//------------------------------//
// The Magic of Music 
// Story: Flash Sentry Chronicles: Rainbow Rocks 
// by Banshee531 
//------------------------------//

As soon as school had ended for the day, the Rainbooms took Flash and Twilight to Sugarcube Corner. Once there, they ordered themselves some drinks before sitting down in the same spot they had used in their last human adventure. The only ones not sitting down were Flash and Pinkie, Pinkie being the one getting her and Twilight's drinks and Flash because he's Flash, deciding to lean against a wall to look 'cool'.

"Oh, I do hate that you had to return at a time of crisis." Rarity started as Pinkie sat down and handed Twilight her drink, "we have so much catching up to do."

They all nodded as Applejack turned to Flash. "For starters, a certain rock trio was just askin' about you."

"Seriously?" Flash asked with a raised eyebrow before glancing at Twilight, "Think we'll have time to hang out once this is all done?"

Twilight did a small shrug, "I don't see why not," she replied before slurping up her milkshake.

Rarity finished stirring her tea as she turned to the two transformed ponies. "Perhaps you two would give us just the slightest bit of gossip from your world?"

"Twilight's got an official title now," Spike chimed in from Fluttershy's lap. Taking a dog biscuit in his paw, he started imitating a fanfare, "The Princess of Friendship!"

"Wow, that's impressive!" Sunset said with a painful smile on her face. "Guess you really were Princess Celestia's prized pupil."

"She's even got her own castle!" Spike added as he gulped down the treat.

"A CASTLE?!" Rarity almost screamed as she grabbed Twilight's shoulders, "You have your own castle?!?" The terrified Twilight just nodded, Rarity then realizing her mistake as she saw Twilight's milkshake spill onto the princess's blouse, "Oh...sorry." she cleared her throat before reaching into her bag and pulling out a cloth. "That sounds...lovely."

Flash chuckled at the sight. "You know, you've all technically got your own thrones in the castle."

The others all went wide-eyed at this, Rainbow turning to the defender, "What about you dude? You finally get knighted?"

Flash let out a long sigh, "Nope. Still just an apprentice."

"But he's got this cool superpower now." Spike chimed in again, "You should see it! He gets wrapped up in this weird tornado of light, and then armor appears around him. After that, he's so fast and strong that he can break a massive boulders with a single punch, or look like he's in a hundred places at once! It's awesome!"

The others all glanced at each other, all trying to imagine what Flash looked like in that form, while the apprentice knight just sighed again. "Yeah...still not enough to accomplish my dreams though."

Seeing her best friend looking down, Twilight spoke up, "So...what's new here? I mean, besides your school becoming the target of dangerous magical creatures from Equestria."

Rainbow pulled out her phone in response, "Yeah, so...that isn't exactly the only strange thing that's happened since you left." She then played a recording of her ponying up, Twilight's eyes going wide at this. "Pretty sweet, huh? It happens to all of us when we play."

Twilight hummed at the sight. "Hmmm...I know my crown was returned to Equestria, but it looks like some of its magic must have remained here at Canterlot High. Though now that we're all back together, we can use that magic on the Sirens. Just like when we were able to use it on Sunset Shimmer when she turned into that horrifyingly awful winged monster!" She went slightly wide-eyed at her own remark, soon turning to the bacon-haired girl in response, "No offense."

Sunset crossed her arms before saying in a disgruntled tone, "None taken. I'm used to it."

Flash blinked at the comment, a glum frown on his face. He could see pain on her face, but his own memories of his encounters of her, especially a certain....painful moment, made him look away.

It was here that Rainbow stood up, looking pumped as she did, "Alright! They'll never even know what hit 'em!" She started mimicking karate moves while yelling. That is, until Applejack gabbed her fist.

"After all, we've got nothin' to worry bout now that Flash and Twilight are back."

"Oh, I'm pretty sure I could find something to worry about." Fluttershy chimed in before smiling at the two pony heroes, "But it won't be the sirens."

