In the next morning, the alarm clock rang. Twilight turned it off and laid on her bed for a while. It was 7 a.m., and she felt like she was the only one awake. It was necessary, though. After the terrible news of yesterday, she would have to warn Pinkie Pie about it before things could get worse.

  "Spike, get up.", said Twilight, as she herself got out of bed. "We must hurry."

  Spike struggled to open his eyes, as he got up and yawned loudly.

  "Don't you think it's a little too early?", asked Spike, scratching his back.

  "She's Pinkie Pie.", said Twilight. "She's probably out of bed by now."

  "What kind of pony wakes up at 7 a.m.?"

  "Well, I'm not used to it either... and I sure wish we didn't have to do this, but it's just how life goes. Got everything ready?"

  "Sure... let me get my three-piece suit."

  Twilight went out of her tree, with Spike on her back, who was still yawning. He was right about how early it was - the sun wasn't even out yet. The streets were completely empty. Even the birds weren't awake yet. Derpy Hooves could be seen flying around in the rooftops, giggling like... well, herself. Those three were the only ponies around. Twilight sighed as she walked to the Sugarcube Corner. She couldn't run or walk any faster, due to how sleepy she was. The whole city of Ponyville felt completely deserted. At the Sugarcube Corner, Twilight could hear some noise through the open windows. Apparently, Pinkie Pie was already up.

  Twilight knocked on the door, to be greeted by Pinkie Pie five seconds later.

  "Hey, Twilight!", said Pinkie Pie, sounding as lively as ever. "What brings you here so early?"

  "Well, Pinkie...", said Twilight, a bit nervous. "... I've got some news for you."

  "You're a papermare now?"

  "Not that kind of news... they're really bad news. I don't know if I have enough courage to tell you."

  "Oh, I'm sure we can get over it. We're friends, remember?"

  "... it has to do with you and the band."

  "Ooh, we got our first blues! I'm writing a blues rock tune, it's almost finished. Wanna take a look?"

  "Pinkie... you're in the band anymore."

  "... haha, looks like I lost a little concentration for a moment. What did you say again?"

  "I'm really sorry, Pinkie. I didn't want to do this, but you're not in the band anymore."

  "Why not?!"

  Twilight noticed Pinkie's mane slowly deflating.

  "I... I don't know.", said Twilight, regretting what she just started. "It's not my decision, Pinkie. It was Lincoln's boss. If anyone's to blame, that one is him."

  "But... but the album is almost finished! I even wrote lots of songs already, and they're great!"

  Pinkie's mane was already drooping down.

  "I'm sorry.", said Twilight, desperately trying to keep her friendship intact. "I'm really sorry, I didn't mean to--"

  "It's alright.", said Pinkie, hugging Twilight with one of her arms. "I know it's not your fault. Good luck with the band. I know that neither you or any of our friends would want this to happen."

  Twilight couldn't hold a tear of sorrow as Pinkie Pie turned around, going back to the kitchen to finish her breakfast.

  "Pinkie...", said Twilight.

  "There's nothing we can do.", said Spike, staying silent until then.

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  Twilight walked slowly to Lincoln's office. Not because she was sleepy. She felt really bad for Pinkie Pie, after all she did to make it possible for them to be there, recording their music. It was her idea, after all.

  Even though the bright sun was the only thing in the sky, the day felt gloomy and cloudy. Pinkie Pie's mood seemed to affect the whole town, apparently. It was rather unnatural, but it didn't matter much.

  Arriving at Lincoln's office, Twilight noticed an angry-looking griffon negotiating with an almost equally angry Lincoln.

  "20% or I'm out.", said the angry-looking griffon. "It wasn't my idea to participate in a girls' band, anyway."

  "Alright, alright!", yelled Lincoln. "You'll have your stinking 20%. Now get the heck out of my office!"

  "Whatever, boiled head."

  The griffon got out of the office with a grumpy look on his face.

  "Outta my way, losers!", said the griffon, as he pushed Twilight and Spike to one side.

  "Hey, you shouldn't treat your manager like that!", yelled Spike.

  "Wait... YOU'RE my manager? The wimpy dragon in a three-piece suit?"

  "Yes, and he's my manager too.", said Twilight. "Are you the new bass player?"

  "Don't tell me you're in the band too."

  "I'm the lead singer."

  "This is the worst thing Dad has ever done to me!"

  The griffon knocked over a nearby lamp as he stomped through the corridor.

  "Studio 3!", yelled Spike, as he wiped the dust off of his suit.

  "Is he the new bassist?", asked Twilight to Lincoln, who had his head dropped on his desk.

  "Much unfortunately, yes.", said Lincoln. "Gosh, I can't believe it. Five minutes with him was enough to make me want him out of here!"

  "Well, we should give him a chance. Maybe he can write some good music."

