Chapter 1 - Meeting the Five
A DJ for Hire
The bass, the beats, and the melodies.
That was all that ran through my mind as I stood behind the mix table, throwing out tunes for the Wonderbolts as they did their weekly performances. This one, however, was one of the more important ones for the Bolts. This one, the Princesses were attending, as well as a photographer for the biggest magazine in all of Equestria, Bridle Mares Weekly. The bolts were on their A-game. Every trick, every tight twist and turn, every acrobatic maneuver, was absolutely flawless. My music was fitting their routine perfectly, each and every beat highlighting some aspect of their aerial performance. Everything was going according to plan.
Then, disaster struck.
As the Bolts came in for a high-speed fly-by, I lined up a track that would blow them away. It would build, and then explode as they arc’d out of the flyby. Just as I placed the record on the turntable, however, I knew something was wrong. The beat was too fast, there wasn’t nearly enough bass, and the track didn’t build.
I had made a terrible mistake. I had put the wrong record up on the mixer. I couldn’t stop now, as the bolts had already begun their pass, and they were fast approaching the stands. I made due with the track as much as possible; I turned the bass up as much as possible, I placed my wing on the record to slow it down as much as I could, and I fiddled with the treble bar until the track resembled something like that of a slow and steady mosh track, but the damage was done. There was no way I could make a track like that explode at the end, and as they crossed the mix table, I saw Spitfire look back at me... I knew I was in trouble... I tried my best to make the track climax, but the record was too repetitive, and even when I lifted my wing to speed the track back up, there was still not enough of a climax to make it really pop. The bolts exited their arc and performed a few more aerial stunts, but the show was otherwise over. As they came back down to the middle of the arena and landed on the central cloud column, the crowds went wild, as they always did. Then Spitfire took up the mic and gave her regular speech.
“Thank you, everypony. You always make these performances worthwhile! As the captain of the Wonderbolts, I think I speak for all of us when I say ‘we love the energy you bring to these shows, just as much we love the ponies who bring the energy!’ Today was a bit of a special performance, as we have the two rulers of Equestria, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna in the crowds! Give it up for our benevolent rulers!” She paused for the applause and boy did it come. She interjected, and the crowd calmed down slightly, if only enough for her voice to be audible.
“And no performance would be as amazing as it is without the music to back it up, and our faithful DJ, Freq’ Torque, delivered as always! Give it up for Torque!”
The response, broke my heart. The usual roar of applause and cheers was replaced by a small drone of partially thrilled ‘woots’ and half-hearted ‘woo-hoos,’ and the applause was almost non-existent. I looked up to the bolts, and what I saw sealed my depression. Spitfire’s face fell into a mask of sadness, Soarin’ and Fleetfoot looked at each other with disappointment plastered on their faces, and Rapidfire...just looked defeated. I almost felt like crying, but I kept my composure, and gave a small bow. Spitfire took up the mic again, but much of her energy had gone from her voice.
“Alright, everypony, we’ll be available for autographs for only an hour after the show, and then we have to head out. But we all love to have you come and see our shows, ‘cause it always makes us smile to see such an amazing audience. So thanks for coming to see us fly today, and we hope to see you again soon!”
With that, the bolts flew off and landed down on the stands, where they were almost instantly swarmed by photographers and adoring fans. I couldn’t help but smile as I saw one of Soarin’s admirers present him with a pie. His face practically exploded in excitement as he gobbled down the pastry. I then began to pack up my equipment, a little more thoroughly than usual. I had a sickening feeling that this was to be my last performance. I took off my shades and put them in my saddlebag. A single tear escaped from my emerald green eyes as I blinked, rolling down my black fur and onto the mix table below. I wiped my snout, and went back to packing up. I wrapped the cords that supplied the power to the mix table up and placed them in the trunk along with the mix table itself. The last thing I packed away was my record collection. I looked at the record I had played that had ended up messing up the whole routine and took a good look at it. I saw my reflection in the shiny black surface of it, and was disgusted with what stared back at me. In a fit of rage, I threw the record off the cloud and watched as it plummeted towards the earth below. I flew off the mix stand and out to a small cloud formation not far from the arena where I could wallow in peace. I flopped down on the cloud, sending small tufts of the fluff into the air. My blue mane flopped onto my face, the red and silver highlights standing out in stark contrast to the blue. My mane was always strangely colored, but then again, I was always a strange pony. My line of work as a DJ was evidence of that fact. Well, former DJ, as I was sure that today’s screw up would surely lead to my being fired. I laid there for what seemed like hours, just going over what went wrong in my head, when I heard a pair of wings flapping towards me.
Oh great, I thought to myself, here she comes.
“Hey there, Torque,” sounded Spitfire’s voice from above me. I looked up, with my eyes bloodshot from stress and crying. She didn’t have her usual playful or happy grin about her. In fact, she looked solemn and tired. She landed behind me and sighed heavily. “We need to talk.”
I lifted my head to look back at her, but I could only turn about halfway around, before my neck wouldn’t allow for any further movement. With an exasperated sigh, I slowly stood up and turned to face her, my head hanging low. I sat back on my haunches and looked into her face. Her orange eyes burned with a sorrowful glow, which served to only deepen my depression. I knew what she was going to say to me, it was obvious. What I didn’t know was how she would break it to me, and how she would react. She opened her mouth to speak, but I interrupted her.
“Just say it,” I mumbled, “I messed up. I know I did, and it totally ruined the performance. I’m such a failure, and I understand why you’re firing me. I would too, were I in your position.” I flopped down onto my stomach again, my mane splayed across my face, coincidentally covering my eyes as I began to cry once again. Spitfire slowly walked up and nudged my side, to which I responded by looking up at her with a teary expression.