"The sooner we do this, the better," Twilight told them before turning to Rarity and Sunset. "Any idea where the Dazzlings might be?" The two shook their heads before Twilight felt a tap on her shoulder, making her turn to Pinkie.

The party loving girl took a long sip of her milkshake, then sighed in relief before speaking, "There's a big party tonight for all the bands who signed up to be in the showcase! That would include the Dazzlings."

Everyone smiled at this while Flash pushed off against the wall. "Looks like we've got a party to crash." The others nodded, Pinkie squealing as the Rainbooms and transformed ponies finished their drinks before heading back to school, Pinkie leading them into the gym. When they stepped inside, they felt a wave of tension roll over the group. They looked around and saw all the competing bands, now seeing them huddled away from each other while all shooting death glares.

Flash gulped at the sight. "Wow...this is worst than when Sunset was running the show."

Sunset nodded in agreement. "Because unlike me, the causes actually have magic." She let out another sigh, "Can't believe this is how I liked things back then."

Flash glanced at her, "But you've changed now."

"I guess..." Sunset turned and walked over to the snack table, all while ignoring the rest.

While this happened, Flash started walking through the gym. Looking around, he saw the students glance at him, only to go wide-eyed at the sight. Before he could say anything else, he felt a weight appear on his back as a pair of arms wrapped around him. "FLASH!" he turned around and saw it was Heather.

"Hey Heather..." He replied as he shrugged her off, now spinning one eighty to see Iron and First walking over to him.

"Look who decided to show up," Iron commented with a smirk.

"It is good to see you," First added.

"Yeah," Flash laughed back, "great to see you too."

Heather hopped in front of the two, "So what are you doing here?! The Rainbooms said you couldn't make it."

"Well, Twilight and I have...business here. Hopefully, it'll be fixed pretty soon."

Hearing this made Heather's eyes sparkle as she put her hands into a prayer from. "So does that mean you'll be free to help us compete in the battle of the bands?!"

"We could really use our lead singer," First added.

"Well..." Flash muttered out, now finding himself staring at three expectant faces. It was here that he remembered Twilight saying he could hang out with them after taking down the Dazzlings. A small nod happened after this, "Sure, you can count on me."

"Really?!" Heather squeaked out.

"You have my word as a Knight of Equestria."

Iron guffawed before patting Flash on the back so hard, he almost knocked the teen off his feet. "Knew you weren't useless. With you, the rest of these weaklings won't last two seconds." As he said this, Flash felt the chill of a hundred eyes turn to him. The trio shot their own death glares back, Flash gulping at the sudden chilly sight.

But as this happened, Flash then felt something hit him in the back of the head. Reaching around, he felt something melt against his skin, soon pulling it back to find a chocolate chip. Looking around for the source, he saw Rainbow pointing at the doors of the gym. He followed her gaze and for the first time, saw the Dazzlings as they walked through the gym. He turned back and locked eyes with Twilight, who motioned for him to come over.

"Listen you three...I gotta do something real quick."

"Alright," First replied with crossed arms, "But do not be long. We should start practising as soon as possible."

"Right...sure." he muttered out before rushing over to the others.

Meanwhile, the Dazzlings looked around and saw everyone arguing. Small hidden smiles were on their faces as Adagio started to talk, "Oh, no! No one's mingling!" Adagio faked while rubbing her forehead, "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?" Adagio raised an eyebrow at this before turning to Sonata, seeing the blue Dazzling holding a cup of said liquid. "I knew I used too much grape juice!"

Adagio face-palmed at the sight, "It's not the fruit punch, moron! It's us!"

Sonata sighed in relief, only for Aria to lean over. "But the punch is awful too."

Sonata glared back at her, "What do you know about good fruit punch?"

"More than you!" Aria replied before Sonata flicked her forehead.

"Do not!"

"Do too!" She flicked back, making Sonata growl before Adagio stepped between them.

"This is just the kickoff party, girls. Imagine what a tizzy they'll be in by the time the Battle of the Bands starts."

