Brayside Crush

by Outlaw Quadrant

14 - Face the Music

“Are you ready to party tonight? I thought I’d put on my birthday suit for the occasion but I wear that all the time.”

A few minutes before sunset, crowds filed into the seating area in front of the main stage for the first act of many. Already, the comedian in front of the microphone was eliciting a few laughs from the early arrivals. As more took their seats, he switched to the audience participation portion where he called ponies on stage to be assistants for whatever buffoonery he had planned.

Behind the curtains, the tropical band that was at the train station earlier waited their turn along with a few new faces. With more room to operate, they were ready to step out and entertain with some traditional Brayside music and fire dances. The moment they left the backstage area, a new group ascended the stairs. They sported white shirts with black vests and matching ties but they gave the impression these ponies had just waged a long gritty war inside a thunderstorm.

The pony responsible for the style was the last to reach the backstage area and was quick to snip at some loose threads off Vinyl’s vest. “There we go. Can’t have you going out there like that,” Rarity quipped as her scissors floated onto a table.”

“Chill, Rar. It’s not like I’m front and center,” Vinyl answered, adjusting her tie to a looser knot. “What matters is that we get these ponies jamming.”

“Speakers are all good,” noted Hipster Amps, dropping in from a rope. “Like, you could be anywhere in town and they’ll be able to hear us.”

“Oh. They will?” Octavia bobbled her wand but she held onto it. “In that case, then we’ll do our best! Nothing but our best!”

Vinyl raised a hoof, “Confidence, Tavi! Liking it!”

She expected a soft bump but received a emphatic slap. “Oof! Trying to be, Vinyl. Anything for my orchestra.”

“That’s what I like to hear,” Blossom hollered as she arrived backstage along with Spike. “Aloha, everypony! Glad to see all of you here!”

“All of us except our two aerial stars,” Rarity commented, looking around the area.

“Rainbow’s in the dressing room with Fluttershy,” Spike reassured. “Swift, well—”

“Don’t worry about that. He’ll be here,” Blossom stated with a firm nod. “I know he will.”

---

Inside a small shed located behind the stage, Rainbow tugged on a zipper attached to her flight suit. Once she got it all the way up, she examined herself on the floor mirror.

“You look wonderful, Rainbow,” Fluttershy remarked as she looked at her friend’s reflection stretching. “I can’t wait to see you perform tonight! You must be so excited!”

Rainbow snapped on her goggles and exhaled. “I should be, Fluttershy, but I’m not really feeling it right now.”

“Oh, dear.” Rainbow motioned for a nearby belt, which Fluttershy passed on to her, “Are you getting nervous?”

“I wouldn’t say nervous but just a little uneasy.” Rainbow fastened the belt around her body. “This whole deal with Swift, the lack of practice and what I told you girls the other night, it’s… darnit. Sorry. I’m probably making a big deal out of nothing, Fluttershy. I’ll feel a lot better once we finish our routine.”

“You don’t sound that sure, Rainbow.” She then watched her friend hover around the makeshift dressing room. “Um, maybe you should talk to him before you two go out tonight.”

Rainbow faltered in mid-air and bumped into a wall. “What?” She landed right in front of Fluttershy. “Tell him what? That I have this silly crush on him? Yeah, right! That’s only going to freak him out and that’s the last thing we need!”

Despite expecting such an answer, Fluttershy frowned anyways. “If you say so, Rainbow.”

“Look.” She whisked a foreleg. “I know what you’re thinking. This is more than just a crush but Rarity’s explanation makes total sense to me. I can’t let myself think there’s anything mushy’s going on. He’s my friend. That’s all there is to it.”

Fluttershy pulled up a stool and sat down. “Well, if anything changes, I’ll be here for you, Rainbow.”

She flashed a smile before going back to the mirror for more exercise. “Thanks but don’t think I’ll need it. Now, where is Swift? It’s getting close to show time.”

---

At the Pineapple-Apple stand, Applejack sipped on one of her own concoctions. The long lines were no more as many were migrating toward the main stage. Nonetheless, she had intended to stay at her post until just before the headline performance began. After all, there were still potential customers roaming about, ponies that weren’t that interested in concerts or waited until now to hop onto less crowded rides or get their face painted.

