Interlude: A Soundstage For Two - Be Brave
Interlude: A Soundstage for Two - Be Brave
Neon watched as the strange pony faded away, like some bad special effect or something. He felt he could've done better with a few mirrors, a smoke machine, and a trap door. Standing off his injured hoof, Neon looked over to Vinyl and Octavia. A part of him was proud – he had been faced with an opportunity and had made the right choice.
However, a deeper part of him, his old, selfish self, mocked him. That could've been him holding Vinyl. He shook his head, taking in a deep breath. No, he wouldn't go back to being that selfish, self-serving pony again. At least, not around his friends...
"Yo Fiddle..." Neon looked to the mare, who was staring at the ground in thought. Dolus' message to her had been cryptic for sure, but Neon didn't think too much on it. Her troubles were hers and his were his. She didn't need him butting into her private matters. "Lets get back to your stand and start packin' up. We ain't got all night."
Fiddle looked up slowly, blinking as if she was in some kind of trance. She gave her head a sharp shake and nodded. "Y-Yeah, lets go." The country mare moved to Neon's side, peeking over at him from under her hat.
"Ugh!" Fiddle tossed herself onto her bed, flopping facedown onto the covers. She pulled a pillow over, screamed into it, punched it a few times and felt instantly better. Rolling over, she stared at the ceiling. "Why can't you just talk ta him, ya coward." She picked her hat up from beside her, putting it over her face. "So stupid..."
Be Brave, he'd said, but Fiddle was anything but brave.
"Fiddle?" Fiddle jumped, lifting her hat again. She blinked, then blushed; she had forgotten to close the door! Her mother was there, a slightly knowing smirk on her face. "It seems we need to talk."
"We already had the talk ma. I ain't really hopin' for a second one." Fiddle rolled over, turning away from her mother. "Thank ya kindly though."
Melodious Pitch trotted into the room, taking a seat beside the bed. "Who is it?" She asked, knowing how to whittle her girls down. Fiddle sat in the silence, before sighing. She hated it when ponies left all that open silence. Rolling over, she faced her mother again.
"Neon Lights, ma. Vinyl's old boyfriend." She felt her hat flop onto the bed and sat up, pulling it back on.
"What do you like about him?" Pitch asked, patient.
"A lot'a things." Fiddle avoided the question, looking at the bed. "But it's like I just ain't there. He talks to me, yeah, but it's like I'm just too small for someone big like him."
"He said that, did he?" Pitch raised an eyebrow, faking a frown. "Do I need to get your father?"
Fiddle chuckled, knowing her mother was only kidding. "No... No he never said that. But I feel that way."
"And why is that?" The older mare stared at her daughter, eyes knowing. "It's funny, Fiddle... You and I are so much alike..."
Fiddlesticks raised her own eyebrow at that. "Really? I always thought you'n I were real different. Not that it's bad or nothin', but Octavia's more like you than me."
Pitch shook her head. "She gets her personality from her father; rigid and more than a little stuffy... You, it seems, got yours from me." Melodious Pitch climbed onto the bed, sitting beside her youngest daughter. "You've got it in your head that you aren't good enough for this Neon Lights... But you don't really have a reason for it. Whenever you're around him, you get anxious, weak, and uncertain... Right?"
Fiddle looked to her mother, blinking wide eyes. "But how—"
"I was the same way when I met Octavia's father, Falsetto. I was only just entering the music scene, where he was already popular for his magnum opus, a symphony that landed him in the ranks of the elite in Canterlot. He was a somepony; I was a nopony." Shifting to rest her head on top of Fiddle's hat, Pitch patted her daughter's side. "But I couldn't have been more wrong. It was a silly coincidence that brought us together as friends and as I fell for him and I thought that was all I would ever be. Not to mention, he was married.
"Then his wife left him alone and I couldn't watch him suffer. I went to him and told him just how I felt. I decided that, even if he didn't love me, he would know that there were ponies out there who loved him. Would you believe he kissed me right there... Apparently, the arrangement with his wife had been a forced marriage, brought on by his parents. He'd never loved her and she'd never loved him. But he'd loved me. By Celestia, he'd loved me." She sighed and closed her eyes. "I remember being the happiest mare in Canterlot that day."
