> Equestria Girls: Tool Edition
>  by Acoustic Pulse
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Disposition
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Everything seemed normal in the small Arizona town of Jerome, blistering heat and wind kicking sand everywhere. A short bald man stood quietly in the middle of a vineyard. He seemed a bit on edge, in his hands was a paintball gun. Being a man of considerable wealth and status had its consequences, as he dealt with a lot of stalkers.

This was his vineyard and he was going to defend it. He was an Army veteran and was also trained in the art of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. To put it simply, he was not someone to be trifled with. However, he had his admirers and some of these admirers were a little crazy.

He heard footsteps along the adjacent row of grapevines. His paintball gun was already prepared, the leaves began to rustle. A man emerged from the grapevines and turned to face him, "MAYNARD!"

As one would expect, this scared the hell out of him and he proceeded to mag dump his weapon and pelt this intruder with paintballs. 

"You know, I really don't get why it is so hard for people to understand that I don't like to be fucked with. I don't bother anybody, I keep to myself and I still have psychos like you out here trying to hunt me down. Leave me be, if you want to see me so badly, buy a ticket to a concert. It's cheaper than coming all the way out here to Arizona and you won't get sprayed with paintballs. I bet you'll be feeling that when you wake up tomorrow," he pushed his glasses back up as they had almost fallen off.

The guy was sprawled out on the ground, writhing in pain, whimpering.

This caused Maynard to laugh, "Stop being a bitch, you brought this on yourself. I do feel a little remorseful, so here's a little something for your trouble."

He took out a plastic card and handed it to the man. In bold red letters was the name JESUS H. CHRIST. The guy stared at it confused, "Jesus H. Christ?"

"That's my name, don't wear it out," Maynard started walking away.

The other guy flipped the card to see it was autographed, "Really? You signed it?"

Maynard turned and looked back to the guy, "Yeah, you're welcome, man."

The two men went their separate ways. 



Maynard looked down at his watch, "Oh, shit, we were supposed to be developing that new album."

He unlocked his car and hopped into the driver seat, cranked the ignition, and reversed. He sped off to the small airport in the town. He had to fly to LA which would only be an hour and a half flight. It surely beat a 7 hour drive. 



Maynard arrived at the studio. His bandmates were already there practicing. A long haired blonde man looked up from his drums, "Took you long enough. Everything alright?"

"Yeah, Danny, we're good. I was just bullshitting at the vineyard," Maynard summed up the situation.

"Well, I'm super excited to drop this album, it's been 13 years, man, we need one," Danny tapped his foot on one of his pedals, hitting the bass drum multiple times.

A dark-haired bearded man nodded in agreement, "It takes time to do these things. It's like painting on oil and canvas. If you see something you don't like, we have to sand it down. It's taken us years because we're good at what we do and we settle for nothing less than perfection."

"Hell yeah, Adam, that work has paid off too. I was hoping we could get it done later this month, but we still need to add finishing touches. It'll be August before we can release it," Maynard added.

"Oh, damn, I told that guy we'd be done by mid-April," Danny sighed.

"Why do you always do that?" Adam laughed. 

"I legitimately thought we would be done by the middle of this month," Danny shrugged.

"They'll get the album when we feel like releasing it. They'd better be glad we're dropping one at all. We could've been like 'Alright, we're done.' after we dropped 10,000 Days. While they've been whining, we've been working," Maynard was visibly annoyed.

The bassist hadn't said much during this. He wore oval framed glasses. He also had a beard, but it was a little grey, his hair was cut short as well. He spoke with an English accent because he was from Kent. He turned to Maynard, "It's not that serious, mate, relax. We'll get this done and they'll love it."

Maynard took a deep breath and nodded, "Yeah, you're right, Justin. I'm anxious though, people didn't seem to like Eat the Elephant all that much."

"Are you kidding me? It was 3rd in the Billboard 200 when it dropped last year, people loved it," Justin was confused by that.

"I guess. Still heard a lot of complaints, even from people who support us. Viewed it as lackluster. I was like 'Whatever, man, you're still gonna buy it'," Maynard joked.

"It wouldn't surprise me if they did. Your voice and Howerdel's complement each other well. I'm not surprised that your other project is still popular," Justin tried to talk some sense into him.

"Means a lot, man, I appreciate that. I knew when Paul left that you were the right guy to replace him, you've been a great addition. Every album we've done has sounded just as good if not better than Undertow. I'm stoked about it, truly," Maynard threw words of encouragement Justin's way as well. 

Adam and Danny were jamming in the corner. Justin walked over to his amp while Maynard approached the microphone.  Something weird happened when Justin plugged his bass guitar up to it. The amp sparked and caught fire. This sent an electric shock throughout the other bandmates. They hurriedly threw a blanket over the flaming amp, trying to stop it from burning. The smoke inhalation caused the four of them to pass out though.



The members of Tool woke up, coughing profusely. Danny looked around and assessed the situation, "Does anything look different to you?"

Maynard scanned the room they were in, "No burn damage. No smoke, the detector isn't going off. What's going on?"

Adam walked up to a window and looked outside, "Uh, guys, we're not in Los Angeles anymore."

The other three band members looked with him. People with abnormal skin colors were walking around. One lady had yellow skin and orange hair, there was a guy with pale blue skin and orange hair.

"What the hell's going on here? Where are we? I've been sober a long time, I highly doubt I'm tripping right now, I also haven't had anything to drink so I know I'm not drunk," Maynard rambled in confusion.

"Well, we see it too, so we know you're not bugging, man," Danny reassured him.

"Well, damn, when I said I wanted LA to be flushed away, I didn't think it would actually happen. This is kind of cool," he relaxed a little.

"It is probably within our best interest to go out there and figure  out where we are," Adam concluded.

Maynard hesitated, "Wait, no one's gonna know who I am here. I have nothing to worry about."

"Maynard, you've got to stop being such a recluse, man, it ain't healthy," Adam joked.

"Let me worry about me, Adam. We're all men who enjoy solitude anyway," Maynard countered.

"Touché," Adam agreed.

"We might as well go explore. Let's go, fellas," Danny took the lead.

The rest of them followed. The place looked like home, but didn't feel like home. There was no telling what dimension they were in now, but they intended to find out.

End of Chapter 1!
> Reality
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Why do I feel like I've seen this before?" Maynard was confused.

"I dunno, man, I feel like I'm in a cartoon," Danny couldn't help but laugh.

"That's kind of what it looks like," Maynard laughed with him.

Adam brushed past a guy on the street, he turned and tapped his shoulder, "Hey, man."

"Oh, excuse me, I'm sorry," the guy apologized.

"No, it's fine, shit happens. Can you tell us where we are?" Adam asked him.

"Uh, yeah, you're in Canterlot," he answered.

"Canterlot? What state are we in?" Adam continued to interrogate the random bystander.

"Equestria. I take it you guys are new around here?" the guy answered his question with another question.

"Yeah, you could say that," Adam nodded.

"Hey, man, what planet are we on?" Maynard walked up and asked jokingly.

"Equestria. Canterlot, Equestria, Equestria," the guy answered.

"That's fuckin' wicked, we're not even on Earth anymore," Maynard already expected this.

"What?" the dude was confused.

"Bro, we're not from this Equestria place. We got shocked by an exploding amplifier, which hurt like hell by the way, and then we passed out from the smoke. We woke up here," Maynard clarified.

"That sounds crazy, do you know how you're going to get back?" the guy asked.

"Oh, do you not want us to stay? I see how it is," Maynard turned and walked away, pretending to be offended.

Adam, Danny, and Justin watched him, wondering where he was going.

"What? No, I didn't mean it like that, dude, I'm sorry," the guy was confused.

Maynard turned back, laughing, "I know, buddy, I was just giving you hell. What's your name, man?"

"Featherweight," the guy answered.

"Alright, Featherweight, I'm Maynard James Keenan," he extended his hand.

Featherweight shook it, "Three names, huh? That's interesting."

"Danny Carey at your service," he introduced himself.

"Name's Adam Jones," Adam shrugged, not really sure why everybody was introducing themselves.

"I'm Justin. Justin Chancellor," the bassist was the last to introduce himself.

"Well, it's nice to meet you guys. I was just about to go visit some friends. I write for the school's newspaper, so I was going to do a report on music. They're a band called the Rainbooms. It was just going to be like a little interview and stuff. If you want, you guys can tag along," Featherweight offered.

"You know what, we might as well. You seem to know your way around this place, so I'll humor you," Maynard was a little uncomfortable, but decided to roll with it anyway.

"Alright, I guess we can head there now," Featherweight shrugged.

The four men followed Featherweight to the garage that the Rainbooms were practicing in.



The members of Tool were not entirely sure what they had gotten themselves into, but it must have been amusing watching four grown men follow a little kid around. 

"So what grade are you in, little man?" Danny asked him.

"Oh. This is my first year in secondary school, I just got up to their level," Featherweight said.

"Ah, a Freshman, huh? I'd give a lot to go back to those years," he laughed.

