It was 3:15 pm, and the Rainbooms had gathered in the school music room for their first official practice since their victory at the Battle of the Bands. It was a time of change and adjustment, but a happy time. Rainbow and Rarity were walking around the band setup, checking the new locations for their standard practice and concert setup. For major concerts, they would use a more dramatic, multi-tiered setup, but for everyday use and less formal concerts, Rainbow felt they should stick with a standard setup so everyone knew where she was, who she was supposed to be next to, and what “normal” sounded like. One of the biggest adjustments was that it was Vinyl Scratch setting up their sound equipment and making sure the monitors were in the right place – this had formerly been Sunset’s job, but Vinyl was quite simply on another level.
The biggest adjustment, however, was the addition of said Sunset to the group as a full member. She was standing self-consciously in her assigned place just to Rainbow’s stage left. She made tiny adjustments to the tune of her guitar, her lips compressed into a thin line. Rarity could tell she was nervous and tried to think of ways to help her calm down.
Rainbow considered the locations of each member a final time. She depended on Rarity’s input for presentation, but as for sound and who complemented who, she was the main authority. She finally decided things were as they should be. She, of course, was front and center as the lead singer and lead guitarist. She had put Sunset stage left so they could play off each other and keep timing differences to a minimum. Stage left of Sunset was Rarity. She and Sunset were so closely attuned emotionally that Rainbow figured they should be next to each other. To Rainbow’s stage right was Applejack, who, as the bass guitarist, also needed to be close to the other guitar players. Stage right of Applejack was Fluttershy, who hated to be anywhere near the center, and also benefited emotionally from Applejack’s unflappable, rock-solid calm. Rainbow smirked to herself. She knew that Fluttershy was actually very brave when push came to shove, but when a crisis (of any size) first presented, Fluttershy had a habit of hiding behind someone. Usually, she hid behind Applejack, who was the tallest and strongest of the girls. Occasionally she would hide behind Rarity, and, lately, she had started hiding behind Sunset sometimes as well. Directly behind Rainbow was Pinkie at her drum set, who was already grinning at her maniacally.
Rainbow decided she was satisfied, and she was particularly pleased that Rarity’s recommendations matched her own instincts. While the two friends sometimes clashed because of the massive difference in their manners, Rainbow had to admit she loved it when they agreed on something. Whatever they agreed on usually instantly became at least 20% cooler. Rainbow was also pleased that she and the other Rainbooms had agreed that Sunset should play guitar as well as sing. In fact, to everyone’s surprise, Sunset was almost as good on guitar as Rainbow was, and Rainbow was looking forward to the opportunities they would have to complement and play off each other. “Excellent…” she purred, rubbing her hands together with relish.
She wasn’t consciously aware of it, but Rainbow Dash was maturing. Admittedly, the Battle of the Bands had been a big part of this, but the process was continuing. As she allowed herself to personify loyalty more and more, Rainbow was moving from primarily valuing her own awesomeness to seeking to showcase the awesomeness of each of her friends and the band as a whole. The other Rainbooms were noticing this, but refrained from pointing it out. Rainbow Dash wasn’t particularly introspective. Any comments on the issue would have probably been received with a “Whatever. Moving on.”
Rainbow moved to her place. “Ok, guys, what should we start with? I’m thinking ‘Better Than Ever’. Because, with Sunset and Vinyl here now, we really ARE better than ever!” The other bandmembers laughed happily, but Sunset just smiled shyly and blushed. Vinyl lifted her sunglasses and winked at them.
“Sunset, you up on that one?” Rainbow asked her.
“Uh, yep. I’ve been working on all of them, actually. I kinda knew all the words already.”
“Well, you’ve been here for nearly every other practice before,” Rainbow pointed out.
“Well…and I used to…sing them a lot when I was by myself,” Sunset admitted a bit sheepishly. The other girls looked at her affectionately.
“Nothing wrong with that!” Rainbow said firmly. “Now, you ready, Vinyl?”
Vinyl Scratch smiled and gave a thumbs up.
Rainbow took her place behind her microphone and nodded to Pinkie. Pinkie started her own internal beat, then hit her drumsticks together. “1, 2, 3, 4!” And off they went.
Things were going very well – the addition of Sunset as rhythm guitarist took some of the rhythmic pulse load off Rainbow, and her voice filled the sound of the band out considerably, since it had a fuller, more womanly quality than anyone else’s except perhaps Applejack. They were just about to start into the second verse when Rarity suddenly stopped.
If there was one thing Rainbow was surprisingly good natured about, it was needing to stop in the middle of a song to correct a problem or take a suggestion. If she absolutely wanted to carry a song all the way through, she would say so before they started. So, she put out her hands to signal a stop, and looked over toward Rarity.
