Chapter 2 Musical Theory
“Vinyl! Open up!” Octavia shouted, banging hard on the door to the DJ’s brick house. The music blaring from inside was probably perturbing the neighbors and it was certainly drowning out the sound of her knocking.
“I don’t think she’s gonna get the door,” said Lyra, who had come along with Octavia “Maybe we should just try again some other time.”
Undetered, Octavia took out her cell phone and dialed Vinyl’s number. The music inside softened, but didn’t abate, as Vinyl answered.
“Hey, Tavi! You’re not calling to tell me your cancelling are you?” Vinyl shouted into the phone “I’ve been looking forward to this for weeks!”
“I’m calling to tell you I’m at the door…” said Octavia.
“Oh shoot,” said Vinyl with a laugh “You know there’s this new thing called knocking? Try it sometime!”
Vinyl hung up again before Octavia could launch into a violent retort and the door was open before she could aggress that either.
“Oh hey!” Vinyl exclaimed as she opened the door like a rocket “You brought Lyra too? That’s totally sweet! I was going to call you over sometime too. Believe me this is going to be the best thing ever!”
“Do you have this choreographed?” asked Octavia curiously.
“If that means ‘do I have music?’ then yes, I came up with the absolute best track you’ve ever heard!”
“Probably better than my stuff,” said Lyra with a noncommittal shrug “Is this some sort of classical rock?”
“You’ll see,” said Vinyl “Come on in and get yourselves situated. I’ve already got my turntables warmed up so we can start whenever!”
“We heard…” said Octavia.
Vinyl couldn’t help but notice that Lyra didn’t have a case for her harp, but merely carried it on a strap over her back. Octavia, on the other hoof, had a large ornate case of what looked like some sort of polished stone. What really sort of nagged at her was how long they took to tune their instruments. Oh well, not everyone could be blessed in the art of electronic sounds after all.
“Not one word,” Octavia said to Vinyl, seeming to read her mind entirely based on her facial expression “Without our music your music wouldn’t exist.”
“I wasn’t gonna say anything!” said Vinyl defensively.
“Where’s the music you got for us to play anyway?” asked Lyra “You just have the piano part? Or do you think you could transcribe it to cello and harp?”
“Already done!” said Vinyl, changing to a smug tone “I found this awesome website that takes music and writes it out for all sorts of instruments. I’ve got both your parts here!” she proceeded to pull several pages of sheet music out of her saddlebag and passed them out.
“I hardly think the internet is a reliable source of acceptable musical apparatus…” said Octavia, looking over the music with an expression of boredom “Though I admit, this isn’t bad. You say you made this yourself?”
“Totally!” said Vinyl “Come on, I’ll introduce you to my mixing station!”
Lyra and Octavia exchanged a glance, then shrugged and followed Vinyl to the next room. Vinyl had done nothing short of constructing a monument using her speaker systems. There were two huge ones on either side of the turntable and the back seemed to have stacked all manner of other models. If this wasn’t some sort of huge drain on power, nothing was.
“Alright!” Vinyl shouted, taking a huge leap and landing behind the turntables “I’ll set it to record and you guys just play the music!”
“Do you have someone for the vocals?” asked Lyra “There are kind of words here…”
“Ignore them!” said Vinyl, just a little bit too quickly “Alright, ready to record, want me to count you off?”
“That would be nice.” Said Lyra.
“Alright,” said Vinyl, a low hum coming from the table “One, two, ready, go!”
Lyra started the melody, strumming a fast downscale then forming to the pulse of the music. Octavia followed only one bar later, providing a haunting echo as the melody built up to a crescendo. Octavia seemed to vibrate the bow on the strings while Lyra pulsed her harp like the sound of water dropping.
A pause, and then the brilliant burst of sound came from both simultaneously. The strings fell into a perfect synchronization, dancing the music around each other, handing off the melody as they passed, neither having the lead role for more than an instant.
There was suddenly a third harmony dancing through the music. Octavia looked up to see Vinyl moving the keys on her soundboard, creating a synthetic third part using what sounded like a pre-recorded violin. She smiled, so much for her opinion of Vinyl; that was actually kind of cool.
