Soon enough, the competition resumed. Derpy Hooves accompanied on percussion by two others gave a display on the musical saw. The judges however, seemed to not particularily enjoy this style of experimental music. Next up on the schedule would have been 'Ze Magics', the band of Photo Finish and her two assistants, but since they had been disqualified from the competition, 'Glam!' a group made up of a number of the school's fashionistas, who had already performed earlier, was automatically advanced to the next round. The same happened to Bulk Biceps, who was advanced over the disqualified Rap-Duo of Snips and Snails without even having to perform his violin act.
Next in line were 'Trixie and the Illusions', consisting of the titular stage magician and two assistants, whose performance quickly convinced the Principals to advance them to the next round, leaving 'Hard Rock', a band made up entirely of the school's resident rocker club and given a supremely creative name, behind. 'Ebony and Ivory', the piano duet of Lyra and Sweetie Drops was next in line, easily meeting Luna's taste for classical music and thus beating 'Synthwave', the local Science Club's entry into the competition, who hadn't managed to entice either Judge with their retro-futuristic synthesizer music accompanied on theremin.
'Classic Tragedy' the band of the drama club stood no chance against 'The Dazzlings'. The sirens' performance of 'Under our Spell' only strengthening the hold they had on the minds of students and faculty alike. 'Natura' the band headed by Sandalwood and made up entirely of the school's eco-kids had performed earlier but was soundly defeated, by 'Flash Drive', the band of Flash Sentry and his friends whom had accompanied the rainbooms in the cafeteria that fateful day half a year ago.
'Crusaders', the band of the local movie club managed to beat Derpy's performance from earlier, by a small margin. And finally Octavia Melody performed on her cello but was soundly beaten by the Rainbooms’ earlier performance, thanks in no small part to Celestia's enjoyment of pop-music. Thus the first round of the competition had concluded.
In one of the music rooms of Canterlot High, the girls were practicing further, while Sunset finished making a copy of her leyline-map for Twilight. She had just finished copying the last of the finest lines onto what was once a normal map of the city, when there was the characteristic ringing of the school's intercom system activating.
[To all students: The first round of the Battle of the Bands has now concluded, we will take a 15 minute break before continuing the competition, all bands that have made it into the second round are displayed on the tournament bracket in the gym.]
The Rainbooms had interrupted their song as the announcement began and were now looking at each other. Sunset rolled up the map she had been copying and placed it back in her backpack, before standing up and facing her friends.
"Well, sounds like we should head back down for the next round."
Rainbow immediately nodded, "I'll say. We have practiced enough, now we'll go down there and win this thing."
"And then we'll show 'em sirens what for." Applejack agreed.
"Soon, I hope." Twilight spoke up, "All these mind-controlled students are starting to give me a headache, good thing I have the hivemind."
"Oh my, darling, I completely forgot about your empathy, I guess that must be rather ghastly." Rarity chimed in with a worried frown.
"Don't worry about it, as long as I have you girls and the hivemind to provide a contrast, I'll be fine."
"Okie, dokie, lokie! What song do we play next round?"
"Oh don't worry Pinkie, I have something in mind." A smug grin crossed Rainbow's face.
"Uhm, I have a song too."
"Sorry Flutters, but we need something with a bit more-" Rainbow started, but Sunset, looking over Fluttershy's shoulder interrupted her.
"No, this is actually pretty good, look!" She took the sheet and held it out to Rainbow."
Rainbow quickly glanced at the sheet, then looked at it again, more closely this time. "Hmm, this ... this ..." Suddenly a wide smile came across her face. "I know what this is."
The girls looked at her expectantly.
"This is the song that will beat the sirens. We'll stick with my songs for now, and save this one for the finals. This positive attitude is perfect against them."
There were various noises of agreement from the girls around her and together they left the music room, ready to take on the second round.
No one noticed that Twilight's copy of the leyline-map was left behind on the table.
A few minutes later the girls were back in the gym and the competition was ready to go into its second round.
The first band to perform this round was 'Crusaders', but while their punk rock style had been enough to beat the highly experimental music on the singing saw, it was no match for the more traditional rock from 'Flash Drive' who performed directly after them and managed to at least somewhat entertain both principals.
Next to perform was Bulk Biceps, his violin music was quite pleasing, especially to Luna, but nothing exceptional. His performance was followed by 'Trixie and the Illusions' who in a surprising turn were presenting a more powerful, rock-style version of 'Tricks up my Sleeve', the song they had already played in round one. The Principals were surprised at their move but appreciated the variation from one to the other.
Next up was 'Glam!', whose style hadn't impressed Luna in the first round and even Celestia had to admit that their style of pop-music was losing its novelty fast. Following their performance the Rainbooms took the stage, it seemed as though Luna's words had had the desired effect, as their performance went on without a hitch and without any further attempts at sabotage.The Principals decided that they should move on to the next round over Bulk Biceps.
