//------------------------------// // Everlong // Story: Through Martyr's Eyes // by ShouldNotExist //------------------------------// -Everlong- Twilight had apologized profusely to the changelings, practically begging them to forgive her for her actions. She had been pleasantly surprised when they had actually accepted her apology, happily knowing that she had changed her mind. It turns out that they had often had to deal with a disgruntled pony coming to them after a performance to try and give them an earful. The only thing that had made this time any different was the fact that it had been her. Twilight Sparkle was a name almost held in infamy for the fact of her actions during the actual attack, but she was also held as a hero among them for the same reason. She was seen as the pony that had both freed them and persecuted them, even if their salvation had come at the direct hooves of Princess Cadence. It had been much more relaxed after that had been explained out of the way, and she had been pleasantly surprised with how friendly they really were. It had only taken her a few minutes to realize how wrong she had been about them, and now she could happily call them her friends. She had eventually asked how they had all gotten together. Shiny told her that after the attack, many of them had been separated. His group of friends had spread between just Gap, Twitch, and Trench. Cherry had been the most recent addition to their family, as he had called it. After the attack, he had been the first to recover, and had found his friends again. They hadn’t actually ever had names, and it had been Shiny who had christened them all. But it was Cherry’s story that was most interesting. Like Cherry had explained before, Shiny had found her in the back of a nearly destroyed market cart. She must have been thrown free from the explosion and had crash landed onto the cart, where she had proceeded to stuff her face with as many of the cherries that it carried as she could. They had all decided at that point to work together to scrape an honest life out of what they had, eventually leading up to their musical performances. She had found their story heartwarming, inspiring even. From a dystopian society that had suppressed everything that made a pony who they were, they had risen up to face the new one that they found themselves in. Banded together against the bigotry and prejudices that they now faced, nobly trying to show that changelings weren’t just monsters to be feared. Eventually their conversation had led up to how they had met Marty, a story she had found almost surprising. “He met us almost the same way that you met him, actually.” Shiny had said, smiling at her and returning to his inverted position on the couch. “Except that Cherry fell on him, followed closely by the rest of us.” He had said with a chuckle, hooking his rear legs over the back of the couch. “Big mean boss pony threw us out the door, saying mean tings to us!” Cherry had interjected, a scrunched up, childish grimace donning her face. “And when Marty heard that, hoo! You should have seen him after that, he freaking tore into that guy.” Shiny had laughed, joined merrily by Gap as he sidled up to listen in on the story. “He ripped that guy a new one, he was yelling hellfire and brimstone at that fat cat, and it didn’t look like he was going to stop on his own either.” “He hadn’t even realized that we were changelings ‘til afta he had this stallion runnin fer tha hills!” Gap had continued, picking up Cherry with his green magic and setting her on his back. It had been enough to cheer her back up, which had lightened the mood of the room immensely. “Pfft! It only made ‘im wanna be our friends at that point, we couldn’t even believe it. An’ then he took us ta his house, his house fer peat’s sake! Fed us like that good fer nuthin’ restaurant wouldn’t!” Gap chortled, and had bounced Cherry between his shoulders. It had been after that that she had asked some more about Marty. She had been most curious to know if they knew why Marty would try and hide his relations with Even Essence. After all, wouldn’t somepony be proud of something like that? “Normally, I suppose the answer would be yes.” Shiny had said, his jovial expression dropping slightly with a sigh. “But recently Marty’s been trying to stand on his own hooves, become more independant. Want’s to be a better pony, you know?” He had said, turning his head so that he could drink from his drink upside down. “No more drugs. No more drinking. No more late nights. All that jazz.” He finished, drinking more from his drink. That had drawn her to a pause when he had said that. “Was- … was Marty addicted to something?” She had asked, severe concern donning her features. She didn’t actually know what it was like to use something like that, but she had learned the results from various health pamphlets. She knew that there were some very bad substances out