The girls had had just one evening and one morning to live finals-free before they started getting ready for their concert. They all met up in the school car-park, and were not surprised that their opening act arrived to catch the same buss. They were surprised, however, to find a familiar face approaching the group.
"Lemon Zest? What're you doing here?" Twilight Sparkle said, recognizing her former classmate from Crystal Prep. Of course, she had to repeat herself, louder, thanks to Lemon wearing a pair of headphones.
Vinyl Scratch jumped to her feet at seeing Lemon Zest, and she smiled. "She's with our group."
Everyone turned to face Vinyl as if she had just said the most crazy words possible. Jaws hung open, and Applejack's mouth twitched a few times before she managed to close it.
"Ya'll's kidding, right? You got someone from Crystal Prep to be in your group?" Applejack gestured at Lemon Zest. "Ah mean, she helped convince Twilight to rip the world apart!"
"That's not actually fair." Surprising everyone, Twilight gave a sigh. "Applejack, you taught me that telling the truth is its own reward, and the truth is that Lemon Zest was… nice."
Lemon pulled back her headphones and barked a laugh. "Hell yeah. All those prissy bitches were always raggin' on you right, Glasses?" She held up her fist to Vinyl, and got a bump back from her. "So before we go pointing fingers just remember that, 'kay?"
Walking up to the group at just that moment, another student shot a raised eyebrow at Vinyl. Octavia Melody was wearing her typical dark colors, and had an instrument case slung on her back. "Hello there. I take it this is where we catch the bus to this… party?"
"Hey!" Lemon waved to Octavia. "Yeah, this is where the blame train stops and catches a bus."
Pinkie Pie giggled at the pun and when Applejack gave her a hard look, shrugged. "It was a good joke!"
Looking around the group, Sunset chose her moment to cut in. "Look, high school isn't exactly the easiest thing to get through without becoming a crazed monster and trying to take over the world." She shot a wink at Twilight, who smiled back. "If all Lemon did was cave to a little peer pressure then I don't think we can really hold that against her. It was Principal Cinch who ran that party. It was her fault."
"Right on. She's gone now, anyway. She actually sent that report to the school board, telling them about magic and everything. Turns out they took it seriously. Dean Cadance got promoted to Principal, and I hear they have someone going to take over her former spot. Point is, Cinch's not a problem anymore." Lemon Zest moved just enough to put her at Vinyl and Octavia's side. "What matters now is you making sure your opening act doesn't upstage you!"
When Lemon Zest thrust her hand out, palm down, Vinyl put hers on top of it, and a very melodramatic Octavia put hers on top of Vinyls. "Yeah!" Vinyl and Lemon shouted together, while Octavia said a much more bored, "Yeah…"
"You're kidding, right?" Rainbow Dash put her arm around Fluttershy's shoulders, but was surprised when Fluttershy didn't seem to back away from the challenge. "You might be good—in fact you'd better be—but you haven't even performed together!"
"Y-You guys, um, huddle?" Looking around at her friends, Twilight hoped they would listen to her—her heart lifted when they did. With her six friends gathering around her, she felt confident she had their support. "Lemon Zest is super competitive, but she's also not stupid. She was the team leader of the Shadowbolts team for a reason."
Rarity enjoyed huddling, she suddenly discovered, but was sure it would lose its shine if her friends weren't all wearing at least partly revealing tops as they leaned forward. "Twilight, darling, what are you trying to say?"
Taking a deep breath, Twilight kept going. "That she is psyching her friends up to play better, but also trying to inspire us as well. She's like the Rainbow Dash of their group."
"She's nothing like me!" Her voice louder than the huddle could contain, Rainbow Dash got a round of "shhh" from her friends. With her voice back at a reasonable level, she continued. "Well, she isn't."
"She doesn't seem to be doing anything bad, then. Wh-Why don't we go and be nice to her, then?" When she started talking, Fluttershy was acutely aware that her friends always stopped to listen to her. To her right, Rainbow Dash flashed a smile, and to her left Twilight did too. "Well?"
"Come on, Rainbooms, we can't let just the three of them show us up!" Rainbow Dash shoved her hand in, and when all her friends did the same they shouted together and jumped out of the huddle. She was all set to blaze the way over to Lemon and be the first to be friendly, when she noticed Pinkie Pie already over talking with Lemon Zest. "Hey!"
Pinkie Pie took a moment to turn and wave to Rainbow Dash before turning her attention back to Lemon Zest. "So, what instrument do you play?"
"Percussion." Spotting the bus pulling into the parking-lot, Lemon was about to point it out, but was cut off by a tidal wave of words.
"Oh! I play the drums! All my friends said I could try another instrument, but nothing really lets me express myself like they do, and when I get a good rhythm going it feels like it's just one big party, and then next thing I know all my friends are playing too and it is a party, and what's percussion?" Ignoring the look of shell-shock on Lemon Zest's face, Pinkie Pie kept looking at her.
Lemon Zest had to shake her head to get her senses back in order. "Y-You're just like a hyper version of Sour Sweet, only not as passive-aggressive. Drumming is percussion, and awesome percussion at that. Hey, is that our bus?"
