//------------------------------// // The Plan // Story: Fusion Genres // by Player 4 //------------------------------// "Nah, I don't think so. This one doesn't suit me." "Maybe this one?" "Nope, not for my main projects. Not loud enough." "Why don't Ponyville ponies listen to rock music?" This is me, a human living in Equestria. I arrived here by virtue of using unknown, crazy, hard-to-believe science to spawn a portal. It ended up working perfectly! After just a short trip through the dimensions, here I am in the magical land of pastel ponies that I had always dreamed about going to. As of now, I have no way of returning home. The science I used to create the portal won't work in reverse; all of my tools disappeared when I got to Equestria. So it's up to magic expert Twilight Sparkle to do the rest. However, I am considering moving to Equestria full-time. I have had nothing but a great life here so far. Everypony I've come across has been incredibly nice and helpful, including Applejack, who was my first contact after the portal ended up placing me in Sweet Apple Acres. She and her family graciously allowed me to not only live on the farm in the meantime, but also work there! They were extra inclined to do so in this case, because of the occupation I took with me. Back on Earth, I had worked as a data specialist, which undoubtedly is incredibly useful in the apple industry. In fact, it was only on this current day that I just landed a job at the farm after I successfully calculated how many red apples should be on the shelf compared to yellow and green ones. Between calculating more sweet statistics and whatever else comes my way, I'm excitedly looking forward to what lies ahead of me in this industry. I can even foresee myself working outside of Sweet Apple Acres in the future. I got to go on trips to Appleloosa, working with other Apples on their orchards. Great stuff. It feels wonderful to provide service and see happy faces upon it. And based on the popularity of the Apple family orchards, I also would think I'd make decent money with this occupation; more than I did on Earth. So why go back? It would be counterproductive. In the midst of all that, another wide-open job opportunity went successfully for me; the spa. I was the first human to be seen in Equestria for over a millennium, so no ponies other than Princesses Celestia and Luna had ever seen one before. What is something about us that the ponies would be curious about? You guessed it, hands. Starting with my current housemate Applejack, then moving on to many other ponies, I had been happily giving them a taste of what being pet and scratched by a human is like. How our fingers and nails feel on them. I have received nothing but positivity so far. They all loved it. Plus, given my species, I was already making the news all over the place. This created a perfect recipe for me to shoot for a job at the Ponyville Day Spa. Which I did. I gave Aloe and Lotus a taste of my unique hands, and low and behold, the spa ponies themselves enjoyed it and decided hire me. I am quite excited about that too; I had always wanted to pet and scritch the Equestrians, so what would be not to love about a spa job? But, I have pushed it until later, because right now, there's something else on my mind: music. I play the guitar, primarily the electric guitar, and primarily work with rock songs; writing original ones and covering existing ones. I grew up on the rock genre; scorching electric guitars had always been a staple in my music-filled life. There is a problem here, though. The problem being that rock music doesn't seem to have highly usable popularity in Ponyville. Sure, it exists, and I can only bet there are other cities in the nation where it is popular, but Ponyville is my home. I directed the portal to bring me there for a reason. Canterlot is too fancy for my tastes, I'm physically incapable of being in Cloudsdale, and everywhere else, those ponies are all complete strangers to me. Yes, I will go and meet them eventually, but for the start, since I was going into a whole new world, a whole new country with a different culture, I think it makes sense that I'd want to start with the ponies I had seen on the show. The ones I have some familiarity with. I knew I'd feel more comfortable around them. Same with the city itself; I know nothing about Fillydelphia, but plenty about Ponyville. Baby steps. Anyway, so here I am, walking around a music poster board room inside of town hall for some info about places I could potentially go to meet other players, in particular ones that share my rock music preference. But so far, I have found no luck. Most of the offers on the board are for classical and electronic events. "Hey there.", a guide pony says, walking up to me from behind. "Still looking?" "Yeah.", I said with a sigh. "Being a player of an underground music genre is hard, especially if you aspire for big commercial success. But even if there are places in this country where rock music is popular, I don't want to go there. I don't want to leave Ponyville." "I totally understand. There are places in Equestria that do have a large rock music scene, but they include Manehattan, Baltimare, etc. Those places would not be good for someone like you." "Oh yeah, for sure." I had heard quite a few negative anecdotes about those cities from ponies who lived there and migrated to Ponyville. Apparently, they all snap at each other, overly strict social guidelines, no friendship... bleh. At this point, I start to feel fairly defeated, but then the guide pony brings out a near-miracle. "But here, I have an idea. Why don't you go try this?", she says, pointing to a poster I hadn't noticed yet. I take a close look. Octavia and Vinyl's Newbie Music Party Beginning musician looking to gain some traction? You're in luck! Ponyville's two biggest celebrity musicians, Octavia Melody and Vinyl Scratch (aka DJ-Pon-3) are hosting an event where any aspiring musician can come and play with them, on stage in front of an audience! Does that sounds like a good path to success? It should! And it doesn't matter at all what genre you play; remember, Octavia and Vinyl play together when Octavia is a classical cellist and Vinyl is a dubstep DJ, so anything works! "This has got to be the best option. I love this. Those two are geniuses in both their music playing and promotion offers.", my guide says, happily. "I agree, it sounds very nice," I respond, "but this isn't what I'm looking for as my career in music. I don't want to play a fusion of rock and classical music, or rock and dubstep music, or all three of those. I just want to play rock music." "Well, here's the thing: you can still do that!", my guide says. "Look at the poster again; they said 'path.' Just because you mix up wildly different genres together the first time doesn't mean you have to stick with that. But doing it right now; taking up a grand, perfect, easy opportunity at the beginning, will help you get to where you want to go." "Hear me out: in this option here, the event with Octavia and Vinyl, you appear with two already very popular musicians, which naturally gains you some good attention. Having that in your pocket then gives you better opportunities to find others who do play your genre. And you don't have to move out; I'm sure there are some other rock musicians in Ponyville." This sets off a bomb in my head. It is true! I can't be the only one; and finding the others will definitely be easier if my musical presence is well put-out first! In order to find success, you must first find the correct path to it, and this sure looked like the correct path to me! Now seeing that, thanks to my helpful guide, I decide to go with it. "I like that idea! I'll do this event! Thanks!" "Any time! This is my job; I always strive to help others find their destinations!" I take hold of the black pen from the side of the board and write my name on the paper for Octavia and Vinyl's. I end up being the first to do it, I am the only sign-up right now. But I am expecting more. I predict at least a four-player jam. Alright, I'm excited for this! Okay, so it's not what I want to do full-time, but it could be a side project! And I'm going to be able to play with Octavia and Vinyl! The big names! What is there to lose?