Band Chaos
"So then, what's on our schedule for the day?" Discord said as he generated a pen and paper in his hands. "What fun filled activities is this world full of?"
"Wow there, partner. Before we can start spendin' time with ya, we need to finish school first. The day isn't over yet." AppleJack informed him.
Discord frowned as then rolled his eyes all the way to the back of his head and crossed his arms.
"School? Urgh, that sounds like the opposite of a fun filled activity." Discord complained.
"Believe me, I agree with you hundred percent, but there's not much we can do about it." Sonic said with a shrug.
Discord then grew a mischevious smile as he put his finger to his chin.
"True. But that doesn't mean I can't do anything about it." Discord said as he snapped his fingers.
As soon as he did, the group noticed that the hands on the clock suddenly sped up like crazy. After this happened, they heard the sound of the bell ringing, which indicated that it was time for school to end. The sounds of students leaving the hallway were then heard shortly afterward as everyone looked on in the halls with perplexed looks.
"Discord, what did you do?!"Sunset asked.
"What? I just accelerated time on all the clocks. Accordingly, it's the end of the day right now." Discord said with a smile.
"Uh, is it really ok for you to do that?" Twilight question.
"Why not? The other students appear to look happy and besides..." Discord said as he then teleported next to Fluttershy, making her look a little uneasy as put his arm around her.
"It means I can spend more time with my new friends." He continued.
"Works for me. You're not even here for an hour and I'm already starting to really like you." Manic said as he gave Discord the thumbs up, who returned it.
"Still, I-" Sunset started to say before Discord came in front of her, interrupting what she was about to say, making her form a slightly annoyed look.
"So, what should we do for the day? Restaurant, Bowling, Water Skiing?" Discord suggested as he formed a miniature version of each of those areas as he snapped his fingers repeatedly. "Oh, where are my manners? Since this is your world, I suppose I should let you choose. Surprise me."
Discord then grew in a comfortable position as he floated in the air, waiting for a response from the others.
"Actually, since we have all this free time, our band was thinking of practicing. You could watch us practice." Rainbow Dash suggested, making Discord raise an eyebrow with interest.
"You have a band? How adorable! You know, in Equestria, ponies are always randomly breaking out into song and I'm quite the musical act." Discord stated as he snapped his fingers again, making 3 versions of himself appear. One was on the drums, with the other two were on guitar as the Discord in the centre did the rock symbol while sticking his tongue out. He then used it to play a melody before he made them all vanish.
Sunset didn't seem too comfortable with the idea and Discord could tell as he saw the look on her face. He then appeared next to her, taking her back a little.
"I could even give some pointers." Discord said with a wink, making Sunset look unsure.
"Well if you girls and Discord are up to that, I guess I'll just head out for a run." Sonic said as he gave the thumbs up.
"I'll be in my lab. There are some new machines I need to work on." Tails explained.
"In that case, I'll use the time I have to keep an eye on the Master Emerald."Knuckles said with his arms folded which caught Discord's attention. Guarding something? That sounded very important.
"(Mental note. Keep track of what he just said)." Discord thought to himself as inside his head, a yellow sticky note with the words 'Guard Master Emerald' appeared.
"If you need me, I'm off to go practice a bit on my skills." Silver stated.
"And I'm off to catch some Z's." Manic said last as he stretched his arms wide before his eyes lit up as he remembered something.
"Oh, Fluttershy, we're still on for tonight right?" Manic said as he pointed to her.
Hearing this made Discord get a surprised look as his body split into different sections before he quickly turned towards Fluttershy.
"Y-yeah. I shouldn't be too busy after band practice. I finished up all my work at the animal shelter earlier this week." Fluttershy answered.
"Cool. See you later." He said as he gave her a wink, while Discord didn't seem too pleased to hear this as he slightly frowned. His eyes turned a shade of green while he glared at an unsuspecting Manic.
"Uh, Mr. Discord. Is something the matter? Discord heard Rarity suddenly ask as he looked down to see her, turning his eye color back to normal.
Discord then ripped off his mouth and turned it right side up, making a smile as he placed it back on his face.
