MLP: The Magic of... Music?

by The Bricklayer

Part 19: Chasing Shadows

Author's Note:

Well, like I said this chapter will be more tighter and more plot focused. At first, I thought it would be a short one, but things just sort of... expanded. Funny that. In this, we finally find out the fate of Prince Shining Armor and his men, and the true villain revealed... (Also, thanks to CaioCola for his suggestions for this chapter, including the song suggestion for Pinkie's rap.) Also, can anyone find the song I'm referencing with the chapter title this time?

Golden Oaks Library

And so the next song began, with a message saying it went out to all the money men...

From the onset, it was obvious the song's meaning was about greed, about a greedy "Money Man", possibly a banker or a broker. The lyrics spoke of him driving fancy cars, and even if he wasn't a rock star the mares sure treated him like one, with all of his money. The singer continued to ask where the money went, intercut with the Money Man saying things like it looked good in his retirement plan and such.

"Such a greedy pony, reminds me of some of those bankers up in Canterlot!" Rarity huffed. As the Element of Generosity, she loved givng things to others, ranging from simple acts of kindness to making fancy dresses for balls, dances and galas of all types.

"Yeesh, and I thought Spoiled Rich was bad." Applejack mused, she too was angry with the man sung about in the lyrics. "He's plum greedier than a squirrel after their nuts! in the fall!"

Then, it seemed in the lyrics the Money Man finally had to pay up for his deeds, and it seemed he had been captured and put to trial at last for his stealing the money from the band in question, with the singer saying he and his prison buddies were just shooting the breeze, but not before asking what did he do with the money, and the greedy man couldn't seem to answer but with a "Uh" and stammers of all sorts.

Spike meanwhile, had different thoughts about the song, and it's lyrical content. He had bad memories being stirred up, and he remembered what had happened the last time he himself got too greedy, and his dragon instincts activated, with him getting greedier and greedier. Bigger too, as well, becoming a full sized serpentine like dragon. Spike right now was currently lost in a flashback to that very day...

(Transcript taken from MLP FIM WIKI: Secret of My Excess so credit where it's due)

ROOOOAAARR!

At the time, Spike had Rarity in his very claws, and was now a giant, no longer a little simple drakeling. Rarity was currently screaming in fear, she couldn't believe this was happening to her, nor could she, if she knew who it was, would have believed that this giant monster of a dragon was her little Spikey-Wikey.

"Put me down, you brute!" Rarity ordered, but it was to no avail, as Spike wasn't listening in the slightest as he continued on his rampage, smashing houses that were unlucky enough to get in his path. He stomped on house after house, smashing them to bits beneath his feet and unleashed blasts of flame each time he roared.

ROOOOAAARR!

"How rude!" Rarity huffed, quite annoyed at being ignored by Spike in his current state.

"Don't worry Rarity, we'll save you!" Fluttershy called out in the loudest voice she could muster up as she and her sister in all but blood flew up to try and save their friend. Determination, as well as fear for their friend shown on their faces, but they weren't ashamed of showing this fear at all. Courage, after all was about facing your fears and standing up to them, no matter the size or challenge. Even a very big challenge like the one currently facing them.

"Put her down, right now!" Rainbow Dash barked out, anger on her face. She knew this was Spike, but that didn't mean she would resort to attacking him. A dear friend was in danger after all.

"If... if you wouldn't mind that is." Fluttershy squeaked out in terror, not just for her but for Rarity as well.

"I mean it, dragon boy!" Rainbow snarled, balling up her hooves like one would fists and getting ready to charge towards her foe.

"We'll be ever so grateful if you'd be so kind as to possibly consider... " Fluttershy asked, trying to reason with the beast that was once Spike. But Rainbow was in no mood to try and do that.

"Drop her, scaly!" She snapped, all out of warnings. She rocketed towards Spike, only for her, along with Fluttershy to get swatted away like flies, which Rarity was keen to comment on.

"Hey! I'm– not some– sort of common– fly swatter!" Rarity sputtered out, even as Fluttershy and Rainbow screamed in terror as they were swatted away.

