Chapter 1
Entering the Contest
A few hours later, Rarity was walking along the street in Sunshine Plaza, Canterlot City’s entertainment district. Unlike most streets in the city, the portion of Celestia Avenue that went through the plaza had a surface consisting of 2x4 tiles that were of the color officially known as “brick red” and were arranged in such a way that resembled the side of a brick wall. This portion of the street was also largely intended for pedestrian traffic, so there were very few vehicles parked along the side of the road. As for the buildings along this street, there were cinemas, arcades, concert halls, and various shops that sold all kinds of things.
Rarity stopped walking and pulled out her phone to check the time. “Oh, rats,” she pouted as she put away her phone and resumed walking. “Three hours and still no ideas for a lucrative last-minute fundraiser. Usually, window-shopping inspires me.”
“Are you a musician?”
“Hmm?” mumbled Rarity as she glanced over to her left and saw that the question came from an advertisement that was playing on a television screen mounted on the front wall of an electronics shop.
“Do you and your friends love to dance?” continued the ad.
“Yes?” responded Rarity with uncertainty.
“Are you unique, cool, stylish?” continued the ad.
“Yes, yes, yes, and… obviously,” responded Rarity with a smile and much more confidence.
“Do you want to win a cash prize?” continued the ad.
“Yes!” exclaimed Rarity with sudden excitement.
“Then enter the Canterlot City’s Chance to Prance Competition!” continued the ad. “All you need is a music video of your own original song and dance, then you could be prancing your way to first prize! Sign up now at the booth near the Aunt Orange smoothie kiosk.”
Rarity turned forward to look further down the street and soon found the kiosk in question. She started running towards it, but suddenly stopped as she passed by the very next store on her left when something in the display window caught her eye. It was a spectacular red dress — in the shape of an armless torso atop a 2x2x2 slopped brick — covered in sequins that made it shimmer in the daylight. As she continued to stare at the dress, her smile widened and she was struck with a flash of inspiration. “Oh, we’re certain to win!” she declared before turning away and resuming her run towards the sign-up booth for the contest.
Once Rarity arrived at the booth, she grabbed one of the sign-up tickets, picked up one of the available pens, and began filling out the ticket. As she finished filling out the ticket, she was unaware of a certain group of girls arriving right behind her — four of the former Shadowbolt agents who used to be teammates with Twilight.
“Rarity!” greeted Sour Sweet pleasantly, catching Rarity’s attention as she and the others walked over to her. “What a nice surprise!” Her head then suddenly spun around to expose her sour face, who then grumbled under her breath, “Not.”
“Sour Sweet! Sunny Flare!” greeted Rarity with a smile. “Why, it’s been ages.”
“It’s been only a few months since the Shadowbolts were disbanded,” Sugarcoat pointed out.
“Is that all? Wow!” remarked Rarity with a giggle. “Anyway, how have you girls been?”
“Oh, things for us have never been better,” replied Sunny Flare with a pleasant smile. “After we traveled around for a few weeks, Princess Cadance was kind enough to let us stay with her in the Crystal Castle.”
“She’s been giving us tasks to help out in few places,” continued Lemon Zest. “She says that if we do good enough, she might even let us officially join the LEGO Team, just like you and your friends!”
“That is wonderful news, indeed!” agreed Rarity in excitement. “I’m sure my friends and I would look forward to the possibility of us working together again. Not to mention, I am quite pleased to see your new wardrobes are reflecting your individuality, rather than the conformity of your Shadowbolt days.”
Unlike back when they were Shadowbolt agents, the girls were no longer wearing the exact same outfits. Sour Sweet had pale green on her torso with some skin showing along the shoulders and neck, light blue around her feet, and had an orange skirt wrapped around her upper legs with a symbol — a purple heart within the outline of a blue heart and the outline of a light blue diamond in front of it all — printed on the left side. Sunny Flare had magenta on her torso and upper arms, purple on her lower legs, silver bands on her wrists, and had a dark blue skirt with a symbol — a purple sun with pink rays that was partially obscured by a cloud with raindrops — printed on the right side. Sugarcoat had beige on her torso and arms, dark blue on her legs, light grey around her feet, and printed on the front of her torso was a line of buttons and a symbol — a stick of dynamite with purple and yellow stripes — on the left chest area. Lemon Zest, in addition to those pink headphones she still wore, had dark grey on her torso and upper arms, dark purple on her lower legs, a pale yellow skirt wrapped around her upper legs, and printed on the front of her torso detailing of an open jacket over a bright green shirt with a symbol — a slice of lemon surrounded by three yellow fireworks bursts — in the middle.
