Rock and Roll

by PxDnNinja

The Bard's Song

To say everypony was surprised that Fluttershy had agreed to singing for a band, and basically being the front pony for the group, was a huge understatement. Nonetheless everypony welcomed the shy pegasus into the barn before closing the doors and showing her the stage. Twilight was about to start explaining what all they had done when Dash cut her off.

"See Flutters. We already have everything set up, and with the music we brought we can have a lot of fun playing music as friends. No pony here to worry about." Dash said, placing an arm around the canary pegasus and waving her other arm to indicate the stage.
"You guys did an awesome job setting this up too. We swung by my place and picked up some old music books and stuff I had in boxes, plus Flutters here knows a good bit of the music I listened to back in flight school." Dash told the group, prompting Twilight to perk up and the mere mention of books before levitating the bag Dash had brought with her over.

From this point, the group broke into smaller groups discussing instruments and how the different pieces were set up.

Applejack was on the stage with her drum set reading a starter guide she picked up on basic rhythms and was lightly tapping out some basic patterns while Pinkie had her bass on but turned down, following along with whatever AJ played. At first AJ was confused why the hyperactive pony was nearby, but Pinkie explained how the bass and drums created the backbone for most music, guiding the rhythm. As such they needed to be in tune with how each other played. The calm nature that the pink pony explained it surprised AJ, who decided to just nod and agree to go along with it.

Twilight and Rarity had moved over to the keyboard and were looking over the books Dash had brought. Some were simple books on how to play guitar (which Twilight made a note to borrow), while others were books of sheet music by different rock and metal bands Dash was obviously a fan of. Some of the books had lines with numbers that Twilight recognized as tab, while others had proper sheet music which Rarity was reading over, her hoof subconsciously tapping out the patters for what she read.

The big surprise for the pair was a group of classical books, a style of music they couldn't ever imagine Dash listening to. Twilight noticed Rarity didn't seem interested in reading those books and brought it up to the white unicorn. Her answer had been rather simple:

"Twilight Darling. I was raised playing piano. While that is a fantastic selection of the classics, I know them all by heart already. I'm more interested in these other books. I never imagined some complicated patterns of piano and keyboard would be used in this style." The fashion designer explained before delving back into a book by a band called 'Journey'.

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While everypony else was off doing their thing, Dash had moved over to her guitar, keeping the volume low but plucking at strings to make sure it was in tune. She was in a hurry to actually play a song, but AJ needed time to learn more about her drums, and Rarity needed to get reacquainted with her instrument as well. So for now, Dash settled with some exercises meant to speed up her playing.

Fluttershy had followed Dash up on the stage and watched as everypony was working on their instruments. It was interesting seeing Dash holding a guitar again. It had been so many years since she had even seen the cyan pegasus holding one it almost looked foreign. But, even now, the pegasus made it look as natural as everything else the athlete did when she put her mind to it.

With nothing major to look at, her eyes focused on the mic at the front of the stage. Her mic. The item that was intended to make sure EVERYPONY heard her voice.

She didn't like that mic.

Nonetheless, with everypony else preoccupied by their own things, she had nothing else to do but approach her nemesis and get a closer look at it. A test tap on the mic proved it was on, but the volume wasn't very high, barely registering as a 'thud' through the speakers. Moving around, she stood directly behind the mic, all her friends out of her view and only the wall of the barn to stare back at her. Behind her she could hear the thumping of AJ and Pinkie Pie, playing their own impromptu songs. To her left, Rarity was starting to play her own song on the keyboard while showing Twilight some simple scales. Just behind her to the right was Dash, playing some rather slow riff over and over that sounded familiar. The sound took her back to when Dash had first introduced her to a band that Fluttershy actually enjoyed.

As they had bunked at flight school, Fluttershy had heard many of Dash's favorite bands, and while they were ok (even enjoyable) to Fluttershy, she was always ok with just listening to them when Dash played them. One day, however, Dash put in a new band and the song she heard had pulled her in with it's lyrics and the style used by the vocalist. From that day forward, Fluttershy had been a fan of the band, and even got to see them live with Dash at one point. Unfortunately when Dash and she had left flight school (rather suddenly), she hadn't had time to gather her stuff and lost the albums she had, but after all this time, she remembered that song clearly.

Dash had stopped playing to check a tuning, but this was lost to the pegasus by the mic, her mind recalling the emotion she felt the first time she had heard the song. As such, Dash was able to hear as Fluttershy suddenly started singing into the microphone a song she hadn't heard in years.

"Now You all know
The bards and their songs"

Dash smiled, happy to hear her friend's singing voice projecting through the PA system. Reaching over, she quietly raised the volume slightly, just enough to clearly hear the voice.

"When hours have gone by
I'll close my eyes
In a world far away"

Twilight heard the sound and looked over, shock on her face to see Fluttershy singing the beautiful notes she was hearing. A slight tap to the white pegasus pulled Rarity from her concentration and with a quick glance where Twilight was looking, she soon wore an equally shocked expression.

