The Magic of Harmonies

Chapters

Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 6

Chapter 1

Princess Celestia strolled calmly into the palace library, silently nodding in acknowledgement at the on duty librarian sitting attentively at her desk in the entrance. Walking deeper into the maze of towering bookshelves and desks, she paused for a second, listening carefully. At this late hour, the library was deserted. Or so it seemed.

There was the faint sound of a page being turned. Hearing the slight rustling noise, the princess smiled knowingly before heading towards a row that a sign proclaimed as “Equestrian History.”

As she entered the aisle, she chuckled quietly at the sight before her. There was a single desk at the end of the row, wedged between the bookshelves. The desk was completely covered with books of varied age and size, from modern, tongue-in-cheek paperbacks to gigantic books of records past, their worn leather covers revealing their age.

However, it was not the books that amused Celestia. The source of her amusement was the tip of a deep, midnight blue horn that stuck out over the top of the pile, occasionally glowing to the accompanying sound of a page being flicked over. Celestia strode over to the pile, peering over the top to see the face of an alicorn, deep in concentration as she read a heavy tome, eyes flicking back and forth as she drank in the information from the pages.

Celestia loudly cleared her throat, causing the dark blue alicorn to jump in surprise.

“Celly! You surprised me!” she said, with a slightly accusatory tone of voice that was ruined by the smile on her face.

“Well, I made no effort to do so, Luna. You were simply too immersed in your reading. Incidentally, what is it that you find so engrossing?” the tall, white alicorn enquired.

Luna closed the heavy book, showing her sister the front cover. Celestia raised an eyebrow, giving Luna a questioning look.

“A History of Agricultural Techniques?” she said. Her smaller sister nodded enthusiastically, her face lighting up as always when talking about something she’d been reading about.

“Yes, what with being out of the loop for a millennium I’ve been reading up on what I missed and the developments in the farming industry are simply fascinating!” she gushed happily.

Celestia smiled at seeing her sister’s enthusiasm, but her face took on a slightly more serious expression.

“That’s what brought me here, sister. Not the history of farming, fascinating though I’m sure it is,” she added quickly on seeing Luna’s confused expression.

“I simply think that you are spending far too much time in the library. I can understand that you don’t feel like facing the public, but it’s been a year since you returned now and I believe it’s about time for you to get back into society. And to do it, I’d like for you to spend some time living and working with normal ponies.”

At this, Luna’s mouth dropped open in surprise. She was quick to retort.

“But sister, there’s been simply too much change! I was gone for a thousand years, and nothing is the same. Not to mention that some ponies still don’t trust me,” she said the last sentence huffily, rather like a foal who hasn’t gotten what they wanted.

“I know how you feel, Luna, which is why I’ve arranged for you to go to Ponyville to help the ponies there with their preparations for the Grand Galloping Gala this year. I truly believe that it will be the best for you to socialise and meet some of our subjects, and the bearers of the Elements of Harmony would be the best choice. After all, they released you and I know that they bear no grudge against your former self.”

Luna’s resolve to not be talked out of her secluded lifestyle began to waver. Celestia detected this and dealt the killer blow, one that had worked in the past and was sure to work again.

“And I’ve already found a place for you to stay whilst you help. My faithful student, Twilight Sparkle has agreed to allow you to stay with her at the library. I’m sure there’ll be plenty of spare time for you to further expand your knowledge of the last thousand years,” Celestia smiled, “though after all the reading you’ve done since your return I suspect you know more about the past millennium than any pony alive.”

With this, Luna caved in to her sister’s request, agreeing to spend the coming months prior to the Gala in Ponyville on the condition that Celestia write to her as often as possible.

“Why of course, dear sister. After all, I write to Twilight Sparkle almost every day, so writing an extra letter and sending them together will be no problem. Now, go and pack your things; the chariot will be ready to leave at dawn.”

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Maybe this was a bad idea after all…

As the chariot gracefully flew across the sky of Equestria, practically glowing gold under the light of Celestia’s sun on the eastern horizon, Princess Luna was already having doubts about the trip. What-ifs filled her mind as Canterlot grew smaller in the distance. Luna shook her head violently, forcing such thoughts from her mind.

If Celly thought this was the best idea then I have to do my best. I owe her that much. No, I owe everypony that much for what I’ve done.

Once again, she thought of the six ponies that had saved her a year ago, and wondered how they would feel about her visit.

Well, not long left to wonder now.

The chariot gently alighted on the road, outside a huge tree into which a building had been made. Luna marvelled that the tree could be living after being hollowed out like that, and vowed to research plant anatomy as soon as she had the chance.

No, that’s not why you’re here. You’re here to help, and help you shall.

After thanking the two Royal Guards who had pulled the chariot, Luna watched as they took off and arced through the sky back towards Canterlot. Sighing, she turned back to the building before her. There were no signs of life visible. In fact, the scene almost resembled a ghost town.

Not really surprising, given how early it is. Still, I’d have expected someone to have been here to meet me. Or could it be that they still remember and fear me as Nightmare Moon?

Again shaking doubt from her head, Luna approached the door of the library. Giving it an experimental push, she was surprised to find it open. Though it was a public library, she hadn’t expected it to be open so soon. It was, however, dark inside.

“Hello?” she called into the darkness. There was no reply. She cautiously walked further into the murky gloom, eyes straining to see lest she trip over something or fall down an ill placed set of stairs.

Suddenly, the door slammed shut behind her and the lights flicked on, the sudden blinding light startling the princess.

“SURPRISE!” shouted a group of ponies in front of her.

“Wha…” was all Luna could manage, gaping at the table stacked with food behind the ponies. A large banner with “Welcome Princess Luna” written on it was displayed at the back of the room. Looking around, Luna became aware of the fact there were balloons everywhere, and a multitude of streamers were hanging from the rafters like multi-coloured rain. She then noticed that a bright Pink pony had bounded up to her.

“Hi! Do you like your surprise party? When Twilight told me you were coming, I was like ohmygosh we have to have a party with the whole town! But she said that was a bad idea, and when I found out you were coming so early I thought, why not have a breakfast party! But then I thought, how can I make it a royal breakfast party, so I had to get more food but there wasn’t enough blueberry muffins and then Mr Cake suggested using oatmeal muffins instead but…” at this point a light orange earth pony with blonde hair and a hat pushed the pink pony out of the way with a nervous laugh.

“Ah’m terribly sorry, yer majesty, but Pinkie Pie can be a mite excitable when parties are involved. An’ Ah know she’s got no manners to speak of. So let me introduce mahself; Ah’m Applejack, pleased to meet y’all.”

“Princess Luna, though could you please just call me Luna rather than using any titles. They make everything seem so formal.” Luna laughed nervously.

“Well then…Luna…Ah hope we can become good friends.” smiled Applejack.

Luna turned to see a lavender unicorn standing next to her. The unicorn gave her a warm and genuine smile.

“Welcome to Ponyville, Luna. I’m Twilight Sparkle, and we’ll be living together for a while here. If there’s anything at all that you want, don’t be afraid to ask. Here, I’ll introduce you to everyone.”

Luna was then faced with three further ponies. First was a white unicorn.

“I am Rarity, and I must say I have the most perfect idea for a gown for you, my dear. You simply must pop down to Carousel Boutique and I promise I will make you the most fantastic dress you ever laid your eyes on.”

“Thank you, Rarity, I’ll be sure to take you up on that.” Luna smiled.

Next was a light blue pegasus with a garish multi-coloured mane.

“I’m Rainbow Dash, best flier in Equestria!” the pony boasted. “I’m in charge of the weather round here, but I spend most of my time perfecting my moves so I can get into the Wonderbolts.”

Twilight raised an eyebrow.

“Personally, I think she spends most of her time napping, but she really is one of the most talented fliers out there. Oh, and this is Fluttershy.”

Luna was confused for a second before catching sight of a yellow pegasus with pink hair peeking out from behind Rainbow Dash.

“Um…Hi. I’m Fluttershy,” the pegasus quietly said, peering shyly at Luna through a gap in her mane (which Luna noticed covered most of her face.)

“Hello Fluttershy. I hear from my sister that you take care of animals. If it’s not too much trouble, I’d like to help you at some point.” Fluttershy looked surprised, but Luna pressed on.

“I try my best to look after the animals in the gardens in Canterlot, but they’re so timid that it can be difficult. I’m sure you can teach me how to approach them better,” Luna concluded. Fluttershy was blushing heavily now, and mumbled something that sounded to Luna like “probably not.”

The pair were spared from further awkwardness as a distraction in the form of a small purple and green dragon appeared.

“Hey, Princess, I’m Spike,” the dragon proudly proclaimed. “I’m Twilight’s assistant, and despite the fact she’s the librarian I’m the one who actually knows where everything is in here. Princess Celestia said you liked reading, well if that’s the case you and Twilight should get along just fine. Just ask if you want a certain book, Twilight doesn’t have a clue where half them are.” By now Spike was starting to mutter to himself, seemingly forgetting his conversational partner. “Always getting out loads of books…leaving them scattered all over the floor…leaving me and Owlowiscious to put everything back…” Yep, she’d lost him.

Luna left the still mumbling dragon and headed over to the food table. Having left Canterlot at dawn without having breakfast, she was understandably hungry. Twilight joined her after a few moments.

“I know they’re a strange group, but really they’re the best once you get to know them,” Twilight said to the Princess. “I’m just happy that Princess Celestia sent you here to get to know us all better.”

“And to help with the Grand Galloping Gala Plans.” Luna nodded in agreement. She’d get used to the group soon enough. Hopefully. Then a thought came into her head.

“Twilight, exactly is the plan for Grand Galloping Gala? Celly - I mean Celestia didn’t tell me before I left. She just said everything would be explained when I got here.” At this, Twilight looked confused.

“That’s exactly what the Princess said in her letter to me! I assumed you would be telling us what we were doing.”

“Well…“

At this point there was a sudden flash of green and everypony turned and looked at Spike, or more specifically the scroll that had just materialised in his burp of magical flame.

Noticing that he was suddenly the centre of attention, Spike self-importantly stood up and started to read out loud in a very professional tone.

“My little ponies, I am pleased to announce that you are all formally invited to this year’s Grand Galloping Gala. However, in light of the events of last year which made it the most memorable Gala in centuries, this year there will be a special event. This year shall see the first annual Equestria Music Group Contest. It would please me greatly if you would compete in the event, as I’m sure it will make it the best Grand Galloping Gala ever! Yours faithfully, Princess Celestia.”

As she looked around at the group of ponies she’d just met, all of whom had the same look of surprise on their faces, Luna inwardly groaned.

Celestia, I swear I’ll get you for this.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

By now it was approaching lunch time, but the group was still in the library discussing what to do regarding Princess Celestia’s letter. Well, the conversation had escalated into arguing rather than discussion at this point. Luna sighed – like it or not, she was involved now. Celestia had a lot to answer for.

“Well, I still think we should be doing a moving emotional ballad, or some light jazz,” Rarity said, with a slight flick of her mane.

“No way! It’s gotta be an awesome fast rock song!” Rainbow Dash interjected, furiously hacking away at an air guitar as she hovered in the centre of the room.

“Everypony! We won’t get anywhere arguing like this! We need a plan. First thing first – we need to work out how we’re going to split.” At this, everyone in the room looked at the floor, walls, ceiling – anywhere as long as they didn’t make eye contact with anypony else.

After finishing reading the scroll, Spike had materialised another document; this one had been a set of rules for the competition. Thankfully the competition was fairly flexible in terms of what could be done, so long as it didn’t exceed the permitted time of ten minutes per act. However, the rule that was going to be the biggest headache was that the maximum group size was restricted to five. And there were seven ponies present. Twilight spoke up once again.

“Well, being as nopony will want to choose groups, I think it’s only fair to divide into two by random allocation. My suggestion would be that we draw straws to decide who’s in which group.”

“Aw, but that means that one group will only have three! And that would be sad, because that group would only have 75% of the fun potential,” Pinkie Pie said, looking slightly forlorn at the prospect of a group missing out on the extra fun a pony could generate.

“You have a point, sugarcube. Plus the fact that an extra member gives an unfair advantage in terms of how much noise they can make. This is a competition, after all.” Applejack contributed. At this all of the ponies looked unhappily at each other. If it was indeed to be a competition, nopony wanted it to be unfair, even if it meant they would be holding the advantage.

“If I may, ladies, perhaps I could be of service?” Spike said. “I have a little musical ability, and would be more than happy to step in to balance this out.” He puffed out his chest a bit at this, glancing sideways at Rarity as if to suggest how mature he was.

“Yes! That would be brilliant Spike! Thanks a lot!” smiled Twilight. “Now, what can we use for straws…”

Five minutes later, the seven ponies were eagerly gathered around Spike, who was holding a bunch of eight quills tightly in his left hand. Four had stickers wrapped around the nibs (Twilight having quickly improvised with some of the reference stickers that were in abundant supply around the library) and four did not.

Applejack took a deep breath, carefully scrutinising the quills. Selecting one, she pulled it from Spike’s hand.

“Blue,” She said, releasing the held breath and smiling. “Who’s next?”

“Me!” yelled Rainbow Dash, darting in and snatching one of the feathers from Spike.

“Ha! Not blue! Looks like we’re competing against each other again, Apple Smack!” She taunted her earth pony friend.

“Wouldn’t have it any other way. Plus, you can’t use yeh wings to cheat when it comes to music.” Apple Jack replied.

“Girls, please! Well, here we go…not blue.” Rarity said, examining her quill. “Looks like we’re working together, Rainbow Dash.” Neither looked too happy with the arrangement; indeed most of the earlier arguing had been between the two of them, the result of their hugely different musical taste. However, they remained silent, accepting their fate.

Fluttershy was the next to pick, plucking a blue-tipped quill from the remaining five.

“Um, I hope we can work well together,” she said to Applejack with a hopeful smile.

Luna stepped up to the small dragon, quickly picking out a quill from his hand.

“Hmm, I got blue as well. Only one more blue left, and we’ve got ourselves a quartet.”

“Ooh! Ooh! I don’t know which to pick, I’d hate to make the other three feel left out!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed. Rainbow Dash facehoofed.

“Look, Pinkie Pie, they’re feathers, they don’t have feelings…”she began, but abruptly stopped as Pinkie Pie suddenly closed her eyes and leaned forward, grabbing a random feather in her teeth and pulling it out.