“By the way, I can’t help but notice that one of you is missing,” added Rarity as her smile fell while she glanced back and forth between the four girls. “Where is Indigo Zap?”
The expressions on all four girls fell at that question. “Ah, yes, quite unfortunate what happened to her,” replied Sunny Flare as she rubbed the back of her head. “You see, during one of our recent excursions, she contracted a particularly nasty virus.”
“The doctors assured us that she would make a full recovery after the treatment they gave her,” explained Sugarcoat, “but they had to place her under extreme quarantine for the next few weeks.”
“Trust me, you do not wanna know what kind of awful symptoms she’s had to suffer through,” Lemon Zest firmly added. She then shuddered and muttered under her breath, “Some things can never be unseen…”
“Oh,” said Rarity with concern. “Well, in that case, I sincerely hope she recovers soon.”
“I’m sure she will,” assured Sour Sweet with her sweet face. “She’s recovering over at Canterlot Hospital under the care of some of the best doctors they have.” She then switched to her sour face and continued, “That’s kinda why we’re in town, in case you were wondering.”
“Yes, I suppose that’s makes sense,” acknowledged Rarity with a nod. “So what brings you to this part of the city? Are you interested in entering the Chance to Prance contest?”
“We definitely aren’t here because we like standing in lines,” Sugarcoat flatly stated.
“Are you signing up for the Chance to Prance contest, too?” asked Lemon Zest.
“I am!” replied Rarity with a giggle as she dropped her completed sign-up ticket into the entry box.
“I assume you already have a video concept figured out,” remarked Sour Sweet’s sweet face. “The competition is going to be pretty fierce.”
“Yes,” confirmed Rarity. “It came to me as soon as I saw that gorgeous red ruffled ensemble on the way over here.”
Sour Sweet glanced back at her companions and gave them a sly smile. After the three other girls quickly returned the expression, she turned back to Rarity and said, “Tell me more.”
Rarity proudly flicked her hair as she responded, “Well, each member of the Rainbooms — that’s the name of our band, by the way — is going to dance in a different style — like flamenco, hip-hop, or street ballet — and we’ll wear costumes to match each genre. Designed by yours truly, of course.” She couldn’t suppress a proud giggle at that last remark.
While the other girls stared at Rarity, Sugarcoat simply stated, “That sounds like a very good concept.”
Sour Sweet glanced over to the side for a moment, then turned her gaze back towards Rarity and remarked, “Yeah, I guess it’s okay.” Her head spun around to her sour face and added, “If you’re going for way too over-the-top.”
“Thanks!” said Rarity with a smile. “So, what’s your concept?”
“Nothing,” Sugarcoat immediately replied. “We don’t have one yet.”
Sour Sweet quickly responded by smacking the back of her hand against Sugarcoat’s face, who yelped in pain and caught her small red-framed glasses as they fell off.
“What she means is…” growled Sour Sweet’s sour face, then she switched to her sweet face and continued, “It’s a surprise! But it’s amazing. So original.”
“Oh, well, I can’t wait to see it,” remarked Rarity. She pulled out her phone and checked the time, then quickly put it away again as she said, “Oh my, look at the time! I’d better get going.” As she turned and began walking away, she called back, “Good luck!”
“You, too!” responded Sour Sweet, who couldn’t resist a sinister smile.
Once Sugarcoat had placed her glasses properly back on her face, she bitterly remarked, “Y’know, you don’t always have to resort to physical violence to shut me up.”
Sour Sweet switched to her sour face and grumbled, “Shut up, shutting up.”
Sunny Flare rolled her eyes and walked over to the booth as she muttered, “While you two are busy arguing, I’m going to fill out our sign-up ticket.”