Blitz, on the other hoof, didn’t seem interested in much of anything. He quietly munched on a pineapple apple turnover, taking occasional glances at the same area he had been looking at throughout the day.

“Pretty nice haul today, don’t you think, Blitz,” Applejack finally asked while handing over the last slice of pie to a customer.

“Uh, huh” he muttered, tossing the bits into a bag beneath the counter.

“I like to think things worked out pretty good for both of us. No need to brag on who did better than who today.”

“Uh, huh.”

Applejack tapped on the counter a few times. “Hmmm. Mind the store for a second. Got a quick errand to run.”

Blitz waved blindly before munching more on his pastry. He should’ve been enjoying every juicy morsel. He should’ve been ecstatic that – despite a split down the middle profit arrangement – he was bringing to Juicy Fruit Fields a major boost in bits and reputation. He should’ve been proud of himself for providing the solution to the seagull dilemma and earning a hearty meal as a reward. None of that seemed to matter, though. There was one thing he wanted but just couldn’t have.

If only he had the courage.

“Change of plans,” Blitz heard from behind him.

He sighed before turning, “Applejack, what are you, you… w–what?”

Standing beside one farm pony was another one, the curly green hair mare and a cartful of melon slices, pies and drinks. A soft light then shone down on her, appropriate for the angel that has come down to see him. In reality, all the light posts around the area had flickered on for the approaching night.

“Misty here’s going to do some selling alongside with you,” Applejack stated, giving Blitz a knowing wink. “I’m almost out of apples anyways and I want to secure my haul for today. Thought it would be nice to give somepony my spot for a little while and I couldn’t think of anypony more deserving.”

“I hope you don’t mind,” added Misty.

Stunned! She was addressing him! Directly! Blitz was unprepared for such an occasion like this. His head motioned agreement, his voice box rendered useless.

Applejack pulled out several full bags and tossed them onto her back. “Whew! Celestia, all mighty! How do bank robbers do this? Well, I’ll see you later tonight! You two have fun, you hear?”

Before he knew it, Blitz was alone with the unicorn of his dreams. She began levitating her foodstuffs onto the counter and if this was any other mare in the world, he knew exactly what to do. Irrational fear is such a frustrating hindrance.

Dude! Help her!

Misty then tried picking up an entire crate of melons only for her magic aura to fade.

Out of impulse, he rushed for the save. “Blitz, yeah,” he cheered, raising the crate above his head. “That’s how—” Melons dropped to the ground along with pieces of wood. “Oh, crud.”

She snickered in a way that chipped away at his embarrassment. “I’m so sorry! I was going to say that crate had a crack on it!”

“It, it did?” He aided her in picking up the melons. “I should’ve known it was going to break.”

“Don’t be hard on yourself. You were just trying to help. I should’ve warned you sooner.” Misty chuckled as she placed the last melon on the counter. “You were standing right by me and I didn’t even warn you about it. Funny, it just dawned on me how little we talk to each other. Have you noticed that at all?”

Blitz had so many instances of moments where he couldn’t get a word in with her, he could write a book about them — if he could write anything resembling competence. “A, a little bit.”

“Maybe it’s because there’s so much animosity between all the fruit families, I try to stay low-key. That way, I’m not caught up in anything. You seem nice, though.”

“I am?” His chest swelled with cockiness. “Yeah, I guess I’m—”

“Oh, customers! A gracious welcome to our humble stand! How can I best serve all of you today?”

Thanks to the arrival of a family of five, Blitz lost attention from the dashing unicorn. It was but a minor setback on what was a personal victory. Not only did she acknowledge his existence, he got a compliment out of it. Nice, Misty Honeydew thought he was nice.

He could work with that.

---

Ten minutes to show time.

Twilight tapped her hoof on the grass, watching Widget and Pinkie fiddle with their experimental cannon. On occasion, she took note of Ember Blaze scrutinizing the rows of fireworks and making constant annotations on his clipboard. Was that a demerit or compliment he just wrote down, she wondered. All her years of drafting reports gave her an insight on the general tone of anypony’s writing by mere pen movements. Yet every stroke was firm, deliberate and exact. He could’ve been lambasting the fireworks setup or writing a recipe for biscuits.

