3158367 : We did?

3158712

Not in the C-verse, it was a suggestion in the writing of Multiversal, it would be H-verse Vinyl and is currently unwritten.

3158712 Sorry about the confusion. it's an idea for my chapter of Multiversal Harmony. Pinkie Pie has a smartphone in her mane and, on a whim, tries to dial back to her Earth. Instead she gets the hub-capital of Cybertron, Iacon, and talks with H-verse Vinyl and Autobot Blaster. Hilarity hopefully ensues. :D

Train of thought:

Been seeing Vinyl Scratch in Ponyville a lot in Season Four. I guess since Magical Mystery Cure, it's pretty much become canon that Vinyl does live in Ponyville. Hmmm... Magical Mystery Cure... I wonder...

Take away the Alicorn Ascension part of Magical Mystery Cure. What if The Cadanceverse Six just had to put on a concert using the Elements, but their Elements were swapped because of (insert poison joke, misfired spell, Trixie, Twilight Sparkle, Flim and Flam's miracle tonic, wubs, generic MacGuffin...)

Would the six be able to (in the immortal words of Tim Gunn) make it work? Maybe learn something about walking a mile in the others' horseshoes for a bit?

I mean, just as an example, my brothers and I all play musical instruments. It doesn't mean that any of us could just swap instruments and play them as well as the other, even if we've "tried" them before. Thus Octavia might be able to play any instrument if she took certain theory and teaching classes in college/university under Princess Cadance, but that doesn't mean that she'll play any of them nearly as well as her cello, which she has a special attachment to.

If the swaps were to parallel the episode, Vinyl wouldn't be affected... but unless Vinyl were the cause of the mix up, I think I'd want her to be affected as well.

Swaps that parallel the episode:

Medley (Loyalty) ends up with the Lyre (Kindness)
Fluttershy (Generosity) ends up with the Aeolian Harp (Loyalty)
Bluenote (Laughter) ends up with the Cello (Honesty)
Octavia (Honesty) ends up with the Birds (Generosity)
Lyra (Kindness) ends up with the Tuba (Laughter)

Now, I love the idea of Octavia trying to conduct Fluttershy's bird choir. I know they're different AUs (same author, though ), but L!verse Octavia needed a ton of patience to accommodate L!Fluttershy's practicing techniques in A Concert for Ponyville. I can imagine C!Verse Octavia, with all of her attention to detail, as well as her particular brand of honesty, will be relying on the woodland creatures producing the music, while she directs them... talk about a lesson in friendship!

Now in order to work Vinyl into the mix, it's going to require another instrument swap. I wouldn't mind removing the Aeolian Harp from Fluttershy and hoofing it over to Bluenote. She'd probably get a chuckle out of it at first (Ha! The earth pony has to play an instrument powered by flapping one's wings...) until she realizes that her friends are going to be depending upon her finding a way to play it.

That could give Vinyl the cello and Fluttershy the drumkit/wubs... and I can see both of them being equally uncomfortable with their new instruments. Then you have Medley trying to play the lyre with her wings, and Lyra trying to summon enough air to even get a note out of the tuba.

Bluenote: What if it takes the magic of the Elements of Harmony to reverse the spell that mixed up our Elements in the first place?

3178550 You know... that would be a very good idea.

3178550

Interesting, however, unless there is some sort of skill / personality switch it might not fit as well as Medley and Bluenote at least probably know how to use a fair range of instruments.

Octy trying to run a bird choir would be fun, yelling at them for being out of tune of something.

As the instruments are the elements it would be interesting that they have to be used to counter what ever magic switched them in the first time. There might be some sort of feedback from them as well so the user of the element of laughter might find themselves becoming more silly and the like.

3178622

Bluenote has displayed an ability to teach other instruments... but that's why the Aeolian Harp throws a spanner in the works... how the heck does an earth pony play it? (Cutie Mark Crusaders Industrial-sized Pet Hairdryers, Yay!) Also, the Aeolian Harp was extremely special to Medley even before it became her Element... Bluenote cracking an ill-timed joke about the situation could cause some tension.

