Part III: Redemption's Flower || Chapter 29: The Road To Hell Is Paved With Good Intentions
Strangely enough, even though Twilight was the Princess of Friendship, she was relatively inexperienced with sleepovers. For reasons that were not entirely clear, here in the human world her friends’ counterparts were a bit younger – still in the secondary school phase of their education. When she had met her friends in Equestria, they had all been young adults, so they were kind of past the age for slumber parties. And when Twilight had been young enough to have them, she’d been too interested in studying to take part in them. She had only ever had one in her entire life, and it had been as a young adult with pony Applejack and pony Rarity, shortly after she had met them. And while that sleepover had ultimately been a success, the stress of getting there had been so intense that she hardly thought back on it fondly, except for its conclusion.
So, Twilight watched all the festivities with surreptitious interest, filing the friendship potential of each activity away for future reference. She had to admit she found the entire concept quite exciting, and planned to ask her friends back home if they might consider the odd sleepover in the future, in spite of technically being adults. For now, however, she was supposed to be working on the counterspell, so she tried to pay only partial attention to Pinkie as she updated her status on MyStable and to Rainbow and Applejack as they engaged in a video game grudge match of epic proportions.
Her train of thought was completely interrupted as Rarity growled with anger and started chasing Spike all over Pinkie’s bedroom. She tried to figure out what was going on and eventually came to the conclusion that Spike had messed up a photo of Rarity, Sunset, and Fluttershy that Rarity was trying to take. Twilight wasn’t sure what was funnier – seeing Rarity’s indignant scowl, Spike’s alternating expressions of triumph and terror, or Sunset and Fluttershy as they tittered at each other like the schoolgirls they were. Twilight smiled to herself. It was…oddly moving to see Sunset so at ease and so happy. It was also a welcome distraction from Twilight’s work. She wasn’t ready to admit it to herself yet, but Twilight was having trouble with the counterspell. A lot of trouble.
Twilight was startled again when a loud thunk sounded from the foot of the bed where Rainbow and Applejack were playing.
“Hey, I was just about to beat you!” Applejack complained.
“I doubt it,” Rainbow answered lazily. “So, Twilight. How’s that counterspell comin’?”
Though Rainbow’s question reeked of an attempt to change the subject, Twilight felt compelled to answer, if only to defuse Applejack’s towering temper. “Huh? Oh, uh, good. Great!” She didn’t know what else to say – she couldn’t let her friends worry that the spell wouldn’t get done. Suddenly she remembered something and turned to Fluttershy. “By the way, thanks for letting me use your notebook, Flutters. I really like the song you wrote.”
To Twilight’s discomfiture, her comment seemed to discourage Fluttershy instead of encouraging her. She sighed heavily. “Thanks. Hopefully one day we’ll get a chance to actually play it.” Twilight didn’t get a chance to try to draw Fluttershy out as the sounds of Rainbow teasing Applejack at the foot of the bed drowned everything out.
“Hey!” Applejack cried as she tried to get the controller back from Rainbow, who was laughing uncontrollably.
Suddenly Rarity was standing next to Twilight. “Twilight, I think I speak for all of us when I say I don’t know what we would have done if you hadn’t come back to help us,” she said with true gratitude. All the other girls murmured agreement.
“Darn tootin’!” Applejack added as the doorbell rang.
“PIZZA’S HERE!” Pinkie yelled and left the room at a speed which left even Rainbow slightly jealous. The rest of the girls, minus Twilight, followed as quickly as they were able.
Twilight sighed. The girls’ confidence in her was making her uncomfortable. I can’t fail them, she thought to herself. I have to figure this out. They’re all counting on me!
Pinkie poked her head back into her bedroom. “Don’t you want any pizza?” she asked around the slice hanging from her mouth.
“I’ll be right there, Pinkie.”
“Oki-doki-loki!” Pinkie exclaimed, and disappeared again. Twilight sighed again and put the notebook in the drawer of Pinkie’s bedside table for the time being.
One A.M. Darkness. The soft sounds of peaceful breathing, punctuated occasionally by the odd snore. A single figure arose from the mass of sleeping girls and quietly padded to the bedside table, retrieved the notebook, and padded out of the room and down the hall.
