Sweet Music

by SparklingVynegar

After the rehearsal

Tired. Hungry. Thirsty. Angry. Sweat-soaked.

These are all words that could describe Beauty Brass as she walked down the streets of Ponyville, a red plastic jug slung around her middle, and her brown mane matted against her blue coat with perspiration. She had spent all day doing something which she disliked, no, right now she hated. Marching Band rehearsal.

It had seemed like such a good idea at the time. A large group of 100 plus ponies, all music enthusiasts like herself, participating in not only a symphony, but a team sport. To inspire and bring cheer to audiences who, although not there for the band itself, would still listen in awe as the group of ponies used their own movements to give a visual representation of the beautiful music that flowed forth from their instruments in sync. And, most of all, she would be making new friends, to laugh and talk and have fun with during the rehearsal. She thought that it was going to be one of the greatest experiences of her life.

She had been wrong.

In all fairness, not everything about the Ponyville Community Marching Band was that bad. She had made some friends, they had their moments to talk and to laugh, but not in the way that Beauty Brass had originally hoped. The constant, endless repetition of the same thing over and over again was enough to drive her insane, and although she had learned the music in a rather quick period of time, even having it memorized before most of the other ponies, the actual movements (or "drill" as it was referred to) was being learned at an incredibly slow pace. Despite having to work at nearly twelve hours a day (no, really! 8:30am to 8:30pm), they only learned an average of five sets a day.

Then there were the directors. In all her life Beauty had never met a more perfectionist group of individuals. They demanded that everypony do everything in a certain fashion, and discontinued all talking, unless it was one of the unfrequent, brief water-breaks. Beauty looked back and smiled at the jug that she had slung over her back, it was definitely one of the closest friends that she had made during her time in the band.

But today might have been the worst day so far. Saber, one of the guard instructors, who had probably never even touched an instrument in her life, much less marched with one, had decided to tell the entire band how much time they were wasting and how poorly they were performing.

Beauty Brass clenched her teeth and scowled slightly at the very thought of that mare. Why does she have to be such a bitch all the time!? (Incidentally her cursing had defiantly risen dramatically due to all the stress of band life, though she usually put herself above such vulgar behavior.) Even when it wasn't the band and just the color guard, Beauty still couldn't stand the sound of Saber yelling at the top of her lungs like she was better than them. The other two guard instructors, Flag Twirler and Rifleman, never yelled half as much as Saber. In fact, the two hardly caused any problems at all. The stallions were generally very kind toward the band members (although, according to Quantum Thumb, Beauty's shadow-partner, this was because the two "float around makin' noises").

"Dammit! Why in Equestria does that ignorant, inconsiderate mare have to open up her mouth every time she finds the slightest thing wrong! Rrrrrrggg! I swear to Celestia that mare is going to make me die of high blood pressure!" she cried out to nopony in-particular (she had also begun talking to herself a lot more often, since it was at least a listener who agreed with her).

Beauty sighed, "There's no way that this kind of anger is healthy. I jus-... I need a place to relax." Looking up at a nearby street sign, she found herself at the corner of Colonel Klopp St. and Firm Stance Dr. "Hmm, perhaps that spot would be worth visiting." She turned off in a different direction and headed toward the outskirts of Ponyville.

Beauty Brass arrived at her destination a few minutes later. A large hillside where no trees grew, no bugs crawled, and a squirrel hardly set foot. Just a large slope of soft, green grass. Despite the late hours at which her practice went till, the long summer days meant that Celestia had yet to lower her great light, which now sat just above the horizon. Bits of the sky and the clouds had started turning the slightest hint of red.

Beauty sighed as she lowered her water jug to the ground, a small smile on her face as she beheld her beloved sanctuary. This was not the first time, and, Beauty strongly believed, not the last time she had visited this spot. She slowly trotted to the centre of the field and lay herself down onto the grass, slowly, as she stared up at the sky. She breathed steadily and deeply as she gazed up at the clouds, trying as hard as she could to clear her mind of all troubles.

Now, being a musician, Beauty often found herself transferring her thoughts and her feelings into music, today was no different. As she stared at the sky, she slowly began closing her eyes and parting her lips, and she began to sing. She, did not however sing of hatred. No, she would never taint music with such a dark emotion; no great symphonies were written of hatred. The words that came from her lips as she sang were ones of simple content in a hectic world. The music flowed and made Beauty feel safe, as if a great force had pushed all the troubles, all that had happened and all that would happen, away from her, so that now she could enjoy the peace and calm that was granted to her, if only for a short time.

