//------------------------------// // Hello, Goodbye // Story: The Fab Four // by Eagle //------------------------------// “Well, this is certainly…interesting,” Twilight commented, looking at the drum set. “Spike, did somepony stop by and leave this here?” “No, they just sorta…appeared,” the dragon claimed. “Spike, a set of drums doesn’t just ‘appear’, they were either left here or teleported; I just don’t know who would send me these, I can’t play them.” “Were they teleported here by accident?” “I don’t think so,” Twilight said. “But like I said, things like this don’t appear for any reason; there’s got to be something that caused this.” As Twilight was thinking, the door flew open, followed a loud crashing sound. The once organized books were scattered every which-way across the floor. She knew who it was, and wondered if Rainbow would ever learn not to come crashing through her door at full speed like this. “Ugh, Rainbow; again?” “No time!” the Pegasus cried, picking up Twilight and flying her out the door. “You won’t believe what I saw!” “First of all, put me down!” Twilight yelled, to which Rainbow agreed. “Now, what did you see that was so important?” “Aliens!” Twilight stared at her like something was seriously wrong. “Well, you’re right; I don’t believe you,” Twilight replied. “I knew you wouldn’t, that’s why I have to bring you there!” “Rainbow, if this is another one of your pranks-” “It’s not, I promise,” Rainbow assured her. “Alright, just tell me where they are and I can teleport there.” “Last I saw them they were heading towards the entrance of the Everfree.” With a flash of light, both of them were gone. “How old were you again?” George asked. “Seventy-Two,” Starr replied. “Well, it’s nice to know you and Paul had a good long time after me and John left.” Ringo stopped on the trail at the end of the field, which was also the entrance to a thick forest. “George, you mind if I ask how you’re taking this so lightly?” “I guess ‘cause I expected it,” Harrison answered. “You, Paul’s, and John’s all seem to’ve been rather sudden, to say the least.” It did not take much thought for Ringo to understand he was right; George only lived as long as he did because the would-be assassin that tried to stab him to death was interrupted by his wife’s intervening. It was unfortunate they were unable to stop the cancer growths that came with it. But, at least he was able to live a couple years longer. Indeed the band members seemed to have a bit of a curse about them concerning their sudden endings, with John being shot dead by a deranged fan and George attacked by a man who claimed the Beatles had been ‘witches’. No doubt another psychopath out there had thought of doing the same to the other two. If anything, he could be glad they were spared the gruesome endings. “Actually, you gave me an idea just now,” George said. “What?” “Well, if we are dead and here, and both Paul and John passed on too, maybe they’re also in the land.” “You really think they could be here?” Ringo asked, surprised by this. “I don’t see why not; I guess anyone could be here, from what we know at least.” “Anyone? You think our families or-” George immediately held up his hand, indicating silence. “You hear that?” “Hear what?” “Keep quiet and listen; it’s something. It sounds like some sort of tune!” Ringo quieted himself and listened closely. “Aye, there is someone singing!” he said. “And the tune;…duh duh duh duuuh duuh…Ringo, that’s one of ours!” “Our songs?” “Yes, ‘Two of Us’; I remember now, that was one of the last ones we did!” “If someone’s singing our song, and we’re the only ones here…” Ringo shook his head. “George, you really think it could be?” “Let’s sit tight and watch, it sounds like it’s coming our way,” George suggested. “That’ll give us answers; maybe not the ones we think, but some answers none the less.” George did that, sitting down on the dirt trail. As he watched the forest entrance intently, he found himself subconsciously picking out the chords to the song, and only really noticed it when the song ended. It brought back memories doing that; many bad, but many more good. The song ended, and the two sitting people could hear footsteps and voices. The voices indeed sounded very familiar, almost ghostly. Even before the unknown vocalists turned the corner and exited into the bright, clear day, it was clear just who they were. The two stepped out of the dark, thick woods and into the revealing sunlight. They immediately stopped, wide eyed and starring at the two figures sitting patiently on the ground. The sitter’s expressions, in turn, were only slightly less shocked. “H-Harrison?” John sputtered out. “George…is that…is that really you?” “That’s who I am; and before you ask, this is indeed Ringo” George responded, slowly getting back up. “And are you really you, John?” Lennon shook his head in an attempt to wave off the confusion. “Yea, I’m me; but what are you two doin’ here?” “Well, I figured you two would’ve sorted that out just as we did,” George said. “John, Paul, we’re all dead right now.” “Presumably dead,” Paul spoke up, finally breaking out of his own state of shock. “We’ve made the theory that we’re all presumably dead.” “Paul, I think we all need to accept this,” Ringo said. “I remember you died a few hours before I did; it was a helicopter crash. You must remember too, right?” “I-I thought it was a bad dream; I thought this was a dream!” “I’m sorry Paul, but we’re all goners,” Harrison said. “I was hoping it was just a