Under unexpected circumstances a Metalcore band forms in Ponyville and puts all of Equestria under their spell. Soon they will find out that Metal just like friendship is a powerful magic.
Is this thing on? Ready or not, here it comes...
It was really just friendship that united us all, until that fateful afternoon on which we found out that we also shared a big common passion: Music. We just intended it as a hobby and soon started just handing out our first recordings. Oddly we were perceived very well by the people who listened to the tape, and now here we are... Just the other day I thought back to when we were just normal ponies... That was a long time ago, but we are still kind of there emotionally. I guess it's time to tell our story; A story of luck in all the right places and the great people that made us what we are today: The most famous Pony-Metalcore-Band in all of Equestria.
It was an average spring day in Ponyville; the town square was bustling with ponies going about their daily routines and minding their own business, Pinkie Pie was crazy and welcoming to everyone as per usual, Applejack sold her apples at her stall, Rarity was working on a new design for some significant pony, Twilight was learning a few new spells and Fluttershy was looking after her woodland friends.
Many ponies were out and about today, but some liked to be to themselves more. One of these ponies was Gritty Metal, who enjoyed just sitting alone in his home practicing on his electric guitar. He had even earned his cutie mark by doing so. He was a very passionate guitarist and also liked performing in front of crowds. But this one time he had not sat down by himself to practice, but he had invited Rainbow Dash over. He would have never admitted it to himself, but he kind of liked her and wanted to impress her with his fresh guitar-work.
Just as he was done with tuning his guitar there was a knock on the door. He put the guitar down in his room and walked down the stairs towards the entrance of his house. He opened the door and saw Rainbow Dash standing right in front of him. He had waited for this day for so long; the day that Rainbow Dash would actually take some time for him. "Hey, Gritty. You wanted to show me something?" Rainbow smiled at him. This was not the time for jokes, not the time for puns. This was the time for stone cold action.
"Yeah, come in. I welcome you to my mess of a house..." He blushed as he noticed that he actually hadn't cleaned up in a while. He walked up the stairs to his room door, with Rainbow Dash following him.
"Actually this is quite tidy... If you've ever been to Cheese Sandwich's house you would know what a mess looks like," she laughed as she followed him through stacks of empty chips packets and unwashed dishes. She followed Gritty to his room where she laid eyes on the guitar he called "Green Flame". She made a sound of amazement over the awesome-looking instrument. "Where did you get that? I want one too."
He chuckled a bit as he struggled to re-gain control of his speech. "Well, it is a... a special custom built model. It's very expensive... It cost me about 3'000 bits," he proclaimed. He looked at her facial expression turning from amazement into sheer awe for the instrument.
She smiled at him and said, "If that was what you wanted to show me, color me impressed. This is one awesome guitar you have there..." She moved closer towards it and sat down next to the guitar stand and pointed a hoof at the artistic masterpiece of a guitar. "Can I try it out?" She looked at him with an excited smile.
"Sure, let me help you though, it's really an art form to play it," Gritty Metal said as he walked over to the guitar stand and picked up the guitar. Rainbow Dash became more and more excited by the second and was shivering with excitement as Gritty put the guitar belt around her neck. "Do you know how it works?" He gave her an asking look as she tried to play a fret but failed to produce a sound.
She looked at him, "A little help would actually be nice..." This was the first time she actually asked for help directly without trying all possible other ways. "I really don't know anything about music, I fly, I don't make music. But I would sure enjoy it," she was so extremely normal around him; no cockiness, no boasting about own achievements, no, nothing of that sort. It was like she was a whole different pony around him.
Gritty Metal played around with the different knobs on the guitar, setting it to a nice distortion that he knew she would love. "Here you go, try again if you want, I switched it on. Just do what you did before and you'll hear the note you are pressing at the moment." He hoped that she would feel good if he gave her the feeling of accomplishment, which he was sure was going to pop up inside her once he taught her a little something on the guitar.
Rainbow Dash pressed down a string on the guitar and hit the string softly with her hoof. She couldn't believe what she heard: An amazingly distorted note, just the way she liked it, hit her ear drum. She smiled brightly at Gritty, who was standing by the door of his room. "I did it! I played the guitar!" She seemed happy with herself. Her smile covered her entire face, from cheek to cheek.
Gritty was impressed with how easily she got hooked on the guitar. Just after she had played her first note she already moved on to playing little improvisations, of which some sounded quite decent. She learned extremely quickly, and got so hooked that she would meet up with Gritty Metal once a week to get a new lesson on the guitar. After only five of these sessions, that usually took about two hours, Rainbow Dash had reached the standard of a beginner who had played the guitar for one year.
After the seventh session something unexpected happened; Rainbow Dash asked Gritty to form a band with him. "How about the two of us start a band? This way both of us can show off our awesome skills together." She put on a smile that no one could have said now to. Gritty Metal had to honor his student's wish and said that it would sure be fun to form a band, but they still needed a bassist, a drummer and a singer. "Thank you, Gritty," Rainbow Dash said and kicked his shoulder with her front hoof playfully. Gritty smiled at her and proclaimed, "BUT, we still have to actually rehearse some songs and come up with a band name before it is officially a band, you know?"
Rainbow Dash came up with a quite awesome band name right off the bat, "How about "Random Acts Of Chaos"?" She smiled at her idea, as the name sounded awesome and would look awesome too with the right layout and font.
Gritty smiled back and nodded, "That is a great name. I would have never come up with something that cool." He was convinced that they would go far with this name and that this cool only be the beginning of something awesome.
It was a nice day, as per usual. There were only few days on which the weather played up or much rather the Pegasi had storms on their "To produce"-Schedule. So as the weather was adequate, Gritty decided to go for a walk. He had noticed that he should get out more and maybe tell some talented ponies about the new formed band, in case they wanted to maybe join, or at least come listen in on a rehearsal of the guitarists.