“Yay! Not blue!” Pinkie Pie happily bounded over to join Rainbow Dash and Rarity.

“Well, that leaves two.” Twilight said. “Spike, as my number one assistant, I’m going to let you choose the last quill for me.”

“Really? What an honour!” the dragon said happily. Sizing up the two feathers he held, he carefully moved one to his right hand and held in out to Twilight. She pulled it from his hand, looking at the nib. It had a small blue sticker on it.

“Well, I guess that settles it.” Twilight announced. Now that we have groups sorted, we can decide what we’re going to do for the contest.”

“Well the first thing my group’s gonna do is eat lunch.” Rainbow dash declared. “I don’t know about you girls but I’m starving.”

“Excellent idea! Let’s all go get some food,” Twilight started, but Rainbow Dash shook her head.

“No way! I said my group was going for food, but I don’t want you overhearing any of my awesome ideas!” She said. Twilight opened her mouth to argue, but decided against it. Rainbow Dash in competition preparation mode redefined stubborn.

“So be it. Well, see you later!” she said cheerily as Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Spike and Pinkie Pie exited the library.

She turned to the remaining three ponies, then looked at the still packed food table set up for the long forgotten welcome party.

“Oatmeal muffins, anyone?”

Chapter 2

A/N; I know that the Clavichord wasn’t invented until the 14th Century, but since this is Equestria and not Earth assume Luna was sent to the moon in the Baroque period, and that the present day of both Equestria and Earth are similar in terms of (musical) technology.

In the library, the four ponies were deep in thought, debating back on forth on a single topic; who would be playing what.

In the huge debate prior to deciding the groups, everypony had unanimously agreed that forming pop/rock bands would be the best approach; not enough of them were confident enough with their singing to justify forming choral groups, and as only Rarity and Fluttershy were remotely into classical music, chamber music groups were out of the question as well. However, everypony was familiar with modern music, regularly listening to Vinyl Scratch’s incredibly popular chart show on the radio.

However, deciding on an instrument was proving, for the most part, to be tricky.

For Applejack, the choice had been relatively simple. As a farmer pony, she’d been brought up on country music and Big Macintosh had taught her how to play the banjo and guitar when she was a foal. She’d never played an electric guitar, but she felt confident that she could handle it and was eagerly anticipating the challenge. She also knew that Rainbow Dash would choose to play guitar for the other group, and Applejack couldn’t wait to show her up at the Gala. Though it had been long ago, she was still a tiny bit sore over the whole Iron Pony competition, and she saw this as a chance to get her revenge.

Twilight, Fluttershy and Luna were, however, utterly stuck. Luna spoke up.

“Well, as I spent the thousand years prior to last year on the moon, I missed a huge amount of the development of modern music. I’ve been trying to catch up, but a millennium is a lot of time to make up with regards to the history of everything.”

"Well, if you like, I can play you something modern." Twilight offered. Luna nodded eagerly, keen to hear what a thousand years had done for the world of music.

Twilight walked over to her record player, switching it on then using her magic to set the needle gently onto the rotating disk. After a couple of seconds, music began to fill the room.

Luna's eyes widened in astonishment. The sounds she was hearing were unlike anything she'd ever heard before. Twilight talked as the song played, explaining about the genre, the band and the instruments they were using. This was, Twilight explained, a type of music called "rock". The main instruments involved in the song were called "electric guitars", and the beat was provided by drums. Luna was familiar with drums; however from the sounds that were being made she guessed that there was little in common between what Twilight called a "drum kit" and the drums used by the Royal Guard at the palace on parade. Suddenly the tone of the song changed, and Luna's jaw dropped in shock. It sounded like a whole string section of an orchestra, along with a hundred part choir had suddenly joined in. Twilight noted the look on the Princess's face and chuckled,

"That’s a synthesizer, an instrument that was invented very recently, sort of like an electronic version of a piano that can make a load of different sounds."

Luna looked at the unicorn in utter disbelief.

"All of that sound...comes from one instrument?" she asked. Twilight slowly nodded, eyes closed as she enjoyed the dramatic soundscape crafted as the music continued to build.

Luna found her eyes getting damp, and as she blinked a single tear rolled down each of her cheeks.

"It's beautiful," she said wonderingly.

As the song came to a close, Luna turned to Twilight and said with conviction,

"I'd like to learn how to play the synthesizer." Twilight was momentarily surprised at the alicorn's statement. After all, she'd missed a millennium of technological development and suddenly she wanted to play one of the most modern and technologically complex instruments available.

"Are you sure..." Twilight began, but she stopped when she saw Luna's face. Her expression was not that of a pony making a throwaway statement; instead her face spoke of utter resolve and dedication. Twilight made a snap decision.

"OK, so we have AJ on guitar and Luna on synth. Fluttershy, have you made up your mind yet? You could always be the singer; I know you have a gorgeous voice,"

The yellow pegasus shook her head.

"Oh, no Twilight, I simply couldn't bring myself to sing in front of strangers, I have a hard enough time talking to them without trying to sing to them."

Twilight gave a frustrated sigh.

"Well that leaves the two of us without instruments, which obviously won't do at all. Do you have any ideas?" She said to Luna and Applejack. The earth pony scratched her chin thoughtfully.

"If y'all can't decide your instruments, why don't we head to a music shop so you can get a better feel for what you might be good at?"

At this, Twilight's expression brightened.

"Excellent idea, AJ! I can scientifically investigate the advantages and disadvantages of the different instruments at the shop and come to an informed decision for the good of the band!"

At the words "scientifically investigate" Applejack raised an eyebrow to Fluttershy and Luna. Fluttershy smiled knowingly, but Luna looked nonplussed, not sure if the unicorn was serious.

"OK girls, to the music shop! Now, where did I put my clipboard..."

~ ~ ~ ~ ~
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

As the four ponies walked into the shop, they let out a collective gasp of astonishment. Even Applejack, who had the most musical experience in their band had seen nothing like this before.

There were instruments everywhere. There were walls of guitars, all glinting in the bright light. A large area of the shop was taken up by rows of keyboards, transitioning to pianos towards the back. The sounds of drumming came from a set of stairs that presumably led to the basement and even more wonders.

Ponyville’s music shop was very limited in terms of stock, so once they’d decided to look for instruments, Luna suggested heading to Canterlot, where the biggest music shop in Equestria was located. A short chariot flight later (again provided by Luna after a hastily written request to Celestia) here they were.

Luna cast a wary eye over the shop. She hadn’t anticipated on there being anything like this variety of instruments.

OK…now which would be best?

She made her way to the keyboards, wondering what the differences were and what made the colossal price differences and she walked through the rows of instruments. Most of all, she marvelled at the size of them. For all they had full length keyboards, they were still diminutive compared to the instruments she’d seen in her youth.

She stopped next to one of the larger keyboards, a dark grey instrument brightened up by a large touch screen and a row of buttons in all the colours of the rainbow. Luna scrutinised the information sheet for this particular instrument.

76 keys…and it is a synthesizer. She looked at the price.Whoa, that’s a big number.

“So, what do you think?” a voice from right behind her said. Twilight had wandered over to Luna’s side. “A bit more intimidating when you’ve got one up close, huh?”

Luna looked back to the instrument before her. Yes, there were certainly more buttons and switches than she’d ever seen in one place before, but still…

Suddenly, Luna caught sight of a familiar word above one of the buttons.

Clav…I’d assume that’s short for Clavichord? Luna pushed the button, and then experimentally pressed one of the keys. The gentle tone that came from the amp behind the keyboard was exactly as Luna had anticipated: a perfect replication of the sounds of her youth.

“Well, as much as making the sound is easy, I’m not sure if mastering the instrument in time for the Gala will be possible…” Twilight said, looking apprehensive as if scared of being banished for such a statement. Luna didn’t reply, still looking over the synth before her. Then she brought both hooves up to the instrument and began to play.

Several other customers nearby turned at the sound, as a light and playful melody came from the speaker in front of the alicorn. Eyes closed, with a slight smile on her face, her hooves danced across the keys as she played a Baroque piece she’d learned centuries ago when it was the peak of modern music. Twilight was utterly spellbound, unable to comprehend what she was seeing and hearing.

Luna was in her element, lost in the joy of creating the sounds emanating from the amp. With a final trill, she concluded the short piece. Opening her eyes, she became aware of the fact that not only Twilight, but Applejack and Fluttershy were staring at her as if she’d grown an extra head.

“Wh…What…Who…When…” Twilight spluttered incomprehensibly. Luna grinned.

“Well, I might have missed a thousand years of musical development, but back before my moon trip I learned to play the clavichord, harpsichord and organ.” The other three were still speechless. Luna shrugged. “I mean, I was a princess, so I had plenty of spare time on my hooves.” At this, Applejack chuckled.

“Well, Ah’m plum grateful yeh did, sugarcube. With yeh talent on our side this’ll be an easy win.” Twilight frowned at this comment.

“AJ, you’re forgetting that Pinkie Pie is capable of playing the tuba, harmonica, cymbals, trombone and flute…at the same time. And we all know she’s a pretty good singer too. And they’ve got Spike.”

“So?”

“Remember what happened at Appleloosa?” Applejack thought back.

“Well, Ah try not to, Pinkie Pie’s song back then was awful. Y’know it’s bad when it starts a war. Ah mean, the only decent part of the whole thing was the…piano…accompaniment…” Applejack finished, comprehension dawning on her face.

“Yes, that’s right. Despite the fact that he’s a baby, Spike is a piano prodigy, and believe you me, with Rarity in their band he’ll definitely use the opportunity to try to show off his skills. Speaking of which, Rarity’s a fair singer too, so we’ve really got our work cut out if we want to win this.” Applejack’s look of confidence had long since faded, but Twilight wasn’t quite finished yet.

“Plus neither Fluttershy nor I have any idea what we’re going to play!” She said with frustration etched into her face.

“Quiet down Twi, everypony’s lookin’ at us funny.” Applejack said, glancing around nervously. Twilight took a deep breath, calming herself down and noticing that her outburst had indeed attracted the attention of a fair few other customers.

“Sorry.” She said quietly to Applejack.

“Don’t worry about it. Now, how about we go have a look around, mayhaps somethin’ will jump out at you.” With that, Fluttershy and Luna were left alone.

“Well then, shall we go and look for an instrument for you?” Luna said kindly to the shy pegasus.

“Oh, but you still haven’t decided exactly what you’re getting yet. I’m fine, we’ll go after you’re done,” Fluttershy replied. Luna opened her mouth to argue, but decided it wasn’t worth it.

“OK, fine. Well, let’s see…I would like a synth which is easy to use, and hopefully without any unnecessary features that I’ll never touch…” Luna said, as much to herself as to Fluttershy as she meandered along the row. There were so many options that picking one wasn’t easy.

Luna then caught sight of a flash of glossy black at the back wall. Intrigued, she walked over to it. It was another instrument, but one that did not resemble anything else she’d seen so far.

It had keys, though fewer than the large instrument she’d played earlier. That was about all that the two instruments had in common. This…thing had an outlandish shape, with a long protrusion at the right hand side. Most peculiarly, it had a shoulder strap.

Luna’s eyes slid off the instrument (on close inspection it wasn’t pure black but had subtle sparkles in the finish) and onto a poster next to it. It showed a colt on a stage, instrument slung around his neck as he played. Luna looked back at it, a wide smile on her face. Everything about it was perfect, right down to the sparkle finish which mirrored her masterpiece, the starry night sky. She turned to Fluttershy.

“This is the one.” Fluttershy nodded, smiling at the alicorn’s childish glee. “Right, now it’s your turn.”

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Twenty minutes later they had made a grand total of zero progress. Luna sighed. Fluttershy was proving to be difficult to choose an instrument for; Luna tried introducing her to keyboard style instruments but after a few minutes it was obvious that the pegasus wasn’t cut out for them.

Now they were at the guitars, but again they’d hit a snag.

“I don’t know, I’d just be far too nervous playing something so…attention grabbing.” Fluttershy whispered, eyeing a nearby guitar as if it might attack her.

As much as she hated to admit it, Luna agreed. From the short time since they’d met, Luna had quickly come to realise that Fluttershy was almost as far from a rock band musician as was possible.

I don’t know, maybe she could be our conductor? Or producer? Or one of those ponies who moves all the equipment around? Luna frowned, thinking back to the conversation on the journey in. What did Twilight call them…ah, yes a roadie! Wait, Fluttershy is one of the daintiest ponies I’ve ever met. At this the alicorn smiled, imagining Fluttershy straining under the weight of a huge box of equipment.

“Well, if you’re sure you don’t want to play guitar, why don’t we go and see what Twilight and Applejack are up to?” Luna said. Fluttershy nodded in agreement, and the two ponies made their way towards the stairs to the basement. They were almost at the end of the row when Fluttershy brushed past a guitar on a stand on the floor. A loud, deep note emanated from an amp next to it.

“Eeep!” squeaked Fluttershy, jumping sideways into a display rack covered in guitar straps which mercifully remained upright.

“Are you ok?” asked Luna, but she noticed Fluttershy was looking at the offending instrument, not with fear but as if seeing it in a new light.

“Oh my. It sounded so different from the other guitars over there.” Fluttershy said. She walked up to the instrument, slowly reaching out and plucking a string. She was so close to the amp she swore she could literally feel the sound through the air. It was a deep, loud noise, but there was warmth to the tone rather than the hard edged sounds she associated with the electric guitar. The shape of the instrument was also unusual compared to the other guitars she’d looked at earlier.

“It says here that it’s a bass guitar. And apparently it’s called a ‘Thunderbird.’” Observed Luna, reading off the spec sheet on the stand. Fluttershy gently lifted the bass up and slung the strap over her shoulder. She played a few notes experimentally.

“I think I can do this.” She said to Luna. “At least…if I practice hard.”

“I’m sure Applejack can teach you.” Luna said.

“Sure Ah can do what now?” Came a voice from off to the side. Luna was almost bowled over by a flash of yellow as Fluttershy ran over to the earth pony.

“Oh, Applejack, please could you teach me how to play this? Please? If it’s not too much trouble of course.” Fluttershy said with beseeching eyes.

“Well, sure. It would be my pleasure.”

“Thankyouthankyouthankyou…” Fluttershy said. Twilight just stared, not having seen her friend so enthusiastically vocal since witnessing the Sonic Rainboom in Cloudsdale.

