The news had spread all over the land. The Ponytones had become an absolute sensation due to their recent performances and the addition of the fifth member, Fluttershy, or as the fans called her soon after her performances, Flutterguy. But as of lately, having fully joined the group, she stuck to her regular voicing.
They had attracted the eyes of the nation, young or old, men and women, fans and critics. Their fame and wealth accumulated and rival singers and bands sought to collaborate with them.
This story is not about any of that. It's really about how a group of ponies tried to make it as big as the Ponytones. Whether or not they actually made it big...is up to the story as it goes along. Not accounting for the fact that Princess Celestia preferred smooth jazz and Luna preferred rock so they could just banish all the rival bands.
Alright, I'm lost. Thanks for the weird prompt Seth. Let's get to the story.
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There are two kinds of music ponies: those who work as hard as they possibly can and have absolutely as much talent as a dying cat, and those who don't try as much but have a beautiful voice so wonderful it would make you squee with awesomeness.
Unfortunately, this is a story so there is little chance you will actually get to hear how these characters sing. It's a shame really; Lyra and Octavia were awesome singers and Vinyl knew how to really work the sounds. Their special connection really creates something you only see once in a lifetime. It brings the soulless to tears and leaves even the most hardened (Not like that, pervert) criminal to their knees and beg for repentance.
But as with all stories in the world of magical ponies in the land of Equestria, we begin at the humble abode of Vinyl and Octavia.
"Vinyl, I'm home!" A gray mare called from the entry of the door. She had just finished several hours of playing with an instrument and her muscles were tired. Hearing no response from her initial yell, she moved to the kitchen to see if the evening-style DJ had woken up from her slumber.
"Vinyl I- WHAT THE HAY?!"
The entire kitchen had been completely ransacked. Cereal boxes, bags of chips, and redpony (The equivalent of a certain drink that I am not allowed to say due to possible copyright infringement) were scattered all along the floor. On the kitchen table sat a very tired-looking white unicorn.
"Oh, hey Tavi." Vinyl Scratch yawned. "I made ya breakfast." She pointed to a bowl filled with cereal, sour cream and onion chips, and redpony.
Octavia's mouth hung wide open. "You can't be serious."
"Hey, hey, hey...hay." The white unicorn said in a slurred voice. "This is a fine piece of breakfast. You can't possibly get anything better. We're out of oatmeal and stuff so...enjoy this." Her eyes were blood shot (or maybe not, one could never tell) from partying a little too hard the night before.
"Whatever. Listen I had an idea." Octavia ground out. She pulled out a large poster from her bed. "This is how we will get a big break through."
Vinyl squinted really close in an attempt to see. Contrary to popular belief, her glasses weren't for show. She was far sighted (for those of you who forget, that means you can't see up close. Seriously, learn something).
"A battle of the bands...And how is this an idea?"
Octavia sighed. "The winner gets 10,000 bits and gets a tour that ends at Celestia's Gala. Not only will we get famous, we get to meet Celestia herself!" She said the last part a slight bit crazily, but neither mare noticed.
"Alright, I'm in. But we could use another pony. Who else do you know has awesome talent with an instrument?"
Octavia thought hard. Her previous quartet had broken up and hadn't seen each other in a while. She couldn't think of any vocalists, despite the fact that Twilight and her friends seemed to enjoy a musical number every once in a while. Dr Hooves, she heard, was good at sound editing on top of being the whole time-lord thing.
"How about Lyra?"
Vinyl just sat there and stared. She attempted to open her mouth several times to form an argument, but had no idea where to start. Finally, unable to control the thoughts in her head, she let it out.
"HAHRHAERHAFADFGARHMTUKYWJYJWRJWT Q." Now it was Octavia's turn to be confused. Realizing that the DJ was having a brain malfunction at the thought of the "hand" obsessed mare joining the team, Octavia quickly explained her reasoning.
