The Magic of Harmonies

by darksymphony

Chapter 8

Luna’s gut instinct turned out to be right, with none of the four bands that separated the two groups from Ponyville being able to match up to the Fashionista Militia’s show stopping display.

As the seventh band of the night left the stage, Twilight offered a quick congratulations on their performance before dashing into the darkness to oversee the setup of her drums. The event coordinator, an orange maned pegasus wearing glasses and a headset approached the remaining trio as they waited off stage.

“Right, ladies, you’re the last act of the night so be sure to put on a good show.” Luna frowned.

“Wait, wasn’t there another group after us?” she enquired.

“Yeah, but they pulled out at the last minute. Very strange it was too. One of their members, some spikey maned colt with an hourglass cutie mark, said something about a crisis at the Pony Nebula or something, and then he just ran off,” the mare said with a disapproving look, as if withdrawing from the competition had been a personal insult.

“Anyway, you’re on in…” she examined a glowing clock on the wall, “two minutes and twenty seconds. Break a leg.”

The three ponies thanked the coordinator as she left them, and they made their way onto the darkened stage, careful not to trip on anything in the darkness. Thankfully the stage crew had highlighted the hazards with faintly glowing lines of magic, making the risk minimal. Applejack quietly strummed a few chords on her guitar, and on finding the tuning was fine she plugged it in. Luna was triple checking that all of her patches were correctly allocated, and Fluttershy had her eyes closed as she ran through their performance in her head. Twilight had long since finished her own setting up, and she whispered loudly to her bandmates.

“Girls!” The three turned to face her at the back of the stage. “Let’s knock ‘em dead!”

“Twilight! As much as I want to win this, I can hardly advocate murder as a way of doing so!”

“Erm, sorry Luna, it’s just an expression.” An embarrassed giggle cut through the darkness.

“Whoops, sorry.”

Further conversation was halted as the lights began to rise, bathing the four ponies in a warm glow. Excited whispering broke out as the crowd witnessed Luna at the forefront, majestic in her caped glory with her keytar held purposefully.

Behind her, she heard Twilight quietly call them in.

“One, two three, four!”

Four ponies struck the opening beat of the song in perfect time, and their song began in earnest.

As her hooves swept up and down the keys, Luna let the music claim her, mind, body and soul as she closed her eyes tightly. She was no longer just listening to her bandmates; it was as if she could sense their individual melodies on another level. Twilight’s drumming, an interweaving chain of logic and mathematical complexity and accuracy. Applejack’s guitar, a spirited tune that spoke of the earth, of hard work and the rewards earned through it. And beneath it, not standing out but supporting the others was the airy grace of Fluttershy’s bass playing.

Luna had experienced the feeling once before; the sensation of connection between her soul and those of the others. Last time, it had been on the receiving end of a rainbow coloured beam of cleansing fire, releasing her from the prison that had been Nightmare Moon. This time, however, she joined rather than resisted them, four spirits singing in perfect harmony.

Twilight smiled to herself as the song entered the bridge; so far it had all been going perfectly, despite the technical difficulty of the rhythms and harmonies she’d spent long hours penning with Luna. In fact, it had been going so well that she decided to take a big risk, one that could make or break their performance. As the bridge came to a close, there was a single bar where Twilight was the only one playing, and it was here where she made her move.

Luna’s near trance state came apart as she registered a change from the rehearsed performance, and she looked around in shock. Rather than playing the bar into the chorus that they’d written, Twilight had seemingly spontaneously launched into a complicated and improvised drum solo. Applejack and Fluttershy were similarly looking at Twilight, eyes wide, until a flash of understanding came across the earth pony’s face. With a wide grin, she began to play as well; a sequence of chords that Luna recognised instantly. It was the chord progression from their inaugural jam session, all those days and weeks ago in the library. As the sequence repeated, the guitar was joined by the sounds of the synthesizer and bass, Twilight’s drumming returning to a steady, simper rhythm. It was difficult to tell over the sound of their playing, but Luna sensed that the audience were cheering louder than before.

Applejack beamed even wider, giving a quick nod to the other three before turning to the audience and playing her own solo. It was evident that the crowd were loving the performance, and on glimpsing a rainbow coloured flash within the sea of faces for a split second she couldn’t resist the temptation to show off, playing as fast as she physically could. Even if they lost overall, she wasn’t going to let Rainbow Dash outshine her when it came to guitar playing.

With a final dive bomb from the guitar, Applejack backed away from the edge of the stage as Fluttershy took her place. Though smiling out at the crowd, her eyes featured a level of intensity only a couple of steps lower than her famous Stare as she brought an intricate and beautiful bass line into existence. Applejack smiled proudly, delighted at how her friend had progressed from a complete novice to belting out the notes like she’d been doing it her whole life.

