“…et. …unset. Sunset!”
The sound of Pinkie Pie’s voice and uncomfortably hard shoves woke Sunset, her eyes greeting her to her pink-skinned friend as well as Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Fluttershy, and Rarity, each carrying a backpack and holding briefcases of various shapes, colors, and sizes.
“Mmm,” Sunset groaned, sitting up. “Are we almost there?”
“Silly,” Pinkie Pie chirped, “we are there!”
Turning around, and looking up through her window, the intimidating sight of the metropolitan skyscrapers came into her view. Twilight giggled as the train slowly crept on its path, the structures of steel and concrete passing her by.
“Come on!” Pinkie Pie shouted! “We’re not going to get to college any faster with our butts glued to our seats!”
“Oh… right…”
Sunset crawled out to the walkway with her bags in tow as fast as her groggy body could allow. It didn’t take long, and with a heave she stood beside her friends with her bags in hand.
“I still can’t believe we’re already here!” Rainbow Dash happily cried out.
“How can you not believe it?” Pinkie Pie responded. “We just passed the Empire Hay Building!”
“All I know,” Rarity said, “is that once we get settled in, we should all have a night on the town!”
“Sounds pretty good to me,” Sunset stepped in. “That way we can get a chance to know the school all day tomorrow.”
“Is there anything all y’all want to do?” asked Applejack. “I’m all ears.”
“I’d like to go to the Central Park Zoo,” Fluttershy spoke in a hushed tone, “if that’s okay with everyone…”
“Sounds great,” acknowledged Sunset. “I’ve heard Manehattan has some of the best museums in the country.”
“Boring!” Rainbow Dash was quick to denounce. “The Minotaurs's first game is tonight, and I don’t want to miss it!”
“Hold on, Rainbow,” Applejack said. “A football game sounds like a rootin’ good time, but I don’t think it’s fair for ya’ to take three hours of our night. We can probably catch it at wherever we go out to eat tonight.”
“But that’s so late!”
“It’s quite alright, darling,” cooed Rarity. “I heard eating late at night is very chic in the city.”
“Plus,” Sunset added, “I’m sure we’ll get plenty of snacks at the other places we’re going.”
“Ugh, fine…” Rainbow Dash finally huffed with crossed arms.
“Don’t feel too bad, Rainbow Dash,” Pinkie Pie said. “We’re in Manehattan now! That means we get to watch as many Minotaurs games as we want!”
Pondering this Rainbow Dash’s expression changed to mild acceptance, giving a shrug that was happily received by Pinkie Pie. Sunset Shimmer looked out the window once more, watching the urban scenery hide behind a concrete tunnel that carried the train into the station, plunging it into slight darkness.
_________________________________________________________________________________________
Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie opened the door to their dorm room, finding a plain greyish-blue walled space with a bunk bed to the left, as well as a couple of desks and a closet to the front and right. While Rainbow Dash grimaced at the cramped and empty nature of the room, Pinkie Pie reached out from behind the doorway and pulled out a blue cannon with magenta wheels, parking it beside her luggage.
Jamming her suitcases and backpack into the barrel, she slammed a large button on the back, her belongings spraying all over the room from the bags.
However, each of the items set itself in the proper place. A sheet wrapped around the bed’s bottom mattress with a pillow and folded comforter landing atop it. Her computer, notebooks, and an abundance of pens and pencils landed on the leftmost desk and sorted out neatly. A pile of clothes also landed folded at the foot of the closet door.
As Rainbow Dash stood dumbfounded at Pinkie Pie’s efficient unpacking, a pair of grabby pink hands reached for Rainbow’s luggage.
“Go crazy,” Rainbow Dash replied, dropping everything from her hands.
With gusto, she took Rainbow’s backpack, suitcase, and guitar case from her hand and stuffed it into the barrel, with another loud bang, Rainbow’s things went flying, her bedding setting itself on the top bunk and her electronics and school supplies flying onto the right desk. As well, her clothes stacked up beside Pinkie Pie’s and her guitar and stand found itself at the corner of the room besides Rainbow Dash’s desk.
With everything set, the two of them stepped into the center of the room, proudly observing the interior of their new home.
“You know,” Rainbow Dash smugly relented, wrapping her arm over Pinkie Pie’s shoulders, “I think I can get used to this.”
_________________________________________________________________________________________
Applejack and Sunset Shimmer walked inside their own room, which looked equally barren as Rainbow Dash’s and Pinkie Pie’s. Setting their bags in the center of the room, Applejack let out a loud, audible whoop.
“Looks like we have our work cut out for us,” Applejack said. “So, what bunk do you want?”
“Bottom’s fine with me,” responded Sunset.
“Suit yourself.”
Applejack picked up a green duffle bag from the pile and tossed it up to the top mattress. Sunset picked up her backpack as Applejack quickly ascended the rungs to her bed and bag. Sunset gently slid a laptop and her journal from her bag onto the left desk, a pile of pens and pencils scattering on top of them.
“Hey, Sunset,” called Applejack as she unfolded her sheets from her bag, “you wouldn’t mind puttin’ our guitars over to the side, would you?”
“Of course not.”
Dropping her bag, she grabbed two cases from the luggage and set them down on the floor.
“So,” Applejack continued, “what say you to getting the band together and playing some before classes start?”
“I don’t know,” she answered, flipping a case open and revealing a four-string bass with an orange-sunburst finish. “You guys sound well enough on your own. You and the others can go ahead if you want.”
