Princess in Peril

The Rainbooms gathered together at Applejack’s Sweet Apple Acres Co-op the next day, setting up their instruments in the barn to practice. Sunset Shimmer and Spike were sitting together to watch the rehearsal, but Spike kept covering his ears. The music was terrible! The girls were trying to play the song Twilight had written, but they couldn’t seem to blend their instruments, find the right rhythms, or even sing in tune. Even worse, they would start to pony up and then stop halfway as if something was terribly the matter.

Rarity got a tail but not ears. Fluttershy grew wings, but no one else did. One ear popped out of Pinkie Pie’s head but not both. Rainbow Dash’s mane kept growing and growing until it wrapped around her guitar and made it impossible to play!

“I think it’s pretty obvious what’s going wrong with this counterspell,” said Rainbow Dash over the cacophony of the music.

“You’re turning what should be the chorus into a five-minute guitar solo?” Applejack criticized. She was getting tired of Rainbow Dash’s need to always be the star.

“I have to pick up the slack somehow. Are you guys even trying?” Rainbow Dash tried to untangle her mane from the guitar.

“I’m trying,” said Fluttershy softly.

Big Mac, Applejack’s older brother, poked his head into the barn. Almost immediately, he ducked back out of the room, covering his ears with his hands just like Spike. The Rainbooms put down their instruments, and silence filled the barn at last. Spike and Sunset looked relieved.

Spike tried to be supportive, but he wasn’t very convincing. “That sounded way better than the last five times you played it.”

Twilight Sparkle was frazzled. She hadn’t slept all night, and now one of her eyes was twitching. “It’s fine. It will be fine,” she said to herself. Taking a deep breath, she turned toward the other girls. “One more time from the top.”

Rarity spoke up first. “Or perhaps we should take a short break? Try on some of the wardrobe choices I’ve put together?” She ran over to a rack of clothing in the barn, riffled through it, and produced a bright blue rock-and-roll jacket like something the Running Hooves would have worn in their heyday. “I’m particularly fond of this one. Of course we could always go with something a bit more modern.…”

“We’re tryin’ to save our school here. Enough with the costumes,” said Applejack, fiddling with her amp. She kept getting all kinds of screeching feedback when she tried to play.

Rarity was trying on more outfits, and now she was dressed in black leather with a metallic neon-lit helmet, like she was in Mad Steed. “You can never have enough costumes,” she said in a strange electronic voice.

“Rarity just wants to make things fun,” said Pinkie Pie supportively. “Isn’t that what being in a band is supposed to be about?”

Sunset Shimmer shook her head. “Hate to be the bearer of bad news, guys, but you don’t have time for any of this. You’re supposed to check in at the Battle of the Bands in fifteen minutes.”

The girls went nuts. They had completely lost track of time. The whole day had vanished while they struggled to play Twilight’s song. Now they had to pack up their instruments. There was no more time to practice. The next time they played the song, they would be performing it.

Twilight Sparkle was clearly panicked. “But… but it’s not ready. If we play the counterspell in the first round and it doesn’t work, the Sirens will know what we’re up to and make sure we don’t get a chance to play it again.”

Applejack was practical as always. “Then we’ll have to buy ourselves some time so you can keep workin’ on it.”

“And how do you propose we do that?” asked Rarity. The song wasn’t ready. Their costumes weren’t ready. This was a mess!

But Rainbow Dash didn’t think so. She had a plan. “We compete in the Battle of the Bands for real. I take over lead vocals again, and we stay alive until the finals. We unleash the counterspell then.” She turned to Twilight. “You’ll have it figured out by the finals, right?”

“Of course she will,” said Spike, jumping in. “Twilight Sparkle’s never met a problem she couldn’t solve. Right, Twilight?”

Twilight tried to smile, but her eyes were filled with anxiety. “Right.”

Rainbow Dash had the fighting spirit, though. She knew she was a great singer, a lead singer. She won every game she played in, didn’t she? “Then let’s go win us a Battle of the Bands!” she said, trying to build some energy and enthusiasm.

But Twilight Sparkle’s eye was twitching again.