Finally, it was Luna’s turn, the alicorn quickly punching a button to switch patches. She eschewed the softer sound she’d used to blend in for the duration of her friends solos, instead favouring a biting lead that would cut across the accompaniment. As the razor edged wall of sound screamed from the amps behind her, Luna yelled out of the sheer joy of it all, her cry lost in the maelstrom of sound. Her hooves felt weightless as they expertly traversed the keys, twin lines of melody interlacing as she weaved her song. Opening her eyes, she saw the riotous crowd, hooves in the air, and almost as if feeding off their energy the speed of her playing increased further still, ending with a final flourish as she switched back to a less ostentatious sound for the final chorus. The alicorn leant in to the microphone, her delicate voice resonating through the large room as the song came to its dynamic conclusion.

As the four ponies bowed to the still cheering audience, the three judges prepared to reveal their scores. The entire room fell deathly silent, everypony knowing that it was going to be a close call. Twilight held her breath nervously as they held the boards aloft, eyes straining to make out the distant numbers. She double checked, slightly disbelieving her own eyes.

Nine, nine and nine. They were tied for first with their friends.

All at once, the room exploded into excited chatter as everypony wondered what this meant for the competition.

“We tied! We tied!” Luna said happily.

“Yes, I’m so happy we did as well as our friends, they put on such a good show.”

“Well, Ah’m a mite disappointed we couldn’t win, but Ah guess this is the best outcome.”

All of a sudden, the sound of microphone feedback screeched through the room, everypony wincing at the unpleasant noise as the announcer piped up once more. He sounded a little flustered.

“In light of the current state of the scores, our beloved Princess Celestia has declared that the winner…” everypony leaned forwards in eager anticipation, “…shall be decided by a tiebreak performance!”

At this Twilight could only gape at her friends. In the audience, three ponies and a dragon stood with similar slack jawed expressions.

“As such, please could the Fashionista Militia and the Moonbeams make their way to the judge’s platform, where they will be told the arrangements for their performances. The competition will resume in thirty minutes.”

The four ponies wandered off the stage in a daze. Not only was a tie wholly unexpected, Twilight couldn’t recall any notes on a tiebreak situation in the rules. And she’d been sure to learn them off by heart. As they approached the judge’s stand where their friends were already waiting, Twilight shared an apprehensive look with Luna, both ponies thinking the same thought.

What devious scheme has Celestia come up with this time?

They reached the judge’s platform, falling into a loose semicircle around it as Princess Celestia spoke.

“Congratulations, my little ponies, on your excellent performances. You are all worthy winners, but I think a direct competition between you would be a much more…dramatic end to the night.” Seven ponies and a dragon exchanged sceptical looks, all plainly thinking that they’d have been happy to end on a tie. If she noticed the glances, Princess Celestia ignored them as she continued.

“As such, I have decided that both bands will perform one last time.”

“What, are we meant to play the same song again? I mean, I’m cool with that, but it might be a bit of a buzzkill for the crowd being as they just heard it like an hour ago,” Rainbow Dash blurted out, before blanching as she remembered who she was interrupting.

Celestia smiled and gave a little chuckle at the pegasus.

“I’m sorry…Rainbow Dash, isn’t it? I’m afraid you misunderstood. What I meant is that both bands will be playing one song, on stage at the same time.” She smiled at the shocked expressions facing her. Twilight was the first to recover.

“But Princess Celestia…what song are we meant to play? We only rehearsed one…”

“I know you did, Twilight Sparkle, you informed me of as much in your letters. But that will be the test; which of the two bands can adapt best, and put on the best performance under real pressure. That will be what decides the winner here. And as for the song…Hmm, I suppose a song that everypony knows will be the best option. How about…Equestria Girls? I’m sure that will fit the bill nicely.”

“YES!” Spike shouted, before blushing as every pony in a twenty metre radius stared at him.

“Wait…won’t that be a bit unfair? I mean, Pinkie Pie kinda did sing the vocals on that…” Rainbow Dash began, but Twilight shook her head.

“No, it’s fine. Yes, she sang the vocals, but everypony can sing the vocals, it’s been played so many times. Plus, Rarity is your band’s singer, so that nullifies any imbalance.”

Celestia smiled warmly, but a faint light of mischief twinkled in her eyes.

“Excellent! Well, now that the arrangements are agreed on we can begin. The stage is all yours; I look forward to seeing your interpretations of the song.”

As the eight friends made their way back to the green room to collect their instruments, they anxiously discussed how they would perform the song; without any practice it was a tall order, and despite it being a competition the band members discussed their respective plans of action with their counterparts in the other band. Rainbow Dash and Applejack frantically went through chords together, both ponies wishing they could have a week to practice and perfect the progressions rather than having mere minutes.

