Chapter 8
Talent Show.
Two Months Later
Steady Beat, Vinyl and Octavia made their way into the school house where several foals were patiently waiting in their desks. Cherilee stood at the front of the class with a smile on her face. “Good morning class.” She said with a smile. “I have a very special treat for you today. Steady Beat, Vinyl and Octavia have volunteered their time to teach you about music.”
“Hi.” Beat said with a smile.
“Sup?” Vinyl said with a wave.
“Good morning children.” The charcoal mare said with a smile. The foals smiled at them and gave them a nod.
“I shall leave the lesson to you three then.” The maroon mare said with a smile. The blue stallion gave her a nod as she sat down. Beat took a step forward.
“Okay question number one; Who here likes music?” Every foal raised their hooves. “Good, now who here knows what sound is?” The foals looked at one another in confusion. “Sound is made by vibrations that beat against your eardrums.” The foals looked at him in confusion. “I didn’t believe it at first either.” He said with a smile.
“No way.” An orange Pegasus filly said.
“Trust me, that’s how it works. Luckily we have a little demonstration for you all.” Vinyl said as she brought out a small amp. Beat stretched a piece of cellophane across the top and put some goop on the plastic surface. The blue stallion motioned for the foals to come closer. The foals crowded around the front desk. Vinyl plugged the amp in and turned the volume on. The goop started to dance around and jiggle to the children’s amazement.
“See?” He said as Vinyl turned the amplifier off. The foals took their seats and faced the front of the class. “Now who here can sing or play an instrument?” The foals all looked at one another and kept quiet. “C’mon then speak up. There must be one of you in here that has some musical talent.” A pink filly wearing a tiara had a smirk on her face and raised her hoof. “Oh good a volunteer. What’s your name?”
“I don’t have any musical talent, but I happen to know that Sweetie Belle over here can sing.” She said with a wicked grin as she pointed to a white unicorn filly behind her. The white filly immediately hid behind her book and tried to lay low.
“Really?” He asked.
“I can sing a little bit.” She said in a timid tone.
“Well, some is better than none. C’mon up and let’s see what you got.” Vinyl said with a smile.
“I-I’d rather not.”
“Oh come on Sweetie Belle we all want to hear you sing.” A silver filly added.
“Shut it Spoon. Leave her alone.” The orange filly said in a challenging tone.
“What? It’s not our fault that she’s talentless.” Tiara said. Beat frowned and glared at the bickering foals.
“ENOUGH!” Beat yelled. The volume from the stern voice caused some settled dust on the floor to rise and be pushed back. “I will not tolerate that kind of talk during my lesson.” He said as he narrowed his eyes. “However, that has given me an excellent idea.” The foals looked back at him in confusion. “I’m assuming Ms. Cherilee has told you all about the upcoming talent show the town is putting on this weekend correct?” The foals nodded. “Well, thanks to Ms. Tiara’s little comment and with permission from Ms. Cherilee, the contest will now be changed to a musical talent show.” He said in a flat tone.
“What?” The foals yelled in collective surprise.
“It will be the same concept as the talent show only that what ever you chose must be music based.” He said as he looked at the maroon mare. “Is that alright with you Cherilee?”
“I think it’s a wonderful idea.” She said with a smile.
“Thank you.” The blue stallion then turned back to the foals. “Your act can be a dance routine, a song you wrote or an imitation of one that is already out. As long as it has something to with music it will be admissible. I will be one of the three judges.”
“Who are the other two?” Octavia asked.
“You two.” He said with a grin. The charcoal mare looked at him in shock.
“Awe yeah!” Vinyl said with a smile. Beat noticed that some of the foals looked uneasy.
“Now if any of you need help with selecting something or practicing. Myself, Ms. Scratch and Ms. Octavia will be more than happy to help you.” He said with a smile. The ponies heard the bell ring and saw the foals getting to their hooves. Beat quickly exited the building with the two mares by his side. The cellist glared at him with a blank look on her face. “What?”
“You just volunteered us to judge a talent show!” She yelled.
“Oh lighten up Tavi. It’s not like you had a gig this weekend anyway.” Vinyl said with a smile.
“I don’t know about you two but I could go for a round of Palo 4.” Beat interjected.
“I’m in!” Vinyl said with a grin as the three hurried off to their home.
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“Ha! Overkill!” Beat yelled into the mic as he scored a head shot.
“OUR VENGEANCE SHALL BE QUICK AND JUST!” A loud voice bellowed over the microphone.
“Sheesh, calm down. It’s only a game.” Vinyl said over the headset.
