Sunset spent the rest of her day walking on eggshells. Since her discussion with Aria, she was expecting Discord to pop up and do something or for Twilight to send her an angry letter scolding her about not being a good friend. But even after the final bell marking the end of the school day, nothing extraordinary happened. Everything proceeded as it normally would. This only served to make Sunset even more nervous.
What is he up to? she wondered. Is he going to attack the concert? Is he mad at me? Was he really telling the truth? I-I just don't know anymore.
These thoughts continued to plague her as she arrived at the animal rescue center a few minutes late. But when she got backstage, the Rainbooms were very disorganized.
"I-I swear I had my keytar here just a moment ago! I-I know I took it with me!" Rarity panted as she ran around the stage. "Wh-where could it have gone?"
"Cool your jets there, Rare," said Applejack, rolling her eyes. "I'm sure it's just in the last place you looked."
"Th-that's just it, Applejack! I was holding it the last time I checked!" Rarity wailed. "I didn't drop it or anything; it just vanished! Oh, of all the worst things that could happen, this is THE, WORST, POSSIBLE, THING!"
"You think that's bad? What about our music?!" Rainbow Dash snarled, tossing sheet music every which way. "Our song isn't here! It's just this weird stuff that doesn't even have any lyrics!"
Fluttershy meekly fiddled with her tambourine. "W-we have time. L-let's all calm down and get this sorted out before—"
"Hi, guys!"
Sunset whipped around as an all-too-familiar voice called out behind her. Much to her surprise, Sonata and Aria were standing right there. Rainbow Dash narrowed her eyes.
"Did you guys do this?" she asked, pointing an accusing finger at the Sirens.
Aria snorted. "Do what? We just got here."
"What are you two doing here, anyway?" Sunset inquired. "This area should be off-limits."
"Backstage passes," said Sonata, flashing her card. "Discord gave 'em to us."
A lightbulb went off in Sunset's head. "Discord? Why would he do that?"
"I dunno," Aria said with a shrug. "All I know is that Sonata owes me big time."
"Um, guys?"
All eyes turned to Pinkie Pie, who was peeking out at the crowd through the curtain.
"What's up, Pink?" asked Applejack.
"Did we order a grand piano for our show?"
Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow. "Uh, no. Why?"
"'Cause there's one sitting on stage right now."
Rarity blinked. "Well, I suppose that solves my keytar problem. Somewhat."
Applejack smirked. "Heh, at least now you get to express your full musicality properly, amiright?"
Rarity pouted and crossed her arms. "I can't believe you still remember that," she grumbled, blushing slightly.
Sunset scratched her head. "This has to be Discord's doing," she said. "Hang on, I'll see if he's around."
She took out her cellphone and turned it on. However, her settings were completely normal, and Discord was nowhere to be seen. With a frustrated grunt, she put the phone away. But just as she did so, another familiar voice was heard.
"You know, I find it quite fascinating that you're okay with this."
Sunset turned around, and her eyes went wide. There was Discord, in all his mismatched glory, walking next to Vinyl Scratch and chatting. Despite gazing upon a bizarre creature no human had ever seen before, Vinyl didn't seem disturbed by this at all. She simply smiled and shrugged.
"Mmm, yes. I suppose you would get used to this kind of thing after a while," Discord mused. "Listen, thanks again for letting me do my thing here. I promise, you will not regret it."
Vinyl gave Discord a thumbs-up, and the two of them shared a fist bump. The Rainbooms were rendered speechless as Vinyl walked past them to set up her equipment. Sunset was the one to break the silence.
"Discord? Wh-what was—?"
"Ah, Sunset Shimmer. So glad that you're here," said Discord with a bow. "You may have noticed that I *ahem* changed up the setlist for tonight's performance."
"Without asking our permission?" said Rainbow Dash, folding her arms.
Discord chuckled nervously. "W-well, yes. But this plan was very last minute, and preparations are still being made as we speak. Speaking of which, have our other guests arrived?"
