The Nightmare Knights Become A Band

by SwordTune

Verse 11

Papers, letters, assignments, and plans piled up in front of Starlight and Sunburst. Luna sat at the map table in the Castle of Friendship across from the two school heads. Only a few days had passed since their performance in Canterlot, but Svengallop was already pushing to start on their first album. According to him, they needed to ride the wave of popularity and release something for their fans before something else grabbed their attention.

“So, uh, heavy metal’s your thing,” Sunburst tried bringing up with Starlight.

“Mhm,” she simply replied. “Guess there’s a lot about me you still don’t know.”

“Well… did you know I was once a game master for a Ogres and Oubliettes group when I was at Celestia’s school?”

“No, but that’s very on-brand for you.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Sunburst looked up from his draft of a new syllabus for the next semester.

Starlight shrugged. “Just means you seem like the type who’d be into that kind of stuff.”

“Oh yeah?” Sunburst’s face screwed up. “Well, heavy metal’s not that surprising either. You sound like you were pretty angsty if you decided to run away from home to start your own village.”

Luna had been trying to drone out their back and forth banter with the quiet sound of her humming, but she eventually hit her limit.

“I think I’ll just teleport back to Silver Shoals for now,” she told them. “I need my own space if I am to come up with some lyrics.”

Sunburst was the first to get out of his seat, the motion from his robes so rough that their papers nearly fluttered off the map table. Seeing him standing up clearly showed how much his work had taken a toll on his body. His tired neck slouched in a terrible posture from long days of working at a desk.

It wasn’t all that different from his old job, Luna came to think of it, but in the Crystal Empire, he had to look up and down bookshelves to find what he needed. Everything was so streamlined now that he probably didn’t walk more than the distance between the castle and the school.

“You don’t have to go, Prin--I mean, Luna. Starlight and I just like to talk about stuff when we’re working together.”

“It’s not the talking that bothers me,” she answered back. “I only feel as though your conversation is best left to private ears.”

“Oh, it’s nothing,” Starlight insisted, “I’m just paying him back for that ridiculous alibi that made me have to explain to our whole student body that I did not, in fact, break all four of my legs.”

“I panicked when Ocellus started asking questions!” Sunburst defended himself. “I just said the first thing that came to my mind!”

“Me breaking my legs was your first thought?” Starlight gawked.

Luna nodded and continued on her way. “Mhm. Just going to go home and let you two sort this out. I’ll come back tomorrow with some ideas for our next songs.”

---

Lightning Dust swooped overhead as Tempest and Svengallop awkwardly sat outside a cafe. A round of coffee was poured for everyone, but aside from terse greetings they hardly spoke at all.

“Hey!” Lightning landed back down for another drink from her cup. “I don’t normally drink coffee since I don’t like the crash that comes after but this stuff is good! Are--are you two feeling lightheaded or is it just me? Maybe I need to go back to flying to work it off.”

“Knock yourself out,” Tempest said. “The sooner you crash, the sooner we can go. I feel like there’s too much attention on us. I don’t like it.”

“Puh-lease, don’t get big-headed,” Svengallop shielded his eyes from the gust of Lighting’s wings as she took off. “Ponies have their eyes out for princesses. The only thing that might get you noticed is that horn of yours and I don’t think any pony can really notice at first glance.”

Tempest narrowed her eyes. “Mention my horn again and it’ll be the thing you ever say.”

“Well that would be disappointing, I just started looking for a new apartment.”

Lightning Dust landed again, this time dizzyingly finding her seat as her balance slowly restored from fifteen consecutive loops in the sky.

“You know, I agree,” Lightning Dust said. “It’s like some pony is watching us. It’s normal when Luna’s around, but without her, it feels weird.”

“Don’t even think about getting her,” Svengallop snapped. “She needs to focus on her songs. If you need to be around her so badly, show up to our band meeting tomorrow. It’s the only time Starlight has any space in her schedule.”

“Alright, but what are we supposed to do when it’s just us?” Tempest asked. “I don’t have anything to do today. Glitter Drops said she had to pick something up from the Crystal Empire. Starlight teleported her there this morning, so she’ll probably be back in the evening.”

“Is your schedule really based around how much time you can spend with Glitter Drops?” Svengallop looked at Tempest weirdly.

“Yes, yes it is. She is literally my only friend who didn’t have to fight me to save Equestria. Why would I not want to spend my free time with her? She’s even taking me to see something called an opera later this week. I don’t know what that is, but I know I burned down a lot of opera houses when I worked with the Storm King.”