"There isn't going to be a Battle of the Bands!" The three turned towards the source of the voice, seeing Twilight, Flash and the Rainbooms. "We're gonna make sure of that!" They all grabbed hands, "Alright, team, let's do this! FRIENDSHIP IS MAGIC!"

Her voice echoed through the halls, making everyone turn to them...but nothing happened. The seven just stood there holding hands, all eyes staring at the group. The Dazzlings were looking at them like they were crazy, and after about thirty seconds of nothing happening, the seven were all sharing embarrassed glances.

"Awkward," Flash said. 

Rainbow turned to Twilight. "Uh, weren't there rainbows and lasers and stuff last time?"

Twilight just blinked in response, "I don't understand. We're all together again. Why isn't this working?"

Spike popped his head out of the backpack. "You, uh...really need to go ahead and do that whole "magic of friendship" thing now."

"I'm trying, Spike. I thought the seven of us standing together against the sirens would bring out the magic we needed to defeat them. That's what happened before."

Flash chimed in next. "Didn't you say magic works differently here?"

Before Twilight could reply, Adagio spoke up. "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."

"Not if the Great and Powerful Trrrrrixie has anything to do with it!"

"Whatever, Trixie!" Heather yelled while Iron and First glared at Flash, "We're the best band at CHS!"

"No! The Crusaders are gonna win!" Applebloom screeched next, more arguing following this. A mass of anger, louder and meaner than before soon embraced the entire place. And as this happened, a green mist began to float off of them, which flew over to the Dazzlings, their necklaces absorbing it.

Once the three had gotten their fill, Adagio turned to the Rainbooms. "I think we may have found what we're looking for. Or rather, it found us." She turned to look at the other two, Aria seeming to get it while Sonata just shrugged. As Aria facepalmed, Adagio pointed at the group. "Magic! Don't you see?! Everyone else has fallen under our spell." They looked back and saw that the group had now snuck out of the gym. "But not those girls. Those girls are special."

"And don't forget about the hunky boy in the group," Sonata added, a tiny bit of drool coming out of her mouth. "Did you see his shape? He looked-mmph!"

Adagio rolled her eyes as she used her finger to shut Sonata's mouth. "Focus!" She barked, Sonata yelping as she accidently bite her tongue. "We need find a way to get them all arguing. Then, when we absorb their negative emotions, we'll be able to absorb their Equestrian Magic as well."

"Okay....how we gonna do that?" Aria asked next, only to get a simple laugh from Adagio.

"Leave that to me."





When our heroes finally arrived out at the front of the school, everyone except Twilight collapsed on the steps.

"Well, that didn't work," Flash commented with a groan.

"Oh dear," Fluttershy quivered as she hid behind her hair, "That was so humiliating."

"It doesn't make any sense," Twilight muttered as she started pacing in front of them. "I should have been able to create the spark that would help us break their spell. That's how it worked before."

"You think we might be missing something?" Flash asked next. "I mean, you said that magic works differently in this world. Maybe it needs a different trigger."

"But what could that be?" Rarity chimed in. "What don't we have now that we did during the fall formal?"

The others shared glances, all looks of uncertainty on their faces. It was here that Flash glanced at Sunset, a new thought hopping into his head. "Wait a minute...you're a pony too, right Sunset?"

"Yeah. Why do you ask?" Sunset asked back.

"Do you transform?"

Sunset hopped in place at the question, "Huh?!"

"When you play music, do you get ears and a tail?"

Sunset started to twiddle her thumbs as she tried to reply, "Um..."

"Hang on!" Rainbow barked in, "You think Sunset's what we're missing?!"

"It's possible," Twilight added while rubbing her chin. "I mean, its not a bad thought. She was using the crown's magic the first time we transformed. It's possible a scrap of its power is also still within her. Maybe if we try again with Sunset-"

"I don't have any magic," Sunset interrupted. "It was all taken out of me at the Fall Formal. I...I can't help." She looked away, making everyone sigh. But as this happened, another thought suddenly entered her brain. "Wait...maybe that's it though!"

"What do you mean?"

