Josh slowly made his way through the exit tunnel leading into the terminal at Los Angeles International Airport, glancing all around at the throngs of people milling all about. Upon reaching the end of the tunnel and stepping into the tunnel, he walked off to the right and stopped, turning back to wait for Liam and Syd. After several minutes, Liam appeared out of the tunnel and looked around for Josh, turning and walking towards him upon noticing the young man.

"You enjoy the flight?" Liam asked, smirking as he approached Josh.

"I suppose so." Josh responded, "I am wondering exactly why it is that we flew from Vegas to LA instead of just driving like we did last time."

"The reason for that is twofold." Liam replied, looking back towards the tunnel for a second, "Reason number one should be out of the tunnel before too long."

Josh gave Liam a confused look, causing him to let out a light chuckle.

"Syd had a little too much fun last night, as I knew he would."

"He regretting it pretty hard?" Josh asked, glancing at the tunnel in time to see a very bedraggled looking Syd make his way out and look towards his companions.

"Like you wouldn't believe." Liam responded, spinning around and smirking at Syd as he approached the two men.

Syd's eyes were heavily bloodshot, with large, purple bags underneath them. His pallor was extremely pale, and he seemed unable to lift his legs any farther than a few inches, forcing him to drag his feet across the ground as he made his way towards Josh and Liam. Josh had to fight back the urge to laugh as he watched Syd, knowing that on more than one occasion, he'd had to have looked like that the day after a show.

"How you feeling, Syd?" he asked as the downtrodden young man approached he and Liam, "Last night treat you very well?"

Syd grimaced at Josh and performed an obscene gesture with his right hand before continuing out into the massive group of people in the terminal. Liam and Josh burst out laughing as the watched the young man almost disappear into the crowd. The two quickly followed after him, occasionally throwing out an "excuse me" as they bumped into people all around them. After several minutes of following after Syd, they eventually caught up enough to where they knew they could keep him in their sights for the time being and continued to chat idly.

"So, you said there were two reasons that we flew back." Josh said, picking up on their previous conversation, "What was the other reason?"

"Well... to be honest, it's a bit... personal." Liam replied, apologizing quickly as he nearly bumped into a woman in front of him.

"Should I ask anything beyond that?"

"I don't mind telling you." Liam said, "You see, this stop was one of the only ones I was able to get four days on, so I figured that instead of taking two days for setup and everything like that, I'd... stop by the house and spend a day with Samantha."

"That's all?" Josh asked, "Why would that be such a big deal?"

"It's not, really." Liam said, "It's just... you know what it's like out here. You're expected to be all business until after the shows and you don't really get a lot of time to yourself through the whole thing."

"That's very true. And for you, it's gotta be even more difficult, with having to deal with all the setup and stuff like that."

"Right, so I figured, with an extra day and all, plus being back home, why not stop and see my wife for a bit before we get back to work?"

"Makes sense to me." Josh responded, turning a corner to see Syd make his way over to the baggage claim area, "Can't say I blame you. After all, what's the length on this tour anyway? Like four months?"

"Yeah, it is. It's actually longer than yours was slated to be last time. Then again, we don't have all that many stops on this one, honestly."

"So none of that bullshit where we've got ten shows a month minimum?" Josh asked, thinking back to his last tour he did before going to Equestria.

"Oh fuck no." Liam replied, grimacing, "Syd's too ornery to want to do that many in a month. With you it was different."

"How so?" Josh asked, stopping as they reached the baggage claim and wheeling around to look at Liam.

"You were much more... relaxed, to be honest." Liam replied, "And you had more experience with bigger shows since Allen had sent you to a lot of events before I became your agent."

"Well, thank fucking Christ you came along when you did." Josh said, frowning heavily as he thought back to his previous agent, "I don't think I could've stomached much more of that fat shit."

When Josh had been coming up and was performing more in the underground, Allen Morris, a former businessman turned talent agent, saw and heard Josh perform for a small crowd at a local electronic music event in Josh's home town of Albany. He offered to represent Josh, saying that he had connections with the record industry and could be the one to put the young man on the map in the world of electronic music. Naturally, Josh jumped at the opportunity to move up in the world of producing, and so eagerly accepted Allen's offer. Slowly but surely, Allen was able to get Josh a record deal and got him performing as an opener for a few bigger name artists, such as Adventure Club and Far Too Loud. For the inexperienced young man coming up in the world of electronic music, it seemed like a dream come true at the time.