Just as he walked out his front door he was already greeted by Pinkie Pie, "Hello, Gritty! So you decided to come out too I see." She jumped up and down like a pink rubber ball with excitement. "You know, it's reeeeeeeaaaaaaaaally nice to see you out, because it's such a rarity!!! Hahaha," she laughed at her own pun. Gritty gave her a perplexed look as she came dangerously close to him. Yeah, Pinkie sure liked to invade other ponies' personal space and he felt rather uncomfortable with it.
"Hello Pinkie, yeah, I'm really not out often. Actually, are you still such a musically active pony..? I mean you used to save us all by playing like ten instruments at once," he uttered as Pinkie came even closer... Inconsiderately close... He tried to move away from her, but wherever he dodged to, she came with him.
Pinkie thought for a few seconds. She put a hoof under her chin and looked into nothingness. "I guess so, why do you ask? Am I needed again?" She said, her hopes rising. An excited smile spread over her entire face.
"Well, if you're up for it, you can become a drummer..." Gritty couldn't even finish his sentence before Pinkie Pie reacted to the proposal.
"You count me in, Gritty. I love playing the drums... Especially the bass drum, because it sounds so deep and funny. Domm-Domm, De-Domm-Domm. Haha." Pinkie laughed at herself again, and this Gritty laughed with her.
As Gritty caught himself again, he stammered, "Well, now... haha... I know *pfff* why you're the element of laughter," while trying to get his laughing flash under control. "You really are a funny one; you should write the puns for our shows..." Pinkie's smile grew even wider as she listened to him. "BUT," he added "please don't make them too random, ok?" He watched her smile drop for a moment but return in a less extreme form.
"Sure thing, Gritty. I can do that, I'm not the element of laughter for nothing," she said with a more discreet smile on her face and her heart beating in double time. She jumped up and down in direction of Sugar Cube Corner excitedly as she exclaimed loudly, "I'm a drummer and pun-writer!!! Hahaha." She soon continued to stop other ponies and scream her new position in a new formed band in their faces.
Now that they had a drummer for their band, there were still two band members missing; a singer and a bassist and he already knew who he was going to ask to be the bassist, even thought it would take a lot of convincing arguments; Octavia. And, just as Gritty had expected, she was to be seen walking towards the town center for her weekly shopping for groceries.
Gritty sped up his pace to catch up with Octavia and had soon reached her. He now walked next to her as he asked her about the whole joining a band thing. She was little delighted by the idea. "Gritty, I feel very charmed by your inquiry, but I'm sorry, I have other obligations. Also where would I get a bass guitar? I mean... Would I even be able to play it correctly?" she inquired.
"Well, you play the cello, right? It's not much different from a bass guitar, except for that you have it hanging around your neck and shoulders on a belt," Gritty answered only shortly after Octavia had finished her sentence. He was try to convince her as best as he could, but somehow his best was not enough. He accompanied her to the stalls on the central plaza of Ponyville.
"You should know that the electric bass is not my domaine," Octavia said pronouncing the last word with a Prench tone to it, her muzzle up high in the air as if she wanted to say that the electric bass was a barbaric instrument that wasn't worthy of being held in her hooves. She came over as a quite stuck up pony with no care for the simple things in music and life alike. "I do just prefer me cello to this instrument that you want me to play."
Gritty thought of a comeback for a moment and presented it right of his tongue, "I can tell you, that there are also fret-less bass guitars, so if I get you one of those, you wont even have to change your playing style..." He thought for a brief moment and then realized a flaw in his thought, "Well, except for that little detail that the bass guitar is played by hoof, rather than with a bow."
Octavia snorted in disapproval at the thought of maybe chipping a hoof while playing the bass, but it sounded to good to resist. She just would try not to show her honest opinion. Also that there were modern fretless basses was totally new for her. "Well, fine, I will join your band. Just stop bombarding me with arguments for playing with you and your friends. Just stop, would you please?" Octavia said in a rather annoyed but still posh tone. As a classic musician you have to be a classy pony if you lived by her philosophy, so she set one condition for joining the band. "I just have one condition; I want to keep my classy look, even if I'm no longer playing in an orchestra, because, who knows if I won't return to classical music?" Gritty acknowledged her wish and accepted her demand.
Now the problems started to manifest; Who would become their singer? How would everyone get their instruments? Where would they rehearse? But those were problems for another day and time, at least for Gritty.
The next day Gritty Metal woke up with a huge headache; He had loaded a lot of problems onto his back and he was unsure of how to handle them. There was still a singer to be found, a band room to be made or found and gear to be bought. Good thing his parents had left him with a fair share of the family's wealth when they died a few years ago. He had promised to use anything he got from their last wills wisely, and this was what he thought was wise; get the gear of his band colleagues. He put his credit card in his saddle bag and set out to do some instrument shopping.
In Ponyville there was one retailer who was specialized on musical instruments of all varieties and price classes. Anything from shabby old ESP guitars for 400 bits to Stradivari Violins with prices up to 3 Million bits. Also drum sets were available in various shapes, sizes and with different price tags. Gritty found a beautiful electric bass that was labeled as "Stratosphere Bass" for Octavia which landed on his list of goods to buy, a drum set of the Pearl variety for Pinkie Pie and a brand new Dean "Bird of Prey" for Rainbow Dash. Cost for all the equipment bought: 27'500 bits.
He continued to walk into the commercial and industrial district of Ponyville where he found an abandoned factory that seemed perfect as a rehearsal room. It was situated virtually in the middle of nowhere with no pony around to get disturbed by the noise. He made inquiries about the cost of the property, and got it almost for free, as the factory was no longer in use. For the ground this factory stood on he payed 1000 bits.
