Rainbow Rocks Page 3

  Even Flim and Flam were tapping their feet. What a beat!

  As Applejack shredded one last triumphant riff, the girls all started jumping up and down. “See? See?” they said. “It is her bass!”

  Applejack carefully removed her bass. She was a normal girl again.

  All the girls were looking at Flim and Flam, who were still swaying to the music. Fluttershy cleared her throat.

  “Oh yes, oh yes,” admitted Flim. “Well, well, well. Perhaps this is her bass.”

  Relieved, Applejack reached back into her pocket and took out the two dollars again.

  “But there are still the transportation costs,” said Flim quickly.

  “Don’t forget the stocking fees!” added Flam.

  “Wouldn’t dream of it,” agreed Flim.

  Applejack stomped her foot in frustration. Now she wanted to play her bass with her friends more than ever. “Just tell me how much you want for it already!”

  Rainbow Dash stepped forward. “And don’t even think about saying a thousand dollars.”

  Flim pulled Flam aside for a moment, and the two brothers whispered together conspiratorially. Finally, Flam turned to Applejack, an oily smile on his lips. “I suppose,” he oozed, “we could make some kind of… trade?”

  Applejack looked at him questioningly. What did she possibly have to trade?

  That was how Applejack found herself in front of the store an hour later, jamming on her bass, in a banana costume. A huge flashing neon arrow behind her pointed to the store’s entrance. Well, she was certainly drawing a crowd—and she’d have her bass back at the end of the day.

  “Are those the costumes for your band?” snickered Trixie when she walked by.

  “Just for practicin’,” said Applejack good-naturedly. After all, practice was practice, even if you had to wear a banana suit!

  Jam Session

  DJ Pon-3 was headed to the Sweet Shoppe for an afternoon treat along with some of the kids from Canterlot High. She had in her earphones and was listening to music, but she kept hearing a more insistent tune out on the street. And that’s when she saw the giant performing banana!

  That fruit can rock, she thought to herself. That’s when she realized that hidden inside the yellow costume was Applejack. She pulled out her earphones so she could really listen.

  Wow! She could imagine Applejack and Rainbow Dash strutting across the stage. It looked like the girls might be able to get this band together after all.

  “Doesn’t she look ridiculous?” said Trixie, coming up beside her. “I think it would ruin the Spring Fling to let anyone that silly-looking perform.”

  “You don’t look at music,” a text response from DJ Pon-3 said, “you listen to it! And you can’t stop listening to Applejack.”

  “Hmmph! I can!” said Trixie. She stomped off down the street.

  But as Trixie disappeared around the corner, DJ Pon-3 noticed that she was walking in time to the rhythm of the bass.

  Kids were going in and out of the Sweet Shoppe, and every one of them was moving to the music. Even the coffee glugging out of the espresso machines seemed to be harmonizing with it! Kids were munching their muffins to the beat. A baby was slurping his milk bottle in rhythm. A tiny dog poking out of a lady’s fancy purse was blinking his little black eyes to it.

  Standing in line, DJ Pon-3 was snapping her fingers as Applejack’s awesome music pulsed through the store. Just add a drum set, a keyboard, and some vocals, and the Spring Fling was going to be unforgettable!

  “Good afternoon!” said Mrs. Cake from behind the counter. “What can I get for you?”

  DJ Pon-3 smiled and pointed to an enormous blueberry muffin with crumble topping in the glass case. Mrs. Cake leaned into the case, grabbed the muffin, and dropped it into a white paper bag, humming as she did so.

  “It’s a wonderful day, isn’t it?” she said to DJ Pon-3.

  She smiled as she handed Mrs. Cake a dollar bill.

  The music was reaching a crescendo, and everyone in the Sweet Shoppe was bouncing to the beat. It was like a flash mob, only it was completely unplanned. Customers found themselves doing the Pony Stomp, lifting their knees and prancing, clapping their hands, and waving their arms from side to side. They couldn’t help it! The music was just too magical.

  With a final riff of notes, the music came to a climactic finish. One customer who’d been waving his hands over his head lost his balance and staggered, and his smoothie tipped and spilled. But it didn’t matter. Not one bit. Nothing mattered when you were dancing!

