//------------------------------//
// 8. Pinkie Pie Style  
// Story: Guitar Hero: Equestria Girls 
// by ThePegaKris 
//------------------------------//

"Take that, Tom!" as Rarity used a power-up attack.

"Wow, she's actually hanging in there!" A.J. noticed.

The battle threw more notes at both guitar players.

"Yay!" Fluttershy squealed while sitting in the audience. "You rock, Rarity! Woohoo!"

"Stick it to him, Miss Rarity!" Coco cheered.

"Show him how it's done, baby!" Spike clapped for his crush.

"Get him, Rarity!" Both Twilights stood up.

"I will destroy you!" She grunted at the screen. "Oh, did I break one of your strings? Too bad! What if I doubled your notes? Get some, get some, get some!"

"Okay, maybe she's taking it TOO seriously!" Sunset freaked out. "I'm just going to back away!"

"Don't." A.J. stopped her. "This is how she has fun if she's playing the guitar! Right, Pinkie?"

"Right!" They both grinned at each other.

"Look at her go!" James Hetfield exclaimed. "But, uh oh, it's almost time for the Death Drain! Can Rarity finish off Tom Morello before she runs out of attacks to hit him with?"

"Say no more, James!" Rara replied. "I sense a strategy going on with her attacks. As you can see folks, she's waiting to unleash all of them on Tom once he gets a flurry of solos going."

"I guess I'm not the only one who can sense what Rarity's up to." Sunset rolled her eyes.

"And...now!" as Rarity used all her power-ups. "Here's some whammies, difficulty spikes, and amp overloads for you! Owned!"

"Someone get me my book." Sunset had a blank expression. "I need to record what I just saw.

"Uhh, you okay, Sunset?" A.J. waved her hand in her face.

"I guess that's her way of saying how impressed she is with Rarity!" Pinkie giggled. "She won!"

"The battle's over and you've all witnessed here, ladies and gentlemen!" Rara announced. "The winner of the first match of the fifth round is the Rainbooms' newest guitarist, Rarity!"

"Let's see those hands in the air!" James urged.

The audience blasted the theater with their audible screams of joy, even with some boys, including Spike, fainting over Rarity's beauty and victory. She then wiped off her sweat.

"Thank you, thank you!" as Rarity took multiple bows and poses for the crowd.

"Congratulations Rarity!" Rara applauded. "Thanks to your first time playing in our tournament, the Rainbooms will now move on to Round Six!"

"Hehe, thank you so much!" She winked at the pop star.

"Before you step off the stage, Rarity, do you mind if you do one last thing for me?"

"Absolutely, Rara!"

"Audience, if you are nice enough to do what I ask of you, it'd be much appreciated! You too, James."

"Hmm?" Everyone wondered.

"I'd like us all...to take a moment of silence for Rainbow Dash. It's very sad knowing that she preferred to no longer compete in this tournament. She has been and always will be a loyal friend to those that she has ever known, including James and I, and most importantly, the Rainbooms. Her athleticism, musicality, friendship, and love will not be forgotten, along with her spirit! So please everyone, I want us now to all bow our heads and deeply think about all the good deeds she has done..."

The room was filled with complete silence.

"Thank you so much, everyone." Rara got her head back up. "You may go now, Rarity."

"Yes ma'am!" She saluted and went backstage.

"Shall we move on, James?" Rara questioned her co-host.

"Of course!" He fist pumped.

"I want my childhood friend back." Fluttershy covered herself up.

"Oh man." Spike was in disbelief. "Now the more time goes on, the more I feel sorry for Rainbow Dash. I'll probably pass out again!"

"We're proud of you, Rarity!" Sunset said. "Why do have your phone out?"

"I'm calling Rainbow Dash." She replied. "I'm not going to back out, I'm just going to check up on her and see if she's feeling any better." She then dialed up Rainbow's number. "Hello?"

"Ugh, who's this?" Rainbow was still tired and grumpy.

"Now that's no way to talk to one of your best friends!" Rarity sassed. "Rainbow Dash, it's me, Rarity! How are you feeling?"

"Dead inside. Why did you even call me, Rarity?"

