Pinkie Discovers Jazz

by Crisis_Vyper

The Test of the Mentors

Chapter 14 – The Test of the Mentors

Octavia, Granny Smith and Mr. Coltrane are now sitting in a café called the Prancing Ponies in the heart of Ponyville, having some lunch together. Of course, they are not together solely for the sake of having lunch as they are here for another reason. The main reason why they are here is that it is now close to the end of their two-week intensive course on training and teaching Pinkie, Spike and Applejack about everything they know about Jazz, and they need to know if they are up to the challenge. As the waiter serves their meal, Octavia speaks out her thoughts.

“So, you all wanted to see if they are ready for playing?”
“Eeyup.” Granny Smith’s reply is rather crisp as she takes her glass of water to take a sip. Mr. Coltrane takes a bite from his daisy sandwich before he speaks to the rest of the ponies. The atmosphere is surprisingly business-like as the ponies continued on their conversation

“Well, Ah guess y’all got yer own way to do this?” The old mare and the gray cellist nodded, and soon enough they are all silent again. They continued dining on their lunch in the warm comfort of the café. Oh boy, I wonder what and how will the test affect both mentor and also student…...

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Applejack and Granny Smith are giggling as they prepare for their drumming session. They know that today’s Big Mac’s day off, and he loves to sleep in whenever he could. After all he is the only stallion in the house and he always gets the toughest of chores. But this time, the devils within the two mares cause them to try this particular prank. To make it even worse for the poor unsuspecting stallion, his room is directly above the living room which had become the impromptu home of the drums. Unfortunately for the mares, they could not prank Applebloom as well as the young filly is staying over at Rarity’s place with her fellow friends, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo.

“Y’ready Jackie?” Granny Smith gives her granddaughter a wink.
“Ah’m ready Granny.” Applejack could only snort as she winks back at her grandmother. As she raise her hooves up in the air, she could only imagine Big Macintosh’s reaction as they pull off their prank. With a thunderous noise, Applejack begins her drumming.

“THE TIMBERWOLVES ARE IN THE HOUSE! THE TIMBERWOLVES ARE IN THE HOUSE! THE TIMBERWOLVES ARE IN THE HOUSE!!!!!!!” Granny screamed to the top of her lungs. Before long, they could hear a loud whinnying and a loud thud before the sound of chaos goes about above. Soon enough, the loud and clumsy hoofsteps descend down the stairs, and to Applejack’s and Granny Smith’s delight Big Macintosh’s mane is a real mess, and his eyes are wide open in fear and panic. In his hoof it appears that he is carrying what looks like a doll in one arm and his pillow in the other.

“WHERE IN TARNATION ARE THEY??!?!? WHERE ARE THEM TIMBERWOLVES?!?!?!” Immediately, the two mares started laughing like there is no tomorrow, with Granny rolling down on the floor laughing while Applejack could only bang her hooves on the drums trying very hard to breathe through her laughter. It was then that Big Macintosh realized that he’s been had by his flesh and blood and he looks at them disapprovingly.

“Ooooh mah back!” Granny Smith exclaimed, and Big Macintosh could only see that despite her back the old mare is still laughing. In the end, he also started laughing, and soon enough the three Apples are laughing in the living room. After Big Macintosh fixed Granny’s Smith’s back and the laughter died down, the grandmother and granddaughter went on their business with the red stallion watching them with his bright green eyes.

“Alright Jackie, try playin’ this tune.” Granny Smith then plays her gramophone and soon enough Applejack is now being tested to see if what she had learned these past few days have gone into her head. Applejack tries to get into her zone, and as soon as she is in her zone, she started hitting the drums. The flow is natural, the swing is good. She can’t help but to always think of her drumming as an extension of her applebucking, and how each drum and top hat is like their own individual tree, each needing their own special touch so that they would politely give her some sound and also keeping track of herself so that she does not tire.

As she goes about drumming, she could feel that something in her is brightening up like a warm candlelight and she could feel that her drumming is like a flame that rekindles her heart’s hopes and weariness. She could feel the muscles in her face making a smile, and she immediately know why; she’s having simple and honest fun doing so. She has always been a little tad too responsible at times and taking care of her family, but the drumming is letting her loose for a while and she’s liking it. After a while, she decides that she had enough fun and ends her drumming. As she opens her eyes she realized that both Granny Smith and Big Macintosh are now looking at her with eyes that made her proud.

“Yer ready Jackie.” Granny Smith said proudly. By Celestia, it was amazing that her dear Jackie had only been listening to Jazz for the past few days, and here she is playing like some of the drummers she used to know in the good days. Oddly enough she felt that there is something a little homier in the drums than most other drummers, but she believed that it is something that will make Applejack’s drumming real special. The old mare could only wonder how everypony will fare out in their first jamming session together since the training.

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“Are you ready Spike? On an one…..one….two…three” He wonders what he should play and think about how his music should complement the bass. He decided to play a sound that is little more reserved, classy, but at the same time filled with excitement. He reasoned that Octavia would like to play with something that is more similar to her music of choice but at the same time something that the cellist would also enjoy playing in a slightly unconventional manner.

This caught Octavia by surprise, as she noticed how Spike always has a knack for combining classical styles of play with a jazzy twist to it. She is still amazed that this little dragon is perhaps one of the best pianists that she ever worked with. It was then that a thought came by her head; if only he was an older stallion rather than a little dragon she might be actually be attracted to him. These past few days, he proved to be a caring soul that is willing to listen to some of her troubles, and he offers great and profound advice that is at odds with his age. But right now she thinks of him more as a little brother than anything else, and she could see why Twilight treasures the little dragon dearly.

