“What?!” Rainbow shouted. “What do you mean I can’t take basketball?”
“I’m sorry, Rainbow.” Principal Celestia said with genuine remorse. “I’m sure everyone wants you on that team, but you are missing a credit to graduate, so you must take that class instead.”
“What class?” Rainbow asked.
“Fine arts, oddly enough.” Celestia said. She looked up at Rainbow in surprise. “Aren’t you in a band? How have you not taken any fine arts courses?”
Rainbow looked down at the floor sheepishly. “I took out of school lessons. The guitar class here was too boring for me. It was just so boring. It was all this… jangly guitar music that sounded like it was from a pet food commercial.”
Celestia nodded.
“Well, in any case, you need this credit before you can walk at the end of the year. You’ll need to take two semesters due to the requirement for one year’s worth of credits. Do you have any preferences?”
Rainbow nodded. “Guitar I guess.”
Celestia smiled. “No surprise there.” She changed her schedule on the computer. After a moment, though, she frowned. “Oh dear.”
“What is it?” Rainbow asked, worriedly.
“There’s a conflict. You’ll have to pick another class or drop the other elective.” Celestia said as she turned back to Rainbow.
“What’s the other class?”
“Soccer.” Celestia said. Rainbow shook her head.
“I can’t drop that class. I’m the team captain!” Celestia nodded.
“Then you’ll have to pick another fine arts class. That’s the only available guitar class.”
Rainbow shook her head. “Do you know what classes wouldn’t conflict with my schedule?”
Celestia turned back to the computer. “Let’s see, for that period the only classes are… Art and Concert Band I.”
Rainbow thought for a moment.
I have no talent in art. The last art class I took was in middle school with that lazy teacher that always let me cut class and go to the field. That’s a no-go there. Band… Ugh. I spent years called them nerds and egg-heads. How am I supposed to go in there now and be a part of them? I guess I have no choice. Reluctantly… She looked up.
“I’ll take band then, I guess.” Celestia smiled and nodded. “I’ll talk to the band directors and see what we can do. You’ll have to learn an instrument. Guitar’s aren’t commonplace in a Concert Band. You’ll have some kind of day where you go in and they let you try various instruments before you pick. Sound good?”
Rainbow nodded. “I guess.”
“It’ll be fine, I promise. Well, I think that about wraps it up here. You can leave if you want.”
“Alright. Thanks for your help.” Rainbow said. She stood and started walking out of Celestia’s office.
“Enjoy the rest of your summer, Rainbow!” Celestia called.
The next week came and went and it was time for Rainbow to try out her instruments before picking. She walked in the band hall one afternoon and was greeted by the band director. He was a kind man. He was definitely one of the younger teachers at the school, but he was an amazing band director and musician. He had attended CHS when he was younger and came back to help the formerly struggling band program become the band that now had nationally-awarded high school musicians. The man in question held his hand out to Rainbow with a smile.
“Hello, Rainbow. I’m Mr. Vandoren. I’ll be here helping you try out the instruments.”
Rainbow took his hand and meekly smiled. “Hello, sir.” She looked around the band hall. There were lockers of all size and shape on the walls, but most of them were empty. A few of the lockers were filled with crumpled up paper and other trash. While glancing through one, she could have sworn she saw a pair of the those pink “Pow!” panty gag gifts in it. As she kept looking, she saw lots of percussion equipment stowed in a closet that was left open. She even a few really nice amps in it. What could the band be needing those for? Her attention was drawn back to the band director as he started speaking.
“See anything you’d like to try first? Or do you just want us to decide?” He asked kindly. She looked around again, this time paying attention to the instruments.
“Can I try the drums?” She asked. Closest thing to rock and roll in here. She thought. Mr. Vandoren nodded.
“We sure can.” He smiled. He walked over to the percussion closet and brought out a practice pad on a stand and two sets of drumsticks. He set them up near the front-center of the room by a keyboard on a cart. He handed her a pair of sticks and kept one for himself. “Now, I know you’re in a band, and I know you’re pretty good. So has Pinky ever shown you anything about the drums?”
Rainbow shook her head. “Not that I can remember, no.” Mr. Vandoren nodded.
“Alright. So we’ll start at the basics. You hold the stick like this…” He showed her how to hold the sticks properly with his own sticks. “Try to mirror that.” Rainbow tried and failed to mirror him. He nodded patiently and let her try again. After she dropped the sticks a third time, he tried to help her by moving her fingers to where they needed to be. “There. That’s how it’s suppose to look and feel. Got it?”
Rainbow gave a small, embarrassed nod.
“Alright. So when you hit the drum hit it near the upper center... “ He ran through the drumming techniques and various basic rhythms, but every time she would either drop the sticks or botch the rhythm completely. Mr. Vandoren was patient with her the whole time, saying ‘Not everyone can get it on their first try.’. After a while, they moved on to other instruments. She tried and failed with the trumpet. She couldn’t get a sound out of it. She produced similar results with the rest of the brass instruments. Woodwinds didn’t fare much better. She could do a fantastic impression of wind blowing through a nickel tube with the flute, though. Clarinet and Saxophone weren’t any better than the brass. She had been able to make a small sound from the Oboe, but nothing worth gloating about. Rainbow’s will to continue was all but gone. She decided on whether or not it’d be worth it at this point just to quit and go fail an art class. Mr. Vandoren smiled at her apologetically as he put away the alto saxophone. Rainbow just shook her head.