This track continued for almost an hour, repeating again from the beginning every time they approached the end and spinning it differently each time. None of them were really willing to let the music end.
Unfortunately, at some point, it had to. As Octavia finished on a long note and Vinyl trailed away, Lyra plucked out one last little harmony. They looked up at each other as the sound finally stopped, shocked in equal measure at the power of what they had just created.
“That was astounding…” said Octavia, breaking the silence “We didn’t have to rehearse it once!”
“It flowed so free…” said Lyra “Those were sounds… I didn’t even know I could make…”
Vinyl smiled “I need to condense it for the final mix,” she said “But that was absolutely fantastic! Now we just need to get your individual singing parts.”
“Individual parts?” asked Octavia “What, pray tell, are you referring to with that statement?”
“Well the lyrics are obviously illustrating the members of our group,” said Vinyl, and Octavia felt sure she was rolling her eyes behind those shades “So I need to record everyone’s parts individually. Doc came by here yesterday for his, so after we’re done here I’ll just have to get in touch with Bonbon and Derpy!”
“You have thought through this to quite a degree,” said Octavia, sounding genuinely impressed “Can this computer of yours comprehend the various sounds though?”
“Of course it can!” said Vinyl assuringly “Even if I didn’t think it could, I’d make it work somehow. I’m telling you, the DJ PON-3 name is gonna be the next big thing in Equestria!”
“I’m skeptical…” said Lyra “You do realize the sort of competition you’ve got going into music? What makes you think your going to be the one in a million that manages to get big?”
Vinyl snickered “That’s what he said…”
Octavia slapped her “That was a serious question Vinyl,” she said angrily “Respect it with a serious answer!”
“Alright, alright…” said Vinyl “I’m gonna be the next big thing because… I’m working on a whole new genre of music…”
“Oh are you?” asked Lyra “What do you call this new genre of music?”
Vinyl mumbled something incomprehensible. “Oh come now,” said Octavia “It’s not as if we’ll laugh at you. Frankly I believe any new type of music would become a success in an age where new styles are so rare and far between.”
“It’s not ready yet…” said Vinyl “Come on, we need to get that singing part done!”
“But…” said Lyra.
“No buts!” said Vinyl “Come on, this song may be good now but when we get the vocal part finished it’ll be fantastic!”
The coming Monday would find the class of Ponyville High doing one of their first real experiments. It wasn’t much, simple chemical reactions, but it was at least more interesting than the math and English projects they had been working on thus far. And what was more important, they worked on it both before and after lunch as opposed to having one morning and one afternoon class.
As the testing of various substances was drawing to a close Vinyl detached herself from her lab partner and walked over to Splice. Octavia, who had been working with her, glared as she put the finishing touches on the project.
“Can I have your attention class?” Splice called from the front “You can all put away your syringes and flasks, Vinyl has something she would like to present.”
“Oh no…” said Lyra “She isn’t…”
Bonbon, next to her, flushed “That can’t be what I think it is…” she said “That was just for us, there’s no way…”
“She’s going to play that song isn’t she Doctor?” said Derpy, sounding almost frightened.
“Oh dear…” The Doctor said.
Vinyl walked over to a small CD player on Splice’s desk and took out a blue CD labeled “DJ PON-3 Soundtrack One”. The CD floated down into the tray as Vinyl grinned over at her friends, who were all shooting her the signal not to do this. Undetered, she pushed the play button and released the music out over her classmates.
:Allons-y Theme Song:
V: My little pony, my little pony!
L: What is friendship all about?
Dy: My little pony, my little pony!
B: Friendship is magic!
V: My little pony!
L: I used to wonder what friendship could be
D: My little pony!
B: Until you all shared it’s magic with me!
O: Some time ago, I was too busy to make any friends
L: Such silliness did not seem worth the effort it expends
O: But my little ponies, you opened up my eyes!
L: And now the truth is crystal clear
O: And glorious summer skies!
L: And it’s such a wonderful surprise…
All: My little pony!
O: I used to wonder what friendship could be
All: My little pony!
L: Until you all shared it’s magic with me!
