The Mane Six tore through Twilight's library, throwing books off the shelves, and going through them one by one.
"Has anypony found anything yet?" called Twilight
"Nothing," replied Rarity, paging through a book with her horn.
Pinkie Pie speed read through one book after the other.
"Nyet, Nada, Zip!"
Twilight banged her head on the wall in frustration.
"I won't believe for a second that the grey crystal's magic is indestructible."
"What if it is indestructible?" Rainbow Dash welled up. "There’ll be no sky to fly in, and my house is up there. Where am I going to live?"
"I need sunlight to grow my apples.” Said Applejack, “How in the hay am I supposed to grow apples with no sun? It just don't add up."
Rainbow Dash noticed that Fluttershy was missing.
"Hey! Where's Fluttershy?"
The ponies looked around but Fluttershy wasn't there.
"Fluttershy!" they called. "Where are you?"
They looked in all corners of the library: under tables, inside closets, behind Twilight’s shower curtains.
"Wait a minute," said Twilight.
She lit up her horn and trotted upstairs to her bedroom. The others followed her up.
"Fluttershy? Are you in here?"
"No," whimpered a soft voice.
Twilight smirked.
"Isn't there any pony in here?" she asked nonchalantly.
"Nopony," Fluttershy squeaked back.
Twilight saw a lump underneath her bedclothes with a long pink tail hanging out. She crept up the stairs to her bed slowly.
"There must be somepony, because somepony had to say...no pony."
Twilight pulled the covers off her bed. Fluttershy shrieked and buried her head under Twilight's pillow.
"Fluttershy, what are you doing in my bed?"
"What do you think I'm doing?" Fluttershy whimpered. "I'm hiding."
Twilight pulled on Fluttershy's tail with her magic.
"Come on..Fluttershy...we need you..."
"I'm sorry Twilight," Flutters cried, "but the thought of everything covered in unending darkness is just unbearable to me."
Rarity came up to her, rubbing her back with her hoof.
"It's alright darling. We're all scared."
"Ooh," Pinkie fretted. "It'll be no fun having parties with no sun. Come to think of it, with no more sun how will we ever be able to have fun again? Everypony will probably turn into sad ponies and never laugh or smile ever again! And there were so many things in life I’ll never get to do.”
Pinkie imagined something she always dreamed of doing….
xeroxing her butt on a photocopier.
….“ISN'T THERE SOME WAY TO DESTROY THE CRYSTAL!!!"
Just then Spike came running up the stairs.
"Hey! Ponies! I found a book about the crystal, and there is a way to destroy it.”
"Gimmie that book!!!"
Twilight magically lurched the book across the room toward her, taking Spike with it.
"Woah!"
Spike hit the wall with a thud, stars swirling comically around his head.
"Maybe wait ‘till I let go of it?"
They all gathered around Twilight as she turned to the correct page.
"The Grey Crystal. An ancient relic of dark magic, it produces a supposedly indestructible grey cloud of energy that covers the land in eternal darkness. Discovered by Star Swirl the Bearded on one of his many quests beyond Equestria’s border. Terrified of its power, Star Swirl hid the crystal away in the cave he found it in, and then spent years researching a way to destroy it should the magic ever be used.”
"Yeah yeah, we know that already." Rainbow piped up. "What's the way to stop it?"
"It turns out, the crystal’s weakness is exposure to a consistent really loud sound, specifically music."
"Music?!" Pinkie shrieked. "Why didn’t you say so!"
Pinkie sprinted for a window with a tuba. Sticking the bell out the window she blew a long low note as hard a she could. She blew several times in a row and was soon out of breath.
“It’s…not…working.”
"Not that kind of music, Pinkie."
Twilight continued to read.
"It says that rock music is the kind that the crystal is most vulnerable to."
"Rock music?" Rarity deadpanned.
"That shouldn't be hard.” said Rainbow, “We'll just get Sapphire Shores, Maredonna, or the Rusty Shoes to play..."
"But there's a catch," Twilight read. "It’s immune to music made by ponies. Its weakness is music that's not of this world and made by the bond of a strong friendship."
"So it can only be destroyed...with rock music...made by friendship...that's not of this world?" Fluttershy scratched her mane in confusion.
Pinkie rolled her eyes around while holding her head.
"And I thought my brain was loco in the coco."
"So where in tarnation do we find this rock and roll music made of a friendship bond that's from...someplace else?" asked Applejack.
Twilight thought for a minute.
"I think I know where we can find out."
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A few hours later, the ponies were back in Canterlot running up to Princess Celestia's palace. The Princess paced in the main hall.
“Princess Celestia!” called Twilight. “We’ve found a way to destroy the crystal.”