“Well, yeah, you kinda did mess up, Torq’,” she began with a small smirk, “but I didn’t think it messed up the WHOLE performance, just that one part.” I had to smile at that; even in a situation like this, she could always make me smile. Then her smile melted away into a frown as she continued. “However, the rest of the Bolts think that it’s high time you found a new job.” I looked back at the white fluffy surface beneath my body, and felt my eyes well up again.
“I-I’m sorry, I...” I began.
“Don’t apologize; they came to that decision on their own.” Spitfire interrupted with a slight chuckle. “I protested, but you know how stubborn Soarin’ is when his mind is made up, and besides, I think this is a great opportunity for you. You can do anything you want now. You can make a name for yourself out in the wide wonderful world of Equestria.” I looked up at her once again, this time with a small smile inching across my face.
Then she did something unexpected. She pushed me off the cloud.
I flailed about for a few seconds until I righted myself and flapped my black wings enough to reach hover speed. Then I flew back to where Spitfire had pushed me off, ready to get her back. What I found was very different from what I had expected.
She was sitting on her haunches with that same solemn smile she had earlier. I landed next to her and sat, giving her a small shove. She gave a small chuckle, then sighed.
“You know that you always made these performances seem more complete, right?” She said finally.
I looked away slowly. “Yeah, you always say that, but it doesn’t ease the pain of being fired.”
She nodded slowly, and then turned to face me. “Listen, I may have a job opportunity that I think you should check out. My friend Vinyl Scratch, or DJ Pon-3 as her stage name goes, DJ’s for this club down in Ponyville, Club Pon-3, and she’s gotten pretty big. She’s going on tour in two days, and because the ponies didn’t want the place closed down, she put up an ad for a new DJ to take over. So, what do you say?”
This was news to me, but it was good news. I brightened up, if only slightly, as I nodded in agreement.
“Sure, I’ll check it out.” I let out a deep breath and smiled at her. “Thanks, Spitfire. It’s been an honor working with you and the Bolts, and I appreciate the information. I’ll miss you all.” I gave her a quick hug before I flew off to gather my few possessions. I was planning on leaving the mixing equipment behind for the Wonderbolts to give to their next DJ. Before I could get far though, she called out to me again.
“Hey, Torq’! There’s a Battle of the Bands going on over in Manehattan tomorrow night, between some band called Pony Force and some fairly small band called… The Lost Cause, I think. I remember you talking about The Lost Cause with Rapidfire the other day during practice, so I figured I’d let you know.” I shot her a happy smile as I flew off to grab my saddlebags. As I flew back, I called out to her.
“Thanks Spitfire, I could really use a good concert to cheer me up, and with one of my favorite small bands nonetheless! I’m going to miss you and that team of yours, but I’ve gotta go and get to Manehattan. I don’t wanna miss it. See you around!”
With that, I made my way out into the world with a goal: to get that DJ job in Ponyville.
…Right after this concert…
It was a long flight, but I finally reached Manehattan early the next morning. I went to a hotel and got a room for the day, so I would be able to get some sleep before the long night ahead of me.
However, I barely got an hour’s worth of rest, I was too busy going over what had happened the day before, and I fell back into a depressed state. Before I knew it, it was 7 o’clock, and I had to head over to the battle. With my saddlebags around my midsection, I paid for my room and was on my way. It wasn’t too hard to find the place where the battle was to go down, just follow the promotional signs posted on every flat surface in the city. I arrived just as the battle was about to begin.
Then, I let the music wash over me, and I drifted off into bliss for a while.
~~~~~~~~~~
You had me at Shenanigans
“If I had a million bits, I’d buy your looooooooooooove!” I sang somewhat quietly to myself. “Ugh! Bored, bored, bored, bored! Boredom! Boredumb!”
Trains are boring. I mean, REALLY boring! There are about three things to do on a train. I’m tired of sleeping, the landscape has turned into a depressing brown color, and I’ve completely given up talking to anypony on this train.
If only I had actually bothered to wake up and fix the wheel on the freaking chariot! Tch, well, I wouldn’t be on a train to ‘bumbuck’ nowhere… If I had done my job right, Prince Blueblood’s chariot wouldn’t have broken mid-landing; throwing the pompous pony to the ground. He didn’t get hurt; he just got to eat a bit of dirt.
“You would not believe how much political pull a Prince has!” I commented dryly to myself. The very next day, I had a royal decree delivered to my apartment stating that I, “Was hereby banished from the City of Canterlot for (my) gross negligence.” Blah, blah, blah.
I yawned and stretched some before diving back into my head to make another poor attempt at relieving some of the boredom. How did that song go again? My brain shrugs... Well, fine! I decided it was time to listen to some of that wonderful ‘wub wub’ music that the newish DJ, (Scratch?), made. My brain starts to cry in response.
My name is Satin, and my sin is sloth. If you were to just glance at me, you could tell a lot about me from a quick once over. I’m an overly blue stallion with a mane of darkish purple with a streak of black running through the center of it. Both my mane and tail are cropped short so I don’t have to deal with them. I’ve never really had to work for much in my life, due to my… situation. A bit of a back-story on that. I was born with my cutie mark. As far as I know, this has never happened before, and I haven’t looked into it because… well, who cares? I’ve been calling my cutie mark affectionately, ‘The Jack’; it’s a red diamond, with a large black ‘J’ in it. I used to think I was meant to be some famous poker player, and don’t get me wrong I play well enough. I won most local tournament stuff, but when I tried to take myself to the big leagues in Las Pegasus, I got bounced out of there in the second round. Throughout my life I found when I actually tried to do something, I could succeed. I’m what you’d call a “Jack of all Trades.” Being good at anything makes most things fairly boring, though. I’ve taken to just taking odd jobs to make enough bits to get by and just enjoy life. That’s what that damn chariot job was supposed to be. Some mechanic gets sick, I swoop in to save the day, get paid a flank load of bits, and then live.
