If it's groove you're looking for
Then you've come to the right place
Octavia, can't you see
Classical's not the type for me!
Octavia flipped her long mane back and smiled as she left their practice hall. They'd all done a fantastic job, and they'd finally been able to put together the music so that it fit perfectly. It'd been their best practice yet!
She elected to leave her cello behind and walk home. On her way there, she passed a club from which a fast-paced music was spilling. She rolled her eyes, but unable to contain her curiosity, peered inside. A whirl of colors hit her eyes and she stumbled back dizzily; the music was so loud she could hardly hear herself think. A pony appeared by her side.
"You come to snort at the swing freaks too?" asked a white unicorn with a bright shock of a mane. She was wearing rose-colored sunglasses.
"Um... I'm not entirely sure I know what swing is," Octavia replied.
"Really?" the pony seemed surprised. "Well then, perhaps an introduction is needed. I'm Vinyl. Vinyl Scratch."
"Octavia," she replied faintly.
Vinyl grinned and stepped through the door. "You coming, Octy?"
Now don't you look the other way,
'Cause this music's here to stay
Now wipe that grin right off your face
It'll all be gone when you step into this place
Octavia had to admit, the place had style. The music was pretty funky. It had an odd beat though, almost as if the musicians were purposely playing on the offbeat. Who did that? She followed Vinyl through the crowded dance floor and stopped next to her at the counter.
"Hey! Berry Punch! Can we get some non-alcoholic drinks over here?" Vinyl called. At the purple pony's nod, she turned to Octavia. "You look like the musician type. Classical, am I right? Well, you may have noticed that the beat is played off of the on-beat. That's pretty typical of jazz and swing. The piano's a huge part of the overall band. Huh... this band's missing a bass."
She removed her glasses and revealed bright red eyes. "That's weird. No wonder the songs sound off. Can't have a good band without a bass instrument." Putting her glasses back on, she turned to Octavia. "So, what do you think?"
"Well, I've never heard anything like this before. But I rather like it," she admitted.
So put down that cello
And go grab the bass
'Cause we're swinging here tonight,
This ain't no fancy music place!
You just gotta let it go
From everything that tells you no
Even if this is not your type of show,
Your type of show!
"Gotta admit," Vinyl scratched her head, "I kinda like it too. Not as good as my music of course."
"Oh!" Octavia finally placed the strange pony. "You're DJ Pon-3, aren't you?"
"Yeah! Took you awhile!" the young musician snickered. "Most people place me in seconds."
"I don't generally frequent clubs," she replied.
"Your band played at... um... the Grand Galloping Gala, right?"
"That's right. I remember you. I can't believe you remember me," Octavia said.
Now maybe you've learned a thing or two,
about how fast those hooves can groove
Now c'mon just take a chance,
these beats will put you in a trance
"'Course I do!" Vinyl looked offended. "I remember everypony who plays music as well as you guys did. It's sorta my job, even if I don't like classical all that much."
Octavia stared at Vinyl Scratch in a bit of confusion. If she recognized me, why didn't she say something? She said that last bit aloud.
"I wanted to make sure," was the pony's reply. "If I'd gotten it wrong, that woulda been awkward, don't you think? Now go on, get up there!"
"Um. What?"
"Go on and get a bass," Vinyl said. "They need a good instrumentalist up there. Judging on your talent, I bet you'd do great at improv! Their break is about to start. Here's a fedora and a vest. Now get up there!"
Octavia stared at the garments in her hands and up at the stage. She swallowed nervously and trotted backstage.
Now these things you just can't forget,
it would only bring regret
but there's one thing you must know
we can't stop this crowd from stomping on this floor
With the fedora and vest fully on, Octavia trembled. The band came backstage and didn't seem at all surprised to see the new pony.
The drummer smiled and said, "Yo, Tavi! Vinyl said you'd be coming tonight. The bass is right there. You ready? We start up again in 5!"
"Er!" she squeaked, nodding and walking towards the huge bass. What? What? How'd she know? Why did she know? Curse you, Vinyl Scratch! I can't improvise! This is indignified! And I don't know how to do it! What do I do?!
So put down that cello and go grab the bass, cause we're swingin'
here tonight, this ain't no fancy music place.
You just gotta let it go, from everything that tells you no
Even if this is not your type of show, your type of show.
Vinyl smiled up at Octavia's bright violet eyes, shielded from the lights by her low fedora. Octavia breathed nervously as the music started up with a swinging beat. It was a fun little groove, and her hooves seemed to move by themselves. They lifted up to the bass's fingerboard. At this point she just decided to move with it and swing with it.
Her eyes closed as she started playing music that seemed to come right from within, welling up and moving. Despite herself her lips twitched into a smile...
Almost two and a half hours later she looked down on the cheering crowd. Slightly surprised at how fast the time went, she looked at Vinyl.
Vinyl's glasses were off and she was applauding loudly and whistling. Octavia smiled again, and took the bow with the band.
A.N. Time! Based off of Joaftheloaf's song "Swing Tavi Swing"! I do not own the characters, but I do own a sense of rhythm!
Music is awesome. Swing is awesome. Classical's awesome. Dubstep's awesome. This is basically a description of how it feels to play jazz on a string instrument, which is, essentially, fantasmatic. Thanks for reading!