The bell rang its last peals as the students of Canterlot High left their classrooms. Many were eager to just get home and relax, but everybody else was talking about the upcoming Musical Showcase contest. Some new bands have formed for the occasion, but others have already existed beforehand and couldn’t wait to seize the opportunity. Everybody clamored for the rehearsal room, which was normally easy to book. Luckily for our heroes, they managed to snag the space for themselves today...
And they got louder than anybody!
The battlefield’s now barren.
Fallen foes now silent.
We’re still standing proud.
It’s just you and us.
Glory will soon be ours
You will face your defeat
‘Cause our heart is pure fire
And our song is razor sharp steel
That last syllable turned into a high-pitched howl, as Lyra, kept going as long as she could, while her fingers galloped across an ancient bass guitar covered in stickers. Her loud voice was accompanied by Lemon Hearts’ modest looking guitar wailing along, as she swirled her blue hair around. And Twinkleshine just went crazy on her drums, hitting each piece as much as she could, drops of sweat falling from her pink hair.
These three oddball girls form the Steel Unicorns, the most metal band in all of Canterlot High.
“Woo!” Lyra cheered, “That was perfect!”
“Yeah, you finally sang in key.” Lemon Hearts added.
“And you didn’t break the flow with your unnecessary solos.”
“Come on Guys!” Twinkleshine interjected. “Can’t we just appreciate that we finally got it down?”
“Don’t worry ‘Shine,” Lemon Hearts laughed, “I’m just giving her a hard time.”
“Yeah,” Lyra smirked, “we’re just practicing our trash talk. You know it helps with the stress of competition.”
They all laughed together feeling like nothing could ruin their fun.
“Alright girls, let’s give it one more try.” Said Lemon. “Just to make sure it wasn’t a fluke.”
A sudden knock on the door however interrupted them before they could start playing again. A young woman with red and yellow hair stepped in, in a somewhat nervous manner.
“Sorry for interrupting girls,” she said, “but the Rainbooms were supposed to start rehearsing about five minutes ago.”
“Aw man,” Lyra whined, “has it really been an hour already?”
“It’s okay, we can keep going in your garage again.” Lemon Hearts said as they switched places with the Rainbooms.
“But that old fart’s going to complain again.” Lyra moaned further. “If I were him, I’d be thankful that I can still hear, but nooooo!”
Having heard their lamentations the fire-coloured girl leaned her head out from the studio room and called out to them
“Hey! Girls... I might be able to help out with that.”
The Steel Unicorns looked back at her, taken aback by her friendliness. They were still not used to her not being the biggest meany in school anymore.
“I just so happen to have the key to the music studio,” she continued, “I can give it to you once we finish.”
“What’s in it for you?” Lyra crossed her arms, glaring at her from the side.
“Sure Sunset, that sounds great.” Lemon chimed in, ignoring Lyra’s suspicion.
“Aren’t we gonna get in trouble?” Twinkleshine glanced across her bandmates.
“I’ll let you three in on a secret.” Sunset hushed. “We always stay longer than we’re supposed to.”
“Really now?” Lyra said with a judgemental tone in her voice.
“The janitor’s totally cool,“ Sunset continued, “he lets us practice for a while and doesn’t mind so long as we clean up after ourselves and lock the door when we’re done.”
“Sneaky... I like it!” Lemon Hearts grinned.
“So, you’re still breaking the rules, eh?” Lyra muttered accusingly.
“Since when were you against that?” Lemon shot a disbelieving glare at her friend.
Lyra dropped the attitude in response. “Touché...”
“Well alright then,” Sunset smiled, “I guess I’ll be seeing you three in about an hour.”
“Sounds good.” Suddenly, a loud rumble could be heard coming from Lemon’s stomach; it was begging for something to eat. “You’ll know where to find us.” She said.
“Alright, see you girls later!” Sunset ran back into the studio as the Rainboom’s bubblegum-pop rock blared through the open door.
“Why didn’t you ask her about the catch? There’s always a catch with her!” Lyra cautioned.