In the dim gleam of one of the overhead kitchen lights, Twilight Sparkle slaved away at the counterspell. Sitting at the island, she spit out her pen in frustration. “No, that’s not going to work!”
“Hey, Twilight. You’re up late,” Sunset Shimmer observed pleasantly from the doorway to the hall.
Twilight’s heart nearly leapt through her throat.
“I’m sorry!” Sunset said quickly. “I didn’t mean to startle you.”
Twilight quickly calmed down. She truly wasn’t worried about being alone with Sunset at all – she knew Sunset’s repentance was real. “It’s ok. I’m just looking over the counterspell,” she told Sunset. “We only get one shot at this. It has to be perfect.”
Sunset shook her head with a smile. “We really are lucky you’re here,” she said, clearly meaning it. She headed over to the refrigerator, intent on a midnight snack. Therefore, she missed Twilight’s uncomfortable expression.
“That’s what everyone keeps telling me,” said Twilight, trying to be upbeat.
Sunset opened the fridge. She stepped back in amazement – the fridge appeared to contain only a single kind of item. “Who could possibly need this much whipped cream?” she asked rhetorically. With resignation, she reached for one of the canisters. “Must be nice to have everyone always looking to you for answers to their problems…instead of waiting for you to cause a problem,” she mused as she rummaged.
But Twilight shook her head. “Just because everyone expects something from you doesn’t mean it’s guaranteed to happen.”
Sunset turned around, spraying a bit of whipped cream on her thumb. “Well, that doesn’t stop them from expecting it,” she said, a bit bitterly.
“Which only makes things harder because the last thing you want to do is…”
“…let everybody down,” the two girls finished together without meaning too. They stared at each other for a second, startled, then smiled shyly at each other as they realized they were feeling very nearly the same thing.
Twilight was about to say something more when a shadow on the other side of the kitchen suddenly moved. Sunset gasped out loud and nearly fell over as she shrank from Maud Pie’s unexpected appearance.
“Boulder was hungry,” Maud explained in her usual monotone, then proceeded to pour some cereal over a small rock she had brought with her.
Sunset backed away slowly. “I still can’t get over the fact that she’s related to Pinkie Pie,” she whispered to Twilight behind her hand.
Twilight smirked. “You and me both!”
“Is she like this back in Equestria?” Sunset asked, still sotto voce.
“Exactly the same,” Twilight whispered back.
As Maud completed her late night Boulder feeding, Sunset yawned. “Well, I better get some sleep. Good luck with the counterspell!” she said to Twilight. “Not that you’ll need it. This must be nothing compared with the stuff you’re expected to deal with as a princess back in Equestria.” She headed for the doorway.
Twilight felt apprehension rise in her as Sunset walked away. She desperately wanted to confide in someone how much pressure she was feeling, and how much of a hard time she was having with the counterspell, and Sunset, as a fellow former student of Celestia, seemed like an ideal person to share her struggles with. “Sunset?” she blurted out before she could stop herself.
Sunset turned around immediately, a warm, inquiring expression on her face. She knew now that Twilight was feeling a bit of pressure, but the idea that her personal hero might actually be in need of significant help and support had not yet entered her mind.
Twilight, in her turn, looked at Sunset’s open, happy face and decided she wasn’t willing to do anything to risk Sunset’s emotional health. She’s been through so much, and she’s got enough to worry about. I won’t burden her with my own problems, Twilight thought to herself. “Never mind, it’s not important.”
Sunset smiled at her and went out and up the stairs.
Twilight gritted her teeth and refocused on her work. No, I have to be able to do this myself! I have to!
“Well, let’s hit it again, I guess,” said Applejack, the next afternoon.
With that, the Rainbooms began once more to practice the counterspell song that Twilight had drafted the night before. The barn at Sweet Apple Acres was filled with the perhaps not entirely on-key sounds of music that…still needed a lot of work.
