Chapter 15: They're Finally Here Performing For You
ETA?
Mom: The driver says we’re almost there sweetie
Sick, can’t wait, I’ll be waiting
With a nod and a furrowed brow, my phone, wrapped in a blue veil, slowly floats back into my strap. Finishing with a quick exhale, I let my gaze wander around the swirling colors of the halls as my hooves carry me towards the landing dock.
So, when they get here…gotta remember to do introductions, I’m the only connection between both groups so I gotta create some familiarity between them. That’s fine, that’s so fine. I got this.
Celestia is the caring mother figure, I guess I can bring that up when introducing them, but that’s not much. Every living creature knows that. She’s the…excellent spellcaster, but that’s more Twilight’s title. Speaking of Twilight: she’s the nerd, but more so the smart nerd who you could never be as good as, not the stupid geek that I am. Luna’s the wise old mare who mindlessly scrolls through Tweetbook, though, definitely shouldn’t say ‘old’. Finally, Cadance is…amazing.
I smirk before letting out a yawn that I cover with a hoof.
In a word, I guess that’s right, but it doesn’t tell them much. She’s just as much caring as the others but that doesn’t do her justice, nor is it interesting enough to be new information. She does like video games, she mentioned she volunteers at the orphanage, that’s pretty interesting…
My mind barely registers a changeling and a pony wearing shirts that look more like someone just splashed a bunch of paint buckets on them and called it a day rather than a competent design with the word ‘STAFF’ printed on them in big bold letters. I move myself to the right, out of their path, but the two of them shift again to be right in front of me.
Ain’t no way.
I move to the right again, lightly brushing my wings up against the long silk curtains that feel softer than my bed. Both at home and in the castle.
They move to the right again. I narrow my eyes.
Right as we’re about to collide, I slide myself to the other side of the hallway and just barely miss the pair. As I glide past them, I catch one of them stopping their conversation to shoot me a quick glare before continuing on.
What the-? Whatever, don’t really care right now.
I rub my eyes with a hoof and blink twice.
Silent Symphony is a dumb idiot, Illustrious is an idiot gamer nerd, Mom is the control freak, and Dad is the smart one. Damn, I really can’t come up with anything else? Come on, this is my family, think.
…
…
Art, band, tech, fashion. Not in that order.
Blinking twice, the blur in my vision drains away, leaving two large darkened glass doors in my path. Like stalwart soldiers protecting their Princess, they stand motionless in front of me.
Thank Luna I stopped when I did.
With a slight shake of my head, I walk up to a small black square on the wall next to the doors. I plant my hoof directly onto it and after an almost imperceptible purple light glows, a light click pops into my ear and the doors slide open.
My hoof comes up to stifle another yawn.
I only have to squint my eyes for several seconds this time before I spot four large figures at the other end of the spacious dock. With a small smile, I start the seemingly Sisyphean task of walking over to Celestia, Luna, Twilight, and Cadance.
Might as well let the mind wander. Again.
Bright purple magic seems to carve out space for each magical construct in dedicated rows and towers. I quickly drag my eyes across each and every magical construct within view, all parked in their spots and ready to launch at a moment’s notice. Every so often, my eyes would land on a pile of stacked crates hugging the edge of the walls at the other end of the expanse. Ponies, griffins, and changelings all walk into and out of sight, trying to make their way without bumping into someone else.
Over there, one griffin is pumping up and down on a large lever that seemingly raises a deactivated Tord brand magical construct while another is fiddling with the left wing as if trying to start a leaf blower. Right above them, a pegasus sits in the driver’s seat with the top down while jamming a key into the vehicle’s ignition, causing the engine to rumble to life. And directly to my left, a drill suspended in a bright green veil revs itself in preparation while a changeling straps on a headband.
Turning my head to once again face forward, I can now make out the finer details of the four of them. Twilight’s mane partially obscures Cadance’s as they pull apart from an embrace, and both seem to billow faster and more lively, likely a result of the giant opening to the outside world just in front of us.
As I get closer, a soft breeze caresses the hairs on my face and I see Cadance and Luna waving at me. After breaking into a faster trot, I find myself face-to-face with the four of them.
“Sup,” I yawn.
“Morning,” Cadance says with a small smile.
“Still tired?” Twilight asks.
Always. Damn alarms.
“Yeah, alarms made sure of that.”
“Unfortunately, you will not have time to recoup after breakfast,” Luna starts, “The press conference will be directly after.”
