Second Chances: Friendship is Music

by Draconis187

A Chilling Jam Session

Second Chances: Friendship is Music
A Chilling Jam Session
Author: Draconis187

It was bitterly cold outside Sombra’s cave and Discord figured it would be a great opportunity for us all to ‘bond’ as he called it until the Celestia-damned blizzard stopped. I swear he’s incorrigible sometimes. Scratch that, he’s incorrigible all the time.

Sombra was slightly helpful as he periodically went up to the entrance to check on the weather. The rest of the time it seemed like he didn’t really care. When he came back for the fifth time, he just sighed at us with a neutral expression.

“It’ll be at least another day,” He said and went off to tend to his farming duties without so much as waiting for a response from either of us.

Chrysalis was looking around Sombra’s caves, buzzing around rather noisily. She’s a Changeling – the queen no less – and you could hear her coming a mile away! Nightmare was caught in a very uncomfortable looking embrace with Discord as she turned her nose up to his latest attempt at comedy.

Nightmare groaned as Discord delivered a rather lacklustre punch-line but I ignored his plea for support as I decided to find Sombra’s crystals more interesting. It bathed the cavern in a rainbow of colours and – surprisingly – even the dark ones had a small lustre.

“It’s hard work,” I turned around and saw Sombra looking at me with a deadpan expression, “But it could have been worse.”

I nodded my head and surveyed the fields with him standing next to me. I was within hoof’s reach of an evil unicorn dictator and did… nothing but admire his work. The crystals were arranged in neat rows, each crystal had a few hoofsteps of space between them as if they were placed to the millimetre.

Sombra’s precision with his crystals was quite the shock to be honest. Who would have thought that the same pony that caused such pain and suffering across an entire empire could also create such a spectacle from the earth?

“We’re stuck with each other,” He said in that gruff voice of his.

I nodded, “Looks like it. Discord doesn’t want to teleport us all back to my place and I guess in a way I’m glad. His teleporting is…. not my preferred method of transportation. Getting thrown to my destination by a rampaging dragon sounds more appealing than Discord’s method.”

I was certain I saw him smirk, was he a sadist? Just peachy, no wonder he was a dictator. I guess sadism was a prerequisite for enrolling in Dictatorship 101 a thousand years ago. Shaking off Sombra’s creepy behaviour, he seemed rather solitary if I were to summarise him with a single word.

‘What was your first clue, Note?’ I berated myself since it was a pretty obvious observation that even Nightmare could see.

I wandered a bit around the cave. If we were to need a retreat to get away and practise our instruments in solitude, having a place like this would suit that need perfectly. The acoustics may be a slight issue but Discord could easily fix that with a snap of his claw or hoof if he decides to be Q again.

“Sombra,” I started to say.

“What?” He looked at me with a stoic expression that I usually saw on the guards’ faces.

“This place… is there somewhere empty we can all use to do our rehearsing and all our planning in? This place is quite remote enough so we can perform and such without worry of any of you being discovered.”

“West cave. That way,” He replied curtly, pointing to a gaping hole in the cavern. Gee Sombra, you have the most extensive vocabulary of anypony I’ve ever met. Kudos to you.

“Thanks,” I deadpanned.

I walked over to the ‘West Cave’ as Sombra had called it and looked around. It was spacious enough to allow us all to fit in comfort with the instruments and anything else we might need. The crystals in the ceiling and walls provided ample light for us all.

“The colours are easily changed,” I turned around on my hooves and saw Sombra a few inches from my face. How in Tartarus did he do that?! I leapt up into the air in shock, getting an odd look from him.

“Uh… thanks but I’m sure the current colours are fine. Really,” I replied nervously.

“Fine,” Sombra snorted and walked off.

Once I was sure he was out of earshot, I let out a deep, long sigh. I swear these villains will give me grey hairs… scratch that, I’ve already got them. Technically they are silver not grey but they are pretty close enough.

As I observed the room, I heard a faint buzzing slowly getting closer. I knew right away it was Chrysalis. I turned around as soon as I heard her hooves meet the ground. She gave the room I was in a small glance and gazed at me with curiosity.

“And why – pray tell – have you absconded into this dreary hole?” She asked with a neutral expression on her face. Do all these villains have poker faces?

“Well, we’re a group of five ponies… well technically three since you’re a Changeling and Discord is a Draconequus,” I replied, “Sombra’s crystal farm is so remote and well hidden, we could use it for band practise sessions as the terminology goes.”