As the song ended, it gave hope. Hope that a new day would come, and that the light would be seen at the end of a dark tunnel, that someday the world around her would seem right. A single, small tear came to Beauty's eye, she wished with all her heart that this would be true, that someday, someday soon, her life could find some sort of peace, some harmony, so she could simply relax and enjoy the world around her.

Her eyes drifted open and she carefully lifted her back off of the grass so that she sat an her haunches gazing at the horizon. The sun had lowered slightly, and the first parts of it were beginning to be obscured by the rolling hills of the countryside.

A small bit of color at the corner of her eye caught her attention. Slowly turning her head, she discovered its source. There, not twenty feet from her, stood a short, yellow pegasus mare, with a long pink main that drifted down over her shoulder and came to a single point, staring back at her with a pair of lovely turquoise eyes.

Beauty was momentarily startled. How could anyone else know of this place? It was so far out of the village centre that she figured nopony would ever show up, and every time she had visited before, nopony had. Then again, it's not as if the place was sealed off to the outside, nor did it belong personally to Beauty, so she had no right to be telling anyone to leave. However, that certainly did not mean that she had to talk to this pony, so Beauty went back to staring at the sunset, hoping that all her fears would melt away.

"U-um, H-hello," the other pony spoke, her voice barely audible.

"Hi," Beauty responded without moving her head, her cold voice and slanted brow containing a not unnoticable amount of her anger.

The yellow mare winced from Beauty's verbal stab and hid her face behind her pink mane.

"O-oh, I-I'm sorry. D-did I do something wrong?" she asked.
"As a matter of fact," Beauty answered, this time slightly angrier, "you interrupted the time that I had planned to spend completely alone. You waltz your way in here, not caring in the slightest what I might be doing and bother me with your pressence whilst I attempt to relax. That is what you did wrong!" Beauty did not raise her voice, but she certainly wasn't holding anything back.
Turning her head, Beauty looked at the pegasus who, by now, was staring down at her hooves, her mane completely covering her face, and muttering incomprehensible sounds of apology. The blue mare's face instantly changed to one of sorrow and she regretted everything she had just said.

She sighed in dissapointment with herself, "I'm...so sorry, about that. It's just- I- I've had... well, there's certainly nothing I can say to justify that outburst. I assure you, you didn't deserve to hear a word of that." Beauty bowed her head to the other mare, "Most sincerest apologies."

"Oh, no. It's fine." The pegasus reassured her.

"But it is certainly not fine, Miss...?" Beauty waited for the yellow mare to give her name.
"F-f-fluttershy"

Beauty nodded, "Miss Fluttershy. For you have done nothing so far to cause me any harm. If you wish to stay here in the clearing, it is not up to me to say who is and is not allowed to do so."

"Oh, well, thank you," Fluttershy seated herself down next to Beauty Brass, far enough as to be polite, but close enough so her timid voice could be heard by the earth pony.

The two sat there next to each other in peaceful silence, staring at the horizon as Celestia slowly lowered her golden orb. Afraid that the silence would soon become awkward, Beauty Brass decided to speak up.

"So, what exactly brings you here, Miss Fluttershy?"

The yellow mare was apparently extremely jumpy, considering this simple question was enough for her to noticeably wince and hide behind her hair before realizing that it was Beauty Brass who proposed this question.

"O-oh, well, um...I usually just come here to relax after an extremely hard day with my animals."

"Animals?"

"Oh, yes." The pegasus smiled, "I spend nearly all day taking care of the forest creatures. Whether it's to feed them or nurse them to health or give them a place to rest there heads. I love taking care of them, I have ever since I first fell from the sky."

"Ummm..." Beauty was not quite sure that she had heard that last part right.

"Oh, sorry," the pegasus said embarrassed, her cheeks shaded a light pink, "that must have sounded so strange. When I was young, I used to live in Cloudsdale, but I fell once and tumbled all the way to the ground until I was saved by a rable of butterflies."

"Um, that's still a bit confusing, but I think I get the gist of it," Beauty responded.

"So um if you don't mind me asking, uh..."

"What is it?"

"What's your name?"

Beauty was confused. "My name is Beauty Brass. Why would I mind you asking that?"

"Oh no, that's not quite what I meant, I mean I guess that is what I said, so it's okay if you think that, but what I meant was- I mean, I-"

Beauty stared at the mare seated in the grass next to her. There was something about Fluttershy that was so...what was the word? Beauty thought about Fluttershy, her shy, stuttering speech, her long pink mane, and especially her eyes. Everything about Fluttershy was just...cute.

