28. For Love of Music
“Rainbow, do you even know where Vinyl is?” I say after a few minutes of walking in silence. Rainbow's been with me the whole time we've been out. Who knows what Vinyl's been doing in the meantime. She could be anywhere in the city.
“Nope! Not a clue,” Rainbow replies cheerfully, causing me to facepalm.
“I figured as much. So how do you intend to find her?”
“Who knows? Don't you think it'll be a little fun to just wander?”
“Rainbow, I don't have that kind of time. I should be going back to the castle in about an hour,” I point out. I remember seeing a clock on the way out of the shopping district. It had been almost 6 then, so now I'm assuming it is 6 or 6:15. I've always been extremely punctual, so I want to be at the castle thirty minutes before the concert.
“Yeah, I know. You're going to some fancy concert or another.” Rainbow assures me that she hasn't forgotten. She looks a little annoyed as well, for whatever reason. “But I wanna drop all this stuff off at the hotel first. I dunno, maybe we'll run into her on the way.”
“That's pretty weak logic,” I complain, but I don't protest further. I doubt she wants to lug all those collectibles around with her while we look for Vinyl, so at least visiting the hotel first is the logical thing to do.
Hopefully she knows where the hotel is. This town doesn't make any sense whatsoever, so I wouldn't be able to find my way around on my own. Literally the only landmark I can make out from here is the castle itself, and that's not helpful at all.
She does. We turn the corner, and I immediately recognize the train station, as well as our hotel on the left side of the street. That's a relief.
Stepping inside we are immediately approached by one of the hotel staff, who recognize us immediately. Or should I say, they recognize me immediately, since I know I stand out wherever we go. Sometimes it sucks being so tall compared to everypony else.
“Welcome back, honored guests. Would you like me to take your purchases up to your room?” the stallion addresses us with a formal bow.
“Yeah, that would be cool,” Rainbow says to the stallion, passing him the bags she's been lugging around since leaving the gift shop. Rainbow looks at me and grins. “Isn't the service here great?”
“Of course it is. If you pay, they'll do anything to please you,” I reply scornfully. The grin drops from Rainbow's face. “What? It's a basic business strategy. If the customer is happy, they'll come back with more money later.”
“You know, sometimes it's nice to just let yourself be pampered without thinking too hard about it,” Rainbow points out to me.
“Right, because ignoring something that's true is going to make it disappear,” I retort. “They don't care about us at all. Just the money we bring.”
Rainbow huffs. “Come on, Seth, this is a vacation! Stop thinking about all that negative stuff and have some fun.”
“Really? You're just going to brush it away? Vacation or not, other ponies still think the same way.” Sometimes I think these ponies deliberately choose to remain naïve just they can enjoy themselves. Seems rather foolish to me.
“You're not wrong...you're just being a jerk,” Rainbow sighs, apparently giving up on the conversation. “Come on, let's go find Vinyl.”
“Whatever,” I grunt. Bitch doesn't realize that having fun doesn't mean ignoring the facts of the world.
When we step outside, Rainbow turns to the right, back the way we came. “Let's see, Vinyl is always Vinyl, so we'll probably see her hitting up some clubs.”
“Good idea. What about that club she's going to be playing at tomorrow? Erratic Tune's?” I recall. “You think she'd be around there?”
“She's already spent some time there already, hasn't she? Why would she go back?” Rainbow asks.
“Hell, I don't know. It was just a suggestion. You can take it or not,” I snap, feeling irritated for some reason. Apparently Rainbow can tell as well, judging from the way she's looking me with concern.
“You feeling all right, dude? You're a bit snappier than usual.” Great, she did not just fucking ask that. The worst question anyone can ask me. Especially right now. Of course I'm not fucking all right. I haven't been all right since I got to this fucking world. My best friend is a fucking rainbow haired pony, and everything I used to do for fun is no longer possible....and I just figured out what my current issue is.
“I'm just pissed off...no need to worry about me,” I say, brushing her off. I still don't trust her enough to tell her about my personal feelings.
“Really? You still won't tell me anything?” I rub my brow in annoyance at Rainbow's indignant outburst. Am I really going to have to fight with her right before going to a concert?
“Shut up, Rainbow. It's none of your damn business.”
“You know what? It is! I came along with you on this trip because I wanted have fun hanging out with you. I can't really do that if you keep acting like this!” Rainbow protests vehemently, and I groan.
“You're the one making a big deal out of this. Seriously, just drop it,” I tell her pointedly. I don't understand why she gets so pissed off that I won't tell her anything about how I'm feeling. Seriously. It's no one's business what another person is feeling. It always drives me up the wall when people act like they're entitled to hear about your feelings, and then get pissed off when you won't tell them shit.
“I'm just trying to help, Seth,” Rainbow says in a calmer voice. She looks at me sadly. “Do you not trust me? Is that it?”
What, are you trying to make me feel bad now? I'm not falling for that shit. But...she has been making strides towards proving herself, what with fighting side by side with me against that Scorpios and then trying to reach me earlier. She's earned a straight answer at the very least.
“Fine. I'll level with you here.” Rainbow lights up at that. We'll see how long that lasts. “I have no idea what to think about you right now. I've known you for a little over a week. I consider you my friend because you're not like the millions upon millions of humans that I've lived my whole life hating. Aren't you satisfied with that?”
“Yeah, but...”
“Let me put it to you this way. I never even trusted Amaryllis until a month after I met her,” I rephrase, hoping that she'll finally get the picture.
“Who's Amaryllis?” Rainbow asked. Suddenly, I realize what I did, and I freeze, my blood seemingly running cold.
“Fuck,” I mutter, realizing that I once again like a dumb fuck, spilled one of my closest secrets without even realizing it. Just by that one exclamation, Rainbow gets the idea, her eyes widening with horror.
“Oh buck, she was a human, wasn't she?” Rainbow asks softly. Well, she figured that out pretty quick. Goddammit, shit! Why can't I just keep my goddamn mouth shut!? I wasn't thinking about it, I just said it. But why the fuck did I feel like saying that would be a good idea? “Someone close to you?”
I slam my fist into the wall hard, but I don't feel any pain from it. Instead, the wall cracks slightly, and I realize with chagrin that I accidentally channeled a little magic into that. Rainbow flinches at my expression of anger.