"What? Nothing! I'm perfectly fine! See? Happy as can be." Discord said as he stretched his mouth wide open to flash a giant toothy grin, much to Rarity's discomfort as she backed away slightly.
"Ok. Guess we'll see you later. And Discord, just let me know if you're ready to have som fun!" Sonic said as he and the rest of his friends began to exit the bandroom into the halls.
"Of course!" Discord responded as he waved to Sonic. "(Believe me, you all are in for quite a surprise.)"
"Anyway, onward to band practice!"Discord announced as this time he turned himself into a smaller bracelet on Fluttershy's arm, which she wasn't expecting. He then gave her the thumbs up and she responded with a somewhat nervous smile.
The Rainbooms left the room and joined their fellow students as they trickled through the halls to the exit of the school. As they walked through, a stumped Principal Celestia and Vice Principal Luna were standing in the center, trying to figure out what was going on as they were among the crowd.
"This doesn't make any sense. I could have sworn that school just started about an hour ago." Celestia said.
"I agree...but when you check the clocks, it shows otherwise." Luna replied before she sighed. "Just what on earth is going on?"
Discord noticed the two women from the side of his eye as he saw their confused expressions on their faces. Due to their appearance, he recognized them as the counterparts to Princess's Luna and Celestia.
"Say, is that...Luna and Celestia?" He said in a high pitched voice to Fluttershy, making her look down at her wrist.
"Yes. just're the Principal and Vice Principal here." She answered, making Discord roll his eyes with distaste.
"Principal? Sheesh. Everywhere they go, do they always have to be in a position to ruin the fun." He said in an unimpressed tone.
A while later, the Rainbooms had gathered at Sweet Apple Acres in order to practice. They were going to record a session in one of the barns. As the other members were getting their instruments ready, Sunset was already in the barn, tuning her guitar. As she was trying to get the right pitch, she suddenly heard the sound of a dog barking, startling her as she stopped to look around. Not a dog in sight. Spike was home at Twilight's house while Winona, AppleJack's dog was on a walk with Granny Smith. She had a confused look before she went back to tuning. As she did again, this time, she heard the sound of a duck quacking, making her look up in a dumbfounded manner. There were no ducks around at Sweet Apple Acres. Sunset held up her guitar and examined it.
"What's going on with this thing?" She wondered. She tuned it many times, making the sound of horse braying, cat meowing, and sheep bleating
Hearing those sounds in a row made her realize just what was up with her guitar. She then made a frown as she set her guitar down.
"Haha, very funny, Discord." She said outloud, causing the spirit himself to appear in front of her with an amused look on his face.
"With a guitar like that, you'd steal the show." He informed her as Sunset didn't look too impressed while Discord stretched his neck back.
"Oh, lighten up. It's just some harmless fun." He said but Sunset still didn't seem happy and just went to pick up her guitar.
Discord was silent for a while as he noticed Sunset go back to tuning her guitar, which made regular sounds this time. Suddenly, his eyes lit up.
"Can I ask you something?" Discord said as he turned into a question mark for Sunset to see.
"What is it?" She replied.
"If you're from Equestria, what are you doing in this dandy land?" Discord asked. "Why isn't a pony in their homeland? It's like a fish out of water."
To prove his point, Discord generated a fish, which began to flap around rapidly before he caught its tail and put it in a fishbowl, which he then put on the ground.
"Well, in Equestria, I used to be a student of Princess Celestia. I was a promising student, one of her best. That is...until she refused to make me a princess. I didn't like that, so I ran to this world in anger."Sunset explained with a signs of remorse in her tone.
"Uh, with a mentor like her, I can't blame you. She's sooo boring." Discord said as he made a bust of Celestia appear which he yawned at. He noticed Sunset giving him a slight glare and he made it disappear.
"Oh, pardon me. Please continue. Your story interests me." Discord said.
"Anyway, when I came here. I wasn't the nicest. I used to be a pretty bad bully. Then, I tried to steal the element of magic from Princess Twilight, which turned me into a she-demon as I brainwashed the entire school. Luckily, Twilight and the girls here were able to show me something better...friendship. Ever since then, I've been trying my best to make up for my mistakes here." Sunset finished as Discord listened on.
