My Little Pony: Will Of Fire

The Fire Element Alicorn

Chapter 25

Band Fever

As a human, Flareon was a master as playing the guitar, but he was never in a band. The problem was Flareon had stage fright. No matter what he did, Flareon could not stand to be in front of an audience. If he could somehow conquer his anxiety, Flareon would have loved to be part of a band. Luckily for him, he would soon get that chance. It all began one day when Twilight had accidentally walked in on Flareon playing a custom-built red electric guitar that had a flame design. She was absolutely mesmerized by the music he was playing and told him that he should show everyone in Ponyville his unique talent. Even though he told her about his stage fright, she still insisted that he try to overcome it. Twilight told Flareon in order to conquer his fear, he head to take it head-on, and the best way to do that was to play in front of a large crowd. Soon after, Twilight left the house, and went to visit Mayor Mare to see if she could get some construction ponies to set up a concert stage in the town square. Even though he knew Twilight was trying to help him, Flareon was terrified at the fact he was going to be playing his guitar in front of an audience. When Twilight came back home, she hold Flareon he would be playing on a stage in the town square tomorrow afternoon.

The next day quickly arrived and so did a lot of ponies, much to Flareon's chagrin. As he was behind stage trying to calm his shaking hooves, Twilight and his friends appeared. "How you holding up Flareon?" Applejack asked. Unfortunately, Flareon was so nervous that he stumbled in his speech. Twilight said, "I'm sure you'll do fine. Just remember...concentrate on me, don't worry about the audience. I'll be sitting in the middle of the front row ok? Good luck!" After everyone gave him some reassurance, they left the stage to take their seats. Suddenly, Flareon began to hear Mayor Mare's voice coming from the stage. "Everyone thank you for coming here today. The chosen one will be playing on couple songs on his guitar for us. Let's all wish him the best of luck! Without further ado...here's Flareon!" As she pointed her hoof towards him signaling it was time, Flareon began to walk slowly onto the stage to the microphone. Soon after, Mayor Mare returned to her seat in the audience. Once Flareon had finished tuning his guitar, he looked up at the audience. As expected, Flareon right away began to freeze up. He tried to say something, but all that came out of his mouth was gibberish. A couple of seconds later, the ponies in the crowd began to whisper to each other. Some ponies were even smiling and laughing at him. At that moment, Flareon remembered what Twilight had told him a few minutes before. He then closed his eyes and quickly opened them. The crowd had vanished and the only pony that was there now was Twilight. She was giving him a warm smile. Flareon then took a deep breath and began to play his first song.

As his hooves began to glide across the guitar, Flareon was hitting every note perfectly, and could hear the crowd screaming and cheering for him. Even though before he could barely speak, Flareon was singing perfectly without a care in the world. A couple of minutes later, Flareon finished playing his first song, and paused to let the crowd cheer. "This next song I'm dedicating to a very special girl in my life. Everyday I wake up, I see her beautiful smile. She's everything in the world to me. Twilight...this song is for you." As he looked at her, Twilight immediately began to blush. Soon after, Flareon began to play his second song. However this song was more than just a song, it was a way for Flareon to show her love for his wife Twilight. Ever since he arrived in Equestria, she has been the one pony Flareon has always felt comfortable around. His love for her was limitless and he has tried his best to make her happy. After Flareon was done playing the second song, the crowd began cheering more loudly that before. "This next song will be my last. I hope you like it!" As the crowd began cheering again, Flareon started to play his last song.

Meanwhile, in a limo-sized coach being pulled by four ponies, a unicorn, pegasus, and earth pony were talking to each other. "Why did Fender have to enter that skateboarding tournament in Fillydelphia and break his right hoof? He knew our next gig was in three days Axel!" the earth pony exclaimed to the unicorn. Axel sighed and rubbed his forehead. "I know Vibe...I know! There's nothing we can do about it though." After the pegasus finished her drink, she replied, "So...what? Are we going to cancel our next show?" Axel sighed again as he laid his head back on the chair. "I'm not sure yet Melody. If we can't find another electric guitarist soon, we might have to. You know how much I hate canceling a show and disappointing our fans." Suddenly, they began to hear a familiar sound from outside the window. Melody quickly got up and began to look out the window. "Hey Axel you hear that? I think someone is playing on an electric guitar!" As he got up and turned around to look out the window, Axel replied, "You're right...I hear it too!" He then ran to the front of the coach and yelled, "Hey guys...stop here! We need to check on something!" As the ponies stopped the coach, Axel, Melody, and Vibe quickly got out and went to investigate.