Rainbow closes her eyes and takes a deep breath. “Okay. Maybe I was overreacting a little bit. I can't even come close to imagining how you're probably feeling.” Her admittance causes me to look at her in surprise. “I won't ask you about Amaryllis, or bug you about talking. Just...know that you're not alone okay? If you need me, I'll be here.”
I stare at Rainbow for a long time, once again unable to tell if she's being sincere or not. But...she is backing off, and true or not, her words are oddly comforting. “Thank you,” I say to her tersely, as I honestly can't think of anything else to say to that.
A few more moments pass, and then Rainbow groans and facehoofs. “What is it about you that brings out the sap in me?” she complains. A slight case of deja vu strikes me, and I can't help but chuckle.
“Maybe you're just a sappy pony and you're not telling anyone,” I remark, and the resulting look of horror that crosses Rainbow's face is enough to make me laugh.
With that whole episode behind us, Rainbow and I continue on our way, and it isn't long before we arrive at Erratic's bar. At least, I assume it's Erratic's bar, because I can't fucking read the sign.
But, something is odd about the place. By that, I mean the sound of an electric guitar is blasting out of the door, along with other instruments. But...wait a minute. That sound is too raw to be a recording, like what Vinyl does. Somepony is playing an actual electric guitar in there.
“Holy shit, I need to see this,” I state plainly, and then I run towards the door.
“Me too,” Rainbow agrees, and then she follows me inside.
The inside of the bar has a layout similar to what you'd expect from a place like this. By that, I mean the place is laid out like a restaurant, with booths lining the walls and tables filling the spaces in between. The bar itself is against the back wall, where an unkempt brown stallion with a sandy yellow mane is serving drinks while bobbing his head to the music.
Speaking of the music, there's a stage in the back corner a few feet away from the bar, atop of which is a band consisting of three ponies.
The first pony is a steel blue pegasus stallion with a brown and black mane, who's playing a fucking saxophone with insane skill. How the fuck do ponies play saxophones, where you need the dexterity of fingers to open and close the various valves? No, he's using the individual fucking feathers on his wings to perform that necessary task. Now I would tell you why that's bullshit, but it seems like every time I try to use logic on this world, it smacks me in the face with magic.
The second pony is a cream colored earth pony mare with a flowing brown mane, similar to my own hairstyle, except puffed out to look more feminine. She's also wearing a set of shades similar to Vinyl's. Her instrument of choice are the drums, and she's pounding those drums like crazy, adding rhythm to the song.
The last one catches my attention. This one is a dark gray unicorn mare with an extremely long black mane, with a red stripe running through it. She's the one playing the guitar, except it's not electric at all. It looks like a typical Fender stratocaster, except there's no input for the amp. It's acoustic, so how the hell is it making that electric sound?
I notice her horn lighting up like a beacon with red light. The next thing I notice is the air visibly distorting around the guitar. I'm guessing she's using her magic to distort the sound somehow. That's not all. The lights flashing around the packed dance floor are not from LEDS, but from her magic. There's literally balls of light just floating in midair above her. So she's using magic to hold the guitar, distort the sound, and create lights all at once? That's pretty impressive.
“Now this is what I'm talking about!” I yell over the loud music. This is like being at a rock concert. Despite it being really early in the day for this kind of thing, the bar is packed. The more ponies that come in, the wider that pony at the bar smiles.
Rainbow nudges me. I look back at her to see her pointing at a particular table with a hoof. I follow her hoof to see Vinyl sitting at that table, sipping from a glass cup. So I was right after all.
Vinyl looks up and grins when she sees us approach. She slaps the seats next to her with her hoof, inviting us to join her.
“Why are you still here? Weren't you going to go wander the city?” Rainbow addresses her. At this distance, it's difficult to hear one another, but if we lean in close, it's manageable.
“Are you kidding me? Why should I go anywhere when I've got killer entertainment like this?” Vinyl asks, indicating the band with a hoof.
“Can't argue with that logic,” I add, sitting down next to Vinyl. Rainbow dithers a bit, and then decides to sit next to me. So once again, I'm sitting between Vinyl and Rainbow. “Who are these ponies, anyway?”
“I mentioned them earlier, bro. The Blazing Medley. Believe it or not, this is just their sound test,” Vinyl explains. Right, they're the ones Vinyl said were playing tonight, instead of us.
“Really? I think we can tell they have sound!” Rainbow exclaims, though she is smiling. She's probably enjoying it as much as I am. There's no vocals, but that stallion on the saxophone is really rocking it out up there. I don't think I've ever seen anyone get so into playing a saxophone since that one dumb YouTube video. Except in this case, the melody he's playing deserves that kind of movement.
“There's seems to be an awful lot of partying for just a sound test,” I observe, looking at the dance floor filled with gallivanting ponies. It's odd, I expected this to be a bit more formal, since that's what the atmosphere of Canterlot seems to be. Yet none of the dancing ponies here are wearing all that fancy clothing. I guess these are the less privileged residents?
“Right? Just wait until they start singing. I expect this place to get even busier,” Vinyl relates, sipping from her drink. “So how was your visit with the Princess?”
Oh right, she knew about that too. As I think of a way to answer, I see Rainbow sneakily steal Vinyl's drink and start drinking from it. A mischievous idea runs through my mind.
“I guess you could say it was an earth shattering revelation,” I answer. Vinyl raises an eyebrow, but Rainbow promptly chokes and splutters in a very undignified manner. “You could say our meeting was a magical one. In fact, I think the whole time I was practically insane.”
Rainbow doubles over, slamming the cup down on the table, unable to hide her laughter. “Oh gosh, stoppit Seth, I'm gonna die! Oh shoot, it's going up my nose.” She promptly covers her mouth and nose with a hoof.
Vinyl glances between us, completely and totally confused as Rainbow loses her shit next to me, and I just snicker at my incredibly bad puns. “Uh....am I missing something here?” Vinyl asks cluelessly.
“Not really. I'm just fucking with Rainbow,” I remark. At that, Vinyl blushes slightly and she looks between me and Rainbow, who jerks up and looks at me oddly. I have to facepalm immediately. “Ugh...it's a human phrase...it means I'm joking around. Sheesh.”
