Classical and Modern: A Battle of Musics

A Curious Mystery

During the auditions, Sunset couldn’t help but wonder about those two in question. The way they did all their theatrics with such beauty made her awe them yet at the same time she couldn’t help but question how they were able to do something like so. Playing the piano and being amazing at it, that’s passable and in the realm of possibility, but being able to do send them to another dimension and perform feats that could only be done with magic? That made her question just who or what, in Deemo’s case, were they? She planned on writing a message to the pony Twilight in the hopes that she could answer it soon but right now, her focus was on the rest of the auditions with the rest of the attending musicians.

Meanwhile with the two, they were walking around the school grounds taking in the sight. Many of the students waved at them prompting Alice to wave at them in return with a smile. One of the musicians came forward personally to greet her, “Hello there, you must be Deemo I presume?” Deemo looked forward to see a cellist speaking with her. He simply nodded prompting a smile from the cellist, “That’s good to hear, Octavia Melody at your service.” She extended a hand gesturing one of them to grab it.

Alice did it for her as she grabbed it and shook it gently. This pleased Octavia as she knelled to her height, “My, such a young girl with quite a nice fellow. I hope you two are getting along well?” She nodded and smiled in return. The cellist stood back up looking towards Deemo, “You remind me of a friend of mine that’s also a musician. Somewhat silent but very caring, I wonder what’s taking her so long? I hope she isn’t bringing that thing from the last Battle of the Bands, goodness did that surprise me…”

A few taps on her shoulder caught her attention prompting her to turn around. Octavia smiled as she was looking at the familiar glasses of her friend, “Vinyl… It’s good to see you though… what took you so long to get here?” Her thumb pointed towards the direction of the parking lot where said contraption was and the cellist suddenly understood quickly, “Ah, that contraption of yours? Needed a bit of repairing or something?” She nodded as she quickly adjusted her glasses.

Vinyl looked towards the two in question and waved at them, “Hey there! I remembered seeing you two at the reception table, boy did you surprise everyone! Not that this isn’t normal for us now but still, you managed to get them real good!” She fixed her glasses and put only one of her earplugs as she pulled out a portable CD as she was introducing herself, “As Octavia mentioned, the name’s Vinyl or if you like to call me by my title which some people here do, DJ Pon3. It’s a pleasure to meet ya!” She extended a hand which was promptly grabbed by Alice. They both shook each other’s hands before letting go. Vinyl could only chuckle seeing how energetic the little girl was, “Boy, you sure are really excited about this aren’t you?” A simple nod from Alice confirmed her question.

Octavia was mostly silent as the introductions were going but she couldn’t help but dramatize a bit from how her friend was introducing herself, “Vinyl, being not her usual bombastic self when introducing to a person? What has this world come too?” The words manage to get a chuckle out of the DJ and Alice. She too chuckled as well and it was not long before they all joined in each other’s laughter. Their laughter slowly died down as Octavia spoke, “Haha that was a good laugh. But in all honesty, I am excited about this as you are. I just hope that it doesn’t get ruined again…”

That made Vinyl somewhat frown but also cheery when she mentioned it. They both noticed that the little girl tilted her head slightly and Deemo stroked his chin. It took them awhile to realize that they were not a part of the last Battle of the Bands and were confused. Vinyl decided to speak about it since she had a part in it, “Oh right, you two weren’t in the last one. Well, let’s just say that things got a bit hectic after three people called the Sirens came around. That last one was not only quite a doozy but was almost like the last two catastrophes where the fate of the world was in the hands of those six girls you saw. Trust me, this sounds weird but I’m telling the truth.”

Both Alice and Deemo looked at each other wondering if they shared the same thoughts. It was not long before they both nodded. The little girl gestured Octavia prompting her to lower herself, “Yes, what is it Alice?” She then whispered her question to the cellist. Octavia looked at Alice in understanding before looking towards her DJ friend, “They want to know everything about what happened at the last Battle of the Bands Vinyl.”

That prompted a smile from her as she lowered herself to her height, “I can definitely tell you how it went! But let’s do it in the library, best I tell you about it in a quiet place you know?” Alice simply nodded as they followed both Octavia and Vinyl to the library. While walking there, Vinyl thought it might be a good time to start reminiscing about the last Battle of the Bands, “Well, since we’re heading there, might as well get started! So it all started after the last world disaster…”

While Vinyl was retelling the story on the way, the last musician finished his performance. After Sunset and company delivered their judgment and he departed, she pulled out the journal and a pen. Just as she was about to write, a voice stopped her from writing at the moment, “Sunset? Is there something troubling you darling?”