  "I'd be lying if I said that I don't hope for him to get fired as soon as possible."

  "Aw, come on, maybe he just needs to fit in. Anyway, good luck to you and Spike."

  "By the way, Twilight...", said Spike. "... me and Lincoln decided that you should be the opening band for a free concert tomorrow, here in Ponyville."

  "Well then, something nice for a change. Whose concert is it?"

  "'Weird Al' Yankovic. He's going to spend a few days in Ponyville to search for inspiration, and he thought it would be a good idea to do a show here as well."

  "... why didn't you decide on that before Pinkie left us? She'd be hopping all over the office right now."

  "We did.", said Lincoln, as Rainbow Dash got through the door, holding her drumsticks.

  "Twilight, what the hell are you doing here?", said Rainbow Dash, sounding really frustrated. "You're the only one missing at the studio, and there's this retarded griffon thinking he's the boss around here."

  "Maybe he just needs to fit in...", said Lincoln, sarcastically, as Twilight sighed and went to the studio. "His name is Stewie, by the way."

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  "Alright, so what kind of music do you have here?", asked Stewie, turning the pages on the notebook being used to write their songs (he was introduced to the band off-story).

  "Well...", said Fluttershy, trying to make friends with the griffon. "... we've got lots of different music styles, to make up for the psychedelic polka-rock genre--"

  "I'm sorry, did I ask you something?"

  "Um... no, I just wanted to point out that--"

  "By the way, this 'Please' song sucks hard. Who the heck wrote this crap?"

  "... I... don't know... it really does suck, doesn't it? Haha..."

  "What the hell? All these songs suck!"

  "Hey!", said Twilight, entering the studio. "Pinkie Pie wrote most of those songs!"

  "No wonder she got kicked out. And I'm lucky that she was the leader of the band. That means I'm the boss now. And as the new boss, I would like to report everyone around this room that these are the worst songs I have ever heard!"

  Applejack sat on the couch and put her hat over her face, pretending to sleep.

  "You don't have to criticize our music just because it's different than what you like.", protested Rarity.

  "Hey, just because you're cute, doesn't mean you have an opinion around here.", said Stewie. "Now we'll have to delay the whole recording process to write new and better songs."

  Stewie then destroyed the notebook containing all of the Mane 6's hard work. Every single page got torn up and shredded to pieces. Fluttershy cringed at the sight of such musical cruelty.

  "Hey, girls.", said Vinyl, coming out of the kitchen with a glass of water. "... what's all this papery mess on the floor?"

  "You guys need a brand new batch of good songs.", said Stewie, as he pulled out a few papers from out of nowhere, with apparent music written on it. "Here's a few I wrote."

  Vinyl took the papers and made a funny face, as if struggling to read that scribbly mess that was Stewie's claw-writing.

  "Ugh... forget it.", said Stewie, turning to Fluttershy and handing her the rhythm part of his 'good song'. "You. The rhythm track. Learn this."

  Fluttershy read the clumsy music-writing, and dropped her jaw a little.

  "I can't play this!", said Fluttershy, stunned by how difficult the song was to play.

  "Oh, look at me, I'm so wimpy, I can't play this, oh my gosh... shut your mouth and pick your guitar up."

  "Sigh... fine, I'll just go... get some water in the kitchen... yeah. Twilight, would you come with me?"

  "Okay.", said Twilight, as both ponies went to the kitchen. Stewie took out another piece of paper and gave it to Rainbow Dash, who looked really annoyed.

  "This is the drum track.", said Stewie.

  "It's freaking unplayable!", protested Rainbow Dash. "Like hell I'm gonna play this!"

  "Who's the boss here again?"

  "... I'll see what I can do.", she said, grinding her teeth with frustration.

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  "Twilight, can you keep this a secret?", said Fluttershy, as she drank a glass of water.

  "Let me guess...", said Twilight. "... you think Stewie is a jerk and the band was much better with Pinkie Pie here?"

  "How did you know? Anyway, I don't even think we should keep this whole rock band thing anymore. I mean, if Stewie's going to rule everything around here, he might as well rule his own band. I'm sure nopony here wants him either."

  "Yeah, I'm starting to think it's not a good idea to let him in the band. But what can we do? Lincoln told me Stewie is his boss' son, and he would be pretty much fired if he just kicked him out. And hey, let's see if we can stand at least one day with him as the bass player. Maybe our band will get much better with him."

  Suddenly, the whole studio was getting blasted with incomprehensibly loud metal music. The ponies tried to cover her ears, but it didn't change much.

  "Are you sure?", asked Fluttershy, as the paint was peeling off the studio's walls.

  "No...", said Twilight. "... I'm not." Next Chapter: It's Like Two Chapters in One! Estimated time remaining: 10 Minutes