However, the reality was that Allen had been lying to and stealing from Josh from day one. Josh hadn't realized it at the time, and only found out about all that had gone on after Liam had agreed to take over as his agent and Allen was arrested for some type of tax fraud.

"I don't think I could have either, and I only had to talk to him for a few hours." Liam said, chuckling a little to himself, "He always did seem like a scummy bastard."

"You don't know the half of it." Josh said sourly, "That greedy prick fucked me out of almost a hundred grand in the end."

"You're joking." Liam exclaimed, looking to Josh with his mouth agape, "There's no way he was able to get that much. How many goddamn shows were you actually doing?"

"As many as he could get his grimy hands on. That was another thing too. I was performing so much that I rarely had any time to come up with anything new. You remember when you were first representing me and I put out over fifteen completely new songs almost right away?"

Liam nodded, prompting Josh to continue.

"Those were all productions I began over two years before then. He kept me busy that much, just so he could keep stealing right out from under my goddamn nose."

Liam silently mouthed "wow" while Josh still fumed over the thought of his former, scumbag manager.

"Seems like I couldn't have come along at a better time." Liam said.

"You really couldn't have, L." Josh replied, finally letting out a slight chuckle.

Just as Liam was about to respond, there was a sudden shout from nearby that caused both men to turn their attention towards it. Upon glancing at the disturbance, they saw Syd walking back towards them with a grimace on his face.

"What the fuck?" he said loudly as he approached the two men, "The board says that the luggage from our flight is up right now, but I haven't seen my bag anywhere yet."

"Just be patient, Syd." Liam replied, "I'm sure it'll be around before too long."

"L, it's gone around four goddamn times now." Syd retorted dryly, glaring at Liam with bloodshot eyes, "I'm telling you, something's happened to our bags."

Josh and Liam glanced at one another, both wearing slight looks of panic.

"You don't think they lost it, did they?" Liam asked.

Josh sighed heavily, pinching the bridge of his nose in frustration, silently sharing Liam’s same fear.

"MOTHER FUCK!"

Josh, Liam, and the agent at the counter nearby all winced as Syd yelled at the top of his voice in anger. The three of them had gone to the ticketing counters to speak to an airline representative about the possible fate of their missing bags. Josh and Liam had both been worried that their bags had been lost by the airline, and were unfortunately correct in their assumption as the agent had so reluctantly told them. This had caused Syd, who was already in an incredibly foul mood, to go off the rails and yell at the agent for several seconds before his latest outburst. Now, as all three men regained what composure they could, Syd was storming all about, swearing like never before and pacing back and forth behind his two companions.

"Goddamn," Josh said, glancing back to his enraged cohort, "he sure can yell, can't he?"

"Yeah, he can, and he's got no bloody shame in it either." Liam said in an annoyed tone as he watched the young man pacing behind him.

"If it's any consolation, I'm very sorry we lost your bags, sir." the airline agent said timidly, drawing Josh and Liam's attention back towards him.

"It's... alright." Josh said, trying in vain to diffuse an already blown up situation, "I mean, it's not 'alright alright', but at least you're not trying to give us a runaround or anything like that."

"Oh, we'd never do that." the agent replied, "You'd be surprised how many times bags go missing like this. It happens all the time."

"Never happened to us before..." Liam muttered sourly, earning himself a glare from Josh.

"When exactly could we expect to have our stuff anyway?" Josh asked politely to the already flustered agent before him.

"W-well, you see," the agent began, nervously stumbling as he spoke, "that's the thing. We'll have no problem locating your bags and getting them here for you, but..."

"But what?" Josh asked firmly.

"But… it could take awhile..."

"And how long is 'awhile', exactly?" Liam asked, trying his hardest not to glare at the agent behind the counter.

"Hard to say. Could be in a few hours, could be... up to two weeks..."

"Two fucking weeks?!" Syd shouted suddenly, startling Josh and Liam who hadn't realized he'd come back, "I've got a goddamn show in three days! There's stuff I need in that fucking bag!"

"A-again, I'm sorry, sir..." the agent said timidly, oddly reminding Josh of Fluttershy in that moment.

"Your sorry doesn't mean shit to me, asshat!" Syd yelled, slamming his fist down on the counter and causing everyone to jump once more before storming off, everybody in the nearby lines staring at him as he went.

Josh shook his head at the enraged producer as he made his way through the nearby crowds. Throwing himself onto a nearby bench, Syd crossed his arms, and stared angrily back at the counter. Turning back to the agent, Josh saw a look of absolute fear and trepidation etched on the man's face.

"Sorry about him." he said calmly, gesturing back towards Syd, "He's... been under some stress lately. Starting out on his first tour here."

