• Published 27th May 2016
  • 1,424 Views, 87 Comments

The Rhythm of Love - lockheed



A music store owner must figure out how to navigate the trials of love

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10: Melancolico

“I can’t believe it! She sang my song!” I said excitedly as I hopped down the streets of Canterlot. Test trotted along next to me with a smile on his muzzle but didn’t say anything as he listened to me. Suddenly, I stopped hopping and just stood in the street. “Wait, if she likes it and records it, I’ll get a portion of the sales because I wrote it.” A smile grew on my face and got so big it seemed to threaten to split my face in two. “Do you know what that means?” Test shook his head as I looked over to him. “It means we’re not living off instant noodles and dandelion sandwiches anymore. We’re going to be rolling in money.” He smiled again as I began hopping around him listing off all the things we wouldn’t have to worry about anymore. “We won’t have to worry about the electric bill, water bill, rent; anything!” I stopped in front of him and my expression softened to one of loving. “And if it wasn’t for you showing that song to your sister, it wouldn’t have happened.” Leaning in, I placed a quick peck on his lips before leaning back and turning around. “And as thanks, we’re going out to a club for drinks here in Canterlot tonight.”

“Drinks? We just left a nightclub and it’s already going on midnight. Where in Canterlot would we go-“ He stopped as he seemed to realize something. “You’re not thinking about going where I think you are, are you?”

“And where would that be, sweetie?”


A green neon sign lit up the entire block of the street we trotted along and I smiled gleefully as I read the sign. “The world famous Tropicana!” I announced as I wrapped a foreleg around Test’s shoulders. “This is the biggest nightclub outside of Manehattan and Applewood and the third biggest in Equestria.” I told him as we made our way through the front door. Inside, well over four hundred ponies were either drinking, eating, dancing, or a combination of any of the three. “You want drinks?” I asked him and he seemed to look around nervously before nodding. We made our way over towards the bar and took our seats on a couple of stools.

“What can I get ya?” A mare in a white dress shirt asked us from behind the bar. I looked at all the shelves and spied something that caught my attention.

“Give me an Old Crow and cola, please.” I leaned over to Test to get his order which he whispered into my ear. “And a Sea Breezy for my coltfriend.” She smiled and set about getting our drinks and returned with them a minute later.

“So you two are a couple new faces around here.” The mare said as she set our drinks in front of us. “You live here or just passing through?”

“His sister got us a couple tickets for the Jazz Rhythm show tonight I guess as a birthday gift for me.” I explained before taking a sip of my drink. I scrunched up my muzzle as I swallowed the liquid and looked up at her. “Can I see that bottle for a sec?” I asked her as I pointed a hoof at the whiskey bottle on the shelf. She used her magic to levitate the bottle with a crow on it over to me and I quickly poured at least two shots worth of it into my glass. Taking another sip, I sighed in contentment as I set the bottle aside.

“You like it pretty strong don’t you?” She asked, my glass clunking against the top of the bar as I set it down.

“And rough.” I told her with a grin as I gently poked Test in the side with my elbow. He let out a small squeak and looked down at the bar top as his cheeks and ears turned red from embarrassment while he seemed to try hiding behind his bangs.

“Aww, what’s the matter cutie?” The bartender asked as she leaned against the bar and patted Test’s head. “Don’t worry. If he keeps embarrassin’ you then you just tell me and I’ll cut ‘em off.” He nodded and took a sip of his drink as she turned back to me. “By the way, my name is Whiskey River.” She said as she stuck her hoof out towards me. I shook it before wrapping a foreleg around Test.

“I’m Swing Rhythm and this adorable hunk of stallion here is my coltfriend Test Tube.” She smiled as I introduced us before looking back to me.

“I forgot, did you say that today is your birthday?” I nodded and she seemed to smile even bigger. “Well your drinks are on the house tonight. And if you stick around, I’ve got something I think you’re coltfriend will really enjoy.” Test’s face flushed red again and he quickly took a swig of his drink. Whiskey trotted off to take other patrons orders, leaving Test and I to our drinks.

