//------------------------------//
// ...And A Headache, Too! 
// Story: I Feel A Song Coming On! 
// by Nines 
//------------------------------//

It was the last Saturday before their senior year began, and the girls were at the outdoor shopping mall hunting for new clothes. Their latest stop was at a lingerie store. Outside the store, a standoff was occurring. A stray napkin blew across the paved concrete like a tumbleweed as two parties faced off: on one side, a paragon of fashion, on the other, a bookworm and an athlete.

Rarity broke first.

"Will you stop being a child and just get in here, please!?" she snapped. Her fists were on her hips and an irritated scowl on her face.

In the middle of the plaza, Rainbow turned her back on her fashionable friend with arms crossed and nose up in the air. "The heck I will!"

"You cannot wear sports bras forever! It will--" Rarity faltered, trying to come up with something dire. Her face lit up with wicked enthusiasm. "It will stunt your growth!" she said.

"Oh puh-lease!"

"That is absolutely not true," Twilight said, frowning. "Genes and hormones control breast growth, not clothing. Besides," Twilight took a studious look at her friend. "I'm pretty sure she'll be stuck at a B-cup."

Rainbow glared at her, her face reddening. "Sci-Twi, if you're trying to back me up, knock it off."

"What? At least you're bigger than I am!"

"That doesn't make me feel better!"

"If you two would please stop squabbling like children, you might actually discover something of great use here," Rarity said with a haughty toss of her hair.

The pair gave her sour looks.

"Why is it any of your business what kind of underwear I wear?" Rainbow Dash groused.

Rarity cocked a hip and tilted an eyebrow. "Maybe because I've had to suffer the sight of you before and after PE for the last year?"

"Woah, woah! Time out." Rainbow’s eyes bugged. "Are you telling me you watched me changing in the locker room!?"

The fashionista scoffed. "Well I'm not sure how I was supposed to ignore your colorful briefs for six months. Honestly, Rainbow Dash, what self-respecting woman wears cartoon characters on her derrière?"

Rainbow sputtered, face turning red.

Meanwhile, inside the store, Sunset Shimmer and Fluttershy were with Applejack.

"Ooh, this would look gorgeous on you!" Sunset said, holding up a silky green night slip. "It brings out your eyes!"

Applejack blushed and pushed Sunset's hands away. "Now why would I need pajamas t'bring out my eyes if I'm just gonna be shuttin' them at night?"

"That's not the point!"

"Then what is the point?"

Sunset returned the slip to the rack with a pout. "To feel sexy!"

"And I need that like a fish needs a bicycle."

"It's very comfortable, Applejack!" Fluttershy said with a pleasant smile. In her hands was a similar slip, but in light pink. "I'm going to buy one for myself. I love wearing silk when it's warm. It feels very cool on my skin."

"W-well wouldn't it be odd if both of us had the same kinda PJs?" Applejack asked. Her blush intensified, making her freckles harder to see.

Sunset put her hands on her hips. "AJ, for the last time, these are not pajamas! They're lingerie. Say it with me: Lawn-jer-ey!"

Applejack hooked a thumb into her front pocket and tugged her hat brim low over her eyes. "Can we just git going? Ya'll are done right? I've about had it here."

Sunset sobered and exchanged a glance with Fluttershy.

"Hey.” She lay a hand on Applejack’s arm. "I'm sorry. You're right. It's not fair to make you uncomfortable. You're not interested. You've made that clear. "

"Oh my, yes!" Fluttershy added with concern. "We should have stopped when we saw your fear."

"I ain't afraid!" came the heated reply, "I just prefer more practical gear--" Applejack stopped short, her eyes fluttering. She looked quickly between her two friends. "Were... Were we starting to rhyme there for a second?"

Fluttershy stiffened. "Maybe a little?"

Sunset started looking around them, her face tensed with worry. "Where are the others?" When no response came, she returned her attention to her friends. The color drained from Applejack's face as she stared down at her boot. It was tapping rhythmically on the floor.

"Sunset," Applejack rasped out. "I--I think I feel a song coming on!"

Sunset pursed her lips. 

She grabbed AJ’s arm and started to drag her toward the exit. "Come on! I don't see the others in here. We need to regroup, and fast!"

Fluttershy whimpered, replacing the pink night slip before hurrying after them.