"It's alright." the man replied glumly, "I've had to deal with irate people before, but... It's kind of my first time working the counter like this..."

"And it's embarrassing to be called out like that. I get it." Josh said kindly, to which the agent nodded, "Well, don't worry about it. Syd's not gonna hurt anyone. But, he is right about us not being able to do anything without our bags."

"I'll do anything I possibly can to help you guys out here. I know how much it sucks to have your bags go missing like that. It's happened to me on more than one occasion too." the agent offered.

"Thanks, man." Josh said, shaking the man's, "We appreciate it. We really do."

"Not a problem." the agent replied, smiling at Josh, who returned the look before gesturing to Liam to follow him as they made their way through the crowd and towards Syd.

"Lost the fucking bags..." Liam muttered angrily, "I can't believe this. Never once when you and I were on the road did we ever have our fucking luggage go missing."

"Shit happens, L." Josh said simply, stopping to speak to Liam where Syd couldn't hear them, "People make mistakes."

"And those mistakes cost me the one free fucking day I've got to relax before we move on!" Liam retorted, throwing his hands in the air in frustration, "Now I've gotta sit in this bloody airport all fucking day, waiting for bags that might not show up at all! Fucking hell!"

"Liam, you need to calm down, alright?" Josh said sternly, knowing full well he had no right to tell his friend what to do, "The bags'll probably show up earlier than any of us thinks. We've just gotta be patient and not lose our cool... again."

"And that's another thing." Liam said, his words dripping with venom as he pointed to Syd, "Now, I've gotta not just sit around and wait for this shit to get resolved, but also babysit the fucking prima donna over there and make sure he doesn't kill someone over this!"

Josh opened his mouth to respond, but found no sufficient words he could say as Liam began to pace and continue to rattle off obscenities. Glancing back over his shoulder, Josh noticed Syd sitting on the bench, his head in his hands. Turning back around, he saw Liam a short distance away, still fuming and shaking his head in disbelief of the unfortunate situation at hand. Josh felt a pang of sympathy tug at his heart as he looked upon his friend, knowing full well what he was feeling at having his idea of a perfect day to relax ruined in a split second. He completely understood the frustration, the feelings of anger and disappointment. After all, he still felt them himself from time to time, though he did his best to try and suppress them, a more than vain effort.

I've gotta do something for him... Josh thought as he watched Liam continue his pacing before glancing back around to Syd on the bench. But I have a feeling that I'm not gonna enjoy this...

"Hey, L." Josh called out, striding up to his friend.

Liam's attention quickly turned back around to Josh, who stopped short of him, struggling to find the words he wanted to say next.

“What?!” Liam snapped, causing Josh to start a little, making his previous hesitance to say anything even stronger.

Though he knew he'd probably regret this at a later time, he felt an obligation to do something for his friend, even if that meant taking on a rather deplorable task.

"Just... just go out and see your wife, alright?" he said, finally able to find his tongue, "I'll stay here with Syd and make sure things don't go farther south."

"J-Josh." Liam said, his previously hardened tone softening to something barely above a whisper as he looked upon his friend in disbelief, "You... I couldn't ask you to do something like that."

"You don't have to," Josh replied, smirking at Liam, who seemed to be completely flabbergasted at Josh's suggestion, "I'm offering to do this. Just go and enjoy yourself, alright? And don't worry about what's going on here while you're out."

"I-I don't know..." Liam said hesitantly, "I mean... I need to be here to get the luggage whenever it comes, and the truck'll be showing up with all our stuff for the show before too long. Plus, I don't wanna have to subject you to Syd any more than you already will be on this whole thing. You saw how he was back there..."

"L," Josh said gently, placing his hand on his friend's shoulder and smiling at him, stopping his litany of excuses mid-stream, "It's not a big deal, I promise. I can handle everything. Just go and enjoy yourself a little bit, alright?"

"I still don't know..."

"Liam, I'm doing this as a favor to you." Josh said firmly, forcing Liam's eyes to meet his own, "I know what it's like to not be able to see the person you love. It sucks, and every time you think about them, you get an empty feeling in your heart at knowing that they can't be there by your side at the moment. The difference between your situation and mine, though, is that the woman you love is literally right here at this moment in time, and you have every ability to go and see her. I don't have that luxury anymore, and it wouldn't be fair for you to be subjected to the kind of feeling I get on a daily basis now."

The look on Liam's face was a mixture of confusion and concern as he stared into the eyes of his former producer and current friend. Much like Josh had done before, Liam opened and closed his mouth in a vain attempt to form a response to Josh's sudden and bold statement.