Involuntarily, I let out a sigh and lower my gaze.
“Hey, don’t worry, we’ll be right there beside you,” Cadance says and I force my head back up to make eye contact with her, only to see her look back at Twilight and nod, then to Celestia, and then to Luna, before looking back at me.
I narrow my eyebrows.
Is this the part where I get brutally murdered by some conspiracy group?
Celestia speaks first.
“Mezzo, it has come to our atte-”
She’s cut off by a sharp jab from Cadance’s hoof. The frown on her face causes Celestia to take a deep breath.
“Recently, we have not been doing enough when it comes to supporting you.”
Oh. Well, not like I made it easy for you.
“You’ve been overwhelmed and clearly, we have not gone out of our way to help.”
Shouldn’t need to, you’re running a country here.
“While we may not have all the time in the world, know that we will be trying to make up for our neglect. And just as we said before, you can come to us at any time, for any reason. We’re here to help you.”
I take a deep breath and lower my gaze back down for a moment.
Not like I made it easy for them, I just kept it all inside. Granted, that’s the habit I’ve developed and a lot of creatures do that, but it doesn’t make it okay.
“I’m sorry, too,” I start, my voice as low as my gaze was not a second prior. “I-I-I should have taken your offer more seriously. It’s just a habit I need to break. Since we’re all immortal here, I should’ve been more privy to the fact that you four are probably the only creatures on the planet who could empathize with me.”
You’d think, with all the thinking I do, I’d have come to that conclusion sooner. Not like it would’ve changed anything, but still.
“I will also try my best to remember your offer and actually use it,” I say, letting a bit of mirth leak through.
If I can get past every other roadblock I put up for myself.
“But, I’d also like to reciprocate that offer,” I say.
Celestia cocks an eyebrow.
I smirk.
“I know it may seem dumb right now, since I don’t know a l-lot about any of you, but an offer like that shouldn’t be one-sided. I would think so, anyway, and I happen to be a p-pretty good listener. So if any of you need any help or a lent ear, d-don’t hesitate to shoot me a text or something. I’d be happy to help.”
Celestia’s face contorts in thought and I spy Twilight and Luna doing the same out of the corner of my eye.
I turn my head to see Cadance smirking. I just raise my front hoof and shrug my shoulders.
Celestia’s soft voice draws my attention back to her.
“If that is what makes you comfortable, then that’s fine,” she says with a small smile.
Luna’s voice then draws my attention.
“Though, you must understand that most of our problems will surely go right over your head. We have no idea what your skills are-”
I just named you one of them.
“-and most of our duties require skills that we’ve honed over centuries and millennia. You are not ready for them, yet.”
My ears fold back.
Right. I’m still in way over my head. Well, fuck me for trying.
“Right, sorry, I get it,” I mutter before giving a humorless chuckle and turning out to face the blinding rising sun. I have to divert my gaze a bit, however, so as to not squint.
But it’d still be good for them to at least talk about their things. I’m not a total idiot, I bet I could figure some stuff out.
I go to open my mouth. I even get half a breath of air into my lungs before the brick wall in the back of my throat rears its ugly head. I give a barely audible sigh and shake my head.
I’m going to voluntarily slam my face against the floor at this rate. What I wouldn’t give to not have this stutter.
I shake my head slightly again.
But even if I were to say that, I’m still making the assumption that they wouldn’t go to each other about their problems. What in the wide world of Equestria would compel them to come to the guy who threw a wrench in their lives rather than each other? Nothing I can think of.
Though, I guess they’re also making that assumption. But they already know I don’t go to really anyone about my problems.
I smirk.
At least my emotional problems. Whatever. Either way, I was getting in way over my head. But, if it’s coming from a place of good inten-
My ears swivel backward.
“While you may not be ready yet,” Celestia starts, “in time, I’m sure we’ll all come to be closer as friends. I think that’s something worth working towards, yes?”
With a deep breath and a nod, I look over my shoulder for a brief moment to give them a small smile.
“Absolutely.”
I return my gaze to the sunlight and I don’t have to squint as much this time.
Soft hoofsteps echo off of the concrete floor and I glance to my right to see Cadance walking up next to me.
Oooh, perfect opportunity.
“Are they almost here?” I ask, resisting the urge to roll my eyes.
“Should be any minute now,” she replies.
I nod and return my gaze to the blinding light. But, not a moment later, Twilight makes herself known next to me as well.
“Mezzo, do you know the plan?”
