//------------------------------// // Chapter Three: Valley of the Damned (Demo) // Story: StallionForce // by Dashie04 //------------------------------// The next day, Sam trots over to PonyHeart’s recording studio. He sees ZP outside smoking again. “Just get the hell in there,” he says, and ZP obliges. Sam trots in and sees everypony is already there. Vadim is providing elevator music while they all wait. “Very funny,” Sam murmurs. “I’ve got our songs!” Sam says. Everypony hops up and runs towards Sam,”What are they? Are they fun? What will I be playing?” Diccon asks. “Could you ask any more?” Sam snarks. He then notices that Didier is doing absolutely nothing, he’s just sitting behind his black drumset and giving Hoofman the stink eye. “So, our songs here are simple, Revelations, to accommodate Diccon’s wish of a song based off Revelation. I had to read that whole bucking book last night, luckily, I have hard cider to keep me awake. Next, Disciples of Canterlot for Vadim, we need an acoustic guitar or two for that one. Finally, we have a ballad, Starfire.” Sam says. Hoofman looks at Sam worriedly after he mentions that he has hard cider to keep him awake. Sam passes out some copies of the songs to everypony and they look over them. “I have one complaint about Disciples of Canterlot,” ZP says. “The drum part is a bucking boring piece of shit,” Didier butts in. “Actually, I was simply concerned on where we were going to find acoustic guitars,” ZP finishes. “Let’s buy them, finish this demo and album, and set them ablaze,” Didier says with an indifferent eye roll. “We are not setting the guitars ablaze, what if we need them for a later song?” Hoofman asks. “We’re bucking PonyHeart, the power metal band from ’Britain’, will we really need bucking acoustic guitars?” Didier shoots back. Hoofman groans in exasperation,”Qūqū, maybe. Besides, those things are like 1000 bits, why would we waste them?” “Because they’re pieces of shit!” Didier yells. “Who spit in his breakfast?” Sam says. Hoofman sighs,”Could we just get to the songs?” “I’m with ya Hoofman,” ZP says. “Let’s start with Starfire,” Sam says. “At least that drum part is actually unique,” Didier mumbles. Hoofman tunes his guitar, then realizes he needs an acoustic. “Let’s go to the nearest music store and get a piano and acoustic guitars.” Hoofman says. The band walks toward a music shop, Didier doesn’t come because he thinks this entire trip is a waste of time. They walk into the store and immediately get a good look at the selection of guitars and pianos. After they pick out their two acoustics and their piano, Hoofman telekinetically takes the instruments to the cashier. The cashier is a middle aged stallion listening to a System of a Pony album wearing a hat. He notices the band and takes off his sunglasses.”You’re a metal band right?” He says. “Yeah mate,” Sam says,”what gave it away, the kong hair?” The cashier nods,”May I ask what a metal band like you has to do with two acoustic guitars and a piano? Shouldn’t you be checking out guitars and 5-string basses? May I intrest you in a keytar?” Vadim lights up at that last one,”That sounds incredibly cool!” He says. “Well,” says Sam simultaneously,”we’re not here to buck spiders, but these instruments will be used in a song of ours.” “So, no keytar, dammit,” says Vadim. “Why do you guys even have a 19-year old playing in your band anyways?” The cashier asks. “That’s none of your concern, we had a speciesism debate, and we ended up with Bon Jovi’s session keyboardist,” Hoofman says. “Man, Bon Jovi, that band rocks.” Says the cashier,”Anyways, back on topic, those instruments will be 2500 bits.” Hoofman drops the instruments with an audible clatter,”Can I take out a loan?” The cashier had not given Hoofman a loan, but he did give him a couple momths to pay off his debt, and Hoofman accepted. The band walks into their studio with the instruments. “I do have to tell you,” Sam says as they’re entering,”I liked that pony’s look.” Upon entering, Hoofman releases the instruments with a sigh,”Those were hard to carry!” Didier hits the snare drum several times in succession,”You’ve got to be bucking kidding me! You got a piano too, a bucking piano!” “It’s for Starfire,” Sam says. “Fine! Let’s just record the bucking song, and get this over with.” “The bassline seems like great fun!” Diccon says. “I’ll be happy to sing for you guys,” ZP says. Vadim takes his place behind the piano, and plays the opening chords. Hoofman adds some distortion to his guitar and politely waits. When PonyHeart gets to the solo, Hoofman looks to realize nothing is written for him. He quickly improvises a soulful solo to fit with the song. After the song ends, Sam stomps his feet,”Shred! That’s why I wrote