"Huh, would you look that. You were once evil too and had to be taught that Friendship is Magic...just like me." Discord stated, catching Sunset's interest.
"I guess we're not so different." He added as he flipped a coin in the air, which had Sunset on one side and Discord on the other.
Sunset thought about what Discord said. This whole time, she had been somewhat wary of Discord due to his past....but his situation was just like hers. A reformed being looking for a second chance. Perhaps she was being unfair. To be frank, she wasn't really in any position to not give anyone else the benefit of the doubt after all.
"Discord." She said, making eye contact with him.
"I hope you have a great time here." Sunset told him as she gave him a smile before she went back to her guitar tuning. Discord was a little surprised at her less hostile demeanour.
"(What a change in attitude. Well, I do have that effect on people)." Discord though as he turned to the screen while flashing a twinkling smile.
The door to the barn then opened up, revealing the rest of the Rainbooms as they trickled in with their instruments, which were a guitar, a bass, a drum set, keytar and a small handheld tambourine while Twilight was holding a microphone. Fluttershy was also holding several small sheets of paper.
"Ok, then. We're all good to go." Twilight said as each of the Rainbooms got into position and Fluttershy handed each of them the papers she had in her hand.
"This is the new song I wrote. I hope it's good enough." She said in a soft tone.
Discord then suddenly appeared in front of Fluttershy, making her squeal slightly.
"You write songs? That is just precious. You're already so much like my Fluttershy." Discord said as he grabbed her in for a hug, while Fluttershy's reaction showed she didn't know how to react as her eyes widened. Discord then vanished before he appeared on a coach while wearing a large pink hand that read 'Fluttershy #1'
"And I'm sure the song will be amazing." He encouraged.
"Duh. We're playing it! Prepare to be amazed!" Rainbow Dash declared.
"One, Two, Three!" Pinkie said as she hit her drumsticks together.
Before the girls could start playing, Sunset suddenly noticed that instead of a guitar, she had a pair of red maracas in her hand, much to her confusion as she stared at them.
"Wha?" She said.
"Where the hay is ma bass?!" She heard AppleJack cry out loud as she turned around to see that she had an astonished look on her face as she was now holding a pair of cymbals.
It wasn't just her. Twilight had a clarinet in her hand, Fluttershy was now holding a banjo, Pinkie had a giant tuba, Rarity was with a xylophone and in front of Rainbow Dash was a grand piano. The girls looked around, trying to figure out what was going on.
"Where did all these instruments come from?! Where is my guitar?! How am I supposed to shred with a piano?!" An annoyed Rainbow Dash exclaimed.
Pinkie eyed her Tuba and began to blow it. As she did, a series of bubbles emerged from it, much to her delight as she giggled. She then began to blow it more, making even more bubbles emerge. As the Rainbooms looked at the bubble filled room, they then saw Discord coiled inside one with a mischevious grin.
"Figures." Sunset said in a tired tone as lowered her eyelids.
"What are you doing?" Twilight asked him.
"Well, I just figured that your band could use more....how should I say...chaos." Discord explained in a distorted voice from his bubble. "Random instruments had a nice feel to it. Now for the finishing touch."
Discord then snapped his fingers as the Rainbooms outfits changed. Sunset was now dressed in a traditional Mexican poncho along with a sombrero, Fluttershy wore country clothes, AppleJack was now dressed in a monkey suit, Rainbow Dash was dressed in a formal suit similar to that of a composer, Pinkie looked like she was in a marching band while Twilight was dressed in a black suit while wearing a top hat. Lastly, Rarity was wearing the outfit of a medieval poet, much to her horror as she gasped out loud while her friends were quite stupefied by what they saw.
"Why am I a monkey?!" AppleJack yelled.
"There. All good now if I do say so myself." Discord said, proud of his works.
He then noticed the looks on the Rainbooms face as all of them, save Fluttershy were giving him annoyed glances. He then folded his arms.
"You don't like it?" He questioned.
"While I do appreciate the presence of a refined instrument such as that glorious grand piano, I cannot forgive dressing me in.....this!" Rarity said with distaste.