"Oh, how old are you if you don't mind me asking?" Featherweight inquired.

"It's no problem, Feathers, I'm 57," Danny answered.

"Oh. Feathers. I like that nickname," Featherweight laughed.

He stopped and the members of Tool looked at the house. It was a decent sized two story. They looked toward the garage door as it opened. Seven girls exited, Maynard saw this as an ambush and squared up.

"James, relax," Adam held him back.

"Oh. OH, that's the little band. I dunno what the hell my problem is," Maynard shook Adam off, and turned away embarrassed. 

Featherweight pretended he didn't see that and pointed towards the 7 girls, "Here they are. The Rainbooms."

"Hey, Featherweight," the purple one waved. 

"Hi, Twilight. Is the band ready for the interview?" Featherweight asked.

"Yes, we're ready for your questions," Twilight replied.

"Okay, can you introduce yourselves? I know y'all already, but the other students might not," Featherweight explained the obvious.

Twilight nodded, "My name is Twilight Sparkle. I provided lead vocals, but I now provide backup vocals."

A blue girl with multicolored hair approached, "I'm Rainbow Dash. I now provide lead vocals and I play lead guitar."

A blonde girl with a big cowboy hat walked up, "Howdy, Featherweight. My name's Applejack, I play the bass."

A ghostly white girl with curly purple hair joined the girls already grouped up in the driveway, "I'm Rarity, I play the keytar."

A frizzy-haired pink girl ran up to them, extremely energetic, "HEY, FEATHERWEIGHT! You already know who, I am, silly. It's Pinkie Pie! I'm the drummer," she imitated the arm movements of a basic drum fill.

Maynard silently laughed and tapped on Danny's shoulder. Danny looked over, Maynard motioned him to come here.

Maynard whispered in his ear, "You think she's any good at drumming?"

Danny shrugged, "She's good at eardrumming, that girl's loud."

Maynard lost control and laughed, "Eardrumming, why is that funny?"

He stopped when he realized everyone was staring at him, "Oh. Sorry, continue the interview."

Featherweight waved it off, "It's cool, Maynard. No worries. Okay, next band member please."

An orange girl rocking a leather jacket sauntered out. When she stopped, she crossed her arms, "Hey, I'm Sunset Shimmer. I play rhythm guitar and I also provide backup vocals."

Maynard winced and pretended to be hurt by something, "Ow, shit."

"What's your deal?" Adam raised an eyebrow.

Maynard put his arm around Adam's shoulder, "Dude I just got cut by all that edge, am I bleeding?" 

Adam shook his head, laughing,"Why are you belittling these girls? They've done nothing to you."

Maynard sighed, "You're no fun, man."

Adam patted Maynard's bald head, "Take it easy, brother."

Maynard lightly shoved him off, "Okay, chill, quit massaging my scalp, that shit feels weird."

Everyone erupted in laughter. Maynard looked around for a second, then took a bow, "Thank you."

Featherweight scanned the driveway, "Wait, where's Fluttershy?"

A little yellow hand raised from behind the other band members, "I-I'm here."

"Poor thing, she's so timid," Justin whispered to Danny.

Danny nodded in agreement, "Yep."

"What instrument do you play?" Featherweight asked her.

Fluttershy mumbled, barely above a whisper, "Tambourine."

"A tangerine is not an instrument, that's a fruit," Featherweight giggled.

Fluttershy raised her voice, but not by much, "No, not tangerine. Tambourine."

"OH, TAMBOURINE! Sorry," Featherweight wrote that down.

"So, who are your friends, Featherweight?" Twilight asked.

"Oh, right. This is Maynard," he pointed at the bald guy.

"That's Danny," Featherweight motioned toward the long haired blonde man.

"This is Adam," he  gestured to the long haired bearded guy.

"And that's Justin," he looked over at the short haired bearded guy.

"Nice to meet you!" the Rainbooms said in unison.

Maynard was dazed, "Dude, what the fuck? They all said it at the same time. That was wild."

"So what do you guys do?" Featherweight asked.

"Oh, well, we're a band too, actually. We call ourselves Tool. I'm the singer, Adam's the guitarist, Justin's the bassist, and Danny plays drums," Maynard answered.

"Really? That's cool. Do you wanna jam with us after this interview?" Pinkie offered.

Maynard turned to the other band members. They nodded approvingly.

He turned back, "We might as well."

"Awesome! Looking forward to it," Pinkie went over to join the rest of the Rainbooms.



"Twilight, the first question is for you. What inspires you to create music?"

"It's fun. It's even more fun since I'm with my friends. I really enjoy spending time with them, they're like sisters to me. I would say fun and togetherness inspire us," Twilight beamed.

The other girls smiled back, supportive of their friend.

Featherweight scribbled her answer down, "Next question is for Rainbow Dash. Why did you take the lead vocal spot from Twilight? Was there a fight over it or was it a mutual agreement?"

Rainbow Dash nodded, "Good question, we agreed upon it. Twilight's not from here either, she had to go back home. We agreed I would do lead vocals until she came back. When she came back though, she just let me keep the lead role and took up backup vocals."

Featherweight jotted down her answer, "Okay, next question is for Sunset Shimmer. Coming in as the outsider, do you feel welcomed to the group?"

Sunset nodded, "Yeah, of course. They're such an inclusive bunch. After those ridiculous stunts I pulled and after I was so mean and hateful toward everyone, I'm surprised they were so forgiving, but yes, I'm grateful I can call them my friends instead of my enemies and I'm happy to be a part of the group."

Featherweight copied that down, "Okay. Last question is for Pinkie Pie. Are you excited to jam with the newcomers?"

Pinkie Pie nodded, "Of course! I wanna see what they're made of." 

"Okay, that wraps everything up, thanks you guys!" Featherweight closed his notebook and walked away. 

The Rainbooms waved goodbye to him. The members of Tool stood quietly. They had waited for the little interview to end. Pinkie Pie approached them, "Okay, let's jam! You guys can use our instruments since you didn't really plan this and don't have yours with you."

"Alright, we'll take good care of them. That was a kind gesture," Danny replied.

Danny walked over and sat at Pinkie Pie's drum kit, "Only one bass drum? I'll make it work. Thanks again."

Adam walked over and looked at Rainbow's guitar. He strummed a couple times, he changed the tuning and strummed again, "Alright, much better."

Justin was the last to enter. He walked up to Applejack's bass. He picked it up and plucked the string with his finger. He left it like it was because he liked how it sounded. 

Maynard stood at the microphone, "Which track do you guys feel like playing?"

Danny thought for a moment and then suggested, "Jambi?"

"We could do Parabola," Adam offered.

"What about Schism?" Justin played the bass riff.

"Damn. Alright, we'll flip a coin," Maynard reached in his pocket and fished for a coin. He found a quarter and took it out.

"But there's 3 options," Danny raised an eyebrow.

"I know, just let me do my thing.  Parabola and Schism were the last options so we'll flip between them first. Adam, heads or tails?"

Adam shrugged, "Uh, heads."

Maynard flipped the coin, caught it, and flipped it onto his other hand. He uncovered it, revealing that heads was the right call to make.

"Alright, Parabola lives. Schism's out of the question. The next flip will decide between Jambi and Parabola. Call it, Danny. Adam, you flip it," Maynard tossed the quarter to him.

"I'll go with heads," Danny knew the fact that heads had the slight  51 to 49 edge over tails, rather than the common misconception that it was half and half.

Adam flipped the coin. Instead of catching and flipping it, he just caught it between the back of his left hand and the palm of his right. He looked at it, "Yeah, heads, Jambi it is." 

They tuned to the right settings and began to strum a few notes. The Rainbooms silently watched everything unfold, not entirely sure what to think or say.

Adam and Justin started with the opening riffs. After a couple repeats, Danny put in some drum fills. Shortly thereafter, Maynard began to sing, the end sounded like this:


When they were done, the Rainbooms were too stunned to really speak.

"This is by far the smallest crowd we've ever performed for," Maynard laughed.

The other band members laughed along with him.

"They don't know who we are here, remember?" Danny laughed.

"Wait, guys, can you play that transition where it gets quiet for a second and then starts up really heavy again? That was so cool!" Rainbow requested (Timestamp 3:55 if you want to hear it again).

"Alright, y'all ready?" Maynard turned to them. They played the breakdown again. 

"That is so AWESOME!" Rainbow giggled.



Sunset Shimmer found herself singing along, "Shine on forever, shine on, benevolent sun. Shine on upon the broken, shine until the two become one."

Rarity smiled, "I thought it was sweet that he said he'd wish everything away to keep the person he was singing about."

Applejack nodded, "Yeah, I just loved how groovy it was, that's some mighty fine workout music right there, lemme tell ya." 

Pinkie giggled, "The drumming hasn't been mentioned yet, wasn't it great?"

The other girls nodded in agreement. Twilight added, "That song was very technically sound. They definitely put a lot of work into it. Composing is an underappreciated art."

Fluttershy stayed quiet. She liked the song, but the 'beg like a hooker' line made her feel awkward.