“Aw shucks, we’d love to have you! I’m sure after the Battle of the Bands, Rainbow would love to add a rhythm guitar to our roster.”
“Yeah,” Sunset groaned, flipping the last case open with a blue six-stringed guitar with a V-shaped body, “rhythm…”
“You go ahead and do what you feel’s best. You’ve got a whole new life to look forward to here. We’ll support you either way.”
With a smile, Sunset grabbed both guitars by the base of their necks and turned towards their desks.
“Thanks,” Sunset managed to let out. “I’ll think about it either way.”
“You do that, but while you’re at it, could you just put my backpack next to my desk?”
“Of course.”
Applejack managed to only finish her bed and had many more bags left to unpack, but Sunset gladly took her friend’s bag to her desk, savoring her time.
_________________________________________________________________________________________
The sun began to quickly set, and the windows, streetlights, and headlights of cars and busses quickly became the city’s form of illumination. The nightlife put Sunset and her friends in eager spirits as they walked briskly on the sidewalk, eyeing signs for nearby restaurants.
Rarity elegantly and proudly strode with several full paper bags of varying bright colors hanging around her arms. Pinkie Pie guzzled down a paper cone filled with candied nuts, and before long, she tore off a piece of the cone and placed it into her mouth. The sight and sound of Pinkie Pie eating only served to make Rainbow Dash’s stomach grumble.
“Come on!” she moaned. “We gotta’ be getting someplace soon! I’m so hungry that I could eat a horse…”
“I’m sure we’d find something by now…” Applejack said, “if Rarity wouldn’t keep running into every boutique she finds.”
“Oh, come now!” she defended. “Manehattan is only the shopping capital of the world! Do forgive me if I want to indulge in such an opportunity!”
As the others continued walking, Sunset stopped upon sighting a small dive with neon lights reading “World-Famous Sliders” and “Sports Here.” Huffing in glee at the sheer coincidence, Sunset began to wave off to her friends as they continued walking.
“Hey, girls!” she called, gaining their attention. “There’s food and the game here!”
“What?” Rainbow Dash shouted, running to the front of the building and seeing the signs. “How did we miss this?”
“I don’t know,” Applejack said. “But if it’s got grub and a game, I’m all in.”
“I don’t know,” whispered Fluttershy. “It looks kind of rough…”
“That’s the best place to watch a game!” Rainbow Dash exclaimed, hopping excitedly to the door. “And look!”
She motioned to an elaborate poster made from a single sheet of paper taped to the door, a single large word standing out amongst the other details: Skyline.
“Live band too!” she continued to shout. “No cover either!”
“Well,” Pinkie Pie said, tossing her wadded paper cone into her mouth and swallowing, “looks like we have a winner!”
With a charged skip in her step, Pinkie Pie ran inside with Rainbow Dash holding the door open for the others also approaching the entrance. Applejack, Rarity, and Fluttershy all walked inside with Sunset Shimmer at the tale of their line. Holding the door for Rainbow, Sunset allowed her inside before she slipped inside herself.
With all six of them inside, they could all look together and the sparsely populated and almost-broken looking dining room. The walls looked to be made of piled concrete bricks of random sizes poorly painted light blue. A long booth made up most of the the left wall with tables and lazily pushed in beside it. The floors were an unpolished linoleum and the bar at the right looked unmanaged and unclean. The newest looking things in the room were the TVs lining the upper corners of the wall above the bar and the amps and instruments on the small stage in the back.
“This place looks…” Rarity thought out loud.
“Perfect!” Rainbow Dash shouted. “We practically have this place to ourselves!”
Running ahead, she slipped into a booth seat, giving her a perfect view of the bar’s center TV as two trios of fully equipped football players in purple and yellow jerseys stood at the center of the field, awaiting the referee’s coin toss.
“Come on!” Rainbow Dash shouted. “The game’s about to start, and they’re playing the Vanhoover Stampedes!”
With Rainbow Dash’s mind made up, the others looked for their own seats with uncertainty, minus Pinkie Pie, who ran over their table to sit beside Rainbow Dash at the center. Almost as if surprised by the abnormal case of organization, the girls each picked up a disposable paper menu that had been left on the plastic surface and read it over.
“There they are!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed, pointing at her menu. “Sliders! I don’t know what they are, but they sound fun to eat!”
“I don’t think we should eat too heavily here guys,” Applejack warned, eying the different spots of dirt and crumbs of food she managed to find.
“That is,” Rarity said, “unless you want to spend the rest of the night by the toilet! I suppose we couldn’t go wrong with chips and salsa, but I wouldn’t put it past this place if we still manage to catch a bug.”
“Lighten up, guys!” Rainbow Dash sighed, putting her menu on the table. “These dives are what eating in Manehattan’s all about!”
“I was under the impression that was what five-star restaurants were for.”
“Well, if you want to pay, like, twenty bits for a single bean, then be my guest, but let’s not knock this place until we try it.”
“That’s the spirit!” Pinkie Pie cheered. “I’m sure we couldn’t get sliders at a five-star restaurant!”
“Or the game,” Applejack calmly relented.
“Or a band,” Sunset added. “That ought to be fun.”
Returning to their menus, three men appearing to be in their early-twenties unraveled and plugged cords into amps and outlets on the wall. A greyish-grey-skinned man with short, curly black hair, wearing a royal-blue shirt, faded-black jeans, and a black hooded sweatshirt wrapped around his waist stared at the six girls as a waitress walked up to them with a notepad and pencil ready in her hand.