Eventually, the firepony walked up to Twilight and provided his checklist. “All green for the fireworks show. The only question mark is your little experiment over there.”

“Are you guys done with that yet,” Twilight questioned the two cannon operators.

Widget moved her grease-stained head over the barrel. “Oy! She’ll be ready in time!”

“And I’m ready with the fire retardant, just in case,” Ember scoffed.

“Don’t listen to that crumbum! You tell Blossi the good news!”

Twilight activated her magic and the fireworks site disappeared in a blinding light. Before she could bat an eyelash, she arrived behind the curtains at the main stage. Right away, she noticed the entire orchestra stationed on some curved benches on the left with Octavia standing in the center. On the other side, Vinyl Scratch had her trademark DJ station set up and the rock band besides her was warming up their guitars, drums and cymbals.

From behind Twilight, she heard a tongue click. Twi, Twi! Right on time! Are you here to blow our minds?

“Ha, ha! That was neat, Hipster,” Twilight chirped. “Sounds like you’re ready to go!”

“Nah, not even close,” she remarked, spinning the microphone in mid-air. “All that scratchiness, totally—”

“—love it,” Blossom shrieked as she arrived with Spike. “You’re going to do great, Hipster! So, how about those fireworks, Twilight?”

“Regular, all clear. Fireworks out of our special cannon, um, pending,” Twilight replied. “That should be everything except our fliers.” She scanned the floor before checking the rafters, “Um, aren’t they here already?”

Multiple ponies turned to Blossom, whispering similar questions. “Rainbow’s still in her dressing room. Swift, he’ll be here.”

Hipster moved down her glasses. “Hold up. You saying he’s MIA?”

“Right now, he’s not here but he will be.”

“I can go look for him,” Twilight suggested.

“That’s not necessary. I have faith in him he’ll get here on time,” Blossom retorted as though she’s been interrogated for hours. “Everypony, we’re not going to need Rainbow and Swift for the first few songs anyways. Just go out there and entertain the crowd. They’ll show up on cue. Don’t worry about it, okay?”

Hipster placed her glasses back in place. “You heard the bassy lady! We’re on!”

---

Saturday night is jamming.

Even with four walls surrounding Rainbow and Fluttershy, not only could they hear the strings from a cello and an electric guitar play at the same time, the roar of thousands of fans grabbed ahold of the makeshift shed and shook every loose item onto the floor.

“Sounds like it’s about time for me to head out,” Rainbow casually remarked as she rose from a stool.

Fluttershy nudged the standing mirror toward the wall before it could tip over and add to the noise. “You think? What about Swift? Aren’t you going to need him?”

Rainbow walked to the door but stopped short of turning the knob. “Well, if he’s not here, then, I guess, hmmm.”

“You’re not thinking of going out by yourself, are you?”

She paused a moment. “If I have to, Fluttershy. It’s not like him to… he must have really sprained his wing. Or is it stage fright? Swift has been acting rather, I don’t know. I really thought we had something going last night.”

“Last night?”

Then, the door swung outwards. Standing on the other side was a stallion wearing a sparkling suit.

“Swift,” Fluttershy exclaimed. “You made it!”

“My bad about the time. Took me longer than I thought to get dressed,” Swift remarked, adding a chuckle. “Well, no time to talk. Gotta get set!”

Rainbow joined beside him as he cantered around some outhouses. Fluttershy trailed behind the pair.

“Hey. How’s that wing feeling,” Rainbow asked.

He popped opened his appendages and gave them a quick shake. “No worries there. Good to go!”

“Are we? I mean, we didn’t really settle down on what we’re going to do.”

“Just follow the flow of the music.”

“Huh?”

He bobbed his head to the raucous beat, “Let our wings take over! You know, just be spontaneous! We don’t need to think about our next move! We just do it! It worked last night, didn’t it?”

Such confidence, overflowing to the point where she could slice some off and call it her own. “What’s up with you? You sound so ready for this! It’s like you just flipped a switch! Where’s it coming from?”

“Rainbow, after we’re done, I can explain everything to you. Trust me.”

How could she not, especially with how much his face shone the brightest within her line of sight. Yet there was a peculiarity to it, a blemish to that smile that suggested she was staring at a mask. There wasn’t time to try to peel it off but she had no incentive to do so. She believed she would see what’s behind it soon enough.