He told the music retailer to bring the instruments to the factory, a service that cost him 500 more bits. It was all planed as a big surprise for his fellow band members. Gritty was sure that it would be great for the others to see that everything was taken care of before their first meeting as a real band. But wait! They didn't have a singer yet!
This was a very big problem, one that could possibly take a while to solve... And also he forgot the amplifiers for the bass and the guitar... The more he thought about the upcoming first band rehearsal his headache worsened. There were still a fair few problems to solve before the band could have their first meeting. He first needed to go back to the music retailer's to get the amps.
On his way there he ran into Twilight Sparkle who was just passing the shop on her way to her library. They stood in front of each other for a few moments, motionless and emotionless, before Gritty apologized to Twilight Sparkle. "No problem," she answered, "Tell Pinkie and Dash that I said hi." Just as she started walking away on her path back home Gritty came to a realization; He had bought a ton of equipment that his crush's friend Twilight Sparkle could have just made magically appear.
"Hey, Twilight, wait a second..." Gritty called after her as she walked off in direction of her library. He just had to ask her for some help; Her magic would definitely come in handy for the amplifiers he still needed. He walked after her, soon catching up to her. "I need your help with something. Can you maybe use your magic to make amplifiers for a guitar and a bass out of rocks?"
Twilight Sparkle gave him a look full of empathy. "Of course I can. What do you need them for?" She smiled at him as they walked on. He knew exactly for what he needed them.
"They are presents; one's for Rainbow Dash and the other one's for Octavia," he fought with his words as he also needed some pain relief. He put a hoof to the side of his head, which Twilight could hardly miss.
Twilight reacted directly, "So, you need them as presents? Maybe you should also think about yourself from time to time, Gritty... You look like you are in terrible pain. The damn migraines, always strike when you need them least." She giggled a little. Her horn glowed for a few seconds and the pressure on Gritty's brain was relieved. "So, you said you needed amplifiers?" Twilight thought for a second before pointing her horn at two medium sized rocks, transforming them into amplifiers. "Here you go, Gritty. And again, tell everyone I said hi."
Gritty thanked Twilight for the amplifiers and then asked her one more question, "Do you know who in Ponyville has a good voice?" His eyes filled with hope as he asked. The anticipation of an answer was driving him insane, he had to know as soon as possible, because in three hours the band would have their first scheduled rehearsal.
Twilight Sparkle thought for a few seconds before giving the awaited answer, "Well, there's Fluttershy who can sing, then we have Sweetie Belle, but I don't think that you would want her in your band... She's probably too young... But, honestly, anyone in Ponyville can sing pretty well. Maybe you have luck with asking Big McIntosh." She smiled at him, "The possibilities are near endless."
This was it! Why hand't he thought of that himself? Big Mac as a singer for his band would be cool, and would give the entire band a bit of Country-Rock-Flair; like James Hetfield's mimicking of the thick southern accent in the track "The Unforgiven II". He would make the band complete and enlarge the potential fan circle the band could once have. Gritty thanked Twilight for her help and left with the amplifiers after saying goodbye. After he brought the amplifiers back to the factory building he set out to Sweet Apple Acres to ask Big Mac about the idea.
Gritty was on the way to Sweet Apple Acres after his conversation with Twilight Sparkle. He had never really thought about Ponyville as a place of artistic innovation, especially not as a town full of singers, but he had to find the right one. Twilight had told him to maybe ask Big McIntosh first before asking anyone else and that was also the plan as he headed towards the apple farm. As he reached the farm just as Big Mac came out of the barn. "Hey, Mac," Gritty said. "Could I talk to you for a moment?"
The red stallion looked at Gritty and gave him his standard "Eeyup" for an answer. "What about, Gritty? And, please make it quick, ah still have to harvest some of 'em apples." Gritty explained the situation with the band and how they still needed a singer. He also wanted to hear Big Mac sing a little something, so that he could make up his mind straight away. "Well, yah know ah'm a rather busy pony, but ah guess ah could make it work in some shape or form," Big Mac answered.
Gritty looked at him with a shimmer of hope in his eyes. "So, you're saying you could join? That's epic. I just honestly need to know your singing voice to judge if you're suitable... Sorry, but I really don't like not knowing what I get." He looked at Big Mac with his big pony eyes.
Mac knew what he was going to do; he was going to sing one of his own original songs. He thought for a second and then decided which one song of his entire library of lyrics he should sing and started to sing:
For some reason Things they all went down the drain Don't know how or why Just know that it happened to me Honestly speaking It always felt so true, But now that we are standing here Everything has changed
Gritty's eyes widened at the experience of such a voice, so close to the one of his own idol. A smile started to grow on his face as he listened to Mac's amazing voice. His singing voice was very different from his speaking voice and somehow reminded Gritty of someone else's voice. It was almost like the voices of both Matt Dusk and James Trottfield had fused together into one singing voice. It was spectacular. "Wow, you blow me away, Mac! I never knew this slumbered inside of you! Just... wow." Gritty was very proud of his findings and of the completion of his band's line up. "You're in! By the way, we meet at the abandoned factory in about two-and-a-half hours for our fist rehearsal. I count on you to be there."
Mac nodded, "Ah'll do my best, Gritty. Eeyup, ah will. And ah'll also bring some apples and some snacks if yah want meh to." Gritty nodded at his question camouflaged as an affirmative sentence and congratulated Mac to his spot in the band before saying his goodbyes and going back home to get his guitar and amplifier to the abandoned factory too.