"In a world far away
We may meet again"

AJ looked up from her book to see what Pinkie was doing when her eyes saw Fluttershy directly ahead of her, and she heard the voice from the speakers sitting on stands nearby. Pinkie Pie noticed as well, and had a rare genuine smile on her face, not one of her crazy "ready to party" smiles, but a smile she showed when one of her friends was doing something truly amazing and wonderful. Following her gaze, she saw what was placing that smile on her face as she listened to their surprisingly talented singer.

"But now hear my song
About the dawn of the night
Let's sing the bards' song"

Dash had learned this song long ago, and knew this part was coming up. As the chorus kicked in, she started playing along with her friend, increasing her guitar volume enough to provide background to the vocals. When the guitar started beside her, Fluttershy glanced over and saw Dash walk up beside her, holding the guitar and smiling as she nodded for the singer to continue. Fluttershy felt her nerves kick in, but the support her best friend was showing helped her push past and continue, her friend providing the backup music.

"Tomorrow will take us away
Far from home
No one will ever know our names
But the bards' songs will remain
Tomorrow will take it away
The fear of today
It will be gone
Due to our magic songs"

The group could only watch in stunned silence as Dash stood next to Fluttershy and played a simple interlude between the chorus she had just sang and the verse they could tell was coming up. Making sure they didn't startle the shy pegasus, the group gathered and sat, simply listening to the rest of the song.

"There's only one song
Left in my mind
Tales of a brave man
Who lived far from here
Now the bard songs are over
And it's time to leave
No one should ask You for the name Of the one
Who tells the story

Tomorrow will take us away
Far from home
No one will ever know our names
But the bards' songs will remain
Tomorrow all will b e known
And You're not alone
So don't be afraid
In the dark and cold
'Cause the bards' songs will remain
They all will remain

In my thoughts and in my dreams
They're always in my mind
These songs of hobbits, dwarves and men
And elves
Come close Your eyes
You can see them, too"

As Fluttershy's voice faded and Dash stepped away, the rest of the group realized they had to practice a lot more than they had planned. The fact that Fluttershy was even in front of the mic was amazing to them, and top that with how good she was, they all knew what had to be done. Slowly, AJ started clapping, which did scare the singer, but only slightly.

"Wow Fluttershy. Ah had no idea y'all could sing that good, or even knew songs like that." She said, with a smile on her face. The rest of the group simple nodded as the approached the pegasi duo at the front of the stage.

"I'm..ok.." Fluttershy started with her usual modesty but Dash wasn't having it.

"Ok!? Like I told you guys! She is AWESOME! Now come on, we need to practice! Everyone into position!" Dash practically shouted at the rest of the band. They all looked to each other for a moment with knowing looks, before nodding and moving to their instruments. After a short discussion on what each person should practice, they finally were able to start learning together, as a band.

Comments

[Dqnylqny117]

yo this is so awesome and this.is what i had in mind (i tried to base this on personality):

Vocals: Rainbow Dash
Co-lead Guitar: Applejack
Co-lead Guitar: Rarity
Bass: Fluttershy
Piano and Keyboards: Twilight Sparkle
Drums: Pinkie Pie

and can you please do one on Wild Side by Motley Crue, please?

[PxDnNinja]

1525327 Hey hey. I'm glad you enjoy the story. Sadly it has been on a bit of a hiatus (not by choice) with life going the way it is want to do. I'm currently in the middle of a large chapter for my other story on here, Of Loyalty and Chaos, but just for you I will see if I can work that song in when I get to working on this story.

[Dqnylqny117]

1525913 oh i hope everything goes well and the best for you! and thanks you are the best!

[flybynight2112]

you should put in some Rush songs such as Limelight or A Passage to Bangkok (of course you would have to alter the lyrics to a passage to bangkok)
Here's Limelight: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uwXjnVICb3I
and here's A Passage to Bangkok with lyrics that you can alter for the story: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R4rcyspnbVE

[PxDnNinja]

Good news everyone. While I have two other stories I'm working on, I am also planning a new chapter for Rock and Roll finally. Work and life have leveled off and I am ready to get this ball rolling again, slowly.

1677746 I probably won't be putting any Rush songs in this story as I don't like that particular band, but I am always willing to give new tracks a shot even by bands I don't care for. I listened to both of those songs you linked and A Passage to Bangkok was better than most Rush songs, but still wasn't feeling it.

1531715 Just so you know, I have been listening to Wild Side several times this week trying to figure out how to fit it into the story with little luck. I'm still trying, but I might have to go with another Crue song instead

[Rainbow87dash]

Hmm a link to that Flutters sang would be so bad

[PxDnNinja]

1872512 Ask and ye shall receive. I thought I had linked it in an authors note earlier.

[Rainbow87dash]

Great thanks