Basso Scale

by b00_j3nnn

Chapter VII

Killjoy was applying eyeliner for her interview when Ash knocked at the door, "So... interview? What's this for then?"

The mare slumped at her vanity, reapplying eyeliner while fixing her mane, "Probably for me to explain what happened at the last show and that camera incident... it should be fine, done this kind of thing a million times before, comes with the territory I guess." Killjoy said cheerily, her confidence boosted from the potential confirmation of the gig idea.

"You need me there? Gotta make sure you don’t break a camera that’s a hell of a lot more expensive than that one on the train!", Ash laughed loudly.

"Hey! Not funny! I did that for you, remember!"

"Barely saw you do that, I was too busy nursing my wing! But yeah, just keep your cool and don’t take any bait that the guy puts in front of you. They want to see you mad, don’t let them see you angry, Ember knows you can’t afford that."

Killjoy pondered a bit. "...It's alright, we'll handle it. You should just stay in my room."

"Shame the camera has to not see my perfect face!"

Killyjoy giggled as a technician called her out to the set. Ash remained in her room, sitting on a sofa and turning on a TV, watching the interview about to take place, getting comfortable with some snacks and taking off his sling, relaxing his wing on a pillow. The mare trotted into the interview set with the rest of her band. The interviewer began inquiring about the events that unfolded on that day and Killjoy admitted her recklessness while explaining what happened after the incident.

"And why did you go all the way to Ponyville?" the stallion asked.

"Well… I just felt awful about what I had done. I remembered that dragons like to eat gems, I have an old friend in Ponyville who has a big stash of them for her alchemy work. Plus I just needed a small break from things in general, I’d been getting overwhelmed recently. But I shouldn’t have just run away like that, and for that I’m truly sorry." the pegasus explained rather awkwardly.

"Now concerning the events that took place on the train. Why did you break the camera of a newspaper photographer? It’s not exactly unknown that you have somewhat of a short fuse, there are some that say you don’t have control over your emotions.", the stallion baited the mare.

"What? That’s not true! You have no idea what actually happened!" Killjoy desperately explained. Rosella stepped in,

"And we understand that it's no reason to destroy other pony's property, but do keep in mind that several ponies on that train were mistreating our fan, giving them trouble just because they are not a pony, knowing that they don’t have the luxury of being able to lash out like any pony could. And if you're still so worried about his camera, we’ve already paid for a replacement.", Rosella sat back down, her fur still standing on end.

Killjoy continued her story, regaining her composure, "...What happened after I got my fan hurt is what I wanna talk about. I followed him to the hospital and after I paid for the fees, we went to get some food as a way of apologising for my stupid actions. But when I was with him, it ended up really opening my eyes to how poorly other creatures are sometimes treated. Even on the train, there were ponies saying horrible things about Ash!

We as ponies talk about the magic of friendship because that’s what Princess Twilight values, but when it comes down to it, it really does seem like we’re keeping it pony-exclusive at times. Which was what led to the broken camera. I guess what I'm trying to say is my fan was treated poorly because of what creature they are and me and my band will not stand idly for that." Killjoy finished, taking a deep breath.

The stallion looked confused.
"So what are you planning to do about it? It's only been a few years since Princess Twilight came to the throne and incorporated creature-friendly reforms, clearly ponies are still adjusting to this new system, these kinds of things take a lot of time to adjust to."

"I understand, but really it shouldn't be any different from the three pony races interacting. I can appreciate the progress of creature-inclusive reforms, we’ve come a long way in only a few short years, but it doesn’t feel like enough, but we as a band will NOT tolerate such discrimination." the pegasus stomped her hoof.

"And we are planning to do more for our non-pony fans. Starting by performing at more diverse areas. We were even planning on being an opening band at a club with diverse groups" the mare revealed.

Ash grinned as he saw Killjoy’s revelation, when Golden Record burst into the room he was in. Ash yelped in surprise, a small jet of flame escaping from his mouth, turning a cookie he was about to eat into his namesake.

"WHAT DID SHE JUST SAY??? I SAID WE'D DISCUSS IT FURTHER!"

He turned round to the wyvern, "Did you put her up to this???"

Ash brushed the burnt cookie off his neck scales before turning back to the fuming manager, “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

Back in the studio, the interview was still going on, "Which club are you planning to perform at exactly?" the stallion interviewer asked further.

"We can’t disclose that right now. It will be a pop-up venue so it won't be too overcrowded but hopefully enough to draw attention to the talented artists performing alongside us", Rosella shot back.

Ash meanwhile was being subjected to a barrage of angry comments by the irate Golden Record, "She never had this nonsense in her head until you went and got your wing broken and she felt sorry for you! What did you tell her?"

Ash got angry himself and stood up from the sofa, towering over the earth pony stallion, “Hey! I didn’t just ‘go and get my wing broken’, it was Killjoy’s mistake and she’s trying to make up for it! Quite frankly, I would have just settled for lunch and an autograph, this was more Killjoy’s doing than mine!”