She raised an eyebrow at me, “‘Band practise?’ As in, we play here in this oversized kaleidoscope?”

I nodded my head, “Like I said, this place is so far beyond where others would safely trek and that means you don’t have to keep up your illusions. You can play as you truly are.”

She placed her holed hoof to her chin in thought, “I see. This arrangement would be most beneficial then and may offer a great respite from pony society.”

“Yeah, pretty much what I thought,” I said.

“Whatcha talking about?” Discord winked into existence behind me, causing me to leap into the air… again.

I glared at the chaos god as he floated in the air, laughing his goatee off, “Why must you do this Discord?! Can’t you go around and be somewhat normal for at least a few minutes?”

Discord wiped a tear from his face, “You’re too rich, Cressy. What are you and our loving Changeling talking about?”

I facehoofed, I swear my life is dying slowly with those puns. A colt could come up with better puns than him. Chrysalis merely rolled her eyes, either not getting the pun or – more likely – not caring.

“If your desire to know what the topic of our discussion was about, then fine,” Chrysalis said, “We were discussing Sombra’s cave and its usefulness in serving as a band practise area. Not to mention its capacity to serve as a resting place should we desire a break from… ‘civilisation.’”

Discord nodded his head, “Oh right. Cause you aren’t too keen on being in the public eye aren’t you?”

“Discord, where is Nightmare?” I asked, “Please tell me you haven’t left her on her own.”

Discord grinned as he looked at me, “Okay, I won’t.”

“Discord!”

“She’s fine. Sombra’s is keeping her company,” Discord said with a roll of his eyes, which decided to roll off his face onto a pool table that materialised out of nowhere, “You should learn to lighten up. Live a little.”

I facehoofed, “I’ll live when you stop trying to scare me to death, Discord.”

“Developing feelings for dear Nightmare, Cressy?” Discord gave me one of those looks.

I shook my head vehemently in disagreement, “I just think that leaving her on her own is a bad idea. I know she’s not a helpless filly and would most likely react very badly if any of us were to treat that way but the fact remains we shouldn’t leave her on her own in a place she does not know the layout of.”

“I’m confident I can find my way around, Note.” I spun around, launching into the air in shock as Nightmare and Sombra entered the room. I swear I’m going to die of a heart-attack before long. Medical insurance companies would love these four.

“Why is everyone so intent on scaring me to death?” I lamented.

“Because it’s fun!” Discord replied.

I expected one of the villains, one of them to support my point of view for at least a minute but… no. They all laughed in their own way. Sombra gave a few short, deep chuckles that felt like a subwoofer. Chrysalis sniggered, Discord laughed maniacally as per usual and Nightmare giggled.

Am I the comic relief here? The pony they decide to harass whenever they feel like it? Do I not contribute here at all? Does my opinion even matter to them or is my mere existence simply nothing more than an outlet for their stress?

“Relax, Note. I’m just rustling your feathers,” Discord laughed, “That look on your face is always a gas!”

I facehoofed, this made the group chuckle again. I swear I’m nothing but a laughing stock to them. Then again, I’m the odd one out here. They’re all villains with powers that I never could even fathom. Even if most of them are somewhat depowered in some way, save for Discord but they were still something I never was a part of.

I landed on the ground while Discord did the backstroke above us, humming some tune. Ride of the Valkyries… seriously? I hoped to the Sun and Moon above that the room wouldn’t turn into some opera stage with me in a bustier and some weird dress… again. I still have nightmares about it.

“Since we are all here, maybe we should start thinking of a name for our band?” I suggested.

“I concur with your suggestion,” Chrysalis said. Does she have to use those kinds of words? Was a thesaurus shoved down her gullet when she was growing up?

Discord sighed and fell down as if he just turned gravity back on. He landed on a lime green cloud with puce spots and smiled at us. Nightmare looked at me as I groaned at Discord’s display of rejecting reality and substituting his own, his own very twisted reality to be exact.

With Sombra leaning against a deep red crystal that could pose as a Fire Ruby we started bouncing ideas around… and I regretted it within seconds.

“Uber dooper looper gang!”

“Crystals’ Revenge!”

“Eternal Darkness!”

“Hive Mind!”

I just laid down on the ground trying to force my hooves through my ears to kill my brain from the resulting migraine I was receiving. They argued like politicians at a treaty signing. If there was anything that could drive anypony to drink themselves into a coma… it was the scene that was unfolding before me.

