• Published 9th Jun 2017
  • 618 Views, 4 Comments

Embers Fall - CrimsonWave



A clan of evil electronic music producers go to the desert to wreak some havoc. Hilarity and possible destruction ensues.

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28 - All We Can Do

As he repeatedly promised throughout their travels, Sun Beamer did not let whatever Obscurus was (allegedly) planning distract him from the other things going on at the Gathering of Embers. As a first-timer, he felt obligated to sample everything he could that week, including prominent fixtures such as the art clearing and the Sanctuary of Light.

These explorations, as well as having received his "initiation" (read: a mouthful of sand) the other day, took Sun Beamer's mind off the situation for a few days. By Friday, however, he had made it a secondary goal to at least catch up with Diamond Diablo, since the only other thing he could do was try to message her with Haybale. It was supposed to use other users' phones as a pass-through to send messages without a cell signal or internet, but that's kind of difficult when barely anyone actually had it installed.

Thanks to the complimentary schedule he had received earlier, Sun Beamer and Blast Furnace already had their night planned. Obscurus was doing a back-to-back set with Diablo tonight at Camp Break O' Dawn, which felt like a good window of opportunity to meet up with her. There was also scuttleflank going around that Mach 55 - one of his favorite hardstyle acts - was planning a secret show around midnight at Camp Zoo Project. Given that they've performed here before, and that this camp is specialized towards hardcore music, it seemed much more believable than the constant rumors that Daft Poney were going to perform a secret show too (if they had never done a live concert in over a decade, why would their comeback be here?).

By the tentative schedule Sun Beamer received, they were about 90 minutes early. Although the camp was quite packed near the stage for a different DJ, Diablo's distinctive LED armor was easy to spot near the back of the crowd. Sun Beamer decided to trot over.

"Evening, gold-orange one." greeted Diablo. Sun Beamer burst out in chuckles after realizing why Diablo said that.

"You too, except for the color part obviously." replied Sun Beamer.

"Nah, I can fix that." joked Diablo. She reached for some controls with her unicorn magic, and her armor's lighting changed from rainbows to shades of orange and gold. "That'll do."

Sun Beamer and Diamond Diablo trotted off to the side near Blast Furnace.

"I heard you were playing here tonight, so I thought it would be a good opportunity to catch up on things." stated Sun Beamer.

"You're correct." she confirmed. "I actually like to socialize with the audience before I perform. Everyone has a different story to tell, and a good DJ should be able to tailor their playlist on a dime to suit the atmosphere."

"It probably helps your image too." Sun Beamer added.

"Yeah; I don't really like how some DJs put their celebrity ego first and their music second nowadays. Sometimes the best way to connect with your fans, is to just be a normal pony who enjoys their time here." continued Diablo. "Speaking of that, how have you been enjoying your first Gathering?"

"Except for that day I got a mouth full of sand because I didn't get my gear on well-enough, it's been pretty good." Sun Beamer elaborated, as Blast Furnace laughed at his continued insistence on bringing that up at every relevant moment.

"You'll be in for a similarly sandy surprise when you use a hotel shower for the first time afterwards." noted Diablo. "But that's more if you have a long mane. You two have been keeping it short and aesthetically-pleasing, at least."

"Yes! She really likes my mane!" Blast Furnace suddenly exclaimed, eliciting an awkward reaction from Sun and Diablo. "Sorry, was just kinda excited. A friend calls this being noticed by a 'senpai', I think." she awkwardly replied.

"So, what have you been up to?" asked Diablo.

"Horsing around, checking out the art installations and DJs of course." noted Sun Beamer. "I also unknowingly helped Obscurus's musical posse with stage setup."

"Oh?" Diablo pondered.

"Turns out that Eight Track and Train Spot are really nice ponies, and I had taken selfies with Wave Rider at the festival in Las Pegasus. I also got free CDs and schedules too." Sun Beamer continued.

"Did you learn anything more about Obscurus and her big multimedia extravaganza thing?" asked Diablo. "We talked earlier, and she was rather obtuse about it."

"Nothing I didn't already know, except for the fact that it's called Euphorius." added Sun Beamer. "I noticed that Obscurus was suspiciously absent from Saturday night from the schedule they gave me with the EPs, but Train Spot did mention that it excluded surprises."

