//------------------------------// // Chapter Three: "Friendship" (Oh, and a Music Battle) // Story: Around Equestria in 80 Days // by Kuroyami Fukaikuro //------------------------------// Around Equestria in 80 Days By: Kuroyami Fuck-you-kuro We awoke the next day. I was tired and bored, so I went looking for Discord. But then I tripped and fell out the window. I was about to land on my head, but then an aura of magic surrounded me. It was sort of bluish in color. I looked around for whoever had saved me from a concussion and saw a white coated unicorn with a blue main that had light blue streaks in it. "Good morning," I said. "Morning," she replied. There was an odd moment of silence as we regarded each other. "You can let me down now." "I don't think I will." "Wat." "Not until you accept my challenge to a music-performance-off!" "My response to this statement is the same as my response to the last one." "Me and my crew-" "*My crew and I*, it's *my crew and I*, not 'me and my crew'." "How did you speak with asterisks?" "What asterisks? Anyways, can we get back on topic?" "Sure, whatever. My crew and I play a song, then you, and the crowd decides the winner!" "Shouldn't something like this be decided by professional managers?" "Normally yes, but the guy who was supposed to play today decided to pussy out." "Well, at least I know what I'm doing today." "You'll play!?" "Not like I have anything better to do." "Great! Stage is... well, you can see it from here, since we're in this small town." She released me and trotted off. The door of the inn opened behind me. "Kuro?" Twilight exclaimed. "But... I woke up at sunrise, and no one else came down!" "I fell out the window." "Are you okay?" "Yeah. A D-Jay caught me and challenged me to a music battle." "... We leave for the Crystal Kingdom today." "Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand.... I do not care." "But... the schedule... We can't go against the schedule!" "You guys go ahead of me. I'll catch up eventually. Or should I say we, since Alexandra is staying too." "Why?" "She'll be part of the act." "Well I guess I'll stay too, since I have to keep you in line." "That's kind of what Alexandra's for." Then I ran off in search of breakfast. A While Later I reentered the house while eating something. Twilight looked up from the newspaper she was eating. "Alexandra woke up, but no one else has yet. What are you eating?" "A rabbit." I walked over to the fridge and poured some cider to wash it down, ignoring the look of horror on Twilight's face. Alexandra came down the stairs. "Is that rabbit? Can I have some?" I threw her some, and she started eating it. "Thanks!" Twilight just sat there and stared at us. "You... You're both disgusting." "You realize humans are omnivores, right?" I replied. "You mean... I have to eat meat too?" "Well, no, some humans choose not to eat meat. But I personally think that's stupid, because meat is delicious." Twilight stood up and walked to the trashcan before vomiting. "I thought you knew this." I said. "Well, whatever." I turned to Alexandra. "We're gonna play today. So everyone'll go ahead of us, and then we'll catch up." "Sure thing boss," she replied. I turned to Twilight. "Where's Discord?" "Celestia temporarily turned him into stone as punishment for getting you to ruin the Celebration." "Huh. Where is he?" "Out back. Why?" "No reason." Even later, at the Music Battle The blue-haired pony D-Jay walked on stage, and was greeted by a huge amount of cheers. She was followed by a human woman with long black hair, who carried a cello. The cheering intensified. She went over to a D-Jay station and magically grabbed the mic. "Hello, everypony!" More cheering. "You know who we are!" Even more cheering. "Yeah! Vinyl Scratch and Octavia are here to perform!" I'm pretty sure someone came. As in, sexually. "Unfortunately, the original challenger didn't show up, because he's a pussy!" Now some boos. "But don't worry, we got a replacement!" She motioned towards us, and we waved. I stepped up to the mic. "Vinyl, do you mind if I get two minutes to warm up in front of everyone?" "I don't see why not." I pulled out my acoustic guitar and began to play. After I finished warming up, Vinyl spoke again. "All right, so here's how the Battle's gonna work! They'll play a song, and then we'll play a song.. We each get three turns. After that, you guys decide who wins!" The crowd cheered again. She then addressed us. "You guys ready?" "Yeah." I switched to my red-and-black electric guitar, and Alexandra set herself up behind the DJ station that Vinyl loaned us. She also pulled out a violin for her second part. I set up the Discord statue behind the drum set. Yes, Discord can still control drumsticks while stone solid. We began to play. At the start, I played some chords and Discord drummed while Alexandra managed the DJ station. Then, when it was time, she placed her violin between her cheek and shoulder and played her part. Then I went into an epic solo. And then blah blah song music words. You can hear the fucking music. Unless you're deaf. In which case, I'm sorry, because you're really missing out. At the end of the song, Vinyl and Octavia were staring at us, mouths wide open. Then they got their shit together. "All right! Nice job guys! But now it's our turn!" And then they played this. Blah blah music blah blah character descriptions. Then it was our turn again. Before we started, I said, "All rise for the Forever Alone Anthem!" Blah Blah dancing blah blah by blah blah my blah blah self. After we finished, I said, "Vinyl, you can take the next two turns, we'll finish this afterwards." "Confident, huh? Fine! The crowd is ours!" Vinyl and Octavia's 2nd Turn: Click Here! Vinyl and Octy's 3rd Turn: Click Here! Blah blah music. Then it was our turn to finish the show. We played this. I sang the refrain/chorus/whatever. As I sang, the stone that surrounded Discord. Then the stone shattered completely. Discord used his magic to keep playing the drums while he rapped. Finally, someone let me outta my cage Now, time for me is nothing 'cuz I'm countin' no age Naw I couldn't be there Now you shouldn't