Medley can fix any of the instruments in Ponyville, but again, that doesn't mean that she can play any of them at the level required to work the required magic. There was also a discussion many threads ago about "ranking" the Six as musicians, with Medley being the "weakest" in terms of musical ability. There's a whole different technical aspect of playing her chosen instrument compared to the Lyre. Medley's used to playing with her wings, Lyra plays with her hooves. Just like all of a sudden, Octavia has to be "in tune" with Fluttershy's birds to get them to perform correctly.

There's also the matter of comfort as far as where their new instruments fit into the composition. If they were working on a specific arrangement prior to the swapping of their Elements, each would know how it was supposed to go on their own instrument, and they might have an idea of how it should be played on their companions' instruments, but knowing what their parts sound like and playing them are totally different. Lyra trying to play high melodies on the Tuba obviously won't work. Vinyl trying to "drop the bass" on the cello will only go so far. Fluttershy's conducting skills might work when it comes to keeping the beat, but on Vinyl's chosen instruments, it might be as bad as Rainbow Dash trying to teach her to cheer.

:x:misc_Viny_glare: Louder.
Wub.
:x:misc_Viny_glare: Louder!
Wub.
:x:misc_Viny_glare: Louder!!
(inhales...) Wub.

3178550 : I really like that idea. It would be a great opportunity to really explore their differing styles and instruments, and of course their bonds as close friends. As a hobbyist pianist myself, I can just think of all the difficulties that would come in having to suddenly swap instruments shortly before a performance--and with these particular musicians, from the goofy Bluenote to the serious Medley and the perfectionist Octavia to the shy Fluttershy, it would have great potential for a lot of drama.

Let's see, as to pairs:

Octavia with the birds would be great. She doesn't have Flutters' talent of understanding them, so she, the perfectionist, would have to deal with an instrument that she couldn't even reliably use or control (since the birds might do different things when they feel like it). That could freak her out. I can just picture her getting more and more stressed until she's shouting at the birds, who proceed to dive-bomb her and drop their nest on her head. (One thing I think should be clear in the story, though, is that the birds still love Fluttershy, even if they can't/won't play for her for whatever reason. They're still her friends; they haven't abandoned her.)

Fluttershy on speakers/drums/wubs would be both too adorable and too awesome for words. I can just see her making this really tiny 'thump' and being all, 'too loud?'

Bluenote on harp would be interesting for a few reasons. First, she'd have no idea how to play it, which is unusual before--as the town music teacher, she's at least serviceable on most of the local instruments, but not this one. Second, Medley on harp would generally back the other melodic instruments while performaning; as Loyalty, she reinforces where she's needed to help bring out the appropriate themes in the other instruments (I got that idea from Emeral). She wouldn't often lead, except for when they really need something very aeolian harp-y, like in Busting Boasts--but that doesn't happen often. She follows and plays according to what the others need. But Bluenote likes to improvise, do her own thing, and go off on tangents... which you can't really do in a supporting role. So it would conflict with her style.

Lyra would probably get eaten by the tuba. :-) She might also have difficulty handling such a big, bulky instrument in contrast to her lyre. And it would inhibit her ability to dance or otherwise gesticulate on stage, which I doubt she'd like; she probably likes to be able to move around as she plays.

Vinyl on cello would likely be a nightmare for her. "Where's the wub button?" She's percussion and electronics; she doesn't do melodic stuff, so having a melodic instrument would be tough.

And Medley would likely have a challenge working out the harp, since its not with wings.

The only thing I'm a bit worried about is the ending. The original show just had a quick montague during the song, likely because it would be boring to watch the same 'hey, I'm actually better at this other thing' five times. Similarly, I think it could drag if the 'getting it right' part was a series of six separate scenes of the characters figuring out how to play as each other. Also, I'm a little leery of having them be able to play (even after some trial and error) as well as the other ponies on their respective instruments. None of them should be able to match Tavi on cello or Vinyl on wubstep, for instance, even by the end of the story.

Maybe it could end like this: At first, their goal is just to get through the concert, both because they're committed to it (or it's for a good cause) and because they think that succeeding there will fix things. But of course none of them are at the level they need to be with each other's instruments. So they struggle along and despair for a while (the serious ones because they think the concert is going to tank, the more frivolous ones because the others are sad/distressed), and they can't get good enough at whatever song it is in order to play it for the public. They fix things when they realize that the important thing isn't a virtuosic performance but that they're playing music they like with their best friends. So they back off the technical requirements and focus on teaching each other the basics (in a montage), so they have a very simple (but still good-sounding) ensemble piece they can actually handle. This utilization of the friendship when they play it fixes things, so that when they end the simpler piece, they switch back to normal. Then they can play their original piece and really wow the crowd.