Fiddle looked down at the floor, processing this. She leaned into her mother, a question bubbling in her chest. "What happened with you and Falsetto? You ain't never really told me about him."
"It wasn't something you really needed to know. Cameo is your father and I love him just as much as I loved Falsetto; maybe even more." Pitch sighed and stared at nothing in particular. "We grew distant, each of us getting wrapped up in our careers. When I became pregnant, that changed for a time, but once Octavia was born he went right back to being himself – distant, aloof, but loving when he was near. I think Octavia was only two years old when she looked at me and asked why her daddy was never home. That was the last straw for me."
Melodious Pitch shook her head, looking very tired all-of-a-sudden. "I loved Falsetto. I still love him, in a different way of course. But he was always so concerned with his performances and his rigid nature was... stifling... His ideals and performances were more important to him than his family. About a year after I left, I learned that he'd changed, but not for the better; losing me and Octavia had been hard for him and he'd withdrawn into a self-destructive stupor. I wrote him and, over another year or two, helped pull him back from that dark place. He begged me to give him another chance... But that time had passed and I was already with Cameo and pregnant with you by that point. The rest, as they say, is history."
Fiddle nodded, snuggling her head against her mother. "Thanks for tellin' me, mom... I need ta go."
"Where?" Pitch smiled, knowing the answer.
"To Canterlot. Neon went home and I need to go to him." She tugged her hat down over her eyes, a determined look on her face. "Just gotta catch a train, is all."
Canterlot loomed around Fiddle as she trotted down the street. She hadn't come to this city alone since her stint as 'Violina'. Sighing at those memories, she faintly wondered about her cousin Orange and how she was doing. Maybe she would—
"No! No more distractin' yourself!" Fiddle scolded herself, getting an odd look from a pair of ponies not far away. "Now, where was Neon's place again...?"
Canterlot was a far bigger place than Fiddle remembered. Where finding the home of her Cousin Orange had been easy enough, dressed as she was now, most of the 'Canterlot' ponies tended to ignore her, even when she asked them questions.
Sighing and looking at the rising moon, Fiddle finally flopped down at Neon's door. It... wasn't what she'd expected...
The apartment was in a bad neighborhood and was in rather poor condition. Sure, it was still better than any building you would see in Ponyville, but it was poor by Canterlot standards. Fiddle couldn't remember one time Neon had invited any of them over, not even Vinyl... Now she understood why. Fiddle gathered her courage and raised a hoof to knock.
A laugh from inside made her hesitate. It wasn't Neon. It was clearly a mare. Guiltily, she leaned in and put her ear to the door.
"Hehe... I was surprised when you wrote, Neon... It's been ages since we last... spoke." The voice was sultry and haughty. Fiddle knew what kind of pony used that holier-than-thou tone; she'd heard it regularly from her cousin Orange.
"Well, yeah... I'm sorry Crust... I just..." Fiddle could hear Neon sigh, making her other ear fold against her head. "Well, I'm here now."
"I just wish we didn't need to meet in this, no offense, dreadful place... Didn't your... job earn you enough bits for a better home? I hate to see an old friend live in such squalor..."
"I ain't no prissy pony, Crust. No offense, but we're real different, you and I... I think this place suits me... Besides, special effects ain't cheap."
Fiddle relaxed – or tried to – and knocked.
"Hm? Hold on." Neon sounded a little confused. "Coming." After a second, the door opened and Neon, minus the shades, blinked at Fiddle.
"Oh. Fiddlesticks? What're you doing here?" Neon raised an eyebrow and shifted the door so Fiddle couldn't see inside.
"I already know ya got company, Neon." Fiddle put on her best smile. "Why don't you introduce me? I don't wanna be rude."