Eh, best not to dwell on the past.
I glanced into my saddlebags, looking for something to do. After rooting around for a bit, I found my flask and quickly unscrewed it with a quick twist of my magic and tried to take a drink only to find it completely empty.
Well, that’s disheartening. I placed the flask back in my saddlebag. *sigh* “I guess I’ll have to spend the rest of the trip sober. Wait a tick, I forgot about the backup flask!” I dug deep into my saddlebags. “Where are you, you keeper of the cocktail, you holder of the hooch, you chest of… I got nothing.”
“AH HA! Success!” I took a long drink out of it and quickly realized my mistake. I gagged as the strongest, cheapest alcohol I could find slid down my throat.
I coughed as what was basically rubbing alcohol tried to make its way back up. “OH NO YOU DON’T!” I struggled uncomfortably against my gag reflex. My stomach slowly calmed back down. Then I exhaled and took another, slower drink. It’s awful but I’m tired of consciousness. As the warmth began to fill my body, a thought popped into my head.
“Well, things can only get better from here, right?”
The haze floated into my vision, sealing my fate. I passed out soon afterward with a comfortable smile on my face.
~~~~~~~~~~
A Bad Day
The sun shone down hotly on the train tracks. In the distance, a western-style town could just barely be seen. A few birds flew over head, but not much else stirred out on the deserted land. That is, except for the one lone figure following the tracks. A light orange stallion with a red, orange and yellow, three-toned fiery mane trotted along, gazing off into the distance. That’s me. I have yellow eyes and my cutie mark is what appears to be a multi-tailed fox. I have a plain, stone-faced look on; I’m used to being out alone like this. As I walked, I peered up at the birds swerving this way and that as if they had no where they needed to be.
“Ugh… I hate this! Every time I find a new town to work at, somethin’ causes me to lose my cool and then it’s off to the next place! I really need to get this problem under control soon…” I thought to myself as I stared off towards the town ahead.
My name is Ruddy Knuckles, but, because I’ve never liked my name, hardly anypony knows me by it. I go by Ryku, which was the alias I made for myself out of a few of the letters of my original name. I haven’t gone by ‘Ruddy’ in a long time.
I’ve never liked to be around other ponies unless I had to, so being secluded makes me feel a bit more… comfortable. Maybe that was the reason that the sound of an incoming train from behind me made my coat stand on end. I moved a few steps away from the tracks and turned to face the train as it neared my position.
As the train came to a halt, the front most stallion asked, “Hey, you there! Any reason you’re out here in the sun?”
I glared at the pony. “I’m not much for riding trains. Why? Somethin’ wrong with walkin’ where I want to go?”
The stallion shrunk back a little at the cold sound of my words. “H-Hey, settle down a little, mister! I was just offering to give you a ride. We have some free space in the back…”
I thought for a moment and sighed. I AM fairly tired, and the nearest town was still a few miles down the road. “Oh… alright. Sorry for snappin’ at you. I’m not in the best of moods right now. Thanks for the ride.”
“Heh, not a problem! Always willing to help a guy out!” The leader of the group said happily, waiting for me to jump on before getting his team to start moving again.
I jumped on the back car of the train and went out on the little platform on the back. “At least I can rest a little and still be away from the other passengers like this…”
“Hey! You! Ruffian!” A voice sounded behind me.
*Sigh* “So much for that…” I turned around to see a red pony with a green mane and an apple with a money sign on it for a cutie mark standing there, staring daggers at me. “What could you possibly want with me? I just want to be alone…”
“Ah don’t much care what ya want! Ya delayed mah important meetin’ in Appleloosa! What do ya got to say fer yerself?” The persistent pony said.
I held myself back as best I could. “Look, sir, I didn’t ask for the train to stop for me. It just did. You got a problem with the drivers stoppin’ for me? Take it up with them.”
“Don’t ya lie to me! Ah can smell a liar a mile away! If Ah’m late ‘cause a you, it’s comin’ outta yer hide!”
I’d had enough after that. “You wanna try and threaten me when I’ve done nothin’ but jump on the train?! Get the buck outta my face, you snobby jack-flank!” To add emphasis on the last word, I head-butted my verbal attacker back into the train and slammed the metal door to the back car shut, sealing myself out on the little platform. *Sigh* “Some ponies…”
The rest of the trip was quiet and uneventful, and I slowly calmed down as the train pulled into the station. As soon as it was completely stopped, I hopped off and trotted away quickly. “I need a drink…” I thought to myself as I walked around. Suddenly, I saw what I was looking for. “Hmm… The Salt Block Watering Hole… That ought to do the trick…” I then casually strolled into the bar.
~~~~~~~~~~
A Bet Lost
“Hello Manehattan! I’m Dex, and we are The Lost Cause!” I shouted to the crowd before me.
I’m a very rare type of stallion; I like every type of music known to pony-kind, which is normal, but my appearance is what is rare. I’m a pegasus, but my wings aren’t that of a normal pegasus; they’re dragon’s wings. I have a crimson coat and always wear a black hoodie where ever I go. Even at concerts, I wear it. I never take it off. When approached about it, I always immediately say, “It’s something I grew to love and it has memories tied to it, so buck off.”