there. Some that made magic stronger, some that made it weaker, some that made magic act out on its own. There were things that could change a pony’s mood, or make them see things. But they all resulted in a very unhealthy looking pony. “Something,” he had scoffed. “Marty had been on a lot of ‘something’s. You name it, and he’s probably tried it at least once.” He had said, his mood dropping. “One night, he ended up going too far, and some ponies got hurt. He managed to avoid jail time by agreeing to go to rehab. When he told me this, I could tell that it had affected him a lot. He was inspired by somepony, I think.” He had said, and had looked at her with a strange look. “Well in that case, he looks great!” She had said quickly. But she still wasn’t sure why he had given her that look. Maybe he had been trying to tell her that a mare had inspired him? Nothing else really could explain that look. Shiny had agreed with her, though. “Yep, he really did recover. Three years sober, I think. now he goes to charity gigs, and he even teaches other blind ponies how to play music. He’s gotten more distant over the time that we’ve known him, but now I think he’s trying to be more open to other ponies, so that’s good.” He had said, the conversation slowly drawing to a close after that. She had taken her leave soon after that, her mind awhirl with her thoughts. She had to apologize to Marty now. Now she actually knew why Marty had been so upset with her. It hadn’t simply been because she had blatantly offended his friends, but because he related to what they were going through. His struggle had run parallel to theirs in its difficulty. So when she had started to yell at them, he had felt that she was insulting him as well. She still felt like she had to make it up to them for all of that. Maybe she could come up with something later. And now, here she was, standing outside of Even Essence’s green room, just staring at the door. After all of that thinking, she hadn’t come up with a single thing to say to Marty as an apology. She couldn’t just rush in and spout as many ‘sorry’s as she could come up with, that would just sound contrived. And she couldn’t very well act like nothing had happened at all. She just wasn’t sure how she could approach him. She steeled herself one last time. If she was going to do this, it would have to happen now, or she’d lose her nerve. She lit her horn with its familiar pale-purple glow, opening the door. When she entered, the room was more crowded than she remembered. The rest of the band seemed to have returned, not including what was most likely an army of crew that was absent from the room. Her friends were still there, if moved from their previous positions. She spotted Rainbow Dash first, hovering next to the icebox and talking animatedly with the griffon. He was large, but not much more than the only other griffon she had seen. And while his coloring seemed fairly standard, his feathers were dulled with grey, a distinctive streak of grey feathers along the lengths of his wings prominent. Perhaps he was older than he actually appeared to be? Her eyes drifted to the food table nearby next. Applejack and the drumming pony stood there, idly chatting in between bites of the various foods. Pinkie was nearby, carefully ‘inspecting’ the large platter of cupcakes with her mouth. The drummer was a fairly large mare, her deep blue coat accented by a lighter blue mane and tail. Her thickly corded muscles were only accented by the light that shone off of the light sheen of sweat that still clung to her fur. Twilight wondered idly if it was her career as a drummer that had granted her her musculature, or if she worked a heavy lifting job to the side. She was able to catch a glimpse of her cutie mark as she shifted her stance, a snare drum with two drumsticks crossed over it. She saw Fluttershy and Rarity talking calmly with Even Essence on one of the couches toward the front of the room, Rarity’s shopping bags mysteriously returned. Where she had left them during their entrance to the stadium was unknown, as well as how Rarity had been able to retrieve them. It seemed like they were relaxed, though. And it was nice seeing Fluttershy so openly enjoying herself. Her eyes eventually drifted to the rear of the room, catching sight of the pony she needed to apologize to. Marty was sitting on a stool next to the bar, slouched over it with a fizzy orange drink nearby. His saddlebags, the torn and ripped canvas ones, leaned against his chair, slumping slightly under its own weight. Next to him, the unicorn bassist sat. She had a light green coat, not unlike one of her friends back in Ponyville. Her cutie mark was strangely unrelated to music, a smiling mask with a frowning one peeking out from just behind it. Her mane was a light aquamarine, her colors seeming slightly muted in the magical lamps hanging from the ceiling. She tried not to deflate from