Press Start to Jam

8:25 PM, Rouge's Gallery, Canterlot It's been about 10 minutes since the opening act finished, and yet, there was still no sign of the main act. Confusion spreads among the crowd as people begin to wonder where the band they came here to see is. Venue staff have been going on, and off stage for a while now, probably doing some last minute checks, but still no band. At some point, the lights dim to the point where you could hardly see what was on the stage. For a moment, excitement rises, and cheers go up among the crowd, but still. No band. Excitement reverts back to confusion, then annoyance. The crowd has had enough teasing. Either the main act comes out, or they riot. Asuka can hardly see when she and her bandmates step out onto the stage. She can see the packed crowd on the floor below, but with how little light is hitting the stage, she nearly trips over a few cables on her way to her drumset. She feels a hardy pat on her shoulder as Nar passes by her on his way to the front of the stage. Once the three are all in place, Asuka raises her drumsticks to the ceiling, and waits. The backing track begins to play. The crowd begins to pay attention to the stage. (https://youtu.be/paMRa_tdAXU?si=nI3Cd6NC_po0J_75) Then, just before the drums kick in, colorful lights flash on, illuminating the stage. The crowd is quickly silenced. "WE ARE ATTACK ON MANGO!" A visceral roar from Asuka fills the air. Then, her sticks slam down onto the drums below, and the show begins. The crowd erupts into excited cheers. The lights flicker, and strobe. The screen behind the stage plays specially made sprite animations to go with the music. Nar dances around the front of the stage. Juno flashes a few smiles into the crowd, and Asuka's senses slowly melt away as the feral spirit of the drumset takes over. Someone in the crowd somehow manages to get a beach ball up, and it's punched around for a little bit before it's grabbed by staff. Another group of people manages to pass out glowsticks, and soon the majority of the crowd is lit up with blue, pink, green, and purple light. However, Asuka doesn't notice any of this. The feral rage controlling her body has only one goal. Hit the drums. As hard as possible. The rage only briefly subsides once the first song has finished. It's only then that she gets a chance to take in her surroundings. Nar grabs the microphone on the front of the stage. "How we doing tonight Canterlot?!" A cheer rises from the crowd. "Awesome! It's great to be on tour again, and we're pumped that we get to play in Canterlot again! Huge city, with a lot of history, and the biggest barcade we've ever seen! Shout out to Royal Bit Barcade on Bastion street!" A few more cheers rise from the crowd. "We hope you guys enjoy the show we have for you tonight! I know we've been looking forward to this for months, and in all honesty, I can hardly believe we're finally on stage again!" More cheers. "So! For those of you who saw our last tour, this next song might be a bit familiar! It's a new spin on one of our first songs, called 'Little Grabby Dino Hand'. If you don't know what song that is, go check our very first album. It sucked!" Nar beams a smile, alongside a chuckle as he bashes their own work. Asuka can't blame him. The audio balancing on their first album was TERRIBLE, and Roy's voice actually cracked a few times in the recordings. Well, at least they've improved since then. When the music starts again, the feral spirit takes over once more. Like a half-remembered dream, Asuka only catches parts of the show, in between songs. Most of which she barely registers. There was one moment she'll remember for quite a while though. Halfway through the show, after Nar has talked with the crowd a bit, he goes to drink some water from a bottle next to the microphone stand. Someone from the crowd shouts "Asuka!" Another follows "Queen!" And then, "Mommy!" Water spews forth from Nar's nose, and mouth. He begins to cough violently, trying to regain his composure as the crowd roars with laughter. He's dying. Nar is dying on stage, and you guys are laughing. Well. Juno was laughing too, but Asuka wasn't. She reaches over, and grabs a microphone from a nearby stand. She then shoots up from her drumset, and points into the crowd with her free hand. "Whoever said that. You're a weirdo. I don't care if you're a mare. That was weird, and I hope you never say that word to anyone again." Once Nar has recovered, he takes a few deep breaths before grabbing the microphone. "You fucker. You almost killed me." Despite the contents of the sentence, Nar is barely holding back laughter of his own. "You know. That actually ties in pretty well into our next song. So how about we start it?"