"Josh... Thanks." he finally managed to stammer out, his mouth breaking into a grateful smile as he continued to lock eyes with the man before him, "I... I don't know what to say... I can never repay you for this."

"You don't have to." Josh replied, smirking, "Just think of it as a bit of recompense for helping me out here."

Liam's smile widened as he and Josh silently stood before one another, people bustling all about them and the occasional message blaring over the loudspeakers.

"Well, I guess I'd better be going then." Liam finally said after some time, looking away from Josh and back towards Syd on the bench, "You sure you wanna try and handle him on your own?"

"Believe me, L, I'm no stranger to having to deal with an irate performer." Josh chuckled, "You wouldn't believe how angry Vinyl would get if they ever lost our luggage on a trip."

"She get as bad as that?" Liam asked, gesturing towards Syd.

"She was always a quietly angry girl, but her mouth could be just as bad as his once we were alone."

Josh and Liam shared a quick laugh amongst themselves, both finally feeling an extreme tension that had settled earlier ease up.

"I guess I'll see you later then." Liam said, turning and slowly making for the nearby doors, "Have Syd call me if you need anything, and just let the rest of the crew know that I'll be along some other time once they get here. I don't exactly know when I'll be able to get back though..."

"Don't worry about it, L." Josh called out, "Just go and relax for a bit, alright?"

Liam nodded and waved one last time to his friend before making his way through the terminal and disappearing into the mass of people nearby. Josh turned back around to see Syd and let out a heavy sigh, nearly regretting his decision to do this as he thought back to the young man's outburst earlier. What the fuck am I gonna do with him? he thought to himself, racking his brain as best he could to find a solution to the problem he now found himself presented with. He hadn't honestly thought about what he would do about Syd now, having only been thinking about doing what he could to help Liam at the time.

He knew he'd have to do something that would, if nothing else, put up a front of toughness, something that would show Syd that Josh wasn't about to screw around with the situation. Though he had had experience with Vinyl being like this in the past, it wasn't something he'd handled real well. Usually, she would just vent to him about the ineptitude of those around her and complain that the train staff should all be replaced with ponies who were more competent. Josh would always half-listen to her and occasionally respond with something in the affirmative to what she was saying, whether he actually agreed with her or not. That way, he avoided any argument that could possibly come up should he say the wrong thing.

However, he knew full well that this was not Vinyl, and therefore he couldn't get away with the same thing in this scenario. I hardly doubt he'd take very well to me responding to everything with "Yes, baby. I completely agree". Again, he let out a heavy sigh, regretting his decision now more than ever, but recognizing that he'd dug his own grave on this one. Well, here goes nothing, I suppose he thought, slowly making his way towards Syd, praying that he'd be able to come up with anything as he walked. In a matter of moments, he stood before the young man, trying with all his might to remain looking as intimidating as possible, and hoping that Syd wouldn't be able to call his bluff.

After some time, Syd raised his face from his hands and started a little as he noticed Josh only a few inches away. Josh locked eyes with Syd, noticing how pale he'd begun to look and that he seemed to be rather sweaty now.

"Can I help you?" Syd asked, giving Josh a venomous glare as he stared up at him.

"I don't know." Josh said flatly, "Can I?"

"You could go and get my fucking bag." Syd said sourly, "That'd be kind of nice."

"Forget something valuable in there?" Josh asked, still struggling internally with how to handle the scenario.

Syd suddenly stiffened up at hearing Josh's words, his mouth falling slightly agape. Josh quickly took notice of the rapid change in Syd's behavior, taking in everything about the young producer that he possibly could without being too obvious that he was looking him over.

"I don't see how what's in my bag is any of your goddamn business." Syd replied, his previous ire still thick in his voice as he spoke.

"You're right, it's not." Josh said, beginning to piece everything together that he could, "But, if I may, can I give you a quick piece of advice?"

Syd's glare returned to Josh's face, this one looking much more murderous than the last. Josh had finally managed to formulate something he could use to try and get Syd down a little more, though he was worried that it would be a bit of a long shot, and if it proved to be too out there, he might lose the young man altogether.

"Next time you're packing up to move on to somewhere else, don't put your stash in your bag. You never know when something like this can happen."

To Josh's own surprise, Syd's face fell at those words, the angry glare that seemed he'd never let go disappearing completely as Josh hit the apparent jackpot. Josh let out a small internal sigh of relief at seeing he'd finally managed to get Syd down from his previous mood, and that his gamble had paid off.

