Rainbow Rocks Read online

  Trixie looked irritated. “Seriously, Rainbow? You are the best athlete at Canterlot High. We can compete, but it has to be something that the Great and Powerful Trixie is good at, too.”

  All the girls rolled their eyes. Trixie was so full of herself sometimes!

  But Rainbow Dash was smiling. “Well, Great and Powerful Trixie, seein’ as we both want this guitar… let’s see who plays the best!”

  “A shred-off?” said Trixie, looking concerned for the first time.

  Rainbow smiled confidently. “Shred ON!”

  Dueling Guitars

  DJ Pon-3 came out from behind the counter and took the prized rainbow guitar, holding it above Rainbow Dash and Trixie. She had let them know they could pick any guitar in the store for the shred-off, but this was the prize for the winner.

  Rainbow Dash selected a simple electric guitar from a nearby stand and plugged it into an amp. She put the strap around her neck and began warming up her fingers with a few quick scales and chords.

  Trixie chose the guitar that looked like a butterfly and almost instantly her fingers were flying across the strings, creating an irresistible rift.

  “I sure hope our Rainbow is up to speed,” whispered Applejack to Rarity.

  “Shh!” said Fluttershy. “She’s going to do great. We just have to believe in her.”

  Trixie dazzled the crowd with electrifying playing. She had style and energy. She was awesome. Kids in the crowd had started clapping along while she played.

  But Rainbow was determined, and she was sliding and bending notes to create all kinds of wild effects. The girls’ licks grew more and more complex and powerful, astounding the audience with their righteous riffs and mind-boggling power chords.

  Trixie dropped to one knee and let loose with out-of-this-world strumming. Her dark hair was flying, she had her eyes shut, and every cell in her body seemed to be focused on her playing.

  Cries of “Whoa! Yeah! Go, Trixie!” rose up from the crowd. She was mighty! Everyone was hollering and applauding.

  For a moment, Rainbow Dash glanced up from her playing. Was she going to lose? Did she have it in her to wow the crowd? She looked around the store and saw her friends. They were counting on her. She had to do it for the Equestria Girls. She had to.

  A determined expression came over her face as she totally went for it with a dazzling run of notes. Her fingers were racing, the strings were dancing, music was pouring out of the guitar. She made it sound like a waterfall, a thunderstorm, and then the sun bursting through the clouds after the rain. The music was irresistible. Her friends started singing along as she played.

  “Hey, hey, everybody,

  We’re here to shout

  That the Magic of Friendship

  Is what it’s all about!”

  Rainbow Dash was strutting across the floor of the Music Center, jamming her guitar. She shook her head, and her colorful mane of hair danced as she played. She lifted up her knees, dancing and prancing. And that’s when the magic happened! She had pony ears and a pony tail! She was going to pony up!

  “Heavens!” exclaimed Rarity.

  “Good gravy!” said Applejack.

  “Oh my!” Fluttershy was stunned.

  “Whoa! Check me out!” shouted Rainbow Dash over the music. She wasn’t just a rock and roller, she was a full-fledged pony player!

  Trixie stopped playing. She couldn’t believe it. How could she even compete with that?

  Rainbow Dash leaped into the air, gave one last triumphant strum to her guitar, and landed, breathless, transformed back into herself, in the middle of the Music Center.

  The crowd went wild, screaming, cheering, and applauding. “Rainbow Dash! Rainbow Dash!” They shouted her name over and over again. There was no question about it. Trixie was an amazing player, but Rainbow Dash was the winner.

  DJ Pon-3 pushed through the crowd, the prized guitar in her hands, and handed it to Rainbow Dash. Trixie was furious. She threw down the guitar she’d been playing and stomped her feet. “No, no, no, no, no!!!!” she screamed, throwing a temper tantrum. Her hands were balled up into fists, and her face was bright red. “The Great and Powerful Trixie does not accept this! You shall all rue the day!” She looked like she was about to explode.

  Rainbow Dash studied the guitar DJ Pon-3 had just given her. It was certainly stylish, but that wasn’t what made a guitar sound great. And it was the sound that mattered when you came right down to it.

