For Flash Sentry, the first half of the school day went by in a slow, rather boring sort of way. He had three classes before lunch; algebra, biology and history. Since algebra and biology were particularly difficult classes for Flash, he'd usually pay extra close attention in them to better his chances of just squeezing by, so to speak. But on this day, even history wasn't enough to keep him from looking forward to lunch - not because of anything special they were serving in the cafeteria, but because of the black metal band that would be holding auditions for a lead guitarist during that timeframe. For as long as Flash had played guitar, though he had gotten really good, thus far he hadn't gotten noticed by any bands that had an opening for him. And while black metal was not his favorite genre of music, he had still dabbled enough into it to get the general concept of how it was played - plus, he knew that it was best to jump at an opportunity as soon as it presented itself.

So on this day, he dozed his way through algebra and biology while somehow evading any scoldings from his teachers. History class was a bit more engaging - it always was for him - but even as Twilight Sparkle and Sunset Shimmer both winked and batted their eyelashes at him, all he could think about was the prospect of actually joining a band for the first time, finally getting the opportunity to do something bigger with his guitar, bigger than just playing around in his room with the amp not turned up to its fullest potential...

When history class was finally dismissed, Flash was the first one out as he took off on a mad dash towards the cafeteria, where he got a (very poor quality) slice of pepperoni pizza and a can of fruit juice and wolfed them down as fast as he could, not willing to waste any time - lunch breaks at school are not too long in duration, after all. But just as he turned to leave the cafeteria and head to the band room, guitar in hand, both Twilight Sparkle and Sunset Shimmer cut him off, each one eager to spend some quality time with Flash alone.

"Hey Flash, wanna share a salad?" Sunset winked.

"Her salads taste like crap!" Twilight retorted. "Wanna split a pizza? You know, just you and me...?"

"Her pizzas taste like cow patties," Sunset snapped.

"Do not!" Twilight shot back.

"Uh, actually girls," Flash spoke up, breaking up the argument. "I'm on my way to the band room right now; there's a band holding auditions for a lead guitarist, and I was hoping to try my hand with them."

"Oooooh!" Normally, Twilight and Sunset would both continue to make Flash offers to spend time with them, but the thought of him playing in a band was something the both of them had looked forward to a great deal, mainly because of the possibility of said band touring with The Rainbooms someday. "What kind of band?" they both asked eagerly.

"Uhhh..." Flash hesitated before answering, "It's a surprise," not sure about just how they'd react upon learning that he was auditioning for a black metal band. "Well, wish me luck," he answered abruptly as he turned to leave.

"Good luck!" Twilight and Sunset both replied as Flash left for the band room, totally oblivious to the heated argument that just spawned between Twilight and Sunset over who wished him luck first...

As Flash approached the band room, he heard the most ghastly, abrasive sounds coming from within. This, most certainly, was true black metal being played. Intrigued, he entered the room and saw the band - four boys about his own age, all producing the most evil-sounding tones from their instruments. The guitar screamed like a savage demon saying the Lord's prayer backwards while the bass plodded along underneath it, and the drums blasted like a barrage of gatling guns firing on an approaching enemy tank. But what really stood out above all else was the vocals. This band's singer - if he could even be called that - screamed the most blasphemous phrases he could conjure up, and with the most ghastly snarling shrieks he could expel from his diaphragm, sounding like Satan raping an ocelot in the forests of Carpathia...

"Whoa, everyones! Stops!" the singer called out upon noticing Flash Sentry's presence. The band and their instruments immediately fell silent as the singer announced in a very heavy accent, "Look like someone's interested in doings leads guitar for us."

"Uh... hi," Flash waved awkwardly. "Name's Flash Sentry. I've played guitar, uh, pretty much all my life - I admit, I don't know much about black metal, but I have played a couple of songs, and I saw your want ad in the paper and thought playing in your kind of band might be fun, so here I am."

"Well, dat's us," said the singer. "We're called Bronycorpse - sorrys, we neglecteds to mentions that in ours ad."

"Bronycorpse?" Flash asked, confused. "Okay, I know black metal bands are known for those evil-sounding names, and I know what a corpse is, but what's a "brony?"

"I... I don't knows," the singer shrugged. "Somethings to dos with growns men jackings off to picture of nakeds horse, or somethings."

