This is the story of how I almost became a hero.
I hate confrontation, and there had been something weird going around the school that didn’t sat right with me. It could have been a coincidence. Ever since Sunset Shimmer lost her status of Queen Bee at Canterlot High (and we all know what the “B” really stood for), things had been better. I had found the Memory Stone, which was a major blessing in disguise whenever Miss Cheerilee mandated that I had to speak in front of the class. I had even been invited to sing in a group performing at the CHS Musical Showcase, and not just background vocals, but lead. Can you imagine me, Wallflower Blush, leading anything? Neither could I until Octavia herself asked me.
They called themselves Octavia and the Galloping Gala Band, and they were a quartet. Octavia and Parish on strings, Frederick on the keys, and Beauty on her sousaphone. To me, it was quaint, if a little old fashioned. I mean, a cello and a harp? Then again, there was always that other girl with the musical saw, so who was I to judge…
“We need a lead singer,” Octavia had told me, point blank.
“Frederick and I can’t sing anything worth a hill of beans, and while Beauty’s got a nice contralto, she can’t sing and play her instrument at the same time,” Parish added.
“She could if she took up the bass guitar like Hill Song did at Crystal Prep,” Frederick pointed out.
“I did try that, thank you very much,” Beauty grumpily reminded her friend. “It didn’t work. Besides, I’m Beauty Brass, not Beauty Bass. We all agreed that I sound better on the sousaphone. I can do some backup vocals when I’m tacet.”
“Which is hardly ever,” Octavia shook her head and rolled her eyes. “I know how it is. I’ve got my hands full with my own part.”
“Still, there must be somebody else. I’ve never even had a solo before. What about one of the Wondertones?” Surely with Rarity as a member of the Rainbooms, Torch Song, Toe Tapper or even Big Mac would be available.
“The word is that Mac hurt his voice in some sort of chicken calling contest of all things, so he’s out,” Beauty said, wrinkling her nose. “As for the other two…”
“Wondertones? More like one-hit wonders. Learn another song!” Octavia shouted, prompting some of the other students in the hallway to look in our direction. It was extremely uncomfortable for me, and an odd outburst from a girl who was normally so composed… no pun intended.
“Tavi has some unfortunate history with Torch and Tapper,” Beauty explained, wringing her hands. “Look, we heard you singing by yourself, and you’ve got a great voice…”
“Really?” I asked. I always thought I sounded too much like Pinkie Pie. The Rainbooms would never let her sing the lead.
“If it would make you more comfortable, maybe we could even work that Invisible song into our repertoire,” Parish suggested. The other three looked at him questioningly. “Maybe not for this performance, but it could work…”
“I’ll do it!” I declared, striking a confident pose. I think I surprised even them with the announcement, because it took them a moment before they reacted by pulling me into a group hug.
“I mean, ‘Invisible’ probably isn’t the right song for this venue, but I’ll try being your lead vocalist,” I reiterated. “It could be fun being noticed for the right reasons for a change.”
After a couple of practices, I admit that we sounded pretty good for four acoustic instruments and… well, me. They even changed the group’s name to Wallflower and the Galloping Gala Band after a 3-2 vote. Octavia and I voted against it, but the majority ruled.
“Don’t let her get all up your grill over it either,” Beauty told me afterward in private. Sometimes she thinks she’s all that just because she’s more popular than the rest of us. Even band geeks can be divas sometimes.”
Things started to go awry when the three new girls came to the school. Adagio Dazzle, Aria Blaze, and Sonata Dusk kind of just waltzed in like they owned the place and proceeded to take things over. It was one little thing at a time. First came the change from the Musical Showcase into a Battle of the Bands. In a weird repeat of the Rainbooms’ cafeteria song from before the Fall Formal, the Dazzlings sang a song about competitiveness that sowed seeds of divisiveness amongst my fellow classmates. In hindsight, I believe the Memory Stone may have staved off some of the magical effects of their music, because I have some small gaps in my own memory that I can’t recall for the life of me. For example, I can vaguely remember having a chat with Sonata during the pre-Battle party, but Aria interrupted us for some reason.
