//------------------------------// // Chapter 13: Collecting The Talent And The Flaws // Story: A Shattered Rainbow Rock // by FourShadow //------------------------------// After the rest of school ended, Adagio, her sisters along with their friends made a plan to meet over at Octavia's house, to work on a plan for the Battle Of The Bands. So everyone was gathered in Octavia's garage, where the girls were sitting on some couches, stools, and other chairs that were in the garage. Adagio stood before them, addressing the issues and ideas at hand. "From what I understand, this entire battle is going to be set up into brackets like these." Adagio pointed to a chart she drew on a board, displaying a tournament board. "We're all going to be on our own board, and will most likely have to face off against the other students. Chances are they will have just as equal talent as we are. Which leads us to my question..." Adagio flipped the board around which showed an extremely detailed drawing of a Chinese dragon. Adagio's eyes flipped to that drawing for a short moment, but then she dashed her head back noticing the drawing. "Whoa, that is... an incredibly detailed dragon," Adagio stated. "Who drew that?" A light chuckle escaped Trixie's mouth, and she rubbed the back of her head. "That uh... that was me. I drew that dragon." Adagio smirked. "My my Trixie, I didn't know you were an artist." "Well, no one really asked. People think all I am is just nerd and geek stuff. No one really cared so... I've just been drawing in my off time." "I must say Trixie, that is a very beautiful dragon. And you did all of that on a white board?" Trixie nodded. "You should be proud." Adagio smiled, flipping the board at an equal angle so they could focus. "Okay, so back to business. What can you girls do?" Lyra twirled her flute around like she was twirling a knife in her hand. "I can play the flute!" "I can play some sweet melodies from my violin!" Vinyl smiled. "I know Vinyl purchased this Sunday," Octavia said, showing off her new bass guitar. "Excellent!" Adagio grinned. "Bon Bon, how about you?" "I'm excellent on drums!" "Perfect! Amethyst, what about you?" "Ehh... I don't know..." "Amethyst, come on, we need you if we're going to beat them!" Octavia pleaded. "Girls, that's the thing. I can't show my face back at that school ever again. I've already suffered being expelled and getting kicked out of my house, I don't need any more trauma as it is!" Amethyst said. "Amethyst. I understand completely if you don't want to go through your past troubles again. And if you don't want to be a part of this then--" "Whoa, whoa, whoa! I want every part of this as much as you do!" Amethyst jumped from the couch on her feet. "Those Rainbooms have made me suffer enough, and its about time that someone shows them what its like to be the failure this time!" "That's... sort of, the spirit?" Sonata chuckled, unsure of how to respond. "But getting to the point, in terms of playing music, I'll be using this bad boy." Amethyst reached off the side of the couch and pulled out a keytar that had a red strap attached, colored in bright blue. "Whoa. Nice paint job." Aria grinned. "Did it myself. I've upgraded this bad boy in my spare time. Besides, that poser Rarity knows I love to play keytar and she's trying to steal my moves..." Amethyst sneered. "Now if I can find a way to get back into school..." "I can help you with that conundrum. Besides, I know a thing or two about making something that can make you look inconspicuous." Amethyst beamed... for two seconds. "You're still not wearing the shoulder pads or the parachute pants!" Vinyl sternly replied. Amethyst frowned. "Aww..." Adagio rolled her eyes and chuckled. "What about you Trixie? Have anything that could back us up?" No reply. "Trixie?" Adagio looked back to the couch, and the spot that Trixie was sitting in was open. "And... she's gone. Give me a second guys, I'll go talk to her." Adagio stepped away from the board, and went through the door back into Octavia's house, going off to find her nerdy friend. "Trixie? Trixie, where'd you go? I want to talk to you!" Adagio called out. She called for her name several times, but there was no sign of her. She was no where to be seen in the house. She couldn't have run off, could she? No, no she wouldn't. "Trixie?" She listened to the sound of a door opening, and the flick of a light switch. "I was in the bathroom." Trixie said. "Why are you yelling?" "Oh, good, sorry. I thought... well... I thought you might have run off, I just wanted to make sure you were with us." Adagio said, sighing in relief. "I still am. Why?" "Well, I was wondering if maybe there was some skill in music that you were perhaps good at?" "I, oh, uh... I, I don't know..." Trixie twiddled her fingers, looking away. "Isn't there anything you can do?" "I don't know, I guess... I just don't think I'm gonna be really helpful here. I mean, I tried playing guitar a few years ago, but... my teacher was so dull, he didn't really give me any reason for me to continue." "You just gave up from one bad teacher?" "Its not just that, its... I tried to play in showcases before, but one way or another those Rainbooms always manage to scare me off. I could never get on stage and play in front of a live audience ever again." Trixie said, looking away with a quivering lip. "I'm sorry if you