"Twilight! Come on, we're going to be late!" The purple Alicorn strolled down the stairs, dressed in Rarity's finest new work. She threw her head back, getting her hair out of the way of her eyes.
"Right. Let's go." They walked out of the door, Spike adjusting every inch of his new tuxedo.
"I can't believe that 19 Hands is doing a concert right here in Ponyville! Then again, they probably had a bit of trouble getting a spot anywhere else what with Treble Heartstrings getting run out of so many towns. All the reports say he was completely innocent of anything but singing, too!" Twilight shook her head.
"The group makes good music, and I'm excited to see them play, but..." She cut off as the stage came into view at the end of Mane Street. It was huge, and the decor only made it look bigger. Obviously Pinkie and Rarity had been here.
"Wow! Can you believe this? There was nothing here a week ago!"
"Oh, really darling, it was nothing! All I did was determine where the colors would go. The real credit goes to Big Macintosh and Pinkie Pie." Rarity strolled up behind them, causing Spike's body to go rigid as he snapped to a gentlemanly attention. As if on cue, the spotlights clicked on behind them. Hundreds of ponies rose up from the ground, cheering as the announcer trotted out onto the stage.
"Mares and gentlecolts, are you ready for a party?!" Hooves were thrown into the air as the cheering escalated to a new pitch. "Sorry, I missed that. I said...ARE YOU READY FOR A PARTY?" A good many of them jumped up on their hind legs and the attending pegasi rose into the air and formed the '19 Hands' emblem with their collective bodies. "That's more like it! We've got a treat for you tonight. First off, the returning mix artist and pianist for 19 Hands, VINYL SCRATCH!" A solid white unicorn with sunglasses on strolled onto the stage as bass began to shake the ground. Posters of her surrounded by hearts cropped up amongst the crowd. "Next up, on drums we have BASS CANNON!" Dozens more posters cropped up of the dark brown unicorn as he strolled out from backstage. "All right, next up we have the lead female singer, backup guitarist, and sister of our lead...LYRA HEARTSTRINGS!" The light blue unicorn strolled out, grinning and waving at everypony she could see. Plastic hands flew into the air and her pupils dilated notably.
"And now for our lead guitarist...FRETPICK!" A pegasus with a mane that ran down his face almost to his nose and a goofy smile strolled out. Dozens of mares tried to get up onto the stage, kicking and screaming. He got to his spot and placed plastic tips on his wingfeathers. The lights dimmed as each of the members began playing a slow, dramatic tone.
"And now, everypony, the one you've all been waiting for. Here he is, TREBLE HEARTSTRINGS!" The cheering escalated to a new level entirely as a gray unicorn strutted out onto the stage. Twilight jumped into the air as a cheer erupted from behind them. It was Rainbow Dash.
"Omigoshomigoshomigoshomigosh! It's HIM!" Her hooves stomped against the ground, her wings puffing back and forth in excitement. She lifted into the air, cheering louder than anypony else in the area. At least she was until Treble's voice rang out for the first time.
"I'm shameless when it comes to loving you. I'll do anything you want me to. I'll do anything at all. And I'm standing here for all the world to see, baby that's what's left of me. I don't have very far to fall..."
Almost instinctively, everypony in the stadium began swaying back and forth in time with the song. Rainbow Dash fell silent instantly, her eyes focused entirely on Treble.
"You know, now I'm not a man who's ever been insecure about the world I've been living in. I don't break easy, I have my pride but if you need to be satisfied I'm shameless. And honey I don't have a prayer, 'cause every time I see you standing there I go down upon my knees."
Treble did just that. He lowered himself down, his face coming mere inches from the floor. As he launched into the next verse, his head shot up and his perfect green eyes locked with Twilight's.
"And I'm changing. I swore I'd never compromise, but you convinced me otherwise. I'll do anything you please.
"You see in all my life I never found what I couldn't resist, what I couldn't turn down. I could walk away from anyone I ever knew, but I can't walk away from you..."
He turned around, walking toward the back of the stage. Twilight couldn't help but feel worried that he wouldn't look at her like that again.