3178622 :I agree with Punzil. Medley and Bluenote would be challenged in that situation.
As for Element-leak... not sure I really like that. I think it weakens the story if the characters we're writing are not themselves but are 'altered'; the development would seem to apply more to the altered forms of the ponies (or be necessitated by the alterations) as opposed to their true selves.

3178550 : On a side note, where'd you get that Tavi emoticon? I don't see it on the sidebar, and it looks neat.

3179345

I'll see if I can find the link... it came up during one of Knighty's site posts about certain scripts being banned... emoticon packs were on the "OK" list, and someone posted a link to one.

The Vinyl emoticons don't seem to be working tonight.

Found it: http://sta.sh/0p9nqfcqsha

An idea that struck me: -

After Nemesis was beaten by the power of friendship it's going to looks for a way to break up the mane 6 and thus render them powerless.

To this end it gains control of the owner of a record label and sends one of its minions to try and recruit Vinyl (it doesn't want to go in person in case it gets zapped again). It goes to plan and Vinyl gets signed up getting to live like the rock star she always wanted, however she gets pushed more and more to move away from Ponyville. The other 6 sensing something might be wrong try to talk her out of it, however, the minion tries to twist things to make it look like the other 6 are jealous of Vinyl's new found fame. Eventually she figures out what's going on, however, she's already signed a contract...

Sort of linked to something me and Grass were talking about last week with Nemesis being bound to contracts.

Another thing is the possibility of Nemesis setting up some sort of spy in Ponyville to find out any weaknesses of the mane-6. Possibly several stories could introduce possible contenders for the role but not have the truth found out until the end of the season.

Another possibility inspired by Rainbow Double Dash's 'Magic Tutor' is Vinyl and Lyra being required to teach some foals magic. Despite Vinyl's eccentricity I'd think her understanding of magic would be quite scientific (Magic is generated in the core of your hone the, *insert technical name here*), where as Lyra is more spiritual, (Everything has its own magic you need to draw it into yourself and then shape it, remember you're only borrowing the magic).

Mostly I want Vinyl to sing something based on Zydrate Anatomy from Repo the Generic Opera

Well Magic comes from a Unicorn's horn
A Unicorn's horn?
A Unicorn's horn

Heartstrings, Heartstrings,
Sometimes I wonder why I even bother,
Heartstrings, Heartstrings,
Sometimes I wonder why I need you at all!

Sorry for taking so long to get back to you on this--JULP has consumed most of my time.

Anyways:

I like the idea of Nemesis possessing a record label guy. We'd need to figure out what kind of deal that pony would want to make; probably the standard riches/wealth corporate thing. But then I could see that guy going out to recruit Vinyl and try to get her to move, which would inhibit her friendship with the others.

The only concern I see here is that, while Nemesis is bound by contracts (in a literal sense), Vinyl isn't; if the contract was going to break her friendships, she could break it without suffering a magical backlash. So we'd need to work out what the penalty clauses of the contract are that would stop Vinyl from doing that ("If you quit I get all your money.")

There's two ways it could go:

* The Elements find a way to get Vinyl out of the contract.
* The Elements find a way to break Nemesis' contract with record guy. So, if Nemesis told record guy "Let me in and I will make you win this music competition", they could produce a song or performance that beats his. Since Nemesis didn't fulfill the contract, he'd be expelled from the record guy's body, at which point the record guy could presumably tear up the contract.

(I think it also helps if record guy isn't evil to the point of 'I want the Elements broken! Bwahaha!' He just wants fame and doesn't know at first what it will cost him.)

3223874 : As for a magic teaching fic:

Vinyl would probably be applications-based magic. As seen in Busting Boasts, she's not strictly theory or strictly effect--she's a balance. Have effects in mind, and know enough theory to be flexible with them.

As for Lyra, the bard who loves to emote, she's probably a very spiritual-esque caster. She probably doesn't even like preparing much, preferring to let the magic come to her naturally as the moment requires. She might know a few spells she uses a lot for her music, but for things like combat, she's probably an almost intuitive caster. Which might make it hard for her to be a good teacher, actually.

