Anon in Mirrorquestria - Chapter 1 (?)

>You are Anon
>And you are currently waiting to meet somepony in Canterlot Castle
>"Greetings, Anon!"
>You turn towards the source of the voice calling for you, coming face to face with a tall, stone-grey unicorn stallion donning a violet, ermine-lined cloak
>You bow slightly to the King as he approaches you
"So," he continues, "it has been several days since your arrival here in my kingdom. How are you finding everything so far? Satisfactory, I would hope?"
>You cock an eyebrow at him
"...you remember this whole world is a wretched hive of scum and villainy, right? Power to you for doing what you can, but this whole place is filled with petty arguments and the possibility of bloodshed."
>The king sighs, saddened. "I do try my best, Anon, but yes, I am quite aware of that."
"How do you *think* I'm finding things?"
>King Sombra begins to stammer. "Well, I can't imag-"
"It's fucking GREAT! Celestia's world is far too... clean. Too happy and peaceful. It feels like one gigantic trap to me. This place?"
>Your voice drips with enthusiasm as you speak
"It knows what it is, and it loves it. I spent several months in 'Good' Equestria with the most exciting thing being reports of a dragon. And a dull party."
>You ignore the twitch in your host's eye as you continue
"I've been here a week, and I've arm wrestled griffons, gotten drunk with a buffalo, fucked a chimera, danced with a unicorn 'till midnight, got into a spell-flinging contest while high, AND hidden from a Nightmare pacing the streets below."
>You fall to your knees infront of the good King, clasping your hands together
"Can I move in? Please, please, please? Can I?"
>For a moment, there is silence as Sombra gathers his thoughts
>Then, he speaks. "I must say... Never before has an outsider adapted so readily to my kingdom. Yes, some have learned to tolerate my land's... imperfections... but to have one such as yourself -embrace- them?"
>He offers a hoof to you, which you readily grasp
"Perhaps there is a place for you here, after all."
>You smile, returning to your feet
"Honestly, apart from the deity figures actively trashing the place, it's kind of like a magical version of some of my world's cities. But with the dials turned up to eleven."
>You close your eyes, thinking back to life on Earth
"Remind me to tell you about Shadowrun some time. Maybe Dresden Files. Gotta go though, promised to help out set up the stage for this band.. Wild horses or something. Good shit, or so I'm told."
>"The Wild Stallions, you mean? Yes, I've been to one of their concerts myself. If you plan on sticking around for their performance, you are in for quite the treat, I assure you. Vinyl Scratch is the finest violinist I have ever seen."
>Vinyl Scratch... a violinist?
>You suppose you shouldn't be surprised - after all, you did see Octavia of all ponies working the turntables at the club last night
>The King speaks up again, interrupting your train of thought. "But yes, do not let me keep you any longer. If I'm not here when you get back," he explains, gesturing towards the eastern hallway, "you should be able to find Princess Trixie out on the main balcony. I'll let her know about your needs for more permanent accommodation."
>You bow deeply towards your new liege
"Thank you, King Sombra."

===

>After saying your goodbyes, you leave Sombra to go help set up for Wild Horses... Stallions... whatever they called themselves
>On the way to Canterlot Castle's concert hall, you spy a white mare with a neatly-tied back electric-blue mane and bow-tie levitating what appear to be two violin cases
"Yo. You're Vinyl Scratch, right?"
>The white mare pauses. "Yes, that's me," she replies, turning around. "And who might you..."
>The words from her mouth go silent as she gets a good look at you
>After a brief moment, however, she recovers
>"Ah. Mr. Anon, I presume?"
"Yep."
>"Meadow Song told me you'd be assisting with our set-up. Here," she says, levitating her violin cases to you. "You can start by helping me carry these. I need to preserve my strength for the finale, after all."
>Raising an eyebrow, you take hold of the two cases, one in each hand
"Preserve your strength? What-"
>The mare cuts you off. "That, Mr. Anon, shall be a surprise."
>A smirk crosses her face as she turns away from you, walking towards the concert hall once more
>Frustrated with her cryptic answer, you quietly grumble in response before following her

===

>Upon reaching the concert hall, you're met by the sight of three stallions milling about the stage, hard at work setting things up
>Meadow Song, the bassist, is the first to notice you and Vinyl entering
>"Hey, Anon," he calls out, waving a hoof. "Hey, Vinyl," he adds, his voice becoming more flirty
>"Oh, give it up, Meadow." Vinyl rolls her eyes as she marches onto the stage. "I've already told you, it's not happening."
>Meadow frowns. "You're no fun, Vinyl."
>You see the other two band members mutter something to one another before breaking out into laughter
"So, uh, where do I put these?"
>You hold up the two cases as you speak
>"Backstage, next to my chair, thanks." Vinyl pokes a hoof towards a simple fold-out chair just barely out of what you figure would be the audience's line of sight
>As you place the violins down, a brown hoof pats you on your back. "So, Anon," Meadow's voice rings out, "I see you've already met Vinyl. But let me introduce you to the rest of the band."
>The two stallions you saw laughing to one-another earlier walk up to you
>The first, a tan Earth pony with a white mane, extends his hoof
>"The name's Leading Tone. Keyboardist and vocalist."
>"And I'm Pickle Jar," the lime-green, orange-maned pegasus stallion next to him adds. "The drummer."
>You suppress a chuckle as you shake their hooves
>What the hell kind of Pony musician name is Pickle Jar, anyway?
"Nice to meet you."