"And the fact that none of us know how to play any of the instruments you gave!" AppleJack added as she walked past Rarity.
"But I spiced up your act." Discord defended as his body suddenly turned bright red before turning back to normal.
"Yeah, well, we don't need that right now. What we need now is to practice." Sunset said in a somewhat firm manner.
"The bubbles can stay though!" Pinkie called from the back.
Discord looked around to see the rest of the displeased Rainbooms before his eyes finally landed on Fluttershy.
"Ummm...Mr.Discord....if you don't mind....can you please make everything normal...please?" Fluttershy asked.
Discord then let out a small sigh as he snapped his fingers, returning everything back to normal, even getting rid of the bubble playing tuba as Pinkie frowned a little.
"My apologies ladies. Please, carry on. " Discord said as he returned to his couch and crossed his legs.
"Ok. After that little setback, let's start." Twilight said as she adjusted her mike.
"One, Two, Three!" Pinkie yelled
As Rainbow Dash started to strum her guitar, she suddenly heard the sound of faint singing, giving her a puzzled look as she stopped. The singing grew louder and sounded like a chorus saying 'Lalalalalala'. Rainbow then grew a slightly irritated look on her face.
"Twilight, it's not your turn to sing yet. Also, what kind of sing-" Rainbow started to say before she was cut off by what she and the others saw.
The entire garage was filled with people-sized musical notes jumping around randomly like jumping beans. They were the source of the chorus singing from earlier as the Rainbooms looked on in disbelief.
"Where did these come from?!" Rarity shouted in a quizzical tone.
"Lalalalalalalalalaa!!" The notes sang, which was starting to grow louder and louder. The Rainbooms then began to cover their ears due to the excessive noise.
"Someone make it stop! We won't be able to hear ourselves play over this ruckus!" AppleJack yelled over the notes.
"Whaaaat?!" Pinkie called back.
The notes started to move rapidly as the Rainbooms protected their ears. Sunset grew a slightly angry look on her face as she closed her eyes in annoyance.
"Discord!" She yelled loudly, which could only be slightly heard.
Sunset looked around but Discord was absent from the room. As she looked down, she noticed on her musical sheet, Discord was hanging on to the notes. He noticed Sunset's look.
"Oh, Sunset. What do you think of my addition to your act?" He yelled out to her.
"Knock it off!" She screamed as Discord stretched his ear in order to hear better.
"What? Speak up, I can't hear." Discord answered. He then put his hand to his chin before his eyes lit up.
"I know." Discord said while he snapped his fingers, making a small white barrier that covered him and the rest of the Rainbooms. Outside of it, the musical notes were still going crazy but they could not be heard.
"That's better." Discord said as he floated. The Rainbooms except for Fluttershy were now shooting him looks again.
"What the heck is this?!" Rainbow Dash demanded.
"Ok, so my first idea didn't work, but then I figured, maybe you could use some backup singers. Brilliant idea, wouldn't you say?" Discord elaborated as he shone with a light.
"No! We can't hear ourselves play! How is that supposed to help?!" Rarity snapped as Discord's light faded as he pondered about what she said.
"Well, when you put it that way..." He replied.
"Uh...can you please get rid of the singing notes so we can practice?" Fluttershy requested.
Hearing Fluttershy ask him once more made Discord snap his fingers. As he did, the barrier and the musical notes were gone, much to the Rainbooms relief.
"Great. Now we can get started. That is...if there aren't any more interruptions." Sunset said as she turned to Discord alongside the others, save for Fluttershy, who then noticed as he made an innocent face.
"Who, me? Oh, this time, you won't even know I'm here." Discord promised as he zipped his mouth shut.
The Rainbooms exchanged looks, not sure if Discord was telling the truth. They looked back to the smiling Discord before Twilight sighed.
"Let's just start." She said as she adjusted her microphone.
"One, Two, Three." Pinkie said in a somewhat fed up tone.
Just then, the Rainbooms started to hear rumbling. They paused and turned to each other as the rumbling noise got louder. It seemed to be coming from the ground as the girls looked down. They had slightly worried looks on their faces.
