Previous Chapters Next
Close
"Why not the Dazzlings?"2,336 words
Planning2,121 words
How to Act Like the Dazzlings, by Pinkamena Diane Pie2,212 words
Costumed Crusaders2,747 words
The Hair Makes The Dazzlings2,317 words
Homecoming2,845 words
Grounded2,272 words
An Apple a Day2,369 words
Imitation is the Worst Form of Flattery2,235 words
Bow Before Your Queen2,358 words
A Deal Within A Deal2,480 words
The Big Night2,342 words
The Competition Is Fierce2,344 words
The Curtain Rises2,436 words
Showtime!2,810 words
The Results Are In...3,106 words
Special Thanks (END)3,039 words

The Curtain Rises

As the CMCs watched the other contestants in the show perform, show off their clothes, and do little performances on the side, they kept thinking more and more about what Trixie had been saying. Was victory really essential to the contest? Or were they just chasing something that they didn't even need? Either way, they couldn't back down from the challenge now. Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon had already thrown down the gauntlet, so they needed to meet them and at least take them up on their word; otherwise, the students at CHS would never let them hear the end of it.

"Girls. I've been thinking." Sweetie Belle lifted a finger. "What song are we gonna sing? Like, should we use one of their old songs, or should we try and come up with something original?"

"I don't know, Sweetie Belle." Scootaloo shook her head. "I mean, those girls can't even sing anymore for some odd reason, and because we were hypnotized by 'em back at the Battle of the Bands, I don't even remember what they sang or how they sang it!"

"Wait, you don't remember? I fought for sure you would've..." Applebloom tapped her hand to her forehead. "Their songs were like... uh, doo-doo, do, la-la-la, or something like that."

"That's so weird, though..." Sweetie Belle lifted her brows at her friends. "None of us remember any of their songs? Or how they sang them?"

"Nope." Applebloom shook her head.

"Nuh-uh." Scootaloo did the same.

"Then this might be a problem." Sweetie Belle put a hand to her head and started mumbling to herself, trying to think of something to sing on the spot. No sooner than when she got the melody in her head did she hear the next student dressed in cosplay to take to the stage. "C'mon, Sweetie Belle. Think!"

"What's up, Sweetie Belle?" Scootaloo asked, tapping on her shoulders.

"I'm trying to make a song out of literally nothing over here!" She broke out of her train of thought. "Quick! Someone hand me a blank music sheet and a pencil! I wanna get everything down as soon as I can before we go on!"

"Sweetie, we don't have to sing y'know..." Applebloom just rolled her eyes at the sight of her friend's struggles. "Some of the students are just goin' on out there and not doing anything."

"I know, I know! But we're dressed up as girls who prided themselves on singing, so we've gotta sing something or our act isn't gonna be convincing enough!" Sweetie Belle began to sweat bullets as she scrambled around for something that she could write on. "C'mon, school. Don't let us down!"

"Having some trouble there, Sonata Ditz?" Diamond Tiara mocked from the other end of the stage as Sweetie Belle began to panic. "Doesn't surprise me, seeing as how nobody likes the Dazzlings."

"Diamond, don't you have anything better to do?" Applebloom gruffly shook it off as she started to help Sweetie out. "I mean, other than that silly act you and your friend are doing."

"Harrumph! I'll have you know that being the Queen of Hearts is in my nature." Diamond put her fingers to her chest and pushed them out. "I've always enjoyed telling others what to do and showing them their rightful place."

"And I, being the Queen's faithful servant, will prove that Diamond's authority is heard and understood." Silver nodded. "What are you gonna do? Pepper them with your awful singing and make them fall under your spell? Ha! Don't make me laugh!"

"Oh, go suck on a tart, girls." Scootaloo patted Sweetie on the back while giving them a glare. "We don't need your down-heartening taunts getting in the way of the competition, y'know."

"I know, it just feels nice to let off some steam every now and again. And also, this is partially me and Silver warming up before we go on out." She chuckled to herself and watched another student leave and be replaced with a pair. "Time's running out, girls. Last chance to back out. You can still enjoy the Fall Formal without this nonsense and nobody'll be the wiser."