I felt smaller than ever as they began to press their heads together, staring hard into one another’s eyes as if hoping they would spontaneously combust or two small holes would bore into their skulls and make them catch alight.

“Everypony QUIET!” I shouted, getting four death stares from them. I took a deep breath and pressed on, “Everypony is entitled to their opinion but we shouldn’t shout and argue over it. Let’s please try a better way around this?”

“I will when they accept my name for the group,” Nightmare stated, crossing her forehooves and letting out a small disgruntled noise that sounded scarily similar to a dying animal.

I facehoofed. Discord seemed to give up and was laid back in a recliner, smoking a pipe that made bubbles of varying shapes and sizes. He may get mad from time to time but he’s quick to change that expression around and he does it with a flair that simply says, ‘Buck reality.’

“I’ll just lay here and wait,” Discord said with a rare, serious tone. “I’ll pick up the pieces once you all finish trying to kill each other.”

“Look, we all need to find a compromise. A common ground if you will,” I said, trying to be the mediator in this debacle. I may as well be trying to move the sun with my hooves.

“Let’s all take a deep breath please,” I was surprised when they all complied, even Discord. “And slowly breathe out.”

Discord sounded like a deflating whoopee cushion but I paid him no mind as the – hopefully former – villains complied with my request. I had us all repeat it a few times, the hostility in the air dying slowly with each breath. I think I had avoided causing a disaster of unfathomable proportions.

“Apologies,” Chrysalis said, “I allowed myself to get consumed by my rage. It is inappropriate and unbecoming.”

Chrysalis… why in Equestria must she speak like that? It is so highly formal you’d think she was still a queen. I guess she is but she doesn’t have any subjects adoring her at the moment.

Discord scoffed, “No reason to worry yourself. We all acted like animals.”

I did a double-take at Discord. He was acting… mature for once. He even had a serious look on his face. It took a few minutes – as well as another round of disgruntled apologies – before we were all sat in a circle in the centre of the room with pens and paper. Discord is a walking, floating, cackling quartermaster of items.

We all wrote down our ideas and decided to vote on it like a democracy. How this was going to work was beyond me but only time – and I’m sure another bout of angry arguing coupled with death-stares – would tell. The cavern was filled with silence, save for our scribbling.

I wrote with the pen in my mouth, Discord laid back as his pen did all the writing for him, Chrysalis and Sombra held the pens in their magic auras. Nightmare on the other hoof was having a tougher time since she was blind.

I placed my pen on the ground and walked up to Nightmare. “Would you like some help?”

Nightmare looked at me with those eyes of hers and very slowly nodded. “Yes.”

I laid next to Nightmare. Not too close mind you but close enough as I picked up the pen in my mouth and wrote as she dictated. The others looked at me and smiled. Either they appreciate me helping her or they have something else in mind and I hoped it was not that.

I like Nightmare as a, well I guess you could call her my friend since I use it rather loosely with Discord and she was better in the sense that she was… well, easy to talk to.

After about half an hour or so we piled up our papers and Chrysalis picked them up to read them. She had the clearest voice and due to her royal background she was the best choice to dictate the ideas to us. We all listened as she spoke. I facehoofed at a few ideas, and at every one of Discord’s, as they ranged from ice-cream flavours to the most ludicrous, inane things known to ponykind.

We narrowed the names down to three and from them decided on one. Discord snapped his fingers to make the instruments appear from the aether once again. The aether… that mystical place Discord has set up a massive warehouse of useless and useful things where he simply took whatever he wanted whenever he felt like it.

Once we picked up our instruments – or at least when they did, all I had was a microphone – I noticed something written on them. It was the name we had decided on: Final Overture. The letters for ‘Final’ were chestnut brown on the left side and multicoloured on the right. The word ‘Overture’ was green on the left, dark blue in the centre and finally red on the right.

I smiled at Discord’s ‘subtle’ attempt of putting us all in the band name. It was a sort of reminder about who exactly the group is made of. Discord merely shrugged at me as I pointed to it on his guitar. I know Discord is more intelligent than most give him credit for. All Discord wants is to have fun, even if it comes at the expense of others.

“What should we try and practise playing first?” Nightmare asked as she pressed a few keys to find the centre.

Since Nightmare now lived life through sound and her other remaining senses she played a few keys to find where the centre of the keyboard was and then adjusted her position on the floor as well so her back was completely straight.