Spike shuddered at the memories which were rapidly overcoming him, he remembered the sheer horror he'd caused and the fear that his friends felt towards him becoming nothing more than a monster. And then Spike wondered, what if it happened again? What if his greed got control of him once more, like it did the first time, and his dragon instincts returned? What then? Would he hurt more ponies, like he did the first time, or worse still, even k-kill somepony?

"It's going to happen again, I just know it!" Spike panicked at the thought, and looked towards his friends. His dear friends, those who had been his true companions all his short life in Ponyville, and the teenage drakeling felt grateful for all they had given him, all the fun times they'd had and adventures had together. Even the sad times were happy in hindsight, as they were there for him.

"Celestia above, what's wrong with me?" He wondered aloud, in a soft tone, but just loud enough for Twilight to hear.

"You alright Spike?" She asked of her son, only to get a rapid shaking of the head in response. Twilight was now growing very concerned indeed. Something was definitely bothering Spike, that was for sure.

"NO! NO! I'm not alright!" Spike suddenly shouted, all of the stress getting to him. "W-What if I go greedy again, or worse, grow up and become a monster full time!" He panicked.

Twilight knew she had to calm her son down, and she knew just the way to do it.

"Spike, you won't become a monster again, I guarantee it." She assured, with a hoof on his shoulder.

"H-How?" Spike sobbed.

"Because we're always there for you, and we always will be, me most of all. Remember, I care for you. And even if you go and turn into a monster again, we can stop you, remind you who you are inside." Twilight said calmly and without a trace of doubt in her voice. She knew her son, and he was no monster. Meanwhile, Spike was having another flashback, of Rarity's words to him that brought him back to his true self.

"Oh, no. You are not getting this gemstone! This was given to me by my dear friend Spikey-Wikey. The kindest, sweetest, most generous dragon ever. And it is too precious to me to give to a greedy, old beast like you!"

"T-Thank you mom, I needed that. Pinkie Promise I won't become THAT ever again?" He asked nervously, and was reassured with a wink and a calm smile from his mother. All his doubts were erased forevermore with these two things.

"Pinkie Promise." She said, before flipping the switch to find a happier song.

And happy is what they got, with the song beginning with light acoustic guitars and a peppy, and almost jazzy horns along with them. The song sung of a man who used to be rough and tough, till a Bronx woman bobbed his head. The man was named Bill, Big Bad Bill in fact, but now he was known as Sweet William.

"Ooh, catchy darlings!" Rarity chirped as she bobbed her head along to the songs beat.

"Y'all know, this song almost reminds me of somepony we know." Applejack mused, as she thought of a certain chaos entity who was dating Fluttershy now. Everypony was soon following her train of thought, and reaching the same conclusion she was.

"Oh come on, don't tell me DISCORD of all creatures is doing the dishes and mopping the floors like a common housemare!" Rainbow exclaimed in disbelief. To her, the idea was just laughable. But she was surprised to see Fluttershy smirking. It was an odd sight to say the least.

"He is, and he's very good at it." She said, and nopony could tell if she was joking or not. To break up the ensuing awkward silence, Twilight quickly changed the song to another one. This one managed to stun the ponies with a revelation even more shocking then the last, if you could believe it.

This next song was surprisingly sung by Pinkie Pie herself, stunning everypony in the room. The song talked about how she was the real Pinkie Pie, and that there was no one else like her, she sung of how it was as if no pony had seen another pink pony before, before calling Ms. Cake a certain very insulting word. As the song went on, she insulted a lot of other people too, including a group known as "Bronies", whatever they were.

When everypony recovered from their stunned silence, they all turned to look at Pinkie.

"Pinkie, I didn't know you could rap!" Rainbow gasped out in shock.

"I am pretty awesome aren't I?" Pinkie bragged before grinning. "That's the song that'll be on my upcoming demo CD!"

"But darling, must you be so rude?" Rarity inquired with a raised eyebrow.

"But that's rap music for you. If you can't handle the fire, stay out of the kitchen." Pinkie responded smugly. Nopony had any more words to say after that.