guilt at the sight of him like that. He looked like he was miserable, slouching like that over the bar. The bassist had a hoof gently resting on his shoulder, and appeared to be talking to him encouragingly. She seemed to be showing more affection to him than Even Essence had. It wouldn’t be too far fetched to say that she was more likely the mother figure in their herd, as most bands were a herd together. She took a deep breath, calming her nerves one last time. She figured, if she was going to do this, she would just start with a hello. And see how it went from there. She walked across the room quietly, taking a seat in the last of the three stools at the bar, on the other side of Marty. She sat there for a moment, procrastinating for as long as she could. Finally pulled toward looking in his direction as she felt another set of eyes on her. The bassist had leaned up to look over Marty’s shoulder at her, a question poised plainly on her face. Twilight didn’t say anything, but the bassist seemed to decide that it was time to take her leave. She stood from her seat and moved toward the food table, essentially letting her talk to Marty in private. “Hi, Marty.” She finally said, announcing her presence to him. He lifted his head from the countertop, turning his head and his ears toward her. “I wanted to apologize to you for what I said to you and your friends, and I’ve already talked to them. I want you to know that I regret what I said, I really do.” She said quickly, now that she had started talking, she could already feel herself starting to ramble. “I was completely out of my place to say what I did. And if I had known just how bad it was for you guys, then I never, ever would have said any of that.” She sputtered, stopping to take a breath. Her pause was long enough for Marty to interject. “You know about that stuff? My rehab, too?” He asked, queuing in on her choice of words. His face donned a look she couldn’t quite place, something between mortification and surprise. “Uhm … yeah, I asked Shiny about it. He told me about how you were … how you recovered from that stuff.” She said, his words enough to break her from her ramble before it gained too much ground. She watched him carefully as she continued. “I can’t even imagine what it must have been like …” She said, remembering the pride that had dawned on Shiny’s face when he told her that. “Most don’t …” He mumbled, still looking toward her. He tapped his hooves together nervously a few times, his mortification dropping to a nervous look. “I should apologize, too. I was … louder than necessary, and you didn’t really deserve that.” He said after a moment, his ears drooping. “No, you were perfectly justified in your response. I was the one that was … totally in the wrong.” She said, watching as he relaxed slightly. He dropped his hooves back to the countertop, reaching forward until he touched his glass. He carefully grasped it with his hooves, carefully lifting it to his lips and sipping at it. He set it down after a moment, turning back to her with his ears pointed toward her. “You’re not really enjoying … all this. Are you?” He asked, lifting a hoof and motioning at the sounds of another band that jumbled out from the stadium walls. Twilight paused for a second, happy for the change of topic, but surprised at the same time. How he had been able to key in on her mood toward the music was surprising. He seemed to be more perceptive than she really expected. “Well, no … not really. I’m don’t really like this sort of music. But it was really nice to see you and Even Essence play, and you were sort of right about the lyrics of their songs.” She finished, referring back to the changelings. “Then, what kind of music do you like?” He asked, his curiosity piqued. “Well, I’ve always preferred music with a … lighter mood, than what most of these bands are playing.” She admitted, shrugging sheepishly. Marty paused for a second, swishing the drink in his cup for a moment in thought. “Well … I know a place that you might like more, then.” He said sheepishly, setting the drink down and scratching at his forelock with one of his hooves. “Lots of ponies go there to sing, and just … you know, have a good time. Would you like me to take you there? I’d love to show you where I prefer to sing.” He said. She couldn’t quite tell, but it felt like he had tried to force the words out, his nervous scratching coming to a halt as he waited for a response. “Oh … I’d love to Marty, but … my train leaves in just a little while,” she said, regrettably looking at the clock on the wall. “Just an hour actually.” She confirmed, looking back at him. “We could be back before then.” Marty said, starting to sound a little excited. “We would have to bring Cherry along, she’d be the one to take us there. But it would take like- a half hour, tops.” He said, looking back at her with a nervous smile. “Well, okay. But only if I’m back in time to