"Think about it Twilight!" Sunset responded as she pointed to herself, "When you defeated me, you drew magic from the crown I was wearing. The sirens' magic comes from their music, so maybe you have to use the same kind of magic to defeat them."

"Like fighting fire with fire?" Flash asked, making Sunset blush.

"I know...it's stupid. I shouldn't have suggested it."

Twilight shook her head, "No, I think you're onto something."

Sunset went wide-eyed, "Really?!"

Twilight nodded before turning to the others. "It's when you play music that you transform now, right?"

"Yup," Applejack replied while tilting her hat. "Ears, tails, the whole shebang."

"So maybe the way to use that magic to defeat the sirens is by playing a musical counter-spell!"

"You mean like a song?"

Twilight nodded again, "Uh-huh. And in order to free everyone who's been exposed to the sirens' spell, we'll need them all to hear it. But...how do we get them all together?"

Everyone tried to think of the best way to do that, until Rarity finally gasped. "The band competition! That's the next time we can be certain everyone will be in the same place at the same time."

The others all smiled at hearing this, standing up as Applejack spoke up. "Guess the Rainbooms know what to do next."

Rarity then pointed at Flash and Twilight, "And I believe you two just became the Rainbooms' newest members."

"Oh, no you don't!" Everyone turned around to see the Royal Knights stepping outside, the trio frowning at them. "Flash was our bandmate long before he was any of yours," Heather said as Iron grabbed Flash by the hood of his jacket and hoisted him up.

"HEY! What the heck?!" He yelped as he was dragged away, "What the-where are we going?!"

"My place. You gave us your word you'd play with us, and we've only got a day to get our songs right." Iron grumbled as he tugged Flash, a small yelp coming out of his breath.

"Wait! We need Flash!" Twilight called out, only to meet a glaring First.

"You have more than enough members in your group. And if you need a guitarist..." his gaze slowly shifted over to Sunset. "I believe Lightning taught you a lot back when you two were dating." With that, Flash was thrown into to Iron's car, the others quickly hopping inside.

"WAIT!" Twilight cried as the car pulled away, disappearing in a blur. She sighed at the sight, face-palming before turning to the others. "This...might complicate things."

Sunset placed a hand on the girl's shoulder. "You'll think of something. But for now, we need to get you ready to sing that musical counter spell."

Pinkie took this moment to jump in. "So what do you wanna play? Triangle?" She pulled out said instrument, giving it a ding before replacing it with another. "Sousaphone?" She gave it a pump right into Twilight's face, before replacing it with another instrument. "Theremin?" She started waving her hands over it, creating a weird sound that made her look almost euphoric. "Soooo magical."

"It might take me a little too long to learn how to play something with these," Twilight gestured to her hands. "I'll just sing."

Rainbow then wrapped an arm around Twilight's neck. "Like, as in, lead singer? Cuz that's usually my gig. This being my band and all."

"It's our band!" Applejack reminded her before patting Twilight on the shoulder. "And, of course she's lead singer. She's the one with the magical know-how to help us pull this thing off."

Rainbow held her hands up defensively. "Okay, yeah, that's cool. I'll just use this as a chance to hone my already insanely good lead guitar skills."

"It's only temporary," Twilight assured her. "And we don't have to win the Battle of the Bands. We just have to perform during the first round of the competition."

"Maybe second," Sunset reminded her. "That way, Flash can lose the first round and join you. Thanks to that, you'll have everything you need to take the Sirens down."

Fluttershy did a small gulp, "Oh, um...wouldn't the Royal Knights be upset?"

"It's for a good cause," Twilight told her as she shrugged Rainbow's arm off. "And once they're free from the spell, they'll relieve it was for the greater good."

"The greater good," Pinkie repeated in a monotone voice, the others turning to her and saw she was wearing a hooded cloak. "What?"

Rainbow rolled her eyes as she turned to Twilight. "Alright, let's get to learning that musical counter-spell!"

Twilight's eyes shrunk at the statement, making her squeak out, "Well...that's just it. I don't know any." This caused the others to all 'awwww' in unison. "But I'm sure I could figure out how to write one."