"Huh? What other guests?" asked Sonata, looking all around the backstage area.
"I'm pretty sure he means us, Sonata," Aria sighed, rolling her eyes.
"O-Oh, right," said Sonata, brushing the back of her head sheepishly. "I-I knew that."
Discord knitted her brow and stroked his chin. "Hmm. We seem to be missing one, but no matter. The show must go on, as they say."
He then snapped his fingers. In a flash of light, the backstage passes Sonata and Aria had changed shape. Sonata was now holding a shiny silver trumpet, while Aria had a golden saxophone strapped around her shoulder. Aria arched an eyebrow.
"And, what exactly are we supposed to do with these?" she asked.
"Why, you're performing with the Rainbooms tonight, of course."
"WHAT?!"
Everyone recoiled at Discord's revelation.
"Th-that's nuts! You're nuts!" Aria shouted. "I-I'm not performing w-with them!"
Pinkie tilted her head. "Why not? It could be fun."
Rainbow Dash shot Pinkie a quizzical look. "Fun?"
"Yeah. I mean, isn't that what being in a band's supposed to be?" said Pinkie.
"B-but we're your enemy. We hate you, and you hate us," Aria stated bluntly.
"Who told you that?" asked Pinkie, placing her hands on her hips. "I don't hate you guys now that you aren't trying to take over the world."
"I-it would be a nice gesture if we let them play," whimpered Fluttershy. "But I have to ask, Mr. Discord."
"Mmmyes?"
"Wh-why a trumpet and saxophone? We're a rock band."
"Why, it's simple mathematics, my dear Fluttershy," said Discord, conjuring up a chalkboard and writing out a nonsensical equation. "Now, you guys play rock and roll, as you just mentioned. I once heard, though don't quote me on this, that rock and roll is a combination of jazz and blues. Since I figure we've all been rather, uptight lately, I've subtracted the blues part of the equation and made this a jazz concert."
"Th-that's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard!" Rainbow Dash sputtered. "W-we're not a jazz band! We can't just pick up and play this music!"
Pinkie shrugged her shoulders. "Why not? We did it before, remember?"
Everyone shot Pinkie a blank stare. She blinked in confusion.
"Why are you all looking at me like that? It's true," she said simply.
Sunset sighed and turned to Discord. "Discord, I—"
"Sunset, listen," said Discord, placing a paw on her shoulder. "I know you don't have much reason to trust me, but all I'm asking for is one more chance. If this concert doesn't make us friends, nothing will."
Sunset bit her lip and cast her eyes downward. She was silent for the longest time, taking the entire day into consideration. Finally, she looked up and nodded.
"Alright, but this is it, pal," she said firmly.
"Thank you, Sunset," said Discord with a bow. He took another look around and stroked his chin. "Hmm. We're still missing one guest. Sonata, Aria. Did Adagio come with you?"
"Not really," said Aria. "As soon as detention was over, she took off like a shot. If anything, she should've been here before us."
"Huh. Odd," said Discord. He then shrugged. "Oh well. We can't wait on her much longer. Just play the music I've provided for you, and everything should work out. Break a leg, everyone!"
With another snap of his fingers, Discord disappeared. The Rainbooms exchanged concerned glances.
"I hate to say it, girls, but he has a point," said Rainbow Dash. "We can't back out of this now. Still, keep your guard up no matter what happens."
"Agreed," said Sunset, looking over at the Sirens. "Um, please tell me you two know how to play those things."
Aria deadpanned. "We spent our entire lives singing; you tell me. Not to mention that your Equestrian magic rendered us tone-deaf."
Sonata then blew into her trumpet. Much to Aria's surprise, the note she played was not off-key in the slightest. Aria did a double take.
"Sounds to me like you've been corrected," said Rainbow Dash.
Aria cleared her throat. "Th-that doesn't prove anything."
"Oh, just relax. It'll all be fine!" said Pinkie with a wide grin. "That's a Pinkie Promise!"