Then things got real when Twilight Sparkle stood up and proclaimed that there wasn’t going to be a battle of the bands at all, concluding with a battle cry of “Friendship is Magic!” that accomplished nothing except awkward silence and a few chortles from some students over the ridiculousness of it all. Poor Twilight could have used my stone at that point. I know I would have used it had I been in her shoes. Afterward, it seemed like Octavia was picking fights with everyone. First it was Lyra and Bon Bon, then Curly Winds (who wasn’t even in a band that can recall), then even one of the Crusaders. My hand went involuntarily to my pocket, and I was sorely tempted to try to make it all go away, but I wasn’t sure that I could affect such a large gathering. This was practically everyone in the school, not just one class after all was said and done.
We had one more practice session before the preliminary round, and despite the growing tension in the group (which we dismissed as pre-performance jitters), things went really well. Beauty invited Octavia and I over to her place for a sleepover afterward, and we parted ways with the boys.
“Nothing personal guys, but my parents are a bit conservative about this sort of thing, if you know what I mean,” she explained.
“Yeah, but don’t they know about Fid--” Frederick started to ask before Beauty elbowed him uncharacteristically hard in the abdomen.
“No, and they don’t need to yet, either. I’ll tell them… eventually. On my terms,” Beauty informed him as he gasped for breath. “With my luck, if they knew they’d never let me have anybody over ever.”
The boys left and we retired to Beauty’s room to do the things that every high school boy dreams that girls do during sleepovers, like run around in our underwear and have sexy pillow fights. I jest, of course. We just talked and played some Guitar Hero. Of course, there was a small problem when I left the Memory Stone in the pocket of my jeans when I changed into my pajamas…
“So who was Fred talking about before?” I asked. Stupid question. Awkward question. My pajamas didn’t even have pockets for me to carry the stone in, so I fumbled and grabbed folds of cloth, all the while wishing that I could take the question back and cursing myself that the means to do so was in my overnight bag.
“Oh, just someone Beauty’s been pining for since Freshman year,” Octavia teased.
“I’m not pining. I’ve moved on,” Beauty pouted.
“Ah, right… to the one who goes to Crystal Prep that we never get to meet because our schedules always conflict?”
“Yes!” Beauty said, blushing.
“I’m beginning to wonder if this person even exists,” Octavia said, piling on indiscriminately.
“All this is coming from someone who hasn’t had a stable relationship in literally forever?” Beauty lashed out, causing Octavia to scowl.
“Don’t,” was all she said, but there was a threatening tone to her that made it all she needed to say. Or should have. It may have been the Dazzlings’ influence.
“I love Vinyl! I hate Vinyl! Vinyl’s such a musical genius! What kind of loser name is DJ-P0N3?” Beauty spouted mockingly, changing her expression back and forth with each statement from gushing fangirl to jilted lover.
“How dare you, you little…” Octavia raised her hand, aiming to slap Beauty, but looked in my direction for a split second, and somehow that was enough to change her mind. Beauty had recoiled in anticipation of the strike. I was simply horrified.
“I know I don’t get invited to many slumber parties, but is this normal for one of yours?” I asked. Way to go drawing attention to yourself, Wallflower.
“I… I…” Octavia stuttered, looking at her hands. “I need a cigarette.” She looked half-apologetically at Beauty, grabbed her bag, and rushed out of the room.
“Great, she’s doing that again,” Beauty grumbled.
“Almost hitting you?” I squeaked.
“That… was a bit unnerving,” she admitted, running her hand through her long brown hair. “But Tavi’s a lover, not a fighter. We do this sort of bantering all the time. It’s why we get along so well, really. I will admit that It did seem a little worse than usual, though. No, what I don’t like is her smoking. A nasty habit, if you ask me.”
