CH. 8

Later that afternoon, Bass and Vinyl were walking to Sugarcube Corner together. Treble had told the couple to meet her there for lunch because she had exciting news that she wanted to share. Bass's mane was straight, as usual, and Vinyl's was playfully tousled, as she normally had it. Both of them were wearing their shades, since they were outside, and in public.

Just before they reached the door, Bass stopped, and smiled at Vinyl, playfully. "What is it, baby?" Bass smiled, and planted a soft kiss on her lips. Vinyl blushed at the random show of affection.

and as soon as they walked in, the lights came on, and a pink pony was standing in front of Bass. "SURPRISE!"

He jumped back, scared half to death by the pony, causing Vinyl to laugh uncontrollably, Bass blushing. "Pinkie, you scared the buck out of me!" This caused Vinyl to laugh even harder.

Treble walked over next to Pinkie. "Told you I was going to throw you a party, Bass." Vinyl was still laughing. "And apparently, I'm not the only one who thought it was funny."

Bass looked around, spotting a few somewhat familiar faces. He saw Twilight, Rainbow, Applejack, and Fluttershy, as well as a pony he hadn't met yet sitting with the four slightly familiar mares. Pinkie had bounced back over to her friends, and was now sitting with her friends, when Twilight spoke up. "Hey, Bass. Why don't you and Vinyl take a seat. We're all happy you could be here." Twilight was sitting on the outer end of the booth, leaving enough space for three ponies to sit. Treble sat first, right next to Twilight, smiling. Bass followed, as did Vinyl, who sat on the outer edge. "So, Bass," Twilight began. I haven't seen you since your apple tree incident. How do you like Ponyville?"

Bass shrugged. "Well, Vinyl's been showing me around, and so far, I like it. It's nice and quiet, but there's plenty of fun things to do," he said, flashing a playful smile at Vinyl.

"Well, that's good. I hope you get to see more of the town. I'm sure you'll find more to love. So, I had no clue you were Treble's twin brother."

Bass smirked at Twilight, having figured everything out in his head already. "And I had no clue that you and my sister were such GOOD friends."

Twilight and Treble both blushed simultaneously, not expecting that. "Uh… yeah. Your sister and I met not long after you were enrolled in music school. And ever since then, we've been the best of friends. Pen pals, even."

Bass nodded. "Oh, I'm sure." The rest of the party went on with lots of delicious food, and drink, none of it alcoholic, by Bass's request. Everyone was having a good time, and Bass and Vinyl had started dancing on the dance floor, when Silver Sky came walking in. The second she walked in, everyone stared. Aside from the humble Treble, and previous visits, Ponyville wasn't used to having visits from such famous ponies. She was a light grey Pegasus with a solid white mane and tail with yellow stripes through them. She looked at Bass with an evil grin.

Bass's expression went grim as he recognized the mare. "Good afternoon, Bass." She grinned mischeviously. "It's been a long time."

Bass faked a smile. "Not long enough, Sky. Not long enough."

Sky giggled. "Still the same old Bass. So, tell me: what have you been up to since we last met?"

"Being happy."

"Oh, Bass. You've never been happy, don't lie to me."

Bass flashed a glance at the somewhat clueless Vinyl. "What would you know about happiness."

Then Sky grinned evilly, pulling out the most underhanded technique she could. "I enough about happiness to take every bit of it from you, Bass. By the way, how's your friend, Rhythm doing?" Bass's expression turned to complete despair. His head lowered. He realized he couldn't win. "That's what I thought, Bass. Now if you'll excuse me…"

SMACK! The sound of the contact rang out like a snare drum in a wooden box.

Just before Silver Sky could finish her sentence, she was interrupted by a hoof striking her face, and she collapsed to the ground, still conscious, but completely in shock from realization of the owner of the hoof, a very angry yellow unicorn looking down at her, pure fury in her silver eyes.

Bass raised his head, looking at his sister in astonishment, everypony else in the place doing the same. "Nopony treats my brother like that. Get out of here, Silver. I don't want to see your face again for as long as I live."

Sky stood up, spitting out a tooth. "Suit yourself, bitch. You'll be nothing but a has been, just like your washed up brother, Lunar Black!" Then she slowly got back up to her hooves, and trotted out the door.