However, on the TV screen, Killjoy elaborated, "But I'd also love to thank that fan for all of this. Even though I saw what he had to deal with at first hoof, it was their idea to perform at local clubs with more diverse groups! We didn't realise how under-appreciated some non-pony artists are until they told me! I'd like to thank them for that" Killjoy smiled genuinely.

Ash grinned sheepishly at Golden Record as Killjoy ratted him out on live TV, "Ah… okay… it WAS sort of my idea... we came up with it together, but I didn't tell her to announce it now, I just-"

Record interrupted him and got right up in the wyvern's personal space, jabbing his hoof into his bad wing repeatedly, a resounding clonk of hoof against plaster, causing him to grunt in pain as the manager chided him.
"Let me get this straight... you DON'T get to make ideas for my stars. That's NOT your job."

Ash slumped back down against the wall he had been backed up against, defeated.
"Yeah… I can see that…"

In the studio, the interviewer asked more questions, "Now how do you think your pony fans would react?"

"I have faith in our fans. I'm sure they will support our choice. Our music is metalcore but we've also always had punk songs as well, so we would hope our fans would agree with us! And if they don't, then they weren't real fans to begin with" The pegasus said with a stern glare at the camera.

The band trotted back into the studio after the interview had concluded to see their manager berating Ash, "Hey, what's goin on here?" Killjoy confronted, stepping between the two.

Golden Record moved away from Ash, giving him breathing room, and towards Killjoy
"What's goin ON, is that you need to keep a tighter leash on your friend here, he's overstepping!"

"WHAT?!", the pegasus retaliated, her wings and fur fluffing up, "I get that you're our manager, but you better watch your mouth when talkin’ about my friend", she hissed.

Record seemed thoroughly unimpressed by Killyjoy's outburst
"Come on, I've seen this act before, you fluff up your wings and your fur and try to look all intimidating. I've known you long enough to know that it's just that. An act. We don't let fans make decisions for us, as well-intentioned as they may be, or even if it wasn't entirely his idea. We're in a precarious position now, we're basically committed to this. I'm taking charge of this whole shebang now. Got it?"

The stallion's comment slightly shook Killjoy's confidence, her wings lowering as her entire body seemed to deflate. As the mare glanced helplessly at Rosella, she replied, stomping her hoof down, "Didn't you hear what we said in the interview? We meant every word. We're doing the gig."

Ash slowly got up and stood beside Killjoy, putting his sling over his neck and easing his plastered wing into it, sighing with the relief it brought, "Look, I know I'm not exactly your favourite now Mr. Record, but we can help each other. I know a lot of the non-ponies in Manehattan, there’s a lot of majority non-pony establishments set up by other immigrants. I can definitely find some smaller non-pony acts to promote, they’d appreciate any help they could get."

Killjoy's eyes softened with Ash by her side. Rosella and Blast joined in solidarity.

Golden Record glared briefly at the group but then gave up, "Alright then. Okay, Rosella, Blast, you two start working on a set list. Killjoy, Ash, you two get to work finding me some artists for the gig. I'll work on securing venues. I want to get this ready to go within two weeks. Also, Ash, give me your contact information, and I’ll need to speak to your old boss wherever you worked, you're working for me now.”

Ash nearly choked on the cookie he was eating in surprise, “Uhh, what? There’s gotta be someone more qualified than me right? I just work in a factory, I’m not exactly a PR kinda dragon!”

The manager laughed, “Well you got that right! But this seems to be just as much your brainchild as Killjoy’s, plus she seems to like ya, so what the hell. Who knows, this could be the start of something big kid!”

Killjoy fluttered her wings and smiled warmly at Ash. "No way, you're with us now! We're work buddies!" she pranced around the still-gobsmacked wyvern.

Ash pondered the choice given to him for for a while as the manager handed him a slip of paper with some details of his new employment on it, including a salary that was substantially more than his old wages at the plant, "This is a really generous salary Mr. Record… are you still sure you want me?"

Record looked up from his books, “I’m sure. I gotta keep Killjoy out of trouble somehow, you seem like you can do that!”

Killjoy chuckled bashfully. "Well, after you're done filling out all that boring paperwork, meet me in my room so we can talk about which artists to showcase!"

"I will, might take a while though, I'm a righty, and, well… you were kinda responsible for this. At least it’s not that much to fill out!", Ash lifted up his cast for emphasis as he took a pen in his left hand and filled out the forms as best as he could with his non-dominant hand while Killjoy hovered by his side. Handing them to Golden Record, who looked satisfied, and shook Ash’s claw, him and Killjoy set out to a small bar not far from Ash’s old apartment.

“And make sure that beanie doesn’t slip off this time please!”, Ash chuckled as they sat down and ordered drinks.

“...yeah whatever…”, Killjoy mumbled as she pulled the hat down tighter over her head.