  A Walk on the Wild Side

  During school the next day, Rarity noticed that Fluttershy was even quieter than usual. Whenever the girls talked about getting the band together, she seemed to disappear, playing with a lock of her pink hair or whispering something to one of the beloved pets she always carried in her pocket. Rarity decided that maybe if she spent the afternoon with her friend, she could figure out what was the matter. Besides, it would mean that she’d get to cuddle all kinds of cute furry friends at the Animal Rescue Center, where Fluttershy worked.

  “Thanks for coming, Rarity,” said Fluttershy when her friend showed up at the Center. “We need all the help we can get.”

  “But of course, darling,” gushed Rarity. “Helping cute little puppies and kittens will never go out of style. And if there’s anything you need to talk about, you just let me know, okay?”

  Fluttershy nodded, almost said something, and then changed her mind. She had so many animals to pet and greet. This wasn’t a good time to tell Rarity what was bothering her. Besides, everyone else was having so much fun getting the band together. She didn’t want to disappoint her friends. How could she sing onstage while Rainbow Dash and Applejack jammed on their guitars, Rarity tickled the ivories of her keyboard, and Pinkie Pie sang? How was she going to tell all her friends she just couldn’t do it?

  Rarity knelt down on the floor to cuddle a particularly adorable floppy-eared puppy. How hard was this for a job? Maybe she should start coming here with Fluttershy more often.

  “Today we have a really special assignment,” said Fluttershy eagerly.

  “Do we?” said Rarity. A little kitten nuzzled its head against her arm, and she petted it.

  Fluttershy adjusted the butterfly barrette in her hair. “What we’re going to do today is even more special than working with the kittens. Once a year, a lucky volunteer gets to clean the Hamster Habitat.”

  She pointed across the room to the most enormous hamster cage Rarity had ever seen. It took up the entire length of the wall from floor to ceiling. Colorful plastic tubes crisscrossed one another in an elaborate maze. There were ladders and burrows and wheels. There were tunnels and caves and houses. And there were hamsters. Lots and lots of hamsters.

  Rarity tried to hide her lack of enthusiasm. “We have to clean… that?”

  “It’s quite an honor,” explained Fluttershy. “I signed up months ago to be sure I’d get it.” With that, she skipped over to the Habitat. Carefully, she opened the cage door and lifted the edge of one of the plastic tubes. “Housecleaning!” she sang.

  A fat little brown-and-white hamster stuck his nose out of the tube. More and more little hamsters were scurrying toward Fluttershy.

  Rarity shuddered and took a step away from the Habitat. “Fluttershy, darling, aren’t hamsters, um, you know, um… rodents?”

  “They sure are!” gushed Fluttershy. “But they are as cute and cuddly as bunnies!”

  Rarity was not sure she believed her. Hamsters were emerging from tunnels and houses and wheels. A large herd of hamsters was swarming around Fluttershy’s feet, and she was happily patting their little heads, tickling their twitching whiskers, and giving them welcoming kisses.

  “Okay, every hamster,” she cooed to them. “Follow my friend Rarity into the next room. She’ll take good care of you while I give your home a scrub.”

  All the hamsters stared at Rarity with beady little black eyes. Rarity gulped and tried to smi
le. Well, she thought, at least I’m not cleaning up after them. How hard could it be to look after a herd of hamsters, anyway?

  The Pied Piper of Hamsters

  Fluttershy hoped Rarity was having a good time with the hamsters. While she scrubbed and cleaned and disinfected, she decided that she would talk to Rarity about the band. Maybe Rarity would help her explain to the other girls why she couldn’t be in it. When she had finally wiped dry the last maze in the habitat, she put her cleaning supplies away, grabbed her backpack, and opened the door to the next room to bring back the hamsters.

  But she was not prepared for what she saw. Not at all! Whizzing balls of fur were shooting in all directions. It was chaos! Total chaos! In the midst of it was Rarity, her hair tousled and covered in little bits of cloth. She looked as crazed as the hamsters.

  “Rarity, what happened?!” asked Fluttershy, alarmed. She quickly shut the door behind her to make sure nobody escaped.