On his way back to the factory Gritty met Rainbow Dash who was excited to hear the news on the band. She was just on her way to his house for their weekly guitar session as the two met. "So, Gritty, how's the organisation of the band going?" She couldn't help but have a little bit of excitement in her voice as she asked. And the outcome was much better than she had thought.
"Everything is sorted out, Rainbow." he said as he smiled at her with a look of genuine self-righteousness on his face; something amazing must have happened that day.
Rainbow Dash gave him a confused look. She didn't quite understand, "What exactly do you mean with 'everything's sorted out'? You managed to find three more people to play in the band with us and a rehearsal room?" She couldn't believe what she had heard. Gritty had a reputation as one of the most unorganized ponies in Ponyville, so every word he had said to her today came as a total and utter surprise.
"Yeah, that's precisely what I mean. I arranged everything; The only thing that still misses is my own gear," Gritty said happily with a good deal of pride. He had spent a lot of time and also resources on the band already and was filled with pride and self-esteem for actually getting past the first few days of utter fascination for something.
Rainbow Dash knocked on his shoulder with her hoof playfully and smiled, "Hey, I never knew you could actually keep your promises." She was very happy about Gritty trying to get out of his shell of unacceptability and unreliability and actually got stuff done for once. "You know, it's hard to forget about seeing you at flight school... You once made a complete fool of yourself because you never did stuff..." she laughed.
Gritty had to smile awkwardly as a blush painted his cheeks red. How did she still remember that? It has been years since that happened. But he took the criticism disguised as a joke and said, "Well, that was the old me... I've learned that being a part of a community, be it only a band, is a job that has its obligations." After he had finished his sentence he also started laughing but soon caught himself again. "Would you like to see the rehearsal room? If, so, just let me get the guitar and the amp and meet me here in 10 minutes, ok?"
Rainbow Dash nodded at the proposal, "I hope it's awesome." She looked after Gritty as he walked into his house and got the guitar and the rest of his gear, including an old microphone with a stand. "Oh, you really do have everything under control, I see," she said calmly as he walked out of his house with all the gear stuffed into his saddle bags. She smiled as they walked towards the old industrial district where the old factory was, and soon reached the enormous abandoned factory.
"This, my dear Rainbow, is our rehearsal room," Gritty exclaimed as they were standing right in front of the large iron cast doors that Gritty had the only key for. He searched his saddle bags for the key and eventually found it. He put it on the vast lock on the door that was held up by large iron chains and turned it, causing the lock to drop to the ground. He opened the door and revealed the humongous factory hall to his and Rainbows eyes. "How's that for a rehearsal room?"
Rainbow dashed into the factory, looking at it from all angles and directions. "It's amazing! It really is the kind of room I'd chill out in..."
She came down through a cone of light coming from one of the windows at the top of the hall and Gritty couldn't help but stare at her. To him she looked like an illuminated angel descending from the heavens. He blushed at the thought as his jaw dropped as she landed on the factory floor. He shook his head violently to get that picture out of his mind, but the image stuck. "Care if I show you your first own guitar?"
Rainbow Dash couldn't believe her ears, "Did you just say 'My first own guitar'? Show! It! To! Me!" She was unusually excited for her new instrument, or at least so it seemed.
Gritty walked her over to the amplifier next to the guitar stand with her own new guitar. "Here it is. A Bird of Prey; The most awesome looking guitar I could find at the instrument retailer's shop." He saw a smile spread over Rainbow Dash's face.
"It's really awesome! I really like it," she said looking at him. She was not surprised by the style of the guitar, because she knew that Gritty knew her well enough to know that she didn't want a pure standard guitar. "I don't even know what to say right now... I'm... extremely surprised by you, Gritty." Her smile grew even wider when Pinkie Pie and Big Mac walked in through the door along with Applejack.
As Applejack, Big Mac and Pinkie Pie entered the factory building they looked around in amazement at the large room full of production machinery. Then they reached Rainbow Dash and Gritty Metal at the western end of the factory. "Well, look at tha'. Our dear Gritty really did put his money where his mouth is," Applejack uttered in disbelief. Her eyes widened at the sheer size of the factory.
Pinkie ran ahead towards her own drum set, filling with a sudden rush of musicality as she sat on the drum chair and playing a few punk rhythms on their brand new set. "Hey, Gritty, listen to this..." she said smiling while beating on the drums like a mad mare; somehow it did sound good though. Her energy was converted into musical genius with every strike of her drum sticks.
Gritty smiled about the joy Pinkie found in her instrument and hoped that she would stay this energetic throughout the rehearsal. He looked at Big Mac, handing him the microphone including the stand and small amplifier and watched his joyful reaction to the diversity he could achieve with his voice. Also Rainbow Dash now swung her guitar around her neck and started fretting her harmonic notes, strumming the guitar like an old legend of Rock. Only one pony was missing: Octavia.
Gritty walked towards the entrance to the factory hall, where he saw Octavia slowly making her way towards the abandoned factory. She really was a slow walker... something that was really not helpful in this situation. Gritty walked outside to meet Octavia who was now approaching him with her solemn trot. "Oh, hello, Gritty. It is most pleasant to see you. Would you be so nice and tell me where exactly our rehearsal room is?" she said with her usual high-class-attitude.
Gritty looked at her with a wide smile on his face, "It is right here, behind me." He pointed at the old production facility with pride. "it may not be the most glamorous of places to rehearse, but it's a start, I'd say."
Octavia's right eye twitched a little, "This filthy place is our rehearsal room?" She stared at him, her jaw dropping to the ground as her eye continued twitching.
"Yeah, that's it..." he said. He couldn't really understand her bafflement at the room provided to her. It seemed all fine to him; after all it was only a rehearsal room, it's not like they were going to live in the old production site. "Why?" he asked, "isn't it what you expected?" He gave her an asking look. Well, he could already deduce her answer from her face, that quickly turned almost blue with shock. Gritty stood in front of her with a concerned look on his face as he uttered, "Hey, Octavia. Breath; in and out in and out... Always continue breathing..."
