Rock and Roll

by PxDnNinja

Girls, Girls, Girls

Applejack found herself walking through town towards her friends house which luckily doubled as the town library. A new weed had shown up around the farm and she had no clue what it was, but if anyone would have a book with the info, it was Twilight. A smile formed upon AJ's face as she thought about the controlled chaos of the library. Books all over, but Twilight always knew where they were. Well...almost always, but no one was perfect. As she approached the library, the typical silence that seemed to float around the sacred book lair set in. Applejack couldn't help but pause after a moment.

"Wait ah minute. It's too quiet..." She mumbled to herself as she approached the door with caution. Suddenly the silence was shattered by a loud noise, repeating in a rhythm. Applejack jumped back slightly and fell on her flank as a second sound joined in. After a moment of surprised, she recognized it as two guitars playing loudly.

"What tha hay?" Standing up, Applejack opened the door and peaked her head in. The sight that met her was something she never could have imagined in her wildest dreams. Across the room stood Rainbow Dash, still bandaged from her injuries a week ago, holding a vicious looking black guitar, was playing a complicated sounding tune. That was shocking in and of itself, but beside her, with a big smile on her face, stood Twilight Sparkle, wearing a silver guitar that didn't have all the pointy parts that Dash's had. Nonetheless it was just as loud and clearly was the source of the rhythmic noise from earlier. What surprised Applejack the most, however, was how good it actually sounded. Hearing such a rock style from Dash made sense, but Twilight never struck AJ as being into this type of music.

And neither of them even played an instrument as far as Applejack was aware.

After a minute or two, both ponies stopped and looked to each other, hoofbumping in silent agreement that they had performed excellently. Applejack started clapping to make herself known, a grin on her own face now.

"Ack!" Twilight jumped, not having noticed Applejack as she had been watching her own fretwork. Dash, however, handled the surprise better.

"Hey AJ! How's it going? Like the guitars?!" She asked, excited still from the music. The last few days she had picked up what she had remembered as a kid and was constantly playing, applying her dedication as a stunt flyer to the guitar. Twilight had read a few books on how it was supposed to work and found she could play 'Rhythm', as Dash had put it, quite well.

"Sure, but how'd y'all get so good so fast? I've never even seen ya hold ah guitar." Applejack asked, confused by their obvious skill. Music wasn't their talent, otherwise their cutie marks would be different, so what was up?

"Oh I played when I was a filly, and Twilight here found a book," Dash explained, rolling her eyes at the fact that Twilight had a book on guitar playing, "so with some instruction from me, she has gotten pretty solid as well. So now we just jam from time to time." Dash finished explaining, while Twilight was using her magic to re-tune her 'axe', as Dash liked to call it.

"Oh Man! I forgot how much I enjoyed this!" Dash exclaimed. Applejack was joining them in the happiness now that her confusion was cleared.

"Well you guys are pretty good. You should form a band." Applejack suggested, trying to imagine Twilight and Dash on stage with a group of ponies playing loud music. Dash and Twilight's eyes shot to each other, and a grin formed on Dash's face.

"That's not a bad idea, AJ! But we need more ponies. Someone to learn drums and a bassist. Drums requires a lot of stamina and endurance." Dash drifted to talking to herself as she thought through everyone she could think of, glancing at Twilight to see if she had any suggestions. A blank face met her.

'Hah, like Twilight would have any idea who could be a good drummer.' Dash thought, rolling her eyes at the thought when Twilight spoke.

"Well, what about you Applejack. You buck all day and the work on the farm means you should have a huge amount of endurance, and I know you can keep rhythm. When you run you are always on perfect time." Twilight suggested, bringing silence to the group. Applejack was shocked at both the suggestion, and the fact that Twilight even picked up on the fact that she had a cadence when she ran to keep a steady pace.

"You could be an awesome drummer, AJ! But do you think you would like playing this type of music?" Dash said, excited for the possibility. AJ gave her an annoyed look.

"What? Because ah'm a farm pony ah can't enjoy music other than country?" She said, offended at the thought. She had been planning on passing at the chance, but she couldn't stand there and let Dash make such unfair assumptions.

"You git me a drum set and I'm in!" She replied as though accepting a challenge. Twilight held back a laugh at the way Dash manipulated her friend.

"Into what, might I ask?" A new voice spoke as the door opened and a white unicorn walked in, then froze at the sight before her. Behind her a bouncy pink pony followed, but took all she saw in stride, naturally.