  Rarity was completely overwhelmed. She pointed at one particularly fat little hamster who had a tattered ribbon dangling from his neck. “Well, Carl Pettington’s coat just begged to be accessorized, but Emilia Furhart refused to be left out.” She pointed at still another hamster with a circle of cloth stuck to the top of her head. “And she got Curtis Pawpower and Mayfield Bumblepuss to chew right through Carl’s little scarf, and before I knew it, I had a Habitat-wide feud on my hands.” With an exhausted exhale, she collapsed on the floor, and hamsters crowded onto her lap.

  Fluttershy was confused. Carl Pettington? Curtis Pawpower?

  “Also, I named them,” said Rarity, trying to smile.

  Fluttershy clapped her hands authoritatively. “Ladies and gentle-hamsters, please!”

  At the sound of Fluttershy’s voice, all the hamsters became absolutely still and looked up at her.

  “Now, I know you are all upset,” she began. There was a cascade of chattering. “Shh,” soothed Fluttershy. “Why don’t we head back over to the Habitat and talk it all out?”

  The hamster with the torn ribbon around his neck staggered over to Rarity, and she instantly picked him up, cradling him in her hands. She slicked back the fur on the top of his head. “I mean, honestly,” she cooed at him. “Not every hamster can expect to look as smart in a scarf as Carl here.”

  Carl Pettington’s furry white chest puffed out with pride. Then he stuck out his tongue at the other hamsters. Immediately they all set to squabbling again. They chittered! They bickered! They bit!

  “Stop that!” ordered Fluttershy, but they weren’t listening to her anymore. She shook her head and scolded Rarity. “That wasn’t exactly helpful. How are we ever going to get them back into their Habitat?”

  Rarity found a tiny little hamster-sized dress she had made and held it up. A hamster lifted its head curiously. Slowly, Rarity led the hamster to the door, opened it, and started walking toward the Habitat. The hamster crawled over to the dress, sniffed it, turned up its nose, and ran off to join the other hamsters.

  “Well!” said Rarity, disappointed. It wasn’t often that someone, even a hamster, turned down one of her stylish creations.

  Meanwhile, Fluttershy had carefully created a trail of food pellets across the room. But the hamsters weren’t even eating them. They were picking them up and pelting one another with them. It was nuts. They were out of their minds!

  Fluttershy went and grabbed her backpack and began searching through it for something that might help her lure the hamsters back to their Habitat. She found a can of cat food and set it aside. She pulled out some dog treats that were bigger than the hamsters themselves. She found an old tambourine from when she was little and turned it over in her hands. Maybe she could use it as a scoop and catch the hamsters one by one with it!

  Rarity had taken out a bolt of cloth from her backpack and was trying to use it as a net. She threw it over a large group of hamsters, but they just scurried out from beneath it. Rarity was waving her giant piece of cloth, Fluttershy was trying to use her tambourine as a scoop, and the hamsters were evading both of them. Rarity and Fluttershy were running in circles, the hamsters were jumping over their feet, and the next thing the girls knew they had bumped into each other. Bam! Rarity threw the bolt of fabric over Fluttershy’s head, blinding her, and completely surprised, Fluttershy began shaking the tambourine wildly.

  All the hamsters stopped, mesmerized.

  But the moment Fluttershy took the fabric off her head, she stopped jingling the tambourine. The hamsters began fighting again. Fluttershy experimented and shook the tambourine gently. At the first tinkling of the tambourine, the hamsters were rapt, gazing up at her, silent and obedient. She shook it a little more, and they began to walk toward her. As she slowly slapped it against her leg in a steady beat, they started marching. They were hypnotized by the sound. Amazed, Fluttershy looked up at Rarity.

  “Don’t stop now, dear,” begged Rarity. “You’ve found your audience!”

  Fluttershy began to really play the tambourine, shaking and slapping it in a slow, hypnotic rhythm. Delighted by her music’s effect, Fluttershy began to spin and dance toward the Habitat as she played. The hamsters followed in a straight line behind her.

  Her music became wilder as she danced. As if by magic, a tail and ears appeared on Fluttershy. She was ponying up! She was carried away by the enchantment of it all.