“She seemed…nice.” Test said before taking another sip of his drink. I nodded and took a swig of my drink. We sat there for a bit in silence, our hooves slowly moving below the bar for us to hold the other’s hoof.

“Well, well, well; what’ve we got here? A couple queers it looks like.” A stallion’s voice said and I rolled my eyes. I quickly downed the rest of my drink and spun on my stool with the empty glass. I saw a red unicorn stallion standing directly in front of me with a smug look on his face.

“You the one that said that?” I asked calmly as I looked around him to see if he had any backup. He didn’t.

“Yeah, I did. You got a problem with it?” He asked. I looked calmly down at my glass before looking up at him and raising my hoof in the air. I brought the glass down against the side of his head and he immediately dropped to the floor with a thud. Everypony at and near the bar stopped and looked at the stallion on the floor and then up at me.

“Anypony else got something to say?” I asked and most quickly went back to their drinks or their food. I turned around and waved over Whiskey who quickly brought me another drink.

"Why did you hit him?" Test asked me with nervousness in his voice.

"He was disrespectful." I replied as I raised my glass up to my lips.

"Is that what you do to everypony who's disrespectful to you?" He questioned and I paused with the lip of my glass resting against my bottom lip. I lowered the glass and set it on the bar with a sigh.

"Test, do you know what my grandparents' generation thought of ponies like us?" I asked him as I slowly looked over at him. He shook his head, making me quickly down my entire drink and set in to tell him a story. "When they were young, my grandparents were taught many things about ponies like you and I. That we were sick. That our sexuality was a mental illness. That we're nothing more than a bunch of coltcuddlers. That's where the term came from. Back then, they thought that ponies like us could be cured of our homosexuality." Whiskey was by then back with another drink for me and stood there listening to me as well as the two ponies who flanked me and Test. "When I was a colt, I would hear them talk about the mares who own the shop across the street. Grandma was always friendly to their faces but she said such horrible things behind their backs. Grandpa, he was always very clear about it. He would tell me he'd rather have a dead grandson than a daffodil for a grandson. Daffodil was of course a derogatory term from their time for a gay stallion." I explained and Whiskey's lips formed an O as she understood why he’d said that.

“So what did you do?” Whiskey asked me.

“I stayed in the closet, that’s what I did.” I told her before looking down at the bar top with a small sigh. “Although I think the mares across the street may have known it.” I said looking back up. “Cause let’s face facts, when a colt wants to play piano and wear frilly shirts and lots of rings; he’s probably smoking more sausage than a gryphon hotdog factory.” That made Whiskey choke slightly on the drink she’d poured herself and I saw a small smirk cross Test’s face for a second. “I only came out to the other kids at school and the mares across the street. Nopony else knew until after their passing.” Taking a sip of my drink, I looked over at Test and then set my glass down. “That’s why I don’t put up with ponies who say that kind of shit to me. I grew up thinking there was something wrong with me because of how my grandparents talked about ponies like me. I refuse to deal with ponies who’re like that today.” I told him as I heard a groaning behind me. Turning to look, I saw the red stallion trying to sit up while holding his head.

“You’ll pay for that you fucking coltcuddlers.” He groaned out through clenched teeth as he stumbled towards the exit. I shook my head and took another sip of my drink as Test looked over at me in worry.

“Do you think we should stay awhile? Just because that stallion seemed pretty serious about getting back at us.” He seemed to glance at the door with concern before I gently placed a hoof on his cheek and turned his head for him to look at me.

“Test, I swear on my life that nothing will happen to you. You’re my reason for waking up in the morning. You’re my little nerdy angel. You’re my everything. When I think about getting old, it’s you whose teeth I want next to mine on the nightstand.” I said as I gently leaned in and pressed my forehead against his, careful not to stab myself on his horn. His face felt warm as it flushed from my statement and I let out an internal sigh of contentment. The sound of somepony tapping on a microphone made us both look over at the stage. There on stage was Whiskey who smiled out at the crowd.