“Right, okay. I was about to say, that's a little quick,” Vinyl backtracks. A grin crosses her face. “I mean, I haven't even seen you two date yet.”
Rainbow attempts to brush off the earthy joke by laughing further, while I just casually sit back in my chair. “You know, jokes like that only work if they lie even remotely in the realm of possibility. Since yours doesn't, I don't give a fuck what you say.”
Vinyl winces at my statement. Rainbow's reaction is to look at me with an expression that I can't even come close to reading.
Ignoring them, I glance back over at the stage as the music comes to an end with a multi layered chord that sounds freaking awesome. The saxophone playing pegasus wipes the sweat from beneath his mane and steps up to the microphone.
“Seems like you lot couldn't wait to start partying,” the stallion remarks as the dancing ponies settle down. His remark earns laughter from the crowd around him. “I bet you'll be glad to know that was just our sound test!”
Cheering erupts from the bar patrons, including the ones back by us. Unfortunately, Vinyl and Rainbow decide to join in as well. Yeah yeah, playing the crowd is necessary when you're in the music business, but I've always hated being in the crowd when the playing occurs. You should have seen me during pep rallies back in school. They were mandatory, and I hated every second, since I couldn't give less of a shit about the sports teams they were promoting.
“Now then, we're gonna take a small break before the real rockin' starts! Prepare your ears, because it's going to be loud!” the pegasus continues. “This is Flint Note of the Blazing Medley, stepping off stage.”
Flint Note and the other band members disperse, going to do whatever it is band members do minutes before a performance. I could care less about them though.
No, what does take me by surprise is when the unicorn guitarist walks through the crowd and makes a beeline for our table. Rainbow nudges Vinyl, and then indicates the pony approaching us. What the fuck does she want with us? I swear to god, if it's me....
“So Scratch, what did you think about that?” the mare proclaims in a very confident and self assured manner. Not to mention, she just called Vinyl by her last name.
“It was totally rad, girl! Take a seat!” Vinyl offers, slapping the seat next to her.
“Eh, buck it, why not?” the unicorn says after a moment of dithering, and then joins us at the table. So, how do these two know each other? I guess I'll find out about that in a moment, considering the unicorn is now staring at me with a blank expression. Great, now it's time for this song and dance. “Scratch, what the hay is this furless...pink monkey thing?”
That...has to be the least polite and yet most accurate way anypony has ever reacted to me. Of course, I don't appreciate it at all. Before Vinyl can answer, I respond, “This coming from the overly small deformed horse with giant ass eyes. Seriously, have I ever mentioned how ridiculous you ponies look?”
The rocker pony's practically hit the table. “You...but...the buck?” she stutters, as Rainbow and Vinyl snicker behind their hooves.
“I'd ask if a cat had your tongue, but I don't even know if cats are still a thing. Are they still a thing?” I continue, looking at Rainbow when I asked that question. I don't know why, but I feel slightly at ease. Maybe it's because I'm used to being in bars where live performances are held. My father was a bit of a musical enthusiast, so he had a few performances every now and then.
“Yeah, they're a thing. Rarity has one. You were at her place, right? You didn't see Opal?” Rainbow informs me, as the unicorn sitting with is looks between us, probably wondering what the hell I am.
“I'm assuming you don't mean the gemstone, so the answer is no,” I reply.
“Okay, cut. What in Luna's mane are you?” the unicorn finally gets tired of our shit and interrupts us.
“Depends on who you ask. To most, I'm an asshole.” I also feel like being a colossal smart ass, since I'm really tired of answering this fucking question.
“And to others, an insufferable smart aleck,” Rainbow quips, to which I shrug nonchalantly, since I just got through thinking that.
“Cut the crap! Seriously, what are you?” the unicorn presses. I groan and rub my forehead.
“All right then, I'm going to introduce myself properly, since you clearly don't know how to,” I snap at her. She growls at me for that, but I continue anyway. “My name is Seth Rogers, and that's all you need to fucking know.”
“He's human,” Rainbow supplies the unicorn (un)helpfully.
“Dammit, Rainbow!” My outburst only causes my friend to laugh at my expense, even as the unicorn gazes at me with wide eyes.
“Well...huh. That's...not something you encounter everyday. So I'm Ember Dawn, guitarist for the Blazing Medley.” The unicorn finally gets her shit together and introduces herself, though I notice she doesn't offer a hoof.
“Great, now that that's out of the way, can I get some fucking service? I'm hungry!” I complain. For some reason, Rainbow is looking at me with a strange smile on her face. “What are you looking at?”
“Nothing. Just happy to see you back to normal,” she replies in a friendly manner. I stare at her for a few seconds. Every time I think I've got her figured out, she pulls some shit to prove me wrong. But, my growling stomach distracts me from those thoughts.
Vinyl stops a passing pony dressed in official looking clothes, and finally we get some menus to look at.
“Vinyl,” I say calmly, my right eye twitching. When she looks at me curiously, I shove the menu at her. “I can't fucking read!”
“You know, it just hit me, but you curse an awful lot, don't you?” Rainbow points out, interrupting us. I give her an incredulous look.
“Seriously? It just hit you? When literally 'fuck' is every other word out of my mouth?”
“I guess you got me there,” Rainbow admits sheepishly. “I've never really had an opportunity to ask though. So what's up with that?”
“Eh, there's no deep seated reason. My vocabulary sucks and I'm too lazy to change that.”
“Hah! Don't ever say that around Twilight. She'll tie you to a chair and pound a dictionary into your brain,” Rainbow jokes. Funny thing is, I can actually picture Twilight doing that.
“Right, I won't. Anyway. Vinyl, the menu. Read me?” I demand. I really can't wait to learn this language so I can stop making ponies read things to me.
“Heh, all right. Starting from the top, you've got your classic hayburger with cheese....”
So, after like five minutes of listening to Vinyl rattle off a bunch of bullshit entrees that would taste good only to ponies, I end up ordering...take wild guess...another damn salad. I get the feeling I'm going to get really sick of eating salads every day of my life. There has to be some way I can get some variety.