catch my train, okay.” Twilight said, consenting after a moments hesitation. If Marty was sure that they could be back, then there wasn’t really any harm in going, right? “That’s great!” Marty said, perking up instantly. He reached down with one of his hooves, trying to locate his bag on the ground next to himself. “I’ve got it,” she said, grabbing his bag with her magic and lifting it up to his hooves. “Here you go,” she offered, waiting for him to get a good grasp on it before fully releasing it. Strangely, it felt heavier than she expected. She couldn’t tell what he had stored in it, but there was something rather weighty in there. “Thanks,” Marty said quickly, opening the bags carefully and reaching inside with a hoof. He carefully felt around inside the bags for a moment, trying to find something inside the bag. His movements grew less and less careful as he continued, frustrated in the delay he was causing. Twilight was about to offer to help him when he stopped suddenly, a confident sound of discovery escaping his lips. “There she is,” He proclaimed, lifting out a small, glittery ball of twine. He chuckled lightly as he felt it with a hoof. “Cherry made this for me a little after we met, she told me that she put a lot of cherry colored sparkles on it. I put an enchantment on it, so now I can talk to her.” He explained, lifting it up so that she could look at it clearly. It was a monkey fist knot, she had read a few books detailing knot tying that showed how to create one. She had never tried, but she knew that knot tying was a taxing task for anypony unfamiliar with it. It was made from a loose twine, the rough threads coming slightly undone from the length itself. It was covered in bright red glitter, a few shimmering bits falling off as he pulled it out. Twilight smiled at the image that made for her. A tiny changeling, covered head to hoof with glue and bright red glitter. Beaming as she proudly offered her new friend the present she had made for him. Marty moved the glittery ball of twine in front of himself, stopping to concentrate on it. She watched as he rolled the free end of the twine in his hoof, focusing on its texture. He mumbled something wordlessly as his horn started to glow a weak grey color, the aura rippling along his horn and lighting the charm with a similar glow. After a second, he aimed his ears down at his hoof, bringing the charm close to his lips. “Hey, Cherry,” he whispered into it, a playful tone decorating his voice. “Cherry, you know the cafe we were gonna go to tonight, like we always do. Twilight wants to come. What do you think about that?” He asked the charm, one of his ears twitching as he supposedly heard a response. “Great, but we have to leave now, because Twilight has to catch a train in an hour.” He said, listening again for the inaudible response. “Woah,” Pinkie said loudly from across the room, drawing Twilight’s attention away from Marty for a second. “Hold on! Ear flop, eye flutter, knee twitch.” She listed off, the actions dramatically demonstrated as she did. “That’s weird. Achy shoulder, too? Achy shoulder! ACHY SHOULDER!” Pinkie yelled, diving for cover behind the table. “Watch out for scary doors!” She yelled, huddling down and pulling a hoofball helmet from who knows where and putting it on quickly. Just then the door actually did burst open, an ecstatic, tiny changeling bouncing through with a squeal. All of her friends donned various faces of shock as Cherry rushed over toward them. She caught site of the griffon as he grabbed Rainbow before she could rush to intercept, thankfully. The rest of her friends remained where they were, looking on with confusion at the happy little changeling. Cherry rushed over to them, an overly excited smile gleefully plastered on her face. “Yes! Yes! Yes!” She yelled out happily, bouncing circles around their chairs. “Twilight will be loving Trumpet Cove! Go! Go! Go!” She squealed, pushing against Twilight’s leg and then Marty’s. She proceeded to attempt to push them toward the door while continuing her excited chant. “Quick! Quick! Cherry wants to hear as many songs as Cherry can!” She yelled happily, finally managing to get Marty to drop from his stool. Cherry quickly grabbed up his saddlebags, throwing them hurriedly onto his back. She turned to Twilight, grabbing onto her hoof and pulling back with all her weight to try and get her moving. “Come o~on!” She groaned, her surprisingly light weight doing little to actually move Twilight until she dropped from her stool. She darted over to Marty, repeating the action and leading him toward the door. “Marty is so slo~ow!” She groaned again, pulling with all her tiny strength at Marty to lead him. “Twilight, what’s goin’ on?” Applejack asked with confusion, motioning toward Cherry. “That’s Cherry, don’t worry. She just wants to show me where Marty usually goes to sing. I’ll meet you girls at the station.” She