Personal Songs
“I love stomping my hooves to their music,” Pinkie had a mile wide grin.
“They know colts are male ponies, right? And that all of us are mares?” Rainbow Dash looked like she’d bit a lemon.
“Wondercolts is the name of the sports teams at CHS.” Twilight shook her head.
“Oh, their hoofball team. I get it.” Rainbow Dash looked relieved.
“Something like that.” Twilight grinned.
The ponies on stage were silent for a moment. No one seemed to want to speak first. Fluttershy bobbed her muzzle slightly to the beat that both Vinyls laid down.
“The Rainbooms are good.” Applejack nodded. “But it is a might disquieting to hear my own voice singing songs I've never heard before.”
Everyone but Twilight nodded their heads and murmured acknowledgement.
“I am sure they’re fine girls.” Rarity turned to Twilight. “But I think they may have… issues.”
Twilight looked startled at Rarity.
“First, Sunset Shimmer obviously hurt them very badly,” Rarity said, “She sabotaged their friendships at a time when they were very vulnerable. The girls seem to have forgiven her, but the pain has had an impact.”
“They opened both their songs with lyrics about fighting and feeling different from each other,” Fluttershy whispered.
Rarity nodded. “And second, they positively idolize Twilight.”
“Now, that’s just crazy.” Twilight took a step back. “We’re good friends, but...”
“Once upon a time, you came into my world and made the stars align?” Applejack shook her head. "That’s the opening to a love ballad if I ever heard one.”
“You turned their world around, Twilight.” Rarity looked directly at her friend. “It's what leaders do. From what you told us, before you came they were friendless during an important part of their adolescence. We all remember how vulnerable we were at that time of our lives.
“Then, you swept in from nowhere, restored their friendships, led them to a stunning victory, then challenged them to uphold their highest ideals by reforming their former tormentor.
“I am sure you inspired them in other ways as well. And I am not saying their feelings are anything but platonic. But you should understand how they feel so you can deal with them responsibly.”
Twilight was as stunned as if she’d been hit by a board. Rarity’s words put her conversations with the Rainbooms into a totally new context. What else had she missed? What had she said that might have been misinterpreted?
“Equestria to Twilight.” Rainbow Dash bopped her on the nose. “You zoned out on us again.”
Twilight shook her head. “Sorry girls. Dealing with the Rainbooms feels like a big responsibility all of the sudden.”
“It’s not like it’s the first time you brought friends together.” Applejack looked knowingly at the other girls. They all nodded.
Twilight stepped back. “But all of you…”
“We knew of each other,” Rarity replied. “Ponyville is a small town after all. But we were mostly just acquaintances before we gathered with you in the library after the appearance of Nightmare Moon.”
“I was friends with everypony in Ponyville!” Pinkie smiled. “But after all we’ve been through together, I am super-duper friends with you girls!” She pulled everypony into a large group hug. Everyone held the hug, and laughed.
A clatter of hoofsteps came down the stairs. Everypony turned to look.
“We heard you needed some musical reinforcements,” came a call from the stairs. Octavia Melody entered, carrying her cello. Big McIntosh, Toe-Tapper, and Torch Song followed, all dressed in their Pony Tones stage outfits.
“How did you know?” Twilight asked.
“Vinyl left me a message that we were missing out on a chance to be in a ‘magical musical event’.” Octavia waved a hoof at the others. “I gathered up the Pony Tones and we came right over. I hope it’s okay?”
Twilight was speechless.
“Come on in. We’re using Twilight’s magic to sing with some friends from... very far away, who may sound a bit like us... sometimes.” Applejack waved a hoof at the pulsing portal mirror. “Just treat it like a jam session and roll with it. You OK with that Big Mac?”
“Eeyup”
“You girls ready to pick it up?” asked Sunset through the speakers. “I thought we could do a few personal songs this time.”
Twilight still acted stunned, so Applejack stepped up. “That sounds like a good idea. Why don’t you girls play the first song.”
The Rainbooms started with a haunting melody, surprisingly soft after the hall-filling rock and electronica. Then Rarity’s voice flowed like honey from the speakers as she sang,
Life is a runway (runway)
Listen, here's what it's all about
The beat picked up, but never overpowered Rarity's voice. The rest of the Rainbooms quietly echoed the song’s tag line to back her up. Everypony else was hushed. Rarity concluded her song with,
I tell you, life is a runway (runway)
Time to bring what's on the inside out
Into the light
Into the light
Into the light
Into the light
Into the light
They all exploded into cheers, applause, and stomping. Rarity made a ball of magic light with her horn in appreciation and called out, “Brava darling! Brava!”
The other Rarity’s voice replied through the speakers, “Thank you. You are all too kind. Thank you very much.”
“My turn! My turn!” Pinkie bounced up and down. “I sang this to everypony on our first adventure together.”
Vinyl reached out a hoof, spun a disk, and pointed at Pinkie. Carnival music filled the hall. Simultaneously, both Pinkies started to sing in harmony:
When I was a little filly and the sun was going down...
