Shut Up And Dance

by LightOfTriumph

Rating: everyone
Tags: Cake Twins, Slice of Life, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Other, Romance, Original Character, Comedy
Length: 3630

Down Beat is put on the spot when his father asks him to write a song for his parents anniversary.

It's Toe Tapper and Torch Song's twentieth anniversary. Toe Tapper has been planning the surprise for a while, but he would like his son Down Beat to perform a song for it while he prepares everything else. Being an artist with some pride, he elects to write the song himself.

Beat is a little overwhelmed by the task.

Inspired by Walk the Moon's "Shut Up And Dance"

Published 2016-03-20 14:40:01 UTC
Last updated 2016-03-20 14:40:01 UTC

Shut Up And Dance

*click* Okay.... I think this thing is recording.

Hi, my name is Down Beat. I'm 19 years old, and yes, sadly I still live at home. I'm hoping to change that soon. I've got a little garage band going with a few friends. Silly dream, I know, but heck. You're my journal, right? You won't judge me.

My dad used to make these a lot when he was dating my mom. So with the position I've gotten myself into now... It seemed appropriate.

It all started a few days ago. I woke up and panicked because it was noon. I then remembered I was out of school and I had no job, so I promptly tried to get back to sleep again. After that was a riotus failure, I went downstairs and panicked again. I saw my mother, drinking a mug of coffee in the kitchen, and she didn't give me grief for oversleeping.

This was very bad news.

"What's going on?" I said. "Who died?!"

"Good morning to you too," she said sarcastically. "Well... Afternoon."

I eased a little, but still something was off. "Mom, seriously, what's wrong?" I asked sincerely.

"It's," she started. Then she looked away. "It's nothing..."

"No it isn't," I said frankly.

She smiled at me. "Do you know what Friday is?"

I thought about it for a while. "Duuhh...," I started. Quite the intellect on me huh? "The... seventeenth?" And then it clicked in my brain. "You and Dad's anniversary!"

She nodded. "Our twentieth anniversary," she sighed. "The thing is... I don't think your father remembers."

That didn't sound like dad. At all. My Dad is head over heels for my mom at all times. When she goes to Manhattan to record and he's left home alone he acts like a puppy who's been left out in the rain. The sky is blue. The grass is green. Toe Tapper remembers his anniversary. It was one of the immutable facts of the universe.

"He's been getting a little more distant lately," Mom sighed. "I suppose I should expect it after twenty years..."

"No you shouldn't..." I said. Filling with righteous indignation. Me and my dad were close as hell, but if he made my mommy cry... "Where's dad?"

"Taking Melody to her CMC meeting," she said. "And don't you dare tell him a thing, I mean it. He's got a lot on his mind, he doesn't need to feel guilty about this on top of everything? Alright?"

"Fine," I said, immediately disregarding the order.

"I'm going out," Mom smiled, brushing some of her mane out of her eyes. "I finished off the coffee so I'm going to pick up some more. Are you going to be okay by yourself?"

"Mom..." I sighed. "I'm really not a foal anymore."

"Yes you are," Mom said as she pinched my cheeks. "I'll be back in a few hours. Love you."

"Love you too, Mom," Mom left and I new what I was going to do for the next twenty minutes.

I sat in front of the door and contemplated patricide.

How dare he? How dare he forget?! My dad has one of the best memories for dates I have ever seen, but he can't remember his own wedding date? This stallion can rattle off every single date The Ponytones ever performed on, and where, and what he and mom sang, AND what style her mane was in that day, couldn't remember when he married, and I'm quoting here, "the best thing to ever happen to him."

I sat there fuming for a few minutes before the door opened.

"Torch, I'm home!" my dad said, as he walked in. "Is Beat up- Oh, Hi Beat."

"Yes, Down Beat is awake," I said acidly as I got directly in my Dad's face. "Down Beat is also extremely furious. It's a good thing Torch Song isn't here, because now there won't be any witnesses when Down Beat kills Toe Tapper."

My dad raised an incredulous eyebrow. "Toe Tapper would like to inform Down Beat that the third person thing he's doing right now is not intimidating. Just hilarious." He waved a hoof in front of his face. "And that if this is about the new amplifier he wants the answer is 'Not until he learns to brush his teeth in the morning."

"Screw the amp," I said defiantly. "The anniversary."

"Oh yeah!" Dad smacked his head. "I'm glad your mother's out of the house, see I've been getting the party together for about a month, but I still need your help with something."

"I--" My brain crashed. "What?"