“Won’t your parents catch her?” I wondered.
“Nah, they’re not even home. My older sister’s in charge, and if I know her, she’s too busy making out with her boyfriend right now to worry about what Tavi’s doing.”
“Then why all the fuss over Fred and Parish?”
“Because it’s easier for Octavia to hide a butt than it is to hide two asses,” Beauty said with a laugh. I chuckled a bit myself, the tension finally easing a little for the first time since we’d been there. “Seriously though,” Beauty continued, “she couldn’t care less what we girls do, as long as no boys are here doing it with us. Can you believe that?”
“I guess not,” I agreed. “Although I haven’t been invited to many slumber parties, so I wouldn’t really know.”
“You, me, and Octavia is hardly a party,” Beauty scoffed.
“I know, but it’s still more than I’m used to,” I said. “I’m not used to being noticed much at all, really.”
“Well, you’re new here, so sometimes that takes time,” Beauty assured me.
“I’m not new here. We met in ninth grade when we tried out for the musical,” I lamented.
“You tried out?” Beauty eyed me quizzically.
“I didn’t make the cut,” I grumbled. “Obviously.” I suppose I shouldn’t have been upset at her for that… the memory stone had done its job and taken care of that disaster beautifully. Still, it would have been nice to have gotten even a walk-on role.
“Well, this might sound crazy, but I do know how it feels to feel forgettable. I mean, Fred, Parish, and I sometimes felt like we’re nobodies compared to Octavia, like everyone expects her to be this big famous superstar like Countess Coloratura while we’re just…the backup.”
I wanted to empathize with her, I really did. Maybe it was my pride. Maybe it was part of being a teenager that had me believing that there was nobody out there who could possibly understand how I could feel the way I felt.
“Anyway, if you sing in front of the school the way you did during rehearsal, we’ve actually got a chance to win this thing. Then everyone at Canterlot High will know who Wallflower and the Galloping Gala Band are. It’ll be so awesome…”
A chill ran down my spine. If Beauty was right, I was within reach of not only being noticed, but being popular. Was I ready for that?
Octavia came back from her cigarette break, and the topic quickly changed to the selections for the CHS orchestra’s spring concert. Since I was not in the orchestra, I let Beauty and Octavia has that out and let myself blend into the background, content to just be there at all.
The next day graced us with some unfortunate news.
“We’re stuck facing the Rainbooms in the first round,” Parish complained. “I knew we’d have to face them eventually, but couldn’t they have stuck us against Lyra and Bon Bon or Snips and Snails first?”
If Las Pegasus had listed the odds of something so trivial as the Canterlot High School Battle of the Bands, the Rainbooms would have been an easy favorite. We were getting a serious challenge right from the get-go.
“It’s fine,” Beauty assured him, ever the optimist. “We just get a difficult challenger out of the way early. We’ve got this. The Rainbooms didn’t play at last year’s Spring Fling. We did.”
“Sure, but Vinyl got to do the Fall Formal and we didn’t,” Fred pointed out.
“Which is why we decided to boycott the Fall Formal and got ourselves another gig somewhere else,” Octavia reminded him. “A good thing too, considering the events that transpired. I can’t imagine being a mindless thrall of…” her voice dropped to a whisper “Sunset Shimmer.”
While she had never done anything mean to me personally, I had seen Sunset in action, and wouldn’t have wanted to be on the receiving end of her wrath. Had it not been for the Memory Stone, I might have scoffed at the idea of Sunset enslaving the majority of the Fall formal attendees with a magical crown.
In what could be attributed to either a moment of bravery or stupidity, I took it upon myself to do some reconnaissance work before we faced our first rivals. Nothing so bold as actually going up to them and talking to them, of course. I just did what I do best: stayed in the background and observed them from a distance, close enough to hear almost every conversation, but not too close for them to accuse me of trying to sabotage them. As if I could even do that.