"Ok, does anyone else have any idea what th-" Twilight started to say before a series of small fireworks exploded from the ground, creating sparks, leaving the Rainbooms perplexed.
Afterward, the barn then began to form a thick cloud of smoke as it began to rain sparkling confetti. Pinkie's eyes landed on it and she smiled.
"Oooooooh, pretty!" She said
A stream of flames burst from the ground alongside the fireworks and the other effects as the Rainbooms just looked on. After another series of fireworks were shot, it exploded to reveal Discord as he presented himself to the Rainbooms.
"Ladies, I just had the most wonderful idea! Every band needs to have a perfect opening and what better way than the most theatrical one of them all! Discord said as he pumped his fist into the air as more streams of flames emerged. As they did, these streams went higher than the others and reached the top of the barn, burning a mini-hole through it, much to AppleJack's terror.
"Ma barn!!" She shrieked while Discord didn't notice.
Meanwhile, Sunset's anger started to rise. Before, she had decided to give Discord a chance, seeing as they both had similar past. But ever since then, he had done nothing but just interrupt their band practice with his outlandish tricks. Enough was enough.
"DISCORD!!" Sunset suddenly yelled very loudly, much to the surprise of the others, including Discord, who turned to see a very upset Sunset wearing a heavy scowl on her face. When he saw the look on her face, Discord undid all the effects as he now faced the rest of the Rainbooms. Sunset began to breathe deeply in order to calm herself down before she faced Discord with a stern expression.
"Discord. Enough of these tricks." Sunset said in a serious manner, as Discord seemed a little taken back.
"Look, we invited you here to come watch us play and I know you want us to do 'fun activities' but this getting ridiculous. We really have to practice and we can't do it with all these distractions." Sunset went on as Discord listened.
"But I was only trying to add some more 'pizzaz' to your performance." He said as he spread his hands apart, making small sparks appear.
"Yeah, well, it's not helping. It's getting annoying really." Rainbow Dash brought up as she folded her arms.
"I concur." Rarity agreed.
"I like fun and all as much as the next person...but even I know when to stop." Pinkie joined in.
Discord certainly wasn't expecting this reaction. He now wore an unsure expression on his face.
"It's a bit much." Twilight said.
"Darn tootin'!" AppleJack exclaimed.
Discord then examined the rest of the Rainbooms as his eyes landed on Fluttershy, who was looking slightly annoyed, very different from her usual timid look. This surprised Discord the most.
"Fluttershy?" He said in a small voice.
"We really do need to practice. And if you keep interrupting us while we do....then maybe....now's not the best time for you to be with us." Fluttershy told him.
Discord was at a loss for word. Fluttershy of all people was telling him that he should go. Coming from her, it especially hurt. Discord felt a subtle but very emotional pain coming from his chest as he clutched tightly. He then slumped his shoulders and formed a glum expression.
"I-I see. Oh well, I'm sorry that I bothered you. If you think I should leave, then so be it. I'll be on my way." Discord said as he turned his back on the Rainbooms and began to float slowly away from them. He then turned back to see them all with stern expressions, save Twilight and Fluttershy before he faced front. Discord generated a door for him to leave but as he reached for the knob, AppleJack stopped him.
"Ahem. Ma barn." She said as Discord turned back to see the hole at the top.
"Oh, that." He said in a bored tone as he snapped his fingers, fixing it before he exited the barn, leaving the Rainbooms.
Outside, Discord floated through Canterlot, still feeling sorry for himself over what happened.
"I can't believe it. The Rainbooms and Fluttershy kicked me out! How could this happen? They're supposed to like me." Discord said as a series of question marks began to fall from his body. He was in the air for a while before suddenly, his sad look vanished as his face lit up.
"I know just the thing to take my mind off it! And by the time I'm done, I'm sure Fluttershy and the others will look back and realize it was all just harmless fun. But for now..." Discord said as he took out a small red die in his hand. It had pictures of Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Manic, Shadow and Silver on it.
Discord then closed his hands on the die and shook them for a while before he released it
"Now then, who's going to be my first playmate?" He said with mischief.