[Canterlot] The Canterlot DJ Battle Royale! [closed]

[ancara22]

Tonight was the big night, one that so many Ponies, Griffons and all other sorts have spent quite a good while practicing for: The Canterlot DJ Battle Royale. This was the big one, the biggest and most important DJ battle you could ever ask for of the year, and the grand prize was amazing: The winner gets a hefty sum of bits, and also gets to be Celestia's personal DJ at the next Grand Galloping Gala. This was about as big a prize as you could get, and playing for Celestia herself.....now that sort of gig is something someponies would give their left hoof for. As such, all sorts of competition arrived at the castle gates, ready to show their stuff.

One of these competitors was a green and orange Diamond Dog pushing a large tabletop that was on wheels, a custom model he did himself to allow him to show off his.....special brand of music. He had a box of chocolate glazed doughnuts set on top, a snack he always took with him while he was at gigs. He walked through the gates and was amazed at the sights before his own two orange-tinted eyes. "So this is it, eh? Not to shabby. I think a Dog like me could get used to this...." He had never been to Canterlot before, so these sights indeed amazed him. The tall towers of the castle, the beautiful flora he saw, even the cool breeze blowing through his thick hair.....it was a feeling of amazement unlike any he had felt before.

Continuing forwards, he saw that a mass group had formed around the main gate. Mares, Stallions, Colts, Griffons and Fate-knows-what else were standing around there, waiting. Going to one of the Stallions, he asked them "Hey dude, ya know exactly what's goin' on?" The only reply he got back was "We're waiting for the gate to open. Stupid schedules, I hate them so much...." Looks like they'd be stuck out back for a little while before they could be let in. "Welp, I guess that just means a chance to enjoy some snackage whilst I wait then!"

Opening his box, he grabbed a doughnut and started to eat it. "It seems like quite a few dudes know what they're doin' tonight. Still, I got this one in the bag. Just gotta wiz right through the freestyle round and then get a good spot in the battle round, and then this whole gig is my doughnut to devour...." He was confident, cocky even. He was a skilled DJ, having won the last five compos he had entered in a row. To him, this was nothin' more than one more compo to destroy the newbies in, just as he always did.

[SunsetSombra]

DJ Pon-3, the Female White Unicorn whom everypony usually regarded as one of Equestria's finest manipulators of sound, had finally made it to her destination...the main gate of the intended venue for the night, The Princess's castle in canterlot itself.

This was one hell of a place to put on a show, and Vinyl Scratch intended on proving why she was one of Equestrias most consistant and widely requested musical ponies - there would be no taking second place, that wasn't an option for her!

Using her magic to keep the large wheeled box ahead of her trundling along by itself, she bobs her head quietly as she memorises one of her own tunes, a little ditty she'd quietly made up mentally as she was on the way here. It wasn't something she was planning on bringing to life, but just a little fun imaginary piece the pony had been tinkering with to keep herself occupied and in the mood for the rather intense day that was lined up - she didn't often go out for prize-oriented contests...

But if she did, she probably would have steamrollered a lot of the competition with relative ease.

Noting that the gathering outside the gate was solidly not going anywhere, she quickly concluded that it wasn't open time yet and that she probably needed to take up a spot and quietly wait for things to get a move on in their own time.

Positioning herself into a small place near the gate, she rests against her box gently and yawns...it was still early in the day and the unicorn had barely woken up, washed and eaten before making her way out here - the last elements of the haze of her nights sleep had washed away, but she was still a little groggy...but that wasn't anything that wouldn't fade away soon enough!

Regardless, This day would be hers...and she was going to do whatever it took to make that clear as day!

[ancara22]

As the DJ finished eating his chocolate glazed doughnut, he noticed an all-too-familiar white mare resting up close to the gate. Looks like she decided to show up after all..... he thought to himself as he waiting close to the crowd.

Deciding that waiting amongst these newbs was just too boring for his taste, he rolled his turntable up close to where she was at and walked up to her. "So, little miss mare here decided to actually show up, eh? How nice of ya to drop by." He rested up against his own turntable, a grey one with his stage name, DJ SOUNDBYT3, painted on it, and gave a good smirk towards her. "Before this little compo starts, just wanna let ya know no matter what happens, it's all in good DJ fun, right? .....even if I steamroll ya in the battle round!" The skinny Diamond Dog let out a good laugh right after saying that, feeling confident he had this night wrapped up easily.

"I half-expect the gates over there to open up soon, so once they do, let the best DJ win.....even if it's obvious who it's gonna be." Cocky, thy name was Clutch Vibrafang.

[Dubstep]

With the sound of muffled bass thumping through his headphones, Dubstep rolled up to the castle gates, where a large crowd had already gathered; hefting his travel deck around on his back, Dub glanced over his shuttershades at all the ponies and sorts that had come to battle, 'Man, lots of rad folks here...this is gonna be a tough one, dang...near every race representin, that's groovy and...is that....whoa it is, even Vinyl Scratch showed! I really don't stand a chance now...bah, no no, gotta think positive, there's a chance, maybe, plus, it's all for fun, right? Right, so I'ma just like, do my best and have some fun, win or lose....but hopefully win hehe' the crowd of musicians waiting outside was nothing compared to the crowd that was gathered inside, waiting to hear everyone lay down their sick beats for the night.

For a moment, Dub had thought of walking over to say hey to Vinyl; because really, how often do you get the chance to even be near one of your idols, let alone a shot at battling them! But, his tossed this notion aside when he noticed she was busy conversing with another contestant, a Diamond Dog; he was a little on the scrawny looking side, but the way he carried himself showed that he was far from being an amateur. This night was gonna be interesting, that was for certain.

[SunsetSombra]

Well this wasn't entirely unexpected...the diamond dog before her had been a familiar face from her shows and at odd moments around canterlot - she'd met up with him a couple of times before this little competition took place over the last few weeks, so she was familiar with both his determination and his overall cocky nature...she didn't really let it get to her, however, as she simply blew a few strands of electric/ice blue hair from behind her glasses and gave the diamond dog a simple grin, deflecting the dogs intense personality with a small glimmer of her own chilled out outlook.

" Weeeell, if it isn't the D-Dog himself... " She says, looking at him from over the top of her purple-lensed shades, her smile bright as she raised an eyebrow. His attitude amused her, but at the same time...he needed to chill!

" You look about ready to explode...relax a little, wouldya? Too much of that tension an' you're gonna hurt yourself. Save the aggression for the decks...trust me, frontin' out here is a tad pointless, look around - nopony is gonna pay attention anyway! "

She'd have carried on, but an interested looking Pony was glancing over in their direction - Vinyl gave a small chuckle to herself as she shook her head in amusement. Ponies would always be so nervous of coming over to say hi - even fellow DJ's. She waves a hoof to the fellow DJ, deciding that it was better to give the pony a shot at joining in the conversation rather than standing around like a piece of the furniture...Well, it seemed like a good idea to her, at least.

