//------------------------------// // Chapter 2 // Story: The Magic of Harmonies // by darksymphony //------------------------------// A/N; I know that the Clavichord wasn’t invented until the 14th Century, but since this is Equestria and not Earth assume Luna was sent to the moon in the Baroque period, and that the present day of both Equestria and Earth are similar in terms of (musical) technology. In the library, the four ponies were deep in thought, debating back on forth on a single topic; who would be playing what. In the huge debate prior to deciding the groups, everypony had unanimously agreed that forming pop/rock bands would be the best approach; not enough of them were confident enough with their singing to justify forming choral groups, and as only Rarity and Fluttershy were remotely into classical music, chamber music groups were out of the question as well. However, everypony was familiar with modern music, regularly listening to Vinyl Scratch’s incredibly popular chart show on the radio. However, deciding on an instrument was proving, for the most part, to be tricky. For Applejack, the choice had been relatively simple. As a farmer pony, she’d been brought up on country music and Big Macintosh had taught her how to play the banjo and guitar when she was a foal. She’d never played an electric guitar, but she felt confident that she could handle it and was eagerly anticipating the challenge. She also knew that Rainbow Dash would choose to play guitar for the other group, and Applejack couldn’t wait to show her up at the Gala. Though it had been long ago, she was still a tiny bit sore over the whole Iron Pony competition, and she saw this as a chance to get her revenge. Twilight, Fluttershy and Luna were, however, utterly stuck. Luna spoke up. “Well, as I spent the thousand years prior to last year on the moon, I missed a huge amount of the development of modern music. I’ve been trying to catch up, but a millennium is a lot of time to make up with regards to the history of everything.” "Well, if you like, I can play you something modern." Twilight offered. Luna nodded eagerly, keen to hear what a thousand years had done for the world of music. Twilight walked over to her record player, switching it on then using her magic to set the needle gently onto the rotating disk. After a couple of seconds, music began to fill the room. Luna's eyes widened in astonishment. The sounds she was hearing were unlike anything she'd ever heard before. Twilight talked as the song played, explaining about the genre, the band and the instruments they were using. This was, Twilight explained, a type of music called "rock". The main instruments involved in the song were called "electric guitars", and the beat was provided by drums. Luna was familiar with drums; however from the sounds that were being made she guessed that there was little in common between what Twilight called a "drum kit" and the drums used by the Royal Guard at the palace on parade. Suddenly the tone of the song changed, and Luna's jaw dropped in shock. It sounded like a whole string section of an orchestra, along with a hundred part choir had suddenly joined in. Twilight noted the look on the Princess's face and chuckled, "That’s a synthesizer, an instrument that was invented very recently, sort of like an electronic version of a piano that can make a load of different sounds." Luna looked at the unicorn in utter disbelief. "All of that sound...comes from one instrument?" she asked. Twilight slowly nodded, eyes closed as she enjoyed the dramatic soundscape crafted as the music continued to build. Luna found her eyes getting damp, and as she blinked a single tear rolled down each of her cheeks. "It's beautiful," she said wonderingly. As the song came to a close, Luna turned to Twilight and said with conviction, "I'd like to learn how to play the synthesizer." Twilight was momentarily surprised at the alicorn's statement. After all, she'd missed a millennium of technological development and suddenly she wanted to play one of the most modern and technologically complex instruments available. "Are you sure..." Twilight began, but she stopped when she saw Luna's face. Her expression was not that of a pony making a throwaway statement; instead her face spoke of utter resolve and dedication. Twilight made a snap decision. "OK, so we have AJ on guitar and Luna on synth. Fluttershy, have you made up your mind yet? You could always be the singer; I know you have a gorgeous voice," The yellow pegasus shook her head. "Oh, no Twilight, I simply couldn't bring myself to sing in front of strangers, I have a hard enough