My cutie mark is a heart with headphones placed around it. My mane is jet black with blood red bangs, and it hangs over my left eye. My eyes glowed a crimson color from the iris, and if you were in a dark room with just me in it, you’d see them glow.
My band mates, the three ponies who always have my back, are Jake Ripcord, Nick Wammybar, and Tim Stix. Jake is a very talented unicorn, and his cutie mark is a guitar. Nick is a very energetic and friendly pegasus, and his cutie mark is a bass guitar. Tim is an earth pony that acts like a bully, yet is very friendly; he just likes to pick on other ponies. His cutie mark is two crossed drum sticks.
I met my three band mates here in Manehattan where I moved shortly after I fled from my home. I and my new found friends started a band called The Lost Cause. We were pretty good considering we did every type of genre thanks to my talent in music. We were challenged to a battle of the bands a few weeks ago, and we are currently up on stage finishing our last song – A cover of a song that I love to sing.
…“Wait!”
“I'm coming undone!”
“Irate!”
“I'm coming undone!”
“Too late!”
“I'm coming undone!”
“One looks so strong!”
“So delicate!”
“Wait!”
“I'm starting to suffocate!”
“And soon I anticipate!”
“I'm coming undone!”
“One looks so strong!”
“So delicate!”
As I finished the last lyrics and my band mates stopped playing, the crowd went wild. Now all we needed was the vote from the judges. There were three judges, and each judge could give a total of ten points. Unfortunately, we lost, twenty-six to twenty-eight. The other, more famous, band won. We’d bet the other band that if we were to lose, we’d leave Manehattan. “Boy, what a mistake that was!” I thought to myself, sighing quietly.
“There's only room for one epic band in this town!” One of the opposing band members had said. As we were packing our things, a black pegasus approached us.
“Hey buddy! You’re not supposed to be back here!” Tim said with a very angry tone.
“Calm down, Tim. He’s probably just another fan of the other band, come to gloat. Let’s get this over with…” I said with a sad expression.
The black pony stood there and glared at the four of us. “Well? Are you here to gloat, or are you here to just stare at us like some crazed fan?” Tim said, waiting for an insult out of the new pegasus.
“Chill, buddy, I’m not here to laugh at you.” The black pegasus said.
Tim grit his teeth. “Then what ARE you here for?”
“Tim, I said simmer down! Now, what are you here for, if you’re not here to laugh about us losing?” I asked.
“I’m actually here to talk to you. I was recently fired, and I had heard that you were playing, so I figured I’d come check you out. I’d heard about you through my brother, and I figured I’d come see you before I left.” The black pegasus retorted.
“Aww, that must suck dude. Gettin’ bounced from a job…” Jake said with a bit of sympathy in his voice.
I sighed. “Yeah, that does suck, especially if you lost a job here in Manehattan. Anyways, you said you were leaving? Where to, if you don’t mind me asking? We won’t be showing our faces around here anymore…”
“I actually got fired from DJ’ing for the Bolts. I was heading off to Ponyville because Spitfire said there was a DJ job opening. Something about the other DJ there going on tour or something...” The new pegasus said.
“Well, sounds like a plan! Hope you don’t mind us joining. We appear to be out of options. After all, we did just loose a bet and are getting kicked out of this ‘wonderful’ city.” Jake spoke up.
Nick smiled. “Right, and I hear that Ponyville is beautiful year round!”
“Then it’s settled! When were you planning on leaving… uh…?” “Freq. Torque. But you can just call me Torque. It’s what Spitfire called me, and it sounds a lot better the Freq'. I was planning on leaving right after the show; I have a long way to go. I wanted to get there as soon as possible.” Torque said.
“Wait, Freq' as in Frequency Torque?! Shit dude! I’m a big fan! I attended all of your concerts when I was just starting out in the DJ genres! Oh, and speaking of the show, how did you like it?” I asked with a grin.
“…Um… Dex? I don’t think there’s time to chat if he wants to leave now…” Jake commented.
I face-hoofed. “Oh… uh… Sorry. Alright guys, grab the equipment and the other things we need and get it into the cart. We’ll have time to chat on the walk to Ponyville.”
“Really? Cool! But he’s right, I really want to start heading out, and seeing as how you all aren’t pegasi, we have to take the train.” Torque stated calmly.
I and the rest of the band, along with Torque, threw all of our bags and equipment in the cart and we began our journey to Ponyville.
“So… About the show. How’d you like it?” Dex questioned, bringing the conversation they had earlier up again.
Torque frowned. “I really think you should have won, but whatever. It’s too late now.”
“You don’t know how it feels to hear a professional like yourself say that to a beginner like me!” I said smiling.
“Uh… Dex? Do you think that we might be able to try some awesome practicing on the train by getting on top of it while in motion and playing?!” Jake said with an anxious look.
“Hmm… We would have to ask, but that’s a good idea.” I said.
“…You guys are crazy… Great, whatever. Let’s just get going. We’ll have to catch the evening train. I’m tired, and depressed, and a little pissed off, so I’m going to sleep when we board. And, before you say anything, trust me. If you all want to practice on the train, go right ahead. I’ve slept through MUCH more obnoxious things before!” Torque finished with a grin.
After a while, the five stallions arrived at the train station. The evening train hadn’t shown up yet, and the schedule said it wouldn’t be there for about forty-five minutes. “Aww, shit! Look at that! The train hasn’t shown up yet…” Nick sighed.
Tim grimaced. “We can see that, Nick…”
“…I’m going for a quick flight to blow off some steam. I’ll still be able to see the tracks, so I won’t be missing the train. Enjoy… whatever you all do…” Torque said as he took to the air.
