//------------------------------// // Setting Up The Stage // Story: Sonic and EQG: The Main Attraction // by SonicAKG //------------------------------// Setting Up The Stage It was a typical day in the city of Canterlot. At Canterlot High in the band room, most of the Rainbooms along with Starlight Glimmer, Princess Twilight's pupil from Equestria, and Spike were all relaxing as they sat around the room near the instruments while Starlight was reading a book. With them were Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Manic and Silver as they took it easy as well with Sonic taking a small nap while the others were scattered around the room. So far, everything seemed quiet and uneventful. Suddenly, the door burst open, catching everyone's attention and waking Sonic up from his nap as he and the others turned to see what had caused it. Standing by the entrance to the Bandroom was Rarity. She appeared to be out of breath as she was panting heavily and gasping for air. "Wow, Rarity, what's the emergency?" Sunset asked with concern. Rarity took a few more deep breaths before she regained her composure and was able to speak properly as she stood up straight. "Because I just discovered the greatest thing!" She announced happily as she formed a wild grin on her face. "Define, 'greatest'." Silver skeptically said with air quotes. " Most of the time whenever you say things like this, it's usually about some fashiony stuff we've never heard of." "Oh, no, no, no, darling." Rarity replied. "This time, I'm quite sure you've all heard of the person I'm going to talk about." "Oooooh, can I guess? Can I, can I, can I, can I, can I, can I..." Pinkie went on in an excited manner as she jumped up and down before Rainbow Dash covered her mouth, so Rarity could speak. "I hope it's worth waking me up from my nap from." Sonic stated in a tired tone as he rose up and did a few stretches. "Trust me, you won't want to miss this news! I have two wonderful things to tell you all!" Rarity eagerly said. "First of all, Today, I just heard that Mina and the Forget me Knots are going to be holding a special concert right here in our own city!!!! How amazing is that?!" "You mean the famous pop band that's usually on a world tour? They're coming to our city? That's pretty cool." Rainbow Dash commented. "I know, it's wonderful!" Rarity gushed. Hearing the name Mina caused Sonic, Knuckles, Tails and Manic's ears to perk up as the 4 of them each rose up from where they were sitting. "Mina's coming here? Neat, it's been a while since I've seen her." Manic stated, causing the Rainbooms, Starlight, and Silver to turn towards him and the rest of the group with curious looks. "That's funny. You make it sound like you personally know her." Pinkie noticed. "That's because we do." Sonic casually said, which earned him looks of surprise while Rarity's jaw dropped open. "And just how do you know her exactly?" Twilight inquired. "That's easy. We knew her while we were kids back in Knothole where we grew up. Sonic and I hung around with her a few times and watched her always sing. When we started the whole hero stuff, we even saved her a couple times. In fact, I even used to play for her old band." Manic explained as he met with looks of awe now from the Rainbooms. "Knuckles and I don't know her as well as these two, but we've seen her in person a few times when we've helped out with the whole rescue thing." Tails said as Knuckles nodded to confirm it was true. "I worked as her bodyguard once or twice." Knuckles added. Before anyone else could say anything, Rarity suddenly dashed towards Manic and gripped his shoulders so tightly he could feel her fingernails digging into his skin. Her face was up close to his and he started to feel uncomfortable. "You mean you personally know a famous singer and you've never bothered to tell me???!!!" Rarity shrieked. "I didn't think there was a need to bring it up. You never asked." Manic nervously replied. "How was I supposed to ask if I didn't even know???!!!" Rarity yelled as her grip on Manic's shoulders grew tighter. "Ummm...Rarity...." Fluttershy shyly interrupted, causing both Manic and Rarity to turn to her. "Didn't you say you had two things to tell us?" Hearing this made Rarity's face light up as she let go of Manic, much to his relief. "Oh, that's right!" Rarity recalled before she got another smile on her face. "Well, remember when I said that Mina and her band we're doing a special concert? Get this. It's a duet with Countess Colutara! This time, the name of Countess Colutara caught AppleJack's attention as she took a step forward. "Countess Coloratura? We'll If I didn't know any better, I'd say that sounds like ma old friend, Coloratura" AppleJack brought up, now making her the center of