From around the back of the stage, a woman with hot-pink skin and sandy-blonde hair wearing a sky-blue t-shirt and tight khaki pants approached him.
“Full house,” she said with a sneer. “And such a good looking crowd too.”
“As long as you’re getting paid,” he said, “you have nothing to be complaining about.”
“Right, because who doesn’t want to see the world-famous Eklipse perform in the corner of a five-and-dime burger bar on a Wednesday night?”
Refusing to humor her, the man continued to untangle chords and find its proper end. As the waitress took Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy’s orders, Sunset Shimmer took frequent glances at the setting of the stage before her.
_________________________________________________________________________________________
A pile of tortilla chip crumbs and small splotches of red salsa water were spread over the table’s surface. Despite her full, bulging stomach, Pinkie Pie reached out for the last miniature veggie burger on a large, blue platter, still managing to put every bit in her mouth. With a gorged swallow, the entire slider crawled its way through her throat until it reached her stomach.
“I still don’t get it,” Pinkie Pie groaned to no one in particular, sliding down the booth. “Why do they call them sliders? Because they slide down your throat? Shouldn’t all food be called a slider, then? Because they slide down your throat too, right?”
“Quiet, Pinkie!” Rainbow Dash hissed. “This is it!”
On the screen, the purple Manehattan team and Yellow Vanhoover team gathered parallel to just feet away from the goal line. Manehattan had thirty-one points to Vanhoover’s thirty-five. Despite the minute-and-and-a-half still on the clock, it was Manehattan’s fourth and final attempt for a game-winning set of points.
With a clash of jerseys and pads, the play began, and a purple-shirted man with green skin held onto the ball, making an impressive leap over the players mounded before the endzone. With a bounce and a roll, the player managed to get into the endzone. Everyone in the bar, was cheering loudly, minus Sunset, who gasped with horror at what had happened.
It didn’t take long for the others to catch on too. The ball bounced onto the endzone and away from green-skinned player. A yellow-shirted athlete scooped the ball up and quickly ran out of the endzone through a small hole in the human blockade before reaching sanctuary out of bounds.
On screen, the yellow shirts dog-piled up on their star player, while in the restaurant, the dozen dejected fans who remained inside sulked into their seats, retreating back into their mugs of cider.
“I don’t believe it!” Rainbow Dash shouted, downing her glass of cola, ice and all. “They had one job! One lousy job, and they couldn’t even hold on to the ball.”
“It’s okay, Rainbow,” cooed Sunset. “It’s just a pre-season game.”
“And how do you think that’s going to make them look in the rest of the season?”
“Well,” reasoned Applejack. “Look on the Brightside. We could have spent a fortune on tickets and overpriced food just to watch them lose.”
“But we still watched them lose…”
Rainbow Dash grumbled and crossed her arms. As Sunset tried to reach out to her, a sight found its way into the corner of her vision. Five people, including the blue-skinned young man and the pink-skinned woman, walked from a table closer to the stage where their instruments were kept. Among them included a yellow guitar, a left-handed black five-string bass, and a deep-red double keyboard, all held on their respective stands. The drum kit appeared to be simple; three toms, four different cymbals, and a single bass drum.
The blue-skinned man sat himself before the kit reaching for a pair of sticks inside the cotton bag latched to the stool. The pink-skinned woman grabbed the guitar and gave it a couple of strums as she tuned the strings. A whitish-grey man with a corn-yellow ponytail do in a simple black shirt and grey pants took center beside a mic-stand, while a maroon-skinned woman with brushed-back dark-brown hair and an unzipped black leather-jacket with a deep-maroon-and-white striped skirt picked up her bass and slung it over her shoulder. Finally a green-skinned young-man in a white collared shirt with brownish-khaki pants stood before his keyboard, fluttering his fingers over the keys from the left up, his turned-off instrument making little sound other than the muted thumps of the keys as they were struck.
The drummer tapped the hi-hat pedal with his left foot, the metallic claps bringing the attentions of the bar’s patrons toward the stage. Moving his foot to the left kick of his double-bass pedals, he gave a quick right-left-right step, feeling the sharp booms pulse out throughout the place. As he moved his foot back to the hi-hat pedal, he twisted his left hand and spun his stick so that he held both in a standard jazz position. The guitarist, bassist, and keyboardist turned their respective instruments on, a sudden low-pitched hum rumbling out of the amps.
“At least we still have the band to look forward to,” Sunset said.
As opposed to the other four girls at the table, who looked mildly optimistic, Rainbow Dash was still in her post-game slump, while Pinkie beamed, glancing at each band member with sheer excitement. Finally, the singer approached the microphone with his lips close by.
“Hey everyone,” he said, “I’m sorry about the game…”
“Pfft,” Rainbow hissed unbeknownst to him, “I’m sure you were…”
“…but we’re still here to end the night on a high note. We’re Eklipse, and we thank you for staying after to hear us play.”
Unable to avoid Pinkie’s ravenously happy stare, he took a sigh of relent as he faced her and her friends.
“I see we have some new faces in the crowd tonight,” he said, pointing the six girls out.
“Eee!” Pinkie Pie squealed. “They noticed us!”
“Hard to imagine how,” Rarity said facetiously.
“So,” the singer continued, “where do you all come from?”
“Canterlot High!” Pinkie shouted. “Well… we’re from Manehattan now!”
“Hahaha… Freshmen in college, I see.”
“My gosh!” she whispered to Applejack and Sunset. “It’s like he’s psychic or something!”
The pink-skinned guitarist rolled her eyes as she rubbed the part of her shoulder her guitar strap gripped.