Vinyl had run up next to Bass, and pressed herself against Bass comfortingly.

"What a sourpuss!" Pinkie chimed in from the table. "Forget about that party-pooper, guys! Let's party!"

Bass shook his head. "Thanks... All of you… but I'm going home."

Treble looked at Bass. "Bass, forget her. Don't leave."

Bass walked to the door. "Sorry, Treble, but… I…" Bass was interrupted by a white hoof covering his mouth.

"Bass, these ponies are your friends. All we want is to help you." Vinyl smiled lovingly at Bass. "And you know I love you, and will do anything I can to help you. But first, we need to know everything."

Bass smiled, a single tear rolling down his cheek. "Okay, Vi." Bass walked over to the table, and sat back down in his original spot between Vinyl and his sister. "Well, about a year ago, the bitch who goes by Silver Sky's band, and Fasthor5 were playing a show together in Manehatten, and after the show, she and I started hanging out, and eventually started dating. In time, I had fallen head over hooves for her. When I told her how I felt, she tossed me to the side, like an old rusty horseshoe. I was completely empty. And that's when I started doing all the shameless, horrible things I did. The only reason I didn't know who it was is because back then, she went by her real name, Cloudy Night, but when I saw her, every memory of what she did came flying back. Kinda like…"

"Like when I smashed into you outside the library?" Rainbow finally spoke up, relieved that somepony else had spilled the secret already.

"Yeah, kinda like that," Bass nodded. "And I probably would've just given up right then," he then looked at Vinyl, who had laid her hoof on his. "If not for you, Vi." The entire restaurant erupted in a giant "Aw!" as Bass kissed Vinyl softly.

Rainbow then slammed a hoof on the table. "She isn't gonna get away with that! Nopony emotionally attacks my favorite rockpony and gets away with it!" the other seven ponies at the table all nodded, smiling at Bass.

"You would all do that… for me?" Bass was on the verge of tears, smiling happily.

"Of course babe. Like I said. All of these ponies are your friends, and friends help each other." Vinyl smiled, and kissed Bass on the cheek.

"Thank you all… so very much."

Treble cleared her throat. "Now for the news I was going to tell you earlier. I was going to tell you that Sky and I were going to be playing in Steedston in a few days, and I was going to give you and Vinyl tickets to the show, but now, I've got a better idea." Treble grinned evilly, and whispered something into Bass's ear that caused him to grin an equally evil grin.

"Let's do it."

That evening, Bass, Vinyl, and Treble were in Vinyl's basement studio Bass looked at the two mares. "Okay, so Treble, did you take care of the booking?"

"Yep. They were more than happy to help."

"Excellent. Vinyl, have you found anypony who can play the drums?"

"But of course, my love. He's an old friend of mine. Used to play for the band 36 Crazyhooves. Name's Leadhoof. He'll be here tomorrow morning.

"Killer. Now, I'd like the two of you to look over a few lyrics." He then set down a large stack of paper in front of the two mares, who looked at the stack in amazement.

"Uh… Bass?" Treble began. "Where'd you get all this paper?"

Vinyl ran a hoof from the bottom of the stack to the top. "Those poor trees."

"Yes, I know it's a large stack, but just look through it." Bass ran through his checklist. "Me on bass and vocals, Treble on guitar, and Vinyl on guitar and keys. Leadhoof on drums, and that leaves one more spot… S-"

"Uh, Bass?" Treble interrupted. "Some of these lyrics call for strings. Where are we going to get someone who can play the strings?"

Vinyl's signature grin came back, looking slightly awkward without her glasses. "I know just the pony for the job."

About an hour later, Bass and Vinyl were on the other side of Ponyville, at a rather nice looking house, as they walked up, Bass was slightly nervous. Knocking on doors of nice houses late at night wasn't something he normally did. "Uh, Vi. Are you sure this is a good idea?"

Vinyl nodded. "Completely, Babe. This pony's the best cello player probably in all of Equestria."

Bass watched as Vinyl knocked on the door with her hoof. "Er… that's not what I meant, Vi." Then the door opened slowly, the soft light covering the two white ponies. Bass looked nervously at the silhouette of the pony at the door. He couldn't make out many details because of the lighting.