[ancara22]

The Diamond Dog DJ simply chuckled and smirked at her. "Yeah, I guess yer right. Best be savin' my focus for when this whole gig starts. Hopin' dat gate opens soon, 'cause I wanna get a better look at the compo's peanut gallery before I smoke 'em as I always do. Easier to do that when ya got more room to measure 'em up, am I right?"

He then noticed the Colt that was looking at the two of them, which made him give off a cocky grin. "What's with the silent look, dude? Never seen a Diamond Dog DJ before? Heh, come on over, I don't bite.....much." He chuckled a bit and bit a motion with his hand, letting him know it was alright for him to join in the conversation. After all, might as well use what time they had. Beside, to him it was always a good idea to get a good measure on the compo's entries before he'd go head-to-head against them.

[Dubstep]

With a bit of a surprised nod, Dub chuckled and walked over with a grin of his own, "Heheh, not since I left Filly-D, nah." the stripe maned DJ replied as he neared; truth be told, he hadn't seen that many Diamond Dogs, even IN Fillydelphia, but that wasn't gonna let him lose his swagger, can't go showing any weakness around your competition, that'd make them think you're an easy target, and Dubstep was far from easy, "Plus, it's not every day you get to see Miss Vinyl Scratch chillin in the same local as you." he said with a grin, pushing his shuttershades down and glancing over them to get a better look at the famous filly; Dubstep was truly ecstatic to meet THE DJ P0N-3, but he didn't want to flip out, 'Play it cool, he thought to himself, 'she's just another pony, and a fellow DJ, no need to get starstruck...right? But it's THE Vinyl Scratch, oh man, stay cool Dub, stay cool.' with a bit of a chuckle, Dub pushed his shades back up and shook his head, "Oh, jeeze, where are my manners, the name's Dubstep, s'groovy to meet you both."

[ancara22]

All Clutch could do then was chuckle a bit at how nervous this Colt was being at that point in time. He seemed a bit tense, but then again that's to be expected at was gonna be the biggest battle ever done.

"S'nice to meet ya dude, you can call me DJ SOUNDBYT3. Most usually call me that. I'm basically the only Diamond Dog DJ you'll ever see at the tables. Five-time DJ battle winner, and poised to roast some newbs here once this gig gets started." He then noticed his focus on Vinyl, what seemed to him as what was making this colt feel tense most likely. The Diamond Dog DJ chuckled a bit and said to him "I see that it's pretty obvious what's eatin' ya up. Don't worry though, we'll all get some time to better get more comfy with each other.....at the tables, that is!"

He then notices two Pegasus guards were now standing behind the gate, meaning it was getting close to time for this madness to get started. Grabbing another chocolate glazed doughnut, he then said to both of them with a sly smile on his muzzle "If you dudes wanna make with the chattin', I suggest ya make it snappy. Guards are up there, thinkin' it'll be 'bout a little bit longer before we get to start this party." He took a bite out of the doughnut and sat down, resting his back and poofy tail against his table.

[SunsetSombra]

Scratch paused for thought once the basic introductions were out of the way - the name Dubstep had been vaguely familiar to the Unicorn, and she'd been pondering on it ever since the Unicorn had introduced himself...and suddenly it came to her in a small flash of realization. " Dubstep - as in Dubstep Neighsay? Ohhh...I KNOW about you, of course I do! "

The Unicorn opens up her saddlebag and levitates a flyer - it would be a small notification of a recently-passed event from a local club nearby...she hadn't attended personally owing to her own obligations at the time, but she'd known friends who had.

On this flyer, Dubsteps name came up - she almost felt a little silly remembering this late, but whatever...!

" You're a pretty big hotshot from around these parts if I remember right - cool, always wanted to see how you worked first-hand...heard a lotta good things about your shows, I kinda feel bad not having attended one sooner!"

She smirks, nodding as she looks at both of the competitors in front of her...this was going to be an interesting battle!

One Musical maestro, known for setting and raising bars all over Equestria and providing eccentric yet awesome shows.

Another, a Diamond Dog seeking to make his name as the most famous DJ of all time...to carve his way into history!

The other, a rising star and a Unicorn musical master in his own right...A mixing force to be reckoned with!

Who was going to win out in this battle for Canterlots ultimate DJ Prize? T'was going to be a hell of a show to find out!

[Dubstep]

"Groovy to meet ya SOUNDBYT3; yeah, you're the first DD DJ I've ever seen eh? S'pretty rad yo." Dubstep said with a nod; glancing over towards the gates where the guards stood, awaiting orders to open the gates, the DJ's heart began pumping faster, it always did this before a show, but not out of fear, no, Dub was pumped, ready for a rip roaring show to rock the masses, "Heheh, nah, I'm alright, I'm pumped." he said, confidently patting his chest with a hoof, "Nothin like some rockin competition to get your blood flowin."

Upon hearing Vinyl say his name, Dub glance over, internally shocked that someone like her had ACTUALLY heard of him before, "Aww, pssh, I dunno about hotshot, I mean, I've gotten around a bit, here, Ponyville, mainly Filly-D; but I gotta say, never expected that you of all ponies would have heard of me heh. But hey, you'll get to hear my jams tonight, better late than never they say, right?" he said with a grin to Scratch; this was going to be a night to remember, and if Dub had anything to say about it, he'd be taking home the prize.

[ancara22]

"Yeah, yer right" Clutch said to him as he quickly finished off yet another chocolate glazed doughnut, "There's just somethin' bout the compos that can really make ya feel......alive, so to speak. When yer in the heat of the moment and ya go against another DJ, ya reach a sorta zen-like state.....so to speak, anywho. Ain't exactly somethin' I understand much, what I do know is that when ya do thing just right, it feels awesome."

Looking at Vinyl, the Diamond Dog DJ then smirked and said to her "Now that i've gotten my philosophical shenaniganry outta the way, I'm gonna head over the gate. Methinks the gate's gonna open in a few, and the sooner I get my flank over there to beat the buffalo rush that's the early runners here, the better. Hope you two have yer fun while here, and Pon-3....." He then pointed a claw at her, a sly smirk on his muzzle again. "I'm hopin' ya do at least make it far enough to face me wherever our two spots in the battle round collide. After all, won't be much fun if ya get knocked out of the compo by some newb in the first battle round, right?"

After having a bit of a chuckle, he grabbed his wheel-attached table, box of doughnuts still somewhat full and on top, and proceeded to head towards the gate in order to be able to enjoy getting in there before the rouge's gallery of DJs, bands and Fate-knows-what else decides to barge in and take all the good waiting spots.....let alone all the comfy chairs inside! Humming to himself a little tune he had thought of to use for this compo, a new tune to surprise the judges when he'd need it most, he parked his tabletop as close to the gates at he could without getting swallowed by the crows still waiting for the big moment when those guards would let them in. Hopefully it'd happen soon, because Clutch was ready to show all of Equestria there why his Cavecore genre of music was usually considered as top-notch.

