The Little Curiosities

by Comma Typer

Inter-Crush

Preparing a riverside picnic by their road-trip van did not work as planned. Her unicorn friend just played the guitar. Or, more accurately, rubbed her hooves against the strings and produced sounds comparable to music. Unicorn magic is up next, but four days in that magic-riddled body is not enough to lend her equine skills in melody. The guitar player keeps playing the guitar.

Something touches her withers. Maybe the wind, but that is quelled when the touch turns to hoofsteps which then turn into the only other pony out in the middle of nowhere with her.

The Earth pony sits down by her side. The rising sun shines on her yellow face, cheeks pocked with sticker hearts. “Still annoyed about the pony-up thing, K-Lo?”

“Not that per se.” The guitar floats in her magic: something her self-taught “training” got her. “It’s that it ruined the plan.” The river water cascades past the rocks, a speeding fish catching her attention for a second. “Retiring Post-Crush sounded like a great idea at the time, but I miss giving everyone a good time with our music and I know you miss that too. However—“

“It had to be perfect, right?”

“Yes, it had to be! For once, we were about to go off without a hitch: advance top-billing reservations for the Starswirled Music Festival, PR saying it would be a one-off gig with room for a full comeback—we’ve already written half an album’s worth of new material. But then, this stupid pony thing undoes everything!”

“Don’t you mean it kicks everything off?”

K-Lo’s ears fall back in her lack of understanding. “Why would you say that?”

The question does not bother the drummer: it emboldens her. “We have the element of surprise! We’ve been so famous for months post-retirement, I said the world had to literally end to get the spotlight off of us… and it did! Now it’s just gonna be the two of us, driving on a Friday, coming back home, using up our hard-earned—I’m just gabbing on Root Beetles songs again, am I?”

A ray of hope comes in the form of a K-Lo laugh. “One of those rare moments when your extreme optimism pays off, I must say.” A good look at the guitar dampens the mood. “Although, ideally, the plan is to come back with our ability to use our instruments. I have telekinesis on my side, but that’s not enough to reliably play a chord. On the upside, the festival’s got to be delayed after this huge change.”

“That means more time to get things done! And a pony tutor!”

“We’re in the desolate wastelands of Whinneyoming.”

“Who needs Whinneyoming when you’ve finally got signal!” Her phone appears out of her candy-colored mane. “See? They’re already posting tutorial videos on pony things. Now, remember the Rainbooms? The Chance to Prance band? Their rhythm guitarist’s confessed she’s from that Equestria dimension—who would’ve known? But there’s more! Sunset promised she’ll talk about pony music techniques when she gets her hoof feel back.”

The phone is laid on the ground for K-Lo to see. In the vlog’s latest episode, Sunset rambles on about the high metabolism of ponies. A gentle hoof press pauses the video.

“See that poster over there?”

K-Lo squints at said poster on the wall, the video’s low quality to be blamed on the weak signal around these parts. In the end, recognition brightens her eyes. “She’s a fan, isn’t she? Are you thinking what I’m thinking!”

“I don’t know! But, anyway, first thing we do is contact Sunset anonymously. After that, here’s the deal….”

---

“We’re going to have our first guests coming in from far-away Whinneyoming! Just in time too, you legendary Shimmerers!” (The blush comes from her slip of the tongue: a borrowed phrase reserved for the fans on her gaming channel.) “Sorry I couldn’t get the Rainbooms around, but as I’ve said last episode, they’re busy getting their own pony affairs in order. Alright, that’s the doorbell, so they just arrived. Said they’re superstars in their hometown, and they’re ready to rip and shred! Prepare for a jam-packed three hours of live learning and music goodness!”

The door swings open and the levitating camera catches the two surprise visitors on digital film. Unseen is Sunset’s eye twitch and unheard is one skipped heart beat.

“A-are you… y-you are…?”

“Yes, we are! This is K-Lo, that is Su-Z, and we’re here to tell everyone that Post-Crush is back from the dead and back on tour!”

The feed goes black with a thud. The background croaks up gasps. A few seconds of silence.

“Good news, K-Lo, she’s not dead! Sunset’s ratings must be skyrocketing through the roof!”

“Sunset just fainted.” Scrambled clip-clopping of hooves. “I’m calling 911. Um, Shimmerers—is that the right term? Anyway, legends, we’ve experienced some technical and personal difficulties. See you on tomorrow’s episode...?”

Comments

[Venerable Ro]

I feel like I'm missing a reference here.

Though I'm sure when she comes around she'll be through the roof.

[Ninjadeadbeard]

No matter how big you get, it seems anyone can fangasm.

[Eroraf86]

10290508
Sunset’s Backstage Pass.

[FanOfMostEverything]

I usually have Sunset call the audience on her game stream "Code Monkeys," but that doesn't work in this setting anymore.

In any case, definitely a better way to meet her favorite band than a time loop. Though that does mean the Time Twirler's still out there somewhere...

[BiggerNate91]

10292121
I would go with "Codewords," if I wasn't reserving that for her collab group.