“Well, I do believe that we are now sorted, girls.” Twilight said proudly. Luna and Fluttershy turned to her, curious as to what she’d chosen.

“I shall be the drummer for our band. I’ve read plenty of books on musical theory and understand the concepts of cross-rhythms and the like. And from trying out a drum set downstairs I can tell you I am quite looking forward to this now.”

“And she has a fine sense of rhythm too. So all we have to do is buy our instruments and get practising.” Applejack said. “Ah saw a mighty fine lookin’ guitar over there before, Ah think I’ll have a closer look whilst you girls get your orders sorted.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The salespony at the counter had a broad smile on his face as he added up the cost of the instruments the four customers before him had. A full drum kit, a synthesizer, a bass and a guitar equalled the biggest sale of the month, with the addition of amps and other accessories.

“Let’s see…well, being as your order is so large I can offer you a discount, bringing your total cost to four thousand, eight hundred and ninety five bits.”

Twilight, Applejack and Fluttershy stared at each other in dumb shock. In all of the excitement of this new experience they’d forgotten to check any of the prices.

“Well…let’s see…where did I put my purse…” Twilight said, a tone of hysteria creeping into her voice.

“Here you go.” Luna said, handing the salespony a cheque for the required amount.

After making arrangements for everything to be delivered by pegasus courier the following morning, the four ponies left the shop. Immediately on walking through the door, they all turned to the Princess. Before they could even get a question out, she started talking.

“I know what you’re going to say, but don’t worry about the cost. I’m paying for the instruments and that’s final. After all, with what you said about the musical talent of the others we need all the help we can get.”

“But…how in the name of Equestria…wait, please don’t tell me that you’ve written it off as an expense and the taxpayer just paid near five thousand bits…” Applejack said.

“No, I paid for it with my own money.” Luna said. “And don’t worry about it, I can afford it.”

“Um, I’m sorry, but it’s…such a large amount of money…”

“Trust me, I can afford it.” Luna smiled. “Back before the whole Nightmare Moon thing, I was reasonably wealthy. I mean, I was royalty after all. After I was banished, Celestia took some of my assets to give as compensation to everypony who’d been affected by my actions.” Luna looked a little pained at this, remembering what she’d done in the distant past, but she pressed on, a smile finding its way back onto her face.

“But there was still some money left after dishing out the compensation. And it was left in a bank.”

At this, Twilight’s mouth dropped open.

“You don’t mean…” Twilight uttered. Luna grinned mischievously.

“Yes. When I returned, I had a thousand years of interest in my account.”

With this, Fluttershy fainted.

Chapter 3

Twilight groggily made her way downstairs, having gone to sleep even later than usual. She’d stayed up, long after Luna raised the moon, talking with her about a variety of topics from Princess Celestia (Luna certainly had some amusing stories about her sister) to the intricacies of the night sky. But talk had, for the most part, been dominated with discussion of their band.

It was very late by the time Twilight gave in to the need to sleep, but Luna still seemed wide awake. She explained that alicorns need very little sleep compared to other ponies, and elected to read up further on music to help get her up to speed. There were still about nine hundred and ninety years left to cover, after all.

Twilight entered the main library room, mid-morning sunlight streaming through the windows. She saw Spike with his back to her, a stack of books in his hands as he replaced them on the shelves.

“Good morning…” Twilight began, but Spike quickly turned, eyes wide.

“Shhhhhhh!” he said, eyes flicking to the other side of the room. Twilight followed his gaze, and gave a slight giggle at what she saw.

Slumped over a table, surrounded by stacks of books was Princess Luna, sound asleep. Furthermore, the record player was on the table beside her head, a teetering stack of records nearby. All in all, it was a picture seen before in the library, but one that normally starred a lavender unicorn rather than an alicorn Princess. By the looks of it, she’d passed out whilst reading about the history of the evolution of Classical and Romantic music, her gentle breathing causing the pages to gently rustle.

Twilight left her and headed into the kitchen for breakfast. She smiled as she saw two ready prepared dishes of fruit salad, obviously the handiwork of her dragon assistant. As she poured a glass of apple juice, she became aware of a presence behind her.

“Good morning,” Luna said, mangling the simple greeting as she yawned deeply. “Whoo, been a while since I stayed up that late. Before I knew it, Celestia was raising the sun. But on the upside, I learned a lot about Beethoofen, I’d love to get a copy of his fifth symphony, it sounds like it would be wonderful.”

Twilight passed her a dish, and the two sat down at the kitchen table for breakfast. Luna began telling Twilight further details of the previous night’s studies, when there was a sudden knock at the door. Twilight went to answer it.

“Morning, Twilight!” Rainbow Dash said cheerfully. Twilight was surprised.

“Rainbow! This isn’t like you, visiting the library without crashing through a window, or a wall.” Twilight’s eyes narrowed slightly. “Not to mention the fact you’re normally dead to the world at this time of day. What brings you here?”

“Well, to be honest, I’m here for a book.” At this Twilight raised an eyebrow. In all the time she’d been responsible for Ponyville’s library, not once had her pegasus friend come in search of literature.

“Ok, what are you looking for?”

Rainbow Dash flew up to one of the shelves, scanning the covers of the books quickly before plucking one out.

“This’ll do.” Twilight looked at the book.

“Learn to play guitar in 10 easy steps?”

“Yeah! I’m gonna be the guitarist in our band! It’s gonna be sooooo awesome!” Rainbow Dash said happily. Twilight smiled.

“Applejack was right, she knew you’d end up playing guitar.” At this, Rainbow Dash’s eyes narrowed.

“She might have more experience than me, but I’m gonna be way better than her in no time. I can learn to play in ten seconds flat,” she proclaimed confidently. Twilight left it at that. Arguing with Rainbow Dash was a lot like arguing with a brick wall.

After Rainbow Dash left with her book, Twilight had barely returned to the kitchen when there was another knock at the door. Opening the door once again, she was surprised to see the entire doorway blocked by boxes.

“Delivery for Miss Sparkle,” said a disembodied voice from behind the wall of cardboard. Twilight grabbed one of the boxes and set it down inside the library, revealing a walleyed grey pegasus who grinned at her. “Sorry about that. Here, I’ll lend you a hoof.”

Twilight and the delivery pony quickly moved all of the boxes into the library, Spike being mysteriously absent from the room. When the last box was stacked, and Twilight had singed for the parcels she handed the clipboard back to the pegasus with a grateful smile.

“Thank you very much…Ditzy, isn’t it? Would you like a drink of anything? A biscuit, maybe? I think we might have some muffins left over from yesterday…” At the mention of muffins, Ditzy’s eyes lit up, and Twilight gave her a box of the treats. After all, Pinkie Pie had provided enough for about ten parties.

As Ditzy flew off, box of muffins stashed in her bag, Luna emerged from the kitchen and saw the sea of boxes, giving off an excited squeak. She looked like an excitable filly as she bounded over to them, looking for her synthesizer. Spike reappeared at the top of the stairs, stopping as he saw the sheer quantity of cardboard that filled the room.

“Holy guacamole! How much did you guys buy? You do realise you can only play one instrument at once, right? Well, unless you’re Pinkie Pie, I guess, but she’s a bit freaky. Anyway, I’m done with my chores so I’m gonna pop over to Rarity’s. I’ll see you all later.”

Twilight absentmindedly said farewell to her assistant as she looked at a pile of large boxes that housed her drum kit. Promptly forgetting her breakfast, she strolled over to them and began pulling the first box open.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Across town, in the Carousel Boutique, a similar pile of boxes had just been delivered. Pinkie Pie bounced around them, chattering nonstop.

“I’m so excited! Even more excited than that time I first met Twilight! Even more than…”

Yeah, yeah, we get the picture thanks,” Rainbow Dash interrupted. However, she looked almost as eager as Pinkie Pie, despite being a little less vocal about it.

“Well then, let’s see what our hard earned bits have gotten us,” Rarity declared. Unlike the other group, they’d elected to order their instruments from a catalogue rather than go to a shop. Rarity had been brilliant; flaunting her status as a leading fashion designer, she negotiated a huge discount for their order, telling the music shop that she’d be able to increase their exposure through association with her boutique.

Rarity began opening a long, thin box that had her name written on it. She was halfway through neatly cutting the parcel tape when a blast of noise came from behind her, causing her to jump and rip a huge tear across the box. She turned and glared at Pinkie Pie, who was seated at a huge drum kit.

“Pinkie Pie! You gave me an awful fright there! Please keep it down whilst I’m concentrating!” Then it suddenly occurred to Rarity how impossibly fast the drum kit had appeared where before there was a mountain of stacked boxes.

“Wait, how did you…oh, never mind.” Rarity decided against further questions, knowing that with Pinkie Pie it was sometimes, if not most of the time, better not to ask.

“Ohmygoshohmygoshohmygosh…” Rainbow Dash said, holding her new purchase aloft.

“Goodness, what is that…thing?” Rarity said with a look of distaste on her face as she wrinkled her nose up at the instrument.

“It’s called an Ironbird,” Rainbow Dash said. “Isn’t it awesome? It’s like, 20% cooler than anything else in that catalogue was.” The guitar was, indeed, unique, with a shape comprised seemingly of straight lines. At Rainbow Dash’s request, the body had been custom painted in a pale blue, bisected by a diagonal rainbow across the centre of the body. To Rarity, it resembled a fragment of shattered glass; chaotic and messy. Even worse, she recalled that this season had seen the rise of flowing organic curves, with hard edges and angular designs performing poorly in sales. Well, it was just like Rainbow Dash to choose something that was so unfashionable. Next to Applejack, the blue pegasus was the last pony that Rarity would turn to for fashion advice.

Rarity turned her attention back to the package before her, wrinkling her nose at the large rip that she’d made in the perfectly sliced box. Deciding she couldn’t make any better of it, she tore open the now destroyed box, before carefully unwrapping the bubble wrap from her purchase.

“What it the hay is that?” Rainbow Dash exclaimed, eyes widened.

“This, my dear, is a cello. Well, technically it’s an electric cello, not that you would appreciate the difference.” Rarity said. The instrument was a polished white, with a deep but narrow body that was little wider than the neck. Rarity reached to the back of the instrument and folded down two arms, which gave the suggestion of the width of a traditional wooden instrument.

“As a well brought up filly, I learned to play when I was younger. It’s been a few years since then, but I’m sure I’ll be able to get back into it in no time,” Rarity declared. “I played in a few concerts, I’ll have you know.”

“This is so cool! We’re like a real band now!” Pinkie Pie said, smiling as always. “Well, at least we would be if Spike were here. What happened to him anyway?”

“I’m here! Sorry I’m late, Twilight left loads of books out again, and to make things worse it turns out Luna does exactly the same thing!” the exasperated dragon said. “Whoa, there’s as many boxes in here as there were in the library!”

“Uh huh! We should make a box fort! It’ll be super fun!”

Rarity fixed Pinkie Pie with a slight glare. “I do have to work here, you know.”

“SWEET!” came a sudden shout. Pinkie Pie and Rarity turned to see Spike kneeling over a large opened box, revealing a large electric blue keyboard curiously finished with varnished wood plates at the end, a stark contrast to the modern button and knob encrusted appearance and colour scheme. He eagerly turned to the three ponies that had gathered in curiosity to look at the instrument.

“Let’s play!” Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash’s faces lit up, but Rarity shook her head forcefully.

“I’m sorry, but I simply have too much work on the go to lose a morning! And I’m sure you both have work to do as well, being as we all did nothing yesterday.” Pinkie Pie and Rainbow Dash looked a little guilty at this; they had indeed neglected their jobs in the excitement of the previous day.

“Yeah, you’re probably right. It wouldn’t be fair to you for us to take over your shop. Anyway, I guess I’d better go deal with the clouds.” Rainbow Dash conceded, walking to the door.

“Ooh! I know what I’m going to make! Cupcakes! Loads of cupcakes! And I could make drum shaped cakes, and drum shaped biscuits and…” Spike and Rarity never did hear what other sweets their friend was planning on making as she cartwheeled out of the door and left them in silence.

“Guess I’d better be getting out of your hair too then,” Spike said, heading for the exit as well. “See you tonight!” Rarity bade her friend goodbye, mentally preparing herself for the work ahead. Closing the door, she looked back at her shop, and her jaw dropped.

It was an utter mess. All around the drum kit, shredded cardboard and fragments of polystyrene littered the floor, and chunks of the white foam were strewn everywhere, no doubt the result of Rainbow Dash’s eagerness to see her guitar.

With a sigh, Rarity horn glowed as she summoned a broom from a cupboard and began to sweep up using her magic. Maybe this whole affair was more trouble than it was worth.

Chapter 4

“All righty, girls, let’s get this show on the road!” Applejack said, turning to her three bandmates. They’d each done a little practice on their own over the course of the past week between their respective jobs, and Applejack had made several visits to Fluttershy’s cottage to teach her the basics, but this was the first time all four of them had met up for a group practice.

“Er, what are we doing exactly?” Twilight said from behind the drums, with a look of confusion.

“Yeah, we kinda…don’t have a plan. At all.” Luna said, her expression a mirror of Twilight’s.

“I don’t even know where to begin.” Fluttershy simply stated, looking down at the bass slung around her neck.

“Well, the best way to learn is to learn by doin’,” Applejack said with a confident smile.

“We’ll have ourselves a bit of a jam session.”

“A what now?” Twilight, Luna and Fluttershy chorused.

“A jam session! We’ll just play, nothin’ planned, see what works and get a feel for these here instruments.” Twilight looked a little worried at that. After all, planning was her speciality, and doing something without any plan whatsoever felt plain wrong to her.

“Come on, it’ll be fun. Look, Ah’ll start.” Applejack picked up her new guitar, a vintage looking semi- acoustic with an orangey red finish and ‘Electromatic’ written on the headstock (Twilight was sure that wasn’t a real word.) She gave an experimental strum, then began to play a repeating sequence of chords.

“Come on, just don’t think too much an’ join in!”

Twilight listened intently, remembering the music she listened to as well as thinking back to the music theory she’d researched. She slowly and cautiously began to play as well, adding a simple drum beat onto the guitar line. Fluttershy looked like she was steeling herself, then she played as well. Unfortunately, the note she played was at odds with Applejack’s chord, the dissonance cutting through the sound.