"What did you think, Fluttershy?" Rarity turned to her.

"Oh, it was uh, it was fine. I liked the message," she mumbled.

"Me too, darling," Rarity smiled.



The members of Tool put the instruments back on the stands and walked outside. 

"Hey, do you wanna hear us play?" Rainbow offered.

"Well, since you listened to us and since you let us borrow your instruments, sure. We'll listen," Danny agreed.

The other three obliged to make it unanimous. The Rainbooms assumed their respective positions and tuned their instruments. They began to play a song of their own, which sounded like this:


Maynard was confused by what he had seen, "Dude, you grew wings. That was wicked."

"If I may be honest, I am impressed that you could play without an amplifier and it still sounds like it's plugged in. How did you do that?" Adam raised an eyebrow.

"Oh, I didn't even realize I left it unplugged. I don't really know," Rainbow shrugged.

"I also want to say that your guitar solo was pretty good. You've got potential, kid," Adam added.

"Hey, you already know!" Rainbow Dash was grateful for the ego boost.

"This kinda sounded like a nasally impression of Hayley Williams from Paramore. It wasn't terrible, but it was kind of average. I feel like younger audiences would love it though," Maynard offered the backhanded compliment.

"Paramore?" Rainbow raised an eyebrow.

"Oh, they're another band from our world," Maynard clarified.

"Cool," Rainbow laughed.

"The drumming was actually decent, I approve. It isn't quite playlist quality, but I wouldn't skip it if it came on the radio or something," Danny tried to keep it positive. 

Justin didn't have anything to say, he didn't like how the bass sounded. He also didn't like how arrogant and showboaty the lyrics were, but he simply held his tongue.

"Dude, you were awesome, maybe if I keep playing, I'll be that good," Pinkie laughed.

"That's the spirit, don't ever give up," Danny encouraged.

"I won't," Pinkie promised.



It was starting to get dark. Pinkie looked up at the sky, "Hey, do you guys have anywhere to stay?"

Maynard shrugged, "We woke up in an empty studio when he got transported here. I guess we could go back there."

"Really? I thought that place was abandoned," Pinkie was confused.

"It was definitely empty when we got here," Danny confirmed.

"Well, I guess we'll see you around then," Rainbow waved.

The members of Tool headed back to the studio they woke up in. They had no idea what the next day was going to bring them, but they concluded that this place was not nearly as bad as they thought it would be.

End of Chapter 2!
> Experience
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The band awoke the next morning. They looked around and realized they were still in this Equestria place. Maynard sat silently, zoning out from deep thought.

"Maynard?" Danny looked over at him.

Maynard wasn't paying attention, Danny waved his hand in front of his face, "Hey, man, snap out of it."

He looked up and all around him, he then turned to Danny, "Hey, bro, I've been thinking."

"About what?" he asked.

"This place we're in, we're not the first to have this happen to us," Maynard remembered.

"What do you mean?" Danny was confused.

"You remember that time we went to Ozzfest?" Maynard scratched his head.

"Yeah, of course. That show was a blast," Danny smiled, remembering it fondly.

"Well, when I was there, I was backstage. Ozzy was hanging with me back there, he was telling me that he was performing at a concert and that a lightning bolt struck the stage. He said him and the band woke up somewhere completely different. He said the people were colorful like this. I dunno why it took me so long to remember that, but I'm wondering if people who disappeared over the Bermuda Triangle end up here or in other worlds," Maynard rambled.

"I hadn't heard about that. I don't know if it's true, they acted like they'd never seen our kind before. But we don't look that much different from them," Danny replied.

"Dude, this is random, but I been thinking about other stuff too, like you know how all of the girls from that band wear those crazy thigh high boots?" Maynard asked.

"What about them?" Danny laughed.

"I used to think thigh high boots were sexy, but now they fuckin' terrify me, man. Their entire body is their legs, like there's no divide between their torso and their legs," Maynard said.

"Those boots look heavy as hell too, I don't know how they walk in those things," Danny agreed.

"I don't either," Maynard shrugged.

Adam walked over to Danny and Maynard, "What's up, guys?"

"Talking about those people from yesterday with the crazy looking boots," Danny answered.

"Oh, yeah, the girls from that little garage band, those kids got potential. I feel like they'd be alright here. Smaller children would probably jam to that shit all day," Adam said.

"Yeah, dude, every little girl's  dream is to be a rock star or a pop star. Some sort of singer," Maynard generalized randomly.

"Oh, I know, look at you now! You're all grown up," Adam roasted.

"Hey, shut the fuck up. You know what, that's fighting words right there. Square up," Maynard jumped up.

"Oh, shit, chill, I was playing," Adam tried to diffuse the situation.

Danny pulled Maynard back and held him, "Calm down, man, damn. It ain't that serious."

Maynard relaxed and Danny let go of him. He patted Adam on the back, "I was just fuckin' with you, man. That comeback was actually hilarious."

Justin walked over after the debacle had settled down, "What's the game plan for today?"

"I guess we can go back and explore some more. This place reminds me of the Southern US in a way. Small tight-knit community where everybody knows each other," Danny suggested.

"Alright, let's see what we can get ourselves into," Adam agreed. Maynard and Justin followed them out. 



They walked down the street, not really having a planned destination. They heard a familiar voice call to them, "Hey, guys."

The men turned to see Featherweight approaching them, they stopped and let him catch up. When he got there, he spoke again, "I got another interview with another band if you're interested in tagging along, maybe you can make fun of them like you did to the Rainbooms because that was actually funny."

"Oh, you heard a little of that, did ya?" Danny laughed.

Featherweight nodded, "This band only has 3 people in it, they're sisters. They call themselves The  Dazzlings. We call them The Sirens though."

"Sirens? Like the evil seductive bird sluts or the loud beeping things?" Maynard asked.

"The first one," Featherweight laughed.

"Neat, I am interested to hear what they've got to say," Maynard replied.

"Now are they a rock group as well?" Adam chimed in.

"No, I think they're pop, they act like total divas," Featherweight said.

"Oh, well, we'll see what happens," Justin added.



Featherweight took the lead and the members of Tool followed him.  When they got to the house, three girls were standing outside. One had yellow skin and orange hair, another had blue skin with blue and purple hair, the other had lavender skin with purple and blue hair. Adam recognized one of them as the yellow girl with orange hair he saw when they first arrived in this land. It didn't take the others long to connect that dot either.

"Hey, uh, Featherweight right?" the orange haired girl asked to clarify.

"Yes, that's me. I'm here to conduct the little interview, I've only got a few questions," Featherweight replied.

"Okay, shoot," the blue haired girl stood waiting.

"First, could you introduce yourselves?" Featherweight asked, sticking to the same style he interviewed the Rainbooms with.

"Alright, I'm Aria Blaze," the blue girl replied.

"My name's Adagio Dazzle," the yellow girl waved.

Lastly, the purple girl introduced herself, "Hey, I'm Sonata Dusk."

"And your group is called the Dazzlings, correct?" Featherweight asked.

"Yep, that's us," Sonata confirmed.

"Okay, I just have one question for each of you, I'll throw them down on the school paper. Whoever's interested will read it, sound good?" Featherweight broke things down.

"Yeah, bro, we got you," Adagio shrugged.

"Okay first question is for you, why do you want to turn the little talent show thing into a Battle of the Bands?" Featherweight asked.

"I figured it would make things a little more interesting. It'll be fun and chaotic," Adagio answered. 

"Alright, Aria, next question's for you, what inspires the three of you to make music?" Featherweight asked.

"Well, popularity, I guess. We want to be the ones everybody listens to and is like, 'Hey, I like that group. The Dazzlings are pretty cool.' and then we can get like record deals and release albums. It'll be fun if we can pull that off," Aria explained.

"Alright, last question is for Sonata, do you three ever fight for the lead spot?" Featherweight asked the final question.

"We're sisters, we fight over almost everything, but no. Usually, Adagio is lead and Aria helps me with the backup vocals. It sounds better when Adagio's up front, she admittedly has the best vocal range out of the three of us," Sonata explained.

"Alright, neat. That's all I needed, thanks for your time," Featherweight turned to leave.

"Wait, don't you want to hear a demonstration?" Adagio coaxed the little guy.

He thought for a moment, "Okay, I don't have anything better to do. I guess I'll stay and listen for a little while."

"Okay, here we go. Aria, play the beat," Adagio commanded.

Aria ran into the house and returned with a little stereo. She hit the play button and the instrumental started playing. They began singing, it sounded like this:


While they were singing, the necklaces the Sirens were wearing began to glow this bright red color, sort of like the lights on the tops of cell phone towers. 

"Woah, what the hell's going on?" Maynard tiled his head in confusion.

"I dunno, but it obviously looks sinister," Adam observed.

"Never would have guessed," Justin said sarcastically.

"Look over there," Danny pointed at the girls.

This green dust cloud started forming. Bystanders across the street started arguing with each other. Other people in the surrounding area began to fight as well. The streets erupted in a sort of riot, they were completely entranced by this song the sisters were singing.