explained, although it seemed like Applejack was still unsure. She caught sight of Rainbow grumbling at the griffon before she followed Cherry out the door. --- It took them about ten minutes to navigate the streets of Manehattan with Cherry leading the way, she seemed to know every shortcut and hidden turn like the back of her hoof. All the while she continued to express how excited she was that Twilight was coming with them, bouncing around them randomly and still managing to guide them. At the moment, they stood in an alleyway, facing a set of stairs that led to a door below street level. There was nothing significant about the door at all, other than the brightly colored sign hanging from a chain above the stairwell. It was a bright yellow trumpet, tiny white wings sprouting from its sides. It was perched on top of a small branch, the bottom of its valves balancing it on top of it. Cherry beamed from the top of the stairs, looking up at them with a smile as Twilight examined the area they had led her to. “Is being more fun inside, Twilight! Come on!” She bubbled, buzzing into the air and waiting for them. “What is this place, exactly?” She asked, leading Marty to the stairs carefully. She was starting to become unsure if she really wanted to go anywhere that was under the streets, even if Cherry was this excited. “Its like a little restaurant, only the food isn’t really what ponies focus on here.” Marty said, taking a first tentative step while feeling out the stairs with his cane. “Most of the ponies that come here, surprisingly a lot, are here to sing in a fun, safe environment. I even teach some lessons here on slow days, for ponies that are just starting out.” He said, continuing to carefully guide his hooves down the staircase. She watched him carefully, staying near enough that she could halt a fall, but far away enough that she wasn’t going to accidentally trip him. Even though it didn’t show in his words, he looked like he was struggling. Every step seemed to put him further on edge as he went, until he was finally safe on the concrete of the bottom step. He sighed in relief as he settled off of the last step. “We come every night, tonight there should be some more of the professionals. But it’s always about having a good time for the singer. No having to worry about crowds, or criticisms. Unless, of course, they ask for somepony’s opinion.” He finished, moving toward the door in a memorized pace as Cherry landed beside it. When they opened the door, a flood of music poured out. Where the street had been almost completely quiet before, it was now filled with a cheery beat. They entered and were swallowed by the music, while not deafening as the concert had been, it was still a good volume toward loud. The music was loud enough that it was impossible to miss, but was easily talked over as apposed to having to scream just to get a pony to notice that they were talking. They had walked into the middle of a song, a pony standing in the center of a well lit stage singing and nodding along with the music. “I hear the songs, from the places where I was born.” The stallion sang, his voice calling clearly from the stage as he sang into a microphone placed before him. Around him, various other ponies had been assigned to instruments strewn about the stage. The way they were laid out was not messy, but was random enough for it to almost feel like a foal’s toybox. Below the stage, a large number of tables sat close to one another, leaving barely enough room for ponies to sit, let alone maneuver between them. A large number of ponies filled them, there wasn’t enough for her to call it teeming, but there was definitely a crowd. Near the far side of the room was a bar that opened into a kitchen, the various smells of foods lingering lightly in the air from it. There was another, much wider, set of stairs that led down into this maelstrom of tables, decorated with brightly colored carpet. The lighting was dim, but not dark. It got brighter near the stage, where various lights had been aimed toward it from a scaffolding hanging above it. Cherry led Marty, and consequently Twilight as well, into the sea of tables. She wound their way through the tables, toward the kitchen near the rear. They were able to find a spot near the center before the stallion started to sing again, letting her listen more carefully to the music. “Up on the hill across the blue lake, That’s where I had my first heartbreak “I still remember how it all changed, my father said, “Don’t you worry, don’t you worry child See, heaven’s got a plan for you “Don’t you worry, don’t you worry now” The stallion let the music take over for a moment, still bouncing along to the music. Everypony that was here, either seemed to be having a conversation with the rest of their table, or happily watching the singer and the music players. She listened as the instruments warped in time to a unicorn’s careful manipulation