Steel Unicorns: Rainbow Djents

by JesterOfDestiny

Chapter 3

Evening has come and the competitors of the showcase have all gathered in the sports hall, which has temporarily been repurposed as an auditorium. But to call it a party would be a stretch. Every student was standing in their own isolated cliques, scheming quietly and exchanging dirty glances with the other cliques. Somebody brought cookies and punch as well, but barely anyone touched them, in case somebody put something in them.

In an attempt to mingle, Lemon went over to the very few people hanging out at the punch stand.

“Hey Tavi!” She called out to the person closest to her.

“Please, don’t call me Tavi.” The person barked back. “My name is Octavia.”

“Uhh... Okay... I’m s-sorry...”

“If you think your barbaric ‘music’ can stand up to my training, then you are sorely mistaken.”

“Uhh...” Lemon tried thinking of some way to defuse the situation, but figured that was an uphill battle. “I’ll be going now.” She said and tried to do just that, but she accidentally bumped into Trixie who gave her an absolutely withering look of contempt.

After a bit of nervous giggling, she made it back to her band, thankfully in one piece.

“Sheesh, Octavia’s being really catty today.” She stated.

Lyra chuckled. “Breaking news: Octavia’s head is still up her own bum!”

“She wasn’t always this uptight.” Lemon complained. “I remember her complimenting my skill barely a week ago!”

Twinkleshine leaned close. “Maybe that’s the Dazzlings’ spell.” She whispered.

“The Dazzlings?”

“The new girls,” Lyra said, “but they seemed way too nice to do that. Sonata made the punch herself.”

“Who?”

“Oh sorry, while you were busy almost getting into trouble, the new girls came here and introduced themselves.”

“What did they say?”

“They told us their names, brought us punch, then wished us a good competition and... That’s it really.”

“Sonata’s the blue one, Aria is the purple one and the orange one is called Adagio.” Twinkleshine explained and took a sip from her cup of punch, only to almost spit it back up.

“And to answer my own question,” Lyra continued,” yes, they are very good looking.”

“I don’t recommend the punch though,” Twinkleshine added, “it’s pretty bad.”

Lemon looked around the hall, looking for these Dazzlings. She found them scattered across multiple cliques; Aria and Adagio were talking to the members of Flash Drive, while Sonata invited Trixie and the Illusions for punch. Seemed pretty innocent at first look, until she realized that they were all pointing at other bands, as if those bands were scheming something.

“So what songs are we gonna play?” Lyra shattered Lemon’s concentration.

“What?” Lemon blurted out, as she snapped back into reality.

“What what?” Lyra replied. “We’ve got a competition to win.”

“Oh, sorry. I was distracted.”

“Distraction is my job, Lemon!” Lyra chuckled.

“So what song?” Lemon got back on track. “Well, obviously something that showcases our skills and how we normally sound like.”

“Warriors of Cheese?” Twinkleshine suggested. “That’s basically our theme song.”

“Yeah and we all have our own individual moments in it.” Lyra added. “I like it. What about the other ones?” She looked around her bandmates and noticed Lemon staring into the distance again, not paying attention. “Hey Lemon!” She raised her voice, before falling back on her normal volume. “What other songs should we play?”

“Oh, uhh…” Lemon pulled her attention back. “Well, I said it already. Something that sounds like what we usually play.”

“But we play a lot of things.” Twinkleshine commented.

Lyra snapped her fingers. “We could throw a curveball in the second round and play something completely different!”

“Like that random flamenco song you wanted to put on the second album?” Lemon Hearts prodded.

“Okay, not that different.” Said Lyra. “Just, one of our funky songs or something.”

“Nuts!” Blurted out Twinkleshine.

“Yes!” Lyra cheered. “That’s one of our best songs!”

“You two had so much fun writing that.” Twinkleshine added.

“Yeah, I’m pretty proud of those slap-lines. But Lemon wrote a pretty amazing jazzy solo as well.” She turned to Lemon, only to see that she was staring into the distance again. “Lemon!” Lyra shouted.

“Oh… What?” Lemon turned back.

“You’re paying less attention than I do in class!”

“Sorry, but I just don’t trust these Dazzlings. They seem to do a lot of talking behind people’s backs. It’s almost like they’re trying to turn everyone against each-other.”

“Oh yeah,” Twikleshine confirmed, “they did something like that to us as well.”

Lyra waved that away. “But we assured them that we’re going to win.”

Lemon crossed her arms with an unimpressed look. “Riiiight…”

“Apparently,” Twinkleshine added, “the Rainbooms took the practice room away from us on purpose.”

“And you believe that?” Lemon raised her eyebrows.

“Pfff…” Lyra interjected. “As if it matters!” She jumped in front of her bandmates, radiating with enthusiasm. “They might be the most popular girls in school, but that’s all they have going for them. But we… We are pure winners!”

Lemon and Twinkleshine stared at her dumbfoundedly. Twinkleshine was just surprised at Lyra’s newfound confrontational attitude, but Lemon had a very strong bad feeling about it.

Suddenly, a vaguely familiar voice interrupted the mumbling in the room, “There isn’t going to be a battle of the bands!”