Neon bit his lip and turned, opening the door more. "Hey Upper Crust." The mare further in the room looked over to Fiddlesticks and gave her an odd look. "This is—"
"A country bumpkin, by the looks of her. Don't see many like her, here." The unicorn, Upper Crust looked to be the prissiest of the priss. She made her cousin Orange look like a homeless beggar, wearing her mane up in an elegant style and dressed in fine, fashionable clothes. The way she was staring at her, Fiddle wished she could melt into the floor.
"Hey, watch it." Neon sounded slightly defensive, but let it drop fast. "She's Fiddlesticks, the younger sister of Octavia Melody. You know Octavia, right Crust?"
Upper Crust twitched slightly, as if she'd stepped in something squishy, and tilted her head. She give Fiddle a second look, narrowing her eyes. "My... I wouldn't have noticed the resemblance, if you hadn't mentioned it but... Yes, it is quite uncanny, isn't it? They even have the same Cutie Mark..."
Neon stood a little taller after that. "Fiddle, this is Upper Crust, an old childhood friend of mine. We dated back before I became a DJ."
"Yes. As I recall, it was around that time you dumped me." Crust smiled a little victoriously.
"Actually, you dumped me, Crust." Neon said bluntly, shaking his head. "Because you said I was 'changed' by my music." He gave a chuckle, though Fiddle could tell it was forced. Crust, obviously, was too wrapped up in herself to notice or care.
"Yes well... That music was so... Well, that was before it was such a big deal. Now that Vinyl Scratch is around and changing the scene up, a lot of ponies in Canterlot are starting to appreciate your genre..." Upper Crust batted her eyelashes in a way that made Fiddle want to punch them off her face. "Myself included..."
Neon gave another chuckle and looked back to Fiddle. "So... What brings you all the way out here?"
Fiddle opened her mouth and tried to give him the truth. She rolled so many ways to say it over in her mind, but she just couldn't. It was obvious what was happening here. Fiddle took a step back out the door, tipping her hat to keep him from seeing her pain. "Nothin... I came at a bad time. I'll just be goin' Neon."
Neon leaned his head down, trying to see under her hat, and frowned. "Fiddle...? You alright?"
"Yeah. Never better. I'm glad ta see you're... recoverin' well."
Neon glimpsed behind him, not turning his head all the way around. "Recovering, huh...? Is that what you call it?" He sighed and looked back to the country mare, giving her a genuine, if sad, smile. "Well, if you're still in the area tomorrow, swing on by... I always have time for you."
Fiddle nodded, not trusting her mouth. She tipped her hat and turned, walking away, galloping once she was out of sight.
She was weak. Why couldn't she be stronger than this? She stopped in Canterlot's street, staring up at the stars.
'Be Brave'
What had he expected from her? Once a mouse, always a mouse. She was a coward, scampering away at the first sign of trouble.
'Fiddle...? You alright?'
The thing with mice though... They fight when they get cornered...
'Recovering, huh...? Is that what you call it?
Fiddlesticks sighed and pulled her hat off, staring at it.
'I always have time for you.'
She breathed in deep and crammed the hat back on her head, turning and galloping back towards Neon's house. She skid around corners, not slowing down, breathing rapidly until she reached his door. Heaving, she knocked again.
"By Celestia, what is it this time?" She heard Upper Crust complain. The door opened, Neon greeting her again. His tie was missing, his collar was unbuttoned.
"Fiddle? What're you—"
"You asked if I was alright. Well, I ain't Neon... I ain't alright at all. And I really, really need ta talk to you." She kept the fear out of her voice. She felt her heart trying to break through her rib cage.
"Neon?" Upper Crust approached, putting a hoof around Neon's torso. Her clothes were a little disheveled as well. She looked at Fiddle with a look of challenge, and then turned, kissing Neon's jaw. "Come on. Stop getting distracted."
Neon didn't pay her any mind, staring at Fiddle intently. The country mare, for her part, ignored Crust as well, returning his stare with heat in her eyes. Neon gave a small sigh and shrugged out from under Crust's forehoof. "I'm really sorry, but she must've rode all the way from Ponyville to see me. That means somethin' big is goin' on and I can't turn her away. Come back tomorrow, Crust... Sorry again..."