“Oh!” Fluttershy squeaked, “I’m so sorry!” Applejack continued to play, smiling encouragingly at Fluttershy.

“Never you mind, sugarcube, it’s yeh first time after all. Jus’ try a fret higher. Yup, that’s it. Now play.”

The second time, Fluttershy got the right note, and the pegasus smiled. She continued playing, occasionally catching a wrong note when the chords changed but not stopping.

Luna looked down at her instrument, changing the tone until she was happy. There were so many weird and wonderful sounds that it could make, but she settled on a simple piano, then joined in with the other three.

Luna was amazed. Sure, playing on her own had been fun, but this was like a whole other experience. She was creating something wonderful with her three friends, and it was almost as if their souls were singing in chorus together.

Suddenly she became aware of a change. Applejack had subtly changed the chords, as well as the rhythm. Twilight and Fluttershy faltered for a second at the change, but quickly recovered. Luna had read it perfectly, and with a playful smile she changed the synth’s tone to that of an organ and improvised a quick solo over the top of the other three.

Looking back, she saw that Applejack, Fluttershy and Twilight all had beaming smiles to mirror her own, each evidently feeling the same elation as she at the music they were making. Twilight suddenly added a cross rhythm, and then powered into a drum solo. Luna was astonished at how fast the unicorn had picked up learning the drums; even with her ability to learn quickly and her thirst for knowledge, she seemed to be a natural. Sure, it wasn’t quite as precise as it could have been, but it was an amazing effort for their first day of playing together.

As Twilight’s solo ended and she settled back into the same regular beat, she looked to Fluttershy and gave an encouraging nod. Eyes closed, Fluttershy then began her own solo section, keeping it simple but not making a single mistake. Luna could tell that the pegasus had taken everything on board that Applejack had taught her, and she felt reassured that her shy friend’s gut instinct about the instrument had been spot on.

Fluttershy finished with a happy and proud smile, one that was reflected on Applejack’s face as she noted her student’s progress. Then she took on a look of concentration as she launched into her own solo, a blinding display of technical skill and speed. This was the first time any of the band had seen Applejack play like that, and it filled them with confidence to know how talented she really was.

Drawing the solo to a close, Applejack settled back into the rhythm, quickly making eye contact with each of her bandmates and giving each a quick nod. They understood the wordless message, and at the end of the sequence they played one last chord before falling silent.

The silence stretched out for a few seconds, before everypony started talking at once.

“That was amazin’! Well done, everypony!”

“Oh, that went so much better than I thought it would…”

“I’m so glad I read up on drum solos, it made it so much easier…”

“That felt…I don’t know…like walking on air, or gazing at the night sky…”

After the chatter stopped Applejack looked at the others and smiled broadly.

“Well, girls, Ah’m guessin’ that makes us officially a band.” They nodded in agreement, grinning. “But y’know, practice makes perfect…”

As the sun began to set in the west, the sounds of music and laughter echoed around the library.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

At the same time, in the Carousel Boutique, the atmosphere couldn’t have been further from that of the library. Once again, Rainbow Dash and Rarity were arguing over the music choice.

“I’m telling you, it’s gotta be something fast, and loud. I mean, I’m fast and loud, and I win competitions all the time.”

“Darling, I believe that you’ll find that music is far removed from flying.”

“But what you’re suggesting is boring! We’ll get laughed off the stage!”

“How dare you! My musical taste is exquisite, thank you very much, and I’m sure that the audience will appreciate it as well. Remember, this is still the Grand Galloping Gala.”

The two ponies glared at each other. Spike and Pinkie Pie resolutely remaining out of the conversation, talking to each other in hushed whispers.

“You should stop being so old fashioned and get with the times!”

“Well, maybe you should think before acting and act a little more appropriately for the event!”

“Well…”

Pinkie Pie suddenly interrupted.

“I have a suggestion! Well, actually it’s partially Spike’s idea, so I guess we have a suggestion.” Rarity and Rainbow Dash momentarily ceased their bickering to look at the pink earth pony.

“Being as you can’t decide on a song, how about we each choose one and vote for the one we like the best? And to make it fair, you can’t vote for your own.” Rainbow Dash looked at Rarity.

“You game?” Rarity narrowed her eyes in response.

“Absolutely.”

“Yay! Then how about we meet up tomorrow afternoon, say…half past three with our songs of choice and we can choose what we’re performing? Everyone ok with that? Good! See you then!” With that, Pinkie Pie happily bounced out of the door, leaving the other three in dumbfounded silence.

“Well, I guess that means our session is over,” Spike said.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The atmosphere in the Carousel Boutique was more relaxed than it had been the day before, but there was still a little tension in the air. Spike cleared his throat, attempting to lighten the mood. He held a record up for the three ponies to see. The sleeve read simply “Equestria Girls.”

“No.”

Rainbow Dash and Rarity looked at each other in surprise; it was a rare occasion when they agreed when it came to music. Spike looked a little crestfallen.

“I’m very sorry, Spike, but I just don’t think it’s the right kind of song for the event.”

“I just think it’s not cool enough.”

“I want to forget all about it.” Everyone turned to look at Pinkie Pie. “What? I just don’t think it’s one of my better works. This, on the other hoof, is much better.” She walked to the record player, placing her record on it and pressing the play button. Instantly, a familiar tune blasted into the room.

“Isn’t this the song you used to get rid of the Parasprites?” Rainbow Dash enquired.

“Uh huh, isn’t it perfect!” Rainbow Dash facehoofed.

“Pinkie Pie, this isn’t exactly the sort of music that would sound good as a rock song…”

“Well, duh! Of course it would sound bad!”

“Ok…then why did you suggest it?”

“Well, I couldn’t think of anything we could play, so I brought it to show it off! It’s such a happy song!” the earth pony said happily, bouncing around the record player in time to the lively tune.

“Pinkie Pie. You. Are. So. Random.”

The earth pony giggled and turned off the record player.

“So I presume it’s down to us then,” Rarity stated dryly to Rainbow Dash. “What have you brought?”

Rainbow Dash proudly held up her record of choice. The sleeve read had a picture of a muscular foreleg bound with a chain, hoof hitting a large anvil. Written at the top was ‘Maneowar’ and at the bottom in smaller print was ‘Louder than Hay’.

Rarity sighed, already assuming the worst. Rainbow Dash flew to the record player, carefully setting the needle.

“This is one of my favourites, ‘The Goddesses Made Heavy Metal.’” Rarity wrinkled up her nose at that. Even the name suggested the worst. Her fears were confirmed a split second later as a wall of sound came from the record player.

There was no other way of describing it; it was brutal. Rarity cringed and held her hooves to her ears, wishing for nothing else but for the offensive, violent sound to cease. Contrary to the name of the song, she couldn’t imagine either of the alicorn sisters being responsible for creating such a monstrosity.

Unfortunately for Rarity, it was not a short song. Six torturous minutes later, it finally came to a close with a final scream from the band’s singer.

Not that you could call that singing. Rarity thought. She looked over at Pinkie Pie and Spike. To her horror, both were smiling. It can’t be true…How could anypony enjoy that?

“And that, my friends, is the sound of pure awesomeness.” Rainbow Dash declared. “And now it’s your turn,” she said to Rarity, though from the look on her face she was sure she’d already won. Rarity recomposed herself.

“Well, this is my choice for us to play. It’s a classic, and I’m sure we’d win the contest with such a beautiful piece.” Rainbow Dash looked carefully at the record sleeve.

“Nat King Foal? Never heard of him.” Rarity was quick to retort.

“With your taste in music…or lack of…I can’t say I’m surprised.” Rainbow Dash looked momentarily stunned, turning to Pinkie Pie and Spike. Pinkie Pie looked curiously at Rainbow Dash.

“You’ve never heard of Nat King Foal? He’s, like, one of the bestest most important musicians ever!”

Spike simply shook his head. “I’m gonna be honest…I hadn’t heard of him either. But knowing Rarity, I’m sure he’s brilliant.”

“Right, everypony, quieten down,” called Rarity from the record player as the music began to play.

A brief piano introduction played, and then the singer began. The song was a huge contrast with the heavy metal from before, being quiet and with a focus on the lyrics. There were even sections of complete silence, though they only emphasized the singing more. Rarity had her eyes closed, a dreamy expression on her face as she let the music flow through her.

All too soon, the song came to a close, and Rarity opened her eyes once more. Pinkie Pie and Spike looked spellbound, and Rarity smiled at Rainbow Dash. This was by no means an easy victory for the pegasus anymore.

“So, that was ‘Nature Colt.’ I’m sure you’ll agree that it’s a piece much more suited to a prestigious event such as the Gala.”

Rainbow Dash flew over to join the unicorn.

“So, which did you prefer?” She eagerly asked Spike and Pinkie Pie. Pinkie Pie looked thoughtful, absentmindedly scratching her chin.

“Well, I really liked both! I can’t choose which I liked best. So it’s a tie!” Rainbow Dash resisted the temptation to facehoof again. Instead, she turned to Spike.

“What about you? Awesomeness or ye olde boredom?” Rarity glared at her.

“Well…they both had their merits…it’s really hard to choose…” behind Rainbow Dash, Rarity looked imploringly at Spike, fluttering her eyelashes.

“But I suppose the one that would best fit the Gala would be Nat King Foal.”

“YES!” Rarity cried, before calming down and turning back to her pegasus friend. “Well, that settles it. We’ll be doing something along the lines of this for our Gala performance.”

“I. Can’t. Wait.” Rainbow Dash said, grinding her teeth. She hated losing.

Chapter 5

“No, no, no, no!” Rarity said. This was the third time in a row that she’d stopped their practice. “Rainbow Dash, you’re still being too aggressive!”

“GAH! Well maybe if this wasn’t soooo dull I wouldn’t stand out as much!” she snapped in frustration. Rarity took a deep breath, composing herself as she spoke again, significantly calmer.

“I’m sorry, but you’ve got to keep with the tone of the song. It just doesn’t sound right with you cutting across like that. Now, how about we try again? And please, just play it the way we discussed, hmm?”

Rainbow Dash looked defeated. It was obvious that Rarity wouldn’t be moved on the issue. She silently nodded.

“Very well. OK, one more time. One, two, three, four…”

This time the four managed to make it all the way through the song, Rainbow Dash playing exactly what Rarity had written, nothing more, nothing less. As they finished, Rarity beamed.

“Yes! That’s exactly what I wanted. You must agree, Rainbow, it was much better that way.”

Rainbow Dash looked unsure. “Well…I guess…” On seeing Rarity’s hopeful expression, all of the pegasus’ fight left her. “You know what, if you’re happy then I’m happy. I’ll just try to get used to it, I guess.”

“Excellent! Pinkie Pie, Spike, you were both brilliant as well.” She smiled at the pair. “We’re sure to win this!”

There was a sudden knock at the door. Rarity looked outside; the sun had long since set, so it couldn’t be a customer. Before she could reach it, the door opened slowly and Twilight walked in.

“Hello, everypony. I have to say, that sounded wonderful,” Rarity smiled broadly again. “But that’s not why I’m here. The Gala is just over a month away now, and I thought it would be a good idea to get some experience playing in front of other ponies before then. So, after reading up a little I’ve decided that we’re going to have a concert right here in Ponyville! Rarity, I’m so sorry to spring this on you, but could we set up a stage outside the boutique? And Pinkie Pie, could you help me to advertise? We want as many ponies to come see as possible for it to be good practice for the Gala.”

Rarity and Pinkie pie nodded in agreement. It would certainly make the Gala performance a bit less daunting if they had some experience of playing live.

“Excellent! Well, I thought we could maybe do it this weekend?” she asked. Three heads nodded in agreement.

“Wait…this weekend? As in, three days away?” Rainbow Dash asked, a slight note of panic creeping into her voice.

“Don’t worry about it, my dear, I’m sure it’ll be fine. Just play like you did earlier.” Rarity offered. Rainbow Dash looked unconvinced.

“Well, I’ll see you later, everypony. Pinkie Pie, I’ll be round tomorrow to pick up more cake. And please make sure Spike gets back at a reasonable time,” she added to Rarity.

“Of course, my dear, it’ll be no problem at all. We wouldn’t be able to do it without him, so we need him to be nice and fresh for our rehearsal tomorrow morning.” Spike blushed at the compliment, averting his eyes from the white unicorn.

“Thanks very much. See you later then!” Twilight cheerfully said, making her exit.

“You know what, I think I’ll head back as well.” Rainbow Dash said. “Gonna have to be up soon to take care of the weather jobs before our practice sesh.” She unplugged her guitar, carefully packing it away before turning to Rarity.

“Mind if I take this?” she enquired, holding up the Nat King Foal record. “I’d like to listen to the other stuff to get a feel for how I should play.” Rarity was surprised at this; it was rare for Rainbow Dash to show a proactive attitude like this. Maybe she was changing her mind about the music…

“This weekend is the first chance to show the others what we’re made of. We’re gonna wipe the floor with them! And I’ve got a point to prove to AJ…”

Rarity sighed, but then again, even if driven by competition at least her brash friend was showing a spark of interest in the music at last.

“Of course you can.”

“Thanks a lot! Well, see ya later!” With a whoosh, the pegasus was gone, winging into the cool night air with her guitar slung across her back.

“Would you like a hand to clean up?” Spike offered. Rarity looked around.

“As grateful as I am for your kind offer, I think I can manage. Now, get on home. I was serious about what I said to Twilight.” Remembering her earlier compliment, Spike blushed deeply again, quickly mumbling a goodbye and leaving, Pinkie Pie closely following. One cheery farewell later and Rarity was left alone. Sweetie Belle was at a sleepover at Sweet Apple Acres, so the shop was left in complete, almost eerie silence. Rarity crossed over to the record player, before remembering that Rainbow Dash had taken her record with her. Suddenly she caught sight of the corner of a record sleeve poking out from beneath a swathe of silver fabric.

Pulling it out, she was met with an image of a muscular stallion, dressed in leather and chains. Rarity snorted at the sight; it was so over the top that it looked plain silly. Turning it over, she realised that it was the record Rainbow Dash had brought with her back when they’d decided on the music. Rarity thought back to the awful racket, shuddered and put the record back on the table, quickly walking away. Five paces later, she froze.

I wonder if it’s all that bad. The unicorn thought. I mean, if Rainbow Dash is willing to listen to my music, maybe I should make an effort to be a little more open minded as well.