I scrunch my eyebrows.
“Uhh, I only know the press conference is happening today for sure, but I don’t know any other details.”
Twilight nods and continues. “Once your family gets here, we’ll have breakfast with them in the dining hall. We’ll explain to them what’s happened and what will happen going forward. Then, they’ll be escorted to some guest rooms for the day while we go do the press conference. Afterward, some diplomats will be arriving to eat lunch with us and to meet you.”
I nod. “W-Who’s coming?”
“They’ve asked that I keep their identities a secret for now,” she says, smirking.
I just cock an eyebrow and shrug my wings, keeping one hoof slightly off the ground.
“Alright, sure.”
“Oh, there they are,” Luna says. My gaze snaps to her outstretched hoof and then out to the blinding sunlight pouring in, forcing me to squint. Sure enough, a small black dot fades into view among all the spots in my vision.
“Oh, sick,” I mutter before glancing at Cadance. “S-So, to get this out of the way now, should I use the nickname around them?” I ask, shifting my weight on my hooves ever so slightly.
She lets a little bit of mirth escape her lips before responding..
“It’s just your family, so it’s fine.”
Right, right, whoops.
“Just making sure,” I reply in a level tone with a nod.
Within a minute, the low whirrr of the magical construct’s engine starts to fade in along with an occasional whoosh of the wings. Like the opening to a movie, I find myself nearly blinded by the rays of sunlight pouring in around all the edges of the approaching magical construct.
They need to install some way to block all the light in the morning, this is ridiculous. Maybe like those pull-up blinds included in some mini-van models?
I almost chuckle at the thought.
No, that’d be dumb and impractical. It’d just be a giant bug net and probably catch the wind too much since we’re so high up. Plus, I can’t imagine a good way to extend and retract such a thing. Maybe they could have like a wench to pull the net back into place after retracting it? But that’d still require a huge cable strewn across the-
A particularly loud whoosh of the wings brings me out of my thoughts and my gaze focuses on the magical construct now leisurely coasting down to us.
Holy f-sh-whatever, thank Luna that pulled me out when it did. I was actually just standing there.
I smirk and shake my head.
The Nazda brand construct pulls up next to us and the whir comes to an end as it gently sets itself down on the ground, resting on the frame with the wings folded up. With a small click, the driver-side door pops open and a brown unicorn steps out wearing a sleek black tuxedo that reminds me of that hydrophobic fabric you’d sometimes see on NetMeTube Shorts or something. With a graceful bounce accompanying each step, causing his light orange mane to sway back and forth ever so slightly, he adjusts his small cylindrical cap that looks like a crushed black soda can with his magic and makes his way around the front of the Nazda.
A similar click then resonates in my ears as I see a muted white hoof tentatively extend out towards the ground.
“Honey, no,” a deep male voice comes quietly from the inside of the car, “you need to wait for the driver to open up the door.”
I smile and roll my eyes.
Come on, really? You’ve watched enough movies to know how this works, surely.
“Oh, well…” she says, trailing off before fully stepping of the vehicle and extending the Nazda’s door, revealing her snow-white mane with barely noticeable light blue streaks through it like a perpetual blizzard.
I snort and let out a few laughs.
“Y-You just not gonna listen to Dad or something?” I say as best I can.
As she opens her mouth to respond, the driver reaches the door and holds it all the way open with his magic, revealing the rest of the stooges inside.
That doesn’t even make sense, there’re more than three-
“Well, the door was already open, what was I gonna do, close it again?”
“Yes.”
She just rolls her eyes and smirks before letting her expression fall and her eyes dart everywhere as if looking for something.
“Uhhh…”
“Just stand off to the side, l-let everyone file out first.”
She nods but then stops mid-step to gawk at my forehead.
Up here? There isn’t…oh, right. How could I’ve forgotten?
“You-”
“I know, once everyone gets off.”
“But-”
“I’ll explain in a second, move.”
I go over and start to push her aside before she pushes me away with a frown.
“Screw you.”
“Screw you, too.”
Maybe that was a little too far…eh, it’s fine. I’m her brother.
“Moooooom,” Illustrious whines with a smile, “Mezzo pushed me.”
I let a breath out of my nose in an attempt to contain my laughter.
“Then push him back, sweetie,” she says in a breathless voice as she stumbles out of the Nazda.
Illustrious just smirks and lets out one of those laughs that forces you to crack a smile. It’s one of those laughs that, once you’re smiling at, you find yourself then uncontrollably joining in on the laughter. And then your abs start hurting.