time talking to them without trying to sing to them." Twilight gave a frustrated sigh. "Well that leaves the two of us without instruments, which obviously won't do at all. Do you have any ideas?" She said to Luna and Applejack. The earth pony scratched her chin thoughtfully. "If y'all can't decide your instruments, why don't we head to a music shop so you can get a better feel for what you might be good at?" At this, Twilight's expression brightened. "Excellent idea, AJ! I can scientifically investigate the advantages and disadvantages of the different instruments at the shop and come to an informed decision for the good of the band!" At the words "scientifically investigate" Applejack raised an eyebrow to Fluttershy and Luna. Fluttershy smiled knowingly, but Luna looked nonplussed, not sure if the unicorn was serious. "OK girls, to the music shop! Now, where did I put my clipboard..." ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ As the four ponies walked into the shop, they let out a collective gasp of astonishment. Even Applejack, who had the most musical experience in their band had seen nothing like this before. There were instruments everywhere. There were walls of guitars, all glinting in the bright light. A large area of the shop was taken up by rows of keyboards, transitioning to pianos towards the back. The sounds of drumming came from a set of stairs that presumably led to the basement and even more wonders. Ponyville’s music shop was very limited in terms of stock, so once they’d decided to look for instruments, Luna suggested heading to Canterlot, where the biggest music shop in Equestria was located. A short chariot flight later (again provided by Luna after a hastily written request to Celestia) here they were. Luna cast a wary eye over the shop. She hadn’t anticipated on there being anything like this variety of instruments. OK…now which would be best? She made her way to the keyboards, wondering what the differences were and what made the colossal price differences and she walked through the rows of instruments. Most of all, she marvelled at the size of them. For all they had full length keyboards, they were still diminutive compared to the instruments she’d seen in her youth. She stopped next to one of the larger keyboards, a dark grey instrument brightened up by a large touch screen and a row of buttons in all the colours of the rainbow. Luna scrutinised the information sheet for this particular instrument. 76 keys…and it is a synthesizer. She looked at the price.Whoa, that’s a big number. “So, what do you think?” a voice from right behind her said. Twilight had wandered over to Luna’s side. “A bit more intimidating when you’ve got one up close, huh?” Luna looked back to the instrument before her. Yes, there were certainly more buttons and switches than she’d ever seen in one place before, but still… Suddenly, Luna caught sight of a familiar word above one of the buttons. Clav…I’d assume that’s short for Clavichord? Luna pushed the button, and then experimentally pressed one of the keys. The gentle tone that came from the amp behind the keyboard was exactly as Luna had anticipated: a perfect replication of the sounds of her youth. “Well, as much as making the sound is easy, I’m not sure if mastering the instrument in time for the Gala will be possible…” Twilight said, looking apprehensive as if scared of being banished for such a statement. Luna didn’t reply, still looking over the synth before her. Then she brought both hooves up to the instrument and began to play. Several other customers nearby turned at the sound, as a light and playful melody came from the speaker in front of the alicorn. Eyes closed, with a slight smile on her face, her hooves danced across the keys as she played a Baroque piece she’d learned centuries ago when it was the peak of modern music. Twilight was utterly spellbound, unable to comprehend what she was seeing and hearing. Luna was in her element, lost in the joy of creating the sounds emanating from the amp. With a final trill, she concluded the short piece. Opening her eyes, she became aware of the fact that not only Twilight, but Applejack and Fluttershy were staring at her as if she’d grown an extra head. “Wh…What…Who…When…” Twilight spluttered incomprehensibly. Luna grinned. “Well, I might have missed a thousand years of musical development, but back before my moon trip I learned to play the clavichord, harpsichord and organ.” The other three were still speechless. Luna shrugged. “I mean, I was a princess, so I had plenty of spare time on my hooves.” At this, Applejack chuckled. “Well, Ah’m plum