attention as Rarity's jaw dropped once more. "That's funny. You make it sound like you personally know Countess Coloratura." Pinkie said "I might. Back when I was younger, I went to camp and became close friends with another girl called Coloratura. I thought that name was pretty fancy for her, so I just called her Rara for short. Woo-wee! We had a great time there and she was always singin' and tellin' me her dream about making it big." AppleJack elaborated. Sonic took out his phone and quickly typed in the name Countess Colutara. He then displayed a picture of a girl with light-aquamarine gray skin and black hair with a moderate opal streak tied into a bun on the back while she had a frill in the front. She wore a light gray top with black sparkling pants alongside green sparkling shoes. Seeing this image made AppleJack beam. "We'll Ah'll be! That really is Rara!" AppleJack exclaimed happily. "It's good to see she's managed to get to her dream of becomin' big." "In that case, welcome to the 'I know a celebrity club'." Sonic told AJ as he gave her the thumbs up. Meanwhile, Rarity looked on in disbelief at what she had just heard. "Unbelievable. My friends know celebrities and they didn't even bother to tell me. I've never felt so betrayed." Rarity said as she did a dramatic fainting motion. "Again, you never brought it up." Manic reminded her, making Rarity turn away from him from. "Huh, back in Equestria, there's a Countess Coloratura there and she knows that AppleJack as well. Guess this world and back home have more in common than I thought." Starlight said. "Well, you're in for something different if you see her play with Mina. She's like one of a kind." Tails told her, making Starlight look up in thought. Her first concert in this world. She liked the sound of that. "This is pretty cool, actually. When they come by, you guys should totally say hi." Sunset suggested. "Rarity, do you know when they're going to be arriving?" "Well, if I recall. Mina's scheduled to appear on the Canterlot amphitheater later this afternoon. I've heard it's already being set up for their arrival." Rarity informed them. "Great. So when schools over, we can all dash by there and catch up." Sonic said as everyone else appeared to be in agreement. Later that day, the entire group had arrived at the Canterlot Amphitheatre, which as Rarity said, was being prepared for the arrival of the two pop stars by various crew members. It was now coloured black with red curtains draped in front of it while a yellow staircase was being built. A series of lights were being placed on the top alongside a few speakers on the side as the group looked on from the sidelines and waited for the stars to arrive. Silver and Starlight appeared to be most interested in the setup. "Wow, they do go out of their way to prep for their concerts. Guess I finally get to see how enjoyable they actually are. I've never been." Silver said as he looked at all the decorations. "Me too. Well, not a concert ever, but a concert in this world." Starlight said to him as the two of them looked on. She liked that she wasn't the only one new to things in this world. As the group continued to wait, Rarity was taking deep breathes in as she tried to keep her calm. "I can't believe I'm going to meet two famous pop stars in person!" She gushed. "Ok, Rarity, don't mess this up." "Ya will if ya keep stressin' yerself about this." AppleJack told her. "Ya got nothin' to be worried about, Rara's just a regular person like you and me. She's not some big demandin' diva." "Mina's the same. She's pretty down to earth. So need to freak yourself out on this. Take it easy." Manic further said as Rarity turned to the two of them. "Oooh, well, you can never be too careful with stars." Rarity answered. "Manic, Pinkie over here!" Manic and Pinkie Pie suddenly heard a loud familiar cheerful voice say to him. Manic and the rest of the group turned around to see that the voice belonged to Sonata Dusk, one of the three Dazzlings as she eagerly waved over with a smile on her face. Next to her were her two companions, Aria Blaze and Adagio Dazzle. The former seemed indifferent while the latter really looked like she'd be anywhere else. "Sonata!" Pinkie responded with joy as she and Manic walked over with the others to meet up with the Dazzlings. As they did, Sonata and Pinkie exchanged hugs while the former turned to Manic with a large smile. "It's kinda been a while. How've you been?"Manic questioned. "Oh, The girls and I have been pretty great!" Sonata said as she turned to her two 'friends' who just seemed disinterested. "Not up to your old taking over the world tricks, are you?" Rainbow Dash joked. "Cuz you know what'll happen if you do." "As if. Besides, I doubt you'd be able to do anything