bad dream at first, too; but now that I see John’s here, and we’re all thinking it’s a dream, I can assure you that none of us are dreaming.” “No…no no no!” Paul yelled, reality finally catching up to him. “Then why are we here? I mean, I knew I was going to die someday, and I didn’t know what was commin’ after, but why here? What’s the point of it!?” “Paul, calm down,” Ringo said. “At least we’re not alone.” “I know that, but what about everyone else we cared about!?” he said, stumbling back a bit to rest against a tree. “What about my folks? What happened to them? What about Linda? Are they in the…other place!?” Paul finally broke down, burying his face in his hands. His back slid down the tree trunk and he fell to the ground. All sorts of thoughts slapped his mind at once, and it broke him into tears; the hard crying diluting any coherent sentences. Only a few clear words got through his mouth; those of ‘Mom’, ‘Dad’, and his most constant slurring of ‘Linda’. “I’m sorry, Paul,” George said, which got no real reply. “lad’s let’s give Paul a few minutes to sort things out.” As the trio went back to talking, Paul kept sobbing at the tree line. George’s intentions, good willed or not, were not the best answers. Paul did not need solitude, he needed someone to talk to; someone he could work with to try and figure all these paranoid, confused thoughts out. But for a short time, he was left to wallow alone. “Are you alright?” a soft voice asked. “You aren’t hurt, are you?” Paul stopped at hearing this new voice; it was not from the boys, it sounded more feminine. Tearing his face out of his hands, his vision cleared to slowly reveal a shape that surprised him more than anything else he had seen today. It was an animal; something that looked more akin to a horse, and it was yellow. It was small, too; standing up to match his current height slouched on the grass. A small, cream-yellow horse with light pink hair, just sat there staring. Oddest of all, it seemed to wear a most concerned look on its face. “I-I heard your talk; I’m really sorry,” it said. “Are you ok?” Paul immediately sobered up. On top of everything, this strange horse-like creature could talk; this thing was intelligent! But, strangely, he was not very scared; it was far from threatening. He was confused greatly, but he was not losing his mind. The animal had a strange calming presence about it. “You can speak?” Paul asked quietly. “What are you?” “A pony; my name is Fluttershy.” “Well it’s…nice to meet you, I suppose,” he answered. “I’m Paul, a human.” “Paul, that’s an interesting name.” “I could say the same about yours,” he said, causing her to giggle a bit. “I guess it makes sense…I’ve never seen anything like you before.” “Same here,” Paul replied. Checking over his shoulder quickly, he noticed the other three were still entangled in their own conversation. “I was listening to your talk with your friends; I’m really sorry about what happened.” “Yea, it’s alright,” Paul replied, hanging his head. “It’s not like you can save lives you didn’t even know existed.” “I guess when you put it that way…” “You didn’t do anything, Fluttershy; I just met you,” Paul assured her. “But if you don’t mind my asking, why were you spying on us.” “Oh-uh, I saw you and your other friend on the road…and I really enjoyed your singing…so…” He saw her blush deepen as she hid behind her mane. “I’m flattered,” he responded. “I was a musician back when I was alive, y’know.” “Really?” “Yea, all of us were; we used to be real big-” Their own conversation was interrupted by a round of screams. Paul could recognize some as coming from the others, but there was another set. The new ones sounded like they belonged to girls, as well. Getting up quickly, he swung around to see the other three band members yelling at two more ponies; but these looked very different. One was light blue with colorful hair; it also seemed to have wings, as it was floating where it was. The other was purple, and closer inspection revealed what looked like a horn. Did pegasi and unicorn exist here? “What the bloody hell are those!?” John yelled. “I don’t know!” George replied, breaking his perfect calmness run. “What are you waiting for, Twilight!?” Rainbow yelled. “Blast them!” “Jesus, blast us!?” Ringo cried. “Just what’d we do!?” “C’mon Twilight, they could be getting ready to attack!” Twilight, being pressured with a situation she thought for sure was fake at first, impulsively aimed her horn at the group; still, she showed restraint. “Twilight!” “George, tackle that thing!” John commanded. “What? We need to run!” he replied. “Where’s Paul-” “STOP!” Everything came to a screeching halt and everyone turned to see Fluttershy standing in-between the two groups. “Um, girls…they, uh, aren’t really bad.” “What?” Rainbow asked. “But…they look mean.” “Well…that doesn’t really-” “We’re not here to hurt you guys,” Paul announced, re-joining his group. “We’re just sort of stuck here.” Twilight relaxed, returning to normal. “So, you’re not hostile?” “Far from it,” Paul assured her. “And…you’re real aliens!?” “To you all, I suppose.” “Oh yes!” Twilight exclaimed, jumping up and down. “Yes! Yes! Yes! First contact with an alien life form; not just that, but intelligent, too!” The four humans watched the pony jump about, not exactly sure of what to say. “Oh, I’ve got so many questions for you! Wait, not here; we need to go back to the library first,” Twilight said. “Do you have any kind of reactions to teleportation?” “Not that I