I am now at the first stage of that cycle.
“Sto-HOOO-op la-AUGH-ing, dumb idiot, or I’m gonna break down, too” I cry.
As she’s clutching her chest with a hoof, she lets out a particularly high pitched and ugly sound.
I, of course, being the supportive sibling that I am, instantly mock the sound with my own high pitched squeal which only makes her collapse onto the ground, still laughing her head off.
As retribution for my crimes, I am now at stage two with tears in my eyes.
“Guys, please, it’s early in the morning,” Silent Symphony says as he comes to a stop next to Illustrious’ writhing form on the ground with a smile on his face.
“So-OO-ory,” I choke out before turning around and trying to tune out her screams of joy and take several deep breaths.
Calm. I am calm. But that damn smile still won’t go away.
“Guys,” my Dad barks from the end of the line in front of me.
My smile instantly drops away and Illustrious pulls herself together, finally getting her hooves underneath her.
“Anyway…” I start before trailing off, noticing Mom’s, Dad’s, and Silent’s eyes were all fixated on my horn.
“Surprise,” I say weakly with a smirk.
“Honey…” Mom says with almost no force behind her voice. “What did they do to you?”
I resist the urge to roll my eyes.
“They did nothing, Mom, this is something that happened at the end of my gig two weeks ago, completely blindsided me. So, I’m an alicorn now, yay.”
My Dad opens his mouth to speak.
“And that is a story that you will hear at breakfast.”
He closes his mouth with a frown.
Before anyone else can speak, I step aside and wave Cadance, Celestia, Luna, and Twilight over.
“But first, t-there’s some ponies who I’d like you to meet. T-They’re some pretty obscure celebrities so I’m sure you don’t know them. First off is Twinkle Shine, she’s a m-mega nerd and you can very obviously tell that by looking at her. She’s even got her own lab where they talk about nerd shit, ew gross.”
I catch Twilight eyeing me to which I snort in laughter and barely contain myself.
“Uh, anyway, this is, uh, goth emo band member number 456. I know she seems unapproachable-”
I wink at my Dad.
“-but she’s very nice and understanding once you get to know her. But not too nice. Anyone who scrolls through Tweetbook all day can’t fundamentally be a good pony.”
Luna is now staring wide-eyed at me with an expression apt for someone reading “The Alicorn of All” unironically.
Uh oh.
“Uh, sorry, am I going too far with this bit?”
Luna shakes her head and smiles. “Not at all, although we are running a little short on time.”
“Oh, sorry. Uh, next to her Celestia, or as you all know her: when you hear Mom climbing up the stairs at 3 am and you have to quickly hide your phone. She’s been teaching me spell casting in between being a workaholic.
“Finally, is Cadance or…I can’t come up with anything funny. She’s just a great pony who likes video games, volunteering at the local orphanage, and playing guitar. Now, Celestia, Luna, Twilight, Cadance, I’d like to introduce you all to m-my family. This,” I say, walking over to Illustrious, “is Illustrious, my twin sister, or as I like to c-call her: dumb idiot number 1. She likes to paint in her spare time and is currently a p-p-professional photographer, but also plays a lot of Tenshin: Contact b-because she’s actually a nerd. Next-”
I walk over to Silent Symphony, his light blue coat complimenting the spiky teal and gray mane softly swaying in the breeze around his horn. His dark brown eyes shift over to me, peering at me.
“-is Silent Symphony, dumb idiot number two, my older brother. He currently plays backup guitar for a band he f-formed with college friends years ago.”
My eyes dart back over to Cadance and I catch her nodding.
“Then, my Mom, Flair. She’s a fashion merchandiser for some of the biggest fashion brands on the planet.”
Flair’s smile brightens her already sun-yellow coat and her deep purple eyes seem to beam out warmth and light like a high-powered flashlight. Her wings flair out slightly before she rains them in, all within a split second.
Luckily, I don’t blink.
“And finally, my Dad, Adapting Current, or AC for short, w-works for one of the major telecom companies, Horizon, in their d-d-disaster relief department. H-He also really likes watching movies like Star Battles and other stuff I don’t remember right now.”
Adapting Current smiles a strained smile and shifts his dark green hooves around slightly, causing his light brown mane and slim glasses to shift slightly.
I’m sure, if he was trained enough, he’d be charging up a teleportation spell right now.
Before anyone can get a word out, Luna speaks up.