"We came this far and put this much time into it, you two." Sweetie Belle finally turned towards the two girls. "You probably got your outfits from your mommy and daddy's dress-up closets. They don't seem all that creative to me." She put her hands to her sides.

"Oh! Run your faces under a tap, you two, because you just got burned!" Scootaloo jabbed her fingers towards them. "Now, if you don't mind, we've got a competition to win. Just... as soon as Sweetie comes up with the song we're gonna sing."

"We'll see just how long that confidence of yours lasts when the crowd starts booing you." Diamond crossed her arms and heard her name being called. "Come on, Silver. Now's the time to wow the crowd."

"Good luck at winning the competition, ladies. You're gonna need it. SERIOUSLY need it." She giggled to herself as she and Diamond burst through the curtains and took to the stage.

"Don't mind them, Sweetie Belle. They're just looking for attention." Applebloom turned back towards the wall and watched as Sweetie finally settled on a phone and started pounding down the lyrics onto a digital notepad. "You still trying to figure out how that song's gonna go?"

"Yeah. That, and I'm trying to come up with a back up plan in case we don't have enough time." Sweetie Belle barely turned back to face the other as she stared down at her phone. "I didn't wanna do this, but we're really running on empty. If only we'd been able to remember the Dazzlings' songs, then we wouldn't be in this mess."

"Are you having trouble, girls?" Trixie walked up to the CMCs and knelt down to them. "I know what it's like, going on stage for the first time. Your heart feels like it's going to explode and dribble all over the floor. Hundreds of eyes, locked on you and only you. But once you get over that, the rest of the act becomes a snap." She snapped her fingers for emphasis.

"Trixie? Have you ever had one of those shows where you're all geared up, ready to go, but then you forget one of the most important things of all and start to come up with something on the spot to make up to it?" Sweetie pried her head up from the bright screen and stared up at her. "Because that's what we're going through right now. Without the songs of the Dazzlings, we're having to work overtime to make up the lyrics for something original."

"Oh, I've been there before, girls. Many times when I was in third grade, in fact." Trixie nodded. "To be fair, I was only seven years old at the time, so such accidents were pretty common. But now, that rarely happens to I, the Great and Powerful Trixie!" She threw her arms out, before being met with cold glances from the CMCs. "But whatever you need, I'm sure I can help. It's no fun to see an incomplete performance."

"Well, unless you've magically saved a copy of the Dazzlings' songs, I don't think there's a lot unless you can make a song up." Applebloom twisted her wrist.

"Unfortunately, I don't have their music saved." Trixie shook her head. "But, at the very least, I can give your show a little more razzle-dazzle. If all else fails, rely on special effects to get the job done. That's how I operate, at least."

"It's a kind offer, Trixie, but I don't think any of the other acts out there used any special effects to jazz up their shows." Scootaloo looked out through the curtain, watching Diamond and Silver perform for the others. "Thanks anyway. Maybe we'll take you up on that if we try this kinda stuff again."

"Fair enough, I suppose." Trixie peaked out as well, subjecting herself to the ear-grating screeches of Diamond and Silver's royal voices. "Ugh. What wannabes. Trixie might be a boastful young lady, but these two pretenders let everything get to their head. Couple of blowhards, if you ask me."

"Yeah. Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon always take a mile if you give them an inch." Sweetie Belle folded her arms. "Whenever there's not a contest or a pageant going on, they're tolerable at least."

"But when there is, they often do anything to win. Just... not sabotage. They're only first-years here at CHS like us, so they don't know how to properly do that just yet." Applebloom lifted a brow. "Still, they're meaner than a bull seein' nothing but red."

"Oh, they're just children. Let 'em have their little playtime." Trixie scoffed. "If they were a couple of years older, then they'd be a challenge."

"Yeah. Tell me about it." Scootaloo deadpanned. "I don't wanna have to deal with either of them as seniors..."

"I'm sorry that I can't help out, but I'll still be rooting for you three all the same." Trixie began to walk off. "I hope that you don't let us down."