"What? But, I...just said I wanted to check up on you, that's it!"

"Oh sure..." Rainbow Dash mumbled. "Next thing I know, you'll probably brag about taking my spot!"

"Wait, how do you know that?" Rarity got curious.

"Duh, I remember Rara saying that the tournament would be live and I'm here at home watching it." Rainbow answered. "Look, I love you, Rare, but now is not a good time to talk to me. Maybe I'll come back, but in the meantime, I don't have the energy to do that, so I'll probably talk to you later. Right now, Scootaloo needs me to do some important favors for her. Good luck out there! Say hi to Fluttershy and the others for me!" She hanged up the phone.

"Rainbow..." Rarity was cut off. 

"What did she say, Rarity?" A.J. asked.

"She's watching us play on TV while doing some favors for Scootaloo. She didn't tell me what they were, but I don't think that's relevant. I still miss her, but she did say that she'll consider returning."

"Really?" Pinkie was anxious. "I can't wait!"

"It's a maybe, Pinkie." Sunset facepalmed. "What're we going to do now?"

"The only thing we can do is continue to play in the tournament." Rarity suggested. "Like Applejack said before, it usually takes Rainbow Dash a long time to recover from sadness, so our only bet is to just stay alive until the finals. She'll probably come back then." 

"Got it!" The other three responded.

"I will admit that I'm actually having quite a bit of fun, now that I'm playing with you, girls!" Rarity smiled.

"Same here!" The other three patted Rarity on the back.

"Are you okay, Fluttershy?" Princess Twilight checked up on her.

"Hmnpf." She sniffed. "A little bit."

"I've got some tissues for you, Fluttershy." as Sci-Twi took them out. "Wipe yourself up."

"Thanks Twilight." She continued to sniff. 

"Excuse me, but I have to use the restroom, ladies!" Coco said. "I'll be right back!"

"Take care!" The rest waved to her.





Round Six. Nothing too crazy happened in the previous round, other than the audience getting wild and acting like complete maniacs.

"This is the sixth round already?" Sunset scratched her head. "I don't even like the number!"

"What makes you say that, darling?" Rarity asked.

"You wanna guess?" A.J. eyed her. "It stands for bad luck and unfairness!"

"No, I think you and Sunset are just exaggerating!" Pinkie bursted out laughing.

"We'll see about that, Pinkie!" Sunset smirked.

"Welcome back, folks, to Round Six of the Guitar Hero tournament!" James raised both of his arms. "How do you feel?"

"Fun, fun, fun, fun!" The audience chanted.

"Okay, not the response I'm looking for, but close enough!" The heavy metal vocalist said.

"Who will the Rainbooms go up against this time?" Rara turned her attention to the first screen. "Hit it!"

"All the way from Camp Everfree, near Everton City, are the Everfree Serpents!" James declared. 

"Did he...just say Camp Everfree?" Sci-Twi looked confused.

"Now which band member, or members, will be up for the challenge?" Rara then activated the second screen.

It stopped and landed on 'Drums Only.'

"Yay, that's me!" Pinkie jumped up and down.

"This time, Timber Spruce will go up first this match!" Rara tried to gather him.

"Aww." Pinkie frowned.

"Baby?" Sci-Twi's jaws dropped.

"I didn't know Twilight's boyfriend would be here!" Sunset whispered.

"Neither have we." A.J. was straightforward in her answer.

"This is for Gloriosa, the rest of my family...and for Twilight!" Timber Spruce became confident.

"Hold up, let's get your song ready, Timber!" James said while activating the last screen. "Bingo! You're good to go! You get to play along to one of my band's tunes!"

"I'm all set!" He nodded.

"Begin!" as Rara started the song. 

"I've got this!" as Timber sat back.

"Meh, we're off to a slow start." Spike fell flat on Fluttershy's lap.

"I actually don't mind that at all!" She smiled.

"You have a boyfriend?" Princess Twilight went into a bit of a fit of jealous rage. "I mean, sorry! I'm happy for myself, err, you! Fluttershy, what has Flash Sentry been up to, by the way?"

"Sorry to say this, but Sunset Shimmer...kind of told him at Camp Everfree to get over you because he was worried that you're not coming back."