Sunset winced as high frequency feedback shrilled through the vocals amp. She quickly lowered the high frequency gain, which helped, a little. Against her will her hands came up to cover her ears as she gritted her teeth. Fortunately, no one was looking at her at that moment – she didn’t want to discourage Twilight, but right now the counterspell sounded, well, atrocious. To her relief the song was soon over.
“Uh…that sounded…way better than the last…five times you’ve played it!” Spike lied with a nervous laugh.
“Nope,” Big Mac deadpanned as he walked past the window. Spike deflated completely.
“I think it’s pretty obvious what’s going wrong with this counterspell,” Rainbow said matter-of-factly.
To her surprise Applejack immediately flared. “You mean you’re turnin’ what should be the chorus into a five-minute guitar solo?” she challenged.
Rainbow whirled on her. “I have to pick up the slack somehow. Are you guys even trying?!”
“I’m trying,” Fluttershy offered, but no one listened to her. Sunset felt her heart sink.
“It’s fine,” Twilight covered with her own nervous laugh, trying to take control of the situation. “It’ll be fine. Once more from the top!”
“Or,” Rarity interrupted, “perhaps we could take a short break? Try on some of the wardrobe choices I’ve put together? I’m particularly fond of this one,” she said, donning a 1960s-style dress with miraculous speed. Applejack glared at her. “Uh, of course we could always go with something a bit more modern,” Rarity hedged.
“We’re tryin’ to save our school here, and probably our planet too! Enough with the costumes!” Applejack thundered.
“Oh, you can never have enough costumes,” Rarity argued, having somehow changed instantly into a robotic space suit.
Before Applejack could bellow a retort, Pinkie came to her defense. “She just wants to make things fun! Isn’t that what being in a band is supposed to be?” Pinkie glowered, throwing an angry rimshot.
Sunset looked at her watch. She felt like she was the only one paying any attention to the time, and, sure enough, they were already almost late. “You don’t have time for any of this!” she cried. “You’re supposed to check in at the Battle of the Bands in fifteen minutes!”
There were startled gasps from the other girls.
“What?” Twilight said in dismay. “But the counterspell isn’t ready! If we play it in the first round and it doesn’t work, the Sirens will know what we’re up to and will make sure we never get a chance to play it again!”
“Then we’ll have to buy ourselves some time so you can keep workin’ on it,” Applejack pointed out gravely.
“But how do you propose we do that?” Rarity asked skeptically.
“Easy,” Rainbow answered. “We compete in the Battle for real. I’ll take over lead vocals again, and we’ll just stay alive until the finals. We’ll unleash the counterspell then!” She turned to Twilight. “You’ll have figured it out by the finals, right?”
“Right!” said Twilight with a confidence she didn’t feel. Once again, Sunset felt a foreboding feeling.
Rainbow smiled. “Then let’s go win us a Battle of the Bands!”
Somehow the girls arrived at the main gym just in time. They heard Principal Celestia as she announced the beginning of the Battle.
Sunset listened with a mixture of sadness and apprehension. “Welcome to the first ever Canterlot High School Battle of the Bands!” she heard her mother’s unnaturally happy voice crow over the gym PA system. “I believe I speak for everyone when I say it is by far the greatest thing we have ever done here at this school!” This announcement was met with raucous cheers from the student body.
You mean you speak for the Sirens, Sunset thought darkly. The thought exponentially exacerbated her fear. Please come back to me, mama! she heard her heart cry within her like a little girl’s. Beside her, she felt Fluttershy put a hand on her shoulder and covered it with her own in gratitude.
Celestia continued. “We are so glad our three newest students encouraged us to turn this event into something more exciting!” She gestured to the Sirens, who were leaning against one of the windows. Sunset, to her surprise, had to resist the urge to physically assault them. Even in her prime as the evil queen bee of Canterlot High, she couldn’t have taken all three of them at once.
She heard her aunt’s voice next, again unnaturally sunny and sugar-sweet. “But, as this is now a competition, we can only choose one winner. Who is it going to be?” she teased, egging the students on. It worked – the different music groups were soon trash talking each other all over again.
