My Little Pony: Equestria Girls: Magic, Magic Everywhere! Page 2

  But they’d already had a fashion show and a gala and a concert… and what else was there? A catchy tune blaring out of a nearby video monitor caught her attention. “Are you a musician?” asked a voice.

  Rarity nodded. She was. She played the keytar for the Sonic Rainbooms.

  “Do you and your friends love to dance? Are you unique, cool, and stylish?”

  Rarity nodded vigorously. “Yes, yes, yes, and obviously!”

  “Do you want to win a cash prize?”

  “Yes!” shouted Rarity out loud. This was amazing, a total stroke of luck. It was like magic! Maybe it was magic!

  The voice continued. “Then follow your dreams and enter the Canterlot Mall Chance to Prance Competition. All you need to enter is a music video of your own original song and dance. Then you could be dancin’ your way to first prize! Sign up now at the booth near the Aunt Orange smoothie kiosk.”

  Rarity was right there! How come she hadn’t noticed the pile of entry forms earlier? She took one, grabbed a pen from her purse, and began filling it out. Already she could see her friends dancing their way to victory. How hard could this be? They were sure to win!

  “Rarity! What a nice surprise!” It was Sunny Flare with all her friends from Crystal Prep. Sunny Flare had a completed entry form in her hands.

  “Sour Sweet! Sunny Flare!” Rarity smiled. “Why, it’s been ages.”

  “It’s only been three weeks since the Friendship Games,” noted Sugarcoat with a raised eyebrow.

  Rarity laughed awkwardly. “Is that all? Wow! How is everything over at Crystal Prep Academy?”

  “Things at CPA have never been better,” explained Sunny Flare.

  “Yeah,” Sour Sweet bragged. “We’re going to have the spring dance on a yacht!”

  “Sounds divine!” said Rarity.

  “Are you signing up for the Chance to Prance contest, too?” Lemon Zest asked.

  “I am,” answered Rarity. She pushed her entry form through the slot of a wooden box. Done. Now she and her friends were committed.

  “We definitely aren’t here because we just like standing in lines.” Lemon Zest smirked. “I assume you already have a video concept figured out? The competition is going to be pret-ty fierce.”

  “Yes, obviously, of course we do!” said Rarity instantly.

  Only she didn’t really. And now she realized that winning the competition might not be so easy after all. Thank goodness she didn’t have to solve this problem all by herself. It was time to head to the music room. Maybe one of the other girls would have a plan.

  Giggles and Groans

  Everyone was in the music room when Rarity finally arrived. Everyone, that is, except for Sunset Shimmer. Where was she? She wasn’t usually late.

  But Rarity couldn’t wait to tell everyone her wonderful plan. She was bursting with excitement. “See? We’ll write some lyrics for our new song and we’ll choreograph some dance moves. Then our video will win the cash prize! And voilà!”

  Applejack’s brow was furrowed with concern. “You make it sound easy as pie—”

  “That’s because it is!” interrupted Rarity enthusiastically. “Even the Crystal Prep girls agree.”

  Now Twilight was worried. “They do?”

  “Is that a problem, darling?” asked Rarity. Twilight Sparkle had transferred from Crystal Prep to Canterlot High just after the Friendship Games. She hadn’t been happy there.

  “Oh no,” Twilight rushed to reassure her. “It’s not. It’s just…”

  Spike hopped up beside her. “Well, if you ask me, Crystal Prep has got nothing on CHS! I love it here!”

  Fluttershy reached over and scratched him under his chin.

  “See what I mean?” Spike’s doggy tail was thumping happily.

  The girls were all ready to get started choreographing their dance moves when Rarity brought up one other teeny-tiny little thing she’d forgotten to mention. “I would need to use our fund-raiser money to buy costume materials for the video.”

  “Hmmm,” said Rainbow Dash thoughtfully. “How much is the grand prize worth?”

  “More than double what we need to fix up Camp Everfree!”

  “Pssh!” Rainbow Dash grinned. “Then of course you can use the money for costumes!”

  Applejack agreed. “What the hay? Why not?” She handed Rarity the cashbox.

  Twilight Sparkle was busily punching numbers into her calculator. “According to my calculations,” she told the others, “if we lend Rarity the funds we’ve already raised, we stand to gain four times as much money as we have now.”