“Well, I guess we should get some practice in!” I said, smiling at my fellow band members.
Tim gave another annoyed expression. “Dude, we’ll have plenty of time to practice on the train ride. I’m gettin’ some shut eye.” He then walked over to a bench and laid down.
“I am sorry to say this, Dex, but for once I agree with Tim. We need at least SOME sleep.” Jake agreed, lying down on a separate bench.
“What about you, Nick? What are you going to do?” I asked, hoping at least one of my friends would want to do something.
Nick stumbled towards yet another bench. “I’m just going to take a nap. Don’t worry, Dex. As Jake said, we’ll have plenty of time on the train to have some fun!”
I sighed. “Alright… I guess I’ll go sit somewhere and sing something… You guys get some sleep.” I walked towards a tree fair distance away and climbed onto a branch. Sitting on said branch, staring up at the evening sky, I began to sing the first song that came to mind.
“Dear mother, I love you.”
“I’m sorry, I wasn’t good enough.”
“Dear father, forgive me.”
“‘Cause in your eyes, I just never added up…”
~~~~~~~~~~
Eh, It's a living!
“So, ya think ya can fix ‘er?” The big red stallion asked.
“Of course I can. However, you’re avoiding my question, Big Mac’… How did this happen again?” A smaller, brown stallion said as he stared at the mangled wreck that lay before him.
“Uh, about that…” Big Macintosh lowered his head and looked toward to ground. “Me an’ AJ got ourselves into a lil’ argument…”
The brown stallion’s eyes widened and jaw dropped as he stared at Big Mac’, the words still being processed by his brain. “A-Applejack did THIS? She completely destroyed your plow! I-I mean the steel blade is bent and dented like a dragon stepped on it. Look, there are indents of where she bucked the damn thing!”
Big Mac’s head sunk even lower, and his tail hid in between his legs. “Yeah, Ah know… A-Ah don’t wanna talk about it… iff’n ya don’t mind...” The working stallion said, embarrassed. “Look, all ah need ta know is, can ya fix it?”
Shock left the brown pony’s face, as a sly smile replaced it. “Yeah, I can have this good as new by tomorrow. There’s no charge. However, I will need an explanation if you want it back.” The brown pony said, still grinning.
Big Macintosh raised his head. “Heh heh. Fine, Ah reckon Ah owe ya that much.” He said. “Well, Ah best be gettin’ back to th’ farm. Ah’ll see ya tomorrow, Kairo.” Big Macintosh turned and started to leave.
“See you later, Big Mac’.” The brown stallion looked back at the mangled plow. “I still can’t believe AJ did this…”
You know the brown stallion Big Mac’ was talking to? That’s me. Name’s Kairo; pronounced like “Cairo”, but with a “K” instead of the “C”. I’m not going to lie; I’m a very bland pony. My coat is light brown. My main is short and a tiny bit messy with a dark brown color. And to top it all off, my eyes are the most common shade of blue imaginable.
I’m an engineer, a mechanic, inventor, handyman, etc.
When I first started out, it was incredibly difficult, because I’m an earth pony. I had to use my mouth for everything, which wasn’t very efficient. It didn’t taste good, either. In fact, I can still taste the oil in my mouth. Anyways, since my mouth wasn’t adequate for what I needed to do, I decided to build something that would aid me. I built a “backpack”, if you will, that has four mechanical; retractable arms. Each arm has three joints, as well as three digits. The arms can not only grasp any tool, but can transform into a few themselves.
I dragged the mangled plow into my workshop, placed it in the middle of my workspace, grabbed my goggles, and started to play music. The music came from the speakers I had inside my workshop. The music started off slow; I could feel the waves of sound pulsing throughout my body. I gathered the necessary tools and place them where’d they’d be close to hoof and where I could grab them quickly when I needed them. As the music started to pick up in tempo, I popped and cracked my neck in preparation for the drop. I put on my goggles as the song was building up. Next stop, bass city. The moment the song dropped, I began to work, swiftly grabbing the necessary tools. I worked with the beat, letting the music fuel me.
First was the blade of the plow. I took the mangled piece of steel and set it off to the side to use it for scrap, then grabbed a new sheet of steel. With accuracy and speed that only a machine could create, I cut and shaped the sheet of steel into a new blade for the plow. With the music still blaring, it was time for the wood work. I quickly examined what was left and pieced the frame together in my mind. I grabbed some planks of wood that I had lying around, and then used my arms as a lathe and began carving the pieces of the frame. In less than a minute, I was done. Grabbing wood screws and glue, I assembled the frame using one of my arms as a drill. I put the frame down, and then turned behind me to grab the new steel blade. I set the blade in place, and then began to rivet it into the frame. The song finished as I set the last rivet in.
“Well, I hope Big Mac’ doesn’t mind that I had to make a new one instead of fixing his old one.” I said as I relaxed and looked at the brand new plow. I looked at the time. It took me a little over ten minutes to do the job. “Wow, didn’t think I’d get done this early... Eh, oh well. Big Mac’ can wait until tomorrow.” I said to myself. “Let’s see... what else do I need to do?” I walked over to my work log, and saw that I needed to fix the clock tower’s mechanisms. “Right... that. That’s gonna take me quite a while...” I grabbed a plethora of tools, as well as some schematics, and started out towards the clock tower...