Eventually, the three ascended the stage stairs and found Blossom waiting at the top.

“My wonderful stars,” she squealed, hugging both costumed pegasi. “You had me scared for a moment! Now, go on and take your places! You only have a few minutes!”

Rainbow and Swift hovered into the beams on the high ceiling where they landed on the closest one to the tall curtain. From there, they had a sneak peek of what was on the other side.

Within the audience, those with wings floated a few feet in the air so they had room to dance. Others relied on their fellow ponies to surf over the crowd or to get a better view of the oddball combination on stage.

Vinyl Scratch was proving why she was the queen of DJs in Equestria, adding the electric sounds that nopony else on stage could provide along with her customized light sequence. In her role, she barely broke a sweat compared to the rock band and orchestra who fought every second for ideal synchronization. Octavia, in particular, looked at the guitarists as much as the violinists. Considering the speed she waved her wand, it wouldn’t surprise anypony if it suddenly caught on fire and set the stage ablaze. As for Hipster Amps, she had everypony under a spell except she used the sound escaping her lips rather than whatever magic spells she had at her disposal. The more energy oozing from the crowd, the more she moved around the stage – sliding, pumping a hoof, stepping in place or shaking her body.

All together, they elevated the bar to what a Saturday night concert should be and they weren’t done just yet.

“Wow! I’m getting the chills up here,” Rainbow shouted over the roaring crowd, a tremble running through her body. “That is just so, wow!”

Swift gave his wings a shake. “I hear ya! Barely!”

“To think we’re going out there! Whew! Nothing but our best out there will do!”

“No worries! I’ll be right with you all the way through!”

When the beat shifted to one with more pep, she felt his foreleg clasp hers. Once some pyrotechnics went off, it would be their turn to be part of this beach celebration. Yet it was his grab that snatched her attention the most, for it provided a perplexing sensation of anticipation along with an unknown sensation.

She turned her head. “Um, hey, Swift? Is something up with—”

“That’s our cue!”

Rainbow pushed a button on her belt before taking off alongside her dancing partner. They flew straight through the raining sparks until they emerged in open air, well clear of the thousands of ponies at ground level. From there, her mind went into a total blank, her mental notes, her confidence, everything. When she faced him again, her instincts kicked into overdrive. Despite all the eyes tracking their every movement, Rainbow ignored their presence and focused solely on him.

As sparkling gas spewed out of their belts, they allowed Hipster’s lyrics to be their puppet master. Thankfully, the first few minutes was bereft of anything requiring more complex than some simple twirling. There was even a brief period where they split to dance along with their pegasi brethren. This was easy, a little too easy. All this worrying about tonight seemed silly in retrospect.

Then Hipster switched to a song that got the crowd jumping in place. In turn, the dancing duo went with low fly-bys, corkscrews and side-by-side spins, each one executed as though they have been practicing for a lifetime. It may have proven taxing on their wings but the drastic increase in decibels overall was worth the effort.

“We really got them going now,” Rainbow bellowed as she spun around him.

“Last song coming up,” he responded in kind.

“Already? It feels like we just started!”

“Bray–side!” Hipster addressed her roaring audience. “You better get ready because we’re gonna light up the skies! But before we do that, here’s something I made up for two pones I know!”

This time, her lyrics had them dancing close, bumping snouts close. Only now did indecision rear his ugly head but only for an instant. Swift took the lead, starting with a soft twirl to get them back in motion. Once she got back in the groove, the music exploded with energy and they followed suit with their most intricate moves in their skill set. All the while, they remained within inches of each other, breaking physical contact only when it was necessary.

When the song reached its final chorus, Rainbow was no longer thinking of whether her performance was up to her high standards. While the dance was to entertain their audience, she believed this was a moment crafted just for her, a personal gift that only Swift Flying could deliver. Compared to last night, there was something more deliberate to his actions, as though it was trying to deliver a message. If yesterday was a full cup of her favorite drink, today was the last few drops. It tasted even better and yet, there was a tinge of sadness since it would be gone with one final sip.

Suddenly, flashing lights lit up the night sky. Hipster’s microphone went silent while the rock band and orchestra continued playing a triumphant tune. Those on the ground cheered on the crackling sparks that multiplied by the second.