“You are correct. We are sorry, you have excellent aim Soundwave17.” The voice said in amore relaxed tone.
“Don’t beat yourself up. You got quite a few kills on me.” Beat said over the mic. A small notification appeared on the screen. *LunarPrincess sent you a friend request.* Beat scrolled through the messages and accepted it before he heard three knocks on the door. The stallion set down his controller and trotted over to the door. He opened it to see three familiar fillies with blank looks on their faces. “Hi girls what can I do for you?”
“We need some help with our act.” Sweetie Belle said.
“Okay, come inside and we’ll discuss it.” He said as he held the door open for the three fillies that trotted inside. Vinyl shut off the console and sat down on the couch. She gave the fillies a friendly wave as they sat down across from her. Beat sat down next to Vinyl and smiled at the group of friends. “So, what are you three going to do?”
“That’s the problem.” Applebloom said. “We tried a musical act last time and it didn’t go....quite as well as we had hoped.” She said as the fillies shuddered of the memories of that night.
“What went wrong?” He asked.
“We want to find our special talent! We’ve tried everything from gardening to zip lining.” Beat looked at the three in confusion.
“Okay, I don’t even want to know how you three tried that.” He said as he sat back. “So what exactly did you three try?”
“An epic rock ballad.” Scootaloo said with a grin. “I was the lead singer.”
“I did the dance moves.” The yellow filly said with a grin
“I was in charge of the set.” Sweetie Belle said as she raised her hoof.
“Okay and from what you’ve told me it didn’t work out.”
“Nope, but we did win the best comedy act.” The yellow filly said with a smile.
“I see. How about this we head down to the sound studio and we’ll see if any of you can sing. How’s that sound?”
“Okay.” The three said as they followed the two adults down stairs. Scootaloo entered the booth while Sweetie Belle and Applebloom waited on the other side with Vinyl and Beat.
“Okay Scootaloo, lets just get a basic reading.”
“Got it.” The filly said as she sat on the stool and adjusted the microphone.
“Okay now read the lyrics I gave you.” The filly nodded and read aloud the words. Beat grasped his ears in pain as the sound filled the room that he, Vinyl and the fillies were sitting in. Scootaloo looked at him and lowered her head.
“Sorry Beat.”
“It’s fine. Singing isn’t for everypony. Applebloom do you want to give it a try?”
“No thanks. I know I’m not much of a singer.” She said in flat tone..
“Sweetie Belle?” The white filly gulped and felt her heart beat increase.
“N-no thanks. I’m not that good.” The filly said as she looked down.
“C’mon Sweetie Belle, you’re awesome!” The orange filly said as she came out of the sound proof room.
“Yeah, you came up with the song Scootaloo messed up.”
“Hey!” The orange filly yelled. Beat face hoofed and put a hoof on the white filly’s shoulder.
“Sweetie no pony here is going to make fun of you.” Beat said with a grin.
“P-promise?”
“Cross my heart, hope to fly, stick a cupcake in my eye.” The blue stallion said with a smile. The filly looked at her friends who nodded. Sweetie let out a sigh and made her way into the sound booth. The filly sat on the stool and waited until the stallion turned the mic on. The filly read the lyrics with determination in her voice. As she finished she looked up to see the group looking at her in amazement.
“Was it that bad?” She asked.
“Bad? Bad? Sweetie that was amazing!” Beat said with a smile.
“Yeah you got some real talent kid.” Vinyl said with a grin.
“R-really?” Sweetie said as she walked out of the booth. Beat bent down so that their eyes met.
“Yeah, it’s awesome.”
“I guess I’m just....nervous.” She said in a low tone.
“Hey Sweetie look at me.” The filly met his gaze. “I was shaking in my hooves the first time I played in front of ponies.”
“Seriously?”
“Every musician has to cross that bridge when they come to it.” Vinyl added. “I used to have killer stage fright when I was your age.”
“How did you get over it?” Sweetie asked.
“Simple. I just took a deep breath and zoned everything out.” The fillies looked at him in confusion. “I told myself that it didn’t matter if I failed. Only that I tried my best.” He said with a smile. “That’s the best advise anypony can give you.” The fillies all looked at one another and smiled.
“Okay so I’ll work on my singing.”
“Good, just don’t over do it.” He said as he pointed to his throat. “This is just another muscle and the more you exercise it regularly the stronger it will become.” He said with a smile.
“What about us?” Scootaloo asked.
“Well, can you two play any instruments?”
“Bongo drums!” Scootaloo said with a smile.