So when that arrives along with a glass of water, I start munching on my food quickly, since I've essentially squandered away the rest of my time doing nothing productive. Ember eats with us as well, though I ignore her most of the time, since she only really talks to Vinyl.
I finish pretty fast, and then I stand up, since I should be heading to the castle right about now if I want to get there early like I usually want to.
“You heading out?” Rainbow asks me, even though she probably already knows the answer. I nod anyway.
“How much does the meal cost?” I say, fishing out my bag of fourteen bits. Vinyl looks down on the menu.
“For what you ordered, it's like 4 bits. Not that much. I could cover it fo...”
“No. Here,” I cut her off without missing a beat, setting the four bits down on the table. That's a rather hefty price for such a small meal, but this is Canterlot, so I probably should have expected as much.
“You stubborn human,” Vinyl huffs, taking the money. “So where exactly are you going, anyway?”
“Oh, nothing really. Just going to see the Canterlot Royal Orchestra with the Princess of Love,” I reply as if it's no big deal at all.
“Okay, I didn't know that you were going with a princess!” Rainbow exclaims. Vinyl and Ember are also looking at me in shock.
“What is it with you? Do you just attract princesses?” Vinyl remarked, probably referring to how I got a visit from both Celestia and Luna a while back. You know, before I found out I had dark magic running through me for whatever reason.
“I certainly hope not. They weigh quite a lot, so I'd probably get crushed,” I remark. Rainbow practically stuffs a hoof in her mouth to keep from laughing.
“Sshh, Seth! It's a good thing they're not around to hear you say that,” Vinyl hisses at me, looking scandalized. “Some things you just don't say about a mare.”
“And some things I couldn't give a shit about. Now then, if you don't mind, I'm going to duck out.” With that, I turn away from the table and stride towards the exit, already wondering what the performance I'm going to is going to be like.
“See you back at the hotel tonight!” Rainbow calls. “We're in room 352! Don't forget!”
“Later bro!” Vinyl chimes in. All I spare for them is a quick one handed wave before I leave the bar.
Since it's like, ten past seven, it's gotten much darker than it was before I entered the bar. And, true to my expectations, the streets are still full of ponies. It is a city after all, so I'd expect there to be ponies out and about every hour of the day. I'm certainly glad I don't live here. I like it quiet after dark. Not to mention I'd get constantly nervous if I had to live in the presence of the princesses. As benevolent as Celestia claims to be, I get nervous around somepony with as much destructive power as she exhibited. She's like a damn Bleach character.
Right, so just retracing my steps to the palace. That's easy though, since I can see the palace no matter where I go in town.
Huh, it's weird, but I'm actually in somewhat of a good mood. I was all angry earlier because I'm literally just living for my job, with nothing to really do in my spare time. It was almost too cruel to give me a taste of what it was like to have my old hobby back, only for me to realize that I can never do it again.
But now, I don't know why, but that's not that big of a deal. There's other things I can do for a hobby. I'll definitely pick up reading again once I learn this fucking language. Anyway, I should probably think about where I'm going before I get lost.
Because I've already been there once, it doesn't take me long before I'm standing before the golden gates once again. This time the guards only spare me a single glance before they recognize me and open the gate. Looks like Cadance made sure to let them know I was coming. Good, I won't have to bitch at her.
Cadance said to meet her just inside of the main castle gates, where I'd run into her after training with Shining Armor. I'm super early, so that means I'll be waiting awkwardly for her there for like, thirty minutes while she does up her mane or whatever the fuck mares do.
…Or not. Cadance is already there, waiting patiently by the wall. She hasn't noticed me yet, because her nose is in a fiction book that she's holding with magic. And...that looks like a human on the cover. So she's reading one of these human books that I keep hearing about. That's interesting.
That aside, it's not often somebody is more early to something than me. I usually got to my classes 30 to 40 minutes early every day back in college.
I clear my throat to announce my presence. Cadance jumps in surprise, nearly dropping the book. “Oh, Seth! You're quite early,” she observes, quickly regaining her poise.
“So are you,” I point out, to which Cadance coughs nervously. “Um...how long were you waiting here?”
“Well, the meeting got out earlier than I expected, so I came here to read...” Cadance answers, showing me the book....which I promptly take from her. “Oh. Hehe, I guess you're a bit of a reader?”
“I stopped for a while, since all that kept getting produced was shit like Twilight,” I reply, looking at the cover of the book. I realize a second later what I said. “I mean an actual book series called Twilight, not the unicorn.”
“Oh, of course,” Cadance sighs in relief. I'm actually curious to see what she would have done if I actually was insulting Twilight.
I look at the cover of book, which depicts two very poorly drawn humans fighting with magic in an ancient looking village. “Wrong, wrong, and wrong. Damn, this is worse than I thought,” I remark, noticing a ridiculous amount of errors in just the front cover. “This is supposed to be historical?”
“Historical fiction, I suppose. Why, what do you see wrong with it?” Cadance asks curiously. I walk closer to her and orient myself so I can show her the cover of the book.
“Well, first and foremost, humans don't use magic. Secondly, we wear fucking clothes. Don't even get me started with the anatomical errors here. Thirdly, why do the houses look like that, when I clearly see a computer in one of those windows?” I criticize, pointing to each aspect that I find a problem with. “I could go on. In fact, I think I will. What the fuck is up with those hair colors?”
Cadance giggles as I point out each and everything wrong with this book. “Well, I suppose it's just fiction then,” she reasons.
“Seriously, who the fuck wrote this shit? They need to check their damn facts,” I assert, handing her back her book. I'm only being so harsh on it because it's supposed to be historically accurate. After all, I like anime, and they're inaccurate as all hell about how humans are.
“Have humans never written inaccurate books about the species that came before them?” Cadance inquires.
“We've certainly fucked up talking about our history. Though as for the species that came before us...I suppose that would be the dinosaurs,” I muse.
“Dinosaurs?”
“Basically a bunch of giant ass lizards running around, eating each other.” Cadance looks justifiably horrified at that description. “Right. As for how inaccurate they are, that's anyone's guess. We certainly didn't have any of them telling us otherwise.”
“Sometimes I forget how brutal the world was before ponies came about,” Cadance laments with a shake of her head.
