//------------------------------// // A Musical Interlude // Story: Dimension Jumper // by redtau //------------------------------// Sweetie wandered the halls, marveling at the number of creatures and the extent of repairs. The castle was far from full, but there were easily dozens of creatures wondering the halls. Minotaurs and zebras worked on repairing tile in the hallway, while a pair of gryphons and one of those dog things carried lumber upstairs to work on sections of the outer wall. If it weren't for her curiosity she would have gladly stopped to talk to most of them, but for her purposes she was glad everypony was busy. She paused in the hall and thought about that. Everypony didn't sound right. It was alright with the zebras, but minotaurs and gryphons and dogs weren't ponies. "Everything?" she said aloud, testing the word. "No, that's not it. That sounds like I'm talking about objects. Every...body?" "Excuse me." Sweetie jumped and spun around. A lean female dog was behind her, hoisting part of a long piece of lumber. "I'm sorry, could you step aside? You're blocking the hall." "Oh, sorry. I was just looking for the ballroom." Sweetie said, stepping aside. The dog nodded to her and started forward. "Two doors down on the left." She said. As Sweetie turned towards her destination, she herd the dog's male companion speak up. "Why you so nice to pony?" it asked. "Because the Diamond Dogs were mean to one once, and they lost over a years worth of gems for their trouble." The female said. "Nice is free." Sweetie had to smile at that thought as she turned into the room. Her eyes widened and her jaw hit the floor. Of all the things. This was the best. possible. THING! The room was huge, and one side had been entirely devoted to a raised stage. Scattered around the stage on stands were guitars, drums, speakers, microphones, and a huge mess of cables. Behind it, dominating most of the wall, was an intricate magical circle. Sweetie didn't have to know a single thing about it to tell it was amazingly complex. She knew what karaoke was, she had heard her sister talk about it at length. You went out to someplace full of people and had two choices: live or recorded. The recorded music required a skilled DJ and an extensive library of disks. From what Rarity had said, live was better because the musicians could help a singer by going slower or faster. This however, didn't have any records or musicians. She poked at the cables and plucked a string on a guitar, wondering if the circles were keyed to one song or would adjust to the singer. A grin broke out on her face as she realized the best way to find out was to test it. With a bit of focus, she reached up to the microphone, mounted at adult height, and pulled it down. "Testing, testing one two." she spoke into it, listening to her own voice echo off of the walls. She had a stage, a microphone, and all the audience she could handle: none. Now, she just had to think of what to sing. After a few moments she decided. She reached into her saddlebags and pulled out a small gem, Rarity's idea of spending money. She levitated it back to the circle and watched the arcane lines light up. Sweetie closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and sang. "There is a house in New Foaleans, They call the rising sun And it's been the ruin of many a poor foal And Faust, I know I'm one" The guitar started up, slow sad notes filling the air, and Sweetie Bell smiled and let the song flow with the music. "My sister is a tailor-ess She sewed my capes new seams And my father had a gambling plan Down in New Foaleans," A base guitar started up, adding richness to the song. "Now the only thing a gambler needs Is a suitcase and a trunk" The drums tapped in. "And the only time he's satisfied Is when he's on a drunk" It sounded like the organ and piano had joined in. Sweetie felt like it was a dream and didn't dare to open her eyes. "So mothers tell, tell your children not to do what I have done not to spend their lives in sin and misery in the House of the Rising sun. I've got one hoof on the platform and another three on the train. I'm going home to New Foaleans, to wear that ball and chain. There is a house in New Foaleans, they call The Rising Sun. And it's been the ruin of many a poor foal, and Faust, I know I'm one." Some sort of echo effect kicked in, doubling her voice. "poor, poor foal poor, poor foal poor, poor foal poor, poor foal poor, poor foal poor, poor foal poor, poor foal poor, poor foal poor, poor foal poor, poor foal A huge cheer went up, and Sweetie's eyes flew open. There was now an audience. Not just the other crusaders and Sarah, but D and almost two dozen others. Canids howled, gryphons screeched, zebras stomped and the few minotaurs clapped and hollered. "That was amazing." a voice to her right said. "Any chance we could convince you to sing and write for us?" Sweeite nearly jumpped off the stage, spinning round to stare at Pio and the other changelings grinning at her. "AAAAAH! Where did you come from?" "Well, the audience filtered in when you started singing." Pio said, "and you woke us up testing the mic." He pointed