"Arpeggio - Chapter 2: La Fille"
By Albert_Reginald (https://pastebin.com/u/Albert_Reginald)

URL: https://pastebin.com/QPRBWyuK
Created on: Saturday 19th of May 2012 05:57:14 AM CDT
Retrieved on: Monday 26 of October 2020 03:32:28 AM UTC


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."