As their drinks arrived, they began discussing the concert and potential performers. Ash sipped at a beer and pointed towards the stage, "They have non-pony musicians playing here all the time. There's a hippogriff that plays here named Riptide, he's been struggling to get his name out there because no record label are willing to take a chance with him. He's extremely good, he's been selling CDs where he can but he really deserves more. Here, he's coming on now."

A yellow hippogriff with a red mane walked onto stage with a guitar, smiling softly. He sat down on a small stool and adjusted the microphone. A delightful melody emanated from the guitar as he gracefully sang a simple, but still beautiful and powerful song. One he had finished, he panted a little and pointed to a small rack at the front of the stage, "Thank you for coming everyone! My CDs are at the front if you'd like to buy one, every little helps!"

The mare trotted to the front and took a CD, looking at the cover. It had a DIY feel to it which was something Killjoy rather liked, reminding her of when she first started out. As she grabbed her pouch of bits, the hippogriff flapped his wings lightly as he came down from the stage, "Hey! Thank you for buying my CD, it really means a lot!”. He then notices the signatures on Ash’s wing cast that was poking slightly out from the sling, “Ouch, that looks painful dude. You got to meet Valediction though? That's awesome! Wait, were you that fan the bassist crushed?"

The pegasus sighed with the mention of the incident but bought the CD anyways, looking through the track list. Ash laughed boisterously upon remembering the accident a few days prior, "Yeah... that was me... about that, can we talk to you? There's something me and my friend here would like to discuss."

Riptide nodded and followed them to a secluded corner of the bar. The three sat down and Killjoy looked at Ash and her beanie as if asking if she should take it off. Ash looked around to make sure there wasn't anyone really looking, and signalled to Killjoy to remove the beanie. The pegasus slipped her beanie off, revealing her large bat pony ears, decked with piercings.

Riptide's eyes widened, realising who it was as he struggled to contain his excitment, "Ohmygoshohwowowowowowowow Killjoy! I love your music, and you bought a CD from me??? Wow thank you so much! What can I do for you?"

The mare's ears turned down bashfully seeing her talented fan so excited, "You're really good! That performance you did there was plenty enough, you did amazing! Can't wait to listen to the rest of your stuff when I get home" she smiled, her statement truly genuine.

Ash took a moment to let the two talk, before deciding to tell Riptide the plan
"Okay, so we're planning to hold a small pop-up concert here, to promote more non-pony artists, and we'd like you to be one of the acts. I know the struggle non-ponies face in society even with all the recent reforms, believe me, I've faced more awful ponies than I'd like, but we want to help with the artists struggling to break through, like yourself. I know that you've been rejected from labels who aren't willing to work with non-ponies, and we want to help change that."

Killjoy nodded along "Yeah and Valediction will be the opening band to draw in some traffic and don't worry, I'll be sure to watch every band!"

Riptide looked very excited at the prospect, his wings flapping slightly.
"That sounds great! I'd love to do that!"

Ash smiled back, "That's great! Here's the card for the agency I now work at. We'll be in touch soon!"

The two waved the ecstatic hippogriff goodbye. The mare then slipped back on her beanie. "Wow! That was a lot quicker than I anticipated!"

"Well that's just one of them, it's not exactly regular music here, we're gonna have to come back here regularly and look for new acts. Gonna be coming back for a few days until we have a full concert. I'm sure the manager is looking around too."

The mare nodded, looking back down at the CD she bought. "I'm just so happy we'll be able to help some of these artists. Kinda wish I got that kinda help when I was startin’ off... 'course I didn’t have it as hard as them…"

Ash sighed, "Yeah... I don't think a lot of ponies really get how hard it can be to be a non-pony living in a society of majority ponies, that have all these preconceptions about you, like the whole angry dragons, greedy gryphons, arrogant yaks, all those harmful stereotypes that they project onto you. When I first moved to Equestria my neighbour thought I was going to eat her daughter when I knocked her door to say hello. She's great now and we laugh about it now, but it's still something you don't forget."

The mare was didn't know what to say, feeling bad for the wyvern. "Don't worry. With this gig, we'll help loads of creatures." Killjoy assured Ash, her hooves holding onto his good wing.

"One step at a time I suppose. It's not gonna fix everything, but if it even helps a few creatures, it's worth it."

Comments

[Ralanost]

Golden Record is a real piece of shit. Sure, I'm glad Ash got a new job out of it, but cornering him, yelling in his face and hitting his cast? Garbage in the shape of a pony.

[the shrimp lord]

11784060
He's a bit of a hothead, sure, but deep down he only really has the band's best interests at heart. He really just doesn't like sudden changes to plans he's already made.

[Ralanost]

11784207
That doesn't at all excuse his words or actions. Add on that he didn't apologize and my opinion remains the same.

[the shrimp lord]

11784322
Understandable, but he won't always be like this. Yeah he's a jerk, but he's a caring jerk :>