“Well, it is certainly nice to meet you all, and as much as we’d like to stay and chat, we all must hurry to breakfast, the press conference is starting soon.”
I nod and wave my family on with me as I follow the four of them to breakfast.
“Honey,” Mom starts, “What’s this press conference she’s talking about?”
I then notice Celestia gazing back at me to which I wave a hoof at her.
“It’s fine, I got it.”
She nods and turns her head back around, still walking.
“W-Well, that requires going back to the beginning, which…”
I trail off.
I think we decided to tell them at breakfast, right? But it’d be kinda rude to just ignore or deflect their questions the entire walk there. Besides, now’s a good time anyway, right? Hear it all from my mouth, to fill the silence of walking…yeah, sure.
“Uhm, well, it s-s-starts a little over two weeks ago. I had some errands to run that day as well as two gigs. I went to the market first, then I had a gig, or practice session, b-both happened I just don’t remember which one came first. Anyway, the first gig was at a birthday party, nothing of much note happened there except for a w-weird part towards the end when all my electronics got screwed up and the host ended up yelling me out of the e-e-establishment without payment, but, whatever.”
“You shoulda just yelled back at her,” Silent mumbles.
“No, that would’ve just made everything worse. Anyway, then was the practice session before the main gig for the night, which was for a wedding. The session itself went fine…”
And then the lead guitarist and vocalist who I forget the name of brought up the weird happenings he’d been experiencing with his equipment. And then it happened to me, too, during the party gig. But…why? The mare at the power plant said they were experiencing problems with…
My eyes briefly widen.
“What is it, honey?” Mom asks and puts a hoof over my withers.
I shake my head. “Nothing, just came to a realization, I’ll tell you later.”
Maybe. I’ll definitely tell the Pri-Celestia, Luna, Cadance, and Twilight later, assuming I remember.
“Anyway, the session went fine, and then came time for the wedding gig. Everything was going fine up until the very end of the night on our last song, g-go figure. When it came time to play the last verse of C-Can’t Help Falling in Love With You, this huge force swept through the venue, throwing everything around and m-messing up our stuff. It almost threw me off stage, even. Then I tried to get the song going again after everyone had recovered from being stunned and over the course of doing that, I..just…I don’t know what happened, but I can only assume it was me actually doing the ‘ascending’ thing.
“Anyway, I then woke up in this e-ethereal plane…”
“And so for the last two weeks, I’ve just been dealing with all of those facts. T-That I’m immortal now, I’ll outlive all of you, that I’m infertile, et cetera.”
I give out a long, drawn-out sigh. My hooves then involuntarily come to a stop just as the four of them stop in front of me.
“So, theoretically, you could make it so that they swing my corpse while blasting Born in the E.U.P at my funeral?” Silent Symphony asks, barely containing his laughter.
Holy f-that’s so bad.
I can’t help but join him. But before we can get too far, Mom’s voice pulls my smile back down at forces my gaze in her direction.
“Oh, honey, why didn’t you reach out to us?” Mom asks, pulling me into a hug with tears in her eyes.
I purse my lips as I look over her at my brother, sister and Dad.
Because I-
I’m terrified. Didn’t want to bother you, no matter how much of a horrible reason I know that is.
“I don’t know, I’m sorry.”
I hug her back.
My Dad then tentatively walks over and hugs me from the other side, enveloping me in a sandwich. Then Illustrious walks over and joins in. I manage to catch Silent’s eye and gesture my head at an angle towards the group hug behind me. He just lets his gaze fall and continues to stand there.
Whatever, it’s fine. I know he cares.
“Well, I c-can tell you I’m better now, I got the chance to talk with Cadance for a while.”
Mom smiles as she pulls away from me.
“That’s great, honey. That’s great,” she says as she wipes her eyes.
“Well, let’s go eat, then I’ll tell you about the plan for the r-rest of the day.”
She smiles even brighter and fully pulls away, along with Dad and Illustrious.
“Okay, sweetie, let’s go,” she says barely above a whisper as I lead them through the dining hall door being held open by Cadance.
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https://youtu.be/KgceQVhtSss
11324927
Thank you.
11325152
You did a good job with the chapter. Although I’m still M A L D I N G
Over a creative decision lmao
11325173
Seethe and cope
11325412
I will that's what I'm doing
A really interesting as well as amusing fic, looking foward to future chapters.
11337517
Thank you, next chapter is on its way
Doot doot
Are you waiting or not?
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????