  “Sweet!” gushed Rainbow Dash.

  “But,” Twilight continued, “if we lose the video contest, we’ll be completely back to square one—and zero dollars. We won’t have any way of repairing Camp Everfree. Anyone else think this is an awfully risky endeavor?”

  Everyone was thinking the same thing. Maybe it wasn’t the best idea, but it was their only idea. Twilight looked from one girl to the other. “I m-mean,” she stuttered, “me neither.”

  Rarity beamed proudly. “All right, girls, who’s ready to shoot our winning dance music video?”

  “Yeah!”

  “All right!”

  “Let’s go!”

  “Now all we need is a concept!” said Rarity. That was the other teensy-weensy thing she hadn’t mentioned. They needed a winning idea.

  The whole room was instantly silent.

  “Do you think we can pull this off in so little time?” worried Twilight Sparkle again.

  Rainbow Dash glared at her. “Are you crazy? We’re great at doing stuff superfast. Just look at Pinkie Pie. While we’ve been talking, she’s been building a castle made entirely out of chocolate bars.”

  Pinkie Pie was positioning the last bar against her chocolate castle to create a drawbridge. She grinned at the other girls and took a bite out of it. “Want some?” she added.

  “All I want is a video concept,” said Rarity.

  “Definitely!” agreed everyone.

  “I’m sure if we put our heads together we can come up with something,” Applejack added.

  Pinkie Pie instantly pressed her forehead against Twilight’s. The other girls huddled close.

  “I think it’s working,” Pinkie Pie gushed after an instant.

  “Yeah,” agreed Applejack. “I got somethin’, too!”

  Applejack began describing her video concept. All the girls would be wearing overalls and cowboy hats. Instead of guitars and microphones, they’d be holding cookie sheets and rolling pins. “So we’re in home ec class, bakin’ some apple fritters,” she told the others.

  Rarity shrieked despite herself. Overalls? Never!

  “And then a fresh batch comes outta the fryer,” Applejack continued. “And everybody’s havin’ a great time!”

  “Wait.” Rarity scratched her head, trying to imagine all this as a dance routine. “So basically we’re eating pastries at school in our music video?”

  Applejack’s stomach growled and she grinned. “Oh, I guess I’m just kinda hungry.”

  Rarity shook her head. “Anyone have another idea?”

  “Oh, I do!” Rainbow Dash jumped in. “So… we’re in the middle of a jungle! And we’re being chased by henchmen who are shooting poison arrows at us. When suddenly, out of nowhere, the shadow of a beast appears!”

  “Wait a second,” interrupted Twilight Sparkle. “Isn’t this a scene from the latest Daring Do book?”

  Rainbow Dash blushed. Daring Do was her favorite series. She’d read every book. That’s why she’d written a fan letter to the director working on the movie when she found out he was an alumnus of Camp Everfree. But maybe it wasn’t the best idea for a dance routine. “Oh well,” she admitted. “That’s why it seemed like a cool idea. Never mind.”

  “Okay!” Pinkie was jumping up and down. “I’ve got it!”

  Rarity smiled hesitantly. She wasn’t so sure. “Tell us.”

  “We’ll start out on”—she paused f
or dramatic effect—“the moon!”

  No one said a word.

  “We’ll be wearing really sparkly costumes,” Pinkie Pie reassured the others, but when they didn’t respond, she had an even better idea. “No! Wait! We’ll be wearing space suits! And we’ll be surrounded by gorgonzola cheese. But then, a space doggie will walk over and start to eat the cheese!”

  Spike’s tail was wagging. “Mmm! Rich with buttery undertones,” he barked.

  “Stop!” Rarity was clenching her fists and her face was red.

  Pinkie Pie’s face fell with disappointment. “Aww, why not?”

  “Because the contest is for dance music videos, and not one of your ideas included dancing at all!”

  “But they were pretty funny, huh?” Pinkie Pie grinned. “I liked yours, Rainbow Dash. I love Daring Do, too!”

  “Thanks, Pinkie!”

  Rarity screeched with frustration.

  “Are you okay?” asked Fluttershy.

  “Okay?” Rarity looked like she was about to explode. “The contest deadline is tomorrow. We don’t have any time and we’ve been wasting it.”

