Life, Death, and Ponies

by thunderclap

Magic and Music

It had been nearly a week since you and Fluttershy had talked in the Everfree. You were still wondering what had compelled you to say what you did. Living in Ponyville was changing you. Some changes were obvious; the fact that you were happy was one of them. But others were more subtle. You were starting to become more open with your friends. It was a strange feeling to you.

You had just finished your work for the day and decided to go study with Twilight. She was the only friend you had that you could talk to about magic. Sometimes she seemed to be more passionate about the subject than you. Sometimes you didn’t talk about magic and just focused on books or something. The two of you had a lot in common just like Celestia had said you would. You knocked on the door of the library and were surprised to find Twilight on the other side.

“Hey Twilight, where’s Spike?”

“He’s helping Rarity with a dress order.” Twilight replied, letting you in.

“Again? At this point it’s pretty obvious to everypony how he feels about her. Hay, I’ve even seem him wear an “I Heart Rarity” t-shirt. Why doesn’t Rarity just do something about it?”

“I’ve asked her the same thing before. She says it’s just a harmless first crush and she doesn’t want to hurt him. She thinks he’ll grow out of it soon enough.”

“I guess it’s none of my business.” You said with a shrug. “So, have you been studying anything interesting lately?”

“Not really, I was just about to find something in my books. If you’d like to help that would be fine.”

The two of you started to flip through several books. Every now and then one of you would suggest a spell or just talk a little. This continued for a while until you pulled out the two books that the princesses gave you.

“Do you have everything in that bag, or does it just seem like it?”

“In a way I kind of do,” you said, not taking your eyes away from the book you were looking through. “I got so used to moving around constantly that I just started carrying everything I own with me at all times.”

“Oh, I’m sorry.”

“About what?”

“Nothing, I guess I thought I hit a nerve.”

“Nah, you girls already know that I used to move a lot. Talking about it isn’t that big of a deal anymore.”

“Well then, can I ask you something?”

“Go right ahead.”

“If you carry your stuff around because you moved around a lot, then why do you still do it?”

“I haven’t thought about that.” You said, closing your book. “I think it’s just force of habit at this point. If I did unpack it, it would feel weird.”

“I think I understand. We all have our odd habits.”

“What about you? Do you have any odd habits?”

“Will you promise not to laugh?”

“Twilight, I don’t think you have to worry about me laughing at whatever it is that you do.”

“Fine, sometimes… I take out some of my old toys from when I was a foal, fix them up and play with them a little.” You suddenly burst out laughing. Twilight started to give you a nasty look with a blush on her face.

“You promised not to laugh.” Was all she managed to say to you.

“No, I said I don’t think you have to worry. But I was wrong. I’m sorry Twilight, but you have to admit, that is a little funny.”

“Maybe to you, but to me it’s absolutely horrible.”

“Why? It’s not like I plan on telling anypony about that. If it makes you feel any better I carry around old toys from when I was a kid in my bag.”

“You do, why do you do that?”

“They’re just full of good memories. They remind me of how things were before… anyway I think I know a good spell. It’s supposed to be a long distance teleportation spell.”

“That sounds interesting, is it difficult?”

“From what I can tell it’s definitely doable, but it would take some finesse to pull off.”

“Hmm, are you sure you want to go through with it?”

“Twilight, when have I ever not wanted to try a new and difficult spell?”

“Just thought I’d ask,” she said with a chuckle. “Still, maybe I should try it out first.”

“Why do you get to go first?”

“I have more experience with the traditional teleportation spell, not to mention magic in general,” Twilight stated, making a fairly convincing argument. “Besides, you already got to do the time acceleration spell so it’s my turn to try the new spell.”

“Fine, do whatever you want.”

You gave the book to Twilight and her face took on a look of determination. She was silent for some time, her eyes scanning the pages. Then, she put the book down and readied herself for the spell. Her horn started to glow and a gust of wind picked up in the library, causing a few loose papers to sail around the library. The glow around Twilight’s horn intensified and sparks arced across the room. Then, the two of you were swallowed up in an orb of light and your entire body felt like it was being stretched. When the light died down you were standing at the front gate of Canterlot. You turned over to Twilight just in time to see her fall over. You caught her in your hooves before she hit the ground and gave her a quick smile.

“Maybe it was a good idea to let you go first. If I had fallen I don’t think you’d be able to catch me.”

“I could, if I used my magic to do it.”

“Oh yeah, I didn’t think about that.”

“How could you forget about that? You have almost as much magical ability as me.”

“I’m used to doing things without magic back at the orchard. Umm, are you ok to stand up yet?” You asked slowly, starting to realize just how close Twilight was to you.

“Yes… I should be fine, thanks.” She said, pulling herself away from your hooves.

You looked around for a few moments and realized something. “Uhh Twilight, I think you forgot to bring the book along with us.”