“No way, you almost burst my eardrum last time.” Applebloom said. “Hey, didn’t your dad get ya a guitar for Hearths Warming’s Eve?” Applebloom said.
“Yeah, but only know like three chords.”
“So? Scootaloo, there are hundreds of songs that only have three chords in them.” Beat said with a smile. “What kind of guitar is it?”
“Electric.”
“Do you have amps?”
“Yep.”
“Okay so you are the guitarist.”
“What about me?” Applebloom asked with a concerned look on her face.
“Right, Applebloom.” He said as he scratched the back of his head. “Can you play the drums?”
“My family’s pots and pans. Never really tried for real.” She said with a shrug.
“Better late then never I always say.” Vinyl said as he horn glowed and set of electric blue drums appeared in the sound proof room. The mare levitated her sticks over to the filly who put them in her mouth and trotted inside the booth. The ponies took a seat and waited for the filly to begin.
“What am I supposed to do?”
“Just play whatever. This is only practice.” He said with a smile.
“Okay, here goes nothing.” She said to her self as she took a deep breath and started to play. The ponies were stunned at the filly’s performance. “How was that?”
“Girls, you have the making of a band.” Beat said with a smile. The three fillies all high hoofed and giggled.
“Awesome! We gotta have a name.” Scootaloo chimed.
“How about Prestige Worldwide?” Sweetie Belle chimed.
“Nah, sounds too.....proper.” Applebloom said with a smile. “What about The Rocking Crusaders?”
“A little better.” Scootaloo said. “I got nothing.”
“Look girls, names aren’t important to a band what is important is that you do something that you all agree on and never let it come between you three.” He said in flat tone.
“Has that ever happened?” Scootaloo asked.
“More times than I’d like to admit. So long as you remember your friends then it won’t happen.” He said with a grin.
“C’mon Crusaders. We gotta go practice.” Applebloom said with a smile. “Hey Ms. Vinyl can I-”
“You can use them whenever you want Applebloom and you all can just call me Vinyl.” The unicorn mare said with a smile. The three fillies smiled and Beat levitated his guitar over to Scootaloo who smiled. the fillies soon left and ran down the street with smiles on their faces. “That was nice of you to help them out like that.”
“I said I would.” He said as he and the mare walked back upstairs. “So what should we do now?” Beat asked as they sat on the couch.
“Hmm.....I have an idea.” Vinyl said as she licked her lips.
“Are you trying to seduce me Ms. Scratch?”
“That depends, is it working?”
“Oh yes.” He said as the mare pushed him down on the couch and gave him a seductive smirk.
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One Week Later.
Beat sat in between the DJ and the Cellist at a table right in front of the stage. Beat looked back to see ponies filling the seats and waiting for the show to begin. Back stage The CMC were going through their routine one more time before the show started. Ms. Cherilee took the stage and held a microphone in her hoof.
“Good evening Fillies and Gentlecolts. It is with great pleasure to welcome you to the Ponyville Musical Talent Show.” Several ponies cheered and stamped their hooves on the ground. “Allow me to introduce our three judges; Vinyl Scratch.” The mare stood up and smiled. “Octavia.” The charcoal mare gave the crowd a slight nod. “Last, but not least, Steady Beat.” Beat smiled and waved to the crowd.
Cherilee then handed the mic to the blue stallion. “Thank you Ms. Cherilee. I just want to remind everypony of the rules. One; The act must be music based. Two; Lip singing is an automatic disqualification. Three; Have fun. Good luck everypony.” He said as he gave the maroon mare the mic back and the trio took their seats.
“Let’s have a round of applause for out first act; Snips and Snails!” The ponies cheered as the two colts took the stage and started to sing. By the end everypony (except Octavia) was in a fit of laughter at their song. The two colts smiled and took a bow before they left the stage. The next pony up was a mint green Unicorn mare. “Let’s hear it for Lyra Heartstrings! What will you be singing us tonight Lyra?”
“It’s an original piece by me.” She said with a smile. The mare took a deep breath and started to sing. The three judges looked at her in confusion.
“That was very interesting Lyra.” The maroon mare said with a smile. The mare bowed and walked off stage. “Our next act is a duet performed by Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon.” The two fillies took the stage and let out a deep breath. The pink filly winked over to the stage curtain where a stallion put a disk into the CD player and started their act. Halfway through the song the CD skipped and started to fade out as the fillies kept moving their lips to the words.
“Stop.” Beat said as he stood up. “Disqualification.”
“WHAT?” Tiara yelled.
“No lip singing allowed.” He reminded her. The two fillies trotted off stage in a huff.