"Yeah, everything's all set up," Dad smiled coming into the house proper. "I just need your help with something. Pinkie Pie's got the party set up at the train station, and I've called in a few favors..."

My hoof was buried in my forehead at this point. "You know," I sighed. "You could have told me about this at some point before I-"

"You can keep a secret about as well as a Banshee," Dad said frankly. "I needed subtlety and stealth, and you have neither. The only reason I'm telling you now is because I managed to get Berry to get her on a wild goose chase for the next few days, starting tomorrow."

I deflated. Logic wasn't going to help me at this point. "What do you need the help with?"

"Your band," Dad said. "I need you and Pound to perform it at the party."

"Why don't you do it?" I asked.

"Because," Dad said as he held my shoulders. "You're better at it than I am. I mean that sincerely. I've seen you guys play, the both of you are amazing."

I smiled at that. "Thank you, but you know that me and Pound Cake are trying to put together a metal band, right? I mean, the song I'm most proud of is called 'Genocide'..."

"I like 'Worlds in Ruin,' myself."

"That's fine," I clarified. "What I'm saying is that we don't really do Love Songs."

"I figured," Dad laughed. "Its fine. I have a list of songs."

"Throw it away," I said immediately. "We are not a cover band."

"Beat-"

"I will get something down," I said cockily. "It'll be a good shift for me."

Dad frowned. "Okay," he said. "But if you need any help, I want you to write to this address. This is an old friend of your mother's from college. She should be able to help out if you're stuck. Her name's Sandy."

"Thanks, but I'm sure I won't need her help," I scoffed as I took the address from dad. "I mean, how hard can it be to write a love song."

One day there is going to be a magical tome written by the sacred horns of the five Alicorn princesses. It shall catalog all of the stupid things aid by insufferable morons that nearly leveled cities. Things like "What could go wrong?" or "What does this button do?"

.... Or "How hard could it be to write a love song?"

Needless to say I wrote a quick SOS to Sandy around the second day of nothing getting done. Eventually it was the day before the party and me and Pound were... We were worse than nowhere. We managed to take a step back from nowhere and and up in some sort of horrible songwriting purgatory. Draft after draft of the most disingenuous crap pen ever put to paper. What I wrote down were nothing less than auditory war crimes.

"This is good," I said, staring horrified at my latest sappy nonsensical word salad. "This... This is good."

"Yep," Pound Cake said, slowly nodding from the drum set. "Just fine..."

"Good...," I sighed. "It sucks, doesn't it Pound?"

"The chrome of of doorknobs. What the hell is wrong with you this week?!"

"I'm sorry, alright!" I said defensively. "It's very hard to write a love song about your own mother."

"Fair enough," Pound said, his face buried in his hooves. "So why exactly didn't we cover one of the songs your dad suggested?"

"Because, dammit, I'm not going down that road!" I protested. "No covers until we publish the first album!"

"At this point, there's not going to be a first album," Pound Cake said calmly. "Because I'm going to kill you."

"I can only assume that this is going swimmingly well," came a bright voice from the door. In the doorway stood two figures. One was Pumpkin Cake, Pound's twin sister, and the smaller of the two was my sister, Melody.

I cared about these two very much. I had felt responsible for my sister since she first came home, and she has always been a laugh riot and me, Pumpkin, and Pound have been friends for years. But I knew that their presence would not make things any easier.

"Hey Half-Pint," I smiled weakly at my sister. "How was school?"

"Good!" Mel squeaked as she ran down the stairs and gave me a hug.

"What... the heck have you two been doing?" Pumpkin asked as she followed.

"He's been keeping me here for days without food," Pound growled. "One would think that you being my twin and a Unicorn you'd get some kind of magical telepathic message that I needed help."

"Yeah, but I ignored it," Pumpkin joked. "Had things to do." Pumpkin could always find a way to make me laugh. "Anyway, you guys wouldn't tell me what you were doing, so how could I help."

"They have to write a love song for Mom and Dad's anniversary tomorrow," Melody squeaked.

"Oh yeah, your Dad said something about that!" Pumpkin smiled. "A great big performance at the train platform where your Dad first professed his love for your Mom! That is just the sweetest thing ever..."

"Well, at this point there isn't going to be a Performance," I said grimly. "Here, You should read this. Maybe it could sound less gag-worthy to somepony of the fairer sex."

I handed her the lyric sheets and she slowly read them. "Oh," she said with a tone that would have been appropriate had the document had proven she had cancer. "Oh, Beat no...."