“Nah, Lyra. She changed.” Lemon asserted.
“Don’t you remember how many times I had to scrape her off you two?” Lyra continued.
“Come on Lyra, she’s trying to be nice!” Twinkleshine backed Lemon up. “I think it’s a welcome change.”
“Oh fiddles, it’s this guy.” Lyra mumbled, as she noticed somebody approaching.
It was a boy with spiky blue hair, wearing factory-ripped clothes. “Hey Lyra, Twee’, Lem’” he greeted them, “are the Rainbooms in?”
“Yeah Flash,” Lemon answered, “they just started rehearsing a few minutes ago.”
“Okay, thanks.” He gave them a shaky smile before heading to open the studio door, but stopped with his hand on the handle and stared gormlessly at it instead.
“Aren’t you gonna go in?” Twinkleshine inquired.
“Oh, no, I’ll just wait for them to finish.” Flash’s cheeks flushed in embarrassment.
“Flash… Just…” Lyra pinched the bridge of her nose. “Have you ever looked in a mirror? You have the face that can melt any girl you look at.” She swung an arm around Flash’s shoulders.
“Even you?” Flash joked, with a hint of genuine confusion.
“No...”
“But you just-”
“Listen here, pretty boy!” Lyra grabbed him by both shoulders. “I’m sure your little Twilight is dreaming about you this moment. There is no reason for you to hesitate!”
“I don’t know…” Flash huffed in amusement and ran his fingers through his hair. “I just don’t want to bother them, you know?”
“Oh, I guarantee you’ll get them bothered, just not in the way you think.” She turned him around to face the door and gave him a small shove. “Just go in and let your perfect smile shine!”
“Alright, if you say so.” He sighed and reached for the doorknob.
“Go get ‘em, tiger!”
They were interrupted by another rumble coming from Lemon Heart’s depths.
“Alright, Lemon Belly quit your fussin’,” Lyra ran ahead, leading the way, “we’ll get you something to eat!”
“How come you never give me a pep-talk like that?” Twinkleshine asked.
“Don’t be ridiculous,” Lyra answered, “only losers need that kind of pep-talk.”
“Don’t you do the same thing in the mirror every morning?” Lemon prodded with amusement.
“I know what I said!” Lyra asserted.
Unfortunately, Flash was still in hearing range and their giggling was almost like they were mocking him. He spent a few more minutes holding the doorknob awkwardly.
The three of them were soon at Sugarcube Corner, a favourite hang-out place for the students of CHS, due to how close it is. The Steel Unicorns weren’t particularly interested in rehearsing anymore. It’s been a long week and some teachers don’t relent in the face of important events, so other things have been on their minds as well. But the Musical Showcase was still at the forefront. Among other things…
“I still can’t believe Vinyl Scratch isn’t competing.” Said Twinkleshine, while she scrolled through social updates on her phone.
“I can.” Lyra answered quickly, with a toothpick still in her mouth. “That girl has lost the last fluff to give once she entered the mainstream scene.”
“No kidding.” Lemon interjected. “Didn’t she just do a collab with ShrillX as well?”
“It was quite good.” Twinkleshine added. “She would easily smash the showcase.”
“How nice of her,” Lyra flicked her toothpick away, “handing us the victory like a true friend.”
“I still don’t understand why you’re so set on winning, Lyra.” Said Lemon Hearts. “It’s not like, there’s an actual prize or anything.”
“It’s not about the prize, it’s about principles!” Lyra palmed her fist.
“Principles? Since when do you have principles?”
“Hey dude, look...” Lyra paused to collect her thoughts.
“I’m looking…” Lemon hurried her.
“I mean… Name me one band that has a bassist people actually care about.”
“That’s easy,” Lemon counted off, “there’s Primate, Red-Hot Stallions, Chariöthead-”
“No no no no,” Lyra cut her off, “I mean new bands.”
“Well… Hmm.” Lemon thought really hard.