The darkness and the shadows, they would always make me frown...
One Pinkie bounced around the basement. The other could be heard bouncing on her drum throne. They giggled, guffawed, cracked up, whooped it up, chortled, snortled and finally:
And tell that big dumb scary face to take a hike and leave you alone and if he thinks he can scare you then he's got another thing coming and the very idea of such a thing just makes you wanna... hahahaha... heh...
Laaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaauuuugh!
One Pinkie flopped upside down and waved her hooves in the air. The other could be heard hitting the floor in sync. On stage, Pinkie took in a huge breath, and blew pink curls out of her face. The girls could imagine the other Pinkie doing the same. Everyone laughed, applauded, and stomped.
“Time to take it to the awesome!” Rainbow Dash’s voice called out and all of the Rainboom’s instruments came alive together. The band chanted in the background as Rainbow sang solo,
[The Rainbooms]
Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey!
[Rainbow Dash]
Awesome as I wanna be
Rainbow Dash zoomed around Twilight’s hall, then joined in at the microphone and made the solo a duet. Both Rainbow Dashes boasted in sync about their awesomeness, and ended with:.
I'm awesome, take caution
Watch out for me, I'm awesome as I wanna be!
The song ended with a guitar flourish. Together both Dashes called out, “Let’s do it again!”
“I think it’s their turn,” came Applejack’s voice through the speaker.
“Shoot,” both Dashes replied. Everyone smiled and laughed.
Twilight huddled with Applejack, Vinyl, and Octavia. They couldn’t agree on the next song.
Rarity whispered to Fluttershy, “The Pony Tones are here, would you join us in presenting, ‘Find the Music In You’?”
“Oh, I could never do that,” Fluttershy whispered back.
“Baby steps you told me darling. You've already performed the song in front of your friends. The other girls are as close to your friends as you will ever find.”
“I don't want to embarrass myself in front of… her.” Fluttershy sighed and pointed a hoof at the magic portal mirror.
“Sunset Shimmer?” Rarity asked, “While she may have done questionable things in the past, I strongly doubt she would receive your performance poorly.”
“No… her.” Fluttershy ducked her head and her long pink mane covered one eye.
Rarity looked flummoxed, then brightened up. “Your counterpart? If she is at all like you, I am sure she will be most kind and appreciative. I suspect she would enjoy learning to sing your parts of the song as much as you do.”
“It would be like a gift to her,” Fluttershy whispered. Her voice strengthened, “I’ll do it. But I would rather do it right now, before I lose my nerve. If that's not too much of an inconvenience to anyone.”
Rarity raised her voice. “We have the next song.” Everypony looked over. “The full roster of the Pony Tones, myself, Big McIntosh, Toe-Tapper, Torch Song, and Fluttershy will do an a capella rendition of our signature song. Places everyone.”
The Pony Tones gathered in a semi-circle around the microphones. Rarity blew her pitch pipe to get them all in tune. Big Mac started off bass a cappella with,
Bum, bum, bum-ba-da, ba-da
Bum, bum, bum-ba-da ah
All the Pony Tones joined in, and wove the music from their voices alone. After a harmonious, “Got the music, got the music in you!” Fluttershy rose up on her wings for her solo:
There's music in the treetops
And there's music in the vale
And all around the music fills the sky
There's music by the river
And there's music in the grass
And the music makes your heart soar in reply
Fluttershy landed. She and the Pony Tones sang the rest of the song as call and response, and ended with a triumphant,
Got the music, got the music in you!
Both halls were silent. Fluttershy ducked her head in shame.
Then both exploded in clapping, stomping, and cheering. It was the longest ovation yet. Rarity leaned over to Fluttershy and whispered, “Your friends all love you, darling.”
Fluttershy looked up. She winced from the noise, but smiled through it from appreciation. “Baby steps,” she said. Rarity nodded.
“Good job, Big Mac!” came Applejack’s voice through the speakers.
“How is anypony gonna follow that,” Applejack shook her muzzle.
“Um, hello,” Fluttershy’s voice said through the speaker, “I have a song that is kind of personal. Not to me, but to someone else. Is that okay?”
“Of course it is Fluttershy.” Twilight looked over to the mirror. “Who is it personal too?”
“Um, you…” whispered Fluttershy.
Applejack whispered to Rarity, “Here it comes.” She put her hoof to Applejack’s mouth. “Sush.”
“Sunset Shimmer told me you sent her the words to a song you sang when you first came to our world,” said Fluttershy’s voice, “I asked to see them, I hope it was OK…”
“It’s fine, Fluttershy, but I don’t have any music for that song.”
“I know,” said Fluttershy’s voice, “that’s why I wrote some.”
Twilight stepped back. “That is incredibly kind of you, Fluttershy. I would love to sing along to your music. Sunset, you know the words too. You and I’ve both had to come to grips with entering a strange new world. Would you like sing another duet with me?”
