Arpeggio - Chapter 2: La Fille

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJ8u8aCTSHU

>You hold Marcello lightly with your fingers, making sure the reed is wet enough to make sound before blowing out the first note

>You move down the note scale and move back up, making sure to breathe properly as to allow the sound to ring out

>The other performers join in

>Two altos, a tenor and a baritone. All saxophones

>This ensemble was going to go nicely

>The other members in your ensemble were ponies, ironically

>In fact everyone in the theater, besides you, is a p0ny

>You place make sure to place just the right amount of vibrato on the whole and half notes, slurring each note as to keep the sound flowing

>Each chord you produce with the other players sends a chill down your spine

>Your lower lip begins to tremble slightly from the feeling of the music

>You relax the muscle and let the sound come out naturally

>Your eyelids slowly droop and you lose yourself in the music

>The tenors and alto played chords in whole notes that lined in perfectly with your solo

>The baritone provided a base for the entire ensemble to play out more

>The more sound there was, the less nervous the players became; one thing you learned playing along father's piano

>He was the best pianist ever in your opinion

1:02

>The key change rings out as your move to a different scale and play an upward note arrangement

>The sound climaxes and you bring down the tune softly, the ensemble then playing a series of chords while getting softer

>The rest of the arrangement provides an almost silent chord

>You ring out a single note for a few seconds before moving up and down the scale from the beginning of the song

>The other players crescendo and decrescendo once before you and the tenors and alto dot notes up the scale

>A final chord graces the end of the performance

>Applause rings throughout the theater as you all stand and take a bow

>Out of the corner of your eye you barely notice the figure of a p0ny before it tackles you

 

"OOF!"

>You open your eyes immediately

>Your vision is obscured by a pair of violet eyes

"Rainbow, dear. Mind getting off of me?"

>She laughs before falling on the bed next to you

>You turn to her

"What's the big deal jumping on me? And when I'm asleep, no less!"

>Dash rolls her eyes

>"Oh don't be such a killjoy, Anon."

"A killjoy? You're one to talk. I was having a great dream and you went and got in the middle of it."

>"Oh yeah? What was it about?"

"It was that band dream again. This time I was playing my soprano sax in a beautiful piece."

>"Think you can remember it?"

"I'm not sure...let me see."

>You get out of bed and walk over to Marcello's case

>You pick him and the reed up, wetting it for a few seconds before attaching it to the mouthpiece

>Attempting to remember the arrangement, you blow out a few notes

>Yep, you can't remember it

>You pull Marcello away, placing him back in his case

"Can't remember it."

>Dash sighs

>"Oh well."

"Oh well, indeed. So what're you doing here so early?"

>"I just thought we cou-"

"Ah. I see. You knew I was going to be working on music today so you decided to change my schedule, eh?"

>"No! Th-That's not it at all!"

"You know it is. So what do you have planned for today?"

>"You mean you'd hang with me even though you planned music stuff today?"

"Well it's not like I'm gonna say, 'Screw you, Dash. Get out.' Right?"

>She laughs and smiles

>"Yeah, you're right. Well I feel like throwing down a munch at Sugarcube Corner. Whaddya say?"

"Sounds good to me. Just let me do what I need to do."

>"Okay!"

>Rainbow Dash flies out of the room, shutting the door behind her

>You walk to the bathroom and begin by brushing your teeth...

 

>After a quick shower you get dressed and leave your room, but not before grabbing Nelson

>You follow Rainbow out your front door

>She glances at Nelson once or twice as you both walk

"Something you'd like to say, Dash?"

>"Why do you keep an instrument with you at all times?"

>You never thought about it

>Keeping an instrument around just felt natural to you

>You always felt sort of naked without one

"I'm not sure. I just like having one around all the time, I guess. Why? Got a problem with it?"

>You bump her side with a fist

>"Nah, as long as you don't suck it up when you play."

>She chuckles a bit

"Harsh. But alright, I'll promise you."

>You hold a hand out to her

>She looks it for a second or two

>"Anon, you know I was just playing.."

"I know. But I'm not. I'll promise you, Dash. Only because you're probably my best friend. As long as I do this music thing, I'll work my best to make it big. Alright?"

>She gives you a confused look before smiling and placing a hoof in your hand

>You grip it lightly and shake

>"What was that all about?"

"Incentive to get famous."

>"Oh.."

>You both continue walking along

>"Anon...am I -really- your best friend?"

"Probably...maybe..."

>"C'mon.."

"Gonna have to think about that...sometime..."

>"Cut it out!"

>She bumps your side and you both laugh

"Yeah, you're my best friend. Who else would wake me up at o'fuck thirty in the morning?"

>"You know it!"