Octavia was starting to breath again, still in shock as she stared up the face of the dirty building. "You really want me to enter this... abomination of a building?" she asked her right eye slowly losing its spastic twitch. She was very unsure of the conditions of this filthy building that should be their new band room. "Is it even safe? I mean would it not collapse with the vibrations?"
Gritty looked at her, his face filling with a look that could just be called the look of "are you kidding me?". "Really, that's what you're concerned about? A collapse? I can tell you this much: It is safe," he gnarled. "The thing is gonna survive a band playing in it regularly." His face now displaying a look of bored concern.
"But, are you sure? How could you be sure? And also, is it cleaner on the inside?" Octavia asked still a bit paranoid about her health and bodily well-being. She turned to look at Gritty in the one second, fixing her look back on the building the next. "It really doesn't look clean to me..."
Gritty shook his head, giving in to his frustration about Octavia's germophobe attitude. "Look," he said, slightly annoyed "there's probably less germs flying around inside that factory than the total germ count in your muzzle; even after brushing you teeth for five minutes." He was getting rather scientific on that topic. He had an older sister, who had studied Biology at the Canterlot School of Science and thus had some knowledge on the topic of germs. "So, please do me the favor and actually get in over your irrational phobia? Please?"
Finally, as Gritty couldn't get Octavia to enter the production hall with him he had to proceed to push her into the factory by force as she froze in shock at not only the germs in the factory but also those inside of herself. After bringing her back to her senses he showed her her new instrument, "An electric bass guitar. And you have even remembered my roots in classical music," she said casually as she placed the bass' belt around her neck. "It's fretless." She looked at Gritty with a pleased look. "Now let me try this out..." she tried to produce a sound, but failed. "What am I doing wrong? Could you please instruct me?"
Gritty spun one of the knobs around to the max, "Try it again now," he said friendly as Octavia as he had understanding for her difficulties with the power supply. Rainbow Dash had had the same problem in the beginning. She strummed the string she was fretting one more time and the sound became audible. He smiled happily as everyone tried out their instruments and played around like the creative minds they all were. He especially paid notice to Rainbow Dash's impressive skills on the guitar; she had only been playing for a few months and she excelled at the art of fretting. After a few moments of tutoring everyone Gritty decided to actually take part in the improvisation, coming up with the one or the other usable riff in the process.
Everyone was happily playing their instruments or singing to the beat provided by Pinkie Pie, whose energy reserves seemed to be utterly humongous. The beat often varied over time to the delight of the other instrumentalists who also tried out some calmer tones and some less distorted guitar riffs with less refined tonal scales, sometimes drifting off into utter atonality. The rehearsal was very pleasurable and everyone enjoyed the improvisational elements; even Octavia got into the genre rather quickly, forgetting all about her germophobia while analyzing every other ponies styles and adding a dash of classical fineness to the raw sound of the band. Gritty felt that he had found a bunch of musical genius in the middle of nowhere and took a lot of fun from this fact. He felt like this band could be going places he had never dared to dream of; maybe even realm-wide fame.
Applejack enjoyed herself too, though not participating in the making of music she found the sound very special and the drive was sheer irresistible. She started dancing to the music that had some sort of magical Pinkie-Pie-Drive and melodious, partially classically inspired riffs and sounds. Through the open door the dense music thrashed its way through the outskirts Ponyville, attracting the one or the other musically inclined pony to the large facility of production that had been not producing any sound in so long. After a while a little crowd had formed inside the factory, cheering for the improvising musicians and moshing along with Applejack. Also Twilight Sparkle and Rarity were drawn to the epicenter of the noise that felt oh so soothing to everypony's ears.
The crowd, consisting of about 250 ponies, was now roaring with anticipation of the next beat change and was moshing and head banging like wild; the only one who held herself back was Rarity, who didn't want to ruin her perfectly coiffed hair. Somehow the music had such a strong drive though, that she couldn't resist for long; this was a whole new type of music that made the listener drop all inhibitions and literally forced them to be engulfed in an aura of some kind of "insanity", if one wanted to call it like that. Before long no pony was just standing there, not participating in the entire act of collective joy. No pony, not even Rarity, could resist the drive of Pinkie Pie's genius drumming and the awesome shreds of Rainbow Dash's guitar. Also Gritty's overlay-solos and Big Mac's vocal chops were irresistible, and Octavia actually found herself in an alternate version of her dream; being cheered for by a crowd big enough to fill a place like this enormous hall.
After a while the instruments died off and Gritty talked to the crowd of ponies that had gathered to mosh and cheer, "Hello, Ponyville. We are "Random Acts Of Chaos" and actually this was supposed to be a closed rehearsal... And it is also our first get-together as a band," he said sure of himself. "On the drums we have Pinkie Pie," he said as the crowd roared cheering Pinkie Pie's name. "On the bass: Octavia Melody," Octavia bowed before the crowd that applauded frantically to the cellist-gone-bassist. "One the guitars: Rainbow Dash and I," he exclaimed as the crowd raised their hooves into the air, screaming out their names. "And last but definitely not least," he built suspense up to the point where one could have cut the atmosphere inside the former production site with a knife, "Big McIntosh!" He raised his own hoof in the air as he led the crowd to a little improvised participation segment.
"Give me a R!" he roared into Big Mac's microphone and the crowd repeated after him. "Give me an A!" He repeated the cycle until it had spelled out "RAOC", the acronym for "Random Acts Of Chaos". After that he handed the microphone back to Big Mac and let him get on with his vocal work.
