//------------------------------// // 1. Rest Assured // Story: Rock Band: Equestria Girls // by ThePegaKris //------------------------------// With the Dazzlings beaten once again, we have finally been handed another victory. Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, and I are still technically the original lineup for Rara's tournament, but it is nice to see our other friends join us up here to defeat the Dazzlings. Starlight Glimmer generously gave us the win instead of finishing our previous matchup and we thanked her for that. I'll admit that it does take some commitment for her to just hand us a victory, but she insisted anyway. Everyone watching had their spirits lifted as they continued to cheer for us. I really wasn't expecting the Dazzlings to come back, not even after the Battle of the Bands. To this day, I still find it brutal that they overpowered my friends last time. Am I really the new best answer to everything? In my opinion, I don't think so. That's why I have to help my best friends and they have to help me as well. We're all in this together. Always. Still, I wonder why Sonata Dusk and Aria Blaze fled from their leader. "Sunset, darling?" Rarity asked. I didn't see any lyrics appear on the screen yet, but luckily both of our Twilight Sparkles can handle them if they come back up. "Yes Rarity?" Her keytar playing is some of the best I've ever seen, both in game and in reality. "How do you feel right now?" She had a smile on her face. "I'm tired, but I'm having fun. Thanks for asking!" She winked at me. "You're welcome!" I winked back at her and giggled for a bit. For some reason, despite me being completely happy with my friends all around me, the space between us feels tightly packed. But hey, what can we do? This place is not an average theater, even for a city like Manehattan. Our little friend, Spike, was also watching us with his Changeling buddies. "What do you think, Thorax? Are they awesome or what?" "I agree!" The leader replied. "They never let us down, Thorax." Starlight Glimmer said. She was a bit shaky after all the destruction caused by the Dazzlings. "Whew!" "Cousin Applejack sure kicked the Dazzlings to the curb!" Babs Seed roused herself. "How do you think she felt about them coming back, Babs?" Starlight questioned. "At least, she didn't bite off more than she could chew, otherwise that'd be bad business! My cousin could handle those dastardly people either way!" "Well played, hehe!" Suri Polomare giggled. "Rainbooms rule!" Cheese Sandwich added. Countess Coloratura, or Rara, got closer to us. "That was a brilliant performance, wasn't it ladies and gentlemen?" She was very impressed, along with James Hetfield and Sapphire Shores. "What a nice way to actually end off the tournament!" "Now, it's time for every single band to come out and be a part of the biggest group picture ever!" James announced. "Let's bring them out!" "First: the Trottingham Blazers!" Sapphire Shores listed. " Come on out, you guys!" She had a whole roster of all the bands. "Ah, our very first opponents of this tournament!" A.J. felt reminiscent. "You said it, Applejack!" as Pinkie Pie gave her a high five. "Secondly, we have the Crystal Prep Shadowbolts!" Sapphire advanced. Sour Sweet, who was tucked in the audience, had a blast throughout this whole thing and clapped vigorously. "YEAH!" The Shadowbolts used to be Canterlot High's biggest rivals, but not anymore. To be honest, as Applejack always says, they're not that bad at all. "Now for the almighty Appleloosa Gunslingers!" The pop star exclaimed. "C'mon, Braeburn!" Applejack cheered as her and Apple Bloom's cousin walked to the stage. "The magnificent Cloudsdale Twisters!" James howled. "Yay for home!" Fluttershy whispered. "The vicious Everfree Serpents!" Rara introduced. There came Twilight's boyfriend, Timber Spruce, along with Gloriosa, Zecora, and Discord. Twilight immediately blushed and blew Timber a kiss, which he returned as well. My other friends and I can never stop dreaming about how perfect those two look together. Someday, we'll be her best bridesmaids. "Bow down to 'The King,' because our next band is the Hive Changelings, led by Thorax!" James proclaimed. The crowd got on their knees and hailed, "All hail 'The King,' all hail 'The King!'" "We're already out here, sir!" Thorax saluted. "Even better!" James rephrased. "I hope they don't call out the Neighon Warriors!" Pinkie opposed. "Those guys were meanies!" "They've been killed by the Dazzlings, remember?" I remember Sonata exactly saying that she and her friends haven't 'repaid' them properly. "I'm really not a fan of either band as well!" "Moving on to...the Ponyville Savages, who've put on a great show during the semifinals!" Rara announced and even she knows about the Warriors' deaths. "We now have our third place winners out here!" "Hehe, I see Quibble Pants shaking nervously!" Rainbow giggled. "D'oh, I almost forgot!" Rara panicked. "Due to the Manehattan Enforcers giving the victory to the Rainbooms, they've earned second place. I have your trophy right here, guys!" She handed a big, silver trophy with an engraving that says '2nd Best Guitar Hero Band Ever' to Starlight's band. Babs, Starlight, Suri, and Cheese all feel so proud about making it very far in the tournament, and my friends and I are proud, too. They held up the trophy high enough for the world to see. "Last but certainly not least, we have our champions." Mr. Hetfield spoke into the microphone. "They're already out here so that saves us some trouble. Put your hands together...for the Rainbooms!" "Rainbooms, Rainbooms, Rainbooms!" The world chanted our name. "Excellent!" as Rara rubbed her hands together. "Unfortunately, some bands were either in a hurry or unable to make it to our closing ceremonies, so we'll congratulate them at a later time! Is this everyone we've got?" "Yes ma'am!" All the bands, including ours, replied. "Perfect, now can you all line up for zee photo?" Photo Finish requested