“I’m sorry to have wasted your time, Mr. Vandoren.” She said. Mr. Vandoren smiled.
“You didn’t waste my time. I enjoy people expressing interest in music. Either way, we still have one last instrument, and I think it might be it.” He said optimistically. He walked over to a locker and pulled out a small, thin, black leather case. When he opened it, Rainbow saw a wooden instrument taken apart into lots of small parts. He showed her how to put it together before standing grabbing a reed from a nearby case and telling her to wet it. Once the instrument had been put together completely, he handed it over to her.
“This is the bassoon. You hold it a lot like the tenor saxophone, but instead of a neck strap, you just sit on that leather band. Leave enough out so that the reed is at a comfortable position to your face. Remember, bring the instrument to you, not you to the instrument.” Once she had adjusted it properly, he began explaining the instrument to her. “Alright. So the bassoon is another double reed instrument like the oboe, so the embouchure is basically the same. The only difference, is that the bassoon reeds are larger. That means loosen your lower lip, but still keep it supported. Any questions?”
Rainbow shook her head.
“Alright.” He showed her how to finger an F before sitting back. He smiled. “Go ahead and play.”
Rainbow nodded nervously. This thing looks way too complicated. Who even thought of this thing? She wet her lips before placing them on the reed and blowing into the instrument. Instead of air running through the instrument, or a horrible screech, out came a meek, but still good sounding F. It was wildly out of tune, but it was something. Mr. Vandoren smiled wildly and threw his arms up in the air.
“Dude!” He shouted. “That was awesome!”
Rainbow released a breath she didn’t even know she was holding. She smiled as widely as him, his joy infectious. He sat back down, but still looked as giddy as a kid in a candy shop. He eventually calmed himself.
“Okay, I know you probably think I’m crazy now, but that’s just how I am. You’ll get used to it.” They laughed. “But seriously, that was the best sound I’ve ever heard a beginner make. Especially a beginner who’s never even touched the bassoon before!”
Rainbow’s confidence came back to her somewhat. “So, can I play some more?”
Mr. Vandoren nodded. “Of course. If you would like to play that instrument, I can give you lessons so that you’ll be somewhat caught up before school starts. Granted, most of the students will have a couple years up on you, but I think you’ll do fine.”
The rest of the day was spent with Mr. Vandoren running her through assembling and disassembling the instrument and general care and maintenance on the reeds and instrument. At the end of it all, Rainbow was walking out of the band hall with a bassoon case in her hand and a small folder with some basic stuff in it.
Maybe this’ll work out after all.
The school year was almost over, and it was almost time for the Spring Band Concert. Just as Mr. Vandoren had predicted, Rainbow had performed very well with the bassoon. She quickly learned and caught up with the other students. Despite her initial worries of the other band students hating her, she quickly found it was the opposite. They welcomed her with open arms. When she asked one of the students why this was, he simply grinned playfully.
“We open anyone who turns to the dark side.”, which got a laugh out of both of them. Another student joined in and made a comical look of despair.
“Why did you do it? You were free?” She begged. They laughed again, the girl’s facade cracking as she joined them. “Band is like a cult. You can never leave.”
At Rainbow’s look of worry, the boy gave her a reassuring look. “Ignore her. It’s an inside joke for the band.”
Rainbow just laughed and nodded. Mr. Vandoren walked into the band hall, a coffee in his hand. The boy turned and shouted across the room at him.
“Mr. Vandoren, do we need to send you to Coffee-holics Anonymous?” He said jokingly. The band director grinned back, mischievously.
“Duke Starlight, I’ve seen you eat an entire family-sized bag of Hot Cheetos in under an hour, five times.” He shouted back. He set down his coffee and high-fived himself before turning and walking to his office like nothing happened. All the students just laughed at the interaction. Things like this were commonplace among the band, with all the directors. The students try to make fun of them, and the directors throw it right back at them. The almost family-like relationship with everyone, Rainbow noticed, is what really set the band apart. She realized she genuinely enjoyed the band, despite what she had thought originally. She was sad that it would all be over after tonight’s concert.
Rainbow peered over her stand and the row in front of her to see if she could see anyone in the audience. Unfortunately, the light booth worker had decided at that point to turn the lights down in the house and turn up all the stage lights. This high contrast in light meant all Rainbow could see was black shapes in the darkness. Thankfully, she had another way to tell her friends were there.
“WOOOOOO! GO DASHIE!” She heard Pinkie scream before being shushed and laughed at by her other friends. Rainbow just grinned.
“Friends of yours?” A voice said to her. Rainbow turned to her right and say Duke smiling at her. Rainbow just laughed.
“Not sure. What do you think?” She asked, which got a laugh out of Duke.
“I’d say a fifty-fifty chance.” A voice from up front said. The two turned and saw Mr. Vandoren smiling at Rainbow. He turned around and put a hand over his eyes. “Where are they?” He eventually saw them and waved back.
“Hi Pinky.” He shouted.
“Hi Mr. Vandoren!” Pinkie shouted back. He just grinned and turned back to the band. He looked around at the students before walking over to the microphone at the front of the stage.
“Good evening ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to the Canterlot High School Spring Band Concert…”
Author's Note
Sorry for any errors or bad organization. I wrote this in an hour, but I looked over it and tried to fix as many spelling and grammar errors as I saw. Feel free to show me how much I suck at self-editing in the comments.