"Traditionally, everyone is meant to be a surprise." Diablo noted. "But like I said, those four are just as unfamiliar with this event as you are, but you all did your homework at least."

"Yeah, unlike some. You know who you are!" interjected Blast Furnace.

"It's not me, for sure." replied Sun Beamer. "Anyway, I actually went to Train Spot and Wave Rider's shows last night; they were both good, but I think I liked Wave Rider's music better. Plus they were both hyping up some sort of Electro Express collaboration on Saturday night."

"Oh, that. They're going to be debuting some new collaborative duo on their sound truck." confirmed Diablo, "They were asking me whether they should name it 'Crazy Train' or 'Third Rail'. I was impartial, but leaning towards the latter."

"Maybe that's where Euphorius is happening, and Obscurus is a surprise guest." wondered Blast Furnace. "You did say she wasn't listed on Saturday night, and this is supposedly happening during the burn."

"Under the presumption that she's probably going to do something with mind broadcasts, we know it normally has a short range. For all we know, she could only be doing this at a specific camp." elaborated Sun Beamer. "Plus, it might not take as much magical energy to do augmented reality than full-on virtual reality, like she did to me."

"And that's why you'll need refractive glasses. If she is up to any funny business, the magical energy gives off sparks that are easier to see with them." explained Diablo. "Sorry I was a little riddle-ish earlier, but they're a popular handout before the burn."

"That's alright. Me and Blast figured out the clue you sent me on Haybale." acknowledged Sun Beamer. "But I haven't been able to communicate with you since I got here. Either nopony's actually using it, or it's not even working."

Sun Beamer got out his phone from a pocket in his cloak, and let Diablo poke around at it.

"Whoops, I think I forgot to mention something, actually." realized Diablo. "There's privacy settings on the mesh mode; by default, it only allows messages to be routed between devices owned by your contacts for some reason."

"Isn't that a little contradictory to what it's supposed to do?" wondered Sun Beamer.

"Yes. But somepony got paranoid about it, and the customer is always right." continued Diablo. "All the messages are encrypted nonetheless."

"Good." responded Sun Beamer, as the group began to make their way back towards the crowd.

"Just be careful when wearing those glasses around here at night. It gets real trippy, real fast, and everypony always talks about seeing weird visions with them on." warned Diablo.

"Certain audiences are probably responsible for the majority of those." clarified Blast Furnace.

"As in?" asked Diablo.

"Oh, you know. We're trying to deal with them." Blast Furnace replied with uncertainty.

"Who, exactly?" Diablo was losing her patience at the ambiguity.

Blast Furnace trotted right up to her ear.

"Landscapers." she whispered.

Diablo took a moment to a moment to parse the euphemism. "Oh, I know what you mean!"

The two ponies giggled for a moment. Sun Beamer wasn't sure how to respond, but felt it was about time to get back on topic.

"Are you performing at all tomorrow night?" asked Sun Beamer,

"Yes. 90-minute set at Camp Leggendaria around 9:30, and then Camp Epsilon around midnight after the burn." replied Diablo. "Being scheduled during the burn sounds like an elusive honor on paper, but only if your camp has a good view of it. Almost everypony heads towards the center of the basin to watch it there instead."

"At this rate, Obscurus could be anywhere. Guess we'll need to split up," declared Sun Beamer.

"Yeah!" exclaimed Blast Furnace. "Burn's usually during the 11 o'clock hour. I was actually at Epsilon earlier, and they got an overhead viewing platform with a very good view of the Blazicorn. It could make a good meeting spot too."

"Or front row seats for our 'demise.'" snarked Sun Beamer. Everypony laughed.

"Anyway, I gotta start getting ready backstage." Diablo affirmed. "Obscurus is coming on shortly, and we're going to do a seamless transition from her set to mine when she's done. It takes a bit more time to set up my equipment while someone else is still performing."

"That sounds tricky, but I'll presume you've done it before." remarked Sun Beamer.

"Yeah." acknowledged Blast Furnace."

"Now that Haybale's set up right, he should be able to stay in contact with you, at least." noted Blast Furnace.

"Assuming I haven't turned it off to conserve battery, of course. Be lucky I even have a place where I can charge it easily." Sun Beamer rebutted.

"Thanks for coming over, and enjoy the show!" announced Diablo, as she walked away.

Was she talking about their DJ sets, or what will be going down just 24 hours from now?