“Well,” he went on, “we’re all college students ourselves, and as upperclassmen of Manehattan U, we cordially welcome you to our campus.”
As the singer clapped, the other members too led the rest of the bar’s few attendees in applause. Each of the five girls smiled warmly while Rainbow Dash slumped onto her hand supported on the table, still grimacing.
“Well, we hope you all enjoy our music,” he said, “and without further ado…”
The man ran offstage with a rather energetic spring, leaving both Rainbow Dash and Sunset Shimmer both morbidly perplexed. At that moment, the drummer, bassist, and guitarist each began a quick and pounding melody, which was joined moments later with a few scratchy chimes from the keyboard. While Pinkie Pie immediately stood to her feet and began clapping in time, the singer returned, leaping back to front and center with an electric violin already affixed under his chin and plugged to a nearby amp. As he played against the guitarists’ and keyboardist’s melodies, Rainbow Dash’s mouth dropped.
“What the heck is this supposed to be?” she shouted with disgust.
“Shh,” exclaimed Sunset, motioning her to sit down.
At that moment, the drums came right in, keeping a simple 4/4 time on his kit with his snare and hi-hat. Sunset, Applejack, and Rarity were all tapping their feet, easily getting into the band’s jam. Rainbow Dash glanced to her other friends, groaning loudly at the sight of their enjoyment. Suddenly, the guitarist stopped, the bassist, keyboardist, drummer, and singer continuing to play. While the drummer and keyboardist matched each other’s beats and notes, the bassist and singer took over the melody.
“Jeez,” Rainbow Dash mumbled, “can these guys not play a full song?”
“Rainbow,” Sunset whispered harshly, looking visibly irate, “the game’s over, they lost. Just listen to the music and stop ruining it for the rest of us.”
Rainbow Dash pushed her shoulders to her head, baring her teeth to try and hold back her anger. The guitarist glared at her, cracking her knuckles as she prepared to return to the song. The rest of the band continued to play their melody until they broke off into another, the drummer playing a much more complex rhythm, as told by the in-beat shaking of his head and glaring into the skin of his snare and left tom.
The guitarist joined back in, playing alongside the bassist’s melody while the singer played a small solo on the upper strings of his violin. Next up was the keyboardist, going up from the lower half of his instrument while noticeably tweaking the sound with the aid of his pitch wheel. Rainbow Dash clenched her eyes, already beginning to race towards the breaking point.
“Oh, come on!” she finally exploded.
The patrons of the bar, along with her friends, all turned their attention to her, watching as she began to walk towards the stage. Any sense of fun and merriment the girls felt at this point was now shattered and replaced with dread, Applejack futilely reaching out for her.
“You call this music?” she loudly asked, making a beeline for the guitarist. “I’ll show you music!”
The singer kept his eye on Rainbow Dash as she continued her approach, not stopping his own playing. The guitarist shot an angry look at Rainbow Dash, threatening her not to take another step. Rainbow Dash refused to heed her warning, stepping up and reaching for the guitar’s neck. In one quick motion, the guitarist thrust the headstock of her instrument right into Rainbow Dash’s forehead.
Disoriented and feeling herself falling back, Rainbow Dash grabbed the instrument’s neck and pulled the guitarist down with her. The drummer, bassist, and keyboardist each stopped immediately, the drummer throwing his sticks down and running around his kit towards the brawl. With the guitarist on top, she and Rainbow Dash traded blows to each other’s faces while the bassist and violinist set their instruments down, joining the drummer as she attempted to pull the guitarist off Rainbow Dash.
Sunset and her friends arrived shortly after dragging Rainbow Dash away from the stage and surrounding her. Rainbow Dash and the guitarist stared daggers at each other, the latter not even noticing her guitar’s neck broken in two on the floor between them.
“Hey, you!” the baldy, burly bartender shouted, pointing at Rainbow Dash and her other friends. “You’re out of here! You want to start fights, do it outside!”
“Sure!” Rainbow Dash shouted out, trying to fight her way past her friends’ scrum. “Come on, let’s settle this outside!”
“Hold on, there,” Applejack called out as she held her back by her ponytail, “I think we need to leave before you cause any more trouble.”
“And don’t think of coming back in here!” he ordered with heightened severity.
“It’s okay, sir,” Sunset responded with an assuring, waving hand. “We’re leaving.”
She then glanced back to Rainbow Dash with anger and sheer mortification. Applejack and Rarity, joined her in staring, and only at seeing their icy, scolding looks was Rainbow Dash softened enough for the rest of her friends to escort her outside. Sunset Shimmer stayed, looking to the guitarist, drummer, singer, and bassist looking at the destroyed guitar. The guitarist shot her head up and furiously walked out towards the exit, turning to face the humiliated and paralyzed as she made her way out.
“Classy group of friends you have,” she spat.
“Striker!” the drummer called, running after her.
He sped past Sunset, left alone with the singer and bassist, who all gave her disappointed looks. Biting her lip, she too whipped around and quickly exited herself. The singer and bassist each picked up a broken half of the instrument, the latter unplugging the chord connecting it to the amp. The two gave a look of uncertainty to each other in front of the puzzled crowd while the keyboardist, frozen in his position in front of his instrument, looked to the exit door, clenching his fists tight with a fearful glaze in his eyes.
Sunset lied wide awake on her bed, running her finger along the ceiling in a seemingly unending loop. Placing her palm against the surface and turning her head, she looked down to the other side of the room, noticing both Applejack’s bass and her guitar neatly on their stands. Taking a deep and uneasy sigh, she threw her covers over her face and pressed the back of her head into her pillow as hard as she could.