"Well, I couldn't really keep it on my person, now could I?" Syd retorted, looking away from Josh and staring off into the crowds bustling about before him.

"From one addict to another, I can tell you that there are ways to get stuff past those scanners." Josh said simply, "You've just gotta find your own method."

"You use?"

"I did."

"So what made you stop?" Syd asked.

"I... went to a place where that wasn't really an option for me." Josh replied, thinking back on when he began to go through withdrawals in Equestria.

"You did time?"

"No, not exactly." Josh chuckled, "It certainly felt like it at first though..."

Josh had been a heavy user of cocaine for a time, and when he went to Equestria, he wasn't able to continue that habit for very long. Naturally, he had no choice but to give it up, forcing him into the symptoms of withdrawal, most of which consisted of him becoming extremely anxious and irritable, as well as effecting his dreams and turning each one of them into a horrific nightmare. Thankfully, however, he'd had Sweetie Belle and her friends there for him almost every day, as well as Rarity and the others to help him through the whole ordeal and see to it that he recovered completely.

"So, where's L?" Syd asked suddenly, drawing Josh's attention away from his reminiscing, "He go to see what we can do about our bags or something?"

"No, Liam's taking the day off." Josh replied, "And that means he left me in charge till he gets back."

"What?!" Syd burst out, glaring up at Josh, "You've gotta be fuckin' kidding me! I guess you're expecting me to sit pretty and be a good little boy for you then?"

"That's the idea, yes."

"Well, you can sure as shit forget about that." Syd angrily said, "The last thing I'm gonna do is take orders from some fucking roadie."

"That's how you feel?" Josh said, now becoming angry himself at Syd's attitude, "Then I can just as easily leave your ass here, let you fend for yourself."

"You wouldn't dare." Syd hissed, narrowing his eyes as he continued to glare at Josh.

"You wanna bet?" Josh said, lowering himself and nearly getting in Syd's face, "You're no friend of mine, and I have absolutely no compunction about walking out of here right now and leaving you behind. I highly doubt Liam would mind once I explained to him that you were being a problem, and with the way you look right now, I can tell you're in no condition to be on your own anyway. So, I suggest that you either play ball with me here, or I'll see you back at the hotel once you've gotten our bags."

Syd's infuriated look held for some time, and Josh wondered if his threat had made any impact whatsoever on the young man. However, after some time, he averted his gaze and slumped back into his original position of pouting. Again, Josh let out a heavy internal sigh of relief at having averted another potential disaster.

"So, you'll cooperate then?"

Josh received no answer, but didn't need one. He looked over Syd once more and quickly took notice that he seemed to be shaking slightly and that he was sweating profusely again.

"What do you use anyway?" Josh inquired, being genuinely curious about what Syd's drug of choice was that would give him symptoms like this.

Syd gave Josh a quizzical look.

"Weed? Coke? What is it you use?"

Syd looked back down towards the ground, continuing to tremble slightly as he hesitated.

"It's... I use Oxy. Oxycodone."

"How long has it been since you've had any?"

"Day and a half, maybe two." Syd replied, shaking his head as he spoke.

"You didn't use last night?"

"Fuck no! I'd never mix that shit with liquor. As shitty as I may feel right now, I kind of like to be able to wake up in the morning and not be dead."

"So," Josh continued, surprised that he'd actually received an answer from Syd, "I'm gonna guess you're going through withdrawals then?"

"Doesn't really help that I'm hungover either, does it?" Syd replied, letting out a slight chuckle.

"Anything hurt at all?" Josh asked, kneeling down to examine Syd a little more thoroughly now that he'd managed to get him calmed down.

"Yeah, my everything hurts." Syd replied in an irritated tone, "Can't stop shaking either, plus my stomach's on fire right now."

Josh silently peered into Syd's eyes, taking notice of how bloodshot they were compared to before. It was then that he noticed Syd's incessant chewing motion, apparently one of the few similarities between cocaine and oxycodone withdrawal symptoms.

"Here." Josh said, reaching into his pocket and producing a half full pack of gum, handing it to Syd, who took it with another questioning look, "It's to make sure you don't grind your teeth down."

Syd took the gum and immediately pulled out a piece, throwing it into his mouth and chewing frantically. Josh stood back up from his kneeling position, keeping his gaze locked on the silently suffering young man before him. Where Josh had been angry and frustrated with Syd before, he now felt a heavy sense of pity at seeing him so... vulnerable and sick. Josh himself knew full well what that was like, and he silently recalled all the sleepless nights he'd been forced to endure, all the times Rarity or Sweetie Belle had stayed up with him through the night to ensure he was alright. He shuddered to think what might have happened to him had they not been there, if he'd been forced to go through the whole process alone. Even if he is a bit of a prick, nobody deserves to have to deal with something like this on their own Josh thought to himself.

