Embers Fall

by CrimsonWave

26 - Taking Flight

"Hey, Blast Furnace, sorry I'm late!" Sun Beamer shouted.

"No problem; Guthrie was out and about over the summer, so he had a lot to talk about. I only just got here two minutes ago."

The sun was setting over the otherwise barren landscape; Sun Beamer and Blast Furnace met, as previously agreed, near an odd tower that had been erected near the outer boundary of the Duskgem City ring.

"So, what were you up to?" asked Blast Furnace.

Sun Beamer shrugged. "I found some place that was serving pork chops and poetry, and I may or may not have have helped affiliates of my mortal enemy."

"Wait, what?" Blast Furnace seemed perplex.

"There was this dance club called the House of Pancakes, and these two ponies named Eight Track and Train Spot needed help with things I specialize in commercially."

"Continue."

"They mentioned that they couldn't set up their lighting or tent, because they needed the skills of this pegasus named Wave Rider." explained Sun Beamer. "Apparently, he was that one pony who got pictures with me at the festival because he liked my outfit."

"That's interesting..." remarked Blast Furnace.

"Train Spot had apparently performed at the festival too, but I've never heard much of her. I think she was so low-tier that you could barely read her name on the lineup poster."

"Guess she's new or something. Unless you're a true breakout, you don't usually go from 0 to EDM festival headliner in a month." Blast Furnace elaborated.

"Either way, these were the same three ponies that Diamond Diablo said were with Obscurus at the Gathering." Sun Beamer continued. "Train Spot told me the exact same details that Diablo did; that they were here for the first time, travelled with Obscurus, that they're all on the same label, and that Obscurus was planning a 'multimedia experience'."

"Wow..." Blast Furnace wasn't sure how to react.

"I did learn something new; the 'Euphorius' thing that Obscurus mentioned online is the so-called 'multimedia experience'." he recounted. "Neither Eight Track or Train Spot were hostile to me, so maybe they're don't share her views."

"That's always possible." replied Blast Furnace, as she noticed Sun Beamer was also carrying something. "Hey, what's in those packets?"

"CDs, presumably with their music on it. Train Spot gave me some; there were piles of these envelopes backstage, so I guess this is a giveaway."

Sun Beamer opened one; "They also come with a list of 'scheduled' Gathering appearances by all four members of, ahem, 'this collective'."

Blast Furnace took a glimpse at one of the schedule sheets. "Maybe you should tell Diablo about this; on Saturday night, there's a 'massive bonfire set' by Eight Track at that House of Pancakes, while Train Spot and Wave Rider are going to be riding some sort of 'Electro Express'. Obscurus Noctis, however isn't listed."

"She is doing a b2b with Diablo on Friday at Camp Break 'O Dawn, though." Sun Beamer noted, as they began to walk back towards the center of Duskgem.

"Break 'O Dawn? That's probably one of the more well-known sound camps around here. Though they're quite infamous."

Sun Beamer was concerned and curious. "How so?"

"They are aligned with the veteran Followers, and their respective tastes in music." recalled Blast Burnace. "One year, they invited a dubstep act. He got booed off the stage in 5 minutes, and the crowd rioted. They had to shut down for the rest of the night."

A stunned Sun Beamer paused for a moment, before briskly catching back up.

"Hopefully Obscurus's music isn't too progressive for them." he cautioned.

"That's not the problem; they just hate the commercialized stuff. They want originality, breaking the rules, etc." clarified Blast Furnace. "You don't go here looking for top 40 artists, unless they're here to enjoy what everyone has brought to the table... or basin for that matter."

"A hatred for commercialism seems to be a common theme in general." Sun Beamer noted.

"Indeed; that is actually one of our core values." she elaborated. "This isn't about the money. It's about the art, and the artists -- regardless of what you do to express yourself, and allowing others to share in the experience. We are all the light that shines brightest!"

Her triumphant declaration elicited applause from passers by.

"See?"

---

Night had fallen over the desert; Obscurus and Wave Rider returned to the House of Pancakes at around the same time.

"Evening, everypony." greeted Obscurus.

Wave Rider evaluated the state of the camp; "I see you managed to get the lighting set up without me. That's actually pretty impressive."

"We had help." noted Train Spot. "This Earth pony named Sun Beamer was nearby, and he seems to really know his stuff."

"Wait, that name sounds familiar. Wasn't he that Chaotic Kisol pony from the festival in Las Pegasus?" asked a curious Wave Rider.

"Yeah. He works for an event production company, and they got the contract to operate the audio and staging at SSC this year." they continued. "You also took selfies together. Sorry, kinda have to bring that up, cause it did look pretty badass!"

Obscurus smiled. "You know, hearing all this, I still think I misjudged him as being a threat to our goals earlier. Whenever you put deep meaning into your work, there are bound to be ponies out there who will overanalyze things, and conclude that I am going to do something that sounds evil on paper."

She dramatically slid her bandana and goggles back on.

"But of course I did. That was my plan all along!" she shirked. "I just want to stand out from the crowd with something memorable, that plays into a struggle shared by me and this community."

"Oh boy, this is getting interesting." Wave Rider whispered to Train Spot.

"I mean no harm, but when you're dealing with experimental uses of magic like this, you gotta test it in smaller quantities first. Of course, that's when I discovered that my magic wasn't quite designed with my specific intent; it's too taxing, takes too much focus, etc." Obscurus calmly continued.

"Yeah, I think your version of the spell is meant more for augmented reality than virtual reality." remarked Wave Rider. "To be fair, I really want to buy one of those VR headsets after we get back. It's a growing market, and we could make some cool musical experiences with it."

"See? That's how you stand out: you have to be revolutionary. Different. Not afraid to call out what other people think is right." explained Obscurus.

"Either way, it's probably more efficient to let a computer do VR than a unicorn." replied Wave Rider.

"So far, I'm enjoying the Gathering a lot because everypony embraces counterculture; this outfit would be silly to wear in general public outside of an Enraged Equine convention, but here, somepony complimented me as being a 'Mare Mourir'."

"That has a nice ring." observed Eight Track.

"Yes, it does, but Arakiss Fremare sounds pretty cool too. On a related note, for many of the same reasons, 'Obscurus Noctis' is a lot more marketable around this crowd than 'Looking Glass'." she noted.

Train Spot and Wave Rider gasped; for all they knew, Obscurus was her name.

"Anyway, I was concerned about Sun Beamer because I thought he was going to spoil my plans and rat me out." she admitted. "Vision-altering spells like this have a bad reputation due to how they can be abused, and I got concerned that the organizers might not let me do this. But if Project Euphorius is a success, it might be hailed as a new art form."

"That's the spirit!" announced Wave Rider.

Obscurus slid her bandana back off. "Oh, and by the way, did Sun Beamer ask about Euphorius at all?"

"Yes, but I only told him it was a multimedia experience. Nothing else." responded Train Spot.

"Thanks." She trotted over to the tarp. "Now back to the task at hoof; think you could help us install this tent, Wave Rider? Eight Track is supposed to perform in 20 minutes, and his venue isn't complete."

"Having a roof would probably help." confirmed Wave Rider, as he flew over to grab the tarp.

Comments

[Starlight Nova]

Care to tell me more about TrotMania?

[CrimsonWave]

8715453
stepmania pack. dance game stuff