In the next day, Pinkie Pie was the first to arrive, as always. It was still 7:30 a.m., so she still had a whole hour to do whatever she wanted. She decided to visit Lincoln's office to talk about something important.

  "Linkin, do you have the time?", asked Pinkie, as she opened the door to his office. Lincoln was sleeping on a pile of work papers, looking tired. "Oh, I guess you're not awake yet... I wonder what he's dreaming about."

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  "Look out, Mr. Beetlehead! There is a cookie monster behind you!", said Lincoln to Mr. Beetlehead, on a war between the Beetles and the Crackers.

  "MR. BEETLEHEAD KILL!", screamed Mr. Beetlehead, killing the cookie monster with the spikes on his back.

  The war was intense. Cookies flew all over the sky, while beetles fought with swords and daggers until their deaths. Many allies were lost, but much more enemies were defeated. The Cracker tribe was about to give up. It was their last hope.

  "Hey there, Linkin!", said Pinkie Pie. "Whoa! Who's winning?"

  "Pinkie Pie?!", said Lincoln, completely surprised. "What are you doing?! You gotta get out of here!"

  "I do?"

  "MR. BEETLEHEAD KILL!", screamed Mr. Beetlehead, grabbing Pinkie Pie's neck.

  "No, Mr. Beetlehead! Don't do that!", said Lincoln. "Pinkie Pie is our friend! Pinkie Pie good!"

  "... Mr. Beetlehead put pony down."

  "Pinkie Pie, what are you doing here?!"

  "Oh!", said Pinkie Pie. "I just wanted to say thank you for giving us that record deal. It really means a lot to me and to my friends."

  "Couldn't you say that AFTER we won the war?-- NO, MR. BEETLEHEAD!"

  "MR. BEETLEHEAD... DIE... with dignity...", said Mr. Beetlehead, as he took an arrow to his chest. Everything was getting dark, and he was fading fast.

  "Oh no!", exclaimed Pinkie Pie at the sight of an ally's death.

  "Mr. Beetlehead... Mr. Beetlehead! MR. BEETLEHEAD!"

  "Lincoln guy... tell Mr. Beetlehead wife and kids... Mr. Beetlehead loves them..."

  "NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!"

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  "NO!!!", screamed Lincoln, as he suddenly jumped out of his chair.

  "I'm sorry for what happened to him...", said Pinkie Pie. "... he was a great soldier."

  "Wait... how did you do that?"

  "I don't know... but it's plenty of fun. Your mind is very creative. Some ponies dream about all dark stuff, and others... I'd rather not talk about it. But it's still plenty of fun! There was this other time where I went into Spike's dream, and I got to help him on a true warrior's journey to save Rarity from the evil Diamond Dogs..."

  "Alright, alright. Sounds really fun, actually."

  "Sorry if I bothered you. I just wanted to say thank you for giving us that record deal. It really means a lot to me and to my friends."

  "You already said that."

  "I did?"

  "Hey, look at the time. Your friends should be here soon."

  "Oh, yeah! Thanks for your attention, Linkin! See you later!"

  There was a professional-sounding knock on the door.

  "Come in.", said Lincoln. Spike entered his office with a three-piece suit and a small suitcase.

  "Lookin' good, Spike!", commented Pinkie Pie, as she skipped through the door.

  "Heh, thank you.", said Spike, with a professional-sounding accent.

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  "Hey there, everypony.", said Vinyl, excitedly. "You all feelin' right?"

  "Right as an A-straight unicorn.", said Applejack.

  "Twilight, did you bring that song of yours?"

  "It's... right here.", said Twilight, taking out two sheets of paper, with music written in front and back.

  "... sounds pretty good. I'm sorry, but by looking at you, I thought you were into emo music, or something like that. This actually sounds really... happy."

  "Haha, I'll forgive you. Most ponies would say that."

  "Can we record these songs already?", said Rainbow Dash, stretching her drumming arms.

  "You're right, Rainbow. No time to lose.", said Vinyl, as she put her headphones on and messed around on the table switches. "Twilight, why don't we try your song out?"

  "... alright, I guess.", said Twilight, a bit nervous.

  Once in a Lifetime [original by Talking Heads]

  "Sorry if I sounded too nervous.", said Twilight. "This is kind of new for me."

  "Are you kidding?", said Vinyl. "It sounded better than I expected it to!"

  "Really?"

  "It was good.", said Fluttershy.

  "I have never heard anything like that.", said Rarity.

  "Well, thank you.", said Twilight. "I thought you wouldn't like it."

  "This has to be on the album.", said Vinyl. "Maybe you can release it as a single!"

  "You don't have to do that..."

  "Trust me on this one."

  Lots of songs later...

  "How does this sound?", asked Vinyl to Twilight, as she played one of their songs and messed with some sound stuff on a computer.

  "Sounds good.", said Twilight. "I think the guitar part should be louder, though."

  "... how about now?"

  "Not TOO loud."

  "... now?"

  "Slightly louder."

  "... how's this?"

  "Perfect."

  "I think the rhythm tracks are too quiet."

  "Well, we can't keep everything equal. It would sound too messy."

  "You know what? I think I know what you're wishing for. Just wait a few minutes."

  "I'll go talk to my friends, if you don't mind."

  "Go ahead, I'll set everything up here."

  "What are you writing there?", asked Pinkie Pie to Applejack, who was busy with a notebook and a pencil.

  "Oh.", said Applejack. "Nuthin' much. Just a country tune."

  "Hi, girls.", said Twilight. "What are you writing there, Applejack?"

  "It's a country tune!", said Pinkie Pie.

  "Yup.", said Applejack.

  "Seriously?", said Rainbow Dash, with a towel over her shoulders.

  "I think it's a nice idea.", said Fluttershy.

  "Girls...", said Rarity. "... I've got to go. I've got a few dresses that are almost overdue."

  "Okay, I guess we can finish everything tomorrow...", said Twilight. "... or the day after."

  The whole band said goodbye and left, except for Twilight, once again.

  "Done.", said Vinyl.

  "Let's hear it.", said Twilight.

  Psycho Killer [original by Talking Heads]

  "That's exactly how I wanted it!", said Twilight. "Thanks, PON-3."

  "Just call me Vinyl.", said her.

  "Thanks, Vinyl. Now, I gotta get Spike out of the office."

  "See ya later."

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  "Spike, let's go.", said Twilight, opening the door to Lincoln's office.

  "Bye, Lincoln. I'm sorry I can't help with anything.", said Spike, looking down.

  "It's okay, Spike. It was bound to happen someday.", said Lincoln, looking much worse, as Spike closed the door slowly.

  "What happened?", asked Twilight, worried.

  "I've got terrible news.", said Spike. Next Chapter: Don't Fire Me, I'm Just the Bass Player Estimated time remaining: 18 Minutes