The high street of the town of Canterlot was, as usual, a veritable hive of activity, which is what one would expect on a free Saturday. The various shop owners and vendors were all about on the street, calling to the passers-by to come and look at their wares, the cafes were full of friends, couples and families all having an enjoyable lunch together, and all around there was just this feeling of community amongst the people who were here. Not a single face could be seen without some kind of smile or look of happiness. That is, except for one; Sugarcoat. This student of Crystal Prep Academy was walking down this street, despite it being far from her usual stomping grounds, watching each person with interested as they warmly greeted her a good day. Although taken aback by how forward everyone was being with her, she nevertheless waved back, out of courtesy if nothing else, regardless of how unused to it she was.

However, she was not alone in town today, as there, walking beside her, was none other than Rainbow Dash of Canterlot High. Unlike Sugarcoat, the rainbow-haired girl walked around with utter confidence, with a sure-of-herself smirk plastered all over her face as she led the way, with her companion following close behind. They walked in silence together for some time, with the latter seeing shop after shop pass them by until, at long last, Rainbow stopped right in front of her. Turning, Sugarcoat noted that they had halted right outside what appeared to be a music store of some kind, with windows filled with many guitars and other such instruments. Looking to Rainbow, Sugarcoat raised an eyebrow, but Rainbow herself merely chuckled, opening the door of the place before striding in. Although she hesitated for a moment, Sugarcoat soon let out a sigh before then walking in after her.

“Well? What do ya think?” Rainbow asked.

Hearing that, Sugarcoat looked around, seeing the vast array of instruments, from every conceivable type there was, all hanging around, displayed in impressive ways. Looking back to Rainbow, the girl adjusted her glasses a little before making her response, albeit in a somewhat disinterested way.

“There’s a lot of instruments here. I daresay they’d provide you with anything you needed.”

Rainbow’s smirk faded a little at that.

“Wait…that’s it?”

Sugarcoat shrugged her shoulders.

“I don’t really know what you want from me here, Rainbow. I don’t really come into places like this all that much.”

Placing a hand on her hip, Rainbow considered that for a moment before speaking up again.

“What, you don’t like music?”

Sugarcoat shook her head.

“On the contrary. I’m quite adept at the flute, if you must know. I just don’t get as…enthusiastic as you do.”

Hearing that, Rainbow, rather than seeming down or disappointed, let out a brief chortle before turning to a nearby set of display drums.

“And that is exactly the problem, Sugarcoat! You need to add a little oomph to what you do!”

At that, Sugarcoat looked to her with some incredulity, opening her mouth in readiness for a response. However, she soon closed it again when she realised that the two of them were not alone in this place. Turning, she gazed upon a blue-haired girl behind the counter, who was presumably the shopkeeper. At this moment, however, she seemed preoccupied with her own music, as evidenced by the headphones she wore. Seeing this, Sugarcoat folded her arms a little.

“That seems…unprofessional.”

Rainbow rolled her eyes at those words before walking over to the girl behind the counter and giving a friendly wave.

“Hey, Vinyl? You in there?”

At long last, the girl, Vinyl, noticed Rainbow, and gave her a smile and a thumbs up in response, which was eagerly returned by Rainbow herself. But, soon afterwards, Rainbow let her get back to her music, instead turning her attention to Sugarcoat once more.

“That’s Vinyl Scratch. She goes to CHS. And trust me on this, her being oblivious to stuff going on around her has come in pretty handy at times.”

Sugarcoat looked away, seeming unconvinced.

“I highly doubt that.”

To that, Rainbow regained her smirk from earlier.

“Oh, believe me, it helped.”

But, it wasn’t long after that when she walked past Sugarcoat and instead over to a display of various guitars, looking at them with great enthusiasm. Letting out a sigh, Sugarcoat walked over to join her, placing her hands on her hips as she looked at the instruments.

“Not to put too fine a point on the matter…but don’t you already have a guitar?”

Rainbow let out a snort at that.

“Well duh! But that doesn’t mean I can’t appreciate other guitars! I mean…they’re guitars! They’re made awesome!”