at the ceiling, where six hammocks were stretched between the rafters. "That was the best meal I've had in weeks." Leo said, "Want to do another?" "So," I said, looking at the rough drawing of the seal before me. "Laughter, Generosity, Kindness, and Honesty are colored in, and Loyalty and Magic are still dark. Any ideas?" "It could be that Nightmare is close to being freed." Red offered, trying to make sense of the seal. I don't feel any more freedom now then when we first arrived at the castle. Then again, you are holding me down yourself. "I'm not inclined to let Nightmare go all out just to test that theory." "And we all appreciate your amazing forethought in that." D snipped. "Just shut up if you aren't going to be helpful." I snipped back. "Fine, I'll just go find your little devious ARCO plots." "There are no ARCO plots D." I sighed. "The only three things in this world from ARCO are you, me and Machina." D's form shifted into one of a pitch black canid with a deer skull over his face. It was about as normal as he could manage, his natural forms tended towards the monstrous and daemonic. Once satisfied with the shift, he stomped off to investigate the castle. "Reggie, can you follow him and make sure he doesn't upset anyone too much?" I asked. The gryphon flew off after him. Most of the creatures in the castle had gotten a little exposure to D at Sweetie Bell's impromptu concert, but there were still enough scattered around to cause a panic. I turned back to the copy of the seal and then looked up at the four crusaders. "I wish I knew what it meant." "Well, maybe it's your actions in relation to the elements." Sweetie Bell said. "Yeah," Apple Bloom added, "Ya were honest at the trial and ya laughed at D." "You have been more than kind and generous to me and mine." Red added. "As well any all of the others who have come to your castle." "That would make sense, except it's not really all that testable. The last two are loyalty and magic. I'm not sure I want anything to test my loyalty, and I can't do magic." "You can't?" Twist asked, eyeing the failed karaoke circle painted on the wall. "I've been doing those for months now. If something like that art project was going to change this thing's color, it would have done so already." "Maybe it's a different kind of magic." Scootaloo said. "Like, Twilight goes on and on sometimes about the 'magic of friendship'. Maybe that's what you need." I looked over my shoulder in the direction D had stalked off to. If that's what I have to work with for the magic of friendship, maybe I should try for loyalty first. It's not going to work like that. "Hm?" "Hm what?" Apple Bloom asked. When the element bearers came after Luna and I upon our return from a thousand year prison, I placed obstacles in their way. Those obstacles tested them, and revealed their true power and connection to the elements. If I had just let them come to me and fought them together, I might have won. I looked up to realize I'd been sitting listening to Nightmare for a while. "Sorry girls, Nightmare just wanted to add her two cents. She pointed out that I can't just set up a test to pass, they have to come naturally." I noted a particular gleam in Apple Blooms eye. "AND YOU CAN'T SET UP TESTS EITHER!" I added quickly, visions of manticores, dragons and small oceans of tree sap swimming in my head. "Awwwww." The four fillies chorused. I grinned at them, realizing how much I had missed their antics since they had left. "I owe you all an apology." I said, sadness creeping into my voice. "I shouldn't have sent you all away like I did." "Sweetie was actually worried about you." Apple Bloom said. "She went back to the castle after you made us leave, to try and help." "You came back? I didn't see you." "You were in the tall tower." Sweetie said, looking down. "You were just watching a sonic rainboom and you were singing and you just... you just looked so sad." She actually sniffled a little at the memory. "I thought that maybe what you needed were your old friends." "You spent weeks in a deadly forest setting up traps just to capture one of my friends and hope we would make nice?" I asked, stunned at the level of dedication. "Well, firsth we were gonna just talk to it." Twist said. "But we could never track it down. Then we got the idea to lure it out and the traps just kind of evolved from there." "I wish I could go find Lyra and Bon Bon and apologize to them to." "You could write them a letter, like Twilight does to Princess Celestia." Apple Bloom said. "Ugh, I might as well. Red told me it takes almost three weeks to deliver a letter to ponies though." "Why so long?" Scootaloo asked, eyeing one of the work crews. "Hey, Twist, do you think I could get a cutie mark in castle building?" "You tried that already." Twist said. "Oh yeah." "Letters go from me through the Canids to the zebras or gryphons and then on to the ponies. Something about alliances and politics." I told them. "Well, we can try and bring them out in a couple of weeks." Apple Bloom said. "I'd appreciate that." I felt a genuine smile settle on my face, and I realized just how much I had missed these ponies.