//------------------------------// // 3. A Surprise Player // Story: Guitar Hero: Equestria Girls // by ThePegaKris //------------------------------// Meanwhile at Canterlot High, Sunset Shimmer grabbed her magic book from her locker and she was now able to contact Princess Twilight, like she always did. "Alright, now to get back to A.J.'s house and..." Suddenly, she was stopped by Principal Celestia in the hallway. "Hello Sunset!" The sun then shined down on the elder. "Hi, Principal Celestia," as Sunset replied, "I was just about to be on my way out!" She gave back a big smile. "I see. So what seems to bring you in today on such a fine day? It's also clear that my sister and I know that you have not done anything wrong these past couple of months. But, it's always nice to see you, regardless!" "Oh, I know!" Sunset awkwardly laughed. "Anyways, I just came to get my special book, you know the one that I write messages to Princess Twilight in." "Hehe, you've always seem to be into that delightful girl," as Principal Celestia joked, making Sunset blush, "Well, if you don't mind, but would you kindly ask her if she could come back to school? All my students seem to miss her so much, as well as my sister and I. No disrespect to the other Twilight, but it would be nice to see them both at once!" "She's awfully busy with her royal duties, but I'll try to convince her." Sunset said. "I won't let you down, Principal Celestia!" "Thank you, Sunset! Now if you will excuse me, I've got some very important calls to make in my office. Feel free to come back anytime...except on days like tomorrow! Goodbye Sunset!" She waved to her as she went to her office. "Nice meeting you! Okay, back to Applejack's house!" As the daring girl left the school, she had no time to waste, so she started to dodge traffic, cut a bunch of corners, and take shortcuts. "I'll never get tired of this!" As for Sci-Twi, her friends were impressed with her very first rehearsal. After finishing their first song of the day, they immediately put down their instruments and turned their attention to the current lead singer. "That's my girl!" Spike clapped loudly. "You rock, Twilight!" Fluttershy quietly cheered. "You are...SO AWESOME!!" Rainbow Dash gleefully made an adorable face. "Simply fabulous, darling!" as Rarity got charmed. "Nice one, sugarcube!" Applejack took off her hat with pride. "That was so...GOOD!!!" Pinkie Pie jumped for joy. "Aww, thanks so much, girls," as Sci-Twi fixed her glasses, "Though I must say, I did...feel kind of nervous going in." When she finished talking, arrived at the front yard, was her bestie, Sunset. "She's back, guys!" Rainbow pointed at Sunset, then proceeded to regroup with her. "I got the book, and let's hope that the Princess of Friendship is not caught up in another time travel loop!" She scratched her head while laughing. "Okay, gather up, girls!" "Wait, what are you going to write to her, Sunset?" Fluttershy wanted to be reminded again. "Umm, hehe, I thought you wanted me to invite her! Ah, never mind!" She took out a pen and began writing magic words. "Dear Princess Twilight, how are things going so far in Equestria? How are your new duties as not only a princess, but as an aunt as well, going too? Anyways, the girls and I really miss you again, even your best dog friend, and we were hoping you could come back! We have something special planned for you and it will be great! Your bestie, Sunset Shimmer. P.S. Principal Celestia also misses you and was hoping if you could come back to school." Sunset finally finished writing as the magic message was sent. "And now we wait..." as Pinkie looked at the sky. It was now the evening as Sunset's group were bored out of their minds while waiting for their pony friend to show up. Luckily, she did, and that even stopped Applejack from cutting down her apple trees like a crazy girl. "I'm here, I'm here!!!" as Princess Twilight ran out of breath. "Oh boy," as Fluttershy got up, "I was about to go hungry again!" "Please don't..." Rainbow, and Pinkie began to get scared as they imagined another hungry Fluttershy. "Hey friend..." Sunset gave the princess a smirk. "You didn't reply to my message, but I'm still glad that you came!" She gave her a big, old hug afterwards. "Okay, it's good...to...see...you too, but can you please let me go now?" Sunset did so and dusted her off politely. "Hi Twilight!" Everyone in the garage greeted. "Hi