By the window, Adagio exulted as a fresh wave of green mist flowed into their gems. “You feel that, girls? Our power is being restored!” Her sisters giggled in response. “And that’s before we’ve tapped into the strongest magic here,” she finished.
Aria was confused. “But the Rainblossoms, or whatever they’re called, aren’t under our spell. How exactly are we supposed to get to their magic?”
Adagio was undeterred. “The Rainbooms are just as capable of falling apart as anyone else,” she responded haughtily. “They just need a little…push…in the right direction. I have a feeling everyone here is going to be lining up to give them a shove.”
Meanwhile, the Rainbooms, in addition to the rest of the student body, watched a rap/beatboxing performance by Snips and Snails in barely controlled horror. The exceptions were Pinkie Pie and Sonata Dusk, who both bopped along with the beat. It was a testament to how truly awful the performance was that Celestia, in spite of her Siren-enforced bubbliness, chewed them out for dropping the microphone at the end.
Exiting the stage, Snips and Snails taunted the Rainbooms, who were up next. “In your face, Rainbooms!” Snips shouted.
“Well, at least we know one group who won’t stand in the way of us getting’ to the finals,” Applejack, her eyes still wide with anguish, commented dryly.
“Let’s get ready to rock!” Rainbow cried.
“Wait, where’s Rares?” Pinkie asked suddenly.
The girl in question suddenly ran up, dressed in a hippie-like costume that included silver pieces of metal hanging off her arms. “Oh! Here! I’m here,” she panted.
The other girls, except for Sunset and Twilight, looked at her like she had lost her mind.
“We will be performing in front of an audience! And I’m not going to wear something fabulous? Hmph!” she explained forcefully.
Applejack just made a frustrated sound and led the rest of the group out onto the stage. Sunset watched them go sadly, feeling almost unbearably left out. Spike tried vainly to encourage her as she held him in her arms.
“Remember,” hissed Twilight as the girls took their places, “we have to be good enough to make it through but not so good that we show the Sirens our magic. If we do, they could realize we plan to use it against them.”
“Got it!” Rainbow said confidently. “Be cool enough to win, but not so cool that we end up showing off the whole ears, tails, wings, and rainbows things. So…about twenty percent less cool.”
The other girls nodded, and Pinkie started the count. The Rainbooms launched into one of their older compositions, Shake Your Tail.
Things went quite well at first. What the Rainbooms had not counted on was that the Siren’s magical hold on the other students was already strong enough that they were willing to cheat to win. They weren’t far into the second verse when Photo Finish and her lackeys deployed magnets from the rafters, causing Rarity to wave her arms and move around uncontrollably. Then Pinkie lit off a hidden party cannon, whose confetti ended up in Twilight’s mouth, briefly choking her. As Fluttershy pounded on her back, helping her to cough it up, Snips and Snails, also in the rafters, focused a spotlight on her. Shy Fluttershy was soon dashing around the stage to avoid it, ending up hiding behind Pinkie’s drum set. Meanwhile Rarity cried in frustration.
From the side of the stage, Sunset and Spike watched helplessly – it seemed like the performance basically self-destructed. They were totally surprised, along with the Rainbooms themselves, when Celestia and Luna applauded enthusiastically at the end. This worried Sunset – it was beginning to look like the Sirens would be manipulating the Battle’s results for their own ends. And they wanted the Rainbooms to advance. Why? she wondered to herself. Do they already suspect? She shook herself out of her thoughts to try to rally her friends as they stormed off the stage with a mixture of anger and disappointment.
“Ruined!” Rarity wept, her mascara running. “My outfit is absolutely ruined!”
Applejack was almost furious. “Rarity, were you tryin’ to make us lose out there?”
“What?” Rarity retorted indignantly. “Oh, this was NOT my fault! This was an act of sabotage!”
Applejack snorted in response, gesturing to Rarity’s outfit. “Yeah, well, whoever did this couldn’t have done it if you didn’t insist on dressin’ like…like…this! We need to sound good! Is there some reason that concept seems to escape you?!”