think less of me, but... I just can't go on stage again, knowing they'll try and take me down." Adagio frowned. She desperately wanted all the help she could get, but at the same time she couldn't pressure a friend into doing something she didn't want to do. But she couldn't just leave Trixie left out! This was an effort that called for everyone! "Okay, well, how about this?" Adagio asked. "Since we're going into the tournament, perhaps you could come up with a name for all of us together? And since you brought up the Rainbooms attempts to sabotage you, why not be our extra set of eyes? Make sure that they don't try and sabotage our performance?" Trixie tapped her food and rubbed her chin. "I suppose I could give it a try. Maybe I could give you girls something that would alert you of an incoming attack?" "That would be helpful yes." "And actually, if you don't mind, I had an idea..." Trixie sheepishly asked. "Any idea is a good idea. Please, tell me." Trixie snapped her fingers. "What if you went in as two separate groups?" Adagio's eyes squinted, followed by blinking a few times. "I'm sorry, I'm afraid I don't understand." "Here's what I mean." Trixie explained. "I know you girls are very talented, but here's the thing. Your voices got everyone to fall for you in the auditorium. And we--I mean, the others have never performed together, I think. We don't know if we'll get a chance to beat the Rainbooms, and if you're with us and we lose, we may never be able to stop them at whatever it is they're trying to do. But if we're off in two groups..." Adagio caught on and a smirk crept on her face. "We'll have double the chances of lasting in this competition. Trixie, I love your thinking." Trixie blushed. "Oh stop..." "Seriously, you have good ideas. You should be proud of yourself." "I... I guess so..." Trixie said, rubbing her shoulder. Adagio giggled. "There's nothing wrong with feeling proud of your accomplishments Trixie. I know this isn't much, but I can guarantee this idea of yours will help us in the long run. Now come on, we've got planning to do." Trixie nodded. "Right... planning." Sunset Shimmer's fist slammed against the table in her home, with the rest of the girls all flinching from her rage. "What do you mean you don't know how they could do that!?" Rarity screeched. "I'm telling you girls, I don't know how those sisters wrapped everyone around their fingers! Its uncanny, its unnatural, its... agh, I don't know!" Sunset slammed her face against the table, groaning. "Now we're back to square one..." "Hang on Sunset, I think I might have a little bit of an idea." Fluttershy grimaced with a malicious smile. She tossed a book on the table, with a piece of paper bookmarked. "Magical Monsters and Mayhem?" Sunset asked, looking unamused. Fluttershy nodded. "These girls seem to have a little similarities to something I uncovered earlier today..." Fluttershy flipped the page over to where she stopped at. Sunset's eyes picked up the book and she buried her face in it, trying to read what she had selected. The Rainbooms could hear her muttering as she read through the book. "... dangerous... voices... sailors... hypnotizing!?" Sunset slammed the book closed, and she looked up at Fluttershy who kept her grin. "You mean to tell me... these girls are... THESE THINGS!?" Sunset pointed at the picture she was glancing at. "Maybe they are... maybe they're not, but I did find it peculiar how they seem to bare many similarities to them... their movements, their looks, their beautiful voices..." Sunset scrunched her eyebrows. "Hmmm... Keep this page bookmarked. We may need to come back to this later. In the meantime girls... I hope you've found some weaknesses." Applejack and Rainbow Dash chuckled. "Oh, we know everyone's weaknesses Sunset." Rainbow boasted. "Almost everyone in the entire school. There's just uh, one slight problem..." Applejack said, worried for Sunset's reaction. "What's that?" "We uh... we don't exactly have anything for those sisters." Sunset facepalmed. "How can you not know anything about them? Everyone has a weakness!" "Except for perfect Mary Sues!" Pinkie piped up. "That has nothing to do with what's going on!" Sunset snapped. "I know, I just wanted to say something." Pinkie winked. Sunset sighed and groaned. This was not her day, and she didn't take pleasure to Pinkie's screeching high voice. She always found that voice annoying, yet she couldn't kick her out. She found her energetic demeanor just the right amount of crazy she needed. "The only thing we know is this, those three sisters will stand up for each other and won't let anything happen to their friends or each other." Rarity huffed. Sunset looked back up. "Nothing bad happening huh?" She chuckled. "I think I may know what I need to look for." Sunset walked over to her desktop, and turned it on. Instantly, she started looking online. "Get your instruments. If we're going to succeed in their game, we'll need to be at the top of their game. In the meantime, I'm going to see if perhaps anyone posted some information online about our new friends... we'll need something we can use against them, something to drive those girls and their friends apart..." Applejack chuckled. "That's what I like about you Sunset." "Its what I do." Sunset shrugged. "Now lets find something that will drive them straight to the breaking point..."