She looked towards Rarity who was showing concern. The others mimicked her concern as well. Sunset felt a sigh escape though a smile ended up forming regardless, “Nothing really… It’s just… I can’t shake off what we saw when Alice and… um…” Sunset was mentally slapping herself for forgetting the black spirit’s name.

Thankfully, Pinkie refreshed her memory in her usual fashion, “It’s Deemo silly goose! How could you forget about his name?” The jubilant party planner though suddenly shifted to a tone that caught Sunset off guard. The tone almost sounded serious and yet had that melancholic ring that sounded unnatural for Pinkie. It made her Sunset for her, “It’s something involving their theatrics though, am I right or am I wrong?”

Sunset had to shake her head a bit from the sudden shift in tone from Pinkie’s voice. She managed to recover a bit though was still a bit shaken as she spoke, “Was it that noticeable?” All she saw was Pinkie happily shaking her head as she returned back to her bubbly self. Sunset wondered what the tone was all about though decided to question it later for now. With everyone else knowing why she was writing to Twilight, she had to finish where she left off, “Yeah, like Pinkie said, I just can’t write off what did when they debuted. I can see them being wonderful at the piano and mind you, that was some good piano playing…” Sunset felt a smile forming upon mentioning them playing the piano.

Hearing the song being played, she was simply awed at the wonderful melody. The idea of having to face them personally made her excited. And she wasn’t the only one too as Rainbow’s expression and her clear excitement showed, “I won’t lie, I may not be a good piano player but I know when I see someone that can definitely put up quite a show! And she sure did! I mean all those theatrics? It makes me giddy playing my electric guitar against them!”

Rarity joined in the conversation as well, “Not only that, but that little girl wore probably the most beautiful dress I’ve ever seen in my life! If going against them in a music battle doesn’t excite me, then me having to ask where she gets those kinds of dresses will!”

Applejack looked at the fashionista in bafflement, “Really Rarity? Ah’m all excited like Rainbow is in competin’ against them but yer more excited fer that one time dress she wore?” A simple yet ecstatic nod was answer. She couldn’t help but lower her Stetson and chuckle a bit, “Sheesh, even in somethin’ like an awesome music battle, ya’d still think ‘bout fashion anyway.” She didn’t see Rarity’s expression but Applejack can tell that she was not pleased. She raised her hat again, this time looking at Sunset whose expression changed, “But Ah digress, yer still wonderin’ ‘bout their theatrics as ya put it huh?”

Though her smile was still there, her expression c also had traces of confusion, “Yeah… I’m all excited about going against them still but I can’t shake them being able to do all those theatrics… That’s why I want to ask Twilight and see if she could find out about this. If it is magic, then I’m wondering if and where they came and got it from. If it isn’t, which I doubt so, then I’m not so sure about how to handle that.”

Rainbow pulled a chair up and placed her feet on it as her arms rested on her leg, “No sweat Sunset, we know that you’d have a hard time focusing when something that’s bothering ya gets in your mind!” The others were looking at her with mixed emotions. She just looked at them in confusion as she raised an eyebrow, “What? She’s like Twilight! You can’t deny that right?”

They all looked at each other before they chuckled and nodded in agreement. Sunset found the comparison to be a bit funny though she did wonder if Rainbow was comparing her to the pony Twilight or the human Twilight. She decided to not wonder about the comparison as she was more concerned with writing the entry, “Thanks girls, I really appreciate it…” Just as she raised her pen though, she looked around and notice something off, “Say… Where’s Fluttershy?” Everybody looked around and suddenly, they wondered as well. Unbeknownst to them, Pinkie knew where she decided to go but kept up the act for now.

Fluttershy was secretly leaving for the library after the auditions was over but Pinkie caught her before she could depart. To her surprise and gladness, Pinkie allowed her to depart as she gestured her mouth being zipped. Fluttershy silently thanked her as she departed. She was almost at the location when she heard a conversation going on inside the library, “Oh my… someone’s already there. I shouldn’t disturb them…” Just as she was about to leave, the door suddenly opened causing her to jump in surprise.

She looked and let out a sigh of relief when she saw Octavia there, “Oh Fluttershy! What bring you here of all places? Are the auditions over already?”