I tapped my chin with a hoof, “I’m not too sure… Give me a moment to think.”

I began running through a list of songs I knew off the top of my head as I looked at them. They all gave me rather blank expressions except for Nightmare and Discord. Discord smiled as usual and Nightmare was still in position, her head facing the keyboard.

“Hm… I think I got one,” I whispered to Discord and he simply nodded his head.

He snapped his fingers and a few pieces of paper appeared for Sombra and Chrysalis. Chords and lyrics were written on them as they took them in their magic. Discord flew over to Nightmare and educated her on what I was talking about.

After that we began practising, each in our own way. Sombra and I were merely saying the lyrics to get our timing right while he strummed the guitar as we went along. Chrysalis tapped the beat as she read and berated herself harshly every time she ever went off-key or mistimed a beat. She seemed to be taking this far more seriously than all of us combined.

Discord was helping Nightmare and had a genuinely serious expression as Nightmare played a few keys with Discord telling her which note to press, one by one. Sure there was no tempo but she seemed comfortable with it.

Chrysalis’ Point of View

Again I messed up a beat… I was doing it just as the sheet was saying and then I used the bass drum when I should have struck one of the cymbals. I felt like picking up the entire drum kit and throwing it against the wall, impaling it on the crystals that jutted out of the walls.

Note and Sombra seemed to be happy as Note corrected Sombra’s pronunciation a few times. I felt anger and frustration emanating from Sombra. It left a horrible taste on my tongue. I needed something to wash it out with.

I looked to Discord and Nightmare Moon. From them I could feel Nightmare appreciating the help the annoying cretin giving her. It wasn’t truly something I could use but it helped to get some of the taste out of my mouth so it helped me shift my focus back to my drums.

It took us three hours to become comfortable with our musical prowess. I’m sure those with an actual affinity for this avenue of life would have found confidence a long time ago. They all began to take up positions. Nightmare was on my right with Discord slightly in front of my position on my left. Note and Sombra stood in front of me, a few steps away.

“Alright, ready?” Note asked, looking at us all in turn.

Nightmare nodded her head as her hooves were close to the keyboard. Discord made a snide – only funny to him – comment while Sombra just used a single word to voice his own confidence. I simply chose to curtly nod my head.

“Ok. Count us down, Chrysalis,” Note said. I tapped the drumsticks together three times, signalling the start.

The first to start up was Nightmare on the musical contraption as it made sounds I never thought it could be capable of creating. I started up as well, drumming a very soft but monotonous beat until we just broke loose and slowed down again.

When this began
I had nothing to say
And I get lost in the nothingness inside of me

I wondered what direction this song was going with its lyrics. I knew it was too early to judge but still, it made my mind pause a little.

I was confused
And I let it all out to find
That I'm not the only person with these things in mind
Inside of me
But all that they can see the words revealed
Is the only real thing that I've got left to feel
Nothing to lose
Just stuck, hollow and alone
And the fault is my own, and the fault is my own

I wanna heal, I wanna feel what I thought was never real
I wanna let go of the pain I've felt so long
Erase all the pain till it's gone
I wanna heal, I wanna feel like I'm close to something real
I wanna find something I've wanted all along
Somewhere I belong

That last line Sombra sang hit me a little closer to home than I would have cared to admit. Wasn’t that we were all doing? I was broken and alone, waiting to die. Nightmare has nothing to lose since she has nothing at all.

And I've got nothing to say
I can't believe I didn't fall right down on my face
I was confused
Looking everywhere only to find
That it's not the way I had imagined it all in my mind
So what am I
What do I have but negativity
'Cause I can't justify the way, everyone is looking at me
Nothing to lose
Nothing to gain, hollow and alone
And the fault is my own, and the fault is my own

Sombra repeated the chorus, moving his head a little as he strummed away. Note looked like he was attempting something similar to a dance, beating the floor in time with my bass drum.

I will never know myself until I do this on my own
And I will never feel anything else, until my wounds are healed
I will never be anything till I break away from me
I will break away, I'll find myself today

Sombra held the last lyric a little, shouting it a bit. We kept playing though but I felt something coming from all of them: content, a small sense of happiness.

I wanna heal, I wanna feel like I'm somewhere I belong
I wanna heal, I wanna feel like I'm somewhere I belong
Somewhere I belong

We ended very abruptly. As the last note faded, echoing through the cavern, we all looked at each other. Nightmare tried to anyway but our breathing seemed to catch her attention, letting her find our faces.