  “Eh.” Rainbow Dash shrugged. “You can have it.” She handed Trixie the guitar.

  Trixie clutched the guitar close to her chest as if Rainbow Dash might instantly change her mind.

  But Rainbow Dash was looking at the simple blue guitar she’d just played. You should never choose your friends by how they look, she thought to herself. What mattered was that you could make music together. This guitar might not look like anything special, but it was magic. “Turns out this is the one that speaks to me,” she said, smiling.

  DJ Pon-3 gave her a thumbs-up and went over to the cash register to ring it up. Rainbow Dash took out her purse and handed over a small wad of bills.

  “It’s your loss,” said Trixie.

  “I doubt it,” said Rainbow Dash.

  With the guitar paid for, Rainbow Dash slung it over her shoulder. Now it was time to get some real practice in before the Spring Fling. There was no telling what kind of music she could make once all the girls started playing together.

  As the girls headed out of the store, they overheard Trixie talking to DJ Pon-3. “Twelve hundred dollars?! What do you mean twelve hundred dollars?! For a guitar! You’ll pay for this, Rainbow Dash!” she shouted.

  Pinkie Pie giggled. “No, silly. If you want it, you’ll have to pay for it!”

  Springtime’s Soundtrack

  DJ Pon-3 couldn’t get Rainbow Dash’s guitar playing out of her head. On the way to school the next day, every noise she heard was like an accompaniment to her friend’s amazing music.

  As she stood at the street corner waiting for the light to change, every sound seemed to be harmonizing with the tune in her head. Speeding cars whizzed past at regular intervals like the thump of a bass; the footsteps of people hurrying on their way to work became a steady rhythm section; a bus’s sudden honking was a trumpet; some children’s laughter, the tinkling disks of a tambourine.

  She could just imagine the band the Equestria Girls could create. With their singing and Rainbow Dash’s playing, they could really make something special happen. But did they have it in them to put a whole band together? Could they find a bass player good enough to play with Rainbow Dash? A keyboardist? A rhythm section? A drummer? It was impossible to find drummers for a band. Everyone knew that. And what’s a band without a drummer?

  Just then the light at the crosswalk changed. The little red stick figure on the sign that had been holding up his hand to say “stop” changed into a little green stick figure. DJ Pon-3 heard Rainbow Dash’s playing again in her head and imagined that little green guy dancing up a storm to the imaginary music. Everyone would be bouncing up and down to that beat!

  Music like that would get the whole world dancing. As she walked across the street, she imagined a heavy bass kicking in and everyone and everything around her grooving to the music. The old lady walking her dog would start rocking. The dogs in their sweaters would start prancing. Baby birds up in the trees would be boppin’ their heads and singing along. Stray cats hissing at one another in the alley would stop yowling and start purring! The policemen would blow their whistles in time to the beat. Even the cars would start dancing to the music Rainbow Dash had played.

  Kids who had never danced would dance together if the Equestria Girls had a band. The Spring Fling would be a success! That was the magic secret of really good music—it brought people together.

  DJ Pon-3 reached the other side of the street determined to help the girls in any way she could to make their band happen. She didn’t see it, but just behind her, the little green
stick figure on the crosswalk sign waved his arms and did a moonwalk in celebration. Music really was magic!

  The Case of the Missing Bass

  After Rainbow Dash’s amazing performance, Applejack was eager to get her old bass guitar out of her grandmother’s closet so she could start jamming with her friends. The bass is a little longer and bigger than a regular guitar, and it gives a band its rhythm. That’s the way Applejack thought of herself, honestly, not as the star but the girl who helped everyone keep their rhythm.

  But Applejack was not feeling very happy when she and the rest of the ponies got to Granny Smith’s house. Her bass wasn’t in the closet where she’d left it. She searched the whole house, but she couldn’t find it anywhere. Where was it? That’s when Granny told her that she had thought it was junk and gotten rid of it just the other day at her yard sale! Now what was Applejack going to do? They couldn’t have a band without a bass player. She had to find a way to get her bass back. There was no way she could afford another one. They were expensive.