“Whatever,” I comment, though it's not in an irritated manner. Like I said, I'm feeling all right at the moment. I don't know how long that will last, but I'm going to milk it while it does. “Can we get going now? I'm interested to see this orchestra.”
“Oh, of course! Pardon me, I tend to lose track of time when talking about history,” Cadance says, somewhat embarrassed. “Follow me. I doubt you know where the Grand Theater is.”
“Good call.” Nothing else needed to be said, so Cadance and I departed the castle together. It's funny, how an ass like me can go from being a nobody in college to hanging out with royalty of a future species. Granted, said species are ponies but whatever.
I just wish it hadn't come at the cost of my friend and family.
As we get closer to the theater, I notice that we've joined a veritable stream of ponies that seem to have had the same idea. There's so many of them, I can't help but wonder what I'm in for. They seem to be really popular. All of them give Cadance and I a wide berth, probably because she's a princess. Some of them that see me in the darkness stare at me with shell shocked expressions.
“How often does this orchestra perform?” I ask my princess guide. She delights at the chance for more conversation, so she answers readily.
“Well it usually depends. They always play very difficult pieces, so it's not uncommon for six months to pass between performances,” Cadance explains. “Other times they take but a week for simple requests.”
“Who the fuck requests the Royal Orchestra?”
“You'd be surprised how much money some ponies will shell out to have some of them at their parties,” Cadance tells me wryly.
Our conversation cuts off when we reach the doors of the theater, where there's several official looking ponies checking tickets, as well as a quite a few Royal Unicorn Guards. I suppose that makes sense, since there's a princess here. I'm half surprised Cadance is even allowed out here without an escort.
“Have your ticket ready,” Cadance whispers to me as she reaches the doors. I roll my eyes and pull out my ticket.
The pony mare at the door recognizes Cadance immediately, gasping slightly and making a quick bow. “Your Highness, it is a pleasure to see you here!” she squeaks.
“No, the pleasure is mine. I can't wait to see what the orchestra has in store for us this time,” Cadance replies sweetly, handing the mare her ticket. The mare stamps the ticket and hands it back to the princess, who walks inside.
I'm next, and this time, the mare's eyes visibly widen. “Oh...um...welcome to the Grand Theater, um...sir. Your ticket?” she stammers.
“Points for professionalism,” I tell her with a grin, glad that she didn't demand what I am in the middle of a crowd. The mare blinks, but takes my ticket when I hand it to her. She glances over it, and then looks back up at me in confusion.
“Sir, this is a VIP ticket,” she tells me.
“Yup. Princesses are weird in their favors,” I remark. That poor mare looks so shocked at that. She looks between me and Cadance, who's standing just inside, watching me and waiting. She does that multiple times before she finally stamps the ticket and lets me inside.
“I think I freaked her out,” I comment to Cadance.
“I think you did too,” Cadance chuckles, looking at the mare outside.
“So these are VIP tickets, huh? And you won these in a raffle?” I say, finding it odd that one random pony would get to sit with the higher ups. Though who's considered higher up is beyond me.
“I know right?” Cadance squeals happily. “Usually it takes hundreds of bits to get a VIP seat, and I got them for free!”
“I hope that pony who did the raffle made more money on tickets than he spent buying these things,” I mention. Suddenly, that reminds me of something. How did I not think about this? “By the way, how much were the raffle tickets?”
“Hm? Oh, only about 2 bits a ticket. Why?” Cadance asks, and then she recoils when I set two bits directly on her head. “What...?”
“I don't like being in debt,” I retort. Whew, dodged a bullet there. I can't believe I nearly forgot about that. Cadance bemusedly takes the bits off of her head with her magic, but she thankfully doesn't say anything else about it.
So the lobby of this thing is fancy as fuck. Like, it takes my breath away. I don't think I've ever been in a place like this in my life. The floors are smooth polished wood, and the walls and ceiling have all these arches and curves lined with elegant designs that I can't really describe. It doesn't help that I'm currently walking in a crowd, because even if I wanted to get a closer look, I can't get one.
While most of the other ponies are heading in through multiple sets of ornate double doors at the end of the hallway, some ponies that are dressed more extravagantly and held themselves in a noble fashion would held up the staircases to either side. I'm guessing that's where Cadance and I are...
“This way, Seth,” Cadance directs me, indicating the staircases. Yep, that's what I almost thought, since she interrupting my thinking process. God, can't you tell when I'm thinking? Heh.
I just start walking up the stairs when I suddenly hear two voices coming from behind me. They're whispering, but I can hear them.
“What is this? When did the Orchestra start letting apes into the hall?” one of them says to the other. My fist clenches unconsciously.
“The nerve of that thing, coming into a place as high class as this.”
“How filthy!”
I'm literally just about to turn around and give them a piece of my mind when another, more familiar voice greets me.
“Well, isn't this a pleasant surprise?” A white, monocled unicorn stallion approaches me from between the two gossiping ponies, whom I recognize instantly.
“Fancy Pants?” I greet him with a hint of surprise in my voice. I had thought he was busy with a party tonight. But no, there he is, smiling at me while the other two ponies look between him and me in shock.
“Good to see you, Seth. I had no idea you couldn't make my party because you had a prior engagement with Princess Cadance,” Fancy Pants returns my greeting enthusiastically, offering his hoof to shake. I take it, since I do like his manners. Then the two of us walk up the staircase together, soon catching up with Cadance, who had been watching our exchange with a curious expression on her face.
“Right, that reminds me. Weren't you supposed to be at said party? Why are you here?”
“Oh, we decided as a group that it would be a shame to miss the concert, so we adjourned early,” Fancy explains with a glance to the two ponies behind him. They shake out of their shock and nod frantically, which tells me their essentially just his groupies. Lovely.
“And a top of the evening to you, your Highness,” Fancy greets Cadance with a bow when we reach the top of the stairs. “How are you doing on this fine winter night?”
“Fancy Pants, what a delight to see you here! I'm doing well, how about yourself?” Cadance responds graciously, and I soon lose interest as the two of them start exchanging pleasantries.
The three of us enter the VIP seating area, which is located rather high above the concert hall. Yeah, descriptions come later, because my attention is taken up by the ponies that are in here as well.