"Why isn't it affecting us?" Justin asked.

"I dunno, maybe it only stirs up the people of this world?" Danny guessed.

"We need to stop them before shit gets any worse than it already is," Adam pointed out the obvious.

"Yeah, from the looks of things, they have to be singing for the spell to work, so if we can get them to shut their traps, maybe everyone will chill out," Maynard figured out.

"Alright, I'll cause a diversion, you three bum rush 'em or something," Justin said.

"Sounds good, be careful, brother," Adam threw up a mock salute.

Justin returned the salute and then stepped toward the sisters. The sisters didn't stop the song, but their eyes were fixed on Justin, which provided the perfect opportunity for the others.

Adam, Maynard, and Danny had flanked around to their side. Maynard crept up to Aria. When he was within striking distance, he charged and hiptossed her to the ground. He overdid it and she smacked her head on the cement driveway. The blow didn't knock her out, but she was probably concussed. 

"Shit, I didn't mean to do that much," Maynard winced when she hit the ground.

When Aria stopped singing, the spell weakened a little. Adagio and Sonata didn't break song and continued singing. Justin ran toward them and they flinched. That little bit of hesitation was enough to break the spell. Adam had walked up behind them. He grabbed the sides of their heads and smacked 'em together. They both dropped.

Danny wanted no part of hitting basically defenseless girls, so he walked up after everything was done, "Get some ice on them, they're gonna be seeing stars for a while."

"Okay, they're gonna want some revenge for this, so expect them to try this voodoo witchcraft again," Adam warned.

"We'll worry about that when the time comes," Justin replied.

"Their door is still unlocked, let's just take them in and leave them. Are they bleeding?" Danny asked.

"Nah, they're not bleeding," Adam answered.

They took the Sirens into their house and into what they assumed was their living room. They sat the sisters down on the couch and looked for their kitchen. They found some sandwich bags and filled them with ice. They laid the ice packs on the girls' heads and left.

"That did not go as planned. I kinda feel bad," Maynard sighed.

"Well, they were brainwashing people, they kind of asked for it. It's not like we killed them or anything," Adam retorted.

"Fair enough," Maynard agreed.

"Let's get out of here before they start singing again," Danny took up the front and started heading back toward the studio. Adam, Maynard, and Justin followed him. 



When they got there, they were met by Featherweight. He had a couple bruises and his shirt was ripped, but he was fine. He greeted the band when he saw them, "Hey, fellas."

"What's up, little man? You okay?" Danny asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine," he answered.

"Good. I don't know how we're going to stop that the next time. We had to physically attack them in order to break that spell they were putting over everybody. I feel like that just pissed them off though, they'll probably be back looking for vengeance," Danny explained to him.

"Oh, well they're already trying to sabotage the little talent show that the Rainbooms helped set up at school. I don't know if they'll try that again or not, I'm expecting it too though," Featherweight confirmed Danny's suspicions. 

"Yeah, this shit was wild, dude. I can see why everyone got hypnotized though, that song was catchy as hell," Maynard joked.

"It was really repetitive though, it's like they ran out of ideas, so they just repeated the chorus. Truth be told, when she started off with that 'Blindsided by the by the beat, clapping your hands, stomping your feet', that part was so offbeat that I was like 'Ok, this is terrible,' but other people liked it for some reason. I don't think it was the song that made them mosh like that though, it was those  necklaces," Adam rambled.

"It was your average run of the mill pop song, what did you expect?" Justin laughed.

"That's the first negative thing I've heard you say since we've gotten here, buddy," Adam teased.

"I don't really have a lot to say, I'm still surprised that we even ended up here, I also feel like I'm the one to blame for all this because if I didn't plug my bass guitar into that amp, none of this nonsense would have happened," Justin lamented.

"Hey, it's alright though, we're making it here just like we made it in the States. I'm willing to bet that no matter where we are, our sound will reign supreme and people will love what we do," Danny encouraged. 

"Yeah, that's a good way of looking at it. I appreciate it, mate," Justin felt a little less guilty.

"That's what we're here for, man," Danny replied.

An idea sparked in Featherweight's mind as he listened to them talk, "My dudes, I have a plan."

"What's up, Feathers?" Danny turned his attention back to Featherweight.

"What if your band competed in that band battle thing?" he suggested.

"So you expect a bunch of 50-somethings to just walk up in a school like, 'Hey, let me compete against children?' I don't know if that's fair to them honestly. There'd be no comparison. It would be like trying to put 4 sharks into a fish tank," Maynard laughed.

"I guess, but maybe since you guys are immune to the Sirens' magic, you can stop them again. I expect them to perform the same song at that show. Everyone who goes to that school will be confined into a small space and it would be the perfect place to unleash that kind of chaos again," Featherweight deduced.

"Smart thinking, little man, maybe we could. There ain't no telling how that's gonna play out. What other bands will be there? I expect there's a lot since the whole school's going to be there," Adam inquired.

"We got the Crusaders, three freshmen like me, they're okay. We got Octavia rolling solo with a cello recital. Lyra and BonBon will do a piano duet, Trixie's got a three piece rock group, this Flash Sentry guy's got his band too, I forgot what they were called. That wall eyed girl has a band too, but they probably won't get far. There's also a rap duo named Snips and Snails. Last band that I know of will be the Rainbooms we met prior to all this," Featherweight explained.

"Were you planning on interviewing everybody before the competition?" Justin asked.

"Yeah, but I won't be able to get that done in time. I only got to the two bands that I know will be finalists in this competition. The rest of them are average at best. Also it's only 9, if your group joins it, there'll be an even number," Featherweight answered.

"I mean I guess we could give it a shot if they let us. It won't hurt to try. Besides, if it seems like we're gonna lose, we'll just unleash Maynard and he'll abuse those kids again," Danny joked.

"It wasn't abuse, they were the aggressors in that situation with that crazy magic stuff. I only did that to diffuse the situation and I really did not intend to hit her that hard. As soon as her head hit the pavement, I was like: 'Oh shit get some ice.' It was a heat of the moment thing, I overdid it a little bit," Maynard defended.

"I know, man, I was just giving you hell. They'll be fine, it's not we killed them or anything," Danny diffused the situation.

"So, are you guys in? I can put in a good word to the Principal and Vice Principal, they're the two judges in the competition, I'm sure they'll allow it. They're strict sometimes, but they're usually super lenient," Featherweight offered.

"I mean if you think it's a good idea, little man, we'll roll with it," Adam left it up to him.

The other three nodded in agreement to make it unanimous.

"Alright, cool, I'll go there tomorrow and get you guys a spot. What was the name of your band again?" Featherweight asked.

"Tool," Maynard reminded.

"That's it, it'll be fun, trust me. I'll see you guys around," Featherweight turned to leave.

"Alright, Feathers, take care," Danny waved.

"You too!" he called back.

The band opened the door to the studio and went back inside. When they got back in, they started talking amongst themselves again.



"Now I really feel like I'm in a cartoon, man. It's like we're the random good guys from another planet that gain the trust of the locals, the Sirens are like the little comic villains that want world domination, and now we gotta defeat them. I swear you could probably throw all this into a 30 minute cartoon. Or a sequel that was slightly better than the sub-par first film," Maynard joked.

"You think of the most random shit, man," Adam laughed.

"Hey, it's a possibility," he replied.

"I suppose so, nothing's logical anymore, they got instruments that project amp-like sounds without amplifiers," Adam agreed.

"Something tells me that little contest thing is gonna be some sort of elimination bracket type scenario, we'll probably have to pick out a whole setlist like a concert," Danny replied.

"Oh, right, we agreed to that. What are your suggestions? We'll be in a school so we'll have to keep it clean somehow," Justin replied.

"I was thinking Vicarious or The Grudge could be two options for us," Danny suggested.

"If there's multiple rounds, we can do them both. Featherweight said there would be 7 other groups. That means there's probably going to be three rounds, so we need a third song possibly," Adam answered.

"Alright, what do you guys want the third song to be?" Danny asked.

Maynard thought for a moment, "We could play Lateralus or Forty Six & 2."

"We could take it back to '93 with Intolerance," Adam suggested.

"Oh, that's such a good idea," Maynard laughed.

"Alright, I think the setlist for this little thing should be Forty Six & 2, Intolerance, and The Grudge," Justin suggested.

"Sounds good, man, I'm down," Danny agreed.

"Me too, brother," Adam added.

"This might actually be fun, we'll see what happens," Maynard made it unanimous.

With the setlist in mind, the band decided to call it a night. They had no clue what tomorrow would bring them, they were just glad today was over with.

End of Chapter 3!
> Competition
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

There was loud knocking at the door of the studio. Maynard hid somewhere. Justin stood by the door while Adam stood on the other side. Danny opened the door. He saw Featherweight and two women on the other side. One was extremely tall and very pale white with pink and green hair, the other was short and thin with pale blue skin and dark blue hair.

When Maynard realized there wasn't a threat, he let down his guard. They all met in the middle of the studio. Justin shut the door after they entered.