grateful yeh did, sugarcube. With yeh talent on our side this’ll be an easy win.” Twilight frowned at this comment. “AJ, you’re forgetting that Pinkie Pie is capable of playing the tuba, harmonica, cymbals, trombone and flute…at the same time. And we all know she’s a pretty good singer too. And they’ve got Spike.” “So?” “Remember what happened at Appleloosa?” Applejack thought back. “Well, Ah try not to, Pinkie Pie’s song back then was awful. Y’know it’s bad when it starts a war. Ah mean, the only decent part of the whole thing was the…piano…accompaniment…” Applejack finished, comprehension dawning on her face. “Yes, that’s right. Despite the fact that he’s a baby, Spike is a piano prodigy, and believe you me, with Rarity in their band he’ll definitely use the opportunity to try to show off his skills. Speaking of which, Rarity’s a fair singer too, so we’ve really got our work cut out if we want to win this.” Applejack’s look of confidence had long since faded, but Twilight wasn’t quite finished yet. “Plus neither Fluttershy nor I have any idea what we’re going to play!” She said with frustration etched into her face. “Quiet down Twi, everypony’s lookin’ at us funny.” Applejack said, glancing around nervously. Twilight took a deep breath, calming herself down and noticing that her outburst had indeed attracted the attention of a fair few other customers. “Sorry.” She said quietly to Applejack. “Don’t worry about it. Now, how about we go have a look around, mayhaps somethin’ will jump out at you.” With that, Fluttershy and Luna were left alone. “Well then, shall we go and look for an instrument for you?” Luna said kindly to the shy pegasus. “Oh, but you still haven’t decided exactly what you’re getting yet. I’m fine, we’ll go after you’re done,” Fluttershy replied. Luna opened her mouth to argue, but decided it wasn’t worth it. “OK, fine. Well, let’s see…I would like a synth which is easy to use, and hopefully without any unnecessary features that I’ll never touch…” Luna said, as much to herself as to Fluttershy as she meandered along the row. There were so many options that picking one wasn’t easy. Luna then caught sight of a flash of glossy black at the back wall. Intrigued, she walked over to it. It was another instrument, but one that did not resemble anything else she’d seen so far. It had keys, though fewer than the large instrument she’d played earlier. That was about all that the two instruments had in common. This…thing had an outlandish shape, with a long protrusion at the right hand side. Most peculiarly, it had a shoulder strap. Luna’s eyes slid off the instrument (on close inspection it wasn’t pure black but had subtle sparkles in the finish) and onto a poster next to it. It showed a colt on a stage, instrument slung around his neck as he played. Luna looked back at it, a wide smile on her face. Everything about it was perfect, right down to the sparkle finish which mirrored her masterpiece, the starry night sky. She turned to Fluttershy. “This is the one.” Fluttershy nodded, smiling at the alicorn’s childish glee. “Right, now it’s your turn.” ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Twenty minutes later they had made a grand total of zero progress. Luna sighed. Fluttershy was proving to be difficult to choose an instrument for; Luna tried introducing her to keyboard style instruments but after a few minutes it was obvious that the pegasus wasn’t cut out for them. Now they were at the guitars, but again they’d hit a snag. “I don’t know, I’d just be far too nervous playing something so…attention grabbing.” Fluttershy whispered, eyeing a nearby guitar as if it might attack her. As much as she hated to admit it, Luna agreed. From the short time since they’d met, Luna had quickly come to realise that Fluttershy was almost as far from a rock band musician as was possible. I don’t know, maybe she could be our conductor? Or producer? Or one of those ponies who moves all the equipment around? Luna frowned, thinking back to the conversation on the journey in. What did Twilight call them…ah, yes a roadie! Wait, Fluttershy is one of the daintiest ponies I’ve ever met. At this the alicorn smiled, imagining Fluttershy straining under the weight of a huge box of equipment. “Well, if you’re sure you don’t want to play guitar, why don’t we go and see what Twilight and Applejack are up to?” Luna said. Fluttershy nodded in agreement, and the two ponies made their way towards the stairs to the basement. They were almost at the end of the row when Fluttershy brushed past a guitar on a stand on the floor. A loud, deep note emanated from an amp next to