_________________________________________________________________________________________
Rainbow Dash sat up in the bottom bunk of her and Pinkie’s bed, her legs hugged into her chest with a stubborn pout on her face. Picking up her phone at the side of her right foot, she tapped the bottom on the device, bringing up the lock screen. With hesitance, she swiped her finger across, bringing up a string of text messages between her and many of her other friends.
There was one at the very bottom of the list that was impossible for her to ignore, one from Applejack:
all that trouble for a stupid ball game. you really need to find that poor girl and apologize.
Rainbow Dash pressed the power button on the phone and rendered the screen black before tossing it to the other end of the mattress. She ran her fingers over her forehead, instantly feeling a sore stinging where Striker’s guitar had hit her. With a suppressed grunt, she hopped off her spot and threw her body straight, bouncing back onto her pillow with forcibly shut eyes.
_________________________________________________________________________________________
The morning sun streamed brightly through the windows of Sunset and Applejack’s dorm room. Applejack, in her casual wear, spryly gathered Sunset’s clothes together from her closet, while Sunset, dressed in her pajamas, sat slumped over her desk, slowly writing in her magical journal.
I apologise in advanse if my handwriting looks a bit slopy. I didnt sleeep well last night.
“Yo, Sunset!” called Applejack as she laid her. “Ya’ best be gettin’ in the shower if we all wanna’ make the campus tour!”
“Huh?” Sunset moaned, looking to Applejack with half-shut eyes.
Applejack let out an impulsively shocked grimace, nearly dropping Sunset’s t-shirt and leather jacket from her grasp.
“Oh, sugar,” she said with extreme frankness, “you don’t look so good.”
“Was it that obvious?” Sunset growled back, her eyelids concentrating into an angered squint.
“Well, er…”
“Forget it. I’m not feeling up to it right now.”
Spinning her chair back to her desk and her journal, she looked down at the page, looking nonchalantly at the reply she had just received.
I can tell. Is there something wrong?
Applejack, concern plastered to her face, slowly walked up to her and peered over her shoulder, watching Sunset make her next reply.
Rainbow dash embarassed all of us on our first night her. So much for frist impressons.
“Is that it?” Applejack suddenly blurted with a toying tone. “That’s what’s got you so worked up?”
Sunset turned around to see Applejack, her face now sporting a compassionate smirk, causing rubbed her arm in slight shame.
“I’m sorry, Applejack,” she said back. “I was so looking forward to college being a clean slate for me, and it looks like this might just be Canterlot High all over again.”
“Oh, balderdash! One hiccup like that isn’t going to spoil college for you, or for any of us for that matter. Besides, I’ve already talked to Rainbow about it, and if I know here, she’ll feel remorse eventually.”
“Emphasis on eventually…” Sunset grumbled.
“Listen, whatever Rainbow did last night is not going to reflect any better or poorer on you. I’m almost certain that those band guys aren’t even going to be anywhere in sight today during the tour.”
“Listen, I appreciate you trying to make me feel better, but I’m still not going to–”
“Like heck you aren’t! If you’re really concerned about first appearances, cowering in your dorm won’t do jack toward your cause.”
Sunset looked down, unable to provide another contrary response.
“Look,” Applejack continued, placing her hand on Sunset’s shoulder, “whatever you want to do, me and the rest of the girls are meeting in the lobby and leaving in fifteen minutes. If you want to tag along, you have fifteen minutes to make up your mind.”
Applejack turned on her heel and walked to the door, closing it behind her. With her warning ringing in her mind, Sunset slowly turned her chair back to face her journal, staring right at the spot she knew Twilight’s response would be.
Oh my gosh, what happened? I sure hope that it doesn’t keep you from missing your tour.
With a tired grunt, Sunset crashed her head into the pages, leaving her forehead pressed against her desk for several moments.
_________________________________________________________________________________________
The lobby of the dorms were bustling with new and returning students, some with parents and siblings, but all with massive bags and suitcases by their side. Completely contrasting the air in the halls were Applejack and her friends, who all impatiently loitered against the halls as they glanced towards the elevators where more people were pouring in than out. Rainbow Dash, checked her phone, reading the time as 8:58.
“Uh…” Rainbow Dash said nervously, “maybe we give her an extra five minutes.”
“I gave her fifteen,” hissed Applejack, “and you’re not going to weasel out of apologizing to that girl if we see her.”
“Um…” Fluttershy cooed, “I vote we wait for Sunset for another ten minutes and try not to get that girl angry at us again… if that’s okay with everyone else?”
“Fluttershy,” Rarity replied, “the only one she’d have any reason to be angry at is her. After all, she did break her guitar and ruined their performance.”
“It’s not my fault their music stunk!” Rainbow Dash spat with pouted lips and crossed arms.
“You were the only one complaining!” Applejack snapped back. “Apparently enough to pick a fight with the guitarist.”
“Well… maybe they didn’t like it too, and they were just being polite about it.”
“Huh, Rainbow Dash and polite. Can anyone here say ‘irony?’”
“Irony!” Pinkie Pie blurted out, hopping in between the two of them.
Immediately, Rainbow Dash and Applejack were rendered silent and confused.
“What?” Pinkie Pie questioned with a shrug. “I’m just trying to be non-partisan!”
“Okay,” Applejack said as she looked at the screen of her own phone, “it’s 9:00, and we should be heading to the campus. Sorry, Sunset.”
As Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Rarity and Fluttershy went towards the doors, Pinkie stood still and facing the elevators with an ever-growing smile on her face.
“Pinkie!” called Applejack, holding the door open for the others. “Let’s go!”
“But we have to wait for Sunset!” she called back.
“She’s not coming!”
“Then why is she clearly coming?” Pinkie replied back without any sarcasm.
Fighting through the sea of students and finally appearing visible before Applejack, Sunset Shimmer stood beside Pinkie with a relieved smile on her face.
“Glad you could join the party, Sunset,” Applejack called with a beckoning wave. “Now let’s get a move on before we’re late!”
“Ooh, there’s going to be a party too?!” Pinkie squealed.
Grabbing her arm, she took Sunset and zipped out through the building’s doors and racing to join their other friends who had already gotten farther ahead than them.
_________________________________________________________________________________________
Among a small group of around two-dozen, Sunset and her friends gazed upon the sights of their new school: the tall and beautifully constructed halls and facilities of brick and steel that made up the entire campus spanning over a large a massive block within the urban sprawl, as well as the numerous diverse cliques that sat on the grassy park, and talked casually to each other. Rarity and Pinkie’s wide-eyed, wondrous gazes made them appear as though they were children in the world’s largest toy store.
While everyone else too looked upon their new school with hope and anticipation, Sunset glanced sporadically around, appearing thankful that each person she saw was a new face entirely. She looked to Rainbow Dash, who was also cautiously on the lookout, more than likely for the same individual.
As the tour group continued down the path, they approached a triangular-shaped building made primarily of red brick. At its tip, a large hemispherical structure made out of a glossy white stone, and deep ridges running across it and down to the base. On the right and left sides of it were two taller buildings, the one on the left appearing taller than the right.
“This is our arts center,” the female guide in the bright purple university t-shirt began to explain. “Here you will find our musicians, actors, painters, sculptors, and filmmakers, many of whom are the best and brightest of their craft.”
“Actors,” Rarity breathed dreamily. “Actors means theater, and theater means someone is going to need a costume designer!”
Sunset smiled, happy to see her friend already finding herself so smoothly, however, any positive feelings began to melt away once she began to hear the sound of drumming wafting through the late-summer air. Falling a bit behind and looking beyond her group, she saw a young man sitting down at the corner of an intersecting sidewalk to a small drum set consisting of a snare, two toms, a hi-hat, a crash, and a ride, and a single bass pedal. What unsettled Sunset was the man sitting at the stool, who shared every physical attribute the drummer for Eklipse did: grey-colored skin, blue shirt, and black jeans with a black hoodie wrapped around the waist.
As the group continued onwards, about to pass him, Sunset tried her hardest to look away and continue with her friends, but her eyes and ears only returned their attention to him and his playing. She was instantly amazed at how fast his left hand rolled on the snare and over the toms while his right hand kept a beat on the ride, his left foot tapping the pedal that allowed the hi-hat to patter in time.
What was even more transfixing was the calmness of his face as he played such intricate beats, especially compared to what his band was playing the night before. Even as a couple of people walked by and tossed a few coins or dollars into the sleeve for his snare drum, which he responded to with a gracious nod toward them, his arms and feet moved on like he wasn’t even controlling them.
However, he seemed to look out from his kit far longer than Sunset would have expected, and it was at this point that she realized that she was across the sidewalk from him and her group, and that she was staring at him with as uncomfortably as he was to her. Finding her feet freezing in her tracks, she turned to the group with painfully rigid sluggishness.
“Hey!” she blurted out.
At once, the group halted and gazed, awaiting her reason for her outburst. Feeling under the spot, the drummer dithered off until he and his instrument were no longer audible.
“Mind if we…” Sunset thought aloud, “have a look around?”
“What a great idea!” the guide said with sincere perkiness. “Feel free to take a look about, get a drink, meet some new friends, whatever! We’ll resume in ten minutes!”
At once, people from the group began to slowly disperse, scattering like roaches. Sunset stood relaxed and took a tension-releasing sigh. Turning back to walk towards the drummer, she found herself crashing into a royal-blue shirt. Hopping back with a surprised yelp, she was able to see in fuller clarity the drummer standing just a couple of feet in front of her. At once, Sunset froze up again, looking to the left and right to find a means of escape. The man merely put his hands against his waist and looked to her with lack of amusement.
“You really hide your guilt well,” he said. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you were terrified of me.”
Sunset gulped, suddenly bowing her head in shame and clasping her hands together.
“I’m so sorry!” she exclaimed. “I wanted to say something last night, but I was too embarrassed to–”
“You have nothing to be sorry for,” he replied with a gesture of his hand. “You and your friends actually seemed to be enjoying yourselves, well, except for the rainbow-haired one.”
“Again, I still feel I should apologize. I know it excuses nothing, but she was just miffed about the turnout of last night’s game.”
“Well, you’re right about it not excusing what she did to Striker.”
“If there’s anything I or Rainbow Dash can do to fix what she did, don’t hesitate to tell me.”
“If it makes you or your friend feel any better, Striker said that she’d be just fine if she never had to see her face or, for that matter, you and any of your friends again.”
Sunset’s eyes widened and her mouth wen slightly open, feeling another wave of looseness in her muscles.
“Wait,” she clarified, “that’s it? Even after she broke her guitar?”
“She owns plenty of guitars, and it wasn’t even one of her favorite ones. Besides, since she technically bashed your friend’s head with her guitar, she doesn’t want to risk being charged for any injuries she might have caused.”