She turned back and picked up the record with a touch of apprehension.

If nothing else, at least it’ll confirm my suspicions that Rainbow doesn’t have any taste whatsoever.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Rarity peeked out through the curtains, gulping nervously as she saw the crowd that had gathered in front of the stage that had been constructed outside her boutique. It was nearly as large as the last event held outside her boutique, the infamous fashion show that had almost irreparably crippled her career. Like then, she was more than a little nervous, though thankfully Twilight’s group would be the first to perform. She was spared further worry as the lights were dimmed and the event began, the Mayor taking the stage to introduce the performances.

“Fillies and gentlecolts, welcome one and all to the concert! Tonight we have two very special performances for you, from two local bands who are both performing at this year’s Grand Galloping Gala! So, without further ado, put you hooves together for…The Moonbeams!” There was a huge cheer from the crowd as four spotlights beamed on, each onto a member of the band. With a quick glance and a smile to each of her bandmates, Twilight hit her drumsticks together four times, then the song began.

Rarity, however, was near frantic. She quickly turned to her fellow band members at the side of the stage, panic in her voice.

“We forgot! We forgot to come up with a band name!” Rainbow Dash recovered quickly.

“Well, we’ll just have to come up with one in a hurry.”

“How about…Rarity and the Minions? Rarity and the Worshippers? Rarity and the Unworthy? Ooh, I got it, Rarity and the Disciples!” The unicorn gave Spike a slight glare. He swallowed nervously. “Or not…”

“I have an idea!” Pinkie Pie trilled. “How about we put all our initials together and make a name that way?”

“Yes! Excellent idea, Pinkie Pie, simple and effective. So, that makes us… RDPPSR?” Rarity paused for a split second. “Pinkie Pie! What on earth do you expect to come up with without vowels? Please, try to be serious.” Rarity looked at the stage, spotting Luna at the front, keytar round her neck as she sang passionately into a microphone. “We’re running out of time!”

“Um…the Rainbow Brigade?”

“Cupcake Appreciation Society?”

“Dragons Against Early Mornings?”

“Cutie Mark Crusaders? Oh, wait, silly me!”

“How about the Fashionista Militia? It kinda works, being as you’re a fashionista and militia makes it sound way cooler.” Rarity looked thoughtful at that.

“Well, I suppose it’ll have to do. We are now the Fashionista Milita.”

“Yeah!” Chorused Spike, Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie.

“Though with a name like that I wish we had costumes. Oh well, I’ll make us all something stunning for the real thing.”

Directing their attention back to the stage, it was obvious that The Moonbeam’s performance was coming to a close, all four members grinning widely as they played the outro. Rarity was a little disappointed to have missed most of the song; going off the end, it would have been quite the impressive performance.

With a final, perfectly timed chord the song ended, and at once the audience burst into cheers of appreciation, stamping their hooves until they were making almost as much noise as the band had. The four ponies on stage all made their way to the front, bowing before heading off to join the others.

“Well done, girls!” Rarity offered.

“Thank you!” Twilight said. “That was amazing, no other way to describe it. You’re going to have the time of your life out there!”

Rarity spied the Mayor beginning to head onto the stage, and quickly excusing herself from the conversation she trotted quickly over to inform the pony about their new band name.

On her return, she found Luna, Applejack, Twilight and Fluttershy still animatedly talking about the experience they’d just had. Rarity was by now feeling a little nervous, wondering if they’d be able to match their friend’s efforts. There was little time to ponder, however, as the stage preparations had been completed, Pinkie Pie’s bright pink drum kit replacing Twilight’s lilac one. Twilight had been more than a little surprised on seeing the difference between the two; Pinkie Pie’s had two of the large, pedal operated bass drums whilst hers only had one. Then again, she guessed that if Pinkie Pie could play as many instruments at once as she had during the Parasprite incident, she obviously knew what she was doing.

“And now we have our second band, so please give a big cheer for…The Fashionista Militia!” As Rarity made her way to the front of the stage clutching tightly at her cello, she felt like her heart would burst through her chest she was so nervous. It was one thing to do a fashion show, but as she mentally went through the song she realised how very many ways there were for it to go wrong. She looked over at Rainbow Dash, seeking reassurance, but her friend looked even more nervous, shaking slightly and wild eyed. Fighting back the nerves, Rarity turned to the crowd before her, firmly gripping her bow and placing it softly on the strings. With a swift nod to Spike, their song began.

Spike played the introduction alone, hands flying over the keys of the electric blue panelled synthesizer. Rarity had been more than a little worried at the size of the 61 key instrument; it weighed almost as much as the baby dragon that was playing it, but she’d rapidly come to realise that Spike knew what he was doing, and his experience had proved to be invaluable when helping to arrange the song.

Rarity took a deep breath, preparing to play. Driving thoughts of nerves from her mind, she tentatively began as Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie joined her. It took a fraction of a second to realise things were not going as planned.

Instead of the beautiful, gentle chord that they should have been playing, the sound was dissonant and messy. Looking up in panic, Rarity saw a few members of the audience near the front frowning.

Never mind them. Just focus. Long, smooth bowing. Plenty of vibrato. Nearly time to sing, get ready, take a deep breath…

Rarity mentally winced at another discord. Rainbow Dash, standing to the unicorn’s side, looked heavily flustered. Rarity tried to ignore her, and began to sing.

By now, muttering had begun to break out in the crowd, the audience showing their displeasure at the distinctly unpolished performance of Rarity and Rainbow Dash. On one hand, Rarity’s singing and cello playing were fine together, but she kept slipping off key. Rainbow Dash’s nerves had utterly failed her and she misplayed one chord for every four she got right.

Rarity could read the mood, and faltered. She could see that the performance had utterly gone to pieces, and there was little point in continuing. Mid chorus, she fell silent, quickly followed by Rainbow Dash. Spike and Pinkie Pie stopped moments later. The audience’s muttering grew louder. Rarity quickly called a group huddle in the middle of the stage, talking to her three friends in a fast whisper.

“I’m so sorry, girls. And Spike,” she added at a glance from the dragon. “I was just so nervous, I couldn’t play properly. Rainbow Dash, I know you felt exactly the same way. But I think it’s time we stopped treating this like a competition and had some fun.”

“Yay! Fun is my favourite! Even more than Something, regardless of what I may have said in the past!”

“Yes, Pinkie Pie. And here’s how we’re going to do it.” Rarity looked at the guitar wielding pegasus. “Rainbow, you know that record you made us listen to? Yes, the Maneowar one. Can you play the guitar part? Brilliant. Spike, Pinkie Pie, you’re both talented musicians, so I’m assuming you can pick this up.” The earth pony nodded.

“Well…I’m sorry to admit this, but I actually went and bought a copy after hearing it.” Spike said, eyes averted.

“Wait, Rarity, I thought you hated that song.” Rainbow Dash interjected.

“Times change, and so do opinions.” Rarity said. “Now, let’s go and have ourselves some fun! Oh, Rainbow Dash, I need to borrow something…”

Rarity and Rainbow Dash returned to the front of the stage, taking up their instruments once more whilst the other two took their seats behind the synthesizer and drum kit. Rarity fiddled quickly with the cables before picking up her cello once again. This time she felt no nerves, only a desire to prove herself and make up for the dismal performance earlier.

The crowd fell silent once more, then from somewhere a colt shouted at the performers.

“You suck! Get off the stage!”

“Yeah! That was awful, I’ve seen better at a school talent show!” another called.

A large colt in the front row that Rarity didn’t recognise suddenly spoke up.

“This is even worse than that fashion show I saw here once, by that talentless unicorn, what was her name again…” He suddenly fell silent under Rarity’s terrible glare, a look that even gave Fluttershy’s trademark look a run for its money.

“It. Is. ON!” Rarity screamed, kicking the distortion pedal she’d borrowed from Rainbow Dash and beginning to bow her cello with violent intensity. Pinkie Pie was quick to join in, as were Rainbow Dash and Spike, the heavy sounds echoing well beyond the stage and deep into the streets of Ponyville.

Rarity was, to use Twilight’s expression, having the time of her life. She revelled in the anger, and the aggression of the song, and as the verse started she began to half scream the vocals into the microphone with visceral joy. The audience were all struck dumb by the display; every single pony had the same look of slack jawed amazement at the transformation they’d witnessed. Before, they’d been watching a terrible, incoherent shambles of a band. By contrast, the band that was owning the stage before them looked like they were born to perform. It wasn’t long before the crowd started nodding their heads, and not long after that they were screaming their appreciation at the performance they were witnessing.

Rainbow Dash was lost in the glory of the sound, truly and deeply loving life and what she was doing as she furiously belted out the notes. Playing this, unlike the first song, wasn’t a chore. This was a privilege, and she was near euphoric in the sheer joy of it. She realised that the guitar solo was coming up, and slowly strutted to the centre of the stage, confidently looking at the crowd as she walked right up to Rarity. The unicorn was surprised to see her so close, but kept playing the rhythmic accompaniment on her cello as Rainbow Dash’s solo started.

Off the stage, Applejack watched Rainbow Dash in awe. The pegasus, living up to her personality, was playing faster than her friend believed was possible.

When the song came to a close with a final scream from Rarity, the unicorn turned to her bandmates with a near delirious smile, one mirrored on their faces as well. It was then that she became aware of a sound behind her.

The gathered crowd were all screaming at the tops of their voices, stamping on the ground as loudly as they had for Twilight’s band. Rarity smiled at the sight, took a deep breath and grabbed the microphone one last time.

“WE’RE THE FASHIONISTA MILITIA, LOVE US OR PREPARE FOR THE FLANK KICKING OF A LIFETIME!”

Rainbow Dash leant over to Pinkie Pie. “You know, I think heavy metal might have been a bad influence on her.” The pink earth pony nodded in silent agreement.

Chapter 7

“I’m so excited! Are you excited? I’m so excited! Even more excited than that one time…”

“Uh, yeah Pinkie Pie, Ah think we got the message.” Applejack said, though the look on her face suggested she was looking forward to the night just as much as her more vocal friend.

“I mean, the Gala’s tomorrow! It’s going to be so much fun, and fun is the best! There’s going to be cake, and music, and dancing, and best of all we all get to perform! Well, I suppose I did perform last year, but nopony was in a party mood. And this year we all get to perform! Fun!”

Twilight rolled her eyes, smiling at Pinkie Pie behaving…well, like Pinkie Pie. It was the evening before the Gala, and the group was having one last mini party in the library. Both bands would be using the morning to practice and make sure everything was perfect for the evening, meaning that this would be the last chance for them all to hang out before taking the carriage to Canterlot.

“So, I’m guessing you’re all prepared and ready to rock and roll, so to speak?” Twilight asked. Rarity stifled a giggle at Twilight’s use of the phrase. Her bookish friend really had been reading far too many music magazines lately.

“Yes, my dear, we’re as ready as we’ll ever be. I’m not sure if we’ll win, but I feel like we’ll put on a memorable show.” Twilight remembered their practice concert, recalling Rarity screaming into the microphone and threatening the audience with a ‘flank kicking.’

“Yes, I don’t doubt that for one second,” she replied. Truth be told, Twilight was more than a little impressed with her unicorn friend; not only had she been making a near constant stream of gowns and dresses for customers for the Gala, she had also written the song for her band, not to mention making the outfits for both bands as well.

Looking over Rarity’s shoulder, Twilight spied spike yawning and blinking dazedly a few times. She took this as a hint and began to subtly wrap up the party.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Twilight lay in bed, the sounds of Spike’s quiet breathing the only sound cutting the silence. For all she’d decided to settle in for the night, now that she was in bed she didn’t really feel tired in the slightest. She sighed, guessing her nervous anticipation was the cause of her insomnia. Suddenly, the door to the bedroom opened, and Twilight could see the dim form of a pony walking across to the spare bed opposite her own.

“Luna?” she whispered softly, as the alicorn in question pulled the sheets over herself.

“Oh, sorry, Twilight. Did I disturb you?”

Twilight shook her head, not that the gesture would be visible in the darkness.

“No, I can’t sleep.”

There was a soft giggle. “I don’t even know why I’ve come to bed, I don’t even really need to sleep and I certainly don’t feel tired.”

Twilight smiled into the darkness.

“Want to talk for a while?” the princess asked.

“Sure.”

“Excited about tomorrow?”

“I can’t wait! Especially seeing the princess again, it’s been so long since we last talked and we have so much to talk about.”

Luna nodded in agreement. “Yeah.”

“And I can’t wait to get back to Canterlot! Seeing the palace again, and the gardens, Pony Joe’s donut shop…” Twilight sighed in happy anticipation. “And what about you, Luna? I’m sure you must be looking forward to getting back to your big room in the palace rather than having to share this tiny space with Spike and I.” Only silence greeted her statement.

“Luna? What’s wrong?” A quiet mumble answered her.

“Pardon?”

“I don’t want to go back.” This simple statement hit Twilight like a hoof to the face.

“But…you’re a princess! You belong in the palace, not stuck in some village library in the middle of nowhere!”

“I might have been born a princess, but the last few months living as a normal pony have been the best of my life. If I went back, I’d go back to being the untouchable goddess, or the feared queen of the night or whatever. I’d rather stay here, with my friends, and keep living like this than return to that place. I’d rather be a happy normal pony than a lonely princess.”

Suddenly Twilight understood everything. She’d been such a foal not to anticipate this; after all she’d felt exactly the same way in the distant past, wanting to stay with her friends in Ponyville rather than return to Canterlot. And in her case, she’d only known her pony friends for a single day; Luna had spent months with them, becoming a fundamental and vital part of the group. It was then Twilight realised; she didn’t want Luna to go back either.

Quietly getting out of bed, she walked over to Luna and gently reached out into the darkness, her forehooves meeting the alicorn’s.

“I swear I’ll do everything I can to ensure you can stay here. It wouldn’t be the same without you.”

The alicorn sniffled, then beamed with a smile Twilight could barely make out in the darkness. All of a sudden, the unicorn found herself enveloped in a tight hug.

“Thankyouthankyouthankyou…” the alicorn cried.

“FOR PETE’S SAKE!” yelled an angry, tired voice from Spike’s basket.