By the time Rarity had arrived at her shop, she was pleased to see all of her friends were already there. Since many of them mentioned they had been waiting for some time, she wasted no time explaining her idea to them, and she had made it no secret how excited she was to make it a reality.
“See? It’s a wonderful plan,” finished Rarity. “We’ll write some lyrics for our new song and we’ll choreograph some dance moves, then our video will win the cash prize and voilà!”
“You make it sound as simple as pie,” said Applejack skeptically.
“That’s because it is!” remarked Rarity gleefully. “The former Shadowbolts we once teamed up with even agree. They’re making a video, too.”
“They are?” asked Twilight in sudden surprise.
Seeing the look of shock on Twilight’s face, Rarity asked with concern, “Is that a problem, darling?”
“Oh, no, it’s not,” assured Twilight somewhat uneasily. “Just haven’t heard much about them or any other former agents since the Shadowbolts were disbanded.”
“Not like we ever had much reason to keep track of them,” remarked Spike. “We were never as close to any of them as we are with you girls.”
Fluttershy helped to prove Spike’s point by giving him a hug, to which the young boy responded with a rather affectionate chuckle.
Rarity stared at the two with a slight smile, then spoke up to everyone, “Okay, before we get started with the choreographing of our dance moves and…” she mumbled random nonsense as she waved her hands around a little, then nervously continued, “there’s just one tiny, teeny-weensey, little thing I forgot to mention.”
Sunset raised an eyebrow and asked, “What’s that?”
“Uhhh…” mumbled Rarity nervously as she held her clenched fists close to her chest. She then closed her eyes and quickly responded, “I would need to use our fundraiser money to buy costume materials for the video!” She then opened one eye, anxious for how her friends would react.
Nobody in the room said anything for a moment as they considered Rarity’s request. “Hmm…” mumbled Sunset as she stared at the floor. She then turned her gaze back to Rarity and asked, “How much is the grand prize worth?”
“More than double what we need to completely pay off all of Camp Everfree’s debts!” answered Rarity with a smile.
Rainbow Dash immediately stepped forward and excitedly exclaimed, “Then of course you can use the money for costumes!”
Applejack sighed, then shrugged and smiled as she said, “Oh, what the hay? Why not?”
Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash both cheered in agreement as most of the girls in the room gathered around Rarity.
Twilight was carrying the box containing the money in question as she explained, “So far, we only have enough to afford the upcoming minimum payment, and if the cash prize really is as much as you say it is, then if we lend you this money and win the contest, we won’t have to worry about making any further payments for Camp Everfree.”
Everyone cheered excitedly.
“But if we lose the video contest,” Twilight continued more cautiously, “We’ll be right back at square one with no way to afford the upcoming payment next week. Anyone else think this is an awfully risky endeavor?” She glanced around the room and saw the worried looks on everyone’s faces. “Y-yeah, me neither!” she quickly added with a nervous chuckle. “You know what they say. No guts, no glory.”
“Twilight’s right,” agreed Sunset. “Barely affording minimum payments is what got Camp Everfree into this mess, and we all saw how that turned out for everyone involved. If we wanna avoid falling into the same trap, then we might as well take the risk and go big.”
“Then I suppose we are all in agreement,” said Rarity. “Who’s ready to shoot our winning dance music video?”
Everyone in the room cheered excitedly once more as Twilight handed the box over to Rarity.
Rarity giggled excitedly and remarked, “Looks like I have some fabric shopping to do!”
The next day, once Rarity had acquired all of the fabric she needed, she and her friends agreed that they would film their music video inside the abandoned warehouse near the edge of town, where Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie had occasionally trained themselves for any potential obstacles during LEGO Team missions. It was a relatively clear and open space, providing plenty of room for whatever scenes they would need to film.
Preparations for the music video were well and truly a team effort. Rarity had provided a few sketches of how she envisioned what the stage and backdrop would be like, so Twilight, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash gathered as many Lego bricks and parts as they could and assembled them in a way that closely resembled Rarity’s sketches. Sunset and Pinkie went across town to request some additional assistance. Photo Finish, a professional photographer, agreed to operate the video camera, and DJ Pon-3, who worked at the local radio broadcasting studio, agreed to assist with the music. Fluttershy had come up with an idea for the song they would use for the video, and although she was still working on the lyrics by the time everyone else had completed their respective tasks, the melody was largely complete, allowing them to record an instrumental version that they would practice their dance moves with. Finally, while everyone else completed their tasks, Rarity worked on the costumes that they would all wear for the video.
