Quiet

by Koariangel

3. Nerves

Author's Note:

Hello guys, a little disclaimer:
This color means the whole choir is singing
This color means both soloists are singing
This color means only Fluttershy sings
This color is only Big Macintosh. For some reason, it sometimes appears as orange, despite being the same color code.

Enjoy!

"What?!" Fluttershy flinched and blushed as her louder-than-average shriek echoed within the small shop. Rarity offered her a half-pleading, half-apologetic smile.

"Well, your voices are just so deliciously opposite. His bass matches your soprano perfectly. Now, if you don't want to do it after three practices, as we agreed before, I or Torch Song can do it instead, or we can scrap the song all together. But for now, just try? Preeeetty pleeease?" Rarity put on her best pouty-face. The other choir members spoke up as well.

"I agree. I wouldn't mind singing it, but your voice is to die for, Fluttershy. I think it's a good match," Torch Song chimed in, her one errant strand of hair swaying with her words.

"I'd like to hear it too. Just once, Fluttershy?" Toe Tapper seconded the notion. Fluttershy squeaked and hid behind her hair under their praise. It was somewhat reassuring that they had such good things to say about her- especially when she always feared the opposite- but she was still unnerved by the attention. Her eyes wandered to her left, where Big Macintosh stood by his stand, looking down at her. For no particular reason she asked,

"W-what do y-you think?" The response didn't take long.

"Eeyup." She figured this meant he supported the group consensus.

"Y-you wouldn't mind working with me?" She knew that working on a duet would be a bit different than working in a group; they had to be able to blend with each other's voice, and read each other's visual cues.

"Nope." It occurred to her that he was smiling the whole time. She hoped his patience would hold out.

"Then...o-okay," her compliance was a silent as a mouse's sneeze but made Rarity let out a joyful squeal.

"Eeeee! Thank you thank you thank you!!! Alright everypony, let's give this a rough run; don't think you have to be perfect. This is the first time we are going through it after all." Rarity made it a point to look at Fluttershy when she said this; she knew that if Fluttershy thought she did anything short of perfection, she would berate and judge herself mush harsher than the rest of them would. The pegasus nodded her head silently at her friend's nonverbal statement.

With that, the other three PonyTones turned to face their stands, which were purposely turned away from Fluttershy, so she could at least sing without worrying about anyone looking at her. Big Mac was the only one that didn't turn entirely away. Since they would now be singing together (in a different way than before) he had to position himself next to her so they could catch each other's cues. He still made it a point to not look her way, save for one polite side smile. It helped only slightly. Fluttershy stood up a little straighter to let her voice flow. Rarity's horn began to glow as she started the metronome that was sitting on a nearby table. The steady, rhythmic click click click click began and Toe Tapper, living up to his name, followed the beat with his hoof.

"A one, two, three, four..."

Leaves are falling, chills are freezing
We brace for winter's stoooorm.
But there's something about the days of cold
That makes us feel so waaaaarm.

Holidays and family stays
Help to join our heaaaaarts
From Bitsburg, Couldsdale, Canterlot
We're never far apaaaaart.

Cheeks are rosy, nice and cozy
As we sing our sooongs (Bum bum bum BumBum)
Cocoa, cider, hearths and fires
To last all season looooong. (Bum bum bum BumBum)

Rakin' piles, travelin' miles
Just to share our cheeeeer (Ah ah AaaahAaaaaah)
Food everywhere, with friends we share
They come 'round every yeeear. (Ah ah AaaahAaaaah)

Fall and winter come and go,
Pumpkin pie and mistletooooe.
New calendar, a brand new year
But what we seek's always heeeere.

We come, we sing, and we partake,
Of all the love that we can take.
Tis the season
The feelings right
The warmth that sets our hearts aliiiiiiiight

Fall and winter come and go,
Pumpkin pie and mistletooooe.
New calendar, a brand new year
But what we seek's always heeeere.

As the seasons take their toll
As one more year comes to a close.
We'll be waiting for the time love
When snow and leaves fall from abooooooove.

The song came to an end, the clicking of the metronome filling the silence until Rarity stopped it. "That was remarkable, everypony!! The best trial run I think we've ever had. Especially you two," she pointed a hoof at Fluttershy and Big Mac. The former squeaked and immediately hid behind her hair. "That was just divine. I knew this was a good idea. Make sure that you two get lots of practice with each other. Keep up the good work." She turned from the two soloists to the other members, ready to start critiquing and seeing where improvements could be made. Fluttershy peeked curiously through her hair at her friend. Rarity really got passionate when it came to the choir. With the mare's attention to detail it made sense, but it was still interesting to see her so excited and worked up.