After nearly one-and-a-half hours the young band members were starting to get exhausted and had to break off the rehearsal, they put their instruments aside and placed them on their stands; but they would never forget about this day; The day on which they went from Noponies to "local celebrities", at least in the outskirts of Ponyville, within a very short period of time.
As the band gave in to their exhaustion the ponies exited the production site and continued to go over their everyday lives. Twilight, Applejack and Rarity stayed behind in the factory to meet Gritty and the others, "Oh, well, Ah can't believe that you guys haven't e'er met up for a rehearsal before today!" Applejack said surprised at the quality of the music that the band had produced only a short while earlier. She was still swinging to an inaudible rhythm as she made this remark, Rarity and Twilight standing next to her, one on either side.
Twilight, who felt like she was reborn, uttered, "Yeah, it was quite impressive, you know? You guys did a really good job." She looked at Gritty with a wide smile covering most of her face as she said, "It really was that good..." without noticing that it kind of sounded a bit sarcastic or even suggestive. Gritty couldn't help but chuckle at her wording and also Pinkie Pie laughed; so hard in fact, that she fell off her drummer chair and hit the hard concrete floor of the production plant back-first. Rolling on the floor in laughter she repeated Twilight's very odd wording and just couldn't stop.
Twilight blushed with embarrassment; never had her wording been this ambiguous before. But when she realized how awkwardly she had phrased her sentence, she couldn't help but laugh herself, joining Gritty and Pinkie Pie who had already almost laughed themselves to tears. Also Applejack and Rainbow Dash joined in with the laughter about Twi's bad wording. The remaining three, Rarity, Big Mac and Octavia, gathered around the five ponies rolling on the floor in laughter, an asking expression filling their faces. "What in Equestria was so funny that all of you are laughing so hard?" Rarity asked with her posh, slightly stuck up accent. There was no reaction to her question, besides the uninterrupted hysterical laughter of Gritty Metal, Rainbow Dash and the others who were still rolling on the floor, now actually in tears from all the laughter.
Then Gritty broke his laughter and explained the reaction, trying to not break out in laughter while elaborating his explanation, "You see, Rarity... haha, Twi's remark sounded extremely... pfff... sexual... Hahahahahahaha!" He broke down laughing again as Rarity threw him an even more asking look that could have just as well been described as a "What the buck"-Face.
Big Mac shook his head, "Well, ain't tha' a tiny bit chaldish? Ah mean, ain't we all grow up enough to not burst ou' laughin' about this?" Gritty looked at him, laughing like there was no tomorrow. That was not the reaction that Big Mac had had in mind, but he took it as a simple "No". Big Mac rolled his eyes; he felt like he was surrounded by little children, who had nothing better to laugh at than each other's profanities. After a few minutes he asked the other two, "Hey, Rarity? Octavia? Up for a little walk with the grown ups?" He chuckled at his own statement.
The two mares nodded in the hope to leave the factory and the crazy ponies inside of it behind them. Just as they reached the door of the factory hall, the laughter faded out and the others stood up, wiping tears from their eyes and various other facial parties. Octavia looked over her shoulder as Rainbow Dash and Gritty Metal got up from the floor, "I see the fun is over? Or is it just less funny now?" Octavia frowned at the two as now also Twilight Sparkle and Applejack got up, leaving Pinkie Pie as the last laughing pony on the factory floor.
"Yeah, the funniness of the statement is gone... or at least it has been diminished," Gritty answered to Octavia. The two were eyeing each other for a while, Gritty with his trademark little smirk and Octavia with her bored, stuck up look, that after a while eased up and turned into a little smile of her own.
They were just standing there, looking at each other util Octavia broke the silence and her stare, "You know, Gritty, this was a rather pleasurable rehearsal. Thanks for convincing me that this was a good idea; I would have never come up with an idea like this myself." Her smile widened now covering a rather big part of her face, "If you fancy the idea, you could come over at some stage and have a glass of wine with me. But only if you want to," she winked at him.
Gritty gulped audibly. Had this just really happened? He shook his head rapidly in disbelief, "What did you just say, Octavia?" A confused look spread all over his face as he posed the question and didn't disappear, even after Octavia repeated what she had said before. He couldn't believe what he heard; even after the second time it still sounded strange to his ears, but in the end he decided to agree, "Sure, we could meet up for some wine at some point... No problem..."
Rainbow Dash, who had overheard the dialogue, couldn't believe what she heard; Octavia was thankful for something? That had to do with modern music? Her jaw dropped to the floor in amazement about what Octavia had said; the sentences resonated in her head, burnt themselves into her memory. She would always remember this day as the day Octavia opened up to the "modern age". But what was even more surprising to her was that Gritty accepted her invitation for a "glass of wine". She knew perfectly well that Gritty had some kind of feelings for her and would possibly try to make her jealous, but was he really going to try doing that with Octavia? If that was going to inspire something inside of Rainbow, it was deep disbelief. She walked up next to Gritty and looked him right in the eye, "Gritty? Are you alright?" She was concerned about him as he usually would have refused an offer like that, seeing that he wasn't a great fan of wine of any variety. "I thought you didn't like wine."
Gritty looked at Rainbow, blushing bright red. He had no idea why he hadn't resisted the offer; to be honest Rainbow was right, he wasn't a great wine pony. He was more into beer and whiskey, sometimes also cider that he would then usually share with Rainbow Dash when he got it at Sweet Apple Acres before they ran out because of Pinkie Pie. "Honestly, I have no idea what just happened, I'm just as confused as you are, Rainbow," Gritty tried to save himself. "I think that Octavia is opening up, maybe not only musically, but maybe also socially. I mean, she would usually just see me as a peasant, not worthy of even looking her in the eyes, but something changed."