After Flareon was done playing his last song, he put the guitar on his back and bowed to the cheering crowd. Eventually, everyone began to leave and Flareon walked backstage to Twilight and his ecstatic friends. "You were absolutely wonderful Flareon," Twilight said as she hugged and kissed him. "That was so awesome!" Rainbow Dash yelled as she landed near Flareon to give him a brohoof. "I would love it if you could come to my house sometime to play for Angel and my animals. I'm sure they would love your music," Fluttershy replied. Flareon right away imagined Angel slamming the guitar on his head. Suddenly, they heard a voice behind them. "I'm impressed dude. You defiantly have some hardcore skills." As they turned around, they saw a group of ponies standing in front of them. The unicorn walked up to Flareon and they shook hooves. "My name is Axel and these two ponies here are Melody and Vibe." After they shook his hoof, Flareon looked at them and said, "Who are you guys? I've never seen you in Ponyville before." They were actually surprised that Flareon didn't know who they were. "We're the Neon Hooves," Axel replied.

When Flareon asked why they had neon hooves, Rainbow Dash quickly shoved him aside and said, "I'm sorry Axel, Melody, and Vibe. Our friend here is just joking around. Of course he knows who you guys are. You're the most famous and talented band in Equestria," She then flew away and came back with a clipboard, "Can I please you have your autographs?!" After the Neon Hooves gave Rainbow Dash their autographs, Axel decided to get down to business. "Hey Flareon, we're came here to ask you for a favor. We would like you to join our band on tour as the electric guitar position." Everyone, including Flareon, were completely surprised. "You see...our electric guitarist Fender broke his right hoof and won't be able to play again for a month. We were hoping you could take his spot until he recovers." At first Flareon was excited about Axel's offer, but he quickly got concerned about Twilight. She was now seven months pregnant and he was worried about being away from her for an entire month. As Flareon began to hesitate, Twilight walked up to him and said, "You're worried about me right?" She then smiled and put her right hoof on his shoulder. "Don't worry, I'll be ok. The doctor said the baby isn't due for another two months. I remember you telling me about how you always wanted to be in a band. Please...for me, go out and experience your dream!" After Flareon accepted Axel's offer to join their band, he gave Twilight a goodbye hug and kiss, and soon after, he left with the Neon Hooves. As they got into the limo coach and sat down, Melody told the ponies they were ready to leave. As the coach began to move, Axel smiled at Flareon and said, "You've got a great wife and friends. I envy you." Soon after, Flareon learned that Axel was the leader and singer of the Neon Hooves, Melody played the bass guitar, and Vibe was the drummer. As Flareon took off his guitar and put it beside him, Axel and the others began to admire his guitar. "Wow Flareon...you built this? The craftsmanship on this baby is sweet, especially that rockin' flame design!" Melody said. After they finished commenting on how much they liked his guitar, Axel held out his right hoof. "Here's to the new member of the Neon Hooves!" As Melody and Vibe touched hooves with him, Flareon also joined in. Soon after, everyone yelled out, "Let's rock!" as they threw their hooves into the air. At long last, Flareon was finally going to experience the dream he had always wanted to live.

