//------------------------------// // Chapter 5 // Story: Moonlight Promenade // by Valorousspectre //------------------------------// Septimus took great pleasure at flipping off his roommate's teary girlfriend that night before going to bed. Apparently, her less than loyal habits had come to light. About time, was all Septimus could think, before going to bed. For some reason, he was in a light hearted mood. He slept well, and his dreams were pleasant. Again, however, he couldn't remember them as he woke up. He was a little bothered as he got up to have breakfast, shirt forgotten again. His roommates were already up and at the table, and one of them looked at him sourly. "Dude, do you even own a shirt?" Septimus chuckled and shrugged. "Course I do." "Are you capable of wearing it before nine in the morning?" He asked again, shoveling a mouthful of cereal into his mouth. Septimus smirked smugly. "What, jealous?" He teased, "You should stick to regular colours Biz, green doesn't suit you." With that, he left, ignoring the looks he got on the street as he stepped out half naked. Today, he was wearing a set of blue denim jeans and his converse shoes, ready to meet the day... Mostly. His lack of torso coverings got him a lot of looks. Some of them appraising, others not so much. Some of the looks he got from the 'nobles' of the city were positively venomous. But that's okay, their daughters seemed a bit more interested. One gray mare with two tone black and green hair and bright green eyes winked at him and waved, magical sparkles around her fingertips betraying her magical nature. He smiled and waved back. Her mother didn't seem to be terribly impressed, and glared at Septimus, who shrugged and smirked at her. The unicorn mare giggled behind a hand and shrugged back to him. Septimus winked again before turning away and walking into a clothes store, where he bought himself a new shirt. Why? Because he could, and he was feeling good about today. What other reason does one need? With that out of the way, he waltzed down the streets of Canterlot, purchasing a sweet corn pie at a small bakery to consume for breakfast before wandering over to his workplace. He didn't usually bother to arrive early. Most times, his boss didn't even arrive till fifteen minutes after he did. But today, he was feeling pretty good, so he wandered over anyway. Taking the spare key out of his wallet, he let himself in. One perk of being a sound technician, a key to where he worked. As he made his way in, he waved to the harried looking bartender. She was always in early, mostly stocktaking, financing and deciding the specials. She made a quick, distracted wave back as she looked at her clipboard, her hair in a disarray. He heard the chef, or the cook really, swear loudly in the kitchen. He never did that when there were customers in the club. Nah, he'd get fired if he did. Normally, Septimus'd wait until the musician for that quarter had their equipment there to set up. But, considering that most of the musicians set up in a similar way, he decided to instead prep for pretty much instant connection. He took his time. He actually wasn't due in for another half hour anyway. And, by that mark, his boss would be in in about forty-five minutes. The set up didn't take long. It was ready in no time at all. Left with nothing else to do, he sat down in what was once a mess of wires (Since the previous tech obviously had no idea what in samhain he was doing) and leaned against the wall with a sigh. The downtime always made him a bit more depressed. His mind, for some reason, always rounded back to the poorer parts of his life. "Music? You can't make money off of music Septimus! Why not law or science? You're a smart boy." "What d'you mean you can't make money? Look at the symphonic wind ensemble, or the Canterlot Quartet, or DJPON-3. Sapphire Shores. You can make heaps of money in music mother! "Them ponies just got lucky Sep. Trust your old man, music is a hella hard industry to get into." "Dad, seriously? Stop trying to talk 'cool', it doesn't work. And so what, I'll work hard! You'll see, by the time I'm thirty, I'll be rolling in money, one way or another." "Only if you plan on robbing a bank, if you're going to study music at university, let alone that contemporary electronic stuff." "Ugh, it's Dubstep mother, and thanks for the vote of confidence. It's not just majoring in techno you know. Guitars and modern day instruments are in the syllabus too!" "Oh good, you can busk on a street corner then boy. Use your damned head, you're better off studying literature." "The author of Daring Do made a lot of money too." "Confound it boy! If you're that desperate to