nothing for you, because you’re a god when it comes to improvising solos!” “I’d prefer you call me ‘Hoofman’ Sam.” “ZP, those vocals were awesome, Diccon’s bassline was great, and Vadim is the best keyboardist I’ve seen. This is a great band, I’m not leaving!” “Yeah,” quips Didier,”a band that lies about species and drives my friend away from them.” ZP cringes,”Come on, stop it, I’m a zebra, I think like a pony!” Sam sees all this fighting going on and says,”Let’s do Revelations shall we?” “Fine, buck this,” Didier says as he gets behind the drumset again. They start the song, Hoofman and Sam dual-guitar the intro. While Diccon plays a very fast bassline, Didier starts on the rolls that open the song. When they hit the first verse, Hoofman and Sam play a very thrash-esque riff while ZP sings the lyrics partaining to the apocalypse. After the first chorus ends, Vadim plays a keyboard fill. Around three minutes into the recording, Didier gets something pretty colse to a drum solo. Hoofman and Sam play some notes in the background. Then they hit the solo, it takes a few tries, but that gets finished. At the end, Didier gets another drum solo consisting of heavy tom usage and a lot of double bass pedal. “That was great everypony!” Sam says.”I didn’t know you could play that well, Vadim.” “I didn’t either,” Vadim admits. We shall move on to Disciples of Canterlot next, right now we all get a break.” Didier audibly groans while Hoofman and Sam talk to each other. ZP takes down a book on hair metal and starts reading it with interest. “Now tell me, is Guns N’ Roses a good band?” He says,”Or Skid Row?” “Guns N’ Roses has been crap since Slash left,” Hoofman says. “Skid Row’s a bit too soft for my liking, I listen to Rock and Roll like Magïchead and Metal like Metallicolt. Why the heck do I even have a book on hair metal?” “Livin’ on a Prayer is incredibly fun on bass though,” Diccon says, flying.”That song came out right as I was getting my first bass, at 14, and that Slippery When Wet album was all the rage. So, I decided to take a hoof...” Laughing at his bass joke, he continues,”At some of the songs off that album. Livin’ on a Prayer was the talk of bassists.” “You think everything’s fun, except walking,” Hoofman says.”Is there a moment when you’re not flying?” “I prefer to get a vantage point over other ponies.” ZP continues reading his book, from right to left due to his ethnicity.”Van Hooflen seems pretty cool.” “That’s not how you read a book,” Vadim says, then trots up to ZP and shows him how to read an English book. “By the way, Didier, you alright?” Hoofman says, then turns to see him smashing his head on the crash cymbal. “Honestly, Didier has two states, angry and angrier, it’s not like he’s happy,” Sam snarks. “Hair metal seems like a pretty cool genre,” ZP says, putting the book back up. “Shall we perform Disciples of Canterlot now?” Hoofman asks. “Yeah, let’s do that,” ZP says. “Now, if you excuse me, I have to focus. This one requires a lot of instrument switching, which I’ll do with my magic.” Hoofman says. The band starts the song, which starts with a very complicated guitar riff. After the first verse ends, Vadim plays a little bit of a keyboard fill. Eventually, they get to the interesting part, Diccon plays some tapping on his bass. Using this gateway, Hoofman quickly swaps his and Sam’s guitars with the acoustic ones telekinetically. He then points at Vadim signaling to amplify his playing. The outro result sounds a little like elevator music. When Vadim finishes, Hoofman telekinetically switches Sam’s guitar with his normal blue electronic one. They play a solo filled with acoustic guitar palm-muting. Diccon plays another bass fill and Hoofman swaps out his acoustic for an electric, then they go to finish the song. Right after the recording’s swapped off, Didier says,”So that’s what the bucking acoustics were for, be happy to never use them again.” “I just got an idea! Let’s send these 4 songs to Noise Records and create a demo for Valley of the Damned!” Vadim says. “Great idea, how the hell will we figure out how to promote that we’re releasing an album?” Sam asks. “We’ll go on tour! After all, touring’s fun!” Diccon says ashe does a flip in midair. “Watch out! Don’t hit the lighting,” ZP says. “I have to go on bucking tour with you guys?” Didier groans. “Yep, serves you right,” Sam says. “Great, Vadim, send these to Noise Records,” Hoofman says. Vadim obliges. A couple weeks layer, they get the notice that Noise Records approves of their songs. They gather at the studio and discuss plans for the tour. “I think we should get Halford and Stratovarius to tour with us,” says ZP. The band agrees this is a good idea and decides to call them up. They’d be going on tour soon.