"So, what're we doing now?" Syd asked looking back up at Josh.

"Well, the first thing we're gonna do is get you something to eat and keep you as hydrated as we possibly can." Josh said, reaching out his hand and helping Syd to stand up, "Then, we'll get you another pack of gum so you have something to chew on for the rest of the day."

"Uh... Okay..." Syd said as Josh began to walk away towards the area in the terminal where all the restaurants were, "Why're you being so helpful all of a sudden? I thought you were gonna leave me here earlier."

"Cause I know what it's like. To have to deal with all this." Josh said, turning back around, "Besides, you gonna complain about a free lunch?"

Syd smirked and let out a little chuckle before following after Josh. Together, the two of them weaved their way through the crowd and towards the nearby eateries, both in considerably better moods than before. Let's just hope we can keep things like this for awhile Josh thought as he and Syd walked side by side through the terminal.

Awkward. That was the best word Josh could use to describe the silence between himself and Syd as they both sat in a nearby delicatessen, with the latter individual still stuffing his face with a rather large sandwich. Josh had finished his meal some time ago, having only ordered a small portion for himself, and was now relegated to watching Syd, who'd looked close to death himself only a short time ago, practically shove the food down his own gullet. However, rather than attempt to force conversation between himself and Syd, Josh merely waited for the young man to come up for air before he actually said anything to him. How the fuck does he eat like that? Josh silently wondered, watching as Syd inhaled his food with the vigor of a ravenous animal.

After an impressively short time, Syd finished off his meal and laid back, letting out an impressively large belch and a sigh of relief. Josh, who had already been struggling with what to talk about to break this horrendous silence between the two of them, now found himself somewhat speechless at witnessing Syd's insane eating habits.

"Did you breathe at all while you did that?" Josh asked, finding his voice in spite of his mix of amazement and borderline disgust.

Syd let out a chuckle and glanced back at Josh from his position across the table.

"I didn't eat anything before we left this morning." Syd responded, leaning back once again and smirking up at the ceiling, "Felt too much like shit at the time."

"And you don't right now?" Josh inquired, thinking back to Syd's extremely pale countenance only a short time ago.

"Oh, believe me, I still do." Syd retorted, "But, getting a little food in me'll probably do just the trick to help me not feel as bad in the long run."

Josh chuckled a little and nodded in agreement, glancing all around the small eatery and taking notice of the rather bored looking wait staff at the main counter. He'd at last accomplished his goal of getting Syd to calm down and be more cooperative, and was now intent on doing whatever he could to kill time till either their luggage showed up, Liam returned, or he had to meet with the guys bringing the equipment to the venue for the show. With an indeterminate amount of time between now and at least two of those events, he reasoned that the best thing he could do at this point would be to remain with Syd and, with any luck, the two of them could manage enough activity to make the time go by more smoothly. If I'm gonna be with him for the rest of this trip anyway, might as well get to know him a little better while I'm at it... Josh thought to himself, looking back towards Syd, who was tapping away on his phone.

"So," Josh began, drawing Syd's attention back towards himself, "since we're kinda stuck with each other for now, we might as well actually converse for more than a few seconds at a time."

"Uh... Okay." Syd responded confusedly, placing his phone back in his pocket, "What exactly did you have in mind to talk about then?"

"Well, I am rather curious as to how you got started doing this."

Syd let out a light chuckle and leaned over the table a little, pulling his hair back behind his ear as he did so.

"To be honest, that's a story that, If I told it to anyone else, I'd get laughed at like a nerd at a football game."

Josh gave Syd a questioning look, prompting the young man to go on.

"See, I came from Oakland." Syd resumed, "A very rich, very suburban, and very very white part of Oakland."

"I see." Josh said, smirking at Syd as he paused his tale, "So, you're one of those kids, aren't you? Nice house, probably lots of cars, or maybe just extremely large, flashy ones."

"My parents did pretty well for themselves, I suppose." Syd continued, smiling wide as he thought about his rather charmed past life, "We never went without. In fact, we probably had more than we needed, to be honest with you. I went to a private school from about sixth grade on, one of those places where the other families were probably just as well off as we were. Anyway, that's pretty much where I got into music, joined the school band and kept it up till I graduated."