"I hope you're right, Pinkie," Fluttershy said meekly. "I'd hate to have gone through so much trouble to organize this only for it to fall apart at the last minute."
"Well, we'll just have to make sure that doesn't happen," said Sunset with a nod. She then took a deep breath and let it out. "Okay, let's do this."
***
Adagio stared down as the stage from the makeshift catwalk above, a mischievous grin plastered on her face. A veritable treasure trove of troublemaking goodies decorated the walkway. From buckets of paint to rotten fruit to cream pies, she had everything she needed to ruin the Rainbooms.
"Most excellent, milord," she cackled. "Once I use your gifts here to defeat the Rainbooms, nothing will stand in our way!"
Just then, a spotlight from above shined on the stage, and a distorted voice rang out over the intercom.
"Ladies and gentlemen! Thank you for coming to this fine performance tonight!" the voice announced. "Let's dive right in and give you all what you came for. Put your hands together for your friends and mine, the Rainbooms!"
There was a great round of applause as the Rainbooms ventured awkwardly onstage. The applause stopped abruptly when Sonata and Aria were revealed to be with them. Adagio was equally surprised.
What are those two morons doing down there? she wondered. We were supposed to meet up here to sabotage the concert. Ugh, can't they do anything right? I suppose it's true what they say. If you want something done, you have to do it yourself.
"Hey. Didn't those two try to take over the school?"
"Yeah! And they totally sucked at singing!"
"Those guys are a bunch of jerks! Get 'em off the stage!"
Scattered boos mixed in with the cross-conversation. Sunset bit her lip.
"Not exactly a great start, Discord," she muttered under her breath.
Vinyl, however, was not perturbed in the slightest. She casually booted up a track into her stereo and turned it on. The crowd was suddenly silenced by the music blasting out of her speakers. The Rainbooms exchanged looks and shrugged. They all knew there was no turning back now. They all readied their instruments, and Pinkie raised her sticks into the air.
"Ah-one, ah-two, ah-one-two-three-four!"
With that, the Rainbooms launched right into the song. Just as Pinkie said, they found that they were playing flawlessly, even though they had never performed this kind of music before. Even Sonata and Aria were able to keep up on the instruments Discord provided for them. Although Sunset tried her best to keep her guard up, she couldn't help but get caught up in the swinging music. Eventually, she completely lost herself, shredding on her guitar with a fiery passion. A warm sensation flowed throughout her body, and she knew exactly what was coming next.
Sure enough, the Rainbooms all transformed. One by one, their hair grew into long ponytails, and small ears appeared on their heads. Sunset basked in the aura of friendship the radiated from her and her bandmates, but in the back of her mind, she was puzzled. Discord was giving them access to their Equestrian magic. If they had to, they could petrify him at any time. She couldn't think of any reason for him to give himself such a handicap, and yet he did. However, such concerns were drowned out by the compelling music she played.
Meanwhile, Adagio watched from her perch with a scowl on her face.
"This isn't good," she mused. "Their Equestrian magic is dangerous. I have to stop this."
After a quick look around, she spied a spotlight pointed directly over Fluttershy. A nefarious grin formed on her face as she recalled the Rainbooms' first set in the Battle of the Bands.
"Let's see how well their magic works once that runt flees the stage like the coward she is," she giggled, walking over to the spotlight. She positioned the spotlight ever so carefully, making sure that it was directly above Fluttershy's head. With a twinkle in her eye, she flipped the switch.
Suddenly, a bright flash erupted from the spotlight, right into Adagio's face. With a scream, she stumbled back and fell against the railing. When she recovered her vision, she saw that the spotlight was shooting out of the wrong end for some inexplicable reason. Quickly getting to her feet, she marched over to the light and tried to turn it around. But despite her efforts, the light would not budge.
Maybe he's testing me, she thought, trying to stave off the frustration. He does seem to like jokes, after all. Alright, we can still ruin them!