Upper Crust looked a little wounded and not a little angry, but she turned, fixing her clothing and snatching up her purse with magic. "Very well. I will see you then." She walked around Neon, giving Fiddle a pointed, angry glare before trotting off.
Neon stepped aside, inviting her in. "So, what's up?"
"You were gonna sleep with her. She seemed an awful lot like the kinda pony you hate. She your girlfriend now?" Fiddle redirected his question quickly as she trotted inside.
Neon laughed. "Crust? Date a DJ? She'd sooner saw off her hoof." He shut the door, trotting in. "More than likely, she would've done the deed, then bragged about it endlessly. Thanks to Vinyl, I'm a pretty big deal now. Besides..." Neon sighed a bit and shook his head. "I think she's married or somethin'..."
Fiddlesticks gave a noncommittal sound, taking a seat on the couch. "So... Why do it then?"
Neon sat nearby, sighing and fixing up his clothes. "Well, mainly... it makes me feel less empty, I suppose." He relaxed back, looking at the ceiling. Fiddle didn't talk. She'd learned well from the other women in her family.
"Do you know what the hardest part of growing up in Canterlot was, Fiddle?" The DJ asked, out of the blue.
"Nope." Fiddlesticks would've kept quiet longer, but Neon wasn't looking at her; shaking her head wouldn't have done anything.
"Being different. My parents were two of the Canterlot elite. They were big-shots who hoped to get in with the Princess. Much to their shame, their son was a wild-child, who refused to accept their lifestyle. He was rambunctious, always playing loud music or casting useless spells to make lights and sounds. I got my cutie mark stargazing; not because it was my talent, but because I decided something as I saw all those flickering lights. One day, I thought to myself, I would be like them. I would soar above Equestria; a rising star, shining bright, high above the rest. I made my own star that night. It was my first special effect." He gave a small laugh, illuminating his horn and, Fiddlesticks assumed, cast the same spell.
A little ball of light danced from his horn, hovering in the center of the room. Focusing, Neon made it change color, until a rainbow spectrum danced over them. The pair watched in silence for some time before Neon continued. "My parents were less than pleased with my choice. So much so that they disowned me almost right away." The light of the spell flickered out instantly.
Fiddlesticks snapped up straighter in her seat, staring at Neon in shock. The unicorn stared back, looking tired and defeated. "Yeah, I'm not joking. I was sent to an orphanage within a week. They wanted nothing to do with a 'little rebellious troublemaker' anymore, once they knew what I was destined for... All my 'upper class' friends stopped talking to me, and I raised myself alone, surrounded by these frilly-necked ponies and their bigotry..." Neon sighed, standing and walking across the room, stopping at a minibar that was tucked away in a corner. He started mixing a drink for himself. "You want somethin'?"
"Ya got hard cider?"
"Who doesn't?" Neon smirked over his shoulder and poured her a glass. Slowly, he returned, passed it off, and sat back down. He kicked back a long sip, then continued. "I grew up alone. I made music alone. I tried to fill that loneliness with mares. I've been with more than I can remember, Fiddle. I just didn't care. Eventually, it just became a really bad habit. I remember, back in my college days, ponies said I would sleep with a bagel, if you warmed it up, buttered it, and put it in a wig."
Fiddle giggled a bit, making Neon smile. "You know, you ain't alone, Neon."
"I know, Fiddle. But when I sit here, in this crappy place I call home, it's hard to realize that." Neon kicked back the rest of his drink. Fiddle hadn't even taken a sip. "So... Sorry about that tangent." He cleared his throat, sitting more upright. "What brought you here. Everything okay at home?"
"Mmhm..." Fiddle sipped a very small sip, then set the glass aside. "I need some advice from you."
"Oh?" Neon raised an eyebrow and leaned back. "Advice that brought you all the way from Ponyville. This should be good."