"The song doesn't need new perspective, it needs burning," Pound said solemnly. "And I haven't been any help, but..."

"I'm sorry," Pumpkin said. "But this just doesn't sound like your parents. I've seen them together and the last thing they are is this slow... Or boring."

"Well, as I was saying," I groaned. "It's kind of hard to write a love song about your own mother... It's also kind of creepy."

"So don't," Pumpkin giggled.

"I'm sorry?"

"Don't write it about your mom," Pumpkin clarified. "Love is love. It's universal. Write it about your girl!"

"My 'girl'?" I was completely lost. "You mean my axe? I mean, she is a fairly sweet six-stri-"

"For the love of all five Alicorns," Melody groaned. "We cannot spend a love song fixing your bizarre issues with your guitar..."

"No," Pumpkin smiled. "I meant your dream girl. You must have thought about it at some point. Everypony does. What do you want when you finally fall for someone?"

That took a lot of thinking. However after a little bit, I came up with the answer. "I know it's going to sound weird," I said. "But I want what Mom and Dad have."

"Go on," Pumpkin said, looking right through me.

I was looking straight at Pumpkin throughout the next little monologue... And it still took me a but longer to get it.

"Dad once called Mom 'The reason he'll always sing.' It took me a while to realize that she was the reason he did pretty much anything with any enthusiasm. Mom is his life. His energy. I want that. I want someone to make me come alive when everything else feels lifeless. I want someone who can inspire me. Not in any big dramatic way, just... just to make me want to dance."

I was looking straight into Pumpkin's eyes... And then the song wrote itself.

"Pound!" I said, fully charged and ready to go. "Pick up the tempo. Matter of fact, cut loose. We're going HAM on this one."

"You got it?" Pound smiled.

"Oh, I got it," I said, in that sick tone that came when I was making lyrical magic. "The only thing I'm really worried about is backing, I'm not sure you and me are enough. We need a serious heartbeat behind this one, and one set of drums isn't going to cut it..."

"Excuse me?" Pound said with one eyebrow raised.

"Even if you are the best drummer alive," I reassured him. "You are only one stallion."

"I should go and let you two work," Pumpkin laughed, turning toward the door.

"Nah, stick around!" I said slightly desperately.

"No no, a entertaining as this is, I have a life of my own I need to live!" Pumpkin protested. "Before I leave however, I pick up your mail you should have a look."

"Oh, yeah," I said, taking the stack of letters from her. "Let's see here.... Bill.... Bill... Bill... Oh! Letter for me! Must be that friend of Mom's dad sent me to. Let's take a look..."

I opened the letter and... Hoo boy...

Dear Down Beat,

It is so nice to hear from you! I think the last time I saw you you were still just a baby! You seemed terrified of me, but I suppoe it was the outfit. A little excessive, I suppose, but anything or the show! I must admit, I thought it was fairly weird when you called me Sandy. I think only your mom still calls me that on a regular basis is Torch Song.

And yes, of course I remember your mother. I wouldn't have gotten through most of college without her help. I didn't meet your dad until some time later mind you. Though then again, neither did she. Anyway, I didn't know that is was her anniversary! I wish your dad had invited me. I keep telling him that no matter how busy it seems like I am, I always have the time to visit.

Speaking of visiting, you need some personal help. I read those lyrics you wrote, and you're right, you are not used to this. Luckily I am. It is going to mean going off the tour for a day or two, but it shouldn't cause that much of a scheduling hiccup. Just a few hours to help you get back on track, and say hi to Torch!

Seeing you soon,

S. Shores

I had seen that signature before on an album in my room. Gift fro my mom. It took Melody fainting for me to remember that "Sapphire" was a stage name.

Anyone who says that Sapphire Shores is over the hill can bite me.

In one day, she read the new song, helped me set up the lights and the stage, gave me the backing I needed, and even offered to do a guest verse. Of course I accepted, And at nineteen years old, I got to perform on stage live with the Sapphire Shores. If my music career goe nowhere else, I will have no regrets. We killed that night.

As for mom and dad? Mom stepped off the train and was completely blown away by everything. All the people who showed up. All the effort put in. The stage, the lights, Sapphire. Everything. She started to tear up as the song kicked up, and Dad walked right up to her and kissed her. As gooey as it was, it was really sweet to see.

When the song was done I found myself backstage, alone, with Sapphire Shores.

"Oh my sweet merciful..." I sighed. "We did it!! We did it!! I'm alive!!"

"Yes you are," Sapphire laughed. "You did a great job."