Beauty noticeably recoiled. Had she really just thought that, shouldn't she be...worried. It wasn't because she was a mare, that wasn't what concerned her. What more struck her as odd was she had known the mare next to her for all of...10 minutes, maybe.

"I-if you don't mind me asking, um, w-why are you here?"

Well, that was a quick shift in sentiment. Beauty immediately scowled at the very thought of exactly why she had come here: Saber.

"Believe me, Miss Fluttershy, telling you my reason for being here would probably ruin any chance of calm we might of had when we came here." Beauty responded, her voice not doing much to hide her rising fury.

Fluttershy physically flinched at the edge in the other mare's answer, "O-oh, alright, you don't have to talk about it if you don't want to."

"Yes, I would rather it remain that way."

"But, um, you know..." Fluttershy began.

"What?"

"I-it might be better for you to talk about. I know whenever I'm upset, talking to my friends, Rainbow Dash and Rarity, always helps me feel better."

Beauty harrumphed, "Maybe that works for you," she turned her head back to the horizon, "but I prefer to handle my problems on my own."

"You mean you just block out everypony and keep it all inside?" Fluttershy asked in what Beauty supposed was her quiet voice's attempt at an alarmed tone.

"Well, putting it that way makes it sound bad, but if that's how you prefer to look at it, then yes."

"But then how- I-I mean, but...doesn't it...hurt?"

Beauty was taken aback by this question, "Hurt? Of course it hurts. It's pain, Miss Fluttershy, emotional pain, hurt is all it does."

"But then, if it hurts, why wouldn't you tell somepony?"

"Because..." Beauty sighed, "Because it's my pain. My hurt. And other ponies don't need it. You're right, my problems hurt me so much that sometimes I can't take it, it makes me want to scream, to tell the entire world just how painful my problems are to me."

"Then why don't you?" Fluttershy asked.

"Because the last thing I want is for another pony to shoulder that pain with me."
Fluttershy fell to silence. The weight of Beauty's words hung in the air, cold and final. With one flap of her wings, Fluttershy lifted herself in to the air and landed so she lay with her hoofs mere centimeters from Beauty's and she looked at the blue mare face to face.

Fluttershy placed her hoof on Beauty Brass' and looked her in the eye. The contact caused a pink tinge to form at the base of Beauty's muzzle, and looking into those beautiful turquoise eyes didn't help.

"Tell me."

Beauty shifted her gaze to some random patch of grass, anything to keep her from losing herself in those eyes.

“Miss Fluttershy, I-”

“The ‘Miss’ isn’t really necessary, you can just call me ‘Fluttershy’. Um…I mean, if you want to…” The pegasus seemed to retreat a few inches behind the pink curtain of her mane.

Beauty cleared her throat, “Fluttershy,” it was strange for her to speak so casually to a mare she met moments ago, but time seemed to have stopped, considering the sun hadn’t moved at all in almost half an hour (at least Beauty thought that was how much time had past). “Fluttershy, although it may seem to you a good Idea for me to simply take out the stress of my day by talking to you, to me it sounds like all I’d be doing is complaining about petty nonsense to a complete strange-”

Beauty was interrupted by a hoof gently touching her cheek and moving her gaze back into those eyes. Fluttershy’s hoof did not push Beauty’s head, instead it was as if her touch simply made Beauty’s head turn of it’s own accord.

“Beauty Brass, tell me.”

Damn, for such a quiet, shy one this mare sure was persistent.

“Are you sure?” was all Beauty could think to ask.

Fluttershy simply nodded her head.

Beauty wondered how many times she had sighed so far. Whatever it was, it gained a talley. "Would you happen to know anyone in the Ponyville Community Marching Band, Fluttershy?"

“No,” Fluttershy shook her head, “I don’t think so.”

“Do you know anything about their practices, policies, practice times, et cetera?”

“I know they play in the Fall Harvest Parade each year."

Beauty sighed looking back up at the ever-setting sun, “Yeah, that’s about all anypony knows.

“Well anyway, If your question is what initiated a me to come here then the main answer would be a mare by the name of Saber, She is the guard instructor and is a complete and utter...she’s just annoying, and mean.” That was strange, she had had no trouble cursing to herself on the walk to the clearing, why did now seem difficult?

Beauty turned her gaze toward Fluttershy, who had been listening attentively, her eyes fixed on the blue mare. Could she be why Beauties rage had been softened?

Beauty began telling the excruciating conditions in which the band rehearsed (“Oh, my, twelve hours?”) and the painfully slow and repetitive ways of the instructors. Beauty described the terrible mare, Saber. She told of her horrible shouting, her perfectionism, her never ending ridicule of those that she was supposed to be teaching. Then, Beauty talked about how she had stopped the entire band in order to bark her insults at them, and all the horrible things that she did every single day.