One rapid and panicked group tuning session later, the group found themselves on stage once more. Being as this last song was completely unplanned, the stage crew had elected to forgo the light show, leaving the stage bathed in pure white light. The two sets of drums had been set up at the back corners of the stage, both at an angle so Twilight and Pinkie Pie could easily see each other. Fluttershy found herself next to Spike at the mid left of the stage, with Rainbow Dash and Applejack at the right. This left Luna and Rarity at the front, both near to the middle though leaving enough room for them to move about whilst they played. Luna was grateful for the distance between them; she wasn’t particularly in the mood to be stabbed with the business end of Rarity’s bow if she got a little carried away.

On seeing the arrangement on stage, the two bands mingling rather than keeping separate, Celestia gave another little smile. Everything was going exactly as planned.

With preparations finished, the crowd ceased talking amongst themselves as Luna tapped the microphone in front of her lightly with her hoof. The alicorn turned to Rarity.

“Ready?”

“As I’ll ever be. Everyone?” Six heads nodded. “Looks like we’re good to go.”

Luna swallowed nervously, and then touched her hooves to the keys, playing the intro synth riff. She felt immensely grateful that the song had featured in Twilight’s record collection at the library, but maybe it wasn’t that surprising given Pinkie Pie’s presence on the record.

Four bars later, Twilight and Pinkie Pie joined in, both playing the simple drum beat with remarkable accuracy. Luna had elected to continue the intro riff for an extra few bars without singing, giving the others a chance to get a feel for playing with unfamiliar musicians. Spike and Applejack were the next to add their instruments to the building sound, with Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash adding their layers shortly after. Rarity was the last to join, cello sounding out distinctly against the trio of guitars and paired synths.

Luna listened carefully, and once sure that they were all playing in time and on key she gave Rarity a swift nod, the pair starting to sing the familiar words. The two singers were very well matched, and it sounded fine, but to Luna something felt wrong. A couple of lines later she realised what it was; though their song was technically ok, it was sterile and lifeless. They were playing the song, but it lacked everything that had made their previous performances stand out.

Time to do something about that.

The song was just entering the chorus, as Luna put her hastily formed plan into action. Rather than sing in unison with Rarity, she made a sudden switch to singing in harmony, but more importantly she changed the tone on her keytar to that of a cello, and with a challenging smile to the unicorn she played a variation on the required line. Rarity was quick to answer, still singing the normal vocal part but adding her own flourishing cello line that was distinctly absent on the original.

By now the others had realized what Rarity and Luna were up to, and began to play their own variations. Besides Rarity’s singing and the drums, the song rapidly evolved to bear little resemblance to the hit single that they’d been imitating when they first started to play. Then the drums abruptly dropped in volume. Luna looked backwards and saw that Pinkie Pie had stopped playing outright, and was idly tapping a stick against her head, her expression suggesting she was deep in thought. With a sudden jerk, she snapped out of her reverie and suddenly tore into the drums with brutal violence.

Twilight and the others were stunned at the sudden display of blast drumming, especially due to the contrast between the slow and relaxed rhythm of the original. Rainbow Dash, however, saw an opportunity present itself, and planting her hoof onto her distortion pedal, she began strumming a heavy riff. Strangely, despite the huge difference in style, the blend of metal and pop seemed to be working. Luna could have laughed out loud, mind opened to the possibilities that had been presented to them. Yes, Celestia had given them a song to play, but in reality there were infinite ways to play it. And so long as they enjoyed it, it didn’t really matter what it sounded like, or even what anyone else thought of it.

Luna left the front of the stage and walked over to Spike, grinning broadly at the dragon as she issued a wordless challenge. Before long, both were churning out blurringly fast strings of notes, as all the while Rarity continued to sing the vocals perfectly.

As the second chorus ended and they entered the bridge, Rainbow Dash and Applejack met in the centre of the stage, having agreed beforehand that a guitar solo would be much more favourable than subjecting everypony to Rarity or Luna rapping. However, rather than a single solo, the two seemed to be locked in a musical fight to the death as the notes screamed thick and fast into the room. Luna rolled her eyes, not surprised in the least that the two had ended up duelling.

As their joint solo came to an end, Luna rejoined Rarity to sing the final chorus. However, she wasn’t alone, a pink mane filling her peripheral vision as Fluttershy joined her at the microphone with a warm smile. Evidently the pegasus had got over her fear of singing before strangers, adding her sweet voice to the mix as they ended their song.

Their final chord died away, but the noise level did not. The crowd were, right down to the last pony, yelling at the tops of their voices. Luna, Rarity and Fluttershy exchanged a happy smile, knowing that they’d managed to live up to not only the crowd’s expectations, but also their own hopes for the performance. As the cheering died down, Luna sensed a presence behind her and turned to see the three judges strolling onto the stage, Princess Celestia gracefully strolling behind. Rarity and Fluttershy sank into respectful bows, but Luna gave a squeal of excitement and bounced across the stage in a manner reminiscent of a certain pink earth pony.

