//------------------------------// // Wait, You Can Play... // Story: Music Makes The Heart Grow Fonder // by Yzanburg //------------------------------// Chapter 26 When the morning finally arrived the three of us took the earliest train back to Ponyville. Celestia met us just outside the castle doors and bid us a safe trip back. Truth be told this meeting could have went a lot worse than it did. I mean, I could have been squished by some giant black shadow, right? While we were relaxing on the train home I took the time to explain the situation to both Fluttershy and Twilight. Fluttershy was pretty upset by the fact that we had forgotten and almost immediately gave up on the festival. It took both Twilight and myself a little while and quite a bit of persuasion before Fluttershy cheered up and was determined enough to help work on a couple more songs when we got home. It took me a moment to realize that although we could still make decent music, we were lacking in diversity when it came to our sound. All we had were vocals and some guitar. Now even if we blew the judges away, I don't think we'd win with that alone. "Well... we could hold auditions, maybe?" Fluttershy said, looking up at me hopefully. "I bet there's somepony in town that could help us out. If you want to that is..." "Hey, yeah! That could work great!" I said as I bent down and scooped Fluttershy up in a big hug. When we finally got home, Twilight bid us a good evening and went home to see Spike and the library. As soon as everything was unpacked and put away I got to work on writing up some flyers to put up around town. They were your typical add flyers with the tear away pieces hanging at the bottom of the page. They listed a few specifications, such as being able to play an instrument, and at least be able to sing a little. Good social skills was a must, and a friendly smile never hurt any one. Now it was getting dark out by the time I finished up enough flyers to hang up all over town so I left the stack by the front door, said goodnight to Fluttershy and went to bed. Early in the morning, the sun just peaking over the distant mountains of Canterlot, I woke up and got to work. Fluttershy wasn't awake just yet so I just grabbed some toast and headed out, flyers in hand with some tape in the other. I ran all over town, leaving no street lamp empty and no wall vacant. I even stopped by at 'Strings 'n Things' and stuck a flyer on their post board. With the flyers all hung up in town I headed back home. It was almost noon now and Fluttershy was in the kitchen making something delicious, I could tell by the smell. "Whatcha making there Fluttershy?" I said as I hung my jacket up on the coat rack and stepped inside. "Oh, hey David. I'm just making a grilled cheese sandwich, would you like on as well?" She smiled as I walked into the kitchen and took a seat at the table. "I'd love one, thanks." I said with a smile. It wasn't long before each of us had a steaming sandwich in front of us. With a quick thank you to the chef I dug in with a smile. For just a plain grilled cheese sandwich, it was pretty bloody amazing. When we were finished, I explained to Fluttershy what exactly was going on with the auditions and what not. In three days we should have people lined up outside our door, eager to try out for our band. She smiled sweetly at me and for the rest of the night we worked together to get a semblance of a song or two down for the festival. Even if we didn't have our third member yet, we could still have some songs ready. The next few days were spent working on songs and playing board games late into the night until finally, the day of the auditions arrived. With all the patience of a child on Christmas morning, I woke Fluttershy up and told her to get ready, There should be people outside by now waiting to try out. She gave me a smile that said 'You really need to calm down, David.' before she crawled out of bed and brushed her mane and teeth. With my partner in crime ready to go, we walked down stairs and opened the front door to greet... "Four ponies?" I whispered into Fluttershy's ear as she looked at me, perplexed. She just shrugged and escorted the first pony in, and then the second. And third, and finally the forth. To say I was disappointed with the turn out would be an understatement. Hopefully one of these candidates would be good. Half an hour and many ear splitting noises later, I walked four ponies out the door, saying that we'd call them once we've made a decision. Granted I already made one. They were all horrible. I think Fluttershy had the same Idea as I watched her massage her temples before walking over to me by the door. "What are we going to do now?" She asked as she leaned on my leg for support. I pu my hand on her shoulder and looked down with a sad smile on my face "I guess we just do the show, just the tw-" A set of loud knocks cut me off before I could finish my statement. "Who the hell..." When I opened up the door, all I could see was a keyboard floating in a purple aura. It started floating into the house, followed by a very happy looking purple unicorn. Fluttershy and I exchanged confused glances before following Twilight into the living room. "Uh... hey Twilight, what are you doing here?" I asked as we all took a seat in the room. I was more than a little confused and just a bit nervous. "Well isn't it obvious?" She said, gesturing to the keyboard that she set up across from us. "I'm here to audition for the band, of course!" She smiled with pride at this, while Fluttershy shared another look before letting Twilight play. "Um, okay sure. Show us what you've got then." I said while trying to put as much positivity behind my words as possible. "Okay, just gimme a second here to set up." We waited patiently as Twilight fiddled with her keyboard, all the while shifting uncomfortably on the couch. When she was finally ready we let her begin, not really expecting something amazing. I think my jaw hit the floor when she started playing. I haven't heard keyboard played like that in, well, ever really. It was just pure bliss to listen to. That's the only way I can describe it. When she finally finished, there was a long silence as Fluttershy and I just stared at Twilight. "Oh... was it really that bad?" Twilight said, almost on the verge of tears. She started packing up her things and head towards the door before I finally composed my self enough to speak. "Whoa whoa whoa... wait, you can play?!" I said, no amount of shock hidden in my voice. "You're in!"