"Mm... Well, I like this stallion, ya see. He's cool, and sweet, but really sad. I wanna make him smile, but I've just been too scared to tell him how I feel. He makes me smile without even tryin' and I wanna do the same for him. Up till a little while ago, he was datin' but now he's single. When I saw him last, I learned that he's hurtin' a lot more than I ever realized. He is silently cryin' out, but I finally heard him... And now... Well, now I ain't got a clue how to tell him." Fiddle giggled to herself, looking over to the cider, taking it up for another sip. "What should I do, Neon?"
Neon was staring at his empty glass, swirling the ice around inside it. "Just tell him. Quit being scared, Fiddle. You're an awesome pony and I bet you'll make anypony happy, if you get with them."
"Ya think so?" Fiddle blushed a bit, taking a third sip.
"Yeah. He'll be a lucky, lucky stallion. Be bold. Guys like that." Fiddle noticed, with a little bit of amusement that he was looking even more depressed. He was about to get a rude awakening.
"Hm... Alright then. Bold, huh?" Fiddle pushed herself up, giving a little grunt. Neon looked over, blinking curiously. Fiddlesticks smiled at him, then tossed her hat aside, quickly followed by her bandanna. She shook out her mane, sighing. "So... Bold..." She trotted over to Neon, and grabbed his tie.
"Wait a mi-MFPH!" Neon was interrupted as Fiddle pulled him down into a kiss, her face blazing a heated crimson. She let him go after a minute, shivering with adrenaline from facing her fear.
"B-Bold enough for ya?"
Neon's tie was skewed slightly, his hair a little messy and his eyes filled with surprise, shock, and not a little confusion. Fiddlesticks took a deep, deep breath and trotted over to pick up her hat. "I'll leave the bandanna here." She peered over her shoulder to Neon, winking. "So ya remember this."
"Not gonna forget..." Neon whispered, putting a hoof to his lips. "Why don't you... You know... stay?"
Fiddlesticks looked back to him, putting her hat back in it's proper place. "Well... One condition."
"Anything."
"No rollin' in the hay. I'm a classy country mare, not some prissy harlot – is the word harlot? – like Upper Crust. I ain't sleepin' with no pony without some time goin' by." Fiddle smirked. "Even if that somepony's had my eye for months now."
Neon chuckled and shook his head. "Didn't cross my mind. Well, that's a lie, but..." Neon laughed, which proved infectious. Fiddlesticks was overjoyed to see a smile on his face again. She trotted over to him and kissed his cheek, rubbing her face along the side of his. "Be brave, Neon. You ain't alone. Don't ever think that, ever."
Neon was a tough guy. He was a DJ and a star. He tried to fight back the tears, but one slipped through, rolling down his face. He wiped it up fast, hoping Fiddlesticks didn't see it. To her credit, Fiddle easily made him think that she hadn't. "I'll try to remember, Fiddles." He put a hoof around her, holding her close. "I'll try my hardest from now on..."
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Why limit yourself?
7296614
Well, I was writing it out to be exactly like Neon's perspective but... good point.
I hope you enjoyed the story thus far.
7296638 Fair enough, and I am indeed.
7297012
Well, I'm very glad for that.
7298880 Certainly.
7312812
pbh2.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/funny-gif-cookie-monster.gif
7312847
Thank you
7315063
All will be accomplished in time.
Just wait.
Really good story so far but I was so hoping for a cmc reference in there beside the trading convention.
7338058
Silly error is silly.
Whelp... When I get someone to make the song for this chapter, now I know what to turn to for inspiration. Oh... And I have some good news, my Luna-loving friend. The sequel to this fic is confirmed.
It's title: Fiddler in the Hoof.
-Inkheart
Ever
.
Aww so cute! I'm sure they will be adorable together. Canterlot ponies are so stuffy. It's a good thing Twilight was too busy reading books to end up like that!
I get some awesome flashbacks to GH:3 while listening to The Devil Went Down To Georgia.
However, I don’t exactly know how that fits with the chapter.
9715819
In this case, I wanted a song that fit Fiddle's mindset. Fast and chaotic, with a sense of pride therein. Admittedly, it's not the best suit to the chapter, but it was what I was listening to while writing the chapter.