She then looked over at the grand piano where Rarity was sitting. Just above it were the buckets of paint, which displayed every color of the rainbow. Adagio tiptoed over to the buckets and hefted one up.
"She won't be so fond of those stupid rainbows once this ruins her precious outfit," she said with a sneer. With a muted grunt, she flung the paint over Rarity, hoping to drench her in the stuff. However, the trail of paint did not meet its target. It instead did a loop in midair, as if it were an airplane pulling out of a difficult maneuver. Adagio's jaw dropped in astonishment, and in her moment of stunned surprise, the paint flew right into her mouth. As she forced back her reflex to swallow the stuff, she felt a tingling sensation that she didn't quite expect from paint. Her face flashed multiple colors in rapid succession, and the tingling gradually turned into burning. In a matter of seconds, she felt as though her mouth was on fire.
"DAH~! S-S-S-SPICY~!"
She ran back and forth across the catwalk, flailing her arms and howling in pain. Strangely enough, her screams could not be heard over the Rainbooms' music. After a few seconds, she tripped and fell face first into one of the cream pies. The soothing cream nullified the sting from the spicy paint. She got up and sputtered, wiping the cream from her eyes just as the voice over the loudspeaker made itself known again.
"On trumpet, give it up for Sonata Dusk!"
All of the lights suddenly converged on Sonata. Although taken aback at first, Sonata quickly launched into a trumpet solo as soon as the chorus was over. Everyone watched in awe as she played with such shining enthusiasm. It was as if the trumpet was something she had been practicing her whole life, even though it was thrust upon her by Discord not a few minutes ago. What's more, she didn't even seem to notice. Just like the rest of the Rainbooms, she was swept up in the fervor of the music.
Adagio looked over at the rotten fruit, eggs, and cream pies all ready for her to use. She then turned back to Sonata and shrugged.
"Well, at least you idiots will be of some use to me," she said, snagging an egg. "Sorry, Sonata. It's nothing personal."
She drew back the egg and threw it at Sonata with all her might. But just as it left her fingertips, something rammed into the back of her head, causing her to stumble forward. Quickly, she got her bearings and reached behind her. Through her thick head of hair, she could feel a slimy substance trickling down her neck. When she withdrew her hand to see what it was, she found that it was covered with egg yolk. Even more surprising, Sonata kept on playing like nothing happened.
Fuming, Adagio snatched up a tomato. Without thinking, she threw it at Sonata. Once again, something slapped against her head with a dull splat. She reached behind her to feel it. This time, her hand was covered in squashed tomato while Sonata remained unscathed. Adagio raised an eyebrow.
"Okay, something funny's going on here," she snarled, taking a pie into her hand. She raised it to throw at Sonata, but stopped short. She focused instead on her peripheral vision, waiting for a culprit to show itself. Just then, out of the corner of her eye, Discord's shadow flashed into view.
"Ah-ha! Got—"
She spun around and tried to throw the pie at the shadow, only to smash it into her own face. Her body trembled as she let out a deep-throated growl.
While Adagio was cleaning herself off, something amazing was happening to Sonata. As she continued playing her solo, she began to float up off of the ground. Sunset noticed this and turned her head. Just as she did so, a gentle glow radiated from Sonata's body. Silky pink sea horse fins sprouted from her back, her ponytail grew in length, and small pony ears appeared on her forehead. Sunset recoiled, almost cutting one of her guitar strings with her pick. Aria's jaw dropped to the floor. The other Rainbooms were equally baffled by this turn of events, but for whatever reason, it wasn't enough to stop the music. However, Sonata didn't even seem to notice her transformation. She was focusing solely on the pleasant feeling that spread throughout her entire body.
"On saxophone, Aria Blaze!"