“Hrm, sounds like you’re pretty close to being dependent on her. Like I always say, You can’t be let down if you don’t have anyone holding you up.”

“That’s… awful,” Lightning Dust screwed her face. “Though I get what you’re trying to say. Tempest’s best friend should compliment her, not fill a hole in her life.”

“I don’t need someone to fill my holes,” Tempest growled.

Both ponies cracked wolfish grins at her phrasing.

“Well not with that attitude,” Svengallop said. Lightning Dust tried responding, but she could only manage a cackling laugh.

“What are you, twelve?” Tempest glared. “I thought we’d do normal stuff like talk about our hobbies or something. I’ll just head back to my bed and read a book if you two are going to act crazy.”

Lightning shot out from her seat. “Oh come on, you can’t stick me with this stiff. Luna picked us because we’re the band’s cool ponies!”

“Cool ponies?” Tempest didn’t stop walking away, but Lightning Dust’s caffeinated mind decided following her around was the better idea. Svengallop followed too, though he trailed further behind.

“Yeah, every team needs to have at least one edgy or cool character who challenges the team leader from time to time.” Lightning Dust pointed to a furniture shop window where a bunch of old posters were stuck up, including a promotional poster of the Washouts. “Just look at this. I was the leader, of course. Short Fuse might’ve been a bit temperamental, but he was the heart of the team. And then Rolling Thunder was our resident ‘cool pony.’ Me and her used to fight over which stunts we’d do for our shows.”

Tempest turned back to Svengallop. “Think I’m the one who’s overly attached to my friends?”

“Fine, take the Princess and her group of friends,” Lighting snapped. “Twilight’s obviously the leader, the apple farming one’s the team muscle, the pink one’s the wild card, and then Rainbow Dash gets the role of ‘cool pony.’ That’s what makes her my rival.”

“Ha!” Tempest snorted an obnoxious laugh at Lightning Dust. “You, a rival for a full-time Wonderbolt? Please, I left Equestria as a kid but I still know that they’re the best fliers in the world. I remember they did a show near my home town once.”

“They just say they’re the best to make their little club exclusive,” Lightning Dust huffed, stepping away from the window. “I don’t want anything to do with them now. In fact, when the next Equestria Games come around, I’m going to show them exactly who’s the best flier.”

“Uh-huh, just make sure your dreams don’t get in the way of the band,” Svengallop added. “I don’t know why you’re doing this, but for me, making it to the top of the music industry again is my dream.”

The three of them stepped away from the window when they noticed the store manager coming out to meet them. Tempest blew him off, insisting they weren’t interested, and they headed down the main street of Ponyville searching for something to do.

---

In the end, they ended up doing nothing.

Two hours past noon and they were stuck sitting on a bench, eating crepes and watching families fly kites in an open field. It seemed a mystery to them how three disparate characters with so little in common could be a team, much less a band. Certainly, they each thought, their situation was a contrived one.

“I guess the lesson here is that Luna must be a better leader than she lets on, if she’s able to keep us all together,” Tempest said.

Lightning Dust frowned. “You guys are just stubborn. Going to the gym together would’ve been the perfect team building exercise!”

“I don’t need or want to see either of you working up a sweat,” Svengallop replied.

Their conversations went on like that ad nauseum. One pony’s idea of fun was a total bore for the other, and nothing but insults could be thrown around. Tempest chewed on her crepe thoughtfully. This never happened with Glitter Drops, at least not since they worked out their childhood mistakes. Well, the reason was obvious. They were actually friends. Even if those childhood memories were old, they were still there as a good foundation. They had liked each other, at one point.

“I got it!” Tempest jumped up, coming to a realization. “We need to play a game.”

“Got one in mind that won’t get his trousers in a twist?” Lightning Dust remarked.

“That’s exactly the problem,” Tempest pointed. “If Twilight taught me one thing, it’s that any two ponies can get along. And if Luna taught me another thing, it’s that anyone can be redeemed if they try. If we can’t get along, it’s no one’s fault but our own. So we are going to play the ‘I like you’ game!”

Both ponies stared at Tempest. “The what now?”

“Come on, we have to find somewhere to play. And I know just the spot.” She got behind them both and zapped their backs to get them going. They galloped past the kites and the families, past the marketplace and spa, all the way back to the furniture store with a bunch of posters. Tempest glanced at all the advertisements until she found what she was looking for.