Sure enough, a large bus rolled into the parking lot and stopped near the girls. Hefting their instruments, they waited for the door to open.
Principal Celestia smiled out at the assembled bands from the driver's seat. "Come in, girls, your outfits are in the back so you can change on the way."
Lemon Zest was the only girl not shocked that the principal was driving and though she didn't exactly shove, she did make her way onboard. "Hi. I'm—"
"I know who you are, Lemon Zest. You were at the Friendship Games. I remember that you were quick to help the others when things turned sour." Celestia leveled her gaze at Lemon, practically pinning the girl with the look that thousands of truant students had withered under before her. "I trust that is the nature you wish to put forward now?"
"Err…" Lemon Zest faltered under the most judging look of her life. For a moment she almost trembled and dropped to her knees. "I graduated. I'm out of Crystal Prep. That's behind me."
Celestia's expression broke into a smile that was as far removed from her previous expression as fairy floss is from concrete. "Wonderful. Please have a seat!"
Pinkie Pie was the next in line. "Hi Principa—"
"Just Celestia will be fine." It was Celestia's favorite moment. The culmination of years of work. She got to see young girls and boys become adults. The moment when she got to tell them they were no longer her students and were her peers, made Celestia happy beyond measure.
"Okay Just Celestia!" Pinkie Pie giggled and climbed into the bus. "Vic—Just Luna said she would have my drums already there?"
Celestia nodded. "The bulky ones are already there."
One by one the girls filed onto the bus, and Celestia made sure to remind each that they didn't have to call her by her title anymore. Once they were all aboard, she turned in her seat to face them. "Your outfits are hanging at the back. I'll try to take things steady."
"Surely you don't expect us to put on our makeup in a moving vehicle?" Already standing up and approaching their costumes, Rarity suddenly felt at home among her creations.
Applejack rolled her eyes but had a smile on her lips. "O' course she doesn't. We can get our makeup done when we arrive."
"Hold on. Aren't you guys opening for us?" Looking around at Lemon, Vinyl, and Octavia, Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow.
Vinyl was almost literally in her element. Not only was everyone she was with a musician, but they were all going to be performing soon. Normally withdrawn, she felt practically extroverted. "Yeah, we're opening for you."
Nodding Vinyl, Rainbow Dash turned in her seat to look at Rarity. "That means they need to get dressed and get their makeup done first. We can always get ready while they are performing."
"This is so different compared to Crystal Prep. Why isn't everybody fighting all over each other?" Lemon Zest knew the reason, it was fairly obvious that the girls were all friends, but she was still surprised enough to blurt her question out.
Twilight Sparkle almost gagged.
"It's because we aren't competing." Sunset reached across the aisle to make sure Twilight was okay. "We aren't fighting each other to win anything. The only contest we have tonight is to make sure everybody has a good time, and for that we're on the same side."
Lemon Zest was brought up short by a feeling of truth in the words. For several heartbeats she felt the drummed-in Crystal Prep Academy competitiveness rail against the idea of a contest with no opponent. "Yeah. I guess you're right. And I think Glasses had the right idea." She turned to look at Twilight. "Tell me, doc, is being a bitch communicable?"
Holding in her giggles, badly, Twilight shook her head. "All evidence would suggest it's a trained response. Of course, you can probably overcome it if you focus on the exact opposite feelings." She reached up and adjusted her glasses. "I thought things would change a bit with Dean Cadance in control?"
"Well, she's good—pretty great actually—but she can't work miracles. She made sure the school survived to the end of the semester but I don't think she can really make her mark until she gets new students in." Lemon Zest stood up and made her way past Twilight, heading toward the back of the bus.
Rarity hadn't had trouble working out which three outfits were for Lemon, Vinyl, and Octavia. The three outfits were form-fitting vinyl pieces that would cover every inch of the girls from the neck down—there was even gloves and shoes to match. They were dark violet along the back and sides, with borders of golden lightning patterns leading to a dark black. Each suit came complete with goggles that would lend further mystery to the wearer.
"Wow. Is that what we're wearing?" Vinyl reached a hand past Rarity to feel one of the other dark outfits. "I guess she wants us going with the dark theme." Each of the outfits, Vinyl discovered, had one of their names on it. She lifted her own from the rack and immediately noticed the goggles had a similar tint to her glasses. "Oh no way!"
Reaching the back just before Octavia, Lemon watched Vinyl carefully take off her glasses and peer through a lens of the goggles. "What's up?"
"She actually got these goggles with my color blindness lenses! This is awesome!" Lifting the strap of the sleek goggles over her head, Vinyl pulled them down and into place. They clung to her face but what had Vinyl's full attention was when she looked around everything looked "right."
"I didn't know you were colorblind, darling." Rarity lifted down Lemon's outfit and passed it to the girl, then did the same for Octavia. "Those are form-fitting. You probably want to fully disrobe for them." She almost froze in shock as Vinyl started doing just that. Moving quickly, Rarity made a tiny diamond appear and swirled it around to close all the curtains in the back half of the bus.