[SunsetSombra]

Vinyl was simply keeping her casual smirk up as she watched the Diamond dog disappear off to the crowd - he was every bit the diamond dog...rude, crude, and entirely far too quick to declare himself the winner before anything had truly happened. The Unicorn couldn't help laugh slightly as she simply shook her head in disbelief - oh, she entirely planned not to let the l'il critter down on her reputation at the very least. "Heh, see you at the party, pal... " the DJ says playfully before watching the gate for a moment just in case it opened without them realising it...then turning to look at the other 'competitor',

In all honesty, she knew enough about Dubstep to regard him as quite the DJ - there wasn't a single event that she'd held as of late where somepony hadn't made the suggestion that she should play doubles with the guy. she'd considered it, too, but she didn't really know the guy personally at the time and thus had dismissed the notion 'til they met on a more face-to-face basis.

" Lookin' forward to playin' for keeps, Dubs? " Vinyl says to the other DJ, her grin as wide as ever as she looks back towards his direction over her shoulder once again. " Imagine what bein' the exclusive guy at the Triple G could do for ya...gonna be interestin' to see just what kinda tricks a pony like yourself is gonna pull off to win that hotspot - I can jus' bet you're almost drooling at the prospect! " - And there really was no denying that for a DJ in Equestria, it was a MAJOR deal.

The Mare licks her lips in anticipation of the event - She had a few new tricks herself that she was eager to unleash...

For this contest, she'd take it to the limits - and everypony would once again understand why she was the true Queen of beats!

[Dubstep]

"I get exactly whatcha mean broski, it's like, a nirvana eh? I getcha heh." Dub said with a knowing nod, he knew exactly what SOUNDBYT3 was talking about, there's nothing quite like the feel of being up on stage and feeding off the energy the crowd throws, their vibes flowing along with the groove, like one body connected by the music. Or some other sort of analogy."Heh, ain't a cocky bone in that guy's body huh?" he said sarcastically under his breath as the Diamond Dog walked on.

Turning back to continued his conversation with Vinyl, Dub nodded in agreement, "Oh yeah, you better believe it eh. S'been a dream of mine for a while now, chance of a life time yo!" he said, glancing back at the gates, the anticipation was building, and it made the DJ even more determined to prove his worth, "Hope to see you in the final round, even if I ain't there. Just be sure to show rover there who's the boss eh?"

[ancara22]

Clutch looked at the crowd as spent the final minutes waiting for the gates to open. The lot that were there was quite a variety indeed: Some came solo while others were in groups, hopin' to perform together. He saw metalheads, techno DJs, country bands, pop idols and all other sorts of genres of musical lovers that would likely be playing in this compo. From a trio of Zebras weilding guitars, to a Griffon hoisting a strange drum set, to even two Unicorn Colts with miniature pianos. This was definitely going to be quite a night that nopony would ever forget.

He used his eyesight to be able to see the guards moving away from the gates. A few seconds later, a clinking sound began to emit from them. Soon enough the gates began to rise, and in a matter of moments they were fully risen to the top. Naturaly the first thing everypony there did was rush in through there, wanting to get in asap. Clutch wheeled his silly tabletop along, ready to begin this crazy night, hoping that for once he'd be given an actual challenge instead of the usual scrubs that he battled in compos pasts. Entering through the hallway, what he saw was amazing, especially to him.

Inside was a grand room, a stairway leading upwards was at the other end of the room, and on the floor was an extravagant red rug laid out. It was definitely crowded, to say the least. DJs, bands, idols and whoever else came to battle were in this very grand room, chatting and planning their strategies for when the fun would begin. For Clutch, he had it all planned out. He knew that in order to win, he'd have to deal with three things: First was the freestyle round, where each 'contestant' was to show off their skills to the judges. The better you did in front of them, the better score you get. Clutch didn't worry at all about the first part much at all. "Heh, once I show the judges my Cavecore music style, i'll get an awesome score for sure!" he said to himself as he passed a trumpet-playing Pegasus Pony who definitely was out of practice. "It's just a matter of chosin' my weapon o' choice once I know who's gonna judge this thing...."

Of course he knew that after the freestyle round, the judges would pick the best 32 'contestants' and set them up in the 'battle round', a tournament-style event. Each of the 32 would be set based of their scores, where the better you do, the farther on one side of the tourny slots you go, with the best two going in the two ends. Once matched up, the 32 would go against each other. The rules are as they've always been: Each one does a tune as well as they can muster, and the better one wins. The winner moves onwards to the next round. "It's all about knowin' 'bout who yer gonna face in each round, and what they gonna bring to the party" he said to his own person as he finally found an untaken chair to sit in, "Hopin' that I can get a good readin' from the peanut gallery durin' the freestyle round before I end up goin' against 'em...."

....and then there was the matter of miss Pon-3 herself. While he did admit to himself that she seemed skilled when he first met her......although by accident, back then he was memorized by the sounds and was a more.....impressionable Diamond Dog. Now-a-days, he had seen his fair share of DJs and other crazy music lovers, so he wasn't exactly the type of guy to believe that this unicore mare was exactly as skilled as he's heard. "Still, she might surprise me when we get there" Clutch whispered as he grabbed another delicious chocolate glazed doughnut to eat, "We'll see if she really is all that.....or if she's not all she makes herself to be after all...." Still, best to be ready to let loose his best in case she really was as good as she was, and for this DJ, he had just the plan for that. "I got a special tune planned just for her flank once we go against each other....if she even get there."

Muching on his doughnut, he kept track of the clock as the hands on it moved around. He wasn't sure exactly when this gig would start, but he assumed it'd be obvious when the time was right to do exactly that. "Once the clock stops tickin' away, the party can really start!"

[SunsetSombra]

Well, finally it seemed as though things were happening - the assorted range of musicians and artists started moving and Vinyl once more enchanted her collection of things and began the trek behind them, giving small nods to those she didn't know, hugs and well wishes to those she did, and declining any interviews from any rogue reporters who might have been in the frame of mind to get the scoop on what she personally thought about this event.

She knew that the heat was on, that she had a lot of reputation and personal pride at stake - it was the same as it would have been on any other grand event though, and she was getting used to having this pressure thrust upon her.

Still, she wasn't going to be beaten by a diamond dog with bark - Nuh-uh, Pon-3 did NOT go down without a true fight, and she planned on putting the resistance levels up to full and blow the ever-loving ceiling of the castle clean off...

A coy grin cut across her muzzle as she thought further on just how best to make her point known - he was clearly 'confident' in his skills and that proved that perhaps there was more to him than just a furrball with an attitude, but Vinyl didn't think he was all that aware of the reality of his situation. There was quite the cream of the crop here, and a good few dozen faces she herself had squared off against for the entertainment of the crowd and for the sake of reputation. She knew the skill levels of a lot of the ponies and critters here, and it was going to be hard pressed to be consistantly brilliant against them.

Difficult, but not totally impossible.