“Sorry,” Twilight and Luna whispered. As Twilight got back into bed, she smiled and closed her eyes, drifting off to sleep. Everything would turn out all right in the end.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~
~ ~ ~ ~ ~

“Wow! You all look amazing!” Spike said, mouth agape as Twilight, Luna, Fluttershy and Applejack entered the boutique. Twilight giggled.

“Thank you very much, Spike. You’re looking pretty sharp yourself.” The dragon frowned slightly.

“I’d be looking even sharper with a moustache,” he said, eliciting another giggle from the unicorn.

“Of course, how could I forget? Now, what would you like, sir?”

“Hmm, how about something thin, but long and a bit curly?” Twilight’s horn glowed, and the requested facial hair materialised on the dragon’s face. He eyed himself in a mirror carefully, then turned and beamed at Twilight.

“Perfect!”

With that, the pair went to assist with the moving of the equipment. Luna had pulled some strings to get the group a stretch carriage that could take all eight of them, plus all their instruments, all in complete luxury. There were times it was useful to be royalty.

With the last of the boxes containing Pinkie Pie’s drums carefully packed away, the seven ponies and dragon piled into the carriage, wondering at the opulent interior. Slumping onto a luxuriously deep sofa, Rainbow Dash gave a contented sigh.

“Rainbow Dash! Sit properly, you ‘ll crease your dress! And after all the time I put into it you simply must look your absolute best!” Rainbow Dash sighed, but complied with the request.

“Whoa, this is amazin’! I don’t know why you don’t always travel like this, if Ah had access to it Ah’d never use anythin’ else! You could pretty much live in here!”

Luna smiled modestly. “Well, it’s certainly comfortable, but it’s slow. And finding parking spaces big enough is a nightmare.”

When the laughter died down, Spike shut the door and, heading to the front of the carriage, leant out of the open window to tell the quartet of Royal Guards that they were ready to depart. The huge carriage smoothly moved off under the combined strength of the four, and began the long trip to Canterlot.

“I’m so glad you get to join us for the journey this time, Spike,” Twilight said. She knew that the dragon had been a little sore over missing the pre-Gala banter the last time.

“Yeah! And this time we really are all going to hang out, and we’re gonna perform for the Princess, and have an after party at Pony Joe’s…it’s going to be, like, the best night ever!” Twilight giggled, thinking back to their ‘best night ever’ the previous year.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The journey passed quickly, with the eight excitedly talking about the Gala. It seemed like no time whatsoever had elapsed as the carriage came to a standstill at the red carpet that marked the entrance to the palace. They filed out of the carriage and made their way to the main gate. Rarity was pleased to note that there were plenty of photographers snapping pictures of the attendees as they made their way in, making a mental note to order more fabric to deal with the inevitable surge of requests for dresses like the ones she and her friends were wearing.

After handing their gold tickets in and being admitted to the Gala proper, the eight formed a quick huddle in the entrance hall.

“Right girls. And Spike. Let’s make this a night to remember. Even if this is a competition, remember friendship comes first.”

“It’ll be like one big party!”

“Yes, I most definitely agree. Let’s have fun, everypony.”

“This is gonna be so awesome!”

“It’ll be like what I said we should do last year.”

“Ah’m sure it’s gonna be just fine, Spike. We’ve learned our lesson.”

“Um, I’ll be sure to do my best cheering for you all.”

“With all my best friends here with me, how could this night not go well?”

Twilight looked at each of her friends, smiling in agreement at all their statements.

“Right, then let’s go and have the time of our lives!”

“Epic party time!”

“LET’S GO KICK SOME FLANK!” Glanced round, it was evident that even with the new, more relaxed attitude at the Gala it was still frowned upon to scream obscenities in the entrance hall for no reason.

Rarity looked abashed. “Too much?” Seven heads nodded in unison.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

A short while later, the group made its way into grand ballroom. Last year there had been a small stage set up, where a small band had played gentle classical strains. In utter contrast, this year there was a large stage set up, a wall of amps present behind where the performers would be. A large frame, bristling with lights and special effects units framed the stage, and at the opposite side of the room a raised platform with seating for four had been erected, obviously for the judging panel. Already there were a fair few ponies milling around, either curious to see what was going on or reserving spaces in advance to ensure a good view of the action. Twilight noticed with a cringe that the large alicorn statue and columns that had been destroyed last year by the group had not yet been replaced.

The two bands made their way backstage. A green room had been set up for the performers, and Twilight guessed from the number of ponies present that there were at least six other bands besides the two from Ponyville. A sheet showing the order of play was pinned to the wall; on inspecting it Twilight discovered that there were nine bands in the competition, with the Fashionista Militia on third and the Moonbeams performing next to last.

Re-joining her friends by their instruments (which had been brought in and carefully watched over by a small group of Royal Guardsmen,) Twilight informed them of the schedule. Unlike before the practice concert in Ponyville, Rarity didn’t show a trace of nerves as she carefully removed her cello from its case, plucking the strings and tweaking the pegs to perfect the instrument’s tuning, answering Twilight with resolute confidence.

“Excellent. To quote another pony on the subject of our performance, ‘watch in awe.’” Twilight was once again reminded that this was a competition, though if she had her way it wasn’t going to be a walkover for anypony.

Trusting the Guardsmen to look after their instruments, Twilight and the others made their way back to the main room, electing to watch as much of the other performers as possible and offer their support. Just because it was a competition didn’t mean they had to act unsporting, after all.

The crowd had vastly increased in size, ponies chattering in eager anticipation of the show that was due to start in a couple of minutes. The lights in the large hall suddenly began to dim, and a voice boomed out, overpowering the din.

“Fillies and gentlecolts, we at the Grand Galloping Gala are delighted to announce the start of the first annual Equestria Music Group Contest. Please give a big Canterlot welcome for tonight’s judges, three ponies who certainly know their music; Octavia, Vinyl Scratch and Lyra!”

The audience burst into polite applause as the three ponies made their way to the platform, sitting at their seats. Octavia smiled warmly at the reception, whilst Vinyl Scratch grinned wildly and Lyra waved at the crowd, a huge grin plastered across her face.

“And it gives me great pleasure to welcome our special guest and event organiser, our very own…Princess Celestia!”

The tall alicorn gracefully sat down at her seat on the raised platform, flashing a gentle smile and giving an acknowledging wave to the riotous crowd before her.

“Celly! Look over here!” Luna squealed excitedly, waving furiously.

“Hold it, sugarcube, yer gonna put somepony’s eye out if yeh keep wavin’ like that.” Applejack said, supressing a laugh at the sight of the normally demure alicorn acting like a little filly. “Twi, tell her…oh, not you too…”

Indeed, Twilight was bouncing up and down, screaming Princess Celestia’s name over and over. Applejack shook her head in despair at the two.

As the crowd settled, the announcer introduced the first band, a jazz quartet from Manehatten. Four spotlights flicked on, highlighting the ponies on the stage.

“Oh, what delightful outfits!” Rarity gushed. Rainbow Dash looked at her in distaste.

“You think?”

Rarity frowned in return. “Why of course! How could you not like them?”

Rainbow Dash looked at the performers once more. “I hate socks.”

Rarity gave a slightly annoyed look to her pegasus friend. “Well, just because you could never pull off the look doesn’t mean it looks bad on everypony else. Anyway, it looks like they’re starting.”

The four musicians on the stage did indeed look ready to start. A brief glance and a nod between them later, they began their performance.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

As the second song of the night drew to a close, the crowd burst into applause once more, showing their appreciation for the band.

“Wow, the standard really is high for this contest,” Twilight observed. “I don’t even like country music that much, but that was wonderful.” Applejack looked a little scandalised, but before she could open her mouth to retort the announcer’s voice boomed out once more.

“An excellent performance there by Jemimah and the Haystalks! Now, over to the judges for the scores.”

A set of spotlights beamed on, focussing on Octavia, Vinyl Scratch and Lyra as each held up a board.

“Eight, eight and seven, giving Jemimah and the Haystalks a score of twenty three out of a possible thirty!” The audience cheered, as much for the celebrity judges as for the band on the stage.

“Hmm, one less than the first band. Well, let’s see how the others get on! Knowing Rarity, it will be quite the show.” Twilight said, to her bandmates, eagerly watching the darkened stage for any sign of their friends as the event crew prepared for the coming performance.

“Look! There’s Pinkie Pie!” Looking carefully into the dim light the pink pony could be seen carefully setting up her drums, making sure everything was just right for the performance. Apparently satisfied, she got off the stool and happily hopped off the stage. A second later, the lights on the judges faded, plunging the room into pitch black darkness.

The silence that followed seemed to last for an eternity for Twilight and her three friends in the crowd. Then, a gentle note cut through the darkness.

A spotlight slowly faded in, illuminating Rarity as she played a sad and mournful melody. Resplendent in her dark ensemble, her eyes were closed as she made the instrument sing. She was joined a few bars in, another light bringing Spike into frame as he added the synth line. Though unusual, there was no doubt that the combination of the classical cello and modern synthesizer resulted in a beautiful interweaving harmony. With a final descending scale, both musicians fell silent, remaining utterly motionless with their eyes closed. Then Rarity opened her eyes and flashed a devilish grin at the crowd as she touched her bow to the strings once more.

All at once, sound exploded into the room as the stage was bathed in light to reveal Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie, both with looks of committed concentration as they played the true introduction to the song Rarity had penned. The crowd, who had been momentarily stunned by the sudden and aggressive change in tone, began to cheer loudly and nod their heads in time to the pounding beat.

The song entered the verse, Rarity leaning to the microphone as she continued to play. For all the fact that they’d never heard it before, many of the ponies in the crowd were singing with her, caught up in the passionate energy of the song.

Luna watched the four performers closely, marvelling at how well they worked together. Rarity, perfect master of multitasking as she played a complex off beat rhythm and sang simultaneously. Rainbow Dash, smiling with a tiny touch of cockiness as she launched into a display of furious sweep picking. Pinkie Pie, making the most of her double bass drums as she played a difficult cross rhythm. Spike, looking completely unfazed as he swiped his hand across the keys in a massive glissando, all the way from the wood end panel on the right hand edge right down to the bottom keys.

All four were quite obviously very talented musicians in their own right, but that wasn’t what was causing the crowd to become so wild. They’d taken a genre of music that was considered quite inaccessible and made it appealing for everypony, but more importantly it was obvious to everyone in the room that they were having the time of their lives doing it. And their joy was proving incredibly infectious.

In a mirror of the performance in Ponyville, Rainbow Dash strutted across the stage to the centre as the bridge came to a close, readying herself for the solo. However, Rarity was also walking to join her, playing as she carried the cello across the floor. As she reached her pegasus friend, the two faced each other and flew into the solo, both playing the same series of technical notes in perfect synchronisation. It almost appeared like the two ponies were trying to outdo each other as the pace of the playing increased to a near frantic degree, but neither made a single mistake as they shifted into a harmonized section.

Rarity made her way back to the microphone as the solo drew to a close, reaching it just in time to begin singing the last chorus. Looking out at the sea of ponies in the dim glow reflected by the flashing stage lights, she was struck by the sight of hundreds of ponies, many with hooves in the air as they jumped up and down in time to the music. Singing the last line, she turned away from the stage to face her bandmates as they played the outro, ending with the same furious energy that had driven their whole song.

As their final chord decayed away to nothingness, Rarity looked silently at her three companions. All were panting slightly with the exertion of their performance, but all wore the same huge grin that was present on her own face. There was no need for comments, an unspoken understanding passing between the four as they relived the glory of the song again in their heads. A brightening glow from behind her caught Rarity’s attention, and she turned back to face the front of the stage.

The lights had been raised, and it revealed a spectacular scene; the entire room was packed with ponies, in Rarity’s eyes an endless ocean of faces. All had one thing in common; they were screaming at the tops of their voices and stamping their hooves, the sounds melding together into a colossal mass of sonic energy. Rarity was dumbfounded, vaguely aware of the announcer saying something as she dazedly scanned over the audience. Her eyes found a familiar yellow pegasus, jumping up and down animatedly and screaming as loud as she could, though even that wasn’t enough to cut through the overpowering roar.

“Look! Our scores!” Rainbow Dash shouted excitedly. At the back of the room, three numbers were held up. Nine from Lyra. Eight from Octavia. And ten from Vinyl Scratch, giving the elated performers a smile and a nod of her electric blue maned head.

“YES!” The four screamed in unison, meeting for a group hug as the lights dimmed around them once more, crew members coming on stage to prepare for the next performance.

Back in the crowd, Fluttershy smiled at the other three happily.

“Weren’t they good? I didn’t want their song to end, they looked like they were having so much fun.” Applejack nodded in agreement.

“They sure put on a show an’ a half,” the earth pony said, “But this sure as hay ain’t over yet.”

“Yes, Applejack, even if they do have the highest score I see no reason why we can’t beat them. Not to mention there’s still another fivebands that we know nothing about; any one of them could win.”

“No.” The three ponies turned to look at Luna, who blushed slightly.

“Sorry. But yes, I’ve got a feeling that this is going to end up between us and them. I’m not sure how, or why, but I just somehow know. Call it my Luna sense, if you like.”

Twilight quickly looked back to the stage, realising that she’d had a similar instinct about the competition for a long time. The next band was ready, and the lights began to dim as Twilight spoke once more to her friends.

“Well, let’s enjoy the music for the time being, but when the time comes, let’s go out and win this thing!” Three ponies looked back at her, steely determination written all over their faces.

Chapter 8

Luna’s gut instinct turned out to be right, with none of the four bands that separated the two groups from Ponyville being able to match up to the Fashionista Militia’s show stopping display.

As the seventh band of the night left the stage, Twilight offered a quick congratulations on their performance before dashing into the darkness to oversee the setup of her drums. The event coordinator, an orange maned pegasus wearing glasses and a headset approached the remaining trio as they waited off stage.

“Right, ladies, you’re the last act of the night so be sure to put on a good show.” Luna frowned.

“Wait, wasn’t there another group after us?” she enquired.

“Yeah, but they pulled out at the last minute. Very strange it was too. One of their members, some spikey maned colt with an hourglass cutie mark, said something about a crisis at the Pony Nebula or something, and then he just ran off,” the mare said with a disapproving look, as if withdrawing from the competition had been a personal insult.

“Anyway, you’re on in…” she examined a glowing clock on the wall, “two minutes and twenty seconds. Break a leg.”