"Totally!" Spike added as he walked over to her, "Twilight can write a spell like it's nopony's business!" He patted her leg with his paw, "That's pretty much how she got to become a princess in Equestria."

"Technically, I helped finish a spell. And there was a little more to it than that, Spike."

"Yeah, whatever," Spike commented as the others looked at her with hope in their eyes.

"I've got this," Twilight assured them before picking Spike up. "C'mon!" With that, she spun back around to the school doors.

"Where're you goin'?" Applejack asked next.

"Well, last time we were here, Spike and I spent the night in the library."

"Are you crazy?!" Pinkie yelped before wrapping her arms around the two and lifting them off the ground. "We're besties now! Slumber party at my house!" The others all cheered hearing that.





As the girls headed off to Pinkie's house, Flash found himself back at Iron's place. There, the Royal Knights gave him an electric guitar before they started practicing. Despite knowing he needed to get out of this situation, he couldn't help but enjoy jamming with the trio again. Currently, they were running through a Royal Knight original, a song that Grand had written in his band days, which Flash picked up easily.


(Flash, others)
Our will never ever waver
Cause you can't possibly win
Yeah
So do us all a favor
And count...up...your...sins
YEAH


With that, they cut the music. "Not bad," Heather commented as she glanced at Flash. "But you're still sounding a little off Flash. Like your heart's not in it."

"Sorry," Flash replied with a sigh, glumly staring at the guitar, "Guess this thing's not doing it for me."

First then spoke up. "Maybe we should try and get you the guitar you used at the Fall formal. You were doing pretty well with it back then."

"Maybe..." Flash muttered as his brain started to turn, "Hmm...actually, I think I've got a better idea. But I'm gonna need to talk to Sunset before school tomorrow."

Hearing that name made the three all frown. "How's she gonna help you?"

"You want her to turn into a demon and destroy half the school again?!" Heather added in the meanest, lowest voice Flash had ever heard from her.

"Of course not," Flash instantly replied, turning to the trio as they showed an obvious change in their eyes. "Guys, listen. Don't you see you're being used? The Dazzlings have hexed you."

The trio just blinked at him. "Do not be silly Flash," First told him. "If we were hexed, we would probably know about it."

"No, you wouldn't. That's the whole point of being hexed." Flash growled as he pointed at the three, "Oh, come on! Is this really what the Royal Knights stand for?! Competing to be the best?! What about the love of spreading music?"

"It's still there," Heather calmly replied as she tuned her bass. "But the best way to spread that love is to prove we're the best. That way, everyone will come listen to us."

Iron nodded in agreement. "We've been a band long before anyone else at CHS. We haven't put in the hours of practice just to lose to a bunch of wannabes looking for fifteen minutes of fame."

"We have the name of the Royal Knights to uphold," First finished. "Canterlot's first band cannot be overshadowed by anyone else. That is why we will win the battle of the bands, I assure you."

Flash let out another sigh, now seeing there was no way of breaking this spell with words. As he did this, Heather spoke up, "Flash, I hope you're taking this seriously. It might not be some world destroying entity, but it's still important. If we're gonna win this, we need everyone to give a hundred and ten percent."

"You gave us your word you'd help us win," Iron pointed his sticks at Flash. "Don't go breaking that promise just because your girlfriend's in a competing band."

"GIRLFRIEND?!" Flash barked back, his eyes going wide.

"He means Twilight, Flash. For now, put your feelings aside and focus on the music." First then pressed a note on his keyboard, "Now, shall we give Celestic Force a go?" Heather and Iron both nodded before turning to Flash, who felt himself being pulled in two directions.

It was here that he gave one final sigh before putting his fingers on the strings. "Let's do this."

Iron then tapped his sticks. "A one, two, a one two three four!"





Later that night, at Pinkie's house...

The sleepover at Pinkie's house had been a fun event, filled with video games, selfies and tons of pizza. All the while, Twilight had been busy working on trying to write the musical counter-spell.