"O... kay, then." Flash shrugged awkwardly. And with that, he was then gladly introduced to the individual members of the black metal band known as Bronycorpse. First, there was the lead singer, Hest Endetarm. He was originally from Norway - the black metal capital of the world - and had come to America just as he was starting high school, hence the accent. He wore a black wifebeater which revealed his ripped arms and outlined his pecs and abs, and also wore baggy black jeans and big black steel-toe boots, and sported long black hair down to his chest. Also notable was his voice, which had gotten naturally hoarse over so much time of doing the black metal screams.

Then there was Satanik Pervertor; a native-born American, like everyone else in the band except for Hest. He was the rhythm guitarist for Bronycorpse, as well as the more mellow and contemplative member of the group. Like the rest of the band, he too was insanely ripped, and he wore a straight black t-shirt coupled with blue jeans and black boots, and had long, blonde hair down to his chest. His instrument of choice was a jet black Dean Razorback - a radical jagged-shaped guitar invented by legendary guitarist Dimebag Darrel - which he ran through an amplifier consisting of a Peavey 6505+ head on top of a Peavey 6505 4x12 cabinet, as well as a Boss MT-2 Metal Zone distortion pedal for that unmistakable black metal snarl.

After him, there was the bassist, a demonic (but not as demonic as Hest) figure named Tartarus. He was clad in a black leather jacket and black jeans and boots, and sported long brown hair which was also down to his chest. His preferred bass guitar was a black BC Rich Widow, quite possibly the most radical-looking axe ever manufactured with its appearance bearing a striking resemblance to that of the black widow spider that it was named for. This he ran through a bass amp that was made up of a Hartke Kilo head on top of a Hartke Hydrive 8x10 cabinet, and completing the rig was a DOD FX92 Bass Grunge distortion pedal to add that low-end growl that so many other black metal bands lack.

And finally, there was Discordia, the hulking behemoth who served as the drummer for Bronycorpse - undoubtedly the most badass of the bunch. He was wearing a black tank top which revealed his extremely buff arms - much more buff than those of the rest of the band - along with baggy blue shorts and black tennis shoes, and he too had hair down to his chest, only his was auburn in color. In his hands, he wielded a pair of Pro-Mark drumsticks, which he used to bang on the Mapex drums and Zildjian cymbals that made up his drum set - and this set was huge, about twice the size as the one Pinkie Pie used for The Rainbooms. This drum set's most striking feature was not one, but two bass drums, both 22" x 18", used to make the devastating double bass kicks that make black metal so brutal. Mounted on these bass drums were four tom tom drums, ranging in size from 8" x 7" to 13" x 10". Also included were two floor toms - one 16" x 16" and one 18" x 16", as well as a 5.5" x 14" snare drum. Then, of course, were the cymbals, all pitch black in color; two crash cymbals - one 16" and one 18" - one 22" ride cymbal, one 15" hi-hat, one 13" splash cymbal, and finally, one 18" china cymbal to cap it all off.

"So what about you?" Pervertor asked Flash. "Let me see what axe you're wielding!"

"Um, OK," Flash shrugged as he handed Pervertor his guitar case. Pervertor promptly opened the case and saw Flash's ordinary red guitar with the white pickguard. A rather unimpressive design, even with its whammy bar, but Pervertor quickly changed his mind when he noticed its pickups;

"Three humbuckers?!" he gasped. "Holy crap, that's rare! What kind are they?"

"Seymour Duncan Blackout AHB-1's," Flash answered. "They're supposed to be really fit for this type of music."

"Damn right they are!" affirmed Pervertor.

"But, uh," Flash hesitated, "I... didn't bring my amp with me."

"No worries," Discordia smirked. "We've got an extra rig set up just for those who are auditioning for us today. Check it out!" And Flash saw it; a Mesa Boogie Triple Rectifier amp head on top of a Rectifier 4x12 cabinet, with a DigiTech Death Metal distortion pedal hooked up to it. Needless to say, Flash was awestruck, especially since he knew that the Triple Rectifier was rumored to be the loudest guitar amplifier in the world...

"So do you know any black metal songs?" Tartarus asked.

"I know 'Call of the Wintermoon' and 'Freezing Moon,'" answered Flash.

"'Freezing Moon's perfects!" proclaimed Hest. "Hooks your guitars up to dat amp, and let's do dis thing!"

"Sweet!" Flash grinned as he walked over towards the amp, turned it on and plugged his guitar into it. Without wasting any time, he drew his guitar pick out of his pocket - a Dunlop 2mm triangle - and assumed his position.