throw your life away fine! But don't come crying back to me when you've got nowhere left to go and no possessions or friends left!" What his father had said that day after school had been said in haste and frustrated anger, and Septimus had long since forgiven him for it. That said, he'd never forgotten it. It replayed in his head all the time. It went along with the times his parents hadn't supported his decisions in life. he knew they were trying to help him, but it didn't make things any easier. He felt his good mood dwindling as his rebellious mind replayed his worst memories over and over again in his mind before... "Septimus!" He jolted out of his reverie and looked up. His boss stood over him. A gangly stallion with a too small face and a ridiculous pension for wearing clothes two sizes too large and a belt two spots too tight around his waist. "Yes sir?" Septimus asked innocently. "Don't you 'yes sir' me! What is this!? Why have you started setting up! The entertainment's not even here yet!" Septimus shrugged and looked at his layout. "Well, most of the musicians we hire work on a standard base setup," He explained, "Speakers on either side, equipment in the middle, or band in some cases. If I set the cables out like this before the show starts, they can plug their equipment up in a jiffy, which makes for faster setups and thus more time to play, which means more music to lure in customers." His boss glared at him with smoldering eyes. "And I suppose you arrived early to do this!?" He snapped. Septimus nodded. "Well, yeah. Made it easier." "I hope you're not expecting to be paid extra for this, because there's no way in Celestia, Luna, or Sparkle's name I'm paying you more for turning up early to do a five minute job! Hurry up and find my damn musicians!" Septimus sighed as the angry stallion left. He was always looking for reason to yell, snap or snarl at him. With a grunt, he stood up and dusted himself, and his new shirt, off as he walked towards the doorway. It wasn't usually his job to find the late coming musicians. This time, apparently, it was. He opened the door, only to be bowled over by a gray mare. She yelped, and so did he, as he staggered back, catching her in his arms. "Woah, careful there," He grunted. She took a moment before looking up and smiling. It was the gray mare from before, who had winked at him. "Oh, heya there cutie~" She teased, "Nice to meet you again. I didn't get your name last I saw you." "Nor I you," he replied, "But I guess you'll get it soon. You the musician?" She smirked and nodded. "Damn right, I'm here to rock the whole place down. Why?" Septimus shrugged and offered her the stage with a sweep of his hand, "I'll be your tech. Till just after lunch anyhow. Till then-" "SEPTIMUS!" Septimus sighed and turned to face his red faced employer. "Yes sir?" "I need you to work late! Your replacement isn't coming in, she's sick!" The angry looking stallion glared at Septimus challengingly. "That's not going to be a problem, is it boy?" Septimus sighed and shook his head, his previous good mood now rapidly depleting. "No sir, it won't. No problem." "Good! Now hurry up. Xion's got to be ready to play in fifteen minutes!" Septimus nodded as his boss stalked away, angry as usual. He looked back to the mare that was now his charge. "So..." He said with a rueful smile, "Xion?" "Septimus?" She replied with a giggle. He nodded and she smiled. "I'll bring my stuff in then. You wanna help?" "Sure thing," came his reply, rolling his shoulders experimentally, "Going to have to, if we're going to get you up and running in fifteen minutes." The next ten minutes were spent almost feverishly moving speakers and a full, if small, turntable into the place, then hooking them up properly, piecing all the cables and things together. They had to get ready, he had to keep moving. Fifteen wasn't a lot of time in and of itself, but having to piece an entire set together in that time? That was damn near suicide. If he hadn't set together all the wires before Xion had arrived, he never would have made it. If anything, it was the only thing that got him in on time. Even then, he'd only just made it before his boss came out and had a go at him for something or other that wasn't his fault. As usual. There wasn't much time to chat to Xion. No, he had to get everything ready, then he had to oversee everything to make sure it was working once the place opened. He still wasn't sure what to call this place. He wasn't sure if it was a bar, a club, or something else entirely. Hell, he couldn't even remember the owner's name. Not that that ever bothered him. He didn't like the stallion anyway. Never had. The day passed