Aria snapped out of her stunned silence as soon as her name was called. Without many other options, she launched into a solo of her own. Just like with Sonata, her tunes were vibrant and smooth for someone who had little to no experience with the instrument. Sunset watched with increased interest as Aria went through her own transformation. The same silky fins; the same longer hair; even the same pony ears. When her transformation was complete, Adagio had finally wiped off the last bit of pie to see what was going on. Her eyes became as wide as dinner plates as she watched Aria's magnificent performance.
"Th-that's Equestrian magic!" she exclaimed. "They're getting their magic back! WHY ARE THEY GETTING THEIR MAGIC BACK?! THAT POWER SHOULD BE MINE!"
Sunset faintly heard Adagio's infuriated outburst above, but she was too engrossed by Sonata and Aria to pay it much mind. The wheels in her mind were kicked into overdrive as she tried to process what was occurring before her. However, the fast-paced song that she and the Rainbooms played made it difficult for her to concentrate on finding answers.
"On guitar, Rainbow Dash!"
As soon as the spotlights shifted from Aria to Rainbow Dash, she wasted no time launching into her own solo. As always, she shredded her guitar with expert precision, and her Equestrian magic practically exploded from her body. On the catwalk above, Adagio suddenly noticed that she was snapping her fingers along with the beat. She quickly grabbed her hand, only to discover that she was tapping her foot. She clamped down on her foot, only to bob her head. She gripped both sides of her head, only to sway her hips. No matter what she did, some part of her body was compelled to move in time with Rainbow Dash's riffs.
"N-no! S-stop it!" she shouted at her own body. "This is insanity; this is mayhem; this is not the least bit delightful!"
But much to her dismay, her body did not follow her commands. At least, not until the next solo was announced.
"On piano, Rarity!"
When she finally regained her composure, angry veins were bulging out of Adagio's head.
"That does it," she spat. "No more Ms. Nice Siren! I will have my revenge, Discord or no Discord!"
As Rarity's fingers gracefully waltzed along the keys of the grand piano, Adagio marched over to a stepladder and climbed down from the catwalk. As soon as she stepped off the ladder, she scanned the area before her and frowned.
"Okay, there has to be a circuit breaker somewhere around here," she pondered aloud. "Once I trip that, I can take those Lamebooms out of commi—"
Her thoughts were interrupted when she heard a low growl just over the sound of Rarity's piano playing. She turned around, and her face lost all color. The four dogs from the night before were standing before her, arching their backs and ready to pounce. The red doberman licked its chops while the cross-eyed mutt simply blinked.
"N-no. N-not you again," Adagio stammered, slowly backing away. "Go away! L-leave me alone! Heel!"
"And on drums, Pinkie Pie!"
As soon as Pinkie's drum solo was announced, the dogs leapt at Adagio. Adagio screamed at the top of her lungs, but unfortunately for her, her cries were drowned out by Pinkie wailing on the drums with her usual flair. After a few seconds, everyone else joined in for the chorus once again. Sunset looked out into the crowd, and saw that everyone in the audience were enjoying themselves. They were tapping their feet, clapping their hands, and cheering them on. Any misgivings they had about the Sirens being onstage had vanished entirely. Sonata and Aria looked happier than she had ever seen them before, and even the other Rainbooms appeared to be much more relaxed. Something inside Sunset stirred. She couldn't quite tell if it was relief, guilt, or some other feeling, but whatever it was, it was causing tears to well up in her eyes.
"Alright, Sunny! Take us home!" Pinkie hollered.
Sunset shook herself and strummed her guitar. Much to her surprise, the sound that came out was not that of a string instrument, but of brass horns. But instead of questioning it, she decided to just roll with it and continue playing.
Considering everything else that just happened, this is the least of my worries, she thought, concluding the song with one final strum of her guitar. At least Fluttershy's concert wasn't ruined.
Sure enough, the audience had erupted into applause, chanting the Rainbooms' name over and over again. Sunset let out a small sigh and waved to the crowd along with her bandmates. Despite the questions and complicated emotions plaguing her, she felt that they could wait until she had to face Discord again.