Twinkleshine slurped the last drops of her drink and looked up from her phone. “The Steel Unicorns?”
“Exactly, bassists are a dying breed!” Lyra exclaimed with open palms.
Lemon sighed. “Here we go again.”
“Nobody cares about bassists anymore. They can be replaced with software now and everybody tunes their guitars so low, that I’m not sure why they even have bassists.”
“Lyra, we’ve been through this.” Lemon rolled her eyes, “It doesn’t matter what others do, we just gotta do our own thing and have fun. Isn’t playing for recognition and ‘selling out’ something you’re against as well?”
“Well yes and don’t get me wrong, I have loads of fun, but... You can’t prove a point with just having fun!” Lyra slunk back down in her chair.
“There’s no point to prove. You’re a talented musician and anybody can see that.”
Lyra leaned back and crossed her arms. “What’s the point of speaking if nobody listens?”
“You’ve got like two other bands!” Lemon threw her hands in the air.
“Only one...”
“Yes, the other one is a solo project, I know.”
“And it’s not like the people are terribly interested in improvisational jazz rock. And psych rock is just a niche at this point.”
“Yeah, but you love doing it, right?”
“Well... Yes...”
“Look, out of all of us, you’re the one most likely to get anywhere with music Lyra. You are passionate, creative and have the most sheer talent out of the three of us. You write like half our songs!”
“I guess...” Lyra tried to pretend she wasn’t deeply touched by that statement, but Lemon Hearts could see her blush.
Twinkleshine lifted her inattentive gaze from her phone again. “I personally just like hanging out with you guys.”
“Aw,” Lemon hugged her, “we like hanging out with you too.”
“Yeah, I guess that’s really what matters.” Lyra commented with a small content smile. “In the end, success would be nothing without your friends.”
A loud indescribable noise suddenly came out of Lyra’s phone. “Oh, sorry that must be Sweetie.” She jumped out of her chair. “We were supposed to study together for that test tomorrow.”
“More like make sure you study, right?” Lemon teased her.
“Yeah, yeah... See you tomorrow.” Lyra waved that comment away and hurried out to the street before finally putting a stop to the racket and answering her phone. “Sorry Sweetie, I’m on my way, don’t worry... Just band stuff, you know how it is...”
“That gal’s gonna go far.” Said Lemon Hearts as she leaned back in her chair. “Don’t you think Twinkleshine?”
“Yeah, I can’t believe Mr. Cranky finds these tests so dang important...” She slowly realized that she was way off-topic. “I’m sorry, what was the question?”
“Nevermind...”
The bell above the diner’s door jingled as Sunset Shimmer came in, casting her gaze around the hang-out until her eyes met with Lemon Hearts’. “Hey girls,” Sunset walked over to their table, “we just finished up our practice if you want to head on in.”
“Nah, Lyra just left.” Lemon sighed in reply. “She had an appointment she forgot about.”
Sunset’s gaze shifted to the empty seat, “Oh... She didn’t leave because of me, did she?” She asked with a hint of remorse.
“Nah” Lemon Hearts snorted in amusement, “I’m pretty sure she forgot about you too. We do appreciate the gesture though.”
Sunset scratched the back of her head, “I’m just trying to make up for how I acted to all of you.”
Lemon Hearts grinned up at the former bully. “You know what? You’re doing great! Right Twinkleshine?”
“Right!” Twinkleshine replied, then looked up from her phone. “What am I agreeing to?” She whispered to Lemon.
So the day went by without a second rehearsal. Even the studio emptied, as the school closed for the day. But in the dead of the night three mysterious figures entered the studio.
The amplifiers buzzed menacingly as two massive guitars were plugged in, and after a short countdown, the sound of cymbals rang out, accompanied by two sonic explosions that could put most earthquakes to shame. And there were more strings than anyone has ever seen before.
“Yes, I think we’re ready.” Said one of the shadowy figures, her voice filled with gleeful malice.
Their grins lit up the darkness; who knows what terrors have been unleashed upon Canterlot High School?