Contest: Music, Poem and Song

[Stygg Whitefeather]

In the late evening on the first night of the Festival, the city center was ablaze with the sounds of music from all corners of Equestria and the Griffon lands. Here, pony and griffon alike demonstrated their very best deft in the arts of music and sound. The very best the kingdoms had to offer played their hearts out, filling the night with revelry and merrymaking. The best may even be decreed the Kingdom laureate of their given craft of the tongue.

---

Admin: Anyone who wishes to participate in the music competition; be it lyrics, poetry, song, etc... may post their work which relates to ponies and griffons, preferably directly related to Celestial Divide. Parody or homage is acceptable, put please cite source material. This should be a creative endeavor so no plagiarism (I will check anything clearly not original).

[mafipulater]

"So, this is it huh? My first time performing in months... at least," Sea said to herself. One part nervous and nine parts excited. Just thinking about being on stage again, performing for a crowd got her blood pumping. She was certain everyone would love the bit she prepared - or she hoped so, at least.

It was finally time. Taking a deep breath, Sea headed up to the stage. It felt good here – this was right where she belonged, in front of a large crowd and ready to go. The crowd was a healthy mix of griffon- and pony-kind alike. It was a great opportunity to really impress them all.

”What’s goin’ on, Royal Rocks?” the pegasus said into the mic. ”I’m Sea Swell, and this is my dude, Strings, on the, ah, strings there,” she said pointing to her bandmate.

Then, knowing that any good performance requires building some rapport between the entertainers and the audience, Sea decided to add a bit of pre-performance personality. ”So, in the spirit of the Wind Festival, I wrote a few bars about this griffon I met a few weeks ago, up in Cloudsdale. If you ever been – that place is really confusing. A real marvel of clouds-as-buildings-architecture and all of that jazz, sure, absolutely. But for a… well, okay, let’s say I was a ‘tourist’. For a tourist, especially one that didn’t really fly, like me? That place is a nightmare. I think I spent more time wandering around lost than actually sight-seeing… Not like Royal Rocks. Y’all got a swell place here,” Sea said with a smirk.

”But, ah, one evening, while I was looking for the stadium, I ran into this griffon. And what I really like about her was, she had this vibe about her, like she wasn’t gonna take nothin’ from nobody; griffon, pony, zebra, buffalo, whatever. But, like, once you get to know her a little bit, she’d look out for ya, and that’s something I can really respect. And I know, because we went someplace that maybe we weren’t entirely technically allowed to go to… And when we got caught, she coulda ditched me, easily, and left me to take all the heat. She didn’t, though – she helped me get out before we really got into trouble. And even more, the next day? She helped me out with a problem I been having for… well, basically, my whole life. And all of that inspired me to write this song. So… yo, shout out if you’re here and listenin’, Gilda.”

Then, nodding at Strings, she said into the mic, ”Alright, let’s kick it!” It was Strings’s time now to shine and blow everyone’s mind with his instrumentals, before Sea came in with her verse to wrap things up.

[Deleted]

Strings looked at Sea Swell while they were backstage, waiting to go on for their entry to the Music, Poem and Song Contest. It had been a couple of months since Strings last gig, but not as long as it has been for Sea Swell. "Don't worry Sea. We'll do great." With his guitar hanging around his neck, and his gear already set up on stage, he was ready to rock! "Alright, let's rock this thing!"

They walked on stage, and Sea Swell introduced them. When she said Strings' name, he waved towards the crowd. Then, Sea gave him a nod, the signal to start playing. Strings stood up on his hind legs, quickly grabbed his guitar and powerfully strummed a power chord. He then started the drum machine, which started playing a fairly awesome rock beat. Strings then flapped his wings, did a back flip and started playing for real.

His hoof went flying around his guitars neck, playing a wicked solo. The crowd went wild! When he ended that solo, he went straight into the main riff.This was a sign for Sea to start singing her verse.

[mafipulater]

Sea's head bounced to the beat, and she couldn't help but crack a smile at how much Strings was rocking and how much the crowd seemed to dig it. It was so much fun being on stage again, and even better, to be on stage as part of a newly-formed band.

Then, taking the signal from Strings, she began rapping, riding the beat and delivering each word with energy:

"Visualizin' the realism of life and actuality
Friendship and love transcend national boundaries
And though my principality is pony-orientated
I'm destined to bridge the gap for who still need to be persuaded
‘Cause yeah, I’m still at it, formulating this real adage
And everyone’s gonna listen unless you got yourself a thick cabbage
See, you can have a mane but live ya life bold
And you can have a beak but just don’t fit the mold
So forget what you were told, it’s all in the soul
And I oughta know, ‘cause I never could fly since I was a foal
Then I met this griffon, and thought she was pretty spry
Took me on a night on the town, and we were soaring on life’s highs
She pulled me aside, helped me give flying another try
And it’s only ‘cause of her I can now leave gravity defied
So, sky's the limit and it ain't no gimmick
When your tail’s on the line, a friend will see you to the finish"

((Okay, so, in terms of giving credit: this is a play on AZ’s verse on Illmatic [the first bar here is lifted directly from his, and there are several plays on his verse throughout], and there’s also a play on Royce’s verse of the Elmatic cover of the same song. Finally, there’s also two bars that play on Q-Tip from “Award Tour”. I hope I didn’t forget anything.))

"Thanks, Royal Rocks!" As the song ended, instead of trotting, she gently flew offstage, letting whomever was next to perform their chance in the limelight. But, regardless of whether she and Strings won or lost the contest, Sea could say that that performance was the most fun she ever had.