//------------------------------// // Party Crashers // Story: Rainbow Rocks: Another Story // by ArcanaMaverick7 //------------------------------// In Canterlot High School's gymnasium, there was a party set up for everyone to enjoy themselves before the Musical Showcase that was planned. However, the newly created tension and negativity spread by the Sirens made it more a gathering for bitter enemies to size up their opponents. Each group of students that originally got along with everyone else stayed with their own cliques and stared down at the others in silence. The Rainbooms and Fragment Hunter were the only two bands that seemed to get along with each other while they waited for the Dazzlings to arrive. Flash Sentry was fed up with the glares he got from a few other students that were taking part in the contest. "I'm gonna get some more punch," he said to his bandmates as he headed off to the refreshment table. However, he didn't see Twilight walking by with her own drink while she was listening to Azalea and Lapis talk. Bumping into each other, Flash nearly knocked Twilight over, but he caught her by the waist on instinct. Seeing who he bumped into, Flash voiced his surprise at the girl he caught. "Twilight?" "Eh, bumped, into, always, doing," Twilight awkwardly said as she blushed from being near Flash like she was. Azalea and Lapis only giggled at the way they acted with each other. "What are you doing here? You came back for the big competition, right," Flash asked as Twilight regained her balance and stood up right. "Something like that," Twilight, Azalea, and Lapis said together. "Huh. Not that there's gonna be any real competition. No one here wants this as bad as my band does," Flash declared. Immediately knowing that it was because of the Dazzlings, Lapis and Azalea rolled their eyes at his bravado. Soon, the two members of Fragment Hunter saw the Dazzlings enter the gym and look around. Rainbow Dash also saw as she tossed a chocolate chip at Twilight to get her attention and gestured to the Sirens. "Could you excuse me for just a minute," Twilight said to Flash and she and the Rainbooms started to regroup with each other. Azalea and Lapis joined up with Sunset Shimmer and the rest of Fragment Hunter to wait for Twilight's plan to start up. The Dazzlings all looked around the gym to see students continuing to argue with each other. "Oh no! Nobody's mingling," Adagio said in false concern. "It's like there's some kind of underlying tension that could bubble to the surface at any minute!" "It's the fruit punch, isn't it," Sonata asked as she looked at her cup. "I knew I used too much grape juice! Maybe if I mixed in some apple juice instead," the scatterbrained Siren ponder out loud as she held up a bottle she got from the drink table. "It's not the fruit punch! It's us," Adagio reminded. "But the punch is awful, too," Aria said to Sonata. "What do you know about good fruit punch," Sonata huffed as she pointed her cup in Aria's face. "More than you," Aria replied as she pushed it away. While Aria and Sonata got into a small argument about it, they pushed each other or just messed with the other girl's hair until Adagio spoke up again. "This is just the kickoff party, girls. Imagine what a tizzy they'll be in by the time the Battle of the Bands starts," Adagio stated as all three girls gave sinister grins. "There isn't going to be a Battle of the Bands," Twilight declared and surprised the Sirens. "We're here to make sure of that!" Seeing the Rainbooms standing against the Dazzlings, Sunset Shimmer and Fragment Hunter all smirked at them. Joining hands, Twilight and her friends stood against the Sirens with determined faces. "Alright, girls, let's do this! Friendship is magic," Twilight exclaimed. However, there was only and awkward silence as nothing happened. The Dazzlings, Fragment Hunter and Sunset Shimmer were all confused by what happened and the latter two were feeling embarrassed by the sheer awkwardness of situation. "What are you doing," Rua loudly whispered to Twilight as she appeared next to the princess. "Uh, weren't there rainbows and lasers and stuff last time," Rainbow Dash asked. "I don't understand. We're all together again. Why isn't this working," Twilight asked with a worried tone as people continued to stare at them. "You, uh... really need to go ahead and do that whole "magic of friendship" thing now," Spike whispered to Twilight as he saw everyone staring. "I'm trying, Spike. I thought the six of us standing together against the sirens would bring out the magic we needed to defeat them," Twilight said remembering what happened back at the Fall Formal. "Right," Rua said. "So, what the hell are you doing," she asked. "Maybe if we try a different way," Azalea said as she started walking towards Rua and the Rainbooms. Seeing a chance, Adagio spoke up about what Twilight declared before. "Talk about throwing down the gauntlet! This group is obviously serious about winning! A little cocky though, aren't they? Claiming there won't really be a battle. Seems they think they've already got this thing all locked up," she said for everyone to hear. After saying what she needed to, the students began to argue more about who would win the Battle of the Bands and more negative energy flowed from them in the form a green mist. Absorbing it, the Dazzlings saw that Fragment Hunter, the Rainbooms, and Sunset Shimmer were the only students in the room not arguing and Adagio smirked before Azalea spoke up. "You aren't going to win. Me and my friends are going to make sure you go down," she said. Adagio, Aria, and Sonata only laughed at what Azalea had to say. "Oh, please. What's a dairy cow like you going to do," Adagio dismissed as the other Sirens laughed. Suddenly, their laughter and the arguments were silenced when the Sirens felt the cold touch of steel against their necks. Seeing Rua next to them with her arm blades drawn, they saw the dangerous looks in all of Fragment Hunter's eyes. "Say that again," Slate said as he glared at the Sirens with his viridian eyes covered by the shadow of his hat. "We dare you, Hairball," Rua threatened as she kept her stance strong against Sonata and Aria. "One wrong word and you're history," Rebecca said coldly as she had the back of her wakizashi placed near Adagio's neck. Seeing how the ninja's wrist was positioned, Adagio noticed that she would immediately change it to a proper hold and the next move would be lethal. "You won't get away with insulting my friend," Celadon said as she prepared to fight. The Rainbooms and all the students were speechless at how fast Fragment Hunter appeared around the Dazzlings and had them at their mercy. However, Azalea just laughed to herself and everybody looked at the girl. "So, you made this personal? Okay," Azalea said and Fragment Hunter separated from the Sirens as the Cow Faunus turned to Vinyl Aurum. "How about something for a workout," Azalea asked as she started to remove her sweater and flannel shirt to reveal a white tank top underneath. For multiple reasons, everyone stared at Azalea while Vinyl searched through her weapon and found the perfect song to play as she hooked it up to the sound system of the gym.