"Feathers, what's up, buddy?" Danny greeted him.

"Hey, Danny, this is Principal Celestia and Vice Principal Luna. They run Canterlot High School and they will be the judges of that Battle of the Bands thing," Featherweight introduced them.

"When I heard the four of you were from another world, I was intrigued enough to investigate for myself. I see you're bipedal like we are, but you're all the same color," Celestia observed.

"Yes, we're Humans from Earth. Earth is basically like this but people are not as colorful. We come in white, black, brown, and yellowish I guess. I don't know how to say that without sounding disrespectful," Maynard replied.

"Fascinating. We come in many different colors, including the ones you mentioned," Celestia replied.

"Featherweight here tells us you want in on the competition. We were planning on only allowing students, but we're a bit shorthanded and could use one more. I trust Featherweight, he says your intentions are good, so I'm willing to allow it. What say you, dear sister?" Luna approved.

Celestia thought for a moment, "We might as well. I'm approving just out of sheer curiosity. If you do anything to harm my students, I will personally massacre the 4 of you, that is a promise."

"Alright, message received," Maynard replied.

"We come in peace," Adam joked.

"You won't have to worry about us," Justin assured them.

"We're laid back, we won't do anything," Danny promised.

"Good, I will take you all at your word. Don't make me regret it. As of now, Tool is officially in the Battle of the Bands," Celestia laid down the law.

"Alright, when is this competition?" Justin asked.

"Either tonight or tomorrow night, we haven't decided yet," Celestia turned to Luna.

"Let's do it tonight. Classes are about to start, we need to hurry and make arrangements. Good day," Luna opened the door and exited. Celestia and Featherweight followed her out. Justin shut the door behind them.

"Okay, now we are in this band thing. That means we can hopefully stop those Sirens from being annoying little shits," Maynard said.

"Yeah, maybe it'll be fun, who knows?" Danny shrugged. 

"We'll have to wait and see," Adam said.

"We can't practice because we don't have our instruments," Justin realized.

"Shit. Oh well, we don't need to. We got good enough memories to know what to do. We were not born yesterday," Maynard pointed out.

"Fair enough," Adam replied.



Another knock was heard at the door.  Maynard decided to answer it this time. The Rainbooms were on the other side. 

Twilight spoke first, "Hey. We heard you were going to compete in the Battle of the Bands, we wanted to wish you good luck."

"Thanks," Justin waved at them.

"We also brought you something," Rarity revealed a leather guitar case that the girls were hiding by standing in front of it.

"That's a guitar for Adam," Rainbow was excited to see what he thought of it.

"Really? You girls didn't have to do that, that was very thoughtful of you," Adam gratefully accepted the gift. 

He opened the case to discover a Silverburst Gibson Les Paul. Adam laughed and said, "This looks just like the one I have back home. Great choice."

"We were hoping you'd like it," Rainbow punched the air triumphantly.

"Of course, thanks again," Adam sat, admiring the guitar.

Applejack pushed through them, "We ain't forgot about you, Justin. We got you a bass. Check it out."

She picked up another guitar case that they had sitting on the ground behind them. She gave it to Justin.

"That was thoughtful, you lot. Thank you," Justin sat the case on the floor and opened it. Inside the case was a blue Fender Precision bass guitar.

He stared in disbelief and then eyed the girls suspiciously, "Where did you get this?" 

Pinkie laughed, "I know a guy."

Justin's expression remained serious, "This bass is from my personal collection. It's the 1963 model, I'd recognize it anywhere. Are you saying you went into our world to retrieve our instruments?"

Twilight sighed, "Caught red handed. Sunset and I are the only ones who can travel through that portal. I use it to go back to my home. I'm not from here either."

"So you withheld that information for what reason?" Maynard was visibly annoyed.

"Curiosity. I've only seem your kind once before and they were fascinating creatures. I wanted to study them," Twilight confessed.

"Were you the one who brought us here?" Danny inquired.

Twilight shook her head, "No. I still don't know how you got here, but I know how to get you back. You won't have to go out and get struck by lightning like Ozzy did, that guy was a madman."

"Sounds like something he would do," Maynard cracked a smile.

"It must have worked because he's still performing in concerts. I went to see him perform with his solo band a while back," Sunset spoke up. She had been silent throughout the whole exchange.

"Yeah, he's alive and well," Danny confirmed.

Pinkie snapped her fingers. "I almost forgot! Danny, we got your drumset too, we left it set up in the auditorium. Twilight put a protective ward on it. If anyone other than you touches that drumset, it'll static shock them."

"That's awesome," Danny laughed.

That gave Maynard an idea, but he decided to keep it to himself for now.

"Almost time for the show, we'll see you there. Good luck," Fluttershy murmured.

"You too, have fun out there," Adam waved.

"I take back everything negative I've said about them," Maynard laughed.



The time had come for the Battle of the Bands to commence. The members of Tool sat at a table in the cafeteria. They observed their surroundings. 

One girl was sitting by herself carrying her Cello case. Two other girls were sitting together at another table. There were three younger girls eating snacks at a table near the windows. The wall eyed girl and a couple of her friends did in fact have a band, they sat with other students who were just spectating.

A magician girl had a band as well. Another guy and his friends were in a group. The Rainbooms had taken up a whole section  of the cafeteria. The Dazzlings were nowhere to be found.

One of the younger girls looked around, "Did the Sirens quit? This was their idea, why would they do that?" 

As if that was their cue, Adagio threw open the double doors. Her sisters were behind her. They were harmonizing their vocals and it sent nearly everyone into a trance like state. The only ones not affected were The Rainbooms and Tool.

The Sirens broke into song and it sounded like this: 

"It's happening again, look," Adam pointed. What the other groups originally saw as a friendly competition had now turned into an all out grudge match.

They had begun arguing amongst themselves, but no physical altercations broke out this time. The Rainbooms and Tool just watched in total confusion as everything went South. The Dazzlings had erupted the cafeteria into utter pandemonium.

"Those kids are gonna be the death of me," Danny laughed.

"Preaching to the choir," Maynard dismissed the comment. 



Eventually, the arguing died down and everyone returned to their seats. Shortly afterward, Celestia and Luna entered the Cafeteria.

"Welcome, everyone, thank you all for participating in this little talent show. We will have the first two bands play. We will decide which one stays and which one goes. The rest of you remain here. Students not participating can go sit in the auditorium," Celestia explained.

Luna chimed in, "First two bands will be Trixie's and Derpy's."

The blue girl with silver hair laughed. "The Great and Powerful TRIXIE will totally win this."

Derpy giggled, "This is gonna be fun."

Maynard couldn't help but laugh along with her, "I like that kid. She isn't an arrogant prick like the rest. I hope she beats that Trixie girl. Trixie seems like an asshole."

His bandmates erupted in laughter and expressed their agreement. 



A little while later, Trixie returned. Derpy was nowhere to be found. Celestia and Luna came in behind Trixie.

"One down so far. The next competitors are Octavia's cello and Lyra's piano duet with Bon Bon," Luna announced. They got up and followed her out.

"This feels like a trip to the dentist, just waiting to get called for the checkup," Adam joked.

"Yeah, I know," Danny concurred.



A short time later, Lyra and Bon Bon returned to the cafeteria. Octavia had apparently been eliminated from the competition. 

Principal Celestia and Vice Principal Luna entered the cafeteria once more, "Flash Sentry's band and the Crusaders, it's time for you all to compete."

The six people from two different bands dispersed.

"Crusaders, that's an interesting group name for 3 little girls," Maynard laughed.

"Maybe they'll win based on cuteness factor," Adam shrugged.

"Or perhaps they'll win because it's an all female group with female judges, we'll see what happens," Danny suggested.

"That's a possibility," Justin added.



After a few minutes, Danny was proven wrong as Flash Sentry's band returned to the cafeteria.

"I believe you owe pretty much every girl in here an apology," Adam joked.

"Oh, hush," Danny laughed.

"Are we not a part of this? They haven't called us up," Justin wondered aloud.

Principal Celestia and Vice Principal Luna entered the cafeteria. Celestia seemed to be annoyed. Luna had pretty much taken control of this thing and made it her own. 

Vice Principal Luna addressed the remaining groups, "Now that we've eliminated the least talented groups, no offense to them, we'll be moving on to the real competition. Instead of having two bands at a time, we will now only have one and we will decide who stays and who leaves until the last band is standing, sort of like Equestria's Got Talent or Equestrian Idol except it's actually entertaining and not scripted garbage for TV. To the ones who haven't performed yet, don't get too cocky. We're just getting started."

Principal Celestia sighed, "Sister, I think you're taking this a little too seriously, it's a school talent show for Star Swirl's sake."

"Tia, don't be a buzzkill, this is fun," Luna giggled like a child.

"Sometimes I wonder why the superintendent hired us to run this place," Celestia laughed.

Luna decided to up the ante a little more, "I'll top what I already said, instead of eliminating just one, we'll be eliminating 2 at a time, so bring your best!"