>You brohoof before walking up to Sugarcube Corner

 

>You had ordered a dozen donuts to munch on before taking a seat in a nearby booth

>You sat against the wall, placing your legs on the rest of the seat

>Nelson sat on your lap as you played a few chords, the mellow tune serving as background while you chatted with Dash

"So, Dash. You think about picking up an instrument?"

>She seem reluctant to answer

"..Dash?"

>"Sort of.."

"And sort of means?"

>She's holding something in

>She throws her hooves in the air

>"Alright, I did and I was terrible at it!"

"What did you try?"

>"Well you know how Pinkie's got a lot of her own instruments, right? I tried out a lot of them, but nothing worked!"

"Alright, alright. What instruments did you actually try out?"

>"Well I tried a trumpet and I couldn't get anything to come out except spit! Then there was this long one that had a sliding handle-"

"You mean a trombone?"

>"Yeah, that! I tried it and still couldn't get that one to work either."

"What else?"

>"Um..One of them was this long metal tube but I couldn't cover the holes on it."

>She tried a flute?

>Ponies could play flutes?!

"Uh..alright."

>"That's about it. Pinkie wanted me to try her drum set before I left, but I didn't want to suck it up at anything else."

"Dash, you never know. You might enjoy playing percussion."

>"Per-what?"

"Percussion. It's another word for drums."

>"Well it doesn't matter. I'm not cut out for music."

>She crosses her front hooves

"At least give it a try."

>She raises her nose

>"Hmmph."

"...For me?"

>She scrunches up her face before pointing a hoof in yours

>"You're lucky I'm your best friend or this wouldn't be happening."

>You pump a fist in victory

>"Alright, you two! Order up!"

>A familiar voice rings out from the kitchen before a pink blur zips out from behind the counter and next to your table

>It's Pinkie

>And she has donuts

>She sets the tray on the table

"Why don't you join us, Pinkie?"

>She smiles and sits next to Rainbow

>You grab a donut and devour it before moving your hand back to the neck of the guitar

"Hey, Pinkie. Think Rainbow could try out your drum set today?"

>"Sure! When you finish up meet me in my room, alright? I have to go finish up on the dishes. See you two later!"

>She gets up and trots happily to the kitchen

"Well, you heard the mare. Let's eat up."

>Rainbow smiles as she picks up another donut

 

>You and Rainbow had fought over the last donut

>She wanted to get it so she could hold off the end of the meal

>You just wanted to eat the damn thing

>Luckily you brought up something about her wings and she accidentally dropped the donut into your waiting hand

>You scarfed down that donut like it was nothing

"Alright. You know what we must do now."

>"But Anon, c'-"

"No buts. Come, Dash."

>You get up from the booth and walk up the stairs to Pinkie's room

>Opening the door, you're immediately greeted by the one-mare-band, Pinkie Pie

>She blows on her harmonica loudly before beating on the bass drum the harmonica is attached to

"Well -that's- a warm welcome."

>She smiles

>You and Dash enter the room

>You spot the drum set right away and survey it

>It looks like the standard size for a drum set

>You grab the sticks sitting on the snare and turn to Dash, handing them to her

"Alright, now just sit on that stool in the middle and put a hoof on that pedal there."

>She hovers over and plants herself inside, obeying your instructions

>"Like this?"

"Perfect."

>"What do I do now?"

"Get a feel for the thing, I guess. Hit a few of the drums and push that pedal a few times."

>She smacks the snare drum with one drumstick a few times before moving on to the hi-hat and cymbals

>She starts pushing the pedal down in a sequence, making the bass drum give off a beat

>She then hits the hi-hat in a standard beat

>The snare comes in last

"R-Rainbow...you.."

>Rainbow's banging out a pretty cool beat, and it's her first time trying this out

>You're surprised that she could do something like this without any prior knowledge or training

"Hold on, Dash. Let me try something real quick. Play a regular beat for me, would you?"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JmS26d2T-7g (The first 14 seconds)

>She starts off a simple beat

>You wait a measure before jumping in with Nelson

>After a few measures you hold up a hand

"Whoah, whoah! Hold up, Dash!"

>She looks worried

>"What's wrong? Did I mess up?"

"No way, it's just...you can really -play-!"

>"I can?"

"Yeah. You can. Playing the drums isn't easy, especially when each limb has got to be doing something different to play properly. You have -that- down and more."

>She gives off a big smile

>You can't help but return it

>An epiphany rises in your mind

>Those dreams of becoming famous may not be so far off, after all

>You may need to find others, but you and Dash could be enough to kickstart this plan

"Alright. Dash, do you like this instrument?"

>"You kidding? I can play these things with no problem! I love 'em!"

"Glad to hear it, because we've got big things in store for us."