“Fillies and gentlecolts, tonight we have a pony in the building who is celebrating their birthday. Will Swing Rhythm please come up on stage?” I felt my face and ears go red in embarrassment as I slowly got off my stool and walked up to the stage. Everypony in the building was now looking at me as I climbed the steps up to the stage. “Since it’s Swing’s birthday today, I’d like everypony to join me in singing Happy Birthday to him.” My face went an even darker shade of red as Whiskey and everypony else began singing Happy Birthday to me. When the finished, there was some applause as Whiskey continued to speak. “And since your drinks are on the house, we ask that here on stage you do at least one thing for everypony as entertainment.” I looked around at all the musical instruments on stage. Near the center of the band was a grand piano. Trotting over, I sat down on the bench, making sure not to sit on the tails of my tux jacket, and waved over three of the violin players. After making sure that everything was as it should be, I nodded to the violin players who raised their bows to their instruments.

I began playing and the violins quickly joined in as they realized what song it was. As I got further into the song, I felt myself relax and I looked out at the crowd with a smile as I began to get more showy with how I played. Back by the bar, I could see Test Tube smiling as I pounded away on the keys of the piano. When the song ended, I continued to smile as the crowd applauded. I stood up and took a bow before quickly leaving the stage and returning to the bar to be with Test.

“I knew you could play but I never knew you could be such a show off.” Test told me with a smile as I sat down on my stool.

“Only when I know I can be.” I replied with a grin as he finished off his Sea Breezy. Whiskey appeared behind the bar again. She glanced up at the clock on the wall and then looked back to us.

“I hope you weren’t planning on going back home. The trains stopped running twenty minutes ago.” She told us and I suddenly realized that we now had nowhere to stay. She seemed to read my mind as she spoke up again. “If you’d like, I get off work in a half hour. You two can crash at my place.” Test and I looked at each other before nodding our heads.

“That sounds nice. Thank you so much.” I said as I turned back to Whiskey with a smile. It was at that moment that Test accidentally let a yawn slip before he blushed slightly. “Guess somepony’s tired.”

“If you’d like, I can give you my key. My place it just a couple blocks south of here. House number seven fifty-four.” She said as she placed a key on the bar. I accepted it and looked over to Test who took the key and put it in his pocket.

“We’ll leave it unlocked for you.” I told her as we climbed down off our stools and made our way to the exit of the club. We pushed open the door and made our way onto the dark streets of Canterlot, trotting in the direction of Whiskey’s house. As we passed an alleyway, I felt somepony’s magic grab my shirt collar and I could see from the corner of my eye that they had Test too. Whoever it was pulled us into the alley where a piece of rope was quickly tied around my forehooves and around my back legs, rendering me unable to move. A rag was shoved into my mouth and I could barely see that Test was in no better condition than me. He was tied up, gagged, and an inhibiter ring was placed on his horn.

“Told you that you were going to pay, coltcuddler.” A familiar voice said and I felt my blood run cold. Several stallions emerged from the shadows of the alley and began approaching us. “You and your little faggot coltfriend.” He walked up to me and removed the rag from my mouth. “Anything you’d like to say?”

“Yes. Whatever you’re going to do to us, do to me. He didn’t hit you. He’s just a bystander. Let him go and whatever you were going to do to both of us, I’ll take double it if it just means that he’s fine.” I told him. Though if their attempts to tie him up, Test had fought back and ended up with a blackened eye and a bloody snout. The stallion seemed to think about it for a moment. An evil smile spread on his face and he quickly untied Test Tube.

“Well worth it if we get to torture you twice as bad.” He said as Test quickly scrambled out of the alley and back in the direction of the club. The red stallion used his magic to produce a large switchblade knife that had a blade easily five inches long. “We’re gonna have us some fun tonight boys.”