===

>The setup so far is fairly uneventful for the most part
>You spend a lot of time hooking up and shifting around large amps, while Meadow and Pickle busy themselves with getting the lighting and smoke machines working properly
>Leading Tone focuses on running various cables back and forth between the lights, the speakers and some kind of central control box towards the back
>Vinyl, on the other hand, seems much less busy
"So, Vinyl."
>She looks up from Meadow's bass, moving her hoof away from its tensioner. "Hm? Yes, Anon?"
"I'm pretty sure everything's tuned now. You've been messing with them for like an hour. Wanna come help me move these amps?"
>"What, and waste my magic?" She laughs softly. "I would think not."
"What."
>You were really starting to dislike this universe's Vinyl's attitude
"Is this to do with that stupid 'surprise' of yours?"
>The mare glares at you. "It's not stupid," she snaps. Breathing in, she collects herself. "I mean, yes. It's to do with the 'surprise'. I really do need to conserve my energy for it."
>Pickle Jar puts down the smoke machine he's fiddling with, trotting over to you. "She's telling the truth, ya know. We agreed to let her not work too hard durin' setup tonight." He scratches the back of his head sheepishly. "Part of the reason ol' Meadow was out headhunting for help last night, actually."
"Oh."
>You return to the amps, getting a good grip on one
"Sorry about that, then, Vinyl. Still..."
>You frown as you speak, still a bit irritated about the secrecy
"...this had better be one damn good surprise."
>"Trust me, Anon. It is most certainly one that shall be worth the wait."

===

>Setup continues normally, and before long the first ponies begin to file in
>In the end, you decide to hang around, opting to watch from behind the curtain
>The performance is slow-paced at first, with Vinyl and Tone playing some kind of pony analogue to Moonlight Sonata [ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Tr0otuiQuU ]
>The sonata, however, is gradually twisted until, by the rapid-paced third movement, the entire band has joined in, turning it into something only describable as metal [ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nt9hmSygzOk ]
>As the final few notes of the outro sound out, your jaw hits the floor
>You had no idea a violin could be made to howl like that, or that classical music could be twisted so far
>And you love it
>The concert continues for another 80 minutes, with the quartet pumping out a mix of metallised versions of classical and folk songs and violin-infused versions of metal and rock songs
>You particularly like their rendition of "Celestia Went Down to Tall Tale"
>It amuses you how the Princess, such a motherly, caring and saccharine figure in the old Equestria, could be seen by these ponies as nothing less than Satan in the flesh
>But yet, all good things must come to an end
>And this concert's conclusion is fast approaching
>These Wild Stallions had already left you floored - if this constituted a 'normal' performance, what could possibly be deemed a 'surprise'?
>You're about to get your answer
>As Pickle Jar and Meadow Song lay down the drum and bass for the next song, and as Leading Note starts playing some chords alongside the autoplaying synth rhythm from his keyboard, you see Vinyl let go of her violin, levitating it in front of herself
>At the same time, the previously-neglected second violin emerges from its case, joining the first in the air
>She slams her hooves together, closing her eyes in the deepest concentration
>The mare's horn flares wildly with magical energy as she begins to draw a bow across the strings of her first instrument
>It sounds out a simple, haunting tune, a contrast against the rapid, intense backing of her bandmates
>But then she touches the second bow to the other violin, and that all changes... [ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VXedWYVsIfM ]
>The end result is a one-mare violin harmony, unleashing what you might describe as Irish river-dance powermetal upon the ears of everyone in attendance
>Those in the audience still sober enough to fully appreciate the spectacle before them go into a stunned silence as the music continues on
>As the song ends, Vinyl trembles
>Mostly drained, every ounce of her remaining energy seems to be going into maintaining her composure
>She manages to levitate her instruments softly to the floor before shakily bowing to the audience, who erupt in a deafening roar of cheers
>Leading Note quickly moves over to her, throwing her forehoof over his neck before taking a bow himself and leading his colleague offstage
>Pickle Jar and Meadow Song follow suit, bowing and waving to the audience before joining you, Vinyl and Note backstage
>You kneel down to look Vinyl in the eye, still amazed that this little pony could pull off such a performance
>"So-" Vinyl begins, before being interrupted by a cough. "So, Anon... was that a good enough surprise for you?"
"I take back what I said. The surprise wasn't stupid. That was badass."
>She smiles weakly, letting out a wheeze before looking over to the keyboardist. "So, Note... how do I look?"
>The stallion shakes his head. "Terrible. Not as bad as last week's rehearsals, though."
"Wait, what happened at rehearsals?"
>"I got so stressed that my nose bled for an hour," Vinyl explains. "The fellows who cleaned up afterwards thought there was a murder scene..."
"Well shit. That's actually kind of impressive."
>"You're telling me. I should have died!" She stares at you intensely before cracking, letting out a chuckle
>You ruffle her mane playfully before standing up
"Well, if you guys're sure you're gonna be alright, I think I might be off. I'll be back in the morning to help with the cleanup."
>"Thanks, Anon," Meadow Song replies. "Be here by 9, if you can."
"Will do. Gotta go, though. I was supposed to be meeting with Princess Trixie after this."
>You move towards the backstage exit
"See you tomorrow, guys."