“Oh, that shouldn’t be a problem. I can just use the spell again to take us back.”

“I don’t think so. Using it once almost made you collapse. And I don’t want to find out what happens if you do it twice.”

“You’d probably try it.” Twilight reasoned.

“That’s beside the point.”

“You’re going to get hurt if you push yourself like that.” She said, laughing.

“So will you if you try to emulate my stupidity. Anyway, it looks like we’re stuck here a while until you’re ready to use the spell again.”

“Fine, I don’t think I’m going to convince you to let me use the spell again. So, where do you want to go?”

“I can think of a good place.” You said, a wicked grin spreading on your face.

The two of you entered into the gates of Canterlot and the neat layout city spread out in front of you. You silently prayed that none of the ponies would bother you, and for the most part that seemed to be happening. The two of you entered the donut shop and Donut Joe smiled as you did.

“If it isn’t one my favorite customers, oh and Twilight you’re here too.”

“Hey Donut Joe, we just happened to be in town and we wanted to get some of your awesome donuts.”

“No problem. Did you want the usual?”

“That’d be great, thanks. Twilight did you want anything to drink?”

“A cup of coffee would be nice.”

Joe got the donuts and drinks and placed them on the counter. You paid for everything and were about to walk out when Joe called out to you, “Have a nice date you two.”

You blushed and looked at Twilight, her face a mirror of your own. “Uh, Joe, this isn’t a date,” you explained, “We’re just friends.”

“Is that right? Sorry, for the mistake."

You walked out of the shop and found a place to sit down. You pulled out one of the glazed donuts and let out a sigh.

“I can’t believe Joe thought we were on a date.” Twilight said with a nervous laugh.

“I guess it makes sense.” You said between bites. “We’re alone in a nice setting. Under these conditions anypony, even are friends might think this was a date.”

“You make a good point.” Twilight replied, looking around. “Huh, I spent almost all my life here and never noticed how pretty everything was.”

“You did spend most of your time studying,” you reasoned.

“Didn’t you do pretty much the same thing?”

“True, but Celestia forced me to go out and Flarewing forced me to socialize so I noticed the look of the city more.”

“What did you do before them?”

“I kind of just studied, read, and distracted myself the best that I could.”

“So you did exactly the same thing that I did.” Twilight chuckled.

“Yeah, but I had a better reason. I moved around so much that I never had a chance to make friends.”

“No, you have a better excuse. We both had the same problem, the only difference between us is that I stayed in one place and you moved a lot.”

“There are more differences between us than you know.”

“Like what?”

“Well… uh,”

“Blackstar? Is that you?” Called out a female voice, distracting you and Twilight.

You cocked your head to see where the noise had come. When you did, two familiar mares were standing there. You had met them once or twice during your time in Canterlot, and were students of the magic academy. One was a light blue with a matching mane and green eyes. The other was white with a red mane and dark red eyes. You looked back at Twilight who seemed somewhat upset for some reason. You didn’t have time to think about it too much because the mares walked up to your table.

“Wow, it is you Blackstar. What are you doing here? We heard that you moved somewhere else.” The blue mare said.

“Hey girls, it’s been a while hasn’t it? You’re right though, I did move.”

“Then what are you doing here?”

“Twilight and I were trying out this long distance teleportation spell, but it took more energy than we thought, so we’re stuck here for a while until we can use the spell again.”

“Wait, you’re Twilight, as in, Twilight Sparkle? We’ve heard so much about you!”

“Oh, thanks, I didn’t realize that I had fans.” Twilight said, taken aback.

“Of course you do. You’re one of the Elements of Harmony. You and the other elements have saved Equestria twice already. I can’t believe the two of you are dating!” She squealed. “A lot of the girls back at the academy have made stories pairing the two of you together. They’ll be so excited to hear about this.”

“Yeah, but the Flutterstar girls are gonna be disappointed.” The white mare stated.

“Umm, girls,” Twilight said, “Blackstar and I are just friends.”

“Oh my gosh; I’m so sorry. This looked like a date.”

“It’s fine, no harm done.” You said, rubbing the back of your head with a hoof.

“We heard that there’s this travelling performer set up in the park. We were gonna check it out” The white mare said. “If you two are interested, you could come with us.”

“That sounds pretty interesting.” Twilight said. “What do you think, Blackstar?”

“Sure, it’s been a long time since I watched a live performance.”

You started to follow the two mares for a while, doing your best not to stare at their unmentionable areas. You decided to focus on the city to help calm you down. The sun was just starting to go down and streetlights were turning on as you walked. You had seen the city at night before but it still impressed you. The streetlights cast shadows that gave the city a mysterious feeling. Contradicting the almost fairytale vibe that Canterlot normally had.

Eventually you made it to the park and saw a crowd waiting for something to happen. The park was fairly large with many exotic trees and plants. It even had a small lake. All of the ponies seemed to be crowding around a small caravan of some sorts.

