Baleston Days

by LordOfTape

Meet The Mess (Part III)

One long and thought-filled walk later, Code Levol had arrived at his destination. The sun was going down, and it looked as though night would fall soon. Without time on his side, Levol snapped himself out of his dazed state and rushed in.

Much to the hurried pegasus’ chagrin, the Backbeat was packed. Ponies of all types were crowding the vital club areas. The bar was surrounded with presumably hammered ponies, not that that concerned Levol too much. Zeko was a pretty good kid and drinking wasn’t exactly his style. However, considering his roommate, Levol wouldn’t be surprised if his friend had some green from time to time.

Odd thoughts aside, the search continued. The DJ booth was packed, though the music wasn’t playing loudly at the moment. Levol decided to head over there first, if for nothing else but to eliminate one possibility.

Anxiously, he tapped a pony from behind, “Hey, you seen a zebra ‘round here lately?”

A blue mane washed over his view as the pony turned to face him. A pair of deep magenta eyes met with the stallion’s. Smile wide on her face, the mare replied “You mean with the spiky hair and the jacket?”

Levol’s eyes shot open, “Yeah actually. Heh, where’d you see him?”

The mare turned around completely, now facing directly at Levol. Her coat was a bright white, completely spotless save for an outstanding black cutie mark. It was a simple show of two eight notes. Her mane was made of two blues, a light and dark, which she had covering half of her face. Levol had thought he had seen all the pretty mares on campus. Levol had thought wrong.

“I think he went backstage. Wanna go look?” she offered happily, displaying a bright smile when she finished. “Yeah, sure.”

The new mare grabbed Levol’s hoof and pulled him along towards the stage. Usually the pegasus would object to such treatment, but considering the circumstances, he didn’t mind too much. The duo pushed the curtains aside and stepped into musician heaven.

Strewn about the room were dozens of ponies and instruments. A multihued stretch of guitars lined the racks by the walls. Musician ponies would walk by constantly, some taking a guitar, some leaving one. One unicorn was busy setting up a drum set in the center of the stage.

Loud clatters bounced around the room; the clashing of steel on wood, the crackling of amps being plugged, the din of singers practicing. Lights flickered on and off, the tech ponies setting everything up for the night…and morning. The stage was being set.

“Come on.” urged the white unicorn, tugging me further.

The clopping of our hooves on the floor was inaudible against the rest of the room. Levol had no clue of where he was being led. Having been backstage many times before, he knew the area well, however he had never seen it so crowded with ponies. What else was going on?

“Uh hey, unicorn girl. Where –” he was cut off.

“I have a name you know.” She pouted, finally letting go of his hoof.

Code Levol rubbed the back of head, “Sorry, I uh, never asked. What is your name?”

Before she could answer, a gruff voice called out from the crowd “Vinyl, aren’t you gonna set up the booth?”

His new acquaintance waved, “Of course, I’m just helping this guy out first!”

The owner of the mysterious voice worked his way past the throng on ponies to reach the two. He was a rather tall stallion, even managing to have a few inches on Levol. He carried himself in a stately manner, despite his apparently rebellious outlook. Resting calmly on his face was a bold yellow pair of shutter shades. Adorning all four of his legs were silver rings, shimmering from the mobile light sources.

Now within hoofs reach, he asked “What’s this you’re up to this time?”

The unicorn mare that Levol had been starting to meet left his side and headed straight for the new stallion. The stylish mare gave the bright blue stallion a peck on the cheek, walking by him slowly, brushing him with her tail.

“I’m just being a good friend, like you’re always on about.” She mocked lightly.

The stallion cracked a smile, “Well I’m glad to see you finally warming up to some other ponies, but we’ve got to set up the booth for the concerts tonight.”

Hmmph!

Vinyl stamped her hoof, groaning. “Fine, I’ll go set everything up.” As she walked away, the two stallions could hear her whining about how she ‘always had to set up the booth.’

The new blue unicorn turned to Levol and held out a welcoming hoof. “Hey there! My name’s Dubious Trance. Don’t think we’ve met before.”

“Nah, I don’t think we have.” Levol bumped his hoof with Dubious’. “My name’s Code Levol, but y’all can just call me Levol.”

“So what has called you to the behind the scenes Backbeat today?”

“Well, usually I’d be here for the battles but –”

“You mean you’re a rapper?” Dubious cut him off.

Levol scratched his head, still worried about finding his friend before time ran out. Red eyes inspected the room hastily, finding no trace of Zeko. Teeth pressed deep into Levol’s lower lip. Dubious noticed the unresponsive pony’s odd behavior and spoke up.

“Hey Levol, are you doing alright?”

The flustered pegasus ruffled his feathers, trying to shake away his nervousness. Realizing he wasn’t going to find his friend from this angle, he turned to face Dubious once again.

Levol came clean, “Look, my friend is here somewhere and I really need to find him before he does something he’s gonna regret.”

The affable smile on Dubious’ face wilted away, “What kind of trouble are we talking here?”

The pegasus sighed. “He signed himself up for a rap battle tonight. He’s not that good yet, and I don’t think he knows what he’s in for and”

“you don’t want him to get completely trashed and have all the rappers trash on him before he has a chance. I hear you.” Dubious finished the sentence for him.

“Yeah. I know how harsh some of these rappers can be. Kid’s not ready for that yet.”

Dubious put a hoof on Levol’s shoulder, “What’s he look like?”

“He’s a zebra. Need anything else?”

“Got it.”

The duo retreated to their own halves of the enormous building, each with the intent of finding the condemned zebra. With a new friend on his side, Levol felt reassured that he would be able to find Zeko. Perhaps then he could convince him to back down. That was until, he bumped into an old friend of his.

Oof!

“Hey watch where you’re going you –” the dark red stallion paused. “Well look who it is, Little Levol. Come to get whooped in the battle again?”

“Oh shove it Versal, I don’t need this from you tonight.”

Author's Note:

so this might end up being 5 parts for meet the mess. ah well, enjoy folks.

Comments

[versal]

>“Hey watch where you’re going you –” the dark red stallion paused. “Well look who it is, Little Levol. Come to get whooped in the battle again?”
me: http://denver.mylittlefacewhen.com/media/f/img/mlfw3867-mlfw2937-13295468378937.png