A fifteen-percent off deal on a session of karaoke. The karaoke club was just down the street from the store, and despite their complaints, it wasn’t hard to encourage Lightning and Svengallop to follow her lead. Magical spells were very persuasive.

In almost no time at all, Tempest had gotten them into a one-hour session of karaoke. A small crystal hanging from the ceiling projected an image onto a plain screen like a movie. A jukebox was put at one end of the sofa to select the songs, while the crystal synchronised with the music and displayed the lyrics on the screen.

“What exactly are we doing?” Svengallop demanded. “You haven’t told us anything about this game.”

“It’s the ‘I like you’ game,” Tempest said. “Glitter Drops and I play this all the time with some of the other patrol ponies back in the Crystal Empire. You just have to say something that you like about another pony, and if you can make them smile, you get a point. Pony with the least points has to sing a song.”

“Yeah, that’s not going to happen,” Lightning Dust scoffed, heading for the door already.

Tempest stomped on her tail and dragged her back. “We agreed to meet up today to become a better band for Luna. So we can play Glitter’s game, or I can zap you out of the sky the next time I see you getting distracted during our practices.”

Lightning Dust bounced up and crashed onto the sofa. “Alright, yeesh, we’ll play. But don’t think I’m going to go easy just because it’s dumb game. No way in Equestria am I doing karaoke.”

“Of course. That’s what I like about you, you’re always so confident, Lightning Dust,” Tempest immediately said, “you’re the kind of pony who knows what she wants and actually works to get it.”

“Oh, uh, yeah thanks,” Lightning Dust chuckled awkwards. “I guess I am pretty--”

“Boom! One point!” Tempest cried out, pointing to the grin that automatically formed across Lightning Dust’s face. “I can’t believe you broke on the first go.”

The pegasus recoiled in horror, realizing what had happened. “You didn’t even say we were starting yet. What the heck? I thought you actually meant that!”

Tempest wiped a tear from her eye. “Oh come on, getting points for something doesn’t make it a lie. You really do seem like that to other ponies, which is probably why Luna saw your potential to be a Nightmare Knight.”

“Whew,” Lightning Dust let her sudden outburst leave her chest like a gust of wind, “I mean, that’s pretty obvious, the Wonderbolts can’t even kee--”

Tempest burst out again, pointing at the smirk across Lightning Dust’s face as she reminisced about her past accomplishments. “Point for me again! You suck as this, dude.”

“Aw what the-- I wasn’t even smiling at what you said, I was thinking about something else!”

Svengallop smirked. “You get a point if you smile after some pony compliments you. She never said the two had to be causal, only correlated.”

“Oh you want to play it like that, then?” Lightning Dust snapped her head around to meet Svengallop with a widened stare. “You better get ready, I’m going to compliment the crap out of you!”

“Okay.”

“Uh… I really like… your mane?.”

Svengallop raised a brow. “Thanks?”

“Dangit, okay it’s your turn. I’ll just have to think about something better.”

“It’s not that I don’t appreciate it, after all, it’s nice to be noticed for something you put work into.” he replied. “I think you just don’t sound convincing since you’re always getting put down by the Wonderbolts or whatever. You have just as much determination as the rest of them, and once ponies see that, you’ll know how to really make some pony feel as good as you do.”

“Huh, you really think so?” Lightning gave a hopeful smile.

“Yes, and also,” Svengallop jumped up in a victory pose, “point for me! Haha, who’s complimenting the crap out of who now, Lightning Dust?”

Tempest smirked and bumped hooves with Svengallop. “Nice.”

And try as she might, Lightning Dust couldn’t help herself. Ego or embarrassment ended up forcing smiles out of her, racking up points for the other two. End result: they managed to get Lightning Dust to sing karaoke.

Comments

[Yoshifan30]

“Oh, it’s nothing,” Starlight insisted, “I’m just paying him back for that ridiculous alibi that made me have to explain to our whole student body that I did not, in fact, break all four of my legs.”

“I panicked when Ocellus started asking questions!” Sunburst defended himself. “I just said the first thing that came to my mind!”

Yeah sunburst That was not your ingenious excuse lol 😆

[Yoshifan30]

Wow lol ok I do like to interaction of the three ponys fizzypop Lightning and Svengallop Specially they are doing this game that fizzypop called I like U game And I do like how lightning does suck at this game That was a good laugh And this is actually a good way to get to know each other lol