girls! Sunset, I'm very sorry I didn't reply soon enough! I read your message, but didn't get enough time to write back because my brother had too many things on his plate at the time. So, I helped him, but I rushed through the portal so I didn't want to keep you waiting longer!" "That's quite alright, Twilight!" Rarity frowned a bit. "As your best friends, we too, understand how much you value your family as much as we do with ours. You could've taken all the time you need with your brother and we'd still wait for you!" "I agree!" Everyone else said. "Aww, thanks so much, girls!" Twilight then went to hug all her friends, having resolved her small problems a bit more. "So, what's the special occasion?" "Allow me, gals," as Applejack stepped up, "You ever wanted to practice as a Rainboom again, Twi? We just heard the other you sing and boy, she was pretty good!" "Well, I have always wanted to improve my vocal chords, so why not? I'm in, and it'll be like old times!" She high-fived her friends in excitement. "Anything else?" "You ever heard of the game, Guitar Hero, Princess?" Rainbow asked. "Of course! It's literally in every arcade in Equestria!" This gave Sunset memories. "Now that, I do remember! Before...everything, I played the heck out of it and ever since I got to this world, I continued to play!" "Okay, what about Guitar Hero, girls?" Twilight was eager to know more. Sunset couldn't wait to reveal the other good part, so she said, "Pinkie, Rainbow, A.J., and I were chosen to enter a tournament that deals with the game and whichever band wins, gets three million dollars and the title trophy of 'Best Guitar Hero Band Ever!'" "Awesome," Twilight replied, "But who chose you four?" "We actually decided amongst ourselves!" Pinkie added. "The host of the tournament is actually Countess Coloratura!" "Eeyup." Applejack agreed, along with her brother, Big Macintosh, who came out of nowhere. "Speaking of Rara, she just texted me, saying that the rest of you get to see us compete for free! The tournament will be in Manehattan." "We're definitely going to win!" as Rainbow Dash brought out her usual confidence. "This is incredible!" The Princess of Friendship stated. "But I don't think I can make it!" "I'll take care of it, Twilight!" Sunset Shimmer held up her magic book. "Wait, I thought her friends from Equestria still don't like you, Sunset," Sci-Twi noted. "Relax, dear, Princess Twilight told them that she's very good now!" Rarity brought up. "Indeed I did. So, I can't wait to do more band practice! What song should we do?" Suddenly, Fluttershy held up her notebook, containing all her songs, and pointed to one that she wanted to do. "How about this one?" "Ah, I remember this one!" Pinkie grabbed the notebook. "Excellent choice, Fluttershy!" The other girls happily agreed to do Fluttershy's song, which made her squeal. "Hmm, but who's going to be the lead singer now?" Rainbow disappointingly wondered. "Twilight or...Twilight?" This gave Sunset an idea. "Why not both?" She smiled at what she thought was a good idea. To her surprise, both Twilights hugged each other, seeing that this will be their first duet with each other, or rather...themselves. "Don't worry, Twilights!" Fluttershy calmed down for now. "I have the lyrics here if you need them and remember that this is just practice!" Sci-Twi was actually the one who needed it more. At last, the rest of the girls picked up their instruments in order to play the next song. "Is everyone ready?" Applejack tuned her bass to the way it's supposed to be. "Ready!" They all eagerly awaited. "Pinkie, darling, you have the honors!" as Rarity fretted her fingers on her keytar. The drummer hit her sticks together to start the countdown, "1, 2, 3, 4, GO!!!" And so, the Rainbooms were more energetic and lively than they ever were. Surprisingly, neighbors all around were impressed by what they were hearing. Both Twilights' vocals sparkled, Sunset's rhythm guitar was in style, Fluttershy's tambourine swayed back and forth, Rainbow's lead guitar was shredding, Rarity's keytar charmed, Applejack's basslines were knocking it out of the park, and Pinkie's drumming really laid the beat down. One week has passed by and the day was currently Wednesday. The girls and Spike have went back and forth from school, usually each day, including Princess Twilight. At one point during her lunch period, she finally got to meet the human