it. “Eeep!” squeaked Fluttershy, jumping sideways into a display rack covered in guitar straps which mercifully remained upright. “Are you ok?” asked Luna, but she noticed Fluttershy was looking at the offending instrument, not with fear but as if seeing it in a new light. “Oh my. It sounded so different from the other guitars over there.” Fluttershy said. She walked up to the instrument, slowly reaching out and plucking a string. She was so close to the amp she swore she could literally feel the sound through the air. It was a deep, loud noise, but there was warmth to the tone rather than the hard edged sounds she associated with the electric guitar. The shape of the instrument was also unusual compared to the other guitars she’d looked at earlier. “It says here that it’s a bass guitar. And apparently it’s called a ‘Thunderbird.’” Observed Luna, reading off the spec sheet on the stand. Fluttershy gently lifted the bass up and slung the strap over her shoulder. She played a few notes experimentally. “I think I can do this.” She said to Luna. “At least…if I practice hard.” “I’m sure Applejack can teach you.” Luna said. “Sure Ah can do what now?” Came a voice from off to the side. Luna was almost bowled over by a flash of yellow as Fluttershy ran over to the earth pony. “Oh, Applejack, please could you teach me how to play this? Please? If it’s not too much trouble of course.” Fluttershy said with beseeching eyes. “Well, sure. It would be my pleasure.” “Thankyouthankyouthankyou…” Fluttershy said. Twilight just stared, not having seen her friend so enthusiastically vocal since witnessing the Sonic Rainboom in Cloudsdale. “Well, I do believe that we are now sorted, girls.” Twilight said proudly. Luna and Fluttershy turned to her, curious as to what she’d chosen. “I shall be the drummer for our band. I’ve read plenty of books on musical theory and understand the concepts of cross-rhythms and the like. And from trying out a drum set downstairs I can tell you I am quite looking forward to this now.” “And she has a fine sense of rhythm too. So all we have to do is buy our instruments and get practising.” Applejack said. “Ah saw a mighty fine lookin’ guitar over there before, Ah think I’ll have a closer look whilst you girls get your orders sorted. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ The salespony at the counter had a broad smile on his face as he added up the cost of the instruments the four customers before him had. A full drum kit, a synthesizer, a bass and a guitar equalled the biggest sale of the month, with the addition of amps and other accessories. “Let’s see…well, being as your order is so large I can offer you a discount, bringing your total cost to four thousand, eight hundred and ninety five bits.” Twilight, Applejack and Fluttershy stared at each other in dumb shock. In all of the excitement of this new experience they’d forgotten to check any of the prices. “Well…let’s see…where did I put my purse…” Twilight said, a tone of hysteria creeping into her voice. “Here you go.” Luna said, handing the salespony a cheque for the required amount. After making arrangements for everything to be delivered by pegasus courier the following morning, the four ponies left the shop. Immediately on walking through the door, they all turned to the Princess. Before they could even get a question out, she started talking. “I know what you’re going to say, but don’t worry about the cost. I’m paying for the instruments and that’s final. After all, with what you said about the musical talent of the others we need all the help we can get.” “But…how in the name of Equestria…wait, please don’t tell me that you’ve written it off as an expense and the taxpayer just paid near five thousand bits…” Applejack said. “No, I paid for it with my own money.” Luna said. “And don’t worry about it, I can afford it.” “Um, I’m sorry, but it’s…such a large amount of money…” “Trust me, I can afford it.” Luna smiled. “Back before the whole Nightmare Moon thing, I was reasonably wealthy. I mean, I was royalty after all. After I was banished, Celestia took some of my assets to give as compensation to everypony who’d been affected by my actions.” Luna looked a little pained at this, remembering what she’d done in the distant past, but she pressed on, a smile finding its way back onto her face. “But there was still some money left after dishing out the compensation. And it was left in a bank.” At this, Twilight’s mouth dropped open. “You don’t mean…” Twilight uttered. Luna grinned mischievously. “Yes. When I returned, I had a thousand years of interest in my account.” With this, Fluttershy fainted.