about it, Rainbow Freak." Aria shot to Rainbow Dash, causing the two girls to stare each other down. Before anything could happen, Sonic dashed in front of them. "Hey, hey, no need for arguing. We're all friends now, remember?" Sonic said as he looked between the two groups. His eyes then landed on Adagio, who gave Sonic an unfriendly glare, causing him to look away in a slightly confused manner. "Anyway, what brings you guys here?" Sunset asked. "Well, we heard that were was going to be some kind of concert around here and it sounded like a suuuper cool and thought like it would be a fun idea to check it out!" Sonata explained. "Actually, Aria and I only came here to make sure Sonata doesn't get lost trying to find her way home." Adagio quickly told the others. "Come on, Adagio, don't be so grumpy. I know you wanted to check it out, too, seeing as we used to sing!" Sonata stated, causing Adagio to form an incredibly sour look. "Don't remind me." She muttered silently under her breath. Starlight then walked forward so she could properly introduce herself to the Dazzlings. "Hi, my name's Starlight." She started off. "I'm from....out of town." "Ah, it's ok. You can tell them that you're from Equestria too. They are too. They used to be evil sirens who tried to over take the school but they're nice now!" Pinkie quickly said, as Starlight's eyes widened slightly before she looked back at the Dazzlings. "Yep, for realzies!" Sonata confirmed. "But about the nice stuff especially." This caused Adagio to roll her eyes while Aria just didn't seem to care. "Well, that explains Rainbow's comment on taking over the world. And also...I guess I kinda tried to do what you did, so we have that in common too." Starlight said with a smile, which Sonata returned. "Whatever." Aria said. She then took another look at the group and she raised an eyebrow. "Hey, uh...isn't Shadow with you guys?" Aria suddenly asked in a slow tone. "Nah. You know Shadow. He definitely wouldn't come around with us to a place here." Knuckles informed her as he crossed his arms. "Oh..." Aria said in a tone that sounded slightly disappointed as she just looked down at the ground, which Fluttershy noticed. "Um...is there a problem?" She asked Aria, which suddenly made her change her expression. "No! Why would there be?!" She snapped, making Fluttershy shrink back slightly, as Sonata giggled, which made Aria pout slightly. "So, are you guys like super pumped for the concert?!" Sonata then asked. "Of course. It turns out that the performers are personal friends that some of us know. How cool is that?" Sonic answered. "Yes, but it would have been 'cooler' if you had mentioned it before." Rarity snarked as Manic sighed. "What part of , 'you never asked' do you not understand?" Manic dryly said. "Anyway, we were planning on catching up. How about we introduce you guys as well?" Sonic continued. "That sounds awesome!" Sonata squealed with delight. "Meh, whatever." Aria said in a bored tone. "I already made it clear I'm not that into this whole 'concert' stuff. I'll pass." Adagio responded, much to most of the group's confusion. "Hey, don't be like that. It's a chance to meet famous pop-stars." Sonic went on in an attempt to change her mind. Adagio shot Sonic a hostile look in response. "Save it, Blue." She said, which put him off a little as Sonic backed up slightly. Before the conversation could continue, the loud sound of bus approaching was then heard by everyone, causing them to turn towards its direction. There they saw a gray tour-bus that was decorated with a series of multicolored stars was approaching. On the side was written 'Forget Me Knots' in capital letters which were colored yellow and purple. As the entire group looked on to see the bus, Rarity became all giddy that it was putting Pinkie Pie to shame. "Oh my....it's her, it's her, it's her, it's her, it's her.." She went on as she went full on fangirl by moving up and down in place so rapidly before Silver used his powers to halt her movements suddenly, which calmed her down. She then noticed all the strange looks she was getting and formed an embarrassed look before she turned to Silver. "*Ahem*, thank you." Rarity sheepily said. The bus then came to a complete stop in front of the stage. After it did, the door immediately opened, revealing a teenage girl with long purple hair that was held back by a green headband and green eyes. She wore a purple and black top along with a skirt of the same color alongside green boots with purple stripes in the middle. Her arms were covered in black wristbands with purple jewels on them. She then looked out towards the area to get a better view. "It's about time! So this is the city of Canter-" She went on before her eyes landed on the entire