It was a lovely day at Canterlot High, and in the music room, a very special group of friends were practicing for the upcoming Musical Showcase.
Well.....almost all of them. Sitting on the sidelines enjoying the music was one Twilight Sparkle who was tapping her foot and nodding her head as they played.
Soon, the song was finished as the band de-ponied.
"That. Was. Awesome!" Rainbow shouted.
"You guys are going to rock the Musical Showcase!" Twilight complimented. "I still want to gather more data on the 'pony-up' forms in relation to your playing music later so I was thinking-"
"Darling, we love that you love learning, but can we please just focus on the Musical Showcase?" Rarity begged, resting her fingers after practicing several songs in a row.
"I think I'm with her sugarcube." AJ said, inspecting the red tips of her aching fingers.
"Oh. Okay..."Twilight replied, slightly disheartened.
"I wish you part of the band." Fluttershy said, putting away her tambourine. "It doesn't feel right performing without you."
"Yeah!" joined Pinkie, who appeared to be the only member of the Rainbooms not tired from practicing. "Having all of us in a band will be like one constant party!"
"It's ok, really." Twilight said hesitantly, even though a large part of her did want to be part of the band too. "Besides, I don't even know how to play an instrument."
"Really?" Rarity inquired.
Twilight nodded. "Yeah. Growing up, the only things that mattered to be were school and magic. My mom can play the piano and tried to teach me, but I never really got into it. Even at Magic School and Crystal Prep, if I had to take a music class, I usually just got stuck in the back row with a triangle or something." Thankfully for her, those classes were usually just pass/fail as the teachers only counted on effort.
"Come on! There's gotta be something your good at!" Rainbow said encouragingly. "You just gotta spread your horizons a little and see what sticks."
"But wouldn't it disrupt the songs you have already?"
Rainbow just shrugged. "We can adapt them later. So what do ya say? Want to help make the band twenty percent cooler?"
Twilight had her reservations, but upon seeing the eager faces of her friends, gave in.
"All right. Where do we start?"
"With this!" Rainbow quickly handed Twilight her guitar. "A classic. Just give it a strum and we'll see what you've got!"
Twilight held the guitar awkwardly, trying to get comfortable. Looking at Rainbow's eager face she raised her hand and in on fell swoop, struck every cord like she had seen Rainbow do.
The resulting sound was loud enough to force the other occupants to cover their ears in pain and-
*POP*
-fry the power to the room at the same time.
"Oookay....maybe the guitar isn't for you." Rainbow said as Twilight sheepishly handed it back.
Later (After apologizing and fixing the lighting in the music room) the group arrived at AJ's old house and watched while she dug through her closet for something.
"Here we are!" She said, pulling a small flute out of a box. "It's a recorder I got while we were on vacation a few years back. I've never tried it, but I hear it's supposed to be a good beginner's instrument. Here." With that, she handed the old instrument to Twilight.
Twilight covered some of the holes with her fingers before taking a deep breath and blowing into it as hard as she could.
The resulting high pitch whistle caused the others to cover their ears again. Twilight kept playing, even moving her fingers over various holes, to no avail.
Chickens could be heard squawking in panic, cows mooed in pain and the horses kicked against the fence, trying to get away.
*CRACK*
Twilight finally stopped after she noticed the windows were broken.
Twilight gave a nervous laugh. "Sorry." She then handed the recorder back to AJ who would later burn that thing to a crisp later that night.
After fixing the windows and calming down the animals, the group tried their luck at the music store.
"There's nearly every instrument in existence here. There's gotta be something you have a knack for!" Rainbow explained as they searched.
"Oh! How about a harmonica! Or a trombone! Or how about this tuba!" Pinkie hopped around the store, holding up said instruments as she made her offer.
"Why don't you try this darling?" Rarity handed Twilight a violin. "It's a lovely instrument and is pretty much the backbone of classical music."
Twilight carefully got the instrument on her shoulder and began to run the bow across the strings.
Just as before, the resulting sound caused the girls, and everyone in the store, to cover their ears.
One the customers, covering his ears, stumbled into an instrument rack, resulting in a long, boring series of event which ended with nearly every instrument in the store on the floor.
Twilight stopped, looked at the mess, sighed, and began cleaning up the mess.
The group returned to the music room, defeated after a long day.
"We're sorry Twilight." Fluttershy said. "We just wanted to make you a real member of the band."
"It's okay girls." Twilight reassured them. "It's takes years to learn an instrument anyway. Besides, I'm fine with just listening to you girls play. Why don''t you head to sugarcube corner early and I'll finish cleaning up here."
Despite some protest, Twilight managed to convince them to go ahead of her, leaving Twilight alone. She grabbed a nearby broom and began sweeping around.
As she was sweeping, she began to sing to make the time go by:
I used to wonder what friendship could be.
Until you all shared its magic with me.
Unknown to her, her friends had comeback for their instruments and were now listening to her from the door.
When I was young I was too busy to make any friends.
Such silliness did not seem worth the effort it expends.
The group were stunned by Twilight's beautiful singing voice and were soon tapping their feet and nodding their heads to the beat, and Pinkie was having her own little dance party.
When danger makes me wanna hide, you'll Rainbow Dash to my side,
Kindness is never in short supply, once smitten twice Fluttershy.
For honesty nobody can deny, you are the Applejack of my eye,
A heart that shines so beautiful, a Rarity to come by
And you all make fun and laughter as easy as Pinkie Pie!
Twilight continued sweeping and singing, and unknown to her, she was glowing!
Do you know you're all my very best friends!
On the last note, her transformation was complete and her friends watched in awe as she grew pony ears and wings! They began to clap and cheer, gaining Twilight's attention.
"W-what are you girls doing here?"
"Only listening to your lovely singing darling!" Rarity gushed.
"I can't believe I forgot how well you sang!" Fluttershy said, recalling the fall formal. "It's like a siren's!"
"And look!" Rainbow pointed and it was then Twilight finally noticed she had ponied up.
"Well gals, I think we found Twilight's place in the Rainbooms as our new lead singer!"
"WHAT!?" Both Rainbow and Twilight shouted.
"Rainbow, darling, I'm sure you don't mind giving it to Twilight, after all, it is our band, and we make all the important decisions together." Rarity narrowed her eyes at Rainbow.
"...All right." she grunted.
"Well, what do ya say Twilight?" AJ asked.
Twilight again looked at all her friends, with their hopeful eyes and smiles, and she felt a warmth inside her that overcame any hesitations.
"I'm in!"
Most of her friends cheered while Rainbow remained sullen.
"Celebratory milkshakes are on me!" Pinkie cheered leading everyone to Sugarcube Corner.
Along the way, Rainbow and Twilight fell behind the others.
"Rainbow? Are you ok with letting me be lead singer?" Twilight asked.
Rainbow hesitated but decided to push those feelings aside for now. "Of course I am! At least this will give me the chance to hone my already insanely good lead guitar skills." With that, she payed a few air chords, to Twilight's amusement.
"Well, as long as you're ok with it, I am too."
With that, the group celebrated the addition of it's new member....even though one member still had her own reservations about it.
Author's Note
Song: My little Pony theme extended. (Except for 'nobody' which I changed from 'no pony'.)
Just a little something I thought up.
Again, takes place BEFORE Rainbow Rocks.