~~~~~~~~~~
Ebony and Ivory
~Satin~
Things… Got… Worse…
I woke up when the train stopped, I tried to get up but my head was pounding and apparently we weren’t even there yet. Not wanting to be outdone, some jackasses near the back of the train tried to win the piss me off award by getting into some argument and yelling at each other. They were quickly taken care of by a quick nip of the remainder of that awful brew in my flask.
I fell back asleep for what only seemed like a minute and the train stopped again. This time, I awoke to the general murmur of my fellow passengers as they gathered their belongings. I slowly drew myself out of my uncomfortable sleeping position. My body protested as the random pains awoke. I tried to stretch a bit to get the blood flowing before I threw on my saddlebags as I stepped in line to get off the train. As soon as I get off the train, many things catch my attention. “First off, it’s buckin’ hot here. Secondly, this town is named Appleloosa. This sounds like some Celestia-awful pun about apples. I don’t care for apples. Lastly, this place is so brown and uninteresti... wait... is that a bar?”
I’d like to say I didn’t rush my way over there, but I’d be lying my flank off. Makes me sound like an alcoholic...
As I threw open the doors to the saloon, some of the most offensive music reached my ears. I held my hoof to the bridge of my nose. Of course it’s that twangy banjo BS! I entered the bar solemnly and sat myself at the bar. The bartender looked over and asked me what I wanted.
I threw him a beaten stare, “Better music?”
He laughed and grabbed a tankard, filled it up with a liquid that looked like off-beer, and passed it to me. I nodded to him as I took a sip. Apple cider? Really? My nose wrinkled as I continued to drink it. It was alcoholic at least. The door to the bar swung open again to show a light-orange Earth pony with a mane that looked like it was on fire. I looked over to him, and I recognized him from the train. The newcomer walked over and took a seat to the left of me.
“Hey, barkeep! Can I get an apple cider over here, please?” The stallion asked in an irritated tone.
Hey, I recognize that voice! He’s one of the mule-headed ponies yelling earlier on the train!
“I was sleeping fairly comfortably on the train. You know, until SOMEPONIES started yelling.”
He turned to me from his cider, “Blame the pony that started that nonsense. He yelled at me, so I yelled back. I think he got the message.”
I chuckled a bit, “You. I like you. The name is Satin.” I extended a hoof to him.
He stares at it for second before returning the hoof-bump.
“Name’s Ryku. Nice to meetcha, Satin.” The orange stallion grinned.
“Ryku? That’s an odd name.”
“Well Satin sounds like a girl’s name.”
“Fair enough.” I return to my drink.
Ryku kicked his back legs up onto the bar. “So, what brings you around here?”
“Long, kinda stupid story. The moral of it is don’t piss in anypony important’s cherry-os.”
At that point, the doors to the bar were thrown open, nearly splintering them and revealing a very disgruntled red stallion flanked by a couple of law-ponies.
“There! There’s th’ stallion that did this ta me!”
~Ryku~
I and my new-found acquaintance spun in our seats to find the very same stallion I’d dealt with back on the train staring us down, with two other law-ponies on either side of him.
“Now yer gonna get it, scum! See this?” The stallion pointed to his bruised and lightly bleeding snout. “YOU did that! No pony messes with Big Money and gits away with it!”
Satin leaned back in this chair and grinned. “THIS is the foal you were yelling at?! That’s hilarious! You bent his nose sideways! How hard didja hit him?”
“Only as hard as my head is... oh... crap... yeah, that probably hurt more than I intended...” I stated with a sheepish smile.
“DON’T Y’ALL IGNORE ME! Y’all know who Ah am? Ah’m one o’ the richest stallion’s you’ll ever lay eyes on. The last stallion you both ever lay eyes on, once Ah’m through with ya!”
Satin seemed indifferent as he began talking to the bartender again, but I’d had enough of all this nonsense.
“You know I’m deeply sorry about breaking your pretty little nose,” I respond, my voice filled with sarcasm, “but I don’t care who the BUCK you are!” I get up in the pompous pony’s face and glare directly into his eyes. “Now turn your fat flank around and leave me alone or I’ll do more than just mess up your snout!”
The law-ponies lunged at me just then attempting to pin me to the floor.
I... lost it...
In one swift motion, I flung the duo off of me and into a nearby table.
“Well I guess that’s my queue.” I heard Satin muse from behind me, but I didn’t pay him any mind. My now-uncontrollable rage was focused on one pony.
Big Money.
“So, you still want a fight, huh?! That’s fine with me! I’m behind on my beatin’ quota anyway... heheheh...” I said with venom dripping from my words as I slowly stepped towards the now-cowering stallion.
A blue hoof appeared around my neck suddenly.
“It’s been fun guys, but I do believe we have someplace to be.” Satin said happily.
His horn glowed blue for a second as the bar forcefully melted away. The pungent smell of burned hair filled my nose when the landscape returned to my vision.
“I’ll forgive you this time for not paying attention to the moral of my story, but next time...” He gave me a glare that I could tell wasn’t at all serious.
*Cough* “The buck was that for!? I could have *cough* handled him! Why’d you have to go and teleport me? Speakin’ of which, work on your damn *cough* teleport spell! Ya singed my coat!” I said angrily, staring at Satin. “I should be thanking him, though... that could have gotten ugly...”
The blue stallion just chuckled, “A. I told you I liked ya, so I didn’t wanna see your flank kicked. B. I’ve been drinking; don’t dis the drunken teleport spell. You could have ended up with your hoof attached to your head. And 3. I hated that town anyway.”
“Y-You just said three instead of... never mind...” I glanced around, and the first thing I realized is that we were back at the train station. The NEXT thing I realized is the fact that Satin’s saddlebags were bulging at the seams. “You... uh... didn’t have another reason to leave in a hurry... did ya?” I asked with a grin, my anger calming slightly.