be scared I'm good at repairs And I'm under each snare Intangible Bet you didn't think so I command you to Panoramic view Look I'll make it all manageable Pick and choose Sit and lose All you different crews Chicks and dudes Who you think is really kickin' tunes? Picture you gettin' down in the picture tube Like you lit the fuse You think it's fictional Mystical? Maybe Spiritual Hearable What appears in you is a clearer view 'cause you're too crazy Lifeless To know the definition for what life is Priceless To you because I put you on the hype shit You like it? Gunsmokin' righteous with one token Psychic among those Possess you with one go Then I sang the refrain/chorus/whatever again, then Discord sang the second verse. At the time, I didn't notice it but he also used his reality-controlling powers to do shit to reality. I don't know what exactly happened though, I was closing my eyes playing the guitar. The essence the basics Without it you make it Allow me to make this Childlike in nature Rhythm You have it or you don't that's a fallacy I'm in them Every sprouting tree Every child apiece Every cloud and sea You see with your eyes I see destruction and demise Corruption in disguise From this fuckin' enterprise Now I'm sucking to your lies Through Russ, though not his muscles but the percussion he provides With me as a guide But y'all can see me now 'cause you don't see with your eye You perceive with your mind That's the inner So I'mma stick around with Ya'll and be a mentor With a few rhymes so motherfuckers Remember where the thought is I brought all this So you can survive when law is lawless Feelings, sensations that you thought were dead No squealing, remember He magicked his head next to Vinyl and Octavia and whispered "that it's all in your head." They jumped, and we finished the song. The crowd roared with approval. Then Vinyl spoke up. "All right crowd! Now you decide who wins!" The entire crowd turned to Alexandra, Discord and I and screamed, "ENCORE!" I smiled and said, "I guess we win." I looked at Discord and nodded, and he appearified a piano on stage. Discord remained at his drums, Alexandra switched to a bass guitar, and I sat down at the piano. We began to play. A bit later I began to sing. How do I Get through one night without you? If I had to live without you, What kind of life would that be? Oh, and I, I need you in my arms, need you to hold You're my world, my heart, my soul. If you ever leave, Baby that would take away everything Good in my life. I got off the piano (but Discord used his magic to keep it playing) and played my guitar as I kept singing. Without you There'd be no sun in my sky! There'd be no love in my life There'd be no world left of me! Oh, and I Baby I don't know what I would do I'd be lost if I lost you. If you ever leave, Baby that would take away everything that's Real in my life! And tell me now- How do I live without you? I wanna know. How do I breathe without you? If you ever know. How will I ever, ever survive? Discord on air guitar, Fillies and Gentlecolts! He began to air play while the drums played themselves. Bwener Bwener bw bwe, Bwener, bwe bwe b bwe! Bwe bwe-ner wer-ne wer-ne Bwe-we Bwer-we-wer-we-wer Bwe-Weee Bwener-Weee Bwener, bwener-wener bwe bwe wer (Alright fuck it I'm too lazy to give you subtitles for the rest of the air guitar) (Back to me) All right let's bring it back here now I need somethin with a little soul Casey take us there Bring it back All right, come on now! I performed a backflip and Discord's magic caught me and held me upside down in front of the mic while I performed an Epic Solo. I remained upside down for the rest of the song. The audience began to sing along. And tell me now, How do I live without you? I wanna know. How do I breathe without you? If you ever know. How will I ever, ever survive? The song finished and the audience came cheered. Vinyl and Octavia accepted their defeat and we all went out for dinner. I escaped after desert and left the rest of them with the bill. Later, at night Twilight and I sat on the roof in our pajamas. What was she wearing, you ask? ...I don't know, I didn't give a shit (it was purple with light pink polka dots). "So," she said, "you and Alexandra are really close friends, huh?" "Not really. We've only been friends for like, four years? I dunno." "But... Haven't you known each other since childhood?" I sighed. "It's a little complicated. You ready for some backstory?" She nodded. "When I was four years old, I met Alexandra. Back then, I was really social and outgoing. I was friends with pretty much every kid on my block. But then, three of them died in seperate 'accidents'." Her eyes widened slightly, and I continued. "That happened when I was five. Even then, I was observant. I had this... feeling that they weren't just accidents. So I asked my father, and he told me a family secret." Twilight looked at me expectantly. "Well I'm not gonna tell you. Anyways, I knew that because of the secret, people who were close to me would be in danger. So I became antisocial. The only people who were stubborn and determined to be my 'friends' were Alexandra and Thomas. I told them the secret, and said that only really strong and powerful people could be my friends and survive. They looked at each other, then at me, and said that they'd become the strongest people in the world. And they worked hard, over those years. I tested them vigorously, sometimes even doing things that would make normal people call a mental institution or the police. But they pushed through it all. I don't know if it's Stockholm Syndrome or whatever, but I couldn't ask for better friends." "Kuroyami?" "Hm?" "Do you consider me to be your friend?" "No. I consider you, Discord, and everyone else in my life, other than Alexandra and Thomas, to be an acquaintance. Even the members of my immediate family." "What exactly does it take to be your friend?" I looked at her. "Do you have a death wish?" She looked back at me with a fire in her eyes. "Yes." I smiled. "You just might have what it takes to be my friend. I'll get back to you on that, though. Get some sleep. We're going to the Kingdom tomorrow."