Vinyl smiled at the silhouette. "Hey, there. Mind if we come in for a moment?"

The silhouette shrugged, and Vinyl led Bass into the house. As he entered the house, he could finally make out the details of the pony who lived in the house, but before he could make out any details, he was pulled to the living room by Vinyl, who was following the host pony. Bass plopped down on the couch next to Vinyl, and focused on the now visible host sitting across from them.

It was a gray mare with straight dark brown hair with a pomp in the front, and a matching colored tail. She had a collar and bowtie around her neck, purple eyes, and a treble clef cutie mark just like Treble's. She was indeed a beautiful mare, but Bass could care less. He already had the love and support of the greatest mare in Equestria, and in his opinion, the most beautiful.

"Bass, this is Octavia. Tavi, this is my soulmate, Deep Bass."

Octavia looked Bass over from her chair, grinning. "So this is the Pegasus you've told me so much about. He is indeed quite a catch, V. You'd better tie him down before I try to steal him."

Vinyl wrapped her forelegs around Bass. "Noooo!"

Bass laughed. "Sorry, Octavia, but this is property of Vinyl Scratch."

Octavia smiled and nodded. "Good. I wouldn't even think of stealing a stallion away from V. Besides, I don't even like them."

"Vinyl kissed Bass on the cheek. "Tavi and I go way back. She's my best friend." Vinyl then turned to Octavia. "Tavi, we have an issue that requires your talents."

Octavia raised an eyebrow. "Oh? Who do I have to kill?" There was a short silence, then the two mares burst into laughter. "Of course I kid."

Vinyl went back to seriousness. "No, death would be the easy way out for this bitch."

"Vinyl Scratch. I've never heard you use such a word in my life. This pony must've messed up… bad."

Vinyl grinned. "Oh, she fucked up, alright. By messing with the wrong mare's mate."

After a few minutes of explanation, Octavia agreed to the plan, and the couple headed back to Bass's house for some much needed rest.

The next morning, after a quick breakfast, Bass and Vinyl headed back over to Vinyl's house, to await the others. First was a teary-eyed Treble.

Bass looked concernedly at his sister. "What happened, Treb?"

Treble wiped a tear from her eye, stepping in the door. "Twilight and I broke up. It turns out that we didn't really have as much in common as I thought. She said I'm too violent."

"I'm sorry, sis. I'm sure you'll meet the right mare some day." Then there was another knock on the door. Vinyl opened the door, revealing the grey mare holding a cello case in her mouth, and smiling. "Mornin' Tavi. Come in." The neautiful mare strolled in, the case's handle between her teeth. Vinyl closed the door behind Octavia. She then looked toward Treble, who was staring at Octavia, almost as if she were fantasizing. "Tavi, this is Bass's sister, Treble. Treble, this is my friend, Octavia. She'll be handling the strings."

There was a slight tension in the air as the two treble clef cutie-marked mares stared each other down. "Are you sure she's cut out for this, Vinyl?"

Vinyl nodded, taking her sunglasses off. "One hundred percent sure she's the pony for the job."

"Vinyl, are you sure this… 'Treble' will be able to keep up with my skills?"

Vinyl raised an eyebrow. "Er…"

"Vinyl, can this 'Octavia' even read sheet music?"

"Uh…"

"Vinyl, can this 'Treble' even read?"

"I uh…"

"Vinyl, can Octa-"

"Enough, you two," Bass piped up. "Look, if you two wanna just screw and get it over with, you can use the spare bedroom in my house after this is all over with, but for now, keep your tongues out of each other's throats, okay?"

Then there was one more knock on the door. Bass snapped his gaze at it, still slightly irritated at the two mares. "Nopony fuckin move. I've got it this time." Bass walked to the door, stopping every few steps, and glaring back at Treble and Octavia.

After about a minute or so, Bass reached the door, and opened it, revealing a brown earth pony with a long black mane, which covered half his face. "Sup, Bass."

"Holy shit! Speed Kicker? I didn't know you still played, bro!"

"Well, I didn't till I got a visit from my friend Vinyl over there. The moment she mentioned you, I was down. I'd never pass on a chance to play with Deep Bass again. So, are we ready to make some music or what?"

