Ch. 5: Round 1

By the time Shadow had gotten back with Sunset, they saw that Sonic and the others were already onstage behind Principal Celestia.

"I gotta go," said Shadow and he teleported up to the Underground and grabbed his guitar.

"Welcome to the first-ever Canterlot High School Battle of the Bands," said Celestia. "I believe I speak for everyone when I say it is by far the greatest thing we have ever done here at this school." Everyone in the audience cheered, but Shadow whispered something to the Underground.

"We are so glad our five newest students encouraged us to turn this event into something exciting," she said gesturing to the Sirens, Scourge, and Fiona.

"But as this is now a competition, we can only choose one winner," said Luna. "Who is it going to be?"

"And as always, the winner will have a special prize," said Celestia. "In this case, the winning band will get a chance to perform with the Sonic Underground after the finals."

"What!?" asked the team. Quickly, Sonic zipped up and grabbed the mic.

"I'd just like to make it perfectly clear that we did not agree to this. At all," he said and handed it back to Celestia. Then he noticed the green haze coming from the arguing students again.

"This isn't good. Now they're even more convicted on victory," said Shadow. The haze slowly drifted into the Dazzlings' pendants.

"You feel that girls?" asked Adagio. "Our true power is being restored." The other two cackled like witches until they saw the Rainbooms when they just smirked. "And that's before we tapped into the strongest magic here."

"Just say the word and I'll get them squabbling like brats," said Scourge, cracking his knuckles. "Once that's done, we'll rule the Multiverse."

"But the Rainblossoms, or whatever they're called, aren't under our spell," said Aria. "How exactly are we supposed to get to their magic?"

"The Rainbooms are just as capable of falling apart as everyone else," said Adagio. "They just need a little push in the wrong direction. I have a feeling everyone here is going to be lining up to give them a shove." Later that night, Snips and Snails were up on stage, beat boxing (If you can even call it that. They sucked). After they were done, they dropped the microphones, trying to mimic what Sonic did when he arrived, but they dropped them too close to the speakers, causing large amounts of feedback, seriously hurting Sonic's ears.

"OW! Cool, it up there! My ears are sensitive." he shouted.

"Please do not drop the microphones," said Celestia, looking at the scorecards. But Snips and Snails being the ditzes they were, took it as a compliment and walked off the stage past the Rainbooms and Underground.

"In your faces, Rainbooms!" they said. Then Knuckles, who had a blank expression on his face, lifted up a chunk of a brick and crushed it to dust with his bare hand, making the two yelp in surprise.

"You were saying?" he asked, letting it pour into a trash can. Quickly, they ran off in fear, making everyone laugh at them. "That's what I thought."

"Least that's one less band we have to worry about," said Applejack. "Nice work, Knux."

"That's nothing," said the echidna, matter-of-factly. "The Master Emerald weighs three tons, and if the situation calls for it, I can shatter it with a single punch."

"Let's get ready to rock!" said Rainbow.

"Wait! Where's Rarity?" asked Pinkie.

"Ooh! Here! I'm here!" she cried and ran up, wearing a hippie-inspired outfit with metal fringes. Everyone just stared at her blankly. Except Silver. He kinda liked it.

"Seriously?" asked Manic.

"We will be performing in front of an audience. I'm not going to wear something fabulous?" asked Rarity. Applejack groaned and facepalmed.

"You could've at least gone with something less flashy," said Shadow. Soon, the Rainbooms were on the stage with everyone looking at them weirdly.

"Remember. We have to be good enough to make it through, but not so good we let the Sirens see the magic inside us," Twilight said to the others. "They could realize we plan to use it against them."

"Got it!" said Rainbow. "Be cool enough to win, but not so cool that we end up showing off the whole ears and tails and rainbows thing. So… about 20% less cool."

"Don't screw this up, okay?" Sonic whispered from off-stage.

"Break a leg." said Silver.

Pinkie lifted her drumsticks into the air and counted off the beat. "1-2!"

(Play "Shake your Tail!" – Original Movie)

All: We've just got the day to get ready
And there's only so much time to lose
Because tonight, yeah, we're here to party
So let's think of something fun to do

What no one noticed was that one of the other bands was on the catwalk above the stage ready to sabotage the girls' performance. They threw a couple magnets on strings off the catwalk and they stuck to the metal in Rarity's outfit.

We don't know (we don't know) what's gonna happen
We just know (we just know) it's gonna feel right
All our friends are here
And it's time to ignite the lights!

Then they started wobbling her around like a marionette. Everyone was a bit confused at who she was acting.

Shake your tail 'cause we're here to have a party tonight
Shake your tail, shake your tail
Shake your tail 'cause we're here to have a party tonight
Shake your tail, shake your tail

Twilight: So what you didn't get it right the first time.

"Boring," said someone in the audience. Pinkie heard them, so she spun one of her drums over and revealed it to be a disguised confetti cannon.

Pinkie: Laugh it off! No one said it is a crime.

Rarity (who was still struggling with the magnets): Do your thing. You know you're an original

Applejack: Your ideas are so funny that they're criminal

All: Ohhh-ahh!

Then suddenly, Twilight accidentally swallowed a piece of confetti and started choking on it. Fluttershy quickly whacked her in the back with her tambourine and Twilight coughed it out. She looked and saw Flash's band walking away in distaste.

We've just got the day to get ready
And there's only so much time to lose
Because tonight, yeah, we're here to party
So let's think of something fun to do

Then Snips and Snails turned on and moved a spotlight right over Fluttershy, who froze in fear. She tried to avoid it, but the light just kept following her, so she quickly hid behind Pinkie's drum riser.

We don't know (we don't know) what's gonna happen
We just know (we just know) it's gonna feel right
All our friends are here
And it's time to ignite the lights!

Soon the magnets ripped off Rarity's sleeves, which she just freaked out about.

Shake your tail 'cause we're here to have a party tonight
Shake your tail, shake your tail
Shake your tail 'cause we're here to have a party tonight
Shake your tail, shake your tail
Shake your tail 'cause we're here to have a party tonight

Once they ended, only Celestia and Luna applauded them.

"Ah geez, they bombed out there." said Sonic.

"At this rate, the only way they're getting to the finals is through sheer dumb luck." said Shadow.

"Don't let them hear you say that, dude," said Manic. The Rarity walked backstage, still crying.

"Ruined!" she said. "Absolutely ruined!" Applejack put down her bass and started getting ticked off.

"Rarity, were you trying to make us lose out there?" she asked.

"Oh! This was not my fault!" said Rarity haughtily. "This was an act of sabotage!"

"Yeah well, whoever did this couldn't have if you didn't insist on dressing like- Like- Like this!" said Applejack, gesturing to her outfit.

"She's right. Look," said Silver, levitating the sleeves and magnets over. "If you hadn't worn metal, these magnets wouldn't have worked."

"We need to sound good. Is there some reason that seems to escape you?" asked Applejack.

"And what was with the confetti, Pinkie Pie?" asked Rainbow, holding a piece up in front of her. "How am I supposed to shred if there's paper stuck in my strings?"

"It was pretty distracting," said Fluttershy.

"Oh! Says the girl who ran from a light the whole time! A LIGHT!" said Pinkie.

"Hey, hey, hey! Cool it, ladies!" said Sonic.

"You still sounded much better than most of the other bands," said Sunset. "I'm sure you'll make it to the next round, but it won't matter if we don't have that counterspell ready." Twilight got worried.

"You guys find a place to practice where the Sirens won't hear you," said Shadow. "Sunset and I will keep an eye on things around here. And judging from the next band, I think we've got this in the bag."