“How?” asked the princess.
Twilight sheepishly scratched her mane.
“Well…it’s kind of a funny thing, and I don’t know how to explain it.”
“Rock music from another dimension made by a strong musical bond,” said Pinkie Pie.
“Princess Celestia,” Twilight continued. “Do you know anything about other dimensions…if there are any?”
Celestia thought for a moment.
“Follow me.”
Princess Celestia led the ponies to a shelf in the palace library.
"During his elder years, Star Swirl mounted expeditions to explore and study different dimensions than our own. His findings were all recorded into research volumes."
Celestia searched around the books on the shelf.
"Here it is."
She pulled on a book with her magic which tripped a switch. The bookshelf moved aside revealing a hidden chamber below the library. Inside the chamber were rows of bookshelves.
"I kept all of the volumes on his expeditions here in this chamber."
Twilight gasped, with sparkling eyes.
"How did I not find this! I mean I've read every book in this library, I can’t believe I never stumbled into this room!! These shelves are just oozing with new information. WooHooHoo!!!"
"Whatever you're looking for to defeat the crystal," Celestia continued, "you'll most likely find it in here."
"Come on girls, we don't have much time!"
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The ponies and dragon pored over the books on other worlds and dimensions, going through each volume in groups and trying to find a record of the type of music that would help them.
"Has anypony found anything yet?" called Twilight.
"No, nothin." Applejack answered.
"It's hard to believe,” said Rainbow “but it looks like other dimensions have no concept about music at all, let alone rock and roll. Seems Equestria is the only one that does.”
Rarity disgruntledly paged through more volumes of books.
“Why did it have to be rock and roll?” she grumbled. “It could of been nice classical concertos, an operatic aria, or maybe even show tunes, but rock and roll? Ickhhh. Nevertheless if it’s what takes to save Equestria.”
"Ughhh!!" Twilight groaned. "This is so frustrating."
"Hey girls,” said Pinkie cheerfully, “How did the ponies save Equestria from eternal darkness?”
“Pinkie, this is hardly the time for jokes.” Twilight grunted.
“I agree Twilight,” the pink mare replied. “That’s why I’m asking the question.”
“Okay, I’ll bite,” Twilight replied sarcastically. “How?”
“By finding a whole shelf of rock and roll bands from another universe!!”
Pinkie happily spread out her hooves showing the other ponies a whole shelf of books.
“Pinkie? How did you find this shelf?”
“Easy peasy! While everypony else was pouring through every other book, I used my neatly weetly Pinkie knowledge to find this one…
~Flashing back to a few seconds before, Pinkie just went eeny meeny miny moe on a random wall and happened to pick the right one.~
Twilight deadpanned at the smiling pink pony.
“I won’t even ask.”
She turned to the shelf of books looking through the titles.
“Wow, there are tons of rock bands in here. Lots of them, from A to Z.”
“What kind of world is this?” Fluttershy asked.
Twilight looked through some other books on the shelf.
“It’s a universe made up of a type of creature called a human”
"Human?" said Rainbow Dash. “What’s a human?”
Twilight searched through one of the books, and found a picture of one.
"That's a human."
"What a strange looking creature," said Applejack. "Never seen anythin that walked on two legs and had long claws."
Spike raised an eyebrow.
“Well,” said Rainbow. “No matter how strange they look, they’ve got rock music.”
"There's so many of them, there's bound to be a band in here that can help us." Twilight pulled down the first book from the shelf. The ponies gathered round Twilight to read with her.
"Let’s see here,” Twilight began. “Starting in the 'A's; here’s ABBA, A four piece band of two married couples from the country of Sweden. Known for chart topping songs like Dancing Queen, Mamma Mia, and Take a Chance on Me, they had a big following all over the world and their music is still loved..."
"Wait,” read Fluttershy. “It says down here they haven't played in years and they're all divorced."
Twilight continued to the next section.
"Okay, umm AC/DC."
"They look pretty cool," said Rainbow Dash. “Produced some of the best known hard rock songs.”
"But wait," said Applejack. "The first lead singer died."
“And what kind of respectable creature dances around in skimpy shorts anyway.” Rarity quipped.
"Aerosmith?" said Pinkie.
"Oooh, how bout the Allman Brothers?" said Applejack.
“Maybe Asia?” said Fluttershy.
The ponies kept reading through different bands of the human world one by one…
"Hey! This one looks pretty cool! The Beatles," said Pinkie Pie. "Says they made some of the most popular music of their time and were all really good friends."
"Not them either," said Twilight. "It says down here they broke up after eight years together, and two of the members are dead."