To be more precise, Princesses Celestia and Luna are here. Yeah, that's right. Both of them. Just my fucking luck. I consider hiding behind Cadance, since she's about as tall as I am, but the moment that thought forms in my head...
“Seth? This is a surprise,” Celestia says when she notices me walking through the door with Cadance and Fancy Pants. Luna gives me a terse nod in greeting, which I return.
“That makes two of us. I didn't realize that when Cadance handed me a VIP ticket, she really meant the VIP of VIPs,” I grunt, giving Cadance a meaningful look. She shrugs, as if she'd just expected me to know that.
“My, you certainly know ponies in the highest of places,” Fancy Pants comments, looking at me with a new respect.
“Kind of comes with being a human, I suppose,” I say with a shrug.
“Why don't you come sit with my sister and I?” Celestia offers, indicating the seat next to her. I'd decline, but this area is pretty small. No matter where I'd sit, Celestia would be able to see me. I give one last look at Cadance, hoping she can help me out, but she's already moving to join Celestia.
“Ugh...fine,” I relent. I pick my way through the occupied and unoccupied seats until I reach the one next to Celestia. Just like human theaters, the seats are folded back to save space when not in use. I take a seat next to Celestia, who fucking towers over me, since ponies keep most of their height when they sit, as opposed to humans. She beams down at me.
Then, all of the princesses and nobles and whatever start exchanging the usually pleasantries, though with Cadance and the two main princesses, it's a bit more affectionate.
Ignoring them, I finally take a look at the concert hall. Turns out ponies have some idea of how acoustics work, as they have all those panels and odd wall formations that are designed with sound in mind. I also see the tell tale signs of soundproofing.
The stage itself is massive, and there's tons of chairs on it, with stands and everything else that you'd expect to see at a performance like this, with a conductors podium and the like. There's the typical array of lights hanging above the stage, and right now all of them are oriented on the stage.
As for the crowd...I can't even hazard a guess as to how many ponies are here. There are like, tons of ponies in the audience, as well as the other balconies.
Oh yeah, I can also see the stage with near perfect detail, even though this box is pretty far away. It's like I'm right up there next to it. This is the weirdest thing. I'm assuming the answer is magic, so I don't bother asking. Fucking magic. At least in this case, it's beneficial to me.
“So why are both you and Luna even here?” I ask Celestia on a whim.
“Why wouldn't we be? I enjoy a good orchestra as much as the next pony,” she answers reasonably. “There is another reason, however. I gave permission for the orchestra to perform a piece I wrote several centuries ago.”
“Which is also why we are here. I am interested to see what my sister came up with,” Luna adds, smiling.
“Hold on, you write music!?” I demand, turning to fully face her.
“Sometimes the mood strikes me, yes,” Celestia replies, amused at my surprise. Okay, she just rose a few ranks on the awesome scale. Writing music is something I've always wished I could do.
“This I've gotta hear,” is the last thing I say before turning back to face the front. I'm just in time too, because the orchestra is at last filing onto the stage, dressed in fancy dresses and tuxedos and carrying their instruments. I can see everything from strings to brass to woodwinds present in the group. That's not all though. Some ponies are wheeling in percussion instruments, like snare and timpani drums. Oh shit, this is going to be good, isn't it?
I actually recognize the last pony to walk on stage. It's that pony who talked to me about cellos back in the music store. I forget her name...I think it was Octavia. Yeah, that was it. So I spoke to a member of this orchestra and didn't even know it. Huh.
Octavia sets up her cello at the very front of the orchestra, just in front of the conductor, who turns out to be a dark gray pony with a styled white mane. Okay, so she's significantly more important than I thought.
The conductor climbs up onto his podium and turns on the microphone there, before turning around to address the audience. I don't really feel the need to write down his dialogue, since it was the typical crap you hear before every concert.
No, I only start paying attention when the first piece plays. It starts off with a soft repeating rhythm, accentuated by the percussion pounding in unison at regular intervals. Okay, this isn't bad. Feels like a marching tune.
A few measures later, Octavia starts to play, and there's actually a microphone next to her instrument. Wait, is she fucking soloing this part? Holy shit, she is. She plays the melody entirely on her own for the first few repetitions, before the rest of the orchestra joins in. Even then, that only lasts for a while before Octavia takes the melody again, only this time up an octave. Heh, Octavia plays an octave. Shut up.
This is rousing. Octavia is brilliant out there. Her bow is like lightning with the way she's playing this incredible fast tune. She's not the only soloist as well. There's another pony playing what looks like a french horn, and she and Octavia keep trading off the melody.
The song ends with a clashing of percussion, and the applause starts. Which is a bunch of ponies pounding the ground with their hooves. For me, I actually clap the way a normal person does, which definitely earns me some glances.
Each piece seems to be more spectacular than the last. I'm practically on the edge of my seat the whole time. Some of the songs they play bore me because they're way too slow and not much is happening, but there's not very many of them, and the songs they play next never fail to impress me.
Oh my god, I'm enjoying the hell out of this. Every piece always gets my head moving in time with the beat.
Octavia...dear god, I feel like a dick for not treating her with respect. She's ridiculous in how much talent she has. Her expression never changes from that serene one of concentration, even in this one piece where her bow never stops moving once, as the solo lasted for the whole piece and was ridiculously fast. If that song isn't called “Octavia and Accompaniment” it totally should be.
Time seems to fly by as song after song is played. Finally, after one extremely riveting song that had my blood pumping, the orchestra takes a pause.
“This is it,” I hear Celestia whisper to me. Oh shit, I'm about to hear the song she wrote, aren't I? This should be good.
“Fillies and Gentlecolts, we bring you to the end of our program tonight with a most special performance,” the conductor announces as the applause for the last song fades away. “This next piece was written by our very own Princess Celestia!”
Gasps of shock could be heard in the crowd at this news. I can practically feel the anticipation from all the ponies around me...which I then figure out is because I can't wait to hear it myself.
“This song was written a few decades after the end of the War of Night and Day, and at long last, our Princess of the Sun has allowed us the pleasure of performing it for the first time since it's conception! We of the Royal Canterlot Orchestra bring you, Goddess of the Moon.” With that, the conductor turns back to the orchestra and lifts his wand.