The three ponies thanked the coordinator as she left them, and they made their way onto the darkened stage, careful not to trip on anything in the darkness. Thankfully the stage crew had highlighted the hazards with faintly glowing lines of magic, making the risk minimal. Applejack quietly strummed a few chords on her guitar, and on finding the tuning was fine she plugged it in. Luna was triple checking that all of her patches were correctly allocated, and Fluttershy had her eyes closed as she ran through their performance in her head. Twilight had long since finished her own setting up, and she whispered loudly to her bandmates.

“Girls!” The three turned to face her at the back of the stage. “Let’s knock ‘em dead!”

“Twilight! As much as I want to win this, I can hardly advocate murder as a way of doing so!”

“Erm, sorry Luna, it’s just an expression.” An embarrassed giggle cut through the darkness.

“Whoops, sorry.”

Further conversation was halted as the lights began to rise, bathing the four ponies in a warm glow. Excited whispering broke out as the crowd witnessed Luna at the forefront, majestic in her caped glory with her keytar held purposefully.

Behind her, she heard Twilight quietly call them in.

“One, two three, four!”

Four ponies struck the opening beat of the song in perfect time, and their song began in earnest.

As her hooves swept up and down the keys, Luna let the music claim her, mind, body and soul as she closed her eyes tightly. She was no longer just listening to her bandmates; it was as if she could sense their individual melodies on another level. Twilight’s drumming, an interweaving chain of logic and mathematical complexity and accuracy. Applejack’s guitar, a spirited tune that spoke of the earth, of hard work and the rewards earned through it. And beneath it, not standing out but supporting the others was the airy grace of Fluttershy’s bass playing.

Luna had experienced the feeling once before; the sensation of connection between her soul and those of the others. Last time, it had been on the receiving end of a rainbow coloured beam of cleansing fire, releasing her from the prison that had been Nightmare Moon. This time, however, she joined rather than resisted them, four spirits singing in perfect harmony.

Twilight smiled to herself as the song entered the bridge; so far it had all been going perfectly, despite the technical difficulty of the rhythms and harmonies she’d spent long hours penning with Luna. In fact, it had been going so well that she decided to take a big risk, one that could make or break their performance. As the bridge came to a close, there was a single bar where Twilight was the only one playing, and it was here where she made her move.

Luna’s near trance state came apart as she registered a change from the rehearsed performance, and she looked around in shock. Rather than playing the bar into the chorus that they’d written, Twilight had seemingly spontaneously launched into a complicated and improvised drum solo. Applejack and Fluttershy were similarly looking at Twilight, eyes wide, until a flash of understanding came across the earth pony’s face. With a wide grin, she began to play as well; a sequence of chords that Luna recognised instantly. It was the chord progression from their inaugural jam session, all those days and weeks ago in the library. As the sequence repeated, the guitar was joined by the sounds of the synthesizer and bass, Twilight’s drumming returning to a steady, simper rhythm. It was difficult to tell over the sound of their playing, but Luna sensed that the audience were cheering louder than before.

Applejack beamed even wider, giving a quick nod to the other three before turning to the audience and playing her own solo. It was evident that the crowd were loving the performance, and on glimpsing a rainbow coloured flash within the sea of faces for a split second she couldn’t resist the temptation to show off, playing as fast as she physically could. Even if they lost overall, she wasn’t going to let Rainbow Dash outshine her when it came to guitar playing.

With a final dive bomb from the guitar, Applejack backed away from the edge of the stage as Fluttershy took her place. Though smiling out at the crowd, her eyes featured a level of intensity only a couple of steps lower than her famous Stare as she brought an intricate and beautiful bass line into existence. Applejack smiled proudly, delighted at how her friend had progressed from a complete novice to belting out the notes like she’d been doing it her whole life.

Finally, it was Luna’s turn, the alicorn quickly punching a button to switch patches. She eschewed the softer sound she’d used to blend in for the duration of her friends solos, instead favouring a biting lead that would cut across the accompaniment. As the razor edged wall of sound screamed from the amps behind her, Luna yelled out of the sheer joy of it all, her cry lost in the maelstrom of sound. Her hooves felt weightless as they expertly traversed the keys, twin lines of melody interlacing as she weaved her song. Opening her eyes, she saw the riotous crowd, hooves in the air, and almost as if feeding off their energy the speed of her playing increased further still, ending with a final flourish as she switched back to a less ostentatious sound for the final chorus. The alicorn leant in to the microphone, her delicate voice resonating through the large room as the song came to its dynamic conclusion.

As the four ponies bowed to the still cheering audience, the three judges prepared to reveal their scores. The entire room fell deathly silent, everypony knowing that it was going to be a close call. Twilight held her breath nervously as they held the boards aloft, eyes straining to make out the distant numbers. She double checked, slightly disbelieving her own eyes.

Nine, nine and nine. They were tied for first with their friends.

All at once, the room exploded into excited chatter as everypony wondered what this meant for the competition.

“We tied! We tied!” Luna said happily.

“Yes, I’m so happy we did as well as our friends, they put on such a good show.”

“Well, Ah’m a mite disappointed we couldn’t win, but Ah guess this is the best outcome.”

All of a sudden, the sound of microphone feedback screeched through the room, everypony wincing at the unpleasant noise as the announcer piped up once more. He sounded a little flustered.

“In light of the current state of the scores, our beloved Princess Celestia has declared that the winner…” everypony leaned forwards in eager anticipation, “…shall be decided by a tiebreak performance!”

At this Twilight could only gape at her friends. In the audience, three ponies and a dragon stood with similar slack jawed expressions.

“As such, please could the Fashionista Militia and the Moonbeams make their way to the judge’s platform, where they will be told the arrangements for their performances. The competition will resume in thirty minutes.”

The four ponies wandered off the stage in a daze. Not only was a tie wholly unexpected, Twilight couldn’t recall any notes on a tiebreak situation in the rules. And she’d been sure to learn them off by heart. As they approached the judge’s stand where their friends were already waiting, Twilight shared an apprehensive look with Luna, both ponies thinking the same thought.

What devious scheme has Celestia come up with this time?

They reached the judge’s platform, falling into a loose semicircle around it as Princess Celestia spoke.

“Congratulations, my little ponies, on your excellent performances. You are all worthy winners, but I think a direct competition between you would be a much more…dramatic end to the night.” Seven ponies and a dragon exchanged sceptical looks, all plainly thinking that they’d have been happy to end on a tie. If she noticed the glances, Princess Celestia ignored them as she continued.

“As such, I have decided that both bands will perform one last time.”

“What, are we meant to play the same song again? I mean, I’m cool with that, but it might be a bit of a buzzkill for the crowd being as they just heard it like an hour ago,” Rainbow Dash blurted out, before blanching as she remembered who she was interrupting.

Celestia smiled and gave a little chuckle at the pegasus.

“I’m sorry…Rainbow Dash, isn’t it? I’m afraid you misunderstood. What I meant is that both bands will be playing one song, on stage at the same time.” She smiled at the shocked expressions facing her. Twilight was the first to recover.

“But Princess Celestia…what song are we meant to play? We only rehearsed one…”

“I know you did, Twilight Sparkle, you informed me of as much in your letters. But that will be the test; which of the two bands can adapt best, and put on the best performance under real pressure. That will be what decides the winner here. And as for the song…Hmm, I suppose a song that everypony knows will be the best option. How about…Equestria Girls? I’m sure that will fit the bill nicely.”

“YES!” Spike shouted, before blushing as every pony in a twenty metre radius stared at him.

“Wait…won’t that be a bit unfair? I mean, Pinkie Pie kinda did sing the vocals on that…” Rainbow Dash began, but Twilight shook her head.

“No, it’s fine. Yes, she sang the vocals, but everypony can sing the vocals, it’s been played so many times. Plus, Rarity is your band’s singer, so that nullifies any imbalance.”

Celestia smiled warmly, but a faint light of mischief twinkled in her eyes.

“Excellent! Well, now that the arrangements are agreed on we can begin. The stage is all yours; I look forward to seeing your interpretations of the song.”

As the eight friends made their way back to the green room to collect their instruments, they anxiously discussed how they would perform the song; without any practice it was a tall order, and despite it being a competition the band members discussed their respective plans of action with their counterparts in the other band. Rainbow Dash and Applejack frantically went through chords together, both ponies wishing they could have a week to practice and perfect the progressions rather than having mere minutes.

One rapid and panicked group tuning session later, the group found themselves on stage once more. Being as this last song was completely unplanned, the stage crew had elected to forgo the light show, leaving the stage bathed in pure white light. The two sets of drums had been set up at the back corners of the stage, both at an angle so Twilight and Pinkie Pie could easily see each other. Fluttershy found herself next to Spike at the mid left of the stage, with Rainbow Dash and Applejack at the right. This left Luna and Rarity at the front, both near to the middle though leaving enough room for them to move about whilst they played. Luna was grateful for the distance between them; she wasn’t particularly in the mood to be stabbed with the business end of Rarity’s bow if she got a little carried away.

On seeing the arrangement on stage, the two bands mingling rather than keeping separate, Celestia gave another little smile. Everything was going exactly as planned.

With preparations finished, the crowd ceased talking amongst themselves as Luna tapped the microphone in front of her lightly with her hoof. The alicorn turned to Rarity.

“Ready?”

“As I’ll ever be. Everyone?” Six heads nodded. “Looks like we’re good to go.”

Luna swallowed nervously, and then touched her hooves to the keys, playing the intro synth riff. She felt immensely grateful that the song had featured in Twilight’s record collection at the library, but maybe it wasn’t that surprising given Pinkie Pie’s presence on the record.

Four bars later, Twilight and Pinkie Pie joined in, both playing the simple drum beat with remarkable accuracy. Luna had elected to continue the intro riff for an extra few bars without singing, giving the others a chance to get a feel for playing with unfamiliar musicians. Spike and Applejack were the next to add their instruments to the building sound, with Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash adding their layers shortly after. Rarity was the last to join, cello sounding out distinctly against the trio of guitars and paired synths.

Luna listened carefully, and once sure that they were all playing in time and on key she gave Rarity a swift nod, the pair starting to sing the familiar words. The two singers were very well matched, and it sounded fine, but to Luna something felt wrong. A couple of lines later she realised what it was; though their song was technically ok, it was sterile and lifeless. They were playing the song, but it lacked everything that had made their previous performances stand out.

Time to do something about that.

The song was just entering the chorus, as Luna put her hastily formed plan into action. Rather than sing in unison with Rarity, she made a sudden switch to singing in harmony, but more importantly she changed the tone on her keytar to that of a cello, and with a challenging smile to the unicorn she played a variation on the required line. Rarity was quick to answer, still singing the normal vocal part but adding her own flourishing cello line that was distinctly absent on the original.

By now the others had realized what Rarity and Luna were up to, and began to play their own variations. Besides Rarity’s singing and the drums, the song rapidly evolved to bear little resemblance to the hit single that they’d been imitating when they first started to play. Then the drums abruptly dropped in volume. Luna looked backwards and saw that Pinkie Pie had stopped playing outright, and was idly tapping a stick against her head, her expression suggesting she was deep in thought. With a sudden jerk, she snapped out of her reverie and suddenly tore into the drums with brutal violence.

Twilight and the others were stunned at the sudden display of blast drumming, especially due to the contrast between the slow and relaxed rhythm of the original. Rainbow Dash, however, saw an opportunity present itself, and planting her hoof onto her distortion pedal, she began strumming a heavy riff. Strangely, despite the huge difference in style, the blend of metal and pop seemed to be working. Luna could have laughed out loud, mind opened to the possibilities that had been presented to them. Yes, Celestia had given them a song to play, but in reality there were infinite ways to play it. And so long as they enjoyed it, it didn’t really matter what it sounded like, or even what anyone else thought of it.

Luna left the front of the stage and walked over to Spike, grinning broadly at the dragon as she issued a wordless challenge. Before long, both were churning out blurringly fast strings of notes, as all the while Rarity continued to sing the vocals perfectly.

As the second chorus ended and they entered the bridge, Rainbow Dash and Applejack met in the centre of the stage, having agreed beforehand that a guitar solo would be much more favourable than subjecting everypony to Rarity or Luna rapping. However, rather than a single solo, the two seemed to be locked in a musical fight to the death as the notes screamed thick and fast into the room. Luna rolled her eyes, not surprised in the least that the two had ended up duelling.

As their joint solo came to an end, Luna rejoined Rarity to sing the final chorus. However, she wasn’t alone, a pink mane filling her peripheral vision as Fluttershy joined her at the microphone with a warm smile. Evidently the pegasus had got over her fear of singing before strangers, adding her sweet voice to the mix as they ended their song.

Their final chord died away, but the noise level did not. The crowd were, right down to the last pony, yelling at the tops of their voices. Luna, Rarity and Fluttershy exchanged a happy smile, knowing that they’d managed to live up to not only the crowd’s expectations, but also their own hopes for the performance. As the cheering died down, Luna sensed a presence behind her and turned to see the three judges strolling onto the stage, Princess Celestia gracefully strolling behind. Rarity and Fluttershy sank into respectful bows, but Luna gave a squeal of excitement and bounced across the stage in a manner reminiscent of a certain pink earth pony.

“Celly! What did you think of our performance? Weren’t we great?” The white alicorn gave her younger sister a regal smile.

“Yes, Luna, it was indeed an amazing performance. You should all be very proud of what you’ve achieved.”

The other ponies had now gathered around the princess sisters, all eagerly chattering about their highlights of the song. Naturally, Applejack and Rainbow Dash were debating who was the better guitarist. Princess Celestia cleared her throat and they all fell silent once more.

“The judges and I have come to a decision,” the princess said. The ponies before her looked momentarily confused, having forgotten they were competing in the excitement of pulling off a great performance from nothing.

“Our decision is…that you shall share the title of Equestria’s best musical group!”

The ponies, not for the first time that night, stared in each other in dumb shock, then burst into loud cheers that were echoed by the crowd as Celestia repeated her announcement with the benefit of magical amplification.

“Really, it was just too close to choose a winner. And when I saw how much fun you were all having together I decided that I didn’t really want any of you to lose. And the three judges felt exactly the same way.” Luna suddenly frowned, eyes narrowing in suspicion.

“Wait one second…Celly, did you plan this?” Her sister’s expression was of complete innocence, but centuries of experience told Luna better.