Rainbow's face contradicted itself; her mouth forming a smile, her eyes and forehead displaying a sentiment both confusion and concern. She lifted one of her front hooves and playfully bucked Gritty's shoulder, "Looks like you guys have a date," she said a blush appearing on her face. She was happy for him, but somehow she did start to feel a bit envious of Octavia; she had not just gotten a date with Rainbow Dash's guitar instructor, but also the stallion that she started to develop feelings for. She looked down at her hoofs and the ground between them her face forming into a sad-ish expression.
Gritty lifted her chin with one of his front hooves and smiled tenderly, "I wouldn't call it a date, actually." He looked deep into her magenta colored eyes. "It's having a drink with a friend, if you ask me," he said with his look of mildness directed right at Rainbow Dash. He chuckled softly, "I don't consider drinking wine with Octavia a date, because I'm not really into her," he said mildly, a slight mysterious sub-tone in his voice, "I actually like an entirely different pony." He smiled at her with a little smile while blushing immensely.
Rainbow Dash gave Gritty Metal a look that radiated disbelief directly into his face. She was genuinely confused about his choice of words and his blush alike, "What exactly do you mean by that? You're "not into" Octavia? And who is that other pony you like?" She obviously didn't quite get his hint, but at least she felt a bit more comfortable, knowing that Gritty had no intentions of actually going on a date with Octavia.
As Gritty gave her an asking look that said "Are you serious" things became more obvious and she blushed when the hint had finally reached her, "Oh... I see..." Her face turned bright red from embarrassment about her thickness in that specific moment, but she still managed to stay calm, not trying to give away her own feelings on the matter. She had learned so much from him and he had come so close to her, that she couldn't have gotten around to think of him as a great teacher and to have built up a strong bond to him; an emotional bond that she had braided from all her hopes and his own personality along with her wishes, of which he had fulfilled the biggest one that day. She looked at him sweetly, melting away by the sound of his words; "I actually like an entirely different pony." The phrase resonated inside her head like an MP3-Player that's stuck on "Replay". She closed her eyes softly and pecked him on the cheek, whilst turning even redder than before. "I like her polar opposite..."
Gritty Metal blushed blood red. Rainbow Dash's lips were still next to his face, as she had just pecked him on the cheek and he had the out-most wish to just steal a kiss, but he resisted, or at least he tried to resist as she slowly moved away flapping open her eyes again. Her eyes opened only slowly and Gritty just followed his feelings, just pressing his lips against hers for a split second. Both of them blushed even redder than they were before. Gritty soon realized that he had fulfilled one of his longest lasting dreams; kissing Rainbow Dash felt like an emotional firework to his tongue and brain. It was amazing!
Rainbow Dash smiled at Gritty, who had blushed even further, "Well, you sneaky little Pegasus," she laughed as she opened her eyes. Her face displayed a wide smile that reached from one cheek to the other, her eyes holding a look that said "come here, you little ball of awesome". Gritty knew she felt the same way about him as he felt about her; that became more than obvious by her reaction to the kiss. She smiled invitingly as she turned around and walked towards the exit gesturing for him to follow her out of the factory.
Gritty felt like he was pulled out of the factory by a magical pull and walked out behind Rainbow only to find that the magic that pulled him after her was much stronger than even the strongest magician's spells. It was a true and beautiful feeling, something that couldn't be faked, something as pure as water fresh from a mountain spring. This was what love felt like; wonderful, warm and somehow energizing. As they reached the gates Rainbow Dash turned around and asked Gritty, "Haven't you forgotten something, Awesome?" Gritty looked back into the factory at the other band members, excluding Octavia and Big Mac, who had already left with Rarity, and Twilight Sparkle, who were eyeing him and Rainbow Dash curiously.
He looked at them all and exclaimed, "Time to go, guys. I'll lock the gates after us, so no pony can steal our instruments." He walked out of the way of the others that moved towards the exit of the production site and resorted back to looking at Rainbow with dreamy eyes. "Why haven't I opened up to you earlier?" he asked her as he looked her deep in the eyes to which she responded with a cool, "I don't know, but you could have... Don't forget to lock the gate again." She looked at him, seeing him through the pink glasses of love as he locked and sealed the gate of the production plant.
He felt her gaze upon him as he locked the iron cast gates and turned around to face her, giving her a peck on the forehead. "You're too perfect, Rainbow. You really are... How do I deserve you?" he asked his face filled with joy as he felt to be the most happy stallion in all of Ponyville. He smiled at the mare that he had dreamed about for so long as he tried to ask her the question that he had asked her so many times in his dreams before she interrupted him as he opened his mouth.
"You do deserve me; in every single way, actually. You're the stone that keeps me grounded when my dreams get out of hand, you are the one who will always believe in me, even if I fail at times, you are the air I breath, you are the soil I walk on... In short form: You are my all, and it would be so totally awesome to be your special somepony!" she blurted right in his face, taking him any reason to ask, as she had already answered his question in her monologue. "You wanted to say something, Awesome?"
"You pretty much already answered what I wanted to ask you," he said with a cheerful tone. "I like you the same way." He smiled at her with the sweetest smile as he suggested her to have a milkshake or two at Sugar Cube Corner, which she answered to with a nod. They headed off into the center of town where Sugar Cube Corner was situated; a tall building that looked like it was constructed out of Gingerbread. As they entered they were greeted by Mr. and Mrs. Cake.
Also Pinkie Pie wasn't far; when she heard the bell over the door frame ring, she dashed down the stairs from the living quarters to the shop, greeting her two fellow band members, "Hey, guys! What can I bring you? Lemon cake, chocolate cake, marble cake... maybe some wedding cake?" She chuckled a little at the last suggestion as she had been one of the witnesses to their first kiss. She smiled over both cheeks as it was the case with her almost always.
