//------------------------------// // Salty Licks // Story: Carnivore: The Birth of Extreme Equestrian Heavy Metal // by Raine_Lionheart //------------------------------// Rainbow Dash loved noise. The more it matched the constant buzz in her head, the better. To her mind, no bands in Equestria could better understand this than the likes of Iron Mare and Black Minos. Rainbow Dash was a rocker, 100%. Her friends all knew it (to varying degrees of acceptance - from Pinkie's mutual regard for loud music, to Applejack's straightforward neutrality, to Rarity's complete disdain). Twilight found the lyrical content, much based on Equestrian history, to be fascinating, if not minorly inaccurate - Rainbow called it artistic license. Twilight teased her about listening to egghead metal, to which the pegasus scoffed good-naturedly. And while Rainbow did not know for absolute certain, she was willing to bet that Fluttershy would probably implode from fright if she even heard a double kick drum. In the moons since Black Minos released their eponymous debut, Rainbow had discovered an entire underground music scene dedicated to the sound the Birmareham quartet had revolutionized. Sombra Priestess, Motörhoof, The Chimeras, St. Equinus, Mercyful Destiny, Metallicolt (and Maretallica, a rival band created by their ex-lead guitarist Diva Mustang)... After a while, however, Rainbow found herself in a bit of a rut. She'd listened to all of the metal out there, and while she loved it, she felt like she was missing something. Soon, bands like Flayer and Poisonjoke were upping the speed, mixing in elements of punk bands like Black Banner, The Smash and The Ruts. The lyrics got darker, angrier. Dash needed more. When Carnivore hit the scene shortly after Twilight's coronation, Rainbow was unprepared for the sheer awesomeness they were about to unleash. Especially their lead guitarist, Salty Licks. A stark white unicorn with incredible face paint, blood red eyes and hooves that bent her guitar to her very will. And yes, Rainbow Dash thought she was incredibly sexy. And vaguely familiar. Rainbow stared at the track listing of Carnivore's debut album, Eat Meat, for a solid minute, sweating just a tiny bit. Welcome to Tartaurus? Hoof In Mouth Disease? Pony Leather? She swallowed the rising bile in her throat. EAT MEAT? The stallion behind the counter smirked. His cap had a Motörhoof logo on it. His muzzle was dark with stubble and his eyes looked (perpetually) bloodshot. "That one might be a little extreme for your tastes, missy," he opined like a moron. "That's no Sapphire Shores you got there. That's intended for more--" He faux-coughed, also like a moron, "--mature ponies." Rainbow Dash shot him a withering glare. Composing herself, she brought the record over to him and dropped it from her wing with disdain. "How. Much?" she growled. This time, the stallion gulped and stuttered, "D--I... I didn't m-mean anything by th-that!" Rainbow Dash scoffed and blew her mane out of her eyes. "Whatever dude. I listen to heavy metal. I know extreme." Something about the stallion's expression made her take pause. "Yeah? You ever hear of Coltcrusher? Or Hayhem? Herbivore Corpse?" Rainbow gave him a blank stare. To her annoyance, he just chuckled and said, "Yeah, thought so. If you like your music extreme, then this will be a real treat." It was insane. Rainbow Dash was a Wonderbolt, an Element of Harmony, the greatest flier to come out of Cloudsdale, and one of the toughest ponies around. She had survived everything from being pulled into an enchanted comic book, to being possessed by dark waters that corrupted her, to a Grand Galloping Gala attended by Discord and the Smooze. Grappling with Nightmare beings, belligerent dragons, creatures of chaos and whatever species of adorable demon Scootaloo happened to be, Rainbow was no soft customer. Carnivore's debut album took every moment of insanity that she had ever experienced and compressed it all into a forty minute aural assault of guttural shrieking, discordant harmonies and drums that evoked images of Buffalo stampeding through a wide cavern. She had thought that Metallicolt, with their songs about war and madness, were about as intense as you could get. At least then, she could understand what the singer was singing. Lord Masticator, the lead singer, was utterly undecipherable. Rainbow Dash had spent enough time with Fluttershy at her animal sanctuary and had heard just about every sound her critter friends, big and small, could muster up. What she heard on Carnivore's album was just unlike any living creature she had ever encountered, living, dead, imagined, conjured or otherwise created. She wondered if there was magic involved. The lyrics were written in the record sleeve. At first Rainbow was sickened. Then she was enthralled. Then, she was just amused. Like everything she loved in life, this was extremity for the sake of pushing envelopes and shocking ponies - two of her favorite things! "I bet Pinkie would get a kick out of this," Rainbow said as she replaced the record in the sleeve. She slid it into her saddle bag and headed for her front door. Pinkie Pie was guffawing about halfway through the tracklist. "Eat Meat? Hee hee, we are meat! That would be silly!" She snorted again, and Rainbow Dash wiped her forehead in relief. Of course Pinkie would be unfazed by this... "Death Metal is soooooo fun! It's like being really happy, but angry, but you're really happy to be so angry, and you get to share your angrippy - hapry? - with everypony else who's raging out and you all dance like you're stomping bubble wrap and you can be impolite to ponies in the no manners pit and bump into them without even saying sorry unless you want to, which you totally can--" Rainbow Dash shoved a hoof into her excitable pal's noisemaker. "Whoa whoa whoa! Hold on a second. Death metal?" Rainbow's eyes shone. "That is legitimately the coolest. Thing. Ever! Pinkie hopped in place, still giggling. "I know, it's so dramatic!" "Dramatic doesn’t even begin to describe it!" Rainbow licked her lips. She could feel her adrenaline rising. "I want to hear more!" Rainbow slapped down a hoof-ful of bits and grinned at the stallion behind the counter (wearing an Equuicide cap today). "What else you got?" After a moment to process this challenge, the stallion returned her grin. He reached under the desk and after a few moments of rooting around, he pulled out another record. He held it up to show her the cover. It read "Masters of Death Volume II". A small sticker read, "feat. 'Demaned, Dehooved, Debrained' by Vanhoover phenomenon Coltcrusher!!!" Rainbow's jaw hung open a moment before she snapped it closed. The stallion smirked and said, "Three bits."