Everybody turned and they saw the Rainbooms, now complete with that Twilight Sparkle girl, standing in a half circle around the Dazzlings. They grabbed each-other’s hands and with a very determined look, Twilight yelled out:

“Friendship is magic!”

What followed was complete and utter silence, filled with confused faces. The silence lingered just long enough to turn from pretty confusing to intensely uncomfortable.

“Talk about throwing down the gauntlet!” Adagio’s amused croon finally broke the silence, for better or for worse. “This group is obviously serious about winning! A little cocky though, aren't they? Claiming there won't really be a battle. Seems they think they've already got this thing all locked up.”

“Not if the Great and Powerful Trrrrrixie has anything to do with it!” Trixie shouted from the other side of the hall, trilling her ‘r’s vehemently.

“Whatever, Trixie! We're the best band at CHS!” Flash Sentry shouted back.

“No! The Crusaders are gonna win!” Applebloom joined in the shouting match, soon followed by practically everyone else. The quiet mumbling turned into what sounded like a riot.

“Boy, that got out of hand fast!” Lemon Hearts commented.

“Yeah, it’s like they don’t realize that the Steel Unicorns are the best.” Lyra added.

Lemon sighed.

“Come on, dude...” Lyra said, then started quietly cheering. “Yay, Steel Unicorns, woo...”

“Not this time Lyra,” Lemon said, “I’d rather not be part of this.”

“Then I suggest we follow the Rainbooms and leave,” Twinkleshine pointed at the exit, “I’m pretty sure this is what the rest of the night’s gonna look like.”

Lemon turned and saw Twilight and the Rainbooms hastily leaving the auditorium. “Yeah, they probably got the right idea.” She said.

They sneaked towards the door, trying to keep away from the shouting crowd’s attention, weaving across raised fists and streams of fighting words. Before they could finally leave, Lyra couldn’t help but step back and do her own part in the shouting contest. She got pulled out, before she could get into it.

They quickly headed into the main hall, the noisy crowd echoing through the quiet hallways.

“What is up with everybody?” Lemon blurted out. “Why is everyone yelling at each-other?”

“I’m telling you,” Twinkleshine answered, “this is what the Dazzlings are doing.”

“Or maybe,” Lyra said as she finally escaped their grasp, “this was bound to happen.”

“What are you talking about?” Lemon said. “Everyone got along a few days ago.”

“How do you know that was going to last? This is the first musical showcase at this school!”

“There isn’t even a prize!”

“Maybe, everyone is more eager to prove themselves than you are, Lemon!”

“What are you even saying?”

“Uh guys...” Twinkleshine interrupted the brief aimless argument. “Maybe we should ask the Rainbooms about what’s going on.”

“Didn’t you see that shameful display?” Lyra growled. “It’s clear that whatever they’re trying to do isn’t working. They only saved the school once, why would everything be their responsibility from now on? Twilight doesn’t even go to this school!”

“Sure, but still....” Twinkleshine meekly replied, shying away from Lyra’s intense response.

Lemon sighed. “Look, we’ll do our part in this competition, but as soon as somebody gets hurt, we’re leaving.”

“Oh somebody will get hurt, I can assure you!” Lyra exclaimed. “They will all be smashed under our steel hooves!”

Lemon groaned. “I’m going home.” She said and headed to the exit.

“You’re like the worst hype-man ever!” Lyra complained.

“Lemon, wait!” Sunset shouted at them from the other end of the hall and ran towards them.

“Ugh, what does she want?” Lyra grumbled.

Sunset stopped right in front of Lemon Hearts. “So good that you’re still here.” She huffed. “Can I ask one favour from you?”

“Here we go!” Lyra complained. “I knew we shouldn’t have accepted any offers from her.”

“Lyra!” Lemon scolded her, then turned back to Sunset. “What is it?”

“You probably saw that failure back there.” She began. “The thing is... We have an idea on what the Dazzlings want and we have a plan too. I just want you to help.”

“Sure, but how?” Lemon inquired.

“We’re pretty sure, they are the ones behind everybody acting so strange.”

“I told you!” Twinkleshine hushed from the side.

“So what’s the plan?” Lemon turned back to Sunset.

“Twilight’s gonna write a spell to vanquish them, we just need to stay in the race to perform it.”

“Oh, no no no no!” Lyra interjected. “Are you asking us to let you win?!”

“No, no, of course, not!” Sunset apologized, though she might have just been proactively retracting a statement. “We just need a backup plan. And seeing that you are not affected...” She glanced at Lyra, quietly second guessing that statement. “I just wanna make sure we can count on you, in case it doesn’t quite work out.”

“Count on us how?” Lyra judged.

“Sure, you can count on us!” Lemon didn’t let Lyra get an answer.

“Thanks, it means a lot.” Sunset then turned around. “Now, I gotta catch up with the rest of the gang.” She ran back down the corridor and disappeared by a corner.

“Don’t tell me you trust her.” Lyra said accusingly. “I saw that shifty look she gave me.”

“She was probably just checking out the best band in the showcase.” Lemon assured.

“Don’t try to distract me with the truth!” Lyra demanded. “Now... What were we talking about?”

“We were talking about how we’re going to smash this competition!”

“You know it, sister!”