group waiting near the edge of the stage. When she noticed Sonic and Manic, her face broke out into a huge smile as she gained a twinkle in her eye. "Ohmigosh!!!!!!!! Sonic, Manic!" Mina cried out as she eagerly rushed down the steps of her bus towards where the two of them were. She then jumped towards Manic with a giant hug, almost knocking him back as everyone else seemed slightly surprised at her reaction. "*Ooof* Nice to see you too, Mina." Manic grunted as Mina let him go to get a better look with a smile. She then turned to Sonic and gave him a hug as well. "Oh my gosh, it's been sooo long!" Mina exclaimed as she finished her hug with Sonic, which let her see Knuckles and Tails, causing her to see wave to the two of them. "Long time, no see, Mina." Tails said as he waved back and Knuckles did a small smile. "When I heard Canterlot was going to be the next place I was performing, I just had to see you guys!" Mina explained to the four of them. "Likewise." Sonic told her before his eyes darted back to an excited Rarity and the rest of the Rainbooms. "Though some of our friends might be more eager to see you than we are." Mina looked back to see the Rainbooms and she did a small grin. "Oh, are these the new friends you've guys made here?" She asked. "We are." Sunset confirmed as she and her band got closer to Mina. "My name is Sunset Shimmer." Sunset introduced. "That's Twilight Sparkle, Rainbow Dash, AppleJack, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, and Rarity." She added as she pointed to the rest of her friends, who were giving Mina welcoming looks. "Oh, hi! Nice to meet you all." Mina greeted. "Same." Rainbow Dash replied. "FYI, we have a band of our own and not too brag or anything, but we're pretty awesome." "Really? I'd love to hear you guys play some time then." Mina said with a curious tone. "You got it!" Rainbow promised. Rarity slowly then began to approach Mina as she wore an awestruck face. She couldn't believe she was actually meeting her in person. "Mina..I'd just like to say, I am a huge fan! I am absolutely honored to meet you." Rarity said as she tried to keep her enthusiasm in check. "Oh, you don't have to be like that. Just treat me like you would anyone else." Mina told her as she shook Rarity's hand, making her slightly overwhelmed at her praise. Mina then looked around to see Silver and Starlight coming up with the Dazzlings not too far behind. "Hi, I'm Starlight. Starlight welcomed. "Silver." Silver presented. "I'd just like to say, we're looking forward to your concert. The two of us haven't really seen one here." Starlight added. "Really, then lucky for you, you guys are in for a real treat." Mina said. "Though I gotta ask, you two have really never seen a concert? Did you like live in some dystopia or barren wasteland?" At Mina's joke, Silver coughed uneasily as he looked around the area. Her joke was much more accurate than she realized. "Wow, I can't believe I'm face to face with a real celebrity!" Mina heard Sonata gush, making her look to now see her and the other two Dazzlings. "Hi! My names Sonata! She's Adagio and that's Aria!" Sonata happily said to Mina as she eagerly took hold of her hand. Aria had a neutral expression while Adagio just seemed like she really didn't want to be there. "The three of us used to sing too!" Sonata said. "But we don't do that anymore." "Oh, how come?" Mina wondered. Before Sonata could blab and make things awkward, Aria quickly answered for her. "It's....complicated," Aria said. "Oh, that's too bad." Mina said. "Singing is really awesome, y'know?" "Tell me about it. Being on the stage and having the whole crowd look at you rocks." Sonata agreed. The mention of this caused Adagio's face to darken even further but she didn't say anything as she just crossed her arms, though tightly. She just turned away, which Sonic couldn't help but notice in the back. "Mina, we have to follow the schedule." A male's voice said, causing everyone to turn around. There they saw that it belonged to a teenager wearing a white vest over a black shirt with a yellow frowning 'smiley face' on it alongside baggy blue jeans. He had somewhat messy jet-black hair and was wearing red-tinted round glasses. As he got closer, Sonic and Manic's expressions changed to less-enthusiastic ones. "Oh, great," Manic said softly under his breath. "No, biggie, Ash!" Mina said as the teen got close and was eventually in front of the entire group. "Everyone, this is Ash, my boyfriend." Mina introduced. "And her manager." Ash added, which made the others a slightly taken back due how young he was. "Wow, you're her manager at this age? That's impressive. You must have excellent coordination and organization skills. Glad to see I'm not the only one who puts so much