“Rainbow!” Swift tugged on her suit. “C’mon! Over here!”

She followed him to the main stage’s roof, the best seat in all of Brayside for the fireworks show. Right away, she had the same idea as her partner, removing their sweaty suits off their bodies as soon as possible.

“Ah, yeah! We totally did it,” Rainbow proclaimed, putting aside her goggles. “Whew! Compared to everything else we’ve done before, that wasn’t too bad!”

Swift peeled off his head mask. “Yeah. I guess you could say that, Rainbow.”

“Um, you okay,” she asked, her enthusiasm waning. “You sound off. Did you tweak your wing again?”

“Nah. It’s not that.” His ears flattened. “It’s about what I said before we started. You know, there was something I wanted to explain to you?”

“Oh, that.” Rainbow banged her hooves together. “Oh! Heh, heh. I got a feeling on what that is.”

His wings came unfurled. “W–what? You do?”

She nodded. “Oh, yeah. After that performance, it all makes perfect sense. You can’t hide anything from me.”

“Y–you figured it out already,” he muttered, staring down and away from her. “Rainbow, I know it’s—”

“You were practicing in secret, weren’t you?”

Stricken by a momentary inability to speak, Swift slowly moved his head to face her again. “Eh?”

“Don’t deny it, Swift. You wanted to be sure at least one of us wasn’t nervous about tonight. I bet you planned it out so that if I started to really screw up, you’d take over. You must have put in a crazy number of hours.”

“What? No. That’s not it.”

Ignoring him, “Heh. Wouldn’t be surprised if you partnered up with another pegasus to test out some stuff. You’re a sneaky one!”

“Rainbow. You’ve got it all wrong,” he persisted with more volume.

“You just weren’t expecting that I wouldn’t be nervous at all! Tsk, tsk, tsk. Well, let me tell you that—”

“I really like you, Rainbow!”

“—you’re looking at a future Wonder… w–what, what did you say? Swift?”

His head turned downwards and his eyes drifted toward the fireworks. “I, really like you.”

This wasn’t possible. There was no way in Equestria this was reality. She must have had hearing damage but her short-term memory said her ears were in working order. Swift Flying said exactly what he said not once but twice! When she realized the power of his words, her entire world flipped upside down. What was once recognizable was now foreign, what she thought was true was now false, what held her together came undone. She’s been struck by lightning before but nothing that delivered such a shock like this.

“Swift?” Her lips kept moving but there were no words to utter.

He reached for his hair but in the end, he decided to plant both hooves forward. “I’m sorry. I guess you weren’t ready for that. To be honest, I wasn’t either but I wanted you to know the truth, Rainbow. I wanted you to know why I’ve been acting so weird around you all this time. It was something that I was trying to hide from not only you but also myself. I thought I could just ignore it but I can’t do it, not anymore.”

She said his name again. That was all she could say.

“Rainbow, I’ve been around you long enough to know what type of pony you are. I know that—” He paused, realizing his voice had wavered. “I know that you wouldn’t go for anything more than friendship with anypony. That’s just not your thing. I’m not going to stand here and try to convince you to change your mind about that. I won’t even ask you to answer me. I just wanted you to understand that tonight was, um, I guess I wanted you to enjoy doing something like that because we might not be able to do that again for a while.”

“Huh?”

“N–now, I don’t want you to think we’re not friends anymore. That hasn’t changed. It’s just that, well, I need time to deal with this, these… what I feel about you. I, um, I’ll have to get over them, so it might be best if we don’t see each other for a while. I hope that’s okay with you.”

There was too much too digest, especially with a scrambled mind unable to piece itself back together. After an eternity, “O–okay.”

“Okay,” he responded in a faint whisper before turning toward the sky. “I’ll, I’ll see you later.”

She watched him meander away from the festival site like a bird struck by a hunter’s bullet, struggling to stay aloft.

Coincidently, what sounded like a gun rang off in the distance. The source, a cannon aimed directly at the fireworks, shot one bright round into the air. Moments later, it exploded as a meager spark within the more impressive display of colors.

“That’s it? I’m not sure if I would call that a success or a failure,” remarked the fire pony standing close to the smoldering device. “Considering I’m not declaring a five-alarm fire right now, I believe congratulations are in order, Miss Widget. Just be sure to clean up once you’re finished here.”