  She stormed out of the room in a huff.

  Nobody knew what to say. After all, they had tried.

  Hooves and Helping Hands

  Sunset Shimmer landed on the grass in front of the Wondercolt. An instant later, Starlight Glimmer followed.

  Starlight Glimmer staggered dizzily to her feet. “What happened?” She gave a little whinny that sounded more like a shudder.

  A group of students walking by stared at them.

  “Hi!” Sunset Shimmer waved to them. In a hushed voice she whispered to Starlight Glimmer, “It’s all pretty weird at first, but try to roll with it.”

  Starlight Glimmer was staring down at her body, baffled. She was wiggling her fingers. “Are these…?”

  “Hands,” explained Sunset Shimmer.

  “And what happened to the rest of my hooves—”

  “Feet!” Sunset Shimmer interrupted. “Those are feet. Remember the whole thing where I said you’d need to lay low? Now would be a good time to play it cool.”

  “Right.” Starlight Glimmer nodded. She ran her fingers through her long hair. It felt strangely soft. “Play it cool.” She dropped down on all fours and began awkwardly staggering forward.

  A kid walking past snickered. Sunset Shimmer quickly pulled Starlight Glimmer to her feet.

  Starlight Glimmer blushed, embarrassed. She realized that everyone else was walking on their legs. Legs. Feet. Arms. Hands. She was trying to adjust to the strange sensation of having a human body.

  Just then Sunset Shimmer caught sight of Rarity. She looked very upset. “Is everything all right?” she asked her friend.

  “Since you asked… the answer is no!” She plopped down on the grass and put her head in her hands.

  She didn’t notice Starlight Glimmer. Sunset Shimmer held her finger to her lips, instructing the new girl to be quiet.

  “What’s happening?” Sunset Shimmer wanted to know.

  “I came up with the perfect idea for a fund-raiser! It landed in my lap like magic. The mall is sponsoring a video contest and all we have to do is dance and sing, and then we can win enough money to make the repairs to the camp, but nobody can agree on a concept for our video and the deadline is tomorrow! Everybody wants to do something different! But the worst part is that the Crystal Prep girls are entering, too, and everyone knows how competitive they are, so they’ll probably win and we’ll never get to go back to Camp Everfree.”

  “Whoa!” said Starlight Glimmer.

  Rarity blinked in confusion, just noticing the girl sitting beside Sunset Shimmer.

  “Rarity, this is Starlight Glimmer. She’s new.”

  “Hi!” said Rarity politely.

  Starlight Glimmer smiled. “Why can’t everyone do something different in your dance?”

  “What?” Rarity didn’t know what she was talking about.

  “You said that everybody was doing something different. Maybe they should. Maybe that’s what would make your dance special.”

  Rarity’s face lit up. “You’re right! Each member of the Rainbooms could dance in a different style—like flamenco, hip-hop, or street ballet. That way everyone could do what they do best! And we’ll wear costumes to match each genre! Designed by yours truly, of course… I’d better run to the fabric store before it closes. And thank you…”

  “Starlight Glimmer,” she said, smiling.

  “Maybe you’d like to join us…” Rarity suggested.

  “I’m kind of all hooves.” Starlight Glimmer blushed.

  “All hooves?” Rarity laughed. “Sounds like you’ve got just the right moves! We’ve been known to do a little ponying ourselves.” She winked at Sunset Shimmer.

  But Sunset Shimmer didn’t notice. She was distracted. She had just seen a wispy trail of magic seeping out from behind the Wondercolt statue. Magic was leaking into their world from Equestria. But where would it go? What could it do?

  She had to find some way to keep an eye on it—without worrying her friends. After all, they had enough to think about. They had to repair Camp Everfree.

  Twirls and Swirls

  Rarity was sitting in a director’s chair. She had set up a camera on a tripod and was wearing a sparkly disco dress. “Let’s take it from the top one more time,” she told everyone. “Rainbow Dash, don’t forget your cue. It’s when Fluttershy does her triple pirouette, okay?” She clicked the play button and took her place.

  Fluttershy flexed her ballet slippers. Rainbow Dash hopped in her sneakers. Applejack clogged around in her boots.

  Sunset Shimmer began to sing, “There’s a stirring in my soles. There’s a rhythm taking hold!” She twirled like a flamenco dancer and swirled her long skirt.