Vinyl looks around, finding a place to put her equipment and set herself up for the oncoming storm, sensing the electric atmosphere as she glances around at the other musicians nearby tuning up or trying to get themselves in the zone.

" Well, looks like everypony here is ready for a fight... " She mutters to herself, noting the odd looks she got from a pair of Beatboxing griffons across from her. " Guess it's time DJ Pon-3 bit back hard! "

She pulls out her box of pre-chosen 'specialist' records and looks over them carefully...there wasn't a chance in hell that she was going to be coming to this without something to punch her statement to those who were listening.

Her message simply being one thing: Vinyl Scratch was here to win!

[ancara22]

As Clutch ate yet another of his doughnuts, he saw that one of the guards was rolling a huge cylinder on wheels onto the center of the room. Everypony there was all-eyes on this container that was being brought into the room, not sure what to expect. The guard wheeling it in then stopped at the center of the room, turned to face the majority of the crowd and then began to speak. "Thank all of you for participating in this grand event, the Canterlot DJ Battle Royale. In this battle of the musicians, only the best shall be given a chance at the grandest of prizes: The right to perform at the Grand Galloping Gala as Princess Celestia's personal performer of the audio arts. Now then, it is time to determine exactly how the order in which you shall be each playing in front of our judges with commence...."

The guard then lifted the lid off of the cylinder container, revealing many slips of paper inside of it. "Now then, each contestant shall take a singular piece of paper out of this container, no more. If a contestant consists of more than one persons, they shall only draw one paper for their group. Once you have obtained your paper, you shall open it. It will reveal a number, which shall determine when you shall perform in front of the judges. The lower your number is, the sooner it is that you shall perform. Now then, line up in an orderly fashion and take only one piece of paper. If you try to take more than one, or try to switch your out with another contestant's, you shall be disqualified. Do not try to fool me, for I can see any move you may try to pull on my eyes, and it shall not work."

Clutch could only laugh a bit as he listened to the guard explain things. "Wow, I thought that only the higher-ups back home in the Mines talked like that...." He got back up on his feet and then began to walk towards the container. He had to wait for a good while, but he eventually got up front, where he reached into the cylinder and grabbed a single piece of paper. He walked straight back to his tabletop and then opened it right up. "Looks like I got entry spot number 25" he told himself as he looked at the line of possible musicians he could end up going against, "As long as little miss purple goggles don't get a smaller number than I did, I can show her before she gets on the tables, and then we'll see who wears the pants in this compo." He still felt to himself that there wasn't much to worry about, but to be safe he wanted to make sure his skills were obviously shown first, if only because he felt that the best way to handle the situation was to show how better his skills were compared to the rest of them in this competition.

[Dubstep]

Dub sat quietly, lost to the music that was still blaring through his head phones. Scoping out the competition, he noted quite a few folks he recognized, be it from back home in Filly-D or from magazines and radio; he knew this wasn't going to be easy by any means, but that just made him all the more determined to win this thing. Watching as more and more artists filed in, he began to wonder just how long this night would last; never every instrument you could think of was there, Pianos, Xylophones, Marimbas, Maracas, even Didgeridoos all the way up too all sorts of synths and guitars.

As the flood of contestants finally slowed, the guards wheeled out the cylinder and explained the rules; fairly simple, line up, draw a number and wait your turn. Finally slipping his headphones off and shutting down the beats. Dub took his place in line and waited; number after number was drawn, most of them higher, thankfully, meaning he might get the chance to blow the stage up before Scratch OR SOUNDBYT3. As his turn to draw came around, Dubstep closed his eyes and reached in; shuffling the numbers around before finally pulling one out and stepping aside "Lessee, and we've goooooot...." the DJ said to himself as he slowly opened the paper, "Erk....42...not bad, not great, bluh...Alright, no time to complain, gotta plan..." taking his seat once more, Dubstep stared up at the ceiling, plotting the sick fire's he'd start up on stage. Metaphorically speaking of course.

[SunsetSombra]

Vinyl finally made it to the front of the queue - she'd had a chance to watch the other ponies, critters and general opponents as they;d lined up, chatted amongst themselves and taken their individual numbers. Lots of mixed hisses of approval/resentment for each number drawn as they all either got what they were hoping for, or missed their ideal number by...well, a fair amount.

She glances around, all eyes on her for a moment as they waited - she smirks and speaks up to everyone in the room.

" Hey, good luck every one of ya...let's make this the loudest damn night we can, ya get me? "

A loud cheer of approval from everyone rang up for a moment, before dying down...the Unicorn directed to take a number.

The feeling of nervous tension was rising within vinyl right now - this number would dictate her preparation limit...would she have ample amounts of time to think of something, or would she simply be forced to think on her hooves?

Her eyes fall upon the cylinder, levitating a piece of paper up into the air and drawing it close as it unwrapped.

...

Oh, now that was sweet - She'd drawn 30!

" Well, that's pretty lucky... " She thought to herself with a small sigh of relief.

" At least now I got time t'plan ahead for the show - as much as I love wingin' it, this isn't really the ideal starting place.

The musical Unicorn trotted back to her position and relaxed a little against her equipment - her opposition was all fired up, and it was more or less getting close to go time. She was feeling the start of the anticipation...the giddy buzz she felt before a show and Vinyl loved that feeling...it was what made her sharp, her beats heavy and her rhythmic flow incomparable.

" Okay, Pon-3, let's play this game to win...take NO prisoners! " she mutters to herself with a smirk.

It was time to hit the decks!

[ancara22]

As the last of them grabbed their piece of paper, the guard sealed shut the cylinder. He looked at each of them and said to them "Now that each of you have gained your number, we shall move onwards to the freestyle round. This shall determine whether you shall move onwards to the battle round or not. The rules are simple: When your turn is to commence, you shall play in front of the judges, one song only. They shall judge your performance and grade your skills as well as your song's overall sound with a score. The better in which you perform, the better you shall be given in score, and the higher your score is to be, the more likely you shall move onwards. Now then, we shall bring in the judges."

Three figures then walked into the room: A Brown Earth Colt dressed in classy attire, a female Griffon with a backwards cap on, and a Zebra Colt that was wearing a tattered vest. They each took a seat behind a table near the back, and then looked at the crowd. "These three represent some of the best talent that exists in Equestria" said the guard as he pointed to the three now sitting, "They shall judge your performances, and decide what score you each shall deserve. First off we have Treble Cleft, the 'Maestro of the Piano' who had wowed thousands with his performance of the notoriously-difficult to play piece 'Symphony of the Moon' and has perfected several techniques in the pianistic arts." The Colt stood up for a moment and said to the crowd "I am hoping for some truly amazing works of art tonight. If you wish to succeed, you'll have to go beyond what you've thought was possible before to perform an amazing piece of work for others." Treble Cleft then sat down, and the guard continued to speak.