Outside the lingerie store, they found Rainbow Dash, Rarity, and Twilight standing close to each other. They were fidgeting and wore nervous expressions. It wasn't normal nervous energy either: they were moving in sync to a rhythm no one else could hear. Rarity was tapping it out on her upper arm with her fingers, Twilight was gently bobbing her head from side to side, and Rainbow was bouncing on the balls of her feet.

"Where is Pinkie Pie?" Sunset demanded.

"We thought she was with you!" Rarity said. Her voice was strained.

Sunset Shimmer covered her face with her hand. "Urgh! We can't pony-up in public anymore! Is she even trying to keep from doing it!?"

"It's Pinkie Pie," Rainbow Dash said with a grimace. Sweat was on her brow and her body looked tense. "What did you expect?"

"Common sense? I don't know how, 'Government scientists shoving needles into the corners of our eyes,' failed to make an impression!"

Fluttershy shuddered, her hands covering her face. "Please don't bring that up again!"

"Look!" Rainbow cried out. She pointed down the plaza. "I think I see Pinkie!"

Everyone else turned to see that Pinkie was, in fact, bounding about the fountain, her feet dancing sprightly at the water's edge. A small crowd had gathered around her, but it was growing. 

It happened whenever their magic began to spill out: people seemed to gravitate toward them, unaware of how they were being affected by the supernatural energy. It wasn't like the hypnotic subjugation of the Sirens' music, but rather a subconscious suggestion that something interesting and exciting might be about to happen, and that it might be worth hanging around to find out what. This subconscious enthusiasm let the magic that fountained from the girls weave its way through everyone around them, connecting them in a net of positivity and celebration that usually manifested in incredibly coordinated dance routines between people who had never practiced a single step together. Sometimes, people even joined in the chorus. 

Without a word, Sunset and her friends started to run towards the fountain. When they neared, their worst fears were confirmed. The music that they had been feeling, but not actually hearing, was now coming in clear all around them, as if an orchestra had set up somewhere nearby.

In her characteristically bright and trilling style of singing, Pinkie began:

"Oh, my name is Pinkie,
And I am here to say
The sun is bright and shining
Yes it's time to dance and say--!"

Rainbow cut in as she jumped up onto the edge of the fountain, a scowl on her face:

"No way!
Just stop it
Please, Pinkie can't you see?
We came here for some shopping
Not a flash mob of glee!"

"Rainbow, that is not helping!" Rarity snapped.

Fluttershy put a hand on Rarity’s shoulder. When she opened her mouth, she sang--

"We may not want to dance
We may not want to sing
But can we keep our tempers
From ri-sing?"

It wasn't until after she finished singing a drawn-out note on the last word that she squeaked and clapped her hands over her mouth. Rarity huffed and gestured at Pinkie and Rainbow.

"Darling, forgive me
But my patience has grown thin
Today was to be simple
Now here we are again!

Magical shenanigans
Are trying on their own
They're even worse when
They're forced by
Friends who should have known!"

Pinkie let out a snorting giggle. She did a cartwheel on the fountain's edge and she piped out:

"Come on girls, it's easy
There's no reason to frown
Why can't we have some fun
While we're here in town?"

She did a forward somersault off the fountain and tap-danced her way towards the others, two bystanders falling in behind her at either side as they danced with her. One was a bearded rocker with a mohawk, studded jacket, and face tattoos that made his face look like a skull. The other was an elderly woman with silver hair and beige geriatric shoes. Her walker stood abandoned just a few feet away.

Pinkie continued her melodic wheedling:

"The sky is clear
The time is right
Let's have some fun
It will be all right!"

Sunset Shimmer buried her face in her hands and groaned, "Ugh, here we go."

Applejack grabbed her by the shoulders and shook her. "We can't just quit! We gotta do something!"

Sunset lifted her face from her hands.

"AJ, let's face it
This thing is going downhill
There's no point trying to fight it
The song has its own will!"

She pressed her fingers into the sides of her head, the music she'd been fighting bursting from her like water from a dam.

"I'll fix this
I promise
I'm sure there is a spell
We'll wipe these people's memories
And heck, maybe ours as well?"

The crowd around them did a double-take. "Wait, what?"

Twilight laughed nervously.