priority on that." Twilight said in an impressed tone. "I just get the job done and no not when to waste time. Like being here right now." He said in a clearly disinterested manner, which caused Twilight and most of the group to form looks of uncertainty due to his attitude. "Ash, be nice." Mina reprimanded in a small tone. "These are my friends. You remember Sonic and Manic right?" Ash turned to the two of them and his face looked like he was almost making a glare. Sonic and Manic's reactions made it clear they weren't happy to see him and it was likewise with Ash. There was a long awkward silence as everyone just stared on. "Is it just me or did things get tenser?" Spike whispered to Twilight, who nodded in agreement. "You know, you two can wait in line and meet Mina like everyone else." Ash finally said. "What's the deal? Like Mina said, we're friends." Sonic answered in a calm tone. "Also, nice to see you haven't changed at all, Ash." Manic said with an icy tone. This comment caused Ash to glare at Manic. Before he could respond, Mina put her arm on him. "Ash, what were you saying about that schedule?" She quickly questioned. "Oh, right. Well, the rest of the band is waiting at the hotel and you've got to be there to discuss you're part of the duet." Ash told her, which made Mina realize how serious it was. "Oh, you're right. I should go ASAP." Mina agreed as she and Ash started to head back to the bus. As they did, Mina quickly turned back to the others. "Sonic, Manic, later, you sooo have to show me around! We'll keep in contact!" Mina requested. "It was nice to meet everyone, bye!" "No problem, see you later, !" Sonic called back as everyone else, save for Aria and Adagio waved back as Mina entered her bus. The engine soon started and the bus headed off. "Well, she was soooo nice!" Sonata happily noticed. "Yeah, wish I could say the same on Ash." Manic said as he rolled his eyes with displeasure. "We could tell him and you aren't exactly fond of each other's company." Sunset noticed. "Let's just say Ash can be kind of a jerk." Knuckles explained as Sonic nodded in agreement. "If Knuckles and I agree on something, take our word for it." He said, backing up his statement. "Ah well, it still must have been nice for y'all to catch up." AppleJack said before she took a look out towards the streets of the city. "Though I wonder if I'll see Rara today." "Oh, you will. She's coming right now. That limo has her symbol." Pinkie said as she pointed ahead, causing the other heads to turn to see what exactly Pinkie was pointing. The group looked to see a long black limousine which had on its front and sides, a golden star with different colored musical notes emerging from it before it stopped in place. From it, Countess Coloratura came out, shortly followed by white-skinned with frizzy pink hair and glasses in a blue suit and red tie. He appeared to be on a call with someone as he wore an earpiece and was looking around. Countess Coloratura peered out to see the stage in front of her. "Rara!" She then heard. The sound of her childhood nickname caught her attention and she turned around to see where it was coming from. There she saw AppleJack coming up towards her with a smile. She squinted a bit as she looked on before her expression softened. "AJ?" She said as she started to recognize her childhood friend as AppleJack was now standing in front of her. "Oh, wow! It really is you!" AppleJack and Coloratura then exchanged in a hug just as the rest of the group started walking up, though Adagio seemed to be lagging behind. The two friends then ended their embrace. "AJ, it's been ages!" Coloratura said. "I've missed you so much!" "It's great to see you again, Rara!" AppleJack replied. "And Ah sure am glad to hear how big you've gotten." "Ahem." Rarity said, making AppleJack and Coloratura turn to see her thrilled expression with the others. AppleJack rolled her eyes but she kept a smile on her face. "Oh. I guess I should introduce y'all. These ar-" AppleJack started to say before she was suddenly interrupted. "Countess Coloratura! Just what do you think you're doing socializing with these commoners?!" The man in the suit said in a very flamboyant and demanding tone as all eyes were on him. "Oh, it's all right, Svengallop." Coloratura. "This is my old friend, AJ. We were just catching up." Svengallop took a look at AppleJack and he didn't seem too impressed. He then turned away from her in a snotty manner, much to AppleJack's dismay. "You can catch up later. Right now, we have to make it to the hotel and start working on your duet! I've heard your partner has already arrived. We need to leave now! Besides, the spa massages end around 8 and it's already 5!" Svengallop announced before he marched off in a haughty