"Our next judge is a Griffon they call 'Talon Ripside'. She was an up-and-comer from her homeland of the Griffon Valley who's ability to use words well into the Rap style of music made her famous almost overnight. She's the youngest of the judges here, but her experiences definitely make up for that." Talon raised up out of her seat and addressed the crowd. "Yo, I guess I gotta tell ya somethin' about what I expect from ya. I guess.....just do what ya can, and i'll see if it's manure or not. Just put on a hell of a show for us, and I think we be cool." She sat down again, and the guard continued with his speech. "Our final judge for tonight is a Zebra, one who's skills with a guitar are considered to rival some of the most legendary guitarists to perform on the stage. He has spent years perfecting his art, and is here now to judge those who wish to compete. If you will, Zander?"

The Zebra colt then spoke to them, still in his seat. "I expect a lot of you hotshots are thinking you've got it made and this will be easy, but it isn't as easy as you think. I had to practice everyday, work my flank off and perfect my skills before I even could consider myself as 'decent'. Listen to me when I say that I have heard plenty of those who think they can easily be 'the best', but they come up short so many time. If you want a good score from me, you better bring your best, because I won't tolerate anything less from this compo today." Zander then stopped talking, nodding to the guard. "Now that you know who you shall be trying to impress, we shall begin this competition at once. We shall start whenever contestant number one is ready."

Thus started the competition. The first competitor, a Pegasus Pony with a Tuba, went in front of the judges and started to play. Unfortunately for her, she was terrible and was booed out only thirty seconds in, the judges not being able to stand even a small bit of that.....noise, so to speak. Zander could only facehoof as she left the stage. "I will bucking lose my mind if this is the standard I have to put up with for the night...." They gave her a very low score, a 12, for her act. The next few contestants weren't exactly better off, which didn't exactly look good for the judges. It wasn't until number 14, a Unicorn Colt who played the Fiddle, before a good act finally happened. "Well i'll be.....seems that this could be the start of a wonderful round after all" Treble Cleft said as he applauded the Colt's performance. Talon also enjoyed his performance, saying"Not bad with the fiddle dude, I kinda like your style." Even Zandare was a bit impressed. "You could use a bit of work with your fiddle skills, but it's not half-bad. Definitely better than the chumps from before...." They gave him a reasonable score, an 81, and the crowd applauded for a few seconds, happy for a decent act at last.

Eventually came Clutch's turn at last. "Welp" he said to himself as he wheeled his tabletop to the open area in front of the judges, "It's make-or-break time. Time to show 'em why I got this...." He set up his tabletop in front of the judges, and then Zandare spoke. "A Diamond Dog, eh? This should be interesting......now then, what's your name, contestant 25?" Clutched smirked at them and told him "The name's DJ SOUNDBYT3, and i'm the only Diamond Dog DJ you'll ever see playin' the beats." Zandare grinned and then said "Well then, 'SOUNDBYT3', let's see what you got then. You can begin when you're ready." Clutch looked over his tabletop and grabbed a record from below. His 'weapon of choice' for this was a personal favorite of his to play in clubs, Ruby Volcano. He plopped that record onto the tabletop and then turned on the power. Clutch then got to work, playing it like he always did. The kalimbas gave the beat an extra punch to the already powerful drums he chose to use for all of his tunes, the crystal sounds he produced by using his signature 'gemstones in the gloves scratching the record' technique gave the melody an almost eerie tone to it, and the use of atmospheric notes to amplify the overall sound truly made his 'Cavecore' style of music unique. It wasn't exactly a long tune, clocking in about a minute and a half, but it usually worked for him.

When he finished, the crowd was applauding, everypony clapping. When they finished, the judges looked at Clutch and began their review of him. "That was quite a unique style I heard from you" said Treble Cleft, going first. "To take such uncommon instruments and use them the way you did....simply brilliant. I think your musical skills could definitely lead you to quite the heights!" Treble then sat down, allowing Talon to go next. "Who'd think a Diamond Dog could do sick beats like that?" he smirked and chuckled at Clutch a bit, then saying to him "You ain't exactly the best kalimba user I ever heard, but you pretty close to it. You're aight with me, kid." Finally came Zandare, who simply looked at him. "You definitely show some skills at your.....'unique' brand of music, so to speak. I wasn't expecting the use of the sounds of crystals from a contestant, but I was pleasantly surprised. Still, something seems a bit....empty with your song. Perhaps some new sounds would improve your song's quality and new more....meat to it, in a way. You're a pretty decent performer, but you'd still need a bit of improvement before you can truly shine out there. Still, Not bad. I think you've definitely shown your skill to be enough to at least give it a shot. Just please.....at least give us something a bit more.....full if you manage to make it past this round please?"

The judges then whispered to each other, evaluating Clutch's performance, and then came to a conclusion several seconds later. Zandare looks at the green and orange-colored Diamond Dog and spoke to him. "Based on what we've heard and watched, we've decided to give you, DJ SOUNDBYT3......a 92!" The DJ was speechless, having heard of this. He composed himself back up a few seconds later though, and smirked at the crowd. "I think I can live with that!" The crows cheered as he walked out of the open area, tabletop in tow, and walked into the crowd. He picked a nice comfy spot where a chair was located at, and then proceeded to sit down. "I was almost a bit worried they'd give me a bad score" He said while he was relaxing, that 'ordeal' having finally been overcome. "But I knew my Cavecore style would knock 'em out. A 92 is def. a good score for my silly flank, indeed. I'd love to see that Pon-3 try to beat that!" He was a bit excited still from hearing that announcement, but he was alright now. For him, all he had to do now was gain his spot in the battle round tourny, and then he'd be ready to pull out all the stops on the competition. "So now I gotta ask.....when I make it....if I do......who do I gotta face first?"

(vidja for Ruby Volcano, to show off what the tune sounds like:

)

[SunsetSombra]

During Clutch's eager performance, the unicorn had been paying attention to her opponents nuances and technique as well as listening out for his track - kid was a hotshot, knew what he was doing but was clearly quite self-obsessed as far as a performer went. Yeah, his music was pretty damn intense as a style - he was using sounds and methods that were clearly new as far as equestria's own styles went. Vinyl'd never heard of this particular brand of music, and she was most curious to see just what the kid brought to the table - she bobbed her head in time to the beats, letting the rhythm and content take her to what he believed to her more focused frame of mind...her keen musical senses taking over as she took every note, chord, beat and change of pace into consideration. Clutch was good, she could say that without a doubt, but she wasn't about to give up and say she couldn't beat the Diamond Dog at his own game - She had her own tricks, after all!

However, Before she even knew it, the musical moment had finished...it was time to focus on what the judges were saying

It was clearly a tense moment for everypony involved...she didn't particularly envy the diamond dog for his current position, knowing that there had already been a lot of stiff competition up until this point - a few even scoring a good clean 90 or high end 80 score. Now The judges were speaking about the performance and their thoughts and Vinyl watched them intently, agreeing somewhat with them - for what she'd seen up to this particular point, they'd all seemed pretty fair on everybody involved...especially the up and comer, she was seemingly very honest about how she felt about the performances she'd witnessed here. Eventually it was decided upon with a Solidly high 92 - Not bad at all, Vinyl muses to herself...he'd held his own, and left a fairly strong impression on both listeners and judges alike.