  But surely if she explained all this to the person who had bought it at Granny Smith’s yard sale, they would understand and give it back to her. It was the only thing she could do. There was only one problem. Could Granny Smith remember who had bought it?

  “Okay, Granny, one more time, when you accidentally sold my bass, who did you sell it to?” Applejack was upset, but she was trying not to lose her temper with her grandmother.

  Granny Smith’s brow wrinkled. She shut her eyes. She opened them. She shook her head. She just couldn’t remember.

  “Was it a man or a woman?” asked Applejack.

  “It was definitely a woman,” said Granny, smiling.

  Applejack nodded. “Okay, that’s a start.”

  Granny Smith twisted her apron between her hands. Her brow was furrowed again. “Did I say woman? I meant man.”

  Applejack gave an exasperated whinny and looked like she was about to scream. Quickly, Rainbow Dash jumped in. It looked like the girls were going to have to do some supersleuthing before they could even begin to practice as a band.

  “Granny,” she asked, “did the man who took the bass say why he wanted it? Was he a musician?”

  Granny Smith looked surprised. “A magician? What would a magician want with your old boots?”

  Applejack exploded with frustration. “Not my boots. My BASS!” she shouted.

  “Now there’s no need to shout,” said Granny Smith. “I remember exactly who I sold your bass to. I thought we were talking about your boots. I sold your bass to a couple of brothers.”

  The girls all looked relieved at Granny’s confidence.

  “Slim and Slam. Those were their names,” said Granny.

  Fluttershy took out a notebook and wrote down the names of the brothers, but almost instantaneously she had to cross them out.

  “Or was it Trim and Tram?” said Granny. “Nope. That’s not it. Skim and Skam?”

  All the girls were leaning in and listening, hopeful.

  “Granny, please try and remember,” begged Applejack. “We’re going to perform at the Spring Fling, but only if I can find my bass. You sure it was Skim and Skam?”

  Granny shook her head, and all the girls sighed like deflated balloons. “Hold on!” said Granny. “It’s coming to me. I think I’ve got it. It was Flim and Flam.”

  Rarity pulled out her phone and did a search on Flim and Flam. “That’s it!” she said. “They own a thrift shop right near Canterlot High!”

  “Now we just have to hope no one’s already bought it!” said Rainbow Dash.

  “Quick, gals,” said Applejack. “There’s no time to lose!”

  Rock-and-Roll Hall of Shame!

  The Flim Flam brothers were dressed in matching suits with blue-and-white-striped shirts and matching gray bow ties. They each wore a straw boater, askew on the top of their slicked-down hair. When the girls rushed breathlessly into their shop, they were just putting Applejack’s bass in the display case in the front window.

  “Welcome to the grand opening of the Flim Flam Brothers’ Everything under the Sun Emporium,” they said together, doffing their hats with a flourish and bowing slightly to the girls.

  “You want it, we got it,” said Flam.

  “Need a pogo stick?” offered Flim. Immediately he produced one, hopped onto it, and began jumping around the store.

  The girls, a little overwhelmed, didn’t know what to say.

  “How about a bowling ball?” asked Flam. He took one from a shelf and sent it rolling across the floor, where it hit a stack of bowling pins and knocked them over.

  “Want a stuffed clown?” Flim’s arm was around a giant stuffed clown with a red nose and curly hair.

  “Want… whatever this is?” Flam couldn’t figure out what he was holding, and neither could the girls.

  Applejack stepped forward. “I’ll take that bass.”

  The girls all looked relieved as Flam took the bass out of the window and showed it to Applejack. It was a sleek, red, well-used bass. Applejack had been playing it for a long time.

  “Excellent taste, young lady!” oozed Flim. “We can give you this bass for a nonnegotiable price of one thousand dollars.”

  The girls gasped. “One thousand dollars!” exclaimed Rainbow Dash. “You only paid Granny Smith two dollars for it.”

  The girls nodded in agreement. “That’s right, two dollars.”