"Shoot," said Pinkie, "and they even had a song about a walrus, too."
"Keep reading," said Applejack. "There has to be some band in here."
They read further down the books.
“Boston,” read Fluttershy “A super group of six very talented musicians. Known for complex music with positive messages like More Than a Feeling, and…
“They changed members and the lead singer's dead.” Applejack moaned.
Undeterred, the girls continued on reading…
"These guys look cool," said Rainbow. "Kiss."
"Ughh!" Rarity gagged. "They look like freaks!"
"They're not even friends anyway," Twilight replied, reading the next few sentences on the page.
"How bout these fellas," said Applejack. "They call themselves Led Zeppelin."
“They might do,” said Twilight. “They all stayed friends, never changed line up members, and are known as one of the godfathers of rock and roll.”
“Sounds like we found our guys.” Rainbow Dash squeed.
“But wait…”Twilight read. “The drummer died, and they haven’t toured or made a record since.”
“Gosh what is wrong with these bands,” Rainbow Dash groaned. “Is rock and roll really this lame in other universes?”
“I think it’s lame no matter what universe.” Rarity huffed till Rainbow glared at her.
“Though, everypony has their own tastes.”
Pinkie Pie scratched her head
"How does a blimp made out of lead fly anyway?
They read through some more bands…
"Maybe Pink Floyd?" said Fluttershy.
"Cool!" said Pinkie. "Any band with Pink is my kind of band."
She looked at a picture of the band in the book.
"Which one is pink?"
"No, they've split up too," said Rainbow Dash.
"I don't like the looks of this, girls," said Twilight.
"Keep readin’ sugarcube," said Applejack. "We're only down to Q"
"This band looks promising," said Rarity. "Queen."
"They might do," said Twilight. "They're bonded by a strong friendship and made very popular music."
"Bohemian Rhapsody. That sounds divine."
"But the lead singer died," said Fluttershy
Twilight's face went long with disbelief.
"Ughhh! I don't believe this! We've looked through every rock band in this world, and every single one of them are either broken up, have changed members, or an important member is dead. I give up!!"
Twilight banged her head on the shelf, causing a book in the 'R' section to fall out. The book landed open on top of a sleeping Spike. Waking up, Spike read the page it had opened too. His eyes lit up.
"Hey girls, have a look at this!”
Spike tossed the book to Twilight.
"Right there at the bottom of the page."
Twilight began reading.
"This band looks interesting. Rush, A rock power trio from the city of Toronto in the country of Canada. Composed of the combined talents of Alex Lifeson..."
"Lifeson?" asked Pinkie Pie. "Who came up with that name?"
"...Neil Peart, and Geddy Lee. This trio is well known for their dynamic, complex music writing, electrifying high-energy concerts, and a devoted following of fans around the world."
"Sounds awesome," said Rainbow Dash. "Like the name too. Rush. They must be fast."
Twilight kept reading, and gasped.
"What is it darling?"
"Girls, listen to this. Rush is a rarity in the music world as not only have they retained the same lineup for over 30 years, all three members are bonded by a strong family-like friendship!"
"That sounds too good to be true!" said Applejack.
"Could they be the ones we’re looking for?" asked Rainbow.
"They have to be," said Twilight. "I mean we looked through so many other bands from their world and most of them have either broken up, lost members, changed line ups, or something, but they haven't. If we have any chance of destroying the crystal, I'd say Rush are our best hope."
"They better be," said Spike. "You should have seen the bands after them, there was one group who like to smash pumpkins, and another that with a fear of tears."
"Then what are we waiting for!" Rainbow shouted. "Let's go tell the princess!"
Rainbow flew out of the chamber while the others galloped behind her.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The group of ponies burst into Celestia’s throne room.
"Princess Celestia!" cried Twilight. "We've found a band that could help us."
"You have?"
"Yes, a band called Rush."
Twilight showed Celestia the book.
"It says they create music produced through the bond of a strong friendship, which is what we need to destroy the cloud and the crystal. If we bring them here, and have them put on a show in the Satin Stadium..."
"That crystal is done for!" said Applejack.
"Well done, Twilight," said Celestia.
"Um, girls," Fluttershy interrupted, "How are we going to get Rush here?"
"Fluttershy's right," said Rarity. "How do we transport this...Rush group from their world to ours?"
"Princess Celestia. Do you think we could use the Elements of Harmony to teleport them here?" asked Twilight.
"Yes Twilight, you may,” replied Celetia. “Although I don't approve of using the Elements for such an act, the dire circumstances of our world come first. Do what needs to be done, my little ponies."
Twilight turned to her friends.
"Let's get the Elements and get back to Ponyville."