"OH WOW! DASH, THAT'S AN AWESOME AXE!" Pinkie Pie said, jetting across the room to get a closer look, then to Twilight's to see hers.
"YOURS TOO TWILIGHT! How long have you been playing? I didn't know you even knew of a guitar? Are you a secret rock star and been living a double life? triple life? Secretly you roam the lands at night, fighting demons with the power of rock and roll?" Twilight put a hoof into Pinkie's mouth to slow the hyper pony down.

"We just started, and the three of us are looking at starting a band." Twilight explained. Pinkies eyes widened even further, somehow, and Rarity showed signs of understanding as well.

"That's a splendid idea. When I was in a small band as a filly I had a lot of fun." Rarity mentioned, getting a closer look at the guitar and amp setup. It was everyone's turn to give Rarity a confused stare.
"What, it wasn't some rock band. A few fillies I was friends with and I played together. I learned piano, and have a keyboard stored at my boutique. Haven't touched it in years, but those days were fun. We played several classical pieces, but eventually went our separate ways." She explained, remembering her days learning piano with friends and simpler times. Dash, however, was running through artists she knew who used keyboards in their songs.

"You know, Rarity. You spend all day in that boutique, you should pick up a hobby. Perhaps joining a rock band?" Dash said, turning Rarity's words from a few days ago back on herself. A keyboard would give them more options of music, but the look Rarity was giving made that possibility seem distant.

"Really Rainbow Dash. Do I look like the kind of pony who joins rock bands?" Rarity asked, humored at such a concept. Twilight grinning and walked forward, staying close enough not to pull the cable on her guitar.

"Well Rarity, imagine the costumes you could make for any band you were in. People who watched could see the fabulous outfits and want to order from the band member who created such wonderful things." Twilight said, turning the idea into a fashion and marketing option for the unicorn. Rarity's eyes shot to Twilight's surprise, the a glare formed.

"You think I'm so easily manipulated?" She said, acting offended at such a thought. No pony replied. Not even Pinkie Pie.

And with good reason...

"Yes, you are right. I am. Just let me know when and I'll dig out the keyboard. God it has been years." She started mumbling to herself as she imagined playing again. Dash jumped up excited.

"AWESOME! Now for bass and vocals." Dash barely finished the comment when Pinkie Pie showed up in her face with a huge grin. Dash, however, did not share the excitement.
"Yes Pinkie?" Dash asked. Pinkie just looked at her, then to her guitar, then to her again.

"I can totally play a bass guitar!" She finally said. Dash gave a skeptical look.

"Really? You can suddenly play bass?" She asked. Pinkie nodded.

"Yep, Bass, Harmonica, Trombone, Tuba, Flute, and many others. Remember the parasprites!" She explained, listing off random instruments she could play, and maybe even had. Everyone realized she had a good point. During the parasprite infection she had played many instruments at once. After a short glance around, Dash sighed and nodded.

"Fantastic! We have lead and rhythm guitar, drums, keyboard, and bass. Almost a whole rock band. Just need vocals!" Dash exclaimed. Everyone looked at her in confusion, obviously expecting her to jump at the option.
"What? Oh no, I can't sing and play guitar. That's a skill I never got. Besides, you need a really large range to sing in rock. Many rock singers can sing various styles and both clean and rough." Dash explained, realizing something that she wasn't sure how to handle.

They needed a singer who could sing clear, soft, but also shout and be vocal. Maybe even someone who had taught singing to others. Someone who would occasionally lead a choir of ponies, or other woodland creatures, in beautiful music. The realization as to who could be their singer screamed at Dash, but the knowledge of just how hard it would be to get her to say yes sunk in as well.

"Oh horseapples. I know who we need as a singer."

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AUTHOR'S NOTE: SO THIS CHAPTERS TITLE REALLY WAS THE BEST I COULD THINK OF. ALL THE GIRLS ARE JOINING UP IN THE BAND, SO IT FIT.

I HOPE YOU ARE ENJOYING THE BUILD UP OF THE BAND. I PROMISED THIS CHAPTER WOULD LAUNCH THIS WEEKEND, AND FINISHED IT SOONER THAN I EXPECTED. NO IDEA HOW LONG FOR THE NEXT CHAPTER AS I NEED TO GET THE NEW CHAPTER FOR OF LOYALTY AND CHAOS READY.

ENJOY.

Comments

[Gutter_Cat]

Mötley Crüe. Also good chapter.

[RaptorJesus]

Lead singer Fluttershy. Yes. Just yes.

[Nespithe]

Yes yes yes yes! :D I can't help but picture Fluttershy in some corpse paint. :)

[thegeeman]

Needs to be more kvlt