"Nice," A voice next to Fluttershy stated, causing her to let out a barely audible shriek and jump about two hoofs to the right. She'd almost forgotten Big Macintosh was still standing there. You were just singing with him Fluttershy. It's not like he was going to vanish into thin air! The pegasus shook her head a couple times before remembering her manners; he had said something, hadn't he?

"Um, e-excuse me?" she mumbled shyly, her ears flopped down.

"Nice, yer singin'." He smiled and seemed sincere; being a relative of Apple Jack, she found it very unlikely that he'd lie. She felt her cheeks blaze as red as the stallion's coat as she looked bashfully at the ground.

"Oh...t-thanks." He didn't hate it! He didn't boo me. He wasn't insulted by sharing the stage with me. Maybe I might be able to do this...but he's only one pony. There could be one in the audience that hates me. Oh my! What if there's dozens? Hundreds? What if I get booed of the stage?! What if- oh please don't let them have tomatoes! Maybe I could dodge them... or maybe I could just stay at home, in my bed with my teddy bear. Yes, I like that-

"Still nervous?" Big Mac's voice brought her back to Equestria.

"No- I mean...is it that obvious?" She realized that she was looking down at him, and he was looking up at her. She heard flapping and realized that it was from her own wings; they had somehow lifted her off the ground again as her nerves raced. She hadn't even noticed.

"Uh....Eeyup," he answered simply.

I really need to break that habit. She looked over quickly and realized that the other PonyTones hadn't noticed, with their backs still turned. She let out a sigh of relief before it turned into a startled gasp. The stallion below her had gripped her her tail in his teeth, tugging just slightly, bringing her back to the ground. Hmm, so that's where Apple Jack gets it from, Fluttershy thought, remembering how many times her earth pony friend had used the tactic to reel in Rainbow Dash. She looked shyly over at Big Mac; she didn't really know him like that, and yet he took the liberty to bring her back to earth... in the most literal way possible. With her now planted on the floor, her companion stated a simple word,

"Relax." So simple, in fact the word "simple" kept floating around her head like an annoying gnat.

"That's easier said than done," she said in a low voice, brushing the ground with her hoof. "I mean, how am I supposed to get over the hundreds of eyes watching us, judging us? Or the ears, that are listening for that one errant note? Or...or-gah!"She felt the familiar tug on her rear as he caught a hold of her tail as she began to rise in the air again. Huh, I guess that is pretty effective. "Sorry," she mumbled, looking of to the side as she planted her rear on the ground.

"Told ya: breathe," he stated calmly. Fluttershy noticed that he now kept his left front hoof placed firmly atop her long tail as it lay on the floor; she wouldn't be able to get carried away now. She let out a sigh at his encouragement.

"I feel like I'm going to need a lot more than just deep breathing... like a miracle."

"'S a start," he shrugged, offering her a kind smile. It was kind of contagious, as Fluttershy felt the corner of her own mouth curve upward. She replayed his words in her head before realizing something: they were words. The last few minutes were probably the most she'd ever heard him speak, to date. She also got the pleasure of hearing other words from his vocabulary other than "Eeyup," or "Nope." And all for the sake of making her feel more assured and relaxed.

He really is just a big teddy bear. "Thanks... you know, again," she sincerely. She honestly felt that at least a partial weight was lifted from her shoulders.

"Eeyup."

Rarity came back over to the soloists, ready to inform them on how they could improve for the next practice. "Okay you two, you both have good tone and volume. You just have to work on your timing and....um, Big Mac?" She paused in her notes to raise an inquisitive eyebrow at the earth pony.

"Eeyup?"

"...Why are you standing on Fluttershy's tail?"

Comments

[StarburstFanatic]

He said words, Big Mac said words!!!! I loved this. I like the progression of them growing closer to each other too. I need more!

[BobtheLurker]

Adorable bit of character growth there.

[RaylanKrios]

Keep up the good work

[Anmynous]

Maybe it would make more sense if I heard it aloud, but it feels like the rhytm of the song goes awry towards the end. In particular, 'everywhere' takes so long to say it's almost enough for an entire line on its own, yet it's squeezed in like it was aa single syllable...

If purple is both of them singing, what's orange?

's a nice song, btw. Entire chapter is really, but I don't often see a song made from scratch like that, so kudos.

[Koariangel]

5306532

Thanks for the feedback. I know the rhythm gets wonky, maybe I'll go back in and fix it soon; I just wanted to come up with something original.

The orange text is actually red, but for some reason it sometimes shows up as orange, despite the code it uses; I'll try and fix that as well