"Hold up a sec," Josh said suddenly, his smirk now developing into a teasing grin as he put together what Syd had just said, "so you're telling me that you were some kind of goddamn band nerd before all this?"

"Hey, you laugh, but you'd be surprised how many chicks I knew were into a guy who could play music like I could." Syd retorted as Josh stifled the urge to begin cackling like a maniac.

"They like a guy who can move his trombone slide real fast, don't they?" Josh said, his voice shaking as he continued to hold back his laughter.

"Yeah yeah, yuk it up, shithead." Syd replied in a playfully sarcastic tone, "That's where my start came from though. I loved music more than almost anything, and when I heard the electronic stuff for the first time, I fell in love with it almost right away. I actually began studying it, trying to find out how I could make it myself. When a buddy of my dad's heard that I was interested in maybe trying to produce my own stuff, he introduced me to another, smaller performer who toured all over California, opening for other producers and participating in little festivals here and there. Guy took me under his wing and taught me a lot of the basics: breaks, basslines, how to work all the equipment. Ended up giving me enough of a foundation that after a year or so of him helping me out, I was able to go and begin to make my own stuff, after I got all the hardware I needed, of course."

"And what happened to the guy helping you out?" Josh inquired.

"Last I heard, the poor fucker's somewhere in Ohio, looking for any job he can get short of sucking cock for cash." Syd said, laughing a little as he thought back to his former mentor, "I always told myself when I got bigger that I'd throw some green his way the first opportunity I got, but he seems a little bitter that I'm living his dream right now. Anyway, once I was able to really perfect my sound, I put some stuff up online, and it got pretty huge pretty fast. Some small time agent discovered me and took me on, had me opening for bigger acts from time to time, which was pretty awesome at first."

"That how you ended up here, with L?" Josh asked.

"Yeah." Syd replied, "He'd said he was lookin' for another guy to represent, and that I'd be the perfect candidate. From there, we went to a bunch of festivals where I could get my name out in the world and really start showing my stuff."

"Which festivals did you go to?"

"Wobbleland, Shambhala, Paradiso, even Stereosonic in Australia." Syd replied, counting off the number of shows on his hand, "Every one of those was a fuckin' winner, plus a few smaller shows here and there to make sure I didn't get too rusty between performances."

Wow Josh thought silently I didn't even do that many festivals when Liam first took me on...

"Seems like you were pretty busy there at first." Josh remarked as Syd took a sip off his soda.

"It was a lot, but well worth it in the end." Syd stated, "Got my name out there, which got me this nice little tour we're going on here."

"Four months ain't much of a tour when you think about it." Josh said simply, "Last tour I was on went for almost a year."

"L said it's better for me to dip my toes in the pool at this point as opposed to diving straight in right away. Doesn't want me to get too burnt out, plus he was able to limit our stops and get about a week off at the halfway point."

"You'd better relish that week then." Josh said, pointing at Syd as he spoke, "You're more than likely not gonna see downtime like that again for awhile."

"Oh believe me, I intend to."

Josh smirked at that, knowing what exactly it was that Syd was intending to do with whatever free time he actually managed to get. I know everything I ever did... he thought to himself, feeling a slight pang of guilt hit him as he began to reminisce on his activities prior to entering Equestria.

"L mentioned to me that you were a roadie for him before." Syd said suddenly, forcing Josh's attention away from his ruminating.

"Yeah, I was." Josh replied, frowning a little internally at knowing that Liam was helping make up his story for him, "Why?"

"It's just... I was wondering for awhile now," Syd began, his eyes lighting up a little as he spoke, "did you ever have the chance to work with Xplushun?"

Josh felt his heart shoot up into his throat as Syd finished his inquiry, though he knew he couldn't show any sort of suspicious actions if he were to maintain as low a profile as he had so far. Here again, he knew he'd have to be creative and think up some sort of story to cover with, though that seemed easier said than done. Let's just hope Liam hasn't said too much to him about me...

"No, I didn't." Josh replied, taking a sip off is soda in an attempt to calm his nerves, "He wasn't real keen on adding new guys into his established crew."

"Aw man... That blows." Syd said, visibly disappointed by Josh's answer, "I was gonna ask you what he's like."

"L worked with him too, you know." Josh said, "Why don't you just ask him?"

"I have, and he won't say much about him for some reason." Syd retorted sourly, "I figured I could at least ask someone else who was here before and try to get an honest answer about him. Nobody else on the crew's worked with him either."

"Why're you so interested in him anyway?" Josh asked, smirking, "You got some sort of man crush on him or something?"

"Just about." Syd replied, a huge smile coming over his face, "He's the one who made me want to start doing this in the first place."