Luna emits a light gasp and looks at her sister in shock and awe. Suddenly it hits me. I remember hearing about the War of Night and Day in that one class with Cheerilee. Oh shit, she was referring to the fight between Celestia and Luna. How did I not understand that?
Celestia smiles warmly at her sister in response. I lean in closer just as the song begins.
The strings fade in slowly, the sound growing in volume and depth over a long period of time as more and more instruments join the growing sound. The initial melody, which is played by Octavia and a few others, is a slow, somber theme.
The rising and falling of the sound reminds me of waves of sorrow and loneliness. Each crescendo gets my blood flowing, and each decrescendo seems to cut right to my heart. I can just picture how Celestia must have felt after that long without her sister. It also gets me thinking of my own brother, wondering how he must have felt after years without me.
There's a pause in the music that the melody builds up to, and then suddenly the tone of the music changes. The cellos and contra-basses play a driving rhythm underneath a slightly faster melody, punctuated by crashes of snare drums.
It's like Celestia was trying to portray despair and the resolve to wait here. When a second melody hits, I can't help it. My eyes start to water. This is fucking amazing. I hear a sniff from the other side of Celestia as well, which I assume is Luna. I bet this is touching her a lot more than it is me.
The rousing beat disappears for a moment as Octavia takes the original melody back up, but it soon rises up again, and rises in intensity before playing the second melody again. This cycle continues for a while, possibly symbolizing how many years Celestia had to wait to see her sister again.
Finally, after a significant amount of build up, the sound stops completely for about a second, and then they slam right into the second melody one last time with such intensity that I can't hold back my emotion. This is such an amazing song. Luna thinks the same, as she is sobbing into Celestia's fur, the two of them hugging one another in a heartwarming manner. It's like this melody represents Celestia's resolve to wait for a millennia, til the day when she could see her sister again.
When the song finally ends, I notice that crying is a reaction shared by a great many of the audience. Even Cadance looks slightly teary eyed. Heh, at least it isn't just me.
The applause is thunderous, and every single one of the ponies in the audience stand up from their seats to applaud. Fuck it, they deserve it. I get to my feet and applaud as well, wiping the tears from my eyes.
“Celestia, that was fucking amazing,” I admit after the applause dies down, and the conductor starts addressing the crowd with the closing statements.
“Thank you, Seth. It feels surreal to hear it performed by an orchestra,” Celestia responds, nuzzling her sister lovingly.
“Why did you wait so long to perform it?” I ask, even though I'd grateful that I got to hear it for myself.
“It just didn't feel right, sharing it with anypony else while my sister was still gone,” Celestia admits sadly. “But, I decided that since the orchestra was performing so close to Hearth's Warming Eve, , it would be the perfect gift for my sister.”
“We...I love it, Tia,” Luna sobs, dropping the pluralities again and addressing Celestia with what seemed to be a pet name of some sort.
“The fuck is Hearth's Warming Eve?” I demand, and then I figure it out for myself a few seconds later. Are you kidding me? They have an equivalent to Christmas here? I mean, the first day of winter was when I figured out I have magic, and that's December 21st. So if Hearth's Warming Eve is on the same day as Christmas Eve, that would be...tomorrow.
“It's a holiday celebrating the Founding of Equestria. In commemoration of the friendship between unicorns, pegasi, and earth ponies, we give gifts to one another,” Celestia explains. So it is just like Christmas, only with a few slight differences. “We also mark the day with our traditional Hearth's Warming Pageant, which you are of course welcome to attend.”
“When is it? The day, I mean,” I say, even though I already know the Eve is tomorrow.
“Four days, I believe,” Celestia answers. Well, I stand corrected. I suppose it was a bit presumptuous of me to assume that it would be the same day as Christmas. The holidays were created for two different reasons, after all.
“Maybe I'll be there. Who knows? Depends on how much money it costs,” I remark. I'm actually considering it because I'm really happy that I got to be at this incredible concert, and because my expectations for events here are much higher now.
“You don't have to worry about it costing more than you can afford. I designed it such that even ponies with lower incomes can come see it. After all, friendship isn't something that should only be celebrated by the wealthy,” Celestia explains. Her sentiment is echoed by all of the ponies around her, including Luna, Cadance, and Fancy Pants.
“Indubitably so. Why, I not too long ago met one of the most delightful ponies from Ponyville,” Fancy Pants chimes in. “Her name was...Rarity, I believe.”
“Hold on, you know Rarity?” I interrupt. He nods in confirmation. Damn, is this a small country, or what? “I got these clothes from her.”
“Ah, I thought I recognized her work. If anypony could make clothing fit for a human, it would be her,” he replies with a smile.
“Mm, as delightful as this has been, I believe it is time for me to retire,” Celestia says, covering a yawn with her hoof. “Luna, can you take things from here?”
“Of course, dear sister. And...thanks again. Twas a most lovely gift,” Luna answers warmly. The two of them nuzzle one last time, and then Celestia proceeds to leave the box, with one last word of parting to me. The rest of the us leave the area not long after her.
A dumb smile is on my face as we leave. Goddamn, that was one of the best experiences I've had in Equestria so far.
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That was pretty awesome, and the song is now in my favorites ;)
Very nice. I have high hopes for the rest of the story.
still waiting for when he goes back to the human "world" that he left you no maybe get some guns, awesome shades, cloths, kills the hell hell out of the oppressed with a mini gun he finds on the street, you no basic stuff
4618366
Hm...I've planned pretty far ahead. I won't spoil anything, but most of the main plot will occur in arc 6
Stay tuned!