know of-wait teleport…what?” Paul asked. “Good, hang on.” The entire group popped into the library in a flash. The four humans seemed a bit dizzy from the sudden transport; but after a quick check they found everything was where it should be, including their instruments. They were also surprised by how little the ponies were affected. “Blimey-ah,” John said, rubbing his forehead. “Please don’t do that without tellin’ us next time.” “Sorry,” Twilight replied. “I’m just a little anxious.” “Hey Twilight, did you find out who left that instrument here?” Spike’s voice called from the kitchen as he came into the room. "Whoa, what are those?" "We're aliens," Paul replied with a chuckle. "And you're obviously a lizard." "I'm a dragon!" he replied. "I'm just...little." "Yea, dragon; still a lizard," Paul said. "Hey, what'd you say about an instrument?" "There was a set of drums that just sort of fell in here earlier today; I just moved them upstairs." Ringo immediately gained interest at the mentioning of ‘drums’. “Oi, you have drums here?” he asked. “Yea, I don’t know who left them,” Twilight said. “Hang on, I’ll float them downstairs.” Ringo watched as she did so; eyes gleaming with happiness at seeing his instrument. “Do these belong to you?” she asked, gently setting them on the floor. “Yes! Thank you!” Ringo immediately ran over to take a seat. He also noticed he was lucky enough to get a pair of drum sticks along with them. He tested each piece of the set and, satisfied they were all in perfect condition, tapped out a short tune. “So you can all play instruments?” Twilight asked over Ringo’s playing. “Yep, I play the bass,” Paul explained. “John and George both played guitar.” Twilight took out a quill and paper and jotted down a note. “Ok, so your names are John, Paul…George, and uh…Ringo, right?” “That’s it,” John said with a smile. “I’m Twilight Sparkle,” she introduced herself. “The blue pegasus is Rainbow Dash.” “What’s up?” she asked. “And sorry about calling you mean earlier and trying to shoot you.” “It’s fine,” Paul dismissed the concern. “And that one over there is Fluttershy, if you didn’t already meet.” “Hi,” she whispered softly. “But now that we’ve met each other, can we get back to the questions?” Twilight asked anxiously. “I suppose we can,” John said. “Ok, firstly-” “Hey Twilight!” The door flew open and a fourth pony entered. This one was pink, hair and all, and had a massive smile on her face. She let out an audible gasp when she saw the humans. “Are these the aliens I heard about?” she asked, getting in their faces. “Hi! I’m Pinkie Pie!” “Pinkie, why are…how did you even hear about these guys before!? We just met them,” Twilight asked. Pinkie ignored her, preferring to bombard the musicians with a series of her own questions. “You’re not from around here? Do you know anypony? How’d you get here? What are-mhmph!” John put his hand over her running mouth, scared she might bight it for a minute. “One question at a time please, missy.” “M’kay,” she muffled. The instrument hanging from him caught her attention. “Hey what’s this?” “My guitar,” John replied simply, plucking a few strings. “You play music?” Pinke gasped. “Could you play a song? Please please please!?” John looked over to the others, who simply shrugged their shoulders. “Gee, it’s been a while…but I think we could.” “Yay!” “B-but, what about my questions?” Twilight asked, obviously irritated. “Don’t worry, I’m sure there’ll be time to answer your when the song is done,” Pinkie assured her. “Besides, don’t you want to know what it sounds like?” “It’s really nice,” Fluttershy quietly piped up. “Uh, fine; one song for scientific observations,” she consented. “Whenever you guys are ready.” The four band members found individual seats in the room; with Paul and John on the couch and George in a chair. The four ponies and one dragon gathered around them, forming a small audience. Two were noticeably more eager than the others. For the humans, it was an awkward experience. Having just realized they died and met their old band in a world inhabited by magical ponies in a matter of hours, they now found themselves playing together again for these ponies, and a baby dragon. It was not exactly how the famed Beatles reunion was thought to have happened. Still, they all had to admit they caught a few nostalgic feelings. “Just like old times, huh George?” Paul asked, to which George nodded in confirmation. “It feels kind of nice,” John said. “Like seein’ the family again after a long trip.” “We had a good deal more fights than any family,” Ringo commented. “And we accomplished a lot, too,” he replied. “But let’s save the soul-searchin’ for later, huh? Which song should we play?” “Blackbird?” Paul asked. “No, I’d like it to be something that makes an impression; something appropriate for the particular situation.” “Aye, I see what you mean.” "Hold up," George said. "Twilight, my guitar uses electricity; do you have amplifiers or something like that?" "Um...no, but I know a spell that could both electrify it and make it sound the way it should without one." George raised his eyebrows in surprise. "That's great! Guys, I've got it!" George suddenly hopped up and grabbed them all into a rather spaced-out huddle; whispering a suggestion before letting them go. “Nice call, George!” Ringo said. “That work for you lads?” “I’m up for it!” Lennon said. “Yea, that’ll do fine,” Paul agreed. “Aright lads, let’s make a good first impression,” John said. “One, two, three, four.”