Sunset felt her apprehension grow. Why were her friends acting like this? It was like they weren’t even friends at all. Maybe we’re not as immune to the Sirens’ magic as we think. She looked to Twilight, hoping the Princess of Friendship was ready to step in and do some damage control. But Twilight just looked discouraged and worried. She didn’t even seem to be paying attention.
“And what was with the confetti, Pinkie?” Rainbow demanded. “How am I supposed to shred if there’s paper stuck in my frets?!”
“It was pretty distracting,” Fluttershy agreed.
Pinkie flashed a rare display of anger. “Urrgh! Says the girl who was running from a light the whole time! A light!”
Sunset could no longer contain herself, or wait for Twilight. Still lacking confidence in her standing in the group, she decided to be cautious and optimistic. “Guys, you still sounded much better than most of the other bands. I’m sure you’ll make it to the next round. But it won’t matter if we don’t have that counterspell ready. You all find a place to practice where the Sirens can’t hear you. I’ll keep an eye on things and will come and get you the next time you’re up.”
To her relief the girls agreed to her suggestion and filed out of the backstage area, though they were still giving each other irritated glares. Sunset furrowed her brow at the stage as Derpy began to play the saw. Out of the corner of her eye she saw the Dazzlings step out of the gym though a side door. A plan began to take shape in her mind.
In the hallway outside the gym, the Rainbooms looked for a place to practice. “I don’t think we should use a classroo-” Twilight was interrupted by running into Flash again. “Ha,” she said with a nervous chuckle. “We really need to stop bumping into each other like this.”
Flash didn’t even look at her. “You guys hear something?” he asked his bandmates sarcastically.
“Uh-uh,” said Brawly Beats, shaking his head.
“Nope,” agreed Ringo shortly.
Twilight was confused. “I said, we have to stop—”
“There it is again. So annoying,” Flash interrupted.
This time, Twilight was stunned. “Why…why are you acting like this? I thought we were friends!”
He turned and looked at her. “Yeah? Then you decide to come back here just so you can beat me in the Battle of the Bands. I want this, Twilight, and you’re trying to take it from me! Some friend.”
Twilight was starting to cry. “That’s not why-,”
Applejack took hold of her from behind by the shoulders, not without being gentle. “C’mon, Twi. We’ve got things to do.”
“You really think you’re going to help them?” Flash taunted behind the Rainbooms as they started to walk. “Ha! I bet you don’t even know what you’re doing!”
Twilight let out a sob as her friends let her away.
The Dazzlings watched the exchange between Twilight and Flash with satisfaction. “Tears already?” Adagio smiled. “This is only the first round!” Her sisters laughed with amusement.
Celestia’s voice came through the open door to the gym behind them. “The next band to take the stage will be Trixie and the Illusions!”
“We’d better head back,” Adagio pointed out. “We’re supposed to go on after Trixie.” The Dazzlings turned around to find Sunset Shimmer blocking their path back into the gym.
“You’re never going to get away with this,” Sunset threatened darkly.
Adagio was not intimidated. She knew Sunset’s weakness, and stabbed at it without hesitation. “Why? Because you didn’t?”
Sunset’s face began to fall.
“Oh, we know all about you, Sunset Shimmer,” said Adagio lazily as Aria and Sonata started circling Sunset. “You’ve got quite the reputation at Canterlot High.”
Sunset flared. “I’ve changed! I’m in a much better place now!”
“Where? Waiting in the wings while your friends have all the fun?” Aria sneered. Sunset’s face began to fall again.
Adagio twisted the knife. “Oh, yes, you girls are so tight! And yet…they haven’t asked you to be in the band. I wonder why THAT would be…?”
“Because they’re afraid no one would come to see them play if she was in the group,” Aria answered, exposing Sunset’s deepest fear. She bumped Sunset roughly with her hip as she sauntered past her.
“Too bad! So sad!” agreed Sonata, bumping Sunset on the other hip as she and Aria took their places at Adagio’s side.
One of Twilight’s fears had been that Sunset would backslide and join the Sirens. She had no need to fear that. Adagio looked at Sunset and saw only weakness – recruiting her would be useless. “If it’s any consolation,” Adagio finished coldly, “no one will ever remember you by the time we’re done.”