of a mixing board that had been turned to display all of the complicated knobs and lights that she used. Overall the mood was much more relaxed, and she felt like she could actually enjoy some of the experience instead of being deafened by it. She watched as Cherry guided Marty into a seat that faced the stage, quickly taking a seat next to him. Twilight followed suit and sat on the other side of them, letting her both see the stage and be able to talk to Marty easily if she wanted to. The music paused for a moment, slowly picking up as the stallion singer started his next verse. “There was a time, I met a mare of a different kind “We ruled the world, thought I’d never lose her out of sight “We were so young, I think of her now and then “I still hear the songs reminding me of a friend” She felt a tap on her shoulder, drawing her attention away from the music as it continued. “So what do you think?” Marty asked, his hoof still raised from the motion to get her attention. “I think I like this a bit better.” Twilight said, having to speak slightly louder than normal to be heard over the music. She didn’t have to strain her voice, but it was noticeably louder than she would normally have spoken. “How did you find this place?” She asked, wondering if there was anything interesting he could tell her about it. “Cherry was the one who found it,” Marty said, nodding over his shoulder to the bouncing little changeling. “She loves this place. There’s so many good moods flying around, not like at the concerts. It can get a little overwhelming for her sometimes, so she really likes it when she can come here.” He explained, motioning toward the ponies around them. “Everybody is really supportive here, so that makes it really easy for her to enjoy herself. I made friends with the owner a little after Cherry first brought me here, so I started teaching lessons on the slower days of the week.” He said, nodding back behind him toward the kitchen. “That’s nice, how popular is this place?” She asked, wondering how anypony could find this place since it was so out of the way. “Pretty popular in the music districts, just about anypony from there could tell you where it is.” He said, settling back into his chair. “Do you sing at all, Twilight?” He asked, the music dying as the song ended and allowing them to lower themselves back to a normal volume. He paused to clap his hooves together for the singer alongside a large portion of the ponies in the room. “I do every now and then, but not usually … as a performance.” She admitted, shrugging slightly. Marty nodded, but didn’t say anything against it. “Eggs at twelve and one, biscuit at nine, and your ‘tater hash is on the rest.” A voice interrupted, a plate with the described food sliding in front of Marty. She looked up to see a bright pink pegasus mare hovering over their table, she wore an apron with a pad of paper and a rough pencil sticking out of it. Her mane was a bright orange, a stark contrast in its day-glow appearance. Her cutie mark was a large book, little slips of paper popping out of its pages. “You always know what I like, Butterfly.” Marty replied, turning to the plate in front of him and running a hoof along the outer edge. “That’s because you always ask for breakfast, no matter what time of the day it is.” Butterfly replied with a roll of her eyes, turning with a smile to Cherry. “At least Cherry likes to mix it up. What do you want, sweetie?” She asked, her smile growing warmer as she spoke to the changeling. “Cherry wants hay fries and cherry syrup!” She exclaimed, hopping up to put her forelegs on the table. She smiled up at the pegasus, practically wagging her tail as she hopped up and down in her seat. “Why am I not surprised? One Cherry flavored breakfast haystack coming up.” The mare said, pulling out her pad and writing down the order. She pulled the pencil from her mouth when she had finished writing, looking over toward Twilight next. “Who’s your friend, Marty? Don’t think I’ve seen you come in here with anypony other than Cherry for as long as I’ve known ya.” She asked, looking over Twilight with a smile. “That,” he said, motioning toward Twilight with his head, “is Twilight Sparkle.” He finished, running his hoof around the plate to the side with the biscuit perched on it. His horn lit up to pull of a piece of the fluffy bread that he quickly popped into his mouth, ending his introduction there. “Really! That’s fantastic! Can’t believe you actually met ‘er.” Butterfly remarked, touching down in the miniscule space between the tables next to Twilight. “That twig talks about you all the time, you’d think you were his idol, or something.” She said with a wink. Twilight managed to vaguely notice Marty make a choking sound behind her, but was quickly distracted by Butterfly’s offered hoof. “Name’s Butterfly, I own the Trumpet. Whadd’ya think a’ the place?” She asked, cheerfully introducing