Cavecore was clearly no joke, and she was quite sure she was likely to hear more from this kid in future, given time!

Meanwhile, the nearby musicians had mixed reactions - a couple of them were clearly not fans of diamond dogs, as they scoffed at the scrappy go-getting DJ on stage and his performance, calling him nothing but a 'Tone deafloud mouthed canine' or generally disregarding him at all as competition. Vinyl refuses the urge to facehoof as she merely ignored these foals...there had been a lot of interesting talent on display with Clutch, and she wasn't about to write him off as a hack - that wasn't the way any sporting musician played this game. However, they were clearly the only couple, as every othe critter had cheered and listened intently...Vinyl even clopped along with them, letting Clutch know that she considered him a worthy opponent - at least at this stage in the competition!

There were a few performances between his and Vinyls own, and the time seemed to fly by quickly...and soon it was time for the Female Unicorn to hit the stage - whish she did, getting her stuff set up for the judges and quickly levitating a couple records out for convenience.

Putting on the records, the unicorn carefully manipulates the dials and buttons...lifting the needle onto the record,

Immediately, a calm melodic beat, followed by a warm synth fills the room, yielding with promise of both something intense yet serene, calming - she was aiming for a relaxing opener, something to soothe and relax the judges whilst energising them at the same time. Her attention paid on both the melody and the surroundings, she proceeds to levitate the spare record a moment...giving extra effort to spin the record in mid air slowly with a soft ethereal glow - a little visual show.

She had become become quite well versed at baic multi-spelltasking, and this wasn't something partiularly challenging.

The opening soon faded into the main rhythm of what the track itself was to be, which Vinyl kept enhancing, adding sampled beat changes or tweaking with small playful nudges on the tempo or SFX Additions - the lyrics and foundation of the song having been from a simple record she'd gotten from a nearby musical store on her own choice.

She keeps up this relaxing mishmash of Synths, beats, lyrics...all the time gauging the reaction of the crowd carefully from behind her purple lenses, her coy grin on her face as she bobs her head casually, enjoying the intoxicating combination like a refreshing spring breeze. it seemed to have brought a moment of stillness over the entire audience, which she was proud of.

All too soon, the performance ended she was done - she sets about resting the mid-air spinning musical record back onto the deck, and bringing the whole musical melody down to it's close. The 'audience' promptly applauded and cheered, as Vinyl allowed herself a small bow of acknowledgement before turning to look at the judges.

" Well, Miss Scratch... " Treble Cleft starts with a small chuckle as he looked around momentarily. " First off, we do want to say that we're all aware of your continued success in the music you do - it's certainly always a trendsetter in canterlot and Manehatten, so we were very interested to see what our esteemed DJ Pon-3 would conjure up for us here today... " The judge continues, as his associates agreed - nodding heads all round, Vinyl noted.

" What you brought today was a nice intense little ocean of relaxing musical current - reminding us that musical flow isn't always a raging beast or a torrent of insane highs...it can also be a tranquil calm moment, overlaid with soothing beats and sounds that can chill any pony to complete relaxation without sending them to sleep. I liked that a lot - it wasn't overbearing, but there was certainly promise that you could have conjured up storms of sound at any moment...perhaps on the next round, you should move onto the aggressive pace though - you set us up easily enough, but can you truly 'blow us away'? "

Kalimba looked pretty much like she was feeling Trebles flow entirely as the griffon also stood up. " Yo, Treb's certainly can longwind a sentance, eh? ...but he's right - we know Pon-3's groove and we've seen you -A LOT- all over equestria. Your l'il performancc here really just left me at a breathless standstill and contemplative, almost like I was soarin' through the air without a care in the world. Next round, girl, I want you to kick my damn FLANK with sounds - Bring the hot beats...next round for you - I wanna see Vinyl SCRATCH, Dawg, bottom line! "

Zandere stood up and gave Vinyl a small nod of the head in acknowledgement. " We hadn't expected Equestria's most beat-heavy DJ to bring the calm to our little gathering here today, but that's what you do...you buck trends as well as setting them, and you ARE a musician with talent - we all know that. " The zebra says, raising an eyebrow, watching the unicorn give a small smirk in response. " But we WILL be judging you based on your peformances today, not on what you are known for or have performed in the past...that being said, you truly brought the electro-ice flavour to events and cooled things off a little, giving everybody here a chance to just catch their breath. You are one of the talents here today that we want to see bring the proverbial roof raising, and I'm anticipating you to swing your famous musical buck and catch us offguard with something fresh and attention grabbing...other than that, I was most impressed by this oasis of calm! "

For a moment, the judges take a moment to regroup, discusssing the final score before finally speaking out loud - Zandere, of course, doing the honours as he addressed Vinyl directly - she couldn't help but feel slightly nervous.

" For your performance, we award you a 93...it could have been a 94 or 5, but we feel that you may have misjudged the timing of your chosen genre - still, what was played was excellantly performed and demonstrated. I think we're going to see something explosive from you come our next time around... "

And with that, she was free to float her stuff away back towards her original location...her cocky grin back on her face as the Unicorn passed Clutch. " And that was me being mellow - Next Time up, ya'all won't know what hit ya - Promisin' that now! "

The female unicorn rests against her stuff with a satisfied smile on her muzzle.

She'd done exactly what she needed to do...for right now at least - whatever came next, she was going to be prepared for it!

[Dubstep]

The waiting. The waiting was always the hardest part for Dubstep. Getting up there on stage? Cake. Taking critique? Easy. Judging? Simple. But the waiting? Horrid, it made him antsy, the need to get on stage and show his stuff began bubbling up. And with the string of horrible performances that had been going on? It would be no surprise if the judges judged every tiny quirk in a set. Upon hearing a great fiddle player getting a 81, Dub started his routine of relaxing, deep breaths and plotting out his light shows in his head. The colours of the songs so far were far from spectacular. Upon seeing it was SOUNDBYT3's turn on stage however, Dub turned and listened intently, wanting to see just how this guy sounded.

The song, to Dub, invoked a lot of reds, and harsh shapes, well suited for the so called 'Cavecore' style the Diamond Dog played. The crystals the DJ used to scratch, certainly were an interesting touch, the kalimbas on the other hoof, weren't the best; not the worst mind you, no, that title belonged to contestant 2, who scored an 'amazing' 17. As the song ended, Dub made a mental note to try his hooves at the style sometime, never hurts to try something new. Joining in on the crowds applause, he started to wonder, if something like that could get a 92, what would he be scoring when his chance to shine came around?