Vinyl Scratch barely heard Rarity. She kicked off her shoes and socks, pulled down her leggings and skirt. Not even a blush colored her cheeks as she pulled the vinyl outfit up her legs. She remembered Luna (Vice-Principal Luna had managed to stop her using the title) asking for her measurements, but she hadn't expected this.
Fighting her desires, Rarity manage to look away from Vinyl just as she stripped her bra off. She turned her attention to her friends, and was about to rejoin their conversation when someone tapped her on the shoulder from behind.
"Can you help me with the zip?" Vinyl had one arm across her chest, holding the outfit up, while the other was pushing down into its sleeve. She'd heard the rumors about Rarity's tastes but didn't care. All Vinyl wanted was to play music.
Rarity turned and stared for a moment. Vinyl's back was just as pure white as her own skin and it didn't take much to picture herself in one of the costumes. Only, for Rarity, she imagined herself wearing a catsuit playing with Sonata.
"The zip? Please?"
Vinyl's voice cut through Rarity's daydream. She took a deep breath and caught the zip. Each inch she pulled the fastener required Vinyl's help to pull the outfit tight. Slowly, Rarity got the zip tag all the way to the top and hid it into the little fold there. "Turn around and let me check it." She almost panicked at how dominant her voice sounded, but when Vinyl turned she lost any hint of that. The outfit certainly was form-fitting and clung to every curve and swell Vinyl possessed.
Vinyl had to think about the music and not the clearly excited lesbian standing right in front of her. She knew the outfit showed her off, but it would match the show. She wasn't just Vinyl Scratch anymore. "I take it that's a 'wow'?" DJ-Pon3 was the side of Vinyl that had rescued the Rainbooms, and now she was taking charge.
After her initial look, Rarity's eyes caught on Vinyl's chest. "Y-You need to lift them a little while I tighten things. Turn back around." When Vinyl complied, Rarity slipped the zip down to mid-back. "Now lift your breasts a little more. There should be cups built into the front for—"
Adjusting herself, DJ-Pon3 held her breasts up. "Yeah. Go for it." She felt the outfit pull a little tighter around the chest this time, but when she looked down she realized Rarity had been absolutely correct.
Rarity was almost hypnotized. She looked at Vinyl, from her toes to her nose, and had to fight back desire. "Now you look 'wow'."
DJ-Pon3 sat back down, trying to get used to the feel of the tight outfit around her. "Thanks, Rarity."
Leaving Vinyl to get the gloves and boots on herself, Rarity turned just in time to see Lemon Zest helping Octavia. "I-I'll just go sit down until you're both done." Pure willpower let Rarity rip her eyes away from the dark-skinned girl barely fitting into the tight outfit.
Rainbow Dash leaned over the back of her seat so she could talk to Rarity behind her. "Sonata told you what she came up with?" Being the first time she and Rarity had been somewhat alone together since Thursday night, Rainbow Dash figured it was best to talk with her friend about things while they waited to reach the show.
"She did. She also said that you wanted to wait until after the show." Rarity was thankful for the distraction. "And I agree with you. Twilight and Sunset wouldn't be able to leave it alone." Biting her lip for a moment, Rarity looked around to make sure no one else was listening. "Are we sure going to a highly populated place is a good idea? What if we're conta—"
"We aren't. At least, I don't think so. I did some research. If this—thing—was airborn, it would be making us cough or sneeze. And while we may have gotten a little intimate, I sure as heck wasn't with your family or Lavender." Rainbow Dash managed to bit down on her voice to keep from shouting. "So there has to be something else. Something we're not seeing."
The thoroughness of Rainbow Dash's investigation startled Rarity. She looked at her friend with a raised eyebrow. "You've really looked into this haven't you, darling?"
"I'm not an egghead just because I can google things." Her reply was more defensive than even Rainbow Dash would have liked. It rankled her that peoples' opinions of her might be tainted if she let her smarts show. "The point is, we should be fine for the weekend. On Monday we tell Twilight, then she can help us work out what it is."
Rarity couldn't help but admire her friend's dedication to her self-image. "What about a doctor?"
"I'm not going to see a doctor. How the heck do I explain my reflexes if he wants to do a full checkup? Most people seem pretty cool about magic, it's hardly new after all—" Rainbow Dash was cut off by a tap on her shoulder.
"Your turn." DJ-Pon3 gestured to where the remaining seven outfits were hanging.
Rainbow Dash nodded, thanked Vinyl, and got up. "Look. My gym coach might be cool about my powers, my teachers might be cool about my powers, but do you know what will happen when a doctor checks up on one of us and finds it's Equestrian magic we're burning?"
Thinking for a moment, Rarity had to agree. "You're right, Rainbow Dash. Okay, doctor, we'll go with your plan." She smiled at Rainbow Dash's scowl, and got a groan from her friend. "Oh lighten up. You're not a stupid jock and you never were. Be your best, Rainbow. As if you could ever be anything else."