She sashayed away, followed by her sisters, leaving Sunset’s still fragile self-image in complete shambles.
And so the Battle of the Bands continued. One by one, the different groups knocked each other out of the competition. The Rainbooms advanced without further problems. Meanwhile, the Sirens grew in strength as the animosity of the students fed them more and more power.
Sunset watched them each time they performed, trying to learn more about them while her friends attempted to practice and refine the counterspell. She felt less and less confident with each song the Sirens sang – they sounded like they had in the lunchroom: like true professionals. They generated nuanced, perfectly executed harmonies as Adagio led them farther and farther toward domination. They’ve been doing this for a thousand years, Sunset realized. How can we possibly defeat them?
As the afternoon wore on, the Rainbooms found, to their pleasant surprise, that they were in the semifinals. They would face Trixie and the Illusions for the chance to advance to the final duel. Their opponent in the finals, should they advance, was all but a foregone conclusion.
“This is it!” Sunset said, trying to motivate her friends as Trixie and her band played their signature song. “The last round and you’re in the finals! Unless you think the counterspell is ready now?” she asked, with an inquiring look at Twilight.
Twilight shook her head.
“Don’t worry, Twilight,” Applejack tried to reassure her. “The finals aren’t until tonight. We’ll get in some more practice before we’re supposed to hit the stage. We won’t let you down!” The other girls made various sounds of agreement.
“You won’t let me down…” Twilight murmured under her breath sadly.
“Um, I was just wondering. We haven’t played any of my songs yet, and…” but Fluttershy’s inquiry was cut off by Rainbow Dash, who barely looked at her.
“It’s the semifinals. We’ll do Awesome As I Wanna Be,” Rainbow stated emphatically.
“Don’t know why I even ask…” Fluttershy muttered.
In the gym, the crowd cheered as Trixie and her band finished their song. “Fantastic!” the girls heard Principal Celestia gush. Trixie strutted offstage and confronted Rainbow.
“You’re never gonna top that performance, ‘Rain-goons’!” she boasted. “But you shouldn’t even be allowed to compete when you have such a big advantage over the rest of us!”
“You must mean my superior guitar playing and off-the-charts awesome singing voice,” Rainbow retorted, turning Trixie’s taunt back on her.
“Don’t be ridiculous! I mean her!” Trixie stormed, pointing at Twilight. “If you were really all that, Rainbow Dash, you wouldn’t have needed to bring in some magical ringer to have half a chance! Everyone’s talking about it.”
“Ha!” Rainbow laughed in her face. “Please. I could win this thing as a solo act and everybody knows it!”
Trixie scoffed. “Sure you could,” she sneered as she disappeared in a puff of grey smoke.
“She’s GONE!” Pinkie cried dramatically as the rest of her friends coughed on the smoke. “Oh wait. There she is.” She pointed to Trixie as she attempted to escape through the door, which closed on her painfully.
“Next up, the Rainbooms!” Celestia’s voice declared over the PA system.
“Knock ‘em dead, Rainbooms!” Spike cried. Sunset picked him up again.
“I’ll be here. Just…watching,” she whispered to herself dejectedly, as she watched her friends take their places. They quickly launched in to Rainbow’s favorite number. And it was obvious to Sunset that Rainbow was the only one enjoying herself – the other girls either had bored or sour expressions on their faces. This was not going to go well.
Indeed, Sunset’s worst fears began to manifest themselves. While the other girls seemed to be only doing the minimum, Rainbow soon launched into an insanely intense guitar solo. Sunset knew what was going to happen. She tried to think of a way to warn Rainbow or get her attention, but Rainbow was so focused that she only had eyes for herself and her guitar. Sure enough, a blue nimbus of light began to surround her and her pony ears flashed into being.
In the audience, Adagio noted this with relish and pleasure. So…
Sunset grew desperate. Not knowing what else to do, she rushed onto the stage and tackled Rainbow. The music stopped instantly with a crash and a shriek of feedback.
There was stunned silence in the entire gym for a few seconds. As Sunset and Rainbow got up, Rainbow glaring at Sunset in fury, Flash stood up in the audience.