"It was all you," I smiled. "Thank you so much Ms. Shores, This really would not have been possible--"

"Hey, don't say that! You wrote it!" she smiled. "And please, just call me Sapphire. Or Sandy! Whatever works for you."

"If we're going with what makes me comfortable, I'm going to stick with Ms. Shores for now," I said nervously.

She smiled at that. "So who was the song about?" she asked.

"Mom and Dad," I said immediately. "Why do you ask?"

"And strike one," Sapphire sighed. "Come on, now. Honey, you don't write something like that about your mother. Even rom the point of view of your dad. I'll ask again, who is the song about?"

I smiled. She had seen right through me. "Just an abstract," I said sadly. "No one real. A friend suggested I write about my dream girl, so I did. I think it ended up working. But as for who this is about... I don't know yet. Not even sure if she's real."

To my surprise she said. "And strike two. You don't write something like that when you're looking for something, you write something like that when you've found it. Every love song I have recorded that has ever been worth a damn has been about the same wonderful husband and agent. Don't try to fool me, child. I know how this process works. So one more time, who is the song about?"

"I'm sorry," I said, at this point utterly baffled. "I don't know what you're..."

"Oh," Sapphire shores said, with more than a hint of pity in her voice. "You really don't do you... It's okay, it'll hit you soon enough."

At this point Pumpkin ran backstage. "Hi," she said, slightly out of breath. "I just wanted to say that yo to were amazing. Ms. Shores it is such an honor to meet you, I've been a fan of your work since I was in kindergarten!"

"Please," Sapphire laughed. "Don't remind me about how long I've been doing this."

"Oh, um, Beat," Pumpkin said nervously. "Melody is kind of... On stage... She's been asking the band a lot of questions, and Pound has done his best to usher her off but..."

"Nopony ushers Mel anywhere," I nodded. "I'll get her, and I'll apologize to the band."

"No you won't!" Sapphire said as she frantically put her earrings back on. "I haven't met Melody yet! This seems like the perfect time! Tell the band to start up 'The Beat is Yours,' I'l be out in a minute."

My eyes widened. "Miss Shores, I can't support this," I said slowly. "You are either going to gain a stalker or kill my sister."

"She'll be fine," Sapphire said dismissively. "And she's not, I'll give her ample time to escape!"

"The Beat is Yours'?!" Pumpkin squeaked. "Oh, I love that one! Come on, Beat! I think there is still room on the dance floor!"

"Ah pa pa," I protested. "Despite the shift in styles this evening, I am still a metal guitarist and fron man. Meatlheads don't dance. We jump, we fist pump, we have been known to headbang on occasion, but we simply do not--"

Pumpkin put her hoof over my mouth.

"Shut up and dance with me."

With those five words something just clicked. That moment is frozen in time forever for me. I think part of me is still there. I couldn't think, I could barely breath. It was like waking up after being asleep for a long time. All I could do was nod.

As I was heading out, I took one last look at Sapphire Shores. She gave me a ten mile grin, and a wink. She knew.

That was last night. I have been awake trying to figure out what to do about this situation, and hen I told my dad this morning he told me about the audio journals he made, and suggested I make a few of my own. He said it helps put your thoughts together...

And did it? I'm not sure... Maybe.

Retelling the story like this has put some things in perspective... Like the timing of when I was finally able to write the song. And realiing then when I described "Dreamgirl" I was talking about the Mare right in front of me...

What do I do? I know I don't want to do what dad did... I mean he waited until what he thought was the last minute to speak up. I think it would kill me waiting that long. But if I tell her... What if she doesn't feel the same way? What if she can't? I don't think I could take that either...

... So it seems like I'm damned if I do, damned if I don't....

So I may as well do.

... Okay! I've made up my mind! I'm going for it! Right now! Have to keep going on this bend while I'm still this insane!

Oh, hang on, third possibility, what if she's all for it, but Pound Cake isn't?

.... Worth it. Wish me luck!

Author's Note

The very first thing I wrote in months. I'm happy to be writing again, even if it is a bit of an unfocused mess. This felt good! For those of you unaware, this is the fifth in a series of stories I started almost two years ago. You can find them here.

Up Tempo
Down Beat
Reprise
A New Melody

And for those of you who don't know the song that this is based on.

And yes, you can assume that this is the song Beat ended up writing.:derpytongue2:

This one's to Dreamgirl. If you're out there, I'm waiting.:pinkiesad2:

I hope you enjoy. Please rate and comment!