relatively quickly. Xion's set ended, and she slipped Septimus her cell number, whispering for him to call her, and leaving a little kiss on his cheek. He helped her pack up her equipment and started setting up for the next one. This time, it was a band, who seemed insistent to bully Septimus, insisting he was messing up their setup, and cramping their style. It was then that they arrived. They walked into the establishment with all the authority and power that anyone would expect from two powerful looking stallions in blue metal armour with slim, eastern style swords at their hips. They didn't wait to bother anyone else, striding through the place, heading straight for the distressed looking technician. "Septimus?" one of them asked, a grizzled looking stallion with a scar down his left eye and cheek. Septimus looked up and gulped. The band members looked at him too. "Yes?" Septimus asked nervously. The guard nodded. "You have to come with us. Immediately." "Hey now, hang on there!" The leader of the band, the vocalist, said irritably, "This kid's settin' up our bloody sound, so he can bloody well stay till he gets us up and running!" The two guards turned their terrifying gaze upon the stallion. The older one spoke again. "Boy," He said coldly, "Her Ladyship herself has called for this stallion by name. By her authority, I am authorised to capture and hold you for an indeterminate amount of time for failure to comply with the demands of her Majesty Princess Luna's guard." He leaned down, one gauntleted hand resting on the hilt of his sheathed sword. "Now if you don't shut your mouth right now, I'll arrest you, your band members, and your bloody representative, you got that?" The stallion, who had turned pale by now, nodded quickly. The scarred guard nodded with a humph and gestured for Septimus to follow. Without much else left to do, Septimus left his prep area to follow the guard. They got maybe halfway through the place when, inevitably, Septimus' employer seemed to just appear out of nowhere. "Septimus! What are you doing!? You've got work to do boy!" The guards, whom he'd completely ignored, once more stepped in front of the stammering Septimus. "He's with us, sir," The younger guard stated officially, "We would kindly request you remove yourself from our path." By now, a small crowd had formed around the four stallions, and everything had gone silent. Sep's employer glared at the guard. "On whose authority do you dare to remove my personnel before their shift is over?" He demanded, the pompous fool not even giving the guard the proper respect that went with his position. The young gaurd's jaw tensed and a hand fell to his sword's hilt. "Sir," He said coldly, "Her Majesty Princess Luna has requested this stallion by name. That makes him perhaps the fourth or fifth most important pony in Equestria at this point in time. So were I you, sir," He leaned down, his pair of leathery wings slowly extending, the threatening looking spine on the top finger flexing with the muscles of the guard's arms and wings as he took a more aggressive stance, his hand now clutching the hilt of his weapon, "I would remove yourself from his path, before I am forced to remove you myself." Septimus gulped and shrugged helplessly at his employer as the stallion paled and, very quickly, stammered out an apology and stumbled out of the way. Apparently, it was useful to keep a sword on your hip and a cold demeanor. The trio walked out, crowd watching. When they stepped into the light of the noonday sun (Roughly) The guards sighed and rolled their shoulders. The older one looked at the younger with a grin. "Nicely done son. You're starting to get the hang of this." "Thanks sir," the younger guard replied with a sheepish smile before the pair turned to the seriously confused Septimus. "Woah, hold on," Sep said quickly, holding up his hands, then pointing with both back to the door of the building they'd just left, "What the heck was that then?" The pair of guards looked at each other, shrugged, then back to Septimus. "Good old fashioned hot air son," The elder said with a smile, "We got a chariot waiting for you in the alley over yonder. Can't leave it out in the open. Scares ponies it does. Come on, She wants you there ASAP." "Luna?" He asked incredulously, "She really sent you?" "Course," The scarred guard replied with a quizzical look, "Who'd you expect? Come on." The pair of armored stallions set off, leaving Septimus to follow helplessly. But when they reached the alley... "Woah guys... What the hell is that!?" The chariot, as they'd called it, was more like a carriage, and hooked up to it? "What's the matter kid? Never seen a giant spider before?"