"Ready?" Discordia asked, to which everyone nodded. And so, with that, Discordia tapped 1-2-3-4 on the hi-hats, which led the band into "Freezing Moon," the signature song of legendary Norwegian black metal band Mayhem.

It began real slow-like, with Flash and Pervertor playing a series of long, sustained E chords, along with Flash adding in some ominous sounding notes on the three high strings, followed by a weak, but ominous-sounding arpeggio, all while the drums and bass plodded along slowly with them. For over a minute and a half, they played slowly like this... then the drums stopped for a few bars while Flash and Pervertor played a series of really fast chords...

...and then Discordia kicked into a rapid blast beat on the drums, playing a series of super-hard-hitting sixteenth notes alternating the bass and hi-hat with the snare. Flash and Pervertor played along with a series of tremolo notes in the key of E minor while Tartarus plucked his bass along with them. After a few measures of that, Hest came in with his raspy shriek, belting out these words;

Everything here is so cold

Everything here is so dark

I remember it as from a dream

In the corner of this time

Diabolic shapes float by

Out from the dark

I remember it was here I died

By following the freezing moon...

Then, following a big drum fill by Discordia, accompanied by a another long, sustained E chord, all of the instruments stopped - except for Tartarus's bass, as he plucked a series of long, slow E and F notes for a few bars before the other instruments came in playing the same thing. For well over half a minute, the band carried on playing this series of notes without Hest singing... then, he screamed these words;

It's night again

Night you beautiful

I please my hunger

On living humans

Night of hunger

Follow it's call

Follow the freezing moon...

And then came Flash's big moment; the guitar solo. While black metal is not known for guitar solos, this song had one that ran at close to a full minute, and contained hammer-ons, pull-offs, two-hand tapping and all the rest. But Flash nailed every single, evil-sounding note; he even added in some whammy bar to the longer, sustained notes - something that wasn't present in Mayhem's original version. So much ass Flash kicked with the solo that it seemed like his piece had only just started by the time the solo was finished and Hest came back in, snarling these words;

Darkness is growing

Eternity opens

The cemetery lights up again

As in ancient times

Fallen souls die behind my steps

By following the freezing moon...

And with that, the song sped back up into Discordia's blast beats, along with Flash, Pervertor and Tartarus's E minor key riffing... and after a few bars of that, the song was over. Flash Sentry had nailed his audition.

"You did it, Flash!" Hest, Pervertor, Tartarus and Discordia all exclaimed as they each high-fived Flash to congratulate him on a job well done.

"Wow, and I don't even know that much about black metal," Flash blushed.

"But you knows damns well hows to plays it!" Hest proclaimed. "And that solo - Eurynomous couldn'ts have dones it betters himself!"

"Who?"

"Eurynomous, the leads guitarist from Mayhems, radical Satanist... never minds. Just kneels down for us."

"Uh, not sure why that's needed, but OK," Flash shrugged as he got down onto one knee, kneeling like a squire being knighted;

With a bold smile on his face, Satanik Pervertor walked up to Flash with his guitar in hand; "Flash Sentry, by the infernal power bestowed upon me by the forces of Darkness, I dub thee," he proclaimed as he brought the neck of his guitar down gently onto Flash's shoulder, "lead guitarist of Bronycorpse!"

And then, just as this "ceremony" was complete, the bell rang, signifying the end of the lunch break and the impending start of the next classes.

"Perfect timing!" Tartarus sarcastically scoffed.

"But anyway," Pervertor said to Flash, "you don't have any plans for Saturday tomorrow, do you?"

"Uh... no."

"Excellent!" Pervertor exclaimed as he took a card out from his wallet and handed it to Flash. Meet us at that address at 10 tomorrow morning for band practice. Oh, and don't worry about your amp; we'll take care of it. It'll be there, ready when you are."

"Awesome!" Flash proclaimed. "Well, I gotta get to class. See ya guys at practice!" And he galloped his way out of the band room while the other members of Bronycorpse unplugged their instruments and turned off their amps, looking forward with much anticipation regarding the new musical heights they could reach with their new bandmate.

As for Flash himself, he was abound with nothing but sheer, absolute excitement as he bound his way towards gym class. "Wow, I can't believe I finally made it into a band! Not the kind I always saw myself in, but playing with those guys was a BLAST! Oh, it's gonna be so awesome playing with them! I can't wait to tell everyone...!"