herself. Twilight met the hoof happily, tapping against it with a friendly smile. “I like it a lot better than the concert I was just at.” She said, nodding around at the room. “It’s much easier to enjoy the music here.” She commented, watching the pegasus smile warmly. “That’s the idea!” She beamed, standing a bit taller. “So, what do you want? We got breakfast stuff, or anything that I can cook on a stove.” She said, shrugging. She put the pencil in her mouth again and the pad to meet it as she waited for Twilight to ask for something. “How about just a daisy sandwich?” She asked, watching as Butterfly nodded and scribbled down her order. Butterfly lifted back into the air, replacing her pencil and pad into her apron. “Good and simple, I like it. I can be back in a few minutes with your food.” Butterfly said, starting to move off. But she halted herself at the last minute and turned back around, a devious smile on her face. “Hey, Marty.” She said, much louder than was necessary and drawing the nearby ponies. “Why don’t you sing us something?” She said quickly, darting off toward the kitchen before any response could be made. Marty sat up instantly with a shocked look on his face. The response from the ponies around them was almost instant, and unanimous. There was a cheer, and various calls of encouragement throughout. His ears aimed themselves toward the ground at the sides of his head, a defeated look crossing his features as he listened. She vaguely heard him mumble something about a bug zapper before he started to stand up. Cherry hopped up as well, stopping him and whispering in his ear. “You think so?” He asked, responding to whatever it was that Cherry had suggested. “I haven’t practiced that one as much …” He mumbled, his head tilting as Cherry continued to whisper to him. “Alright, Cherry.” He consented, standing fully and cringing slightly at the encouraging cheer that went up from the ponies around them. “All right, I’ll sing.” He said loudly to the ponies, scooting his way into the aisle. A pegasus already standing on the stage hovered over, lowering herself so that she could guide him toward the stage. He must come here a lot for the ponies to already be so familiar with him. Twilight thought to herself, thinking to the various things that had happened of their own accord from the moment they entered. Butterfly knew him well enough to not only spot him as he entered, but to have already known what he would have wanted to eat. When Butterfly had suggested that he sing, she could tell that the enthusiasm wasn’t just anonymous encouragement, the ponies here already liked his singing. And the ponies manning the stage had already known to help him to the stage. Why did Shiny say that he was only now trying to be open to ponies? Were these some of his only friends? Or was he just distant to anypony he didn’t already know? She thought, watching Marty walk onto stage and hearing the corresponding cheer. He started to talk with the ponies on stage, planning out the song they would play with him. He had been so open to bringing herself and all her friends to an expensive show for something as simple as accidentally running into them. How could somepony that instantly generous be considered closed off? ‘... you’d think you were his idol, or something.’ Butterfly’s comment echoed in her head, seeming more like an innocent jibe at Marty more than anything, at the time. Could it have been more literal than that? “Alright, everypony. I’m about to say something really stupid.” Marty’s voice called over the microphone, the crowd quieting slightly between various cheers. Marty sighed slightly, the band behind him poised at the ready behind a different set of instruments. They had either pushed their previous instruments to the side or had moved over to the new instrument, completely changing the layout of the stage in only moments. “I’m going to dedicate this song to the mare that inspired me to be the pony I am today.” He said, listening to the crowds reaction with a weary nod. There were various cheers and ‘Aww’s that reached out from the ponies around her. Finally, she thought. I was starting to really wonder who this pony was? An old marefriend, maybe? She considered, the thought resurfacing as Marty brought it up. She had pushed the question to the side at the time, but now it was returning. Shiny had said he had been inspired, but had never elaborated on it. She had pushed it to the side to consider later, thinking that if she really had to know, she could ask Marty. “This one’s for you, Twilight Sparkle.” He said, motioning with his hoof out toward her table. Twilight nearly fell out of her seat when she heard that. ME?! Her head had screamed, complete confusion stopping any of her musings from before. How could she have possibly inspired somepony she had never met before to become a better pony? As far as she could tell, she had almost nothing to do with