  Rarity followed behind, gently humming to the music.

  One by one, the hamsters weaved past Fluttershy and quietly crawled back into their Habitat. Finally, when the very last hamster was inside and the door to the cage was sealed, Fluttershy dropped her tambourine and collapsed. Her tail and ears disappeared.

  She was in a state of shock. It wasn’t just the effect the music had on the hamsters, but the effect it had on her. She’d actually played an instrument of her own. “But would anyone want a tambourine in a band?” She didn’t mean to say it out loud, but she did.

  “That would be wonderful!” exclaimed Rarity. “All the best bands have tambourine players.”

  “They do?” questioned Fluttershy.

  “They do!” said Rarity.

  “I’ve been worried that I didn’t have an instrument to play.…”

  “But you do, darling,” reassured Rarity.

  “But I’ll still have to perform in front of the whole school.…” she said nervously.

  “You think that’s going to be harder than playing for this audience?” Rarity pointed at the Habitat.

  “Maybe you’re right!” Fluttershy laughed. “If I get stage fright, I’ll just imagine everyone is a hamster!”

  Rarity was looking through one of the transparent tubes at Carl, who had managed to remove his scarf at last. “I never would have guessed hamsters would be so touchy about fashion,” she sighed. “I guess there is such a thing as too fabulous.”

  “Not for the Equestria Girls!” said Fluttershy. “I can’t wait to see the outfits you are going to create for our band!” She was so excited now, excited and relieved. What a great day it had turned out to be despite Rarity’s hamster catastrophe.

  “You know I’ve actually had fashion shows go worse than this,” Rarity confided to Fluttershy as they headed out the door of the Animal Rescue Center. “As models go, hamsters are pretty low maintenance.”

  Pinkie on the One

  Pinkie Pie was obsessed with the Spring Fling. It was all she could talk about. How should they decorate the gym? What kind of banners should they make for the teams? How much glitter did they need? Oh, there was never enough glitter!

  But there was one thing Pinkie Pie wasn’t focusing on—and that was the band.

  “What instrument do you want to play?” asked Rarity.

  “I don’t know!” she said. “I’ll think of something. Do you think we should do a Hawaiian theme for the dance or something more unusual, like outer space? You know, The Spring Fling Is Out of This World?”

  “We don’t have much more time left,” said Rainbow Dash. “For the band.”


  The girls had been practicing all afternoon at Canterlot High. Rarity had written some great lyrics, and Rainbow Dash had created unforgettable melodies to go along with them. Applejack had put it all together, and even Fluttershy had been having fun, harmonizing backup vocals and adding a dash of fun with her tambourine. But something was missing from their sound. What was it?

  Finally, the girls took a break and joined Granny Smith in the kitchen of the school, where she was mixing up batches of cookies as treats. The girls crowded around while she stirred the batter, hoping for a bite of cookie dough or a lick of the spoon. What they were getting, however, was a lesson in baking.

  “Just remember,” said Granny Smith. “The most important thing about Sugar Butter Cocoa Cookies is to fold the batter.”

  “Fold it?” giggled Pinkie Pie. “Like a shirt?”

  All the girls laughed.

  “No,” said Granny Smith, using the same tone of voice Rainbow Dash had when she was trying to get Pinkie Pie to settle down. “Foldin’s baker talk. It means gently stir it, slowly. Too much arm turning’ll make your cookies tougher than a lump of coal.”

  Granny Smith handed Pinkie Pie the bowl of batter before she went into the pantry to get some vanilla. Slowly, rhythmically, Pinkie Pie concentrated on stirring the batter this way and that.

  “C’mon, Pinkie,” said Rainbow Dash, exasperated. “We don’t have time to make cookies. We need to focus on the band. We need to figure out what’s the matter with it.”

  “I guess I could fold a little faster,” said Pinkie Pie. With that, she took another bowl and another whisk and simultaneously folded both sets of batter. She began slowly at first, but soon her hands were flying as the whisks flicked back and forth in her nimble fingers. She was a whir of motion, flicking the whisks, tapping spoons on the counter, and sending the bowls spinning ’round and ’round in circles.