Spike is now just playing his music, accompanied by Octavia’s bass. Thanks to Octavia’s lesson he knows that there if more to just playing some tunes than meets the eyes and now everything in his head flows much better and he does not hesitate now whenever he tries to match his piano playing to a constant rhythm while also try to do something amazing about it. As they both play in each other’s company, they both knew that everything will turn out fine in the end. Once they ended their song, Octavia gives Spike a rather playful smile.

“Let’s just switch things up a bit and have some fun.” Octavia soon increases the tempo of her bass playing and soon enough Spike’s piano playing just naturally flows into Octavia’s groove without even a single pause and hesitation. Spike could only feel happy that somehow he is enjoying this experience more than he initially thought and he could not wait for everyone to play together in two days’ time.

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“Mr. Coltrane…I want to challenge you in a Jazz showdown!” Pinkie’s challenge came at a surprise for the old zebra, and as he looks at her he noticed that she is dead serious about it. Throughout his entire time, he never really seen this side of Pinkie before and being able to bear witness to this is a testament to something that he could not quite put his hooves on it. He then walks up to his saxophone and once he is the right posture, he looks at Pinkie with eyes eager to take on the challenge.

“Ready whenever Ya ready, cool cat.” Before long, the war of the blowing instruments had begun. Initially, Mr. Coltrane started off with a rather dark and frantic tune, jumpy even but Pinkie replies with her tune that is rather short and crisp, happy and grandiose in its nature. Before long both are playing their tunes melodically, matching each other in their speed and tune. As he starts his solo, suddenly it occurred to the zebra that there is a bass and drum beats that are playing out of nowhere and cheers from crowds even though there is no one else in Pinkie’s room.

That scared the zebra, but he kept on playing as it is perhaps the only thing keeping his courage up and running and he tries to not think about it. Poor zebra has got no idea that Pinkie has unlocked a certain door with the key of imagination, and beyond this door is another dimension; a dimension of sound, a dimension of sight, a dimension of mind. This dimension is both a land of both shadow and substance, of things and ideas, a dimension beyond that which is known to ponies. It is a dimension as vast as space and as timeless as infinity. It is the middle ground between light and shadow, between science and superstition, and it lies between the pit of pony's fears and the summit of their knowledge. This is the dimension of imagination. It is an area which we call the Fourth Wall.

Pinkie could only respect the old zebra as he played on, as nopony she knows except herself could play on despite knowing that there is an audience from the Fourth Wall watching them, especially when they complements them with music so that they could go about their duel. It was then that Pinkie decides to go about her solo, and went about playing her trumpet in a virtuous way, improvising as she goes and keeping the tempo of her trumpet to the sound of the mysterious bass and drums. She smiles as she hears the cheer of the crowd. Pinkie could immediately hear a rather reserved but nonetheless proud saxophone voice complimenting her play in the end. Once they had stopped their duel, there is a thunderous applause from the ‘audience’.

Soon enough, the opening to the dimension that is the Fourth Wall closes and both equines are now sitting in the room in silence. Pinkie was worried that perhaps this was a little too much for the old zebra to handle, as nopony could really comprehend the Fourth Wall like she does. She then puts her hoof on his shoulder to comfort the old musician.
“It’s okay, they mean no harm. They are just interested in our duel that’s all. They do get a little bit too excited when something like this happens in what they call a ‘plot’. Again I am sorry about that.” Pinkie was slightly apologetic, but at the same time quite enthusiastic that somepony else could actually ‘feel’ the Fourth Wall. Twilight once broke through it to restore her mouth that disappeared due to Trixie’s power, but Twilight did not seem to reach to it.

“Pinkie girl, Ah have to say….that capped mah willies . Ah just felled out when Ah heard those voices. Those mitt pounding, those racket….How did you do that?” Mr. Coltrane finally mustered enough strength to ask the pink pony, as his mind was literally blown out of the water from his visit in the Fourth Wall. Pinkie could only shrug.
“I have no idea. It comes and goes.” Pinkie said that in a matter-of-factly way. Mr. Coltrane now could see why everyone is not bothered to dig too deep into Pinkie’s eccentricities as they are literally mind-blowing. But now he had to say something to the little pony.

“Pinkie, Ah think you are ready.” Pinkie could only smile and hug the old zebra tightly in thanks, while the old zebra could not help but to enjoy the warmth of another in order to calm his frantically pounding heart. He needs everything that he could get his hooves on to keep his sanity going, but at least he now knows that his student is prepared in so many ways and he was foolish to think otherwise.

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-At the Prancing Ponies.

Octavia, Granny Smith and Mr. Coltrane are now sitting having some lunch together. Of course, they are not together solely for the sake of having lunch as they are here for another reason. The main reason why they are here is that they are here to voice out the verdict on Pinkie’s, Spike’s and Applejack’s lessons. As the waiter serves their meal, Octavia speaks out her thoughts.

“So, I assume that all of you came to the same conclusion?”
“Eeyup.” Granny Smith’s reply is rather crisp as she takes a bite from her sandwich to take a sip. Mr. Coltrane takes a sip from his glass of water before he speaks to the rest of the ponies. Mr. Coltrane’s voice is filled with hope and pride, and everypony else on the table also felt the same way

“Well, they are ready.” The old mare and the gray cellist nodded, and soon enough they are all silent again. They continued dining on their lunch in the warm comfort of the café.

Author's Note:

Applejack’s drum solo: Drum Solo - Swing

The duet between Spike and Octavia - Blue Moon - Jazz Pianist and Bass Duo

Pinkie and Mr.Coltrane’s duel - A Night in Tunisia - Charlie Parker and Dizzy Live at Carnegie Hall