"Spells? Memory wipes?
I think she meant to say
We're just your average teenagers
Out for a nice day!"

Rainbow snorted as she jumped down from the fountain.

"Oh sure, we're 'normal'
As normal as it gets
When songs erupt
And we're all stuck
Doing kicks and pirouettes!"

Applejack crossed her arms, her lips pursing. "I ain't doing any of that today. My hips still sore from last week's big dance number!"

Pinkie did a spin, her two dance partners twirling off back into the crowd, where they ignited those around them to start doing a jaunty shuffle step. The party girl slid to a stop in front of AJ and trilled out:

"Applejack, let go!
It's more fun to play
We needed a distraction--"

"And ain't distractions just your way?" Applejack said with a scowl, then winced.

Pinkie laughed and threw up her hands.

"The sky is clear
The time is right
Let's have some fun
It will be all right!"

The girls looked between each other as the people around them continued their line dance (though there were a few young people who had broken off from the neat rows of dancers to do backflips and handstands).

"I suppose we could?" Rarity said.

Fluttershy smiled. "It may be fun!"

"But what about everyone?" Applejack crooned. Then she slapped a hand to her face.

"I'll figure it out," Sunset said wearily.

Twilight put an arm around her shoulder and sang, "I'll help with the fallout!"

Rainbow Dash groaned. "I shoulda warmed up!"

The other girls smiled at her as they stood shoulder to shoulder. Together they sang as they broke into a simple box-step, their pony ears and other features appearing in a brilliant flash of light as they did so:

"The sky is clear
The time is right
Let's have some fun
Don’t be uptight!"

Laughter rang among them. Rainbow Dash smiled and shrugged. She fell into step next to Applejack as they sang together in unison, their hearts igniting with wild magic. There was much twirling, jumping, and jazz hands. As they neared the end, the supernatural music began to fade. Gradually, people stopped dancing. Some simply wandered off, their eyes glazed as the event slid off their minds like water off smooth plastic. Those of stronger mind and will stood looking confused, their brains still trying to process what had happened. At the song’s close, these stragglers were what the girls focused on.

“Please, right this way folks. Step right up, step right up!” Pinkie said with her old-timey announcer voice as she and the others corralled the remaining people near the fountain. “Prepare yourselves for a treat! A magic show!”

“Does she have to call it a magic show?” Sunset muttered as she took out a pencil from her purse.

“You sure this is gonna work?” Applejack asked with a worried frown.

“Let’s hope.” Sunset began to draw a circle around the group. She tried to move quickly. Some of the people started to murmur to one another as they regained their senses (Hey do you remember dancing? How did I do that? Why are we here? Hey, do you see their wings? Those are fake, right?) After completing the circle, she enlisted the help of Twilight to draw more around it-- a series of runic symbols interspersed with the mark of Magic, Princess Twilight’s cutie mark.

That done, Sunset had the girls gathered together and held hands before the small crowd. Shimmer cleared her throat. “And now for the, uh… magic trick.”

“Your cooperation is appreciated!” Fluttershy chirped with a nervous smile.

Sunset closed her eyes and started:

“What you’ve done,
And what you’ve seen
Are things that are not
As they seem

Let this thought go
Let your memories flow
That what transpired
Was an elaborate show!

You played your part
You danced so well
A very simple story to tell

Of how you joined
A flash mob scene
After weeks of practice
A choreographed team!”

There was no flash of magic or sparkling glow apart from the girls pony ears vanishing from sight again. Sunset Shimmer could see the suspicion and confusion in the people’s eyes melt away to contentment and even excitement.

“We really killed it, huh?” One man said to another. “I never thought I’d join a flash mob! I’m glad all those hours practicing paid off.”

“I hope someone caught it on video!” A woman said next.

“Geez, I hope not!” Rainbow Dash muttered.

Little by little, the last of the unsuspecting dancers left.

“That was a good solution, Sunset!” Twilight said with an approving nod.

Sunset rubbed the back of her neck. “I figured it’d be safer to modify their memories rather than all-out erase them.” She smiled. “Plus, they feel so good about themselves this way!”

“They aren’t the only ones!” Pinkie said with a little hop. “How about it, girls? That was mega fun, wasn’t it? Let’s go again!”

In unison, the reply was clear. “No!”