“What’s up, Rares…” she started to ask, then stopped as the problem became immediately apparent. Next to her, Sunset Shimmer was quietly crying.
Part of Rainbow’s growing maturity was that she was less unwilling to show empathy than she had been before. She instantly stepped over to Sunset, putting a hand on her shoulder. “Aw, Sunny, what’s the matter?” she asked gently. Rarity had her hand on Sunset’s other shoulder. She thought she understood.
“Happy tears, darling?” she asked, cocking her neck so she could look into Sunset’s eyes.
Sunset was in fact smiling broadly, even as she sniffled and wiped her tears away. She didn’t quite trust herself to speak yet, so she just nodded.
“Whew! Thank goodness for that!” Applejack said. “Ah was gettin’ worried.”
“GROUP HUG!” Pinkie shouted startlingly, vaulting over her drum set and practically tackling Sunset. Sunset laughed in spite of herself, and indeed there was a group hug. Even Vinyl joined in.
“Girls!” Sunset protested with mock irritation. “You’re making it worse!”
“Too bad!” said Fluttershy.
After a few moments they separated. “You gonna be ok?” Applejack asked Sunset.
“Yeah. Just…bear with me girls. It may take me a while to be totally tear free. This whole thing is…kind of a dream come true,” she mumbled with extra shyness, actually twisting her legs and arms together and looking down.
Rarity gave her arm another squeeze.
Rainbow’s face fell a bit as she realized something. “Dang. You wanted to be in the band the whole time, didn’t you?”
Sunset nodded quietly.
“Well, I am really sorry about that. I think we should have asked you,” Rainbow said unexpectedly. The other girls nodded.
“I’m almost afraid to ask, but…why…didn’t you?” Sunset asked a bit timidly.
“It wasn't a conscious thing, if that helps any. The first month, we figured you were still recovering, so we kinda thought you needed to take it easy,” said Rainbow.
“Well, you’re probably right about that,” confirmed Sunset ruefully.
“The second month, well, for one thing, we didn’t know you played an instrument or sang,” Fluttershy pointed out quietly.
“And, by that point, we were too distracted by the petty quibbling that just about did us in last week to even think about it,” Applejack said glumly.
“Oh,” said Sunset. “Well, I’m glad it’s not…that is, I was almost afraid that…”
“That we didn’t want you in the band because we were afraid no one would want to hear us play if you were?” Pinkie Pie finished for her.
The other girls, including Sunset, stared at Pinkie in amazement.
“What? It’s just a hunch,” said Pinkie defensively, shaking her head a little and spreading her hands.
Sunset was quiet, but then she admitted, “I…have to admit…that is kind of what I was afraid of.”
The other girls looked at her unhappily. “And you would have been right,” Sunset continued, trying to defend the idea to help her friends feel better. “I’m sure no one would have come to hear you play if I was in the band back then.”
“That wouldn’t have mattered to us, sugarcube,” said Applejack gently.
Sunset looked up at Applejack with relief and gratitude. She didn’t need to ask Applejack to repeat it. She knew Applejack didn’t lie. The other girls nodded in agreement.
Rainbow had to be honest too. “I can’t lie – it might have mattered to me a little bit at the beginning, but I’d have gotten over it. I promise, Sunset, we weren’t excluding you on purpose. Though I kind of feel almost as bad that we didn’t even think of it.” Rainbow kicked at the risers a little bit.
“Let’s not worry about it,” said Sunset, starting to cheer up a little. “It’s in the past. And you all can see how happy I am to be here now.”
“Why didn’t you say anything, Sunset?” Fluttershy asked.
“Um, well, I didn’t think it was my place. And, if you had said no…well I don’t know if I could have borne it,” she confessed.
“Why would we have said no?” Rainbow asked rhetorically. She stepped closer to Sunset. “Hey, Sunny – I promise you this. On my guitar.” Sunset’s eyes widened – Rainbow was being extra serious. “If you’d said, even in passing, ‘Hey Rainbow, I play a little guitar too,’ do you know what I would have said?”
“Uh, ‘Are you any good’?” Sunset asked playfully.
The others laughed. Even Rainbow chuckled at that one. “No, silly! I’d have said, ‘Holy cow, Sunset! You should be in the band!’”
Sunset laughed a little. She felt a lot better now.
But Rarity had a point she needed to get across. “You’ve got to tell us when you feel left out, Sunset,” she said a little bit sternly. “We don’t want you to feel that way. You can tell us anything. Don’t you know that by now?”
Sunset nodded with a smile.
“Good,” said Rarity, returning her smile warmly. “Rainbow?”
“Let’s hit it again, girls. Places!”