Sunset’s costume consisted of yellow on her lower torso and the lower half of her skirt, red on her upper torso and the upper half of her skirt, black on her shoulders and around her waist, gold on her lower arms and feet, and a magenta flower in her hair, which was tied back. Twilight’s costume consisted of yellow on her feet, upper arms, and torso with the exception of her left shoulder, a pink skirt around her upper legs, a magenta six-pointed star on the front of the waist, and glasses with pink tinted lenses. Fluttershy’s costume consisted of dark purple on the upper torso, light green on her lower legs, dark blue on her upper legs and lower torso, a dark grey skirt around her upper legs, and a green butterfly with pink wings in her hair. Rainbow Dash’s costume consisted of dark blue on her torso and arms, magenta on her legs and the cap worn backwards on her head, medium blue on her feet and the front of her torso under an open jacket, and a band of rainbow around her upper arms. Applejack’s costume consisted of black on her torso, white on her upper arms and the front of her torso under an open vest, a blue skirt around her upper legs, and medium brown on her lower legs and the western hat on her head. Pinkie Pie’s costume consisted of yellow on the front of her torso and the skirt around her upper legs, light purple on her shoulders and the back of her torso, light blue on her legs, magenta on her feet, bands of many different colors on her wrists, and her Creative Mark printed on the front of her skirt. Rarity’s costume consisted of light blue on her torso and the skirt around her upper legs, yellow on her feet, the front of her torso, and around her waist, pale yellow on the front of her skirt with purple stars, and gold on her wrists and the headband over her hair.
A makeshift changing room had been set up in one of the old supply closets of the warehouse, so everyone was able to the change into their costumes and be ready for their music video. Since they were doing only a rehearsal first, Rarity chose not to wear her costume so she wouldn’t have to worry about accidentally ruining it while she was busy guiding her friends through their choreography.
Once Rarity was sure everyone knew what they were supposed to do, she sat down in a chair facing the main stage — which largely consisted of a raised platform with a rainbow backdrop and faux classical pillars along the sides. To her left, Spike was once again sitting on a cooler while he read one of his comic books.
“Let’s take it from the top one more time,” Rarity called out to her friends gathered on the sides of the stage. “Rainbow Dash, don’t forget your cue. It’s when Fluttershy does her triple pirouette, okay?” She glanced over at Photo Finish to her right, who switched on the video camera and nodded to her, then glanced over at DJ Pon-3 in the makeshift DJ booth, who placed a record on the turntable and nodded to her.
With everything all set to go, Rarity raised her arm and called out, “And… action!”
As soon as the music started playing, Sunset started off by walking onto the stage. As she started tapping her feet around, Fluttershy leaped onto the stage and attempted to spin around, but she had ended up so close to Sunset that her outstretched leg hit Sunset in the back. Sunset stumbled forward, but managed to stay on her feet, so she awkwardly took a step back to make sure she was out of Fluttershy’s way.
Meanwhile, Fluttershy had frozen on the spot after accidentally kicking Sunset, but once she noticed that Sunset had put a little distance between them, she made another attempt at her pirouette. She was so careful to avoid another mistake that it took her a few seconds to spin just once, at which point Rainbow Dash swiftly slid onto the stage and began her part of the dance.
“Cut!” Rarity suddenly shouted furiously.
The music immediately stopped and the three girls turned to Rarity with confused expressions. “Hey! What happened to the music?” asked Rainbow Dash.
Despite her visible frustration, Rarity took a moment to calm herself down before she got up and walked over to the stage as she explained, “Fluttershy, it’s supposed to be a triple pirouette.”
“I know,” acknowledged Fluttershy quietly. “It’s just that… um… uh, I-I don’t think I can do one of those.”
“Darling, of course you can, darling,” assured Rarity as she adjusted Fluttershy’s hair and gave her a hug. “I believe in you.”