Now it was past midnight, and the girls were all fast asleep, except for one. Twilight opened her eyes and listened to the snores each of the girls were giving off. Hearing this, she carefully tiptoed around her friends and grabbed the notebook Fluttershy had given her to work in. With this and a pencil, she headed out of the room and down into the kitchen. Once there, she got back to work, the pencil now twisting in her mouth, "Hmmm...no." she commented after spitting the pencil out, "That's not gonna work."

She then tried to rub the sleep out of her eyes, only to hear a familiar voice call out. "Hey Twilight." She looked up to see Sunset leaning against a wall. "You're up late."

Twilight hid the unfinished spell below her arms, "Just looking over the counter-spell. We only get one shot at this, so it has to be perfect."

Sunset nodded as she walked over to the refrigerator. "We really are lucky you're here."

Twilight did a small sigh as she crossed her arms. "That's what everyone keeps telling me."

"Who could possibly need this much whipped cream?" She heard Sunset ask, making her glance back and see that the fridge was filled to the brim with cans. Sunset took out one and turned back to her. "Must be nice to have everyone always looking to you for answers to their problems," she squirted some of the cream onto her finger. "Instead of waiting for you to cause a problem."

Twilight looked down at the jumbled words that were her attempts to write a spell, making her sigh. "Just because everyone expects something from you, doesn't mean it's guaranteed to happen."

"Well, that doesn't stop them from expecting it."

"Which only makes things harder, because the last thing you want to do is-"

"Let everybody down," they both said in unison. Hearing this made both smile at each other, Sunset then putting the can in the fridge. But as she shut it, she turned to find herself face to face with a gray skinned girl with grayish blue hair. "Whoa!"

The girl held up a pebble, "Boulder was hungry." She opened a cupboard and pulled out a box of crackles, which she started sprinkling onto the pebble. Sunset back away until her back was against the table Twilight was sitting at, the two just staring at the girl until she turned to walk out of the room.

Once she was gone, Sunset whispered to Twilight. "I still can't get over the fact that she's related to Pinkie Pie."

"You and me both. When I first met her pony version, Flash joked about her leaving all her craziness behind when she was born so Pinkie ended up getting the whole lot."

The two laughed at the joke, Sunset then raising a cocky eyebrow, "So...speaking of Flash, you two are a thing, right?"

SNAP!

Sunset looked down, now seeing that Twilight had pressed down too hard on the book, snapping her pencil. her eyes drifted back up to see Twilight with wide eyes, "What?! No! We're just friends."

"Oh, come on," Sunset took Twilight's pencil and put it in a nearby sharpener, "I've seen the way you two are together. You have got to be a couple."

"No, serious." She crossed her hands as she stressed her next word, "Friends."

Sunset rolled her eyes at this as she gave Twilight her pencil back before looking away. "You know...he's kinda cute, don't you think?" She looked back and saw Twilight was slightly blushing.

"I guess. If you like that...unassuming...heroic...knightly type."

"Which I'm betting you do," Sunset teased as Twilight just stared at the notebook, a small red tint still on her face. Seeing this, Sunset tapped the book, getting the princess's attention, "Twilight, take some advice from a girl who has made more than enough mistakes. Life is short, so don't let fear stop you from going after something you really want. If you don't do it, you'll wake up one day full of regrets. Trust me, I know."

Twilight looked back down at the book, no response exiting her mouth. Seeing this, Sunset let out a yawn before heading for the stairs. "I better get some sleep. Good luck with the counter-spell, not that you'll need it. This must be nothing compared with the stuff you're expected to deal with as a princess in Equestria."

Twilight just stared at her spell attempts, sighing at the sight. She then looked back up, "Sunset Shimmer?" the girl turned to her as Twilight was about to ask for help, only to come to a stop. "Nevermind. Its not important." Sunset nodded and gave one final forced smile, and headed upstairs. Once she was gone, Twilight let out another sigh. "No, I have to be able to do this. I have to."

And with that, she got back to work. The first round of the battle of the bands was tomorrow. She had to get the spell right before the Sirens could gain too much power, but with Flash stuck in another band, would it even work?