  Flim and Flam exchanged glances. Flim coughed. “Yes… well…”

  “We have to cover our overhead!” said Flam.

  “And transportation,” added Flim, recovering his composure. “And of course, there’s our stocking fee.”

  Applejack stuck her thumbs in her denim shirt and prepared for business. “Listen,” she said. “This all boils down to a simple misunderstandin’. You bought that bass from my granny, but it wasn’t hers to sell and I simply cannot let ya keep it.” She nodded, satisfied that now everything was clear. But Applejack had a good heart, and she didn’t like to be unfair to anyone. “I’ll tell you what. I’ll give you the two dollars back, and we’ll call it even Stephen.”

  Applejack reached into her pocket and pulled out a couple of carefully folded bills. She held them out with one hand and with the other reached for her bass.

  But Flam quickly stepped away from her. “Your bass?” he questioned her.

  “Not your granny’s?” said Flim.

  Flim and Flam winked at each other and laughed. “A likely story!” they said together.

  Flam put the bass behind him, and the two brothers stood in front of it like a wall.

  Applejack was dumbfounded. She was so honest, she was always flabbergasted when other people weren’t. “It is a likely story,” she tried to explain. “Because I’m tellin’ the truth. That’s my bass.”

  The other girls nodded their heads in agreement.

  “Is that so?” said Flim. “And can you prove that this is in fact your bass?”

  Applejack smiled. “Yep. For one thing, my name’s Applejack, and my initials are written on the strap.”

  For a moment, Flim and Flam looked concerned. They studied the bass and examined the strap. Just like Applejack had said, her initials were right there in bold lettering.

  “See! See!” said the girls excitedly. Now maybe at last they could get started on practicing for their band.

  But Flim and Flam weren’t going to give up that easily. “Come now,” said Flam, “that AJ could stand for anything… Art Jerks.”

  “Alien Jones,” said Flim.

  “Anvil Jokers,” suggested Flam.

  “Why, I’ll bet you don’t even play the bass… Applejack… if that’s your real name.”

  Applejack was madder than a bull at a rodeo at this point. “Applejack is my real name. And I do play the bass. That one.” What else could she say to convince them? And what would she do if she couldn’t get her bass back? There was no way she could afford another one. What was she going to do now? She couldn’t think of
any other way to convince them to give it to her.

  But that’s what friends are for!

  Rainbow Dash knew exactly the move that would solve this problem. “Go on, Applejack. Show ’em what you’ve got.”

  “Yes,” said Rarity to Flim and Flam. “Give her the respect she deserves, and let her display her talents.”

  Rainbow Dash’s eyes twinkled. “Seems like we’ve found the solution.”

  “Yes! Yes! Yes!” agreed Pinkie Pie. “You’ll see how amazing and awesome and fantabulous she is! Let her play.”

  “I think you have to,” said Fluttershy quietly. “It’s only fair.”

  Flim and Flam looked from one girl to another. There was no way they could say no to so many potential customers. Reluctantly, they held out the bass to Applejack. Flim coughed nervously. Flam bit his lip.

  Applejack strung the guitar strap over her shoulder. “You have an amp?” she asked. When Flim and Flam produced one, she plugged in her bass. “Hold on to your ears, boys. I’m going to let it rip!”

  And she did. Applejack could play! Her fingers were flying, and Flim and Flam’s Emporium was rockin’! People passing by on the street stopped to peer in. This was great! What a solo! What a performance! Her rhythms were complex, precise… infectious! Everyone was tapping their feet and swaying to the music. Best of all, the Equestria Girls were singing along.

  “Shake your tail ’cause we’re here to have a party tonight!

  Shake your tail! Shake your tail!”

  And that’s when the magic happened!

  First the ears appeared, and then her hair began to look like a horse’s mane, and then her tail was swinging and dancing while she played! She was playing pony style!

  All the girls in the store started to do the Pony Stomp! They lifted their knees and pranced. They crossed their arms and leaned from side to side. They jumped out and did the Canterlot Clap! They stomped their feet and punched the air in celebration with their hands. These girls could really dance when the music was right.