"Oh." The princess sighed.

"Cheer up, Twilight!" Sour Sweet poked her head in. "Now that you're here, you can at least try to ask him out, even though his received amount of rejections might bring him down more."

"Oh no, I just thought of something!" Sci-Twi gasped. 

"What is it, Twilight?" The rest turned to her.

"Who am I supposed to be cheering for? Timber or Pinkie? I love them both, but I'm seriously stuck at this point!"

"That is a problem." Coco gulped.

"I'd say both." Princess Twilight replied. "We both know Pinkie Pie very well and even though I don't know Timber Spruce well enough, it's fair to admire both of them for their skills, that way neither of them get disappointed!"

"Thank you!" Sci-Twi said.

"Wow, I guess Camp Everfree added Guitar Hero as a new activity!" Sunset thought. "Timber's actually pulling off some things here! If he can do this, then so can you, Pinkie!"

"Thanks buddy!" She leaned in forward towards the curtains.

"I really hope Twilight doesn't get her head stuck in a barrel if she sees Pinkie beat her boyfriend." A.J. brought up.

"I'm sure she'll understand, and besides, it's not like Pinkie's going to be conceited, all of a sudden!" Sunset laughed like a horse.

"Nah, I would never be like that!" Pinkie agreed.

"Yeah, yeah!" as James Hetfield observed the current drummer. "Now we're really going into thrash metal territory!"

"I'm digging this!" Rara lit up with glee. "Way to go with changing the Star Power color to green by the way, James!"

"Thank you! I find it to be a nice touch!"

"He's not wrong!" Rarity coughed.

"You can do it, baby!" Sci-Twi cheered.

"Nice encouraging, Twilight!" Fluttershy booped her nose. "See, we have no problem with you cheering for either Timber Spruce or Pinkie Pie!"

"My best friend being happy is what I always love to see!" Spike looked up at Twilight.

"That's the spirit!" Princess Twilight swooped her arm around. 

"It's time for the big finish!" as Timber hit a few more kick notes.

"He's almost done and so far, he now has 580 thousand points." Sunset said. "Are you ready, Pinkie?"

"I'm always ready to drop the beat! I won't let you down, girls!"

"Do your best, Pinkie!" Rarity then hugged her.

"Knock 'em dead, Pinkie!" A.J. hugged her too.

"And just like that, it's over!" Rara announced. "Up next is the Rainbooms' drummer, Pinkie Pie! Will she destroy and stomp on the bass pedals like there's no tomorrow, in order to beat 584K points? Let's all applause for these two drummers as well!" The audience cheered.

"Let's do this: Pinkie Pie style!" Pinkie smirked as she jumped on stage.

"There she is!" Coco pointed at her.

"You got this, Pinkie!" Sci-Twi chanted.

"Ready, Miss Pie?" Rara asked.

"Ready!"

"GO!" as James restarted the song.

"I need some gum." as Pinkie waited for the notes to come. "Here's one!"

"Remember the fast chugging part in the song?" Rarity asked. "Imagine the insanity coming from Pinkie!"

"I can already tell." Sunset looked back.

As Pinkie reached the midway section of the current song, things were kicking in faster. She banged away like a crazy gorilla and still kept a flawless run going.

"I'LL TAKE YOU ALL ON, GAME! WHAT IF I USED THIS?"

"No..." as Sunset tried to breathe. "Is she doing what I think she's doing?"

"Why is she going to pony up with her magical geode?" Rarity was outraged. "Applejack, you know Rara is now going to disqualify us for using magic, you know?"

"Relax gals! I've told Rara all about our magical fights in the past, including the one at Camp Everfree. Heck, you can't even lie about not remembering that we showed her all our powers! She'll probably just pass it off as something fancy!"

"What about James and the audience, A.J.?" Sunset included. "They're not only going to kill your childhood friend, but they're going to kill us along with the rest of the girls who aren't even playing for cheating! I'm pretty sure Twilight would be even more sad than seeing one of her friends lose!"

"No, they won't! Trust me!"

"Then you better hope that not only Pinkie wins, but also the audience doesn't get to destroy us!" Rarity snapped. "Maybe you're the reason why Rainbow Dash left us!"