anything that could have related to his … plight. The music started, cutting off her train of thought as her attention was drawn to the stage. Two of the ponies had donned guitars, strumming and picking together to create a melody. Marty’s voice wavered out over their instruments, a long drawn out note that shifted up and down. She watched another pony poised over a large drum, his hooves wrapped snugly under the large, padded tip. The guitars trailed off after a few moments, the pony behind the mixing board starting a high pitched hum that built as it continued. Marty ended his long note, the buzz created by the other unicorn reaching an apex and dropping, the stallion over the drum striking it suddenly. “I’m waking up to ash and dust I wipe my brow and I sweat my rust”         The drum beat out a steady rhythm, a heartbeat that powered the song on. The buzzing sounds of a synthetic rhythm following it and making the sound even deeper as it powered the words that flowed seamlessly from Marty’s lips. “I’m breathing in the chemicals”         He stopped, the music pausing with him as he took in an exaggerated breath. The pause lasted for only a moment, the exhale coming soon after. The music continued as if uninterrupted, the guitars returning with a light picking that cast a ripple of texture to the already powerful sound. “I’m breaking in, shaping up, then checking out on the prison bus “This is it, the apocalypse Who~oh! “I’m waking up I feel it in my bones! Enough to make my systems blow! “Welcome to the new age, to the new age Welcome to the new age, to the new age”         The music kicked up, Marty’s voice suddenly jumping as he hit a high point in the song. The stage practically lit up with the sound that came from it, the crowds reactions becoming less than secondary as she watched. As he continued, the other ponies on stage with him began to sing with him, adding another layer to the repetition that drove the song’s power. “Wo~oha~oh~oh Wo~oha~oh~oh I’m Radioactive, radioactive! “Wo~oha~oh~oh Wo~oha~oh~oh I’m Radioactive, radioactive!”         The music dipped again, the light that had practically made the stage glow dissipating with the sound. The familiar bass beat that drove the song returned, highlighted by the melodic picking of a guitar. “I raise my flag Don my clothes It’s a revolution, I suppose We’re painted red to fit right in “Who~oh”         A hat from the crowd flew up, catching on Marty’s horn and settling lopsided on his head. He didn’t even pause as he adjusted the hat to fit squarely on his head, slotting his gently glowing horn through the slot that let him press it down over his eyes.         Wait … his horn was glowing? When did he start doing that? She asked herself, noticing now that the stage actually had donned a slight glow, almost blending in with the bright, white lights that reflected off of it. As she watched, the music began to slowly build with a new, eerie whistle alongside Marty’s singing, and the glow with it. “I’m breaking in, shaping up then checking out on the prison bus “This is it the apakalypse Wo~oh! “I’m waking up I feel it in my bones! Enough to make my systems blow! “Welcome to the new age, to the new age Welcome to the new age, to the new age” “Wo~oha~oh~oh Wo~oha~oh~oh I’m Radioactive, radioactive! “Wo~oha~oh~oh Wo~oha~oh~oh I’m Radioactive, radioactive!”         The others had started to continue his modulating note that he had opened the song with, adding their voices to the song. When Marty hit the high point again, the stage actually lit up with his magical glow. She couldn’t tell what it was he was doing with his magic, but it was spectacular in how it affected the stage. Even as simple as it was, his magic simply touching the stage around him, the effect only added to the song. Every edge, every corner defined itself it shimmering grey light. Every plane or smooth curve shone like polished marble.         The music fell again though, ending the shimmering light show as Marty sang in a lower tone. Even the bass heartbeat that had been ever present through the song left, leaving only the eerie note that drifted out from the stage and the quiet echo of the generated tones that had accentuated the bass. “All systems go, the sun hasn’t died Deep in my bones, straight from inside “I’m waking up I feel it in my bones! Enough to make my systems blow! “Welcome to the new age, to the new age Welcome to the new age, to the new age” “Wo~oha~oh~oh Wo~oha~oh~oh I’m Radioactive, radioactive! “Wo~oha~oh~oh Wo~oha~oh~oh I’m Radioactive, radioactive!” As he came to the conclusion, a spark of his magic arced off of his horn. The grey toned lightning bolt struck the hat on his head, rolling off of it in a sharply pointed wave. As he ended, the magic simply left, ending its existence along with the song that had powered it. Twilight wasn’t sure what to think, but she knew one thing for sure. She had a lot of questions.