"I have never let anything have this much control over me. I work too hard to call my life my own. And I've made myself a world and it's worked so perfectly. But it's your world now, I can't refuse. I've never had so much to lose..."
He stopped in his tracks, tension spreading through every muscle in his body, buffing him out. He whipped his head around, his eyes jerking back to Twilight's, a mischievous grin parting his lips.
"Whoa, I'm shameless! Yeah yeah!" Every single pony in the house leapt with shock. He hadn't put this much emphasis on any other part of the song. Just as quickly as his voice had risen, though, it shrunk back to even lower than it had been before.
"You know, it should be easy for a man who's strong to say he's sorry or admit when he's wrong. I never lost anything I ever missed...BUT I'VE NEVER BEEN IN LOVE LIKE THIS! Now it's out of my hands! I'm shameless! I don't have that power now, but I don't want it anyhow. So I gotta let it go, 'cause I'm shameless! Just as shameless as a man can be. You could make a total fool of me, and I wanted you to know that I'm SHAMELESS!"
The lights shut off, surrounding the stage in darkness. Rainbow Dash lowered to the ground, her entire body shaking. "Omigoshomigoshomigosh...Did you guys see that?" Twilight swallowed nervously. "He was totally eyeballing me!"
"Wait, what?" Dashie looked down, confused.
"You didn't see? He spent, like, the whole song looking straight at me. That was amazing!" She flopped back onto a passing cloud, fanning her flushed face with one wing.
"But...I could have sworn he was watching me..." Just as she finished this little ministration, the lights clicked back on and a huge rumble shook the stage.
BOOM. In the background a light guitar started playing.
BOOM. There it was. That beautiful voice.
"Three thirty in the morning, and not a soul in sight. The city's looking like a ghost town on a moonless summer night. Raindrops on the windshield, there's a storm moving in. She's heading back from somewhere that he never should have been. And the thunder rolls..." The guitar strummed thrice, adding the perfect dramatic effect. "And the thunder rolls...
"The thunder rolls, and the lightning strikes! Another love goes cold on a sleepless night! As the storm blows on out of control, deep in her heart...the thunder rolls..." His eyes closed as he took a deep breath. His entire being radiated sadness, from his voice to his face. Twilight couldn't help but think of the terrible things he must have endured to be able to draw from such a well of pure emotion. Sweet Celestia, he was perfect.
"She's waiting by the window when he pulls into the drive. She rushes out to hold him, thankful he's alive. But on the wind and the rain a strange new perfume blows. The lightning flashes in her eyes, and he knows that she knows. The thunder rolls, and the lightning strikes. Another love goes cold on a sleepless night, as the storm goes on out of control. Deep in her heart the thunder rolls..."
There was a new emotion now. She recognized it, but only vaguely. It was anger. So much anger, boiling just beneath the curtain of sadness that the song so generously provided. This was unique, though. Even Discord's trickery hadn't given her such a feeling of rage, like she could simply destroy something or somepony without losing a wink of sleep over it.
"She rushes down the hallway, and through the bedroom door. She reaches for the pistol kept in the dresser drawer. She tells the lady in the mirror 'he won't do this again, because tonight will be the last time she'll wonder where he's been'." Twilight gasped as she realized the meaning of the verse. What was Treble singing to them about? She shook her head and turned around, trotting off to think.
She could hear the end of the song in the background as she lay down on the top of the hill. Everything that he had shown her through those words...it had all felt so good. The anger, the sadness, all she had wanted was another verse. She'd never felt like that. It had to have been some sort of magic or trick. "Alright. I'll head back and see if the next song works like that too. If so, I'll contact Princess Celestia."
The beat of the next song brushed her ears as she strolled back, confident in her ability to remain objective. That confidence crumbled along with any willpower she had when the first line rang through her.
"A little less conversation, a little more action. All this aggravation ain't satisfactioning me. A little more bite, a little less bark. A little less fight, a little more spark. Close your mouth, open up your heart, and baby satisfy me. Satisfy me, baby!" She rushed forward, desperate to get another look at him. Princess Celestia was a dot in the back of her mind, and she didn't care why.