"Why are you putting so much pressure on them?" Celestia raised an eyebrow.

"I dunno, I just think it'll be fun," something about Luna seemed off.

The Dazzlings were giggling in the corner, Celestia stared at them and they got quiet. This made her wonder, "You three, come here a second."

The sisters approached the Principal, Adagio spoke first, "Yes?"

"Are you putting spells on my sister to speed up the competition? I've seen what you three are capable of, that kind of foolishness will not be tolerated, is that understood?"

"No, we're not doing anything, we're just excited for the show," Adagio blatantly lied. Her necklace flashed a red beam of light in Celestia's face. 

This confused her and her demeanor changed completely, "That's what I thought. Uh, go back over there."

The Dazzlings went back to their table. Luna spoke again, "First band up will be Trixie's."

Trixie got up, sauntering out the door, a smug grin on her face, "The Great and Powerful TRIXIE will survive another round."

Her bandmates followed her out.



A few minutes had passed and Trixie's band had not returned to the cafeteria. The other bands were confused, but remained silent and simply waited. The doors finally opened again, Principal Celestia and Vice Principal Luna reentered the cafeteria. 

"Quick word of advice to those who may also lack common sense, don't play the same song twice. That will just set you up for failure," Luna seethed.

Principal Celestia gave her sister a concerned look, "Why are you being so rude to them for? What has gotten into you? This competition's getting to your head, dear sister, you need to go home and get some rest. I'll take it from here."

Vice Principal Luna turned to Celestia, "No, I'm okay. Lyra and BonBon, you're up next, good luck!"

Celestia had the what-the-fuckingest look painted across her face, "Something's not right here. I intend to get to the bottom of it."

Luna giggled, "You worry too much, Tia, I'm really fine."

The two principals left, followed by Lyra and Bon Bon.

When they were out of earshot, Maynard spoke, "Dude, that blue girl is bipolar as fuck."

"She seemed nice when we met her this morning, I don't know what her deal is now," Danny shrugged.

"You think it's them over there?" Adam tilted his head toward the Dazzlings.

"Possibly, they can do that crazy magic stuff, I wouldn't rule it out," Justin agreed.



Roughly the same amount of time had passed as last round, but again, no one came back. The Rainbooms and Tool remained quiet. 

Flash Sentry finally spoke after staying quiet the entire time as well, "Where do you think they go? I'm assuming they were eliminated, but this is just creepy."

One of his bandmates turned to him, "Remember when we eliminated the Crusaders? She just told them to find a seat in the audience, they're all still in the auditorium spectating. Nothing to worry about."

Flash sighed, "Why didn't you mentioned that sooner? The rest of us had figured they'd gone home or something."

"No, they're still here. They were all good sports about it, they looked like they had a blast," the same bandmate replied.

"That's good," Flash seemed to chill out a bit.

Not long after that conversation ended, Principal Celestia and Vice Principal Luna came back into the cafeteria. Celestia spoke, "Sorry for the wait, Lyra and BonBon were feeling down that they didn't make it and we were consoling them."

Luna shrugged, "I don't know why they were so worked up over it, the other contestants were fine."

Celestia shot her sister a venomous look, "It's because you blatantly told them their song was terrible. Then you said 'Eliminated, know your place, trash.' I've had enough of your antics, you won't be judging anymore bands, I'll be the lone judge from here on out."

Luna had zoned out while Celestia was berating her, "Wait, I did what? Oh no, I didn't really say that did I? That's terrible, I need to go apologize."

Celestia watched in confusion as her sister took off down the hall.

"Glad she's finally come to her senses, I really don't know what's going on with her," she said aloud to no one in particular.

She turned to leave, but she stopped and about faced, "Oh, I almost forgot. Flash, your band's up next. Don't take what Luna says to heart, she's, um, not feeling well."

"Is she PMSing?" Flash blurted out like an idiot.

"I wish, she isn't nearly as bad as she is right now," Celestia stifled a laugh at the bizarre question.

Flash's band followed her down the hall.



Flash's band hadn't returned from the auditorium, which obviously meant they were eliminated as well. The three remaining groups were The Rainbooms, Tool, and the Dazzlings.

Rainbow Dash finally spoke loud enough to be heard, "Oh, that's too bad, Twilight, your boyfriend got eliminated."

Twilight's face turned red, "He's not my---oh, shut up."

Applejack nudged her, "Guilty as charged."

"I said stop," Twilight couldn't help but laugh.

"We're not blind, darling, we see the way you two look at each other," Rarity teased.

Pinkie jumped up and stood on her seat, "OH, when's the wedding? I want cake.  Anyone else want some cake?"

"No one's getting m-," Twilight stopped midsentence. Pinkie had reached into her hair, pulled out a slice of cake, and proceeded to eat it as if nothing was wrong.

"What the---where'd you even get that?" Rainbow looked over, confused.

"You mean you don't carry emergency cake with you?" Pinkie was confused.

Everyone laughed. Their laughter was cut off by Principal Celestia and Vice Principal Luna entering the cafeteria again. 

"We're down to the last 3 bands, we now call The Rainbooms to the stage," Celestia announced.

The Dazzlings started laughing. Their necklaces flashed again. It appeared as if there was a red glint in Celestia's and Luna's eyes.

It finally dawned on Maynard, "Dude, I know why they haven't been picking us."

"Why?" Adam asked.

"They're using those necklaces to hex the bands into making mistakes and to trick the judges into eliminating the other bands, that's why they haven't been called and we haven't been called. They want it to be just us in the end, competing for the win. This is personal for them," Maynard shared his theory.

"That actually explains a lot," Danny agreed.

"Speak of the devil," Justin said as the Dazzlings approached their table.

"I see you finally cracked the code, baldy. No worries, when we plunge this world into riot and chaos, we'll take charge and reign supreme over this filth," Adagio taunted.

"Yeah, can't wait to see the looks on your faces when you lose to a group of girly pop stars," Sonata smirked.

Aria looked around, "Hey, good luck though, fellas."

The members of Tool thanked her, Aria's other two sisters shot her venomous looks.

"What?" she asked.

Maynard stopped them, "Hey, uh, Aria right?"

Aria nodded, "Yeah?"

Maynard extended a hand, "I wanted to apologize for slamming your head into the concrete, I really didn't intend to do that."

Aria shook his hand, "No sweat, I'm still breathing, so it's whatever, I guess."

He turned to her sisters, "See? Why can't you be civilized like her?"

"Piss off, cue ball" Adagio grabbed Aria's hand and pulled her away. Sonata followed them back to the corner. 

The other three members of Tool roared with laughter.

"Why was that so funny?" Adam regained his composure.

"I don't know, I just wasn't expecting this dimension to know what pool was," Danny shrugged.

Justin shook his head, "That orange girl's clearly the ringleader. She's using her sisters as puppets, it's kind of sad."

Maynard looked toward the door, "Wait a minute, where'd that big band go? The Rainshrooms or whatever they were called. Rainbrooms or was it Raintombs? What about Rainwombs? Shit, I can't remember."

"Rainbooms," Justin corrected.

"That's it, that's the one. Rainbooms," Maynard laughed.

"Did they really get eliminated? I honestly saw them as the only legitimate competition to us," Adam was confused.

Danny and Justin nodded in agreement. 



The doors swung open again, Principal Celestia and Vice Principal Luna entered again. 

Luna spoke first, "You two are the finalists in this competition, so congratulations. Celestia has come up with the plan to decide tonight's winner."

Celestia gave them the rundown, "Here's the plan. Since one song is too short of a time and not really enough to decide actual talent or lack thereof," she paused and looked at Luna. Her sister hung her head in guilt.

"We will give each of you a 3 song setlist. You get 3 only, no more than that. Tool, you guys are up first," Celestia continued.

"Finally, Jesus Christ," Maynard let out a sigh of relief.

"Let's roll," Danny moved up to the front and his bandmates followed him to the door.

"Right this way," Celestia took up point and led them to the auditorium. 

Adam and Justin were carrying their guitar cases. When they entered the auditorium, they saw Danny's drum kit and a microphone were already set up onstage. Principal Celestia and Vice Principal Luna sat at their little desk between the stage and the front row while the members of Tool ascended to the stage. 

Maynard looked out at the crowd, "Wow, you guys are rude, I don't hear any applause."

The auditorium remained silent, aside from a couple coughs.

"Alright, we'll fix that," Maynard taunted.

Principal Celestia leaned up to the tiny microphone on the judging table, "You may begin when you're ready."

Maynard nodded, "Alright, this first song's called Intolerance. I dedicate it to the only other band that hasn't been on stage yet, you all know who they are. Those lowlife hacks."

There were laughs heard from people in the crowd. Maynard picked up the microphone from the stand and turned his back to the crowd, "Hit it, guys."

Adam tuned his guitar and Justin tuned his bass, Danny hit a few fills and kicks to get warmed up. When they were ready, the rapid fire riff kicked in almost immediately, Maynard's vocal kicked in soon after. This was the end result:


When they were done, the crowd erupted with applause. Maynard turned to face them, "I told you we'd fix that. That's how I want it to be the whole time we're up here. If there's even a remote bit of silence, I'll come down there. Don't make me do that."