“You little–” Widget marched toward the departing Fire Ember but Pinkie Pie restrained her.

“Fireworks, Widge,” Pinkie encouraged with a strained smile. “You should be happy about that!”

Once the unicorn relaxed, she pushed a button on the cannon. Seconds later, the device stopped smoking with a few audible clunks. “I should be, Pink.” She rested against her device. “I know I should be but I failed in what I really wanted to do.”

“Not really.” Pinkie twirled a screwdriver, “Sure, it didn’t go off on the night you wanted it to but look at it. All in one piece. Just like the original party cannon. All we have to do is keep fixing it until it finally works! Today, ponies think they know you can do fireworks but tomorrow, you’ll really show them!”

Widget reached out and hugged her. “Oy! Then we’ll fix it! Together!”

---

As the last of the fireworks dimmed, Misty Honeydew remained standing atop stand’s counter, watching the smoke dissipate. “That was so pretty,” she remarked, holding a hoof to her chest.

“Not as pretty as you are,” Blitz mumbled to himself.

“What did you say? I couldn’t quite hear you.”

His eyes darted sideways. “Nothing! Nothing.” He helped her get down. “Just thinking aloud about… stuff.”

She giggled as she reached for a bag of sliced melons. “Yeah, I do that too. So much in your head, you just have to let it out, even if nopony’s around.” Misty took a bite. “That’s how it usually is for me. I don’t get to talk with other ponies that much.”

“You don’t,” he asked while preparing a cup of pineapple juice.

“No. I guess I’ve always been a little shy. All the fruit family ponies are always loud and in your face and Blossom, well, she’s nice but I try to not push her buttons, if you know what I mean.”

Juice squirted out of his nostrils. “Y–yeah! I hear ya!”

Misty swallowed the last slice. “But this is nice. I don’t usually have a pony that’s willing to stand around and just listen to what I have to say, even if it isn’t that interesting. Thank you, Blitz.”

“Oh?” He juggled his cup until making it drop on the nearby wastebasket. “Ahem. Yeah, yeah! That’s me! The listening pony stallion… something. Anytime you want an ear, I’m, um, here.”

“Really?”

What a wonderfully delightful smile. His heart was now a pile of mush waiting for some piping hot gravy to make it complete. This was his time to make his move. “Totally. Um, Misty? Hey, just a thought but you think we could—”

“Howdy, partners!” Applejack pounded on the stand’s counter. “Woo wee! Y’all saw them fireworks? Quite a treat, wasn’t it?”

No surprise, another interruption. “They were gnarly,” Blitz grumbled, rolling his eyes. “What are you doing here?”

“Just wanted to invite both of you to the after party! I’m telling ya, this night’s just getting started!”

“Why not,” Misty replied. “We just need to clean up here first.”

As the three packed up their remaining foodstuffs and swept up fruit peels, a cyan pegasus flew directly overhead.

“Huh.” Applejack squinted. “I guess Rainbow’s hitting the hay early. Oh, well. She’s probably had a busy night anyways.”

Comments

[Pontiac56]

Ooh, damn. So he's accepted the fact that he has feelings, but after hearing Rainbow's discussion with Fluttershy and Rarity, he's decided he wants to temporarily distance himself from her until his feelings go away. Meanwhile Rainbow is struggling with feelings of her own, and wants to believe they are just a hero crush rather then legitimate feelings.

I really have no idea how this is going to go. Whether Rainbow will decide she wants Swift, or whether they'll both distance themselves so they can go back to just being friends and nothing more.

[RainDusk]

Rely good chapter

[Outlaw Quadrant]

6890269 You pretty much nailed it.

I'll keep you guessing until the end. Which direction will I go? Hmmmmm.

[Dustmane]

I honestly believe this is on the way to be a fantastic finish, well fitting to a spectacular series.

[Dustchu]

One last chapter, and it all ends... my stomach is doing flips! Reading these is, whew... amazing, gawd I loved this trilogy man, hehehe! I lvoe this pairing, Swift and dash are so frigging awesome! :D

ONWARD!

TO THE FINISH!

[redmar]

The part with Blitz and Misty was nice I get impression that Applejack knew that Blitz was interested in Misty.