“Of course,” said Sunset.
Twilight stepped up to the microphone. “To set the scene, the singer suddenly finds herself in a place she has never been before, physically altered, all alone, and overwhelmed by what she sees…”
The Rainbooms started a quick jazzy beat, with plenty of strings. Octavia picked up the rhythms quickly, and added her cello into the mix. Twilight and Sunset sang,
I've never seen a place
That's quite like this
Everything is turned around
This crazy world is upside-down
The fear, confusion, and amazement was evident in the performance of both singers. They detailed the most important things they had seen and felt…
They don't use any magic or fly with any wings
I don't get these funny clothes, skinny legs or tiny nose
Everything's confusing when it seems so new
But I look a little closer and it starts to feel familiar too
And they ended the song with,
What a strange new world
Both halls filled with clapping and stomping. Twilight sported a very large grin.
Through the speaker, Pinkie’s voice called out, “Who’s next? Who’s next?”
“This one might take some explanation, so bear with me,” Twilight said, “Rarity, when I was at CHS and we went to the Fall Formal, you shared your jewelry with us. What did you wear?”
“Diamonds darling, Three diamonds are my signature.”
“Pinkie?”
“My favorite, three balloons!”
“Fluttershy, your hairpiece?”
“A butterfly, I love butterflys.”
“Applejack, on your dress?”
“I’m an Apple, so apples of course.”
“Rainbow Dash, the clip on your belt?”
“My awesome rainbow lightning bolt!”
“You might be surprised to learn that those same symbols are also very special to the girls here in Equestria. But here they’re more mystical. They’re called a cutie mark and represent a pony’s special talent, and impact what they are destined to do. We don’t get to choose them. They appear by magic on our flanks sometime before we become adults, and we display them for the rest of our lives.”
“Like magical tats?” asked Rainbow Dash’s voice.
“Something like that,” said Sunset.
“What’s yours?” asked Applejack’s voice.
“The stylized sunset on my magic book.”
“I’m sure that looks very pretty on your… flank.” said Rarity’s voice.
“I’ll bet Twilight’s is a big purple star, like on her crown!” said Pinkie’s voice.
“Got it on the first guess, Pinkie.” Twilight smiled. “Plus five smaller white stars.”
The girls on both sides of the portal whispered quietly among themselves. Suddenly choice and destiny had been intermixed, and their connections across dimensions seemed closer than ever.
“I bring this up because I once cast a spell that went horribly wrong.” Twilight shifted uncomfortably. “I switched all my friend’s cutie marks, their jobs, and their destinies. I made them live the wrong lives. This being Equestria, their problems got expressed in song. See if you can figure out who got which cutie mark...”
Vinyl adjusted sliders on the mixing board with her hoof and spun a disk. Anxious music filled both halls. Rainbow Dash started solo with,
What My Cutie Mark Is Telling Me
These animals don't listen, no, not one little bit
They run around out of control and throw their hissy fits
It's up to me to stop them, 'cause plainly you can see
It's got to be my destiny, and it's what my cutie mark is telling me
One by one, the rest of the girls expressed their tales of woe. Fluttershy failing to entertain people. Pinkie failing at growing apples. Applejack’s distressing attempts at dressmaking. Rarity’s weather disasters. They ended with all declaring,
It's got to be
My destiny
And it's what my cutie mark
It's what my cutie mark
Yes, it's what my cutie mark is telling me!
Before the crowd could react, Twilight spoke. “I tried every kind of magic I knew, but I couldn’t repair their shattered destinies. I’d made my friend’s lives miserable, made all of Ponyville miserable, and there’s nothing I could do to fix it.
“But maybe I wasn’t the one meant to fix it.
“All the girls were true friends. Maybe they could succeed where I failed. Maybe they could help each other!
“So I found Fluttershy, and asked her to help Rainbow Dash with the animals. And it worked! Helping her true friend led Fluttershy to re-discover her real destiny, and she regained her cutie mark.” Twilight took a deep breath. “The song tells it better than I can.”
[Twilight Sparkle]
A true, true friend helps a friend in need
A friend will be there to help them see
[Twilight and Fluttershy]
A true, true friend helps a friend in need
To see the light that shines from a true, true friend
The song continued. Rainbow Dash helped Rarity with the weather. Rarity helped Applejack at the boutique. Applejack helped Pinkie at the farm. And Pinkie helped the townspeople smile! Finally everyone in both halls sang the finale together.
A true, true friend helps a friend in need
A friend will be there to help them see
A true, true friend helps a friend in need
To see the light! (To see the light!)
That shines! (That shines!)
From a true, true friend!
Twilight picked up Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Pinkie, and Fluttershy in her magic and they all joined in a great group hug. Her eyes glistened. Her friends were the most important things in her life.
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That was definitely a very interesting chapter.
Hadn't really stopped to think things in that light but that certainly fits.
Loving this story and in so glad I tracked it. Didn't realize 2 new chapters would be out so soon since I ran across it a few hours ago.