"She is much smarter than you think. She has played the lyre for a living for a while. On top, she also has access to a recording studio in her basement."
Vinyl grinned. "And how do you know so much?" Heavily implying a relationship.
"Vinyl, now’s not the time-"
"Lyra and Octavia sitting on a bench, K-I-S-S-"
"Oh forget it!" Octavia yelled in frustration.
"Wait!" Vinyl called. "I'll do it. I was just messin'. But if we wanna do this, we gotta start soon. I wouldn't want to have to rush things last minute."
Now it was Octavia's turn to stare. Realizing that her companion was shocked and lost for words at the DJ actually attempting to do something early, Vinyl explained "Well, I gotta take SOME things seriously."
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The next few days moved by in a blur. Lyra had eagerly accepted her role and was now part of the new band LOV. They had their first recording session a few days later and the music that came out was far too beautiful to comprehend. It would take another chapter just to explain it all and-
Wait. I already said all that. Poo. Well, wanna hear how they got the name LOV?
It was about two days into the whole thing. The battle was coming in about a week or so. Vinyl and Octavia were the in basement of Lyra, who had prepared the DJ turntables for Vinyl and a Cello that belonged to Lyra's uncle.
"Thanks again for letting us use your equipment Lyra." Octavia said.
"Ah, don't worry girls. I haven't seen him since dad had that fight with my mom and uncle Strings left without ever saying anything again. Funny, I always wondered why he had that white stuff on his-"
"TMI TMI!" Vinyl yelled.
Lyra looked at her in confusion as Octavia began to tune her cello. She contemplated all she had been through. And soon, she would finally get what she wanted. For you see, this promising young mare had once been quite the celebrity. At a young age, she mastered the cello, not even being a unicorn.
Then the day of the Grand Galloping Gala came. She was to perform there for the night. It was to be her shining moment and her time and effort would soon be worth it. Then, as she had begun her melody, SHE burst in.
A yellow pegasus, the bane of Octavia's existence, had disturbed the entire scene, bringing mud, animals, and chaos. It was a horrible timing. Wealthy benefactors ran away, unable to see the prodigy cellist play. All her fame came crashing down. No pony care much after that event. Even if it wasn't her fault, no pony wanted to hear her.
Now she had a chance at redemption. At the end of the poster, there was also a grand prize: it was a single wish to be granted from Celestia (That can't possibly go wrong). With it, Octavia would have her revenge on the mare who stopped her from her dreams:
Fluttershy.
Lyra and Vinyl, too, worked on their equipment. However, since we are exposing each of the greedy things they want, let’s start with Lyra.
Actually, I think that one is pretty obvious. She plans to go to Celestia and ask her for hands. She had sent pleas to the Princess before, but never received any indication she had even received the mail or was attempting to contact a human and capture him from another dimension and cut his hands off. Unless you count that time Rainbow Dash was framed for murder...But Lyra never got to really meet that strange human who Rainbow Dash had named "Nix".
So her wish was obvious. She would win, get her wish, and give the money to charity...or so she would tell the crowds. Part two of her brilliant plan involved changing her legal name to charity (Because there are far weirder names like 'Cheese Sandwich') and giving the money to herself.
A smile creeped upon her face as she stared at Vinyl who, too, was contemplating things. Contrary to what ponies thought, she was actually mild at heart. She was hoping to take the money and take Tavi out to dinner. Then she would get a nice new home near the mountainside. Then with the rest of the money she could donate it to charity. She didn't care about the wish for she had a heart of blah blah blah.
Yeah, she isn't really a part of the whole scheme-to-get-something-good-from-all-this. Vinyl just wanted to make music. And this was a perfect outlet for her. She did have a pretty sketchy past as well, something her and Octavia had in common, but no one ever knew. She was often too drunk to answer.
Wait. Weren't we talking about how they got their name?
"So we need a name for our trio." Octavia said.