Starlight Glimmer. "Hmm, you look so familiar, but it's nice to meet you anyway! I'm Twilight Sparkle!" "I know!" Starlight acted like she knew the obvious. "Your friends have told me all about you and I find, not only them, but you too as well to be very nice! I'm Starlight Glimmer and it's nice to meet you too...,Princess!" "Starlight Glimmer?" The princess look confused but regained her focus. "I actually happen to have a best friend with the same name as you from Equestria! Same hair style and everything! You know these two worlds as well?" "Yeah!" The two apparently new friends then smiled at each other. "So, Starlight?" Sunset asked. "Do you have any plans later this week?" "No, but I have one next week! Before I say it, I will congratulate you four girls for being entered in the Guitar Hero tournament!" She pointed to Sunset, Rainbow, Pinkie, and A.J. "Thanks!" They replied nicely. "I must also say that I wish you the best of luck! I'm going to be in the tournament!" Starlight gave a big, happy smile to the rest of the girls. "Really?" Fluttershy seemed to be both happy and curious about her. "I can't wait to see you play! Good luck!" "Wait a minute," as Spike got suspicious, "What band are you in, Starlight? I'm surprised you haven't joined a band at this school!" "Yeah, what band do you play for?" Rainbow also got curious. "I'm the lead guitarist for the Manehattan band, the Enforcers!" Starlight said with a passion. The girls were surprised to hear this, but at the same time, felt great about Starlight. "Well, we wish you great luck as well!" Pinkie stretched her neck over. "We're all going to rock and roll!" "I'll be very honest and say that it doesn't matter who's band will be better than the other." as Applejack got sentimental. "What matters is trying your hardest and especially, having fun with your friends!" "And winning is something to be proud of, not to brag about!" Rarity added. "I learned that the hard way, and even though I won't be competing in the tournament, rooting for my best friends is what I care about the most!" "Same here!" Sci-Twi counted herself. "Like I've said a couple of times, I may not be a musical expert like the rest of the Rainbooms, but I have great respect for what comes from their hearts! I will always love you, girls..." "That, I couldn't have said better myself," as Princess Twilight felt a soft spot in her heart, "It's unfortunate that I've only been in this world a few times, but I see what you all can do... You all are great friends and I love you all as well!" "We'll always be friends, Twilights, and same with you, Starlight..." Sunset turned red in an emotional way. "We're all awesome friends...and that will never change." Dashie felt a soft spot in her heart. "Aww, thanks so much girls!" Starlight almost cried. "I really appreciate all of your support and I'm definitely sure that you four, especially, will do great in the tournament..." "Group hug, anyone?" Spike put out his paws. "I'm feeling emotional inside now... I'm rooting too for both bands!" The girls all got together and hugged each other, with Pinkie's hug being the tightest. After their big hug finished, lunch was over. Everyone went to their last couple of classes and went home for the day. Starlight, before leaving the girls to go home, explained, "I'm going to be practicing for the tournament, so good luck again!" She ran off and waved. "Bye Starlight! The girls responded and waved back. "So, should we train too?" Sunset got multiple thoughts on what to do next. "Yeah, back to my house, it is!" Rainbow started marching until Pinkie stopped her. "Wait! We're going to train more than ever for the tournament if we're going to be at our best!" "But Pinkie, it's just Guitar Hero!" Rarity laughed out loud. "You, Rainbow Dash, Sunset Shimmer, and Applejack are already great with your real instruments, so there should be no problem with the game instruments!" "She does have a point, you know..." Fluttershy whispered. "What if an injury or an accident happens in Manehattan?" "Which is why I thought of setting up a training montage for the four of us," as Pinkie looked at the fact that she was still in her Camp Everfree clothes, "I've even got an epic song for us!" So, Pinkie pulled out a stereo out of nowhere and dragged her fellow, three members to get serious. "Oh boy..." The rest of the girls hilariously thought to themselves. "Pinkie, Pinkie, Pinkie..."