Even MORE waiting came as the contestants between SOUNDBYT3 and P0N-3 went on. Everything from a country guitarist, who scored a solid 75, to the didgeridoo player, who scored an okay 66, went on before him or the famous filly. Shades of greens and blues danced in Dub's vision, moving in a fluid symphony of colour as he listened on, every note, every pitch and tone would subtly change the hue of a colour or the edge of the shape. Seeing this kind of thing since he was born let Dub pick up on how to play songs based on the colours of it alone. After a few more solid performances, it was finally Vinyl's turn, mentally keeping his hooves crossed that she'd show up the cocky D. Dog, Dub pricked his ears and waited for her stellar set to start.

Upon hearing the starting rhythm pick up, Dub smiled, seeing the colours he was accustomed to from P0N-3's softer work, the bass kept a flash of light blue dancing around, silver ribbons Intermingling as the flow slowed and the vocal track began. Overall, it was a pleasant and soothing song, to both the ears and eyes. Clapping once more as this song too came to an end, Dub mentally cheered once he heard that she scored a 93, one better than SOUNDBYT3. Dubstep knew he would probably have to match, or at least come close to, one of the two's scores for him to even think about making it to the next round.

Finally, the waiting was nearing its end, just a few more acts and it would be DJ Neighsay's time to shine. Counting down the acts left in his mind, Dub began pacing the floor, 'Just twelve more acts...' he thought, as the next act went on stage, 'I've got this, no pressure, no worries...Once I hit that stage it's just like any show...' As the acts went on and came out, some with their heads held high and others near breaking down, Dub's turn finally came around.

Levitating his gear out onto the stage, Dubstep was met with a good amount of cheers from the crowd, with a smile and nod in acknowledgement, Dub sat his gear down and walked up to the mic as Zandare spoke up "Well now, if it isn't the son of Fadeout. DJ Neighsay correct?" with a chuckle, Dub nodded, "Heh, yeah, that's me." he replied to the judge, "Well then, quite the name to live up to. How about you show us if you're up to following in his hoofsteps." with a confident grin, Dub trotted back over to his gear, quickly finishing setting up and pulling out a record, instead of the usual black that you see on most records, this one was bit different, like all of Dub's records, this one was orange. Placing the record gently onto the deck, Dub smiled as the lights dimmed. And then...

As the bass began, Dub started up his visual flair, as he always did; two gold orbs of light floated above the DJ, thumping in time to the beat, ribbons of gray streaking around them as the vocal track began. This is what the DJ saw in the song, and to him, why have a gift like that, if you don't share it with the world? As the song went on, smaller orbs of silver joined in with the golden ones, flickering and spinning in time to the back beat. As the halfway point hit, the gold orbs faded as did the ribbons, the smaller silver orbs flicking and flashing to the tones faster and faster as the vocal track re-awoke the ribbons of gray and the golden orbs flashed brightly back into existence. As the song came to an end, Dub caused the lights he made to burst into a rain of light, showering down on the crowd as the applause began.

As Dub walked back over to the mic, Zandare spoke once more, "So, I see that you've got a few tricks like you father in your repertoire. Now of course we can't compare you to your father to a T obviously, as he was a guitarist and you, on the other hoof, are a DJ, vast difference there, but I can see where your father inspired you. Everything from the beats of the bass to the light show, very nice job."

Speaking up next was Treble, "I must say, it's nice to see such a wide variety of representation here tonight, so far all of our DJs have brought something different to the table. Now, the light show, while impressive, seemed a bit distracting to me, as though it took away from the over all performance, rather than adding to it; perhaps a more simplistic look to it would have been better, but again, a good job over all."

Stepping up last but not least was Talon, "Yo dude, I gotta disagree with Treb here, the light show man, blew the ROOF off the joint dawg! For me yo? It took it from any other DJ show, to a real DJ Neighsay show, you know what I'm sayin? Alright, give us bit to get this all together and we'll toss you a score man." with a nod, Dub waited at the mic, his mind rushing, hoping for a good score as the judges conversed for what felt like hours before Talon beat Zandare to their mic, "Alright dude, after some intense deliberation, we all feel it's best to give you...a 92. Yeah, it wasn't perfect, but dawg, the beats were kickin and, I don't care what Treb thinks, the light show was off the chain dawg, seriously. But don't forget, if you make it to the next round, boy you better bring your A game."

"Sweet! Thanks yo." Dubstep said with a grin and a grateful nod; waving to the crowd once more as he started off stage, bringing his gear along. And that was that, Dub's round went off without a hitch, now all that was left to do for the DJ, was to...oh jeeze, wait more...But waiting to see if he gets into the next round, would be far more tolerable than waiting to get up there, by far. Sitting back down in his original seat, Dub let out a happy sigh, "Awww yeah. Gotta love that rush." he said to no one in particular as he slid his shuttershades off and leaned back.

[ancara22]

After Dubstep's turn, the rest of the competitors went. Some were decent, like an oboe-playing Zebra who did reasonably well. Others.....not so much, like the duo of Kazoo-wielding Earth Ponies that did terribly. Eventually the last of them went and got their score from the judges. After that final performance, Zandare stood up again and spoke. "Now that we've seen how the whole lot of you perform and where your skill levels are at, we'll decide which of you will move onto the battle round tournament. We shall take a five-minute break, and then we'll reveal who will end up advancing." He then sat down and started to chat with the other two judges, trying to decide who would advance onwards.

Clutch looked back at the performances that had happened and chuckled a bit. "That was def. an interestin' freestyle round there." He grabbed another doughnut and began to eat it. "Little miss showoff certainly did pretty good. Something calm and relaxing, wasn't that bad at all. Still, I've heard that kind of stuff before during a compo a while back. I'll give her 'til after round 1 of the battle round to show what she's really got. If the judges say she holdin' back, then that means she's got somethin' planned for later on. I'll keep an eye on her whilst I go through the motions, see what she does."

"As for that Dubstep kid, I actually kinda liked the tune he did" Clutch said as he finished his doughnut, "Now that's the kinda challenge I like to hear. Somethin' fast, somethin' brash and somethin' truly big. Methinks I should keep my eye on him. Might get to go up against him, so that's a possibility. Could be fun indeed." He then wondered about the other competitors. "I definitely saw some interestin' opponents durin' that round. I dunno which among 'em are gonna make it onwards, but if they as good as they showed right there.....methinks this might actually be a fun compo after all....."

The five minutes passed, and the judges had finished their discussion with each other. Zandare looked at all of them and then cleared his throat. "We have made our decision, and will now announce who among you will go on to face off in the battle round tournament." A unicorn stallion was brought over to where Zander was at, where he whispered into his ear. The stallion then let his horn glow, and a shining light shot out from it. It hit the wall behind them, and a picture began to form. A tournament bracket was shown, with pictures of thirty-two competitors placed among the spots at the bottom. Of the thirty-two, they were split into four sections, eight competitors to a section. "If you are among those in this bracket, step forward now and show yourselves. Otherwise, step back."