“Well, I figured if I was getting kicked out of town. Might as well give ‘em a reason.” Satin responded as the smile grew ever larger on his face; the clinking of glass could be heard from his bags.
I face-hoofed. “Anyway... I guess we’ll be takin’ the train somewhere new now?”
“I recommend Ponyville, seeing as it’s the next destination this train is going to; and we should probably leave before that rich mule and his flunkies actually find us.” He said as he walked up to the ticket office.
I followed Satin up to the ticket booth. “I got this, Satin.” I pulled out the required bits for two tickets for a ride to Ponyville and hoofed them over to the pony behind the counter. “Two tickets to Ponyville, please...”
We both got on the train quickly and it began moving. As it got to almost full speed, Satin and I went out onto the back ledge of the caboose. We kinda wished we hadn’t.
Several meters away, but gaining fast, was a chariot pulled by two law-ponies. Big Money and two other law-ponies could be seen in the seats.
“Git yer yellow flank back here, ya damn scum!” The rich stallion bellowed.
“Oh for the love of...! Satin give me some of those...” I said as I grabbed four small bottles and one large bottle from Satin’s bags. “GET OFF MY BACK, YOU JACK-FLANKS!”
I threw the first two small ones and knocked out the ponies on either side of Big Money.
“MY BOOZE!” Satin fell to his knees, yelling to the sky.
Big Money’s smile faded and a scowl appeared. “Damn it! Catch up to ‘em now, ya lazy colts!”
Ignoring the overly-dramatic display next to me, I then aimed the large bottle at Big Money and hit him directly in the forehead with it. The third small bottle found its target on one of the drivers, but the last law-pony stopped and ran away. Satisfied, I downed the last bottle of beer. “Ah, refreshing revenge! Thanks for the ammo, friend!”
“YOU REALLY DID IT! YOU MANIAC, YOU REALLY THREW THEM! CELESTIA BANISH YOU! CELESTIA BANISH YOU TO THE MOON!” Satin grabs his saddlebags and his remaining bottles of booze. “Shhhhh... shhh... my pretty bottles... the bad pony can’t touch you anymore...”
“Oh calm down, it was 5 well used bottles. Stop being so dramatic.” I said matter of factly.
“Come on, if you can’t be over the top, where’s the fun?” His almost ever-present smile returned quickly to his face. “Sooooooo, wanna get hammered?”
We shared a hearty laugh as he threw me a bottle from his saddlebags. “Heh, sure thing, brony. This is gonna by a long ride...” I said with a happy smile.
We began drinking the collection of alcohol as the train sped off into the distance toward Ponyville. “I just hope life is going to be easier after we get there... this has all been one exercise in stupidity after another... at least I’ve got some interesting company now… and booze… yeah, that always helps!”
~~~~~~~~~~
Moments of Solace
~Torque~
I was flying slowly around the evening sky. "I have no clue what this new job is going to be like. What if they don't like me? What if I screw up? How are these ponies going to react to a new DJ in town? Who is this mare Spitfire told me about? I.....it doesn't matter. New job, new town. I need to make the most of it."
After a few minutes, I heard somepony singing. I flew a ways until I spotted Dex singing in a tree. I flew down and stood under the tree, listening as Dex sang.
…“If I could hold back the rain would you numb the pain?”
“‘Cause I remember everything!”
“If I could help you forget would you take my regrets?”
“‘Cause I remember everything!”…
Torque sat quietly, listening to Dex as he sang with more power than he’d ever seen before. Dex continued:
…“It all went by so fast; I still can’t change the past.”
“I always will remember everything!”
“If we could start again, would that change the end?”
“We remember everything!”
Upon finishing those two lines, Dex jumped down off the branch, and Torque walked up to him. “Hey, you really do have quite the voice there, kid.”
“Oh! You heard all that? T-Thanks, Torque. The name’s Dex, by the way.” Dex laughed nervously.
“Alright then, Dex. Let’s get over there; the train’s almost here! I said, pointing at the large locomotive coming down the track.
The two pegasi walked over the station platform just as the other band members were waking up.
"Alright! It’s time to head off to Ponyville to start our new lives. I’m going to try to get some sleep. It's going to be a long day tomorrow." I said, yawning. I took off my shades and laid down on one of the train’s seats. "Goodnight, err... I never got all of your names besides you, Dex."
“The other Pegasus is Nick, the earth pony over there is Tim and Jake is the unicorn.” Dex said. “Anyway, we were going to practice on the roof of the train, guys?”
A collective ‘YEAH!’ sounded as the group got their bags onto the train and set their equipment up on top of it. I watched as they all climbed up and got ready. As the train got to about full speed, they began playing. I listened to the lyrics for a brief moment.
“Nobody gonna take my car,”
“I'm gonna race it to the ground!”
“Nobody gonna beat my car,”
“It’s gonna break the speed of sound!”
“Oooh, it's a killing machine!”
“It's got everything!”
“Like a driving power big fat tires and everything!”
“I love it and I need it!”
“I bleed it! Yeah it's a wild hurricane!”
“Alright! Hold tight! I'm a highway star!”…
I just smiled. “Heh, they really are crazy. I guess this is going to be an interesting new life after all! *Yawn* Well, time for sleep. Tomorrow’s a big day.” I whispered to no pony in particular.
Song's used:
Barenaked Ladies - If I had a Million Dollars
Korn - Coming Undone
Five Finger Death Punch - Remember Everything
Deep Purple - Highway Star
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This Satin pony sounds like a complete dick...