What I noticed was that Sunset Shimmer seemed to be pretty chummy with the group, even though she wasn’t actually a member. Also, Twilight Sparkle was more interested in taking notes than actually singing the songs. It was like she was preoccupied with some kind of schoolwork that was taking precedence over the contest. Whatever it was, it looked important.
“What are you doing here?”
I must have been losing my touch. Usually I have a predisposition for going unnoticed, but it seemed that today was not my day.
“N-nothing,” I stammered. Lame.
“Hardly. The Great and Powerful Trixie,” she trilled her R’s, “thinks that you were spying on the Rain-goons. Do you actually think that your silly band has a chance to win, miss… um…”
“Wallflower Blush. Trixie, I’ve known you since the third grade.”
“That’s what they all say,” Trixie huffed. She leaned in to me as if we were friends. “Didja find out anything?”
“Other than Sunset Shimmer and Twilight Sparkle, the Rainbooms all seem to be acting normally,” I said. As uncomfortable as I was, I decided that it didn’t hurt to be honest.
“Ooh. I bet Sunset is trying to sabotage the entire contest. She’s always up to something, that big meanie.”
I actually disagreed with Trixie in this instance, but I didn’t say so out loud. My hand went into my jeans pocket and grasped the cool, smoothness that was the Memory Stone. This was just too awkward for me. A ribbon of purple magic snaked its way from Trixie’s forehead into my pocket as I slipped away.
I rejoined the Galloping Gala Band near the stage. Snips and Snails had just made an… interesting performance of something that might be considered hip-hop. They didn’t stand a chance in the long run… heck, they didn’t stand a chance of getting out of the first round. I did kind of wish we were facing off against them first.
“Where have you been?” Octavia demanded as I approached my band mates, who didn’t appear any happier than she did.
“I was just listening to our competition,” I explained. “Something weird is going on with the Rainbooms, and we may be able to use it to our advantage.”
“A likely story,” Fred groused. “I’m surprised you even showed up. You were going to leave us high and dry without a lead singer.”
OK, that was odd.
“You all know I could easily have gone back to lead vocals if Wallflower abandoned us,” Octavia reminded him. Gee, thanks, Tavi.
“Let’s not do this right now, guys,” Beauty interrupted, leading me toward a rack that held a brown and red dress. It wasn’t anything too flashy, but it was nicer than what I currently had on. “We’re up right after the Rainbooms finish their song. You need to get this dress on and get ready to sing your heart out, Wallflower.”
I nodded, and darted out to C Wing, where I knew there was always an open, somewhat private unisex bathroom that I could change in. It always had a funny smell, sort of a lilac, bleach, and excrement combination even after the custodian had cleaned it, earning it the moniker of “The Skanky Bathroom.” On this particular day, the skankiness was particularly cloying, but as I was in a hurry, I avoided breathing in the fetid reek and gussied myself up. I had no desire to remain in there any longer than absolutely necessary, so I glanced quickly at my reflection in the cracked mirror above the sink and nodded to myself. This would have to do.
Re-entering the hall, I couldn’t help but notice Sunset Shimmer confronting the Dazzlings at one end, while Flash Sentry was waving his hands and saying something unpleasant to Twilight Sparkle. I thought Flash had a little thing for Twilight, although I may have been mistaken. Unfortunately, if they were out here, that meant that the Rainbooms were finished and the Galloping Gala Band was waiting for me. I raced backstage, only to find Octavia, Frederick, Parish, and Beauty practically at each other’s throats with their bickering.
“Last call for Wallflower and the Galloping Gala Band!” I hear Vice Principal Luna announce.
“I’m sorry, guys,” I immediately apologized, placing my jeans and sweater on a costume rack. “That must have taken longer than I thought. I hope that--”
“Yeah, yeah, you look fine. Let’s just get this over with,” Octavia interrupted me, and the five of us walked onto the stage.
I was immediately assaulted by the glare of a huge spotlight. I cringed.
