MLP: The Portal 2

Chapter 18: Fame

"Hey, Alex. Where are you headed this morning?" Twilight asked, seeing that Alex was making his way down the steps and about to head out with his headphones in his ears.

"Hmm? Oh, morning, Twi. I'm headed out on a walk. I'll be back in the afternoon." He said.

"Alright. Enjoy." Twilight waved him off with a smile. Alex waved back and stepped outside.

Alex stepped out that busy morning and started his music before setting out into Ponyville. Walking with the beat of his music and with a pleasant expression on his face, he dove into the streets of the town and began to make his way down towards Sugarcube Corner.

However, as he made his way through, he began to notice that he was attracting a lot more attention than he had been previously. Ponies were looking over at him, and some were waving at him with wide grins. Alex waved back politely.

Making his way closer to the center of Ponyville, he was finding more of the same. Ponies, upon seeing him, began to point at him and talk about him. Alex tried not to look too uncomfortable as he hurried across the street and ducked into Sugarcube Corner.

Stepping into Sugarcube Corner, he saw that business had already kicked in. Alex stepped into the line, waiting patiently to make his way up to the front counter where Pinkie was helping out the customers ahead of him.

As he waited, he felt a tap behind him. He turned back, and he found himself facing as many as 5 eager smiling mares looking at him. He took his earbuds out and smiled politely, waving at them.

"Hello there."

"Hi! You're Alex, right? We saw you perform at the Pony Tones show yesterday. You did really great!" One of them said. Alex nodded.

"Thank you, I appreciate it." Alex said.

"My name's Lyra. This is my best friend Bon-Bon, Derpy, Vanilla Swirl, and Flower Petal." Lyra went around introducing him to the group.

"Nice to meet you all. Bon-Bon, we've met before." Alex recalled.

"You two have met already? That's so cool! Would you take a picture with us?" Lyra asked.

"Uh, all of you?"

"Yeah! Group photo!" Flower Petal clapped excitedly.

"Here, I'll hold the camera! Get in there, Alex!" Pinkie encouraged, suddenly appearing with them and taking Lyra's camera.

"Where'd you come from?" Alex said with some surprise, turning around and backing in with the group.

All 5 of them gathered around him, either standing behind him or coming up next to him and getting close. Alex, unsure what to do, just stood there and smiled for the camera. Pinkie snapped the picture.

"Got it!" Pinkie grinned.

"Thanks, Pinkie!" Bon-Bon said, taking the camera for Lyra.

"We all enjoyed hearing you sing. We can't wait for your next show!" Lyra said as they began to leave.

"I'll be looking for all of you there then." Alex said with a chuckle. They giggled as they made their way out.

"Looks like somepony's getting popular, huh?" Pinkie nudged him in a teasing way, grinning at him.

"Heheh, I do one show and ponies are acting like I'm a celebrity or something." Alex chuckled strangely, shaking his head a bit.

"Well, maybe a local celebrity. But you're already getting famous around here. Everypony's been talking about the show!" Pinkie informed him.

"Oh shoot, really?" Alex asked. Before Pinkie could answer, the bell at the counter was rung. She perked suddenly.

"Hold that thought!" Pinkie said, rushing back to the counter to handle the customers in the line again. Alex waited quietly, contemplating all this.

A local celebrity? Him?

"Hey, were you serious about me being talked about in town?" Alex asked Pinkie when he reached the front counter.

"Totally serious! If you thought ponies were noticing you before, just you wait and see," Pinkie giggled. "Ahaha, so anyways, what would you like?"

Alex sat down on his bench in the center of Ponyville, sipping on his Zowie Powie drink and looking around. He was still thinking about what Pinkie had said; the fact that he was basically locally famous now. It was very strange to think about that…

And it made him wonder what the rest of the tour would be like.

"Hey, Alex!" A voice called out to him. He looked over and saw Octavia and Vinyl were coming towards him. He smiled and waved back to them as they came over to sit with him.

"Hey, guys! Good to see you again." He greeted them.

"Good to see you too! We saw you at the show. We wanted to tell you that you did a great job with the Pony Tones." Octavia complimented him. Vinyl nodded in agreement.

"Hey, thanks! I'm glad you think so. I was looking for ya'll but I didn't see you." Alex said.

"That's okay. You know, you could have just told us that you and Evan were performing with the Pony Tones." Octavia giggled a bit. Alex chuckled.

"And ruin the fun?"

"Haha, fair enough. So, how does it feel now to be the talk of the town?" Octavia asked with another laugh. Alex groaned a bit and rolled his eyes humorously.

"Ah man, I don't even know. I was just now made aware of it really, and I keep getting looked at. I don't know how I feel about it yet. It's cool, I guess?" Alex finished with an uncertain chuckle.

"I can understand that. And you're going on tour with them, aren't you?" Octavia chuckled.

"Indeed I am." Alex answered with a nod.

"Well, I can tell you with confidence that soon it'll be like this all over Equestria." Octavia said with a chuckle. Vinyl showed that she agreed by smacking him lightly on the arm.

"Oh god." Alex groaned and laughed. Octavia giggled.

"You'll be alright. You have a very bright career in singing ahead of you, should you decide to stick with it. You've already got a forming fanbase here in town." Octavia pointed out.

"Yeah, I guess you're right…" Alex nodded slowly. Octavia and Vinyl smiled and stood up.

"We'll see you around then." She said with a smile. Alex nodded and smiled back, waving to them as they left. He sat back comfortably again.

Now his mind was racing at the thought of what Octavia had added on to what everyone else had said. It was true what she had said; should he decide to continue this tour, which he did, he would become recognized in Equestria as a singer.

He wasn't sure how to feel about that.

"Why wouldn't you wanna become recognized? I think that would be awesome if you became famous here. You could totally do it!" Rainbow Dash said as the two relaxed together in her house. Alex shrugged.

"I don't know. I guess it just…makes me nervous. I've never really considered myself to be cut out for that, so hearing that I am for, like, the first time is a little bit overwhelming." Alex explained honestly.

"Yeah, I guess, but hey, you can totally do it, babe, and I'd love to see that." She said, kissing him on the cheek. He smiled a bit.

"I'll have to think about it."Alex said with a chuckle before sitting back and wrapping his arm around her.