Clutch saw his mugshot in the tournament bracket in section 1, paired with an organ-playing Pegasus Colt for match three. The Diamond Dog DJ wheeled his tabletop forwards, to where he could be easily seen. Others who were in the bracket began to step forwards, each bringing their tools of the trade with them. "Looks like both little miss blue hair and Dubstep got in as well" he mused to himself while having a sly smirk on his muzzle, "This is gonna be fun indeed." It seemed as though everypony there had gotten a 90 or higher with their score, save for one contestant. If these musicians were as good as they showed, it was gonna soon get to be one hell of a show tonight!

[SunsetSombra]

Vinyl wasn't sweating the competition - she knew that she'd breeze through the first round although she was prepared to admit that there'd been a few moments where the choice of music had felt off for the moment...but once she'd finished and received the applause, there was no doubt that she'd cracked it. The score was decidedly the cherry on the top for the moment, and Vinyl was just glad that she could now focus on getting the rest of the evening figured out.

Oh, she already had an idea what her next performance was going to entail...she'd caught sight of the record that she'd 'spun' during her set as a visual aid, and it was one that had a great deal of potential for a crowd such as this.

She set about organising herself for the next backet - there really wasn't any telling just what kind of stiff competition lay ahead, but Vinyl did not intend on taking chances...she knew what she needed to prepare, and wasn't going to settle for anything less than a planned full assault on the senses in the next round - that obnoxiously confident Diamond dog was gonna know the difference between them soon enough...and it was gonna be sweet!

[Dubstep]

Dub was feeling great, he made it into the brackets, that's one step closer to getting what he came here for, and he knew, if he was gonna make it anywhere, he'd have to figure out a good set list, something with a good kick, but an even flow, stuff that would knock their horseshoes off and for every round of the brackets too! Now the big debate in his mind was, did he start off with a nice slow vibe, or did he bring the noise from the start and keep a solid line of driving beats through the brackets? He'd have to think up at least the first jam, and work from there.

Digging through his records, Dub smirked as he grabbed a few out and began sorting; this would take clever planing and knowing who he was up against was always an advantage. The first round of the second bracket, Dubstep would be going up against a decent guitarist, something he was rather familiar with, it having been the first instrument that he ever played. But at least he had a solid amount of planning time as the first bracket went.

[ancara22]

Once all 32 of the competitors stepped forwards, Zandare looked at them and continued. "Now that we know which of you will be moving on, let's get on with the next event: The Battle Round Tournament. The rules are simple: this is a brackets-styled tournament where you are all paired into groups of two. Each group of two will try to play a tune together, trying to out-do the other competitor. You must use your skills and musical ability to manage a favorable result for yourselves. Once the tune ends, we shall decide which of the two deserves to move on. The winner of the battle moves on to the next round, and then the next match will begin. This'll continue until we reach our final two competitors, where the rules will change a little bit.....but we'll save that as a surprise for later on." the Zebra colt chuckled and then looked at the 32 with a good stare.

"Now then, let's get this started, shall we?" With those words, the tournament began. The first two matches were indeed interesting, with match one being between a Sitar-wielding Earth Colt and a Pegasus Acappella trope, and the second match being a Griffon with a huge drumkit versus a trio of violinist Unicorns. Clutch clapped as the second match ended. "That was some pretty good stuff there. I didn't even think it was possible for a violin to be played that fast.....welp then, looks like it's time to truly show my stuff now...." He said this as Zandare called his name up to start the third match. He grabbed his tabletop, still having a thing of chocolate doughnuts on it, and then wheeled it up to the stage.

He moved to the left side of the stage and saw quite a sight indeed: A huge organ was placed on the other side, a wooden one with all sorts of pipes and other attachments on both the top and sides of it. A Grey Pegasus Pony slowly flew down from the top of the organ, wearing a fancy dress and everything. "It's now time for match three!" Zandare said as he pointed to the two, "and this'll be quite an interesting match indeed." Talon then pointed at Clutch and said "Ya got that right bro. On the left side's a D-Dawg that certainly surprised me with what he did. DJ SOUNDBYT3's def. got a wicked beat goin' on, and his style's a new one i'm already likin' a lot."

"He might be quite a musician as we saw" Said Treble as he pointed to the other competitor, "but so is our other competitor. From Clousdale, Pipe Reed had built this impressive organ that she custom-made to play all sorts of amazing sounds, all from different types of organ. I wouldn't be surprised if she has this one in the bag." After Zandare giving them both a stern glare, he spoke up again. "Well then, I believe it's time that we got this started then. Whenever you both are ready....."

Clutch grabbed a new record and placed it on his tabletop, and then looked at Pipe. "Good luck, ya gonna need it!" he said as he prepared to turn on the power to his tabletop. "I assure you that you'll need it as well...." Pipe Reed told him as she sat down in front of the organ she built.

and thus began Clutch's first truly difficult battle.

Clutch turned on the power and immediately got to work with his new tune. Pipe Reed, on the other hand, started before he could. The sounds of the organ, so intense, yet so relaxing......until they both were on the same page with their rhythm. They both played on the other player's previous moves, trying to out-do each other on a musical level. Clutch had never felt so alive as he did his best to keep up with Pipe's playing. That Diamond Dog used his atmospheric notes to try to keep in the lead, and his kalimba-playing skills were almost put to the limit from using them as a bass. But the thing that was most exhausting for him was how much he had to time his crystal sounds, and how fast he had to go. Good Fate..... he thought as they reached the final part of the tune, does this Pony ever TIRE?

The song did end finally, and the two took a bow as the crowd cheered. Zandare, Talon and Treble all clopped at their performance. "That was quite a performance" Treble said as he continued to clop, "The way you both used the other's melodies and sounds to complement each other was grand. I'm not sure which of you to choose for!" Talon was the next to speak. "Wow, now THAT'S an awesome beat ya got there. I would've loved to hear ya do that in the freestyle round dawg." Finally came Zandare, serious and focused as always. "You two definitely did well. You performed much better than I had heard when this started, and for that I give you an applause. But now comes the time where we decide which of you move onwards to the next round....."

The judges spent the next 2 minutes talking to themselves. When that time was up, Zandare looked at the both of them. "It's time to announce the winner. The competitor to move on to round 2 is........DJ SOUNDBYT3!" Clutch actually had a look of surprised hearing this, watching Pipe Reed slam down on her organ after hearing the news. "I can not believe I lost!" she said as she flew away from everypony, leaving the organ sitting where it stood. The only thing Clutch could say then was "......okay...." as two Earth stallions pushed the organ away. With that bit of confusion having passed, Clutch wheeled his tabletop away from the crowd, knowing that he managed to somehow actually make it passed the first round.

"I dunno how I managed to keep my paws from fallin' off from that intense playin' I did" he said as he felt the cramp in his left paw, "But I made it to round 2. That was actually kinda fun, and intense! I hope the next couple rounds get that excitin'!" He then sat down and began to eat another doughnut. "I really need to plan out the next tune for some truly epic stuff, so as to wow the crowd.....and I'm thinkin' that I know just the one...."