“Oh yea, didn’t have time to warn you,” Beauty hissed at me through her mouthpiece. “Snips and Snails have been playing with the lights and trying to sabotage the other bands. Don’t let them get to you like they got to Fluttershy.”
“Sure,” I said through gritted teeth. It was only a light. Nobody runs away from a light… right?
The band started playing the introduction, and Octavia added some background ‘oohs.’ I only had about twelve beats to get ready. I took a deep breath.
Whatcha doing tonight?
I wish that I could be a fly on your wall
My voice cracked, but I forced myself to continue. Lyrics tumbled out of my mouth like bricks, hitting the ground and crumbling into a choking, rust red dust. Octavia glowered at me from behind her cello, trying to harmonize with the cacophony I was spewing forth. I looked out at the crowd, expecting mostly indifference and possibly some spoiled vegetables to be lofted our way. Surprisingly enough, the other bands actually seemed into our song. I launched into the chorus, my confidence slightly boosted as I went along.
It was euphoric, really. I have never felt as comfortable in front of an audience as I did right then. It was cyclical: the better I felt, the more I poured out my heart into the song, and the more I sang, the more the audience cheered. I almost didn’t want the song to end.
Wish you could touch me with the colors of your life
I glanced back at Beauty, and she gave me a wink, huffing away on the bass line. Frederick and Parish were both visibly pleased as well. Even Octavia had mellowed out a bit, getting some well deserved applause during the solo riff (is that the right word when it's a cello solo?) that she had insisted that we add to the song.
We finished our number to great applause. We even heard Cloudy Kicks and some of the sporty kids trying to start an “Encore!” chant, but Principal Celestia and Vice Principal Luna kept everything under control.
“Settle down everybody,” Vice Principal Luna commanded (as if she really ever says things in a non-commanding tone). “We must tally the scores for this round, and once it has been determined which group is moving on, you may get your encore.”
“We want the Wallflowers!” shouted Blossomforth, undeterred by the Vice Principal’s announcement.
“Yeah!” Bulk Biceps loudly concurred, earning him a myriad of questioning looks, since he was to be our second round opponent if we moved on. “What?” he asked sheepishly. “I want to see them advance so I can crush them in the next round.”
I decided to play it safe and try to settle things down.
“Don’t worry everybody,” I said into my microphone. “I’m pretty confident that we got this one, so we’re gonna take fifteen and be back out to rock you in the second round. Wallflower... out!” Learning from Snips and Snails earlier, I did not drop the mic. The students appeared placated and the chatter settled down to a dull roar.
I made sure to grab my jeans and sweater as I made my way off stage. No sense in leaving the Memory Stone just sitting there. Not that anyone was going to go through my pockets or anything, but you can’t be too careful. The band and I convened in C Wing, where the euphoria of our performance was quickly expunged by my fellow bandmates.
“What the heck was that, Wallflower?” Octavia exploded. Beauty, Frederick, and Parish tried to look at anyone except for the two of us.
“I admit, we started out a little shaky, but as the song went on, we really pulled it together in the end,” I replied. “They really loved your solo,” I added.
“Don’t patronize me,” she snapped. “You were really enjoying yourself out there, weren’t you?”
“Um… yes?” I answered in the form of a question. “Isn’t that the point of performing?”
“The point is that you have waltzed in and completely taken over my band. I am a classically trained musician. It should have been me singing lead. It should still be Octavia and the Galloping Gala band. Me!” She pointed her bow at me threateningly, and then, realizing what she was doing, suddenly burst into tears and fled down the hall, the sounds of her sobbing echoing eerily back to us as she did so.
“I… I…” I stammered, not knowing how to respond. I looked at the other three helplessly.
“I’m not trying to take sides on this, but Tavi does have a point. We’re not just the Wallflowers, we’re the Galloping Gala Band. I think there would be some copyright infringement there anyway,” Parish groused.