D: When Daleks make me wanna hide, the Doctor will be by my side
DW: Adventurous, she’ll never lose a match, our favorite DJ Vinyl Scratch
V: For music skill no pony can deny, Octavia will make you turn your eyes
O: The strings that play so beautiful, Lyra’s hard to come by
L: And we all enjoy great candy, thanks to Bonbon’s careful eye!
DW: My little pony!
D: I used to wonder what friendship could be!
DW: My little pony!
D: Until you all shared it’s magic with me!
V: Our music’s magic, and it’s better all the time
B: A new adventure waits for us each day is yours and mine!
L: We’ll make it special every time
All: We’ll make it special every time!
L: My little pony!
B: What a wonderful wonder friendship brings
L: My little pony!
B: Do you know you’re all my very best
L: Friends!
DW: You’re my very best
D: Friends!
O: You’re my very best
V: Friends
All: You’re all my very best Friends!
There was a thud as Octavia’s forehead slammed onto the desk. Lyra and Bonbon seemed to be trying to shrink down so as not to be seen. Derpy was hiding behind The Doctor who was rubbing the back of his neck in embarrassment. Vinyl frowned, had they not liked it?
The sound of stomping hooves suddenly burst out through the room. The class as a whole was applauding their music. Vinyl’s frown flipped a 180 as she held back a whoop. Derpy came out from behind the Doctor, face tomato red as Lyra and Bonbon relaxed a little bit. Octavia sat up quickly, trying her best to remain professional.
“Very good Vinyl!” said Splice enthusiastically “I also heard the voices of some of your other friends in that presentation, was the music yours?”
“No way man,” said Vinyl, taking the chance to appear humble while still hogging it up “I have to give all the musical cred to Tavi and Lyra. I just remixed it. Bonbon, Doc, and Derpy were all in on it too.”
The class turned to each pony she named almost on cue. The Doctor managed to force a smile, and Octavia kept her stoic composure, but the others seemed to try and hide again. The song still seemed a bit cheesy from a third pony standpoint, and they weren’t quite sure whether the praise was genuine.
“Alright class dismissed,” said Splice as the bell rang out over the school. The usual mad rush for the door occurred quickly, but the six remained behind, Vinyl cowering under the other pony’s glaring eyes.
“How could you do that?” asked Lyra incredulously “That song was for us and us alone, why would you bring it out in front of the whole class?”
“You said you had no intention of publishing it!” said Bonbon “What do you think that meant?”
“Guys, guys, chill!” said Vinyl “I never said I wouldn’t show it off a little! Did you see that reaction? They loved it!”
“That may be…” said The Doctor “But that is still a betrayal of trust. You really out to be ashamed of yourself Vinyl, I know I’m disappointed.”
“But…” Vinyl muttered.
“No buts,” said Octavia snappishly “You made a mistake now what are you going to do about it?”
Vinyl hung her head and muttered something incomprehensible. “What was that?” asked the Doctor.
“I’m sorry…” Vinyl said “That was a really wrong thing to do. Playing the music without your permission I mean. Next time I’ll ask before I try something like that…”
“Thank you,” said Lyra, sounding self-satisfied “I didn’t have a problem with it in the end though, it did turn out really well.”
“You think?” asked Vinyl, but quickly readjusted “I mean… of course it was, it’s not like the great and awesome Vinyl Scratch is ever wrong!”
Derpy smiled as Octavia rolled her eyes. “Tell you what,” said Bonbon “Why don’t we all head over to my shop and we can get some of my new honeypot stars!”
“Oh that sounds delectable,” said Octavia.
“Lead the way!” said The Doctor enthusiastically.
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haha Allons-y! Gosh i miss that so much ya know?
Allons-y, one of the best fics I've read in a while. Good job
2456830 Gosh... I was honestly not very proud of this one
Have you taken a look at Light and Shadow...?
2467778 No, I'll have to take a look, sounds interesting
Anyway's yes I do think this is a really good take on the "background mane 6" as I like to call them. I love everything about this story and can't wait for the next update
I will leave you with a moustache
Good fanfic! Please post more!
This is amazing. One the best I've read in a long time