It didn't take long before they reached the Ponyville Airport, and after getting in one of the Neon Hooves' private jets, they began to head for the city of Las Hooves, where their next gig was taking place. The Neon Hooves would be playing in Rock City Hall. When they went inside, Flareon was amazed at how big it was. It could easily hold about 7,000 ponies. As he was still admiring the theater, Axel said, "Alright Flareon...let's start practicing. We only got two days to teach you three songs, you ready?" As Flareon picked up his guitar, he replied, "Let's do it!" Soon after, They began to work hard helping Flareon their songs as fast as they could. Luckily, they were able to finish by midnight on the second day and went to sleep in preparation for the big show tomorrow. The next day, Rock City hall was soon completely filled with excited ponies waiting anxiously for the Neon Hooves. As Flareon peaked from behind the curtains, he could see a very large crowd. Suddenly, Flareon began to fear that he might freeze up again, but then he thought about Twilight and how she wanted him to do this. The fear that was rising inside him quickly disappeared.

Soon after, a pony appeared and said, "Alright Neon Hooves, you got three minutes left. Good luck!" As they got into position, Axel turned to Flareon and said, "You ready to rock this crowd?" After Flareon was done tuning his guitar, he replied, "You know it Axel. Let's give them a show they'll never forget!" Soon after, the curtain rose up and Flareon could hear the crowd beginning to scream and cheer. As Axel walked up to his microphone, he yelled, "Are you guys read to rock!" Right away, the crowd cheered loudly. "I can't hear you!" The crowd then cheered more loudly." Axel then pointed his right hoof behind him signaling to Flareon, Melody, and Vibe he was ready to start. "Alright...1,2,3, 4!" As they began to play their first song, the crowd began to scream in excitement. At that moment, Flareon felt that nothing in the world could stop him. A couple of hours later, after they finished playing their second and third song, Axel began to address the crowd. "Everyone...thank you for coming here today. You know we're nothing without our amazing fans! Seriously though, this could have not been possible without our new band mate Flareon. What do you say...did he do an awesome job?" At that moment, the crowd began to cheer his name. Flareon then walked to the front of the stage and took a bow. Later on, as the ponies began to leave the theater, Axel went up to Flareon and they did a brohoof. "You did an awesome job dude. You were easily the star of tonight's show. After we're done cleaning up here, how about we take you out to our favorite restaurant? You like pizza right?" As Flareon smile and nodded, Axel and the others began putting away their equipment. Soon after, in the pizza restaurant 'called Hard Rock Pizza', Axel, Melody, and Vibe did a toast to Flareon. As they began to eat, Flareon smiled as he never had a pizza that tasted so satisfying.

As the days and weeks went by, Flareon traveled with the Neon Hooves all over Equestria, going to city after city, and playing show after show. Flareon quickly began to realize that being a band member was hard work. You were always traveling nonstop, you were playing at a lot of concerts in just one week, and during the only time you had to relax, it was spent practicing. It didn't take long before the grinding was starting to affect Flareon and making him feel homesick. He also deeply missed Twilight. Luckily for him, the month was soon over and Fender had finally returned. As they were all standing by a jet on an airport, Axel, Melody, Vibe, and Fender began to say their goodbyes to him. Fender then walked up to Flareon and said, "Thanks for filling in for me for that month. I'll defiantly try to be more careful next time. No more skateboarding tournaments for me, that's for sure." Axel then said, "So...Flareon, how did you like being a part of a band?" Flareon smiled and replied, "I really don't know you guys do it. Between all the concerts, traveling, and practicing, I've never experienced anything that exhausting in my life." Soon after, the Neon Hooves began to laugh. "At first we thought it like that too, but we're used it," Axel said, "This jet will take you back home to Ponyville. Hopefully Flareon...we'll meet again someday." As they bowed to Flareon, he turned around and walked into the jet. A couple of minutes later, Flareon sat down and waved goodbye to them from the window as the jet began to take him back home. Six hours later, there was a beautiful full moon in the night sky as Twilight was walking back home to Golden Oak Library. As she went inside and turned around to close the door, Twilight heard the sound of a guitar playing behind her. When she turned back around, Twilight saw Flareon surrounded by lit candles playing the song that he had dedicated to her. "Flareon...you're back!" Twilight yelled happily as she quickly sat down in front of him and smiled as Flareon had finally returned home.