Now was the time for 'Ebony and Ivory' to take the stage. Lyra and Sweetie Drops delivered another piano duet, while Twilight wondered about the discrepancy in the name of the girl she thought should be named 'Bon Bon'. After some rather heated discussions, the principals decided that the performance didn't quite measure up to the second version of 'Tricks up my Sleeve' they had heard earlier. Finally 'The Dazzlings' seized the stage, delivering jet another vocal number, this one without any lyrics at all. The Rainbooms found it somewhat strange but everyone else was entirely captivated. The performance outdid that of 'Glam!', surprising precisely no one.
Some time later the semi-finals were in full swing and the Rainbooms were preparing to give their performance. At Rainbow's insistence they had agreed to play 'Awesome as I wanna be' for this round, saving Fluttershy's 'Music in our Hearts' for the final round. Two of the three other bands had already played, 'Trixie and the Illusions' had performed yet another version of 'Tricks up my Sleeve' while 'Flash Drive' had performed a purely instrumental rock piece. At the moment the Dazzlings were on stage, their song only registring as background noise to the girls as they readied their instruments. Before long, the song ended and the girls were not at all surprised to find out that 'The Dazzlings' had beaten 'Flash Drive' and were the first ones to make it to the finals.
The three sirens walked off the stage, and past the Rainbooms. After they had passed, Adagio turned around with a fake smile. "Good luck, girls."
"Yeah!" Aria agreed, "You'll need it."
"Oh don't worry," Rainbow replied with a smug expression, "if Trixie thinks she can win this by playing the same song four times, she's got another thing coming."
"The great and powerful Trixie can hear you , you know!"
Ignoring the interruption, Adagio turned around and continued walking off. "Whatever you say, Rainbow."
Soon enough the girls were called on stage and finished setting up their equipment, Pinkie took position at the already prepared drum kit, Rainbow, Applejack and Rarity plugged in their instruments, Fluttershy and Twilight took their positions at the microphones and allowed Rainbow to take center-stage. Sunset meanwhile took her own position at the edge of the stage, hidden from the audience by the curtain. As soon as they were all ready, Pinkie counted them in and the song begun.
Rainbow was having an excellent time, as she played her guitar and sang her song, the song that represented her like no other, she forgot about everything around her, the sirens, the contest, the other bands, even her friends, all were secondary to the song she was now playing. After a few moments she felt a tingle at the side of her head, but she ignored it. The song was all that counted now.
Twilight was enjoying herself as well, this song only needed basic vocalisations from her and Fluttershy, Rainbow had all the lyrics, she remained vigilant however. The last round had gone off without a hitch but someone might still try to sabotage them. She once more made use of her multitasking to focus on her empathic senses without failing to play her part in the song. She didn't bother sensing the crowd, with all the magically amplified emotions, she wouldn't be able to find anything if she tried. She cast her psychic gaze upwards, but the gantry was devoid of emotion.
Then, suddenly, she felt a surge of emotion from her left, panic, distress and worry came from someone who was standing there, it only took her a split second to understand. The only one standing there was Sunset. She glanced over, worried what she might see, but she only saw Sunset with a distraught expression on her face. Following Sunset's gaze she saw that she was looking at Rainbow. Immediately she found the reason for Sunset's distress. Rainbow's ears were glowing. Twilight was sure she recognized that glow, she tried to remember where she had seen it, then it hit her, the video Rainbow had shown her, the glowing ears were the first sign of the transformation that revealed their magic.
Twilight acted immediately. She closed her eyes and sent a pulse of psychic force at Rainbow.
Rainbow was in the zone, the sensation at the side of her head had gotten stronger, but she ignored it, focusing on the song and on the feeling that came with it. Then, something hit her. She was startled so much that she missed a note. She easily played over it, she was a masterful guitarist after all, but the feeling was gone, and so, she now noticed, was the tingling of what she realized were her ears. At that moment it hit her. She knew what had almost happened. She barely managed to stifle a gasp as she realized what she had almost done.
Twilight opened her eyes and looked at Rainbow, she watched as the glow subsided and gave a relieved sigh, as she felt the distress she had felt from Sunset fall away.
Soon after, the song ended and the girls looked expectantly at the principals. Celestia and Luna looked down at their sheets and noted some things down. They then quietly talked to one another for a moment, before Luna stood up, turned to the tournament bracket and moved the Rainbooms' symbol to the place of the second competitor of the finals.
The girls cheered for a moment but were interrupted by a cry from the audience.
"What?! The great and powerful Trixie will not accept this!" Trixie stood up and glared at the Rainbooms. "You will regret this!"
With that she stomped off, out of the hall. Her two band members rolled their eyes and then turned around to follow her.
Aria turned to her sister. "Well, I think it's safe to say that your plan has failed. These girls are as close as ever."
Adagio seemed very displeased by the situation. "I know that, Aria. I guess we'll need a backup plan."
They both turned around as they heard footsteps approaching quickly. They quickly relaxed as they saw it was only Sonata. The youngest of the three sisters held a rolled up piece of paper in one hand waving it around frantically.
"Dagi, Ari, look what I found!"