She fixed her hair as she spoke with the cellist, “Y-Yes… the auditions are over… I uh… came here just to read a book about animals for now.” She looked towards Octavia who was all but smiling. She ended up smiling as well though something made her wonder, “Um… So… what are you doing here Octavia? I thought you were going to practice with your cello or at least, with Vinyl while we were busy with the auditions and all that.”

The cellist could only chuckle as she opened the door fully, “We were… until a certain pair decided to ask Vinyl to retell what happened during the last Battle of the Bands. I only stayed with her because I thought it would be okay. At least I was able to entertain myself by reading books while she was telling her side of the story.”

“A… certain pair?” Fluttershy looked inside the library and found herself a bit surprised when she saw the first musicians to have auditioned listening to the story. The sight of the little girl moving her legs back and forth while intently listening to the story caused her to smile.

Vinyl was, as Octavia said, recounting the events from the last Battle of the Bands. What she said next, Fluttershy knew where she was at the time, “And then those seven girls rose to the air and made this big phoenix that shot a laser at the Sirens! Let me tell you, the sight of that never ceases to amaze me! I even have a picture of it saved on my phone!” She pulled out her phone and showed said picture of it towards the two. Alice was awed by the sight of it and although Deemo couldn’t show any sign of emotion, he too was amazed. The DJ continued to speak as they were admiring it, “I know right? Those girls can be so amazing sometimes!” She looked towards the library door and saw Fluttershy. That made her smile bigger as she raised an arm towards her, “And there’s one of the girls right now! Hey there Fluttershy!”

The both of them looked towards her and waved. Fluttershy returned the gesture as she stepped inside the library, “Hi Vinyl… I heard that you were telling them about the last Battle of the Bands. Why though is the question…”

The DJ still wore her smile as she put her phone back in her pocket, “Well isn’t it obvious?” She was waiting for Fluttershy’s answer and was relatively surprised when she shook her head, “Really? Well, I guess it’s obvious to Pinkie no doubt but I’ll get to the point…” She pointed a thumb towards the pair as she answered, “Did you ever see these two during the last one?”

Fluttershy looked towards Alice and Deemo, still a bit confused about her question, “No I… haven’t.” She suddenly connected the dots as she looked towards Vinyl, “You mean…?”

The DJ was still smiling as she spoke, “Now you got it Flutters! Yeah, these two weren’t around during that crazy moment so they had asked me and Octavia to recall the events. Octavia said most of the events for me while I had a say during the final moments. I’d say you arrived just in time as I was finishing it up.”

Fluttershy smiled as she looked towards the pair, “Oh… well, how was the story?” A simple smile from Alice was all she needed as she can tell the little girl clearly enjoyed it. Deemo on the other hand baffled her a bit as it was hard to tell if he enjoyed it or not. A nod was her answer though and while he was still hard to read emotionally, at least he enjoyed the story, “That’s great…!”

Octavia smiled as she finished reading up on another book. Putting it back on the shelf, she stood up from the chair and looked towards Vinyl, “I think it’s time we start practicing for the contest Vinyl. Don’t want to forget about that right?”

Vinyl snapped her fingers as she stood up from the chair, “Oh right! I almost forgot about that!” She looked towards Fluttershy as she was packing up, “Well, Flutters, looks like you get this all to yourself with the pair. Stay sharp!”

“Wait! Don’t…!” But it was already too late as they left to practice for the contest, “Oh dear…” She looked towards the two of them and while her smile was still there, she was a bit nervous on how to handle this. She saw Alice gesturing her to come nearby as she pulled out a seat for her. The sight made her almost forget her fears as she sat down, “T-thank you Alice… I… really appreciate it.” She smiled as she looked towards Deemo. The black spirit nodded and both looked towards Fluttershy awaiting a response.

It took a while for her to pick that they were waiting on her, “Oh um… you’re wondering if I have a question of my own?” They both nodded. She looked away a bit while she was speaking, “I… really don’t have a…” She suddenly stopped her statement as an idea came to mind. Under certain circumstances, she would be too afraid to ask about anything but since these two are generous when they first debuted, she felt like perhaps it would be a good time to do so, “Actually… I do… have a question.” She looked towards the pair as she raised and placed her arms on the table, “How… did you learn about the present Battle of the Bands? That and… I’d like to know on what you do… if that’s okay with you?” They both nodded prompting Fluttershy to smile, “Thank you… so… how?”