“Celly! What did you think of our performance? Weren’t we great?” The white alicorn gave her younger sister a regal smile.

“Yes, Luna, it was indeed an amazing performance. You should all be very proud of what you’ve achieved.”

The other ponies had now gathered around the princess sisters, all eagerly chattering about their highlights of the song. Naturally, Applejack and Rainbow Dash were debating who was the better guitarist. Princess Celestia cleared her throat and they all fell silent once more.

“The judges and I have come to a decision,” the princess said. The ponies before her looked momentarily confused, having forgotten they were competing in the excitement of pulling off a great performance from nothing.

“Our decision is…that you shall share the title of Equestria’s best musical group!”

The ponies, not for the first time that night, stared in each other in dumb shock, then burst into loud cheers that were echoed by the crowd as Celestia repeated her announcement with the benefit of magical amplification.

“Really, it was just too close to choose a winner. And when I saw how much fun you were all having together I decided that I didn’t really want any of you to lose. And the three judges felt exactly the same way.” Luna suddenly frowned, eyes narrowing in suspicion.

“Wait one second…Celly, did you plan this?” Her sister’s expression was of complete innocence, but centuries of experience told Luna better.

“Whatever do you mean, sister? Planning the whole event to end like this would be tantamount to rigging the whole competition, and as ruler of Equestria I would never do such a thing.” Suddenly her voice became more sincere. “You really did do it all on your own. I simply gave you all a nudge in the right direction, making you compete against each other was the best motivation possible, and it’s amazing what can be achieved with the benefit of the support of your friends.”

The princess looked out to the large ballroom, seeing that it had rapidly emptied in the aftermath of her announcement, leaving just a few stragglers who were making their way to the ornate doors. The Gala was beginning to come to a close.

“So, Princess Luna, I imagine you’ll be looking forward to having your room back? I had it spring cleaned in preparation this morning…” Luna looked slightly unhappy as the subject of her return to the palace was raised, but before she could even begin to argue a sudden shout came from her side.

“Princess Celestia! I know she’s a princess, and I know she belongs in Canterlot here in this palace, and I know she doesn’t belong in a library in some backwater town, but please let Luna continue to live in Ponyville!” Twilight had thrown herself prostate before her teacher, and the look on the unicorn’s face suggested she half expected to be banished to the moon for such a request. Princess Celestia simply smiled and looked to her sister.

“Is that what you really want, Princess Luna?” The midnight blue alicorn looked up from the floor and nodded silently.

“Well, if that is the case, you may remain in Ponyville for as long as you desire. I’ll arrange your living arrangements as soon as I can.” Twilight interrupted once more.

“Actually, Princess Celestia, I was wondering if she’d be able to keep living with me at the library. She’s an excellent study partner, and the only pony I know who stays up as late as me, not to mention her knowledge is invaluable during my stargazing. That is…if you want to?” she finished meekly, looking to Luna who nodded eagerly. Both turned to Celestia with eager eyes.

“Well then, you may keep your current living arrangements,” the princess said, eyes twinkling.

“Celly! You planned this as well!” Luna accused her sister. The taller alicorn gave a delicate warm laugh.

“Like before, I did nothing of the sort. Nopony can force two ponies to become friends. I simply put you in a situation where you would do it all on your own. And obviously it worked.”

Luna wasn’t going to argue with that. Her sister turned back to the rest of the group.

“Well, I believe that a celebration is called for, even though the Gala is coming to an end. Spike, would you be so kind as to lead us to that delightful donut shop we ended up at last year?”

“Yeah, sure! I’m always up for some of Pony Joe’s donuts!” the baby dragon said happily as he started to walk for the exit, the others following close behind.

As they meandered along at the back of the party, Luna quickly leaned in close and whispered to Twilight.

“Thank you. For everything.”

Twilight smiled warmly back at the alicorn. The last few months really had been some of the best of her life, she mused as they walked through the ballroom doors. And by the looks of it, there were plenty more yet to come.

Comments

[blake0831]

Very nice.

A lovely heartwarming tale, it is exactly this type of story that makes me love this community.

7768then you have nvr crossed into the warzones between nlr and se members ive seen it once

and i was amazed

[Professor Donger]

in the words of our prophet rainbow dash that was awesome

[kinggod]

7812
The horrors of war

[Aenbr]

Very nice. At first, I thought it would be a horrible songfic filled to the brim of songs I havent heard of and horrible characterization. But you did well to prove to me otherwise. I loved this. The competition between the girls was really authentic, with friendship still driving them. I like the instruments you picked out for each pony, each one seemed to suit their personality. Overall, you did a beautiful job.

[PFT]

This truly is an overlooked gem of a story!

The writers for MLP should really start reading fanfics and make them into actual episodes