507989 Agreed, absolute douche.
How can he grab 5 bottles at once?
Well damn. I clicked on this because I was going through clicking on interesting titles. I then realize its about you guys. Mind blown.
Satin here
509014
one foreleg holding 4 bottles against the chest, as one hoof throws. At least that's how I envisioned it.
509188
Sorry we didn't pique your interest.
509325 Oh ya'll peaked my interest. I just didn't realize it was my friends until after I clicked.
Night Train - Guns N' Roses
Still Satin here
509369
I was confused about your post, until I saw your name.
and then I was even more confused
509391
The song is about getting wasted on really cheap booze, and its metal, and I posted it.
Any questions?
~Satin~
509396
none, I read night train and for some reason Bob Seger - Night moves is what popped to mind.
I'll be keeping track of this, but your dialogue feels a bit rushed. It's nothing major and it doesn't really hurt the story, but if you slowed down and took more time to show characters emotions it would dramatically improve it. Like this excerpt...
“Ah don’t much care what ya want! Ya delayed mah important meetin’ in Appleloosa! What do ya got to say fer yerself?” The persistent pony said.
I held myself back as best I could. “Look, sir, I didn’t ask for the train to stop for me. It just did. You got a problem with the drivers stoppin’ for me? Take it up with them.”
My suggestion would be to try something like "I held myself back as best as I could, but boy did I want to throttle his pompous ass. After taking a moment to collect myself, I responded."
I know it's not much, but it's the little things like that which really help a reader visualize a scene and feel a character's emotions. And don't get me wrong, when you guys do the monologues, I feel emotions just as well as the character does. You guys write the internal monologues beautifully. And yes, the italicized lettering was necessary because I can't stress how hard that is to do. The only thing harder to do is write good, smooth dialogue. Expressing emotion and creating a visual through dialogue is incredibly difficult, and I know as a writer I still have a lot of trouble with that. I hope this was helpful, sorry about how long it is
~Satin~
510328
Thank you for your criticism and pointers man, I appreciate it (no sarcasm there I promise)
and i'm glad you like the story so far.
This is looking really good guys. Lk told me a little about this a while ago, but I didn't know you guys would publish it. I'm rather impressed
510422 Really, you didn't think we would publish it Prince?
Do you not know us, or are you just being thick? 
Of course we would publish it. 
And from only reading my own part, I'm commenting on the other parts. They are all really well written, very entertaining. We should toats keep up the good work.
Good job guys
510842
You said toats.....
507989 I like him!
520327
We held a vote, it was unanimous. I'm a dick...
510842 Technically I only know two of you, haven't had the pleasure to meet the others yet. So I couldn't say if it would be published or not.
515765 YES, YES I DID
520442 Toats agree with this
539491 you would enjoy them
Awesome job, guys! This isn't a genre I usually get into, but that was actually quite an interesting read. My only qualms are with small details, like Kairo building an entire plow in ten minutes, and Dex's band having human names. And there is the small detail about Dex mirroring many of the shameless self-insert Mary Sue characters from poor quality HiE fics, but its early days yet.
And in response to Satin's thought: Being good at anything makes most things fairly boring, though.
Jack of all trades, master of none. Is his talent everything, or is it his ability to pick up new things easily, yet struggle to fully master them?
Out of curiosity, how are you guys writing this as a group? Do you each write your own parts then have someone edit them together, or do you use a different method?
You've piqued my interest. I will be watching.
551493
~Satin~
Well thank you sir!
I'll try to answer your questions as best I can. Not all the guys are online currently, just me and Kairo currently. Kairo's response was "It's to represent how robotic my OC is." Yeah, Kairo is a bucking robot until some bad influence (read Satin) brings him out of his shell.
Satin can pick things up really easily, he just won't be nearly as good as somepony whose special talent it is. If you want an example, send a message to me and I'll expound on it.
The way we're writing this is, usually if it's from their perspective that person wrote it. Ryku's and my parts are pretty much exempt from this though, we take turns writing on scenes. We actually use google docs and one person will write as the others read it and make sure it fits as well as edits as we go along (I know I have done a tense right, like the whole time [screw past tense!]).
And I'll give you a hint to know if it's me writing, always two spaces after a period. I'm the only one that does that.
551493 Okay. Dex right now just hasn't hit his down-points, because the oportunity for said points to arise has not been reached yet. I was thinking (and still need to talk to Dex about this) that Dex's down point is that he would have either a social problem (Kinda like pinkie with her friends) or has something going on when others aren't around, which may be a leading role in an arc further on. Now about the names. According to xXNickthenameXx (Dex), the names are supposedly stage names. I said the same thing about them, but what are you going to do I guess, right? It shouldn't detract from the story though, so we let it slide. Thanks for the review so far. We really appreciate it!
552914
). A poorly done main character can make or break a story.
553316
Thanks for clearing that up guys, but I'm still very skeptical about Dex. Characters are my single greatest foe when reading or writing, and thus I often rant about them. A lot (You of all people should know about that, Ryku
553495
~Satin~
psssssh, assuming Dex is a main character...
now lets wait for Dex to come and complain about my jokes...
*looks around and checks watch*
553519 Satin, no need to be a jerk. We all know Dex has just a big a part as all 5 of us do, he just hasn't had a point where he needs to be centralized as a main character yet.
553495 And thanks for not ripping on my character, I really did try to develop it in as realistic a way as possible. And yeah, we aren't often all online together, so we do a google docs thing sO we can edit and read along. And even though some characters have some Sue-ish traits, none so far are toats Mary Sue.
Hmm. Why does it seem like I know these ponies from somewhere.....