“I didn’t call us the Wallflowers, that was Cloudy Kicks,” I protested weakly.
“You didn’t correct her, though,” Frederick noted.
I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. “Beauty?” I looked to her pleadingly for support.
“Well,” the sousaphone player hedged, “the way you gained confidence as the song progressed was awesome. It really helped the rest of us out. But I don’t get what was up with the whole ‘Wallflower out’ business. That was borderline cocky.”
“It was just a spur of the moment thing. Come on, guys, don’t do this to me now. We’re a team,” I said, wringing my hands.
“What exactly do you mean, don’t do this to you?” Parish asked, his eyes narrowing.
“Nothing, nothing. I just mean, that we’ve got the next round in a few minutes, and we’ve still got to get Octavia back before we go on.”
“Let her go,” Beauty said, rolling her eyes. “We can outplay Bulk Biceps without her.”
“I bet Wallflower would just love that, wouldn’t she?” Parish growled.
“What are you talking about? I was the one who just suggested that we go find her!” My voice was rising with each word, and I didn’t like it one bit.
“Octavia did pretty much just quit the band,” Frederick said. “I agree with Beauty that we go on without her.”
“Seriously guys, you’re not listening to each other. We need Octavia. Heck, we could even have her sing lead next time. I really don’t mind, and it’ll keep everyone happy.” I felt the shape of the Memory Stone through my folded jeans. Something about all of this arguing was not natural. Maybe if I just used the stone…
“Well, now… it looks like someone isn’t playing nice together, doesn’t it?”
Our internal dispute had witnesses. Adagio Dazzle, Aria… something or other, and Sonata Dusk. The Dazzlings. It had been Adagio who had interrupted our little spat.
“Shouldn’t the four of you be in the auditorium awaiting the announcement from Principal Celestia regarding your performance?” she continued.
“We’re… um… trying to figure out what we’re going to play in the next round?” I offered. It wasn’t really any of their business what we were doing, was it?
“It looks like you’re down one member,” Aria chimed in. The third one, Sonata, appeared to be humming to herself behind Adagio with a dorky cake-eating smirk.
“We’ll be fine,” Frederick boasted, although there was a slight tremor in his bravado.
“No, I don’t think you will,” Adagio assured him. Aria had joined Sonata in humming whatever catchy little ditty it was that she was humming. “You see, the three of us are going to win the Battle of the Bands.”
“Not if we have anything to say about it,” Beauty challenged her.
“Oh, believe me, you won’t!” Sonata chirped, grinning.
“You see, for my plans to succeed, we’re going to need something special from the Rainbooms, and to get that something, the Rainbooms are going to have to be in this competition until the final round against us. That means that you, Wallflower Blush, are going to get to do your best impression of Yoko.”
I was too flustered to wonder what she was talking about at the time. To me, it was all a bunch of crazy super villain talk.
“I’d hope that I’m more of a Sammy Hagar, but I’m hoping that it doesn’t come to that,” I countered.
“Does that make me Alex?” Frederick asked, his eyes lighting up.
“No, because I am not Michael!” Beauty pouted.
“I know… you’d need some actual talent to be Michael,” Parish gibed as the Dazzlings laughed at us mockingly… and musically. There was a viridescent glow emanating from the four of us and it appeared to waft toward the strange jewels that hung from the Dazzlings’ necks. I felt a hollow feeling in my gut and instinctively moved my hand toward my pants pocket.
“You’re using magic, aren’t you?” I accused them, surprising myself with how freely the worlds slipped from my lips. Perhaps it was some form of anger magic? It was green, after all, so I hope it didn’t make me hulk out or something. I liked my dress too much to burst out of it in a rage-induced wardrobe malfunction....
“How did you know?” Sonata asked. Adagio facepalmed.
“You just told her, you imbecile,” Aria said, cuffing her blue bandmate on the back of her head.
“I know you are, but what am I?” Sonata jeered back.