Again, Josh had to hold back what would be a visible look of shock. He had known that his music had been huge and influential in the EDM community, but he'd not ever really met another producer who'd enjoyed his work that much before. From what he could tell, Syd was practically salivating at the thought of Josh's work.

"He inspired you that much?" Josh asked, hoping with all his might that he wouldn't say anything suspicious as he continued to try and talk about himself, "Personally, I didn't think he was all that good."

"Are you shtting me?" Syd asked, clearly taken aback that Josh would slam his idol like that, "The guy's a goddamn genius! There'll be a special place in heaven reserved for him, as awesome as he was."

"What's so special about him?"

"Just about everything, to be honest." Syd continued, "His style, the way he mixes the songs at shows, and his stage presence is absolutely electrifying. There's too many guys out there who stand up on a stage and bounce around to the beat for a few hours, but with him, it was almost like the music took over his body and made him go crazy. I've never seen anyone who has that much energy up there when he's in the moment and performing like that."

Josh let out an inaudible grunt, fully taking in everything Syd had said. Great Josh thought to himself another goddamn fanboy who thinks I'm the best thing since dubstep itself...

"You okay?" Syd asked, leaning forward to inspect Josh, who had once again drifted away on his own sea of thoughts, "You look... upset at something."

"Huh?" Josh said suddenly, shaking his head in an attempt to force himself out of his thoughts, "Oh. Yeah, I'm fine. Just... I'll be right back. Gotta use the facilities."

Syd nodded and Josh rose quickly from the table, making his way through the crowds towards the nearest bathroom and immediately heading for the sink. He locked eyes with himself in the giant mirror, grimacing slightly at his appearance. His normally tidy and short brown hair was starting to get longer than he was comfortable with, his eyes bloodshot and looking extremely tired. He hadn't shaved in a while, and his sideburns and goatee were starting to come in once again. The last time he'd actually paid any attention towards himself like that was a few days before his trial in Equestria when Rarity had taken it upon herself to clean him up before he was set to appear. That had been almost two weeks ago now, and Josh was in serious need of some cleaning up now.

"Mess on the outside, mess on the inside." he whispered as he continued to peer at himself in the mirror, "Guess this is just how it has to be..."

Though Josh's nightmares and uneasy feeling about Vinyl had subsided slightly, he still couldn't ever get the mare off his mind. And, on top of that, being on tour with Syd for the last few days had begun to trudge up memories from his past that were less than pleasant, to say the least. All the feelings of guilt and shame that he'd been so convinced would never haunt him again were returning in full force, hitting him like a ton of bricks. Just when you think you've made your peace, here comes the bucket of ice water... he thought, finally taking his eyes off the reflection in the mirror. Feeling he'd done enough ruminating on his own personal turmoil, the former producer turned and made his way out the door, knowing he couldn't just leave Syd sitting there, no matter how much he may want to.

As Josh passed through the tiled entryway, he began to head back in the direction of his companion still at the table in the deli. However, as he took two steps towards his intended target, he felt a sudden impact on his right side that took him by surprise, planting him on his ass in an instant. He groaned as he lay there, now fully aware of his tail bone's existence within his body. Next to him, he heard a woman groaning in much the same manner, and he opened up his eyes suddenly to see her face hidden behind sheets of long, blonde hair. Unlike Josh, she had clearly hit her head, and was clutching it in her hands as she continued to moan in pain.

"Are you... alright?" Josh asked, standing up gingerly and looking down at the young woman below him.

"I... I think so..." she stammered, shaking her head and wincing a little bit, "Sorry about that... Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." Josh replied, bending down and reaching out his hands to help the woman, "If anyone here looks more damaged, it's you."

The woman giggled and reached out her own hands, grabbing onto Josh's, to which he promptly stood up straight, bringing her up with him.

"You may wanna be more careful when you're in a rush like that." Josh said, smirking at the woman as she regained her composure, "Don't wanna hurt anyone."

Upon looking up, the girl finally flipped her hair out of her face and looked up into Josh's, to which the young man felt his heart and jaw drop. The young woman had a rather fair complexion, with vibrant green eyes that seemed to pierce everything they looked at. As her eyes met Josh's, her own jaw dropped and her eyes widened as her hand flew up to cover her mouth in apparent shock. Together, the two stood and stared at one another in disbelief.

"J-Josh..." the woman whispered in clear astonishment.

Josh could find no words of his own as he stared into the face of the last human he'd seen before heading to Equestria, the girl he'd slept with the night of the concert.