of resentment into the plush carpet. He could hear hoofsteps coming closer, stopping right in front of him. Finally, having let his frustrations out into the flooring, he looked up, staring at the tall, mustached unicorn. He arched an eyebrow, an amused smile on his lips. “Apparently not a mare. I apologize, good sir.” He held out a hoof, a twinkle in his royal blue eyes. “The name is Fancy Pants. And you are?” Enigma stared up at him, unsure what to think. “...um...Enigma...nice to meet you?” He held out a hoof, unsure whether this was proper etiquette. Fancy Pants chuckled, looking down at the smaller pony. “I say, dear boy, you need to brush up on your social skills. We don’t do that in Canterlot.” His smile wilted, embarrassment beginning to dig its claws into his heart. “O-oh, sorry.” He quickly withdrew his hoof, unsure what to do now. The unicorn turned to walk back to the stage, but he paused, glancing back at the pegasus. “You know, this was originally supposed to be a private performance. A last gig, if you will.” He noticed the grimace flash across their feminine face, a sly one growing on his own. “Maybe you’d like to join us?” Enigma blinked, staring at the unicorn in surprise. Almost immediately, he rushed forward, a grin completely replacing his earlier grimace. “I’d love to, if it meant being able to hear more of that amazing music!” He followed behind the blue-maned unicorn, glancing at the drumset and noticing the winged-scarab logo on the bass drum, layered beneath the band’s name. He turned to the taller stallion, genuinely confused. “May I ask about the name?” Fancy Pants smiled at him, that same sly look as before. “My boy, we have to choose our way in life. So, in a sense, life is a journey.” The young colt thought about that for a while, feeling as though he should be learning something. Of course, that thought was soon abandoned when the band in front of him began to play once more. He momentarily wondered if they would allow him to sing a bit. I would like to thank gordobraveheart for helping me with motivation for this chapter. And giving good ideas, too. I know it’s an odd place to end this chapter, but I thought it was a good line to end the chapter on. Like I said before, this story is mostly for fleshing out my headcanons for each character, and the chapters won't be very long, most of the time. This time, it's Fancy Pants. I'll eventually get to more about this fellow later on, as he ties into quite a few characters. You have a choice of who E gets to meet next! Mostly because I can't decide. Don't worry, order doesn't really matter when it comes to this story. The interactions depend on the ponies being met, not the order. So, will it be... 1) Blueblood, 2) Fleur de Lis, or 3) Pipsqueak? There's a reason Vinyl's not on the list, yet. Have a nice day, and I hope you enjoy the chapter! Enigma out.~