Steel String

**Steel String** (his entry here) was one of Prince Healing Song's close friends during the Second Age, and was the bassist for the Healing String Groove Band.

## Appearance

Steel String is a unicorn stallion with dark brown pelt and a curly black mane and tail that he keeps short. His Cutie Mark is an electric Fender Jazz Bass, representing his talent with the bass guitar and music. He often wears either a black suit or a black bomber jacket, though he's always sporting a pair of dark sunglasses in both outfits.

He was initially slightly taller than Healing Song pre-Ascension, but after Healing Song became an Alicorn, he would dwarfed by him instead.

## Personality

Steel String is a cool, soft-spoken, and level-headed stallion who often appears stoic at first, but he actually isn't; he just prefers to keep his emotions under control so he wouldn't end up behaving badly on stage as many musicians had done. Those who do know Steel String note that he's very easy-going and fun-loving.

Like his band-mates, Steel String loved playing music, though he chose to become a bassist because "everyone played the guitar too much", in his words. Despite succeeding in achieving fame and popularity as a bassist, he was realistic enough to acknowledge that sometimes a musical career can fail. This gave Steel String the hindsight to take classes on business and finance once he decided to retire from music entirely due to his advancing age, which gave him the skills necessary to support himself later on. He hates musicians who behave badly and/or abuse others, such as War Rock, and also hated exploitative record executives, as Healing Song ran afoul of both at some point.

That being said, he did feel jealous of Healing Song at one point for being more talented and successful, though that went away once Healing Song made it clear he wasn't going to let his band-mates be forgotten.

*More to be added...*

## Relationships

### Healing Song

Of his band-mates, Steel String felt closest to Healing Song, despite being almost complete opposites of each other. Having grown up the only child in his family, Steel String desperately wanted a sibling, so when he met Healing Song, he quickly began treating him as his little brother. He was fiercely protective of Healing Song and defended him from unsavory individuals in numerous occasions, such as War Rock, the loony fans who tried attacking Healing Song after War Rock's death, and a corrupt record executive who tried exploiting Healing Song's blindness. He toured with Healing Song and Tempo Groove for many years even after the former switched from blues to jazz music, until he retired due to his advancing age and took over his parents' vintage record store. Being an avid vintage record collector, Healing Song frequently visited Steel String's store.

However, their friendship wasn't perfect. Steel String, by his own admission, once envied Healing Song for being a musical prodigy and thus more popular while he's just a bassist, though he felt ashamed of this and kept it to himself. This stopped when Healing Song figured out what was going on, made it clear to his band-mates that he wasn't going to let them go unnoticed, and did just that by making sure his band-mates' talents and contributions were publicly recognized. Steel String would apologize and reconcile with him afterwards.

Steel String can also be rather overprotective of Healing Song at times. Despite now trusting him to do his own thing, he initially worried over Healing Song's blindness (which he admits got him snarked at a few times). Learning of War Rock's attempted attack both enraged Steel String and left him feeling guilty that he wasn't there to protect Healing Song, which motivated him to take martial arts classes to prevent future incidents. His overprotective tendencies worsened after Healing Song became terminally ill with cancer. Steel String tried making sure that Healing Song was well-protected and well-provided for, but after Healing Song got fed up with the coddling and confronted him on it, Steel String was forced to reveal his fears of losing his "little brother" and his guilt for not protecting him from War Rock. This does lead to him realizing that his attempts to help Healing Song did more harm than good, and after reconciling with his friend again, he would receive help from people like Bossa Nova Heartstrings in accepting Healing Song's inevitable fate.

Ironically, Healing Song ended up Ascending to godhood on his deathbed, ensuring that he would eventually outlive Steel String. Steel String wasn't too worried about this, however, as he grew content with how his own life turned out, and even refused the chance to obtain godhood when Healing Song offered it to him. He also encouraged Healing Song to keep playing music long after his band-mates were gone. Steel String's death naturally left Healing Song devastated and he needed time to recover from it, though his own near-death experience allowed him to take it better than most, and spoke very kindly of his best friend during Steel String's funeral.

Hilariously, Steel String's close friendship with Healing Song has led to fans treating them like a romantic couple numerous times. Steel String was horrified, but Healing Song took this in stride, though he did have to explain to his fans that he only loves him platonically like a brother.

### War Rock

Steel String hated War Rock because of how he insulted Healing Song during their first meeting, and sees him as nothing more than an arrogant bully. After War Rock tried and failed to attack Healing Song in his own house, Steel String was both enraged and guilty for not being there to protect Healing Song. Despite taking martial arts class to resolve this, the guilt would stay with him for years, which later influenced him to try coddle Healing Song after the latter became terminally ill with cancer. However, Healing Song got fed up and confronted Steel String, forcing him to admit his guilt and fears. Steel String realized that his attempts to help his friend were actually doing more harm than good, though after they reconciled, he needed help in coming to terms with Healing Song's impending death.

After War Rock died fighting Melody and her boyfriend, Ace, Steel String was one of many who didn't mourn the rockstar's death. Instead, Steel String would talk with those musicians who were mistreated and/or fired by War Rock over even minor or perceived slip-ups. This is so he could give them emotional support and ensure their stories don't go unheard.

## Trivia

* Steel String is based on Joe Rockman, who performed as a bassist for blues rock band, The Jeff Healey Band.