By the time she was finished Beauty Brass was physically exhausted from the raw emotion that had flowed through her. She sat on the ground, her weight heavy on her front hooves, panting after an excruciatingly loud shout about Saber’s treatment of the Band.

She suddenly felt a hoof on her shoulder, causing her to slightly tense. She looked up the length of the appendage to see Fluttershy’s eyes, those beautiful turquoise pools, looking deep into Beauty’s own pink eyes with deep sorrow showing.

“I’m sorry,” Beauty replied, “I’m sure that sounded ridiculous to you. I really don’t like having to complain.”

“No, not at all,” Fluttershy reasured her, “Actually, it sounds awful..."

"But, that's not even the whole story," Beauty began, "you see, in the Band I am what's known as a 'shadow'. What this means is that I along with a partner, exchange places, after every drill. And then when it comes to shows, one performs during football games, that is me, and the other, my partner Quantum, performs at the actual competitions. This system is done because too many people sign up for the band, and they don't want anyone to feel left out, however..."

Beauty turned to look Fluttershy in the eye, "Imagine training for months in order to be a part of something, but then when the time finally comes, you're told to sit over on the sidelines and watch everyone else. To sit through every rehearsal, every competition just to see everyone, all your friends succeed and win awards and you just have to sit there and take it, never knowing the actual pride, because you did nothing to contribute. You watch them all succeed at the one thing you wanted and then- then-" Beauty was losing her composure, her eyes screwed shut and her body was shaking.

"Then they have the nerve to tell everyone how nobody is on the bench, and how everyone is included. It's...It's not..." Whatever restraint Beauty Brass had left disappeared, as tears fell from her face and her voice became a near scream, "It's just not fair!!"

Beauty collapsed on the ground with her head lying on her forelegs, sobbing loudly. Once again, she felt a hoof, this time on her chin, lifting her up. Beauty once again looked into those beautiful eyes. But just as her tear-streaked face was at the same level as Fluttershy's, the yellow mare threw her hooves around the other's neck and covered her with her wings in a warm hug.

"Shh...hey, hey...it's all okay" Fluttershy muttered into Beauty's ear.

Beauty pulled herself back so she stared directly into the wondrous turquoise pools she had been avoiding.

"Fluttershy, I...I..."

Without a second thought Beauty pressed her lips against Fluttershy's. She felt the yellow mare recoil at first, her heart immediatly sank, but almost as soon as it had, Beauty felt Fluttershy kiss back, and her heart was filled with infinite joy. And as the two sat there, wrapped in each other's forelegs, all of Beauty's troubles melted away. Everything that was, or would be didn't matter. What mattered was the beautiful mare in her hooves, whose soft lips pressed against her own as the sun finally finished it's journey across the horizon.

When the two finally broke, Fluttershy was gasping and out of breath, but Beauty Brass seemed perfectly even.

The two pulled each other closer in a tender embrace, and Beauty whispered two words into Fluttershy's ear.

"Thank you."

Fin~

Author's Note:

Yes, "rabble" is the collective noun for Butterflies.

So, anyway, this is my first attempt at a one-shot, which I should probably do more often, considering my other two fics haven't been worked on in like eight months.

I can't urge how much I need your guys' comments, whether to point out grammar, faulty plot, flaws, or just to say you like/didn't like the story.

If this story reaches 100 views, I'll make a second chapter, so you know, incentives.

Comments

[Seether00]

Band sounds stressful. Someone's been watching Drum-line.

[Blasn]

Hehe this sounds exactly like how Summer band was for me and whole lot of other people in my band (except for the 12 hours bit we go from 8 to 3) this was a really good story and I also can't believe no one has ever done a pairing like this. Good job dude. Hope to see more... I mean... If you want to.

[SparklingVynegar]

3685920 actually no, believe it or not. I wrote this while actually in band, and yes, my position was the same as Brass'.

[MidnightFMare]

This is wonderful, the perfect mix of delicacy, kindness, and honesty. And most picture beauty brass a background character for background characters but you gave her a voice, one of delicacy and kindness and if no one will support this story, then I will, and if you don't respond, that would not be cool
A supporting writing friend and eccentric, midnight

[SparklingVynegar]

3686774 why thank you, sir.

I used Brassy cause, well, she's the most recognizable musician whose instrument can be marched with, unless you can find some sort of Marching-cello.

Thanks for the feedback.

[MidnightFMare]

3686976
your welcome, i was not just being nice, it was a nice story