I'm in the midst of writing Hoe Down and I'm planning to introduce a bunch of Vinyl's family in a comically long list of names, anyone got any suggestions for the various Scratch? (assuming the whole family has the name xxx Scratch)

In canon we already have

Vinyl
Cat
Titchy

So far I've thought of
Back
Deep
Shallow
Sniff
Lemon
Paper
Itchy

3254973

Does the stallion she's standing on have a canon/fanon name? I assume he's an older brother or something...

3255025 : What's that from? It looks really neat. Foal!Vinyl is always fun. :-)

3255025

I think he's generally called 33 1/3 - LP its the name of the DJ at the dance although that could be a stage name like DJ PON-3.

However, I'm generally keeping away from much of the Scratch family being musical, they mostly work in a saw mill.

3255032

It's an image from the IDW comic about how Shining Armor and Cadance first started dating. Apparently his stage name is supposed to be 33 1/3 LP, with his real name just being Long Play.

...so I just answered my own question...

3255032
3255053

Apparently Vinyl got her mark thanks to Shining and his friends putting on a 80's style music video to impress Cadence (and it worked).

And here is a rather sweet story with Long Play in it.

I've been chatting to G&C2 about some idea's for the C-verse Carrot Top and I've come up with...

Everfree Farming College

An educational institute near, but not in, Ponyville. Carrot Top pays the bills lecturing and tutoring there sometimes and uses quite a few of the students to keep down costs on her farm. Cat Scratch is enrolled in their vetinarian program and Fluttershy might have some connection to it.

Probably wont come up given the standard theme of our stories but it's a bit of world building.

3294371 : You mentioned maybe Octavia being a bit disturbed that she's an earth pony who does nothing with farming whatsoever. Maybe she stops by the College and gets totally overwhelmed by one of Dr. Top's lectures? (She has a PhD in Carrot-ology!).

3294376

I wonder if their might even be health problems if an earth pony doesn't interact with plants? Their magic gets 'backed up' as it were.

I could see Bluenote and Bon Bon having small gardens but Octy's music monomania might mean she doesn't expend her magic.

3294576 : I don't think I like that idea, personally. But I do like the idea of her being personally perturbed, especially if she tries and totally fails to grow something. ("I'm a failure of an earth pony!")

3294635

I was a little worried of the implications myself.

I suppose we can end with one of two morals, either you should try new things (Octy farming) or you shouldn't be down heartened that you can't do the same as everyone else you have your own talents (Octy's a bad farmer).

We might fit in music encouraging plants to grow (Maybe a Carrot Top experiment for all of the 6, Octy's grow the least despite her being an earth pony).

Another point you raised about Medley being Lancastrian well some ponyised towns / cities in Lancashire are: -

Manchester - Manechester
Chorley - Chorneigh
Hornby - Unicornby
Leigh - Neigh
Winsford - Wingsford (maybe suitable for a Pegasus town)

3294660 : Maybe mix them, with a lesson of 'it's okay to do things you aren't necessarily good at?' You said you were going to show Octy being nervous about square dancing in the upcoming fic, since she doesn't know how to do it well, so maybe tie in back to that. Tavi could be reluctant to garden because she doesn't have a green hoof, but finds it enjoyable anyways. And it's already established that Bonbon has a little garden for sweet herbs and such.

3294713 For some reason, I'm picturing Medley or some other pony dressed in red and shout things such as 'GO MANECHESTER UNITED!' and 'WE ARE THE RED CENTAURS!' or something similar.

3297757

Don't be silly, no one from Manechester actually supports United.

3297980 Really? Sorry about that, I'm actually a United supporter.

3299010

I don't know how accurate it is but it's generally said that most of United supporters are from out of town and quite commonly out of country, the locals are more likely to support city.

A Cadenceverse Flimflam brothers story.

Cast: Medley, Bluenote, Cheerilee and the foals.