Celestia leaned into the mic, "Okay, what will you be performing next?"

Maynard thought for a moment, "I've got it. Our next song is called Forty Six & 2. I dedicate it to ourselves getting stuck in this Equestria place somehow. It's gonna be fun, trust me."

Luna nodded, "Alright, fire when ready."

Justin started with his bass riff, Adam strummed a few notes in the background, Maynard's voice started in almost a whisper, but got gradually louder. Danny's drums kicked in as well. This was their end result:


After the second song, the students began cheering again.

"Thank you," Maynard said.

"Okay, Tool, you guys have one more song to do. Which one will it be?" Celestia asked

Maynard waited for the crowd to die down before answering, "Our last song for tonight will be called The Grudge. We also dedicate this one to the Sirens, because they don't know how to let things go."

Principal Celestia nodded, "Interesting, you may begin when you're ready."

"Alright," Maynard gave the signal.

Their last song started with Justin's bass in the foreground, Danny was supporting them with his drums in the background. Adam's guitar kicked in the background as well. Maynard began singing, right when it was starting to get loud, it mellowed out and then got loud again. It continued to fluctuate. This was the end result:


The final song came to an end, Maynard was a little winded after sustaining that scream for nearly 30 seconds. The crowd exploded with applause however, this appeared to be their favorite of the three songs.

Principal Celestia spoke after they settled down, "Okay, Tool, you may either return to the Cafeteria or join the students in the audience, we'll go get the Dazzlings and wrap this up."

"Alright, we'll stay here," Maynard turned to the others. They nodded in approval.

"It's unanimous then, good. We'll be back in a flash," Vice Principal Luna got up and followed her sister out. The members of Tool descended from the stage and joined the Rainbooms on the back row.

"You guys were good," Rainbow complimented.

"I'm glad you think so, I was worried we had overdid it with the last one," Maynard laughed.

"No, it was awesome, Danny was killing it" Pinkie Pie beamed.

Danny laughed, "Thanks, I appreciate it."

"No problem," Pinkie smiled.

"I honestly feel like Justin carried the team, that bass was groovy as hell the entire time," Applejack added.

"You only say that because you also play bass, Adam kicked major ass too, you know," Rainbow Dash rebutted. 

"No, they all did good, if they don't win this, it'll be a miracle. But the Dazzlings got them fancy necklace doohickeys and they'll use some sorta spell to brainwash the others again," Applejack replied cynically.

"Either way, we appreciate the compliments," Adam chimed in.

"Yeah, thanks a lot. You know what, Ms. Applejack, I have a favor to ask of you," Justin began.

"What is it?" Applejack raised an eyebrow.

Justin handed her the guitar case with the blue 1963 Fender Precision inside, "Take good care of this. I want you to have it."

"Are you sure?" Applejack stared at the case.

"Yeah, I can get another one for around 5 grand, it's pocket change," Justin insisted.

"Much obliged, I'll guard it with my life," Applejack promised.

"Good," Justin turned his attention back to the stage.



The Dazzlings strolled in behind Principal Celestia and Vice Principal Luna. The three sisters went up onto the stage while the Principals went back to their judge's table.

"Okay, Dazzlings, you have 3 songs to perform. I will warn you that Tool has set the bar incredibly high, the students were going crazy back behind me," Principal Celestia gave them the same rundown that she gave Tool.

Adagio smirked, "All we need is one." 

Vice Principal Luna shook her head, "No, you need three. Begin the first one when you're ready." 

Adagio gave the signal and Aria played the instrumental. It projected through two large speakers on each side of the stage.  They synchronized their voices and then Adagio began to sing the same song they used to wreak havoc in the streets:


When they finished that song, pretty much everyone was either hypnotized by the Dazzlings or set off to arguing with each other again.

Adagio laughed maniacally, "Look how easily seduced these ingrates are." 

Sonata chuckled, "Yeah, it's a breeze. Shall we do one more?"

Aria nodded, "Yeah, I got an idea, we can do Welcome To The Show."

Adagio paused then turned to Aria, "Finally, you make some sense, I knew you'd come around. You're a genius, sister."

"Thank you, thank you, I'll take my royalty check in the mail," Aria took a mock bow.

Principal Celestia snapped out of her daze, "Okay, that first song was interesting to say the least. Next song when you're ready."

"Of course, hit it girls," Adagio commanded.

Aria changed instrumentals and they began to harmonize again, Adagio started off alone, but then they  began to sing in unison. This gave the Rainbooms an idea.

Rainbow Dash turned to Twilight, "I have a plan! Maybe if we play a song and we play it louder and drown out their sound, maybe we can break this spell and end this madness."

Twilight nodded, "That's a great idea, let's do it!"

The Dazzlings were focusing on the front of the crowd and paid no mind to the Rainbooms in the back. This gave the perfect opportunity to set up their own sound system. The power struggle between the two bands went a little something like this:


The Rainbooms emerged victorious. The Dazzlings had once again been averted. When the spell wore off, they fell back to the ground. They landed on their feet, but stumbled backwards. They fell backwards and hit Danny's drumset that had been sitting behind the curtain after it was done being used. 

The protective ward was still active and they were static shocked. For whatever reason, that static shock carried enough strength to cause their necklaces to explode. They had now lost their ability to hypnotize. After the madness died down, everyone dispersed.

End of Chapter 4!
> Homeward Bound
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The students had finally been set free from the hypnotic trance that the Sirens had cast upon them. They all had their attention fixed on the Rainbooms.

The Sirens were still down on the stage. Principal Celestia and Vice Principal Luna stared in total disbelief of what they had just witnessed.

Principal Celestia leaned into the mic on the desk, "Luna, you may do the honors."

Vice Principal Luna took the mic and jumped on the desk and yelled, "DISQUALIFIED!"

She took a deep breath and gave the mic back to her sister. Celestia smiled, "Feeling better?"

Vice Principal Luna nodded, "Yeah, definitely. Something told me they were up to no good, but this insanity just proved it."

Principal Celestia turned, "The winner of this competition is Tool."

The students gave them a round of applause.

Maynard turned to the Rainbooms and that random girl with the DJ turntable and speakers in her car. He smiled and turned back to Celestia, "Hey, let them have the win, they earned it."

Vice Principal Luna nodded, "Very well, the Rainbooms have been announced as victors. After saving our asses yet again, I would say they definitely earned it."

The Rainbooms cheered and began to celebrate. Applejack turned to Sunset Shimmer, "Go ahead on, sugarcube, that's your trophy right there. If it wasn't for you coming in last second, we'd have been overrun by them Sirens."

Sunset smiled, "After all you've done for me, I couldn't just sit idly by and let you get defeated. I have to credit Maynard yelling 'LET GO' towards the end of that last song. That's when it dawned on me that I have no reason to hold a grudge against you girls for defeating me. You're my friends now. I hope this last ditch effort to come up with the win settles our score."

Rarity nodded, "Of course it does, dear, you've already proven you're trustworthy by not going back to your old ways. You really worry too much about what others think of you. You need 'let loose and go with the flow', as Pinkie says."

Rainbow chimed in, "Yeah, that was cool but the real MVP here is my homie Vinyl Scratch over here rolling up in the WubMobile. This car is awesome!"

Vinyl smiled and honked the horn.

Maynard thought for a moment, "Wait, how the fuck did we get outside?"

"Sirens," Twilight guessed.

"Speaking of which, they haven't moved, we need to go see if they're okay," Fluttershy murmured.

"I guess you're right, we also need to go and get the trophy! I'm totally throwing a 'We Saved The World' party when we get home," Pinkie Pie was ecstatic.

Sunset Shimmer went first. She approached the judge's table. She accepted the trophy, "We did it."

She turned her attention back to the stage. Her friends and the members of Tool all climbed up to where the Sirens were laying down. The students in the audience lost interest and left.

"They're still breathing," Danny said after checking their pulses.

"Good," Twilight replied.

The sisters stirred before sitting up. All three of them looked down in unison to see their amulets had been destroyed.

"I see, you destroyed the source of our power. A wise decision," Adagio commended their efforts.

"Yeah, we ain't stupid. Whenever y'all started singing, them things started glowing. Don't take much to deduce that," Applejack laughed.

Sonata flipped the bird and remained silent. She turned to look at her two sisters. 

Adagio got up and looked around, "Wait, how did we get out here? I could've sworn we were in the auditorium."

"When the three of you started that last song before finally being stopped, something crazy happened. Everybody in the auditorium somehow transported outside. We climbed up on a hill overlooking the school," Twilight answered.

Aria rose and then spoke, "I did it. I brought everyone out here because the red circular waves that spread out attempting to take the audience's energy were strong enough to bring the whole building down. It would have killed us all."

"So, you do have a heart. I must say I'm surprised," Rarity said.