“Now that’s the bad girl we love to hate!” he jeered.
Sunset gasped. No matter how bad she had been, Flash had never been anything but honest, forthright, stern, firm, kind, and forgiving. Somewhere in the back of her mind, Sunset’s inner voice told her that he wasn’t himself, but his words still felt like a spear in her heart.
The rest of the students followed his lead, joining in the jeering.
“I knew she was still trouble!” Octavia crowed.
“The real Sunset Shimmer is back!” someone yelled.
“No! It isn’t like that!” she tried to protest, but the disapproving frowns of her mother and aunt were unbearable. She fled offstage, right into the hornet’s nest of her friends’ anger.
“WHAT was THAT?!” Rainbow thundered.
“You…you were showing them your magic. You were ponying up! I…I didn’t know what else to do!” Sunset explained.
Rarity made an annoyed sound. “Couldn’t you have closed the curtains? Unplugged her amp? Given us a chance to deal with the situation?” she demanded angrily. Sunset crumpled in on herself; Rarity’s words hurt the most of all.
Why doesn’t Twilight say something? “I’m sorry – I just wanted to help,” Sunset protested, her head falling. She was fighting tears.
“Yeah, well, you didn’t!” Rainbow snapped.
But all was not completely lost for Sunset. Applejack came to her defense. “None of this would have happened, Rainbow, if you hadn’t been tryin’ to show off! As usual!”
Trixie chose that moment to gloat. “Good show, ‘Rain-brooms’!” she laughed. “I especially enjoyed the part when Sunset, in a fit of jealous rage, knocked out Rainbow mid-guitar solo!”
Sunset snapped. It was bad enough to be unjustly chewed out by her friends, but to be falsely accused of jealousy by Trixie, of all people, was the last straw. She whirled on Trixie, getting right in her face. “It wasn’t A FIT OF JEALOUS RAGE!” she screamed as Trixie shrank from her. Her friends froze and stared at her, completely stunned. They hadn’t seen her that angry since the night of the Fall Formal. A voice in each of their minds suggested to them that perhaps they had not been as supportive of Sunset as they could have been…
However, none of them leapt immediately to Sunset’s defense, emboldening Trixie again. “If you say so,” she said doubtfully. “Ooh! It looks like they’ve already decided who’ll be moving on to the finals! I’m guessing it wasn’t too difficult of a decision.”
Indeed Principal Celestia and Vice Principal Luna had come backstage and were walking toward the Rainbooms and Trixie. But behind them were the Sirens, singing and chanting to them. Sunset noticed this and wondered if the Sirens were exerting further control on the two administrators. She looked at Twilight, but Twilight was staring at the ground, lost in her own world. Sunset frowned.
Behind her, Rarity was worrying. “But what can we do? There isn’t going to be another opportunity for us to play. And I had the most gorgeous outfit for the finals,” she lamented.
Applejack bristled. “Yep, ‘cause that’s the real tragedy here, Rarity – that you won’t get to play dress-up!”
“You know perfectly well that that is not what I meant!” Rarity came right back.
“You guys wanna keep it down? They’re about to announce who’s moving on,” said Rainbow.
“Who are you kidding?” asked Fluttershy bitterly. “You know it isn’t going to be us!”
Principal Celestia and Vice Principal Luna stopped midstage and beckoned to Trixie and the Rainbooms. Trixie strutted confidently out to them. The Rainbooms followed reluctantly.
“The band that will be joining the Dazzlings in tonight’s finals…the Rainbooms!” Celestia announced unexpectedly.
“WHAT?” Trixie choked.
“Huh?” said all the Rainbooms, Sunset, and Spike.
“Did they just say, ‘The Rainbooms’?” Pinkie asked her friends, incredulous.
The crowd’s reaction was less than enthusiastic.
“This isn’t over!” Trixie threatened the girls through gritted teeth as she left the stage with her bandmates.
“Congratulations, girls. You deserve it,” Celestia was telling them with stars in her eyes.
“Seriously?” Pinkie objected. “We didn’t even finish our—!” Pinkie was abruptly interrupted by Rainbow’s elbow.