"How about...HA-"
"No Lyra. We are not being a band about a mythical creature." Vinyl cut her off. Lyra pouted but neither of the other two mares paid any attention.
DJ-Pon3 through her 2 bits in. "Well, we could be the Ponyettes!" She smiled looking for some acceptance. Once again, no love returned.
"How about the Super Sexy Slu-"
"NO! What is wrong with you Lyra?" Lyra just frowned and lowered her head, being shamed. Octavia quickly realized her mistake and hugged the sobbing unicorn. "I'm sorry."
They stared into each other’s eyes. Even though they only ever talked once in a while, they never had a chance to really meet. And now, this close, Octavia felt something well up inside her. Something she had not felt since that time in kindergarten. Her mouth started to move on its own. She leaned in and-
"WHAT THE BUCK ARE YOU DOING?!" Vinyl interrupted. Octavia and Lyra looked at each other, and disconnected. With a shudder, they wiped themselves off.
"We should be LOV." Vinyl concluded.
"Why LOV?" Octavia asked.
"Because it is Lyra, Octavia, and Vinyl. And after that scene...well, I say this is spot on." She narrowed her eyes. "Unless you want something else." Her eyes implied blackmail.
No further objections were made.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The day of the battle of the bands had come. It was being held in the Ponyville Town Hall. In the front row were the mares who saved Equestria time and time again but apparently received no credit. Derpy and Bon Bon were also present as well the the Doctor and several other ponies.
The stage was relatively low budget. It was made of wood and would easily break of somepony so much as bounced on it. Why they had it in the Town hall instead of the park was up to any pony’s guess.
"It's time!" Vinyl yelled enthusiastically.
They were backstage with all the other bands. The Hooves Bros, Jazzites, and several other hometown bands had come to perform. But considering they were all pretty amateur, Octavia let out a sigh of relief.
"This should be an easy-" She spoke to soon.
Walking in just then were fine well dressed ponies. Everypony gasped at the mares and stallions arrived. One mare fainted.
"The Ponytones have arrived!"
Octavia was shocked beyond belief. IT. WAS. HER.
The cream colored pegasus just waved hi to everyone but sent a glare at Octavia...or so she thought. Fluttershy would never glare at Anypony. Tavi was just slowly losing sanity at the fact that she would have to compete against such an awesome voice-
Again, she spoke too soon.
"Mares and stallions! Our special guests for the night to help with the judging are the Ponytones!" Everypony outside yelled their praise and happiness. Octavia did no such thing. But then again, no pony cared.
"And now let us begin! First up, The Stallion Who Makes Music!" A stallion trotted out with a guitar on his back and as his cutie mark.
"You see me soaring through the sky..."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Let's give another of applause for the Pretty Poynette’s!" A smattering of applause follows as the most recent contestant go backstage.
"Good thing we didn't use that name." Lyra commented. "Everypony ready?"
Vinyl and Octavia nodded. It was there time to shine in the spotlight. Lyra and Octavia will finally fulfill their wishes and Vinyl would get her time to show the world just what she could do.
"And now, last, but certainly not least, LOV!" The cheering outside was unbearable. Vinyl could see her name in lights already
"Let's do it!"
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It all happened quite quickly. The crowd completely fell in love with LOV. The three mares had truly gained great fame from their music. News quickly spread all over Equestria about the mares who could make music. It wasn't just the fact that the music was so unique, it was especially amazing because it combined electric music with classical. Of course, you would need to hear it to believe it but as this is a fanfic, you can't.
Sucks to be you.
But I can tell you what happened about 1 month later. Throughout that month, they had traveled to Manehatten, Hoofington, Las Pegasus and several more locations that were named after parts of a horse (these ponies had some serious egos).
The tour finally ended in Canterlot. Princess Celestia had invited the rock stars to stay in the castle for the night so that the next day they would perform for the elites of Canterlot and anyone who could afford it.