“Well,” she said with a scratching of the back of her head, “if it makes you feel any better, she has no intentions of dealing with your friend either.”
“Well, that’s good. Enjoy your tour, anyways.”
As he turned back to return to his drum set, Sunset ran around him and blocked his path, another look of worry on her face.
“Wait, what?!” she asked. “That can’t be it! I still feel like I need to pay you back in some way!”
“Like I said,” he responded, “you did nothing wrong. I’m sorry if Striker has to take it out on all of you as opposed to your rainbow-headed friend, but just be thankful she’s not taking it any further than she has every right to.”
“But what about the rest of your performance? Maybe I can help your band play someplace else?”
“As far as I know, there aren’t going to be any more performances.”
“What? Why?”
“After last night… Striker left the band. And because I can tell you’re losing sleep over this whole thing, it’s more about where we’ve been playing as opposed to who we play for.”
“And you’re not angry about it? Like, at all?”
“Oh no, I’m plenty angry, but it wouldn’t be fair to take it out on you, and your friend seems to be feeling awfully guilty of what she did already. Regardless, the rest of us all have other gigs to fall back on, so don’t keep kicking yourself over it. Enjoy your time at Manehattan U.”
Sunset began to deflate as the man went around her with no opposition and seated himself back at his kit. As she heard his sticks clatter together as he grabbed them from beside his stool, she suddenly straightened herself out, pursing her lips in dissatisfaction.
“What if I played for you?”
As the young man was about to resume playing, his hands froze with the heads of his sticks just trembling over the skins. With a tired grunt, he spun around and faced Sunset once again, though his deterrent glare did not seem to deter her.
“You’re quite stubborn, aren’t you?” he asked. “Listen, I understand that you feel guilt over what happened last night, but you can’t just ask to join my band like that, yet alone the one I play with.”
“Try me.”
The drummer’s grimace began to grow, but stopped before he could appear overly-threatening.
“You can play guitar?” he shot off.
“Yes, I can.”
“Playing long?”
“For a couple of years...”
“A couple of years? You think I’ll let an amateur play with Eklipse?”
“How do you know I’m an amateur? You haven’t even seen me play yet.”
The drummer leaned back in a relaxed slouch, giving her a small, smug smirk.
“True,” he gently conceded, “but considering that Striker has been accustomed to her fingers far longer than you have, if you catch my drift, and the songs that we play challenge even her, it wouldn’t be very smart of you to just come in here thinking that you can wow me with your… Rainboom sound.”
Sunset’s tough façade finally shattered, her adamancy giving way to shock.
“How did you–”
“Don’t be stupid, Sunset Shimmer,” he answered. “People know about your… misadventures at Canterlot High, to put it nicely. Hard to imagine how it couldn’t. Personally, I think a magical unicorn-turned-human would make a really unique addition to our group, but I won’t let one on who can’t play any better than Striker did.”
Sunset frowned as his insults continued to eat into her. With a deep inhale, she looked straight at the center of his eyes.
“You still don’t know that I can,” she responded.
After an uncomfortable several seconds of unyielding silence, the drummer let out a coughing-chuckle, bending over and supporting his arms on his knees. Sunset and the young man continued to look at each other, the former refusing to reveal any hint of regret or cowardice.
“Alright,” he said, “next Wednesday, in the left wing theater. 9 at night. Bring a guitar and your A-game. We’ll see if you play half as well as you beg and brag.”
Sunset forced a smile, her appreciation appearing almost canned.
“See you then,” he bid with a wave, turning back to his instrument.
“Wait!” she called back, making him look back through the corner of his eyes. “I never got your name.”
“It’s Tom Crash. You’ll meet the rest of us at your audition. Bye now.”
“Yes,” she huffed with a fully sincere bow, “bye, and thank you!”
“Don’t mention it.”
As Tom finally managed to sit back to his kit and get his sticks, Sunset Shimmer forced her feet to back towards her group, wanting nothing more for their encounter to finally end and her tour to resume despite the feeling weighing her back towards him. With another step, she felt her heel press down on another person’s ankle, making her yelp and turn back around, suddenly coming face to face with a pair of young woman who looked as suddenly frightened as she did.
“Watch where you’re going!” one of the warbled as they stormed off, refusing to look back.
Sunset watched them leave, only for their fast walking to unveil Tom, who played on his drums with a tight glance over to her from the corner of his eye. Shooting back over, she watched as Fluttershy and Rarity came close to where the tour group had stopped, prompting her to head straight to them.
_________________________________________________________________________________________
Inside an empty cafeteria and dining area, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie were tucked off in the back corner, a set of chairs and tables moved off and forming a barrier around them and their instruments. Sunset couldn’t even bring herself to smile as her friends played their music, her guitar tucked between her legs at the neck.
Normally, watching her friends practice and perform gave her much joy back at Canterlot High, but even two days of embarrassments and guilt-inspired decisions was only making one thing clear to Sunset: college was going to Canterlot High all over again. As the moments passed, the only thing Sunset could anticipate right now was the end of the song the Rainbooms played.
“Oh yeah, we're better than ever,
“Whoa-oh, oh-whoa-oh
“Oh yeah, we're better than ever!”
The girls muted their instruments and turned to Sunset, expecting her supportive applause as always. However, Sunset’s troubled and melancholic face proved that her mind was clearly elsewhere, making Rainbow Dash frown with disappointment.