Sugarcoat stared at her for a moment before speaking up again.

“I can see why Lemon likes spending so much time with you.”

Rainbow nodded at that before looking to Sugarcoat with a degree of curiosity upon her face.

“Yeah. Gotta admit though. I’m kinda surprised a girl like her can even exist at Crystal Prep. I mean, she’s so…not boring. No offense.”

But Sugarcoat merely shrugged her shoulders.

“None taken. In truth, her behaviour probably wouldn’t be tolerated, were it not for her athletics. Those who have talent at the school are given a degree of…leniency.”

Rainbow, upon hearing that, afforded herself a brief moment of shuddering.

“Geez…I can’t imagine going to a place like that. So stuffy, so…uptight.”

Sugarcoat nodded, adjusting her glasses again as she did so.

“Perhaps…but you get used to it.”

Shaking her head at that, Rainbow instead put on a smile as she made herself look to the guitars again.

“Well, no matter. The important thing is that we get you hooked up with one of these bad boys.”

At long last, Sugarcoat turned to her with as very pronounced look of surprise.

“Me? I don’t recall saying I was interested in participating in this, Rainbow.”

Chuckling again, Rainbow picked a guitar from the bottom rung of the wall before handing it over to her companion.

“Like I said, you need a little oomph. And playing one of these is the best way to do that!”

Before Sugarcoat could protest further, she watched as the guitar was shoved into her hands. After looking at the thing for a while, she glanced up at Rainbow, who stood there waiting with a look on her face that made it clear that she wasn’t going to budge on this matter. Letting her shoulders slump a little with defeat, Sugarcoat let out a long sigh before putting the strap of the guitar around herself. After assuming the correct position to hold the instrument, she paused for a moment before looking up to Rainbow once more.

“For the record, if I start growing wings and a tail from this, I’m walking away.”

Rainbow rolled her eyes at that.

“Just play already!”

Letting out another sigh, Sugarcoat regarded the strange instrument in her hands, studying it closely as if it were a visitor from another world. For a brief moment, she glanced up at Rainbow, who merely gave her an encouraging smile, before looking back to it. Slowly, she raised a hand, delicately placing her fingers upon the strings, before giving them a gentle stroke. Immediately, notes were let out. There were far from professional, as one might expect of someone who had never played before, but they still sounded good. A few moments more passed, and Sugarcoat tried string after string, listening carefully to each sound in turn. Sometimes, she would try different combinations, making some semblance of a tune, but again, it was amateur compared to something like Rainbow could do. In the end, she stopped, looking up to the CHS girl.

“It is…interesting.”

Rainbow smiled at that, looking at her eagerly.

“Well? Think you might wanna try it out more in future?”

Sugarcoat looked down to the guitar and then back up to Rainbow, before giving a single shake of her head.

“…No.”

At that, Rainbow looked a little deflated.

“Really?”

Sugarcoat placed the guitar back onto the wall before looking back to Rainbow.

“Sorry…but it’s just not for me. It sounded nice enough. But I’m happy doing what I’m already doing.”

Rainbow stared at her in silence for a while as she thought on that, before eventually cracking a smile and letting out a brief snort.

“Alright then. Whatever you say!”

At that, Sugarcoat raised an eyebrow.

“You are not…upset?”

Rainbow shook her head.

“Ha! You do what you're comfortable with! I just wanted to try you out on something like this to see if it clicked. Guess it didn’t, but hey, no big deal, right?”

Sugarcoat considered that before giving a single nod.

“Right…no big deal. I...appreciate that.”

Smiling, Rainbow slapped her hand down on Sugarcoat’s shoulder, much to the latter’s chagrin, before looking instead to the door of the shop.

“Alright then! Enough of the music store! Let’s go and get some milkshakes from Sugar Cube Corner!”

Looking to her, Sugarcoat frowned slightly.

“I believe I already told Applejack I’m not fond of them.”

Turning, Rainbow put on a nervous smile and laughed a little.

“Oh well…can’t blame a girl for trying, right?”