Octavia's dream was almost in reach. Soon, Fluttershy would feel what she felt like; to be alone, no pony to help you out, and having to start with nothing and work your way up. As for Lyra, her wish would soon be granted to have hands.
And Vinyl...well, she was kinda like Pinkie Pie and other celebrities today. She had a good time and didn't really care about the rewards. All she wanted was to entertain the masses and to hear their praise for her work. The money was good and paid the bills, but she used most of it towards music equipment and junk food. It was surprisingly a wise investment for the unicorn who was known for spending money on more of a good time then actual investments.
Now that you've seen how far they've come, it's time for the finale. And you won't believe what you've just read; mostly because right now you haven't read it yet. Here is what transpired in the final days of Octavia's freedom.
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"LOV, you're on in 5 after the ponytones." Called the stage manager. The Ponytones had accompanied them on a few of their tours and Celestia had personally ask they show up as a starter for LOV. They had done a fantastic job. Fluttershy had mastered using poison joke and even singing in large grounds. She could use her low and high voice to woo the crows. As they returned from the front stage, the crowd was cheering even louder than before.
"I hate her so much..." Octavia said, out loud.
"What?" Lyra asked.
"Nothing!"
Vinyl was in her room getting her disks ready. They needed to have a good distortion for the proper effect to blend with Lyra's harp. Octavia would back it up with a steady cello background. Then they would flip everything. Octavia and Lyra would take center stage and Vinyl would work on mixing the two along with some electric to perform their signature "Sound Flip", in which the music would switch from electric to orchestral electric. Vinyl would finish with a bass drop and mixing the harp and cello together.
"She was probably talking about her grudge against Fluttershy for what she did at the gala." Vinyl announced.
Octavia turned to her partner in shock. "You knew?!"
DJ Pon3 just shrugged. "Well, after every performance, in your room, which is next to mine, you whisper to yourself, "Soon my precious. Soon you will be gone!" I did some research and I guess it just came out from my mouth."
Octavia smirked. "Are you gonna stop me?"
"No. I think you will fail in your mission. And I'll have a good laugh."
"What makes you say that?" Octavia responded. But Vinyl just laughed and prepared her equipment.
Lyra stepped forward. "Don't worry about her. We need to focus if we want our prize."
Octavia nodded as the stage manager called for them. They had come a long way and now it was time to make history. They would go down as one of the most unique bands to ever come out of humble Ponyville. They would be revered as musical geniuses. And all their wishes would come true.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Your honor, she clearly was not trying to attack you." Vinyl, in a suit and tie, proclaimed. "She merely tripped on her way to get off the stage and give you a kiss."
Celestia was glaring hard at the DJ. "And what makes you think she was trying to do that and not make an attempt on my life?"
"Well she did apologize."
"AFTER SHE WAS TAKEN AWAY!" Celestia roared in anger. Realizing her outburst, she looked at Lyra as well. "At least she begged me."
"In my defense, Princess, I was mad that you had not gone through with your promise." Octavia replied.
"Agreed. You can't make a promise like that and not follow through." Lyra agreed.
"And that is why I will be send you to jail. For it seems there was a miscommunication with my sister." She glared at her sister, Luna, who was sitting in a much lower chair (Just to remind her just who her sister was. "Instead, I sentence you to something else."
"Octavia, you will work with Fluttershy and the Ponytones at all their performances for the next 4 years."
It was clear that the gray earth pony's mind was slightly shattered. "Y-yes P-Princess."
"And Lyra, you will be doing a lot of clean up for the next few years as well; WITHOUT your precious 'hands'"
"I WAS SO CLOSE!"
"Dismissed."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It was the dead of night when the two ponies met. One had teleported to the room while the other had free access to anywhere in the castle.
"That was fun."
"I agree. It was a true joke that certainly worked."
Vinyl grinned. "So shall we do it again?"
Luna extended her hoof. "Of course."
And as the two laughed maniacally, somewhere out there in the pony verse, a human was spared their hands.