"Uhm... I think we're going for a milkshake... Strawberry flavored," Gritty answered. "And bring it with two straws in it." He smiled at Rainbow Dash who looked back with a huge smile on her face, blushing gently. She was just as happy as Gritty to have finally fulfilled the dream of a special somepony to share a milkshake and maybe a bed. She was one of those mares that only start a relationship when they're really in love, not just because it's a nice feeling to have one.
""A lovebird milkshake; good choice," Pinkie Pie added. "It's as good as taken care of."
The two made their way to one of the tables and took their seats; they placed themselves in a way that they could look each other directly in the eye while slurping on their milkshake. Gritty took one of Rainbow's hooves and looked her in the eye, "This is gonna be great. I can see us staying together for a long, long time..." he said looking down at her hoof. "Actually, how could I ever get enough of you, my little sweet?" he asked, a blush gently forming on his face.
"Honestly," Rainbow answered to his question, "I don't know. And I think that it'll never get boring with you, Gritty, cause you're the best." She could just finish her sentence before Pinkie Pie came with the milkshake, wishing them to take a liking in its taste before leaving them to themselves. The two lover were sat there, looking at each other with deep looks of love, sucking on their straws, exchanging brow raises. They definitely enjoyed each other's company, probably even more than the nice fruity aroma of the milkshake they shared. The one or the other look was exchanged as the two were sipping on the milkshake in the middle of the table.
Soon the milkshake was empty and the two ordered another one, which was served to them about a minute after they had ordered it. It was just as fruity as the one preceding it and the two happily slurped it up. Gritty took one large drag of the milkshake and felt a piercing pain as if someone stuck needles through his skull; brain freeze. Rainbow Dash sat there looking at him trying to resist her urge to laugh at his pain; she was a pony who was very loyal to her friends, but she also liked to practice her favorite type of joy: schadenfreude.
After a while the pain had gone and Gritty continued to sip of the milkshake, now in smaller drags and finished it together with Rainbow, who was smiling happily at him while sipping on the shake. After they had finished their second milkshake they paid for their beverages and left, promising Pinkie Pie to come again sooner or later. The two gave each other a little kiss as they walked out of Sugar Cube Corner and walked onto the main path of Ponyville. "How did you like today, my little Dash of awesome?" Gritty asked Rainbow Dash as they walked along the road happily, spreading one wing each around each other. He was extremely happy to have found somepony who liked him the way he was, his long-time crush at that.
Rainbow Dash smiled at him brightly, "I loved it, Gritty. It was an awesome first date." She blushed a little, "And I'm kind of tired... And your house is closer than the nearest cloud..." She looked up to the cloudless skies above, letting out a sigh of exhaustion. "Can I crash at yours for the night? You don't need to feel obliged though, I can also ask to stay at Twilight's..."
Gritty looked at her, a wide smile covering his face as he was imitating Rarity's accent, "Quite frankly I don't have any objections to you staying overnight. It will definitely be a special occurrence for the both of us, though I'd rather we'd take it slow with our relationship." He laughed at his impression of Rarity's speech pattern as Rainbow Dash chuckled slightly. They both were certain that it would be a special night; it was their first night as a couple and they were going to celebrate it.
The two kissed each other shortly before they reached Gritty's front porch and entered the house as their lips parted. "Hey, Gritty, thanks for letting me stay over, Awesome." Rainbow said with a yawn as the two climbed the stairs side by side. "If this should happen more often you should think about actually tidying up around here..." she said a smile covering her face. He chuckled as he nodded with approval. He knew that his house looked like a tip, but he had never had a reason to tidy up. Now he had one; a light blue Pegasus mare who loved him for who and what he was.
"Of course, Dashie," Gritty answered looking at her while reversing up the last few steps and into his room. Rainbow Dash walked in behind him, slamming the door shut, a smirk now covering her face as she edged up to him with tiny steps.
"You know, it's really comfortable here..." she said, her smirk widening as she held her course and headed straight for Gritty. Gritty smirked back at her, slowly retreating as if this were some kind of game. This was the perfect opportunity to let her feel in charge of the relationship, so he thought as he edged away backwards. Slowly he reached the far wall as the bedroom wasn't all that big.
"Well, Dashie, what are you gonna do now?" he asked her as she edged up, even closer and he got up onto his hind legs. She smirked as she also got on her hind legs and pinned Gritty to the wall, throwing him an intense look of passion as she edged her face next to his right ear.
"Now you are mine, Gritty, and I am yours..." she whispered into his right ear as she pecked his cheek like she had done after the rehearsal; just a little more intense, as she now also teased him by licking his cheek after the peck. Then she looked him straight in the eyes, her eyes slowly closing and her head tilting to the side. She opened her mouth, as did Gritty in anticipation of their first real prench kiss. Their lips met, setting off an explosion of emotion inside each other as their tongues started to wrestle. It was an amazing feeling to be kissed like she meant it, and she certainly did. Her tongue wrestled with his, gaining the upper hand and, as a result, venturing deeper into his throat. He didn't want to resist the feeling, it was just too good to be interrupted, but he had to... But not now. He enjoyed her passion for another twenty seconds before she pulled back and said, "Well, let's go to bed, I'm tired as buck."
Gritty felt like he had taken several pills of ecstasy; he was in the seventh sky, with no pony else than his beloved Dashie. He nodded at the request to go to bed and let Rainbow choose her side of the bed before lying down himself. He himself was probably just as tired as Rainbow Dash was, but there was no way of knowing for certain. He just lied down next to his little Dashie and closed his eyes as he snuggled up to her warm body, feeling like he finally arrived in his real home.