Ponyville Elementary has saved up enough to equip a school band and Medley has put in a (she considers) reasonable quote for all they will need. However a flash pair of unicorns breeze into town and say their 'music maker 4000' can construct better instruments for much less. Medley scoffs it can't be done but Bluenote is ecstatic, with the money left over the school can employer her as a part time music teacher so she leans on Cheerilee to take up the Flimflam's offer. The instruments are delivered and the brothers high tale it out of town. They work fine for a week or so then they start falling apart, however, in the meanwhile the school has entered a music competition with a significant prize. Bluenote comes crawling on hooves and knees to Medley, can they borrow her instruments for the competition and if they win pay her back. Medley's instincts are to refuse, the school made a bad deal after she told them what would happen why should she put her stock at risk to help them after they ignored her? However, Medleys pleading gets through to her when the earth pony says she'll give up her new teaching role to allow the school to pay a deposit. The competition comes around and Ponyville doesn't win but they place so they can pay for a smaller band,

What do you think?

I'm wondering if Silver Spoon might be one of the few foals not enfused by the cheap instruments, he father has told her that quality costs.
Currently the Flimflams get away without punishment, I wonder if I should have them at the competition trying the same scam on another school and have Medley and Bluenote step in to warn them?

3304801 : That could be a fun story. To parallel the show, though, the instruments should probably work (just like the SSCS3K actually worked until they turned quality control off).

What if the instruments aren't just good but are reconfigurable--they can be easily retuned and such as long as you know what you're doing. The FlimFlam brothers sell not just the instruments but also a deal that obligates them to either teach someone how to do the reconfiguration or to do it themselves for a while, then skip town before actually doing it. Now the students have a bunch of instruments that technically work but are configured wrong for whatever it is they want to do, and they can't be reconfigured because it requires tools or knowledge only the FF brothers have.

As for the ending, the Musical 6 includes the daughter of nobility and also the daughter of an MP in the House of Commons. I think some kind of governmental scrutiny could be put on them.

3305225 If they can be caught. ;)

I think it's good idea, myself.

3305225
3305238

I'd go with the machine working perfectly, its the materials that are defective. It could make the instruments only a bit worse than hoof made ones much quicker if the right materials were provided. However, the Flim Flams use the cheapest stock they had get their hooves on to maximise profits hence the defective goods. It would compare to Medley who probably uses the best materials she can despite the cost because she wants to make the best instruments.

With the tuning idea, why do they run? It sounds like a sweet deal with them, no doubt they can work out a contact that they have to do the tuning and get paid each time they do it, all perfectly legal.

3305325 : Cause they don't want to stick around and tune forever; they can make much more money by taking a boatload of money for tuning services, then skip town and sell the same crap one city over.

Then again, I suppose defective materials also fits the show. Could even tie in someone complaining about how Medley's stock is pricy and she argues that quality takes money.

3305332

Ah that makes more sense to me now.

Given the Flimflams links to the music man I guess I'd have to fit 76 Trombones in there somewhere.

I do prefer the machine working perfectly, but the Brothers skimping out on materials. It parallels the episode nicely. Hell, maybe an epilogue where Medley uses quality materials and, to her utter shock the instruments work well?

3305477

Possibly, I'm sure if the Flimflams leave it behind at the very least Vinyl will be keen to snap up such an interesting Magitech device, and Medley would recognise the cost saving, although she might prefer to make some instruments by hoof just for the feel of it.

Equestriavision Song Contest! Or, at least call it Equestrian Song Contest. I was thinking that there should be a singing contest in Equestria every year, a bit like the Eurovision Song Contest but instead of different countries participating, the provinces in Equestria are the participants.

I was thinking that we would start with a contest inside the province where Ponyville is with one of the main characters as one of the participants. What do you think?

3320039

Well we have Mac as being an accomplished singer mentioned in Race and again in Hoe Down, once I've finished it.

Of the 6 I'd assume Lyra was the best singer, would the two thousand verse ode to Bon Bon get Nul poi?

3320192 I was thinking we might also parody things such as neighbours voting neighbours and ponies treating the contest as if it is serious buisness.

Lyra: I can't believe it. Rushia is the winner and I took 15th place! It's neighbours, I'm telling you!

Medley: Well you have to admit that the Rushian singer is very talented -

Lyra: Neigh. Bours. If Nulpar and Latigo didn't award it 12 points, it wouldn't have won!

(That is if Cadenceverse has the same provinces as the Lunaverse).

3321653

We could also parody previous real life winners.

How about Luna dressing up as Nightmare Moon to be the equivalent of Lordi (to soon?)