4618385 as long as shit gets blown up, guns shooting and things dying, with cool cars, and tons of blood i'll be happy
Wow this was a fun chapter
Starting off with the serious scene at the start. I'm surprised Seth hadn't got pissed off earlier about how all his original forms of entertainment were now gone, but I suppose near suicide, giant monster insects and evil magical powers have certainly been dwelling on his mind a fair bit
. Having Rainbow pull another stubborn moment on him and try to force information out of him was also very in character for her. So far she has had two deep chats with him regarding his feelings and while this conversation didn't turn out how she had intended, it was still a very deep moment for both of them. You can see that Rainbow's annoyance and frustration stems from both his reluctance to accept her despite what they have been through and Seth's declaration of their friendship and her genuine concern that Seth is still hurting rather deeply inside but won't talk about it. Having Seth acknowledge that Rainbow at least deserved an explanation for his distrust showed that he is taking this friendship seriously and she does mean a lot to him, but his experiences on Earth are engrained too deeply within him to open up. I was caught off guard that he let slip Amaryllis' name, as I had expected it may still be awhile to he was willing to talk about her, but the way this information was handled is written brilliantly. Seth just panics about it, confused about why he mentioned her and upset he did so, but Rainbow identifies that this is a topic Seth isn't ready to discuss yet and promptly backs off. At this point in the story it seems that Rainbow has not just accepted his secretive and distrusting behaviour, but understands it, at least a little and is willing to back off a little to make him comfortable, despite clearly wanting to help him through his issues. While you may not have initially intended for these two to grow so close, it is clear that the relationship between Seth and Rainbow has become much deeper then the average friendship, and I am excited to see how it develops further.
Now my favourite part of the chapter, the bar
. The music attached to this scene was short, but man did it put me in a club kinda mood (mind you I haven't ever stepped foot in a club and don't intend to if I can help it so my opinion on that can only go so far 
). It really gave a good vibe to the scene and made it all the more enjoyable. You certainly have a great taste in music 
. Anyway, seeing Seth with his snark turned up to 11 was hilarious and very refreshing after the rather intense scene about Amaryllis. Whether we get to see Ember Dawn again or not, I have to say her brief back and forth with Seth just had me chuckling for ages. It was also good to see Rainbow's mood lifted as well. While Seth is the protagonist of the story and it is written from his view point, it is fun to see the reactions of the other characters, particularly those close to him like Vinyl and Rainbow. The majority of the time these characters get subjected to a large degree of Seth's cynicism, so seeing Rainbow having a good time at the club was great. Now for the interesting part of the scene that you slipped in:
followed by
Like the scene in the previous chapter where Rainbow was discussing the Wonderbolts and Seth had an odd reaction when he thought of Rainbow trying to hook up with Soarin, seeing how Rainbow reacted to Seth's statements was very intriguing. Like with the previous scene, I won't make any assumptions at this point, but it is certainly a key scene to remember
.
The final section was Seth's interactions with Cadance and then the Orchestra. Finally we get to see one of the books written about humans. Every second he was describing the wrongness of the books, I just kept smirking. Seth is a character that does something rare (at least for me) by me wanting him to be an asshole. It's just so entertaining to watch him rip someone a new one, even in jest. It's even funnier because the ponies are generally timid by nature and don't react well to his insults and attitude. Also you get many points for pointing out just how shit the 'Twilight' series is once again
. While Cadance has claimed to win tickets to the orchestra for free, with both Luna and Celestia present, and her smirk when he paid her two bits back, I suspect she may be lying about this. Whether this is the case or not ultimately only matters if it is relevant to the plot, but I can't help but keep the idea running in the back of my head. The musical pieces you chose for the orchestra was very good. I preferred the Code Geass piece to 'Celestia's' piece, but I can definitely see why you chose it. His improved opinion of Octavia bodes well, especially since his appreciation of music is now becoming a little more relevant to the story (though it may back down a little when he returns to Ponyville, but who knows at this point). It will be fun to see what happens if they meet again in the future.
Overall a brilliant chapter filled with seriousness as well as fun, making for a very entertaining read. I am excited for the Hearth's Warming pageant and for other Hearth Warming related events (his love of spending time with family at Christmas may create some interesting scenes during Hearth's Warming, both good and bad for the other characters
). I'll be interested to see what the twist for the canon episode will entail 
. Great job as always 
4620650
TL;DR, Pontiac loves this chapter.
4622447
I fucking love Pontiac's comments, but this made me laugh anyway.
4622447 Well if you want to simplify it
4626937 You've listed some very good points, but what about this: Let's say cider season is annual and they constantly make deals with Filthy Rich, then why didn't they have money for Grannie's new hip and why did Applejack have to make money on the gala for repars?
4627373
Also very good points. I'm not going to be that guy who just says "Fuck canon, it's my story." Hm, I'm going to try and analyze this. A typical surgery (which is what I assume Granny needed) goes from anywhere from 600 to 6000$. And that's if you're insured. Otherwise it can go as high as 30000$
And if I go with the second exchange rate shown here , then a bit = $3.50. So at the most, you've got about 1,714 bits for a surgery if you're insured, and 8,500 if you're not. That's a lot.
I believe Applejack's expectations for the gala were naive, which was later shown to be true. Assuming she grows crops year round (the fact that there's a carrot farm proves that), then my assumption is that she makes a good deal of money, but not enough to afford a surgery like that.
4630969 Sorry if I'm annoying
4632282
Don't worry, you're good. This is a rough draft, after all. Every little bit helps!
4618385 ........ How many arcs do you plan to have anyway?
4648619
At this point, arc 6 will be the last one, unless more errant ideas throw themselves at me. Which has happened. Hence the Canterlot arc.
2.bp.blogspot.com/-KkpF5lb5QWs/UJnaXJEbz_I/AAAAAAAADk8/uBPIGFkeZWc/s1600/GrinchHeart.png
Don't you mean towers?
Where and how did you find Dae Luna?
5474493
I got lucky while searching through youtube for decent pony songs. I honestly don't remember what combination of videos led me to that particular song, but I know that the moment I heard it all the way through, I saved it instantly.
The song made me tear up a bit
Ooh! Ship, ship.
Aren't you too with your powers?
i was listening to feelings by infected mushroom at the end there, woah, almost a better fit in my opinion! ;)
And then again, maybe not XD
The final song you chose was hauntingly beautiful. I closed my eyes and listened and before i knew it there were tears in my eyes.
quoting John Mulaney... "He was an asshole. and you don't leave town, if you're an asshole."
Nooooo, you are, Seth. You are constantly making a big deal out of everything. Learn to shut the fuck up once in a while.
My god. He's learning.
7340254
Man, when did he say that. Not posing this as me calling BS, I can't actually remember.