“Don’t mind them, they’re idiots,” Adagio dismissed her compatriots with a wave. “But do tell… how did you come across Equestrian magic? I may have to re-evaluate my opinion of your little group here.”
“Um… none of your business?” I squeaked. Because I’m brave like that in these situations.
“Whoa, you have magic? Are you gonna turn into a she-demon like Sunset Shimmer?” Beauty gasped.
“And us too, like she did to Snips and Snails?” Frederick wondered.
“Is that why you drove Octavia away?” Parish asked, suspicious.
“No, it’s not like that, and I didn’t drive Octavia away, Parish,” I said, exasperated. My fumbling hands finally found the Memory Stone and I pulled it out. It didn’t glow, per se, although it did give off a bit of a momentary glimmer.
“Oh, so that’s what she meant when she said that she was going to ‘rock’ them later,” Sonata quipped, earning another dope slap from Aria.
“When were you going to tell us that you had that, Wallflower?” Beauty asked, looking downcast.
“D’you think it’s cheating to use magic in a competition?” Frederick pondered.
“Do you have any more magic stones for the rest of us?” Frederick asked eagerly.
“I wasn’t using it during the competition!” I cried. Okay, that wasn’t exactly the truth. “Well, I sort of used it on Trixie, but it wasn’t to mess with her so she’d lose… it’s complicated, really. She kinda forced me do it...”
“Let us make it easier for you,” Adago said, her voice developing a reverberating quality all of a sudden. Her eyes glowed a demonic red, and the pendant around her neck was abuzz with miasma. “We’ll give you a choice,” she continued. “Hand over your pretty little rock full of delicious magic that my girls and I can feed on, or see how it stands up to ours.”
“Three against one isn’t good odds,” Sonata piped up. Both her eyes and Aria’s had become red pits of evil, just like Adagios.
“I doubt you even know how to use it right,” Aria taunted. She posed dramatically. “There I was, face to face with the Dazzlings. I stared them down… and I threw a rock at them!”
“It’s a pretty rock,” Sonata jumped to my defense, albeit obtusely.
I grit my teeth. This situation had spun way beyond my ken. Sonata was right. I was outnumbered, and they obviously knew how to use their magic better than I knew how to use mine. I looked desperately at the rest of the band, and briefly wondered it it would be at all possible for the four of us to power up like the Rainbooms had against Sunset Shimmer at the Fall Formal. What was their power…? Generosity, Kindness, Loyalty, Hope, Compassion and Willpower? That didn’t sound right… A voice in my head was telling me to flee, but my heart was telling me that I had to at least try.
“You three aren’t going to bring us down,” I challenged them. “You’re never going to break this group apart, because our friendship is stronger than your divisiveness. I didn’t join this band to become popular.”
The Memory Stone glowed warmly in my hand. I took that as a good sign, and continued with my speech.
“Beauty Brass has stood by me through this whole show, and represents the magic of Loyalty!” The memory stone shot out a beam of light that enveloped Beauty. A ribbon of magic left her head and snaked its way into the stone.
“Parish Nandermane is… um… Generosity. Yes! He’s very generous.” Another ray of light wove its way toward Parish and back to the stone.
“Frederick Horseshoepin never gave up Hope! So… yeah.” Frederick leaned in excitedly as the glow reached out to him in turn.
“Octavia’s probably just out smoking right now, and I’m sure she’ll come back when she’s ready… so she’s the element of… Forgiveness? Yeah, that sounds right.” The stone shot a beam of light off into the distance. The weave of magic that returned seemed like a good sign.
“That leaves… um…” I looked around frantically and saw a blonde girl walking our way carrying her musical saw. “You! Muffin Girl!” I didn’t know her real name, but I was desperate. “I don’t know you very well, and you’re not even in our band, but you’ve always been nice to me, so you’re Kindness!” One more blast of energy made its way toward the confused girl. Five down, that left me.