A stallion dressed as a mare?

3322141 I think Luna dressed up as Nightmare participating would be too soon, psychological wounds fade longer than physical ones. (Though I'd love to imagine Luna or Celestia discovering Heavy Metal, although it's not my type of music/song). The Conchita expy might make the moment slightly humorous.

Would a thestral/batpony sing this:

Maybe an in-story comment regarding his voice higher-pitched than normal for thestrals/batponies.

Now if only this get's ponified:

3322582

Maybe an in-story comment regarding his voice higher-pitched than normal for thestrals/batponies.

Maybe they could have echo location, or just be singing castrato

As for the other, well that's sort of what I see for Lyra and Red Tapes relationship only with her being totally unaware of his feelings.

3325887 After watching 'Hard Rock Hallelujah', I couldn't help but replacing Mr Lordi with Luna/Nightmare Moon.

Though it won't happen for the next 5 years or so.

How are Vinyl's finances?

She's a small town DJ which probably doesn't pay well and she's a bit out of the way so she often has to pay to move her stuff to clubs. Plus her experimentation is probably not cheap. I'm my mind she inherited her house which cuts down costs a bit but things are probably still tight. So she probably takes on odd jobs where she can.

We also know that Medley takes weather shifts when she can but the work is drying up because Dash is good at her job.

So tie this up to Sweet Apple Acres having a bumper harvest this year and needing to take on a whole bunch of workers for the season both Vinyl and Medley sign on. The two don't get on well Vinyl's laid back style vs Medleys sense of hard work just scrape up against each other. They work fine as friends, but as co-workers...

Now what would happen if Vinyl got put in charge a work gang including Medley?

3344318 :I don't know if Vinyl would be badly off. She seems to get gigs in Canterlot on a fairly regular basis, and she builds most of her gear herself, so she's really only paying for parts.

However, what if she wants to use zap apples in one of her performances since zap apples have wacky magic powers? Maybe she makes a deal to help out on SAA in exchange for zap apples, which are basically priceless since the Apples have a monopoly on them.

3344323

Possibly, the apples might work as a sort of magical battery.

I was thinking that Medley would likely consider that a frivolous thing to work for but she's probably work for the materials she'd need as well, maybe she might want wood from a Zap Apple Tree?

I was maybe going for Vinyl teaching Medley a work smarter rather than harder lesson but it seems a bit one sided. Maybe something about not over complicating things?

3344487 : I like the idea of Vinyl teaching Medley about working smarter, not harder. Maybe on the other side, Vinyl is very independent--she likes to do things her own way. Medley could show her how it's sometimes important to follow instructions. Especially when it comes to harvesting Zap Apples.

Medley: (As Vinyl goes flying through the air) "You can't pick them before they're ready!"

And I do like the idea of Medley wanting wood from a zap apple tree. I could see her working for the Apples for rare materials (and probably some money on top of that.)

Another option for Medley is she's resentful/distrustful, thinking the Apples only hired her out of charity reasons. Vinyl might help her get over this.

How about a cutie mark anthology for the C-mane 6?

Maybe a poker game or other social event as a framing idea, when each player is knocked out they have to tell their story. If we want to go the way of the cutie mark chronicles maybe have a particular song or composer linking them all together which could in turn link to a future story where they look for the composer in investigate the music more.

I've not got that many ideas for the cutie mark stories, all being musicians (except arguably Fluttershy) it might be hard not to make them to similar: -

* Octavia - Gets her mark at her first concert, she gets stage fright and her father gives her his bowtie to give her courage to go on.
* Vinyl - Sort of exiled from her family for starting a fire and sent to live with her grandfather in ponyville, he's an inventor and she gets her mark combining his inventions and an interest in music (causing another fire).
* Fluttershy - I'm not sure whether to vary significantly from her canon cutie mark story, Maybe highlight the music of bird song.
* Medley - Interested in music but her family can't afford lessons / an instrument for her, she actually gains her mark on a filly scout camping trip listening to the music of nature
* Bluenote - Not sure, maybe something about the pressure of her father being famous, everypony pushes her towards classical music but she gets her mark on holiday in Neigh Orleans watching a parade go by?
* Vinyl - Puts on / takes part in a play about some local hero and maybe helps save a statue / building relating to him / her