---

Canterlot Castle: Celestia's private chambers

Celestia was worried, and was pacing back and forth around her chambers. It had been days since Shining Armor had gone down into the very depths of Tartarus to find the true villain behind Adagio's plot to take over Equestria, and nothing had been heard back from him since. Cadence had strted to panic, and it was starting to show, with her starting to lose focus on her royal duties and when she showed worry, it carried over to her subjects, the Crystal Ponies of the Empire. Celestia so wished she could find something to say to comfort her fellow Alicorn, but she just didn't know what to say.

"You're starting to pick up your student's habits, I see." Luna remarked as she peered into the slightly ajar door to her sister's quarters.

"I am... worried." Celestia admitted. She didn't like to admit it, but she was afraid, afraid that Prince Shining was never coming back. Her worry showed on her face, and she looked as if she hadn't slept in days.

"Do not worry, sister of mine." Luna reassured as she walked over and put an wing around her sister in a attempt to console her. "The Prince will be back, just you wait. Why don't you read a book or something?" Luna asked, holding up her sister's favorite book, J. R. Mankin's "King of the Bracelet".

Celestia smiled weakly, she so wished she shared her sister's ability to always stay cheery.

"If only I shared your ever flowing optimism, sister. I just can't-" Celestia began, before swiftly being interrupted when a Solar Guard rushed into the room, looking frantic.

"It's... It's the Prince! He's back!" The guard stammered out, sweating hard from exhaustion from running so fast. On hearing this, both Luna and Celestia rushed towards the Throne Room and found a beaten and bloodied Shining Armor, being supported by a bloody and bruised Flash Sentry.

"What happened?" Celestia asked at once in an authoritative tone of voice. "Where are the rest of your men?"

"He... He killed them. Killed them all." Shining sobbed, the loss of his troops weighing heavily on him. Both Luna and her sister gasped, this was very bad indeed.

"Who?" Luna asked worriedly. "Who killed them?"

Shining took a deep and shuddering breath before answering.

"It was him. Grogar. He's back."

Comments

[A random person]

7634820 Ever heard of a band called Imagine Dragons? Or Green Day? They have really good songs

[badninja]

So I wonder what the connection is then between the songs coming through and Grogar showing back up?

[The Bricklayer]

7639738 Yeah, I've heard of both bands, just never listened to any of their work.

[A random person]

7639786 Yeah, the song called 'Its Time' by Imagine Dragons is an emotional one

[Black_Knight]

Grogar the Necromancer? All those shadow themes were leading more toward Sombra since his an Umbra Pony. Ow well.

Anyway. Yes, yes, yes, all my yes. I was waiting/hoping to see Vanna's Eminem rap parody. Pinkie respond to the song was priceless, though I was expecting a little more banter around the lyrics.

Mistakes found:

and it seemed hehad been captured

It was a odd sight to say the least.

an

Celestia so wished she could find something to say to comfort her fellow alicorn, but she just didn't know what to say.

Alicorn

Luna reassured as she walked over and put a wing around her sister in a attempt to console her.

an

"If only I shared you ever flowing optimism, sister.

your

Celestia asked at once in a authoritative tone of voice.

an

Song suggestion:

Gloryhammer - Magic Dragon
Gloryhammer - Rise Of The Chaos Wizards
Hoobastank - The Reason
Hoobastank - Crawling In The Dark
Disturbed - Indestructible
Disturbed - Stricken
Danny Elfman - This is Halloween
Ray Parker Jr. - Ghostbusters

[mitchboy]

Gorger!? you mean the demon goat from The G1 My little Pony?

[Xuncu]

Grogar, with fatalities: Oh shit, that ain't good.

[A random person]

7639786 Here is a great upbeat rock and roll song by Green Day, RD might like it

[brisa_mlp]

This next song was surprisingly sung by Pinkie Pie herself, stunning everypony in the room. The song talked about how she was the real Pinkie Pie, and that there was no one else like her, she sung of how it was as if no pony had seen another pink pony before, before calling Ms. Cake a certain very insulting word. As the song went on, she insulted a lot of other people too, including a group known as "Bronies", whatever they were.

that supposed to be a slim shady remix

[The Bricklayer]

8556270
Yeah, it was but for whatever reason the video got removed.