As Sweetie Belle watched Trixie walk off out of the room, she began to have even more doubts about the whole contest. Now that she and the others were strained for time, the consequences would be massive if they failed now. They would face mass ridicule and mockery if this all went south, and there was a very high chance that it would because of their inability to remember the Dazzlings' actual music over them as a whole.

"Girls..." She finally broke the silence. "I don't know how to break this to you, but it looks like we're gonna have to wing it." She finally closed the phone and slipped it back into her pocket.

"Wing it?" Scootaloo almost jumped at that remark. "But we've done so much. How can we just wing it now if all of this other stuff worked out so well?"

"Yeah, Sweetie? Why are ya throwing in the towel so quickly?" Applebloom wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her in close. "We're your friends. We can do this without having to sing, y'know."

"Look, girls, I don't usually like doing this, but we're gonna have to at this point." Sweetie watched the next students take the spotlight. "We're going on stage in, like two minutes and we don't have a song. And we're playing as three singing divas. That's like playing as a chocolatier in a movie and not knowing what the heck chocolate even is!"

"Even if we do come up with a song that quickly, how are we gonna know that it'll work and win over the crowd at the end?" Applebloom asked, looking down at her outfit. "For all we know, it could re-light their fire for Dazzling hate and we'll really be in big trouble."

"Well, it's like we've been saying this whole time since you wanted to join the contest." Scootaloo's smile once again returned. "We'll take it all together."

"Yep. When we go out on stage, meet the crowd, perform for them, possibly get tomatoes splattered all over us..." She held Sweetie's hands gently, looking into the twinkle in her eyes. "We'll do it as friends. Like we do for everything."

"Come rain or shine, love or hate, one of us doesn't have to be responsible for it all." Scootaloo held onto the other hand. "So what do you say, Sweetie Belle? You wanna do this?"

"Girls..." Sweetie's own hand held the other CMCs hands back as she looked each of their warm, smiling faces. Suddenly, every one of her stresses seemed to evaporate and disappear. Her own lips began to quiver and shudder before they finally curled into a sloppy grin of her own. "Thank you. Thank you so much."

"Next up, the Canterlot Movie Club as The Dazzlings!" Celestia's voice echoed out across the room.

"Well... this is it." Applebloom walked towards the stage, hearing the small applause of the students. "Time to face the music. With or without it."

"Come on, Sweetie Belle. Let's at least try to go out with a bang." Scootaloo walked as well, with Sweetie bringing up the rear.

All three of the girls stepped out through the curtains, looking down at the many students who had been watching the show. Celestia and Luna sat, as always, on the table at the front, judging the whole contest. They came up to the microphones, bathing in the radiant beams of light that poured out from the spotlights at the top.

Applebloom looked closely into Applejack's eyes from afar, knowing that everything felt so much heavier on this one performance than any other part of the build-up leading to it. The falling out that she had shared with her big sister also played out in her mind, and how a similar one would potentially happen if she messed up here. But she knew that she couldn't concentrate on any of that now. It was time for a show. And no matter how good or bad it was, she knew that she had to at least do something.

"Welcome, girls. Now, I know that this is might be a struggle for you, but I assure you that the crowd's not going to attack you or do anything like that to you." Celestia's brows stayed roughly semi-lowered, no matter how caring her voice was. "Now, what do you have planned for us?"

"Well, we were going to sing one of the Dazzlings' old songs, but..." Applebloom slightly chuckled. "We can't seem to remember 'em." She got some small chuckles from the crowd.

"So, we wanna try coming up with one of our own songs. If... that's an option?" Sweetie Belle took over the microphone.

"Of course it is." Luna nodded, and motioned to the DJ over at the booth to the side. "Do you ladies have any preference?"

"Not really. Just give us a beat. Any beat. We'll see what we can do." Scootaloo looked at the DJ and gave her a thumbs up. "And if it's bad or cringy, then we're sorry in advance. We're literally making this whole thing up as we go along..."

"Well, good luck anyway, girls." Celestia watched as the girl in the booth pulled out a vinyl record and set it up on the tables. "And, make sure to enjoy yourself."

"We will..." The CMCs all chimed together as the music kicked into life. Now, it was do or die. There would be no going back after this...

1,094 views

232