manner. Coloratura then turned to AppleJack with a slightly disappointed look. "I'm sorry, AJ, but my managers right. But we'll be sure to catch up later, I promise. See you soon." She said as she walked back to the limo. "You betcha." AppleJack agreed as she watched her old friend enter the limo. It then started up and drove off, leaving the entire group to look on. "Well, she seemed soooo nice." Sonata stated. "Is there a trend or something with jerky managers?" Manic quipped. "I concur. That manager was quite rude! I didn't even get a chance to introduce myself to Coloratura!" Rarity complained. "It's fine. You heard her, we'll catch up some other time." AppleJack said. "But this is going to be sooooo cool, seeing two stars sing on stage at the same time!" Sonata said out loud as she marveled at the thought. "Just thinking about it reminds me of when we used to sing. With all those adoring fans, being the center of the show..." As Sonata reminiscing about the past, Adagio couldn't avoid hearing what she was saying and as she did, she looked like she was almost about to burst. She clenched her fist tightly and tried her best to remain her composure, but this was as far as she could stand before she let out a loud sigh, which everyone else noticed. "Whew, I don't know about you, but I'm exhausted." Adagio said out loud. "Sonata, Aria, you two can stay here but I'll just head back to our place. I need some R and R." Adagio then as quickly as she could, tried to rush away from the group. "Wait." Sonic's voice said, causing her to grumble and grit her teeth but lucky for her, he didn't see it. "Would you like some company on the way back?" Sonic offered. Adagio forced a smile and turned around to answer him. "Oh, no, I'm fine, really. I'd prefer to be alone." Adagio said in a hurry before she took off before Sonic could try and insist. She rushed into the street as the others watched her disappear, especially Sonic. "Hmmm...is it just me or does she seem....kinda weird?" Pinkie suddenly said. Deep in the city, Adagio was walking through it alone for some time. She wore an incredibly stressed out and frustrated look as she got further into the heart of the city. This was due to everything she had heard from before about the concert. An event where one is one stage and adored by all. Which is, what Sonata had mentioned, she, Aria and herself used to do. And there was the problem. 'Used to.' Despite it being a while since they had lost their powers, Adagio still dearly missed when they had the ability to command others due to their bidding with their song. She recalled when she was the center and everyone followed her. What she loved the most about it was the power. She had the power to command everyone around her and it was amazing. However, that all changed when they had been defeated and stripped of their powers by the Rainbooms. Despite Sonata's attempts to have her play nice, a part of Adagio couldn't help but still resent them for making her lose her power. She so desperately wanted it back! She had tried to 'adjust' to this normal life like Sonata and Aria(maybe), but she just couldn't do it and today was the last straw. All this talk of a concert reminded her of the time she had that power and she couldn't just stand there and not desire it back. Adagio let out a disappointed sigh as she leaned into an alleyway. She slightly slouched down as she looked up in a nostalgic tone. "All my power..having everyone under my command...at this point, I'd do anything to have a way to get my magic back." Adagio expressed out loud as she clenched her fist tightly. "Well my dear, you might be in luck." Adagio suddenly heard a raspy voice say, startling her as she jumped up. "What?! Who's there?!" She demanded as she frantically looked around. "Show yourself!" Adagio then stepped back into the shadowed corner of the alley. "As you wish." The voice said as two red menacing eyes appeared behind Adagio from the shadows. She then heard a sinister chuckle, making her eyes widen as she turned around to see the shadows from behind on the wall, making her back up. The shadows then molded off the wall and on to the floor to make a dark puddle of some sort. From it, a figure then began to rise up. Emerging from the darkness was tall gruesome figure wearing a dark purple body suit with gray gloves and boots. One of his hands was shaped like a lobster and his long white and sharp beard dangled to the ground. A dark cape came from his back as Adagio noticed his bat ears and large rhino-like horn. The figure gave her a sinister grin, showing his sharp teeth as Adagio looked on. She was left speechless. "Ixis Naugus....at your service." Naugus introduced as he held up his clawed glove, which crackled with green electricity.