“Something about this seems familiar.” Twilight said, stroking her chin. Before you had a chance to ask her what she meant the caravan opened up into a stage and a blue unicorn mare with a silver mane and the most ridiculous looking wizard outfit you had ever seen.

“Greetings citizens of Canterlot, I the Great and Powerful Trixie will amaze you with feats that no other pony could ever hope to accomplish.”

“Ugh, I knew that caravan looked familiar. I can’t believe I’d run into Trixie again.”

“Maybe she’s changed from the last time you saw her.” You offered.

“Did you hear that introduction? She’s as big of a showoff as ever.”

“Sometimes performing means selling yourself,” you explained. “She wouldn’t draw much of a crowd if she just said “I’m Trixie and I’m going to do some magic now.””

“Maybe you’re right. After what happened back in Ponyville there’s no way she could be the same.”

After some more fanfare Trixie called for a volunteer to join her on stage. A student from the magic academy walked on with an excited look on her face. Trixie asked her to perform the most amazing thing she could think of. The student lit up her horn and an impressive image in the sky above the park. It was a nice little spell but Trixie used her magic to ruin the image and laughed at her volunteer.

“Oh please, that’s nothing. Isn’t there anypony among you so called “gifted” unicorns that can do something that isn’t so pathetic?”

“Well, looks like she’s exactly the same.” Twilight growled.

“Excuse me for a moment Twilight, there’s something I have to do.” You replied, walking toward the stage.

“Where are you going?”

“I need to go put on a show.” You said with a wink. Twilight’s face seemed to light up and nodded as you disappeared in a flash of light.

“Who are you?” Trixie asked trying to keep her composure as you suddenly appeared on stage.

“I’m nopony special. I just wanted to make a complaint about your show.” You said with the cheekiest of grins
.

“What do you want to complain about?” Trixie replied, getting agitated.

“Nothing much, I just wanted to say that the point of performing is to entertain an audience, not to humiliate or anger them.”

“Do you think you can do any better?”

“Trixie, it wouldn’t take much to outperform you.”

“Prove it then, try to do something, and I guarantee that I can do it better than you.”

“Alright, but I’d hate to outshine you at your own show.” You said pulling out your violin and tuning it a little. You started to play a melody on your violin and got ready to sing.

You’ll burn my flag

You’ll crash my car

You’ll kill my cat

You’ll break my balls

You’ll watch my cities fall

But not tonight

You’re the devil’s own

You’ll cheat and lie

And you won’t stop until

You’ve stole the glimmer from my eye

But not tonight

‘Cause I won’t let you

I know you want to

But not with me

It’s all so clear to see

You can try to destroy me but not tonight

‘Cause I won’t let you through

You can fight if you like some other time

You’ll find I’m out of reach

Your words can’t touch me I’m out tonight

My heart’s divided

Yes surrender would be nice

To just lay down

My sword and shield

By the flowers

But I know that you lie

In wait tonight

But I won’t let you

I know you want to

But not with me

It’s all so clear to see

You can try to destroy me but not tonight

‘Cause I won’t let you through

You can fight if you like

You can scale any wall

You’ll discover that of anything at all

Your words can’t hurt me

Your words can’t touch me

Your words can’t hurt me

I’m out tonight

The crowd stomped their approval as you finished the song. You smiled back at them and felt the sweat trickling down your face. You looked back at Trixie and almost wanted to laugh in her face. Instead, you placed the violin in front of her feet.

“What do you want me to do with this?”

“Didn’t you say you could beat me at anything?”

“Well… I… I can… but.”

“So pick up the violin and play it.”

“Fine,” Trixie huffed.

She picked up the violin and bow, and looked extremely uncomfortable as she did. She kept readjusting it but couldn’t seem to figure out where to place it. When she did settle on a position the noises that came out of the instrument went to a level beyond ear shattering. It was like something straight of Hell, only much worse. Eventually she did stop and everypony in the audience started laughing. Trixie looked mortified for a few moments, but that was soon replaced with rage.

“You know what. Buck this stupid violin!”

And with that Trixie threw your violin to the ground with a look of sadistic pleasure etched on her face.

Comments

[-Brutus]

Blackstar gonna explode, DUCK EVERYPONY. DUCK.

[Bookmaster]

Blackstar.......may I have permission to incinerate her? Also flutterstar so they have that in equestria too.

[Vpirate25]

Oh
Hell
No.

Bitches gonna die.

[Jagged Fox]

“Of course you do. You’re one of the Elements of Harmony. You and the other elements have saved Equestria twice already. I can’t believe the two of you are dating!” She squealed. “A lot of the girls back at the academy have made stories pairing the two of you together. They’ll be so excited to hear about this.”
“Yeah, but the Flutterstar girls are gonna be disappointed.” The white mare stated.

.....