"Hold your horses, pal. Gotta introduce you to the rest of the band." Bass led the earth pony to the other three. "Okay, so we've got two rock stars, a DJ, and two mares who want to hump each other's brains out, and neither will admit it." Bass looked around the group, pointing at each pony when their name is called. "Treble, and Octavia."

Leadhoof chuckled lightly. "Sounds like an awesome movie waiting to happen. Where's the script?"

Bass nodded at the large stack of papers on the table. "There."

Leadhoof's jaw dropped. "You wrote all those yourself?"

"Yep. I call it the mountain."

The day began with the five ponies sitting around, digging through the papers, picking out the songs they liked best.

"Oh, I like this one!" Octavia waved around a sheet.

"I don't think you can even play that one." Treble grinned.

"You two stop it!" Bass cut in. "Okay, so we have Octavia's pick."

"Here's my favorite, Babe." Vinyl set the page on Bass's lap. He looked at it, and smiled.

"I'm glad you like it, babe. So now we have two."

"Yo, Bass, I'm feelin a heavy drum line for this one."

"Sweet, so three."

"Bass, I'd like to perform the song you and Vinyl made." Treble smiled at the couple on the couch.

"Awesome, so everypony has their pick in the set list."

Vinyl looked at Bass, confused. "What about your pick?"

Bass smiled. "It's not in the stack… because I haven't written it yet."

Everypony looked at Bass and nodded, and they set to work on practicing, and learning the four songs. The practice went off without a hitch, with the exception Treble and Octavia's attitudes toward each other, and by the evening of the first night, Bass had gotten fed up with it. Even during the breaks, which Bass used to write, he could hear them fighting from Vinyl's kitchen. It was time for the last break before everyone would be given the rest of the night to rest, and Bass was sitting at the table, writing his masterpiece, when he heard it again. Enough was enough.

He stormed into the basement, where Vinyl was standing between the two mares, trying to keep them from hitting each other. Bass's frustration had reached its peak. "You two stop right now!" Bass's powerful shout filled the room, drawing everypony's attention, who now stared at him, eyes wide. "Everypony out, except for Treble and Octavia." The two other ponies nodded, and went back upstairs, leaving the three of them in the basement, alone. "Alright you two! I've had it with the constant bickering between the two of you! Therefore neither of you are to leave this room until you've settled your differences! Is that clear?!"

The two mares kept their amazed stare at Bass.

"I said is that fucking clear?!"

Both mares nodded in understanding.

"Good!" Bass stormed out of the basement, locking the door behind him, and wedged a piece of wood under the door handle. Then he walked upstairs to the other two, who were sitting quietly at the top of the stairs. "Speed, you can go back to your hotel for the night."

"Roger that, Bass. I'll see you guys first thing in the morning." Then, Leadhoof left, leaving Bass and Vinyl in the house with the two mares in the basement.

Bass and Vinyl went to Vinyl's room. Bass had never actually been in there, and didn't know what to expect. Vinyl opened the door, and Bass was shocked. In her room, sitting on the wall, right next to her bed was the same picture that was in his room, except with a heart drawn around his face. And just to the right of the picture was a framed gold record. Bass walked to go look at it. Surprisingly enough to him, it wasn't the album he thought it was. It was his favorite one. The one with Ghost Town, Chapter 3, Bleed Right Through, and the fully instrumental Psychotic Stallion. He turned, and looked at Vinyl, his jaw dropped.

"It's my all time favorite. It was like every emotion conceivable was put into that album." Vinyl blushed, and smiled shyly at Bass.

Bass smiled, and walked over to Vinyl. "And the picture?"

Vinyl giggled. "Well, I told you I had a thing for you ever since I met you, didn't I?"

Bass smiled, and crawled into the bed. "We should get some sleep. Come on, fanfilly."

Vinyl smiled, and crawled into bed, pinning Bass down playfully, and kissed him softly. "I'm not a fanfilly, baby. I'm your personal groupie."

Bass smiled, and wrapped his wings around the amorous made, and reached over and turned out the light. Next Chapter: Chapter 9: "Ladies... Eating!" Estimated time remaining: 30 Minutes