"I did not make Rainbow Dash run off like that!" A.J. denied. "I was trying to help her out, you know? We're all doing this for her, remember that!"

"...She's right, Rarity." Sunset calmed down. "Don't be so quick to judge! I tried to help out Rainbow Dash too, but I saw her run off as well. At that point, A.J. and I couldn't do anything else but to ask you for help."

"You're right, dear. I'm sorry for getting carried away and making that assumption, Applejack."

"It's okay, Rarity. I honestly had no idea what to expect as of right now. Friends?"

"No need to ask that." She said. "We are best friends!"

The two of them, including Sunset, came in for a warm hug.

"Woah, she's glowing!" A random person looked at Pinkie's transformation.

"Well, that's new!" James got weirded out. "I guess rocking out TOO hard gives you pointy ears and a magical ponytail, huh? I should try that sometime with the guys!"

"Stay focused, James!" Rara halted him. "It might seem obvious that with Pinkie Pie's new transformation, she will be the winner of the first match! She just passed 600K points!"

"Boom, boom, boom!" She yelled. "That's how it's done!"

"Maybe I should take back what I said about Pinkie not being conceited!" Sunset's eye twitched.

"What are you talking about, Sunset?" Rarity asked. "Pinkie Pie just won!"

"See, now what did I tell ya?" A.J. took off her hat. "Great job, Pinkie!"

"I lost." Timber spit out. "I failed you both, Gloriosa and Twilight. I'm sorry."

"Woo, nice job, Pinkie!" Sci-Twi clapped harder than before. "I'm proud of you!"

With the first match of Round Six complete, Pinkie Pie headed backstage, all while receiving praise from her friends, the audience, and Timber Spruce himself.

"You did it!" Sunset was thrilled. "I thought your pony up was going to cause us to lose!"

"No, it wasn't!" Pinkie fooled around. "While I was playing and ponying up, all I heard was people paying attention to me! It was a fun experience!"

"Excuse me?" as Timber approached the Rainbooms. "That was an impressive performance I just saw from you! Congratulations on getting the win, too!"

"Thank you, Timber!" They all replied.

"So Timber, where's your sister?" Sunset questioned.

"Gloriosa is still busy outside, arranging some important business meetings very later on at the camp. However, she did wish me good luck and I took it with all my heart! She's the lead singer, by the way, but she happily made me the leader of our band. Our guitarist, Zecora, is meditating somewhere quiet right now and our bassist, Discord, is...being his usual self."

"Discord?" A.J. scratched her head. "I thought you might say his name. He's all over the place!"

"Ehh, what more do you expect from him?" Pinkie shrugged. "Working at Canterlot High has gave him some blues and now he's living near Camp Everfree."

"He is a nice guy, but definitely going to take time getting used to!" Timber said. "Have any of you seen Twilight, by the way?"

"I'm right behind you, hehe!" as Sci-Twi came up and blinded him.

"Haha, hey baby!" Timber and Twilight then kissed each other.

"Aww!" The Rainbooms felt their hearts pounding.

"I'm so sorry you didn't win, but I loved your run though!" Sci-Twi claimed. "Will Gloriosa take it well, Timber?"

"She will. I've got this! Your friends are truly amazing and after seeing Pinkie Pie drum like that, I gotta give them even more credit!"

"Thanks again!" They all blushed.

"So, what're you going to do now?" Sci-Twi asked her boyfriend.

"Well, I was planning to hang out with you again, but I've gotta sort things out with Gloriosa. Once all is quickly said and done, then we can have fun later!"

"Teehee, I love you!" Sci-Twi had bedroom eyes. "Do you mind if I come and meet your sister, too?"

"I love you too, Twilight!" Timber replied. "Let me show you the way!"

The two lovebirds started to grip each other's hand and walked out the back door.

"Should we follow them?" as Sunset's curiosity was aroused.

"Shh, let them have this, darling!" Rarity watched the couple exit.

"If only Rainbow Dash was here..." Fluttershy sighed.

"Don't worry, she will!" Spike stood up. "She can do anything and there's no way she'd miss out the rest of this tournament!"