  “Sparkles all across the room. We’ve got on our dancing shoes!” trilled Twilight Sparkle.

  Fluttershy executed a perfect triple pirouette and Rainbow Dash went into a break-dancing spin. It was electric!

  Starlight Glimmer was watching from the sidelines. “Neigh! Neigh! Neigh!” she exclaimed, clapping wildly. Sunset Shimmer gave her a pointed look. “Yay! Yay! Yay!” she corrected herself.

  “We want to see you bust a move!” encouraged Rarity.

  Starlight Glimmer pranced onto the stage. She lifted her knees and galloped a little in a circle. She was just being herself. It was getting a lot easier to act like a human being.

  “Love it!” shouted Rarity. Applejack and Pinkie Pie began imitating her. Now all the girls were in a line, perfectly synchronized. “We’ve got different styles, but we dance to the same beat,” they sang.

  Everyone joined in. “It’s Dance Magic. When we spin or when we slide, doing kicks from side to side. It’s a thrilling kind of ride. It’s Dance Magic! When we snap or when we sway, dancing all our cares away! Yeah, that’s what we’re here to say!”

  All the girls took a bow.

  “That was amazing!” gushed Starlight Glimmer.

  Rarity clicked off the video recorder. “Thanks to you and your great suggestion, Starlight Glimmer. I’m glad you are visiting Canterlot High.”

  “Do you think we’ll win the Chance to Prance contest?” wondered Fluttershy out loud.

  Rarity’s face fell. That was the question, wasn’t it? They were taking a big risk. They’d spent all their money on the costumes. Now they would have to send in their video and wait for the results. “I hope we’ve saved Camp Everfree,” she said.

  “We’ve done the best we can,” whispered Fluttershy. “Right, Sunset Shimmer?”

  But Sunset Shimmer was distracted. She’d seen another wispy trail of magic slide under the door and dissolve. Where was it going? That was the last thing they needed right now… magic trouble.

  “There’s no guarantee we’re going to win.” Rarity sighed.

  All the girls looked downcast—except for Rainbow Dash.

  Rainbow Dash looked like she was about to burst. She had a big ann
ouncement. “Well, even if we don’t win the contest, I have a backup plan!”

  “You do?”

  “Really?”

  “What is it?” Everyone wanted to know. They crowded around Rainbow Dash. This was amazing.

  She was grinning from ear to ear. “Remember how I told you I wrote Canter Zoom, the director of the Daring Do movie?”

  The girls nodded—except for Starlight Glimmer, who looked confused.

  “Daring Do is the same adventure series you know, but here it’s being turned into a movie,” Sunset Shimmer whispered to her.

  “Well,” continued Rainbow Dash, “he’s really happy we’re helping out Camp Everfree—”

  “And he wants to pay for the deposit and all the repairs and we don’t have to worry about anything anymore?” Pinkie Pie interrupted, clapping her hands.

  “Not exactly,” said Rainbow Dash. “But he has invited us to visit the set of the new Daring Do movie.”

  “Wow!”

  “That’s so cool!”

  “And maybe…” Rainbow Dash continued.

  “He can put us in his movie and make us stars and we won’t ever have to worry about Camp Everfree ever again!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed enthusiastically, accidentally touching the geode around her neck. A spray of pink sparkles wafted through the air around her.

  “Something like that.” Rainbow Dash smiled. “Or we might just find a way to be helpful on the set and he’ll want to help us out.”

  “I like the sound of that,” said Applejack.

  “And at least it will keep our minds off the dance-video competition until the results are in.” Rarity nodded.

  The only one who didn’t seem happy was Sunset Shimmer. Her brow was furrowed, and she kept glancing around the room. As they were packing up their things, Starlight Glimmer noticed that Sunset Shimmer was distracted. “You’re really worried about saving your camp, aren’t you?” she asked her new friend.

  “I am,” Sunset Shimmer admitted. “But it’s more than that. There’s Equestria magic on the loose here now. I saw another wisp of it while we were performing. I feel like I need to keep an eye on it and make sure nothing bad happens. Magic doesn’t work here the same way it does back in Equestria. Any number of terrible things could happen. I probably shouldn’t go to the movie set.”