“That was pretty good,” Note said, looking at us with a small, cheery smile.

Good? Nightmare skipped a few notes, I hit one of the cymbals too early and almost missed my cues. Sombra sounded quite off key, sounding like an animal in its death-throes. Note had missed a cue and had to speed up to catch up with the beat. Discord… he had been dancing around as he played, jumping about as if ants were in his fur.

“I fail to see what was ‘good’ about our performance,” I said as I walked around the drum set. “We were off-key, missed beats and notes. How can it be good?”

Note folded his forelegs, looking at me with a disapproving look. If I had my subjects he would be encased in amber and drained of every emotion until he was a lifeless husk. “We aren’t going to become instant stars, Chrysalis. An old idiom says ‘practise makes perfect’ and that is what we need to do here.”

I sighed. Fine, the Pegasus had a point. Why is it I haven’t just drained him and carried on with my life? Oh, right… finding a better source for love. Curse you cruel fate.

“So we’re just going to practise it until we get it right?” I inquired.

“That’s the only way we are ever going to get better,” Note replied.

And so we ended up going over the same song several times but I couldn’t deny we were finding it easier to keep pace with each other. Sombra still sounded like something you’d read about from a horror novel.

We must have done that song an additional ten times before we took a break. My hooves felt a little numb from the vibrations after striking the drums for almost an hour of constant playing.

It was once our break concluded that Note decided to shove a new sheet of music in front of me. I guess ‘shove’ is a tad overstating as it was more hoofed to me with a slightly pleading expression on his face.

Discord got rid of the keyboard/soundboard that Nightmare was using. The black Alicorn sat opposite Note, talking. At first I wondered what it was but it quickly dawned on me that they were practicing the lyrics at a slow pace.

I drummed my part, beating the drums in rhythm and increasing my tempo until I got to where I would need to be when we actually do the song. We practised for the better part of two hours, getting it all right until we finally started.

Nightmare Moon’s Point of View

I stood next to Note as we were about to begin. I had the hardest part of being in this group, I had to play everything by ear and – because of it – I had the tendency to miss my cue.

As they all started to play, save for Note and myself, I took a deep breath to calm myself and clear my head as I waited for my cue.

You say you feel so down,
Every time I turn around
You say you should've
Been gone by now,
You think that everything's wrong,
Ask me how to carry on,
We'll make it through
Another day
Just hold on

That last part was my cue as Note held the last note. I almost slipped up and choked but I managed to start singing alongside Note.

Cause life starts now,
You've done all the things
That could kill you somehow
And you're so far down
But you will survive this
Somehow because
Life starts now

I hate to see you fall down,
I'll pick you up off the ground,
I've watched the weight of
Your world come down
And now it's your chance
To move on, change the way, you've lived for so long,
Find the strength, you've had inside all along

Cause life starts now,
You've done all the things
That could kill you somehow
And you're so far down
But you will survive this
Somehow because
Life starts now

All this pain
Take this life and make it yours,
All this hate
Take your heart and let it love again,
You will survive this somehow

I don’t know what it was about this song but… I felt good. I felt that maybe this could work. I knew we were going to butt heads but I feel that we can keep this group together. I just hope to Tartarus I’m not wrong.

Life starts now,
You've done all the things
That could kill you somehow
And you're so far down

Life starts now,
You've done all the things
That could kill you somehow
And you're so far down
Life starts now

After we had finished another two sessions, singing the same song, I heard Discord snap his fingers and I felt several spikes of magic energy. I could only assume they took our instruments away.

Sombra went off to wherever he was sleeping but I had Discord take me to the entrance of the cave. I could hear the blizzard’s howl assault my ears, the cold chill trying to get through my coat. Sadly the moon was a lot colder than this. It was akin to a gentle breeze more than anything.

As the wind helped to paint the landscape in front of me, Discord’s humming actually calmed my mind instead of aggravating it. I think – and with the moon as my witness - this could actually work…

Author's Note:

Apologies to all who read and favourited this fic. I took waaaay too long updating this and I apologise. Writer's block on this fic took me for the long haul. Any errors, grammar or otherwise, please do inform me.
Somewhere I Belong by Linkin Park
Life Starts Now by Three Days Grace

Comments

[Razzy]

I wish this would continue. I like it so far, fun to see a more regal Chryssie, all the characters are fun.