“Alright,” Pinkie breathed out loudly, suspicion filled in her voice, “normally, I’d say that we wowed Sunset speechless, but people who are blown away by our music don’t normally frown like that…”
“Of course not,” Applejack replied bluntly, removing her bass guitar and walking to her friend. Sitting on the chair beside her, Applejack gently laid a hand on her shoulder. “Anything you’d like to tell us, sugarcube?”
“I bet it has something to do with that drummer she was talking to on our tour,” Rainbow Dash said with a twinge of contempt. “What did he even want anyway?”
Sunset felt compelled to stay mute, Rainbow Dash’s tone making the truth that much harder to force out. She suddenly felt Applejack’s hand move across to the center of her back, making her sit up with instinctual attention.
“Well?” Applejack urged with a couple of pats. “You know what happened better than any of us did. Let it out, now.”
Mustering the strength to look up to her other friends, the more concerned looks of Rarity, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie seemed to help ease her throat and say what she needed to.
“Well, I honestly just wanted to apologize to him,” she spoke just above a whimper, “but I ended up auditioning for his band instead.”
“What?” the collective gasps of her friends rung.
“You, auditioning for that band?” Rainbow Dash sneered. “Why would you do that after what that guitarist did to me? Their music’s not even that good anyways!”
“Do you know what you did to her?” Sunset finally snapped, unaware as her body shot her up to her feet. “Not only did you break her guitar, but she quit the band after what happened!”
Rainbow Dash’s face suddenly revealed a pang of regret, which she was quick to make appear as a gesture of uncaring.
“And for the record,” Sunset added, “everyone at the bar was enjoying the music except for you!”
“I… but…!” Rainbow Dash sputtered. “Whatever! It’s my opinion, and you don’t have to like it.”
Applejack could only roll her eyes at her friend’s sheer bullheadedness, and before Sunset could respond, the sound of a door opening quelled any animosity from the faces and breathing of Rainbow Dash and Sunset. Turning to the sight of the sound, Sunset and Rainbow Dash both immediate recognized the red skin of Eklipse’s bassist walking briskly towards the group, specifically towards Sunset.
“Whoa,” Rainbow Dash began, trying to withhold as much of her anger as possible, “what do you think you’re doing here?”
“I’m not here to start anything!” she said, producing a paper CD sleeve and presenting it to Sunset. “I’m just giving her this for her audition.”
Sunset, looking back and forth between the stares of the others around her, sheepishly took the sleeve and hid it under her arm.
“I assume Tom told you when and where the audition is?”
“Uh, yes?” Sunset responded, flustered.
“Good! By the way, I’m Low E, but you can just call me E.”
Extending her now open hand, Sunset clasped E’s hand with her own, her locked upper arm providing a stiff and awkward shake.
“Great then,” said E as she backed up towards the exit. “By the way, I was outside listening waiting to not interrupt you guys… not bad.”
With that, she turned around and exited the cafeteria at a slower, more restrained pace. Sunset slid the sleeve from out of her armpit to the confused glares of her other five friends.
“So,” Fluttershy said, “you’re really up for this?”
“I…” Sunset struggled to answer, “I don’t know. I was just saying things to not come off as rude. I managed to give an apology and I should just leave it at that. I should try and find him tomorrow and call it off.”
As she turned back to sit back down, Applejack’s voice stopped her.
“And why should you do that? I think it’s great that you’re opening up. Who knows? You might even get accepted!”
“Puh-lease!” Rainbow Dash guffawed. “Even I could get accepted into that band. They’d hear my awesome licks and solos and they’d just be begging me to join!”
Applejack, Sunset, and Rarity’s shot skeptical grimaces towards her.
“And that goes double for you,” she finally said with noticeable sincerity.
“Well,” Rarity chirped, “I for one think this is a wonderful opportunity for you, darling, and we all wish you the best of luck.”
“And don’t worry,” Applejack jumped in. “The Rainbooms will be fine with the five of us as always. You go on and make your own waves, ya’ hear?”
The sound of sniffling suddenly sounded behind the drum set, and the others turned back to see Pinkie Pie leaned over her snare with wet eyes and a quivering mope on her lips.
“Oh, our little Sunset’s growing up so fast!” she whined.
The others couldn’t help but laugh, even Sunset, and as she looked back at the CD in her hand, it felt less and less like the death sentence she saw it as.
_________________________________________________________________________________________
Applejack was already sound asleep in her bed, her limps sprawled out to the corners with her mouth wide open, serving only to amplify her snores. Paying her no mind was Sunset, who began to remove the contents of her CD from the sleeve, her headphones plugged into her laptop.
Above the silver disk was a folded sheet of notebook paper, and Sunset began to slowly open it, the crinkles slow, but soft enough for Applejack to sleep through. Finally, she had reached the marker-written note that took of a majority of the sheet. Sunset suddenly fell back into her chair, the message’s content just as daunting as the size of the letters.
Provide parts for guitar, bass, keys, and drums to the following to create a two minute song. Music software is available on the internet. Good luck.
Sunset took a deep breath, and with little other choice or anything to lose, she took the CD from her desk and slipped it inside the drive on the side of her laptop. After a few moments, her finder window popped open, revealing a single MP3 file. Double clicking it, her media player opened and loaded the song up.
The track began, a quick, complex, and chord heavy piano riff with an odd key signature. Sunset took an amazed sigh out as she tried to count. Even as she moved her mouse to the pause icon to take a longer breather, she found that she could not stop thinking about the melody; couldn’t stop counting when the first B came up after going down to the E; couldn’t stop thinking of where a guitar might fit in.