of us. "This is going to be zee photo of zee century!" Spike quickly rushed into Twilight's arms as he wanted to get in the picture as well. We were all lined up, with some of the other bands standing behind us. It's no surprise that we got to be up in the very front since we've won. "What catchphrase should we use in the picture?" Sapphire Shores wondered. "Give me the camera, lady." James begged. "Say rock and roll!" He was now holding the photographer's camera. "Rock and roll!" All bands shouted and the picture was taken. "Fantastic!" Rara gleamed. "I'll be sure to post this somewhere on the internet! Well, that's all the time we have, folks! Thank you all so much for attending and watching each shred-off live! As for the bands that have competed here for the past few days, thank you so much for accepting my invitations to come and compete against each other! You all really brought some good stuff to the table!" "HOORAY!!!" The world yelled so loudly. "See you all next time!" The three hosts bid the people farewell and proceeded to leave with an escort team out the back door. I noticed that the camera crew stopped recording the tournament because...it's over. We all shook each other's hands and greeted each other like true players. According to Rainbow Dash, this was true sportsmanship. After some regrouping, we all left out the back door and it was getting dark. The train station wasn't far from the theater, so we took our time getting there. "I'm so spent, ladies!" Rarity breathed out heavily. "But, I sure found this tournament to be an elegant ride!" "I never thought we'd have to use magic again." Fluttershy said. "It's only temporary, Fluttershy." Princess Twilight reminded. "If yet another baddie wants to mess with us, then we'll stop that from happening." "I agree, Twilight!" Applejack stated. "Apple Bloom, where are ya going now?" "To buy a candy apple? Ya want one, sis?" Apple Bloom has spotted a convenience store near the station. "Yeah please, sugarcube!" "I didn't know they sell candy apples here!" Pinkie's mouth began watering. "This city has everything!" Rainbow exaggerated. "I'm surprised you haven't figured that out already, Pinkie, but no disrespect." "None taken!" As I hear the sound of wheels screeching, it looked out to be that the train to Canterlot City was approaching the station. Apple Bloom got back to us as soon as possible, along with her and her sister's candy apples. If I'm being totally honest, I would've gone for one myself. I do find it cute though, however, to see Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo sleepwalking while leaning by and holding on to Rarity and Rainbow Dash. We all finally got on our train going back home. "All aboard the express train to Canterlot City!" The conductor called out. And so, we went off. We were seated in the very first car and the train didn't really shake us too much. "Wake me up when we get there, okay girls?" as Spike began his slumber. "Hehe, you were such a sleepy head during the tournament, Spike!" Fluttershy giggled. "It's a regular habit of his, don't question it." Sci-Twi whispered. "I was about to say that about my Spike!" Princess Twilight brought up. "Your Spike, her Spike, blah blah blah." Rainbow mumbled. "The eggheads have been doubled!" I had to defend my best friends, and while Dash was one of them, I still get a bit annoyed when it comes to her words. "Chillax, Rainbow Dash." "Sorry, Sunset and Twilights." She apologized. "Boy, y'all have gone tired and over your heads after us winning, huh?" as A.J. licked her candy apple. "To be honest, me too!" "Rara really wanted us to shine so bright!" Rarity commented. "After sitting and filling in for Rainbow Dash a little bit, I need to stretch out the old legs. Even someone fabulous like me has to obtain some R 'n R!" "You said it, pal!" Pinkie agreed. "Hey girls?" Rainbow asked. "Yeah Rainbow Dash?" All of our heads bumped into each other's. "You know what game that we haven't played in a while? Rock Band!" The game she mentioned really sounded familiar to me. "Oh yeah, I remember! What about it?" I just realized that my friends sighed simultaneously of the nostalgia that Rock Band brought to us. "What do you say we play some of it at my house when we get back?" Rainbow smirked. "I still got the band kit for it!" "Umm, didn't you say that you stored the instruments in your basement, Rainbow Dash?" Sci-Twi asked. "That was a long time ago!" "Speaking of a long time ago, I still have our very first recording of us playing Rock Band!" Rarity mentioned. "It's on my phone right now!" "May we see it, Rarity?" Fluttershy huddled in. "Absolutely, sweetie! Everyone, come gather around!" I, for one, am excited to see this video again. I remember that I was playing along with Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, and Rarity. Applejack wasn't in it because there's no bass in the song that we chose. "Loading...and good to go!" Rarity confirmed. "Was this the first time that I had to hit the most notes?" "Nope, but ya really nailed it, Rare!" A.J. winked. "I really loved the drum tone for this song!" Pinkie said. "Yeah, this was a good break from all of the hard rock and heavy metal songs that we've played!" I continued to watch in silence. "Did my voice crack here, by the way?" "I don't think so, Sunset." Fluttershy responded. "Your voice was perfect and it will always be!" "Thanks Fluttershy!" I patted her head. "This game had an awesome setlist, in my opinion!" Rainbow claimed. "You all know that sequels came, right?" "Uh-huh!" We all nodded. "Good times!" Both Twilights smiled. The song was quite short, but at both the time the four of us played it and now, we still enjoyed it. Like I said, it was a nice break from other genres we were used to. "Awesome!" as Rainbow finished watching the clip with us. "Before we get back into Rock Band, can I show an old Guitar Hero clip?" "Yeah, Rainbow!" We all accepted. "Let me find it really quick. Okay, I've got it! Play!"