Spike set down his comic book and suggested, “How about you try ‘jazz claws’ instead?” He rotated his claw hands back and forth rapidly to demonstrate.
Sunset chuckled as she adjusted the flower in her hair and responded, “Thanks, Spike, but all these moves are pretty hard.”
“Oh, I know,” admitted Rarity. She then confidently added, “But if we want to win, we have to bring our A-game!”
“The former Shadowbolts certainly will,” noted Twilight. “They’ve been conditioned to achieve victory by any means. Not to mention, their athletic training will almost certainly make them excellent dancers.”
Applejack walked over to Rarity and suggested, “How ‘bout we forget the other teams an’ get back to dancin’?”
“Great idea, Applejack!” agreed Pinkie Pie. Everyone glanced over and saw she was apparently moonwalking in place while beatboxing. “It’s really fun!” She beatboxed a few more notes before she added, “I haven’t stopped this whole time!”
Rarity facepalmed, then walked off the stage as she said, “Let’s take it from Rainbow’s entrance.”
The girls onstage glanced at each other with uncertain looks, then moved back into their positions. Sunset and Fluttershy stood on the stage with a fair distance between them, while Rainbow Dash was ready to slide onto the stage.
Rarity sat back down in her chair and let out a heavy sigh. She glanced over at Photo Finish and DJ Pon-3 and, once they silently acknowledged they were ready again, she raised her arm and called out, “And… action!”
Rainbow Dash immediately slid onto the stage and started dancing in her specific style, while Fluttershy and Sunset continued dancing in their respective styles. However, they were so poorly coordinated that once again two of them got a little too close. This time, Sunset brought her leg up and failed to notice how close it got to Rainbow Dash, who was just as oblivious to their proximity, and Sunset’s foot ended up tearing a huge hole in Rainbow’s jacket.
Rarity immediately gasped in shock and jumped onto the stage. She closely inspected the damage to Rainbow’s outfit and gasped again. “This is a disaster!” she shouted in devastation.
“Whoops. Sorry, Rarity,” apologized Sunset as she slowly backed away.
Rarity continued staring at the damaged piece of clothing as she muttered, “Well, I can fix it, but I’ll have to run to the fabric store before it closes.” She swiftly removed the jacket — leaving Rainbow with medium blue on her entire torso and her arms bare — and then ran off as she exclaimed, “Keep practicing while I’m gone!”
As Rarity rushed out of the building, Applejack sighed and grumbled, “If this doesn’t pan out, we might as well try robbin’ a bank as the only sure-fire way to pay off those debts.”
“I’m sure it won’t come to that,” assured Sunset. “We just need to keep practicing like Rarity said.” She briefly hesitated before she added, “Though maybe we should all try to keep our distance from each other to avoid any more accidents.”
Everyone nodded and mumbled in agreement.
Over at Sunshine Plaza, it wasn’t long before Rarity rushed out of the fabric shop with a shopping bag in hand. “Oh, thank goodness I budgeted for backup fabric,” she remarked with a smile.
However, Rarity’s relief was short-lived when she heard some music not far up ahead. She looked towards a fountain in the middle of the street and saw the four former Shadowbolt girls she had encountered the previous day were dancing in front of the fountain with a video camera recording them.
The four girls were also wearing new costumes. Sour Sweet had pink on her lower torso, turquoise on her lower arms, sparkling light blue on the lower half of her skirt, and gold on her upper torso, feet, and the upper half of her skirt. Sunny Flare had magenta on her torso and sparkling light purple on her lower legs and the skirt around her upper legs. Sugarcoat had dark grey on her torso, white on her lower legs, bright red on her feet, sparkling pale red on her upper legs and the front of her torso under an open vest, and a violet skirt around her upper legs. Lemon Zest had magenta on her torso and shoulders, dark purple on her lower legs, sparkling purple on her upper legs, and a skirt that was yellow on the left half and pale violet on the right half.
Most astonishingly of all was that the four girls were dancing in distinctly different styles, much like the costumes they were wearing.
Rarity gasped and mumbled, “Is that a disco-inspired look? And a street ballet tutu?!” As she turned around and slowly walked away, she muttered in shock, “I don’t believe it… They stole my brilliant idea!”