Behind Celestia, Adagio taunted them. “See you at tonight’s big show, Rainbooms. We are really looking forward to it!” She made no attempt to hide her contempt or, more ominously, her ravenous hunger.
“Yeah, well, uh, not as much as we are!” Rainbow retorted lamely.
I was right, Sunset thought to herself. The Sirens have rigged this whole thing. They want to face us in the finals – they probably think they can steal the girls’ magic! She fell in behind her friends as they slunk out of the gym to the catcalls and growling of their fellow students.
“This is a travesty! A travesty!” Trixie stormed at them as they left.
Somehow Adagio Dazzle was instantly standing right next to her. “It really is!” she agreed in a cloying voice. “The Rainbooms don’t deserve to be in the Finals – not when your band was so much better in the semis.”
“And wanted it so much more,” Aria added, having mysteriously appeared on the other side of Trixie.
Trixie looked doubtfully at the two of them, obviously agreeing but not having any idea what to do about it. Adagio placed her bait.
“Alas! This is the way it’s going to be. Dazzlings vs. Rainbooms,” she lamented, giving Sonata a significant look.
“Unless, of course, the Rainbooms don’t manage to make it to their set or get held up for some reason…” Sonata mused airily.
Trixie’s eyes widened momentarily, then a slow, sinister smile crept across her face.
The Rainbooms and Sunset had decided to go directly to the stage to prep for the Finals. The final faceoff would be held at a special covered stage constructed on one of the football fields. In spite of their concern and discouragement, they looked around appreciatively. The stage was well constructed and the sound equipment was of high quality.
Sunset started setting up and testing the sound equipment. She was feeling very tentative around her friends – no one had made any further mention of her tackle of Rainbow, and neither Rainbow nor Rarity were giving her angry looks. She hoped it had blown over, but she wasn’t about to take any risks. As she tested a microphone, a burst of high-frequency feedback came through the speakers. She rapidly turned the volume down, looking around apologetically. Fortunately, no one seemed to have noticed.
“This doesn’t make any sense,” Fluttershy said suddenly. “We were awful. Doesn’t anybody think it’s strange that we made it to the Finals?”
“Very strange,” agreed a new voice from behind them.
They spun around to find Trixie and her two bandmates standing on the other side of the stage, arms crossed, looking smug.
Rainbow flared immediately. “What are you doing here, Trixie? Pretty sure the losers are supposed to be up there in the cheap seats!”
Rainbow, why are you taunting her? Can’t you see how angry she is? Sunset thought urgently. She started toward Rainbow, hoping she could try to defuse the situation.
But Trixie smirked. “The Great and Powerful Trixie is the most talented girl at Canterlot High,” she boasted. “It is I who deserve to be in the Finals! And I will not be denied!” And she snapped her fingers imperiously.
One of her bandmates grabbed a nearby level and pulled it viciously. The floor disappeared under the Rainbooms and Sunset and they screamed as they plunged into darkness.
“See you never!” Trixie sneered into the pit.
Watching from the wings, Adagio chuckled with satisfaction. “I told you someone would give them a shove,” she commented to her sisters.
“But she didn’t shove them, she pulled a lever,” Sonata objected in confusion.
Aria facepalmed. “Go back to sleep, Sonata!” she barked.
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At least Sunset's inner thoughts added something new.
This timeline feels off, somehow. I don't know, it just makes it seem like Twilight was Celestia’s apprentice for less than two and half years, which is entirely wrong. I think maybe a time difference between worlds would explain some of it, it’s certainly what a lot of fimfic writers go with, but i guess most of it is just because of the movie writers wanting a high school setting.
I don’t know, maybe you ARE doing that, and it’s just not obvious enough for me to realize, or it’s just implied.
Who let Csquared write this chapter
Nobody is going to get this and that makes it funnier to meYou can say that again.
Another least fav part from the film I dislike since that's no way to treat someone.
At least sunset knows she doesn't trust them.
Pats shoulder, give her time fluttershy she might change her mind soon.
Sometimes I wonder just why did the stage have a trap door.