“And I’ll form the head! Er… no, I mean, I represent the power of… um…” I turned the Memory Stone over and over in my hands. “Which one didn’t I say? Well, whichever one I am, let our powers combine and do the Rainbow Magic thingy on these three!”
Nothing happened immediately. The Dazzlings looked at me incredulously, then at each other. Then they laughed at me. Mocking, cruel, sadistic laughter. The blank expressions on the faces of Beauty, Parish, Frederick, and Muffin Girl didn’t help either. It made me mad. And getting mad was just the extra catalyst that the Memory Stone needed to do its thing.
There was a blinding flash of slightly greenish tinged light.
As I mentioned before, in hindsight, I probably should have known better to think that the Memory Stone could do to the six of us what Twilight Sparkle’s crown had done for her friends. Maybe it was because we weren’t as close as Twilight and her friends were. I’m sure not knowing Muffin Girl’s real name spoke volumes when it really came down to it. In any case, what the Memory Stone had done was the thing that it does best, and that is erase memories.
“What… are we doing here?” Adagio asked. “Who are you four?”
“Big fans of the Dazzlings!” I said quickly. You just signed all of our yearbooks. You’re so amazing!”
“Oh. Yeah. I guess we are that,” Sonata said.
“Weird. The last thing I remember doing is talking to Sunset Shimmer,” Aria said, scratching her chin.
“It doesn’t matter. We need to get back to the auditorium so we can…” Adagio looked at me oddly. “We’ll discuss it on the way. It’s not any of their concern.” She indicated us.
And they left.
As for the band, they had just been hit with a double dose of the Memory Stone’s power. It wasn’t pretty.
“What just happened?” Frederick asked groggily.
“Why are we in C Wing?” Parish added.
“Who are you?” Beauty asked me.
“Wallflower Blush. We met last year during auditions for the musical. You invited me to join your band for the Battle of the Bands, and we really need to get back to the auditorium so can start the second round… assuming we beat the Rainbooms in round one.”
All three of them stared at me for a moment. Then Parish and Frederick started laughing.
“Aw, man, that’s a good one. The four of us in a rock band,” Parish said between guffaws. “I’ve never heard of anything so ridiculous!”
“I’m being serious,” I pleaded. “We just need to find Octavia, and--”
“That diva?” Frederick interrupted. “We haven’t been friends with her since she ditched us in middle school.”
“I’m pretty sure that me hitting on her cousin that time didn’t help either,” Beauty added, blushing.
“No, no, no…” I said. “You guys are friends, we had a band, and we were good! You’ve just got to believe me…”
The looks of their faces said more than I was willing to bear. The Memory Stone was still in my hot little hand.
“What’s the use,” I lamented, defeated. “Just... forget it. Forget I ever said anything.”
Another flash, and the rest is pretty much history. Since nobody (and I mean nobody: the stone was very thorough) remembered that Wallflower and the Galloping Gala Band ever even existed, Octavia basically got a repeat performance in the Battle of the Band all by herself against the Rainbooms. She lost. Badly.
Muffin Girl formed her own band, but was also bounced in the first round by the Crusaders. The Rainbooms, ironically with a little help from the Dazzlings, would go all the way to the Finals, forfeit to Trixie and the Illusions, and get their groove back just in time to do do what I couldn’t do and vanquish the Dazzlings with the help of Vinyl Scratch, Sunset Shimmer, and a giant magical unicorn construct thingy.
As for me, I ended up where I always did: way in the back, up against the bleachers, all by myself. Not that anyone noticed or even cared, because like I said at the beginning:
This is the story of how I almost became a hero.
~Fin~
Author's Note
I just wanted to note that I am very aware that in Forgotten Friendship, Wallflower Blush did not dig up the Memory Stone until after the Friendship Games, at least according to the memories Sunset saw. That's one of the reasons I used the Alternate Universe tag, because it was more of a fun "What if she had found it earlier and had it all along?" story.