“Our next act is Big Macintosh.” Cherilee said with a giggle. The large red stallion sat on a stool with a guitar in his hooves.
“Howdy, Ah’ll be doing a piece by Pony Cash. Hope y’all enjoy it.” He said as he started to play. As he finished the ponies roared in excitement.
“Very good Big Mac.” Cherilee said as he gave her a nod and walked off stage with his guitar slung over his back. “Our next act is a Dance Routine Performed by a group of foals led by Rumble and Pipsquak.” The light blue Pegasus was donning a white fedora and the white earth pony was wearing a black version of the same hat. Other foals fell in behind them and were donning the same hat's in a checkered pattern. They took their stances and waited for the music to begin. The judges watched in amazement as they finished their routine. “Excellent job boys. Our final act for this evening is the Cutie Mark Crusaders.” Almost everypony face hoofed as they remembered the last show.
The three fillies took their positions. Beat saw them gulp and gave them a reassuring wink. The three took a deep breath and started to play for the crowd. As they finished the entire crowd was silent. Beat got to his hooves and started to clap. He was soon joined by Vinyl and the other members of the audience. The three fillies took a bow and walked off stage. The maroon mare smiled and returned to the center of the stage.
“The judges will now go over the results.” As the minutes passed the tension in the air seemed to thicken. Beat got on the stage with an envelope levitating beside him.
“Best comedy act goes to.....Snips and Snails.” The ponies cheered and the two colts trotted out onto the stage to receive their awards that were in the shape of a jesters hat. “Best original performance goes to......Lyra Heartstrings.” Once again the ponies cheered as the light green mare trotted out. “I have no idea what you were singing about Lyra, but it was good.” The crowd laughed as she stood off to the side. “Best dance act goes to.......Rumble and Pipsqueak.” The colts happily went out and received their medallions that were in the shape of horseshoes. “Finally, I am please to announce that first place goes too...” The ponies were all biting their hooves in anticipation. “The Cutie Mark Crusaders!” The three fillies quickly got onto the stage and took a bow. Beats handed them the pendants with the number one on them and smiled.
Beat instantly shielded his eyes as three bright lights shined from the fillies. The crowd went dead silent at the sight. “Why’s everypony staring at us?” Applebloom asked.
“See for yourselves.” Vinyl said as she pointed to their backs. The three friends all looked and saw the prize they really wanted. Their Cutie Marks. Sweetie Belle’s was a pink heart with an eighth note inside. Scootaloo had an electric guitar shooting sparks and Applebloom had a drum set with an apple on the bass drum. The three fillies had tears in their eyes as they smiled. Beat turned back to the audience who were cheering and clapping for them.
“That’s all folks, but before we go there’s one more thing that everypony should know.” The ponies in the audience fell silent. “Music isn’t just orchestra’s, pop stars, albums, downloads and concerts. It’s you. The music of the world is all around you. When you’re alone, just close your eyes and you’ll hear it.” The ponies all closed their eyes and listened. “Music. Inside your head. Cause everyone’s a musician. Everyone has a song inside. Every single one of you.” The ponies all nodded. “Goodnight folks!” He said as the curtains closed.
As the curtains closed the three fillies tackled the blue stallion and hugged him tightly. “You did a great job girls.” Beat said with a smile.
“Thanks to you!” Sweetie chimed.”
“Yeah, you helped us earn our Cutie Marks.” Scootaloo yelled.
“Alright girls take it easy. Looks like some ponies want to talk to you.” He said as he pointed over to Rarity, Applejack and Rainbow Dash. The two sisters had tears in their eyes as they hugged their sisters.
“Oh Sweetie I’m so happy for you.”
“Who’d think that those pots and pans would help ya find your special talent.” The farmer said with a smile.
“That solo was sick Scoots!” Rainbow said as she wrapped a wing around the filly. Beat stood back and smiled at the fillies. Vinyl and Octavia walked up next to him and nodded.
“Brings back memories doesn’t it Octy?” He said as he looked at the charcoal mare.
“It certainly does.” She said with a smile.
“What are we standing around here for? Let’s party!” Pinkie said as she hopped out of nowhere.
“Yeah! Can Beat come too?” Sweetie asked.
“Why of course! He’s the one to thank for this.” Rarity said with a smile.
“I just showed them the way. They did the work.” He said with a blush.
“Stop being modest and lets get going!” Applejack said with a smile.The ponies nodded and trotted back into town.
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As the ponies left their seats a pink Pegasus mare with a light blue mane wearing a dark hood felt a tear roll down her face as she saw the curtain drop on the blue stallion. The stallion that she had wronged and the one she had left her home to find.