“Whatever do you mean, sister? Planning the whole event to end like this would be tantamount to rigging the whole competition, and as ruler of Equestria I would never do such a thing.” Suddenly her voice became more sincere. “You really did do it all on your own. I simply gave you all a nudge in the right direction, making you compete against each other was the best motivation possible, and it’s amazing what can be achieved with the benefit of the support of your friends.”

The princess looked out to the large ballroom, seeing that it had rapidly emptied in the aftermath of her announcement, leaving just a few stragglers who were making their way to the ornate doors. The Gala was beginning to come to a close.

“So, Princess Luna, I imagine you’ll be looking forward to having your room back? I had it spring cleaned in preparation this morning…” Luna looked slightly unhappy as the subject of her return to the palace was raised, but before she could even begin to argue a sudden shout came from her side.

“Princess Celestia! I know she’s a princess, and I know she belongs in Canterlot here in this palace, and I know she doesn’t belong in a library in some backwater town, but please let Luna continue to live in Ponyville!” Twilight had thrown herself prostate before her teacher, and the look on the unicorn’s face suggested she half expected to be banished to the moon for such a request. Princess Celestia simply smiled and looked to her sister.

“Is that what you really want, Princess Luna?” The midnight blue alicorn looked up from the floor and nodded silently.

“Well, if that is the case, you may remain in Ponyville for as long as you desire. I’ll arrange your living arrangements as soon as I can.” Twilight interrupted once more.

“Actually, Princess Celestia, I was wondering if she’d be able to keep living with me at the library. She’s an excellent study partner, and the only pony I know who stays up as late as me, not to mention her knowledge is invaluable during my stargazing. That is…if you want to?” she finished meekly, looking to Luna who nodded eagerly. Both turned to Celestia with eager eyes.

“Well then, you may keep your current living arrangements,” the princess said, eyes twinkling.

“Celly! You planned this as well!” Luna accused her sister. The taller alicorn gave a delicate warm laugh.

“Like before, I did nothing of the sort. Nopony can force two ponies to become friends. I simply put you in a situation where you would do it all on your own. And obviously it worked.”

Luna wasn’t going to argue with that. Her sister turned back to the rest of the group.

“Well, I believe that a celebration is called for, even though the Gala is coming to an end. Spike, would you be so kind as to lead us to that delightful donut shop we ended up at last year?”

“Yeah, sure! I’m always up for some of Pony Joe’s donuts!” the baby dragon said happily as he started to walk for the exit, the others following close behind.

As they meandered along at the back of the party, Luna quickly leaned in close and whispered to Twilight.

“Thank you. For everything.”

Twilight smiled warmly back at the alicorn. The last few months really had been some of the best of her life, she mused as they walked through the ballroom doors. And by the looks of it, there were plenty more yet to come.

Chapter 6

“Could you pass me a glass of punch please, my dear?” Rarity said to Luna. The alicorn happily obliged. After their concert had finished, the stage was dismantled and everything had been cleared away, naturally the first thing that had happened was Pinkie Pie’s announcement of a celebratory party. Whilst known for throwing parties for events as insignificant as it being a Tuesday, everypony agreed that their performances warranted a good celebration.

“I have to say, Rarity, you had us all worried for a moment there.” Twilight said, helping herself to some punch. “But it was worth it when you brought it back, though I was quite surprised by your choice of music.” Rarity caught Rainbow Dash’s eye and exchanged a smile.

“Well, Twilight, I realised that trying to play music for the sake of the audience only leaves you disappointing yourself, and if you disappoint yourself you won’t sound good to anypony else either. On the other hoof, if you play for fun, and for the sake of nothing more than the music itself, you’re sure to put on the show of a lifetime.” Twilight nodded in sagely agreement.

“Do you mind if I put that in my next letter to the princess? I’m sure she’d want to hear about it.”

“Of course not, it was a very valuable lesson after all.”

“I thought you were amazing,” Luna said to Rarity. “I particularly liked the passion and emotion you managed to get out of your instrument. The sound reminded me of an electric guitar, but different…more expressive, maybe.”

“Why thank you. I’m just sorry I missed much of your performance, the fragments I did see were fabulous.”

Luna blushed happily at the compliment, looking shyly at the floor, a complete contrast to the confident figure that had been performing a couple of hours earlier.

“It was a lot of fun. I’m very glad my sister sent me here.” Behind the alicorn, Applejack and Rainbow Dash were deep in conversation.

“Ah’ve gotta say, Ah’m most impressed with yeh playing, Rainbow. Even if you were a mite…off…at the start.” Rainbow Dash shrugged.

“Ah, well, you know how it is. Soon as we were playing something fast and loud I was all over it like Pinkie Pie on a cupcake,” the pegasus stated. Applejack snorted slightly, looking over her friend’s shoulder to see the aforementioned pony demolish a tray of the sweets in record time.

Having drunk her fill of punch, Twilight again joined Rarity. “Rarity, I hope this isn’t too much trouble, but I was wondering if you’d be able to make our costumes for the Gala. You did such a good job last year, even if they did end up getting a little…dishevelled…over the course of the night. I completely understand if you don’t want to, I mean it is a contest after all.” Rarity shook her head violently.

“My dear Twilight Sparkle, you really didn’t think I would deny you fabulosity for the sake of competition, did you? It would be my pleasure to make you all outfits; I’ve been itching to make something for Luna since she first got here after all. Just drop by the boutique with your ideas at any time and I’ll get started as soon as I can.” Twilight smiled gratefully at her unicorn friend.

“Thank you. Knowing you, I’m sure they’ll be absolutely beautiful.”

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

It was long into the night when the party finally ended, the ponies finally succumbing to their exhaustion. At last, Twilight, Luna and Spike were left alone in the library. Twilight was used to staying up late, but even she had to stifle a yawn as she turned to Spike.

“Come on, number one assistant, time for bed, I…oh.” The baby dragon had seemingly fallen asleep where he stood, crumpling to the floor in a gently snoring heap. Twilight and Luna looked at each other and giggled softly.

“I’m not sure I’ll ever get used to his ability to do that,” the alicorn princess said with a tinkling laugh.

“Well I’ve known him for his whole life and I’m still not used to it,” Twilight replied as she gently lifted the sleeping dragon with her magic. The princess and the unicorn continued their conversation as they walked up the stairs to the bedroom, Spike floating between them, encased by a purple glow. On reaching the bedroom, the two ponies worked together to quickly and efficiently put Spike to bed, Twilight gently pulling up the blanket as Luna dimmed the lights.

“Sweet dreams, Spike. You did brilliantly today.” Twilight whispered softly. Spike rolled over and snored gently, before muttering something that sounded like, “Thank you mummy.” Luna giggled again, louder than before. Twilight gave her a mock disapproving stare as the two ponies made their way out onto the balcony.

“What? I can’t help it, he’s funny when he’s cute. And asleep. Actually, he’s funny most of the time.” Twilight smiled and nodded in agreement.

“That he is. He’ll be a real heartbreaker when he grows up, provided he grows out of his affections for…a certain pony.” Twilight stumbled at the end of the sentence a little, her head echoing with a voice yelling “FOREVEEEEEER!”

“A certain pony…you mean Rarity?” Luna asked.

“Um, yeah. I promised never to reveal his feelings to anypony.”

“Well, it’s kind of obvious, what with the way he acts. And stares at her. All the time.”

Twilight suppressed another giggle. “Yes, he’s certainly not subtle, but a promise is a promise.”

“How very noble, Miss Sparkle.” Luna said.

“Well, it’s what friends do.” With this statement, a thoughtful look came over Luna’s face. When she spoke again, it was with a quieter tone.

“Do you know what the best part of this whole experience has been? Not the music, though that has been incredible. It’s just…things like this. Random conversations, about random things. Because that’s what friends do. Back in Canterlot, besides Celestia, everypony either treats me as a goddess or looks at me with fear, as if I’m going to turn into Nightmare Moon again.” Luna shuddered slightly. “But here…everypony just regards me like I’m a normal pony, and for that I’m eternally grateful. Finally, I have friends.”

Twilight was surprised at Luna opening up to her, not having realised how similar the princess’s story was to her own. Though Twilight had never been aware of how alone she was, with Spike constantly present for company and Princess Celestia in frequent contact. It was then that she truly realised how lonely the alicorn must have been for the thousand years she spent in solitary lunar confinement. A tear threatened to fall from the unicorn’s eye, but she instead leaned over and gently nuzzled the alicorn.

Luna was shocked at the sudden contact, but didn’t pull away. Instead she closed her eyes and leant into Twilight, returning the gesture.

“Thank you for understanding. And thank you for being my friend.”

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

“Now, no peeking!” Rarity said with mock sternness. “I’m talking to you, Rainbow Dash.”

“Come on, Rarity, the suspense is killing me!”

“Ok…you can look now!” The unicorn cried. There was a moment of silence, then seven simultaneous gasps.

“Wow, Rarity, you’ve really outdone yourself this time.”

“Yeah, mine’s even cooler than my gown from last year! Even cooler than my rainbow armour.”

Rarity smiled, choosing to ignore the comment about the infamous dress that, whilst supposedly twenty percent cooler than Rarity’s design, was one hundred percent less fashionable.

“I’m overjoyed that you all like them.” Luna strode over to investigate hers a little more closely. The defining feature of the ensemble was a long, elegant cape that tied around the neck, flowing almost to the floor. It appeared to be black, but as Luna tilted her head the change in the light revealed a shimmering dark purple flecked with sparkling silver highlights.

“Isn’t it simply divine? It took so long to get the fabric right, but it sets just the right tone of giving plenty of presence without appearing gaudy,” Rarity said. “And I designed the shape to give you plenty of freedom to move about. You’ll be able to play as if you were wearing nothing at all.”

Luna gave the unicorn a grateful smile. It really was perfect, even better than she’d imagined when they’d discussed the outfit a few days ago.

Twilight, Fluttershy and Applejack each inspected their own capes happily. The basic outline and shape of their outfits were similar, but each was tailored to the personality and appearance of the owner. Twilight’s was a shiny black, with a thin pattern of concentric stars outlined in magenta and violet. Fluttershy’s was a light cyan with white accents, a colour Rarity had chosen to match the pegasus’ eyes. Lastly, Applejack’s was a leaf green affair, bordered with red and with a large apple embroidered subtly onto the back.

“They’re perfect! Thank you kindly, Rarity.” The fashionista again smiled in pleasure, turning to her bandmates to see what they thought of their own costumes.

“Rarity, these are so awesome. I’m kinda surprised you went for something so…unsubtle, but I’m glad you did, we are gonna look so cool on stage.”

“I’m glad you feel that way, Rainbow Dash. And you know, it’s really all thanks to you. You’ve opened my eyes to a whole other world of opportunities; sure, there’s plenty of clothing aimed at the metal community, but so much of it is so inelegant. I’m confident that my newest line will prove immensely popular, maybe not in Canterlot, but Trothenburg’ll be a big market…”

“Wow, you’ll certainly make a stir with these at the Gala, Rarity.” Twilight said. “Certainly, no-one will be able to miss you dressed like this.”

“Why of course, a little bit of controversy will certainly liven things up, not to mention it’ll attract more attention to my business,” Rarity laughed. “Though I’ve had so many orders for gala dresses this last month, I’m starting to wonder if anypony there will be wearing an outfit that I wasn’t responsible for creating.” She turned back to the dresses, casting a loving eye over her own. Rarity had taken heavy inspiration from old photos she’d seen from about a century ago when designing the item of clothing. It was a full length ball gown, similar to her dress from the last gala in form. However, this dress was black, the cascading layers of fabric overlaid with accents of midnight blue lace. The overall effect was mysterious, and maybe a touch sinister, but beyond a shadow of a doubt it was filled with the essence of Rarity’s characteristic elegance.

“This is gonna be so fun!” Pinkie Pie said happily. She’d already put her dress on, an outfit that bore a lot in common with the one she’d worn in Appleloosa for her war-inducing song. Unlike that purple dress, this was the same black as Rarity’s, though there were a few dark pink highlights here and there.

“Looking good, Pinkie Pie,” grinned Rainbow Dash. Her outfit was, at first glance, a very subtle flat black affair with a simple but graceful shape. However, a slight shift in the light revealed a riot of colourful stitching around the base, the embroidered iridescent pattern showing a row of winged skulls. Rarity had taken the idea from the emblem of the Shadowbolts, the fake fliers created by Nightmare Moon. The pattern changed colour depending on the angle it was viewed at, a slightly mesmerising effect that was sure to generate plenty of attention for the cocky pegasus.

“Oh my, Spike, you look smashing!” Rarity declared. She’d crafted him a black suit, complete with a cloak and a top hat to set off the ensemble. Twilight raised an eyebrow at this, thinking back to the incident with Owlowiscious and the fake mouse.

“Stylish, suave and a teensy bit evil. You look like quite the little villain.” Rarity said, evidently very pleased with the outcome of her hard work. Hmm, but there’s something missing…Aha!” She turned to Twilight.

“My dear, if it’s not too much bother, might I trouble you for a moustache?”

“Sure, Rarity. Hold on a second.” Twilight closed her eyes in concentration, horn starting to glow. With a quiet pop, a black moustache appeared on the dragon’s face.

“Yes! That’s absolutely perfect! Thank you so much, Twilight, if you could do it again right before the Gala I’d be so grateful.”

“I’m sure it won’t be a problem,” Twilight said with a smirk. Rarity suddenly became aware of a stifled giggle behind her. She turned to see Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie, who both suddenly burst into fits of laughter.

“Girls! What in the name of Celestia is wrong with you?”

Gasping for breath, and with tears of laughter running down her face, Rainbow Dash gasped, “Nothing…Sir Rarity.”

Rarity looked confused for a split second, then her eyes widened and she ran to the mirror. Staring back at her, with a look of shock on her face, was a white unicorn with a magnificent curly purple moustache.

By now everyone in the room had broken down laughing, and as she looked at the comical sight in the mirror Rarity gave in and joined them.

“Hohohoho! My moustache! How wonderful!” At her imitation of Steven Magnet, they all laughed even harder.

As the laughter died down, Twilight wiped the tears from her eyes and her horn glowed once more. With another faint pop, the offending facial hair vanished. Rarity’s eyes grew wide again and she took on a look of mock despair.

“What a world, what a world!” Once again, everyone in the room dissolved into laughter.