Aria shot her a look of pure malice, "At least I actually have a complexion. You look like a sentient marshmallow."

Rarity was taken aback by this. She lashed back, "Oh, the nerve! At least I'm not just a color swap of my sister."

Sonata jumped up, "Take that back."

Rainbow Dash got in between them, "Okay, that's enough. Rarity, you're supposed to represent Generosity, you're not doing a very good job at it right now."

Rarity sighed and looked toward Aria, "But she started it."

"I'm finishing it. They can't do anything to us. There's 11 of us and only 3 of them," Rainbow Dash diffused the situation.

Rarity agreed, "Yeah, I suppose you're right, Rainbow. I retract my statements."

"Alright, me too," Aria agreed to squash the beef.

Sonata was the last to get up. Aria hugged her two sisters and then stood back beside them.

"I guess there's no talking our ways out of this one?" Adagio inquired.

"Well, they're powerless now. Maybe we can build them back up like you all did for me," Sunset proposed.

"That's a good idea, Sunset," Twilight smiled.

Aria was shocked, "You mean you forgive us? After all the trouble we put you through, you forgive us?"

The Rainbooms nodded in unison. Twilight spoke, "Of course. We represent friendship. Applejack is Honesty, Rarity is Generosity, Rainbow Dash is Loyalty, Pinkie Pie is Happiness, Fluttershy is Kindness, I'm Magic, and Sunset is the newest member, Forgiveness."

Sunset smiled, "You mean I'm actually part of your group now?"

"Of course, you pretty much carried the team toward the end," Rainbow Dash approved.

The others agreed, everyone turned their attention to the Sirens again. The three sisters stood defenseless, expecting the worst. The members of Tool stood quietly and watched this play out.

"What's gonna happen to us?" Sonata asked.

"Well, like Sunset said, you no longer have any power, so you're just regular kids like the rest of us now. You might have to change schools after this though because Principal Celestia gives every student the same warning," Twilight answered.

Pinkie jumped and imitated her, "If you do anything to harm my students, I will PERSONALLY massacre you."

The others laughed, but stopped when they felt a presence behind them. They turned to see Principal Celestia had not left. She spoke, "So, you think that's funny? Keeping you all safe is my responsibility. The only thing that has stopped me from fulfilling that promise is that you befriend all the people we're supposed to massacre."

"I didn't hear a thank you, but you're welcome," Rainbow shrugged.


"It's definitely appreciated. I said all that to say this, those three sisters can continue going to school here. If they're alienated for past wrongs, let me know. If Sunset can be reformed into a productive member of society, so can they," Principal Celestia laid down the law again.

"Alright, I reckon that sounds like a plan," Applejack agreed. The others nodded.

Adagio turned to her sisters, "So, what do you say, girls?"

Aria shrugged, "I'm cool with it, I never really had any beef with anyone here, I was just going with what you were saying because you're my sister."

"We obviously got carried away, of course not everyone is going to think our music is good," Sonata stated the obvious.

Adagio sighed, "Yeah, that was our only real desire, was to be liked by people. Instead of forcing that on everyone, we should've just stayed lowkey and made friends like everyone else."

"I figured that was all you wanted when the chorus of your song was 'We will be adored. Tell us that you want us, we won't be ignored. It's time for our reward.' That was definitely not the right way to go about it," Sunset laughed.

"I'll be real with you though, that song was super catchy. No wonder everyone got hypnotized. I feel like if you got signed with a label and dropped an entire album of those earworm pop songs, you girls would make an absolute killing," Rainbow Dash suggested.

"You think any of them would actually sign us?" Sonata raised an eyebrow.

"If Canterlot Records signed us, they'll sign anyone. Trust me on that," Rainbow laughed.

"Guess we better get to work then, girls, what do you think?" Adagio turned to Sonata and Aria.

The two of them nodded and said, "Okay."

"That settles it then, we're gonna go start on a Dazzlings album and hopefully they'll release it for us. We already have instrumentals and lyrics, all we have to do is record the music and compile it," Adagio seemed excited about the idea.

The three sisters started walking away. They brushed past the Rainbooms. When they made their way past Tool, Aria stopped and threw her arms around Maynard, hugging him.

"I know you put on the tough guy act like you hate everyone, but you know deep down you care," she said to him.

Maynard was half-tempted to suplex the girl, but he took the compliment, "Yeah, okay. Thank you, Aria, you can let go now."

Her sisters decided to annoy him by hugging him as well. Maynard nearly popped a blood vessel, "Get the fuck off of me!"

The three sisters decided to quit messing with him and let go. The Rainbooms and Tool watched them walk away. 

"Well, I suppose it's time for us to take the 4 of you home," Twilight addressed the other band. 

"Oh, already? I was beginning to like this place," Maynard said sarcastically.

"Well, if you ever want to come back, we'll leave a portal open in your studio," Sunset joked.

"Please don't. If I lean against a wall and end up back here again, I'll burn this box of pastels to the ground," they couldn't tell if Maynard was joking or if he was serious.

"Okay, well, it was nice knowing you. We appreciate your help," Sunset waved.

"Wait, I do have something for you, since I'm a kind and charitable soul," Maynard deadpanned.

"What is it?" Pinkie asked curiously.

He reached into his pocket and pulled out 7 little strips of plastic that resembled bookmarks, "Here. These are tickets to our next concert. It'll be on May 5th in Jacksonville, Florida. If you can get there, don't be strangers. Don't say I never gave you anything either, these things are not cheap where we come from."

Twilight accepted them, passing one to each of her friends and keeping the last, "We'll be there with bells on." 

"Alright, now how do we get home?" Maynard was growing impatient.

Danny pointed at the stage, "I'm not going anywhere without that drum kit."

"Right, of course," Twilight took the protective ward off.

"You should be able to move it about freely without getting shocked," she told them.

"Alright, cool," Danny went up onto the stage.

"Wait, I have a better idea, don't take it apart," Twilight said.

"Okay," Danny backed up. 

Twilight snapped her fingers and the drum kit vanished into thin air.

"Dude, this magic shit is crazy," Adam finally spoke.

Justin nodded, "I know, I still can't seem to wrap my mind around it."

Danny called from the stage, "Where the hell did it go?"

"It's sitting in front of the portal. That spell only works for short distances. We have to go to the statue in front of the school, let's go," Twilight led the way. Her friends and the members of Tool followed her.



When everyone got there, the drum kit was sitting in front of the statue, just as Twilight said.

"I'll be damned, it worked," Danny laughed.

"Yep. All we gotta do is open up the portal and send you all through, then you're all home free," Twilight explained.

"I'll help you open it," Sunset offered.

Twilight obliged and the two of them worked their magic to open the portal. The members of Tool looked through to see their Los Angeles studio was completely destroyed.

"Shit. Well, the good news is, we mix the albums in Maine, so haven't lost any progress on that album," Adam breathed a sigh of relief.

"I know, our fans would come and kill us if we they had to wait any longer. It's been 13 years," Danny laughed.

"Don't worry, we'll get you there," Twilight promised. 

The portal changed, the image through it now showed the mixing studio in Maine.

"Woah, that was quick. How did you guys know which one it was?" Justin asked.

Sunset laughed, "We're not even from your world and we know there's nothing in Maine but lobsters."

Maynard actually cracked up at that one.

Sunset lightly punched his arm, "Ha, finally got you to laugh. I knew I could do it."

"You must be proud," Maynard replied.

"Definitely," Sunset nodded.

Danny approached the portal, "No time like the present." 

He went to push his drum kit into the studio. Sunset and Twilight helped him carry it through before crossing back to the Equestria side. 

"Thanks!" he called from the other side.

"No problem," Sunset and Twilight smiled. 

Adam carried his guitar case and put it through the portal. He saw it sitting on the floor when he backed up, "I'll see you girls in May."

Adam passed through the portal. Maynard and Justin were still on the other side. 

Justin approached the portal next. He turned to Applejack, "Take good care of that bass, love."

"Damned right, I will. Thanks again for letting me have it," Applejack grinned from ear to ear, still holding the guitar case.

Justin waved and went through the portal. Maynard was the last one. He took a look around at the girls that surrounded him, "Well, it's been a hell of a ride. I appreciate the laughs."

They smiled and waved as he passed through. The portal closed.



"I miss them already. I was gonna invite them to our We Saved The World party before we sent them home," Pinkie sighed.

"Well, it was still fun to have them around. Hope we cross paths again someday," Rainbow looked at the ticket.

"We will in May when we go to their concert," Sunset chimed in.

"That's true, at least we got something to look forward to," Applejack held the bass.

"Well, Pinkie, I suppose it's best we go ahead and set up this party of yours," Rarity said.

"Great! Let's go!" she skipped toward her house. 

The other Rainbooms followed her. They were always excited about her parties, she threw the best. 



The Sirens had been defeated, the Rainbooms won the Battle of the Bands, and the members of Tool had made it home safely. It appeared everybody won because the Dazzlings released their debut album, Under Our Spell. It was already topping the charts within the first few days of its release. All's well that ends well.

The End